The Country We Live In

We are the world’s largest democracy, one of the most celebrated sturdily projected facts, which need not be deny. We are a country developing as a ratio of around 9% as projected by the business experts. We are the country which is the second best preferred site of investment in the eyes of the business tycoons and multinationals of the world. We are now a country which is the lullaby of the world’s richest countries and their multinational companies. We enjoy it. Celebrate it. We love to be Indian. We feel proud when someone mentions (an NRI) mentions that now they don’t have to tell the people of the host country that what India is. They know us. Our voice is heard now a day on international level.

The national highway no. 8 which leads the wheels to the Gulabi Nagari of the country called Jaipur, shows us the symptoms of the development. Skyscraper buildings, with dark glasses are the common sight on the highway for more than 7-8 kilometres. The national capital is expanding day by day. It is reaching the soil of Rajasthan after crossing the neighbour state Haryana. It’s all evident or made evident in actuality by the Indian nation state. The reality of the fact can’t be undone.

But the nation is witnessing yet another hard fact. A cast called Gujjar of the same region had stopped the normal routine life of the area for last few days. And it is no the first time they have done so. They are doing it in the continuation of their last struggle and they seem more determined this time rather than the last one. They have learnt lessons from the earlier struggle and they are more consolidated and gritty this time. The lifeline of Indian Passengers the Indian Railway has failed to resume its services even after almost one week has crossed.

The other route, the road route is also under threat during the call of bandh and all.

Now look at their demands. The Gujjars are demanding the status of ST for them. The average Indians must be thinking that this is a complete bullshit. The movement to get the status of ST means they want to demote themselves in the social hierarchy. What, it means, do the status of SC/ST has climbed the ladder of social strata. Or do the SC/ST has have atleast a kind of respect in the society. Do they no more in that vulnerable situation like their past? Are they better off? No, the answer should be loud and clear. The SC/ST is still living in mess. They are still at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Neither, the society has overlooked their earlier view about them. The incidents of Dalit killings happening in Haryana and Rajasthan on a regular basis would convey us the ground realities. Then, obviously the reason is to get the privilege SC/ST has been given by the Indian constitution to get over from the vulnerable condition they have to live with.

Now, look at the fact again, Haryana is the most privileged state of India especially after India has adopted the neo-liberal policies and flow of capital started to boost up the Indian economy. Being, the closest neighbour state it become the hot spot for the real state lobby and the industrialist lobby of the country. It has got maximum no. of investment in all these sectors. Gurgaon, the projected picture of new India, pays the state alone the 20% of the total state revenue. But, still the inhabitant of the area, demands that they need the status of SC/ST. What it means? It simply means the whole development has little to do with betterment of the life of the local people. The local population is frustrated with the kind of development India as a state is following. A handful of persons are becoming billionaires at a glance but the local population have been even denied the fundamental services.

It clearly shows that the path India as a state is following for the development of the country is not the right one. Indian rulling class should or have to reconsider its policies of economical growth otherwise it would feel the heat like this more often in near future. The solution of the Gujjar crisis doesn’t lies in giving them reservation. It would only deepen and expand the crisis. The solution of the crisis would be the inclusive economical, social development of the society. How long the ruling class would be overlooking this fact?

By Mrityunjay Prabhakar

View on Regionalism! Case history-Maharashtra

Even after so many years of independence, I think we still are missing the cord of feeling like a nation. In each and every part of our country, now and then, the demon of fraction/partition appears. We can see the example of Maharashtra, Assam, Delhi, Orissa, Gujraat and many more places. Somewhere people were targeted as being minorities, somewhere being Bihari and somewhere for being Dalits. Women and children are the worst hit, I need not to say in all these occurances. So who were left. A handful of people! Who still want to dominant and rule on the society as they were doing since last thousands of years. Although they are spread over in all political outfits but they have a plateform of there own named RSS with its sister, doughter, brother and son organizations. The politics of hatred is not new for our country and till when it is going to be there. We will lag far behind as a nation in imperial experience.
And the causes are really bullshit. They claim that Biharis, Minorities are claiming there opportunities. But no body try to put his or her finger on the other communities who are in bussiness and intelligentia and they are really very powerful. They never touch a Marbadi or Bengali for that reason, who are spread over the country. Why only Bihari's and Minoritoies are on their Radar? This is a question we should ask to ourselfs first then to others. We will come on any possible solution only when we can satisfy ourselves with some answer first rather than just questioning others. Because its our lack of confidence too on these issues which gives them upper hand.
I hope, we will stay and think before questioning others for a possible solution, which lies in our active participation to save the real character of democrary and feel like a nation, as we are supposed to apart from cricket.

By

Mrityunjay Prabhakar

Ram Sethu: Man Made Or Natural

Different agitations are on to oppose Sethusamudram project linking Gulf of Mannar with Palk straight. Dharam Sansad (religious Parliament, a VHP initiative) has been mobilized around 'faith', on the ground that this project will destroy Ramar Sethu, the one which was built by Vanar Sena (Army of Monkeys) to help Ram cross over to Lanka to rescue Sita. The project was supported by most of the political parties in the past including NDA alliance Government. When complete, it will cut short the long journey of the ships from east coast to the west coast, and vice versa. Like Panama Canal it has been conceived to promote the transport, employment and to improve trade. Half way now, it has been facing two oppositions. The one is from the environmentalists, who are worried about the destruction of flora and fauna and the dangers of silting in the canal. These are the arguments which need to be taken seriously.

The other ground, the one based on faith need to be dealt with at another ground. RSS and its affiliates are promoting a view that building this Sethusamudram will involve be destruction of Ramar Sethu which will be detrimental to our faith. The story goes that Ravan, the King of Lanka had abducted Sita to avenge the insult meted out to his sister Shurpnakha, whose proposal for marrying her was turned down by the Lord Ram. Assisted by his loyal devotee Hanuman, the Lord mobilized monkeys and built this bridge. It is claimed that this bridge is a marvel of engineering achievements of the Indian engineers of that time. The assertion is that it shows the acme of technological achievements of this land, and that there are other noteworthy achievements like the advances in aeronautical technologies like aero planes, missiles to name the few.

How do we understand these claims, how do we comprehend this peep in to the past? How do we distinguish fact from fiction, history from mythology? To reconcile history, science and mythology are the complex questions in our public life. To begin with history of events has some definitive characteristics, though their interpretations do vary with the political ideologies. But what about mythology? Here these accounts have been put forward as the fictional accounts of the past. Some of these accounts have been associated with faith. Faith to some extent is natural and sometimes it is being manufactured and asserted for political goals.

As far as Lord Ram's story goes there are several versions of Ramayana, (Many Ramayanas, Richman, OUP). Some of these are very popular like Valmiki Ramayana and Tulasidas Ramcharitmanas. Surely the most popular one currently is the one from Maharashi Ramanand Sagar's mega serial which captivated the nation for couple of years. There are other versions, which have been undermined and attacked mostly for political reasons. Sahmat exhibition on different versions of Lord Ram's story was attacked few years ago. Some politically motivated people could not bear one of the versions presented in this exhibition. It showed that according to Jataka version of Ram Katha, in post Brahminical Buddhist Dashrath Jataka Sita is both as sister and wife of Ram. As per this version Dashrath is King not of Ayodhya but of Varanasi. The marriage of sister and brother is part of the tradition of glorious Kshtriya clans who wanted to maintain their caste and clan purity. This Jataka tale shows Ram to be the follower of Buddha. Similarly in Jain versions of Ramayana project Ram as the propagator of anti-Brahminical Jain values, especially as a follower of non-violence. What do both Buddhist and Jain version have in common is that in these Ravana is not shown as a villain but a great soul dedicated to quest of knowledge and is a spiritual soul, with majestic commands over passions, a sage and a responsible ruler. Popular and prevalent 'Women's Ramayan Songs (of Telugu Brahmin Women), put together by Rangnyakmma, keep the women's concern as the central theme and present alternate perspective. These songs present Sita as finally victorious over Ram and in these Surpanakha succeeds in taking revenge over Ram.

Many people dispute that the Lanka mentioned in Ramayana is not the current Sri Lanka. Since mythology does not require any proof it can be modulated and constructed in to a faith for political purposes. Recently in the Shabri Kumbh held in Dangs in Gujarat, the mythology was modulated in to the service of politics. It was said, and that too with great amount of precision, that a particular hillock, which was earlier called Chamak Dongar, which adivasis used to worship as Shivar Deo (protector of crops), was the precise place where Shabri had offered berries to Lord Ram. It was rechristened and a Shabri temple was built on the spot. Nearby, a river six kilometers away, Purna was named as the one where Guru Matang rishi use to take bath. On the mountain on the stone there were three marks which are being presented as the marks where Laxman had sharpened his arrows.

This Ramar Sethu has been shown to be the pre human structure, called tombol, a sand deposition due to natural process. The Geological Survey of India ruled out its being the manmade (or monkey made), construction. Same way the inference from NASA satellite pictures is that it is due to sedimentation of clay and lime stone. It is tombol in NASA language, connecting one land with another, and that it is from times when human habitation is doubtful.
It is easy to construct a fly over to the future but difficult to prevent the formation of mythological bridges of the past. Mythology can easily be constructed and planted in the peoples psyche as it is driven by political goals and rides on horse of emotion. Reason and logic have no place in this scheme of things. One knows that some Mullahs, having faith in the infinite power of djinns advocated their rulers to invest in the research for making more djinns so that power crisis can be solved. Also with the resurgence of fundamentalism one is hearing that Creation science is back in the race to compete with the theories of evolution. The question is, should we misuse faith, faith which can be an assuaging balm, for building political agendas?


