- अगर हमारी अग्यानता की जड़ें गहरी व मज़बूत हैं ? -
- तो क्या आगे का पथ सरल व आसान हो सकता है ?
- शुरुआत कहाँ से की जाय ?
-------
१ - किसके लिए ? -
२ - मसीहा या पथ ? -
३ - लक्षण क्या अौर कैसे ? -
४ - आधुनिक, सरल व साधनों के अनुरूप ? -
५ - ग्यान की कमी, साधनों की कमी, या विश्वास की कमी ? -
Wednesday 30 January 2008
Thursday 20 September 2007
FDI in Food Retail in India - Food Chain Consolidation Dreams and Global Investors
The India FDI Watch Campaign seeks to prevent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector in India. India FDI Watch is a national coalition of labour unions, trade associations, environmentalists, NGOs and academics that have formed to block attempts to allow foreign direct investment in India’s retail markets. FDI in retail will amount to job losses in the thousands as well as thousands more small businesses and kiranas being forced to close. It will continue the race to the bottom in wages and working conditions that Wal-Mart and other multinational mega-retailers have spread across the globe. Multinationals look at India, with its 1.2 billion people, as a vast, untapped market, but we do not want to become the next country to have our cultural traditions, worker's rights, environment, and independence destroyed by Wal-Mart. Contact us for more information.
IndiaFDI Watch - http://indiafdiwatch.org/index.php?id=47
For more information: download the India FDI Watch Brochure.
For more information, download the India FDI Watch Brochure (in Hindi).
Thousands protested to oppose the Bharti-Walmart Joint Venture
On the heels of the announcement of the Bharti-Walmart joint venture, thousands of traders, hawkers, farmers and workers protested across India. Protesters also included a group of American students who demanded that Wal-Mart not be allowed into India. Mass-based organizations called on the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi to immediately stop the Bharti-Walmart Joint Venture and not allow Wal-Mart’s backdoor entry into India. There was also a strong united call on all corporations—both foreign and domestic—to "Quit Retail". The protests were timed to commemorate the start of the "Quit India" movement, which started on August 9, 1942, with mass-based sections of society drawing parallels to the East India Company and companies like Wal-Mart, Bharti and Reliance.
Agitations took place in the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata along with other major cities including, Kalicut, Bhopal, Jaipur, Ranchi, Balia, Meerath, Sonipat, Nagpur, Nasik, Pune and Indore.
In Delhi, thousands of traders, hawkers, farmers and workers protested in Chandni Chowk, a historical market, and burned effigies of Wal-Mart, Bharti and Reliance. Dharmendra Kumar, Director of India FDI Watch and national coordinator of the Vyapaar Aur Rozgaar Bachao Andolan conducted the proceedings and told the agitators, "Both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have acknowledged the dangers of corporations entering into the retail sector. The Govt. has commissioned a report looking at the impact of the entire supply chain on livelihoods after Sonia Gandhi had written a letter of caution. Sonia Gandhi had also publicly refused to meet with Michael Duke, Wal-Mart Vice-Chairman during his visit in February after public demonstrations were held due to his arrival. However, both Sonia Gandhi and the PMO have remained silent on the Bharti-Wal-Mart deal and though they have publicly cautioned against corporations and commissioned a study, they have taken no subsequent actions. He demanded that the Wal-Mart Bharti joint venture should be immediately revoked and all corporations should be stopped until thorough study has been conducted by an independent special task force comprising of stakeholders."
Shyam Bihari Mishra, President, Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal refered back to the British Raj, stating, "The East India Company, the most powerful company at the time, came to colonize India’s people and domestic and international trade and now Wal-Mart, the world’s largest company is trying to enter India to do the same. Mr. Mishra said India has a history of resistance, our people threw out the British and sixty years later if millions have their businesses and livelihoods threatened we will do the same now. He announced that family members of traders would boycott corporate stores." Praveen Khandelwal, General Secretary, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said "The livelihoods of retail traders are at stake. If big retail giants like Wal-Mart and Reliance come into the country, small traders would be finished." A mass campaign would be launched to strike back and make corporations realise that we will not let them ruin our livelihoods, he said.
Vandana Shiva, Director, Navdanya said "India is a land of retail democracy- hundreds of thousands of weekly haats and bazaars are located across the length and breadth of our country by people’s own self-organizational capacities. In a country with large numbers of people, and high levels of poverty, the existing model of retail democracy is the most appropriate in terms of economic viability and ecological sustainability.".
Shaktiman Ghosh, General Secretary, National Hawkers Federation warned the government "about taking such strong stances against India’s millions of hawkers and small shopkeepers in favor of only a few huge corporations who seek to dominate the Indian retail market."
Mr. Indu Prakash of Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform revealed the nexus between judiciary and corporate retail which led to the ceiling of shops of more than one hundred thousands of traders of Delhi and still goes on.
Mr. Bhati of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, Delhi, Harbhajan Singh Siddhu, National Secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, Sunil Kansal, Secretary, Rashtriya Vyapar Mandal, Hakim Singh Rawat, General Secretary, Delhi Hawkers Welfare Association, Banwari Lal Sharma, President, Aazadi Bachaon Aandolan, R K Sharma, Secreatry, UTUC-Lenin Sarani and Venkatesh of Lok Raj Sangathan also addressed the protesters in Delhi.
In Mumbai, thousands of retailers, hawkers, workers and cooperatives participated in a one day trade bandh and a mass public event organized by the Vyapaar Rozgaar Suraksha Kriti Samiti, a joint action committee of trade associations, hawkers groups, trade unions and others. Leaders of Federation of Associations of Maharastra (FAM), Retail and Dispensing Chemists Association (RDCA), India FDI Watch, Mumbai Mahanagar Vyapari Seva Parishad (MMVSP), Mumbai Vyapar Mahasang (MVM), Apna Bazaar, National Hawkers Federation, Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP) addressed the protesters. Mohan Gurnani, Convener of the Mumbai based Vyapaar Rozgaar Suraksha Kriti Samiti and President of the Federation of Associations of Maharastra (FAM) said "organised retaling would leave 20 crore people without jobs. Let the government first come out with a rehabilitation for these people and then it can open up FDI in retail". Kishore Shah, President of the Mobile & Telecom Retailers and Distributors Association (MTRDA), stated that around 12,000 retail shop-keepers deal in SIM cards and recharge vouchers of Air-Tel in Mumbai, generating business worth crores of rupees every day. Mr. Shah said "We have already informed all our members, distributors and wholesalers against selling any Airtel products". The Mumbai APMC—wholesale— market remained closed, along with thousands of retail shops across the city, including all chemists and druggists shops. Apna Bazaar, Maharastra’s largest cooperative store also downed its shutters and wholesale markets remained closed in Nasik and Pune.
