Are Organization Elections Strengthening the Party ?

by praveenshankarkapoor on Fri Oct 23, 2009 10:05 am

APPEAL TO BJP LEADERSHIP - PLEASE SUSPEND THE ONGOING ORGANIZATION ELECTION & DEVELOP A HEALTHY ORGANIZATION. Make Strong MANDAL PRESIDENTS, instead.

Dear All,

Namaskar. We the BJP family have lost some more elections although I, for one, never expected any miracles to happen. In fact, if you may recall my letter posted on 19th October, I had analyzed many a reasons why BJP lies in shambles today. I just wish to add two things to it today itself because tomorrow may be too late. Perhaps this could be last from me on this issue.

Before I start - I wish to emphasize - Our Decline Starts The Day We Start Ignoring Facts or Refuse To Hear Suggestions.

Elections to State Assemblies are over and how we fought them is quite well known, the results are there, speaking volumes of our work & rapport amongst people. Please lets not fool ourselves by saying Raj Thackery damaged us. Raj Saheb was always a vocal member of alliance till a couple of years ago and its so strange a Party that has 826 M.L.A's country wide can not assess what alliance works & we as a political party closed all doors with Raj Thackery. We so strongly oppose Pariwarwaad but we fall prey to a Pariwar Feud.

In Haryana strangely we allied with none and see where are we today.

On the contrary we must recall in 2009 Lok Sabha election a right timed alliance in Assam we performed so well that we won Guwhati where if you all may recall Hon'ble Prime Minister is a voter. A right alliance failed the Prime Minister's vote.

Yet every thing apart I wish to congratulate Mr. Gopi Nath Munde, Mr. Nitin Gadkari for saving grace for BJP whatever way they could for a party that is currently rudderless. I have closely seen politics since 1979, I may not be a very big player yet for last 3 years I have analyzed things quite rightly and understand Gopi Nath ji & Nitin ji were working in extremely suffocating condition and need to be appreciated.

Now let us move to my second issue for the day.

Friends, with in a party that has been repeatedly loosing elections, one another election is going on, a organizational election. This is one election for which we have ample master strategists with in the party.

Friends, most of you may not be aware BJP every 3 years has a organizational election, we project it as proof of our internal democracy but sadly this one election has damaged BJP most in last 10 years - the animosity that develops with in BJP after every organizational election gets reflected in every election be it of a Municipality, State Assembly or Parliament.

Actually what happens is these organizational elections create a divide between active party workers down to Booth Level, party gets divided in groups within and like in every election ONE GROUP WINS. Till say 1998 the Party had Leaders who ensured that Consensus Office Bearer Teams were formed reflecting all groups but unfortunately it all changed once the Party came to power at Center.

All of a sudden a party that was cadre oriented became power center oriented. Atlast I can honestly say since 1999 Lok Sabha Election, I have not seen one general election "we all fought" - what happens is people till ground level keep saying JISKO MANDAL PRESIDENT BUNAYA JAO WOH HI VOTE DILWAYEGA. I have seen workers throwing back Unchecked Voter Lists on the face of Senior Leaders at last minute or demanding "prohibited things" all through voting day. How do we expect such workers to get votes ?

Sitting Councilor say in Vidhan Sabha election - HUM KYUN ISKE LIYE KAAM KAREN JISNE TICKET DIYA WOH JEETWAYGA or ISNE MERE ELECTION MEIN KAUN SA KAAM KIYA THA JOU MEIN KARUN.

Situation is so pathetic that even in Lok Sabha elections M.L.A's & Councilors, District or Mandal Office Bearers refuse to work for the party nominee due to Group loyalties.

Its time the party leadership accepts this truth and finds a solution to it.

I for one have a suggestion for Senior Party Leaders - PLEASE SUSPEND the ORGANIZATIONAL ELECTION Process. We in this country often hear at crucial junctures a talk of National Govt. I suggest its time the Leadership develop a NATIONAL PARTY ORGANIZATION. What I wish to say is that - you all within the party know about talented people within the party make a party organization from MANDAL, DISTRICTS, STATE & NATIONAL Level through CONSENSUS.

Lets bring up a organization that is not lopsided - we need to understand till we have strong Mandals we can't expect a come back in national politics.

Hope every one in Party remembers that there was a time when Senior Most People in Party headed Mandals and they had guts to scold even a Party M.L.A. or M.P. unlike today when Mandal Presidents are just Back Room Boys of Groups who are publicly scolded by all & sundry including local Councilors.

I know people like me don't matter at all in a big party like B.J.P. but for once I sincerely pray to SAI BABA to make my leaders think on developing a healthy organization.

Regards

Praveen Shankar Kapoor

Why BJP is not hitting hard at Congress ?

by praveenshankarkapoor on Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:53 pm

Dear All,

Hope you all had a great Diwali celebration & I wish this Diwali Pujan brings prosperity to all.

