Category Archives: Issues

South Asian via Africa Diaspora

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Ever notice how sometimes there are certain themes in your life? This month it was the theme ‘everything is related to the South Asian diaspora via Africa route.’ Chick Pea’s mother fed me fried mogo w/ tamarind sauce, Yo’ Mom told me stories of her life in Africa as a child, and a friend of mine just got back from a summer social work stint working in the desi townships of Durban, South Africa. I’m very interested in the creation of political ethnic identities in the South Asian diaspora and was intrigued by hearing these stories, and seeing the different diaspora perspectives.

Appropriately, I saw an early screening of the movie “Catch a Fire” last Thursday, and haven’t been able to stop talking about the movie since. Starring Tim Robbins (as the German Afrikaner oppressor), and Derek Luke (as the freedom fighter Patrick Chamusso), the movie is beautifully crafted, telling the story of a South Africa man who gets caught up in love, betrayal and the fight for freedom.

Catch a Fire is based on actual events that occurred in the 1980s. While Nelson Mandela was locked up for treason in the Robben Island prison, the banned and exiled ANC was engaging in sabotage against the Apartheid government. Patrick Chamusso, on the other hand, had found a job at the Secunda Oil Refinery, the largest coal-to-oil plant in the world. He preferred his simple family life to the underground movements. His wrongful arrest and subsequent interrogation and torture by the South African Special Branch forever altered his outlook and led him to Mozambique where he joined the ANC and received his military training. He volunteered to single-handedly carry out the operation to blow up the Secunda Oil Refinery and as per specific instructions, only property was damaged by the explosion.

Robyn Slovo, who is one of the film’s producers, and Shawn Slovo, who wrote the screenplay, are actually daughters of Joe Slovo and Ruth First, pioneer white activists who stood up against the Apartheid government. Joe and Ruth joined the ANC, while in exile. [link]

Maybe I’m just a sucker for movies with men who play roles as fighters against injustice, like The Motorcycle Diaries. Or maybe it’s because in reality, Luke is paying for his on-screen daughter’s real-life education because she is the daughter of an HIV positive African woman. I’m not sure, but both reasons make my heart melt for this story, both on and off screen.

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Draconian — Even By Israeli Standards

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Between the radioactive elucubrations of the Dear Leader, the accumulation of tortured and executed bodies in Iraq, the tawdry revelations of the Foley affair, and the growing murmur of a supposed Democratic sweep in the midterm election (I’ll believe that one when I see it), there has been precious little front-page consideration of the signing, earlier this week, of the Military Commissions Act.

As you may have heard, the act drastically changes the legal landscape for foreigners in the United States, whether here legally or illegally. It allows the government to deny a foreign suspect the right to challenge his or her imprisonment (habeas corpus), to employ evidence obtained by a wide and ambiguous range of coercive methods, and to use classified evidence whilst withholding it from the defense. Small things like that.

I will leave it to the lawyers here to amplify or amend this summary. Perhaps one reason why there hasn’t been much discussion is that the Supreme Court will ultimately determine whether, and in what form, this law stands. It’s quite possible that the Hamdan case, in which desi lawyer Neal Katyal plays a prominent role, will become the test case. At any rate, some in the media are looking ahead to this next phase, and already centering speculation on Justice Anthony Kennedy, the current swing Supreme.

I did, however, come across one very interesting piece of commentary that I wanted to share. In an Op-Ed in the Boston Globe, Harvard Law professor Martha Minow and a former legal adviser to the Israeli military, Gabrielle Blum, compare the new legislation with Israel’s approach to the same problem. They lead with their finding:

BEFORE ENACTING the “Detainee Bill” (otherwise known as the Military Commissions Act) two weeks ago, Congress should have spent more time learning from the Israeli experience. Compared with Israel’s security measures during a long and difficult experience with terrorism, the US Congress has gone too far in its willingness to compromise human rights and civil liberties. Security considerations, as legitimate and forceful as they are, do not justify such excessive measures, as the Israeli practice demonstrates.

Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Act, enacted in 2002, among other things provides for an immediate military hearing of the detainee upon detention, and a judicial hearing within two weeks and again every six months; a range of requirements for detention conditions and privileges; and the detainee’s right to meet with the Red Cross. The current U.S. legislation provides none of these safeguards. In addition, also unlike Israel, the U.S. law grants immunity to U.S. officials from prosecution except in the most extreme cases.

Minow and Blum conclude:

… the US Military Commissions Act sends to other countries facing terrorism the message that effective judicial review is null and void once the security alarm is sounded. It demonstrates a level of panic and irresponsible abandonment of principles that other nations, facing similar dangers, have avoided.

