Planet KHOJLAND Is available. How do you want to use it? LAND DREAMS, cataloguing our cultural aspirations and use-values related to LAND
Living in a country and region with active land-struggles and a history of land-rights movements^ and attempts of land-reform, if land is made available to us for some time, what can we imagine? CALL FOR PROPOSALSLAND is available for temporary projects, workshops, conferences, performances, make-shift offices in Bangalore for five days a month. This LAND is available only until August 2009. As an artist, group, community, network or individual if there is a need for flexible temporary space in the city, send your proposal to LAND DREAMS. Your proposal should:
The LAND belongs is the University Women’s Association of Bangalore (UWAB)’s property in New Thippasandra where they are building a hostel for working women. the construction process is temporarily halted due to paucity of funds. The UWAB has offered CitySpinning use of the property till such time that construction commences. UWAB believes in encouraging young talent and hopes to see youth putting there hostel space to good use. DEADLINEFor using the LAND in July or August please send in your proposals by June 15th, 2009. Proposals can be e-mailed to land@cityspinning.org. PROCESS
The University Women’s Association, Bangalore (UWAB) property in New Thippasandra. The UWAB’s land is a site for a working women’s hostel. Link to the google map: http://is.gd/rl5p. Some photographs are here:
The proposals will be selected by CitySpinning and University Women’s Association (UWA) together. - - - ^ see http://is.gd/A4dV and http://is.gd/A496. Mobile.culture: the short-listed proposals for the DOTIn January this year CitySpinning invited design proposals for the DOT (Dots in Transit), a configuration for a mobile cultural space for Bangalore. Proposals were short-listed in April and then every participant was requested to license their proposal under an open-content license before the entries were shared with the world on the web and soon through a print publication and exhibition. All the proposals short-listed as part of the POROUS CITY process are presented below. More details about the mobile.culture publication will be available soon. All the proposals are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 India License [link]. An exhibition of the proposals and some texts on them is being planned in Bangalore in June (details soon). The DOT will actually be made through a two-part design workshop being planned with Meeta Jain where numerous architects, designers, imaginers and competition participants in India will talk and work together on a functional design for the streets of Bangalore. The proposals follow: Amrita Ravimohan & Ekta IdnanyFrom Mumbai, India for THE DOT MATRIX  The Dot Matrix by Ekta & Amrita, page 1  The Dot Matrix by Ekta & Amrita, page 2 Azeer Attari & Dominic AnthonyFrom Mumbai, India for KHEL: THE INTERACTIVE LEARNING CART  KHEL, image 1  KHEL, image 2  KHEL, image 3  KHEL, image 4  KHEL, image 5  KHEL, image 6  KHEL, image 7 Benoît MaubreyFrom Brück, Germany for CYBER-BIRDS  Cyber-birds: mobile multi-media screens, page 1  Cyber-birds: mobile multi-media screens, page 2  Cyber-birds: mobile multi-media screens, page 3 Elina Moreau BraunsteinFrom Sydney, Australia for PAVILION  Pavilion (big image) Harry Westbrook & Nash ColundularFrom London, UK for BODY SUIT  Bodysuit, page 1  Body Suit, page 2 Heron-Mazy Studio, J.P. Maruszczak & Roger Connah & Asst: Ryan ManningFrom USA for SIX SCRIPTS  Six Scripts for a Kite Running Architecture, page 1  Six Scripts for a Kite Running Architecture, page 2  Six Scripts for a Kite Running Architecture, page 3  Six Scripts for a Kite Running Architecture, page 4  Six Scripts for a Kite Running Architecture, page 5  Six Scripts for a Kite Running Architecture, page 6  Six Scripts for a Kite Running Architecture, page 7 Jelena Grujic and Lea SkrinjarFrom Novi Sad & Belgrade, Serbia for PPMT  PPMT, page 1  PPMT, page 2 Jimini HignettFrom Amsterdam, The