Thursday, April 14, 2011
Muslim And Christian Dalits Victims Of Religious Apartheid Sanctioned By The State
By Yoginder Sikand
Countercurrents.org
In 1935, the British, in response to growing demands from the oppressed castes, led by Babasaheb Ambedkar, arranged for a number of castes, whose names were specified in a schedule (hence called Scheduled Castes), to be given reservations in government jobs and elected bodies. These castes, numbering several hundred, had historically been treated as despised untouchables, considered both by the wider society as well as the Hindu religion as sub-humans or worse. They were not defined by any religion. They included a number of castes or sections thereof whose ancestors had converted over the centuries to various religions, such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism, in search of liberation from the tyranny of the Hindu, or, more specially, Brahminical, religion.
Recognising the legitimacy of the demands of the oppressed castes for reservations as a means for representation, the Constitution of India continued with the special provisions for the Scheduled Castes under Article 341, but in 1950 a Presidential order specified that no person professing any religion other than Hinduism would be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.
This patently anti-secular and grossly anti-democratic order was stiffly resisted by non-Hindu Dalits. In the face of strong protests, over the years the Indian state was compelled to extend Scheduled Caste status to Sikh and Buddhist Dalits. Yet, it continues to deny the same to Christian and Muslim and Dalits. This is a clear violation of the Constitutional rights of these groups that number in the tens of millions. It is a patent act of discrimination on the basis of religion engaged in by the Indian state itself, clearly revealing its pro-Hindu bias. It compels Dalits to identify themselves (often against their will, given the degraded status that Hinduism consigns them to) as ‘Hindus’, thereby artificially inflating Hindu numbers. This is the price that they have to pay in order to receive the crumbs of state patronage. Although the Brahminical texts, the basis of what is called ‘Hinduism’, clearly do not recognize Dalits as members of the Hindu society, treating them as ‘polluting’ outcastes, as outside the four-fold varna system, by insisting that the Dalits identify themselves as ‘Hindus’ if they wish to enjoy Scheduled Caste status, the Indian state has, in one stroke, engaged in a massive act of religious conversion, more aptly described as ‘religious bribery’, converting, through the force of law, millions of people to a religion that is predicated on their degradation and the brutal denial of their humanity. According to the law, if a Christian or Muslim Dalit converts to ‘Hinduism’, he is automatically entitled to Scheduled Caste status. This is another way in which the Indian state acts as a Hindu missionary agent, its secular pretensions notwithstanding.
‘Upper’ caste Hindu leaders seek to justify the discriminatory religious clause attached to the Scheduled Caste category on the grounds that it is a ‘compensation’ for the degradation that Hinduism, in contrast to Christianity and Islam, prescribes for the Dalits, using this as an argument to deny Scheduled Caste status to Christian and Muslim Dalits. This claim is deeply flawed. It clearly contradicts their repeated (and patently false) claims of the superiority of Hinduism and its supposed teachings of universal compassion and tolerance. It also ignores the fact Sikhism and Buddhism (treated by them as ‘branches’ of Hinduism, the protests of their votaries to the contrary not withstanding) clearly denounce untouchability but yet Buddhist and Sikh Dalits enjoy Scheduled Caste status. There is thus no logical reason to deny the same status to Dalit followers of other egalitarian religions, such as Christianity and Islam. The absurdity of this restriction appears even more apparent when considered in the light of the fact that no such religious restrictions apply in the case of the Scheduled Tribes.
It is clear that the misplaced perception of Islam and Christianity being ‘non-Indic’ and, therefore, ‘foreign’, religions is at the root of the refusal to extend Scheduled Caste status to Christian and Muslim Dalits. It is apparent that this restriction also stems from a fear, pervasive among the ‘upper’ caste Hindu ruling class, that if Scheduled Caste status were extended to Christian and Muslim Dalits, scores of so-called Hindu Dalits might convert to Christianity and Islam in order to escape the shackles of ‘Hinduism’, which, as Dr. Ambedkar rightly considered, was a code designed to consign them to eternal, religiously-sanctioned slavery. Such a prospect, needless to say, poses a major threat to the hegemony of the ‘upper’ castes.
Deprived of Scheduled Caste status for decades, the Christian and, in particular, Muslim, Dalits are probably worse off, in terms of major socio-economic indicators, than the so-called Hindu Dalits. Unlike the latter, they are denied reservations in jobs and elected bodies, are not protected from anti-Scheduled Caste atrocity legislations, and no separate provision is made for them in government schemes. In addition to the degradation they suffer as Dalits, they suffer discrimination as religious minorities—at the hands of agencies of the state, ‘upper’ caste Hindus and their ‘upper’ caste coreligionists. This is, therefore, added justification for scrapping the discriminatory provisions of the 1950 Presidential order and for extending Scheduled Caste status to them as well.
Countercurrents.org
In 1935, the British, in response to growing demands from the oppressed castes, led by Babasaheb Ambedkar, arranged for a number of castes, whose names were specified in a schedule (hence called Scheduled Castes), to be given reservations in government jobs and elected bodies. These castes, numbering several hundred, had historically been treated as despised untouchables, considered both by the wider society as well as the Hindu religion as sub-humans or worse. They were not defined by any religion. They included a number of castes or sections thereof whose ancestors had converted over the centuries to various religions, such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism, in search of liberation from the tyranny of the Hindu, or, more specially, Brahminical, religion.
Recognising the legitimacy of the demands of the oppressed castes for reservations as a means for representation, the Constitution of India continued with the special provisions for the Scheduled Castes under Article 341, but in 1950 a Presidential order specified that no person professing any religion other than Hinduism would be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.
This patently anti-secular and grossly anti-democratic order was stiffly resisted by non-Hindu Dalits. In the face of strong protests, over the years the Indian state was compelled to extend Scheduled Caste status to Sikh and Buddhist Dalits. Yet, it continues to deny the same to Christian and Muslim and Dalits. This is a clear violation of the Constitutional rights of these groups that number in the tens of millions. It is a patent act of discrimination on the basis of religion engaged in by the Indian state itself, clearly revealing its pro-Hindu bias. It compels Dalits to identify themselves (often against their will, given the degraded status that Hinduism consigns them to) as ‘Hindus’, thereby artificially inflating Hindu numbers. This is the price that they have to pay in order to receive the crumbs of state patronage. Although the Brahminical texts, the basis of what is called ‘Hinduism’, clearly do not recognize Dalits as members of the Hindu society, treating them as ‘polluting’ outcastes, as outside the four-fold varna system, by insisting that the Dalits identify themselves as ‘Hindus’ if they wish to enjoy Scheduled Caste status, the Indian state has, in one stroke, engaged in a massive act of religious conversion, more aptly described as ‘religious bribery’, converting, through the force of law, millions of people to a religion that is predicated on their degradation and the brutal denial of their humanity. According to the law, if a Christian or Muslim Dalit converts to ‘Hinduism’, he is automatically entitled to Scheduled Caste status. This is another way in which the Indian state acts as a Hindu missionary agent, its secular pretensions notwithstanding.
