Issue 342 - 27/03/2020
26 27/03/2020 NEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMSwww.samajweekly.comWomen 10% more likelyto feel unsafe than menLondon : Researchers have foundthat on average, women are ten percent more likely than men to feelunsafe on metro trains (trains that gounderground) and six per cent morelikely than men to feel unsafe onbuses. The study, published in theJournal of the Royal StatisticalSociety: Series A, was conducted byImperial College London on datafrom 2009 to 2018. For the findings,the researchers looked at a third of amillion passenger responses toCustomer Satisfaction Surveys(CSSs) from 28 cities across four continents.According to the study, the largestdifference between women and men'sperceptions of safety was in Europe,where women were 12 per cent morelikely to report feeling unsafe thanmen.The smallest difference was inSouth America, where women werenine per cent more likely to report feelingunsafe than men. "Feeling unsafeUS Sikh Coalition publishesCOVID-19 guidelines in PunjabiWashington : TheCalifornia-based Sikh Coalitionhas prepared COVID-19 guidelinesin Punjabi to enable theabout 500,000 Sikhs living inAmerica to better understand thepandemic, a media report said.The guidelines published inthe website of the Coalition, aSikh-American advocacy group,cover all important aspects of theLondon : In order to fight a pandemic,travel restrictions are most useful inits early and late phases, a new studysuggests.Analysis of human mobility and epidemiologicaldata by a global consortiumof researchers, led by theUniversity of Oxford in the UK andNortheastern University in the US,shows that human mobility was predictiveof the spread of the epidemic inChina. "Our findings show that early inthe coronavirus outbreak travel restrictionswere effective in preventing theimport of infections from a knowncan lead to social, professional, economic,and health problems for thoseaffected," said study lead author LailaAit Bihi Ouali from Imperial CollegeLondon in the UK. "In this case,women who feel unsafe on publictransport might turn down shift work atcertain times of day, or avoid social orwork events that require travelling acertain route," Ouali added.Accordingto the researchers, public transportoperators send online CSSs every yearto passengers that are designed toongoing pandemic beginningwith social distancing which isexplained as taking simple stepsto reduce close contact betweenpeople to contain the spread ofthe deadly virus, the AmericanBazaar said in the report onThursday.In both Punjabi and Hindi,people are advised about steps toensure that they were taking ansource," said study researcher MoritzKraemer from the University of Oxford.Restrictions of travel from Wuhanprovince in China, unfortunately, cametoo late.The research, published in the journalScience, showed that the impact oftravel restrictions declines as the epidemicgrows. Provinces outside Hubeithat acted early to test, track and containimported coronavirus cases fared thebest in preventing or containing localoutbreaks, the study said.Mobile geolocation data from Chinabasedsearch engine giant Baidu Inc,measure general feelings of satisfactionwith their networks. The surveys askpassengers their level of agreementwith various statements about availability,time, information, comfort,security, customer care, accessibility,environment, and overall satisfaction.The response options are usually:agree strongly; agree; neither agreenor disagree; disagree; or disagreestrongly.To carry out the study, theresearchers looked at 327,403 completedresponses to CSSs from 2009active part in flattening the curveto slow the spread of COVID-19.The coalition on its resourcespage will also provide constantupdates on closures and changeswith respect to citizen and foreigntraveller entry and exit.The information on federal aswell as state benefits to help peopleget through this period ofslowdown would also be provided,said the American Bazaarreport.The resource informs that inaddition to federal relief, all 50US states have unique policieswith regard to unemployment,medicaid, and welfare programs.The Federal benefit resourcespage also provide a summary ofthe bipartisan Families FirstCoronavirus Response Actsigned by President DonaldTrump on March 18, whichauthorizes more than $100 billionworth of aid to address theeffects of COVID-19.Travel restrictions useful