[GreenYouth] Five things the environment minister must do
Five things the environment minister must dohttp://toxicswatch.blogspot.com/2009/06/five-things-environment-minister-must.html Our new Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has a reputation of sensitivity towards ecology carved through his exemplary speech in the Rajya Sabha wherein he had eloquently denounced the world's biggest and most ecologically disastrous project of interlinking of India's rivers. Armed with rigorous facts and figures, he noted, India's track record in resettlement and rehabilitation has been pathetic. This is a blot on our collective conscience. With the type of track record that we have had, if we embark on this fanciful scheme of river linking with 30 storage reservoirs involving massive displacement of people, I think, it is going to be fraught with grave consequences. In one of his first responses sent to the 'Campaign for Environmental Justice - India' on May 29 which hoped that there will be drastic change for the better in the way this ministry is led, he said, I don't know what I can do but I will listen and try to make a difference. Environmental researchers and activists are keeping their fingers crossed because one of the very next few things the environment minister has revealed is that The prime minister has told me to clear this impression that the environment ministry was a regulatory hurdle in the process of economic growth. Clearly, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the prime minister are not yet alive to the collapsing ecosystem. The stark question is whether the CCEA will let the environment ministry make the structural changes required in terms of reversing the current policies which have resulted in manifest adverse impact on environmental health or whether poisoning of our blood streams and amputation of river basin system would continue to be deemed collateral damage. The threat to the integrity of the natural systems is a threat to human heath and such threats have become routine because of myopic industrial agriculture, blind urban development, regressive transport systems and criminal neglect of non-human species. While legislative safeguards for environmental protection do seem to exist on paper, the role of political class which is funded by corporations illustrates homicidal ecological lawlessness that has led to rampant industrial pollution, soil erosion, agricultural pollution and genetic erosion of plant resources is quite crucial and merits more acknowledgment. Be it blood contamination, congenital disorders, preventable but incurable cancer or extinction of known and unknown living species on our planet, it creates a compelling logic to re-examine the premises of the Industrial Revolution and design a new one. In the developed world the model of development is under interrogation because of environmental problems. Between 1975 and 1995 the Indian economy grew 2.5 times, industrial pollution went up four-fold, and vehicular pollution went up eight-fold. This analysis seems factually correct but it has ended up internalising the pollution and externalising the human cost of pollution. In such a context health indicators of deteriorating environment is witnessed in terms of a double burden of disease but the political class seems to have been rendered spineless by the corporate empires. A beginning seems to have been made with the appointment of a seemingly sensible minister after a long while but environmental crisis merits more than rhetoric or cosmetic solutions. If one were to identify five key areas seeking immediate an urgent remedial attention, it would be: 1. Adopt mandatory emission cuts as a national, domestic and enforceable objective even as we affirm the validity of 'principle of historical responsibility' which is indisputable and incontrovertible. The current stance which states, 'subjecting national aspirational efforts to an international compliance regime may result in lower ambitions' is fine but our ability to reach a certain emission reduction target under a national plan as a national legal obligation would enhance India's negotiating position. In fact National Action Plan for Climate Change should be revisited to ensure visible and truly 'credible actions' within our own framework. It is inconsequential for citizens whether some post-dated international humanitarian law is being followed in letter or not, what is of consequence is whether or not its governmental actions factor in the spirit behind a law that will have ramifications not only for the present generation but also for the future generations. Disassociation with carbon trade is also a must because benefits from it are suspect. 2. Get the National Water Policy and National Environment Policy that was drafted by the BJP-led NDA government besides the industrial policy rewritten. The UPA government must disassociate itself from it because among other things it entails agreeing with Tamil Nadu's irrational demand for interlinking of rivers.
