SACW - 12 March 2012 | Sri Lanka: Devolution & nationalism / Pakistan: PPC says halt Nuclear prog; Imran Khan & Taliban / India: Blind to Fukushima ; Ethnicity, Labour and Gender in Chota Nagpur

[Harsh Kapoor]

    South Asia Citizens Wire - 12 March 2012 - No. 2733
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Contents:

1. Sri Lanka: Protests, devolution and solidarity - A Discussion with Jayampathy Wickramaratne (Prachi Patankar and Jinee Lokaneeta)
2. Sri Lanka: Government organizes protests to distract from economic crisis (K. Govindan)
3. Stop Nuclear Energy Pursuit Demands Pakistan Peace Coalition
4. Pakistan: The lies and triangulations of Imran Khan (Saroop Ijaz)
5. India in Denial of Fukushima (M.V. Ramana)
6. India: Fukushima-Chernobyl commemoration programmes begin in Kolkata
7. India: Strike-breaking or the Refusal of Subalternity ? An Essay on Ethnicity, Class and Gender in Chota Nagpur (Dilip Simeon)
8. India: Dams and Livelihoods (Sanjib Baruah)
9. India: A house for sparrows (Harsh Mander)
10. India: Need for radical electoral reforms (Vidya Bhushan Rawat)
11. India: Citizens’ Statement on the arrest of Journalist Kazmi
12. India: Terror Acts' Investigation and RSS
13. India: Violence escalates in post-poll UP
14. UK: Faith - know thy place (Rahila Gupta)

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1. SRI LANKA: PROTESTS, DEVOLUTION AND SOLIDARITY - A DISCUSSION WITH JAYAMPATHY WICKRAMARATNE
by Prachi Patankar and Jinee Lokaneeta
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(The Island)

On March 4, Sunday evening, Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne spoke at a public meeting titled, ‘Post-war Sri Lanka: The Political Solution and its Historical Context’, organised by the South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI) at the Brecht Forum in New York City. We were fortunate to engage Wickramaratne, a long-time member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a former senior advisor to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs, and a member of the team that drafted the 2000 Constitution Bill and signatory to the Majority Report of Experts Committee to the All Party Representative Committee in 2006. Wickramaratne gave us a fascinating account of how the story of devolution – sharing of power with the minorities particularly Tamils and Muslims – has repeatedly come up in the context of Sri Lanka and unfortunately remains an elusive goal at the current moment under the present Government.

While the major international stories on Sri Lanka have been about the war between the LTTE and the Government, and since the end of the war, the demand for war crimes investigation; Wickramaratne’s talk challenged the audience to look at a strong tradition of constitutionalism and the piecemeal way in which the question of devolution has been brought to the centre stage of Sri Lankan politics. Focusing on some of the key phases in which devolution became an issue, Wickramaratne suggested a remarkable story of how in recent years there has been much more of an acceptance of the need for power sharing by the dominant political parties.

Solidarity and the Recent Protests

This was not the first event that SASI has organised on Sri Lanka. As the war came to an end in 2009, SASI organised a number of events in New York raising concerns about the civilian predicament. At that time, activists and dissidents, and strong critics of the LTTE, including Ragavan, a founding member of LTTE and Nirmala Rajasingam offered excellent analysis that gave much needed exposure to the abuses of both the Government and the LTTE. Over the last two years, SASI has organised cultural and political discussions on Sri Lanka by engaging translations of literature from Sri Lanka and film screenings, including Dharmasena Pathiraja’s ‘In Search of a Road’.

Our interest in this discussion with Wickramaratne was in part influenced by recent developments in Sri Lanka, as SASI aspires to be in solidarity with social movements and progressive protests throughout South Asia. We have heard of the mounting mobilisations by university teachers, staff and students protesting the Government’s move to militarise and privatise higher education and the demands for pay increases. Last year, we heard about the garment sector workers who rose up against the Government’s proposed pension scheme that went against the interest of the workers. In January there was the major prison uprising in Colombo. In February, fishermen and many other sections of society protested fuel prices hikes; where police firing killed one fisherman and wounded many others.

These events reflect the deep chasm between the needs and the grievances of the people, especially the poor and the working classes and the increasing neoliberal trend in the Government’s economic policies. Although the war has been over for almost three years, the militarization of the Northern and Eastern Provinces continues. How do we understand the relationship between the post-war debates over devolution of power to the regions that ethnic minorities inhabit and the economic discontent and the rise in protests across the country? The only major constitutional change in recent years has been the 18th Amendment with further concentration of power in the President. Is there a connection between the Government’s policies and the waves of protests by a diversity of working people, nurses and teachers, fishermen and bus drivers, students and prisoners? Are these protests similar to the Arab uprisings? After all, militarized police repression including tear gas has been used by governments all over the world. But what is the historical context in Sri Lanka and how do we understand these protests in relation to a political solution to the ethnic conflict? Those are the questions that motivated us to organise this discussion with Wickramaratne.

Constitutional History and the 13th Amendment

In Wickramaratne’s rendering of history, he pointed out that the demand for devolution also gradually emerged in Sri Lankan politics. Perhaps the early enfranchisement of all sections of society in the pre-independence period in 1931 had precluded the need to demand for an actual federal system. It was only when the Citizenship Act in 1948 systematically disenfranchised the Up-Country Tamils, followed soon after by the language policy change in 1956, making Sinhalese the only official language in place of English, that different articulation of the demands for Tamils through a variety of methods came into being. While the demands for a separate nation eventually leading to the decades of war is well known, what Wickramaratne reminded us was that there were simultaneous attempts by politicians, constitutional scholars, and activists to come up with a constitutional framework compatible with the idea of devolution.

To some extent the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was a result of such efforts. However, Wickramaratne pointed to how even this Amendment – while allowing for Provincial Councils and acknowledging some rights such as accepting Tamil also as an official language – continues to be in favour of the central government. He spoke extensively of the experiences of the Provincial Councils in different parts of the country, and how they lacked specific statutes and their work was circumscribed by undue intervention by the central government, thus making the 13th Amendment a flawed document.

Wickramaratne’s main point, however, was that there was no dearth of adequate proposals for devolution given the 1987, 1994, 1997 initiatives and more recently in the 2000 Constitution Bill and 2006 Expert Committee Majority Report. Rather, the main problem lies in the absence of political will to really follow through with a political solution to the minority problem.

Questions of Devolution and Democratisation

There were some very provocative questions from the Brecht Forum audience at the end of his talk. An audience member asked whether the inability of these constitutional proposals to bring forth the issue of devolution into reality points to the limits of constitutionalism in Sri Lanka and whether one should perhaps focus on mass movements instead for change. Wickramaratne’s answer was to point to the gradual acceptance of the idea of devolution by the dominant parties such as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the United National Party which was not the case earlier, suggesting the significance of pursuing these amendments, proposals, and constitutional efforts.

In response to whether he thought that devolution was supported by people in the south, given the public celebration of the end of the war, Wickramaratne made an important point about being able to distinguish between celebrations of the end of the LTTE versus the suffering of the broader Tamil population, and that there is much greater support on the ground to accept power-sharing with the Tamil community which is at issue today. Another audience member added that the celebrations were also not as spontaneous as they seemed and were led and organised by the more right-wing Sinhalese leadership. Wickramaratne contended that there is not much opposition to the idea of devolution among the broader Sinhalese population today. Although, some may say that the lack of opposition to the idea of devolution may not signal an overall acceptance, it still signifies a hope in a country where many issues are still defined through the lens of the ethnic question. In the post-war country, many democratic minded people are hoping for a future where alliances and solidarities will be formed across ethnic boundaries that have separated them for so many years. As the recent protests have shown, the hopes for these alliances are ripe as the poor and the working class people join across ethnic communities in challenging the Government’s neoliberal policies.

During the talk, questions were also raised about the role of neoliberal reforms today in creating inequalities in Sri Lanka to which the speaker readily agreed and mentioned that more political parties and leaders are also starting to recognise this as a problem with the Government. Furthermore, another challenging comment was whether one can think of devolution in separation to the general question of democratisation. Wickramaratne responded that devolution is not just linked to the minority question but rather has to be about challenging the unitary state, the executive presidency that has allowed for centralisation of powers, violation of fundamental rights, and measures affecting the independence of the judiciary – all of which could be engaged by demands for democratisation. The uniqueness of this talk was that it reminded us that the war crimes issue – while it has to be addressed for closure and preferably through a domestic mechanism – should not be allowed to drown out the voices of devolution, the tradition of constitutional reform and the existing frameworks for power sharing between the different communities alongside a general demand for democratisation.

Prachi Patankar is a board member of the War Resisters League. Jinee Lokaneeta teaches political science at Drew University. They are both activists with the South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI), New York.

