Take away our dalit lands, take away our fertile lands,
Take away our forest land,
Where do we go… to the President’s house?
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Take away our dalit lands, take away our fertile lands,
Take away our forest land,
Where do we go… to the President’s house?
Videos
• Smaller towns new terror target
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/17video.htm
Why I insist for the worldwide Black Untouchable anti imperialist resistance against Zionist, Brahminical White supremacy, latest news updates support my representation.I have talked and written this in my earlier writeups as well as I tried my best to represent the case in Tumkur peace event recently. Racial and caste hatred is a singular issue causing violence and strife worldwide with repression of enslaved masses and nationalities. Since Asian Nato has become a reality and plantation of Benjir heralds a new age in this divided subcontinent , the new allignment of imperialism and fascism has to be resisted with realignment of the forces of Peace. tumkur Peace event is a real beginning. In this context I have to discuss the happenings in UP and racial comments of a nobel laureate.Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr James Watson has exposed the chemistry of Islamophobia as well as the socil reality of War against terrorism while the persecution of Dalits in UP proves that only power sharing is not going to solve the complex issue until the society is changed. the cunning ruling class takes the mask of Dalit Ideology and submits itself to dalit leadership only to sustain the thousands years legacy of Hegemony. Mayawati is the face but the mind is working in accordance with the ageold system rotten.
The Science Museum in the British capital has cancelled a talk by Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr James Watson after he was accused of making racist comments implying Africans were not as intelligent as whites. Watson, who discovered the double helix structure of DNA along with Briton Francis Crick, has been condemned for saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really".
26 Muslim youth have been arrested in the aftermath of Hyderabad bomb blasts but none of them have been charged for bomb blast case. If Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee of India (CLMCI), a human rights organization based in Hyderabad is to be believed many more can be arrested. Muslims of Hyderabad are living under a terror where perpetrators are uniformed and all state machinery seems to be against its citizen.
Muslim youth are terrified and afraid to go out fearing that they will be picked up. Rich Muslims are able to bribe their way out of the illegal detention but poor Muslims have no protection. According to CLMCI, 26 Muslims were illegally detained by the Andhra Pradesh Police and tortured in Greyhounds compounds, Head Quarters of elite commando force of AP Police. Habeas Corpus filed in the state high court resulted in court giving a week for the Police to respond to it. This gave the cops enough time to torture them some more.
More than 25,000 Dalits and Adivasis from various parts of the country marched towards the national capital carrying flags and shouting slogans, to press their demand for land, water and trees from the government.The volunteers, including women, of the Ekta Parishad, mostly dalits and adivasis led by Gandhians P.V. Raj Gopal and Subba Rao, are walking in four files on the national highway that leads to the capital. Many of them are carrying backpacks and children along with them.An activist from Chhattisgarh told IANS "It doesn't matter if some inconvenience is caused. We are marching for a big cause. For decades the poor and the Dalits (former untouchables in the Hindu caste hierarchy) have been fooled and taken for a ride with all kinds of promises but nothing substantial has been delivered."
"The issues are basic. The poor and the underprivileged must get their share of the land. There should be community control on water resources and the jungles have to be saved from the marauding developers," he added.
They walk 10 km at a stretch and stop for food and rest on the roadside before resuming their journey. They cook in roadside kitchens, sing and dance and sleep on the road. They also discuss rights and importance of jungles.On Saturday morning, the marchers left Agra as their 4 km long procession meandered its way through the main M.G. Road. They stopped at Akbar's
AICC President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday launched a veiled attack on the Mayawati government for not properly implementing the national rural employment guarantee scheme in UP. Menwhile, Indian expressreports: Even though the state has a Dalit chief minister, cases of human rights violations against the community are still not being highlighted in Uttar Pradesh, said Additional General of Police (Human Rights) Shailendra Sagar. He was speaking at the inaugural day of a two-day meet on Dalit Rights, organised in the state capital by Pairavi, a New Delhi-based organisation.
"We already have a number of initiatives being taken to ensure the protection of the rights of the Dalits. The districts have special inquiry cells, but then, we are all aware their condition is not up to the mark," said Sagar. The state is witnessing an announced politics when it comes to the welfare of Dalits, he added. Talking about the behaviour of the police when it came to Dalits, with special focus on Dalit women, Sagar said the police administration has a different attitude in cases related to scheduled caste women.
"The police question the character of a woman when they find out the case involves a Dalit. There is a need for a change in the attitude of the police," Sagar said.
Suggesting active intervention by NGOs, Sagar said such organisations should have a proactive role in changing the behaviour of the administration, thus helping to bring a significant change in the present situation. Senior IPS officer V N Rai also shared his views on the issue. He said the issue of Dalits should not be mixed up with other issues involving human rights. "Their pain is incomparable," Rai said. Former IPS officer and social activist S R Darapuri was also present. "The Dalits have to struggle hard to get their rights. The time has come when Dalits have to demand their rights and not merely plead for them," he commented.
The 79-year-old American was due to talk at the Science Museum's Dana Centre on Friday but on Wednesday night a spokesman said Watson's comments had gone "beyond the point of acceptable debate and as a result the museum was cancelling the sold-out event, The Daily Telegraph claimed on Thursday.
The eminent American, in Britain to promote a new book, also said the assumption that different racial groups shared "equal powers of reason" was backed by "no firm reason".
However, he said people should not discriminate racially, because "there are many people of colour who are very talented."
His comments have been attacked by fellow scientists, anti-racism campaigners and politicians.
Last April he launched "Save the Farmers, Save India," a nation-wide campaign in favour of farmers burdened by debts and ignored by local administrations. At the time he told AsiaNews that "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's package has not brought a solution to the plight of distressed farmers across the country. Their rising suicide rate has become a national disgrace."Another priority for the Indian Church is the defence of life, one of Cardinal Gracias’ most heart-felt issues. Female infanticides, exploitation of minors, malnourishment among the poor are issues that he has always tried to put at the centre of the national debate, investing his time and those of the various Indian communities he has led.
In his pastoral activities, the archbishop of Mumbai has been close to issues dear to the Pope like Christ’s uniqueness, the tireless proclamation of the Gospel and the affirmation of the Church’s missionary nature. He has always reminded his priests of the importance of evangelisation, giving great impetus to the religious community of his diocese.The clarity with which he proclaims the Gospel has made him a point of reference in India’s pluralistic society. "Evangelical values must permeate our lives," he said. "In a world increasingly shaped by the imperatives of globalisation it is necessary to engage in a profound dialogue but one that is not impoverished by syncretism. Mutual respect must develop in light of one’s own charisma."
The clarity with which he proclaims the Gospel has made him a point of reference in India’s pluralistic society. "Evangelical values must permeate our lives," he said. "In a world increasingly shaped by the imperatives of globalisation it is necessary to engage in a profound dialogue but one that is not impoverished by syncretism. Mutual respect must develop in light of one’s own charisma."An official in the railway ministry, on condition of anonymity, said Prasad himself had written to the minister of minority affairs last month on a "4% reservation" for Muslims "across ministries".India has 150 million Muslims—the second highest in the world—and according to the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee that was set up by the Prime Minister to study social, economic and educational status of Muslims, few members of this minority community are employed by the government.However, reservation is a tricky, sensitive and a highly political issue in India. A proposal by the Union government to create a 27% reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) in Central government-run institutions of higher education is currently before the Supreme Court.
See this report:
Asserting the right to be heard
Swati Sahi
OneWorld South Asia
http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/154295/1/
18 October 2007
Take away our dalit lands, take away our fertile lands,
Take away our forest land,
Where do we go… to the President’s house?
This was a spirited cry from amongst four hundred women who had come together from different parts of the country to share their experiences and life stories of poverty at the capital, New Delhi, on October 17.
These women had come from 20 different states, across 300 districts, to participate in the Women’s Tribunal on Poverty at New Delhi on October 17, to mark the World Poverty Day. They voiced their testimonies before a jury of eight, comprising academics, political thinkers and social activists, demanding that women’s agenda be made central to policies and programmes of the government.
The delegation with the President, Pratibha Patil
These women hail from the invisible margins of society: the Dalits, Adivasis, Muslim women, women with disabilities and from nomadic tribes, who are often excluded and discriminated both by society as well as within their own communities. They have constitutional rights to life, security, dignity, livelihood and development and are yet bereft of most. Women who are single or disabled experience further disadvantages.
"As a nation we are shameful that villages are denied of the hope of ‘shinning India’, said Dr Ruth Manorama, one of the jury members and president of the National Alliance of Women (NAWO).
She applauded the courage of the women present who had come out of personal situations of displacements, evictions and deforestation to speak out their trials. "Evictions and displacements are the order of the day," she said, stressing that it is rights to land that give women power and an escape from violence.
The issue of multiple displacements was also raised by Annie Raja, jury member and General Secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), referring to cases of "heartless evictions" in the name of development under the SEZs.
The lack of ownership and access to cultivable land was highlighted as the underpinning factor for women’s poverty in rural areas and the Tribunal called for the right to cultivable land as a must for them.
Jury members Nikhil Dey of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and Kamla Bhasin (SANGAT) noted that while the country is growing at phenomenal rates, the lives of poor women are getting further impoverished. The hearing emphasized the need to bring in the gender perspective into issues of poverty and recognize women as independent citizens, and not just linked to their families.
Annie Raja noted the growing violence against women, saying that poor women face the double burden of poverty and gender, which gets further aggravated when the women belong to socially unacceptable Dalit or Adivasi communities.
The jury also noted that schemes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) meant to augment the livelihood opportunities of the poor have had little impact on the lives of women in villages; in many cases employment cards not reaching those in need.
"The social security welfare bill does not adequately address issues of the unorganized sector," added Ruth Manorama. In the social sector, BPL (below poverty level) cards were found to be denied to a large majority of the poor; it is more often that those undeserving have taken advantage of these cards.
Despite the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, education has remained elusive for children of Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims. Social stereotyping has led to high rates of drop-outs among those who have had access to schools, the jury held.
Sheba George, Director of Sahrwaru Women’s Action Resource Centre and jurist, commented on the inadequate attempts of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to provide trained health workers and professionals and the lack of medical services that have led to high rates of maternal deaths in the country.
She also drew attention to the state of Muslim women who (along with the Dalits and Adivasis) are socially excluded from socio-economic opportunities, and by being tagged to terror, are also not trusted by the administration and bureaucracy. The biases of the state have been evident in the case of post-conflict Gujarat rehabilitation.
"Bureaucracy is antipoor, antitribal, antidalit," she said, while calling for monitoring of government schemes and punitive measures against those officials engaged in diversion of funds in implementation. She also pointed out the growing violence towards women by institutional mechanisms of the police and judiciary, who have proved to be gender insensitive and anti-poor.
Dr Rosemary Dzuvichu, of Nagaland University and jurist, brought attention to the issues of customary property laws that exploit and exclude women from their rightful share; and of conflict that has afflicted the lives of women in Kashmir and the North-east.
Jurist Nikhil Dey recommended that there should be a mandatory public audit or ‘jan audit’ on an annual basis where women would do social audits in every district.
Yadicon Njie-Eribo of the Feminist Task Force, GCAP and Coordinator of women’s group Femigam in Gambia, shared her experience of a similar tribunal conducted in her country in 2005. "Society has taught women not to speak about what happens at home," she said, adding that it is this silence that breeds violence.
As the Tribunal came to a close, a delegation left to meet the President Pratibha Patil with a set of the recommendations put forth by the jury.
Development of the country is not possible minus the focused development of women and communities from the society’s margins. This infallible truth that drew out from the Tribunal was all-pervading in the voices of the women. In the words of Nikhil Dey, "the Tribunal is a step not only for the sake of women, but for the entire country."
And see this also:
Mainstream, Vol XLV, No 43
Erosion of our Democratic Values and Unconcern of Political Parties
by Chaturanan Mishra
http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article370.html
Tuesday 16 October 2007
Despite the fact that more and more downtrodden people have begun to exercise their right of casting votes and there is a new consciousness among Dalits, tribals, women and Other Backward Castes which deepen the roots of our democracy, this in itself does not result in strengthening the rights of the people. More Dalits are killed in India than what happened to the Blacks in South Africa during the apartheid period. Even elected Dalit Presidents of village Panchayats in Tamil Nadu are not allowed to function. Untouchability persists. Now the OBC people are launching more offensives against Dalits. Something new has happened in UP: Brahmins accepting the leadership of Mayawatiji; but it is too early to assess how far the Brahmins in general agree to end untouchability and give social respect to the Dalits. This has to be watched. More girl children in pregnancy are killed. There is no political movement for social reform though the society itself is reforming slowly. Gandhiji mixed political movement with social reform also to some extent.
The bureaucracy is uncontrollable. The colonial tradition of bureaucrats as the rulers and people as the ruled is continuing. Corruption even at the local level of administration has increased so much that people do not get even one-fourth of what is budgeted in Parliament and Assemblies for them. Rajiv Gandhi said people get only 16 per cent of what is allotted in the Budget for them. People are unable to check it. It has spread even to village Panchayats. The police has become more tyrannical. Lathicharges and shootings by the police are quite common. Even the Left Government of West Bengal is now no exception after what happened at Nandigram. In 2005 alone, 44 persons were killed in police firings. Between 1990 and 1999 the police opened fire 5994 times resulting in 1753 deaths and 6886 injuries. The same police is unable to check criminals who rule in cities also. Children are kidnapped and killed if firauti is not paid to them. Even in the central Capital of Delhi women are not safe. The days of Pattam Thanu Pillai, when he was forced to resign for firing, are gone. Politicians are party to it. There is a general feeling that all politicians, barring a few, are for making money. The old respect for politicians is no longer there. Similar is the feeling about political parties since now they don’t go to the people to solve their problems. This is the most dangerous feature since healthy political parties and politicians are a must for the strengthening of democracy. Members of Legislatures change parties for personal benefit. Politicians behave in such a manner as to prove that they have no ideology.
Though in our Constitution every citizen has the right to be elected to Parliament and Assemblies, as the election now costs a crores of rupees ninetyfive per cent of our citizens can’t think of contesting elections. Our janatantra is becoming dhanatantra. Though the Election Commission has recently taken some strict reformist measures, political parties are voicing their protest. Due to casteism, fear and communalism more and more veteran criminals are elected to Parliament and Assemblies as candidates of political parties. It is not safe to oppose such criminal candidates. Parliament is helpless in the case of Gujarat where thousands of Muslims, including women and children as well as even pregnant women, were massacred and so our janatantra is becoming gun-tantra.
Courts can help to provide some remedy and in fact the Supreme Court acted sometimes but courts are so much overburdened with a number of cases that it takes years to have a final judgement. It is so time consuming and costly that the mass of people don’t go there. Rich people use it to harass the poor. It is happening since the days of British rule and continues till today.
Political parties are a must for democracy. The old national parties are getting weakened and caste based regional parties are coming up. This gives us coalition governments. Though the formation of regional parties take democracy to so far unawakened people, the absence of a national party can weaken the Centre. This danger is there. However, so far regional parties have helped to strengthen federalism.
National parties failed to understand the new feeling of the caste people. Different castes of people want their development through their own caste or group of castes. National parties are dominated by high-caste leaders and they run the government. Backward castes united to change this and this they did through caste or group of castes organisations. While Hindu castes were earlier based on religious faith, now they are based on politics and they are changing their position from time to time. This may lead to weakening of the caste system. This problem needs to be tackled in the national interest. Now Dalits strongly protest and what happened in Rajasthan for reservation of Gujjars as tribal people is a serious warning. The tribal people’s position is worse than even the Dalits and poor Muslims. All over India except the North-East they are coming under the influence of Maoists. Very often policemen are killed by them. Terrorised government officials, contractors, truck owners pay them levy. They are equipping themselves with modern arms. They are spreading now in the plains too. Farmers are also paying them do kathia, that is, the produce of two kathas per acre. With its present policy towards the poor the government cannot stop this development.
The poor people are unable to maintain themselves in the rural areas due to the agricultural crisis; they are coming to cities and get shelter in slums making jhopris. Now the government and even the courts are evicting them without giving shelter. No political party takes up their cause and ultimately they may go over to the Maoists.
Farmers are in a serious crises. According to 59th National Sample Survey, a majority of small and marginal farmers are unable to make both ends meet. In the post-liberalisation period and after India joined the WTO, production and productivity of agriculture has been heavily reduced. The growth of agriculture has reduced from 3.08 per cent in 1980-90 to 2.65 per cent in 1991-2000 due to reduction of the Plan outlay in agriculture and also in public sector work in agriculture like irrigation and scientific research etc. While the input price of agriculture has heavily increased, the price of agricultural produce has been reduced. Because of this condition, 40 per cent of farmers have desired to leave agriculture if they get an alternative job. As many as 48.6 per cent of farmers are debt-ridden; of them 42.3 per cent are indebted to moneylenders at high interest and forcible realisation. We are again dependent on import of food at higher prices. Starvation and malnutrition have become commonplace for a long time. Now thousands of farmers commit suicides every year. No political party takes up their cause seriously to force the government to act. On the nuclear agreement with the USA political crisis has been created but on the issue of peasant suicides or for unorganised workers or against price rise no such political crisis was engendered.
There is a vast and big population in the poverty zone of Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and Orissa etc. Despite our high national GDP growth, they are becoming poorer. Every year floods from Nepal destroy them. Nepal being a foreign land it is the Central Government’s constitutional responsibility to tackle the problem but it does not. One can be certain that a time will come in the near future when this poverty zone will rise against the Centre and the Centre will be unable to suppress it.
Our people have deep faith in democracy but such issues as mentioned here are fast eroding that faith. It is time that political parties reform themselves to restore the people’s faith in democracy. At present people are highly frustrated and angry. Frequent spontaneous violent outbreaks are taking place. The police is the target. This has no backing of any party. If these violent outbreaks are coordinated which the Maoists can, then it will result in a countrywide or Statewide violent attack directed against the democratic set-up.
The author, a veteran CPI leader, was the Union Agriculture in the United Front Government at the Centre (1996-98).
'Blacks Are Stupid' Comments Betray Dark Mindset Of Eugenics
Geneticist says blacks inherently less intelligent than whites
Prison Planet October 17, 2007
Paul Joseph Watson
Controversy surrounding the comments of geneticist James Watson, who
told a Sunday Times newspaper interviewer that black people are
inherently less intelligent than whites, should come as no surprise to
those who are aware of Watson's role in pushing the dark
pseudo-science of eugenics.
Watson told the interviewer that he was "inherently gloomy about the
prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the
fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the
testing says not really".
Watson said the notion that everyone is created equal is flawed
because "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true".
The geneticist explores this racist ideology further in his new book,
writing, "there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual
capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution
should prove to have evolved identically" .
"Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal
heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so," he says.
Watson was the Head of the Human Genome Project until 1992 and is best
known for his contribution to the discovery of DNA, an achievement
that won him the Nobel prize in 1962.
But what most people are unaware of is the fact that Watson has played
an integral role in advancing the legitimacy of the eugenics movement
for decades.
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=1-h1CBzGuTM
Alex Jones' End Game explains why the elite are obsessed with pushing
eugenics and bizarre race hygiene philosophies. Click here for more clips.
Watson is a strong proponent of genetic screening, a test to determine
whether a couple is at increased risk of having a baby with a
hereditary genetic disorder.
Since such screening obviously increases the rate of abortions of
babies considered "imperfect," many have slammed its introduction as
nothing more than a camouflage for eugenics or "voluntary eugenics" as
British philosophy professor Philip Kitcher labeled it.
Watson's advocacy of genetic engineering stretched to his call for the
"really stupid" bottom 10% of people to be "cured".
Watson even urged woman to be given carte blanche to abort babies
should tests determine that they are likely to be homosexual, despite
the vast body of evidence indicating homosexuality is a result of
environment rather than genetic code.
The geneticist has gone so far as to promote the idea of creating a
kind of Nazi super-race, where the attractive and physically strong
are genetically manufactured under laboratory conditions.
"People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think
it would be great," said Watson.
Watson's disgusting creed of racial and genetic purity by means of
state-enforced eugenics is a mindset embraced by a large body of the
elite minds in government, science and academia today.
Many of them advocate ethnically cleansing up to 80% of the human
population by means of genocide and forced sterilization.
Last year, Dr. Eric R. Pianka gave a speech to the Texas Academy of
Science in which he advocated the need to exterminate 90% of the
population through the airborne ebola virus. The vast majority of
those in attendance stood and applauded Pianka's open call for mass
genocide.
http://www.infowars .com/articles/ nwo/eugenics_ blacks_are_ stupid_comments_ betray_dark_ mindset.htm
Who is Planning Extermination of 90% of World's Population?
By Shah Nawaz Khan
While world population had doubled to over six billion in the last
forty years, the European population is increasing at much slower rate
than the Asian and African countries. In 1960, people of European
ancestry were said to be one-fourth of the world’s population; in 2000,
they were one-sixth; and it is estimated that in 2050, they will be
one-tenth. The eugenics experts are exploiting the statistics and say
that Caucasian race is facing the danger the becoming a vanishing race.
The word 'eugenics' is said to have been coined in 1883 by Galton,
Darwin's cousin and an amateur scientist. He based it on a Greek root
meaning good in birth. Extrapolating from Darwin's theories about
heredity, Galton contended that selective human breeding could produce
"a highly gifted race of men" and that regulating the population could
prevent the reproduction of people deemed undesirable. Techniques of
Artificial Insemination have been developed. It is a process in which
male spermatozoa are collected. to fertilize a female ovum. It was
first developed for breeding livestock. Now many European couples visit
India to find surrogate mothers. A woman is paid to bear a child for
another woman, either through artificial insemination by the other
woman's husband, or by carrying until birth the other woman's
surgically implanted fertilized egg. In India a surrogate mother could
be found at much lower cost than US or Europe.
