Where do we stand in the World on Fire? Unprecedented Violence!
Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time- One Hundred and Eighty SEVEN
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091025/jsp/7days/index.jsp News Dalai Lama an 'honoured guest': Singh tells WenPrime Minister Manmohan Singh said he 'explained' India's stand |
| http://www.expressindia.com/ |
| Bengal's decision, says PC | |||||||||
| New Delhi, Oct 24. (PTI): Bengal's swap of tribals to secure the release of an abducted police officer is a decision taken by the state government and only time will tell whether it is right or wrong, home minister P. Chidambaram said today. "They did not seek my advice nor was I required to offer them any advice. They are the best judges of what was required to be done in that situation. They have taken the decision. Whether it is the right one or wrong one only time will tell," he said. On the state government's approach to the problem, he said it had learnt its lesson "very late". "I do not mean this as a criticism but a fact." The minister said the CPM and the CPI (Maoists) thought they were brothers in arms fighting the bourgeois Congress or the Trinamul Congress but now the state government and the ruling party had recognised that the Maoists were their adversary. "They have now woken up to the threat of the CPI (Maoists)."
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091025/jsp/frontpage/story_11655878.jsp
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| Ridiculous, we can't catch Kishanji: CM | ||
| OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | ||
New Delhi, Oct. 24: A rattled but feisty Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today admitted he felt "ridiculous" at the failure to catch Maoist leader Kishanji and publicly ticked off home secretary Ardhendu Sen for his comments on the cop-for-tribals swap. "If the Maoists learn this lesson (that they can get away by kidnapping the police), they are wrong. I will teach them a lesson in the future," the Bengal chief minister said, responding to insinuations that the government had capitulated and set a precedent. On Thursday, the government had secured the release of police officer Atindranath Dutta in exchange for bail to 14 tribal women. "If you think it is surrender, I cannot satisfy you," he said at a news conference here. Bhattacharjee was categorical that the bargain was exceptional and would not be the norm. A source said the chief minister, who also holds the home portfolio, had spoken to Sen. The home secretary was quoted as having said that the government had learnt from the experiences of the release of (then Union home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's daughter) Rubaiya Sayeed and of passengers of an Indian Airlines flight that was hijacked to Kandahar. Sen was quoted as having described India as a "soft state" that could not take as tough a stand against hostage-takers as Israel does. "It is his (Sen's) personal view; it is not our official view," the chief minister said. "Besides, Israel is a separate country. He (Sen) should not have said that. This was an exceptional case." Such public repudiation of a senior bureaucrat is unusual. In January 1987, then foreign secretary A.P. Venkateswaran learnt of his impending sack at a news conference by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Venkateswaran resigned. The chief minister had a long meeting with Union home minister P. Chidambaram, who is planning and coordinating a national offensive against the Maoists, on Friday. Asked if Chidambaram was concerned at the failure to arrest Kishanji who has been speaking to the media several times a day, Bhattacharjee said: "Why, it is my responsibility, too." In other words why, the chief minister was asked, were the authorities not able to track mobile phone signals and trace the Maoist leader's whereabouts. "Not only the Centre, it is my responsibility also," Bhattacharjee replied. "Sometimes I also feel ridiculous (at failing to arrest Kishanji). I am hopeful (that he will be found and caught)." He rejected the insinuation that the government had kowtowed to the Maoists by negotiating Dutta's release. "I am not surrendering. It is not even a climbdown." He said the women who were released had been arrested on minor charges. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091025/jsp/frontpage/story_11655877.jsp |
Car bombs hit Baghdad government, killing 136 ...
Ruling Hegemonies justify the War, ARMAMENT and REPRESSION putting SECURITY, SOVEREIGNITY and Peace at stake. Nationalism and Internal Security being the best logic. At the same time, Insurgencies Multi Dimensional quoting COLORFUL Ideologies on differen Political Spaces and forums do CONTINUE. How far these developments in the world of FREE Market and MNCs, Arms of mass DESTRUCTION, manmade calamities, Nuclear strategies, Chemical Pollution, biological war Fare and Space adventure happen to be relvent to the Black Untouchables, Aboriginal and Indigenous communities subjected to ETHNIC Cleansing, Migration, EXODUS and Holocaust? CIVIL war and Terror strikes, Unprecedented Violence, Autocracy and corporate Imperialism amount for PERSECUTION Infinite and we remain ISOLATED from the Mainstream which is quite DETACHED with heartful APATHY!Market regulator SEBI has directed all stock exchanges and other securities intermediaries to keep a strict watch on UN-listed terror funding entities, including the name underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has asked the securities intermediaries to inform the Union home ministry within 24 hours if they find any client, whose particulars match with those of the entries listed by the United Nations.
Supporting unconditional talks with the Maoists, Booker prize winner and activist Arundhati Roy has alleged that "economic interests" in mineral-rich states have driven the government and establishment to launch action against them.
"My fear is that because of this economic interest the government and establishment actually needs a war. It needs to militarise. For that it needs an enemy. And so in a way what the Muslims were to BJP, the Maoists are to Congress...," Roy said in an interview to a TV news channel.
When asked about the talks between the government and left wing extremists, she said, "There should be unconditional talks with the Maoists.
"If I was a person who is being dispossessed, whose wife has been raped, who is being pushed of their land and who is being faced with this 'police force', I would say that I am justified in taking up arms. If that is the only way I have to defend myself," she said when asked whether armed struggle was justified.
"We should stop thinking about who is justified...You have an army of very poor people being faced down by an army of rich that are corporate-backed. I am sorry but it is like that. So you can't extract morality from the heinous act of violence that each commits against the other," she said.
On the other hand,Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday said that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India and hoped Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao would iron out the contentious border issue.
Addressing a press conference after a party central committee meeting here, Karat in reply to a query on China claiming the northeastern state as its territory, said: "As far as our stand is concerned, Arunachal Pradesh is part of India".
"Now, how do you proceed to solve the long standing dispute. There is a mechanism evolved by both the governments which is being carried forward by successive governments," he told reporters.
He hoped that the talks between Manmohan Singh and Wen in Thailand on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit would help resolve the border issue.
On the Maoists' abduction of a West Bengal police officer and the state government's swap of jailed women in exchange for the cop, Karat tried to sidestep the queries.
He merely said: "Those people who were released were ordinary people and had been mobilised by the Maoists. Our job is to politically isolate the Maoists. We have decided to conduct a vigorous campaign against the Maoists."
He said the situation in Maoist affected Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand is "very serious". "The government should deal with the real problem of the tribal people."
Asked about complaints about irregularities in the voters' list in Kannur constituency, where an assembly by-poll is slated November 7, he said the issue is being examined.
Where do we stand in the World on Fire?Political Boundaries corrupt our vision while, provided if we see the developments and EVENTS Geopolitics wise, we would rather find ourselves BLEEDING, Roasted and headless!Staepower as well HEGEMONIES do justify the VIOLENCE licensed and worldwide media along with the Intelligentsia as well as ELITE Civil societyies which eats the CAKE of Power politics, have nothing to do with have Nots! Nohing to do with Global warming, Pandemics, food Insecurity, purchasing Power, Jobloss, Infinite Migration and displacement. Genetic seeds and Nuclear energy, chemical Corruption have taken over our ROOTS which have dislodged Folk and culture, languages and lifestile. only Plastic Money SURVIVES killing Knowledge, History, iterature and Art, Everything representing the Aboriginal Celebration of Life which symbolises Civilisation and Humanity! India Inc continues to see a double-digit attrition rate, this time of 13.8 per cent -- the highest in Asia Pacific region -- despite Coming to terms with lay-off economic uncertainty, says a survey.
We work on Contact, may be it is KILLING or Poisonous, have converted ourselves in ROBOTICS, Computed Tools and Technology. We Reamin FACE Less, without Identity. And the Crisis is NEVER Local. It is Global problem in the age of globalisation. In a age of FREE market Democracy where Strategic marketing and Escalating market, consumers, brands, shares,plastic money, growth, equities, bonus, surplus, profit, manipulation, corruption, bank acounts, kickbacks,ramps, realty shows, showbiz are the FINAL world and we have no DSTINY to weep for and NO survival Strategy to live on. The TREES hates us, the SYSTEM hates us. The Ecology UNFRIENDLY. Calamities Rule. Pandemics take over. Genocide is CULTURE. Injustice and Inequality Predestined.
We are the SCAPEGOATS of Globalisation worldwide and whoever is killed in encounter has a BLOOD relation amongst us. At every point of time we lose SOME One very dear, dearest!
How May we dare to Celebrate? Though it is FESTIVAL time. It is hyped as RECOVERY and we do STARVE in RISILIENT Economy. We see nothing but Mass Destructions , though Economic reforms target All round Growth and Progress. We find our selves in DEINDUSTRIALISATION while Industrialisation is the HOT Bowl of Land War. We have to fight of water as Big dams have Seized us. We have no space to breathe as MANGROVE Forsts have been DEFORESTED. We are NO Body`s people in No body`s land!
"The top four markets reporting the highest turnover rate are India (13.8 per cent), Australia (11 per cent), New Zealand and China (10.3 per cent)," the report stated.
Turnover rate refers to the ratio of the number of workers that had to be replaced in a given time period to the average number of workers.
"While many would believe the economic uncertainty should help ease pain on high employee voluntary turnover, the Hewitt 2009/2010 Annual Asia Pacific Salary Increase Survey does not reveal the same. The comparatively high turnover rate...raises an alarm to the world," Hewitt Associates Regional Leader Broad-Based Compensation practice Stella Hou said.
The survey stated that 'better external opportunity' was consistently cited as the top reason for employees voluntarily leaving their organisations across all markets.
"This means companies continue to search for talented people even under a tough economic situation... organisations will continue to face a tight talent market," it added.
Other economies in the Asia-Pacific market, including Singapore, Korea and Thailand, are on high single digits in terms of employee turnover rates in the range of 8.8 per cent to 9.3 per cent.
"An organisation's ability to retain talent is a challenge facing all companies. This provides challenges to be more innovative in retaining the top people in their firms with a tighter budget," Hou said.
Companies need to focus on pursuing different talent management strategies suitable for its own workforce, while the most notably the variable pay programme was the most popular incentive adopted by most companies in the region.
"Companies realise that they cannot afford to lose talent. They know 'high performers' will help them lead the firm out of the storm into the winning field. Even for those companies experiencing unprecedented levels of uncertainty and cost reduction pressures, they tend to reward and retain their best talent with special incentives," Hou added.
The Hewitt survey revealed that the challenging talent market also compelled companies to reward talent differently with top performers receiving 50 per cent higher rewards than the average performers.
India and Russia are planning to test-fire the air-launched version of their jointly-developed BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft in December next year.
Work on the air-launched version of the missile is in the final stages and BrahMos scientists are now waiting for the Su-30MKI aircraft from India to act as a platform for test launch of the missile, Defence Ministry sources told PTI .
The air-launched version, they said, will be lighter and smaller than the land-based version of the missile so that it can be fitted to the aircraft.
One of the two speed boosters in the missile has been removed for the air version of the weapon system as after being launched from an aircraft moving at a speed of more than 1.5 mach, the missile will automatically gain its momentum and maintain its speed of 2.8 mach, the sources said.
After being released from the aircraft, the missile will have a free fall of about 150 metres before getting activated and flying to its target.
The range and speed of the missile will remain the same as that of its land and ship-launched versions, they said.
For the integration of the aircraft with the missile, two of IAF Su-30 MKI planes will be used. These aircraft would be the part of the 40 additional Su-30s, for which orders were placed in 2006.
Stressing the importance of the rule of law for ensuring economic growth, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said only states that ensured smooth land acquisition and enforcement have attracted more foreign investment than states that have not.
Addressing the valedictory function of the conference on 'National Consultation for Strengthening the Judiciary Towards Reducing Pendency and Delays' here, Mukherjee said: "Some states, which had ensured smooth law acquisition and enforcement of law have attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) more than other states."
He said foreign investors always weighed the cost of capital and delays in courtroom led to additional cost in investment, which repulsed FDI.
Noting that delays in courtroom had led to corruption, lack of investment and inflation, the minister said the delays were the main reason for judiciary eating up two per cent of the Gross Domestic Product of the country.
"Taking law in our own hand leads to lawlessness and corruption in general," he said.
The Finance Minister said in India, it took 425 days to enforce a contract, thereby placing it at a lowly 173rd position globally on that front.
Mukherjee said the Home Ministry's budgetary allocation was increased by 25 per cent in 2009-10 budget as a result of the increase in the allocation for police and law enforcement agencies.
"This amount could have been spent for development instead," he added.
Washington has encouraged the operation in the northwest because many militants there are believed to shelter al-Qaida leaders and are also suspected to be involved in attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has also kept up its own missile strikes in the lawless tribal belt, including a suspected one that killed 22 Saturday.
The army announced Saturday the capture of Kotkai town — hometown of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and one of his top deputies, Qari Hussain. It also lies along the way to the major militant base of Sararogha, making it a strategically helpful catch.
NASA is 'go' for crucial rocket test!
NASA is set to blastoff a prototype rocket on Tuesday that carries hopes of returning humans to the Moon, and for the first time to Mars, despite deep uncertainty about the program's future.
The space agency said everything is in order for Tuesday's two-minute, 30-second test of the Ares I-X rocket, a first look at the launch vehicle designed to replace NASA's aging space shuttle fleet.
It is "an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I," the space agency said.
Data will be collected from over 700 sensors spread across Ares I-X, providing a stream of information that will be scrutinised for months.
But more rides on the launch than data.
It is the culmination of three years work on Constellation, a human space flight program conceived by former president George W.Bush!
As George Bush himself is all set to become 'motivational' speaker!Former US President George W Bush, whose economic and foreign policies drew flak both at home and abroad, is set to become a highly-paid motivational speaker.
The Republican leader, who left office with the US embroiled in two wars, the worst economic recession in generations and with his approval rating a toxic 22 per cent, will appear tomorrow with success stories in an "introduction to the George W Bush legacy project".
The appearance of Bush as the headline speaker on the popular 'Get Motivated' seminar on 'How to Master the Art of Effective Leadership' has produced guffaws, The Times newspaper reported.
"Only the BEST of the BEST appear on our stage!" declares the Get Motivated website.
That dilemma is complicated by the recent rise of a Pakistani faction of the Taliban that operates in close proximity with al-Qaida — even as al-Qaida has lessened activities with its former Afghan Taliban hosts, according to some administration officials.
U.S. officials face a tough challenge in dissecting the structure and leanings of the militant organizations on both sides of the often indiscernible Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and understanding their murky and evolving ties to al-Qaida.
