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| << March30, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Sumit and Tanika Sarkar on Aspects of Contemporary Indian |
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From: "CHROkeralam" <chro1@rediffmail.com> Date: Wed Mar 30, 2005 Subject: MODI VISA: "Was It Indian PM Or Hindutwa PM?" Gandhian Alternatives, Kerala, March 30, 2005, Wed OPEN LETTER TO SONIA GANDHI: Was it India's PM or Hindutwa PM speaking ? I am writing this to express my shock at the stand taken by the Prime Minster and the Foreign Minister on the US denial of visa to Shri Modi. This denial was by no means on the ground of Shri. Modi??™s being an Indian but on the basis of his well documented complicity in the genocide of Indians. The argument of the P.M. that Shri Modi has not been sentenced by any court with the implication that he is therefore innocent deserves unqualified condemnation as his patronage of the Gujrat genocide was crystal clear to the nation, the main reason why the lethal Hindutwa was voted out of power by the Indian poor. The P.M??™s statement constituted an insult to all those who have voted for Congress, including my humble self. It is indeed an unredeemable insult to India??™s constitutional process that Shri Modi and or his foot solders have not yet been punished for their crime. It also constitutes a betrayal of the trust the democratic and secular forces have laid on the Congress. The government has maintained shameful silence when high ranking Indian officials were truly insulted by the U.S just because they are Indians. Shri. Chidambaram, the then Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, was denied visa following the nuclear test to visit the U.S. in his capacity an vice chairman of an international scientific body. The government kept silence, even Shri. Chidambaram did not publicly disclose that he was denied the visa, but it was to be told to the Indian public by an Embassy official. And nobody responded. That was the insult and our silence was a shame. Another glaring insult to India was the dehumanising stripping of India??™s Defence Minister, not once but twice, by U.S authorities. Our government did not even register a protest. And it took the adroitly of an ex-U.S official for the Indians to be even informed of this humiliating offence to the nation. The US has not and will not strip a Caucassian official. Shri Fernandes was striped naked because he is Indian. It is mysterious how the government had come to request a diplomatic visa for Shri. Modi knowing the diplomatic risks involved and knowing that his visit was only to patronize the Hindutwa donors in the U.S. It his mysterious that this government has decided to come out in difference of the abetter of program. This was the moment the Congress has politically and morally dissolved out of existence. You probably dont have the courage to question this as you might be scared of the indecent diatribe Shri Modi is capable of unleashing on you, with a politically impotent Congress being incapable of defending you. Being the most brilliant rainbow on earth India holds a great future, not so much as a ???super power???, but as a practical model for a multicultural and sustainable society in a world turning increasingly violent and exclusionary. But people like Shri Modi and a politically impotent Congress, I am afraid, will drag the nation into a dark abyss. Is the Congress composing the requiem for the India that is built on the principles of democracy and justice? As a foot note I should mention that I am not one of those who had campaigned against Shri Modi??™s visit to US, for I knew that he would be in perfect company there. There he could have gleefully learned the means used by the Americans to annihilate an entire population of native people spread across a huge continent, the stories of how millions of Africans were enslaved/murdered would have thrown the visitor into ecstasy, he cannot have had a greater Guru than the nation that went war 45 times in past fifty years. My only point is how could the Congress government fail to see the distinction between national honour and national shame. Sincerely yours, Shanawaz Gandhian Alternatives Kerala To: Smt. Sonia Gandhi, M.P President India National Congress ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2] KERALA: BJP Denies Secret Pact With Congress chro2003 The Hindu, March 30, 2005, Wednesday BJP denies secret pact with Congress By Our Staff Reporter PATHANAMTHITTA, MARCH 29. The former BJP State president C.K. Padmanabhan has admitted that his party had failed to get the votes of its sympathisers in the last election to the Assembly in 2001. Addressing a press conference here today. Mr. Pillai said that to his knowledge, no Congress leader had held secret parleys with any of the BJP leaders seeking `support' during the last Assembly election. When asked whether some Congress leaders had sought help from the RSS, Mr. Pillai said that the RSS chief himself had clarified it in public. However, he made it clear that the Congress leader Vayalar Ravi had never held talks with the BJP leaders. The BJP had got all its political votes in the election to the Assembly, he said. The BJP leader called upon the Government to postpone the implementation of the controversial Value Added Tax (VAT) system, as it would make life miserable to the common man. The party district president, A.G. Unnikrishnan, was also present. http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/30/stories/2005033006770500.