Friends, I am writing this post to raise a debate that may sound strange but its really essential in BJP's interest - ARE YOU AS A BJP SYMPATHIZER SATISFIED WITH THE WAY PARTY's LEADERSHIP IS PERFORMING ? DO YOU FEEL PARTY's NATIONAL LEADERS HIT CONGRESS WHERE IT HURTS ?

At least, I am not satisfied.

This forum's cover quotes Hon'ble Advani ji saying " JOURNEY CONTINUES FOR US." A electoral defeat doesn't mean we get stuck but then sympathizers or ground workers can't raise a campaign. They can help spread a campaign but only the National Leadership can raise a campaign.

It is here I find BJP Leaders totally letting us down. Since the Lok Sabha debacle we have won a number of Bye Elections to State Assemblies, for example in Delhi BJP has won 3 of 5 M.C.D. & 1 of 2 Assembly Bye Elections.

What is more important is that Congress lost the other Assembly Seat too and most shockingly the DWARKA Seat BJP Won was with Congress for last over 15 years & was vacated by Mr. Mahabal Mishra on being elected to Lok Sabha.Similarly, Congress lost OKHLA too after 15 years after the incumbent Mr. Parvez Hashmi was elected to Rajya Sabha. Yet we find BJP missing from the Political Arena of Delhi & similar is true for entire country specially from the two major states Maharashtra & Haryana which went to polls recently.

In Haryana party was not visible much but in Maharashtra I firmly believe BJP would perform really well thanks to local leadership efforts & the poor ground realities in Maharashtra state be it Marathwada or Vidharbha regions.

Friends, if we love BJP & sincere to help rebuild the party its time we analyze what ills BJP ? When I try analyzing my observation is that BJP seems indifferent & missing from the arena because BJP National Leadership remains silent on crucial issues, to me it seems BJP National Leaders have got detached from State Politics or General Issues - they seem to be in a dilemma that - NEXT LOK SABHA ELECTION ARE TOO FAR WHAT IS THE USE OF RAISING ISSUES NOW or say WHY SHOULD WE TAKE TROUBLE WHEN PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE FOR US, LET PEOPLE SUFFER NOW.

Strangely, we do not look like a National Alternate why ? Because we don't speak on crucial issues - ABNORMAL Continuing INFLATION, EFFECTS of RECESSION, CHINA's ILLEGAL INTRUSION ON OUR TERRITORY & ECONOMICAL FRONT too and we don't even speak on crucial issues like in Delhi we as a party have failed to attack both Central & State Govt.'s for their failure in Commonwealth Games 2010 Preparations or related issues which can affect India's relations with the Commonwealth movement even.

The corruption going on in NREGA Scheme all over the country specially in Uttar Pradesh seems to be a non issue for the party.

The party remains silent on crucial national issues & seems to be vision less on international issues.Its not that our leaders don't speak on issues but its so routine & our agitations appear so dramatized that people seem to be disenchanted towards BJP.

Its time BJP National Leadership comes out of stagnation and starts a movement because the Message of 2009 Debacle is very clear - People did not vote for Congress because they were satisfied with its performance, they Voted Congress Because THEY DID NOT SEE AN ALTERNATE IN BJP. What I wish to stress is that now when people go to vote they not only assess the ruling party's performance but also the role of principle opposition party during the period.

2014 may seem far but in between there shall be crucial Uttar Pradesh & Bihar assembly polls and a weak performance would make Target 2014 illusive too. In between we need to concentrate on Andhra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Orrisa as every extra seat matters. Only a strong concentrated National Leadership can do this some thing that is missing.

My views my sound strange or unpleasant to Leadership but I firmly believe this is what is going on in the hearts & minds of millions of Party Sympathizers & Workers.

I shall appreciate forum's feedback.

Regards

PRAVEEN SHANKAR KAPOOR
Delhi.
9716640001

To whom the State prefers – Gandhians or Maoists  !!!

By Vidya Das

It had all started on 26^th January, 2008, when the Mandibisi Gram Panchayat passed a unanimous resolution against the continuation of the liquor bhatti in their Panchayat.  It was the Naveen led Biju Janata Dal government, which had in its very first year, reformulated the Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFT) policy and given the rights to panchayats in tribal areas.

Now, this very government had formulated a liquor policy which resulted in opening of licensed liquor shops in all the tribal areas. This was counter to the past policies on liquor followed in the tribal areas, where household liquor brewing which is a traditional part of the lifestyle of the tribal communities was allowed, this provision is actually part of the Bihar and Orissa Excise Act of 1915 and is still adhered to in the Excise Policy of the Orissa Govt.

In fact, there are two Acts, as I have mentioned in my earlier communication, The Bihar and Orissa Excise Act, 1915, Secction 26 – A and The Provisions of the Panchayats, Extension to The Tribal Areas Act, (PESA) 1996, Section 4.m.i,  which specifically emphasise the rights of the Gram Sabha in the 5^th Schedule areas to control liquor trade.