There was concern at the White House about that wayward Northwest Airlines jet that flew past its scheduled destination in Minneapolis.
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro told The Associated Press on Saturday that senior White House officials were alerted by the White House Situation Room and they closely monitored the incident.
Shapiro didn't say if President Barack Obama was informed about the wayward plane.
Northwest Flight 118 was out of communications with air traffic controllers for over an hour Wednesday night. The plane carrying 144 passengers and five crew members was destined for Minneapolis but overflew the airport by about 150 miles before controllers were able to re-establish contact.
In Islamabad, the army claimed Pakistan's Taliban were in disarray after soldiers captured the hometown of the militants' chief Saturday, a strategic prize as the military pushes deeper into an insurgent stronghold along the Afghan border.
The Taliban militants have carried a string of terrorist strikes in Pakistani cities in response to the operation. A suicide bomber in a car killed a police officer early Sunday on a highway that runs between the capital Islamabad and Lahore.
The 8-day-old air and ground offensive in the South Waziristan tribal region is a key test of nuclear-armed Pakistan's campaign against Islamist militancy. It has already spurred a civilian exodus and deadly retaliatory attacks.
Washington has encouraged the operation in the northwest because many militants there are believed to shelter al-Qaida leaders and are also suspected to be involved in attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has also kept up its own missile strikes in the lawless tribal belt, including a suspected one that killed 22 Saturday.
The army announced Saturday the capture of Kotkai town — hometown of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and one of his top deputies, Qari Hussain. It also lies along the way to the major militant base of Sararogha, making it a strategically helpful catch.
On the other hand, a powerful earthquake struck deep under the sea in eastern Indonesia, causing panic and sending residents running out of their homes, officials and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The earthquake late Saturday night had a magnitude of 7.0, but at a depth of 86 miles was too far below the earth's surface to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
The quake came as Indonesia is still recovering from a devastating earthquake last month that killed more than 1,000 people on western Sumatra.
Meanwhile,a team of U.N. inspectors prepared Sunday for their first look inside a formerly secret — though still unfinished — uranium enrichment facility that has raised Western suspicions about the extent of Iran's nuclear program.
The inspection tour will provide the world's first independent details of the heavily protected site, carved into a mountainside near the holy city of Qom south of Tehran. It also coincides with the countdown to Iran's expected decision on whether to accept a U.N.-brokered plan to process its nuclear fuel abroad.
Iran promised to respond later this week on the proposal, which seeks to ease international worries that Iranian labs could push the uranium enrichment to higher levels for weapons-grade material. Iran claims it only seeks peaceful reactors for research and energy.
Bands crank up volume on Guantanamo debate
Musicians, whose music was used to torture, rally support to close prison
WASHINGTON - A coalition of mega-bands and singers outraged that music — including theirs — was cranked up to help break uncooperative detainees at Guantanamo Bay is joining retired military officers and liberal activists to rally support for President Barack Obama's push to shutter the Navy-run prison for terrorist suspects in Cuba.
Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails are among the musicians who have joined the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, which launched Tuesday.
On behalf of the campaign, the National Security Archive in Washington is filing a Freedom of Information Act request seeking classified records that detail the use of loud music as an interrogation device.
Interrogation tool
Based on documents that already have been made public and interviews with former detainees, the archive says the playlist featured cuts from AC/DC, Britney Spears, the Bee Gees, Marilyn Manson and many other groups. The Meow mix cat food jingle, the Barney theme song and an assortment of Sesame Street tunes also were pumped into detainee cells.
A November 2008 report by the Senate Armed Services Committee into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody makes several references to the use of loud music as an interrogation tool.
Camilla Belle shows her style in Beverly Hills, Tim McGraw performs in New York, Paris Hilton celebrates Hello Kitty and more.
more photos
In one case interrogators played music to "stress" Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a citizen of Mauritania who has been at Guantanamo for more than seven years, because he believed music is forbidden, the report says.
Over a 10-day period in July 2003, Slahi was questioned by an interrogator called "Mr. X" while being "exposed to variable lighting patterns" and repeated playing of a song called "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by the band Drowning Pool, according to the committee's report.
Maj. Diana Haynie, a spokeswoman for Joint Task Force Guantanamo, said loud music has not been used with detainees since the fall of 2003.
Jayne Huckerby, research director at New York University's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, said high-decibel music was also used against detainees at clandestine prisons run by the CIA.
No 'benign security tool'
As part of an earlier FOIA request for information about these "black sites," Huckerby received a top secret CIA document dated December 2005 in which the agency explains that the use of loud music or white noise is needed "to mask sound and prevent communication among detainees."
If decibel levels are kept at 79 or lower — roughly equivalent to a garbage disposal — detainee hearing won't be damaged, the agency said.
Huckerby says that music was not used as a "benign security tool," but as a way "to humiliate, terrify, punish, disorient and deprive detainees of sleep, in violation of international law."
CIA spokesman George Little said the CIA used music only for security, "not for punitive purposes — and at levels far below a live rock band."
Founders launched National Campaign to Close Guantanamo with ads on cable television urging Congress to reject the "failed Bush-Cheney policies."
Obama pledged to close the jail by January, but logistical snags and Republican opposition on Capitol Hill have made fulfilling that promise less likely. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who warns that closing the prison would endanger national security, has fueled the resistance.
A group opposing the closure of the prison, Keep America Safe, said in a statement Tuesday that those held at Guantanamo are dedicated to killing Americans.
Car bombs hit Baghdad government, killing 136
Explosions come as Iraq prepares for elections scheduled for January
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two suicide car bombs exploded in downtown Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 136 people and delivering a powerful blow to the heart of the fragile city's government in the worst attack of the year, officials said.
While violence has dropped dramatically in the country since the height of the sectarian tensions, such bombings like Sunday's demonstrate the precarious nature of the security gains and the insurgency's abilities to still pull off devastating attacks in the center of what is supposed to be one of Baghdad's most secure areas.
Black smoke could be seen billowing from the frantic scene, as emergency service vehicles sped to the area. Even civilian cars were being commandeered to transport the wounded to hospitals.
many wounded, and I saw them being taken away. They were pulling victims out of the rubble, and rushing them to ambulances."
The car bombs, which targeted the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad provincial administration, come as Iraq is preparing for elections scheduled this January, and many Iraqi officials have warned that violence by insurgents intent destabilizing the country could rise.
No claims of responsibility
There have been no claims of responsibility so far, but massive car bombs have been the hallmark of the Sunni insurgents seeking to overthrow the country's Shiite-dominated government.
At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, were killed in the bombing, said council member Mohammed al-Rubaiey.
The area where the blasts occurred is just a few hundred yards from the Green Zone that houses the U.S. Embassy as well as the prime minister's offices. The street where the blasts occurred had just been reopened to vehicle traffic a few months ago, in what was supposed to be a sign that safety was returning to the once devastated city.
The devastating attacks occurred just hours before Iraq's top leadership was scheduled to meet with heads of political parties on Sunday and reach a compromise on the disputed election law ahead of a crucial parliamentary vote in January.
The explosive-laden vehicles were sitting in parking garages next to the two government building, police said.
"They are targeting the government and the political process in the country," Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, spokesman for the city's operations command center, told The Associated Press. He said the blasts were the work of suicide bombers who drove the vehicles into the parking lots, before blowing them up.
The blasts, which surpassed coordinated attacks against two government ministries in August that killed more than 100 people, appeared to be a blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who has staked his reputation and re-election hopes on returning security to the country.
Al-Maliki toured the blast sites later in the day.
Sunday's explosions also injured nearly 600 people who were taken to six area hospitals. Medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, gave the death toll.
Ball of flames
Video images captured on a cell phone showed the second blast going off in a massive ball of flames, followed by a burst of machine gun fire.
"This is a political struggle, the price of which we are paying," said provincial council member al-Rubaiey. "Every politician is responsible and even the government is responsible, as well as security leaders."
Three American security contractors, working for the U.S. embassy in Baghdad were injured in the blasts, but no American embassy personnel were killed, said Philip Frayne, an embassy spokesman. Frayne could not immediately provide details about who the contractors were escorting to the site, which company they worked for or, or the nature of their injuries.
The explosions were just a few hundred yards from Iraq's Foreign Ministry which is still rebuilding after massive bombings there in August. The bombings were a devastating blow for a country that has seen a dramatic drop in violence since the height of the sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007.
Prominent Hindu leaders to gather for Hinduism Summit
The first ever Hinduism Summit (Hindu Dharma Sabha) in the NJ-NY-PA tristate area will be held by the Forum for Hindu Awakening (FHA) and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), with support from noteworthy Hindu and spiritual organizations. The Hinduism Summit will be held on Kartik Shukla Shashthi 5111 (24 October 2009) at the Marathi Vishwa Community Center in NJ, USA.
The Hinduism Summit aims to bring together Hindu leaders across the NJ-NY-PA tristate area to foster education about Hinduism. This Hindu Dharma Sabha follows the success of a recent similar Dharma Sabha in Virginia, USA, held by FHA, and over 100 such Dharma Sabhas held all over India by HJS.
At this Hinduism Summit, renowned Hindu leaders will speak on various topics. These would include understanding the unique spiritual science and scientific history of Hinduism, awakening to the misconceptions about Hinduism, living Hindu concepts in daily life and preserving the sanctity of Hinduism from denigration and distortion.
This ground breaking event will commence and conclude with auspicious recitations from the Vedas and ancient Hindu Scriptures, and will be webcast live from FHA and HJS sites.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: john reed <reed2link@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Subject: Statement from national platform of adivasi and forest
dwellers' mass organisations (Campaign for Survival and Dignity) on
Government offensive
To: foil-l@insaf.net
Statement from national platform of adivasi and forest dwellers' mass
organisations (Campaign for Survival and Dignity) on Government
offensive
Posted by indianvanguard2010 on October 13, 2009
October 12 2009
A Pretext to Impose Brutal Repression: the Government's "Offensive" Is
a Formula for Bloodshed and Injustice
The Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a national platform of adivasi
and forest dwellers' mass organisations (listed below) from ten
States, unequivocally condemns the reported plans for a military
"offensive" by the government in the country's major forest and tribal
areas. This offensive, ostensibly targeted against the CPI (Maoist),
is a smoke screen for an assault against the people, especially
adivasis, aimed at suppressing all dissent, all resistance and
engineering the takeover of their resources. Certain facts make this
clear:
The government tells us that this offensive will make it possible for
the "state to function" in these areas and fill the "vacuum of
governance."
This is grossly misleading. The Indian state is very, very active in
these areas, often in its most brutal and violent form. A vivid
example is the illegal eviction of more than 3,00,000 families by the
Forest Departments a few years ago. Laws have been totally
disregarded; Constitutional protections for adivasi rights blatantly
ignored and their rights over water, forest and land (jal, jangal,
jamin) glaringly violated. Every month an increasing number of people
are jailed, beaten and killed by the police. If this is the picture of
what "absence" of the state means, people are terrified of what the
"presence" of the state will mean. It can only mean converting
brutalized governance into militarized rule, a total negation of
democracy.
This is not a war over "development". People's struggles in India
today are over democracy and dignity
Meaningful development must contribute to strengthening the right of
all people to their resources and their production, and thereby to
control over their own destiny. For generations, adivasis have fought
for their Constitutional rights and entitlements. More recently, mass
democratic movements have fought for new laws and policies, such as
the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), the Forest
Rights Act, the right to work and the right to food, in addition to
earlier laws like the Minimum Wages Act, the Restoration of Alienated
Lands Acts, and land reform and moneylending laws. These laws make it
possible for people to fight for greater control over their lives,
their livelihoods, their lands and their forests. However these laws
are respected more in the breach; if the government wants
"development", let it first stop the blatant disregard of its own
laws. Let people determine the path of their own development, in
accordance with their rights over their resources and the type of
infrastructure they desire. The Constitution itself requires this kind
of planning. The claim that "development" can be provided through
military force is both absurd and ridiculous.
This war is not about "national security"; it is about 'securing' the
interests of global and Indian capital and big business.
Any government worried about security would send its troops against
mining mafias, the forest mafias, violent vigilante groups like the
Salwa Judum and others. Rather than being curbed, these killers are in
fact supported by the police. Have the security forces ever been
deployed to defend the people struggling to protect themselves, their
forests, their livelihoods and their futures? The answer is no. The
notion of "security" being advanced by the government clearly has
nothing to do with the people. Rather, it is to enable big business to
engage in robbery and expropriation of resources, which they have
decided will be one of their main sources of accumulation. Hence,
mining, "infrastructure" , real estate, land grabbing, all aimed at
super-profits, are being projected as "development" needed by the
people. Huge amounts of international and government money are being
pumped into so-called "forestry projects" which displace people from
their lands and destroy biodiversity (even while they are trumpeted as
a strategy for climate change). The UPA is rushing into agreements
with the US and other imperial countries to throw open mining and land
to international exploitation. But where do the forests, land, water
and minerals lie? They are found in the forest and tribal areas, where
people – some organised under the CPI (Maoist), some organized under
democratic movements, some in spontaneous local struggles, some simply
fighting in whatever manner they can – are resisting the destruction
of their homes, resources and their lives. The "offensive against the
Maoists" is only a subterfuge to crush this citizens' resistance and
to provide an excuse for more abuse of power, more brutality and more
injustice.
The government knows perfectly well that it cannot destroy the CPI
(Maoist), or any people's struggle, through military action.
How can the armed forces identify who is a "Maoist" and who is not?
The use of brute military force will result in the slaughter of
thousands of people in prolonged, bloody and brutal guerrilla warfare.
This has been the result of every "security offensive" in India's
history from Kashmir to Nagaland. So why do this? And why now? Unless
the goal has nothing to do with "wiping out the Maoists" and
everything to do with having an excuse for the permanent presence of
lakhs of troops, arms and equipment in these areas. To protect and
serve whom?
Hence the need for fear mongering and hysteria about Maoist
"sympathisers" and their "infiltration" into "civil society."
The government has a very long history of labeling any form of dissent
as "Naxalite" or "Maoist." The Maoists' politics are known; their
positions are public; the only secret aspect of their work is their
personal identities and military tactics. We who work in these areas
do not fear this bogey of "infiltration" in our groups by Maoists, for
the different stands taken by our organizations and theirs are clear,
and in some areas there are open disputes. This scaremongering is just
an excuse to justify a crackdown on all forms of dissent and
democratic protest in these areas, a crushing of all people's
resistance, and the branding of any questioning, any demand for
justice, as "Maoist."