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3] KERALA: "COCA-COLA NOT SHUTTING PLACHIMADA PLANT, DESPITE REPORTS" Courtesy: CHRO & Anivar Aravind <anivar.aravind@gmail.com> 1) India Resource Center, USA, March 29, 2005, Tue. Coca-Cola Not Shutting Plachimada Plant, Despite Reports San Francisco (March 29, 2005): Recent media reports in the Indian media suggesting that Coca-Cola has offered to close its plant in Plachimada are false. "As of today, we are not aware of any such offer made by Coca-Cola," said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center. "In fact, the Coca-Cola company is not in a position to decide whether to open or shut down its bottling plant in Plachimada," continued Srivastava. "That is left to the community and the village council, who have both decided, and now the court." The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada, one of the largest in India, has remained shut down since March 9, 2004. Initially, the state government of Kerala ordered the plant to cease operations until June 15, 2004 to ease the drought conditions. The Perumatty village council (panchayat) has since refused to renew Coca-Cola's license to operate, citing the Coca-Cola company for over-exploitation of groundwater and pollution of the water and soil. As a result, the factory has been unable to start production for over a year now. Coca-Cola has appealed the panchayat's actions, and the High Court of Kerala will be hearing the case again on March 30, 2005. The shut down of the plant has made international news and is often characterized as a David vs Goliath story. The Kerala High Court, in a landmark ruling in December 2003, also found Coca-Cola's indiscriminate use of the groudwater in Plachimada to be illegal, ordering it to seek alternative sources of water for its production, and ruling that the Coca-Cola plant could only extract as much water as a farmer with 34 acres of land would. In an anti-democratic move, Coca-Cola is challenging the power of the local village council, an elected body at the most local level of governance, and a body championed by Mahatma Gandhi as the basic unit of democracy in India. Coca-Cola is arguing that the village council has no jurisdiction over its operations. The Coca-Cola company and its practices have faced growing opposition from communities across India for creating water shortages and pollution. The company has faces a series of defeats, including actions by the courts and various state agencies, all across India. Coca-Cola is banned from sale in the Parliament of India. The month of April 2005 has been designated as the month of action against Coca-Cola international, and a speaking tour in the US will begin on April 4 and end at Coca-Cola's shareholders meeting in Wilmington on April 19. More actions are planned throughout the month, including a week of action by the largest trade union in the UK, Unison, against Coca-Cola. Visit India Resource Center for the latest developments on the campaign against Coca-Cola in India and internationally. Contacts: Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center Email: amit@... Tel: 415 336 7584 http://www.indiaresource.org/press/2005/cokefalsenews.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 2) New Indian Express, March 30, 2005, Wednesday Anti-cola stir: DYFI holds human chain PALAKKAD: Hundreds of activists participated in the human chain organised by the DYFI demanding the closure of cola companies and protection to water resources. Several well-known writers and litterateurs were conspicuous by their absence from the programme. The notable absentees included Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, litterateurs Sugathakumari, M.T.Vasudevan Nair, M.Mukundan, Vaishakhan and Sara Joseph. However, the message of Medha Patkar was read out by Philip, a representative of the Narmada Bachao Andolan at the public meet held at the collectorate. Philip said that since Medha Patkar had to be in Mumbai as part of an agitation against the eviction of slum dwellers, she could not make it to Palakkad. It may be recalled that Janata Dal activists and writers like Dr Sukumar Azhikode, who actively associated with the Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samithi in Plaachimada, were not invited for the chain. Public meetings were held at ten