SACW | Nov 15-20, 2009 / Sri Lanka: Authoritarianism / Nepal Agit Prop/ Critique of India's Maoists
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex at gmail.com
Fri Nov 20 00:10:46 CST 2009
South Asia Citizens Wire | November 15-20, 2009 | Dispatch No. 2667 -
Year 12 running
From: www.sacw.net
[ SACW Dispatches for 2009-2010 are dedicated to the memory of Dr.
Sudarshan Punhani (1933-2009), husband of Professor Tamara Zakon and
a comrade and friend of Daya Varma ]
____
[1] Sri Lanka: Authoritarianism and the Constitution (Shanie)
[2] Pakistan: Prof Nauman passes away
[3] Nepal: The Andolan in Kathmandu and the Revolution to Follow
(Gary Leupp)
[4] India: Critiquing the Programme of Action of the Maoists
(Sumanta Banerjee)
[5] Harvard Kennedy School Inaugurates Kashmir Initiative
[6] India: Resources For Secular Activists
(i) Concerned citizens statement in response to Jamait Ulema's
resolutions
(ii) Mumbai probe fiasco: bad intelligence or poor media? (Jawed
Naqvi)
(iii) After The Karnataka Quake: The BJP as political franchise
(Praful Bidwai)
(iv) More Indus Junk Science in The Hindu (Steve Farmer" on Indo
Eurasia Research List)
[7] Announcements:
(i) Invitation to National Convention / Demonstration on Displacement
and Development (New Delhi, 18-21 November 2009)
(ii) Inviting you to join the Rally for the RIGHT to FOOD (New
Delhi, 26 November 2009)
(iii) 'The Joan P. Mencher Lectures: We Are what We Eat' (20-22
November 2009)
(iv) Demo In Support of Irom Sharmila (Bombay, 21 November 2009)
(v) Condolence Meeting for Prof.Nauman (Karachi, 5 December 2009)
_____
[1] Sri Lanka:
The Island, 31 October 2009
AUTHORITARIANISM AND THE CONSTITUTION
by Shanie / Notebook Of A Nobody
We have captured all the positions
And on the heights we have planted
The banners of our revolution
You imagined that that was all we wanted
We need more
We want all
Your hearts are our goal
It is your souls we want.
A fascist regime requires more than outward obedience to its
commands; it seeks to control the inner person, to shape thoughts,
feelings and attitudes in accordance with its own ideology. It
demands total allegiance and submission. It was this goal that was
expressed by an anonymous Nazi poet in the words quoted above. The
Third Reich was organised on the basis that the leader (the Fuehrer)
embodied and expressed the will of the German people and commanded
their supreme loyalty. A Nazi political theorist stated at that time:
"The authority of the Fuehrer is total and all-embracing…..The
Fuehrer’s authority is subject to no checks or controls; it is
circumscribed by no ….individual rights; it is ….overriding and
unfettered."
Sri Lanka has had a long history of liberal democracy; the
authoritarianism of the present political system is of recent origin.
We were one of first countries in the world to introduce full
universal suffrage in 1931, with every adult citizen having an equal
and unfettered right to elect a representative to the country’s
legislature. Even out then colonial rulers had introduced full
universal suffrage only three years earlier. These liberal democratic
principles were enshrined in our 1931 Donoughmore Constitution as
well as in Soulbury Constitution which we adopted for independent
Ceylon in 1947. Both Constitutions were drafted by the colonial
rulers. The 1947 Constitution was contained in a White Paper
presented by the colonial government passed by the then State Council.
The values of a liberal democracy – a free and vibrant Media, an
independent Public Service, Police and Judiciary, free and fair
Elections – were gradually being eroded in independent Ceylon. At
the 1970 Election, the United Front had secured a two-third majority
in Parliament. They promptly set about drafting a new Constitution
basically on their own terms. The views of the minorities and the
opposition were given little credence but the essentials of a liberal
democratic government were still retained – though the abolition of
institutions like the Public Services Commission and bringing the
public services directly under the political authorities has led to
the politicisation of these institutions.
But worse was to come when at the 1977 Election, the UNP also secured
a two-third majority and proceeded to draft yet another new
constitution. That Constitution created the monster of the Executive
Presidency with authoritarian powers similar to what the Fuehrer
enjoyed in the Third Reich. The President’s authority is also total
and all-embracing with no checks and balances and is not
circumscribed by any individual or group rights for the citizens. J R
Jayewardene once famously boasted about powers – that he enjoyed
total authority and the only power he lacked was to make a man a
woman. Presidents who came after him, including the present
incumbent, have acknowledged the absurdity of investing the Head of
State in a democracy with the authoritarian powers of a Nazi
dictatorship. But once comfortably ensconced in position, they have
not only been reluctant to let go these powers, but have happily
exercised them, even blatantly violating the provisions of the
Constitution, knowing they enjoyed legal immunity. It must however be
said to the credit of President Chandrika Kumaratunga that she was
the only President who had the vision and the courage to bring
forward in 2000, soon after her re-election to a second term,
constitutional proposals to abolish the Executive Presidency. Sadly,
this was lost in controversy over her devolution proposals brought up
after consensus had been reached. But that is another story.
The need for constitutional reform
All parties seem basically agreed on the abolition of the Executive
Presidency, though there now seems some doubt on the part of the
present incumbent. The need for overall constitutional reform,
including the Executive Presidency, was the subject of a well-
organised public forum sponsored by the National Peace Council this
week. None who spoke, both among the panellists and from the
audience, opposed getting rid of the legal immunity enjoyed by an
incumbent President and the dire need to revive the Constitutional
Council and the independent Commissions. There was disagreement as to
whether the executive presidency should be abolished or subject to
some reform; there was also fair consensus that there should be a mix
of the proportional representation and first-past-the-post electoral
system and the need for a comprehensive Bill of Rights. Many of these
issues have been addressed by Parliamentary Select Committees whose
reports lie somewhere on the President’s Office and have not been
released even for public debate. Even a full Bill of Rights formed
part of President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s 2000 constitutional
proposals, and she paid a public tribute to her political opponent N
K Choksy for his part in having drafted that chapter.
Sri Lanka today stands on the crossroads. It is over sixty years
since we achieved independence. Our political leaders prior to
independence had the vision, in addition to universal adult suffrage,
to provide free education up to university level, to establish a
network of Central Schools that were not second to any of the older
established schools in the cities, to introduce the concept of
providing education up to university level in Sinhala and Tamil, to
provide a network of community-run village level cooperative stores
that provided basic food items at affordable prices and to provide an
administrative structure, hierarchical from the village, division to
province, that attended to the problems of the people at all levels
with reasonable efficiency. But over the past sixty years, all that
has been eroded in various degrees.
Our primary task today is not just constitutional reform but also the
need to rid ourselves of the Third Reich mindset. Our neighbours
India faced numerous problems, not least on religious, linguistic,
social and regional grounds, at the time of their independence. But
they survived remarkably well and have succeeded in integrating
themselves as a modern nation-state. They succeeded because they had
visionary political leaders who resisted chauvinistic pressures from
even within the Congress Party to forge a multi-religious, multi-
linguistic, multi-caste secular democracy. The drafting committee of
the Constituent Assembly was headed by Dr B R Ambedkar, a prominent
Dalit (a scheduled "caste"). The Constituent Assembly included and
accommodated the views of all minorities. The result was a consensus
document that all constitution-makers would be proud to achieve.
India is now home to eight major religions (two states are largely
Muslim, three Christian, one Sikh and the others Hindu) and 18
languages are recognised as official languages at state level (there
are over 1600 languages and dialects spoken in India). Despite the
horrors of partition, India has welded herself into a modern secular
democratic nation-state through a federal constitution.
