7 Poles who changed the World

Historically, Poland has always been one of the worst-ravaged, war-torn countries in the world. Unfortunately squeezed between two aggressive powers, Russia on one hand and Western Europe on the other, Poland has always been witness to some conflict. Yet, despite the ever-present tensions, Poland has unfailingly produced world-leaders in various fields. Here is a list of 7 Polish people whose achievements changed their respective fields of work, and often the world, forever.

1. Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin

Widely considered to be one of the greatest composers and pianists of all time, Chopin was born in Zelazowa Wola, Poland, in the year 1810, although he later moved to Paris, where he composed most of his classic works. He is said to have contributed greatly to creating a Polish national style of music, as he incorporated several Polish folk influences in his compositions. Although he died at the young age of 39 of tuberculosis, Chopin was extremely prolific in his lifetime. He has to his credit, a large number of polonaises (slow Polish dances), mazurkas (Polish folk dance with a lively tempo), nocturnes (musical composition inspired by the night), études (instrumental musical composition), preludes etc. Although he died in Paris, as per his dying wish, his heart was removed from his body and taken back to Poland where it now lays in a church not far from his last Polish residence.

2. Marie Skłodowska Curie

Marie Curie, born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, is famous for being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for Physics for her pioneering work on Radioactivity. She also became the first person to be awarded two Nobel prizes, when she was awarded the Nobel again, in 1911, this time in the field of Chemistry, for the discovery of the elements Radium and Polonium. When Poland was partitioned into three parts and governed by three foreign powers, Curie was born in Warsaw, in the Russian-ruled part and educated via Poland’s underground Universities during Russian rule. She later moved to Paris for higher education where she subsequently settled down with her husband, Pierre Curie. She always remained attached to her homeland however, visiting frequently with her children.

3. Karol Wojtyla – Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II, who held the Papacy from 1978 until his death in 2005, was the first non-Italian to be elected as Pope by the Catholic Church since 1523. Born Karol Józef Wojtyła in the small Polish town of Wadowice, he was educated in Poland, and became the youngest Pope in 132 years. John Paul II has been widely credited for modernizing the Papacy and played a significant role in the fall of Communism, particularly in his native Poland. Upon his death, John Paul II was popularly bestowed the title “the Great”, becoming only the fourth Pope in history to be so acclaimed. Despite facing both criticism and controversy during his reign, Pope John Paul II is today fondly remembered by Catholics the world over.

4. Wisława Szymborska

Contemporary Polish poet Wisława Szymborska drew international attention when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996 for “poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality”. Writing in her native Polish, Szymborska’s work often posed a challenge to translators because of her tendency to play on the language with invented words and ‘syntactic tricks’, yet her poems have been read and acclaimed worldwide. One of the most popular poets in Poland, the sale of her collections of poems have often rivaled the sale of several popular prose authors. Szymborska died very recently, on 1^st February 2012, leaving behind a body of work which, although not very large, continues to draw the emotions and sensibilities of Poles, as well as poetry lovers from around the world.

5. Henryk Sienkiewicz

Born in Wola Okrzejska, a village in eastern Poland, Sienkiewicz is famous for being the first Pole to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1905 for highly popular novel, Quo Vadis? Translated into more than 50 languages and made into a film multiple times, Quo Vadis has been Sienkiewicz’s most widely-read work internationally, which his historic novels “With Fire and Sword”, “The Deluge” and “Fire in the Steppe” are best known in Poland.

6. Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus, born Mikolaj Kopernik, was one of the most famous scientists of all time, who is most renowned for changing the way science perceived the Universe by being the first one to propose that the Earth was not the centre of the Universe. Born in the year 1473 in the city of Torun, Poland, Copernicus went on to become one of the most revolutionary Renaissance astronomers and one of the most important figures in the history of science.