‘Upper’ caste Hindu leaders seek to justify the discriminatory religious clause attached to the Scheduled Caste category on the grounds that it is a ‘compensation’ for the degradation that Hinduism, in contrast to Christianity and Islam, prescribes for the Dalits, using this as an argument to deny Scheduled Caste status to Christian and Muslim Dalits. This claim is deeply flawed. It clearly contradicts their repeated (and patently false) claims of the superiority of Hinduism and its supposed teachings of universal compassion and tolerance. It also ignores the fact Sikhism and Buddhism (treated by them as ‘branches’ of Hinduism, the protests of their votaries to the contrary not withstanding) clearly denounce untouchability but yet Buddhist and Sikh Dalits enjoy Scheduled Caste status. There is thus no logical reason to deny the same status to Dalit followers of other egalitarian religions, such as Christianity and Islam. The absurdity of this restriction appears even more apparent when considered in the light of the fact that no such religious restrictions apply in the case of the Scheduled Tribes.
It is clear that the misplaced perception of Islam and Christianity being ‘non-Indic’ and, therefore, ‘foreign’, religions is at the root of the refusal to extend Scheduled Caste status to Christian and Muslim Dalits. It is apparent that this restriction also stems from a fear, pervasive among the ‘upper’ caste Hindu ruling class, that if Scheduled Caste status were extended to Christian and Muslim Dalits, scores of so-called Hindu Dalits might convert to Christianity and Islam in order to escape the shackles of ‘Hinduism’, which, as Dr. Ambedkar rightly considered, was a code designed to consign them to eternal, religiously-sanctioned slavery. Such a prospect, needless to say, poses a major threat to the hegemony of the ‘upper’ castes.
Deprived of Scheduled Caste status for decades, the Christian and, in particular, Muslim, Dalits are probably worse off, in terms of major socio-economic indicators, than the so-called Hindu Dalits. Unlike the latter, they are denied reservations in jobs and elected bodies, are not protected from anti-Scheduled Caste atrocity legislations, and no separate provision is made for them in government schemes. In addition to the degradation they suffer as Dalits, they suffer discrimination as religious minorities—at the hands of agencies of the state, ‘upper’ caste Hindus and their ‘upper’ caste coreligionists. This is, therefore, added justification for scrapping the discriminatory provisions of the 1950 Presidential order and for extending Scheduled Caste status to them as well.
The Imam Of Wahhabism, Not The Imam Of All Muslims
By Arshad Alam
13 April, 2011
NewAgeIslam.com
The visit of the Imam of Saudi Mecca Masjid to India a couple of weeks ago created quite a flutter in the Indian English media. It was disturbing to note that leading English newspapers hailed him very nearly as the Pope of the Muslim world, betraying an acute lack of understanding of the nature and pattern of religious authority within Islam. To put the record straight, Imam Sudais is just an imam of a particularly important mosque in Saudi Arabia is paid by the Saudi state for that job. Even the sermons that he delivers on Fridays have the prior sanction of the Saudi establishment. Sudais is also not known for being tolerant towards other faiths; his vitriol against the Jews is well known to be repeated here. Moreover, Saudis and thus Sudais represent a particular version of Islam called Wahabism which is truly a minority viewpoint within the overall Islamic weltenschhaung. Thus to call him the imam of all Muslims is patently incorrect and misleading.
Sudais, however, himself had no problem as to whose imam he was. In India, he met the representatives of the Deoband and the Ahl e Hadees. Both these Islamic interpretative communities have been at loggerheads over what is termed as ‘correct’ interpretations of Islam. The Deobandis have termed the Ahl e Hadees as ghair muqallid which means that they are outside the fold of Islamic jurisprudential system. The Ahl e Hadees on the other hand have campaigned against the Deobandis arguing that they are no better than the grave worshippers and in fact have graves within the seminary itself. Some of these tirades have been done through the Arabic press with the express intention of gaining Wahabism’s favour and consequently a share in the petro-dollar charity of the Saudi state. The Wahabi state, initially, through the good offices of Ali Mian Nadwi, veered towards the Deobandis but later on found greater merit in the argument of Ahl e Hadees. How does then one view the recent visit of Sudais meeting the representatives of both these rival denominations within Indian Islam. Can it be seen as the diplomatic posturing of the Saudi state which is now trying to project a moderate picture of itself, especially in the post 9/11 context?
More fundamentally perhaps, the answer may be sought not in whom Sudais met but those he did not. Despite being represented as the imam of all the Muslims, he did not care to meet the most numerous Indian Muslims, the Barelwis. Through a mediated understanding of Islam, the Barelwis have had the most sobering influence on Indian Islam; in fact they largely define what Indian Islam is all about. But it is this mediated understanding of Islam, where the notion of divinity is both local and experiential, which is an anathema to Wahabism. It shares this antipathy of India’s lived Islamic traditions with the subcontinent’s own Deobandis and Ahl e Hadees, both of which largely made their respective communities by attacking precisely these very lived Islamic traditions. Hardly surprising then, that Sudais would not meet the most numerous practitioners of Islam in India.
What is however surprising is that the Prime Minister of India finds time to meet this Saudi cleric. Was he also under the impression that Sudais is the imam of all Muslims? And if he did not make that erroneous judgment then what was the point of meeting a representative of an ideology which is known for bigotry? Oil diplomacy might explain this to some extent. But the Prime Minister comes from the land of Bulle Shah, which has given us a mysterious, mystical, mediated and embodied tradition of Islam. We in India are the carriers of this open and polyvocal Islam. Why trade it for some cheap oil?
Arshad Alam is with the Center of Jawaharlal Nehru Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia
13 April, 2011
NewAgeIslam.com
The visit of the Imam of Saudi Mecca Masjid to India a couple of weeks ago created quite a flutter in the Indian English media. It was disturbing to note that leading English newspapers hailed him very nearly as the Pope of the Muslim world, betraying an acute lack of understanding of the nature and pattern of religious authority within Islam. To put the record straight, Imam Sudais is just an imam of a particularly important mosque in Saudi Arabia is paid by the Saudi state for that job. Even the sermons that he delivers on Fridays have the prior sanction of the Saudi establishment. Sudais is also not known for being tolerant towards other faiths; his vitriol against the Jews is well known to be repeated here. Moreover, Saudis and thus Sudais represent a particular version of Islam called Wahabism which is truly a minority viewpoint within the overall Islamic weltenschhaung. Thus to call him the imam of all Muslims is patently incorrect and misleading.
