Casteology Romps Home, Exit Ideology
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 28
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
Mamata happy at rift in Congress, welcomes Somen Mitra
Kolkata, Jul 19 (PTI) Trinamool Congress today welcomed senior Congress leader Somen Mitra quitting the party describing it as a 'good' development and pledged to work with him in the fight against the state's ruling CPI(M).
"We welcome the decision taken by a senior state Congress leader and former WBPCC president Somen Mitra to leave and float a new party. We will work togther to fight CPI(M)", Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
She said Mitra had taken a step "in the right direction" and she said she would welcome him and his followers if they joined her party. "It is absolutely his choice." Banerjee recalled that a decade ago she had also left Congress to float Trinamool Congress to fight CPI(M).
Banerjee, who held two meetings with Mitra before he decided to part with Congress, claimed it was not possible to sincerely fight CPI(M) by remaining in Congress as the party had "hobbbed" with the Marxists at the national level.
Incidentally, Mitra had become president of the WBPCC in 1992 when he defeated Banerjee in an election.
There has been tussle between Mitra's camp and that led by Union Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi since the union minister was appointed PCC President early this year.
External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee had resigned as WBPCC chief after the last assembly polls in 2006. PTI
Casteology romps home!
Ideology EXIT!
Underworld should be ashamed of the Horse Trading, Fishing and abetting to save the Autocracy in full cry!
Jail birds out to save the government of India!
Blackmailing, Bargaining, doping, forgery,duping, hijacking and so on.. every crime is justified to win the war of trust vote!
Who says, Left stands with RSS?
No, it is committed to Dalit liberation !
And Lo! Dalit Queen Mayawati is projected full screen as the Next Prime Minister of India!
What a turnaround! Stranger than fiction. No Shakespeare, no kalidas would dream all this in their wildest dreams! Even Animal farm failed. Apple Cart is climaxed very well!
What a masterstroke is this to ensure to keep intact the Dalit and Muslim Vote Bank! I am sure that our friend , the Poet minister of Tripura, Anil sarkar would be the most relevant leader in this new equation. It is because of the decaying Dalit and Muslim base that the Left suffered so much in latest Panchayet and municipal elections and have to get an escape route to break out from the Chalk circle! Brahminical Bengal always despised this Dalit leader. As the Marxists were never found to quote Ambedkar anytime before Mayawati`s social engineering. But Mayawati had been the most despised politician for her casteology all the time. Ironically , the left has to opt for casteology discarding its so called Ideology!
Well, if you analyse the Votes ensured by the Dalit Party, BSP with nominal presence in West Bengal, you may understand the significance of this dramatic turnaround. With Somen Mitra breaking Congree and allying with fire Brand Mamata Bannerjee, Mayawati has emerged as the most deciding factor for the Ruling Left right in West Bengal!
This is all about the Mystery of the Marxists and all anti deal political parties, the EX third front leaders being so spell bound by the Mythical magical Indigenous Dalit power!
As somnath is off whip to bail out the government to save the deal as well as the UPA government for a fresh alliance anew in post election scenario with anti Fascism Ideology and antiRSS, pro Muslim stance, in the same manner Mayawati is projected as the Next prime Minister to send the message to the decaying Dalit Base that the Marxists only are sincere for the cause of Dalit Liberation which they could not convince the indigenous masses allocating generous grants to celebrate birth anniversaries of all Dalit icons including Dr Ambedkar, Jagjeevan Ram and Harichand Thakur. Dalit samanyay smiti failed to mobilise the Dalits so miserably and it has become a popular forum to search for appointments, placements and jobs with SC ST certificates! Marxist links with Matua Movement and Dalit sahitya Samiti have been snapped abruptly. In recent elections Matuas Voted for Trinamool congress and muslims followed suit! The results were obviously disastrous!
No wonder, this time, the Marxists have to opt for instituting new prises on Mayawati and Manyawar kanshi Ram along with running Harichand, Jyotiba Fule prizes!
I woun`t be surprised if the elit Brahmin leaders of Ledt front celebrate grand Mayawati Birth day parties in secular and progressive West Bengal calimed to be an Island devoid of Untouchability, Castism and discrimination!
In a bid to use the nuclear deal to turn Muslim mobilization into a polarization in its favour, the Bahujan Samaj Party is inserting the India-US pact into its grassroots campaign among the community.
The Marxist strategy is no different. It has carefully chalked out a plan to separate itself from the hated RSS, the Hindutva, Zionism and US corporate Imperialism while actually running ahead implementing the agenda of Hindu Zionist Manusmriti apartheid Americanisation of India, Buddha running blindly on superhighway of Capitalist Marxist Urbanisationa and Industrialising depriving the Indigenous communities of life and livelihood, killing them in Nandigram and Singur! BSP is the only force to enforce recognition for ant Hindutva drive of the Left despite Voting with RSS against the secular forces until recently, the UPA!
THe communists are using Individual Karishma of Mayawati to overcome another challenge from another feminine Individual karishma that of Mamata Bannerjee! They must woo the Muslims as well as the Dalits. Since the Dalit Movement never addressed nationalities and kept aside the aboriginal tribes, the Leftist Brahmins take the ST support granted in West Bengal as the tribal leaders tend to pursue the plight of Creamy layer!
The BSP is telling the Muslim community that Congress has compromised its interests by signing the nuclear pact. The raging issue would be part of the Dalit outfit's mobilization through 'Muslim bhaichara committees'.
The marxist message never sounds otherwise!
The strident stand taken by CM Mayawati against the nuke deal and her drafting of Islamic scholars to back her stand goes far beyond posturing as partymen are now spreading it to basic organizational units. Bahujan strategists conceived the 'bhaichara' committees as part of their outreach to communities outside its core Dalit base to spread the party's wings.
Clearly, the kingmakers in this political drama continued to be MPs from small parties such as the Janata Dal-S, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha who refused to reveal which way they were going.
With signs of the trust vote becoming a close call, leaders of the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the United National Progressive Alliance will meet on Sunday to discuss the possible scenario if the government falls, including a change of guard with BSP supremo Mayawati as the prime minister.Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Prakash Karat, Telugu Desam Party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu said the leaders would discuss "all possibilities" including a BSP-led Third Front government with Left support.
When asked whether he would accept Mayawati as the prime minister, Naidu asked, "Why should we be against it? We are not averse to it. But we have to discuss all these issues."
During the day, the TDP leader met Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan and Mayawati to mobilise support against the United Progressive Alliance government.
The CPI(M) central committee met today to chart out its strategy in the prevailing political turmoil, a day after it left out Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the whip to vote against the UPA Government during the trust vote on July 22.
The exclusion of Chatterjee is significant as the CPI(M) has so far maintained that he should toe the party line to vote against the government.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and senior leaders Sitaram Yechury, V S Achutanandan, Buddhadev Bhattacharya and Manik Sarkar were among the leaders who reviewed the political situation and discussed the course of action to be pursued in the coming days.
Ahead of the central committee meeting, members of the powerful politburo met for about one-and-half hours.
With signs of the trust vote becoming a close call, leaders of Left parties, BSP and UNPA are meeting tomorrow to discuss the possible scenario if the government falls, including a change of guard with BSP supremo Mayawati as the Prime Minister.
After a meeting CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu said that the leaders would discuss "all possibilities" including a BSP-led third front government with Left support. When asked as interim measure whether he would accept Mayawati as the Prime Minister, Naidu said "why should we be against it. We are not averse to it. But we have to discuss all these issues."
meanwhile, Political activity reached its crescendo Saturday with the Congress-led ruling coalition and opposition parties desperately tying up support and using every ploy to crack the numbers game in an outcome that was still too close to call.
In a major blow to the Samajwadi Party and in turn the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government ahead of the trust vote Tuesday, Shahid Siddiqui, a Rajya Sabha MP, shocked everyone by suddenly announcing that he was joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intensified its attempts to defeat the Congress-led government and held a dinner for its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners Saturday to ensure that its flock is intact.
On the other hand, With suspense mounting everyday in the run-up to the trust vote in parliament that will determine whether Manmohan Singh's government stays, Congress president Sonia Gandhi met all her party MPs individually asking them to put up a united face to ensure the government's victory in the trial of strength.Gandhi began meeting Congress MPs state-wise at her 10, Janpath residence as her chief troubleshooters were busy meeting smaller political formations to secure the magic figure of 272 required for the survival of the party-led coalition.
During the day, the TDP leader met CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan and Mayawati to mobilise support against the UPA government.
"We are working on a joint strategy to oppose the nuclear deal," Naidu said after meeting Mayawati.
Accusing BSP supremo Mayawati of devising a gameplan to become the Prime Minister, the Indian Justice Party on Saturday asked all Dalit MPs to vote for the UPA government during the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha to thwart her designs.
"I appeal to all 119 Dalit MPs to see through Mayawati's gameplan and vote for the UPA government during the trust vote," IJP president Udit Raj told media persons in Lucknow.
He alleged the BSP leader, taking advantage of the nuke issue, wanted to catapult herself on to the centre stage to realise her dream of the becoming the Prime Minister.
Raj asked the Dalit MPs to scuttle her gameplan by supporting the UPA government on the nuke issue on the floor of the House.
The IJP leader, a staunch critic of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, said Mayawati was not worthy of the post of the Prime Minister.
He alleged she had been selling the state since she came to power and charged her with amassing wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income.
"If she becomes the Prime Minister, she will sell the entire country," Raj said.
Citing various decisions of the Mayawati government, Raj alleged that she was working against the interest of Dalits in the state.
Given a chance at the national level, she would do the same and would not allow the Dalit leadership to emerge, he said.
Raj alleged the Mayawati government was harassing its political opponents, especially Dalit leaders like him.
Bookies bet on Manmohan Singh government to win
19 Jul, 2008, 1952 hrs IST, IANS
NEW DELHI: With less than 72 hours to go before the Indian parliament votes on a trust motion, bookies in the country - who have seen Rs.10 billion ($250 million) worth of bets flow in so far - see the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sailing through.
As hectic parleys continued by the opposition and ruling coalition partners to defeat or win support for the trust motion, the Indian bookies, notorious for fixing cricket matches, are offering odds of 38 paise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government to win - and Rs.2.90 if it loses.
This means, if a punter places a Re.1 bet on UPA winning and that happens, he or she stands to make only Re.1.38. But if someone bet on the UPA losing and that happens, the punter would earn as much as Rs.3.90 on the original Re.1 bet.
"We see a lot of cross voting and abstentions. This is what makes us confident that the government will win the trust motion," said one bookie based in the national capital, who did not wish to be identified since betting is illegal in the country.
Voting on the trust motion is scheduled in Lok Sabha Tuesday after Left parties withdrew support to the UPA government over the ruling coalition's decision to go ahead with the process of finalising the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
According to various estimates, punters had placed bets worth Rs.10 billion ($250 million) by Saturday evening. Bookies believe that by Tuesday morning, this figure would cross the Rs.30-billion ($750 million) mark.
According to a Mumbai-based bookie, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party has 17 members in the Lok Sabha, may leave no stone unturned to defeat the confidence motion.
"But we feel that the support of Samajwadi Party (which has 39 MPs), and some cross voting and abstentions will ensure a victory for the government - even if it is with a small margin," he said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Bookies_bet_on_Manmohan_Singh_government_to_win/articleshow/3253933.cms
ND TV reports
India made its efforts on Friday to garner support for its case from IAEA Board of Governors and NSG countries, which are not part of the Board, on the safeguards agreement and other aspects of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
A 50 minute long closed-door affair in a Viennese hotel was what it took for Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and his team of Indian diplomats to convince IAEA board members of the merits of the safeguards agreement.
In a lobbying exercise to build up a global consensus towards the crucial approval of the India specific safeguards agreement, it was a private briefing for the 35-member IAEA board.
In all, 90 diplomats headed up to listen to India's defence, one western diplomat told NDTV that the group had many questions but that India answered them all.
At the lobbying excise that India undertook with the 60 member countries of the IAEA, the things seem to have gone in India's favour.
One diplomat said no one opposed the India Safeguard agreement but we have to wait, watch and see what happens on August 1 in IAEA, the nuclear watch dog of the world. It is yet to be seen whether they approve the safeguards agreement or not.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080057742&ch=7/19/2008%208:21:00%20AM
ZEE NEWS reports:
N-deal: India impresses IAEA, NSG
Zeenews Bureau
Vienna, July 19: Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon appears to have succeeded in convincing the IAEA Board of Governors regarding the India specific safeguards agreement. And, that’s evident from the response - none of the members opposed it.
The development came after Menon along with Dr R B Grover, Director (Strategic Planning) addressed the 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday in Vienna. Menon also briefed 19 of the 45 nations who are part of the Nucler Suppliers Group (NSG).
The success achieved by the foreign secretary is significant as India has not yet signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) yet has had a good track record when it comes to nonproliferation. This factor appears to have worked in India’s favour during the meeting.
However, it would be premature to assume that India has finally won the high stake game as the IAEA Board will only decide on August 1 via a vote.
India is seeking the approval from IAEA Board to clear the way of implementing Indo-US nuclear deal. IAEA Board consisting of 35 members out of which 26 are also part of the NSG.
Menon had also met IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei and discussed issues related to the safeguard agreement. India's envoy to IAEA Saurabh Kumar and Joint Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy Gitesh Sarma were also accompanying Menon.
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=456499&sid=nat
Teesri Kasam and my Heeramon Psyche!
I am reaching New Delhi on twenty Fifth by Rajdhani express for a personal visit. I told my journalist friends that I have to be present in the Ashoka Hall on 25th evening while Mayawati would be sworn in. I have to take over as the next Information and Broadcasting Minister as I am a bonafied campaigner of Dalit Liberation and have the links with the left parties and the third front with my Ideological background.
I may boast of the real legacy of Casteology as well as Ideology!
They enquired about my agenda. I answered that the first thing I will do, is that I would re institute all the English daily editors as editors in Hindi and language dailies with the language pay scale and dismiss all the Vernacular editorial mob without Spinal Chord, the media managers and public relation officers. At the same time I would regulate the Cocktail parties and gift ceremonies. I would ensure free supply of Color TV and PCs to every house hold to solve the Food crisis! More over, I would ensure the sanctity of all Swiss Bank accounts. i have to do everything to make the Rath of Blue Revolution on fast track!
My fraiends know me well and they never laugh!
I face a very common question often from my scribe friends,` why don`t you join the Active Politics?’ As my Leftist friends always complains, ` Why I do I write so many thing against communists without any break so mercilessly? ‘ Some friends are really annoyed of the continuous bombing!
I would rather answer, ` Field me anywhere against any Prime minister or at least any chief Minister,I would be right into the Politics and media would have to focus me!’
In fact, if I have to visit Nainital for an emergency anytime around parliamentary elections or Assembly elections, I have to be seized by my political friends to contest for their respective parties as Bengalies have more than three and half lac votes in Nainital Parliamentary constituency and Bengali refugees are majority in at least three assembly seats. Even my leftists friends in New Delhi tried to convince to fight it out for the Left. At that time I had been in close contact with top level communist leadership.
But it is a lifesaving coincidence that they never looked beyond Alliance politics in North India. When they chose to fight Assembly elections in UP and Uttarakhand, the citizenship act was passed already and I delinked with the communists already.
During last elections, BSP leaders in the Terai of Nainital tried their best to convince me for contesting Nainital Loksabha seat.
Some BJP leaders, amusingly tried to convince me.
My friends Kashi singh Airy and Late Bipin Tripathi always tried to rope me in active politics.
While I passed M.A. from DSB, Nainital in 1079, ND Tiwari, then Finance Minister of India convinced my father that I should join him as his P.A. and try my luck inactive politics. ideology never mattered to all these well wishers.
Since Bengalies as a community is a solid vote bank and now, habitual to vote en block like the Muslims, I might be a formidable candidate for any political party. At the same time I may get a good percentage of votes from other communities including Sikhs and the hill people as well. If party vote bank as such as that of BSP or BJP included, I may romp home very easily. These equations always have to be presented every time with graphic details physically or on phone. I am not spared at home in Sodepur in election times in Nainital. Outright rejected they would then plead for support for their Party candidate irrespective of my stance. it happens in Municipal elections also.
My family has seen enough politics and no one in the family is ever interested in politics! It is a bonus.
Then I had a real lifetime taste of Indian Power politics in 1977 just as a Teen Age while I had to deal with heavyweights like Tiwari and Pant, Rajmangal Pandey, Indira Hridyesh,Pratap Bhaiya, MS Bisht and a lot of them.
I was then associated with anti Emergency campaign and emerged as the most challenging student leader in the Mid term Loksabha elections in 1977, in Nainital.
Iwas one of the electioneering manager. I was focus on and had been very popular as My father was the prominent most refugee leader who led the Election campaign for Indira Gandhi. He disowned me in disgust.
I was the main campaigner for Mrs Indira Hridyesh in Haldwani and was fortunate to address meetings with Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. Sardar Bhagat Singh, one time district congress President and the greatest rival of my father in terai Politics since beginning crossed fences. Ramjee Roy, the freedom fighter and my father`s best friend also was in opposition and everyone worked with my strategies! Bharat bhushan defeated KC Pant in Loksabha and he had been very close to me.
Thanks god! I was just a teenager and was not entitled to vote!
I could not contest any election. Thus, it was easier for me to see the Top Level as well as Grass Root level party politics. i had been a constant visitor to different ministries and ministerial residences including the Finance Minister of India. I had an opportunity to watch the political game minutely.
I was so detached.
A creative write with journalistic instinct always worked within me and dictated me to refrain from active Politics. I saw all types of manipulations, corruptions, equations, turnarounds, abatement, hijacking and scandals!
`Teesri kasam’ is a Bollywood film which I never whenever screened. i always tend to identify myself as Hiraman gadiwaan. I have felt the stings of Calf Love. encountered most beautiful girls and ladies. I had soft corners for many of them. I enjoyed a delicate recipe of favour from some of them. But, the Hiramon Personality saved me always. Maare gaye Gulfam .. had been always the theme song and all such budding love affairs would end abruptly as Heeramon Bai disappeared from the life of life of the Gareewaan!
Active Politics just ended for me. It evaporated like calf love! It ended like teenage hallucination!
I am lucky, Teesri kasam worked in my life so well!
Major setback for SP; Shahid Siddiqui resigns, others may follow
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi, July 19: Even as the Congress appears confident of winning the trust vote, the Samajwadi Party is grappling with the growing dissidence within its ranks. The biggest setback for SP came on Saturday with its general secretary Shahid Siddiqui defecting to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Although, his defection won’t affect the UPA during the trust vote, as he is a Rajya Sabha member, his exit may only open the floodgates of the party. Hinting at a major defection possibility, Siddiqui said that he had the support of several other SP MPs.
Explaining the reasons behind his move Siddiqui said, “Our (Muslim) votes are being used, without us getting anything in return.” His moving to the BSP indeed can be termed as a major blow to the SP and its vote bank in western UP. "For the last one month, I have been feeling uneasy over the nuclear deal. I am of the opinion that it is not in national interest. I have been opposing it for the last three years," he said.
Siddiqui, also a journalist, said that he was taking this position heeding to the call of his conscience and would oppose the deal to the hilt.
"I am the one who had held Bush's hand and told him that India will not accept the deal."
Political analyst believe that the Mayawati, who drove into the capital at 1 am today morning, is keen to split the SP and erode the support base of the UPA in order to bring the government down.
She is especially keen on Muslim leaders, as part of her larger ambition to shore up the Dalit-Brahmin-Muslim votes, before she starts to stake claim for the Prime Minister’s chair – after the next elections. The Left and TDP have already come out in the open to stoke her ambition.
A visibly happy Mayawati said, “My stand is in favour of Sarva Samaj(all communities), especially Dalits and the minorities.”
“There is no deal with Shahid, I welcome him to BSP,” said a beaming Mayawati.
But the SP’s woes don’t end there as apart from Shahid, four more MPs have come out openly against the party, swearing to vote against the UPA.
The other rebels (their number is growing) are S P Singh Baghel, Lal Ahmed, Atiq Ahmed and Afzal Ansari. Reports also suggest that two more MPs are on the verge of rebelling against the party.
But, Mulayam Singh seemed unfazed and said, “Those who want to leave can do so. We are confident of winning majority.” He added that not just his flock, there were some other MPs who have come out in their support.
An emergency meet has been convened at party general secretary Amar Singh’s house to discuss the case of rebel MP’s ahead of the crucial floor test. SP with its 39 MPs has professed support to the nuke deal and the government. But, the emerging scenario may spoil its plans.
odern Times Politics is so familiar with me and I dare to smell every rot within with basi Instinct!
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=456540&sid=NAT
Marxist Anil Sarkar for Mayawati`s Castology
Palash Biswas
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
http://mepalash.blogspot.com/2007/05/marxist-anil-sarkar-for-mayawatis.html
Anil Sarkar, the Bengali reputed poet and Education Minister of Left Ruled Tripura has welcomed UP Assembelly Elections Results writing Poetry on Dalit daughter Mayawati. This is an old news item. But to day , he outlined the social eingineering of the Dalit cow Belt leader as the only way to change the Brahminical dominated social system in Bengal. He emphasized to follow Ambedkar.
On Tuesday, I witnessed the Dalit CPIM leader interacting different groups in Tripura Bhavan, Pretoria Street Kolkata. I talked to the leader exclusively and sought several clarification as a CPIM leader who outlined Dalit Strategy for the party. It was a family get together for us as my cusin brother, the poet Nitai Pada Sarkar and nephew Niranjan accompanied me. He is not well and hence, he could not visit, Keutia Sarkar Nursery, my brothers farm house and business centre of my nephew. So he called us in tripra Bhavan. Niranjan picked me from my home.
Quoting Party leadership he said that Mayawati has stopped Fascist Sangh Parivar to capture Uttar Pradesh and the young lady has to play a positive role in Indian politics.
He, however, avoided to comment on the most controversial issues like Singur and Nadigram, Chemical hub, Atomic Power plant, retail marketing, Industrialisation and indiscriminate land acquisition.
Rather the leftist Dalit leader is much more interested to launch a national Dalit Movement and without any hesitation he supported the casteology of Mayawati inspite of Party Ideology. At the same time, he was quite aggressive against the IN Law psyche of the Dalit intellectuals and leaders in Bengal. He told that any change is not possible in Bengal Scenerio unless the dalits asserts themselves in accordance with Ambedkar Ideology and casteology of Mayawati.
I think, this message is much more powerful than any of his poems on Mayawati which are beautifully translated in Hindi by Leeladhar Mandoloi, again a reputed poet and Krishna Kalpit.
He wrote;
The Himalayas in the North
Oceon lies in the South
Descends the storm from the North
Spreading snowy cool wind
And the wind stings
Disobedient and Unhumble
Hits the white colour skin
Very distressing
Descends the storm
Twenty first century belongs to Dalits
Twenty first century belongs to Exploited
Twenty first century belongs to Baba sahib
And to his obedient followers
Twenty first century belongs to the New Light.
Those who bear so much sorrow
Insult
Kicks
And persecution
Those who have been torn apart
On the Temple doors
Drinking wells
Those who have been driven away
Twenty first century belongs to them.
Hence, one Dalit woman
A non Aryan Girl
Becomes the general of aryavart
Immediately
The sky is lit
Wind becomes storm
An earthquake begins.
Because a Prohibited Girl
Alone and alone
Becomes so big!
As if a great river!!
Posted by Palash Biswas at 10:02 AM
Ideology as an instrument of social reproduction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology#Ideology_as_an_instrument_of_social_reproduction
Karl Marx proposed that a society's dominant ideology was a part of its superstructure.Karl Marx proposed an economic base/superstructure model of society. The base refers to the means of production of society. The superstructure is formed on top of the base, and comprises that society's ideology, as well as its legal system, political system, and religions. For Marx, the base determines the superstructure. Because the ruling class controls the society's means of production, the superstructure of society, including its ideology, will be determined according to what is in the ruling class's best interests. Therefore the ideology of a society is of enormous importance since it confuses the alienated groups and can create 'false consciousness' such as the fetishism of commodities. Critics of the Marxist approach feel that it attributes too much importance to economic factors in influencing society.
The ideologies of the dominant class of a society (dominant ideology) are proposed to all members of that society in order to make the ruling class' interests appear to be the interests of all. György Lukács describes this as a projection of the class consciousness of the ruling class, while Antonio Gramsci advances the theory of cultural hegemony to explain why people in the working-class can have a false conception of their own interests.
The dominant forms of ideology in capitalism are (in chronological order):
classical liberalism
social democracy
neo-liberalism
and they correspond to the stages of development of capitalism:
extensive stage
intensive stage
contemporary capitalism (or late capitalism, or current crisis)
The Marxist view of ideology as an instrument of social reproduction has been an important touchstone for the sociology of knowledge and theorists such as Karl Mannheim, Daniel Bell, and Jürgen Habermas, amongst many others. However, Mannheim attempted to move beyond what he saw as the 'total' but 'special' Marxist conception of ideology to a 'general' and 'total' conception which acknowledged that all ideologies resulted from social life (including Marxism). Pierre Bourdieu extensively developed this idea.
Ideology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things (compare Weltanschauung), as in common sense (see Ideology in everyday society below) and several philosophical tendencies (see Political ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society. The main purpose behind an ideology is to offer change in society through a normative thought process. Ideologies are systems of abstract thought (as opposed to mere ideation) applied to public matters and thus make this concept central to politics. Implicitly every political tendency entails an ideology whether or not it is propounded as an explicit system of thought.
Ideology in Cognitive Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, Post-Modernism and Critical Theory
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(June 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
In public discussions, certain ideas arise more commonly than others. Often people with diverse backgrounds and interests may find themselves thinking alike in startling ways. Social scientists might explain this phenomenon as evidence of ideologies.
Dominant ideologies appear as "neutral", holding to assumptions that are largely unchallenged. Meanwhile, all other ideologies that differ from the dominant ideology are seen as radical, no matter what the content of their actual vision may be. The philosopher Michel Foucault wrote about the concept of apparent ideological neutrality. Ideology is not the same thing as philosophy. Philosophy is a way of living life, while ideology is an almost ideal way of life for society. Some attribute to ideology positive characteristics like vigor and fervor, or negative features like excessive certitude and fundamentalist rigor.
Organizations that strive for power will try to influence the ideology of a society to become closer to what they want it to be. Political organizations (governments included) and other groups (e.g. lobbyists) try to influence people by broadcasting their opinions.
When most people in a society think alike about certain matters, or even forget that there are alternatives to the status quo, we arrive at the concept of Hegemony, about which the philosopher Antonio Gramsci wrote. Such a state of affairs has been dramatized many times in literature: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman have argued that social ideological homogeneity can be achieved by restricting the conceptual metaphors transmitted by mass communication.
[edit] History of the concept of ideology
The term was born in the highly controversial philosophical and political debates and fights of the French Revolution and acquired several other meanings from the early days of the First French Empire to nowadays. The word ideology was coined by Destutt de Tracy in 1796[1][2] assembling the parts idea (near to the Lockean sense) and -logy. He used it to refer to one aspect of his "science of ideas". (To the study itself, not the subject of the study.) He separated three aspects, namely: ideology, general grammar and logic, considering respectively the subject, the means and the reason of this science.[3] He argues that among these aspects ideology is the most generic term, because the science of ideas also contains the study of their expression and deduction.
According to Karl Mannheim's historical reconstruction of the meaning-shifts of ideology, the modern meaning of the word ideology was born when Napoleon Bonaparte (as a politican) used it in an abusive way against "the ideologues" (a group which included[citation needed] Cabanis, Condorcet, Constant, Daunou, Say, Madame de Staël and Tracy), to express the pettiness of his (liberal republican) political opponents.
Perhaps the most accessible source for the near-original meaning of ideology is Hippolyte Taine's work on the Ancien Regime (first volume of "Origins of Contemporary France"). He describes ideology as rather like teaching philosophy by the Socratic method, but without extending the vocabulary beyond what the general reader already possessed, and without the examples from observation that practical science would require. Taine identifies it not just with Destutt de Tracy, but also with his milieu, and includes Condillac as one of its precursors. (Tracy read the works of Locke and Condillac while he was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror.)