As bad as this may be for America, it is potentially far worse for countries that look to the United States for leadership. Now, the US example will encourage other nations to throw away rights just when they are sorely tested.

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Oh, What’s The Diff?

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Terrific op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times by Jeff Stein, national security editor of Congressional Quarterly. He’s been conducting a little experiment…

FOR the past several months, I’ve been wrapping up lengthy interviews with Washington counterterrorism officials with a fundamental question: “Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?”

A “gotcha” question? Perhaps. But if knowing your enemy is the most basic rule of war, I don’t think it’s out of bounds. And as I quickly explain to my subjects, I’m not looking for theological explanations, just the basics: Who’s on what side today, and what does each want?

Here are some of the answers:

A few weeks ago, I took the F.B.I.’s temperature again. At the end of a long interview, I asked Willie Hulon, chief of the bureau’s new national security branch, whether he thought that it was important for a man in his position to know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites. “Yes, sure, it’s right to know the difference,” he said. “It’s important to know who your targets are.”

That was a big advance over 2005. So next I asked him if he could tell me the difference. He was flummoxed. “The basics goes back to their beliefs and who they were following,” he said. “And the conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shia and the difference between who they were following.”

A member of the House intelligence committee:

Mr. Everett responded with a low chuckle. He thought for a moment: “One’s in one location, another’s in another location. No, to be honest with you, I don’t know. I thought it was differences in their religion, different families or something.”

Another committee member:

“Do I?” she asked me. A look of concentration came over her face. “You know, I should.” She took a stab at it: “It’s a difference in their fundamental religious beliefs. The Sunni are more radical than the Shia. Or vice versa. But I think it’s the Sunnis who’re more radical than the Shia.”

Now we’re not talking theology. Stein’s asking his repondents who’s who right now. Do they know that Hezbollah is Shiite? That Osama bin Laden is Sunni? Stein says that some of his interviewees are able to answer these questions easily. But all too many, he says, “don’t have a clue.”

“How can they do their job,” Stein asks, “without knowing the basics?” Continue reading →

“At War In All But Name”

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The LTTE has struck for the first time on Sri LankaÂ’s southern coast, in the tourist belt:

Tamil Tiger guerrillas opened a new front against the Sri Lankan government today when rebels posing as fisherman blew up their boats in an ambush on a naval base on the islandÂ’s southern tourist belt.

It is believed three sailors were killed and a dozen injured in the attack on the navy in Galle harbour. Fourteen civilians were also wounded. The authorities imposed an open-ended curfew on the town after mobs began to target Tamil-owned shops. Police brought the situation under control by firing on the crowds.

As you probably know, this bombing came two days after a particularly horrific attack in which a suicide bomber drove a truck into a convoy of buses returning Sri Lankan soldiers from their tour of duty on the front. Approximately 100 soldiers were killed. The military carried out air raids in retaliation.

A few days earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that the merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces, which was effected back in 1987 in the context of the India-Sri Lanka agreement, was unconstitutional and must be reversed. The merger was a concession to the Tamil separatist side and it was challenged in court by a hard-line Sinhalese party.

It is discouraging to talk about the situation in Sri Lanka. Prior threads here have eventually disintegrated into mud-slinging about the legitimacy or otherwise of the LTTEÂ’s grievances. The official or unofficial mouthpieces of the government and rebels specialize in incendiary rhetoric. The civilian peace movement in Sri Lanka appears beleaguered at best.

Most analysts agree that Sri Lanka is now at war in all but name. However, they say that both sides are likely to sit down for face-to-face talks in Switzerland at the end of the month to revive the peace process.

[Link]

So what are the conflict resolution experts saying?

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Sepia Destiny Part II: Dating while Desi

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Much like the girls on Sex and the City would get together to dish, my girls and I will get together and dish about the dilemmas of Dating while Desi. Yes, girls do talk, far more than we blog about. And Dating while Desi ain’t easy, as the mutiny has informed us on Sepia Destiny Part 1. In these talks, we girls will touch on questions such as, “Do you date desi only or non-desis or anyone but white boys? Do your parents sneak around behind your back with biodata and pictures? Do your parents give out your numbers to guys that call and don’t leave messages – from obscure area codes? Do your parents even know that you date? Where do you find desi guys that haven’t gone back to South Asia to get their bride already?” These questions (and more) are indicative to the plight of the single, 25 yr.+, independent-thinking desi girl and is why I love to find solidarity with my single desi sisters – whether over chai, or virtually by reading my favorite desi gal bloggers ( Rupa, TheBarMaid, Chick Pea, brimful, SP, to name a few).