7. Irina Sendler

Irena Sendler, commonly referred to as Irena Sendlerowa in Poland, was a Polish Catholic social worker who served in the Polish Underground and the resistance organization in German-occupied Warsaw during WW II. Sendler’s heroic efforts came to light after the end of the War, when it was discovered that she, with the help of some other members of the Polish resistance had saved the lives of 2500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto, providing them with false documents and sheltering them in individual and group children’s homes outside the ghetto. Numerous children rescued by her came back often in the course of their lifetimes and maintained a relationship with her. Sendler was awarded Poland’s highest civilian award, the ‘Order of the White Eagle’ in 2003 and was posthumously awarded the Audrey Hepburn humanitarian award in 2009 for her monumental and inspiring efforts.

.

SADDAM HUSSEIN: SUPRESSION BEYOND MERE WORDS

Human life, Valued? Protected? Or seen as Puppets dancing to a master’s melody? Imagine yourself in a dark cell, a single light hanging from a crack in the ceiling. Living every solitary moment with the stench of stale food, foul air, and echoes of screaming prisoners finding a way to detach themselves from this horrific life. Try picturing several other people reduced to shivering, skeletal, barely living bodies curled up on the floor. Now, picture torture. Your skin being ripped off, hard metal beating against your body, sharp knives tearing into your skin, and poisonous gas suffocating you to death.

Your crime: thinking the wrong thought.

While most major countries were enjoying the intellectual, political and sexual liberation brought forth by the 60’s, peace and love was not the main agenda in Iraq. 1968 saw huge political turmoil as Saddam Hussein, a leading member of the Ba’ath political party, a party that endorsed the creation of a single Islamic State in the world, overthrew Abdul Rahman Arif and appointed Al-Bakr as the president and himself as his deputy, and deputy chairman of the Ba'athist Revolutionary Command Council.This, however, was a farce and in 1969, it became apparent that Hussein was the driving force behind Al-Bakr’s political administrations.

Like most dictators, Hussein began by working towards the benefit of Iraq by introducing free and compulsory education, modernizing the economy, granting free hospitalization, providing subsidies to farmers, supporting the families of soldiers, introducing electricity to most parts of the country, mechanizing agriculture building roads, promoting industries such as mining and nationalizing oil interests, earning, both, admiration and love from his people and an award from UNESCO.

But, as they say, uneasy is the head that wears the crown. Hussein’s work began shifting towards security in terms of, both, himself and his country. He began developing his chemical weapons program in 1972 and signed a 15 year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Knowing that the Ba’athists only held the support of a 20% minority of the Sunnis, Hussein resorted to a “Big Brother” approach in his political ideology. Like his counterpart in Orwell’s 1984, he had thousands of portraits, posters, statues, and murals erected in his honor. One could spot his face on the sides of buildings, shops, walls, schools, airports, elements of clothing and the Iraqi currency. Apart from these, Saddam Hussein also employed the use of the secret police, torture, murders, rape, abductions, deportations, forced disappearances, assassinations, chemical weapons, and the destruction of wetlands in order to maintain control over his people.

While the motto of the Ba’ath Party was “Unity, Liberty, and Socialism,” Hussein went as far as denying crucial Human Rights to his people if they did not follow his train of thought. Fearing retaliation, he restricted political participation at the National Level to members of Ba’ath, who constituted only 8% of the total population. Iraqi citizens were not allowed to assemble in groups unless it was to support the political party and police check points throughout the country restricted their movement inside the country and in terms of travelling abroad.

With paranoia over losing his position gaining strength day by day, Saddam began resorting to genocide, leading to the birth of the Al-Anfal Campaign of 1988. This was aimed towards the extermination of the Kurdish people, mainly the Shiites, who supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. Methods of extermination included mass executions and disappearances of many noncombatants, widespread use of chemical weapons including Sarin, mustard gas, and nerve killing agents that killed thousands. The capture and imprisonment of women, children, and men, destruction of homes and villages, including schools, mosques, and farms were amongst the many negative things that took place.

The Halabja Massacre, or Bloody Friday, aimed against the Kurdish people, occurred on March 18, 1988, during the end of the Iran-Iraq war and is considered a separate historical event from the Al-Anfal Campaign. The attack lasted five hours and mainly consisted of rockets and napalm. Methods of dying ranged from coughing, just dropping dead, regurgitating green toxic vomit, and hysterical laughter fits before eventually dying.

