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How the United States H4 Visa Traps Foreign Workers’ Family Members in a ‘Golden Cage’ · Global Voices
Tejasvini Prasad

Stack of paperwork for US immigration. Image from Flickr by Stephanie Pakrul. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
It has been dubbed the “golden cage”, “depression visa” and “prisoner visa” in various reports and comments. The United States’ H4 visa allows immediate family members of those awarded an “H” visa for temporary work to reside in the US, but not much else.
Holders of this visa cannot obtain a Social Security number, the de facto national identification number for taxation, job applications and other tracking purposes. By contrast, dependents of another temporary work visa, the L1, are allowed to work in the US after obtaining employment authorization from the United States Immigration Service.
Many of the spouses of “H” visa holders are mostly women and are professionals with valuable skills to contribute to the workforce. But they cannot get a job in the US, work remotely for a company back home or even freelance, according to the terms of the H4 visa. So H4 visa holders resort to continuing education, limited volunteering or illegal freelance work, a minimal use of their skills.
A recent petition started by Shah Peerally, a lawyer in California, demands that the US government allow them more rights.
A Facebook page titled “H4 visa, a curse” has close to 5,000 likes. An associated blog details experiences of H4 visa holders and highlights the depression, frustration and sometimes familial abuse attached to a visa that restricts employment, especially for immigrants who have no social support system in a new country. For instance, Shilpa – Future entrepreneur writes:
I have masters degree and 3 year of work experience from my home country, all in waste. By the time I will get my work permit I will be 45 year old and there will be more than 10 year of career gap in my resume. Which employer will like to hire with this huge career gap. 2) To live in America and afford the daily expense with kids is very hard and that is why we are not able to buy a house. 3) H4 visa woman are abused, one of my friends Mother was abused very badly. All because she did not have any identity card, no money, nowhere to go. These abuse cases go unreported because h4 dependents don’t have an identity.
Elsewhere on the Internet, Jaspreet, in an open letter to President Obama, writes:
We were both from top institutes back in India, there was a time when I had a great career , making more money than my husband, but I came to the US to support my husband's career
…
ppl who have been here since there education and paid taxes for yrs are the ones most affected. The sad part is, even if you grant us a small favor and authorize work, what will the wives do after a gap of 7 yrs in their career?
Geetha Krishnan, a chemical engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area, tweets:
@ImmPolitic There ought to be some equality and rights for qualified well educated h4 visa spouses who are wasting their talents
— Geetha Krishnan (@KoolGeets) August 22, 2014
A study of immigrant entrepreneurs in the US, commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association, found that in recent years immigrants started one-third of US venture-backed companies that became publicly traded.
Recognizing the value that immigrants bring to the culture and economy, President Barack Obama's administration announced  on May 7, 2014, proposals to allow a subset of H4 visa holders to work in the US. The number of qualified candidates is around 100,000 at the current time.
The rationale for this was explained by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker: “These individuals are American families in waiting. Many tire of waiting for green cards and leave the country to work for our competition. The fact is we have to do more to retain and attract world-class talent to the United States, and these regulations put us on a path to do that.”
As with any immigration reform, the proposal has been greeted by a mixture of fear and triumph. Interested individuals have posted positive and negative comments on Regulations.gov, a website that allows the public to track and comment on federal rulemaking. It received 12,922 comments before the commenting period was closed on July 11.
Cecilia Curtis vocalizes the worry of many Americans vis a vis immigration reform:
This proposed rule change does NOT help American workers who are indeed skilled and unable to find work. Why does this Administration continue to put up roadblocks to hurt the American worker? Further, why does this Administration continue to bypass congress when it comes to immigration? There are way too many immigrants (legal and illegal) here in the US now. Our country cannot continue to absorb these excess workers/people. This is such a bad idea.
Vivek Pandey, however, disagrees that the law will divert jobs from citizens:
My wife has years of very high quality work experience and can easily find employment were this rule in effect. Please bear in mind that this rule does not in any way promote the ‘low cost’ worker rhetoric that has become rampant. The kind of job that my wife and many other spouses on H4 visa compete for require a very high level of expertise and experience.
Meanwhile, the production company of an immigration attorney in California, Shah Peerally Productions, is working on a movie to educate the general public about the trauma associated with the H4 visa:
It remains to be seen how long it takes for the work permits to be issued to dependent visa holders. This proposal is a step toward in fixing a system which handicaps qualified spouses of qualified workers, hailed with relief by many prisoners of the “golden cage”.

author: Tejasvini Prasad


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Queer Tango Instructor Murdered in St. Petersburg, Throat Slashed · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

The last photograph Khomenko posted to her Vkontakte account. September 3, 2014. Vkontakte.
Ekaterina Khomenko, a 29-year-old queer tango teacher, was found in her car early on September 7 with a four-inch gash across her throat. The engine was still running when a street cleaner chanced on her vehicle. Police, who initially entertained the theory that Khomenko may have killed herself, are now treating her death as a murder. Early reports in local newspapers made no mention of Khomenko’s ties to the LGBT community.
Ekaterina Khomenko. Lesbiru.com.
Khomenko’s father, Valery, was one of the first to publicize the killing. Commenting on the last photograph Ekaterina posted to her Vkontakte account (see above), he announced that detectives phoned him at 9am on September 7 to inform him that his daughter’s body had been discovered. According to his comment online, police were most interested to learn if Katya had any history with drugs, money problems, or suicidal tendencies.
Two days later, a Vkontakte user named Timur Isaev launched a flame war in the comments below this photograph, saying that gay people “always die earlier than healthy people [sic].” Isaev would leave 48 more comments in the next 48 hours, repeating his homophobic message for Khomenko’s mourning friends.
Lesbiru.com, an online portal for Russian-speaking lesbians, points out that Isaev is a member of the anti-gay Vkontakte community “Gay Hunters,” where he shares homophobic materials with the group’s 122 other subscribers. Isaev is also active on Twitter, where he posts more anti-gay content and praises Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea.
According to the guerilla news website Contraband, St. Petersburg’s LGBT community is certain Khomenko’s career as a gay tango instructor played a role in her murder. Khomenko’s friend and colleague, Angelina Tishina, has launched a closed group on Vkontakte to collect money for Valery Khomenko, presumably to help pay the costs of Katya's funeral, which took place yesterday outside Moscow.
Russia's LGBT community faces many legal and social challenges. Though homosexuality was officially removed from the Russian list of mental illnesses in 1999, human rights activists have watched in dismay as local, regional, and federal lawmakers have passed several bans on so-called “gay propaganda” in recent years. Before Moscow's military intervention in Eastern Ukraine, the crackdown on gay rights in Russia was perhaps the Kremlin's biggest publicity problem internationally.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Kevin Rothrock


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North Caucasians’ Sad, Paradoxical Fight in Eastern Ukraine · Global Voices
Karena Avedissian

Ukrainians, Georgians, and Chechens rally at Berlin's Alexanderplatz against the Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine. August 30, 2014, by Thorsten Strasas. Demotix.
Widespread reports, not to mention video footage, confirm that North Caucasians are indeed fighting in Ukraine. Areas like Chechnya and Ingushetia, where Russia is arguably already at war, now link Moscow to the newer conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk. In other words, one of Russia's most violent areas is now feeding the bloodshed in Europe's newest war zone.
Chechen militants have reportedly joined pro-Russian separatist groups in Ukraine, most notably the Vostok battalion, whose name recycles the moniker of a battalion that fought Islamic extremists in Chechnya from 1999-2009. These are the “Kadyrovtsy,” well-trained irregular armed forces loyal to Chechnya's current leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Оперативная инфа. Оказывается, чеченцы, которые сидят в Славянске, Краматорске и за светились в Мариуполе – это кадыровский батальйон Восток
— Сергей Гармаш (@s_garmash) May 10, 2014
Strategic information. It appears the Chechens in Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and who appeared in Mariupol are [part of] Kadyrov's Vostok battalion.
Kadyrov denies the presence of organized Chechen battalions in Ukraine, but he admits that some Chechens are on the ground there, fighting on their own, voluntarily. Earlier this summer, Kadyrov acknowledged that 14 Chechen combatants possibly died fighting in Ukraine this May.
As the evidence mounts that the real number of Chechens fighting in Ukraine is almost certainly much higher, the paradox of Chechens fighting for Russia is not lost on Russians online:
Чеченцы приехали на Донбасс защищать русских от украинцев. Даже Бог не знал, что такое возможно… Этот безумный, безумный, безумный мир!
— Иосиф Сталин (@StalinGulag) May 7, 2014
Chechens came to Donbass to protect Russians from Ukrainians. Even God wouldn’t have known this was possible. What a crazy, crazy world!
Chechens are not the only North Caucasians reported to be participating in the fighting; President of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov recently admitted that some of the new volunteer combatants in Ukraine are from his territory, and there are continued sightings of North Ossetian fighters.
It is not immediately clear if local branches of the security services, perhaps facing quotas, compelled soldiers in the North Caucasus to participate in Ukraine's war, or if these men traveled there on their own. The Web portal Kavkazcenter reported on volunteer recruitment centers that opened in Grozny and closed suddenly. In March this year, Oleg Leusenko published on LiveJournal a letter from a Chechen woman named Elmira, who claims that Chechen volunteers from Grozny are threatened and intimidated, if they refuse to fight in Ukraine. The Russian Council of Human Rights also says contract soldiers from Dagestan are active in Ukraine. According to the Council, militants are earning 250,000 rubles each—a hefty sum for people living in Russia's poorest republic.
Over the past several years, Russia has increased the number of local police and secret services in the region, meaning that Ukraine's newest arrivals likely have experience in irregular combat. Whether coerced or salaried, it's clear that Russia in Ukraine is now keen to use North Caucasians’ training and fighting acumen (especially in urban combat, which most ex-conscripts and volunteers lack). Indeed, the North Caucasians with military training now sighted in Ukraine are almost certainly from these irregular formations, as the ranks of Russia's formal military have surprisingly small numbers of ethnic minorities.
Not all Chechens are fighting against Kyiv, however. There is at least one group—a brigade named after the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria's first president, Dzhokhar Dudaev—made up of members from the Chechen diaspora in Europe, who have returned to resist Russia, says Mairbek Vatchagaev.
Many Ukrainians have displayed a remarkable ability to distinguish between Chechens as an entire ethnicity and the pro-Russian “Kadyrovtsy” now appearing in the East. Commenting a Facebook, for instance, one Ukrainian user wrote of the Dudaev battalion:
Это настоящие чеченцы, а не кадыровцы. Это как украинцы и сепаратисты.
These are real Chechens, not the Kadyrovtsy. That is like [the difference between] Ukrainians and separatists.
Movladi Udugov, a Chechen ideologue of the Caucasus Emirate, recently explained the concept of Kadyrovtsy in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, claiming that Kadyrov's men are not true Chechens:
Что касается кадыровцев, то это не наемники, а путинские собаки, русские марионетки без рода, без племени. В Чечне русские оккупанты называют их “разовыми”, потому что их используют как расходный материал в боях против муджахидов.
With regard to Kadyrovtsy, they are not mercenaries, they are Putin’s dogs—Russian marionettes without kin. In Chechnya, the Russian occupiers call on them for “one-time use,” because they use them like disposable material in their battles with the mujahideen.
Udugov may be onto something when he talks about Kadyrovtsy's “disposability” in Moscow's eyes. As the conflict in Eastern Ukraine has continued, scattered reports have emerged that some Chechens are abandoning the separatists in protest against poor treatment.
In the North Caucasus, the long-deteriorating security situation and repressive local regimes maintained by the Kremlin have long burdened the population. Sadly, the region's structural violence is now spreading beyond, into Ukraine, too.