Saturday night while I was surfing on YouTube alone in the North Dakota bunker, I came across this episode of Desi OC – after watching the video I thought to myself, maybe I’ve been playing the game all wrong…

The Desi OC episode above comes out of production company Raising Desi, and one of the film maker is Los Angeles comedian Tarun Shetty. (You may also recognize the gal pal from Timberlake’s Senorita music video.) All of Tarun’s addictive mini-movies are far more polished than the typical YouTube video, but the thing that struck me about this episode in particular were the rules they had for Dating while Desi. We all know the general “Dating Rules” — Wait three days before calling back, never talk politics or religion on a first date, and never say yes to a guy that asks you out the day of.

But I realize now after watching the video, that there are a whole different set of dating rules set aside for Dating while Desi. Who would have known? I certainly didn’t know the rules changed between dating desi, and dating non-desi. So, to summarize what I have learned so far…

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The Plight of the Cabbie

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We have done many stories here on SM about South Asian cabbies that make a living here in America. It’s a job full of risks, and sadly one cabbie died on the job over the weekend.

The body of a taxi driver who had been shot to death was found slumped over the steering wheel of his cab Sunday morning. The Contra Costa County coroner’s office identified the driver as Musharaf Poswal, 48, of Rodeo. Officers found Poswal with multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. [link]

As some of you may recall, I was involved in researching taxi workers in Los Angeles earlier this year. Talking to the taxi drivers was an interesting experience — many of the drivers were men my father’s age, unaccustomed to talking about their lives, yet totally welcoming of the opportunity. They lead hard lives with long hours, and of course, always with a potential risk. The report was launched last month.

The report, called “Driving Poor” and written by law professor Gary Blasi and urban planning professor Jacqueline Leavitt, paints a bleak picture of the lives of the city’s roughly 5,000 taxi drivers.

The typical driver makes $8.39 an hour — less than the city-mandated “living wage” — and 61% have no health insurance, according to a survey of 302 drivers conducted as part of the study. On average, they drive 72 hours a week and show signs of extreme stress and chronic back and leg injuries, the study found. The report also found that drivers lack the protection of wage, hour and workers’ compensation laws; many own their cabs but can lose them at any time; and they retain little control over their working lives, even being told by the city what they can wear. [link]

There are proportionally far fewer South Asian taxi cab drivers in Los Angeles than I had expected – the report shows only 5% are South Asian. Surprisingly, the largest percentage of taxi drivers were born in the Middle East, 38%. [p. 18] The hundred page report gives insight into the taxi industry here in Los Angeles and is downloadable here. More importantly, this document can be used in changing and creating policies that can protect taxi workers in this industry. Let us hope that by creating reforms in the system, we’ll be able to protect the lives of more of our taxi workers.

Related Posts: Taxi Cab Confessions, Immigrant Entrepreneurs, You Talkin’ to Me?, and The Transporter.

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Online Power

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I’ve often talked about the power of online organizing for the desi community. There have been many sites (besides our much loved Sepia Mutiny) that have attempted to faciliate this for our community; The now defunct DesiOrgs.us, the weekly profiles from The Desi Connect, and the still beta networking site Desi Page. Last month, a new site hit the inter-desi-networks, the South Asian Forum.

The South Asian Forum aims to tell the story of South Asians through the lens of its organizations and organizing work. From one-one-one interviews with community Youth Solidarity Summerorganizations to an extensive history and framework of South Asians in the U.S., this Forum hopes to capture the deep and rich history of South Asian collective action in the U.S.

In addition, the Forum brings together a collection of various resources and tools, such as an online directory of organizations and a census fact sheet, to aid those working in or interested in the South Asian community.

Through the collection of data, sharing of resources, and storytelling we can identify current and emerging issues, barriers and gaps, and develop sustainable strategies for the future. [link]

This website has a lot of potential, and is a wealth of information for anything related to the South Asian American diaspora. The website is well divided into different sections- such as the history of South Asians and South Asian organizing in the U.S., to the voices of our community with interviews and surveys that have been done, all the way to Census resources. Most importantly, at least when it comes to building networks and coalitions, is the South Asians Organizations Directory — a database of various types of organization serving the brown community. This fabulous online resource was put together by a task force of leaders in our community. Continue reading →

“Diversity”

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When I first started organizing in the environmental movement, the buzz word was “diversity.” The mostly white movement was trying to extend their base, and just didn’t get understand why people of color weren’t ‘interested in the environment.’ The diversity training I went through back then was effective and has shaped my approach to organizing ever since.

Wilkes University recently had their folks go through a diversity training, and it looks like they were a little more unsuccessful.

Two Wilkes University students say they were offended by leadership consultant Ron Feldhun’s course methods and said that during a weekend retreat earlier this month, several students were called racial epithets.