In the final analysis, peace and justice will only come to India's
workers, peasants, adivasis, dalits and other oppressed sections
through the mass democratic struggle of the people. A democratic
struggle requires democratic space. The conversion of a region into a
war zone, by anyone, is unacceptable. In the forest areas in
particular, there is now a need for a new peace, one that can only be
achieved through a genuine democratic dialogue between the political
forces involved. For this to happen, this horrific "offensive" must
first be called off. If the government really wishes to claim that it
is committed to protecting people and their rights, let its actions
comply with the requirements of law, justice and democracy.
Endorsing organisations
Bharat Jan Andolan
National Front for Tribal Self Rule
Jangal Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti (Mah)
Adivasi Mahasabha (Guj)
Adivasi Jangal Janjeevan Andolan (D&NH)
Jangal Jameen Jan Andolan (Raj)
Madhya Pradesh Jangal Jeevan Adhikar Bachao Andolan
Jan Shakti Sanghatan (Chat)
Peoples Alliance for Livelihood Rights
Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha
Orissa Jan Sangharsh Morcha
Campaign for Survival & Dignity (Ori)
Orissa Jan Adhikar Morcha
Adivasi Aikya Vedike (AP)
Campaign for Survival and Dignity – TN
Bharat Jan Andolan (Jhar)
Interview with com. Ganapathi, CPI Maoist General Secretary
Posted by indianvanguard2010 on October 17, 2009
In this interview, taken from the October 17, 2009 issue of Open magazine, Ganapathi, General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist), talks about the party's work in Lalgarh, its response to the government's upcoming military offensive, the political situation in Nepal, the defeat of the LTTE, the contradictory nature of Islamist movements in the world today, and the role of the new chieftain of US imperialism.
Oct 13, '09: Villagers watch as Maoists burn effigies of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh in Dumariya, Gaya district, Bihar , Picture: Out Look
"We Shall Certainly Defeat the Government"
The supreme commander of CPI (Maoist) talks to Open in his first-ever interview.
At first sight, Mupalla Laxman Rao, who is about to turn 60, looks like a school teacher. In fact, he was one in the early 1970s in Andhra Pradesh's Karimnagar district. In 2009, however, the bespectacled, soft-spoken figure is India's Most Wanted Man. He runs one of the world's largest Left insurgencies—a man known in Home Ministry dossiers as Ganapathi; a man whose writ runs large through 15 states.
The supreme commander of CPI (Maoist) is a science graduate and holds a B Ed degree as well. He still conducts classes, but now they are on guerilla warfare for other senior Maoists. He replaced the founder of the People's War Group, Kondapalli Seetharaamiah, as the party's general-secretary in 1991. Ganapathi is known to change his location frequently, and intelligence reports say he has been spotted in cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata and Kochi.
After months of attempts, Ganapathi agreed to give his first-ever interview. Somewhere in the impregnable jungles of Dandakaranya, he spoke to RAHUL PANDITA on issues ranging from the Government's proposed anti-Naxal offensive to Islamist Jihadist movements.
Q Lalgarh has been described as the New Naxalbari by the CPI (Maoist). How has it become so significant for you?
A The Lalgarh mass uprising has, no doubt, raised new hopes among the oppressed people and the entire revolutionary camp in West Bengal. It has great positive impact not only on the people of West Bengal but also on the people all over the country. It has emerged as a new model of mass movement in the country. We had seen similar types of movements earlier in Manipur, directed against Army atrocities and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in Kashmir, in Dandakaranya and to some extent in Orissa, after the Kalinganagar massacre perpetrated by the Naveen Patnaik government.
Then there have been mass movements in Singur and Nandigram but there the role of a section of the ruling classes is also significant. These movements were utilised by the ruling class parties for their own electoral interests. But Lalgarh is a more widespread and more sustained mass political movement that has spurned the leadership of all the parliamentary political parties, thereby rendering them completely irrelevant. The people of Lalgarh had even boycotted the recent Lok Sabha polls, thereby unequivocally demonstrating their anger and frustration with all the reactionary ruling class parties. Lalgarh also has some distinctive features such as a high degree of participation of women, a genuinely democratic character and a wider mobilisation of Adivasis. No wonder, it has become a rallying point for the revolutionary-democratic forces in West Bengal.
Q If it is a people's movement, how did Maoists get involved in Lalgarh?
A As far as our party's role is concerned, we have been working in Paschim Midnapur, Bankura and Purulia, in what is popularly known as Jangalmahal since the 1980s. We fought against the local feudal forces, against the exploitation and oppression by the forest officials, contractors, unscrupulous usurers and the goondaism of both the CPM and Trinamool Congress. The ruling CPM, in particular, has become the chief exploiter and oppressor of the Adivasis of the region, and it has unleashed its notorious vigilanté gangs called Harmad Vahini on whoever questions its authority. With the State authority in its hands, and with the aid of the police, it is playing a role worse than that of the cruel landlords in other regions of the country.
Given this background, anyone who dares to fight against oppression and exploitation by the CPM can win the respect and confidence of the people. Since our party has been fighting uncompromisingly against the atrocities of the CPM goons, it naturally gained the confidence and respect of the people of the region.
The police atrocities in the wake of the landmine blast on 2 November [in 2008, from which West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee had a narrow escape] acted as the trigger that brought the pent-up anger of the masses into the open. This assumed the form of a long-drawn mass movement, and our party played the role of a catalyst.
Q But not so long ago, the CPM was your friend. You even took arms and ammunition from it to fight the Trinamool Congress. This has been confirmed by a Politburo member of CPI (Maoist) in certain interviews. And now you are fighting the CPM with the help of the Trinamool. How did a friend turn into a foe and vice-versa?
A This is only partially true. We came to know earlier that some ammunition was taken by our local cadre from the CPM unit in the area. There was, however, no understanding with the leadership of the CPM in this regard. Our approach was to unite all sections of the oppressed masses at the lower levels against the goondaism and oppression of Trinamool goons in the area at that time. And since a section of the oppressed masses were in the fold of the CPM at that time, we fought together with them against Trinamool. Still, taking into consideration the overall situation in West Bengal, it was not a wise step to take arms and ammunition from the CPM even at the local level when the contradiction was basically between two sections of the reactionary ruling classes.
Our central committee discussed this, criticised the comrade responsible for taking such a decision, and directed the concerned comrades to stop this immediately. As regards taking ammunition from the Trinamool Congress, I remember that we had actually purchased it not directly from the Trinamool but from someone who had links with the Trinamool. There will never be any conditions or agreements with those selling us arms. That has been our understanding all along. As regards the said interview by our Politburo member, we will verify what he had actually said.
Q What are your tactics now in Lalgarh after the massive offensive by the Central and state forces?
A First of all, I wish to make it crystal clear that our party will spearhead and stand firmly by the side of the people of Lalgarh and entire Jangalmahal, and draw up tactics in accordance with the people's interests and mandate. We shall spread the struggle against the State everywhere and strive to win over the broad masses to the side of the people's cause. We shall fight the State offensive by mobilising the masses more militantly against the police, Harmad Vahini and CPM goons. The course of the development of the movement, of course, will depend on the level of consciousness and preparedness of the people of the region. The party will take this into consideration while formulating its tactics. The initiative of the masses will be released fully.
Q The Government has termed Lalgarh a 'laboratory' for anti-Naxal operations. Has your party also learnt any lessons from Lalgarh?
A Yes, our party too has a lot to learn from the masses of Lalgarh. Their upsurge was beyond our expectations. In fact, it was the common people, with the assistance of advanced elements influenced by revolutionary politics, who played a crucial role in the formulation of tactics. They formed their own organisation, put forth their charter of demands, worked out various novel forms of struggle, and stood steadfast in the struggle despite the brutal attacks by the police and the social-fascist Harmad gangs. The Lalgarh movement has the support of revolutionary and democratic forces not only in West Bengal but in the entire country. We are appealing to all revolutionary and democratic forces in the country to unite to fight back the fascist offensive by the Buddhadeb government in West Bengal and the UPA Government at the Centre. By building the broadest fighting front, and by adopting appropriate tactics of combining the militant mass political movement with armed resistance of the people and our PLGA (People's Liberation Guerilla Army), we will defeat the massive offensive by the Central-state forces. I cannot say more than this at the present juncture.
Q The Centre has declared an all-out war against Maoists by branding the CPI (Maoist) a terrorist organisation and imposing an all-India ban on the party. How has it affected your party?
A Our party has already been banned in several states of India. By imposing the ban throughout the country, the Government now wants to curb all our open activities in West Bengal and a few other states where legal opportunities exist to some extent. The Government wants to use this draconian UAPA [Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act] to harass whoever dares to raise a voice against fake encounters, rapes and other police atrocities on the people residing in Maoist-dominated regions. Anyone questioning the State's brutalities will now be branded a terrorist.
The real terrorists and biggest threats to the country's security are none other than Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram, Buddhadeb, other ruling class leaders and feudal forces who terrorise the people on a daily basis.
The UPA Government had declared, as soon as it assumed power for the second time, that it would crush the Maoist 'menace' and began pouring in huge funds to the states for this purpose. The immediate reason behind this move is the pressure exerted by the comprador bureaucratic bourgeoisie and the imperialists, particularly US imperialists, who want to plunder the resources of our country without any hindrance. These sharks aspire to swallow the rich abundant mineral and forest wealth in the vast contiguous region stretching from Jangalmahal to north Andhra. This region is the wealthiest as well as the most underdeveloped part of our country. These sharks want to loot the wealth and drive the Adivasi people of the region to further impoverishment.
Another major reason for the current offensive by the ruling classes is the fear of the rapid growth of the Maoist movement and its increasing influence over a significant proportion of the Indian population. The Janatana Sarkars in Dandakaranya and the revolutionary people's committees in Jharkhand, Orissa and parts of some other states have become new models of genuine people's democracy and development. The rulers want to crush these new models of development and genuine democracy, as these are emerging as the real alternative before the people of the country at large.
Q The Home Ministry has made preparations for launching a long-term battle against Maoists. A huge force will be soon trying to wrest away areas from your control. How do you plan to confront this offensive?
A Successive governments in various states and the Centre have been hatching schemes over the years. But they could not achieve any significant success through their cruel offensive in spite of murdering hundreds of our leaders and cadres. Our party and our movement continued to consolidate and expand to new regions. From two or three states, the movement has now spread to over 15 states, giving jitters to the ruling classes. Particularly after the merger of the erstwhile MCCI and People's War in September 2004 [the merger between
these groups led to the formation of the CPI (Maoist)], the UPA Government has unleashed the most cruel all-round offensive against the Maoist movement. Yet our party continued to grow despite suffering some severe losses. In the past three years, in particular, our PLGA has achieved several significant victories.
We have been confronting the continuous offensive of the enemy with the support and active involvement of the masses. We shall confront the new offensive of the enemy by stepping up such heroic resistance and preparing the entire party, PLGA, the various revolutionary parties and organisations and the entire people. Although the enemy may achieve a few successes in the initial phase, we shall certainly overcome and defeat the Government offensive with the active mobilisation of the vast masses and the support of all the revolutionary and democratic forces in the country. No fascist regime or military dictator in history could succeed in suppressing forever the just and democratic struggles of the people through brute force, but were, on the contrary, swept away by the high tide of people's resistance. People, who are the makers of history, will rise up like a tornado under our party's leadership to wipe out the reactionary blood-sucking vampires ruling our country.
Q Why do you think the CPI (Maoist) suffered a serious setback in Andhra Pradesh?
A It was due to several mistakes on our part that we suffered a serious setback in most of Andhra Pradesh by 2006. At the same time, we should also look at the setback from another angle. In any protracted people's war, there will be advances and retreats. If we look at the situation in Andhra Pradesh from this perspective, you will understand that what we did there is a kind of retreat. Confronted with a superior force, we chose to temporarily retreat our forces from some regions of Andhra Pradesh, extend and develop our bases in the surrounding regions and then hit back at the enemy.
Now even though we received a setback, it should be borne in mind that this setback is a temporary one. The objective conditions in which our revolution began in Andhra Pradesh have not undergone any basic change. This very fact continues to serve as the basis for the growth and intensification of our movement. Moreover, we now have a more consolidated mass base, a relatively better-trained people's guerilla army and an all-India party with deep roots among the basic classes who comprise the backbone of our revolution. This is the reason why the reactionary rulers are unable to suppress our revolutionary war, which is now raging in several states in the country.
We had taken appropriate lessons from the setback suffered by our party in Andhra Pradesh and, based on these lessons, drew up tactics in other states. Hence we are able to fight back the cruel all-round offensive of the enemy effectively, inflict significant losses on the enemy, preserve our subjective forces, consolidate our party, develop a people's liberation guerilla army, establish embryonic forms of new democratic people's governments in some pockets, and take the people's war to a higher stage. Hence we have an advantageous situation, overall, for reviving the movement in Andhra Pradesh. Our revolution advances wave-like and periods of ebb yield place to periods of high tide.
Q What are the reasons for the setback suffered by the LTTE in Sri Lanka?
A There is no doubt that the movement for a separate sovereign Tamil Eelam has suffered a severe setback with the defeat and considerable decimation of the LTTE. The Tamil people and the national liberation forces are now leaderless. However, the Tamil people at large continue to cherish nationalist aspirations for a separate Tamil homeland. The conditions that gave rise to the movement for Tamil Eelam, in the first place, prevail to this day. The Sinhala-chauvinist Sri Lankan ruling classes can never change their policy of discrimination against the Tamil nation, its culture, language, etcetera. The jingoistic rallies and celebrations organised by the government and Sinhala chauvinist parties all over Sri Lanka in the wake of Prabhakaran's death and the defeat of the LTTE show the national hatred for Tamils nurtured by Sinhala organisations and the extent to which the minds of ordinary Sinhalese are poisoned with such chauvinist frenzy.
The conspiracy of the Sinhala ruling classes in occupying Tamil territories is similar to that of the Zionist rulers of Israel. The land-starved Sinhala people will now be settled in Tamil areas. The entire demography of the region is going to change. The ground remains fertile for the resurgence of the Tamil liberation struggle.
Even if it takes time, the war for a separate Tamil Eelam is certain to revive, taking lessons from the defeat of the LTTE. By adopting a proletarian outlook and ideology, adopting new tactics and building the broadest united front of all nationalist and democratic forces, it is possible to achieve the liberation of the oppressed Tamil nation [in
Sri Lanka]. Maoist forces have to grow strong enough to provide leadership and give a correct direction and anti-imperialist orientation to this struggle to achieve a sovereign People's Democratic Republic of Tamil Eelam. This alone can achieve the genuine liberation of the Tamil nation in Sri Lanka.
Q Is it true that you received military training from the LTTE initially?
