[GreenYouth] ചെങ്ങറക്കാര്‍ അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലെത്തുമ ്പോള്‍
ചെങ്ങറക്കാര്‍ അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലെത്തുമ്പോള്‍ http://www.mathrubhumi.com/story.php?id=127391 Posted on: 21 Sep 2010 എം. സുചിത്ര സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ നല്‍കിയ പട്ടയവുമായി ചെങ്ങറയിലെ സമരഭൂമിയില്‍നിന്ന് അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലെ അധ്വാനപ്പെട്ടിയിലെത്തിയ ദളിത് കുടുംബങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് വാഗ്ദാനം ചെയ്ത ഭൂമി അളന്നുനല്‍കാന്‍ റവന്യൂ അധികൃതര്‍ക്ക് കഴിയാതെവന്ന സംഭവം ആദിവാസി, ദളിത്‌വിഭാഗങ്ങളോട് സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ കാണിക്കുന്ന വഞ്ചനയുടെ ഏറ്റവും പുതിയ തെളിവാണ്. അല്ലെങ്കിലേ സങ്കീര്‍ണമാണ് അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലെ ഭൂമിപ്രശ്‌നം. ആദ്യം കുടിയേറ്റക്കാരുടെ തള്ളിക്കയറ്റമായിരുന്നു. ഇപ്പോള്‍ റിയല്‍ എസ്റ്റേറ്റുകാരുടെ കൈയേറ്റങ്ങള്‍. ആദിവാസിഭൂമി അന്യാധീനപ്പെട്ടുകൊണ്ടേയിരിക്കുന്നു. കാറ്റാടിക്കമ്പനി, നിയമലംഘനങ്ങള്‍, വ്യാജപട്ടയങ്ങള്‍, വിവാദങ്ങള്‍, അന്വേഷണങ്ങള്‍, കേസുകള്‍. രംഗം കൂടുതല്‍ കൊഴുപ്പിക്കാനാകണം സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ചെങ്ങറക്കാരെക്കൂടി അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലെത്തിച്ചത്. കഴിഞ്ഞവര്‍ഷം സപ്തംബറിലാണ് സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ചെങ്ങറ 'ഒത്തുതീര്‍പ്പാ'ക്കിയത്. സര്‍ക്കാറിനുവേണ്ടി അന്നൊരു പാക്കേജ് പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചു. ഭൂമിയില്ലാത്ത ആദിവാസികള്‍ക്ക് ഒരേക്കര്‍ ഭൂമിയും വീടുവെക്കാന്‍ ഒന്നേകാല്‍ ലക്ഷം രൂപയും പട്ടികജാതിവിഭാഗത്തിന് 50 സെന്റ് സ്ഥലവും 75,000 രൂപയും ഇതരവിഭാഗങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് 25 സെന്റ് സ്ഥലവും 75,000 രൂപയും എന്നതായിരുന്നു പാക്കേജ്. നല്‍കുന്ന ഭൂമി കൃഷിചെയ്യാന്‍ കഴിയുന്ന ഭൂമിയാവണം എന്നതായിരുന്നു സമരക്കാരുടെ ഡിമാന്റ്. ഈ പാക്കേജിന്റെ ഭാഗമായിട്ടാണ് ഇപ്പോള്‍ ചെങ്ങറയിലെ 55 കുടുംബങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അധ്വാനപ്പെട്ടിയിലെ ഭൂമിയുടെ പട്ടയം നല്‍കിയത്. ഇവരില്‍ അഞ്ച് കുടുംബങ്ങള്‍ സ്ഥലത്തെത്തിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. അപരിചിതമായ കാലാവസ്ഥ, ചീറിയടിക്കുന്ന കാറ്റ്, കൃഷിയില്ലാതെ കിടക്കുന്ന മലമ്പ്രദേശം, പ്ലാസ്റ്റിക് ഷീറ്റുകൊണ്ട് മറച്ചുകെട്ടിയ കുടില്‍, കാറ്റില്‍ പറന്നുപോകാതിരിക്കാന്‍ കല്ലും മറ്റും കയറ്റിവെച്ചിരിക്കുകയാണ്. ആനയിറങ്ങുന്ന സ്ഥലമായതിനാല്‍ പേടിച്ചാണ് അവര്‍ കഴിയുന്നത്. അരിയും ഭക്ഷണവും നല്‍കിയ ആദ്യത്തെ രണ്ടാഴ്ച അവരെ സഹായിച്ചത് ആദിവാസികളാണ്. ചെങ്ങറക്കാര്‍ക്ക് നല്‍കാന്‍ സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള ഭൂമി കോട്ടത്തറ വില്ലേജിലെ സര്‍വേ നമ്പര്‍ 1891-ല്‍പ്പെടുന്ന സ്ഥലമാണ്. കാറ്റാടിക്കമ്പനിയുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട് വിവാദമായ സര്‍വേ നമ്പര്‍ 1275-നോട് തൊട്ടുകിടക്കുന്ന ഭൂമി. 960 ഹെക്ടര്‍ ഭൂമിയില്‍ 702 ഹെക്ടര്‍ വനഭൂമിയാണ്. ബാക്കിഭൂമി ആദിവാസികള്‍ കൈവശം വെച്ചിരുന്നതും മിച്ചഭൂമിയായി ഏറ്റെടുത്ത് സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ആദിവാസികള്‍ക്ക് പതിച്ചുനല്‍കിയിരുന്നതുമാണ്. തങ്ങളുടെ ഭൂമിയില്‍ സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ നടത്തിയ മണ്ണുസംരക്ഷണ പ്രവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങളുടെ രേഖകള്‍ ആദിവാസികളുടെ െൈകയിലുണ്ട്. 1978-ല്‍ 150 ആദിവാസി കുടുംബങ്ങള്‍ക്കാണ് സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ഇവിടെ ഭൂമി വിതരണം ചെയ്തിരുന്നത്. അതിനുശേഷം, നായനാര്‍ മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിയും കെ.ഇ. ഇസ്മയില്‍ റവന്യൂമന്ത്രിയുമായിരിക്കെ, 1999-ല്‍ അട്ടപ്പാടിയില്‍ ഒരു പട്ടയ മഹാമേള നടത്തുകയുണ്ടായി. 