Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo
The Beautiful and the Damned, by Siddhartha Deb
India's political and business elites have long harbored a desire for their country to become a great power. They cheered when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh finalized a nuclear deal with the United States in 2008. Indian elites saw the deal, which gave India access to nuclear technology despite its refusal to give up its nuclear weapons or sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, as a recognition of its growing influence and power. And Indian elites were also encouraged when U.S. President Barack Obama announced, during a 2010 visit to India, that the United States would support India's quest to gain permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council, which would put the country on an equal footing with its longtime rival, China. In recent years, such sentiments have also spread to large segments of the Indian middle class, which, owing to the country's remarkable economic growth in the past two decades, now numbers around 300 million. Nearly nine out of ten Indians say their country already is or will eventually be one of the most powerful nations in the world, an October 2010 Pew Global Attitudes survey revealed.
Symbols of India's newfound wealth and power abound. Last year, 55 Indians graced Forbes' list of the world's billionaires, up from 23 in 2006. In 2008, the Indian automobile company Tata Motors acquired Jaguar and Land Rover; last year, Harvard Business School broke ground on Tata Hall, a new academic center made possible by a gift of $50 million from the company's chair, Ratan Tata. And in 2009, a company run by the Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, a telecommunications and Bollywood baron, acquired a 50 percent stake in Steven Spielberg's production company, DreamWorks. Gaudy, gargantuan shopping malls proliferate in India's cities, and BMWs compete with auto-rickshaws on crowded Indian roads. Tom Cruise, eyeing the enormous Indian movie market, cast Anil Kapoor, a veteran Bollywood star, in the most recent Mission: Impossible sequel and spent a few weeks in the country to promote the film. "Now they are coming to us," one Indian tabloid gloated.
But even as Indian elites confidently predict their country's inevitable rise, it is not difficult to detect a distinct unease about the future, a fear that the promise of India's international ascendance might prove hollow. This anxiety stems from the tense duality that defines contemporary India, an influential democracy with a booming economy that is also home to more poor people than any other country in the world...
Of course, staggering poverty and crippling inequality at home do not necessarily prevent countries from trying to project their power abroad. When India won its independence, in 1947, it was even poorer than it is today. Yet Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's founding prime minister, sought to raise India's international profile, providing significant political support to independence movements in British colonies in Africa and Asia and helping found the Non-Aligned Movement. Throughout the Cold War, Indian leaders sought to use their country's victory over British colonialism to inspire other subject peoples in their own struggles for self-determination -- and, in the process, to gain more global influence than otherwise might have been possible for an impoverished country. In this way, India's Cold War-era foreign policies, although primarily concerned with national interests, contained an element of idealism, and the country's growing international profile during those early decades of independence served as a powerful symbol of freedom and autonomy in the Third World.
Over time, however, India has exchanged idealism for realism, as the country's leaders have gradually abandoned an anticolonial distrust of hegemony and embraced great-power ambitions of their own. Thus, although India has made admirable progress in many areas, it is unclear whether an ever-growing Indian role in global affairs symbolizes anything more than the country's expanding definition of its self-interest. It is therefore hard to avoid feeling a sense of ambivalence when considering the prospect of India's ascent, especially when one scrutinizes the poverty, corruption, and inequality that suffuse Indian life today -- as do two recent, revealing books: Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo, and The Beautiful and the Damned, by Siddhartha Deb...
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137530/basharat-peer/indias-broken-promise?cid=soc-facebook-at-review-india_s_broken_promise-043012
Monday, 30 April 2012
No one is born with hatred or intolerance
http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=No+one+is+born+with+hatred+or+intolerance
http://pinterest.com/georgetakei/
Labour Day : An Appeal from Jan Sansad
Our Labour ! Our Strength ! Workers Power Zindabaad !
Labour Day : An Appeal from Jan Sansad
Dear Friends,
Zindabaad !
Every year the May Day is celebrated by millions of workers around the world commemorating the the hard earned workers rights after years of struggles. It is a celebration but also a time to remember the victories, defeats and challenges infront of the workers movement even as we move ahead. Workers of the world unite ! The slogan has assumed much importance and the meaning of work and labour has also gone through significant changes over years. Today nearly 93% of the workers are in the unprotected and unorganised sector who are still having to fight for their basic rights : social security, job security, pension, health and education facilities, eight hour working day, mandatory leaves, fair wages, minimum wages, right to unionise and others.
A hard fought right to form independent unions by the workers is under threat and so are other rights in the era of global capital pushing for maximum exploitation of labour and complete privatisation and contractualisation of work in neo liberal reforms era. Millions of agricultural workers, NREGA workers, construction workers, fish workers, forest workers, hawkers, and many other non-traditionally recognised forms of workers remain outside the social security net and face problems with the authorities in forming their own unions across the country. In the same way millions of workers working in manufacturing sector face the same problem most recent being Maruti factory in Gurgaon, Rockman and Satyam in Dehradun and elsewhere.
Various studies, surveys and reports have accepted the fact that this group of workers contributes more than 60% to the GDP. From road construction crews to domestic help, they work long hours for less than the minimum wage, receive no compensation for work-related injuries; and they receive no social security. About 44% of all unorganised urban workers are construction workers but they have no social security or job security, most of them migrants who stream in from remote villages where agriculture can no longer support their growing numbers. It is unfortunate that even though nearly 60% of the population is engaged in the agriculture, fishery and forestry but their total contribution to the GDP has come down to nearly 16%, indicating worst agrarian crisis fuelling large scale farmers suicide and migration.
These issues and others were discussed at Rashtriya Jan Sansad held in New Delhi (March 19 – 23), attended by nearly 7,500 people from 20 States over five days. Member's of People Parliament agreed that time has to demand rights and justice for the working class people who are running the economy today but remain unprotected and unorganised. Some of the significant resolutions from the discussions on the subject are following :
The honest producers of this country – workers, artisans, fisher folks, hawkers, and others in unprotected and unorganised sectors continue to be oppressed and often victimised. The 93% of workers who have been denied social security pensions should be given protection equivalent to the organised and secured sectors. There should be access to food, water, shelter etc. to everyone equitably. Every service, every resource or development benefits should be equitably distributed.
The Provisions for pension must be extended to the 93% workers in the informal and unorganised sector workers, the current provisions are not at all adequate. The inequality in various pension schemes in different states must be removed.
There should be an end to inequality in the country. The politicians are working only for the interests of a handful of people, not for the interests of the masses. There shouldn’t be a difference of more than 1:10 in the income of the people and a ameeri rekha should be determined. Tax should be levied on property and assets, not on small productions or incomes.
Right to Unionise is a fundamental right and it must be respected irrespective of the sector, work, etc. All forms of forced labour must be stopped effectively. There is need of comprehensive social protection for all unorganised sector workers and fair wages must be given to them.
The minimum wages must be raised to a living wage level and it must be ensured that these are remitted on time. Minimum wages should be as such that the whole family is provided for by the income of one. The below poverty line families list should be enumerated by the members of the gram sabha or the electorate of the urban areas.
There must be provisions for Rain Basera (shelter homes) for daily wagers and migrant workers. The migrant workers in cities who have faced eviction must be duly rehabilitated.
