Milan Rai
Encyclopedia
Milan Rai is a British
peace campaigner best known for being arrested on 25 October 2005 next to a London
war memorial
, the Cenotaph, for refusing to cease reading aloud the names of civilians by then killed in Iraq
in the course of Britain's most recent war, alongside fellow activist Maya Evans
.
Rai, a writer
and anti-war
activist from Hastings
, was convicted under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
(SOCPA) for organising an illegal demonstration in the vicinity of Parliament
.
In December 2006, Rai and Evans lost an appeal
against their convictions. For refusing to pay a fine of £350 (and £150 court costs), Rai was sent to Wandsworth prison in south London for 14 days on 23 August 2007.
This was his fourth prison sentence. Previous prison sentences (14 days in Pentonville in 1995, seven days in Wormwood Scrubs in 1996, and 28 days in Lewes in 2005) were all imposed for similar anti-war protests.
Also taken into account in his 2007 sentencing was a further fine of £100, imposed for organising and participating in anti-war protests during the "No More Fallujahs" tent city demonstration in Parliament Square
. Rai's fine for these offences was imposed in May 2007 - Maya Evans
was his co-defendant.
Evans is best known for being the first person to be convicted of participating in an unauthorized demonstration in the vicinity of Parliament under SOCPA. Rai was the first person to be convicted of organizing an unauthorized demonstration in the vicinity of Parliament. Evans and Rai were also, through their May 2007 convictions, the first people to be convicted in the same trial of organizing and participating in unauthorized demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament - at different parts of the same two-day event.
Their appeal against their SOCPA convictions is currently before the European Court of Human Rights (as of February 2009).
As well as being a co-ordinator of anti-war group Justice Not Vengeance, Rai is co-editor with anti-war artist Emily Johns of the London-based monthly magazine Peace News
. Their co-editorship began in March 2007. Rai was a Peace News seller while at school, selling copies to peace activist and poet Stephen Hancock, later a co-editor of the magazine.
Milan Rai became politically active in the campaign against Pershing II and Ground-Launched Cruise Missiles - nuclear weapons scheduled to be deployed in Western Europe in the late 1980s.
Rai's primary organizational affiliations have been with the British Ploughshares movement (1988–1993); ARROW (Active Resistance to the Roots of War; 1990–2003); the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
(CND; 1992–1997); Voices in the Wilderness UK (1998–2003) and Justice Not Vengeance (2003–present).
The Ploughshares movement is an international campaign of direct citizen disarmament of nuclear and other military equipment. ARROW was a London-based affinity group which organized mass actions and carried out a wide variety of campaigns, including a weekly vigil (1991–2003) against the economic sanctions - and then the impending war - on Iraq. CND is Europe's largest peace organization, devoted to British unilateral nuclear disarmament. Voices in the Wilderness UK, which Rai founded in 1998, a British arm of Voices in the Wilderness in the US, began life as a campaign of direct action against the economic sanctions on Iraq - breaking unjust laws by carrying children's medicines and other critical civilian goods to Iraq without an export licence. It developed a research function, and became an important part of the British anti-war scene. Justice Not Vengeance, which Rai co-founded in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is an anti-war campaigning group dealing with an array of issues around the "war on terror".
Rai has been awarded the Frank Cousins Peace award from the Transport and General Workers' Union
(shared, 1993), and the Peace Award of the Christian peace group Pax Christi
(2007).
He has contributed to books including:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
peace campaigner best known for being arrested on 25 October 2005 next to a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
war memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
, the Cenotaph, for refusing to cease reading aloud the names of civilians by then killed in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in the course of Britain's most recent war, alongside fellow activist Maya Evans
Maya Evans
Maya Evans is a British peace campaigner who was arrested alongside fellow activist Milan Rai in October 2005 opposite the Cenotaph war memorial in London, for refusing to stop reading aloud the names of British soldiers who had been killed in Iraq following the 2003 Iraq war.Evans, a vegan chef...
.
Rai, a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
activist from Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, was convicted under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
The Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed primarily at creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency, it also significantly extended and simplified the powers of arrest of a constable and introduced restrictions on protests in the...
(SOCPA) for organising an illegal demonstration in the vicinity of Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
.
In December 2006, Rai and Evans lost an appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
against their convictions. For refusing to pay a fine of £350 (and £150 court costs), Rai was sent to Wandsworth prison in south London for 14 days on 23 August 2007.
This was his fourth prison sentence. Previous prison sentences (14 days in Pentonville in 1995, seven days in Wormwood Scrubs in 1996, and 28 days in Lewes in 2005) were all imposed for similar anti-war protests.
