[Onthebarricades] Miscellaneous protests (including ethnic and religious protests), Dec-Jan 07/08

[Andy]

*  INDIA:  Farmer unions protest fraud
*  ITALY:  Scientists, students force Pope to cancel university visit by 
protesting Galileo remarks
*  ZIMBABWE:  Police round up supporters of dissident Bishop
*  INDIA:  Urdu writers protest in Mumbai
*  INDIA:  Students protest after murder of principal
*  WESTERN SAMOA:  "Biggest ever" public protest over switch to right-hand 
drive
*  CHAD:  Anti-French unrest over child abduction case
*  BRAZIL:  Fans protest at football club Corinthians
*  VIETNAM:  Dispute with China over Spratly Islands gives youths a taste 
for protest
*  INDIA:  Passengers protest airline diversion
*  INDIA:  Drivers protest alleged extortion

*  Some snippets from India (no longer publicly accessible.)
Villagers protest against police camp in school
Police clash with fans after shutting down classical concert
Naxalites stage hunger strike after death of prisoner
Teachers' protest puts education system in doldrums
NT students protest for IT inclusion

Protest throws traffic out of gear
The Statesman - Kolkata,India
16: To protest against an accident that killed an infant on NH 215 
yesterday, agitated people set a dumper truck on fire,

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/Farmer_unions_protest_fraud/articleshow/2626674.cms

Farmer unions protest fraud
17 Dec 2007, 0152 hrs IST,TNN

GURDASPUR: As part of the fourth phase of protest several unions came out in 
support of a farmer, who was allegedly cheated of Rs 35 lakh by a former 
Congress minister and his son about five years ago. Kirti Kisan Union, BKU 
(Ekta) and several other Leftist organizations held a protest march in the 
city and raised slogans against the father-son duo on Sunday.

The union leaders who distributed pamphlets in the city said Congress leader 
Khushal Behal and his son Raman Behal had taken Rs 17.50 lakh from Anup 
Singh, a farmer who is a resident of Pakhochak village near Pathankot during 
2002 Assembly elections. They said the father-son duo had promised to return 
double the amount after five years. They added they later refused to pay him 
even a single penny.

The protesters, including women and children, said if the government did not 
book the father and son for fraud, the BKU will launch a statewide agitation 
. They said, the union will take out the next protest march against the 
Behals on January 30.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3185593.ece

January 14, 2008
Scientists protest against Pope
Richard Owen of The Times in Rome

Sixty one Italian scientists have signed a letter protesting against a 
planned visit this week by Pope Benedict XVI to Rome's Sapienza University 
because of his stated views on Galileo.

In a letter to Renato Guarini, the university rector, the scientists said 
the visit was "incongruous". The signatories include distinguished 
physicists such as Andrea Frova, author of a study of Galileo's persecution 
by the Church, and Carlo Maiani, the recently appointed head of the Italian 
National Council for Research or CNR.

The letter said scientists felt "offended and humiliated" by a statement 
made in 1990 by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Prefect of the 
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - the modern descendant of the 
Inquisition - suggesting that the trial of Galileo for heresy because of his 
support for the Copernican system was justified in the context of the time.

The scientists said they hoped the visit by the Pope on Thursday would be 
cancelled out of respect for the "secular nature of science" and the fact 
that the university was open to "students of every belief and ideology". 
Students at the university said they were preparing to welcome the Pope with 
banners of protest and loud disco music. As a cardinal, Benedict once 
attacked rock and pop music as the "work of the devil."
Related Links
Pope cancels university visit after protests

However Bruno Dalla Piccola, professor of genetic medicine at the 
university, said the protests were "a shameful episode which do no credit to 
a great and important university". Both professors and students should be 
ashamed of themselves for trying to prevent someone who "enjoys respect at a 
world level" from speaking, Professor Dalla Piccola said, adding "Perhaps 
they are afraid of what the Pope has to say".

Benedict's predecessor Pope John Paul II acknowledged that the Roman 
Catholic Church had erred in condemning Galileo in 1633 for asserting that 
the Earth revolves around the Sun. He told the Pontifical Academy of 
Sciences that those who condemned Galileo - who was forced to recant and 
spent the remaining eight years of his life under house arrest - had failed 
to recognise the distinction between the text of the Bible and its 
interpretation.