Under NREGA, work must be provided throughout the year. Corruption must be stopped in NREGA and different pension schemes must be introduced.
The ambiguities and contradictions in central and state labour laws must be removed. The labourers must be adequately represented in the labour boards.
The use of machines in PMGSY must be stopped and manual labour be implemented so that the employment can be provided to workers and their skills can also be upgraded.
There is a need for changes in the hawkers policy and provisions must be made for them to be allotted shops and given rehabilitation as per requirement.
The domestic workers must be brought under the sexual harassment act and be provided protection and security under various acts.
Many other issues were discussed during the Jan Sansad which will take forward the struggle for the development with justice and equity. The programmes emerging from the Jan Sansad will be carried forward in coming days by the movements and community groups in their regions and areas through struggles, moblisations and advocacy.
On this Mazdoor Diwas on May 1st our constituent groups organise to demand the rights, dignity and security for the 93% of the working force of this country and pave the way forward for a most just and humane society. We hope you all will join us in taking forward the struggle for a life and livelihood of dignity for millions of working class people of the country.
In Solidarity: Medha patkar, Prafulla Samantara (Orissa), Sandeep Pandey (Uttar Pradesh), Dr. Sunilam (Madhya Pradesh), Gautam Bandopadhyay (Chattisgarh), Suhas Kolhekar, Vilas Bhongade, Subhash Lomate, Sumit Wajale (Maharashtra), Shaktiman Ghosh (National Hawker Federation), P Chennaiah, Ramakrishna Raju (Andhra Pradesh), Gabriele Dietrich (Tamilnadu), Vimal Bhai (Uttarakhand), Rakesh Rafique, Manish Gupta, Rupesh Verma (Western Uttar Pradesh), Prof. Ajit Jha, Rajendra Ravi, Bhupendra Singh Rawat, Vijayan M J, Madhuresh Kumar (Delhi), Gurwant Singh (Punjab), Anand Mazgaonkar (Gujarat), Mahender Yadav (Patna, Bihar), Nizam Ansari (Bokaro, Jharkhand), Geo Jose (Kerala) and others
(Jan Sansad Coordinating Committee)
हमारी मेहनत ! हमारी शक्ति ! मजदूर एकता जिंदाबाद !
मजदूर दिवस के दिन जन संसद का एक आह्वाहन
प्रिय साथियों
जिंदाबाद !
हर साल दुनिया के लाखों करोड़ों मजदूर १ मई को मजदूर दिवस मनाते हैं | यह दिन सिर्फ जीत का जश्न मनाने का दिन नहीं, बल्कि जीत के साथ साथ हार एवं आज के समय में मजदूरों के सामने मौजूद चुनौतियों के बारे में सोचने का भी समय है | दुनिया के मजदूर एक हो! आज के दौर में इस नारे का महत्व और बढ़ गया है | आज देश में ९३ प्रतिशत मजदूर असंगठित एवं असुरक्षित वर्ग में हैं जो कि अपने बुनियादी हकों के लिए जबरदस्त संघर्ष कर रहे हैं - सामाजिक सुरक्षा, पेंसन, शिक्षा, स्वस्थ्य, आठ घंटे की समयसीमा, नौकरी के निश्चितता, नियमित छुट्टियाँ, मजदूर संघ बनाने का अधिकार, उचित मजदूरी और अन्य तमाम मुद्दे |
आज के समय में एक तरफ मजदूर निष्पक्ष मजदूर संघ बनाने के अधिकार को लेकर लड़ रहा है जहाँ उसके लिए खतरे के सिवाए कुछ नहीं है, वहीं दूसरी तरफ नव उदारवाद के दौर में वैश्विक पूंजी के आने के साथ निजीकरण एवं ठेकेदारी प्रथा बढती जा रही है | करोड़ों कि संख्या में खेतिहर मजदूर, वन श्रमजीवी, मत्स्यजीवी, नरेगा के मजदूर, खादानों में काम करने वाले मजदूर, निर्माण मजदूर, हाकर्स एवं इस तरह के तमाम गैर - परंपरागत श्रमिक सामाजिक सुरक्षा से वंचित हैं एवं देश भर में अपने संघ बनाने को लेकर सरकार से लड़ रहे हैं | उत्पादन के कामो में लगे मजदूर, चाहे वो गुडगाँव के मारुती में काम करने वाला मजदूर हो, देहरादून के सत्यम या रॉकमान का हो या कहीं और का, उसी तरह के परेशानियों को झेल रहा है |
तमाम सर्वे एवं शोध ने इस बात को साबित किया है कि जीडीपी (सकल घरेलु उत्पाद) का कूल ६० प्रतिशत इस तबके के मजदूरों कि मजदूरी के योगदान से आता है | निर्माण के क्षेत्र से लेकर घरेलू कामगारों तक यह मजदूर ८ घंटे से ज्यादा काम करते हैं जिसके एवज में उनको पूरा मजदूरी भी नहीं मिलती और न हि सामाजिक सुरक्षा | ४४ प्रतिशत से ज्यादा असंगठित / असुरक्षित शहरी मजदूर निर्माण के क्षेत्र में लगे हुए हैं जिनको न कि कोई सामाजिक सुरक्षा मिलती है और न ही काम की सुरक्षा, अधिकांशतः ये मजदूर गांव में खेती और उचित रोजगार न होने के चलते शहरों में आते हैं | यह बहुत शर्म कि बात है कि, ६० प्रतिशत से ज्यादा आबादी खेती, मत्स्य पालन जैसे कामों में लगा है लेकिन इनका सकल घरेलु उत्पाद में योगदान घट कर सिर्फ १६ प्रतिशत रह गया है और यह आंकड़े खेती में हो रहे घाटे एवं उससे हो रहे पलायन एवं आत्महत्या को दर्शाते हैं |
मार्च १९ से २३ को नयी दिल्ली में हुए राष्ट्रीय जन संसद में ५ दिनों में करीबन ७५०० लोग २० राज्यों से शामिल हुए वहाँ इन सवालों के ऊपर गहराई से चर्चा हुई | राष्ट्रीय जन संसद में आये हुए जन सांसदों ने महसूस किया कि अब वक्त आ गया है कि अर्थ व्यवस्था को चलने वाले असुरक्षित / असंगठित मजदूरों के आवाज़ को एवं उनके मांगों को आगे बढ़ाया जाये| जन संसद में पारित कुछ प्रमुख सुझाव इस प्रकार से हैं-
हमारे देश के सच्चे उत्पादक, सच्चे कुशल कारीगर, सही निर्माणकर्ता आजतक वंचित है, शोषित पीड़ित है | जिन ९३% श्रमिको को सामाजिक सुरक्षा पेंशन से वंचित रखा गया है. उन्हें संगठित – सुरक्षित क्षेत्र के श्रमिकों के बराबर सुरक्षा दी जाये | रोजी, रोटी, कपडा, मकान, हर किसी को प्राप्त हो | हर सेवा का, हर संसाधन या विकास के लाभ जैसे पानी, उर्जा का समान बटवारा हो |
जिन ९३% श्रमिको को सामाजिक सुरक्षा पेंशन से वंचित रखा गया है. उन्हें संगठित – सुरक्षित क्षेत्र के श्रमिकों के बराबर सुरक्षा दी जाये क्यूँ कि अभी के समय में जिन सुविधायों को दिया गया है वो बिलकुल हि न के बराबर है |
देश में गैरबराबरी कि हद हो चुकी है, उसे खत्म किया जाये, राजनेता खुद और मुट्ठी भर लोगों के उपभोग के पक्ष में है, न की सबकी जरूरत पूर्ति के | आय में किसी भी कीमत पर १:१० से अधिक का फर्क न रहे, देश में 'अमीरी रेखा' सुनिश्चित करने की आज जरुरत है | अधिकांश कर संग्रह (टैक्स) सम्पत्ति पर हो, न की छोटे – बड़े उत्पादन या आय से |
संघ बनाने के अधिकार बुनियादी अधिकारों में से है उस अधिकार को हर एक तबके के मजदूरों के लिए लागू करना चाहिए |