Geneticist James Watson, contends that black people are inherently less
intelligent than whites. These days Watson is playing an active role,
in pushing the dark pseudo-science of eugenics. However, he stresses on
the need for help and assistance to Africans. But there are fanatics
among social and other scientists who are causing apprehensions about
population explosion.
According to a story in http://www.propagan damatrix. com/, last year,
Dr. Eric R. Pianka gave a speech to the Texas Academy of Science in
which he advocated the need to exterminate 90% of the population
through the airborne ebola virus. The vast majority of those in
attendance stood and applauded Pianka's open call for mass genocide.
Shah Nawaz Khan
See many other articles at:
http://www.netvert. biz/shah/ articles. html
SARVAJAN HITAYA SARVAJAN SUKHAYA-FOR THE GAIN OF THE MANY AND FOR THE WELFARE OF THE MANY
Eight Cabinet Ministers and two Ministers of State administered oath
Lucknow: October 17, 2007 In a brief expansion of State Cabinet,the Uttar Pradesh Governor, Mr..T.V. Rajeswar administered oath of office and secrecy to eight Cabinet Ministers and two Ministers of State (Independent charge) in a simple programme organized here today at Raj Bhawan. The Cabinet Ministers are –Mr.Badshah Singh, Mr. Rangnath Mishra, Mr.Nand Gopal Gupta’Nandi’, Mr. Kamla Kant Gautam, Mr. Chandra Dev Ram Yadav and Mr. Ashok Kumar,besides the new Ministers of State, Mr. Bhagwati Prasad Sagar and Mr. Jaiveer Singh. Mr.Badshah Singh (Small Scale Industries and Export Promotion), Mr. Rangnath Mishra (Rural Engineering Services),Mr.Anant Kumar Mishra(Medical and Health) were working as Ministers of State (Independent charge) and Mr. Abdul Mannan (Agriculture Foreign Trade and Agriculture Export) was the Minister of the State. All these four Ministers were promoted as Cabinet Ministers. Mr. Bhagwati Prasad Sagar and Mr. Jaiveer Singh took the oath as the Ministers of the State (Independent charge). Mr.Nand Gopal Gupta’Nandi’, Mr. Kamla Kant Gautam, Mr. Chandra Dev Ram Yadav and Ashok Kumar have been included for the first time in the Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh conducted the programme of oath taking ceremony. On this occasion, the Chief Minister Km. Mayawati, Cabinet Ministers Mr. S.C. Mishra, Mr. Naseemuddin Siddqui, Mr. Babu Singh Kushwaha including other Ministers, party office bearers, MPs, MLAs, were present besides senior officers and eminent citizens.
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Tsunami Alert and Life Cycle in Sundarvan May Not stop Marxist capitalists
Tsunami Alert and Life Cycle in Sundarvan May Not stop Marxist capitalists
Palash BiswasContact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
'Green' for the Planet or for Corporate Profits?Tsunami Alert and Life Cycle in Sundarvan My Not stop Marxist capitalists!
Indian MNC run zionist brahminical colonial polity is not concerned at all whatever tsunami may be alerted.The state government’s plan to set up a mega chemical hub at Nayachar may receive a jolt as grid power is yet to reach the island, the site chosen to accomodate DOWs and salim. The sundarvana Islands are interlinked and any disturbance anywhere may create unthincable disaster destroying Life Cycle suiting Mangroves!
Strong volcanic activities are expected in the Sumatra region in the wake of the major earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale that struck off the coast of Bengkulu in Indonesia, volcanologists and earth scientists said today.
The experts said yesterday's quake was followed by seven aftershocks and one of them measured 7.2 on the Richter scale. The entire Sumatra region is very volatile, they pointed out.
An earthquake of 5.1-magnitude occurred on September 11 in Sunda Strait, southeast of the location of yesterday's temblor, but went unnoticed. Earthquakes have become a common phenomena since 2004 in the Indonesian and Andaman and Nicobar Islands region, they said.
"Therefore, we expect a triggering effect on volcanoes in the region which have already shown some activities in the last couple of years," said Chandrasekharam, professor in the department of earth sciences and head of the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology here.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus called today for the speedy enactment of a new, binding global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions, accusing the US and China of being the world's biggest polluters.
Yunus said the US had been the leading producer of greenhouse gases but was overtaken by China.
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which is paid by the Dutch government to advise it on environmental policy, said China overtook the United States as the leading carbon dioxide emitter in 2006.
Meanwhile, Yunus noted India is producing significant pollution.
"As the countries develop, they became so focussed on the development," Yunus told a news conference. "They forget about what they are doing on the planet."
Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with his Grameen bank for efforts to help the poor through tiny loans called microcredits, was in Seoul to attend an international symposium on global climate change.
A Geological Survey of India team, led by its Deputy Director General (Operation) Biplab Mukherjee, today studied the soil and sub-soil condition of the island and the probable environmental impact of a proposed chemical hub.
The GSI team comprised three GSI Directors and two senior geo scientists.
Local people staying for long on the eastern side of the island towards South 24 Parganas informed the team that there was occasional subsiding in the area of over one km land and they had to leave their homes several times in the past few years.
Dr Mukherjee said they would take about three to four months to complete their report and submit it to the Director General, who in turn would hand it over to the Government.
Heavy police arrangements were made over the 50 sq km of the island when the team was making the survey.
India's tsunami watchdog has denied suggestions that its tsunami alert on Wednesday evening was based on earthquake data released by the US geological survey and not on India's own warning system.
Huge aftershocks rumbled across Indonesia's Sumatra island on Thursday but officials said damage from a massive quake that killed 10 people was not as bad as first feared.
India has decided to lift a tsunami alert issued on Wednesday for its Andaman and Nicobar group of islands in the Bay of Bengal after a big earthquake in nearby Indonesia, a disaster management official said.
Meanwhile the scenerio in USA is changing fast. But the ruling Calss in India is dying for Indo US Nuke Deal and the strategic regrouping eying on Four Hundred Billion Dollar shopping list for US Weapon Market !As US President George W Bush is expected to back a limited withdrawal of troops in an address on his Iraq war strategy. The gradual pull-out would take troop numbers back to their level before Mr Bush ordered a build-up this year.
Four of the world's 10 most polluted places are in Russia and two former Soviet republics, an independent environmental group said in a report released on Wednesday.Encompassing seven countries, the top 10 sites may cause some 12 million people to suffer health problems ranging from asthma and other respiratory ailments to birth defects and premature death, the New York-based Blacksmith Institute said.Concern about polluted places is growing as the world's population swells and people in developing countries like China and India buy more cars and electronics -- habits that had been limited mainly to rich countries like the United States.China and India each has two sites in the top 10. Linfen, China, is in Shanxi Province, the heart of country's expanding coal industry, while Tianying is one of the country's largest lead production bases. In Tianying, residents, particularly children, suffer lead poisoning symptoms such as learning disabilities, brain damage and kidney malfunction.
With less than a week to go for the IAEA general conference in Vienna, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar is keeping his options open on discussing safeguards with the nuclear watchdog as he is yet to receive clear-cut instructions on the issue from the Centre.
"I have not received any indication on the topic (from the Centre) till date," Kakodkar said here.
Kakodkar is scheduled to make his speech at the annual meeting on September 19, two days after the conference begins.
He admitted last fortnight that there were some "constraints" related to talks on India-specific safeguards but refused to elaborate.
Sources close to Kakodkar, however, said the Indo-US nuclear deal might come up for informal discussions at the conference.
Though the Centre is seeking support for the deal from various quarters in spite of the Left's reservations on it, Kakodkar has not got any information on going ahead with discussions at the IAEA on safeguards pertaining to the Indo-US deal.
The Left parties have made it clear that they would take into consideration the findings of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal before proceeding on the issue of operationalising the agreement.
Scientists in favour of the deal are hoping that the Centre may come up with directions just before the IAEA conference to allow Kakodkar to go ahead with talks on the safeguards.
Nuclear industrialists in the country and around the globe are closely watching the Indo-US deal, a top official of Nuclear Power Corporation of India said.
"We and our counterparts across the world, who are waiting for India's integration with the global nuclear renaissance, are closely watching the political mood in India," he said.
Asked whether India would participate in IAEA's two-day scientific forum, which has a session on nuclear energy for developing countries, he said it was part of the nuclear power community's agenda.
The scientific forum will be attended by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director S Banerjee.
The IAEA general conference will also be attended by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman S K Sharma who is also a member of the International Nuclear Safety Group (INSAG).
The Calcutta High Court has asked the West Bengal government to file a report on the sick and closed tea gardens in northen districts of the state where hundreds of people had allegedly died of starvation and malnutrition.
The two-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice S S Nijjar, issued the ruling on a PIL filed by a social activist, Amitava Chakraborty.
Mr Chakraborty alleged that hundreds of employees of the closed and sick tea gardens in the district of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri were facing penury as the garden owners and the state government had failed to honour the promises to meet their minimum demands.
He said more than 200 people had died over the past five years following the closure of more than two dozen tea gardens in the district.
Many people were on the verge of death, he further alleged.
Mr Chakraborty prayed before the court that a direction be issued to the state government as well as the tea garden owners to open the closed gardens and help rejuvenate the sagging economy of the area.
Left parties will submit a detailed note on their objections to the Indo-US nuclear deal to the UPA-Left committee tomorrow.The contents of the note were finalised at a meeting of the four Left parties here today.The note will spell out their opposition to the deal in the context of the Hyde Act and its implications for the country's foreign policy.Left leaders said they were expecting a reply from the government side on Monday, ahead of the second meeting of the UPA-Left committee on Wednesday.
"We discussed the points on which we will prepare our note," CPI general secretary A B Bardhan told reporters after the meeting.
Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said the note would be sent to the committee tomorrow. "The reply from the government should come to us by 17th. Then the committee will meet on the 19th," he added.He said, "The committee itself has noted our concern and we will be elaborating on some of the issues."
If the showdown between the Left and the Congress over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal results in a mid-term poll, will the Left have to pay a heavy electoral price as suggested by some recent surveys? The veiled threat of an imminent mid-term poll the CPI-M general secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, and other Left leaders issued by saying time is running out, has certainly triggered speculation about the Left Front's preparedness to fight the elections if they are held in the next few months. The Left parties are confident that their position, especially in West Bengal which sends most of their MPs to the Lok Sabha, would be far better if the elections are held now than if the poll is held a year later. The Left Front has 60 seats in the Lok Sabha and the projection is it would drastically come down by as many as 15 seats if the LF forces a mid-term poll through its inflexible stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, according to some opinion polls. LF sources, however, said as for West Bengal, the Left is unlikely to suffer major electoral reverses now even though there is a perception that post-Nandigram the Left should be ready for a drubbing. True, conceded a senior leader, Nadigram and the industrialisation overdrive of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-government did alienate a sizeable number of farmers from the Left. What made matters worse for the LF was that a large number of these farmers, share-croppers and landless labourers, whose livelihood was threatened by the move to acquire farm land for industrialisation, belonged to the minority population. But, the Left believes its strong and uncompromising anti-US position on the nuke deal would stand them in good stead in recovering much of the lost ground. "Our anti-US position has always been consistent and our acceptability among the minority population increased further after the Bush administration pounded Iraq. Also, we would be able to convince the people irrespective of their religious preferences that our anti-imperialist stand forms a core of our political credo and is not just a matter of political convenience," a source claimed. The assumption is that the anti-US position would subsume the post-Nandigram disillusionment to a large extent, and help motivate the cadre bred on that ideology. The Left assessment is that the Congress in West Bengal is in total disarray and the Trinamul won't find it easy, any longer, to play the minority card the way it could post-Nandigram in view of the Left's anti-US blitzkrieg. "At the most there could be loss of one seat here and another there and in some cases the margin of victory would be less than what it was last time. But that won't make much difference to our overall tally if the elections are held now. ‘On the other hand, if the Trinamul gets a year for strengthening its organisation, it might fare better then, though it's not known for its organisational prowess which is the LF's forte. Mere anti-Left sentiments won't help the Trinamul sail through," a Left strategist said.
Is Indian economy losing steam? No one is sure, but there are signs of slowdown in industrial activity. Growth in industrial production dipped to 7% in July from 13.2% recorded a year ago.Economic Times reports.
The index of six core-infrastructure industries having a combined weight of 26.7% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 stood at 227.7 in July 2007 and registered a growth of 6.3% compared to a growth of 10.9 % in July 2006, ...
With India insisting on joint fight against terrorism, Home Ministers of SAARC countries will meet in New Delhi next month with an aim of formulating coordinated approaches towards the "common challenge." The Home Ministers of the eight-nation grouping will hold deliberations for two days from October 23 to evolve measures to harmonise national legislations and procedures, official sources said here Wednesday. The meeting assumes special significance as it will take place in the backdrop of recent Hyderabad bomb blasts which are believed to have been carried out by terrorists based in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Indian side is expected to ask member countries, particularly Pakistan and Bangladesh, to cooperate in fighting the menace in "sincere and meaningful" manner. Suffering from cross-border terrorism for over three decades, India has been pressing Pakistan and Bangladesh to dismantle the infrastructures of terror existing there, but without any results.
Nuclear power is a necessity for long term energy requirement of the country, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics Director, Bikash Sinha said here today.
The country needs nuclear power as fossil fuels like coal and gas cannot sustain, for long, the pace at which the industry is growing, he said while speaking at the AGM of Indian Plastic Federation.
Making a veiled reference to the opposition by the Left parties to the Indo-US nuclear deal on the grounds it would jeopardise the nations's sovereignty, Sinha said like politicians, the scientists also loved their country "and we recommend nuclear power development with reasons".
Making a strong case for Japan to support the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, a Tokyo-based policy group has said the pact will throw open business opportunities for Japanese firms, besides promote cooperation in science and technology.
The political significance, promotion of cooperation in science and technology and likely contribution by Japanese corporations involved in nuclear power are among the reasons cited by the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) in support of the deal.
JFIR's 29th policy recommendations - "India's Leap Forward and India" - calls for cooperation with India on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Addressing India's growing energy demands and needs to reduce global warming, the group says India will presumably want to heavily depend on "nuclear power in the future."
On concerns related to nuclear weapons proliferation, if the Indo-US deal is implemented, the group points out that India has always called for nuclear disarmament despite being outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The Rise of the Elephant and Dragon
September 13, 2007
On the streets of India, Robyn Meredith still finds animals pulling carts loaded with construction materials, and monkeys racing across roads, dodging cars. The Forbes magazine writer also talks about China where men in Mao jackets pedal bicycles along newly built highways, past skyscrapers sprouting like bamboo. Yet India is as near as the voice answering an 800 number for one dollar an hour, says Meredith, the author of the much discussed book The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us.
Communist China, Meredith, left, points out, is as close as the nearest Wal-Mart, its shelves filled with Chinese-made goods.
In her book, Meredith, senior editor, Asia, at Forbes, discusses how China and India have spurred a new gold rush, and what this means for the rest of the world.
She made her name at the American Banker exposing insider deals in savings and loans that led to four Congressional hearings and an overhaul of US banking regulations governing initial public offerings.
Meredith, who covers India and China for Forbes, challenges conventional wisdom in her book, arguing that the US shouldn't fear these two rising economic powers. Though American politicians tax Chinese goods, she points out that Americans actually gain from the undervalued yuan. For, American companies profit from the inexpensive goods the Chinese manufacture. There is also no need to fear that India has picked up most of the one million white-collar jobs that moved out of the US, she argues. For every dollar that goes overseas, $1.94 of wealth is created, all but 33 cents of which returns to America.
The journalist and author discusses India and China's potential with Rediff India Abroad Managing Editor (Features) Arthur J Pais. http://specials.rediff.com/money/2007/sep/12sld1.htm
We have made up our mind on n-deal: Karat
New Delhi: The possibility of a compromise between the government and its Left allies appears increasingly bleak with top Communist leader Prakash Karat on Thursday saying that the communist parties have "made up their mind" to block the India-US civil nuclear deal and will not support the government if it went ahead with it.
Karat also contended that the government was "determined to go ahead with the deal" despite a majority in parliament opposing the contentious deal which aims to "draw India into a military alliance with the US."
"We have made up our mind. We won't be there to help the government to conclude the agreement. It's now for the government to decide," Karat said at a seminar on the India-US nuclear deal, which was chaired by Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan and attended, among others, by former Prime Minister V P Singh.
In a revealation that may put the government on the defensive, Karat said that the first time, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had included "strategic partnership with the US" in the first two drafts of the Common Minimum Programme. This was struck out from the final version after the Left parties raised objections to it, he said.
"Why is the government determined to go ahead despite the clear and established fact that the parties who are opposed to the deal constitute a majority in parliament?" Karat, the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary, asked.
Karat's statement has put in question the efficacy of the joint mechanism comprising the government and the Left parties that prop up the ruling coalition to address its concerns about the implications of the nuclear deal on India's strategic programme and foreign policy.
With the government saying that it is not bound by the UPA-Left committee's findings, the window is fast closing for compromise between the two sides.
Taking potshots at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without naming him, Karat said: "Does the PM believe Bush is the greatest friend of India? The most hated president in the US is our greatest benefactor."
Alluding to the 10-year defence framework agreement India signed with the US over two years ago, Karat also mocked the US' claims to make India a major world power.
"What has happened to great friends of Bush? British Prime Minister Tony Blair is no longer around. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has quit. Australian Prime Minister John Howard is on his way out. They are all going," said Karat in an ominous hint that the Manmohan Singh government may not survive should the Left parties withdraw support, making mid-term polls inevitable.
Alluding to non-Congress constituents of the UPA like Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam, Karat hinted that the nuclear deal was set to become a key issue in the next elections. "All these parties in the government will have to answer to the people," he said.
V.P. Singh was equally unstinting in his rejection of the deal and charged that the 123 bilateral agreement contains several "bondage" clauses that could shackle India's strategic autonomy and reduce it to a "bonded labour" of the US interests.
"The government refuses to listen to the Indian parliament, and instead listens to (US President George) Mr Bush and goes by his time table," Singh said.
"For the first time, the prime minister is confronting a majority in parliament (which is opposed to the deal)," said Singh.
He pointed to four "bondage clauses" in the 123 agreement - pertaining to circumstances of termination, the US' right of return of nuclear materials sold to India, and the proposed plan to place Indian civil nuclear reactors under safeguards in perpetuity - to stress that the deal militated against India's fundamental national interests.
Alluding to the termination clause in Article 14 of the 123 bilateral agreement, he said: "It doesn't specify circumstances that can lead to termination of the agreement. Even India's foreign policy choices that don't suit the US can trigger that. This clause is like the sword of Damocles hanging over our head."
Referring to the right of return clause, Singh said the investment of over $20 billion ("over Rs one lakh crore") India will make in imported nuclear reactors and technologies will act as a "paperweight" on India's mind, were they to return the US-origin nuclear technology.
"It will be a colossal loss. This will act as a paperweight on the government's mind before doing anything that may trigger termination."
Singh also argued that despite the government's disclaimers, the Hyde Act of the US will be applicable to the bilateral agreement. "The Hyde Act is hidden in it," he said.
M J Akbar, editor-in-chief of The Asian Age and a critic of the nuclear deal, said the government's hurry to get the deal through raised serious questions about it.
"What's the hurry? Even China took 15 years to do the nuclear deal with the US. We are only asking for a few months," he said.
"Our present government seems to be following an American, and not an Indian calendar," he said. India's long-standing military ally Russia has begun engaging it in military exercises it rarely conducted before. This is to counter competition from the United States, Israel and other Western countries in meeting New Delhi's billowing demand for defence equipment.
Later this week the Indian and Russian Army's Special Forces, backed by their respective air forces, will for the first time carry out five days of joint anti-terror and search-and-destroy exercises in Russia on the freezing plains of Pskov, southeast of St Petersburg.
The upcoming Indira 07 manoeuvres will duplicate those carried out for the first time by the two armies in October 2005, despite them being close allies during the Cold War decades.
"As an economically resurgent India begins to militarily interact with other countries, a nervous Moscow, anxious to retain its largest defence customer, is seeking increased interaction with Delhi through joint manoeuvres," retired Lt Gen V K Kapur told IANS.
Over the next decade, military planners anticipate purchases of over $40 billion to replace or upgrade the predominantly Soviet and Russian equipment in service with the Indian military that has reached collective obsolescence.
And with the armed forces increasingly voicing their preference for Western over Russian hardware, Moscow has launched a multi-pronged sales offensive of which joint exercises are a part, Kapur added.
India annually conducts $1,500 million worth of defence business with Russia. Since the 1960s India has acquired Russian military goods worth over $30 billion.
But despite such dealings, a mere handful of Russian service personnel have attended any of India's many defence training establishments open to and patronized by foreign officers from competing military-industrial establishments.
Indian officials attribute this to the Russian military officers' lack of fluency in English. The two navies have also conducted just three rounds of joint exercises since 2003, the most recent being off Russia's coast earlier this year.
Eleven left-leaning parties have come together to form a new alliance to establish "bold politics based on ideology" so as to help establish a "democratic Bangladesh".
"Some parties are doing left politics with exploiters deviating from its ideology. We will try to establish a trend of doing bold politics based on ideology and bring all left parties under a single banner as per the demand of the time," said Khalequzzaman, Convener of the Democratic Left Alliance (DLA).
The formation of the DLA was announced here yesterday. The leaders of the new formation have attacked the mainstream political parties that engage in electoral and power politics. "As rightist politics has failed to fulfil people's expectations and run the country properly over the years, only left parties can lead the nation now," Khalequzzaman was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.
