Gita Sahgal
Gita Sahgal | |
---|---|
human rights activist | |
Parent | Nayantara Sahgal (mother) |
Relatives | Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (grandmother) Jawaharlal Nehru (great uncle) |
Gita Sahgal (born 1956 or 1957)
She has been a co-founder and active member of women's organisations.[1][6] She has also been head of Amnesty International's Gender Unit, and has opposed the oppression of women in particular by religious fundamentalists.[6][7][8]
In February 2010, she was suspended by Amnesty as head of its Gender Unit after she was quoted by The Sunday Times criticising Amnesty for its high-profile associations with Moazzam Begg, director of the campaign group Cage (formerly Cageprisoners), that represents men detained at Guantanamo under extrajudicial conditions. She referred to him as "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban".[9][failed verification]
Amnesty responded that she was suspended "for not raising these issues internally". Speaking in her support were novelist Salman Rushdie, journalist Christopher Hitchens and others, who criticised Amnesty for the affiliation. Begg disputed her claims of his jihadi connections and said that he did not consider anyone a terrorist who had not been convicted of terrorism.[10]
Sahgal left Amnesty International on 9 April 2010.[11][permanent dead link]
Early life and education
Gita Sahgal was born in India, the daughter of the novelist
Career
Activism
Women's organisations
In 1979 she co-founded Southall Black Sisters, a non-profit organisation based in Southall, West London.[1][4][6][13]
In 1989 she co-founded and has participated with Women against Fundamentalism.
War rape
Commenting on the use of rape in ethnic conflicts, Sahgal said in 2004 that such assaults are not typically a means of taking women as "spoils of war" or meeting sexual needs. She said rape is used intentionally as a way to disrupt the conquered society and to increase the territory of the conquering ethnic group via impregnating the conquered women.[14]
Prostitution and peacekeeping efforts
Sahgal spoke out in 2004 regarding the increase of prostitution and
Invasion of Iraq; Views on Guantanamo Bay
Sahgal, who was against the United States and allies' invasion of Iraq, also condemned the extrajudicial detention and torture of Muslim men at
Secularism
Gita Sahgal is the executive director of the Centre for Secular Space[17] and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.[18]
Writing and film producer
Among her various writings, in 1992, she contributed to and co-edited Refusing Holy Orders: Women and Fundamentalism in Britain with Nira Yuval-Davis.
In 2002 she produced Tying the Knot. The film was commissioned by the U.K.'s
Saghal also made Unprovoked, a film about the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, for Channel 4's Dispatches documentary series. Ahluwalia was a Punjabi woman brought to the UK for an arranged marriage who was repeatedly abused by her husband. To survive, she killed him, setting him on fire while he was drunk and asleep.[20]
In addition, Sahgal produced the British documentary film The War Crimes File, about atrocities committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.[4]
Amnesty International controversy
Sahgal's public criticism
Sahgal joined the staff of Amnesty International in 2002, and became head of its gender unit the following year.
Sahgal issued a statement saying she felt that Amnesty was risking its reputation by associating with and thereby politically legitimising Begg, because Cageprisoners "actively promotes Islamic Right ideas and individuals".[9] She said the issue was not about Begg's "freedom of opinion, nor about his right to propound his views: he already exercises these rights fully as he should. The issue is ... the importance of the human rights movement maintaining an objective distance from groups and ideas that are committed to systematic discrimination and fundamentally undermine the universality of human rights."[9] The controversy prompted responses by politicians, the writer Salman Rushdie, and journalist Christopher Hitchens, among others who criticised Amnesty's association with Begg.
After her suspension and the controversy, Sahgal was interviewed by numerous media and attracted international supporters. She was interviewed on
In a separate interview for the Indian
Amnesty responses
Amnesty responded on its website with a statement by its interim Secretary General, Claudio Cordone:[28]
[Sahgal] was suspended ... for not raising these issues internally... [Begg] speaks about his own views ..., not Amnesty International's... Sometimes the people whose rights we defend may not share each others views–but they all have human rights, and all human rights are worth defending.
Widney Brown of Amnesty also spoke on the NPR program with Sahgal.[25] She said the books sold at his bookstore did not mean that he was not "a legitimate voice on Guantanamo Bay abuses".[25] Responding to the interviewer's observation that Amnesty had sponsored Begg's lecture tours in Europe, she said that because Begg was one of the first detainees released, he was considered important for dispelling Guantanamo Bay's secrecy.[25] Brown said that, as a British citizen, Begg has "an incredibly effective voice in talking to governments in Europe about the importance of" their accepting Guantanamo detainees.[25] She praised Sahgal's work, saying:[25]
There's no question about it. Gita is incredibly intelligent, very strong analysis .... She's done great work for us. And I think the real tragedy of this particular circumstance is by going public in this particular way knowing that we were addressing her issue means that she's maybe undermining her own work in fact.