At an evening event at Shanmukananda Hall in Mumbai mass-based groups laid out a future course of action and adopted a charter of demands. They called on the Center to immediately repeal the Wholesale Cash-n-Carry Permission, and all licenses granted under the permission; repeal the APMC Model Act, implement the National Policy on Street Vendors, take measures against predatory pricing and formulate a national policy on retail trade and small scale industries.
In Bangalore thousands protested at the town hall and burned effigies of corporate retailers like Wal-Mart and Reliance. The protest culminated in leaders presenting the Governor with a memorandum calling on the state to repeal the recent passage of the APMC Model Act. A Charter of Demands, same as was passed in Mumbai, was also placed before the District Collector. Smaller protests were organized throughout the state in different districts including Kodagu, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Davangere districts.
In Jaipur fifty American students joined with hawkers demanding that Wal-Mart leave India and demanding implementation of the National Policy on Street Vendors. The American students and hawkers demonstrated in the old city and held signs saying "Americans Oppose Wal-Mart Everywhere". Ms. Cheryl, an American citizen, learning Hindi at Jaipur said that Wal-Mart has a disastrous impact on small shopkeepers and neighbourhood communities in America and called Indians to learn from their experience and not to allow Wal-Mart to operate in India. Ms. Cheryl said that the world is moving from ‘Corporate to Cooperative’ and Indians should not corporatize their cooperatives.
In Kerala the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Egono Samiti organized protest marches in over 1000 places across the state. In Kalicut over 10,000 traders protested in front of the corporation’s office and submitted a memorandum demanding that corporations keep out of retail and the immediate halt to Wal-Mart’s backdoor entry and the repeal of the Wholesale Cash-N-Carry permission.
In Kolkata the Federation of Trade Organizations (FTO) of West Bengal organized protests in all the 12 districts of the city along with protests across West Bengal, including in front of malls. Tens of thousands traders participated in the protest. In the evening, thousands of hawkers took out a protest march from the city museum.
In Ranchi, Uday Shankar Ojha who led the vegetable vendors before Reliance Fresh in May and has only recently been released from Jail, led thousands of hawkers and vegetable vendors at Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi, demanding that Reliance Fresh and all other corporations leave the retail sector and "withdraw their sinister plans to displace millions of livelihoods".
In Bhopal there was a state-level protest meeting in the morning at Gandhi Bhavan and traders sat on a dharna at Roshanara Chowk in the afternoon and burn effigies of Wal-Mart, Bharti and Reliance. A call for Bhopal Bandh was given for 21 August to oust corporate from retail trade.
Similar protests were organized in other cities including Allahabad, Lucknow, Meerut, Bagpat and Sonipat.
IndiaFDI Watch - http://indiafdiwatch.org/index.php?id=47
For more information: download the India FDI Watch Brochure.
For more information, download the India FDI Watch Brochure (in Hindi).
Thousands protested to oppose the Bharti-Walmart Joint Venture
On the heels of the announcement of the Bharti-Walmart joint venture, thousands of traders, hawkers, farmers and workers protested across India. Protesters also included a group of American students who demanded that Wal-Mart not be allowed into India. Mass-based organizations called on the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi to immediately stop the Bharti-Walmart Joint Venture and not allow Wal-Mart’s backdoor entry into India. There was also a strong united call on all corporations—both foreign and domestic—to "Quit Retail". The protests were timed to commemorate the start of the "Quit India" movement, which started on August 9, 1942, with mass-based sections of society drawing parallels to the East India Company and companies like Wal-Mart, Bharti and Reliance.
Agitations took place in the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata along with other major cities including, Kalicut, Bhopal, Jaipur, Ranchi, Balia, Meerath, Sonipat, Nagpur, Nasik, Pune and Indore.
In Delhi, thousands of traders, hawkers, farmers and workers protested in Chandni Chowk, a historical market, and burned effigies of Wal-Mart, Bharti and Reliance. Dharmendra Kumar, Director of India FDI Watch and national coordinator of the Vyapaar Aur Rozgaar Bachao Andolan conducted the proceedings and told the agitators, "Both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have acknowledged the dangers of corporations entering into the retail sector. The Govt. has commissioned a report looking at the impact of the entire supply chain on livelihoods after Sonia Gandhi had written a letter of caution. Sonia Gandhi had also publicly refused to meet with Michael Duke, Wal-Mart Vice-Chairman during his visit in February after public demonstrations were held due to his arrival. However, both Sonia Gandhi and the PMO have remained silent on the Bharti-Wal-Mart deal and though they have publicly cautioned against corporations and commissioned a study, they have taken no subsequent actions. He demanded that the Wal-Mart Bharti joint venture should be immediately revoked and all corporations should be stopped until thorough study has been conducted by an independent special task force comprising of stakeholders."
Shyam Bihari Mishra, President, Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal refered back to the British Raj, stating, "The East India Company, the most powerful company at the time, came to colonize India’s people and domestic and international trade and now Wal-Mart, the world’s largest company is trying to enter India to do the same. Mr. Mishra said India has a history of resistance, our people threw out the British and sixty years later if millions have their businesses and livelihoods threatened we will do the same now. He announced that family members of traders would boycott corporate stores." Praveen Khandelwal, General Secretary, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said "The livelihoods of retail traders are at stake. If big retail giants like Wal-Mart and Reliance come into the country, small traders would be finished." A mass campaign would be launched to strike back and make corporations realise that we will not let them ruin our livelihoods, he said.