In 1991, after losing control of Kuwait during the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein massacred more members of the Kurdish community and citizens in southern Iraq who had begun to form an uprising against him. The estimates of deaths during this time range from 20,000 to 100,000 for Kurds, and 60,000 to 130,000 for Shiites.

In 1994, new penalties such as amputation, branding, and extermination were awarded for crimes such as theft, corruption, currency speculation and desertion of the army. Various torture chambers that administered the use of body hooks and electrocution were also found throughout the country.

Saddam Hussein was captured and held in custody by U.S. forces at the U.S. base “Camp Copper,” on June 30^th 2004. He along with 11 senior Ba’athist leaders were legally handed over to the Iraqi interim government to stand for trials against the several offences they had committed.

On December 30^th 2006, Saddam Hussein met his fate- execution. He was sentenced to death after being charged with crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal. His execution was run by media channels all over the globe, and the world watched his last walk to the gallows. Unprofessional as, relaying the execution live seemed, people over the world watched glued to their screens, the death of a man who had caused the death of a million.

Saddam Hussein’s tight regime lead not only to his downfall and execution but also to altering the perception of Iraq from a well-developing country making progress in the late 60’s and early 70’s to one which needed a strong helping hand. Leaders are meant to lead with passion and understanding; however in this case, it was evident that this leader was solely interested in ‘leading.’

ZAHRA AMIRUDDIN-3742

The blood of South African Sport - Rugby.

WRITTEN BY SHARANYA RAMESH

ROLL NUMBER 3760

To put it simply, Rugby is to South Africa, what Cricket is to India. Rugby can easily be considered one of the forces that bought together South Africa after the vast period of Apartheid. When the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup on home turf in 1995, Nelson Mandela, donned the No 6 shirt of the team's captain - Francois Pienaar, a white Afrikaner - and the two embraced in a spontaneous gesture of racial reconciliation that melted hearts around the country. A single moment, and 400 years of colonial strife and bitterness, suddenly seemed so petty. That is what Rugby means to many South Africans.

What makes Rugby even more special to the South Africans is that before 1994, Rugby was almost exclusively a white man’s game. After Nelson Mandela took the reins, he converted the team into a mix of both black and white, encouraging the citizens of SA (both black and white) to come together to cheer on their union team. The Springboks, the dream team in their green and gold jackets is the union rugby team of South Africa. The Boks have an outstanding international score sheet, and for many years enjoyed a winning record against all other nations, until a slight slump in performances after South Africa's return from international isolation in 1992. However, ask any South African their favourite Rugby moment and they are sure to tell you that it is when the Springboks made it through to the final at Ellis Park where, spurred on by a frenzied home crowd, and with the whole of South Africa willing them on, they trumped the All Blacks 15-12 in extra time to lift the sport's most coveted trophy.

For many years, the biggest rivalry in internal rugby was between the Western Province and the Blue Bulls. During the early to mid-1990s this was superseded by a three-way rivalry between Natal, the Lions and Western Province. The teams fought for the much coveted, Currie Cup. The Currie Cup, the premier provincial rugby competition in South Africa, was first contested in 1892. The format of the Currie Cup varied from year to year, and finals were held intermittently until 1968, after which the final became an annual event.

Another important cup that the South African rugby teams compete for is the Vodacom Cup. The Vodacom Cup has become an important competition on the South African rugby calendar. It takes place at the same time as the Super 14 competition - starting in late February and finishing in mid-May - and thus creates a platform for talented young players who might otherwise not get a chance to make their mark.It has also been a fertile breeding ground for strong players from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, thanks to the enforcement of quotas. Quotas, successfully implemented lower down, now extend through the higher levels of South African rugby, including the Super 14.

However, what interests me the most about Rugby is that it is one of the few topics that every South African apparently seems to agree upon. Talk politics and history, you might not have a friend in every South African, but talk sports, especially Rugby and you have a friend. Rugby has done what a lot of leaders and politicians have considered impossible. It has bought a nation together.