हर तरह के बंधुआ मजदूरी को खतम करना चाहिए | सभी मजदूरों को सामाजिक सुरक्षा कानून के तहत सुरक्षा प्रदान किया जाये एवं सभी को न्यूनतम मजदूरी दिया जाये | (न्यूनतम) मजदूरी इतनी हो कि पूरे परिवार का पालन पोषण एक के रोजगार से मिले | गरीबी रेखा के नीचे के परिवारों की सूचि ग्रामसभा तय करे और शहर में वार्डसभा तय करे |
दिहाड़ी मजदूरों के लिए एवं बाहर से आये हुए मजदूरों के लिए रेन बसेरा का प्रावधान रखा जाये एवं जब शहरों में मजदूरों के बस्तियों को विस्थापित किया जाता है तो उनका सही जगह में पुनर्वसन किया जाये |
नरेगा कानून के अंदर पुरे साल काम देने का प्रावधान हो | एवं नरेगा में चल रहे भ्रष्टाचार को तुरंत खतम किया जाये |
केंद्र एवं राज्य सरकारों के बीच श्रम कानूनों के भेद को मिटाया जाये एवं सभी मजदूरों को श्रम बोर्ड में उचित स्थान मिले |
हाकर्स के लिए कानूनों में बदलाव कि ज़रूरत है | सभी हाकर्स का सही पुनर्वसन किया जाये |
घरेलू कामगारों को लैंगिक / दैहिक उत्पीडन कानून के अंतर्गत लाया जाये | उनको कानून के अंतर्गत सुरक्षा प्रदान किया जाये |
जन संसद में पारित सभी प्रस्ताव संघर्षों को आगे ले जाने के राह में कारगर साबित होंगे जो कि एक समता एवं न्यायपूर्ण समाज का गठन करेंगे | जन संसद में उभरे सभी मुद्दे संघर्षों के कार्यक्रमों के ज़रिये आगे बढ़ेंगे |
इस १ मई, मजदूर दिवस के दिन हम सभी संघर्षों / आंदोलनों के साथियों को आग्रह करते हैं कि वह इन ९३ प्रतिशत मजदूरों के मुद्दों को आगे बढ़ाये एवं एक समतामूलक समाज के निर्माण में अपना योगदान करे | आप भी जुडिये हमारे इस संघर्ष में !
आपके साथी
मेधा पाटकर, प्रफुल्ल सामंतरे (उड़ीसा), संदीप पाण्डेय (उत्तर प्रदेश), डॉ. सुनीलम (मध्य प्रदेश), गौतम बंदोपाध्याय (छत्तीसगढ़), सुनीति एस आर, सुहास कोल्हेकर, विलास भोंगाडे, सुभाष लोमटे, सुमित वंजाले (महाराष्ट्र), शक्तिमान घोष (राष्ट्रीय हाकर्स फेडरेशन), पी चेन्नैया, रामकृष्ण राजू (आंध्र प्रदेश), गैब्रियल डिएट्रिच (तमिलनाडु), राकेश रफीक, मनीष गुप्ता, रूपेश वर्मा, ऋचा सिंह (उत्तर प्रदेश), विमल भाई (उत्तराखंड), प्रोफ. अजित झा, राजेन्द्र रवि, भूपेन्द्र सिंह रावत, विजयन एम जे, मधुरेश कुमार (दिल्ली), गुरवंत सिंह (पंजाब), आनंद मज्गाव्कर (गुजरात), कामायनी स्वामी, किशोरी दास, सिस्टर डोरोथी, महिंद्र यादव (बिहार), निजाम अंसारी (बोकारो, झारखण्ड), जियो जोस (केरल), और अन्य
राष्ट्रीय जन संसद संयोजन समिति
Labour Day : An Appeal from Jan Sansad
Dear Friends,
Zindabaad !
Every year the May Day is celebrated by millions of workers around the world commemorating the the hard earned workers rights after years of struggles. It is a celebration but also a time to remember the victories, defeats and challenges infront of the workers movement even as we move ahead. Workers of the world unite ! The slogan has assumed much importance and the meaning of work and labour has also gone through significant changes over years. Today nearly 93% of the workers are in the unprotected and unorganised sector who are still having to fight for their basic rights : social security, job security, pension, health and education facilities, eight hour working day, mandatory leaves, fair wages, minimum wages, right to unionise and others.
A hard fought right to form independent unions by the workers is under threat and so are other rights in the era of global capital pushing for maximum exploitation of labour and complete privatisation and contractualisation of work in neo liberal reforms era. Millions of agricultural workers, NREGA workers, construction workers, fish workers, forest workers, hawkers, and many other non-traditionally recognised forms of workers remain outside the social security net and face problems with the authorities in forming their own unions across the country. In the same way millions of workers working in manufacturing sector face the same problem most recent being Maruti factory in Gurgaon, Rockman and Satyam in Dehradun and elsewhere.
Various studies, surveys and reports have accepted the fact that this group of workers contributes more than 60% to the GDP. From road construction crews to domestic help, they work long hours for less than the minimum wage, receive no compensation for work-related injuries; and they receive no social security. About 44% of all unorganised urban workers are construction workers but they have no social security or job security, most of them migrants who stream in from remote villages where agriculture can no longer support their growing numbers. It is unfortunate that even though nearly 60% of the population is engaged in the agriculture, fishery and forestry but their total contribution to the GDP has come down to nearly 16%, indicating worst agrarian crisis fuelling large scale farmers suicide and migration.
These issues and others were discussed at Rashtriya Jan Sansad held in New Delhi (March 19 – 23), attended by nearly 7,500 people from 20 States over five days. Member's of People Parliament agreed that time has to demand rights and justice for the working class people who are running the economy today but remain unprotected and unorganised. Some of the significant resolutions from the discussions on the subject are following :
The honest producers of this country – workers, artisans, fisher folks, hawkers, and others in unprotected and unorganised sectors continue to be oppressed and often victimised. The 93% of workers who have been denied social security pensions should be given protection equivalent to the organised and secured sectors. There should be access to food, water, shelter etc. to everyone equitably. Every service, every resource or development benefits should be equitably distributed.
The Provisions for pension must be extended to the 93% workers in the informal and unorganised sector workers, the current provisions are not at all adequate. The inequality in various pension schemes in different states must be removed.