[The above article is available at: http://www.sacw.net/article2583.html]

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2. SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT ORGANIZES PROTESTS TO DISTRACT FROM ECONOMIC CRISIS
by K. Govindan
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(sacw.net - 11 March 2012)
Tens of thousands took to the streets of Colombo and other cities and towns, in the last week of February and into the following week.
There were two oddities about these demonstrations of “peoples’ power” – as some government politicians described them.
First, no-one was shot dead, no-one was tear-gassed, no court orders were taken to ban public protests, the state media did not demonize the demonstrators, and nor did cabinet ministers blame “western-funded NGOs” for stirring up the people.
Quite unlike the repression and intimidation unleashed in other recent demonstrations.
Second, the issue at stake in far-away Geneva, appeared not to be known or understood by the protestors.
They came waving the Sri Lankan flag, or carrying printed posters of president Mahinda Rajapakse or defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, or holding banners and placards (printed of course at state expense and distributed in state vehicles).
The messages were in favor of the unity and integrity of the country, denying human rights violations and war crimes, denouncing the US for supporting the LTTE (!), blaming the opposition UNP and NGOs for supporting international intervention in Sri Lanka, and similar vein.

http://www.sacw.net/article2584.html

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3. STOP NUCLEAR ENERGY PURSUIT DEMANDS PAKISTAN PEACE COALITION, ON FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF FUKUSHIMA
Press Release by Pakistan Peace Coalition
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(http://www.sacw.net/article2581.html)

Press Release by the Pakistan Peace Coalition
Japan’s Nuclear Emergency Anniversary: Pakistan Peace Coalition Demands a Halt to the Country’s Nuclear Energy Pursuit

March 10, 2012: The Pakistan Peace Coalition has once again called for a complete halt to the nuclear energy drive, currently being rigorously pursued by South Asian and East Asian countries particularly India, China, Korea with Pakistan eager to join the bandwagon.

The PPC issued a press statement on the occasion of the first anniversary of the nuclear emergency in Japan after a powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011, triggered radioactive discharge in the environment from the Fukushima-Daiichi and Fukushima-Daini power stations. Following Japan’s nuclear crisis, which is still ongoing, a number of countries undertook a revisit of their nuclear programmes. The Swiss government also announced a halt to its nuclear plans because of safety concerns. Germany called off the plan to extend the life of the country’s ageing nuclear power stations. The Italian government stated that it was considering a similar move, while Israel too indicated that it would announce a suspension of its forthcoming nuclear projects.

However, the nuclear energy industry continued to resist the move from world governments turning more aggressively to South Asian and East Asian countries to buy the unpopular nuclear power regime. Despite the Japanese catastrophe, China is building 27 new nuclear power plants on the East coast in addition to its preexisting 14 plants. The Japanese government has not officially discarded its policy of supplying 50% of the nation’s electricity with atomic energy, even though 80% of the population supports denuclearization. The Korean government has plans to increase the number of nuclear power plants from 21 to 34 by year 2024.

In South Asia, India relies on nuclear power as the fourth-largest source of electricity. India has 20 nuclear reactors in operation in six nuclear power plants, generating 4,780 MW while seven other reactors are being pursued. Following India’s stride in the nuclear energy regime, Pakistan too has embarked on a drive to pursue nuclear power plants for the country even though the existing overpriced capacity only contributes minimally to the country’s total power generation exercise.

The PPC demanded the government to put a stop to the ongoing nuclear programmes, while any plans of expanding the country’s current nuclear power generation capacity must be immediately called off. The Coalition observed that generation from nuclear sources contributes merely 2.4 percent of the total installed capacity of 19,252 MW in Pakistan while the hazards it poses far outweigh its utility. Totally dependent on state funding due to their astronomically high cost of establishment and maintenance, there is general consensus that nuclear plants are a costlier option, and deliver less electrical service per dollar compared to other sources of electricity generation. They are also described as “climate protection loser” causing worst climate effect, and in case of disaster, worst environment destruction as witnessed in Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island accidents.

The PPC criticised the relentless pursuit of nuclear capacity by the state. Pakistan currently operates two nuclear power plants, the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) and the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (CHASNUPP). In terms of nuclear arms production, multiple reactors in the country have produced over 100 nuclear weapons so far.

The safety of the current nuclear installations remain a concern since there is very little information on security measures adopted to protect the population from any potential risk in case of striking any of the country’s plants. On 18-19 Oct 2011 the KANUPP Karachi nuclear power plant imposed a seven-hour emergency after heavy water leaked from a feeder pipe to the reactor. The leakage took place during a routine maintenance shut down, and the emergency was lifted seven hours later, after the affected area was isolated. Nuclear facilities in Pakistan are precariously located, particularly KANUPP, that is stationed next to the coast. An earlier letter written by civil society organisation to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission to demand a copy of the Karachi Emergency Relief Plan, in case of a nuclear disaster met with no response. Concerns have also been raised against the authorities’ practice of dumping uranium waste near the mines in Dera Ghazi Khan. According to reports, the incidence of leukemia is higher in the region.

The PPC lamented that the country’s nuclear build up has cost the economy dearly while making absolutely no contribution to the protection of the citizens from the number of security threats faced by the nation. If anything, it has brought further disaster to the country as the security establishment continues to pursue nuclear aspirations at the cost of the economic and social progress of the country. In the wake of the unprecedented crisis in Japan and the resultant threat to human life, water bodies and the eco systems, and considering the response of the developed countries to re-think the direction of their nuclear policy, the government of Pakistan has a responsibility to protect its citizens and calling off nuclear ambitions is the first step in the direction.

The Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) is a civil society initiative for peace launched in September 1998 following the nuclear tests carried out by India and Pakistan. The PPC comprises numerous pro-peace organizations, groups and individuals from across Pakistan. Sharing the common goal for de-nuclearisation and peace in South Asia, the PPC and its component organisations work with regional movements and organizations on broader themes of: reduction in defense expenditure to promote human development in the two countries; de-nuclearisation of South Asia; and counter the increasing trends of intolerance and violence in society.

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4. PAKISTAN: THE LIES AND TRIANGULATIONS OF IMRAN KHAN
by Saroop Ijaz
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(The Express Tribune, March 10, 2012)

When the educated, prudent Imran Khan supporter is asked for her views on the unbelievably grand proclamation of the ‘dear leader’ stating that he will uproot corruption in 19 days and eradicate terrorism in 90 days, there are always two slants, often one after the other. The devotee will inevitably begin by arguing how Imran Khan will unquestionably and quite breezily achieve the said objectives in the self-stipulated time period. If the line of reasoning is further pursued (or reasoning used at all), they will gingerly and sheepishly concede that statements might not be susceptible to literal implementation, but making an invigorated comeback, state that he is better than everyone else and has built a cancer hospital and who else could they vote for etc? At this point a smirk breaks out on the face of the PTI foot-soldier; to them it is the clincher. The best argument for Imran Khan is something which can be vaguely phrased as some notion of the ‘lesser evil’. There is some difficulty in grasping the concept of how the subsequent quantitative judgment about less or more is precisely made, once the qualitative determination of ‘evilness’ has been reached.

Let me be plain on the matter, the proclamations of Imran Khan on corruption and terrorism and the arbitrary, flashy deadlines are untrue on their face. They require no elaborate refutation, and a child of 10 having average intelligence should see through them, unless of course they have uncritical love blinding them. This brings us to the question of motive, here again an unflattering binary is unavoidable; either he is lying by design or he does not possess the fortitude to understand and realize what he says. At a core level, it is a choice between deceit and self-deceit. I do not think Imran Khan is fantastically intelligent, but he is decent by cricketer/politician standard. Hence, because he is not severely mentally handicapped, it is safe to say that he does know what he promises is not only undoable, it is impossible that he will get anywhere close to these deadlines in the best of circumstances. The blatant misrepresentations cannot be attributed to Spartan simple-mindedness or childlike innocence; it is done with complete knowledge. Therefore, even to put it at its mildest, Imran Khan is deliberately and consciously lying.

The spirited defence of this lie telling would be, even if he is, so what, all politicians lie, at least he is not corrupt etc. That maybe so, but the mediocrity of his lies is really the crowning insult. It is either sheer laziness or he takes all of us for mere peasants (used metaphorically, as he has little to do with the real peasants). All politicians lie in Pakistan, but Imran Khan does it with a self-righteous impunity and feels he can go completely over the top. All of us, even his supporters, perhaps especially his supporters, should take some offence. George Bush, once reportedly mutilated and modified the famous words of Lincoln by saying, “you can fool some people all of the time, and those are the ones you would want to concentrate on”. To not acknowledge or confront all of this will make the PTI more ‘cultish’ than any other party on which the same charge is levelled by them. It has one slightly deep implication as well, it reduces all politics to apology and trickery, turns it into a circus. Maybe it was true for our politics before the Kaptaan came along, but he is certainly raising the intensity and lowering the bar for hypocrisy. The leaden irony here is that he does all of this, while continuing with his anti-politician and even anti-politics, GHQ-favouring rhetoric.