By Ram Puniyani
(Author is secretary of All India Secular Forum)

Religions: For the Nation

The World Parliament of Religions, opened on September 11, 1893 in Chicago where Swami Vivekananda was the greatest figure, reminds us of the importance of religion in every sphere of human life. A nation is not just a conglomeration of people unrelated to any religion or ideology. Religion plays a significant role in shaping a nation. The Indian society has been religiously and culturally pluralistic for a long time, more than any other country in the world. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated and grew on the Indian soil. The Semitic religions of Christianity and Islam came to this country as missionary movements. The tribal and primal religious traditions have their own unique features expressed through oral traditions and distinctive cultural life.
Religions have played an ambiguous role throughout Indian history. Very often religions have hindered social and scientific progress by clinging on to outdated beliefs and practices, such as the ideas of fate and predestination. Religions have justified and legitimized structures of injustice and oppression such as caste discrimination and patriarchal system in our society. Moreover, religions allied with political power have caused communal tensions and conflicts.
But religions also provide visions, values and spiritual resources for purposeful living. They provide spiritual and cultural resources for the survival of different people in their search for identity and dignity. Religions provide strength and resources to fight against injustice in society and propose different solutions to human problems. The plurality of religions introduces an element of choice by providing alternative visions of reality and alternative ways of life. There are peace potentialities, liberating streams or prophetic voices in every religion. Another great advantage of plurality of religions, cultures, ethnic groups and languages is that it can be a guarantee against fascism because it will refuse to accept any ‘‘one and only’’ imposition of a religious or political ideology on all people.
The unity and integrity of our nation is of primary importance. There is a constant fear of terrorism, militancy and other divisive forces operating within and across the borders. For national integration, our first and foremost identity should be as Indian citizens, then our religion or region. For instance, an Indian Hindu should be dearer than a Bangladeshi Muslim to an Indian Muslim and likewise for an Indian Christian vis-a-vis a Christian in the West. Our religious convictions should not contradict patriotism which is inherent in all religions. A Hindu prayer says Om Shanti; Islam means ‘‘peace or submission’’; and a Christian believes Jesus as the ‘‘prince of peace’’. Thus, there is no reason why people of all faiths cannot work together for peace in society.
Historically, it is true that the gap between profession and practice in any religion has been almost unbridgeable and that religious fanaticism has caused untold harm to the society. All religions can play important roles in the process of national integration: by teaching each community to practise what is professed; to be tolerant and respectful toward other religions; to avoid fanaticism and fundamentalism; and then to collaborate with other communities in matters of social and humanitarian concerns towards the making of the nation. Moreover, interfaith relations and cooperation can foster communal harmony and remove misconceptions and prejudices of one community against other communities, thus building trust and fraternity among them.
The basis for interfaith relations should be the common concerns of all religions such as search for peace and justice in society, and unity and integrity of the nation in which religions can play a very vital role. This envisages certain issues that can be sorted out. The great advantage of religions playing significant role in our country lies in our secular democracy. Our secular democracy provides perspectives and challenges where people can enjoy religious freedom and equality and can come together for dialogue and collaboration to tap religious resources in bringing about greater communal harmony, to generate common action to correct social evils, and to work together for national reconstruction. Therefore, interfaith cooperation in this attempt is both disirable and inevitable in our country.

Aziz-ul Haque
(The writer is the Pastor of Guwahati Baptist Church)

UN Warns of Unrest as Food Prices Soar

Copied below is an article of why "development" is death. Development means losing the ability to produce food and other necessities locally. Even if they develop agriculturally, they turn from producing food forthemselves to producing food for export. Consider, for example thatduring the so-called Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, England wasimporting food from Ireland. England had gained control over Ireland such that Ireland had been turned into an export economy, and even ifmillions starved, England could demand, through law and through force,that Ireland export food.

When a people must import food from around the world, those in control of the system will always be able to starve people into compliance. Theprice of Wheat in Chicago will starve the people of India. That isinsanity.

When growth occurs such that populations rise beyond the ability of the local environment to support them without either outside food orwithout chemicals and technology, then those people can be controlled. Those people are also disposable.

Read the article below, and then think about the perspective from which it is written. The article contains two stories, one overt, manifest,the other covert, latent. The overt message is about how food shortagescould be a problem. The latent message is about the developed world's risk of "unrest." The article is NOT about food shortages. It is aboutpoor people rising up because the system would just as soon they starveas live, and the risk that entails for the rich. The article is written to an audience of those in power, a warning to them to prepare fordanger from the poor, for the rich to be prepared to kill.

Buried in the article is the word "warning." Take it seriously.

Those of us lucky enough to have the opportunity need to teach, educate, inform about principles of social justice and human rights. Asa so-called educated person, I am obliged as a person of conscience tohelp use my skills to transform. So, I choose to work in education, and help others also develop this type of skill and knowledge so they canwork in their own domains. To transform the world, we need peopleworking together with a wide variety of skills and talents.

Kind Regards

Daniel Jordan,

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UN warns of unrest as food price inflation hits developing countries

Developing countries face serious social unrest as they struggle to cope with soaring food prices, the United Nations' top agriculture official has warned.

Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, said surging prices for basic food imports such as wheat, corn and milk had the "potential for social tension, leading to social reactions and eventually even political problems".

Mr Diouf said food prices would continue to increase because of a mix of strong demand from developing countries; a rising global population, more frequent floods and droughts caused by climate change; and the biofuel industry's appetite for grains. "

That combination of factors would most likely lead to increases in food prices," Mr Diouf told the Financial Times.

Signs were seen in Mexico this year where mass protests were triggered by rising corn prices. Mr Diouf said food represented about 10-20 per cent of consumer spending in industrialised countries, but up to 65 percent in developing nations. "

If we continue to see an increase in their [food] prices and in their import bill for food, there is a serious potential situation," Mr Diouf said.

The warning comes as wheat prices are at a high, forcing developing countries such as India and Egypt to pay record prices for imports in what cereal traders described as "panic buying" to beef up reserves.

Wheat prices this week rose to a record $8.86 a bushel in Chicago, up about 60 per cent since January. Dairy product prices have also set records, while other commodities, such as corn and soyabeans, are trading well above historical averages.

Mr Diouf said although the biofuel industry directly increased the consumption of only a handful of agricultural commodities, such as corn and rapeseed, its effect spread to other food products because less acreage was devoted to non-biofuel crops and the cost of feeding livestock with grain was pushed up. "

The biofuel industry is a new factor creating demand for food for a non-food use," he said.

Fears about the inflationary impact of biofuels on global food prices have prompted Cargill, the world's largest agricultural company by revenues, to question the White House-led push for an increase in ethanol production through tax subsidies.


By Javier Blas in Rome
Additional reporting by Eoin Callan in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Join the solidarity fast in support of Irom Sharmila

In this age of donor-driven programmes and agendas, and 'career' oriented 'professionals' working on development issues, there is a person like Irom Sharmila, who has been waging a singular battle against the state to repeal AFSPA - she has been fasting since past 7 years now. She has no NGO, no 'strategy', no media/PR liaison, no press release, no banner, and nothing conventional - like no institutional or political or ideological backing, except a STRONG STEELY WILL AND RESOLVE to be true to her own strongest convictions. Join the solidarity fast... from 13 September 2007 onwards...

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Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has been fasting since last 7 years, and government has been forcibly keeping her in hospital confinement for most of the period, has a clear demand: repeal the amended 1972 Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which is operative at the time of a ‘suspected’ riot(s) in order to ‘maintain public order’, allows killing by shooting, entering and search of property, and arbitrary detention, etc., its abuse is currently spawning grave human rights violations in some parts of India. Under the powers of AFSPA, on 2 November 2000, the Indian military opened fire on its own citizens in the state of Manipur. Since then, Irom Sharmila, a resident of the tragic state, has refused to eat and drink anything in resistance to indiscriminate use of the AFSPA against civilians. The response of the Indian government to her resistance has been repetitively evasive: the government has repeatedly arrested her on a charge of ‘attempted suicide’, confined her in hospitals, and then freed her under applicable law, but, up until now, has failed to provide any fundamental alternative to the law in question.

North-East India abounds with sordid sagas of rape and molestation of women with alleged involvement of Armed Forces personnel. Who can forget the stunning sight three years back, of about three dozen naked women protesting on the street outside the then Assam Rifles headquarters at Kangla Fort in Imphal carrying placards saying ‘Indian Army rape us,’outraged by the rape, torture and murder of 32 year old unmarried Thangjam Manorama?

The AFSPA has been used in the north-east of India, to carry out extra judicial killings, extra judicial deprivation of liberty to people by illegal imposition of curfew, long periods of detention at army posts and camps and use of churches and school as detention or interrogation centers. Torture, with a view to extract confessions, includes beating with rifle butts, kicking with boots and hitting with blunt weapons, giving electric shocks, breaking limbs, depriving persons of food, drink and sleep, hanging persons upside down and beating on soles, burying persons alive, stripping, stuffing chilli powder in nose, eyes and private parts, hands and feet tied, and the whole body suspended over fire with a bamboo in between the hands and legs and threat to shoot, interrogation at gun point. Most of these would be considered a serious offence under sections 330 and 331 of the IPC. Provisions of AFSPA make it extremely difficult for a person to seek any legal recourse for justice.

