[GreenYouth] Re: National Alliance of Anti-nuclear M ovements (NAAM) Launched with “The Kanyakumari Declarati on”

[Sukla Sen]

This is an extremely timely move - a highly welcome and significant
development.

Congrats to Dr. Udayakumar and his comrades for the great initiative.

The colonisation part, however, appears to be just a bit of rhetorical
hype.

The steel mills set up in India under Nehru regime soon after Independence
with foreign collaborations in different parts of the country viz. Bhilai,
Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela are no colonies of those collaborating foreign
powers, by no stretch.
But that's only a minor slip.

The move must be highly welcomed.

Sukla

On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Anivar Aravind anivar.arav...@gmail.comwrote:



 *Press Release*

 For Immediate Release

 June 7, 2009

 * *

 *National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM) Launched with *

 *“The Kanyakumari Declaration”*



 More than one hundred organizations, peoples’ movements and concerned
 citizens from across the country came together for a National Convention on
 “The Politics of Nuclear Energy and Resistance” on June 4-6, 2009 at
 Kanyakumari.



 They discussed all the different aspects of nuclear power generation and
 weapons production, the various stages of nuclearization from Uranium mining
 till waste management, and the commissions and the omissions of the
 government of India and the Department of Atomic Energy during the
 three-day-long convention.



 Besides the scientific, technological, and socioeconomic dimensions, the
 Convention also considered the political side of the nuclear threat. The
 nucolonization (nuclear+colonization) policy of the Delhi government is
 poised to continue with a Russian outpost in Koodankulam, a French
 settlement in Jaitapur, an American joint in Haripur and many more such
 establishments around the country. India is going to look and feel like the
 colony of several East India Companies. The Citizens of India would become
 the energy slaves of these White and Brown power barons.



 Most importantly, nuclearism is a political ideology that cannot stomach
 any transparency, accountability or popular participation. It snubs dissent,
 denounces opponents and creates a political climate of fear and retribution.
 With the India-US nuclear deal, and the deals with Russia and France and
 likely private participation in nuclear energy generation, the situation is
 going to get out of hand in our country. The combination of profiteering
 companies, secretive state apparatuses and repressive nuclear department
 will be ruthless and this nexus of capitalism, statism and nuclearism does
 not augur well for the country. These forces gaining an upper hand in our
 national polity will mean a death knell for the country’s democracy,
 openness, and prospects for sustainable development.



 In order to mobilize the Indian citizens against this growing
 nucolonization, to resist the nuclearization of the country, and to protect
 our people from nuclear threats and the environment from nuclear waste and
 radiation, an umbrella organization (tentatively named as the National
 Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements) has been founded with eight committees
 on Documentation, Economic Analysis, Legal, Mass Media, International
 Liaison, Translation, Health, and Direct Action.



 A statement known as “The Kanyakumari Declaration” was also passed by the
 National Convention.



 Contact for More Info: Dr. S. P. Udayakumar, spudayaku...@gmail.com,
 09865683735



 THE  KANYAKUMARI  DECLARATION



 Statement of

 The National Convention on

 “The Politics of Nuclear Energy and Resistance,”

 June 4-6, 2009, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India



 We, the undersigned organizations, peoples’ movements and concerned
 citizens committed to building a world free from nuclear exploitation,
 nuclear business, nuclear power and nuclear weapons, do hereby declare the
 following:



 1.  In the context of the unprecedented threats facing the world due
 to global warming and the rapid depletion of conventional energy sources,
 the nuclear establishment is most opportunistically pushing nuclear energy
 as a climate-friendly energy source. However, all the activities associated
 with nuclear power generation - the mining and processing of uranium, the
 building of nuclear power stations involving huge amounts of cement and
 steel, the long construction process, the decommissioning of plants and the
 handling of radioactive waste - are highly unsafe and expensive, and cause
 enormous climate-changing pollution. Nuclear energy is not cheap, safe,
 clean or sustainable. It also does not offer a solution to our energy
 problems.



 2.  The government of India is aggressively expanding nuclear power
 generation and enhancing nuclear business with countries such as the United
 States, Russia, France, Kazakhstan and others without any regard for norms
 of democratic decision making. We express outrage over the fact that the
 newly-elected UPA government is conveniently choosing to interpret the
 verdict of the recent elections as a 

[GreenYouth] Unfolding Obama Presidency: Uri Avnery on Obama's Cairo Speech

[Sukla Sen]

*The Tone and the Music*

*Uri Avnery
6.6.09*

*ONE MAN spoke to the world, and the world listened.*

*He walked onto the stage in Cairo, alone, without hosts and without aides,
and delivered a sermon to an audience of billions. Egyptians and Americans,
Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, Copts and
Maronites – and they all listened attentively.*

*He unfolded before them the map of a new world, a different world, whose
values and laws he spelled out in simple and clear language -  a mixture of
idealism and practical politics, vision and pragmatism.*

*Barack Hussein Obama – as he took pains to call himself – is the most
powerful man on earth. Every word he utters is a political fact.*

*“A HISTORIC SPEECH”, pronounced commentators in a hundred languages. I
prefer another adjective:*

*The speech was right.*

*Every word was in its place, every sentence precise, every tone in harmony.
The masterpiece of a man bringing a new message to the world.*

*From the very first word, every listener in the hall and in the world felt
the honesty of the man, that his heart and his tongue were in harmony, that
this is not a politician of the old familiar sort – hypocritical,
sanctimonious, calculating. His body language was speaking, and so were his
facial expressions*

*That’s why the speech was so important. The new moral integrity and the
sense of honesty increased the impact of the revolutionary content.*

*AND A REVOLUTIONARY speech it certainly was.*

*In 55 minutes, it not only wiped away the eight years of George W. Bush,
but also much of the preceding decades, from World War II on.*

*The American ship has turned – not with the sluggishness everyone would
have expected, but with the agility of a speedboat.*

*That is much more than a political change. It touches the roots of the
American national consciousness. The President spoke to hundreds of million
US citizens no less than to a billion Muslims.
*
The American culture is based on the myth of the Wild West, with its Good
Guys and Bad Guys, violent justice, dueling under the midday sun. Since the
American nation is composed of immigrants from all over the world, its unity
seems to require a threatening, world-encompassing evil enemy, like the
Nazis and the Japs, or the Commies. After the collapse of the Soviet empire,
this role was taken over by Islam.

Cruel, fanatical, bloodthirsty Islam; Islam as the religion of murder and
destruction; an Islam lusting for the blood of women and children. This
enemy captured the imagination of the masses and supplied material for
television and cinema. It provided lecture topics for learned professors and
fresh inspiration for popular writers. The White House was occupied by a
moron who declared a world-wide “War on Terrorism”.

When Obama is now uprooting this myth, he is revolutionizing American
culture. He wipes away the picture of one enemy, without painting another in
its place. He preaches against the violent, adversary attitude itself, and
starts to work to replace it with a culture of partnership between nations,
civilizations and religions.
*
I see Obama as the first great messenger of the 21st century. He is the son
of a new era, where the economy is global and the whole of humanity faces
the danger to the very existence of life on the planet Earth. An era where
the Internet connects a boy in New Zealand with a girl in Namibia in real
time, where a disease in a small Mexican village spreads all over the globe
within days.*

*This world needs a world law, a world order, a world democracy. That’s why
this speech really was historic: Obama outlined the basic contours of a
world constitution.
*

WHILE OBAMA proclaims the 21st century, the government of Israel is
returning to the 19th.

That was the century when a narrow, egocentric, aggressive nationalism took
root in many countries. A century that sanctified the belligerent nation
which oppresses minorities and subdues neighbors. The century that gave
birth to modern anti-Semitism and to its response – modern Zionism.

*Obama’s vision is not anti-national. He spoke with pride about the American
nation. But his nationalism is of another sort: an inclusive, multi-cultural
and non-sexist nationalism, which includes all the citizens of a country and
respects other nations.*

*This is the nationalism of the 21st century, which is inexorably striving
towards supranational, regional and world-wide structures.
*
Compared to this, how miserable is the mental world of the Israeli Right!
How miserable is the violent, fanatical-religious world of the settlers, the
chauvinist ghetto of Netanyahu, Lieberman and Barak, the racist-fascist
closed-in world of their Kahanist allies!

One has to understand this moral and spiritual dimension of Obama’s speech
before considering its political implications. Not only in the political
sphere are Obama and Netanyahu on a collision course. The underlying
collision is between two mental worlds which are as distinct 

[GreenYouth] Re: Press Release For Immediate Release June 7, 2009 National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (N AAM) Launched with “The Kanyakumari Declaration”

[Sukla Sen]

The initiative is undoubtedly highly welcome.

It may however be noted that colonisation bit which is harped on in
the Press Release does not figure in the Declaration, and quite
rightly so.

Major steel plants had been set up under Nehru regime in Bhilai,
Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela with foreign collaborations. These are/were
no colonies of these foreign powers, by no stretch.
So this appears to be just a bit of rhetorical hype, unrelated to
actual reality, and therefore better avoided.

Sukla

On 6/14/09, Venugopalan K M kmvenuan...@gmail.com wrote:

 Press Release
 For Immediate Release
 June 7, 2009

 National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM) Launched with
 “The Kanyakumari Declaration”

 More than one hundred organizations, peoples’ movements and concerned
 citizens from across the country came together for a National
 Convention on “The Politics of Nuclear Energy and Resistance” on June
 4-6, 2009 at Kanyakumari.

 They discussed all the different aspects of nuclear power generation
 and weapons production, the various stages of nuclearization from
 Uranium mining till waste management, and the commissions and the
 omissions of the government of India and the Department of Atomic
 Energy during the three-day-long convention.

 Besides the scientific, technological, and socioeconomic dimensions,
 the Convention also considered the political side of the nuclear
 threat. The nucolonization (nuclear+colonization) policy of the Delhi
 government is poised to continue with a Russian outpost in
 Koodankulam, a French settlement in Jaitapur, an American joint in
 Haripur and many more such establishments around the country. India is
 going to look and feel like the colony of several East India
 Companies. The Citizens of India would become the energy slaves of
 these White and Brown power barons.

 Most importantly, nuclearism is a political ideology that cannot
 stomach any transparency, accountability or popular participation. It
 snubs dissent, denounces opponents and creates a political climate of
 fear and retribution. With the India-US nuclear deal, and the deals
 with Russia and France and likely private participation in nuclear
 energy generation, the situation is going to get out of hand in our
 country. The combination of profiteering companies, secretive state
 apparatuses and repressive nuclear department will be ruthless and
 this nexus of capitalism, statism and nuclearism does not augur well
 for the country. These forces gaining an upper hand in our national
 polity will mean a death knell for the country’s democracy, openness,
 and prospects for sustainable development.

 In order to mobilize the Indian citizens against this growing
 nucolonization, to resist the nuclearization of the country, and to
 protect our people from nuclear threats and the environment from
 nuclear waste and radiation, an umbrella organization (tentatively
 named as the National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements) has been
 founded with eight committees on Documentation, Economic Analysis,
 Legal, Mass Media, International Liaison, Translation, Health, and
 Direct Action.

 A statement known as “The Kanyakumari Declaration” was also passed by
 the National Convention.

 Contact for More Info: Dr. S. P. Udayakumar, spudayaku...@gmail.com,
 09865683735


 THE  KANYAKUMARI  DECLARATION

 Statement of
 The National Convention on
 “The Politics of Nuclear Energy and Resistance,”
 June 4-6, 2009, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India

 We, the undersigned organizations, peoples’ movements and concerned
 citizens committed to building a world free from nuclear exploitation,
 nuclear business, nuclear power and nuclear weapons, do hereby declare
 the following:

 1.  In the context of the unprecedented threats facing the world
 due to global warming and the rapid depletion of conventional energy
 sources, the nuclear establishment is most opportunistically pushing
 nuclear energy as a climate-friendly energy source. However, all the
 activities associated with nuclear power generation - the mining and
 processing of uranium, the building of nuclear power stations
 involving huge amounts of cement and steel, the long construction
 process, the decommissioning of plants and the handling of radioactive
 waste - are highly unsafe and expensive, and cause enormous
 climate-changing pollution. Nuclear energy is not cheap, safe, clean
 or sustainable. It also does not offer a solution to our energy
 problems.

 2.  The government of India is aggressively expanding nuclear
 power generation and enhancing nuclear business with countries such as
 the United States, Russia, France, Kazakhstan and others without any
 regard for norms of democratic decision making. We express outrage
 over the fact that the newly-elected UPA government is conveniently
 choosing to interpret the verdict of the recent elections as a mandate
 for nuclearization.

 3.  A highly populated country like India does have an increasing
 need for 

[GreenYouth] Election in Iran and After

[Sukla Sen]

I/II.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/crackdown-crunches-iran-reformers-20090614-c7bx.html

Crackdown crunches Iran reformers

Jason Koutsoukis and Anne Davies
June 15, 2009

A SEVERE crackdown on Iran's emerging reform movement began on the weekend
after incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad scored a resounding win in Friday's
presidential elections.

At least 10 leaders of two reformist groups who had backed opposition
candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi were under arrest last night as police used
tear gas and clubs to quell mass street protests.

A total of 170 people were arrested over the big post-election protests and
street riots in Tehran.

Speaking on national television, Mr Ahmadinejad praised the Iranian people
for choosing to look towards the future.

This is a great victory at a time and condition when the whole material,
political and propaganda facilities outside of Iran and sometime -- inside
Iran, were mobilised against our people, he said.

The mood in the capital, Tehran, was tense as large groups of riot police
patrolled the streets, moving along drivers who had been honking their horns
in apparent protest.

Amid charges of electoral fraud and vote rigging, official results showed Mr
Ahmadinejad won 63 per cent of the nearly 40 million votes cast, with
overwhelming backing from Iran's vast rural constituencies, compared to 34
per cent won by Mr Mousavi.

The election result is certain to heighten tensions across the region and
could hamper US President Barack Obama's attempts to build dialogue with
Iran.

In Canberra, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned of difficulties. The world
community has a real challenge on its hands with Mr Ahmadinejad's
re-election, he said.

The Obama Administration noted the allegations of electoral fraud, and
stopped short of congratulating Mr Ahmadinejad, but also acknowledged the
very vigorous campaign.

Like the rest of the world, we were impressed by the vigorous debate and
enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians,
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. We continue to monitor the entire
situation closely, including reports of irregularities.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was travelling in Canada, said:
We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of
the Iranian people.

Other US commentators were more blunt. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at
the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, said it was a stolen election.

Steve Clemons, a director at the New American Foundation, said: Iran will
be tied in knots now — for a long time. What worries me about this is the
tendency of Iran's leadership to generate external crises and international
focal points to try and distract a frustrated citizenry and unify the
nation.

But others saw the possibility of working with Iran once the dust settles.

It would be great if there were real democracy in Iran and the United
States did not have to deal with the execrable incumbent President, Gregory
Gause, an associate professor of political science at the University of
Vermont wrote on Foreign Policy magazine's website.

But American interests here are not about Iranian domestic politics. They
are about Iran's role in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf, the Arab-Israeli
arena, and the nuclear program.

Mr Ahmadinejad's resounding win was greeted with relief in Israel, where it
was anticipated that a win by Mr Mousavi could have weakened international
pressure on Iran.

Israeli Vice-Premier Silvan Shalom said the results were a slap in the face
of those who believed that Iran was capable of real dialogue with the West.

The United States and the free world must re-evaluate their policy on
Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Mr Shalom said.

According to commentator Yoav Limor, the Israeli reaction to Mr
Ahmadinejad's re-election was predictable: Warnings outwardly, and smiles
inwardly.

For years, Israel thought that Ahmadinejad was a disaster, but recently the
approach has changed and decision makers have adopted an approach that
considers him a 'gift', Limor said. Why? Because a moderate president
would speak softly, and the world would be tempted to believe him and would
refrain from confrontation, and behind the scenes Iran would continue to
gallop, unhampered by sanctions, towards nuclear capability.

In Iran, Rajab Ali Mazroei of the opposition Islamic Iran Participation
Front said that at least 10 members of the front and the Islamic Revolution
Mujahideen Organisation had been arrested last night.

Several of those arrested held senior government positions under reformist
former president Mohammad Khatami, who served from 1997 to 2005.

Amid rumours that he himself had been arrested, Mr Mousavi, a former prime
minister, vowed not to surrender in the face of numerous irregularities.
In a statement on his website he called for calm.

With AFP

II.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090613/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election

Election battles turn into street fights in Iran

By ANNA JOHNSON 

[GreenYouth] Election in Iran: Charge of Fraud

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.truthout.org/061409Z
Stealing the Iranian Election http://www.truthout.org/061409Z

Saturday 13 June 2009

by: Juan Cole  |  Visit article original @ *Informed
Comment*http://www.juancole.com/2009/06/stealing-iranian-election.html

Top Pieces of Evidence that the Iranian Presidential Election Was Stolen

1. It is claimed that Ahmadinejad won the city of Tabriz with 57%. His
main opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, is an Azeri from Azerbaijan province, of
which Tabriz is the capital. Mousavi, according to such polls as exist in
Iran and widespread anecdotal evidence, did better in cities and is popular
in Azerbaijan. Certainly, his rallies there were very well
attendedhttp://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1901667,00.html.
So for an Azeri urban center to go so heavily for Ahmadinejad just makes no
sense. In past elections, Azeris voted disproportionately for even minor
presidential 
candidateshttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/2009613121740611636.html
who
hailed from that province.

2. Ahmadinejad is claimed to have taken Tehran by over 50%. Again, he is
not popular in the cities, even, as he claims, in the poor neighborhoods, in
part because his policies have produced high inflation and high
unemployment. That he should have won Tehran is so unlikely as to raise real
questions about these numbers. [Ahmadinejad is widely thought only to have
won Tehran in 2005 because the pro-reform groups were discouraged and stayed
home rather than voting.)

3. It is claimed that cleric Mehdi Karoubi, the other reformist
candidate, received 320,000 votes, and that he did poorly in Iran's western
provinces, even losing in
Luristanhttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/2009613121740611636.html.
He is a Lur and is popular in the west, including in Kurdistan. Karoubi
received 17 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections
in 2005. While it is possible that his support has substantially declined
since then, it is hard to believe that he would get less than one percent of
the vote. Moreover, he should have at least done well in the west, which he
did not.

4. Mohsen Rezaie, who polled very badly and seems not to have been at
all popular, is alleged to have received 670,000 votes, twice as much as
Karoubi.

5. Ahmadinejad's numbers were fairly standard across Iran's provinces.
In past elections there have been substantial ethnic and provincial
variations.

6. The Electoral Commission is supposed to wait three days before
certifying the results of the election, at which point they are to inform
Khamenei of the results, and he signs off on the process. The three-day
delay is intended to allow charges of irregularities to be adjudicated. In
this case, Khamenei immediately approved the alleged results.

I am aware of the difficulties of catching history on the run. Some
explanation may emerge for Ahmadinejad's upset that does not involve fraud.
For instance, it is possible that he has gotten the credit for spreading
around a lot of oil money in the form of favors to his constituencies, but
somehow managed to escape the blame for the resultant high inflation.

But just as a first reaction, this post-election situation looks to me
like a crime scene. And here is how I would reconstruct the crime.

As the real numbers started coming into the Interior Ministry late on
Friday, it became clear that Mousavi was winning. Mousavi's spokesman
abroad, filmmaker Mohsen Makhbalbaf,
allegeshttp://www.djavadi.net/2009/06/13/an-electoral-coup-in-iran/
that
the ministry even contacted Mousavi's camp and said it would begin preparing
the population for this victory. The ministry must have informed Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei, who has had a feud with Mousavi for over 30 years, who
found this outcome unsupportable. And, apparently, he and other top leaders
had been so confident of an Ahmadinejad win that they had made no
contingency plans for what to do if he looked as though he would lose.

They therefore sent blanket instructions to the Electoral Commission to
falsify the vote counts.

This clumsy cover-up then produced the incredible result of an
Ahmadinejad landlside in Tabriz and Isfahan and Tehran.

The reason for which Rezaie and Karoubi had to be assigned such
implausibly low totals was to make sure Ahmadinejad got over 51% of the vote
and thus avoid a run-off between him and Mousavi next Friday, which would
have given the Mousavi camp a chance to attempt to rally the public and
forestall further tampering with the election.

This scenario accounts for all known anomalies and is consistent with
what we know of the major players.

More in my column, just out, in
Salon.comhttp://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/06/13/iran/:
Ahmadinejad reelected under cloud of fraud, where I argue that the outcome
of the presidential elections does not and should not affect Obama's
policies toward that country - they are the right 

[GreenYouth] Iran Election: A View from Left

[Sukla Sen]

http://socialistworker.org/2009/06/15/iran-boils-over
ANALYSIS: LEE SUSTAR

Iran boils over

Lee Sustar looks at the dynamics driving mass protests and repression in
Iran following the rigged presidential election.

June 15, 2009

IRAN WAS in uncharted political territory following mass protests against
what was almost certainly a rigged presidential election victory for
incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The long-festering divisions in the Iranian
ruling class have become wide-open splits as the result of mass support for
the reformist presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Mousavi.

A vicious police crackdown on demonstrations in the capital city of Tehran
was accompanied by the arrest of more than 130 prominent Mousavi
supporters--including Mohammad Reza Khatami, the brother of former President
Mahmoud Khatami, a former speaker of the parliament, and the son-in-law of
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of the 1979 Islamist revolution.

Other figures rounded up by police include Mostafa Tajzadeh, a minister of
the interior under Khatami; Behzad Nabavi, a former minister of industry;
and Mohsen Mirdamadi, organizer of the 1979 occupation of the U.S. Embassy.

In the past, such crackdowns were aimed mostly at liberal newspaper editors,
human rights activists and labor union organizers. Now major politicians are
getting the same treatment from Ahmadinejad, who the street protesters call
a dictator and liken to the former Shah of Iran, the U.S.-backed strongman
who was toppled in 1979.

This struggle at the top of Iranian society may lead to more rebellion from
below. Unlike previous elections, where even victims of election fraud
swallowed the results, Mousavi has refused to do so. Instead, he called on
his supporters to remain on the streets, and formally requested that the
authorities grant permission to hold further protests.

Hard-fought presidential elections--including vote stealing to boost the
tally by one or two percentage points--are nothing new in post-revolution
Iran. But Ahmadinejad's claim of more than 62 percent of the vote isn't
credible.

While it's possible that the president's support among the poor,
particularly in rural areas, could have made him the top vote getter among
five rivals, it's highly unlikely that he could have captured an outright
majority to avoid a second-round election between the top two candidates.

The most obvious sign of fraud is that the losing candidates failed to win
even their own hometowns and regions, according to election
authorities--which is practically unheard of in Iran. For example, Mousavi,
according to the official results, did badly in the province of Azerbaijan,
even though he is an Azeri who is popular there.

As Middle East expert Juan Cole wrote:

It is claimed that cleric Mehdi Karroubi, the other reformist candidate,
received 320,000 votes, and that he did poorly in Iran's western provinces,
even losing in Luristan. He is a Lur and is popular in the west, including
in Kurdistan. Karroubi received 17 percent of the vote in the first round of
presidential elections in 2005. While it is possible that his support has
substantially declined since then, it is hard to believe that he would get
less than 1 percent of the vote.

The question is: Why would Ahmadinejad risk such an obvious and crude
manipulation of the voting results?

Any answer at this point is speculation. But there is a logic to stealing
the election, and by an overwhelming margin--by claiming an outright
majority of the vote, Ahmadinejad could avoid a second-round runoff election
against Mousavi, his main competitor.

In the last days before the June 12 vote, Mousavi's backers mobilized
demonstrations of hundreds of thousands, not just in the capital city of
Tehran, but in provincial cities as well. Ahmadinejad likely feared that
even bigger protests would unfold in a second round, and give Mousavi a
victory. The apparent calculation was that it would be safer to declare a
first-round victory to put a decisive end to any challenge. Iran's supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, endorsed the election results in the hopes
of restoring order.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NATURALLY, THE election results spurred more protests. So far, the
demonstrations have withstood violent attacks by police and paramilitary
groups known as basij, who patrol the streets for supposedly un-Islamic
behavior such as immodest dress by women.

And by hardening the divisions in the Iranian ruling class, the election
fraud has ushered in a new era in Iranian politics, in which rival groupings
may finally crystallize into something like permanent political parties--a
development that has until now been blocked by the Shia Islamist clerical
establishment at the core of Iranian politics.

So what comes next is anybody's guess. But to better understand Iran's
political dynamics, it's helpful to look at the social base of the leading
candidates.

Ahmadinejad, as a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s and the 

[GreenYouth] Iran Election: The Regime Just Blinks

[Sukla Sen]

[The concession made by the Iranian Supreme Leader in the face of rising
street protests is, in all probability, just a ploy to dissipate public
anger.
And it is not too unlikely that the ploy would eventually work out.

Nevertheless, those who were screaming and screeching, in defence of an
openly regressive and repressive regime, that everything is OK with Iranian
election have now mud in their faces.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/world/middleeast/16cleric.html?_r=1

 June 16, 2009
NEWS ANALYSIS
In Iran, an Iron Cleric, Now BlinkingBy NEIL
MacFARQUHARhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/neil_macfarquhar/index.html?inline=nyt-per

For two decades, Ayatollah Ali
Khameneihttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/ali_khamenei/index.html?inline=nyt-per
has
remained a shadowy presence at the pinnacle of power in Iran, sparing in his
public appearances and comments. Through his control of the military, the
judiciary and all public broadcasts, the supreme leader controlled the
levers he needed to maintain an iron if discreet grip on the Islamic
republic.

But in a rare break from a long history of cautious moves, he rushed to
bless President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejadhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/mahmoud_ahmadinejad/index.html?inline=nyt-per
for
winning the election, calling on Iranians to line up behind the incumbent
even before the standard three days required to certify the results had
passed.

Then angry crowds swelled in cities around Iran, and he backpedaled,
announcing Monday that the 12-member Council of
Guardianshttp://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/g/guardian_council_iran/index.html?inline=nyt-org,
which vets elections and new laws, would investigate the vote.

“After congratulating the nation for having a sacred victory, to say now
that there is a possibility that it was rigged is a big step backward for
him,” said Abbas Milani http://www.hoover.org/bios/milani.html, the
director of Stanford
Universityhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/stanford_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org’s
Iranian studies program.

Few suggest yet that Ayatollah Khamenei’s hold on power is at risk. But,
analysts say, he has opened a serious fissure in the face of Islamic rule
and one that may prove impossible to patch over, particularly given the
fierce dispute over the election that has erupted amid the elite veterans of
the 1979 revolution. Even his strong links to the powerful Revolutionary
Guardshttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/i/islamic_revolutionary_guard_corps/index.html?inline=nyt-org
—
long his insurance policy — may not be decisive as the confrontation in Iran
unfolds.

“Khamenei would always come and say, ‘Shut up; what I say goes,’ ” said Azar
Nafisi, http://azarnafisi.com/ the author of two memoirs about Iran,
including “Reading Lolita in Tehran.” “Everyone would say, ‘O.K., it is the
word of the leader.’ Now the myth that there is a leader up there whose
power is unquestionable is broken.”

Those sensing that important change may be afoot are quick to caution that
Ayatollah Khamenei, as a student of the revolution that swept the shah from
power, could still resort to overwhelming force to crush the demonstrations.

In calling for the Guardian Council to investigate the vote, he has bought
himself a 10-day grace period for the anger to subside, experts note. The
outcome is not likely to be a surprise. Ayatollah Ahmed Jannati, the
council’s chairman, is one of Ayatollah Khamenei’s few staunch allies among
powerful clerics. In addition, Ayatollah Khamenei appoints half the members,
while the other half are nominated by the head of the judiciary, another
appointee of the supreme leader.

“It is simply a faux investigation to quell the protests,” said Karim
Sadjadpourhttp://www.carnegieendowment.org/experts/index.cfm?fa=expert_viewexpert_id=340,
an Iran specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peacehttp://www.carnegieendowment.org/
.

Ayatollah Khamenei was an unlikely successor to the patriarch of the
revolution, the Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeinihttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/ruhollah_khomeini/index.html?inline=nyt-per,
and his elevation to the post of supreme leader in 1989 might have sown the
seeds for the political crisis the country is facing today.

The son of a cleric from the holy city of Mashhad, Ayatollah Khamenei was
known as something of an open-minded mullah, if not exactly liberal. He had
a good singing voice; played the
tarhttp://www.dejkam.com/music/iran_traditional/instruments/tar/,
a traditional Iranian stringed instrument; and wrote poetry. His circle of
friends included some of the country’s most accomplished poets.

In the violence right after the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, a
bomb hidden in a tape recorder permanently crippled his right arm, and he
was elevated to president 

[GreenYouth] After Iran Election: Protests on Tehran Streets: Two Video Clips

[Sukla Sen]

FIGHT FOR FREEDOM! Don't let these b*d dictators rule your life.
Remember, YOU have the f*g power, not them.
That's the cry renting the air of Tehran.

That must be quite unprecedented in the post-1979 Mullahcracy of Iran!
Here are links to two video clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c76jvn7NMssfeature=related 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zF1ejawjTY

Sukla

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[GreenYouth] Fwd: A Fairytale Account of Maoist Insurgency in West Bengal

[Sukla Sen]

Here is a far more realistic assessment of the Lalgarh movement: Quote Just
like in Nandigram, the footsoldiers of this campaign — more violent in its
scale than any — have come under a “rainbow coalition” of political forces
where everyone except the Marxists are welcome. So if there was the Bhumi
Ucched Pratirodh Committee in Nandigram, it’s the Police Atyachar Birodhi
Jangana Committee here (PABJC). It’s led by Chhatradhar Mahato, who was with
the Trinamool Congress until late last year. Unquote [Source:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/477698/] Also for a public speech
of Chhatradhar Mahato in recent past:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHE0aqp1P_Q That speaks for and clearly
contrasts itself from the Maoist insurgency in Dantewada or Andhra or
elsewhere.
Sukla

 In Maoist violence against CPM, TMC  Cong give outside support
*Subrata Nagchoudhury* Posted online: Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 at 1039 hrs
*LALGARH (West Bengal) : *The body of 65-year-old Shaflu Soren, a member of
the local CPM for over 20 years, has been lying outside the party office,
draped in a blood-spattered white sheet — for the last six days since he was
shot dead by Maoists.

His brothers walk by the body several times a day but they don’t dare remove
it.

For, barely yards away, the demolished CPM party office in Lalgarh’s
Dharampur is a pointer to the rapidly changing political power equation in
this tribal belt of West Midnapore.

The plight of Soren’s family captures the Lalgarh story — it’s a story of
the clout of the new Maoist-backed “rulers” in this belt and a story of the
shocking collapse of the legendary CPM-controlled administrative machinery.

In many ways, it’s similar to the violent agitation in Nandigram but while
land acquisition and the proposed SEZ were the objects of public ire there,
here the CPM is the single target.

And with the comrades paralysed by the rout in the Lok Sabha elections, the
opposition is energized like never before.

Just like in Nandigram, the footsoldiers of this campaign — more violent in
its scale than any — have come under a “rainbow coalition” of political
forces where everyone except the Marxists are welcome.

So if there was the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee in Nandigram, it’s the
Police Atyachar Birodhi Jangana Committee here (PABJC).

It’s led by Chhatradhar Mahato, who was with the Trinamool Congress until
late last year.

He is the brother of Sashodhar Mahato, the prime accused in last November’s
suspected plot to kill Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and then Union Minister Ram
Vilas Paswan in a blast in Salboni, barely 40 km away.

When Chhatradhar and the Maoists put up a massive show of strength in
Lalgarh today, Trinamool Congress Block president Banobihari Roy was present
all through the proceedings that lasted nearly four hours and ended with the
Lalgarh CPM party office being set on fire.

The rally displayed the fast growing ranks of the PABJC and the Maoists.

“There will be no let-up in the assault on those who tortured and exploited
the people with the collusion of the police for all these years,” said
Mahato.

Like Banobihari, Kali Maity, the district president of the Congress, could
not make it to the rally today but had to send his relatives. “That was the
diktat from the organizers,” Maity told The Indian Express, “either be
present or send someone to represent one’s family and show solidarity with
the PABJC.”

So were the Congress and Trinamool supporting the Maoists and their violent
campaign? Both Maity and Ray evade a direct answer but, when pressed,
there’s no mistaking the political message. Said Roy: “It’s the Communists
versus all others now.” And Maity said: “This is a price the Communists are
paying for suppressing the people.”

With no one other than the CPM providing political opposition, the field is
wide open in Lalgarh. It wasn’t a surprise, therefore, that today the
belligerent crowd responded to Mahato’s call for “revenge,” marched to the
Lalgarh CPM office this evening and set it on fire.

Scores of angry villagers climbed up to the second floor of the newly built
party office and began demolishing it with iron rods. Another group
collected furniture, tarpaulin sheets, sacks of rice and party documents and
threw them into a blazing bonfire right in front of the party office.

Few tears were shed for Soren’s body.

Said Rohini Mahato, who stays in a ramshackle hut just across the road where
Soren’s body is: “It’s like living with a dead man by your side. Nobody is
removing the corpse which now smells. It’s been on display with blood stains
on the cloth covering it. Even his family can’t do anything. And look at the
police, they are not sending the body for post mortem, let alone initiate an
investigation.”

Puspa Sahish, a tribal woman staying next door to Mahato, joins him: “No one
even dares to take a close look at the demolished Dharampur CPM party office
out of fear. Local villagers normally pass through the area in groups
instead of travelling 

[GreenYouth] A Brief and Tentative Note on Maoist Violence in the Context of Lalgarh (west Bengal, India)

[Sukla Sen]

While it'd be quite foolhardy to condemn violence under every and all
circumstances, violence has its own inherent pernicious dynamic - it
almost inevitably brutalises and undermines democratic principles.
It is at best a necessary evil, under certain, not all, circumstances.

Having said that, let me propose that Maoist politics - the politics of
brute violence detached from and, by its very nature, disallowing mass
particiaptive politics - is morally repugnant and has no future either.
On a global scale they had in recent years four major hubs of insurgency:
Chile, Nepal, Philippines and India.
Now they stand wiped out in Chile. In Nepal they have changed track and
their position has become uncertain after some striking success. In
Philippines, they have apparently suffered decline.

In India, it is no accident that they are confined to the most backward
hinterlands inhabited by the poorest - and cruelly exploited - of adivasis -
the indigenous people. Utter government insensitivity is responsible for
that.
Usually it is claimed that Maoists have significant presence in one-fourth
of India's 600+ districts.
But that is highly misleading. Because that doesn't tell us how much of a
particular district is under Maoist/insurgent control. Even a corner is
affected, the whole district is counted in. Info on what fractions of Indian
villages - around 6,40,000, is affected would have been far more insightful.
In any case, the whole idea that every fourth district is under insurgent
control is hugely out of tune with our real life experiences. It is the
adivasi inhabited most backward regions of northern portion of South India -
i.e. Andhra Pradesh, parts of eastern India - Orissa, West Bengal,
Jharkhand, Bihar and parts of central India - Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra,
in patches - are affected.

One of the most perceptive and sympathetic observer, K Balagopal, had
observed that the very success of the Maoists - resulting in improvement in
living conditions - has resulted in their decline in AP.
It also needs be noted that they have now hardly any presence in towns and
cities. So very different from the heady days of late sixties and seventies.

As regards state terror, there is hardly any controversy.
Heavy handed and indiscrimante state actions are not only utterly morally
repugnant but also largely self-defeating as it on the contrary help to
augment the ranks of the rebels. And debases the whole political order in
the process.
That's what I had posted elsewhere just a while ago.
But no blanket justification of Red Terror against White Terror.

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[GreenYouth] Re: Fwd: [humanrights-movement:1650] A Brief and Tentative Note on Maoist Violence in the Context of Lalgarh

[Sukla Sen]

Please read Peru instead of Chile in the note. The inadvertent slip is
regretted.
Sukla

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 5:01 PM, Venugopalan K M kmvenuan...@gmail.comwrote:



 -- Forwarded message --
 From: Sukla Sen sukla...@yahoo.com
 Date: Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 3:44 PM
 Subject: [humanrights-movement:1650] A Brief and Tentative Note on Maoist
 Violence in the Context of Lalgarh


 While it'd be quite foolhardy to condemn violence under every and all
 circumstances, violence has its own inherent pernicious dynamic - it
 almost inevitably brutalises and undermines democratic principles.
 It is at best a necessary evil, under certain, not all, circumstances.

 Having said that, let me propose that Maoist politics - the politics of
 brute violence detached from and, by its very nature, disallowing mass
 particiaptive politics - is morally repugnant and has no future either.
 On a global scale they had in recent years four major hubs of insurgency:
 Chile, Nepal, Philippines and India.
 Now they stand wiped out in Chile. In Nepal they have changed track and
 their position has become uncertain after some striking success. In
 Philippines, they have apparently suffered decline.

 In India, it is no accident that they are confined to the most backward
 hinterlands inhabited by the poorest - and cruelly exploited - of adivasis -
 the indigenous people. Utter government insensitivity is responsible for
 that.
 Usually it is claimed that Maoists have significant presence in one-fourth
 of India's 600+ districts.
 But that is highly misleading. Because that doesn't tell us how much of a
 particular district is under Maoist/insurgent control. Even a corner is
 affected, the whole district is counted in. Info on what fractions of Indian
 villages - around 6,40,000, is affected would have been far more insightful.
 In any case, the whole idea that every fourth district is under insurgent
 control is hugely out of tune with our real life experiences. It is the
 adivasi inhabited most backward regions of northern portion of South India -
 i.e. Andhra Pradesh, parts of eastern India - Orissa, West Bengal,
 Jharkhand, Bihar and parts of central India - Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra,
 in patches - are affected.

 One of the most perceptive and sympathetic observer, K Balagopal, had
 observed that the very success of the Maoists - resulting in improvement in
 living conditions - has resulted in their decline in AP.
 It also needs be noted that they have now hardly any presence in towns and
 cities. So very different from the heady days of late sixties and seventies.

 As regards state terror, there is hardly any controversy.
 Heavy handed and indiscrimante state actions are not only utterly morally
 repugnant but also largely self-defeating as it on the contrary help to
 augment the ranks of the rebels. And debases the whole political order in
 the process.
 That's what I had posted elsewhere just a while ago.
 But no blanket justification of Red Terror against White Terror.


 Peace Is Doable

 --
 ICC World Twenty20 England '09 exclusively on YAHOO! CRICKET
  http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_cricket_3/*http://cricket.yahoo.com



 --
 http://venukm.blogspot.com

 http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur

 http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com

 


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[GreenYouth] Unfolding Obama Presidency: Indian Worries over Changing Profile of Bilateral Relations

[Sukla Sen]

*Unfolding Obama Presidency: Indian Worries over Changing Profile of
Bilateral Relations*

[The Indo-US nuclear deal is no longer just Indo-US nuclear deal. The
45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) having eventually granted the hard
fought for waiver in last September with the Bush Administration, and the
government of India, pulling out all the stops, India is now free to have
nuclear trade with any member of the group, subject to its readiness, once
the whatever remaining issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) are settled.
 Here the worries are apparently more fundamental. The signals of Indian
preeminence in the US foreign policy having been eroded with the change in
US regime.
Given the station of the commentator, he is evidently worried about its
commercial and other implications.]

http://www.upiasia.com/Politics/2009/06/19/indo-us_nuclear_deal_in_jeopardy/4139/
 Indo-U.S. nuclear deal in jeopardy
By Hari Sud
Column: Abroad View
Published: June 19, 2009
*
Toronto, ON, Canada, — The much-heralded Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, which was
one of the few successes of former U.S. President George W. Bush and Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is in danger of being shelved. U.S. President
Barack Obama’s administration in the last three months has delivered one
piece of bad news after another, from India’s point of view.

The “change” promised by Obama last fall, prior to his election, is visible
in U.S. policy toward South Asia. His lukewarm attitude toward India, and
now his go-slow tactic on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, is disappointing.

Obama needs to be reminded that India is not Pakistan and does not privately
sell nuclear technology to rogue states. He needs to be reminded that India
exited the Iranian gas pipeline deal as a price for the Indo-U.S. nuclear
deal. Also, the building of nuclear power plants by India will be one less
factor in the climate catastrophe that has been magnified by coal-based
power plants.

Obama has said nothing about India policy publicly; he has merely exchanged
letters of goodwill with the Indian leader. His advisors, however, are busy
upsetting the apple cart. First, a no-confidence move by a minor State
Department official to withhold the commissioning of a GE engine for a
finished Indian naval ship was a rude shock to India. Then, India’s Reliance
Industries was threatened with the withdrawal of a US$900 million loan over
its ties with Iran, which included selling gasoline from its refinery. Early
this month, the Indian government conveyed its objections to a U.S. travel
advisory against India, which warned of a terror threat in the country.

On top of all this, Undersecretary of State William Burns visited India
recently to try to cement growing India-U.S. relations, but carrying a
letter from Obama that essentially asked India to unconditionally restart
talks with Pakistan and forget about the Mumbai massacre. Restarting such
talks would enable Pakistan to withdraw troops from its border with India
and redeploy them in its troubled tribal region. A few days ago, at the
behest of the U.S. administration, US$1.5 billion in annual aid for Pakistan
was voted into law.

All of these acts in the last few months are illogical, designed to
downgrade India-U.S. relations.

As if this were not enough, Obama has been looking to the past and
appointing a few anti-Indian diplomats who had been shown the door by Bush
in 2001. One such appointment is of Robert Einhorn as advisor to U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on nonproliferation matters.

Einhorn is well known for his opposition to the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. He
spent 30 years with three U.S. administrations opposing India and putting
together the infamous laws banning nuclear-related exports. None of these
prevented Pakistan, North Korea or Iran from gaining access to nuclear
technology, however.

The appointment of Ellen Tauscher as undersecretary of arms control is also
bad news for India. She is a well-known hardliner and opponent of the
Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, but has been mostly ineffective in her nuclear
technology control efforts.

These two appointments are a matter of grave concern to both India and the
U.S. nuclear power hardware and technology industry. The deal could generate
US$100 billion in business, which would benefit both sides. The Obama
administration’s go-slow approach will be detrimental to both.

Jointly, Tauscher and Einhorn could shelve the nuclear deal and reopen the
subject of India signing the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, which was not the
subject of discussion during lengthy negotiations.

The U.S. Congress passed the India-specific bill, making India a full
partner in nuclear commerce with the United States. The Indian Parliament
did the same. Since both governments have ratified the treaty and agreed on
123 nuclear trade agreements there is no reason to reopen discussions on
this.

Concurrent with the passage of the nuclear commerce bill in the U.S.
Congress, the 

[GreenYouth] Lalgarh: An Update

[Sukla Sen]

[The security forces have taken possession of the Lalgarh Police station -
the Ground Zero, so to say - surprisingly without any resistance worth the
name within 36 hours of starting the operation.
It is, however, quite possible that the insurgents have taken lessons from
the recent LTTE debacle and avoided a direct clash, despite brave noises to
the contrary, realising that that's not where their strength lies.
Quite possible.
But we don't know as yet.

In any case, a comparative study of the Nandigram and Lalgarh resistance
campaigns over their life cycles would be highly instructive - in terms of
the responses and methods adopted by the State, the ruling party and the
resistors.
Maybe one should attempt that after a fortnight or so.]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Fighting-Maoists-Special-forces-break-Lalgarh-siege/articleshow/4679617.cms

Security forces enter Lalgarh 20 Jun 2009, 1204 hrs IST, PTI


PIRAKATA (WB): Security forces on Saturday entered Lalgarh to reclaim it
from Maoist-backed tribals and were closing in on the police station there.

The personnel of paramilitary forces and the state police were just two km
away from the Lalgarh police station, which is under Maoist control, a
senior police officer said.

The securitymen from CRPF, BSF, State Armed Police, Eastern Frontier Rifles
and the Kolkata Police entered the besieged area after crossing a five-km
stretch of the Jhitka forest, a Maoist stronghold, he said.