Imran Khan further believes that the Taliban are not a threat to Pakistan, and reciprocally the Taliban now believe Khan to be a good chap; it is really getting quite mushy. Before one gets all moist and husky at this love affair, also bear in mind that Khan believes that liberals are the “scum” of Pakistan and are the most despicable and dangerous group. Never mind the minorities; they are not a sufficient percentage of the electorate for even superficial consolations to be advanced to them. If it is possible to ‘out-Taliban’ the Taliban themselves, this is it. Sympathiser or apologist might be ineffective for the purpose of conveying real meaning. Not those “brothers” of ours blowing mosques, hospitals and schools up, the real threat is from the uncovered ladies, the Marxists and the whisky drinkers etc who are really to be taken to task. The logic of this should be obvious. And this is the party dominated by the urban elite and with a large proportionate representation of smart, educated women. An amusing denial of this is, that he is really faking it only to get power, once he does, he will go all Mustafa Kamal Ataturk on us. Hold your laughter though; the joke might be on us.

Imran Khan speaks of his fondness for the Taliban, Islamic welfare state (what that exactly is remains a historical mystery), liberal scum and female emancipation, progressive thought etc in the same breath, with complete absence of any embarrassment. Triangulation, a term perhaps most popularly used by Christopher Hitchens in regards to the politics of Bill Clinton is the concept of taking a few, best and most populist notion from both ends of the ideological spectrum and create a non-ideological, non-principled middle ground. In Imran Khan’s case it is certainly triangulation, however, it seems that he is drawing disproportionately heavily from the ultra-religious right rhetoric.

The relative rise of Imran Khan has brought another disturbing and anti-democratic tendency to our already sordid political culture. Any argument against Imran Khan is addressed by attacking the credibility of the accuser or the questioner, often in disobliging terms. This leaning towards the ad hominem is unmistakably indicative of a fascist tendency. Imran Khan cannot and should not be given a free pass to get away with the crudest of lies and terrorist apology.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2012.

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5. INDIA IN DENIAL OF FUKUSHIMA
by M.V. Ramana
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(Tehelka, 17 March 2012)

The overconfidence shown by Indian officials on nuclear safety is unfounded and alarming

PRIME MINISTER Manmohan Singh’s seemingly unfounded allegations about the funding of the people’s movement against the Koodankulam nuclear plant has shifted attention away from the real issue: the huge divide between the government and the policy elite that seems to have decided on expanding nuclear power, and the opposition to this way of generating electricity among local communities that live near these facilities. This opposition is in part due to the real and proven risk of catastrophic accidents that nuclear power plants pose to these communities.

To the public, the overwhelming lesson of Fukushima was that nuclear reactors are hazardous and support for expanding or maintaining nuclear power decreased nearly everywhere. A poll in 12 countries that currently operate nuclear power plants, commissioned by BBC News and carried out by GlobeScan between July and September 2011, found that approximately 70 percent oppose the construction of new nuclear reactors. Protests broke out or intensified in countries around the world. Fukushima also demonstrated unambiguously that communities living near nuclear facilities would be the worst affected in the event of an accident, a lesson that hasn’t been lost on the local populations in Koodankulam and Jaitapur.

At the other end of the spectrum was the reaction of the people associated with nuclear establishments, who vociferously argued that it was essential to persist with nuclear power — not surprising, since it conforms to their self-interest. The arguments they used to make a case for expanding nuclear power are best illustrated through statements made by officials associated with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

On 15 March 2011, NPCIL Chairman SK Jain trivialised what was going on in Japan saying, “There is no nuclear accident or incident in Fukushima… It is a well-planned emergency preparedness programme… (that) the nuclear operators of the Tokyo Electric Power Company are carrying out to contain the residual heat after the plants had an automatic shutdown following a major earthquake.” Such denial would be laughable but when the person thus opining is in charge of India’s power reactor fleet, it ceases to be amusing.

Another strain of argument trivialised the consequences. In November 2011, the DAE Secretary claimed that the “total casualty due to… (Fukushima) was zero”. But it is well known that one of the primary impacts of exposure to radiation, the incidence of cancer, occurs many years after the exposure. Therefore, while no one is likely to have died of cancer so far, the Fukushima accident will likely lead to thousands of cancers globally over the next few decades. Further, hundreds of sq km will remain unusable for agriculture for decades because of contamination by Cesium-137, which has a radioactive half-life of 30 years.

The DAE Secretary has asserted that the probability of a nuclear accident in India is zero

A final argument was that even if an accident were to occur, the DAE and its attendant organisations could manage the situation efficiently. In September 2011, for example, the DAE Secretary claimed: “We are prepared to handle an event like Fukushima.” This assertion is belied by the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, who testified to the Parliamentary Standing Committee in 2010 that it was “nowhere (near) meeting an eventuality that may arise out of nuclear and radiological emergencies”.

But by far the thrust of the statements by DAE and NPCIL officials has been to assert that the accident is essentially irrelevant, because no nuclear accident will ever occur in India. On more than one occasion, the DAE Secretary has made assertions that the probability of a nuclear accident in India is zero. In November 2011, for example, he stated that the probability was “one in infinity”. The public image sought to be created is one of great confidence in safety. Is such confidence justified?

The first point to note is that the very statement that the likelihood of an accident is zero is scientifically untenable; every nuclear reactor has a finite, albeit small, probability of undergoing a catastrophic failure. What’s more, because of the complexity of the system and the many ways in which accidents could occur, this probability is never calculable with full certainty.

All the major nuclear accidents so far have afflicted different reactor designs, have had entirely different causes, have progressed along different pathways, and have had different consequences. Even newer reactor designs are not immune. In the case of the VVER reactors constructed in Koodankulam, a particular concern is with the control rod mechanism. On 1 March 2006, for example, one of the four main circulation pumps at Bulgaria’s Kozluduy unit 5 tripped because of an electrical failure. When the system reduced the power to 67 percent of nominal capacity, three control rod assemblies remained in an upper-end position. Follow-up tests of the remaining control rod assemblies identified that in total, 22 out of 61 could not be moved with driving mechanisms. Control rod insertion failures can seriously compromise safety in an accident.

A second question: is the confidence on the part of officials about the zero probability of accidents good for safety? This is not a question about technology but about organisations. The problem is that because of the potential for accidents, nuclear technology poses extreme organisational demands. Some of these have been identified by a group of researchers led by scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, US. Based on field studies in air traffic control operations, aircraft carriers, and the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, they found several good management practices that are necessary — even if they don’t suffice — for a relatively high degree of safety. These include political and organisational leaders placing a high priority on safety in design and operation; robust cooperation and joint learning between management and workers on safety issues; and the adoption of best design and operational practices. The DAE and its attendant institutions fail to meet many of these criteria.

The best evidence for the DAE’s failure in achieving an adequate degree of safety is the history of small and large accidents at its facilities. Many of these were easily preventable. A good example is the accident at the Narora reactor in March 1993. It started when two blades broke off from the turbine due to vibrations. This eventually led to a major fire that spread across the turbine building and burnt electric cables, which led to a general blackout in the plant. The reactor’s secondary cooling systems were consequently rendered inoperable. It took 17 hours for power to be restored to the reactor and its safety systems.

It was the DAE’s closest brush with a catastrophic accident. More worrisome is the evidence that it could have been foreseen and prevented. First, the failure of the turbine blades was avoidable. In 1989, GE communicated information about a design flaw and recommended design modifications, and the manufacturer responded by preparing detailed drawings for NPCIL. However, NPCIL did not take any action until after the accident.

Second, even if the turbine blade failed despite modification, the accident might have been averted if the safety systems had been operating, which they presumably would have if only their power supply had been encased in separate and fire-resistant ducts. By the time the Narora reactor was commissioned, this was established wisdom in the nuclear design community and had been ever since the fire at Browns Ferry in the US in 1975. This was even recognised in the 1989 safety assessment for Narora performed by DAE analysts, including Anil Kakodkar, who was to become head of the DAE in 2000. Evidently, organisational leaders ignored important safety practices needed to reduce the risk of fire.

NARORA WAS not a one-off case. Similar patterns of avoidable failures marked other accidents too. In the face of this history, it is ludicrous for DAE and NPCIL officials to argue that the probability of an accident is zero. Safety scholar James Reason once noted: “If an organisation is convinced that it has achieved a safe culture, it almost certainly has not.” The DAE and its attendant institutions appear to be convinced not just that they have a safe culture, but that the hazardous technologies they operate are incapable of undergoing accidents. This is not conducive to safety.

The risk of catastrophic accidents means that the pursuit of nuclear power is justified only if it is done democratically with the informed consent of the potentially affected populations. What the Koodankulam protest tells us is that these populations are not consenting to be subject to this risk. They deserve to be listened to, not dismissed as stooges of foreign funding. That is an insult to the intellects and minds of millions of people and to democracy itself.
(MV Ramana, Physicist, Program On Science and Global Security, Princeton University)

[The above is also available at: http://www.sacw.net/article2582.html]

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6. INDIA: THE FUKUSHIMA-CHERNOBYL COMMEMORATION PROGRAMMES BEGIN IN KOLKATA
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http://www.sacw.net/article2580.html

The Fukushima-Chernobyl commemoration programmes begin in Kolkata. The main focus is the anti-nuclear struggle India, particularly the magnificent people’s resistance in Koodankulam.