She has no banner, no organization, no vested interest, no press-release, no statement â€" except a compulsive singular demand to repeal AFSPA.

She hasn’t resorted to violence, rather has sacrificed her life to her strongest conviction â€" repeal AFSPA for the larger benefit to humankind, especially to women in conflict-stricken areas.

This is indeed one of the most peaceful non-violent struggles one can come across, and as Dr Pandey noted “I am an atheist. But if there is any divinity it is this. If this is not spiritualism then what is? She is the epitome of purity."

The protest of Irom Sharmila represents the most ideal form of peaceful struggle for a democratic demand. Her victory is essential for the strengthening of democracy in India and for the respect for human rights around the world. Her victory will determine whether the voice of common citizen will be heard or the state will trample over people's rights with anti-people laws and policies. A fast in solidarity, from wherever-you-are in the world, is just one of the easy ways to express your solidarity and strengthen Irom’s voice.

JOIN HANDS... __._,_.___

Supreme Court for another Committee on Shipbreaking

Concerned about Alang workers' health Parliamentary Committee seeks National Policy, Court seeks legislation on ship breaking
Blue Lady still has huge amount of radioactive material besides asbestos, PCBs, Ballast Water, Incineration ash, lead acid batteries and Freon Gas


The Supreme Court today passed an order on the general directions pertaining to ship breaking activity in India. The arguments were heard by the bench presided over by Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S. H. Kapadia. In the order Supreme Court has said that the report submitted by the Technical Experts Committee on Hazardous Wastes relating to ship breaking and the guidelines given by the Supreme Court shall continue to operate till legislation is brought into the effect.
The Supreme Court has also directed that the Committee consisting of MoEF, GPCB, GMB, AERB shall verify all the documents before ship is allowed for breaking. Giving these directions, the Supreme Court has referred to the earlier directions given in the comprehensive order dated 14.10.2003 on Hazardous Waste, Basel Convention and ship breaking. The order on Blue Lady (S S Norway), which was reserved on 5th September, 2007 shall be pronounced later. Now there are three kinds of directions. One, the 14th October, 2003 order. Two, the Supreme Court order in the September 2007 and three, the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee.
Meanwhile contrary to the admission of Gopal Subramanium, Additional Solicitor General in the Supreme Court on 5 September, 2007 that there is radioactive material only in 12 such smoke detectors on the ship named Blue Lady, Tom Haugan, the former Project Manager of the ship has written saying, "Please be adviced that the total numbers of "IONE, BJ-31" detectors with Americium 241 source counts more than 1100 units. These are installed mainly in areas which should have a quick respond to a fire for "warm" smoke and installed in ALL technical rooms engine room spaces etc. In accommodation areas there are installed optical detectors "BH-31" which are detecting smoldering fire better than Ione detectors. This is my confirmation and statement as former project manager for fire detection installation onboard SS Norway." This has been sent on 5th September, 2007.
Haugan has referred to his report that has been submitted in the court wherein it says, "The new fire detection system with Autronica BS-100, installed in 1990 s, was designed with approximately 5500 detection points and have 1100 of radio active elements, Americium 241. All sensors connected to the installed system from 1980 was replaced with Autronica smoke detectors, all loop cabling used and remaining, existing /old detectors from Signalco product was then destructed. From me and all partners within fire detection system equipment deliveries, we are very concerned for any removing / dismantling of all installed radio active detectors from its original back in 1960 and the new system installation. "
Even as the Supreme Court is all set to pronounce its orders in the case of Star Cruise Ltd' ship, Parliamentary Petitions Committee's Report on Blue Lady has been tabled in the Lok Sabha on 22 August. What is noteworthy is the fact that Environment Ministry has neither informed the apex court nor the Parliamentary Committee that the ships have radioactive material, handling of the same is fraught with hazardous consequences. The officials of both at the Ministry and the Gujarat Maritime Board have been guilty of dereliction of duty of not letting the workers and the concerned authorities know of the radioactive materials of the ships which come for dismantling.
In its recommendations the Committee has noted "The very fact that the Hon'ble Supreme Court had to intervene in the matter, underlines the failure of the Government to formulate till now any policy to regulate environmentally safe ship breaking activity in the country." The Committee are extremely concerned that the ship contain an estimated 1240 MT of Asbestos Containing Material and tonnes of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCBs) as in-built material and as part of structure. In case the asbestos fibres are inhaled or human being consumes the PCBs, the same may cause cancer unless the workers take proper precautions for safe handling of these materials.
"The Committee strongly deprecates the repeated stand taken by the Ministry that since no hazardous wastes has been allowed on board as cargo, there is no violation of the Hon'ble Supreme Court directions." The Ministry has misled the Committee by not informing it about there being admittedly containers full of toxic incineration ash and non-examination of Ballast water, which are likely to have alien microorganisms.
Taking note of the fact that hazardous material meant for disposal even when it is part of structure must be deemed hazardous wastes, it said, "The Committee need not emphasize that the hazardous wastes whether as cargo or in-built material are equally detrimental to the environment and human health." It further recommended, "a National Policy should be framed by the Government to regulate ship breaking activities and dumping all toxic waste in the country. The policy should also cover establishment of facilities of international level for managing and disposal of hazardous materials such as asbestos, PCBs and other residues…The Committee also desire the Ministry to strongly campaign to create awareness amongst the people about the ill effects of asbestos and possible carcinogenic affects…"
The Committee unambiguously recommended, "…in no case, the ship breaking activities should be permitted at the cost of environment or safe and healthy life of workers." The Parliamentary Petitions Committee report came in response to the petition raised in Lok Sabha by Basudev Acharya, MP, CPI (M) in August 2006. The petition had argued that the sovereignty of the country is being infringed due to dumping of hazardous wastes from developed countries and sought examination of the role of the authorities in allowing entry to the ship Blue Lady in Indian territorial waters.


For details: Indian Platform on Ship-breaking, Mb: 9818089660
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Open Letter to the Prime Minister of India on the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture (KIA or AKI)

Dear Friends,

Greetings! Pasted below (and attached too) is an Open Letter to the Prime Minister of India on the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture (KIA or AKI), which was signed at the same time as the 123 Nuclear Deal. However, as we can see, the nation (political parties, individuals and media institutions) has chosen to express loud concerns on the nuclear deal, ignoring that the KIA also has serious ramifications for this country. We cannot afford to remain invisible or silent on this front.

Given the whole interest generated with regard to the nuclear deal, this is the right time to express our concerns yet again on the Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture too and to not let it be implemented in a business-as-usual attitude, without the many serious concerns being addressed. This letter draws from the discussions that happened during a national workshop organised in Hyderabad in December on this bilateral agreement. This open letter to the PM also draws some of its demands from the nuclear deal experience - of stalling implementation until concerns are taken on board seriously and addressed.

We hope that you all join us in endorsing this letter which we intend to put out in a week's time or so. It would be great if agricultural scientists too, in addition to any elected people's representatives that you can all individually draw into endorsing this, would sign up.

Do send me your consent on my email address above with the required details against your name and please do circulate this widely to collect more endorsements and pass them on to me. Thanks.


Kavitha Kuruganti
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To
September 4, 2007
Dr Manmohan Singh,
Hon'ble Prime Minister,
Government of India.

Dear Sir,

Sub: Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural Education, Research, Services and Commercial Linkages – Demand for an immediate hold on implementation

Respected Sir, this letter is being written to you after looking at the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural Education, Research, Services & Commercial Linkages (being referred to as the KIA or AKI) in close detail, after extensive discussions held amongst agriculture scientists, farmers' leaders, civil society representatives, science policy experts and others on the implications of KIA on Indian farmers, especially small and marginal farmers. Through this letter, we would like to convey our deep concerns related to this bilateral deal that you had signed with the US President.

The current agrarian crisis and farmers' livelihoods:

The KIA hardly makes a mention of the deep agrarian crisis present all over rural India today. In fact, there is very little mention of farmers in the KIA proposals. Where the current problems in Indian agriculture are mentioned, they are described as "exciting challenges and opportunities" – we wonder for whom? How can a high-profile bilateral agreement coming at a juncture of such a crisis ignore the crisis and fundamental ways of addressing it?

The agrarian crisis in India is to be seen as a livelihoods crisis – the government has to answer why agri-business corporations are not in a crisis while farmers are attempting to commit suicides in thousands, if it is truly a farming crisis? The agri-industry is in fact posting growth figures that are impressive.

Increased production and productivity from farmers will not come if the State takes away their very dignity, their resources, their interest in their occupation, erodes all support systems and leaves them only with heavy debt burdens. Productivity cannot just be a factor of a miracle technology that someone introduces but a factor that is closely related to farmers' self-worth, dignity and morale.

The Indian economy (which is seen as the only domain of development) is appearing to declare its independence from Indian farming and the distress of farmers because the contribution of agriculture to the GDP is going down and your government measures development only in economic growth and GDP terms. We need to get out of this framework to understand farming better and the sustenance it provides to millions of lives.

What farmers need is income security, especially given that the liberalized trade policies that subsequent governments have pursued have pushed them into unfair disadvantage from all sides, even as technologies promoted by the NARS and agri-corporations are unsustainable.

Our analysis also shows that the KIA proposals are certainly not in tandem with other dominant policy discourse related to agriculture in India now, be it the Planning Commission's approach paper to the 11 th Plan or the draft Kisan Policy drafted by the National Commission on Farmers [NCF]. The Planning Commission and the NCF have at least run a semblance of consultative processes while drawing up their recommendations and while adopting a particular discourse. The KIA, however, is at contrast to these other policy articulations.