There should be an end to inequality in the country. The politicians are working only for the interests of a handful of people, not for the interests of the masses. There shouldn’t be a difference of more than 1:10 in the income of the people and a ameeri rekha should be determined. Tax should be levied on property and assets, not on small productions or incomes.
Right to Unionise is a fundamental right and it must be respected irrespective of the sector, work, etc. All forms of forced labour must be stopped effectively. There is need of comprehensive social protection for all unorganised sector workers and fair wages must be given to them.
The minimum wages must be raised to a living wage level and it must be ensured that these are remitted on time. Minimum wages should be as such that the whole family is provided for by the income of one. The below poverty line families list should be enumerated by the members of the gram sabha or the electorate of the urban areas.
There must be provisions for Rain Basera (shelter homes) for daily wagers and migrant workers. The migrant workers in cities who have faced eviction must be duly rehabilitated.
Under NREGA, work must be provided throughout the year. Corruption must be stopped in NREGA and different pension schemes must be introduced.
The ambiguities and contradictions in central and state labour laws must be removed. The labourers must be adequately represented in the labour boards.
The use of machines in PMGSY must be stopped and manual labour be implemented so that the employment can be provided to workers and their skills can also be upgraded.
There is a need for changes in the hawkers policy and provisions must be made for them to be allotted shops and given rehabilitation as per requirement.
The domestic workers must be brought under the sexual harassment act and be provided protection and security under various acts.
Many other issues were discussed during the Jan Sansad which will take forward the struggle for the development with justice and equity. The programmes emerging from the Jan Sansad will be carried forward in coming days by the movements and community groups in their regions and areas through struggles, moblisations and advocacy.
On this Mazdoor Diwas on May 1st our constituent groups organise to demand the rights, dignity and security for the 93% of the working force of this country and pave the way forward for a most just and humane society. We hope you all will join us in taking forward the struggle for a life and livelihood of dignity for millions of working class people of the country.
In Solidarity: Medha patkar, Prafulla Samantara (Orissa), Sandeep Pandey (Uttar Pradesh), Dr. Sunilam (Madhya Pradesh), Gautam Bandopadhyay (Chattisgarh), Suhas Kolhekar, Vilas Bhongade, Subhash Lomate, Sumit Wajale (Maharashtra), Shaktiman Ghosh (National Hawker Federation), P Chennaiah, Ramakrishna Raju (Andhra Pradesh), Gabriele Dietrich (Tamilnadu), Vimal Bhai (Uttarakhand), Rakesh Rafique, Manish Gupta, Rupesh Verma (Western Uttar Pradesh), Prof. Ajit Jha, Rajendra Ravi, Bhupendra Singh Rawat, Vijayan M J, Madhuresh Kumar (Delhi), Gurwant Singh (Punjab), Anand Mazgaonkar (Gujarat), Mahender Yadav (Patna, Bihar), Nizam Ansari (Bokaro, Jharkhand), Geo Jose (Kerala) and others
(Jan Sansad Coordinating Committee)
हमारी मेहनत ! हमारी शक्ति ! मजदूर एकता जिंदाबाद !
मजदूर दिवस के दिन जन संसद का एक आह्वाहन
प्रिय साथियों
जिंदाबाद !
हर साल दुनिया के लाखों करोड़ों मजदूर १ मई को मजदूर दिवस मनाते हैं | यह दिन सिर्फ जीत का जश्न मनाने का दिन नहीं, बल्कि जीत के साथ साथ हार एवं आज के समय में मजदूरों के सामने मौजूद चुनौतियों के बारे में सोचने का भी समय है | दुनिया के मजदूर एक हो! आज के दौर में इस नारे का महत्व और बढ़ गया है | आज देश में ९३ प्रतिशत मजदूर असंगठित एवं असुरक्षित वर्ग में हैं जो कि अपने बुनियादी हकों के लिए जबरदस्त संघर्ष कर रहे हैं - सामाजिक सुरक्षा, पेंसन, शिक्षा, स्वस्थ्य, आठ घंटे की समयसीमा, नौकरी के निश्चितता, नियमित छुट्टियाँ, मजदूर संघ बनाने का अधिकार, उचित मजदूरी और अन्य तमाम मुद्दे |
आज के समय में एक तरफ मजदूर निष्पक्ष मजदूर संघ बनाने के अधिकार को लेकर लड़ रहा है जहाँ उसके लिए खतरे के सिवाए कुछ नहीं है, वहीं दूसरी तरफ नव उदारवाद के दौर में वैश्विक पूंजी के आने के साथ निजीकरण एवं ठेकेदारी प्रथा बढती जा रही है | करोड़ों कि संख्या में खेतिहर मजदूर, वन श्रमजीवी, मत्स्यजीवी, नरेगा के मजदूर, खादानों में काम करने वाले मजदूर, निर्माण मजदूर, हाकर्स एवं इस तरह के तमाम गैर - परंपरागत श्रमिक सामाजिक सुरक्षा से वंचित हैं एवं देश भर में अपने संघ बनाने को लेकर सरकार से लड़ रहे हैं | उत्पादन के कामो में लगे मजदूर, चाहे वो गुडगाँव के मारुती में काम करने वाला मजदूर हो, देहरादून के सत्यम या रॉकमान का हो या कहीं और का, उसी तरह के परेशानियों को झेल रहा है |
तमाम सर्वे एवं शोध ने इस बात को साबित किया है कि जीडीपी (सकल घरेलु उत्पाद) का कूल ६० प्रतिशत इस तबके के मजदूरों कि मजदूरी के योगदान से आता है | निर्माण के क्षेत्र से लेकर घरेलू कामगारों तक यह मजदूर ८ घंटे से ज्यादा काम करते हैं जिसके एवज में उनको पूरा मजदूरी भी नहीं मिलती और न हि सामाजिक सुरक्षा | ४४ प्रतिशत से ज्यादा असंगठित / असुरक्षित शहरी मजदूर निर्माण के क्षेत्र में लगे हुए हैं जिनको न कि कोई सामाजिक सुरक्षा मिलती है और न ही काम की सुरक्षा, अधिकांशतः ये मजदूर गांव में खेती और उचित रोजगार न होने के चलते शहरों में आते हैं | यह बहुत शर्म कि बात है कि, ६० प्रतिशत से ज्यादा आबादी खेती, मत्स्य पालन जैसे कामों में लगा है लेकिन इनका सकल घरेलु उत्पाद में योगदान घट कर सिर्फ १६ प्रतिशत रह गया है और यह आंकड़े खेती में हो रहे घाटे एवं उससे हो रहे पलायन एवं आत्महत्या को दर्शाते हैं |
मार्च १९ से २३ को नयी दिल्ली में हुए राष्ट्रीय जन संसद में ५ दिनों में करीबन ७५०० लोग २० राज्यों से शामिल हुए वहाँ इन सवालों के ऊपर गहराई से चर्चा हुई | राष्ट्रीय जन संसद में आये हुए जन सांसदों ने महसूस किया कि अब वक्त आ गया है कि अर्थ व्यवस्था को चलने वाले असुरक्षित / असंगठित मजदूरों के आवाज़ को एवं उनके मांगों को आगे बढ़ाया जाये| जन संसद में पारित कुछ प्रमुख सुझाव इस प्रकार से हैं-