Vandana Shiva, Director, Navdanya said "India is a land of retail democracy- hundreds of thousands of weekly haats and bazaars are located across the length and breadth of our country by people’s own self-organizational capacities. In a country with large numbers of people, and high levels of poverty, the existing model of retail democracy is the most appropriate in terms of economic viability and ecological sustainability.".
Shaktiman Ghosh, General Secretary, National Hawkers Federation warned the government "about taking such strong stances against India’s millions of hawkers and small shopkeepers in favor of only a few huge corporations who seek to dominate the Indian retail market."
Mr. Indu Prakash of Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform revealed the nexus between judiciary and corporate retail which led to the ceiling of shops of more than one hundred thousands of traders of Delhi and still goes on.
Mr. Bhati of Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, Delhi, Harbhajan Singh Siddhu, National Secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, Sunil Kansal, Secretary, Rashtriya Vyapar Mandal, Hakim Singh Rawat, General Secretary, Delhi Hawkers Welfare Association, Banwari Lal Sharma, President, Aazadi Bachaon Aandolan, R K Sharma, Secreatry, UTUC-Lenin Sarani and Venkatesh of Lok Raj Sangathan also addressed the protesters in Delhi.
In Mumbai, thousands of retailers, hawkers, workers and cooperatives participated in a one day trade bandh and a mass public event organized by the Vyapaar Rozgaar Suraksha Kriti Samiti, a joint action committee of trade associations, hawkers groups, trade unions and others. Leaders of Federation of Associations of Maharastra (FAM), Retail and Dispensing Chemists Association (RDCA), India FDI Watch, Mumbai Mahanagar Vyapari Seva Parishad (MMVSP), Mumbai Vyapar Mahasang (MVM), Apna Bazaar, National Hawkers Federation, Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP) addressed the protesters. Mohan Gurnani, Convener of the Mumbai based Vyapaar Rozgaar Suraksha Kriti Samiti and President of the Federation of Associations of Maharastra (FAM) said "organised retaling would leave 20 crore people without jobs. Let the government first come out with a rehabilitation for these people and then it can open up FDI in retail". Kishore Shah, President of the Mobile & Telecom Retailers and Distributors Association (MTRDA), stated that around 12,000 retail shop-keepers deal in SIM cards and recharge vouchers of Air-Tel in Mumbai, generating business worth crores of rupees every day. Mr. Shah said "We have already informed all our members, distributors and wholesalers against selling any Airtel products". The Mumbai APMC—wholesale— market remained closed, along with thousands of retail shops across the city, including all chemists and druggists shops. Apna Bazaar, Maharastra’s largest cooperative store also downed its shutters and wholesale markets remained closed in Nasik and Pune.
At an evening event at Shanmukananda Hall in Mumbai mass-based groups laid out a future course of action and adopted a charter of demands. They called on the Center to immediately repeal the Wholesale Cash-n-Carry Permission, and all licenses granted under the permission; repeal the APMC Model Act, implement the National Policy on Street Vendors, take measures against predatory pricing and formulate a national policy on retail trade and small scale industries.
In Bangalore thousands protested at the town hall and burned effigies of corporate retailers like Wal-Mart and Reliance. The protest culminated in leaders presenting the Governor with a memorandum calling on the state to repeal the recent passage of the APMC Model Act. A Charter of Demands, same as was passed in Mumbai, was also placed before the District Collector. Smaller protests were organized throughout the state in different districts including Kodagu, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Davangere districts.
In Jaipur fifty American students joined with hawkers demanding that Wal-Mart leave India and demanding implementation of the National Policy on Street Vendors. The American students and hawkers demonstrated in the old city and held signs saying "Americans Oppose Wal-Mart Everywhere". Ms. Cheryl, an American citizen, learning Hindi at Jaipur said that Wal-Mart has a disastrous impact on small shopkeepers and neighbourhood communities in America and called Indians to learn from their experience and not to allow Wal-Mart to operate in India. Ms. Cheryl said that the world is moving from ‘Corporate to Cooperative’ and Indians should not corporatize their cooperatives.
In Kerala the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Egono Samiti organized protest marches in over 1000 places across the state. In Kalicut over 10,000 traders protested in front of the corporation’s office and submitted a memorandum demanding that corporations keep out of retail and the immediate halt to Wal-Mart’s backdoor entry and the repeal of the Wholesale Cash-N-Carry permission.
In Kolkata the Federation of Trade Organizations (FTO) of West Bengal organized protests in all the 12 districts of the city along with protests across West Bengal, including in front of malls. Tens of thousands traders participated in the protest. In the evening, thousands of hawkers took out a protest march from the city museum.
In Ranchi, Uday Shankar Ojha who led the vegetable vendors before Reliance Fresh in May and has only recently been released from Jail, led thousands of hawkers and vegetable vendors at Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi, demanding that Reliance Fresh and all other corporations leave the retail sector and "withdraw their sinister plans to displace millions of livelihoods".
In Bhopal there was a state-level protest meeting in the morning at Gandhi Bhavan and traders sat on a dharna at Roshanara Chowk in the afternoon and burn effigies of Wal-Mart, Bharti and Reliance. A call for Bhopal Bandh was given for 21 August to oust corporate from retail trade.
Similar protests were organized in other cities including Allahabad, Lucknow, Meerut, Bagpat and Sonipat.
Monday 25 June 2007
Indian Politicians Visit Washington - Beg Direct Investments
MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTER IS ON AMERICA TOUR : Begs Direct Investments in Killing Fields of Vidarbha
Here in Maharashtra since June -2005 there is mass genocide of cotton farmers and more than 4000 farmers suicides have officially reported by the sate administration and it has been widely published in American media too, it is ridicules for the Maharashtra chief minister to invite American MNCS for direct investment in the dying land of Vidarbha.
VJAS has urged NRIs in America to ask about Maharashtra chief minister compete failure to stop the mass genocide of vidarbha farmers, Kishor Tiwari added.
