Worlds Cheapest Car

March to Tibet - a riddy siddy production

The landless on Land...by the Dalits of Surindernagar...

We give the voice…but what of the opinion???

Creating change is possibly the easiest task one can be assigned. Change is a constant process and one really has to do nothing to create it. The only thing that one can do is to intervene and catalyze the process. This catalysis can be to slow down a rapid movement towards what is considered to be socially detrimental to a section of the society or a part of it. Intervention can also be based to initiate or speed up processes that could prove to be positive for the society. The problem of choice in the negotiation between what way to chose, and where to intervene is a question that has boggled the minds of various sociologists, philosophers, economists, policy makers, oranthologists, micro-creditologists, etc. etc. etc.

A major component during the creation of a sustainable Community owned Media is that of screening the content it generates back to the community. While this is not at all difficult to execute and costs less than Rs. 5 per person, if implemented for large numbers, the second level of challenge is to create sustained interest. What is it that a community should make? Is Community Media directly associated with Activism? Or is it to cater to the softer needs of the community? Can it be politically incorrect?

It is the content that defines whether the community owns the alternate media or not. There are lobbies, especially in cases where Video or Radio has been used by NGO’s who believe that the work that they do is representative of the community. But do NGO’s understand the concept of objectivity? Are they void of any kind of favoritism? Is their perspective the real perspective of the community or is it seen from an idealist point of view?
Unfortunately, most marginalized communities are neither educated nor have the ability to articulate beyond their immediate discontent or disillusionment of the existing structure. They have never voiced an opinion. No one has ever asked for it. With Community Media, there is an apparent fear that in absence of an informed opinion would the communities become mouthpieces of private social enterprises. Thus, the implementation of an editorial process in Community Media is essential. Representation and mobilization of the community to participate in the development of this voice is the backbone of any community media. The Community Media practitioners should remember that it is not what they think is right is important. Instead, it is necessary that the formation of the alternate media process develop a common social consciousness that is articulated via the creation

Sahar Ki Masjid

Situated 6 Kms outside Halol, is the erstwhile capital of Gujarat, Champaner. Founded in the 8th Century, it is now declared to be a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

One of the most imposing structures of the site is the Sahar Ki Masjid. Close to the royal enclosure, this was most probably the private masjid of the Sultans with five Mihrabs. The main entarance to the masjid is through an arched doorway flanked by two minarets. It is covered by a projecting, sloped chajja.

(Psst: I will go back there during the day time. The place shuts at 6pm and its not a good idea to walk in at that time!)

Noor Mohammad Rathod

Noor was 17 when Halol was witnesss to the merciless riots after the Godhra Incident. It forced him to leave education at 10th Standard and start working as an insuarance agent. He has been with the Community Video Unit for the past one year. He says that his wish to work in the Media has been fulfilled. He now tries to enggage with his community and spreads information through his films. He also talks to the officials around his area with confidence and challenges the communal forces.

Video Activism in Halol

Upon the diktat of Dad and the need for expression, I start this Diary of Journeys again.

Over the past 14 months, I have been working as a Video Trainer with Drishti, a Media, Arts & Human Rights group based in Ahmedabad on a Community Media project. It is in partnership with Video Volunteers, a NY based non-profit which is committed to provide marginalized people with a platform for voice and accelerate social change.

Our core activity is establishing sustainable Community Video Units (CVUs) in partnership with leading NGO’s. Each Community Video Unit (CVU) comprises up to 10 community members, primarily women, who produce one "Video News Magazine" each month that is shown back to communities using wide-screen projectors or local cable networks. In 2006, six CVU’s were launched in India. Collectively, these CVU’s have produced more than 50 video’s in their first year alone, on issues of social justice, development and human rights, that will be seen by thousands of people in their communities, providing a local, national and global platform for voice.

One of the units has been set up in Panchmahal’s, a visually stunning and communally volatile District of Gujarat. Situated, in the picturesque city of Halol, on the foot of Pavagarh Hills, the place breathes an air of unique freshness mixed with a strange sense of tension.

The city of Halol is on the highway linking Baroda to Godhra. As much as one hates oneself for living in the past, the only image that comes to mind when you see a signboard that reads, Godhra 40 kms, is that of train carnage on Feburary 27, 2002 and the communal riots between Hindus and Muslims that engulfed the state in the following months.
Perhaps the biggest scar on the face of India’s secular democracy, more than 1000 people, mostly Muslims, died in the violence. Many sources claim that this violence was state sponsored and targeted on Muslims, with the support of right-winged extremist Sangh Parivar, who misled innocent youth to unleash terror on their own brothers and sisters, in the name of religion. Panchmahals was the most riot-affected district of the state where every young man had perpeterated, or been a victim of, violence.

In response to this violence, Janvikas, an Ahmedabad based NGO launched Yuvshakti, a youth based intervention to increase communication and provide livelyhood. The Community Video Unit in Halol, called Sakshi (Witness) has been operational for the past 14 months. During this period, they have made films on subjects such as Livelyhood, Right to Food, Education and Basic Infrastructure. The aim of the unit is to fight for equality and promote peace and justice in their District. Their aim is to bear witness and expose, rights violations in their area to encourage government action.

Locate the CVU on Wikimapia : http://wikimapia.org/#lat=22.500068&lon=73.485736&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2