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Vol. 32 No. 37 • FRIDAY, September 21, 2018 Published Weekly from Houston 24 Pages (2 sections) 50 cents 713-774-5140 • E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com
Jaipur Literature Festival in Houston showcases South Asia’s best literary minds By Shobana Muratee
A
n invigorating fall for Houstonians with the inauguration of "greatest literary show on Earth" that made its debut in Texas with Jaipur Literature Festival at Houston (JLF), in partnership between Teamwork Arts, Asia Society Texas Center, Inprint, and the Consulate General of India. The Houston leg of the festival opened on Friday, September 14 at the Brown Foundation Theater
with inaugural address by Dr. Anupam Ray, Consul General of India, Houston on “Imagining Our Worlds” also featuring speakers Namita Gokhale, Sanjoy K. Roy, Rich Levy - Executive Director, Inprint. The evening program also presented a vibrant segment “Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Namita Gokhale.” The events concluded on Saturday, Sep. 15, 2018 Traditionally, the festival showcases South Asia's literary and oral heritage, with internationally acclaimed authors
and thinkers taking part in a range of provocative panels and debates. World renowned authors and thinkers took part in a range of stimulating panel discussions and debates. Apart from Houston, Jaipur Literature Festival will be in two other cities across the United States: New York and Boulder. In Houston, the musical highlight was the performance by Pandit Suman Ghosh. Continued on Page 8
India outlaws Islamic 'instant divorce'
N
EW DELHI, India | AFP | The Indian government Wednesday issued an executive order making the Islamic practice of "instant divorce" a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in prison. The controversial move brings an outright ban on "triple talaq" -- when a Muslim man ends his marriage by saying "talaq" ("you are divorced" in Arabic) three times in succession -- a step closer. Muslim women say they have been divorced over messaging apps like WhatsApp or in letters, leaving them without any legal remedy. India's lower house, controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), passed legislation outlawing the practice in December. But it got stuck in the upper house, prompting the govern-
ment to issue Wednesday's executive order. It now needs only approval from the president to become law. "There was a constitutional urgency to bring this law. The curse of triple talaq has continued unabated," Ravi Shankar Prasad, law and justice minister, told reporters. In August 2017, India's Supreme Court declared "triple talaq" unconstitutional and ordered the government to legislate against it. Prasad said that 201 cases have been reported across the country even after the top court's order. The BJP has long pushed for a uniform civil code for marriage, divorce and property. India's constitution allows followers of each faith to use their religious laws to govern such matters. But
India's
180-million-
Saturday, September 15, 2018 – Jaipur Literature Festival at Houston. "Second Thoughts: A Writer and Diplomat" with, from left, Sanjoy K. Roy and Navtej Sarna in Asia Society Texas Center's Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater. Photo by Chris Dunn.
SPARC holds fundraiser for Kerala's flood victims
strong Muslim community has historically opposed such a move, saying it will erode their religious identity and violate the constitution. "The BJP's stand on the Muslim plight is well known and they have little sympathy for the community," said Yogendra Yadav, an academic and politician who heads the socio-political organisation Swaraj India. "This issue gives them a nice pretext to present the Muslim community in a poor light and themselves as defender of a retrograde practice," he said. R S Surjewala, a spokesman for the opposition Congress party, said that the next step would be to ensure Muslim women get alimony. "But the Modi government would not want that, they don't want upliftment of Muslim women," he told news channels.
Koshy Thomas, Publisher, Voice of Asia seen speaking at the fundraiser organized by Dr. Sunanda Nair (far left), SPARC Founder & Director. Photo credit: Navin Mediwala. read report on Page 5.
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