The word "ideology" was coined long before the Russians coined "intelligentsia", or before the adjective "intellectual" referred to a sort of person (see substantive), i.e. an intellectual. Thus these words were not around when the hard-headed, driven Napoleon Bonaparte took the word "ideologues" to ridicule his intellectual opponents. Gradually, however, the term "ideology" has dropped some of its pejorative sting, and has become a neutral term in the analysis of differing political opinions.[citation needed] Ideological references are important to many people throughout the world. Karl Marx used the term in his own context often throughout his works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology
Brahminical Left is Vertically Divided on Nuclear Renaissance,Stand Off Continuestitle~2851167 »Casteology Nationwide
by palashbiswas @ 2007-08-20 - 20:09:37
Mayawati Shatters SEZ Dreams!
Elephant Set to launch Casteology Nationwide
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
"prakash ray" writes:
WILL YOU SHUT UP>>> YOU FASCIST>>>>
On 8/19/07, palashc biswas wrote:
Buddha, Pranab Broker Indo US Nuclear Deal
CPIM Diversion Gimmick continues, Focus shifts in New
delhi from Kolkata
Pl Read:
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/august_a2007/articles.htm
Mayawati Shatters SEZ Dreams while THE UP government on Saturday amended the Special Economic Zone policy framed by the previous government. According to the new document, land owned by the farmers will not be acquired forcibly to set up SEZ. Meanwhile, Mayawati tries her best to escalate
her experiment of Casteology and social eingineering in UP countrywide. Now, Maya's man talks social engineering in Rajasthan.Mayawati's elephant seems all set to do an Uttar Pradesh in this desert state too. In an attempt to draw a bridge between the upper and lower castes, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday announced the formation of Brahmin-Dalit Bhaichara Committees in all 200 Assembly constituencies of the state.
After three straight sessions of losses, the Sensex today zoomed up by 286.03 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to settle in the green at 14427.55, following a rebound at Wall Street.While, in the backdrop of Nandigram SEZ issue, the government on Monday made it clear that farm land cannot be acquired without the consent of the owner but said dependence on agriculture sector for employment needs to be reduced.India's communists stepped up their opposition to a controversial nuclear deal with the United States on Monday, with one senior leader threatening to cut off vital support to the government if it pursued the pact. The four main left parties, who have 60 MPs in the Lok Sabha have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition not to pursue talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clinch the deal.
It is rather a worrying factor that Dalits have not achieved development even six decades after Independence and things need to be changed, said Usha Mehra, chairperson of Commission on Categorisation of Scheduled Castes in Andhra Pradesh.Usha Mehra along with members of the commission visited some SC colonies in Tirupati and surrounding areas on Sunday.Interacting with people of Gandhi Nagar, she urged them to keep their surroundings clean to prevent the outbreak of diseases.
Later, the commission members visited Chaitanyapuram Dalit Colony and received representations from people on categorisation of Scheduled Castes.
Usha Mehra said the commission would submit a report to Parliament after eliciting views of Dalits in the State on categorisation of SCs. She also visited Gandhipuram and Arundhati Colony in Tirupati rural mandal. MRPS leaders Raju Madiga, Gopi Madiga and Erraiah Madiga who met the commission, stressed the need for categorisation of SCs to provide social justice to all the castes.Mahajana Charmakarula Sangham president Muniratnam, Budaga Jangama Hakkula Porata Samithi leaders Kullayappa and Marranna and some research scholars from Tirupati also met the commission seeking categorisation of SCs.
Responding to a question by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee on the Nandigram issue in the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the effort is to discourage acquiring of fertile land.
No farm land can be acquired till there is consent of the owner, he said during Question Hour. Pawar said the government wanted the agricultural production to increase but at the same time, dependence of people for livelihood on the sector needs to be reduced.
Noting that a big majority of country's population depends on agriculture for livelihood, Pawar said 82 per cent of them possess less than 2.5 acres of land.
Most of them depend on rainfall, making their livelihood difficult, he said adding in view of this, it is better that they opt for alternative sources of employment.
Citing examples of developed countries like the UK and Germany, he said they also had heavy dependence on agriculture earlier, but now not more than four per cent of their population is into farming.
They diverted to other sectors and their problems were solved, Pawar said, adding the same example should apply to India if the situation is to change.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Shailesh Krishna said the state government has accepted the SEZ policy of the Central Government.The new SEZ policy approved by the state cabinet may affect the big industrial houses that were beneficiaries in the previous government, including the multi project one being set up by the Anil Ambani Group at Noida. Asked about the fate of projects approved by the previous government, Krishna replied that old proposals would be reviewed in the context of the new policy.
The Lok Sangharsh Morcha on Sunday gave a call to tribals and other downtrodden in Gujarat and other parts of the country to look for a solution to their problems “outside the framework of law.” They should remain prepared to fight long arduous battles to get justice from the “lawless governments.”
The Morcha, which organised a convention of the tribals and other downtrodden on the “People’s Rights and the Issues of Democracy in Gujarat” here adopted resolutions, including one condemning the alleged atrocities on the tribals by the Narendra Modi Government and his “false propaganda” on allotment of forest land to the tribals.
It called for the immediate scrapping of all Special Economic Zones and condemned the police firings in Khammam (A.P.), Nandigram ( West Bengal), Orissa and other States.
Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan and veteran Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande were present. Briefly dealing with the alleged police atrocities on the tribals agitating for their rights on the forest lands in various states, Collin Gonsalves, a senior Supreme Court advocate, said that from his long experience in practising law he had realised that there was “no law, no court, no government” for the poor and downtrodden. Pointing out that he was contesting several cases in the Supreme Court on the tribals’ rights on the forestland, he said it was hardly leading to anywhere.
“If you want to get your problems solved and re-establish your rights on the land you till, you must seek a solution outside the framework of law. He advised the tribals to join hands with the Dalits and Muslims to fight for the downtrodden.
Mr. Bardhan, addressing the gathering, said he supported the contentions of Mr. Gonsalves and regretted that the subsequent governments in the post-independent era had belied the hopes and expectations of the poor and the downtrodden of a better deal by their own government.
He said that even 60 years after Independence, nearly 80 per cent of the population in the country, largely constituted by the tribals, Dalits and Muslims, had to still survive on a paltry income of Rs.20 per family per day.
The government had no land to give to the tribals for tilling, but could give thousands of acres of land to the industrialists to set up the Special Economic Zones. Criticising the government’s SEZ policy, he said he was not opposed to industrialisation, but questioned the need for giving such large chunks of land to the foreign and domestic investors to set up SEZs which could solve the problems of thousands of families of poor tribals and marginal farmers.
Castigating the government for “its failure” to frame a proper land policy, Mr. Bardhan said the tribals were being driven out from the forests and the Dalits and other downtrodden from the land earmarked for the SEZs.
Displaced when they settle down in the slums in the urban areas, their houses were being “bulldozed.” The compensation paid to the poor in lieu of their land given for SEZs, was too inadequate, he felt.
Assuring that he and his party would be with the tribals and other downtrodden in their fight for justice and rights, Mr. Bardhan, however, advised them to wage a war under some political banner.
Durgapur SEZ plan for infotech
The Durgapur development authority has cleared a proposal by construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji & Co to set up an infotech special economic zone (SEZ).
The SEZ will come up on 25 acres allotted by the Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (Adda), whose board okayed the proposal yesterday.
Bansagopal Chowdhury, the Adda chairman, said the SEZ would be set up near the Software Technology Park in Durgapur’s Bidhannagar and will house a number of infotech companies.
“Shapoorji Pallonji will develop infrastructure for the Rs 100-crore project on 25 acres in Durgapur’s Bidhannagar area. The company will have to follow the land utilisation pattern fixed by Adda,” Chowdhury told a media conference. He said 5 per cent of the turnover of the project would go to the authority.
The project needs clearance from the approval board under the Union commerce ministry. If land acquisition is completed, approvals come through faster.The project, expected to be up and running by 2012, would generate around 4,000 jobs, Chowdhury said, adding that infotech SEZs have never been targeted by the Opposition.
The Samajwadi Party government had given approval to the Anil Ambani Group and six other private companies to set up SEZs in the Noida region.The cabinet has also decided to do away with first-come-first served policy. Proposals to set up SEZs will now be invited through open tenders. "This will ensure transparency in the selection of companies", Krishna said.
Krishna said under the new policy, SEZs will be developed through private-public partnership. Concessions to non-processing units will be withdrawn while processing units will continue to get the usual concessions.
Even as Anil Ambani's proposal for a special economic zone in Noida was turned down by the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday, Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai SEZ (formerly called the Maha Mumbai SEZ) has also run into problems.
In an affidavit filed before the Bombay high court on Friday, the Maharashtra government's industrial and urban infrastructure development arm, CIDCO, has opposed the state government's decision to notify 4,000 hectares of land from Khopta and 21 nearby villages for acquisition for the Mumbai SEZ in Raigad district.
The Mumbai SEZ is one of two being promoted by Reliance Industries [Get Quote] in the district, the other being the 4,000-hectare Navi Mumbai SEZ.
An affidavit to this effect was filed by the CIDCO managing director in the Bombay high court, which is hearing a public interest litigation on the acquisition of land for the Reliance SEZ. The PIL was filed by Peasant and Workers Party leader Datta Patil and others. The petitioners had made CIDCO a respondent in the PIL.
The affidavit states that the decision to notify the land from these villages was taken without consulting CIDCO, which is a planning body for the area. CIDCO had prepared plans to develop a township in this area, which was approved by the government, the statement said.
Besides the township, the affidavit states that the land in these villages will be required to develop a container freight station, container depots - since these villages are near Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust - and other allied activities.
The division Bench hearing the PIL, comprising high court Chief Justice Swatantra Kumar and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud, has adjourned the hearing for four weeks and directed Reliance Industries to file an affidavit.
Farmers in Dadar village of Raigad district whose land has been notified for acquisition for the Reliance Industries-promoted Mumbai special economic zone have formed a company to develop a multi-product SEZ on 2,500 acres, the minimum land required under current SEZ rules.
A company called Kalbhairav Agro & Development Company has been floated for the purpose and 450 of the 1,000 farmers in the village have become shareholders. This marks the first time farmers have proposed an SEZ.
Farmers have been allotted one share for every 1,000 square feet of land they own. Thus, a farmer owning 1 acre gets 40 shares.
The company is chaired by A B Patil, a commerce graduate who owns six acres and two jeeps. He said he was confident of others joining once they saw some action on the ground.
According to Patil, all registration formalities for the company are complete and the proposal has been sent to the registrar of companies. The formal proposal to set up the SEZ will be sent to the Centre and the Maharashtra government once the registration is received.
"The government's attitude to this experiment will reveal if it is really interested in farmers' welfare," he said.
The state government has notified nearly 10,000 hectares in 45 villages in the district for acquisition for the Mumbai SEZ, a move strongly resisted by farmers.
Kalbhairav Agro has not yet drawn up firm fund-raising plans, however. Patil said the company was talking to the promoters of Magarpatta City on the outskirts of Pune for ideas. Farmers there joined hands and successfully developed a township and an infotech park.
"We will learn from their experiences of becoming crorepatis," he said. Kalbhairva also intends to talk to financial institutions for assistance and is even planning an initial public offer.
Patil admitted the task of setting up the SEZ was difficult because the farmers would have to face the might of Reliance Industries [Get Quote] and the state government. But he said the company would go ahead because the "fruits of development should be enjoyed by farmers themselves and not a few outsiders".
Reliance Industries, he said, was offering farmers Rs 10 lakh an acre. But farmers can easily sell the land to other companies for no less than Rs 1 crore an acre.
POSCO unit should open by end of 2011: Govt
Zee News - 1 hour ago
New Delhi, Aug 20: South Korean steelmaker POSCO is making progress on its troubled plans for a plant in eastern India and the unit should begin production by the end of 2011, India's steel secretary said on Monday.
Posco plant to begin operations by 2011-end Business Standard
Posco likely to start production at Indian steel plant by late 2011 MarketWatch
Activists protest POSCO project in Orissa
NDTV Correspondent
Monday, August 20, 2007 (Cuttack)
Using religion to express dissent, activists opposed to the Rs 52,000 crore POSCO steel project in Orissa marched from Cuttack to the Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar.The march was organised to pray to Lord Shiva for the withdrawal of the Korean steel company's project.
Earlier, the POSCO India had announced it's plan to start construction work for its 12 million tonne steel plant in October this year.
Udyam - a youth body - organised the Bol Bom March on Sunday to protest against the impending displacement of 20,000 people.
They also protested the right accorded to POSCO to draw 15 to 18 crore litre of water per day from the river Mahanadi, which they said would endanger the livelihood of lakhs of farmers.
“the Undercover Economist” & Underwear Technologies
A new book “the undercover economist” unravels the mystery why rich are rich and coincidently I had explained over the years in much simpler way India is basically exporting raw materials or products that are low tech and have low value additions. I actually coined a term “Underwear Technology”- India promoted underwear technologies providing incentives worth $50b annually.
I have attached it after the message again.
India can be rich only when it firstly promote inventors and engineers who could found tech companies than displace commission agents, secondly promote development of globally competitive products with patent protection and serve the world market, thirdly minimize differential cost between producers and consumers and fourthly promote high technology industries and freeze investment on low technology products.
India's Lower Castes Seek Social Progress In Global Job Market
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 20, 2007; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901724.html?hpid=moreheadlines
PUNE, India -- As a Dalit, Pratibha Valmik Kamble is part of the poorest and most ostracized community in this subcontinent's ancient caste system, a group of people so shunned that they are still known as untouchables. Her mother is a maid, her father a day laborer.
Yet here in this prospering city, Kamble, 24, was recently applying to an Indian firm called Temp Solutions to go to Philadelphia for a well-paid social service job there. During the interview, she twisted her hands nervously in her lap, knowing that if she landed the position, she would not only make more money than both of her parents combined, she would enhance their social status, and her own.
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Michael Thevar, who recruits lower-caste workers for temporary jobs, speaks to Pratibha Valmik Kamble, right, and Vivek Kumar Katara in Pune, India. (By Emily Wax -- The Washington Post)
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India has long had an affirmative action program for federal government jobs, setting aside 23 percent of positions for the most oppressed castes. Now activists are campaigning to open the private sector to them as well, whether the employer is Indian or multinational. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently said he favors that goal.
So does Temp Solutions co-owner Michael Thevar, himself a member of a low-ranking caste. He gave Kamble the job. "I'm so proud of you," he told her after delivering the good news. "I know so well how much you struggled. That's why I am that much more impressed."
Kamble's eyes went wet as she straightened her mustard-colored outfit and smiled, appearing to be almost embarrassed by his praise.
Recruiting drives aimed at hiring members of India's unprivileged castes, who make up 70 percent of the population, remain rare in the subcontinent's booming service sector. But as India hurtles into world markets, such hiring has touched off a larger debate over the country's 3,000-year-old caste system.
In much of India, the system organizes people into a rigid social order by accident of birth, determining everything from professions to marriage partners.
While the caste system is outlawed by the constitution, low-caste Indians still experience severe discrimination. Dalits are regarded as so low that they are not even part of the system. To this day, they are not allowed to enter many Hindu temples or to drink water from sources used by higher castes.
So far only two major companies -- Bharti Enterprises and Infosys -- have announced they would set aside jobs for Dalits and other oppressed castes.
Ramesh Bajpai, executive director of the New Delhi-based American Chamber of Commerce in India, said the issue of affirmative action for oppressed castes has not been raised among his members -- an indication, some Indian workers contend, that many U.S. companies are not fully aware of the caste system and its complex legacy of discrimination.
India-based executives for IBM and Microsoft, which are among the top foreign employers in this country, declined to comment for this article.
"Things are changing in India and, I believe, changing for the good," said Bajpai. "As far as we know, our member companies try to hire across the spectrum of Indian society. But since the government has started talking about this issue, we in the industry will follow. It is a complex and interesting discussion."
Airtel to connect Haryana Tech Park
Signs MoU with Selecto Systems to provide data, fixed voice and mobile services to the Technology Park
Monday, August 20, 2007
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Selecto Systems for providing telecom network infrastructure and services for its IT SEZ-Haryana Technology Park (HTP) on the Delhi – Agra National Highway in Haryana.
Selecto Systems promotes the HTP and is technically assisted by Paharpur Business Centre and Software Technology Incubator Park.
The MoU assigned Airtel the "Preferred Telecom Service Provider" status and will be given preferential rights to establish and provide telecom infrastructure and services at the HTP.
Milan Rao, chief operating officer - North, Airtel Enterprise Services and Kamal Meattle, chief executive officer, Selecto Systems signed the MoU.
The HTP is being built on 1.65 million square feet area and will be ready for
occupation on January 1, 2010 and will service 30,000 users.
The Park will be equipped and serviced facility suited for international IT, KPO and BPO firms.
As a part of the MoU, Airtel will set up the telecom network infrastructure at the SEZ, ensuring all the SEZ clients have access to telecom services. Airtel will also establish a dedicated help center to address the telecom requirements of the SEZ clients.
Airtel will provide data, fixed voice and mobile services to the HTP. Companies at the SEZ will also be able to safeguard themselves against any unforeseen disasters by
having access to back up their critical business data and applications through the business resiliency and continuity services.
There are several exclusive features of rich countries;
1. People of rich countries are highly skilled.
2. Rich countries have very high productivity per employee.
3. Rich countries sell high value high technology products and buy low technology products; it is reverse for poor countries.
4. Rich countries have very efficient legal system and law is enforced vigorously.
5. There are ethical standards in every day life and every one is accountable to society.
6. Rich countries have low level of corruption.
All rich countries are efficiently governed.
Ravinder Singh August20, 2007
Progressindia2007@ yahoo.com
http://www.slate. com/id/2171898/
the undercover economist
Milton Friedman, Meet Richard Feynman
How physics can explain why some countries are rich and others are poor.
By Tim Harford
Posted Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007, at 7:07 AM ET
If economics can tell us something useful about crime, marriage, or carpooling—as I believe it can—then other academic disciplines should have something to tell us about economies. Last month, Science published an example that may turn out to be important. Two physicists, Cesar Hidalgo and Albert-László Barabási, and two economists, Bailey Klinger and Ricardo Hausmann, have been drawing unusual pictures of economic "space" that promise a deeper understanding of the biggest question in economics: why poor countries are poor.
There are many explanations, but some are easier to test than others. One very plausible account of why at least some poor countries are poor is that there is no smooth progression from where they are to where they would be when rich. For instance, to move from drilling oil to making silicon chips might require simultaneous investments in education, transport infrastructure, electricity, and many other things. The gap may be too far for private enterprise to bridge without some sort of coordinating effort from government—a "big push."
That is an old and intuitive idea in economics, but as an informal argument it leaves a lot to be desired. For a start, while plausible, it might not be true. If it is true, it might be far more so for some kinds of economy than for others. And if there is to be a big push, in which direction should it go?
Testing the idea took three steps. First, economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research broke down each country's exports into 775 distinct products. Next, Hausmann and Klinger used that data to measure how similar each product is to each other product. If every major apple exporter also exports pears, and every major pear exporter also exports apples, then the data are demonstrating apples and pears to be similar.
Presumably, both economies would have fertile soil, agronomists, refrigerated packing plants, and ports. For the third step, Hausmann and Klinger called upon Hidalgo and Barabási, who specialize in mapping and analyzing networks. The result was a map of the relationships between different products in an abstract economic space. (And look at more maps here. Apples and pears are close together; oil production is a long way away from anything else.
"The physicists' map shows each economy in this network of products, by highlighting the products each country exported. Over time, economies move across the product map as their export mix changes. Rich countries have larger, more diversified economies, and so produce lots of products—especially products close to the densely connected heart of the network. East Asian economies look very different, with a big cluster around textiles and another around electronics manufacturing, and—contrary to the hype—not much activity in the products produced by rich countries. African countries tend to produce a
few products with no great similarity to any others."
That could be a big problem. The network maps show that economies tend to develop through closely related products. A country such as Colombia makes products that are well connected on the network, and so there are plenty of opportunities for private firms to move in to, provided other parts of the business climate allow it. But many of South Africa's current exports—diamonds, for example—are not very similar to anything.
If the country is to develop new products, it will mean making a big leap. The data show that such leaps are unusual.
None of this is proof that other development prescriptions— provide financing, fight corruption, cut red tape, and lower trade barriers—are useless. Nor is it a green light for ham-fisted industrial policy. Klinger warns: "It's easy to take the policy implication too far and start trying to pick and choose where to settle in the product space." But it is a big step forward. Policy-makers should take note, and economists, too.
Tim Harford is a columnist for the Financial Times. His latest book is The Undercover Economist.
Aamdani Athanni Kharcha Rupia – Economic Profile Of India ©
On one front India has corporate indulging in grabbing farmers land at 20 years old rates with GOI connivance who have not developed a single technology in 2-5 generations (Ambanis, Tatas & othrs), on another there are political agents specializing in converting slum properties in to super malls, on yet another there are moneylenders who charge 120% interest from farmers and small businesses, on yet another front there is run way imports of all kind of products at practically no duty and exports are generally raw materials or low value added products. In the following you can see June imports are 52.25% higher which was 46% in April.
Non-oil imports during June, 2007 were estimated at US $ 13530.70 million which was 52.25 % higher than growth on non oil imports of US$ 8887.25 million in June, 2006. Non-oil imports during April-June, 2007 were valued at US$ 40078.64 million which was 50.36% higher than the level of such imports valued at US$ 26654.92 million in April-June, 2006.
http://commerce. nic.in/pressrele ase/pressrelease _detail.asp? id=2112
https://www. cia.gov/library/ publications/ the-world- factbook/ rankorder/ 2187rank. html
Now Earnest & Young has also come out with prediction of India overtaking Developed countries in GDP like Goldman Sachs. I asked GS top executives in India, Can you give me the items India shall export in 2050? They couldn’t say a word. In the second link all other “Tigers” have substantial trade surplus. China has $179b surplus, Russia $105b that is one seventh in population, Brazil $13.5b, South Korea $2b, India is the only emerging economy that had rapidly growing trade deficit that was $41b in 2006.
153rd Out Of 158 In Current Account Balance
You see that in the list India ranks at the bottom.
A common argument to counter trade deficit issue is India is getting NRI investments and remittances of Indian workers. But can they substitute for gross incompetence of Commission Agents kind of Indian corporate? Goods made in India could have created millions of jobs. By the way the commission agents corporate who claim most of India financial resources have neither created new jobs for 10-15 years nor any significant technology.
I as an inventor put Man Mohan Singh in absolute idiot class firstly for promoting commission agents in the country and then diverting all the hard earned NRI deposits and remittances at their disposal. As a matter of fact India
There was a popular song “Aamdani Athanni Kharcha Rupai”, Indian imports are growing at twice more rate than exports.
India is either exporting low value addition goods or simply raw materials like iron ore, food items and raw cotton and low technology products.
https://www. cia.gov/library/ publications/ the-world- factbook/ rankorder/ 2078rank. html
Indian Exports Under 1% Of The World.
Indian exports are less than 1% of the world at that too consists of mainly low value added products and raw material.
But the problem is Man Mohan Singh can’t think of any one other than Ambanis or Tatas. You can see Tatas operating in areas marked in red failed to produce goods India imported worth $70b and figure for Ambanis could be $20b in expanding the full list. RIL exports of petroleum products have little value additions.
Ravinder Singh August06, 2007
Inventor
Progressindia2007@ yahoo.com
http://commerce. nic.in/ftpa/ default.asp
Top 15 Commodities EXPORTS
Rank Commodity Apr-Mar 2006 Apr-Mar 2007
1 PETROLEUM (CRUDE & PRODUCTS) 11,639.65 18,551.91
2 GEMS & JEWELLARY 15,529.06 15,585.69
3 RMG COTTON INCL ACCESSORIES 6,553.69 6,752.39
4 MACHINERY AND INSTRUMENTS 5,077.54 6,504.71
5 DRUGS,PHRMCUTES & FINE CHEMLS 4,995.25 5,512.12
6 OTHER COMMODITIES 2,510.73 5,413.68
7 MANUFACTURES OF METALS 4,233.24 5,026.58
8 TRANSPORT EQUIPMENTS 4,322.97 4,905.92
9 PRMRY & SEMI-FNSHD IRON & STL 2,982.73 4,374.30
10 COTTON YARN,FABRICS, MADEUPSETC 3,944.78 4,136.55
11 IRON ORE 3,801.10 3,891.67
12 NON-FERROUS METALS 1,340.29 3,486.58
13 PLASTIC & LINOLEUM PRODUCTS 2,819.32 3,191.40
14 ELECTRONIC GOODS 2,173.06 2,732.17
15 DYES/INTMDTES & COAR TAR CHEML 1,649.39 2,253.59
Total 103,090.53 126,331.10
Exchange Rate: (1US$ = Rs. ) 44.2735 45.2495
Top 15 Commodities of Import
Rank Commodity Apr-Mar 2006 Apr-Mar 2007
1 PETROLEUM, CRUDE & PRODUCTS 43,963.09 57,074.45
2 ELECTRONIC GOODS 13,241.75 15,946.32
3 TRANSPORT EQUIPMENTS 8,838.47 15,413.57
4 GOLD 10,830.52 14,461.11
5 MACHRY EXCPT ELEC & ELECTRONIC 10,009.81 13,848.87
6 METALIFERS ORES & METAL SCRAP 3,881.80 8,333.77
7 PERLS PRCUS SEMIPRCS STONES 9,134.42 7,487.40
8 IRON & STEEL 4,385.74 6,043.47
9 ORGANIC CHEMICALS 4,739.30 5,435.86
10 COAL,COKE & BRIQUITTES ETC. 3,868.70 4,595.42
11 OTHER COMMODITIES 5,896.25 4,534.21
12 FERTILEZERS MANUFACTURED 1,673.26 2,673.43
13 NON-FERROUS METALS 1,844.37 2,605.95
14 ARTFCL RESNS,PLSTC MATRLS,ETC. 2,267.71 2,601.84
15 INORGANIC CHEMICALS 2,244.82 2,375.44
Total 149,165.73 190,565.97
Exchange Rate: (1US$ = Rs. ) 44.2735 45.2495
END NOTES
i Appeal on Nandigram Violence
The continuing violence in Nandigram, West Bengal resulting in needless death and injury to innocent
villagers, has become a cause of great concern to people all over India.
Whatever may have been the initial reasons for the start of the conflict it is clear from media reports and
eyewitness accounts that the situation now is spinning out of control, resulting in a fratricidal war between
different sections of the local population.
It is also evident that over the past several months of agitation and turmoil thousands of ordinary people- of
all political hues- are unable to make a livelihood, go about their daily work or even enjoy the basic right
to sleep without fear. Women in particular have been severely affected while many children are unable to
attend school normally.
Casteology Wins, Ideology Defeated!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
http://o3.indiatimes.com/palashbiswas/archive/2007/05/11/4231914.aspx
A political party committed to ending oppression of the downtrodden by upper castes has taken an absolute majority of state legislative seats in Uttar Pradesh.A political party with socialist leanings has regained power in India's most politically influential state. Meticulous poll planning by Mayawati - especially the strategy of wooing Brahmins and other upper castes in a big way in a rainbow coalition helped add to her traditional vote base of Dalits and Muslims. Indian shares bucked weak global markets to gain 0.18 percent Friday, boosted by signs one party would win an outright majority in an important state election and data showing moderating inflation and strong industrial output.
The 30-share benchmark BSE index rose 24.93 points to 13,796.16, although only 11 components gained. The index fell 0.99 percent on the week.
"I think both the Uttar Pradesh elections and lower inflation numbers would have given comfort to our markets," said Jayesh Shroff, a fund manager at SBI Funds Management.