Sudais, however, himself had no problem as to whose imam he was. In India, he met the representatives of the Deoband and the Ahl e Hadees. Both these Islamic interpretative communities have been at loggerheads over what is termed as ‘correct’ interpretations of Islam. The Deobandis have termed the Ahl e Hadees as ghair muqallid which means that they are outside the fold of Islamic jurisprudential system. The Ahl e Hadees on the other hand have campaigned against the Deobandis arguing that they are no better than the grave worshippers and in fact have graves within the seminary itself. Some of these tirades have been done through the Arabic press with the express intention of gaining Wahabism’s favour and consequently a share in the petro-dollar charity of the Saudi state. The Wahabi state, initially, through the good offices of Ali Mian Nadwi, veered towards the Deobandis but later on found greater merit in the argument of Ahl e Hadees. How does then one view the recent visit of Sudais meeting the representatives of both these rival denominations within Indian Islam. Can it be seen as the diplomatic posturing of the Saudi state which is now trying to project a moderate picture of itself, especially in the post 9/11 context?
More fundamentally perhaps, the answer may be sought not in whom Sudais met but those he did not. Despite being represented as the imam of all the Muslims, he did not care to meet the most numerous Indian Muslims, the Barelwis. Through a mediated understanding of Islam, the Barelwis have had the most sobering influence on Indian Islam; in fact they largely define what Indian Islam is all about. But it is this mediated understanding of Islam, where the notion of divinity is both local and experiential, which is an anathema to Wahabism. It shares this antipathy of India’s lived Islamic traditions with the subcontinent’s own Deobandis and Ahl e Hadees, both of which largely made their respective communities by attacking precisely these very lived Islamic traditions. Hardly surprising then, that Sudais would not meet the most numerous practitioners of Islam in India.
What is however surprising is that the Prime Minister of India finds time to meet this Saudi cleric. Was he also under the impression that Sudais is the imam of all Muslims? And if he did not make that erroneous judgment then what was the point of meeting a representative of an ideology which is known for bigotry? Oil diplomacy might explain this to some extent. But the Prime Minister comes from the land of Bulle Shah, which has given us a mysterious, mystical, mediated and embodied tradition of Islam. We in India are the carriers of this open and polyvocal Islam. Why trade it for some cheap oil?
Arshad Alam is with the Center of Jawaharlal Nehru Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia
GANDHIJI IN BAHRAIN PROTESTS
Dear All,
Our revolutionary Freedom fighters in Bahrain, led by our friends Hameed Mansour, Muhammad Shehabe & Ali Jassim, who have both been at the forefront of the struggle & have faced bullets & prison, displayed posters & banners of Mahatma Gandhi in their marches, as their committment to non-violent civil resistance & disobedience.
We Salute the People's Resistance in Bahrain
In Solidarity
Feroze Mithiborwala
President
Awami Bharat
Our revolutionary Freedom fighters in Bahrain, led by our friends Hameed Mansour, Muhammad Shehabe & Ali Jassim, who have both been at the forefront of the struggle & have faced bullets & prison, displayed posters & banners of Mahatma Gandhi in their marches, as their committment to non-violent civil resistance & disobedience.
We Salute the People's Resistance in Bahrain
In Solidarity
Feroze Mithiborwala
President
Awami Bharat
Israel Steps Up Aggression Against Gaza
By Jean Shaoul
13 April, 2011
WSWS.org
For more than a week, Israel mounted frequent aerial attacks on Gaza’s defenceless population, killing at least 25 and wounding dozens more.
Most of the casualties were civilians, and many of those injured were children. The dead included senior leaders from Hamas’s military wing and four militants from the Islamic Jihad group, killed in targeted assassinations.
The incessant aerial strikes through last weekend, which Israel said were aimed at militants, Hamas training camps, smuggling tunnels and weapons workshops, caused widespread destruction. They were the worst since Israel’s assault on Gaza in 2008-2009. Since January 2009, there has been an informal ceasefire, and rocket attacks from Gazan militants had all but stopped.
Tensions started to escalate in March, however, due to Israel’s repudiation of peace negotiations and resumption of settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Violent settler attacks on Palestinians sparked the revenge killing of an Israeli settler family, with Israel launching retaliatory air strikes that killed two Hamas members. Hamas admitted responsibility for 15 minutes of rocket fire from Gaza, its first break of its informal two-year ceasefire. A bus bomb in Jerusalem that killed one was met with numerous air strikes that month.
The Qassem rockets and mortars fired into Israel have had little impact, landing for the most part in empty fields. Last week, a number of rockets were intercepted and blown to pieces mid-air by Israel’s Iron Dome rocket interceptors, the first time they have been brought into use. Since mid-March, Israel has launched a number of deadly attacks and fought gun battles on the border, killing at least 10 people.
Israel’s provocations prompted further rockets from Gaza, one of which hit an Israeli school bus that wounded the driver and a 16-year-old boy. This was a reprisal for Israel’s attacks that killed three Hamas military leaders on April 1, which Hamas said violated an earlier ceasefire. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said that the people who fired the missile were unaware that the target was a school bus.
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said the bus attack had “crossed the line…. Whoever tries to hurt and murder children, his blood will be on his own head.”
He authorised a wide air, artillery and tank assault on targets in Gaza.
The resulting carnage was so great that on Saturday, Hamas, which rules Gaza, declared a state of emergency. On Sunday, Hamas took the unprecedented step of broadcasting in Hebrew to the Israeli public to call for an end to the violence. Ghazi Hamad, the deputy foreign minister, said in an interview on Israel Radio, “We are interested in calm but want the Israeli military to stop its operations”.
Ismail Haniyeh, Gaza’s prime minister, also contacted Robert Serry, the United Nation’s special envoy for the Middle East, Egyptian intelligence officials, and two European countries in an effort to pressure Israel to stop attacking Gaza.
On Sunday, the Arab League condemned the attacks and called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis and impose a no-fly zone over Gaza. The UN and European Union have made a pro-forma call on both sides to cease the attacks.
Israel initially dismissed these appeals. Speaking at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that Israel would respond even more ferociously if cross-border attacks continued. “Our policy is clear, if the attacks continue on Israel’s citizens and soldiers, the response will be much harsher.”
A ministerial committee authorised the army “to continue to act against those responsible for terrorism.” Ehud Barak, the defence minister, cancelled a planned visit to Washington.
While Israel continued its attacks, by Monday it appeared to have pulled back from a major escalation, after Serry arranged a ceasefire. Netanyahu said, “We intend to restore the quiet,” but threatened, “If Hamas intensifies its attacks...our response will be much more severe.”
