[Imc-india] Re: constructive support for Madurai collective?

[Montgomery Cheddar]

Boud,

What is all this nonsense about "local" activists? I
REPEAT: I DO NOT LIVE IN MADURAI, I LIVE IN KOLKATA!
What do I do? Fly to Madurai and join some hunt for an
elusive "collective" which controls India Indymedia?
Where is this "collective"? They do not answer emails.
They do not respond to hate on Indymedia.

Then you tell me I have no right to criticise India
Indymedia because I am not in Madurai - I am not
"local". And you are in Poland! Why is someone in
Poland answering for some people in Madurai?

Then you tell me to talk to a "Mumbai collective".
Why? I am not in Mumbai. Should I travel to Mumbai as
well as Madurai? Perhaps I should join China
Indymedia, because China is more "local".

You say this is "non-hierarchical" but all I see is a
small closed group which won't communicate, which only
meets in one city and won't be accountable to anyone
but themselves. How long must we wait for a response
to our concerns?

Meanwhile, a friend and colleague of mine is ritually
threatened with rape and murder on India Indymedia
simply because she works for Human Rights Watch. You
cannot justify this. The newswire must be closed and
these threats eradicated, NOW! People threatened by
posts that remain on Indymedia have EVERY right to sue
Indymedia. It is not an idle threat, but an action of
last resort.

I am coming to believe that the "local" element on
India Indymedia newsire is more and more
Hindutva-oriented and probably based in the US. The
Indymedia movement are refusing to take action, taking
their "devolution" model to such an extreme that it
becomes tyranny. It is the attitude of the Indymedia
movement that is hierarchical and WE are the people
trying to open it up to greater accountability and
transparency.

Ganesh.


 --- boud <boud1 at wp.pl> wrote: > [apologies if this is
a second post - it was hanging
> in my mailbox
> as unsent and i haven't seen it on the archive
> yet...]
> 
> hi harsh, ganesh, rao, everyone,
> 
> ###
> SUMMARY of suggestions
> 
> (0) Please try to understand how Indymedia works,
> e.g.
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImcHowTo
>
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/PrinciplesOfUnity
>
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/MembershipCriteria
> 
> (1) Please try to get healthy communication going
> with the Madurai
> collective (which does the features on
> http://india.indymedia.org)
> 
> (2) Please try to support IMC Mumbai, propose a
> public IMC Mumbai meeting 
>
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-mumbai/
> http://mumbai.indymedia.org
> 
> (3) Consider organising new local collectives in
> India
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImcHowTo
> ###
> 
>   i'm a volunteer in Indymedia Poland, also in the
> new-imc working group,
> and i helped IMC India a bit some time ago (i did
> actually live in India
> for a couple of years). You can see the archives for
> 2001/2002 to see
> my earlier comments:
> 
> http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-india/
> 
> (or if you're curious about what i do in Indymedia
> PL or the new-imc working
> group, please just browse through the archives:
> 
> http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-pl/
> http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/new-imc/ 
> )
> 
> harsh wrote:
>
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-india/2003-August/000973.html
> 
> hi harsh,
>    South Asia Citizens' Web is an excellent
> resource. You and whoever 
> else work on it are owed a huge amount of
> congratulations from everyone
> interested in human rights in South Asia.
> 
> However, the Indymedia network is something
> different, and i think
> there are some misunderstandings on how it works. If
> you really wish
> to contribute constructive energy, i am sure this
> should be possible.
> 
> i don't understand everything in the Indymedia
> network, but i do (sort
> of) understand something about the parts of it where
> i've volunteered.
> 
> Could i suggest for general reading you start off
> with
> 
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImcHowTo
> 
> ? This page is designed for organising any new local
> collective which wishes
> to be officially associated with the network. If you
> want to understand
> bits i know little about, you're just going to have
> to read for yourself,
> maybe starting off at
> 
> http://docs.indymedia.org/
> 
> 
> > To  who ever is in-charge of IMC(s)
> 
> Everybody is in charge collectively - we're a
> non-hierarchical
> network.  Now that you seem to want to contribute,
> *you too* are in
> charge. That's the whole idea of Indymedia. Everyone
> should be able to
> participate.  We don't want "superior" leaders,
> whether upper caste or
> upper intellect or senior in experience or whatever,
> who decide for
> "inferiors".
> 
> But you should read about consensus-type
> decision-making, please see
> the links at:
> 
>
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/ConflictResolution
>  
> > http://india.indymedia.org/front.php3
> > 
> > Damn it, no one still seems to have woken up after
> a nearly a year 
> > long takeover of India Indymedia by the fascists
> of the Hindu right. 
> 
> Wrong. People are aware of it, but respect the right
> of the locals who
> *live* in India (the Madurai collective) to decide
> autonomously what
> their editorial policy is.
> 
> > Indymedia newswire in India is a mighty disaster,
> and will remain so 
> > if if it continues  this ludicrous free speech
> open media type of 
> > model.
> 
> These are progressive activists living in Madurai
> that chose this model
> of open publishing. The way Indymedia works is that
> you are going to 
> have to come to consensus about an editorial policy
> with the locals
> if you wish to contribute constructively. 
> 
> Participants in the global indymedia network feel
> uncomfortable about
> deciding, on behalf of activists living in Madurai,
> that those activists
> do not have the right to choose a 100% free speech
> editorial policy.
> 
> It's not that we don't care - it's that colonialism
> has gone on for
> too long and we (the indymedia people mostly living
> in rich countries)
> don't want to repeat the "civilising mission" of our
> hierarchical,
> hypocritical leaders.
> 
> > This indie newswire run by  India IMC should be
> shut down right away, 
> > It is contributing to hate speech daily. Who are
> these irresponsible 
> > folks in charge of India IMC ? What the bloody
> hell is the IMC doing? 
> > Why is no one taking notice ? Should someone take
> you guys to court 
> > before you sit up and take notice.
> 
> This is called making a threat. Indymedia does not
> work by making threats.
> Is insulting people a constructive method for
> "progressive" activists?
> 
> > It is a shame that IMC which is peddled as space
> for use by 
> > progressive movements and campaigns has been
> highjacked like this and 
> > IMC cant  or dosent  seem to want to intervene to
> change this 
> > situation. Is no one answerable here ..... .
> 
> Everyone who is a real (pro-human rights) grassroots
> activist in India
> or who has close contact with them and who also has
> good internet
> access is answerable, IMHO.
> 
> > It is the responsibility of all secular activists
> working on India to 
> > actively and openly challenge IMC policy and its
> newswire in India.
> 
> The way to challenge this policy is to contact the
> present collective
> who are living *in* India, not just working "on"
> India, and to consider
> starting real, local Indymedia collectives based in
> India itself.
> 
> ganesh wrote:
>
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-india/2003-August/000971.html
> 
> 
> > The India Indymedia collective has done NOTHING to
> > stop the hate and has ignored repeated requests to
> > "hide" these calls for murder and rape against
> named
> > individuals.
> > 
> > I have repeatedly asked to help with the newswire
> 
=== message truncated === 

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