A No. It is not a fact. We had clarified this several times in the past.
Q But, one of your senior commanders has told me that some senior cadre of the erstwhile PWG did receive arms training and other support from the LTTE.
A Let me reiterate, there is no relation at all between our party and the LTTE. We tried several times to establish relations with the LTTE but its leadership was reluctant to have a relationship with Maoists in India. Hence, there is no question of the LTTE giving training to us. In spite of it, we continued our support to the struggle for Tamil Eelam. However, a few persons who had separated from the LTTE came into our contact and we took their help in receiving initial training in the last quarter of the 1980s.
Q Does your party have links with Lashkar-e-Toiba or other Islamic militant groups having links with Pakistan?
A No. Not at all. This is only mischievous, calculated propaganda by the police officials, bureaucrats and leaders of the reactionary political parties to defame us and thereby justify their cruel offensive against the Maoist movement. By propagating the lie that our party has links with groups linked to Pakistan's ISI, the reactionary rulers of our country want to prove that we too are terrorists and gain legitimacy for their brutal terror campaign against Maoists and the people in the areas of armed agrarian struggle. Trying to prove the involvement of a foreign hand in every just and democratic struggle, branding those fighting for the liberation of the oppressed as traitors to the country, is part of the psychological-war of the reactionary rulers.
Q What is your party's stand regarding Islamist jihadist movements?
A Islamic jihadist movements of today are a product of imperialist—particularly US imperialist—aggression, intervention, bullying, exploitation and suppression of the oil-rich Islamic and Arab countries of West Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, etcetera, and the persecution of the entire Muslim religious community. As part of their designs for global hegemony, the imperialists, particularly US imperialists, have encouraged and endorsed every war of brazen aggression and brutal attacks by their surrogate state of Israel.
Our party unequivocally opposes every attack on Arab and Muslim countries and the Muslim community at large in the name of 'war on global terror'. In fact, Muslim religious fundamentalism is encouraged and fostered by imperialists as long as it serves their interests—such as in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, and Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan.
Q But what about attacks perpetrated by the so-called 'Jihadis' on innocent people like it happened on 26/11?
A See, Islamic jihadist movements have two aspects: one is their anti-imperialist aspect, and the other their reactionary aspect in social and cultural matters. Our party supports the struggle of Muslim countries and people against imperialism, while criticising and struggling against the reactionary ideology and social outlook of Muslim fundamentalism. It is only Maoist leadership that can provide correct anti-imperialist orientation and achieve class unity among Muslims as well as people of other religious persuasions. The influence of Muslim fundamentalist ideology and leadership will diminish as communist revolutionaries and other democratic-secular forces increase their ideological influence over the Muslim masses. As communist revolutionaries, we always strive to reduce the influence of the obscurantist reactionary ideology and outlook of the mullahs and maulvis on the Muslim masses, while uniting with all those fighting against the common enemy of the world people—that is, imperialism, particularly American imperialism.
Q How do you look at the changes in US policy after Barack Obama took over from George Bush?
A Firstly, one would be living in a fool's paradise if one imagines that there is going to be any qualitative change in American policy—whether internal or external—after Barack Obama took over from George Bush. In fact, the policies on national security and foreign affairs pursued by Obama over the past eight months have shown the essential continuity with those of his predecessor. The ideological and political justification for these regressive policies at home and aggressive policies abroad is the same trash put forth by the Bush administration—the so-called 'global war on terror', based on outright lies and slander. Worse still, the policies have become even more aggressive under Obama with his planned expansion of the US-led war of aggression in Afghanistan into the territory of Pakistan. The hands of this new killer-in-chief of the pack of imperialist wolves are already stained with the blood of hundreds of women and children who are cruelly murdered in relentless missile attacks from Predator drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And, within the US itself, bail-outs for the tiny corporate elite and attacks on democratic and human rights of US citizens continue without any change.
The oppressed people and nations of the world are now confronting an even more formidable and dangerous enemy in the form of an African-American president of the most powerful military machine and world gendarme. The world people should unite to wage a more relentless, more militant and more consistent struggle against the American marauders led by Barack Obama and pledge to defeat them to usher in a world of peace, stability and genuine democracy.
Q How do you look at the current developments in Nepal?
A As soon as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [CPN(M)] came to power in alliance with the comprador-feudal parties through the parliamentary route in Nepal, we had pointed out the grave danger of imperialist and Indian expansionist intervention in Nepal and how they would leave no stone unturned to overthrow the government led by CPN(M). As long as Prachanda did not defy the directives of the Indian Government, it was allowed to continue, but when it began to go against Indian hegemony, it was immediately pulled down. CPN-UML withdrew support to the Prachanda-led government upon the advice of American imperialists and Indian expansionists. We disagreed with the line of peaceful transition pursued by the UCPN(M) in the name of tactics. We decided to send an open letter to the UCPN(M). It was released in July 2009.
We made our party's stand clear in the letter. We pointed out that the UCPN(M) chose to reform the existing State through an elected constituent assembly and a bourgeois democratic republic instead of adhering to the Marxist-Leninist understanding on the imperative to smash the old State and establish a proletarian State. This would have been the first step towards the goal of achieving socialism through the radical transformation of society and all oppressive class relations. It is indeed a great tragedy that the UCPN(M) has chosen to abandon the path of protracted people's war and pursue a parliamentary path in spite of having de facto power in most of the countryside.
It is heartening to hear that a section of the leadership of the UCPN(M) has begun to struggle against the revisionist positions taken by Comrade Prachanda and others. Given the great revolutionary traditions of the UCPN(M), we hope that the inner-party struggle will repudiate the right opportunist line pursued by its leadership, give up revisionist stands and practices, and apply minds creatively to the concrete conditions of Nepal.
Q Of late, the party has suffered serious losses of party leadership at the central and state level. Besides, it is widely believed that some of the senior-most Maoist leaders, including you, have become quite old and suffer from serious illnesses, which is also cited as one of the reasons for the surrenders. What is the effect of the losses and surrenders on the movement? How are you dealing with problems arising out of old age and illnesses?
A (Smiles…) This type of propaganda is being carried out continuously, particularly by the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) of Andhra Pradesh. It is a part of the psychological war waged by intelligence officials and top police brass aimed at confusing and demoralising supporters of the Maoist movement. It is a fact that some of the party leaders at the central and state level could be described as senior citizens according to criteria used by the government, that is, those who have crossed the threshold of 60 years. You can start calling me too a senior citizen in a few months (smiles). But old age and ill-health have never been a serious problem in our party until now. You can see the 'senior citizens' in our party working for 16-18 hours a day and covering long distances on foot.As for surrenders, it is a big lie to say that old age and ill-health have been a reason for some of the surrenders.
When Lanka Papi Reddy, a former member of our central committee, surrendered in the beginning of last year, the media propagated that more surrenders of our party leaders will follow due to ill-health. The fact is that Papi Reddy surrendered due to his loss of political conviction and his petty-bourgeois false prestige and ego. Hence he was not prepared to face the party after he was demoted by the central committee for his anarchic behaviour with a woman comrade.
Some senior leaders of our party, like comrades Sushil Roy and Narayan Sanyal, had become a nightmare for the ruling classes even when they were in their mid 60s. Hence they were arrested, tortured and imprisoned despite their old age and ill-health. The Government is doing everything possible to prevent them from getting bail. Even if someone in our party is old, he/she continues to serve the revolution by doing whatever work possible. For instance, Comrade Niranjan Bose, who died recently at the age of 92, had been carrying out revolutionary propaganda until his martyrdom. The social fascist rulers were so scared of this nonagenarian Maoist revolutionary that they had even arrested him four years back. Such is the spirit of Maoist revolutionaries—and power of the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism which they hold high. When there are serious illnesses, or physical and mental limitations to perform normal work, such comrades are given suitable work.
Q But what about the arrests and elimination of some of your senior leadership? How do you intend to fill up such losses?
A Well, it is a fact that we lost some senior leaders at the state and central level in the past four or five years. Some leaders were secretly arrested and murdered in the most cowardly manner. Many other and state leaders were arrested and placed behind bars in the recent past in Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Haryana and other states. The loss of leadership will have a grave impact on the party and Indian revolution as a whole. We are reviewing the reasons for the losses regularly and devising ways and means to prevent further losses. By adopting strictly secret methods of functioning and foolproof underground mechanisms, by enhancing our mass base, vigilance and local intelligence, smashing enemy intelligence networks and studying their plans and tactics, we hope to check further losses. At the same time, we are training and developing new revolutionary leadership at all levels to fill up the losses.
Q How do you sum up the present stage of war between your forces and those of the Indian State?
A Our war is in the stage of strategic defence. In some regions, we have an upper hand, while in others the enemy has the upper hand. Overall, our forces have been quite successful in carrying out a series of tactical counter-offensive operations against the enemy in our guerilla zones in the past few years.
It is true that our party has suffered some serious leadership losses, but we are able to inflict serious losses on the enemy too. In fact, in the past three years, the enemy forces suffered more casualties than we did. The enemy has been trying all means at their disposal to weaken, disrupt and crush our party and movement. They have tried covert agents and informers, poured in huge amounts of money to buy off weak elements in the revolutionary camp, and announced a series of rehabilitation packages and other material incentives to lure away people from the revolutionary camp. Thousands of crores of rupees have been sanctioned for police modernisation, training and for raising additional commando forces; for increasing Central forces; for training Central and state forces in counter-insurgency warfare; and for building roads, communication networks and other infrastructure for the rapid movement of their troops in our guerilla zones. The Indian State has set up armed vigilante groups and provided total support to the indescribable atrocities committed by these armed gangs on the people. Psychological warfare against Maoists was taken to unheard of levels.
Nevertheless, we continued to make greater advances, consolidated the party and the revolutionary people's committees at various levels, strengthened the PLGA qualitatively and quantitatively, smashed the enemy's intelligence network in several areas, effectively countered the dirty psychological-war waged by the enemy, and foiled the enemy's all-out attempts to disrupt and smash our movement. The successes we had achieved in several tactical counter-offensive operations carried out across the country in recent days, the militant mass movements in several states, particularly against displacement and other burning issues of the people, initiatives taken by our revolutionary people's governments in various spheres—all these have had a great impact on the people, while demoralising enemy forces. There are reports of desertions and disobedience of orders by the jawans posted in Maoist-dominated areas. Quite a few have refused to undertake training in jungle warfare or take postings in our areas, and had to face suspension. This trend will grow with the further advance of our people's war. Overall, our party's influence has grown stronger and it has now come to be recognised as the only genuine alternative before the people.
Q How long will this stage of strategic defence last, with the Centre ready to go for the jugular?
A The present stage of strategic defence will last for some more time. It is difficult to predict how long it will take to pass this stage and go to the stage of strategic equilibrium or strategic stalemate. It depends on the transformation of our guerilla zones into base areas, creation of more guerilla zones and red resistance areas across the country, the development of our PLGA. With the ever-intensifying crisis in all spheres due to the anti-people policies of pro-imperialist, pro-feudal governments, the growing frustration and anger of the masses resulting from the most rapacious policies of loot and plunder pursued by the reactionary ruling classes, we are confident that the vast masses of the country will join the ranks of revolutionaries and take the Indian revolution to the next stage.
PROTEST AGAINST THE INDIAN STATE'S
DECLARATION OF WAR AGIANST IT'S POOREST!
SOLIDARITY WITH THE OPPRESSED TRIBALS' STRUGGLE LED BY THE MAOISTS.
Speaker: G N Saibaba
General Secretary
Revolutionary democratic Front
India
`Reminiscences of the early days
of the Naxalite Movement'
Speaker: Dr Radha d'Souza
Reader in Law, University of Westminster
London.
Friday 27th November 7pm
Merchmont Community Hall
62 Marchmont Street London.
WC1N 1AB, near Russell Square Station
Organised by:
CO-ORDINATION COMMITTEE OF REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNISTS OF BRITAIN
(c/o BM Box 2978, London WC1N 3XX)
Supported by:
George Jackson Socialist League Britain - South Asia Solidarity Forum
World People's Resistance Movement - Britain International League of People's Struggles
Indian Workers Association (GB)
Dear All Friends
Greetings from CDR
You will be happy to know that Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR) Jaipur is
organizing first ever one day *Public Dialogue* *(Dalit Darbar)* on Dalits
land and livelihood rights at Jaipur on *25th October, 2009 (Sunday) about
10:30 at Samarga Seva Sangh, Tonk Road, Durgapura, Jaipur*, in which social
activists working on land livelihood rights across Rajasthan and adjoining
states will participate. In this Public Dialogue some selected survivors
will speak about the grave violations of will commence at 10 am sharp on
20.10.their vital rights before the panel consisting of very eminent public
figures. In this dialogue Justice K Ramaswamy, Former Justice Supreme Court
of India, Justice I S Israni Former Judge Rajasthan High Court, Mr. K B
Saxena Former IAS,Ms. Aruna Roy, Ms. Annie Raja, Ms. Harsha Kumari Singh
NDTV have kindly agreed to become a part of the panel. The cases of gave
violations of agriculture and housing land rights of Dalits, denial of equal
opportunity in NREGA will be prominently highlighted in this first ever
unique event in the presence of distinguish panelists of high repute and
eminence in the field of the human rights.**
It would also be pertinent to note that because of faulty and tardy
implementations of ceiling laws and land reforms in Rajasthan, there is wide
gap of inequality of land holdings and 80% rural Dalits are land less and
their even their small pieces of agriculture land are illegally grabbed by
dominant communities despite very stringent laws. Our survey also revealed
that more than 60% of atrocity cases against Dalits are directly or
indirectly related to land disputes than and they are forced to migrate to
other places to earn livelihood. This is very important issue and need to be
highlighted to impress upon the State to give top priority to solve this
problems.
We therefore, earnestly invite you and your organization to participate in
this important event honour for participating in this Public Dialogue as
guest observer and your mere presence will instill sense of confidence and
strength in the minds of Dalits of Rajasthan to pursue vigorously this land
rights movement in Rajasthan. We hope you will accede to our request. We
solicit your valuable suggestions and guidance in this matter.
CDR has very limited resources as such requested kindly bear your travel
expenses. However, food and stay arrangement will provide you on your
confirmation of your participation.
Eagerly awaiting your confirmation.
(P L Mimroth) (R K Ankodia)
(Satish Kumar)
935131 7611 98286 27537
94140 59848
(Toshita Verma) (Gopal Ram Verma)
(Chanda Lal Bairwa)
99833 46330 99833 46328
99822 46315
--
P L Mimroth
Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR)
C- 56, First Floor, Siwar Area, Bapu Nagar
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Telefax: +91 141 2703736
Email: cdrjaipur@gmail.com, rajasthancdr@yahoo.com
website: www.cdrjaipur.org
An open letter to all print and electronic media in portraying Maoist revolutionaries as Terrorists and NAXAL'S India's Taliban?