Kishor Tiwari
President
Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti
Email - vidarbha@gmail.com
Blog : andolan.blogspot.com
contact : 094222108846
Here in Maharashtra since June -2005 there is mass genocide of cotton farmers and more than 4000 farmers suicides have officially reported by the sate administration and it has been widely published in American media too, it is ridicules for the Maharashtra chief minister to invite American MNCS for direct investment in the dying land of Vidarbha.
VJAS has urged NRIs in America to ask about Maharashtra chief minister compete failure to stop the mass genocide of vidarbha farmers, Kishor Tiwari added.
Kishor Tiwari
President
Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti
Email - vidarbha@gmail.com
Blog : andolan.blogspot.com
contact : 094222108846
Monday 21 May 2007
Singur, Bengal Communists, Tata Industrialists and Bengali People
Fresh tension erupted on Sunday at the site of the upcoming Tata Motors small car unit in Singur in West Bengal as some 200 farmers clashed with the police to reclaim their land acquired for the project.
The farmers, led by Trinamool Congress leaders like Becharam Manna and legislator Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who are also leaders of the Singur Krishjami Raksha Committee, marched towards the project site to break the boundary wall. Police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse them.
Policemen deployed in the area, 40 km from here in Hooghly district, prevented the farmers from causing any damage to the wall. But the farmers attacked the police with bricks and some sharp weapons.
"We have dispersed the mob but a constable and a police officer were injured," West Bengal Inspector General of Police Raj Kanojia told IANS. "We are keeping a watch on the situation."
The Trinamool Congress claims that around 20 protestors were injured in the violence.
Manna and Bhattacharya were taken into custody. Social activist Anuradha Talwar, an associate of Medha Patkar, was also detained.
"Today's incident proves that the people are still resisting there and they will not give up so easily," said Sougato Roy, a Trinamool Congress leader.
On May 8, about 200 farmers gathered there and tried to destroy the boundary wall.
Singur has been chosen by Tata Motors for its small car project that will be spread over 997 acres of land.
The issue triggered a violent face-off between the government and the farmers led by civil society groups and parties like the Trinamool.
The latest flare up has triggered fresh tension over land acquisition.
After a political slugfest for weeks, the ruling Left Front and the Trinamool arrived at a consensus on Saturday to hold the much-awaited all-party peace meeting on May 24 to restore normalcy in trouble-torn Nandigram.
The meeting aims to end a crisis that has claimed at least 21 lives since the January flare-up over a special economic zone.
Link - IANS - Hindustan Times - Indo-Asian News Service Kolkata, May 20, 2007
First Published : 14:16 IST (20/5/2007)
Last Updated : 14:50 IST (20/5/2007)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=a1335933-e39f-4391-a941-513625e063d1&MatchID1=4464&TeamID1=10&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1109&MatchID2=4466&TeamID3=2&TeamID4=4&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1110&PrimaryID=4464&Headline=Fresh+tension+at+Tata+Motors+site+in+Singur
The farmers, led by Trinamool Congress leaders like Becharam Manna and legislator Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who are also leaders of the Singur Krishjami Raksha Committee, marched towards the project site to break the boundary wall. Police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse them.
Policemen deployed in the area, 40 km from here in Hooghly district, prevented the farmers from causing any damage to the wall. But the farmers attacked the police with bricks and some sharp weapons.
"We have dispersed the mob but a constable and a police officer were injured," West Bengal Inspector General of Police Raj Kanojia told IANS. "We are keeping a watch on the situation."
The Trinamool Congress claims that around 20 protestors were injured in the violence.
Manna and Bhattacharya were taken into custody. Social activist Anuradha Talwar, an associate of Medha Patkar, was also detained.
"Today's incident proves that the people are still resisting there and they will not give up so easily," said Sougato Roy, a Trinamool Congress leader.
On May 8, about 200 farmers gathered there and tried to destroy the boundary wall.
Singur has been chosen by Tata Motors for its small car project that will be spread over 997 acres of land.
The issue triggered a violent face-off between the government and the farmers led by civil society groups and parties like the Trinamool.
The latest flare up has triggered fresh tension over land acquisition.
After a political slugfest for weeks, the ruling Left Front and the Trinamool arrived at a consensus on Saturday to hold the much-awaited all-party peace meeting on May 24 to restore normalcy in trouble-torn Nandigram.
The meeting aims to end a crisis that has claimed at least 21 lives since the January flare-up over a special economic zone.
Link - IANS - Hindustan Times - Indo-Asian News Service Kolkata, May 20, 2007
First Published : 14:16 IST (20/5/2007)
Last Updated : 14:50 IST (20/5/2007)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=a1335933-e39f-4391-a941-513625e063d1&MatchID1=4464&TeamID1=10&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1109&MatchID2=4466&TeamID3=2&TeamID4=4&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1110&PrimaryID=4464&Headline=Fresh+tension+at+Tata+Motors+site+in+Singur
Friday 23 March 2007
Government Machinery and Land Evictions - SEZ Debate
The Indian Cricket Minister has weighed in, on the debate of farmland farmer evictions, with some very important "comments and umpiring decisions".
The Indian Cricket Minister, who also wears the hats of Indian Agriculture Minister and guess what, the Food Minister as well, has gone on record to state that he is not in favour of the use of bureaucracy and government machinery, on behalf of industrialists, by the various state governments.
He expressed these views in relation to the sorry, messy, spectacle and bloodshed, enacted by the Left coalition parties government, in West Bengal, that sent in 5,000 police men, in riot gear to get one cordoned off small village called Nandigram, to be forcibly evicted vacated, from a group of farmers and sharecroppers. That this was all done, by a carefully nurtured protege of Shri Jyoti Basu, and that this was all done in the 250 years anniversary of the Battle of Plassey in Bengal, that paved the way for British colonial expansion in the whole of India, is a matter of historical irony, for the students of Indian history.
We have discussed this issue elsewhere.
Here however, we would like to discuss, the public statement of the Cricket Minister, who has expressed his disapproval of the use of bureaucracy and government machinery, in farmland evictions for the benfit of industry and for the benefit of industrialists.
The sarcastic politics watchers amongst us, know that for the so called students of Chairiman Mao, power flows from the barrel of the gun.
Now the real question is, in what capacity has he expressed the views that he has publicly expressed, about government machinery and its use in farmland evictions and of legislative changes.