Netherlands for ART BAR  Art Bar, page 1  Art Bar, page 2  Art Bar, page 3  Art Bar, page 5 Joao Caria LopesFrom Lisbon, Portugal for ART-CLOSET  Art Closet, page 1  Art Closet, page 2  Art Closet, page 3  Art Closet, page 4  Art Closet, page 5 Joseph ChomaFrom New York, USA for UNTITLED  CHOMA, page 1  CHOMA, page 2  CHOMA, page 3  CHOMA, page 4 Miguel ValérioFrom Amsterdam, The Netherlands for BALLOON  Balloon, page 1  Balloon, page 2  Balloon, page 3  Balloon, page 4  Balloon, page 5  Balloon, page 6 Nick TobierFrom Detroit & Ann Arbor, USA for CRATE CULTURE  Crate Culture, page 1  Crate Culture, page 2  Crate Culture, page 3  Crate Culture, page 4  Crate Culture, page 5  Crate Culture, page 6 Petar Bojovic & Slobodan KrsmanovicFrom Belgrade, Serbia for SILKY RING  Silky Ring, page 1  Silky Ring, page 2  Silky Ring, page 3 Shyamanta Shekhar, Harshavardhan, Srinivas, Sujay Kuncham, VishnuvardhanFrom Bangalore, India for FORUM  Forum, page 1  Forum, page 2 Stewart Hicks & Allison NewmeyerFrom Illinois, USA for MOMO  MOMO, page 1  MOMO, page 2  MOMO, page 3  MOMO, page 4  MOMO, page 5  MOMO, page 6  MOMO, page 7  MOMO, page 8  MOMO, page 9 Petpuja @ Futuresonic 09
So, if you are in that part of the world, you may be able to catch the exhibition besides all the exciting projects and events they have across this week. One of the panels which is there at the show is below, more pictures and more of the documentation at the show will appear here shortly.
Canopy @ Make Them Love YouA sign board promoting the CANOPY project is a part of Make Then Love You in Chennai. This is what my sign might look like. Might because the signs are going to be hand-painted by a film-poster painter and the “loss in translation” is a part of the process.
My sign says, “Food is Now Within Your Reach, Do Not Beg, Borrow or Work for Food…” It seeks to promote neighbourhood urban farming through the CANOPY project and other variations. Other artists and organizations participating in MTLY are Sarath Babu (Chennai), The Banyan (Chennai), Roxanne Borujerdi (Paris), Casa Blanca 2 AKA Teddy Cruz (Chennai), Roberto Freddi & Jason Moore (London), Jessica Wallack (Chennai), Postmasters Gallery (New York), Revathy (Chennai), S.A.V Elanchezian (Chennai). The opening is at Art World Gallery 12,Ganeshpuram 3rd Street, (Off Cenotaph Rd.) Teynampet, Chennai. PH: 044 2431 5371 on Saturday,16 May, 2009, 6:30-9:30pm. Some pictures of my sign being painted at the street-sign-filled streets of Chennai: 
 things to do at home: mongan iruna nayinte thalayil thenga veenathu pole malyalam is like a dog who was waiting for a coconut to fall on its head. (sent by Aathira)  agar mittha samne hai toh makhi toh zaroor aasi How would you say it in your language?"I NEVER ASK FOR IT" I NEVER ASK FOR IT. (in Deutsche): contributed by Ulrike Syha Ich habe nie darum gebeten. or Darum habe ich nie gebeten. I would prefer the latter. (in French) : contributed by Roselyne Titaud and Barret Clemence je n'ai jamais demandé ça (in Malyalam) : contributed by Nandini Raja njaan aavashyapettilla = I never ask for it. contributed by Farid Jalal jyaan teere athinnu choichitilla = I have never asked for it. (in Oriya) : contributed by Snigdha Sahoo mun kebe bi e sabu chaanhi na thili - i never ask for it (in Gujarati): contributed by Niyati Patel hoon kyarey magti nathi - i never ask for it me kyarey aa magyu nathi - i have never asked for it mane aa joytu nathi - i dont want this (in Bangla) :contributed by Sunayana Roy Ami to chai ni -- I did not ask for it Ami kokhunoyi chai na -- I never ask for it Ami e shob chai na -- I don't want all this (in Marathi):contributed by Poonam Vaidya मी कद्धी नाही हेचा साथी विचारल : mi kadi nahi hecha saathi vicharal= I never ask for it (in Tamil) :contributed by Miruna Varadarajan naan varavazhaipadu alla = i do not invite naanketpadu alla = i do not ask for it contributed by R. Jai Krishnanaan ketkamataen = I never ask for it (in Assamese) : contributed by Arundhati Banerjee "Moi ketiao chowa nai"......I never asked for