All sorts of criminal activities including murders and rapes which occur, including many carried out by fascist gangs organized by the big landlords, or even by the "security forces" themselves, are falsely blamed on the CPI(Maoist). One recent case in point is the Amousi Massacre
1.The Amousi Massacre — On or about Sept. 29, 2009, a criminal gang killed 16 people, including 5 children, in the village of Amousi (or Amausi, or Icharwa-Amousi) in Bihar's Khagaria District. This massacre was immediately blamed on the "Maoists" by the government and media. The articles below include just a few of the barrage of false accusations, and then a few articles with grudging admissions that later appeared which showed that the whole attribution of the crime to the CPI(Maoist) was a complete fabrication. Of course these eventual admissions received far less publicity than the initial lies, and moreover they also include new unsupported or false accusations!
"India Must Check Maoist Menace", an editorial from the Gulf News, Oct. 2, 2009.
"Maoist Rebels Kill 16 Villagers in Eastern India", AFP, Oct. 2, 2009.
"Land Row Sparks Maoist Carnage in Bihar", Hindustan Times, Oct. 2, 2009.
"Doesn't Look Like Our Op, Says Top Maoist", The Times of India, Oct. 4, 2009.
Police Now Admit that Bihar Killers were Criminals, Not Maoists, Hindustan Times, Oct. 4, 2009.
"Carnage is Work of Goons, says Naxalite", The Times of India, Oct. 6, 2009.
2.General Articles on Disinformation About the Indian Revolution and the Maoists
"PC [P. Chidambaram] Becomes the Flaming Arrowhead [against the Maoists], The Telegraph Oct. 11, 2009. This article speaks openly about the orchestration of a "gathering storm" of propaganda and psychological warfare in preparation for the launching of the military war against the Maoists.
This blame game propaganda & psychological warfare tactics against the Maoists by the government and the police were there on earlier occasions too whenever a Maoist leader was arrested are killed in 'encounters' as claimed by the police. The arrest of Kobad Gandhy came to light only after three days on 21st September in print media. Then on it was the job of print & electronic media to drum-beat police version. After my arrest on 19th December 2007, Sessions court while dismissing my bail petition parroted the police version ….. if the confession of the petitioner as borne out by the case diary files was anything to go by, he was a life convict for having murdered his wife. This was drum-beated by the print & electronic media. The Hindu (India's National newspaper) dated 8th January,2008. (My wife is very well alive in Hyderabad)
From the beginning of the first week of October 2009 this blame game propaganda & psychological warfare tactics against the Maoists by the government and the police were further intensified after the alleged beheading of a police officer Francis Induwar in the print & electronic media by portraying NAXAL'S India's Taliban?
Dear pressmen & TV channel hoisters,
Aam aadhmi janthe hein ki "dho rupye ki moongpali bejkhar jeenewalon kho be ye khaki vardhiwale nahin chodthein, unse be dhus rupye lethein. Ye khakiardhiwale aam janata ke surakaksha ke liye nahin, balki hume thung karnewale hein".
General public knows very well that these men in khaki never leave even the people who make their livelihood by selling two rupees worth ground nut, take Rs 10/= from them too. They are not for our security; their only job was to harass the people.
You must ask yourself; or else conduct a survey on how many were able to digest your news and how many Indians are fond of policemen? From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, every Indian deeply mistrusts the average policeman. The average cop is corrupt. He is obese. He is insane with power…. In the eyes of the tribals who are fighting for their livelihood the police are nothing but terrorist in khaki; if one of them gets beheaded, they think it's no big deal. Such logic does not equate the Maoists with the Taliban as both their aims and ideologies differ. How can a Prime Minister of a 'democratic' country say while dealing with Maoists there may be human rights violation? By such saying does he want the peoples' approval for the misdeeds of police? He knows very well that he won't able to tame the lawlessness of the police. One won't find a single Naxalite or a Maoist if the lawlessness of the Indian Police are tamed and made to serve the people honestly.
After the brutal torture and killing many a revolutionary leaders and cadres by capturing them from somewhere and killing them elsewhere in fake encounters and after a series of legal struggles by human rights activists the full bench of The AP High Court in its historic judgment made it mandatory for the police to file an FIR and register a case under Sec 302 of the IPC on every encounters by the police. It is for the police to prove in the court of law that they fired in self defense. Instead of the AP State government, The Police Officer's Association filed an appeal and stayed the operation of the judgment. In May 2009 Patel Sudhakar Reddy CCM of CPI (Maoists) was picked up from Nashik brutally tortured and killed in Warangal 800 KMs away in fake encounter. Human Rights activists probing fake encounters and police excesses were branded as Maoists with human rights mask. Many a human rights activists to name a few Dr. Ramanatam, Dr. Narayan, Purushottam. Azam Ali, Kalra, Parag Kumar Dass were murdered by the mercenary gangs of the state. Belly Lalitha a cultural activist's body was found in 17 pieces.
Justice AN Mulla has correctly said, "There is not a single lawless group in the whole of the country whose record of crimes comes anywhere near the record of that organized unit which is known as the Indian Police".
CPI (Maoist) party is the only party in Indian history that owned the responsibility of any of its acts and if any mistakes are committed by the party it apologized to the public. Before getting the version of the party on the incident, print & electronic media started portraying NAXAL'S India's Taliban?
In India more than 50% of the print and electronic media are owned either directly or indirectly by political parties. Another 40% are pressurized to toe the lines of the government in power. The remaining 10% who does a true and fair reporting faces the wrath of the government in power. Sakshi TV chaneel owned by YS Rajasekhara Reddy's son continued to mislead public by saying YSR's copter landed safely at Kurnool and the CM is safe till the evening. The other TV channels have no other option other than to follow. He owns a newspaper too in the name of Sakshi. Even Madhavan Nair's satellite was unable to track the debris of the copter.
The CPI (Maoists) has abducted many a policemen on earlier occasions and set them free un-harmed. It was during the period of blame game, propaganda & psychological warfare tactics against the Maoists by the government and the police the news regarding the alleged beheading of the police officer Francis Induwar broke out. The Maoist party to the alleged beheading of the police officer has not come out with its official version of the incident. There were conflicting reports both in print and electronic media regarding the demands put forth by Maoists for the release of abducted police officer. Home Minister P.Chidambaram saying that no demands were put forth by the Maoists. Jharkhand government (President's rule) rejecting the demands of the Maoists. Some media reported that the killing was done before putting forth the demands. Police officer Induwar's wife has gone on record by saying the government did not care for her husband's life for six days after the abduction. She further added that they searched AP Chief Minister's body within 24 hours. There were no communication between the Maoists and the government. The Maoists too learnt lessons from the arrest of Chatradar Mahato being arrested by policemen posing as journalists. Unlike the government they don't have prisons to hold the captives.
Like Francis Induwar many of those thousands of Sikhs burnt alive by Congress barbarians with tyres around their neck have wife and children. Many of those thousands of Muslims burnt alive by Modi's goons have wife and children. There are many untold stories of police atrocities. People of this country are aware of the misdeeds of politicians and the police. People of this country can not and won't digest your print & electronic media portraying Maoists as terrorists or NAXAL'S India's Taliban? As more and more people are being pushed towards Maoist politics due to failed democratic process and police repression all these 62 years of so-called Independence the anger expressed by Francis Induwar's son on the print and electronic media that he will join police and fight Maoists has no effect on general public. I too have three boys like Francis Induwar. If you approach my three children and reveal the story published in Mathrubhumi weekly dated 3rd February 2008 & Madhyamam weekly dated 10th March 2008 and if they come to know how their mother was brutally tortured in police custody they too like Francis Induwar's son say, We will leave our lurative jobs and join Maoists and kill hundreds of police officers". Will you air their anger and expressions in the print and against the politicians and the police.
The Maoists have not landed from some other planets or country to destroy India. They are part and parcel of Indian blood.
The arrest of comrade Kobad Ghandy is being touted as a big success of the Intelligence officials and media portraying him as terrorist. 3,000 years back Gautam Buddha left the kingly pleasures and said, Desire is the cause of all sufferings. Desire should be abolished". 150 years back Karl Marx came out with his scientific theory, "Private property is the cause of all sufferings. Private property should be abolished". For the people of this country Kobad Gandhy is a Buddha of modern age. He hails from a rich, elitist background. Interestingly was the class mate of Sanjay Gandhi at Doon school. Both the Gandhis went to London. One joined in Rolse Royse as apprentice. The other Gandhy at Oxford University. Both Gandhis returned to India. One Gandhy left his heavenly pleasures from a giant sea facing house in Worli, joined revolutionary politics and worked among the poorest of the poor (dalits & adivasis). The other Gandhi entered the daughters bedrooms of Army, Navy and Air Force Officers. This Gandhi entered the Doordarshan Kendra on 25th June 1975 with a video cassette of the film Bobby and asked the Director to broadcast Bobby canceling the scheduled programmes to prevent the people from attending JP's meeting. This Gandhi ordered PS Bhinder Police Commisioner to bulldoze Turkman Gate residents. This Gandhi under his five point programme forcible sterilization targeting Muslim population. The other Gandhy (Kobad) married Anuradha (An M Phil Sociologist) both leaving their heavenly life and worked among the poorest of the poor, dalits and adivais for their up-liftment. People close to him know that Anuradha wanted a child. But it was Kobad who was against this saying having a child will be an hindrance to revolutionary work. It was this Gandhi being portrayed as a big terrorist.
People's March thanks Shoma Chaudhury of 'Tehelka' for the cover story "Weapons of Mass Destruction" dated 3rd October, 2009 in giving a diplomatic bashing for the 'Times Now' TV anchor Arnab Goswami for his aggressive rhetoric against the Maoists and for the report.
People's March thanks Aditya Sinha Editer-in-chief of 'The New Indian Express' for editorial "Cowboy and Red Indians" dated 10th October, 2009.
Dear journalists from print and electronic media,
"They can pluck and destroy all the flowers. They can't hold back the spring".
So carries my humble appeal to the print and electronic media not to succumb to pressures of the corrupt government and the police officers.
P.Govindan kutty
Editor, People's March 18th October 2009
2
Know the Real Truth about Margao, Goa Blasts
The Main Link of Real Story is : www.hindujagruti.org/news/8089.html
O Hindus, issue of Margao, Goa Blast and joining its relation with Pro-Hindu Organisation like Sanatan Sanstha is nothing but the conspiracy of Congress! Hindus should forward this mail to our friends, relatives, colleagues and each and every Hindu we know! Anti-Hindu Media is also partially broadcasting news defaming Sanatan!
Read Here: People will answer conspiracy of Congress to defame Sanatan ! – Abhay Vartak, Spokesperson, Sanatan Sanstha
The language of banning Sanatan is immature and a laughing matter !
Sanatan will challenge in the Court against unlawful stand of Government!
Goa's Congress Government is opposing Sanatan due to its work of uniting Hindus !
Who is going to compensate the loss to Sanatan due to this defamation?
Read Here: Goa Home Minister should not probe Margao Blast with Political gesture! - Sanatan Sanstha
We will lodge complaint against terror of Investigation Agencies!
It is injustice to have nationwide enquiry of seekers of Sanatan !
There is no need to impose Labour Law for seekers in Ashram !
Sanatan publishes information of Police enquiries so that everyone should know atrocities on Sanatan by Congress Government !
Creating awareness is essential to remove malpractice in Hindu Dharma !
Read Here: Farce of Congress based police investigations cannot end God blessed 'Sanatan'!
"Call the Dog mad and kill him" is the policy of Congress Government regarding Sanatan in Margao blasts!
Sanatan is not guilty, we are the complainants! We want justice!
Nishad Bakle has no connection with Sanatan Sanstha!
When the police investigations are in the preliminary stage it is totally wrong to connect Margao blasts with Malegaon bomb blasts!
No objectionable material found from Sanatan Ashram !
Shantaram Naik's demand of closing Sanatan Ashram is only hatred of Sanatan !
Home Minister blames Sanatan in order to hide failure in search for Idol breakers
There is no witness-report (panchanama) of material taken into Police custody !
Margao Blast News Updates
Goa Blast:- 'People will answer conspiracy of Congress to defame Sanatan !' : Sanatan Sanstha (20 Oct 09)
Goa Home Minister should not probe Margao Blast with Political gesture! : Sanatan Sanstha (20 Oct 09)
There is no evidence of involvement of Sanatan Sanstha in Goa Blast : Goa Dy. Police Commissioner (20 Oct 09)
Farce of Congress based police investigations cannot end God blessed 'Sanatan' ! (19 Oct 09)
The bomb blast at Margao and the bias of the News Media! (19 Oct 09)
It is not correct to accuse Sanatan Sanstha before the investigations are complete! – Mr. Manohar Parrirkar (19 Oct 09)
Police register crime against Mr. Yogesh Naik (19 Oct 09)
Investigation of Ramnathi Ashram by Goa DGP (19 Oct 09)
Inspection of Sanatan Sanstha's Printing Press at Nesai (19 Oct 09)
Sanatan's Seeker dies in the Margao blast triggered by unknown miscreants ! (18 Oct 09)
Sanatan Sanstha assures of complete co-operation in the investigation! (18 Oct 09)
Police enquiry at Sanatan's Ramathi Ashram, Goa! (18 Oct 09)
Sanatan is behind Goa blasts ! – alleges Ravi Naik (18 Oct 09)
Futile Attempts to connect Margao blast with Malegoan blast ! (18 Oct 09)
Police raid Sanatan's Miraj Ashram in midnight (18 Oct 09)
To know the further updates about the Truth of Margao Blast News, Please visit:
www.hindujagruti.org/news/8089.html
Dalits Media WatchExclusive
Front Line
A land battle
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20091106262203600.htm
R. KRISHNAKUMAR
A 795-day agitation by landless families, mostly Dalit, is called off after the State government announces a settlement package.
FOR a long time, Kerala watched uneasily the twists and turns of an agitation demanding land for livelihood by hundreds of marginalised people, the majority of them Dalits, who encroached on a rubber estate near Chengara in Pathanamthitta district on August 4, 2007, and have been living there ever since. The encroached land was part of a plantation held on long lease for decades by Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, now owned by one of India's largest industrial groups, RPG Enterprises. The agitation was spearheaded by the Sadhujana Vimochana Samyukta Vedi (SVSV), a relatively new outfit, led mainly by a hitherto unknown champion, Laha Gopalan, a former government employee and a self-proclaimed Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker.
