WAR HYPE CLIMAX

WAR HYPE CLIMAX: India signs BIGGEST ever DEFENCE DEAL with US in RAVE PARTY Time for LIQUOR, Liquidation, Cat WALK, RESORTS, RETAIL, DRUGS, Human TRAFFIC, Political PROSTITUTION, BASTARDISED Leadership and XXXXX Peripherry Economy!Govt asks PSU banks to pump in additional Rs 56,000 cr.Tata Group is second most valued corporate house.Govt to inject Rs 1 trillion to prevent recession: Congress



Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 136

Palash Biswas

psy trance party in india
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=GNihN3RS9wg
RAVE TRANCE GOA PSYCHEDELIC
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ACP_Ohnlb4o

GOA TRANCE
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=_m9_KISrCno


India signs biggest ever defence deal with US!There is good news in store for companies and other borrowers as the government has directed the PSU banks to lend in the next three months Rs 56,000 crore, over and above their existing disbursement target. Beyond March, the banks would be asked to further step up lending as the government plans to infuse over the next two fiscals Rs 20,000 crore, thus enhancing banks' loan disbursement capacity. President-elect Barack Obama, commencing face-to-face consultations with congressional leaders on Monday, is embracing an unexpectedly large tax cut of up to $300 billion. Obama said the country faces an ``extraordinary economic challenge.''


"We have three months more... we have enhanced the original (bank's credit disbursal) plans by Rs 56,000 crore. So we are planning to provide, in addition to the earlier plans, over Rs 56,000 crore," according to Finance Secretary Arun Ramanathan. The addition lending would be around 20 per cent of the credit disbursed by all commercial banks during the first nine months of this fiscal. Banks have disbursed about Rs 2,75,000 crore to non-food sector up to December 19.

Tata Group is second most valued corporate house!

Supported by robust gains in stocks such as TCS, Tata Steel and Tata Power, Ratan Tata-led business conglomerate today regained the Formula for success
position of second most valued corporate house from Sunil Mittal-led Bharti group. At the end of today's trading, the combined market cap of over two dozen Tata group companies rose to close to Rs 1,35,000 crore with a gain of nearly Rs 4,000 crore. In comparison, the market cap of Bharti Airtel, the single listed entity of Sunil Mittal-led group, fell by over Rs 3,000 crore, to near Rs 1,30,100 crore.

India is planning to hoist the tricolour on the moon by 2020, a space agency official said here Sunday, adding that the country’s first manned flight into space was also on cards by 2015.K. Radhakrishnan, member of the Space Commission and director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said plans were afoot to send a two-member crew into space and orbit around 200 km away from the earth by 2015.

The Congress party Monday said the government has decided to inject Rs.1 trillion (Rs.100,000 crore) in association with the private Countries in recession
Competitive economies sector in the Indian economy to stimulate internal demand to insulate it from the effects of global recession. Indian corporates, struggling to raise money from banks, can now tap more funds from overseas foreign portfolio investors with the government more than doubling the limit for investment in corporate bonds from $6 billion to $15 billion.


"In the next 100 days, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has decided to inject Rs 1 trillion in the Indian economy to stimulate internal demand to keep it insulated from the world recession. This would be done in association with the private sector," Manish Tewari, Congress spokesperson, told reporters.

Tewari said the decision was taken on the advice of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

"UPA has taken the decision to provide stimulus to the Indian economy on the advice of Sonia-ji. This is to increase productivity, control inflation and increase employment opportunities," he said.

Tewari also said the UPA government has been successful in not letting the world recession impact the Indian economy.

People should come forward and protest against the consumption of poisonous country-made liquor, West Bengal’s ruling Left Front (LF)CHAIRMAN BIMAN Bose pleads!On the other hand, West Bengal is becoming a transit point for women trafficking and this may lead to a spurt in the incidence of HIV/AIDS if not tackled immediately, a senior government official has said. However, anybody may guess very well how Illegal Liquor business and Woman trafficking are related. but our marxist friends never do understand. BARASAT and Indo Bangla Border areas may boast to have perhaps the greatest International NETWORK of Illegal Liquor trade, Woman Traffick and drug mafia. CPIM has laso got GRASS ROOT level Cadre Base intact in this district of north 24 parganas. Let me ask you while nothing may be done without CPIM Green signal in RURAL Bengal, HOW THIS NETWORK of Liquor, DRUGS and woman Trafficking do work? I am not insisting on land mafia and criminal gangs! Despite sustained campaign against woman trafficking and state government''s claim of success in dealing with such cases, West Bengal continues to top the list of states selling girls for prostitution. The latest report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed that nearly 93 per cent of girls, sold for prostitution in brothels across the states in 2006, were from West Bengal. The report comes at a time when the state government is claiming success in dealing with issues related to human trafficking. The report also mentioned that 123 cases of “selling of girls for prostitution” were reported from various police stations in the country. West Bengal alone registered a total of 114 cases of girls being sold for prostitution in the same year, says the report.


West Bengal has earned the dubious distinction of being the via media for women trafficking ... It is extremely critical that we do something about it before we have a major HIV/AIDS problem," according to special secretary in the state Health and Family Welfare Department Suresh Kumar. Kumar made the remark at the inauguration of ‘Shining Through’, a film festival on domestic violence on Monday evening. The festival is being held to observe the fortnight on protesting violence against women and children is being supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). As part of its initiatives to nab persons involved in human trafficking racket, the state police have already set up Anti-Human Trafficking Cell in the Criminal Investigation Department. According to the NCRB report for the year 2006, the number of girls being sold for prostitution has gone up rapidly in the country over the past three years.

Now latest Progress seems to be like this that STARVATION and Death Processions in Tea gardens have TRANSFORMED SILIGURI the NEXT HUB for Woman trafficking after BARASAT!

It is RAVE PARTY Time for LIQUOR, Liquidation, Cat WALK, RESORTS, RETAIL, DRUGS, Human TRAFFIC, Political PROSTITUTION, BASTARDISED Leadership and XXXXX Peripherry Economy! The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday surged to a two-month high, adding over 317 points on buying by funds after the RBI slashed interest rates to a record low and the government unveiled a second stimulus package ... fun party light which traces brilliant multi-colored ribbons of light with every movement. Great for parties, dancing, and just having fun. The strobing rave LED light effect is truly incredible and must really be seen in action to fully appreciate.

Sunday, March 04, 2007, Two hundred and fifty-one youth, including 27 girls were arrested for taking drugs worth Rs 5 lakh at a party in a hotel in Khanapur, near PUNE.It is believed that the cost of the drugs seized can range up to Rs 3 crore.Acting on a tip-off, about 30 constables including 10 plainclothes women cops, joined the party and raided the premises.They arrested college girls and boys who had come from different parts of the country. There were some local students as well. The participants flew down especially for the party, Rural Superintendent of Police Vishwas Nangre Patil told reporters.The possibility of an international drug syndicate cannot be ruled out, as there were some foreigners present, while an Irish national, who has been identified, went absconding. There is a red corner notice against this person, Patil said, adding that the advertisement for the rave party was on isratrance.com and publicized at the orkut.com social networking web site. Police seized 10 gm of charas, 2.5 kg ganja, mobiles, 57 bottles of California Drop, a type of drug, beer cans, 45 four-wheelers and 29 two-wheelers, Patil said.

The rave party bust by the Pune police on the Holi weekend is the biggest of its kind so far.In attendance were the young and restless from all spectrums of life. Models, air-hostesses, IT employees, the call centre crowd. It was as if the historic Sinhgad Fort had become one huge trance music zone.


kolkata and suburbans have been flooded with BARS and RESORTS! for whom?
Premier institutions are STRUCH hard with DRUG ADDICTION. It heralds GREATER Disaster!

India on Monday demanded from Pakistan extradition of perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks so that they can be brought to justice in India. It also said that it cannot believe a commando-type operation that was in evidence in Mumbai attacks could have taken place without anybody in the Pakistani establishment knowing it.

"Our goals are clear. We want the perepetrators to be brought to Indian justice," Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told reporters in New Delhi briefing them on the material shared with Pakistan on Monday on elements based there linked to the terrorists responsible for the Mumbai carnage.



The number of people who died in Kolkata after consuming poisonous country-made liquor has risen to 23, a West Bengal minister said Monday. Six people were arrested and raids conducted on illicit liquor shops in the Khidirpore port area.The episode invokes my MEMORIES of other days when I used to be younger. In UTTARAKHAND, uttrakhand sangharsh vahini launched a MASS MOVEMENT against Liquor in eighties demanding, NASHA NAHI, ROZGAAR DO! They did not want LIQUOR any more. They wanted JOB. You should be familiar with the Super Drain of Human Resources from the HIMALAYS seeking jobs in plains. during my student life in DSB College Nainital, I have seen abundant use of SURA, the DESI WINE during Emergency as well as DRY period of MORARJEE REGIME! It invokes the memory of shankar Guha Niyogi, our friend, a Bengali Engineer constituating CHHATTISHGARGH Mukti Morcha in MP then and fighting for the Human Rights and Civil Rights of aboriginal indigenous people inhibited in Tribal bases. Niyogi also led an Anti Liquor movement! My late friend, a lawyer in Uttarakhand High Court Nainital, NIRMAL Joshi devoted himself to the anti Liquor campaign! In the Terai of Nainital, we bengali refugees were resettled side by side with Raisikh and Sikh communities who had been very expert to REFINE DESI WINE at home. In Jharkhand I also witnessed the Liquor culture! But living in West Bengal for last Nineteen years, I feel often shocked with Liquor deaths as we had not been habitual of such casualities despite abundance of DESI WINE everywhere. The Marxists had STRONG Grass root bases in all the RURAL ares and Slums till different insurrections after they rejected their own achievements in the fields of Land reforms and rural development and Panchayati raj! But I am very sorry not to remember any incident of MASS MOVEMENT led by the MARXISTs to halt this RAVAGING Menace. I saw DRUG being consumed everywhere openly and the Police being inactive. I also visited some of the border areas where DRUG, WINE and Human Trafficking combinedly has become the Culture PROMOTED by the CPIM GESTAPO! In khardah Assemblly area represented by the Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta, these element do RULE and no one may dare to resist them!

However the DEATH TOLL happens to be no less than TWNTY Five!

17 injured in CPM-RSP clash in Basanti in SUNDERVANA Area where the MARXIST never spare close RIVAL but Left Front Constituent RSP. Where the home of a MINISTER was gutted by the marxist GESTAPO and RSP tamely surrendered after a QUIT THREAT!Seventeen people, including a Madhyamik candidate and three other students, were injured after being caught in a brawl between CPM and RSP supporters at Nirdeshkhali in Basanti, South 24-Parganas, on Sunday.

The violence brought back memories of May 2008, when the kin of an RSP minister were killed in an attack.


"Twenty-three people have died after consuming spurious liquor since Saturday night at Khidirpore port area (south-west Kolkata)," Finance and Excise Department Minister Asim Dasgupta said Monday. Dasgupta said six people have been arrested and three officers of the excise department and city police have been issued show cause notices in the hooch tragedy.

"Six brewers have been arrested and several detained in the hooch tragedy. The Excise Directorate has sent show cause notices to two officers and the city police commissioner has issued a notice to one of his officers. Based on their statement, proper departmental action will be taken," Dasgupta said.

The minister said joint raids are being conducted by the Excise Directorate and Kolkata Police in the area since Sunday night.

"A night-long raid was conducted Sunday by Excise officers and the city police. Today illicit liquor shops were raided and demolished in the Khidirpore area. We are also trying to locate the source of this poisonous hooch," Dasgupta said.

"The government will bear the medical expenses of the victims admitted in hospital. We will also see if compensation can be given to the families of the deceased," he said.

Dasgupta said raids would be conducted regularly across Kolkata on illicit liquor shops.

"The Excise Department and Kolkata Police have decided to keep a watch on illicit liquor dens. Regular raids will be conducted across the city. We are thinking of conducting such raids in the districts too," Dasgupta said.

Many labourers at the Bibi Halt and Hooghly Basti areas of Khidirpore fell ill after a late night drinking session Saturday. They started vomiting blood and writhed in pain after reaching home from the illegally-run liquor shops. Many died before they could be taken to the hospital.

An angry mob later damaged several shops.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who visited the area Sunday evening, demanded a probe by a judge of the Calcutta High Court. Banerjee threatened to lay siege to the West Port police station Tuesday if the culprits were not brought to book. She also announced a compensation of Rs.10,000 to the families of each of the deceased.

India has not taken a Stance on SRILANKAN Onslaught against LITTE but Sri Lanka will split its tour of Pakistan to accomodate a hastily-scheduled one-day series against India in February, sources said in Karachi on Sunday!How the GAME is MANAGED so REFINED! Sri Lankan troops pushed deeper into rebel-held territory in the north on Monday in an offensive aimed at crushing the Tamil Tigers and ending the 25-year-old civil war.Government forces have won a string of stunning victories over the rebels in recent months, forcing them to withdraw from much of the de facto state they once controlled in the north. On Friday, troops took control of the rebels' administrative capital, Kilinochchi, dealing a harsh blow to their dreams of establishing a separate state for ethnic Tamils.The rebels, as well as hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting, are now confined to a jungle area slightly larger than Los Angeles.In honor of the troops, including those slain in the war, the government held flag-raising ceremonies across the country on Monday.Troops clashed with the rebels across the Mullaittivu district on Sunday and recovered the bodies of at least 15 guerrilla fighters slain in the battles, the military said Monday.

As the death toll among Palestinians rose to more than 500 and Israel showed no signs of halting its ground invasion of Gaza, Ban decided to convene a meeting of his top advisers and recalled his Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process Robert Serry from Jerusalem for a first hand briefing. Now United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has asked the divided Security Council and the world community to help bring a "speedy" end to escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Ban will also meet with Arab ministers, who are in United Nations to press for the passage of the Libyan draft resolution in the Council. But the Libyan draft, which condemns Israeli invasion and calls for immediate halt to the military action by Tel Aviv, has been described as "one-sided" and "unacceptable" by the United States. The US has blocked an attempt to pass in the Security Council to express serious concern over the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza after eight days of air strikes and to call for an immediate ceasefire!


I have been consistingly writing about Different AGENDA of MUMBAI CARNAGE and Systematic WAR HYPE against Pakistan with continued MUSLIM HATRED! I am getting lots of HATE MAILS. I am grateful to all those friends establishing the logic of Conspiracy Theory involving CIA, MOSAD and BRAHMINICAL Hindutva, all working together OVERTIME to defend US Corporate and WARFARE Econic Interests in the COLONY called the South Asian Geopolitics. Mind you, the BRAHMINS grabbed Political Power from the British Empire dividing the Geopoltics, its History, Legacy, Culture, Nationalities and Identies and ejecting out the aboriginal indigenous communities out of their home land to implement GENOCIDE AGENDA across the political borders jsut to sustain the Ruling Class and its Hegemony. Most of the Muslims in undivided India reluctantly opted to stay in Hindutva Raj. But the Brahmins led by MK Gandhi, Patel, Nehru, BC Roy and the RSS clan DEFAMED AND DEFACED, DEMONISED the Muslims to such an extent that Muslims became HABITUAL in Subordination to Bastardised Political Leadership which eventually branded the entire aboriginal and indigenous communities COMBINED as BASTARD, the Harijan bred by the MOTHERS devoted to God HARI. This Cultural RAGGING continued. My friends, you may notice the BLUNT Aggression in normal DEBATE anywhere against the MUSLIMS, SC, ST, OBC and Tribals. You may not go back to anti reservation Movement> you may notice it just in your current MAILBOX, daily life and Livelihood allover. Thus, my friends, I afraid to say that GAZA is well extended in this SUB Continent and we have to bear all CASUALITIES!The bloodied children are clearly civilians; men killed as they launch rockets are undisputedly not. But what about the 40 or so young Hamas police recruits on parade who died in the first wave of Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza? But Indian HINDUTVA Flag Bearer feel no SHAME to support the Zionist Attack. rather they may be ashamed of their FAILURE to liquidate DEMOCRACY and SECULARISM with all indigenous aboriginal SC ST OBC and minority communities in India. They want to REPLICATE Israel in Annihilation!