This had led them "unduly to transpose into the realm of the doctrine of the 
faith" a matter which had to do with scientific investigation, John Paul 
said. But he added that the Inquisition had acted correctly in the sense 
that it was working within knowledge available at the time and had therefore 
been consistent in guarding the integrity of the Catholic Faith.

The then Cardinal Ratzinger also observed that "At the time of Galileo the 
Church remained much more faithful to reason than Galileo himself. The 
process against Galileo was reasonable and just". The Italian Catholic 
writer Vittorio Messori agreed, saying Galileo "was not condemned for the 
things he said, but for the way he said them. He made statements with 
sectarian intolerance....Anyone who would not immediately accept the entire 
Copernican system was 'an imbecile with his head in the clouds,' 'a stain 
upon mankind,' 'a child who never grew up,' and so on."

Last month it was disclosed that the Pope had asked the Vatican's 
astronomers to move out of Castelgandolfo, his summer residence in the Alban 
Hills, into new premises in a disused convent. However Vatican officials 
said this was not because the pontiff was "anti science" but because the 
space used by the Vatican Observatory was needed for diplomatic meetings.

The Observatory's Jesuit director, Father Jose Funes, agreed there was "no 
downgrading of science in the Vatican." Last year Benedict told the 
observatory's summer school: "The Vatican Observatory has sought to 
demonstrate the Church's desire to embrace, encourage, and promote 
scientific study, on the basis of her conviction that 'faith and reason are 
like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of 
truth'."

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL14245524.html

Protest ahead of Pope's lecture at Rome university
Mon 14 Jan 2008, 17:51 GMT

By Phil Stewart VATICAN CITY, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Some professors and 
students are protesting against plans for Pope Benedict to address Rome's 
most prestigious university, saying a speech he made nearly two decades ago 
showed he had reactionary views on science.

The German-born Pope is due to speak at La Sapienza on Thursday at a 
ceremony opening the 2008 academic year. The inaugural event's theme is the 
death penalty, which the Vatican and the Italian state want abolished 
globally. But more than 60 professors have written a letter saying the 
invitation should be withdrawn because the Pope's views "offend and 
humiliate us".

They pointed to a speech he made in 1990, saying it showed he favoured the 
Church's heresy trial against Galileo in 1633 for teaching that the Earth 
revolved around the sun.

That clashed with the Bible, which read: "God fixed the earth upon its 
foundation, not to be moved forever."

GALILEO TRIAL

The Pope's supporters say the speech by the pontiff, then-Cardinal Joseph 
Ratzinger, only quoted an Austrian philosopher saying the Galileo trial was 
"rational and just" and did not reflect his own views.

"He expressed a different position, distancing himself from that belief and 
absolutely not adopting it as his own," wrote conservative newspaper Il 
Giornale, after republishing a transcript of the speech.

Still, some students have seized upon the controversy to launch protests 
against the Church, with one group declaring an "anti-clerical" week, and 
preparing protest banners.

"There have been a few protests and moves (at La Sapienza) with tones of 
censorship," lamented Vatican Radio on its website: www.radiovaticana.org.

The protest has put La Sapienza's chancellor on the defensive, and prompted 
a genetics professor to come out on Vatican radio on Monday to denounce the 
"shameful" protests.

"I would invite him a hundred times," Renato Guarini, the chancellor of La 
Sapienza, told Italian state television.

La Sapienza was founded by a pope in 1303, and Guarini noted that this would 
hardly be the first time a pontiff has addressed an Italian university.

Benedict's supporters have noted that the Galileo controversy itself was 
long over. The late Pope John Paul II acknowledged in 1992 the Church was 
wrong to have condemned the revolutionary Italian scientist.

The controversy has added to a fierce debate about the power of the Catholic 
Church in Italy, which even divides the Catholics-to-Communist coalition 
government.