author: Karena Avedissian


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Shortly Before Her Death, Lebanese Student Sara Khatib Gave an Inspiring Tedx Talk About Her Battle With Cancer · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Sara Khatib at TEDxLAU. Photo from Humans of LAU. Used with permission.
The death of a Lebanese American University (LAU) student to cancer on Sept. 5 provoked an outpouring of grief online.
Twenty-two-year-old Sara Khatib was a fourth year pharmacy student at LAU. Two weeks before her death, she had given a TEDxLAU talk entitled “4 lessons I learned while battling cancer” in which she spoke about her story of being a person defined by cancer to becoming a more empowered one transcending the disease.
Halfway through the talk, she received a standing ovation for overcoming her fear of cancer by saying:
I chose not to be Sara Khatib, the cancer patient and amputee, but to continue being Sara Khatib, the fourth-year pharmacy student who is clumsy, loves Nutella, and just happens to have cancer and a missing arm.
In an official statement, LAU mourned Khatib:
She turned a bright face to the world and decided to enjoy life no matter what it brought on. That was Sara Khatib’s gift to all those who knew her, and she will remain an inspiration to many, long after her passing on.
Noura Andrea Nassar from Humans of LAU, who had covered TEDxLAU, recalled Khatib in the following way:
I woke up this morning to terrible news: Sara El Khatib, a speaker at TEDxLAU's event on August 23, had passed away. I met Sara at TEDxLAU a couple of weeks ago. She was a fighter, an inspiration and a very a kind person. I am sure that those of you who knew her or at least saw her Talk agree.
American University of Beirut student Kareem Zreik agreed and recalled his story with her:
I remember meeting her outside the audition room for the first time. Had no idea who she was. She was looking around, I think unsure which door to open or whether she could (possibly because an audition was taking place inside). I just smiled at her and said, pardon me are you here for TEDxLAU? She of course nodded and smiled, and I gestured toward the door and leaned forward to open it for her. Again, I had no idea who she was. The position she standing in concealed any evidence of previous surgical history. Yet, in that brief moment, and at the risk of sounding melodramatic, one could tell that she was a very special human being with a great deal of love and kindness inside her. She was the sort of person who if you spent even a minute talking to her, you'd feel at ease and happy. And again, my first interaction with her was prior to knowing anything about her, or even being able to recognize any signs of who she is (since I knew we had an individual who was to audition that day with a particular story). She was right after all. She isn't her disease. She's, simply, Sara. And I am glad that this is the person I got to know, however briefly and fleetingly.
I've dealt with a lot of death, and so I wouldn't pretend to know what would be best for others in this tragedy. But what common thread with all the loss I have seen is to continue to make something positive and meaningful out of the person's life. And with Sara, if we do anything at all, I think it should be to remember her strength, her hope, her smile and most importantly her message. For those of us struggling with sickness or injury, and for our loved ones who have struggle along side us, let us take Sara's message to heart it and apply it.
We are not our disease. We may feel pain, but the suffering that can come with it is optional.
May this wonderful human being rest easy now. We are all grateful to have been touched by her mind and soul.
Khatib had started a support group for amputees in Lebanon. To honor her memory, her friends, colleagues and loved ones decided to pick up her cause.