Is it as a Cabinet Minister of the Man Mohan Singh Congress government ?
Is it as a Cricket Minister ?
Is it as Indian Agriculture Minister ?
Is it as Indian Food Minister ?
Is it as a veteran Indian political heavyweight from Western Maharashtra sugar belt who rose to power on the back of Western Maharashtra sugar cooperatives ?
Asking this question is crucially important, because the sheer ideological confusion, that characterizes the debates on farmland acquisitions and the rationale for Special Export Zones, in a democratic country like India is often missed in the sound and fury of the industry versus agriculture, poverty versus development debate in India.
It bears attention that the reasonable and logical sounding words, of this tough talking Western Maharashtra minister, who is exceptionally silent on one of the biggest agrarian crisis in modern India, in his own home ground of Maharashtra, is feeling the need to sell the idea that, industrialist are free to go and directly deal with Indian farmers and buy up land that is un irrigated, as long as they do not ask the politically immature governments like that of Shri Jyoti Basu's protege, to send in a pack of riot battle gear uniformed policemen, to do the dirty job for them.
As per the Cricket Minister, the Central and state governments should only play the role of facilitators in Indian Farm Exit Policy and not take on an overtly active role. He has added his suggestions about non irrigated land and the willingness of Indian farmers in state policy regarding land acquisitions. But this is cosmetic.
Are WTO, ASSOCHAM and FICCI listening ?
The Indian Agriculture Minister is effectively saying that he will ensure, that the central Congress Government, adopts a laid back attitude, does not step in on the side of farmers, unwilling to be evicted ....
From this it is clear, that the only objection the Cricket Minister has to farmland evictions, is that it should be done in such a way that it does not become a media story and instead takes, place, drip by drip, in the rural farmlands of India, maybe somewhat like the cotton farmer suicides in Vidarbha.
Shocking that this deliberate excercise in Indian Farm Exit Policy, and forcible demographics modifications on Indian farms, is being choregraphed by the Indian Agriculture Minister. How can Vidarbha farmers expect to find a real solution to their problems when such an Agriculture Minister is seated in the Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi ?
Maybe the Germans and European women, are better friends of Vidarbha farmers than such an Agriculture Minister who is having full control over Krishi Bhawan, unchecked by anyone in the media.
It is shockingly tragic, that such a minister, is in charge of such an unprecedented Indian Agrarian Crisis, at this juncture in Indian history, as agriculture and kisans face the butchers knife.
And he is bowling top spinners, and advising West Bengal Communists, to refrain from using government machinery for land evictions and acquiring land for Special Export Zones.
Can the Indian farmers read the top spinners of their Agriculture Minister or will they all be bowled out ?
The Indian Cricket Minister, who also wears the hats of Indian Agriculture Minister and guess what, the Food Minister as well, has gone on record to state that he is not in favour of the use of bureaucracy and government machinery, on behalf of industrialists, by the various state governments.
He expressed these views in relation to the sorry, messy, spectacle and bloodshed, enacted by the Left coalition parties government, in West Bengal, that sent in 5,000 police men, in riot gear to get one cordoned off small village called Nandigram, to be forcibly evicted vacated, from a group of farmers and sharecroppers. That this was all done, by a carefully nurtured protege of Shri Jyoti Basu, and that this was all done in the 250 years anniversary of the Battle of Plassey in Bengal, that paved the way for British colonial expansion in the whole of India, is a matter of historical irony, for the students of Indian history.
We have discussed this issue elsewhere.
Here however, we would like to discuss, the public statement of the Cricket Minister, who has expressed his disapproval of the use of bureaucracy and government machinery, in farmland evictions for the benfit of industry and for the benefit of industrialists.
The sarcastic politics watchers amongst us, know that for the so called students of Chairiman Mao, power flows from the barrel of the gun.
Now the real question is, in what capacity has he expressed the views that he has publicly expressed, about government machinery and its use in farmland evictions and of legislative changes.
Is it as a Cabinet Minister of the Man Mohan Singh Congress government ?
Is it as a Cricket Minister ?
Is it as Indian Agriculture Minister ?
Is it as Indian Food Minister ?
Is it as a veteran Indian political heavyweight from Western Maharashtra sugar belt who rose to power on the back of Western Maharashtra sugar cooperatives ?
Asking this question is crucially important, because the sheer ideological confusion, that characterizes the debates on farmland acquisitions and the rationale for Special Export Zones, in a democratic country like India is often missed in the sound and fury of the industry versus agriculture, poverty versus development debate in India.
It bears attention that the reasonable and logical sounding words, of this tough talking Western Maharashtra minister, who is exceptionally silent on one of the biggest agrarian crisis in modern India, in his own home ground of Maharashtra, is feeling the need to sell the idea that, industrialist are free to go and directly deal with Indian farmers and buy up land that is un irrigated, as long as they do not ask the politically immature governments like that of Shri Jyoti Basu's protege, to send in a pack of riot battle gear uniformed policemen, to do the dirty job for them.
As per the Cricket Minister, the Central and state governments should only play the role of facilitators in Indian Farm Exit Policy and not take on an overtly active role. He has added his suggestions about non irrigated land and the willingness of Indian farmers in state policy regarding land acquisitions. But this is cosmetic.
Are WTO, ASSOCHAM and FICCI listening ?
The Indian Agriculture Minister is effectively saying that he will ensure, that the central Congress Government, adopts a laid back attitude, does not step in on the side of farmers, unwilling to be evicted ....
From this it is clear, that the only objection the Cricket Minister has to farmland evictions, is that it should be done in such a way that it does not become a media story and instead takes, place, drip by drip, in the rural farmlands of India, maybe somewhat like the cotton farmer suicides in Vidarbha.
Shocking that this deliberate excercise in Indian Farm Exit Policy, and forcible demographics modifications on Indian farms, is being choregraphed by the Indian Agriculture Minister. How can Vidarbha farmers expect to find a real solution to their problems when such an Agriculture Minister is seated in the Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi ?
Maybe the Germans and European women, are better friends of Vidarbha farmers than such an Agriculture Minister who is having full control over Krishi Bhawan, unchecked by anyone in the media.