(Writing by Phil Stewart)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,,2241339,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

Pope pulls out of visit to Rome university after outrage at his views on 
Galileo and science

· Government divided on protest over 1990 speech
· Row over letter signed by more than 60 teachers

John Hooper in Rome
Wednesday January 16, 2008
The Guardian
Pope Benedict XVI last night called off a visit to Rome's main university in 
the face of hostility from some of its academics and students, who accused 
him of despising science and defending the Inquisition's condemnation of 
Galileo.
The controversy was unparalleled in a country where criticism of the Roman 
Catholic church is normally muted. The Pope had been due to speak tomorrow 
during ceremonies marking the start of the academic year at Rome's largest 
and oldest university, La Sapienza. But the Vatican said last night it had 
been "considered opportune to postpone" his visit.
The announcement followed a break-in and sit-in at the rector's office 
yesterday by about 50 students and a furious row over a letter signed by 
more than 60 of La Sapienza's teachers, asking that the invitation to the 
Pope be rescinded.
The signatories of the letter said Benedict's presence would be 
"incongruous". They cited a speech he made at La Sapienza in 1990, while he 
was still a cardinal, in which he quoted the judgment of an Austrian 
philosopher of science who wrote that the church's trial of Galileo was 
"reasonable and fair".
The letter said: "These words offend and humiliate us." Among the 
signatories was the physicist Prof Luciano Maiani, who was recently 
appointed to head Italy's main scientific research body, the Consiglio 
nazionale delle ricerche.
Maiani said he had later dropped his opposition to the visit after learning 
that the Pope would not be making the keynote address. But the daily La 
Stampa reported that a number of foreign scientists had since added their 
names to the initiative.
One students' group declared an "anti-clerical week" to protest at the 
Pope's presence. Among numerous banners and placards put up around the 
campus, there was one that read: "Galileo recanted. We shall hold out 
against the papacy."
The Pope is known for his deeply conservative outlook and the controversy is 
the latest in a string of rows since his election three years ago. He upset 
Muslims with another quotation in an academic lecture, on that occasion from 
a medieval Byzantine emperor.
He has since been criticised by Latin Americans for his views on the 
colonisation of their continent and by Protestants for saying their 
denominations ought not to be considered as churches.
The newspaper Il Giornale, which republished his 1990 speech, said the Pope 
had "expressed a different position" from that of the Austrian scholar Paul 
Feyerabend, "absolutely not adopting it as his own". The Vatican's own 
daily, L'Osservatore Romano, carried an article by the Jewish mathematician 
Giorgio Israel, in which he wrote that the Pope's address "could well be 
considered, by anyone who read it with a minimum of attention, as a defence 
of Galilean rationality against the scepticism and relativism of postmodern 
culture".
Speaking before last night's announcement, Italy's deputy prime minister, 
Francesco Rutelli, said: "The attempt to silence [Benedict] in a place that 
is a forum for study, teaching and dialogue ... seems inconceivable." He 
noted that a pope had founded La Sapienza in 1303.
However, the trade minister, Emma Bonino, said the Pope already "held the 
floor morning and night".
Rightwing opposition MPs were outraged. One suggested La Sapienza, which 
means "wisdom" or "learning" ought now to be renamed La Ignoranza
Backstory
· Galileo Galilei was the Inquisition's most high profile victim. But by 
recanting his view that the earth moved around the sun, he managed to pay 
for his defiance of Catholic teaching, not with his life, but his freedom.
· Born in Pisa in 1564, Galileo was a polymathic genius - a physicist, 
astronomer and mathematician who improved both the refracting telescope and 
compound microscope
· After ridiculing the views of the then Pope Urban VIII in his Dialogue 
Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo was ordered to stand trial 
for heresy in 1633. The judgment found that his view of the solar system was 
"absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical, because it is 
expressly contrary to Holy Scriptures".
· He spent the rest of his life under house arrest on orders of the 
Inquisition and died in 1642. It was not until 1835 that his Dialogue was 
dropped from the Index of banned books. John Hooper

http://voanews.com/english/Africa/2008-01-14-voa50.cfm

Riot Police Round Up Anglican Worshipers In Harare In Bishopric Battle By 
Patience Rusere
Washington
14 January 2008

Interview With Gertrude Hambira
Listen to Interview With Gertrude Hambira

Police detained dozens of supporters of Anglican Bishop Sebastian Bakare at 
various churches in Harare during services on Sunday, sources said, among 
them Secretary General Gertrude Hambira of the General Agricultural 
Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe. Many of them were released within 
hours of being arrested.

Sources said riot police seized Anglican Church members worshiping in the 
Harare districts of Mufakose, Greendale, Warren Park and Mabelreign.

Hambira, alleged to have taken photos of the police operation, was detained 
for about six hours then released without charge, though she was instructed 
to report back to the Harare Central police station at a later time. Sources 
said about 20 other people arrested at the Mufakose church were also 
released Sunday evening.