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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Oscar Pistorius’ Verdict Ends the Biggest Social Media Event in South African History · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius in court. May 5, 2014 by Ihsaan Haffejee. Demotix.
Oscar Pistorius, the South African double-leg amputee runner who shot his girlfriend last year, has been found guilty of culpable homicide (manslaughter). Pistorius claims he thought his girlfriend was an intruder trying to break into the house through the bathroom window. Judge Thokozile Masipa rendered a guilty verdict, but ruled that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Pistorius intended to kill his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
In a blog dedicated to constitutional law, Cape Town University's Professor Pierre de Vos said he isn't surprised that the court didn't find Oscar Pistorius guilty of premeditated murder. He explained:
Although Judge Masipa highlighted several “peculiar” aspects of the case (for example, why did Pistorius pump 4, instead of 1, shots through the toilet door?), she found that the evidence produced to try and prove the “premeditated murder” of Reeva Steenkamp was almost exclusively circumstantial.
It would be difficult to convict somebody for murdering his girlfriend merely because the state produced evidence that they had fought on Whatsapp and (contradictory) evidence that neighbours heard them fighting on the night of the killing.
The high-water mark of the state’s case in this regard was the questions raised about how likely it would have been for Pistorius not to notice that Steenkamp was no longer in bed when he grabbed his gun and proceeded to the bathroom. But as the onus falls on the state to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, it is not surprising that the judge found that there was not sufficiently evidence to convict Pistorius of murdering Steenkamp in a premeditated manner.
However, the judge also found that Pistorius could not be convicted of murder for killing who he had claimed he believed was an “intruder” locked in the toilet.
In South African law it is not a valid defence to claim that you did not have the intention to kill X because you had in fact intended to kill Y and had killed X by mistake. Thus if Pistorius had intended to kill an intruder (and not Reeva Steenkamp), he would still be guilty of murder as long as the state had proven beyond reasonable doubt that he had intended to kill the person behind the door whom he might (or might not) have thought to be an intruder.
According to Data Drive Insights, the trial is the biggest social media event in South Africa's history, producing an estimated 3.5 million tweets since Reeva Steenkamp's murder in February 2013.
Most Twitter users seem to be responding to the verdict with anger or shock. Pistorius's conviction on a lesser charge comes on the heels of a 77-year sentence handed down to a rhino poacher in July, and some on Twitter have wondered if Pistorius might have received the maximum prison term, if his victim had been a rhinoceros.
@GerrieNel If Reeva was a rhino, #OscarPistorius would have been found guilty and probably got a maximum sentence long ago! #OscarTrial
— Archibald Philiso (@bleqprinx1982) September 12, 2014
South African rhino poacher jailed for 77 years http://t.co/yNJe2rPhMS – #OscarPistorius will get maximum of 10 years for murder. Hmmm….
— Reda Albodour (@RedaAlB) September 12, 2014
Twitter users have also drawn attention to Judge Masipa's own admission that Pistorius lied on the stand:
Then after practically saying #oscarpistorius was an untruthful withness, she then aquits him BASED on dat very poor evidence. #Madness
— D (@wukster) September 11, 2014
For anyone wondering what this (joke of a) verdict means for @OscarPistorius, he'll be sentenced to about 8 years and serve 2-4. Ridiculous.
— Harry Staniforth (@HarryStani) September 12, 2014
“it's highly unlikely that Oscar pistorius will go to jail ” Well, How is that justice?! I bet if it was an average Joe they'd be screwed
— Luke Anderson (@JustLukeyA) September 12, 2014
Some believe that Pistorius’ wealth and celebrity status unfairly influenced the court's decision:
Oscar Pistorius. No surprises yet. Wealth has kept him a “free” man to this point. Sentencing could be an insult to value of “life”
— Dwain Reid (@DwainReid) September 12, 2014
Oscar Pistorius verdict is bull, the guy should be done for murder. Famous athletes always seem to be treated more leniently. Don't like it.
— Daenerys Targaryen (@mindironalia) September 12, 2014
This days in South Africa,only poor people go to jail,gone are the days where no1 was above the law,money talks #OscarPistorius_Trial
— Delco Gerald (@delcogerald) September 12, 2014
Bec Murton imagined Reeva's final moments:
Imagine how #ReevaSteenkamp felt terrified in her bathroom right before #OscarPistorius shot her. How did that man get off #PristoriusTrial
— Bec Murton (@BecMurton) September 12, 2014
Not everyone on Twitter, of course, is against the verdict or the athlete.
Watching the @OscarPistorius updates I know a lot of people think he murdered Reeva but I do believe it was a tragic accident #tragic #sad
— PrettyPartyThings (@prettypartybits) September 12, 2014
Some may hate me for saying this but i truly believe that#OscarPistorius didnt mean or want to kill #Reeva… He's still a sporting hero!
— NickIsSoNotCool (@itsNickBarwick) September 12, 2014
This being the Internet, more than a few reactions displayed a sense of humor:
After this trial, Oscar Pistorius should go into acting (you can take classes in jail) and Judge Masipa should write drama #OscarTrial
— Elnathan John (@elnathan) September 12, 2014
One user joked about Louis Van Gaal, the current manager of football team Manchester United:
Cc @Mr_SoLso. @_arsenal__news: BREAKING: Louis Van Gaal has travelled to South Africa to try and sign the Oscar Pistorius defense team..
— Tunde (@AliuBabatunde) September 12, 2014
Lingerie model Rhian Sugden shared some advice for women:
Girls… from now on always do your number ones and number twos with the bathroom door open! [Reeva was shot behind the toilet's closed door] #OscarPistorius
— Rhian Sugden (@Rhianmarie) September 11, 2014
Despite the conviction, some still consider Pistorius an inspiration:
Right or Wrong with #OscarPistorius it don't take away how much of a inspiration of an athlete he was to compete at that level given injury!
— Craig Monaghan (@craig_monaghan) September 12, 2014
Oscar Pistorius is going away for a few years, what an inspiration for many millions of people with disabilities.
— Steafan Byrne (@steafanbyrne) September 12, 2014
Writing for the British charity group Womankind Worldwide, Bethan Cansfield said she hopes the verdict, along with the media attention in the United States over American football player Ray Rice being caught on typing punching his now-wife, will lead to a debate about violence against women:
We live in a world where 38% of all women who have been murdered were murdered by their intimate partners; we can only hope that the attention of the Ray Rice case and Pistorius verdict leads to a serious debate on how we end violence against women and girls for good.
In 2009, Cansfield points out, the South African Medical Research Council found that a woman is killed by her intimate partner every 8 hours in South Africa. With so much attention on the Pistorius case, it's now high time for a better public conversation in South Africa and elsewhere about violence against women.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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HiperBarrio/Convergentes: A Virtual Community Evolves While Preserving Its Essence  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Members of HiperBarrio/Convergentes during a get-together. Photo courtesy of the collective and used with permission.
A feature of any community, including a virtual one, is that over time it evolves. This can sometimes mean dramatic changes, but it can also be evidence of a more subtle transformation. Both community members and leaders come and go, as new opportunities and challenges present themselves. The HiperBarrio project in Colombia is no stranger to this phenomenon, but as its story demonstrates, the key to longevity is maintaining the essence of a community.
HiperBarrio was established in 2007 in Medellin thanks to microfinancing from Rising Voices, and today it actively collaborates with Convergentes, its forerunner and sister organization. This funding has helped it realize its goal of providing digital and social media training to young people in the La Loma neighbourhood of Medellin. Over time, these young people have in turn taught new members of the immediate community, other parts of the city, and the greater Medellin area.
To take the pulse of the project, we spoke to Gabriel Vanegas, coordinator of the San Javier-La Loma branch of the Pilot Public Library in Medellin, where HiperBarrio and Convergentes usually hold their meetings:
In the video, Gabriel discusses the three fundamental issues targeted by the collective: activating local cultural memory, documenting the community through citizen journalism, and maintaining a collaborative learning lab. Currently HiperBarrio/Convergentes is focusing on three specific projects: social and physical mapping of the area to make the community visible online, ensuring food safety and sovereignty through private and public gardens, and the network LaLoLib, an initiative to improve access to free and open source software.
On its blog, Convergentes defines itself as:
Somos una comunidad de práctica autónoma e independiente, caracterizada por el continuo aprendizaje y enseñanza colaborativos. […] Creemos en la resiliencia y buscamos empoderar a nuestra comunidad en el fortalecimiento de los tejidos sociales, en la participación ciudadana y en el dominio de herramientas que aporten a la construcción de posibles soluciones a las problemáticas locales, especialmente la autogestión comunitaria.
We are an independent and autonomous community, characterized by continuing collaborative learning and teaching. […] We believe in resilience, and our aim is to empower our community to strengthen the social fabric, foster civic participation, and master the tools needed to reach tangible solutions to local challenges, in particular self-management.
In the following video, Gabriel tells us something about the history and evolution of the community and its membership:
Gabriel explains how Convergentes began, and how it merged with HiperBarrio in 2007. It all started with eager, inquisitive users who wanted to solve problems. The success of the collective lies in the fact that it has not allowed itself to become rigid and institutionalized, but a dynamic, open structure has enabled it to be more responsive to community needs.
More recently, the community struggled to attract the attention of mainstream media — that is, until it received the APC Chris Nicol FLOSS prize for its Our Network LaLoLib initiative, which put it back in the spotlight. According to the Convergentes website:
Nuestra red: LaLoLib es una Red mesh local en proceso de construcción, con software libre. Es una iniciativa basada en la sumatoria de voluntades de parches de amigos y colectivos, que apuestan por resolver el problema de conectividad, para difundir información y propiciar la comunicación con los habitantes de La Vereda La Loma, en el Corregimiento de San Cristóbal de la ciudad de Medellín.
En ella vamos a difundir los contenidos que hemos construido durante 11 años de ejercicios. A la vez que fortaleceremos nuestras tres líneas de trabajo: rescatar y dinamizar la memoria histórica y cultural, registrar y documentar la vida cotidiana por medio del periodismo ciudadano, y consolidar el Laboratorio social de aprendizajes colaborativos.
Our Network LaLoLib is a local mesh network currently under construction using open software. It is the fruit of the collaborative efforts of friends and like-minded collectives who are determined to resolve connectivity issues so that information can be shared and communication encouraged among the residents of La Vereda La Loma in the municipality of San Cristobal, Medellin.
We will use the mesh network to broadcast content created over the last 11 years. At the same time, it will give us the ability to reinforce our three-pronged mission: to save and reenergize our shared historical and cultural memory, document and record the daily life of our community through citizen journalism, and consolidate the social laboratory of collaborative learning.
A typical example of the way in which HiperBarrio/Convergentes has evolved is the case of Catalina Restrepo, one of its original members. Although she is no longer part of the project, focusing instead on her professional career, Catalina continues to collaborate as a Global Voices author. In the following video, she explains what HiperBarrio has meant to people who, like her, took part in the project as it was getting off the ground:
Catalina talks about how Convergentes provides a space to talk and exchange ideas in a relaxed setting. It reinforces the human aspect of community.
Now with incoming members, the community is continuing its traditional activities at the same time as it embarks on new ones:
Luego de 10 años de trabajo, debemos reconocer que somos una sumatoria de voluntades, que lo que hemos logrado es gracias al esfuerzo de todos, a los amigos y a sus parches, a las instituciones como la biblioteca y a todos los que han venido a compartir su tiempo, su afecto y sus conocimientos con nosotros.
After 10 years of work, it is important to acknowledge that we are the culmination of the will of many people —what we have achieved is due to the efforts of our friends and those they brought with them, institutions such as the library, and all those who came and shared their time, spirit, and knowledge with us.
HiperBarrio, like many similar communities, is proof that change can be a positive force. It is a clear sign of the adaptability and diversity that are possible when a community, however virtual, is able to anchor itself in the daily interaction between its members.
You can follow the project on its blog, Twitter and Facebook.
Other posts about Hiperbarrio
2007
Rising Voices Social Projects Kickstart
Medellín, Colombia: From Kidnap Capital to Reneaissanace City:
HiperBarrio: Local stories global audience
Medellín, Colombia: The Recipe
Catching up with Rising Voices outreach projects
HiperBarrio: Changing Perceptions with Creativity
2008
HiperBarrio's Citizen Jounalists Bring Their Local Community Together
HiperBarrio Gets Its Groove Back
2009
Hiperbarrio: Winner of the Prix Ars Electronica Award
Colombia: Catalina Restrepo Awarded “Miss Talent” Medellín Award
HiperBarrio Receives the Golden Nica 2009 in Linz, Austria
HiperBarrio: Leading with Crime and Searching for a Soul
2010
Hiperbarrio: Balloon Festival of La Loma
Chatting with Cati Restrepo from Hiperbarrio
Featured Blogger: Nora Catalina Urquijo
HiperBarrio: Recording daily lives and sharing with the world
Hiperbarrio Expands to Three New Libraries in Medellín
Featured Blogger: Yesenia Corrales
HiperBarrio: Voices Expressing Fear, Outrage and Hope
The Hiperbarrio Experience Multiplies by Three
Colombia: HiperBarrio – Ituango Without Electricity
HiperBarrio: Campus Party Colombia and Pinhole Photography
Colombia: Bloggers on Violence in Medellín
Hiperbarrio: Podcast Workshops for New Groups
HiperBarrio Won First Prize in Community Journalism
2011
Hiperbarrio: Celebrating International Women's Day
HiperBarrio: Balloon Mapping La Loma Neighborhood
2014
HiperBarrio: Becoming Digitally Visible

