He is waiting your helping hand

Ludhiana :Rajkumar, Hospital Unit No- C 7166555, from Ludhiana is diagnosed to have chronic renal failure with end stage renal disease.  He was working as a auto-driver but presently in view of his disease he is without a job.

He has a wife with 2 children, one is 10 years and the other is 11 years. He needs help for continuing his maintenance haemodialysis. He requires atleast Rs. 20 -25,000/- per month. In view of the fact that he is the sole bread winner with his family dependent on him . 

We would appreciate if contribution could be done towards his treatment. He also is not a condition to support his family including his wife & children.

Good Samaritans desirous of helping him are requested to contact the Medical Superintendent, CMC Ludhiana. Cheques can be drawn in favour of Christian Medical College Ludhiana mentioning “Treatment for Rajkumar Unit No. C7166555” at the back of the Cheque. Shalu Arora//Rector Kathuria

A new Cardiology block at CMC Ludhiana

Ludhiana: A new Cardiology block at Christian Medical College was inaugurated on Friday March 11 by the Dr Rajinder Giani, Chairman of CMC Ludhiana Society. Dedication of the block was done by Orthodox Bishop His Hg. Gheevarghese Marcoorilos. Dr Abraham G Thomas, Director, Christian Medical College & Hospital informed that the new Cardiology wing includes a 15 bedded ICCU, a step down unit and Cardiology ward with state of the art facilities with Cardiac monitoring and Telemetry system.. The new unit also consists of a new Noninvasive Cardiology lab and an academic wing...

Dr Rajneesh Calton, Professor & Head of Cardiology department informed that with commencement of the new Cardiology wing there will be facilities available for performing increasing number of procedures like Coronary angiography, Coronary angioplasty and Stenting, Pacemaker & ICD implantations and Cardiac Electro physiological studies. Dr.Calton informed that patients with acute heart attack need to have the blocked coronary arteries opened at the earliest,preferably within 90 minutes of.the onset of chest pain. The new state of the art ICCU at the new wing is attached to the Cath Lab will be especially beneficial for such patients presenting with heart attack.He informed that a second cath lab is also being installed at the new wing.--Shalu Arora and Rector Kathuria

Remembering Baagdi Ji

A programme is being organised in the memory of Bagdiji,ex chairperson of M.P. PUCL on 13th March 2011 in Indore. Medha Patkar and Sudha Bharadwaj will be addressing the meeting on the issue of Democracy and Law.

The programme will be held at Golden Jubilee Auditorium hall, SGSITS Engg. College Campus, Indore at 5.30 pm. An invitaion in hindi is also attached.Please click on image to  view the invitation in bigger size. For more detail you may contact: 

09893192740 (Vineet), 

09827021000 (Pramod), 

09424577474 (Ashok)

Civilians Step Up to Support Wartime Mission

By Elaine Wilson  American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 10, 2011 - The fact that he already had deployed about "a million times" while in the Air Force didn't deter him, and neither did the potential dangers or austere conditions facing him in the Middle East. An Indiana National Guard soldier escorts an Afghan translator to a meeting with Afghan role players and civilian students during the 11-day Civilian Expeditionary Workforce predeployment training course at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Ind., Feb. 10, 2011. National Guard soldiers support the course by driving convoys, providing security and offering role-player support. DOD photo by Elaine Wilson  Ten years after leaving the military, Mark Parsons was back to serve again -- this time as a civilian. "I want to make an impact," said Parsons, who is embarking on a yearlong deployment in Iraq. "I want someone to know that when Mark Parsons left, that he served his country and he did all he could." Parsons is one of thousands of civilians supporting wartime missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and other missions around the world, as part of the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce. The program formally stood up in January 2009 to create a structured civilian force able to supplement military forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and other contingency and humanitarian missions around the world, explained Seth Shulman, the Pentagon's director of international human resources programs in the office of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. These civilians are not only filling a crucial need overseas, but are helping to alleviate a decade of strain and stress on the force, he said. "Because of the sheer numbers of people having to do multiple tours of duty, there is a strain on individual members of the military," Shulman said. "CEW was stood up to provide qualified civilians to carry out some of the responsibilities that military members carry out." It doesn't make sense to have service members behind a desk when civilians are more than qualified to take on that role, he noted, freeing up troops to focus on the mission. Today, about 4,000 civilians are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and about 500 to other locations such as Qatar and Djibouti, Shulman said. "You can't underestimate the impact civilians have had and will continue to have," he said. Civilians from all walks of life and expertise have stepped up to serve in the CEW, he said, ranging from military veterans with years of experience and multiple deployments under their belts to government civilians with extensive subject-matter knowledge, to private-sector experts without any military affiliation at all. The civilians' expertise is as varied as their backgrounds, varying from mechanics and logistics to contracting and the law, Shulman noted. Parsons, for example, is a program manager at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and an Air Force veteran. In Iraq, he'll support overseas travel and training for Iraqi forces. Without an age limit, volunteers range in age from their early 20s to late 60s, Shulman said, with the majority of volunteers in their 40s and 50s. Since they're expected to hit the ground running, most civilians are established in their careers, he explained, and that expertise typically comes later in life. Whether a recent college graduate or a seasoned professional, all volunteers are required to complete an 11-day predeployment course at Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Indiana, about an hour and a half south of Indianapolis, before they deploy, he said. The course, which stood up as a pilot program last year, teaches students how to work and live in an austere environment and informs them of their benefits and entitlements. The course is split into two segments: know yourself and know your environment. Students learn how to cope and operate as part of a team, as well as how to work and live in a foreign culture. The course also delves into the sometimes complex culture of the U.S. military. "For people who have never worked with the military before, it's generally more of a challenge," Shulman said. "And getting them used to working in theater with military also is a challenge because they're not used to working with the military in a contingency or combat operation." It's an adjustment for the service members as well, he acknowledged. "They may have to treat civilians a little different than military members," he said. However, these challenges are surmountable ones and the program's benefits far outweigh any rough spots in the road, he said. Based on positive feedback and mission successes, civilians are proving invaluable assets, Shulman said. "We continually get asked for more and more," he said. "We've been able to fill a large number of positions and constantly fill additional positions. People look to us now as a sourcing solution to meet their mission requirements." With a steady flow of civilians heading overseas, Shulman said officials now are working to ensure their deployment runs as smooth as possible. They've smoothed out issues with medical care and with medical evacuations, he said, and are developing family care programs. Civilians who deploy, for example, now have access to the Defense Department's Military OneSource website, which is packed with information, resources and offers round-the-clock support. Officials also are working on a two- to three-day program to help civilians reintegrate with their families and the work force, Shulman said. "We work continuously to improve the potential for civilians to be given every possible advantage while they're deployed," he said.