It is apparent that the National Agricultural Research System [NARS] had never done any deep-thinking workshops institutionally about its role in the entire crisis being experienced by farmers today and about unsustainable and unsuitable technologies foisted upon farmers. Since no such analysis exists, the crisis does not inform decisions on any front, including the Indo-US Knowledge Initiative.

India 's Green Revolution & the 'Second Green Revolution':

Numerous studies and papers have brought out the ecological, socio-cultural and other fall-outs from the Green Revolution. The Planning Commission chose to portray the repercussions in terms of 'technology fatigue' and the 'ecological disaster'. While the Green Revolution at least had a stated thrust on improving national food security (that concept of food security is questioned by numerous experts now) and ran on a principle of social contract, it seems that the Second Green Revolution is meant only for agri-corporations.

Before making plans for a Second Green Revolution, the country should have first drawn up a comprehensive balance sheet on the first Green Revolution. Learnings should have been picked up from such an analysis and critique of the earlier Green Revolution. Such learnings should have been internalized and incorporated into all your pronouncements on the second Green Revolution and into the KIA.

Our analysis says that while the country might have obtained self reliance on the food front (that too based on two grains which don't assure nutrition security and are known to have caused other adverse impacts), Green Revolution has completely eroded farmers' self-reliance. Farmers' natural resource base has been degraded almost irrevocably. Our bio-diversity has been eroded irreversibly along with farmers' knowledge about management, creation and conservation of such resources. While food security is touted to have been achieved, quality of food in terms of safety and nutrition has been badly affected. A diverse variety of foods that used to be accessible and affordable have been lost to the millions of poor in the country. Bio-mass has disappeared on a large scale and organic cycles of crop-livestock-tree-living soil resources have been broken through reductionist science. Local economies have only pumped out their wealth with very little coming back into the villages. In recent decades, any public support system that used to exist for even that kind of intensive agriculture that GR ushered in, is being systematically dismantled, leaving farmers to the mercy of greedy markets of agri-corporations.

We find that the agri-research establishment has been indoctrinated into thinking that "There Is No Alternative" (TINA) to intensive farming using ever-increasing quantities and varieties of external inputs. This TINA syndrome runs deep in the entire NARS to the extent that they cannot even start looking at ecological alternatives with any amount of objectivity or scientificity. The Green Revolution did not happen overnight on the strength of the science behind it but because of massive public investments in creating huge support systems to address pre-production, production and post-production issues. Ecological agriculture however has received no such support in the country and without such public investments going into this paradigm, will not start appealing to our scientists either. When the GR began, no one wondered about where we will get the tonnes of chemical fertilizers/pesticides and HYV seeds that were to drive the GR – the country just set about arranging these through a variety of policy and public investment measures. However, whenever there is a discussion on alternative paradigms, the first question that is asked preposterously is, where will we find so much of organic inputs?

Now, with the Second Green Revolution that you are shaping, there is a formal institutionalization of American corporate interests driving our research agendas and public policy frameworks. This will further indoctrinate the NARS and other systems into the industrial/intensive model of agriculture. You have chosen to give the Monsantos of the US, documented earlier for their anti-farmer policies and known for their lawlessness, a formal place to guide the future of Indian agriculture as suits them, through the KIA. Why did your government not think of placing some key farmers' organizations and other civil society representatives in the country on the Board on this side?

The Second Green Revolution in the form of the KIA has no mention of farmers, leave alone farming livelihoods or national food security. Who then is this Second Green Revolution for, at the expense of public funds, we wonder.

Finally, why do your government and the NARS shy away from understanding, supporting and promoting an ecological agriculture paradigm – can your scientists compete with some of the best natural and organic farmers in this country on a variety of parameters related to production, productivity, economic viability, sustainability, social benefits and so on, before promoting any other paradigms [given that we have already seen the results of your paradigms]?

India & the USA :

The socio-economic and agro-ecological situations with regard to Indian and American farming are vastly different. In their model of agriculture, less than 2% of the American population depends on farming whereas in India, around 65% of our population continue to depend on farming and allied activities for their very survival.

In India, agriculture is a way of life connected closely with knowledge evolved over centuries of experiential learning from Nature, connected deeply with the culture of our peoples and their livelihoods. On the other hand, in the USA, agriculture is an industry, driven mostly by big agri-business corporations. Even though they claim that it is an efficient model of agriculture to be emulated here in India to attain higher productivity levels and so on, it is a farming model that is constantly propped up by ever-increasing amounts of subsidies. The true efficiency of that model will be clear only when the subsidies are removed. On the other hand, Indian farmers, with very little support from the government and in the face of highly adverse conditions created by the government, have proven that theirs is a more efficient system of farming by feeding millions of Indians and also showing steady increases in production and productivity.

Also important is the fact that the USA has not signed the Convention on Biological Diversity [CBD] or the Kyoto Protocol or the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. What is interesting to note is that the main themes of these protocols to which India subscribes to through ratification and which USA discounts or fights in the international arena – biological resources including biodiversity, climate change and safety with regard to living modified organisms - are also key parts of the KIA.

These protocols enshrine some principles – for instance, biological resources are sovereign resources of nation-states (CBD), climate change is a big threat to the planet and immediate interventions are needed to reverse it and stop it (Kyoto) and living modified organisms need careful impact assessment and handling and prior informed consent for transboundary movement (Cartagena) which are not respected at all in the KIA or by the USA. Why is India partnering the USA in such an agreement then?

The USA, to this day, has not allocated any resources for the KIA whereas India is paying the USA for unneeded and hazardous technologies from the taxpayers' money. Ironically, the deal is all set to ultimately benefit American corporations than Indian farmers. Is this kind of unequal partnership what one could call as a bilateral agreement?

Why did you not think of having such a bilateral agreement with Cuba, which has shown the world how to produce more through organic methods even with economic sanctions imposed upon it – is there any reason why India should not learn from such a model of agriculture, to drive its next Revolution in agriculture?

On many of the themes included in the KIA where Indians are supposed to learn from the USA, there is no dearth of knowledge, skills and capabilities within the country. It is not clear why we need to learn from the USA on water management, drought proofing, food processing etc., when some of the best models on these themes are right here in the country within the people's knowledge domain. While the agriculture research model pursued by the country constantly erodes such rich knowledge right here, you would like to learn from distant USA at a charge, that too technologies that do not suit our needs nor address the present agrarian crisis!

The Americans are clearly proposing through the KIA, and in Board Meetings after Board Meetings, that they would like to use the bilateral deal to make changes in our regulatory regimes related to IPRs or particular technologies like Genetic Engineering. These changes are to suit their interests and not to ensure the basic rights of Indian farmers and consumers. In return, what are you planning to suggest as changes at their end through this bilateral deal? Can you bring down the huge subsidies that American farming is propped up with, to protect Indian farmers' interests from your side?

Coming to the comparative picture between India and USA again, the Indian IPR regime related to agriculture is very different from the American regime. Whose regime will be applied in this collaborative research? Who will have patents and what will be the implications for Indian farmers and their apriori rights on many resources and technologies?

In the USA, patents are possible on everything from a plant to a gene. As you know, all the notorious cases of bio-piracy from this country involved American scientists and corporations. What guarantees are you providing to the citizens of this country that the collective heritage of this country in the form of its biological resources and knowledge will be protected and given legitimately back to the communities without American bio-piracy now acquiring a legitimate passage you gave them?

The Biological Diversity Act of India, flowing out of the CBD, requires that permission be obtained from the National Biodiversity Authority before any biological resource is accessed by any foreigner. The KIA is not fulfilling any such obligations (Annexure 1). From all accounts, not even Material Transfer Agreements are in place while valuable genetic resources are already being taken to the US laboratories by Indian public sector scientists visiting the USA under exchange programmes or fellowships and so on under the KIA.

India 's Science & Technology and Development framework:

Our development framework focuses only on national economic growth rates and forgets the livelihoods of millions of Indians eking out a living through farming. As a polity, we seem to be feeding the endless lifestyle aspirations of millions of urban, middle class Indians who only want to emulate the Americans and others. This is obviously extremely destructive in an ecological sense – the ecological foot print that we would be leaving as a country would be far higher than the developed countries', if this development model is pursued mindlessly.

At another level, the S & T framework adopted in the case of agriculture was always one that sought to gain control over nature, rather than working in cooperation with/tandem with nature. The latter, as thousands of years of Indian farming has shown, is the one that ensures sustainable resource use – it took only 4 to 5 decades of intensive farming to erode and degrade our resources to the present situation whereas our forefathers did farming for thousands of years without leaving the future generations gasping for life.

The S & T framework governing Indian agriculture has been one that requires intensive use of external inputs which has its own ecological, economic and political ramifications. Commodification of all inputs has only meant that local economies got drained to fill the coffers of agri-business companies whose sole aim is to seek more and more markets for their products.

Our S & T frameworks should have been reviewed as a response to the farming crisis all around. This did not happen; through the KIA we want to further accelerate adoption of the same S & T approaches in agriculture as in the case of Green Revolution. Those approaches have already been proven as unsustainable and destructive of our natural resources.

This is in fact a destruction of democracy itself. Electoral democracy, as you are aware, is only a narrow understanding of democracy. Participation, public debate, accountability, referendum & recall systems are glaringly absent in our democracy in the context of agriculture. We actually need a Constitution that respects plurality of knowledges, not just what passes off officially as "Science & Technology". We need a Constitution that is ecologically embedded. We need a Directive Principle of State policy that orders protection of Indian agriculture and the diversity that exists there.