India's most prominent Untouchable leader pulled off a surprise election victory in the country's most populous state today, stalling the political ambitions of the Gandhi family's heir apparentwhile the country's ruling and main opposition parties both lost seats. Thus, India paid homage with full pomp and honour on Friday to the "martyrs" who battled British rule 150 years ago in the country's "first war of independence".Mayawati, who uses only that single name, leads the Bahujan Samaj party, which looks set to sweep the polls in Uttar Pradesh, a northern Indian state of 170 million people and the country's most important bellwether of public opinion.The result was a lesson for Rahul Gandhi - the son of Sonia Gandhi who runs the ruling Congress party - who spent a month criss-crossing Uttar Pradesh but in the end could only hold on to his 25 seats.However,the results were not expected to hurt Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's central coalition as the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also fared poorly, disproving exit polls that had forecast an improved showing. Now, the impact of this unexpected result on next Presidential Election has to be seen. As Mayabati has got the trump card, Congress or BJP should not have any say.
Shouting "Mayawati Zindabad" and "BSP Zindabad", the BSP backers took to the streets in virtually every town and city across Uttar Pradesh.So the results of the Uttar Pradesh elections are out, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has made a stunner of a win.Pre-poll surveys and exit polls had forecast the BSP to emerge as the largest party in the 403-member assembly but it was not expected to win a majority on its own.
On Friday, as counting of ballots neared a close, the party had won 204 seats of the 397 declared, NDTV said.With Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati poised to return to the helm in Uttar Pradesh, the state's bureaucracy, especially those who were known to be close to outgoing Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, are nervous.
It is post-Ambedkar dalit movement against post modern manusmriti! They have changed their tools. Why should not we! Politics is Shining Super power India's largest industry, it is the state's corporate sector, and it is a key avenue of employment. Political analysts described the UP result as a "bolt from the blue". Why?On the other hand,the victory of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which represents India's former 'untouchables', analysts said, could indicate that the state was moving away from divisive, caste-based politics and had voted for a new, broader coalition. As early trends showed BSP surging ahead in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the BJP chose to keep its cards close to the chest on the issue of joining hands with Mayawati's party to form the next government. Why? They may strike any deal and you don`t have any question to ask. All morality is reserved for the Dalits!
With UP election results defying every analysis, exit poll, survey and forcast, it is clear that Casteology wins in contemporary Indian Polity and Ideology is finally defeated. hindutva have lost its face in UP. We have seen how ideology works in recent times to annihilate the Dalit Rural India, its life and livelihood. Expressing her gratitude to the people for their support, Mayawati paid tribute to her mentor and BSP founder Kanshi Ram and architect of the Constitution B.R. Ambedkar and said that her party would provide a government that would root out injustice and crime. Uttar Pradesh is a chronically poor rural backwater that would be the world's sixth most populous state if it were a nation. Less than half its women can read or write their name, but it has also produced most of India's prime ministers.The Congress used to have a combination of Muslims, Dalits, and forward castes when it used to win elections after elections.
It was social engineering and ideology which boosted the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to victory, declared a triumphant BSP chief Mayawati who is poised to become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time.Dressed in her favourite pink salwar-kameez, Mayawati said at the press conference at the BSP party headquarters here after paying floral tributes to life-size statues of Dalit messiah B.R. Ambedkar, her mentor and BSP founder, the late Kanshi Ram.
'A big social change has taken place in Uttar Pradesh and all sections of society has supported the party. Our chalking out a carefully planned strategy has brought this success,' a beaming Mayawati told a crowded press conference as cameras whirred and photographers clicked.
Condemning the action of former minister Mohamed Azam Khan, who was shown by TV channels shredding official papers before leaving his office after the party's defeat, she said the Director General of Police has been asked to probe the matter and she would do the needful after taking oath as chief minister.
She thanked the Election Commission for conducting a free and fair poll and appreciated the role played by all commission officials.
Ambedkar as the maker of the Indian Constitution, provider of the present order, a Bodhisatva, a constitutionalist, a messiah, a saviour, an SC leader, a liberal democrat, a staunch anticommunist, a reformist allergic to revolutions of whatever kind and thus, in a nutshell as the bourgeoisie liberal democrat par excellence. Barring Dadasaheb Gaikwad and the movement of the Dalit Panthers for a while post-Ambedkar leadership failed to pay any attention to the material aspects of life and mystified the problems of dalits. To take one example, while political power was a means for Ambedkar, it appears to be the end for Kanshiram.
In a captive polity and economy, ruled by coradors of corporate Imperialism, ideology fails to help common Indian masses. Finally, Indian society speaks out. We have caste in our blood. Masses do not understand ideology, but they do understand caste very well. Rearrangement of forces in accordance of social realities apart from so called ideology always helping the rotten brahminical dominace and Zionist Imperialist MNC Rule, have open the doors of State Power for UP dalits under the leadership of a pragmatic leader like Mayabati!
This casteology has to be understood! Since , it is clear ideology, Left or Right has failed to change the society accordingly.Thirty years on, BSP politics has gifted Mayawati a unique political situation.In UP, Mayawati, as everyone knows and as the successive elections results have proved, has undisputed hold over the Dalit votes.In the last election in UP, she secured 98 seats out of 403 seats with 23 per cent of the vote share.In UP, Dalits constitute around 21 per cent of the electorate and it stands to her credit that she is able to transfer her share of votes to any candidate or party she chooses and that too at her price.In the past, slogans like Tilak, taraju aur talwar, unko maro juthe char ('Brahmins, traders and the warrior caste should be kicked') used to be the mantra of electoral success when Kanshi Ram, her mentor and the founder of BSP, took his movement to the economically poor and socially condemned Dalits, who were in search of a leader and a political party.She thinks quickly, changes tack quickly, and is mindful only that the Dalits are still backing her.
The people of Nandigram have set an example before the country by resisting the Left Front Government's move to acquire land for a chemical hub compelling it to backtrack, a leader of a LF ally said today.
"The unrest at Nandigram was caused by the Front Government's move to acquire land for a chemical hub. But the people have not parted with their land. The people at Nandigram have set an example by resisting the move," PWD minister and senior RSP leader Kshiti Goswami said.
Addressing the state conference of the party's trade union wing, UTUC, Goswami accused the West Bengal of arrogance.
With West Bengal`s ruling Left Front and the Opposition Trinamool Congress agreeing to hold a peace meeting on Nandigram, the East Midnapore district administration is likely to convene an all-party meeting today to prepare the ground for the peace initiative.
Villagers detain two Posco employees
In an ugly twist to the face off between Posco-India and the people of Paradip area where the company proposed to set up a 12 million tonne steel plant, three employees of the company were detained by the villagers of Gobindpur when they had gone there to canvas for land acquisition for the project this afternoon.All the three employees were locals and were from the Kujanga office of the company, about 20 km from Paradip. The vehicle they were traveling has also been damaged, sources said.Meanwhile, latest reports said, one of the three detainees, a lady executive named Rosalin Parida along with the driver of the vehicle have been released by the villagers.The other two employees, who are still held captive by the villagers in Patna village, neighbouring Gobindpur under the Dhinkia gram panchayat, were Pranabananda Das, public relations officer of Posco's Kujanga office and Debasish Swain, an executive.
It may be noted that Posco, which is facing stiff resistance from the local people on the issue of land acquisition for its project, had recently initiated steps for direct negotiation with the villagers to buy the private land within its site following the government advice to this effect. The company required 4004 acres land for the project, of which 3566 acres are
government land and 438 acres private land.
The wave on which Mayawati rode to power in Uttar Pradesh could bring in its wake seminal changes in the way politics is done at the Centre and in the countryside. Political analysts said by combining the underprivileged with the Brahmins, the BSP leader has transcended the politics of caste and vested in the dalits the leadership of the SC-Muslim-Brahmin social combine that had kept the Congress in power for decades.The emerging scenario reinforces the possibility of regional players growing beyond home states and navigating coalitions at the Centre.
It was as results poured in from different parts of the state indicating that the party could form a government on its own. Jubilant party workers burst crackers and distributed sweets and hugged each other as every favourable results brought a roar of cheers. Carrying BSP flags, party workers had started gathering near their leader's residence at Mall Avenue since early morning as if they knew what was in the offing.
In fact, the gain for the BSP is in a way loss for the BJP, which had emerged as the champion of the upper castes in the post-Mandal, mandir phase.
As we see in West Bengal, despite being ruled by left over three decades the Dalits and underprevileged classes have no sapce in life or livelihood.On September 29, 2006, four members of a poor peasant dalit family in Khairlanji village in Bhandara district of northeast Maharashtra were brutally killed in planned mob violence. The women members, mother and daughter were raped, sexually assaulted. All the members were paraded naked and tortured and assaulted on their private parts. Only the father, who was away, working in the fields, escaped this horrible fate. Neither the administration nor the media has taken steps that behooves an institution of a democratic civilized society as local women continue to agitate. Committee Against Violence on Women files this note.
Then, friends, what is the use of this bloody Ideology which may not help us in any way?
Think!
Just Think and decide!
Let us formulate similar casteology whereever peoples resistance fail to express itself in the so called democratic set up!
If the Brahmins ruled India for thousands of years enslaving the rest of the population, why should we not have uppercast support to destroy their dominance. mayabati has exactly done the same with surgical precision!
Rather it may be analysed how Congeress and BJP, SP and Left failed to maintain Brahminical supremacy in COW Belt, which could not be revived by the extremist Hindutva!
If the Brahmins and other uppercaste are ready to allow adequate space for others and more importantly, accepts Dalit Leadership as they accepted in UP, a new wave of social changes may be expected henceforth!
Is a brhmin leader like Ms Mamta Bannerjee in bengal ready to accept Dalit leadership sacrificing her own political ambition to overthrow the Marxist capitalist Brahminical MNC Raj In bengal?
Rabindranath Tagore, the man who coined Indian Nationality, knew well about Dalit Emergence as he belonged to an outcast Peerali Brahmin community and his family led Brahmo samaj.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's central relevance for securing the Indian democratic revolution. Although the dalits have wrested significant gains in various domains of social life during the last five decades, the relative gulf between them and non-dalits seems to have remained the same if not actually increased. On the other hand the emerging world order signified by the process of globalisation is bound to change the grammar of oppressed peoples' struggles all over the world. The dalits too, therefore will have to wage now and in future a revolutionary struggle at one and the same time on two fronts marked by the caste and the class.
Rabindranath Tagore, who died in 1941 at the age of eighty, is a towering figure in the millennium-old literature of Bengal. Anyone who becomes familiar with this large and flourishing tradition will be impressed by the power of Tagore's presence in Bangladesh and in India. His poetry as well as his novels, short stories, and essays are very widely read, and the songs he composed reverberate around the eastern part of India and throughout Bangladesh.
Rather Rashi,the play, writtenby Tagore in 1932, is set in the time when caste system was its height. Tagore's vision was perhaps prophetic when he "signalled" a social change - an upheaval brought about by the Sudras - the fourth caste. This is reflected in the chariot (during the Rath yatra called the Mahakaal - lord of time/Shiva), which does not move when pushed, by the Brahmins and kshatriyas. The rope of the chariot symbolises the bond of human relationships. These relationships in the course of time had undermined the role and rights of many and kept them suppressed. To a certain extent the chariot is an allegory for the division of society into different castes and sections.Caste is like a malaise, which only seems to spread its tentacles further coming down as does from the Vedic times. Though times have changed - the caste system as an "evil" has not withered away. On the contrary, it has lead to further "fragmentation" of society. It is a well-known fact that Brahmins and kshatriyas were at the top of the caste hierarchy and used this to oppress people. So when they try to push the chariot it does not budge. This sends signals of worry down the common people who try to appease the Gods in vain. It is finally the Sudras who are successful in moving the chariot.
This play Rather Rashi seems relevant even today on account of caste acting as a single divisive factor to a large extent, which leads to strife and tension. We are facing the brunt of it all - communal riots, child labour, political tensions - all deep-seated evils in the social fabric of the country. Rabindranath did come from a Hindu family—one of the landed gentry who owned estates mostly in what is now Bangladesh. But whatever wisdom there might be in Akhmatova's invoking of Hinduism and the Ganges, it did not prevent the largely Muslim citizens of Bangladesh from having a deep sense of identity with Tagore and his ideas. Nor did it stop the newly independent Bangladesh from choosing one of Tagore's songs—the "Amar Sonar Bangla" which means "my golden Bengal"—as its national anthem. This must be very confusing to those who see the contemporary world as a "clash of civilizations"—with "the Muslim civilization," "the Hindu civilization," and "the Western civilization," each forcefully confronting the others. They would also be confused by Rabindranath Tagore's own description of his Bengali family as the product of "a confluence of three cultures: Hindu, Mohammedan, and British".
The BSP's strategy of wooing Brahmins and other upper castes in a big way in a rainbow coalition helped add to its traditional vote base of Dalits and Muslims. The BSP may ultimately not need support from other parties to run a government. Scores of BSP workers celebrated and danced outside the residence of their leader and future Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati. Stunning its rivals, Mayawati's BSP scored a spectacular victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.Her party secured an absolute majority on its own to end 15 years of coalition politics in the state.The ruling Samajwadi Party suffered severe losses, winning 97 seats. The BSP, which always campaigned on an anti-upper caste plank in its two decades of electoral politics, fought the polls this time without any allies and won 203 of the 396 seats for which results were declared.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who won from both Gunnaur and Bharthana, conceded defeat in the wake of his party's drubbing and resigned in the afternoon
In the 2002 assembly elections, the BSP had won 99 seats while the Samajwadi Party bagged 143. The BJP was third last time too, winning 88 seats and the Congress had secured 25 seats.The Ajit Singh-led RLD had won 15 seats and the CPI-M one seat. Others accounted for the remaining 32 seats.Mayawati's strategy of sewing up rainbow coalition, particularly wooing Brahmins and other upper castes, appeared to have paid rich dividends to BSP in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, results of which were out on Friday.In her strategy that is seen by political observers as one of the biggest attempts at social engineering in recent years, the BSP supremo shed her image as only a dalit leader and and aligned with upper castes, against whom her party had in the past carried out a consistent campaign.Casting aside her 'anti-Manuvadi' stance, her pet theme against upper castes, Mayawati ensured substantial number of tickets to Brahmins and also others while keeping her dalit votebank intact.
With polling in one constituency countermanded, the half-way mark for a simple majority in the 403-member assembly will be 202. With BSP no longer requiring its support, Congress said that it will play the role of opposition in Uttar Pradesh.Set for a fourth term as chief minister, the 51-year-old Dalit leader unseated her bitter rival Mulayam Singh Yadav and delivered a body blow to the BJP's hopes of building on its string of victories in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Mumbai corporation.Chief campaigner Rahul Gandhi's electioneering appeared to have helped the Congress only retain its existing number of seats. The party is placed fourth, winning 21 seats and leading in three more.The Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, with its clout in western UP, managed to retain its hold by winning five seats.
UP to get single party govt after 14 years
Uttar Pradesh will usher in single party rule after 14 years with the thumping victory of the Mayawati-led BSP bringing coalition politics to an end.
BSP reached the crucial 202 mark in the 403-member House as the results of the assembly polls were announced today.
Riding on the Ram wave, Kalyan Singh led the last single party government when BJP assumed office on June 24, 1991. The government was dismissed on December 6, 1992 by the Centre following demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya.
The assembly elections in 1993 saw Samajwadi Party and BSP fighting the polls together and had won 175 seats. Though the BJP had won 177 seats, the Congress and the Janata Dal extended support to the SP-BSP alliance which resulted in anointment of Yadav as the Chief Minister of the state.
The SP-BSP government was short lived and the two parties turned bitter foes after the attack on the BSP supremo Mayawati in 1995 following her withdrawal of support to the SP government.
The assembly polls, that followed soon after were held under the President's rule in 1996 saw BSP forging an alliance with the Congress and bagging 67 seats while the Congress had to contend with only 33 seats.
The BJP had in 1996 won 176 seats and emerged as the single largest party but yet it could not form the government as no party was ready to support it.
The BJP and BSP, however, stitched an alliance about seven months after the polls on the basis of six monthly rotational formula.
BSP leader Mayawati became the Chief Minister for the first six months but later broke the alliance throwing the state into political turmoil once again.
A Dalit Voice piece
" Casteology" replaces ideology: That is why all over India caste-based parties are coming up only because the SC/ST/BCs Ñ the country's three most oppressed segments ÑÊhave found in them better response. Since caste (jati) is nothing but an extended family, a people belonging to a jati find themselves more at home in their jati party.
Lalu Prasad's RJD, Mulayam's SP, Mayawatis BSP, Sharad Pawar's NCP, Ramdoss' PMK are prominent caste-based parties. A coalition of such parties is ruling in the Centre and in the states like Maharashtra, Karnataka etc.
As parliamentary democracy wakes up more and more oppressed people, more and more caste-based parties will spring up. This is natural in a country like India where every ideology has failed including Marxism and the only ideology that gave confidence to the deprived destitutes is "casteology", if we can coin a word like that. And a coalition of different castes and communities will rule the different states on the principle that each caste and community should gets its share of human rights in proportion to its population.
The future political setup in India will be mainly caste-based as the oppressed sections are losing faith in the existing party formations and the governments they form. We are happy the Brahmins, the principal component of India's ruling class, have also finally realised this supreme Truth and getting ready to form their jati party. Wonderful.
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/jan_a2005/editorial.htm
Caste based discrimination still prevalent in India, says ILO report
Caste-based discrimination maybe abolished by law in India but it remains a major cause why backward classes, especially the Dalits, remain confined to menial tasks like manual scavenging and removal of dead animals, a latest report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on discrimination in the job sector has said.
Affirmative action has been able to assist only a small number of Dalits in finding formal jobs but has failed to provide even and equal opportunities to all, the report added.
"Violence, discrimination and segregation are a daily experience for millions of men and women in several regions of the world. But the practice (of discrimination that is rooted in caste or similar systems) is most widespread in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal," the report, titled 'Equality at Work: Tackling the Challenges' remarked.
The report, a follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, was released in New Delhi by the Union Labour and Employment Minister, Oscar Fernandes, on Thursday.
The report added that Dalits are generally not accepted for any work involving contact for water and food for non-Dalits or entering a non-Dalit residence. "Thus, they are excluded from a wide-range of work opportunities in the area of production, processing or sale of food items, domestic work and the provision of certain services in the private and public sectors," the report said, adding their situation is further impaired by limited access to education, training and resources.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=25c6d65f-1c3e-4d0c-845a-1a2e84f184fa&&Headline=Casteism+still+prevalent+in+India%2c+says+ILO+report
Theorising The Dalit Movement: A Viewpoint
But, of course, Dalits can no longer be excluded. The Constitution and laws of the land are now, in principle at least, fully inclusive. Untouchability, once the clearest manifestation of social exclusion, is now illegal and the practice of it in any form is a punishable offence. Over the past five decades there have been many determined efforts to make the principle of inclusion effective, starting with reservation of seats for Dalits in legislative bodies and subsequently in educational institutions and public services. And by a variety of objective criteria, the condition of Dalits today is far better than what it was in the past.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2223/stories/20051118000407000.htm
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X(1992)55%3A1%3C154%3ADASPIM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R
http://www.gla.ac.uk/sociology/units/anthrop/dalit/sisoc.htm
http://cssaame.com/issues/18_1/RACINES.pdf
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/may2005/article.htm
http://www.navayana.org/content/reviews/vijayprasad-DDL.htm
http://www.sephis.org/pdf/rnsrawat3.pdf
http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-ilaiah050304.htm
http://pd.cpim.org/2006/0129/01292006_surjeet.htm
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=dalit
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1121
http://www.pucl.org/from-archives/Dalit-tribal/mandal-2.htm
http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2004/Smith,%20PJ.pdf
http://www.kent.ac.uk/clgs/documents/nsflt_abstracts.doc
http://www.dalitnetwork.org/go?/dfn/blog/2006/06/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1831106.stm
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2318/stories/20060922003902500.htm
http://www.dalits.org/charter.html
The State of Dalit Mobilization:
An Interview with Kancha Ilaiah
(This is the transcript of an interview with Kancha Ilaiah, a Dalitbahujan intellectual and professor of Political Science at Osmania University in Hyderabad. Ilaiah is author of the recently published book Why I am Not a Hindu. The interviewers are Chris Chekuri and Biju Mathew. The interview was conducted in July 1997.)
http://www.foil.org/resources/ghadar/v1n2/ilaiah.html
Dalits, Panchayat Raj And
Power Equations
By Goldy M. George
09 May, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Creation of Panchayat Raj is perhaps the best transformation in democratic India to realize the participation of ordinary people in power sharing. Amendment of Article 73 of the Constitution was envisioned as the best among decentralization polity in democracy. Theoretically Panchayat Raj would mean the power distribution from a stringent centralized set-up to a decentralized one, gazed with radical change both at the level of delivery of goods and in the social composition.
After the new generation of Panchayats have started functioning several issues have come to the fore, which have a bearing on human rights. The important factor, which has contributed to the Dalit situation vis-à-vis the Panchayat system, is the nature of Indian society, which of course determines the nature of the state. The Indian society is known for its inequality, social hierarchy and the rich and poor divide. The social hierarchy is the result of the caste system, which is unique to India. Therefore caste and class are the two factors, which deserve attention in this context.
At another level it is essential to look into the question: who are the victims of the social system and nature of the state? They are women, the Dalits, Adivasis and the poor. How can the process of decentralization through strengthening the democratically elected local bodies tackle these issues along with defining rural development in compressed way? Whether the decentralization process and the decentralized institutions increase human rights violations or enhance the possibility for respecting and observing human rights?
http://www.countercurrents.org/george090507.htm
Theorising The Dalit Movement: A Viewpoint
Anand Teltumbde
INTRODUCTION
The Dalit movement, in the familiar sense of organised resistance of the ex-untouchables to caste oppression, may not be traced beyond colonial times. However, in a wider sense of the struggle of lower castes against the hegemony of Brahminical ideology, it has to coexist with the history of caste itself. The broad framework of caste remaining the same, the Dalit movement could also be seen in a historical continuum with its previous phases. In another sense, it could be taken as the articulation phase of the numerous faceless struggles against the iniquitous socio-economic formation ordained by the caste system, that has occupied vast spaces of Indian history. By any reckoning it seems to have done well in identifying its friends and foes, putting in place its strategies and tactics and more importantly, carving out a space for itself in every sphere. It kept pace with the changes taking place in socio-political sphere during the colonial times and thus displayed significant learning during this phase. However, it could not do so thereafter when it had to consolidate its gains particularly in the context of substantial changes that befell during the post-independence times.
http://www.ambedkar.org/research/THEORISING%20THE%20DALIT%20MOVEMENT.htm
The Bhopal Declaration and a Tribal Fishworker’s Cooperative
C.N. Subramaniam
In January 2002, the government of Madhya Pradesh hosted a conference on the Dalit movement in which leading Dalit intellectuals participated and adopted the so-called Bhopal Declaration. A few weeks before that a contract between the government of Madhya Pradesh and a cooperative of dam displaced tribal fishworkers had lapsed and the government was procrastinating in renewing the agreement. Finally when the government did agree to renew the contract the terms were so harsh that the cooperative has found them unacceptable.
These two events which are apparently unconnected provide an insight into both the actual issues before the dalit movement and the real face of the government of Madhya Pradesh.
http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv8n1/bhopal.htm
Complying with an Election Commission order, the BJP has issued a public condemnation of an anti-Muslim CD released by its state leaders ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
''The party has no hesitation in doing so. In consonance with the stand that the party had suo motu...the party categorically declares that it does not approve of the contents of the said CD. It strongly condemns the same,'' it said in a statement.
However, the statement was prefaced by a caveat that it reserved its right to challenge the jurisdiction of the three -member Election Commission to pass such an order when the BJP has questioned its quorum due to the participation of Navin Chawla.
The party also cited submissions it made to the Election Commission that it had acted immediately after a row erupted over the disc and removed a state party spokesman from his post.
With the poll panel having rejected BJP's demands to exclude Election Commissioner Navin Chawla from the hearing of the CD case, the BJP maintained that its condemnation of the disc does not amount to giving up its right to challenge any derecognition order passed by a bench that includes him.
Last week, the Commission reserved its decision on demands for derecognition of the BJP and asked it to come out with a public condemnation of the video.
Building A House Of Beauty and Truth
Chandalika: Initial Fundraiser for Gandhi Fo
Three top scientists caution on deal
Sandeep Dikshit
NEW DELHI: Three of the country’s top nuclear scientists have said that once the nuclear deal is in place, India’s commercial nuclear interaction with other countries will be “firmly controlled” by Washington through the Hyde Act enforced through the U.S. “stranglehold” on the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
The scientists — P. K. Iyengar (former chairman, Atomic Energy Commission), A. Gopalakrishnan (former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board chief) and A.N. Prasad (former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director — have written a letter of appeal to Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation and pointed out several lacunae in the draft safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“We are strongly of the opinion that the government should not seek the IAEA Board’s approval for the current draft safeguards agreement until its implications are debated more fully within the country and with a group of experts who were not party to the IAEA negotiations,” they observed, adding that analysts had convincingly refuted the government’s main reason for pushing the deal — energy security to the country.
The deal will not be governed by the bilateral 123 Agreement because it is anchored in U.S. domestic laws, including the Hyde Act, which contains several stipulations “extraneous to the issue of bilateral nuclear cooperation, including foreign policy behaviour which India needs to adhere to if the deal is to be kept alive.”
“India-specific?”
The deal could also have other serious repercussions, including a potential weakening of India’s nuclear deterrent and an inability to protect & promote indigenous R&D efforts in nuclear technology.
They expressed doubts about the safeguards agreement being India-specific. For, it was “distinctly” clear from the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement that no uninterrupted fuel supplies were guaranteed. “The government had assured that this defect will be corrected in the safeguards agreement but since the IAEA was all along known to be no fuel-supply guarantor, it is not surprising that Indian negotiators have failed to obtain any assurance in this regard.”
“The corrective measures mentioned in the preamble to the safeguards agreement have nothing that anchors them to any section in the operative part of the agreement.”
“The nation would like to know clearly what these corrective measures are, before plunging headlong into this deal. India being merely allowed to withdraw the Indian-built civilian [pressurised heavy water reactors] PHWRs from safeguards, and that too after stripping them of all spent & fresh fuel and components of foreign origin, is not a corrective step because this action does not ensure uninterrupted operation in the event of disruption of foreign fuel supplies.”
“Even here, Article 32 of the Safeguards Agreement appears to stand in the way of any such withdrawal. Besides, this relaxation does not apply to the imported power reactors, which will use up the bulk of our investments in nuclear power; these units will perpetually stay under safeguards, even after fuel supplies are denied,” noted the scientists.
The scientists also drew attention to the fact that the Hyde Act prohibits the U.S. administration from directly or indirectly assisting India with lifetime fuel supplies after suspension of the deal. “Therefore, the government owes a clarification to the Parliament and the public about how they intend to avoid the consequential huge economic loss from the non-operation of these extremely costly imported reactors, as a result of fuel denial.”
The government also needs to clarify its thinking on the Additional Protocol before entering into the safeguards agreement. The government had pledged to secure an unqualified right to reprocess spent-fuel and even termed India’s right to reprocess “non-negotiable.” But the 123 Agreement has an “empty theoretical right” to reprocess.
The actual permission will come after years, when a dedicated state-of-the art reprocessing plant is built anew to treat foreign fuel, along with a host of allied facilities.
Similarly, there are many other key safeguards-related issues which have been unaddressed in the draft safeguards agreement and none had been handled adequately or in an acceptable manner.