Amnesty's international secretariat Policy Director, Anne Fitzgerald, when asked if she thought Begg was a human rights advocate, said: "It’s something you’d have to speak to him about. I don’t have the information to answer that".[4][10]
In April 2010, Amnesty circulated a statement internally, saying:
Due to irreconcilable differences of view over policy between Gita Sahgal and Amnesty International regarding Amnesty International’s relationship with Moazzam Begg and Cageprisoners, it has been agreed that Gita will leave Amnesty International on 9 April 2010.
Begg response
Begg said of the Taliban: "We need to be engaging with those people who we find most unpalatable. I don’t consider anybody a terrorist until they have been charged and convicted of terrorism".[10]
Begg noted that he worked with groups to empower Muslim women.[2][4] Sahgal, he says, "has no monopoly on women's rights".[4]
Reactions
Pro-Sahgal
Salman Rushdie said:[29][30]
Amnesty ... has done its reputation incalculable damage by allying itself with Moazzam Begg and his group Cageprisoners, and holding them up as human rights advocates. It looks very much as if Amnesty's leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy, and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. It has greatly compounded its error by suspending the redoubtable Gita Sahgal for the crime of going public with her concerns. Gita Sahgal is a woman of immense integrity and distinction.... It is people like Gita Sahgal who are the true voices of the human rights movement; Amnesty and Begg have revealed, by their statements and actions, that they deserve our contempt.
Writing in The
Sahgal's mother, Nehru's niece novelist Nayantara Sahgal, said she was proud of Gita:[46]
for her very correct and courageous stand. Gita had been taking up the matter for a couple of years now, but after not having received a response she decided to go public—which was a very brave thing to do.... Amnesty has been supporting Begg, legitimising him, making him a partner and sponsoring his tour of Europe. They should at least have checked his credentials. It simply gives them a bad reputation.
An organisation called Human rights for All formed in her defence.[47] They have been joined by many notable supporters.[48]
The Observer wrote in April 2010 that Amnesty had faced few stickier periods since it was founded in 1961, and Oliver Kamm wrote in The Times that Amnesty had shown a "grudging and euphemistic explanation for its behaviour" and that "Disastrously for itself and those who depend on its support, Amnesty is no longer the friend of liberty".[2]
Mixed
Leaked extracts from an internal 10 February 2010 memo by Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director Sam Zarifi, were published by The Sunday Times.[49] In the memo Zarifi said Amnesty had made a mistake in not making it clearer they did not support Begg's views. Zarifi said Amnesty "did not always sufficiently distinguish between the rights of detainees to be free from torture, and the validity of their views", adding that the organisation "did not always clarify that while we champion the rights of all—including terrorism suspects, and more important, victims of terrorism—we do not champion their views".[50] In a subsequent letter to The Sunday Times, Zarifi said he agreed with Amnesty's actions with regard to Sahgal.[51]
Amnesty decided not to hire Begg for their South Asia campaigns,[4] Widney Brown said: "Sam's view was that, no, he was not the right person for [our South Asia campaigns]. He raised the concern, and he was heard".[4]
Pro-Begg
Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist for Iranian-based English language news channel Press TV and a Cageprisoners patron, said Begg was being "demonised", and that he was "a great supporter of women and a promoter of their rights".[22][52][53]
Co-author of Enemy Combatant, Victoria Brittain wrote: "Ms Sahgal has contributed to the current climate of intolerance and islamophobia in Britain."[54]
Andy Worthington, critic of Guantanamo Bay detention camp, and friend of Begg, also cited Islamophobia, and then defended Begg. He said, "I know from personal experience that Moazzam Begg is no extremist. We have met on numerous occasions, have had several long discussions, and have shared platforms together at many events."[55]
Select writings
Book
- Refusing holy orders: women and fundamentalism in Britain, co-editor with Nira Yuval-Davis, and contributor, ISBN 1-85381-219-6
Chapters
- Looking at class: film, television and the working class in Britain, Sheila Rowbotham, Huw Beynon, "Chapter: Struggle Not Submission", Rivers Oram Press, 2001, ISBN 1-85489-121-9
- Feminist postcolonial theory: a reader, Reina Lewis, Sara Mills, Chapter: "The Uses of Fundamentalism", with Nira Yuval-Davis, Taylor & Francis, 2003, ISBN 0-415-94275-6
- The situated politics of belonging, Nira Yuval-Davis, Kalpana Kannabirān, Ulrike Vieten, "Chapter: Legislating Utopia? Violence Against Women: Identities and Interventions," SAGE, 2006, ISBN Ch1412921015
See also
References
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- ^ a b c d Mark Townsend (25 April 2010). "Gita Sahgal's dispute with Amnesty International puts human rights group in the dock". The Observer. London. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ a b Suroor, Hasan (9 February 2010). "Amnesty in row over 'collaborating' with pro-jehadis". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Guttenplan, D. D.; Margaronis, Maria. "Who Speaks for Human Rights?". The Nation. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
- ISBN 9781412921015. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d Nair, Malini (21 February 2010). "A fundamental question for human rights groups". Daily News & Review. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ^ "Women Against Fundamentalisms | Variant 16". Variant.org.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ Amit Roy (10 February 2010). "The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | Amnesty suspends Nehru kin". The Telegraph. Calcutta. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d Sahgal, Gita (13 May 2010). "Gita Sahgal: A Statement". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kerbaj, Richard (7 February 2010). "Amnesty International is 'damaged' by Taliban link; An official at the human rights charity deplores its work with a 'jihadist'". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
