"blending activism and filmmaking"
anand
patwardhan "Final Solution"
rakesh
sharma
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A TRIBUTE TO
MAHARAJ KAUL
(1940-2009)
Ved Prakash Vatuk bids a fond farewell to Maharaj Kaul, a passionately committed activist who worked for progressive causes for decades. Kaul died Sept. 30.2009
SOFT AS A LOTUS
HARD AS A ROCK
On September 6, 2009 I got a call from my dearest friend Maharaj Kaul. He said, “I did not want to tell you that I have been diagnosed with a liver cancer. I did not want to tell any- one and worry him/her. But now the time has come to transfer the responsibilities of running our organization India Relief and Education Fund. So I have to tell a few friends.”
It showed that even in his last few weeks he was not so worried about his horrible disease as he was about the feelings of his friends. Ashok Bardhan, one of the trustees, and I decided to visit him the next day with his assent. The visit lasted for only half an hour. He told us the cancer has reached the dangerous point. If the therapy works, he may live for two more years, otherwise maybe six months.” He already was meticulously planning an action to distribute his collection of books, videos that he made, the exhibitions of various kinds to hand over to the proper persons, so the work for social change can continue. When we tried to tell him that the time has not come up yet, he said, “I am a realistic man. I know what is happening to me. I have achieved 90 percent of what I wanted to do. I am satisfied.” He was tired and we left, so he can rest. But before we left he made us promise not to tell anyone. “Not yet.”
And next time we planned to visit him on Sept. 30. We were only fifty yards away from his house when his daughter called, “Uncle, he just passed away. At 11:05 am.”
And thus, a great soul departed leaving his old father, two brothers, four sisters, a daughter, two grand daughters and many relatives behind. All were present there to offer their last prayers. He was so beloved.
Maharaj K. Kaul, born on Nov. 11, 1940 in Srinagar, Kashmir, was the second son of Kashi Nath Kaul, a civil servant in the Kashmir State Government, and Shobha Devi. After getting his engineering degree from Patiala, Punjab, he got his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1972. Till his death he was working with G.E in their research wing. He authored several research papers and he was well known in his field.
But Maharaj’s passion was the work he did promoting social justice, economic equality and freedom for masses. Ever since his university days, when he was active in India Forum, he relentlessly worked for his passion.
He was the founding member of many organizations, such as South Asians for Collective Action, Coalition against Communalism, Pakistan - India –Friendship Society, Gadar Heritage Foundation and the founding director of India Relief and Education Fund He had organized dozens of film screenings of progressive Indian films, plays and other events to promote the causes close to his heart. He never sought fame or credit for his tireless work. And his mother fondly told us many times he was a gentlest saintly son and friend. Indeed he devoted so much time to solve problems of his friends. He was a total giver.
We can not put in words what we lost in his demise. We send our deepest condolences to his bereaved family, particularly his father and beloved daughter Aparna and her two lovely daughters.
Poet folklorist Ved Prakash Vatuk’s many awards include the U.P. government’s Pravasi Bharatiya Hindi Sahitya Bhushan. “Essays in Indian Folk Traditions,” his collected writings, has just been published by the Folklore Institute, Berkeley, Calif.
Soft As A Lotus Hard As A Rock (PDF - 704 kb) PDF version of the original article as it appeared in siliconeer.com, October 2009 (Volume X. Issue 10 | ISSN 1528-9273)
ALI KAZIMI: A COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE
presented by the
Pacific Film Archive in collaboration with
EKTA and 3rd I Films
more info
THU SEP 14 2006 -
SAT
SEP 16 2006
Filmmaker in person at all screenings!
For documentary filmmaker Ali
Kazimi, , a commitment to justice is essential both on- and offscreen. "I
know that I can't talk about social responsibility in my films
as a theoretical
construct and not do anything about it myself, in my life," he
writes. Born and raised in India, Kazimi worked as a freelance
photographer in Delhi, then emigrated to Canada after winning a
scholarship
to the film program at Toronto's
York University. Kazimi has consistently trained his camera on
those rarely represented onscreen, be they ostracized indigenous
groups in India or recent immigrants in Canada. Telling of Indian
villagers organizing
against a government-sponsored dam, Indo-Canadians participating
in arranged marriages, an Iroquois photographer creatively redefining
his culture, or a horrific anti-immigrant incident from Canada's
past, Kazimi focuses on the relationship between the individual
and society, and the power that people have to effect change and
defy how others have defined them. "All
cultures,including my own," Kazimi notes, "have borrowed,
incorporated, and absorbed influences from all encounters, absorbing,
reviving,
and at times reinventing themselves." To redefine and reinvent
oneself in the face of internalized cultural pressure or external
political power is true empowerment for Kazimi's subjects, and,
one senses, for the artist as well.
SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE HINDUTVA
ASSAULT ON CALIFORNIA HISTORY TEXTBOOKS
Details: Visit the CA Textbooks Issue Home Page
Today, we in California are facing
a Hindutva assault on school history textbooks of the kind that
went on a few years ago in India.
This is an issue of rising concern in the California community
and we at EKTA are alarmed by these attempts to
misrepresent India and South Asia's ancient history and the history
of Hinduism. Please join us in speaking out against these attempts
to distort history texts with propaganda. (more
info)
BEYOND BORDERS FUNDRAISER
RAISES OVER $52,000 FOR EARTHQUAKE RELIEF
IN PAKISTAN AND INDIA
more
info
On November 19, 2005, over 400 people came together at UC Berkeley's
Wheeler Auditorium - rising above national, ethnic, linguistic,
religious and cultural lines - to collectively raise over $52,000
for the survivors of the earthquake in Pakistan and India.
100% of the proceeds go towards grassroots
earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan and India - specifically, Edhi
Foundation (Pakistan), Sungi Development Foundation (Pakistan), & Association
for India's Development's Jammu and Kashmir Fund (India).
PLEASE
SUPPORT EARTHQUAKE RELIEF EFFORTS IN SOUTH ASIA
As most of you know, South
Asia was hit with a devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake on
Saturday, October 8th. The earthquake's epicenter
struck close to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir with
a radius of about 400 miles. As the death toll
climbs past 90,000 and with over 3-4 million left homeless, numerous
organizations
across South Asia are stepping up to organize relief and rehabilitation.
We urge all individuals in the
U.S.
and elsewhere
to support them by donating generously.
For a list of recommended organizations
for charitable contributions, click
here.
THE
DOMESTIC CRUSADERS
Sept 10th - 11th
San Jose
more info A two-act play about a Pakistani-American family
in the aftermath of 9/11
The Domestic Crusaders chronicles the cultural, political, and religious
conflicts of a fictional modern Pakistani American Muslim family
living in post 9/11
America. Its blunt, no-holds barred authentic depiction focuses on one day
in the life of one family composed of six unique members, who convene at
the family home for a birthday celebration. With a background of
9-11 and the scapegoating
of Muslim Americans, the humor, tensions and sparks fly among the three generations.
The day culminates in an intense family battle as each "crusader" struggles
to assert and impose their respective voices and opinions while still attempting
to maintain and understand that unifying thread that makes them part of the
same family. PEACE
CONCERT IN CELEBRATION OF INDIAN AND PAKISTANI INDEPENDENCE
DAYS
Aug
28th, 5 - 8 p.m.