Related Sites: Civilian Expeditionary Workforce  Camp Atterbury Muscatatuck Urban Training Center Special Report: Civilian Expeditionary Workforce

Mark Allen listens as an Afghan official discusses construction projects during one of several scenarios at the 11-day Civilian Expeditionary Workforce predeployment training course at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Ind., Feb. 10, 2011. DOD photo by Elaine Wilson

Task Force Targets Human Network Behind IEDs

By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., March 10, 2011 - What started as a super-secret program to protect ground troops in Iraq from roadside bombs has matured into a coveted asset in Afghanistan, where it provides a persistent surveillance capability against enemy threats, an official who provided materiel support for the program reported. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 John Lill of Task Force ODIN conducts a preflight inspection, July 29, 2010, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Joseph Viverette  Task Force ODIN was established in 2006 to help in countering the improvised explosive devices that were taking a huge toll on U.S. forces in Iraq. ODIN, also the name of a Norse god of war, is an acronym describing the task force's counter-IED mission: observe, detect, identify and neutralize. Officials recognized early on that simply identifying and defusing IEDs was only part of the solution, Richard Wittstruck, chief engineer for the Army's Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors here, told American Forces Press Service. "We can never forget that the device itself is not the threat," he said. "It's the tool used by the threat. So we have to address the tool. But if we don't also address the threat, then they just come up with a different tool." So ODIN focused on the human network behind the IED threat, from the people who design and deliver them to the ones who cache them and give the detonation orders. "You want to get as far left of the boom as you can," Wittstruck said. "You want to get past the emplacement cycle back into the transit cycle, back into the connection cycle, all the way back to the planning cycle, if you can. And then you want to cut it off there so that they don't get the rest of those steps in place. And Task Force ODIN provides that capability." Wittstruck and his team, along with their colleagues at Army Material Command, were responsible for designing, developing, producing, fielding and sustaining the elements of Task Force ODIN. They include a family of manned and unmanned aerial platforms, their sensors, the communications data links used to transmit the information they collect and the ground-station operations where analysts turn that information into intelligence. The system proved highly successful after being activated in Iraq in 2007. Two years later, Task Force ODIN brought this new capability to Afghanistan to shore up gaps in the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets supporting ground troops there. Army Maj. John Baynard was commander of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment's flight company during that first rotation in Afghanistan. Flying King Air 300 medium-altitude reconnaissance system aircraft over sweeping areas of Regional Command East and Regional Command South, his soldiers provided valuable communications and signals intelligence as well as full-motion video of areas of interest. Meanwhile, various unmanned aerial vehicle platforms augmented their efforts. "Utilizing our high technology, Task Force ODIN coordinated with ground forces to neutralize numerous high-value targets," Baynard said in a PEO-IEW&S video. "Targets ranged from financiers of insurgent activities to kidnappers, money launderers and guys who performed indirect-fire operations on coalition bases." In addition to taking high-value targets off the battlefield, Baynard said, his company also provided ground forces early warning of enemy activity in their operating areas. It's "an essential capability for coalition forces against an adaptable enemy," he said. Since its first deployment, ODIN has matured to the point that it now provides persistent surveillance over vast geographic areas. "They are surveilling across wide areas of real estate, looking for indications of insurgent activity, and then informing a commander in a near-real-time operation of what the threat and situation is so he can be more effective in his maneuvers," Wittstruck said. ODIN's overwatch capability makes it possible to tip off maneuver commanders about anything from movement along a specific goat trail to unusual activities that might indicate enemy operations under way or being planned, Wittstruck said. For example, a local marketplace typically is packed at about 3 every afternoon as families shop for their dinners. What does it mean when, for some unexplainable reason, it's empty one afternoon? "That's an indicator that maybe somebody on the ground wants to be notified so they can go seek out and find what it is the locals know that we don't know about that marketplace today, or what is about to happen at that marketplace," Wittstruck said. One of Task Force ODIN's biggest triumphs, he said, is the "true sensor-to-shooter connectivity" it provides as it delivers actionable intelligence to ground forces and warns them of unknown threats. ODIN provides that connectivity, he said, saving lives and improving troops' combat effectiveness. Wittstruck said he's particularly proud of the speed with which Defense Department officials fast-tracked funding and development processes and introduced the force structure changes and training needed to deliver Task Force ODIN to the combat theater. "This shows that as a country and as a coalition, we can be agile in a time of war to respond to a threat," he said. "Task Force ODIN is a testament to that."

Related Sites: Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors

Imagery analysts assigned to Task Force ODIN's aerial reconnaissance support team provide real-time analysis of full-motion video and imagery transmitted from platforms in flight over Iraq in this 2007 photo. U.S. Army photo by Col. A.T. Ball  In this 2007 photo, an aerial reconnaissance multi-sensor sits outside the Task Force ODIN operating area at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Col. A.T. Ball