They were moving in armoured vehicles fitted with anti-landmine devices and
mortars and were carrying mine-detecting units.

The security forces were moving cautiously for the last two days to avoid
civilian casualties. They checked the route with mine detectors yesterday as
tribals blew up a bridge and set off a landmine in a bid to stall their
advance.

AK-47 and Insas rifle-toting securitymen came under intermittent fire from
Maoists at the Pingboni-Sarenga road today, Superintendent of Police Burdwan
Humayan Kabir said.

Two landmines planted on the road, which was also blocked with felled trees,
were defused, Kabir, who was leading one of three teams headed for Lalgarh
from Binpur, said.

Another two teams were led by IGP (HQ) Harmanpreet Singh and Joint
Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ranvir Kumar.

A bridge over a shallow river which had been blown up earlier by Maoists
created a temporary obstacle, but it could be crossed on foot.

Last night, the Maoists fired on the Lalgarh police station, with the police
retaliating.

When the security forces were driving from Pingboni, they were obstructed by
a number of women.

Firefights with the Maoists occurred at two places between Pirakata and
Bhimpur and near Pingboni last night with the villagers fleeing to safety,
the police said.

Lalgarh has been out of bounds for the police since the landmine attack near
Salboni on the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and then
union ministers Ramvilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada in November last year.

The tribals under the banner of the People's Committee against Police
Atrocities, led by Chhatradhar Mahato, had begun boycotting the police since
the last few months. They allege that the police indulged in atrocities
during raids on their homes following the landmine blast.

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[GreenYouth] Re: [Com-Con] Lalgarh: Alternative People's Politics vs. Armed Insurgency: Some Insights

[Sukla Sen]

Hi Milind,
While it is highly gratifying, never mind the profound embarrassment (and
the sheer absurdity of), being bracketed with Arundhati Roy, the criticism
is unfair.

Even a couple of days back, I had  circulated an HT story on Lalgarh under
the caption, A Fairy Tale Account of Maoist Insurgency in West Bengal'. Here
I had characterised the Maoist drive (by the CPI(Maoist)) morally repugnant
and also doomed to fail.
I had posted an interview by Kanu Sanyal, the original Naxalite and now a
leading figure of the CPI(ML), on Lalgarh, highly critical.

For that matter, even Roy had made severely critical comments. (No, not on
Lalgarh, but in general.)

Sukla


On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 6:24 PM, milind wani milindw...@yahoo.com wrote:

 interesting bit this Suklaji...i was wondering why..our intellectual( you,
 Arundhati Roy  etc)...those who correctly condemed the stategovt of WB
 during the singur, Nandigram turmoil ...were keeping quite over the maoist
 takeover of lalgarh...hope to see as relentless critiicism of the Maoist
 form of  liberation as during the nandigram days..

 “Communism, as fully developed naturalism equals humanism, and as fully
 developed humanism equals naturalism.” Karl Marx

 i
 when the prison doors are open, the real dragon will fly out..Ho Chi Minh


  --
 *From:* Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com
 *To:* peace-mumbai peace-mum...@googlegroups.com; peoples media 
 mediainitiat...@yahoogroups.co.in; india-un...@yahoogroups.com;
 greenyouth@googlegroups.com; indiathinkersnet 
 indiathinkers...@yahoogroups.com; mahajanapada 
 mahajanap...@yahoogroups.com; bahujan bahu...@yahoogroups.com; IHRO 
 i...@yahoogroups.com; issueonline issuesonline_worldw...@yahoogroups.com;
 arkitectin...@yahoogroups.com; invitesp...@yahoogroups.com; common-concern
 common-conc...@googlegroups.com; humanrightsactivist 
 humanrightsactiv...@yahoogroups.com
 *Sent:* Sunday, June 21, 2009 11:14:54 AM
 *Subject:* [Com-Con] Lalgarh: Alternative People's Politics vs. Armed
 Insurgency: Some Insights

  [Aditya Nigam is a known political researcher/commentator from the
 radical end of the spectrum distinguished for his out-of-the-box views. He
 is with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).
 Gautam Sen was once the right hand comrade of Mahadeb Mukherjee, a high
 profile Maoist leader following pro-CM/pro-Lin line. Now he heads a
 radical group in Kolkata / West Bengal called Mazdoor Mukti (Workers
 Liberation) and brings out a tabloid periodically under the same name.

 The interview of Comrade Manoj is a document helpful in tracing the
 genesis of Maoist influence in Lalgarh, linked to state atrocities in
 particular, and its relationship with broader resistance campaign.
 The video clip, in terms of a beautiful song, depicts the plight and
 aspirations of the *adivasis* (indigenous people) in the most backward
 hinterlands of India facing the bulldozer of development, which menacingly
 threatens to take away a lot - including the self-hood - and offer a
 little.

 An in-depth comparison with Nandigram, on the one hand, and Dantewada, on
 the other, would, however, be very much in order.]

 I/IV.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sunday-TOI/Maoists-breed-in-swamps-of-hunger/articleshow/4681983.cms
  Maoists breed in swamps of hunger and anger 21 Jun 2009, 0145 hrs
 IST, Aditya Nigam


   Media commentary on Lalgarh seems to miss out one crucial fact: Till
 less than a month ago, it was not a Maoist fortress but a place where a
 fascinating experiment with a new kind of politics was being done. Maoists
 were there but they had to go along with the mood inside Lalgarh, which was
 certainly not one of forming 'dalams' or roving guerrilla squads. In fact,
 as People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) leader Chhatradhar
 Mahato told The Times of India this week, if the state government had done
 even 10% of what we have done, the situation would have been very
 different.

 **For more than five months, the PCPA, with popular participation, built
 reservoirs, dug tube-wells and built roads in the area. The Lalgarh Sanhati
 Mancha, based in Kolkata, collected money and helped set up a health centre.
 A committee with five men and five women would take decisions. Compare this
 with any other place where Maoists are active and the difference is
 immediately apparent. The Maoists, known for their impatience with any kind
 of developmental work, put up with this.

 In fact, Koteswara Rao, a senior leader in charge of Maoist operations,
 even told some journalists that the CPI(M) government is not implementing
 any Central government projects. The reference was clearly to the
 non-implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).
 It also showed the extent to which Lalgarh's issues are different from the
 ones the Maoists usually like to take up.

 All this will be in the past, a few days from now. Already, marauding
 Maoist gangs have taken

[GreenYouth] Lalgarh: Kolkata Intellectuals Visit Defying Administration Advice

[Sukla Sen]

[A group of Kolkata intellectuals - mainly comprising film/TV and theatre
artistes - who had played a verycrucial role to expose state atrocities in
case of Singur and Nandigram and mobilise public opinion visited Lalgarh
today ignoring the advice of the state administration and talked to
Chhatradhar Mahato among others.

They have reported widespread panic in the area as regards ongoing and
forthcoming police actions.
They - Aparana Sen, Saoli Mitra and Kaushik Sen - found Chhatradhar Mahato
sandwiched between the Maoists and the state. Too scared to distance
himself from the Maoists in a long interview to the TV channel Star Ananda.
They have deplored all violence from all the sides and appealed to both the
state administration and the Maoists to observe cease fire till July 14, the
next scheduled day for talks between the state and the PCAPA (led by
Chhatradhar Mahato).
Appealed to the Maoists to desist from doing anything which would make the
common people even more vulnerable.]
I/II.
http://blog.taragana.com/n/lalgarh-people-flee-security-forces-arrest-three-maoists-roundup-88285/

* Lalgarh people flee, security forces arrest three Maoists
(Roundup)http://blog.taragana.com/n/lalgarh-people-flee-security-forces-arrest-three-maoists-roundup-88285/
June
21st, 2009

LALGARH - Hundreds of villagers in this West Bengal area fled as security
forces Sunday started combing operations and arrested three suspected
Maoists. A group of visiting intellectuals demanded an immediate ceasefire
to facilitate talks and complained that women and children were being
tortured.

On the fourth day of the security operation launched by the state government
to flush out Maoists from this troubled zone of West Midnapore district, the
forces nabbed the three rebels at Chakadoba village under Belpahari police
station after sporadic clashes since Saturday.

“We have found a lot of Maoist literature and other materials from them,”
Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia told IANS in
Kolkata.

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel suffered injuries on his
hand when he was hit with a sharp weapon during a clash at Chakadoba Sunday
before the arrests.

Another trooper was rushed to a hospital in Midnapore after he fell sick due
to the oppressive heat and humidity, Kanojia said. One trooper had died of
sunstroke Saturday.

Divided into small teams, the security forces have started searching nearby
villages for weapons, Maoist rebels, as also leaders of the tribal body
People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), which has been the
face of the seven-month old agitation that made the area a virtual free
zone.

A day after reclaiming this headquarters of the Binpur Community Development
block from the Maoists, a second team of central and state security
personnel reached this area - 200 km from Kolkata - from Sarenga in Bankura.

A group of intellectuals including filmmakers, theatre personalities and
writers opposed to the Left Front government - met PCAPA leader Chhattradhar
Mahato and people in some villages during a day’s tour of the affected zone.

“From conversations with the people, we could gather they are afraid. In the
interest of the people, we will make a very sincere appeal to both Maoists
and the administration to lay down arms,” said filmmaker Aparna Sen.

Pointing out that the administration and the PCAPA are already scheduled to
hold the next round of discussions July 14, Sen said: “It is very important
to have a ceasefire there until then.” She added people were getting caught
in the crossfire between the Maoists and police.

Theatre personality Shaonli Mitra said some villages seemed empty, and in
some others there were complaints that children and women were being beaten
up.

“We have been told that women are being molested, and water has been
contaminated in some villages. People are living without food and water.”

Following instructions from Trinamool Congress chief and railway minister
Mamata Banerjee, two central ministers from the party, Mukul Roy and Sisir
Adhikari, set off for the affected zone with relief but were stopped by
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) activists at Salboni.

“There was an obstruction. But we removed it,” said Kanojia.

Minister of State for Rural Development Adhikari and Minister of State for
Shipping Roy alleged that around 20,000 villagers from various areas in
Lalgarh were fleeing their homes due to the atrocities by security forces.

The state government appealed to central and state ministers, NGOs,
intellectuals and journalists to stay away from the troubled zone of Lalgarh
saying it was not in a position to provide security to them in view of
Maoist activities in the area.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the core group formed to monitor
the progress of the security operations, Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan
Chakraborty appealed to the Maoists to lay down arms and help in restoring
normalcy.

“We have decided that the health 

[GreenYouth] More on Lalgarh: Intellectuals Visit Defying State Advice and Issue Call for Ceasefire

[Sukla Sen]

[The team undertook the visit defying the suggestion made by West Bengal
Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty that they defer their visit at least
by a couple of days. (As told on the TV channel Star Ananda on return.) And
one member received a nasty and abusive threat call on return apparently
from a supporter of the state government / main ruling party.]

*A double-edged truce call
Artiste-coaxed appeal gives govt options *
 SUJAN DUTTA Filmmaker Aparna Sen stepping across a felled tree in
Lalgarh on Sunday. (Amit Datta)

*Pathardanga (Lalgarh), June 21: *Brokering peace under a banyan tree, a
group of artistes from Calcutta today discovered a people caught in the
crossfire in Lalgarh.

The group also extracted a public appeal from Chhatradhar Mahato, the
secretary of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, to both the
state and the Maoists to shun arms and opt for a ceasefire till July 14.

But the weight, sincerity and resonance of the appeal are doubtful, for each
of the parties in the conflict is gearing up for the worst.

The security forces are bringing in reinforcements and planning their next
move. The Maoists are pledged to expanding their influence beyond Lalgarh.
Mahato, who the police have said will be “arrested on sight”, is himself
unsure whether his word will have the gravitas without the muscle of the
Maoists.

Artistes Aparna Sen, Kaushik Sen and Saoli Mitra, poet Joy Goswami and
others drove from Calcutta to Lalgarh and then they trudged two-and-a-half
km in the blazing sun from the point where the committee had felled trees to
block the road to reach this village, Hariharpur-Pathardanga, where Mahato
lives.

Without waiting to catch their breath, they came straight to the point.
Aparna Sen asked Mahato if the movement was willing to sever ties with the
Maoists.

Kaushik Sen emphasised: “We have been in support of people’s movements for
the last two years and the CPM-led government has called us many names. We
will have to face questions when we return. Can you ask the Maoists to leave
you alone?”

Mahato was diffident at first. “This is a people’s movement,” he told them.
“We have welcomed the support of all democratic forces. If you support us, I
am not going to look at what is good or bad in you. It is enough if you
support us as long as the leadership of the people is accepted.”

Discussions between the group and Mahato continued in that tenor. They sat
down under the banyan tree by the side of the road at the entrance to the
village. The artistes insisted that Mahato distance himself from the Maoists
till a point when Mahato said: “I live among my people and they (the
Maoists) are also here. You have to understand.”

Kaushik Sen accepted that Mahato might be under a threat. Mahato still
insisted that the state government “must stop the repression first”. Aparna
Sen suggested that Mahato make an appeal to the Maoists and the government
that since a date for discussions with the state was due on July 14, all
sides should hold fire.

Mahato agreed. “Given the situation in Lalgarh where the people are getting
beaten up, the villagers are homeless and where the environment is fearful,
and given that there are so many well-wishers offering us advice, I appeal
to all parties to ensure peace.”
  Snapshot

● Little action on Sunday. Security forces plan road map for thrust into
Maoist strongholds

●State asks Maoists to lay down arms

●Misgivings in Left Front on banning Maoists

●Mamata voices displeasure towards Centre

●Chidambaram asks politicians, NGOs to stay away from conflict zones

●35,000 villagers flee war zone

He said the people were “facing danger from both sides”. But he clarified
that he was not in a position to convince the Maoists.

The group left for Calcutta after saying that they would take the appeal to
Union home minister P. Chidambaram and also to the state government.

In Lalgarh town, where security forces did not advance along the road beyond
the police station, there was little evidence that such appeals will be
taken up.

The appeal has thrown up two possibilities, however: First, after this
point, unless the committee backs down and allows the police into its
territory, moving all obstacles like felled trees and desisting from
blockades, action by the security forces against it is likely to gain
legitimacy for “civil society”.

Second, if the state government wants to look for a line to pick up from
which it can settle for at least a tenuous peace, it is in Mahato’s fragile
appeal.

Four days into the operations, there are two compelling reasons why the
state and the Maoists can sue for peace.

The state has clearly underestimated the depth of popular resentment against
the presence of security forces in this region. In village after village,
people look at the police with suspicion. Before November 2008, they say,
the police were here and their conduct forced the uprising.

The committee and the Maoists may have overestimated the intensity of 

[GreenYouth] Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey Survey and Explore NREGA

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2009/06/21/stories/2009062150010100.htm

*NREGA: Breaking new ground*

ARUNA ROY AND NIKHIL DEY

The NREGA, the flagship programme of the UPA government, was revolutionary
in its promise of inclusive growth, the right to work and the dignity of
labour and a rational, participatory relationship with the State. And it has
mostly delivered…

Suddenly the NREGA has become a buzz word. It stands vindicated by the
mandate of the people in its most basic evaluation in a democracy — the
general elections. Basking in the glory and security of post-electoral
analysis, it is actually the b est time for those who support the basic
philosophy of the NREGA to focus on what it has done and what it has not, by
its own parameters.

The first and the primary focus should be to examine its impact on the human
resource base of rural India. Has it energised, mobilised, empowered, and
delivered to India’s poorest and most marginalised rural people? Secondly,
has it provided those who were “not shining” a measure of dignity, tangible
economic benefit, and a motivation to participate in local action? This is
the crux, for, something as vast and ambitious as the NREGA can only succeed
in bringing about change if millions of workers become its true advocates
and monitors.

Let us begin with the most persistent charges of endemic corruption.
Notwithstanding negative propaganda and the prominent reportage of
corruption, NREGA stands apart from employment and poverty alleviation
programmes in significant ways. It is the first national programme of
consequence which has woven transparency and accountability into the mundane
fabric of daily interaction of people with government. The cases of reported
corruption have shocked the intelligentsia. The rural worker might often be
the victim but will still offer critical support, not only because it has
provided wage income, but also for facilitating disclosure, which helps
identify and fight pilferage. In fact, in many cases, scams have been
exposed by the workers themselves. NREGA gives an opportunity to break the
feudally enforced silence of its victims. Through transparency and social
audit measures, it allows anyone, anywhere to be part of the monitoring of
the delivery system. The other programmes appear to be clean only because no
one knows what goes on! The NREGA gives a further opportunity to realise the
Constitutional sovereignty, the power of the people. What the political
establishment would do well to understand is that the vote was not a blind
endorsement, but the expression of a fragile hope of a rational
participatory relationship with the government.
New claims

The NREGA has opened up a unique legal space for the poor, with a
consequent, legally-mandated obligation on the administration to deliver. In
fact, implementation rests on the simple philosophy that ordinary people
will go to great lengths to procure their entitlements, given the space to
do so. Apart from systemic corruption, we are all aware of the chronic
inefficiency, unwillingness and incapacities of the bureaucratic system to
deliver entitlements for the poor. The persistent argument was that in this
context implementation would be impossible. The NREGA sought to create real
opportunities and legal spaces, with the belief that people will begin to
push to overcome bureaucratic and political resistance. The electoral
endorsement over, it is a good time to begin to examine this aspect of
bottom-up implementation. Does the rights-based approach really work?

The Act has a number of “trigger mechanisms” designed to activate and
establish people’s entitlements. One such trigger is the right to have a Job
Card. The Act mandates that anyone who applies at their Panchayat for a Job
Card must be given one within 15 days. Without a Job Card, people cannot
even apply for work, nor corroborate the records. It is a “license” and “pan
card” of the wage worker’s family, with a record of days of work and wages
received during the year. There are many States where large numbers of
people have demanded, but not received, Job Cards. In many Panchayats, the
Job Cards are in the control of implementing agencies. Publicising the Job
Card as a record of individual entitlements, to be updated by the
authorities, and kept in possession of the workers, would ensure the NREGA
is monitored by its workers.
Crucial accountability

The application for work and the dated receipt are crucial to trigger the
demand for work. The receipt is also the basic record for claiming
unemployment allowance if the work is not provided within 15 days. States
like Rajasthan have fared well in providing Job Cards, and providing work
within 15 days, but resistance to giving dated receipts has become a massive
problem. No State has effectively activated this important mechanism.
Nevertheless, it has worked when workers groups have got organised.

In the 30 years of existence of its precursor, the Maharashtra Employment
Guarantee 

[GreenYouth] Ban on CPI-Maoist extended, Lalgarh operations continue

[Sukla Sen]

[Pls. visit 
http://aidindia.org/main/component/option,com_facileforms/Itemid,412/ and
sign up petition issuing a call for peace in Lalgarh.]

I/III.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090622/818/tnl-ban-on-cpi-maoist-extended-lalgarh-o.html
Ban on CPI-Maoist extended, Lalgarh operations continue


Indo Asian News Service*Mon, Jun 22 06:38 PM*

New Delhi/Lalgarh, June 22 (IANS) The central government Monday extended the
ban on the CPI-Maoist across the country, including West Bengal, which has
so far resisted moves to declare the outfit a terrorist organisation, the
home ministry said.

However, West Bengal's ruling Left Front said it was against banning the
CPI-Maoist and would counter such outfits politically, two days after Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee stated that his government will give
serious thought to proscribing the rebels.

On his part, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary
Prakash Karat said: 'Maoists must be combated politically and
administratively.'

Meanwhile, the security forces intensified their operation to flush out
Maoists from the troubled Lalgarh area as a 48-hour shutdown called by the
rebels Monday disrupted normal life in their strongholds in West Bengal.

After reclaiming Lalgarh town, security forces continued their operation
against the rebels for the fifth day - setting out for Ramgarh town, 22 km
away, where the Maoists had virtually driven the civil and police
administration away earlier this month.

In New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters: 'Today, what we
have done, in order to avoid any ambiguity, we have added the words
CPI-Maoist in the schedule of the (Unlawful Activities Prevention) Act.

'All ambiguity has been removed,' Chidambaram said of the extension of the
ban on the CPI-Maoist.

The outfit is already banned in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and
Orissa, where the Maoist rebels have a presence.

Home ministry officials said the CPI-Maoist has been banned under the the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act that is applicable all over the
country. However, individual states have to issue their own notifications
banning the organisation.

The CPI-Maoist, which is the main left extremist group in the country, has
been bracketed with 34 other organizations including Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT)
and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) who are in the list of
banned outfits.

The central government had been pressing the West Bengal government to also
ban the outfit.

Chidambaram, at a meeting with Bhattacharjee over the weekend, had advised
him to ban the organisation.

In Lalgarh, the security forces also carried relief to villages in the West
Midnapore district that were facing shortage of food and drinking water. The
state authorities opened the block development office in Lalgarh, a step
towards restoring civil rule in the area which Maoists had declared a
'liberated' zone.

The shutdown the Leftwing radicals called against the joint operation by the
central and state forces saw vehicular traffic go off the roads, streets
deserted and shops and business establishments closed in 18 police station
areas in Maoist-affected Bankura, West Midnapore and Purulia districts in
the western part of the state.

Security was heightened across the state, particularly in the three
districts, in view of the shutdown. Police patrolled the streets and guarded
vital installations and carried out checks in trains and buses, said a
senior police officer.

West Midnapore distict magistrate N.S. Nigam told IANS: 'Movement of
vehicles was affected in some parts of the districts. Shops also remained
closed.'

In Bankura district, normal life was paralysed in areas under seven police
stations where the rebels have a strong base.

A South Eastern Railway source said train services over the Purulia-Birmadih
section were disrupted after the Maoists threatened the station master and
some gangmen and a suspected bomb planted by the rebels was found close to
the Birmadih station.

Bomb squad personnel were rushed to the spot.

'The operations are on. There has been no major incident so far,' Inspector
General of West Bengal Police Raj Kanojia told IANS in state capital
Kolkata. Lalgarh is 200 km from Kolkata.

A security force patrol found a wire and other materials that could be used
in planting landmines barely 500 metres from the Lalgarh police station
Monday morning.

'We have intensified search for land mines and bombs on the entire
Lalgarh-Ramgarh route. Our move to reclaim Ramgarh is now on a limited
scale. Full-scale movement will begin only after we sanitise the entire
stretch,' said a senior police officer.

The rebels had torched the Ramgarh outpost earlier this month, forcing the
state police to retreat from the area.

Lalgarh has been on the boil since last November when a landmine exploded on
the route of the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and then
central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.

[GreenYouth] Lalgarh and Its Broader Implications

[Sukla Sen]

Here are two pieces. One, a news analysis. Quite a serious one. Whether one
agrees or disagrees with. The other one is an interview by Chhatradhar
Mahato, the leader of the PCAPA under the banner of which the highly
successful mass resistance was going on for the last seven months or so
keeping the state administration out of its own territory even during the
last Lok Sabha election and compelling it to set up voting booths just
outside the lakshmanrekha to ensure that the villagers can cast their votes
while still keeping the state out. That too amidst full-blooded campaign for
vote boycott.
The seven month long resistance crashed almost overnight with the Maoists
coming overground, claiming the authorship of the resistance, proudly
declaring that they tried to kill the Chief Minister and would do it again
and going on a violent spree including killings.
That gave the state the perfect alibi to shed its diffidence of long seven
months and breach the resistance.
If Nandigarm had immobilised the state, after its brutal actions turned
severely counter-productive, Lalgarh, or its latest phase, has helped
radically reverse the trend.

*The resistance, which had held for long seven months, collapsed almost
overnight, within seven days of the Maoist misventure.*

The article by Pothik Ghosh looks into that dynamic.
Chhatradhar Mahato, in his interview, desperately and pathetically trying to
distance the PCAPA from the Maoists:
*It is being alleged that Maoists are supporting the PCAPA. Is it true?*
*
*
*Not at all. These are concocted allegations by our detractors. The PCAPA
came into being seven to eight months back, whereas the Maoists have been
here since ages.*
*Their agenda is completely different from ours. *
*Also if you take a close look at the PCAPA's 'warriors', they carry
traditional arms like axes, spears, bows and arrows etc, whereas Maoists use
landmines and other sophisticated weapons -- there is hardly any similarity
between the two. *

**Sukla

I/II.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePageid=89969bbe-9b93-4dd7-ab0d-139d3af67e6fHeadline=CPI(M)+vs+CPI(M)


*Pothik 
Ghoshhttp://www.hindustantimes.com/Search/Search.aspx?q=Pothik%20Ghoshnodate=1
*
 June 21, 2009
First Published: 21:07 IST(21/6/2009)
Last Updated: 21:08 IST(21/6/2009)
CPI(M) vs CPI(M)
In politics, the truth is almost always counter-intuitive. In this realm —
where the art of the possible intersects in unexpected ways with the science
of the impossible — ominous portents of anarchy often conceal messianic
promises of deliverance. Lalgarh, today, is perhaps the starkest symbol of
this confounding cocktail, which has come to characterise the polity of Left
Front-ruled West Bengal.

What distinguishes the Lalgarh uprising from other violent incidents that
have scarred Bengal in recent years is that the cynical calculus of
competitive electoral politics has had absolutely no bearing on the
movement. The insurgency of the Lalgarh population has been shaped by its
experience of a state that has registered its presence in the area through
the brutal effectiveness of its repressive apparatuses but has been absent
as a purveyor of emancipatory social development.

That is precisely why Lalgarh should not be classified as a tribal identity
movement. The majority population of Lalgarh is tribal, but the
anti-competitive orientation of their struggle, thanks to the objective
politico-economic conditions that have shaped them, serves to invert the
logic of identitarian movements, which always articulate their politics in
supremacist terms of ethno-cultural domination.

The People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA)-led revolt, which
was sparked seven months ago by a repressive combing operation launched by
the state police in Lalgarh and surrounding areas in response to a Maoist
mine attack on the chief minister’s cavalcade, has steadily become a
two-pronged movement of resistance and social reconstruction through
participatory management of rudimentary public services such as healthcare
developed by the local community.

The Bengal government was extremely cagey until a few weeks ago to launch a
crackdown. That was largely due to the movement’s mass insurrectionary
character. In Lalgarh, violence has been a collective expression of
disaffection against the oppressive socio-economic order the state defends.
Even the guerrilla operations carried out by Maoists in the area have become
a seamless extension of this insurrection, which enjoys wide-ranging
legitimacy. It is this legitimacy, which derives from an assertion of
popular sovereignty, that had compelled the West Bengal regime to keep its
Stalinist proclivities — seen in Nandigram — in check for so long.

A modern State formation also acts in the name of popular sovereignty. But
in an insurrectionary situation, as in Lalgarh, the government comes to be
seen as an external threat to the sovereignty of the people. That renders
the legal-illegal 

[GreenYouth] Fwd: [foil] Lalgarh and Its Broader Implications

[Sukla Sen]

Quote
Being far more rational people than the elitist bastards who ask them to lay
down their arms now admit, the Adivasis sought and received the assistance
of Maoists ..
Unquote

The term bastard is unabashedly sexist, upholding certain social values
which have become outdated and even repugnant within circles engaged with
human liberation - women, in particular.
One does not expect R to be particularly aware of all that. So let us
leave this aspect at that.
He has obviously used it as a term of nasty abuse against the people,
the civil society champions who played a crucial role in turning the
tide in the context of Singur / Nandigram, the latter in particular. These
are also the people who are even today braving rather formidable threats to
their persons to raise their voices of concern against the State and its
committed operators unlike Raja shrieking hysterically from a safe enclave
in the citadel of imperialism.
This is just to put things in perspective.

I'd not here try to address the deliberate digression of Koraput based on a
(slanted?) story carried by the corporate media. (Not that I'm too
knowledgeable on that.)
Let us also not get diverted by the evident piece of blatant lie that the
Maoists had any significant role in the Janandolan II in Nepal. That has
already been exposed time and again. We would not revisit in any details the
angry Maoist rejection of the King finally announcing reinstitution of the
earlier dismissed parliament on April 24 2006 to be followed by a
quick somersault.

Let's come back to Lalgarh. And let's set aside some jargons like
autonomously and all that to obfuscate the issue.
Let us come back to Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of the PCAPA under the
banner of which the resistance since last November was organised.

But before that let us take up my central contention:
Quote
*The resistance, which had held for long seven months, collapsed
almost overnight, within seven days of the Maoist misventure.*
Unquote
Quote
The seven month long resistance crashed almost overnight with the
Maoistscoming overground, claiming the authorship of the resistance,
proudly declaring that they tried to kill the Chief Minister and would do it
again and going on a violent spree including killings.
That gave the state the perfect alibi to shed its diffidence of long
seven months and breach the resistance.
If Nandigarm had immobilised the state, after its brutal actions
turned severely counter-productive, Lalgarh, or its latest phase, has
helped radically reverse the trend.
 Unquote
Quote
...the PCAPA under the banner of which the highly successful mass resistance
was going on for the last seven months or so keeping the state
administration out of its own territory even during the last Lok Sabha
election and compelling it to set up voting booths just outside the
lakshmanrekha to ensure that the villagers can cast their votes while still
keeping the state out. That too amidst full-blooded campaign for vote
boycott.

Unquote

Let's note that not a word on that! Not even pointless jargons.

Also compare Pothik Ghosh (an editor of radicalnotes.com):
 Quote
The Bengal government was extremely cagey until a few weeks ago to launch a
crackdown. That was largely due to the movement’s mass insurrectionary
character. In Lalgarh, violence has been a collective expression of
disaffection against the oppressive socio-economic order the state defends.
Even the guerrilla operations carried out by Maoists in the area have become
a seamless extension of this insurrection, which enjoys wide-ranging
legitimacy. It is this legitimacy, which derives from an assertion of
popular sovereignty, that had compelled the West Bengal regime to keep its
Stalinist proclivities — seen in Nandigram — in check for so long.

A modern State formation also acts in the name of popular sovereignty. But
in an insurrectionary situation, as in Lalgarh, the government comes to be
seen as an external threat to the sovereignty of the people. That renders
the legal-illegal dichotomy problematic and makes it difficult for the state
to monopolise violence to crush popular movements in the name of curbing
anti-sovereign insurgency. The CPI(M)-led Left Front could ill-afford such a
risk after the electoral drubbing.

Alas, Lalgarh has squandered that advantage, thanks to a tactical blunder by
the Maoists. The recent claims by various Maoist leaders that the PCAPA was
a front of their underground party has given the repressive arms of both the
Bengal government and, to a lesser extent, the Centre, the alibi they had
been waiting for. They know the police operation in Lalgarh will now be
widely perceived as a legitimate measure to protect popular sovereignty from
Maoist depredations.
Unquote

Now back to Chhatradhar Mahato.
Quote
*It is being alleged that Maoists are supporting the PCAPA. Is it true?*

Not at all. These are concocted allegations by our detractors.
Unquote

In fact the hosting site 

[GreenYouth] Re: Fwd: [foil] Lalgarh and Its Broader Implications

[Sukla Sen]

West Bengal Left Front - both state and central leaders - have clearly
expressed themselves against the ban.And the ban will not come into force
till the state government issues appropriate notification.

Sukla

On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 3:49 PM, sunil kumar ksunilgout...@gmail.comwrote:

 Yes ban is not a solution. And we should condemn ban against maoists. At
 the same time maoism is not a solution to tribal or dalit problems. Really
 maoism and so called armed resistance lead the tribals, dalits and other
 oppressed people to nowhere but unendingtragedy. Marxists and Maoists are
 birds having same feathers



 -- Forwarded message --
 From: damodar prasad damodar.pra...@gmail.com
 Date: 2009/6/23
 Subject: [GreenYouth] Re: Fwd: [foil] Lalgarh and Its Broader Implications
 To: greenyouth@googlegroups.com


 Banning maoism is no soulution. It is the solution provided P Chidambaram.
 sad that WB givt followed it dittio.
 Chidamabram, as FM in the last UPA givt had accused CPM for the raising and
 management of funds ( or something like that) or was it on tax evasion.

 On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 11:32 AM, Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com wrote:

   Quote
 Being far more rational people than the elitist bastards who ask them to
 lay down their arms now admit, the Adivasis sought and received the
 assistance of Maoists ..
 Unquote

 The term bastard is unabashedly sexist, upholding certain social values
 which have become outdated and even repugnant within circles engaged with
 human liberation - women, in particular.
 One does not expect R to be particularly aware of all that. So let us
 leave this aspect at that.
   He has obviously used it as a term of nasty abuse against the people,
 the civil society champions who played a crucial role in turning the
 tide in the context of Singur / Nandigram, the latter in particular. These
 are also the people who are even today braving rather formidable threats to
 their persons to raise their voices of concern against the State and its
 committed operators unlike Raja shrieking hysterically from a safe enclave
 in the citadel of imperialism.
 This is just to put things in perspective.

 I'd not here try to address the deliberate digression of Koraput based on
 a (slanted?) story carried by the corporate media. (Not that I'm too
 knowledgeable on that.)
 Let us also not get diverted by the evident piece of blatant lie that the
 Maoists had any significant role in the Janandolan II in Nepal. That has
 already been exposed time and again. We would not revisit in any details the
 angry Maoist rejection of the King finally announcing reinstitution of the
 earlier dismissed parliament on April 24 2006 to be followed by a
 quick somersault.

 Let's come back to Lalgarh. And let's set aside some jargons like
 autonomously and all that to obfuscate the issue.
 Let us come back to Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of the PCAPA under the
 banner of which the resistance since last November was organised.

 But before that let us take up my central contention:
 Quote
 *The resistance, which had held for long seven months, collapsed
 almost overnight, within seven days of the Maoist misventure.*
 Unquote
 Quote
 The seven month long resistance crashed almost overnight with the
 Maoistscoming overground, claiming the authorship of the resistance,
 proudly declaring that they tried to kill the Chief Minister and would do it
 again and going on a violent spree including killings.
 That gave the state the perfect alibi to shed its diffidence of long
 seven months and breach the resistance.
 If Nandigarm had immobilised the state, after its brutal actions
 turned severely counter-productive, Lalgarh, or its latest phase, has
 helped radically reverse the trend.
  Unquote
 Quote
 ...the PCAPA under the banner of which the highly successful mass
 resistance was going on for the last seven months or so keeping the state
 administration out of its own territory even during the last Lok Sabha
 election and compelling it to set up voting booths just outside the
 lakshmanrekha to ensure that the villagers can cast their votes while still
 keeping the state out. That too amidst full-blooded campaign for vote
 boycott.

 Unquote

 Let's note that not a word on that! Not even pointless jargons.

 Also compare Pothik Ghosh (an editor of radicalnotes.com):
   Quote
  The Bengal government was extremely cagey until a few weeks ago to
 launch a
 crackdown. That was largely due to the movement’s mass insurrectionary
 character. In Lalgarh, violence has been a collective expression of
 disaffection against the oppressive socio-economic order the state
 defends.
 Even the guerrilla operations carried out by Maoists in the area have
 become
 a seamless extension of this insurrection, which enjoys wide-ranging
 legitimacy. It is this legitimacy, which derives from an assertion of
 popular sovereignty, that had compelled the West Bengal regime to keep its
 Stalinist proclivities — seen in Nandigram

[GreenYouth] Lalgrah: Statement by Achin Vanaik, Praful Bidwai, Sumit Chakravartty, Sumit Sarkar, Tanika Sarkar

[Sukla Sen]

We are profoundly disturbed by the massive Central and state armed police
operation in Lalgarh-Jangalmahal in West Bengal. This was launched without
exploring a negotiated settlement of genuine popular grievances and by
blurring the crucial distinction between violent Maoists and peace-minded
civilians. The operation is taking an unacceptable toll of civilian life and
safety in an extremely backward area with sub-human living conditions and
absence of public services and social opportunity worsened by unremitting
police atrocities.

We deplore the reckless, self-serving violence of the Maoists, who have
exploited West Bengal’s post-election chaos by using deprived and angry
tribals as pawns and by brutally attacking CPM cadres and offices. This
cannot be rationalised as just retaliation against the violence unleashed by
the CPM over the years. The two kinds of violence only feed and aggravate
each other.

Some self-proclaimed leaders have appeared, claiming to represent the
People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), who openly preach
violence and murder. Their actions can only invite more state repression.
Deplorably, the media has equated the Maoists with the PCPA, which has
conducted a democratic and peaceful struggle among tribals for dignity and
security, and against state excesses.

We urge the state Governor, respected for his integrity, understanding and
compassion, to take an initiative to bring about a complete cessation of
violence and open a dialogue on the people’s concerns highlighted by the
PCPA, by using responsible civil society groups as mediators. Preventing a
bloodbath remains the greatest imperative today.

Sumit Sarkar, Achin Vanaik, Tanika Sarkar, Sumit Chakravartty and Praful
Bidwai

New Delhi

June 19, 2009
http://www.sacw.net/article977.html

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[GreenYouth] WB govt to decide on Maoists ban

[Sukla Sen]

[The Cabinet meeting did take place today. The Chief Minister, reportedly,
made a strong pitch to fall in line with the Centre. But, as per (my)
report, the Cabinet has not yet taken any such decision. But this is
disturbing enough. Moreover, the CPI(Maoist) spokesperson Gour Chakraborty,
who was scheduled to address a meeting in Kolkata, has
been reportedly arrested / taken under police custody for interogations.
Protests must be immediately conveyed to the appropriate quarters against
any move to implement the ban in West Bengal.]
I.
http://www.zeenews.com/news541378.html

WB govt to decide on Maoists ban
*
*
*Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, June 23: Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday will
chair a Cabinet meet convened to decide on whether to implement or not the
Centre’s decision to ban CPI (Maoists).*

However, as per media reports, in view of the Maoist siege of the Lalgarh
town and increased pressure from the Centre, the West Bengal government has
reportedly decided to accept ban on the Maoists.

CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechuri has not ruled out a ban on the Maoists.
However, he maintained that the problem needed a political solution.

“The ban is not for the state alone. It is for the whole country. The party
is meeting today to decide on implementing a ban on Maoists,” he said.

Calling for a dual strategy to tackle the menace of Naxalism, Yechury said,
“We have always maintained that the problem needs to be resolved
politically. The Prime Minister said that Naxalism is a threat to the
country and we all want to boost security.”

However, the state government is unlikely to prosecute the suspected Maoists
under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The sources close to
the state government have claimed that the suspected Maoists will be
prosecuted only under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Meanwhile, some reports claimed that the Maoists are now ready for a
conditional ceasefire if some of their demands are met.

A private TV news channel quoted Maoists spokesperson Gaur Chakraboraty as
saying,” We will begin talks if our demands are met. If the government
withdraws troops we will lay down arms.”

On Monday, following a high level meeting against the backdrop of security
forces' operations in West Midnapore district in West Bengal, the Union Home
Ministry issued a notification declaring the CPI (Maoist) a terrorist
organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The decision evoked sharp reactions from the West Bengal government, which
said that it would ascertain if it was binding for it to rectify the
decision and the ruling Left Front said it was useless to ban any
organisation.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty said legal experts are
being consulted in this regard. Only then can we inform you if the Centre's
decision is binding on the state government, Chakraborty told reporters.
West Bengal's ruling Left Front also came out in the open and said it was
against banning the CPI-Maoist and would counter such outfits politically.

The announcement came two days after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
stated that his government will give serious thought to proscribing the
rebels.

On his part, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary
Prakash Karat said, Maoists must be combated politically and
administratively.

*Ban to avoid ambiguity: Chidambaram*

Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here, yesterday, that the
government had put the CPI(M) in the list of banned organisations. He also
said that while the Left parties had objections to the decision, the West
Bengal government was a separate entity.

Chidambaram said the Government decided on the fresh ban under the UAPA to
avoid any ambiguity following the merger of CPI-ML (People's War Group) with
the Marxist Coordination Committee.

It was always a terror organisation and today an ambiguity has been removed
that it is a terror organisation, he said.

“We hope the West Bengal government would ratify the decision we have
taken,” he said outside his office here. Centre also warned the West Bengal
government to take firm action against the Maoists as there could be some
more attacks in the state.

Centre also issued an advisory warning to state government to remain alert
against attacks on trains, government installations and oil depots.

Some states including- Orissa, Bihar  Jharkhand- had already banned the
organisation under UAPA, while others like Andhra Pradesh had banned it
under state laws.

CPI-Maoist, which is the main Naxal group in the country, has been bracketed
with 34 other organisations including LeT, ULFA and SIMI who are in the list
of banned outfits.

Incidentally, today is also the second day of the bandh declared by Naxals
in five states against the actions of the government in Lalgarh.

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[GreenYouth] [foil] CPIML on Lalgarh’s Battle for Dignity and Justice

[Sukla Sen]

That the Lalgarh resistance was initiated and propelled by the Maoists
is just a myth - in fact, a piece of manufactured lie - dished out by
the state, which, however, for obvious reasons perfectly suits the
Maoists.

The best known face of the Lagarh resistance is on record having
denied that claim.
Ref: 
http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/jun/22/interview-with-convenor-of-peoples-committee-against-police-atrocities.htm#write
And also: 
http://ishare.rediff.com/video/news-and-politics/chhtradhar-mahato-speaks-on-lalgarh-crisis/636111
Chhatradhar Mahato did it even on earlier occasions.
In fact, not too long ago, he was associated with the Trinamool Congress.
Very relevant, in this context, is also the fact that when the Maoists
were going full blast (rather literally) with their election boycott
call, just about two months back, the PCAPA negotiated with the State
Election Commission to have polling booths set up just outside the
liberated zone to ensure voting by the villagers while disallowing
the administration to come in till their demands are met.

But far more important is that the seven month long resistance crashed
almost overnight with the Maoistscoming overground, claiming the
authorship of the resistance, proudly declaring that they tried to
kill the Chief Minister and would do it again and going on a violent
spree including killings.

That gave the state the perfect alibi to shed its diffidence of long
seven months and breach the resistance.
If Nandigarm had immobilised the state, after its brutal actions
turned severely counter-productive, Lalgarh, or its latest phase, has
helped radically reverse the trend.

Any support for Lalgarh resistance, as an integral part of the fight
for progressive transformation of the social order, and consequent
principled opposition to state oppression coming on top of appalling
neglect would overlook this obvious connection only at its own peril.

The resistance, which had held for long seven months, collapsed almost
overnight, within seven days of the Maoist misventure.
That's there for all to see. And here Lalgarh, or its latest phase, so
hugely differs from Nandigram.

One may also like to look up for an informed analysis: 'CPI(M) vs
CPI(M) by Pothik Ghosh at
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePageid=89969bbe-9b93-4dd7-ab0d-139d3af67e6fHeadline=CPI(M)+vs+CPI(M)
Ghosh is no run of the mill hack. He is an editor of the website
radicalnotes.com

Also: http://www.facebook.com/sukla.sen?ref=name#/sukla.sen?v=app_2347471856

And for the CPIM version, 'On the Political Violence Unleashed Against
the Left in West Bengal', as endorsed by Irfan Habib et al:
http://www.pragoti.org/node/3460

And as regards Maoism of the CPI(Maoist) variety, on a global scale in
recent years there were four major hubs of insurgency: Peru, Nepal,
Philippines and India.
Now they stand wiped out in Peru. In Nepal they have changed track
(the CPI(Ma) has strongly resented that) and their position has become
uncertain after some striking success. In Philippines, they have
apparently suffered decline.

In Iidia, it is no accident that they are confined to the most
backward hinterlands inhabited by the poorest - and cruelly exploited
- of adivasis - the indigenous people. Utter government insensitivity
is responsible for that.

Usually it is claimed that Maoists have significant presence in
one-fourth of India's 600+ districts.
But that is highly misleading. Because that doesn't tell us how much
of a particular district is under Maoist/insurgent control. Even a
corner is affected, the whole district is counted in. Info on what
fractions of Indian villages - around 6,40,000, is affected would have
been far more insightful. In any case, the whole idea that every
fourth district is under insurgent control is hugely out of tune with
our real life experiences. It is the adivasi inhabited most backward
regions of northern portion of South India - i.e. Andhra Pradesh,
parts of eastern India - Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and
parts of central India - Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, in patches -
are affected.