Bakare is locked in a struggle for control of the local Anglican Church with 
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who has close ties with president Robert Mugabe and 
the ruling party. Kunonga has refused to leave office though he was sacked 
by the church.

Labor official Hambira told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for 
Zimbabwe that she was subjected to a great deal of verbal abuse by police 
Sunday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Urdu_writers_to_protest_in_Mumbai/articleshow/2551331.cms

Urdu writers to protest in Mumbai
19 Nov 2007, 0429 hrs IST,Mohammed Wajihuddin,TNN

MUMBAI: For over five decades, it has been the favourite haunt of Urdu 
writers in the city. But come November 30, it will be curtains for Maktaba 
Jamia, Urdu's literary mecca near the crowded J J Junction in Bhendi Bazar, 
which has attracted poets and writers from around the world.

Outraged at the sudden announcement of its closure, a group of writers has 
decided to sit on a dharna in front of the shop on November 30. "It's not 
just another bookshop. It's our literary Mecca, a centre that has nursed the 
literary sensibilities of countless Urdu writers in the city and outside. 
They just cannot shut it down,'' said Hasan Kamal, Urdu poet-columnist, who 
along with other leading poets and writers, including Nida Fazli, met near 
Maktaba on Sunday.

Nida, who first visited the small store beside Mohammed Ali Road, said 
Maktaba's closure would be against the state's magnanimous attitude towards 
Urdu. "No other state has given so much space to Urdu to flourish. The state 
must intervene to save this shop,'' said Nida.

The writers have also demanded an inquiry into the reasons that led to the 
imminent closure. "All other Urdu bookshops in the vicinity have prospered 
over the years. They have not cared to run Maktaba professionally for the 
last several years. An inquiry is needed,'' said Urdu journalist-activist 
Sajid Rashid.

Owned by Delhi-based Maktaba Jamia Limited, a publishing wing of Jamia 
Millia Islamia University, Maktaba has contri-buted immensely to the 
promotion of Urdu. Former president Dr Zakir Hussain was one of its 
founders, while its patrons include Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Abul 
Kalam Azad.

Maktaba's city branch acted as a magnet for Urdu writers since it was 
founded in 1949. As it is located in an area populated with huge 
Urdu-reading masses, literary giants like Ali Sardar Jafri, Kaifi Azmi, 
Majrooh, Josh, Baqar Mehdi, Rajinder Singh Bedi and Krishan Chander 
frequented it.

"Its closure would be a personal loss to me. It was the popular haunt for 
young progressive writers where they met their seniors,'' said an ailing 
Inayat Akhtar, a fiction writer. "If any writer wanted to leave a message or 
a book for someone, he would keep it at Maktaba."

The decision to shut the shop seems to have been taken unilaterally. A 
letter (12.11.2007) from its general manager Humayun Zafar Zaidi directs the 
Maktaba's Mumbai in-charge to hand over the accounts and details of its 
books as well as its furniture by November 30, since "its board of directors 
has decided to close the Mumbai branch due to consistent loss''. Zaidi was 
not available for comment.

Prof Mushirul Hasan, vice-chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia University, who 
is also chairman of the board of directors of the Maktaba Jamia Ltd, told 
TOI, "I am not aware of any such decision. I will look into it.''

Though the general manager's letter says the decision to close down Maktaba's 
Mumbai branch was taken by the board of directors, the directors feig-ned 
ignorance about any such matter ever being discussed.

"The closure of the city branch was never discussed in the directors' 
meeting. I heard of the letter from a Mumbai-based journalist,'' said Khwaja 
Mohammed Shahid, one of the directors. Another director Siddiqur Rehman 
Kidwai said Maktaba would be never closed.

Since the Maktaba management's alleged plans include closure of its other 
branches, in Delhi and Aligarh as well, the city's Urdu writers are bracing 
for a long battle ahead.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/23/stories/2007122357520300.htm

Principal killed, students protest

Firozabad: The principal of a school here was shot dead by armed assailants 
leading to protest by about 100 students, three of whom fell unconscious 
after police used force to disperse them on Saturday morning.

The students in the age group of 6 and 13 of S. R. Gyaneshwari Higher 
Secondary School squatted on the national highway 2 near Asafabad crossing 
here to protest the murder of their principal, Santosh Kumar Dhakra on 
Friday, school authorities said.

They said police pulled them by hair and baton charged them to clear the 
road. While the boys ran away when the police arrived, the girls kept 
sitting, the sources said.