author: Juan Arellano


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Keiko Tsuyama Is Breaking the Odds as a Japanese Journalist Covering the United States · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Japanese journalist Keiko Tsuyama in New York City. Photo used with permission.
Reporter Keiko Tsuyama has carved out a respected career as Japan's window into America. Originally from Japan, where typically less than 3 percent of managerial positions in the business world are held by women and just 15 percent of full-time journalists are women, she is noteworthy indeed: Tsuyama was Japan's first woman to work as a business writer for Kyodo, the country's largest newswire.
And in Japan, a country where relatively few people speak a foreign language, Tsuyama's fluency in English and French helps her provide unique insights about the world outside Japan. A past contributor to the Wall Street Journal Japan, Tsuyama now is a regular contributor to AERA, one of Japan's most widely read weekly magazines.
I spoke with Tsuyama, who is based in New York, about her career, her home country and the one time she interviewed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Nevin Thompson (NT): Please tell us about yourself.
Keiko Tsuyama (KT): I am a journalist, writer, author, and photographer, and am the City of Nagasaki’s Peace Correspondent. I live in New York City, and so I write what Japanese readers want to know about the United States.
My focus is on human interest stories, technology, and the media scene.
NT: You’re from Japan originally. How did you end up being a freelancer based in New York City?
KT: I used to work for Kyodo News. It’s Japan’s largest newswire with about 900 reporters. From 2003 to 2006 I was Kyodo’s news correspondent in New York.
In fact, I didn’t want to be sent to New York at all in 2003 – it was right after President Bush launched his war in Iraq. But once I landed in New York City I really loved being there.
NT: You eventually left your career at Kyodo to work as a freelancer. Why?
KT: I stayed on in New York City as a freelancer because I had some story ideas that I really wanted to write about. As a staff reporter, there are always deadlines to meet with little time to write feature stories.
Although I did write a lot of feature stories while I was with Kyodo in New York, there were always had more stories I wanted to write.
So, in 2006 when Kyodo reassigned me to Tokyo and it was time to leave New York City, I decided to stay on and keep exploring story ideas.
NT: Was it easy to break into freelancing full time?
KT: I didn’t know any editors in Japan, and as a matter of fact the first assignment I got was from Newsday in New York. It was an English-language piece about the Iraq War. It was my debut as a freelancer.
Little by little through my network I was introduced to Japanese editors and radio show directors (I am often asked to appear as a radio commentator), and then AERA.
NT: What’s AERA?
KT: AERA is the Japanese equivalent of New York Times Magazine. It’s a weekly glossy that is published by Asahi, one of Japan’s largest news organizations.
NT: Receiving assignments from AERA must have boosted your transition to freelancing.
KT: All the editors want someone who can use their professional experience and training to write a “real story.”
AERA told me, “You’re great, because your stories never need to be corrected in terms of company names and figures.”
NT: What's a notable assignment so far during your career as a freelancer?
KT: I interviewed Mark Zuckerberg a couple of years ago. It was out of the blue – it was in the lead-up to Facebook going public, and Zuckerberg was doing events aimed at investors. Facebook wanted to provide one exclusive interview for Japan, and AERA got it.
NT: What was it like to interview him?
KT: He speaks really fast. I really enjoyed it, but he’s really different than my regular interviewees. I would ask a question, and then Zuckerberg would want to know why I had asked the question, the context and rationale behind it.
He would then look at me carefully as though there was an insect on my nose while he considered his answer. And then would start speaking really fast.
However, whatever Zuckerberg talked about, he made clear points. I could see he brain was running really fast, and I could tell by the words he selected that he was quite intelligent, and was a good choice for leading Facebook.
NT: You’re also the City of Nagasaki’s Peace Correspondent. Are you from Nagasaki?
KT: No, I’m from Tokyo. However I started my career with Kyodo in 1988 as a crime reporter in Fukuoka and Nagasaki (neighboring cities on the island of Kyushu), and I kept in touch with the people I met there.
More recently, I have worked as volunteer translator for hibakusha (the surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) who visiting New York City for events.
So that’s how I came to be appointed as Nagasaki's Peace Correspondent. As part of my role, I contribute to eliminating nuclear weapons, and I speak overseas for the people of Nagasaki.
NT: What is a developing story in Japan at the moment that the rest of the world should keep an eye on?
KT: The decision to construct a US military base in Henoko and Oura Bay in Okinawa Prefecture. If this sort of project were planned for the East Coast or the West Coast of the United States, it would never be tolerated by Americans. Why Henoko?
The decision to construct a US military base on Henoko will cause a lot of environmental destruction. People here in the US are more conscious of the environment.
However, this project is happening in Okinawa, far from the US, and I want people to know, and so I am creating a video in English that will be uploaded to YouTube.
NT: Who are some Japanese journalists who might be of interest to Global Voices readers?
KT: Tanaka Ryusaku (@tanakaryusaku), Ugaya Hiro (@hirougaya), and Iwakami Yasumi (@iwakamiyasumi) are all doing interesting work at the moment. If you can read Japanese, check them out! Otherwise, hopefully GV will translate some of their posts!
In New York City on September 20, Tsuyama will be moderating a discussion with filmmaker Soda Kazuhiro about the film “The Gift from Beate“, which explores how performing arts presenter Beate Sirota Gordon influenced Japan's postwar “Peace Constitution”. Online, Tsuyama can be found at @keikoworld.

author: Nevin Thompson


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One of the Latest ‘Happy’ Tribute Videos Comes From Sikkim, High in India’s Himalayas · Global Voices
Rezwan

Screenshot from the video “Happy Sikkim” uploaded by Sushmita Pakhrin
The song “Happy”, written, produced, and performed by American singer and producer Pharrell Williams, became a viral phenomenon earlier this year as countless tribute videos filmed around the world were uploaded online.
Better late than never, Sushmita Pakhrin of Lens Craft Production has made a version for Sikkim, a landlocked northeast Indian state located in the Himalayan mountains.
The video was uploaded to YouTube on August 28, 2014, and received accolades for the high quality production.
Ms. Pakhrin commented in an interview with online news site Sikkim Now:
We have tried to showcase the scenic beauty of Sikkim along with well-known and upcoming artists of the state.

author: Rezwan


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A Group of University Students in Kyoto Want Japan, China and Korea to Just Be ‘Happy’ · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

A screenshot of “Japan China Korea Happy” posted on YouTube on July 18, 2014
Taking inspiration from American singer Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” video, a group of university students in Kyoto, Japan are reaching out to the youth in China and Korea with a message of peace and friendship, something that the governments of the three nations have been struggling to achieve.
Sumireko Tomita, who played the leading role in making the video “Japan China Korea Happy,” decided to promote friendship among East Asian countries after she witnessed racist, xenophobic remarks against the residents in Korea towns of Osaka on her way to school, according to The Huffington Post Japan. The video, which was uploaded to YouTube mid-July, has more than 161,000 views.
The description of the video on YouTube reads:
“Japan-China-Korea HAPPY” was made by Japanese university students wishing for the peace between the three countries. These three countries may have sensitive historical relations, but younger generations are willing to work on to fix and have better relations for the better future. The ‘HAPPY’ music video makes people smile and happy. That's why we made this video with young people from the three countries. This video was mainly filmed in Japan, but also some clips were filmed in South Korea and China. We hope that this video helps to spread smiles and encourages ever bettering futures for these three countries.
Among non-Japanese nationals living in Japan, ethnic Koreans make up of largest demographic throughout Japan, but Osaka and Kyoto have particularly high ratios of Korean residents compared to ones in other prefectures. For a travel destination that attracted over one million foreigners last year, Kyoto certainly would not want to promote racism and xenophobia.
The video was made with help of foreign students. Over a hundred students participated in the production of the video including those studying in Kyoto as well as ones overseas.
Muwa Yamada, a Japanese expat in New York, watched the video commented:
Those college kids showing us that we have a constructive positive way to deal with the many issues we have. I think the bottom line is that we're all breathing the same air.
It has been more than two years since the government officials of Japan, South Korea and China held high-level talks (and they are finally breaking the silence this week at the vice ministers’ talk in Seoul to mend their relationship). The relations among the three have been strained due to disputes over territory and history. Japan and China have sparred over who owns the Senkaku Islands (China refers to them as Diaoyu, Taiwan as Tiaoyutai ), and Japan and South Korea have similarly feuded over the ownership of Takeshima islets (Korea refers to it as Dokdo). Anti-Japan protests and anti-Korean protests have mutually giving bad impressions of the other, as well.
Another YouTube user, “矢神悠希” (YAGAMI Haruki), emphasized that young people can make a difference:
みんな政府からの影響ですぎでしょ。
若い世代がhappyになれば、”政府の”友好関係も変わるんじゃない？
それを変えようとせずいがみ合うだけなら解決はないと思う。
自分達でやる前に否定はよくないな。
It seems everyone is excessively influenced by their government.
Once the young generation becomes happy, the relationship between these governments will change.
If you keep snarling at each other, there won't be any solution.
Disapproving of the video without taking action [for better ways to change the relationship] is not good.
The video promoting friendship across the three countries was also the target of criticism and at times vicious comments. Most of these comments tried to put a damper on the happy mood by bringing up historical issues and diplomatic problems among the nations.
Des Moore, a YouTube user whose profile says he or she is American-born and raised in Japan, commented in rebuttal, saying that bringing politics into the matter is pointless:
日中韓の一般市民レベルの交流を促進してる動画なのに、外交問題や歴史問題を持ち出してる人は何事？ 本質を見失ってるような。向こうの国で普通に生きてる人は、そんな反日に燃えた人でもないだろうよ。こっちにニュースとして届いてるってことは、そういった活動は向こうの目から見てもイレギュラーな事態ってことだし、全員が全員反日じゃないっつうの。肩の力抜けよみんな。
What's the matter with these people bringing diplomatic issues and historical issues to the table, when the video is solely promoting civil exchange among Japan, Korea and China. Most of the people living in Korea or China should be living a normal life, and not all of them are energetically against Japan. The fact that anti-Japan demonstrations makes news headlines means that such activities are unusual and not normal, and that not everyone is against Japan. Relax, everybody.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing and ASEAN summit in Myanmar for Southeast Asian countries plus China, Korea and Japan in coming November, could be the chance for government nationals to thaw their relationship.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Search and Destroy Mission for the 80 Million “Bombies” in Laos  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Al Jazeera's 101 East episode tackles the efforts of women workers in Laos to find and destroy unexploded cluster bombs dropped by the United States during the Vietnam War era. The U.S. dropped 260 million bombs in Laos but about 80 million bomblets did not detonate which posed a continuing threat to the lives of millions of Lao residents.

author: Mong Palatino


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Bamboo, Launch, Compound and Other English Words Borrowed from Malaysia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Writing for Coconuts KL, Lai Chee Seng listed 10 common English words which have Malaysian roots. For example, bamboo derived from the Malay word mambu or samambu, compound came from the Malay word kampung which means village or a group of buildings, and launch was borrowed from the Malay word lanchar.