Untouchables, now called Harijans, have traditionally occupied the lowest place in the caste system of Hindu India; they were called untouchable because they were considered to be outside the confines of caste. Their impurity derived from their traditional occupations, such as the taking of life and the treatment of bodily effluvia.Such was their impurity that traditionally they were banned from Hindu temples; in parts of South India even the sight of an Untouchable was sufficient to pollute a member of a higher caste. In 1949 the Indian government outlawed the use of the term Untouchables. The group has been reclassified as the "Scheduled Castes" and has been granted special educational and political privileges. Today it is illegal to discriminate against a Harijan, yet they remain generally at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, performing the most menial roles demanded by society. They numbered an estimated 65 million in the late 1960s.



The WAR REALITY show continues as India on Monday demanded from Pakistan extradition of perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks so that they can be brought to justice in India!It also said that it cannot believe a commando-type operation that was in evidence in Mumbai attacks could have taken place without anybody in the Pakistani establishment knowing it. The US on Monday said it has consistently supported India over bringing the attackers of Mumbai to justice and underlined that it will pursue to its logical conclusion the investigations into the terror strike, which also killed six Americans!

Americanised Indians, specilly the RSS affliated Hindutva forces and cate hindu Intelligentsia may BOOST their moral as Even as Israelis and Palestinians plunged deeper into conflict, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama remained silent, refusing to budge from his one-president-at-a-time mantra.Obama takes office on Jan. 20 but has not commented on the Middle East crisis since Israel launched attacks on Gaza nine days ago. His advisers insist that only President George W. Bush can speak for America until then.The Palestinian death toll in nine days of Israeli attacks has risen to more than 500. Hamas, which ended a six-month ceasefire, has fired rockets deeper into Israel than ever before, hitting major cities and killing four Israelis.While most prominent U.S. politicians have backed Israel, critics have noted that Obama joined Bush in condemning the killing of civilians in attacks in November in Mumbai, India. They would have liked him to say something about the fate of Palestinian civilians caught in the fighting.

The president-elect also has commented on the global economic crisis and his plans to try to pull the U.S. economy out of recession. US President-elect Barack Obama will meet Monday with congressional leaders to discuss a massive economic stimulus plan Democrats hope to pass shortly after Obama takes office.

The government on Monday approved Rs 10 crore to enhance the annual testing capacity of the National Dope Test Laboratory (NDTL) and make it one of the world's leading dope testing laboratories. The decision was taken by Sports Minister M S Gill, who chaired the first meeting of the NDTL's General Body and Governing Body.

While India is caught in the slowdown gloom, Bharat is cruising along, oblivious of the turmoil in the world economy. Per capita income
has increased steadily in rural areas following strong growth in the farm sector and increased public spending in rural areas. Embattled corporates see rural India an obvious way of beating the slowdown blues.

Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chairman Dr Suresh Tendulkar said the per capita income of rural Indians has been growing at 4%-plus on an average for more than five years in a row. This is largely due to the positive agricultural growth over the last four years, 2004-05 to 2008-09. This is the first time in at least four decades that the farm sector growth has been positive for four consecutive years.

In fact, corporate India is focusing on rural India to make up for the demand slump from urban consumers. Companies such as Unilever, LG, Hero Honda, ITC, Future group and ICICI Bank are deploying fresh talent and existing employee base to tap the potential in the rural markets and creating a base. “With the majority of our population based in tier-III and tier-1V cities as well as villages, it is the right time to penetrate the rural markets. Many companies have started doing it,” rural marketing firm MART CEO Pradeep Kashyap said.

The steady increase in minimum support price (MSP)—the rate at which the government buys farm produce to prevent farmers selling at distress prices at harvest time—has helped maintain growth through remunerative prices. Further improvement in the disposable income in rural area is expected due to the Rs 71,000-crore farm-loan waiver and transfers to the rural poor through various social schemes.


And just read this!


"Our goals are clear. We want the perpetrators to be brought to Indian justice," Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon told reporters here briefing them on the material shared with Pakistan today on elements based there linked to the terrorists responsible for the Mumbai carnage.

"All that we want is action and not words from Pakistan. But so far there is no evidence of it," he said replying to questions.

"We have given them material that has come up during our investigations. We hope Pakistan will investigate this material that leads to Pakistan, share the results with us and extend to us legal assistance so that we can bring the perpetrators to Indian justice," Menon said.

"The assistance from Pakistan extends up to and includes extradition," he said.

Menon said that under the SAARC convention, Pakistan was obliged to hand over Mumbai attackers to India.

Maintaining that the time was not for words but for substance and action, Menon said so far India has "not seen any action at all" from Pakistan.

"We would like to see real action as soon as possible," he said in reply to a question on a time-frame for a response from Pakistan.

The US will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion," US ambassador to India David Mulford told reporters here when asked about Washington's response to the evidence New Delhi has collected that links Pakistan-based elements to the Nov 26 attacks.

"The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) will pursue the evidence. If Americans are killed, then the US has a duty to investigate the killing," Mulford said on the sidelines of a function to commemorate the 50th year of the opening of the American embassy building here.

"The US is supporting India," Mulford replied when asked whether the US will pressure Pakistan to hand over suspects wanted by India in the Mumbai carnage.

Alluding to visits by top US officials, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputy John Negorponte, to India in the aftermath of the attacks, the envoy underlined the US' resolve to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai mayhem to justice.

The US envoy also expressed Washington's displeasure with a reported move by the banned militant outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a public front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), to regroup itself under a new banner.

"The name may have changed. You don't change the spots in a leopard," he replied when asked about reports suggesting the JuD has resurrected itself under a new banner.

The envoy, however, reserved his comments on the evidence India has collected.

"It's not possible to comment on an ongoing evidence," the said.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will meet Mulford and other envoys of friendly countries later Monday and share with them evidence about the complicity of Pakistan-based groups in the Mumbai mayhem.

Earlier in the day, Menon handed over the evidence, that included intercepts of satellite phone calls between the terrorists attacking Mumbai and their handlers in Pakistan, to Pakistan's high commissioner Shahid Malik and asked Islamabad to act upon the evidence.

Excellent Game Plan!
Long Live ISRAEL!
Long Live ZIONISM, the root origin of Brahaminical Hegemonies in Asia!
Long live Bastardised Leadership!
Long Live AMERICANISED INDIA!

The Marxists were most CREDITED to launch Anti Imperialism, Anti Fascism and Anti LPG Campaign in India! It boasts to stop the WHEELS of ECONOMIC Reforms saving the Masses. It Posed to stall Indo US NUKE Deal and RIED in full VOLUME against Strategic realliance in US lead. The Marxist Ideology remained Anti Capitalism, neverthe less the Marxist RULED states pursued the Ways and avenues of Capitalist Marxism. They were against Corporates and MNCs. What happened, much of it have been exposed with Nandigram, Singur and Lalgarh insurrections!

But it is not, VEVER enough to study in indepth the MARXIST Hypocricy betraying Ideological COMMITMENT and the ABORIGINAL INDIGENOUS SC, ST, OBC, Minorities and Tribals!

I never believe that we should join the RIGHTIST camp to oppose the Marxist! I never dream to support Fascism protesting Marxism! Neither I hope anything from the Politics of Ms Mamata Bannerjee and her allies and the CIVIL Society consisting of ELITE BRAHMINS of Bengal who happen to be responsible for Partition and the PLIGHT of REFUGGES in India!

But I am afraid to go through some facts most unwanted so that my countrymen may not be BETRAYED further!

Witness the CHANGE in FREEsenSEX Behaviour as soon as the DEAL is Finalised! Sensex closes over 300 points up!

Just go thorough all the PRINT after 26/11 available, analyse the content of War Hype, Blind nationalism, corporate and Celebrate involvement, Statement emerging from POLITICAL Prostitution and the super agents of peripherry XXXXX Economy! How the Newspaper were CRYING WAR against Pakistan, How every Muslim was DOUBTFUL as SIKHs had been in eighties, How inadequate technology and Killing Power in Indian ARMAMENT were quoted so often. Even the MISSILEMAN, the EX President, a Muslim scientist had been used to CRY WAR against Pakistan. Thus, the BIGGEST EVER DEFENCE DEAL with United States, Indo US Nuclear deal, Strategic Realliance in Peace Zone Indian Ocean in US lead and GENOCIDE CULTURE abundant all over SOUTH ASIA are JUSTIFIED very WELL!

In its largest defence purchase ever from the US, India has signed a deal to buy eight maritime aircraft from aerospace major Boeing to strengthen the Navy's intelligence gathering capabilities. The USD 2.1 billion contract for eight Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft was signed between a Defence Ministry official and Boeing's country head Vivek Lall here on January 1, Navy and industry sources said in New Delhi on Monday. The government had approved the deal in its last Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting in 2008 after protracted talks. The deal with Boeing, sources said, was through a direct commercial contract and issues such as end-user verification agreement between India and US for these defence products were still pending, sources said. The Navy will get its first aircraft under the deal by 2012-13 and the rest of the aircraft would be delivered in phases by 2015-16, sources said. The contract also provided for the Navy to place follow-on orders for about eight more of these aircraft, being purchased to replace the existing fleet of eight ageing Tupolev-142M turboprops. The P-8I is armed with torpedoes, depth bombs and Harpoon anti-ship missiles and is capable of anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare. Expected to help in plugging the existing gaps in Navy's maritime reconnaissance capabilities, the aircraft has an operating range of over 600 nautical miles.
Customised to meet Indian Navy's needs and based on the Boeing 737 commercial airliner, the P-8I aircraft is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon multi-mission maritime aircraft under development for the US Navy to replace its P-3C Orion fleet.
Interestingly, the P8I deal would be the largest deal India signed with the US, after the USD 962 million deal signed in 2007 for six Lockheed Martin's C-130J 'Super Hercules' transport aicraft for its special forces. Its purchase would greatly help inter-operability and supportability objectives of both the Indian and US Navies, according to a Boeing official in New Delhi. Apart from the Tu-142Ms, the Indian Navy currently uses IL-38SDs and Dorniers for surveillance operations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It was also looking for six advanced medium-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft at a budget of Rs 1,600 crore to further boost its patrol and intelligence gathering capabilities in the IOR.

Pakistan may allow Indian investigators to ‘grill’ the Mumbai attack suspects after being provided with ‘sufficient evidence’ of their involvement in the deadly strikes, but will not hand them over to New Delhi, a media report said in Islamabad on Sunday.
"At the most, Pakistan could permit the Indians to grill the people now under detention and being questioned by the Pakistani authorities and blamed by New Delhi for a key role in the Mumbai carnage.

"However, there is no likelihood that they will be handed over to India," a senior unnamed Pakistani official was quoted as saying by 'The Nation' newspaper.

Lashkar-e-Toiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the suspected mastermind of the Mumbai attack, and its communications specialist Zarar Shah are among the militants detained in Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan has turned down repeated demands from India for them to be handed over to New Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said: "India does not want war with Pakistan but it must hand over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks."

But, the Pakistani official said that instead of indulging in "a blame-game," India should provide substantial evidence about the involvement of Lakhvi, Shah or any other person in the Mumbai attacks to Pakistan.

Mamata demands liquor tragedy probe

Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Jan 4: Blaming the state administration for the liquor tragedy in Garden Reach, Trinamul Congress chief, Miss Mamata Banerjee today demanded an inquiry into the incident by a sitting Supreme Court or High Court judge to “unravel the truth''.
Miss Banerjee said that the CPI-M led Left Front government had issued licences indiscriminately for liquor shops in the state but did not put a system in place to monitor them and ensure that no contaminated liquor was sold. She said that instead of rounding up the guilty sellers, police tried to falsely implicate those who protested against the malpractice. She demanded that the state government publish a white paper on licensed liquor shops in the state.
Miss Banerjee claimed that she had received an SMS that people were lying dead and others critically ill in Kidderpore-Taratolla area and she immediately sent three Trinamul borough chairmen ~ Mr Firod Hakim, Mr Sovan Chatterjee and Mr Anil Mukherjee to find out what had happened.
"I'm stunned by the wide radius of the affected area and have asked Mr Hakim to give Rs 10,000 to each affected family. Some of the families are so poor that they cannot bear the cost for cremation. We have decided that our party will bear the cost of cremation of the protest victims,'' she said.
Mr Manab Mukherjee, state tourism minister, and mayor Mr Bikash Bhattacharyya visited the spot after Miss Banerjee had left it.

Woman Trafficking on Rise in West Bengal


Rita Jaiswara (14), the daughter of a poor family residing in Chetla in Kolkata, was lured by an acquaintance, Maya Barui, who promised to get her a job in Behala. Instead of being taken to the factory, the young girl was abducted and taken to Uttar Pradesh, where she was forced to dance at weddings. Rita was recently rescued from Kushinagar district of UP by a police team from Kolkata, and brought back to the city.
West Bengal police has a new reason to worry - Women and child trafficking has been at an all-time high in the state since the past couple of years. The incidents of minor girls being abducted and sold are increasing significantly, and this high rate of trafficking of women and children is making the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials lose sleep over combating the alarming situation. Headlinesindia got in touch with Sanjoy Mukherjee, the DIG of Police (Special Cell), with the CID, and found out the causes and consequences of the situation, as well as the steps taken by the CID to counteract the trafficking menace.

According to the data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), New Delhi, West Bengal stands very high in the list of states when it comes to trafficking in women. The 2005 statistics provided by the NCRB reveal that in 2005, West Bengal ranked second, coming after Bihar, in importation of girls. West Bengal registered 61 cases, and accounted for 40.9 per cent of the total number of such cases at the national level. The state registered 74 cases under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act in the same year. Though media reports say that West Bengal tops the list in 2006-2007 when it comes to trafficking in women, Sanjoy Mukherjee says, “It is extremely difficult to pin-point the rank of the state, but it definitely comes in the top five”. The poverty levels of the state, along with the border it shares with neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh are the primary reasons why women trafficking is at such a high in West Bengal. “These factors make West Bengal the originating point, the receiving point, as well as the transitioning point for the trafficking in women,”said Mukherjee adding that the vulnerability of young women also contributes towards increasing the number of trafficking cases. “If a young girl witnesses parental dispute, or is unwanted by her parents, or if she loses any of the parents and the other parent remarries, she becomes emotionally vulnerable. In such cases, she becomes susceptible to getting lured by the traffickers”, he said.