VOICES OF BAGHDAD: A NEW KIND OF JOURNALISM

Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, the city of fear. Baghdad’s streets are permanently filled with music, music of a different sort. Ambulance sirens, loud explosions, the screams of civilians, and the cry of a relative who has one less to hold- these are the sounds of Baghdad, the music that the city sings. Many have gone to explore this capital, from Journalists, to politicians, to researches, to activists. One such individual who has taken the city’s voice and transformed it into a new kind of Journalism is Annet Hennenmen.

Annet Hennenmen, originally from Spain, is the founder, director, and actor of theatre group- Teatro di Nacosta, meaning Hidden Theatre. The theatre group was founded 14 yrs ago in order to create awareness amongst the world about the conditions of civilians in a conflict zone, economically unstable, or a war torn country. This genre of theatre uses art as a medium of journalism. Travelling through India, Iran, Palestine, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, Annet tells real life stories from the perspective of the people who are living them. The theatre group was essentially founded for theatre reportage on refugees and asylum seekers.

In 2011, Annet decided her next project would be held in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. She spent 8 days with four Iraqi men whose stories spoke volumes about the conditions they were living in. The four men who essentially played the ‘Voices of Baghdad’ were Ali, Fouad, Mustafa, and Yasir. These men, regardless of the risk in doing so, performed this work of theatre reportage to remind their audience of the human lives behind all the statistics, the significance in human terms of yet another political or religious explosion. The men aged 28, have lived through three wars, namely the Iran-Iraq war, the Gulf war, and the recently ended American war.

The rehearsals were held in a building opposite ‘Our lady of Salvation Catholic Church’,’ where in 2010, a bomb blast left 52 people dead. The premier performance took place in Erbil on the 8^th of October 2011. The audience included people from Basra, Baghdad, and Erbil, and it was said that intense emotion was felt through the hall at the end of the performance. It was at the end of the show, that Annet addressed the audience and said, “I wanted to share with the people because sharing creates understanding and that understanding can start to make little changes.”

‘Voices of Baghdad’ gave importance to the pain and suffering felt amongst the people of Baghdad, along with the sufferings faced during three wars and one internal revolution. The major problems underlined were the Al-Qaeda attacks, Kurdish rebels, and sectarian suicide bombers who attack all parts of the country. The scenes enacted showed the streets of Baghdad which were lined with unpredictable mines and explosives, as well as random gun firing. The theatre group also tackled the issue of the common car bombs that set off at places such as police stations, markets, hospitals, commercial zones, water treatment plants etc. They also stressed on the hygiene factor of the city mainly targeting the fact that many parts of the city are void of garbage collection. Water and electricity even if present, are available only for certain parts of the day, and this was another issue which was focused on.

Annet Hennenmen, stated that her close involvement with her actors, made her feel like she was playing the mother of South Iraq. The familiarity created due to sharing such intense stories of war, losing family members, of witnessing explosions, or seeing people die on the roads, made the actors her children who she wanted to encourage to speak loud and be heard. She realized in the course of her stay that while some left Baghdad, others decided to stay since even though it was full of danger, it was eventually their home. Annet said that even though once she left she knew the situation would remain the same, her theatre performances she hoped, would bring about a sense of empathy and understanding.

In her work, Annet ensured a feeling which made the people of Baghdad and Iraq realize that they were not alone in their moment of torture, in the solitude of their cell. Making one aware meant that by just the act of making them aware, meant that you had done something. Done something in a way which helped changed their understanding of the lives of people through war, or the ones who had escaped war.

One of the largest breakthrough’s for the actors of ‘Voices in Baghdad’ was the fact that they were amongst 30 performers, writers, artists, journalists, directors, and musicians from Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, Spain, Holland, Afghanistan, and the UK, to make their voice heard at the international meetings held in Volterra, Italy. The meetings held from 27^th October to the 30^th of October focused on making the public aware of people living through oppression, conflict, imprisonment, and poverty.

The theatre performance in Baghdad was important in a way which made people stand besides the tortured, living in the same difficult situation, and not above them. It helped in bringing an understanding between the victims and the audience as a feeling of ‘empathy’ rather than ‘sympathy’ was discovered. Creating such strong motivational links is important to create a network of change and progress. Baghdad needs the world to lend a helping hand, and what better way to do so than to see a performance which helps you fit in their shoes?