Expectations and dreams of the nation were not fulfilled over the last 36 years as some of the major parties failed to take up political programmes timely, a DLA statement said.
The parties in the new alliance include Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Jatiya Ganofront, Bangladesher Workers Party, Biplobi Oikya Front, Ganotantrik Majdur Party, Bangladesher Communist Party (ML), Bangladesher Ganotantrik Andolon, Shramajibi Mukti Andolon, Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal (MLM), BSD (Mahbub) and Ganosanghati Andolon.
Dr Manas Joardar to me, amit_bh200405 show details 11:39 am (6 hours ago)
AS A PART OF
‘MOVEMENT AGAINST MALDEVELOPMENT’Teachers and Scientists against maldevelopment, Indian Academy of Social Sciences, Shramajibi Swastha udyog, Janaswastha swadhikar Mancha, Platform and Bijnan O Bijnan Karmi are going to organize a
SEMINAR
Subject: Chemical Hub – Problems and Prospects
Venue: University Institute Library Hall, College Square
Date: 16.9.2007 Time : 3pm
Speakers :
Prof. Partha Roy
Prof. Rabin MazumdarProf. Manindra Narayan MuzumdarDr. Shiddhartha GuptaProf. Shubhendu Dasgupta
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Circulated by Prof. Meher Engineer and Debapriya Mallick on behalf of `Movement against maldevelopment’.You may know that some of our friends are arrested for recent Dhaka University incident and sent to jail. Former chairmen of mass communication department of Rajshahi University, Dulal Chandra Biswas, Sayed Selim Reza Newton and another teacher of the same department Abdullah Al Mamun were accused of violating the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) 2007.
All of them were the student of Dhaka University, department of Journalism & mass communication. They were also involved student's movement of 90's as leaders of different left student organizationsCentral & Dhaka university committee. They are famous all over the country as young intellectuals. Still they are involved with progressive movement.
In absence of them their family has a little ability to continue to expenses of the cases. It needs huge money. They have already spent a lot of money for lawyer and other purposes to precede the case. They need help. If possible you may contribute for them.
For more information about them please visit following links
(http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=2851,http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=2469)Sense and SensibilityIn this issue ………Sense and Sensibility 1A Simile of Triggero happy police 2What’s wrong indefending Human Rights 3Violations in West Bengal 4hLatest updates 5Activities 5masumNEWSLETTERAt present the country is passing through a phase of public discussion on TADA court’sdecisions in Mumbai in which the court punished numbers of accused with different penalprovisions, including capital punishment for 12 and life imprisonment for 29. All of thembelong to different socio-economic strata and religious identities. The trial took nearly 14years for completion of its proceeding.The most controversial part of the verdict is that the 12 persons who were sentenced tocapital punishment are those who had direct involvement with ‘Bombay Blast’ in whichofficially 257 innocent people were killed by guided bombs from a distance without anyconcrete motive to kill a person with certainty of their identity. Other interesting part in thisghastly incident was accused and victims did not know each other before the commission ofoffence. Actually the total act was in retaliation of preceded killing of nearly 900 persons inBombay riots and in this case all deceased was from Muslim community, the innocent victimsknew their killer and vice versa. This mayhem was an organized genocide. The said judicialprocess once again proved that judiciary in any way was not sensitive; if they had really takenup a socially sensitive position, they would definitely made the incidents of demolition ofBabri Masjid on December 1992 and butchering of Muslims in Bombay on January 1993 a pointf reference before delivering the verdict.MASUM strongly condemn ghastly killing of innocents by that subversive actions but equallycondemn the Court’s order, in which the court upheld the extinction of people being armedwith legal and State’s sanction.MASUM always voiced against capital punishment with a strong rationale that killing a personin a democratic and civilized society is in no way desirable because this very penal provisionas no effect on commission and perpetration of crime, in other way it has been an everincreasing phenomenon of the society.We have strongly opposed the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterjee with definite argument thathis hanging would not decrease the incidents of rape and other offences from the society andthe experience shows that we were right on our stand. Similarly the hanging of some allegedmiscreants can not stop human killings because the State is also practicing the same with itslegal arms. The fundamental right to life guaranteed by the State is also facing challenge bythis inhumane legal sanction. Often the courts are referring the said punishment as anexemplary punishment. But killing of a person can not be an example for a civilized society.We can vouch for the verity that by hanging all these twelve persons; the subversive activitiesor revenge killings will not end from this society.Role of the State including the judiciary befits with only a mockery of democracy and secularidentity of Indian state. 14 years have been elapsed since the killing of 900 innocent peoplebelonged to minority community and the state is still silent on that matter. The judiciary hasnot initiated any legal recourse in any court of the country; although after a generated publicpressure a Commission has been constituted, headed by a Judge of Mumbai High Court; Mr.Justice B.N. Srikrishna. The commission heard victims, their families and miscreants for morethan five years but when he had to conclude, Shiv Sena came into power in Maharashtra. Atfirst they stopped the proceedings of the commission, but had to relent before the pressure ofdemocratic movements and reconstitute the commission again. But by this time the stategovernment incorporated the Mumbai Blast case as another subject of enquiry.At last, Sri Krishna Commission accused 35 police higher ups along with leaders belonging toShiv Sena’s highest echelon as culprits for their participation in genocide directly andinstigating the riot. The double standard of the State again established when not a single legalaction has been taken against these culprits so
Palash BiswasContact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
'Green' for the Planet or for Corporate Profits?Tsunami Alert and Life Cycle in Sundarvan My Not stop Marxist capitalists!
Indian MNC run zionist brahminical colonial polity is not concerned at all whatever tsunami may be alerted.The state government’s plan to set up a mega chemical hub at Nayachar may receive a jolt as grid power is yet to reach the island, the site chosen to accomodate DOWs and salim. The sundarvana Islands are interlinked and any disturbance anywhere may create unthincable disaster destroying Life Cycle suiting Mangroves!
Strong volcanic activities are expected in the Sumatra region in the wake of the major earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale that struck off the coast of Bengkulu in Indonesia, volcanologists and earth scientists said today.
The experts said yesterday's quake was followed by seven aftershocks and one of them measured 7.2 on the Richter scale. The entire Sumatra region is very volatile, they pointed out.
An earthquake of 5.1-magnitude occurred on September 11 in Sunda Strait, southeast of the location of yesterday's temblor, but went unnoticed. Earthquakes have become a common phenomena since 2004 in the Indonesian and Andaman and Nicobar Islands region, they said.
"Therefore, we expect a triggering effect on volcanoes in the region which have already shown some activities in the last couple of years," said Chandrasekharam, professor in the department of earth sciences and head of the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology here.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus called today for the speedy enactment of a new, binding global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions, accusing the US and China of being the world's biggest polluters.
Yunus said the US had been the leading producer of greenhouse gases but was overtaken by China.
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which is paid by the Dutch government to advise it on environmental policy, said China overtook the United States as the leading carbon dioxide emitter in 2006.
Meanwhile, Yunus noted India is producing significant pollution.
"As the countries develop, they became so focussed on the development," Yunus told a news conference. "They forget about what they are doing on the planet."
Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with his Grameen bank for efforts to help the poor through tiny loans called microcredits, was in Seoul to attend an international symposium on global climate change.
A Geological Survey of India team, led by its Deputy Director General (Operation) Biplab Mukherjee, today studied the soil and sub-soil condition of the island and the probable environmental impact of a proposed chemical hub.
The GSI team comprised three GSI Directors and two senior geo scientists.
Local people staying for long on the eastern side of the island towards South 24 Parganas informed the team that there was occasional subsiding in the area of over one km land and they had to leave their homes several times in the past few years.
Dr Mukherjee said they would take about three to four months to complete their report and submit it to the Director General, who in turn would hand it over to the Government.
Heavy police arrangements were made over the 50 sq km of the island when the team was making the survey.
India's tsunami watchdog has denied suggestions that its tsunami alert on Wednesday evening was based on earthquake data released by the US geological survey and not on India's own warning system.
Huge aftershocks rumbled across Indonesia's Sumatra island on Thursday but officials said damage from a massive quake that killed 10 people was not as bad as first feared.
India has decided to lift a tsunami alert issued on Wednesday for its Andaman and Nicobar group of islands in the Bay of Bengal after a big earthquake in nearby Indonesia, a disaster management official said.
Meanwhile the scenerio in USA is changing fast. But the ruling Calss in India is dying for Indo US Nuke Deal and the strategic regrouping eying on Four Hundred Billion Dollar shopping list for US Weapon Market !As US President George W Bush is expected to back a limited withdrawal of troops in an address on his Iraq war strategy. The gradual pull-out would take troop numbers back to their level before Mr Bush ordered a build-up this year.
Four of the world's 10 most polluted places are in Russia and two former Soviet republics, an independent environmental group said in a report released on Wednesday.Encompassing seven countries, the top 10 sites may cause some 12 million people to suffer health problems ranging from asthma and other respiratory ailments to birth defects and premature death, the New York-based Blacksmith Institute said.Concern about polluted places is growing as the world's population swells and people in developing countries like China and India buy more cars and electronics -- habits that had been limited mainly to rich countries like the United States.China and India each has two sites in the top 10. Linfen, China, is in Shanxi Province, the heart of country's expanding coal industry, while Tianying is one of the country's largest lead production bases. In Tianying, residents, particularly children, suffer lead poisoning symptoms such as learning disabilities, brain damage and kidney malfunction.
With less than a week to go for the IAEA general conference in Vienna, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar is keeping his options open on discussing safeguards with the nuclear watchdog as he is yet to receive clear-cut instructions on the issue from the Centre.
"I have not received any indication on the topic (from the Centre) till date," Kakodkar said here.
Kakodkar is scheduled to make his speech at the annual meeting on September 19, two days after the conference begins.
He admitted last fortnight that there were some "constraints" related to talks on India-specific safeguards but refused to elaborate.
Sources close to Kakodkar, however, said the Indo-US nuclear deal might come up for informal discussions at the conference.
Though the Centre is seeking support for the deal from various quarters in spite of the Left's reservations on it, Kakodkar has not got any information on going ahead with discussions at the IAEA on safeguards pertaining to the Indo-US deal.
The Left parties have made it clear that they would take into consideration the findings of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal before proceeding on the issue of operationalising the agreement.
Scientists in favour of the deal are hoping that the Centre may come up with directions just before the IAEA conference to allow Kakodkar to go ahead with talks on the safeguards.
Nuclear industrialists in the country and around the globe are closely watching the Indo-US deal, a top official of Nuclear Power Corporation of India said.
"We and our counterparts across the world, who are waiting for India's integration with the global nuclear renaissance, are closely watching the political mood in India," he said.
Asked whether India would participate in IAEA's two-day scientific forum, which has a session on nuclear energy for developing countries, he said it was part of the nuclear power community's agenda.
The scientific forum will be attended by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director S Banerjee.
The IAEA general conference will also be attended by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman S K Sharma who is also a member of the International Nuclear Safety Group (INSAG).
The Calcutta High Court has asked the West Bengal government to file a report on the sick and closed tea gardens in northen districts of the state where hundreds of people had allegedly died of starvation and malnutrition.
The two-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice S S Nijjar, issued the ruling on a PIL filed by a social activist, Amitava Chakraborty.
Mr Chakraborty alleged that hundreds of employees of the closed and sick tea gardens in the district of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri were facing penury as the garden owners and the state government had failed to honour the promises to meet their minimum demands.
He said more than 200 people had died over the past five years following the closure of more than two dozen tea gardens in the district.
Many people were on the verge of death, he further alleged.
Mr Chakraborty prayed before the court that a direction be issued to the state government as well as the tea garden owners to open the closed gardens and help rejuvenate the sagging economy of the area.
Left parties will submit a detailed note on their objections to the Indo-US nuclear deal to the UPA-Left committee tomorrow.The contents of the note were finalised at a meeting of the four Left parties here today.The note will spell out their opposition to the deal in the context of the Hyde Act and its implications for the country's foreign policy.Left leaders said they were expecting a reply from the government side on Monday, ahead of the second meeting of the UPA-Left committee on Wednesday.
"We discussed the points on which we will prepare our note," CPI general secretary A B Bardhan told reporters after the meeting.
Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said the note would be sent to the committee tomorrow. "The reply from the government should come to us by 17th. Then the committee will meet on the 19th," he added.He said, "The committee itself has noted our concern and we will be elaborating on some of the issues."
If the showdown between the Left and the Congress over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal results in a mid-term poll, will the Left have to pay a heavy electoral price as suggested by some recent surveys? The veiled threat of an imminent mid-term poll the CPI-M general secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, and other Left leaders issued by saying time is running out, has certainly triggered speculation about the Left Front's preparedness to fight the elections if they are held in the next few months. The Left parties are confident that their position, especially in West Bengal which sends most of their MPs to the Lok Sabha, would be far better if the elections are held now than if the poll is held a year later. The Left Front has 60 seats in the Lok Sabha and the projection is it would drastically come down by as many as 15 seats if the LF forces a mid-term poll through its inflexible stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, according to some opinion polls. LF sources, however, said as for West Bengal, the Left is unlikely to suffer major electoral reverses now even though there is a perception that post-Nandigram the Left should be ready for a drubbing. True, conceded a senior leader, Nadigram and the industrialisation overdrive of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-government did alienate a sizeable number of farmers from the Left. What made matters worse for the LF was that a large number of these farmers, share-croppers and landless labourers, whose livelihood was threatened by the move to acquire farm land for industrialisation, belonged to the minority population. But, the Left believes its strong and uncompromising anti-US position on the nuke deal would stand them in good stead in recovering much of the lost ground. "Our anti-US position has always been consistent and our acceptability among the minority population increased further after the Bush administration pounded Iraq. Also, we would be able to convince the people irrespective of their religious preferences that our anti-imperialist stand forms a core of our political credo and is not just a matter of political convenience," a source claimed. The assumption is that the anti-US position would subsume the post-Nandigram disillusionment to a large extent, and help motivate the cadre bred on that ideology. The Left assessment is that the Congress in West Bengal is in total disarray and the Trinamul won't find it easy, any longer, to play the minority card the way it could post-Nandigram in view of the Left's anti-US blitzkrieg. "At the most there could be loss of one seat here and another there and in some cases the margin of victory would be less than what it was last time. But that won't make much difference to our overall tally if the elections are held now. ‘On the other hand, if the Trinamul gets a year for strengthening its organisation, it might fare better then, though it's not known for its organisational prowess which is the LF's forte. Mere anti-Left sentiments won't help the Trinamul sail through," a Left strategist said.
Is Indian economy losing steam? No one is sure, but there are signs of slowdown in industrial activity. Growth in industrial production dipped to 7% in July from 13.2% recorded a year ago.Economic Times reports.
The index of six core-infrastructure industries having a combined weight of 26.7% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 stood at 227.7 in July 2007 and registered a growth of 6.3% compared to a growth of 10.9 % in July 2006, ...
With India insisting on joint fight against terrorism, Home Ministers of SAARC countries will meet in New Delhi next month with an aim of formulating coordinated approaches towards the "common challenge." The Home Ministers of the eight-nation grouping will hold deliberations for two days from October 23 to evolve measures to harmonise national legislations and procedures, official sources said here Wednesday. The meeting assumes special significance as it will take place in the backdrop of recent Hyderabad bomb blasts which are believed to have been carried out by terrorists based in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Indian side is expected to ask member countries, particularly Pakistan and Bangladesh, to cooperate in fighting the menace in "sincere and meaningful" manner. Suffering from cross-border terrorism for over three decades, India has been pressing Pakistan and Bangladesh to dismantle the infrastructures of terror existing there, but without any results.
Nuclear power is a necessity for long term energy requirement of the country, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics Director, Bikash Sinha said here today.
The country needs nuclear power as fossil fuels like coal and gas cannot sustain, for long, the pace at which the industry is growing, he said while speaking at the AGM of Indian Plastic Federation.
Making a veiled reference to the opposition by the Left parties to the Indo-US nuclear deal on the grounds it would jeopardise the nations's sovereignty, Sinha said like politicians, the scientists also loved their country "and we recommend nuclear power development with reasons".
Making a strong case for Japan to support the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, a Tokyo-based policy group has said the pact will throw open business opportunities for Japanese firms, besides promote cooperation in science and technology.
The political significance, promotion of cooperation in science and technology and likely contribution by Japanese corporations involved in nuclear power are among the reasons cited by the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) in support of the deal.
JFIR's 29th policy recommendations - "India's Leap Forward and India" - calls for cooperation with India on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Addressing India's growing energy demands and needs to reduce global warming, the group says India will presumably want to heavily depend on "nuclear power in the future."
On concerns related to nuclear weapons proliferation, if the Indo-US deal is implemented, the group points out that India has always called for nuclear disarmament despite being outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The Rise of the Elephant and Dragon
September 13, 2007
On the streets of India, Robyn Meredith still finds animals pulling carts loaded with construction materials, and monkeys racing across roads, dodging cars. The Forbes magazine writer also talks about China where men in Mao jackets pedal bicycles along newly built highways, past skyscrapers sprouting like bamboo. Yet India is as near as the voice answering an 800 number for one dollar an hour, says Meredith, the author of the much discussed book The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us.
Communist China, Meredith, left, points out, is as close as the nearest Wal-Mart, its shelves filled with Chinese-made goods.
In her book, Meredith, senior editor, Asia, at Forbes, discusses how China and India have spurred a new gold rush, and what this means for the rest of the world.
She made her name at the American Banker exposing insider deals in savings and loans that led to four Congressional hearings and an overhaul of US banking regulations governing initial public offerings.
Meredith, who covers India and China for Forbes, challenges conventional wisdom in her book, arguing that the US shouldn't fear these two rising economic powers. Though American politicians tax Chinese goods, she points out that Americans actually gain from the undervalued yuan. For, American companies profit from the inexpensive goods the Chinese manufacture. There is also no need to fear that India has picked up most of the one million white-collar jobs that moved out of the US, she argues. For every dollar that goes overseas, $1.94 of wealth is created, all but 33 cents of which returns to America.
The journalist and author discusses India and China's potential with Rediff India Abroad Managing Editor (Features) Arthur J Pais. http://specials.rediff.com/money/2007/sep/12sld1.htm
We have made up our mind on n-deal: Karat
New Delhi: The possibility of a compromise between the government and its Left allies appears increasingly bleak with top Communist leader Prakash Karat on Thursday saying that the communist parties have "made up their mind" to block the India-US civil nuclear deal and will not support the government if it went ahead with it.
Karat also contended that the government was "determined to go ahead with the deal" despite a majority in parliament opposing the contentious deal which aims to "draw India into a military alliance with the US."
"We have made up our mind. We won't be there to help the government to conclude the agreement. It's now for the government to decide," Karat said at a seminar on the India-US nuclear deal, which was chaired by Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan and attended, among others, by former Prime Minister V P Singh.
In a revealation that may put the government on the defensive, Karat said that the first time, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had included "strategic partnership with the US" in the first two drafts of the Common Minimum Programme. This was struck out from the final version after the Left parties raised objections to it, he said.
"Why is the government determined to go ahead despite the clear and established fact that the parties who are opposed to the deal constitute a majority in parliament?" Karat, the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary, asked.
Karat's statement has put in question the efficacy of the joint mechanism comprising the government and the Left parties that prop up the ruling coalition to address its concerns about the implications of the nuclear deal on India's strategic programme and foreign policy.
With the government saying that it is not bound by the UPA-Left committee's findings, the window is fast closing for compromise between the two sides.
Taking potshots at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without naming him, Karat said: "Does the PM believe Bush is the greatest friend of India? The most hated president in the US is our greatest benefactor."
Alluding to the 10-year defence framework agreement India signed with the US over two years ago, Karat also mocked the US' claims to make India a major world power.
"What has happened to great friends of Bush? British Prime Minister Tony Blair is no longer around. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has quit. Australian Prime Minister John Howard is on his way out. They are all going," said Karat in an ominous hint that the Manmohan Singh government may not survive should the Left parties withdraw support, making mid-term polls inevitable.
Alluding to non-Congress constituents of the UPA like Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam, Karat hinted that the nuclear deal was set to become a key issue in the next elections. "All these parties in the government will have to answer to the people," he said.
V.P. Singh was equally unstinting in his rejection of the deal and charged that the 123 bilateral agreement contains several "bondage" clauses that could shackle India's strategic autonomy and reduce it to a "bonded labour" of the US interests.
"The government refuses to listen to the Indian parliament, and instead listens to (US President George) Mr Bush and goes by his time table," Singh said.
"For the first time, the prime minister is confronting a majority in parliament (which is opposed to the deal)," said Singh.
He pointed to four "bondage clauses" in the 123 agreement - pertaining to circumstances of termination, the US' right of return of nuclear materials sold to India, and the proposed plan to place Indian civil nuclear reactors under safeguards in perpetuity - to stress that the deal militated against India's fundamental national interests.
Alluding to the termination clause in Article 14 of the 123 bilateral agreement, he said: "It doesn't specify circumstances that can lead to termination of the agreement. Even India's foreign policy choices that don't suit the US can trigger that. This clause is like the sword of Damocles hanging over our head."
Referring to the right of return clause, Singh said the investment of over $20 billion ("over Rs one lakh crore") India will make in imported nuclear reactors and technologies will act as a "paperweight" on India's mind, were they to return the US-origin nuclear technology.
"It will be a colossal loss. This will act as a paperweight on the government's mind before doing anything that may trigger termination."
Singh also argued that despite the government's disclaimers, the Hyde Act of the US will be applicable to the bilateral agreement. "The Hyde Act is hidden in it," he said.
M J Akbar, editor-in-chief of The Asian Age and a critic of the nuclear deal, said the government's hurry to get the deal through raised serious questions about it.