points along the 55-km human chain route from Plaachimada and Kanjikode where the Coke and Pepsi plants are located up to the collectorate. The meet at Plaachimada was inaugurated by former MP Subashini Ali and at Kanjikode by Josephine. The first link of the human chain at Plaachimada was Mylamma, a local resident, who was actively associated with the anti-Cola stir. The first link of the chain at Kanjikode in front of the Pepsi factory was Jayanthi, president, Pudussery panchayat. Speaking at the collectorate, Opposition leader V.S.Achuthanandan said that water resources was the property of public. He charged the government with helping the Cola companies to operate and make profits. Among those who spoke included DYFI all-India general secretary Tapas Sinha, MPs N.N.Krishnadas, S.Ajay Kumar and P.A.Gokuldas, district president of the DYFI. CPM central committee member M.A.Baby and Karshaka Sangham leader C.K.P.Padmanabhan addressed the gathering at Anikode. The other leaders who addressed the gathering at various places included T.Sivadasa Menon, C.T.Krishnan, CPM district secretary P.Unni, A.K.Balan MLA, M. Chandran and K.P. Paul. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20050330040323&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3] KERALA: No Change In Political Stance Of Religious Minorities: Isaac chro2003 Offline Send Message Edit Membership New Indian Express, March 30, 2005, Wednesday No change in political stance of religious minorities:Isaac THRISSUR: While the religious minorities have reaped the benefits of various progressive movements that had taken place in the state over the years, there has not been a corresponding change in their political stance, according to Thomas Isaac MLA. He was delivering the Bishop Poulose Mar Poulose memorial lecture organised by the Bishop Poulose Mar Poulose Memorial Trust at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi here on Tuesday. Bishop Poulose Mar Poulose was a personality who was able to reinterpret Christian religious thought by linking it with the social problems of his day. But today, the Christian religious thought is being confined to the Church, he said stressing the role of religious institutions in the development agenda. Isaac stressed the need for channelising the benefits the state had reaped from the People??™S Plan to raise the prospects of progress to a new level. The government, playing a facilitating role, had a major role in thrust areas of development, he said. Isaac cited as a major challenge the disparity between the high level of consumerism and wealth on one hand and low income and investment on the other. The challenges to overcome this was the increasing limitations put forth by globalisation, unemployment, ecological crises, fresh problems arising in the health and education sectors and the decreasing role of the government in handling the problems. Kerala University former Vice-Chancellor Dr B.Ekbal stressed the need for unity between religious institutions and progressive institutions on a non-political level. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20050330040725&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4] MAHARASHTRA: A Peep Into Yerwada Women's Prison chro2003 Offline Send Message Edit Membership "Krodhi Praja Nyayadhisha", AHRC, Vol. 2, No.7/8, March 28, 2005, Monday A peep into the Yerwada Women's Prison by Junie Wadhawan, Volunteer, AHRC As I moved from one world into another through the once closed and heavily bolted elephantine gates of the Yerwada prison, I stepped into a sea of green-dotted with specks of white and orange-women dressed in different coloured saris. A sense of disquiet not quiet, discomfort not comfort, acceptance not expectance, a silence of sorts, with an occasional sound, many trees and shrubs, some chirping birds and a few slumberous cats in heavenly bliss? A marked departure from yesterday's parties, designer clothes, movies and sugar-coated popcorn, it was a world laden with sorrow, tears, losses and betrayals, angst and frustration, quashed hopes, suppressed desires sagging morales and battered egos, a world most people are fully unfamiliar with, their familiarity extending only to accounts read in papers, magazines, books or portrayed in films and documentaries. These never fully conveyed the sense of hopelessness, or helplessness that was rife in the air. Little do people know that Pune, a city well placed in many traveller's itineraries, and home to the ever popular Osho ashram also contains one of the oldest prisons in India, the Yerwada Prison. With four barracks and seven cells the women's prison built in 1927 is the only exclusive separate prison for women inmates in entire Maharashtra. The walk from the main gates to the factory at the far end of the complex is long. Also called the vocational training room, it was a large room with a small open toilet on one end. A large number of women were diligently clicking