One of the most perceptive and sympathetic observer, K Balagopal, had
observed that the very success of the Maoists - resulting in
improvement in living conditions - has resulted in their decline in
AP.

It also needs be noted that they have now hardly any presence in towns
and cities. So very different from the heady days of late sixties and
seventies.

The historical decline is all too evidrent.

Sukla

Sandy B wrote:

In the context of the historic struggle in Lalgarh, broadly speaking, four
major strand of thinking have emerged: the first taken by the state
(including the CPIM) that the movement in Lalgarh is nothing but a Maoist
inspired insurrection/misadventure that has to be crushed by the might of
the state: second, the middle path taken by liberal/radical/post marxists
that seeks to identify the genesis of the movement and the reasons why 

[GreenYouth] Human Rights Situation in West Bengal in the Wake of Lalgarh

[Sukla Sen]

The West Bengal police has filed criminal cases against Aparna Sen,
Saoli Mitra, Kaushik Sen, Joy Goswami and others - the artistes and
intellectuals from Kolkata who had visited Lalgarh, talked to
Chhatradhar Mahato in Pathardanga and issued a call for ceasefire to
both the state administration and the Maoists till the scheduled talk
between the state and the PCAPA in the wake of the Joint Force
launching its armed operations and reoccupying the Lalgarh Police
Station, for breach of Sec. 144 of the Cr. PC promulgated in Lalgarh.
Though they had visited after informing the Chief Secretary.

And here is a more recent case of actual detention: 'Eight human
rights activists detained in Midnapore' at
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200906271980.htm
Reportedly the arrests have been made under arrested under Sec. 151 of
the Cr PC.
(They were subsequently taken to Kolkata and let off.)

It appears that now the police has become even more proactive.

Evidently the situation has appreciably deteriorated since the middle
of the month.

Also relevant is the fact that the corpse of one Salku Soren, a
landless labourer and a CPI(M) activist who had been killed by the
Maoists among others, was made to rot for days in the open for all to
see as an example.
On the face of it, that palyed a major role in paving the ground for
armed intervention by the state triggering deep revulsions and
facilitating knocking off the rather formidable moral ballast that had
come up in the wake of Nandigarm.
The Lalgarh resistance had held for seven long months and the state
desisted from intervening till the Maoists came overground, claimed
the authorship of the resistance, proudly declared before the TV
cameras that they had tried to kill the Chief Minister and do it again
with guns slinging on the back for good effect and went on the violent
spree including gory killings.
The resistance which had held for seven moths, crashed in less than seven days.
Not only the considerable achievement of Nandigarm in immobilising the
state has been completely nullified virtually in one single stroke,
the clock has been put even further back.

Now, the state is in superactive mode. There are reports of widespread
police brutalities amid full scale armed operations.

The most disturbing is that despite strong protests from the alliance
partners and also from within the party, the Chief Minister is dead
set on making the use of the UAPA 2008. Radically breaking off with
the norms set till now.

From the human rights perspective, this is extremely worrisome and disturbing.

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[GreenYouth] Military Coup in Honduras Ousts and Exiles Elected President on the eve of Referendum

[Sukla Sen]

[The military coup in tiny Central American state of Honduras is an an
extremely disturbing development. The democratic opinion all over the world
must raise its voice demanding the immediate restoration of the deposed
President Manuel Zelaya and smooth conduct of the planned referendum to
rewrite the nation's Constitution on an early date.]

I/II.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/chavez-threatens-to-invade-as-honduran-army-stages-coup-1723090.html
Chavez threatens to invade as Honduran army stages coup

 Venezuelan leader vows to 'act militarily' after leftist ally Manuel Zelaya
is overthrown and exiled to Costa Rica

By David Usborne

Monday, 29 June 2009

 Honduras was plunged into a political crisis that threatened to spill
across the region hours after President Manuel Zelaya was thrown out by the
army and exiled to Costa Rica prompting his leftist ally in Venezuela,
President Hugo Chavez, to threaten military intervention.

In the first successful military coup in Central America since the end of
the Cold War, the army sent masked soldiers into the presidential palace
before dawn. The President, who was in dispute with his military about a
planned constitutional referendum, was then escorted to a military plane
which took him into exile.

Mr Chavez went on state television later in the day claiming that the coup
leaders had taken away the Cuban ambassador to Honduras and left the
Venezuelan ambassador by the road in the capital, Tegucigalpa, after beating
him. He said that if troops enter his embassy that military junta would be
entering a de facto state of war, and we would have to act militarily.

The Congress in Honduras said later that it had received a letter of
resignation from Mr Zelaya, purportedly signed on Friday. In a show of
hands, representatives accepted that he had stepped down from office.

The country's Supreme Court said it supported the coup. The court had been
opposed to the non-binding referendum which was an effort to legitimise a
re-writing of the constitution to allow Mr Zelaya to overcome term limits
and seek re-election as president. Mr Chavez and the leaders of Bolivia and
Ecuador have similarly moved to end restrictions on how long they can stay
in office.

The Honduran ambassador to the Organisation of American States said the
military was planning to swear in the Congressional President, Roberto
Micheletti, next in line to the presidency according to the constitution, to
replace Mr Zelaya, who came into office in 2006 and would have had to stand
down in 2010 under the existing constitution.

Speaking from Costa Rica, Mr Zelaya denied he had written a resignation
letter calling it totally false. Insisting he was still the president, he
said there was no way to justify an interruption of democracy, a coup
d'etat. He added: This kidnapping is an extortion of the Honduran
democratic system.

Under the government of Mr Zelaya, Honduras was member of Alba, a coalition
of leftist Latin American countries that includes Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and
Nicaragua and which is led by Mr Chavez. The organisation was rushing to
arrange a summit in Nicaragua to discuss what action to take after the coup.

We will bring them down. We will bring them down, I tell you, Mr Chavez
vowed during yesterday's broadcast, saying, I have put the armed forces in
Venezuela on high alert.

Experts noted, however, that Mr Chavez has a track record of threatening
military action but not following through with it. He deployed troops to his
border with Colombia last year after that country took action against
terrorist bases just inside Ecuador. That crisis eased after a few days,
however.

Mr Zelaya said he first realised a coup was under way when he was woken by
gunshots inside his palace grounds. He described leaping from his bed and
avoiding bullets by hiding, still in his pyjamas, behind an air conditioning
unit. He said the palace guard held the soldiers off for more than 20
minutes before he was taken into custody and escorted by eight or nine
masked soldiers to the waiting plane.

The streets of Tegucigalpa were reportedly mostly calm last night although
main avenues were filled with army tanks in a strong show of force. Roughly
100 supporters of Mr Zelaya had gathered by mid-morning outside the gates to
the palace. Some threw stones at hundreds of soldiers surrounding the palace
and shouted Traitors! Traitors! in protest.

They kidnapped him like cowards yelled Melissa Gaitan, 21, who works at
the government television station. We have to rally the people to defend
our president.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said he was deeply concerned by news
of the coup while the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said his
expulsion from the country should be condemned. I call on all political and
social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and
the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, Mr Obama said in a
statement released by the White House.

[GreenYouth] The Unique ID Card Scheme: The Grave Threats It Poses!

[Sukla Sen]

This pigheaded scheme, which hopefully is unimplementable in the Indian
context, is evidently a huge invasion against privacy, and liberty, of
individual citizens, life since being always under the hawkish watch of the
Big Brother/Sister, as the article reproduced below has argued.

And there is also the danger of identity theft.

Real terrorists would always find out ways and means to dodge.
But the country would turn into a large prison house.

But what is even more disturbing is that, in the specific Indian context, a
large section of the population being in abject poverty, without any
permanent roof over the heads and appalling lack of education and awareness,
they would be perpetually criminalised - for not being able to produce such
ID cards at command - and thereby remain utterly vulnerable to petty state
officials extracting money, and also sexual services, and just out to
satisfy their sadistic urges.

The remedy proposed is going to be far worse than the disease itself.
This needs be opposed tooth and nail.
Sukla

http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Rain/rain1.html

*What's Really Wrong with National ID Cards*

by Jack Rain

The national ID card threat is in front of us. I have not yet seen a strong
enough assault on this extremely dangerous idea, so I will face the
challenge myself.

The national ID card concept is not just bad on some theoretical level as an
invasion of privacy. It has the potential to become an incredible source of
power, more restraining than the strongest of handcuffs and leg chains.

But first a word about its intended purpose, to help fight terrorism.
Bunk. Some of the terrorists used fake ID's. So what? As generals always
fight the last war, politicians battle the last terrorist attack.

Politicians banned guns on planes. They put cement barriers in front of
buildings to prevent car bombings. (Both the Pentagon and the World Trade
Center had these cement barriers in front of them.) But the events of 9-11
certainly showed that the terrorists figured out angles to defeat these
protections. So don't even try to tell me that the terrorists won't find
their way around national ID cards.

But I will tell you what a national ID card will do, it will track you and
me. The national ID card system will be designed to track people and their
movements every time you are required to show it. Otherwise, it will not
serve any purpose for the government. When we are required to show the card
it will be logged into a national ID super computer. This is the key to
understanding its danger. It will track us. We won't have the time, the
money or the underground contacts that will enable us to defeat the system.
Only terrorists and crooks will be able to do that.

With a national ID card, when we fly, where we fly, what hotel we stay at,
it will all be tracked. Where we bank, what doctors we see, will be tracked.
In back channel ways, what meetings we attend, where we shop and what we
visit on the Internet will be tracked.

Yes, you may agree that this will happen, but you will argue that it happens
now. Credit card companies collect and sell data about us. Hotels sell our
data and some web sites track where we are going. But the key to all this is
that it is not a national ID card system. There is no national supercomputer
where all this data is collected in one place. And we still have the option
of easily circumventing any private data collection system. If I want to
check into a hotel, I can pay cash and tell them I am Christopher Columbus
Jr. Most hotels will take the money (Interestingly enough, most of the
better hotels ask fewer questions than your average Red Roof Inn). If I
want to surf the net anonymously, I can do that by taking a few precautions.
I can travel now under any name without a national ID card (Trust me on
this--you can travel under any name. Just ask any illegal Mexican you see
and he will tell you how to get a very good quality Government issued ID
in any name you want within two hours).

But a national ID card will be different, it will have our names and some
type of biological imprint--i.e., fingerprint, eye scan, hand scan,
etc.--and it will record everything in the supercomputer whenever we are
required to show it.

So what's the problem, if we are law abiding citizens? The problem is a
national ID card will create a vast source of power. It will record where we
go and what we do. It will all be in one computer, humming away in some
bombproof shelter outside Washington D. C.

Information is valuable and powerful. I am aware of instances where even
small amounts of information are bought and sold now.

I have an acquaintance who works for a very large utility company. Slip him
$50 and he will get you the phone number of any person in his
state--unlisted or otherwise. You see, most people who sign up for
electricity, even those concerned about privacy, don't even think of the
privacy they are giving up. They readily provide their number to the
utility. Two 

[GreenYouth] Re: The Unique ID Card Scheme: The Grave Threats It Poses!

[Sukla Sen]

On 6/30/09, geetheshp Nair geetheshpn...@gmail.com wrote:
 Dear Mr Sukla,

 Why is it a pigheaded scheme? It was BJP who had it in the election
 agenda to provide every citizen on the country with Multi Purpose
 National Identity (MNIC) cards. Later on congress picked up this idea
 and now Mr. Nandan Nilekani is in charge of it. Read the news in
 Hindustan times
 (http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetterid=7dc43fc0-a1cc-4c5a-bb6c-5e6db0eee6abHeadline=Bye%2c+bye+multiple+IDs%2c+hello+unique+number)

 It will make life easier because people dont have to use multiple
 cards. Everything will be coded in one card. Let us not be critical of
 all good developments. Let the country go smart with new technologies.

 Bye
 Geethesh

 On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 8:34 PM, Sukla Sensukla@gmail.com wrote:
 This pigheaded scheme, which hopefully is unimplementable in the Indian
 context, is evidently a huge invasion against privacy, and liberty, of
 individual citizens, life since being always under the hawkish watch of
 the
 Big Brother/Sister, as the article reproduced below has argued.

 And there is also the danger of identity theft.

 Real terrorists would always find out ways and means to dodge.
 But the country would turn into a large prison house.

 But what is even more disturbing is that, in the specific Indian context,
 a
 large section of the population being in abject poverty, without any
 permanent roof over the heads and appalling lack of education and
 awareness,
 they would be perpetually criminalised - for not being able to produce
 such
 ID cards at command - and thereby remain utterly vulnerable to petty
 state
 officials extracting money, and also sexual services, and just out to
 satisfy their sadistic urges.

 The remedy proposed is going to be far worse than the disease itself.
 This needs be opposed tooth and nail.
 Sukla

 http://www.strike-the-root.com/columns/Rain/rain1.html

 What's Really Wrong with National ID Cards

 by Jack Rain

 The national ID card threat is in front of us. I have not yet seen a
 strong
 enough assault on this extremely dangerous idea, so I will face the
 challenge myself.

 The national ID card concept is not just bad on some theoretical level as
 an
 invasion of privacy. It has the potential to become an incredible source
 of
 power, more restraining than the strongest of handcuffs and leg chains.

 But first a word about its intended purpose, to help fight terrorism.
 Bunk. Some of the terrorists used fake ID's. So what? As generals always
 fight the last war, politicians battle the last terrorist attack.

 Politicians banned guns on planes. They put cement barriers in front of
 buildings to prevent car bombings. (Both the Pentagon and the World Trade
 Center had these cement barriers in front of them.) But the events of
 9-11
 certainly showed that the terrorists figured out angles to defeat these
 protections. So don't even try to tell me that the terrorists won't
 find
 their way around national ID cards.

 But I will tell you what a national ID card will do, it will track you
 and
 me. The national ID card system will be designed to track people and
 their
 movements every time you are required to show it. Otherwise, it will not
 serve any purpose for the government. When we are required to show the
 card
 it will be logged into a national ID super computer. This is the key to
 understanding its danger. It will track us. We won't have the time, the
 money or the underground contacts that will enable us to defeat the
 system.
 Only terrorists and crooks will be able to do that.

 With a national ID card, when we fly, where we fly, what hotel we stay
 at,
 it will all be tracked. Where we bank, what doctors we see, will be
 tracked.
 In back channel ways, what meetings we attend, where we shop and what we
 visit on the Internet will be tracked.

 Yes, you may agree that this will happen, but you will argue that it
 happens
 now. Credit card companies collect and sell data about us. Hotels sell
 our
 data and some web sites track where we are going. But the key to all this
 is
 that it is not a national ID card system. There is no national
 supercomputer
 where all this data is collected in one place. And we still have the
 option
 of easily circumventing any private data collection system. If I want to
 check into a hotel, I can pay cash and tell them I am Christopher
 Columbus
 Jr. Most hotels will take the money (Interestingly enough, most of the
 better hotels ask fewer questions than your average Red Roof Inn). If I
 want to surf the net anonymously, I can do that by taking a few
 precautions.
 I can travel now under any name without a national ID card (Trust me on
 this--you can travel under any name. Just ask any illegal Mexican you see
 and he will tell you how to get a very good quality Government issued
 ID
 in any name you want within two hours).

 But a national ID card will be different, it will have our names and 

Fwd: [GreenYouth] The Unique ID Card Scheme: The Grave Threats It Poses!

[Sukla Sen]

-- Forwarded message --
From: Anivar Aravind ani...@movingrepublic.org
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:38:31 +0530
Subject: Re: [GreenYouth] The Unique ID Card Scheme: The Grave Threats It Poses!
To: free-binayak...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com


 On 6/30/09, geetheshp Nair geetheshpn...@gmail.com wrote:
 Dear Mr Sukla,

 Why is it a pigheaded scheme? It was BJP who had it in the election
 agenda to provide every citizen on the country with Multi Purpose
 National Identity (MNIC) cards. Later on congress picked up this idea
 and now Mr. Nandan Nilekani is in charge of it. Read the news in
 Hindustan times
 (http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetterid=7dc43fc0-a1cc-4c5a-bb6c-5e6db0eee6abHeadline=Bye%2c+bye+multiple+IDs%2c+hello+unique+number)



In the Congress manifesto (p. 15), under the Security section, it says:
[snip]
Citizenship is a right and a matter of pride. With the huge IT
expertise available in our country, it is possible to provide every
Indian with a unique identity card after the publication of the
national population register in the year 2011.
[/snip]

The BJP manifesto says:
[snip]
National Identity Cards for All

The BJP will launch an innovative programme to establish a countrywide
system of multipurpose national identity cards so as to ensure
national security, correct welfare delivery, accurate tax collection,
financial inclusion and voter registration. Voter identity cards, PAN
cards, passports, ration cards and BPL cards are already in use though
not all with photo identity. The NDA proposes to make it incumbent for
every Indian to have a National Identity Card. The programme will be
completed in three years.

The National Identity Card will contain enough memory and processing
capabilities to run multiple applications. Through it the NDA will
ensure efficient welfare delivery and tax collection. The card will
also be linked to a bank account. All welfare payments, including
widow and old age pensions, through the wide range of schemes such as
Mother and Child support/ Kisan Credit, Students Assistance and
Micro-Credit will be channelised through the National Identity Card.
The card will make it possible for individuals to save and borrow
money; for farmers to get bank credit, also establish accurate land
titles data.

The National Identity Card will also strengthen national security by
ensuring accurate citizen identity, thus tracking illegal immigration.
All financial transactions, purchase of property and access to public
services will be possible only on the basis of the National Identity
Card which will be made forgery and hacking resistant.
[/snip]

The CPI-M manifesto, for comparison, talks of a more restricted identity card:
Setting up special welfare board for fish workers and providing them
identity cards and social security schemes. . .

Bruce Schneier has an excellent op-ed on national ID schemes:
http://bit.ly/D5aHr and http://bit.ly/ip5Qr; as well as a piece in
Wired magazine http://bit.ly/19Un9C on why privacy is important.
Prof. Froomkin of the University of Miami has a piece on Identity
Cards and Identity Romanticism http://bit.ly/15IQWJ on SSRN.  And
if someone is not convinced about the needs for privacy, I would urge
them to read a couple of articles by Daniel Solove (also on SSRN):
'I've Got Nothing to Hide' and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy
http://bit.ly/jQ314 for a rebuttal of the oft-used argument I don't
do anything illegal, so I needn't worry about surveillance, and
Understanding Privacy http://bit.ly/evyry for more a more
theoretical discussion of privacy.



 It will make life easier because people dont have to use multiple
 cards. Everything will be coded in one card. Let us not be critical of
 all good developments. Let the country go smart with new technologies.

 Bye
 Geethesh


 


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[GreenYouth] Unfolding Obama Presidency and Coup in Honduras

[Sukla Sen]

I/II.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/30/obama-wants-president-reinstated/?feat=home_headlines

Tuesday, June 30, 2009Obama wants Honduran leader reinstated

Stephen Dinan http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/stephen-dinan/
(Contacthttp://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/stephen-dinan/contact
)

President Obama on Monday called the coup that ousted Manuel Zelaya as
president of Honduras not legal and joined with the voices of leaders
across the Americas in demanding that democracy be respected.

Mr. Zelaya was arrested Sunday morning and flown into exile in Costa Rica,
but Mr. Obama said he remains the president of Honduras, the democratically
elected president there.

It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era
in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition,
rather than democratic elections, Mr. Obama said after meeting with
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the White House.

Roberto Micheletti, whom the Honduran Congress appointed to fill out Mr.
Zelaya's term, said the ousted president had been removed legally by the
nation's legislature and courts for trying to stay in office beyond the
nation's term limits and for pushing what the courts deemed an illegal
referendum to aid his bid.

We respect everybody, and we ask only that they respect us and leave us in
peace, because the country is headed toward free and transparent general
elections in November, Mr. Micheletti told HRN radio.

Protests outside the presidential palace grew from hundreds to thousands,
and on Monday afternoon, soldiers and police advanced behind riot shields,
using tear gas to scatter the protesters. The demonstrators, many of them
choking on the gas, hurled rocks and bottles, the Associated Press reported.

Security forces fired rifles, but it was not clear whether they were using
live ammunition. There were no immediate confirmations of injuries.
Reporters saw at least five people detained.

In criticizing the coup, the U.S. joined with leaders of nations ranging
from Venezuela to Cuba, according to news services. The Associated Press
reported that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to overthrow the
new government, though Mr. Micheletti shrugged off the threat, telling a
radio station: Nobody scares us.

Leftist leaders pulled their ambassadors from Honduras.

Mr. Obama, acknowledging a dark past in which the U.S. ignored democracy
in favor of political stability or geopolitical interests, said America has
moved beyond that.

I think both Republicans and Democrats in the United States have recognized
that we always want to stand with democracy, even if the results don't
always mean that the leaders of those countries are favorable toward the
United States, he said.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. is worried that Mr.
Zelaya was defying court orders.

She also said that although it appears to be a coup, the U.S. is stopping
short of officially designating it as such because that would mean U.S. aid
would be halted.

We are withholding any formal legal determination, she said.

Mr. Zelaya is an ally of other leftist Latin American leaders such as Mr.
Chavez.

Honduran soldiers stormed the president's residence Sunday morning, hours
before a referendum Mr. Zelaya had called to alter the constitution's term
limits. News services reported tanks in the streets and soldiers in riot
gear in the capital, Tegucigalpa.

The Organization of American States will hold an extraordinary general
assembly meeting Tuesday to discuss the coup.

Mr. Zelaya, meanwhile, will address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, a
U.N. official confirmed.

II.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062904239.html

*U.S. Condemns Honduran Coup*
Still, Administration Steps Lightly

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

President Obama said yesterday that the military ouster of Honduran
President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and could set a terrible precedent,
but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States
government was holding off on formally branding it a coup, which would
trigger a cutoff of millions of dollars in aid to the impoverished Central
American country.

Clinton's statement appeared to reflect the U.S. government's caution amid
fast-moving events in Honduras, where Zelaya was detained and expelled by
the military on Sunday. The United States has joined other countries
throughout the hemisphere in condemning the coup. But leaders face a
difficult task in trying to restore Zelaya to office in a nation where the
National Congress, military and Supreme Court have accused him of attempting
a power grab through a special referendum.

Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said
the situation presented a dilemma for the United States and other countries.
Zelaya is fighting with all the institutions in the country, Hakim said.
He's in no 

[GreenYouth] Strategic Part of India's Civilian Nuclear Plans

[Sukla Sen]

[The June 2009 issue of the 'Peace Now', referred to below, is now available
at http://www.cndpindia.org/download.php?list.10.
And the editorial, and list of contents, at
http://www.facebook.com/nohttp://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=205663215436http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=205663215436
te.php?note_id=20566321543http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=205663215436
6 http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=205663215436.]
http://www.truthout.org/070109B
Strategic Part of India's Civilian Nuclear
Planshttp://www.truthout.org/070109B

Wednesday 01 July 2009

by: J. Sri Raman, t r u t h o u t | Perspective
http://www.truthout.org/070109B?print

We are beginning by briefly revisiting Kaiga, the site of a nuclear
complex in India's southern State of India, close to the country's west
coast. It was also the venue of a mysterious death. The event was covered in
these columns (Death of an Indian Nuclear Scientist, June 24, 2009). We are
not returning here because we have more clues to the truth about the
tragedy. Not yet.

Kaiga, meanwhile, has figured in reports of another kind. On June 26, a
top nuclear scientist, presumably of this atomic power station, let the
media know that the place was being pushed as the location for US companies
to set up new reactors.

Around the same time, the US Congress was reportedly told that the
Barack Obama administration expected India to offer two locations for US
nuclear firms to install reactors when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
visits India. She is likely to do so in the second half of July, and New
Delhi has to decide soon on its proposal.

There are indications that the decision may not be influenced solely and
strictly by considerations of civilian nuclear energy cooperation - the
avowed objective of the US-India nuclear deal that has opened the door for
legitimized nuclear commerce to the largest South Asian nation.

Talking of the questions raised over the mystery death of scientist
Lokanathan Mahalingam, we noted the ones provoked in particular by the
non-civilian aspect of Kaiga's nuclear reactors. The complex, in operation
under the Nuclear Power Corporation of India for over nine years now, has
four of the eight reactors officially acknowledged as strategic and placed
outside the purview of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

The scientist, who told the media on condition of anonymity about the
Kaiga move, said that a governmental committee had zoomed in on about a
dozen possible sites for new nuclear power plants. He left very little doubt
that the strong push for Kaiga as a venue for US nuclear ventures was coming
from India.

Does the proposal have anything to do with New Delhi's keenness to
ensure that IAEA inspections of the new reactors are as non-intrusive as
possible? The assumption is hardly far-fetched, considering the freely aired
hope that such collaborations will culminate in India's eventual admission
into the nuclear club, members of which have neither intrusive inspections
nor any sanctions to fear.

As for the size of collaborations envisaged, the Indian government was
recently reported to have told Washington of readiness for a deal worth $150
billion for US nuclear reactors (with a total capacity of 10,000 MWe),
equipment and materials. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Special Envoy Shyam
Saran had also made the mouth-watering promise that the US companies would
benefit for decades by bagging a huge chunk of Indian military hardware
orders as well.

Other collaborations are under active consideration as well.
Negotiations are known to have made much progress with four global players
in the field: General Electric-Hitachi, Toshiba-Westinghouse, Areva of
France, and Atomstroyeksport of Russia. Six to eight reactors, of
1,000-1,650 MW, are to be installed at each of the dozen nuclear parks to be
set up in different States across the country, with a preference for the
already calamity-prone coastal regions.

India's corporates cannot contain their glee and can hardly wait for the
goodies on the way. In April 2009, the Confederation of Industry (CII)
housed a conference in Mumbai on Opportunities and challenges for nuclear
power in India. Addressing the conference, Anil Kokadkar, chairman of
India's Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), said: International nuclear power
firms are now eyeing partnerships and collaborations with Indian companies.

But he added that the Indian companies should exercise due diligence
and read the fine print before signing deals with foreign nuclear power
firms, He also stressed that such agreements should not limit their (the
Indian firms') ability to supply equipment for other segments of the nuclear
market.

The Indian big business and nuclear establishment (including its bomb
lobby), however, are blithely optimistic about what they consider the
inevitable outcome of the coming series of collaborations. As they see it,
it is the logic of 

[GreenYouth] Historic judgment: Delhi HC legalises gay sex

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/historic-judgment-delhi-hc-legalises-gay-sex/484039/
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/historic-judgment-delhi-hc-legalises-gay-sex/484039/Historic
judgment: Delhi HC legalises gay sex *Agencies* Posted online: Thursday ,
Jul 02, 2009 at 1158 hrs

*New Delhi : *In a breakthrough judgment, the Delhi High Court on Thursday
legalised gay sex among consenting adults holding that the law making it a
criminal offence violates fundamental rights.

However, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises
homosexuality, will continue for non-consensual and non-vaginal sex.

We declare section 377 of IPC in so far as it criminalises consensual
sexual acts of adults in private is violative of Articles 14, 21 and 15 of
the Constitution, a Bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S
Murlidhar said.

The High Court said 'the provision of section 377 IPC will continue to
govern non-consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non vaginal sex
involving minors'.

The court clarified that by adults we mean everyone who is 18 years of age
or above.

It further said that this judgement will hold till Parliament chooses to
amend the law.

In our view Indian Constitutional Law does not permit the statutory
criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconception of who the
LGBTs (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) are.

It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and
that it is the recognition of equality which will foster dignity of every
individual, the Bench said in its 105-page judgement.

The UPA was initially in favour of repealing Section 377 with Law Minister
Veerappa Moily calling the law “outdated.”

But the Centre later backtracked with both Moily and Health Minister Ghulam
Nabi Azad calling for “consensus.” Section 377 criminalises “carnal
intercourse against the order of nature,” a phrase interpreted to ban
homosexuality.

The petitioners Naz Foundation (along with an activist group ‘Voices Against
377’) argued that the law violated the constitutional rights of homosexuals
and that the section should be “read down” to exclude “consensual sex
between adults” from its ambit, in effect decriminalising homosexuality in
India.

The previous UPA government had opposed the petition. Former MP B P Singhal,
who “intervened” to oppose the petition, said that if the HC decided to
“read down” Section 377, he would go to the Supreme Court in appeal.

(*with PTI inputs*)

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[GreenYouth] Celebrations and Homophobia in India: In the Wake of Delhi High Court Judgement

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200907021631.htm
*Gay rights activists hail HC judgement, religious leaders fume*

New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court ruling on homosexuals on Thursday
brought cheers to the gay community and rights activists who described it as
a progressive move which will change their level of dignity, but
religious leaders strongly disapproved of the judgement.

The activists, who formed an organisation 'Voices Against Section 377' to
fight for gay rights, said the judgement will give a new lease of life to
'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT)' persons who have all along
suffered humiliation.

Today's judgement changed the level of dignity for us.

It reflects the pride that we have in diversity. It is about equality and it
has brought out a very new understanding which will take things forward,
Sumit Bouth, an activist of Voice Against Sec 377, told reporters here.

Anjali Gopalan, the Director of Naz Foundation which filed the case in the
High Court, said that the judgement indicated a change in attitude towards
homosexuals.

However, religious leaders were not so enthusiastic about the High Court
judgement which legalised gay sex among consenting adults.

It is absolutely wrong to legalise homosexuality. If the government
attempts to scrap the Sec 377, we will oppose it strongly, Ahmed Bukhari,
Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, told PTI.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi
Mahli said that homosexuality is not allowed by any religion.

It is against all religions. It is against the culture of Indian society.
We feel there is no need to legalise homosexuality. This practice is
unnatural. It should continue as a criminal act, he said.

Father Dominic Immanuel said that churches have no objection to
decriminalising homosexuality but it should not be legalised.

We have no objection to decriminalise homosexuality because we do not
consider these people as criminals, Immanuel said.

However, Ms. Gopalan sought to dismiss criticism of the religious groups,
saying there are people in every religion who are homosexuals. What
religious groups are saying is wrong. There thinking can change, she said.

She refereed to Vatsayan, who wrote 'Kamasutra', and said the book has a
mention about homosexuals. Even sculptures depicting homosexuality can be
found at Khajurao indicating that homosexuality is a global phenomenon, she
said.

Ms. Gopalan was of the view that Thursday's High Court judgement is just a
beginning and that there are more battles to be fought. The objective is
that this group should get the same right as others have in the country,
she said.

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[GreenYouth] Manmohan and the Maoists

[Sukla Sen]

[This is a thought provoking, even if deceptively delightful, composition.
Of course no verbose rhetoric.

Never mind the informal chatty style, worth a, very, careful read.
It's a serious issue the author has taken on.
No way to be dismissed lightly.]
http://thefishpond.in/satya/2009/manmohan-and-the-maoists/
Satya Sagar
Manmohan and the Maoists

He has come to power through a ‘Long March’, advocates steady encircling of
the ‘enemy’ population, scoffs at the Indian Constitution and while paying
lip service to democracy believes power ultimately flows through the barrel
of a gun.

You are quite right in thinking I am referring to some Maoist leader
somewhere. Of course I am talking of Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of
India and if you don’t believe me just look at his record to understand what
I mean.

This ‘mild mannered’ professor first did the arduous Long March from
academics to civil service to politics – with many sacrifices on the way-
mostly of his own principles. Next as finance minister in the early nineties
he promoted policies that have resulted in the encircling of the Indian
countryside by urban ‘liberated zones’ culminating in the introduction of
the notorious Chinese concept of Special Economic Zones.

As for the Indian Constitution, his contempt for it is clear from the number
of important economic policy decisions that he has managed to push through
bypassing even discussion, leave alone sanction, from the Indian parliament.
And last but not least he today occupies the highest echelon of the brutal
Indian state, which for all its trappings of representative democracy,
really wields power through the bullet and not the ballot.

If Dr Singh appears to be a soft intellectual among many of his illiterate,
goon-like mainstream opponents and colleagues, don’t you be fooled- he is
the perfect front for all kinds of radical, wild-eyed ideologues seeking
nothing less than the overthrow of the Indian republic and everything it
stands for.

What I am pointing to really is that the CPI(Maoist) is just a distraction
from the bigger threat posed to India by the likes of Dr Manmohan Singh and
his merry band of neo-liberal policymakers in Delhi playing with the
security of millions of Indian citizens.

In less than two decades of meddling with policy making the Manmohanites
have dismantled much of the role of state and public sector intervention in
the Indian economy, encouraged the growth of large private monopolies,
slashed subsidies for the poor, mortgaged national sovereignty to global
business and handed over foreign policy to the US State Department.

The consequences for most Indian citizens have been disastrous. In absolute
terms more Indians are below the poverty line than ever before, malnutrition
around the country is worse than at the time of Independence, 70 percent of
Indians earn less than 20 rupees a day, over 80 percent of Indian citizens
still pay for their health-care out of their own pockets, the list goes on.

The greed of the few and the misery of the majority means India is much more
divided than ever before- not just along class lines but more so around
identities of caste, religion, language, geography as people seek security
in numbers of what they consider ‘their own’. And everywhere even modest
attempts to assert local identities and demand autonomy and respect for
sub-national cultures are being brutally put down using maximum force by the
Indian state- that can tolerate only slaves and not citizens with full
rights.

Worse still, the pro-US slide of successive Indian governments since the
opening up of the economy by Manmohanomics in the early nineties has negated
the very idea of an independent India being a global player in its own
right. When Manmohan Singh told George Bush Jr. last year during his visit
to the US that ‘India loves you’ he might have as well have checked the
entire country into a short-time hotel for a few nights with the US
President.

Today, thanks to the obsequiousness of the Indian elite towards America
there are NATO troops entrenched in Afghanistan for the past eight years and
making repeated forays into Pakistan in the past couple. Anyone familiar
with imperialist history can tell you that it is just a matter of time
before they actually enter Pakistan and from there to Indian soil is less
than a hop away. This is the real price that India will pay for having
Manmohan Singh as its prime minister, the undermining of the entire Indian
freedom struggle and its future existence as a free country.

In other words, Manmohan Singh’s profile is far more dangerous to India than
any Maoist ‘terrorist’ that his home ministry and security advisers would
like to demonise. But what about the CPI(Maoist) itself, who Dr Singh likes
to brand as India’s ‘biggest internal security threat’ and which has been
banned by his government recently?

Well, for all the hype the truth is this ragtag band of guerrillas hiding in
the Indian forests are a threat only to petty 

[GreenYouth] Medha Patkar and others stopped on way to Lalgarh

[Sukla Sen]

I/II.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/medha-patkar-stopped-on-way-to-lalgarh_100213134.html

Medha Patkar stopped on way to LalgarhJuly 3rd, 2009 - 11:52 pm ICT by IANS

Kolkata, July 3 (IANS) A 10-member team, comprising social activist Medha
Patkar and her associates, was stopped near Debra locality by the police
while they were on the way to violence-scarred Lalgarh in West Bengal
Friday, a social activist said.
“The team was stopped near Debra police station area, about 40-km from
Lalgarh. They were also physically harassed by the police personnel,” human
rights activist Anuradha Talwar said.

She said: “The team was heading towards Lalgarh to stand by the side of
tribals who were suffering due to the police-Maoist crossfire.”

Besides Patkar, the team also comprised popular documentary filmmaker Gopal
Menon and social activist Sujato Bhadra.

Initially the members of the team were booked under Section 151 of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC) but later they were released on unconditional bail,
police sources said.

“I am now going to be admitted in a Kolkata-based hospital as I’ve vomited
thrice since that fracas,” Menon said.

Meanwhile, state Director General of Police Vupinder Singh and Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF) DG A. S. Gill Friday visited troubled Lalgarh to
monitor the situation. They also held high-level meetings with other senior
police personnel and district administrative officials to restore normalcy
in the region.
II.

*COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS*

185/3, FOURTH FLOOR, ZAKIR NAGAR, NEW DELHI

*CONDEMN THE ARREST OF Medha Patkar, Gopal Menon, Sujato Bhadra*

*and others on their way to Lalgarh!*

*Punish the police men who brutally assaulted filmmaker Gopal Menon!*

*RELEASE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY!*



The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) strongly condemn
the arrest of Medha Patkar, Sujato Bhadra, Gopal Menon and Anuradha Talwar
at Bombay road on their way to Lalgarh by the West Bengal Police. They were
arrested and booked under Cr PC 151  188.

Gopal Menon the filmmaker was specifically targeted by the vindictive police
of West Bengal who brutally assaulted him with rifle butts and batons. He
was beaten under the specific instructions of the Additional SP of police
Pranab Kumar as per the information from several civil rights groups. After
being beaten on the chest and other parts of the body he had to be admitted
to the Debra Hospital near by as he started profusely vomiting. Gopal Menon
had also tried to accompany another fact finding team a few days before
comprising of senior trade union activists, women’s activists, lawyers and
other social activists. This team also was arrested at Midnapore. May be the
crime of Gopal Menon was his assertion to his right to know and document the
activities of the state in supposedly bringing back ‘normalcy’ in Lalgarh
and Jangal Mahal.

If this is what a documentary filmmaker has to face before the lawless
police and paramilitary of the CPM-led government in West Bengal then one
can imagine the state of affairs of the faceless Adivasi people of Lalgarh
and Jangal Mahal. No wonder why the police and the paramilitary are not
allowing anyone with an independent mind to visit the area under occupation
by the forces. This also brings to the fore the fear of several civil rights
bodies and other independent observers that the police and paramilitary can
resort to any level of barbarism in order to ‘sanitise’ the area. And this
also makes it clear why the central home minister P. Chidambaram does not
want any civil society group or human rights bodies to visit the area!

The only way that this government can deal with the issues of life and death
for the toiling masses, pertaining to the four dreaded Ds—Displacement,
Destruction, Destitution and Death—are only through the baton and barrels of
the police and paramilitary. Otherwise any people oriented government would
have first listened to the just demands of the Adivasis of Lalgarh. The
latest reports coming from independent sources also say that the
paramilitary has started burning the huts and destroying the poultry of the
people in Lalgarh. Their wells are being poisoned and excreta being thrown
into the water bodies that are normally used for drinking purposes. All
these exercise of brutality point to Salwa Judum kind of campaign being
undertaken against the defiant masses of Lalgarh. Already there are reports
of harassment of children, women and the old.

The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) demand the
immediate and unconditional release of these prominent social and civil
rights activists. We demand that the Additional SP Pranab Kumar who had
specifically instructed his police men to brutalise the filmmaker Gopal
Menon should be booked under the law of the land for abuse of his power.
Such high handed and authoritarian behaviour of senior police officers
should be curbed firmly. Such police officers can only be a 

[GreenYouth] India: Economic Survey 2009 Unveils Reformist Dream List

[Sukla Sen]

I/II.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePageid=4257203a-8878-45d7-b874-7caafe9304bdHeadline=Economic+Survey+seeks+policy+shift,+taxes+slashed

Economic Survey seeks policy shift, taxes slashed

The government’s pre-budget economic survey has recommended radical policy
changes including foreign investment in multi-brand retail, increasing work
hours for factory workers and allowing overseas institutions in higher
education.

“The economic survey which focuses on reforms is a positive move as
financial sector reforms are crucial and they have to be done despite the
global crisis,” ICRIER director Rajiv Kumar told Hindustan Times. The
survey, which predicted the economy to grow 7 per cent this fiscal year,
also pushed for abolishing fringe benefit tax (FBT), surcharges and cesses.
It also set a Rs 25,000 crore annual revenue target by divesting government
equity in public sector undertakings.

But question marks hang over how many of these recommendations could
fructify as a persisting global economic crisis, political compulsions and a
shaky monsoon at home loom in the backdrop.

In the past similar recommendations have not always found reflection in the
budget. Allowing private participation in coal mining, FDI in retail,
increasing workweek to 60 hours, and raising FDI limits in insurance to 49
per cent were also part of last year’s survey.

The government’s report card of the economy, tabled by Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee, 73, in Parliament on Thursday, painted a bullish recovery
of the economy to a high-growth trajectory if reforms were pursued
vigorously.

“India should be back on the new trend growth path of 8.5 to 9 per cent per
annum provided the critical policy and institutional bottlenecks are
removed,” the survey said.  “It is therefore imperative that the government
revisit the agenda for pending economic reforms in the first instance with a
view to renew the growth momentum.”

Mukherjee said the monsoon would be normal and with luck the country could
surpass the GDP growth target of about 7 per cent. “I do hope there will be
recovery and it will be possible to achieve the target,” he told reporters.
“It may be, if luck favours, we will surpass (the GDP target).”

The survey also called for reforming the fertiliser and food subsidy
regimes, and an auction of third-generation mobile phone spectrum that it
said should be freely tradeable.

It also called for “greater urgency” in removing hurdles to investment in
infrastructure by government and private sector.

“The economic survey which focuses on reforms is a positive move as
financial sector reforms are crucial and they have to be done despite the
global crisis,” ICRIER director Rajiv Kumar told *Hindustan Times*.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Harshpati
Singhania said the survey has offered a confident outlook for the Indian
economy in 2009-10. “The government will have to provide stimulus packages
to give further support to the recovery process.”

II.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/survey-pins-hopes-on-economic-revival/484688/

*Survey pins hopes on economic revival*
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Jul 03, 2009 at 2038 hrs

*New Delhi*Indian Government’s Economic Survey 2008-09 has given the hope of
revival of the economy saying that it has “shock absorbers” that will
facilitate early revival of growth. Banks are financially sound and well
capitalized. The foreign exchange reserves position remains comfortable and
the external debt position has been within the comfort zone.

It said “the rate of inflation in prices has since abated and provides a
degree of comfort on the cost side for the production sectors. Agriculture
and rural demand continue to be strong and agriculture production prospects
are normal.”

According to the Survey while there are indications that the economy may
have weathered the worst of the downturn, in part, due to the resilience of
the economy and also various monetary and fiscal measures initiated during
2008-09, nevertheless, the situation warrants close watch on various
economic indicators including the impact of the economic stimulus and
developments taking place in the international economy.

It suggested taking policy measures that squarely address the short and long
term challenges which would help achieve tangible progress and ensure that
the outlook for the economy remains firmly positive.

The Economic Survey noted that during the last two years, Indian economy had
been buffeted by three major challenges originating in its external sector.
First, a surge in capital inflows which reached a crescendo in the last
quarter of 2007-08.

Second, an inflationary explosion in global commodity prices which began
even before the first challenge had ebbed, that hit us with great force in
the middle of 2008. There was barely any time to deal with this problem
before the third challenge, the global financial meltdown and collapse of

[GreenYouth] [people'smediainitiative] Please sign this petition and extend your support to the people of lalgarh

[Sukla Sen]

These armed forces have ... engaged in brutal rapes?

Is it necessary to make unsubstantiated scandalous charges in order to
condemn police atrocities in Lalgarh?

This evidently demolishes the credibility of the petitioners and raises
serious doubts about the motives.

Has any known human rights organisation has levelled this charge as yet?
On which date(s) the rape(s) took place? In which village(s)? How these came
to be known? Any police complaint filed? The court approached in case
of refusal of the police to file FIR?
Complaint lodged with the SHRC/NHRC?

Sukla

On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 3:26 PM, sandeep bajeli sambaj...@yahoo.co.inwrote:




 We are deeply concerned with the police action in Lalgarh by the
 government of west Bengal led by CPM and the central government led by
 the congress party. The people of Lalgarh have been demanding
 drinking water, schools, hospitals, land and jobs. They have been
 opposing police atrocities, torture and killings in Jangalmahal. Under
 the leadership of Peoples Committee against Police atrocities, the
 Adivasis of Lalgarh organized a democratic mass movement and have been
 demanding justice and development in their communities.

 Rather than meeting the legitimate demands of the masses, the state
 government led by CPM and the centre led by congress have deployed
 thousands of armed police, CRPF combatants, cobra death squads and
 encircled Lalgarh. These armed forces have attacked tribal villages,
 destroyed homes, spoiled food grains, molested women and engaged in
 brutal rapes. Under the pretext of fighting Maoists, police are
 harassing tribals. Central and state police forces occupied 14 school
 buildings in Lalgarh and deprived education to 20,000 students.
 Thousands of people are forced to leave their homes due to the police
 raids and their brutality. Treating this as a law and order issue and
 banning Communist Party of India (Maoist) does not solve the problem.