1975 ആദിവാസി ഭൂനിയമം കുടിയേറ്റക്കാര്‍ക്ക് അനുകൂലമായി ഭേദഗതി ചെയ്തതിനു തൊട്ടുപിറകെയായിരുന്നു ഈ പട്ടയമേള. ആദിവാസികളുടെ അന്യാധീനപ്പെട്ട ഭൂമിക്കുപകരം ഭൂമി നല്‍കാനെന്ന മട്ടിലാണ് മേള സംഘടിപ്പിച്ചത്. മുന്‍കരുതലെന്നനിലയില്‍ പലരെയും അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്തിരുന്നു. ഈ മേളയില്‍ 500 ആദിവാസികള്‍ക്ക് പട്ടയം നല്‍കി. അതില്‍ 114 പേര്‍ക്ക് ഭൂമി നല്‍കിയത് സര്‍വേ നമ്പര്‍ 1819-ല്‍ തന്നെയാണ്. ചെങ്ങറക്കാര്‍ക്കുവേണ്ടി ഭൂമി അളക്കാന്‍ സപ്തംബര്‍ 13-ന് മണ്ണാര്‍ക്കാട് തഹസില്‍ദാരും മറ്റ് റവന്യൂ ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥരും അധ്വാനപ്പെട്ടിയില്‍ എത്തിയപ്പോള്‍ 1978-ല്‍ പട്ടയം ലഭിച്ചവരും 1999-ല്‍ പട്ടയം ലഭിച്ചവരുമായ ഒരുകൂട്ടം ആദിവാസികള്‍ അവിടെ എത്തിയിരുന്നു. ഇവര്‍ക്കുപുറമെ, ഇതേ ഭൂമിയില്‍ പത്തും പതിനഞ്ചും ഏക്കര്‍ ഭൂമിക്ക് പട്ടയമുള്ള തൊട്ടപ്പുറത്ത് തമിഴ്‌നാട്ടില്‍ ജീവിക്കുന്ന ചില കൗണ്ടര്‍മാരും എത്തിയിരുന്നു. കഴിഞ്ഞവര്‍ഷം വരെ നികുതിയടച്ചതിന്റെ രസീത് അവരുടെ കൈയിലുണ്ട്. ഇവര്‍ക്കുപുറമെ ഇതേ സര്‍വേ നമ്പറില്‍ മലപ്പുറത്തുനിന്നും എറണാകുളത്തുനിന്നുമുള്ള സ്വകാര്യ വ്യക്തികള്‍ ഭൂമി വാങ്ങിയിട്ടുണ്ട്! ആദിവാസിഭൂമി കൈമാറ്റം ചെയ്യാന്‍ പാടില്ല എന്നതൊന്നും ഇവിടെ ഒരു പ്രശ്‌നമേയല്ല. സ്വകാര്യ വ്യക്തികള്‍ നടത്തുന്ന നിയമലംഘനത്തേക്കാള്‍ വലിയ വഞ്ചനയാണ് സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ചെയ്യുന്നത്. 1978-ല്‍ പട്ടയം കിട്ടിയ 150 പേരില്‍ 149 പേരുടെയും പട്ടയങ്ങള്‍ റദ്ദുചെയ്ത് ആ ഭൂമിയാണ് 1999-ല്‍ വിതരണം ചെയ്തത്! 32 വര്‍ഷമായി തങ്ങള്‍ പെട്ടിയില്‍ ഭദ്രമായി സൂക്ഷിച്ചിരുന്ന പട്ടയം (അവരതിന് നികുതിയും അടയ്ക്കുന്നുണ്ടായിരുന്നു) പതിനൊന്നുവര്‍ഷം മുമ്പ് റദ്ദാക്കപ്പെട്ടവിവരം ആദിവാസികള്‍ അറിയുന്നത് ഇപ്പോള്‍ മാത്രമാണ്. പട്ടയ മഹാമേള നടന്നത് ജൂലായ് ഒമ്പതിനാണ്. അതിന് രണ്ടുമാസം മുമ്പ് മേയിലാണ് 149 പട്ടയങ്ങള്‍ റദ്ദാക്കിയത്. പട്ടയം ലഭിച്ച ഭൂമിയില്‍ താമസിക്കുകയോ കൃഷിചെയ്യുകയോ ചെയ്യാതിരുന്നത് എന്തുകൊണ്ട് എന്ന് ബോധിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു ഹിയറിങ് വിളിച്ചിരുന്നെന്നും ആദിവാസികള്‍ ഹാജരായില്ലെന്നുമാണ് തഹസില്‍ദാര്‍ പറയുന്നത്. എന്നാല്‍, അങ്ങനെയൊരു കാര്യം തങ്ങള്‍ അറിഞ്ഞിട്ടേയില്ല എന്നാണ് ആദിവാസികള്‍ പറയുന്നത്. മാത്രമല്ല, പട്ടയം കിട്ടിയ ഭൂമിയില്‍ താമസിക്കണമെങ്കില്‍ അത് അളന്ന് തിരിച്ചുകൊടുക്കണമല്ലോ. അത് ഉണ്ടായിട്ടില്ല. '78-ലെ പട്ടയക്കാര്‍ക്കു മാത്രമല്ല, 1999-ല്‍ പട്ടയം കിട്ടിയവര്‍ക്കും ഇതുവരെ ഭൂമി അളന്നുതിരിച്ചുകൊടുത്തിട്ടില്ല. കൃഷിചെയ്യാനുള്ള സൗകര്യവും ഉണ്ടാക്കിക്കൊടുത്തിരുന്നില്ല. ഭൂമിയില്‍ അതിക്രമിച്ചുകയറി വേലിക്കെട്ടിത്താമസിക്കുന്ന രീതി അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലെ ആദിവാസികള്‍ക്ക് ഇനിയും അറിയില്ല. അവര്‍ ക്ഷമയോടെ കാത്തിരിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു. ചെങ്ങറക്കാരെ അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലേക്ക് കൊണ്ടുവരുന്നതിനുമുമ്പ് അട്ടപ്പാടിയില്‍ത്തന്നെയുള്ള ആദിവാസികളുടെ ഭൂമിപ്രശ്‌നം പരിഹരിക്കുകയാണ് സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ആദ്യം ചെയ്യേണ്ടിയിരുന്നത്. അന്യാധീനപ്പെട്ട ഭൂമി തിരിച്ചുകിട്ടുന്നതിനുവേണ്ടി അവര്‍ മുറവിളികൂട്ടാന്‍ തുടങ്ങിയിട്ട് കാലം കുറെയായി. അട്ടപ്പാടിയിലെ ആദിവാസികളുടെ അന്യാധീനപ്പെട്ട ഭൂമി സംബന്ധിച്ച് ഐ.ടി.ഡി.പി. ഓഫീസ്
[GreenYouth] Technology, People and Media: Interview with Alan Rusbridger
http://journalismcultureinindia.blogspot.com/ Technology, People and Media: Interview with Alan Rusbridgerhttp://journalismcultureinindia.blogspot.com/2010/09/technology-people-and-media-interview.html http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CmpSIJmho_A/TJf_C8CHznI/AAM/vyTBF-1lJR0/s1600/alan.jpg We live in a revolutionary era where technology enables everyone to publish, and this calls for a redefined role for newspapers, says *Alan Rusbridger, Editor of The Guardian*. In an interview, he covered a wide range of subjects, ranging from reader engagement and core values of journalism, to free speech, defamation, the rise of mobile devices and the Wikileaks phenomenon. *You have been speaking about mutualisation of the newspaper, and you explained how it makes sense to involve readers, many of whom have expertise in subjects. But traditionally, were we not listening to readers, have not newspapers been doing their job as sensitive institutions in society? What has changed now?