So when Mandibisi Gram Panchayat passed a Gram Sabha resolution on January 26th, they were taking a perfectly legal step in keeping with the Constitutional Sanctions for self-rule in tribal areas. But, their hopes were soon destroyed, as an indifferent administration refused to acknowledge the rights of the Gram Sabha and on the contrary encouraged the liquor bhatti to continue its nefarious activities.

Then in November, 2008, the district administration issued a routine notice to all panchayats seeking objections if any to the liquor breweries in the different panchayats. Failure of registration of complaints within 30 days of issuance of the letter, would lead to the breweries continuing as before. The Secretary, Mandibisi Panchayat suppressed the letter initially, then panicking at what might happen if his perfidy was discovered, disclosed the contents to Nandu Majhi, Sarpanch of Mandibisi;

In a short time, a Gram Sabha was organised, and women and men came together to once again pass a resolution for closure of the liquor bhatti. Leaders of the Panchayat, then went to meet the District Collector, handed him the resolution, and requested him to once again close the bhatti.

The District Collector assured them that the Licence expires in a few months time and that from Orissa Foundation Day this year  (1^st of April, 2009) the bhati will be closed. 1^st April passed, May Day (1^st May) passed, but the Bhatti continued, full steam.

In the meanwhile, following complaints from the Bhatti Manager, cases were registered against several leaders in the Panchayat, as well as against Nandu Majhi. The people appealed to Sumani Jhodia, who was seen as a natural leader in Kashipur Block, and she led a delegation to meet the SP and complained about police harassment. The SP was extremely sympathetic and assured them that he would look into the issue and do his best to close the bhatti  and that he would ensure that no arrests were made. The status quo continued for somedays, till Phulsingh Nayak from Mandibisi was arrested. Infuriated, the people broke the OS Shop completel  and more cases were registered. However, the liquor shop owner quickly re-built the whole thing and resumed business as usual.

Nandu, however, was not to be subdued. On 6^th July, another representation under his leadership went to Rayagada and demanded to know why the bhatti has not been closed. The Collector first tried to evade the issue by saying that the Gram Sabha has not been conducted with due procedure and that the bhatti could not be closed as it was providing revenue which ran their schools  and provided roads. He advised the women to go back, and stop the men from drinking, instead of fighting against the licensed bhatti.

 The women and Nandu told the District Collector that they would not leave till the Bhatti was closed and demanded a written order to the effect. The stand-off continued late into the evening. Then, the delegations was asked to come the next day and they were given a copy of an order for temporary closure of the Bhatti, ‘in view of the Dharna outside the Collector’s Office’ and to maintain the peace in Mandibisi panchayat. The people had to be satisfied with this.

The people are still waiting for the permanent order for the closure of the bhatti. In the meanwhile, the bhatti owner is bribing high and low to mobilise the lumpen elements in Mandibisi to sign for the re-opening of the liquor shop. However, the women's group have been vigilant and strong enough to control all such efforts.

Here, a very important question arises, how does one counter the misdeeds of a wilful and self-centred administration. Can the anti-people postures and actions of the administration only be countered by violent  and aggressive Maoist Dalams or will there be a time when people like Sumani and Nandu, who only seek to take the mandate of the constitution forward through Gandhian methods are allowed legitimate space to function ?

The time has come to address the impending threat of a burning coal which jeopardises the existence of human settlements in and around Kujju in Ramgarh.

The underground fire in an abandoned coal mine that broke out on NH-33 near Kujju in Ramgarh has spread to some new areas even as experts managed to control the fire to some extent on the highway. Fresh flames and heavy smoke have billowed out from some new places

More than the issue of soaring food prices and the rapid depletion of the world's energy resources, it has been observed that a catastrophic fire in a coal mine of Central Coalfields Limited(CCL) could prove the biggest threat to local environment in Jharkhand in coming days.

If we value our local environment in Jharkhand, we should sit up and take notice of the many ways we can conserve the environment and live in a way that does not pose a danger to the natural resources of the earth.

In this workshop we will understand THREAT of FIRE on HUMAN SETTLEMENTS.

This workshop is for decision makers from the government and private sector, academicians, social activists, etc. Needless to state, anyone is welcome with prior registration.

Govt at war with Naxals to aid MNCs: Arundhati

CNN-IBN

Wed, Oct 21, 2009

New Delhi: It was an evening of an explosive confession on CNN-IBN. Naxal leader Kishenji has for the first time claimed responsibility for the beheading of Jharkhand police officer Francis Induvar two weeks ago. Even more chilling are his threats that they will kill again on a day when Naxals attacked another police station in West Midnapore on Tuesday. The question that was being asked on CNN-IBN's India At 9 was: Is it possible for the Government and Naxals to come to the dialogue table? To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were writer and activist Arundhati Roy and Jharkhand-based activist Gladson Dungdung.

CNN-IBN Naxal leader Kishenji has said clearly that there will be more violence. In this violent climate, how can you expect the Government of India to reach out and call for a dialogue which is what you, Arundhati Roy and other civil rights activists are asking for. What about asking the Naxals to abjure violence.