Trafficking in women follows a certain pattern in most of the cases. According to Mukherjee, the trafficking figures are high in West Bengal as the state has more of rural population than urban. The traffickers mostly target women and children who belong to the rural areas. Trafficking in women is most prominent in the southern part of South 24 Parganas, the eastern part of Murshidabad, the eastern side of Nadia, and the eastern region of North 24 Parganas. The traffickers, often known to the families, act as agents who offer lucrative jobs to the young women, and promise to take them to the cities. The women are often vulnerable, and are tempted by the agents to leave their families and join them for “work”. Sometimes, the parents themselves hand over their daughters to the agents. The agents often escort the girls to a suburban railway station, and take them to far-off cities like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi. Immediately after the women reach these cities, the girls are forced into “Commercial Sexual Exploitation”.

The families of the girls get no inkling of what is happening to the girls, as the agents send money to the families for 4-5 months, claiming it to be the money sent by the girls. When after a few months, the families stop receiving money and news about the girl's wellbeing, the family members begin to worry and lodge a missing diary at the local police station. Getting a tip-off from the local police stations, the CID takes charge, and tries to trace the missing girls. Sanjoy Mukherjee says, “Our primary aim involves the arrest and conviction of the traffickers, and the rescue of the child victims.However, for the conviction of the traffickers, sufficient evidence against them is needed”. What follows, is even more difficult for the police personnel than the challenges faced during the arrest of the traffickers and the rescue of the victims. As Mukherjee says, “The re-integration of the child into the society is the most difficult part. After her gruesome experience, a child is traumatised, and finds it difficult to get used to a normal life”.

However, even though the incidents continue to occur in West Bengal, the CID is not taking it lying down. “We are all geared up, and are adopting various measures to combat the situation. We hope to put an end to it very soon”, asserts Sanjoy Mukherjee. Mukherjee revealed the CID has undertaken a series of decoy-based raid-cum-rescue operations in various parts of the state. “We deployed our personnel acting as buyers of girls, and thus arrested 20 traffickers and rescued 17 minor girls from their clutches,” Mukherjee said. The course of action of the CID involves an extensive training of police personnel from various districts of the state with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). A special Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (ATU) was also inaugurated by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya on June 28, 2007.

The West Bengal Government has formed a network, and sanctioned Rs 1 crore, to tackle the problem of human trafficking following a report by the Calcutta, North Bengal and Burdwan Universities that human trafficking is on an alarming rise in the state. Six departments - health, backward classes welfare, self-help group and self-employment, panchayat and rural development- will interact with police, CID, NGOs and the State Women's Commission to form the network that will combat the menace of human trafficking that has acquired deadly proportions in West Bengal.

For More Articles By The Same Author & For More News From India Visit http://www.headlinesindia.com/
http://www.articlesbase.com/women's-issues-articles/woman-trafficking-on-rise-in-west-bengal-339196.html

Harijan
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Harijans newspaperHarijan (son of God) was a term coined by Gandhi for Dalits, which is now considered patronizing. The term can also be attributed to Dalits of Pakistan called the haris, who are a group of mud-hut builders.

Neo-Buddhist Dalits try to make 'Harijan' appear as a disgrace to all Dalits as it comes from a Hindu name. This term had already been used, in a different form, by the medieval philosopher Ramanuja who uplifted many backward caste people: as Thirukulattar, or People of Holy Clan. The term Harijan is considered bad and weak word by many of the 'lower' caste people of India, as the name implies that the section is weak and should be taken care of. They prefer the word 'Dalit' (meaning Oppressed) instead of harijan.

Recently there was a Dalit conference in Kerala which demanded the use of 'harijan' to be banned in media and political circles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harijan

Antony reviews security with Service chiefs
New Delhi (IANS): Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Monday called a high-level meeting of the three Service chiefs to assess the security scenario as New Delhi handed over to Islamabad evidence of the complicity of Pakistan-based militants in the Mumbai terror attack, a senior official said.

National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh also attended the meeting, that continued for nearly an hour.

“The defence minister today (Monday) held a meeting to review the security situation. The meeting was attended by the NSA, three Service chiefs and defence secretary,” a senior defence official said.

The meeting gains significance as India Monday handed over to Pakistan the evidence linking Pakistan-based militants to the Mumbai carnage and ratcheted up international pressure on Islamabad to eliminate terror infrastructure from its territory.

"We have today given evidence to Pakistan of links between elements in Pakistan and the terrorists who attacked Mumbai. It is our expectation that the government of Pakistan will promptly undertake further investigations in Pakistan and share the results with us so as to bring the perpetrators to justice," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters here Monday morning.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called a meeting of the NSA and service chiefs to assess the security situation in the country on two occasions in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack, including a war room meeting.
PTI

South India-level movement against liquor must be spearheaded: Ramadoss



Special Correspondent


CUDDALORE: Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss has called upon Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to not only implement total prohibition in Tamil Nadu but also spearhead a movement against liquor all over South India.

He was addressing the 28th anti-liquor campaign organised by the women’s wing of the party here on Sunday. Braving the heavy downpour women turned out in large numbers and stayed put throughout the session that lasted for four hours.

Dr. Ramadoss said that Mr. Karunanidhi contended that when prohibition was not in force in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka and the Union Territory of Puducherry, Tamil Nadu could not be an exception.

If it were so, Tamil Nadu consumers would be attracted to other States, and moreover it would give also rise to illicit arrack trade.

The PMK leader noted that when H.D. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister of Karnataka he abolished the arrack trade that fetched Rs.2,000 crore to the exchequer.

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yedyurappa had stated that his government was ready for total prohibition.

When such was the case why should not Mr. Karunanidhi take the campaign against liquor all over South India, Dr. Ramadoss asked.

Dr. Ramadoss said that the PMK had alternative plans on how to bolster revenue after the abolition of liquor trade and if the police lend their ears to his suggestion illicit arrack trade could be totally wiped out.

Dr. Ramadoss read out the three resolutions passed in the meeting: all the TASMAC outlets must be closed to save humanity from the perils of addiction; a monthly assistance of Rs.3,000 must be given to the families whose breadwinners died of addiction; and free and compulsory education must be provided to the wards of those who perished due to liquor.

Women, who were rendered widows because of liquor, related their woes and stated that what they wanted was closure of TASMAC outlets and not Rs.1-a-kg rice and free colour television schemes.

Dr. Ramadoss released a compact disc of the short film on prohibition produced by T. Velmurugan, MLA, and directed by Lenin.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/24/stories/2008112454190300.htm
Locals blame police for hooch tragedy

Rajib Chakraborty
KOLKATA, Jan. 4: Residents of Hooghly Jute Mill area and Sanai Road, where consumption of spurious liquor claimed 14 lives, blamed police for their sheer callousness since there were rarely any crackdown on the illegal joints that have been selling spurious liquor for years.
Almost every local units of political parties and social workers had sent a deputation to the West Port police station and the deputy commissioner of Port division requesting raids on the illegal joints where dock labourers spend their last penny buying hooch.
Locals said that at least 14 such illegal joints were set up by the Sanai Road and more than 20 had sprung up around Hooghly Jute Mill and Rungta areas right under the nose of police. Locals also said that all the people engaged in this trade gave a big percentage of their earning to the police station every day so that police kept away from these joints.
A officer of the local police station said that hooch was brought here from Howrah and North and South 24-Parganas.
Local agents bring such consignments from Howrah by boat. Train routes are also used by the agents, with spurious liquor being brought in through the South section and main line section of the Sealdah division.
Often containers are ferried in by matador vans from Jaynagar and Regent Park areas and dumped at various points in the port area. Suppliers of hooch invested a few lakh in this business. The small buyers, who hail from West Port police station, South Port police station, Watgunge and Garden Reach areas target dock labourers and other daily wage earners.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22&theme=&usrsess=1&id=239007




Bars do brisk business
OUR BUREAU

EXPENSIVE BARgAIN
Ranchi/Bokaro, July 2: In the wake of the indefinite closure of 800 liquor shops across 24 districts in the state, tipplers are rushing to bars to enjoy drinks spending extra bucks.

The situation is unlikely to change till a cabinet decision is taken on July 4, the day when the deputy commissioners of four districts — Ranchi, Bokaro, Simdega and Dhanbad — are expected to float tender for the third time.

In the wake of closed retail liquor shops, the 24 bars situated in the state capital have started doing brisk business. There are about 24 bar licensed bars in the Ranchi city alone.

Chandra Mohan Kapoor, the owner of Hongul bar and restaurant, said they were witnessing an increase in number of people thronging the bar. But he expressed apprehensions of illegal sale of liquor.

Several hotels, dhabas and roadside kiosks also sale illegal liquor. There is also threat of spurious liquor being pushed in the market.

Kamlesh Kumar Singh, the state excise minister, said: “The cabinet earlier decided that cent per cent settlement of liquor shops of all three categories — Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), spice and country liquor — should take place in all the districts at a time. But despite inviting open tender there were no takers in the four districts.”

Singh said the overall welfare of the state in terms of financial gains hinges on liquor trade. Therefore, succumbing to pressure of any party would set bad precedent. Fifty per cent of the monthly revenue, which is about Rs 8 crore, comes from auction of retail liquor trade in Ranchi, Dhanbad and Bokaro.

As far as preparation of the proposal to be placed before the cabinet goes, the excise department is weighing two options.

First, they could remove the mandatory condition of settlement of all liquor shops in the state at one go and second, club two or more districts where minimum retail trade licence fee can be compensated.

Under both the circumstances, the liquor syndicate of Chhattisgarh and its partners are expected to benefit, excise department officials pointed out.

Bootleggers nabbed

As liquor shops remain closed in the absence of retail liquor trade bidders, bootleggers are getting liquor from Purulia (Bengal), Nawada (Bihar), Hazaribagh, Asansol and Andhra Pradesh border areas. Bokaro deputy superintendent of police Sadhya Rani and her team has nabbed three bootleggers — Ranbir Yadav, Lal Bihari Yadav and Chotu Kumar — selling liquor at very high prices.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080703/jsp/jharkhand/story_9497150.jsp

Illegal liquor trade still continues
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, April 25 — Although prohibition has been lifted in the state illegal liquor business is still on. This trend has not only been robbing the state government of excise duty but it has been proving harmful to the interest of the legal liquor business.

Cases of illegal smuggling of liquor from neighbouring state have been reported regularly. The police has seized illegal liquor worth Rs 10 lakh in the last one month in this region. Illegal trade in the liquor was doing brisk business ever since prohibition was introduced in the state, thanks to well-established liquor mafia.

Though the state government lifted prohibition on April 1 last year, the mafia is still active. This mafia, reportedly having links with influential persons, had developed a kind of system in which liquor was made available at the doorsteps of consumers. Some of the officials concerned admit that to do away with the network is not an easy job and it may take some more time to control the activities of such elements.

The police here had unearthed a large stock of illegal liquor worth about Rs 75 lakh from a house in nearby Karontha village. Some of the persons involved in this case had also reportedly assaulted a person living in the town who had given information to the police in this regard. In another major recovery, the police impounded a truck carrying about 100 gunny bags of liquor pouches on Thursday from this town. Each bag was having 200 pouches. The truck had reportedly come from a neighbouring state. The total value of this liquor is stated to be about Rs 2 lakh.

People engaged in the legal business fear that if the present trend of illegal trade continued and no steps were taken to check the activities of the liquor mafia then not only their business would be affected but it may also pose danger to the health of people due to the chances of sale of spurious liquor.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99apr26/haryana.htm#4

Bengal women beat alcoholism out of their men
6 Oct 2002, 1942 hrs IST, IANS
KOLKATA: Hundreds of women in a West Bengal district are curing their men's drinking problems with a simple solution -- spanking. Women in several villages of Burdwan district are increasingly becoming physical in their effort to stop their men from hitting the bottle. And in their unique enterprise, brooms, slippers and sticks are coming in handy. Hooked to cheap moonshine, most men in Burdwan's tribal-dominated villages like Belepara, Aslepora, Handipara and Khanpukur have for years be wasting themselves and their meagre earnings. Their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, feeling enough is enough, have now taken matters into their own hands. Organised together by the women's wing of the state's ruling Marxist party, these women are not only stopping their men from drinking but also raiding illegal liquor dens and razing them to the ground. At least 10 such liquor dens have been destroyed in the district in the past week by belligerent bands of women armed with sticks, shovels and spades. "We have been receiving complaints from women of these villages about problems created by their drunkard husbands. We complained to the police about the illegal liquor dens," said Aparna Ray, who has been organising the tortured women. "When our complaints did not yield results, we decided to do it (demolish the vends) ourselves." And the women, who have suffered years of physical abuse from their drunken husbands, sons and brothers, are hitting back. "We have to stop their drinking or else they will not let us live in peace. They spend all their income on alcohol and beat us up after drinking. There are even instances when drunk husbands have set their homes on fire," said an exasperated Sadhana Majhi, a tortured wife. Majhi and her friends are among some 300 women from the district's Bhatar area who patrol the villages at night and look out for tipsy men and try and "cure" their drinking problem for good. They also raid illegal liquor joints. The women say the police at times do raid the illegal watering holes but as "they (the police) are actually hand in glove, these dens come up again in no time". Interestingly, most men of these villages are not protesting. In any case, the women say they will continue the fight against alcohol even if their husbands, sons and brothers object.
Ambulance bottling liquor seized
RAJ KUMAR

Excise officials with the ambulance seized in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh
Ranchi, Oct. 26: When the medical fraternity in the city was celebrating the birthday of lord Dhanvantari, the god of health, an excise department team today seized an ambulance being misused as a mobile bottling plant for illegally produced liquor.

However, the raiding team could not confirm whether any healthcare unit was really using the vehicle or the hooch peddlers had put on the ambulance mark on it to fool the police.

About 31.5litre foreign liquor packed in the bottles, 200litre of foreign liquor kept in cans and 120 empty bottles were recovered from the ambulance bearing the number BR 14A 2321.

The vehicle was parked in an open ground in Jorar Basti under Namkum police station area. A Maruti van, which was also being used as illegal mobile bottling plant was parked beside it.

Excise inspector Jitendra Kumar said the breakthrough came on a tip off from sources at around 11.30am and we got astonished to notice an ambulance being misused for the purpose. “This is the first time we have seized an ambulance being used as mobile bottling plant,” he said.

Kumar said that he has started investigation in the matter. “We have asked our officials to find the name of vehicle owners from the transport department for necessary action. Once the names come out from the office, further legal action will be taken. We are not sure whether the ambulance was being used by any hospital or the vehicle owner had just written the word ‘ambulance’ on the vehicle to mislead us,” he said.

Sources said that two persons sitting in the vehicle have been identified. They managed to escape before the excise team could reach the vehicle. “They were identified as Prahlad Sindhia and Naresh Sindhia. They escaped before excise team could arrest them from the vehicles red handed filling bottles of liquors,” a locality resident said.

Excise department sources said that labels pasted on the jerkin carrying liquor was reading “for defence supply” to mislead the team while there were no label on bottles as the process of filling them had just started. “The market of the value of the seized liquor will be more than Rs 4 lakh,” the sources added.

Sources said that the Maruti van, which was parked beside the ambulance, was also carrying more than 200 litre of foreign liquor, essences, caramels and 150 empty bottles.