Israel’s cabinet is bitterly divided even in the face of such a temporary cessation of hostilities. Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister and leader of the far-right party Israel Beiteinu, on which Netanyahu’s shaky coalition depends, opposed a ceasefire. He called instead for Israel to topple the Hamas government. Lieberman told Israel Radio that a ceasefire would contradict Israel’s national interests since Hamas would use it to smuggle more weapons into Gaza. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom of Likud likewise said in an Army Radio interview that he wanted to expand the military operation in Gaza.
These elements believe that Israel has carte blanche to do whatever it likes against Gaza thanks to US backing, particularly after Judge Richard Goldstone, who chaired a UN Human Rights Council inquiry into Operation Cast Lead, repudiated the findings of his own report. Goldstone wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, absolving Israel of criminal intent and instead castigated Hamas for intentionally targeting a civilian population with its rockets on Israel.
Israel’s provocations against Gaza follow bellicose warnings against Iran, which it accuses of arming Israel’s enemies, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, after Tehran sent two frigates through the Suez Canal to the Syrian port of Latakia last month.
Later, Israel seized a German-owned ship in international waters bound for Alexandria from Turkey and the Syrian port of Latakia, where the two Iranian frigates had recently docked. Israel claimed The Victoria was carrying weapons to Gaza from Iran.
On April 5, a missile attack on a car by an Apache helicopter near Port Sudan’s airport in Sudan killed two people. Initial reports suggested that the two men were arms dealers. It was similar to another attack on a convoy of suspected arms smuggled through Sudan in 2009 that killed scores of people and which was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.
The Sudanese authorities have now identified the remnants of the rockets as having come from Israel. Sudan said that the helicopter had come in from the Red Sea, scrambled Sudan’s radar systems and followed Port Sudan airport flight paths. Sudan says that one of the two killed was a Sudanese citizen who had no links to Islamists or the government, and it was not clear why his car was targeted.
An Israeli military official told Time magazine that Israel was behind the attack, commenting, “It’s not our first time there”, implying that it had carried out the 2009 attack. Israel has long held that Sudan is an important route for smuggling arms from Iran into Egypt and ultimately Gaza, via tunnels under the border. Khartoum for its part has accused Tel Aviv of trying to scupper Sudan’s bid to get the US to remove it from its list of terrorist sponsors and normalise its relations with Washington.
13 April, 2011
WSWS.org
For more than a week, Israel mounted frequent aerial attacks on Gaza’s defenceless population, killing at least 25 and wounding dozens more.
Most of the casualties were civilians, and many of those injured were children. The dead included senior leaders from Hamas’s military wing and four militants from the Islamic Jihad group, killed in targeted assassinations.
The incessant aerial strikes through last weekend, which Israel said were aimed at militants, Hamas training camps, smuggling tunnels and weapons workshops, caused widespread destruction. They were the worst since Israel’s assault on Gaza in 2008-2009. Since January 2009, there has been an informal ceasefire, and rocket attacks from Gazan militants had all but stopped.
Tensions started to escalate in March, however, due to Israel’s repudiation of peace negotiations and resumption of settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Violent settler attacks on Palestinians sparked the revenge killing of an Israeli settler family, with Israel launching retaliatory air strikes that killed two Hamas members. Hamas admitted responsibility for 15 minutes of rocket fire from Gaza, its first break of its informal two-year ceasefire. A bus bomb in Jerusalem that killed one was met with numerous air strikes that month.
The Qassem rockets and mortars fired into Israel have had little impact, landing for the most part in empty fields. Last week, a number of rockets were intercepted and blown to pieces mid-air by Israel’s Iron Dome rocket interceptors, the first time they have been brought into use. Since mid-March, Israel has launched a number of deadly attacks and fought gun battles on the border, killing at least 10 people.
Israel’s provocations prompted further rockets from Gaza, one of which hit an Israeli school bus that wounded the driver and a 16-year-old boy. This was a reprisal for Israel’s attacks that killed three Hamas military leaders on April 1, which Hamas said violated an earlier ceasefire. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said that the people who fired the missile were unaware that the target was a school bus.
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said the bus attack had “crossed the line…. Whoever tries to hurt and murder children, his blood will be on his own head.”
He authorised a wide air, artillery and tank assault on targets in Gaza.
The resulting carnage was so great that on Saturday, Hamas, which rules Gaza, declared a state of emergency. On Sunday, Hamas took the unprecedented step of broadcasting in Hebrew to the Israeli public to call for an end to the violence. Ghazi Hamad, the deputy foreign minister, said in an interview on Israel Radio, “We are interested in calm but want the Israeli military to stop its operations”.
Ismail Haniyeh, Gaza’s prime minister, also contacted Robert Serry, the United Nation’s special envoy for the Middle East, Egyptian intelligence officials, and two European countries in an effort to pressure Israel to stop attacking Gaza.
On Sunday, the Arab League condemned the attacks and called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the crisis and impose a no-fly zone over Gaza. The UN and European Union have made a pro-forma call on both sides to cease the attacks.
Israel initially dismissed these appeals. Speaking at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that Israel would respond even more ferociously if cross-border attacks continued. “Our policy is clear, if the attacks continue on Israel’s citizens and soldiers, the response will be much harsher.”
A ministerial committee authorised the army “to continue to act against those responsible for terrorism.” Ehud Barak, the defence minister, cancelled a planned visit to Washington.
While Israel continued its attacks, by Monday it appeared to have pulled back from a major escalation, after Serry arranged a ceasefire. Netanyahu said, “We intend to restore the quiet,” but threatened, “If Hamas intensifies its attacks...our response will be much more severe.”
Israel’s cabinet is bitterly divided even in the face of such a temporary cessation of hostilities. Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister and leader of the far-right party Israel Beiteinu, on which Netanyahu’s shaky coalition depends, opposed a ceasefire. He called instead for Israel to topple the Hamas government. Lieberman told Israel Radio that a ceasefire would contradict Israel’s national interests since Hamas would use it to smuggle more weapons into Gaza. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom of Likud likewise said in an Army Radio interview that he wanted to expand the military operation in Gaza.
These elements believe that Israel has carte blanche to do whatever it likes against Gaza thanks to US backing, particularly after Judge Richard Goldstone, who chaired a UN Human Rights Council inquiry into Operation Cast Lead, repudiated the findings of his own report. Goldstone wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, absolving Israel of criminal intent and instead castigated Hamas for intentionally targeting a civilian population with its rockets on Israel.
Israel’s provocations against Gaza follow bellicose warnings against Iran, which it accuses of arming Israel’s enemies, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, after Tehran sent two frigates through the Suez Canal to the Syrian port of Latakia last month.
Later, Israel seized a German-owned ship in international waters bound for Alexandria from Turkey and the Syrian port of Latakia, where the two Iranian frigates had recently docked. Israel claimed The Victoria was carrying weapons to Gaza from Iran.