Though it ran for 795 days on the demand for five acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare) of cultivable land for every participant family, the struggle ended abruptly on October 6, with clear signs of divisions in the leadership and the ranks of the agitators. Gopalan told Frontline that he was being forced to stop the agitation "temporarily" and accept an unsatisfactory resolution package "drawn out jointly by the government and the Opposition against the interests of Dalits" and "under threat of violent reprisals from CPI(M) cadre" if he did otherwise.
The SVSV came into being as an organisation mostly of Dalits and Dalit Christian labourers and agricultural workers (and a minority of tribal and other marginalised people) and sustained its struggle all this while without much patronage from mainstream political parties and social organisations in Kerala. For several months, hundreds of agitators, including about 200 children, braved the rains, virulent outbreaks of communicable diseases, slander campaigns and opposition from the plantation workers belonging to almost all trade unions who had lost their jobs because of the struggle.
HUNGER AND ISOLATION
At times the agitators were forced into hunger and isolation within the estate because of blockades of the road by the workers. At one juncture, with the Kerala High Court too ordering their "eviction without bloodshed", many of the agitators seemed even ready to commit suicide by hanging themselves from the rubber trees or by immolating themselves with kerosene they had stored in cans.
As months passed with the agitators sticking to their demand and the High Court ordering their eviction, there were signs of division in the ranks of the agitators, allegations of nepotism and corruption against its leaders, and reports of steady infiltration of extremist elements and ideology into the struggle.
A few weeks before Gopalan announced that he was "reluctantly ending the Chengara struggle", three young motorcycle riders, allegedly members of a new Dalit organisation, hacked to death a 60-year-old man who was out on his morning walk at Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram district. They also tried to kill another person, a tea shop owner, in the neighbourhood. Several members of the three-year-old Dalit Human Rights Movement were arrested immediately, and the police said the group had plans to conduct eight such murders in the State, to shock and awe Kerala and perhaps draw attention to its demands that were yet to be fully articulated.
LAND REFORMS AND CASTE
But it was clear from the beginning that the Chengara agitation, if left unsolved, would become a cause for embarrassment for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala. After all, the State had initiated a wide-ranging land reform process right from the day the first Communist Ministry took office in 1957.
The choice of a plantation to launch the struggle turned out to be quite symbolic as it highlighted the reality in Kerala of large tracts of land still remaining in the hands of landlords, while a substantial section of the downtrodden went without even a piece of land to make a living, a legacy of the incomplete land reform process.
As is well known, the original land reform process launched by the first Communist Ministry underwent much dilution after the Congress government at the Centre dismissed the Ministry and replaced it with less committed coalition governments. By the early 1970s, when the reform process finally ended, it had been reduced to the distribution of "surplus" agricultural land. Forests and plantations were excluded from its purview as they were treated as industries (in the context of the relationship between the plantation owners and workers).
Certainly, when looked at in the contemporary social context, the changes the reforms brought about in Kerala society were revolutionary, breaking as they did the stranglehold of the upper-caste janmi landlords by abolishing statutory landlordism and imposing a ceiling on household landholdings. It made about 28 lakh tenants owners of their own land and gave about 5.8 rural poor ownership rights to their homestead land (kudikidappu), raising the bargaining power and wages of agricultural workers. The progress that Kerala made in the late 1970s and 1980s in the areas of education and health care was a result of this reform process.
However, it is also true that the part of the reform process that dealt with the identification of land held above the ceiling and its redistribution was a failure. Though the land ceiling laws were expected to create large extents of surplus land, most landlords circumvented the legal requirement through bogus transfers, gift deeds, and so on.
Successive coalition governments representing powerful landed groups made several dilutions in the original law. The result was that many of the landowners managed to retain much of the "surplus", and a major part of the land that was eventually redistributed went to the traditional intermediate smallholder stratum of Kerala society. "Today mainstream society often forgets that it was on the land ownership system that the caste system was thriving in its most obnoxious form in Kerala. We fail to realise the reality of caste in the land reform process. The families of the rural poor who actually worked on the land were only given small plots of homestead land [10 cents, or one-tenth of an acre; five cents; or three cents depending on whether they lived in a village, town or city] after the land reforms – and all of them belonged to Dalit castes. They never became owners of cultivable land and are facing the worst hardship, with no means of a dignified livelihood," said Sreeraman Koyyon, vice-chairman of the Chengara Solidarity Forum.
"Two or three generations down the line, how do Dalit families, with their children now married and with families of their own, live together in these small strips of land? By the 1980s we were being largely herded into 'Harijan colonies' and community homes built under the One-Lakh Housing Scheme. Crores of rupees set apart for us by the Central and State governments is again used to buy small plots of homestead land, build low-cost houses or toilets for us. Will any of these measures help Dalit families overcome the poverty and hardship that they face every day? That is why we demanded five acres for each participant family, for cultivation as a means of livelihood and to lead a dignified life," Gopalan told Frontline soon after announcing the end of the Chengara agitation.
SETTLEMENT PACKAGE
In the settlement package announced by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, the government promised 50 cents each to 832 participant Dalit families, one acre each for 27 tribal families (as it was promised to the Scheduled Tribes in other parts of the State) and 25 cents each to the landless others. In all, land and housing assistance were offered to 1,432 participant families whose applications were in the official records. The government was also to provide housing assistance to the landless as well as to those families that had only less than five cents of land.
At a joint press conference following the announcement of the package in the presence of Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy (who played a key role in formulating the settlement), the Chief Minister said it was difficult to find the necessary land in Kerala even to implement the package that was being offered and there was no way the government could fulfil the SVSV's demand for more.
Gopalan said that his organisation was accepting the "leftover" offer under protest, convinced that this was the best that Dalits could expect from both the ruling and Opposition coalitions. He, however, said the agitators would leave Chengara only after the land promised by the government was actually allotted to them.
Some other leaders claimed that the package was a sell-out and that it kept a large number of families that were part of the struggle outside the list of beneficiaries.
Sreeraman told Frontline: "Dalits in Kerala are going to lose a lot because of the Chengara package. We are all disappointed. There is a clear scaling down of the extent of land that the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes can claim from now on. Dalits were demanding one acre; the package says they are eligible for 50 cents. Not long ago Adivasis were promised up to five acres, but the government now says they will get only one acre."
(Hardly six years have passed since Kerala saw the five-decade-old dream of another group of landless and marginalised people in the State turning sour with the police action against tribal encroachers at the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary in Wayanad district.)
Chengara is yet another indication of the restlessness that is building up in the lower strata of Kerala society, which is sought to be articulated pointedly under a caste (rather than class) identity, and disturbingly, at times, with extremist overtones. There is need for caution because at its root is the issue of land, a primary resource, or rather the lack of it – a serious and complex problem in a shoestring-shaped State where the land-people ratio is one of the highest in the country. •
Front Line
'Land shortage is a serious issue'http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20091106262203800.htm
R. KRISHNAKUMAR
Interview with A.K. Balan, Minister for the Welfare of Backward and Scheduled Communities and Electricity.
AFTER the Kerala government announced a settlement package for the landless people agitating in Chengara, Frontline met A.K. Balan, the Minister for Welfare of Backward and Scheduled Communities and Electricity. Excerpts from the interview:
What is the government's approach to the struggles by the landless poor which are increasing in frequency in Kerala? The truth is that the government does not have land for distribution. That is the limitation. But we consider it our responsibility to somehow find the land for providing at least a homestead plot and a house to all landless people in the State. We are doing a lot for the welfare of the downtrodden, and people are well aware of it. But non-availability of land is a serious issue, and Kerala society has to address this problem jointly with a sense of urgency. The government alone cannot solve it; the judiciary and the executive too need to play their part. For example, 342 cases involving 13,000 acres of surplus land set apart for redistribution to Dalits by the [land] tribunals have been pending in appeal before the Kerala High Court for over 25 years. The cases have dragged on for so long that it is becoming more and more difficult for the government to reclaim them for the landless people. Similarly, 1,436 cases are pending before the tribunals.
On the very day the Chengara agitation was withdrawn, its leaders gave a call for another agitation. The intention of a section of people is to use this issue to try and destroy the LDF and the CPI(M) practically and ideologically. But the people of Kerala know very well that within our limitations we are committed to the cause of the downtrodden and that we have done a lot for this section of society. Now they are trying to position Dalits against the party and to provoke the government into launching a police action against them. They cannot otherwise succeed in their efforts. So they are engineering isolated incidents. The murder at Varkala, for example. A murder needs a motive. It should have a purpose. But when those arrested were questioned, they told the police that they did not have a specific purpose and that it was meant 'to attract attention, to create anarchy'.
'Anarchy' is not a common word. It is a product of an ideology. There may be countries where it will have some relevance. But in Kerala or in Indian society, killing innocent people and creating anarchy to attract people's attention has been proved ineffective. It has been proved in the context of the naxalite movement in the State that people will not accept such an ideology.
But still, products of that ideology continue to operate in the State. They know that the Left government may not try to use repressive measures against them. Taking advantage of this, they are trying to sow the seeds [of anarchy] among the downtrodden sections. But the government will not let that happen. If that happens, the Dalit community will get isolated from the rest of Kerala society and no one will be able to address any of the problems of that community any longer. Because the problems of these downtrodden people cannot be solved in isolation. They can be solved only if they are seen as the common problem of society in general. That can only be done through the ideology of the working class people and their party.
But increasingly there is an emphasis on caste identity in the agitations that are going on... If you think that only a Dalit organisation can solve Dalit issues, you must look at Bihar, which gave birth to so many Dalit organisations. Has that State been able to achieve anything like the land reforms that were implemented in Kerala? It is part of a big conspiracy, a product of a politically motivated ideology, to form such organisations, to inject extremist ideas into them, to make them Dalit murderers and to earn for them the enmity of an entire society and then to make them tell themselves, 'we are isolated, only our own organisation can save us'. We are now seeing such trends in many parts of India.
Does the government feel that the problem is spreading in Kerala? Is there any evidence of infiltration of such elements into Dalit colonies and Adivasi hamlets in the State? That is what it seems. In the context of the Varkala incident, we have realised that in some pockets it has spread very wide and deep. They had planned to conduct eight murders. To kill eight innocent people! To kill you as you walk along the road and to create terror. Is it not the same as what we saw in Wayanad years earlier as part of the revolution led by [naxalite leaders] Varghese and K. Ajitha? We cannot... the Dalit community will never benefit from such actions. At the same time, there are many livelihood issues, which need to be addressed and which Kerala society needs to take up urgently.
So what you mean is that the demands are justified, but their methods are wrong? The demands are justified as far as they refer to the demand for land by the landless. We will not oppose such a demand.
Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
Dalits Media Watch
News Update 23.10.09Two minor girls raped in Muzaffarnagar - Zee News
http://www.zeenews.com/news572869.htmlSC upholds life penalty for 17 for caste carnage - PTI
http://www.ptinews.com/news/343276_SC-upholds-life-penalty-for-17-for-caste-carnage#Upper castes boycott SCs in Prakasam village - Express Buzz
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Upper+castes+boycott+SCs+in+Prakasam+village&artid=qPl2/62HYU4=&SectionID=e7uPP4%7CpSiw=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EH8HilNJ2uYAot5nzqumeA==&SEO=#
Discrimination against Dalit children alleged at anganwadi - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/23/stories/2009102354640500.htmNATURAL DISASTER
After the deluge - Front Line
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20091106262203000.htmUN's caste declaration riles India - The Morung Express
http://www.morungexpress.com/right_column/35919.html
Zee News
Two minor girls raped in Muzaffarnagarhttp://www.zeenews.com/news572869.html
Updated on Friday, October 23, 2009, 13:45 IST
Muzaffarnagar: A 14-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and later strangulated to death by two youths in Sanjak village here, police said on Friday.
Another 16-year-old girl was raped by two youths when she was alone in her house at Magla village last evening.
The body of the victim was found in a sugarcane field and has been sent for post mortem, while the other girl has been sent for medical examination, they said.
The girl later told police that she had been raped by the two youths at gunpoint. PTI
SC upholds life penalty for 17 for caste carnage
http://www.ptinews.com/news/343276_SC-upholds-life-penalty-for-17-for-caste-carnage#
STAFF WRITER 20:48 HRS IST
New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court has upheld the life sentence on 17 upper caste Hindus who hacked to death six Dalits in a caste war in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district in 1996.
A bench of Justices V S Sirpurkar and Deepak Verma in a judgement said the prosecution had been able to prove with convincing evidence the involvement of Alagarswamy, the prime accused, and 16 others in the brutal killings.
According to the prosecution, the accused hacked to death six members of Adidravida community belonging to Scheduled Caste of Melavalavu Village in Madurai.
The accused beloning to the upper caste Ambalakara carried out the killing to take revenge as they resented the election of one of the SC community members Murgesan as president of the village. Murgesan was one of those killed in the caste carnage.
Express Buzz
Upper castes boycott SCs in Prakasam village
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Upper+castes+boycott+SCs+in+Prakasam+village&artid=qPl2/62HYU4=&SectionID=e7uPP4%7CpSiw=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EH8HilNJ2uYAot5nzqumeA==&SEO=#
Express News Service
First Published : 22 Oct 2009 03:23:00 AM IST
Last Updated :
ONGOLE: Upper castes have imposed a social boycott on more than 300 SC families in Chintalapalem of Kanigiri mandal in Prakasam district following clashes.
The boycott, with effect from Wednesday, was a fallout of a series of clashes between the members of a particular upper caste and the SC communities in the village. The upper caste people have allegedly stopped engaging SCs for domestic and farm works and also not allowing them to collect drinking water from their houses, thus breaking a decades-old tradition in the village.
Even constables belonging to rival groups came to blows in the Kanigiri police station a few days back due to the strife that started with a duel between an auto driver and his friends with two persons of a particular upper caste in the village on Oct 12. Following this, a few upper caste men attacked Prasantha Kumar and Katarapu Sangita Rao of the rival group and injured them on Oct 13.
The victims lodged a complaint under the SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act against Vengal Reddy, Anjaneyulu Reddy and three others for the attack.
However, it is alleged that many from the SC communities, in a retaliatory action the same night, abused and even roughed up some women belonging to the rival upper community precipitating the issue.
Kanigiri police descended on the village and prevented further clashes between the groups.
The following day, former sarpanch of Chintalapalem Papasani Chennakesava Reddy along with a hundred followers went to the Kanigiri police station and filed a complaint against the members of the SC communities.
Meanwhile, the Kula Vivaksha Porata Samiti staged a protest in front of the Kanigiri police station demanding action against those participating in the boycott.