"What's the hurry? Even China took 15 years to do the nuclear deal with the US. We are only asking for a few months," he said.
"Our present government seems to be following an American, and not an Indian calendar," he said. India's long-standing military ally Russia has begun engaging it in military exercises it rarely conducted before. This is to counter competition from the United States, Israel and other Western countries in meeting New Delhi's billowing demand for defence equipment.
Later this week the Indian and Russian Army's Special Forces, backed by their respective air forces, will for the first time carry out five days of joint anti-terror and search-and-destroy exercises in Russia on the freezing plains of Pskov, southeast of St Petersburg.
The upcoming Indira 07 manoeuvres will duplicate those carried out for the first time by the two armies in October 2005, despite them being close allies during the Cold War decades.
"As an economically resurgent India begins to militarily interact with other countries, a nervous Moscow, anxious to retain its largest defence customer, is seeking increased interaction with Delhi through joint manoeuvres," retired Lt Gen V K Kapur told IANS.
Over the next decade, military planners anticipate purchases of over $40 billion to replace or upgrade the predominantly Soviet and Russian equipment in service with the Indian military that has reached collective obsolescence.
And with the armed forces increasingly voicing their preference for Western over Russian hardware, Moscow has launched a multi-pronged sales offensive of which joint exercises are a part, Kapur added.
India annually conducts $1,500 million worth of defence business with Russia. Since the 1960s India has acquired Russian military goods worth over $30 billion.
But despite such dealings, a mere handful of Russian service personnel have attended any of India's many defence training establishments open to and patronized by foreign officers from competing military-industrial establishments.
Indian officials attribute this to the Russian military officers' lack of fluency in English. The two navies have also conducted just three rounds of joint exercises since 2003, the most recent being off Russia's coast earlier this year.
Eleven left-leaning parties have come together to form a new alliance to establish "bold politics based on ideology" so as to help establish a "democratic Bangladesh".
"Some parties are doing left politics with exploiters deviating from its ideology. We will try to establish a trend of doing bold politics based on ideology and bring all left parties under a single banner as per the demand of the time," said Khalequzzaman, Convener of the Democratic Left Alliance (DLA).
The formation of the DLA was announced here yesterday. The leaders of the new formation have attacked the mainstream political parties that engage in electoral and power politics. "As rightist politics has failed to fulfil people's expectations and run the country properly over the years, only left parties can lead the nation now," Khalequzzaman was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.
Expectations and dreams of the nation were not fulfilled over the last 36 years as some of the major parties failed to take up political programmes timely, a DLA statement said.
The parties in the new alliance include Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Jatiya Ganofront, Bangladesher Workers Party, Biplobi Oikya Front, Ganotantrik Majdur Party, Bangladesher Communist Party (ML), Bangladesher Ganotantrik Andolon, Shramajibi Mukti Andolon, Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal (MLM), BSD (Mahbub) and Ganosanghati Andolon.
Dr Manas Joardar to me, amit_bh200405 show details 11:39 am (6 hours ago)
AS A PART OF
‘MOVEMENT AGAINST MALDEVELOPMENT’Teachers and Scientists against maldevelopment, Indian Academy of Social Sciences, Shramajibi Swastha udyog, Janaswastha swadhikar Mancha, Platform and Bijnan O Bijnan Karmi are going to organize a
SEMINAR
Subject: Chemical Hub – Problems and Prospects
Venue: University Institute Library Hall, College Square
Date: 16.9.2007 Time : 3pm
Speakers :
Prof. Partha Roy
Prof. Rabin MazumdarProf. Manindra Narayan MuzumdarDr. Shiddhartha GuptaProf. Shubhendu Dasgupta
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Circulated by Prof. Meher Engineer and Debapriya Mallick on behalf of `Movement against maldevelopment’.You may know that some of our friends are arrested for recent Dhaka University incident and sent to jail. Former chairmen of mass communication department of Rajshahi University, Dulal Chandra Biswas, Sayed Selim Reza Newton and another teacher of the same department Abdullah Al Mamun were accused of violating the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) 2007.
All of them were the student of Dhaka University, department of Journalism & mass communication. They were also involved student's movement of 90's as leaders of different left student organizationsCentral & Dhaka university committee. They are famous all over the country as young intellectuals. Still they are involved with progressive movement.
In absence of them their family has a little ability to continue to expenses of the cases. It needs huge money. They have already spent a lot of money for lawyer and other purposes to precede the case. They need help. If possible you may contribute for them.
For more information about them please visit following links
(http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=2851,http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=2469)Sense and SensibilityIn this issue ………Sense and Sensibility 1A Simile of Triggero happy police 2What’s wrong indefending Human Rights 3Violations in West Bengal 4hLatest updates 5Activities 5masumNEWSLETTERAt present the country is passing through a phase of public discussion on TADA court’sdecisions in Mumbai in which the court punished numbers of accused with different penalprovisions, including capital punishment for 12 and life imprisonment for 29. All of thembelong to different socio-economic strata and religious identities. The trial took nearly 14years for completion of its proceeding.The most controversial part of the verdict is that the 12 persons who were sentenced tocapital punishment are those who had direct involvement with ‘Bombay Blast’ in whichofficially 257 innocent people were killed by guided bombs from a distance without anyconcrete motive to kill a person with certainty of their identity. Other interesting part in thisghastly incident was accused and victims did not know each other before the commission ofoffence. Actually the total act was in retaliation of preceded killing of nearly 900 persons inBombay riots and in this case all deceased was from Muslim community, the innocent victimsknew their killer and vice versa. This mayhem was an organized genocide. The said judicialprocess once again proved that judiciary in any way was not sensitive; if they had really takenup a socially sensitive position, they would definitely made the incidents of demolition ofBabri Masjid on December 1992 and butchering of Muslims in Bombay on January 1993 a pointf reference before delivering the verdict.MASUM strongly condemn ghastly killing of innocents by that subversive actions but equallycondemn the Court’s order, in which the court upheld the extinction of people being armedwith legal and State’s sanction.MASUM always voiced against capital punishment with a strong rationale that killing a personin a democratic and civilized society is in no way desirable because this very penal provisionas no effect on commission and perpetration of crime, in other way it has been an everincreasing phenomenon of the society.We have strongly opposed the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterjee with definite argument thathis hanging would not decrease the incidents of rape and other offences from the society andthe experience shows that we were right on our stand. Similarly the hanging of some allegedmiscreants can not stop human killings because the State is also practicing the same with itslegal arms. The fundamental right to life guaranteed by the State is also facing challenge bythis inhumane legal sanction. Often the courts are referring the said punishment as anexemplary punishment. But killing of a person can not be an example for a civilized society.We can vouch for the verity that by hanging all these twelve persons; the subversive activitiesor revenge killings will not end from this society.Role of the State including the judiciary befits with only a mockery of democracy and secularidentity of Indian state. 14 years have been elapsed since the killing of 900 innocent peoplebelonged to minority community and the state is still silent on that matter. The judiciary hasnot initiated any legal recourse in any court of the country; although after a generated publicpressure a Commission has been constituted, headed by a Judge of Mumbai High Court; Mr.Justice B.N. Srikrishna. The commission heard victims, their families and miscreants for morethan five years but when he had to conclude, Shiv Sena came into power in Maharashtra. Atfirst they stopped the proceedings of the commission, but had to relent before the pressure ofdemocratic movements and reconstitute the commission again. But by this time the stategovernment incorporated the Mumbai Blast case as another subject of enquiry.At last, Sri Krishna Commission accused 35 police higher ups along with leaders belonging toShiv Sena’s highest echelon as culprits for their participation in genocide directly andinstigating the riot. The double standard of the State again established when not a single legalaction has been taken against these culprits so
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Taslima Attacked as She Asserts:Come what may, I will never be silenced
Taslima Attacked as She Asserts:Come what may, I will never be silenced
Hyderabad Event is the logical result of the policies adopted by Indian statepower banning her books and then, rejecting her legitimate pleas for Indian Citizenship!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.comhttp://ibnlive.com/videos/46513/andhra-mlas-lead-mob-attack-on-taslima.html
Friends, it is not so shocking that protesters attacked Taslima Nasrin.It is more shocking that the brahminical classses in India, posing as Intellectual and democratic, provoke fundamentalism just to enhance more strngth to their equation of Enslavement eternal and supremacy in the divided geopolitics. Hyderabad Event is the logical result of the policies adopted by Indian statepower banning her books and then, rejecting her legitimate pleas for Indian Citizenship!
Indian protesters manhandle exiled Bangladeshi Muslim writer Taslima Nasrin Angry Muslim protesters on Thursday manhandled exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin while she was attending the release of her book in southern India and asked her to go back to her country. Nasrin escaped unhurt as organizers shielded her from nearly 100 protesters, led by three local lawmakers, in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. In the melee, one of the protesters slapped her, according to eyewitnesses.
An uneasy-looking Nasreen backed into a corner as several middle-aged men threw a leather case, bunches of flowers and other objects at her head and threatened her with a chair, according to a Reuters witness and television pictures.Taslima Nasreen who has applied for an Indian citizenship, later said the incident had not shaken her belief in this country and its democracy.
''I believe in democracy.I hope to live safe in this country as a democrat.
''The people who attacked me are a minority .I got support and sympathy from majority of people. I thank them,'' she said while speaking to NDTV.
Another guest, journalist Innaih Narisetti was injured in the attack.
Meanwhile I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi has condemned the incident.
''It's a very shameful thing if any person is attacked. We criticise this incident in the strongest of terms,'' he said.
Since the 1990s, Nasreen has faced numerous threats from Islamic groups for her writings.
She has been living in exile for more than ten years now.
Some of the mob shouted for her death.
Some radical Muslims hate Nasreen for saying Islam and other religions oppress women.On Thursday, lawmakers and members of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party attacked her at the press club in Hyderabad at the launch of a Telugu translation of one of her novels.Other men tried to shield her and catch the projectiles. She ended up with a bruised forehead, and described the attack as barbaric before being taken to safety by police.
'If any religion allows the persecution of the people of different faiths, if any religion keeps women in slavery, if any religion keeps people in ignorance, then I can't accept that religion.'
'Humankind is facing an uncertain future. The probability of new kinds of rivalry and conflict looms large. In particular, the conflict is between two different ideas, secularism and fundamentalism. I don't agree with those who think the conflict is between two religions, namely Christianity and Islam, or Judaism and Islam. After all there are fundamentalists in every religious community. I don't agree with those people who think that the crusades of the Middle Ages are going to be repeated soon. Nor do I think that this is a conflict between the East and the West. To me, this conflict is basically between modern, rational, logical thinking and irrational, blind faith. To me, this is a conflict between modernity and anti-modernism. While some strive to go forward, others strive to go backward. It is a conflict between the future and the past, between innovation and tradition, between those who value freedom and those who do not.'
'Freedom of expression for some is not enough.We must work for freedom of expression for all.Human rights for some is not enough.We must work for the human rights for all. Peace for some is not enough.We must work for peace for all.I, come what may, will not be silenced.Come what may, I will continue my fight for equality and justice without any compromise until my death.Come what may, I will never be silenced.'
Official Home Page of Taslima NasrinArticles About Taslima ... TASLIMA NASRIN'S WEBSITE. Taslima, a physician, a writer, a radical feminist, human rights activist and a secular humanist. ... http://taslimanasrin.com/index2.html
About 12 million people, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, fled for their lives during partition. Almost a million died. Entire trainloads of dead bodies crossed the border in both directions. We suffer fro dimentia as we ignore the plight of the victims of partition! We are proud of India`s role in Bangladesh Liberation and boast to bear the buredn of continuous refugee influx, but the Ruling classes never accept the responsibility of partition. rather they deprive the partition victim resettled bengali dalit refugees of Citizenship, human rights, mother tongue, reservation and civil rights!
In 1931, Winston Churchill had warned that if the British left India, majority Hindus would gain "the armed ascendancy", public services would collapse and the country would fall back rapidly "into the barbarism and privations of the Middle Ages".
And yet, 60 years later, despite the violent orgy of its birth, India has survived and even begun to prosper, as the world's largest democracy and a broadly secular state. Now , the daughter of Lord and Lady mountbatten teaches us the partition history highlighting the Romance of Nehru and Lady Mountbatten. She, though, exposes the Truth that Gandhi was kept in Dark and Muslim League as well as The Secular Congress also ensured that Power must be handed over the Brahminical system accross the border!
It is shocking! We must stand united to cpndemn this fascist attack.As I know the person, named Taslima Nasrin, she is not going to be scared. She would not stop writing or change her clearcut stand against Religion whatsoever it may be. She is an athiest. She considers religion the base of persecution of Woman, Dalits, Tribals and underprevileged including black. She holds the opinion that until the Religion is not wiped out, human and civil rights stand irrelevant!I had an opportunity to interview taslima nasrin some years back when she visited Kolkata from france. Now she is staying in Kolkata with extended VISA and government of India is rejecting her plea for Indian Citizenship for so many years to appease Muslim Vote Bank. West Bengal goverment also banned her book and promoted the fundamental forces in opposition. As the Left vote bank consists of enblock Muslim support!I never thought that Taslim wrote naything classical in comparison to other bangladeshi or bengali writers. But she dared to challange the Brahminical system accross the border holding state power and supremacy in everysphere of life. She voiced the Universal woman. she was the first bangladeshi writer to highlight Minority Persecution with her banned Novel, LAJJA! Though I never considered this novel any worth of it as it fails to highlight the democratic and secular movement in and within Bangladesh.As the so called mainstream Bengali literature accross the border has turned into prostitution, I don`t hold taslima alone responsible for the softporn, a regular imput in her writing.We, the Indian writers and intellectual in general, always have supported her fight for the liberty of expression!What she writes on religion and society, may be very very controversial, but these elements have deeprooted base in the system itself. The Reality! And she is exposing the rot with her falavour and style.
I always disliked this style, not the content! Her commercialisation of art and literature made me detached with all afairs relating Taslima Nasrin. Neverthe less, the issues remain. The plight of minorities in Bangladesh with continuous refugee influx go on and go on! Her questions on Woman Lib always remain very genuine. We may not deny if we are honest enough.
The democratic system always allows dissent, discussion, diolgue! What kind of Democracy is this that the system rather provokes an attack on a writer?
Political analysts feel this is attack has been planned given that Assembly elections are scheduled in a few months time, while Sajan George, National president of the Global Council of Indian Christians said: "It is a shame because this is not the way to treat a guest and it is also an attack on a women. We should hang our heads in shame at this treatment meted out to her. India in her 60th year of Independence prided herself that she has a woman President, which we hoped heralded improved status and treatment for our women. India is a secular democracy. Does India believe in Secular traditions? In a democracy we are ensured our freedom of speech and expression. There is a climate of intolerance gaining ground in the country and especially in Andhra Pradesh".
The author, who lives in Kolkata, now describes herself as a secular humanist, and criticises religion as an oppressive force.
In 2004, a Muslim cleric offered a $440 reward to anyone who was able to successfully humiliate Nasreen by blackening her face with shoe polish or ink or by garlanding her with shoes.
She worked as a doctor before turning to writing, and several of her books have been banned in India and Bangladesh because they upset hardline Muslims.
The European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 1994.
Nasrin fled Bangladesh in 1994 when Islamic extremists threatened to kill her after an Indian newspaper quoted her as saying changes must be made to the Islamic holy book, the Quran, to give women more rights.
The protesters, belonging to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, a political party in Andhra Pradesh state, burst into the local Press Club on Thursday shouting slogans describing her as "anti-Muslim" and "anti-Islam." They ransacked the venue, throwing chairs in the air and overturning the tables. Nasrin came to Hyderabad to attend the release of her book "Shodh" (Getting Even) in the local Telugu language. The writer faces death threats from Islamic hard-liners at home.
Taslima nasrinBirth : 25th. August. 1962 Place of birth : Mymensigh, Bangladesh.Education : MBBS , 1984Work : as a doctor in different public hospitals including Mitford and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (1986-1993)
Quit : Quit job in 1993 as a protest of government's decisions. Government confiscated passport and asked to stop writing.
Fatwa : The price was set for Taslima Nasreen's head by Bangladeshi Muslim Fundamentalists in 1993 and 1994.
Court cases : Trials are still going on for Blasphemy against Taslima Nasreen in Bangladesh court. One case was filed by Bangladesh Government.
Exile: Taslima Nasreen has been living in exile for 5 years. She lived in Sweden, Germany and United States. Now she is living in France. In Defence of Taslima Nasreen
View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition
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To: Indian Government We, the undersigned, are writing to register our strongest protest at yet more death threats made against writer, humanist, secularist and human rights activist Taslima Nasreen. This time, Taqi Raza Khan the president of an Islamic group, the All-India Ibtehad Council, has offered a bounty of about ?8,000 for her beheading. This and other clear threats to her life require that the Indian government bring the full force of the law to bear on him and those who threaten and incite murder and terror.
Taqi Raza Khan has warned the Indian government that if she is not driven out of India within ten days ?all hell will break loose?. In fact, it is the other way around.
Taslima has every right to freely express her views on Islam and Sharia law and in favour of women?s rights and equality. The Indian government is duty bound to protect her from these threats and grant her the citizenship she requires so that she may live without fear of expulsion.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
View Current Signatures
http://www.petitiononline.com/taslima/petition.htmlNasreen - sometimes spelled "Nasrin" - was born into a Muslim family in Bangladesh, a conservative, predominantly Islamic country.
Taslima NasrinFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchTaslima NasrinTaslima Nasrin (Bangla: ?????? ??????), also known as Taslima Nasreen, (born 25 August 1962 in Mymensingh, Bangladesh) is a Bengali Bangladeshi physician, author, feminist human rights activist and secular humanist. She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1994 , and a Humanist Award (from the International Humanist and Ethical Union) in 1996 . Since 1993 , Nasrin has faced numerous death threats from Islamic fundamentalists. Recently, in March 2007, an Indian Muslim group offered a bounty of 500,000 rupees for her beheading.[1] A former Muslim, Nasrin says she has become an atheist.[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taslima_Nasrin
My attackers are minority, majority is with me: Taslima
New Delhi: Controversial exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was attacked by Muslim activists in Hyderabad on Thursday, said that she believed in democracy and hoped to live safely in this country.
" I believe in democracy. I hope to live safely in this country as a democrat. The people who attacked me are in a minority. I get support and sympathy from a majority of people. I thank them," she said.
Speaking about the incident, Nasreen, who was being escorted by police, said the MIM activists stormed in and started abusing her for her writing.
She said the protestors attempted to throw a chair at her and she could have been seriously injured had those present not rushed her to an adjacent room.
"I was rescued by police who escorted me to the airport," she said.
Several of Taslima's books have been banned, both in Bangladesh and in West Bengal.
The following books in the People's Republic of Bangladesh have been banned. Therefore, people in that people's republic are not allowed to read these books. If you click on the book cover of Amar Meyebela, below, you can download it in Bengali. Even in India it has been partly censored, Now, wherever you are you can read the entirely uncensored version of the book.
1. Lajja 1993 Lajja(Shame)
Lajja is banned by the Government of Bangladesh
2.Amar Meyebela 1999 Amar Meyebela (My girlhood)
Banned by the Government of Bangladesh
"Bangladesh bans new Taslima book," BBC News, 13 August 1999
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared Amar Meyebela pornography
"L'ffaire Taslima Nareen ou la parole à la Censeure," 1 October 1999
3.Utal Hawa 2002 utal hawa(Gusty Wind)
Utal Hawa is banned by the Government of Bangladesh
Book Bans
Bangladesh Bans Third Taslima Book BBC news, 27 August 2002Book banned for attack on Islam
Utal Hawa banned
Taslima's new book also goes Lajja wayBook Banned"Nasreen contre l'islam" 31 August 20
Ko (Speak up) 4. Ko 2003
Ko is banned by the High Court of Bangladesh.
Suit against Taslima Nasreen
Injunction on selling of Taslima's book
Ko ( ka) is banned
Taslima's Ka erupts sexual controversy
Split wide closed
Book banned at behest of Islamic bigots
Taslima's opinion
dwikhandita (split in two)
5. Dwikhandita 2003
The book was banned by the 'Communist' Government of West Bengal of India on the charges of hurting religious feelings of the people. The book was also banned by the High Court of West Bengal.
Ban on Taslima's Dwikhandita
Ban On Dwikhandita Justified
Dwikhandita banned
Hypocrisy split wide open
Protest book ban
Ban on Taslima
Bengal Bans Taslima's book
Brickbats for Ban
WB Govt Bans Taslima's Book
Banning Taslima's Book
Opinions
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen releases her latest book at Kolkata Book Fair.(28k, 56k)
sei sob ondhokar (Those dark days)
6. Sei Sob Ondhokar 2004
Banned by the Government of Bangladesh
The fourth part of the autobiography was banned on the 20th of February, one day before Language Day, a big national day for Bengali language and literature. No one protested the ban, according to several news sources:
Another Taslima Book Banned Daily Star, 20 February 2004
Book banned at behest of Islamic bigots
Pak Tribune News
Taslima Nasrin's column
Articles:
No Progress Without a Secular Society
Religion is the best way to fool the poor
Why I am a Secular Humanist
Ending Silence
Banned Books (Bangla):
Dwikhandita
Amar Meyebela
Book Review by Taslima Nasrin:
Why I am not A Muslim
Bangla Articles of/on Taslima:
"Outlawed" Taslima - A few words to ponder Manish Paul
Taslima Nasreen: The fine line between Private and Public Maqsoodul Haque (Mac)
1.Sayed Shamsul Haq wins the first round 2. Taslima Nasrin faces Sayed Haq Dr. Ajoy Roy
A Statement from Mukto-mona : Stop Muzzling Taslima Nasrin a la Bangladeshi style
Bangladesh's judiciary proved it again that they are not free. Mukto-Mona, an assembly of freethinkers mostly from Bangalee descent in the Internet, strongly denounces the recent verdict of an obscure court located in the backwater of Bangladesh vis-à-vis the feminist writer Ms. Taslima Nasrin. The suddenness of the court verdict surprised most freedom-loving Bangalees. And worst of all, no attorney had represented Ms. Taslima Nasrin at the court. Therefore, it was a one-sided affair. ... (Read more)http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/taslima/index.htm
Taslima's other books are not so easy to find in the bookshops in Bangladesh. The once best-selling author's works are now taboo in her own country.