हमारे देश के सच्चे उत्पादक, सच्चे कुशल कारीगर, सही निर्माणकर्ता आजतक वंचित है, शोषित पीड़ित है | जिन ९३% श्रमिको को सामाजिक सुरक्षा पेंशन से वंचित रखा गया है. उन्हें संगठित – सुरक्षित क्षेत्र के श्रमिकों के बराबर सुरक्षा दी जाये | रोजी, रोटी, कपडा, मकान, हर किसी को प्राप्त हो | हर सेवा का, हर संसाधन या विकास के लाभ जैसे पानी, उर्जा का समान बटवारा हो |
जिन ९३% श्रमिको को सामाजिक सुरक्षा पेंशन से वंचित रखा गया है. उन्हें संगठित – सुरक्षित क्षेत्र के श्रमिकों के बराबर सुरक्षा दी जाये क्यूँ कि अभी के समय में जिन सुविधायों को दिया गया है वो बिलकुल हि न के बराबर है |
देश में गैरबराबरी कि हद हो चुकी है, उसे खत्म किया जाये, राजनेता खुद और मुट्ठी भर लोगों के उपभोग के पक्ष में है, न की सबकी जरूरत पूर्ति के | आय में किसी भी कीमत पर १:१० से अधिक का फर्क न रहे, देश में 'अमीरी रेखा' सुनिश्चित करने की आज जरुरत है | अधिकांश कर संग्रह (टैक्स) सम्पत्ति पर हो, न की छोटे – बड़े उत्पादन या आय से |
संघ बनाने के अधिकार बुनियादी अधिकारों में से है उस अधिकार को हर एक तबके के मजदूरों के लिए लागू करना चाहिए |
हर तरह के बंधुआ मजदूरी को खतम करना चाहिए | सभी मजदूरों को सामाजिक सुरक्षा कानून के तहत सुरक्षा प्रदान किया जाये एवं सभी को न्यूनतम मजदूरी दिया जाये | (न्यूनतम) मजदूरी इतनी हो कि पूरे परिवार का पालन पोषण एक के रोजगार से मिले | गरीबी रेखा के नीचे के परिवारों की सूचि ग्रामसभा तय करे और शहर में वार्डसभा तय करे |
दिहाड़ी मजदूरों के लिए एवं बाहर से आये हुए मजदूरों के लिए रेन बसेरा का प्रावधान रखा जाये एवं जब शहरों में मजदूरों के बस्तियों को विस्थापित किया जाता है तो उनका सही जगह में पुनर्वसन किया जाये |
नरेगा कानून के अंदर पुरे साल काम देने का प्रावधान हो | एवं नरेगा में चल रहे भ्रष्टाचार को तुरंत खतम किया जाये |
केंद्र एवं राज्य सरकारों के बीच श्रम कानूनों के भेद को मिटाया जाये एवं सभी मजदूरों को श्रम बोर्ड में उचित स्थान मिले |
हाकर्स के लिए कानूनों में बदलाव कि ज़रूरत है | सभी हाकर्स का सही पुनर्वसन किया जाये |
घरेलू कामगारों को लैंगिक / दैहिक उत्पीडन कानून के अंतर्गत लाया जाये | उनको कानून के अंतर्गत सुरक्षा प्रदान किया जाये |
जन संसद में पारित सभी प्रस्ताव संघर्षों को आगे ले जाने के राह में कारगर साबित होंगे जो कि एक समता एवं न्यायपूर्ण समाज का गठन करेंगे | जन संसद में उभरे सभी मुद्दे संघर्षों के कार्यक्रमों के ज़रिये आगे बढ़ेंगे |
इस १ मई, मजदूर दिवस के दिन हम सभी संघर्षों / आंदोलनों के साथियों को आग्रह करते हैं कि वह इन ९३ प्रतिशत मजदूरों के मुद्दों को आगे बढ़ाये एवं एक समतामूलक समाज के निर्माण में अपना योगदान करे | आप भी जुडिये हमारे इस संघर्ष में !
आपके साथी
मेधा पाटकर, प्रफुल्ल सामंतरे (उड़ीसा), संदीप पाण्डेय (उत्तर प्रदेश), डॉ. सुनीलम (मध्य प्रदेश), गौतम बंदोपाध्याय (छत्तीसगढ़), सुनीति एस आर, सुहास कोल्हेकर, विलास भोंगाडे, सुभाष लोमटे, सुमित वंजाले (महाराष्ट्र), शक्तिमान घोष (राष्ट्रीय हाकर्स फेडरेशन), पी चेन्नैया, रामकृष्ण राजू (आंध्र प्रदेश), गैब्रियल डिएट्रिच (तमिलनाडु), राकेश रफीक, मनीष गुप्ता, रूपेश वर्मा, ऋचा सिंह (उत्तर प्रदेश), विमल भाई (उत्तराखंड), प्रोफ. अजित झा, राजेन्द्र रवि, भूपेन्द्र सिंह रावत, विजयन एम जे, मधुरेश कुमार (दिल्ली), गुरवंत सिंह (पंजाब), आनंद मज्गाव्कर (गुजरात), कामायनी स्वामी, किशोरी दास, सिस्टर डोरोथी, महिंद्र यादव (बिहार), निजाम अंसारी (बोकारो, झारखण्ड), जियो जोस (केरल), और अन्य
राष्ट्रीय जन संसद संयोजन समिति
In search of Sa'adat Hasan Manto
Every time young Sa'adat came down to Paproudi for his vacation, Ujagar Singh knew exactly what needed to be done. In the small, quiet village in Punjab's Samrala tehsil the friends had their own ritual. Grab some makki ki roti and sarson ka saag and meet at their regular hangout - the common well in fellow villager Kartar Singh's fields. Or as they fondly put it, "Kartaarey da khoo" . That was where they would bathe, eat and while away time playing football. Ujagar Singh admits his memory is rusty. He is, after all, close to a 100 years old. But when he talks about the little things he does remember, his heavily lined face further creases into a smile. "He (Manto) really liked playing football. He would get one himself. For all the years he was here, I never heard him utter a single swear word." His disjointed memories of the time he spent with his childhood friend are frequently punctuated with "Bahut hi changa banda si (he was a very fine man)."
As young kids playing in the wheat fields that surround Paproudi even today, Ujagar Singh says he never imagined his playmate Sa'adat Hasan Manto would some day become one of the greatest short story writers the Indian sub-continent had ever seen. Being unlettered, he has never read Manto. But he knows Manto was written about in the papers. He remembers nothing of the time when the writer was charged with obscenity and tried in court for six of his stories. "Maybe something like that happened. I don't know," Ujagar Singh says, the words tripping over each other as they come out of his mouth in a near-incomprehensible mumble.
In its absence, Ujagar Singh's memory mirrors that of Samrala. There is a vague sense of acknowledgement that a writer of renown once belonged to these parts. But it's easy to find vignettes of rustic Punjab in Manto's stories like 'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat). Gurbhajan Singh Gill, president of the Punjabi Sahit Akademi, calls Manto a "real son of the soil" . Manto's characters worked to shock and turn societal stereotypes on their heads. For example, Mozel, the Jewish woman who accepts, spurns and then dies for her Sikh admirer. Or Babu Gopi Nath, who does all he can to get a young prostituted woman married off to a rich man. Manto's accounts of the riots and violence that followed Partition are chilling yet remarkably sensitive at the same time. 'Khol Do' is one stand-out example that immediately comes to mind. 'Toba Tek Singh' , perhaps his most famous story, is a telling commentary on the madness of Partition.