Armed assailants broke into Mr. Dhakra's rented house and killed him on the 
spot. His land lady was also injured in the process and had to be 
hospitalised.

A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into last night's killing. PTI

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10482769

Samoans protest at switch to right-hand drive
5:00AM Monday December 17, 2007
By Cherelle Jackson

More than 10,000 Samoans are expected to take to the streets of Apia today 
in a protest march against the Government's proposed switch to right-hand 
drive (RHD).

The march will be the climax of a massive campaign by members of the public 
since Government proposed the change in October.

Spear-heading the protests against the move is prominent Samoan lawyer 
Toailoa Toleafoa Toailoa.

The mass campaign started two weeks ago, when Mr Toailoa called a public 
meeting, urging Samoans opposed to the switch to make their voices heard. 
Hundreds of community leaders, business owners, former politicians and car 
owners attended the gathering.

Since then, stickers saying "No to RHD" have been distributed and are 
plastered on vehicles all over Samoa.

T-shirts with the same slogan are also being worn on a daily basis.

Petitions are being signed by hundreds opposing the switch.

The protest march today is expected to start at the Government building in 
the centre of Apia and run to the Parliament building at Tiafau, where MPs 
will be meeting.

Advertisement

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Those opposed to right-hand drive have been called on to wear white tops or 
shirts as a sign of peace today.

Cherelle Jackson

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aNP1H2iEA.lM&refer=australia

Samoans Protest Anti-Pollution Plan to Change Driving Rules

By Emma O'Brien

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Samoans protested a government plan to change the 
side of the road drivers use in a bid to cut pollution from high-emission 
vehicles from the U.S. that dominate the Pacific island's traffic.

As many as 15,000 people attended yesterday's march in the capital, Apia, 
organizer Toleafoa Solomona Toailoa said, adding it was the biggest 
demonstration in Samoa's history. The protesters say the move will cause 
confusion for drivers of the 18,500 cars currently on the roads and endanger 
lives.

``It is pure recklessness,'' Toailoa said by telephone from Apia. ``There 
are major issues of safety and cost here and it's just being rammed down our 
throats.''

Under the proposed law, right-hand-drive vehicles would be imported from 
February and motorists made to drive on the left side of the road from July 
2009. The change would allow Samoans to access cheaper and less polluting 
cars from Australia and New Zealand, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Malielegaoi 
said in October.

People will get used to driving on the other side of the road and safety 
concerns are a ``non-issue,'' Tuilaepa said, according to a government 
transcript. Samoa has a responsibility to drive fuel-efficient cars and not 
the ``American left-hand drives that dominate our roads and are major gas 
guzzlers.''

A German and then New Zealand colony until 1962, Samoans have driven on the 
right-hand side of the road since cars were brought to the Pacific country 
more than 100 years ago. The nation of 200,000 is near the U.S. territory of 
American Samoa.

Cars Worthless

The government didn't include the proposal in its campaign platform at last 
year's election and hasn't consulted the public on the change, Toailoa said. 
``They're not even going to pay any compensation, people's cars are going to 
be worthless.''

Toailoa's group presented the government with a petition against the 
proposed law signed by more than 33,000 people. They will wait for the 
administration's reaction before planning further protests.

``This impacts on every single person's life in this country,'' Toailoa 
said. ``A lot of people also work in American Samoa, what are they supposed 
to do? It's dangerous.''

``The new law is for the benefit of the wider community,'' Malielegaoi said. 
``Our major tourist markets are New Zealand and Australia where motorists 
drive left of the road.''

Reliant on overseas aid and remittances from expatriates, Samoa's economy is 
dominated by agriculture, an industry which employs two-thirds of the 
country's workers. Tourism accounts for 25 percent of gross domestic 
product, which was $399 million in 2005, according to U.S. data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Emma O'Brien in Wellington on 
eobrien6 at bloomberg.net

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7094125.stm

Anti-French riot erupts in Chad

There have been regular protests against the child abductions
Several thousand students have held violent anti-French protests in Chad.
Police dispersed demonstrators with tear gas in the capital, N'Djamena, 
after cars belonging to white foreigners and diplomats were attacked.
The protesters were demanding that six French aid workers charged with child 
kidnapping be tried in Chad.
Meanwhile, a judge in Chad rejected a request by defence lawyers seeking the 
release pending the trial of the six French and three Chadians still held.
If found guilty, the charity workers face several years with hard labour in 
a Chadian prison.
They said they believed they were rescuing Darfur war orphans, but parents 
of many of the 103 children almost flown to France told the BBC they were 
promised they would be educated locally, and never gave permission for them 
to leave the country.
Earlier this month, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy had said he wanted to 
go to Chad to bring the French aid workers from Zoe's Ark back home angering 
many Chadians.
Targeting French
Crowds of students began gathering in the centre of N'Djamena shortly after 
0730 hours local time.
Most of the demonstrators were high school students, wearing their school 
uniforms and chanting anti-French slogans.