Face of Defense: Airman Serves With First KC-10

By Air Force Tech. Sgt. Shawn J. Jones 514th Air Mobility Wing JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J., March 9, 2011 - Aircraft 79-0434, the first KC-10 Extender delivered to the Air Force, landed March 17, 1981, at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Then-Air Force Tech. Sgt. Bill Gross, a KC-10 Extender crew chief, stands on the flightline at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 1991. Gross, who was in Hawaii to help in commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, was a long-time crew chief assigned to the Air Force's first KC-10 and has been stationed with the aircraft for nearly his entire career. U.S. Air Force photo  At the same time, 400 miles away, a young Air Force trainee enduring the rigors of basic training was unaware that his career –- and his life –- would be so deeply tied to that aircraft. The KC-10 is closing in on its 30th year of providing air refueling and airlift for U.S. military operations around the globe. Few airmen serving today are as connected to the KC-10's history as Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Bill Gross, a crew chief with the 714th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron here. Gross' career has marched practically in lockstep with the aircraft known by the last three digits of its tail number: 434. "This is a tanker that has served in just about every major military operation in the last 20 years," he said. "I am proud to have been the crew chief on such a historical and tenured warfighting machine." Before working on 434, Gross served as an active-duty crew chief on a B-52 Stratofortress. Upon completing his initial enlistment, he left the Air Force and returned to his hometown in the suburbs of Chicago. But he soon realized that his hometown had stayed the same, while he had changed. "After being responsible for a multi-million-dollar aircraft, going back to a childhood job seemed like a dead end," he said. Knowing that aircraft maintenance was one of his personal strengths, Gross searched for aviation-related career opportunities. He eventually learned that full-time KC-10 crew chiefs were needed in an Air Force Reserve unit at Barksdale. He got the job and unpacked his Air Force uniforms for the first time in more than a year. The unit was bringing in a lot of new aircraft maintenance personnel, and Gross said he hadn't really considered which aircraft he'd be assigned to. Gross said his time as an air reserve technician at Barksdale was special, both personally and professionally. Not only did he raise his two children there, but he also made many strong relationships with his fellow airmen. Time and distance have made it difficult to maintain many of those relationships, he said, but keeping in touch with one of his Barksdale buddies is no problem for Gross –- he just turns to his left. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Todd Harris shares an office with Gross. The chief said he clearly recalls his office mate's work ethic and dedication when he was a young noncommissioned officer. "He took it to another level," Harris said of Gross. "If you were going to be working on his aircraft, you had better keep it clean and do proper maintenance, or believe me, you would hear about it." That level of dedication almost killed Gross. While working on 434 one day, he was informed of a storm that was quickly approaching Barksdale. He had been involved in heavy maintenance, and the tanker was opened up, exposing some of its critical components. He couldn't let 434 face the storm in its current state. Gross said he rushed to prepare the jet, but he took just a little too long. "This big 'boom' happened, and the next thing I knew, I was in the back of a maintenance truck being taken to the emergency room," he recalled. Lightning had struck the aircraft and surged through the crew chief, knocking him off his feet. "Everyone always says that 434 and I are bonded for life, because we got struck by lightning together," he said. "It's not an experience I'd want to relive," he added. Gross recounted that just as he was reaching his prime as a hands-on crew chief in the late 1980s, the KC-10 was reaching its prime as an operational asset for U.S. military operations. Their timing couldn't have been much better, because tensions were escalating in the Persian Gulf. The airman and the aircraft were given an opportunity to prove their capabilities in combat operations. While much of the accolades for the initial stages of Operation Desert Shield go to F-15 fighter jets, Gross said, the fighters, with their limited fuel capacity, could not have been in the fight without the support of their tankers. "How do you think they got there?" he said. After Iraq's military had been subdued during Operation Desert Storm, the KC-10s continued to rotate in and out of the Middle East in support of operations Northern Watch and Southern Watch. However, things were changing back home. The balance of the stateside fleet was leaving Barksdale for locations closer to the coasts –- Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. The reorganization had a significant impact on Barksdale airmen, many of whom were lifelong Louisiana residents. The airmen were given a choice to follow the KC-10s to their new bases or remain to work on the B-52s that were moving to Barksdale. "We didn't really want to leave," Gross said. If he stayed at Barksdale, Gross would be able to use his experience as former B-52 crew chief. But he had two important reasons to move to the Garden State. Since so many of his fellow unit members decided to remain at Barksdale, a move to McGuire would open many promotion opportunities with much less experienced competition. He also had grown attached to his airplane, he added, and wasn't ready to bid it farewell. "It would have been hard," he said. On Oct. 1, 1994, aircraft 434 was the first KC-10 to be transferred to McGuire. Gross was part of the crew that flew the tanker to its new home that day. Aircraft 434 wasn't the first in everything it did. Gross said that in one particular case, 434 was last. Air Mobility Command officials decided the KC-10's white-top paint scheme would be abandoned in favor of an all-grey scheme. Gross said he thought 434 was fine as it was, and he didn't really support the change. He kept finding good excuses to keep the tanker out of the paint barn, he said, and the strategy worked for a little while, though he knew it was only a matter of time before the painters caught up with him. "I told them that they might paint it grey," he said. "But it would have a big, white 'X' on top where I would lay while trying to stop them." They ended up painting it while he was on leave, he said. The KC-10 and its maintenance and operations personnel continued to support ongoing operations in the Middle East throughout the 1990s, and just as the millennium was about to come to a close, the Balkans erupted in violence. Gross and 434 were called upon to serve overseas again in support of Operation Allied Force. During the operation, 434 was able to demonstrate its versatility. The aircraft provided aerial refueling on several missions, but also shuttled refugees from harm's way in Kosovo to safety in the United States. As the new millennium arrived, the KC-10's services still were in high demand. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the crew chief and his tanker deployed in support of multiple operations throughout the Middle East. Though Gross and 434 had been brothers in arms for many years, promotions eventually took him away from his role as the tanker's primary caretaker. He became a production superintendent, the shift leader who cruised the flightline in a pick-up truck while coordinating the all the squadron's on-aircraft maintenance activities. His duties kept him close to the aircraft and to the airmen who replaced him, but he missed doing the job himself. "My co-workers always tell me it's time to move on," he said. "But I'm a wrench turner at heart." Gross said it took some effort to not give special attention to 434 and to focus on the maintenance status of all of the KC-10s equally. But occasionally, he added, he'd jump out of his truck for a few minutes to lend a hand and a word of advice to the airmen who were working on his jet. "He tries very hard to share his knowledge and experiences with the young airmen and pass on his pride of the KC-10," Harris said. "When he hears maintainers referring to 434 on the radio, he often chimes in with a sometimes-unconventional suggestion that reflects one of the aircraft's quirks." The next promotion took Gross away from 434 and the flightline and into his current position as a desk-bound flight chief. Initially, he acknowledged, the new job was tough because he no longer worked on aircraft –- he worked on airmen. He didn't start to feel comfortable in the flight chief position, he said, until he was advised to think of personnel and administrative issues like aircraft maintenance issues. Gross since has warmed to his position as flight chief, but Harris said he knows his old friend would trade in his keyboard for a wrench in a heartbeat. "To this day, 434 is the No. 1 thing on his mind," the chief said. "When anyone mentions 434, his ears perk up." Gross doesn't deny the chief's description. "I still have a personal dedication to the aircraft," he said. Aircraft 434, like most KC-10s, is projected to serve through 2043. Gross, however, has just a few years of service left before reaching his mandatory retirement date. "There will never be another KC-10 crew chief who takes more pride in his aircraft than Sergeant Gross," Harris said. "It will be a sad day for the Air Force and the KC-10 when he finally hangs up his uniform for the last time." Gross acknowledges his connection to 434, but insists that many other airmen have helped to keep the tanker in a mission-ready state through its 30 years of service. "That aircraft has a lot of history," he said. "A lot of people have worked on it and bled on it." Though the next generation of airmen will continue to work on 434, none will be able to claim a career that was so deeply linked to one airplane like Gross. "One day, I hope to take my grandchildren to a museum or a base where they will eventually retire 434 upon a block of concrete, dedicating it forever as the first KC-10 delivered to the Air Force," he said. "And maybe, just maybe, some historian will put my name in the crew chief block, and I can say to them that I was the crew chief for that airplane."

Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Bill Gross, a KC-10 Extender crew chief, stands on the flightline at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., March 8, 2011. Sergeant Gross was a long-time crew chief assigned to the Air Force's first KC-10 and has been stationed with the aircraft for nearly his entire career. U.S. Air Force photo

Air Force Couple Blogs About Deployment

By Elaine Wilson American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 8, 2011 - From predeployment jitters to post-deployment reunion, an Air Force couple is taking a worldwide audience with them during their service in Afghanistan. Air Force Master Sgt. Rudy Gamez and his wife, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Christina Gamez, spend time with their children, 3-year-old Eva and 5-year-old Tomas. The couple is blogging about their experiences while on separate deployments in Afghanistan. Courtesy photo  Master Sgt. Rudy Gamez and his wife, Tech. Sgt. Christina Gamez, are documenting their experiences as they serve separate deployments in Afghanistan in the Air Force blog, "Double Duty: Know Before You Go." This is the master sergeant's sixth deployment and his wife's first. The aim, said Christina, a financial analyst stationed at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is to pass on lessons learned to other service members preparing for their own deployments. "I want people to understand the emotions of deployments from both sides," she said. "I've been on the other side -- left at home with a full-time job and then some, with two kids and no family in driving distance. "Now I see it from the deployed side," she added. "I understand the need for a stronger emotional toughness so the deployment doesn't destroy you. It can be a helpless feeling over here at times, knowing you can only do so much to take care of the ones you love." The couple's blog posts have run the gamut from dealing with household packing to the pain of family separation to day-to-day life in a combat zone. Christina's blog posts range from the highly practical –- such as a list of items to pack when flying overseas –- to the whimsical. A recent post, for example, dealt with a conversation she had about fishing with an Afghan interpreter. "He told us that when the war first kicked off, their version of fishing was throwing a grenade in the water," she wrote. "The fish would be stunned, so it made it easy to scoop them up." Rudy, a communications director on Camp Eggers, Afghanistan, touched on attitude in one of his blog posts. "Sometimes our problems aren't so much the circumstances we're confronted with, but more the perspective in which we view them," he wrote. But most heartfelt are the couple's posts about their children, 5-year-old Tomas and 3-year-old Eva. Christina wrote extensively about the day in January when she left for predeployment training. A snowstorm had delayed their arrival at the airport, and she had only about 20 minutes to say goodbye to her family for a year. She clung to her children at the gate, but all too soon the final boarding call came. "I asked my family to take them and walk away first before I finally turned around to walk down the hall to my plane," she wrote. "It was, without a doubt, the hardest moment I've had as a mom." Now stationed in western Afghanistan, Christina still tears up when recalling that day, which not only is imprinted on her memory, but also is saved for posterity in the blog. "It was an emotional day from the start, and never seemed to stop," she wrote. Her husband, who is on his third deployment in three years, also shared his thoughts about that day in a blog post. "Today I am heartbroken," he wrote. "Though I was not there to drop off Tomas and Eva with Grandpa and Grandma, I feel a large emptiness. Our two li'l ones will be without Mom and Dad at their side for quite some time; the hardest fact I've had to come to terms with on this deployment. "It's not easily done nor accepted as today I am flooded with the emotion of how wrong this may be," he continued, "and bear an aching heart and a knot the size of Afghanistan in the pit of my stomach." The couple plans to continue to blog through their homecoming and reintegration. Rudy will return home a few months before his wife, so he will be writing about life as a temporary single parent, and Christina plans to shed light on the reintegration process. "It's not all glitz and glamour the pictures portray," she said. "It's stressful for just about every return. It's just the part we don't talk about -- maybe [now] now we can more." It's not always easy to bare her emotions for public consumption, Christina said, but she hopes by doing so, she can help herself while helping others. "I know, if nothing else, that I was able to help a couple of my friends that have been reading it and found out that they are deploying out this way in the next couple of months," she said. "It's also been very therapeutic getting it all out; talking about the emotions, the struggles ... and the laughs," she added. Her husband has found it tougher to pour out his emotions for the world to see. But he also sees the benefits in doing so. The blog, he noted, offers him not only an emotional outlet, but also a way to start a conversation with other service members. "I've talked to young service members about it, so it's been positive," he said.

Related Sites: Double Duty Blog

NE Helpline Condemns Radhika Tanwar Killing

Delhi Police, “What Next Plan to End Unprecedented Crimes against Women in Delhi?”

NE Helpline Demanded Fast Tract Court for Sexual Violence and Crime against Women

  

New Delhi March 10: North East Support Centre & Helpline condemns Radhika Tanwar killing. Civil society must united and opposed violence against women. Law enforcing agency must develop “Plan B” to end unprecedented crimes against women in Delhi. 

Women in general and those from North East India have become most vulnerable to sexual violence and crime in Delhi. Whole Nation and world, while celebrating 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day, were socked with the news of Radhika’s killing on March 8, around 10.20 in morning near her college at Satya Niketan, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi.

Delhi Police developed a plan to curb the violence against women after Dhaula Kuan gangrape cases against 30 years old Mizo girl, who raped by five men in a moving truck on midnight of November 23 last year by installing night patrolling, CCTV cameras, safety guidelines to BPO companies, women helpline etc.

While condemning the gruesome crime, Madhu Chandra, Spokesperson of North East Support Centre & Helpline said, “Delhi Police’s plan, following Dhaula Kuan incident, has failed to bring end to violence against women and they must develop Plan B to curb unprecedented crimes and sexual violence against women.”