ZAHRA AMIRUDDIN-3742

Afghan and its ties with India

In 1990s, when Pakistan –backed Taliban came into power in Afghanistan and occupied more than half of the country, the shared history between India and Afghanistan and the ties between the two countries started blurring , majorly. Even though the ties were blurring, India did not want to lose on its getaway to energy rich Central Asia states such as Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Therefore, during this period, India provided aid and assistance to the anti-Taliban resistance, the northern alliance in Afghanistan that mainly comprised of Tajik and other non- pashtun ethnic groups. Since 2001, India has offered $1.2 billion for Afghanistan’s reconstruction, making it the largest regional donor in the country. By helping rebuild a new Afghanistan, India strives for greater regional stability and also hopes to counter Pakistan’s influence on Kabul.

In 2006, when there were increased number of kidnappings and attacks in Afghanistan, India sent country’s mountain-trained parliamentary force tasked with guarding its border with China. There are about 500 police deployed in Afghanistan currently. India provided the country with a lot of reliefs and reconstruction projects and in 2009; India completed the construction of the Zaranj-Delaram highway in southwest Afghan, near the Iranian border. Also, it has trained the Afghan police officers, diplomats and civil servants and has provided support in the areas of health, education, transportation, power and telecommunications.

Bilateral trade between the two countries have increased to $358 million in march 2008, even though Pakistan does not allow goods to move from India to Afghanistan but it allows Afghanistan transit rights for its exports to India.

In 2005, India proposed Afghanistan’s membership in the SAARC. Both nations also developed strategic and military cooperation against the militants in afghanistan. The country strengthened ties with India in wake of persisting tensions and problems with Pakistan, which was suspected of continuing to shelter and support Taliban.

In July 2008 the Indian embassy in Kabul was attacked by a suicide-car bomb, which was the deadliest attack in Kabul after the downfall of the Taliban reign. Two Indian officials were killed along with 58 other people in the attack. The Afghan government had then claimed that there was an involvement of the Pakistan’s Inter- Services Intelligence in the attack.

The relation between the two countries is strengthening increasingly and in the 15^th SAARC summit in Columbo, India pledged further aid for Afghanistan. Though the country shares good ties with each other for personal benefits,  the countries are going strong in their relationship with each other. Where  India is providing aid by seeing Afghanistan as a route to the Central Asian states, Afghanistan is getting aid from the country and assisitance in fighting against the militant groups.

Us Vs. Them In Their Own Country

When Sunni Muslim rulers suddenly released a group of jailed Shiite activists, it seemed like a moment of reconciliation in this Gulf Nation’s bitter sectarian divide. The Shias of Bahrain, who days before had been burning tires in protests, cheered on the streets.

But, it was a short lived hope. Since the activists were released a month ago, there have been no signs from the government keen in pursuing a dialogue with the Shias. If there is no progress, Shiites warn, there will be more turmoil.

Bahrain is a tiny country with a population of only 530,000 citizens. It is a key U.S ally and home to the Navy’s 5^th Fleet in the strategic and oil-rich Persian Gulf.

Bahrain’s Shiites say they have nothing to do with Iran. All they want is equality in a country where surprisingly, they form the majority of the population.

Other Arab nations with Shiite population, watch Bahrain closely. They say that if this sectarian divide gets out of control, it could prove to be the ground for more tensions, for example, like the Shiites wanting more rights in Saudi Arabia.

Shiites make up as much as 70% of Bahrain’s population. Here comes the twist. The country is ruled by a Sunni elite headed by the ruling Khalifa family.

The Shiites have been discriminated against for decades now. Monarchy being Sunni, they get the best government jobs and housing, while the other sect is barred from high posts in the military, suffering with higher rates of poverty.

Shiites say that the situation is only getting worse. The conditions are so bad that that Shiite villages are easily identifiable because they have been blackened with char marks from tires burnt in the recent protests. Posters of opposition leaders and graffiti bashing Bahrain’s royal family plaster the walls.

The government is accused by the Shiites for changing the sectarian balance by giving citizenship to Sunnis from Yemen, Pakistan, Syria and Jordan, a claim that the government denies.