Village pines for children
Before long, what was designed to be a peaceful protest, got out of hand, 
the BBC's Stephanie Hancock in the capital says.
The demonstrators began attacking white foreigners in their cars, hurling 
stones and shouting, "Whites - child kidnappers".
For several hours the young demonstrators took over the capital, running 
riot along N'Djamena's main streets and eventually converging at the French 
embassy.
The police used tear gas to disperse the protestors who were intent on 
finding French citizens to attack.
The students, who were holding banners saying "Sarkozy, out of Chad" 
eventually returned to the city's main square in front of the presidential 
palace where several thousand of them converged for a mass protest.
Riot police and soldiers are still trying to calm the situation down, 
although the protestors are finally beginning to wrap up their 
demonstration.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/04/content_7197007.htm

Fans protest against Corinthians players

    BRASILIA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 50 fans of the Corinthians soccer 
club stood outside the team's headquarters this Monday in Sao Paulo to 
protest the team's performance this year.
    Their disappointment was directed toward the team's head coach, Nelsinho 
Baptista and the players who were lowered to the second division of the 
Brasileiro tournament. The club's president, Andres Sanchez was also a 
target of the criticisms.
    The players who were specific targets of slurs were the fullbacks Zelao 
and Betao, the midfielders Iran and Gustavo Nery, and Vampeta, the team's 
forward. The fans demanded that the players be traded or fired from the 
team. Slurs included claims that Zelao is an alcoholic, that Vampeta should 
go home, and that the captain of the team, Betao is a dog.
    The only player who was actually cheered from the team was the 
goalkeeper, Felipe. He was praised as the only true Corinthian.
    There were no acts of violence registered at the event. The security at 
Sao Jorge Park, the team's headquarters, was beefed up to ensure the safety 
of the club and the team's president who participated in a press interview 
to announce the acquisition of two new players: Lima and Rafinha.
    The team's president, Andres Sanchez, said that "the fans have never 
been bad toward Corinthians. To the contrary. They have mishaps, which are 
normal, but it is sad to have to see so much security here in the club. 
Unfortunately, we have to protect the club. I am just as hurt as they are. I 
just ask that they don't enter into violence and start to break things," 
stated the president.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/161355.html

Spratlys row gives Vietnam youth a taste for protest - Feature
Posted : Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:01:10 GMT

Hanoi - For two weekends in a row, hundreds of young people have marched and 
chanted in the streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, waving protest banners 
and dodging phalanxes of helmeted riot police. The cause they are 
demonstrating for is one the government approves: Vietnam's claim that it, 
and not China, owns the Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

But authorities are trying to tamp down the protests, which threaten to 
damage relations with Vietnam's giant northern neighbour and to encourage 
students to participate in politics in other ways.

For their part, the students are elated.

"I was so happy to be able to raise my voice," said 24-year-old university 
student Nguyen Van Nhat, who marched with the protestors in Hanoi last 
Sunday. "I think it's the right thing for me to do."

The protests were triggered by China's decision earlier this month to 
establish an official locality, called Sansha, which it claims administers 
the Spratlys and Paracels. Vietnam officially protested the move on December 
3, as government spokesman Le Dung said the issue should be resolved through 
peaceful dialogue.

The demonstrations in front of the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi and the 
consulate in Ho Chi Minh City began the following Sunday. The fact that 
police tolerated the first demonstration for roughly an hour before 
dispersing it led to speculation that it had been instigated by the 
government.

In fact, the protests appear to have been largely spontaneous, organized by 
students through blogs, online communities and mobile phone messaging, with 
some participation by veteran pro-democracy activists and dissidents.

"We found out about the demonstration through blogs and emails," said 
23-year-old student protestor Ngo Quynh. "I joined the demonstration based 
on my love for Vietnam."

