Archives for 2014

Putin visit could bring sparkle back to India-Russia ties

December 5, 2014 by Nasheman

President of Russia Vladimir Putin.(RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

by Ranjana Narayan

New Delhi: India-Russia ties are set to get the sparkle of diamonds during the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin next week during which both sides would also seek to draw up a long-term vision of their key strategic ties.

Putin will also address a joint session of the Indian parliament.

The Russian president will be meeting Modi on Dec 11 for the 15th India-Russia Annual Summit. Though the exact schedule of his visit has not yet been firmed up, Putin is expected to arrive on Dec 10 evening, or land early on Dec 11 itself, it is understood.

Though both Modi and Putin have met earlier at international gatherings, no structured bilateral talks have been held so far. Both leaders have also not had any informal talks that would help both to strike a personal rapport, like that between Modi and US President Barack Obama, or with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Modi appears to have struck a personal chord with Obama and especially so with Abbott, which was visible during his Australia visit.

Modi met with Putin in July during the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – summit in Fortaleza, Brazil and later during the informal BRICS meeting in Brisbane, Australia, on the sidelines of the G20 last month. During the Brisbane gathering, the meeting between Modi and Putin was brief.

The Delhi summit talks is expected to provide both leaders an opportunity to know each other’s mind and points of view. India has moved away from Russia in recent years, a far cry from the special relationship that the two countries enjoyed during the Soviet era.
Putin had, however, struck a special rapport with former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who attended 10 of the annual bilateral summit meetings.

India and Russia are expected to ink a vision document giving a fillip to their long-term relationship, especially under the government of Narendra Modi, which came to power six months ago.

The visit comes as the Russian economy has taken a beating due to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and its currency, the rouble, suffering the biggest fall since 1998 due to the dip in global oil prices. Russia is a major oil exporter.

Alrosa, a leading Russian diamond miner, is also looking to working closely with the Indian cutting and polishing industry. The Indian diamond industry buys roughs, produced mostly in Russia, from Dubai and Belgium. India has a major cutting and polishing industry with cities like Surat and Jaipur being major centres.

State-owned Alrosa accounts for around 25 percent of the world output of roughs, while the Indian diamond processing industry accounts for some 60 percent by value of global polished diamond output. An estimated 14 out of 15 polished diamonds studded in jewellery globally are cut and polished in India.

In 2013, Alrosa produced 36.9 million carats of rough. India imported 163.11 million carats of roughs worth $16.34 billion, and exported 36.46 million carats of polished diamonds worth $20.23 billion in 2013. But, direct import of rough diamonds from Russia to India stands at a modest $767 million, a little less than five percent of India’s total import of roughs.

Both sides are of the view that direct supplies of rough diamonds could boost bilateral trade in roughs to $5 billion. Russia is the largest diamond-producing nation in the world, estimated to have produced a little over 33 million carats in 2013, with Alrosa accounting for approximately 97 percent.

In April this year, India’s Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and Alrosa signed a memorandum of understanding to share diamond trade data. The GJEPC has suggested the Indian government set up a special trading zone at the Bharat Diamond Bourse in Mumbai, and replicate the same in Surat at a later stage, said reports.

(IANS)

Riot effected Trilokpuri fact finding team report by NCHRO

December 5, 2014 by Nasheman

After the riots in Gujarat communal riots has taken a different mode in the country. Now, instead of rioting at mass level sponsored are made on a small scale. Then used for disturb the communal harmony. Recent trilokpuri incidence was not communal. But it was later given communal color. For this incidence only BJP is not responsible but every one playes his roll in it. Who had stoped the Congress and AAP to handle the situation? And AAP also did not take any platonic stand in this matter.

Riot Effected Trilok Puri Report

Fact Finding Team Members: Ansar Indori, Siddique kappan, Sunil Kumar

Date:- 30, 31 Oct. and 3 Nov. 2014

Delhi:- In 1976 Triloke Puri J J Coloney had been rehabilated after removing the slum jhuggi area of Ashram, Moti Bagh, Dhoula Kuan, INA, Lajpat Nagar, Kanchan Pari etc. There are 36 blocks in Trilokpuri. 500 houses had been allotted in every block . This area also effected in anti sikh riots 1984 and near about 250 peple from sikh community had been killed. Localitie’s current elected MLA is from AAP and MP from BJP.

There was a commotion in block 20 after a verbal spat on October 22, 2014, which these communal outfits spread into entire neighborhood. It’s said that the sparking incident of this fight was about drinking and consuming beef near the Mata ki Chowki installed temporarily.

There is a public park (Central Park) in block 20 where the garbage of block 20 dump. There was a toilet 5 or 6 years back at same place. Last year a Jagran was organized here and on 31 Oct. 2014 it was second time. First time after cleaning the garbage Mata ki Chouki placed for 37 or 38 days here.

It’s been said by hindu residents that after drinking alcohol Rizwan passed the urin at Mata ki Chouki, when we resist, then he began to abuse and slapped a boy. There were 10-15 youths standing in block, having talk with them Gourav Talwar tells that Samir Jain sitiing in the car with his friends and having a drink and Seenk Kabab. Samir has two Santro car with taxi No. he took them.

After passing 10-15 minuts stone pelting was started from Babloo’s home. Police arrived but unable to do anything, then heavy stone pelting began to start.

Gourav (Complainant) and five others (4 Hindus & 2 Muslims) were arrested by the police on 24 Oct. but after 2 days ACP released them on 10,000 personal bond. Further Gourav stated that he and his brother joint with RSS, when police arrested them his brother called acquaintance joint commissioner (After asking the name of that Joint CP, who was from outside of Delhi, Emphasizing mind he disclosed his name Rathor Sahab.) who was in Triloke Puri Police Station that time, and he said to Gourav’s brother that, ‘’if you earlier informed me, I could manage here but now Kalandara (case Report) prepared. There is no such a big case, ACP will release on bail.