International House
UC Berkeley more info Featuring the Desi pop-rock band Antariksh This Concert for Peace hopes to start conversations
within South Asian communities of the SF Bay Area on the subject of Peace
in South Asia. Some of the issues that are of
concern to us are: the vital link between Peace and Development, the
ongoing cost and threat of mutual nuclear destruction and the role of
the military-industrial complex in fomenting a regional arms race between
India and Pakistan. We believe that people-to-people contacts are a crucial
part of the peace process and that ordinary citizens can, by supporting
the political will for peace, contribute substantially to a de-escalation
of conflict and a scaling down of the official rhetoric of war. We advocate the choice of co-operation over confrontation
and advance an agenda of peaceful co-existence and mutually beneficial
engagement. We invite each and every one of you to become a part of this
celebration of peace! This Concert is FREE and OPEN TO
THE PUBLIC More info at
www.friendsofsouthasia.org
WAR & PEACE
/
JANG AUR AMAN
A Film by Anand Patwardhan
June 8th
San Francisco
more
info Filmed over three tumultuous years in
India, Pakistan, Japan and the USA - WAR & PEACE / JANG AUR AMAN is an epic
documentary journey of peace activism in the face of global militarism
and war. Triggered by macabre scenes of jubilation that greeted nuclear
testing in the Indian sub-continent, WAR & PEACE / JANG AUR AMAN
is dramatically framed by the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Fifty years
after
his death memories of Gandhi seem like a mirage that never was, created
by our thirst for peace and our very distance from it. MIGRITUDE:
Spoken Word by Shailja Patel
Jun 21st
San Francisco
more info
MIGRITUDE explores global themes; heritage, war, freedom, by making intimate
family treasures public. Similarly, it expresses universal experiences
of colonized peoples through the journeys of Shailja’s own diasporic Indian
family. Three cross-continental migrations shape the story: the early 20th-century
migration of Indians to East Africa; the mass expulsion and emigration of
East African Indians to the global North from the 1970s onwards, and Shailja’s
own emigration from Africa, to Europe, to the US. The sequence maps her
personal transitions as a migrant: from survival to self-expression,
invisibility
to activism, model minority to radical artist.
INDO-PAK
PEACE SOLIDARITY MARCH
San Francisco,
May 15th
more
info
Join the South Asian community in the SF Bay Area and show your solidarity
to the marchers in India and Pakistan, who are threading across the subcontinent
on a 6-week mission of establishing people-to-people contact, negating the
tendencies of distrust, hatred and enmity, and spreading the message of peace
and harmony. The march begins at Mission St/16th St and ends at Gadar Memorial
Hall in Japantown.
NOTORIOUS INDIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSER
DENIED ENTRY INTO US!
3/18/05
Coalition of thirty five human rights organizations
wins first victory The American State department decision to deny Mr. Narendra
Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat and chief architect of the Gujarat
pogrom of 2002, a diplomatic visa and to revoke his existing tourist/business
visa based on the International Religious Freedom Act is a landmark victory
for the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG).... read
more
ALI
KAZIMI'S CONTINUOUS JOURNEY
WINS BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AUDIENCE AWARD AT SFIAAFF
3/17/05
Continuous Journey is a complex tale of hope, despair, treachery
and tragedy. It is a revealing Canadian story with global ramifications
set in a time when
the British Empire seemed omnipresent and its subjects were restless and
seeking self-determination. In 1914, Gurdit Singh, a Sikh
entrepreneur based in Singapore, chartered a Japanese ship, the Komagata
Maru, to carry Indian immigrants to Canada. On May 23, 1914,
the ship arrived in
Vancouver Harbour with 376 passengers aboard: 340 Sikhs; 24 Muslims and
12 Hindus. Many of the men on-board were veterans of the British
Indian Army and
believed that it was their right as British subjects to settle anywhere
in the Empire they had fought to defend and expand. They were
wrong... read
more
APA
ARTISTS 4 TSUNAMI RELIEF EVENT RAISED OVER $2800 FOR
RELIEF EFFORTS IN INDONESIA AND SRI LANKA
2/3/05
We are working with the Global Greengrants' Funds
to disburse all funds collected directly to the following
community-based groups in the two hardest hit areas: WALHI – Indonesian
Forum for Environment (Indonesia), KSKBA - Solidarity
Coalition for Humane Disaster Relief (Indonesia) and
Saviya Development
Foundation (Sri Lanka) more
info PLEASE
SUPPORT ASIAN TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORTS
12/27/04 It is time to give and give
generously. As the death toll climbs past 150,000 and the
world comes to grips with the devastation caused by the
deadly Indian Ocean tsunamis, numerous organizations across
Asia are stepping up to organize relief and rehabilitation.
We urge all individuals in the U.S. and elsewhere to support
them by donating generously. For a list of recommended
organizations for charitable contributions, click
here.
SHARED
HISTORY AND DIVERSE CULTURES
FIND VOICE AT TRAVELING FILM SOUTH ASIA 2004
3/01/04
Showcasing the groundbreaking work and emerging talent of non-fiction
filmmakers from South Asia, Traveling
Film South Asia 2004 debuts on March 12 as the only festival
of its kind in California. Organized by Ekta and Friends of South Asia
(FOSA),
in collaboration with Himal Association, the festival offers Bay Area filmgoers
a rare opportunity to view a selection of 19 compelling documentaries that
chart the shared history and complex lives of the people of the sub-continent.