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Unusual Uniform for Colombian Women’s Cycling Team Sparks Social Media Chatter  · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

The Bogotá Humana female cycling team's uniform has been the target of criticism and jokes because of its unfortunate color scheme that gives the illusion of a nude body. The red and yellow uniform, to be word at the road bicycle race Giro di Toscana, contains a beige strip that goes from the waist to the groin.
Twitter users have commented on the uniform:
Interesante traje de ciclistas colombianas. #Original #GiroDeToscana pic.twitter.com/p10TGu4P69
— NOE (@soylanoemi) septiembre 15, 2014
Interesting Colombian female cyclist uniform.
Para los uniformes de las ciclistas colombianas, le tomaron una foto a cada una o usaron una cuca genérica?
— Federica Bertorelli (@fede_bertorelli) septiembre 15, 2014
For the uniforms of the female Colombian cyclists, did they take a picture for each one or a generic pussy was used?
Asombra la reacción ante el uniforme de las ciclistas colombianas. El escándalo es mundial. No están desnudas, no sean tan morbosos.
— Elsy Rosas Crespo (@ensayista) septiembre 15, 2014
The reaction to the uniform of Colombian cyclists is astonishing. The scandal is global. They are not naked, don't be that lurid.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Egyptian Blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah Released on Bail  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Alaa Abd El Fattah and Manal Hassan. Photo by Lilian Wagdy via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Prominent Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah was released on bail today, Sept 15, 2014, following a ruling by the Cairo Criminal Court. Two other fellow defendants Mohamed Noubi and Wael Metwally were also released.
The three were the only ones detained among 25 defendants sentenced to 15 years in absentia and a 100,000 Egyptian pound fine last June after being convicted of attacking a police officer and violating a 2013 protest law that prohibits unauthorized demonstrations. According to Mada Masr, which quoted the state-owned Ahram Gate website, they are accused of: “organizing an unauthorized protest outside the Shura Council in Cairo, attacking a police officer, stealing a walkie-talkie, hooliganism, aggression against police officers, blocking the road, crowding a public place and destruction of public property.”
In late August, Abd El Fattah began a hunger strike, days before the death of his father, prominent human rights lawyer Ahmed Seif El Islam.
After an appeal by his lawyers, Abd El Fattah was issued a retrial in August 2014. Today, the presiding judge recused himself from the case after an incident last week, in which the prosecution presented a video depicting Manal Hassan, Abd El Fattah’s wife, dancing. Taken from Hassan’s laptop, which confiscated by police when Abd El Fattah was arrested and taken from his family’s home in November of 2013, the video bears no discernible relationship with his political activities. In another twist today, the judge ordered that the aforementioned video be presented to the prosecutor general and placed under investigation for violating Abd El Fattah's privacy.
Journalist Amira Howeidy reported to her 50K followers on Twitter:
Re @alaa trial: not so rare for judges to recuse themselves. What's unusual is for judge to refer prosecutor evidence (continued)
— Amira Howeidy (@amirahoweidy) September 15, 2014
#pt cont -personal video from @alaa‘s laptop- to prosecutors for investigation as violation of privacy
— Amira Howeidy (@amirahoweidy) September 15, 2014
Abd El Fattah has been jailed or investigated under every Egyptian head of state who has served during his lifetime. In 2006, he was arrested for taking part in a peaceful protest. In 2011, he spent two months in prison, missing the birth of his first child. In 2013, he was arrested and detained for 115 days without trial. And he now faces 15 years in prison.
Abd El Fattah has long worked on technology and political activism projects with his wife, Manal Hassan. He comes from a family of prominent human rights advocates. His father, Ahmed Seif El Islam, was jailed multiple times under the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Abd El Fattah’s sisters, Mona and Sanaa Seif, have both faced censure in connection with their activism on military trials in the country. Sanaa Seif is currently behind bars, also for allegedly violating the controversial protest law.
Abd El Fattah is on his 27th day of an open-ended hunger strike, which he said would continue until his release from prison. It is not clear whether he intends to continue his hunger strike while out on bail.
According to Nervana Mahmoud, it was his hunger strike, and that of other prisoners and supporters outside prison that brought about today's turn of events.
The release of political detainees in #Egypt is a credit — not to kerry– but to #Egyhungerstrike campaign that gained momentum.
— Nervana Mahmoud (@Nervana_1) September 15, 2014
As soon as today's verdict was announced, congratulations poured in on social media. But for many, the struggle continues. On Facebook, Aida Seif Elldawla writes:
مبروك الحرية لعلاء ونوبي ووائل ومبروك الفرحة لاهاليهم وحبايبهم واصحابهم ومبروك للجدعان والجدعات اللي اضربوا واعتصموا واللي لسه هيضربوا ويعتصموا لحد الكل ما يخرج
Congratulations on the freedom of Alaa, Noubi and Wael and we congratulate their families, relatives and friends for their happiness. Congratulations to the brave men and women who went on hunger strike and who will continue to do so until all those imprisoned are released
Egyptian Mahmoud Refaat wonders why many judges are asking to be removed from trials. He tweets:
تنحي محكمة #علاء_عبد_الفتاح: يتنحى القاضي لضمان نزاهته، و ارتفاع تنحي القضاة الغير مسبوق مؤشر خطير على ضغوط السلطة التنفيذية في احكام القضاء
— Mahmoud Refaat (@drmahmoudrefaat) September 15, 2014
The judge in Alaa Abdel Fattah's case has stepped down. Judges step down to ensure the impartiality of the trial. The number of judges stepping down from cases is an unprecedented indicator of the pressure exerted by the executive branch on court judgements
And for Abdulmonen Mahmood, a former Muslim Brotherhood blogger who was also arrested during Mubarak's era, justice is far from served in Abdel Fattah's case. He tweets:
علاء حصل ع حقه متأخرا دون اي مكرمة م سلطة ولن يعوضه اي شئ عن غيابه عن رعاية والده قبل وفاته … وباقي آلوف في السجون يبحثون ع الحق ذاته
— monem منعم (@moneimpress) September 15, 2014
Alaa got his rights too late, without a gesture from the state and nothing will make up for his absence in taking car of his father in his last days … thousands remain in jail awaiting the same right
Follow Egyptian Tamer Mowafy agrees:
لسة الطريق طويل. غير كل المعتقلين ظلم اللي لازم يتحرروا من سجون الظلم، فيه بلد بحالها مطلوب تتحرر من حكم السجان
— Tamer Mowafy (@kalimakhus) September 15, 2014
The road ahead is long. In addition to all those unjustly detained who should be freed from the prisons of injustice, there is an entire country which should be liberated from the rule of the jailer
And Egyptian writer Mohamed El Dahshan laments:
سعيد ان عدة مظلومين هايباتوا مع أهاليهم النهاردة و حزين لما بافتكر عدد اللي لسه في الحبس مظلومين #مصر
— Mohamed El Dahshaن (@eldahshan) September 15, 2014
Happy that a number of oppressed people will spend the night with their families but sad when I remember the number of oppressed people still unjustly imprisoned
Meanwhile, Palestinian blogger Abir Kopty concludes:
حنكة القامع أن يجعلنا نفرح بفتات من العدالة، وعظمتنا نحن أن نبتسم ونتذكر أن معركتنا معه لم تنته ولن نقبل أقل من العدالة الكاملة.
— Abir Kopty (@AbirKopty) September 15, 2014
The oppressor's deceit makes us happy with shreds of justice, and our greatness stems from our smiles and our insistence that our battle with him are not over and we will not be content with anything other than complete justice
The sentences borne by Abd El Fattah and the 24 others are the longest yet in a string of crackdowns on freedom of expression, assembly, and opinion in the country. The controversial protest law requires citizens to obtain a state-issued license before holding a demonstration and has been used to jail other prominent activists, including outspoken human rights lawyer Mahienour El-Massry, and April 6 movement founder Ahmed Maher. In June, three Al Jazeera journalists were sentenced to seven and ten years in prison for “reporting false news.”
Like Kopty, many human rights advocates in Egypt believe Abd El Fattah's case and others are merely political in nature, and meant to keep prominent activists behind bars while intimidating others to keep them away from the political process.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Pakistan’s Government, Industry Complain of Economic Losses Due to Protests · Global Voices
Aisha

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters at D-Chowk aka Azadi Square in Islamabad. Image by Niaz Ali. Copyright Demotix (6/9/2014)
Protesters from two very different political camps in Pakistan have staged a peaceful sit-in in Islamabad since August 14 with a common demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif due to charges of corruption and rigging in the election 2013.
In response, the government has blocked all routes with sand-filled containers leading to the place of the so-called Azadi March. Popular cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan leads the party Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) is led by a Pakistani-Canadian Sufi scholar-turned-politician Tahirul Qadri. Both allege that the May 2013 general election, which brought current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party to power in a landslide victory, was rigged.
According to Commerce Minister Engineer Khurram, the situation has caused a loss of 800 billion rupees (about 7.78 billion US dollars) to the country so far. However, the authenticity is yet to be confirmed, and some argue the figures are exaggerated. The figures have drastically jumped from 400 billion from mid-August to 800 billion in early September.
The federal government has submitted before the Supreme Court that Pakistan has so far incurred a 547 billion-loss (about 5.3 billion US dollars) because of the month-long crisis.
Awab Alvi, a Global Voices contributor and PTI social media activist, commented on the inflated figures by asking Planning, Reforms and Development Minister of Pakistan Ahsan Iqbal for an audit of money losses during the past 15 months of no protest from PTI or PAT:
On Ahsan iqbal statement that in one month the country has lost Rs 1,000 Bln
Assuming it is true and Dharna is responsible for this,
THEN
In last 15 months, when there was no Dharna Govt must have earned Rs 15,000 Bln
“Ahsan Iqbal, Zara us Rs 15,000 Bln Kamee ka Hisab do” [Ahsan Iqbal, first tell us about the15,000 Bln rupee shortage]
“Dharna” is the Urdu word for protest.
Industry has also complained that the protests have affected their profits. Saad Mukhtar, of a freight forwarding company, stated that move transporters were reluctant to move consignments between Lahore and Karachi and most of them were not interested in doing business at all.
The freight has increased by Rs25,000 due to ongoing uncertainty reached at one way tariff of Rs100,000 between Karachi-Lahore consignments
Abdul Basit, a leading poultry businessman of Lahore, estimated 5 billion rupee loss to the Punjab-based poultry industry. As the government placed hurdles and containers on the roads most of them died on their way due to the harsh weather and suffocation.
Matured broiler birds, chicks and supplies of chicken bird spoiled during the travelling from farms to markets following closure and hurdles installed on the roads by the government to counter the March
It is expected that this will trigger the increase in prices in the province due to increase in demand and low supply. Farmers also face the burnt of it due to the unexpected death during transportation.
Faisalabad contributes the largest share in the textile sector exports of Pakistan, while textile is the leading exporting sector of country. It has suffered heavily as it is unable to fulfill the orders due to delay in delivery caused by the blockage on the roads.
The Karachi Stock Market, Pakistan’s largest and one of the best performing stock markets of South Asia, plummeted by 1,300 points soon after the start of Dharna.
On 11 August 2014, the market dropped by a 4.6 percent. Farhan Mahmood, a research analyst at Karachi-based Sherman Securities. stated:
This is the largest ever fall in the stock value in one day as panic grips investors.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has also claimed that the political crisis has caused a loss of around 300 billion dollars.
Agha Hassan Ali, a firearms and security expert, tweeted:
Can not believe it all that Azadi March and Inqilab March what a waste of time and waste of economy!!! This nation can never learn….
— Agha Hassan Ali (@SSG_ops) August 16, 2014
Swat Fruit and Vegetable Association has requested the political parties to let go of the political differences immediately due to the heavy financial losses by the protests.
Abdul Haq, an office bearer of the Swat Fruit and Vegetable Association, commented:
The owners had been suffering a ring 2.8 million losses on daily basis due to the blockage of roads by heavy containers . “What is our sin? Who will compensate us for our damages,”

author: Aisha


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Fiji’s Pacific Climate Warriors Are Ready to Stand Up for Climate Change Action · Global Voices
350.org