Arundhati Roy: I saw the letter which Mr Chidambaram has written asking whether civil society groups can persuade the Naxals to abjure violence. I think it is a bit disingenuous, because this binary which has been created - of the Naxals on one side and the Government on the other side and the human rights activists in the middle - is a simplification of a very, very complex picture. I don't think there is anything as human rights activists for they all belong to different groups. There is a whole range of non-violent, democratic resistances which are all being called Naxal which are all being asked to negotiate. So if the Government wants to negotiate with the Naxals, then it should specifically negotiate with them.

CNN-IBN The Government is very specifically asking citizen groups to speak to the CPI-Maoists and to bring them into the political mainstream. What's wrong with that?

Arundhati Roy: I am not a citizens' group. I am an activist.

CNN-IBN But you are a citizens' group that came out publicly on Tuesday and asked that the offensive should be called off.

Arundhati Roy: Of course. You have to look at this historically in terms of why this has happened. For 30 years in places like Chhattisgarh, there have been Naxals. Why is the situation now being made to sound like there is this huge upsurge? The real fact is - and I believe this - that it is the Government that wants a war to clear out the forest areas because there is a huge backlog of MoUs in Jharkhand as well as Chhattisgarh that are not being activated.

CNN-IBN The Home Minister told CNN-IBN about a month ago - in answer to this very same question - that the Government would like to do development work in these areas, but when we build roads the Naxals blow them up, when we build schools the Naxals blow them up, they mine everything and they do not allow development to take place. You say it is binary but it is also a bit chicken and egg. What is the Government of India supposed to do if the force that is opposed to them is taking arms, is beheading policemen, is resorting to violence?

Arundhati Roy: Himanshu Kumar - who lives in Dantewada - on Tuesday asked the Government under the Right to Information Act that which anganwadi worker, which teacher, which person who does any kind of social development work has ever been killed by the Naxals and the answer was none. What Mr Chidambaram means by development is not what the people living in that area mean by development. I have been to Dantewada and I have seen the roads that are being built. Let me tell you those are not roads that are being built for adivasi (tribal) people to walk on. But I am against the mining of roads.

CNN-IBN Do you accept that the violence must end in that sense? The Home Minister said very clearly - 'as far as I can see, the only hurdle to holding talks with the CPI-Maoists is the violence which stalks the area in which they operate'. Now, surely they must give up arms.

Arundhati Roy: That is what I am saying is disingenuous. When the attack is from the Government forces - a Government which is bringing in the Army and the Air Force, calling for war on the poorest people in the country - it becomes tough. And this is when they are willing to talk to China, they are willing to talk to Pakistan. What kind of policy is this?

CNN-IBN But who has the weapons? The Government of India says the Naxals have the weapons.

Arundhati Roy: The Government has the weapons.

CNN-IBN So do the Naxals. The Naxals are well-armed now.

Arundhati Roy: How do you know that?

CNN-IBN You say that poor people are dying but the Naxals have also lost the moral rights that they had 10-20 years ago. When they kill children, when they kill women, who is responsible?

Arundhati Roy: Nobody ever talks about the violence that goes unnoticed. In Dantewada there are 644 villages that have been emptied. From 2005 there are 3.5 lakh people that have gone missing.

CNN-IBN One violence does not justify the other.

Arundhati Roy: It does not. But you are making an equivalent of somebody who has air power and nuclear power and armies against poor people.

CNN-IBN Arundhati Roy says that not one anganwadi worker has been killed but we do know that 659 people have died because of them of which 259 were police officers and 400 civilians, so just to come back to our original question Gladson, do you think coming back to the talks table is even a remote possibility right now?

Gladson Dungdung: We have to come to the real issue. Why is the Government shouting in Jharkhand? Take my case. My parents were brutally murdered, 20 acres of land was taken away for a dam but we were not compensated. If I had joined the Naxals, who would have been responsible? Today I came to know that the Government of India is going to start an assault from tomorrow onwards, CRPF is ready in the Singhbhum region of Jharkhand and that is a low-Naxal infested area, the highest being Palamu. They are starting in Singhbhum because the Jharkhand government has signed 102 MoUs most of them for this region.

CNN-IBN Are you saying that the Government of India is essentially batting for large corporate MNCs who want the forest land cleared?

Gladson Dungdung: Yes, yes.

CNN-IBN But that maybe true of a particular part possibly but it can't be true of an entire Red Corridor which has now been formed from Chhattisgarh to West Bengal.

Arundhati Roy: If you look at the mineral deposits in this so-called Red Corridor, you will see that this is true. The Jindals, the Tatas, SR - all these companies have MoUs. The year that the Salwa Judum was started was the year when several of these MoUs were signed.

CNN-IBN But then why don't they come into the democratic process and take up these causes. This is a point that the Home Minister has made time and again that the Naxals must come into the fold of the Indian democratic process. But if they don't have any faith in the state, then naturally the Indian state will be forced to strike back.