Do we lack such visionary leaders? It is true that there are, as
India had then, chauvinists who claim that Sri Lanka is the only home
to a Sinhala Buddhist majority who have been in this country for 2300
years. There were chauvinists in India too who claimed that Hinduism
should be the state religion because it had been the religion of the
people for even longer. But the Indian leadership at the time of
independence had the vision to reject chauvinistic demands recognise
that secularism as the only way to national integration. There can be
little doubt that the framers of the 1972 and 1978 Constitutions also
understood the same need. But they just did not have the political
will and the political courage to challenge chauvinism and tamely
succumbed to political expediency.
Over the last sixty years, the country has overcome three major
insurgencies, the last being the biggest and costliest, both in terms
of human and material costs but also in terms of the deep divisions
that have been created in our society with a lack of tolerance and
appreciation of those who hold different views. It is a tragedy for
democracy when society accepts with resignation extra-judicial
violence and killings, abductions and arbitrary arrests, intimidation
and death threats to dissidents labelled as "traitors" who support
Tamil terrorists. The LTTE did the same to its dissidents or
"traitors". Having crushed the insurgency, we now need a new
beginning, not clone the terrorists by adopting their methods.
For a start, the national interest demands that President Mahinda
Rajapakse implement the 17th Amendment of the Constitution, and not
take cover behind the immunity he enjoys as President. The
nominations for the Constitutional Council, as provided for in the
Constitution, are before him and he must do his constitutional duty.
The electoral reforms proposed by the Parliamentary Select Committee
are also before him and this must be presented to Parliament. These
are measures that have wide consensus and does not require elaborate
constitutional reform. But there must be a political will to put
nation before party or any individual. President Rajapakse and the
senior leaders of the SLFP and the opposition parties have the
capacity to exercise that political will.
_____
[2] Pakistan: Prof Nauman. Widely respected, political activist /
scientist and peoples advocate will be remembered by large numbers
across left and social movement circles in Pakistan. Prof Nauman died
in Karachi on the 15th of November 2009.
(Condolence Meeting for Prof.Nauman will be held on Friday 5 December
2009 at the City Campus of NED University, University Road, Gulshan e
Iqbal, Karachi)
o o o
dawn.com, 16 Nov, 2009
PROF NAUMAN PASSES AWAY
KARACHI, Nov 15: An associate professor at the NED University of
Engineering and Technology, a social activist and well-known Marxist,
Mohammad Nauman, passed away here on Sunday morning.
Thousands of his friends and students, political leaders and
activists bode him farewell at the University of Karachi graveyard
where he was laid to rest in the evening.
Prof Nauman had been suffering from asthma for the last couple of
years. He is survived by an ailing mother, an elder brother and a
sister.
Born in Bahawalpur on Dec 19, 1951, he got his secondary education at
the Cadet College, Petaro. He graduated from the NED University in
1974 and then proceeded to North Carolina, where he did his master’s
in electrical engineering.
After completing his education, he joined the Karachi Nuclear Power
Plant but later opted for teaching. Despite having a brilliant
academic record, he ignored lucrative jobs at multinational companies
and joined the NED University, where he taught for about 30 years.
He was a prominent student leader associated with the National
Students’ Federation during the late 1960s and the early 1970s. He
actively participated in the upsurge against military dictator
General Ayub Khan in 1969.
Committed to the well-being of the common man right from the
beginning, he helped the Edhi Foundation to develop its wireless
service on a voluntary basis and also served as a technical adviser
to the defunct Karachi Municipal Corporation in the early 1990s. He
wrote several research papers on bonded labour, water and power. He
also campaigned for the displaced people of Chotiari Dam and for
other similar causes.
Prof Nauman was quite well till Saturday and attended a dinner in
honour of a friend Prof Tauseef Ahmed Khan, who has been recently
awarded PhD, at the residence of a common friend. “At about 6 am, he
came out of his room complaining of breathing problem,” his uncle,
who lived with him, said.—Staff Reporter
_____
[3] Nepal:
Counter Punch.org, November 16, 2009
"I Want to Dance With the Real Hero of My Country"
THE ANDOLAN IN KATHMANDU AND THE REVOLUTION TO FOLLOW
by Gary Leupp
"So far,” notes Peter Lee of the Asia Times, “Western media have
reported remotely and somewhat uncomprehendingly on the massive
demonstrations in Kathmandu led by the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist), with a marked lack of interest. This perhaps reflects the
shared desire of the Indian, Chinese and Western governments not to
inflame the situation with excessive attention and rhetoric.” He
refers to the two-day action in the Nepali capital Thursday and Friday.
But those demonstrations should be of enormous interest. According
toAsiaNews, “The second phase of the so-called ‘people’s
movement-III’ saw more than 150,000 participants, including former
Maoist guerrillas and United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPM-M)
members of parliament and militants, gathered around the Singha
Durbar, Nepal’s official seat of government.”
The Maoists virtually paralyzed the government in a stunning display
of power. All the top Maoist leaders marched through the city, some
meeting the police at the barricades and breaking through to assume
positions around Singha Durbar where they addressed the huge crowd.
It was overwhelming a peaceful, even festive andolan or mass
demonstration, although there were some clashes with police. A senior
Maoist leader, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, was among those wounded. He
told Agence France-Presse, “We are now giving the government and
other parties an opportunity to look into our demands. The ball is
in the government’s court.” The most powerful Maoist figure,
former prime minister Prachanda, issued a sharper warning to the
regime, giving it a seven-day ultimatum (to November 20) to restore
“civilian supremacy” or face a general strike and other strong
protests.
When you watch video of Baburam Bhattarai, the brilliant academic who
became the number two figure in the Maoist movement and served as
finance minister under the administration of Pushpa Kamal Dahal
(Pranchanda), leading the marchers confronting the helmeted police,
successfully pressing through, you get a sense of genuine historical
momentum gathering here.
Rekha Thapa, one of Nepal’s most popular young actresses, arrived as
one of many who sang and danced for the huge crowd. She told those
assembled, “I’ve always danced with film heroes. Now I want to
dance with the real hero of my country.” A rather embarrassed
looking Prachanda briefly accommodated her, the images captured on
national television and on newspaper covers.
It was brilliant political theater.
According to S.D. Muni, a professor at the Institute of South Asian
Studies in Singapore and authority on the Nepali Maoist movement,
“The numbers they were able to mobilise and the fact they were able
to keep control and maintain the peace indicate the protest was a
success. It also showed the government is incapable of dealing with
this kind of challenge.”
I’ve followed the Maoist movement in Nepal since the inception of
the People’s War in 1996. I’m always struck by the creativity of
the Nepali Maoists’ strategy and tactics. From 1996 to 2006 the
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (now the United Communist Party of
Nepal-Maoist)---originally a parliamentary party, the leadership of
which had determined that armed struggle was the only way towards
liberation---waged a guerrilla war against the monarchy. Its success
was breathtaking. It controlled 80% of the country by 2005 when the
very unpopular King Gyandendra seized absolute power sidelining the
seven main political parties.
It then, having surrounded Kathmandu Valley with its People’s
Liberation Army, agreed to the 2006 Comprehensive Agreement with the
political parties whereby they would all jointly work to bring down
the king, restoring parliamentary democracy, while the Maoists would
lay down their arms under UN supervision, ending the war. A key
provision of the Agreement was that the soldiers of the People’s
Liberation Army be integrated into the Nepali Army (formerly the
Royal Nepali Army).
The Maoists also demanded the convening of a Constituent Assembly to
write a new constitution, and the proclamation of a republic. They
won these demands, and in the April 2008 elections for the assembly,
won 38% of the vote, twice the number of the next party. In August
Prachanda became Prime Minister. So much for the “End of History”
thesis. A Maoist having established his credentials by the barrel of
a gun was having them further validated by the ballet box. Jimmy
Carter was there to confirm that yes, indeed, it was a fair election.