Pacific Climate Warriors in Fiji know which side of history they belong on. Mass mobilization is one of the best ways to shock the entire system into action. There have been anti-war marches, anti-nuclear marches, marches for civil rights, and more. On September 21, we stand in solidarity with those marching for climate justice.
Photo credit: Fenton Lutunatabua
This article was written by Fenton Lutunatabua from 350.org, an organization building a global climate movement, in the lead-up to the People's Climate March and global mobilisation, and is adapted for republication on Global Voices as part of a content sharing agreement.
More than 100,000 are expected to take to the streets of New York on September 21 to participate in the People's Climate March just two days ahead of the United Nations Climate Summit. Worldwide more than 2,000 events in 150 countries are planned throughout this week as part of the People's Climate Mobilisation. This is a key moment: scientists warn us that global warming is spiralling out of control. We need to see immediate action now. There’s no time to keep kicking the can down the road. Thus time for action, not words.
The climate crisis is particularly relevant to the people in the Pacific, with sea level rise threatening their very existence. In the Pacific Islands, from Tonga to Tuvalu to Tokelau, people are rallying calling for action, not words to protect the Pacific Islands. As they are marching they are also preparing to send 30 Pacific Climate Warriors with their canoes to block the world’s largest coal port in Australia in October.
Below is a photo series from the Pacific Climate Warriors of Fiji in preparation for their actions as part of the People's Climate Mobilisation.
The People's Climate March is part of a larger movement for climate justice. People are doing work in their communities every day to confront climate change, and it is time for us to come together and march. We’re calling for more than climate action: we’re calling for climate justice. We want action that protects the poorest and most vulnerable in our society and solutions that prioritize those who have born the brunt of the problems.
Photo credit: Fenton Lutunatabua
The People’s Climate March will be about lifting up the voices of people who are already feeling the impacts of climate change and pollution. We know that people need to be at the heart of climate solutions. The old energy economy put power in the hands of corporations. The new energy economy should put power back in the hands of the people.
Photo credit: Fenton Lutunatabua
It is time show the world that we are coming together. We are demanding something, which we know, is in our reach — a safe future and an economy that works for people and the planet.
Photo credit: Fenton Lutunatabua


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Take a Musical Tour of Latin America’s Talented Subway Performers · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Image by Fernando Messino on Flickr, used under theCreative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Have you ever been to Buenos Aires, Quito, Caracas, or Mexico City? If so, it's highly likely that you have ridden the metro in these cities. As such, it is also likely that at some point you've encountered the street musicians that use these modes of transportation as a stage.
You may like them or you may be bothered by them. You may even consider it an illegal activity, as was recently the case in Medellin, Colombia. But it is difficult to remain indifferent when an artist is demonstrating his or her skills or telling an infectious personal joke.
Let's take a quick and comfortable virtual tour of some of the Latin American cities whose subways are frequently taken over by public art.
Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital, is traditionally known as a cosmopolitan city, home to a vibrant arts and culture scene. This is reflected in the performances I came across in the Buenos Aires subway.
YouTube user buenosaires34 uploaded the following video in 2011 of a couple of musicians in a Buenos Aires subway station. They call themselves Rusia Kalipso and their music is also available on MySpace. With a guitar, a musical saw, and lots of fun, they entertain riders waiting for their train to arrive (and manage to make a few bucks along the way):
Let's leave the station and get on the subway. A bit full? You wouldn't believe that in the narrow aisles of a subway car, riders could find an five-piece orchestra. Nonetheless, swing band Los Hijos del Sodero managed to arrange it so that they could perform in one and even use the subway car itself as an instrument. We can appreciate their talent in the following video posted on YouTube by Mr. Duke Baires:
These types of musical genres are not the only ones that can be found in the Buenos Aires metro. According to Global Voices collaborator Jorge Gobbi, “There are many musicians floating around, some with portable speakers playing everything from folk music to punk. They can easily be found on the weekends (on weekdays, certain lines are very crowded). But it is informal, as opposed to the product of government policies or anything like that. Nevertheless, the topic is being dealt with more strictly in recent months, and the Metropolitan Police, functioning under the government of the city, is driving them out. But they seem like specific policies because it is not difficult to find musicians in the subway cars and platforms.”
Now let's cross the Andes and go to Santiago de Chile. Although the image that most people outside of Chile have in regards to Santiago natives are of dedicated workers, they view themselves as lazy or even spoiled. It is important to remember that, for example, Los Caporales, a Chilean comedy duo, made all of Latin America laugh for several decades since the 1950s. Current Chilean humor can be a bit harsh for other countries’ tastes, but it is no less effective.
And what does humor have to do with music? Watch the following video uploaded by YouTube user Jonathan Alzamora and you will understand:
Elizabeth Rivera, a GV collaborator in Santiago, tells us that Rafael Budú, the artist playing in the video above, has gotten a lot of exposure thanks to his performances in the metro, or Transantiago. He has even become an Internet sensation, according to certain media outlets, has been hired by companies and even appeared on television.
Next let's jump to Mexico City, more specifically to the metro, where musicians play rock music with their instruments and speakers. Doubtful? Watch the following video uploaded by Carlos Luis in 2012:
But there are more than just Mexican artists in Mexico City's metro. In the following video, shared by Eduardo Franco in 2011, we can see a seemingly Colombian duo performing music from their country:
Indira Cornelio, a GV collaborator in Mexico City, says: “These types of groups are common in the subway and on buses. One time I found an excellent storyteller on the metro. Also, there is a man in the park that dresses up as a jester and sings all of the songs from Cri-Cri, a very popular Mexican composer and performer of children's song. He's very popular. I also have a friend who earns his living singing on buses and recently street vendors have become banned from the metro. The truth is I don't know if this has affected subway musicians as well.”
On to Quito, where a proper metro doesn't exist yet, but there is a system of buses and trams known as the trolleybus. Street musicians also take advantage of the system of transport, as seen in the video below, uploaded to YouTube by a user from Elcomerciocom:
These hip hop performers are common on the trolleybus, so much so that I, someone who does not live in Quito, have come across them on several occasions. As Susana Morán, an Ecuadorian blogger, states: “Rappers, ballad singers, and merengue performers all pass through there. Some enjoy the performances and sing along and if no one gives them a single penny, they do not seem bothered because — maybe — they are doing what they love most. Nonetheless, some have hoarse voices and are reluctant in their performances — who knows how many times they have sung that one song. Due to fatigue, a gallo (a poorly toned note) is permitted here and there. They wear ternos (suits) despite the fact that in Quito the midday sun is unbearable. Or at night they walk around in t-shirts, jeans, and a guitar on their backs.”
Finally, we end in Caracas, where we end our virtual musical tour with this video, uploaded to YouTube by todovariedad in 2009. Let us introduce you to Cindy:
Cindy, the rapping grandma (thank you, Luis Carlos) has been a Caracas metro sensation for years. According to Buenamúsica: “The beautiful thing about this woman is that she does not interfere with anyone. She herself makes fun of her own appearances, as well as her difficult life in the neighborhood, her beloved dog, her three cats, her three husbands that do not stop her (they do not pay attention to her) and who she does not stop.” But perhaps because of the troubling situation in Venezuela now, she is gone. “She is most likely not seen on the metro recently because of the new law that prohibits cultural events in subway cars.”
In short, despite the increasing restrictions by city authorities, in exercising the right to freedom of expression and the need for members of society to have an unregulated cultural exchange, urban musical art in Latin America is alive and kicking. This, in times of smart cities that threaten to convert our cities into workspaces and places of permanent vigilance, is not an understatement.