Delhi Police has capability of dealing with post-crimes investigation, this has proved by arresting five gang-rapists of Dhaula Kuan from total blank point and Neetu Solanki, 28 years old girl, whose death body was dumped at New Delhi station on January 11 but failed preventive operation.

“Delhi police is still in reactive mode and repeated crimes in already spotted places like Dhaula Kuan are the proof of it. Proactive preventive plan seems terribly missing,” says Madhu Chandra.

North East Support Centre & Helpline, while campaigning for safety of women in Delhi, demanded from Delhi Government, in series of meetings with Delhi Chief Minister Mrs Shiela Dikshit during November and December last year that a fast tract court dealing with sexual violence and crime against women in Delhi. Fast track court will speed up justice delivery system to victims and offenders. This will also send out message to general public that crimes are serious and offenders are punished fast.

Advocate Lansinglu Rongmei, President of North East Support Centre & Helpline and Legal Secretary of All India Christian Council said, “We have made our representation repeated to Mrs. Shiela Dikshit, now we will move court to consider establishing fast track for sexual violence and crime against women in Delhi.”

North East Support Centre & Helpline also conducted a research project on North East Indian Migration and Challenges in National Capital Cities. Report has exclusive findings on sexual violence and racial discrimination against women and men from North East India. The complete Report is available at NE helpline. 

Sergeant Defies Odds to Pursue Dream

By Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrea Thacker
23rd Wing
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga., March 7, 2011 - When many people hear the odds are against them, they simply give up. But Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Disney does just the opposite and says, "Challenge accepted."

Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Disney plays his guitar at his home, Feb. 24, 2011. A pararescue jumper, Disney began performing at local venues during his first assignment to Moody Air Force Base, Ga., from 1998 to 2004. He is the 347th Rescue Group standards and evaluations superintendent. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jamal D. Sutter

Nearly 14 years ago, when Disney told an Air Force recruiter he had dreams of becoming a cross between a doctor and a Navy SEAL, the recruiter sent him to the back of the office to a stack of dusty pararescue pamphlets.
"He said, 'I think I have exactly what you're looking for, but don't get your hopes up, kid. No one I've sent has made the cut, and you probably won't, either,'" Disney recalled.
"That's all I needed to hear and I was hooked," Disney added. "Once I dusted off that flyer and saw a dark-haired, handsome-looking, Italian guy in a maroon beret on the cover, I read through it. I immediately knew it was something I wanted to do. I didn't stop talking about it all summer until I left for basic training."
Of the 86 students in his course, only six had what it took to graduate as a pararescue jumper: Disney was one of the six. That was the first of many challenges he has met.
"I walked into the 38th Rescue Squadron, brand new, two stripes on my arm, and this big, tall, muscular guy walked in, and I recognized him immediately as being the guy from the pamphlet," Disney said. "He said to me in a New York accent, 'Is that Bobby Disney? I hear you're a real goofy guy,' and kind of chuckled to himself for his Disney joke. That's how I met Mike [Maltz]. He was the best."
That was Disney's first encounter with the man who eventually would become his mentor and affect his career in more ways than one.
Disney is the 347th Rescue Group's standards and evaluations superintendent, but he's also known in the rescue community here as the "Black Cloud," a nickname he got from fellow PJs after what he called the "series of the unfortunate three" incidents.
Rewind to August 2002. In the mountains of Afghanistan, then-staff sergeant Disney was on his second real-world rescue, a mission to pick up two men who had been involved in a firefight and transport them to a tiny post in the middle of nowhere. Since they were at such a high altitude, Disney said, the helicopter had to do a marginal power takeoff. But the crew was asking for more than the helicopter's engines could handle, as the craft couldn't gain enough altitude or airspeed to avoid a "brownout" -- decreased visibility resulting from a dust cloud. Disney recalled that he was sitting in the left-side door and began to see the ground racing toward them.
"It felt like we were coming down, and fast," he said, "so I determined it'd be best if I wasn't sitting in the doorway if we did impact the ground. I moved inside the helicopter, then I heard the left gunner yelling 'Stop left, stop left!' About that time, I felt a really hard impact.
"Somehow, I don't know how, ... I wasn't in that door when it slammed shut. Angels on my shoulder, right?" he added, referring to the pararescue patch, which features an angel that signifies the help PJs provide from above.
"The rotors were chewing into the ground, and there were no blades on it anymore," Disney said. "The engines [were on] full power, and it was just getting louder and louder, higher-pitched and higher-pitched, and I'm just laying there with everything on me, and it's very, very calm [and] serene. It wasn't a struggle to get out. There wasn't anything I could do. It was just laying there until all the violent motion stopped. Knowing what might have been coming was the worst part."
Finally, the pilots shut down the engines, and Disney said he recalls everything going deathly quiet until the helicopter's team leader snapped everyone back to reality by yelling out, "Sound off by crew position." Once the crew sounded off, the team lead yelled "Get out."
Disney said he thought he'd already survived the worst, and he re-enlisted seven days later. Six weeks later, on a different aircraft and in a different country, Disney witnessed an event that rocked him to the core.
"We starting hearing radio chatter of a boy and girl who fell down a hill," he said. "We started referring to this rescue as 'Jack and Jill.' In a C-130 Hercules, we launched out of Uzbekistan, and two helicopters launched out Afghanistan. It was one of the darkest nights I've ever seen through night vision goggles -- dark as can be. ... [We] could barely see the ground. We refueled both helicopters by colored light signals because of how dark it was."
As he watched through the C-130's side window, Disney said, he could see the ground through his night-vision goggles, then he would lose it again as if the aircraft was punching in and out of clouds, even 400 feet above the ground. Then, he said, he felt a familiar tug when the second helicopter disconnected from the refueling hose.
"Not five seconds later, I saw a bright flash of light that flooded out my [night-vision goggles]," he said. "Then, all I heard was a blood-curdling screaming coming from the loadmaster. It looked like an explosion. It lit up the whole countryside. I thought someone had been hit by a surface-to-air missile, and we were next. Then I heard, 'Helicopter crash, 7 o'clock.'"
The wheels in the veteran PJ's head began turning. Knowing they were at 400 feet and were configured to jump, Disney said, he was ready. The combat rescue officer aboard the C-130 made the decision not to jump until they knew more, because the second helicopter's crew already had found three of the six crash victims.
Because the area was unknown and hostile, the crew was recalled to home base, and Disney had to leave the crash site against his will.
"When I got back on the ground, I got the word on the guys who were on the bird," Disney said. "One of them was Mike Maltz. I can't tell you how I will always feel about that night. I mean, the Airmen's Creed says 'I will never leave airman behind,' ... and we had to leave guys behind on the ground that night. Everything in me wishes I could have jumped in, [that] I could have done something.
"It was like losing a father -- losing a mentor and losing a friend all at the same time," a choked-up Disney continued. "It was one of the hardest moments. It was hard."
A few months after losing the iconic figure who graced the cover of his recruiting pamphlet, Disney was back in the mix. He was about to stumble upon the last event in "the unfortunate three."
"It was April 18, Good Friday," Disney said. "I know the date, because I had been practicing to play my guitar at the Easter Sunday service. We were going on a training mission or exercise. It was about a 45-minute flight to get where we were going. When the pilots said, 'It's out there,' I looked out and saw what looked like people."
By the time they were committed to land, the people were gone, Disney said. Then he heard two sounds, the second confirming they were taking gunfire from at least four people.
"I racked my weapon," he said. "As I moved to sit down, I brought my weapon up, and I can see flashes now coming out the back now, and [with] one of those flashes there was a weird disturbance of air. "Then came a sensation of two things at the same time. It was like someone swung a baseball bat in my face and the other was a shockwave that rippled through my whole body."
Defending the helicopter and killing the people who were shooting at them was his only thought at the time, Disney said.
"I looked over at the guy across from me and yelled 'I'm shot! I'm hit!' and then I moved into a position to return fire. He yells, 'Shoot back, shoot back, shoot back,'" Disney said.
Within seconds of the helicopter touching down, three people were wounded. Through the barrage of gunfire and with a gunshot wound to right side of his cheek, Disney returned fire. By the time the crew left the scene, only 30 seconds had passed since initial contact. All the crew members survived and returned to base to seek medical care.
When he returned to Moody Air Force Base after his deployment, the Purple Heart recipient said, he could focus on getting back to normal and performing with his guitar in clubs around Valdosta. Two years later, the only thing that was missing in his life was a little romance, Disney said. He met a local girl named Tess, and they soon fell in love, he added, but the Air Force had other plans, sending the master sergeant to the Royal Air Force base at Mildenhall, England.
Knowing that Tess was the one, Disney said, he proposed.
"I asked Tess to marry me on Christmas Day over the phone," he said. "I sent her a ring in the mail. The company sent her both of the rings at the same time, and she opened the wedding band first and was like 'Awww.'"
Tess Disney laughed and said, "It was messed up," as she continued the story. "This is a wedding band, this isn't an engagement ring. ... I was like, 'Wait a minute, that's for later on."
Now nearly six years later and back at Moody, the Disneys are living happily with two horses and three dogs.
Tess said she has learned to live with her husband's many deployments and knowing that his nickname is Black Cloud. "I'm a strong wife and I have strong faith," she said. "Worrying isn't going to help anything."
She tells people with a laugh that she imagines Robert is off staying at a resort. "I know he has someone watching out for him," she said. "He's been through all that already. He's here for a reason."
After all that has happened in his life, Disney still has one ongoing challenge to face, and that is living up to his name, he said.
"Someone I looked up to once said to me, "When people meet you, you're either going to be one of two things," Disney said. "You're either going to be a big disappointment -- a dirtbag who got shot in the face -- or you're actually going to be 'that guy,' the one people can look up to."
These words changed his life, Disney said. Since then, he added, he hasn't stopped saying, "Challenge accepted."  