 We appeal to the CPM and congress governments to stop the police
 action in Lalgarh immediately. We appeal to all concerned citizens,
 students and press corps to express their solidarity with the people
 of Lalgarh and support their legitimate demands.

 Signatories

 Ari Sitaramayya
 Chukka Srinivas
 Narayana Swamy
 Sajee Gopal

 http://www.petition online.com/ lalgarh/petition 
 .htmlhttp://www.petitiononline.com/lalgarh/petition.html

 Note: Please sign this petition and extend your support to the people
 of Lalgarh.

 --
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 I MAY DISAGREE OF WHAT YOU SAY, BUT I WILL DEFEND TO 

[GreenYouth] Interim Gov't of Honduras to Quit OAS in Response to Suspension Threat

[Sukla Sen]

[The Organization of American States (OAS, or, as it is known in the three
other official languages, OEA) is an international organisation,
headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the
thirty-five independent states of the Americas:   Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba*, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay,
Peru, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago,
Jamaica, Grenada, Suriname, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Canada,
Belize, Guyana (1991).
* The current government was denied the right of representation and
attendance at meetings and of participation in activities.]
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2009-07/04/content_8379165.htm

Interim gov't: Honduras to quit OAS

TEGUCIGALPA: The interim government of Honduras announced Friday that the
country decided to quit from the Organization of American States (OAS).

In a letter to the OAS, it said This government believes that inside the
organization (of the OAS), there is no room for Honduras, for the states
that love its freedom and defend its sovereignty.

Honduras will face the prospect of loans frozen by the Central American Bank
of Economic Integration (CABEI), while other international help and
donations may also be suspended.

The announcement came after OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza said in
Tegucigalpa the same day that he would recommend suspending Honduras'
membership from the regional group becasue of the interim government's
refusal to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

The OAS has given the Honduran interim government until Saturday noon to
restore Zelaya to power, or face expulsion.

Insulza, who is on a fact-finding mission in Honduras, said Zelaya must be
reinstalled to lead the country.

Zelaya is the only one that we recognize as Honduran President, and he must
be returned to his position as soon as possible, Insulza said at a press
conference.

Honduras will face international sanctions, because the world has
unanimously declared this action as a violation of democracy. I have spoken
with several people, and apparently no one wants to accept responsibility
for what happened last weekend.

I'm going back to Washington and I will report what I found out here to the
OAS Assembly. We will discuss it and then we're going to make a decision,
Insulza said.

Enrique Ortez Colindres, foreign minister of Honduras' interim government,
told the media that the government would not negotiate with the OAS.

We have a very firm position that we do not negotiate Honduras'
sovereignty, Ortez said.

Honduran soldiers stormed the presidential palace and flew Zelaya into exile
in Costa Rica early Sunday.

Later, the country's legislature voted to appoint Roberto Micheletti, head
of the legislature, as acting president to serve out Zelaya's term, which
ends in January.

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[GreenYouth] Fwd: [issuesonline_worldwide] Homosexulity Judgement

[Sukla Sen]

Quote
Homosexual act is not love but distorted mentality . Homosexuality
is [a] disease of mind.
Unquote

How about lefrhandedness? Some sort of distortion or perversion?
Should/must it not be banned?

Sukla

On 7/4/09, Prof R K Gupta-India cit...@rediffmail.com wrote:
 The learned judges of delhi High court seemed to have been driven by their
 own hunger for publicity and to do something that breaks the path.Like a
 bored busnessman diversifying recklessly just for heck of it.Courts are not
 competent to make comments on matters of human conduct in the realm of
 religion and basic biological processes.Judges have exceeded their
 jursidiction and thus deserve to be condemned.In my view it would be
 appropriate to relieve them from august duty of a judge of high court.

 The argument is almost foolish and naive. It is love and not sin.
 Homosexual act is not love but  distorted mentality.Act odf sex itself cant
 be called love.Homosexuality is disease of mind.If the judges' argument of
 human right is accepted then a mother having sex with her son by consent
 should also be normal and human right.The judges obviously lack basic
 undrstanding of concept of human rights and funadamnetal rights. To say that
 homoexuality is fundamental right to live cant be more ridiculous and sick
 proposition.Sex is right to live? what utter nonesense?


 It is time Government of India intervene and stop India becoming a mentaly
 sick and rotten society like in USA or Germany.The homo sexuals should be
 put behind bars and in mental hospitals.

 Such judges should be sent home.


 These judges dont bother to finish pending cases of hundreds of fundamental
 and human rights violation.They get time to settle sex cases of
 homosexuality.They forget that 2 crores cases are pendign in courts with our
 third rate and rotten judiciary and judicial system  characterised by
 rampant corruption and mismanagement and unaccountability. A old parent
 seeking for financial suupport is less urgent to these judges han
 homosexuality rights.It is sickening.

 I would advise Government to remove these judges from courts immediately and
 get this judgement reversed. or otherwise parliamant should pass a
 legislation to clip wings of this stupid and sick  judgement.
 We should not forget that act of sex is basically designed by nature for
 procreation and hence same sex sex is anti-nature.Period.

 Prof R K Gupta
 www.indiaforce.org

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[GreenYouth] The Coming Budget: Scramble for Resource Allocation

[Sukla Sen]

QuoteBut feeding its people and funding its industry is going to be huge
drain on the country's treasury.
Unquote

That's a huge nasty joke!
Whose country and whose treasury!?

Beyond that, even an economist of the reputation - and with somewhat
conservative orientation - of Amartya Sen has repeatedly pointed out that
investing in people's health and education is a very prudent and necessary
investment - it raises the quality of humanpower manifold and thereby the
productive capacity of the country as a whole.
This is apart from the fact that raising the quality of human life is an
objective more than worth pursuing just for that.

So this scaremongering is a routine part of the campaign of the corporate
world to promote its project of selfish,and shortsighted, loot.

Sukla


On Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 12:40 AM, saeed patel saeed...@hotmail.com wrote:



Feeding the poor strains India's finances

By Shilpa Kannan
 India Business Report, BBC World, Delhi

   [image: Pushpa's family] With many mouths to feed, Pushpa is struggling.
 *Finding rice to feed her family is a daily struggle for 30-year-old
 mother Pushpa.*
 Pushpa lives with her ailing in-laws, five children and her husband in a
 crowded slum in east Delhi.
 Pushpa's husband earns about $10 a month selling herbal medicine - so
 several days a month, the family has to go to bed hungry.
 Two of her five children have been in and out of hospitals for severe
 malnutrition.
 In the heart of Delhi, families such as Pushpa's are registered with the
 government and have been issued identity cards that entitle them to
 subsidised rice.
 But they rarely get their share.
 Pushpa is angry.
 I voted this government into power but to no avail, she says. No one is
 taking care of us.
 We even have our identity cards that entitle us to subsidised food. The
 government has promised us cheap rice and wheat, but we get nothing.
 My children are dying of hunger. How can I feed them? They keep falling
 sick.
 *Costly malnutrition*

[image: Grain market]
  *The proposed Food security act will guarantee 25 kilograms of food grain
 to the poorest people at a subsidised cost*
  Parshuram Ray, the director of Centre for Environment and Food Security
 That is why non-governmental organisations such as the Centre for
 Environment and Food Security are now campaigning for the government to
 guarantee food as a basic right to poor people.
 Despite government food schemes having existed for more than 30 years,
 Indian malnutrition and child mortality rates are worse than in Sub-Saharan
 Africa.
 Even in urban centres such as Delhi there are millions of people who cannot
 afford to eat.
 By some estimates, malnutrition has led to an economic loss of $29bn a year
 - equivlent to almost 4% of India's gross domestic product, or GDP.
 *Right to food*
 Parshuram Ray, the director of Centre for Environment and Food Security,
 says almost 80% of Indians do not get enough to eat.

[image: Chandrajit Banerjee]
  *We want it to be more investment oriented, more infrastructure projects,
 simplification of tax procedures, rationalisation - rather than major cuts
 in taxes, which the government can't afford at this point of time*
  Chandrajit Banerjee, director of the Confederation of Indian Industry
 The proposed Food security act will guarantee 25 kilograms of food grain
 to the poorest people at a subsidised cost, he says.
 It also gives people the right to go to courts and demand their right to
 food. If not delivered, officials can be held responsible and it will be a
 punishable offence.
 A law that guarantees food security can be life-changing for poor people.
 But it is the implementation of this law that is worrying industrialists.
 While nobody disagrees with the law, its cost might exceed $10m.
 Add that to the existing welfare schemes, such as the National Rural
 Employment, the fertilizer subsidies, or the waiver of crop loans for
 farmers - as well as the fuel subsidy for Indian consumers - and the
 handouts bill is pretty high.
 *Rising spending*
 In April this year, total government spending reached $13.5bn, up 43% from
 the same period last year.

[image: Abdul Rashid]
  *If the government helps us with tax incentives, interest subsidies and
 post-export incentives, it will not just help us keep the company running,
 but also help our employees*
  Abdul Rashid, director, National Masala Mills
 Critics fear that if the government continues to spend at this pace it will
 have huge negative implications for the Indian economy.
 The borrowing target has already been raised to $76bn for this year from an
 earlier prediction of $62bn.
 The current government has been voted in on a powerful mandate so the
 expectation from both people and the industry for the upcoming budget is
 running high.
 While poor people such as Pushpa are looking for a respite from their
 troubles, lobby groups and industrialists are knocking on the doors of the
 finance ministry to make 

[GreenYouth] Tackling India’s Hunger

[Sukla Sen]

[Assured access to food, preventive and curative health services and
education are the most basic necessities for raising the quality of life for
the masses.
This is immensely important in itself.

But that would also hugely raise the productive potential of the humanpower
and help creating wealth for continuing rise in life quality.]

http://www.livemint.com/Articles/PrintArticle.aspx?artid=74594CD0-670F-11DE-A6E7-000B5DABF636
http://www.livemint.com/Articles/PrintArticle.aspx?artid=74594CD0-670F-11DE-A6E7-000B5DABF636
*How to tackle India’s hunger*
As India starts legislating on food security, there is much it could learn
from laws and practices abroad
Biraj Patnaik

The manifesto of the Congress party promised the enactment of a Right to
Food Act, if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was voted back to power.
A preliminary shape of such an Act has emerged in what was reported in the
media as the very first letter from Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh. The UPA government hopes to repeat through the
passage of this Act what it had achieved during its last term through the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)—a vision for more inclusive
governance.

At the heart of the idea of the right to food is a very simple premise. That
no citizen of a country should go hungry, and that each citizen should at
all times have physical access to, or the means to acquire, adequate
nutritious food. It is time India delivered on this.
Few countries in the world can claim to have achieved this fully, and, till
recently, fewer still have legislated it. The reasons for this are not
difficult to comprehend. Only a handful of developed countries have the
resources and the social commitment to welfarism to make this happen.
Some countries, such as the US, which actually have the resources to achieve
the goal of a country free from hunger, do not legislate it. To them, such
socio-economic rights are seen as a throwback to the Cold War, when the
international debates between the socialist block and the US were on the
superiority of civil and political rights over socio-economic rights.
But the idea of nation states guaranteeing citizens the right to food is not
a new one. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted
by all United Nations member states in 1948, lists among a state’s
obligation the right to food.
At the heart of the right to food is a simple premise: that no citizen of a
country should go hungry
Closer home, article 21 of the Constitution, which provides a fundamental
right to life and personal liberty, has been repeatedly interpreted by the
Supreme Court as enshrining within it the right to food. Article 47 obliges
the Indian state to raise the standard of nutrition of its people.
Despite this, India continues to have one of the worst track records
globally, as far as the commitment to tackle hunger and malnutrition is
concerned. The last round of the National Family Health Survey in 2006
confirmed that the child malnutrition rate in India is 46%, almost double
that of sub-Saharan Africa. India, the world’s second fastest growing
economy, ranks 66th among the 88 countries surveyed by the International
Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) in the Global Hunger Index (2008),
below Sudan, Nigeria and Cameroon, and slightly above Bangladesh.
Yet, India has also seen some of the most remarkable judicial activism
anywhere in the world on the right to food. The landmark *PUCL v. Union of
India and others (2001)* case, better known as the right to food case, has
seen at least 60 orders over the last eight years, and has emerged as the
longest continuing mandamus—a legal writ where the court orders a person or
entity to do something—in the world on the right to food. Somehow, until
recently, this judicial activism hasn’t translated into legislation. Now is
the opportunity for India to deliver—and learn from similar legislation
abroad.
Over the last few years, there has been a slew of legislation across the
world which recognize the right to food as a fundamental right and provide
state guarantees.
South Africa was among the first countries in the world to explicitly
guarantee the right to food in its constitution through its Bill of rights.
The Brazilian constitution in 1998 introduced a minimum wage to meet basic
needs, including food; the constitution was further modified in 2003 to
introduce the concept of social rights for every citizen, including the
right to food. This process culminated in Brazil’s Nutritional Security
Framework Law (Losan) in 2006, which created a set of institutions for
monitoring the right to food, and is likely to be the most lasting legacy of
President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva. Article 16 of the Bolivian constitution
explicitly states, “Every person has the right to water and food. The State
has the obligation to guarantee food security for all through healthy,
adequate and sufficient food.” Even Belarus and Moldova have clear

[GreenYouth] India: The Budget 2009-10: A First Impression

[Sukla Sen]

The Finance Minister made a deliberate attempt to toe the June 4
Presidential address to the joint session of the parliament. The economic
survey does not appear to figure in the operative part.

No big ticket reforms on the immediate term.
A committee to go into petroleum and petroleum products pricing policy.
Disinvestment of the PSUs, no specific announcement. One will have look into
the detailed break-up of the revenue statement.
Specifically asserted that banking and insurance industries would remain in
public sector.
Disinvestment would mean shares to the public.
FM has talked of modifying subsidies for fertilisers and passing on
subsidies directly to the agriculturalists. Does it mean cash subsidy?
In his prep talk the FM talked of three challenges:
Jacking up the growth rate.
Making growth inclusive - vertically and horizontally.
Improving the government/public delivery system.

Could not locate anything relating to the third element.

The introductory part had the following sequence:
Infrastructure
Agriculture
Export
Concession for print media (a bribe!)
...

Food Security Act; NREGA; Bharat Nirman; time extension of farm loan waiver;
women's education; special focus on Dalits and minorities; rural roads,
electricity,housing; social security schemes etc. etc. specially emphasised.

Rs. 120 Cr. for Unique Identity Number this year.
Reinforcement of police, paramilitary and military.
No change in Corporate Tax.
Personal tax, marginally reduced (effectively).

Gross expenditure proposed: Rs. 10,20,838 Cr.
Fiscal deficit: 6.8% (up from 2.5% proposed last time).

So the recommendations of the Eco Survey goes down the drain!!
(As had been anticipated.)

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[GreenYouth] More on Budget 2009-10

[Sukla Sen]

In the course of his budget speech, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rather
deferentially, and not without a touch of pride, referred to bank
nationalisation by Indira Gandhi - forty years back on July 14.
In the context of his assertion that the banking and insurance industries
would continue to remain under government control and the claim that the
40-year old decision is the key to the current stability of Indian financial
sector in the midst global tempest and meltdown.
He, however, made no attempt whatever to compare his current budget with
that historic move.
Obviously there is none of that flamboyance, the boisterous mobilisations on
the streets, and the huge political impact.
In a way, still this budget could be compared with that in terms of its
professed focus on the proverbial Aam Aadmi - the mascot in the electoral
campaign of the Congress Party.
This one has clearly made a striking break with the traditions set since
1991.
The focal mantra of neoliberal budget making - fiscal responsiblity - has
been given a rather discourteous short shrift.
No big ticket reforms either.
Massive expansion in fiscal allocations in infrastructure and rural
developments, and social security schemes.
The BSE sensex nosedived by some 870 points.
Never mind, the political dividend cannot but be positive.

The (reformist) path charted out by the Economic Survey preceding the
actual budget has just gone out of the window.
The Presidential address to the Joint Session of the Parliament on June 4
last has acted as the bedrock.

That's quite a bit beyond expectations.

Of course ossified minds would turn still more ossified and withdraw into
denial mode.
But that's not how the struggles in the coming days can be conducted with
any degree of credibility and effectiveness.

Sukla

For detailed highlights: http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2009-10/bh/bh1.pdf

Also see: http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2009-10/bs/speecha.htm

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[GreenYouth] Action Alert: Budget Allots Rs 120 Cr. for Unique ID

[Sukla Sen]

There are two different sets of problems here.

One, very much recognised in the Western context.
That is the issue of privacy, data security and the threat of identity
theft. There is a strong aversion to allow the Big Brother / Sister all the
while breathe down the neck.

But there is also another set of problem. India specific
A very significant segment of our population remain unlettered, and hence
severely lacking in general awareness, and also without any shelter worth
the name.
Hence they may not just be able to obtain these cards. And even if the card
is obtained, one may not be able to properly use it.
But the most dangerous aspect is that inability to produce the card at
command will criminalise the very existence. And that would make one utterly
vulnerable to grossest forms of exploitations and abuse. Apart from the not
too unlikely prospects of being thrown behind the bars indefinitely.
And precisely because of general awareness and grinding poverty, the issue
would look too remote and esoteric to the potential victims till it hits in
the face.

Not that it would be too easy to implement. We know the case of the voter
identity card.
But that cannot be any ground for passive acquiescence.

Sukla

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pranab-allots-rs-1
20-cr-for-unique-id-first-set-in-18-months/485673/

Pranab allots Rs 120 cr for Unique ID; first set in 18 months

Agencies Posted online: Monday , Jul 06, 2009 at 1401 hrs

New Delhi : Countrymen will start getting the sophisticated unique identity
cards from within the next 18 months with the government allocating Rs 120
crore for the purpose in the general budget on Monday.
Announcing this, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the first set of
unique identity numbers will be rolled out in 12 to 18 months.

A provision of Rs 120 crore has been proposed for this project, Mukherjee
said during his budget in the Lok Sabha.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), set up recently by the
government, will establish an online databse with identity and biometric
details of Indian residents and provide enrolment and verification services
across the country.

Mukherjee said the setting of the UIDAI was a major step in improving the
governance with regard to delivery of public services.”

The Finance Minister also expressed his happiness that the project also
marks the beginning of an era where a top private sector talent, Nandan
Nilekani of Infosys, steps forward to take the responsibility for
implementing the projects of vital national importance.

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[GreenYouth] Nepal Updates: Parliament Session Resumes: Maoists End Obstruction

[Sukla Sen]

*Nepal Updates: Parliament Session Resumes: Maoists End Obstruction*

I/II.
http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/1-top-story/328-house-resumes-maoist-chairman-vents-ire-at-ruling-coalition.html

House resumes; Maoist chairman vents ire at ruling coalition Monday, 06 July
2009 11:44

The normal session of the legislature parliament resumed Monday evening
following an agreement between the ruling CPN (UML) and the main opposition
Unified CPN (Maoist). The House has resumed after two months of obstruction.

As per the agreement reached at a meeting of the senior leaders of the two
parties, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal will address the parliament today
on the Maoist demands. He has also agreed to define the powers of the
President and the Prime Minister within one month.

The House session was to begin at 3 pm but was delayed by hours as the
leaders of the major parties were busy in internal discussions. Earlier
today, a brief meeting of the central secretariat of the Unified CPN
(Maoist) held decided to allow the legislature parliament to resume its
regular proceedings.

Meanwhile, speaking at the start of the session, Maoist chairman Pushpa
Kamal Dahal accused the Prime Minister of being ‘remote controlled’ from
outsiders and that the new government was established against the spirit of
the people's mandate expressed through the CA election. He said his party is
now fighting for civilian supremacy and is fully committed to peace process
and constitution-drafting process.

He said his party has decided to allow the House proceedings as a reply to
those who are trying to subvert the very essence of the parliament.

Dahal also said he resigned as the Prime Minister to avert a major
confrontation and keep in tact the peace process and constitution-drafting
process.

Prime Minister Nepal is to address today's session.

II.

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=202855

 *Maoists still in shock, PM Nepal says before House
*

 Kantipur ReportKATHMANDU, July 6 - After months of obstruction, the
Legislature-Parliament of the Constituent Assembly (CA) has resumed on
Monday. The session commenced at around 6.45 pm.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Pushpa
Kamal Dahal addressed the House tonight.

In what seemed like a comeback to the Maoist chairman’s remarks, Prime
Minister Nepal said it is obvious that the Maoists are still in “shock”
having left the power, thus the animosity.

“We can understand how it hurts when one has to leave power. These things
are obvious,” he opined.

He added, “But it is now time to take it easy. You should not insult
somebody because of this shock.”

Referring to the Maoists’ remarks about the current government being formed
by a “remote control”, the Prime Minister said that the 359 members of the
601-seat CA elected him.

“Now how can 242 members say that I am running from a remote control?” he
asked.

Prime Minister Nepal said an understanding among the parties will be sought
within one month on the “civilian supremacy” issue raised by the Maoists.

He said, “I am ready to be very flexible for consensus and understanding.”
*“Presidential position was used”*

During his nearly one and a half our long address, Maoist chairman Dahal
clarified his government’s move to bring about a democratic change in the
Nepal Army (NA), which he claimed the reason why the Maoist party had to
step down from the government.

He said the then Maoist-led government tried to change the mechanism of
Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, NA and the employees as per the people’s
aspirations.

“The security mechanism especially the army had to be democratised as per
the people’s aspiration… But that did not happen. The feudal totalitarianism
continued to stay in it. .. But things went wrong when attempts were made to
democratise the army.”

 “We should not forget the historical necessity of that time just because we
had some power for some time… What I felt was I had to address this since we
have become republic,” he added.

Dahal said, “I tried to address the problem in that mechanism and others as
per the republic aspiration, staying within the limitations of the Interim
Constitution, coalition government and the understanding between the
political parties.”

On the context of Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Rookmangad Katawal, he said
that the Army Chief was not willing to accept the new change, instead he
insulted the elected-government and disobeyed its orders.

The Maoist Chairman further went on to say that an “earthquake” hit the
regressive forces and the status quoits as soon as he began the process to
take action against the CoAS.

“The President was brought forward and a state of constitutional coup was
created by directly violating the people’s mandate,” he reiterated.

The Maoists had stepped down from the government on May 4 after the
President reinstated CoAS Katawal who was sacked by the Maoist cabinet.
*Full House resumption still unsure*

[GreenYouth] Bloodied Lalgarh: An Eyewitness Account

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne110709caught_between.asp
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 27, Dated July 11, 2009
*
*
*

Caught Between Two Sickles

A democratic protest against gross police brutality becomes a battlefield
for two equally callous foes – Trinamool and the Left

APARNA SEN
Filmmaker
[image: image]

Frontlines Aparna Sen (left) and other Swajan activists with Chatradhar
Mahato (right) in Lalgarh
Photo: PINTU PRADHAN

THE SWAJAN group, of which I am a member, went to Lalgarh despite pressing
personal commitments simply because we felt that it was incumbent upon us.
Swajan, which means ‘your kin,’ includes poet Joy Goswami, his wife Kaberi
Goswami, Shaonli Mitra, Arpita Ghosh, myself, Kaushik Sen, Professor Bolan
Gangopadhyay and Prasun Bhaumik. Swajan is made up of people from diverse
backgrounds, including writers, theatre personalities and academics. We are
not affiliated with any political group and this is our greatest strength as
it means we do not have any axe to grind. Our politics is entirely
issue-based. Nandigram was the catalyst and we came together after the
atrocities committed there.

There is always a great tussle between the opposition and the ruling party,
but the point is that the state doesn’t belong just to the opposition or the
ruling party. It’s ours. In order to protect democracy, we, as citizens,
must step in. It is important for intellectuals to be involved.

We had been hearing many contradictory reports for a while. The Trinamool
camp says the CPM is concocting everything, while the CPM says the Trinamool
is concocting everything in collusion with the Maoists. We don’t believe
either side. On top of that, the press reports different things. That’s why
we decided to investigate Lalgarh by ourselves.

When we got to Lalgarh, we found the villagers terrorised because they were
caught in the crossfire between the Maoists, the police and the state
administration. It all started with the landmine blast by the Maoists in
November 2008 when they tried to kill the chief minister. As guerrillas do,
the Maoists left the area but the villagers had to bear the brunt of the
state’s anger. There was a lot of police brutality. Pregnant women were
kicked in the stomach and a woman called Chitamoni Murmu lost her eyesight
in the violence. As a result, the villagers formed the People’s Committee
Against Police Brutality (PCAPB). We met their leader, Chatradhar Mahato who
had told us in Kolkata earlier that in 32 years of Left rule, the government
had not done a thing for Lalgarh.

Lalgarh is really backward. There is no sanitation, no schools, no proper
medical centre, not even electricity. In this age of globalisation, you
can’t expect people to be deprived and remain silent. Their demand is for
development. It is well known that wherever there is deprivation, the
Maoists step in. They provide money and medicine and thus insidiously
infiltrate a community. The villagers are very scared because on the one
hand there is the police and on the other hand there are the Maoists. The
villagers had boycotted the police and the Maoists had apparently even
captured some of the police thanas. But it’s not very easy to know what
exactly happened because there are so many contradictory reports.

On Sunday, June 21, the day we went to Lalgarh, we heard from the villagers
and from some journalists that some villagers under the jurisdiction of the
Belpahari police thana, had been tortured. Women were dragged out of their
homes and stripped. We heard that their saris were hoisted up and they were
hit on their private parts. A boy of seven had his bones broken. The worst
account is that the police defecated and urinated in the villagers’ meagre
store of drinking water. As a result of all this, the villagers left home
and went to the relief camps. They were very scared and said that they had
dug up the roads and blocked them with trees to stop the police. They insist
that theirs is a peaceful, democratic and legitimate movement against police
brutality and demanded that the police apologise. The police weren’t even
allowing the wounded to be taken to hospital. In fact, while we were with
Chattradhar Mahato, we heard him repeatedly asking on his mobile, “Has the
patient been taken to the hospital?” Everyone was scared to do so because of
the threat of police brutality on the way. They are also scared of the
Maoists and did not dare speak out against them. They insist that theirs is
a separate movement and say that they cannot help it if Maoists hiding in
the forest shoot from there. It’s true that there is a lot of infiltration
of Maoists and other parties in the villages. And it is also true that the
CPM panchayat has taken a lot of money. Whatever money comes from the Centre
is stolen by the Panchayat pradhan.

We suggested that the villagers appeal to the Maoists. In fact, if we had
access to the Maoists we would have appealed to both parties to lay down
their arms. We don’t 

[GreenYouth] Praful Bidwai on Indian Left and Its Deepening Crisis

[Sukla Sen]

[Quote
The Left doesn't acknowledge that its election rout is part of a much
greater crisis: of ideological clarity, of political strategy, and of social
and economic policy. The Left is unable to relate to parts of its
core-constituency because it doesn't come through as an intransigent
opponent of capitalism with all its inequalities and brutalities.

The Left focuses excessively on parliamentary politics, not the gut-level
issues of the dispossessed. This will only aggravate its crisis. 

The Left needs to regain ideological clarity, political vision and an
alternative radical perspective. Simultaneously, it must focus on mass
mobilisation of the poor to defend and extend their rights.

If the Left fails to do this, it will face marginalisation, isolation and
irrelevance. That isn't a fate to be wished for. The Left is an important
and healthy influence on Indian democracy. It must rejuvenate itself.
Unquote

Actually, it has to reinvent itself.
A pretty tall order.
More so, given the morphological changes in its support base in tune with
the developments that have taken place in post-Independence India.]

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=187088
*The Indian left in strategy crisis*Thursday, July 09, 2009
Praful Bidwai

India's Left parties, which command credibility and respect far in excess of
their membership, have been forced to debate the causes of their recent
electoral setback, which saw their Lok Sabha tally to drop by 61 percent to
a historic low of 24 (of a total of 542 seats). Unlike the other big
election loser, the Bharatiya Janata Party, in which personalised
mudslinging substituted for debate, the Left has tried to address
programme- and policy-related issues, including its poor management of
relations with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.

This is welcome. But it doesn't go far enough. Going by the first
post-election meeting of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) central
committee, the four Left parties--including the CPI, Revolutionary Socialist
Party and Forward Bloc--are reluctant to go the whole length in clinically
dissecting their weaknesses.

Unless they do so, they may not recover from the electoral rout. The Left
parties are at a fork in history: Either they re-establish an organic
relationship with the working people, or become irrelevant and perish, like
other communist parties.

The Left is debating four questions. First, to what extent can its rout be
attributed to its splitting with the UPA over the India-United States
nuclear deal? Second, was the Left right to take equidistance from the
Congress and the BJP, and project the motley non-Congress, non-BJP Third
Front?

Third, to what extent were tactical mistakes in the two biggest CPM
bases--allying with the Islamic-Right People's Democratic Party in Kerala,
and coercive land acquisition and mishandling of the Rizwanur Rehman suicide
in West Bengal--responsible for the Left's dismal performance? And, most
vitally, did structural factors related to the Left's ideology, strategy and
policies contribute substantially to its defeat?

The CPM central committee fudged the answers to three of the four questions.
In effect, it endorsed general secretary Prakash Karat's line that it didn't
err on any major ideological, policy or strategy issue. Its mistakes were
minor and don't warrant a radical shift of stance.

The central committee emphasised state-specific factors for the CPM's poor
showing in West Bengal and Kerala, rejecting the state leaders' criticism
that the central leadership's policies and actions destabilised their
political standing there.

Many state CPM leaders, and CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, questioned
the wisdom of trying to topple the UPA on the nuclear deal after the
government deplorably reneged on its promise not to push it through without
agreement in the UPA-Left joint committee. But the CC said the move was
consistent with the Left's stand of opposing a strategic alliance with the
US.

The issue isn't consistency, but the wisdom of withdrawing support on a
foreign policy-security issue which isn't centrally important or
comprehensible to most people.

As this column has repeatedly argued, the deal is bad because it legitimises
nuclear weapons. It's part of an unbalanced and growing India-US strategic
alliance. And it promotes environmentally-unfriendly, costly energy.

The Left criticised the deal primarily because it would take India into the
US strategic camp. But, like the BJP, it also argued that it would restrict
India's nuclear weapons programme. (In reality, the deal will allow India to
stockpile an additional 40 bombs annually.)

The US isn't popular in India. But people don't bring down governments on
foreign-policy issues. The Left should have realised this. Its attempts to
mobilise opinion against the Iraq war and the 2007 India-US military
exercises didn't evoke a strong response.

Yet, the CC's firm opinion was that withdrawal of support to the UPA …

[GreenYouth] Support Int'l Don't Nuke the Climate Campaign

[Sukla Sen]

*Subject:* Support Int'l Don't Nuke the Climate Campaign



*Dear Friends,*

*Below is a message from our colleagues at Sortir du Nucleaire in France,
about an important new international campaign on nukes and climate. We hope
you’ll support it, and add your voices to the international movement to keep
nuclear power out of any and all climate agreements. NIRS plans to be in
Copenhagen in December for the climate conference. U.S. groups: please let
us know if you’re planning to attend so we can begin organizing the U.S.
anti-nuclear delegation. Let us know at
nirs...@nirs.orghttp://mail.google.com/mail/h/xewk1hspsodf/?v=bcs=whto=nirs...@nirs.org.
But in any case, we hope you’ll sign on below.*

*Michael Mariotte***

*Nuclear Information and Resource Service*

*---*

*To our international partners

Please answer before the 12th of July 2009.*

*International campaign « Don’t nuke the climate » : we need your support !*
http://www.dont-nuke-the-climate.org/spip.php?lang=en

In December 2009, at the next UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, it
will be the world leaders’ duty to aim for an ambitious agreement regarding
greenhouse gas emissions cut targets. They should also agree on a relevant
budget to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Nuclear power has been kept outside of climate change mitigation mechanisms
like CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) and JI (Joint Implementation) so far.
However, some evidence shows that the nuclear lobby could be preparing its
comeback at the next COP to have this dirty energy labeled as clean or
carbon-free and thus benefit from new subsidies. Will our leaders let
themselves be talked into financing a dangerous, costly and irrelevant
technology, which would divert urgently needed money from real solutions to
climate change?

*This is why we now propose you to support the international campaign “Don’t
nuke the climate” which will be initiated by the Réseau “Sortir du
nucléaire” (French Network for Nuclear Phase-out)*. A campaign document will
be edited at a large scale (several hundreds of thousand copies) by
September 2009. It will include petition postcards to be signed by citizens,
which will be gathered and then presented in Copenhagen during a
media-oriented action. Beside, we will ask citizens to send us pictures to
make a huge mosaic showing the face(s) of world citizens’ refusal of nuke as
a solution to global warming.

*We would highly appreciate to see your logo on this document and on the
dedicated website, our aim being to distribute this campaign as broadly as
possible, not only in France, but also in Europe and maybe further.* Our
last campaign on this topic, in year 2008, has already gathered 27 partners
at a national level. However, the issue is global and requires international
committment. We know some of you are already very active on the issue of
nukes and global warming, and hope this campaign could contribute in joining
our efforts to allow the antinuclear voice to be heard even stronger in
Copenhagen.

*Like already many French organizations, do not hesitate to register your
NGO as a partner of the campaign “Don’t nuke the climate”, by clicking on :
*http://www.dont-nuke-the-climate.org/spip.php?lang=en

The writing work is in progress and your remarks will be welcomed. Please
contact me (details below) for any information request.

Many thanks for your support.

-- 
Charlotte Mijeon
International Relations Representative
Réseau Sortir du nucléaire / French Network for Nuclear Phaseout
Federation gathering 841 NGOs and organizations
charlotte.mij...@sortirdunucleaire.frhttp://mail.google.com/mail/h/xewk1hspsodf/?v=bcs=whto=charlotte.mij...@sortirdunucleaire.fr
00 33 675 362 020 (GSM)
00 33 320 580 635

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[GreenYouth] Fwd: [sftindia] Update:Unrest In East Turkestan

[Sukla Sen]

From: shiba...@studentsforafreetibet.org
Date: Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Subject: [sftindia] Update:Unrest In East Turkestan
To: sftin...@lists.riseup.net


Update:Unrest In East Turkestan

Armed Chinese troops have flooded Urumchi, the capital of East
Turkestan (Chinese: Xinjiang) following days of violent unrest.
The situation remains incredibly tense and Chinese president Hu
Jintao has vowed to restore order and severely punish those
involved in the unrest, after he was rushed back to China
yesterday from the G-8 meeting in Italy.

We fear that, as in Tibet last year, China's efforts to restore
order will result in a prolonged military crackdown against the
Uyghurs. Already, Chinese authorities have arrested more than
1,400 Uyghurs, blocked phone lines and the internet, and
launched a propaganda campaign to portray the Uyghurs as the
sole perpetrators of the violence.

Sign a petition calling on the Chinese authorities to stop the
crackdown on the Uyghur people and to allow an independent
investigation into the situation in Urumchi:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/uyghurs

On Sunday, thousands of Uyghurs peacefully marched in the
streets of Urumchi to protest the Chinese authorities' inaction
amid the beating deaths of two Uyghur men at a toy factory in
southern China. Chinese armed police responded to the protest in
Urumchi with a heavy hand, and a riot ensued in which more than
a hundred people were reportedly killed. Armed Chinese citizens
have since taken to the streets to seek revenge, escalating the
violence and chaos.

To avoid the negative international news coverage that followed
the media blackout in Tibet last year, Chinese officials have
allowed foreign journalists into Urumchi but have tried to
tightly control their movement and censor their coverage.
Despite these efforts, on Tuesday hundreds of Uyghur women and
children burst into the streets in front of the journalists,
weeping and pleading for the release of those detained. Watch
the moving footage:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jul/07/uighur-confront-china-troops

This tragic turn of events clearly shows that China's policies
in East Turkestan, as in Tibet, have been a colossal failure.
Uyghurs have rejected Chinese rule since the invasion of their
homeland in 1949, and continue to struggle for their basic
rights and freedoms. The systematic suppression of the Uyghurs'
religion, culture, and unique identity - as well as the flooding
of East Turkestan with millions of Chinese settlers - have led
to deep-seated resentment and desperation amongst the Uyghur
people.

Instead of admitting its own failure to address the
long-standing grievances of the Uyghur people, the Chinese
government is blaming the violence on exiled Uyghur leader
Rebiya Kadeer, just as it blamed the Dalai Lama for the
widespread protests in Tibet. Rebiya Kadeer has spoken out to
tell the true story of by her people's suffering under Chinese
rule:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124698273174806523.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Please sign the petition and support her call for an open and
independent inquiry into the unrest and for an end to the
violent suppression of her people.

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/uyghurs

We will continue to send updates on the unfolding situation in
East Turkestan. For more news and analysis, please visit the SFT
blog: http://blog.studentsforafreetibet.org

In solidarity,

Choeying,Tenchoe,Youndung,Claire,Shibayan and everyone at SFT India

News coverage of the unrest in Urumchi:

China's leaders vow to punish Xinjiang rioters
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/441397/1/.html

Riot police battle protesters as China's Uighur crisis escalates
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=2028

Uighur resentment at Beijing's rule
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=2021

Toy factory brawl spark for deadly violence in China
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=2020

Angry Chinese Mob Turns on ABC Reporter  Crew
http://is.gd/1sdfW

In Latest Upheaval, China Applies New Strategies to Control Flow
of Information
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=2026

China: President Should Ease Tension by Acknowledging Grievances
(Human Rights Watch)
http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=2025

The Real Uighur Story
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124698273174806523.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

---

Students for a Free Tibet, India (SFT India) is the India National Network
of Students for a Free Tibet International, which has over 650 chapters in
more than 35 countries.

Founded in the year 2000 from a very humble beginning as a loose network of
few
young activists and students based in Dharamshala campaigning for Tibet's
Independence,SFT India has grown as nation-wide network of youth,
campaigning for
the Fundamental Rights of the Tibetan people, and we are still growing. It
is from
our grassroots network that we gain our strength.

To ensure the 

[GreenYouth] Re: Lalgarh and the Radicalisation of Resistance: From 'Ordinary Civilians' to Political Subjects?

[Sukla Sen]

Response from a friend, on another list:Quote
The State uses any excuse/opportunity to aggrandize its repressive power (a
point Sukla has been emphasizing) -- it does not *necessarily* mean that,
even in the state's own internal estimation, the threat to it is necessarily
particularly great.

In a sense, the State *needs* the CPI(Maoist) to justify
its repression/aggression  Likewise, the Maoists *need* the
State's repression to (at least psychologically) self-justify their own
draconian tactics. The State and the Maoists each act as the
other's enabler in this circular relationship.

[Here, the best example is how Saroj Giri is out to brand Chhatradhar Mahato
as a Maoist as much as Buddhadeb is .
And the state-sponsored myth - a statistical fraud - that every fourth
Indian district is under Maoist control! . Evidently, even if a corner of a
district is affected the whole district is counted in.
The Maoists, in turn, gloatingly lap it up and drum up as much as possible.
The Unity of the opposites! ]

What can break the circle -- in fact, the only thing that can break the
circle -- is the emergence of a genuine and widespread
self-emancipatory mass movement of the toilers ..
Unquote

Most importantly, no words here on the two fundamental fallacies.

One, Lalgarh, or Nandigram, is from the most backward hinterland of India.
No typical Indian village. Hence even its best experience - say from
November 2008 to mid-June 2009 - has a very limited applicability.

Two, how the public embrace of the Lalgarh resistance by the Maoists proved
to be its kiss of death!
*A seven month long massive resistance crumbled in less than seven days!*
Quote
It is worth recalling here a highly fanciful report carried by the Hindustan
Times, the dateline being as recent as June 10 - that is still less than a
month back (and yet lies in another era) - incorporating an interview with a
top-notch Maoist leader operating in that area:
Quote
[Q:] How long can they [the Maoists] defend the area from the might of the
state?

[A:] “I know an action (sic) is perhaps impending,” said Koteswar Rao, or
Kishnaji, the second in command of the Indian Maoists, in an exclusive
interview to the Hindustan Times. “But let them try once.. It will be the
last time they will eye this territory.” (Emphasis added.)
Unquote
[Source: 
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=3e7456f2-6c9e-44c1-9b35-3af9ec746d7e
]

This was just before the campaign of violence launched by the Maoists
sidelining the PCAPA. It started effectively on June 14. The operation of
the Joint Forces commenced on June 18. The Lalgarh Police Station, the
Ground Zero, reoccupied on June 20.
Unquote
*A seven month long massive resistance crumbled in less than seven days!*

*Who's afraid of the Maoists? At least not the Indian state. It only uses it
as a convenient alibi - a manufactured spectre - to crush democratic
resistance.*
That eminently suits both.
That's how Saroj Giri and Buddhadeb both are on the same side to brand
Chhatradhar Mahato as a Maoist.
The Unity of the opposites!

*Not even a pretence of attempt to address the two fundamental fallacies
underlined.*
*The deafening silence is only too eloquent.*

Sukla


On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 4:02 AM, sandy bajeli redris...@gmail.com wrote:



 (It seems the specter of Naxalism is haunting  the ruling establishment
 (from the official left to the right) to such a magnitude that they have
 increased the budget of internal (their security) by unimaginable 33% , see
 the article,( Lalgarh effect on security kitty, The Telelgraph). It is
 perhaps the fear of an increasingly real scenario in the future when the
 increasingly politicized and organized masses will rise up in total defiance
 of the armed machinery of  the state. For the ruling class the threat that
 appears in the form of Maoists is apparently real and palpable. Today there
 is one Lagarh tomorrow there could be many. So in a bid to “*force
 'ordinary villagers' to restrict their democratic struggle and practices
 within the limits set by the state and its agencies, by the limits of
 parliamentary democracy, the state wants to target Maoists*”(Saroj Giri)
 UAPA is the name of the perfect weapon in thier hands. So anyone who
 “helps”, stay in “touch” or “campaign” for the dreaded terrorist, the
 Maoists might be charged for abettment of terrorism (or even liable to be
 killed in a fake encounters by the outlaws in Khaki). But what is gravely
 problematic is how the state will ever going to define and make a clear cut
 distinction between “helping”, staying in “touch” or “campaigning” in order
 to make a case against such Naxal supporters. It is so blurred and elastic
 and so wide in its scope and reach that  it is terrifying. In the hands of
 the real and more powerful terrorist, which is the state it is becomes an
 awesome weapon to put all the dissentors in the jail in the name of fighting
 Naxalism. It appears that the crisis ridden ruling classes (the poor 

[GreenYouth] The Lament of an Indian Nuclear Nationalist: Siddharth Varadarajan Grunts

[Sukla Sen]

South Asians Against Nukes - Year 11
July 9, 2009

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/message/1282



[What good is a ban if India’s ability to purchase nuclear fuel and reactors
from the G8 or NSG countries is not affected? So what is this noise about?
HK]

o o o

The Hindu, July 11, 2009

G8 blocks ‘full’ nuclear trade with India

by Siddharth Varadarajan

Adopts rules making fuel cycle transfers conditional on NPT

New Delhi: Less than a year after the Nuclear Suppliers Group waived its
export rules to allow the sale of nuclear equipment, fuel and technology to
India, the United States has persuaded the G8 to ban the transfer of
enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) items to countries which have not signed
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including India.

The move, which effectively negates the promise of “full” civil nuclear
cooperation lying at the heart of the 2005 India-U.S. nuclear agreement,
took the Indian establishment by surprise with officials unaware that the G8
was even adopting such a measure at L’Aquila, Italy. That this was done at a
summit in which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was an invited guest is likely
to add insult to injury when the full implications of the latest decision
fully sink in.

The ban, buried deep within a separate G8 statement on non-proliferation,
commits the eight countries to implement on a “national basis” the “useful
and constructive proposals” on ways of strengthening controls on ENR items
and technology “contained in the NSG’s ‘clean text’ developed at the 20
November 2008 Consultative Group meeting.”