It is shockingly tragic, that such a minister, is in charge of such an unprecedented Indian Agrarian Crisis, at this juncture in Indian history, as agriculture and kisans face the butchers knife.
And he is bowling top spinners, and advising West Bengal Communists, to refrain from using government machinery for land evictions and acquiring land for Special Export Zones.
Can the Indian farmers read the top spinners of their Agriculture Minister or will they all be bowled out ?
Thursday 22 March 2007
Cricket Minister Bowls a Top Spinner
The Indian Cricket Minister who also doubles up as Indian Agriculture Minister, and surprises of surprise, as Food Minister too, has now bowled a top spinner.
Really capable all rounders in Indian team.
The tough talking political heavy weight from Maharashtra, is of course very well known for his intervention in the Cola agricultural pesticides debate, by claiming that Indian mothers are also equally guilty, of feeding their children with breast milk spiced up with acceptable levels of pesticides as per Indian food regulation standards. He did not however explain why we should trust him as the Food Minister, fit for the new incredible Indian Next generation - GEN-X
Many future Cricketers are springing up in India with deep dosages of pesticides in their blood, courtesy our sanguine Food Minister, which will all cumulatively lead to big sixes in World Cups.
The same Minister had pointed out how, in his role as Food Minister, responsible for deflating food prices for South Indian wheat eaters, was in contradiction with his dual responsibility as Indian Agriculture Minister responsible for seeing that hard working, Indian kisan are able to sell their produce, in the markets, either to government procurement agencies, or to private traders, at slightly higher rupees, than the previous year.
Sometimes one cannot but wonder at the sheer competence and the immense burden of weight carried by the respectable Cricket Minister. Any other mortal by now would have been screaming at the Prime Minister and Congress Party, to reduce the political, administrative, and ministerial responsibilities that he has simultaneously been burdened with.
He also certainly feels, the Vidarbha cotton farmers agrarian distress and suicides issue, from his own home ground of Maharashtra, as adding to yet more weight on his share of responsibilities. After all how much can one man do, when burdened with so many and often such conflicting responsibilities ?
But then maybe he does not have any such doubts.
The Honourable Minister decided to bowl a top spinner, on the issue of farmland acquisitions, carried out in Singur and Nandigram, on behalf of top domestic and foreign industrialists, by the erudite bhadralok of Bengal Communists.
The Minister has found it appropriate to dispute the strategy of using governmental muscle for acquiring land for Special Export Zones (SEZ).
Dispute yes, but without feeling the need to justify, why these Special Export Zones are needed in the first place.
Notable economists from Bangla Desh and other places, are being brought in to buttress arguments of how New Amar Sonar Bangla needs industry in place of farmlands, to force a decline in agriculture dependant populations and force the creation of an industrial proletariat that will be begging outside Writer's Building for small morsels of food. The rhetoric of the protege of Shri Jyoti Basu may be inadequate for the peasants and farmers of Nandigram, but maybe our Cricket Minister is satisfied with the batting performance of Bengal.
His track record as the Minister who pushed through large scale GM experimentations on Indian farmers, without long term risk analysis, and farmer and crop insurance best practices, will also not be missed by Indian economy, industry and agriculture watchers.
Really capable all rounders in Indian team.
The tough talking political heavy weight from Maharashtra, is of course very well known for his intervention in the Cola agricultural pesticides debate, by claiming that Indian mothers are also equally guilty, of feeding their children with breast milk spiced up with acceptable levels of pesticides as per Indian food regulation standards. He did not however explain why we should trust him as the Food Minister, fit for the new incredible Indian Next generation - GEN-X
Many future Cricketers are springing up in India with deep dosages of pesticides in their blood, courtesy our sanguine Food Minister, which will all cumulatively lead to big sixes in World Cups.
The same Minister had pointed out how, in his role as Food Minister, responsible for deflating food prices for South Indian wheat eaters, was in contradiction with his dual responsibility as Indian Agriculture Minister responsible for seeing that hard working, Indian kisan are able to sell their produce, in the markets, either to government procurement agencies, or to private traders, at slightly higher rupees, than the previous year.
Sometimes one cannot but wonder at the sheer competence and the immense burden of weight carried by the respectable Cricket Minister. Any other mortal by now would have been screaming at the Prime Minister and Congress Party, to reduce the political, administrative, and ministerial responsibilities that he has simultaneously been burdened with.
He also certainly feels, the Vidarbha cotton farmers agrarian distress and suicides issue, from his own home ground of Maharashtra, as adding to yet more weight on his share of responsibilities. After all how much can one man do, when burdened with so many and often such conflicting responsibilities ?
But then maybe he does not have any such doubts.
The Honourable Minister decided to bowl a top spinner, on the issue of farmland acquisitions, carried out in Singur and Nandigram, on behalf of top domestic and foreign industrialists, by the erudite bhadralok of Bengal Communists.
The Minister has found it appropriate to dispute the strategy of using governmental muscle for acquiring land for Special Export Zones (SEZ).
Dispute yes, but without feeling the need to justify, why these Special Export Zones are needed in the first place.
Notable economists from Bangla Desh and other places, are being brought in to buttress arguments of how New Amar Sonar Bangla needs industry in place of farmlands, to force a decline in agriculture dependant populations and force the creation of an industrial proletariat that will be begging outside Writer's Building for small morsels of food. The rhetoric of the protege of Shri Jyoti Basu may be inadequate for the peasants and farmers of Nandigram, but maybe our Cricket Minister is satisfied with the batting performance of Bengal.
His track record as the Minister who pushed through large scale GM experimentations on Indian farmers, without long term risk analysis, and farmer and crop insurance best practices, will also not be missed by Indian economy, industry and agriculture watchers.
Thursday 15 March 2007
Whose NandiGram, Whose Singur, Whose Bengal ?
The External Affairs Minister, and also, the Chairman of Empowered Ministers Committee for Special Export Zones (SEZ), Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the Congress minister from Bengal, has expressed deep anguish, at the way the Bengal Chief Minister has decided to honour his words, that he gave to big direct investors in Bengal.