S & T policy makers sitting in the Ministry of Science & Technology or Department of Agriculture Research & Education or in the Planning Commission have not learnt anything from other countries about incorporating alternative paradigms and knowledge systems into the making of an S & T policy. There is ample positive experience to learn from, elsewhere.

National Agricultural Research System [NARS] in India and its orientation:

The NARS is supposed to have been designed along the Land Grant College system in the USA. However, the accountability mechanisms that are apparent in the Land Grant system there are completely missing here. It is a top-down model of institution building that has gone into our NARS, with no accountability at all towards the clientele – the predominantly poor, small and marginal farmers of this country.

The scientific orientation of the NARS is reductionist, piece-meal and fragmented – agriculture being a complex process of synergies and interactions amongst various factors, such a reductionist approach will not solve the real life problems of the farmers. This has been proven again and again – the scientific experiments and their results in a controlled setting in the agriculture research stations are not replicable in real life conditions of farmers.

There should be an inter-disciplinary, dialectical and holistic scientific approach that should be adopted by agriculture scientists. Such an inter-disciplinary approach should encompass other scientific spheres like anthropology, sociology, political science etc. in addition to different specializations within agriculture science. Synergies between crop-livestock and crop-tree husbandry have been completely ignored by the agri-research system, for instance. The sociological ramifications of a particular technology on different kinds of farmers in different locations are not worked out before large scale promotion of a technology. Another example of the narrow orientation of the agri-research establishment is the neglect that dryland farming suffers in the country today.

Even the research agenda of the NARS is not driven by the real life conditions of the farmers. It is a top-down, linear, lab-to-land model that is adopted in almost all research projects. There is no participation apparent from the side of the farmers in individual research projects, leave alone whole institutions and their overall directions of work.

The NARS do not recognize any other knowledge domain other than what gets classified officially as "scientific". It is this blind approach that had resulted in the erosion of precious knowledge and natural resources amongst farming communities in India. The largest knowledge bank is with the smallholding farmers of India which consists of knowledge of centuries of experiential learning. This technological arrogance is also ignoring larger experiences evolving across the country to sustain farming concurrently with initiatives of farmers, individuals and organizations. Such ready knowledge is constantly being discounted and actively eroded by the NARS in a variety of ways. Today NARS suffers more from 'Innovation fatigue' than 'Technology fatigue'.

There is nothing in the KIA that promises any changes in the existing deep-rooted maladies of the NARS. In fact, the technologies chosen by the KIA will push agriculture scientists farther away from the fields of farmers, deeper into their laboratories (and laboratories in the USA). Agriculture research orientation is now going to be shifted from applied and adaptive research to basic and strategic research, as per the KIA. When it is clear that applied research itself had failed in the Indian agriculture research establishment, what is the rationale behind moving to basic research? How will they then translate it to farmers' real needs and conditions on the ground?

Worse, the agriculture education and extension models are also being re-cast to shift these services away from farmers.

Historically, there has been an excessive orientation of these NARS institutions to gear their research towards only production and productivity questions rather than looking at farmers' livelihoods. There are many others, however, in the UN system and elsewhere, who are changing their S & T institutions, curricula, research design and frameworks and so on to meet the Millenium Development Goals. Does the Indian NARS have nothing to learn from them, other than learning from the USA about orienting agriculture research for improving the commercial potential of agri-corporations?

As mentioned before, the so-called modern technologies in agriculture have only proven to be a drain on the local economies of farmers rather than improving their livelihoods in a sustainable manner. It is imperative that any research and extension intervention from the NARS should only be defined and achieved in a livelihoods context and no other context.

The NARS should realize that in today's complex world, reductionist techno-centricity will not solve any problems. The new mandate of the NARS has to be evolved out of the failure of the earlier mandate and it does not help to continue in the same technological determinism framework. That is the key cornerstone of post-modern agriculture.

It is also important to re-cast completely the reward and incentive system that drives the agriculture scientists today. It is not publication of papers or number of patents that should be the driving parameters of assessing the fulfillment of the mandate of NARS. It is possible for knowledge flows to occur in a manner that farmers derive benefits, without going through the formal, expensive, discriminatory and exclusive intellectual property regime – this has been the experience of civil society work time and again. Agriculture scientists' reward system should be linked to the quality and effective time spent with farming communities in drawing the research agenda from the farmers, by developing technologies in a participatory manner and by using an interdisciplinary and "expert & non-expert co-inquiry" approach.

At present, the NARS is only turning itself into an outsourcing agency for private corporations. Private corporations want to use the public sector institutions for their own research needs and profit-seeking mandates with the lure of some money put into PPP research collaborations and the agriculture research establishment is ready to forget the needs of their primary clientele. The foundations for this are already laid out in the form a parallel initiative 'National Agriculture Innovation Project' supported by the World Bank.

Specific KIA proposals:

· Re-orienting Indian agriculture research to basic and strategic research will mean further cutting off of farmers from these institutions, when the current farming crisis calls for the reverse – of all public sector institutions related to agriculture having to move closer to farmers and work along with them.
· Transgenic agriculture has been given a prominent place in the whole deal, under the theme of Emerging Technologies. It is not clear how this decision has been taken since the debate is unresolved about the very need for such technologies and the various implications from the deployment of such technologies in farming. What is the basis for decisions related to transgenics by the government, given the ever-emerging evidence on the lack of predictability and scientificity in this technology and the hazards that the technology poses? There is no evidence that GM crops increase productivity of crops or can withstand climate change vagaries (In fact, there is USDA data that shows that GM crops might actually mean lowered yields compared to their non-GM counterparts – if the USA is teaching us through the KIA, it is hoped that they are teaching us such facts too). There is clear evidence that such crops are stress-intolerant which means that our national food security itself could be jeopardized by adopting such technologies in the era of climate change.
· Transgenics by the public sector, without MNC presence, is being projected as being farmer-friendly reducing the whole discussion to pricing and IPRs. The reality however is that there are very few farmers who actually demand for and are able to access such public-sector bred seeds in crops like cotton. Further, experience in collaborative research from the University of Agricultural Sciences , Dharwar and CICR, Nagpur shows that our IPR literacy is very poor and we more or less get cheated during the R & D process in these collaborative projects involving proprietary technologies. Patents and royalties are brought into the picture preventing the institution from actually releasing seeds to farmers. What lessons are we learning from such experiences?
· When it comes to proposals related to food processing technologies, they all seem to favour American capital investments more than the needs of Indian farmers or consumers. Such technologies have to be assessed for their employment potential to begin with, since the food processing sector is being projected as the one that will absorb rural population displaced from agriculture.
· There is also clear evidence of using the KIA for the entry of big (food) retail chains into India, at the front-end too. It is very unclear what share of the retail price will actually reach the farmers of the country.
· The government has to decide whether we as a country should focus on food security and sovereignty of the nation or food processing and value addition meant for export markets. The KIA certainly gives importance to the latter but is that what the country needs?
· On themes like bio-fuels too, there is an urgent need for careful thinking regarding alternate use scenarios for precious resources like land and biomass. The KIA proposals seem to be in contradiction to the dominant discourse with regard to bio-fuels in this country – so far, we have talked about bio-diesels on wastelands in this country. The KIA talks about ethanol-based bio-fuels. The KIA has no mention about such technologies which will assist in backyard production of bio-diesels for community level energy needs by integrating native, hardy bio-diesel crop species into farming, through cooperative institutional structures. The KIA proposals are meant to create technologies that will essentially result in a competition between urban (fuel) and rural (food) needs.
· The KIA has water management as one of its themes of collaboration. India, which is famous for being a 'hydrological society' and for the organic socio-cultural links between communities and water resources, would have nothing to learn from a country like the USA on water management and drought-proofing. There is ample experience within this country for the NARS to learn from. No amount of techno-centric solutions will take care of water resources – their conservation or preserving the quality. No remediation of contaminated waters can take place through the NARS especially given the impunity with which contamination from industrial effluents takes place. Only a radically different view and value system associated with water as a basic resource of life will change things.
· As mentioned earlier, the IPR regimes in India and the USA are vastly different and this is an area of great concern with relation to the KIA. Precious germplasm is already moving out of the country in the name of collaborative research and it is not clear what IPR arrangements are in place. There do not seem to be any material transfer agreements in place either. We seem to be legitimizing bio-piracy as never before. On the other hand, communities who are original contributors to our germplasm collections in various NARS centres are being denied access to what is legitimately theirs!

The process of formulating the KIA:

This deal has been projected by you as the harbinger of the Second Green Revolution, which means that it has great significance attached to it. Yet, you chose not to debate it with our elected representatives or with state governments. From all accounts, it did not even get discussed properly within the NARS. This is completely unacceptable.

Further, it is not clear what accountability mechanisms exist in the case of KIA – what reviews, what monitoring, who will be accountable and how. What needs to be done in case an American party needs to be made liable for a particular project, for instance?

OUR DEMANDS:

We invite you to reverse the possibilities with the KIA by rescuing America from itself, its farming and its agri-corporations. Please get into a bilateral deal that teaches Americans alternative paradigms in agriculture and rescues America from the 'monoculture of mind' that has evolved there. We want you to understand and make the Americans understand that democracy is not just liberty, equality and fraternity but also sustainability, plurality and generosity.