Scientists, literary workers, activists, and other concerned citizens in Kolkata met the Press today, 10 March 2012. The theme was No More Fukushima, Not in Koodankulam, Nor Anywhere else. This was the beginning of a series of programmes that will continue till 26 April (Chernobyl Day), 2012.

The Press Release is given below:

PRESS RELEASE
10 MARCH 2012

KOLKATA
IN THE SHADOW OF FUKUSHIMA – KOODANKULAM AND THE GOVERNMENTAL OFFENSIVE

Tomorrow is the Fukushima Day. The world will commiserate with the countless residents of Japan, who have suffered from the meltdowns at the reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Scientists, policy makers, activists, and concerned citizens the world over have been pressurizing governments to pull away from the nuclear path. Willy-nilly, the governments in various countries are being compelled to see reason. The situation in India, however, is quite the opposite. Here, the union government has committed itself to a path of nuclear expansion and refuses to pay heed to global experience and sane advice.
The union government’s stance in this regard has been most recently highlighted by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s comments regarding the protest movement against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant. These comments, unsupported by even a shred of evidence, have been followed by the Home Ministry’s offensive against the protesters. We have written to the Prime Minister, expressing our grief and alarm at the assault on citizens’ freedom to protest. We have also pointed out the folly of pursuing the nuclear option.
The Indian government is continuing its undemocratic offensive. The Indian Embassy in Japan has denied visa to Maya Kobayashi, a resident of Fukushima in Japan, who had been invited by Greenpeace India to share her experience with the Indian people. We should like to point out that such actions not only violate the principle of international goodwill, but is also a denial of our right to know.
The agitators in Koodankulam are continuing with their peaceful satyagraha. We, who have had the experience of a long-drawn struggle against the proposed Haripur Nuclear Power Plant in West Bengal, empathise with them in their suffering and struggle.
Our anti-nuclear campaign for this season begins today. This campaign has for some time been spearheaded by the Paramaanu Bidyut Birodhi Prachaar Andolan. This platform, in association with other likeminded individuals and forums, will continue with the campaign till 26 April, the Chernobyl Day. Our campaign will include programmes at various schools that we have been undertaking for some time. We shall be undertaking a 12-hour fast on Monday, 12 March 2012, at College Square, in support of the Koodankulam anti-nuclear struggle. Please join us on that occasion and in our subsequent programmes.

Thanking you

Yours sincerely
Sd/-
Prof. Meher Engineer
Sd/-
Bankim Datta
Sd/-
Prof. Sujay Basu

The letter that was earlier faxed to the Prime Minister, reads as follows:

To

The Prime Minister,
Republic of India

08.03.12

Sir,

We, the citizens of India, tended to view you as a politician with a difference, one noted for his erudition and mild manners. However, some of your comments and actions of late, particularly with respect to the opposition to the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), have led us to revise our opinion.

You know the rights of the citizens of this country, enshrined in the country’s constitution, which you are duty bound to uphold. The freedom of the citizens to oppose government decisions peacefully is one such right. Your comments, and actions resulting from them, regarding the democratic and peaceful anti-KNPP satyagraha by the local populace, is a denial of this right. You have claimed that the peaceful satyagraha against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is being funded and supported by foreigners, without providing evidence for this claim. On the other hand, the public declarations of the local protesters would indicate that their movement is being supported from their own modest resources. Your home ministry has started investigations, issued notices, and frozen the bank accounts of some of the protesting organizations. A foreign national has been deported on unproved charges. All these constitute assaults and threats against a peaceful citizens’ agitation, and are alarming and reprehensible.

Outside your nuclear establishment, no one who is informed about such things believes that the energy security of our country can be attained through the construction of nuclear power plants. The poor prospect of nuclear power is evident from the global decline in the production of nuclear electricity. Today, nuclear electricity is more expensive than even electricity from solar. Moreover, a nuclear power plant, because of the complexity of operation and the possibility of release of deadly radiation, can be declared safe only by those pundits who have mortgaged their rationality to vested interests. Fukushima has proved this beyond doubt.

We firmly believe that renewable energy, through the correct integration of its various forms, is a far better option for ensuring our country’s energy security than nuclear energy, which is very costly and manifestly dangerous.

We appeal to you to desist from indulging in unfair utterances or actions against popular movements, including anti-nuclear agitations. We continue to hope that sagacity will prevail and you will act to uphold our constitutional rights and the democratic traditions of our country.

Yours sincerely,

1. Prof. Sujay Basu, Former Director, School of Energy Studies, Jadavpur University, 86B Manoharpukur Road, Kolkata – 29. Email: basusujay at gmail.com
2. Prof. Manoj Kumar Pal, Former Director, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
3. Prof. Meher Engineer, Former Director, Bose Institute, Email: mengineer2003 at gmail.com
4. Prof. Tarun Sanyal, Poet and Educationist
5. Prof. Palash Baran Pal, Senior Professor, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
6. Prof. Tushar Chakraborty, Principal Scientist, IICB, Kolkata.

And a large number of other citizens

[The other signatories included:
Samar Bagchi (educationist)
Bibhas Chakraborty (actor, playwright, and director)
Ganesh Haloi (artist)
Abhee K. Dutt-Mazumder (physicist)
Manas Joardar (educationist)
Jiten Nandi (social and environmental activist)]

The Press Conference was the first of a series of programmes that will continue till 26 April, Chernobyl day.
On Monday, 12 March 2012, we will be sitting on a 12 hour fast and demonstration, followed by a candle light march, in support of the anti-nuclear struggle in Koodankulam. Scientists, poets, playwrights, actors, activists, and other concerned citizens will participate. 

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7. INDIA: STRIKE-BREAKING OR THE REFUSAL OF SUBALTERNITY ? AN ESSAY ON ETHNICITY, CLASS AND GENDER IN CHOTA NAGPUR
by Dilip Simeon
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(sacw.net | 11 March 2012)
Late in August 1939, there took place a strike in a small iron foundry in Jamshedpur, the premiere steel city of colonial India. Its owners were a local Bengali businessman and a Marwari entrepreneur from Calcutta. The workforce consisted of a little over two thousand five hundred workers, most of them Adivasis (`tribal' peoples) and Oriyas, with a few hundred workers from north Bihar and the Gangetic plain. A large proportion - possibly upto 40 percent, were women. The management were known for being arbitrary, even by the notoriously low standards of the capitalists of this young company town. Their workers were low paid, with virtually no security - at the beginning of the year hundreds of hands had been discharged. The President of their union was the charismatic Congressman Abdul Bari, who was also the Deputy Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Trouble at the workplace had resulted in spontaneous demonstrations, as was not uncommon in the area in those times. In the ensuing developments the management used their links with the emerging leader of the Adibasi Mahasabha, Jaipal Singh and the Oriya Congressman Nilkantha Das to convince the bulk of their workers to remain at work. They were abetted by Bari's chief rival in Jamshedpur, Maneck Homi, who had led a famous general strike in TISCO in 1928. By November the strike had ended and historic developments such as the outbreak of world war, the resignation of provincial Congress ministries nation-wide and the promulgation of emergency regulations in industrial areas, had pushed the plight of the foundry workers into the background of local politics.

http://www.sacw.net/article2585.html

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8. INDIA: DAMS AND LIVELIHOODS
by Dr. Sanjib Baruah
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(The Assam Tribune, March 11, 2012)

A major focus of the debate on dams has been the safety of large dams in earthquake prone Northeast India.  By comparison, much less attention has been paid to a particular feature of these dams: that they are almost all designed solely to generate electricity.

Most of the dams under construction in Arunachal Pradesh—or, in various stages of planning--are quite different from an earlier generation of  “multipurpose” river valley projects that had irrigation and flood control as well as electricity generation, among their goals.  Indeed initially dams on the Subansiri were designed with flood control as the main goal.  Only after the project was turned over to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, Lower Subansiri became a single-purpose “power-only” dam.

Unlike multipurpose projects where the resources generated by hydropower are used to fund public goods like irrigation, flood control or navigation,  in single purpose hydropower dams there is little effort to balancing the conflicting interest at stake, and to making development equitable.

The economics favoring investments in hydropower dams are relatively straight forward.  The fuel driving hydropower dams is moving water.  When the rules are defined in  a particular way a river can be a “free” resource.  Hydropower dams require huge initial investments. But once they are built, their operational costs are minimal, unlike say, thermal power plants that use coal, oil or natural gas as fuel.  In India, very small “host states” can get very large royalties from the sale of hydropower, which creates a particularly distorted incentive structure to favor single-purpose dams.