Indo-Bangladeshi relationsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected from India-Bangladesh relations)Jump to: navigation, searchDuring the partition of India after independence in 1947, the Bengal region was divided into two territories: East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) and West Bengal. East Bengal was made a part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan due its overwhelmingly large Muslim population (then more than 85%). In 1955, the government of Pakistan changed its name from East Bengal to East Pakistan.
However confrontations between East and West Pakistan started soon after. In 1948, Jinnah declared that only Urdu would be the official language of the entire nation while more than 95% of the population in East Pakistan spoke Bengali. When protests broke out in East Pakistan on February 21, 1952, Pakistani police fired on the protestors, killing hundreds of people. East Pakistan was also given an inferior treatment by the federal government of Pakistan (situated in West Pakistan) and small funds were allocated for the development of the region, despite of it being significant contributor in the revenue generation. Therefore, a separatist movement started to grow in present day Bangladesh. When in 1970 elections, the main separatist party, the Awami League, headed by Mujibur Rehman won 167 of the 169 seats and got the right to form the government, the President of Pakistan under Yahya Khan refused to recognize the elections and arrested Mujibur Rehman. This led to widespread protests in East Pakistan and in 1971, the Bangladesh Liberation War started.
India under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi fully supported the cause of the Bangladeshis and its troops and equipment were used to fight the Pakistani forces. India also provided support and training to the main Bangladeshi guerilla force, the Mukti Bahini. Finally, on 26 March 1971, Bangladesh emerged as an independent state. Since then, there have been several issues of agreement as well as of contention between two India and Bangladesh.
[edit] Areas of agreementIndia, because of its central role in the independence of Bangladesh initially had very cordial relations with the country. India was also the first country to recognize Bangladesh as an independent nation. It also had a sense of obligation and thankfulness towards India[citation needed]. Both India and Bangladesh acknowledge the genocide of Bengalis perpetrated by Pakistan in the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. Moreover, Bangladesh was faced with an economic crisis after independence and its population was 8th largest in the world at that time. India gave large amounts of aid to Bangladesh and thousands of Bangladeshi refugees immigrated to India.[citation needed] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s first foreign visit as Prime Minister was to India and it was then decided Indo-Bangladesh relations would be guided by principles of democracy, socialism, nonalignment and opposition to colonialism and racism. Indira Gandhi too visited Bangladesh in 1972 and assured that India would never interfere in the internal affairs of the country. In 1972, both the countries signed a 'Treaty of Friendship and Peace'. An Indo-Bangladesh Trade Pact was also signed.
[edit] Areas of disputeA major bone of contention has been the construction of the Farakkha Barrage by India to increase water supply in the Hoogli river. Bangladesh contends that it does not receive a fair share of the Ganga waters. Bangladesh considers it to be a violation of the international convention that prohibits unilateral withdrawal of water from an international water body. There have also been disputes regarding the transfer of Teen Bigha Corridor to Bangladesh. It is an area of Bangladesh in West Bengal which is surrounded by Indian land. After Bangladesh's independence, several enclaves were exchanged between the then government of India and Bangladesh. As Bangladesh's newly received enclaves were inside Indian territory, the agreement included giving Bangladesh a small piece of land, the Teen Bigha Corridor, to connect the mainland with the encalves in exchange of a token of 1 Taka. After the exchange of the enclaves took place, the Teen Bigha Corridor was not handed over to Bangladesh until decades later when it was formally leased to bangladesh on June 26, 1992. There is ongoing claims by the Indian authorities regarding use of this land by anti-India forces and illegal immigrants to cross over into India which Bangladesh denies. Another issue which continues to be a major part of Indian politics is the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India, especially in nearby states like West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. India allege that continued illegal immigration changed in the border area demography of India resulting in ethnic imbalance, electoral irregularity and loss of employment opportunities. The rise of Islamic fundamentalist forces in Pakistan and use of these forces by Inter-Services Intelligence to carry out anti-India activates has also aggravated India. India complains that ISI is using Bangladesh to carry out terrorists operations in India and blames Bangladeshi government of not doing enough to prevent such activities.
CPM has left W. Bengal in the throes of turmoilBy Prafull Goradia
Unlike the Punjab in the early years of Partition, there was very little of a population exchange in Bengal. It was a one way traffic which has made the state also over populated, one of the compulsions of which is a shift from agriculture to manufacture. More than one out of every four Bengalis being Muslim, Jamiat-e-Ulema is likely to have a large following in its endeavour to resist the setting up of large factories.
Bengal is getting in the throes of turmoil. On this side of the border, there is a struggle to prevent the industrialisation of the state. Nandigram is only the first symptom of the resistance. Uncannily, although Singur was a similar issue, the impact did not go far. Was it not because the Jamiat-e-Ulma-e-Hind led by Janab Siddiquallah Chowdhury did not have a popular base in that area? Whereas Nandigram is a majority area for him. Incensed by the Marxist contempt towards religion, Chief Minister Bhattacharjee is unable to empathise with the compulsions of Islam. Prophet Mohammed wanted his followers to achieve a majority in the world’s population by doomsday. In order to fulfill this wish, procreation must be prolific which in turn needs an obedient womanhood; preferably uneducated and unquestioning. Such a woman cannot appreciate the value of education for her children. Without secular studies, the offspring cannot grow up to compete for modern jobs. Hence industrialisation is undesirable for Islam. Not all the oil wealth of Arabia and Iran has been able to fuel any great manufacture in West Asia.
Remarkably Bangladesh has also remained substantially without large industries. In the first flush of Partition, a number of jute mills were set up to process all the golden jute that Dhaka and Narayanganj districts produced. For a country with a severely adverse land man ratio, industrialisation should have been a continual process. Perhaps the popularity of Islam has been a significant stumbling block. It is to be seen what kind of government will emerge from the current crisis created by the military takeover. But Islam will continue to be the state religion. So far Bangladesh, and it’s predecessor East Pakistan has, either pushed out Hindu refugees or sent out Muslim infiltrators. West Bengal has been unfortunate in being at the receiving end of both the inflows.
Unlike the Punjab in the early years of Partition, there was very little of a population exchange in Bengal. It was a one-way traffic that has made the state also over populated, one of the compulsions of which is a shift from agriculture to manufacture. More than one out of every four Bengalis being Muslim, Jamiat-e-Ulema is likely to have a large following in its endeavour to resist the setting up of large factories.
Chowdhury means business; he has gone to the extent of declaring that the CPM is anti-Muslim behind the veneer of secularism. Shri Narendra Modi has given more rights to Muslims than Bhattacharjee in Bengal. Muslims are by far safer in Gujarat where they enjoy more rights and privileges. What is the future Chief Minister Bhattacharya’s dream of industrialisation a la China? His dream is not unrealistic; his State was the Ruhr of India at the time of Independence. The two Bengals juxtaposed make an interesting paradox. One side with 90 per cent Muslims who are happy to be agrarian and the other side with 75 per cent Hindus raring to modernise. In the absence of progress, the cream of Bengal talent is emigrating to other parts of India as well as overseas. If the current trend continues, West Bengal would lose the bulk of its elite.
There are other problems as well. The High Commission is not effective except reportedly in conveying donations to the Rama Krishna Mission at Dhaka that in turn heals more Muslims than Hindus. Dhaka humiliated India in 2002 by killing several of its BSF jawans and returning their bodies hanging on poles as if they were animal carcasses. The Indian government was helpless and its foreign minister exclaimed: do you expect us to go to war with Bangladesh? The government of Kolkata is equally indifferent; it is yet to recommend the granting of citizenship to Taslima Nasrin.
It was hoped that after the secession of Bangladesh in 1971, ethnic cleansing would come to an end. At Partition, there were 29 per cent Hindus in East Bengal. By 1974 they had come down to 13.5 per cent. With the advent of General Zia-ur-Rahman and subsequently General H.M. Ershad, the cleansing was resumed. Today the figure hovers around 9. There are dozens of incidents every month in different parts of Bangladesh; in the course of May, 55 such occurrences were reported in the local press. Land in the villages and houses of Hindus in the urban areas are forcibly occupied and most often the police does not even register the complaints of the disposed. Temples are also targets and even the writ of the High Court does not always run. For example, in Sherpur of Bogra district, Ma Bhawani Moyee mandir lost one of its sections to marauders last year despite a Court injunction. This oppression would cease if the Muslims of Bengal were enabled to gather in Bangladesh while all the Hindus from there were allowed to cross over to West Bengal. In other words, an organised exchange of population should be negotiated between New Delhi and Dhaka with Kolkata being equally involved.
The technique of such an exchange between two countries was authored by the League of Nations soon after World War I ended. A detailed scheme, how to value respective properties, when which batch of people would move to where and how they should be compensated with land or property etc. was worked out under the leadership of no other than the legendary Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The exchange scheme was formalised by the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923. Nearly all Christians, mainly Greek, residing in Turkey were transferred to Greece while Muslims of Greece were asked to migrate to Turkey. However difficult and painful the exchange of populations was, it brought to an end religious strifes in Greece and Turkey, reminiscent of communal riots in India. http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=194&page=11
Taslima, who is against all censorship anywhere, has chosen an inspiring solution. On 16 December 2003 (appropriately the anniversary of Bangladesh's independence in 1971) she has put Dwikhandito in Bengali as well as Amar Meyebela. Amar Meyebela in Bengali on the worldwide web for everyone to read, whether they live in a country that does not respect freedom of expression or in a country that does.
Latest News : High Court lifted the ban on Dwikhandito in September 2005. The book would not be available on the net.
Taslima's Reaction after Dwikhandito ban
Indian Communist party defends the banning of the book
Communists statement for banning the book
Vajira, who is also a painter, poet and lyricist, has previously come into conflict with the Sinhala Buddhist hierarchy over his artistic work. The Peoples Alliance government has also banned one of his songs from state radio broadcasts. The song, which calls for freedom of artistic expression, is about Taslima Nasrin, the exiled Bangladeshi writer whose award-winning book has been banned in Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka. Muslim fundamentalists in Bangladesh have issued a fatwa or death sentence against Nasrin.
Not the first to be accused of blasphemyBy Bashir Goth - posted Monday, 9 July 2007 Sign Up for free e-mail updates!
Britain knighted Salman Rushdie like many British citizens before him, honoured for their service to Britain. To honour Rushdie as a writer for his contribution to literature is a commendable initiative. This is purely a British affair and has nothing to do with any other people or creed.
To protest against what the UK does or doesn’t do for its own citizens is a flagrant interference in its internal affairs. It is like protesting against granting British citizenship to Rushdie, or to any other individual for that matter.
Salman Rushdie is considered to be one of the most illustrious and creative writers of the late 20th century. The fact that some people loathe him for insulting their sentiments or faith is beside the point. Rushdie is not the first and will definitely not be the last writer with a Muslim name to be accused of blasphemy.The blasphemy sword of Islam has been hanging over Muslim writers, thinkers and poets since the dawn of Islam when the first fatwa was issued against the poet Ka’b bin Zuhair who was accused of insulting the Prophet of Islam in some of his poems. Zuhair had to convert to Islam and beg the Prophet for forgiveness in his famous poem titled The Cloak - as the narrative says, Mohammed removed his own cloak and placed it over the shoulders of Ka’b as a sign of pardon.
Ka’b’s poem s
Hyderabad Event is the logical result of the policies adopted by Indian statepower banning her books and then, rejecting her legitimate pleas for Indian Citizenship!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.comhttp://ibnlive.com/videos/46513/andhra-mlas-lead-mob-attack-on-taslima.html
Friends, it is not so shocking that protesters attacked Taslima Nasrin.It is more shocking that the brahminical classses in India, posing as Intellectual and democratic, provoke fundamentalism just to enhance more strngth to their equation of Enslavement eternal and supremacy in the divided geopolitics. Hyderabad Event is the logical result of the policies adopted by Indian statepower banning her books and then, rejecting her legitimate pleas for Indian Citizenship!
Indian protesters manhandle exiled Bangladeshi Muslim writer Taslima Nasrin Angry Muslim protesters on Thursday manhandled exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin while she was attending the release of her book in southern India and asked her to go back to her country. Nasrin escaped unhurt as organizers shielded her from nearly 100 protesters, led by three local lawmakers, in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. In the melee, one of the protesters slapped her, according to eyewitnesses.
An uneasy-looking Nasreen backed into a corner as several middle-aged men threw a leather case, bunches of flowers and other objects at her head and threatened her with a chair, according to a Reuters witness and television pictures.Taslima Nasreen who has applied for an Indian citizenship, later said the incident had not shaken her belief in this country and its democracy.
''I believe in democracy.I hope to live safe in this country as a democrat.
''The people who attacked me are a minority .I got support and sympathy from majority of people. I thank them,'' she said while speaking to NDTV.
Another guest, journalist Innaih Narisetti was injured in the attack.
Meanwhile I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi has condemned the incident.
''It's a very shameful thing if any person is attacked. We criticise this incident in the strongest of terms,'' he said.
Since the 1990s, Nasreen has faced numerous threats from Islamic groups for her writings.
She has been living in exile for more than ten years now.
Some of the mob shouted for her death.
Some radical Muslims hate Nasreen for saying Islam and other religions oppress women.On Thursday, lawmakers and members of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party attacked her at the press club in Hyderabad at the launch of a Telugu translation of one of her novels.Other men tried to shield her and catch the projectiles. She ended up with a bruised forehead, and described the attack as barbaric before being taken to safety by police.
'If any religion allows the persecution of the people of different faiths, if any religion keeps women in slavery, if any religion keeps people in ignorance, then I can't accept that religion.'
'Humankind is facing an uncertain future. The probability of new kinds of rivalry and conflict looms large. In particular, the conflict is between two different ideas, secularism and fundamentalism. I don't agree with those who think the conflict is between two religions, namely Christianity and Islam, or Judaism and Islam. After all there are fundamentalists in every religious community. I don't agree with those people who think that the crusades of the Middle Ages are going to be repeated soon. Nor do I think that this is a conflict between the East and the West. To me, this conflict is basically between modern, rational, logical thinking and irrational, blind faith. To me, this is a conflict between modernity and anti-modernism. While some strive to go forward, others strive to go backward. It is a conflict between the future and the past, between innovation and tradition, between those who value freedom and those who do not.'
'Freedom of expression for some is not enough.We must work for freedom of expression for all.Human rights for some is not enough.We must work for the human rights for all. Peace for some is not enough.We must work for peace for all.I, come what may, will not be silenced.Come what may, I will continue my fight for equality and justice without any compromise until my death.Come what may, I will never be silenced.'
Official Home Page of Taslima NasrinArticles About Taslima ... TASLIMA NASRIN'S WEBSITE. Taslima, a physician, a writer, a radical feminist, human rights activist and a secular humanist. ... http://taslimanasrin.com/index2.html
About 12 million people, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, fled for their lives during partition. Almost a million died. Entire trainloads of dead bodies crossed the border in both directions. We suffer fro dimentia as we ignore the plight of the victims of partition! We are proud of India`s role in Bangladesh Liberation and boast to bear the buredn of continuous refugee influx, but the Ruling classes never accept the responsibility of partition. rather they deprive the partition victim resettled bengali dalit refugees of Citizenship, human rights, mother tongue, reservation and civil rights!
In 1931, Winston Churchill had warned that if the British left India, majority Hindus would gain "the armed ascendancy", public services would collapse and the country would fall back rapidly "into the barbarism and privations of the Middle Ages".
And yet, 60 years later, despite the violent orgy of its birth, India has survived and even begun to prosper, as the world's largest democracy and a broadly secular state. Now , the daughter of Lord and Lady mountbatten teaches us the partition history highlighting the Romance of Nehru and Lady Mountbatten. She, though, exposes the Truth that Gandhi was kept in Dark and Muslim League as well as The Secular Congress also ensured that Power must be handed over the Brahminical system accross the border!
It is shocking! We must stand united to cpndemn this fascist attack.As I know the person, named Taslima Nasrin, she is not going to be scared. She would not stop writing or change her clearcut stand against Religion whatsoever it may be. She is an athiest. She considers religion the base of persecution of Woman, Dalits, Tribals and underprevileged including black. She holds the opinion that until the Religion is not wiped out, human and civil rights stand irrelevant!I had an opportunity to interview taslima nasrin some years back when she visited Kolkata from france. Now she is staying in Kolkata with extended VISA and government of India is rejecting her plea for Indian Citizenship for so many years to appease Muslim Vote Bank. West Bengal goverment also banned her book and promoted the fundamental forces in opposition. As the Left vote bank consists of enblock Muslim support!I never thought that Taslim wrote naything classical in comparison to other bangladeshi or bengali writers. But she dared to challange the Brahminical system accross the border holding state power and supremacy in everysphere of life. She voiced the Universal woman. she was the first bangladeshi writer to highlight Minority Persecution with her banned Novel, LAJJA! Though I never considered this novel any worth of it as it fails to highlight the democratic and secular movement in and within Bangladesh.As the so called mainstream Bengali literature accross the border has turned into prostitution, I don`t hold taslima alone responsible for the softporn, a regular imput in her writing.We, the Indian writers and intellectual in general, always have supported her fight for the liberty of expression!What she writes on religion and society, may be very very controversial, but these elements have deeprooted base in the system itself. The Reality! And she is exposing the rot with her falavour and style.
I always disliked this style, not the content! Her commercialisation of art and literature made me detached with all afairs relating Taslima Nasrin. Neverthe less, the issues remain. The plight of minorities in Bangladesh with continuous refugee influx go on and go on! Her questions on Woman Lib always remain very genuine. We may not deny if we are honest enough.
The democratic system always allows dissent, discussion, diolgue! What kind of Democracy is this that the system rather provokes an attack on a writer?
Political analysts feel this is attack has been planned given that Assembly elections are scheduled in a few months time, while Sajan George, National president of the Global Council of Indian Christians said: "It is a shame because this is not the way to treat a guest and it is also an attack on a women. We should hang our heads in shame at this treatment meted out to her. India in her 60th year of Independence prided herself that she has a woman President, which we hoped heralded improved status and treatment for our women. India is a secular democracy. Does India believe in Secular traditions? In a democracy we are ensured our freedom of speech and expression. There is a climate of intolerance gaining ground in the country and especially in Andhra Pradesh".
The author, who lives in Kolkata, now describes herself as a secular humanist, and criticises religion as an oppressive force.
In 2004, a Muslim cleric offered a $440 reward to anyone who was able to successfully humiliate Nasreen by blackening her face with shoe polish or ink or by garlanding her with shoes.
She worked as a doctor before turning to writing, and several of her books have been banned in India and Bangladesh because they upset hardline Muslims.
The European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 1994.
Nasrin fled Bangladesh in 1994 when Islamic extremists threatened to kill her after an Indian newspaper quoted her as saying changes must be made to the Islamic holy book, the Quran, to give women more rights.
The protesters, belonging to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, a political party in Andhra Pradesh state, burst into the local Press Club on Thursday shouting slogans describing her as "anti-Muslim" and "anti-Islam." They ransacked the venue, throwing chairs in the air and overturning the tables. Nasrin came to Hyderabad to attend the release of her book "Shodh" (Getting Even) in the local Telugu language. The writer faces death threats from Islamic hard-liners at home.
Taslima nasrinBirth : 25th. August. 1962 Place of birth : Mymensigh, Bangladesh.Education : MBBS , 1984Work : as a doctor in different public hospitals including Mitford and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (1986-1993)
Quit : Quit job in 1993 as a protest of government's decisions. Government confiscated passport and asked to stop writing.
Fatwa : The price was set for Taslima Nasreen's head by Bangladeshi Muslim Fundamentalists in 1993 and 1994.
Court cases : Trials are still going on for Blasphemy against Taslima Nasreen in Bangladesh court. One case was filed by Bangladesh Government.
Exile: Taslima Nasreen has been living in exile for 5 years. She lived in Sweden, Germany and United States. Now she is living in France. In Defence of Taslima Nasreen
View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition
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To: Indian Government We, the undersigned, are writing to register our strongest protest at yet more death threats made against writer, humanist, secularist and human rights activist Taslima Nasreen. This time, Taqi Raza Khan the president of an Islamic group, the All-India Ibtehad Council, has offered a bounty of about ?8,000 for her beheading. This and other clear threats to her life require that the Indian government bring the full force of the law to bear on him and those who threaten and incite murder and terror.
Taqi Raza Khan has warned the Indian government that if she is not driven out of India within ten days ?all hell will break loose?. In fact, it is the other way around.
Taslima has every right to freely express her views on Islam and Sharia law and in favour of women?s rights and equality. The Indian government is duty bound to protect her from these threats and grant her the citizenship she requires so that she may live without fear of expulsion.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
View Current Signatures
http://www.petitiononline.com/taslima/petition.htmlNasreen - sometimes spelled "Nasrin" - was born into a Muslim family in Bangladesh, a conservative, predominantly Islamic country.