When asked the Gourave that how a little quarrel spread to other places? he replied that this time Hindus were united. We asked that, be united so quikely that next day stone pelting in other blocks started? He told us two facts, first due to Mata ki Chouki friends came from other localities, as friends organized Ganesh Puja in block 18, I used to go there, and they also want to organize Mata ki Chouki, but we refused for this year and conviced them to organized next year. Due to this unity riot spread. Until today we were being beaten up. Second point he stated that an announcement was made from Mousque of block 27 that ‘all muslims are being killed, get all the muslim brother together.’ Further he said that there is central park in block 20, in which children could play cricket but captured by muslims only. No any Hindu can go in this park. Asking the population ratio of Hindus & Muslims he replied that there are 65% Hidus and 35% Muslims. He introduce himself as a minority and said that there are 8 house from the Punjabi community.

There are 95-96% Muslims in sector 27. and there is a road between 27 and 35 blocks, on this road, a heavey stone pelting was reported on the eve of 24 Oct. and 25 Oct. Babbi a resident of block 35 stays on first floor of his house and he is running a grossery shop under his home, stated that stones and bricks were pelted between 27 and 28 blocks. Which were taken after breaking drain’s wall. Few stones were also hit at my shop. We were afraid and hide in the house, even unable to looking outside. We had to bear a big loss due to 6 days closing the shops.

A resident of Block 27, 60 years old Israr khan belongs to Pathan community and retired from Electricity Dept. (DESU) in 2005. After retirement he opened a 3 story garments & shoes shop, in which his 8 workers with his two sons worked there. Israr khan’s shop was burnt at 4 AM on 25 Oct. on which Israr khan invested his whole income and 40 lakhs borroing money. Near about 80 Lakhs Material was burnt. He had no insurance, which was guuted his entire fortune. Israr Khan told that police was present at a little distance but did not help him. Fire brigade arrived two hours late, while both fire stations are only 2-3 k.m. away from my shop. Israr Khan tried to log an FIR but did not success. SHO told him that he’ll log in riot’s report. Israr has sent his complaint to DCP and other concerned officers by a registred mail, in which he mentioned the BJP worker’s names, no FIRs were registered as yet and no action taken against them.

A resident of 27 block 55 years Guntu Khan from Mansoori community runs his scrap and vessel shops in block 28. His scrap shop burned at 2 AM on 26 Oct. while the vessel’s shop was tried to rob by breaking the locks. He also tried to log an FIR but SHO did not register.

40 Years Meena Devi has been living for 40 year in 27 Block and has a son and two daughters. Son namely Prem Prakash is working as electritioan in Laxmi Nagar and if someone called him for personal electrical problem he also sort out in the area. They did not have any problem in these years. When asked her that has he seen this situation before? After recalling her mind Meena Devi told that in Indra’s time 1984 it happened, after that nothing ever happened. We Hindus and Muslims all live together peacefully.

Munni Devi has been living here since 1980, she sells women’s garment in weekly market. Her husband is a tailor and works in Pandav Nagar. She has a son and three daughters, all are studying in school. She stated that yet we have no problem. All the families are living peaceful here, only this time such quarrels happened. Due to it shops are not being opened and my husband could not work even for 3 days.

We met with some social workers who works for Hindu-Muslims unity. They stated that ‘’we were going to arrang a meeting for both communities. After some time we came to know by someone that meeting will be held in P.S. Trilok Puri. When we reached there duty officer refused to give us any information about it’’.

A resident of block 26 Kanta Mahra has a tea stal outside police station. Mrs Mahra had a Jhuggi in INA New Delhi. During the partition her family had come from Lahor, Pakistan. Her husband Hans Raj Mahra also used to sell the tea here. She stated that after 1984 there was no any problem here, everthing was cool. Due to cufew I was not able to open my tea stal. But when led to starve I opend the shop. At the same place we met a resident of 27 blocks Mr. Paltan who was retired from DESU and has been living here for 35 years. He stated that he is the only Hindu in his street But he did not seem to ever live in the Muslim neighborhood. We use to celebrate each other’s festivals. All muslim brothers participate in our children’s marriges with very heartly. A big tragedy happened in 1984 after that there were little quarrels taken place, but it was not happened even 10-15 years.

There are 80 % Muslims & 20 Hindus in block 15 and one mousque and three 3 temples. Heavy stone pelting reported in this locality and several people were injured. Several Muslims were also arrested from this block. Shabana’s nefew’s Aqika (Birth Ceremoney of a Child after 7 days) canceled due to riots. Police forcefully entered into the house and arrested Bilal (19), Irfan(32), Azhar(19) and Sajid(35 ). They were brutally beaten up by the police due to it Bilal’s finger, Irfan’s hand and Sajid’s ankle got fracture. Further Shabana said that even police did not allow us to meet with them, we met in Tihar Jail and police shown their arresting from block 27.

Block 15 resident Mohammad Shamshad said that I called police 25-30 times but police was not receiving the call. Same block’s another resident Alimuddin belongs to Bulandshar UP, and he is a E-Riksha driver. He was brutally beaten up by the police, due to it the black marks on his body could be seen. He said that many outsider people were throing the stones around his locality and police was standing 100 mtrs away but not coming. When local residents informed the ACP then he came with force.

Block 15 resident Mohammad Akhtar lives with his family and he is a motor machenic. Police arrested him between 2-2.30 pm. Akhtar got injuries in his hand and back. He has four chindren. His wife borroed some monety from someone then went to meet with him. Police has arrested a persone who was not a local resident, he came here to distribute the ceremony cards in their relatives. As the same police arrested Khurshid (60) and his son Jabir(17 a Garment Selesman).