in early, late phases of pandemiccombined with a rich epidemiologicaldataset from the Open COVID-19 DataWorking Group, showed that local person-to-persontransmission happenedextensively early on in the coronavirusoutbreak and was mitigated by drasticcontrol measures. However, with anaverage incubation period of five days,and up to 14 days in some cases, thesemobility restrictions did not begin topositively impact the data on new casesfor over a week -- with things appearingto get worse in the 5-7 days immediatelyafter the lockdown as local transmissionwas well under way.to 2018. As well as measuring overallsatisfaction scores, they focussed onresponses to three questions pertainingto feelings of 'security' andassigned numbers from one to five foreach potential response (one for 'agreestrongly; five for 'disagree strongly')to quantify the responses. They thencompared the scores between men andwomen and looked at whether theydiffered alongside characteristics ofthe transport network like rates of violenceon the network, the number ofcars per train, and busyness of vehiclesand stations. The researchersfound that around half of the womensurveyed felt safe on urban publictransport (45 per cent felt safe inmetro trains and stations; 55 per centfelt safe in buses), but that womenwere ten per cent more likely thanmen to report feeling unsafe in metrotrains and stations, and six per centmore likely than men to feel unsafe inbuses.London : Singer Ed Sheeran will be payingthe workers at his restaurant their wages duringthe coronavirus outbreak. He has even encouragedthem to get other job if they wanted to.The 29-year-old has moved to underwritesalaries for 10 staff at his Bertie Blossoms jointin London's Notting Hill, reports thesun.co.uk.A source said: "Ed's told everyone not toworry and that he's picking up the tab and he'llsee them all again for a massive p*ss-up oncethe world gets back to normal. The managerswill be checking in on the place every now andagain to make sure it is safe and secure and allis well."Ed even told staff they could go out andseek other employment if they wanted or gohelp the nation by doing voluntary work."It's great of Ed to put everyone's mind atrest. People will say ‘oh well he can afford it'but often the people with the most money canbe the least generous. That's not Ed, though."The place had opened in November. Itclosed its doors last week.The step was taken after Prime Minister ofthe United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, made anannouncement ordering all venues to shut asthe Government tries to battle the outbreak.Punjab to release6,000 prisonersChandigarh : With a view to decongestprisons in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,Punjab is going to release nearly6,000 prisoners from jails across the state,Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawasaid on Thursday. He said the prisonerswould be released on parole for six weeksand undertrial prisoners on interim bail forsix weeks. The minister said there werearound 24,000 prisoners lodged in 24 jailsacross the state against an authorised capacityof 23,488.As per a Supreme Court committeereport, the primary now aim is to protect thehealth of the prisoners and restrict the transmissionof COVID-19 by decongestingprisons.Ed Sheeran to pay full wagesof workers in his restaurantAccording to the researchers, amongthe cases reported outside Hubei, 515had a known travel history to Wuhanand a symptom onset date beforeJanuary 31, 2020, compared with only39 after this date, illustrating the effectof travel restrictions in decreasing thespread to other Chinese provinces."This is where a full package ofmeasures, including local mobilityrestrictions, testing, tracing and isolationneed to work together to mitigatethe epidemic," Kraemer added. Chineseprovinces and other countries that havesuccessfully halted internal transmissionof COVID-19 need to considercarefully how they will manage to reinstatetravel and mobility to avoid thereintroduction and spread of the diseasein their populations, the researcherssaid. "Travel and mobility restrictionsare the most useful right at the start,when local transmission has not yetbecome a factor," said Samuel VScarpino, Professor at NortheasternUniversity."After transmission is established,physical distancing and the quarantineof sick individuals will work, but ittakes time," Scarpino added.