* I think it is going further. It is technology. Because the readers now have the ability to publish and link up. And I think in all this we have to make a judgment about whether essentially our role stays the stays the same. You are right to say that the best newspapers have listened to their readers and drawn upon their expertise. But the realm of newspapers is shrinking and all this energy is being created elsewhere and I think it is a real life or death position for newspapers as to whether they essentially ignore all that or whether you have to redefine the role of the newspapers to encourage it to come inside with what they are doing. The example that I gave the other day of the *Huffington Post*, the American newspapers thought when the *Huffington Post *started, thought it was a bit silly, that it was Ariana Huffington on a kind of ego trip, and very soon, the *Huffington Post* was getting more hits than many American newspapers. And that is where the centre of the debate went because lots of people could take part. Whereas the papers were still saying we will publish our six pieces a day. You got one model which was going like that, becoming ever more popular and the other model staying flat. So you have the decision to make. You can say, that is not what were are going to do, or you can say that is something new and important here which we have to look at. At the moment I am more interested in the something important here. I may be going a little too far in what I am saying. Essentially it comes down to this period that we are living through, which I think is a real revolution. And it is your best judgment whether newspapers could afford to stand apart from this revolution or want to be part of it. *You mentioned in your speech at the WAN-IFRA India conference in Jaipur about using social media like Twitter to involve readers. But how do you guard against spin?* That is where our judgment comes. In all of this I am not underplaying the expertise of journalists or what we do. So I think we use Twitter like we use any other source. We should not take Twitter to be representative of the public at large. This is an interesting, extra dimension to information. We will use it as a source, it is an imperfect source like all other sources, but a very useful source and a very useful journalistic tool. *Does mutualisation and reader participation require a mature democracy to work? Our experience with the Right to Information Act shows people have come to grief after using the law.* I have to qualify everything that I am saying, it should not appear to be arrogant in telling other people how to work. I sat through a very interesting session in Jaipur where a number of editors were confident about the role of traditional media. But I think, there are two things, one is this issue of identities, there is this burning debate of whether people should be allowed to be anonymous. You could say that some forms of new media, which thrive on anonymity or pseudonymity are ways of getting around repressive states or governments or organisations, because you can say things under protection of anonymity. Now that is good and bad, it has dangers. And the most repressive states like China are learning how to get around that. There is also something about places like Twitter, where there is kind of safety in numbers, so you get people swarming all over a subject. And that is somehow a more protective space than one whistleblower or person standing up. *Are newspapers exceptional? The Guardian has its own identity. In today’s world, how do you carve out your identity?* One of the obvious things that people keep saying, at least in the developed world, is this business about commoditised news. That is one element. If you are thinking, and this is related to money, along old models, that we can charge for what we do, then you have to work out what it is that you do that no one else is doing. I use the example of a plane crashing in Holland. Always in the
[GreenYouth] Cuban TU as Apologist of Massive Lay Off of Workers
