---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: peter waterman <[email protected]> Date: Sat, Sep 5, 2015 at 11:58 PM Subject: [NetworkedLabour] Fwd: [WSF-Discuss] An Interview with Professor Emeritus Richard A. Falk To: "<[email protected]>" < [email protected]>, p2p-foundation < [email protected]> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Umakant <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Sep 4, 2015 at 8:39 PM Subject: Re: [WSF-Discuss] An Interview with Professor Emeritus Richard A. Falk To: Dear Friends Greetings! Given below on the link you would find an interview with Professor Emeritus Richard A. Falk. In this interview he talks about the apprehensions on danger of democracy being sacrificed in the name of digital India campaign. Given below you would also find a full text along with name of signatories to the appeal made by leading US academics to the Silicon Valley Enterprises on their proposed dealing/s and businesses in India as part of digital India campaign. It must become an imperative to guard Democracy, Constitution, Human Rights & Dignity, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity along with Due Diligence and Accountability. Do read it and circulate in your circle/network With Regards and In Solidarity Umakant, Ph.D New Delhi ------------------------------- Interview *“The Future Of India As A Democratic Country Is At Risk” * Pranay Sharma Interviews Richard A. Falk Outlook Magazine, September 14, 2015 http://www.outlookindia.com/article/the-future-of-india-as-a-democratic-coun... *Professor emeritus of law at Princeton University, Richard A. Falk, on why he’s a signatory to the petition against Modi. * ------------------------ *Leading US academics urge Silicon Valley to be cautious in dealing with Modi government* Scroll.in August 29, 2015 http://scroll.in/article/751959/full-text-leading-us-academics-criticise-unc... *Digital India initiative ignores key questions about the collection of personal information and the near-certainty that such systems will be used to enhance surveillance, says statement.* With Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to visit Silicon Valley to promote his Digital India initiative late in September, leading South Asian experts at US universities on Thursday issued a statement urging information firms to be cautious of doing business with a government that has "on several occasions already, demonstrated its disregard for human rights and civil liberties, as well as the autonomy of educational and cultural institutions". The signatories include Columbia University's Akeel Bilgrami, Stanford University's Thomas Blom Hansen and the University of Chicago's Wendy Doniger. *Here is the full text of their statement.* As faculty who engage South Asia in our research and teaching, we write to express our concerns about the uncritical fanfare being generated over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley to promote 'Digital India' on September 27, 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley highlights the role of a country that has contributed much to the growth and development of Silicon Valley industries, and builds on this legacy in extending American business collaboration and partnerships with India. However Indian entrepreneurial success also brings with it key responsibilities and obligations with regard to the forms of e-governance envisioned by 'Digital India'. We are concerned that the project’s potential for increased transparency in bureaucratic dealings with people is threatened by its lack of safeguards about privacy of information, and thus its potential for abuse. As it stands, 'Digital India' seems to ignore key questions raised in India by critics concerned about the collection of personal information and the near certainty that such digital systems will be used to enhance surveillance and repress the constitutionally-protected rights of citizens. These issues are being discussed energetically in public in India and abroad. Those who live and work in Silicon Valley have a particular responsibility to demand that the government of India factor these critical concerns into its planning for digital futures. We acknowledge that Narendra Modi, as Prime Minister of a country that has contributed much to the growth and development of Silicon Valley industries, has the right to visit the United States, and to seek American business collaboration and partnerships with India. However, as educators who pay particular attention to history, we remind Mr. Modi’s audiences of the powerful reasons for him being denied the right to enter the U.S. from 2005-2014, for there is still an active case in Indian courts that questions his role in the Gujarat violence of 2002 when 1,000 died. Modi’s first year in office as the Prime Minister of India includes well-publicized episodes of censorship and harassment of those critical of his policies, bans and restrictions on NGOs leading to a constriction of the space of civic engagement, ongoing violations of religious freedom, and a steady impingement on the independence of the judiciary. Under Mr Modi’s tenure as Prime Minister, academic freedom is also at risk: foreign scholars have been denied entry to India to attend international conferences, there has been interference with the governance of top Indian universities and academic institutions such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Indian Institutes of Technology and Nalanda University; as well as underqualified or incompetent key appointments made to the Indian Council of Historical Research, the Film and Television Institute of India, and the National Book Trust. A proposed bill to bring the Indian Institutes of Management under direct control of government is also worrisome. These alarming trends require that we, as educators, remain vigilant not only about modes of e-governance in India but about the political future of the country. We urge those who lead Silicon Valley technology enterprises to be mindful of not violating their own codes of corporate responsibility when conducting business with a government which has, on several occasions already, demonstrated its disregard for human rights and civil liberties, as well as the autonomy of educational and cultural institutions. 