www.samajweekly.comNEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMS27/03/202027Global Solidarity Statement for Dr. AnandTeltumbde and Gautam NavlakhaWe, the undersigned (organizations and individuals)protest the impending arrest of ProfessorAnand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha andstrongly condemn the attempt to malign their statusas two of India’s foremost civil rights activistsand public intellectuals today. On March 16, 2020,the Supreme Court of India rejected the anticipatorybail application of Dr. Teltumbde and Mr.Navlakha. They now have until April 6, 2020 to‘surrender’ to the police. We strongly urge theChief Justice of India and the Supreme Courtbench to take cognizance of the dangers posed bythe pandemic COVID19 to the health and life ofDr. Teltumbde and Mr. Navlakha. Both are seniorcitizens with pre-existing medical conditions thatputs them at high risk for a deadly infection ifimprisoned. Incarceration at such a time will mostdefinitely endanger their lives and health. At thevery least, we urge the judicial authorities toamend their arrest order to after the global healthcrisis is fully subsided and there is no danger totheir health and life.Both Teltumbde and Navlakha are only the latestin an ongoing series of attacks on human rightslawyers, civil rights activists, and scholars by theruling regime in India. They have been chargedunder a draconian colonial law (UAPA) against‘terrorists’ and ‘seditionists’ which blatantly disregardsfundamental rights enjoyed by all Indian citizenssuch as free speech, right to hold an opinion,or the right to dissent violent policies of the state,and right to due judicial process (see statementsfrom Indian civil liberties organizations – PUCL,PUDR, WSS, Oxfam India). Their cases are partof what has come to be known as the ‘BhimaKoregaon’ case – a dubious and brazenly fabricatedcase (see the American Bar Association’s reportthat documents the irregularities and violations ofthe freedom of expression and association in thiscase, and a more recent investigation points to thefabricated nature of the evidence). Since June2018, nine other prominent intellectuals and civilliberties activists (Sudha Bharadwaj, SudhirDhawale, Arun Ferreira, Surendra Gadling,Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Mahesh Raut,Shoma Sen, and Rona Wilson) have been imprisonedunder this fabricated case (for a comprehensivecompendium of news reports on the BhimaKoregaon cases see India Civil Watch). This groupof eleven are among India’s most respectedactivists and intellectuals who have consistentlyfought for the democratic rights of the sociallymarginalized and oppressed groups, such asDalits, Adivasis (indigenous ‘tribal’ communities),workers, and religious minorities.Professor Teltumbde is a distinguished scholar,civil rights activist, and one of India’s leading publicintellectuals with a long history of speakingtruth to power, exposing the state’s repressivepractices against its most vulnerable populationssuch as Dalits and working classes, and society’sentrenched regressive cultural institutions such ascaste. Admired by many as an organic intellectual,Dr. Teltumbde’s writings have contributedimmensely to critical debates on democracy, globalizationand social justice. A consummate polymathhailing from very humble beginnings as amember of the Dalit community (India’s longoppressed‘Untouchable’ castes), Dr. Teltumbdegraduated from India’s leading institutions ofhigher education with high scholarly achievements.He is an alumnus of the premier IndianInstitute of Management (IIM – Ahmedabad), hashad a long and illustrious career in the corporatesector in top management positions in the stateownedBharat Petroleum Corporation Limited,and the petro-infrastructure company PetronetIndia Ltd (promoted by the Government of Indiain the private sector). After his corporate stint, hehas been Professor of Business Management at thepremier Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Painting by Mr. Siddesh GautamKharagpur) and is currently a senior professor andchair of Big Data Analytics at Goa Institute ofManagement. His astute analysis on the dynamicsof caste and class and on the relevance of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar (the much revered chief architect of theIndian Constitution and Mahatma Gandhi’s mostimportant interlocutor) for contemporary societyare essential references for scholars and arerequired reading at many universities around theworld. He is frequently an invited speaker at internationalconferences, demonstrating the respecthis work commands all over the globe.Dr. Teltumbde has contributed immensely toimproving the lives of people and decided todevote time to make an intellectual contributionfor making the world a little more just. Thisinstinct naturally led him to actively build civilsociety organisations such as the Committee forProtection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) of whichhe is the general secretary, and the All India Forumfor Right to Education (AIFRTE) of which he is apresidium member. None of the organizations heis associated with are banned organizations inIndia.Gautam Navlakha has been a well-known democraticand human rights activist and a journalist.He has been a longstanding member of thePeople’s Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi. Hehas served as an editorial consultant of India’sleading social science journal – the internationallywell-known