it (in Punjabi) : contributed by Jasso Rani mein maaf karna. eh kade meri galti nahin si= excuse me but it wasn't my fault. mein kadey mangya nayi = i never ask for it mein bilkul pasand nahi= i absolutely dislike it akhir gur da ki kasoor= but why blame sugar? ( in reference to jithe gur uthe makhi* check image) istey meri ki galti= why are you blaming me? contributed by Gujan Chugh Main eh taanh nahin si mangya= I had not asked for it How was it implied in your language?"She 'asked for it'?" could be proverbs, statement, sayings from everyday conversations "She 'asked for it": 1. Aap theek ho toh sab theek hai. (hindi) = if you are okay, then everything is okay. 2. ladki agar santo key beech par jayegi to santo toh bharka gain na? (hindi)= a girl can provoke the saints too. 3. agar mittha samne hai toh makhi toh zaroor aasi ( punjabi) = agar meethu sammey paduy che to makhi chokase avse( gujarati) = if there's something sweet , then it is obvious that the flies will be there too. gujurati version sent by Darshana Panchal 4. pennorumbettaal brahmanum (malayalam) = if a women wishes so, even Brahma cannote escape her advances. sent by Suman 5. ila chennu mullil veenaalum mullu vannu ilayil veenalum kedu ilakkaanu =this is actually kind of cautionary stuff for all mallu girls of all generations. if the leaf falls on the thorns or the thorn falls on a leaf, whatever may be, it is the leaf that gets torn off. (well actually a warning kind a.hey girl, do not go and do things, and then later on complain about it. whether you do it or they do, you are the one to suffer. hence, make no room for any such incidents only) sent by Suman 6. ladki ki izzat kaanch ke jaisi hai. joh toot jata hai judta nahin hai = a girls modesty/respectablity is like glass. once broken it cannot be fixed. sent by Nita Patheja 7. "Dangling a carrot in front of a donkey". sent by Annie Zaidi 8. Juttu vippokoni gattiga navvey aada daani, yennadu nammoddhu!old telugu saying = never trust a woman who laughs loudly with her hair opensent by the much harassed Vijay Sai 9. streeche paul vakde padle ki samajacha naash suru hoto (marathi)= the moment a woman steps out of line (breaks social mores), the social decay begins. sent by Pranav Joshi 10. andaman ki baarish aur aurat ka koi bharosa nahin hai= they say this in the andamans if they feel betrayed by women= the rains in andaman are unpredictable just like women. sent by Rani Kamal 11. ek miyan mein doh talwar= 2 women in a house will always create havoc. sent by Rani Kamal 12. jithe doh auratan hon uthe bhande kharakde hi hain= 2 women in a house will always create noise/ fight/ make trouble sent by Indri 13. "Beware of the 3 Ws in life- women wine and wealth" sent by Rani Kamal 14. aurtan ni gallan te nahin aana chahida. punjabi. statement = dont get into what women say. sent by Rani Kamal 15. "Ela estava mesmo a pedi-las" Portuguese for "She was really asking for it", commonly used when, say, a rape is associated to the clothes the girl / woman was wearing at the time of the assault.sent by Joao Lemos 16. "woh muchh hi kya jise fera nahi jaata; woh ladki hi kya jise chheda nahi jaata."hindi= ('what is a moustache that can't be curled up, what is a girl who is not teased.')sent by Mohnish 17. "Shei orokom meye" is the sense of nudge, nudge, wink, wink, you know, she's that kind of girl. sent by Sunayana Roy 18. "Jithe Gur uthe makhi"= where there is gur/ jaggery- there will be flies. 19. "mongan iruna nayinte thalayil thenga veenathu pole" this is a colloquial saying in Malayalam which literally means this(situation) is like a dog who was waiting for a coconut to fall on its head. sent by Aathira  Nisha Nair @ CitySpinningNisha Nair, an architect from Mumbai, spent a week (April 5th to 11th) at CitySpinning in Bangalore working on the space for the YourTime Club. Here are some photographs of the process. There are also some pictures of the thermocol, paper and rope model she built after our initial discussions. I met Nisha at Khoj last year, she was also a part of PEERS 08. 