Both the vehicles and the liquor have been parked outside the office of excise department at Kutchery. The department will send the seizure list to the chief judicial magistrate (CJM). Liquors will be sent for laboratory test.

Sources said that illegal manufacturing of liquor and its illegal bottling was a lucrative business as it helped saving 50 percent of the production cost which is charged by the government in the form of excise duty, sales tax and label registration fee. Only six manufacturing units have permission to produce foreign liquor in the state, they added.

The poor consumers in rural area prefer purchasing illegally produced liquor. One can get the illegally produced liquor in villages and all those areas where government has not opened any shop, the sources added.

An excise department official said consumption of illegal liquor is dangerous for life. “There is no one to check the quality of such liquor. Several hooch tragedies have been reported in past from across the states due to consumption of such drinks,” he said.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081027/jsp/jharkhand/story_10023464.jsp
No one to turn off hooch tap
5 Jan 2009, 0208 hrs IST, TNN

KOLKATA: The wails of the bereaved will die down at the Hooghly and Bibi Halt slums. Police will dismantle illicit liquor dens. But the scourge
won't be stamped out. For, the supply of hooch like a slow-poison drip will continue flowing into the city. With a daily turnover of Rs 1.5 lakh, the stakes are too high for the crime rings that control the trade with police and political patronage. So, there's no guarantee that Sunday's tragedy won't be repeated.

From Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas to Chowbagha on the city's southern outskirts, the chullu racket is run like a streamlined industry. While the liquor is brewed outside city limits, it is sold along the railway tracks at Patipukur, Dum Dum, Dhakuria, Tangra, Beniapukur, Phoolbagan, South Port, Garden Reach, Kalighat, Tollygunge, Masjidbari, Cossipore and at the Chitpore and Ultadanga railway yards.

Kayasthapara, Dakshindari, Nayapatti, Milanpally and Kumarpara (near the airport) are the other hooch-selling spots.

Till a few years ago, Barrackpore's infamous Ganja Gully was notorious for brewing and selling hooch. Repeated raids have now sent the brewers to new areas like Leningarh and Talbanda of New Barrackpore. Breweries have come up on the banks of Ichhapur canal. After dark, hooch-sellers can be seen on Kalyani Expressway.

"These are the new areas from which illicit liquor comes into Kolkata. South Kolkata and the South 24-Parganas urban belt of Behala, Thakurpukur and Kasba get supplies from Chowbagha. The liquor comes in small pouches and can be ferried on bicycles," said a senior police officer.

The last time that illicit liquor claimed lives was in November 2004, when nine people died in Tangra. That there hasn't been another tragedy since then doesn't mean consumption in the slums has gone down. The pouches come for Rs 4-5 and even the poorest can afford them. "Raids are carried out almost every week and the brewing units are destroyed. But these sprout up at other places soon," said Pravin Kumar Tripathy, additional SP (Barrackpore).

In urban areas like Dhakuria, jurisdiction is a major problem. "The areas surrounding the railway track are under the jurisdiction of four police stations and the GRP. Co-ordination is a problem in most cases and the criminals take advantage of this," said a senior officer.

For over two decades, Patipukur railway underpass has been a haunt for hooch-sellers and buyers. Innumerable raids have been carried out but it has made no difference. Locals point to the nexus between sections in the RPF-GRP and local police with criminals, who run the supply chain. Police officers point to lax legal provisions for the inability to control the menace.

"After a hooch-seller is arrested, he gets bail the very next day. The same man goes and sets up a unit at another place. Unless there is a fatal incident, these criminals cannot be booked under a strong case," said Barun Kumar Mullick, SRP Sealdah
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/No_one_to_turn_off_hooch_tap/articleshow/3935309.cms

Untouchables
Caste System
General Information
Caste is a rigid social system in which a social hierarchy is maintained generation after generation and allows little mobility out of the position to which a person is born. The term is often applied to the hierarchical hereditary divisions established among the Hindus on the Indian subcontinent. The word caste was first used by 16th-century Portuguese traders; it is derived from the Portuguese casta, denoting family strain, breed, or race. The Sanskrit word is jati. The Sanskrit term varna denotes a group of jati, or the system of caste.

The traditional caste system of India developed more than 3000 years ago when Aryan-speaking nomadic groups migrated from the north to India about 1500BC. The Aryan priests, according to the ancient sacred literature of India, divided society into a basic caste system. Sometime between 200BC and AD100, the Manu Smriti, or Law of Manu, was written. In it the Aryan priest-lawmakers created the four great hereditary divisions of society still surviving today, placing their own priestly class at the head of this caste system with the title of earthly gods, or Brahmans. Next in order of rank were the warriors, the Kshatriyas. Then came the Vaisyas, the farmers and merchants. The fourth of the original castes was the Sudras, the laborers, born to be servants to the other three castes, especially the Brahman. Far lower than the Sudras - in fact, entirely outside the social order and limited to doing the most menial and unappealing tasks - were those people of no caste, formerly known as Untouchables. (In the 1930s Indian nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi applied the term Harijans, or "children of God," to this group.) The Untouchables were the Dravidians, the aboriginal inhabitants of India, to whose ranks from time to time were added the pariahs, or outcasts, people expelled for religious or social sins from the classes into which they had been born. Thus created by the priests, the caste system was made a part of Hindu religious law, rendered secure by the claim of divine revelation.

The characteristics of an Indian caste include rigid, hereditary membership in the caste into which one is born; the practice of marrying only members of the same caste (endogamy); restrictions on the choice of occupation and on personal contact with members of other castes; and the acceptance by each individual of a fixed place in society. The caste system has been perpetuated by the Hindu ideas of samsara (reincarnation) and karma (quality of action). According to these religious beliefs, all people are reincarnated on earth, at which time they have a chance to be born into another, higher caste, but only if they have been obedient to the rules of their caste in their previous life on earth. In this way karma has discouraged people from attempting to rise to a higher caste or to cross caste lines for social relations of any kind.

The four original castes have been subdivided again and again over many centuries, until today it is impossible to tell their exact number. Estimates range from 2000 to 3000 different castes established by Brahmanical law throughout India, each region having its own distinct groups defined by craft and fixed by custom.

The complexities of the system have constituted a serious obstacle to civil progress in India. The trend today is toward the dissolution of the artificial barriers between the castes. The stringency of the caste system of the Hindus was broken down greatly during the period of British rule in India. The obligation of the son to follow the calling of his father is no longer binding; men of low castes have risen to high ranks and positions of power; and excommunication, or the loss of caste, is not as serious as it may once have been. In addition, the caste system was from time to time burst from within by ecclesiastical schisms, most notably the rise of Buddhism, itself a reaction from, and protest against, the intolerable bondage of the caste system.

In recent years considerable strides toward eradicating unjust social and economic aspects of the caste system as practiced in India have been made through educational and reform movements. The great leader in this endeavor was Mohandas Gandhi. The drafted constitution of India, which was published a few days after the assassination of Gandhi in January 1948, stated in a special clause under the heading "human rights": "Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden." Despite official attempts to improve the status of members of the lowest caste, many of whom now prefer to be referred to as Dalits (Hindi for "oppressed people"), discrimination and exploitation is still common.
http://mb-soft.com/believe/txo/untoucha.htm

Anti-Dalit remarks of Gandhi
TEJ SINGH, BSS, 304 - MANDAKINI ENCLAVE, ALAKNANDA, NEW DELHI - 110019
The following quotations are taken from M.K. Gandhi’s own writings to prove how the Mahatma was a rabid casteist and downright anti-Dalit:-

If the shudras (low castes) leave their ancestral profession and take up others, ambition will rouse in them and their peace of mind will be spoiled. Even their family peace will be disturbed. (Hind Swaraj).

I believe in the varnashrama (caste system) which is the law of life. The law of varna (color and/or caste) is nothing but the law of conservation of energy. Why should my son not be scavenger if I am one? (Harijan, 3-6-1947).

He (shudra, low caste) may not be called a Brahmin (uppermost caste), though he (shudra) may have all the qualities of a Brahmin in this birth. And it is a good thing for him (shudra) not to arrogate a varna (caste) to which he is not born. It is a sign of true humility (Young India, 11-4-1927).

According to Hindu belief, he who practices a profession which does not belong to him by birth, does violence to himself and becomes a degraded being by not living up to the varna (caste) of his birth (Young India, 11-4-1927).

As years go by, the conviction is daily growing upon me that varna (caste) is the law of man’s being, and therefore, caste is necessary for Christians and Muslims as it has been necessary for Hinduism and has been its saving grace. (Speech at Trivandrum, Collection of Speeches, Ramanath Suman, 1932).

I would resist with my life the separation of Untouchables from the caste Hindus. The problems of the Untouchable community is of comparatively little importance (London RTC, 1931).

I call myself a sanatana man, one who firmly believes in the caste system (Dharma Manthan, p.4).

I believe in caste division determined by birth and the very root caste division lies in birth (Varna Vyavastha, p.76-77).

The four castes and the four stages of life are things to be attained by birth alone (Dharma Manthan p.6).

Caste means the predetermination of a man’s profession. Caste implies that a man must practice only the profession of his ancestors for his livelihood (Varna Vyavastha, pp.28, 56, 68).

Shudra only serves the higher castes as a matter of religious duty and who will never own any property. The gods will shower down flowers on him. (Ibid p.15)

I have noticed that the very basis of our thought have been severely shaken by Western civilization which is the creation of the Satan (dharma Manthan, p.65).

How is it possible that the antyaja (outcastes) should have the right to enter all the existing temples? As long as the law of caste and karma has the chief place in the Hindu religion, to say that every Hindu can enter every temple is a thing that is not possible today (Gandhi Sikshan, Vol.11, p.132).

The caste system can’t be said to be bad because it does not allow inter-dining and inter-marriages in different castes (Gandhi by Shiru, p.129).

The caste system, in my opinion, has a scientific basis. Reason does not revolt against it. It has disadvantages. Caste creates a social and moral restraint — I can find no reason for their abolition. To abolish caste is to demolish Hinduism. There is nothing to fight against the Varnashrama (caste system). I don’t believe the caste system to be an odious and vicious dogma. It has its limitations and defects, but there is nothing sinful about it. (Harijan, 1933).

******************
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/july2006/articles.htm

Dalit - Muslim discord led to Gujarat Genocide-2002
IQBAL AHMED SHARIFF, ADVOCATE, 94-1/ - TANK GARDEN, 11TH CROSS, JAYANAGAR 1ST BLOCK, BANGALORE - 560 011
In a brief report the Editor has already given his opinion on the May 20-21, 2006 Ahmedabad DV workshop for our DV family members.



Though all the invited DV family members did not attend, torch-bearers of Gujarat Dalit movement like Rameshchandra Parmar, Valjibhai Patel, Dr. K.C. Parmar, P.K. Valera, IAS (retd.), Shaikh Ibrahim, Anwar Baigh Mirja Sarpanch, M.S. Shaikh, all oldest members of the DV family, attended who for unknown reasons had remained aloof for a long time.

Frustration: Many new members showed great enthusiasm. Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala from Delhi was a special invitee. The veterans explained to the workshop the reasons for their lack of interest as a sort of frustration due to success of Brahminic mischiefs to wean away Dalits from the fold of secular and Ambedkarite forces. Brahminical forces created a discord between Dalits and Muslims. The methodology was very well explained.

Small Dalit population: The grip of these Dalit veterans, all close associates of our Editor, on the societal and political affairs of Gujarat came as a big surprise to us. The younger DV members took their experience, knowledge and confidence as a bright torch around which younger Dalits can still gather to carry the Ambedkarite message.

The peculiarity of Gujarat is that it has only 7% Dalit population —even lesser than that of the Muslims who are 10%. Tribal population (ST) is more than their combined population. It is this ST population which became the first target of Brahminic hate forces supported by upper castes. The lack of resources to contact the scattered Tribals on the part of SCs is the main drawback for Ambedkarite movement. This lack of resources was and is being fully made use of to indoctrinate the Tribals by the RSS and its goons for whom resources are in plenty.

Muslims as main target: Muslims have always been the fodder and grit of the Brahminic all-powerful hate machine.

And if they are made to be beaten up by Dalits not only their desire of Dalit-Muslim unity will be a pipe dream, but also they will fight with each other.

Such a well calculated scheme yielded spectacular results in the Gujarat Muslim genocide of 2002.

We have to carefully move ourselves in this jigsaw puzzle. This is what the Dalit veterans feel.

These are my general impressions. But more has to come from the old veterans who have decided to come together again.

DV is waiting for the response from Dalit veterans led by Rameshchandra Parmar and Valjibhai Patel.


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Savarna maoists deceive Dalits better than Hindu terrorists
COMRADE AYYANKAALI
Savarna CPI-so-called “Maoist” has been making a lot of noise about how it will liberate the working class as well as Dalits. Latin American and African tribes always had their own versions of what Marx called “primitive communism” which Adivasis in India have also practiced —a culture which savarna CPI-so-called-”Maoist” is destroying through its own version of sanskritisation and Hinduisation.

This feudal and casteist savarna socialist party is planning to have an endless and never ending transition towards full fledged communism without giving up state capitalism and monopolising the state machinery and bureaucratic apparatus by means of endogamy and invisible casteist apartheid dictatorship.

Mother tongue mania: They may even justify hereditary successsion and rule like that of the Kim dynasty in revisionist North Korea. In such a regime, mother tongue mania will be promoted to frenetic heights unheard of before so as to ensure that the Bahujan proletarian nationalities can never communicate in a single common language like English and link up with other Negroid proletarians across the world or take over the leadership.

Already, the Nepali Brahmin Maoist Party boss, Prachanda, has made Manuvadi moves to ensure monopoly bourgeoisie English medium education for his son and daughter and deny it to others. Also, savarna state capitalist bureaucratic burgeoissie scum are sexual conservatives and rustic feudals to whom anything like Comrade Alexandra Kollontai’s (Lenin’s contemporary) glass of water theory of sex will not sound anything except the greatest taboo, sacrilege, blasphemy and heresy even though it has the potential to undermine the savarna family system and property relations. How can such conservative fellows be expected to finish off the institution of the family and implement full-fledged communism?

Savarnas love caste system: Caste, endogamy and family loving savarna conservatives will, therefore, never allow the family to wither away due to the kind of free sexual relations practiced by Adivasis in primitive communist collective institutions called ghotuls — something which Comrade Kollontai would have endorsed. savarna conservatives dismiss the currently fashionable “living-in” culture as bourgeoisie decadence, they seem least interested in setting up any communes to fight the family system. After all, without smashing endogamy it will not be possible to finish of caste system or achieve full-fledged communism, especially in a country like India where the family is still intact.

When decades of state capitalist central planning in Eastern Europe only ended up creating a caste of bureaucratic bourgeoisie elite which controlled political power using the family system, what can we expect from the rustic and feudal savarna Brahminical Maoists of India? These rustic and feudal savarnas shudder at the mere thought of Dalits learning the English language which they have monopolised as a Devabhasha. These conservative rural rustic feudal obscurantist reactionary savarna socialists fear pop stars like Britney Spears and Madonna as well as Western capitalist divorce culture precisely because it undermines savarna family system.