Sunnis in turn, accuse the Shiites of secret loyalty to Iran. Iran contends that it has historical claims to Bahrain. An Iranian cleric has gone on to say that Bahrain was Iran’s 14^th province, drawing outrage from Arab leaders. The Shiites on the other hand say that that they turn for spiritual leadership to Iraq’s most prominent Shiite cleric- Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani and not Iran’s supreme leader.

There is a fear in the country that if the ruling family keeps the same policies, that is, keeps cornering the Shia, marginalizes them at a point in time where Iran is gaining regional influence, there will be a situation where the Shia in Bahrain will revert to Iran.

The protests in Shiite areas of Bahrain took place because a number of their leaders were arrested. They were accused of seeking to overthrow the government through terrorism. Later, that same year, the King issued a surprise pardon that freed 22 of the arrested Shiites.

Since then, the ties have strained. Shiites say that the government just wanted everything to be fine ahead of the Formula 1 race in April. The youth of the country, the Shiite youth, feel that their future is lost before their eyes.

Release of the activists is like a last chance for everybody to think seriously into the dangers that are coming.

Lights! Camera! Action! - Make way for the film industry of South Africa.

WRITTEN BY: SHARANYA RAMESH

ROLL NUMBER- 3760

After hearing about "Nollywood", "Ghaliwood" and also "Lolliwood" it is now time to hear about the film industry in South Africa.This might come as a surprise for many, but the South African film industry is one of the world’s fastest growing film industries. Not surprising considering that South Africa has been represented in various international hits as well, including Blood Diamond, Invictus and also Lord of War. However, the growing internal film industry which produces more than 100 movies per year, is a thriving source of income and entertainment through out the country.

The industry has many jewels in its possession, one of them being “Tsotsi”, the award winning South African movie about a young gangster in Soweto. This movie struck gold when it won an Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2006.

What’s interesting to note about the film industry is that it contributes to almost 3.5 billion Rands to the GDP of the country. Although South Africa’s contribution to global output is only 1.4%, the local film industry is now fast growing and is a thriving business within Africa. The benefits of a burgeoning film industry are clear, as it brings in foreign investment. Co-productions with international companies result in the direct investment of millions of Rands into the economy. SA has signed co-production treaties with 4 countries which are Canada, Italy, Germany and the UK. This means that any official co-production is regarded as a national production of each co-producing country making it eligible for any benefits or programmes of assistance available in either country. SA also has a memorandum of understanding relating to film in India!

South Africa’s film industry history started with the shooting of the first ever newsreels during the Anglo-Boer war at the turn of the previous century. Africa mirror, the weekly cinema newsreel was launched in 1913 and ran till the end of the 1980’s. SA’s first feature film which was called The Kimberly Diamond Robbery was shot in 1910.

What is interesting to note is that much of the country’s cinematic history is entangled with its apartheid ties. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, however, South Africans have been reclaiming their lost histories. The government has helped in this as they have stressed on the importance of building the country’s heritage by telling their own stories and has also set about in providing a regulatory framework, to encourage the production of local movies. The government has also taken the initiative to build a Hollywood like studio on the outskirts on Cape town to help the local producers and directors. International sponsors like Warner Bros. have also been targeted to help fund the local film industry.

South African broadcasters are obliged to meet legislated local-content quotas, which has resulted in an increased demand for local programming. More than seven South African daily dramas or soap operas are produced in South Africa.

The South African film industry is one of the many forms of entertainment that is available to the people. To help me understand more about what the film industry meant to the locals, I spoke to Zuri Tewa, a 16 year old South African movie buff, who said, “The movies are great because like all great movies they are about the people. They narrate our history and they talk to us about who we are. I know we are not as big as Hollywood, but it is still lots of fun. These movie actors are like stars to me,” She also told me that she tries to watch all the movies she can because going to the movies was her favourite part of the weekend.

It is interesting that in a world where movies either mean Hollywood or Bollywood, a country like South Africa has their own thriving local film industry. What is more encouraging is what this film industry means to the people. For them, this is a platform where actual South African history -not just various interpretations of it made by foreign films- can be told and watched and learned about.