Given that Indian agriculture does not have anything in common with American farming, given that we have vast amounts of experience, knowledge and capabilities on a variety of subjects within the country, given that the KIA does not seem to have any benefits for farmers but only negative implications, given that the Second Green Revolution if any has to be launched in the country only after due deliberative and democratic processes, given that the IPR implications from the deal are stacked against Indian interests and given that the current agrarian crisis facing Indian farmers needs other fundamentally different solutions, we demand that your government :

· Put the implementation of the KIA on hold immediately. Review the whole deal with credible agricultural, political and social scientists along with farmers' union and civil society representatives, like you are ready to do with the 123 Nuclear Deal, after pressure from other political parties. Further, debate the agreement within the Parliament and state Assemblies and discuss it with state governments.
· Draw up a fresh research agenda for the Indian NARS and its different local institutions after a broad based consultative process with farmers all over the country.
· Provide income security to all farmers in the country by providing them an assured monthly salary from any special financial mechanism that you evolve for the purpose.
· Allocate all the funds meant for agriculture extension in the hands of the targeted clientele after organizing the farmers for better accountability.
· Allow immediate access to indigenous germplasm collections to communities who wish to access such resources for conservation and use, through legislative and administrative means.

Requesting you to intervene in this matter immediately and take all our concerns on board,

Signed & endorsed by:

1. Dr G V Ramanjaneyulu
Agriculture Scientist
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
Hyderabad
2. Kavitha Kuruganti
Researcher & campaigner
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
Hyderabad

Muslims In Gujarat: Victims Of A conspiring State

Nafisa Bi lost her eyesight three years back after three of her sons were arrested under the notorious Prevention of Atrocities & Terrorist Act (POTA) after the Sabarmati Express, was burnt by the miscreants in Godhara railway station in February 2002. Today, Nafisa, 60 is completely blinded in her isolated home, which used to have a bakery. There are 11 such families living in Rehmat Nagar area of Godhara who have lost everything after their male members were arrested and kept in prison. Charges have not been framed yet, said Rehana Bi whose husband Shabir Hussein was a conductor in a private bus and was randomly arrested along with other 'conspirators' for their alleged role in the incident. The meager earning were not enough to sustain their family of four. Her younger daughter Shamim Bano was not born yet and has not seen her father so far. Rehana does not have any other members to support and is earning her livelihood through domesticated work at the houses of nearby Muslim locality of Boharas. " I go at 8 in the morning and return at 12 pm. They give me the left over food, which I eat and bring for my children. In cash, I just get Rs 250/-. My husband was getting Rs 1,200/- as monthly salary. How can my family survive in a meager Rs 250/-, she asks. No body comes here to ask us about our problems. A few social work organizations were here for some year but now they too have left leaving us in lurch. We have no clue about when our people will be released from the jail, despite the fact that we are informed that Supreme Court has ordered them bail, she explains. Gujarat has witnessed systematic isolation of the Muslims in the past 10 years. Their movements are traced and livelihood shattered. It is very difficult for them to get even the work in the Hindu households. Even if the community wants to restart its life forgetting the past, there is no certainty whether the product that they make would sale in the market or not. Efforts were made by many NGOs, which failed because of the un written economic blockade by the powerful group of the Hindutva brigade. In fact, the tribal and Dalits face the same wrath in the village if they ally with any likeminded organizations which talks of their identity and rights.
The pain of Nafisa bi needs to be understood in terms of the ailing Gujarati society and the crisis Muslim women face in Gujarat. With most of the male members gone behind the bar, these women today face the uphill task of reviving their lives in a deeply polarized and hostile atmosphere. Rehmat Nagar area reflects the mood of the state government and their zeal to isolate Muslim further. There is no activity in the area, which is completely cut off from the main high way. No link road and if it rains then perhaps it would become nearly impossible for these women to go to earn. Most of the women are surviving on the alms which their employer give them apart from a salary of Rs 250/- per family per month.
Activists come and promise that our people would be released soon as the Supreme Court has ordered, said Rehana Bi. But Nafisa Bi seems to be resigned to her fate. 'It is more than three years that I saw my sons. Now even if they come, I would not be able to see them.' Neighbors inform that Nafisa weeps all the time. Her husband divorced her long back without caring their children. Fortunately, her sons were hardworking and earned their livelihood well to take care of her. Today, she is thoroughly dejected at the plight of her sons who she alleges were beaten up mercilessly in the police lock up. Her son Shabir Anwar Ansari have three sons and one daughter while Alauddin, the other son got married the same year. The locality is about 5 kilometers away from the railway station where the Sabarmati Express's coach were burnt. ' The police came in the evening with their face covered and asked the male members to accompany them to their bosses office', say Rehana. She further added that there were no women police personnel when they came. They were all men showering the choices abuse on us.
Fakharuddin Yusuf was a Bus driver. He was arrested as soon as he returned from his trip. He was put in Sabarmati jail where he died one year later. He was beaten up mercilessly in the police lock up. Obviously, the Gujarat police whose track record is worst while tackling with the minorities cannot escape the blame. Many young children who were born after their father was arrested often ask their mothers when would their father return.
The police and administration has become so nasty that it does not even allow the detainees to meet their ailing parents even when they were waiting for a peaceful death. Rehana's mother in law died weeping and crying to see her son who could not come to see her before her death. Payroll was granted to Rehana's husband three days later after his mother was cremated. Mother and son did not see each other for three years says Rehana wiping her moisted eyes. When the Gujarat police come here they do not bring any women constables and on our defiance we are beaten up. She was arrested for one day. Rehana is outspoken when I ask about who burnt the train. " we did not know about the burning of train before the police came and started arresting the people. They informed that all the male members would be required to go to SP sahib but once they were put in the police vehicles they never returned and families only came to know about the whereabouts of their male members about three months later when they started writing to them.
' I too was arrested but they released me the very next day but my father was kept up in the lock up for six days', she says. Her moist eyes narrate the innocence inside her ', we do not burn even the dead, why would we burnt people alive?'
A total of nearly 100 families are charged under POTA in Godhara. The eleven families whose male wards have been arrested immediately after the train was burnt hail from this locality of Rehmat Nagar which is located on right hand side of the Godhara-Badodara high way. There is no connectivity road to this locality and one has to take off from the vehicle to reach here. The narrow muddy lane is the only way for you to reach the place. None of the man in the area has any work. In fact, they do not get any work outside. Tragedy is that Nafisa and like her many women's pains and agonies are compounded with the fact that with in their own community they have lot of resistance. When there is no work, man have no work to do and mere domesticated work in nearby locality of the Bohras cannot make them survive. It is ironical that many of the women are being pushed in the flash trade since there is virtually a crisis of survival. Immediately after the riots, many NGOs started working among the victims but two-three years after the incident when they are faced with a hostile state administration which is hell bent on keeping the Muslims in particular and minorities in general out of the mainstream, organizations winded up their charity work. Of course, some of them are still working creating awareness in an otherwise thoroughly communalized atmosphere of Gujarat.
The Modi government kept quiet and even the press has not been able to follow up all the cases. How long the select few would come every day to expose a government, which has been corrupted at every level. The water in Rehmat Nagar area is totally contaminated, as there are factories in the area, which release chemical waste every day and therefore have turned the ground water totally undrinkable. The families go to fetch water from high way, nearly half a kilometer away from the area. Most of the families, which lived here before February 27 th, 2002, have now left for other areas leaving 11 of the families here in complete isolation.
Rehana's mother in law died. When she was on bed, her husband applied for a payroll but was denied. He came to see his mother three days after her death. That is the tragedy of the entire incident. Says Rehana,' Narendra Modi is not a married man. Had he been married and had some children, he would have been sensitive to the issues of family, pain of a mother or anguish of a wife or cry of the children who miss their father. How would he explain to a mother who died crying without seeing her son?
In the global war on terror, it is very clear that it is the educated elite, which is now becoming a tool in the hands of the deeply religious fanatics. Poor were actually never were part of it. They might be looked down upon as 'fundamentalists' but never as 'terrorists'. In this age when war are psychological as well as more so on modern techniques, a look at the profile of 11 POTA victims would tell how government was hell bent on making the innocent as terrorists.
Shabbir Hussain was bus conductor with a happily married life with children has been arrested. Shabbir Anwar Ansari and Alauddin Ansari were brothers with their families. Both were with their mother and running a bakery shop. Sadiq Khan Sultan Khan was a painter. Shamsher Khan is brother of Sadiq Khan. Yusuf Khan used to make bamboo Pinjara while Feroj Khan was working with Yasin Habib in a hotel. Feroj Khan was working in a steal company and Jabir Binyamin was working with a dairy. Fakhruddin Yusuf was working as a driver and was not even in the town. He returned in the evening only. The work profile of all these people may not suggest whether they had time to conspire against people. He has six daughters and 2 sons. Now all of them have left this place, as there was no security of life and livelihood for them. Jabir's wife Jainab informs how her two children miss their father. Daughter Saima Bano 4 and son Shehjad 5 have not got their fathers live as he is in jail. In fact Saima was born after her father was in jail.
Jabir's brother Ramjani was a rikshawpullar with a school. He was arrested from school where he was taking school children. Ramjani has six children with the eldest daughter Naseem Bano aged 12 and the youngest son Sarfaraj aged 5. Another brother Habib is also arrested. He has two children Shamir and Ferhan. The families are virtually living in despair and starvation. All the women are working as domestic servants in the relatively middle class Muslim households and get a maximum of Rs 250/- added with left over food. Irony is that the children are looked after at home by the neighbors or elders like Nafisa bi and other elderly women who cannot work. Some of the children go to a nearby school but majority of them dropped out.
Now Gujarat will face elections and the government of Narendra Modi has started divising methods, which can create communal wage. Dalits are being charged in false cases. Inter caste and inter religious marriages are being blown out of proportion. The state administration is thoroughly Hinduised. Even inside the booking windows of the railway stations one can find the pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, which is against our secular ethics. Cases are not registered for Muslims. Take the case of Jatun Bibi whose house was burnt by the rioters in village Mirapuri which is about 13 kilometer from Godhara. They have a total of 12 acres of land in the family of six yet even 5 years after the riots Jatun can not go back to her village. She now stays in the slums of Rehmat Nagar on a rented house along with her husband. Jatun Bibi filed a case against Sarpanch and won at the session court. The case was challenged in the high court where she lost. She does not even know about the case and files. It was never challenged later. Her husband says that they will never go back to the village as the village Sarpanch and his goons would kill them. Today, Jatun Bibi lives on rent in a small one-room house at Rehmat Nagar. She pays Rs 200/- per month as rent. Her husband is a labour. She used to own a Kirana shop in the village. Both husband and wife worked on the shop and had a big house for them along with others in the family. The three relatives (brothers and sisters) lived together but now they are not ready to return. Her husband expresses his fears that if they return to village, the Sarpanch would kill them. Police does not help in these matters. In fact, a BJP MLA has been supporting the sarpanch.
Jatun Bibi lost her mother in the childhood. She has four sisters and one brother. The one brother, according to her, has turned out to be an anti social element who would not share his parental property with the sisters. Tragically, Jatun Bibi has no sources to challenge the high court order. One does not know what her lawyers are doing at the moment. The condition of rule of law in Gujarat is that Muslims do not come out in open; you have to prove to them that you really care for their issues. Such things may shock people outside Gujarat but this unjust peace in Gujarat must be opposed. Peace building groups are roaming around but how can there be peace in Gujarat if the second majority of Gujarat lives in abject poverty, isolation and complete fear. Can such peace be supported which prohibit people to speak against injustice?
It is not that only Muslims are being targeted in Gujarat. The Dalits and tribals are used against the Muslims and are intimidated if they do not cooperate. Recently, a tribal leader of a social movement who was fighting for the forest rights of the tribals was barred from entering into four districts by the administration. The wife of a well respected Muslim doctor in Godhara was disturbed so much in the aftermath of Godhara that she shifted from Gujarat along with her children as safety of the children was paramount to her.
Gujarat is on the verge of history today. Gujarati's enjoyed the fruits of globalisation. People greeted them everywhere from Africa to America and England where they went for their business and succeeded. Today, the same Gujarati's particularly the Non-resident Indian variety are conspicuously silent on the functioning of the governance, which want to weed the fellow Gujarati Muslims out from the state. Often, Gujarati's use Mahatma Gandhi and his message of social reconciliation for their own benefits abroad particularly in Africa, it is time, they realize that Bapu's dream of reconciliation hold true for their own state also. In the so-called war against terror we should not forget that it also call for a just government. It also calls for justice against those who are terrorists but not Muslims. They too are terrorists who kill innocent people, rape their women and publicly support killing and humiliation of human being who happens to be Muslims. War against terror should not only be against the terrorists who happen to be Muslims but all those also who kill Muslim selectively. If this so-called war has to be won against the evil designs of all those then those in power or those who wish to come to power must show their resolve in providing governance and protecting all those who are citizens of state. One hope our governments in the Center and states listen to those cries of the victims of the mass killing in Mumbai after the demolition of Babari Masjid or those killed in Hashimpura, Bhagalpur, Kanpur and elsewhere. Not only war against terror, we will need to define genocide in present day term and its linkages to fundamentalist ideologies supported by the state. All those ideological dictators need to be brought to book for abetting the riots, supporting the killing or threatening them with dire consequences. Unfortunately, deeply prejudiced mindset cannot change. Gujarat needs a strong civil society as well as a strong rainbow coalition of the Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, Christians and OBCs to tackle fascist onslaught on people's right and livelihood. The real target of the saffron forces in Gujarat is actually not Muslims but Dalits and Adivasis as we only talks of Gujarat issue in terms of Muslims but not in terms of socio political issues, which have threatened the very basis of this government. Adivasis are threatened from their livelihood as Modi goes abroad inviting big industrialists to suck the blood of poor Adivasis and Dalits. All Dalits and Adivasis who are trying to assert are boycotted and pitched against Muslims and Christians. Public land in Gujarat is being given to private companies and nothing has been done to eliminate poverty. The only thing Gujarat has these days is rabid Hinduisation or I would simply say, brahminsation process. It is sickening to see such ritualistic symbols present in everyday life from posters in railway stations to Panchayat Bhavans, you will find not one or two Gods but large number of Godmen. Nowhere, in India such naked neglect of the secular laws of the country. Why should railways allow a picture of Hanuman in its reservation counters or why should the schools and Panchayat buildings have Asha Ram Bapu or Murari Bapu. If you love so much your Gods please do allow the other gods also. And definitely, then will have to put a Mao and a Marx also to satisfy the nonbelievers. This hypocrisy must be challenged. Gujarat is communalized very systematically and the disease is spreading like a virus.
The answer lies in strong ties of real Gujaratis who do not have golden plates in their homes or who do not have NRIs in their family. Yes, Gujarat could be saved by a strong people's movement involving every segment of the marginalized sections of our society including Muslims and all those victims of Narendra Modi's rabid anti Dalit, anti tribal and anti farmer policies. It is also time to take these religious lunatics head on otherwise they will deny every one a right to live with dignity and freedom to express.