The Bengal Chief Minister was groomed by Shri Jyoti Basu, over all these decades of sterile Marxist logic and bhadralok incompetence, to take over the reigns of a NEW BENGAL. The colour of this New Bengal, is unmistakably now red.
This is the Bengal that gave the resurgent India fighting the might of the colonial empire its National Anthem. Today this National Anthem has been sullied unmistakably by the student of Jyoti Basu, a man who decided that his word given in private conversations was more important that the words he could muster for the villagers of Nandigram. What a shame.
Is this then the New Bengal ? Is this then, going to be the shape and the face of the new India ? Is this the face of the urbane Marxists, the Politburo Communists, the Delhi based left ideologues, sitting in Delhi and Kolkata, and pulling the levers of power ?
A bunch of people who are not able to explain in words and win the hearts of the villagers of Nandigram and Singur ?
Is this going to be the colour of capital that will now begin to flow into Bengal and herald a new and prosperous Bengal ?
The revolution has come a full circle.
The bhadralok has decided that the promises it makes in private conversations, to industrialists are more important than explaining the new industrialization policy of Bengal to the people, the small farmers, whose land it wants to grab and forcibly convert into the industrial proletariat, without their concurrence ?
And the bhadralok is now ready to send forth the police in battle armed gear rather than talk, as the External Affairs Minister says, just because the chief Minister gave his word to some top industrialist in a closed room, in a secretive conversation, and will not tolerate any disobedience.
"The issue has to be resolved through dialogue," said Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the senior Congress leader from West Bengal and indeed one of the most respected of Indians on the global stage.
In sad contrast, are the empty words of firebrand Indian Communists of yester years, the occupiers of Writer's Building, who have lost touch with words, and are seeking bullets to do the talking for them.
Eleven people were killed and 75 injured when police opened fire on a huge mob, that fought pitched battles with the men in uniform in Nandigram.
If this is the New Bengal, the new Amar Sonar Bangla. If this is the shape of things to come in the new and incredible India, then maybe the clock has come a full circle after two and a half centuries. The Revolution has occurred.
The year is 2007. The irony cannot be last on those who study history. Exactly 250 years back, in 1757, a young British man, Robert Clive, had stood in mango forests, with a scroll, a map, a sword, and wondered how he was going to pave the way for a band of people to control a vast sub continent, incredibly rich and diverse. A land of whose riches he had read in Britain and had often dreamed of. The land of wealth but inner disjunction between common people and the ruling elite.
He too had decided that he would let the bullets, the swords, the cannons and the firmans, do the talking.
Yes, this protege of Shri Jyoti Basu, this new changing face of bhadralok, invites comparisons with the same young British man who surveyed Plassey and wondered why and how the British Empire would always remember him.
Today, the statue of Robert Clive, proudly stands outside the Winston Churchill Museum and the British War Cabinet offices of Second World War as its memory of the man who paved the way for English Empire in India.
It is exactly, 250 years of Battle of Plassey and a new battle has been won in Plassey. This time there are no British. This time it is a protege of Shri Jyoti Basu.
And once again, the Indian bhadralok has emerged from the slumber of the sterile Marxist rhetoric years.
Bengal. The state that gave India the Nstional Anthem, the state that opened the way to colonial domination over a proud sub continent called Bharat, the state that gave Subhas Chandra Bose, the state that gave the romanticism of Rabindra Sangeet, the state that gave the heart wrenching films of Satyajit Ray, the state that gave Amartya Sen, is now in the hands of a bhadralok, that has no more use for words and winning battles of the heart. How appropriate that this Bengal is in the hands of a protege of Shri Jyoti Basu.
Maybe it is the destiny of India, that this state and its bhadralok, will always, keep opening the doors to foreign domination, over a sub continent of proud people.
Let us remember the Mir Jafars, the Siraj ud Daulah and Robert Clive of 1757 as we turn the pages of history.
The Battle of Plassey (Bengali: পলাশীর যুদ্ধ, Pâlāshīr Juddha) was a battle that took place on June 23, 1757, at Palashi, on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 km north of Calcutta. It is near Murshidabad, then the capital of the Nawab of Bengal in India. Pâlāsh (Bengali: পলাশ), an extravagant red flowering tree (Flame of the forest), gives its name to a small village near the battlefield. A phonetically accurate romanization of the Bengali name would be Battle of Palashi, but the spelling "Plassey" is now conventional.
The battle was between Siraj Ud Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the forces of the British East India Company. Siraj-ud-Daulah's army commander had defected to the British, causing his army to collapse. After this defeat, the entire province of Bengal passed to the Company, and this battle is today seen as one of the pivotal battles leading to the British Empire in India.
The enormous wealth gained from the Bengal treasury, after its victory in the battle, allowed the company to significantly strengthen its military might.
The carefully groomed political and ideological protege, of Shri Jyoti Basu is certainly, the harbinger of bad news. Not only for Bengal, but for the whole of India.
People will ask now, whose Bengal is it, whose India ?
Is it of the Communists, the capital laden industrialists and the bhadralok ?
What has happened to the real capital of Bengal in all these years ?
Are the people and the fertile Gangetic valley not itself a creator of capital anymore that it is grovelling for recognition in closed rooms for small bits of capital ? Yes the elite of Bengal has a role to play for rest of India.
Are they its rightful inheritors, or are they merely pretenders who got used to the cups of tea, and sterile conversations in Writer's Building and forgot that words and dialogue are all that it takes, for people's capital to once again build a beautiful and rich Bengal ?
A beautiful, "Amar Sonar Bangla" that has the power of the heart, to inspire and lead the whole of India ? Or will this Bengal, of the protege of Shri Jyoti Basu, that lays siege of rural villages in pre meditated operations, lead the new India ? How tragic !! Can we allow this Bengal to lead India ?
Two hundred and fifty years, and who knows, India has lost the Battle of Plassey once again. Marxist rhetoric is revealing its true colours finally in Bengal.
The elite of Bengal is bent on bartering away not only Bengal, but India, for pebbles. They have kind words for direct investors and determination to fulfill their promises, and only bullets for the people of singur and NandiGram.