Ramjan Mishra a DESU retired is a resident of block 15, who is known as a Panditji in the locality. When the rioters proceeded to throw stones in their street then he closed the street’s main gate and stood with folded hands in front of rioters and said to violent mob that “hit us first then go ahead”. By doing this Panditji save his street. Now Punditi is the subject of discussion foh his bravry in the locality. When Panditji was asked that he recognizes the rioters then he replied that “all were outsiders (from other blocks)”.

15 Block’s residents say that after surrounding the area rioters were throing the stones and headed by Ashok of 14 blocks. Who is a motor mechanic.

A residence of block 20 Nafisa is a widow. And survives with her children by selling polythene. On 23 Oct. at 8 pm she was coming to her home, at that time stones were thrown due to it she got injured and then her hand was fratured due to brutally beaten up by the police.

Mohammad Mohsin (22) S/o Mohammad Raees lives in block 20 working as motor painter. Mohsin got married 7 months back and time of arresting he was coming from in-law’s home in Meerut. Police did not allow family to meet him. Then they met him in Tihar Jail. Mohsin’s both hand were injured.

20 years Sonu S/0 Khurshid have an agg’s shop. He has been arrested from mousque and brutally beaten up there by the police till unconsciousness. Sonu recently got married and had a reception that time.

A resident of block 20 Wahidan (70) unable to speak clearly. Becouse of her old age she is unable to walk properly. Police forcely entered into her house no 410 and beaten up her and brock the stuffs. When her douther in law tried to resist them, police (5 Male, 3 Female) also beat her again.

Another resident of same block Sangita said that Muslims objected to set up the Chouki. We planned to set up Mata ki Chouki and clean the place so this place remain clean. When garbage was picked up, heavy smell spread. There were bugs in rainy weather. There is a Staue of Bajranbali, Muslims eat buffalos and intentionally throw his shit here to annoy us. Some Muslim women came and said that “if Mata ki Chouki would be put, then we’ll remind you chourasi (Sikh Riots)”. Muslim boys fired three round. In whom two were arrested and one fled. Our street resident Rizwan had drink and meat and he was going to touch our temple and abusing. There was a commotion in block 20 after a verbal spat. He slaped a 15 years boy after that we resist, then his wife came and took him. We called the police, and police made a compromise, but did not register the complaint. Bricks and bottoles were recovered from Roof of the Muslim’s houses, they had the whole planning. We used to off the loudispeaker at the time of their prayer(Namaz). Deepu’s wife got fractured in her hand. When we asked her “how she got hurt?”, she replied ‘at the time of stone pelting she got hurt’. Where were the people’s representatives? Snagita said that Ex. MLA Sunil Vaidh and Ramchandra Gujrati came and helped us. Today (Oct. 31) current AAP’s MLA came, whom we turened around. Sangita and Monu said that from childhood we had been beaten up, and never rised a voice but this time we awoke on Mata ki Chouki issue.

In a video clip near about 300-400 youth are shouting the ‘Bam Bam bhole, Har Har Mahadev, and Balmiki Shakti amar rahe’. These youths were mobilized behind the Balmiki Mandir which is 50 mtrs away from Ex BJP MLA Sunil Vaidh’s home. (There was a hording dispaying a massage about completion of 50 Years of Vishv Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal on 17 Aug. followed by Shobha Yatra from Trilokpuri’s 1 Block to 36 Block.) Sunil Vaidh reached in this violent crowd and hardly stayed 25-30 mnts, at the same time he received a call and talked for 7-8 mnts (Due to lot of noice Sunil Vaidh’s voice was not cleared) and he left.

In another video clip, 150-200 youth(some had Stick put a Tilak on forhead and some had sword in hands) can be seen shouting the slogans ‘Pakistan Murdabad, Pakistan ki Ma ki…..’ and sprinting arrond on the road.

Conclution:

If block 20’s qurrel was not organised then how did it reach in other blocks?
Where were the elected representatives (MPs, MLAs and councelers) ?
What did Sunil Vaidh say to the violent mob in a short time that took ?
27, 15 blocks didn’t indulge in stoning, then where were the actual perpetrators from, and who were they actually?
Why only Muslim’s shops were burnt, if a Muslims mob was instigated by so-called Masjid announcment?
Why did police release the miscreant who started all this by creating a fight in Block 20? Who was behind this release?
Who is Joint Commissioner Rathore, who spoke to Gaurav Talwar’s brother?
What was police doing during the continued arson and why did the fire brigade vehicles reach after two hours?
Why did the police not register FIRs regarding the burnt shops?

National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation

(Delhi State)

Add: N-44- Hilal Homes, 2nd Stage, Ground Floor, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi -110025

w w w. n c h r o . o r g

Eminent jurist V R Krishna Iyer passes away

December 5, 2014 by Nasheman

Kochi: Eminent jurist V R Krishna Iyer, a left-leaning intellectual who had stood for the rights of the downtrodden and reinterpreted bail jurisprudence as a Supreme Court judge, died today.

Justice Iyer, who turned 100 on November 13, breathed his last at a private hospital here following multiple organ failure.

He was admitted to the private Medical Trust hospital on November 24. He died at 3.30 PM, Hospital Managing Director P V Antony and Cardiologist Dr Manu R Varma, who treated him, told reporters.

“The death was due to cerebral vascular accident or stroke, worsening cardiac and renal failure and pneumonia,” Dr Manu Varma said.

Justice Iyer, born in a conservative Tamil Brahmin family in Palakad in Kerala, was attracted to communism and had served as a minister in the first democratically-elected Communist government of the world under the late EMS Namboodiripad in the state.
During his tenure as law minister, land reforms were introduced in the 1950s. As a Supreme Court Judge for seven years in the 1970s, he provided easy access to the ordinary people by relaxing the rule of locus standi.

He defined bail jurisprudence in favour of undertrials when he laid down that “bail, not jail is the rule” and was averse to preventive detentions as a general rule.