Arundhati Roy: I want to say two things. One is that we are using this term Naxal very, very loosely. The Government has very clearly said that all the people who were with the Salwa Judum - which is a form of strategic hamleting that was used in the Vietnam war - are with them and the rest are not with the Government.

CNN-IBN The Salwa Judum was perhaps of a policy of some previous government because we have not seen much of the Salwa Judum in the last few years. This is the same Government which in 2004 went into talks with the Naxal groups.

Arundhati Roy: That is just not true and the person who runs the Salwa Judum is a Congress man. There is a river called the Indravati and across it is Pakistan and all of us are being told that if you cross the river we are free to shoot you.

CNN-IBN Answer the central question. Why aren't Naxals made to come into the democratic process? Let us raise the issue of land displacement but through democratic dialogue.

Arundhati Roy: Let us look at the democratic process. The Indian elections cost more than the American elections. Ninety-nine per cent of independent candidates lost. Most of the MPs are millionaires. Now you are going to tell someone like Gladson here to come and join the process when he hasn't got any money to buy space in the media, any money to get from corporations.

CNN-IBN So if there are elections for example in Jharkhand - in a couple of months like they are - you believe that no one is ready to come into the electoral process to have their voices heard? If they have so much popular support, if issues like land displacement are critical, then why not come into the electoral process?

Gladson Dungdung: Last time when the government representatives were in Jharkhand, many people connected with the displacement went and started a dialogue process. But neither Shibu Soren, nor the governor - no one listened.

CNN-IBN I know the Home Minister is watching the programme right now because we told him you would be on it. What is it that you would like to tell him?

Gladson Dungdung: I will say that if you want to address the issue of Naxalites then you first address the economic, social and cultural injustice which has been done to the adivasis and address the developmental issues.

CNN-IBN To this Mr Chidambaram is going to say that if you want these issues addressed and development, then abjure the gun. That comes first - give up the gun and then we will talk.

Arundhati Roy: You have a security force that runs into tens of thousands, heavily armed, surrounding an area. You have all these MoUs. If you look at a map of India, the minerals, forests and tribals are all stacked up on top of each other. And if you say that we are surrounding a forest and we have all these weapons trained on you and you have vigilante groups and peoples' militia going into villages raping and killing women - something which the Salwa Judum does as a policy - and then you are saying abjure the gun, we will come and take over your land, how much sense does that make?

CNN-IBN So then we are in a zero sum game. One form of violence is going to be responded to by another form of violence.

Arundhati Roy: I think these people need to be promised that there will be no displacement, that all these MoUs will be made public, get a clear idea of the development planned for this area, have people at public forums discuss these issues and take up the opinion of those of Ground Zero and then you can talk.

CNN-IBN So your answer to the Government's request of citizens' groups - that it is their responsibility to bring groups like the CPI-Maoists into the political mainstream - is that this is not possible.

Arundhati Roy: How can i say it, who am I to say it? I think it is the Government's responsibility. These groups are complex.

CNN-IBN You want the Government to take the entire responsibility? Shouldn't civil society and activists be taking some of this responsibility?

Arundhati Roy: They are taking the responsibility of bringing out these issues, but they are not the people who have been voted to power.

CNN-IBN Let's leave the last word to Gladson.

Gladson Dungdung: See the problem is that two decades ago what Rajiv Gandhi used to say that only 15 per cent of the money used to reach the poor is the same thing that Rahul Gandhi is saying now. That means they have not done anything.

CNN-IBN You are saying that the democratic process has remained unchanged in this country for the last 25 years.

Gladson Dungdung: Yes. Another thing when Priyanka Gandhi meets the killer of Rajiv Gandhi, she becomes the messiah for the people - or is at least projected like that. When someone like Binayak Sen treats an adivasi, he becomes a Naxal supporter. How is this fair?

CNN-IBN It's a complex issue. It will require a long time to address but obviously we need to look at the shades of gray and there are many shades of gray in what is being positioned - as some believe - as a binary issue with the Naxals on the one side and the State on the other. It will require people like you Arundhati Roy to perhaps reach out to Mr Chidambaram and have a dialogue but not in a spirit of confrontation but in the hope that you can reach a solution. You need solutions now and the violence must end from both sides.

PS: You can watch the video (3 slots) at following link:

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govt-at-war-with-naxals-to-aid-mncs-arundhati/103627-3.html?from=tn

Severing information amounts to rejection of a portion of the information requested. This can be done only by invoking the relevant ground/s under section 8(1). However the PIO has not offered any explanation about why this information is being severed. Therefore we will file an appeal under section 19 (1) of the RTI Act with the Cabinet Secretariat.

Sanchita Bakshi

Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum

Dear Friends,

A massive Rally and March against Displacement in Jharkhand is being planned in Ranchi on the 5th of November in which, it is expected, a large number of anti-displacement movements from all across the State will be participating. The March will take place from Ranchi Railway station to Raj Bhavan where a memorandum against displacement will be submitted to the Governor. The purpose is to show the strength and validity of the anti-displacement movements all across the State as well as to protest against the present model of development in the State.