The Bengal Chief Minister was groomed by Shri Jyoti Basu, over all these decades of sterile Marxist logic and bhadralok incompetence, to take over the reigns of a NEW BENGAL. The colour of this New Bengal, is unmistakably now red.
This is the Bengal that gave the resurgent India fighting the might of the colonial empire its National Anthem. Today this National Anthem has been sullied unmistakably by the student of Jyoti Basu, a man who decided that his word given in private conversations was more important that the words he could muster for the villagers of Nandigram. What a shame.
Is this then the New Bengal ? Is this then, going to be the shape and the face of the new India ? Is this the face of the urbane Marxists, the Politburo Communists, the Delhi based left ideologues, sitting in Delhi and Kolkata, and pulling the levers of power ?
A bunch of people who are not able to explain in words and win the hearts of the villagers of Nandigram and Singur ?
Is this going to be the colour of capital that will now begin to flow into Bengal and herald a new and prosperous Bengal ?
The revolution has come a full circle.
The bhadralok has decided that the promises it makes in private conversations, to industrialists are more important than explaining the new industrialization policy of Bengal to the people, the small farmers, whose land it wants to grab and forcibly convert into the industrial proletariat, without their concurrence ?
And the bhadralok is now ready to send forth the police in battle armed gear rather than talk, as the External Affairs Minister says, just because the chief Minister gave his word to some top industrialist in a closed room, in a secretive conversation, and will not tolerate any disobedience.
"The issue has to be resolved through dialogue," said Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the senior Congress leader from West Bengal and indeed one of the most respected of Indians on the global stage.
In sad contrast, are the empty words of firebrand Indian Communists of yester years, the occupiers of Writer's Building, who have lost touch with words, and are seeking bullets to do the talking for them.
Eleven people were killed and 75 injured when police opened fire on a huge mob, that fought pitched battles with the men in uniform in Nandigram.
If this is the New Bengal, the new Amar Sonar Bangla. If this is the shape of things to come in the new and incredible India, then maybe the clock has come a full circle after two and a half centuries. The Revolution has occurred.
The year is 2007. The irony cannot be last on those who study history. Exactly 250 years back, in 1757, a young British man, Robert Clive, had stood in mango forests, with a scroll, a map, a sword, and wondered how he was going to pave the way for a band of people to control a vast sub continent, incredibly rich and diverse. A land of whose riches he had read in Britain and had often dreamed of. The land of wealth but inner disjunction between common people and the ruling elite.
He too had decided that he would let the bullets, the swords, the cannons and the firmans, do the talking.
Yes, this protege of Shri Jyoti Basu, this new changing face of bhadralok, invites comparisons with the same young British man who surveyed Plassey and wondered why and how the British Empire would always remember him.
Today, the statue of Robert Clive, proudly stands outside the Winston Churchill Museum and the British War Cabinet offices of Second World War as its memory of the man who paved the way for English Empire in India.
It is exactly, 250 years of Battle of Plassey and a new battle has been won in Plassey. This time there are no British. This time it is a protege of Shri Jyoti Basu.
And once again, the Indian bhadralok has emerged from the slumber of the sterile Marxist rhetoric years.
Bengal. The state that gave India the Nstional Anthem, the state that opened the way to colonial domination over a proud sub continent called Bharat, the state that gave Subhas Chandra Bose, the state that gave the romanticism of Rabindra Sangeet, the state that gave the heart wrenching films of Satyajit Ray, the state that gave Amartya Sen, is now in the hands of a bhadralok, that has no more use for words and winning battles of the heart. How appropriate that this Bengal is in the hands of a protege of Shri Jyoti Basu.
Maybe it is the destiny of India, that this state and its bhadralok, will always, keep opening the doors to foreign domination, over a sub continent of proud people.
Let us remember the Mir Jafars, the Siraj ud Daulah and Robert Clive of 1757 as we turn the pages of history.
The Battle of Plassey (Bengali: পলাশীর যুদ্ধ, Pâlāshīr Juddha) was a battle that took place on June 23, 1757, at Palashi, on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 km north of Calcutta. It is near Murshidabad, then the capital of the Nawab of Bengal in India. Pâlāsh (Bengali: পলাশ), an extravagant red flowering tree (Flame of the forest), gives its name to a small village near the battlefield. A phonetically accurate romanization of the Bengali name would be Battle of Palashi, but the spelling "Plassey" is now conventional.
The battle was between Siraj Ud Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the forces of the British East India Company. Siraj-ud-Daulah's army commander had defected to the British, causing his army to collapse. After this defeat, the entire province of Bengal passed to the Company, and this battle is today seen as one of the pivotal battles leading to the British Empire in India.
The enormous wealth gained from the Bengal treasury, after its victory in the battle, allowed the company to significantly strengthen its military might.
The carefully groomed political and ideological protege, of Shri Jyoti Basu is certainly, the harbinger of bad news. Not only for Bengal, but for the whole of India.
People will ask now, whose Bengal is it, whose India ?
Is it of the Communists, the capital laden industrialists and the bhadralok ?
What has happened to the real capital of Bengal in all these years ?
Are the people and the fertile Gangetic valley not itself a creator of capital anymore that it is grovelling for recognition in closed rooms for small bits of capital ? Yes the elite of Bengal has a role to play for rest of India.
Are they its rightful inheritors, or are they merely pretenders who got used to the cups of tea, and sterile conversations in Writer's Building and forgot that words and dialogue are all that it takes, for people's capital to once again build a beautiful and rich Bengal ?
A beautiful, "Amar Sonar Bangla" that has the power of the heart, to inspire and lead the whole of India ? Or will this Bengal, of the protege of Shri Jyoti Basu, that lays siege of rural villages in pre meditated operations, lead the new India ? How tragic !! Can we allow this Bengal to lead India ?
Two hundred and fifty years, and who knows, India has lost the Battle of Plassey once again. Marxist rhetoric is revealing its true colours finally in Bengal.
The elite of Bengal is bent on bartering away not only Bengal, but India, for pebbles. They have kind words for direct investors and determination to fulfill their promises, and only bullets for the people of singur and NandiGram.
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