Brahmin girls sex with beef-eaters: Brahmins and savarnas pretend to fight capitalism because it brings in English language, pornstar-popstar Brittney Spears, Salsa dancing, beef eating, vodka-drinking culture which the savarnas are scared of because market decides everything and not the Brahmin priests. In their heart of hearts, the savarna swine are worried their girls would marry, live-in, or have sex with beef-eating “bastards” (meaning Dalits). Also Western dance and Salsa would finish off savarna patriarchal domination of culture like the Bharatanatyam.

These typical urban Brahminical leaders of savarna Manuvadi Maoist parties, who are essentially rural rustic, feel extremely inferior when they listen to Western pop music and cannot comprehend it. These culturally alienated and estranged, mostly “middle class” Brahmin and savarnas, then claim to hate such imported Western imperialist culture, only because they cannot understand it though they desperately want to be with it and cool.

When deprived of upper mobility in Westernised urban society, these middle class savarnas simply become jealous of those who can comprehend as well as understand Western culture, dance and music. So, these rural rustic scum struck with a major inferiority complex decry Western capitalist culture as “decadent” and “imperialist” even without understanding head or tail or what is progressive and what is not. Such rural rustic scum have no idea that jazz originated from Negro “slave” music or that rhythm-n-blues is almost a progressive “Negro” fine art. The sheer agony and jealousy of savarnas cannot be explained in words when “upstart” convent-educated, English-speaking, beef-eating Christian “low” caste converts confidently impress savarna girls and date them, leaving the savarna rustic male in a constant state of humiliation.

RSS-Maoists think alike & act alike: That is how the rural rustic savarna male seeks refuge in “maoism” and dubs all Western culture as “decadent”, imperialist and bourgeoisie.

Such savarnas fear that English will convert Dalits into feudal lords, despite India not likely to develop the material conditions to support such medieval English feudalism. It is better to confine Dalits to their mother tongue and get them sanskritised rather than pick up English and get Westernised in the process. In this way the Brahminical RSS Hindu terrorists and maoists think alike and act alike.

These savarna maoists are more cunning and more dangerous compared to simpletons like their Hindu nazi brethren. They know that honest Hindu nazism is a grossly inferior tactic which will end in definite failure. That is why these savarna naxalites adopt “socialist” tactics to control capitalism to their advantage minus the live-in, Salsa-dancing, pornstar-popstar culture and English which will finish off their cultural hegemony. Naxalites resorted to moral policing in Nepal. Maoist Bhattarai’s temporary honest statement, “There is a tendency to see feudalism as better than capitalism”, must be seen. That means the bureaucratic dictatorship under state capitalism will perpetually postpone full-fledged communism indefinitely. They will go on quoting Lenin and Mao to prove that full-fledged communism still has a long long way to go. Such savarna socialists will ensure that maoism will become the new opium of the Dalits.
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/july2006/articles.htm

Secret of Gandhi deceiving world
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Bangalore: How could M.K. Gandhi deceive the whole world? This is no wonder. Are not the Hindus deceiving the whole country and the world outside even today by claiming 10% growth rate and singing the “India shining” song? The Brahminical technique to deceive those willing to be deceived has not changed a wee bit ever since the Bhoodevatas set foot on India.

Brahminical rulers are able to deceive and mislead the people — yesterday, today and tomorrow also — in and outside India only because of their sole monopoly over the media. They will continue to bluff and brag as long as the oppressed Indians — the victims of gandhism and Brahminism — do not think of setting up their own media.

Lone voice: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Father of India, wrote his famous book, What Congress & Gandhi have done to Untouchables, (Thacker & Co. 1945), only to counter the humbug of Gandhi and the Hindu media trumpeting Gandhi as the greatest living legend of the world.

Babasaheb’s was the lone voice amid the deafening drum-beats of the Bhoodevatas then just as Dalit Voice is the sole single voice of sanity drowned today in the Brahminical cacophony.

During those stormy days before “independence” the victims of Gandhi had no media of their own. Even today, 62 years after he wrote this book to counter the Brahminical lies on Gandhi, we have no media of our own to put out Truth. Slaves enjoying their slavery.

Media center: We were the victims of Gandhi and Brahminism 70 years ago. And we continue to be the victims of the same forces even today. And yet we have not learnt any lesson. We don’t want to. Such is the spell of Gandhi and gandhism.

Our anguished cry for a “media center” gets no response from the slaves of India enjoying their slavery. Perhaps this country is destined to be the world’s only Apartheid state.

We will continue to be slaves of Brahminism as long as we do not have a powerful media to fight this enemy.

Who killed Gandhi: There is yet another side to this sorrowful story that is India. It was the Brahmins who discovered the mahatma’s magic capable of deceiving the innocent Bahujan masses. By creating “public opinion” and giving it publicity through their media they converted Gandhi into an iconic figure and even conferred the highest title of mahatma. They used him to the fullest extent making him enact all sorts of dramas even while he remained as the stooge of the British.

But as soon as the country got “independence” and a Brahmin was made the first Prime Minister and its rulers, they were the first to bump him off.

Once they killed him they were the first to shed gallons of tears and monopolise gandhism and parade themselves as the greatest gandhians. They even converted gandhism into sugar-coated Brahminism which is mesmerising the Bahujans and making the slaves enjoy their slavery even today.


DV Aug.16, 2007 p.25: “Gandhi was killed because he blocked Brahmin bid to capture power”.

DV June 16, 2007 p.15: “Research on Gandhi sex can fetch Ph.D. degree”.

DV May 16, 2007 p.10: “Gandhi torn to pieces within his own fortress”.

DV May 1, 2007 p.14: “The myth of the Mahatma — First class racist who hated Blacks & low castes” & p. 16: “Gandhi: a notorious sex maniac under spiritual mask.”

DV Feb.16, 2007 p. 19: “Ungrateful M.K. Gandhi condemns revolutionaries who died for India” & “Gandhi a racist?”, p. 20: “CNN on Gandhi sex life”, p. 21: “Brahmins killed Gandhi: Tushar”.

DV Nov.1, 2006 p.25: “Gandhi, villain of India’s partition”.

DV July 16, 2006 p.7: “Gandhi killed Dalit rights: Dr. Ambedkar”.

DV July 1, 2006 p.12: “Anti-Dalit remarks of Gandhi”.

DV Feb.1, 2006 p.12: “Gandhi, a fascist?”

DV Nov.16, 2005 p.5: “Lies on Hitler & Gandhi”.

DV Oct.16, 2005 p.23: “Gandhi as racist: S. African writer exposes hidden face of mahatma”.

DV Sept.16, 2005 p.25: “Gandhi branded racist in S. Africa”.

DV July 16, 2005 p.26: “Gandhi & sex: A dangerous mix”.

DV Nov.16, 2004 p. 10: “Gandhi & Gandhism — a cruel hoax on oppressed Indians”.

DV Sept.16, 2004 p.27: “Gandhi: Palestine belongs to Arabs”.

DV Aug.1, 2004 p. 19: “Gandhi unmasked: New film”.

DV May 1, 2003 p.19: “Gandhi sleeping with young girls showed him as sex pervert”.

DV April 1, 2003 p.17: “Gandhi sold Brahminism as sweet pill to fool Untouchables”.

DV Dec.16, 2002 p.22: “How Gandhi helped British by misleading Muslims”.

DV Feb.1, 2000 p.6: “Truth about Rajghat”.

DV March 16, 1990 p.14: “M.N. Roy said Gandhism was nothing but fascism”.

DV March 1, 1990 p.14: “Devastating portrait of Gandhi: Congress supported British?”

DV Jan.16, 19990 p.21: “Did Gandhi oppose British imperialism & Apartheid? — A South African survey”.

DV June 1, 1989 p.16: “The verdict of history on Gandhi & Dr. Ambedkar”.

DV Edit May 1989: “Did Gandhi fight the British and Big Business?”

DV Nov.16, 1983 p.5: “Gandhi — the Agent of India’s ruling class”.

DV Edit March 1, 1983: “Gandhi vs. Ambedkar”.

DV Feb.1, 1983 p. 8: “Gandhi film disturbs Dalits & Muslims”.

DV Feb.1, 1982 p. 12: “How Gandhi Harmed OBCs?”

http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/sep_a2007/reports.htm

Why Do India's Dalits Hate Gandhi?

By Thomas C. Mountain

20 March, 2006
Countercurrents.org

In India, supposedly the worlds largest democracy, the leadership of the rapidly growing Dalit movement have nothing good to say about Mohandas K. Gandhi. To be honest, Gandhi is actually one of the most hated Indian leaders in the hierarchy of those considered enemies of India's Dalits or "untouchables" by the leadership of India's Dalits.

Many have questioned how could I dare say such a thing?

In reply I urge people outside of India to try and keep in mind my role as the messenger in this matter. I am the publisher of the Ambedkar Journal, founded in 1996, which was the first publication on the internet to address the Dalit question from the Dalits viewpoint. My co-editor is M. Gopinath, who includes in his c.v. being Managing Editor of the Dalit Voice newspaper and then going on to found Times of Bahujan, national newspaper of the Bahujan Samaj Party, India's Dalit party and India's youngest and third largest national party. The founding President of the Ambedkar Journal was Dr. Velu Annamalai, the first Dalit in history to achieve a Ph.d in Engineering. My work with the Dalit movement in India started in 1991 and I have been serving as one of the messengers to those outside of India from the Dalit leaders who are in the very rapid process of organizing India's Dalits into a national movement. The Dalit leadership I work with recieved many tens of millions of votes in the last national election in India. With that out of the way, lets get back to the 850 million person question, why do Dalits hate M.K. Gandhi?

To start, Gandhi was a so called "high caste". High castes represent a small minority in India, some 10-15% of the population, yet dominate Indian society in much the same way whites ruled South Africa during the official period of Apartheid. Dalits often use the phrase Apartheid in India when speaking about their problems.

The Indian Constitution was authored by Gandhi's main critic and political opponent, Dr.Ambedkar, for whom our journal is named and the first Dalit in history to receive an education (if you have never heard of Dr. Ambedkar I would urge you to try and keep an open mind about what I am saying for it is a bit like me talking to you about the founding of the USA when you have never heard of Thomas Jefferson).

Most readers are familiar with Gandhi's great hunger strike against the so called Poona Pact in 1933. The matter which Gandhi was protesting, nearly unto death at that, was the inclusion in the draft Indian Constitution, proposed by the British, that reserved the right of Dalits to elect their own leaders. Dr. Ambedkar, with his degree in Law from Cambridge, had been choosen by the British to write the new constitution for India. Having spent his life overcoming caste based discrimination, Dr. Ambedkar had come to the conclusion that the only way Dalits could improve their lives is if they had the exclusive right to vote for their leaders, that a portion or reserved section of all elected positions were only for Dalits and only Dalits could vote for these reserved positions.

Gandhi was determined to prevent this and went on hunger strike to change this article in the draft constitution. After many communal riots, where tens of thousands of Dalits were slaughtered, and with a leap in such violence predicted if Gandhi died, Dr. Ambedkar agreed, with Gandhi on his death bed, to give up the Dalits right to exclusively elect their own leaders and Gandhi ended his hunger strike.Later, on his own death bed, Dr. Ambedkar would say this was the biggest mistake in his life, that if he had to do it all over again, he would have refused to give up Dalit only representation, even if it meant Gandhi's death.

As history has shown, life for the overwhelming majority of Dalits in India has changed little since the arrival of Indian independence over 50 years ago. The laws written into the Indian Constitution by Dr. Ambedkar, many patterned after the laws introduced into the former Confederate or slave states in the USA during reconstruction after the Civil War to protect the
freed black Americans, have never been enforced by the high caste dominated Indian court system and legislatures. A tiny fraction of the "quotas" or reservations for Dalits in education and government jobs have been filled. Dalits are still discriminated against in all aspect of life in India's 650,000 villages despite laws specifically outlawing such acts. Dalits are the victims of economic embargos, denial of basic human rights such as access to drinking water, use of public facilities and education and even entry to Hindu temples.

To this day, most Indians still believe, and this includes a majority of Dalits, that Dalits are being punished by God for sins in a previous life. Under the religious codes of Hinduism, a Dalits only hope is to be a good servant of the high castes and upon death and rebirth they will be reincarnated a high caste. This is called varna in Sanskrit, the language of the original Aryans who imposed Hinduism on India beginning some 3,500 years ago. Interestingly, the word "varna" translates literally into the word "color" from Sanskrit.

This is one of the golden rules of Dalit liberation, that varna means color, and that Hinduism is a form of racially based oppression and as such is the equivalent of Apartheid in India. Dalits feel that if they had the right to elect their own leaders they would have been able to start challenging the domination of the high castes in Indian society and would have begun the long walk to freedom so to speak. They blame Gandhi and his hunger strike for preventing this. So there it is, in as few words as possible, why in todays India the leaders of India's Dalits hate M.K. Gandhi.

This is, of course, an oversimplification. India's social problems remain the most pressing in the world and a few paragraphs are not going to really explain matters to anyones satisfaction. The word Dalit and the movement of a crushed and broken people, the "untouchables" of India, is just beginning to become known to most of the people concerned about human rights in the world. As Dalits organize themselves and begin to challenge caste based rule in India, it behooves all people of good conscience to start to find out what the Dalits and their leadership are fighting for. A good place to start is with M.K. Gandhi and why he is so hated by Dalits in India.


Thomas C. Mountain is the publisher of the Ambedkar Journal on India's Dalits, founded in 1996. His writing has been featured in Dalit publications across India, including the Dalit Voice and the Times of Bahujan as well as on the front pages of the mainstream, high caste owned, Indian press. He would recommend viewing of the award winning film "Bandit Queen" as the best example of life for women and Dalits in India's villages, which is the story of the life of the late, brutally murdered, Phoolan Devi, of whose international defense committee Thomas C. Mountain was a founding member. He can be reached at tmountain@hawaii.rr.com
http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-mountain200306.htm


The BSE Sensex rallied 3.2 per cent on Monday to their highest close in two months as rate cuts and an economic package to boost faltering economic growth drove financials, cement and autos higher.
Sentiment was also lifted after markets across the world climbed as low prices and hopes for a global economic recovery later this year prompted a shift into riskier assets.

After markets had closed on Friday, the Reserve Bank slashed short-term interest rates by 1 per centage point and the government unveiled plans to increase foreign inflow of funds.

"We believe the measures to enhance credit availability and the measures to boost infrastructure are relatively stronger measures," analyst Manishi Raychaudhuri at BNP Paribas said in a report.

Energy group Reliance Industries jumped 6.4 per cent to 1,365.75 rupees, its biggest single-day per centage rise in nearly three months, after oil prices climbed 3 per cent amid rising tension in the Middle East.

Higher oil prices would lift Reliance's refining margins and the economy boosting measures by the government could raise demand for fuel and petrochemicals, traders said.

Construction, cement, financials and auto firms rose on hopes the rate cut and federal government moves to draw more funds into the country will boost demand.

The 30-share benchmark index rose 3.19 per cent, or 317.38 points, to 10,275.60, its highest close since Nov. 10.

Twenty-three of its components rose. The benchmark had risen 6.7 per cent last week in anticipation of the rate cuts.

"We believe that the fiscal measures ... and increasing public spending will likely be most effective in the current environment of risk aversion, where the private sector leveraging is unlikely to pick up," Morgan Stanley said.