- ^ Bird, Steve (13 April 2010). "Gita Sahgal, who criticised Amnesty's 'pro-jihadi' links, leaves job". The Times. London. Retrieved 12 April 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Amnesty suspends Nehru kin Gita Sahgal – NewsofAP.com – Andhra Pradesh News, Andhra News, Andhra Pradesh, Telugu News". NewsofAP.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ "Who we are". Southall Black Sisters. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ Smith-Spark, Laura (8 December 2004). "In Depth | How did rape become a weapon of war?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 September 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
- ^ The Herald (Scotland). Archived from the originalon 6 November 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
- ^ "'Team', Centre for Secular Space". centreforsecularspace.org. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ^ "Gita Sahgal". National Secular Society. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ^ "Video on 'forced marriages' sent to schools". BBC News. 11 March 2002. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ Ruchir Joshi (10 June 2007). "'Unprovoked'-A historic moment swallowed by the box office". The Telegraph (India). Calcutta. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
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- ^ a b c Aaronovitch, David (9 February 2010). "How Amnesty chose the wrong poster-boy; Collaboration with Moazzam Begg, an extremist who has supported jihadi movements, looks like a serious mistake". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
- ^ Bright, Martin (7 February 2010). "Gita Sahgal: A Statement". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ "Joan Smith: Amnesty shouldn't support men like Moazzam Begg". The Independent. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Is Amnesty International Supporting a Jihadist?". All Things Considered. NPR. 27 February 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
- Daily News & Analysis, 21 February 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
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- ^ ""Amnesty International on its work with Moazzam Begg and Cageprisoners," 11 February 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010". Amnestyusa.org. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ Salman Rushdie's statement on Amnesty International, The Sunday Times, 21 February 2010
- ^ "Amnesty has no morals, says Rushdie", The Times of India, 22 February 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
- ^ a b MacShane, Member of British Parliament, Denis (10 February 2010). "Letter To Amnesty International from". Archived from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
- ^ Phillips, Melanie (14 February 2010). "The human wrongs industry spits out one of its own". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ Smith, Joan "Joan Smith: Amnesty shouldn't support men like Moazzam Begg; A prisoner of conscience can turn into an apologist for extremism", The Independent, 11 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010
- ^ "Hitchens, Christopher, "Christopher Hitchens: Amnesty International's suspension of conscience", The National Post". Retrieved 18 February 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Bright, Martin, "Amnesty International, Moazzam Begg and the Bravery of Gita Sahgal", The Spectator, 7 February 2010 Archived 11 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Misalliance; Amnesty has lent spurious legitimacy to extremists who spurn its values," The Times, 12 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010
- ^ Cohen, Nick, "We abhor torture – but that requires paying a price; Spineless judges, third-rate politicians and Amnesty prefer an easy life to fighting for liberty," The Observer, 14 February 2010, 17 February 2010
- ^ Sen, Antara Dev (25 February 2010). "Amnesty's illiberal knee-jerk response". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ "No amnesty for dissent," The Asian Age, 20 February 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010
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- ^ Power, Jonathan, "Amnesty International Off the Piste", Khaleej Times, 28 February 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2010
- ^ Liddle, Rod "Why give money to charity when they shaft what they purport to defend?", The Spectator, 8 February 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2010 Archived 5 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Glavin, Terry, "Terry Glavin: Amnesty International doubles down on appeasement; This has been going on for far too long. Now it's gone too far," National Post, 8 February 2010, 2 March 2010". National Post. Retrieved 18 March 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Murray, Douglas (14 April 2010). "If you support Amnesty International – STOP – Telegraph Blogs". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 21 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
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{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ World Wide Outcry To Make Amnesty International See Reason and Make Amends Archived 2 August 2012 at archive.today, Human Rights for All, 22 March 2010
- ^ Kerbaj, Richard (14 February 2010). "Second Amnesty chief attacks Islamist links". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
- ^ Suroor, Hasan (15 February 2010). "Another Amnesty official questions its links with jihadi group". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
- ^ "Amnesty misconception". The Sunday Times. 21 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- Cageprisoners. Archived from the originalon 5 November 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ Brittain, Victoria (30 June 2010). "Dangerous game: a reply to Gita Sahgal and her supporters". openDemocracy. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ Worthington, Andy (10 February 2010). "Defending Moazzam Begg and Amnesty International". Andy Worthington. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
External links
- "Gita Sahgal: A Statement", 7 February 2010
- Human Rights for All website Archived 27 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- "Dangerous liaisons", Gita Sahgal, DNA India, 18 April 2010