In 1975, he had put a conditional stay on the Allahabad High Court judgement that unseated Indira Gandhi as MP from Rae Bareli but it was another story that the High Court judgement led to events that culminated in the imposition of Emergency.

Eyebrows were raised when he praised Narendra Modi after he was named the Prime Ministerial candidate by BJP last year. Earlier, he was critical of him on 2002 riots.
Modi today expressed his condolences on Iyer’s death.

“My association with Justice Krishna Iyer was special. My mind goes back to our conversations & the insightful letters he would write to me,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

Justice Iyer was hospitalised due to over exertion with decreased appetite, respiratory tract infection and cardiac problem. On December 2, he suffered stroke and his left side was paralysed and there was steady downhill in his condition, culminating in his death, Dr Varma said.

He is survived by two sons. His wife had predeceased him. At the time of his death, his son Parameshwaran and daughter -in-law were by his side.

Dr Varma said until yesterday, Iyer was responding to verbal commands and from this morning, he lost consciousness.

Justice Iyer’s body will be taken to his residence ‘Satgamaya’ from the hospital later this evening.

The body will be shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium at Kadavanthara tomorrow to enable the public to pay their homage. Funeral will be held at 6 PM.

(PTI)

BCCI announces probables squad for 2015 World Cup

December 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Thursday named a 30-member squad of probables for the Feb 14-March 29 One-Day International (ODI) World Cup, scheduled to be played in Australia and New Zealand next year.

Five members of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning team – Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir – were left out of the squad.

The discarded Punjab pair of Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, as well as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have not been named in the pool of 30 probables the BCCI selectors announced on Thursday, with younger players with recent ODI experience being preferred. The final trimmed list of 15 for the 2015 World Cup is to be named in January.

The 30 probables list:

Batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey, Murali Vijay

Wicketkeeper: MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha, Sanju Samson

Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Stuart Binny, Parvez Rasool

Spinners: R Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Kuldeep Yadav

Fast bowlers: Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Ashok Dinda

Book Review: Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits

December 4, 2014 by Nasheman

by Abhay Kumar

Not many political leaders of the twentieth century have so much changed the landscape of Indian politics as Kanshi Ram, a true mass leader, did. Born in a Ramdasia Chamar family in a village of Punjab, he struggled through his life with an aim of politically empowering the most deprived sections of society. Among his many achievements, ‘Manyawar’ as he was popularly called, succeeded in “installing” a Dalit woman to become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh — politically the most crucial state of the country and citadel of Brahminism. Much of his eventful life has been portrayed in a political biography authored by the noted social historian and cultural anthropologist Badri Narayan.

The biography “Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits”, comprising eight chapters, portrays his childhood, political journey beginning from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh as well as the political ideas. Moreover, the book also gives a brief account of the criticisms of Kanshi Ram and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The author, who has spent decades in Uttar Pradesh both as a student and scholar and “closely followed” Kanshi Ram’s “journey”, mentions that all Dalits whom he interacted “acknowledged” Kanshi Ram had inculcated a strong sense of confidence and indemnity and self respect in them. The author, too, expresses his appreciation for Kanshi Ram whom he calls a “democrat to the core”. He, Badri Narayan goes on to say, was a “master strategist”, who brought Dalits, Adivasis, Backwards, and other religious minorities under the social category of ‘Bahujan’, making them “realise the value of their votes”, floating the BSP in1984 that represented freedom and respect and brought about social transformation in society.

Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits, Author: Badri Narayan, Penguin India, New Delhi, 2014, pp. xxi + 265, Rs, 499.

The first chapter discusses his childhood. Born on March 15, 1934 in “relatively-well off” family, he had his early education in Government Primary School Milakpur, Punjab. Like most of the Dalit students he also faced discrimination at the hands of teachers. For example, at the school, a different pot for Dalits was kept to drink water. Yet another incident of caste discrimination that had deep impact on his life was when a senior officer mistreated and humiliated his father. Kanshi Ram recalled this incident. ‘Once, when I was a school student, my mother asked me to go and deliver food to my father who was performing a menial job (bagaar kar rahe the) at the Ropar Canal Guest House. I asked her what begaar meant and she replied that it meant serving the high-up officials, which we poor people were supposed to do. I took the food and set off for the guest house. It was intensely hot and when I reached the guest house I saw that my father was drenched in sweat. I could not bear to see his condition so I asked him to rest. But my father said that he could not do this as the senior officer was sleeping inside and he had to constantly tug the rope of the hand-pulled fan to keep him cool. Before electric fans, there used to be hand-pulled fans with long ropes and the rope-puller had to sit outside constantly working them to keep the fan moving. My father was doing that job in return for a small amount of money and explained that if he stopped pulling [the rope], the officer would wake up and punish him. I then told him to keep a small fan in his other hand to cool himself but my father said he would do no such thing.’ (pp. 17-18.)

Overcoming such barriers of caste, he continued to do well in study and kept his interests in sports as well. In 1956 he became a graduate in science from Government College, Ropar.

The second chapter discusses his foray into politics from the RPI (the Republican Party of India), founded by Ambedkar at the last stage of his life, and the BAMCEF (Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation) to the BSP. The author has divided the political life of Kanshi Ram into four periods. The first phase began from (1958- 1964) when he, having completed his education, found a job in Poona and also got associated with the RPI. Moreover, he worked with the People’s Education Society, established by Ambedkar, with a mission to work for Dalits. The second phase (1964-1978) began when he quit the job in 1964 and joined the RPI which he later criticised for being fractions-ridden and overshadowing its “original objective”. The RPI drew his flak for entering into “opportunistic alliances” with the Congress in Maharashtra. As he became disillusioned with the RPI, he, in 1971, formed the SMCEA (SC/ST/OBC Minorities Communities Employees Association) in Poona, which was later renamed as the BAMCEF. The third Phase (1978-1984) began with the formation of the BAMCEF, which was established as a formal organisation on December 6, 1978. Preceded by the DS4 (Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti) in 1981, the BAMSEF’s called upon its follower to “become educated, become consolidated and struggle”. The fourth phase (1984 onwards) is no doubt the most important phase of his political life during which the BSP emerged, epitomising the political rise of Bahujans.

