SANSAD Forum
Dear Friends,
We respectfully remind you to join us at the important and timely forum on
Sunday, June 21, 2009
2:00 p.m.
Room A. 136 A, Langara College
100 West 49th Avenue, Vancouver
Aided by the wholesome adoption of the Neo-liberal agenda by the Indian state, the many-pronged penetration of Imperialism is now present in every sector of Indian econmy, every aspect of society and polity, and also in the defence-military establishment.
The focus of this Forum is however on only one aspect of this phenomenon: the large scale acquisition of hundreds of thousands of hectares of agricultural land; either for building mega projects, or for setting up Special Economic Zones – to serve the local and/or multinational big capital. Large scale resistance of peasants and tribal people are breaking up all over India, often met with severe state repression.
The Forum will attempt to examine these by paying a close attention to one region, the resource rich State of Orissa. Very many national and multinational corporations are waiting in the wings. It is also in Orissa where the Hindutwa forces of VHP, RSS, and Bajranga Dal carried out the genocidal attacks last year against the Christian community. Thousands of affected families are still on run, unable to return to their homes and hearth.
Panelists
Dr. Hari Sharma, Imperialism and India, an Update and a Brief Overview
Dr. Manoranjan Mohanty, People’s Movement Against Neo-Liberalism and Imperialism: A View from Orissa
Dr. Bidyut Mohanty, Right to Livelihood from a Gender Perspective
Mr. David Pugh, Peasant Displacements in India: Encountering State Power in Orissa
Speakers:
Dr. Hari Sharma, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, SFU, and President, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD)
Dr. Manoranjan Mohanty, Retired Head, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. Presently, Visiting Professor, Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Dr. Bidyut Mohanty, Head, Women’s Studies Department, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, Presently, Visiting Professor, Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
As a husband-wife team Drs. Manoranjan and Bidyut Mohanty are orginally from Orissa, and have been very actively involved there with the people’s resistance movements.
Mr. David Pugh, a School Teacher, San Fracisco, California. On behalf of International League of People’s Struggles, Mr. Pugh travelled to India to investigate the phenonomenon of massive displacements of peasants from their land and livelihood, and had an unforgetable encounter with the Orissa police.
Additional Forum
Monday, June 22, 2009
2:00 p.m.
F125 – Centre for Indo Canadian Studies, University House
University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford BC
Organized by
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD)
Endorsed and Supported by
Department of Sociology, Langara College, Vancouver; Centrefor the Indo-Canadian Studies, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford; Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Institute for the Humanities, SFU; School for International Studies, SFU; and Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG)
for further information, contact:
Chin Banerjee, 604-421-6752; Harjap Grewal, 778-552-2099; Hari Sharma, 604-420-2972
For the Program in Abbotsford: Dr. Satwinder Bains, 1-604-854-4547