Also taken into account in his 2007 sentencing was a further fine of £100, imposed for organising and participating in anti-war protests during the "No More Fallujahs" tent city demonstration in Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...
. Rai's fine for these offences was imposed in May 2007 - Maya Evans
Maya Evans
Maya Evans is a British peace campaigner who was arrested alongside fellow activist Milan Rai in October 2005 opposite the Cenotaph war memorial in London, for refusing to stop reading aloud the names of British soldiers who had been killed in Iraq following the 2003 Iraq war.Evans, a vegan chef...
was his co-defendant.
Evans is best known for being the first person to be convicted of participating in an unauthorized demonstration in the vicinity of Parliament under SOCPA. Rai was the first person to be convicted of organizing an unauthorized demonstration in the vicinity of Parliament. Evans and Rai were also, through their May 2007 convictions, the first people to be convicted in the same trial of organizing and participating in unauthorized demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament - at different parts of the same two-day event.
Their appeal against their SOCPA convictions is currently before the European Court of Human Rights (as of February 2009).
As well as being a co-ordinator of anti-war group Justice Not Vengeance, Rai is co-editor with anti-war artist Emily Johns of the London-based monthly magazine Peace News
Peace News
Peace News is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union , and from 1990 to 2004 was co-published with War Resisters' International.-History:Peace News was...
. Their co-editorship began in March 2007. Rai was a Peace News seller while at school, selling copies to peace activist and poet Stephen Hancock, later a co-editor of the magazine.
Milan Rai became politically active in the campaign against Pershing II and Ground-Launched Cruise Missiles - nuclear weapons scheduled to be deployed in Western Europe in the late 1980s.
Rai's primary organizational affiliations have been with the British Ploughshares movement (1988–1993); ARROW (Active Resistance to the Roots of War; 1990–2003); the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
(CND; 1992–1997); Voices in the Wilderness UK (1998–2003) and Justice Not Vengeance (2003–present).
The Ploughshares movement is an international campaign of direct citizen disarmament of nuclear and other military equipment. ARROW was a London-based affinity group which organized mass actions and carried out a wide variety of campaigns, including a weekly vigil (1991–2003) against the economic sanctions - and then the impending war - on Iraq. CND is Europe's largest peace organization, devoted to British unilateral nuclear disarmament. Voices in the Wilderness UK, which Rai founded in 1998, a British arm of Voices in the Wilderness in the US, began life as a campaign of direct action against the economic sanctions on Iraq - breaking unjust laws by carrying children's medicines and other critical civilian goods to Iraq without an export licence. It developed a research function, and became an important part of the British anti-war scene. Justice Not Vengeance, which Rai co-founded in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is an anti-war campaigning group dealing with an array of issues around the "war on terror".
Rai has been awarded the Frank Cousins Peace award from the Transport and General Workers' Union
Transport and General Workers' Union
The Transport and General Workers' Union, also known as the TGWU and the T&G, was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union - with 900,000 members...
(shared, 1993), and the Peace Award of the Christian peace group Pax Christi
Pax Christi
-History:Pax Christi was established in France in 1945 as a reconciliation work between the French and the Germans after the Second World War. In 2007, it existed in more than 60 countries...
(2007).
Books
Rai has authored several books:- Tactical Trident: The Rifkind Doctrine and the Third World, Drava Papers, 1992
- Chomsky's Politics, Verso, 1995
- War Plan Iraq: 10 Reasons Against War with Iraq (includes chapter by Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
), Verso, 2002 - Regime Unchanged: Why the War on Iraq Changed Nothing, Pluto, 2003
- 7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War, Pluto, 2006
He has contributed to books including:
- Iraq: The Human Cost of History, edited by Tareq Y. Ismael & William W. Haddad, Pluto 2003
- Drawing Paradise on the Axis of Evil, Emily Johns, JNV Publications 2007
External links
- Q & A: Milan Rai - Nepal MonitorNepal MonitorNepal Monitor is a national online journal on Nepal and Nepali affairs. It covers a wide variety of topics and aims to "demystify expert knowledge." Originally, it started as Newslookmag.com, considered as the country's first complete online newsmagazine .In 2005, the site was banned in Nepal by...
interview, July 12, 2006. - Parliament protesters lose appeal - BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
News, 20 December 2006. - Peace campaigner fined for Whitehall protest - The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 12 April 2006. - Activist convicted under demo law - BBC News, 7 December 2005.
- Naming The Dead by Maya Evans and Milan Rai.