With reference to some relevant issues raised by Ranjani k.Murthy, it
is necessary to clarify that the so called hunger fasts and committees
for drafting the Lokpal Bill are a desperate attempt by major political
formationswhich are corporate funded and by some civil society movements
to roll back increasing mass discontent and dissent in India which has flared
up
in several regions and is doused out before it spreads, by the usual culprits
who
receive corporate contributions from India and abroad to accommodate and
rechannelise thedissent before it gathers mass and is energized adequately to
call
for substantial systemic changes directly related to how the national budget
and revenues are allocated , how much for those who work and how much
for others .
Those at the receiving end of the present dispensation in terms
of subsistence and civilizational levels, being below accepted norms
even of consumption of food grains and nutrition, apart from the limited
or no access to education , health , transport , housing etc, as rightly
referred to by Ranjani K.Murthy ,are the majority of the population ,
in which large percentages are from tribal, dalit and minority populations.
With the entire Neoliberal paradigm of the world wide system
of production and distribution breaking down and wide spread
protests , the direct consequence of the increasing awareness that this
system does not work , political/economic alternatives will have
to be explored and blue prints prepared by those who see themselves
as a part of the solution and not part of the problem .
Violence on protests have to be deplored ,while being careful
never to give respectability to protests or movements from the
extreme right wing and fascist groups with whom there can
never be any understanding /alliance /adjustment as they stand
for an obfuscation of democracy, whereas we stand for the widest
extension of democratic participation to include those hitherto
left out of the pale of participation in policy making at all levels .
This is where the Laxman Rekha has to be drawn , no alliance
with fascist groups .
What is also a matter for concern is that some political
trends and tendencies still in immaturity due to the limited
nature of the support they receive ,as they have not reached
out adequately to the people of India as a whole , are being
perceived as anti science, development , technology and as
a consequence as anti -progress . This misinformation or dis-
information is a liability for any movement /party which
seeks to obtain the widest support of people in diverse regions
and economic activity as no serious formation can confine itself
to marginalized sections without seeking support from all those
who are politically out of the pale of decision making even if they
have a vote as elections are based on campaign finance .
It must be categorically debated,discussed and disseminated
that essential infrastructure in rural and urban India is vital
and necessary in housing , water bodies transport, education , health
and nutrition, energy , animal husbandry and for livelihood all of
which have been severely neglected ; the issue really is
for whom is the hitherto infrastructure being created and that
the nature of this infrastructure must not impact peoples lives
for the worse, involve mass uprootment and devastate
their livelihood and the habitat to which they have hitherto
accessed for their day to day needs .Some compromises will have
to be made however in every case it must envisage a forward movement
for those hitherto outside the pale of development and transform their lives
for the better whereas the existing political system has been throwing them
by the way side .
Many years ago I was an eye witness to the pathetic plight
of those who had been displaced to construct the Koyna
dam . People in villages near the river were flung in to
far off areas where there was no immediate access to water,
even as the energy needs of some were being met .The argument
that some will pay for the price of development of others is
unacceptable .There has to be equitable development and the
economically and socially weaker the citizen the greater her/his
right to the support of policies of the State/government those
who are already privileged do not need the protection of the
State/government .
We need better political formations and movements of
great integrity ,who will continuously and constantly
educated themselves on the immediate needs of diverse
people and the issue of their mobilization at the same time
who will keep abreast of scientific , economic , financial and
political developments all over the world , as what is required
is nothing short of a new civilization pattern which is
ecologically sustainable for the planet based on harmonious
relations inter se between different societies assisting and
co-operating .
We need modernity of approach and the ability to study
the diversity of the Indian economic and social situation
in the backdrop of developments of the 20th Century , to
discard what is fossilized and advance what is sound and
best meets the interest of as many people as can be benefited.
It is easy to destroy , the real challenge lies in being
clear about what one is building or re-building and
that can only be with a clear perspective of for
whom and why ??????
As of now the priority issue is the right to democratic
dissent and protection of civil liberties .