But this was not yet revolution. This was not state power. This was
communists who had control of the countryside, who did not want to
bludgeon their way into Kathmandu Valley (or were not sure that they
could do it, not necessarily confident that they had enough urban
support), savvily working out a strategy to gain a presence in this
zone where over a million of Nepal’s 28 million people live so that
they could develop their political base here prior to a real seizure
of power. The strategy seems to have worked out very well.
First the Maoists, playing by the parliamentary rules, swept the
polls. Then they exposed the shamof the system to which they were
being asked to conform. So many had praised them, for laying down
their arms, for agreeing to participate in normal electoral politics!
But they for their part had pointed out that their army needed to be
merged with the Nepali Army as part of the Comprehensive Agreement.
And the Nepali Army, still ridden with pro-Royalist sentiment, had
refused to implement the provisions in the agreement pertaining to
PLA integration and instead sought to recruit new troops.
This was really the crux of the problem.
I’m quite sure at least some of the Maoists had anticipated this
scenario all along. That is, they had foreseen that the old state
power reliant ultimately on armed force would not submit to the terms
of the agreement or to the will of the people as expressed in elections.
The real issue is of course state power, and you can’t obtain state
power when you don’t control the army. In May Prime Minister
Prachanda asked the head of the Army, Gen. Rukmangad Katwal, to step
down and appointed a new army chief. The President, Ram Baran Yadav,
a member of the Nepal Congress Party, countermanded the order keeping
Katwal at his post. It is widely thought that he enjoyed India’s
support in this action. At that point Prachanda did something quite
unexpected: in a televised address he denounced the president’s move
as “illegal and unconstitutional” and resigned.
The Maoists not only quit the government, but pronounced the
selection of a new one by the parliament as an unconstitutional
process. They boycotted the election of Prachanda’s successor, party
leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha declaring, “Without restoring civilian
supremacy and correcting the president’s move, the new government
will be unconstitutional. This government has wrong political ground
as it is being formed as a ploy to sabotage the peace and
constitution-making process and restore military supremacy. I want to
give you a benefit of doubt, if you are nationalist, you will come
back to the path drawn by the people’s movement.”
In the six months since the Maoists have made it impossible for the
22-party coalition government to function, accusing it of being
unwilling to enforce the Comprehensive Agreement integrating the two
armies. They have focused on this issue of “civilian supremacy,”
which is really a matter of focusing upon the fact that there remain
two headquarters of real power in the country.
There’s the status quo in the Singha Durbar complex, where the
Maoists have tried to negotiate their way as parliamentary
politicians but where power is ultimately guaranteed by the old
state’s army backed up by India and U.S., the army that the Maoists
confronted and humiliated big-time. And there’s the new order being
built elsewhere.
Last week, Maoists in the state of Kirat declared the autonomy of
that state. This was in accordance with the “first phase” plans
for the People’s Movement III prior to the mass show of strength in
the capital. But the announcement of ethnic-based states in a federal
system had been postponed after some discussion and it’s not clear
whether local party leader and politburo member, coordinator of Kirat
State Uprising Committee, Gopal Kirati actually had Central Committee
permission. The plan to shut down the international airport was
cancelled after ambassadors’ protests but the plan to cut off all
roads to Kathmandu was executed efficiently after November 1.
Ambulances and other essential vehicles were allowed egress and
ingress; the Maoists having acquired much valley support are not
looking to lose it.
But they are making the point to their political colleagues, with
whom they’ve worked through the Comprehensive Agreement but who they
see as for the most part only temporary allies at best, that just
because they’ve put down their arms doesn’t mean they can’t use
their mass organizational skills to scare the hell out of them. The
next step is a general strike.
In the meantime, the plan is for a no-confidence vote in the
parliament. Meanwhile, the Maoists control access to the valley and
it’s quite likely that activists are pouring in for the next round
of andolan. The “Prachanda Path” as articulated since 2001 has
involved a fusion of the Chinese People’s War model and the October
Revolution. Which of course means: urban insurrection.
Meanwhile UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, noting the obvious---that
the PLA demobilization under UN certification, which was supposed to
result in the integration of the two armies under the terms of the
Comprehensive Agreement, wasn’t happening---in late October
criticized the current Nepali government for proceeding “with a
fresh round of recruitment into the Nepal Army” and resuming “the
import of lethal military equipment.”
In the assessment of UNMIN [United Nations Mission in Nepal], either
step would violate the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and
the Agreement on Monitoring the Management of Arms and Armies. UNMIN
has continued to consistently convey this position to the Government
and the public. The Minister of Defence, Bidhya Bhandari, has called
for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to be revised, claiming that
restrictions it places on recruitment, arms purchases and training
had been detrimental to the effective functioning of the Nepal Army.
UCPN-M has strongly protested her statement.
Prachanda cited this report at the andolan last week. And I believe
he cited this passage in Ban’s report:
“In my meeting with the Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, at Sharm
el-Sheikh in July, I conveyed the strong concern of the international
community at the lack of progress in the peace process and stressed
the need for a time-bound effort to resolve the impediments hampering
the process. My Representative in Nepal and other senior officials
have consistently encouraged consensus and dialogue between the
parties, recommending the establishment of a more formal dialogue
mechanism to streamline negotiations and find creative solutions to
overcome the current impasse. At the same time, my Representative has
also underlined the need to avoid provocative statements or actions
in order to maintain a positive climate for dialogue.”
That is to say, Ban’s urging the reintegration of the Maoists into
government, realizing they’re organizing outside government from a
position of strength. And the Maoists naturally use this report to
strengthen their case at this time.
The South Korean diplomat has absolutely no personal interest in
facilitating the consummation of the twenty-first century’s first
revolution led by a self-pronounced Maoist party. But he apparently
thinks it’s best to recognize the reality of Maoist political
strength and to stick to the 2006 agreement.
Given this statement, the Maoists who now boast they have all
Kathmandu behind them can say much of the world as represented by the
UN secretary general agrees with their goal of “civilian
supremacy,” and that the 22-party coalition with the UML and
Congress at its head, linked to the Army, India and ultimately U.S.
imperialism is the isolated, marginalized force.
There are so many logical and moral arguments to assemble as Nepal’s
October approaches. It’s the mix of models, and ever-shifting
tactics, and adaptability and revolutionary competence of these
communists that never ceases to impress me. I truly think they may
pull it off.
Gary Leupp is Professor of History at Tufts University, and Adjunct
Professor of Religion. He is the author of Servants, Shophands and
Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan; Male Colors: The
Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan; and Interracial
Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900. He is
also a contributor to CounterPunch's merciless chronicle of the wars
on Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, Imperial Crusades.
_____
[4] India:
Economic and Political Weekly, 14 November 2009
CRITIQUING THE PROGRAMME OF ACTION OF THE MAOISTS
by Sumanta Banerjee
A response to the Communist Party of India (Maoist) comment (19
September 2009) on Sumanta Banerjee's earlier article (2 May 2009),
raising larger questions on the CPI(Maoist) strategies and tactics.
I thank the spokesperson of the CPI(Maoist) for his response ("On
the Election Boycott Tactic of the Maoists", EPW, 19 September) to my
article, "The Maoists, Elections, Boycotts and Violence" which
enables me to raise some basic questions regarding his party's
strategy and tactics, that go beyond the immediate controversy over
the boycott of the May Lok Sabha polls.