We need to mobilise as large a number of participants as possible from Ranchi cutting across all sections of the civil society so that the protest becomes really effective. We are also trying to get students to participate in the March in which we will need all the help from Alex, Ramesh Sharan and Kumar Sanjay. Dr. Ram Dayalji, Sanjay Basu and Vasavi can mobilise people from their respective movements and villages to substantially add strength to this Rally and March. Bikash and RP Shahi can help us with the civilian population of Ranchi particularly their members.

We have booked five hoardings in Ranchi for a week from the 1st to the 7th to display messages on Displacement for the general public.

We are planning a Press Conference on the 3rd of November and I request all to be present to lend their voice to the media present. In particular we will need Dr. Ram Dayalji, Dr. B.P. Keshriji, Dayamaniji, Vasavi, Ramesh Sharan, Alex, Arvind and we will be inviting Munni Hansda and our friends from Jamshedpur and around.

Kindly help in whatever way you can to make this event effective so that the Government becomes aware of the resentment.

Thanks and regards

Prem P. Verma

Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum

Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum

Five women were stripped and paraded naked in Deoghar district of Jharkhand after being charged of witchcraft, police said on Monday.

Five women, including three widows, were forcibly brought to a field Sunday in Patharghatia village in Deoghar, about 350 km from state capital Ranchi. They were stripped and paraded naked and two of them were forced to eat excreta, police said.

"Sushila Kumahrin, Sagiran Beebi, Hafijan Beebi, Sujan Beebi and Gulnar Beebi were tortured to accept that they were witches and practise black magic. The incident took place at the instruction of a witch doctor. The witch doctor said that these women were practising black magic and were causing problems in the village," a police officer said.

The women were rescued when local government officials and police reached the spot. However, the perpetrators managed to escape.

According to reports, hundreds of people witnessed the incident.

"We have lodged an FIR (First Information Report) against 11 people, including six women. We will soon arrest the perpetrators," the officer added.

Majority of perpetrators were Muslims and four of the five victims belonged to the same community.

In Jharkhand, women are subjected to different forms of torture after being branded witches. There are instances when women have been paraded naked, forced to eat human excreta and even killed.

According to official data, more than 700 people, majority of them women, were killed after being branded witches. The witch doctors manage to escape as people fear black magic if they are named.

HT / 19 Oct

‘Neglect of tribals spawning Maoists’

Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi

Even as the Government plans an all-out offensive against the Maoists operating in tribal-dominated regions across the country, a panel appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a recent report has pointed out to the failure of the State administration in providing justice to the tribals.

The committee was headed by then Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. His successor and present Rural Development Minister CP Joshi has sent the report to the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

“Most tribal areas in central India are abode to the Maoists, whose presence is a response both to the past and future alienation, the failure of the Government to live up to its constitutional mandate and the withdrawal of the State from its responsibility to protect the tribal realm,” the report entitled State Agrarian Relations and the Unfinished Tasks in Land Reforms mentioned.

The committee, after taking a year to analyse the land distress and recommend ways to stop future unrest, has pointed out in detail that the tribals were alienated systematically by various politicians, bureaucrats and non-tribals. “The present schematic and legal arrangement for the restoration of tribal land has not been successful on account of a number of factors, including the convergence of interests amongst the political groups, bureaucracy and classes alienating the tribal lands,” the report said.

The committee has also shown that a significant proportion of tribal people has been pushed out of the lower plains and are concentrated in pockets, generally in the hilly tracts with poor soil and low productivity, and the powers given to the executive “by and large have not been used in the last six decades in the interest of the tribals.” While displacement due to land acquisition and mining has been cited repeatedly by the committee for increasing alienation of tribals from the mainstream of society, efforts at restoration of their land taken away by illegal occupants have been consistently blocked by vested interests.

While elaborating on the paradigm of tribal land alienation, the committee said that non-tribals had bought land illegally in the name of ‘gift’ or ‘adopted relative’. The committee has given the example of Kerala where, while the in-migration of people from outside tribal areas had become a regular feature, the laws to restore tribal land to the tribals had failed. In Kerala, the law of restoration was passed in 1975 and made applicable in 1986, but in next ten years the law was withdrawn on the ground that ousting of illegal encroachers over tribal land would present a law and order problem.

In States other than Gujarat, the percentage rejected ownership claims by the tribals is disturbing. It is in the States of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Even in these States, handing over of actual possession remains a question mark.

“It appears that the burden of proof was placed on the tribal claimant to his/her disadvantage when the spirit of law was the opposite,” the report adds and further stresses, “the case of Madhya Pradesh is alarming. The number of rejected and pending claims account for 90 per cent of the total claims, while it is 76 per cent in Assam, 69 per cent in Orissa, 56% in Maharashtra, and 52% in Chattisgarh.