No. 2 lender ICICI Bank rose 6 per cent to 499.65 rupees, its highest close in more than three months, while top lender State Bank of India gained 2.4 per cent to 1,361.20 as investors expected banks to gain from higher bond prices as interest rates soften.

"While we welcome these counter-cyclical measures as a timely boost to confidence, we do not think that they will materially change the growth outlook," Goldman Sachs said in a report.

It continued to expect Indian economic growth to slow to 6.7 per cent in FY09 and 5.8 per cent in FY10.

Jayesh Shroff, a fund manager at SBI Mutual Funds, said shares prices had factored in dismal quarterly earnings due this month after the BSE index slumped more than half in 2008 in its worst performance ever.

Still, there could be negative surprises, he said.

Earnings of the top-30 BSE index companies are expected to drop 0.2 per cent on year, compared with a growth of 5.5 per cent in the September quarter, Morgan Stanley said in a research note.

It would be the first year-on-year dip in quarterly earnings for the benchmark index since 1999, it said.

The earnings parade will be kicked off by private sector lender Axis Bank on Friday, followed by IT bellwether Infosys Technologies on Jan. 13.

Embattled Satyam Computer Services fell 6 per cent to 166.90 rupees on concerns that corporate governance issues could hit new business.

Traders said wary investors were also paring positions after the stock rose more than 50 per cent from its lows on Dec. 24.

In the broader market 1,686 gainers led 866 losers on heavy volume of 391 million shares.

The 50-share NSE index was up 2.5 per cent at 3,121.45.


FBI to confront Pak with 26/11 evidence: US




New Delhi Piling up pressure on Pakistan, the US on Monday said an FBI team will take the evidence it has gathered in the Mumbai attacks to Islamabad and pursue the probe into the terror strike ‘to its conclusion’.
"The FBI will pursue the evidence gathered there (in Mumbai) and they will eventually take the evidence to Pakistan because under our law, if Americans are killed, the US itself has a duty to pursue all avenues to the bottom of it," US Ambassador in Delhi David C Mulford told reporters in New Delhi.

"This is what the FBI is doing and will do in coming weeks and months," he said.

Noting that the US has been rallying behind India on the issue of November 26 Mumbai attacks, Mulford said Washington will pursue the investigation into the carnage to its ‘conclusion’.

"The FBI has been in Mumbai since early December and has, I must say, been welcomed there. The level of cooperation offered to the FBI is very very significant and very much appreciated by the United States," he said.

Asked about reports that Pakistan has rejected evidence given by the FBI, Mulford evaded a direct reply.

"I cannot comment on that because I don't think the process is anyway completed," he said.

Describing the cooperation offered by India to FBI as ‘very very positive experience’, he said some agency officials were still in Mumbai.

On whether FBI will be allowed into Pakistan to probe the Pakistani links into the attacks, Mulford said the American agency will be granted access to the country.

"The US has an FBI representative in Pakistan at the embassy there. So there is a person there and FBI people will certainly be granted access to Pakistan," he said.

Asked whether Pakistan was doing enough on the issue, he said, "The US will pursue this matter to its conclusion.

"The US will receive from the Indian Government what ever evidence there is. Because we have been involved in helping it gather evidence," he said.

Asked to clarify US position on whether it supports India's demand of handing over terrorists by Pakistan involved in the terror acts, Mulford said Washington has been supporting India on this issue as it is evident from the visits of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and other senior military and intelligence officials.

"They have all made clear the support of the US. There can be no doubt at all on that," he added.

On reports of 'Jamaat-ud-Dawa', the front organization of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, that was banned by UN Security Council in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks resurrecting under a new name, he only said "I cannot comment on that except that when names are changed, you know you don't change the spots on the leopard."

Asked to comment on India's handing over of evidence to Pakistan linking that country to the Mumbai attacks, he said "It's not possible for me to comment on an ongoing investigation."

Mulford said the investigations were taking "a great deal of time."

"They take a long time to be accomplished. They have to be done with many many different factors in mind, including evidence gathered that can be used in court," he said.

India hands over dossier on Mumbai attacks to Pak
Islamabad (PTI): India on Monday handed over a dossier on its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks to Pakistan, which sought cooperation between the two countries in the investigations to gather "legally scrutable" evidence.

High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal called on Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir in the Foreign Office here and handed over "an information dossier on the status of investigations thus far by India into the Mumbai terrorist attacks", said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Bashir told Pal that Pakistan was "carrying out its own investigations and was determined to uncover the full facts pertaining to the Mumbai terrorist attacks".

He "underscored that Pakistan and India must cooperate in the investigations with a view to gathering evidence that was legally scrutable".

The same information was shared by Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon with Pakistan's High Commissioner Shahid Malik in New Delhi earlier in the day. Bashir said the Pakistan government will "evaluate the information provided by India so far".

The Foreign Office statement said the Indian government had "expressed the hope that it will receive cooperation of the government of Pakistan in carrying out further investigations".

Bashir also said it was Pakistan's desire to deal effectively with terrorism, which was a "regional phenomenon and required close cooperation".

Bashir reiterated Pakistan's proposals for a joint investigation into the Mumbai attacks and for sending a high-level delegation to India to discuss the sharing of information.

Pakistan also wanted to constitute a joint commission headed by the National Security Advisers of the two countries, he said.

Earlier, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq had said Pakistan is examining "information" on the Mumbai attacks handed over by India.

Pakistan's top leadership also told visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher that the government is examining the evidence and a formal response would be framed shortly.

Boucher's arrival in Islamabad this morning coincided with the handing over of evidence by India on the terrorist incident in its financial hub that killed over 180 people.

Though there was no official word on Boucher's meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, official sources were quoted by TV channels as saying that the Pakistani leaders had informed the US diplomat that Islamabad's formal response to the information provided by New Delhi would be framed shortly.

Edible oil deficit may rise 73%: Assocham

New Delhi India's edible oil import is likely to shoot up 73 per cent by 2020 and may rise further if the current growth of production is not maintained.
According to a report by industry body Assocham, the deficit between demand and supply in edible oils, to be bridged through imports, will surge to 8.1 million tonnes from the current 4.71 million tonnes.

However, the report warns that the situation may get worse if growth in domestic vegetable oil production is not maintained.

"Even maintaining the growth rate in the production of vegetable oils won't be an easy task especially when there is increasing competition among different crops for the cultivable land, and irrigation facilities are not improving as desired," it said.

Edible oil production in the country is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.26 per cent, it said, adding that the output in 2006-07 touched 11.42 million tonnes, compared with 4.96 million tonnes in 1986-87.

On the other hand, edible oil consumption in the country has risen at a CAGR of 4.25 per cent to 11.45 million tonnes in 2006-07 from merely 4.95 million tonnes in 1986-87, the study pointed out.

Since the rise in supply is increasingly falling short of demand, the country's dependence on imports is only expected to shoot up.

"As edible oil consumption is expected to grow with increasing population and per capita consumption, the country is likely to remain heavily dependent on imports as production growth is not sufficient to bridge this gap," it said.

Adding to the problem of productivity, the scope for expansion in areas under oilseeds, too, remains limited.

India shares Mumbai terror attack proof with China

India on Monday shared with China evidence about involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the Mumbai terror attacks and urged Beijing to use its influence with its ally Islamabad to cooperate on the issue. Foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon gave details of the Mumbai attacks to Chinese vice foreign minister He Yafei, who has been sent here as a special envoy amid a chill in Indo-Pak ties in the aftermath of the November 26 terror strikes. During the two-hour-long meeting, Menon apprised He Yafei about the evidence showing that 10 heavily-armed terrorists were sent from Karachi to Mumbai to carry out attacks and that the three-day-long operation was guided from Pakistan. India has compiled a dossier of evidence which includes confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the attack, satellite phone intercepts and record of logbooks recovered from a ship by which ten heavily armed terrorists came from Karachi to Mumbai on November 26.

Menon is understood to have urged the Chinese minister that his country should use its influence with Pakistan to ensure that the perpetrators of the attacks are brought to justice and that such strikes do not take place in the future. He Yafei, who arrived here on Sunday evening, suggested that India and Pakistan should hold dialogue to resolve the issue.

"We had very good talks with the foreign secretary... We got a full briefing from our (Indian) colleagues. We would study them of course... We would see," He Yafei told reporters after his meeting with Menon when asked about evidence.He noted that India has already shared the evidence with Pakistan.


17 injured in CPM-RSP clash
5 Jan 2009, 0213 hrs IST, TNN

KOLKATA: Seventeen people, including a Madhyamik candidate and three other students, were injured after being caught in a brawl between CPM and RSP
supporters at Nirdeshkhali in Basanti, South 24-Parganas, on Sunday.

The violence brought back memories of May 2008, when the kin of an RSP minister were killed in an attack.

For the last few days, villagers belonging to two rival political camps have been at loggerheads over the installation of a water pump. Some of them claimed that the pump has been installed on land given by RSP supporter Rauf Ali Peyada and he should be employed as the pump operator. Peyada, a poor farmer, would have earned Rs 3,500-Rs 4000 per month had he got the job. But the job was given to CPM panchayat samity member Arjed Ali Sheikh.

Rauf had lodged complaints to the BDO and local police station against this. A meeting was held and it was decided that Rauf would get the job. But Arjed refused to leave the post. He would switch on the pump and switch it off at regular intervals. But for the last few days, Arjed's son Siraj aka Pote used to operate the pump instead of his father. RSP supporters raised objections to this.

On Sunday, Pote came to the tap around 6.30 am, but was stopped by a group of RSP supporters. They asked him to go back and send his father. Pote went back home and told Arjed about the incident. A couple of hours later, Arjed, with a group of about 25 supporters armed with country-made revolvers and crude bombs, attacked RSP supporters. The unprepared RSP men fled the spot.

But after a few hours, the RSP supporters regrouped and launched a counter-offensive on the CPM supporters. This was the beginning of a two-hour-long pitched battle.

Salim Ahmed Peyada, a Madhyamik candidate, and three other students between 6-8 years were on their way to school when they got caught in the crossfire. A bullet grazed past Salim's throat. The others Rezaul Sardar, Mofazzil Peyada and Shahadat Peyada were hit by splinters.

Local RSP leader Saheb Ali Peyada claimed that he was the target of the attack. "I have mobilised villagers against CPM's atrocities. Now they are trying to finish me," said Peyada.

Senior CPM leader and politburo member Shyamal Chakraborty said, "We have always urged our supporters to maintain peace in the area. We are all members of Left Front and such incidents are unacceptable."

CPM's Nirdeshkhali local committee secretary Sudarshan Samul alleged that it was a planned attack by the RSP. "The panchayat samity is in our control, but they are trying to undermine our strength. That is the reason why they attacked our panchayat samity member Arjed," Samul said.

The 17 injured people have been brought to the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. Five of them had to undergo operation. Three were released.

'Govt should legalize auto fleet'
5 Jan 2009, 0215 hrs IST, TNN

KOLKATA: Automobile and environment experts want the government to legalize the entire autorickshaw fleet of the city to combat pollution. If a
large number illegal autos are not able to switch over to LPG mode because they will not receive incentives, they will keep polluting the air and there would be virtually no check on the fleet of illegal autos. This deprivation will lead to fresh social unrest, felt experts.

There are approximately 40,000 illegal autos in the city. The problem is that around 25,000 of them have some documents, such as registration numbers, tax tokens, insurance and PUC papers, but the rest do not have any papers. These are known only by their chassis number.

According to transport department officers, these autos would not get any financial sops provided by the government, banks and three-wheeler manufacturers. "So, these autos will eventually run disguised as green autos and continue to pollute the air," said automobile expert Prof P K Bose, who's also the director of National Institute of Technology, Silchar and Agartala.

"If a large number of autos still run on kata tel and pollute the city's ambient air, the entire purpose of autos switching over to LPG mode will be defeated. Since these illegal autos have become the majority on most auto routes, doing away with these autos is a near-impossible proposition. They will come back on the roads to pollute, maybe after a short hibernation," said auto emission consultant S M Ghosh.

"There is no point entering into the legal and illegal muddle. To the eyes of an environment-conscious person, what is most important is whether auto pollution has substantially reduced or not. If only a section switches over to LPG mode while the others keep on polluting, it is of no use. So, the government must think of switching the entire auto fleet to LPG mode. Only that would bring about the desired effect," said environment crusader Subhas Dutta.

Transport economist Ardhendu Shekar Gupta also called for legalizing the fleet. "Legalization of the fleet would ease the problem. There will be less friction in the switchover process because autos are the livelihood of a large number of people. The current resistance is largely because a large section of auto operators find themselves ostracized by the government in the switchover process," he said.

"Suppose 70,000 or 80,000 autos were legalized. The government should make it clear that not a single auto beyond this limit would be allowed to ply. Once you set the upper limit, the illegal plying of autos would automatically stop. Besides, the government would have a complete database on the city's auto fleet, and there would be better monitoring on these autos," Gupta added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata_/Govt_should_legalize_auto_fleet/articleshow/3935326.cms

Terror kills more in Northeast than in J&K
5 Jan 2009, 0247 hrs IST, Subodh Varma, TNN

NEW DELHI: The serial blasts in Guwahati on New Year’s Day were a chilling reminder to the country of a forgotten but deadly war being fought in
the Brahmaputra valley and the surrounding hills.

In the year just gone by, over a thousand persons were killed in terrorist related violence in the seven states of the northeast. The bulk of these deaths occurred in just two states - Assam and Manipur. Assam reported 372 fatalities while the death toll in Manipur was just shy of 500, second only to Kashmir, which recorded 539 deaths.

While the country has been preoccupied with Kashmir and escalating terrorist violence elsewhere, separatist violence in northeast has crept up. Data from the South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP) shows that the total number of deaths in this region has increased from 640 in 2006 to 1057 in 2008.

These figures include a steadily increasing number of fatalities among the separatists themselves, but there is a parallel rise in deaths of innocent civilians as the terrorists take recourse to bombings like the one in Guwahati on Thursday.

The number of terrorists killed has increased from 317 in 2006 to 501 in 2007 and further to 612 in 2008. But the civilian death toll too has mounted from 231 in 2006 to 405 in 2008. Casualties among security forces operating in the region have declined drastically from 92 in 2006 to 40 in 2008. An estimated 2 lakh persons are reported to be internally displaced due to ethnic strife.

Northeast is no stranger to insurgencies with all its seven states having witnessed some form of armed separatism over the last six decades. In the 15 years since 1994, an estimated 16,271 persons have been killed in this volatile region.

A combination of persistent economic backwardness and the presence of several dozen ethnic groups has
made this region a crucible of identity politics. Nearly 20% of the 50 million people of the region are below the poverty line. Of the 635 tribal groups identified by the Anthropological Survey of India, 213 reside in the northeast.

Some states have a very low or passive level of separatist activity like Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. In Mizoram, the insurgency ended in 1986 after the accord between the Union government and the Mizo National Front led by Laldenga. Meghalaya too has a relatively lower and declining level of terrorist activity although a number of separatist groups are active in extortion and other criminal activities.

Tripura, which till a decade back was a hotbed of terrorist actions, appears to have overcome the menace through a determined political effort.