But let me first dispose of the spokesperson's objections to my views
on election boycott. I accept the explanation that the stoppage of
the train at Hehegada station in Jharkhand was not a hijacking, but a
stopping of the train, which as he says had nothing to do with the
poll boycott. I share the anger of the villagers demanding a judicial
enquiry into the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killing of five
youths. But could not their anger had been directed by the CPI
(Maoist) towards more effective channels (like encirclement of the
district administration headquarters demanding punishment of the
guilty), instead of choosing a soft target like a train, holding it
up for four hours, totally indifferent to the plight of the common
passengers travelling by it? Have the Maoist leadership ever
considered how many among them might have been patients going for
medical treatment, or students sitting for some examinations, or some
similar urgent work? The most horrendous example of such utter
indifference by the Maoists to lives of the common people was the
Kakatiya train incident (which the spokesperson now admits was a
"blot" in his party history).
Poll statistics
As for people's participation in elections, I am being questioned
for relying on the Election Commission (EC) statistics and the "Delhi-
centric press" which had reported "moderate to high percentage of
Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and West
Bengal. I thank the spokesperson for supplying us with alternative
statistics (collected by his party) showing less turnout at polling
booths in certain constituencies in those areas where the Maoists
wield power. But then why is the party spokesperson depending on
figures from the same EC, regarding polling trends in the Lok Sabha
elections in Mumbai of all places? He has selectively accepted the
Commission's statistics of 43.2% of voting in Mumbai and even less in
Thane, to prove his point that his party's poll boycott campaign had
caught up in these areas. Do the Maoist leaders seriously believe
that the low percentage of voting in Mumbai was in response to their
call for poll boycott? Do they claim that the 57% of the electorate
of Mumbai who refused to vote were all inspired by their
revolutionary theory of rejection of the parliamentary system - or
was it sheer apathy and cynicism on their part (including the upper
and middle class citizens)? Mumbai anyway is never known to be a base
of the Maoist party's activities or even propaganda.
If the EC's figures for the Mumbai elections are acceptable to the
party spokes- person, what prevents him from giving credence to its
statistics regarding other states and constituencies also where the
party's poll boycott had no impact? The statistics indicate that the
percentage of votes polled in the 2009 Lok Sabha election has not
been any different from the 2004 election - hovering around 58%.
CPI(Maoist) therefore cannot claim that its call for boycott of polls
(described as a "dominant form of struggle" in its politburo
statement of 12 June 2009) had made any impact on the vast masses of
the electorate all over India. The percentage of voting was highest
in Andhra Pradesh - 72 - a fact which even the party recognises when
it attributes the "increase in polling percentage" to "a setback to
the revolutionary movement" and "deployment of the police (which) can
ensure a high percentage of polling even in Maoist strongholds". Let
us look at the polling percentage in a few other states where the
Maoists have a significant presence - the so-called "Red Corridor"
stretching from the north to the south. In only Bihar the percentage
was low - 44.85 - while Chhattisgarh (the main Maoist bastion)
registered 55.30, Jharkhand 51.52, Madhya Pradesh 50.87, and
Maharashtra 50.76.
What do these statistics indicate? At least half of the Indian
electorate could have exercised their vote out of what the party
spokesperson describes as "material and other incentives, caste,
communal, ethnic, regional and other factors..." or a hope of some
change through the electoral process. The other half which did not
vote had either lost faith in the process, or had no respect for the
candidates whom they were asked to vote for. In other words, large
sections of the Indian people are not yet prepared for the rejection
of the parliamentary system, lock stock and barrel, from any deep
ideological commitment. As the spokesperson himself admits, it is
only the "emergence of an alternative to the parliamentary
institutions (that) will bring about a qualitative change in the
perception of the people". It will therefore be a long haul for the
Maoists to win over these vast masses who have to be convinced first
about the viability and effectiveness of governance by the
alternative "organs of people's power" that they claim to have
established in their areas of control, and to be assured of the
Maoist party's commitment to humanitarian values and democratic norms
in its operations in public. on 'developmental' Activities As for
the party's policy towards the government's "developmental"
activities, I generally agree with its critique of the Indian state's
model of "development", and with its contention that the
administration has taken up road-building at a hectic pace, primarily
to "exploit the entire natural wealth from Raoghat to Maad", and is
using school buildings to "provide fortified shelters to the CRPF".
But while opposing these state-sponsored "developmental" activities,
the party should take alternative measures to help the villagers to
gain access to education, roads and power supply. It is reassuring
that the CPI(Maoist), according to its spokesperson, had " reviewed
this and decided to take up such sabotage activities in a selective
manner with least inconvenience to the people at large". dangerous
Portents Let me take off from this to go beyond the poll boycott
issue, and take up the post- poll position of the CPI(Maoist). I am
in general agreement with its assessment of the election results and
the post-electoral scenario, as described in its politburo statement
of 12 June 2009 ("Post-Election Situation - Our Tasks"). It is also
good to see that the party has recognised its mistakes and is
promising to "take extra pre- cautions not to take up reckless
actions, not to cause damage to people's property or cause
inconvenience to people..." There is, however, no evidence of such
precautions, as apparent from the continuing "reckless actions" by
its cadres like destruction of railway stations and tracks,
disruptions in public life by frequent bandhs in the Bihar-Jharkhand
stretch, and indiscriminate killing of poor villagers and their
families including children, just because they happen to be
supporters of the CPI(M) or some other political party in Midnapore,
Purulia and Bankura in West Bengal.
Moreover, I find a dangerously opportunistic line in the CPI
(Maoist)'s sympathetic assessment of ethno-nationalist insurgencies
of a fascist nature (e g, LTTE in Sri Lanka and ULFA in Assam) and
fundamentalist religion-based terrorist acts of vengeance (e g, by
Taliban in Swat Valley and the north west in Pakistan), as ex-
pressed in the politburo statement, as well as certain utterances and
statements by its spokespersons (e g, Koteswar Rao's recent
interviews in Lalgarh). Although it is well known that the LTTE
hijacked the just cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils, dragged down the
national liberation struggle into a personality-based (Prabhakaran-
led) autocratic militarist misadventure by ruthlessly decimating
other Tamil representatives of the struggle and dividing the Sri
Lankan Tamil community thereby, the politburo sheds tears over its
failure:
"The setback suffered by the LTTE and the Tamil liberation struggle
in Sri Lanka also has a negative effect on the revolutionary movement
in India as well as south Asia and the world at large". On the
contrary, the revolutionary movements in south Asia should heave a
sigh of relief at the elimination of a fascist chauvinistic party
that had besmirched the cause of national liberation of the Sri
Lankan Tamils. Let us wait for the emergence of a new Tamil
leadership which may be able to re-conceptualise their demand for
self- determination in a new programme of strategy and tactics,
committed to socialist and democratic reforms. sympathy for
Terrorist Acts The politburo statement also betrays a sneaking
sympathy for the terrorist acts of Islamic fundamentalist forces. It
includes such acts as part of "the national liberation struggles in
the contemporary world", by describing them as "militant uprisings in
several parts of Pakistan such as the Swat Valley, North West
Provinces, FATA and other regions...". Still later, it bemoans that
"the massive offensive on Islamic jihadist forces in Pakistan" had
been a "negative factor" in the present international situation. The
CPI(Maoist) senior leader Koteswar Rao (known as Kishanji) has come
out openly in support of the Islamic jihadis in a recent news paper
interview, where he said: "...we feel that the Islamic upsurge should
not be opposed as it is basically anti-US and anti-imperialist in
nature. We therefore want it to grow." When the newspaper reporter
interviewing him pointed out at the loss of hundreds of innocent
lives caused by the terror attacks in Mumbai, he came out with the
amazing comment: "We do not support the way they attacked the
Victoria station, where most of the victims were Muslims!" (Hindustan
Times, 9 June 2009). As if had the majority of the victims been non-
Muslims, even if they were innocent, it would not have mattered to
the Maoist party!