Economic and Political Weekly andhas been a convener of the International People’sTribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir.His book Days and Nights: In the Heartland ofRebellion (Penguin, 2012) is one of the most seriousinterventions in understanding the Maoistmovement in Chattisgarh.The intention of the state is quite clear from thevehemence with which the Central governmenttook away the cases of Teltumbde and Navlakhafrom the Maharashtra government to the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA) just a few weeks ago.It appears evident that the state wishes to incarceratethem in jails for years just for advocating forthe democratic and human rights of oppressed andmarginalised sections of Indian society. This,despite the fact that their methods of struggle forjustice have always been within the provisions andfreedoms provided by the Constitution of India.Neither of them has anything remotely to do withorganising or the subsequent events that occurredaround the Bhima Koregaon episode.As long-time observers of Indian democracy,we are shocked by the state’s vicious persecutionof intellectuals and activists who have devotedtheir lives to the defense of the powerless and theweak, and are some of India’s strongest defendersof democracy especially at a time when the worldis witness to brazen attacks on it in India.Moreover, in targeting Dr. Teltumbde – a person ofexceptional antecedents as a corporate leader, highcaliber scholar, and a much celebrated public intellectual,but also coming from one of the foundingfamilies of Indian democracy – that of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar – the state is sending a message to theentire country that it could go to any extent torepress the voice of people if they dare to challengeand dissent.In solidarity with and with unequivocal supportto Dr. Teltumbde and Mr. Navlakha and all theothers who are falsely implicated in the Bhima-Koregaon case, we urge:The President of India, Shri. Ram Nath Kovindto uphold the Indian Constitution and Indiandemocracy by intervening in this case and seekingthe Supreme Court’s opinion on the use of seditionand terrorism charges against human rightsactivists.The National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) to elevate the case as its highest priorityand constitute an immediate inquiry into the questionsof fabrication of evidence reported widely inthe media.The Government of Maharashtra and theMaharashtra State Human Rights Commission toimmediately constitute a Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) to independently investigate the matter.The United Nations Human Right Commission(UNHRC) and the Asian Human RightsCommission (AHRC) to attend to the UN SpecialRapporteur who has clearly challenged the basisof this case.So far, 3037 organizations or individuals havesigned this petition. The following is a partial listof highlights:• Committee for the Protection of DemocraticRights (CPDR), India• India Civil Watch International, USA• Indian American Muslim Council, USA• Dalit Solidarity Forum, USA• Ambedkar King Study Circle, USA• Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus, MIT andLaureate Professor, University of Arizona• Arundhati Roy, Writer, India• Cornel West, Professor of practice of publicphilosophy, Harvard• Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor ofHistory, UCLA, USA• Partha Chatterjee, Senior Research Scholar,Anthropology Columbia University, USA• Gayatri Spivak, University Professor, Englishand Comparative Literature, ColumbiaUniversity, USA• Angela Davis, UC Santa Cruz, USA• Sukhadeo Thorat, Professor Emeritus, Schoolof Social Sciences, JNU, and FormerChairperson of University Grants Commissionand ICSSR• Kshama Sawant, Member, City Council,Seattle, WA USA• Anand Patwardhan, Film maker, India• Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, JNUIndia• Gyan Prakash, Professor of History, Princeton• Chandra Talpade Mohanty, DistinguishedProfessor, Syracuse University• Akeel Bilgrami, Sidney MorgenbesserProfessor of Philosophy, Columbia University• Arjun Appadurai, Paulette Goddard Professorof Media, Culture, and Communication, NewYork University, NY• Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan, GlobalDistinguished Professor, New York University,NY• Justice Kolse-Patil, retired High Court Judge• Justice P. B. Sawant, Former Supreme CourtJudge and President, World Association ofPress Councils• Prakash Ambedkar, ex-Member of Parliament(Lok Sabha), India• Ramachandra Guha, Historian and EconomistV. Geetha, Feminist Historian and Writer• Professor Manoranjan Mohanty, DurgabaiDeshmukh Professor of Social Development atthe Council for Social Development, NewDelhi and Co-chair of the Institute of ChineseStudies.
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- Page 25: www.samajweekly.comNEWS LITERATURE
www.samajweekly.com
NEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMS
27/03/2020
27
Global Solidarity Statement for Dr. Anand
Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha
We, the undersigned (organizations and individuals)
protest the impending arrest of Professor
Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha and
strongly condemn the attempt to malign their status
as two of India’s foremost civil rights activists
and public intellectuals today. On March 16, 2020,
the Supreme Court of India rejected the anticipatory
bail application of Dr. Teltumbde and Mr.