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Togolese Bloggers Poke Fun at President for Over the Top BillBoard   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Someone sure wanted people to know that he was thankful for Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé generosity. This week, a giant billboard was raised in Lomé, Togo that praised the president's action in favor of providing lunch for school children. The billboard seen below reads in french :” Thanks Daddy Faure for the children's school lunch“. Togolese citizens were taken aback by the message and its exuberance. They took to twitter to poke fun at the Billboard and create the hashtag #merciPapaFaure (Thank you Daddy Faure).
Bon, et si on lançait le hashtag #MerciPapaFaure pour rire un peu? #gnadoe @Nounfoh @AphtalC @teteenyon @liebeBAT pic.twitter.com/gjq030YkRw
— Kelly Adediha (@KellyGeek) September 11, 2014
OK, how about some fun with the hashtag #mercipapaFaure ?
The photo above has been shared widely on twitter. Adzima provides some background on the state of the affair for the Togolese children at school.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Who Says You Can Block Google? Chinese Citizen Sues Telco, Demands Answers · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wang Long's profile picture on Weibo.
Gmail and Google services including Search, Scholar, Maps, Translate, and Calendar have been largely inaccessible in mainland China since June of 2014 — all were blocked just prior to the 25th anniversary of the protests at Tiananmen Square.
Users commonly assume that the Chinese government is responsible for the blocking. But exactly which government authorities are in charge here? And under which specific regulations do they block Google and other overseas platforms, such as Facebook?
There is no official channel for ordinary citizens to pose such questions to Chinese authorities. But as consumers, they do have a right to demand that their Internet service providers answer questions about discrepancies in their services. A legal worker living in Shenzhen has decided to act on this right.
Wang Long is suing China Unicom, China's second biggest telecom operator, for failing to provide access to Google's online services. Via social media, Wang has explained that knew he was unlikely to win the case, but wanted to make a point that citizens have the right to challenge these decisions.
The Chinese government has denied engaging in Internet censorship on several occasions and routinely claims that control over Internet access is intended only to block illegal content such as pornography, stave off online financial crime, and protect national security. Decisions to block online content providers and search engines could fall under the above categories, but it is difficult to see how this claim could apply to personalized email services. Thus far, no authority in China has explained why Google's online tools such as Translate, Gmail and Scholar have all been blocked since June. This stifling lack of accountability and transparency in Internet policymaking and enforcement has kept Chinese Internet users in the dark for years. Wang's lawsuit is an attempt to shine light on the story.
Wang's hearing took place on September 4, in Shenzhen Futian District Court. Below is a translated excerpt from the hearing transcript:
Plaintiff: The websites are inaccessible!
Judge: Defendant, can you confirm that the sites are inaccessible?
Defendant: Yes, they are inaccessible.
Judge: Why?
Defendant: I am not sure if I can say… I need to consult before I answer… I can explain this unofficially, I use China Telecom back home, and I can't access those sites either… (People sitting in the court were laughing at the answer)
Judge: The fact that those websites are inaccessible does not mean that China Unicom has to be responsible.
The fact that China Unicom's lawyer hesitated to answer the judge's question regarding “why the websites were inaccessible” shows that even the mere mention of government accountability for web blocking is a sensitive, practically unspeakable topic — the lawyer cannot point to a specific regulation to explain the inaccessibility problem.
In Chinese social media, bloggers kept highlighting the defendant's hesitation and his unofficial answer, again underlining the question: Exactly which authority is responsible for the blocking of overseas websites?
A derivative work on the blocking of google in China. Uploaded by 蛋蛋-坏坏-蛋蛋 on Weibo.
In mid-August, an online campaign was launched in demand of a transparency report from the Ministry of Industry, Information and Technology (MIIT) — a state agency established in 2008 for regulation and development of information and communication technology sector — on the official notices for the blocking of Google, Google+, Youtube and Gmail. The response was, “such documents do not exist”.
If this rules out the involvement of MIIT in the recent blocking of overseas websites, the instruction, as speculated by a Chinese blogger Lu Songsong, may have come directly from the State Internet Information Office under the State Council, which was set up in 2011 to coordinate and supervise online content management and handle the administrative management of businesses related to online news reporting. Indeed, the Council recently announced a set of regulations on mobile instant messaging services. But it also might pertain to the Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group, an entity headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and established in February 2014 to deal with the country's information security issues.
If citizens were able to identify which authority issues and approves blocking requests, many of the legal and technical aspects of web censorship in China might become clearer. But other voices in the debate have suggested that authorities take a different route. In a recent article, party mouthpiece Global Times cited a Beijing-based expert in cyber security who blamed Google for the authorities’ censorship practice:
China Unicom has nothing to do with the failure. It is Google that should be blamed, since it does not operate its business in China. I call on companies like Google or Twitter or Facebook to offer services in China and accept [proper supervision].
Similar to other countries with restrictive online content regimes, it may become a norm for China to request overseas online service providers, such as social media platforms, to censor their users’ content if they wish to remain accessible in the country.
When explaining its change of censorship policy in June this year, LinkedIn revealed that its Chinese site, launched in February 2014, received a request from Chinese authorities to censor its content in June 2014. To keep the site accessible in China, LinkedIn complied with the request and started censoring sensitive posts from showing, at the same time, sensitive contents that are posted from within China will not be viewable to the world so as to “protect its Chinese user from retribution from government officials,” LinkedIn's spokesperson explained.
Although LinkedIn is now accessible in China, users in mainland China are still limited in the ways that they can use the site. As a number of human right groups have pointed out, LinkedIn's “global blocking” policy has limited the degree to which Chinese can interact with the rest of the world — and infringes the rights of users outside China.
The court's decision on the lawsuit filed by Wang Long has yet to be announced. While most Chinese netizens appear not to expect the lawsuit to clear people of their doubt and explain the legal ground for the blocking, they are still applauding Wang Long's effort to pursue government accountability for infringing citizen's right for free Internet access.

author: Oiwan Lam


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After Years of Censorship in Pakistan, Zeejah Fazli Is Trying to Fix Islamabad’s Fractured Music Industry · Global Voices
Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman

Zeejah Fazli’s Rock Musicarium became the country’s first private sector facility to create, promote and preserve Pakistani music. Image from his public Facebook page.
When Zeejah Fazli bought his first guitar at a bookshop in Islamabad in the 1980s, he was just a 12-year-old Jeff Beck fan, and Pakistan’s capital did not have a single music shop. Music and artistic censorship was at its peak.
Today, Zeejah is an accomplished guitarist, as well as an entrepreneur who is trying to turn the tide for Islamabad’s young rock musicians. State censorship of the arts has been waning since 2002, but musicians in the country still struggle to churn their talent into sustainable careers.
In Pakistan, music has not yet developed into a full industry. Most musicians act as both artists and entrepreneurs – they handle all aspects of music production and distribution themselves, from creativity to finance and marketing.
Since 2007, musicians have further been at risk due to the political turmoil and the constant threat of terrorism in the country.
In areas like the north-west province, Khyber Pakhtonkhwa of Pakistan, many artists fall victim to the Taliban, who are anti-music. Attacks on musicians, venues, music shops, and shrines which host music are common.
Artists that choose to migrate to internet spaces face difficulty as well. YouTube, used as a platform for sharing and distributing music, was banned in Pakistan in 2012, and Facebook pages have been blocked.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs such as Zeejah are working to improve the situation, which, in Zeejah’s case, includes starting an NGO to create and facilitate non-corporate opportunities for musicians and organizing Islamabad’s first large-scale music festival.
Rock in a hard place
Zeejah had no music teacher but he knew he wanted to play guitar. At the time Pakistan was ruled by a military dictator, Zia-ul-Haq, who denounced Western culture and music.
Although homegrown rock music flourished in the underground, more mainstream platforms such as radio and TV became limited. Soon after Zia came into power, his administration put a series of legal and procedural measures in place to limit the distribution of pop music on the country’s only TV channel – the state-run Pakistan Television, PTV. Film distributors and cinemas were heavily taxed, leading studios and theatres in Pakistan’s once booming film industry to pull their shutters. Soon the only source of music distribution was PTV and government-run Pakistan Radio.
Benazir Bhutto succeeded Haq, and under her democratic government, things started to get better for musicians. PTV again featured pop music. However, rock music was still not commercially viable.
“It was a funny time back then that we were invited to play on weddings,” recalls Zeejah, referring to his 1990s rock band Elixir. “Pakistani music was running by weddings and corporates. That was the time I thought, how do people who don’t play pop get recognised in this field? I realised there is no solid platform for a person like me who plays rock.”
He took a break from music to concentrate on his studies. Zeejah completed an MBA program and started a pharmaceutical business. “I thought that the music industry did not have anything to offer to a musician like me. I didn’t pursue it as a career and there came a gap in my music career. I was still playing guitars but at home.”
From open-mic sessions to Rock Musicarium
In 1999, another military dictator came into power in Pakistan. Unlike Zia-ul-Haq, Pervez Musharraf took a series of steps to open up the country’s film, arts and music industry.
With Zeejah’s business doing well, things started rolling for him with music as well. He secured comfortable living in well-planned and leafy Islamabad and began producing and recording regularly after his 9-to-5 job.
In 2004, Zeejah joined forces with his like-minded friends Zaman Armaghan and Arieb Azhar, and developed jam sessions named ‘Sweet Leaf City Jam.”
“I invited all musician friends to come and jam and take out all of their frustration. It became so popular in the city that people start to come regularly to attend the jams,” said Zeejah.
As ‘Sweet Leaf City Jam’ become more frequent, so were the complaints of his neighbours, who were not accustomed to late night jams in the sleepy capital.
First they took Sweet Leaf to woods in the Margalla Hills in the outskirts of the city. Then in 2009, Zeejah sought help from the government department that handles concert approvals and land ownership, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to open a bigger venue.
With the CDA’s help, they were able to acquire land near the Rawal Lake and build a venue also in the outskirts of the capital, which they dubbed The Rock Musicarium. The Musicarium quickly outgrew its open mic roots.
“Initially it was just a continuity of the open mic sessions we were having earlier, but in a more organised way,” tells Zeejah. “But we invested more than required and it became commercially not viable for us. Small jamming sessions wouldn’t sustain such a big place.”
By 2010, the Rock Musicarium was a fully functional amphitheater, cafe, and recording studio. It has hosted many concerts and events by underground and popular bands of every genre – from underground band Bumbu Sauce to popular band Noori.
[Noori performs at Rock Musicarium in 2012, uploaded by YouTube user 00alihassan]
Censorship, Bollywood appeal, and bomb risks
While Zeejah was teaching himself to play the guitar, a decade-long Islamisation policy in Pakistan crippled the country’s entertainment industry with restrictive censorship policies. Its effect lasted well into the 1990s.
Musicians relied on gigs from colleagues, corporations and weddings to make ends meet. Many of Pakistan’s commercial success stories – musicians such as Rahat Fateh Ali, Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar – made it by getting integrated into India’s multi-billion dollar Bollywood industry. Once they made it in India, they could charge up to $20,000 a pop for private concerts or weddings in Pakistan.
Without any ‘Bollywood appeal’, Pakistan’s talented rock musicians were, and still are, unable to reach an audience large enough to make a living from their music.
Just when things started to look up at the turn of the millennia, the US invaded neighbouring Afghanistan and Islamic militants took their fury out on Pakistan, a US ally, by bombing public places in previously peaceful cities. Putting a concert together suddenly carried high risks, which most sponsors weren’t willing to bear.
“Some extremist religious parties are condemning music,” says Zeejah, “and it's not just music – they also want women to wear hijab, and for men not having a beard calls for problem. Those areas it is risky to play music . Unfortunately, these areas are under huge influence of certain entities, which are not true representative of the culture. Regardless of the situation people do express their interest in music and perform in hidden places. And if somebody pulls them out of that area and bring them in place where art is more acceptable, they would love to perform.”
“Music is not only production – it is live performances,” said Zeejah: “If you produce a CD and are unable to perform, then your music will go nowhere. The environment for live performances is not friendly – no venues, no security. Musicians are playing at weddings and corporate events. I would say this industry is driven by weddings and corporate events.”
Exposure on TV and social media
While artists still struggle with live concerts, Pakistan’s private broadcast industry is once again an accessible platform. Pakistan now has dozens of cable TV channels, several of which feature “studio session” shows inspired by MTV’s Unplugged and sponsored by big corporations in the country.
The most famous of these, Coke Studio, was created by Coca Cola in 2008 and is currently entering its seventh season. It features live in-studio performances of different genres of music and has become one of the most popular music tv series in Asia. Coke Studio sessions are viewable on tv as well as on Youtube and Vimeo.
Coke Studio has inspired a series of copycat variations backed up by corporations like major cellular provider Ufone's ‘Uth Records’ and instant coffee giant Nescafe’s ‘Nescafe Basement’.
However, since there is no infrastructure for live music, royalty collection, and paid distribution, there is no way to turn social media popularity into revenue.
“The music industry cannot survive on television alone, no matter how many Coke Studios and Pakistan Idols come up,” wrote musician and writer Arieb Azhar in a piece for dawn.com: “The real sources of bread and butter are regular, live music gigs.”
Alternative models
Artists in Pakistan are struggling to find ways to survive, and they are coming up with different models. Singer and composer Haroon Rashid came up with the idea of Taazi.com. (“Taazi” means “fresh” in Urdu.) Taazi.com is an artist-friendly website where artists can upload and release their work and collect royalties.
Zeejah himself has taken steps to support music beyond the sphere of weddings and corporate events.
In 2004, Zeejah founded the Forum for Art, Culture, and Education (FACE) – a non-governmental organisation dedicated to “strengthen, empower, and educate communities through the universal language of arts and through cultural interactions” by facilitating music exchanges and hosting seminars, conferences, festivals, events, workshops, lectures and forums.
FACE aims to act as an informational resource to up-and-coming musicians and composers working across different genres, from different regions of Pakistan.
“It provides all the answers for a young, ambitious music lover who wants to pursue her career in music in the country. There was no platform, guide or mentor for me when I was younger but I would want the upcoming musicians to have it,” Zeejah said,with a half smile on his face.
Most recently, FACE organised the ‘Music Mela’ in May 2014, in collaboration with the Pakistani-American Alumni Network (PUAN). It was the first ever music festival of this size in Islamabad.
“It was a three-day festival with workshops and conferences going on simultaneously. We invited folk, rock and pop musicians. We focused on regional diversity and invited recognised folk artists who are not necessarily commercial and popular,” Zeejah explained proudly.
A music festival in Pakistan which brought tens of thousands of people together and showcased Pakistani artists was an impressive cultural accomplishment and a step towards creating the sort of community that could one day facilitate a sustainable music industry. For Zeejah, it was also a dream come true.
With additional reporting by Sahar Habib Ghazi.