Taslima NasrinFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchTaslima NasrinTaslima Nasrin (Bangla: ?????? ??????), also known as Taslima Nasreen, (born 25 August 1962 in Mymensingh, Bangladesh) is a Bengali Bangladeshi physician, author, feminist human rights activist and secular humanist. She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1994 , and a Humanist Award (from the International Humanist and Ethical Union) in 1996 . Since 1993 , Nasrin has faced numerous death threats from Islamic fundamentalists. Recently, in March 2007, an Indian Muslim group offered a bounty of 500,000 rupees for her beheading.[1] A former Muslim, Nasrin says she has become an atheist.[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taslima_Nasrin
My attackers are minority, majority is with me: Taslima
New Delhi: Controversial exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was attacked by Muslim activists in Hyderabad on Thursday, said that she believed in democracy and hoped to live safely in this country.
" I believe in democracy. I hope to live safely in this country as a democrat. The people who attacked me are in a minority. I get support and sympathy from a majority of people. I thank them," she said.
Speaking about the incident, Nasreen, who was being escorted by police, said the MIM activists stormed in and started abusing her for her writing.
She said the protestors attempted to throw a chair at her and she could have been seriously injured had those present not rushed her to an adjacent room.
"I was rescued by police who escorted me to the airport," she said.
Several of Taslima's books have been banned, both in Bangladesh and in West Bengal.
The following books in the People's Republic of Bangladesh have been banned. Therefore, people in that people's republic are not allowed to read these books. If you click on the book cover of Amar Meyebela, below, you can download it in Bengali. Even in India it has been partly censored, Now, wherever you are you can read the entirely uncensored version of the book.
1. Lajja 1993 Lajja(Shame)
Lajja is banned by the Government of Bangladesh
2.Amar Meyebela 1999 Amar Meyebela (My girlhood)
Banned by the Government of Bangladesh
"Bangladesh bans new Taslima book," BBC News, 13 August 1999
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared Amar Meyebela pornography
"L'ffaire Taslima Nareen ou la parole à la Censeure," 1 October 1999
3.Utal Hawa 2002 utal hawa(Gusty Wind)
Utal Hawa is banned by the Government of Bangladesh
Book Bans
Bangladesh Bans Third Taslima Book BBC news, 27 August 2002Book banned for attack on Islam
Utal Hawa banned
Taslima's new book also goes Lajja wayBook Banned"Nasreen contre l'islam" 31 August 20
Ko (Speak up) 4. Ko 2003
Ko is banned by the High Court of Bangladesh.
Suit against Taslima Nasreen
Injunction on selling of Taslima's book
Ko ( ka) is banned
Taslima's Ka erupts sexual controversy
Split wide closed
Book banned at behest of Islamic bigots
Taslima's opinion
dwikhandita (split in two)
5. Dwikhandita 2003
The book was banned by the 'Communist' Government of West Bengal of India on the charges of hurting religious feelings of the people. The book was also banned by the High Court of West Bengal.
Ban on Taslima's Dwikhandita
Ban On Dwikhandita Justified
Dwikhandita banned
Hypocrisy split wide open
Protest book ban
Ban on Taslima
Bengal Bans Taslima's book
Brickbats for Ban
WB Govt Bans Taslima's Book
Banning Taslima's Book
Opinions
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen releases her latest book at Kolkata Book Fair.(28k, 56k)
sei sob ondhokar (Those dark days)
6. Sei Sob Ondhokar 2004
Banned by the Government of Bangladesh
The fourth part of the autobiography was banned on the 20th of February, one day before Language Day, a big national day for Bengali language and literature. No one protested the ban, according to several news sources:
Another Taslima Book Banned Daily Star, 20 February 2004
Book banned at behest of Islamic bigots
Pak Tribune News
Taslima Nasrin's column
Articles:
No Progress Without a Secular Society
Religion is the best way to fool the poor
Why I am a Secular Humanist
Ending Silence
Banned Books (Bangla):
Dwikhandita
Amar Meyebela
Book Review by Taslima Nasrin:
Why I am not A Muslim
Bangla Articles of/on Taslima:
"Outlawed" Taslima - A few words to ponder Manish Paul
Taslima Nasreen: The fine line between Private and Public Maqsoodul Haque (Mac)
1.Sayed Shamsul Haq wins the first round 2. Taslima Nasrin faces Sayed Haq Dr. Ajoy Roy
A Statement from Mukto-mona : Stop Muzzling Taslima Nasrin a la Bangladeshi style
Bangladesh's judiciary proved it again that they are not free. Mukto-Mona, an assembly of freethinkers mostly from Bangalee descent in the Internet, strongly denounces the recent verdict of an obscure court located in the backwater of Bangladesh vis-à-vis the feminist writer Ms. Taslima Nasrin. The suddenness of the court verdict surprised most freedom-loving Bangalees. And worst of all, no attorney had represented Ms. Taslima Nasrin at the court. Therefore, it was a one-sided affair. ... (Read more)http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/taslima/index.htm
Taslima's other books are not so easy to find in the bookshops in Bangladesh. The once best-selling author's works are now taboo in her own country.
Indo-Bangladeshi relationsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Redirected from India-Bangladesh relations)Jump to: navigation, searchDuring the partition of India after independence in 1947, the Bengal region was divided into two territories: East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) and West Bengal. East Bengal was made a part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan due its overwhelmingly large Muslim population (then more than 85%). In 1955, the government of Pakistan changed its name from East Bengal to East Pakistan.
However confrontations between East and West Pakistan started soon after. In 1948, Jinnah declared that only Urdu would be the official language of the entire nation while more than 95% of the population in East Pakistan spoke Bengali. When protests broke out in East Pakistan on February 21, 1952, Pakistani police fired on the protestors, killing hundreds of people. East Pakistan was also given an inferior treatment by the federal government of Pakistan (situated in West Pakistan) and small funds were allocated for the development of the region, despite of it being significant contributor in the revenue generation. Therefore, a separatist movement started to grow in present day Bangladesh. When in 1970 elections, the main separatist party, the Awami League, headed by Mujibur Rehman won 167 of the 169 seats and got the right to form the government, the President of Pakistan under Yahya Khan refused to recognize the elections and arrested Mujibur Rehman. This led to widespread protests in East Pakistan and in 1971, the Bangladesh Liberation War started.
India under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi fully supported the cause of the Bangladeshis and its troops and equipment were used to fight the Pakistani forces. India also provided support and training to the main Bangladeshi guerilla force, the Mukti Bahini. Finally, on 26 March 1971, Bangladesh emerged as an independent state. Since then, there have been several issues of agreement as well as of contention between two India and Bangladesh.
[edit] Areas of agreementIndia, because of its central role in the independence of Bangladesh initially had very cordial relations with the country. India was also the first country to recognize Bangladesh as an independent nation. It also had a sense of obligation and thankfulness towards India[citation needed]. Both India and Bangladesh acknowledge the genocide of Bengalis perpetrated by Pakistan in the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. Moreover, Bangladesh was faced with an economic crisis after independence and its population was 8th largest in the world at that time. India gave large amounts of aid to Bangladesh and thousands of Bangladeshi refugees immigrated to India.[citation needed] Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s first foreign visit as Prime Minister was to India and it was then decided Indo-Bangladesh relations would be guided by principles of democracy, socialism, nonalignment and opposition to colonialism and racism. Indira Gandhi too visited Bangladesh in 1972 and assured that India would never interfere in the internal affairs of the country. In 1972, both the countries signed a 'Treaty of Friendship and Peace'. An Indo-Bangladesh Trade Pact was also signed.
[edit] Areas of disputeA major bone of contention has been the construction of the Farakkha Barrage by India to increase water supply in the Hoogli river. Bangladesh contends that it does not receive a fair share of the Ganga waters. Bangladesh considers it to be a violation of the international convention that prohibits unilateral withdrawal of water from an international water body. There have also been disputes regarding the transfer of Teen Bigha Corridor to Bangladesh. It is an area of Bangladesh in West Bengal which is surrounded by Indian land. After Bangladesh's independence, several enclaves were exchanged between the then government of India and Bangladesh. As Bangladesh's newly received enclaves were inside Indian territory, the agreement included giving Bangladesh a small piece of land, the Teen Bigha Corridor, to connect the mainland with the encalves in exchange of a token of 1 Taka. After the exchange of the enclaves took place, the Teen Bigha Corridor was not handed over to Bangladesh until decades later when it was formally leased to bangladesh on June 26, 1992. There is ongoing claims by the Indian authorities regarding use of this land by anti-India forces and illegal immigrants to cross over into India which Bangladesh denies. Another issue which continues to be a major part of Indian politics is the issue of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India, especially in nearby states like West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. India allege that continued illegal immigration changed in the border area demography of India resulting in ethnic imbalance, electoral irregularity and loss of employment opportunities. The rise of Islamic fundamentalist forces in Pakistan and use of these forces by Inter-Services Intelligence to carry out anti-India activates has also aggravated India. India complains that ISI is using Bangladesh to carry out terrorists operations in India and blames Bangladeshi government of not doing enough to prevent such activities.
CPM has left W. Bengal in the throes of turmoilBy Prafull Goradia
Unlike the Punjab in the early years of Partition, there was very little of a population exchange in Bengal. It was a one way traffic which has made the state also over populated, one of the compulsions of which is a shift from agriculture to manufacture. More than one out of every four Bengalis being Muslim, Jamiat-e-Ulema is likely to have a large following in its endeavour to resist the setting up of large factories.
Bengal is getting in the throes of turmoil. On this side of the border, there is a struggle to prevent the industrialisation of the state. Nandigram is only the first symptom of the resistance. Uncannily, although Singur was a similar issue, the impact did not go far. Was it not because the Jamiat-e-Ulma-e-Hind led by Janab Siddiquallah Chowdhury did not have a popular base in that area? Whereas Nandigram is a majority area for him. Incensed by the Marxist contempt towards religion, Chief Minister Bhattacharjee is unable to empathise with the compulsions of Islam. Prophet Mohammed wanted his followers to achieve a majority in the world’s population by doomsday. In order to fulfill this wish, procreation must be prolific which in turn needs an obedient womanhood; preferably uneducated and unquestioning. Such a woman cannot appreciate the value of education for her children. Without secular studies, the offspring cannot grow up to compete for modern jobs. Hence industrialisation is undesirable for Islam. Not all the oil wealth of Arabia and Iran has been able to fuel any great manufacture in West Asia.
Remarkably Bangladesh has also remained substantially without large industries. In the first flush of Partition, a number of jute mills were set up to process all the golden jute that Dhaka and Narayanganj districts produced. For a country with a severely adverse land man ratio, industrialisation should have been a continual process. Perhaps the popularity of Islam has been a significant stumbling block. It is to be seen what kind of government will emerge from the current crisis created by the military takeover. But Islam will continue to be the state religion. So far Bangladesh, and it’s predecessor East Pakistan has, either pushed out Hindu refugees or sent out Muslim infiltrators. West Bengal has been unfortunate in being at the receiving end of both the inflows.
Unlike the Punjab in the early years of Partition, there was very little of a population exchange in Bengal. It was a one-way traffic that has made the state also over populated, one of the compulsions of which is a shift from agriculture to manufacture. More than one out of every four Bengalis being Muslim, Jamiat-e-Ulema is likely to have a large following in its endeavour to resist the setting up of large factories.
Chowdhury means business; he has gone to the extent of declaring that the CPM is anti-Muslim behind the veneer of secularism. Shri Narendra Modi has given more rights to Muslims than Bhattacharjee in Bengal. Muslims are by far safer in Gujarat where they enjoy more rights and privileges. What is the future Chief Minister Bhattacharya’s dream of industrialisation a la China? His dream is not unrealistic; his State was the Ruhr of India at the time of Independence. The two Bengals juxtaposed make an interesting paradox. One side with 90 per cent Muslims who are happy to be agrarian and the other side with 75 per cent Hindus raring to modernise. In the absence of progress, the cream of Bengal talent is emigrating to other parts of India as well as overseas. If the current trend continues, West Bengal would lose the bulk of its elite.
There are other problems as well. The High Commission is not effective except reportedly in conveying donations to the Rama Krishna Mission at Dhaka that in turn heals more Muslims than Hindus. Dhaka humiliated India in 2002 by killing several of its BSF jawans and returning their bodies hanging on poles as if they were animal carcasses. The Indian government was helpless and its foreign minister exclaimed: do you expect us to go to war with Bangladesh? The government of Kolkata is equally indifferent; it is yet to recommend the granting of citizenship to Taslima Nasrin.
It was hoped that after the secession of Bangladesh in 1971, ethnic cleansing would come to an end. At Partition, there were 29 per cent Hindus in East Bengal. By 1974 they had come down to 13.5 per cent. With the advent of General Zia-ur-Rahman and subsequently General H.M. Ershad, the cleansing was resumed. Today the figure hovers around 9. There are dozens of incidents every month in different parts of Bangladesh; in the course of May, 55 such occurrences were reported in the local press. Land in the villages and houses of Hindus in the urban areas are forcibly occupied and most often the police does not even register the complaints of the disposed. Temples are also targets and even the writ of the High Court does not always run. For example, in Sherpur of Bogra district, Ma Bhawani Moyee mandir lost one of its sections to marauders last year despite a Court injunction. This oppression would cease if the Muslims of Bengal were enabled to gather in Bangladesh while all the Hindus from there were allowed to cross over to West Bengal. In other words, an organised exchange of population should be negotiated between New Delhi and Dhaka with Kolkata being equally involved.
The technique of such an exchange between two countries was authored by the League of Nations soon after World War I ended. A detailed scheme, how to value respective properties, when which batch of people would move to where and how they should be compensated with land or property etc. was worked out under the leadership of no other than the legendary Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The exchange scheme was formalised by the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923. Nearly all Christians, mainly Greek, residing in Turkey were transferred to Greece while Muslims of Greece were asked to migrate to Turkey. However difficult and painful the exchange of populations was, it brought to an end religious strifes in Greece and Turkey, reminiscent of communal riots in India. http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=194&page=11
Taslima, who is against all censorship anywhere, has chosen an inspiring solution. On 16 December 2003 (appropriately the anniversary of Bangladesh's independence in 1971) she has put Dwikhandito in Bengali as well as Amar Meyebela. Amar Meyebela in Bengali on the worldwide web for everyone to read, whether they live in a country that does not respect freedom of expression or in a country that does.
Latest News : High Court lifted the ban on Dwikhandito in September 2005. The book would not be available on the net.
Taslima's Reaction after Dwikhandito ban
Indian Communist party defends the banning of the book
Communists statement for banning the book
Vajira, who is also a painter, poet and lyricist, has previously come into conflict with the Sinhala Buddhist hierarchy over his artistic work. The Peoples Alliance government has also banned one of his songs from state radio broadcasts. The song, which calls for freedom of artistic expression, is about Taslima Nasrin, the exiled Bangladeshi writer whose award-winning book has been banned in Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka. Muslim fundamentalists in Bangladesh have issued a fatwa or death sentence against Nasrin.
Not the first to be accused of blasphemyBy Bashir Goth - posted Monday, 9 July 2007 Sign Up for free e-mail updates!
Britain knighted Salman Rushdie like many British citizens before him, honoured for their service to Britain. To honour Rushdie as a writer for his contribution to literature is a commendable initiative. This is purely a British affair and has nothing to do with any other people or creed.
To protest against what the UK does or doesn’t do for its own citizens is a flagrant interference in its internal affairs. It is like protesting against granting British citizenship to Rushdie, or to any other individual for that matter.
Salman Rushdie is considered to be one of the most illustrious and creative writers of the late 20th century. The fact that some people loathe him for insulting their sentiments or faith is beside the point. Rushdie is not the first and will definitely not be the last writer with a Muslim name to be accused of blasphemy.The blasphemy sword of Islam has been hanging over Muslim writers, thinkers and poets since the dawn of Islam when the first fatwa was issued against the poet Ka’b bin Zuhair who was accused of insulting the Prophet of Islam in some of his poems. Zuhair had to convert to Islam and beg the Prophet for forgiveness in his famous poem titled The Cloak - as the narrative says, Mohammed removed his own cloak and placed it over the shoulders of Ka’b as a sign of pardon.
Ka’b’s poem s
Monday, August 6, 2007
We Indian citizens have alredy reserved a Guided sniper bullet for everyone of Us!
Bush Decides the Fate of Great Asian People,Ha!
We Indian citizens have alredy reserved a Guided sniper bullet for everyone of Us!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
" We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centres from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq. "
- Adam Gadahn, al-Qaida leader
India, Israel seek to strengthen economic cooperationDaily News & Analysis - 3 hours agoPTI The two leaders said efforts should be made to fully utilise the potential for enhanced economic cooperation. Solar energy, water technology, nanotechnology, agriculture, including organic farming, and medicine were outlined as some of the key ...
'A Double-Edged Sword'Pakistan's banished prime minister on talks with Musharraf that could pave her way back to power.
Toby Melville / ReutersTroubled Twosome: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf needs the support of exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to be reelected, but she needs his help to return to the countryBy Ron MoreauNewsweek InternationalAug. 13, 2007 issue - Benazir Bhutto, the exiled, two-time Pakistani prime minister, is now negotiating a political comeback with President Pervez Musharraf. Last week they reportedly met face to face in Abu Dhabi after months of back-channel talks. The two need each other. Bhutto wants to return to Pakistan to run in next year's elections—without having to face the corruption charges that drove her into exile. She also needs a repeal of the two-term limit for elected prime ministers. Musharraf, meanwhile, is grasping at straws: last month the Supreme Court overturned his suspension of the chief justice; his approval rating is an anemic 34 percent, and Islamic militants have launched a spate of attacks against his security forces, including two suicide bombings in Islamabad. He thus needs the support of Bhutto and her Pakistan People's Party—arguably the most popular political force in the country—if he hopes to be re-elected president. From her London home, Bhutto, 54, discussed Pakistan's political melodrama in a telephone interview with NEWSWEEK's Ron Moreau. Excerpts:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20123386/site/newsweek/
Guided sniper bullets which can slightly change its course during flight to target. If this technology founded even an inexperienced soldier can kill an enemy several kilometers away. Now Indian Ocean captuered, Indian sky flat open and the Land , sieged we Indian citizens have alredy reserved a Guided sniper bullet for everyone of Us!Washington with its military as well as monetary hands dragged succesfully India and Indian People in War Against Terrorism!Ever since it was released on August 3, the much-awaited text of the India-United States nuclear deal has been profusely commented upon and covered in the media. It is obvious the text has tried to accommodate diverging interests and constraints of both the parties by clever use of language -- to give an illusory impression that the concerns are duly reflected. In fact, our case was compromised to a large extent when this American act was passed, our prime minister's assurances to the contrary notwithstanding. For the sake of public comfort, both parties are saying loudly that they are free to hold on to their respective rights and legal positions. It means hardly anything as far as India is concerned. Up against the Hyde Act standing like a Rock of Gibraltar, India has no leverage to force any of the issues during the innumerable consultations suggested in the text.
Strike Risk is higher now from within as well as omnipresent galaxy US strikepower has the last word to decide our destiny!Though,India on Monday sought to play down the latest Al-Qaeda threat warning that diplomatic missions in India are the terror network's new targets.
"There is no confirmed news of any such threat till now. However, our forces and the state machinery are always ready to face such threats," said Minister Of State For Home Sriprakash Jaiswal.
A new Al-Qaeda video compiled by the outfit's production arm, As-Sahab, and released on Sunday proclaims that "the targeting of Tel Aviv, Moscow and Delhi" is its "legitimate right". "Our forces are alert to avert any such attempt. I want to appeal to the people that they need not worry about such threats."
A new Al-Qaeda video compiled by the outfit's production arm, As-Sahab, and released on Sunday proclaims that "the targeting of Tel Aviv, Moscow and Delhi" is its "legitimate right". It also accuses India of "killing more than 100,000 Muslims in Kashmir with US blessings".
On the other hand, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, today gave a vote of confidence in the booming Indian economy with plans to roll out a network of cash-and-carry superstores across the country.The venture, with Indian conglomerate Bharti, will see 10 to 15 wholesale stores in the next seven years beginning in 2008. The companies will each have an equal stake in the venture, which will be branded Bharti Wal-Mart and will employ at least 5,000 people. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, today gave a vote of confidence in the booming Indian economy with plans to roll out a network of cash-and-carry superstores across the country.
The venture, with Indian conglomerate Bharti, will see 10 to 15 wholesale stores in the next seven years beginning in 2008. The companies will each have an equal stake in the venture, which will be branded Bharti Wal-Mart and will employ at least 5,000 people. Rather than targeting Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai or Chennai - India's four main cities - the joint venture is placing its bets on fast-growing smaller urban centres.
Meanwhile,Indian air force helicopters swept low over the flooded plains of northern India on Monday, dropping desperately needed aid to some 2 million people marooned by some of the worst flooding to hit the area in 30 years, officials said.
The flood situation continued to remain grim in Orissa Monday as a storm, accompanied by torrential rains and strong winds, inundated many more areas of the state including Cuttack and capital Bhubaneswar.
For a unwanted Nuke deal the Ruling Class in India made the Indian Ocean a Free US military zone and the resultant chaos just begins. Bush sounds security alert all over and al-Qaida sets its targets in India! US war game is going to be very very dangerous for Nation India. We have so many problems already. The Post Modern Manusmriti agenda has made this country a US colony. World Bank slaves and comradors of Zionist Hindu US Imprialism have already destroyed Indigenous production system and handed over freedom and sovereignity to Butcher Bush! We have invited more calamities to serve the interests of US interests. Mncs have taken over everything. The Nature, environment and Man endangered as land of Law is being changed to accomodate forein agenda. India's agriculture ministry said on Monday it was still assessing the impact on crops of massive monsoon floods in the country's east, but state officials said vast areas of rice and corn had been damaged. But agriculture is not the agenda of the rotten Brahminical system which is the basic source of biotic sustenance of the enslaved fifty percent masses in day today life and livelihood. False satastical jugglery and baseless growth rate accompanied by a propelled Sensex create a Shining Brand India which has to evict Rural India from the word, Beginning.