Minimum criteria

Though the “clean text” is not a public document, a senior diplomat from a
G8 country confirmed to The Hindu that the eight countries had agreed to
certain minimum criteria — including adherence to the main instruments of
nonproliferation — as a condition for the sale of equipment and technology
destined for safeguarded ENR activities in a recipient country.

In the run-up to the final NSG plenary on India last September, Washington
sought to get New Delhi to agree that the nuclear cartel’s rule waiver would
not cover ENR transfers. But with the Indian side sticking to its guns, the
NSG finally agreed to a clean exemption allowing nuclear exports of all
kinds, including sensitive fuel-cycle-related items and technologies,
provided they were under safeguards.

Under pressure from the Bush administration, the NSG subsequently debated
new ENR rules last November but failed to evolve a consensus because of
opposition from countries like Brazil, Canada and Spain to restrictions that
would go beyond what the NPT itself provided for.

With consensus proving elusive during the recent June meeting of the
45-nation club, the Obama administration decided to decouple the question of
ENR sales to India from the NSG process — something the latest G8 agreement
on interim implementation of a national-level ban effectively does.

India’s ability to purchase nuclear fuel and reactors from the G8 or NSG
countries will be unaffected by the latest ban. Unless, of course, the new
decision becomes the trigger for attempts to further dilute or qualify the
core bargain contained in the ‘India exception’ last year.



SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):
An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about
the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia
http://s-asians-against-nukes.org/

SAAN Mailing List:
To subscribe send a blank message to: saan_-subscr...@yahoogroups.com

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not
necessarily reflect the views of SAAN compilers.

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[GreenYouth] Re: [india-unity] Farewell to an India I Hardly Knew

[Sukla Sen]

During the last 2000 days India changed its HDI ranking, amongst 177
countries ranked, down from 126th to 127th or up from 126th to 127th?
That's of course not to deny that while India reportedly has higher level of
malnutrition among children as compared to even sub-Saharan Africa also
undertakes lunar expedition. And lobbies for a permanent seat in the UN
Security Council.
The greatest change that India experienced ever came on August 15 1947.
And that laid the foundation for subsequent changes. The author seems to
have never heard of it. Tagore had somewhere talked of (in Bengali)
bottomless ignorance of the learned! And is it Amartya Sen: Rational
Fools? Sukla

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 9:12 AM, sugrutha sugru...@yahoo.com wrote:



 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/weekinreview/05giridharadas.html?_r=2

 Farewell to an India I Hardly Knew
 By ANAND GIRIDHARADAS
 Published: July 4, 2009

 Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

 *COMINGS AND GOINGS* A Calcutta bus reflects confidence among Indians.
 Much has changed in a generation.

 MUMBAI, India — The first thing I ever learned about India was that my
 parents had chosen to leave it.
 The country was lost to us in America, where I was born. It had to be
 assembled in my mind, from the fragments of anecdotes and regular journeys
 east.

 Now, six years after returning to the country my parents left, as I prepare
 to depart it myself, the mind goes back to the beginning, to my earliest
 pictures of it.

 India, reflected from afar, was late-night phone calls with the news of
 death. It was calling back relatives who could not afford to call you. It
 was Hindu ceremonies with saffron and Kit Kat bars on a silver platter.

 India, consumed on our visits back, was being fetched from the airport and
 cooked a meal even in the dead of night. It was sideways hugs that strove to
 avoid breast contact. It was the chauvinism of uncles who asked about my
 dreams and ignored my sister's.

 It was wrong, yet easy, to feel that we did India a favor by coming home.
 We packed our suitcases with things they couldn't get for themselves: Jif
 peanut butter, Hellmann's mayonnaise, Gap khakis. These imports sketched a
 subtle hierarchy in which they were the wanting relatives and we their
 benefactors.

 My cousins in India would sometimes ask if I was Indian or American. I saw
 that their self-esteem depended on my answer. American, I would say,
 because it was the truth, and because I felt that to say otherwise would be
 to accept a lower berth in the world.

 What it meant to be American was to be free to invent yourself, to belong
 to a family and a society in which destiny was believed to be human-made.

 I looked around in India and saw everyone in their boxes, not coming fully
 into their own, replicating lives lived before. If only they came to
 America, I told myself, so-and-so would be a millionaire entrepreneur;
 so-and-so would be as confident in her opinions as her husband; so-and-sos'
 marriage would be more like my parents', with verve and swing-dancing
 lessons and bedtime crossword puzzles; so-and-so would study history and
 literature, not just bankable practicalities.

 I moved to India six years ago in an effort to understand it on my own
 terms, to render mine what had until then only belonged to my parents.

 India was changing when I arrived and has changed dramatically, viscerally,
 improbably in these 2,000 days: farms giving way to factories; ultra-cheap
 cars being built; companies buying out rivals abroad. But the greatest
 change I have witnessed is elsewhere. It is in the mind: Indians now know
 that they don't have to leave, as my parents left, to have their personal
 revolutions.

 It took me time to see. At first, my old lenses were still in place — India
 the frustrating, difficult country — and so I saw only the things I had ever
 seen.

 But as I traveled the land, the data did not fit the framework. The
 children of the lower castes were hoisting themselves up one diploma and
 training program at a time. The women were becoming breadwinners through
 microcredit and decentralized manufacturing. The young people were finding
 in their cellphones a first zone of individual identity. The couples were
 ending marriages no matter what society thinks, then finding love again.
 The 
 vegetarianshttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/v/vegetarianism/index.html?inline=nyt-classifierwere
  embracing meat and meat-eaters were turning vegetarian, defining
 themselves by taste and faith, not caste.

 Indians from languorous villages to pulsating cities were making difficult
 new choices to die other than where they were born, to pursue vocations not
 their father's, to live lives imagined within their own skulls. And it was
 addictive, this improbable rush of hope.

 The shift is only just beginning. Most Indians still live impossibly grim
 lives. Trickle down, here more than most places, is slow. But it is a shift
 in psychologies, 

[GreenYouth] Re: Lalgarh and the Radicalisation of Resistance: From 'Ordinary Civilians' to Political Subjects?

[Sukla Sen]

Quote

Most importantly, no words here on the two fundamental fallacies.

One, Lalgarh, or Nandigram, is from the most backward hinterland of India.
No typical Indian village. Hence even its best experience - say from
November 2008 to mid-June 2009 - has a very limited applicability.

Two, how the public embrace of the Lalgarh resistance by the Maoists proved
to be its kiss of death!
*A seven month long massive resistance crumbled in less than seven days! *
Quote
It is worth recalling here a highly fanciful report carried by the
Hindustan
Times, the dateline being as recent as June 10 - that is still less than a
month back (and yet lies in another era) - incorporating an interview with
a
top-notch Maoist leader operating in that area:
Quote
[Q:] How long can they [the Maoists] defend the area from the might of the
state?

[A:] “I know an action (sic) is perhaps impending,” said Koteswar Rao, or
Kishnaji, the second in command of the Indian Maoists, in an exclusive
interview to the Hindustan Times. “But let them try once.. It will be the
last time they will eye this territory.” (Emphasis added.)
Unquote
[Source: 
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=3e7456f2-6c9e-4...http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=3e7456f2-6c9e-44c1-9b35-3af9ec746d7e


]

This was just before the campaign of violence launched by the Maoists
sidelining the PCAPA. It started effectively on June 14. The operation of
the Joint Forces commenced on June 18. The Lalgarh Police Station, the
Ground Zero, reoccupied on June 20.
Unquote
*A seven month long massive resistance crumbled in less than seven days! *

*Who's afraid of the Maoists? At least not the Indian state. It only uses
it
as a convenient alibi - a manufactured spectre - to crush democratic
resistance. *
That eminently suits both.
That's how Saroj Giri and Buddhadeb both are on the same side to brand
Chhatradhar Mahato as a Maoist.
The Unity of the opposites!

*Not even a pretence of attempt to address the two fundamental fallacies
underlined.
The deafening silence is only too eloquent. *
Unquote

Excerpted from the last communication - the concluding part.
The response below by sandy bajeli ostensibly responds to that!

The deafening silence is only too eloquent.

Sukla

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 6:00 PM, sandy bajeli redris...@gmail.com wrote:


 I don't think so. The State uses any excuse/opportunity to aggrandize
 its repressive power (a point Sukla has been emphasizing) -- it does
 not *necessarily* mean that, even in the state's own internal
 estimation, the threat to it is necessarily particularly great.

 In a sense, the State *needs* the CPI(Maoist) to justify its
 repression/aggression -- much in the same way that Israel *needs*
 Hamas to justify its aggression. Likewise, the Maoists *need* the
 State's repression to (at least psychologically) self-justify their
 own draconian tactics. The State and the Maoists each act as the
 other's enabler in this circular relationship.



 While it is true that the anti-people state does need the bogey of Naxalism
 to justify its repression/aggression but can we deduce an inference, in
 a quite mechanical, cyclical fashion, that the Maoists too *need* the
 state's repression to (at least psychologically) to self-justify their own
 draconian tactics, and thus vulgarly distorting the very concept of “the
 law of unity of opposite”. It appears that Naxals themselves invites the
 severe repression on them by espousing violence  and even seems to glorify and
 indulge in the idea of being a victim of the state repression. It is also
 required as a moral (what about political?) justification
 for their violent activities among its cadres and mentally prepares them for
 their continuous wars. Foisting such an over simplistic one-to-one casual
 relationship between the state and the Maoists could lead to an absurd
 conclusion that Maoists activities ultimately ends up serving the interests
 of the predatory state not to destroy it. This above stated contention is
 not only non-dialectical and a historical (if not down right reactionary)
 but also more crucially hides its own (anti-Maoists) ideological agenda
 that see both the state and the Maoists as undemocratic and violent and thus
 clearly mirroring each other. It is typical reflection of the Gandhian
 formulation that seeks to equate both the oppressors and the oppressed along
 the same plane and finally ends up criminalizing the oppressed for choosing
 armed means in their life and death struggle for emancipation. It also
 believes in the falsity of the armed struggle leading to liberation, which
 anyways has reached to an dead end.

 In this fantastic, fanciful formulation of Sayan that “the State and the
 Maoists, each act as the other's enabler in this circular relationship I
 find the resonance of what Saroj Giri has once argued, “an unmistakeable
 element of middle-class self-indulgence” that dissident left revels in
 by vigorously defending an 

[GreenYouth] Campaign as regards Delhi High Court Judgement on Section 377

[Sukla Sen]

I endorse.

Sukla Sen
Life Fellow, Indian Academy of Social Sciences, Allahabad

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?createdsuggestnote_id=232112560436

Please write to niveditamenon2...@yahoo.co.uk to be a part of the
campaign.

Sukla

Friends,

I am writing to you, academics from all over India, to share my disquiet
about the backlash from religious leaders against the recent Delhi High
Court judgement reading down Section 377 to exclude consensual sex among
adults in private. And now that the issue is in Supreme Court the
government has started making noises about we need to take into account
what society feels etc. But we are society too, and these religious
leaders dont really represent anybody (who does Baba Ramdev represent,
people who watch TV?). (It is another matter that the government does not
feel the need to take into account what society feels before passing the
SEZ Act, e.g.)

It struck me that if we, as academics, could issue a brief statement
welcoming the High Court judgement and its validation of the
Constitution, we would demonstrate that Indian society speaks in many
voices, including ours. It is crucial that we make our opinion visible
immediately since the appeal has gone to the Supreme Court.
I have drafted a brief statement (below) that I request you to read and
endorse if you feel you can, along with your affiliation. I assure you it
will make an impact. If you would like to tweak/revise the statement in
any way, do send your suggestions. But please remember the statement has
to be brief, so we cant make *all* our views clear here, and do respond
within a couple of days - by Tuesday evening (14th). The statement already
has a few signatures, and the list is growing.

Thanks,

Nivedita




Statement
---


We, teachers from universities all over India, researchers and
academics, welcome the Delhi High Court judgement reading down Section
377 of the Indian Penal Code to decriminalize consensual sex among
adults in private. The judgement held that “Section 377 IPC, insofar
as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is
violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution.” In other
words, the court believes that continuing to criminalize citizens on
the grounds of their sexual preference violates the Fundamental Rights
to life and personal liberty, to equality, and the right not to be
discriminated against on non-relevant grounds.

Sexual preference and identification is only one part of people’s
identities. We believe that a modern democracy must respect diversity
regardless of whether consensus exists in society on the desirability
of each such practice, provided such practices respect the personhood
of others. There need not be consensus in society, for instance, on
vegetarianism as desirable, provided that vegetarians have full
opportunities to follow their dietary preference. Similarly, if
“religious leaders” believe that homosexuality is not sanctioned by
the scriptures, they have the right to propagate their views, provided
that these views are not taken as having the final sanction on the
issue for society as a whole.

Our community has had a hitherto silent engagement with the pain,
harassment, fear and discrimination that comes with being
non-heterosexual/queer. We know students, colleagues, friends and
family members who are queer, or may be queer ourselves.

We state emphatically that Section 377 as it exists is
anti-democratic, and reiterate our support for the Delhi High Court
judgement.

1. Nivedita Menon, Professor, School of International Studies,
Jawaharlal Nehru University
2. Ranjani Mazumdar, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies, School of
Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University
3. Shahana Bhattacharya Assistant Professor, Department of History,
Kirori Mal College, Delhi University
4. Aditya Nigam, Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
5. Mohinder Singh Fellow, IIAS, Shimla and Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science, Ramjas College, Delhi University
6. Parth Shil, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,
Hindu College, Delhi University
7. Pratiksha Baxi, Assistant Professor, Centre for Law and Governance,
Jawaharlal Nehru University
8. Janaki Srinivasan,Assistant Professor, Department of Political
Science, Panjab University
9. PK Datta, Professor, Department of Political Science, Delhi University
10. Mohan Rao, Professor, Centre of Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru
University
11. Satish Deshpande, Professor, Dept of Sociology, Delhi School of
Economics, Delhi University

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[GreenYouth] Fwd: Fwd. On rape testimonies

[Sukla Sen]

-- Forwarded message --
From: Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com
Date: Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd. On rape testimonies
To: free-binayak...@googlegroups.com


Dear Sandy,

Has this Sajee Gopal completely lost his head?
It is reply to what?

His petition included - by all accounts, maliciously fabricated -
allegations of brutal rapes by  armed forces in Lalgarh.
So the point was made that such unsubstantiated outrageous allegations
undermines the credibilityof otherwise utterly valid condemnation of
state brutalities.

Now s/he comes back with an account of rapes in Dantewada by the SPOs.
These SPOs are, by the way, civilians - not member of armed forces -
recruited from the local community itself. (The rape victims mostly
know their attackers.)
This is of course not to mean that Indian, or any other, armed
forces do not indulge in such heinous crimes. The records of the
Pakistani armed forces in 71, in what is now Bangladesh, is perhaps
the goriest illustration. Credible charges against Indian armed forces
are regularly levelled in Kashmir and the North East.
But this Sajee Gopal could not even pick up any of these in defence of
the charge, which very much looks an utter fabrication.

Sukla

On 7/15/09, sandy bajeli redris...@gmail.com wrote:
 friends,

  Sajee Gopal, who along with others floated the online petition Please
sign
 this petition and extend your support to the people, replies to Sukla
ji's
 critique of their petition.

 (, These armed forces have ... engaged in brutal rapes? Is
 it necessary to make unsubstantiated scandalous charges in order to
 condemn
 police atrocities in Lalgarh? This evidently demolishes the credibility
of
 the petitioners and raises serious doubts about the motives.Has any known
 human rights organisation has levelled this charge as yet? On which
 date(s)
 the rape(s) took place? In which village(s)? How these came to be known?
 Any
 police complaint filed? The court approached in case of refusal of the
 police to file FIR?
 Complaint lodged with the SHRC/NHRC?
 sukla sen)
 - Hide quoted text -



 Sandy,

 I would like respond to our questions in regard to Lalgarh petition. In
need
 time to collect the data on crimes perpatrated by armed forces. In the
mean
 time please read the details accounts of victims.


 http://tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=testimonies.asp

 THE FOLLOWING is the account of my rape that I gave the questioners from
the
 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC):

 I was raped along with probably 10 other girls. At the time, we were all
 residents of the Salwa Judum camp, next to the police station. Our rapists
 were SPOs who lived at the police station. Some lived even inside our
camp.
 The distance between the police station and the camp was about 10-15
metres.

 One night, some SPOs came to our houses in the camp at dinnertime and
asked
 us girls to come out with them. They had guns. We didn’t go. The men were
in
 full uniform at that time.

 Later, at about 10pm, when we had just gone to sleep after dinner, a
number
 of SPOs entered the camp again and woke us up at our houses. Now they were
 wearing only half pants and vests, which is the regular SPO gear at
nights.

 “Come with us,” they said. “We have to question you.” I was home sleeping
 with my father, mother and sister. Outside, I saw they had collected the
 other girls, too. My father came out of the hut and asked them, “Where are
 you taking her at night?” My mother said: “Why are you taking these girls?
 We will follow you.”

 The SPOs said, “Don’t worry. We won’t do anything to the girls. But if you
 follow us, we will kill you.”

 The SPOs then took us to the forests just outside the camp. Some marched
 ahead and some behind us. The girls cowered in the middle. It was a dark
 night and we walked some distance. All the girls started crying. We all
 thought they were going to kill us
  Sajee gopal

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[GreenYouth] An Ecological History of Bombay (Mumbai) or Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold?

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/world/asia/14mumbai.html?_r=1ref=asia
July 14, 2009
MUMBAI JOURNAL
As Mumbai Spills Over, Floodwater Creeps CloserBy VIKAS
BAJAJhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/vikas_bajaj/index.html?inline=nyt-per

MUMBAI, India — As this city prepared recently to inaugurate a shiny new
bridge that officials promise will ease Mumbai’s chronic traffic jams, Dilip
da Cunha was peering at the underbelly of the city’s waterways and drainage
systems.

Taking two visitors on a tour of the busy causeway where the city’s befouled
Mithi River meets the Arabian Sea near the new bridge, the Bandra-Worli Sea
Link http://bandraworlisealink.com/, he pointed out a small clump of trees
nearby under which several men were defecating.

The trees represented one of the last remaining species of the
mangroveshttp://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/02/mangroves/warne-text
that
once dominated the ecology of Mumbai, India’s financial capital and its most
populous city. Over the decades, most of the wetlands of the Mithi River
estuary that were home to such trees have given way to highways, slums,
office buildings and apartment towers.

While the mangroves’ retreat has provided valuable acreage for Mumbai’s
growth, Mr. da Cunha, who is one half of a husband-and-wife team that
recently finished an exhaustive study of the city’s landscape, said their
disappearance, along with the degradation of the city’s waterways, has made
the city increasingly vulnerable to flooding during the monsoons.

“At some point there were many species of mangroves here, and they must have
made this a fantastic wetland,” he said. “We have reduced these mangroves to
almost a single species that have survived with the bad waters, the sewage
that is around.”

In the summer of 2005, a few weeks before Hurricane
Katrinahttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hurricane_katrina/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier
devastated
New Orleans and parts of Mississippi, Mumbai received a record 37 inches of
rain in 24 hours during high tide. Approximately 900 people died in those
floods in the city and surrounding areas.

While Mumbai has spent millions on its drainage system since then, last week
an overnight rain about one-tenth as severe as the 2005 downpour brought
traffic and suburban trains in many parts of the city to a crawl during the
morning rush hour.

Inspired by the 2005 floods, Mr. da Cunha and his wife, Anuradha Mathur, who
teach design and landscape architecture at the University of
Pennsylvaniahttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_pennsylvania/index.html?inline=nyt-org,
have spent the last two and a half years studying Mumbai and its uneasy
relationship with water. They recently released their findings and 12
proposals for making the city more resilient to floods in the form of a museum
exhibit http://www.soak.in/ and a book http://www.soak.in/book.html,
both titled “Soak: Mumbai in an Estuary.”

They have documented the current state of the city’s waterways and mangroves
and collected a trove of historical maps, images and documents dating back
hundreds of years. They previously did similar, though less comprehensive,
work on the Mississippi River and Bangalore.

Their findings show that a series of natural features like mangrove swamps
and interconnected creeks once protected and shaped Mumbai, just as the
bygone swamps of the Mississippi River delta once protected New Orleans. But
those defenses were weakened over the years, dating to the days of British
rule, as swamps were filled in, land was reclaimed from the sea and creeks
were narrowed or diverted.

The historical maps and documents show little appreciation for those
long-lost natural features. Most old maps make no mention of swamps, which
were often labeled simply as “badlands.” There are few images of the trees
and plants that made up these areas.

Moreover, boundaries between land and sea were never drawn as they existed
during the monsoon, when the wetlands of the estuary expanded, only as they
stood during the summer or winter. “The monsoon was seen as foul weather,”
Ms. Mathur said. And “all of the planning is based on fair weather maps.”

Ms. Mathur and Mr. da Cunha, who both grew up in India but met in San
Francisco, said they set out on their work in part to provide an alternative
interpretation of Mumbai — to have it be recast as an estuary where salt and
fresh water coexist rather than as an island that has to be protected from
the water.

“We are sort of trying to find ways to visualize these complex landscapes,”
Mr. da Cunha said.

Yet they also seem realistic and do not advocate returning the city to an
earlier, more idyllic landscape. They propose a series of projects that,
they say, would alter and tilt the landscape in ways that could reduce or
contain flooding during the monsoon without displacing its vibrant
population and commerce.

For instance, they advocate that 

[GreenYouth] PUCL Press Release: Maoist Attack on Policemen Killing 40

[Sukla Sen]

 *PEOPLE'S **UNION** FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES– *

*CHHATTISGARH *

*Post Box No. 87, Main Post Office, **Raipur** – 492001: Chhattisgarh: **
India** *

E-mail: *pucl...@gmail.com *

* *

*Press Release:*



*PUCL DEPLORES DEATHS OF POLICEMEN *

*IN MAOIST ATTACK AT RAJNANGAON, Chhattisgarh*

* *

*Raipur**, **July 14, 2009***



The Chhattisgarh Unit of People’s Union for Civil Liberties
(PUCL) has deplored the killings of 30 policemen in Maoist’s attack on
12thJuly 2009at Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh.
The PUCL appeals to the Government, Maoists and Salwa-Judum to put an end to
killings and violence and create conducive environment for resolving the
issues and concerns through political dialogue and peace talks.

The PUCL pays its homage to all police personnel killed in the
attack by Maoists, especially remembering Shri V K Chaubey, Superintendent
of Police, Rajnandgaon, who was known for his simple ways and strict
discipline. PUCL expresses its condolences and solace to the bereaved
families.

PUCL believes in the Right to Life guaranteed under the Indian
Constitution and, as such, lives of all citizens are valuable, which should
not be taken away either for political or non-political purposes. PUCL has
always affirmed its faith in non-violence and peaceful means to resolve
differences and problems within the broader framework of the Indian
Constitution, and has deplored the militaristic strategies and actions.

Efforts for peace talks have been also made by Sri Sri Ravi
Shanker of the Art of Living Foundation, who in September 2008 called on the
Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Dr. Raman Singh at his residence soon after
meeting Dr Binayak Sen, a public health specialist and leader of People's
Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in the Raipur Central Jail. Later Sri Sri
Ravi Shanker met Adv K G Kannabiran, National President of PUCL at Hyderabad,
and wrote to Dr. Raman Singh for initiating peace talks. PUCL demands that
the CG Government should made public the steps taken in this regard.

PUCL has also demanded from Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, President,
Congress (I) to make public the finding of a six-member Task Force
constituted by her in October 2004 “to study the problem of *naxalite *violence
in various states; submit a report which would identify factors responsible
for the spread of violence and make an assessment of the impact of efforts
made by the government to contain it; and  will make recommendations on
policies, plans and programmes for the central and state governments as also
for the Congress party”. The Task Force was asked to submit its report
within three months and had Sri Sashidhar Reddy from Andhra Pradesh as its
Convener, Mr. Ajit Jogi, Mr. Gajendra Singh Rajukheri, Mr. R C Khuntia, Mr.
Nikhil Kumar, and Mrs. Manju Hembrom as its members. The Chhattisgarh PUCL
had submitted its Memorandum on this issue to the Task Force during its
visit to Raipur.

The CG PUCL also demands that the proceedings of the in-camera
meeting of the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha held on 26th July 2007 to discuss
the issues and concerns arising out of growing activities of CPI (Maoists)
in Chhattisgarh should be made public to generate a public debate on it. The
CG PUCL considers the in-camera meeting of Vidhan Sabha against the letter
and spirit of the Constitution as an institution representing people’s
interests and concerns should be transparent and accountable to the public.
Making public of the Vidhan Sabha proceedings has become all the more
important now as the State Unit of Congress (I) in Chhattisgarh was
demanding imposition of President’s Rule in the wake of Rajnandgaon
incident.

PUCL also believes that it is no longer a matter between the
State and the Maoists, and it should not be left primarily and purely in the
hands of the police to deal with it. Other enlightened segments of the
society, including intellectuals, various political forums, human rights and
social activists must discuss these strategies and agenda for establishing
lasting peace, justice and human rights in Chhattisgarh.

Rajendra K SailDr. Binayak Sen
Vijendra

*President General Secretary
Joint-Secretary*

98268-04519
   94060-49737























-- 
We have to start looking at the world through women’s eyes’ how are human
rights, peace and development defined from the perspective of the lives of
women? It’s also important to look at the world from the perspective of the
lives of diverse women, because there is not single women’s view, any more
than there is a single men’s view.”
-- Charlotte Bunch

Adv  Kamayani Bali Mahabal
Mobile-00919820749204
skype:lawyercumactivist

www.binayaksen.net
www.phm-india.org
www.phmovement.org
www.ifhhro.org



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[GreenYouth] Mullahcracy in Iran and Left (of Various Strands)

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/21948

The Tragedy of the Left's Discourse on Iran
July 10, 2009 By Saeed Rahnema


The electoral coup and the subsequent uprising and suppression of the
revolting voters in Iran have prompted all sorts of analyses in Western
media from both the Right and the Left. The Right, mostly inspired by the
neo-con ideology and reactionary perspectives, dreams of the re-creation of
the Shah's Iran, looks for pro-American/pro-Israeli allies among the
disgruntled Iranian public, and seeks an Eastern European type velvet
revolution. As there is very little substance to these analyses, they are
hardly worth much critical review; and one cannot expect them to try to
understand the complexities of Iranian politics and society.

As for the Left in the West, confusions abound. The progressive left, from
the beginning openly supported the Iranian civil society movement. ZNet,
Campaign for Peace and Democracy, Bullet, and some other media provided
sound analysis to help others understand the complexities of the Iranian
situation (see, for example, here). Some intellectuals signed petitions
along with their Iranian counterparts, while others chose to remain silent.
But disturbingly, like in the situations in Gaza or Lebanon, where Hamas and
Hezbollah uncritically became champions of anti-imperialism, for some other
people on the left, Ahmadinejad has become a champion because of his
seemingly firm rhetoric against Israel and the US. Based on a crude class
analysis, he is also directly or indirectly praised by some for his supposed
campaign against the rich and imagined support of the working poor. These
analyses also undermine the genuine movement within the vibrant Iranian
civil society, and denigrate their demands for democracy, and political and
individual freedoms as middle class concerns, instigated by western
propaganda (a view shared by Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and his supporters).

*MRZine and Islamists*

The most bizarre case is the on-line journal MRZine, the offshoot of Monthly
Review, which in some instances even publicized the propaganda of the Basij
(Islamic militia) hooligans and criminals. The website has given ample room
to pro-Islamist contributors; while they can hardly be considered to be on
the left, their words are appreciated by the leftists editing the site. One
writer claims that the battle in Iran is about welfare reform and private
property rights, and that Ahmadinejad has enraged the managerial class,
as he is the least enthusiastic about neo-liberal reforms demanded by
Iran's corporate interests, and that he is under attack by Iran's fiscal
conservative candidates. The author conveniently fails to mention that
there are also much corporate interests controlled by Ahmadinejad's
friends and allies in the Islamic Guards and his conservative cleric
supporters, and that he has staunchly followed privatization policies by
handing over state holdings to his cronies.

During the 1979 revolution, the late Tudeh Party, under the direction of the
Soviet Union, was unsuccessfully digging deep and looking hard for
non-capitalists among the Islamic regime's elements to follow a
non-capitalist path and a socialist orientation. Now it seems that
MRZine magazine is beginning a new excavation for such a breed among
Islamists, not understanding that all factions of the Islamic regime have
always been staunch capitalists.

*Azmi Bishara's imagined Iran*

In Iran: An Alternative Reading (reproduced in MRZine), Azmi Bishara
argues that Iran's totalitarian system of government differs from other
totalitarian systems in two definitive ways: Firstly, it has incorporated
such a high degree [of] constitutionally codified democratic competition in
the ruling order and its ideology. Bishara does not explain however that
these competitions are just for the insider Islamists, and all others,
including moderate Muslims or the wide spectrum of secular liberals and the
left are excluded by the anti-democratic institutions within the regime.

The second differentiation Bishara makes is that ... the official ideology
that permeates institutions of government ... is a real religion embraced by
the vast majority of the people. He is right if he means the majority of
Iranians are Muslim and Shi'i, but it is wrong to assume that all are
religious and share the same obscurantist fundamentalist version as those in
power. He also fails to recognize the existence of a large number of secular
people in Iran, one of the highest percentages among Muslim-majority
countries.

He praises such tolerance of political diversity, tolerance of
criticism, and peaceful rotation of authority in Iran. One wonders if our
prominent Palestinian politician is writing about an imaginary Iran, or the
real one. Could it be that Bishara has not heard of the massacres of
thousands of political prisoners, chain killings of intellectuals, and
silencing of the most able and progressive voices in the country? Doesn't he
know that a 

[GreenYouth] Text of India-Pakistan Joint Statement

[Sukla Sen]

The joint statement, in itself, given the developments since the spectacular
terror attack in Mumbai on November 26 last, would have had been considered
a notable positive development.

But mercifully enough, it has gone significantly beyond.
Quote
Both Prime Ministers recognised that dialogue is the only way forward.
Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process
and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister Singh said that India was
ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues.
Unquote
That is quite a bit beyond customary, and deceptive, diplomatese.

It is difficult to believe that Indian, and Pakistani, rulers had sudden
change of hearts. Till the other day, the Indian leaders, in particular,
were making very much contrary noises. Even now, this declaration, in all
probability, would be greeted with howling protests back home by the usual
suspects. It'd be branded as an unacceptable concession - an act of yielding
to pressures.
That provides us with an insightful clue to the dynamic of this development.
But never mind.

More importantly, the sub-continental peace movement, which has consistently
been an important voice of sanity and wisdom even in trying circumstances,
will have to pull up its socks to push the process further ahead. Help lead
the two neighbours towards lasting amity and away from the abyss of
conflicts and self-destruction.

Sukla

http://blog.taragana.com/n/text-of-india-pakistan-joint-statement-111292/

Text of India-Pakistan joint
statementhttp://blog.taragana.com/n/text-of-india-pakistan-joint-statement-111292/July
16th, 2009

Sharm-el-SHEIKH - The following is the joint statement issued after talks
between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan here Thursday:

The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, and the Prime Minister of
Pakistan, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, met in Sharm-el-Sheikh on July 16, 2009.

The two Prime Ministers had a cordial and constructive meeting. They
considered the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a view to charting
the way forward in India-Pakistan relations. Both leaders agreed that
terrorism is the main threat to both countries. Both leaders affirmed their
resolve to fight terrorism and to cooperate with each other to this end.

Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the
Mumbai attack to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that Pakistan will
do everything in its power in this regard. He said that Pakistan had
provided an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai
attacks and had sought additional information/evidence. Prime Minister Singh
said that the dossier is being reviewed.

Both leaders agreed that the two countries will share real time, credible
and actionable information on any future terrorist threats.

Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on
threats in Baluchistan and other areas.

Both Prime Ministers recognised that dialogue is the only way forward.
Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process
and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister Singh said that India was
ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues.

Prime Minister Singh reiterated India’s interest in a stable, democratic,
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Both leaders agreed that the real challenge is development and the
elimination of poverty.

Both leaders are resolved to eliminate those factors which prevent our
countries from realizing their full potential. Both agreed to work to create
an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence.

Both leaders reaffirmed their intention to promote regional cooperation.

Both foreign secretaries should meet as often as necessary and report to the
two foreign ministers who will be meeting on the sidelines of the
forthcoming UN General Assembly.

*
*
*
*

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[GreenYouth] Ashok Mitra on Budget 2009

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090717/jsp/opinion/story_11247748.jsp#
WHERE THE DIVIDEND LIES
- The Union budget has ignored the *Economic Survey*CUTTING CORNERS - Ashok
Mitra

In the mid-1940s, the country’s apex bank, the Reserve Bank of India, was
still very much a fledgling institution, groping its way around. To improve
the quality and processing of data as well as its global understanding of
economic and monetary issues, the RBI decided to set up a research
department. A few members of technical staff were scraped together from the
bank’s operational wings along with a handful of bright young economists and
statisticians recruited from outside. They were boxed in an obscure corner
on the top floor of the bank’s imposing building on Bombay’s Mint Road and
left to their own devices. One afternoon, an out-of-town visitor keen to
meet a college-mate, who had joined the RBI research staff, walked into the
Mint Road office and enquired where exactly the research department was
located. He asked hither, he asked thither, nobody could help him. He was
about to give up and leave when a bank clerk took pity and called him back:
“Well sir, you take the lift at that corner, take it and go to the top
floor, step out of the lift, walk twenty paces to the right, then turn to
the left, walk another fifteen paces from that spot, now turn to the right
and you will come to a biggish room where you will find a cluster of young
people gossiping and occasionally reading newspapers. May be they are the
research department.”

In other words, in that era, nobody took the research department of the RBI
— or for that matter, that of any other official institution dealing with
economic, monetary and financial matters — seriously. More often than not,
an outfit of this kind was the object of banter and ridicule. The members of
research staff were at most tolerated, few believed they could make any
substantive contribution to either policy-making or operational efficiency.

A sea-change has taken place since Independence. Economics is now a
holier-than-thou profession. Most ministries dealing with economic affairs
now recruit sophisticated research staff with formidable academic
credentials and are equipped with state-of-the-art computers. The state
governments have not lagged behind, nor have banks and corporate firms. The
country’s prime minister himself had once headed the government’s economic
research division. Senior economists with, for instance, the ministry of
finance and the Planning Commission are at present a much-sought-after,
high-profile species. They produce reports, in season and out of season, on
the burning economic issues of the day. Their advice, admonitions and
prognoses are supposed to be major inputs at the disposal of policy-makers,
including ministers. None dare keep them at arm’s length. On the contrary,
if gossip is to be lent an ear, their sage words uttered every now and then
have a considerable impact on the movement of share prices in the market.

The *Economic Survey* put out annually on budget eve by the ministry of
finance is the product of its economic research contingent. This year’s *
Survey* has a breathtaking quality. It is seemingly unaware of the grave
economic recession — the gravest in eight decades — that has currently
overtaken the United States of America as well as Europe. The fact that at
the root of the crisis is the greed and venality of private enterprise is of
no matter to those who have authored the document. Problems of both economic
stability and economic growth, the *Survey* assumes, have a unique solution:
globalization and even more globalization; the nation’s fate is to be left
entirely to the care of private initiative. It recommends disinvestment, at
galloping speed, in public sector undertakings including in the nine
undertakings that are making huge profits, the*navaratna*. It pitches for
privatization of the country’s railway network and mines. It totally ignores
the hard reality that foreign — particularly American — banks and insurance
companies are now a thoroughly discredited lot and proven hotbed of
corruption and other gross financial irregularities, often necessitating
injection of public funds for their survival. The *Economic Survey* actually
urges greater scope for their entry into the Indian economy.

Those who have prepared the *Survey* are true-blue neo-liberal economists,
on the same wavelength as savants on the staff of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund and other admirers of the concept of global
economic equilibrium nestling in American and British academic institutions.
The central objective of the*Economic Survey*, evidently in the view of its
authors, is not to inform the nation and politicians in charge of its
destiny about the economic realities here and overseas, nor to suggest
policies and programmes which take into account the substance of these
realities, but to indulge in abstract pedantry. Perhaps their product is
more 

[GreenYouth] Wallerstein on Hondruas - The Right Strikes Back!

[Sukla Sen]

[Quote
What about the United States? When the coup occurred, some of the raucous
left commentators in the blogosphere called it Obama's coup. That misses
the point of what happened. Neither Zelaya nor his supporters on the street,
nor indeed Chavez or Fidel Castro, have such a simplistic view. They all
note the difference between Obama and the U.S. right (political leaders or
military figures) and have expressed repeatedly a far more nuanced analysis.

It seems quite clear that the last thing the Obama administration wanted was
this coup. The coup has been an attempt to force Obama's hand. This was
undoubtedly encouraged by key figures in the U.S. right like Otto Reich, the
Cuban-American ex-counselor of Bush, and the International Republican
Institute. This was akin to Saakashvili's attempt to force the U.S. hand in
Georgia when he invaded South Ossetia. That too was done in connivance with
the U.S. right. That one didn't work because Russian troops stopped it.
Unquote]


http://gritodebatalla.blogspot.com/2009/07/wallerstein-on-hondruas-right-strikes.html
http://gritodebatalla.blogspot.com/2009/07/wallerstein-on-hondruas-right-strikes.htmlWallerstein
on Hondruas - The Right Strikes
Back!http://gritodebatalla.blogspot.com/2009/07/wallerstein-on-hondruas-right-strikes.html
Immanuel Wallerstein
July 15 2009
Agence Global

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XXdeLZSofUw/Sl6Rb3Gv_nI/A0U/rEKUKNAJfok/s1600-h/ImmanuelWallerstein.pngImmanuel
Wallerstein, Senior Research Scholar at Yale University, is the author of
The Decline of American Power: The U.S. in a Chaotic World (New Press).

The presidency of George W. Bush was the moment of the greatest electoral
sweep of left-of-center political parties in Latin America in the last two
centuries. The presidency of Barack Obama risks being the moment of the
revenge of the right in Latin America.

The reason may well be the same -- the combination of the decline of
American power with the continuing centrality of the United States in world
politics. At one and the same time, the United States is unable to impose
itself and is nonetheless expected by everyone to enter the playing field on
their side.

What happened in Honduras? Honduras has long been one of the surest pillars
of Latin American oligarchies -- an arrogant and unrepentant ruling class,
with close ties to the United States and site of a major American military
base. Its own military was carefully recruited to avoid any taint of
officers with populist sympathies.

In the last elections, Manuel (Mel) Zelaya was elected president. A
product of the ruling classes, he was expected to continue to play the game
the way Honduran presidents always play it. Instead, he edged leftward in
his policies. He undertook internal programs that actually did something for
the vast majority of the population -- building schools in remote rural
areas, increasing the minimum wage, opening health clinics. He started his
term supporting the free trade agreement with the United States. But then,
after two years, he joined ALBA, the interstate organization started by
President Hugo Chavez, and Honduras received as a result low-cost oil coming
from Venezuela.

Then he proposed to hold an advisory referendum as to whether the population
thought it a good idea to convene a body to revise the constitution. The
oligarchy shouted that this was an attempt by Zelaya to change the
constitution to make it possible for him to have a second term. But since
the referendum was to occur on the day his successor would have been
elected, this was clearly a phony reason.

Why then did the army stage a coup d'état, with the support of the Supreme
Court, the Honduran legislature, and the Roman Catholic hierarchy? Two
factors entered here: their view of Zelaya and their view of the United
States. In the 1930s, the U.S. right attacked Franklin Roosevelt as a
traitor to his class. For the Honduran oligarchy, that's Zelaya -- a
traitor to his class -- someone who had to be punished as an example to
others.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XXdeLZSofUw/Sl6Rk8rLYVI/A0c/1t1S8zMeao8/s1600-h/Honduras3.pngWhat
about the United States? When the coup occurred, some of the raucous left
commentators in the blogosphere called it Obama's coup. That misses the
point of what happened. Neither Zelaya nor his supporters on the street, nor
indeed Chavez or Fidel Castro, have such a simplistic view. They all note
the difference between Obama and the U.S. right (political leaders or
military figures) and have expressed repeatedly a far more nuanced analysis.

It seems quite clear that the last thing the Obama administration wanted was
this coup. The coup has been an attempt to force Obama's hand. This was
undoubtedly encouraged by key figures in the U.S. right like Otto Reich, the
Cuban-American ex-counselor of Bush, and the International Republican
Institute. This was akin to Saakashvili's attempt to force the U.S. hand in
Georgia when he invaded South Ossetia. That too was 

[GreenYouth] Left Is Wrong on Iran

[Sukla Sen]

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/956/op5.htm

Left is wrong on IranWho are and who promoted these leftist intellectuals
who question the social uprising of the people in Iran, asks *Hamid Dabashi*
* http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/print/2009/956/op5.htm#1
--

When a political groundswell like the Iranian presidential election of June
2009 and its aftermath happen, the excitement and drama of the moment expose
not just our highest hopes but also our deepest fault lines, most troubling
moral flaws, and the dangerous political precipice we face.

Over the decades I have learned not to expect much from what passes for the
left in North America and/or Western Europe when it comes to the politics
of what their colonial ancestry has called the Middle East. But I do
expect much more when it comes to our own progressive intellectuals --
Arabs, Muslims, South Asians, Africans and Latin Americans. This is not a
racial bifurcation, but a regional typology along the colonial divide.

By and large this expectation is apt and more often than not met. The best
case in point is the comparison between what Azmi Bishara has offered about
the recent uprising in Iran and what Slavoj Zizek felt obligated to write.
Whereas Bishara's piece (with aspects of which I have had reason to
disagree) is predicated on a detailed awareness of the Iranian scene,
accumulated over the last 30 years of the Islamic Republic and even before,
Zizek's (the conclusion of which I completely disagree with) is entirely
spontaneous and impressionistic, predicated on as much knowledge about Iran
as I have about the mineral composition of the planet Jupiter.

The examples can be multiplied by many, when we add to what Azmi Bishara has
written pieces by Mustafa El-Labbad and Galal Nassar, for example, and
compare them to the confounded blindness of Paul Craig Roberts, Anthony
DiMaggio, Michael Veiluva, James Petras, Jeremy Hammond, Eric Margolis, and
many others. While people closest to the Iranian scene write from a position
of critical intimacy, and with a healthy dose of disagreement, those
farthest from it write with an almost unanimous exposure of their
constitutional ignorance, not having the foggiest idea what has happened in
that country over the last 30 years, let alone the last 200 years, and then
having the barefaced chutzpah to pontificate one thing or another -- or
worse, to take more than 70 million human beings as stooges of the CIA and
puppets of the Saudis.

Let me begin by stating categorically that in principle I share the
fundamental political premise of the left, its weariness of US imperial
machination, of major North American and Western European media (but by no
means all of them) by and large missing the point on what is happening
around the globe, or even worse seeing things from the vantage point of
their governmental cues, which they scarcely question. It has been but a few
months since we have come out of the nightmare of the Bush presidency, or
the combined chicaneries of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and
John Ashcroft, or of the continued calamities of the war on terror. Iran
is still under the threat of a military strike by Israel, or at least more
severe economic sanctions, similar to those that are responsible for the
death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis during the Clinton administration.
Iraq and Afghanistan are burning, Gaza is in utter desolation, Northern
Pakistan is in deep humanitarian crisis, and Israel is stealing more
Palestinian lands every day. With all his promises and pomp and ceremonies,
President Obama is yet to show in any significant and tangible way his
change of course in the region from that of the previous administration.