“We therefore appeal to the Members of the Lok Sabha to direct the government not to proceed further with the current safeguards agreement, and ask the Prime Minister to initiate wide-ranging and structured deliberations on the deal to develop a broad consensus among political parties,” they said.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/19/stories/2008071961631200.htm
'Nuclear deal can only be to the advantage of India'
ibnlive.com
Published on Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 02:16 in Nation section
Tags: Nuclear Deal, IAEA
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Supporters of the Indo-US nuclear deal say it would help in solving the country’s energy needs and end its nuclear apartheid. Critics say the deal would put India in the grip of America and end India’s nuclear sovereignty. What does India gain from the deal? Does the deal endanger sovereignty? Arundhati Ghose, India’s former ambassador to the UN, explained the pros and cons in a web chat. Excerpts from the chat.
Vinu: Is it true that India is running out of Uranium and needs the Indo-US nuclear deal badly to free her own stockpiles of uranium for continuing its strategic nuclear programme. Also by not placing under safeguards mean they are to be used for strategic military purposes. Please clarify.
Arundhati Ghose: India does not have large supplies of uranium. In any case, our uranium is low grade. We have also not been able to mine the uranium we have due not only to financial constraints, but also, due to environmental objections from local groups. Even if this were overcome, we would not have enough to meet our energy demands. Eight reactors have been left out of those classified as civilian in the separation plan. If we need to use them for producing fissile materials for weapons, we could do so.
Taku Chatung: What is the concept of ‘safeguards agreement’ and likely to be after agreement with the IAEA board of director?
Arundhati Ghose: A safeguard agreement signed with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) ensures that none of the material or facilities which are safeguarded are diverted for military purposes. This is particularly relevant for imported facilities and material including fuel. This is done through routine inspections by teams of IAEA experts working with our scientists at the facilities which have been identified for safeguards.
Murugan: How does the Hyde Act bind India? Is it against our sovereign interests?
Arundhati Ghose: The Hyde Act is an internal, domestic law of the US. It enables the US government to enter into an agreement with India for civil nuclear deal cooperation, which was not permitted under existing US laws. The Hyde Act has been passed. Once the deal is approved by the US Congress, it will be the latest expression of the sovereign will of the US and according to the US constitution will prevail over the Hyde Act which had only enabled this agreement.
Dinesh: Can you point out any one risk that we have to face by signing this deal? I don't agree with the Left, but still as layman I am interested to know is there any issue that is not good for India in this deal?
Arundhati Ghose: The US is going out of its way to help us in this deal. They have even changed their domestic law to enable them to push this forward. My worry is what do they expect in return? Would we be able to tackle these expectations with the delicate diplomacy that is required? It is a new world and we have to learn how to live with it.
Arjun: How does nuclear energy help us satisfy our energy needs? It will make up only a small fraction of our energy requirements. The essence of this deal is politics and the need for India to get out of the isolation it finds itself in the nuclear arena. Why raise this bogie of energy security?
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/nuclear-deal-can-only-be-to-the-advantage-of-india/68863-3.html
US raises pitch to sell India its missile defence system
19 Jul, 2008, 1900 hrs IST, PTI
FARNBOROUGH: With India hastening its search for a system to beat threats from ballistic, tactical and cruise missiles, the US has raised a pitch to sell its front-line 'Patriot' missile system, and also delivered "classified presentation" to Defence Ministry officials.
"Raytheon is interested to bid with the Patriot system to the Request for Quotation (RFQ) for medium range surface-to -air missile (MR-SAM) issued by India recently," the US defence major's Patriot Programme vice president and deputy Skip Garret said here on the sidelines of the Farnborough international air show.
Though India has sought a small number of the MR-SAM with 50-km range - it is learnt that the RFQ was for just one system - the Patriot missiles with "high probability kill" could easily take care of India's needs, Garret said, raising the campaign decibels to a new high.
Officials from the US Department of Defence had in the last few months given some classified presentations on the Patriot's capabilities to officials from the Indian Defence Ministry, who "formally expressed interest" in the system, he said.
Patriot, the foundation of the US Army's integrated air and missile defence architecture, is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather system field to defence advanced threats, including aircraft, tactical-ballistic-cruise missiles
Govt hints at new law to counter Hyde Act
Official sources maintained that India's obligations were spelt out in the 123 agreement with the US. The Hyde Act is purely a US domestic law which cannot override the agreement
New Delhi: The government is "open to the idea" of amending domestic law to counter the US Hyde Act which has been the major cause of opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal from the BJP and Left parties, highly placed official sources said.
Ahead of the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the sources said the government is confident of winning it and pursuing its "unfinished agenda" of reforms in insurance, banking and pension sectors after discussions with its new ally, the Samajwadi Party.
Defending the controversial deal as one in the best interests of India, the sources maintained that India's obligations were spelt out in the bilateral 123 agreement with the United States. The Hyde Act is purely a US domestic law which cannot override the bilateral agreement, they said.
All the same, the government is "open to the idea" of amending the Atomic Energy Act to counter the Hyde Act which critics see as a legislation that puts shackles on India's right to conduct nuclear tests.
The BJP has favoured an Indian legislation to tackle the Hyde Act, but sources said that the Opposition party had not spelt out the changes it wants in the Atomic Energy Act. "We are willing to look at all options provided they are feasible," the sources said.
Meanwhile, the government appears satisfied with the response from the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) who were briefed by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in Vienna.
However, it is not minimising the difficulties that may lie ahead and rejects suggestions that once the Safeguards Agreement is approved by the IAEA, the nuclear deal is on "auto pilot."
"We cannot take NSG for granted. It works on the basis of consensus," the sources said.
Regretting the "hurry" with which the Left had withdrawn support to the government over the deal, the sources said that even after the approval by the NSG and the US Congress, India had the option of not operationalising the deal if its final shape did not satisfy Parliament.
After the entire process of approval, India would have to file a declaration about the deal before the IAEA. Only after that would the deal be operationalised, they pointed out.
Asked if the government would go ahead with the deal even if it lost the trust vote, the sources said, "We are not going to lose the vote. The rest is hypothetical."
The sources emphasised that the UPA government was not "a one-issue government" but the nuclear deal had occupied "so much space" at a time when inflation needed to be tackled as top priority.
"We will pick up the threads after the 22nd," they said referring to the trust vote.
The government, they emphasised, had a good record but also "an unfinished agenda." Inflation had been kept under 4 per cent during the first four years but had risen due to circumstances beyond its control.
The approach to tackling inflation was to ensure that the economy grew at 7.5 to 8 per cent without causing hardships to the poor sections of the people, the sources said, adding that controlling inflation would be the government's top priority.
Controlling inflation would take sometime but the Indian economy was "by and large" well managed. The food economy in particular had been handled very well unlike the other countries, they said.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1573424
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Congress expects support from 'unexpected quarters'
Congress leaders appeared much relieved today amid claims that the Government has a comfortable majority and would receive support from "unexpected quarters."
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is hosting a dinner tomorrow ahead of the trust vote amid a declaration by the Congress that there will be "surprises" in its favour from all parties, excluding the Left.
Congress leaders appeared much relieved today amid claims that the Government has a comfortable majority and would receive support from "unexpected quarters."
"We expect support from unexpected quarters from outside our traditional support base. We have built a cushion of surprises. There will be support from all parties excluding the Left," AICC General Secretary and Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here.
The National Conference and constituents of the UPA and its supporting parties like Samajwadi Party as also CLP leaders, PCC chiefs, AICC office-bearers are among the 500-odd guest list for the dinner.
Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have also been invited.
Chavan's statement which spoke of surprises meant or implied that some members of the BJP, BJD, Shiv Sena and Akali Dal could also support the Government in the trust vote.
Meanwhile, party sources expressed confidence that MPs from Manipur and Nagaland could also vote for the Government in the trust vote.
Party leaders have been maintaining that they have a minimum support of 280-plus MPs.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Advani okayed N-deal, backed out later: Sibal
Advani's consent came after Manmohan explained the deal to him along with former Prime Minister Vajpayee and former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra in December.
New Delhi: BJP leader L K Advani had conveyed his consent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Indo-US nuclear deal but later backed out, Union Minister Kapil Sibal said here today.
The senior Congress leader said Advani's consent came after Singh explained the deal to him along with former Prime Minister Vajpayee and former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra in December last year.
Vajpayee and Mishra agreed fast that the deal is in the national interest as they were aware of the foreign policy, Sibal told Karan Thapar's programme 'Devil's Advocate' for CNN-IBN.
Advani also told the Prime Minister that "we are now in a position to support the deal" and that Singh should send a letter which will be responded to, Sibal said.
When the Prime Minister wrote the letter, Advani replied saying that he is not able to deliver the promise he had made to him as "senior party leaders are opposed to it," Sibal said.
The Science and Technology Minister said former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh too was happy with the deal when NSA M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar met him.
"Gentlemen, I must compliment you on a job well done," Sibal quoted Jaswant Singh as saying .
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Soren gets invite to UPA dinner
The invitation assumes significance as the party is said to be divided on whether or not to support the government.
New Delhi: Reaching out to JMM whose five MPs would be crucial during the confidence motion on July 22, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today invited its chief Shibu Soren and other MPs of the party to his dinner for UPA constituents tomorrow.
Invitations have been sent to all five JMM MPs, including Suman Mahto, Sudam Marandi, Hemalal Murmu and Teklal Mahto. The invitation assumes significance as the party is said to be divided on whether or not to support the government.
Though the party's Chief Whip Teklal Mahto is insisting that all the five MPs will vote for the confidence motion, Soren has not made any comment on the issue amid reports that he is in touch with the NDA as well following an offer of help to make him the Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
It is also learnt that a group of party MPs will be meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Meanwhile, the party postponed till tomorrow the crucial meeting of its Parliamentary Board which was scheduled for this evening.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
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By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 18, 2008; Page A01
GADDOPUR, India -- On a muggy monsoon-drenched afternoon, Shakuntala, a rail-thin girl with bloodshot eyes, cooled her father's visitors with a bamboo fan, trying to ward off the heat and the flies while they feasted on lentils, stewed chicken and hot bread.
Like many women in this village of Dalits -- the lowest caste in India's social pecking order -- Shakuntala, 16, lives a meager existence. Her opportunities in life, beyond domestic servitude, are limited. If she remains in the village, she will probably be pressured to marry before she makes it out of her teenage years. As she was in her father's house, so she will be in her husband's.
But Shakuntala has one role model, a woman who overcame the limitations of caste: Mayawati, a Dalit daughter of the soil and, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, one of the most influential politicians in the world's largest democracy.
Mayawati, who like Shakuntala uses just one name, is a powerful symbol of possibility for Dalits, once known as untouchables. By putting the issue of caste at the center of political debate, she is shaking the very foundations of this country's centuries-old social order, a system by which Indians' professions and status are inherited at birth.
Caste is seen by some as the most corrosive aspect of Indian society, much like racism and past slavery in the United States. But oppressed castes, including Dalits, represent a majority in India. Most Dalits cannot afford to educate their children in the private, English-language schools that prepare them for higher-paying jobs. Though illegal, violence against Dalits is still widespread.
Over the past decade, Dalits have achieved some progress, particularly in access to higher education and government jobs. There is now even a small Dalit middle class, thanks largely to affirmative-action programs and urbanization.
Mayawati is a symbol of such changes, but an imperfect one. She has repeatedly been accused of corruption. Critics say she has enriched herself and her family rather than her fellow Dalits, whom she publicly and passionately professes to represent.
She shows no compunction about flaunting her diamond rings and bejeweled necklaces. Her real estate holdings are vast. And a colossal bronze statue of her has been erected on a hilltop in the state capital of Lucknow, bathed in golden light bulbs, with the inscription "A Symbolic Place of Social Change."
Still, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (Majority People's Party) won a resounding majority in last year's elections in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. She is now trying to use that momentum to help her party win in other states. According to analysts and aides close to her, she is positioning herself to become the country's prime minister.
"People have seen my work, seen my record. Now the nation is watching what I am doing," Mayawati, 52, said recently in a rare interview with a pair of American journalists in her sprawling residence in Lucknow.
"We have this culture in India and, being a Dalit woman, I faced more of it -- doubly -- as a Dalit and as a woman," she said later. "Slowly things are changing."
For Shakuntala, the 5-foot-tall, unmarried chief minister is a towering figure.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
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"Mayawati is like a mother to me," Shakuntala whispered as a relative scolded her to return to washing the pots. "She's like a god."
'Triumph' of Democracy
Mayawati was born to a working-class family. Her parents had migrated from the villages of Uttar Pradesh to New Delhi. Her mother was illiterate and pressured by her husband to have sons, a fact Mayawati said in her autobiography that she resented. She was also angered that Dalits had to live in separate quarters from other castes.
After school, Mayawati became a government teacher and received a law degree. She often gave speeches at anti-caste rallies in New Delhi and planned to become a lawyer in the government service.
But Kanshi Ram, a well-known anti-caste activist, had other ideas. With her feisty popular appeal, Mayawati seemed to Ram to be the perfect candidate to go into politics and turn the caste system on its head. He told her so.
By the early 1990s, she was campaigning on a motorbike, darting through villages with her signature pigtails flowing behind her. In 1995, she was elected chief minister in a short-lived coalition government. She has held the post three more times. Her terms, however, have been bogged down in bitter political infighting; only one of them lasted longer than six months.
Today, with her hair cut short, Mayawati -- now referred to unflatteringly by some as the Queen of the Dalits -- travels by helicopter, a common mode of transport for India's politicians.
The shift in her ways has not gone unnoticed. Newspapers brim with stories questioning how the daughter of a postal clerk amassed a $13 million fortune.
She has said that at least $3 million of that sum came from admirers. But India's Central Bureau of Investigations discounted that claim and is looking into the possibility that the money was siphoned from a $40 million road project linking the Taj Mahal to other tourist destinations.
Other investigations have turned up inconsistencies in her persistent claims of how she derived her wealth.
Corruption allegations against Indian politicians are so common that they frequently fail to dent their reputations. Mayawati is used to such scrutiny, which she says is politically motivated to discredit her. And in any case, arguments over whether she is a Dalit savior or sinner are frequently eclipsed by her historic achievement as the first Dalit woman elected to high office.
"Mayawati is the single largest triumph of India's democracy, much like what Obama is for America but perhaps even more significant considering she has overcome both handicaps of being a Dalit as well as a woman," said Ajoy Bose, who wrote a political biography of Mayawati. "People ask me whether she is good or bad, but I am not in the business of giving character certificates. All I know is that she is very relevant and a political phenomenon not just for India but the entire world."
Mayawati's penchant for self-aggrandizing statues is seen by supporters as an act of defiance in a culture in which Dalit leaders.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
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Kneeling over a soapy bucket to wash the lunch dishes, Shakuntala said she admires Mayawati for her largess.
"She should have those things, which we all want," Shakuntala said, trudging off to get more water.
Treating the Patient
Mayawati lives in a salmon-colored mansion, and on a recent day she wore socks with sandals, a simple cotton Indian pantsuit and a diamond ring.
She was confident and relaxed, a posture that may reflect her party's new national prominence. In her drawing room, images of Dalit leaders adorn the walls, along with two busts of Buddha. Mayawati converted to Buddhism from Hinduism, which sanctions the caste system.
In state elections last year, Mayawati drew into her party Brahmins, India's highest caste of priests and intellectuals. With the ruling coalition fraying over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, she now appears to be courting Muslims and communists as well.
"An intelligent doctor would treat the disease step by step. What we are doing is step by step. I understand that for centuries people fought, so it's not easy to bring them together," Mayawati said. "We have done that in U.P."
Asked whether she wanted to become prime minister of India, she seemed to demur: "I don't indulge in self-praise, I'll become this or that. It all depends on the people. I believe in doing rather than saying."
Still, she is clear about her determination to expand her party's national footprint. She said she is so focused on her political career that she has no time for romantic relationships, movies, even extended family.
"That's why I am unmarried," she said. "I don't even keep my parents here."
'An Icon for Untouchables'
In her village about 250 miles east of Lucknow, Shakuntala attends a government school. Her teachers sometimes fail to show up for work, a widespread problem across India.
Shakuntala wants to learn English, but her father is disabled and unemployed. He can't afford to send her to private schools, which teach English and afford wealthy Indians access to higher-paid jobs.
When pressed about her ultimate dream, Shakuntala disclosed that she would like to become a schoolteacher, like Mayawati. Her eyes are weak and slightly crossed, however, making it difficult for her to read.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
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She wants to get them examined, but the local government health clinic is an empty, crumbling structure. In the nearest town's district hospital, only two full-time doctors serve nearly 300,000 people. Stray dogs wander in and out. There are no surgeons or eye doctors.
The clinics are basically drug dispensaries. Serious health issues are treated at hospitals in New Delhi, an overnight train ride from Lucknow. In effect, the clinics are like the government schools, more symbolic than functional.
"We are like pilots without planes," said Vijay Parkash, one of the two doctors at the health clinic. He said he hoped that Mayawati's recent promise of a 30-bed hospital would be more than election-year prattle.
With the aim to increase her national profile, Mayawati has embarked on several high-profile development projects, including the construction of a $9 billion highway connecting her home state to New Delhi. She wants to provide round-the-clock electricity to the state.
Critics say Mayawati's goals are too lofty for a state more in need of basic projects, even if those projects don't have the high-profile panache befitting a political leader who might soon be the country's prime minister.
"I like her for her anti-caste ideology. I like her as a woman who has become an icon for untouchables," said Kancha Ilaiah, an author who has tried to raise awareness about the injustices of caste. "But that shouldn't erase the painful lack of clean drinking water, education and health care."
For Shakuntala and many other Dalits, the symbol of Mayawati is enough, for now at least. The symbol itself gives hope to a people broken by generations of discrimination. It's a symbol that keeps Shakuntala in school, even if she wishes her school taught English and the teachers showed up more often.
"I am happy just to go," she said, shrugging.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071702719_4.html\
Will Mayawati be the next PM of India?
Who will be the next PM? While political analysts believe that BSP could emerge as a major player in the next Lok Sabha. While hopes of Mayawati becoming the next PM is high; she needs to clear her image before becoming the leader of the nation..
CJ: M Shamsur Rabb Khan , 1 day ago Views:269 Comments:2
AFTER MANMOHAN who? This is the question on everybody’s lips right now. Speculations are rife in the political circle about the possible alternative in case the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) fails to win the trust vote on July 22. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made it clear that it would prefer general elections rather than heading any sort of temporary alliance. Well, it won’t mind a Prime Minister (PM) from parties other than Congress for a short stint of one year. With leaders of various political parties working on to create alliances, the vote of confidence could result in re-alignments not just at the centre but also in the states. The only leader left is Mayawati, who can be considered for the PM post. In politics, such possibilities do happen.
Among other regional parties, the Telugu Desam has come up with an idea of supporting the proposal for making Mayawati the next PM of India. Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s (TRS) also supported this move. Many of her political friends believe she is prime ministerial material. Given her meteoritic rise in recent times, Mayawati can be the woman of the moment. As political analysts feel that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may emerge as a major player in the next Lok Sabha, the elevation of its chief to the PM’s post is very much on the cards. The national Democratic Alliance (NDA) and UPA along with other smaller parties will lend support to Mayawati if she is chosen to head the government at the centre.
If selected, Mayawati, one of the most maverick politicians and chief minister of India’s largest state with a population of 160 million people, would be the first Dalit PM of India. On the national politics, only late Jagjiwan Ram got the honour of reaching to thepost of deputy PM of India during Janta Party’s regime. In recent times, Mayawati or ’behenji’ as she is called has emerged as the most influential low-caste politician in India’s history. Whether she will become the PM remains to be seen. But her importance in the current political imbroglio can not be denied.
With her resounding victory in the last Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in 2007, Mayawati stunned all political pundits and defeated all major opponents, shaking up the country’s traditional political order, which has been dominated by upper caste inclination. Her triumph is the victory of democracy though her critics especially Mulayam Singh Yadav rates her as crude politician. Of late, she has been accused of corruption because of her unprecedented wealth.
As a vital ally, Mayawati’s BSP can play a crucial role in government formation at the centre, and as she is bent on voting against the motion, BJP and other allies who are opposed to Manmonah Singh’s N-deal may prove to be decisive. Since Samajwadi Party (SP) came to the rescue of Mayawati, the UP CM has sharpened her attacks on Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav. She is not sparing Congress Party leaders as well; especially, her target of attack has been Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru dynasty, for touring UP villages and eating and sleeping in low-caste homes. In Rahul’s growing bonhomie with Dalits, she
Other Articles by M Shamsur Rabb Khan
July 11 the day of aftermath
If Left’s support is love, its withdrawal is revenge
Are Indian selectors biased?
more >> sees the erosion of her Dalit votes.
Corruption is in fact the most serious criticism against Mayawati. The latest accusations surfaced this month when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plans to go ahead with the probe regarding the disproportionate wealth that she has accumulated. Her wealth just a year ago was four crore, which increased to 52 crore! She has a villa in the elite diplomatic enclave of New Delhi, and about five crore in bank accounts. Though Mayawati promptly denied the charges as politically motivated, she has to come clean if she is to be selected for the PM post. Just wait and watch out.
http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=137819
Maya's dream for PM's post gets more backing
19 Jul 2008, 2044 hrs IST,IANS
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati looked like emerging as the dark horse in the rapidly shifting political racetrack sands with two regional party leaders, both from Andhra Pradesh, declaring their support to her as a prime ministerial candidate on Saturday.
"Mayawati will play a crucial role in the third front. Why can't she be the prime minister," Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters after he met Mayawati at her residence here.
Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, said he would meet Mayawati again before Tuesday's crucial trust vote in parliament.
Naidu's public support for Mayawati's prime ministerial ambition came a few days after Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao met her and announced his party's backing to her.
"If and when the situation comes, we will be the first party to present Mayawati's name for the post of dalit woman prime minister. Any progressive party will be happy to support her," Rao said last week.
Mayawati's entry into the political turmoil over the India-US civil nuclear deal appears to have send worrying signals to the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and its supporters. Both the Congress and its new friend Samajwadi Party fear that the BSP supremo would poach their MPs.
Munawar Hassan, a Samajwadi Party MP who had already joined BSP, said in Lucknow that more MPs from the party are against the India-US civil nuclear deal and would be defying the party whip.
More shocking for the Samajwadi Party was the switching over of its general secretary and senior leader Shahid Siddiqui. The Rajya Sabha MP, who attended a breakfast meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence in his role as an editor of an Urdu daily, drove to Mayawati's Delhi residence straight after that to declare his allegiance to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
"Since last month, I was feeling suffocated in the party. And I was forced to support the deal. This deal is against the Muslims and India. This deal will make us the slave of the US and lead us to darkness," said Siddiqui.
"The government should go," he declared as a beaming Mayawati looked on.
The TDP chief, who has made efforts to bring the BSP and the Left closer, has been trying to get Mayawati into his almost broken United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA). The UNPA, formed a year ago as a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political alternative, is on the verge of collapse after the Samajwadi Party joined hands with the Congress.
Keen to form a third alternative, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) general secretary Prakash Karat also has met Mayawati last Sunday, inspiring the BSP chief to go ahead with her moves to spoil the plans of both the UPA and the NDA.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Whipped OFF Marxism
Whipped OFF Marxism
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 27
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
PTI reported: CPI (M) likely to send a tough message to Somnath
Exasperated by Somnath Chatterjee's refusal to resign from the Lok Sabha Speaker's post, the Central Committee of the CPI(M) is likely to send a tough message to the veteran parliamentarian during its meeting here over the weekend. As the Speaker, who was in Hyderabad today for an eye checkup, dug in his heels and refused to heed party's subtle and blatant hints, the party is said to be under pressure from its leaders for sending some strong message to him to quit.
More than a week has passed since the Left parties withdrew support to the government and virtually told him to toe the party line, the Speaker has been raising issues like the post being above partisan politics and that he cannot vote along with the 'communal' BJP.
WhiPped OFF Marxism!
Yes, it happened at last to get an Escape route for Brahminical Marxist hegemony in West Bengal!
Here you are!
An excellent synthesis of Ideology and constitution embodied in the Bolepur Don, the Speaker of Indian Parliament!
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has been left out of the whip issued by CPM to its MPs to vote against the Government in the trust vote on July 22.
Well, this is the logical result of hectic parleys in and around Indira Bhavan, salt lake , kolkata! The Bengal unit of the CPI(M) appeared to be falling behind Prakash Karat on whether Speaker Somnath Chatterjee should resign and vote against the government ahead of its state commmittee and Left Front meeting today, with transport minister Subhas Chakrabarty filing an apology for saying that he felt Chatterjee should not resign and that the CPI(M) should not vote with the BJP when the no-confidence motion was put to vote in Parliament on July 22.Chakrabarty was a protege of former chief minister and CPI(M) senior leader Jyoti Basu like Chatterjee. A section of Left leaders had interpreted his comment as reflecting the viewpoint of Basu but Basu had reportedly refused to endorse Chakrabarty's line.
The CPI(M) and state committee of the Left Front would meet in Kolkata on July 18 and 19 to discuss the July 22 vote.
The much debated issue of Somnath Chatterjee’s resignation from the post of Lok Sabha speaker finds no mention on the agenda of the two-day central committee meeting of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) beginning in Delhi from Saturday. “This issue is not on the agenda,” CPI-M central committee member Mohammad Salim told reporters here after the party’s West Bengal state secretariat meeting Friday.
Another central committee member and the state industry minister Nirupam Sen also echoed Salim.
Most amusing and entretaining part of the story is the Real life surrender of a CPIM General party who could not tame a party MP.The Kerala leadership could not repeat the experience of the Himalayan blunder while the most famous duo of opportunist alliance politics branded Ideological, comrade harkshan Surjeet, then GS and jyoti basu the prime minister candidate just failed to romp home in Power Politics in New delhi because the south Lobby with active cooperation from West Bengal pulled basu down from a climax of Rising as the first Red Star in indian destiny!
Now see the Revenge Play. No soliloquy heard but with fullest impact Basu subdued the Kerala Leadership in most humiliation!
What they planned!
THE COMMUNIST Party of India – Marxist (CPIM) would initiate action against Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for refusing to step down, according to reliable sources. The decision to take action against the obstinate Chatterjee would be taken on July 19, when the party’s Central Committee is scheduled to meet in New Delhi. As reported earlier {vide, ‘Chatterjee embarrasses the CPI-(M)'}, Chatterjee’s name figured in the list of MPs the Left Front submitted to the President when it met the latter to convey its decision to withdraw its support to the Central government. In view of this fact, senior leaders of the party, like Prakash Karat, requested Chatterjee to quit as Speaker of the Lok Sabha. But Chatterjee did not budge. He maintained that the Speaker was above party politics. So he would not quit. Instead, he would continue to discharge his duties as Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Efforts were made to persuade him to quit by seeking the intervention of senior party leader Jyoti Basu but to no avail.
What was the Result?
Election Phobia enveloped the Bengali Brahman comrades that they had to toe the Jyoti Basu line! A quite influential section of the party leadership does not favour Chatterjee resigning the Speaker’s post. The pro-Congress elements in the party have been supporting Chatterjee’s stand.
And they Won the Game outright defeating Karat and company down to earth!
And, when asked whether there is any likelihood that the matter could be discussed in the central committee meeting, Sen said: “I don’t know whether it will be placed on the table.”
CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose said Thursday that the issue could be discussed if it was raised by any member.
Meanwhile, senior party leader and state sports and transport minister Subhas Chakraborty has given a letter to Bose admitting that he made a mistake by speaking to the media about his opposition to the party’s decision to vote against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the July 22 confidence motion.
“Yes, he has given me a letter admitting his mistake,” Bose said.
Chakraborty had Monday said in a letter to party general secretary Prakash Karat that the communists would have to answer embarrassing questions from the people if their MPs voted against the Congress.
Peeved at Chakraborty’s public pronouncements, the party’s central committee had asked the state unit to seek an explanation from the firebrand leader.
The CPI-M and three other Left parties withdrew support to the UPA government, protesting its decision to go ahead with the India-US civilian nuclear deal. The Congress-led UPA government now faces a crucial floor test in the Lok Sabha to prove its majority.