[GreenYouth] Fwd: [Reader-list] 'Men in uniform are Kashmir's problem, not solution'
-- Forwarded message -- From: Harsh Kapoor aiin...@gmail.com Date: Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 5:27 AM Subject: [Reader-list] 'Men in uniform are Kashmir's problem, not solution' To: sarai list reader-l...@sarai.net http://tinyurl.com/muga5v 'Men in uniform are Kashmir's problem, not solution' by Sanjay Kak (The Times of India, 14 Jun 2009) Those who use the media filter to try to understand what is happening in Kashmir should realize they're looking at a shadow play. A curtain lies between events and us. What is played out on the screen depends on who manipulates the sources of light. Last summer, the Valley was overwhelmed by several months of unprecedented non-violent public protest. It was triggered by the complicated Amarnath land issue, but on the streets the people were saying Hum kya chahte? Azadi! We are hearing this again this summer, triggered by the rape and murder of two young women from Shopian in south Kashmir. Only the stone deaf could miss the cry. Between these two summer uprisings came the Assembly elections of December. As everyone braced for a boycott, people did turn out to vote. This surprise turnout was presented as nothing short of a miracle and we were informed that this was a vote for Indian democracy. Those who wondered why people who had braved bullets only a month ago should suddenly queue up to vote were reminded that Kashmiris were an unpredictable, even contrary, people. In fact, there is a frightening consistence about the Kashmiri chant for decades: Hum kya chahte? Azadi! Protests have begun for all sorts of reasons but they are a manifestation of the simmering anger always close to the surface. The current round of protests were given a head-start by the distinctly amateur vacillations of the state chief minister, not least his puzzling shifts on what may have actually happened to Nilofar, 22, and her sister-in-law Asiya, 17, on the night of May 29. Well-intentioned though he may be, Omar Abdullah seems very badly advised, or else possessed of a political death-wish. In its election campaign the National Conference made a point of underlining that it was seeking a mandate for development, for bijli, sadak, pani. It made no claim to settling masla-e-Kashmir or the Kashmir issue. But once the elections were over, they went along with the Indian establishment, which trumpeted the turnout as a decisive mandate in India's favour. The inability of Omar Abdullah's government to reach out to the people of the Valley in the past fortnight is a timely reminder of the dangers of that delusion. In just a little over 10 days, the protests have damaged the patina of normalcy that the election 'success' painted on a deeply troubled situation. In the middle of all this, but almost buried by events, the JK police announced the arrest of Constable Nazir Ahmed of the India Reserve Police battalion for allegedly raping a minor girl in Baramulla in north Kashmir. (They admitted the constable was a former Personal Security Officer of Ghulam Hassan Mir, legislator and former minister). Days after the incident, a scuffle between the families of the victim and the policeman led to the tragic killing of the victim's grandmother. Both incidents of the past fortnight must be placed next to one from a few years ago, when the infamous sex scandal led to huge protests, bringing Srinagar to a grinding halt. That was a tawdry tale of the sexual exploitation of vulnerable women, including the prostitution of minors. It was on a massive scale, with the involvement of politicians , senior bureaucrats, police and paramilitary officers. The scandal exposed the ugly networks of power and oppression, which prop up the structures of control in Kashmir. It also laid bare the vulnerability of women all over the Valley, prey to the brutal arrogance unleashed by 20 years of intense militarization and unbridled power. It's a good time to remember that the acquisition of land for the Amarnath yatra was only the spark that set off last summer's protests. But the real fuel was widespread resentment about the fact that thousands of acres of agricultural, orchard and forest land is under occupation by the army and paramilitary forces, housing their feared camps and cantonments and vast logistics bases. The Kashmiris' behaviour then turns out to be underpinned by a fairly straightforward political reason: we don't need to delve into their fragile 'psyche'. This week, the lights behind the curtain are being moved around to give the illusion of change: the CRPF's duties are to be handed over to the JK police. If true, this will need massive local police recruitment and give a disturbing new twist to the Indian government's promise of employment to young Kashmiris. (However, from the Establishment's point of view, a policeman in every home may well be a solution to Kashmir's troubles.) But this change of guard will not alter the lives of ordinary people. They do not care if the oppressive figure of
[GreenYouth] Press Release For Immediate Release Jun e 7, 2009 National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM) Launched with “The Kanyakumari Declaration”