 YourTime Club in the DNAToday in a story about Bangalore’s design culture a photograph of the site of the YourTime Club’s (YC) first meeting was featured in DNA Bangalore. A more detailed story about the YC was in last Sunday’s edition of the same paper. 
 CALLING ACTION HEROES IN BOMBAY Calling Action Heroes to meet in Bombay. Carter Road. Sunday April 19. at 4 pm There's a dress 'code': Wear a garment you always wished to wear but did not or could not because something told you, you might be 'asking for it'. Please bring along a garment you wore when you were 'teased' or harassed on the street. ***The intervention itself will be simple and in true Blank Noise spirit, will involve public participation> details shall be emailed after you confirm attending. The event will end with a discussion. Should you wish to help towards making this event happen- please email us at blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com and add your name to the list below:
Stay tuned. to organize an event in your city get in touch asap. Yours truly Blank Noise Team facebook events: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2301742&id=500896078#/event.php?eid=71245793908 facebook group/ I NEVER ASK FOR IT/ BLANK NOISE http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2301742&id=500896078#/group.php?gid=142739725581&ref=ts Blank Noise on facebook http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2301742&id=500896078#/group.php?gid=2703755288&ref=ts  YourTime Club, the first meeting and further
The first meeting of the YourTime Club happened on Saturday, 11th April. We had Indu, Sunil, Harsh, Sony, Nisha, Ajay, Ritwick, Tarun and Saritha at the meeting. Minutes of some the discussions which happened in the meeting:
We have a google group for discussions and a SMS group now to receive updates and news,
Some photographs of the meeting are below. I also did a few audio recordings, I’ll be able to edit and add the audio clips later this week. The meeting happened inside (was it really inside?) a temporary structure created by Nisha Nair from Mumbai. More details and photographs of Nisha’s work at CitySpinning in the next post. 
 Introducing the YourTime Club (a club for people who finally own their time again)
== INVITATION:== If you have recently lost (or not found) a job, you are invited to the introductory meeting of the YourTime Club. If you don’t own your own time yet please forward this link along to those who do! == DATE:== Saturday, 11th April, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. == LOCATION:== UWA hostel plot, New Thippasandra, Link to the google map: http://is.gd/rl5p or call me if you need directions (that’s my mobile number up there) == ABOUT:== The financial-crisis has entered the family. Someone we know directly or indirectly has lost his/her job. This is great news. With full-time employment we haven’t had time to do many things which were once close to our heart. Did you once like to just sit around and stare at the sky, the clouds merging into each other, making strange shapes? Or maybe try and read patterns into the flow of traffic on the street outside your house, browse the library shelves for hours? Clean the garden, cook experimental dishes, drive out to the highway only to look at the stars… We are introducing the YourTime Club, for people in Bangalore who are experiencing a new found freedom with their time, either because you have recently lost your job or because you can’t find one. So, what are you doing with this time? The YourTime Club will meet twice a month at the University Women’s Association, Bangalore (UWAB) property in New Thippasandra - the UWAB’s site for a working women’s hostel (see LOCATION). The site is temporarily unemployed as the project requires a further infusion of vitamin M. UWA is currently working at raising funds to soon be able to employ the site full-time.