The third chapter is based on Kanshi Ram’s book “The Chamcha Age: An Era of Stooges” (1982), which he published on the fiftieth anniversary of the Poona Pact 1932 when Gandhi blackmailed Ambedkar to sign a pact that he would give up on separate electorate for the depressed classes awarded by the British Government. In my view, the author fell short of critically engaging with the text, “Chamcha Age”. On many occasions the author inserts long quotations, disturbing the coherence, and flow of the text. It is to be noted that the purpose of Kanshi Ram to pen ‘Chamcha Age’ was to awaken the masses about the “genuine” and “counterfeit” leaders, who, according to him, have been born in the oppressed community but have been serving the interests of the oppressors. Comparing Ambedkar with Kanshi Ram, the author says that Ambedkar, unlike Kanshi Ram, called politics of emancipation of marginalized sections as a “Dalit Movement” (p. 93.) I think this may be seen as an anachronistic reading of Ambedkar as the term Dalit, according to noted anthropologist S. M. Michael (Dalits in Modern India: Vision and Values, 2007, p. 16), was first used in 1931 and it “gained currency” with Dalit Panther Movement in the 1970s in Maharashtra.

The fourth chapter talks about how Kanshi Ram used subaltern culture, history, myths as political resources to build self-respect movement among Dalits and Backwards. For example, the BSP in order to mobilise Bahujans, constructed and popularised the subaltern icons such as Buddha, Kabir, Ravidas, Daria Sahib, Jagjivan Das, Jhalkaribai, Bijli Maharaj, Daldev Maharaj, Baaledeen, Veera Pasi, Mahamaya etc. While the author has done a fairly good job in analysing the cultural politics of Kanshi Ram, he mentions in passing a problematic paragraph about Guru Ravidas whom he interprets as a bulwark against “frantic” Muslims rulers who wanted to convert lower castes to Islam. According to Badri Narayan, ‘In addition, the Mughal rulers were frantically converting the lower castes to Islam through various allurements and temptations in order to expand their numbers and consolidate their position in India. Sant Ravidas, through his preaching, tried to reform Hindu society so that the lower castes were not tempted to convert to Islam and the Varna system was maintained,’(p. 121.) Unlike the myths and propagandas of the Hindu Right that the medieval period saw the forceful conversation of Hindu to Islam, many secular historians have largely agreed that the egalitarian ideology of Islam provided a relief to lower castes, who were suppressed by the Brahminical social order. Further, the author misquotes Kanshi Ram as saying that the number of castes in ST category, according to Mandal Commission Report, is 100 (p. 143.) In fact, it is 1000. Kanshi Ram (Cited in Anuj Kumar, ed., Bahujan Nayak Kanshiram ke Avismarniya Bhashan, 2000, p. 76), quoting the Mandal Commission Report, stressed the need to unite around 6000 castes, including1500 SC castes, 1000 ST castes and 3743 OBC castes.

The fifth chapter is about the BSP, its bid for power and the role of Kanshi Ram. The author rightly acknowledges Kanshiram’s ability to “sway and mobilize large crowds”, who realised that in democracy if the oppressed majority are made conscious of their votes the master key or Guru Killi, which Kanshi Ram would often call, can be seized. As he always spoke in people’s language, his concept of democracy is expressed in such a simple, yet profound way. “Lokshahi mein rani aur mehtarani ki keemat ek hi hoti hai”. (In a democracy the worth of a queen and [that] of a maid is the same, p. 165.). Kanshi Ram, departing with the radical armed struggles pursued by a section of communists, he, instead, mobilised the Bahujan through constitutional means and democratic processes.

The sixth, seventh and eighth chapters are a discussion of the criticism and limitation of Kanshi Ram and his party. For instance, he was alleged of indulging in “opportunism as a strategy”. For example, the BSP, according to his critics, welcomed “defectors” like Arif Mohammad Khan and Akbar Ahmed ‘Dumpy’, while it forged alliances with the BJP which it had opposed. ‘Kanshiram’, according to Badri Narayan, ‘faced the greatest flak in his political career over the BSP coming to power twice in UP with the support of the BJP.’ (p. 181.)

Despite some forces and merits in these criticisms, they tend to overlook the changes which were made by the BSP under the leadership of Kanshi Ram and Mayawati. The critics should not forget the constraint under which the BSP had to mobilise the most deprived sections of society to fight against oppressive social system. Apart from giving voice to voiceless and installing in them respect and confidence, Mayawati rule in UP has also brought about some concrete changes. Noted scholar Christophe Jaffrelot (‘The BSP in Uttar Pradesh: Whose Party is It?’ in S. M. Michael, ed., Dalits in Modern India: Vision and Values, 2007, p. 262.) acknowledged this when he said that Ambedkar Village Scheme under her government, gave special funds to socio-economic development of village which has 50 per cent SC population in which all 25, 434 villages were included.

Conclusion

Before I close, let me show my reservation to the title of this book. Badri Narayan has not done justice to call Kanshi Ram a ‘Leader of Dalits”. It is paradoxical that while the author appreciates his contribution through the book for mobilising masses and transforming the society, he, nevertheless, reduces him to the margin and pins a label of Dalit on him. As far I know no biography of Jawaharlal Nehru has been published with a title or subtitle that describes him as a “leader of Brahmins”. May this prejudice against Kanshi Ram be seen as a continuation of the hegemonic discourse in mainstream social sciences that often reduces Phule, Periyar, Ambedkar, Iqbal etc. as those who are expressing the sectional interests while it eulogises leaders like Gandhi and Nehru as those fighting for national interests? Unfortunately, Badri Narayan forgets to take heed to the insight of the radical turn in social sciences that questions the very idea of “core” and “periphery”, “centre” and “region”, “national” and “regional”, “universal” and “sectarian” or “sectional” etc. The radical scholars ably have shown that any category is constructed through the language and power and the talk of universalism, therefore, is often secretly coded in favour of the sectional interests.