It may be useful to compare this with the very different economics of hydropower dams in some developed countries. By and large, developed countries at present are not investing in large-scale hydropower like India or China. There are two reasons.  First,  today’s developed countries had built some of the earliest hydropower plants in the world.  The first hydropower plant in the US -- at the Niagara Falls – for instance, was built in 1879.  The best sites available for hydropower plants in these countries were taken up long time ago.  By contrast, even though the hydropower potential of the Himalayan rivers has been known, it was not possible to build hydropower dams in remote Arunachal Pradesh till quite recently.

But there is a second reason for the difference.  Thanks to the changes in social attitudes towards the environment, the economics of hydropower dams have changed in developed countries.

This is especially clear in the US where hydropower dams need licensing from  the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The licenses are usually valid for fifty years.  When licenses expire, hydropower dams need re-licensing.  Hundreds of dams were licensed during the first part of the last century. At that time  the environment was not a major public concern.  But they have come up for relicensing after the environmental movement had significantly influenced the legal regime governing hydropower generation.

Take for example the Clean Water Act of 1972 which aims “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters.” That has to affect the economics of hydropower dams.

The FERC’s licensing requirements for hydropower dams now include conditions that relate to various non-power uses of rivers such as water supply, irrigation and flood control,  as well as the requirements of fish and wildlife preservation,  river recreation,  environmental quality, and energy conservation.  The hydropower industry complains from time to time that these conditions have made hydropower plants unprofitable.  But courts have rarely favored such arguments.  As a result, owners of hydropower plants, writes environmental lawyer Sarah C Richardson, “who may have thought their largest costs had long since been paid off, now face new costs of upgrading or building fishways, installing turbine screens to deflect fish, or reducing generation in order to maintain streamflow requirements.”  Thanks to these demands, hydropower in the US has lost the competitive advantage vis-à-vis other energy sources. Indeed a number of hydropower dams has been dismantled because of that.

The lessons of the changing economics of hydropower dams are profound.  One reason they are not more apparent is perhaps the misleading term “environment.”  It is easy to say that rich countries can afford environmental regulations that poor countries cannot.  But what are environmental issues in the US,  are in a place like Assam matters that concern the livelihood and food security of thousands of poor people.
.
Dams change the flow regime of rivers. No one argues that it does not affect water quality, or that it does not impact the other users of those rivers.  In Northeast India where fish is central to the people’s diet – and a major source of the caloric intake of poor people -- the impact on fish is particularly important. Dams obstruct fish passage, and it dramatically impacts the life cycle of many migratory fish species.   It is hard to imagine fish surviving the power turbines of a hydropower dam. The changes in water temperatures, severe manipulation of water levels to meet the demands of power generation, and the reduction of  oxygen levels are not conducive to the migration and spawning habits of fish, and their growth and reproduction cycles. The blocking of sediment-borne nutrients are bound to impact downstream agriculture.   A minute’s reflection on the Assamese word ‘polox’ would make this rather obvious.

The gains and losses from large hydropower dams in Arunachal Pradesh are likely to be distributed very unevenly.  The bulk of the benefits of electricity will go to relatively well-to-do people who live very far away.  The “host state” will be compensated handsomely with royalties from hydropower sales, and some of the people displaced in a physical sense in the immediate project area will be compensated and rehabilitated. But a large share of the socioeconomic costs will be borne disproportionately by thousands of poor people who depend on small-scale fishing and subsistence agriculture in a very large region  -- well beyond the area covered by the so-called “environmental impact assessment” reports.

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9. INDIA: A HOUSE FOR SPARROWS
by Harsh Mander
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(The Hindu, March 10, 2012)
After a riot, homes can be rebuilt but what about trust in humanity? Another Gujarat story.

The entire block of houses still stands in ruins — abandoned, ravaged, charred. Nothing has changed since these homes were assaulted by mobs blinded by hate. It is as though time has stood still these 10 years. I tiptoe though the rubble of rooms in which 69 people were slaughtered, among them Ehsan Jafri, a former Parliamentarian, lawyer and poet.

By my side is Ehsan Jafri's daughter Nishrin, composed and gentle. ‘This was my father's library', she says, pointing to a blackened wall. “He loved books, and they were piled high to the roof.” The winter before he was killed, she had spent a few weeks with her father, on vacation from her home in the United States where she was married. She helped him then organise his treasured books.

Nishrin's son Tauseef Hussain, now 23 years old, also on a pilgrimage to the house where his grandfather was hacked to death a decade earlier, writes about the same library: “Inside the abandoned house, as I stood silent with shut eyes, for a moment I felt I was sweating another hot summer in my grandfather's beloved library. I could hear the same chirping of the sparrows. Despite the heat, his ceiling fans would remain always off; switches taped over, to make sure those birds could safely weave through our house carefree.”

Not really safe

On February 28, 2002, in that same library, and the adjacent office room, nearly a hundred men, women, and children huddled together, terrified. As surging crowds of young men screaming for their blood surrounded their housing society, they ran for safety to the house of the former MP, hoping he would save them. But his frantic calls to senior police officers, and allegedly the Chief Minister himself, were futile. Mobs threw fireballs into the house, and soon the rooms were thick with smoke. Jafri himself was dragged out, and his limbs hacked before he was burned to death, murdered with nearly 70 others who he had tried vainly to save.

Nishrin takes me up the flight of stairs of their bungalow, open to the sky. Jafri had sent the women and children to the room upstairs, even as the mobs threw Molotov cocktails and the foulest abuse. But Nishrin does not speak of these; instead she recalls how every Deepavali, the entire staircase used to be lit with earthen lamps.

Among those cowering in this room was the domestic help of the Jafri household, Leelabai. Zakia Jafri, Nishrin's mother, took her into the verandah outside with folded hands before the murderous mobs. “She is a Hindu,” she pleaded. “Why should she die?” The crowd let her flee to freedom. The building was by then set aflame from all sides; it was the strength of the construction which finally saved those who were hiding in the first storey.

This was not the first riot which their family had lived through. Nishrin and her brother Tanvir recall the first time their home was razed, not far from this house, in the riots of 1969. “The storm came for a day, then passed, as it did again in 1985 and 1992,” Tanvir remembers. “Not like this time, when the hate does not end.” The whole family had moved in 1969 to a government relief camp. It was a Hindu friend who invited them back to live in his apartment.

In the years before 2002, as the climate of amity in the city rapidly declined, many friends advised Jafri to shift into the safety of Muslim ghettoes. But he would not even consider the option. Everything he believed in would be extinguished if he moved out of this neighbourhood only because in it lived a majority of Hindus.

True loss

These 10 years after his murder, Jafri's widow Zakia fought a brave epic battle for justice in the highest courts. Her grandson recounts: “As I spoke with my grandmother, I realised time had treated her as harshly as it did the home she lost. Beneath every deliberately hopeful conversation, the ravaged foundation shone through the cracks... She did not want to speak of what we lost as a family, only of those who had so little in this world to begin with, and now are the ones rendered truly destitute.”

He takes her lesson to heart: “I was aware of my family's pain but had never fully realised that our loss in Gujarat's communal riots was only a minor footnote in a vast library of rewritten lives... Even one decade after... so many families still learn daily what it is to be beghar...The word ‘beghar' encapsulates the chill of loss and emotional vacuum, pairing homelessness with hopelessness. Though a home can be built, or rebuilt, to become beghar is to have a loss of identity and crisis of belonging which compromises the very basis of one's being.”

It is these beghar men and women living ‘rewritten lives', who gather 10 years later in the ruins of the Gulbarg Society, to share memory and loss, to grieve together, in a memorial organised by indomitable fighter Teesta Setalwad. Men and women sob as they stand before a wall on which hang blurred pictures of those killed. Among the sombre crowds that gather that day are Rupa Modi, also a resident of Gulbarg, weeping wordlessly as she embraces Rahul Dholakia, whose film “Parzania” told the story of her wait for her son who never returned home; Bilkees Bano who braved the legal battle against those who raped and killed; the gentle professor Bandukwala, still mourning the looting of his home in the University, yet seeking paths of forgiveness. And many others like them.

As twilight falls, Shubha Mudgal sits aloft a neighbouring terrace, and sings of loss and yearning, of blood-drenched gardens, of fighting those who use religion for politics, of the imperative for a new religion which teaches us to be human. And of the need to walk together, even with bloodied feet and wounded hearts.
 
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10. INDIA: NEED FOR RADICAL ELECTORAL REFORMS
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat
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http://www.sacw.net/article2578.html

Uttar-Pradesh’s poll results are out. Every body claiming their poll predictions have come true. The election commission has been able to maintain its dignity and impartiality in handling the situation though political parties which are at the receiving end of the Commission’s reprimand normally blame the commission for being bias against them. However, barring some small incidents they have handled the situation better so far. Yet, despite all this, the role of illicit money has not been curbed during the elections and every day we receive reports of money being confiscated by the police in these states.