Covering a wide range of important political, social, and economic issues
and giving voice to many of the region’s people—women, religious minorities,
and indigenous communities—the films focus the lens on life in contemporary
South Asia, while celebrating its rich cultural diversity. Representing filmmakers
from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, this year’s festival
is a compilation of award-winning and thought-provoking films that include
a selection
of films from the 2003
Film South Asia (FSA) festival in Nepal, six films that screened at the
recently concluded World Social Forum in India, and two films by the internationally
acclaimed Pakistani filmmaker, Sabiha Sumar. The event runs from March 12-21
in San Francisco and from March 26-28 in Milpitas. As
the only such event solely dedicated to supporting
contemporary South Asian non-fiction films, TFSA 2004
provides a unique
platform for filmmakers to exhibit new works that examine
critical and often provocative issues. This year’s
festival is particularly noteworthy because it screens
three films that were censored by the recent Mumbai
International Film Festival due to their anti-establishment
content.
The rejection of the films spawned a massive protest
in the documentary film community, with over 170 Indian
filmmakers
threatening to boycott the festival [see Vikalp:
Films for Freedom website]. In a political
climate that threatens freedom of expression, festivals
such as
TFSA 2004 play an important role in advocacy and social
change. For this reason, Film South Asia—the festival
that TFSA draws upon—has gained a deserving recognition
in the international community as a world-class festival
that gives voice to visionary documentary filmmakers.
Since its beginnings in 1997, Film South Asia has traveled
to
more than 45 international venues. TFSA
2004 will be held over three weekends in March at two
Bay Area venues: at the Mission Cultural Center, San
Francisco,
during March 12-14 and March 19-21, and at the India
Community Center, Milpitas, during March 26-28. The March
12 program
opens at the Mission Cultural Center at 7 p.m. with
a screening of Amar Kanwar’s, A
NIGHT OF PROPHECY (India, 2002). One of the films
censored at the recent Mumbai International Film Festival
but shown
at the World Social Forum, this poetic documentary
travels through different parts of India to reveal
how poetry and
music can unify a nation’s people even in the
face of severe conflict and oppression. The program
continues
with the groundbreaking RESILIENT
RHYTHMS (India, 2002), a dynamic and truthful portrayal
of India’s caste system and the Dalit response
to their marginalization. Gopal Menon, known for his
compelling
and acclaimed documentary, Hey Ram: Genocide in the
Land of Gandhi, directed the film. Reflecting
the current political situation in India, religious fundamentalism
and the need for tolerance was a powerful and recurrent
theme explored by many of the films. In GODHRA
TAK: THE TERROR TRAIL (India, 2003), director Shubradeep
Chakravorty investigates the Godhra train burning and subsequent
rioting that killed 2000 Muslims in Gujarat, India in February
2002. Chakravorty retraces in chilling detail the route
of the first batch of kar sevaks from Gujarat to Ayodhya
and back and carefully reconstructs the terror they unleashed
en route leading to the Godhra fire and the riots that
followed. In a climate of increasing religious divides,
directors Jayasankar and Monteiro provide a glimmer of
hope in their film, NAATA – THE
BOND (India, 2003). The film is a moving tale of
two friends who work on promoting communal harmony
in Bombay’s
largest slum. Naata was one of the films removed from
the Mumbai International Film Festival, but shown at
the World
Social Forum in Mumbai in January 2004. From
body image to struggling for personal freedom in a
male-dominated society, some of the most outstanding
films of the festival
focus on women’s issues. SKIN
DEEP (India, 1998), by Reena Mohan, is an exploration
of body images and self-perception among contemporary
urban, middle class women in India. The film is a playful,
engrossing,
and articulate rendering on women’s complicated
and contradictory relationships with their bodies. SWARA – A
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (Pakistan, 2003), by
Samar Minallah, is a hard-hitting commentary on the
Pakhtun practice
of giving minor girls in marriage to an “enemy family” in
reparation for serious crimes committed by male members
of the girl’s family. The issue is now before the