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Visit his blog atwww.manukhsi.blogspot.com

ULFA and the Changing Demographic Face of Assam
Author: Arjun Nair Publication: Institute of Peace and Conflict StudiesDate: July 30, 2007URL: http://www.ipcs.org/whatsNewArticle1.jsp?action=showView&kValue=2358&status=article&mod=b

The situation in Assam has once again caught the attention of the public eye with a series of attacks and abductions, beginning in January 2007 and intensifying in May, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred innocent civilians and leaving hundreds more injured. Although the killing of civilians is not a new phenomenon on Assam, it is the renewed targeting of the Hindi speaking population that is causing worry not just to the state government and the centre, but also to the indigenous Assamese population, whose interests the ULFA claims to protect. Needless to say, the ULFA's renewed focus on the migrant population is causing them to leave in droves back to their places of origin, mostly in Bihar and Jharkhand. According the North-East Hindi-speakers Forum, at least 100,000 Hindi-speaking migrants have fled the state so far since the attacks in January, with the rate of exodus quickening after the attacks in May. Why the renewed focus on migrant workers? Why, more importantly is it worrying the native Assamese people? And what effect do these attacks pose to the demography of the state?
The expulsion of migrants is, and always has been an issue high on ULFA's agenda. In the December 2006 issue of the organization's mouthpiece, Freedom, migrant workers were described as a threat to the existence of an independent Assam and a cause of considerable damage to the social fabric of the state. However, many believe that the renewed attacks are an attempt by ULFA to boost its sagging approval rate, which was last polled at less than four per cent in a public opinion poll conducted by an NGO, the Assam Public Works, late last year. The strategy, going by the dismal approval ratings doesn't seem to be working for the ULFA. By attacking crowded commercial areas - allegedly to corner prized real estate - they are directly affecting business opportunities in the state and forcing the state to call for more security forces, whose presence is not welcome by the Assamese people. However it is the rapidly increasing population of illegal immigrant workers from Bangladesh that has caused tensions in the past and further threaten ULFA's support base.
The void left behind by the fleeing Hindi-speaking population has been quickly filled by the Bangladeshi population in the state that is unofficially estimated to be 10 million-strong. In the article from Freedom quoted above, the ULFA makes its priorities clear regarding illegal immigrants. It clearly states that illegal workers from Bangladesh and Nepal must be driven out, "but before that the illegal migrants from India must be expelled. The main illegal foreigners in the State are the Indian rulers and the principal illegal occupational forces are the Indian Army who also must be driven out from the State." This is an almost complete turnaround from ULFA's originally outright opposition to the presence of illegal migrants from Bangladesh and is explained by senior ULFA leaders including its commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah being granted asylum by Dhaka and their generous donations to the major political parties such as the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The direct fallout from the attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant workers and their leaving the state, has been the increase in fear of Islamization of the state which began with the immigration of Bangladeshis. The 2001 Census figures in Assam showed the increase of Muslim population from 24.56 percent in 1971 to 30.91 percent in 2001 which gives some indication of the importance of minority politics to the ruling parties which have done little to prevent this vast influx of illegal migrants. This could lead to the rise of terrorism associated with Islamic organizations operating out of Bangladesh and could lead to a situation similar to Kashmir for the Indian government, according to some theorists. Furthermore, Assamese believe they are slowly losing their political franchise and are fearful of an eventual merger with Bangladesh, which ULFA would be instrumental in bringing about, if it continues its current policy of attacking migrant populations.
On 16 January 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured full security to Hindi-speaking migrants and gave a tough message to militant outfits that there would be no compromise if they resorted to violence. However, while Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had requested for an additional 4,000 paramilitary troops following the January attacks, the Centre's priorities lay in allotting a similar number of troops to oversee the elections in Uttar Pradesh in June. In order to prevent the rise of another base for terrorist activities in the already troubled northeast, it is time the central government mended its lax policy concerning Bangladeshi immigrants and took firm steps to protect the Hindi-speaking migrant population whose role in Assam's stability has been ignored.