Is such sympathy for the Islamic jihadist militants in consistence
with the ideology of the CPI(Maoist)? By their own public statements,
the Islamic jihadist forces (Taliban, Al Qaida, Lashkar-e-Taiba and
other militant outfits operating in the sub- continent) had
repeatedly made it clear that their goal is the setting up of an
Islamic state based on strict religious shariat laws, which ban
democratic political activities, curtail women's free movement,
impose orthodox feudal practices and customs, etc. Judging by
Koteswar Rao's statement, the CPI(Maoist) is supporting these Islamic
religious fundamentalist jihadists, just because they are opposing
the US. So, any stick is good enough to beat the US? The party fails
to analyse their class character and opportunist politics, and
forgets that the Taliban, Al Qaida, etc, which lead the "Islamic
upsurge" today, were created by the US CIA to overthrow the pro-
Soviet regime in Afghanistan. It is strange that the CPI(Maoist)
supports these Islamic terrorist groups (who are totally feudal and
anti-communist), but ignores the Latin American socialist forces,
both armed and parliamentary, who are putting up resistance against
US hegemony in a more meaningful way.
A similarly dangerous opportunist line is evident from the CPI
(Maoist)'s statements about ULFA and some other north-eastern
insurgent outfits. Koteswar Rao in another interview (taken by
Romeeta Datta and Aveek Datta and posted by
www.livemint.com on 29 May 2009) said:
We support all outfits fighting state-sponsored oppression - the
likes of ULFA, NSCN and PLA - because our enemy is common.
We have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NSCN,
ULFA and PLA for helping each other in our fight against the state.
From both the statements and actions of the ULFA, it is quite
evident that it is a xenophobic ethno-nationalist group, which while
fighting for a separate homeland, is targeting non-Assamese innocent
citizens (e g, migrant labourers from Bihar and other north-Indian
places), as well as Assamese dissidents and democrats who dare to
oppose their ideology. By entering into opportunist military
alliances with such outfits, the Maoists seem to be following the age-
old unprincipled doctrine of "My enemy's enemy is my friend", and
justifying it in the name of supporting self-determination of
nationalities.
A similar expediency led the Maoists in West Bengal to get into
underhand opportunist deals with the Trinamool Congress leader Mamata
Banerjee (who is now the Railways Minister of the UPA government), to
make use of popular discontent against CPI(M) gangsterism in
Nandigram. This fact was revealed, in an unguarded moment, by the
same Koteswar Rao in an interview with the Bengali TV Star Ananda
channel sometime ago, where he expressed the hope that Mamata would
protect his party from police persecution since it had supported her
in the past! need for introspection The basic debate therefore is
not over poll boycott per se, but revolves around the Maoist
leadership's ideological under- standing of the present overall
Indian situation, and their moral integrity. Instead of recognising
the various forms of struggles by which different sections of the op-
pressed people try to exhaust the available democratic opportunities,
and accommodating these forms in an inclusive programme of action,
the CPI(Maoist) leaders in an immature overestimation of the Indian
public mood are jumping the queue of options, and prioritising armed
struggle as the sole means. In a further step of immaturity - which
sad to say, also makes them morally culpable - they prefer to strike
deals with ethno-chauvinist armed outfits, or opportunist politicians
like Mamata Banerjee. It is these militarist priorities and political
expediencies that are eroding the ideological commitment of their
cadres. The latter (in West Bengal today in particular) seem to be
degenerating into roving gangs of paranoid revengeful killers -
recalling the dark days of the fratricidal warfare between the
Naxalites and CPI(M) youth cadres in the 1970s. The party leadership
does not seem to have any control over its cadres even in its own
strongholds - as evident from the spokesperson's admission that "the
unfortunate attacks on poll officials (in Chhattisgarh) were an
aberration...".
Thus, despite its achievements in building up alternative "organs of
people's power" in a few spots in Chhattisgarh and neighbouring
areas, the CPI(Maoist) has failed to expand its base - whether
politically or organisationally - in the rest of India. Besides, the
oft-reported acts of murders by its cadres (as gruesome as by the
Indian security forces) have robbed the party of public sympathy.
Taking advantage of the isolation of the party and its confinement to
a narrow zone, the Indian state is launching a massive military
offensive against Maoist bases. While human rights groups are
justifiably trying to rally worldwide public opinion against such an
offensive that would result in the massacre of the rural poor, may I
request the spokesperson of the CPI(Maoist) to persuade his
leadership to have a second look at their hitherto followed programme
of action?
Sumanta Banerjee is best known for his book In the Wake of Naxalbari:
A History of the Naxalite Movement in India (1980).
_____
[5] Harvard Kennedy School Inaugurates Kashmir Initiative
HARVARD Kennedy School
CARR CENTER for Human Rights Policy
Carr Center Hosts Discussion on 62 Years of Unrest in Kashmir
16 November, 2009 (Cambridge, MA): On 12 November 2009, Harvard
Kennedy School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy inaugurated the
Kashmir Initiative with the first panel of its Speaker Series: Human
Rights Policy for "The World’s Most Militarized Dispute." The event
was attended by students and faculty from Harvard, Tufts, Boston
University, MIT, as well as Kashmiri and other South Asian community
members from across the Boston area.
Carr Center Director Rory Stewart welcomed the guests to the panel
entitled “62 Years of Unrest: Regional & International Ramifications
of the Kashmir conflict.” Dr. Sugata Bose, the Gardiner Professor of
History and Director of the South Asia Initiative at Harvard
University, moderated the two hour panel discussion.
The three panelists were Dr. Angana Chatterji, Professor of Social
and Cultural Anthropology at California Institute of Integral Studies
and co?convener of the International People’s Tribunal for Human
Rights and Justice in Indian Administered Kashmir; Mr. Alexander
Evans, currently Yale World Fellow and on sabbatical from the British
Foreign Office; and Dr. Ayesha Jalal, the Mary Richardson Professor
of History and the Director of Center for South Asian and Indian
Ocean Studies at Tufts University.
Attendees included Carr Center senior fellow Rose Styron, a poet,
journalist, and long term human rights activist, as well as Nigel
Pont, Program Director for the Center’s State Building and Human
Rights in Afghanistan and Pakistan Program.
The panelists weaved together many nuances of the past, present, and
future of the Kashmir conflict. By broaching less often heard
dimensions of the conflict, such as the water resource competition or
the current civil disobedience in Kashmir, the panelists raised
several challenging questions about civil?political as well as social?
economic?cultural rights in Kashmir. The issue of the extensive
militarization and its ramifications was brought home through footage
of mass graves in Kashmiri towns and villages.
Carr Center’s Kashmiri Initiative is an effort to encourage
discussion about a region which is seeing increased geopolitical
importance with the continuing war along Pakistan’s untamed western
border and Afghanistan. The new U.S. administration’s renewed
attention to human rights and security concerns in the region makes
the time ripe this discussion. Kashmir has been divided and disputed
between India and Pakistan for the past 62 years; has been identified
by the U.S. government as the world’s most militarized dispute, with
more than 500,000 troops in Indian-administered Kashmir alone. At the
same time, the voices of Kashmiris who have suffered internal
conflict and human rights abuses are often missing from current
scholarship and discourse. Carr Center Director Rory Stewart has over
the last year implemented his vision of combining rigorous academic
thinking with practice and reality on the ground. Mallika Kaur
Sarkaria, a Masters in Public Policy student at Kennedy School and a
joint Law student at University of California, Berkeley, has assisted
the Center in formulating this Initiative, in collaboration with the
Center’s Advocacy and Outreach Manager, Steven Brzozowski. The panel
series with continue next year, with “The Two Kashmirs: Present
Realities in Indian & Pakistani Administered Kashmirs” on February
23, 2010 at Harvard Kennedy School.