The audiences to be fortunate to witness the TIMES NOW interview of the Heroic Speaker, projected as a protagonist of Parliamentary legacy and Constitutional commitment. He did never betray anything about the ongoing strategy in the Left camp. But the Lady beside him, Mrs Chatterjee looked so cool and relaxed! You might have watched. Just remember the event and decide why the lady so familiar with Parliamentary affairs and Marxist ways all these years could be so relaxed in such a hyper Tension situation!
I just told my journalist friends that you should write a scoop that CPIM would make the Speaker OFF Whip opening the Pandora`s box full of defection and divide among all political parties. Let us see how many whips would be there and how many will be violated!
it is Irony classical as the Left has managed Two votes` difference, one minus thanks to the constitutional commitment of the speaker and an ultimate casting vote of the speaker in case of a Tie! While the saviours are divided as a meeting of Samajwadi Party MPs held in New Delhi on Friday ahead of the crucial July 22 trust vote saw only 16 of the 39 Lok Sabha members turning up. It is reported widely that the Dalit Queen in Lucknow has managed to lure at least half a dozen SP MPs!The meeting, addressed by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and General Secretary Amar Singh, has assumed importance as the SP has become a crucial ally of the Congress-led coalition at the Centre ahead of the confidence motion.
The left led by CPIM talks so much on Anti fascism and Hindutva, RSS and communalism, but eventually it is ganging up with the RSS as it did in 1977 and 1989 coining some different Ideological ground. It constituted the UPA and accepted the office of the Lokasabha speaker and remained out of the GOI. Now it is the same Left which is more active to recall the RSS to resurrect the super Power Hindu Nation! It is not uncommon these days to hear that, for the first time since the first general elections in 1952, the Congress party would be reduced to a double-digit tally in the next Lok Sabha elections. Remember that the BJP already runs more state governments, either on its own or with allies, than the Congress. Remember, also, that the Congress has lost in as many ten assembly elections held after the last Lok Sabha elections in May 2004.
Exhausted over what it considers as Speaker's defiance, the CPI-M Central Committee which is meeting on July 19 and 20 is likely to discuss the issue and may come out with a strong denunciation of the MP from Bolpur.
Chatterjee is said to be miffed with the party leadership over his name being included in the list of Left MPs withdrawing support to the government without consulting him.
Friends! Since my childhood, just when I was able to make sentences in Hindi, possibly in class three situation, I had been habitual to write drafts for my Social Activist father. He could not write Hindi fluently. He did not see any college door in his life and had no confidence to write the letters in English either.
But he was the man who led a refugee movement in Siliguri, West Bengal while the Ruling Hegemony did try to convert the Refugees into the status of Tea garden coolies! it was the beginning. He never stopped. He led the Dhimri Block Peasant s` Uprising in 1958. He led refugee movement in Rudrapur in 1956. he blocked Charbag RLY station for almost two days demanding rehabilitation for the 1964 riot victim refugees from east Bengal and the Bengali Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, MRs Sucheta Kriplani! since Jyoti Basu was annoyed with the man for his over activism in Kolkata and Refugee Camps, he was exported to Charbetia camp near Cuttuk in Orissa. He mobilised the refugees in Orissa and was finally thrown in the Jungles of Terai in Nainital in 1954. He organised the first All India refugee conference in Dineshpur, Nainital in 1960. he had the courage to argue with Legendary dalit leader jogendra Nath Mandal. He was arrested in a Bhasha Andolan Procession in Dhaka. Once again in 1971, he was arrested in Dhaka after the liberation of Bengal demanding unification of divided bengal to solve refugee problems. He had relations with every Prime Minister of India since Pdt. Jawaharlal nehru to Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Late refugee leader from the Terai of Nainital, Pulin kumar Biswas defied the Party whip and stood rock solid with the riot torn dalit Bengali refugees in 1960s.
He would write everyday letters to the GOI, Chief Minister, all political parties, administrators including commissioner, DM,SP and Bengali leaders countrywide. I had to write all the drafts. My home work was based on good readings of daily newspapers in Bengali, English and Hindi. i had to read all the classic literature since childhood.
Pulin babu was concerned with his people the dalit Bengali refugees scattered countrywide. But he was the unopposed leader of terai vikas sahkari sangh and represented peasant in terai from every community. He had to raise all the issues relating peasants. He had been a communist and was always busy to sort out national and international issues. He had been a very popular orator. He always preferred to talk and contact to the highest level. He addressed the President of India and the Prime minister daily. All lettres had to be registered with acknowledgement due. Our little Post Office in Dineshpur had been always busy in posting and receiving his letters. I had to get the letters typed from Rudrapur, nine mile away from our village without any link road in those days. I used my cycle so often. At the same time I had to buy all types of News papers, mags and literature from the Roadways Book and Newspapers` Stall. Only Mr Das was a good typist available in Rudrapur. Moreover, I had to post the urgent letters from the sub post office in Rudrapur. Even as a child I was responsible to hand over some very urgent letters to the officials based in Rudrapur including the Police Station. Some times, specially in the Police station, it was never a good experience. The Police men would abuse with most vulgar language with pinch of insult and I learnt very quickly to bear with it.
In 1967, after the General Elections, crossing fences came into vogue and remained for ever. my father wrote Mrs Indira Gandhi to introduce anti defection law and sent the copies to every politician whose address could be located. I drafted the letter.But no one seemed to pay any attention in those days.
In 1974, while I was a student in GIC and grown up enough to follow Marxist ways and had been guided by Tara Chandra Tripathi, Pulin babu left home for an All India tour. Despite differences in Ideology, strategies,politics, opinion and ways, despite lack of dialogue for so long, my father kept on depending on me for his drafts. even personalities like ND Tiwari and KC Pant would like my drafting and sometimes discussed some issues obliging a boy. But I never felt obliged. KC pant was the deputy minster in the department of Energy and NDTiwari was still based in Lucknow. father travelled all the Refugee colonies country wide and beyond.
I was called from Nainital to reach New Delhi , their ultimate destination of my father. i reached there with a section of Terai Leaders who would help me to locate my father.
Well! I had to draft the Report and the report was to be submitted to the Prime Minister`s Office! KC Pant ensured an appointment with Mrs Indira Gandhi.
it was my first visit to new Delhi and I became very fond of Chandni Chowk where we stayed in a Dhrmashala opposite fountain. It was very amusing for me that my father showed me all the cremation ghats. it happened even in Kolkata in 1973 where I had to accompany my father visiting Neem tolla and Keora Tolla. I had to visit any place in New delhi for the first time and it was Raj Ghat! We visited Shantivana, Vijay Gahat,Trimurti Bhawan and Gandhi Musium!
Pulin Babu had all the appointments all along the day. i would buy some books available on footpath in chandni chowk, taste the delicosu Jalebi and enjoy some film in any cinem hall around. Father cared enough to make some excurtions involving Red Fort, Ajmeri Gate,Puran Quila, Cannught place, Kutub Minar and the Zoo also. We preferred the Motorcycle innovated scooters plying from Chandni on large scale. it was also an experience in life time that we had to buy drinking water!
I read Tara Shankar for the first time. It was a Hindi translation of kavi, the Poet!
I wonder to remember all those letters and reports drafted by me. it could not be reserved as My father could not encash his relations with topmost political and administrative personalities. We had a thatched home in Basantipur and the land property also reduced with time as it was consumed by father`s commitment and activism! I am away from my home almost thirty years! The people at home could not find any justification to keep all those documents meaningless to them. Pulin Babu had a habit to write diary daily but I could not locate any of his diary when I landed my home after his demise in cancer!
PC Alexander was perhaps the man who recieved the report fro us and frisked away us with some voucher payment as conveyance grant for my father`s All India Tour. We had to leave the PMO right from the closed doors of Mrs Indira Gandhi. This was such an Insult i could not bear.It stamped my psyche and I never tried to write to any politician since the day. It was a pity that I had to write for my father.
But personally no political leader is enough fortunate to recieve any letter signed by me! neither I tried to meet any Politician!
The gist of the story is that the proposal of Anti defection Law by my father, seemed ridiculous and irrelevant to me as in I967, as a student of a primary school and often caned by my teacher Pitamber Pant, I had grown enough to understand the ongoing infinite power game!
This bloody Anti defection Law and the idea of a Whip seem to me just a lame excuse to subvert public Accountability!
Mind you, no political party representing the Brahminical hegemony is against Strategic Realliance with corporate Imperialism. Nor any comrador Politician ever resisted colonisation of India. Ruling class never fought against Imperialism and fascism! The feudal psyche of Cheating and jugglery is the main characteristic of Indian colonised Polity since the so called Mid Night Freedom. The global ruling class is ready for super power hindu Indian Nation thisitime as once upon a time the British gifted away the Power to the Brahmins! All political parties are engaged in annihilation of Indigenous communities. They are united rock solid in the parliament to use all forces of the State power to crush nationalities and communities Indigenous. All anti People laws are passed with consensus. All policies are drawn in the best interest of the Ruling Hegemony which happens to be the best interest of the United Sates of America at the same time!
The Nuke Opera is a clear cut subversion of public Accountability!
The OFF Whip speaker is the OFF whip Marxism personified!
'Don't seek IAEA nod to draft safeguards'
Press Trust of India / Mumbai July 18, 2008, 19:26 IST
Nuclear scientists opposed Indo-US civil nuclear deal today asked the government not to proceed to seek IAEA Board's approval for the current draft safeguards agreement until its implications were fully debated within the country.
There are many key safeguards-related issues of crucial importance which have not been addressed or adequately handled in the current draft, they said in an appeal to members of Parliament four days ahead of the trust vote the government faces in Lok Sabha.
"We are of the strong opinion that the government should not proceed to seek IAEA Board's approval for the current draft safeguards agreement until its implications are fully debated by a group of experts who are not party to the IAEA negotiations," said the appeal released here today.
"We, therefore, appeal to the members of the Lok Sabha to direct the government not to proceed further with the current safeguards agreement."
"The MPs should ask the Prime Minister to initiate wide-ranging and structured deliberations on the nuclear agreement both within and outside Parliament to develop a broad consensus among political parties and general public before proceeding any further," they said.
The appeal has been signed by P K Iyengar, former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, A Gopalakrishnan, ex- Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and A N Prasad, former Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) here.
Indian Express reported very well! Just read!
New Delhi, July 18: Trust the Left to take the moral high ground and not let facts get in the way.
A year ago, jailed RJD MPs Pappu Yadav and Mohammed Shahabuddin helped the UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil become the first woman President by casting their votes in a crunch situation.
Yadav and Shahabuddin also voted in favour of Hamid Ansari, the Left’s nominee for the Vice Presidential candidate later.
But now the CPM, after its separation from the UPA, is citing “political morality” to slam the ruling alliance’s attempts to bring both these jailbirds and LJP MP Suraj Bhan to take part in the crucial July 22 trust vote.
And not naming those jailbird MPs who are likely to vote on the same side as the Left.
“While legally they may get the right to attend Parliament and vote, there is a question of political morality involved,” said a CPM Politburo statement today. “The Congress leadership will be seen by the entire country as taking recourse to convicted criminals for sustaining their government.”
Yadav was convicted in the CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar murder case and Shahabuddin is jailed in a case of kidnapping with intent to murder. Both had voted in favour of both Patil and Ansari.
While Yadav represents the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat, Shahabuddin is elected from Siwan constituency.
Interestingly, the CPM Politburo’s statement today mentioned the names of only Yadav, Shahabuddin and Bhan, omitting jailbirds who are expected to vote against the UPA.
These include BSP’s Umakant Yadav, Samajwadi Party’s Afzal Ansari and expelled SP MP Atiq Ahmed who are being aggressively courted by the BSP.
So far, Ansari hasn’t switched, claim SP leaders, while Atiq Ahmed has already said he will vote against the UPA government.
Phoolpur MP Ahmed, expelled from the Samajwadi Party after his name figured in BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, had voted in favour of Left nominee Ansari defying a party whip to vote for UNPA candidate Rashid Masood.
When asked why the Left had not opposed Yadav and Shahabuddin voting during the Presidential election, CPM Central Committee member Nilotpal Basu said, “That we will have to see, those circumstances were different and not the same as this.”
CPM leaders claim the party did not include the names of anti-UPA jailbird MPs because they were facing trial and were not convicted.
This argument rings hollow given that Shahabuddin was convicted in May, two months before he voted in the Presidential elections in July last year.
Significantly, the BSP, which has made common cause with the Left to oppose the nuclear deal, is wooing both Ansari, Ahmed, and Umakant Yadav, who was expelled from the party earlier for criminal activities.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/CPMs-high-ground-My-criminal-MP-more-moral-than-yours/337357/
The exclusion of Chatterjee is significant as the CPI(M) has so far been maintaining that he should toe the line of the party, which has decided to vote against the government.
A three-line whip was issued to 41 CPI(M) MPs asking them to reach the national capital on July 20 and be present in Lok Sabha on the next two days besides voting against the government.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat while maintaining that it was for the Speaker to take a decision on resigning his post, contended that a person holding this high office does not cease to have political affiliations.
"After someone ceases to be a Speaker, they resume political activities," he said in a newspaper interview giving clear signals that the party expects Chatterjee to step down before the trust vote.
Meanwhile,the Foreign Secy met IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna ahead of a briefing for the IAEA board of governors on the India-specific safeguards agreement!Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna on Thursday ahead of a briefing for the UN atomic watchdog's Board of Governors on the India-specific safeguards agreement. Menon had a brief meeting with the IAEA Director General, sources said. However, the details of their talks were not known. The Foreign Secretary is here to brief the 35-member IAEA Board and 19 NSG members, which are not part of the Board, on the safeguards agreement and other aspects of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
On the other hand, with small groups and independents maintaining suspense on which way they will vote, a senior Union Minister on Friday claimed "fence sitters" will side with secular parties and claimed that the government enjoyed support of 276 MPs!
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which has five MPs in Parliament, will support the UPA Govt in next week's confidence vote, said the party's chief whip, Teklal Mahto.
Ahead of Tuesday's vote, the Congress party-led ruling coalition and Opposition parties are desperately tying up support, with analysts saying the outcome was too close to call.
Exuding confidence that the UPA government will win the vote of confidence comfortably, Finance Minister P Chidambaram rejected allegations of horse-trading and corporate money power playing a role in the trial of strength.
He also made it clear that the government would not abdicate its responsibility in managing the economy saying it would be in office till the next elections.
"It is all entirely speculative. It is a creation of the media. I don't think corporates have any role in either saving or defeating the government. I think it is an exaggerated notion of corporate power," he said in an interview.
He was replying to queries on media reports about the influence of the corporates and their money power in the ensuing vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on July 22.
On the chances of government's survival, he said, "My colleagues in the party, especially party officials, are extremely confident that we will win the confidence vote comfortably."
India objects to US influence on proposals for WTO meet
Geneva (PTI): India on Friday strongly objected to the US proposing to limit flexibilities of the developing countries on their obligations for market opening agreement being negotiated under Doha Round of WTO.
India's concerns on agriculture and industrial goods were conveyed to Director General of World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, ahead of the crucial mini-Ministerial meeting being convened here from July 21.
About 40 trade ministers are participating in the five-day deliberations to reach a consensus on modalities for concluding the much-delayed negotiating round launched in 2001.
"Flexibilities for developing countries have to be adequate and appropriate for addressing the sensitivities of individual members," a statement quoting Nath said.
The negotiating text on opening the market for industrial goods released on May 19 did not satisfy India which said it had caveats on flexibilities at the instance of the US.
Nath is holding a series of bilateral meetings in the run-up to the mini-Ministerial seeking support for interest of the developing countries.
The key players, he is interacting with, include Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Argentina's Secretary of State of Commerce and International Relations Alfredo Chiaradia.
India Inc. favours early polls
18 Jul 2008, 0627 hrs IST, K V Ramana,TNN
HYDERABAD: The mood of industrialists at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)'s national council meeting in the city on Thursday was sombre, the matter of political uncertainty coming up informally at the morning session. And at the end of the session the feeling— at a meeting attended by 75 corporate chieftains— was that there be early polls to end this political uncertainty. “It's not a question of whether UPA comes out of the trust vote next week successfully or not. As businessmen, we want a stable policy making framework. An early poll could possibly ensure stability though nothing can be guaranteed,” said an industry chief who was part of the deliberations.
Though there were many views, most business barons felt that the nuclear deal would be good for the country. “We did discuss it in our morning sessions. Most of us feel that the country should go ahead with the nuclear deal,” the chief of a family-owned business house told TOI.
“The country should go in for an early poll now, may be in November. Even if the UPA wins the trust vote, an early election for Parliament and six Assemblies would only bring in more stability into the system. There is no point in continuing in a minority without being able to take any major decision,” he said.
“The situation that led to destabilising the government and the current phase of trust vote are all of great concern to the nation. By winning the trust vote, nothing is going to change in the political situation. The only option seems to be a fresh mandate for the government at the earliest,” another national council member concurred.
The Left's image with the industry seems to be at the nadir. Most business barons felt that the Left should be out of the power matrix in the future. Aligning with them would mean roadblocks on the path to genuine progress, they felt.
“Earlier on we had felt that being part of the ruling coalition would temper them. But this has not happened. Therefore better to keep them out,” a top business baron said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/India_Inc_favours_early_polls/articleshow/3247921.cms
JD(S) MPs will oppose trust vote: Veerendrakumar
Kozhikode (PTI): All the three JD(S) MPs, including H.D. Deve Gowda, will oppose the trust vote to be sought by the UPA government in the Lok Sabha on July 22, the party's Kerala unit President M P Veerendrakumar said on Friday.
"Gowda spoke to me this morning and said the JD(S) has taken a decision to oppose the confidence vote. He also wanted me to join the other two MPs in doing so and speak in Parliament as the party's Parliamentary leader", Veerendrakumar told reporters here.
Noting that he had already made his stand clear that he would not support the trust vote, Veerendrakumar said even if there was a party whip, he would defy it and vote against the government. He would speak against the nuclear deal in Parliament, he added.
UPA will lose trust vote, claims BJP
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Agencies
Posted online: Friday , July 18, 2008 at 07:49:36
Updated: Friday , July 18, 2008 at 07:49:36 Print Email To Editor Post Comments
Bangalore, July 18: Claiming the Congress-led UPA will lose the July 22 vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha, BJP on Friday said it is fully prepared for general elections.
“UPA government is already in minority. It has been admitted in the intensive care unit. It is in its last breath.
It’s sure to lose its vote of confidence on the 22nd (July)”, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters in Bangalore.
“BJP would like to state categorically that we are prepared to seek a mandate to run the nation,” Rudy said.
Reiterating that the BJP is opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal in its present form, he said in response to a question: “We (if we come to power
Countdown UPA: 4 days to go, 14 short of majority
CNN-IBN
New Delhi: Small parties have never had it as big. So who stands where in the crucial head count in the lead up to the trust vote on July 22? A check on the figures:
The UPA stands at 258, which is 14 short of the majority mark of 272.
The worry for the Government is not only to gain more MPs from smaller parties and independents but also ensure there are no frights of rebellion in its own ranks.
Left plus BJP plus BSP plus sizeable others make it an impressive 264.. This means that to cross the half-way mark of 271, the Government still needs the support of 14 more MPs.
Where will they come from?
The survival of the Government now depends on the 20 MPs who have not yet decided on their stand.
These include five MPs of Shibu Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, three Independents and three MPs from Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
National Conference and JD(S) with two MPs each are also in the undecided category. Giving them company are Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, 1 MP of the Mizo National Front and 1 MP of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
That's not all. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is also non-committal.
In the event of a tie, his vote will decide if Manmohan Singh Government falls or survives.
Published on Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 08:30, Updated at Fri, Jul 18, 2008 in Nation section
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/countdown-upa-4-days-to-go-14-short-of-majority/69081-3.html
Deny government legitimacy for sealing deal: CPI(M)
Special Correspondent
Deal is the conduit to trap India into the U.S. imperialist web, says editorial
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Left will work to prevent India “from becoming a subordinate ally of U.S. imperialism”
BJP has its own reasons in its “restless urge to return to power”
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NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has said the Manmohan Singh government, set to take a trust vote in the Lok Sabha on July 22, required the legitimacy to go in for the India-U.S. nuclear deal which will be set on auto-pilot once the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors approved the safeguards agreement with India.
“For precisely this reason, the government needs to be defeated in order to ensure that the India-U.S. nuclear deal does not get this required legitimacy. Those of us opposing this deal on its own content and, more importantly, as it serves as the conduit to trap India into the U.S. imperialist web of global strategic designs, will have to vote in full strength to ensure this,” said an editorial in the coming issue of the party organ People’s Democracy.
“This, naturally, raises the question whether the CPI(M) and the Left would like to be seen on the same side as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the communal forces in voting against the Manmohan Singh government. Particularly since the Left’s outside support to this UPA government, based on a Common Minimum Programme, was aimed at keeping the communal forces away from the reins of State power.” “The moot question here is to protect the country from the consequences of this India-U.S. nuclear deal which imply protecting India’s sovereignty, independent foreign policy and independence in dealing with our security concerns. This requires that this government be defeated in this trust vote. The Left will, thus, discharge its responsibility in our national interest by voting against the government,” the editorial “Stop Deal, Defeat Trust Vote” said. The editorial said the Left was clear in its approach. “It shall work to achieve its objective of upholding our national interests and preventing India from becoming a subordinate ally of U.S. imperialism.”
Main grouse
“The BJP, indeed, has its own reasons for voting against the UPA government, in its restless urge to return to power. The process of strengthening the strategic relationship with U.S. imperialism was, indeed, begun by the BJP-led NDA government. Unfortunately, the UPA government carried this forward. The BJP’s main grouse may well be that such an India-U.S. nuclear deal should have been concluded under the patronage of its government and not by Manmohan Singh.
“This is obvious from the fact that during the entire tenure of the 14th Lok Sabha, the BJP, as the principal Opposition party, did not even move the customary no-confidence motion. If it was so strongly opposed to this deal, then it could very well have moved a no-confidence motion. The fact that it chose not to do so clearly shows that it does not wish to displease the U.S. Bush administration.
“By now it is clear that the Prime Minister had made serious efforts to rope in the support of the BJP for the deal. By describing the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as the ‘Bhishma Pitamah’ of Indian politics, he negotiated and it is widely believed that he had allayed the BJP’s objections to the deal in writing,” the editorial said.
The BJP may be opposing the trust motion so as to force early elections which it may consider to its electoral advantage, the editorial said. It said that in the Left-ruled States of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the BJP does not have a single elected MLA, leave alone a Lok Sabha MP.
The CPI(M)’s consistent and unequivocal opposition to communalism was there for all to see, it said, adding that the Left required no certificates for its secular credentials. On the contrary, during the last four years in 13 State elections, many of them being ruled by the Congress and its allies, the BJP and its allies had been able to defeat the Congress and form governments.
“The experience of the past four years has shown that the growing popular discontent due to the economic burdens imposed on the people as a result of the policies pursued by the Manmohan Singh government is presenting the communal forces a big electoral advantage,” the editorial said.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/18/stories/2008071861401600.htm
'It has become like a game of the mafia now'
July 18, 2008
Will the Congress make it past the magic number of 272 in the trust vote on July 22?
This is something that has everyone guessing as the battle for numbers rages full time. Several leaders feel the manner in which the ruling Congress is going about things is similar to the IPL auction which took place last March.
Former Rajya Sabha member and Trinamul Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi believes if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images], who is considered an honest politician, can go to any extent to win the numbers, there is no hope left for democracy.
Trivedi spoke to Special Correspondent Vicky Nanjappa about his party's stand on the trust vote, the nuclear deal, and about the levels leaders are going to to stay n in power.
Has your party taken any decision on the trust vote?
A decision is yet to be taken. We are meeting on July 20 to finalise our stand. However, let me tell you that our basic principle would be to keep equi-distance from both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
All you want to know about the trust vote
What are your feelings on the trust vote and the manner in which the Congress is going up to toggle up the numbers?
It is hard to say whether the Congress will make it or not. However, the manner in which the numbers game is being played is shameful. Why is a party with a 123-year-old history stooping to such a level? The Congress should appeal to the conscience of the people and not stoop to unimaginable extent in order to win the trust vote.
There is a lot of talk about horse-trading and even MPs with criminal backgrounds being wooed into voting for the Congress.
If Dr Manmohan Singh, who is perceived to be honest, can go to any extent to save the government then there is very little hope left for democracy. The Congress has put both the British and Moghuls to shame. According to me, the real Congress left with Rajiv Gandhi. What is the Congress trying now? Now they have changed the name of an airport to keep their hopes alive. It is quite unimaginable to think what they would do next. It has become more like a game of the mafia now.
This is the time to bring in the Vohra Committee report on Crimilisation of Politics into play. Each one including Dr Singh is bargaining for himself and not for the country. Worse, all this is being done for three to four months of survival. I would also like to ask as to why Rahul Gandhi, who speaks for the youth, is keeping quiet. The hopes of the youth are being dashed with this kind of politics.
Do you think the Speaker should have acted?
If the Speaker could have suspended eight MPs without a hearing, then why is he keeping quiet now? There are stories of MPs being purchased, and this is an indication of wholesale corruption. Where is the Speaker's morality now? He spoke about morality when he suspended eight MPs. Why is this situation any different?
Do you think the nuclear deal is good for the country and should the government have gone ahead with it?
The nitty-gritty of the safeguards should be gone into in order to make any sort of a comment regarding the deal being good or not. Without doing so it is difficult to comment. Although there is no Constitutional requirement that the ratification of Parliament is needed in order to go ahead with the deal, I still do believe that the safeguards should not have been kept a secret. What is so secretive about it?
What do you think the Manmohan Singh government should have done?
I feel the government should have discussed it threadbare and gone ahead with the deal with conviction. It looks like a desperate bid to push the deal through during the government's last few days of survival. The deal should have gone through much earlier if everything was clear, according to the Congress.
How do you react to the manner in which the CPI-M has gone about things?
The hypocrisy of the CPI-M has been exposed. When the Congress wanted a vote in Parliament, they discouraged it. Moreover, (Science and Technology Minister) Kapil Sibal went on record stating that the CPI-M had told them to go ahead with the deal and had no objection. If this is not hypocrisy, then what is?
Do you think the CPI-M was being taken for a ride? A coordination committee had been set up to discuss the issue and without any final decision being taken in the committee, the Congress went ahead with the deal.
Everyone knows what transpired at the coordination committee meetings. The CPI-M was keener on bargaining on Nandigram [Images]. Both the Congress and CPI-M behaved like private limited companies on this issue. During the meetings all they had was samosas and in the bargain each one has been exposed now. No one will trust the CPI-M ever again.
http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/18inter1.htm
An Uncertain Deal with India
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Jayshree Bajoria
Council on Foreign Relations
Friday, July 18, 2008; 10:58 AM
The U.S.-India agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation, touted as a significant step in strategic ties, has so far proved a difficult ride for both governments. Time is running out for both President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seal the deal before their countries go to the polls. Earlier this month, Singh finally submitted India's plan for safeguarding (PDF) its civilian nuclear facilities for review (BBC) by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But the IAEA's approval, required before the deal can move forward, is only the first of many challenges.
The deal also requires the approval of the forty-five member Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Indian parliament, and the U.S. Congress. All member countries of the suppliers group, which includes China, will have to agree to exempt India from rules prohibiting nuclear sales to countries that do not accept full-scope safeguards agreements on all of their nuclear facilities. (India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty). Experts see irony if such an exemption were to occur, as the suppliers group was created in 1974 following India's first nuclear test to restrict the spread of nuclear technology for weapons programs. Meanwhile, before the Indian parliament can vote on the deal, the Singh government has to win a trust vote (VOA) on July 22 to stay in power. The government's Communist allies, opposed to the nuclear pact, withdrew support (Hindu) on July 8. Singh's party says it has secured support from new allies.
President Bush has his own problems persuading Congress to pass the deal before it adjourns for the year on September 26. The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, a Washington-based nonpartisan policy organization, has asked the suppliers group and Congress not to make a hasty decision on the nuclear agreement, saying it undermines global nonproliferation efforts. Both U.S. presidential candidates Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) have indicated support for the deal, but it is not clear if they would present it to Congress in its current form.