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 energy. But for that very reason the energy options we choose must be economical, sustainable, safe and environmentally-friendly. Moreover energy distribution must be made more equitable, just and efficient. 4. In India, huge resources have already been wasted on nuclear power projects that are expensive, inefficient, hazardous and also potentially catastrophic. The Indian nuclear establishment has expressed interest in amending the Indian Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to facilitate privatization. While private companies will make money, Indian taxpayers and ordinary citizens will bear the cost of dealing with all the liabilities
[GreenYouth] Re: Press Release For Immediate Release June 7, 2009 National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (N AAM) Launched with “The Kanyakumari Declaration”
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] Fwd: Caste And Democracy In India By Vidya Bhushan Rawat (fwd)
-- Forwarded message -- From: Venugopalan K M kmvenuan...@gmail.com Date: Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 8:32 PM Subject: Caste And Democracy In India By Vidya Bhushan Rawat (fwd) To: sarai-list reader-l...@sarai.net Caste And Democracy In India By Vidya Bhushan Rawat 13 June, 2009 Countercurrents.org At the outset of my presentation, I would like to congratulate International Humanist and Ethical Union and fellow humanists for taking initiative to address the issue of untouchability from a non religious view point. I always believed that the emancipation and liberation of humanity is not in the so-called liberation theologies but liberation of minds of human being. When we talk about India and see its diversity, we will find that most of the revolt movements in India spoke against the hegemony of a particular caste and the systematization of rituals and imposition of farcical values in the name of divinity. India became a nation under the British regime. 400 years of Mughal rule and then British Raj, brought a lot of changes in India, whether administrative reforms or institutionalization of democratic process yet one thing that remained unchanged was the caste discrimination. Prior to British, the stream of Sufi saints rejected the brahmanical system and injustice meted to Dalits but their focus was more making people aware of themselves and tried to take shelter in a seemingly egalitarian religion by terming God does not discriminate, he is one and omnipresent and omnipotent. But the real changes came when in the 19th century, when the approach of the leaders of deprived castes became not only of a of a revolt against the values and thoughts imposed by the High Caste Hindus led by the Brahmins but an assertion in the belief of modernity which resulted in the democratization process in Europe, United States as well as Eastern European Countries, which many of you might not like at the moment. Democracy is essentially a practice of alliance building. And the first such grand alliance of farmers, marginalized communities and the deprived communities was forged by Jyoti Ba Phule, as he termed these communities as ‘Bahujan’ and felt that those ruling India were really minorities leaders of the high caste Hindus. But Dr Ambedkar who got educated in United States, UK and Germany did not really feel the same way. His concerns were really about the constitutional provisions for the Dalits. He realized that Democracy was a broadly a majoritarian concept and cannot really be confined to electoral exercise and therefore a mere political alliance of communities which lead to political power can not be the only objective of a democratic exercise. Instead, he felt that our institutions should be strong enough to protect the constitutional provisions made for the most marginalized communities. He knew that the communities that he was leading did not understand much about discrimination and rights as it was thoroughly disempowered one. He knew that communities which remain in enslavement and hunger because of various rituals and ideologies and philosophies injected in their minds that they would not be able to understand what their rights are? Many of them still feel that what they have been doing was perfectly divine and no body has a right to stop that. The theory of karma, that what you are today because of your bad karmas in the previous birth hence to undo that one must stick to his/her duties. Ambedkar said that Karma theory did the maxmimum damage to the rights of the depressed classes most commonly known as Untouchables or Dalits. We must not forget that Ambedkar approached the Dalits problem through a minority view point. He wanted to ensure constitutional rights so that the Dalits do not become victim of majoritarian assertion during the elections. That is why he fought for the separate electorate for them in 1932 and which was justifiably awarded by the British that time known as communal award. In all his life time, Ambedkar addressed the issue of the untouchables from the view point of a democratic polity and not just politics. After India got independence and Ambedkar led the drafting of the Indian constitution, Dalits got 17.5% seats reserved in parliament and state assemblies. Actually Ambedkar never asked for this reservation as he feared that the leadership that would emerge after this would be serving more to the high caste Hindus who form the majority than the Dalits. And this resulted in defeat of Ambedkar in the very first election he contested from Mumbai, Maharastra as all the high caste Hindus ganged up against him and got him defeated. Ambedkar could not live more but the Dalis became vote bank of the ruling party. Many leaders were elected and became ministers and governors and chief ministers of the state but the over all condition of the Dalits was a matter of great concern. However, there were a few symbolic exceptions which were utilized to mobilize the Dalit opinion