On April 5, a missile attack on a car by an Apache helicopter near Port Sudan’s airport in Sudan killed two people. Initial reports suggested that the two men were arms dealers. It was similar to another attack on a convoy of suspected arms smuggled through Sudan in 2009 that killed scores of people and which was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.
The Sudanese authorities have now identified the remnants of the rockets as having come from Israel. Sudan said that the helicopter had come in from the Red Sea, scrambled Sudan’s radar systems and followed Port Sudan airport flight paths. Sudan says that one of the two killed was a Sudanese citizen who had no links to Islamists or the government, and it was not clear why his car was targeted.
An Israeli military official told Time magazine that Israel was behind the attack, commenting, “It’s not our first time there”, implying that it had carried out the 2009 attack. Israel has long held that Sudan is an important route for smuggling arms from Iran into Egypt and ultimately Gaza, via tunnels under the border. Khartoum for its part has accused Tel Aviv of trying to scupper Sudan’s bid to get the US to remove it from its list of terrorist sponsors and normalise its relations with Washington.
'गुमराह न करें लोगों को'
'गुमराह न करें लोगों को'
अन्ना हज़ारे
सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता अन्ना हज़ारे ने कहा है कि कुछ राजनीतिक और आपराधिक तत्व भ्रष्टाचार के मुद्दे पर मिले अपार जनसमर्थन से घबराकर आंदोलन को बदनाम और कमज़ोर करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं.
लोकपाल विधेयक के मुद्दे पर अनशन कर सरकार को झुकने पर मजबूर करने वाले अन्ना हज़ारे ने कहा कि ऐसे तत्व आंदोलन की आलोचना करके लोगों को गु़मराह करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं.
राजनीतिक नेताओं पर दिए गए बयान पर हो रही आलोचनाओं पर अन्ना हज़ारे ने अहमदनगर ज़िले में स्थित अपने रालेसिद्धी गाँव में समाचार एजेंसी पीटीआई से कहा कि उन्होंने कभी भी भारत के सभी राजनेताओं को भ्रष्ट नहीं कहा. हालांकि सभी स्तरों पर अपवाद बेहद कम हैं.
सफ़ाई
उन्होंने कहा कि भ्रष्टाचार पर चुप्पी साधना भी भ्रष्टाचार का समर्थन करना है और जो भी राजनेता इस श्रेणी में आते हैं, उनके होने का कोई फायदा नहीं है.
मतदाताओं को कथित तौर पर भ्रष्ट कहने के कारण भी हजा़रे को कांग्रेस और एनसीपी की कड़ी आलोचनाओं का सामना करना पड़ रहा है.
इस पर अन्ना हज़ारे ने कहा कि भारत के मतदाताओं के चरित्र को बदनाम करने के लिए राजनीतिक पार्टी और राजनेता ज़िम्मेदार हैं. उनका कहना था कि राजनेता सत्ता हासिल करने और चुनाव के दौरान मतदाताओं में बांटने के लिए बड़ी तादाद में काले धन का इस्तेमाल करते हैं.
उन्होंने सवाल उठाया कि क्या आज योग्य सदाचारी उम्मीदवार बिना काले धन के चुनाव में जीत हासिल कर सकते हैं?
नरेंद्र मोदी और नीतीश कुमार की तारीफ़ कर आलोचनाओं का सामना कर रहे अन्ना हजारे ने फिर सफ़ाई देते हुए कहा कि उन्होंने सिर्फ इनके विकास कार्यों की तारीफ़ की है और वो 1984 के दंगों समेत सभी सांप्रदायिक दंगों की निंदा करते हैं.
लोकपाल विधेयक के मसौदे को तैयार करने के लिए बनी समिति की 16 अप्रैल को होने वाली पहली बैठक में शामिल होने के लिए हजारे शुक्रवार को दिल्ली के लिए रवाना होंगे.
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/india/2011/04/110414_anna_ml.shtml?print=1
अन्ना हज़ारे
सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता अन्ना हज़ारे ने कहा है कि कुछ राजनीतिक और आपराधिक तत्व भ्रष्टाचार के मुद्दे पर मिले अपार जनसमर्थन से घबराकर आंदोलन को बदनाम और कमज़ोर करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं.
लोकपाल विधेयक के मुद्दे पर अनशन कर सरकार को झुकने पर मजबूर करने वाले अन्ना हज़ारे ने कहा कि ऐसे तत्व आंदोलन की आलोचना करके लोगों को गु़मराह करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं.
राजनीतिक नेताओं पर दिए गए बयान पर हो रही आलोचनाओं पर अन्ना हज़ारे ने अहमदनगर ज़िले में स्थित अपने रालेसिद्धी गाँव में समाचार एजेंसी पीटीआई से कहा कि उन्होंने कभी भी भारत के सभी राजनेताओं को भ्रष्ट नहीं कहा. हालांकि सभी स्तरों पर अपवाद बेहद कम हैं.
सफ़ाई
उन्होंने कहा कि भ्रष्टाचार पर चुप्पी साधना भी भ्रष्टाचार का समर्थन करना है और जो भी राजनेता इस श्रेणी में आते हैं, उनके होने का कोई फायदा नहीं है.
मतदाताओं को कथित तौर पर भ्रष्ट कहने के कारण भी हजा़रे को कांग्रेस और एनसीपी की कड़ी आलोचनाओं का सामना करना पड़ रहा है.
इस पर अन्ना हज़ारे ने कहा कि भारत के मतदाताओं के चरित्र को बदनाम करने के लिए राजनीतिक पार्टी और राजनेता ज़िम्मेदार हैं. उनका कहना था कि राजनेता सत्ता हासिल करने और चुनाव के दौरान मतदाताओं में बांटने के लिए बड़ी तादाद में काले धन का इस्तेमाल करते हैं.
उन्होंने सवाल उठाया कि क्या आज योग्य सदाचारी उम्मीदवार बिना काले धन के चुनाव में जीत हासिल कर सकते हैं?
नरेंद्र मोदी और नीतीश कुमार की तारीफ़ कर आलोचनाओं का सामना कर रहे अन्ना हजारे ने फिर सफ़ाई देते हुए कहा कि उन्होंने सिर्फ इनके विकास कार्यों की तारीफ़ की है और वो 1984 के दंगों समेत सभी सांप्रदायिक दंगों की निंदा करते हैं.
लोकपाल विधेयक के मसौदे को तैयार करने के लिए बनी समिति की 16 अप्रैल को होने वाली पहली बैठक में शामिल होने के लिए हजारे शुक्रवार को दिल्ली के लिए रवाना होंगे.
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/india/2011/04/110414_anna_ml.shtml?print=1
US blasted for silence on Bahrain
The United States has been criticized for being silent about the recent killings of anti-government protesters in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain.