Pakistan’s Supreme Court and Minallah is hoping that
legislation is brought soon to ban the practice of “swara.” Also
from Pakistan, is director Sabiha Sumar’s film, DON’T
ASK WHY (1999). Based on a diary, the film takes
us into the life of Anousheh and provides a moving
account
of the dreams and fears of a 17-year-old girl growing
up in a conservative and patriarchal society. Most
of Sumar’s
films are banned in her native country. Two
films from Bangladesh reveal that the nation’s
freedom struggle of the 1970s continues to be an important
theme
for its filmmakers. In WORDS
OF FREEDOM (MUKTIR KOTHA) (1999), directors Tareque
Masud and Catherine Masud tell the story of musicians traveling
through refugee camps and war zones during the Liberation
War in 1971. The film blends documentary and fictional
genres in a musical structure to follow the birth of a
nation and the ideals of secularism and tolerance on which
it was founded. In TALE
OF THE DARKEST NIGHT (SHEI RATER KOTHA BOLTE ESHECHI) (2001),
director Kawsar Chowdhury recreates the horror of the massacre
by the Pakistani army in Dhaka University. The film won
the Second Best Film Award at Film South Asia 2003. Other
important themes explored in the films include the harmful
effects of migration, displacement of rural and indigenous
communities due to large development projects, and environmental
degradation.
Ekta and Friends of South Asia (FOSA) present the festival, in collaboration
with Himal Association. Ekta is a local nonprofit organization that provides
a platform for social change through art, dialogue, and education within
the South Asian community. FOSA is a Bay Area group that works towards
a peaceful, prosperous, and hate-free South Asia. Located in the Kathmandu
Valley region of Nepal, Himal Association is a nonprofit organization
whose goal is to raise awareness of local, national, and international
issues among Nepali people. Festival co-sponsors include the Center for
South Asian Studies (University of California at Berkeley), the Department
of Cultural and Social Anthropology at the California Institute for Integral
Studies, the India Community Center, and SF Station. For a complete list of films and show
times, further information, or to purchase tickets online,
visit http://ektaonline.org/tfsa or
email tfsa@ektaonline.org.
Tickets per show are $6 online ($9
at the door) at the Mission Cultural Center. For screenings
at the India Community Center, tickets are $5 (at the door
or online).
A festival pass that covers films at both venues can be
purchased online for $25.
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A
REPORT TO EKTA and CAC DONORS ON THE REHABILITATION
OF THE SURVIVORS OF COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT 4/22/03
click
here |
EKTA
and CAC
RAISES $50,000
FOR THE
SURVIVORS OF
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT 8/1/02
EKTA and Coalition Against Communalism (CAC) organized the first major
fund-raising event in the Bay Area for the survivors of the recent communal violence
in Gujarat. The two-day event was held at the Mission Cultural Center in San
Francisco (July 13, 2002) and the Jain Center of Northern California in Milpitas
(July 14, 2002), and was a tribute to the late M.P. and peace activist, Ahsan
Jafri, who was burnt alive by mobs, along with over 150 other people who
had taken shelter at his home in Ahmedabad, on February 28th, 2002. In addition
to moving presentations by the late Jafri's daughter and son-in-law, Nishrin
and Najid Hussain, a recent documentary by Gopal Menon, Hey Ram: Genocide in
the land of Gandhi, was screened, and a number of local artists performed at
both events.
The two fund-raising events raised over $25,000 for relief
efforts in Gujarat. American India Foundation (AIF) contributed an additional
$25,000 in matching funds, making a GRAND TOTAL OF $50,000 for relief and
rehabilitation efforts in Gujarat. SAATH,
a member of Citizen's Initiative, was identified as the recipient
of the funds raised.(Details of SAATH's
proposal.)
EKTA and CAC would like to thank the many
organizations who co-sponsored our two fundraising events- India Relief
and Education Fund, Association for India's Development (Bay Area Chapter),
Friends of South Asia, Global Exchange, Indian Muslim Relief Committee,
Narika, South Asian Bar Association, 3rd I and Trikone- and the many dedicated
volunteers, performers and donors who made our efforts a success!
Read
our press release on the Gujarat violence.
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