Arjun Nair Research Intern, IPCS
e-mail: arjun@ipcs.org

An Appeal for Unconditional and Immediate Release of Sheila Didi

To:

Chairperson,
The National Commission for Women

Dear Madam,

Sheila Didi is a popular women's activist among the most deprived women of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, and Bihar. She was the former President of Nari Mukti Sangh, Bihar.

Sheila Didi was arrested on 7 October 2006 at Aamjhor Village under the police limits of Lathikata, Sundargarh district of Orissa. The police fabricated cases against her in the name of waging war against the state. After the arrest they immediately shifted her to a nearby CRPF camp where she was tortured physically and psychologically for two days. Later she was produced before a magistrate court which allowed four more days of police custody. She was once again tortured physically and psychologically. She sustained injuries on forehead and stomach during the police torture. The police brutally tortured her constantly by inflicting severe blows on her legs and the soles of her feet. The police, after blindfolding her, kept on shifting her from one place to the other. She was interrogated by the teams of police from West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Since then she has been incarcerated in Rourkela prison. Her health has deteriorated as she has been denied any medical care. She hasn't been given even a pen or a sheet of paper, let alone books or periodicals to read. After she was given bail in all existing cases on 11th July 2007 she was arrested again as soon as she came out of prison with more cases being foisted on her.

Sheila Didi belongs to a poor Adivasi family. A woman of courage and conviction, she was convinced about the need for building up a strong women's movement as she realized that women in our country had to fight every step for their rights and freedom, to do away with the customs and traditions that treat her as an inferior being, a second class citizen. The founding of Nari Mukti Sangh along with a host of other women was the result of this realization.

Soon this organization developed into a strong women's organization. Thousands of the most deprived women today are conscious about their rights. This organization has been consistently fighting all forms of patriarchy while at the same time resisting any kind of exploitation, domination or discrimination. Hundreds of women, along with Sheila Didi have become literate in the due course of empowerment of this real and genuine movement.

The condition of women in our country is so pathetic and wretched that if they stand on their own legs in order to move ahead in their lives, patriarchic oppression along with all kinds of attacks of the contemporary society will brow beat them to submission. It is in this context that Sheila Didi has evolved as a valiant and uncompromising leader of the oppressed women and waged several struggles for the betterment of their lives in these regions. It is highly deplorable and is a grim reflection of all of our sensitivity that this women's activist who has emerged from the most oppressed rungs of Adivasi life and who worked day in and out to awaken thousands of oppressed women, has been incarcerated in the jail.

We the undersigned demand that Sheila Didi be released immediately and unconditionally. In this context we urge you to intervene immediately and ensure that she receives proper medical care and relief. We also demand that she be treated as a Political Prisoner as she has been arrested and incarcerated for her convictions to fight for women's rights.

In this connection, we also appeal to all democratic, civil and human rights organizations, women's organizations, youth and students organizations, workers' and democratic individuals to raise their voice against the continued incarceration of this senior women's activist while demanding for her unconditional release.

Please sign the petition by clicking the foolowing link.Do circulate this link widely after you sign.

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/didi123/petition.html

By -- Vasantha

Why This Scurrilous Campaign Against Left?

OPPOSE THE INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL

THE CPI(M)'s opposition to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the associated efforts to draw India into a US-dominated strategic partnership has, naturally, led to a violent reaction from the ruling classes and its media voices. Through these columns, over the past couple of years, since the first joint statement on strategic partnership released by prime minister Manmohan Singh and US president George Bush in July 2005, we have been drawing attention to the dangers of India being turned into a supplicant of US imperialism. Apart from negating the consensual declared objective of pursuing an independent foreign policy, such a partnership with US imperialism has consequent serious implications on India 's defence and security concerns. These issues and such concerns will continue to be debated in this issue and subsequently in these columns. Hence, these arguments are not being repeated here.

However, the important point that merits consideration here is that instead of meeting our criticism of the deal and its consequences, our detractors are mounting a scurrilous campaign against us. US imperialism's cheer leaders and the drumbeaters of the Indian ruling classes are advancing absurd reasoning of the CPI(M)'s opposition to the deal instead of contesting what we publicly state.

One such reasoning is that while the government is engaged in this deal for increasing the electricity generation capacity in the country to benefit our farmers and poor people, the CPI(M) is opposing it at the behest of China. This is not unusual for the ruling classes to resort to such obnoxiously low level arguments when their analytical bankruptcy to contest the CPI(M)'s point of view is exposed. Further, the resort to such tactics is also to conceal their unabashed eagerness to ally with US imperialism at the expense of exposing the country's sovereignty to greater vulnerability.

Let us take up the issue of augmenting India 's energy capacities and generating more electricity. There can be no two opinions on the need to expand our capacities to generate more power. As India develops further, energy augmentation is of utmost importance. The moot question, however, is whether the nuclear energy expansion is the only option, or, even the best option that we have at the moment.
As of 2005, nuclear power generation was 3,310 MW or a mere 2.5 per cent of India's total power generation capacity. Now, if this were to increase to 10,000 MW by the year 2015 as planned, this would still be only 5 to 7 per cent of India's projected capacity generation then. Thus, this deal and the attendant consequences to India's sovereignty and foreign policy are being undertaken for such a miniscule part of our power generation.

This, apart, is nuclear power generation the most cost-effective? On the contrary, it is the most expensive option. As compared to coal, nuclear energy would be one and a half times more expensive. Compared with gas, nuclear power would be twice as expensive. So is the case with hydro electricity. Therefore, by all counts, nuclear power is the most expensive.

The National Hydro Power Corporation has estimated that India has at least 50,000 MW of untapped hydro electric potential. They have estimated that in Nepal , the untapped potential would be higher at 83,000 MW. On the basis of our friendly relations with Nepal and through international agreements, the tapping of such huge hydro electric potential will not only augment our energy capacities at half the cost of nuclear energy, but will also tame these rivers which regularly consume the lives of hundreds of people through torrential floods. This year's floods have been described by the United Nations as 'unprecedented' in human memory.

In addition, India is indiscriminately allowing the export of coal and other non-renewable mineral resources. Instead, if this coal were to be utilised for generating electricity, it would cost us much less than producing nuclear energy.

Given this, the government's arguments that the Indo-US nuclear deal is to augment our energy resources and to provide electricity to the farmers and poor sounds, indeed, hollow. On the contrary, it appears that as a consequence of this deal, huge commercial orders running into thousands of crores of rupees for the purchase of nuclear reactors would be placed on US and other advanced countries corporations. The profit bonanza to multinational corporations is there for all to see with the attendant benefits to sections of corporate India. Is India then actually going in for this deal to bolster US economic interests? Can we allow this to happen under the false propaganda of benefit to the Indian farmers? If the same amount of resources were to be spent on generating power through hydro or coal, as would be spent on the purchase of nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel, India's energy augmentation would be many times higher. Thus, the nuclear deal not only exposes India to greater vulnerability on various scores, it drains a huge amount of our scarce resources and, thus, prevents India from exploiting fully its available less expensive energy options. These are the facts.

The more bizarre disinformation campaign is that the CPI(M) is opposing the deal at China's behest. This charge, however, does not apply to the BJP presumably, for its opposition of the deal. The reason for the BJP's opposition, of course, is entirely different from that of the CPI(M)'s. Given the BJP's track record when in government, the current opposition is a mere posturing and smacks of a 'hurt' that such a deal ought to have been concluded under its government and not under the UPA government!

Be that as it may, those who know of the CPI(M)'s birth and history will know that for nearly two decades both the international communist giants – the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China – opposed the CPI(M)'s policies from different perspectives. The CPI(M)'s policy directions are determined by its own perceptions of what is in the interests of India and its people. Those who are willing to eagerly surrender India's sovereignty to US imperialism should be the last ones to dole out unsolicited advise and certificates of patriotism. If our detractors are worthy of character and substance, then they ought to meet our arguments on their merits rather than take recourse to such perfidy.

We heard similar arguments when the CPI(M) opposed Pokhran-II. In fact, the then NDA's defence minister, George Fernandes, publicly announced that the nuclear tests were necessary to meet the Chinese challenge. Once Pakistan responded by its nuclear tests, India's huge advantage in conventional warfare vis-à-vis Pakistan was wiped out in a single stroke. Far from enhancing India 's security and defence potential, the BJP/NDA through Pokhran-II reduced us to the level of Pakistan's capabilities. The BJP today argues that the Indo-US nuclear deal limits our strategic programme which can only be to China 's and Pakistan's advantage.

Who, may we ask, is vigorously pursuing this Indo-US nuclear deal which, we are told, will limit India's strategic capacities, thus, providing advantage to our neighbours? It is those who are propagating and supporting the deal who are, thus, by this logic, acting at the behest of China and Pakistan !

While the pen-pushers of US imperialism and the Indian ruling classes continue to spread canards exposing their complete incapacity to meet the CPI(M)'s objections on merit, the Indian people, surely, will not allow India to be reduced to a US supplicant.

In the 60th anniversary of our independence, the 150th anniversary of 1857 and the 250th anniversary of the battle of Plassey which heralded the colonial rule over India, we cannot allow any erosion of our hard won sovereignty and independence. On the contrary, we need to strengthen it.

By ANIRBAN