[Here we find Cuban TU as an apologist of the official policy of massive lay off of workers. That's typical of a single party state with little space for public dissent.] I/II. http://www.cpa.org.au/guardian/2010/1473/10-new-economic-measures-cuba.html http://www.cpa.org.au/guardian/2010/1473/10-new-economic-measures-cuba.html Issue #1473 ** 22 September 2010 New economic measures in Cuba Statement by the Cuban Federation of Workers The economic crisis has affected all economies around the world and Cuba is no exception. Despite the seriousness of the crisis and the ongoing illegal US blockade of Cuba, the socialist state protected workers better than their counterparts in capitalist economies. The government has announced a number of important measures to deal with the current situation and deepen the construction of socialism on a more efficient basis. These have been mis-reported in the mass media as signalling the failure of and even abandonment of socialism by Communist Party leaders and the Cuban government. Nothing could be further from the truth. The following is a statement* by the National Secretariat of the Cuban Federation of Workers (CTC) to Cuban workers explaining the new measures: Cuba has demonstrated that socialism continues to be the way forward for workers and the environment. Today, more than ever, the support for the leadership of our people, the will and the determination to continue the construction of socialism are alive and implacable. Workers: The Cuban Revolution has 52 years of victorious existence, and today more than ever, the willingness and determination to continue the construction of socialism, to advance and update the economic model we must follow, continues to be alive and unshakeable in the direction of the Nation and in our people, consolidating the gains achieved. The leadership of the government has been working on a set of measures that guarantee and implement changes that are necessary and urgently need to be introduced into the economy and society, a means to transform and improve the efficiency of current productive and labour processes. Cuba faces the urgent need to move forward economically, to better organise production, to enhance productivity and raise reserves, to improve discipline and efficiency. This will only be possible through the dignified and dedicated work of our people. Today, the duty of the Cuban people is to work and do it well, with seriousness and responsibility, to make better use of available resources to satisfy our needs. As a result of the process of updating the economic model and projections of the economy for the period 2011-2015, it is foreseen in the Guidelines for next year the reduction of more than 500,000 workers in the state sector and a parallel increase in the non-state sector. The timetable for the implementation by government organisations and businesses is the first trimester of 2011. For the union movement and workers it is an unavoidable task to pay the utmost attention to downsizing, to the process of labour and employment availability, and to ensure the adequate utilisation of human resources. It is known that the excess of places exceeds one million people in the budget and business sectors. Our state cannot nor should it continue to maintain businesses, productive organisations and services with over inflated staff budgets, resulting in losses that weigh down the economy. They turn out to be counterproductive, generate bad habits and deform the conduct of workers. It is necessary to increase production and quality of services, reduce inflated social spending and eliminate bulky improper gratuities, excessive subsidies and study as a source of employment and early retirement. The success of the process initiated now depends on the political assurance of the union movement under the leadership of the Party; union leaders prior to undertaking actions will obtain social consensus on the economic and political relevance of this step. These measures seek to identify labour availability and the places that are not necessary and to relocate this labour into jobs where it is necessary and possible or to reorientate those workers. For those workers in an establishment or workplace that become surplus, the intention is to expand and diversify the present horizon of options with new forms of non-state employment as an