The US Congress, prompted by AIPAC (the American Israel Political Affairs
Committee), pro-war vigilantes lurking in the halls of power in Washington
DC, and Israeli warlords and their propaganda machinery in the US, are all
excited about the events in Iran and are doing their damnedest to turn them
to their advantage. The left, indeed, has reason to worry. But having
principled positions on geopolitics is one thing, being blind and deaf to a
massive social movement is something entirely different, as being impervious
to the flagrant charlatanism of an upstart demagogue like Ahmadinejad. The
sign and the task of a progressive and agile intelligence is to hold on to
core principles and seek to incorporate mass social uprising into its *modus
operandi*. My concern here is not with that retrograde strand in the North
American or Western European left that is siding with Ahmadinejad and
against the masses of millions of Iranians daring the draconian security
apparatus of the Islamic Republic. They are a lost cause, and frankly no one
could care less what they think of the world. What does concern me is when
an Arab intellectual like Asad AbuKhalil opts to go public with his
assessment of this movement -- and what he says so vertiginously smacks 

[GreenYouth] Iran: Tehran Erupts Again!

[Sukla Sen]

[The eruption of vigorous street protests again yesterday, in response to a
sermon by a highly influential, conservative and controversial cleric at a
Friday prayer meet, only goes to show that the turbulence is far from over.It
is just not that people groaning under Mullahcracy are protesting, the
Mullahcracy itself stands badly fractured.
It is just not ordinary mortal Ahmedinajad, even the Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's divine halo stands severely dimmed and diminished.
That cannot but be an indicator of a huge crisis of legitimacy for the
regime.

Another interesting aspect is that the protests have shown up Iranian civil
society significantly more modern than much of its Arab neighbourhoods.
Women played a major role.

The final outcome is of course open ended.]
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-prayer18-2009jul18,0,4387707,full.story

Iranian protesters galvanized by sermonThey clash with security forces in
Tehran after a sermon by top cleric Hashemi Rafsanjani, who criticized the
election and called for rule of law, unity and dialogue.
By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim

July 18, 2009

Reporting from Tehran and Beirut — A sermon by powerful cleric and
opposition supporter Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani reignited Iran's
simmering protest movement Friday, heartening thousands of supporters who
braved tear gas and club-wielding militiamen to march and chant slogans
across Tehran.

In a highly anticipated speech, Rafsanjani slammed the hard-line camp
supporting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criticized the June 12 election
results and promoted several key opposition demands. Analysts said his
description of the unrest as an ongoing crisis was a signal to keep the
pressure on Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

His speech, as well as the pitched clashes between security forces and
supporters of opposition figure Mir-Hossein Mousavi that followed, suggested
the political firestorm unleashed by the marred vote would continue and that
the movement it had inspired remained strong.

We could have taken our best step in the history of the Islamic Revolution
had the election not faced problems, he told worshipers gathered for Friday
prayers in and around Tehran University. Today, we are living in bitter
conditions because of what happened after the announcement of the election
result. All of us have suffered. We need unity more than any time else.

Mousavi and his supporters claim that Ahmadinejad, backed by Khamenei,
falsified results and stole the election. Khamenei, who is supposed to be
above partisan politics, infuriated them by coming down squarely on the side
of the incumbent.

Mousavi's backers widely interpreted Rafsanjani's speech as anything but a
call for unity. They chanted boisterous anti-government slogans for hours in
defiance of menacing security forces and plainclothes Basiji militiamen.

Immediately after his speech, Tehran residents could be heard from rooftops
and balconies in various districts shouting support for Rafsanjani.

The main goal of Rafsanjani's sermon today was to improve his own position
so that he can pressure Khamenei, said Meir Javedanfar, an Iran analyst.
He got large numbers to come to the streets and to listen to him. He showed
that he is not a spent force.

Even before the speech, security forces were taking away young men in police
vans. Helmeted Basiji militiamen aboard motorcycles began pushing toward
crowds of young men and women brandishing eye-catching ribbons in green, the
color of the opposition movement. Some women defiantly wore *chadors* in
bright green instead of the traditional black.

After the sermon, downtown Tehran erupted in violence. Security forces
attacked demonstrators, older and grayer than recent gatherings, who were
chanting Death to the dictator! and God is great.

Tear gas filled streets as protesters sought to enter the gates of the
university, which riot police had locked. The crowds swarmed through
downtown, chanting slogans, lighting cigarettes and holding them in front of
their faces to counter the effects of the tear gas.

Masked demonstrators also set fire to trash in the middle of roadways to
burn off the tear gas, videos posted on YouTube showed. One group shut down
two highways, while a second handed flowers to smiling policemen and kissed
them on the cheeks, according to witnesses.

Another large group gathered in front of the Ministry of Interior, which is
under the control of Sadegh Mahsouli, a wealthy ally of Ahmadinejad.

Mahsouli! Mahsouli! Give my vote back, they chanted, according to a video
posted to YouTube.

Demonstrators also began to head north to approach the headquarters of state
broadcasting, which has barely reported on the unrest and aired a cooking
show on television during Rafsanjani's speech.

Last Thursday five of my friends were arrested, and they are in . . . Evin
Prison, and it's my duty to come and participate, said Nahid, a 22-year-old
law 

[GreenYouth] Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-75263.html

* Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement

Mumbai, Jul 17 : Welcoming the joint statement of India's Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani signed on
the sidelines of Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt, several Indian peace
activists, including Admiral (retd) L Ramdas and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt
today said it has put the Mumbai attacks and terrorism upfront unlike the
impression sought to be created by hawkish elements in both the countries.
 ''The statement of Mr Gilani that whosoever was behind the Mumbai attacks
will be brought to justice is a positive development and we urge Pakistan to
follow it up with appropriate and immediate action,'' the activists said.

The joint statement de-linking terrorism from dialogue was a positive sign
as the terrorists had the capacity to derail the peace process through their
nefarious activities, they noted.

Urging India and Pakistan to start working together on the issue of
terrorism quickly, the activists said both were victims of terrorism --
mostly from the same elements. The only way to isolate and defeat the
terrorists was by both the countries engaging in constant dialogue and
cooperation to root out this menace, they said, adding that a joint
mechanism against terrorism was necessary.

Pointing out that prior to 26/11, four rounds of composite dialogue were
held on the identified eight issues and significant progress was made on all
fronts and major breakthroughs were in sight when the Mumbai terror attacks
derailed the process, they said that in hindsight, it appeared that 26/11
was perhaps enacted to scuttle such breakthroughs that appeared imminent.

''The resumption of composite dialogue is the only road map towards
permanent peace in the sub-continent and if the joint statement is
implemented in letter and spirit, the resumption of dialogue can take place
as early as September, when the leadership of both the countries meet on the
sidelines of United Nations General Assembly,'' the activists said in their
joint statememt released here.

The signatories to the joint statement also included Kamla Bhasin, Prof
Kamal Chenoy, Jatin Desai, Mazher Hussain, Varsha Rajan Berry, Lalita
Ramdas, Sukla Sen and Manisha Gupte.

--- UNI
*

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[GreenYouth] Re: [india-unity] Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement

[Sukla Sen]

Thanks a lot for this message of solidarity.
But then, we all are on the same boat.

Sukla

On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 9:16 AM, Dr Walter Fernandes walter.ne...@gmail.com
 wrote:



 Thanks Sukla. I am sure many others join you in this expression of hope in
 a future of peace, though we know that we have a long way to go.

 Walter

 Dr Walter Fernandes
 Director
 North Eastern Social Research Centre
 110 Kharghuli Road (1st floor)
 Guwahati 781004
 Assam, India
 Tel. (+91-361) 2602819
 Email: nesrc...@gmail.com
 Webpage: www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/NESRC

 - Original Message -
 *From:* Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com
 *To:* citizen-mumbai citizen-mum...@googlegroups.com ; peoples 
 mediamediainitiat...@yahoogroups.co.in;
 india-un...@yahoogroups.com ; IHRO i...@yahoogroups.com ; 
 issueonlineissuesonline_worldw...@yahoogroups.com;
 invitesp...@yahoogroups.com ; greenyouth greenyouth@googlegroups.com
 *Sent:* Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:06 AM
 *Subject:* [india-unity] Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement



 http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-75263.html

 * Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement

 Mumbai, Jul 17 : Welcoming the joint statement of India's Prime Minister
 Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani signed on
 the sidelines of Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt, several Indian peace
 activists, including Admiral (retd) L Ramdas and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt
 today said it has put the Mumbai attacks and terrorism upfront unlike the
 impression sought to be created by hawkish elements in both the countries.
 ''The statement of Mr Gilani that whosoever was behind the Mumbai attacks
 will be brought to justice is a positive development and we urge Pakistan to
 follow it up with appropriate and immediate action,'' the activists said.

 The joint statement de-linking terrorism from dialogue was a positive sign
 as the terrorists had the capacity to derail the peace process through their
 nefarious activities, they noted.

 Urging India and Pakistan to start working together on the issue of
 terrorism quickly, the activists said both were victims of terrorism --
 mostly from the same elements. The only way to isolate and defeat the
 terrorists was by both the countries engaging in constant dialogue and
 cooperation to root out this menace, they said, adding that a joint
 mechanism against terrorism was necessary.

 Pointing out that prior to 26/11, four rounds of composite dialogue were
 held on the identified eight issues and significant progress was made on all
 fronts and major breakthroughs were in sight when the Mumbai terror attacks
 derailed the process, they said that in hindsight, it appeared that 26/11
 was perhaps enacted to scuttle such breakthroughs that appeared imminent.

 ''The resumption of composite dialogue is the only road map towards
 permanent peace in the sub-continent and if the joint statement is
 implemented in letter and spirit, the resumption of dialogue can take place
 as early as September, when the leadership of both the countries meet on the
 sidelines of United Nations General Assembly,'' the activists said in their
 joint statememt released here.

 The signatories to the joint statement also included Kamla Bhasin, Prof
 Kamal Chenoy, Jatin Desai, Mazher Hussain, Varsha Rajan Berry, Lalita
 Ramdas, Sukla Sen and Manisha Gupte.

 --- UNI
 *

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[GreenYouth] Obama's Big Missile Test

[Sukla Sen]

*July 9, 2009*

*Op-Ed Contributor*
*Obama’s Big Missile Test *

*By PHILIP TAUBMAN*

Stanford, Calif.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/opinion/09taubman.html

AS President Obama will soon discover, erasing the nuclear weapons legacy of
the cold war is like running the Snake River rapids in Wyoming — the first
moments in the tranquil upstream waters offer little hint of the vortex
ahead. Now that Mr. Obama has set a promising arms reduction agenda with
President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia, he faces the greater challenge of
getting his own government and the American nuclear weapons establishment to
support his audacious plan to make deep weapons cuts and ultimately
eliminate nuclear weapons.

So far, Mr. Obama has effectively coupled an overarching vision of getting
to a world without nuclear weapons, outlined in a speech in Prague earlier
this year, with concrete first steps like the one-quarter reduction in
operational strategic nuclear weapons promised in Moscow this week. Given
his short time in office, and the looming December expiration of the treaty
with Russia covering strategic nuclear arms reductions, the new limits are a
good, realistic start. It is especially important to extend the monitoring
and verification provisions of the expiring arms accord.

But the overall Obama approach involves a balancing act that requires him to
move boldly while reassuring opponents that he is not endangering our
security. Put simply, he has to maintain a potent nuclear arsenal while
slashing it.

Mr. Obama might consider Ronald Reagan’s experience when he tried to set a
similar course. The nuclear weapons crowd practically disowned Reagan when
he proposed abolishing nuclear weapons during his 1986 summit meeting with
Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland. After the meeting, when Reagan
asked his generals to explore the ramifications of possibly sharply cutting
warheads and eliminating nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, they politely
but firmly told their commander in chief it was a terrible idea.

Mr. Obama’s moment of truth with his generals is coming later this year when
the Pentagon completes its periodic Nuclear Posture Review. This, in the
Pentagon’s words, “will establish U.S. nuclear deterrence policy, strategy
and force posture for the next 5 to 10 years.” So it will be the American
nuclear weapons bible for the remainder of Mr. Obama’s presidency, one term
or two.

President Obama must make sure it reflects his thinking. That will not be
automatic, because the nuclear weapons complex — the array of Pentagon and
Energy Department agencies involved in nuclear operations, including the
armed services and the weapons labs — harbors considerable doubt about his
plans. The same goes for the wider world of defense strategists. There is
resistance in Congress, too.

The view in these quarters is that the weapons cuts Mr. Obama envisions —
deeper than the modest goals set in Moscow this week — would dangerously
undermine the power of America’s arsenal to deter attacks against the United
States and its allies. Sentiment also favors building a new generation of
warheads, a step Mr. Obama has rejected.

If the White House does not assert itself, the Nuclear Posture Review could
easily spin off in unhelpful directions. The review that was produced when
Bill Clinton was president in 1994 offered a rehash of cold war policies.
The one that was done when George W. Bush took office in 2001 was more
unconventional, but was quickly overshadowed by the terror attacks of Sept.
11, 2001, and the war in Iraq.

To serve Mr. Obama’s interests, the new review should lay the groundwork for
pronounced cuts in weapons and shape America’s nuclear stockpile to fit a
world in which threats are more likely to come from states like North Korea
and Iran than from a heavily armed power like Russia.

After the review, the next big test for Mr. Obama will likely be Senate
consideration of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He has pledged to
resubmit this 1996 United Nations treaty, which was flatly rejected by the
Senate in 1999.

To get the two-thirds majority needed for its approval, Mr. Obama will need
to hold his fellow Democrats in line — far from a sure thing — and also pick
up some Republican support. Two influential Republican senators — John
McCain and Richard Lugar — are pivotal. Both voted against the treaty in
1999.

Opponents wrongly argue that the treaty is unverifiable. That might have
been the case a decade ago, but technological advances make monitoring of
even small underground nuclear tests possible today. Critics also say a
permanent ban on testing — the United States has honored a moratorium since
1992 — would eventually cripple the nation’s ability to maintain reliable
warheads. So far, most weapons experts would say, that has not proven to be
true and should not be for many years.

Few presidential moments are more glittering than the announcement of arms
reduction accords in the Kremlin’s gilded halls. For Mr. 

[GreenYouth] Lalgarh Update

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

   - 19 Jul 2009
   - Times of India New Delhi Edition
   - Sukumar Mahato
   - TNN TNN

Maoists’ posters threaten to behead 9 CPM leaders

 Jhargram: A Maoist ‘people’s court’ on Saturday announced that nine CPM
members, including a prominent local leader, will be beheaded causing panic
across Jhargram town in troubled West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

Residents of Manikpara in Jhargram town woke up to see posters allegedly
pasted by Maoists on shops at Ramkrishna Bazar, which read: ‘‘ CPM netader
shighroi pantha boli dewa hobe (CPM leaders will be beheaded soon)’’. The
names of CPM’s West Midnapore district committee member Hiralal Mahato and
Manikpara local secretary Shatadal Mahato figured in the ‘death warrant’.

A Maoist ‘gana adalat’ (people’s court) held at Manikpara in Jhargram took
the decision describing it as CPI(Maoists’) day before West Bengal CM
Budhadeb Bhattacharjee’s visit to Purulia, Maoists trigerred a landmine
explosion on a railway track near Urma station. Police also recovered a
metal object wrapped with wire and a map of Bhattacharjee’s route to
Purulia. part of strategy to annihilate ‘people’s enemies.’ The development
has renewed fear among residents who had been feeling safe after security
personnel stepped into the area.

Soon after police removed all the posters from Ramkrishna Bazar, senior
district secretariat member Dahareswar Sen rushed to the spot to tell party
comrades, some of whom planning to desert CPM, not to get scared. He
expressed doubts whether these posters were put up by Maoists. ‘‘I think
it’s an attempt by opposition namely Congress and Trinamool Congress.
Maoists do not use such foul language though we are opposed to them in
theory and practice. We are not giving importance to such posters,’’ he
said.

Despite Sen’s assurance 30 CPM members from the surrounding villages quit
CPM. ‘‘We won’t be alive if we are with CPM,’’ said Tarapada Singh, a CPM
member from Barkola. Some villages like Dharampur and Bhulka are close to
the police camps set up after the security forces ‘freed’ Dharampur PS from
Maoists. Jhargram Congress general secretary Rajesh Mahato rubbished Sen’s
allegations. ‘‘We believe in non-violence. CPM leaders are bringing baseless
charges against our activists,’’ said Mahato.

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[GreenYouth] Fwd: [Citizen-Mumbai] Press Conference against illegal arrest - Press Club, 21st July, 4.30pm

[Sukla Sen]

From: Feroze Mithiborwala feroze.moses...@gmail.com
Date: Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Subject: [Citizen-Mumbai] Press Conference against illegal arrest - Press
Club, 21st July, 4.30pm



Citizens' Initiative for Peace



To

The City Editor,
--
--

*SUB:* PRESS CONFERENCE

Dear Sir / Madam

The Citizens' Initiative for Peace (CIP) has organised a press conference
on Tuesday, July 21,  2009, at 4.30 P.M. at the Press Club (next to Azad
Maidan) to highlight the issue of grossly undemocratic arrest and detention
of Feroze Mithiborwala, Kishor Jagtap and Aslam Ghazi.

They were picked up by the Mumbai Police on Friday evening without
indicating any ground whatever and kept in respective police stations for
over 20 hours. Their arrests are, by all appearance, linked to the visit of
the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the city - in an apparent bid
to scuttle any possible protests.

The press conference will be addressed by Adv. Gayatri Singh. She had
visited the MIDC police station for the legal defence of Feroze Mithiborwala
and Kishor Jagtap and effect their early release. She will explain ithe
legal dimensions of these preventive arrests, without any specific charge,
in the broader context of Indian legal regime. It will also be addressed by
Feroze Mithiborwala, Kishor Jagtap and Aslam Ghazi. They will narrate their
own experiences.

Veteran Journalist and *Loksatta* Editor  *Shri *Kumar Ketkar would speak on
the implications of such arrests on India's democratic credentials and
prospects.Customary question and answer session would follow.

Please depute your reporter and photographer to cover the event and oblige.

Regards,

Dolphy D'souza Jatin DesaiSukla Sen
   (9322255812)

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[GreenYouth] Honduras Updates

[Sukla Sen]

[Honduras is now faced with a stalemate.

Zelaya lacks the strength to overthrow the new regime installed through a
military takeover by means of popular insurrection.
The regime, already internationally ostracised, is in no position to subdue
persistent popular protests nor gain legitimacy with the world beyond.

The as yet fruitless and protracted negotiation is aptly reflective of
that.
Evidently, it can't go on indefinitely.
This is an unstable equilibrium.
This is an unstable equilibrium.]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/world/americas/19honduras.html?_r=2ref=wo

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/world/americas/19honduras.html?_r=2ref=woJuly
19, 2009
Mediator Proposes Reinstating Honduran LeaderBy ELISABETH
MALKINhttp://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylLv1=ELISABETH%20MALKINfdq=19960101td=sysdatesort=newestac=ELISABETH%20MALKINinline=nyt-per

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — The mediator in talks seeking to break the deadlock
between the deposed Honduran president, Manuel
Zelayahttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/z/jose_manuel_zelaya/index.html?inline=nyt-per,
and the de facto government that exiled
himhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/world/americas/29honduras.html
urged
both sides on Saturday to agree to a plan that would return the ousted
leader and grant a general amnesty for political offenses.

The seven points proposed by the mediator, President Óscar Arias of Costa
Ricahttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/costarica/index.html?inline=nyt-geo,
during a second round of negotiations at his house in the capital, San José,
would require the political elite of
Hondurashttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/honduras/index.html?inline=nyt-geo
to
recognize Mr. Zelaya as the country’s legitimate president, which they have
yet to do. Rixi Moncada, a representative of Mr. Zelaya, said Mr. Arias
proposed during the afternoon session that the ousted president be
reinstated by Friday.

The two sides ended talks at 8:45 p.m. Saturday (10:45 p.m. Eastern time)
and are to resume Sunday. The delegation for the de facto government asked
for time to consult with officials in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

Mr. Arias said that there were still many differences between the sides and
that he had asked them to make one last effort to be flexible.

But there appeared to be signs of movement. As the talks ended for the day,
Carlos López, a member of the delegation for the de facto government, said
he hoped that Mr. Arias could announce good news on Sunday.

Outside the negotiations, though, both sides took a combative stance,
appearing to play to their hard-line supporters.

Mr. Zelaya promised to return to Honduras soon, in defiance of promises by
the de facto government to arrest him.

The government of Roberto
Michelettihttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/roberto_micheletti/index.html?inline=nyt-per,
who was named president by Congress after the military forced Mr. Zelaya
onto a plane to Costa Rica three weeks ago, threw up a raft of legal
objections to the idea of letting him return under an amnesty.

Although Mr. Arias’s plan would restore Mr. Zelaya, it would also sharply
curtail his powers and focus much of the country’s political energy on an
early presidential election.

Mr. Zelaya’s delegation nevertheless said it had agreed in principle to all
seven points. But one of Mr. Micheletti’s negotiators, Vilma Morales, a
former Supreme Court president, told local radio on Saturday that it was up
to the Honduran Congress, Supreme Court and election authorities to decide
on most of the points.

As the talks went on, Mr. Zelaya, who was in neighboring Nicaragua, told
Honduran radio that he might return home as soon as Monday.

His wife, Xiomara Castro, leading protesters in Tegucigalpa on Saturday,
said he would return within hours, “no matter the bayonets and machine guns”
his supporters might face.

Those statements could heighten tensions in Honduras, which has been
paralyzed by strikes and protests since the June 28 coup. Mr. Zelayatried to
fly into the Tegucigalpa
airporthttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/world/americas/06honduras.html
two
weeks ago on a small plane provided by the Venezuelan government, but
military vehicles parked on the tarmac blocked his approach. One supporter
was killed when soldiers pushed back those who had come to greet him.

As the talks began Saturday about 11 a.m., Mr. Arias warned both sides that
Honduras was facing increasing isolation. Mr. Zelaya has been recognized as
the legitimate president by the United
Nationshttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_nations/index.html?inline=nyt-org,
the Organization of American
Stateshttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/organization_of_american_states/index.html?inline=nyt-org
and
the Obama administration.

The Arias proposal would move forward by a month the 

[GreenYouth] [foil] Roberto Lovato: Obama Has the Power and Responsibility to Help Restore Democracy in Honduras

[Sukla Sen]

QuoteObama Has the Power and Responsibility to Help Restore Democracy in
Honduras
Unquote

What a huge shift from September 11 1973 when Allende was deposed in Chile
or April 11 2002 when Chavez was overthrown!

Sukla

From: Sayan Bhattacharyya
ok.president+f...@gmail.comok.president%2bf...@gmail.com

To: FOIL foi...@insaf.net
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:56:29 -0400
Subject: [foil] Roberto Lovato: Obama Has the Power and Responsibility to
Help Restore Democracy in Honduras
Obama Has the Power and Responsibility to Help Restore Democracy in Honduras

by Roberto Lovato

Full: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roberto-lovato/obama-has-the-power-and-r_b_222170.html


[Roberto Lovato is a New York-based contributing Associate Editor with
New America Media and a frequent contributor to The Nation Magazine.
He's also written for the Los Angeles Times, Salon, Der Spiegel, the
San Francisco Chronicle, and other national and international media
outlets. He has also appeared as a commentator in the New York Times,
Washington Post and Le Monde and on English and Spanish language
network news shows on Univision, CNN, PBS, Al Jazeera and other
outlets. Lovato is the former Executive Director of the Central
American Resource Center (CARECEN), the largest immigrant rights
organization in the country. ]

Click here to send a message to President Barack Obama:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27531


[...]

Recent declarations by the Administration -- expressions of concern
by the President and statements by Secretary of State Clinton
recognizing Zelaya as the only legitimate, elected leader of Honduras
-- appear to indicate preliminary disapproval of the putsch. Yet, the
even more unequivocal statements of condemnation from U.N. President
Miguel D'Escoto, the Organization of American States, the European
Union, and the Presidents of Argentina, Costa Rica and many other
governments raise greatly the bar of expectation before the Obama
Administration.

[...]

Beyond immediate calls to continue demanding that Zelaya and
democratic order be reinstated, protesters in Honduras, Latin America
and across the United States will also pressure the Obama
Administration to take a number of tougher measures including: cutting
off of U.S. military aid, demanding that Hondurans and others
kidnapped, jailed and detained be released and accounted for
immediately, bringing Vasquez and coup leaders to justice,
investigating what U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, did or
didn't know about the coup. [...]

Latin American skepticism of U.S. intentions is not unfounded. [...]

Click here to send a message to President Barack Obama:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27531


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[GreenYouth] Call for Endorsement: Letter to Maharshtra Home Minister Protesting Official Kidnap of Activists Coinciding with Hillary Clinton Visit to Mummbai

[Sukla Sen]

Friends,

Today's press-cum-public meet (ref: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/message/32655) held at the Press
Club , Mumbai decided to take a delegation to the state Home Minister and
hand over the letter reproduced below, which is self-explanatory, at the
very earliest.
A formal appointment with him is being sought.

You are requested to immediately send in your endoresements.

In solidarity,
Sukla Sen
for Citizens' Initiative for Peace (CIP)
*
*
Letter to Maharshtra Home Minister Protesting Official Kidnap of Activists
Coinciding with Hillary Clinton Visit to Mummbai

To

The Home Minister of Maharashtra,
Mantralay,
Mumbai

*Sub: Undemocratic Arrest/Detention of Activists by Mumbai Police Coinciding
with the Visit of Ms Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, to the
City *

Sir,

We, on behalf of the Citizens’ Initiative for Peace (CIP), note with a sense
of shock and horror and consequently draw your attention to the fact, even
if already well covered by the media, that on the last Friday, July 17,
evening, three prominent social/political activist from Mumbai viz., Feroze
Mithiborwala, Kishor Jagtap and Aslam Ghazi were picked up by the Mumbai
Police and kept under detention, in two city police stations, for over
twenty hours.
No reason whatever has been indicated for this official kidnap.

It appears that they were picked up to scuttle the possibility, just
possibility, of any protest demonstration against the visiting US Secretary
of State, Ms. Hillary Clinton.

One does not have to agree with political positions of those who were
detained in order to strongly denounce this grossly undemocratic act on the
part of the Mumbai Police.
*The right to dissent, and dissent in public, is what sets a “democracy
apart from an authoritarian regime.* And we never tire of claiming, and not
too unjustifiably, that India is the largest democracy in the world.
It is precisely in that context, the action of the Mumbai Police is
extremely unfortunate and utterly condemnable.
It is also, could we add, pretty foolish to do so when the attention of the
national and international media is focussed on the city because of the
visit by the high profile dignitary. It, we are sure, has caused significant
damage to India’s democratic credentials. And even the visiting dignitary
cannot escape unscathed the negative fallout as many would tend to hold her
at least indirectly responsible.

In view of above, *we demand that as a remedial measure at least a
departmental enquiry be immediately instituted for fixing responsibilities
for such irresponsible and grossly undemocratic act. You may also issue an
explanation and a note of apology as the proverbial buck presumably stops at
your door.*

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Dolphy D'souza, Bombay Catholic Sabha
Jatin Desai, People's media Initiative
Sukla Sen, EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity)
Dr. Lena Ganesh, social activist
Sohaib Lokhandwala, Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ)
Anand Patwardhan, film-maker
Kamayani Bali Mahabal, human rights activist
Asad Bin Saif, BUILD
Mukta Srivastava, NAPM
Sudhir Badami, town and transportation system planner and social activist
Daniel Mazgaonkar, Sarvodaya activist
Ruchi Shroff, social activist
Sanober Keshwar, lawyer
Kumar Ketkar, Editor *Loksatta*
Gayatri Singh, human rights lawyer
Manasi Pingle, film-maker
Chirag Suvarna, social activist
Chetna Birje, lawyer
Sumedh Jadhav, Friends of Society
Munawar Azad, Awami Bharat
Maqbool Alam, Wakf Khidmat Committee

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[GreenYouth] Report of the National Conference on the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008

[Sukla Sen]

From: ACHR REVIEW achr_rev...@achrweb.org
Date: Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Subject: Report of the National Conference on the Prevention of Torture
Bill, 2008


Asian Centre for Human Rights
 [ACHR has Special Consultative Status with the UN ECOSOC]
C-3/441-C, Janakpuri, New Delhi-110058, India
Tel/Fax:  +91-11- 45501889 25620583
Website: www.achrweb.org; Email: achr_rev...@achrweb.org


Embargoed for: 21 July 2009

Dear Sir/Madam,

Asian Centre for Human Rights has the pleasure to share its “Report of the
National Conference on the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008” which is
available at:

http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/India-Anti-Torture-Bill-2009.pdf

The report among others contains

I.  An Open Letter to the Members of Parliament of Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha

II. Recommendations of the National Conference in the form of a model
“Prevention and Punishment of Torture, Bill 2009”

III.Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008 as drafted by the government of
India

The report was submitted to various Members of Parliament today seeking
their interventions with the Prime Minister of India to place the
Prevention Torture Bill before the Parliamentary Standing Committee after
necessary modifications to comply with the UN Convention Against Torture
(UNCAT). The Ministry of External Affairs has drafted the “Prevention of
Torture Bill, 2008” in order to “ratify the UNCAT and to provide for more
effective implementation.”

Since the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued the guidelines to
report custodial death cases within 24 hours in December 1993, the NHRC
recorded the custodial deaths of 16,836 persons or an average of 1203
persons per year during 1994-2008. These included 2,207 deaths in police
custody and 14,629 deaths in judicial custody.

ACHR asserted that the number of custodial deaths in India have been
rising consistently
with 1,037 custodial deaths in 2000-2001; 1,305 in 2001-2002; 1,340 in
2002-2003; 1,462 in 2003-2004; 1,493 in 2004-2005; 1,730 in 2005-2006;
1,596 in 2006-2007 and 1,977 in 2007-2008.

The National Conference called upon the government of India to expand the
definition of torture to conform to the obligations of the UNCAT. Despite
the widespread prevalence of custodial death resulting from torture, the
Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008 makes no reference to death as a result
of torture.

The National Conference rejected proposed maximum punishment of 10 years
imprisonment for torture as highly inadequate given cases of torture to
death.

The National Conference on the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008 also
rejected the six months limitation from the date on which the offence of
torture is alleged to have been committed for taking cognizance.

The National Conference recommended that the proposed Act should be
renamed as “Prevention and Punishment of Torture Act” and further made
specific recommendations to ensure compliance with the UN Convention
Against Torture and include provisions, in particular, ensuring that an
order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as
a justification for committing torture (Article 2); establishing
jurisdiction over acts of torture committed by or against a party's
citizens (Article 4);  ensuring that torture is an extraditable offence
(Article 8);  establishing universal jurisdiction to try cases of torture
where an alleged torturer cannot be extradited (Article 5);  providing
mechanism to promptly investigate any allegation of torture (Articles 12 
13);  providing an enforceable right to compensation to the victims of
torture (Article 14);  banning the use of evidence obtained through
torture in the courts (Article 15); and  barring deportation, extradition
or refoulement of any person where there are substantial grounds for
believing she/she will be subjected to torture (Article 3).

We thought you would find the Report of interest.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely



Suhas Chakma
Director
suhascha...@achrweb.org

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[GreenYouth] Fwd: [IHRO] Call for Endorsement: Letter to Maharshtra Home Minister Protesting Official Kidnap of Activists Coinciding with Hillary Clinton Visit to Mummbai

[Sukla Sen]

There is nothing to show that the administration was asked to bend.
It can very well repress entirely on its own. And, in fact, does it day in
and day out.

(Similar was the response when Hu Jintao had visited.)

Custodial tortures and encounter killings are just routine here.

But this has offered us an excellent opportunity to hit back and make the
administration really bend.
We must seize the opportunity with both the hands.

Sukla


On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 7:02 AM, psn.1946 psn.1...@gmail.com wrote:

 It is condemnable in the strongest language. Why should the administration
 prostrate
 even before it is asked to bend?

 Sankaranarayanan,
 Bhubaneswar.


 On 7/22/09, Dr A R Mookhi drmoo...@hotmail.com wrote:



 Copy of letter sent to Newspapers:


 *Can Indiad be Beacon of Human Rights?*



 The uproar caused by the preventive detention of Feroz Mithiborwals,
 Kishore Jagtap and Aslam Ghazi should grow louder and focus on India’s
 deplorable record of  human rights violations.

 It is hard to believe that India is one of the few countries in the world
 whose Constitution allows for preventive detention during peacetime without
 safeguards that elsewhere are understood to be basic requirements for
 protecting fundamental human rights . India has so many laws that cannot
 stand the scrutiny of a liberal democratic constitution. There is an UN
 Convention against Torture [CAT] and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
 treatment or punishment. This convention is in place for the last over 20
 years. India took a decade to sign it. In its 30th year India was among
 only six nations who had failed to ratify it. This, in spite of numerous
 appeals and petitions sent to our Prime Minister by Human Rights groups.
 There is an International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR}.
 India has ratified it. Still the recently amended UAPA [Unlawful Activities
 Prevention Act], in Soli Sorabjee’s opinion, is inconsistent with that
 International Covenant. Lord Meghnad Desai has called this law blatant
 violation of human rights. He says it cannot survive a PIL that challenges
 its violation of human rights. Our statute-book needs lot of cleansing.

  Let us hope that the voices of protest which have risen amplify into a
 movement which fights for scrapping of all anti-people laws and prevent
 their enactment. India should be a beacon of Human Rights and Civil Liberty.



 *Dr. Mookhi Amir Ali,*

 *Dadabhai Rd., Santacruz West,*

 *Mumbai 400054220709*


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 ecological-democr...@lists.riseup.net
 From: sukla@gmail.com
 Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:23:29 +0530
 Subject: [IHRO] Call for Endorsement: Letter to Maharshtra Home Minister
 Protesting Official Kidnap of Activists Coinciding with Hillary Clinton
 Visit to Mummbai


Friends,

 Today's press-cum-public meet (ref: 
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/message/32655) held at the
 Press Club , Mumbai decided to take a delegation to the state Home
 Minister and hand over the letter reproduced below, which is
 self-explanatory, at the very earliest.
 A formal appointment with him is being sought.

 You are requested to immediately send in your endoresements.

 In solidarity,
 Sukla Sen
 for Citizens' Initiative for Peace (CIP)
 *
 *
 Letter to Maharshtra Home Minister Protesting Official Kidnap of
 Activists Coinciding with Hillary Clinton Visit to Mummbai

 To


 The Home Minister of Maharashtra,
 Mantralay,
 Mumbai


 *Sub: Undemocratic Arrest/Detention of Activists by Mumbai Police
 Coinciding with the Visit of Ms Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State,
 to the City *


 Sir,


 We, on behalf of the Citizens’ Initiative for Peace (CIP), note with a
 sense of shock and horror and consequently draw your attention to the fact,
 even if already well covered by the media, that on the last Friday, July 17,
 evening, three prominent social/political activist from Mumbai viz., Feroze
 Mithiborwala, Kishor Jagtap and Aslam Ghazi were picked up by the Mumbai
 Police and kept under detention, in two city police stations, for over
 twenty hours.
 No reason whatever has been indicated for this official kidnap.


 It appears that they were picked up to scuttle the possibility, just
 possibility, of any protest demonstration against the visiting US Secretary
 of State, Ms. Hillary Clinton.


 One does not have to agree with political positions of those who were
 detained in order to strongly denounce this grossly undemocratic act on the
 part of the Mumbai Police.
 *The right to dissent, and dissent

[GreenYouth] Honduras Updates

[Sukla Sen]

I/II.http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE56K5WX20090722?sp=true

Honduras' Zelaya urges U.S. to step up sanctions
Tue Jul 21, 2009

By Simon 
Gardnerhttp://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=usn=Simon.Gardner

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya called on
the United States Tuesday to impose tough new sanctions against the de facto
government that toppled him in a coup last month.

Zelaya said he wrote to U.S. PresidentBarack
Obamahttp://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/barackobama and
asked him to step up the pressure against Honduras' coup leaders.

The army rousted Zelaya from his bed and sent him into exile in his pajamas
in a pre-dawn raid on June 28, after accusing him of violating the
constitution by trying to extend presidential term limits

Obama's administration has condemned the coup, cut $16.5 million in military
aid and threatened to slash economic aid, but Zelaya said more was needed.

All this has been insufficient, he said from exile in neighboring
Nicaragua, urging new measures against the individuals who ordered and
carried out the coup, and have joined the interim government.

Talks mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to resolve the crisis
collapsed over the weekend but he asked both sides until Wednesday to find a
breakthrough.

With negotiations deadlocked and Zelaya vowing to return to Honduras within
days, some Latin American leaders fear Central America's worst crisis since
the end of the Cold War could flare into violence.

The U.S. government Tuesday threw its weight behind Arias' proposal which
calls for Zelaya's reinstatement to set up a coalition government. It also
stipulates that he abandon his bid to overhaul the constitution, which was
opposed by the military, Congress and Supreme Court.

We're in constant contact with a number of countries in the hemisphere
regarding the situation in Honduras, and we believe the Arias mediation is
the right way to go, and the time is now to ... resolve this issue, State
Department deputy spokesman Robert A. Wood told reporters.

Zelaya said he would give Arias the 72 hours he had requested, but if no
deal was reached he would return to Honduras as early as Thursday despite a
standing threat from the de facto government to immediately arrest him.

He made a failed bid to return in a Venezuelan plane earlier this month.
Soldiers blocked the runway and at least one protester was killed in clashes
with the army.

TEST FOR OBAMA

The crisis is testing President Barack
Obamahttp://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/barackobama as
he seeks to improve U.S. relations with Latin America, where a growing bloc
of leftist leaders that includes Zelaya has challenged Washington's
influence in recent years.

He faces pressure from Latin American heavyweight Brazil and other countries
in the region who want more pressure on Honduras' de facto government but at
home some Republicans in Congress feel Obama is showing too much support to
Zelaya.

Rivals of the ousted president say he was seeking to turn the traditionally
conservative coffee and textile exporting nation into a satellite of
Venezuela's firebrand leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez has been a vocal supporter of Zelaya, putting his troops on alert
soon after the coup and rallying regional support around the deposed leader,
who has been touring the region and visiting Washington.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim called U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton last week to complain that talks were dragging on too long
and that Zelaya should be reinstated without conditions, a Brazilian
diplomat said.

The negotiations must not reward a coup, which could in turn encourage
other coups, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Zelaya's supporters hope the United States -- Honduras' No. 1 trading
partner -- will ultimately force interim leader Roberto Micheletti to back
down.

We think we are close to a deal, because there is international pressure
for the coup-mongers to talk, said Juan Vazquez, 35, an indigenous leader
who joined around 500 Zelaya supporters in a march in the capital
Tegucigalpa Tuesday.

Zelaya will get all the support he needs from the people to get him back
into the presidency, said Jose Israel Estrada, 60, as he listened to
Zelaya, sporting his trademark cowboy hat, speak from Nicaragua over a dusty
radio outside the ranch owned by the ousted leader in the central province
of Olancho.

The Swedish European Union presidency said the bloc would continue to
restrict political contacts with Micheletti's government and consider
further targeted measures.

The interim government remained defiant Tuesday, saying it has no intention
of allowing Zelaya to retake power.

It also gave the staff at Venezuela's embassy 72 hours to quit the country,
but they said they would refuse to leave.

(Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa, Ivan Castro in
Managua; Sean Mattson in Lepaguare, Tim Gaynor in 

[GreenYouth] Lalgarh Updates

[Sukla Sen]

I/II.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Mahato-reaches-out-to-CPM-partners/492108

Mahato reaches out to CPM partners
Ravik Bhattacharyahttp://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/ravikbhattacharya/
Tuesday , Jul 21, 2009 at 0452 hrs
Kolkata:
*
*
*

The leader of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities, which is
spearheading the tribal agitation in Lalgarh, is knocking on the doors of
Left Front partners besides CPM for support. The RSP confirmed that they had
talked to Chattradhar Mahato recently, and he reportedly received a
favourable response from the party as well as the All India Forward Bloc.

RSP central committee member Manoj Bhattacharjee said, “We had a talk with
Mahato regarding Lalgarh. We still maintain that police operation is not a
solution to the problems there. We will deliberate on this issue within our
party and also highlight it at the Left Front meeting.”

The CPM has branded Mahato a Maoist and the security forces in Lalgarh have
included him in the list of most wanted. However, both the Forward Bloc and
RSP have publicly opposed banning the Maoists.

Speaking to The Indian Express on the phone, Mahato said: “Our main enemy is
the CPM and police. It is not necessary that other Left Front parties should
also be against us. I talked to senior leaders of RSP and Forward Bloc. I
sought their support for our agitation and to stop the Lalgarh operations.
They gave a favourable reply.”

II.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/186676_Schools-in-Lalgarh-likely-to-be-reopened-by-August-one

Schools in Lalgarh likely to be reopened by August one

Kolkata, July 21 (PTI) A day after police lathicharged students in Lalgarh
protesting against security forces occupying school buildings, the West
Bengal government today said it was trying to reopen the schools by August
one.

We are looking to reopen the schools by August one, Home Secretary
Ardhendu Sen told reporters here. He had earlier said security forces would
vacate the schools by next month.

Sen said the Public Health Engineering department has set up four
accommodations for the central forces and is in the process of building
eight more alternative ones.

Admitting that demonstrations were taking place at Lalgarh over security
forces' continued occupation of school buildings, Sen, however, apologised
for lathicharge on students.
*

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[GreenYouth] Unfolding Obama Presidency: Stiff Challenge of Heath Care Reform

[Sukla Sen]

I.July 23, 2009
A Defining Moment Nears for PresidentBy SHERYL GAY
STOLBERGhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/sheryl_gay_stolberg/index.html?inline=nyt-per

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/us/politics/23obama.html


WASHINGTON — Six months into his administration, President
Obamahttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per
is
at a pivotal moment. He has pushed through a $787 billion economicstimulus
packagehttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/u/united_states_economy/economic_stimulus/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier,
bailed out Wall Street and, on Tuesday, managed to beat the defense industry
in the Senate, which voted to kill a high-profile fighter jet program.

On Wednesday night Mr. Obama addresses the nation in a prime-time news
conference as the public, and lawmakers, are growing skittish over his next
big plan, to remake the American health care system. How he handles the
issue over the next several weeks could shape the rest of his presidency,
shedding light on his political strength, his relationship with both parties
in Congress and his appetite to fight for his own agenda.

With some fellow Democrats balking over his insistence that both the House
and the Senate pass health legislation before the August recess, Mr. Obama
has a tough decision to make: Does he take a hard line, demanding that
lawmakers stick to his timetable — and risk losing the support of
Republicans and moderate Democrats? Or does he signal flexibility, allowing
lawmakers to take their time — and give opponents the chance to marshal
their case against the bill?

“He’s got to be careful that while he ratchets up the pressure, he doesn’t
bet his whole presidency on whether this gets done before the August
recess,” said Kenneth M. Duberstein, who orchestrated President Ronald
Reaganhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/ronald_wilson_reagan/index.html?inline=nyt-per’s
first-term legislative strategy. “He has a broad, broad agenda that he’s in
a rush to enact, and if he’s not careful he will be viewed as a steamroller
who tries to get things fast and not necessarily right.”

Rahm 
Emanuelhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/rahm_emanuel/index.html?inline=nyt-per,
the White House chief of staff, said in an interview that the president
intended to use the news conference as a “six-month report card,” to talk
about “how we rescued the economy from the worst
recessionhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/recession_and_depression/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier”
and the legislative agenda moving forward, including health care and energy
legislation, which squeaked through the House and faces a tough road in the
Senate.

Polls show that Mr. Obama is more popular than his own policies, a worrisome
sign for a president with such an ambitious agenda. Mickey Edwards, a former
Republican congressman who is now vice president of the Aspen Institute,
said Mr. Obama might be making a mistake in reading his election as a
mandate for dramatic change.

“A lot of people supported Obama because they wanted to repudiate the Bush
administration,” said Mr. Edwards, who backed Mr. Obama for president. “I
was one of those people who supported him for reasons other than the
policies he is proposing. He seemed more thoughtful, more contemplative — I
felt he had the right temperament to be president. But I think his health
care proposal goes beyond what the public at the moment is ready to accept.”

Mr. Obama came into office promising a more bipartisan Washington tone,
which he has so far been unable to achieve. His actions in the coming weeks
on health care may determine his long-term relationship not only with
Republicans but also with his fellow Democrats.