Video footage from the first panel (forthcoming) and further
information about the Initiative is available on the Carr Center’s
“Kashmir Initiative” webpage.
For More Information and Poster, see:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/sbhrap/projects/kashmir/
speaker_series_09.php
Also: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/sbhrap/projects/kashmir/index.php
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/sbhrap/projects/kashmir/
CarrCenterKashmirPanel1.pdf
_____
[6] India: Resources For Secular Activists
(i) India: Concerned citizens statement in response to Jamait Ulema's
resolutions
the below statement was released on the 18th November 2009 at a press
conference which was addressed by Zafar Agha, Shabnam Hashmi, Gauhar
Raza and Sohail Hashmi.
among the signatories there are prominent names like Nasiruddin Shah,
Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Shaid Mehdi etc.
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2009/11/india-concerned-citizens-
statement-in.html
(ii) Mumbai probe fiasco: bad intelligence or poor media?
by Jawed Naqvi (dawn.com, 16 Nov, 2009)
THE Americans have caught two men for plotting attacks in India and
the Netherlands. One of the suspects is an American, the other a
Canadian of Pakistani origin. According to the Indian media both men
are linked to the Mumbai terror attacks of last November.
At least one Indian paper has blamed poor Indian intelligence for not
unearthing the important lead themselves. They had to wait for the
Americans to unravel the sinister plot, which may have had grave
implications for India’s security and for its future ties with
Pakistan.
But what have the Indian media themselves done to help with the
Mumbai probe? They can’t say it is not their business. Just across
the border, it was the Pakistani media that exposed the lie that was
being dished out by their government and state institutions – that
Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving suspect in the Mumbai attack, was not
a Pakistani. It was the Pakistani media that provided the clinching
proof of Kasab’s Pakistani identity to the chagrin of their
government. It was Pakistani TV and newspaper journalists who exposed
the lie. They deserve to be applauded for helping the Mumbai probe.
The Indian media can legitimately plead that they didn’t know enough
to reveal anything of consequence. Of course, it is often the case
that what they do know they do not always share with the public. That
is how the audio-visual details of the terror attack were made
available by a British channel, not an Indian one.
Murdochian media everywhere is an acknowledged part of the system,
often an extension of the state. In India senior editors are often
too busy vying for a Raja Sabha seat to play the people’s sentinel.
Barring a few exceptions, much of the so-called mainstream media
cannot claim to be the peoples’ watchdog it once was.
That the Mumbai attack was possible because of poor intelligence is a
fact acknowledged by Indian intelligence agencies. So there’s no
point accusing someone who has already confessed to a failure. The
Indian media, however, have not said mea culpa, not yet. There are
some ways by which they could yet redeem themselves.
One way would be to heed important questions raised by the wife of
Hemant Karkare, the head of Maharashtra’s anti-terror squad who was
killed under mysterious circumstances on the first night of the three-
day reign of terror in Mumbai’s Colaba district. The latest query
raised by Kavita Karkare – a brave and candid lady of rare grace –
pertains to the mystery of her husband’s missing bullet-proof
jacket. What happened to the dead police officer’s bullet-proof
vest? It may hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death.
According to a new book by a former chief of Inspector General of the
Maharashtra Police, there are strong reasons to bifurcate the terror
attacks into two separate episodes and to investigate them
separately. One part of the attacks had a Pakistani connection. These
took place in two hotels and a Jewish hostel in a posh area of the
Colaba district. The other attacks happened at a busy railway station
and in its vicinity. Most people were killed and injured there. Mr
Karkare was also killed in the same area off the Rangabhavan Lane.
The book – Who killed Karkare? The real face of terrorism in India
– by S.M. Mushrif raises questions on the basis of the media
coverage of the sensational crime that went on for almost three full
days. Mushrif has himself predicted what the fate of the book is
likely to be. “It will be either ignored or it will be trashed
without being read.” I read it in bits and found it asking pertinent
questions about the terror attack that brought the peace process
between India and Pakistan to a grinding halt and which killed a
pivotal officer investigating India’s own rightwing upper caste
extremists.
Mushrif brings out an intense rivalry between the country’s external
spy agency RAW and the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He squarely blames
the IB for allegedly withholding information provided by RAW about
the imminent attack on Mumbai. Karkare, a secular police officer, had
worked for RAW before his assignment as head of the ATS.
Subhash Gatade also asks some of the questions raised by Mushrif. In
an article carried by Communalism Combat, Gatade noted how before him
the ATS had “earned lot of disrepute - especially in the eyes of the
minority - for its functioning”.
The manner in which it had handled the Nanded bomb blasts (April
2006) or Malegaon bomb blasts and also the bomb blasts in local
trains (2007) had come under scanner. “Perhaps the powers that be
were keen that someone with a professional approach takes up the
mantle and Hemant Karkare was found to be the ideal person for it.
One can presume that there were strong political considerations
behind this choice as the ‘secular’ image of the parties in power
- at the state and the centre - had taken a lot of hit because of
these mishandlings.”
And Karkare demonstrated in a short span of time that he meant
business, says Gatade. “It was evident in the manner in which he led
the investigations into the bomb blasts in Gadkari Rangayatan, Thane
and Panvel (June 2008) and ultimately nabbed the Hindutva terrorists
belonging to the Sanatan Sanstha and filed a few hundred page charge-
sheet against the accused in the stipulated time.
“Looking back it is clear that if the ATS would have been led by any
other person who was less professional, it would have been impossible
to expose the machinations of this ‘spiritual cult’ for whom
‘destruction of evil-doers’ was part of ‘spiritual practice’.
Although the main charge-sheet against the accused did not contain
names of the Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samity to which
they belonged, he had promised in an interview that in a
supplementary charge-sheet this omission would be corrected. It is a
different matter that the day did not arrive,” Gatade said.
Kavita - Karkare’s wife - had learnt from newspapers that leaders of
RSS, BJP, VHP and Shiv Sena were trying all possible means to
decelerate the pace of investigations and were exerting lot of direct-
indirect pressure on Karkare to go slow with the investigations. A
few amongst them had even accused ATS of being on a witch-hunt and
some had even demanded that ATS officers should be subjected to narco-
analysis to establish their motives.
Lal Kishan Advani, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate had even
demanded a change in the ATS and an enquiry into the torture
accusations made by the accused. All the top leaders of the BJP-Shiv
Sena - who swore by the Indian constitution - had no qualms in
declaring full support to the perpetrators and even arranging legal
support for them.
In a write-up - The Mumbai Terror Attacks: Need For A Thorough
Investigation, R.H., 08 December, 2008 www.countercurrents.org -- the
author provides details of the inconsistencies in the reports about
the killing.
“...The earliest reports, presumably relayed from the police via the
media, said that Karkare had been killed at the Taj, and Salaskar and
Kamte at Metro. If this was not true, why were we told this? And why
was the story later changed? Was it because it conflicted with
eyewitness accounts? Indeed, under the heading ‘ATS Chief Hemant
Karkare Killed: His Last Pics’, IBNlive showed footage first of
Karkare putting on a helmet and bullet-proof vest, and then a
shootout at Metro, where an unconscious man who looks like Karkare
and wearing the same light blue shirt and dark trousers (but without
any blood on his shirt or the terrible wounds we saw on his face at
his funeral) is being pulled into a car by two youths in saffron
shirts...”
Is there a lead in this that newspapers should ideally follow? Or is
it to be dismissed as wild rant of a few perennially disgruntled
people? In which case how do we place the latest embarrassing
question posed by Kavita Karkare?
(ii) After The Karnataka Quake: The BJP as political franchise by
Praful Bidwai (16 November 2009)
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2009/11/after-karnataka-quake-bjp-as-
political.html
(iv) Indus junk science (once more)
Message from: "Steve Farmer" on Indo Eurasia Research List ( http://
groups.yahoo.com/group/Indo-Eurasian_research/ )
Sat Nov 14, 2009 11:45 am (PST)
OK, can’t leave humanity yet. I have to be the first to post this
new article on the Indus published in “The Hindu”, which someone
just shoved at me.