Manto's treatment of sex and sexuality was something that earned him the ire of the British government as well as the rulers of Pakistan, where he had migrated to in the late 1940s. His openness and direct approach to the subject was taken for obscenity and perversion then. Today, though, he finds place even in the Delhi University syllabus, regarded as a man ahead of his times. Manto, however, did not stay in his village of birth for long. He studied in Amritsar and later moved to Bombay for work. But had Manto been around, he'd be happy to see that finally, after all these years, a small group of people are putting all their might to revive the writer in Samrala and neighbouring Ludhiana.
On May 13, two days after Manto's birth centenary , the Punjabi Lekhak Manch and the Punjabi Sahit Akademi have scheduled a seminar in Samrala , inviting the writer's three daughters from Pakistan. The Ludhiana chapter of Punjab University will also stage a play based on one of his short stories. In Malerkotla, a village about 40 km away from Samrala, an Urdu bi-monthly magazine 'Nazariya' plans to bring out a special issue dedicated to Manto. Advocate Daljeet Singh Shahi, who works in the Samrala civil court and is also president of the Punjabi Lekhak Manch, proudly points out that it's the same court where Manto's father served as subjudge years ago. A Punjabi short-story writer himself , Shahi is unhappy at the lack of recognition for Manto in Punjab today. "I feel people have forgotten him. There is very little interest in literature here," he says. Talking about the centenary celebration plans, he turns to two people waiting in his office and politely explains to them who exactly it is that is being discussed. The men have never heard the name Manto before.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-29/special-report/31475556_1_toba-tek-singh-partition-obscenity
See also: Saadat Hassan Manto and the partition of India —Ishtiaq Ahmed
This year marks the centenary of one of the most remarkable Urdu short-story writers of the Indian subcontinent: Saadat Hassan Manto (May 11, 1912-January 18, 1955). His contemporary, Krishan Chander (1914-1977), himself a literary icon who some critics have described as the “the imam of the Urdu short-story” graciously wrote in his obituary on Manto that indeed he was the greatest short-story writer of his generation...I will end by narrating one of my other favourites. In his, ‘Siyah Hashiye’ (Black Borders), Manto depicts an excited pro-Pakistan mob that attacks the statue on the Lahore Mall Road of the great Hindu philanthropist of Punjab, Sir Ganga Ram. One of them blackens its face with tar. Another collects old shoes, strung into a garland, and is about to put it around the statue’s neck, when the police shows up and begins firing. The man who is about to put the garland of shoes around the statue’s neck is injured. He is sent to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for treatment.. (The writer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.)
As young kids playing in the wheat fields that surround Paproudi even today, Ujagar Singh says he never imagined his playmate Sa'adat Hasan Manto would some day become one of the greatest short story writers the Indian sub-continent had ever seen. Being unlettered, he has never read Manto. But he knows Manto was written about in the papers. He remembers nothing of the time when the writer was charged with obscenity and tried in court for six of his stories. "Maybe something like that happened. I don't know," Ujagar Singh says, the words tripping over each other as they come out of his mouth in a near-incomprehensible mumble.
In its absence, Ujagar Singh's memory mirrors that of Samrala. There is a vague sense of acknowledgement that a writer of renown once belonged to these parts. But it's easy to find vignettes of rustic Punjab in Manto's stories like 'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat). Gurbhajan Singh Gill, president of the Punjabi Sahit Akademi, calls Manto a "real son of the soil" . Manto's characters worked to shock and turn societal stereotypes on their heads. For example, Mozel, the Jewish woman who accepts, spurns and then dies for her Sikh admirer. Or Babu Gopi Nath, who does all he can to get a young prostituted woman married off to a rich man. Manto's accounts of the riots and violence that followed Partition are chilling yet remarkably sensitive at the same time. 'Khol Do' is one stand-out example that immediately comes to mind. 'Toba Tek Singh' , perhaps his most famous story, is a telling commentary on the madness of Partition.
Manto's treatment of sex and sexuality was something that earned him the ire of the British government as well as the rulers of Pakistan, where he had migrated to in the late 1940s. His openness and direct approach to the subject was taken for obscenity and perversion then. Today, though, he finds place even in the Delhi University syllabus, regarded as a man ahead of his times. Manto, however, did not stay in his village of birth for long. He studied in Amritsar and later moved to Bombay for work. But had Manto been around, he'd be happy to see that finally, after all these years, a small group of people are putting all their might to revive the writer in Samrala and neighbouring Ludhiana.
On May 13, two days after Manto's birth centenary , the Punjabi Lekhak Manch and the Punjabi Sahit Akademi have scheduled a seminar in Samrala , inviting the writer's three daughters from Pakistan. The Ludhiana chapter of Punjab University will also stage a play based on one of his short stories. In Malerkotla, a village about 40 km away from Samrala, an Urdu bi-monthly magazine 'Nazariya' plans to bring out a special issue dedicated to Manto. Advocate Daljeet Singh Shahi, who works in the Samrala civil court and is also president of the Punjabi Lekhak Manch, proudly points out that it's the same court where Manto's father served as subjudge years ago. A Punjabi short-story writer himself , Shahi is unhappy at the lack of recognition for Manto in Punjab today. "I feel people have forgotten him. There is very little interest in literature here," he says. Talking about the centenary celebration plans, he turns to two people waiting in his office and politely explains to them who exactly it is that is being discussed. The men have never heard the name Manto before.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-29/special-report/31475556_1_toba-tek-singh-partition-obscenity
See also: Saadat Hassan Manto and the partition of India —Ishtiaq Ahmed
This year marks the centenary of one of the most remarkable Urdu short-story writers of the Indian subcontinent: Saadat Hassan Manto (May 11, 1912-January 18, 1955). His contemporary, Krishan Chander (1914-1977), himself a literary icon who some critics have described as the “the imam of the Urdu short-story” graciously wrote in his obituary on Manto that indeed he was the greatest short-story writer of his generation...I will end by narrating one of my other favourites. In his, ‘Siyah Hashiye’ (Black Borders), Manto depicts an excited pro-Pakistan mob that attacks the statue on the Lahore Mall Road of the great Hindu philanthropist of Punjab, Sir Ganga Ram. One of them blackens its face with tar. Another collects old shoes, strung into a garland, and is about to put it around the statue’s neck, when the police shows up and begins firing. The man who is about to put the garland of shoes around the statue’s neck is injured. He is sent to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for treatment.. (The writer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.)
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Four youths held for desecration of temple
The incident triggered riots in Hyderabad earlier this month.
It was not ‘jihadis,' but four Hindu youths, instigated by two local leaders, who planted the legs of a cow and sprinkled green paint in a temple at Madanappet, sparking communal clashes in the old city three weeks ago, the police have said. The youths have been arrested, and the police have launched a hunt for Niranjan, a wine merchant, and Srinivas, a moneylender, accused of masterminding the desecration. The arrested were Nagaraj, who works as a contract sanitation supervisor in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation; Kiran Kumar, a florist; Ramesh, a hotel worker; and Dayanand Singh, a car driver. All of them hail from Kurmaguda of Madannapet.