But in three states - Assam, Manipur and Nagaland - separatist violence continues with an incendiary mix of ethnic strife. While terrorist actions in Assam still get attention, Manipur, with the second highest number of terrorist related deaths after Kashmir, has remained below the national radar. All 59 police stations in the state
have reported terrorist activities, and 32 of them have been placed in the high violence category.

SATP estimates that there are at least 15 major militant groups with approximately 10,000 cadre active in the state. The desperate situation is highlighted by the fact that Manipur continues to remain classified as a disturbed area since the 1970s.

It has a higher police-to-population ratio than the national average and yet there is no end to violence.

Assam, the biggest state in the northeast, has been the hunting ground of Ulfa despite several army operations against it, including the 2005 sweep in sanctuaries in the Bhutanese foothills.

Decades of Ulfa violence has spawned rival outfits from amongst plains tribals and Muslims, leading to an ever escalating spiral of violence on innocent civilians of every community. Current estimates put active terrorist groups at 12, while inactive groups number over 20. Recent reports suggest that Ulfa has also tied up with some factions of Naga separatist groups, operating in Nagaland and Manipur.

QnA: Why has every central government till date failed to address the issues prevailing in North East India?

Air India sacks 10 overweight air-hostesses grounded earlier
New Delhi (PTI): Air India has terminated the services of at least 10 air hostesses, who were earlier grounded, for being overweight.



Confirming the decision, an airline spokesperson said the termination of their services was carried out "strictly under the terms of their appointment."

Airline sources said the "overweight" hostesses were given sufficient opportunity to reduce their weight to the acceptable standards. They were also offered alternate jobs on ground, which they refused to accept, they said.

The sources said while 10 air hostesses were sacked in the Northern Region, there were some more across the country who have been served similar notices.

The sacked air hostesses, however, said that the action of the national carrier was illegal as they were not served any notice and the decision was taken when the matter was pending in the Supreme Court.

"The action is illegal and against the natural justice. I will soon file an application in the Supreme Court against the order," advocate Arvind Sharma, lawyer of the air hostesses, told PTI.

The Air India, however, justified, its action and said that Delhi High Court had upheld its policy of taking action against overweight air hostesses and the verdict has not been stayed by the apex court.

The apex court on September last had agreed to hear the plea of the air hostesses challenging Airline's policy of taking punitive action against them for being overweight.

"If we find merit (in air hostesses plea) we will restore your service," the court had said while issuing notice to the Airlines on the petition of the five air hostesses challenging the Delhi High Court.

Stimulus package for exporters put into operations
New Delhi (PTI): The government on Monday started putting the stimulus package into operation for exporters by hiking the duty refund rates and restoring them to the level before November 5, 2008, when the reimbursement was cut.

As promised in the second stimulus package, unveiled on January 2, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has also notified extension of the popular Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme for refund of taxes to exporters, till December, 2009.

The government had cut the tax refund rates for exporters in November after rupee appreciated fast to give higher realisations. However, with the worsening of the global markets, mainly the US and Europe, exports have started contracting putting lakhs of jobs at risk.

Concerned over the plight of exporters and the employment stakes in the sector, the government in the second stimulus package announced restoration of the the DEPB benefits taken away in November.

In the first package, the exporters were given interest subsidy of two per cent.

However, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations has expressed disappointment with the sops warning the government of "huge" job losses if more concessions were not given.

India exported goods worth over USD 160 billion last year and the target for the current fiscal is set at USD 200 billion.

Kilinochchi, virtually a ghost city
Kilinochchi (PTI): Deserted streets, roof-less buildings and a giant water tank fallen facewards -- the once bustling de facto LTTE capital wears a ghostly look with some one lakh residents appearing to have melted away.

"Welcome to the Tamil Eelam Health Centre," says a banner outside a hospital in Kilinochchi, which was recaptured after 10 years by the Sri Lankan troops last week giving a major blow to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

There are no inmates or doctors but only a structure bereft of ceiling, which the army says has been removed by the LTTE to use the metal roof and asbestos for building bunkers.

A team of select mediapersons taken on a tour by the Sri Lankan army to the run-down city saw a town which was unoccupied barring soldiers everywhere.

The soldiers told the media team that much as they wanted the citizens to remain where they were as the government was preparing to rehabilitate them, they suspected the civilians moved along with the LTTE under "intimidation".

Most of the abandoned houses are roof-less, but the walls are colourfully painted, many with mild hues. According to some, the civilians in the LTTE areas chose to have colours soothing to the eyes to depict tranquility and peace instead of a garish paint.

The tastefully painted and sculpted Tamil temples were left intact without any damage and as a soldier commented in broken English," even the Lord is waiting for the pujas to recommence".

"If you see the temples in the city you can find they have been treated with reverence and (there is) not a trace of destruction," a senior commander said.

While some portion of the A-9 highway was motorable, many stretches only raked up sand and mud.

The city estimated to have had over one lakh people will need a lot of repair work to be fit for occupation.

Asked about the time required to rebuild the Kilinochchi city, army technicians said even Jaffna bore such a look when it was recaptured from the LTTE years ago but over the period it was restored.

"Many houses don't have roofs. They would have to be redone. But our primary job is to get back the people who have moved off with the LTTE," an army officer said.

The big shock for the army came when they saw a huge destroyed gigantic structure in the night.

"Two or three days ago when our soldiers marched into the city we thought some elephants have died there," said an army jawan trying to explain about the fall of a 200-feet overhead tank having a capacity to store thousands of gallons of water.

When asked whether the giant tank could have been destroyed due to an air attack, an brigade commander said there were traces of explosive at the roots of the tank.

"What we make of it is that the LTTE, while leaving the city, have tried to damage the infrastructure to inconvenience our marching soldiers," the commander said.

"If you see the temples in the city you can find they have been treated with reverence and (there is) not a trace of destruction," a senior commander said.

While some portion of the A-9 highway was motorable, many stretches only raked up sand and mud.

The city estimated to have had over one lakh people will need a lot of repair work to be fit for occupation.

Asked about the time required to rebuild the Kilinochchi city, army technicians said even Jaffna bore such a look when it was recaptured from the LTTE years ago but over the period it was restored.

"Many houses don't have roofs. They would have to be redone. But our primary job is to get back the people who have moved off with the LTTE," an army officer said.

The big shock for the army came when they saw a huge destroyed gigantic structure in the night.

"Two or three days ago when our soldiers marched into the city we thought some elephants have died there," said an army jawan trying to explain about the fall of a 200-feet overhead tank having a capacity to store thousands of gallons of water.

When asked whether the giant tank could have been destroyed due to an air attack, an brigade commander said there were traces of explosive at the roots of the tank.

"What we make of it is that the LTTE, while leaving the city, have tried to damage the infrastructure to inconvenience our marching soldiers," the commander said.
Pashupatinath row: Koirala asks Maoists to reinstate Indian priests
Kathmandu (IANS): The unprecedented row at Nepal's revered Pashupatinath temple has put Nepal's Maoist government under mounting pressure with former prime minister and current opposition leader Girija Prasad Koirala Monday asking for the reinstatement of the ousted Indian priests.

Koirala, regarded as the architect of the peace agreement that ended Nepal's 10-year Maoist insurgency and helped the guerrillas return to mainstream politics, Monday met Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.

He advised the former guerrilla leader to reinstate Mahabaleshwor Bhatt, the chief priest at the hallowed shrine who had been invited from India's Karnataka state eight years ago, as well as three other Indian priests, who had been his assistants.

On Sunday, the Maoist Minister for Culture and State Restructuring Gopal Kiranti had ruled out reinstating the Indian priests, saying that they had quit voluntarily and their resignations had been accepted by the trust that administers the shrine.

The meeting between Koirala and Prachanda occurred after Koirala received a visit from former Indian defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Yadav, who had come on a two-day visit to Nepal Sunday at the personal invitation of Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav, had held a press conference Monday before his departure, saying he as agonised by the violence and row engulfing the temple of Pashupatinath, who is worshipped by billions of Hindus worldwide.

The Indian leader said he was returning with a heavy heart since he was compelled to cancel his proposed trip to the 17th century temple due to the growing controversy and urged Prachanda not to drag the deity into a political dispute.

Prachanda will also meet the Nepali president Monday to discuss how to defuse the row that arose after the unceremonious ouster of the Indian priests and the hasty appointment of Nepali priests in their place without following the appointment procedure.

Though Prachanda and his party have been trying to dismiss the row as making a mountain out of a molehill, it has tarnished the image of his party both at home and abroad.

The Maoists have also crossed swords with the Supreme Court that asked the government to stay new appointments and allow the Indian priests to carry on with their duties.

In an unprecedented gesture of defiance, a mob, alleged to be Maoists, attacked temple staffers on the shrine premises Sunday, accusing them of being Indian puppets who were trying to bring deposed king Gyanendra back.

At least 10 people, including a journalist, were injured in the attack.

On Monday, even the government's biggest ally, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, advised Prachanda not to politicise the appointments.

The government began a foot march Monday saying it would help maintain religious harmony and give an accurate picture of the situation.

Boucher conferred Pakistan's highest civilian honour

Islamabad (PTI): President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday conferred one of Pakistan's highest civilian honours on US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher for his role in promoting "stable, broad-based and long-term" bilateral ties.

The 'Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam' award was presented to Boucher by Zardari at a special ceremony in the Aiwan-e-Sadr or presidential palace here.

The citation read out on the occasion said, "As Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Ambassador Boucher has been instrumental in promoting a stable, broad-based and long-term Pakistan-US relationship.

Boucher has been visiting Pakistan frequently for deepening bilateral cooperation in diverse areas as well as promoting shared objectives for regional peace, stability and prosperity."

The US Assistant Secretary of State thanked the government for conferring the award on him.

Boucher is visiting Islamabad to hold talks with the country's political leadership to take forward the investigations into the Mumbai terror strikes and ease tensions between India and Pakistan.

The 1990s Anti-Alcohol Movement in Andhra Pradesh, India
In 1991, women from the rural Dubuganta district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh sought to address growing alcohol dependency among men and the consequent problems of domestic abuse and squandered household income by staging protests aimed at forcing out local liquor traders. The protests quickly spread across the whole state. The struggle catalyzed a larger social movement, known as the Anti-Liquor Movement, leading ultimately to a state-wide ban on alcoholic beverages, passed in 1995.

The Anti-Liquor Movement was a significant political achievement because:

It forged a coalition between rural and urban women of different castes and religions, and
It transformed a 'women's issue' into a campaign platform issue that significantly determined the outcome of the 1994 state election.

In 1992, the movement entered the domain of electoral politics, asking that parties declare their positions on the prohibition of alcohol. In 1994, the Telugu Desam Party, which had campaigned on a platform of prohibition and received support from women's groups, won state-level elections. The party passed the prohibition law a month after taking power.

Although the prohibition was partially abandoned in 1997, the antiliquor movement helped increase the participation of women in the public sphere and empowered women to mobilize effectively.
http://www.unifem.org/progress/2008/politicsFS_box2c.html

India turning rhetoric against Pak into a 'bail-out': BJP
New Delhi (PTI): In the wake of Pakistan's refusal to extradite those guilty in the Mumbai terror attacks, BJP on Monday accused the UPA government of converting the "warning rhetoric" into a "bail-out plan" for the neighbouring country.

"It seems that the warning rhetoric of the UPA government against Pakistan has converted into a bail out plan for the neighbouring country from its participation in 26/11 attack in Mumbai," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

Javadekar alleged that Home Minister P Chidambaram's recent statement where he had stated that Pakistan would have to "pay enormously" if a strike like the Mumbai terror attack is repeated was a testimony to this bail-out plan.

He alleged that of late the government was "warning Pakistan for the future, and in a way condoning the present act".

Javadekar alleged the UPA government had committed four "cardinal sins" since it came to power in 2004.

Enumerating them, he said, "Not making any reference to the Musharaf-Vajpayee joint statement of January 6, 2004; calling Pakistan a victim of terror; stating that the India-Pakistan peace process would not be disrupted due to terror attacks; and, declaring a joint terror mechanism with perpetrators of terror- Pakistan."

The saffron party said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's statement that it cannot extradite the terror suspects as there is no extradition treaty with India was "not acceptable".

"Pakistan is bound by the UN Charter to fight terror, various bilateral agreements and the SAARC Charter. Pakistan cannot avoid its responsibility under the excuse of having no extradition treaty," Javadekar said.
CPI(M) should take initiative to consolidate Left unity: AIFB
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The CPI-M should take initiative to consolidate Left unity in India to build a 'people's alternative' to the Congress and BJP at the national level, AIFB secretary and West Bengal agriculture minister Naren Dey said here on Monday.

This was necessary to keep both parties away from power since both parties were two sides of the same coin as far as economic policies and the 'subservient' attitude towards US imperialism was concerned, Dey told reporters.

He said the AIFB, part of the Left group in West Bengal and Tripura, wanted to be part of the ruling LDF combine in Kerala and said it was strange that the party has so far not been included in the front, despite working with them.

"AIFB works with Left parties in Kerala, but it is strange that the party is not part of LDF", he said.

The party has approached both CPI-M and CPI with the request and the former had informed its leaders that they would try to include AIFB in the front, Dey said.

On Centre-State relations, Dey said schemes and assistance from the union government to a state was not a privilege in a federal system, but a constitutional right of the state.

Considering the political background of the state while allotting the Union sponsored schemes would only hamper the true spirit of the federal system, he said.

"The UPA government should stop its step-motherly attitude towards Kerala and West Bengal", Dey added. Dey said he had invited Kerala agriculture minister Mullakara Ratnakaran to West Bengal for a discussion on issues connected with agriculture next month.

'Politicians exploiting illiteracy, ignorance of rural people'
Tirumangalam (PTI): MDMK leader Vaiko on Monday said that politicians were exploiting the illiteracy and ignorance among rural people in this constituency, during the campaign for the January 9 by-election to the constituency.

Addressing a public meeting, he said he had received information of ruling partymen telling people in some areas that video cameras had been installed in all polling booths, to find out whom the public voted for.

"It is not possible to take videos of whom you are voting for. Your vote is a secret," Vaiko told the gathering.

Supreme Court declines PIL on Hindus
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a PIL complaining that Hindus were not getting their due rights.

The apex court said that it has become a trend for every community to complain that it is not getting the due rights.

"Muslims say the same thing. Christians say the same thing that they are not getting their rights," a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Markandey Katju and P Sathasivam said.

Justice Katju, who made the remarks, said "who is stopping Hindus from exercising their rights".

The PIL filed by a Delhi-resident Bal Ram Bali had raised issues related to the community.

Modi to press for coastal security agency in CMs meet
Vadodara (PTI): Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi wants the Centre to set up a coastal security agency in consultation with states for policing the country's coastal areas.

State government sources said here on Monday that the Chief Minister will raise this and other terrorism and security related issues at the chief ministers' meeting to be held in the national capital on Tuesday.

Modi had visited Kutch and Banaskantha districts bordering Pakistan for two days recently to find out the problems being faced by the Border Security Force (BSF) in these areas.

He assured the jawans that he would take up their problems with the Prime Minister during his visit to Delhi on January 6, the sources said.

At the meeting, Modi will also suggest framing of a comprehensive and result oriented strategy to counter the menace of terrorism, the need to boost the morale of security agencies, enactment of more stringent anti-terror laws, immediate approval of GUJCOC and clearance of coastal security projects of Gujarat and Maharashtra. He will insist that the Centre must see to it that no indirect attempt at shielding terrorists or supporting their causes get direct or indirect support from any political party or voluntary organisation, they said.

