Dilip Simeon's blog

By Sarah Flatto Manasrah   Waging Nonviolence   One year after Israel gave the green light to demolish Khan al-Amar, the small Bedouin village survives thanks to a bold and creative women-led campaign. Just over one year ago, photos and videos of Israeli border police violently arresting a  young Palestinian woman  went viral. She appeared to be screaming as they ripped her hijab off and wrestled her to the ground. It captured a moment of crisis on July 4, 2018 when Israeli forces arrived with bulldozers in Khan al-Amar, poised to expel and demolish the tiny Palestinian village at gunpoint. It was an indelible scene in a theater of cruelty that has defined  the beleaguered village . Army and police were met by hundreds of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who mobilized to put their bodies on the line. Together with clergy, journalists, diplomats, educators and politicians, they ate, slept, strategized and sustained nonviolent resis...

By Rafi Ellenson - Waging Nonviolence   When diaspora Jews and those living in Israel join with Palestinians, they forge a more powerful and just movement to end the occupation. I watched the Israeli Defense Forces throw several stun grenades - one right after the other - deep into a crowd of my friends earlier this month. I saw people dear to me get choked by soldiers, thrown forcefully onto the ground and dragged away by their limbs. Following this, the army arrested 17 people — including many Jewish activists from around the world, two Palestinian journalists and three Palestinian residents from the area. The crime? Presumably, the IDF’s harsh punishment would be because our protest turned violent. However, we were steadfastly nonviolent. We were simply fixing a dirt road that would enable Palestinians in the area to access food, water and basic supplies. The IDF’s behavior in this situation is sadly not shocking nor inconceivable, but to see it up close with my own eye...

Prof. G. D. Agarwal, who has been on an indefinite fast since 22nd June demanding effective action to clean Ganga, has died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 86.  Dr. Agarwal refused to take water two days ago, as none of the State Governments of the Gangetic basin, the Central Environment Ministry, the Water Resources Ministry or the Prime Minister’s Office did anything at all to respond to his Sathyagraha and take action to clean the Ganga and save her for posterity. Dr. Agarwal also demanded government must stop construction of hydroelectric projects along the river’s tributaries and enact the Ganga Protection Management Act to ensure the river has a chance to come back to life. Tapasya - Prof. G.D.Agarwal's Fast-unto-Death Dr. Agarwal has served as a faculty member of IIT Kanpur, guided the Central Pollution Control Board as Member Secretary in taking tough action against industrial and urban polluters, and ensure our rivers flow free and healthy....

Some weeks ago, this year’s Sahitya Akademi winner and Malayalam novelist KP Ramanunni said he intended to atone for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in a temple in Kathua, Jammu. This, he said, was his response as a Hindu and a believer. He said he was following the Gandhian tradition of personal atonement for a public evil. He said he would do a shayana pradakshinam (circumambulation of the sanctum sanctorum by rolling on the ground) along with others at the Sreekrishna Temple in Kadalayi, Kannur. In an appeal, he stated the reasons for his penance: “The Hindus have a responsibility to show an example of resistance from their own platform of faith against the forces of evil. Because, the fundamental dharma of Hinduism is to pray for the well-being of all the world and stand with truth,” he wrote. He found support from the Kerala Samskrita Sanghom, an organisation of Left-leaning Sanskrit lovers, and a section of intellectuals, including poet and scholar K Satchidana...

S ister Patricia Fox, who has been threatened with deportation for crossing the Philippine president, vows she won’t go quietly On Monday, Sister Patricia Fox is likely not to be at home. Normally, she spends the morning sitting in the walled front yard of the modest home in Quezon City, north-east of Manila, that she shares with six of her fellow nuns. Mornings, she says, are “lazy” time. She drinks tea, takes calls from friends and colleagues and prepares for an afternoon of voluntary work. But on Monday, if her legal appeals fail, officers of the Philippines Government are expected to arrive, take her away and forcibly deport her – or worse. Jails in the  Philippines  are tough places. The stick-thin 71-year-old nun doesn’t plan to let it happen. “I will go to ground,” she says. “I won’t tell you more, but I won’t be sitting around talking to journalists. They should not deport me when I have an appeal underway. And it won’t happen if I can help it.” Sister Fox...

Yashpal Saxena has continued to reject the atte mpts to politicise his son’s death, and wants Ankit to be an inspiration for those in inter-faith relationships...  The event, he said, was a “starting point” for the trust he has established in Ankit’s name to help couples who want to marry outside their faith The father of a young Delhi man killed over his relationship with a Muslim woman is organising an iftar this Ramzan to ensure love, not hatred, marks his son’s legacy. Ankit Saxena, a 23-year-old photographer, was stabbed to death by the family members of his long-term girlfriend in February this year, a cold-blooded murder fundamentalists hijacked to push their agenda of polarisation. But Yashpal Saxena has continued to reject the attempts to politicise his son’s death, and wants Ankit to be an inspiration for those in inter-faith relationships. With this in mind, on 3 June, Saxena will organise an iftar in his locality, west Delhi’s Raghubir Nagar. The event, ...

The past few months have transformed my life. Amid the agonies I have endured and the threats, suspicion, and accusations I face, the love, support, and respect I receive is overwhelming. Since February, when we began protesting to draw attention to the suffering of ethnic Pashtuns -among the worst victims of terrorism - I have learned a lot about the potential of ordinary Pakistanis. Their thirst for change is inspiring and heralds a peaceful, prosperous future we must build for generations to come. As a Pashtun activist demanding security for Pakistan’s second-largest ethnic group, the most rewarding thing I have gathered is that peaceful protests and mobilization can still change societies and transform states for the better. I have learned that right trumps wrong. Pacifism overcomes violence and wars. And, ultimately, the truth prevails over lies and deception. In a modern state, protection and welfare of all its citizens - irrespective of their caste and creed - is the firs...