After the results are out Uttar-Pradesh has seen an unprecedented tense situation in the ground zero which is its rural areas. The Samajwadi party workers and BSP workers have clashed at many places. Those who understand Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar, know it well that the litmus test for Samajwadi party now comes in Uttar-Pradesh. Elections are not development as suggested by our electoral analysts but sharing in power. And it is this which has resulted in fight among different communities and manipulations by political parties. It is not just political parties, communities are too engaged in these manipulations to gain political power and hence alliances are developed and ‘villains’ are ‘constructed’. For millions of BSP supporters all over the country, Mulayam Singh was the villain number one but today it is Behajni’s term to face the wrath. The problem is that in the great ego of political leaders, it is the poor which is facing the brunt of the mafias and goons. It must stop now.

Though, parties have been manipulating castes to get into parliament or assemblies and our media and election commission thumping its chest even if the poll percentage was just around 60, in fact in many places it was below 60%, it is time to seriously think about a better and alternative system. The system which will give dignity to even smaller group or communities rather than taking them as either a vote bank or enemy who will be thrashed once the results are out as happening in Uttar-Pradesh at the moment. We need a serious analysis of the community wise representation in the assemblies.

A preliminary analysis of the data showed that Samajwadi party got 29% votes of the total vote polled yet got 56% seats i.e. 225 in an assembly of 403 while BSP which got just less than 3% votes than Samajwadi party got just 19% seats. Congress Party’s vote share in UP was 14% but the seat it could secure was just 9%.

While in Uttar-Pradesh the tragedy of vote polled and seat secured is not visible that way as it shows in Punjab where Akali Dal secured 34.75% votes and got 56 seats (nearly 48%) while Congress Party got 41% votes yet 46 seats which is around 39% of the seat secured.

While Poll observers may eagerly explain the ‘dance’ of ‘greatest’ democracy in Uttar-Pradesh which is a laboratory for all the experiments based on caste, religious and region. In the past twenty years, Uttar-Pradesh has the political parties which used these terminologies for their own purposes whether it is empowerment of Dalits or Bahujan but the fact is that in the past assembly Uttar-Pradesh did not have a single MLA from Balmiki community which is very large community mainly confined in urban areas of the state. There are other most marginalized communities among the Dalits, Muslims and backward communities which would never ever get representation unless something is done to protect their interest. Tharus, one of the tribe community in the Tarai of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, right from Maharajganj, Baharaich, Lakhimpurkhiri and Khatima have virtually no representation in the assembly except for one Tharu MLA in Uttarakhand from Khatima constituency, though latest report is that he too lost during these elections. Boxas, one of the primitive tribe groups of Uttarakhand, Kols, a tribal group in Bundelkhand (Ironically, Kol crossing over to Madhya Pradesh are tribal in government list and in Uttar-Pradesh are scheduled castes) are virtually unrepresented in assemblies and parliament. Such situation exists for many other marginalized communities among Muslims as well as backward classes.

The concern over reducing Muslim representation in our parliament and assemblies is not without any reasons for they do not even have reserved constituencies though the Dalits and Aadivasis in particular feel that reserved constituencies have not really worked for the political empowerments of these sections of society but a few individuals from these communities who are elected on the votes of all electorates and therefore in this age of caste polarization, it is the other vote that matter as political leaders take their own community votes for granted. This was the reason for Dr Ambedkar asking for separate electorate for the Dalits in the famous round table conference in London in 1932.

There is a dire need to address the follies of our electoral system which has not been able to curtail political corruption. Today, candidate are fielded not just to win, but to get some particular candidate defeated in the constituency. Money is being paid hugely to field bogus candidate who are called ‘vote katua’ whose sole aim would be to get his community vote and indirectly benefit to the opponent. This apart, some parties benefit from low turn out of the voters while some other benefit from neutral voters. There is no benefit to people who boycott a candidate as some other would vote and these voters who boycott would be used by the opponent or supporters according to their political loyalty. To curtail such an unhealthy practice and making communities as vote bank or vote katua, mixed member constituencies could be created to provide representations to those communities who remain unrepresented despite their huge number.

Various suggestions are being put forward to improve the system but the fault line is our parliamentary system which is based on First Past the Post System. This system gives enough chances of manipulations to powerful groups and moneybag holders. There is no ceiling of getting minimum votes for winning a constituency which has resulted in a shocking trend of manipulation to win the election by using different methods of caste, religion and moneybags. The biggest fault of this system is that the winner vote through a minority vote resulting in a vast majority of voters voting against the candidate as unrepresented and uncounted. Is not it an irony that out of 542 members of Lok Sabha, we do not even have 2% of the members whose winning margin is over 50% of the total vote polled in his constituency. Similarly, there is a huge anomaly in voting percentage (national average or state average) and the seat won in the assembly. That too results in hugely unrepresented votes. For example, in the 2009 general elections, Congress party got 28.55% votes out of the total vote polled but it got 37.94% seats ( 206), similarly BJP got 18.80 votes but 21% seats. Contrary to this, the party’s which belong to particular segments of our society and have been trying to create a niche for the poor remain marginalized. The Bahujan Samaj Party got 6.17% of the total votes but got only 3.87% of the seats in Lok Sabha while CPI (M) got 5.33% of the total vote polled yet got 16 seats which is 2.95% of the total seat won. Such vast gap between the votes polled and seat won need to be questioned if we want to reduce political corruption. Is not it a great joke that Nitish Kumar is the most popular leader with just 21% of total vote polled while CPI(M) is ‘wiped out’ with 40% vote polled.

It is time to address these fault lines so that every party get seat according to vote polled and every winning candidate must get over 50% of the total valid votes in his constituency. Democracy in India need to go beyond symbolism and therefore it would be advisable that we slowly switch over to Proportionate Electorate System (PES) which could address these anomalies and provide us a truly representative character of democracy. PES is widely being the main electorate system in Europe and many other parts of the world and India must start thinking on it before it is too late for us to handle the situation.

After the Punjab fiasco Congress must have courage to look into it and ponder over Proportionate Electoral System and its benefits. India must adopt a political system which strengthen its integrity yet be more representative. It is also a fact that if BSP support PES, it has larger chances in the electoral system. Even today, as far as vote share is concern, Mayawati has got 26% of total votes polled in UP which should have given her 105 seats in the current assembly in PES. India will pay a heavy price if we do not shift to a better political alternative which is more representative in nature and yet unite India and its diverse communities where those who do not vote to a particular parties do not get thrashed as happening in Uttar-Pradesh at the moment., a system which give minorities their right to participate in power on equitable term and not at the mercy of a dominant community. The current trend of democracy revolve around ‘particular’ community in each states which cobble together a few others ‘like minded’ while pitched in against those who ‘differ’. This has resulted in chaos and virtual caste war in different parts of the country which media may be reporting some time and hiding at other. Uttar-Pradesh will go through this phase now and it is the biggest challenge but then the poll results of Uttar-Pradesh and Punjab are an opportunity for those who fights for genuine representative democracy to push forward agenda for Proportionate Electorate System.

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11. INDIA: CITIZENS’ STATEMENT ON THE ARREST OF JOURNALIST KAZMI
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http://www.sacw.net/article2579.html

Saturday 10 March 2012

The undersigned condemn the arrest of senior journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi by the Delhi Police Special Cell in connection with the attack on Israeli diplomat last month. Mr. Kazmi’s arrest is reminiscent of the arrest and false allegations against another veteran journalist, Iftikhar Gilani, several years ago. We fear that Mr. Kazmi may be made a scapegoat in order to please an international lobby. It is no secret that Israel held Iran culpable within minutes of the attack, and there has been immense pressure on India to sever its ties with Iran—both from Israel and US (to the extent that US displayed its obvious unhappiness to foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai over the fact that India was not heeding the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US on Iran.) 

Israel also pressured India to support a resolution condemning “Iranian terrorism” in the UN Security Council. While the Indian government has so far held out against the pressure, even refusing to implicate Iran in the attack, a recent report in Jerusalem Post stated that, “Israel provided the Indian authorities with information on two suspects in the attack connected with Iran” (http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=257830). Has Mr. Kazmi been picked up upon tips provided by Israeli agencies? How credible can these inputs be, given Israel’s clear intent to condemn and implicate Iran as the source of the attack? We are anxious that the Persian-knowing Mr. Kazmi, a journalist with the Iranian News agency, IRNA, who would obviously be in regular touch with his sources and employers in Iran and the Iranian embassy, is being targeted precisely because of these reasons.  

Mr. Kazmi is well respected and known to the journalist fraternity for his professional integrity. We demand that he be immediately released on bail and the due process of law followed.