The police and revenue officials are holding talks with the warring groups to strike a truce.
A police picket, posted in the village soon after violence broke out, is being continued.The Hindu
Discrimination against Dalit children alleged at anganwadihttp://www.hindu.com/2009/10/23/stories/2009102354640500.htm
D. Karthikeyan
MADURAI: An anganwadi at Ammapatti village in Periyakulam taluk of Theni district is in the middle of a controversy following allegations that children of Dalits and caste Hindus are being served food separately.
The anganwadi is also alleged to be practising various modes of caste discrimination such as making the Dalit children bring their own utensils while it provides them to caste Hindu children. The caretakers have allegedly instructed the Dalit children not to mingle or play with the caste Hindu children.
The discrimination also has a spatial dimension. The anganwadi, which functioned in a Dalit colony, was relocated to the caste Hindu area after a new building was constructed under the Sampoorna Gram Rozgar Yojana during 2006-07.
Following this, the Dalit children were "ordered" not to wear chappals and enter caste Hindu areas. The same restrictions were imposed on their parents.
The Dalit villagers stopped sending their children to the anganwadi. On October 14, when Superintendent of Police Balakrishnan visited the village for a grievance redress meeting, they complained to him about the discrimination.
A fact-finding team of the Madurai based non-governmental organisation, Evidence, which carried out an investigation on Tuesday (October 20), recorded testimonies and obtained written statements from 39 Dalits in the village.
A. Kathir, executive director, Evidence, said that it was disheartening to learn that Dalit children, at a tender age, were being discriminated against.
He demanded action against the erring workers under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
On Wednesday, Theni district Adi Dravidar Welfare Officer Chandrasekaran, Revenue Divisional Officer Subramanian and Integrated Child Development Services officials visited the village.
Official sources said that the Dalits had complained to the officials about the ill treatment. Plans were on to bring more number of Dalit children to the anganwadi and quell certain superstitious beliefs among people through counselling.
An enquiry report would soon be sent to the Theni Collector.
Front Line
NATURAL DISASTER
After the delugehttp://www.flonnet.com/stories/20091106262203000.htm
VIKHAR AHMED SAYEED & RAVI SHARMA
The floods have inundated almost 4,500 villages and destroyed over 500,000 dwellings in Karnataka.
The issue of caste-based discrimination has also cropped up while evaluating the relief and rehabilitation measures.
FOR 55-year-old Shankaramma, a marginal farmer of Pattadakal village in Karnataka's Bagalkot district, the south-west monsoon this year was a big disappointment. Her family's joint holding of three acres (1.2 hectares) of farm land and its corn and jowar crops were up against the weakest monsoon in 40 years. And the Karnataka government declared 2009 a drought year.
But on September 30, what is considered the last day of the monsoon season, Shankaramma's prayers of the past four months were answered. The skies opened up. However, to her consternation, the rain never seemed to stop. It flooded the entire village, inundating her crops and destroying her house. To make matters worse, the Bennihalla, a nearby rivulet and a tributary of the Malaprabha river, breached its banks at many places. It was unable to discharge its flood waters into the Malaprabha fast enough, which was also in spate by October 2, thanks to a number of encroachments and obstructions.
Hundreds of kilometres away, Halvi Veerabhadra Gowda, 46, a resident of T.S. Kudlu village in Siruguppa taluk in Bellary district, became the hero of his village of 550 families. The owner of one of the two concrete houses in the village, Veerabhadra Gowda converted his terrace into a shelter for hundreds of people as the waters of the Hagari river inundated the village to a height of 3 metres. Bellary, like other districts in northern Karnataka, is a drought-prone area. Between September 28 and October 1, the district received 75 per cent of its average annual rainfall.
EXCEPTIONALLY HEAVY RAINS
A low pressure system, which had developed over the Bay of Bengal and had passed through Andhra Pradesh, moved into Karnataka around September 28. It intensified over north interior Karnataka and caused until October 3 exceptionally heavy rainfall in the State's northern districts and parts of the coastal region. This resulted in one of the worst floods in the region in over a century.
During that six-day period, north interior Karnataka received an average rainfall of 251 mm against the normal rainfall of 35 mm, the departure from the normal being an astounding 623 per cent. In Bagalkot district, the variation in rainfall was 924 per cent.
A fortnight later, Shankaramma nonchalantly sat in front of the 8th century Kashi Vishveshwara temple, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, swearing that neither she nor her two buffaloes would leave the place until her village was relocated to a safer area.
The Pattadakal monuments, which represent the high point of an eclectic art that flourished under the Chalukya rulers, were also partially submerged but thankfully suffered no damage.
Shankaramma was not alone: almost the entire village has relocated itself to the Pattadakal monuments. The view from Veerabhadra Gowda's terrace showed a devastated village.
The floods marooned or inundated almost 4,500 villages and destroyed over 500,000 dwellings. As many as 226 people were killed. About eight lakh people, most of them marginal farmers or landless labourers, were living under plastic sheets, in make-shift accommodation made with tin sheets, at schools, in temples and mosques or even under tractor trailers. Many were left not just homeless but with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Over 4,500 schools were damaged. Many students lost their books in the waters. An initial assessment placed the loss to the exchequer at Rs.20,000 crore, and this includes the loss of crops, road networks, power installations and other public and private property.
The road from Bellary city to Siruguppa taluk in the same district was lined with plastic tents. The families were staying with whatever little they managed to salvage.
Ironically, many of the villages affected by the floods are perennially susceptible to flooding. In 1993 and 1997, and again as recently as 2005 and 2007, north Karnataka districts were flooded when the rainfall was hardly a third of what fell this year.
Tin sheds put up by the government in 2007 were once again utilised, with villagers asking for more. But in many instances villagers who had been given this accommodation continued to use their dwellings in the low-lying areas.
The swirling waters transformed fields of paddy, corn and sunflower into stagnant pools. Harvested grain stocks and large quantities of fertilizers, which were stored in underground bunkers as is the wont in the region, were lost.
A more serious problem for villagers in Siruguppa taluk and in parts of Raichur district was the loss of electricity supply. Flood waters destroyed the electricity connections to the region. A vast portion of the standing paddy crop has been destroyed. If electricity supply is not restored soon, the surviving crop will wither away in the searing heat of the region.
"We need electricity before anything else because there are thousands of hectares where the paddy will be ready to be harvested very soon and without irrigation these crops will die," said N. Mohan Kumar, president of the farmer's association in Siruguppa taluk.
It is difficult to estimate the crop loss in the entire region because of the vast scale of the damage. Initial official reports from districts such as Bellary and Raichur estimate it at around 40,000 hectares in each district, but farmer's organisations claim that the loss runs into lakhs of hectares. The farmers do not know how they will return the loans they took earlier this year. "We hope that the government will waive the loans," said a farmer in Raichur.
As the blame game began, some sections accused the Irrigation Department of mishandling the situation. But irrigation engineers explained that there was little that they could have done in the Krishna basin because of the record rainfall. They also said that in many places the beds of rivulets and even seasonal rivers had been encroached upon by villagers, who used them for cultivation. In others places vegetation and other obstructions forced the rainwater to change course.
In parts of Bijapur district, lack of effective desiltation measures also caused problems. Here, even though the Centre had sanctioned Rs.5 crore for desilting the Dhoni river after the 2005 floods; it has still not been done. Bijapur city does not have an effective underground drainage network either. Sewage and flood waters entered many houses, and the residents accused politicians of not putting in place an effective sewage system. Sewage was being channelled for use as manure in farms owned by a few influential persons, they allege.
RELIEF MEASURES
Administration officials in Bellary, Raichur, Bijapur and Bagalkot districts claim that relief works had begun immediately, but villagers had serious complaints about the administration. A common refrain in all the villages was that the government had not yet provided relief and rehabilitation. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, while announcing that 100,000 houses each costing Rs.100,000 would be built, promised that 219 flood-prone villages with a combined population of 90,000 would be relocated.
As per the Calamity Relief Fund, norms the Revenue Department has started assessing the damage to houses. The compensation for fully damaged houses is between Rs.25,000 and Rs.35,000, for houses damaged seriously is between Rs.5,000 and Rs.10,000, and for partly damaged is between Rs.1,500 and Rs.5,000. Many villagers claimed that this money was inadequate to reconstruct or repair their houses. Some villages have not received this money yet.
Yeddyurappa went on a walkathon in Bangalore to create awareness about the floods and raise donations to help the affected people. He decided to impose additional taxes to raise Rs.2,000 crore for relief and welfare measures. But a lot is to be done. One of the biggest demands from the affected population is for the shifting of their villages, since almost every other year they face floods.
In places such as Talamari in Raichur district, the residents burnt the car of the visiting MLA to get the attention of the administration. Talamari, a large village with at least 4,000 residents, was completely destroyed except for the concrete houses. In Hatcholli village in Siruguppa taluk, residents refused to let the MLA and the Deputy Commissioner's car pass to survey the area, demanding compensation for the reconstruction of houses that had been demolished.
While the intent of the State administration cannot be questioned, there is a disconnect between the measures taken and their effects. Take for instance the government's claim that gruel centres serving rice, dal and roti were set up almost immediately in all the affected villages. But the local people claimed that in several villages gruel centres were set up only days after the flood waters had receded and that they were closed in a couple of days though the villagers still did not have any alternative means to cook food. The government claimed that temporary sheds had been set up immediately after the waters receded, but they did not come up even a week after villagers were displaced in parts of Bellary district.
Rather embarrassingly for the government, in a number of villages in Bagalkot district, villagers refused to accept the food and instead sought permanent measures. A number of social, corporate and religious organisations promised to build houses or contribute money or other daily necessities in the same district. But in many cases, especially when religious or social organisations were concerned, the offerings – saris, dhotis and a few utensils – came with a rider. The beneficiaries had to listen to discourses before the goodies were handed out.
Another serious problem is the lack of coordination between the donors and the affected villagers. While some villages are garnering a large chunk of the donations pouring in from across the State and from international donors, there are isolated villages that are being completely ignored. The State administration has failed to ensure equitable distribution of relief. B. Shivappa, the Deputy Commissioner of Bellary, in his defence, claimed that the scale of the logistics of providing relief was challenging and that time was the biggest constraint. Another senior official, who was on a field trip distributing relief, was cynical about the claims of the affected villagers: "There is absolutely no discipline on the part of these villagers, and the same set of people are benefiting from the relief measures." Scenes of lorries carrying relief material being mobbed by desperate villagers were common in the entire region.
CASTE DISCRIMINATION
The issue of caste-based discrimination has also cropped up while evaluating the relief and rehabilitation measures. Many of the severely affected victims include members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, who are daily-wage labourers working in the lands owned by upper-caste groups. The houses of these marginalised sections, constructed with mud, were the first to fall. "When officials survey the loss, they only interact with the upper-caste people, leaving out the backward castes," alleged Marasandra Muniyappa, president of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Karnataka, while speaking to Frontline in Hirimagi village in Bagalkot district.
Another common allegation was that the relief measures were being routed through influential people in the villages who belong to the upper castes. In Talamari village, where the district administration had constructed temporary relief camps (resembling large cow sheds), the upper-caste people refused to stay with the Madigas (a S.C. community) in the same camp.
In Jageerpannur village in Manvi taluk of Raichur district, Dalit communities, who live in a separate quarter, alleged that no relief had been provided. Chaurappa, a coordinator with the Jagruti Mahila Sangathan, which works with Dalit women, speculated that more serious cases of discrimination against Dalits would become common in the coming weeks as more important welfare measures would be taken.
Asking the Central government to declare the floods a national calamity, the Yeddyurappa government is seeking Rs.10,000 crore under the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF). Voices of discontent are being heard from the State government that Andhra Pradesh is benefiting more than Karnataka as far as help from the Central government is concerned because the former has a Congress government. But analysts in Bangalore see it as the result of the failure of previous governments in Karnataka to lobby hard in New Delhi when the 12th Finance Commission was designating funds under various Central calamity assistance schemes a few years ago.
For the lakhs of displaced people, the challenge is to pick up their lives from the debris that surrounds them. Many proud farmers of the region do not like the idea of behaving like beggars, but left without any other option they have to squabble for the relief materials that land up in their villages. The affected people are looking to the State government for concrete action that will help them get their lives back on track again. •
The Morung Express
UN's caste declaration riles India
http://www.morungexpress.com/right_column/35919.html
Neeta Lal | Source: AsiaTimes
DELHI - The United Nations Human Rights Council's (UNHCR) recent decision to declare discrimination based on the caste system a "human-rights abuse" - thereby acknowledging centuries of bias against the world's estimated 200 million Dalits (untouchables) - has evoked a sharp reaction from India. The UN decision came about despite robust opposition from the Indian government and its aggressive lobbying to get the council to delete the word "caste" from its draft. Instead, the UNHCR is now set to ratify draft principles that recognize persecution of Dalits worldwide. No other country has opposed the move as vehemently as India. This is because the UNHCR declaration has a special relevance to India and its 65 million Dalits - the largest for any single country.
This sizeable demographic is considered "unclean" in India by the upper castes who regard their presence, and sometimes even their shadow, as polluting. It is in this regard that the UN draft pledges to work for the "effective elimination of discrimination based on work and descent". What most weakened India's case in the UNHCR was Nepal's acquiescence to the move. Wresting the opportunity, the council has now called on India to follow Nepal's example even as New Delhi feels this amounts to "international interference" in a sensitive internal matter.
There's no denying that the issue of Dalits - who occupy the lowest rung of India's well-entrenched caste pyramid - is a virtual tinderbox in the country. Despite India's increasing literacy levels, mounting economic wealth and growing geopolitical heft, the benefits of national prosperity haven't quite percolated down to low-caste Indians, who are ostracized by mainstream society.
Despite over six decades of independence from British rule, Dalits are still discriminated against in all aspect of life in India despite laws specifically outlawing such acts. They are the victims of economic embargos, denied basic human rights such as access to clean drinking water, use of public facilities, education and access to places of worship. Even constitutional laws, modeled on those framed by the Confederate states in America during the reconstruction period after the Civil War to protect freed black American slaves, have never been enforced by the Indian judiciary and legislature, which are dominated by high castes.
This is indeed ironic as one of this century's most recognizable global icons - Mahatma Gandhi - was an Indian who crusaded tirelessly against discrimination based on caste or gender. He ensured that the founding fathers of the Indian constitution made special provisions to grant India's Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Castes special privileges like reservations (up to 33%) in jobs and educational institutes.
So why is there such a hue and cry in India over the UNHCR move? According to experts, the brouhaha has as much to do with politics as with economics and human rights. First, it is not in favor of vested political interests to eliminate the caste system in India as Dalits form a lucrative vote bank. In fact, in a country of a billion-plus population, it would be foolhardy to fritter away this attractive political constituency that dominates large swaths of India.