Apart from this, the author has not properly spelt the name of Kanshi Ram in both title and the text. Badri Narayan has spelt “Kanshiram” in a single word, while his name should have been spelt as Kanshi Ram. He could have avoided this mistake if he had verified this from Parliament website or the official website of the BSP or “Chamcha Age”, which he has discussed in the book.

Abhay Kumar (debatingissues@gmail.com) is doing Ph.D at Centre for Historical Studies, JNU.

Bhopal: A Metaphor

December 4, 2014 by Nasheman

‘The 30th anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy,’ writes Shiva, ‘should catalyse actions worldwide for justice for Bhopal and for all victims of an economy based on toxics.’ (Photo: Bhopal Medical Appeal/flickr/cc)

by Vandana Shiva, The Asian Age

December 3, 2014, marks the 30th anniversary of the terrible Bhopal gas tragedy, which killed more than 3,000 people almost immediately, another 8,000 in the following days, and more than 20,000 in the last three decades.

Despite the tragedy of humongous proportions, the people of Bhopal are still fighting for justice despite the apathy they continue to face.

Bhopal was a watershed moment. The tragedy woke up the world to industrial, chemical violence. The chemicals being manufactured at the Bhopal plant had their roots in warfare.

Bhopal gas tragedy was a political, economic, legal watershed for India and the planet. It was a toxic tragedy at two levels the leakage of a toxic gas from a plant producing toxic pesticides, the continued presence of 350 metric tonnes of hazardous toxic waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide India Ltd’s plant in Bhopal, combined with a toxic influence of corporations on courts and successive governments. Legally, Union Carbide and the US courts escaped liability and responsibility for the damage, setting a precedent of governments shrugging their duty to protect their citizens, taking away citizens’ rights and sovereignty in order to make settlements with corporations, letting them off lightly.

The cases brought by the victims to US courts were dismissed on the grounds that the appropriate platform was the Indian legal system, though other cases involving US corporations and foreign victims were being heard in US courts. In 1999, when the victims again approached the US federal court seeking compensation for the 1984 incident as well as for the alleged ongoing environmental contamination at and around the Bhopal plant site, the case was dismissed again.

In 1989, the Indian Supreme Court approved a settlement of the civil claims against Union Carbide for $470 million. The state forcefully took over the representation of the victims on the principle of parens patriae (Latin for “parents of the nation”) — “a doctrine that grants the inherent power and authority of the state to protect persons who are legally unable to act on their own behalf”.

A criminal lawsuit against Union Carbide and Warren Anderson, its former CEO, continues since 1989. In June 2010, a court in India handed down a verdict in the case. It found Union Carbide India Ltd. and seven executives of the company guilty of criminal negligence (this came after the September 1996 order that had reduced their charges). The company was required to pay a fine of Rs 500,000 ($10,870) and the individuals were each sentenced to two years in prison and fined Rs 100,000. On August 2, 2010, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to reinstate the charges of culpable homicide against the accused. In May 2011, the Supreme Court rejected this petition and declined to re-open the case to reinstate harsher charges. However, after the protests of the Bhopal survivors in November 2014, the government promised to strengthen the “curative petition” that Dow Chemical was already facing in the Supreme Court. The petition is designed to address inadequacies in the 1989 settlement on the basis that the correct figures for dead and injured were not used. The Indian government is seeking an additional amount of up to $1.24 billion, but Bhopal survivor groups, quoting the Government of India’s published figures (Indian Council of Medical Research, epidemiological report, 2004), say the required settlement amounts to $8.1 billion.

On February 6, 2001, Union Carbide Corporation became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company following an $11.6 billion transaction approved by the boards of directors of Union Carbide and the Dow Chemical Company. Owning means owning both, assets and liabilities. However, Dow would like to disown the Bhopal gas disaster. While Dow wants immunity from liability in the case of deaths and diseases caused by Union Carbide in Bhopal, it has accepted liability for harm caused to workers of Union Carbide in the US.

In January 2002, Dow settled a case brought against its subsidiary UCC by workers exposed to asbestos in the workplace and set aside $2.2 billion to address future liabilities.

The case was filed before the acquisition of Union Carbide by Dow. Dow refuses to address the death and damage caused by Union Carbide in India.

This pattern of double standards, of privatising profits and socialising disaster runs through the pattern of corporate rule being institutionalised since the Bhopal tragedy. Dow, along with Monsanto, is involved in pushing hazardous, untested GMOs on society, along with the same war-based chemicals such GMOs rely on.

On October 15, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency, in spite of protests from citizens and scientists, gave final approval to Dow’s Enlist Duo genetically engineered corn and soya resistant to round-up and 2,4-D, or 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, which was one of the ingredients in Agent Orange, the Vietnam War defoliant that was blamed for numerous health problems suffered during and after the war.

As this chemical arms race unfolds, more and more communities and countries are making the democratic choice to become GMO free. In the mid-term elections of November 2014, Maui County of Hawaii voted to become GMO free. Dow and Monsanto immediately sued Maui to stop the law banning GMO cultivation.

The 30th anniversary of Bhopal gas tragedy should catalyse actions worldwide for justice for Bhopal and for all victims of an economy based on toxics. It should strengthen our resolve to create toxic-free food and agriculture systems, and to defend our freedom to be free of poisons.