The Nobel War Prize
Bill Van Auken
Friday’s announcement by the Nobel committee in Norway that Barack
Obama had been chosen to receive its 2009 Peace Prize was met with
expressions of astonishment around the globe.

Many questioned how Obama could be chosen after less than nine months
in office, with no discernable achievements on any front. He was
inaugurated just 11 days before the cut-off date for nominations for
the prize.

More significant, however, is what Obama has done in office, which has
nothing to do with peace.

Obama appeared in the Rose Garden in the mid-morning to deliver
remarks that began with a declaration that he was “surprised and
deeply humbled” to receive the Peace Prize. He then marched back into
the White House to meet with his war council and discuss sending tens
of thousands more troops to Afghanistan and escalating the bombing in
that country and across the border in Pakistan.

Using his statement to issue veiled threats against Iran, Obama went
out of his way to declare himself the “commander-in-chief” and refer
to the two wars and occupations over which he presides.

While the Nobel committee praised him for his “vision of a world free
from nuclear arms,” Obama commented that this goal “may not be
completed in my lifetime.” Given that in talks with Moscow his
administration has demanded the right to keep a minimum of 1,500
nuclear warheads, he knows whereof he speaks.

“We have to confront the world as we know it,” said Obama, making a
clear distinction between his supposed “vision” and the reality of his
administration’s bellicose policies.

On the surface, awarding a peace prize to the US president is
farcical. There are widespread warnings that the selection may well
prove only an embarrassment for the Obama administration. How is it
possible to proclaim a “commander-in-chief” who is responsible for war
crimes, such as bombing the civilian population of Afghanistan—one
such attack having claimed the lives of over 100 men, women and
children just last May—as the champion of peace?

Yet, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize has always been a dubious
distinction. Its reputation has never really recovered from the
decision to award it in 1973 to Henry Kissinger, who is today unable
to leave the United States for fear of being arrested as a war
criminal. His co-recipient, Le Duc Tho, the Vietnamese leader who
negotiated the Paris peace agreement with Kissinger, refused to accept
the award, pointing out that the accord had brought no peace to his
country.

A few years later, Menachem Begin was chosen for the prize. The Nobel
committee chose to ignore his long career as a terrorist and killer,
honoring him for reaching the Camp David deal with Anwar Sadat of
Egypt, his co-recipient.

Jimmy Carter, whose administration instigated a war in Afghanistan
that claimed a million lives, was given the same award in 2002.

The committee cannot be accused of violating its own principles, such
as they are. The founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel, was the inventor
of dynamite. He would no doubt be intrigued by the Pentagon’s efforts
to speed up production of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a
30,000-pound bomb designed to obliterate underground targets. The
weapon is being readied for possible use against Iran.

Despite its praise for Obama’s “vision” and for having “captured the
world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the
Nobel committee did not choose Obama based on illusions in his
campaign rhetoric.

The Nobel Peace Prize is, and always has been, a political award given
with the aim of promoting definite policies.

The selection was made by a committee composed of five members of the
Norwegian parliament drawn from the main parties, ranging from the
far-right to the social democrats. Its decisions reflect positions
prevailing within the European ruling elite as a whole.

Thorbjorn Jagland, the committee’s chairman and a former Norwegian
prime minister, defended the choice of Obama in an interview with the
New York Times Friday, expressing the cynicism underlying the choice.
“It’s important for the committee to recognize people who are
struggling and idealistic, but we cannot do that every year,” he said.
“We must from time to time go into the realm of realpolitik.”

Realpolitik doubtless played the decisive role in the recent selection
of two other prominent American politicians for the prize: Carter in
2002 and Al Gore in 2007. Carter was picked on the eve of the US war
against Iraq in a rebuke to the belligerent unilateralism of the Bush
administration. The prize went to Gore, the Democratic presidential
candidate in 2000, in advance of the 2008 election, a not-so-subtle
hint that Europe wanted a break from the Bush administration.

While in those years the prize was employed as a critique of US
foreign policy, this time it represents an endorsement. As Jagland put
it, “We hope this can contribute a little bit to enhance what he is
trying to do.”

The glaring contradiction in giving the peace prize to Obama as he
prepares to send more troops into Afghanistan is more apparent than
real. The award is meant to legitimize Washington’s escalation in
Afghanistan, its attacks on Pakistan and its continued occupation of
Iraq, giving them Europe’s seal of approval as wars for peace.

It serves to undermine popular opposition within the United States and
internationally to the wars being waged under the Obama
administration, as well as to future ones still being planned.

The European powers support the war in Afghanistan, a position that is
more frequently finding its expression in the press. The British daily
Independent, for example, published an editorial Thursday declaring
that it “in principle” supports the call for sending as many as 40,000
more US troops into the war.

Meanwhile, Germany, France and other countries have shifted their
positions on Iran as well, backing Washington’s campaign for tougher
measures.

What ruling circles in Europe see in Obama is not a champion of peace,
but rather a shift away from the unilateralism of the Bush
administration and a willingness to factor European support into the
pursuit of US imperialism’s strategic aims.