Navlakha. They now have until April 6, 2020 to
‘surrender’ to the police. We strongly urge the
Chief Justice of India and the Supreme Court
bench to take cognizance of the dangers posed by
the pandemic COVID19 to the health and life of
Dr. Teltumbde and Mr. Navlakha. Both are senior
citizens with pre-existing medical conditions that
puts them at high risk for a deadly infection if
imprisoned. Incarceration at such a time will most
definitely endanger their lives and health. At the
very least, we urge the judicial authorities to
amend their arrest order to after the global health
crisis is fully subsided and there is no danger to
their health and life.
Both Teltumbde and Navlakha are only the latest
in an ongoing series of attacks on human rights
lawyers, civil rights activists, and scholars by the
ruling regime in India. They have been charged
under a draconian colonial law (UAPA) against
‘terrorists’ and ‘seditionists’ which blatantly disregards
fundamental rights enjoyed by all Indian citizens
such as free speech, right to hold an opinion,
or the right to dissent violent policies of the state,
and right to due judicial process (see statements
from Indian civil liberties organizations – PUCL,
PUDR, WSS, Oxfam India). Their cases are part
of what has come to be known as the ‘Bhima
Koregaon’ case – a dubious and brazenly fabricated
case (see the American Bar Association’s report
that documents the irregularities and violations of
the freedom of expression and association in this
case, and a more recent investigation points to the
fabricated nature of the evidence). Since June
2018, nine other prominent intellectuals and civil
liberties activists (Sudha Bharadwaj, Sudhir
Dhawale, Arun Ferreira, Surendra Gadling,
Vernon Gonsalves, Varavara Rao, Mahesh Raut,
Shoma Sen, and Rona Wilson) have been imprisoned
under this fabricated case (for a comprehensive
compendium of news reports on the Bhima
Koregaon cases see India Civil Watch). This group
of eleven are among India’s most respected
activists and intellectuals who have consistently
fought for the democratic rights of the socially
marginalized and oppressed groups, such as
Dalits, Adivasis (indigenous ‘tribal’ communities),
workers, and religious minorities.
Professor Teltumbde is a distinguished scholar,
civil rights activist, and one of India’s leading public
intellectuals with a long history of speaking
truth to power, exposing the state’s repressive
practices against its most vulnerable populations
such as Dalits and working classes, and society’s
entrenched regressive cultural institutions such as
caste. Admired by many as an organic intellectual,
Dr. Teltumbde’s writings have contributed
immensely to critical debates on democracy, globalization
and social justice. A consummate polymath
hailing from very humble beginnings as a
member of the Dalit community (India’s longoppressed
‘Untouchable’ castes), Dr. Teltumbde
graduated from India’s leading institutions of
higher education with high scholarly achievements.
He is an alumnus of the premier Indian
Institute of Management (IIM – Ahmedabad), has
had a long and illustrious career in the corporate
sector in top management positions in the stateowned
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited,
and the petro-infrastructure company Petronet
India Ltd (promoted by the Government of India
in the private sector). After his corporate stint, he
has been Professor of Business Management at the
premier Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-
Painting by Mr. Siddesh Gautam
Kharagpur) and is currently a senior professor and
chair of Big Data Analytics at Goa Institute of
Management. His astute analysis on the dynamics
of caste and class and on the relevance of Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar (the much revered chief architect of the
Indian Constitution and Mahatma Gandhi’s most
important interlocutor) for contemporary society
are essential references for scholars and are
required reading at many universities around the
world. He is frequently an invited speaker at international
conferences, demonstrating the respect
his work commands all over the globe.
Dr. Teltumbde has contributed immensely to
improving the lives of people and decided to
devote time to make an intellectual contribution
for making the world a little more just. This
instinct naturally led him to actively build civil
society organisations such as the Committee for
Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) of which
he is the general secretary, and the All India Forum
for Right to Education (AIFRTE) of which he is a
presidium member. None of the organizations he
is associated with are banned organizations in
India.
Gautam Navlakha has been a well-known democratic
and human rights activist and a journalist.
He has been a longstanding member of the
People’s Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi. He
has served as an editorial consultant of India’s
leading social science journal – the internationally
well-known Economic and Political Weekly and
has been a convener of the International People’s
Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir.
