[sacw] sacw dispatch (7 Jan 2000)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
7 January 2000
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#1. An RSS branch in every village
#2. Sailing to say 'no more Bhopals'
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#1.
The Asian Age
7 January 2000

RSS shakha in every Gujarat village by 2005
By Venkatesh Kesari

New Delhi: "One village, one shakha (branch)," is a new slogan of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as it aims to saffronise the entire Gujarat
state by 2005.
The new mantra for the RSS expansion will be explained at a three-day
Sankalp Shibir (pledge camp) to be held at Kathwada in Ahmedabad
district from Friday.
The organisers are expecting about 27,000 swayamsevaks (members) to
attend the camp. The RSS members will also participate in a march during
the camp.
RSS chief Rajendra Singh, general secretary H.V. Seshadri and joint
general secretary K.S. Sudarshan will addressing the RSS activists at
the camp.
Significantly, top leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal
are also holding a three-day at Kanyakumari from January 7. Around 150
Sangh activists, including the office-bearers of the two organisations,
have left for the religious centre in Tamil Nadu.
The RSS' thrust has always been on recruiting youngsters and this will
be emphasised vigorously during interaction of the top leaders with the
Gujarat activists as the state has proved to be extremely fertile for
the RSS ideology.
The RSS sources describe the camp as a routine exercise and an yearly
state-level event held across country. These camps are held under the
banner of Hemant Shibir, the sources added.
However, the selection of timing and the state is bound to generate more
controversies on many counts.
=46or the BJP, Gujarat has been a model state in many aspects. However,
due to interference of the RSS offshoots - the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and
Bajrang Dal - has led to communal tension in the state.
The international spotlight has been relentlessly severe on Gujarat
after attacks on Christians and churches in the Dangs district. The BJP
government has added fuel to the fire by conducting a religion-based
census.
Although, the BJP sent a high-profile committee to Dangs to put the
record straight following the reports of atrocities on Christian
community, the Sangh hardliners launched Ghar Vapasi (homecoming) for
the converted Hindus.
Another controversial decision by the Gujarat government was to allow
state government employees to join the RSS activities after lifting a
14-year-ban.
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#2.
The Hindu
7 January 2000

Sailing to say 'no more Bhopals'

By R.K.Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI, JAN.5. Lest we forget. They came in a three-mast motor-
assisted schooner, Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior, sailing half-way across
the globe to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster;
to remind us that Bhopal should not be forgotten. More importantly, ``no
more Bhopals.''

A mini-flotilla mechanised boats and a couple of catamarans set sail
from the Kasimedu fishing harbour this afternoon to welcome the ship,
just outside the breakwaters. Fishermen waved flags of the `Meenavar
Sangham' as their boats made a virtual jig, partly because of the rough
seas, around the Warrior to have a closer look.

``Greenpeace has tried to highlight instances of wanton industrial
pollution in the country for about four years now,'' said Mr.Nityanand
Jayaraman, Greenpeace's Asia Toxics campaigner. ``The ship's arrival is
part of the environmental awareness drive and campaign in the city,'' he
added.

The main local issues which will be in focus here will be loss of
livelihood for fisherfolk due to pollution caused by dumping of fly ash
and effluents from the Ennore Thermal Power plant and the
power-from-garbage project of the Chennai Corporation. ``It is their
livelihood which is in the line of fire,'' said Mr.Nityanand.

``There is a proposal to expand the existing capacity. That will be a
disaster,'' he added.

On the power-from-garbage project the activist pointed out that the
process produced a very harmful byproduct - dioxin. ``Garbage does not
just contain only organic waste any longer. There are a host of things
such as plastics, discarded pesticide containers, tubelights and many
more such substances. These are either harmful as a product or have
potential to be harmful. Besides, the technology used in many cases are
also suspect. Many companies come here to set up their first pilot
plants,'' he said.

When contacted, the Chennai Corporation Commissioner, Mr.Jothi
Jagarajan, said that the process involved was safe and did not involve
production of dioxins. ``The technology involved itself is a proven one.

The country-wide issue - the gas tragedy in Bhopal - will form the plank
from which the organisation proposes to launch its campaign with a theme
concert on January 8.

The ship, built in U.K. on the hull of a former fishing vessel, Grampian
=46ame, will be open for organised groups of visitors till January 10.
With this, the Rainbow Warrior concludes the 45-day long India leg of
its Toxic Free Asia Tour, which began in Mumbai on November 26. It will
leave for Thailand from here, after an awards ceremony in which six
individuals and institutions will be felicitated for their contribution
to protect the environment.

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SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.