Petition & appeal aurangzeb Exhibition

29 03 2008

fact India
41 Jorbagh (1st floor),
New Delhi 110003. India.
http://www.fact-india.com

Dear friends,

As you know, Facts’ Aurangzeb, exhibition, a three year effort to
showcase history & art and which was shown without any problem in
Delhi’s Habitat Centre, G-Gallery Bangalore and Balagandharva- Pune
(where it was viewed by more than hundred thousand people), was
vandalized by the Chennai police without any provocation. This act of
arrogance, intolerance and suppression of freedom of expression went
unnoticed in the mainstream media and by the rights activists.
This blind and radicalism is what FACT India is fighting. It is
heartening that instead of protecting the art works the local police has
actually acted as stooges of the miscreants and (Mr. MURALI, ACP
Chennai) broke two paintings himself depicting the demolition of
Temples (supported by his Documents Akhbarat) by Aurangzeb’s
orders.
They detained three women volunteers after dark, illegally after forcing
them to close down the show. The Exhibition an artistic one has been
turned into a very bad shape. Now FACT India intends to redo the
artistic exhibition and present the same before the people of the
nation for their verdict. We need support from each one of you, moral
and otherwise,

1) To redo the entire exhibition (total cost Rs. 8,5 lakhs or $ 21,000)
2) To pay for a lawyer so as to file a case in the Madras High Court (appr Rs. 4 lakhs or $ 10,000).

It would be useful if you could pass this email among your friends, so that we can raise a consolidated amount of money. Please try in this manner to send cheques of a minimum of Rs.10,000 (or Rs. 10,001/-) 200 $ or €. Small cheques are most welcome, but they entail a lot of paperwork.

For further details and information do not hesitate to write to us. You
can contact Veeru Chowdhary, FACT’s All India representative at
vee4ru@gmail.com or (91) 98719 49094

Warm regards

François Gautier/ trustee FACT
Veeru Chowdhary / FAIR

The vandalism caught on camera and some of the
paintings that were vandalised.

Watch on Youtube for more details.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzva2FFjUkk

Sign the petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/FACTAura/petition.html





The Nawab of Arcot ????? or is he …

26 03 2008
Petition protesting Vandalisation of the Chennai Exhibition

http://www.petitiononline.com/ FACTAura/petition.html

Please sign the petition for protection of Right to Equality…
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ FACT/petition.html

Please sign the petition for protection of Right to Equality…

The “Prince of Arcot” is “a bogus nawab” (Kanchan Gupta in The Pioneer, Mar 9). The Arcot lineage, for all its claimed link to the Caliphate, owes to Aurangzeb’s “munificence” its elevation to nawabhood in recognition of an ancestor’s defeat of the Marathas.

The direct line died out in 1855, and in 1867 the British elevated the collateral Azim Jah branch with the title of Prince and a large pension – in perpetuity. At least one of the Azim Jahs died without a son, and the title passed to the son-in-law. Arcot was annexed by the British in 1825 and the state extinguished in 1855 (http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/a/arcot.html)!

Nevertheless, independent India continues the title, and it is the Indian taxpayer who pays for the so-called Prince’s many official perquisites and a tax-free pension amply sufficient for him to live in regal splendour (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2004/02/01/stories/2004020100120200.htm ).

In return, the Prince’s website lists his “donations to non-Muslims”. These are three – all by the direct line, and the last of which was in the 18th century (http://www.princeofarcot.org/tank.htm)! None by the Azim Jahs, and certainly none at all post-1947 and by the present Prince.

A government gazette of April 1871 records the fealty “at all times” of the Azim Jahs to the British Crown (http://www.princeofarcot.org/gazette.htm). So, in effect, the Indian taxpayer continues to generously reward the Azim Jah family for its loyalty to the British, and will do so forever.

He pretends an interest in the welfare of his extended family (http://www.princeofarcot.org/cfa.htm) but obviously can spare no money for them (see the letter to the editor at http://www.thehindu.com/2005/07/25/stories/2005072514570300.htm)

The websites are silent on the amount of his pension (eg, http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/a/arcot.html ) but clearly it is munificent enough for him to live like a prince!

This family has lived off the fat of our land long enough, and the money spent on it should be diverted to poor farmers and fishermen of Tamil Nadu. Rulers of real significance gave up their kingdoms and lost their privy purses. The petty Prince of Arcot is a parasitic anachronism in our democracy and there is no reason at all why the Indian public exchequer should support him. His pension and perquisites should be abolished in free India – or let the British still support him if they want.





The Nawab of Arcot ????? or is he …

26 03 2008
Petition protesting Vandalisation of the Chennai Exhibition

http://www.petitiononline.com/ FACTAura/petition.html

Please sign the petition for protection of Right to Equality…
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ FACT/petition.html

Please sign the petition for protection of Right to Equality…

The “Prince of Arcot” is “a bogus nawab” (Kanchan Gupta in The Pioneer, Mar 9). The Arcot lineage, for all its claimed link to the Caliphate, owes to Aurangzeb’s “munificence” its elevation to nawabhood in recognition of an ancestor’s defeat of the Marathas.

The direct line died out in 1855, and in 1867 the British elevated the collateral Azim Jah branch with the title of Prince and a large pension – in perpetuity. At least one of the Azim Jahs died without a son, and the title passed to the son-in-law. Arcot was annexed by the British in 1825 and the state extinguished in 1855 (http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/a/arcot.html)!

Nevertheless, independent India continues the title, and it is the Indian taxpayer who pays for the so-called Prince’s many official perquisites and a tax-free pension amply sufficient for him to live in regal splendour (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2004/02/01/stories/2004020100120200.htm ).

In return, the Prince’s website lists his “donations to non-Muslims”. These are three – all by the direct line, and the last of which was in the 18th century (http://www.princeofarcot.org/tank.htm)! None by the Azim Jahs, and certainly none at all post-1947 and by the present Prince.

A government gazette of April 1871 records the fealty “at all times” of the Azim Jahs to the British Crown (http://www.princeofarcot.org/gazette.htm). So, in effect, the Indian taxpayer continues to generously reward the Azim Jah family for its loyalty to the British, and will do so forever.

He pretends an interest in the welfare of his extended family (http://www.princeofarcot.org/cfa.htm) but obviously can spare no money for them (see the letter to the editor at http://www.thehindu.com/2005/07/25/stories/2005072514570300.htm)

The websites are silent on the amount of his pension (eg, http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/a/arcot.html ) but clearly it is munificent enough for him to live like a prince!

This family has lived off the fat of our land long enough, and the money spent on it should be diverted to poor farmers and fishermen of Tamil Nadu. Rulers of real significance gave up their kingdoms and lost their privy purses. The petty Prince of Arcot is a parasitic anachronism in our democracy and there is no reason at all why the Indian public exchequer should support him. His pension and perquisites should be abolished in free India – or let the British still support him if they want.