Sujatha Fernandes

  • Kashmir: strong sentiment for independence

    The Indian Election Commission recently set April 27, May 2, 7 and 21 as the dates for holding parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir. India's direct rule over this area, imposed six years ago, is due to end in April.

  • International Women's Day in India

    On March 9, the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), the mass women's organisation of the Communist Party of India — Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML), held a rally in Delhi to mark International Women's Day. This

  • India blocks struggle of Bhutanese refugees

    CALCUTTA — After six years of talks between Nepal and Bhutan over the fate of 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin living in camps in eastern Nepal, the Bhutanese refugees have decided to take matters into their own hands.

  • Six deaths in custody in six weeks

    Six deaths in custody in six weeksThe deaths of six Aboriginal prisoners in the last six weeks "dramatically and sadly highlights the problem of deaths in custody nationally", says Aboriginal Deaths in

  • Maralinga: nuclear testing in Australia

    In all of the apparent outrage expressed by politicians over the French government's decision to resume testing in the Pacific, there has been little mention of the Australian government's own record of nuclear

  • Racism and the media

    Racism and the mediaIn 1984, the right-wing historian Geoffrey Blainey first argued that Asian immigration should be cut because Asians compete with "Australians" for jobs, education and scarce resources, and this

  • The failure of capitalism

    Returning to Australia after spending some time in the Indian subcontinent earlier this year, it struck me how much the media attempt to isolate us here from the rest of the world. Closeted away in the suburbs with our

  • International Women's Day in Bangladesh

    DHAKA — In Bangladesh, the awareness about women's rights and the need to fight for them can be seen by the variety of the women's movement. On March 8, International Women's Day, and beforehand, a number

  • In the Colombo free trade zone

    COLOMBO — The Korea-Ceylon Footwear Manufacturing Company is a joint venture in the Colombo free trade zone. In the last four months the company has been the site of significant workers' struggles and is

  • Indian child labourers organise

    Across India, more than 40 million children work in industries making such products as bangles, fireworks, matches, carpets, glass, hosiery and leather.

  • Questions for the NOWSA collective

    The Network Of Women Students Australia (NOWSA) conference in Sydney in July attracted 400 women from around the country. The conference was organised by a cross-campus collective of women from NSW.

  • Protests against 'butcher of Dili'

    SYDNEY — Try Sutrisno, commander of the Indonesian armed forces and vice president, arrived here on September 21 on his official visit. It has been suggested that Sutrisno's visit is a trial run for a