The arrested persons did not have any criminal record, but were organising religious programmes in the area. Their aim was to create communal disturbances and turn the situation to their advantage by provoking and uniting the Hindus, the police said on Friday. The absconding persons did not belong to any religious organisation. They used to lead youngsters of the area in celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi and Navaratri. The two believed that by projecting a threat from the rival community, they could unite the Hindus. They anticipated some trouble during Sri Rama Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in the first week of April. “As the events passed off peacefully, they conspired to trigger communal clashes,” the police said.
Investigators said the youths met in a wine shop and finalised their plan on April 7, allegedly at the behest of Niranjan and Srinivas. Being a sanitation worker, Nagaraj knew a place at Chanchalguda, where the burnt legs of animals are dumped. While he collected two severed legs of a cow, another procured a bottle of paint. Past midnight on April 7, they went up to the temple, planted the legs on the wall, inserting them through the iron grill, and sprinkled the paint.
The next morning, as the news spread, the Hindus of the locality gathered in large numbers. When a sniffer dog headed for the main road, a mob followed it and started throwing stones, damaging Muslim property. As the affected persons retaliated, clashes broke out at Madanappet and Saidabad, prompting the police to impose curfew on the areas under the two police stations. The police began their investigation, picking up youngsters involved in cases of property damage. Ramesh was among those held. He came out on bail four days ago. Piecing together the leads, the City Police Commissioner's Task Force teams picked him up again. And he admitted to his offence. On his confession, the other three were nabbed.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/article3364832.ece?homepage=true
It was not ‘jihadis,' but four Hindu youths, instigated by two local leaders, who planted the legs of a cow and sprinkled green paint in a temple at Madanappet, sparking communal clashes in the old city three weeks ago, the police have said. The youths have been arrested, and the police have launched a hunt for Niranjan, a wine merchant, and Srinivas, a moneylender, accused of masterminding the desecration. The arrested were Nagaraj, who works as a contract sanitation supervisor in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation; Kiran Kumar, a florist; Ramesh, a hotel worker; and Dayanand Singh, a car driver. All of them hail from Kurmaguda of Madannapet.
The arrested persons did not have any criminal record, but were organising religious programmes in the area. Their aim was to create communal disturbances and turn the situation to their advantage by provoking and uniting the Hindus, the police said on Friday. The absconding persons did not belong to any religious organisation. They used to lead youngsters of the area in celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi and Navaratri. The two believed that by projecting a threat from the rival community, they could unite the Hindus. They anticipated some trouble during Sri Rama Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in the first week of April. “As the events passed off peacefully, they conspired to trigger communal clashes,” the police said.
Investigators said the youths met in a wine shop and finalised their plan on April 7, allegedly at the behest of Niranjan and Srinivas. Being a sanitation worker, Nagaraj knew a place at Chanchalguda, where the burnt legs of animals are dumped. While he collected two severed legs of a cow, another procured a bottle of paint. Past midnight on April 7, they went up to the temple, planted the legs on the wall, inserting them through the iron grill, and sprinkled the paint.
The next morning, as the news spread, the Hindus of the locality gathered in large numbers. When a sniffer dog headed for the main road, a mob followed it and started throwing stones, damaging Muslim property. As the affected persons retaliated, clashes broke out at Madanappet and Saidabad, prompting the police to impose curfew on the areas under the two police stations. The police began their investigation, picking up youngsters involved in cases of property damage. Ramesh was among those held. He came out on bail four days ago. Piecing together the leads, the City Police Commissioner's Task Force teams picked him up again. And he admitted to his offence. On his confession, the other three were nabbed.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/article3364832.ece?homepage=true
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Pakistan: ‘Good looking Jamaat-e-Islami’ From: Viewpoint
by Nayyer Khan: Both Jamat-e-Islami and Pakistan's deep state were looking for a charismatic character, who had a glitz of the Western culture and a mindset of an Islamist. One senior memeber of Jamat-e-Islami, namely Hafeea ullah Niazi effectively solved this problem by finding the right person for this job. He happened to be the brother-in-law of Cricket's super star, male sex symbol and Casanova of International repute, Imran Khan.
The Jamaat Islami (JI) won Pakistan state’s patronage to be given a role in home politics for the first time during the brief, yet eventful tenure of military ruler Yahya Khan, when designing of state’s vital policy matters was assigned to then minister for Information and National Affairs, Major General Sher Ali Khan. Yahya Khan was no different from his predecessors – starting from Jinnah to Ayub Khan – who were hardly observant of Islamic practices in their personal lives; but had used political Islam as a major tool for defining national identity and nation-building. They wished to keep militant Islamism under control to prevent it from destabilizing domestic politics; yet direct it against India and also to use it to counter the leftist and nationalist dominant trends that were at the time working against what they deemed the Islamic ideology underpinning the state. In Sher Ali’s scheme of things the “ideology of Pakistan and glory of Islam” became pet words of our military leadership, which projected the army itself as ultimate defender of the ‘ideology of Pakistan’. Learning the lesson from public agitation against Ayub Khan, Sher Ali convinced Yahya that army should maintain its mythical image before the people as a final savior of the nation whenever national interests so demanded and, therefore, control the national politics from behind the scene; to avoid any situation in which people of Pakistan would ever confront the army directly. For this purpose a weak political government was needed to arise from the first general elections in Pakistan, scheduled to take place by the end of 1970, to be used as a fig leaf to army's oligarchy.
As per Sher Ali plans the results of the polls were not to be manipulated during; but before the polls by providing the state’s assistance to religio-political parties - especially JI – in shape of financial and propaganda support. The substantial funds of Ayub Khan’s faction of the Muslim League confiscated by the Yahya’s Martial law regime were diverted to JI, in addition to money raised by IB from the industrialists and business class to fund the election campaign of Islamic parties (Hasan Zaheer ‘The Separation of East Pakistan’ Oxford University Press. pp 124-125). Funds were also poured in JI’s pouch by the Saudi government as well as Saudi sponsored Rabita al-Alam al-Islami.
Following the journalists strike in April-May 1970, media purification and purging was carried out by Sher Ali to replace leftist and secularist media persons with those from JI’s cadres, both in state and private owned media, thereby amplifying Islamic overtones. Emphasis was made by JI, backed by state propaganda machinery, that Pakistan’s ideology was threatened by ‘non-religious’ socialist and secularists like Z.A. Bhutto and Sheikh Mujeeb-ul-Rahman. By doing all this, Pakistan’s deep state was trying to kill two birds with one stone viz preventing emergence of a strong popular government by ensuring a split mandate in the polls, so that army could always play the role of a moderator or a referee amongst wrangling politicians, and keep Islamists’ influence in the state’s matters to maintain the national ideology which had little room for secularist views...