His book Days and Nights: In the Heartland of
Rebellion (Penguin, 2012) is one of the most serious
interventions in understanding the Maoist
movement in Chattisgarh.
The intention of the state is quite clear from the
vehemence with which the Central government
took away the cases of Teltumbde and Navlakha
from the Maharashtra government to the National
Investigation Agency (NIA) just a few weeks ago.
It appears evident that the state wishes to incarcerate
them in jails for years just for advocating for
the democratic and human rights of oppressed and
marginalised sections of Indian society. This,
despite the fact that their methods of struggle for
justice have always been within the provisions and
freedoms provided by the Constitution of India.
Neither of them has anything remotely to do with
organising or the subsequent events that occurred
around the Bhima Koregaon episode.
As long-time observers of Indian democracy,
we are shocked by the state’s vicious persecution
of intellectuals and activists who have devoted
their lives to the defense of the powerless and the
weak, and are some of India’s strongest defenders
of democracy especially at a time when the world
is witness to brazen attacks on it in India.
Moreover, in targeting Dr. Teltumbde – a person of
exceptional antecedents as a corporate leader, high
caliber scholar, and a much celebrated public intellectual,
but also coming from one of the founding
families of Indian democracy – that of Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar – the state is sending a message to the
entire country that it could go to any extent to
repress the voice of people if they dare to challenge
and dissent.
In solidarity with and with unequivocal support
to Dr. Teltumbde and Mr. Navlakha and all the
others who are falsely implicated in the Bhima-
Koregaon case, we urge:
The President of India, Shri. Ram Nath Kovind
to uphold the Indian Constitution and Indian
democracy by intervening in this case and seeking
the Supreme Court’s opinion on the use of sedition
and terrorism charges against human rights
activists.
The National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) to elevate the case as its highest priority
and constitute an immediate inquiry into the questions
of fabrication of evidence reported widely in
the media.
The Government of Maharashtra and the
Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission to
immediately constitute a Special Investigation
Team (SIT) to independently investigate the matter.
The United Nations Human Right Commission
(UNHRC) and the Asian Human Rights
Commission (AHRC) to attend to the UN Special
Rapporteur who has clearly challenged the basis
of this case.
So far, 3037 organizations or individuals have
signed this petition. The following is a partial list
of highlights:
• Committee for the Protection of Democratic
Rights (CPDR), India
• India Civil Watch International, USA
• Indian American Muslim Council, USA
• Dalit Solidarity Forum, USA
• Ambedkar King Study Circle, USA
• Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus, MIT and
Laureate Professor, University of Arizona
• Arundhati Roy, Writer, India
• Cornel West, Professor of practice of public
philosophy, Harvard
• Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor of
History, UCLA, USA
• Partha Chatterjee, Senior Research Scholar,
Anthropology Columbia University, USA
• Gayatri Spivak, University Professor, English
and Comparative Literature, Columbia
University, USA
• Angela Davis, UC Santa Cruz, USA
• Sukhadeo Thorat, Professor Emeritus, School
of Social Sciences, JNU, and Former
Chairperson of University Grants Commission
and ICSSR
• Kshama Sawant, Member, City Council,
Seattle, WA USA
• Anand Patwardhan, Film maker, India
• Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, JNU
India
• Gyan Prakash, Professor of History, Princeton
• Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Distinguished
Professor, Syracuse University
• Akeel Bilgrami, Sidney Morgenbesser
Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University
• Arjun Appadurai, Paulette Goddard Professor
of Media, Culture, and Communication, New
York University, NY
• Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan, Global
Distinguished Professor, New York University,
NY
• Justice Kolse-Patil, retired High Court Judge
• Justice P. B. Sawant, Former Supreme Court
Judge and President, World Association of
Press Councils
• Prakash Ambedkar, ex-Member of Parliament
(Lok Sabha), India
• Ramachandra Guha, Historian and Economist
V. Geetha, Feminist Historian and Writer
• Professor Manoranjan Mohanty, Durgabai
Deshmukh Professor of Social Development at
the Council for Social Development, New
Delhi and Co-chair of the Institute of Chinese
Studies.