But Feldhun said his program was used as a scapegoat for the university to fire multicultural coordinator Andita Parker-Lloyd, who filed a racial profiling lawsuit against the city of Wilkes-Barre.

Navneet Virdee, a junior pharmacy major of Indian decent, said Feldhun called her a terrorist when she challenged the veracity of a diversity program meant to teach leadership principles. Virdee said Feldhun encouraged students to chant racial slurs at each other as a way to lessen the words’ impact. [link]

I’m no professional in pedagogy, but even I know that this method may not be the BEST one to encourage open minded discussion on race. Mad props to Navneet for speaking up. I’m all for diversity trainings and think that when done properly they are a great tool for success. But only when done right. It seems though there was internal politics involved in bringing the training to campus.

“My perception is that there was a conspiracy to get rid of a strong Black woman,” he says. “They fired her because she embarrassed the school when she stood up to that White police officer.” […] Parker-Lloyd was arrested for disorderly conduct on Feb. 16 after she tried to intervene on behalf of minority Wilkes students who had been pulled over for an alleged signal violation. [link]

Has anyone in the Mutiny been to one of these diversity trainings? Was it effective? Or was it dreadful like the one above? Really bad diversity trainings remind me of the the diversity training episode of The Office (starring desi-gal Mindy Kaling). Priceless and painfully humorous.

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Not everyone is a "terrorist"

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We will not allow the enemy to win the war by changing our way of life or restricting our freedoms. –George W. Bush, September 12, 2001

As most of you have heard, Congress recently rubber-stamped a bill at the behest of the President that will supposedly “help fight terror.” The Village Voice has a nice summary article:

Right after 9-11, then attorney general John Ashcroft was directing the swift preparation of the USA Patriot Act. He sent a draft to the aggressively conservative James Sensenbrenner, Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The bill included the suspension of habeas corpus for terrorism suspects–the right to go to a federal court to determine whether the government is holding you lawfully.

Sensenbrenner angrily recoiled at the proposed disappearance of the Great Writ and forced Ashcroft to strike it from the Patriot Act. Five years later, Sensenbrenner helped shepherd through Congress the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which prevents detainees held by us anywhere in the world, not only at Guantanamo, from having lawyers file habeas petitions in our courts concerning their conditions of confinement.

In 1798, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson–who insisted habeas corpus be embodied in the Constitution–said to generations to come: “The Habeas Corpus secures every man here, alien or citizen [freedom from arbitrary confinement]…”

But now, the Republicans’ Military Commissions Act can not only remove this bedrock of our liberty from prisoners outside the country but can also strip habeas protections from legal immigrants here, as well as from American citizens.[Link]

In the wake of 9/11 many of us South Asian Americans have dealt with the erosion of civil liberties by joking around about it. “Hey, don’t talk in Tamil at the airport or they might arrest you as a terrorist.” Or what about “Hey, be careful going to Pakistan because they may suspend your 5th Amendment rights and ask you to take a polygraph when it is time to return to America.” Behind all of these nervous jokes is the suspicion that under these new laws perhaps anyone, including U.S. citizens, could be arbitrarily labeled a “terrorist” and stripped of their rights. The Bush administration counters by arguing that we should trust them and that they will only pin the label of “terrorist” on the real bad guys. You see, under the Patriot Act once you are officially designated as a “terrorist” you are in a whole new legal reality.

Now consider for a few minutes the case of Luis Posada Carriles. 30 years ago last week he masterminded a bomb plot that brought down a Cuban jetliner off the coast of Barbados. 73 people aboard were killed.

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Free Choudhury

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Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

Salah Choudhury is a Bangladeshi Muslim currently on trial for ostensibly spying for Israel. Alas, even prosecutors in Bangladesh are forced to concede the surface accusations are false. The real reason he’s being persecuted is for using his role as a leading newspaper editor to criticize radical Islam and advocate an open, tolerant Bangladeshi society. In a political environment where everyone is crying out for moderate Muslims to rise up, Mr.Choudhury appears to be the real thing. And he can use your help.

The Chicago Tribune gives us the back story for the of Choudhury’s saga –

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury…will be tried this month on charges of spying for the Jewish state. The crime is punishable by death in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh.

…Choudhury was arrested at Dhaka-Zia International Airport [in November 2003] before boarding a flight to Israel, where he was scheduled to deliver a lecture on Muslim-Jewish relations. After several months behind bars, he was charged with sedition, a capital offense in Bangladesh.

“This is absolutely a false allegation,” Choudhury said. “I never, ever spy for any country. We work for the betterment of the interfaith.”

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