Hasina files 2 writ petitions Noor Ali extortion case, ACC notice challenged
Detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday filed two writ petitions challenging the legality of government action incorporating another extortion case against her under the stringent Emergency Power Rules (EPR) and the Anti-Corruption Commission notice asking her to submit wealth statement, reports UNB. • FULL STORY http://www.bangladesh-web.com/Army saved country, says President
President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed on Sunday said army had saved the country from an anarchic situation on January 11 and now they appeared as the driving force in the ongoing anti-graft campaign earning global appreciation, reports BSS. • FULL STORY http://www.bangladesh-web.com/
India RisingMessy, raucous, democratic India is growing fast, and now may partner up with the world's richest democracy—America.
Juan Manuel Castro Prieto / Agence VuVisitors outside the Taj Mahal
COVER: THE NEW INDIA India: Asia's Other Superpower Breaks OutNEWSWEEK ON AIR India—Rising GiantGuest: Fareed Zakaria, Editor, NEWSWEEK International Editions
Talk Transcript: India Rising NEWSWEEK International Editor Fareed Zakaria joined us for a Live Talk about India’s growing power in the world, on Thursday, March 2, at 12:30 p.m. ET. By Fareed ZakariaNewsweekMarch 6, 2006 issue - Every year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, there's a star. Not a person but a country. One country impresses the gathering of global leaders because of a particularly smart Finance minister or a compelling tale of reform or even a glamorous gala. This year there was no contest. In the decade that I've been going to Davos, no country has captured the imagination of the conference and dominated the conversation as India in 2006.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11571348/site/newsweek/Taking It EasyIndian leaders are enjoying the boom times by putting off more painful reforms. The mistake could cost them.By Ruchir SharmaNewsweek InternationalMarch 6, 2006 issue - The buzz in the financial circles a few months ago was that every man and his dog could raise money to invest in India. Now the thinking is that a man is no longer required.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11568880/site/newsweek/
No foreign direct investment is allowed in the retail sector, except for single-brand stores such as Nike. By entering the wholesale market, Wal-Mart will gain a foothold ahead of its many competitors should the government allow foreign retailers to expand. But it is years behind German retailer Metro, which has a presence in five Indian states and last month offered to spend 6.5bn rupees (£82m) on a wholesale operation in north India.
Bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is believed to be living in the tribal border region of Pakistan. His ability to avoid capture remains a political sore spot for Bush.
But Musharraf has objected to any unilateral action by Washington.
Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was equally careful in describing how U.S. officials would handle such a situation.
A fresh al-Qaida video has warned that the United States and India are among the terror networks primary targets worldwide, according to agency reports.A wanted American member of al-Qaida has in a new video warned that US and Indian interests and diplomatic missions are ''legitimate targets''. The warning was posted on Lauramansfield.com, an American website that monitors terrorist groups and says that al-Qaida's primary objective is to target Israel, Russia and India, apart from the US.The video also features clips from speeches by al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and his right hand man Ayman Al Zawahiri.
On the other hand, President Bush said Monday that with the right intelligence U.S. and Pakistan governments can take out al-Qaida leaders, and wouldn't say whether he would consult first with Pakistan before ordering U.S. forces to act on their own. "With real actionable intelligence, we will get the job done," Bush said.
He was asked whether he would wait on permission from Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf before committing the U.S. military to move on "actionable intelligence" on the whereabouts of terrorist leaders in Pakistan. He did not answer directly.
Bush was at the presidential retreat at Camp David for two days of meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The two held talks on a rash of crises confronting Afghanistan: civilian killings, a booming drug trade and the brazen resurgence of the Taliban.
The deteriorating security there has been underscored by the ongoing captivity of 21 South Korean volunteers kidnapped in Afghanistan. The crisis has put considerable pressure on Karzai.
The Taliban took 23 people hostage and have killed two of them. It is seeking the release of prisoners, but the Afghan government has refused. The United States also adamantly opposes any concessions to such demands.
Bush and Karzai agreed during their meeting that "there should be no quid pro quo" that could embolden the Taliban, said Gordon Johndroe, a Bush spokesman.
On another matter, Karzai said Bush heard and shared his concerns about the mounting number of Afghan casualties as the war there rages on. Militants often wear civilian dress and seek shelter in villagers' homes, making it hard to differentiate the enemy from the innocent.
The one-hour and 17 minute-long video also featured a computer-animated recreation of a March 2006 suicide attack that killed US diplomat David Foy in Karachi and testimony from a man who claimed to be the bomber.
''We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centres from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq,'' said Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzan al-Amriki.
The California-born Gadahn was charged with treason in the US last autumn and has been wanted since 2004 by the FBI, which is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
He last appeared in a video in May threatening the United States with an attack worse than September 11, 2001.
'Expel by force'
It was not known when his footage was filmed, because he did not describe any recent specific events.
''Years of bitter trial and experience have revealed the danger they (referring to embassies) pose and shown that the only way to deal with them when they refuse to leave of their own accord is to expel them by force,'' Gadahn said.
The al-Qaida message also focussed on the testimony of suicide bomber Abu Othman, who was purportedly shown sitting in a leafy shaded garden explaining how he had once fought in Afghanistan and his reasons for going on jihad, or holy war, against the United States.
Othman was purportedly shown helping to wire his white compact car with explosives and at the end of the video, hugging his friends goodbye before driving off into the night to carry out his mission. (With AP inputs)
Stop Wal-Mart's 'backdoor entry': Vandana Shiva
By IANS Monday August 6, 10:03 PM New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The entry into India of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. through its tie up with Bharti Enterprises will pose a threat to millions of small traders and farmers and destroy India's retail democracy, renowned green campaigner Vandana Shiva said Monday.
'The assumption that Wal-Mart brings skills to the retail sector that will benefit Indian farmers and consumers is totally false. Wal-Mart specialises in long-distance supply and large volumes of purchase from single producers at predatory prices,' she said in a statement.
'The Bharti Wal-Mart announcement is a threat to the livelihood security of millions and a threat to the food sovereignty of our farmers and retail democracy. This partnership will increase corporate concentration over agriculture production; push our diverse and decentralized systems of production to uniformity and thousands of food miles,' she added.
On the 60th anniversary of India's independence, Shiva said small and marginal farmers, hawkers, tiny shopkeepers and consumers, 'have declared 9th August, 2007, Quit India Day - as a day for freedom from corporate retail with the slogan Corporations Quit Retail.'
'Bharti Wal Mart Private Ltd is not needed by the people of India... We demand the backdoor entry also be stopped,' she said, adding that protests and mass meetings would be organised all over the country.
Home Ministry reviews Assam situation after ULFA violence
By PTI
New Delhi: The Centre is constantly reviewing the situation in Assam in the wake of ULFA violence yesterday which left 33 persons injured.Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta has spoken to state's Chief Secretary P C Sarma to take stock of the situation, MHA sources today said.
"The Home Ministry is keeping a close watch on the situation," they said.
Three incidents izations, Aslam said, "The parameters of this cooperation are well-known and these were recently acknowledged by the US Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview with CNN and reiterated by President George Bush during telephonic conversation with President Pervez Musharraf." While reiterating support for President Musharraf as an anti-terror ally, Bush administration officials have not ruled out US military strikes in Pakistan against Al-Qaeda.
At the same time Pakistan has received billions in US aid since joining it in the war on terror in late 2001 and has deployed about 90,000 troops to the border region near Afghanistan.
However, Washington has strongly criticised a September 2006 peace deal with pro-Taliban militants that reduced the Pakistan army's presence in the restive North Waziristan.
affects life partially in Nandigram Life was partially affected in Nandigram, site of the face-off between the West Bengal government and anti-displacement Bhumi Uched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), during a 12-hour bandh by ruling CPI-M today.
The bandh called to press for the safe return of CPI-M supporters allegedly ousted from the area after the March 14 police firing, passed off peacefully with a large number of policemen deployed.
In Nandigram block I, a BUPC stronghold and site of the clash with the police, majority of the shops were open though schools and colleges were closed and vehicles kept off the roads. Government offices, banks and post offices were open.
At Nandigram II block, the situation was normal, while life was paralysed at neighbouring Khejuri, considered a CPI-M turf.
The bandh had been called by the CPI-M's Krishak Sabha and its East Midnapore district leader Ashok Guria said it was called to press its demand for the safe return of its 1500 supporters ousted from here after the police firing on May 14 which claimed 14 lives.
The party is, however, yet to submit its list of its supporters it claims were forced to flee from Nandigram.
Campaign against quota to converted DalitsMonday August 6 2007 12:15 IST DAVANAGERE: BJPs National Scheduled Caste Morcha plans to start a nationwide signature campaign, to collect ten lakh signatures against the Union Government move to provide Constitutional reservation to converted Christians and Muslims with in the quota for SC community, said Sathyanarayan Jatia, former union minister and national president of BJP SC Morcha here on Sunday.
Addressing media persons here, Jatia set a target of two lakh signatures for the State of Karnataka.
This is to bring awareness among the SCs on the vote bank politics of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to woo converted Christians and Muslims from the SC community, providing them free education, social status, financial aid etc. This Abhiyan is to tour the entire nation. We would campaign among the people that conversion to Christianity or Islam is not a panacea for their problems.
Manipur, another Nandigram in making?6 Aug 2007, 1519 hrs IST,PTIIMPHAL: Manipur government's decision to set up the National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Lamphelpat has run into rough weather with local residents opposing the site.
Lamphelpat is the second choice of the NIT after Kiyamgei Loukol, near Manipur University, where thousands of local residents strongly resisted the proposed acquisition of the land there in Imphal west district.
'We will oppose the construction of the NIT at Lamphelpat area for preservation of the arable fertile land for agriculture,' said the memorandum submitted to Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh by Joint Action Committee for Preservation of Lamphelpat (JACFPL).
Kim Gangte, chairperson of JACFPL and a former member of Parliament, said JACFPL would launch a series of agitation till the shifting of the NIT site from Lamphelpat and nearby Langol area.
When contacted, some members of the JACFPL said the government should not invite Nandigram-type stir in Manipur over the proposed acquisition of land at Lamphelpat.
Ibobi Singh at a public function recently appealed to the people not to oppose the government's decision to establish the NIT at Lamphelpat area and sought co-operation of the people in government's effort to develop the state.
'If there is peace, we can get huge amount of funds from the centre for bringing all round development of the state,' said the Chief Minister asserting that officials hampering the development work would be punished.
Official sources said Manipur cabinet in July had decided to acquire 620 acres of lands at Lamphelpat and nearby Langol area for various purposes including construction of the NIT.
Of the 620 acres of land, 95 acres belongs to private land owners and the rest was government land, sources said.
Sources admitted that the part of the land was 'cultivable' but the government viewed it 'necessary' the construction of the NIT and other offices at the place which was not far from state capital complex.
They said Manipur government had first decided to set the NIT complex by acquiring private cultivable land at Kiyamgei Loukol area on the ground that the place was at a stone's throw from Manipur University.
Sources said authorities surveyed the land at Kiyamgei Loukol area amid protests by hundreds of farmers and local residents in April last.
Several persons who resisted the survey were injured when police made a lathicharge during the protests.
A Joint Action Committee (JAC) was formed by local residents and farmers of the area to launch a agitation against the proposal to construct the NIT.
The JAC had urged the government to shift the NIT on the ground that 'cultivable lands in the state have been sinking at a fast rate and taking over of land at Kiyamgei area is similar to cutting the livelihood of the people settled in the surrounding areas.' CPI-M observes peaceful shutdown in NandigramA 12-hour shutdown in Nandigram called by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Bengal ended peacefully Monday evening.
'The shutdown was peaceful and no violent incident was reported,' West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy told reporters at the state secretariat Writers' Buildings here.
According to sources, the shutdown received a mixed response, partially disrupting life in Nandigram, Khejuri, Bhangabera and Tekhali areas of the trouble-torn East Midnapore constituency, about 150 km from here.
Amidst suppressed tension, both the warring groups - CPI-M supporters and Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee members - took out rallies in Garhchakraberia and Reyapara respectively in the violence-torn region.
West Bengal Inspector General (law and Order) Raj Kanojia also confirmed that the shutdown went without any violence amid heavy police deployment.
The CPI-M called the shutdown to protest the death of two party workers on July 29 in a clash with Bhumi Uchched Partirodh Committee - the anti-land acquisition group.
At least 23 people have died in Nandigram since January this year when the region erupted in protest over proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ) in collaboration with Indonesia's Salim group for developing a chemical hub.
No student in 32,000 schools: Report Quote " People come to the school premises to relieve themselves as it always remains closed. "
- Student http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070021611
Monday, August 6, 2007 (New Delhi)While many in India speak about the need for 100 per cent literacy and crores are pumped into schemes like the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, a government survey has unearthed some disturbing new facts and figures.
According to Elementary Education in India 2005-06, a report prepared by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), over 32,000 schools or almost 3 per cent schools do not have a single student.
Forty-eight per cent of these schools, mostly at the primary level, are in rural areas.
The survey covered over 11 lakh schools in 35 states and union territories and found that Karnataka was the worst with almost 8,000 schools without a single student.
The survey also found 6 per cent schools had less than 25 students, mostly in Bihar, Delhi, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
The low enrollment is not surprising.
A school in Rewai village in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh has been closed ever since it was built. The village has a school, but no students and since there are no students, there are no teachers either.
''People come to the school premises to relieve themselves as it always remains closed,'' complained a student.
Twenty-three thousand schools don't have a single teacher and more than a lakh schools had just one teacher.
Schools also end up being without any students because they are set up in inaccessible areas.
International Investments: Is Policy Pendulum Swinging Back?
By Kavaljit Singh
25 July, 2007Countercurrents.org
In the last five decades, there have been dramatic swings in the policy pendulum governing foreign investments at various levels in response to changing global political context. In the 1960s and 70s, the dominant thinking was foreign investments should be restricted as it interferes in the domestic economic policy making besides posing a threat to national sovereignty. The 1980s and 90s witnessed major swings in the investment policy pendulum towards greater liberalization of the regulatory framework at the national level. The swing was more pronounced in developing countries, particularly in Asia, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe. Countries unilaterally (sometimes voluntarily) undertook liberalization measures such as lifting their controls on foreign ownership, removing performance requirements, and liberalizing their capital account. An increasing trend towards privatizing public sector companies in developing and transition countries added momentum to investment liberalization processes. Several countries also offered various guarantees and subsidies to foreign investors.
The extent of these swings in policy can be measured in several ways. For instance, expropriations had increased in the 1960s and early 1970s, but almost disappeared in the 1990s. According to UNCTAD, a total of 1,393 regulatory changes were introduced in national investment regimes during 1991-2001, out of which 1,315 (almost 95 per cent) were meant to create a favorable investment environment. In 2001 alone, as many as 208 regulatory changes were made by 71 countries, of which only 16 changes were less favorable for foreign investors.
The 1990s witnessed a surge in the number of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) as more and more countries started adopting liberalized investment policies. The highest number of BITs were negotiated and concluded during this decade. Regional initiatives on investment liberalization also emerged in the 1990s. In 1991, negotiations took place between the US, Canada, and Mexico to launch the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. In many aspects, NAFTA was simply an extension to Mexico of the existing Canada-US Free Trade Agreementhttp://www.countercurrents.org/singh250707.htm
Environment, Sustainable Development And Globalisation:A Plea To Indian Legislatures
By Dr.Zafar Mahfooz Nomani
31 July, 2007Countercurrents.org
The impact of globalization on environment and sustainable development needs to be continuously addressed in Indian context which profoundly remains in the transition. In spite of the potential of globalization to economic convergence it paved for an increase in inequality resulting in increased environmental impacts such as climate change, protection of the ozone layer, biodiversity and desertification. These international trade arrangements and environmental agreements contain very few provision for harmonizing trade and environment trade and development. The increasing tendency of tram national corporations to establish global standards for environmental performance enhances the contribution of FDI to sustainable development. The Commission on Sustainable Development urged creditor countries and international financial institutions to implement speedily the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative. It also urged HIPC countries to develop national poverty strategies in a participatory way so that debt relief would be linked with poverty eradication. The Agenda 21 refers to national sustainable development strategies as important mechanisms for enhancing and linking national capacity so as to bring together priorities in social, economic and environmental policies. National sustainable development strategies provide an opportunity to put into practice common principles of strategic planning for sustainable development. The substantial human and institutional resources required for the formulation of national sustainable development strategies may impose a burden on India.
The United Nation’s Global Compact initiative, as a partnership between the United Nations, the business community, international, labour and civil society organizations commit to open markets while meeting the socio-economic needs of the world’s people and contributing to a more humane world. The main principles promoted by the Global Compact are taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s fundamental principles on rights at work, and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development all of which enjoy universal political support and a strong international legal foundation. Understanding the links between globalization and sustainable development is essential to more integrated and strategically focused Indian legal policy making. It allows Governments, International organizations and other stakeholders in the development process to make proactive adjustments to changing conditions in the enabling environment for sustainable development at the national level and through international cooperation.
The new economic policies and the structural adjustment programme often predict environmental impact without accuracy because of the complex interplay of various economic, social, political and ecological factors. These are put into effect in an effort to meet India’s severe balance of payments crisis, and to propel its economy into quicker growth and global integration. A part from direct fiscal policies, the major components of the new package include boosting exports to earn foreign exchange, liberalizing industrial production, dropping barriers to the entry of foreign companies and goods expanding privatization and cutting government spending. The drastic nature of the NEP package has understandably underscored natural environment conventional economists advocates an exploitable resource, and sink into which the effluents of affluence can be thrown.
http://www.countercurrents.org/nomani310707.htm
The Annual Flood Drama in Bihar
by Dr. Sudhir Ranjan, USAAug. 4, 2007
I still remember 1975 flood, condition and worsening life in northern parts of Bihar. In 1984, myself had taken shelter at Dighwara (Saran district) railway station. I can understand the pain as well fun in the form of malaise of the victims of swelling rivers (due to excessive rains). We saw helicopters hovering in the sky and a few days later bags of food dropped from the sky. Many of us said "Bhagwaan sun le le baaran, bada bhookh laagal rahe bada zor ke". We didn't ask for the caste and ate food together to see the world another day. Couple of weeks later receded water brought our lives back to normal and soon we erased our agony of life spent at the railway station and joined the same bandwagon (castes) we belonged to. In 1986, 1987 and 1989 we faced the similar situation and then I started living outside Bihar. In 2002 or 2003 I read one statement for flood victims in Darbhanga district made by none other than former Chief Minister Lalu Pd Yadav "KHOOB KHAAO MACHHLI (Fish), ARREE! EE BAARH (Flood) KE SAMAY MEIN HI DOOSRE KE TALAAB SE KOOD KE
We Indian citizens have alredy reserved a Guided sniper bullet for everyone of Us!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
" We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centres from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq. "
- Adam Gadahn, al-Qaida leader
India, Israel seek to strengthen economic cooperationDaily News & Analysis - 3 hours agoPTI The two leaders said efforts should be made to fully utilise the potential for enhanced economic cooperation. Solar energy, water technology, nanotechnology, agriculture, including organic farming, and medicine were outlined as some of the key ...
'A Double-Edged Sword'Pakistan's banished prime minister on talks with Musharraf that could pave her way back to power.
Toby Melville / ReutersTroubled Twosome: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf needs the support of exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to be reelected, but she needs his help to return to the countryBy Ron MoreauNewsweek InternationalAug. 13, 2007 issue - Benazir Bhutto, the exiled, two-time Pakistani prime minister, is now negotiating a political comeback with President Pervez Musharraf. Last week they reportedly met face to face in Abu Dhabi after months of back-channel talks. The two need each other. Bhutto wants to return to Pakistan to run in next year's elections—without having to face the corruption charges that drove her into exile. She also needs a repeal of the two-term limit for elected prime ministers. Musharraf, meanwhile, is grasping at straws: last month the Supreme Court overturned his suspension of the chief justice; his approval rating is an anemic 34 percent, and Islamic militants have launched a spate of attacks against his security forces, including two suicide bombings in Islamabad. He thus needs the support of Bhutto and her Pakistan People's Party—arguably the most popular political force in the country—if he hopes to be re-elected president. From her London home, Bhutto, 54, discussed Pakistan's political melodrama in a telephone interview with NEWSWEEK's Ron Moreau. Excerpts:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20123386/site/newsweek/
Guided sniper bullets which can slightly change its course during flight to target. If this technology founded even an inexperienced soldier can kill an enemy several kilometers away. Now Indian Ocean captuered, Indian sky flat open and the Land , sieged we Indian citizens have alredy reserved a Guided sniper bullet for everyone of Us!Washington with its military as well as monetary hands dragged succesfully India and Indian People in War Against Terrorism!Ever since it was released on August 3, the much-awaited text of the India-United States nuclear deal has been profusely commented upon and covered in the media. It is obvious the text has tried to accommodate diverging interests and constraints of both the parties by clever use of language -- to give an illusory impression that the concerns are duly reflected. In fact, our case was compromised to a large extent when this American act was passed, our prime minister's assurances to the contrary notwithstanding. For the sake of public comfort, both parties are saying loudly that they are free to hold on to their respective rights and legal positions. It means hardly anything as far as India is concerned. Up against the Hyde Act standing like a Rock of Gibraltar, India has no leverage to force any of the issues during the innumerable consultations suggested in the text.