“I think this will be a major factor in defining his presidency,” said Tom
Daschlehttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/tom_daschle/index.html?inline=nyt-per,
the former Senate Democratic leader, who remains a close adviser to the
White House on health issues. “Because he’s made it such an issue, and
because he has invested so much personal time and effort, this will, more
than stimulus and more than anything he has done so far, be a measure of his
clout and of his success early on. And because it is early on, it will
define his subsequent years.”

On the Republican side, one question is whether Mr. Obama will succumb to
the temptation to turn health care into a partisan fight, even as he tries
to court the opposing party. He is, after all, still a popular new president
confronting an unpopular Republican
Partyhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/republican_party/index.html?inline=nyt-org,
and so it would be easy for him to demonize Republicans as obstructionists
who want to stand in the way of progress.

Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, gave Mr. Obama an 

[GreenYouth] Concerned Citizens' Response on NHRC Report on Batla House Encounter

[Sukla Sen]

Media Release
23 July 2009

On 20th May, the Delhi High Court, acting on a petition filed by the
People’s union for democratic rights and Anhad, had asked the National
Human rights commission to conduct their own inqury into the alleged
Batla House encounter of September 2008 and give a report upon it.
This order of the High Court was made after the High Court was shown
reports of four independent organisations into the encounter,
including the report of PUDR, the Delhi union of journalists, the
Jamia Teachers Solidarity group, all of which seriously questioned the
version of the Delhi police regarding the encounter. These reports and
the petition filed by the PUDR had pointed out several specific
problems with the version of the Delhi police. In particular, the
following questions were raised about the version of the Delhi police.

  1. If these boys were killed in a genuine encounter, how did the
17-year-old boy Sajid have four bullet holes on the top of his head,
which could only happen if the boy was made to sit down and shot from
above.
  2. How is the skin peeled off from Atif’s back? This was clearly
visible in the photograph taken before his burial which is annexed to
the PUDR petition. Obviously Atif had been tortured before being
killed.
  3. How are the other blunt injuries on the bodies of the boys
explained by the police version of the encounter?
  4. If the police knew in advance (as they claimed) that these boys
in the flat were the terrorists involved in the Delhi and other bomb
blasts, why did Inspector Sharma go in without a bullet proof vest?
  5. How could 2 of the boys escape from the flat which had only one
exit (two doors next to each other) and from a building which had only
one exit?

It was expected that in these circumstances, the NHRC, would conduct
its own investigation into the matter. The report dated 20th July 2009
of the NHRC given to the High Court on 22nd July, however shows that
far from conducting any investigation into the matter, the NHRC has
merely relied upon the Police reports for their report. They have not
even examined or investigated the above questions which were squarely
raised in the PUDR petition on which the High Court order was issued
to the NHRC. They have not even examined Saif, the third boy picked up
by the police from the flat, nor even any of the witnesses of the
Batla house area who had deposed before the People’s Tribunal. They
have just swallowed the police version hook, line and sinker. And this
is despite the fact that there has been no independant police
investigation or even a Magisterial enquiry into the encounter as
mandated by the NHRC’s own guidelines.

It is extremely unfortunate that the premier Human Rights Body set up
to investigate Human Rights violations is becoming a rubber stamp for
the police. The same attitude of the NHRC was evident when the Supreme
Court asked the NHRC to investigate allegations of Rape and Murder
against the Salwa Judum. The NHRC send a team of essentially police
officers who spoke mainly to the local police and other officials and
gave a white washing report.

The time has come to seriously reexamine the manner of appointment of
members of the NHRC and its powers. The present system of appointment
by a committee of Prime Minister, Home Minister, Speaker and Leader of
Opposition etc. is not working satisfactorily. All of them seem to
want a toothless and tame body which will not question those in power.

Since the NHRC report does not address or answer the disquieting
questions raised by the several independent fact finding reports about
encounter, it is therefore essential that there be an investigation
into the encounter by an SIT appointed by the Delhi HIgh Court.

Signed by:
 Shabnam Hashmi (Anhad)
 Moushumi Basu (Secretary, PUDR)
 Dr. Anoop Saraya (Jan Hastakshep)
 Harsh Mander (Director, Center for Equity Studies)
 Sreerekha  Tanvir Fazar (Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group)
 Colin Gonsalves (Director, Human Rights Law Network)
 Arundhati Roy (Writer)
 Kavita Krishnan (CPI ML Liberation)
 Kamini Jaiswal (Advocate)
 Mehtab Alam (Association for the protection of democratic rights)
 Prashant Bhushan (Advocate)
 Harsh Dobhal (Human Rights Law network)

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[GreenYouth] Oppose the Proposed Nuclear Liability Cap Bill in India

[Sukla Sen]

The proposed bill must be opposed tooth and nail.
More so, as it's so ridiculous to indemnify the entities who appear to stand
already indemnified.

The suppliers, are all across the board - for all industries, indemnified
from consequential damages.
It is the operator, who is responsible for damages out of accidents while
the plant is operating.
In India, as of now, the DAE/NPCL is the operator. And that cannot change
till the 1962 Atomic Energy Act (with all its grossly anti-democratic
provisions) is amended to allow for private operators. *It looks like this
is a move in that direction, in stages, to confuse and tone down likely
opposition.*

The other interesting part is that, no insurance company insures a nuclear
power plant. That's why all this problem!
That's just unique to this industry only.
The reasons and implications must be publicised as much as possible to *expose
the nasty and shameless lie of the claim that nuclear power, particularly
with current generation of reactors, is safe*.

However, *India ratifying the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for
Nuclear Damage (CSCNL)*, to my mind, *is not necessarily a bad idea*.
This is a separate issue.
It is likely to ensure higher level of compensatory protection to
the victims of a nuclear accident.
It is unlikely that any individual commercial entity would be able to do
that. Even going bankrupt.
Even the Indian state would in all probability find itself inadequate and
hence reluctant.
So a collective (state) umbrella, sort of a substitute for customary
commercial insurance, should rather be welcomed as long as the nuclear power
plants operate.

Sukla

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=cr010809a_time.asp

*A Time Bomb We Await*

*Hillary Clinton was here to urge a dangerous deal — that the US never has
to clean up another Bhopal mess*

*NITYANAND JAYARAMAN
**Independent journalist*

*Saturday, 25 July 2009*

THE FALLOUT of Hillary Clinton’s recent visit to India could be dangerously
nuclear, literally. Clinton’s India visit had an important agenda – to urge
India to pass a law to ensure that a Bhopallike disaster does not trouble
its victims for as long as the 25-year-old tragedy has. There is one twist,
though. Bhopalis are not the subject of this proposed legislation. Rather,
the ‘victims’ that the two Governments are committed to helping are US
multinationals like GE that are champing at the bit to supply nuclear
equipment and lure India’s $175 billion nuclear market. India expects to set
up 40,000 MW of nuclear power plants over the next 20 years.

The poor little rich American corporations are petulant. State-owned
companies like France’s Areva SA and Russia’s Rusatom are already in the
race to supply equipment to India. But private sector players like GE and
Toshiba Westinghouse say they will not invest until India ratifies the
Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSCNL) and
installs a domestic civilian nuclear liability regime. They want no part of
the liabilities arising out of a Bhopal-like disaster. Rather, they say, the
entire liability in the event of a catastrophe should be borne solely by the
Indian operator of the facility. Like his predecessor, President Obama is
pushing India to guarantee that the Union Carbides of the nuclear world
suffer no losses regardless of the role that may have been played by their
equipment or technology in causing the disaster.

Exclusive liability for operators of facilities and supplier immunity may
have been the norm in earlier nuclear liability conventions adopted by some
nations. “But then, no other nation has suffered a Bhopal like disaser,”
states Kanyakumari-based anti-nuke activist S.P. Udayakumar. Indeed, Union
Carbide’s decision to deploy flawed design and untested technology
contributed substantially to the magnitude of the disaster.

An unnamed minister quoted in a June 27 Business Standard article says the
Government has a draft nuclear liability bill ready. “What this will do is
indemnify American companies so that they don’t have to go through another
Union Carbide in Bhopal,” he said. Local operators, on the other hand, will
have to raise $450 million up-front to cover post-disaster compensation
costs. Additional costs will have to be borne by Indian taxpayers. The
Price-Andersen Act in the US also imposes a similar burden on the American
taxpayer. According to Cato Institute, the free market think-tank, this
could translate into a subsidy of 2 to 3 US cents for every unit of
electricity generated. Another estimate places the annual subsidy extended
by the Price Andersen Act to the industry at about $3 billion.

Ironically, the liability cap — $450 million — is exactly what Union Carbide
paid for the Bhopal disaster. Whittled down from the original $3 billion
that the Government estimated as the cost of compensation, the final
settlement when spread across 6 lakh victims amounted to a paltry $500 per
victim – insufficient even to cover a 

[GreenYouth] Fwd: WE STILL FIGHT, BUT WITH WORDS, N O LONGER WITH GUNS’

[Sukla Sen]

One would hopefully find the following comparisons quite instructive.
Sukla

I.
Quote
*Have you left the path of armed struggle for good?*
*
*We have given up violence for the time being. In fact, we want to integrate
our People's Liberation Army into the Nepal Army so that our boys receive
good training. To us, this was part of a restructuring exercise. The Army is
rather feudal and is resisting this.

If the peace process is long, some cadres may leave us. Some of them have
joined the Terai movement. Even within our party, some want to go back to
the path of revolution. A philosophical churning is on, not just within our
party but within other parties as well.
Unquote
[Source: The interview posted here, also available at 
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne010809we_still.asp.]

II.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200805172067.htm

*Prachanda sends strong signal to Indian Maoists to shun arms

Kathmandu (PTI): Sending a strong message to Maoists in India to shun
violence, Prachanda on Saturday said the Leftist rebels' electoral triumph
in Nepal should make them understand the difference between ballot and
bullet.

Our behaviour, our policy, our practice itself strongly gave the message to
the Maoists of India. Though, we don't want to directly address them, the
benefit we have got, the difference of ballot and bullet has already sent a
message, the Maoist chief told Karan Thapar here in an interview for
CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme.

Prachanda, believed to be Nepal's prime minister-in- waiting, was asked what
advice he would give to the Maoists in India.

There should be a serious discussion in the matter inside the Maoists of
India. A strong message has already gone to the Maoists of India and Maoists
all over the world about our victory, said the 53-year-old CPN-Maoist
chief, who led a decade-long armed struggle against monarchy before joining
political mainstream in 2006.

Asked whether he would like India to persuade the US to take the Maoists off
the terror list, said I won't request them but expect them to do it.

In fact, we already have contact with the US administration, he said.
*

III.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/17/stories/2008051754771100.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/17/stories/2008051754771100.htm
*'The situation in Nepal and India are completely different'*

K. Srinivas Reddy

The ideological debates and discussions with the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist) have to continue, says Indian Maoist spokesperson Azad.

*In a prepared interview, Indian Maoist spokesperson Azad says that just
coming to power through Parliament cannot lead to restructuring the system
in Nepal. To the extent possible, the Maoists could use their relative
control over the state to help the masses in their struggle for freedom,
democracy and livelihood, he says. *

Snipped

IV.

Quote

However, *in the name of struggle against dogmatism, there have been serious
deviations in the International Communist Movement (ICM), often going into
an even greater, or at least equally dangerous, abyss of right deviation and
revisionism. In the name of creative application of Marxism, communist
parties have fallen into the trap of right opportunism, bourgeois pluralist
Euro-Communism, rabid anti-Stalinism, anarchist post-modernism and outright
revisionism.* 

...

*The agreement by the Maoists to become part of the interim government in
Nepal cannot transform the reactionary character of the state machinery that
serves the exploiting ruling classes and imperialists. The state can be the
instrument in the hands of either the exploiting classes or the proletariat
but it cannot serve the interests of both these bitterly-contending classes.
It is the fundamental tenet of Marxism that no basic change in the social
system can be brought about without smashing the state machine. Reforms from
above cannot bring any qualitative change in the exploitative social system
however democratic the new Constitution might seem to be, and even if the
Maoists become an important component of the government. It is sheer
illusion to think that a new Nepal can be built without smashing the
existing state.*

...

A Maoist victory in Nepal, or at least the further consolidation of the vast
Base Areas in that country, would have given rise to a new situation in
South Asia, and a new democratic Nepal advancing towards socialism would
have become a focal point, a rallying point, for the revolutionary forces in
the region as well as all anti-imperialist, genuinely nationalist and
democratic forces. It would have also played a significant role in the
world-wide front against imperialism and assisted the national liberation
struggles and revolutionary struggles thereby strengthening the cause of
world socialist revolution. But the government led by CPN(M) under com
Prachanda, on the contrary, has not even condemned the Israeli zionist
brutal aggression and massacres of Palestinians in Gaza. It is really

[GreenYouth] Stop! Militarization of Democratic Processes and Space- Call for a Public Meeting

[Sukla Sen]

27 July 2009



*Stop! Militarization of Democratic Processes and Space*

*A Public Meeting *

*04th August 2009, India Islamic Cultural Center, Lodi Road, New Delhi*

*3.00 pm to 7.30 pm ***





Dear friends,



According to newspaper reports, the Union Home Ministry is planning to
finish the Maoists in a military action after the monsoons, a move which
appears to have the support of all the state governments.  This military
model is now being practiced all around in South Asia at huge costs to
civilian lives.  We have seen this happen in the recently concluded war in
Sri Lanka. The operation in Lalgarh seems to be a case of testing the
waters. The Maoists for their part are also increasingly resorting to major
provocative strikes, in which large numbers of police personnel have died.



While the government and the Maoists are engaged in militarism, the real
issues that concern the people have been lost. Apart from the issue of land
acquisition and displacement, food security, education and health, the right
of people to live in peace and dignity has been denied through this
conflict. The Home Minister says that development will follow security –
this is against all the principles of citizenship as well as most expert
analysis of Naxalism. The police and security view of Naxalism as purely a
law and order problem, which needs more security forces, more police
stations and better weaponry ignores the context which gave rise to Naxalism
in the first place, including corruption and harassment by the police,
especially when it comes to dalits and adivasis.  The militaristic approach
of the Government of India and of the state governments to a situation which
is an outcome of their own systematic and criminal neglect over the years of
adivasi areas, cannot be allowed to take centre stage.



In the past similar militaristic approaches have boomeranged at heavy cost
to people. The Salwa Judum campaign, used both armed civilians and security
forces to burn villages and force people into camps. The Maoists have used
the State offensive to further militarization. This massive militarization
on the both sides has resulted in loss of lives and  has created huge
problems for adivasi people. More than 1000 people were killed and many
women were raped in the Salwa Judum operations and hundreds of thousands
still remain displaced five years after the start of that disastrous
experiment. By appointing SPOs in Orissa and Manipur and transforming the
SPOs into Koya Commandos in Chhattisgarh, the government has refused to
learn from the failure of this policy. In continuing to glorify Salwa Judum
and refusing to compensate and rehabilitate villagers even ten months after
its admission in the Supreme Court, the Chhattisgarh government is in
contempt of the Supreme Court.  The BJP Government of Chhhattisgarh is not
interested in health workers, teachers or grain for its population – it only
wants police and more police. At the same time huge tracts of land and
resources are being handed over to corporate.



*As concerned citizens of this country, who wish for a peaceful, democratic
and just resolution of conflicts, we invite you to discuss these issues and
help to craft a non-militaristic solution.  *

* *

*We call upon all sides to engage in dialogue, specifically putting the
interests of civilians and citizens as their top priority, as against the
interests of capitalists, the bureaucracy and the party. *



*In addition we demand that the Government of Chhattisgarh which has been
responsible for serious crimes against humanity, make good its promise to
the Supreme Court to rehabilitate and compensate people who have been
affected by Salwa Judum, and to move security forces out of civilian spaces.
We also demand a full enquiry into all extra-judicial killings that have
taken place in the former undivided district of Bastar since 2005, and
prosecution of all those guilty. *



*Group of organizations, movements and individuals have called for a public
meeting on 04th August 2009 at India Islamic Cultural Center (Conference
Hall # 1, from 3.00 pm to 7.30 pm) Lodi Road, New Delhi. You are requested
to express your endorsement and be part of this as co-organizer and also to
support this assembly with minimum contribution of Rs. 1000, which would be
used to meet progarmme costs.  *



*Endorsed  Co- organized by*



Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chhattisgarh (CPJC)

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Delhi Forum

The Other Media

Combat Law

Jamia Teacher’s Solidarity Group, New Delhi

Nandini Sunder

Vijay Pratap, Convenor, Socialist Front

Nivedita Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Aditya Nigam, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi

Anhad, Shabnam Hashmi

Manoranjan Mohanty, Retired Professor, University of Delhi

Gautam Mody, NTUI, New Delhi

Rakesh Shukla, Advocate Supreme Court

Mamta Dash, National Forum of Forest People  Forest Workers

Subrat Sahu, Independent Film Maker

Sandeep Pandey, 

[GreenYouth] Re: Call for Endorsement: Letter to Maharshtra Home Minister Protesting Official Kidnap of Activists Coinciding with Hillary Clinton Visit to Mummbai

[Sukla Sen]

Thanks.
Sukla

On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 8:08 PM, contact cont...@sichrem.org wrote:

  Dear Mr. Sen,

 Please include ' South India Cell for Human Rights Education and
 Monitoring- SICHREM' in the list of endorsements.

 Sincerely,

 Mathews Philip.

 - Original Message -
 *From:* Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com
 *To:* citizen-mumbai citizen-mum...@googlegroups.com ; 
 peace-mumbaipeace-mum...@googlegroups.com;
 INSAANIYATBOMBAY insaaniyatbom...@yahoogroups.com ; Free Binayak 
 Senfree-binayak...@googlegroups.com;
 india-un...@yahoogroups.com ; greenyouth greenyouth@googlegroups.com
 *Sent:* Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:18 PM
 *Subject:* [GreenYouth] Call for Endorsement: Letter to Maharshtra Home
 Minister Protesting Official Kidnap of Activists Coinciding with Hillary
 Clinton Visit to Mummbai

  Friends,

 Today's press-cum-public meet (ref: 
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/message/32655) held at the
 Press Club , Mumbai decided to take a delegation to the state Home
 Minister and hand over the letter reproduced below, which is
 self-explanatory, at the very earliest.
 A formal appointment with him is being sought.

 You are requested to immediately send in your endoresements.

 In solidarity,
 Sukla Sen
 for Citizens' Initiative for Peace (CIP)
 *
 *
 Letter to Maharshtra Home Minister Protesting Official Kidnap of
 Activists Coinciding with Hillary Clinton Visit to Mummbai

 To

 The Home Minister of Maharashtra,
 Mantralay,
 Mumbai

 *Sub: Undemocratic Arrest/Detention of Activists by Mumbai Police
 Coinciding with the Visit of Ms Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State,
 to the City *

 Sir,

 We, on behalf of the Citizens’ Initiative for Peace (CIP), note with a
 sense of shock and horror and consequently draw your attention to the fact,
 even if already well covered by the media, that on the last Friday, July 17,
 evening, three prominent social/political activist from Mumbai viz., Feroze
 Mithiborwala, Kishor Jagtap and Aslam Ghazi were picked up by the Mumbai
 Police and kept under detention, in two city police stations, for over
 twenty hours.
 No reason whatever has been indicated for this official kidnap.

 It appears that they were picked up to scuttle the possibility, just
 possibility, of any protest demonstration against the visiting US Secretary
 of State, Ms. Hillary Clinton.

 One does not have to agree with political positions of those who were
 detained in order to strongly denounce this grossly undemocratic act on the
 part of the Mumbai Police.
 *The right to dissent, and dissent in public, is what sets a “democracy
 apart from an authoritarian regime.* And we never tire of claiming, and
 not too unjustifiably, that India is the largest democracy in the world.
 It is precisely in that context, the action of the Mumbai Police is
 extremely unfortunate and utterly condemnable.
 It is also, could we add, pretty foolish to do so when the attention of the
 national and international media is focussed on the city because of the
 visit by the high profile dignitary. It, we are sure, has caused significant
 damage to India’s democratic credentials. And even the visiting dignitary
 cannot escape unscathed the negative fallout as many would tend to hold her
 at least indirectly responsible.

 In view of above, *we demand that as a remedial measure at least a
 departmental enquiry be immediately instituted for fixing responsibilities
 for such irresponsible and grossly undemocratic act. You may also issue an
 explanation and a note of apology as the proverbial buck presumably stops at
 your door.*

 Thanking you,

 Yours sincerely,

 Dolphy D'souza, Bombay Catholic Sabha
 Jatin Desai, People's media Initiative
 Sukla Sen, EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity)
 Dr. Lena Ganesh, social activist
 Sohaib Lokhandwala, Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ)
 Anand Patwardhan, film-maker
 Kamayani Bali Mahabal, human rights activist
 Asad Bin Saif, BUILD
 Mukta Srivastava, NAPM
 Sudhir Badami, town and transportation system planner and social activist
 Daniel Mazgaonkar, Sarvodaya activist
 Ruchi Shroff, social activist
 Sanober Keshwar, lawyer
 Kumar Ketkar, Editor *Loksatta*
 Gayatri Singh, human rights lawyer
 Manasi Pingle, film-maker
 Chirag Suvarna, social activist
 Chetna Birje, lawyer
 Sumedh Jadhav, Friends of Society
 Munawar Azad, Awami Bharat
 Maqbool Alam, Wakf Khidmat Committee


 


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[GreenYouth] Fwd: Spurring nuclear Bhopals?

[Sukla Sen]

The proposed bill must be opposed tooth and nail.
More so, as it's so ridiculous to indemnify the entities who appear to
stand already indemnified.

The suppliers, are all across the board - for all industries,
indemnified from consequential damages.
It is the operator, who is responsible for damages out of accidents
while the plant is operating.
In India, as of now, the DAE/NPCL is the operator. And that cannot
change till the 1962 Atomic Energy Act (with all its grossly
anti-democratic provisions) is amended to allow for private
operators. It looks like this is a move in that direction, in
stages, to confuse and tone down likely opposition.

The other interesting part is that, no insurance company insures a
nuclear power plant. That's why all this problem!
That's just unique to this industry only.
The reasons and implications must be publicised as much as possible to
expose the nasty and shameless lie of the claim that nuclear power,
particularly with current generation of reactors, is safe.

However, India ratifying the Convention on Supplementary Compensation
for Nuclear Damage (CSCNL), to my mind, is not necessarily a bad idea.
This is a separate issue.
It is likely to ensure higher level of compensatory protection to the
victims of a nuclear accident.
It is unlikely that any individual commercial entity would be able to
do that. Even going bankrupt.
Even the Indian state would in all probability find itself inadequate
and hence reluctant.
So a collective (state) umbrella, sort of a substitute for customary
commercial insurance, should rather be welcomed as long as the nuclear
power plants operate.

Sukla


-- Forwarded message --
From: Harsh Kapoor aiin...@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:31:05 +0200
Subject: Spurring nuclear Bhopals?
To: sa...@yahoogroups.com

South Asians Against Nukes - Year 11
July 29, 2009

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/message/1286




Frontline
Volume 26 - Issue 16 :: Aug. 01-14, 2009

Spurring nuclear Bhopals?

by Praful Bidwai

U.S. and Indian industry pressure to cap liability for civilian
nuclear accidents will create a regime that shields offending
corporations and punishes the public.

AS far as the atmospherics of her visit to India went, Hillary
Clinton was charm unlimited. But beneath the always-smiling, relaxed
and breezy manner of the United States Secretary of State lay a hard-
nosed agenda: of further developing a broad-based relationship with
India on terms defined by, and tilting heavily towards, the U.S. in
the fields of defence, space, education, science and technology and
nuclear energy.

Hillary Clinton secured an allotment from the Indian government of
two “greenfield” sites in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat for the
construction of nuclear power plants based on U.S. technology. These
are “of significant acreage”, have forested buffer zones (what a use
to put forests to), and allow for future expansion.

The U.S. is keen on getting a share of India’s nuclear-power pie, set
to expand thanks to the U.S.-India nuclear deal and exemptions
secured by Washington from the International Atomic Energy Agency and
the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group on restrictions on nuclear commerce with
India imposed after the Pokhran-I explosion of 1974 and tightened
after the 1998 blasts.

The U.S. nuclear industry – which has not secured a single domestic
order for new reactors for 36 years – as well as American
construction giants and related corporations are loath to see the
nuclear business opportunities in India being exploited so far by
France and Russia alone. But their “participation” will claim a
price. They will only invest in India if their legal liability for
mishaps in the nuclear power stations they build and/or operate is
deliberately curtailed to a small amount.

The U.S. has mounted enormous pressure on India to pass a law to
reduce the liability of American corporations and force the Indian
public to bear the cost of damage caused by their profit-seeking
activities, which result in accidents involving personal injury, or
the release of small quantities of radioactivity all the way to a
catastrophic core meltdown such as Chernobyl in 1986, which wreaks
havoc on the life and well-being of hundreds of thousands of people.

U.S. pressure is overt and crude. On June 25, U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake
told a House committee: “… we are hoping to see action on nuclear
liability legislation that would reduce liability for American
companies and allow them to invest in India…” Former U.S. Ambassador
David Mulford even lobbied for the passing of an ordinance in case
Parliament could not urgently enact the law.

U.S. pressure is also effective. An Indian Minister has been quoted
as saying: “The draft of the nuclear liability Bill is ready. What
this will do is indemnify American companies so that they don’t have
to go through another Union Carbide in Bhopal.”

This perversely depicts the perpetrator 

[GreenYouth] What Binayak Said? An Excerpt

[Sukla Sen]

[Dr. Binayak Sen was recently in Mumbai on his first visit to the city after
his much celebrated release on bail on the order of the Supreme Court of
India after over two years of incarceration in the Raipur jail under the
draconian Chhattisgarh Public Security Act 2005.

He took time off to talk to the friends and activists who had campaigned for
his release. Did not address any public event though.]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/rssfeeds/articleshow/4839086.cms
'We deplore military approaches to alter social situations'31 July 2009,
12:00am IST
*
*
Since his release on bail after two years in a Chhattisgarh jail on charges
of being a Naxalite, PUCL vice-president Binayak Sen has been consumed with
the idea of a 'peace initiative' to counter the growing 'military campaign'
of the state. Sen explains to Jyoti Punwani why civil society must say no to
violence:

What do you mean by the state's 'military campaign'?

Responsible people at the Centre have been making bellicose statements about
launching a military campaign against those opposing the state. There's talk
of doing what Sri Lanka did. Such talk is an obscenity in the light of the
deprivation faced by majority of our people. I won't call it poverty. A lot
of energy and discipline have to be extended to keep this poverty in its
place. Till now, Adivasis and Dalits have had to face structural violence
that deprives them of nutrition and basic survival needs. Thousands of our
children are paying with their lives for the economic policies of the state;
there's a continuous famine for certain sections of our citizens. But now,
they may have to face guns and bombs if they protest.

Why has this happened?

We are at a particular historical juncture where the state acts as the
guarantor for those who appropriate national resources for their own profit.
The activities of the government should decrease, not increase,
inequalities. The use of national resources must be manifestly for the
public good. Instead, the government backs the unconstitutional
expropriation of resources that leads to increased polarities. The state is
engaged in displacing huge masses of population; people with guns provided
by the state are getting villages emptied out. What is this if not a
military campaign? Unfortunately, many people seem equivocal about state
violence. Civil society must assert that military strategies are not a
legitimate means of solving social problems. We must all try to establish an
imperative for peace and against military confrontation, a peace that comes
with equity and justice. We must question those who speak about following
the Sri Lanka example.

What about the violence of those opposed to the state?

We deplore all military approaches to alter social situations. There is no
legitimate justification for violence except in self-defence. No human
rights group true to its mandate can approve of planned violence as a means
of solving social problems. Such deployment of planned violence by
organisations against the state ties us to a circle of violence from which
it's difficult to emerge. We have certain institutions of democratic
governance, rights which people have gained over long years of struggle. All
are teetering on the brink of collapse. We have to make these institutions
work whether it is Parliament, or the devolution of power to gram sabhas. We
should draw lessons from our neighbouring countries. If violence is met with
violence, these institutions will become defunct

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[GreenYouth] Re: [foil] What Binayak Said? An Excerpt

[Sukla Sen]

What Binayak Said? An Excerpt

[Dr. Binayak Sen was recently in Mumbai on his first visit to the city after
his much celebrated release on bail on the order of the Supreme Court of
India after over two years of incarceration in the Raipur jail under the
Chhattisgarh Public Security Act 2005.
He took time off to talk to the friends and activists who had campaigned for
his release. Did not address any public event though.]


Long Live Braindeadism!?

On a more serious note, here are two distinct elements
One, the “political” understanding/estimation/assessment of “violence” and
its impact/outcome.
Second the “mandate” of human/democratic rights movements/groups.

Let’s take the second point first.
“Democratic rights” movement, by its very definition acknowledges and
upholds the “legitimacy” of the “ideals” and “norms” of “democracy”. Fights
against any departure from and transgressions of such.
The “state” having monopolised the “legitimate” use of “violence” has an
inherent tendency to curb and crush the voices and actual acts of “dissent”.
While the right to “dissent” - and “dissent” in public – is the very
lifeblood of “democracy” and sets it apart from all sorts of autocratic
authoritarianism – under whatever banner.
So the “state”, historically, emerges as by far the principal violator of
“democratic” rights and ideals.
Consequently, the democratic rights movement trains its guns mainly on the
“state”. (As Binayak has very much done here.)
But the basket of “democratic rights” in a (proclaimed) “democracy” does
not, repeat not, include the right to resort to proactive, planned,
organised, armed “violence” as contrasted from (spontaneous/sporadic)
defensive (and thereby limited) violence.
So the “democratic rights” movement loses its own legitimacy, and thereby
efficacy, if it does not categorically distance itself from such “violence”.
Its fight against the state loses its teeth as its fights for “democracy”,
in popular eyes, clearly shows up as fake. It gets effectively branded as
the facade of such non-state violators of and, in fact proclaimed, enemies
to “democracy”.

Binayak presenting himself as a human rights activist has no option but to
operate within that framework.
So is the case of any other serious democratic rights activist.

The political assessment of “violence” is of course a far more tricky
terrain, except of course for the “believers”.
History does not provide an easy answer. Unless of course one “sees” only
what one “believes” in.

Quite an illustrative example is like this.
(There is an excellent documentary film on the failed coup of 2002 April in
Venezuela, ‘Revolution Will Not Be Televised’.)
When Chavez is kidnapped by the reactionary coup leaders, despite every
opportunity having been available, they do not murder him. Given the
centrality of the figure of Chavez, never mind the routine babbles on
“historical materialism” and all that, that looked the most logical step for
the coup leader though.
When the coup failed, without any significant bloodshed, and Chavez was back
to power, he either did not summarily execute the coup leaders, as per the
customary “revolutionary” practice.
One may very well call it a “virtuous cycle” as opposed to the usual
“vicious” one.
Binayak has talked of the need to break the “vicious cycle”. And pointed out
how the “violence” of one of the warring parties reinforces the
justification of the use of “violence” by the other.
(One of the participants nicely explained it in terms of the LTTE in Sri
Lanka, how, in its gory brutalities, very much mirrored the Sri Lankan state
that it was fighting against.)

Sukla

On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 11:36 AM, Sayan wrote:

 On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 11:59 PM, Sukla Sensukla@gmail.com wrote:

  What about the violence of those opposed to the state?
 
  We deplore all military approaches to alter social situations. There is
 no
  legitimate justification for violence except in self-defence. No human
  rights group true to its mandate can approve of planned violence as a
 means
  of solving social problems. Such deployment of planned violence by
  organisations against the state ties us to a circle of violence from
 which
  it's difficult to emerge. We have certain institutions of democratic
  governance, rights which people have gained over long years of struggle.
 All
  are teetering on the brink of collapse. We have to make these
 institutions
  work whether it is Parliament, or the devolution of power to gram sabhas.
 We
  should draw lessons from our neighbouring countries. If violence is met
 with
  violence, these institutions will become defunct.


 It would be interesting to hear what R has to say about this.
 These comments seem proto-Gandhian, almost.


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[GreenYouth] Unfolding Obama Presidency: The Danger Signals

[Sukla Sen]

*Obama Faces Carter/Clinton Parallels*

*by Robert Parry*

After six months in office, Barack Obama’s presidency reveals striking
parallels not only to Bill Clinton’s troubled first term, but to Jimmy
Carter’s only term. And, how those dangers are reappearing show that the
Democrats and American progressives have learned little over the past 30
years.

Many analysts already have noted the eerie similarities between Obama’s
troubles and Clinton’s political woes 16 years ago. In both cases, the
Democratic presidents started off by rebuffing calls for serious
investigations of abuses committed by their Republican predecessors.
However, instead of showing reciprocity, the Republicans went on the
offensive ginning up “scandals” and challenging the legitimacy of the two
Democrats, for instance, by spreading rumors linking Clinton to “mysterious
deaths” and by winking at slurs about Obama not being born in the United
States.

Republicans also voted solidly against major policy initiatives advanced by
Clinton and Obama. Faced with that unified GOP resistance, the Democratic
majorities started to splinter, especially over the key issue of health-care
reform which became Clinton’s first-term “Waterloo” much as Republicans hope
it will be for Obama.

Yet, arguably, the parallels to Jimmy Carter’s one-term presidency may be
even more on point. Unlike Clinton whose reckless sexual behavior fueled the
Republican campaigns against him, Carter and Obama are viewed as men of
personal discipline and morality.
Carter and Obama – unlike Clinton – also showed a readiness to pressure
Israel into making important concessions for peace in the Middle East. That
interest in playing the “honest broker” contributed to Carter’s undoing and
now might do the same for Obama.

Indeed, it was Carter’s tenacity in pushing Israeli Prime Minister Menachem
Begin to agree to the Camp David peace accords in 1978 – returning the Sinai
to Egypt in exchange for what has turned out to be a lasting peace – that
prompted a brazen Israeli intervention into U.S. presidential politics.

By spring 1980, an angry Begin had privately sided with the Republicans,
whose fall campaign was to be led by right-wing candidate Ronald Reagan.
Though hidden from the American people both then and now, this alliance was
well known at the senior levels of both the Israeli and U.S. governments.
Begin – who had led a Zionist terrorist group before Israel’s independence
in 1948 and founded the right-wing Likud Party in 1973 – decided he must
take steps to prevent Carter from pushing for a broader Israel-Arab peace
deal in a potential second term.

Begin’s views were described by Israeli intelligence and foreign affairs
official David Kimche in his 1991 book, The Last Option. Kimche wrote that
Begin’s government believed that Carter was overly sympathetic to the
Palestinian cause and was conspiring to force Israel to withdraw from the
West Bank.

“Begin was being set up for diplomatic slaughter by the master butchers in
Washington,” Kimche wrote. “They had, moreover, the apparent blessing of the
two presidents, Carter and [Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat, for this
bizarre and clumsy attempt at collusion designed to force Israel to abandon
her refusal to withdraw from territories occupied in 1967, including
Jerusalem, and to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Kimche continued, “This plan – prepared behind Israel’s back and without her
knowledge – must rank as a unique attempt in United States’s diplomatic
history of short-changing a friend and ally by deceit and manipulation.”
Begin particularly dreaded the prospect of a second Carter presidential
term.

“Unbeknownst to the Israeli negotiators, the Egyptians held an ace up their
sleeves, and they were waiting to play it,” Kimche wrote. “The card was
President Carter’s tacit agreement that after the American presidential
elections in November 1980, when Carter expected to be re-elected for a
second term, he would be free to compel Israel to accept a settlement of the
Palestinian problem on his and Egyptian terms, without having to fear the
backlash of the American Jewish lobby.”

October Surprise
Begin’s fear of Carter’s reelection – and alarm over Carter's perceived
bungling in Iran where Islamic extremists took power in 1979 – set the stage
for secret collaboration between Begin and the Republican presidential
campaign, according to another Israeli intelligence official, Ari
Ben-Menashe.

In his 1992 memoir, Profits of War, Ben-Menashe said the view of Begin and
other Likud leaders was one of contempt for Carter.
“Begin loathed Carter for the peace agreement forced upon him at Camp
David,” Ben-Menashe wrote. “As Begin saw it, the agreement took away Sinai
from Israel, did not create a comprehensive peace, and left the Palestinian
issue hanging on Israel’s back.”

Ben-Menashe, an Iranian-born Jew who had immigrated to Israel as a
teen-ager, became part of a secret Israeli program to reestablish its

[GreenYouth] Nepal Updates: August 1 2009

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/2-political/712-three-parties-form-6-member-political-mechanism-.html
Top three form 6-member taskforce for political mechanism
Saturday, 01 August 2009 10:57

Top leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN (UML) and UCPN (Maoist) have agreed to
constitute a taskforce to finalise formation of political mechanism. The
taskforce includes two persons from each party.

The discussion among NC president Girija Prasd Koirala, UML chairman Jhala
Nath Khanal and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal held Saturday morning at
Koirala's residence in Maharajgunj agreed to the taskforce.

UML has named its vice chairman Ashok Rai and secretary Bishnu Poudel as
representatives to the taskforce while other parties are yet to send their
names, NC parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel told reporters after
the meeting. The parties hope to give final shape to the taskforce by
evening.

The taskforce will workout on structure, working models and responsibilities
of the high-level political mechanism within a few days. Once the taskforce
submits its recommendation report, formation of political mechanism would
start. The leaders have agreed that the mechanism would be led by NC
president Koirala.

On Friday, the NC and UML top guns had principally agreed to include smaller
parties as well in the political mechanism.

Dahal is learnt to have insisted that the political mechanism should be for
determining the future of PLA combatants and writing the constitution.
Khanal told reporters that the mechanism would have primacy mandate on
facilitating the army integration and accelerating the constitution writing
process.*nepalnews.com*
*
*

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[GreenYouth] Will China Implode?

[Sukla Sen]

The regimes constituting the Warsaw Pact fell one after another, like nine
pins, between 89 and 91.
Despite some rumblings, in Poland in particular, the developments looked too
sudden.
The crumbling of the Soviet Union following a failed coup attempt by a hard
line section of the Communist Party meant to depose Gorbachev stunned the
rest of the world.
That was the culmination.
Unlike in democratic regimes, where dissent is allowed to be expressed, here
things just exploded, apparently out of the blue.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-28/will-china-implode/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-28/will-china-implode/Will
China Implode?
by Isabel Hilton
July 28, 2009 | 11:25pm
*
*
*

Obama and Chinese officials met this week for high-level policy talks, and
avoided exchanges on human rights. But China expert Isabel Hilton says
minority revolts in China recently show it is an empire in crisis.

There is a story that the Chinese government likes to tell: that China is
the world’s oldest continuous, unchanging civilization (the dates vary,
according to the exuberance of the moment, from 2,000 to a mythical 5,000
years). This unique history, the story continues, will determine China’s
future. In this narrative of Chinese exceptionalism, the leadership remains
immune to demands for democracy or any resemblance to other developed
countries. The government hopes that this story will prove persuasive enough
for the Communist Party to keep the Mandate of Heaven and avoid challenges
to its exclusive right to rule for the foreseeable future.


The revolt of the minorities is only a symptom of a wider political malaise.

It’s a curious story for a Communist Party and very different to the earlier
myths of origin. Where once it promoted class struggle and revolution,
today’s party invokes history and tradition in support of its right to rule.
In its latest identification with the imperial orders of the past, the
regime is even restoring Confucianism as the core state narrative.

It’s a long way from the Communist Party’s own origins in the revolt in the
early 20th century against the suffocating orthodoxies of Confucianism,
blamed by the modernizers of the day for China’s slide into stagnation. As
recently as the 1970s, Confucius was still thought sufficiently poisonous as
an inheritance to merit a virulent campaign of criticism, along with such
imported bad hats as the Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, the late
Ludwig Van Beethoven and the children’s book Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
They made an odd quartet, but no odder than the current spectacle of a
Communist Party that extols the virtues of Mencius and claims to be building
a “harmonious” society.

Remarkably, despite its obvious flaws, this narrative appeals to those
Western commentators who believe that China’s rise is, in the Marxist
phrase, a historical inevitability, and who accept Beijing’s latest version
of history at face value.

Take this recent example, from the British author Martin Jacques’ book When
China Rules the World:

“China has existed roughly within its present borders for 2,000 years and
only over the last century has it come to regard itself as a nation state.”

China does not, in fact, officially define itself as a nation state but as a
multiethnic state in which all nationalities theoretically enjoy equal
status. A more accurate description would be that it is a recently expanded
land-based empire struggling to justify itself. Far from living within the
same borders for 2,000 years, China today occupies a land area roughly twice
the size of Ming Dynasty China, its expansion driven by the Manchu conquest
in the 18th century. It has an aggressive policy of colonization,
exploitation of natural resources, and assimilation. Like all such empires
before it, it suffers from the strains of keeping the lid on those it has
colonized, who do not identify with an imperial project from which they
derive little benefit.

When China Rules the World was published some 10 months after last year’s
uprising in Tibet and six weeks before this year’s riots in Xinjiang. By the
time it had been on the bookshelves eight weeks, the Chinese government had
been obliged to put nearly half of its territory (including Xinjiang and the
Tibetan Autonomous Region) under tight paramilitary control.

The People’s Armed Police, the shock troops of Beijing’s attempt to impose
civil order (officially described as “harmony”) are pursuing familiar
tactics in Xinjiang: mass arrests within a troublesome demographic—ethnic
minority males—undisclosed places and conditions of detention; trials that
meet no standards of justice and long prison sentences, often preceded by
rough treatment.

It is doubtful, though, whether these measures will be any more effective
than they have been in the past. Beijing’s diagnosis of the sickness in its
body politic is as flawed as its treatment: If repression fails, apply more
repression, a policy 

[GreenYouth] Nepal Updates

[Sukla Sen]

I.http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=207851

*Maoists for executive President elected directly
*
Kantipur ReportKATHMANDU, Aug 4 - Unified CPN (Maoist) on Tuesday opined
that the Executive President must be elected in the new constitution through
direct election. The Maoists who were earlier favouring the President
elected from the Constituent Assembly said the decision was altered at the
party's Central Committee meeting. It forwarded such opinion at the meeting
of the Committee for Determinant of the form of the Government of the State
today. At the meeting, Maoist lawmaker Top Bahadur Rayamajhi said the need
of executive president has been felt to head for federal system, to control
it and to strengthen centralised system in the country. He further said the
party's opinion was changed after the suggestions flooded from the general
public to elect the executive president from direct election. Meanwhile, the
lawmakers from other political parties have disapproved the Maoist proposal.
UML Lawmaker Govinda Nepali said the committee's concept and drafting the
constitution will be affected due to the changes in the opinions once and
again. The meeting has bee put off for coming Thursday after the lawmakers
failed to forge consensus on the proposal.

II.
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=207839

*Khanal stresses on three-party unity
*
Kantipur ReportMORANG, Aug 4 - CPN UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal Tuesday
said the constitution-drafting process will be delayed if unity does not
exist among the three major parties.

Claiming that nation's freedom, sovereignty and national integrity will be
hampered if the constitution is not drafted timely, Khanal said, There is
no alternative to forge consensus to save the country.

He said politics has been shadowed by the black clouds due to the
misunderstanding among the parties. He was speaking at a press meet
organised by the Morang Chapter of Press Chautari.
The UML chieftian opined that the statute drafting cannot be furthered
without the Unified CPN (Maoist) in the government. Constitution won't be
drafted until the Maoists are made to take part in the government. So, new
unity among the three parties is required.

Khanal also added that all problems will be solved once national government
is formed forging consensus. Responding to a query whether the Prime
Minister is ready to quit in order to form a national government, Khanal
said, Not only the Prime Minister but every one should be ready to
relinquish anything to form the national government forging consensus.

He said that both the Maoists and other parties have irresponsibly presented
themselves while demanding bulk integration of People's Liberation Army
(PLA) into the Nepal Army (NA) and completely rubbishing the army
integration demands, respecively.
Agreements army integration have been signed earlier, so, no one should
make an issue on the matter at the present time. Other problems may occur if
they (Maoist combatants) are not integrated, Khanal said.

