(Samaj Weekly)-
– Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Dear Friends,
Greetings !!
My book of Conversations is named as Contesting Marginalization : Volume II ‘ Conversations on Social Justice, Identity and Resource Rights’ has conversations with various activists, and social movement leaders on Social justice, Land and resource rights from different parts of the world is now available on Amazon. I would request you to buy it in bulk so that they have access to it. Bulk purchases can reduce the prices. Some of you had got the copies earlier which had issues of proof but now it is done and has got ISBN number too. Please also encourage other friends to buy the book, You can also buy the volume ! too. The link to Amazon is here : https://www.amazon.in/dp/8195263534
The conversations are extremely rich in content and many of them explain the issues and history as seen by the individuals involved. These are the people who have known me for years in diverse platforms that I participated and spoke. A majority of those in these conversations are ILC members and some of them from the very beginning. Bharat Shrestha, Mohammad Kamaluddin, Don Marquez, Tony Quizon, Roel and Bruce Moore have seen ILC since its inception. Rowshan Jahan Moni, ALRD, Jagat Basnet, CSRC, Danial Kobei from Kenya and Constance Mugale from South Africa have been powerful voices on land rights and I can say their interviews give details of the issues as well as their work.
Two great Dalit Rights activists with women’s perspective Dr Fatima Burnad and Ms Jyoti Raj’s conversations will provide you enormous strength of the Dalit women’s movement working on land rights. One of the foremost voices in India’s Adivasi movement is Gladson Dungdung whose interview is an eye opener for all those who want to understand the issue of indigenous people from their own perspective. Two leading Dalit rights activist intellectuals are also included in this volume. They are Prof K S Chalam and Mr Manas Jena from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha states of India.
In the ILC journey, we all have seen the devotion of Lucia Angelluci and I was able to extract an interview with her. It is interesting. Another important person that I met in this journey was Livia Celini, who initiated the Fasting for Food Campaign among those who were working with FAO in Rome. FFF had an inspiring journey and I was able to extract a short conversation with her.
Raj Mohan, from Netherlands for his world view and making us understand the plight of the indentured labourers who were taken by the colonial powers to the Caribbean. His grandparents were taken as indentured labourers to Suriname in the 18th century. Important to understand the feelings of those who have been denied history and culture. Conversation with Sheik Mohammad Mukhtir, a humanist activist from Mauritania who spoke against slavery and caste discrimination and faced death sentence shows how little we know and how much we need to do.
Finally, I am extremely happy that I was able to include the three most important persons that I worked with from the beginning and get them to speak. Mr Bruce Moore, in Canada, Mr Niasse Modiodio and Mike Taylor have provided us with their rich and diverse experiences and made this book extremely important.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
The link for Amazon is
https://www.amazon.in/dp/8195263534