Strike Risk is higher now from within as well as omnipresent galaxy US strikepower has the last word to decide our destiny!Though,India on Monday sought to play down the latest Al-Qaeda threat warning that diplomatic missions in India are the terror network's new targets.
"There is no confirmed news of any such threat till now. However, our forces and the state machinery are always ready to face such threats," said Minister Of State For Home Sriprakash Jaiswal.
A new Al-Qaeda video compiled by the outfit's production arm, As-Sahab, and released on Sunday proclaims that "the targeting of Tel Aviv, Moscow and Delhi" is its "legitimate right". "Our forces are alert to avert any such attempt. I want to appeal to the people that they need not worry about such threats."
A new Al-Qaeda video compiled by the outfit's production arm, As-Sahab, and released on Sunday proclaims that "the targeting of Tel Aviv, Moscow and Delhi" is its "legitimate right". It also accuses India of "killing more than 100,000 Muslims in Kashmir with US blessings".
On the other hand, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, today gave a vote of confidence in the booming Indian economy with plans to roll out a network of cash-and-carry superstores across the country.The venture, with Indian conglomerate Bharti, will see 10 to 15 wholesale stores in the next seven years beginning in 2008. The companies will each have an equal stake in the venture, which will be branded Bharti Wal-Mart and will employ at least 5,000 people. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, today gave a vote of confidence in the booming Indian economy with plans to roll out a network of cash-and-carry superstores across the country.
The venture, with Indian conglomerate Bharti, will see 10 to 15 wholesale stores in the next seven years beginning in 2008. The companies will each have an equal stake in the venture, which will be branded Bharti Wal-Mart and will employ at least 5,000 people. Rather than targeting Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai or Chennai - India's four main cities - the joint venture is placing its bets on fast-growing smaller urban centres.
Meanwhile,Indian air force helicopters swept low over the flooded plains of northern India on Monday, dropping desperately needed aid to some 2 million people marooned by some of the worst flooding to hit the area in 30 years, officials said.
The flood situation continued to remain grim in Orissa Monday as a storm, accompanied by torrential rains and strong winds, inundated many more areas of the state including Cuttack and capital Bhubaneswar.
For a unwanted Nuke deal the Ruling Class in India made the Indian Ocean a Free US military zone and the resultant chaos just begins. Bush sounds security alert all over and al-Qaida sets its targets in India! US war game is going to be very very dangerous for Nation India. We have so many problems already. The Post Modern Manusmriti agenda has made this country a US colony. World Bank slaves and comradors of Zionist Hindu US Imprialism have already destroyed Indigenous production system and handed over freedom and sovereignity to Butcher Bush! We have invited more calamities to serve the interests of US interests. Mncs have taken over everything. The Nature, environment and Man endangered as land of Law is being changed to accomodate forein agenda. India's agriculture ministry said on Monday it was still assessing the impact on crops of massive monsoon floods in the country's east, but state officials said vast areas of rice and corn had been damaged. But agriculture is not the agenda of the rotten Brahminical system which is the basic source of biotic sustenance of the enslaved fifty percent masses in day today life and livelihood. False satastical jugglery and baseless growth rate accompanied by a propelled Sensex create a Shining Brand India which has to evict Rural India from the word, Beginning.
Hasina files 2 writ petitions Noor Ali extortion case, ACC notice challenged
Detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday filed two writ petitions challenging the legality of government action incorporating another extortion case against her under the stringent Emergency Power Rules (EPR) and the Anti-Corruption Commission notice asking her to submit wealth statement, reports UNB. • FULL STORY http://www.bangladesh-web.com/Army saved country, says President
President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed on Sunday said army had saved the country from an anarchic situation on January 11 and now they appeared as the driving force in the ongoing anti-graft campaign earning global appreciation, reports BSS. • FULL STORY http://www.bangladesh-web.com/
India RisingMessy, raucous, democratic India is growing fast, and now may partner up with the world's richest democracy—America.
Juan Manuel Castro Prieto / Agence VuVisitors outside the Taj Mahal
COVER: THE NEW INDIA India: Asia's Other Superpower Breaks OutNEWSWEEK ON AIR India—Rising GiantGuest: Fareed Zakaria, Editor, NEWSWEEK International Editions
Talk Transcript: India Rising NEWSWEEK International Editor Fareed Zakaria joined us for a Live Talk about India’s growing power in the world, on Thursday, March 2, at 12:30 p.m. ET. By Fareed ZakariaNewsweekMarch 6, 2006 issue - Every year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, there's a star. Not a person but a country. One country impresses the gathering of global leaders because of a particularly smart Finance minister or a compelling tale of reform or even a glamorous gala. This year there was no contest. In the decade that I've been going to Davos, no country has captured the imagination of the conference and dominated the conversation as India in 2006.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11571348/site/newsweek/Taking It EasyIndian leaders are enjoying the boom times by putting off more painful reforms. The mistake could cost them.By Ruchir SharmaNewsweek InternationalMarch 6, 2006 issue - The buzz in the financial circles a few months ago was that every man and his dog could raise money to invest in India. Now the thinking is that a man is no longer required.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11568880/site/newsweek/
No foreign direct investment is allowed in the retail sector, except for single-brand stores such as Nike. By entering the wholesale market, Wal-Mart will gain a foothold ahead of its many competitors should the government allow foreign retailers to expand. But it is years behind German retailer Metro, which has a presence in five Indian states and last month offered to spend 6.5bn rupees (£82m) on a wholesale operation in north India.
Bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is believed to be living in the tribal border region of Pakistan. His ability to avoid capture remains a political sore spot for Bush.
But Musharraf has objected to any unilateral action by Washington.
Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was equally careful in describing how U.S. officials would handle such a situation.
A fresh al-Qaida video has warned that the United States and India are among the terror networks primary targets worldwide, according to agency reports.A wanted American member of al-Qaida has in a new video warned that US and Indian interests and diplomatic missions are ''legitimate targets''. The warning was posted on Lauramansfield.com, an American website that monitors terrorist groups and says that al-Qaida's primary objective is to target Israel, Russia and India, apart from the US.The video also features clips from speeches by al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and his right hand man Ayman Al Zawahiri.
On the other hand, President Bush said Monday that with the right intelligence U.S. and Pakistan governments can take out al-Qaida leaders, and wouldn't say whether he would consult first with Pakistan before ordering U.S. forces to act on their own. "With real actionable intelligence, we will get the job done," Bush said.
He was asked whether he would wait on permission from Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf before committing the U.S. military to move on "actionable intelligence" on the whereabouts of terrorist leaders in Pakistan. He did not answer directly.
Bush was at the presidential retreat at Camp David for two days of meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The two held talks on a rash of crises confronting Afghanistan: civilian killings, a booming drug trade and the brazen resurgence of the Taliban.
The deteriorating security there has been underscored by the ongoing captivity of 21 South Korean volunteers kidnapped in Afghanistan. The crisis has put considerable pressure on Karzai.
The Taliban took 23 people hostage and have killed two of them. It is seeking the release of prisoners, but the Afghan government has refused. The United States also adamantly opposes any concessions to such demands.
Bush and Karzai agreed during their meeting that "there should be no quid pro quo" that could embolden the Taliban, said Gordon Johndroe, a Bush spokesman.
On another matter, Karzai said Bush heard and shared his concerns about the mounting number of Afghan casualties as the war there rages on. Militants often wear civilian dress and seek shelter in villagers' homes, making it hard to differentiate the enemy from the innocent.
The one-hour and 17 minute-long video also featured a computer-animated recreation of a March 2006 suicide attack that killed US diplomat David Foy in Karachi and testimony from a man who claimed to be the bomber.
''We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centres from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq,'' said Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzan al-Amriki.
The California-born Gadahn was charged with treason in the US last autumn and has been wanted since 2004 by the FBI, which is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
He last appeared in a video in May threatening the United States with an attack worse than September 11, 2001.
'Expel by force'
It was not known when his footage was filmed, because he did not describe any recent specific events.
''Years of bitter trial and experience have revealed the danger they (referring to embassies) pose and shown that the only way to deal with them when they refuse to leave of their own accord is to expel them by force,'' Gadahn said.
The al-Qaida message also focussed on the testimony of suicide bomber Abu Othman, who was purportedly shown sitting in a leafy shaded garden explaining how he had once fought in Afghanistan and his reasons for going on jihad, or holy war, against the United States.
Othman was purportedly shown helping to wire his white compact car with explosives and at the end of the video, hugging his friends goodbye before driving off into the night to carry out his mission. (With AP inputs)
Stop Wal-Mart's 'backdoor entry': Vandana Shiva
By IANS Monday August 6, 10:03 PM New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The entry into India of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. through its tie up with Bharti Enterprises will pose a threat to millions of small traders and farmers and destroy India's retail democracy, renowned green campaigner Vandana Shiva said Monday.
'The assumption that Wal-Mart brings skills to the retail sector that will benefit Indian farmers and consumers is totally false. Wal-Mart specialises in long-distance supply and large volumes of purchase from single producers at predatory prices,' she said in a statement.
'The Bharti Wal-Mart announcement is a threat to the livelihood security of millions and a threat to the food sovereignty of our farmers and retail democracy. This partnership will increase corporate concentration over agriculture production; push our diverse and decentralized systems of production to uniformity and thousands of food miles,' she added.
On the 60th anniversary of India's independence, Shiva said small and marginal farmers, hawkers, tiny shopkeepers and consumers, 'have declared 9th August, 2007, Quit India Day - as a day for freedom from corporate retail with the slogan Corporations Quit Retail.'
'Bharti Wal Mart Private Ltd is not needed by the people of India... We demand the backdoor entry also be stopped,' she said, adding that protests and mass meetings would be organised all over the country.
Home Ministry reviews Assam situation after ULFA violence
By PTI
New Delhi: The Centre is constantly reviewing the situation in Assam in the wake of ULFA violence yesterday which left 33 persons injured.Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta has spoken to state's Chief Secretary P C Sarma to take stock of the situation, MHA sources today said.
"The Home Ministry is keeping a close watch on the situation," they said.
Three incidents izations, Aslam said, "The parameters of this cooperation are well-known and these were recently acknowledged by the US Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview with CNN and reiterated by President George Bush during telephonic conversation with President Pervez Musharraf." While reiterating support for President Musharraf as an anti-terror ally, Bush administration officials have not ruled out US military strikes in Pakistan against Al-Qaeda.
At the same time Pakistan has received billions in US aid since joining it in the war on terror in late 2001 and has deployed about 90,000 troops to the border region near Afghanistan.
However, Washington has strongly criticised a September 2006 peace deal with pro-Taliban militants that reduced the Pakistan army's presence in the restive North Waziristan.
affects life partially in Nandigram Life was partially affected in Nandigram, site of the face-off between the West Bengal government and anti-displacement Bhumi Uched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), during a 12-hour bandh by ruling CPI-M today.
The bandh called to press for the safe return of CPI-M supporters allegedly ousted from the area after the March 14 police firing, passed off peacefully with a large number of policemen deployed.
In Nandigram block I, a BUPC stronghold and site of the clash with the police, majority of the shops were open though schools and colleges were closed and vehicles kept off the roads. Government offices, banks and post offices were open.
At Nandigram II block, the situation was normal, while life was paralysed at neighbouring Khejuri, considered a CPI-M turf.
The bandh had been called by the CPI-M's Krishak Sabha and its East Midnapore district leader Ashok Guria said it was called to press its demand for the safe return of its 1500 supporters ousted from here after the police firing on May 14 which claimed 14 lives.
The party is, however, yet to submit its list of its supporters it claims were forced to flee from Nandigram.
Campaign against quota to converted DalitsMonday August 6 2007 12:15 IST DAVANAGERE: BJPs National Scheduled Caste Morcha plans to start a nationwide signature campaign, to collect ten lakh signatures against the Union Government move to provide Constitutional reservation to converted Christians and Muslims with in the quota for SC community, said Sathyanarayan Jatia, former union minister and national president of BJP SC Morcha here on Sunday.
Addressing media persons here, Jatia set a target of two lakh signatures for the State of Karnataka.
This is to bring awareness among the SCs on the vote bank politics of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to woo converted Christians and Muslims from the SC community, providing them free education, social status, financial aid etc. This Abhiyan is to tour the entire nation. We would campaign among the people that conversion to Christianity or Islam is not a panacea for their problems.
Manipur, another Nandigram in making?6 Aug 2007, 1519 hrs IST,PTIIMPHAL: Manipur government's decision to set up the National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Lamphelpat has run into rough weather with local residents opposing the site.
Lamphelpat is the second choice of the NIT after Kiyamgei Loukol, near Manipur University, where thousands of local residents strongly resisted the proposed acquisition of the land there in Imphal west district.
'We will oppose the construction of the NIT at Lamphelpat area for preservation of the arable fertile land for agriculture,' said the memorandum submitted to Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh by Joint Action Committee for Preservation of Lamphelpat (JACFPL).
Kim Gangte, chairperson of JACFPL and a former member of Parliament, said JACFPL would launch a series of agitation till the shifting of the NIT site from Lamphelpat and nearby Langol area.
When contacted, some members of the JACFPL said the government should not invite Nandigram-type stir in Manipur over the proposed acquisition of land at Lamphelpat.
Ibobi Singh at a public function recently appealed to the people not to oppose the government's decision to establish the NIT at Lamphelpat area and sought co-operation of the people in government's effort to develop the state.
'If there is peace, we can get huge amount of funds from the centre for bringing all round development of the state,' said the Chief Minister asserting that officials hampering the development work would be punished.
Official sources said Manipur cabinet in July had decided to acquire 620 acres of lands at Lamphelpat and nearby Langol area for various purposes including construction of the NIT.
Of the 620 acres of land, 95 acres belongs to private land owners and the rest was government land, sources said.
Sources admitted that the part of the land was 'cultivable' but the government viewed it 'necessary' the construction of the NIT and other offices at the place which was not far from state capital complex.
They said Manipur government had first decided to set the NIT complex by acquiring private cultivable land at Kiyamgei Loukol area on the ground that the place was at a stone's throw from Manipur University.
Sources said authorities surveyed the land at Kiyamgei Loukol area amid protests by hundreds of farmers and local residents in April last.
Several persons who resisted the survey were injured when police made a lathicharge during the protests.
A Joint Action Committee (JAC) was formed by local residents and farmers of the area to launch a agitation against the proposal to construct the NIT.
The JAC had urged the government to shift the NIT on the ground that 'cultivable lands in the state have been sinking at a fast rate and taking over of land at Kiyamgei area is similar to cutting the livelihood of the people settled in the surrounding areas.' CPI-M observes peaceful shutdown in NandigramA 12-hour shutdown in Nandigram called by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Bengal ended peacefully Monday evening.
'The shutdown was peaceful and no violent incident was reported,' West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy told reporters at the state secretariat Writers' Buildings here.
According to sources, the shutdown received a mixed response, partially disrupting life in Nandigram, Khejuri, Bhangabera and Tekhali areas of the trouble-torn East Midnapore constituency, about 150 km from here.
Amidst suppressed tension, both the warring groups - CPI-M supporters and Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee members - took out rallies in Garhchakraberia and Reyapara respectively in the violence-torn region.
West Bengal Inspector General (law and Order) Raj Kanojia also confirmed that the shutdown went without any violence amid heavy police deployment.
The CPI-M called the shutdown to protest the death of two party workers on July 29 in a clash with Bhumi Uchched Partirodh Committee - the anti-land acquisition group.
At least 23 people have died in Nandigram since January this year when the region erupted in protest over proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ) in collaboration with Indonesia's Salim group for developing a chemical hub.
No student in 32,000 schools: Report Quote " People come to the school premises to relieve themselves as it always remains closed. "
- Student http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070021611
Monday, August 6, 2007 (New Delhi)While many in India speak about the need for 100 per cent literacy and crores are pumped into schemes like the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, a government survey has unearthed some disturbing new facts and figures.
According to Elementary Education in India 2005-06, a report prepared by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), over 32,000 schools or almost 3 per cent schools do not have a single student.
Forty-eight per cent of these schools, mostly at the primary level, are in rural areas.
The survey covered over 11 lakh schools in 35 states and union territories and found that Karnataka was the worst with almost 8,000 schools without a single student.
The survey also found 6 per cent schools had less than 25 students, mostly in Bihar, Delhi, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
The low enrollment is not surprising.
A school in Rewai village in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh has been closed ever since it was built. The village has a school, but no students and since there are no students, there are no teachers either.
''People come to the school premises to relieve themselves as it always remains closed,'' complained a student.
Twenty-three thousand schools don't have a single teacher and more than a lakh schools had just one teacher.
Schools also end up being without any students because they are set up in inaccessible areas.
International Investments: Is Policy Pendulum Swinging Back?
By Kavaljit Singh
25 July, 2007Countercurrents.org
In the last five decades, there have been dramatic swings in the policy pendulum governing foreign investments at various levels in response to changing global political context. In the 1960s and 70s, the dominant thinking was foreign investments should be restricted as it interferes in the domestic economic policy making besides posing a threat to national sovereignty. The 1980s and 90s witnessed major swings in the investment policy pendulum towards greater liberalization of the regulatory framework at the national level. The swing was more pronounced in developing countries, particularly in Asia, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe. Countries unilaterally (sometimes voluntarily) undertook liberalization measures such as lifting their controls on foreign ownership, removing performance requirements, and liberalizing their capital account. An increasing trend towards privatizing public sector companies in developing and transition countries added momentum to investment liberalization processes. Several countries also offered various guarantees and subsidies to foreign investors.
The extent of these swings in policy can be measured in several ways. For instance, expropriations had increased in the 1960s and early 1970s, but almost disappeared in the 1990s. According to UNCTAD, a total of 1,393 regulatory changes were introduced in national investment regimes during 1991-2001, out of which 1,315 (almost 95 per cent) were meant to create a favorable investment environment. In 2001 alone, as many as 208 regulatory changes were made by 71 countries, of which only 16 changes were less favorable for foreign investors.
The 1990s witnessed a surge in the number of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) as more and more countries started adopting liberalized investment policies. The highest number of BITs were negotiated and concluded during this decade. Regional initiatives on investment liberalization also emerged in the 1990s. In 1991, negotiations took place between the US, Canada, and Mexico to launch the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. In many aspects, NAFTA was simply an extension to Mexico of the existing Canada-US Free Trade Agreementhttp://www.countercurrents.org/singh250707.htm
Environment, Sustainable Development And Globalisation:A Plea To Indian Legislatures
By Dr.Zafar Mahfooz Nomani
31 July, 2007Countercurrents.org
The impact of globalization on environment and sustainable development needs to be continuously addressed in Indian context which profoundly remains in the transition. In spite of the potential of globalization to economic convergence it paved for an increase in inequality resulting in increased environmental impacts such as climate change, protection of the ozone layer, biodiversity and desertification. These international trade arrangements and environmental agreements contain very few provision for harmonizing trade and environment trade and development. The increasing tendency of tram national corporations to establish global standards for environmental performance enhances the contribution of FDI to sustainable development. The Commission on Sustainable Development urged creditor countries and international financial institutions to implement speedily the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative. It also urged HIPC countries to develop national poverty strategies in a participatory way so that debt relief would be linked with poverty eradication. The Agenda 21 refers to national sustainable development strategies as important mechanisms for enhancing and linking national capacity so as to bring together priorities in social, economic and environmental policies. National sustainable development strategies provide an opportunity to put into practice common principles of strategic planning for sustainable development. The substantial human and institutional resources required for the formulation of national sustainable development strategies may impose a burden on India.
The United Nation’s Global Compact initiative, as a partnership between the United Nations, the business community, international, labour and civil society organizations commit to open markets while meeting the socio-economic needs of the world’s people and contributing to a more humane world. The main principles promoted by the Global Compact are taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s fundamental principles on rights at work, and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development all of which enjoy universal political support and a strong international legal foundation. Understanding the links between globalization and sustainable development is essential to more integrated and strategically focused Indian legal policy making. It allows Governments, International organizations and other stakeholders in the development process to make proactive adjustments to changing conditions in the enabling environment for sustainable development at the national level and through international cooperation.
The new economic policies and the structural adjustment programme often predict environmental impact without accuracy because of the complex interplay of various economic, social, political and ecological factors. These are put into effect in an effort to meet India’s severe balance of payments crisis, and to propel its economy into quicker growth and global integration. A part from direct fiscal policies, the major components of the new package include boosting exports to earn foreign exchange, liberalizing industrial production, dropping barriers to the entry of foreign companies and goods expanding privatization and cutting government spending. The drastic nature of the NEP package has understandably underscored natural environment conventional economists advocates an exploitable resource, and sink into which the effluents of affluence can be thrown.
http://www.countercurrents.org/nomani310707.htm
The Annual Flood Drama in Bihar
by Dr. Sudhir Ranjan, USAAug. 4, 2007
I still remember 1975 flood, condition and worsening life in northern parts of Bihar. In 1984, myself had taken shelter at Dighwara (Saran district) railway station. I can understand the pain as well fun in the form of malaise of the victims of swelling rivers (due to excessive rains). We saw helicopters hovering in the sky and a few days later bags of food dropped from the sky. Many of us said "Bhagwaan sun le le baaran, bada bhookh laagal rahe bada zor ke". We didn't ask for the caste and ate food together to see the world another day. Couple of weeks later receded water brought our lives back to normal and soon we erased our agony of life spent at the railway station and joined the same bandwagon (castes) we belonged to. In 1986, 1987 and 1989 we faced the similar situation and then I started living outside Bihar. In 2002 or 2003 I read one statement for flood victims in Darbhanga district made by none other than former Chief Minister Lalu Pd Yadav "KHOOB KHAAO MACHHLI (Fish), ARREE! EE BAARH (Flood) KE SAMAY MEIN HI DOOSRE KE TALAAB SE KOOD KE
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