alternative; these include leasing, usufruct**, cooperatives and self-employment, where hundreds of thousands of workers will move in the coming years. With the state sector it will only be possible to staff those places that are indispensible, in areas where historically there has been a deficit of labour such as agriculture, construction, teaching, police, industrial workers and others. The country has been running major investment processes in a number of sectors; the petroleum, construction, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and tourism and at the same time developing other areas of
[GreenYouth] Fwd: Tariq Ali on The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad
-- Forwarded message -- From: Liberation News Service intlmeis...@gmail.com Date: Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 10:50 PM Subject: Tariq Ali on The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad To: Liberation News Service intlmeis...@gmail.com *DEMOCRACY NOW!* September 21, 2010 *Inetreview* * Tariq Ali on The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad* We speak with British Pakistani political commentator, writer, activist and editor of the *New Left Review*, Tariq Ali. He is the author of numerous books; his latest is *The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad*. [includes rush transcript] *Rush Transcript* *AMY GOODMAN: *Coming up, Glenn Greenwald joins us, usually in Brazil, but here he’s in New York. But right now we’re staying with Tariq Ali. He has a new book out; it’s called *The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad *. Some might say that’s a little harsh. ** *TARIQ ALI: *I know some of his supporters might feel it’s a little harsh, but I think that we’ve had two years of him now, Amy, and the contours of this administration are now visible. And essentially, it is a conservative administration which has changed the mood music. So the talk is better. The images of the administration are better, the reasonable looks. But in terms of what they do—in foreign policy, we’ve seen a continuation of the Bush-Cheney policies, and worse, in AfPak, as they call it, and at home, we’ve seen a total capitulation to the lobbyists, to the corporations. The fact that the healthcare bill was actually drafted by someone who used to be an insurance lobbyist says it all. So, it’s essentially now a PR operation to get him reelected. But I don’t think people are that dumb. I’ve been speaking to some of his, you know, partisan supporters, and they’re disappointed. So the big problem for Obama is that if you do nothing and promise that you would bring about some changes, you will not have people coming out to vote for you again. And building up the tea party into this great bogey isn’t going to work. It’s your own supporters you have to convince to come out and vote for you, as they did before. I can’t see that happening. ** *AMY GOODMAN: *The cover of your book, *The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad*, is a picture of the face, the head of President Obama, and half of it is peeled away to reveal President Bush. ** *TARIQ ALI: *Well, this, you know, I think, is a sort of very brilliant West Coast montage artist, and they are the best. Whenever there’s a crisis, they come up with an image which says it all. And I like that image a lot, and I used it very deliberately to show the continuation, that it’s not a case that we have a new administration. We do, technically, but it’s continuing with many of the old policies in the—how it deals with the economy. When you have people like Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, occasionally Frank Rich in the *New York Times*, Maureen Dowd, these people who were desperate for a Democrat administration being incredibly critical of some of its things, when you have venerable professors like Gary Wells saying, I’m disappointed, the honeymoon didn’t last long with