The prime example is India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh (population: 190 million) which has 403 electoral constituencies. Though there are no official figures available, it is estimated that the country's largest number of Dalits - probably half - reside here. The results are clear; currently the state is ruled by the powerful Dalit-dominated Bahujan Samaj Party, helmed by its redoubtable chief minister Mayawati, who was ranked by Forbes magazine in 2008 at 59 on its world's most powerful women list.
In 1995, at age 39, Mayawati was the youngest politician elected to the post of chief minister and was also the first Dalit to head a state government. She may well trail-blaze again as India's first Dalit prime minister as she goes about building an alliance with India's Brahmins, augmenting the Dalits' pan-India footprint. (In June, Meira Kumar was elected the first Dalit woman ever as parliament speaker.)
Still, there's no denying that Mayawati is more an aberration rather than the rule in India. So will the UNHCR move help get Indian Dalits' global attention followed by aid from bodies like the European Union? Dr Udit Raj of the Dalit-based Indian Justice Party has welcomed the UN move and feels it will focus the international spotlight on the issue provided the "Indian government has the courage to accept there's discrimination".
It is unlikely that a single UN resolution will radically change the landscape of social realities in India. Perhaps even the UNHCR is aware of this fact. Can its declaration be a tool to harass India then? Is it a clever ploy to keep the ambitious country on a leash in view of its abysmal human-rights record? The idea could be to push India to be answerable for discrimination based on work, descent and gender.
Some good has already come out of the UNHCR exercise, albeit indirectly. Rahul Gandhi, the architect of the ruling Congress Party's general election victory in May, has launched a recent drive to uplift Dalits. He is visiting Dalit homes across Uttar Pradesh and has ordered his party members to recalibrate their welfare programs in favor of Dalits. However, many see the Gandhi scion's move as a larger political game plan to erode Mayawati's base in Uttar Pradesh.
In other words, the UNHCR declaration is a sword that will cut both ways for India. While it will definitely focus international attention on the issue - and hopefully lead to increased government spending to improve opportunities for Dalits in the country - it has simultaneously underscored the country's feudalistic and discriminatory ethos. It is this that India is most sensitive about as it tries to wrest center stage in the new global regime.
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
Dalits Media Watch
News Update 20.10.09Dalits allege dumping of garbage near houses - Express Buzz
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Dalits+allege+dumping+of+garbage+near+houses&artid=Fpzwo9pBriw=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=#Dalits beaten up in Theni dist - Express Buzz
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Dalits+beaten+up+in+Theni+dist&artid=iRSVPp5P9yE=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=#gujarat: dalit children
Manu Over Ambedkar - Out Look
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262319Express Buzz
Dalits allege dumping of garbage near houses
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Dalits+allege+dumping+of+garbage+near+houses&artid=Fpzwo9pBriw=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=#
Express News Service
Last Updated : 20 Oct 2009 08:05:27 AM IST
SALEM: About 60 Dalit families facing displacement by a proposed Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board colony at Barathy Nagar have alleged that the Salem Corporation was dumping garbage and obnoxious substances near their houses to evict them.
The people, after organising a few protests, recently sought the help of Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Singh on Monday with a memorandum to book case against Corporation Commissioner K S Palanisamy under Sections 3(2) and (15) of the SCs and STs Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989.
The sections of law read, "with intent to cause injury, insult or annoyance to any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe by dumping excreta, waste matter, carcasses or any other obnoxious substance in his premises or neighbourhood, and forces or causes a member of a Schedules Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to leave his house, village or other place of residence, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months which may extend to five years".
The people said when they pointed out the sections to the CoP, he got annoyed. Not satisfied with meeting him, the people launched a mail campaign alleging that the official machinery was aiding in evicting them.
The Corporation's 40-acre garbage dump located behind their settlement was slated to be shifted to Chettichavadi. The space to be left by the cleared dumpyard is now being eyed by land sharks. "A private land owner is trying to get a access through the Dalit colony by evicting them. The Corporation wants to hand it over to the TNSCB for its housing colony," the people allege.
Express Buzz
Dalits beaten up in Theni dist
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Dalits+beaten+up+in+Theni+dist&artid=iRSVPp5P9yE=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=#
P Krishnaswamy
Last Updated : 20 Oct 2009 08:05:36 AM IST
MADURAI: Three Dalit youth, Jeyapandi, Durairaj and Sivakumar of Vadugapatti village in Uthamapalayam taluk of Theni district were beaten by a group of caste Hindus on October 16, charging them of bursting crackers in the street of caste Hindus.
The three had gone to buy crackers along the Kaliappan temple street of Vadugapatti on Friday night. They were challenged by a group of caste Hindus for walking on their street. The Dalits were abused with their caste name and when they tried to escape, were chased by about 20 persons. All three were injured.
Madurai-based NGO Evidence said the Thenkarai police had registered a case under various sections, including the Prevention of Atrocities Act. However, on a complaint by the caste Hindus, the police had also registered cases against the injured Dalits.
A Kadir, director of Evidence said it was the height of atrocity to register cases against victims of assault.
Out Look
gujarat: dalit children
Manu Over Ambedkar
Gujarat's Balmiki kids face daily humiliations in school and village
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262319
Mari Marcel Thekaekara
Our Kids, Their Kids
Children of safai karmacharis in Gujarat are forced by teachers to clean toilets and mop floors in school
They are abused and beaten if they refuse to do the menial tasks
Treated as untouchables and kept at arm's length by upper caste students
In some areas, they are not even allowed to drink from a common source of water
Reports of their notebooks never being corrected since teachers don't like to handle their books
***
They had, it seems, come from all corners of Gujarat. From Gandhinagar to tribal Panchmahals, from Porbandar on the western coast to the Dangs at its southern tip. The children arrived at the Mahatma's Sabarmati ashram, lining up solemnly in their new Gandhi caps. At the gates, they were welcomed with handwoven cotton thread malas by elderly Gandhian leaders.
They were children of safai karamcharis, Balmiki kids used to watching their parents sweep public streets and private homes and clean filthy toilets. The children were at the ashram to share their 'experiences' with a fact-finding panel, tales of being forced to clean toilets and mop floors in school, of horrific discrimination by their upper-caste schoolmates and teachers. They came to the podium in line, district by district, took the mike to tell their stories. Matter of fact, stating the facts somewhat baldly. There was no wallowing in pity, in 'vibrant Gujarat' this was how life was for them.
Pooja, a fifth standard student, says they are not even allowed to take water from the drinking water matka: "The kids from the 'upper' castes blow air and do 'phoo phoo' to cleanse themselves if we touch them by mistake. Or they sprinkle water on the spot we touch.... The teachers don't want to touch our homework books. So they are never corrected. I clean the toilets. I have to. Because the teacher tells us to do it. We are Bhangis. No one in school would like to be friends with us. They say 'Hey Bhangi door bes, (sit far away)'." Prakash, from Mohua taluka of Kheda district, is in the seventh standard. "I clean toilets in school." "Why do you do this?" the panel asks him. He looks puzzled, it's obviously a stupid question. "Because the teacher tells me to...." "Why do you obey him?" Wasn't it obvious? "Because I'll get a beating if I don't obey." What do you want to be when you grow up?" the panel asks. "A teacher." "Why a teacher?" "Because I want a life of dignity," Prakash replies shyly.Aarti, in the seventh standard and studies in a Girls High School in Patan district. "I clean the classroom and the toilets three times a week." "Why do you do this?" "Because the principal asks us to do it," she replies. "How does he know you are a Balmiki?" "From my name. If we say we don't want to clean toilets, they beat us. Three Balmiki girls, Sangeeta, Raksha and Daksha, were beaten because they didn't want to clean the toilets." In the schools, the pattern is almost always the same. The teacher or principal asks "all the Bhangi children to stand up". Then they are allotted the toilet cleaning duties.
Rahul is an unusual name for a Balmiki kid. He disposes of dead animals for Rs 10. He also cleans the toilets and urinals at school. Have you heard of Rahul Gandhi, someone inevitably asks. "No," he replies. "Didn't you see him on TV during the elections?" "I don't think so."
Jayesh, in the 10th, is sharply turned out. Maroon shirt, cream trousers, hair smartly cut. A mobile peeps out of his pocket. It's hard to believe that the lad regularly mucks about in manholes to earn some extra money. But he dreams of doing a BBA, getting a job in an office. "If I pass my BBA and get a job, I will never do this work again," he declares.
The public hearing involving some 1,000 Balmiki children was held before a panel comprising former acting chief justice of Gujarat R.A. Mehta, Sabarmati Ashram secretary Amrut Modi, former member of the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis Ishwarbhai Patel, Gujarati political scientist Professor Ghanshyam Shah and Dalit leader Martin Macwan.
At the hearing, findings from a study conducted in 12 districts of Gujarat by the Navsarjan Trust, a Gujarat-based ngo working for Dalit rights, was shared. The object of the survey was to highlight the children's plight and bring it to the notice of the government, the public and the courts. Later, principal secretary, state education department, Hasmukh Adhia, provided a somewhat cryptic soundbite, "If such cases of discrimination are brought to our notice, we will put the children in main schools."
The teachers ask "all the Bhangi kids to stand up". They are then allotted toilet cleaning duties.
The strange fact is these children are just the tip of the iceberg. And in a state which has supposedly won governance awards and corporate seals of approval. It is now even the home of the Nano. All these kids work for a pittance, cleaning manure pits, dragging dead animals, helping their parents to sweep streets, mop floors, clear garbage, clean toilets. In schools they are forced to do this for free. In the evenings the children accompany their parents to collect leftovers from the homes their mothers work in. It's known as "baasi" or stale food. Mulk Raj Anand described it graphically in his 1935 novel, Untouchable. Seven decades on, it's almost as if time has stood still. Their situation remains the same. Vile, degrading, a disgrace to humanity.
The children are bullied in their villages as well as at school. If the sarpanch or an upper-caste person orders them to do a job, they cannot refuse. If the "malik" is kindly disposed, he may give the child ten rupees, twenty if he's magnanimous. But the caste system brooks no dispute. "If they don't do these jobs, who will?" is the genuinely astonished refrain in many villages. Feudal India has not changed in spite of Independence, an egalitarian Constitution and sixty years of laws against untouchability.
Throughout Gujarat, Balmiki children in government schools are arbitrarily pulled out of class for menial jobs. Surprisingly, in most instances, the authorities feel no wrong has been done. No one mentions a certain 1989 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, which says offenders can be jailed for mistreating Dalit children. The only way to stop the victimisation is if stringent action is initiated against the perpetrators. Rather late in the day, but Dalit organisations have arrived at a point where petitions are filed braving the wrath of the many power brokers of society.
Professor Ghanshyam Shah, a panellist at the camp, feels "the courts should take up the children's statements on a suo motu basis". Justice Mehta too agrees that this is "definitely a case for the Gujarat courts". So, will the heads of errant officials roll? Will the courts take action? Or will these abhorrent practices continue for another 50 years?
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC
New Delhi, Oct. 24: Calcutta has the highest carbon dioxide emissions among 25 Indian cities, according to the country's first measurements of energy consumption patterns across cities under an international climate change project. Calcutta spews about 9.3 million tonnes equivalent of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere each year through energy used by homes, offices, industries, streetlights, transportation, and water pumping stations, the analysis has shown. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, South Asia, the non-governmment agency that carried out the analysis in collaboration with municipal authorities in each city, does not have comparable figures for Delhi and Mumbai yet. In the absence of data from these two metros, Visakhapatnam and Ahmedabad have emerged the second and third highest emitters. "We're seeing expected patterns of emissions — no surprises yet. But we're hoping such hard data will spur local governments into action to limit the growth of emissions," Emani Kumar, executive director of the council, said. The study, funded by the British high commission's strategic programme fund, is intended to get municipal authorities to begin thinking of short and long-term measures to improve energy efficiency, Kumar said. Short-term options include retrofitting of streetlights with intensity regulators and timers and improving energy efficiency of water pumping stations. In the long term, cities could invest in alternative public transport options, he said. Local authorities, he said, could also launch community awareness campaigns to conserve energy. Climate change experts have long argued for significant improvements in India's public transport systems and policy steps to draw people away from private transport. Such lifestyle changes, experts say, will contribute to limiting the future growth of emissions. "We need clear actions from governments for the creation of infrastructure that encourages (the use of) public transport," said Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN body that is assessing scientific studies on patterns and impacts of climate change worldwide. Council officials say any action to limit emissions growth will help local governments and individuals save money. "This is an incentive to drive actions," an official said. The study's findings have been shared with the environment ministry and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. The differences in per capita emissions that show up in the study, in some cases, appear to mirror local energy and transport infrastructure. Jamshedpur, for instance, has the highest per capita (2.76 tonnes of carbon dioxide) emission among the 25 cities. "But this merely reflects the city's high concentration of industries — it's not because the people of Jamshedpur use up more energy," Kumar said. However, Gurgaon's high per capita emission of 2.1 tonnes is possibly because of the widespread use of diesel generators, the virtual absence of public transport and the large number of malls, he said. The project will cover 40 cities across India and 12 others in the South Asia region. Project officials said a key limitation of the study is that it has examined energy consumption exclusively within municipal limits. Such a study design will leave out all energy use outside city limits. But, project officials say, such an exercise could be a step towards the energy ranking of cities that may reveal energy efficiency differences. "Calcutta, for instance, appears to spend a lot less energy in pumping water to its inhabitants than the energy used for this by Bangalore," Kumar said. Some cities such as Coimbatore, Nagpur, Thane, and Vijayawada, have already begun to use the data to initiate corrective actions involving streetlights to reduce emissions, said Ravi Ranjan Guru, a senior project officer with the council. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091025/jsp/frontpage/story_11655886.jsp
G.S. MUDUR
Markets could turn volatile in few months 25 Oct 2009, 2012 hrs IST, SHUBHA GANESH,ET Bureau The contrast in long-term and short-term view could lead to some up-days and some down-days, creating volatility in coming weeks. Track mkts, buy in correction phase Anil group's trust in Mukesh's RIL goes unrequited? Mukesh Ambani-led firm appears to have no interest in the largest fund house Reliance Mutual Fund. Cos that restored variable & planning higher payout Maruti to launch Alto, Wagon R with new gen engine Maruti Suzuki will discontinue the old F-series engines in both Alto and Wagon R and replace them with its new K-series engine. Electric and hybrid cars I Cars with Class Planning to invest hard-earned money in land? Ensure that you opt for right location. Should you switch to another lender now?
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