Maryam al-Khawaja of the Bahrain Center of Human Rights asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the US Islamic Forum about Washington's silence on the Bahraini regime's violent crackdown on protests, Press TV reported.
"I was hoping that the US would take a stronger stance on Bahrain. I've been trying to get the Department of State to impose a ban on the sale of arms to [P]GCC [Persian Gulf Cooperation Council] countries," Maryam told Clinton in Washington on Wednesday.
"[P]GCC countries have been using these arms against peaceful civilians," she added.
The Bahraini rights activist also expressed concern over the destiny of her family members who have been detained recently.
"My father and two brothers-in-law and my uncle have all gone missing. We don't know where they are and it has been several days. We are afraid for their lives… already four people have died and their bodies have showed up with torture marks on them. And I think it's really necessary for the US government to make a strong statement about what's going on in Bahrain because these are US allies at the end of the day," she explained.
The arrested family members of Maryam were reportedly beaten before being taken away by masked men believed to work for the Bahraini regime.
Clinton, however, did not condemn Manama's brutal clampdown on opposition protesters and activists in her speech.
Meanwhile, Human Rights First has criticized the US secretary of state for failing to condemn the rights abuses and the killings of several activists in Bahrain, saying the US has been shamefully muted in its response to developments in the country.
People in Bahrain have been protesting since February 14, demanding an end to the rule of the al-Khalifa dynasty.
Demonstrators maintain that they will hold their ground until their demands for freedom, constitutional monarchy as well as a proportional voice in the government are met.
Bahraini forces have cracked down on the anti-regime protesters with the help of Saudi, the UAE and Kuwaiti troops. Many people have gone missing since the beginning of the revolution.
AGB/GHN/AGB
source:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174722.html
Maryam al-Khawaja of the Bahrain Center of Human Rights asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the US Islamic Forum about Washington's silence on the Bahraini regime's violent crackdown on protests, Press TV reported.
"I was hoping that the US would take a stronger stance on Bahrain. I've been trying to get the Department of State to impose a ban on the sale of arms to [P]GCC [Persian Gulf Cooperation Council] countries," Maryam told Clinton in Washington on Wednesday.
"[P]GCC countries have been using these arms against peaceful civilians," she added.
The Bahraini rights activist also expressed concern over the destiny of her family members who have been detained recently.
"My father and two brothers-in-law and my uncle have all gone missing. We don't know where they are and it has been several days. We are afraid for their lives… already four people have died and their bodies have showed up with torture marks on them. And I think it's really necessary for the US government to make a strong statement about what's going on in Bahrain because these are US allies at the end of the day," she explained.
The arrested family members of Maryam were reportedly beaten before being taken away by masked men believed to work for the Bahraini regime.
Clinton, however, did not condemn Manama's brutal clampdown on opposition protesters and activists in her speech.
Meanwhile, Human Rights First has criticized the US secretary of state for failing to condemn the rights abuses and the killings of several activists in Bahrain, saying the US has been shamefully muted in its response to developments in the country.
People in Bahrain have been protesting since February 14, demanding an end to the rule of the al-Khalifa dynasty.
Demonstrators maintain that they will hold their ground until their demands for freedom, constitutional monarchy as well as a proportional voice in the government are met.
Bahraini forces have cracked down on the anti-regime protesters with the help of Saudi, the UAE and Kuwaiti troops. Many people have gone missing since the beginning of the revolution.
AGB/GHN/AGB
source:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174722.html
Salute To Our Leader.....Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
April 14-1981- December 06 -1956"What are we having this liberty for? We are having this liberty in order to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination and other things, which conflict with our fundamental rights. " Dr. B R Ambedkar
Its Project Brahmanism!
Dear all:
I have been following all the different sets of emails and other
communications since Anna Hazare began his hungar strike. Let me put
my point very blunt. You may agree or disagree it solely rests with
your wisdom.
The new model of Project Brahmanism is to fight against corruption and
population growth not against casteism, fascism, communalism, gender
inequity, capitalism or anything else. Well corruption had been always
a yardstick to freeze the core issues of any region. The issues I have
mentioned above that I have mentioned about. The word corruption is a
misnomer, for it implies that there is something called honest...
capitalism. Corruption is worked into the fabric of capitalism. Sir
Francis Drake made a fortune as a "privateer," the polite word for
pirate. In addition to indulging in the very lucrative slave trade, he
routinely captured and ripped off French ships. One nation's piracy
was another nation's foreign policy.
In the film "The Untouchables", Al Capone tells a group of reporters,
"You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just
a kind word." This is not only the creed of criminal gangs but also of
states. What one state considers a criminal act--for example, the
invasion of Iraq--another, the U.S., considers kindness with a gun.
Corruption reaches its most frenzied peak at the height of economic
booms, when everyone's trying to get rich. Speculation drives up
stocks, and profits. Books are doctored to hide problems so that the
good times can continue to roll. When the bubble bursts, the most
egregious scandals are exposed.
To retain an image of fairness, the courts prosecute a handful of
cases. This does not eliminate corruption, but temporarily drives it
underground. Faith is restored in the system, and the whole cycle
begins again.
But capitalists will engage in anything that is highly lucrative if
they can get away with it. Moreover, if they are willing to line the
pockets of politicians, they often can get away with it. When we look
into the history almost all fascist movements started by "cleans...ing
all corruptions" all over the world. Slowly it moved against
minorities of all walks in the course. Why the movement of Irom
Sharmila for minimum democracy in those states has not been attracted
the "media" or the "agitated youth" and "Gandhians" of this country?
I want to bring to ur notice a small thing.. Please follow this link..
http://cgnetswara.org/index.php?id=4158 It's related to PESA area.
Adivasi houses have been bulldozed against Gram Sabha resolution in
Surguja of Chhattisgarh.. but it never becomes an issue; nor its part
of any sort of corruption.. If corruption is the real issues then why
don't people talk about the "CORRUPT" mindset of every Indian who
believes in Brahamanism? Is it not a state of mental corruption? And
remember the entire upper middle class crowd who walked behind Anna
are the same ones who were in the anti-Mandal agitations in early 90s,
the anti SC-ST reservation movements on the streets of Delhi in
mid-2000s. So someone tell us who are these ones? Are they not the
supporters of Casteism, Fascism, Communalism, Capitalism... Are they
not driven by the social system and market forces? This might give you
an impression that I am supporting corruption per se which is not
correct. But what one needs to understand is that corruption is not
the real issue. It is just one of those indicators. The real issue is
much deeper.
In India project Capitalism wouldn't survive with all its neoliberal
programs unless they take support of the already existing social and
political domination and exploitation. As such Capitalism is
relatively modern than Brahmanism and therefore the survival of
Capitalism could only become a reality when the upper hand remains
Brahmanism. Remember Brahmanism is a social ideology of complete
domination and for Capitalism to align with there is no better
ideology than Brahmanism.