Vietnamese have used blogs like hoangsa.com (named for the Vietnamese term 
for the Paracels) and networking sites like Yahoo360 to spread the word 
about the demonstrations. The blogs have continued to discuss the Spratlys 
issue furiously.

A number of democracy activists were also active in the demonstrations. They 
include Le Quoc Quan, a lawyer who spent six months in the United States 
earlier this year on a fellowship from the National Endowment for Democracy, 
and was imprisoned for three months by the Vietnamese government on his 
return.

Quan said he had participated in the demonstrations in Hanoi on December 9, 
but that police prevented him from reaching this past Sunday's protests. He 
said his brother, Le Quoc Quyet, was arrested at Sunday's demonstrations in 
Ho Chi Minh City, and held for four hours before being released.

Quan said police at the demonstration had also arrested and released one of 
his uncles and his uncle's friend.

Last Sunday's demonstrations, in contrast to those on December 9, were met 
by dozens of riot police who had pre-emptively blocked off the street in 
front of the Chinese embassy and the adjacent park. Vietnamese blogs related 
the stories of three students who were arrested at the demonstrations in 
Hanoi, and released several hours later.

Vietnamese police sources refused to comment on the arrests, except to 
confirm that they had occurred.

But the harsher police response followed a Chinese statement condemning them 
last week. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Wednesday that Chinese 
Foreign Ministry Qin Gang had urged Vietnam to prevent any future 
anti-Chinese demonstrations, which he said could harm bilateral ties.

Vietnam's government-controlled press has printed numerous articles over the 
past two weeks laying out Vietnam's claim to the islands. They rely on 
documents dating from medieval Vietnamese emperors and from 17th-century 
European explorers.

The arguments are widely taken for granted by Vietnamese, who view China's 
claim to the islands as the latest in a long series of Chinese incursions on 
Vietnamese territory.

The dispute has intensified because the waters surrounding the Spratlys and 
Paracels are believed to contain substantial petroleum deposits. A 
Vietnamese agreement with British Petroleum to begin exploration in waters 
near southern Vietnam was scrapped earlier this year because of concerns 
over the sovereignty conflict.

The protestors say they will try to march again this weekend. That will 
present the government with a dilemma, as it tries to restrain protests 
involving independent democracy activists it opposes, but which also reflect 
widespread patriotic and anti-Chinese sentiment.

"When we were marching in Hanoi in the demonstration, passers-by were 
excited, and some of them joined us," said university student Nhat. "There 
must be measures to stop China's conspiracy to invade the islands."

"I think the best solution is democracy," said Quynh. "The issue must be 
discussed publicly so that all people will know about it, not just the 
Communist Party, so that we can unleash the nation's power."

Such unauthorized political activity, however, is precisely what Vietnam's 
government would like to avoid.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200712251540.htm

Passengers protest as AI reschedules flight

Kozhikode (PTI): Passengers of a Gulf-bound flight went on a sit-in protest 
at the Karipur International Airport here on Tuesday after Air India 
rescheduled the flight.

Air India Express flight to Jeddah,originally scheduled to leave at 11 
AM,could not take off owing to "technical reasons" airport sources said.

Irked by the "last minute" announcement, the passengers initially refused 
accommodation in nearby hotels and raised slogans against the National 
carrier, they said.

However,the passengers soon dispersed from the scene after they were assured 
by the Airline officials that the flight would depart at 2 Pm,the sources 
added.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Auto_drivers_protest_outside_SSP_residence/articleshow/2684744.cms

Protest outside SSP residence
9 Jan 2008, 0307 hrs IST,TNN

LUCKNOW: A group of auto-drivers on Tuesday evening protested outside the 
residence of SSP Akhil Kumar, accusing a traffic sub-inspector of charging 
money in the name of penalty from auto drivers.

They have accused a traffic sub-inspector, Sainjeet Singh, of charging money 
illegally on the IT crossing. According to the auto drivers, they first went 
to the SP, traffic, to file a complaint but the latter, directed them to go 
to the SSP.

The auto drivers in their application to the SSP, have alleged that Sainjeet 
Singh took Rs 200 from drivers of auto UP 32 CN-1735 and UP 32 CN-0549 on 
Monday evening.

The drivers of these two autos said that Singh seized their vehicles in 
spite of having been shown the papers. The auto drivers have demanded 
immediate action against the accused traffic sub-inspector.