U.S. Military Aircraft Fly Egyptians Home

By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 5, 2011 - Four U.S. military aircraft flew 312 Egyptians home today from the Tunisia-Libya border where they fled to escape the violence that continues between government forces and rebels in Libya. U.S. Airmen with the 435th Air Mobility Squadron, from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, unload blankets, tarps and water containers provided by U.S. AID at Djerba Zarzis Airport in Tunisia. The U.S. government is working with the international community to meet the humanitarian needs of the Lybian people and others in the country who fled across the borders in recent political unrest. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brendan Stephens  Two Marine Corps KC-130s and two Air Force C-130s supported the effort. U.S. Air Forces Africa, also known as 17th Air Force, based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, flew the C-130s in the first rotation of U.S. military flights from Tunisia to Egypt, Navy Cmdr. Wendy Snyder, a Defense Department spokeswoman, told American Forces Press Service. Also, U.S. Africa Command, which oversees the effort and is based in Stuttgart, Germany, announced today on the social networking site, Twitter, "Two USMC KC-130s arrived safely in Cairo, flying 132 Egyptian nationals to Egypt from Tunisia." Two of the aircraft flew to Pisa, Italy, yesterday to pick up humanitarian aid supplies from the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance warehouse at Leghorn Army Depot. Donations included 2,000 blankets, 40 rolls of plastic sheeting and 9,600 10-liter plastic water containers. The aircraft landed with the supplies at Tunisia's Zarzis Airport in Djerba near sunset as aircraft from around the world participated in evacuation and humanitarian missions. Also yesterday, Naval Forces Europe Africa, which coordinates U.S. Navy support to Africom, established the joint task for Odyssey Dawn to provide tactical command and control for emergency evacuations, humanitarian relief, and future Africom missions in support of the U.S. government response to unrest in Libya. So far, six U.S. military aircraft are assigned to support humanitarian operations, using U.S. bases in Greece and Italy as hubs. The effort is part of a larger U.S. government emergency response directed by President Barack Obama. "The United States, and the entire world, continues to be outraged by the appalling violence against the Libyan people," Obama said during a March 3 news conference. "The United States is helping to lead an international effort to deter further violence, put in place unprecedented sanctions to hold the [Col. Moammar] Gadhafi government accountable, and support the aspirations of the Libyan people. We are also responding quickly to the urgent humanitarian needs that are developing," the president said. On the same day, Obama approved the use of U.S. military aircraft to help Egyptians who fled to the Tunisian border to get back home to Egypt, and other humanitarian efforts.

