25 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost
New Delhi’s Central Board of Film Classification has refused to certify the documentary Flames of the Snow. The body stated that any film which romanticises and promotes the violence of the Maoist groups in Nepal is inappropriate viewing for the general public. The feature documents over 200 years of relations between Nepalese rebels and the Indian establishment. The director of the film, Ashish Srivastava and its Kathmandu-based producers, Group for International Solidarity, intend to launch a campaign to oppose the banning. Another film entitled, Village of Widows, which features Benazir Bhutto vehemently criticising the Indian state and the burning of an Indian flag in Kashmir has also been censored by the authorities.
2 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Facebook admitted on 1 June that it has now blocked Pakistani users from accessing the page Everybody Draw Mohammed Day. A company spokesperson claimed the restrictions were placed “out of respect for local rules”. Pakistan temporarily banned Facebook website on May 19, Bangladesh banned the site on 29 May because of the page, and it is know expected the company will block it for the Bangladeshi government as well.
26 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The Indian Government is to respond to the serious charges of having tapped the telephone conversations of four leading politicians, including the chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Lalit Modi, since 2007. The government began an investigation of Mr Modi and the IPL last week after allegations of tax evasion, money laundering, kickbacks, match fixing and illegal betting in cricket’s competition. Many prominent Indian figures have been implicated in the scandal, which led to the resignation of Shashi Taroor, a junior minister and former UN under-secretary-general, and the suspension of Modi from public assignments.
16 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Writer and campaigner Arundhati Roy is currently under investigation by Chhattisgarh police for her article “Walking with the Comrades”, published 29 March in Outlook magazine, describing her experiences with Maoist insurgents in the Dantewada region. The area was the location of the recent ambush launched on 6 April by the same rebels which killed 70 police troops. Police are alleging that Roy has intricate ties to the insurgents as a result of her sympathetic article. Roy stated in an interview to an Indian newspaper that the investigation was simply a way to “cordon off the theatre of war and choke the flow of critical information coming out of the forests”.