At each meeting of the The YourTime Club, we will perform activities which the club-members feel are educational, fun, adventurous, social, service-oriented or explorative**. The first meeting of this club will be on the 11th of April 2009. At this meeting the concept of the club and the initial few ideas for activities will be discussed. Those who find some of those ideas interesting can enroll in the club. Enrollment is free. - - - - ** Yoga workshops, gardening and urban farming, writing poetry, flying kites, teaching children, repairing bicycles, learning to cook etc. + This project is supported by OpenSpace Bangalore Land dreamsLandDreams [land-dreams] noun, verb
- noun: Realized or unrealized aspirations of land. - verb: The act of imagining urealized desires; in terms of functional uses or aesthetic. Unemployed plots of land dream of things that they can do, how they can look, forms they can take. When they are actively traded and utilized in the market and society, only a narrow range of functions get performed on them. They, on the other hand remain unfilled. Because, how they see themselves as is a a lot more colourful, open, social and adventureous. The markets binds the land in the roles it wants it to play. The market has crashed. A lot of land is now unemployed. The market doesn’t have the resources to employ it or speculate on it. For now, some land owns its own future. And so, it is dreaming. It is dreaming of what it can be. In many different ways. I am channeling these dreams and giving them a temporary life. This story is called LandDreams, a verb and a noun. LandDreams is a part of the Porous City effort. The first plot of land whose dreams I am channeling is the University Women’s Association, Bangalore (UWAB) property in New Thippasandra - the UWAB’s site for a working women’s hostel (see a map here). This is what the land looks like right now: 
Nisha Nair and I am working on a temporary cloth and rope structure at the site for the first meeting of the YourTime Club. You will see more of the dreams here as they take shape. MAKE A SIGN  - by Ilona Granet  Make a street sign. It can be in any city , street , lane , neighbourhood you want. You could think of signs in buses, parks, night clubs, movie halls, malls and markets- it is up to you to spell out which kind of place you want your sign in. It could even be in sites where women have experienced street sexual harassment- like here. You are welcome to say anything you want. Guidelines: 1. we encourage submissions that are affirmative. 2. your submission should include a brief note about which place you want to insert the sign in and why 3. it could be in any language but an English translation is important. 4. It does not need to have text. It could just be visual. 5. It does not need to have visual. It could just be text. 6. It could have both text and visual. 7. You must send us a web friendly jpeg/ png/ file, but remember not to throw away the original vector file incase yours is selected for printing! 8. you may be the recruiter- you could involve your local network to work on this. for example- if you are a teacher- this could be a class assignment. If you are in college- you could organize a community of people to work on this. 9. Some of you might have better writing skills than visualization skills, in that case you are welcome to send text for a street sign. Based on the response to this event we might have the option of someone with visual skills partnering with you to make this sign. 10. keep it simple Your street sign will be put on the Blank Noise blog + flickr. 3 signs will be selected to be tried and tested in public. The selected signs could also be printed on t shirts. Deadline: 17th May. 2009 Confirm your participation by emailing us at blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com subject titled SIGN. We will add your name to the list below. Sign UP! Be an Action Hero. We are always avaliable to chat with you about your idea for the street sign before your submission. Here's what we want to say and why: We are talking of safer cities not feared cities We are talking of independent women, not paranoid women. We are talking about collective responsibility- don't tell me to be even more 'cautious'. We are talking about eve teasing as street sexual harassment and street sexual violence. We are talking about autonomous women, not just mothers daughters and sisters amidst fathers brothers and sons. resources/ reference In the past we have discussed this and this and this and this and this and this Sometimes we just love to walk, stand around, hang around, without looking ‘available'.  Outcome of the call for proposals for designs of mobile cultural spacesThe Porous City call for proposals for designs of mobile cultural spaces received twenty-five submissions from eight countries. From January 26-March 20th, the competition website had some 3,000 visitors from around the world. Numerous people sent asked questions and posted the call for proposals on their website.  Visitors from around the world Fifteen of the twenty-five proposals have been short-listed and will be published in a book in the next few weeks. The book will be released on the web-site and as a print-on-demand publication. The short-listed teams will receive e-mails from CitySpinning soon (update, april 8th 09: this is in progress now, some of you might have already received e-mails). Each short-listed team will be requested to license their submission under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 India License [link]. After that some images from the submitted proposals, commentary and more details will be posted here. The short-listed teams are:
The steps after the short-list, the prize and the post-competition plan (towards getting the DOT on the street in Bengaluru / Bangalore) will also will be posted later next week. For those who are interested, here are more statistics about the traffic at the competition website:  Visitors from Indian cities Inspite of all the traffic from within India I got only five proposals originating from India. So, either people got to know too late, were busy, lazy or un-motiviated. How do I motivate you, all my fellow citizens of India? This is happening in Bangalore, more local participation would have been great! Besides the web-site, posters were also put by friends and volunteers at numerous architecture and design school in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. A more general view of the Google Analytics dashboard of the competition web-site:  Dashboard view More updates soon. Thank you everyone for participating and your enthusiasm! CitySpinning will be announcing more competitions later this year. Street Sign: No Misbehaving. No Eve Teasing.  photographed by Manu spotted by Mohnish Moorjani Location: Joggers Park. Bombay Seen anything like this before? Tell us about it- (better still if you could attach a photo) e: blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com  THIS PLACE photograph it place it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blanknoisethisplace/map e:blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com  Bombay. March 15.    photo credits. Punit and Yamini Yamini Deen reports: After so many Blank Noise interventions, the street in my head is like a laboratory of delicious experiments- those of provocation, the test of limits . The street tells so many stories of wooing , of harassing, of hookers , of control, of sexuality . SO Gateway Sunday was one such experience. I walked up and down the promenade for a while. I went and politely handed the letter to anyone who responded to me in some way-lewd, curious,anything. Some men would look at me up and down in the lewdest way possible and get completey flabbergasted if I went up to them, smiled and handed a letter. Guilt? Fear? Something they didn't expect? One man came to me and said ''So you think I am eve teasing you''? ''Why did you only give me the letter''? He later told a male friend. 'If a girl walks ''that way''..you know one assumes she is asking for sex.' But Gateway is also a space where they pick up men/women for sex. is the line between being unapologetic and sexually overt so thin? But I am by now extremely unapologetic about my walking. Anyhow, in the corner right in front of a gateway of India stood a pretty white woman in a short yellow dress. When I first spotted her, men collected in a line , at a 'safe' distance and stared. She fiddled with her phone.I handed her a letter and left. After a while, I went there and noticed that men were taking turns to take pictures with her. (This while she was holding our letter) She was smiling. The crowd thickened. Rumours flew like sparks and at other parts of the promenade, fellow blank noise members overheard conversations about Preity Zinta or 'some' celebrity being there. (A photo op for random loiterers, is that the new hobby of celebrities?) Well.,after a while, about 40 men had crowded around her taking turns to take a picture with her.They helped themselves to her waist while holding her. And she was smiling , mostly, slightly embarrassed , occasionally uncomfortable. And maybe behind all mobs, there are a few complacent cops standing at a corner. We asked the cops why they didn't stop anyone. They said it was because she agreed to have her picture taken. I was wondering then if in my mind I allowed the thought that she might have actually enjoyed the attention.And NOT in a negative way- not in a she deserved it sort of a way. We asked her and she said 'Now , ask them to go.' It was like a constant seesaw between comfort and discomfort for her.She never really looked threatened, to me atleast. The only thing that worried me was how the mob gathered so fast, and mobs being mobs, can go out of control. Which again brings me to the question of when attention is threatening, when it is mildly irritating, when it is flattering and when it can make you bawl. Action Heroes include: Yamini Deen, Pranav Joshi, Kismet Nakai, Punit, April. Next event: Blank Noise Bombay on March 29th. Sunday. CALLING ACTION HEROES. REPORT AT blurtblanknoise at gmail dot com  Updates from Bangalore!Protesting the recent reported attacks against women in Bangalore and the apathy and indifference displayed by the city's Police Commissioner, Fearless Karnataka/Nirbhaya Karnataka submitted a memorandum to the State's DGP on March 7. When the group finally met him a few days later, victims recounted their experiences and the group submitted the memorandum again alongwith some specific questions:
1. Donna Fernandes (Vimochana) – Is it possible for a ½ day meeting with women from various NGOs and the police? We never get through to ACPs or Inspectors when we call the police station. We want time with you so we can better the system. Ajay Singh – What I wanted was a half day meeting with the Commissioner. I will call Infant (ADGP law and Order, State) and invite some senior officers. 2. Group – Every month the Commissioner needs 2-3 hours to hear women's voices and NGO voices. Ajay Singh – I can't disclose very much but I have written to him about the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and about your incidents. I have told him that these are serious investigations. It has been very disturbing for me to read your email (gesturing Rest House Road complainants). 3. Priya (victim) – Filing an FIR is the last resort and we are strong and vocal but there are so many more people who are not filing FIRs. Can a note be sent to police stations highlighting the particular incidents and urging police to take action in such cases? Ajay Kumar Singh – Great idea will you help me work on it? 4. Group – Public communication, billboards needed. Ajay Kumar Singh - This is a good idea.(The group needs to figure a way to take this forward) 5. Donna – It's crucial for communities to get together at various police station levels and the ACP should publicly commit themselves that these issues will not be taken lightly. We need to marginalise these intolerant voices. The local police, MLAs should be on the panel and commit themselves. Singh – The MLAs will be busy till the elections are over. 6. Jiti – Can we build in measures like surety - what other legal interventions can be made to ensure justice? Singh – We also get the blame for many things that are not our fault and that are the blame of other departments. For instance after the Mangalore open meeting women are saying we released the suspects but actually the courts released them. Surety/Self bail: I don't know what we as Police can suggest – may be you can meet the Administrative judge. 7. Archana – Is there any one single emergency contact number? Singh – Well in addition to 100 do pass on this number, it's the DGPs control room and I will instruct them to contact the local police station: 22942111. Referring to memorandum in front of him: I've agreed to almost all of these. I'll have to call the Commissioner and other officers and we can take this forward. 8. Donna - Can we have a higher monitoring committee of senior officers who will oversee the process of such cases right from the filing of the FIR? Singh - I will pass an order immediately. (Calls PA in and issues orders to Pujar to oversee these particular incidents). Agrees to a “a half day meeting that will end in something productive” and to issue a public statement after meeting with officers and going through the memorandum. Has also asked for a copy of all fled FIRs which was dropped off at his office the next day. We are now waiting for him to revert to us.  Memorandum to the Inspector General of Police. KarnatakaFearless Karnataka. Nirbhaya Karnataka submitted this to IGP , Ajai Singh on March 7th. Tomorrow March 12th , 5 people ( Alternative Law Forum , Blank Noise, Vimochana and 2 survivors of the recent attacks)
are going to hear a response from the IGP. We will keep you updated. 7th March 2009 To: Director General of Police Karnataka Nruputunga Road Bangalore Sir, We approach you with a sense of anger as well as sadness that as we gather to celebrate International Women's Day, there is a growing sense of insecurity and fear in the state as far as women are concerned. Over the last one month several women have been violently attacked across Karnataka. In Bangalore alone: * On 28 February 2009 at 10.30 pm, Sanjana got hit by two men on a bike who slowed down, socked her on her jaw and fled away. * On 24 February 2009, Vandana was attacked at around 9 pm by four men who punched her, hit her, and abused her for wearing jeans. On 17 February 2009, two men chased Archana's car at 1.30 pm. One chased her with a large stone as she ran to a friend’s house for refuge. That same week, Jasmine (name changed) was attacked by four middle-aged men at 11.30 am when her auto broke down. They physically assaulted and tried to disrobe her while yelling obscenities. More than 70 attacks cases of moral policing have been reported from all over Karnataka in the last six months for supposed violations of the moral code like a Hindu girl talking to a Muslim boy, attack on a dance school, attack on girls and boys from different religions who 'dare' to go out together. ( We annex a summary of these incidents reported in both the English and Kannada press ). The police have not taken meaningful steps to stop or prevent this violence, to arrest the perpetrators, or to ensure the safety of all women in Bangalore and Karnataka. In connections with cases reported in Bangalore City, a group of concerned citizens met with Mr. Shankar Bidari, Commisiioner of Police, Bangalore City, on 2th March 2009. We are deeply disappointed with his statement that these incidents do not in anyway indicate that Bangalore is not safe for women. He was dismissive of our concerns and also alleged that women who had lodged FIRs had not provided any proper information to aid in the investigation. We have no other option but to believe that Mr. Bidari is not in a position to ensure that women in Bangalore can walk the streets without fear of assault and molestation. He further went on record to state that the case reported in Indiranagar was one of hit and run and that it was the woman-complainant’s actions that caused the attack on her. This indicates that he is escaping from his responsibility of safeguarding the freedom and dignity of women. Such statements are not at all becoming of an officer who holds such a responsible position in the city. The stated opinion of the Commissioner of Police, Bangalore city, is that these are but stray incidents and that few FIR's have been filed. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that this viewpoint is itself part of the problem. Crimes against women cannot be measured merely by the number of FIR's are registered, a fact that the police should realize. We expect the police to acknowledge the reality of violence against women and work in a spirit of co-operation with civil society groups to ensure that more women do indeed begin to file FIR's. We are deeply distressed and angry that the Commissioner of Bangalore Police instead of starting from this premise has reacted defensively and, dare we say, in the best traditions of male chauvinism by questioning the veracity of the complaint and casting aspersions on the motivations of the few brave women who have filed a complaint. In fact, the Indiranagar Police Station have refused to lodge and FIR and instead issued an acknowledgment to the complainant stating that complaint is false. Our concern is that the police must enable and encourage women to file complaints rather than impede them from filing FIR's. The kind of investigation which the police are carrying out even in the two cases in which FIRs have been finally lodged has been very insensitive to the women concerned. After each aggressive session with the police they come away with the feeling that they are not victims but wrongdoers. If such is the attitude of the police it is not surprising that women do not file complaints. This police attitude needs to change and we need to see change from the very top of Bangalore's police hierarchy. We approach you in the spirit, that we must start from the premise that we have a problem and then work towards redressing the same. We are confident that you share our concern about the safety of women on the streets of Bangalore . These attacks are crimes against women. They are legal offences. They are neither isolated events nor trivial incidents of ‘eve-teasing’. They are part of a series of attacks inflicted on women in the name of ‘morality’ and religious intolerance, attacks that are escalating as women resist and fight back. We must bring to your attention that in all the incidents women have been targeted for what they have been wearing, the fact that they were on the road late at night or that they should not have been in a particular location. The motivation behind the attacks is to compel women to subscribe to a narrow definition of culture and modesty. Moral and cultural policing of this nature is undertaken to restrict the freedom of women to live full and meaningful lives. It is unfortunate that police officers in police station are also reflecting the same mindset when women are trying to lodge cases. It is the core responsibility of the state and city police to ensure that public spaces are kept safe for all. Women across class barriers – from powrakarmikas to garment factory workers to students and young professionals in the corporate sector – have today become vulnerable targets on the streets of Karnataka. We are also hereby expressing full faith in the Karnataka State Police and are confident that the perpetrators of these crimes will be brought to justice. We would like to emphasize that these attacks on women by the so called torchbearers of ‘Indian Culture’ are a direct attack not only on the women but also an attack on the humanity, dignity & compassion of the people who live in this state. We urge you do take the issue of safety and dignity of women in public places as of being one of highest priority. Towards this it would be deeply appreciated if you ensure the following:
Sir, it cannot be stressed enough that Karnataka must be a place where women are not in fear of being harassed and attacked in public places. These attacks on women not only cause fear and panic among women. They also the tarnish the reputation of the state of Karnataka as a place in which women can enjoy their freedom. We are anxious that you act strongly and decisively so that these attacks on women are brought to a stop immediately. We will be happy to collaborate with you in any manner towards ensuring a safer place for the women in Karnataka. Thanking you Sincerely, Taking Back The Night:  Take Back The Night- Zainab Bawa reports at citizen matters (report coming up) For now here are some photos. For those on facebook- there are more photos here .  I never ask for it    @ Ulsoor 6 pm- 8 00 pm- public interactions addressing bystanders of street sexual harassment.     A report is coming up. Photos for now: http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=68888473361&view=user#/event.php?eid=68888473361  |
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