Niloufer Bhagwat
----- Original Message -----
From: ranjani k.murthy
To: PMI ; [email protected]
Cc: humanrights ; feminists ; citizens justice
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 7:04 PM
Subject: Re: [humanrights-movement:4430] suppression of dissent
i think i should ack friends from chattisgarh, thervoyil kandigai, penn
urumai iyakkam and Unorgnised workers federation in shaping these thoughts-
they bear no resp. for what i write
ranjani,
--- On Tue, 7/6/11, ranjani k.murthy <[email protected]> wrote:
From: ranjani k.murthy <[email protected]>
Subject: [humanrights-movement:4428] suppression of dissent
To: "PMI" <[email protected]>
Cc: "humanrights" <[email protected]>,
"feminists" <[email protected]>, "citizens justice"
<[email protected]>
Date: Tuesday, 7 June, 2011, 6:44 PM
Dear friends:
While different people- from Yoga gurus to
Anna Hazare go on fast to protest against corruption in India- one needs to ask
whether such approaches are good or do they land up suppressing large scale
dissent from oppressed groups, with 75% of India living under $2 per day per
capita
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_percentage_of_population_living_in_poverty).
Other reasons for absence of large scale
dissent in India include i) Populist schemes of government like free/subsidized
distribution of rice, television, grinders, gold etc which do not question the
unequal distribution of assets/income, returns to labor, usurpation of natural
resources, ii) The inadequate emphasis on labor intensive growth by government
and on dry land agriculture growth (MNREGS is palliative and poorly
implemented, rarely in manifesto of state specific parties), iii) Initiation of
schemes like SGSY without linking them to land redistribution or rights to
ponds, forests, tanks, markets. iv) The anti-Dalit sentiment by upper and
middle castes, the blindness of society towards poverty, the upholding of
patriarchal values, phobia towards people of diverse sexual/gender identities,
Muslims*, etc. v) Belief of people in institutionalized religion and that
one’s religion is superior to that of the others. vi) Emergence of NGOs under
corporate control as well as NGOs which engage in service delivery (which
should be done by government). NGOs’ role should ideally be restricted to
making state and inter-state organizations accountable or showing replicable
models of making oppressed groups take control over livelihoods and assets
along value chain and making households, community and markets accountable.
vii) The internationalization of good social movements by INGOs by funding
them, with leaders being pulled to different countries to speak. Cannot
technology be used to speak from here? Viii) Inadequate back up support
mechanisms for few non party political formations that have survived this
onslaught.
It is time to challenge the yoga guru and
middle/elite class led development and protest models and ask the oppressed
(50% of whom are Dalits and Adivasis in India
(bahujannews.blogspot.com/.../zestcaste-my-response-to-ashok.html), majority
are unorganized workers- with women amongst them being more marginalized) what
they see as Just model (s) of development, governance, spirituality and
sustainable living. It is obvious that neither unfettered capitalism nor
communism has worked. Instiutionalised religion is divisive. If necessary,
one could expose oppressed to different interpretations of Ambedkar, Lohia,
Paulo Friere, Andre Gunder Frank, Marx, Che Guevera, Trusteeship of Gandhi,
etc, pose a few questions and leave it to them to evolve a model which is non
violent. Listening to the songs of 70 year old Naynamma, a dalit from Thervoy
Kandigai, Tamil Nadu I feel she could teach us a lot. Dalits, Adivasis and
Sufis also follow a lot of non-institutionalized spiritual and sustainable
living practices and follow their own governance systems (though not equitable
in all aspects of diversity).
FURTHER IT IS TIME TO GIVE FELLOWSHIPS TO
OPPRESSED GROUPS WHO HAVE LED STRUGGLES OR RESOLVED CONFLICTS TO FORM
PREVENTIVE STRUGGLE and CONFLICT RESOLUTION COMMITTEES (WITH LEADERSHIP BY
THEM) AND NOT CURATIVE ONES AFTER (INTER) NATIONAL CORPORATE CONTROL, STATE
CONTROL AND CONFLICT STARTS. OTHERWISE THERE IS A DANGER THAT SOONER OR LATER
SPORADIC PATHS OF VIOLENCE MAY SPREAD FURTHER. AFTER ALL OPPRESSED ARE NOT
FOOLS. FURTHER, WITH TECHNOLOGY AND FREE DISTRIBUTION OF TELEVISIONS PEOPLE
KNOW PATHS OF PROTEST HAPPENING IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
* 31% of Muslims are below poverty line,
higher than national average (articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com ›
Collections › Dalits - Cached).
ranjani
* Regret that I am in sri lanka for few days, name
changed in gazette but not in passport, had to come for a talk on "justice" and
learn some home truths from friends about situation here.
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