[GreenYouth] Election in Iran and After
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] Re: http://dillipost.blogspot.com/
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[GreenYouth] Election in Iran: Charge of Fraud
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] Fwd: [humanrights-movement:1635] Dalits in a 'Hindu rashtra'
-- Forwarded message -- From: Ajay ajayda...@gmail.com Date: Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 6:04 PM Subject: [humanrights-movement:1635] Dalits in a 'Hindu rashtra' To: Dalits in a 'Hindu rashtra' By Subhash Gatade Everyone knows about Gujarat’s bias against Muslims. But consider the dalits in this ‘Hindu rashtra’: they are confined to ‘dalits only’ housing societies in Ahmedabad, school quotas for recruitment of dalit teachers are ignored, and dalits are buried in separate burial grounds if available and in wasteland if not The severe earthquake that hit Gujarat in 2001 and the subsequent relief and rehabilitation programme revealed to the outside world the deep-seated caste bias in the Gujarati community, apart from the much talked about bias against the minority communities. There were reports that in some places the relief and rehabilitation work bypassed both the dalits and the Muslims. Similarly, the organised killing of Muslims a year later, in 2002, also saw several dalit casualties. While the co-option of a section of the dalits in the Hindutva agenda and their metamorphosis as foot soldiers of the Hindutva brigade was duly reported, the media did not deem it necessary to emphasise that the riots also affected dalits. One hundred and eight dalits lost their lives, 38 in the city of Ahmedabad alone. Quite a few of these deaths occurred when dalits resisted the Hindutva goons by siding with hapless Muslims. Interestingly, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar had asked his followers to stop Hindu Raj becoming a reality at all costs. Discrimination against dalits in Gujarat occurs routinely -- in housing, in education, and even in death. No place for the dead When Naresh Solanki's two-and-a-half-year-old nephew died in 2001, the grieving family from Hooda village in Palanpur block of Banaskantha district buried the child in the community burial ground. No sooner had they reached home than they heard that a member of the Patel community from the village had exhumed the body with a tractor. The powerful Patels had encroached on some part of the land next to the burial ground and were offended by the burial. It has been more than seven years since that incident took place and the dalits of Hooda village are still waiting for the collector and the village panchayat to allot them some land for burial. When a community elder died in 2008, his body had to be carried to another village, where dalits have a separate graveyard. That the problem of burials for dalits is not limited to Hooda is borne out by a report in Mail Today in the first week of February 2009. It said that dalits are not allowed to use common burial grounds in Gujarat and are often forced to bury their dead in wastelands near villages. Absence of any legal entitlement to this land allows the dalits to be pushed out of such lands by dominant upper castes. A survey conducted by the Gujarat Rajya Grampanchayat Samajik Nyay Samiti Manch found that out of 657 villages in Gujarat, 397 villages do not have any designated land allotted for burial for dalits. Out of the 260 villages where land has been formally allotted, 94 have seen encroachments by the dominant castes and in 26 villages the burial ground is in a low-lying area and therefore gets waterlogged. When the question of burying their dead comes up, dalits have much in common with Muslims who also find their graveyards being encroached upon by the dominant classes. A few years ago, the Gujarat high court had to intervene and ask the state government to post police personnel to block attempts to encroach on the graveyard of Muslims in Patan. Disclose your caste, lose your house If dead dalits have no dignity in a ‘Hindu rashtra’, neither do the living, and this in the state capital of Ahmedabad. It is the common experience of dalits living here that if they approach an upper caste builder for housing, they are either directly discouraged or tacitly denied. It is immaterial if the dalit is economically well-off. Such discrimination, deeply entrenched, received a new lease of life after the 2002 carnage. In Ahmedabad, ‘dalits only’ residential societies have come up. There are around 300 of them. An article on the subject in the Indian Express emphasised that it is “not a matter of choice, but of compulsion”: “ ‘Even if a dalit can afford a flat in areas dominated by the upper castes, they are often denied by the builders or the seller,’ retired IAS officer P K Valera, who lives in one such dalit society in Ramdevnagar, says. Some social scientists say the alienation started since 1982, after the anti-reservation agitation, but agree that the caste and class distinctions have become more serious in recent years. This trend can be seen not only in the walled city but also in the posh areas of west Ahmedabad like Satellite, Vastrapur, Bodakdev, Ambavadi. Socio-political scientist Achyut Yagnik says, ‘There are more than 300 dalit societies in the city. In Chandkheda alone, there are