It is about the work of B. Wells and (even worse) Steve Bonta on a
supposed “volumetric system” in Indus inscriptions.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article48883.ece
The claims here are pure garbage. Bonta was invited to give a talk at
one of the Harvard Roundtable meetings on the Indus—back in 2003 --
when he made similar claims. It took us about 30 seconds to falsify
his claims about strokes being metric devices in Indus symbols, as
Michael and others on the List who were there will remember. (Bonta
was told by a very senior researcher after he gave his talk to “keep
a low profile” at the rest of the meeting.)
Pure crud, and the world is going mad. This goes beyond “junk”
science. We know a lot about how seals were used all over the
ancient world. They weren’t used in any of the ways imagined in this
idiotic article.
Why aren’t Indian researchers (including many who read this List)
protesting the steady stream of junk science being pushed in the
Indian press, especially in The Hindu?
Off to live off wild berries and roots in the mountains.
Steve
_____
[7] Announcements:
(i) Invitation to National Convention / Demonstration on
Displacement and Development in the context of proposed Land
Acquisition (Amendment) and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bills
November 18th – 21st, New Delhi
November 12 2009
Friends,
Since March 2007, NAPM, NFFPFW, National Hawkers Federation, Nadi
Ghati Morcha, Him Niti Abhiyan and many other mass organisations of
the country came together under the banner of Sangharsh, and resisted
the government’s machinations of enacting a faulty Resettlement and
Rehabilitation Act and introducing amendments to the Land Acquisition
Act, promoting private and corporate interests over public good. We
gathered recently in Delhi in July 2009 and our struggle gained a
significant boost when the Acts could not be passed in the Budget
session of the Parliament.
The land related conflicts and ensuing violence and
divide across the country today have brought the issue of
displacement and resettlement onto the front pages of news papers
once again. There have been numerous demonstrations against
displacement in Orissa, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh in
recent months. All across, there is a simmering discontent in the
country side and unrest in the urban areas as well. Continuing with
our past efforts and series of ongoing actions across the country and
our resolve to struggle for a people-friendly, democratic Act on R&R
and least displacing development model, we invite you all to a four
day programme in Delhi from November 18th -21st . (Please see details
below.)
The idea is not only to demonstrate, but also to capture
the civil and democratic space in this charged times of undeclared
emergency, when the government is planning major offensive apparantly
against armed resistance by Maoists, but in the process is also
clamping down on peaceful mass struggles that are challenging
dispossession and inequity. In such difficult times of state-
sponsored militarisation, it is important to remind the government
and the society at large that there is a large mass of people in the
country who have been struggling democratically, for decades, to
retain community control over natural resources and resist any
attempt at displacing them from their land and livelihood. We wish to
make it clear to the government and send out a loud message that
these Bills, in their current form, far from providing justice to the
millions of displaced people across the country, will only accentuate
their misery and anger.
We demand that UPA government MUST :
1. NOT pass the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill and
Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill in their current form in the
Parliament. UPA attempted this towards the end of the 14th Lok Sabha
and also on the last day of the Monsoon Session in extremely
secretive manner without any debate and adequate prior information.
2. ENACT a National Development, Displacement and Rehabilitation
Act based on the Draft National Development, Displacement, and
Rehabilitation Policy passed by the National Advisory council in 2006
enunciating the principle of least displacement, just rehabilitation
and a decentralized development planning based on Article 243 of the
Constitution, PESA 1996 and Forest Rights Act, 2006.
3. ISSUE a White Paper on all the land acquisitions, displacement
caused and rehabilitation completed since independence. The White
Paper must also make public the extent of land utilized, unutilized
and land acquired for public purpose but remains occupied by sick and
non-functional industries and other infrastructure projects.
4. and all the state Governments should come out publicly with
the MoUs signed with different corporations, companies and others,
which have land acquisition requirements and hold public dialogue -
especially with affected people.
We do hope that you will be able to join all of us in this national
endeavour to bring out long-lasting legal and political change in
favour of the struggling millions.
Important dates are :
November 18 – Convention at Kanjhawala, (Venue near the Kanjhawla
main bus stand) Rohini, Delhi. Get off at the Pritampura Metro
Station and take a local RTV, mini bus to Kanjahwala to reach to the
dharna site. Call Rawat : 011 20506929.
November 18th - Remembering Prabhash Joshi, Gandhi Peace Foundation,
5:00 pm onwards
November 19 – 20 – Massive demonstration at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi
November 21 – “Development, Displacement and Land Conflicts
Today” Public meeting at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi. (3-6 pm)
Please do try and join us in large numbers and join us in the
struggle of the masses of the country in securing just livelihood and
dignity.
In Solidarity,
Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan & NAPM
Ashok Chowdhury, National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers
(NFFPFW)
Gautam Bandopadhyay, Nadi Ghati Morcha, Chattisgarh
Dayamani Barla, Adivasi Mulnivasi Astitva Raksha Manch, Jharkhand
Roma, Kaimur Kshetra Mahila Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, NFFPFW
(Sonbhadra)
Pushpa Toppo, Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan, NFFPFW Jharkhand
Dr. Sunilam, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Betul
Guman Singh, Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, Himachal Pradesh
Sandhya Devi, Kalahandi Mahila Mahasangh, Orissa
Shaktiman Ghosh, National Hawkers Federation, West Bengal
Advocate Aradhana Bhargav, Pench Sangharsh Samiti, Madhya Pradesh
Niketan Palkar, Tata Dharangrast Sangharsh Samiti and Sahyadri Bachao
Andolan, Maharashtra
Hansraj Gheora, Bhumi Bachao Andolan, Delhi
Akhil Gogoi, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, NAPM Assam
Anand Mazgaonkar, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, NAPM Gujarat
Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, NAPM
Bhupinder Singh Rawat, Jan Sangharsh Vahini, NAPM Delhi
Debjit Dutt and Murad Hussain, NAPM West Bengal
Faisal, NAPM Haryana
Gabriele / Geeta Ramakrishnan NAPM, Tamilnadu
Geo Jose / Hussain Master, NAPM, Kerala
Mukta Srivastava, NAPM Maharashtra
P Chennaiah, Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruthidarula Union (APVVU), NAPM
Rajendra Ravi, NAPM, Delhi
Ramakrishnam Raju, United Forum for RTI, Andhra Pradesh
Praffula Samantray, NAPM Orissa
Sandeep Pandey, Aasha Parivaar (U.P.) NAPM
Sanjay M G, NAPM Maharashtra
Simpreet Singh, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan, Mumbai, NAPM
Suniti S R, Visthapan Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, NAPM Maharashtra
Ulka Mahajan, SEZ-Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, NAPM Maharashtra
Venkatesh, Sr. Celia and Sudhir Vombatkare, NAPM, Karnataka
Vimalbhai, Matu Jan Sangathan, NAPM Uttarakhand
--
National Alliance of Peoples' Movements (NAPM)
Mobile +91 9818 905316
email : napmindia at gmail.com | kmadhuresh at gmail.com
Web : www.napm-india.org
o o o
(ii) Inviting you to join the Rally for the RIGHT to FOOD 26
November 2009 (New Delhi)
A rally outside Parliament demanding the passage of a comprehensive
Food Entitlements Act and effective interventions in drought stricken
areas.
Organized by The Right to Food Campaign.
Route: Mandi House to Parliament Street (followed by demo outside
Parliament.
Assembly time: 10 am. Rally and demo: 11.00 am- 5.00pm
Dear All,
Greetings from the Right to Food Campaign Secretariat, New Delhi.