Some analysts object to the deal because it fails to restrain India's nuclear weapons program. Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, argues in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that "fueling India's civilian reactors with foreign fuel is not all that peaceful." The Bush administration has tried to convince Congress that the enabling U.S. legislation for the nuclear deal, the Hyde Act, has mechanisms to check India's nuclear weapons ambitions. However, the Indian government is indicating the opposite. To win over its parliamentary allies, the prime minister's office insists the nuclear deal overrides the Hyde Act (Hindu). A July 15 government statement says, "the agreement will in no way impinge on our [India's] strategic programme, which is entirely outside the purview of the IAEA safeguards agreement."
Plus, India is seeking a suppliers group exemption from restrictive conditions on nuclear testing, such as those laid down by the Hyde Act. Unless the suppliers group puts similar conditions on sales to India, some experts say, New Delhi will be free to buy nuclear fuel from others without having to worry about U.S. law. While some experts tout the deal as a boon to U.S. civilian nuclear business, others say its commercial impact may be limited. The deal holds little advantage for the United States beyond symbolism, argues Leonard S. Spector, a nonproliferation expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Russian and French firms are better positioned to reap the benefits of opening up nuclear sales to India, he says.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071801269.html
The final countdown for India
By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - India's ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will face a crucial confidence vote early next week that will decide the fate not only of the government but also the India-United States civilian nuclear deal. If the government loses the vote, the country faces early elections and the nuclear deal will probably be scuttled.
The Congress-led UPA government was reduced to a minority on July 8 when the four-party left front withdrew its support to the ruling coalition. While the government's circulation of the draft safeguards agreement among the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)board members was the immediate provocation for the left's decision to pull the plug, the larger reason is its opposition to the nuclear deal itself and the undue US influence
on Indian foreign policy that it allegedly engenders.
The UPA coalition came to power in May 2004 with the outside support of the left. Over the past four years, the UPA-left relationship has been strained, with the latter often threatening to walk out. The threatened divorce has finally happened over the nuclear deal.
Proponents of the nuclear deal argue that it will end three decades of India's nuclear isolation and will provide India with much-needed access to nuclear fuel and technology. It will enable India to engage in nuclear trade.
It has been a long, arduous journey since the agreement was signed in 2005, and several more tortuous steps remain before the agreement can be operationalized. The IAEA board has to clear the India-specific safeguards agreement. The board is scheduled to take up the issue for discussion on August 1. Then the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has to agree to make an exception in its rules that would permit its 45 members to engage in civilian nuclear trade with India - which has a nuclear weapon - even though it is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. After that, the US president will have to determine that India has fulfilled its part of the deal and send it to the US Congress for its assent.
But these steps lie ahead. The immediate hurdle the UPA government faces is a trust vote in parliament on July 21-22.
The UPA government has only 226 members in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the Lower House of parliament. After the 59-member left front pulled out support, the government is 46 seats short of a simple majority. Support from the Samajwadi Party (SP), which has 39 seats, had emboldened the Congress to defy the left. With full SP support it was still seven short, but that was a number it could woo, the UPA thought.
Things have not turned out quite that easy. Now the UPA has found that the SP is not in a position to deliver all 39 votes. Two SP members parliament (MPs) have said they will vote against the UPA and another is cooling his heels in jail.
What is more, the support of even UPA constituents is in doubt. The five-MP Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is demanding plum posts in the cabinet in return for its support.
The larger parties have shown their hand. The charge against the UPA will be led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the left and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). As of now, the NDA appears to be holding together. One of its main constituents, the right-wing Shiv Sena, had at one point said it supported the nuclear deal, raising hopes in the UPA. But such hopes were dashed when the Shiv Sena clarified that it intended voting against the government.
The UPA also hoped to win the support of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with the emotional appeal that as a Sikh party it should not bring down a government led by a Sikh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After some dillydallying, the SAD has said it too will vote against the government.
The UPA is now scouting around for support from smaller parties. In what is likely to be a close contest, every single vote will count. It is reaching out to independents representing constituencies in India's geographic extremities and engaging in hectic bargaining with smaller parties. Their support will not come easy as they are demanding much in return for their valuable votes.
The two-MP Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), a former UPA constituent, wants a separate Telangana state to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the two-MP Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) wants cabinet berths and a seat-sharing arrangement in general elections and the two-MP Janata Dal (Secular) is still bargaining hard. Small parties these might be, but their demands are large.
Senior Congress sources told Asia Times Online on Wednesday that the party is "100% confident at this juncture of 260 votes". It is having to crawl for the remaining 12 votes.
To save one deal - the nuclear deal - the UPA is having to make several other deals. "It should not be seen as deal-making," said Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari in justifying the bargaining. "It's give and take."
Hectic efforts are on at poaching support by dangling ministerships and large sums of money. Parties like the SP are expected to keep their flock physically together to ensure that the opposition isn't able to reach them and rival BSP has promised its sitting MPs that they will be renominated for the next election.
With every vote mattering, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a constituent of the UPA, is working hard to get its jailbird MPs over to parliament on Tuesday. Two RJD MPs are serving time for very serious crimes. Not to be left behind, a BSP leader dashed to Farukhabad jail to sound out the party's incarcerated MP about the upcoming vote.
The trust vote has triggered a dramatic re-alignment in Indian politics. For the first time ever, the left, practitioners of class politics, will join forces with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which believes in caste-based mobilization. More ironic, is that the left is joining hands with the right-wing BJP to bring down the government. As for the new camaraderie between the Congress and the SP, this is clearly a marriage of convenience. Neither is in a position to face the electorate, hence their newfound togetherness.
No party has behaved in a principled manner in the current crisis and no party is likely to come out of this confidence vote clean. If the Congress' deal-making to survive the vote is disgusting, the BJP's decision to oppose the nuclear deal is unprincipled.
It was under a BJP-led government that India tested nuclear weapons in 1998 and it was the BJP that subsequently initiated the process that has now culminated in the nuclear deal. Had this deal been offered while the BJP was in power, it would have surely accepted it. What is more, the BJP is not opposed to India's warming relations with the US either. In fact, BJP foreign minister Jaswant Singh spent months pursuing a "special relationship" with Washington. Still, the party will vote against the government on Tuesday.
As for the left, its MPs will thunder in parliament on Monday about the UPA's anti-poor policies and its romancing of the "forces of imperialism". Its claim to speak on behalf of the poor would have had some credibility had it pulled out support from the government on issues like farmers' suicides or spiraling prices.
Several left MPs are unhappy with the decision to vote with the BJP to bring down the government. Prominent among them is veteran communist leader Somnath Chatterjee, speaker of the House.
The UPA will be hoping that supporters of the nuclear deal in the NDA, and those in the left that are uneasy with voting with the BJP, will come to its aid on Tuesday by voting with the UPA or at least abstaining.
Trust votes in India's parliament are known for their drama. They are preceded by horse-trading, wheeling and dealing and no one is quite sure about the loyalty of their flock. Trust votes have often been nail-biting affairs. The vote on Tuesday will be no different. Political parties have brought out the whips to keep their flocks together. Yet they will nervously be watching for rebels among their ranks.
In 1999, the BJP government was up against a no-confidence vote. It lost by a whisker - one vote. And the government fell.
On Tuesday, it could be a couple of jailbirds that rescue the UPA government and the nuclear deal.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Another blow for 'headless' India-US deal (Feb 7, '08)
US deal with India draws more fire
(Aug 17, '07)
1. A war just waiting to happen
2. Financial collapse edges closer
3. Retirement cash put to work
4. Afghan attack resonates in Washington
5. Forget those retirement plans
6. Jaws close in on Bernanke
7. Midnight in the kindergarten
of good and evil
8. Karzai nods to US, winks to Iran
9. Syria basks in diplomatic breakthrough
10. An immigration conundrum in Japan
11. Iran-US: A study in misperceptions
12. Tilting at China's red windmills
(24 hours to 11:59 pm ET,Jul 15, 2008)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JG17Df01.html
Cong, BJP helping each other: CPM
Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI, July 17: Answering the Congress’ charge of joining hands with the BJP on the nuclear deal, the CPI (M) today said it was in fact the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who had “negotiated” with the BJP on the issue by calling the former PM, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Bhishma Pitamah (father-figure) of Indian politics and had allayed the BJP’s objections in writing.
In the forthcoming issue of its official journal, People’s Democracy, the CPI (M) said the Congress and the BJP were “helping” each other through their policies; and the BJP’s soft corner for the government was proved by the fact that as the main Opposition party had failed to bring in a single no-confidence motion against the government.
The Left party said the BJP was not really opposed to the deal. In fact, it was always for the deal and its only regret was that it could not seal it during its rule. The BJP was now planning to oppose the UPA’s trust vote because it wanted early elections, and gain from the government’s failure to tackle problems like price-rise and agrarian crisis.
The CPI (M) said in the Left-ruled states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the BJP did not have a single elected MLA, leave alone a Lok Sabha MP. This was the result of the CPI (M)’s “consistent and unequivocal opposition to communalism”.
In spite of that, winning 54 of the 61 Left MPs to the 14th Lok Sabha by defeating Congress candidates, the Left did not hesitate to support a secular UPA government from the outside led by the same Congress, the CPI (M) said, adding: “The Left, hence, requires no certificates from anybody for its secular credentials.”
On the contrary, the Congress fight against communalism was such that in the last four years, in 13 state elections, many of them ruled by the Congress and its allies, the BJP and its allies could win and form governments, the
CPI (M) said.
Cong MLAs stage walkout to protest Left stand on UPA
KOLKATA, July 17 : In a bid to differentiate the CPI-M line of Opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal from that of BJP, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, chief minister admitted in so many words in the state Assembly today that the Congress-led UPA government led its Left allies down the garden path even as it was putting the final touches to the inking of the deal. As the discussions initiated by Mr Rabindranath Mondal, a
CPI-M MLA was about to begin, the Congress MLAs walked out shouting slogans that the Left Front MPs were about to vote in Parliament with their BJP counterparts whom the former had once labelled as communal till recently.
The Opposition of the Left to long term strategic partnership with the USA was opposed in the Common Minimum Program, the chief minister said. The UPA government had assured us that it would not go ahead with the nuclear deal without our knowledge, Mr Bhattacharjee said. But despite surviving on our support, the UPA have chosen to tread the path of proximity to the USA, a dangerous trend in the foreign policy which was initiated by the NDA government. Voting against the government on this issue, the BJP and other MPs belonging to the NDA combine would be “opposing this deal merely for the sake of opposition”, he added.
The Left which had opposed the domestic policy of successive Congress governments but extended its support on foreign policy matters whether it was on Suez crisis or Bangladesh, Mr Bhattacharjee said. The stand of the then united CPI and its subsequent split over the differences over 1962 Chinese aggression found no mention in the chief minister's speech. Lambasting the IAEA, Hyde Act and other agreements with the USA as infringements on the foreign policy, Mr Bhattacharjee said that the hurry in pushing the deal through is owing to the commitment of Mr George Bush, the US president who is committed to some manufacturers of nuclear reactors. n SNS
Kerala legislators busy with trust vote speculation
July 18th, 2008 - 9:41 pm ICT by IANS - Email This Post
Thiruvananthapuram, July 18 (IANS) As Delhi witnesses hectic political activity ahead of the confidence vote for the Manmohan Singh government, down south in Kerala, the precincts of the state assembly Friday were also abuzz with speculation on the outcome. The state assembly is currently holding its session which would end a day after the July 22 confidence vote, but legislators fortifying themselves over a meal at the canteen Friday were leaving no possibility unexplored as they deliberated on the possible vote result.
Kerala has 140 legislators of which 98 belong to the ruling Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). The remaining belong to the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
The latest news doing the rounds is that the lone Kerala Congress (Joseph) Lok Sabha member Francis George is likely to vote for the confidence motion.
“Will that happen, I don’t think so, because his party is an ally of the ruling LDF here,” two-time Revolutionary Socialist Party legislator Kovoor Kunjumon intervened while having his meal.
“Didn’t you see today’s New Indian Express, where it is mentioned that George will vote for the confidence motion,” quipped a journalist.
“If that be the case, then their party’s Minister for Public Works Mons Joseph will have to step down,” said CPI-M legislator Saju Paul.
“Didn’t you hear that crores (millions) are being offered to parliament members belonging to small parties to vote for the Manmohan Singh government. Sad, if it is true, the levels to which democracy has stooped,” said CPI-M legislator M.K. Purushothaman.
But former Ernakulam Lok Sabha member and senior Congress legislator K.V. Thomas has no doubts about the outcome.
“Our government will sail smoothly and there is no need for any concern at all,” said a confident Thomas to IANS.
Possibilities for new ramification
The Panchayat poll this time around has gave such a devastating blow to the CPI (M) that their brave new world of shopping malls, flyovers, dubious industrial projects and fraudulent
special economic zones has come crashing down,
writes Parag Biswas
The stunning defeat the Marxists suffered in the panchayat elections in half of rural Bengal has brought home to them the truth that they have been living in a make-believe world where only the Tatas, the Salims, the Premjis and Dhoots exist, while the nameless, faceless millions of rural poor have melted into thin air.
We need to move beyond the cliché of recent months when politicians and their ilk in different sections argued that the results of the elections to the local bodies in West Bengal would be the ultimate twist for what would accrue in the coming years. Any particular event in politics is only partly true at any given point of time, and like any half-truth, it often turns out to be dubious. But its relevance, nonetheless, remains indisputable.
A host of factors has come to light. First, the Congress and Trinamul Congress not only retain their popular appeal among the people, they are also gaining new ground to re-establish themselves. They are positioning themselves to exploit their adversaries’ follies and foibles, and that is what politics is all about. Electoral success works like an aphrodisiac in pushing to the background — even if temporarily — the two partys’ ideological confusion and the manifest disarray of transition in their leadership abilities.
Second, the Congress and TMC have vastly exaggerated their capacity to regenerate popular appeal. The results of the elections to the local bodies show that despite the internal squabbles in the two parties, at best they could say their decline in recent years has somewhat slowed down. But that is a far cry from claiming that their are reversing the decline.
Third, the trend continues to run in favour of Left wing political parties. There is no doubt that the CPI (M) is no longer the darling of the rural masses in the state, but it still continues to be the fountainhead of Bengali nationalism in spite of its deplorable performance in many quarters; it was and stays in power.
Considering that North Bengal is an important bastion of traditional support for the CPI (M)’s tally in the legislative assembly, uncertainties arise in many districts, which will be having a greater impact in the state election.
But there are wider implications of the results of the elections to the local bodies. What lies ahead? For the Trinamul Congress, the local bodies’ election results come as a tremendous booster of political gravitas. Even its worst detractors will have to admit that much. The party is definitely on the comeback trail in state politics. We can no longer be dismissive of the party’s expectations of capturing power in the next assembly elections as a sheer flight of fancy. The TMC can look forward to projecting itself in coming months as a credible alternative to the present dispensation at the state level.
For the CPI(M), the results of the elections to the local bodies came as a litmus test of its popular appeal after being in power in West Bengal for 31 years. The party’s national leadership campaigned actively. It cannot credibly argue at this stage that the results of the elections to the local bodies are a flash in the pan stemming from capitalist reactions.
The party should have strong reason to estimate that the lacklustre performance of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government, the image of the CPI(M) having pursued elitist economic policies, the forceful acquisition of fertile lands for industrial purposes, the dithering on the economic and educational fronts at several points over the last 25 years, the inherent self-contradictions within the Left Front, the simmering discontent among the people in Darjeeling on the failure of the ruling Left Front and its alleged stooge, the Gorkha National Liberation Front, to mitigate the sufferings and to redress the grievances of the people in the hills, and the growing economic hardships of the common man — all these are combining to pose a formidable political challenge.
It’s unfortunate that the CPI(M) has hardly anything to offer that catches the imagination of the electorate. And there are serious limits to enchasing populist measures in the run-up to elections at the time of elections. The Bengali electorate is simply getting savvier day by day.
The CPI(M) has important decisions to make. The inflation index, which is actually in double digits in real terms already for the Indian consumer, is poised to go up further. Life for the common man is going to be even harsher in the coming months as the price hike of consumer products will be inevitable.
The CPI(M) inherits the political legacy of the hard times lying ahead. There is no reason to believe that the political ground can be significantly retrieved in the months ahead. On the other hand, further erosion of the party’s popularity becomes a real possibility.
Second, the loss of local bodies to the TMC and Congress makes it imperative for the CPI(M) to reverse the tables in the forthcoming elections to the local bodies in north Bengal. Yet, nothing is certain in politics. If the CPI(M) doesn’t capture power in at least one of the opposition-held local bodies in Siliguri subdivision, which has been its traditional stronghold, and retain its power, that would create another political legacy of grave negative proportions that could turn out to be overwhelming as it edges closer to the state election.
Incidentally, the TMC and the Congress party’s virtual certainty to capture new political ground lies in the districts of north Bengal, where it hopes to make inroads into the Left parties’ tallies in the coming assembly election. In political terms, the TMC and Congress party’s ability to hurt the electoral prospects of the Left parties has increased following the elections to the local bodies.
Again, by drawing the Trinamul Congress to its side in its agitation on the issue of admission to all those who had applied for admission to the under-graduate courses in the colleges of Siliguri subdivision, the Congress is certainly mulling an alignment with the TMC, at least in North Bengal, which will significantly diminish the capacity of the Left parties to achieve a simple majority in the assembly. For the first time in recent memory, top leaders of the two parties openly led a joint agitation against the ruling Left Front after the 15 July violence at the Shiemangal Singh High School campus of the newly-opened Munshi Premchand Mahavidyalaya at Haiderpara in Siliguri.
It is an interesting thought for the Left parties, which mastered coalition politics far ahead of any other party, whether the Darjeeling district TMC and Congress leadership actually worked towards this end or things simply took a momentum of their own.
The Congress and the TMC are bouncing back with gusto into mainstream party politics in the state after the years of drift and alienation, while the CPI (M) is in the process of revitalising its Left Front alliance.
As conceivably, the state, whose inhabitants still shudder to recall the days of political instability during the mid-70s, are heading for a hung assembly, as neither the Congress, nor the TMC, and nor the CPI (M)-led Left Front can hope to achieve an absolute majority in the next general elections.
The results of the elections to the local bodies may, therefore, hold an important message for the electorate in West Bengal: Should it give the Left Front yet another chance to rectify its “historical blunders,” or should it vote a new party to power?
Farmers know their land will give income for generations and they won’t have to retire as workers have to. The Marxists pretend
not to know these simple truths. The dilemma facing the electorate will be acute. But the decision would have to be ultimately taken
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=31&theme=&usrsess=1&id=214324
From The Sunday Times, London
July 13, 2008
The credit crunch is bringing Marxism back into fashion
Cosmo Landesman
Recently, at a celebrity-studded publishing party, I met a beautiful busty blonde who looked as though she had just stepped off the cover of Playboy magazine. "Are you a model?" I asked. "No," she purred, "I'm a Marxist."
Later that evening she said: "Would you like to come up to my place and see my collection of Marxist literature?" I thought she was joking – until, back at her flat, she took me by the hand, led me to her bedroom and showed me her secret passion: 40 volumes of the collected works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was when she began to explain the intricacies of dialectical materialism that I made my excuses and left.
I was telling a friend about my strange Marxist encounter when he told me his. In May he had attended a private meeting of about 50 British academics at King's College, Cambridge to discuss the events of May 1968. (King's had been a hotbed of Marxist agitation and student radicalism in 1968.) My friend was shocked to find among the group a collection of hardcore, unrepentant believers whom he dubbed "the time-warp Trots". "'They were all old, but still had that scruffy student dress sense and scraggily beards, just like in '68," he said. "One poor bloke was banging on about the revolution as if it was still actually happening."
I was surprised to hear this, for I was under the impression that Marxists were the lost tribe of British politics. Once a proud and mighty people, they had been wiped out by the virus of neo-liberalism in the 1980s.
But the marginalised and melancholic Marxists of yesterday are feeling very upbeat today. Why? It's the economy, stupid – or should that be the stupid economy of capitalism? The credit crunch, the decline in the housing market, the Northern Rock crisis, the rising cost of fuel and food, the spectre of recession, inflation and high unemployment have highlighted crucial flaws – to their eyes – in the free market.
Even among sections of the conservative-minded middle class one hears the kind of language and anticapitalist sentiments once found only in Marxist circles. At dinner parties there is resentful talk about City "fat cats", the "ridiculous" sums earned by venture capitalists and the growing inequalities of wealth.
Could it be that the Marxists are ready to make a comeback? This may sound like an absurd suggestion, but there was a time in the 1950s when the free-market philosophers – Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek et al – were considered to be a spent force. Then the postwar consensus with its belief in welfare capitalism collapsed in 1979 and the winter of discontent and those thinkers made a dramatic return in the 1980s.
A good place to see the current state of British Marxism is the annual Marxist "festival of resistance" that takes place in London. It has become the radical left's very own Glastonbury, a place where Marxists can plan revolution and let their hair down. Organised by the Socialist Workers party (SWP), it's a five-day think fest featuring 200 debates and events. You can discuss everything from Marx's theory of capitalist accumulation to "queer theory".
I went to the very first Marxist festival back in 1977, more out of curiosity than any real conviction. At that time lefties seemed to be the chosen people; Vanessa Redgrave was the poster girl of revolutionary politics. I was an idealist looking for a Big Idea and Marxism seemed to offer that. So I was curious to see how things had changed in more than 30 years: back then Marxism was in its heyday, at least among a generation of young intellectuals and academics. It was the era when sociology ruled the humanities and pot, radical politics and sexual promiscuity were all the rage – or so Malcolm Bradbury's 1975 novel The History Man suggested.
Set in a fictitious university in 1972, Bradbury's novel tells the story of the trendy and faddish Marxist sociologist Howard Kirk – self-appointed champion of the oppressed and the campus lothario. To many on the right, Bradbury's novel was proof that Marxist academics were subverting the minds of the young.
But the power and prestige of Marxism quickly faded as the Kirk generation grew older and gave up dreams of revolution for careers in academia. Then came the fall of the Soviet bloc in 1989 and the Soviet Union itself in 1991. Marxism was officially dead and Francis Fukuyama, in his book The End of History and the Last Man, claimed that liberal capitalism had won the great ideological battle. So when I arrived at the opening session of the Marxism 2008 festival I expected to find only a dozen ancient Marxists raising arthritic fists as speakers denounced the evils of capitalism.
But no. The opening rally – at the central hall of the Friends Meeting House – was packed with more than 2,000 people. The audience was a mix of young and old; mature Marxist puritans from the public sector unions and punky and pierced antiglobal protester types. From all over the country they came, clutching sleeping bags, babies and their programmes to hear the likes of Tony Benn and Tariq Ali denounce capitalism.
Across walls and balconies were colour-ful banners bearing such slogans as "People, not profits" and "Renationalise now". At one point the crowd broke out into a loud and spontaneous chant of "The workers, united, will never be defeated!" It was like stepping back in time and hearing the true believers of a forgotten faith.
The mood of the festival this year was optimistic. After all, there's nothing like a crisis of capitalism to gladden the heart of a heartless Marxist who has been waiting for the return of class war since the winter of discontent. Tony – a lifelong trade union activist – was an old-fashioned Trot "and bloody proud of it" he told me with a smile. He was rejoicing that the Marxists' moment had come. "The present crisis is a vindication of what we've been telling people for decades – capitalism is unfair and it doesn't bloody work."
Were all the young people I saw part of a new generation of Marxists? Not really. With the exception of younger members of the SWP, it was hard to find any young person who would call themselves a Marxist. They have a much more pick'n'mix attitude to politics than we did – a bit of green, a touch of Marx and a dash of antiglobalism is more their style.
The nearest I got to a young Marxist was John, a 20-year-old student from Essex University wearing a Lenin badge, who described himself as a "critical Marxist". John explained his position: "I don't accept everything Marx said. You have to take the bits that are still relevant.'"
So much for the young – what about that generation of '68, what has happened to them? According to Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at Kent University and a former Marxist himself: "You rarely bump into a Marxist on campus these days." According to Furedi, what you have now is a kind of "Marxism lite . . . a very simplistic view of the world that blames capitalism for all evils".
Alex Callinicos, a leading Marxist theo-retician, a member of the SWP and professor at King's College London, disagrees: "In the English-speaking world there's been a significant revival of Marxism in the academy over the past few years. I've noticed a growing number of PhD students and young academics interested in Marxism."
Hugo Radice is a lecturer in international political economy at Leeds University and, unlike so many academics I spoke to, is happy to admit that he is a Marxist. Does he feel a bit of a dodo? "No, not at all. There are fewer Marxists around, but Marxism as an academic discipline is very much alive in the field of international politics and economy. Also in business studies you will find plenty of active Marxists."
Curiously, the place where Marxism seems to flourish is the United States. "If you go to college campuses in America, you are much more likely to bump into people who call themselves Marxist than in Britain," says Furedi. "But it's much more of a radical lifestyle thing – students wearing Che T-shirts. A Marxist has become a term for anyone who doesn't like capitalism."
I doubt if Marxism will ever regain the position it once had. You have only to look around to see that when the older generation of academic Marxist superstars – Terry Eagleton and Eric Hobsbawm – pass away there won't be anyone to take their place. History may not have ended as Fukuyama claimed, but the History Men have.
--
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
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Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 27
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
PTI reported: CPI (M) likely to send a tough message to Somnath
Exasperated by Somnath Chatterjee's refusal to resign from the Lok Sabha Speaker's post, the Central Committee of the CPI(M) is likely to send a tough message to the veteran parliamentarian during its meeting here over the weekend. As the Speaker, who was in Hyderabad today for an eye checkup, dug in his heels and refused to heed party's subtle and blatant hints, the party is said to be under pressure from its leaders for sending some strong message to him to quit.
More than a week has passed since the Left parties withdrew support to the government and virtually told him to toe the party line, the Speaker has been raising issues like the post being above partisan politics and that he cannot vote along with the 'communal' BJP.
WhiPped OFF Marxism!
Yes, it happened at last to get an Escape route for Brahminical Marxist hegemony in West Bengal!
Here you are!
An excellent synthesis of Ideology and constitution embodied in the Bolepur Don, the Speaker of Indian Parliament!
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has been left out of the whip issued by CPM to its MPs to vote against the Government in the trust vote on July 22.
Well, this is the logical result of hectic parleys in and around Indira Bhavan, salt lake , kolkata! The Bengal unit of the CPI(M) appeared to be falling behind Prakash Karat on whether Speaker Somnath Chatterjee should resign and vote against the government ahead of its state commmittee and Left Front meeting today, with transport minister Subhas Chakrabarty filing an apology for saying that he felt Chatterjee should not resign and that the CPI(M) should not vote with the BJP when the no-confidence motion was put to vote in Parliament on July 22.Chakrabarty was a protege of former chief minister and CPI(M) senior leader Jyoti Basu like Chatterjee. A section of Left leaders had interpreted his comment as reflecting the viewpoint of Basu but Basu had reportedly refused to endorse Chakrabarty's line.
The CPI(M) and state committee of the Left Front would meet in Kolkata on July 18 and 19 to discuss the July 22 vote.
The much debated issue of Somnath Chatterjee’s resignation from the post of Lok Sabha speaker finds no mention on the agenda of the two-day central committee meeting of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) beginning in Delhi from Saturday. “This issue is not on the agenda,” CPI-M central committee member Mohammad Salim told reporters here after the party’s West Bengal state secretariat meeting Friday.
Another central committee member and the state industry minister Nirupam Sen also echoed Salim.
Most amusing and entretaining part of the story is the Real life surrender of a CPIM General party who could not tame a party MP.The Kerala leadership could not repeat the experience of the Himalayan blunder while the most famous duo of opportunist alliance politics branded Ideological, comrade harkshan Surjeet, then GS and jyoti basu the prime minister candidate just failed to romp home in Power Politics in New delhi because the south Lobby with active cooperation from West Bengal pulled basu down from a climax of Rising as the first Red Star in indian destiny!