Dr. Vandana Shiva is a philosopher, environmental activist and eco feminist. She is the founder/director of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology. She is author of numerous books including, Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis; Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply; Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace; and Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development. Shiva has also served as an adviser to governments in India and abroad as well as NGOs, including the International Forum on Globalization, the Women’s Environment and Development Organization and the Third World Network. She has received numerous awards, including 1993 Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) and the 2010 Sydney Peace Prize.

Gorbachev: U.S 'triumphalism' fueling new Cold War

December 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Former Soviet leader: ‘We need to return to the starting line when we began building a new world’

Mikhail Gorbachev at the European Parliament in 2008. (Photo: <a href=

@European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari/flickr/cc)” width=”955″ height=”500″ /> Mikhail Gorbachev at the European Parliament in 2008. (Photo: @European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari/flickr/cc)

by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said the United States is the cause of emerging signs of a new Cold War as a result of the country’s sense of “triumphalism.”

The 83-year-old made the comments Monday in an interview with the Russian state-owned news agency TASS.

“Now the signs of cold war have again emerged,” he said. “Fences are being built around us.”

“I don’t want to praise our government too much,” the UK’s Telegraph quotes Gorbachev as saying in the interview. “It has also made quite a few errors, but today the danger comes from the American position. They are tortured by triumphalism.”

“This whole process may and needs to be stopped. It was stopped in the 1980s. And we opted for deescalation and reunification. Back then it was harsher than today. And now we can also do this,” Gorbachev said.

“We need to return to the starting line when we began building a new world in Europe and everywhere,” he said, referring to his historic 1989 meeting in Malta with President George H. W. Bush.

“There will be people who have the courage to stop this [new Cold War] and start building a new world order that would answer the challenges that the world community is facing,” he said.

Gorbachev’s comments come as the latest ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia appears to have failed. Ongoing violence has killed over 4,000 people since the conflict erupted in April.

Belgium may unilaterally recognize Palestine – report

December 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

by RT

Four political parties that form Belgium’s government have reportedly agreed to recognize the Palestinian state, despite diplomatic pressure from Israel and its allies. The recognition will happen “at a moment deemed appropriate.”

Belgium could become the second European Union member to officially recognize the Palestinian state, reported Le Soir, French language daily Belgian newspaper.

Sweden was the first country to recognize the occupied state of Palestine this year.

Belgium’s coalition government allegedly drafted a motion regarding recognition of the Palestinian state earlier this week. The document that will be submitted to nation’s parliament for implementation bears no set date of recognition, though.

In late November Prime Minister Charles Michel favored Palestine recognition. “But the question is when is the right moment,” he added.

There should be a common position elaborated within the EU regarding the Palestinian state recognition, Michel stressed. Yet there is at least one European state – Germany – that has spoken against recognition of Palestine.

“From our point of view, a unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state would not move us forward on the way to a two-state solution,” Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said in November after meeting with Michel.

In October the British parliament voted in favor of a symbolic move to recognize Palestine as an official state, answering impassioned pleas by pro-Palestinian ministers and activists.

Irish lawmakers joined the initiative in November.

Spanish MPs have watered down outright calls for a Palestinian state after the ruling Socialist party passed a non-binding symbolic motion, though initial version urged the Madrid government to recognize Palestine.

The French parliament passed a symbolic motion on Palestine recognition on Tuesday, while the senate will vote on a similar non-binding motion on December 11. At the same time Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stressed that the government would only recognize Palestinian statehood after Palestine and Israel come to a solution in peace talks.

Israeli authorities have been warning other nations to withstand from recognizing Palestinian statehood in any way.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state by France would be a grave mistake,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem ahead of the French vote.

Simultaneously with the symbolic recognitions of the Palestinian state, Netanyahu’s cabinet voted in favor of anchoring in law the status of Israel as “the national homeland of the Jewish people,” which critics fear would discriminate the Arab population.

In US-supported Egypt, 188 protesters are sentenced to die days after Mubarak is effectively freed

December 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Photos: Clintons with Sisi: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept

Ever since then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coup against the country’s elected president, Mohamed Morsi, the coup regime has become increasingly repressive, brutal and lawless. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, the Obama administration has become increasingly supportive of the despot in Cairo, plying his regime with massive amounts of money and weapons and praising him (in the words of John Kerry) for “restoring democracy.” Following recent meetings with Sisi by Bill and Hillary Clinton (pictured above), and then Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, Obama himself met with the dictator in late September and “touted the longstanding relationship between the United States and Egypt as a cornerstone of American security policy in the Middle East.”

All of this occurs even as, in the words of a June report from Human Rights Watch, the Sisi era has included the “worst incident of mass unlawful killings in Egypt’s recent history” and “judicial authorities have handed down unprecedented large-scale death sentences and security forces have carried out mass arrests and torture that harken back to the darkest days of former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.” The New York Times editorialized last month that “Egypt today is in many ways more repressive than it was during the darkest periods of the reign of deposed strongman Hosni Mubarak.”

As heinous as it has been, the Sisi record has worsened considerably in the last week. On Friday, an Egyptian court dismissed all charges against the previous U.S.-supported Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak stemming from the murder of 239 democracy protesters in 2011. The ruling also cleared his interior minister and six other aides. It also cleared him and his two sons of corruption charges, while upholding a corruption charge that will almost certainly entail no further prison time. The ruling was based on a mix of conspiracy theories and hyper-technical and highly dubious legal findings.

But while Mubarak and his cronies are immunized for their savage crimes, 188 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who participated in anti-Sisi protests that led to the deaths of 11 police officers, were handed death sentences today en masse. As the New York Times notes, it was “the third such mass sentencing in less than a year,” and was handed down despite “no effort to prove that any individual defendant personally killed any of the officers; that more than 100 of the defendants were not allowed to have lawyers; and that scores of defense witnesses were excluded from the courtroom.” The judge ordering these mass executions was the same cretinous judicial officer who, over the summer, sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to seven to ten years in prison.