[GreenYouth] Fwd: Pasmanda Intellectuals' Forum Questions the selection process of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Jamia Milia Islamiya University (JMI), New Delhi
-- Forwarded message -- From: arshad amanullah arshad.m...@gmail.com Date: 2009/6/13 Subject: [arkitectindia] Pasmanda Intellectuals' Forum Questions the selection process of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Jamia Milia Islamiya University (JMI), New Delhi [With apologies for X-posting] An Open Letter to the President Ms. Pratibha Patil The last two decades in Indian democracy have witnessed wider acknowledgement and interrogation of the disproportionate hegemony of upper castes in the structures of power. Quite clearly such overt domination of a few elite oligarchic caste groups in decision making processes runs against the pluralist and democratic ambitions of the Indian Constitution. The persistence of such trends does not augur well for the future of this nation. The legitimacy of the category of caste in non-Hindu (minority) communities is now officially established. The inclusion of 82 Muslim caste groups in the OBC list of the Mandal Commission Report in 1990 was a watershed event in this context. The presence of caste in Muslim community is also reaffirmed by the recent Sachhar Committee Report and the report of the Ranganath Mishra Commission on Linguistic Minorities. Moreover, apart from the official recognition there is a strong movement among the dalit/backward caste Muslims that is gaining ground in North India (especially UP and Bihar). The movement is called the ‘Pasmanda Movement’ and it is articulating the anxiety and anger of the Pasmanda Muslim sections over their blatant social exclusion. It must be borne in mind that the Pasmanda Muslims (dalit/backward caste Muslims; also called ajlaf and arzal) constitute about 75% of the Indian Muslim population (the remaining 25% is formed by the upper caste ashraf Muslims). The politics of numeric should itself suffice to suggest that their claims can not be taken lightly. The marginalisation of Pasmanda Muslims from state and community-controlle d institutions is an issue that perhaps needs to be urgently addressed. In this context, the recent reports about the selection process of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Jamia Milia Islamiya University (JMI), New Delhi have once again disappointed the Pasmanda Muslim sections. In historical terms, ‘Muslim’ institutions like AMU and JMI have exhibited strong rigidity in accommodating persons from non-ashraf social locations as VC’s. If the claims of the Pasmanda Movement are true then not even a single VC in these institutions has been appointed from the Pasmanda Muslim communities since Independence (Mr. Hamid Ansari, the former VC of AMU who is usually taken to be a Pasmanda Muslim arguably comes from an ashraf family). Quite clearly the empanelment process of the Vice Chancellor in these two institutions is a strong testimony to such prejudices. Recently, a ‘Search Committee’ (comprising Justice Saghir Ahmed, Syed Hamid and Prof. Yashpal) constituted a panel of five persons for the Vice Chancellorship of JMI (see: The Indian Express, New Delhi edition, 12 June 2009) and submitted it to the President (visitor to the University). The panel includes Mr. Afzal Amanullah, Prof. Mushirul Hasan, Prof. Faizan Ahmad, Mr. Najeeb Jung and Mr. Mohd Shakeel Ahmad. While two members in the panel are academics, the rest are bureaucrats. Remarkably, neither the search committee nor the panel includes even a single name from non-ashraf Muslim communities! There are credible reports that an IAS officer from the UP cadre Mr. Anis Ansari, who also comes from a Pasmanda biradari, did offer his CV for the purpose. Moreover, having served as Secretary Agriculture and as Agricultural Production Controller (APC) of UP twice he did have the experience of managing and dealing with the affairs of higher education (including the prestigious Pantnagar Agriculture University). Besides, he has also served at the level of Additional Chief Secretary of UP and has held key positions in the departments of Rural Development, Industry and Urban Development etc. Yet his name was not deemed fit to be even mentioned in the panel of five. What is more remarkable is the fact that all the other bureaucrats favoured over him are either junior to him or had dissociated themselves from public service by taking voluntary retirement from the IAS way back (Mr. Najeeb Jung and Mr. Mohd Shakeel Ahmad). The selection process of the panel clearly underlines the strong and deeply entrenched prejudice against the Pasmanda Muslim communities. Afterall, what explains this anomaly and elision if not caste discrimination of the worst order? What is even more intriguing is that India, a nation of one billion people, is so deficient in human resources that a man in his 80’s, and with all the problems that old age brings, is allowed to play arbitrary and decisive roles in the affairs of ‘Muslim’ institutions in particular and the affairs of the Muslim community in general. Moreover, this particular person is highly distrusted by the