Obama. It lasted much, much longer with Clinton. And one reason for that is that he had raised hopes and was unable to deliver. He turned out to be an apparatchik and a political operator from one of the worst Democrat areas in the country, Chicago, and that’s what he behaves like. *AMY GOODMAN: *Robert Gibbs, the White House press spokesperson, going after the so-called professional left? Your thoughts? *TARIQ ALI: *Well, I mean, it’s interesting that they are incapable of dealing with the right. With the right, it’s conciliation. That’s what they feel they have to appeal to. With critics from the left, they tend to be very harsh, as if they are saying to us, You don’t know how lucky you are. But why are we lucky? I mean, you know, we judge people not by how they look or what they say, but by what they do. And what Obama has been doing is, you know, to put it mildly, extremely disappointing at home, and abroad it’s murderous. On Palestine, on Iran, no changes at all. So, one has to spell this out, because if they don’t realize that they’re doing this, they’re going to get more shocks. And Rahm Emanuel refers to people on the liberal left who are critical of Obama, and he uses a bad swear word and then says, effing retards—well, we’ll see who the retards are after the midterms, Amy. That’s all I can say. *AMY GOODMAN: **Surrender at Home, War Abroad* You were born in Pakistan. You ultimately went to Britain, where we just came from last night. It’s been interesting to see the politics there, but also the devastation of the war, the effects of the wars, on the population at home in Britain. A report in the paper the other day, when we were in London, saying that 20,000 veterans are in prison, mainly Iraq, Afghanistan war veterans, for committing violent and sexual crimes. But what about the war
[GreenYouth] Fwd: Tony Benn on Tony Blair: He Will Have to Live 'Til the Day He Dies with the Knowledge that He Is Guilty of a War Crime
-- Forwarded message -- From: Liberation News Service intlmeis...@gmail.com Date: Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 10:51 PM Subject: Tony Benn on Tony Blair: He Will Have to Live 'Til the Day He Dies with the Knowledge that He Is Guilty of a War Crime To: Liberation News Service intlmeis...@gmail.com *Democracy Now!* September 21, 2010 Interview Tony Benn on Tony Blair: He Will Have to Live ’Til the Day He Dies with the Knowledge that He Is Guilty of a War Crime We speak with former British cabinet minister and MP Tony Benn. He was the longest-serving MP in the history of the British Labour Party, having served for more than half a century. He is now president of the Stop the War Coalition. [includes rush transcript] *Rush Transcript* *AMY GOODMAN: *We turn, though, first to Tony Benn, to, well, a person on your side of the pond, Tariq, the former British cabinet minister and MP, longest-serving MP in the history of the British Labour Party, served for more than half a century, now president of the Stop the War Coalition at the age of eighty-five. I asked Tony Benn to talk about the former Prime Minister Tony Blair. *TONY BENN: *Mr. Blair misled the House of Commons. He told them things which were not true, under instructions from President George W. Bush, and, as a result of that, persuaded the House of Commons to vote for the war. One calculation is that over a million Iraqis have died as a result of the conflict. And what was achieved by it? Nothing. So I think he will have to live 'til the day he dies with the knowledge that he was guilty of a war crime and the tragedies, human tragedies, that followed from it. *AMY GOODMAN: *Do you think the former prime minister, Tony Blair, should be charged with war crimes? *TONY BENN: *Well, I am not in favor of the War Crimes Tribunal idea. I mean, I listened to the judgment in 1945 when I was a student. I heard all the judgments coming out of the Nuremberg trial. But now, it's too simple