Collapse of Kabul

Coordinator: Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashok K. Mehta

Panelists: Amb. Mahmoud Saikal, former Afghan Ambassador to the UN; Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chairman, Pakistan Senate Defence Committee; and Shri Shakti Sinha, former Advisor UN Assistance Mission Kabul

Chair: Maj. Gen. Ashok K. Mehta, Convenor Regional Group Afghanistan

The stunning collapse of Kabul in a 10-day lightning offensive by the Taliban has unravelled a 20-year old on and off campaign for state building initiated by the US and its allies. It seems doubtful if the gains of the last 20 years will be preserved. How will the international community deal with a non-state actor (for many, a terrorist organisation) apparently supported by Pakistan in its seizure of force of Afghanistan and not through negotiations as pledged. The panel will explore the situation in Afghanistan

Two plays: A City in Sorrow and Curse
By Moti Lal Kemmu, translated by Pankaj Bhan (Authorspress India: 2021)

Discussants: Shri Ashok Jailkhani, former Additional Director General of Doordarshan, freelance producer and actor; Shri Ravi Kemmu, director, actor and producer; and Dr. Pankaj Bhan, Founder-Secretary, Kasheer Foundation and translator of the two plays

Chair: Prof. Neerja Mattoo, academic, writer, poet and critic

Moti Lal Kemmu’s two plays ‘A city in sorrow’ (Nagar udaas) and ‘Curse’ (Shaap) included in this volume are based on Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, a pioneering work of historiography written in 12th century Kashmir

Indian Agriculture and the Research and Development Deficit
Speaker: Prof. Deepak Pental, Professor of Genetics and former Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi. 

Moderator: Shri Siraj Hussain, Visiting Senior Fellow, ICRIER 

With grants from National Dairy Development Board and later from Dhara Vegetable Oil and Foods Company Limited, Prof. Pental established the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) working on improvement of mustard. From his work research, mustard DMH1 with improved yield reached the farmers field.

Voices from the Lost Horizon: Stories and Songs of the Great Andamanese

By Anvita Abbi (Niyogi Books, New Delhi: 2021)

Discussants: Prof. Ganesh Devy, literary critic and Professor, Unesco Linguapax laureate who headed the People’s Linguistic Survey of India 2010; Ms Mini Krishnan, Editor and translator; and Prof. Anvita Abbi, linguist and scholar of minority languages and author of the book

Chair: Dr. Arshia Sattar, scholar, academic, writer and translator

Persepolis (France/USA) | ( Click here to watch ) | (96 min; 2007; English)
Directors: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi

Multiple award winner including Jury Prize and Palm Dog, Cannes Film Festival 2007; César for Best Adapted Screenplay & Best First Film, César Awards, France 2008; Sutherland Trophy, British Film Institute Awards 2007; Audience Award & MovieZone Award, Rotterdam International Film Festival 2008

Animated biographical drama film based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical novel of the same name. Graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi has lead a fascinating life, which she tells in an original fashion in Persepolis. The film shows the young Marjane growing up in a communist family in Tehran, becoming politicised and rebelling at college in Austria. The predominantly black-and-white animation is used to amusing effect as Satrapi gently pokes fun at her youthful exuberance and innocence, making serious political points easy to swallow.

A three-part series produced by BBC 4 

In a series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton, British historian, Professor of Renaissance Studies, Queen Mary University of London uncovers how maps aren't simply about getting from A to B, but are revealing snapshots of defining moments in history and tools of political power and persuasion.

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession – Episode 2: Spirit of the Age ( Click here to watch ) | (60 min; 2010; English)
Director: Helen Nixon

Professor Jerry Brotton examines the way maps have reflected contemporary politics and belief - and in some cases inspired them. He studies medieval religious cartography on maps showing pilgrims the routes to Jerusalem or heaven, Victorian illustrations of the world - with every nation awarded a score according to how `civilised' they were deemed to be - and modern mapping of social problems including infant mortality and HIV.
 

(36:59 min; 2017; English subtitles)
Director/Editor/Camera: Kirk David Mason

For millions of people living in East Africa, the climate has a direct bearing on their existence. Farmers and Maasai pastoralists alike join with Tanzanian scientists and government officials in describing the transformations they are making to adapt to a new reality, a reality that doesn’t end in East Africa. The stories of older people who have witnessed the effects of life-altering temperature increases, as well as younger people rethinking their sense of future, come to life in “Living on the Edge of Climate Change.”

The Seville Statement on Violence was drafted in 1986, by a group of natural and social scientists from several countries. Later adopted by UNESCO, the Seville Statement marshalled scientific evidence to show that violent behaviour is not generally programmed into human nature. 

Prof. Ashis Nandy from India and Prof. David Adams from USA, were two of the leading academics who drafted the Seville Statement. In this episode of Ahimsa Conversations recorded on 13th August 2021, both scholars look back on the significance of the Seville Statement and reflect on possibilities of nonviolence in our times

Moderator: Rajni Bakshi, freelance journalist and author