Now see the Revenge Play. No soliloquy heard but with fullest impact Basu subdued the Kerala Leadership in most humiliation!
What they planned!
THE COMMUNIST Party of India – Marxist (CPIM) would initiate action against Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for refusing to step down, according to reliable sources. The decision to take action against the obstinate Chatterjee would be taken on July 19, when the party’s Central Committee is scheduled to meet in New Delhi. As reported earlier {vide, ‘Chatterjee embarrasses the CPI-(M)'}, Chatterjee’s name figured in the list of MPs the Left Front submitted to the President when it met the latter to convey its decision to withdraw its support to the Central government. In view of this fact, senior leaders of the party, like Prakash Karat, requested Chatterjee to quit as Speaker of the Lok Sabha. But Chatterjee did not budge. He maintained that the Speaker was above party politics. So he would not quit. Instead, he would continue to discharge his duties as Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Efforts were made to persuade him to quit by seeking the intervention of senior party leader Jyoti Basu but to no avail.
What was the Result?
Election Phobia enveloped the Bengali Brahman comrades that they had to toe the Jyoti Basu line! A quite influential section of the party leadership does not favour Chatterjee resigning the Speaker’s post. The pro-Congress elements in the party have been supporting Chatterjee’s stand.
And they Won the Game outright defeating Karat and company down to earth!
And, when asked whether there is any likelihood that the matter could be discussed in the central committee meeting, Sen said: “I don’t know whether it will be placed on the table.”
CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose said Thursday that the issue could be discussed if it was raised by any member.
Meanwhile, senior party leader and state sports and transport minister Subhas Chakraborty has given a letter to Bose admitting that he made a mistake by speaking to the media about his opposition to the party’s decision to vote against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the July 22 confidence motion.
“Yes, he has given me a letter admitting his mistake,” Bose said.
Chakraborty had Monday said in a letter to party general secretary Prakash Karat that the communists would have to answer embarrassing questions from the people if their MPs voted against the Congress.
Peeved at Chakraborty’s public pronouncements, the party’s central committee had asked the state unit to seek an explanation from the firebrand leader.
The CPI-M and three other Left parties withdrew support to the UPA government, protesting its decision to go ahead with the India-US civilian nuclear deal. The Congress-led UPA government now faces a crucial floor test in the Lok Sabha to prove its majority.
The audiences to be fortunate to witness the TIMES NOW interview of the Heroic Speaker, projected as a protagonist of Parliamentary legacy and Constitutional commitment. He did never betray anything about the ongoing strategy in the Left camp. But the Lady beside him, Mrs Chatterjee looked so cool and relaxed! You might have watched. Just remember the event and decide why the lady so familiar with Parliamentary affairs and Marxist ways all these years could be so relaxed in such a hyper Tension situation!
I just told my journalist friends that you should write a scoop that CPIM would make the Speaker OFF Whip opening the Pandora`s box full of defection and divide among all political parties. Let us see how many whips would be there and how many will be violated!
it is Irony classical as the Left has managed Two votes` difference, one minus thanks to the constitutional commitment of the speaker and an ultimate casting vote of the speaker in case of a Tie! While the saviours are divided as a meeting of Samajwadi Party MPs held in New Delhi on Friday ahead of the crucial July 22 trust vote saw only 16 of the 39 Lok Sabha members turning up. It is reported widely that the Dalit Queen in Lucknow has managed to lure at least half a dozen SP MPs!The meeting, addressed by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and General Secretary Amar Singh, has assumed importance as the SP has become a crucial ally of the Congress-led coalition at the Centre ahead of the confidence motion.
The left led by CPIM talks so much on Anti fascism and Hindutva, RSS and communalism, but eventually it is ganging up with the RSS as it did in 1977 and 1989 coining some different Ideological ground. It constituted the UPA and accepted the office of the Lokasabha speaker and remained out of the GOI. Now it is the same Left which is more active to recall the RSS to resurrect the super Power Hindu Nation! It is not uncommon these days to hear that, for the first time since the first general elections in 1952, the Congress party would be reduced to a double-digit tally in the next Lok Sabha elections. Remember that the BJP already runs more state governments, either on its own or with allies, than the Congress. Remember, also, that the Congress has lost in as many ten assembly elections held after the last Lok Sabha elections in May 2004.
Exhausted over what it considers as Speaker's defiance, the CPI-M Central Committee which is meeting on July 19 and 20 is likely to discuss the issue and may come out with a strong denunciation of the MP from Bolpur.
Chatterjee is said to be miffed with the party leadership over his name being included in the list of Left MPs withdrawing support to the government without consulting him.
Friends! Since my childhood, just when I was able to make sentences in Hindi, possibly in class three situation, I had been habitual to write drafts for my Social Activist father. He could not write Hindi fluently. He did not see any college door in his life and had no confidence to write the letters in English either.
But he was the man who led a refugee movement in Siliguri, West Bengal while the Ruling Hegemony did try to convert the Refugees into the status of Tea garden coolies! it was the beginning. He never stopped. He led the Dhimri Block Peasant s` Uprising in 1958. He led refugee movement in Rudrapur in 1956. he blocked Charbag RLY station for almost two days demanding rehabilitation for the 1964 riot victim refugees from east Bengal and the Bengali Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, MRs Sucheta Kriplani! since Jyoti Basu was annoyed with the man for his over activism in Kolkata and Refugee Camps, he was exported to Charbetia camp near Cuttuk in Orissa. He mobilised the refugees in Orissa and was finally thrown in the Jungles of Terai in Nainital in 1954. He organised the first All India refugee conference in Dineshpur, Nainital in 1960. he had the courage to argue with Legendary dalit leader jogendra Nath Mandal. He was arrested in a Bhasha Andolan Procession in Dhaka. Once again in 1971, he was arrested in Dhaka after the liberation of Bengal demanding unification of divided bengal to solve refugee problems. He had relations with every Prime Minister of India since Pdt. Jawaharlal nehru to Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Late refugee leader from the Terai of Nainital, Pulin kumar Biswas defied the Party whip and stood rock solid with the riot torn dalit Bengali refugees in 1960s.
He would write everyday letters to the GOI, Chief Minister, all political parties, administrators including commissioner, DM,SP and Bengali leaders countrywide. I had to write all the drafts. My home work was based on good readings of daily newspapers in Bengali, English and Hindi. i had to read all the classic literature since childhood.
Pulin babu was concerned with his people the dalit Bengali refugees scattered countrywide. But he was the unopposed leader of terai vikas sahkari sangh and represented peasant in terai from every community. He had to raise all the issues relating peasants. He had been a communist and was always busy to sort out national and international issues. He had been a very popular orator. He always preferred to talk and contact to the highest level. He addressed the President of India and the Prime minister daily. All lettres had to be registered with acknowledgement due. Our little Post Office in Dineshpur had been always busy in posting and receiving his letters. I had to get the letters typed from Rudrapur, nine mile away from our village without any link road in those days. I used my cycle so often. At the same time I had to buy all types of News papers, mags and literature from the Roadways Book and Newspapers` Stall. Only Mr Das was a good typist available in Rudrapur. Moreover, I had to post the urgent letters from the sub post office in Rudrapur. Even as a child I was responsible to hand over some very urgent letters to the officials based in Rudrapur including the Police Station. Some times, specially in the Police station, it was never a good experience. The Police men would abuse with most vulgar language with pinch of insult and I learnt very quickly to bear with it.
In 1967, after the General Elections, crossing fences came into vogue and remained for ever. my father wrote Mrs Indira Gandhi to introduce anti defection law and sent the copies to every politician whose address could be located. I drafted the letter.But no one seemed to pay any attention in those days.
In 1974, while I was a student in GIC and grown up enough to follow Marxist ways and had been guided by Tara Chandra Tripathi, Pulin babu left home for an All India tour. Despite differences in Ideology, strategies,politics, opinion and ways, despite lack of dialogue for so long, my father kept on depending on me for his drafts. even personalities like ND Tiwari and KC Pant would like my drafting and sometimes discussed some issues obliging a boy. But I never felt obliged. KC pant was the deputy minster in the department of Energy and NDTiwari was still based in Lucknow. father travelled all the Refugee colonies country wide and beyond.
I was called from Nainital to reach New Delhi , their ultimate destination of my father. i reached there with a section of Terai Leaders who would help me to locate my father.
Well! I had to draft the Report and the report was to be submitted to the Prime Minister`s Office! KC Pant ensured an appointment with Mrs Indira Gandhi.
it was my first visit to new Delhi and I became very fond of Chandni Chowk where we stayed in a Dhrmashala opposite fountain. It was very amusing for me that my father showed me all the cremation ghats. it happened even in Kolkata in 1973 where I had to accompany my father visiting Neem tolla and Keora Tolla. I had to visit any place in New delhi for the first time and it was Raj Ghat! We visited Shantivana, Vijay Gahat,Trimurti Bhawan and Gandhi Musium!
Pulin Babu had all the appointments all along the day. i would buy some books available on footpath in chandni chowk, taste the delicosu Jalebi and enjoy some film in any cinem hall around. Father cared enough to make some excurtions involving Red Fort, Ajmeri Gate,Puran Quila, Cannught place, Kutub Minar and the Zoo also. We preferred the Motorcycle innovated scooters plying from Chandni on large scale. it was also an experience in life time that we had to buy drinking water!
I read Tara Shankar for the first time. It was a Hindi translation of kavi, the Poet!
I wonder to remember all those letters and reports drafted by me. it could not be reserved as My father could not encash his relations with topmost political and administrative personalities. We had a thatched home in Basantipur and the land property also reduced with time as it was consumed by father`s commitment and activism! I am away from my home almost thirty years! The people at home could not find any justification to keep all those documents meaningless to them. Pulin Babu had a habit to write diary daily but I could not locate any of his diary when I landed my home after his demise in cancer!
PC Alexander was perhaps the man who recieved the report fro us and frisked away us with some voucher payment as conveyance grant for my father`s All India Tour. We had to leave the PMO right from the closed doors of Mrs Indira Gandhi. This was such an Insult i could not bear.It stamped my psyche and I never tried to write to any politician since the day. It was a pity that I had to write for my father.
But personally no political leader is enough fortunate to recieve any letter signed by me! neither I tried to meet any Politician!
The gist of the story is that the proposal of Anti defection Law by my father, seemed ridiculous and irrelevant to me as in I967, as a student of a primary school and often caned by my teacher Pitamber Pant, I had grown enough to understand the ongoing infinite power game!
This bloody Anti defection Law and the idea of a Whip seem to me just a lame excuse to subvert public Accountability!
Mind you, no political party representing the Brahminical hegemony is against Strategic Realliance with corporate Imperialism. Nor any comrador Politician ever resisted colonisation of India. Ruling class never fought against Imperialism and fascism! The feudal psyche of Cheating and jugglery is the main characteristic of Indian colonised Polity since the so called Mid Night Freedom. The global ruling class is ready for super power hindu Indian Nation thisitime as once upon a time the British gifted away the Power to the Brahmins! All political parties are engaged in annihilation of Indigenous communities. They are united rock solid in the parliament to use all forces of the State power to crush nationalities and communities Indigenous. All anti People laws are passed with consensus. All policies are drawn in the best interest of the Ruling Hegemony which happens to be the best interest of the United Sates of America at the same time!
The Nuke Opera is a clear cut subversion of public Accountability!
The OFF Whip speaker is the OFF whip Marxism personified!
'Don't seek IAEA nod to draft safeguards'
Press Trust of India / Mumbai July 18, 2008, 19:26 IST
Nuclear scientists opposed Indo-US civil nuclear deal today asked the government not to proceed to seek IAEA Board's approval for the current draft safeguards agreement until its implications were fully debated within the country.
There are many key safeguards-related issues of crucial importance which have not been addressed or adequately handled in the current draft, they said in an appeal to members of Parliament four days ahead of the trust vote the government faces in Lok Sabha.
"We are of the strong opinion that the government should not proceed to seek IAEA Board's approval for the current draft safeguards agreement until its implications are fully debated by a group of experts who are not party to the IAEA negotiations," said the appeal released here today.
"We, therefore, appeal to the members of the Lok Sabha to direct the government not to proceed further with the current safeguards agreement."
"The MPs should ask the Prime Minister to initiate wide-ranging and structured deliberations on the nuclear agreement both within and outside Parliament to develop a broad consensus among political parties and general public before proceeding any further," they said.
The appeal has been signed by P K Iyengar, former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, A Gopalakrishnan, ex- Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and A N Prasad, former Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) here.
Indian Express reported very well! Just read!
New Delhi, July 18: Trust the Left to take the moral high ground and not let facts get in the way.
A year ago, jailed RJD MPs Pappu Yadav and Mohammed Shahabuddin helped the UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil become the first woman President by casting their votes in a crunch situation.
Yadav and Shahabuddin also voted in favour of Hamid Ansari, the Left’s nominee for the Vice Presidential candidate later.
But now the CPM, after its separation from the UPA, is citing “political morality” to slam the ruling alliance’s attempts to bring both these jailbirds and LJP MP Suraj Bhan to take part in the crucial July 22 trust vote.
And not naming those jailbird MPs who are likely to vote on the same side as the Left.
“While legally they may get the right to attend Parliament and vote, there is a question of political morality involved,” said a CPM Politburo statement today. “The Congress leadership will be seen by the entire country as taking recourse to convicted criminals for sustaining their government.”
Yadav was convicted in the CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar murder case and Shahabuddin is jailed in a case of kidnapping with intent to murder. Both had voted in favour of both Patil and Ansari.
While Yadav represents the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat, Shahabuddin is elected from Siwan constituency.
Interestingly, the CPM Politburo’s statement today mentioned the names of only Yadav, Shahabuddin and Bhan, omitting jailbirds who are expected to vote against the UPA.
These include BSP’s Umakant Yadav, Samajwadi Party’s Afzal Ansari and expelled SP MP Atiq Ahmed who are being aggressively courted by the BSP.
So far, Ansari hasn’t switched, claim SP leaders, while Atiq Ahmed has already said he will vote against the UPA government.
Phoolpur MP Ahmed, expelled from the Samajwadi Party after his name figured in BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, had voted in favour of Left nominee Ansari defying a party whip to vote for UNPA candidate Rashid Masood.
When asked why the Left had not opposed Yadav and Shahabuddin voting during the Presidential election, CPM Central Committee member Nilotpal Basu said, “That we will have to see, those circumstances were different and not the same as this.”
CPM leaders claim the party did not include the names of anti-UPA jailbird MPs because they were facing trial and were not convicted.
This argument rings hollow given that Shahabuddin was convicted in May, two months before he voted in the Presidential elections in July last year.
Significantly, the BSP, which has made common cause with the Left to oppose the nuclear deal, is wooing both Ansari, Ahmed, and Umakant Yadav, who was expelled from the party earlier for criminal activities.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/CPMs-high-ground-My-criminal-MP-more-moral-than-yours/337357/
The exclusion of Chatterjee is significant as the CPI(M) has so far been maintaining that he should toe the line of the party, which has decided to vote against the government.
A three-line whip was issued to 41 CPI(M) MPs asking them to reach the national capital on July 20 and be present in Lok Sabha on the next two days besides voting against the government.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat while maintaining that it was for the Speaker to take a decision on resigning his post, contended that a person holding this high office does not cease to have political affiliations.
"After someone ceases to be a Speaker, they resume political activities," he said in a newspaper interview giving clear signals that the party expects Chatterjee to step down before the trust vote.
Meanwhile,the Foreign Secy met IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna ahead of a briefing for the IAEA board of governors on the India-specific safeguards agreement!Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna on Thursday ahead of a briefing for the UN atomic watchdog's Board of Governors on the India-specific safeguards agreement. Menon had a brief meeting with the IAEA Director General, sources said. However, the details of their talks were not known. The Foreign Secretary is here to brief the 35-member IAEA Board and 19 NSG members, which are not part of the Board, on the safeguards agreement and other aspects of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
On the other hand, with small groups and independents maintaining suspense on which way they will vote, a senior Union Minister on Friday claimed "fence sitters" will side with secular parties and claimed that the government enjoyed support of 276 MPs!
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which has five MPs in Parliament, will support the UPA Govt in next week's confidence vote, said the party's chief whip, Teklal Mahto.
Ahead of Tuesday's vote, the Congress party-led ruling coalition and Opposition parties are desperately tying up support, with analysts saying the outcome was too close to call.
Exuding confidence that the UPA government will win the vote of confidence comfortably, Finance Minister P Chidambaram rejected allegations of horse-trading and corporate money power playing a role in the trial of strength.
He also made it clear that the government would not abdicate its responsibility in managing the economy saying it would be in office till the next elections.
"It is all entirely speculative. It is a creation of the media. I don't think corporates have any role in either saving or defeating the government. I think it is an exaggerated notion of corporate power," he said in an interview.
He was replying to queries on media reports about the influence of the corporates and their money power in the ensuing vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on July 22.
On the chances of government's survival, he said, "My colleagues in the party, especially party officials, are extremely confident that we will win the confidence vote comfortably."
India objects to US influence on proposals for WTO meet
Geneva (PTI): India on Friday strongly objected to the US proposing to limit flexibilities of the developing countries on their obligations for market opening agreement being negotiated under Doha Round of WTO.
India's concerns on agriculture and industrial goods were conveyed to Director General of World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, ahead of the crucial mini-Ministerial meeting being convened here from July 21.
About 40 trade ministers are participating in the five-day deliberations to reach a consensus on modalities for concluding the much-delayed negotiating round launched in 2001.
"Flexibilities for developing countries have to be adequate and appropriate for addressing the sensitivities of individual members," a statement quoting Nath said.
The negotiating text on opening the market for industrial goods released on May 19 did not satisfy India which said it had caveats on flexibilities at the instance of the US.
Nath is holding a series of bilateral meetings in the run-up to the mini-Ministerial seeking support for interest of the developing countries.
The key players, he is interacting with, include Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Argentina's Secretary of State of Commerce and International Relations Alfredo Chiaradia.
India Inc. favours early polls
18 Jul 2008, 0627 hrs IST, K V Ramana,TNN
HYDERABAD: The mood of industrialists at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)'s national council meeting in the city on Thursday was sombre, the matter of political uncertainty coming up informally at the morning session. And at the end of the session the feeling— at a meeting attended by 75 corporate chieftains— was that there be early polls to end this political uncertainty. “It's not a question of whether UPA comes out of the trust vote next week successfully or not. As businessmen, we want a stable policy making framework. An early poll could possibly ensure stability though nothing can be guaranteed,” said an industry chief who was part of the deliberations.
Though there were many views, most business barons felt that the nuclear deal would be good for the country. “We did discuss it in our morning sessions. Most of us feel that the country should go ahead with the nuclear deal,” the chief of a family-owned business house told TOI.
“The country should go in for an early poll now, may be in November. Even if the UPA wins the trust vote, an early election for Parliament and six Assemblies would only bring in more stability into the system. There is no point in continuing in a minority without being able to take any major decision,” he said.
“The situation that led to destabilising the government and the current phase of trust vote are all of great concern to the nation. By winning the trust vote, nothing is going to change in the political situation. The only option seems to be a fresh mandate for the government at the earliest,” another national council member concurred.
The Left's image with the industry seems to be at the nadir. Most business barons felt that the Left should be out of the power matrix in the future. Aligning with them would mean roadblocks on the path to genuine progress, they felt.
“Earlier on we had felt that being part of the ruling coalition would temper them. But this has not happened. Therefore better to keep them out,” a top business baron said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/India_Inc_favours_early_polls/articleshow/3247921.cms
JD(S) MPs will oppose trust vote: Veerendrakumar
Kozhikode (PTI): All the three JD(S) MPs, including H.D. Deve Gowda, will oppose the trust vote to be sought by the UPA government in the Lok Sabha on July 22, the party's Kerala unit President M P Veerendrakumar said on Friday.
"Gowda spoke to me this morning and said the JD(S) has taken a decision to oppose the confidence vote. He also wanted me to join the other two MPs in doing so and speak in Parliament as the party's Parliamentary leader", Veerendrakumar told reporters here.
Noting that he had already made his stand clear that he would not support the trust vote, Veerendrakumar said even if there was a party whip, he would defy it and vote against the government. He would speak against the nuclear deal in Parliament, he added.
UPA will lose trust vote, claims BJP
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Agencies
Posted online: Friday , July 18, 2008 at 07:49:36
Updated: Friday , July 18, 2008 at 07:49:36 Print Email To Editor Post Comments
Bangalore, July 18: Claiming the Congress-led UPA will lose the July 22 vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha, BJP on Friday said it is fully prepared for general elections.
“UPA government is already in minority. It has been admitted in the intensive care unit. It is in its last breath.
It’s sure to lose its vote of confidence on the 22nd (July)”, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters in Bangalore.
“BJP would like to state categorically that we are prepared to seek a mandate to run the nation,” Rudy said.
Reiterating that the BJP is opposed to the Indo-US nuclear deal in its present form, he said in response to a question: “We (if we come to power
Countdown UPA: 4 days to go, 14 short of majority
CNN-IBN
New Delhi: Small parties have never had it as big. So who stands where in the crucial head count in the lead up to the trust vote on July 22? A check on the figures:
The UPA stands at 258, which is 14 short of the majority mark of 272.
The worry for the Government is not only to gain more MPs from smaller parties and independents but also ensure there are no frights of rebellion in its own ranks.
Left plus BJP plus BSP plus sizeable others make it an impressive 264.. This means that to cross the half-way mark of 271, the Government still needs the support of 14 more MPs.
Where will they come from?
The survival of the Government now depends on the 20 MPs who have not yet decided on their stand.
These include five MPs of Shibu Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, three Independents and three MPs from Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
National Conference and JD(S) with two MPs each are also in the undecided category. Giving them company are Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, 1 MP of the Mizo National Front and 1 MP of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
That's not all. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is also non-committal.
In the event of a tie, his vote will decide if Manmohan Singh Government falls or survives.
Published on Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 08:30, Updated at Fri, Jul 18, 2008 in Nation section
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/countdown-upa-4-days-to-go-14-short-of-majority/69081-3.html
Deny government legitimacy for sealing deal: CPI(M)
Special Correspondent
Deal is the conduit to trap India into the U.S. imperialist web, says editorial
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Left will work to prevent India “from becoming a subordinate ally of U.S. imperialism”
BJP has its own reasons in its “restless urge to return to power”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has said the Manmohan Singh government, set to take a trust vote in the Lok Sabha on July 22, required the legitimacy to go in for the India-U.S. nuclear deal which will be set on auto-pilot once the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors approved the safeguards agreement with India.
“For precisely this reason, the government needs to be defeated in order to ensure that the India-U.S. nuclear deal does not get this required legitimacy. Those of us opposing this deal on its own content and, more importantly, as it serves as the conduit to trap India into the U.S. imperialist web of global strategic designs, will have to vote in full strength to ensure this,” said an editorial in the coming issue of the party organ People’s Democracy.
“This, naturally, raises the question whether the CPI(M) and the Left would like to be seen on the same side as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the communal forces in voting against the Manmohan Singh government. Particularly since the Left’s outside support to this UPA government, based on a Common Minimum Programme, was aimed at keeping the communal forces away from the reins of State power.” “The moot question here is to protect the country from the consequences of this India-U.S. nuclear deal which imply protecting India’s sovereignty, independent foreign policy and independence in dealing with our security concerns. This requires that this government be defeated in this trust vote. The Left will, thus, discharge its responsibility in our national interest by voting against the government,” the editorial “Stop Deal, Defeat Trust Vote” said. The editorial said the Left was clear in its approach. “It shall work to achieve its objective of upholding our national interests and preventing India from becoming a subordinate ally of U.S. imperialism.”
Main grouse
“The BJP, indeed, has its own reasons for voting against the UPA government, in its restless urge to return to power. The process of strengthening the strategic relationship with U.S. imperialism was, indeed, begun by the BJP-led NDA government. Unfortunately, the UPA government carried this forward. The BJP’s main grouse may well be that such an India-U.S. nuclear deal should have been concluded under the patronage of its government and not by Manmohan Singh.
“This is obvious from the fact that during the entire tenure of the 14th Lok Sabha, the BJP, as the principal Opposition party, did not even move the customary no-confidence motion. If it was so strongly opposed to this deal, then it could very well have moved a no-confidence motion. The fact that it chose not to do so clearly shows that it does not wish to displease the U.S. Bush administration.
“By now it is clear that the Prime Minister had made serious efforts to rope in the support of the BJP for the deal. By describing the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as the ‘Bhishma Pitamah’ of Indian politics, he negotiated and it is widely believed that he had allayed the BJP’s objections to the deal in writing,” the editorial said.
The BJP may be opposing the trust motion so as to force early elections which it may consider to its electoral advantage, the editorial said. It said that in the Left-ruled States of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the BJP does not have a single elected MLA, leave alone a Lok Sabha MP.
The CPI(M)’s consistent and unequivocal opposition to communalism was there for all to see, it said, adding that the Left required no certificates for its secular credentials. On the contrary, during the last four years in 13 State elections, many of them being ruled by the Congress and its allies, the BJP and its allies had been able to defeat the Congress and form governments.
“The experience of the past four years has shown that the growing popular discontent due to the economic burdens imposed on the people as a result of the policies pursued by the Manmohan Singh government is presenting the communal forces a big electoral advantage,” the editorial said.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/18/stories/2008071861401600.htm
'It has become like a game of the mafia now'
July 18, 2008
Will the Congress make it past the magic number of 272 in the trust vote on July 22?
This is something that has everyone guessing as the battle for numbers rages full time. Several leaders feel the manner in which the ruling Congress is going about things is similar to the IPL auction which took place last March.
Former Rajya Sabha member and Trinamul Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi believes if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images], who is considered an honest politician, can go to any extent to win the numbers, there is no hope left for democracy.
Trivedi spoke to Special Correspondent Vicky Nanjappa about his party's stand on the trust vote, the nuclear deal, and about the levels leaders are going to to stay n in power.
Has your party taken any decision on the trust vote?
A decision is yet to be taken. We are meeting on July 20 to finalise our stand. However, let me tell you that our basic principle would be to keep equi-distance from both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
All you want to know about the trust vote
What are your feelings on the trust vote and the manner in which the Congress is going up to toggle up the numbers?
It is hard to say whether the Congress will make it or not. However, the manner in which the numbers game is being played is shameful. Why is a party with a 123-year-old history stooping to such a level? The Congress should appeal to the conscience of the people and not stoop to unimaginable extent in order to win the trust vote.
There is a lot of talk about horse-trading and even MPs with criminal backgrounds being wooed into voting for the Congress.
If Dr Manmohan Singh, who is perceived to be honest, can go to any extent to save the government then there is very little hope left for democracy. The Congress has put both the British and Moghuls to shame. According to me, the real Congress left with Rajiv Gandhi. What is the Congress trying now? Now they have changed the name of an airport to keep their hopes alive. It is quite unimaginable to think what they would do next. It has become more like a game of the mafia now.
This is the time to bring in the Vohra Committee report on Crimilisation of Politics into play. Each one including Dr Singh is bargaining for himself and not for the country. Worse, all this is being done for three to four months of survival. I would also like to ask as to why Rahul Gandhi, who speaks for the youth, is keeping quiet. The hopes of the youth are being dashed with this kind of politics.
Do you think the Speaker should have acted?
If the Speaker could have suspended eight MPs without a hearing, then why is he keeping quiet now? There are stories of MPs being purchased, and this is an indication of wholesale corruption. Where is the Speaker's morality now? He spoke about morality when he suspended eight MPs. Why is this situation any different?
Do you think the nuclear deal is good for the country and should the government have gone ahead with it?
The nitty-gritty of the safeguards should be gone into in order to make any sort of a comment regarding the deal being good or not. Without doing so it is difficult to comment. Although there is no Constitutional requirement that the ratification of Parliament is needed in order to go ahead with the deal, I still do believe that the safeguards should not have been kept a secret. What is so secretive about it?