author: Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman


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An Urgent Call for the Protection and Preservation of Tibetan Language · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Khenpo Tsultrim Lodoe is an influential Buddhist teacher at Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Tibet. His article which addresses the relation between language and identity and urges for the preservation of Tibetan language was posted on an official educational website for Tibetan middle schools on July 4, 2014. High Peaks Pure Earth translated the reflective piece.


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Migrant Children from Central America Are Not Mere Statistics · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Migrant children in a schooclass. Image on Flickr by user pies cansados (CC BY-ND 2.0).
In an opinion piece for the American newspaper Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Global Voices contributor Jamie Stark wonders, “What kind of parent would pay $10,000 for a stranger to bring a child 1,400 miles through gangland and hostile border crossings? A good parent, perhaps.”
As a concerned citizen about the crisis of migrant children, Stark reflects:
What do we do with these kids? An important decision, to be certain, but one that overlooks the humanity, the story, of each child crossing our border.
[…]
When a parent from Central America hears the rumor that children are being allowed to stay in the U.S., it's not so hard to imagine spending life savings of $10,000 to $15,000 for a stranger to guide a son or daughter north.
[…]
These kids are not mere statistics. Many never wanted to be here in the first place.
Global Voices has published stories on this issue in the past:
– The Humanitarian Tragedy of Children Emigrating Alone
– An Open Letter to Salvadoran Migrant Children
– Trafficked Ecuadorian Children Pass Through Hell on the Way to the US


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Covert Surveillance ‘Project Speargun’ Fires Up New Zealand Election · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

ANNA MAJAVU of Pacific Media Watch reports for The Daily Blog on an extraordinary event in Auckland on 15 September 2014:
NEW ZEALAND Prime Minister John Key has been accused of allowing the secret installation of equipment that would enable spooks to tap into New Zealand’s undersea fibre optic cable as part of a covert mass surveillance system of citizens.
This was the word from globally acclaimed whistleblower Edward Snowden and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (both speaking via video link), Kim Dotcom and US Pulitzer prize-winner Glenn Greenwald last night at a packed meeting of more than 2000 people in Auckland.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Criticizing the Government Could Get You Arrested in Malaysia. Is it Time to Repeal the Sedition Act?  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Launching of people's movement calling for the repeal of the Sedition Act of 1948. Photo from Suaram.net
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak made an election promise in 2012 that his government would repeal the Sedition Act of 1948, a colonial-era law which has been used to silence critics of the government. Two years later, the law is still in effect and authorities continue to use it against the political opposition.
In recent weeks, dozens have been charged in the courts for violating the Sedition Act. Ten arrests were done in a span of 26 days since August 19. Those accused of making seditious remarks included lawyers, journalists, preachers, and even academicians.
Writing for The Nut Graph, Ding Jo-Ann explained how the broad and vague provisions in the Sedition Act had been abused in the past to harass activists and critics of the ruling party:
It is a crime to excite disaffection against the government, or the administration of justice, or even just to raise “discontent or disaffection” amongst the inhabitants of Malaysia. It contains broad offences such as promoting “feelings of ill will and hostility between different races or classes”.
The repeal of this Act is certainly desirable given its antiquated nature and perceived abuse in the selective prosecution of government critics.
Worried about the sudden rise of sedition-related arrests, around 128 civil society organizations coalesced and called for the immediate abolition of the “archaic” law. They released a statement and an online petition demanding the withdrawal of the sedition cases filed against individuals who were merely voicing an opinion about government policies:
No one should be criminalized for expressing his or her opinion, no matter how his or her opinions may differ from the government's, as long as he or she is not advocating violence or religious or racial hatred.
About 300 academics signed a statement in support of a law scholar who was charged with sedition for commenting on a political crisis that took place in 2009. The “subversive” comment allegedly made by the scholar was cited in a news article. “Does it not defeat the very purpose of his work and indeed the work of thousands of other academics within a nationwide university system if he is to be summarily hauled up for merely doing his duty as an academic?” the statement read.
Activists are using the Twitter hashtag #MansuhAktaHasutan (Abolish Sedition Act) to enjoin the people to sing, dance, and pose to repeal the law.
Good one! RT @KPUM79 Our infographic on how you can possibly get charged under the Sedition Act. #MansuhAktaHasutan pic.twitter.com/PZJFQGPDIz
— Gayathry V (@gayathry) September 13, 2014
Ramon Navaratnam, chairperson of the Asli Centre of Public Policy Studies, reminded the government that the Sedition Act is not helping Malaysia:
We have been urged to think out of the box, innovate and give feedback to the government and to help transform the economy and indeed our beloved country.
But how will this structural change be possible if honest dialogue is apparently stifled by the heavy handed use of the powerful Sedition Act?
It’s “sedition season”, wrote K Kabilan noting the numerous arrests made by the police in the past month:
This is the season where one wrong word can land you in trouble, never mind if you had uttered your allegedly seditious words three years ago, or had only been putting your educated thoughts in writing. As long as it offends someone in power, you look certain to be in trouble.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia's youth wing accused Prime Minister Najib of being a “Sedition King”. The group also warned Najib that the legal repression will incite the people to resist:
These people (who have been arrested or charged under the Sedition Act) are not thieves, robbers, nor murderers, they merely spoke up.
The government has forgotten that this is an old tactic to frighten the people, especially the youth and the students, (but) the more oppressive they get, the more people would come forward to speak up.
But what provoked authorities to make arrests in recent weeks? Nathaniel Tan thinks it’s related to the coming assembly of the ruling party: “I sincerely doubt that the levels of ‘seditious’ comments have gone up in recent weeks or months. Rather, it is only that the Umno General Assembly has drawn closer.”
Umno, the country's largest political party, has never lost an election in Malaysia. Some of the Umno hardliners have been criticizing the leadership of the prime minister and they have expressed reservation over the decision of the government to abolish the Sedition Act.
As an alternative to the Sedition Act, some government scholars are proposing the enactment of a National Harmony Bill, National Unity Bill and National Unity and Integration Commission Bill. The government vowed to conduct further consultations about these proposals but human rights groups are concerned that some of these measures would merely revive the “draconian” provisions of the Sedition Act.
Malaysians are celebrating Malaysia Day this week and perhaps the government can use this occasion to renew its commitment to promote democracy and human rights. Prime Minister Najib can deliver a strong statement by fulfilling his pledge to abolish the Sedition Act.