away on their sewing machines, while others sat on the floor busy binding books, some smiling away, others with sadness and anxiety writ large over their faces. The courses included tape-making aswell as candle making and embroidery, which were not held all the time. From there, we made our way to the Kitchen where preparations were going on for the evening meal. With the august heat scorching and no proper ventilation it was unbearably hot and the plight of the women prisoners struggling away with sweat streaming down their faces was really distressing. In almost all prisons in India, evening meals are served just before the barracks are locked at 6 o'clock. A long gap exists before the inmates are given their morning tea and many of them languish in hunger. There was a small counter where the canteen was set up every month for the inmates to be able to buy certain things with the earned money they accumulated. The list of items that were to be made available was varied. But the reality was much different with the items sold so few and rationed that they proved totally inadequate for the month that lay ahead. However certain inmates who were favourites would get much more than others. We then made our way to the barracks housing the convict prisoners, which were a total of 2 with one toilet in each. However there were no fans in any of them and it was difficult to even imagine the extent of discomfort faced by these women during summers when temperatures soar high. The jailer pointed out that this problem existed all over Maharashtra and though they had approached the government many times nothing had been done with the lack of adequate funds being the constant excuse. There were often quarrels, brawls and tension, which the jailer candidly attributed to the heat and sweat. Therefore the fans had to be of the required number to prevent the women from contesting over the privileged positions under it, with the aggressive ones dominating over the more timid ones. With one television in each barrack there was already tension over which channels to choose and see. In the mornings, many a woman bathed under the taps in the open courtyards for there was only one enclosure near the barracks with just one tap proving totally insufficient. There was a scarcity of water and the queue to bathe was really long with the ones at the end often not getting their turns. Many would jump lines once again resulting in altercations. There were a total of 10 toilets-2 in each barrack, 3 outside, 1 in the factory, 1 in the hospital and 1 in the condemned cell. However at nights, as the barracks were locked, the inmates could use only those toilets that were inside the barracks which often proved to be inadequate as the number of women prisoners was very large. Despite all these deprivations their plight was certainly better than of those sentenced to death in the isolated condemned cell. Not allowed to either meet anyone or engage in any activity they had only the guards for company, undoubtedly a dreary life. The mini hospital was just another set of rooms with a few beds and a room for the doctor. The facilities were quite rudimentary and even the bare required medicines seem to be missing. The undertrial section was much the same except that the women were dressed not in uniform but in ordinary clothes. It was also nosier for these women had nothing to do than to talk amongst themselves, dwell on their problems and lament on their plight. There was also a nursery cum cr?he for the young children of both convicts and undertrials along with a small playground. Children in their innocence came sliding down gaily-coloured slides, a contribution from some philanthropic organisation, little aware of the outside world. For them this was the life they had seen and were used to. As the orange sun set over the barracks, the women prisoners some slowly, some swiftly headed back to their abode for a long, noisy, hot and cramped night, yet to begin. I left to return to my cosy, air-conditioned and welcoming little niche-the distinction only too obvious. With blurred eyeballs, I realised the edifices of fortune, the hand of fate and destiny and the meaning of freedom. They, during their confines, were most certainly the disadvantaged and it was for us the more privileged ones to ensure that the disparity would not only lessen but that the distribution would be on a much fairer, impartial and just terms. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) 3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695024 Kerala South India Ph.: 0471-2476262 www.humanrightsindia.com www.humanrightskerala.com |
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| << March30, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Sumit and Tanika Sarkar on Aspects of Contemporary Indian |
March30, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]NorthEast news >> |
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