The implications are obvious. Reuters today reports that the Mubarak acquittal is widely seen as the final proof of the full return of the Mubarak era, as the crushing of the 2011 revolution. Political Science Professor As’ad AbuKhalil argues, convincingly, that re-imposing dictatorial rule in Egypt to mercilessly crush the Muslim Brotherhood is what the U.S., Israel and the Saudi-led Gulf monarchs have craved since the unrest in 2011. With the Gulf monarch’s rift with Brotherhood-supporting Qatar now resolved, all relevant powers are united behind full restoration of the tyranny that controlled Egypt for decades.

Beyond the political meaning, the two starkly different judicial rulings demonstrate that judicial independence in Egypt is a farce, that courts are blatantly used for political ends to serve the interests of the regime, harshly punishing its political opponents and protecting its allies:

Rights advocates argued that the juxtaposition — hyper-scrupulousness in the case of the former president, a rush to the gallows for the Islamist defendants — captured the systematic bias of the Egyptian courts.

“It is just one more piece of evidence that the judiciary is just a political tool the government uses to prosecute its enemies and free the people it wants to be freed,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director of the nonprofit group Human Rights Watch.

In one sense, it would be nice for the U.S. Government to condemn all of this, and even better if they cut off support for the regime as punishment. But in another, more meaningful sense, such denunciation would be ludicrous, given what enthusiastic practitioners U.S. officials are of similar methods.

Fully protecting high-level lawbreakers – even including torturers and war criminals – is an Obama specialty, a vital aspect of his legacy. A two-tiered justice system – where the most powerful financial and political criminals are fully shielded while ordinary crimes are punished with repugnant harshness – is the very definition of the American judicial process, which imprisons more of its ordinary citizens than any other country in the world, even as it fully immunizes its most powerful actors for far more egregious crimes.

Indeed, in justifying his refusal to condemn the dropping of charges against Mubarak, Sisi seemed to take a page from Obama’s own rhetorical playbook. Egypt must “look to the future” and “cannot ever go back,” he said when cynically invoking judicial independence as his reason for not condemning the pro-Mubarak ruling. The parallels to Obama’s own justifications for not prosecuting U.S. torturers and other war criminals – “we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards” – are self-evident.

It may be true that U.S. courts don’t simultaneously sentence hundreds of political protesters to die en masse, but the U.S. government is in no position to lecture anyone on the indiscriminate and criminal use of violence for political ends. As of today, Obama officials can officially celebrate the War on Terror’s 500th targeted killing far from any battlefield (450 of which occurred under Obama), strikes which have killed an estimated 3,674 people. As CFR’s Micah Zenko put it, “it is easy to forget that this tactic, envisioned to be rare and used exclusively for senior al-Qaeda leaders thirteen years ago, has become a completely accepted and routine foreign policy activity.”

Condemnation of Egyptian tyranny has always been an uncomfortable matter for U.S. officials given how they long used Mubarak’s favorite torturers to extract information from detainees in their custody. Indeed, once Mubarak’s downfall became inevitable, the Obama administration worked to ensure that his replacement would be the CIA’s long-time torturing and rendition partner, close Mubarak ally Omar Suleiman. And, just by the way, the U.S. also imprisoned an Al Jazeera journalist – in Guantanamo – for seven years until casually letting him go as though nothing had happened.

It seemed like just yesterday that American media outlets were pretending to be on the side of the Tahrir Square demonstrates, all while suppressing the unpleasant fact that the dictator against which they were marching was one of the U.S. government’s longest and closest allies, a murderous tyrant about whom Hillary Clinton said: “I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family.” It’s an extraordinary feat of propaganda that all of that has been washed away – again – and the U.S. is right back to acting as stalwart ally to a repressive and incredibly violent dictator sitting in Cairo doing its bidding.

Take Rs. 50,000 and abort, Bihar panchayat tells raped girl

December 4, 2014 by Nasheman

Patna: A panchayat in Bihar has ordered a girl, who was raped by four brothers and is now seven months pregnant, to take Rs 50,000 and undergo an abortion, police said on Thursday.

“The victim along with her mother and informed me that four brothers of her village raped her seven months back and now she is seven months pregnant,” said police official Sweta Gupta over telephone from Kishanganj, about 400 km from here.

“When she approached the village panchayat, seeking justice and punishment against the accused, the panchayat members ordered her take Rs 50,000 to undergo an abortion. But she refused it,” Gupta added.

It was the panchayat of village Packola Palashmani in Kishanganj district that gave the order.

The 16-year-old victim is daughter of a migrant worker who works in Rajasthan to support the poor family of six. The victim’s mother works is a daily wage labourer in an agriculture field.

Gupta said an FIR has been lodged and a probe has begun. “We are trying to arrest the accused and take action against the panchayat member,” she said.

She said the victim was afraid to approach police after panchayat members threatened her.

The police official also said nearly half a dozen similar cases have been reported to her in last month.

“After I joined duty here, five girls, mostly from the Muslim community, have filed similar complaints of being raped and getting pregnant,” she said.

“I am stunned to know that several girls were raped but they failed to inform their parents. Such cases come to light only when they get pregnant few months later,” she said.

Kishanganj is a Muslim dominated district as the community makes up for around 70 per cent of the population. It is one of the most backward districts in the state with high poverty rate and low levels of literacy.

(IANS)

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Book Review: Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits

Bhopal: A Metaphor

Gorbachev: U.S 'triumphalism' fueling new Cold War

Belgium may unilaterally recognize Palestine – report

In US-supported Egypt, 188 protesters are sentenced to die days after Mubarak is effectively freed

Take Rs. 50,000 and abort, Bihar panchayat tells raped girl

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