At this stage let me make a point. Brahmanism as an ideology could be
amidst anyone - not only among Brahmans but also among others. I know
many Brahmans who are not Brahmanical. Having said this it is also
essential to make another point that Brahmans in the past had
contributed extensively to the growth of Brahmanism as an ideology.
The contribution of textualisation of history to regularisation of the
texts is a definite attribution which is neither hidden nor could be
erased. Even today a sizeable number of them do have similar
expressions, language, body language, gestures, postures, attitudes,
etc. Naturally it builds a sense of complete domination to
unpredictable magnitude. These forces had successfully operated the
mass attack on Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, working class and women;
further succeeded in disintegrating all these; created more and more
confusion.
Today Brahmanism as a rigid structure might have become more fluid,
but now it as emerged as a billion dollar program. New formats, new
incarnations, new methods have been devised. One cannot be ignorant to
these developments.
Goldy
On 4/11/11, Faisal Khan wrote:
> Dear AnnajiWe are deeply shocked by your endorsement of Narendra Modi's
> rural development. There has been little or no rural development in ths
> state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily
> taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of
> industrialists. There has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven
> years so hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard. From
> the Sujalam Sufalam scam of 1700 crores to the NREGS boribund scam of 109
> crores, the fisheries scam of 600 crores, every department is involved in
> thousands of crores of scams. The poor and rural peoiple are being sold to
> Modiu's friends the industrialists. The state is in terrible debt because of
> his largess to industry while 21 lakh farmers wait for compensation.Your
> endorsement is apalling and we will be forced to distance ourselves from the
> Lokpal movement unless it is irrevocably retracted.SincerelyMallika
> Sarabhai11.4.20118.23am
> Faisal khan
>
> National Allaince of People'Movement
>
> Asha Parivar
>
> contact-09968828230,09313106745
--
---------------------------------
*Creation of a casteless and peaceful society is indeed the first step
towards just, egalitarian, and harmonious society. A society of equals,
neither unequal nor more-equals, beyond the strings of caste, class, gender,
race, ethnicity, etc. Otherwise it leads to social oppression, political
exploitation, economic deprivation, cultural domination, gender
discrimination, class isolation, deliberate exclusion. Lets’ believe in a
society beyond this. *
Goldy M. George
Dalit Mukti Morcha
Chhattisgarh
I have been following all the different sets of emails and other
communications since Anna Hazare began his hungar strike. Let me put
my point very blunt. You may agree or disagree it solely rests with
your wisdom.
The new model of Project Brahmanism is to fight against corruption and
population growth not against casteism, fascism, communalism, gender
inequity, capitalism or anything else. Well corruption had been always
a yardstick to freeze the core issues of any region. The issues I have
mentioned above that I have mentioned about. The word corruption is a
misnomer, for it implies that there is something called honest...
capitalism. Corruption is worked into the fabric of capitalism. Sir
Francis Drake made a fortune as a "privateer," the polite word for
pirate. In addition to indulging in the very lucrative slave trade, he
routinely captured and ripped off French ships. One nation's piracy
was another nation's foreign policy.
In the film "The Untouchables", Al Capone tells a group of reporters,
"You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just
a kind word." This is not only the creed of criminal gangs but also of
states. What one state considers a criminal act--for example, the
invasion of Iraq--another, the U.S., considers kindness with a gun.
Corruption reaches its most frenzied peak at the height of economic
booms, when everyone's trying to get rich. Speculation drives up
stocks, and profits. Books are doctored to hide problems so that the
good times can continue to roll. When the bubble bursts, the most
egregious scandals are exposed.
To retain an image of fairness, the courts prosecute a handful of
cases. This does not eliminate corruption, but temporarily drives it
underground. Faith is restored in the system, and the whole cycle
begins again.
But capitalists will engage in anything that is highly lucrative if
they can get away with it. Moreover, if they are willing to line the
pockets of politicians, they often can get away with it. When we look
into the history almost all fascist movements started by "cleans...ing
all corruptions" all over the world. Slowly it moved against
minorities of all walks in the course. Why the movement of Irom
Sharmila for minimum democracy in those states has not been attracted
the "media" or the "agitated youth" and "Gandhians" of this country?
I want to bring to ur notice a small thing.. Please follow this link..
http://cgnetswara.org/index.php?id=4158 It's related to PESA area.
Adivasi houses have been bulldozed against Gram Sabha resolution in
Surguja of Chhattisgarh.. but it never becomes an issue; nor its part
of any sort of corruption.. If corruption is the real issues then why
don't people talk about the "CORRUPT" mindset of every Indian who
believes in Brahamanism? Is it not a state of mental corruption? And
remember the entire upper middle class crowd who walked behind Anna
are the same ones who were in the anti-Mandal agitations in early 90s,
the anti SC-ST reservation movements on the streets of Delhi in
mid-2000s. So someone tell us who are these ones? Are they not the
supporters of Casteism, Fascism, Communalism, Capitalism... Are they
not driven by the social system and market forces? This might give you
an impression that I am supporting corruption per se which is not
correct. But what one needs to understand is that corruption is not
the real issue. It is just one of those indicators. The real issue is
much deeper.
In India project Capitalism wouldn't survive with all its neoliberal
programs unless they take support of the already existing social and
political domination and exploitation. As such Capitalism is
relatively modern than Brahmanism and therefore the survival of
Capitalism could only become a reality when the upper hand remains
Brahmanism. Remember Brahmanism is a social ideology of complete
domination and for Capitalism to align with there is no better
ideology than Brahmanism.
At this stage let me make a point. Brahmanism as an ideology could be
amidst anyone - not only among Brahmans but also among others. I know
many Brahmans who are not Brahmanical. Having said this it is also
essential to make another point that Brahmans in the past had
contributed extensively to the growth of Brahmanism as an ideology.
The contribution of textualisation of history to regularisation of the
texts is a definite attribution which is neither hidden nor could be
erased. Even today a sizeable number of them do have similar
expressions, language, body language, gestures, postures, attitudes,
etc. Naturally it builds a sense of complete domination to
unpredictable magnitude. These forces had successfully operated the
mass attack on Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, working class and women;
further succeeded in disintegrating all these; created more and more
confusion.
Today Brahmanism as a rigid structure might have become more fluid,
but now it as emerged as a billion dollar program. New formats, new
incarnations, new methods have been devised. One cannot be ignorant to
these developments.