Susan Schnall still remembers the shrieks of  Vietnam  veterans that would ring out at Oak Knell naval hospital throughout the night, as men – some not yet 20 – grappled with the agony of their injuries and the terrible flashbacks of war. It was these screams, and finding herself – a 25-year-old navy nurse – part of an “unconscionable military machine” that fixed men up only to send them straight back into bloody battle, that drove her to one of the great acts of anti-Vietnam war defiance.  In 1968, Schnall hired a small plane with a pilot friend and showered 20,000 flyers over five army bases in San Franscisco, including the docked warship the USS Ranger, urging GIs to join an anti-war demonstration two days later. “I knew that the airforce was dropping flyers on the Vietnamese urging them to get away from the bombing and the spraying of agent orange, and I thought, ‘if the United States can do that there, why can’t we do that here?” said Schnall. Her anti-war state...

NB: On the 70th anniversary of his assassination , the Mahatma still haunts us, almost as if in answer to Sarojini Naidu's broadcast of February 1, 1948: My Father, Do Not Rest . Given that the politics of his assassins grips a section of our ruling class and that malicious propaganda against him continues unabated, we would be doing ourselves a favour by learning more about his final weeks and days of life. Above all, that period manifested both his monumental strength of character and boundless compassion for suffering humanity.  As Mary Catherine Bateson once said, "the timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it." If the Mahatma remains relevant today it is because his message of love and non-violence appeals deeply to the human spirit in search for a new way of life. This moving essay by Gopalkrishna Gandhi reminds us of the impact of the news of his passing. DS Photos: Seventy years ago today I have no intere...

The following is the full text of the Peace Declaration read Sunday by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui at a ceremony to mark the 72nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city. -- Friends, 72 years ago today, on August 6, at 8:15 a.m., absolute evil was unleashed in the sky over Hiroshima. Let's imagine for a moment what happened under that roiling mushroom cloud. Pika -- the penetrating flash, extreme radiation and heat. Don -- the earth-shattering roar and blast. As the blackness lifts, the scenes emerging into view reveal countless scattered corpses charred beyond recognition even as man or woman. Stepping between the corpses, badly burned, nearly naked figures with blackened faces, singed hair, and tattered, dangling skin wander through spreading flames, looking for water. The rivers in front of you are filled with bodies; the riverbanks so crowded with burnt, half-naked victims you have no place to step. This is truly hell. Under that mushroom cloud, the absolutely evil...

NB: Thank you Maliha. Borders are artificial. Love and friendship are perennial. I'm sure your beautiful letter will touch many hearts. Here is a small essay for you. Please share it with your friends and family:  The Almond Trees by Albert Camus  - Dilip Dear Bharat Mata, I am not quite sure if someone from across the border has written a letter to you before, sitting in your beautiful land. But there is always a first, isn't there? So let me introduce myself and tell you my story. I have had a long relationship with you, one that spans generations. But more about that later. My name is Maliha Khan and I come from the hustling bustling city of Karachi, Pakistan. I was born to your estranged brother, Pakistan. Although Karachi became the city of my birth, you were already in my blood, Mother India, coursing through my veins. No, it is not only because my far-removed ancestors came from your part of the world when both you and your dear brother Pakistan had lived to...

NB : The Chinese Communist Party should hang its head in shame at this brutal judicial murder of one of China's gentlest and kindest souls, whose only crime was that he wanted freedom and democracy for the Chinese people and had the temerity to demand a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. In fact he was punished for asking the Chinese government to implement its own Constitution, under which - Article 35 - China's citizens enjoy “freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration” .  It is an indication of the brittle nature of totalitarianism that it so fears the power of the human mind that it can sentence political dissidents to a living hell rather than allow them to speak freely. Communists and socialists the world over should reflect on how much their campaigns for democratic rights are compromised by association with such criminal dictators as are ruling the so-called People Republic.  Rest in Peace Liu Xiaobo . Democrats the...

NB: Thank you for writing this Sunita. Yes it is necessary for all decent people, whether they believe in a deity or not, of whatever denomination, of whichever political allegiance, to stand up, to speak out, to protest the violent speeches and acts of so-called patriots who are destroying not only the rule of law in India but the very dignity of humanity. Indeed, by doing what they do, they destroy their own better selves, their own consciences. Whatever they win as a result of this evil campaign, it will not be worth the price they - and all the rest of us - have paid for it. " Violation of truth poisons every-thing gained by the violation" . I wish you and Sadhana all the best.  And you are right: many who consider themselves progressive tend to be dismissive of the liberal democratic tradition generated within the ambit of Sanatan Dharma - represented most powerfully in modern times by Mahatma Gandhi . May the Almighty - if she or he still listens to human kind - bless...

In April 1941, communal riots broke out in Ahmedabad. The violence raged for three whole days, during which many people were killed, many more injured, and hundreds of homes razed to the ground. Mosques and temples were also desecrated. What happened in Ahmedabad in 1941 was a product of a countrywide polarization of religious communities. The Muslim League was growing in strength, challenging the Congress's claim to represent all Indians. Jinnah and the League had charged the Congress provincial governments that held office between 1937 and 1939 of following anti-Muslim policies. The Congress governments resigned when the Second World War broke out, but the polarization persisted. In March 1940, the Muslim League passed its so-called 'Pakistan resolution', demanding a separate nation for Muslims. On the other side, Hindu extremist groups such as the Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were priming themselves for action. The outbreak of rioting in a town he...