Related Sites: U.S. Africa Command Related Articles: Air Force Joins Effort to Help Libyan Evacuees

About 2,000 Indian farmers could lose their livelihoods

About 2,000 Indian farmers could lose their livelihoods in the next month if a proposed US$12 billion steel plant operation involving South Korean steel giant POSCO goes ahead, Amnesty International's warned today.
The Indian authorities have given POSCO conditional clearance to establish a steel plant and port operation on about 4,000 hectares of land in the coastal Jagatsinghpur district of the eastern state of Orissa.
The area includes land on which local farmers are dependent for their livelihoods, and to which they may have rights under Indian law.
The farmers' claims to the land have not been properly settled, despite the fact that official investigations have raised serious concerns about the failures of Orissa State to protect land rights in the context of the steel project.
State police could take over the land during March if the authorities fail to recognize the farmers' right to use it.
"The potential impacts on local communities could be devastating," said Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, Amnesty International's India Researcher. "Some 2,000 people could lose access to common lands and face destitution if the authorities fail to act."
The proposed POSCO operation would be India's biggest foreign direct investment project.

Investigations were conducted by two panels established by India's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in July and September 2010.
Theyconcluded that the Orissa state authorities had failed to settle community claims over common forest lands.
They also stated that the proposed steel project had violated national environmental laws and coastal regulations and failed to adequately assess the potential negative impact of the mega project on the livelihoods of the local communities.
Despite these findings it appears that the MoEF is set to allow the project to go ahead as long as Orissa state authorities can confirm that no local communities have rights to the land under the Forest Rights Act, 2008. However, this does not guarantee that the affected communities will be able to have their claims resolved through a fair and transparent process.
"India has a duty to protect local communities against human rights abuses, including those involving businesses operations," said Ramesh Gopalakrishnan.
"The authorities and POSCO must carry out a comprehensive human rights and environmental impact assessment of the project, in consultation with residents of Jagatsinghpur, and ensure that no work begins on the project until the residents' rights are protected."
Background
Since June 2005, local communities in Jagatsinghpur district have protested the possible displacement and potential threats to their livelihoods from the POSCO project.
Protestors have erected barricades in the area and prevented officials from entering three villages. In June 2008, one protestor, Dula Mandal, was killed in by a bomb during a clash between critics and supporters of the project and in May 2010 at least 20 protestors sustained gunshot wounds when police used excessive force against them. Protests have intensified during February 2011.
Severaladivasi (indigenous) and other marginalized communities in mineral-rich states including Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have been protesting over the potential negative impacts of major development projects on traditional forest lands and habitats on which they depend for their livelihoods.
This work is part of Amnesty International's Demand Dignity campaign which aims to end the human rights violations that drive and deepen global poverty. The campaign mobilises people all over the world to demand that governments, corporations and others who have power listen to the voices of those living in poverty and recognise and protect their rights.

Nursing students of CMC celebrated Woman's Day

Ludhiana: The students of College of Nursing, CMC celebrated Woman's Day in the Antenatal OPD. They conveyed message through a play on female foeticide, that if women are firm and take indipendent decision not to go for it inspite of family pressures there will be no more female deaths. The women attending antenatal OPD also took a vow to raise voice against it, now and in future too. They were also educated on the adverse effects on society if the female sex ratio decreases drastically. While speaking on the occasion Dr.Kanwal Masih Medical superintendent said the common belief of society that only a boy is responsible for our lineage. He asked the audience if someone could remember the name of his 5 ancestors to which most of the audience was tight-lipped.

Principal College of nursing Mrs.Triza Jiwan also stressed that girls have outshone the boys even though the boys have outnumbered the girls. Even so some parents, where the role of the family can not be ruled out, choose to eliminate the girls before the birth. This message was welcomed and appreciated by all participants present in the function.--Rector kathuria & Shalu Arora

There are Extraordinary Women in our Organizations

Interview  with  Khedija  Arfaoui,  Women’s  Rights  Activist

By Sussan Tahmasebi

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Tunisian Women’s Groups Unite for Change

Q: As a feminist activist were you surprised by the developments in Tunisia?

Like everyone else here I had come to believe that the situation was going to last forever. Opposition groups were constantly spied upon, including their whereabouts, regular mail, e-mail, travels, telephone calls, etc and were victims of violence. Ben Ali, his wife and their clans controlled the entire economy of the country. They also controlled the media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio stations, the Internet and Television channels. As a matter of fact, they were so sure of themselves, they so firmly believed that the country’s riches rightfully belonged to them that they conducted their business very openly, so much so that everybody knew about all what they were doing, or almost so.

The events in 2008 and even more recently that took place in the southern region of Tunisia, most particularly in Gafsa mining basin and the hard line adopted by the government to silence protestors demonstrating for their right to work also seemed to mean there was no hope for change.

Civil society did a lot to draw attention to the situation in Gafsa and asked for the freedom of those imprisoned but to no avail. However, the stand taken by the General Labor Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) proved to be confrontational, showing that the trade union had started distancing itself from the government.

What happened in Sidi Bouzid could have been unsuccessful, like past efforts intent on drawing the government’s attention to the situation of unemployed graduates and the impact of unemployment. The marches that followed young Bouazizi’s immolation and death had the support of UGTT and this was significant support. The country needed a strong support. Helping the young unemployed population—whether they were college graduates or not—to organize protests and draw attention to their plight. These protests were followed by different sectors taking stands and denouncing the corruption: lawyers, journalists, medical doctors and civil society. Corruption and bad governance were at the root of this revolution

Yes, I was surprised, because, until then, nobody had dared organize marches (they were prohibited), and suddenly, everybody, throughout the country was in the street, demanding change. Suddenly, people seemed not to be afraid any more. And there were no bearded Islamists among the crowds. They were mostly youth of both sexes.

Q: What factors (besides the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi on December 17) do you think contributed to the protests in Tunisia that resulted in the ousting of Ben Ali?

I have answered this question to some degree, but mainly the firm stand taken by UGTT in support of the marches was a factor in these protests. The support given by civil society but also different sectors like lawyers and journalists, who also stood up in the streets denouncing the many corruptions they knew about and having people speak out their grievances and the injustices they had suffered. The outburst of anger and protest that had taken place a few years earlier in the mining Basin of Gafsa that had been violently repressed was not forgotten either as there still were people in jail. Our national media did not report on all of these developments because the media belonged to the “families” to the Ben Alis, Trabelsis, Matris, but the Internet provided information and the information was spread through videos via the Internet, particularly on facebook. The youth and others uploaded their videos immediately to make them available.

Q: What role did civil society, including NGOs and workers unions play in these uprisings?