Goldy
On 4/11/11, Faisal Khan
> Dear AnnajiWe are deeply shocked by your endorsement of Narendra Modi's
> rural development. There has been little or no rural development in ths
> state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily
> taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of
> industrialists. There has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven
> years so hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard. From
> the Sujalam Sufalam scam of 1700 crores to the NREGS boribund scam of 109
> crores, the fisheries scam of 600 crores, every department is involved in
> thousands of crores of scams. The poor and rural peoiple are being sold to
> Modiu's friends the industrialists. The state is in terrible debt because of
> his largess to industry while 21 lakh farmers wait for compensation.Your
> endorsement is apalling and we will be forced to distance ourselves from the
> Lokpal movement unless it is irrevocably retracted.SincerelyMallika
> Sarabhai11.4.20118.23am
> Faisal khan
>
> National Allaince of People'Movement
>
> Asha Parivar
>
> contact-09968828230,09313106745
--
---------------------------------
*Creation of a casteless and peaceful society is indeed the first step
towards just, egalitarian, and harmonious society. A society of equals,
neither unequal nor more-equals, beyond the strings of caste, class, gender,
race, ethnicity, etc. Otherwise it leads to social oppression, political
exploitation, economic deprivation, cultural domination, gender
discrimination, class isolation, deliberate exclusion. Lets’ believe in a
society beyond this. *
Goldy M. George
Dalit Mukti Morcha
Chhattisgarh
malikka sara bhai lttr to anna ji on modi
We, academics, activists, artists and intellectuals strongly condemn the recently reported statement made by Anna Hazareji in which he has brazenly endorsed Narendra Modi, a politician who not only symbolizes the politics of division but unconstitutional governance. For the veteran anti-corruption social activist, Hazare to endorse a politician against whom a Supreme Court led investigation into conspiracy to commit mass murder and rape, subversion of evidence and pressure and intimidation of key witnesses is still underway reveals a narrow and mercenary understanding of the meaning of corruption. Worse, given the support base of the recent high profile and highly televised event agitation, that included open support from Ram Madhav and the RSS as also Baba Ramdev, Hazare’s move could be construed as a bid to actually influence this SC-driven criminal investigation.
Modi stands accused, and has not been yet cleared of serious charges of actively masterminding mass murder, loot and rape of 2,500 of Gujarat’s innocent citizens consciously perverting his position and power as chief minister in 2002. This and other investigations have been rigorously pursued by victim survivors of these gruesome massacres and Hazare’s statement, more than anything else rubs salt on deep wounds. Not once in the nine years since the state sponsored carnage has Modi, who has written a tear-filled communication to Hazare wiped tears from the heavy hearts of Muslim victim survivors in Gujarat. Nor has Modi even apologized for failing to perform his Constitutional duty.
On the issue of corruption and good governance too, Modi may yet fail the exemplary test. Allegations of serious corruption in state government schemes have been steadily documented and printed within Gujarat but have rarely made it to the headlines of national television. There has been little or no rural development in this state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists. The ridiculously low interest loan given at the expense of five crore Gujarati taxpayers to Tata’s Nano project suggests a corrupt loan write off f public finances.
The irony of Modi being hailed by the leader of the National Lok Pal movement is cruel since there has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven years! Hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard in that state as the common Gujarati reels under his mercenary dictatorship. From the Sujalam Sufalam scam of 1700 crores to the NREGS boribund scam of 109 crores, the fisheries scam of 600 crores, every department has been accused of being involved in thousands of crores worth of scams. The poor and rural people of Gujarat are being sold to Modi's small coterie of friends, the industrialists. The state is in terrible debt because of his largesse to industry while 21 lakh farmers wait for compensation for the land seized from them. How hen can Haraeji call Modi non-corrupt or hail his model of development?
Little or no funds have been released by the GOG to the Minority Finance Development Corporation, even less to the Gujarat State Wakf Board. No figures are provided by the state government for funds allotted to the religious minorities.
The corrosion and corruption in our system is not merely monetary but the subversion of the Indian Constitution and Constitutional Governance has been in large measure due to the unbridled and unchecked growth of state and non state actors who are sworn to partisan politics, ideology and governance. While their was more than some discomfiture felt by many of us when we saw this worthy anti-corruption movement being supported by RSS cadres and Baba Ramdev, guilty of amassing crores of money and property himself, this discomfiture increased as accusation of bus loads of supporters arriving to Jantar Mantar from Gujarat came in and finally dues were extracted by the ruler of that state, Narendra Modi, in the form of praise from Anna Hazareji.
--
Teesta Setalvad
'Nirant', Juhu Tara Road,
Juhu, Mumbai - 400 049
Modi stands accused, and has not been yet cleared of serious charges of actively masterminding mass murder, loot and rape of 2,500 of Gujarat’s innocent citizens consciously perverting his position and power as chief minister in 2002. This and other investigations have been rigorously pursued by victim survivors of these gruesome massacres and Hazare’s statement, more than anything else rubs salt on deep wounds. Not once in the nine years since the state sponsored carnage has Modi, who has written a tear-filled communication to Hazare wiped tears from the heavy hearts of Muslim victim survivors in Gujarat. Nor has Modi even apologized for failing to perform his Constitutional duty.
On the issue of corruption and good governance too, Modi may yet fail the exemplary test. Allegations of serious corruption in state government schemes have been steadily documented and printed within Gujarat but have rarely made it to the headlines of national television. There has been little or no rural development in this state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists. The ridiculously low interest loan given at the expense of five crore Gujarati taxpayers to Tata’s Nano project suggests a corrupt loan write off f public finances.
The irony of Modi being hailed by the leader of the National Lok Pal movement is cruel since there has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven years! Hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard in that state as the common Gujarati reels under his mercenary dictatorship. From the Sujalam Sufalam scam of 1700 crores to the NREGS boribund scam of 109 crores, the fisheries scam of 600 crores, every department has been accused of being involved in thousands of crores worth of scams. The poor and rural people of Gujarat are being sold to Modi's small coterie of friends, the industrialists. The state is in terrible debt because of his largesse to industry while 21 lakh farmers wait for compensation for the land seized from them. How hen can Haraeji call Modi non-corrupt or hail his model of development?
Little or no funds have been released by the GOG to the Minority Finance Development Corporation, even less to the Gujarat State Wakf Board. No figures are provided by the state government for funds allotted to the religious minorities.
The corrosion and corruption in our system is not merely monetary but the subversion of the Indian Constitution and Constitutional Governance has been in large measure due to the unbridled and unchecked growth of state and non state actors who are sworn to partisan politics, ideology and governance. While their was more than some discomfiture felt by many of us when we saw this worthy anti-corruption movement being supported by RSS cadres and Baba Ramdev, guilty of amassing crores of money and property himself, this discomfiture increased as accusation of bus loads of supporters arriving to Jantar Mantar from Gujarat came in and finally dues were extracted by the ruler of that state, Narendra Modi, in the form of praise from Anna Hazareji.
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Teesta Setalvad
'Nirant', Juhu Tara Road,
Juhu, Mumbai - 400 049
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