No doubt, Europe’s governments calculate that their backing of the US
military interventions will translate into a stake in the exploitation
of the energy reserves of Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Moreover, in legitimizing these wars and promoting a return to
multilateralism in US foreign policy, the European powers see a means
to legitimize their own turn to militarism and to suppress opposition
to war within their own populations.

Obama’s Nobel prize, far from signaling hope that the world’s greatest
military power is turning toward peace, is itself an endorsement of
war and serves as a warning that the intensifying crisis of world
capitalism is creating the conditions for resurgent militarism and the
threat of widening international conflicts.



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Christmas deadline for K'mal rehabilitation

Apologies for cross posting
http://idsn.org/international-advocacy/un/un-principles-guidelines/unhchr-opinio\
n-piece/

Tearing down the wall of caste

By Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

A group of representatives from caste-affected communities in Asia
recently gave me a piece of brick from the wall of a torn-down
latrine. The brick symbolized the global struggle against the
degrading practice of making members of a “lower caste” clean public
toilets with their bare hands.

This practice, which persists in many places despite increasing
prohibition in law, is not the workers' choice. It is rather a task
that they inherit because of their social origins and descent. In
turn, these discriminated individuals are further “contaminated” by
their work and further trapped in a generational cycle of social
exclusion and marginalization.

Today caste-affected communities and civil society activists are
hoping to tear down the much bigger invisible wall of discrimination
by trying to promote new international standards of equality and
non-discrimination. I have tremendous respect for their determination
and courage. As a woman of color from a racial minority growing up in
apartheid South Africa, I know a thing or two about discrimination.

“Untouchability” is a social phenomenon affecting approximately 260
million persons worldwide. This type of discrimination is typically
associated with the notions of ritual purity and pollution which are
deeply rooted in different societies and cultures. The problem is
neither confined to one geographical area nor exclusively practiced
within one particular religion of belief system. It is a global
phenomenon.

Caste is the very negation of the human rights principles of equality
and non-discrimination. It condemns individuals from birth and their
communities to a life of exploitation, violence, social exclusion and
segregation. Caste-discrimination is not only a human rights
violation, but also exposes those affected to other abuses of their
civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

“Lower caste” individuals are frequently confined to hereditary,
low-income employment and deprived of access to agricultural land and
credit. They often find themselves battling high levels of
indebtedness or even debt and labor bondage, which is practically a
contemporary form of slavery. The barriers they face in seeking
justice or redress are formidable. Child labor is rampant in
descent-based communities and children of “lower castes” suffer high
levels of illiteracy. For women, caste is a multiplier that compounds
their experience of poverty and discrimination.

Laws and policies have been put in place in many to combat this
scourge. Constitutions prohibit caste-based discrimination and “lower
caste” members have been elected to the highest offices of the land.
Special legislation has been enacted to provide for affirmative action
in education and employment, as well as protection from violence and
exploitation. Judiciaries have sought to enforce laws and provide
relief to victims. Dedicated institutions monitor the conditions and
advocate on behalf of “lower caste” groups.

At the international level, the Convention for the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination explicitly lists descent as a ground of
racial discrimination. The Durban Declaration and Program of Action,
adopted at the World Conference on Racism in 2001, recognized
descent-based discrimination. It also provided a comprehensive roadmap
to combat it which was reaffirmed by states in April this year.

Yet, there is a real need for targeted social policies and programs to
address caste-based discrimination. It is imperative to implement
education programs that can change deeply rooted systemic, cultural
and social prejudices, customs, beliefs and traditions based on
descent, power and affluence. Above all, caste-affected communities
must be given a voice and full participation in the development,
implementation and evaluation of strategies aimed at empowering them.
The international community should come together to support these
efforts as it did when it helped put an end to apartheid.

This action to stem an abhorrent form of marginalization and exclusion
which traps the victims in hopelessness and poverty is long overdue.
We owe it to those “lower-caste” families forced to leave their
village because they dared to vote in a parliamentary election against
the favored candidate of the upper caste. We owe it to the villagers
belonging to the lowest social class starving to death because they
were not able to benefit from the public services which they were
entitled to. We owe it to that “lower caste” woman assaulted, publicly
humiliated and forced to eat her own excreta by members of the upper
caste community accusing her of witchcraft. All caste-victims demand
and deserve remedies. The plight of hundreds of millions cannot be
justified as age-old traditions, nor can it be regarded merely as a
“family business.”

The Human Rights Council, the premier intergovernmental body for the
protection and promotion of human rights, should promote the 2009
Draft Principles and Guidelines for the Effective Elimination of
Discrimination based on Work and Descent. This study complements
existing international standards of non-discrimination. All states
must rally around and endorse these norms. The time has come to
eradicate the shameful concept of caste. Other seemingly
insurmountable walls, such as slavery and apartheid, have been
dismantled in the past. We can and must tear down the barriers of
caste too.

This opinion piece was released on 8 October 2009

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