Civil society also used Facebook to send information. Although civil society had no access to the media, it never stopped addressing the issues, organizing meetings to discuss them, looking for ways to help, informing the world about the situation, getting in touch with the families, sending petitions to the government, providing help. ATFD (The Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, but also AFTURD, the Tunisian League for Human Rights…) have continually campaigned against injustice.

Q: Women’s NGOs held a protest on January 29. What were your demands and why did you feel the need to hold a women’s protest?

Women’s NGOs together with other organizations marched to demand equality, dignity, citizenship, and equality. My personal belief is that if a new constitution is to be drawn, now is the time to express these claims. Our first President, Habib Bourguiba promulgated the Code of Personal Status immediately after independence in 1956. So, the time to claim these rights is now, particularly with the return (after a more than twenty years of exile) of Sheikh Rashed Ghannouch, the leader of El Nahdha, the Islamist party, who in the mid 1980s had stated he was against the Code of Personal Status and for polygamy. Therefore, the march was for protecting the gains brought by the Code of Personal Status.

Q: The women’s protest was disrupted by some Islamic groups. Do you feel that with the changes in Tunisia, women face the possibility of losing some of their hard won rights?

I really hope not. But, one never knows for sure. We have to be vigilant. Women’s and men’s protest against Islamism (and not against Islam which is our religion and part of our identity) was disrupted by some Islamic groups that shouted things like: “Women at home, in the kitchen!” but also by other rioters, probably belonging to the “families,” who have been responsible of many of the riots we have seen in the country.

Q: Have secular women’s groups and Islamic women’s groups engaged in any collaboration or dialogue? What does the relationship of these groups in Tunisia look like?

I do not think so. For the time being, we are and must remain vigilant, making sure first that nothing happens to what we already have: the gains we made in 1956 with the promulgation of the Code of Personal Status and the few others that were added in the 1990s and later have to remain. We believe in every group’s right to exist, provided no one infringes on anybody’s rights.

Q: What role are women playing in the transition to democracy? Are women included in the transition government? And have women’s NGOs advocated for the inclusion of women and a women’s agenda in the transition government?

I have to tell you that we are deeply disappointed by the fact that there are only three women in this provisional government: one is minister of health (she is a medical doctor), the second is in charge of the ministry of women, the third is secretary of State of Higher Education.

No woman has been appointed among the governors, no woman has been appointed as chair of a company.

For a country that prides itself on having a Code of Personal Status that is the most advanced in the whole Arab world, it is rather disappointing.

Women NGOs are mobilized to stand for their rights and for the inclusion of women in the next government. They are busy working on strategies to sensitize women and youth on the importance of elections, of secularism, particularly on the separation of religion from the State, making it clear that it does not mean being against Islam which is our religion, rather emphasizing that religion is something personal and that it does not have to infringe on people’s freedom.

Q: What was the situation of women’s NGOs in Tunisia before these recent developments? When we spoke 2 years ago, you mentioned that women’s NGOs like other organizations faced a lot of pressure and restrictions, but managed to do some work toward women’s rights. What issues were they focused on?

Before January 14, or until that date, the situation of the two single autonomous women’s NGOs was like the few other autonomous NGOs (The Tunisian League of Human Rights, Amnesty International, etc.). We had the police in front of our offices, our mail, telephones, email… were under constant scrutiny. We knew that whatever we said was listened to. Some of us had their cars broken into. Lawyers like great activist Radhia Nasraoui often had her office broken into and her files taken away. We had no access to the media—none of them, newspapers, radio stations, TV channels. We could not hold our seminars or general assemblies in a public place. Even when we travelled we had our suitcases’ locks broken and our belongings searched. All of these pressures impacted people’s attitudes towards us and they avoided us so as to not face problems because of their association with our groups.

In spite of all of that, women activists were able to address many significant issues like violence against women. When ATFD started working on this issue, the government’s immediate response was that there was no such thing as violence against women in our country. The same was said about sexual harassment and poverty. The funny thing is that later on, when these issues were presented as key issues at the UN and elsewhere, the government took up to these issues. President Bin Ali’s wife, who as you may know, was aspiring to become the next president of Tunisia, adding to our achievements since 1956: the first Arab country to have a female president! Indeed, she had started expressing feminist views as if she were the one who had invented them, never mentioning not even the pioneer feminist of the early 1930s, totally ignoring the women fighting for women’s rights for several decades already in spite of their limited means and the obstacles they faced. Examples of these obstacles include the blocking of the funds that NGOs received, forcing them into a very difficult situation where they were not even able to pay their rent, or their staff and researchers.

CEDAW is a major concern, and several campaigns were organized in Tunisia and abroad particularly with our Algerian and Moroccan sisters.

Q: You were sentenced to serve time in prison last year. Can you tell us about that? Why were you handed such a sentence, what were the charges against you and did you go to prison? Were such prison terms for women’s rights activists common under the rule of Ben Ali? How about for other civil society activists?

I had received a message on Facebook warning about the kidnapping of children at a kindergarten in Tunis and of course, I was asked to forward it, which I did, believing it was true as the rumor had been circulating all over the country for some time already, with newspapers denying this news. I had not written the message, they knew the name of the person that had sent it to me, but they chose me I suppose because I belonged to an autonomous women’s groups and attended meetings organized by several opposition groups. I was a good scapegoat in the scenario they had planned to silence the opposition particularly as it was a period of elections.

I had to appear in court four times, with lots of police around, checking on who was attending as if I were a terrorist. I never went to jail, although their reports on the media stated I was in jail. My sentence was 8 months suspended prison term. This meant that if I made any “mistake” I would be taken to jail immediately to serve my sentence. As a result, I took a very low key approach to my work and did not attend any meetings, etc.

Q: How do you envision the priorities of women’s NGOs will change in a more open social and political environment?

Women activism will continue but this time we will be free to organize and meet in public places. We will have access to media outlets, and we are seeing this already as TV stations come to our offices and report on our activities now. We never could dream of such things before. We will be able to reach more people now. ATFD is already thinking about opening branches in other cities, which we could not before. Women activists are seen on TV channels, they are invited to talk at round-tables. All of this is new. And believe me there are extraordinary women in our organizations.

** Dr. Khedija Arfaoui is a Tunisian women’s rights activists and member of the Feminist Association of Tunisian Women for Research and Development and founder of the Association of Development and Protection of the Environment.   Courtesy : We Change