What do you think the Manmohan Singh government should have done?
I feel the government should have discussed it threadbare and gone ahead with the deal with conviction. It looks like a desperate bid to push the deal through during the government's last few days of survival. The deal should have gone through much earlier if everything was clear, according to the Congress.
How do you react to the manner in which the CPI-M has gone about things?
The hypocrisy of the CPI-M has been exposed. When the Congress wanted a vote in Parliament, they discouraged it. Moreover, (Science and Technology Minister) Kapil Sibal went on record stating that the CPI-M had told them to go ahead with the deal and had no objection. If this is not hypocrisy, then what is?
Do you think the CPI-M was being taken for a ride? A coordination committee had been set up to discuss the issue and without any final decision being taken in the committee, the Congress went ahead with the deal.
Everyone knows what transpired at the coordination committee meetings. The CPI-M was keener on bargaining on Nandigram [Images]. Both the Congress and CPI-M behaved like private limited companies on this issue. During the meetings all they had was samosas and in the bargain each one has been exposed now. No one will trust the CPI-M ever again.
http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/18inter1.htm
An Uncertain Deal with India
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Jayshree Bajoria
Council on Foreign Relations
Friday, July 18, 2008; 10:58 AM
The U.S.-India agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation, touted as a significant step in strategic ties, has so far proved a difficult ride for both governments. Time is running out for both President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seal the deal before their countries go to the polls. Earlier this month, Singh finally submitted India's plan for safeguarding (PDF) its civilian nuclear facilities for review (BBC) by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But the IAEA's approval, required before the deal can move forward, is only the first of many challenges.
The deal also requires the approval of the forty-five member Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Indian parliament, and the U.S. Congress. All member countries of the suppliers group, which includes China, will have to agree to exempt India from rules prohibiting nuclear sales to countries that do not accept full-scope safeguards agreements on all of their nuclear facilities. (India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty). Experts see irony if such an exemption were to occur, as the suppliers group was created in 1974 following India's first nuclear test to restrict the spread of nuclear technology for weapons programs. Meanwhile, before the Indian parliament can vote on the deal, the Singh government has to win a trust vote (VOA) on July 22 to stay in power. The government's Communist allies, opposed to the nuclear pact, withdrew support (Hindu) on July 8. Singh's party says it has secured support from new allies.
President Bush has his own problems persuading Congress to pass the deal before it adjourns for the year on September 26. The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, a Washington-based nonpartisan policy organization, has asked the suppliers group and Congress not to make a hasty decision on the nuclear agreement, saying it undermines global nonproliferation efforts. Both U.S. presidential candidates Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) have indicated support for the deal, but it is not clear if they would present it to Congress in its current form.
Some analysts object to the deal because it fails to restrain India's nuclear weapons program. Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, argues in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that "fueling India's civilian reactors with foreign fuel is not all that peaceful." The Bush administration has tried to convince Congress that the enabling U.S. legislation for the nuclear deal, the Hyde Act, has mechanisms to check India's nuclear weapons ambitions. However, the Indian government is indicating the opposite. To win over its parliamentary allies, the prime minister's office insists the nuclear deal overrides the Hyde Act (Hindu). A July 15 government statement says, "the agreement will in no way impinge on our [India's] strategic programme, which is entirely outside the purview of the IAEA safeguards agreement."
Plus, India is seeking a suppliers group exemption from restrictive conditions on nuclear testing, such as those laid down by the Hyde Act. Unless the suppliers group puts similar conditions on sales to India, some experts say, New Delhi will be free to buy nuclear fuel from others without having to worry about U.S. law. While some experts tout the deal as a boon to U.S. civilian nuclear business, others say its commercial impact may be limited. The deal holds little advantage for the United States beyond symbolism, argues Leonard S. Spector, a nonproliferation expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Russian and French firms are better positioned to reap the benefits of opening up nuclear sales to India, he says.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071801269.html
The final countdown for India
By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - India's ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will face a crucial confidence vote early next week that will decide the fate not only of the government but also the India-United States civilian nuclear deal. If the government loses the vote, the country faces early elections and the nuclear deal will probably be scuttled.
The Congress-led UPA government was reduced to a minority on July 8 when the four-party left front withdrew its support to the ruling coalition. While the government's circulation of the draft safeguards agreement among the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)board members was the immediate provocation for the left's decision to pull the plug, the larger reason is its opposition to the nuclear deal itself and the undue US influence
on Indian foreign policy that it allegedly engenders.
The UPA coalition came to power in May 2004 with the outside support of the left. Over the past four years, the UPA-left relationship has been strained, with the latter often threatening to walk out. The threatened divorce has finally happened over the nuclear deal.
Proponents of the nuclear deal argue that it will end three decades of India's nuclear isolation and will provide India with much-needed access to nuclear fuel and technology. It will enable India to engage in nuclear trade.
It has been a long, arduous journey since the agreement was signed in 2005, and several more tortuous steps remain before the agreement can be operationalized. The IAEA board has to clear the India-specific safeguards agreement. The board is scheduled to take up the issue for discussion on August 1. Then the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has to agree to make an exception in its rules that would permit its 45 members to engage in civilian nuclear trade with India - which has a nuclear weapon - even though it is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. After that, the US president will have to determine that India has fulfilled its part of the deal and send it to the US Congress for its assent.
But these steps lie ahead. The immediate hurdle the UPA government faces is a trust vote in parliament on July 21-22.
The UPA government has only 226 members in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the Lower House of parliament. After the 59-member left front pulled out support, the government is 46 seats short of a simple majority. Support from the Samajwadi Party (SP), which has 39 seats, had emboldened the Congress to defy the left. With full SP support it was still seven short, but that was a number it could woo, the UPA thought.
Things have not turned out quite that easy. Now the UPA has found that the SP is not in a position to deliver all 39 votes. Two SP members parliament (MPs) have said they will vote against the UPA and another is cooling his heels in jail.
What is more, the support of even UPA constituents is in doubt. The five-MP Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is demanding plum posts in the cabinet in return for its support.
The larger parties have shown their hand. The charge against the UPA will be led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the left and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). As of now, the NDA appears to be holding together. One of its main constituents, the right-wing Shiv Sena, had at one point said it supported the nuclear deal, raising hopes in the UPA. But such hopes were dashed when the Shiv Sena clarified that it intended voting against the government.
The UPA also hoped to win the support of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with the emotional appeal that as a Sikh party it should not bring down a government led by a Sikh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After some dillydallying, the SAD has said it too will vote against the government.
The UPA is now scouting around for support from smaller parties. In what is likely to be a close contest, every single vote will count. It is reaching out to independents representing constituencies in India's geographic extremities and engaging in hectic bargaining with smaller parties. Their support will not come easy as they are demanding much in return for their valuable votes.
The two-MP Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), a former UPA constituent, wants a separate Telangana state to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the two-MP Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) wants cabinet berths and a seat-sharing arrangement in general elections and the two-MP Janata Dal (Secular) is still bargaining hard. Small parties these might be, but their demands are large.
Senior Congress sources told Asia Times Online on Wednesday that the party is "100% confident at this juncture of 260 votes". It is having to crawl for the remaining 12 votes.
To save one deal - the nuclear deal - the UPA is having to make several other deals. "It should not be seen as deal-making," said Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari in justifying the bargaining. "It's give and take."
Hectic efforts are on at poaching support by dangling ministerships and large sums of money. Parties like the SP are expected to keep their flock physically together to ensure that the opposition isn't able to reach them and rival BSP has promised its sitting MPs that they will be renominated for the next election.
With every vote mattering, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a constituent of the UPA, is working hard to get its jailbird MPs over to parliament on Tuesday. Two RJD MPs are serving time for very serious crimes. Not to be left behind, a BSP leader dashed to Farukhabad jail to sound out the party's incarcerated MP about the upcoming vote.
The trust vote has triggered a dramatic re-alignment in Indian politics. For the first time ever, the left, practitioners of class politics, will join forces with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which believes in caste-based mobilization. More ironic, is that the left is joining hands with the right-wing BJP to bring down the government. As for the new camaraderie between the Congress and the SP, this is clearly a marriage of convenience. Neither is in a position to face the electorate, hence their newfound togetherness.
No party has behaved in a principled manner in the current crisis and no party is likely to come out of this confidence vote clean. If the Congress' deal-making to survive the vote is disgusting, the BJP's decision to oppose the nuclear deal is unprincipled.
It was under a BJP-led government that India tested nuclear weapons in 1998 and it was the BJP that subsequently initiated the process that has now culminated in the nuclear deal. Had this deal been offered while the BJP was in power, it would have surely accepted it. What is more, the BJP is not opposed to India's warming relations with the US either. In fact, BJP foreign minister Jaswant Singh spent months pursuing a "special relationship" with Washington. Still, the party will vote against the government on Tuesday.
As for the left, its MPs will thunder in parliament on Monday about the UPA's anti-poor policies and its romancing of the "forces of imperialism". Its claim to speak on behalf of the poor would have had some credibility had it pulled out support from the government on issues like farmers' suicides or spiraling prices.
Several left MPs are unhappy with the decision to vote with the BJP to bring down the government. Prominent among them is veteran communist leader Somnath Chatterjee, speaker of the House.
The UPA will be hoping that supporters of the nuclear deal in the NDA, and those in the left that are uneasy with voting with the BJP, will come to its aid on Tuesday by voting with the UPA or at least abstaining.
Trust votes in India's parliament are known for their drama. They are preceded by horse-trading, wheeling and dealing and no one is quite sure about the loyalty of their flock. Trust votes have often been nail-biting affairs. The vote on Tuesday will be no different. Political parties have brought out the whips to keep their flocks together. Yet they will nervously be watching for rebels among their ranks.
In 1999, the BJP government was up against a no-confidence vote. It lost by a whisker - one vote. And the government fell.
On Tuesday, it could be a couple of jailbirds that rescue the UPA government and the nuclear deal.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Another blow for 'headless' India-US deal (Feb 7, '08)
US deal with India draws more fire
(Aug 17, '07)
1. A war just waiting to happen
2. Financial collapse edges closer
3. Retirement cash put to work
4. Afghan attack resonates in Washington
5. Forget those retirement plans
6. Jaws close in on Bernanke
7. Midnight in the kindergarten
of good and evil
8. Karzai nods to US, winks to Iran
9. Syria basks in diplomatic breakthrough
10. An immigration conundrum in Japan
11. Iran-US: A study in misperceptions
12. Tilting at China's red windmills
(24 hours to 11:59 pm ET,Jul 15, 2008)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JG17Df01.html
Cong, BJP helping each other: CPM
Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI, July 17: Answering the Congress’ charge of joining hands with the BJP on the nuclear deal, the CPI (M) today said it was in fact the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who had “negotiated” with the BJP on the issue by calling the former PM, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Bhishma Pitamah (father-figure) of Indian politics and had allayed the BJP’s objections in writing.
In the forthcoming issue of its official journal, People’s Democracy, the CPI (M) said the Congress and the BJP were “helping” each other through their policies; and the BJP’s soft corner for the government was proved by the fact that as the main Opposition party had failed to bring in a single no-confidence motion against the government.
The Left party said the BJP was not really opposed to the deal. In fact, it was always for the deal and its only regret was that it could not seal it during its rule. The BJP was now planning to oppose the UPA’s trust vote because it wanted early elections, and gain from the government’s failure to tackle problems like price-rise and agrarian crisis.
The CPI (M) said in the Left-ruled states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the BJP did not have a single elected MLA, leave alone a Lok Sabha MP. This was the result of the CPI (M)’s “consistent and unequivocal opposition to communalism”.
In spite of that, winning 54 of the 61 Left MPs to the 14th Lok Sabha by defeating Congress candidates, the Left did not hesitate to support a secular UPA government from the outside led by the same Congress, the CPI (M) said, adding: “The Left, hence, requires no certificates from anybody for its secular credentials.”
On the contrary, the Congress fight against communalism was such that in the last four years, in 13 state elections, many of them ruled by the Congress and its allies, the BJP and its allies could win and form governments, the
CPI (M) said.
Cong MLAs stage walkout to protest Left stand on UPA
KOLKATA, July 17 : In a bid to differentiate the CPI-M line of Opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal from that of BJP, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, chief minister admitted in so many words in the state Assembly today that the Congress-led UPA government led its Left allies down the garden path even as it was putting the final touches to the inking of the deal. As the discussions initiated by Mr Rabindranath Mondal, a
CPI-M MLA was about to begin, the Congress MLAs walked out shouting slogans that the Left Front MPs were about to vote in Parliament with their BJP counterparts whom the former had once labelled as communal till recently.
The Opposition of the Left to long term strategic partnership with the USA was opposed in the Common Minimum Program, the chief minister said. The UPA government had assured us that it would not go ahead with the nuclear deal without our knowledge, Mr Bhattacharjee said. But despite surviving on our support, the UPA have chosen to tread the path of proximity to the USA, a dangerous trend in the foreign policy which was initiated by the NDA government. Voting against the government on this issue, the BJP and other MPs belonging to the NDA combine would be “opposing this deal merely for the sake of opposition”, he added.
The Left which had opposed the domestic policy of successive Congress governments but extended its support on foreign policy matters whether it was on Suez crisis or Bangladesh, Mr Bhattacharjee said. The stand of the then united CPI and its subsequent split over the differences over 1962 Chinese aggression found no mention in the chief minister's speech. Lambasting the IAEA, Hyde Act and other agreements with the USA as infringements on the foreign policy, Mr Bhattacharjee said that the hurry in pushing the deal through is owing to the commitment of Mr George Bush, the US president who is committed to some manufacturers of nuclear reactors. n SNS
Kerala legislators busy with trust vote speculation
July 18th, 2008 - 9:41 pm ICT by IANS - Email This Post
Thiruvananthapuram, July 18 (IANS) As Delhi witnesses hectic political activity ahead of the confidence vote for the Manmohan Singh government, down south in Kerala, the precincts of the state assembly Friday were also abuzz with speculation on the outcome. The state assembly is currently holding its session which would end a day after the July 22 confidence vote, but legislators fortifying themselves over a meal at the canteen Friday were leaving no possibility unexplored as they deliberated on the possible vote result.
Kerala has 140 legislators of which 98 belong to the ruling Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). The remaining belong to the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
The latest news doing the rounds is that the lone Kerala Congress (Joseph) Lok Sabha member Francis George is likely to vote for the confidence motion.
“Will that happen, I don’t think so, because his party is an ally of the ruling LDF here,” two-time Revolutionary Socialist Party legislator Kovoor Kunjumon intervened while having his meal.
“Didn’t you see today’s New Indian Express, where it is mentioned that George will vote for the confidence motion,” quipped a journalist.
“If that be the case, then their party’s Minister for Public Works Mons Joseph will have to step down,” said CPI-M legislator Saju Paul.
“Didn’t you hear that crores (millions) are being offered to parliament members belonging to small parties to vote for the Manmohan Singh government. Sad, if it is true, the levels to which democracy has stooped,” said CPI-M legislator M.K. Purushothaman.
But former Ernakulam Lok Sabha member and senior Congress legislator K.V. Thomas has no doubts about the outcome.
“Our government will sail smoothly and there is no need for any concern at all,” said a confident Thomas to IANS.
Possibilities for new ramification
The Panchayat poll this time around has gave such a devastating blow to the CPI (M) that their brave new world of shopping malls, flyovers, dubious industrial projects and fraudulent
special economic zones has come crashing down,
writes Parag Biswas
The stunning defeat the Marxists suffered in the panchayat elections in half of rural Bengal has brought home to them the truth that they have been living in a make-believe world where only the Tatas, the Salims, the Premjis and Dhoots exist, while the nameless, faceless millions of rural poor have melted into thin air.
We need to move beyond the cliché of recent months when politicians and their ilk in different sections argued that the results of the elections to the local bodies in West Bengal would be the ultimate twist for what would accrue in the coming years. Any particular event in politics is only partly true at any given point of time, and like any half-truth, it often turns out to be dubious. But its relevance, nonetheless, remains indisputable.
A host of factors has come to light. First, the Congress and Trinamul Congress not only retain their popular appeal among the people, they are also gaining new ground to re-establish themselves. They are positioning themselves to exploit their adversaries’ follies and foibles, and that is what politics is all about. Electoral success works like an aphrodisiac in pushing to the background — even if temporarily — the two partys’ ideological confusion and the manifest disarray of transition in their leadership abilities.
Second, the Congress and TMC have vastly exaggerated their capacity to regenerate popular appeal. The results of the elections to the local bodies show that despite the internal squabbles in the two parties, at best they could say their decline in recent years has somewhat slowed down. But that is a far cry from claiming that their are reversing the decline.
Third, the trend continues to run in favour of Left wing political parties. There is no doubt that the CPI (M) is no longer the darling of the rural masses in the state, but it still continues to be the fountainhead of Bengali nationalism in spite of its deplorable performance in many quarters; it was and stays in power.
Considering that North Bengal is an important bastion of traditional support for the CPI (M)’s tally in the legislative assembly, uncertainties arise in many districts, which will be having a greater impact in the state election.
But there are wider implications of the results of the elections to the local bodies. What lies ahead? For the Trinamul Congress, the local bodies’ election results come as a tremendous booster of political gravitas. Even its worst detractors will have to admit that much. The party is definitely on the comeback trail in state politics. We can no longer be dismissive of the party’s expectations of capturing power in the next assembly elections as a sheer flight of fancy. The TMC can look forward to projecting itself in coming months as a credible alternative to the present dispensation at the state level.
For the CPI(M), the results of the elections to the local bodies came as a litmus test of its popular appeal after being in power in West Bengal for 31 years. The party’s national leadership campaigned actively. It cannot credibly argue at this stage that the results of the elections to the local bodies are a flash in the pan stemming from capitalist reactions.
The party should have strong reason to estimate that the lacklustre performance of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government, the image of the CPI(M) having pursued elitist economic policies, the forceful acquisition of fertile lands for industrial purposes, the dithering on the economic and educational fronts at several points over the last 25 years, the inherent self-contradictions within the Left Front, the simmering discontent among the people in Darjeeling on the failure of the ruling Left Front and its alleged stooge, the Gorkha National Liberation Front, to mitigate the sufferings and to redress the grievances of the people in the hills, and the growing economic hardships of the common man — all these are combining to pose a formidable political challenge.
It’s unfortunate that the CPI(M) has hardly anything to offer that catches the imagination of the electorate. And there are serious limits to enchasing populist measures in the run-up to elections at the time of elections. The Bengali electorate is simply getting savvier day by day.
The CPI(M) has important decisions to make. The inflation index, which is actually in double digits in real terms already for the Indian consumer, is poised to go up further. Life for the common man is going to be even harsher in the coming months as the price hike of consumer products will be inevitable.
The CPI(M) inherits the political legacy of the hard times lying ahead. There is no reason to believe that the political ground can be significantly retrieved in the months ahead. On the other hand, further erosion of the party’s popularity becomes a real possibility.
Second, the loss of local bodies to the TMC and Congress makes it imperative for the CPI(M) to reverse the tables in the forthcoming elections to the local bodies in north Bengal. Yet, nothing is certain in politics. If the CPI(M) doesn’t capture power in at least one of the opposition-held local bodies in Siliguri subdivision, which has been its traditional stronghold, and retain its power, that would create another political legacy of grave negative proportions that could turn out to be overwhelming as it edges closer to the state election.
Incidentally, the TMC and the Congress party’s virtual certainty to capture new political ground lies in the districts of north Bengal, where it hopes to make inroads into the Left parties’ tallies in the coming assembly election. In political terms, the TMC and Congress party’s ability to hurt the electoral prospects of the Left parties has increased following the elections to the local bodies.
Again, by drawing the Trinamul Congress to its side in its agitation on the issue of admission to all those who had applied for admission to the under-graduate courses in the colleges of Siliguri subdivision, the Congress is certainly mulling an alignment with the TMC, at least in North Bengal, which will significantly diminish the capacity of the Left parties to achieve a simple majority in the assembly. For the first time in recent memory, top leaders of the two parties openly led a joint agitation against the ruling Left Front after the 15 July violence at the Shiemangal Singh High School campus of the newly-opened Munshi Premchand Mahavidyalaya at Haiderpara in Siliguri.
It is an interesting thought for the Left parties, which mastered coalition politics far ahead of any other party, whether the Darjeeling district TMC and Congress leadership actually worked towards this end or things simply took a momentum of their own.
The Congress and the TMC are bouncing back with gusto into mainstream party politics in the state after the years of drift and alienation, while the CPI (M) is in the process of revitalising its Left Front alliance.
As conceivably, the state, whose inhabitants still shudder to recall the days of political instability during the mid-70s, are heading for a hung assembly, as neither the Congress, nor the TMC, and nor the CPI (M)-led Left Front can hope to achieve an absolute majority in the next general elections.
The results of the elections to the local bodies may, therefore, hold an important message for the electorate in West Bengal: Should it give the Left Front yet another chance to rectify its “historical blunders,” or should it vote a new party to power?
Farmers know their land will give income for generations and they won’t have to retire as workers have to. The Marxists pretend
not to know these simple truths. The dilemma facing the electorate will be acute. But the decision would have to be ultimately taken
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=31&theme=&usrsess=1&id=214324
From The Sunday Times, London
July 13, 2008
The credit crunch is bringing Marxism back into fashion
Cosmo Landesman
Recently, at a celebrity-studded publishing party, I met a beautiful busty blonde who looked as though she had just stepped off the cover of Playboy magazine. "Are you a model?" I asked. "No," she purred, "I'm a Marxist."
Later that evening she said: "Would you like to come up to my place and see my collection of Marxist literature?" I thought she was joking – until, back at her flat, she took me by the hand, led me to her bedroom and showed me her secret passion: 40 volumes of the collected works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was when she began to explain the intricacies of dialectical materialism that I made my excuses and left.
I was telling a friend about my strange Marxist encounter when he told me his. In May he had attended a private meeting of about 50 British academics at King's College, Cambridge to discuss the events of May 1968. (King's had been a hotbed of Marxist agitation and student radicalism in 1968.) My friend was shocked to find among the group a collection of hardcore, unrepentant believers whom he dubbed "the time-warp Trots". "'They were all old, but still had that scruffy student dress sense and scraggily beards, just like in '68," he said. "One poor bloke was banging on about the revolution as if it was still actually happening."
I was surprised to hear this, for I was under the impression that Marxists were the lost tribe of British politics. Once a proud and mighty people, they had been wiped out by the virus of neo-liberalism in the 1980s.
But the marginalised and melancholic Marxists of yesterday are feeling very upbeat today. Why? It's the economy, stupid – or should that be the stupid economy of capitalism? The credit crunch, the decline in the housing market, the Northern Rock crisis, the rising cost of fuel and food, the spectre of recession, inflation and high unemployment have highlighted crucial flaws – to their eyes – in the free market.
Even among sections of the conservative-minded middle class one hears the kind of language and anticapitalist sentiments once found only in Marxist circles. At dinner parties there is resentful talk about City "fat cats", the "ridiculous" sums earned by venture capitalists and the growing inequalities of wealth.
Could it be that the Marxists are ready to make a comeback? This may sound like an absurd suggestion, but there was a time in the 1950s when the free-market philosophers – Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek et al – were considered to be a spent force. Then the postwar consensus with its belief in welfare capitalism collapsed in 1979 and the winter of discontent and those thinkers made a dramatic return in the 1980s.
A good place to see the current state of British Marxism is the annual Marxist "festival of resistance" that takes place in London. It has become the radical left's very own Glastonbury, a place where Marxists can plan revolution and let their hair down. Organised by the Socialist Workers party (SWP), it's a five-day think fest featuring 200 debates and events. You can discuss everything from Marx's theory of capitalist accumulation to "queer theory".
I went to the very first Marxist festival back in 1977, more out of curiosity than any real conviction. At that time lefties seemed to be the chosen people; Vanessa Redgrave was the poster girl of revolutionary politics. I was an idealist looking for a Big Idea and Marxism seemed to offer that. So I was curious to see how things had changed in more than 30 years: back then Marxism was in its heyday, at least among a generation of young intellectuals and academics. It was the era when sociology ruled the humanities and pot, radical politics and sexual promiscuity were all the rage – or so Malcolm Bradbury's 1975 novel The History Man suggested.
Set in a fictitious university in 1972, Bradbury's novel tells the story of the trendy and faddish Marxist sociologist Howard Kirk – self-appointed champion of the oppressed and the campus lothario. To many on the right, Bradbury's novel was proof that Marxist academics were subverting the minds of the young.
But the power and prestige of Marxism quickly faded as the Kirk generation grew older and gave up dreams of revolution for careers in academia. Then came the fall of the Soviet bloc in 1989 and the Soviet Union itself in 1991. Marxism was officially dead and Francis Fukuyama, in his book The End of History and the Last Man, claimed that liberal capitalism had won the great ideological battle. So when I arrived at the opening session of the Marxism 2008 festival I expected to find only a dozen ancient Marxists raising arthritic fists as speakers denounced the evils of capitalism.
But no. The opening rally – at the central hall of the Friends Meeting House – was packed with more than 2,000 people. The audience was a mix of young and old; mature Marxist puritans from the public sector unions and punky and pierced antiglobal protester types. From all over the country they came, clutching sleeping bags, babies and their programmes to hear the likes of Tony Benn and Tariq Ali denounce capitalism.
Across walls and balconies were colour-ful banners bearing such slogans as "People, not profits" and "Renationalise now". At one point the crowd broke out into a loud and spontaneous chant of "The workers, united, will never be defeated!" It was like stepping back in time and hearing the true believers of a forgotten faith.
The mood of the festival this year was optimistic. After all, there's nothing like a crisis of capitalism to gladden the heart of a heartless Marxist who has been waiting for the return of class war since the winter of discontent. Tony – a lifelong trade union activist – was an old-fashioned Trot "and bloody proud of it" he told me with a smile. He was rejoicing that the Marxists' moment had come. "The present crisis is a vindication of what we've been telling people for decades – capitalism is unfair and it doesn't bloody work."
Were all the young people I saw part of a new generation of Marxists? Not really. With the exception of younger members of the SWP, it was hard to find any young person who would call themselves a Marxist. They have a much more pick'n'mix attitude to politics than we did – a bit of green, a touch of Marx and a dash of antiglobalism is more their style.
The nearest I got to a young Marxist was John, a 20-year-old student from Essex University wearing a Lenin badge, who described himself as a "critical Marxist". John explained his position: "I don't accept everything Marx said. You have to take the bits that are still relevant.'"
So much for the young – what about that generation of '68, what has happened to them? According to Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at Kent University and a former Marxist himself: "You rarely bump into a Marxist on campus these days." According to Furedi, what you have now is a kind of "Marxism lite . . . a very simplistic view of the world that blames capitalism for all evils".
Alex Callinicos, a leading Marxist theo-retician, a member of the SWP and professor at King's College London, disagrees: "In the English-speaking world there's been a significant revival of Marxism in the academy over the past few years. I've noticed a growing number of PhD students and young academics interested in Marxism."
Hugo Radice is a lecturer in international political economy at Leeds University and, unlike so many academics I spoke to, is happy to admit that he is a Marxist. Does he feel a bit of a dodo? "No, not at all. There are fewer Marxists around, but Marxism as an academic discipline is very much alive in the field of international politics and economy. Also in business studies you will find plenty of active Marxists."
Curiously, the place where Marxism seems to flourish is the United States. "If you go to college campuses in America, you are much more likely to bump into people who call themselves Marxist than in Britain," says Furedi. "But it's much more of a radical lifestyle thing – students wearing Che T-shirts. A Marxist has become a term for anyone who doesn't like capitalism."
I doubt if Marxism will ever regain the position it once had. You have only to look around to see that when the older generation of academic Marxist superstars – Terry Eagleton and Eric Hobsbawm – pass away there won't be anyone to take their place. History may not have ended as Fukuyama claimed, but the History Men have.
--
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
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