Aamir Idrisi (President, Association of Muslim Professionals), Abdul Daiyan (social activist, Bihar), Abu Zafar Adil Azmi (Special Correspondent, Afkar-e-Milli), Achin Vanaik (Writer and Activist), Afroz Alam Sahil (Editor, Beyondheadlines), Ajit Sahi (Senior Journalist, Delhi), Anuradha Bhasin (Editor, Kashmir Times), Arundhati Roy (Writer and Activist), Asad Zaidi, Azam Khan (social activist, Hyderabad), Bhavna Sharma (social activists, Anhad), Bobby Kunhu, Dilip Khan (Journalist), Dr Anand Pradhan, Dr. Hilal Ahmed (Associate Fellow, CSDS), Dr. Saroj Giri (University of Delhi), Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan (Editor, the Milli Gazette), Farah Naqvi (Writer & Activist, Delhi), Fr Cedric Prakash (Human Rights Activist), Gauhar Iqbal (Palestine Foundation), Hanif Lakdawala (social activist, Gujarat), Harsh Kapoor (SACW.net), Hilal Ahmed, Imran Khan (social activist, Anhad), Jawed Naqvi (Senior Journalist), John Dayal (Member, National Integration Council), Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Khadeeja Arif (BBC News), Khurshid Anwar, KN Panikkar (Historian), Kundan Pandey (Journalist), Madhuresh Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt (Filmmaker), Mahtab Alam (Civil Rights Activist and Freelance Journalist), Manisha Sethi (Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association), Mansi Sharma (Social Activist), Md. Ali (Twocircles.Net), Mukul Dube, Mukul Kesavan (writer and historian), Mumtaz Alam Falahi (Editor, Twocircles.Net), Nandita Das (film actress), Navaid Hamid (Member, National Integration Council), Neshat Quaiser (Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi), Panini Anand (Editor, Pratirodh), Prof. Anuradha Chenoy (JNU), Prof. Anwar Alam (Center for West Asian Studies, Jamia), Prof. Apoorvanand (Delhi University), Prof. Jairus Banaji (Historian), Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy (JNU), Prof. Nirmalangshu Mukherjee (University of Delhi), Prof. Shohini Ghosh (MCRC, Jamia), Ram Puniyani (social activist, writer), Sadiq Naqvi (Journalist), Sanjay Kak (Filmmaker), Sanjay Sharma (social activist, Anhad), Satya Sivaraman (journalist), Seema Mustafa (Senior Journalist), Shabnam Hashmi (Social Activist), ANHAD, Shafi Mahajir (advocate Hyderabad), Sharmila Tagore (Actor), Shivam Vij, Sohail Hashmi (filmmaker, writer), Soheb Niazi, Sucheta Dey (President, JNU Student Union), Sukumar Muralidharan (journalist), Tanveer Hussain (activist, Kashmir), Vijayan MJ, Vivan Sundaram (artist), Waliullah Laskar (Activist), Zaheeruddin Ali Khan (editor, Siasat), Zoobi Amir (Film Maker, Delhi)

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12. INDIA: TERROR ACTS' INVESTIGATION AND RSS
by Ram Puniyani
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(Communalism Watch, March 10, 2012)

Supreme Court slammed the RSS Sarsanghchalak, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat for stating that Karakre had told him that he was under tremendous pressure to nail the RSS in unsolved cases of terror acts like, Malegaon, Ajmer, Samjhauta Express blast (Feb 28, 2012). As per the Chief of RSS, he knew Karkare well and Karkare had solicited his cooperation for solving these cases, and in the context of that had told him about the pressures being put on him.

One knows that Karkare was under pressure during that time. One also knows that the investigations in the acts of terror were leading nowhere and after every blast number of young Muslim boys were arrested, the blame was put on some affiliate of Lashkar, Al Qaeda etc. After Karkare took over as the chief of Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad, the things started moving. The turning point was the meticulous investigation by Karkare’s team which led to the unearthing of the motor cycle used in the Malegaon blast, the motor cycle belonged to Sadhvi Pragya Sing Thakur, the ex ABVP (RSS affiliate) activist, and the leads took the ATS to the whole set of terror group, which were called later as Saffron terrorism by the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

These investigations led Karkare to Swami Dayanand Pandey, Lt Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Swami Aseemanand, Indresh Kumar, Sunil Joshi, Kasangra and the number of those close to the RSS or close to RSS affiliates. The implication of this was very clear.

Once this Hindutva network got exposed the acts of terror which were occurring at regular intervals in front of mosques and other places, where Muslims congregate for prayers came to a halt. As such it was ironical that the blasts were focussed to kill the Muslims and after every act again Muslims were arrested. With the Rajasthan ATS joining the process of investigation the evidence against these Hindutva elements became further clear.

The confession of Swami Aseemanand in presence of the magistrate gave the full details of the modus operandi of these acts of terror. The people involved in these acts believed that they are doing these dastardly acts to avenge the Muslim terrorists and that these acts aimed to pave the way for Hindu Rashtra. Swami Aseemanand, the VHP leader working in Gujarat, who was the architect of Shabri Kumbh Mela was the key figure in these blasts in many ways. In the statement given by him in presence of the magistrate he confessed that their group was involved in these activities.

Since then more and more beans have been spilling from the Sangh stable, the latest one being that of involvement of Kamal Chauhan in Samjhauta blast. Chauhan has been labelled as the disgruntled element by his parent organization, RSS. This again is the standard ploy by RSS. Most of those who are caught doing these acts of murders or blasts are claimed to have left the organization some time ago or if possible their association with RSS combine is put under the wraps.

One recalls that there was a time when nobody believed that RSS associates can be part of these acts of terror. RSS claims they do not believe in violence. Their claims have come to be exposed one after the other. Now their claim is that they are being implicated by the ruling party to appease the minorities; or that those being charged for acts of terror are clean people and are deliberately being implicated in terrorist acts. Going by the expose after expose, the RSS at one level is trying to disassociate from these terror accused, on the other is propagating that they are accused but not guilty and on yet another level claiming that the investigation authorities have been pressurized to nail the RSS cohorts.

This defence is very weak. The statement of RSS Chief is coming at a time when Karkare has already become a martyr for the cause of defending the country. There is no way he can confirm or deny what the patriarch of Sangh Combine is saying. But yes there are some clues which can tell as to what is the truth.

Lets recall that Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was caught for her alleged role in Malegaon blast, none other than Lal Krishna Advani went to the Prime Minister to complain about the torture of Pragya Singh Thakur and demanded investigation into Thakur's torture. At the same time another Hindutva leader Bal Thakre condemned Karkare, calling him anti National and wrote in his mouth piece Saamna that ‘we spit on his face’! Another Hindutva warrior Narendra Modi called Karkare as Deshdrohi (anti National). Incidentally both these, Thackeray and Modi, are hailed as ‘Emperors of Hindu hearts’. Later Modi called Karkare as a great patriot after his death. Modi went to the extent of offering one crore Rupees to Karate’s widow, which she gracefully refused.

On the contrary Congress leader Digvijay Singh claimed that Karkare had called him on the night of 26/11, the day Mumbai was attacked by Kasab and gang, and said that there is a tremendous pressure on him from the Right wing. Digvijay Singh also showed the press clipping to that effect and pointed out that BSNL, Bhopal cannot give the records of the conversation between him and Karkare as the matter was more than a year old at that time, and BSNL does not keep record beyond a year.

There is another source which tells us the direction from which Karkare was being pressurized. Julio Ribeiro, one amongst the police of officer of highest integrity in the country, in his obituary to Karkare (Times of India, Mumbai Edition 28th Nov 2010) pointed out that there was a direct insinuation into the work of Karkare, who was intimidated by Advani and other Hindutva gang. Karkare sought solace and advice from his senior Ribeiro, Ribeiro confirmed that Karkare was being harassed and intimidated by the associates of Advani-Modi and company. Ribeiro advised his junior colleague to carry on with his work irrespective of the pressures. "He came to me because he was looking for someone to hold his hand," Ribeiro told IANS on phone from Mumbai while stressing that Karkare was not a man to be politically influenced.

While this is what the truth is, one can see the motive behind Bhagwat’s statement in the face of so many of his cabal either charged or in jail. In an earlier event Bhagwat’s predecessor K. Sudarshan had also played a similar game. During the investigation of Babri demolition, when the role of RSS combine was coming more and more to surface, Sudarshan said that he heard Gandhian Nirmala Didi saying that there was a blast inside the mosque which demolished the mosque. Fortunately Didi was alive that time to deny something being said in her name.

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13. INDIA: VIOLENCE ESCALATES IN POST-POLL UP
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http://tinyurl.com/7pl2ny3

Lucknow, March 10, 2012, DHNS/Agencies

SP onslaught continues: State yet to emerge out of hangover

A BSP activist was killed in a clash in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district, as violence by Samajwadi Party workers continued across the state on Saturday, despite appeals and warnings by the party leadership including Chief Minister-designate Akhilesh Yadav.

man of the hour: Samajwadi Party legislative party leader Akhilesh Yadav with party leader Mohammad Azam Khan coming out of Raj Bhavan in Lucknow on Saturday after informing UP Governor BL Joshi about the decision regarding Chief Minister’s post and the date for the oath-taking ceremony. PTI In UP’s Moradabad district, a Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA’s vehicle allegedly knocked down a policeman injuring him seriously. The supporters of the MLA assaulted the cops, who reached there, after receiving the information and insisted on taking the vehicle and the driver to the police station.
The vehicle that belonged to the SP MLA Ashutosh Maurya hit a constable, Mohammad Khalique, while he was on way to Chandausi on his motor cycle on Friday evening, sources said.