Gorkhaland activists call strike in Darjeeling hills from Jan 7
Siliguri (West Bengal) (IANS): The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading a movement for a separate Gorkhaland state, called for an indefinite office strike in West Bengal's Darjeeling Hills from Jan 7.

"We've taken a decision not to allow any central government, state government and Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) office to reopen in the Darjeeling hills from Jan 7," GJM press and publicity secretary Binoy Tamang said Monday.

He said GJM activists would not allow any government office to reopen in Darjeeling from Wednesday as part of the protest for Gorkhaland.

"However, the banks, post offices and the BSNL's emergency services will be kept out of the purview of our agitation programme," Tamang said.

Following a decision taken in the party's central committee, the GJM leadership decided to allow the government offices to reopen in Darjeeling hills from Dec 26 last year.

Tamang said the payment boycott of all telephone bills, electricity bills and other government taxes would continue till the demand for a separate state was met by the government.

The GJM, led by its president Bimal Gurung, has been mobilising a movement in the hills for a separate state, besides opposing the Sixth Schedule status for Darjeeling district.

The central government in 2005 conferred the Sixth Schedule status on the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF)-led Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) that ensures greater autonomy to the governing body.

The DGHC was formed in 1988 through an agreement between the central and state governments and the GNLF after the hills witnessed violence for about two years.

BJP: Govt. delaying reduction in prices of petrol, diesel
New Delhi (PTI): In the backdrop of transporters going on strike demanding reduction in prices of diesel, the BJP on Monday accused the government of delaying reduction in prices of petrol and diesel till elections draw close so that it can reap electoral benefits.

"Delaying the announcement of reduction in prices of petrol and diesel may suit the political timeline for UPA, but the masses are suffering as they have to pay the highest price in the world for them," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said at a press conference.

Javadekar alleged this was nothing but a "political ploy" as Petroleum Minister Murli Deora wants to time the reduction of prices to the eve of elections for political gains.

One of the main demands of the striking transporters is reduction of diesel prices by Rs 10 per litre.

BJP said the government should announce relief of Rs 10 per litre for petrol and diesel in the next two days to avoid the effects of the strike on supplies and movement of goods. "It will cripple our economy further and will also result in crisis particularly in power sector," Javadekar said.

He said international prices of crude oil had fallen by 75 per cent from USD140 to USD35 but the Indian government had brought about a reduction of only 10 per cent. "The oil companies are earning a profit of Rs 15 per litre but the government is not willing to pass the benefit to the consumers. Ad valorem duty structure has become a weapon of loot," Javadekar said.

The BJP MP said prices of Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) had fallen in keeping with the international prices but this was not done in the case of petrol and diesel.

The women's movement in India: Action and reflection
The women's movement in India is a rich and vibrant movement which has taken different forms in different parts of the country. Urvashi Butalia contends that the absence of a single cohesive movement, rather than being a source of weakness, may be one of the strengths of the movement. Although scattered and fragmented, it is a strong and plural movement.



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ONE of the most enduring cliches about India is that is a country of contradictions. Like all cliches, this one too has a grain of truth in it. At the heart of the contradiction stand Indian women: for it is true to say that they are among the most oppressed in the world, and it is equally true to say that they are among the most liberated, the most articulate and perhaps even the most free. Can these two realities be simultaneously true?

During the 18 years that India had a woman as Prime Minister the country also saw increasing incidents of violence and discrimination against women. This is no different from any other time: a casual visitor to any Indian city – for example Mumbai – will see hundreds of women, young and old, working in all kinds of professions: doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, scientists... and yet newspapers in India are full of stories of violent incidents against women, of rape, sexual harassment, sometimes even murder. But to have a woman in the highest office of the State and to simultaneously have extreme violence against women are merely the two ends of the scale. As always, a more complex reality lies in between.

Fifty years ago when India became independent, it was widely acknowledged that the battle for freedom had been fought as much by women as by men. One of the methods M K Gandhi chose to undermine the authority of the British was for Indians to defy the law which made it illegal for them to make salt. At the time, salt-making was a monopoly and earned considerable revenues for the British. Gandhi began his campaign by going on a march – the salt march – through many villages, leading finally to the sea, where he and others broke the law by making salt. No woman had been included by Gandhi in his chosen number of marchers. But nationalist women protested, and they forced him to allow them to participate.

Sarojini Naidu

The first to join was Sarojini Naidu, who went on to become the first woman President of the Indian National Congress in 1925. Her presence was a signal for hundreds of other women to join, and eventually the salt protest was made successful by the many women who not only made salt, but also sat openly in marketplaces selling, and indeed, buying it.

Sarojini Naidu's spirit lives on in thousands of Indian women today. Some years ago, Rojamma, a poor woman from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, attended a literacy class. Here, she read a story which described a life very like her own. It talked about a poor woman, struggling to make ends meet, who was regularly beaten by her husband. Whatever he earned, he spent on liquor, and then, drunk and violent, he attacked her because she had no food to give him. Unable to stand the continuing violence, the woman went from house to house, to find every other woman who had the same story to tell. They got together, and decided they would pitch their attack where it hurt most: they would picket liquor shops and stop liquor being sold. Their husbands then would have no liquor to drink, and the money they earned would be saved. Inspired by the story, Rojamma collected her friends together, and they began to picket liquor shops. The campaign spread like wildfire. In village after village, women got together, they talked, they went on strike, they beat up liquor shop owners, they refused to allow their husbands to squander money on liquor. And, they succeeded. The sale of liquor was banned in Andhra Pradesh, reluctantly, by the government for liquor brings in huge amounts of money. As a result, savings went up, violence levels dropped, and the lives of poor women began to improve.

The hundreds of thousands of Rojammas and Sarojini Naidus who are to be found all over India form part of one of the most dynamic and vibrant of political movements in India today, the women's movement. The trajectory of this movement is usually traced from the social reform movements of the 19th century when campaigns for the betterment of the conditions of women's lives were taken up, initially by men. By the end of the century women had begun to organise themselves and gradually they took up a number of causes such as education, the conditions of women's work and so on. It was in the early part of the 20th century that women's organisations were set up, and many of the women who were active in these later became involved in the freedom movement.

Independence brought many promises and dreams for women in India – the dream of an egalitarian, just, democratic society in which both men and women would have a voice. The reality, when it began to sink in was, however, somewhat different. For all that had happened was that, despite some improvements in the status of women, patriarchy had simply taken on new and different forms.

Unfulfilled promises

By the 1960s it was clear that many of the promises of Independence were still unfulfilled. It was thus that the 1960s and 1970s saw a spate of movements in which women took part: campaigns against rising prices, movements for land rights, peasant movements. Women from different parts of the country came together to form groups both inside and outside political parties. Everywhere, in the different movements that were sweeping the country, women participated in large numbers. Everywhere, their participation resulted in transforming the movements from within.

Worried at this increase in political activity, Indira Gandhi's government declared a State of Emergency in 1975, putting a stop to all democratic political activity. Activists, both young and old, women and men, were forced to go underground or to stop all political work. It was only when the Emergency was lifted, some 18 months later, that overground political activity resumed. It was around this time that many of the contemporary women's groups began to get formed, with their members often being women with a history of involvement in other political movements.

One of the first issues to receive countrywide attention from women's groups was violence against women, specifically in the form of rape, and what came to be known in India as 'dowry deaths' – the killing of young married women for the 'dowry' or money/goods they brought with them at marriage. This was also the beginning of a process of learning for women: most protests were directed at the State. Because women were able to mobilise support, the State responded, seemingly positively, by changing the law on rape and dowry, making both more stringent. This seemed, at the time, like a great victory. It was only later that the knowledge began to sink in that mere changes in the law meant little, unless there was a will and a machinery to implement these. And that the root of the problem of discrimination against women lay not only in the law, or with the State, but was much more widespread.

In the early campaigns, groups learnt from day to day that targeting the State was not enough and that victims also needed support. So a further level of work was needed: awareness raising or conscientisation so that violence against women could be prevented, rather than only dealt with after it had happened. Legal aid and counselling centres were set up, and attempts were made to establish women's shelters. It was only when groups began to feel sucked into the overwhelming volume of the day-to-day work of such centres that they began to feel that it was not enough to do what they now saw as 'reformist' and 'non-campaign' work. Knowledge was recognised as an important need. India is such a vast country; what did activists in Karnataka, a state in southern India, know of what was going on in Garhwal in north India? And yet, everywhere you looked, there was women's activity, activity that could not necessarily be defined as 'feminist', but that was, nonetheless, geared towards improving the conditions of women's lives.

In recent years, the euphoria of the 1970s and early 1980s, symbolised by street-level protests, campaigns in which groups mobilised at a national level, the sense of a commonality of experience cutting across class, caste, region and religion – all this seems to have gone, replaced by a more considered and complex response to issues. In many parts of India, women are no longer to be seen out on the streets protesting about this or that form of injustice. This apparent lack of a visible movement has led to the accusation that the women's movement is dead or dying.

Other whipping sticks have been brought out: little has happened to improve women's lives, so how can the movement be called successful? Activists within the movement are urban, Western, and middle class, so the movement was considered an alien thing, a Western product. It has little to do with the lives of thousands of poor, rural, underprivileged women all over India.

These allegations make the classic mistake: they judge a complex reality by that part of it that is most visible. Because urban, middle-class women are visible and articulate, therefore they must be the only participants in the women's movement.

Backbone

The reality is somewhat different. While the participation of urban, middle class women is undeniable, it is not they who make up the backbone of the movement, or of the many, different campaigns that are generally seen as comprising the movement. The anti-alcohol agitation in Andhra Pradesh, and similar campaigns in other parts of India were started and sustained by poor, low-caste, often working-class women. The movement to protect the environment was begun by poor women in a village called Reni in the northern hill regions of India, and only after that did it spread to other parts of the country. There are any number of such examples.

One of the biggest challenges women have had to face in recent years is the growing influence of the religious right in India. Right-wing groups have built much of their support on the involvement of women: offering to help them with domestic problems, enabling them to enter the public space in a limited way, and all the while ensuring that the overall ideology within which they operate remains firmly patriarchal. For activists too, this has posed major problems. It has forced them to confront the fact that they cannot assume a solidarity as women that cuts across class, religion, caste, ethnic difference. And yet, they must hold fast to such an assumption if they are to work with women: for how, as an activist, do you deal with a woman who takes part in a violent right wing demonstration one day, and comes to you for help as a victim of domestic violence the next?

Perhaps the most significant development for women in the last few decades has been the introduction of 33% reservation for women in local, village-level elections. In the early days, when this move was introduced, there was considerable scepticism. How will women cope? Are they equipped to be leaders? Will this mean any real change, or will it merely mean that the men will take a backseat and use the women as a front to implement what they want? While all these problems still remain, in a greater or lesser degree, what is also true is that more and more women have shown that once they have power, they are able to use it, to the benefit of society in general and women in particular.

The women's movement in India today is a rich and vibrant movement, which has spread to various parts of the country. It is often said that there is no one single cohesive movement in the country, but a number of fragmented campaigns. Activists see this as one of the strengths of the movement which takes different forms in different parts. While the movement may be scattered all over India, they feel it is nonetheless a strong and plural force.

It is important to recognise that for a country of India's magnitude, change in male-female relations and the kinds of issues the women's movement is focusing on, will not come easy. For every step the movement takes forward, there will be a possible backlash, a possible regression. And it is this that makes for the contradictions, this that makes it possible for there to be women who can aspire to, and attain, the highest political office in the country, and for women to continue to have to confront patriarchy within the home, in the workplace, throughout their lives. As activists never tire of repeating: out of the deepest repression is born the greatest resistance. (Third World Resurgence No. 94, June 1998)

[c] The above article first appeared in the Communique (Nos. 42-43, July-Aug 1997) and is reproduced with the kind permission of its editors.

Urvashi Butalia is the co-founder of Kali for Women, India's first and only feminist publishing house.
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/india1-cn.htm

Tiny steps to a women's march
8 Mar 2007, 0055 hrs IST, Nitin Sethi, TNN

Almost all women's movement in the Indian hinterland, at some point in their past, have grappled with the problem. Many of these movements were
formed primarily to tackle it and many continue to deal with it. Anti-alcohol addiction movements by women's groups have been the hardest fought battles for years, some of which were won and others lost to an obdurate societal structure.

But it's easy to miss the enormity of the campaign in India because the efforts have been scattered across rural areas and run by communities mostly without outside support, at best turning into regional solidarities. Pick a state with low productivity, stagnant agriculture, conflict or general poverty and you find a collective of women fighting to save their society from alcohol abuse — Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh to name some.

The "Meira Paibis" of Manipur (literally, women's federation), are famous now for their protests against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. But they derive their moral and social recognition from campaigns against drug and alcohol use. Groups of old women patrolling the Manipur valley areas, armed with torches and iron gongs to put a stop to rampant alcohol and drug addiction — it's an image few in Imphal can forget.

They would impose fines of Rs 150 and tie empty liquor bottles to the necks of men found drinking in public and Rs 5,000 on sellers of alcohol. In areas patrolled by the Meira Paibis, drug use patterns changed substantially, with decline in riotous behaviour and greater safety for women at night.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Indian government's ministry of social justice and empowerment brought out a report recording their achievements in 2006. The people of Manipur valley had shown their gratitude much earlier.

The anti-alcohol movement is not limited to women in the hills. Another example of resistance to violence against tribal women branches out of the Shramik Sangathan (tribal landless labourers' movement) of 1972 in Orrisa. During that movement, tribal women would raid so-called alcohol hideouts and trash liquor pots to keep men from getting drunk and beating up their wives and children at home.

Andhra Pradesh's anti-arrack movement was perhaps stronger and more successful. A grassroots women's movement that began in remote Dubagunta village of Nellore district in 1992 gained momentum and culminated in a ban on arrack in the state. The success is attributed to mass literacy campaigns.

Vinod Pavarala, dean of S N School of Communication, University of Hyderabad, says, "The reasons for the protests
were the usual. It was domestic violence, siphoning off of savings to alcohol etc."

But an irony of the campaign lies in the fact that NTR, who was primarily responsible for bringing arrack to every household by packaging it in sachets, later took the credit for the success by banning arrack. During the movement, women collectively made decisions about how to punish or deter men from drinking arrack. Methods varied from parading the drunk men to refusing food and even shaving off half their head.

In Uttarakhand, Vijay Jardhari, a veteran social leader, says, "By the early 70s, the situation had worsened to the point of men were selling seeds for their fields to buy alcohol. That was the time when women decided they had had enough and took to picketing the alcohol shop contractors to stop alcohol trade."

The movement, he says, did have the desired fallout, as the government failed in its attempts to establish liquor shops in the region. "Looking at the success, soon women from other parts united against the spread of alcoholism, which later evolved into collective action against other evils as well."

But Uma Bhatt, one of the key members of the Uttarkhand movement, is jaded and cynical today. "When the movement for a separate state was going on, women thought that statehood and a different government would make a difference. Unfortunately, that's far from the case. Governments remain the same, the contractors want money and the collusion is alive."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Tiny_steps_to_a_womens_march/articleshow/1733700.cms


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