This is to invite you once again for a rally on the 26th of
November, 2009 to demand the passage of a comprehensive Food
Entitlements Act and effective interventions in drought stricken areas.
The country is faced by severe drought and spiraling food
prices. The situation of hunger and malnutrition in the country is
exacerbated even more than usual. The UPA government's response to
rampant and growing hunger has been mere talk of a farcical National
Food Security Act which does nothing to address food security
concerns. Now, even this inadequate attempt has been shelved on the
pretext of tackling the drought first, though in fact, there is total
inaction on the drought.
The campaign's essentials demands, and working draft of a Food
Entitlements Act, emerged out of a collective process including
consultations held in Delhi on 18th June, 11th July and 17th
September (for details, see “Right to Food Act” section at
www.righttofoodindia.org).
To press these demands, the Right to Food Campaign is planning a
mass rally and demonstration on 26th November, 2009 outside
parliament house (at Jantar Mantar). The rally will begin from Mandi
house (assembly time 10 am).
We appeal to you to join this rally in full strength. We also
request you to support this initiative by:
a) Organising signature campaigns in your area and bringing the
signatures for display in the rally. The signatures can be collected
on sarees or banners using the attached documents as a mobilising tool.
b) Distributing and communicating the charter of demands for the
march
and mobilising as many as possible to participate in the rally.
c) Helping to mobilise participants for the 26th November rally.
d) Helping to raise funds for the rally.
We attach the following documents: (a) Charter of demands for
the rally in English and Hindi; (b) Summary of the demands as parcha
in english and Hindi; (c) Invitation to the rally in Hindi.
Please consider translating some of these documents in the local
language.
Please drop us a line about your participation, including the
number of people from your group so that we can make adequate
logistic arrangements. Please help us spread the word regarding this
rally. You can contact those below for enquiries. Let us make this
rally a success!!
With regards,
Right to Food Campaign Secretariat
(On behalf of the steering group of the campaign)
Contacts:
Secretariat Office: 011-26499563
Kavita Srivastava- 009351562965
Annie Raja- 9868181992
Biraj Patnaik-09868828474
Eklavya- 09810828817
Trishna- 09891768050
Trilochan-09899952724
Where to Assemble: Mandi House at 10.00am
[...]
Secretariat - Right to Food Campaign
C/o PHRN
5 A, Jungi House,
Shahpur Jat, New Delhi 110049.
India
website: www.righttofoodindia.org
o o o
(iii) Invitation to 'The Joan P. Mencher Lectures: We Are what We
Eat' (20-22 November 2009)
Renowned anthropologist Dr. Joan P. Mencher has been working for many
years in India on topics that are increasingly acquiring urgency
across the globe- sustainable agriculture, inequitable food
distribution, climate change, the condition of the farmers. It is an
honor for Bangalore Film Society to present ‘The Joan P. Mencher
Lectures: We are What We Eat’, a series of film screenings and
discussions, as the professor herself introduces us to the complex
world of our daily bread- the history, the systems, the structures,
the intrigues, the deceits, the stories of tragedy, and of hope.
Friday 20th November, 2009 Time: 6.30pm
Screening of the ‘The Story of Stuff’ (20min)
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in
our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is
hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-
filled look at the underside of our production and consumption
patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge
number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to
create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something,
it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all
the stuff in your life forever.
Introduction to ‘The Joan P. Mencher Lectures: We Are What We Eat’
by Dr. Mencher.
Screening and discussion of ‘Fresh’ (90min) A Film by Ana Sophia
Joanes
Filmmaker Ana Sofia Joanes takes a close look at the innovative
alternatives to industrial food production
Saturday 21st November, 2009 Time: 6.30pm
Talk by Dr.Joan Mencher “Women and Alternative Visions for the
Future of food in India”
Screening and discussion of ‘The Power of Community: How Cuba
Survived Peak Oil’ (53min)
Sunday 22nd November, 2009 Time: 6.30pm
Screening and discussion of ‘Thirst’ (65min) A film by Alan Snitow
and Deborah Kauffman
Global corporations are rapidly buying up local water supplies.
ADMISSION FREE
Venue: Ashirvad, 30, St. Mark’s Road cross, Op. State Bank of India
Tel:25493705/9886213516
Email:bangalorefilmsociety(at)gmail.com
Joan P. Mencher is an Emerita Professor of Anthropology from the City
University of New York’s Graduate Center, and Lehman College of the
City University of New York. She is the chair of an embryonic not-for-
profit called The Second Chance Foundation, which works to support
rural grassroots organizations in India and the United States who
work with poor and small farmers on issues of sustainable
agriculture. She has worked primarily in South India but also in West
Bengal briefly, on issues of ecology, caste, land reform,
agriculture, women, and related issues over the last half century,
and has published widely both in the United States and in India on
all of these subjects, primarily in academic journals.
o o o
(iv) DEMO IN SUPPORT OF IROM SHARMILA
21st November 2009, 4-6 p.m., Marine Drive pavement, opp Jazz by the
Bay, down Churchgate [Bombay].
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act [AFSPA] can be introduced in
any part of India declared by the Union as 'disturbed'; this
declaration essentially amounts to declaring a state of emergency but
by-passes the Constitutional safeguards. In an area under the AFSPA,
any person in the army or paramilitary in the region, even a non-
commissioned officer, can:
Arrest citizens and enter their property without warrant, Shoot and
kill anyone on mere 'suspicion'.
No legal proceeding against the army's abuse of power can be
initiated without the prior permission of the Central government.
The AFSPA has been in operation in Manipur almost continuously since
1980, purportedly to crush insurgency. However, the AFSPA has become
a tool of state abuse, oppression and discrimination. In this
situation death comes easy. So does rape, fake encounters, abduction,
arbitrary detention, torture and sexual assault. Destruction and
looting of property is common.
Yet, India's landscape little acknowledges the ravages of Manipur and
its vast human tragedy.
On 2 November, 2000, Irom Chanu Sharmila, a Manipuri poet, went on a
hunger strike after the Indian Army massacred ten civilians in Malom,
Manipur.
She has a single demand: Repeal the AFSPA.
She was arrested on 6th November. On 21 November, 2000 a plastic tube
was inserted into her nose and liquid nutrient inserted into her body.
21st November, 2009 will mark the 10th year that Sharmila has been
living on this liquid diet; every day for ten years she has been
force-fed through her nose.
In support, women's organisations in Manipur have been on a relay
hunger fast since December 2008. On 15 July 2004 to highlight the
rape and killing of Manorama Devi and asking for the repeal of the
AFSPA, the Meira Paibis, women activists, held a nude protest in
front of the headquarters of the Assam Rifles. On 27 December 2004 a
congregation of 32 civil society organisations of Manipur, called for
a 'public curfew' for the Act's repeal. There have been other,
innumerable protests, dharnas, marches and petitions, cased filed and
acts of great courage across the Northeast against the AFSPA.
Can the Indian government not hear? ... Mr. Chidambaram, Dr. Singh,
are you even listening?
It is important that we all lend solidarity against the
unconscionable, oppressive and unacceptable AFSPA.
We call for its immediate and complete repeal!
"I'll spread the fragrance of peace, From Kanglei, my birthplace; In
the ages to come, It will spread all over the world.
Committee for the Release of Binayak Sen
DEMO
21st November 2009, 4-6 p.m., Marine Drive pavement, opp Jazz by the
Bay, down Churchgate.
o o o
(v) Condolence Meeting for Prof.Nauman (Karachi, 5 December 2009)
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
South Asia Citizens Wire
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
matters of peace and democratisation in South
Asia. An offshoot of South Asia Citizens Web: www.sacw.net/
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SACW compilers.
More information about the SACW
mailing list