to find one man and hang him. I mean, actually, the responsibility for war is very widely shared. I’ve been converted by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to the idea of truth and reconciliation. If you bring out the truth, it reconciles people to each other. So I think if there was a tribunal that said war crimes had been committed, I would be in favor of that, but I wouldn’t put Mr. Blair on trial. *AMY GOODMAN: *The hearings that have been held in Britain—we haven’t had them in the United States—on the start of the Iraq war. *TONY BENN: *Yes. *AMY GOODMAN: *What would you call them? *TONY BENN: *Well, the Chilcot Inquiry, which is the ones going on at the moment, is a sort of academic study of our relations with Iraq. And I think it was a dodgy—dodging the real issue, which was, was it legal to go to war? At the same time, a lot of information has come out of the inquiry, which is obviously true and will clarify the question of war crimes liability. So, in that sense, I think it’s done some good. *AMY GOODMAN: *Your thoughts on President Obama today? *TONY BENN: *Well, I was very much in favor of President Obama, because anyone against George W. Bush and also the drama of having a black American candidate and so on. I watched his campaign with interest, because he didn’t say, I can do this, he said, We can do this. And he built up a campaign of support of people who had confidence in themselves. And I think a lot of the things he’s done—the national healthcare improvements that have been made and the approach to the Muslim world, the approach to Russia about nuclear disarmament—have been good, but on the Afghan war, totally wrong. And I don’t know—there’s a lot of right-wing forces at work in the United States, the tea party group and all the people who are trying to get rid of him. And in a way, politics is becoming a much sharper distinction between right and wrong or left and right. And if you hover about in the middle, I think you’re likely to get crushed. *AMY GOODMAN: *What are your thoughts on the tea party, as you look at it from here in Britain? *TONY BENN: *Well, I mean, it is an indication of very deep reserves of extremely right-wing policy and thinking in the United States. And if it were to win support, it would be bad news for everyone in the world, as well as the Americans. But I have great confidence in the American people. I don’t think they will do that. But that’s the danger. It’s a sort of warning. I lived through the 1930s, when we had Hitler and Mussolini, and I know when you see something like this happening, you—it worries you a bit. *AMY GOODMAN: *Why do you see parallels? *TONY BENN: *Why what? *AMY GOODMAN: *How do you see parallels? *TONY BENN: *Well, the extreme right-wing views tend to be—emerge as a sort of innocent and then develop in ways that are not very good.
[GreenYouth] Forgetting Genocides Encourages Fascists to Go for More Genocides
*JUAN GARCÉS:* … Hitler asked his generals to be ready to invade Poland, and to exterminate the population in those territories, because German population should replace this population. Some generals say, My Führer, there will a provoking of cry in the world. Thousands of people will be killed, and there will be blame for us. And the answer from Hitler was, Why? Twenty years ago was a massacre of Armenians. More than one million Armenians were massacred by the Turkish, in the Turkish Empire. Who remembers now the Armenians? So, the forgiveness of the first big massacre in the twentieth century was the pretext for encouraging a second wave of massacre that was in World War II. –Another 9/11 Anniversary: September 11, 1973, When US-Backed Pinochet Forces Took http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/15/another_9_11_anniversary_september_11 -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send an email to greenyo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