1. Meena Alexander, Distinguished Professor of English, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York 2. Arjun Appadurai, Paulette Goddard Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, New York University 3. Anjali Arondekar, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies, UC Santa Cruz 4. Fredrick Asher, Professor of Art History and South Asian Studies, University of Minnesota 5. Paola Bacchetta, Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies University of California, Berkeley 6. Sarada Balagopalan, Associate Professor of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University, Camden 7. Radhika Balakrishnan, Prof of Women’s and Gender Studies, Rutgers University 8. Shahzad Bashir, Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University 9. Manu Bhagavan, Professor of History and Human Rights, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, The City University of New York 10. Mona Bhan Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology DePauw University 11. Srimati Basu, Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Kentucky 12. Prashant Bharadwaj, Associate Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego 13. Nilanjana Bhattacharjya, Faculty Fellow, Barrett Honors College, Arizona State University 14. Nandini Bhattacharya, Professor of English, Texas A &M University, College- Station 15. Tithi Bhattacharya, Associate Professor of South Asian History, Purdue University 16. Amit R. Baishya, Assistant Professor of English, University of Oklahoma 17. Akeel Bilgrami, Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy and Director, South Asian Institute, Columbia University 18. Purnima Bose, Associate Professor, English and International Studies, Indiana University-Bloomington 19. Christopher Candland, Associate Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College 20. Paula Chakravartty, Associate Professor, Gallatin School, & Department of Media, Culture and Communication, New York University 21. Shefali Chandra, Associate Professor of South Asian History Washington University, St. Louis 22. S. Charusheela, Associate Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Bothell 23. Partha Chatterjee, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Columbia University 24. Indrani Chatterjee Professor of History and South Asian Studies, University of Texas, Austin 25. Swati Chattopadhyay Professor History of Art and Architecture, University of California, Santa Barbara 26. Marty Chen, School of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School and Affiliated Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Design 27. Rohit Chopra, Associate Professor of Communication, Santa Clara University 28. Elora Chowdhury Associate Professor & Chair, Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston 29. E. Valentine Daniel, Professor of Anthropology, Colombia University 30. Monisha Das Gupta, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies, University of Hawaii, Manoa 31. Jigna Desai, Professor of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, University of Minnesota 32. Pawan Dhingra, Professor of Sociology, Tufts University 33. Wendy Doniger, Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago 34. Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University 35. Bishnupriya Ghosh, Professor of English University of California, Santa Barbara 36. Huma Ahmed-Ghosh, Professor and Chair of Women’s Studies, San Diego State University 37. Durba Ghosh, Associate Professor of History, Cornell University 38. Sumanth Gopinath, Associate Professor of Music Theory, School of Music, University of Minnesota 39. Nitin Govil, Associate Professor of Cinema & Media Studies, University of Southern California 40. Paul Greenough, Professor of History and Community and Behavioral Health and Director, South Asian Studies Program, University of Iowa 41. Inderpal Grewal, Professor of South Asian Studies, Yale University 42. Sumit Guha, Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor of History, University of Texas, Austin 43. Thomas Blom Hansen, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for South Asia, Stanford University 44. Syed Akbar Hyder, Associate Professor of South Asian Studies, University of Texas, Austin 45. Nalini Iyer, Professor of English, Seattle University 46. Priya Jaikumar, Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies, University of Southern California 47. Pranav Jani, Associate Professor of English, Ohio State University 48. Sheila Jasanoff, Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government 49. Arun W. Jones, Associate Professor, Candler School of Theology, Emory University 50. May Joseph, Professor of Social Science, Pratt Institute 51. Priya Joshi, Associate Professor of English and Associate Director, Center for the Humanities, Temple University 52. Sampath Kannan, Henry Salvatore Professor of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania 53. Suvir Kaul, A.M. Rosenthal Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania 54. Waqas Khwaja, Professor of English, Agnes Scott College 55. Naveeda Khan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University 56. Nyla Ali Khan, Visiting Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman 57. Satish Kolluri, Associate Professor of Communications, Pace University 58. Ruby Lal, Professor of Middle East and South Asian Studies, Emory University 59. Sarah Lamb, Professor of Anthropology and Head of the Division of Social Sciences, Brandeis University; Co-Chair of South Asian Studies 60. Karen Leonard, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, University of California, Irvine 61. David Lelyveld, Professor of History, Emeritus, William Paterson University 62. Jinee Lokaneeta, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Drew University 63. Ania Loomba, Catherine Bryson Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania 64. David Ludden, Professor of History, New York University 65. Ritty Lukose, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and South Asian Studies, the Gallatin School, New York University 66. Sudhir Mahadevan Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Comparative Literature, Cinema and Media, University of Washington, Seattle 67. Tayyab Mahmud, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Global Justice Seattle University School of Law 68. Sunaina Maira, Professor of Asian American Studies, University of California, Davis 69. Bakirathi Mani, Associate Professor of English Literature, Swarthmore College 70. Rebecca J. Manring, Associate Professor of India Studies and Religious Studies Indiana University-Bloomington 71. Monika Mehta, Associate Professor, Department of English, Binghamton University 72. Jisha Menon, Assistant Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies, Stanford University 73. Kalyani Devaki Menon, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, DePaul University 74. Sally Engle Merry, Silver Professor of Anthropology, New York University 75. Raza Mir, Professor of Management, Cotsakos College of Business, William Paterson University 76. Deepti Misri, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies University of Colorado, Boulder 77. Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Chair and Distinguished Professor of Women’s & Gender Studies, and Dean’s Professor of Humanities, Syracuse University 78. Satya P. Mohanty, Professor of English, Cornell University 79. Megan Moodie, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz 80. Projit B. Mukharji, Martin Meyerson Assistant Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies, History & Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania 81. Madhavi Murty, Assistant Professor of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz 82. Vijaya Nagarajan, Associate Professor of Theology & Religious Studies, Program in Environmental Studies, University of San Francisco 83. Gyanendra Pandey, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History, Emory University 84. Carla Petievich, Visiting Professor of South Asian Studies, University of Texas, Austin 85. Sheldon Pollock, Professor of South Asian Studies, Columbia University 86. Kavita Philip, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Irvine 87. Vijay Prashad, George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History, Trinity College 88. Jasbir K. Puar, Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, Rutgers University 89. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Professor of Law and Development, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 90. R. Radhakrishnan, Chancellor’s Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine 91. Gloria Raheja, Professor of Anthropology, University of Minnesota 92. Junaid Rana, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana 93. Anupama Rao, Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College 94. Velcheru Narayana Rao, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Emory University 95. Kasturi Ray, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies/Co-Director, South Asian Studies, San Francisco State University 96. M.V. Ramana, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University 97. Sumathi Ramaswamy, Professor of History, Duke University 98. Chandan Reddy, Associate Professor of English, University of Washington, Seattle 99. Gayatri Reddy, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Illinois, Chicago 100. Parama Roy, Professor of English, University of California, Davis 101. Sharmila Rudrappa, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin 102. G.S. Sahota, Assistant Professor of Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz 103. Yasmin Saikia, Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies & Professor of History, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University 104. Arun Saldanha, Associate Professor of Geography, Environment and Society University of Minnesota 105. Juned Shaikh, Assistant Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz 106. Nitasha Tamar Sharma, Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence and Associate Professor of African American Studies and Asian American Studies, Northwestern University 107. Elora Shehabuddin, Associate Professor of Humanities and Political Science, Rice University 108. Bhaskar Sarkar, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara 109. Priya Satia, Associate Professor of History, Stanford University 110. Aradhana Sharma, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Wesleyan University 111. Snehal Shinghavi, Associate Professor of English and South Asian Studies, University of Texas, Austin 112. Ajay Skaria, Professor of History, University of Minnesota 113. Shalini Shankar, Chair and Associate Professor of Asian American Studies, Northwestern University 114. S. Shankar, Professor of English, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa 115. Amritjit Singh, Langston Hughes Professor of English, Ohio University 116. Mytheli Sreenivas, Associate Professor of History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Ohio State University 117. Rajini Srikanth, Professor, English, University of Massachusetts Boston 118. Nidhi Srinivas, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management, The New School 119. Ajantha Subramanian, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, Harvard University 120. Banu Subramaniam, Professor, Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 121. Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago 122. Raja Swamy, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Tennessee 123. Tariq Thachil, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yale University 124. Ashwini Tambe, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Maryland, College-Park 125. Vamsi Vakulabharanam, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 126. Jyotnsa Vaid, Professor of Psychology, Texas A&M University 127. Sylvia Vatuk, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, University of Illinois, Chicago 128. Kamala Visweswaran, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego 129. Kalindi Vora, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego 130. Bonnie Zare, Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies, University of Wyoming --------------------- *My final words of advice to you are educate, agitate and organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can lose our battle. The battle to me is a matter of joy. The battle is in the fullest sense spiritual. There is nothing material or social in it. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is battle for freedom. It is the battle of reclamation of human personality. 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