As the cops from the nearby police stations reached the spot and insisted on taking the vehicle and the driver to the police station, the MLA's supporters assaulted them. The MLA later forcibly took away the vehicle from the police station. No case has been registered so far in this regard, sources said.

Reports of SP workers assaulting their political opponents have poured in from different parts of the state soon after the counting of votes for the Assembly elections.

On Holi day, SP workers who were supporters of the SP MLA Aridaman Singh, allegedly hacked to death husband of a Dalit village pradhan who was a BSP supporter in Agra district. The victim Munna Lal was stabbed several times by some assailants. A case of murder has been registered against Singh in this regard.

SP workers also allegedly torched several houses of Dalits in Sant Ravidas Nagar on Thursday, while in Ambedkar Nagar district, SP workers thrashed Dalits for allegedly voting for a rival candidate. Three days back, the workers had allegedly torched over a dozen huts at a village in UP’s Sitapur district for not voting in favour of the SP nominee.

A mob of SP supporters had assaulted and threatened scribes at Jhansi town after the SP candidate lost the polls. They also took some journalists hostage. The scribes were freed only after Akhilesh Yadav intervened.

In Balia, SP workers allegedly thrashed some women and children as the people from their village had voted for a rival party.

SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had on Friday summoned the police chief and the chief secretary and expressed annoyance on the reports of violence. He also warned the SP workers against indulging in violence.


INTERNATIONAL
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14. FAITH: KNOW THY PLACE
by Rahila Gupta
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(opendemocracy.net, 7 March 2012)

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi set off a storm of comment in Britain with her recent article ↑ in the Daily Telegraph with her plea that faith should have a place at the table and that it is being edged out by militant secularism.

This is not borne out by the facts. The increasing role for faith based organisations in the provision of public services, the increasing number of faith schools, and religious groups applying to run the so-called Free Schools, the continued presence of Church of England Archbishops and bishops in the House of Lords are just some examples of a very dominant presence in the public square. Baroness Warsi ↑ complains that "Secular fundamentalists are saying that people of faith shouldn’t have a voice in the public sphere…" Of course, they should be part of the conversation, but religious voices are often raised in a bid to silence other voices, to quash the equalities agenda and other people’s rights. Archbishop Carey is campaigning ↑ against gay marriage, Christian groups such as Christian Concern for Our Nation are opposing ↑ adoption by gay couples, and Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, has been looking for ways of undermining women’s access to abortion by restricting provision of abortion. They do have a voice in the public sphere, the funds to make sure their concerns are aired in court, and access to put forward their views in Parliament. Those campaigning on sexual freedoms are making, and must make, a robust case for their rights.

It is particularly disturbing that Warsi should celebrate her visit to Pope Benedict XV1 on 14 February, a man who stands accused ↑ of covering-up child sexual abuse, as, ‘more than a Valentine’s Day “love in” with our Catholic neighbours’ and about recognising the ‘deep’ role of faith in Britain. Warsi argues that aggressive secularism ↑ is being introduced by stealth ↑ . Most of her examples, such as the ruling against Bideford Council starting its official meetings with prayers, are legal judgements openly issued and discussed in public – where is the stealth?

Some of the attacks on secularism are coming from Christian quarters worried that the haemorrhaging of the faithful from the churches undermines their legitimacy. But why has Warsi become the poster girl for a muscular Christianity? As co-chairman of the Conservative Party, she might just be doing her job, toeing the party line. Sunny Hundal argues ↑ in the New Statesman journal that an influx of social conservatives into the party - some with links to the Christian new right - is exercising right wing pressure. As her past public statements have shown, she is also concerned about ‘islamaphobia’, in particular her comment that prejudice against Muslims has "passed the dinner-table test ↑ " i.e. that it is socially acceptable to make anti-Muslim statements. By expanding the public space for Christianity, by condemning bigotry against religion, it allows other religions, especially minority religions, more freedom to flourish. This is a view that has been iterated ↑ by David Cameron himself, ‘It is actually easier for people to believe and practice other faiths when Britain has confidence in its Christian identity.’

The problem with opening up public space for the hegemonic religion is how do you perpetuate its hegemony without appearing to be Christian- centric or racist? How do you drown out competing claims from minority religions in the name of diversity and equality? Secularism is our only refuge from this cacophony. For a whole host of political, cultural and historical reasons, all religions do not have the same respect for human rights and equalities, and even within religions there are dissenting voices. The paradox is that it is the secular principles underpinning British institutions and the legal system which allow us to counter some of the more orthodox and retrogressive aspects of religion.

At some level, Warsi herself recognises the importance of secular institutions. Recently, away from the public gaze, she organised a high level meeting, at which the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, and the Attorney General, Rt Hon Dominic Grieve MP, were present with academics and women’s groups to discuss the question of why vulnerable Muslim women who have religious marriages in Britain do not go on to have a civil marriage. The stated objective of the meeting was the need to protect those Muslim women who are only afforded the much weaker rights of cohabitees by virtue of their religious marriages. According to the participants, it transpired that Warsi’s real concern was the practice of polygamy within the Muslim community which had implications for the welfare benefits budget and immigration numbers. As a religious marriage contracted abroad is recognised for the purposes of immigration, Warsi was concerned that men were bringing in several wives and looking for ways to end this practice. As there is very little research or evidence to support the argument that polygamy is widely practised, or on the increase in the Muslim community, the general view was that any attempts to clamp down on it may be seen as discriminatory. The Conservatives turned out to be true to type – more concerned with cutting immigration and benefits than with the protection of Muslim women. There was very little appetite among them for giving religious authorities a greater say in family law issues, which seems to be in keeping with their support for religious claims so long as they fit in with the state’s agenda.

According to academics Steve Bruce and Tony Glendinning ↑ , ‘The absence of a state church in the USA, for example, owes far more to the fact that the early colonies had a variety of state churches and hence could not agree on which it should be than it does to secularism among the founding fathers.’ And that is why secularism should be welcomed by religionists – because it avoids religious discord by privileging none. In some quarters though, the defence of secularism ↑ , like that put forward by Julian Baggini, is so watered down (much like the general liberal response to Richard Dawkins) that it seems to exclude any criticism of religion. He asserts that neutrality is at the core of secularism and he defines neutrality as ‘neither standing for or against religion’. I would like to argue for a more robust secularism- as opposed to militant - and reclaim the right to stand against religion. Most religious books and practices are at the core, anti-woman: the creation myth of Christianity and the uncleanness of women in Islam and Hinduism to name a few examples. The closer believers adhere to the Book, the more likely they are to be damned as fundamentalist. Whilst it is generally acceptable to critique fundamentalism, the same freedom is not available to critiques of religion itself. But the Book never goes away, it remains the guiding principle, the context which frames more or less conservative interpretations depending on the social context of the times. So a critique of religion from the point of view of women remains a valid one and the demand for keeping religion out of the state and public life, equally valid. Sheila Jeffreys’ new book, Man’s Dominion.The Rise of Religion and the Eclipse of Women’s Rights revives feminist criticism that religion is the founding ideology of patriarchy.

This is an important reminder at a time when feminists are shrinking away from their critique of religion because women’s rights have been used disingenuously to justify imperialist adventures into Afghanistan, or by the right wing in Europe to restrict immigration because of the illiberal traditions of religious minorities. Sukhwant Dhaliwal, in her PhD thesis, Religion, Moral Hegemony and Local Cartographies of Power: Feminist reflections on religion in local politics, points to the ‘growing consensus within feminist theory that seeks a distance from secularism, that emphasises solidarities with faith based mobilisations and seeks to defend religious minority struggles’. In their understanding of the intersectionality between race, religion and sexual freedoms, academics like Judith Butler, argue ↑ that the struggle for sexual freedoms has become a marker of modernity and secularism, and has been used to damn and exclude religious minorities. This is the old anti-racist argument being resurrected in more sophisticated dress, an argument that minority women thought they had laid to rest through their simultaneous struggles for greater freedoms within their communities, and against the racism of the wider society. It is possible to face both ways: to oppose imperialist adventures or racist immigration agendas and to fight illiberal traditions, whether in dominant or minority religions. That is the ground on which minority women stand.

We should not seek to appease these strident voices which label secularism as fundamentalist or militant by promoting a secularism which has had its teeth drawn. Their shrillness comes from the lack of substance in their arguments. Let’s not be intimidated by the noise they make and continue to develop our critique of religion.

A place at the dining table, yes. A place in the public square, jostling with other beliefs, yes. At the roundtable, no.

Rahila Gupta is a freelance journalist and writer. Her work has appeared in The Guardian and New Humanist among other papers and magazines. Her books include Provoked ↑ (Harper Collins, India) and Enslaved:The New British Slavery ↑ (Portobello Books)

[The above is also available at: http://www.sacw.net/article2573.html]


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South Asia Citizens Wire
Buzz for secularism, on the dangers of fundamentalism(s), on
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