Claiming that there is chance of the Maoists participating the government,
Khanal said attempts are underway for the same.

III.
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=207846

*All-party meet inconclusive
*
Kantipur ReportKATHMANDU, Aug 4 - The all-party meeting called by the
government following the announcement of protest by the Unified CPN (Maoist)
ended inconclusively on Tuesday.

The meeting could not reach to an understanding point after the Maoists,
Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML remained firm on their positions.

Emerging from the meeting, Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha accused the
government of leading the events in a planned manner and warned of political
mishap and negative results.

On the other hand, Congress Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel
said the Maoists are acting irresponsibly by taking the issue of President
as an ego even when it is not contextual.

Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai who left the meeting in the middle said
the government and the Nepali Congress are not serious towards
understanding.

The government has presented irresponsibly and hence there is no alternative
to protest, he told journalists.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had asked one month time to the Maoists to
seek an outlet to the Army Chief row.

In his address to the House on July 6, Nepal had assured to resolve the
issues of Army Chief row and civilian supremacy raised by the Maoists
through all-party understanding. The Maoists had then let the House resume.

The Maoists have now announced agitation stating their demands were not
addressed.


IV.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/1-top-story/757-maoists-accuse-nc-uml-of-showing-apathy-to-their-demands.html


All-party meet ends inconclusively as big-three remain adamant on respective
positionTuesday, 04 August 2009

An all-party meeting called by the government on Tuesday ended
inconclusively after it failed to reach consensus on the issues 

[GreenYouth] Hiroshima Flame to travel the world for nuclear abolition - starting in New Zealand

[Sukla Sen]

*Nuclear Abolition Flame*

*Flame lighting ceremony – Peace Park, Hiroshima August 5, 4pm*



Hiroshima Flame to travel the world for nuclear abolition



For immediate release

Contacts:

Alyn Ware (New Zealand/United States. Phone +1 646 752 8702)

Steve Leeper (Hiroshima. Phone +81 90 6433 8660)

Mayra Gomez (United States/Hiroshima. Phone +1 949 466 3036, or at Hiroshima
Grand Hotel +81 82-263-5111)

Mayor Bob Harvey (New Zealand/Hiroshima. Phone +64 21 986 107)



A torch to be lit from the Hiroshima Flame on August 5 will be carried on a
march around the world to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons – ending
up at the United Nations in May 2010 for a major inter-governmental
conference on nuclear non-proliferation.



The Hiroshima Flame, which stands in the Hiroshima Peace Park, was lit from
the embers of the nuclear explosion in 1945 in memory of those who
perished.  It will remain alight until all nuclear weapons are eliminated.



The World March for Peace and Non-violence
http://www.worldmarch.co.nz/will carry the Nuclear Abolition Flame
around the world, starting from New
Zealand on 2 October 2009 – the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday –
and then travelling through 90 countries involving millions of people in
concerts, rallies, exhibitions, conferences and other events along its
route.



‘The nuclear explosion was a horror that must never be repeated,” said Alyn
Ware, New Zealand coordinator for the World March. ‘The Hiroshima Flame will
be carried from city to city – country to country – around the world to
remind people that nothing justifies the incineration of hundreds of
thousands of innocent civilians and the maiming of hundreds of thousands
more through the blast, fire and radiation effects of a nuclear bomb.’



‘The World March is a demonstration of the desire of people from all
countries for the abolition of nuclear weapons, the end of war and the
promotion of non-violence at all levels of society,’ says Mayra Gomez, an
indigenous Bolivian who is organizing the August 5 torch-lighting ceremony.
‘It is receiving incredible support from Heads of State, United Nations
officials, Nobel Peace laureates, mayors, parliamentarians, indigenous
leaders, celebrities, religious communities, youth and other civil society
actors.’



*‘**To avoid a repeat nuclear catastrophe in the future we must act today.
We must create consciousness of the need for reduced tensions and
cooperation between peoples,’ says ** Rafael de la Rubia, International
Spokesperson of the World March and President of World without Wars. ‘**The
horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has not been consigned to history.  The
images of pain and absurd death continue to live in our consciences but at
the same time they feed our profound aspiration for a world where never
again will this atrocity be possible.’ ***



‘The time to abolish nuclear weapons is now‘ says New Zealand Mayor Bob
Harvey who is in Japan for the Mayors for Peace Assembly. Mayor Harvey will
be lighting the Nuclear Abolition torch from the Hiroshima Flame on August 5
to take back to New Zealand for the start of the World March. ‘New Zealand -
which has outlawed nuclear weapons and was recently declared the most
peaceful country in the world by the Global Peace
Indexhttp://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/home.php– is a perfect
place to start this march around the world with the Nuclear
Abolition Flame. By the time it gets to the United Nations in May 2010 for
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, we hope that the
governments of the world will be ready to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide
through a global nuclear weapons treaty.’



‘Nuclear abolition has moved from being an elusive ideal to a realizable
goal,’ says Alyn Ware who organized the drafting of a model nuclear weapons
treaty now being promoted by the United Nations Secretary
Generalhttp://www.gsinstitute.org/pnnd/updates/NWC.html.
‘The Model Nuclear Weapons
Conventionhttp://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A%2F62%2F650Submit=SearchLang=Edemonstrates
the legal, technical and political measures that would enable
to complete elimination of nuclear weapons under effective international
control.’



‘Everyone can support by participating in the Nuclear Abolition Flame
regardless of whether or not they live along the route of the World March,’
says Ashley Woods – founder of the Nuclear Abolition
Flamehttp://www.abolitionflame.org/project. ‘As well as the physical
flame being carried around the world,
there is a virtual flame which is accessible world-wide on internet and
email. ’We encourage everyone to circulate the virtual Nuclear Abolition
Flame electronically and to encourage governments to act to prohibit nuclear
weapons in their countries and abolish them globally.’



‘Youth everywhere are participating in the World March because we want a
world of peace not war,’ says Una McGurk, coordinator of ENACT – youth
enabling action http://www.enact.org.nz/ and promoter of 

[GreenYouth] Re: [arkitectindia] I am witness to the Most Unfortunate News- RTE Bill Passed

[Sukla Sen]

Quote
The so called RTE has snatched many existing rights of the children.
Unquote

Would you please list these out?

My impression till now was that the Bill was deficient - mainly in so
far as it does not move in the direction of neighbourhood schooling
system - no doubt a laudable idea.
Fair enough a charge.

But that's quite different from snatching away many existing rights
of the children.

Sukla

On 8/5/09, Shaheen Ansari ansarishah...@gmail.com wrote:
 Friends,

 I am witness to the most unfortunate event in the history of educational
 development in India. The parliament passed the RTE-Bill.
 http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/parliament_passes_landmark_right_to_education_bill.php



 The so called RTE has snatched many existing rights of the children.



 I can say that  “I didn’t vote for RTE-Bill” but is it enough?

 Can I stand up before our children and say “I genuinely fought for their
 rights?”

 If the old saying “Darkness is nothing but the absence of light” is true
 then I didn’t take  appropriate steps to force the government to place the
 Bill in the public domain for the debate, comment  criticism and finally
 transforming the anit-child bill into  child friendly bill.



 I am also witness to the fact that not a single movement was build to create
 pressure on the government to bring the desired change in the Bill.



 Isn’t unfortunate that We, the ‘cowardice’ people of India, could not stand
 for what is RIGHT and allowed the enemy of children to dictate their terms
 and condition for future of our kids?



 Yes, I can say for myself that I didn’t do enough to block the bill but I
 promise to my children that I will keep fighting for their rights, Amen!



 In solidarity

 Shaheen



 *PS: Forwarding the message from All India Forum for Right to Education
 (AIF-RTE)*

  *Circular 4th August, 2009*



 dear all



 I believe that you have already learnt the most unfortunate news that the
 'Right to education Bill' is passed today in loksabha.



 *however, our delhi program stands as it is*. all those who have planned to
 go to dellhi to participate in the programs there on 7th august are
 requested to go and participate in the programs.



 those member organisations and members who have made any plan of protest in
 their own town shall also execute their plans of protest



 all units and individuals are requested to organise press conferences or
 issue press statements condemning the bill and demanding that the president
 of india shall send it back for a review.



 all membr organisations are requested to organise protest programs
 immediately tomorrow or any day ending seventh august.



 all india presidium in consultation with member organistions will plan
 future strategy of our right to education movement



 Read a brief report on passing of the Bill in the link ( The Link supplied
 by Dr. V.N.Sharma)

 http://ptinews.com/news/212350_Parliament-passes-landmark-Right-to-Education-Bill




 *the circular is sent on the advise of the both the members of the presidium
 prof. Anil sadgopa, and prof G. haragopal*



 *with regards*

 *ramesh patnaik*

 *member secretariat, AIF-RTE*




 --
 Dr. Shaheen Ansari
 Arkitect India
 C - 336 - ACD / 2 Z, Budha Vihar,(Opp. JNU Gate)
 Munirka,New Delhi- 110067
 Ph: 09312838170, 09555113954

 http://educationatdoorsteps.blogspot.com
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arkitectindia/
 http://picasaweb.google.co.in/arkitect95
 http://360.yahoo.com/profile-JIaxIkgwaa1wvF6q46BnSlqf


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[GreenYouth] The Ongoing Danger of Nuclear War

[Sukla Sen]

Tomorrow, August 6th, is the world would commemorate nuking of Hiroshima by
the US at the end of the WII on the same day in 1945. Three days later,
Nagasaki would be nuked.

A huge human tragedy was caused, for no apparent reasons.
Germany had already surrendered. Japan was just on its way.
Evidently to demonstrate the mind-boggling killing power of the new weapon
and establish the supremacy of the owner of this evil power over the rest of
the world.
The effects were, however, pretty different and complex.
There was almost universal and  profound moral revulsion, on the one hand.
That made the weapon politically unusable. On the other, it triggered
nevertheless a limited, but hugely dangerous, race for the ultimate
weapon.

The day would be commemorated all over the globe, just not in Japan.
That's just one, but nevertheless crucial, element in the global fight for a
nuclear weapon-free world.

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/22208

The Ongoing Danger of Nuclear WarAugust 04, 2009By *Lawrence S. Wittner*



This August, when hundreds of Hiroshima Day vigils and related antinuclear
activities occur around the United States, many Americans will wonder at
their relevance.  After all, the nuclear danger that characterized the Cold
War is now far behind us, isn't it?



Unfortunately, it is not.



Today there are nine nuclear-armed nations, with over 23,000 nuclear weapons
in their arsenals.  Thousands of these weapons are on hairtrigger alert.



Admittedly, some nations are decreasing the size of their nuclear arsenals.
  The United States and Russia--which together possess about 95 percent of
the world's nuclear weapons--plan to sign a treaty this year that will cut
their number of strategic weapons significantly.



But other nations are engaged in a substantial nuclear buildup. India, for
example, launched the first of its nuclear submarines this July and is also
developing an assortment of land-based nuclear missiles.
Meanwhile,Pakistan has
been busy testing ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that will carry
nuclear warheads, as well as constructing two new reactors to make plutonium
for its expanding nuclear arsenal.  Israel, too, is producing material for
new nuclear weapons, while North Korea is threatening to resume its
production.



In addition, numerous nations--among them, Iran--are suspected of working to
develop a nuclear weapons capability.



But surely national governments are too civilized to actually use nuclear
weapons, aren't they?



In fact, one government (that of the United   States) has already used
atomic bombs to annihilate the populations of two cities.



Moreover, nations have come dangerously close to full-scale nuclear war on a
number of occasions.  The Cuban missile crisis is the best-known example.  But
there are numerous others.  In October 1973, during a war between Israel and
Egypt that appeared to be spiraling out of control, the Soviet government
sent a tough message to Washington suggesting joint--or, if necessary,
Soviet--military action to bring the conflict to a halt.  With President
Richard Nixon reeling from the Watergate scandal and drunk in the White
House, his top national security advisors responded to what they considered
a menacing Soviet move by ordering an alert ofU.S. nuclear forces.
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed in the Kremlin, and the sudden
confrontation eased short of nuclear war.



Of course, nuclear war hasn't occurred since 1945.  But this fact has
largely reflected public revulsion at the prospect and popular mobilization
against it.  Today, however, lulled by the end of the Cold War and the
disintegration of the Soviet Union, we are in a period of relative public
complacency.  In this respect, at least, the situation has grown more
dangerous.  Without countervailing pressure, governments find it difficult
to resist the temptation to deploy their most powerful weapons when they go
to war.  And they go to war frequently.



Furthermore, while nuclear weapons exist, there is a serious danger of
accidental nuclear war.  In September 1983, the Soviet Union's
launch-detection satellites reported that the U.S. government had fired its
Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles, and that a nuclear attack on
the Soviet Union was underway.  Luckily, the officer in charge of the
satellites concluded that they had malfunctioned and, on his own authority,
prevented a Soviet nuclear alert.  The incident was so fraught with anxiety
that he suffered a nervous breakdown.



Another nuclear war nearly erupted two months later, when the United
States and its NATO allies conducted Able Archer 83, a nuclear training
exercise that simulated a full-scale nuclear conflict, with NATO nuclear
attacks upon Soviet nuclear targets.  In the tense atmosphere of the time,
recalled Oleg Gordievsky, a top KGB official, his agency mistakenly
concluded that American forces had been placed on alert--and might even
have begun the countdown to nuclear 

[GreenYouth] Right to Education Bill passed by the Lok Sabha Unanimously

[Sukla Sen]

Indian Parliament has unanimously passed the Right to Education bill on
Tuesday.
It will pave way for free and compulsory education for children in the age
group of 6 to 14 years in India.

Also look up for the history (till July 19 2006):
http://www.ilpnet.org/rte/
and another news item: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/
india/Education-is-now-a-right/articleshow/4858277.cms.

http://abclive.in/abclive_national/india_right_to_education_bill.html

Indian Parliament Passes Right to Education Bill05 August, 2009
07:05:00Jatinder
- Kaur http://abclive.in/abclive_national/author/jatinder/

*New Delhi (ABC Live): Indian Parliament has unanimously passed the Right to
Education bill on Tuesday.*
New Delhi (ABC Live): Indian Parliament has unanimously passed the Right to
Education bill on Tuesday.

It will pave way for free and compulsory education for children in the age
group of 6 to 14 years in India.

Debate on the Bill was taken up in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, which passed
the bill.

Speaking about the Bill, Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil
Sibal said that it is responsibility of the state governments to implement
the provisions of the Bill.

He said as far as disabled clause is concerned, proper care has been taken
in the Bill in this regard.

He also said that availability of money for implementing the bill would not
be a problem and the Centre and state governments would settle the matter.

The HRD Minister also said that availability of money for implementing the
bill would not be a problem and the Centre and state governments would
settle the matter.

Clarifying the doubts raised by members about absence of any mechanism to
provide pre-school education to children before attaining the age of six
years, Sibal said, This Bill is drafted in accordance with the the
constitutional amendment that provides for free and compulsory education for
children between the age of 6 and 14 years.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=128224090688h=HX1vbu=OckiFref=mf

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[GreenYouth] 64th Annivesary of Hiroshima Nuking: Mayor Akiba Calls for Global Nuclear Disarmament!

[Sukla Sen]

I/II.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jb7aYlanpMk7_1iLgokikpzKFh8wD99T562O0

 Hiroshima mayor calls for abolishing nuke weapons

By SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI (AP) – 1 hour ago

HIROSHIMA, Japan — Hiroshima's mayor urged global leaders on Thursday to
back President Barack Obama's call to abolish nuclear weapons as Japan
marked the 64th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack.

In April, Obama said that the United States — the only nation that has
deployed atomic bombs in combat — has a moral responsibility to act and
declared his goal to rid the world of the weapons.

At a solemn ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, attack,
Hiroshima's Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba welcomed that commitment.

We refer to ourselves, the great global majority, as the 'Obamajority,' and
we call on the rest of the world to join forces with us to eliminate all
nuclear weapons by 2020, Akiba said. The bombed-out dome of the building
preserved as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial loomed in the background, and
hundreds of white doves were released into the air as he finished speaking.

About 50,000 attended the ceremony, including officials and visitors from
countries around the world, though the United States did not have an
official representative at the ceremony.

Hiroshima was instantly flattened and an estimated 140,000 people were
killed or died within months when the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped
its deadly payload in the waning days of World War II.

Three days after that attack on Hiroshima, the U.S. dropped a plutonium bomb
on the city of Nagasaki, killing about 80,000 people. Japan surrendered on
Aug. 15, ending World War II. A total of about 260,000 victims of the attack
are officially recognized by the government, including those that have died
of related injuries or sickness in the decades since.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso also spoke at Thursday's ceremony, saying
he hoped the world would follow Tokyo's efforts to limit nuclear
proliferation.

Japan will continue to uphold its three non-nuclear principles and lead the
international community toward the abolishment of nuclear weapons and
lasting peace, he said.

The three principles state that Japan will not make, own or harbor nuclear
weapons.

Later in the day, Aso signed an agreement with a group of atomic bomb
survivors who had been seeking recognition and expanded health benefits from
the government.

The anniversary passed during a period of heightened tensions in the region,
just months after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test blast in
May.

A similar ceremony will be held in Nagasaki on Sunday.

*Associated Press writer Jay Alabaster contributed to this report.*

II.

http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/hugh-gusterson/hiroshima-and-the-power-of-pictures

 Hiroshima and the power of pictures
BY HUGH GUSTERSON | 5 AUGUST 2009

Sixty-four years ago this week the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
were destroyed by atomic bombs. Whether we endorse or condemn the bombings,
how do we grasp the enormity of the destruction that befell those two
unfortunate Japanese cities? The last survivors of the bombings are passing
into history, taking with them the power of their living witness. But for
me, the full force of the bombings has always come from pictures more than
words.

There is, of course, the iconic
imagehttp://static.open.salon.com/files/hiroshima145155.jpg of
the mushroom cloud rising above Hiroshima, and the famous aerial
picturehttp://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2004/12/31/hiroshima_wideweb__430x323.jpg
of
an almost entirely flattened city. But both pictures have a distanced and
abstract quality, bereft as they are of people. As aerial shots, both
pictures also embody the point of view of those who dropped the Bomb more
than those who experienced its destructive power close-up.

The naïveté about the physical effects of nuclear weapons after the bombings
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki deformed public debates about nuclear weapons
policy in the years after World War II just as our ignorance today about the
full range of detainee abuse in Iraq is inhibiting a fully candid and
informed debate about that war.

To grasp the victims' experience, you have to move to the ground and zoom
in. Images like this incongruously formal
portraithttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PgfRBZetNGE/SJmvmAcg6dI/AI8/H3RfT1McG9Q/s400/hiroshima-portrait-100days-ga.jpg
of
mother and child use urban destruction as a backdrop to evoke the
existential isolation of survivors stranded in a ruined landscape. This
image also reminds us that, with most adult men fighting at the front, the
majority of victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were women and children.

Harder to look at, pictures like
thishttp://www.tamilnation.org/images/humanrights/hiroshima1.gif
show
what the Bomb did to human bodies.

In her book *Regarding the Pain of Others*, Susan Sontag describes the best
war pictures as the visual equivalent of sound bites, 

[GreenYouth] Re: Right to Education Bill passed by the Lok Sabha Unanimously

[Sukla Sen]

The Bill falls significantly short of what it should have had been. In
very many ways. No doubt about that.

But it also marks a significant improvement over, at least opens up
very real possibilities in that direction, the actual situation as
obtains today.

Hence, the struggle ahead should be twofold.
One, close monitoring of the actual implementation of the Act at the
ground level including enabling legislations by the concerned state
governments.
Two, fight for extending the present, and inadequate, ambit taking off
from the legtimisation of the right to education through this
enactment.

Hysterical shrieks are hardly any substitute for a sound and well
thought out strategy for taking the struggle to the next higher phase.
In fact, these are obviously self-defeating tending to encourage
disengagement from actual struggles.

Sukla

On 8/6/09, sarathi vpslawf...@gmail.com wrote:

 Nothing is farcical than this Bill. Firstly, it states nothing about
 pre-schooling to prepare the child for the first standard thereby
 impliedly approving the multi-million dollar nursery school business.
 Apparently students in the govt. schools lack adequate skills than
 their peers in private schools;
 Secondly, When the 10th standard has the public exam and students who
 pass through it have a decent asic qualification to their credit, this
 Bill talks nothing about free education upto 10th standard;
 When minister Sibal says his govt. will focus on higher education, it
 plainly means the govt. would support the plunderers who run the
 private educational institutions and will even provide education loan
 to the students to join these criminal institutions who evade tax to
 the govt. in the name of running a  CHARITABLE TRUST . Nothing
 prevents the govt. from passing a pro-people law rather than a PRO-
 PLUNDERER'S LAW like this.

 V.P.SARATHI


 On 5 Aug, 20:30, Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com wrote:
 Indian Parliament has unanimously passed the Right to Education bill on
 Tuesday.
 It will pave way for free and compulsory education for children in the age
 group of 6 to 14 years in India.

 Also look up for the history (till July 19 2006):
 http://www.ilpnet.org/rte/
 and another news item: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/
 india/Education-is-now-a-right/articleshow/4858277.cms.

 http://abclive.in/abclive_national/india_right_to_education_bill.html

 Indian Parliament Passes Right to Education Bill05 August, 2009
 07:05:00Jatinder
 - Kaur http://abclive.in/abclive_national/author/jatinder/

 *New Delhi (ABC Live): Indian Parliament has unanimously passed the Right
 to
 Education bill on Tuesday.*
 New Delhi (ABC Live): Indian Parliament has unanimously passed the Right
 to
 Education bill on Tuesday.

 It will pave way for free and compulsory education for children in the age
 group of 6 to 14 years in India.

 Debate on the Bill was taken up in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, which passed
 the bill.

 Speaking about the Bill, Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil
 Sibal said that it is responsibility of the state governments to implement
 the provisions of the Bill.

 He said as far as disabled clause is concerned, proper care has been taken
 in the Bill in this regard.

 He also said that availability of money for implementing the bill would
 not
 be a problem and the Centre and state governments would settle the matter.

 The HRD Minister also said that availability of money for implementing the
 bill would not be a problem and the Centre and state governments would
 settle the matter.

 Clarifying the doubts raised by members about absence of any mechanism to
 provide pre-school education to children before attaining the age of six
 years, Sibal said, This Bill is drafted in accordance with the the
 constitutional amendment that provides for free and compulsory education
 for
 children between the age of 6 and 14 years.
 http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=128224090688h=HX1vbu=Ocki...
 


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[GreenYouth] The Right to Education Bill: An Informed Analysis

[Sukla Sen]

[This note is admittedly somewhat old. But, as it appears, there has been no
(substantive) change in the Bill since. So the analysis still holds.
This one is a rather harsh critique. It clearly brings out how it
falls significaantly short of what it should have had been.
But it comprehensively debunks the notion that the Bill, in any way, would
worsen the situation as it actually obtains today.

Hence the operative part:
Quote
(T)he Bill in the present form, on the other hand, perpetuates the
inequality and unjust discrimination amongst the children in the matter of
right to education. That while expressing the above concerns regarding the
serious drawbacks of the RTE Bill, 2008 particularly when it fails the test
of Constitutional mandate, it cannot be over emphasised that the Bill should
not be delayed any further on account of need to have a more comprehensive
national debate on the same in the interest of the future of the children.
Unquote

Evidently, all those concerned with universalising and actualising the right
to eduction must gear up for two tasks now.
One, closely monitoring the (purported) Act for implementation at the ground
level including necessary legislations by the state governments, which are
now to follow.
Two, launch a campaign for expanding its ambit further capitalising on the
legitimacy provided to the concept of ensuring right to education for every
child by the state through active intervention through this Bill/Act.

Sukla


http://advashokagarwal.blogspot.com/2009/02/right-of-children-to-free-and.html
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2009THE RIGHT OF CHILDREN TO FREE AND COMPULSORY
EDUCATION BILL, 2008 FAILS THE TEST OF CONSTITUTIONAL
MANDATEhttp://advashokagarwal.blogspot.com/2009/02/right-of-children-to-free-and.html
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008
(hereinafter referred to as RTE Bill, 2008) introduced by the Central
Government in the Rajya Sabha on 15 December 2008 though appears to be a
progressive legislation but on examination thereof, it is not difficult to
conclude that the same does not stand the test of constitutional mandate
guaranteed under Article 14 (right to equality), Article 21 (right to life
with dignity), Article 21-A (right to education) and Article 38 (right to
social justice) of the Constitution of India.

Undoubtedly, some of the provisions of the RTE Bill, 2008 are laudable.
Section 3 talks of right to free and compulsory education and admission in a
neighbourhood school. Section 4 talks of admission of child in class
appropriate to his or her age. Sections 8  9 talk of obligations of the
government to provide compulsory education to children. Section 12 talks of
obligation of the unaided recognised private schools to provide free seats
to the extent of 25% to the children of the economically weaker sections.
Section 13 (1) talks of “no capitation fee” and “no screening procedure” for
admission. Section 14 talks of admission without insisting upon production
of age proof. Section 16 talks of “no expulsion of a child”. Section 17 bans
corporal punishment. Section 23 talks of formation of school management
committees. Section 23 ensures recruitment of only qualified teachers.
Section 25 talks of ensuring Pupil-Teacher Ratio as specified in the
schedule. Section 32 talks of grievance redressal mechanism.

On the other hand, several provisions of the RTE Bill, 2008 are meant to
legalise and to perpetuate the existing unjust and discriminatory school
education system based on socio-economic status. Section 3 (b) defines
“capitation fee” means any kind of donation or contribution or payment other
than the fee notified by the school. The import of this provision is that a
school is free to notify any amount of fee whether needed or not and once it
is notified, it will be legal. The Bill does not provide any fee regulatory
mechanism to check the menace of commercialisation of education. Moreover,
the right of every child to receive free and compulsory education as
guaranteed under Articles 21 and 21-A of the Constitution does not depend on
the capacity of the parents to afford fee or not. Therefore, every child
whether studying in private or State-run school, is entitled to free
education. The State should bear the entire expenses even of the children
studying in private-run schools. On the other hand, Section 8 disentitles a
child studying in such private school even to claim from the State the
reimbursement of expenditure incurred.

Section 2 (n) instead of permitting only same category of schools for all
the children, sanctifies different categories of schools for the children of
different socio-economic status. Most objectionable is; “a school belonging
to specified category”. Section 2 (p) defines “specified category” in
relation to a school, means a school known as Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sainik
School or any other school having a distinct character which may be
specified by notification, by the appropriate Government. How can you have

[GreenYouth] Re: pdgin agitprop of the populist kind

[Sukla Sen]

Quote
... the answer would lie in sustained, determined, intelligent
politico- adminstrative measures to mobilize the beneficiaries and
neutralize the losers
Unquote

Forget about neo-liberalism!

The terms mobilize and neutralize, as used here, have
spine-chilling implications.
The bloodbath in Nandigram, perpetrated by gun-wielding hoodlums
riding motorbikes and fluttering red flags, was the graphic and gory
demonstration.
That it eventually backfired is another story altogether.

Sukla

On 8/8/09, damodar prasad damodar.pra...@gmail.com wrote:
 Hi,
 Many of you must have read Indraneel Dasgupta's epw article on Some Left
 critiques of the Left. It seems some are higlighting as if this paper has
 something revelator!!! Oye!!!  We should be asking the otherway:  is there
 anything new in this article? It is a representation of the neo-orthodoxy so
 popular amongst instituional economists. Its neo-orthodoxy in the sense it
 is unwilling to carry the baggage of the Rightwing but wants itself to get
 close to mainstream Left. Actually this is the neo-classical neo-populism
 accepted at large by the policy making bodies and international instituions
 like WB, IMF etc.

 In Kerala, it may not be so popular in the popular media because it mostly
 clings to left sentimentalism (the romanticism of worst kind!!). Economists
 like Dr.Santakumar of CDS has been advocating this perspective for so
 long openly stating this ideology as neo-liberal. However they did
 articulate such ideas with a sense of democracy unilke the cantakerous ones
 now associating with the left who are like leeches cluthcing to movements
 and parties in transition for absolutely self-sake agenda.

 Nirupam Sen himself in a post-election interview has clearly said why the WB
 wanted to pursue agressive industrialkization and what price they have to
 give for such deeds. Basically, what can be inferred from the interveiw is
 the question of democracy and development. It is not like the conservative
 opposition to industrialization and private capital but how the Left should
 pursue a model different from say a Modi like development administrator. How
 the issue of disposession and accumulation via disposession has to be
 treated?

 We are discussing all this in the contexct of Global finance crisis and also
 politico-administrative crisis that we are witnessing at LALGARH...

 Indarneel Banerjee'  one-liner on the issue of disposession is
 interesting: .. the answer would lie in sustained, determined, intelligent
 politico- adminstrative measures to mobilize the beneficiaries and
 neutralize the losers.. What an important political advise to Left in times
 of crises of neoliberalism!!!.

 d.prasad,

 


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[GreenYouth] Honduras Updates

[Sukla Sen]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20090809_Turbulence_in_Honduras_must_be_allayed_quickly.html
Posted on Sun, Aug. 9, 2009


Turbulence in Honduras must be allayed quickly

By Maurice Lemoine

The reaction was unanimous - from the Organization of American States to the
United Nations, from the European Union to President Obama. Everybody
condemned, without qualification, the June 28 coup that deposed Honduras'
head of state, Manuel Zelaya, and removed him by force to Costa Rica.

Miguel d'Escoto, president of the U.N. General Assembly, called for Zelaya
to be reinstated without delay in the office and functions to which he had
been appointed by the will of the people; no other option would be
acceptable to the international community.

Doubts had been expressed about Zelaya's legitimacy. Some claimed that he
had sought, unconstitutionally, to amend the country's 1982 constitution so
he could seek another term of office in the presidential elections coming in
November.

But this was not true. The constitution remains in force until further
notice, and the head of state cannot stand for reelection. With 400,000
signatures to support him, Zelaya had planned only to organize a voluntary
survey on election day to find out whether Hondurans wanted a Constituent
National Assembly to be convened at some point.

A peculiar feature of the present constitution is that it contains a number
of articles that are effectively set in stone, including Article 4, which
prohibits reelection of the president and which cannot be amended under any
circumstances - a curious rule to impose on the people, who are supposedly
the source of all state powers. Zelaya was ousted not for seeking
reelection, but merely for contemplating reform of the basic charter.

Zelaya made three big mistakes:

From a base in the center-right Liberal Party, he severed his ties with
Honduras' ruling political and economic elite.

He increased the minimum wage 60 percent.

He joined the Bolivarian Alliance, which includes Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador,
Venezuela, and other governments that advocate breaking with neoliberalism.

Through this coup, the right has simply attacked the weak link in that
organization.

President George W. Bush supported the attempt to overthrow Hugo Chavez in
Venezuela in April 2002. Obama joined the condemnation of the man who led
the Honduran putsch, Roberto Micheletti. But while Obama declared that
Zelaya alone is president of Honduras, his secretary of state, Hillary
Rodham Clinton, suggested that Costa Rica's president, Oscar Arias, act as
mediator - keeping the left and center-left Organization of American States
out of the picture.

Powerful anti-Zelaya forces are at work in Washington. The Pentagon has a
strategically important military base in Honduras, in Palmerola. It has
already lost its base in Manta, Ecuador, which was closed at the request of
the president, Rafael Correa.

Hugo Llorens, the U.S. ambassador to Honduras appointed by Bush in September
2008, was director of Andean affairs at the National Security Council in
2002 and 2003, covering Venezuela at the time of the coup. Just before June
28 in Honduras, Llorens attended meetings with military officials and
opposition leaders.

Zelaya has rejected Arias' proposed national-reconciliation government -
which would reinstate Zelaya as president, but without any real power. So
has Micheletti, to the annoyance of Clinton, who offered him a chance to
emerge from the crisis in pole position. Was this Washington duplicity or a
difference between the White House and the State Department-Pentagon
partnership?

If order is not restored, and if Honduras succumbs to violence, Obama's
standing will be seriously impaired in Latin America, where he had been
welcomed with sympathy and hope.

--
Maurice Lemoine is a journalist and an expert on Latin American politics. He
can be contacted atlemo...@agenceglobal.com. This article was translated by
Barbara Wilson and distributed by Agence Global.

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=phillycomguid=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fopinion%2F52804407.htmlhttp://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=phillycomguid=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fopinion%2F52804407.html

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[GreenYouth] Re: [india-unity] Ishrat Jahan encounter

[Sukla Sen]

May find the following relevant in the current context.
Sukla

http://www.countercurrents.org/guj-sen290604.htm

*Encounter or Murder?*

*By Sukla Sen*

29 June 2004
*SACW*

*F*our bodies, four blood stained motionless bodies - fully stretched, lying
side by side on their backs close to the central divider of the road, only
part of which is visible, perhaps wide enough to allow the traffic to flow,
perhaps with speed somewhat lowered down. In the foreground lies a girl,
with hands on her sides, calm and serene - even if looking a bit helpless,
clad in a striped matching kurta-pyjama - in soft orange. While one foot is
clad, the other one is bare - the helplessness is somewhat accentuated. An
Indica in contrasting blue forms the backdrop. The number plate is clearly
visible : MH-02-JA-4786.

This is a visual that has assaulted us too many times over the last three
weeks. Thanks to the electronic, and print, media. No, itís not a shot from
a promo for a soon-to-be-released Bollywood film. It's real.

On 15th June, the Ahmedabd police claimed to have killed the four terrorists
in Indica car, at a desolate location near Kotarpur on the outskirts of
Ahmedabad, on their way to the city, after a thrilling chase in a pre-dawn
ëencounterí, on a deadly mission to assassinate Narendra Modi, the Chief
Minister of Gujarat. The bullet ridden bodies were neatly arranged on the
road on display before the clicking and roving cameras for the benefit of
millions of (voyeuristic?) viewers. The terrorists, it has been claimed, are
from the Pakistan based Lashkar-e Toiba. Two are from Pakistan, and the
other two, including the nineteen year girl, are Indians. The lifeless
bodies were prized trophies, on display, won in a hardly fought battle in an
ongoing war - war against ëterrorismí, led by the ubiquitous enemy.

But the expected applaud got severely marred. Cynics and sceptics raised
uncomfortable questions, found serious flaws with the script. How come in an
ëencounterí - fire having been exchanged between the police force and the
terrorists carrying AK-56, no one from the police suffered even a minor
scratch? While the bullets killing the ëterroristsí pierced through
the rear glass, why there was no sign of the car coming to a sudden halt
(with punctured tyres) or having gone out of control?

Then the timing was evidently suspect. Modi was facing perhaps the most
serious crisis in his political career having been under attack from the
foremost national leader of his own party, and also rebels from the state
party unit. And no proof whatsoever, except for the claim of an
advance tip off, was provided to substantiate the story that the deceased
were out to kill Modi. Amarsinh Chaudhary, the opposition leader from the
Congress - and an ex-CM himself, openly alleged that the ëencounterí was
fake and the story was concocted to generate sympathy and support for the
cornered Modi.

Till date the Gujarat, and Maharashtra, police have failed to produce any
evidence that the nineteen year old girl, Ishrat Jahan Shaikh - a resident
of Mumbra, some 35 km north of Mumbai, and second year BSc student in a city
college, had any criminal antecedents. Faced with a barrage of criticism,
particularly on account the perceived innocence of Ishrat, Ahmedabad police
belatedly produced a hand-written diary, purportedly of hers, showing
receipts and transactions of large sums of money. Not only the diary remains
to be checked by handwriting expert(s) to verify the claim as regards its
authorship, the fact that the rent for the meagre single room flat, where
her rather largish family resides, remains to be paid for the last seven
months flies in the face of such hypothesis.

The other one identified as Indian is Javed Gulam Mohammed Shaikh, who had
earlier been Pranesh Kumar Pillai, is a married man of 32 years - a
Malayalee and a resident of Pune. Javed, the father of three, appears to be
a shady character. But nothing goes to show that he was a terrorist - at
least as yet.

The other two were identified as Pakistanis. The Ahmedabad police claimed to
have full details of their names and residences in Pakistan. But when the
external affairs ministry was approached for handing over their bodies to
the Pakistan high commission, the ministry asked for further clarification
and confirmation.

Many questions remain unanswered. There is also a report that the deceased
had been in the custody of Surat police, in Gujarat, before the incident.
The post mortem reports, if honestly done, can throw some light on how these
four were killed. But there is no word in the media as yet on
these. What is of central importance here is to find the precise nature of
the ëencounterí. It is even more important than verifying the veracity of
the seemingly fantastic claim that the deceased were out to kill Modi. In a
civilised society even the proven criminals are treated as per the
provisions of law. In fact that is a principal marker how civilised a state
and society

[GreenYouth] Re: Malegaon Blast Accused Get a Respite by Ram Puniyani (fwd)

[Sukla Sen]

 A couple of points here.
I had chanced upon Mr. Raghuvanshi, the ATS head, in a public event .
He was specifically asked why not war against the state?
His reply was that the charges framed are easier to prove. Punishments as or
more severe.
Needs be checked, of course.

One should not crib about dropping of MCOCA.
One should rather demand thorough investigation.
Rightly said, MCOCA is a lousy shortcut.
Beyond punishment (much easier under MCOCA), a proper investigation would
bring out the links and dimensions of the conspiracy.

Narco analysis or brain mapping is a different cup of tea.
The info gathered through these methods are not legally admissible evidence
(on account of low dependability). But they (presumably) help the police in
investigation. The assumption is if the police get to know some of the
otherwise unknown and critical facts, then it becomes much easier for them
to connect the various dots and establish these through other legitimate
means.
Narco analysis (or truth serum) is objected to on the ground of invasion of
physical integrity of the accused. It may even be dangerous. To my
understanding.
Brain mapping (or lie detector) apparently falls under a different category.
I imagine the popular TV programme, Saach Ki Saamna, is also applying it on
much too eager participants. (I've not seen any episode though.)

So we must publicly and stoutly demand that the ATS carries out a
proper and thorough
investigation.

Sukla

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 10:44 PM, Venugopalan K M kmvenuan...@gmail.comwrote:


 Malegaon Blast Accused Get a Respite

 Ram Puniyani

 Eleven suspects of Malegaon blast, September 9, 2008, got a breather
 (August
 01, 2009) when the special court dropped the charges under MCCOA against 11
 suspects of the crime. Prosecution failed to show that all accused were
 member of a single organized crime syndicate. This MCOCA act also requires
 that there should be two previous charge sheets against one of them. Since
 the case prepared by police could not prove these the charges have been
 dropped. The ATS and Maharashtra Chief Minister have stated that they will
 ensure that they will go to the higher courts, against the order of this
 court decision. In past Congress has not undertaken any serious efforts to
 punish the guilty, so this statement of the authorities has to be taken
 with
 a pinch of salt.

 MCCOA apart, the overall scenario and line of investigation followed by
 police has left lot of ground uncovered which can come handy for the
 culprits getting away lightly if the police does not do its home work well.
 There may also be deeper political dimensions to the issue as well. The
 first point which struck the observers so far was that for a long time
 police line of investigation in the blast cases was based on the premise
 that some Muslim group is involved in the crime. This created two problems.
 One was that the innocents kept getting arrested and tortured and second
 that the real culprits could hide under the cover provided by the popular
 perception about terrorism. The vicious cycle was broken by Hemant Karakre
 with the impeccable evidence in the form of the Motor cycle of Sadhvi
 Pragya
 Singh Thakur from the crowded lane of Malegaon. Her link led to several
 people and many organizations. The people involved were Swami Dayanand
 Pandey, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Puroit, Ajay Rahirar, retired Major Ramesh
 Upadhayay, Rakesh Dhavade and many others. The connections with Abhinva
 Bharat, Hindu Jagran Samiti, Army units, Bhonsala Military School (Nagpur
 and Nashik), Akanksha Resort Sinhgad all emerged and the picture of a broad
 conspiracy became clear.

 The investigating officer, Hemant Karkare, about whose death in 26/11
 terror
 attack, Antulay raised certain questions, faced immense pressure due to
 criticism from Hindu right wingers, Thackeray’s paper Saamana went on to
 say
 that they spit on the face of such a anti-national person like Karkare, and
 some others also called him as Deshdrohi. One does not know what
 direct/indirect impact all this had on the future drafting of the charge
 sheet. Human Rights activist Teesta Setalvad in her articles in Communalism
 Combat Feb 2009 raised several questions about the charge sheet, which
 remain unanswered.

 One recalls that the Nanded blast (April 2006) case investigation itself
 was
 very much muted and it was only the pressure of campaign form Rights
 activists that the investigation was pursued. Rakesh Dhawade, one of the
 accused in the Malegaon charge sheet had confessed to his involvement in
 the
 training of few youth, for the preparation and detonation of bombs. The
 training was done near the Sinhgad Fort, Pune, in July-August 2003. Despite
 this he was allowed to be discharged from the Purbea masjid blast case on
 July 27, 2009! ATS says it was because the local police did not file a
 strong enough charge sheet! One does not know whether it is a lack of
 coordination or there is something deeper to 

[GreenYouth] Gujarat asked to shell out Rs 1 mn for fake encounter

[Sukla Sen]

Some justice at long last!
Quite significant is that the amount was offered by none other than the
Gujarat government counsel. What a climbdown! A far cry from Himmat Hai To
Mujhe Phansi Pe Latka De! (Let them dare to hang me (on the charge of
murder)!)
But the probe must go on till logical culmination.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=114877619729h=ePZ2eu=3qfJUref=nf

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3129543

Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Gujarat asked to shell out Rs 1 mn for fake encounter

*New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Gujarat government to pay
Rs.1 million in ex-gratia to the mother and three brothers of Sohrabuddin
Sheikh, who was wrongly branded a terrorist and killed by police in a staged
shootout in 2005.
*

A bench of Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Justice Aftab Alam also deferred to
Sep 2 the issue of transferring the case for further investigation to a
special probe panel headed by former Central Bureau of Investigation
director R.K. Raghavan.

The bench ordered the payment of the monetary relief to the slain man's
family members within a week, accepting the offer of Rs.1 million made by
senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi on behalf of the Gujarat government.

The state government had already accepted the criminal liability of some of
its police officials in carrying out the killing of the Ujjain man and also
his wife Kausar Bi in Ahmedabad in November 2005.

The court order came on a lawsuit by Sohrabuddin Sheikh's terminally ill
brother Rubabuddin Sheikh, who has sought a CBI probe into the killings of
his brother and sister-in-law.

Though the compensation offer was promptly accepted by Rubabuddin Sheikh's
counsel Dushyant Dave, Justice Aftab Alam wanted the government to hike the
compensation.

We accept it, said Dave, the moment Rohtagi disclosed the government's
offer of Rs.1 million as an interim ex-gratia.

We accept it as we are quite desperate, said the lawyer, who had earlier
told the court that Rubabuddin Sheikh was terminally ill with a stage III
cancer.

Justice Chatterjee too agreed with the offer, ignoring Justice Alam's
reservation over the sum and said, I was thinking only in terms of
thousands.

Dave also sought to raise a demand of compensation for Sohrabuddin Sheikh's
friend Tulsiram Prajapati, who too had allegedly been shot dead by the
Gujarat police team in another staged gun battle.

But the plea did not evoke any response from the bench, while the state
government too asserted that it does admit the allegations that Prajapati's
killing was extra-judicial.

The bench deferred the issue of transferring the case to the special probe
panel after Rohtagi asserted that the state government was not amenable to
transfer the probe and said he would like to argue on the legal issues
involved.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Kausar Bi and Prajapati were killed after their alleged
abduction by the Gujarat police.

Then deputy inspector general D.G. Vanzara had announced Sohrabuddin
Sheikh's killing in a police shootout, dubbing him a Lashkar-e-Taiba
terrorist on a mission to assassinate Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other
prominent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

However, the state government admitted the killings were staged. In a
subsequent probe, police have arrested Vanzara and three other senior police
officers, who are still behind the bars.

The killings had become a major issue of debate between Modi and Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi in the run-up to the state assembly elections in December
2007.

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