Tree Protest By KNC Students

23.02.2010

Description:

It started on the morning of 23rd February 2010, with a group of students skipping classes to stop the felling of some trees opposite Kamala Nehru College.

By afternoon, it became an 'issue' for the Government as we were 'disrupting' their work.

The CPWD has been asked to UPROOT eleven trees on SIRI FORT ROAD for the widening of roads. Even though they have got permission from the Forest Department to do so, there is NO PERMISSION from the UTTIPEC for widening of roads. In spite of the Supreme Court order which requires a mandatory permit from UTTIPEC, the CPWD is going ahead with the cutting of trees ILLEGALLY.

Also, if the roads are widened, there won't be any footpath for pedestrians to walk on. Is two weeks of Commonwealth Games reason enough for the government to cut these tress and put the lives of thousands of college students at risk??

24.02.2010

The first protest took place on 24February. It started around 10am and went on till 1pm. We were able to postpone the felling if trees, but no on k new till exactly how long.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/25/stories/2010022558670200.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Girl-power-resists-chopping-drive/articleshow/5613693.cms

06.03.2010

The PWD resumed their work on the night of 5th March around 10pm. We were able to stop the felling of trees that time too but immediate action needed to be taken to put an end to this. Another protest was organised on March6th against the PWD. Participation of people had died out majorly, as only the very few who actually felt for the cause were present. Nevertheless, we continued with out POA.

13.03.2010

The fight is still going on with no outcome as such. The deadline of the feeling of trees has been extended from March end to July end, ensuring that the work is done as soon as we start with our summer breaks.

All the time people talk about raising their voices against the wrongs that are being done. But it's strange that when you actually do that, not many join you. Moreover, you are suppressed even before you start. "Tum system ko nahi, system tumhe badalta hai" has a whole new meaning for me after going through all this for more than 2weeks now.

Two weeks of Commonwealth Games does not mean we sacrifice our environment and risk thousands of young lives.

Join us on http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ss&gid=322711103667 and help our voices get heard.

Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=photos&ref=ss&gid=322711103667

Videos: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=361264443128&oid=322711103667

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnkBlU0LwaY

Disappointed,

Mish-ika

Hullabaloo over Hijab in Kuwait

A hijab, as commonly understood in the English-speaking world, is the type of head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women, but can also refer to modest Muslim styles of dress in general. The Arabic word literally means curtain or cover (noun), based on the root meaning "to cover, to veil, to shelter". Most Islamic legal systems define this type of modest dressing as covering everything except the face and hands in public.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/kuwait/6307598/Kuwaiti-women-MPs-refuse-to-wear-hijab-in-parliament.html

The following article tells us about how Rola Dashti and Aseel Al-Awadhi, who were among the first four women to elected to Kuwait's National Assembly in May, have angered their Islamist colleagues by refusing to wear hijab in parliament. They might be accused of flouting the sharia(It refers to the legal framework within which the public and private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Islamic principles of jurisprudence and for Muslims living outside the domain. Sharia deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business, contracts, family, sexuality, hygiene, and social issues.), but that isn't stopping them from protesting against what they think is not a required custom. In fact, one of them has gone a step ahead by demanding the scrapping of an amendment to electoral regulations that says they have to observe sharia in parliament.

A statement by Dashti, "you can't force a woman to wear hijab", might have created controversy in Kuwait, but it is good to know that women still are able to raise their voices as and when the need arises. Hopefully, history will be created with the implementation of this rule, or at least scrapping of the previous one.

The need for sex education- Whay is that even a question??

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/ludhiana/Sex-education-a-must-in-schools-Experts/articleshow/4960523.cms

I don't even see what the other side of this argument is. Sex education should be made mandatory in our schools. Its good that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal feels the need to introduce some personality development classes, but they obviously can't be used as a substitution for sex education.

In a country like India where sex talks are considered a taboo and parents refrain from discussing it with their children, sex education is the only way to ensure that adolescents don' feed on half-baked for them, which is dangerous for them, as well as those around them!

This is something that I came across while I was reading about the need for sex education, and I really wanted to share it with all of you. Do read it.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/134572/10_reasons_we_need_comprehensive_sex.html?cat=52

The Plight of Women 'Empowerment'!!

"Empowerment means moving from a position of

enforced powerlessness to one of power".

"Tall claims of women empowerment and taking health care to the remote areas sounded hollow..."

(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/jaipur/Woman-delivers-baby-on-road-dies/articleshow/4872324.cms)

With a phrase like this for the first line of a news story, one will be compelled to think how empowered we, as women, really are. The news item refers to a case in the Gatla district of Jaipur. Although the article mainly focuses on how the condition of women in India is still not as good as it is expected to be after so much (mostly false claims!) has been done to improve their condition, it also throws light on gender issues. The baby being a girl resulted in the husbands' reluctance to accept the child, seen as a typical case of gender discrimination. It also questions the efficiency of the government in times like these.

Ironically on the same day, i.e. August 9, 2009, another article was published in Times of India newspaper about a woman in Delhi who delivered a girl in a n open park near Nizamuddin dargah. Even she had been abandoned by her husband but now finds some strength in the Ladli Scheme under the Janani Suraksha Yojana. The article throws light on the various programmes by the government, and many more by non-government organisations (NGOs) to improve the condition, mainly health related, of women in our country. A number of names have been mentioned which are working towards this cause. "..she is one of the very few who have managed to benefit from the government's social welfare schemes..." With so much being written, maybe one can hope for a healthy future for Fatima's daughter, Alisha.

It is hard to gauge how much of it is really the way it is mentioned though. So many schemes that exist are hollow from within as their existence is mostly namesake. To actually measure the growth that is taking place we might need to wait longer, as such a substantial growth is yet to be witnessed.