In his most-talked-about recent rally in Lahore, Imran Khan said nothing new; but pushed the single-point thesis of the establishment in which the entire problems of the country are attributed to the corruption of the politicians. This is the agitprop that the deep state of Pakistan has been amplifying through media since restoration of the democratic system in 1988 and on the pretext of which many elected governments were dismissed half way through their mandated period to rule the country during the 1990’s. Imran Khan only strengthened the belief of a common man that corruption of politicians really is the actual cause of all his miseries, which is only a quarter of the truth. The hyperbole of this overstatement has always been aimed at playing down and concealing the root cause of the country’s actual distress, which in fact is the jingoism and martial plans of our establishment, eating up the country’s limited resources... Read more:
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/04/pakistan-good-looking-jamaat-e-islami.html
The Jamaat Islami (JI) won Pakistan state’s patronage to be given a role in home politics for the first time during the brief, yet eventful tenure of military ruler Yahya Khan, when designing of state’s vital policy matters was assigned to then minister for Information and National Affairs, Major General Sher Ali Khan. Yahya Khan was no different from his predecessors – starting from Jinnah to Ayub Khan – who were hardly observant of Islamic practices in their personal lives; but had used political Islam as a major tool for defining national identity and nation-building. They wished to keep militant Islamism under control to prevent it from destabilizing domestic politics; yet direct it against India and also to use it to counter the leftist and nationalist dominant trends that were at the time working against what they deemed the Islamic ideology underpinning the state. In Sher Ali’s scheme of things the “ideology of Pakistan and glory of Islam” became pet words of our military leadership, which projected the army itself as ultimate defender of the ‘ideology of Pakistan’. Learning the lesson from public agitation against Ayub Khan, Sher Ali convinced Yahya that army should maintain its mythical image before the people as a final savior of the nation whenever national interests so demanded and, therefore, control the national politics from behind the scene; to avoid any situation in which people of Pakistan would ever confront the army directly. For this purpose a weak political government was needed to arise from the first general elections in Pakistan, scheduled to take place by the end of 1970, to be used as a fig leaf to army's oligarchy.
As per Sher Ali plans the results of the polls were not to be manipulated during; but before the polls by providing the state’s assistance to religio-political parties - especially JI – in shape of financial and propaganda support. The substantial funds of Ayub Khan’s faction of the Muslim League confiscated by the Yahya’s Martial law regime were diverted to JI, in addition to money raised by IB from the industrialists and business class to fund the election campaign of Islamic parties (Hasan Zaheer ‘The Separation of East Pakistan’ Oxford University Press. pp 124-125). Funds were also poured in JI’s pouch by the Saudi government as well as Saudi sponsored Rabita al-Alam al-Islami.
Following the journalists strike in April-May 1970, media purification and purging was carried out by Sher Ali to replace leftist and secularist media persons with those from JI’s cadres, both in state and private owned media, thereby amplifying Islamic overtones. Emphasis was made by JI, backed by state propaganda machinery, that Pakistan’s ideology was threatened by ‘non-religious’ socialist and secularists like Z.A. Bhutto and Sheikh Mujeeb-ul-Rahman. By doing all this, Pakistan’s deep state was trying to kill two birds with one stone viz preventing emergence of a strong popular government by ensuring a split mandate in the polls, so that army could always play the role of a moderator or a referee amongst wrangling politicians, and keep Islamists’ influence in the state’s matters to maintain the national ideology which had little room for secularist views...
In his most-talked-about recent rally in Lahore, Imran Khan said nothing new; but pushed the single-point thesis of the establishment in which the entire problems of the country are attributed to the corruption of the politicians. This is the agitprop that the deep state of Pakistan has been amplifying through media since restoration of the democratic system in 1988 and on the pretext of which many elected governments were dismissed half way through their mandated period to rule the country during the 1990’s. Imran Khan only strengthened the belief of a common man that corruption of politicians really is the actual cause of all his miseries, which is only a quarter of the truth. The hyperbole of this overstatement has always been aimed at playing down and concealing the root cause of the country’s actual distress, which in fact is the jingoism and martial plans of our establishment, eating up the country’s limited resources... Read more:
http://communalism.blogspot.in/2012/04/pakistan-good-looking-jamaat-e-islami.html
AGAINST RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM IN SRI LANKA
What happened:
A week ago, a violent a mob of about 2,000 Sinhalese, including a group of Buddhist monks led by the Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, stormed and vandalised a mosque in Dambulla. The mosque was declared an illegal structure, but it is unclear how this far this is accurate.
Several videos, broadcast on national TV in Sri Lanka and now circulating globally on YouTube capturing the violence beggars belief. There are members of the sangha engaged in physical violence and verbal abuse. There is a member of the sangha who disrobes and exposes himself, in public, in front of the mosque. In one video, Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala thero suggests that the maniacal mob is actually a shramadaanaya, and that destroying the mosque is something that they should in fact be helped by the government.
Aside from the physical violence, which includes scuffles with Army and Police personnel, the derogatory and racist language employed by Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala thero and other Buddhist monks during the attack against the mosque, and a nearby Hindu kovil, is appalling. Though the violence of the Sinhala idiom employed loses much in translation, Groundviews put into English the most disquieting comments for a wider appreciation. More startling are anti-Muslim, Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist Facebook groups that have thousands of active members and with content too inflammatory to even translate.
A week after this violence,it has not received the condemnation it deserves from the President, government or mainstream media. Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, perhaps reacting to the indelible record of violence captured in film, attempted to suggest to the BBC that the footage of the mob broadcast on TV was doctored. Ironically, his own media websites showcase the same violence, in greater detail. A Press Release issued on 25th April from the Government Information Department, only in Sinhala, strangely referred to the violence as a ‘minor misunderstanding’, yet reiterated that Sri Lanka is “a multi-religious, multi-ethnic society” and that “in addition to respecting their constitutional obligations, as well as the policies and principles of the government, all Sri Lankans have a long standing tradition of being respectful of each other”.
What is the fall-out?
The photographs, audio and video recordings of the violence in Dambulla have gone global. They cannot be erased. Incensed by this incident and those who led it, there are now growing threats of violence by sections of the Muslim community, though there are many voices, including the Muslim Council, who are calling for calm, and a more reasoned approach to the transformation of this conflict, noting that the actions of a few are not indicative of the nature of the majority.
There is a real danger that unaddressed or if simply glossed over, this militant religious extremism can very quickly and very seriously undermine Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation, and contribute to new, more geographically dispersed violent conflict. Extremists from both the Sinhala-Buddhist community and the Muslim community can also use this incendiary incident in Dambulla to stoke up communal tensions, leading to heightened fear and anxiety.
What can we do?
The shameful behaviour and expression employed by the Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter, along with the monks he led and the crowd of thugs is not remotely associated with or reflective of the philosophy of the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha, or the way in which a Buddhist monk is supposed to behave and speak. Many online have already expressed their dismay and deep concern over the actions of a few, placing Sri Lanka in the media spotlight again for all the wrong reasons.
We have a choice, but time is running out. Speak up. Put your name in a comment below, in English, Sinhala or Tamil. Say that last week’s violence was not in your name. Renounce a fringe lunacy and resist extremism. By putting your name below, oppose mob violence and bigotry as ways to resolve disputes.
If we have to fight, let’s fight to keep Sri Lanka free of extremists who threaten not only what they seek to destroy, but also who and what they claim to represent.
Put your name down, resist violence, pass on the message
https://notinournamesl.wordpress.com/category/english/
A week ago, a violent a mob of about 2,000 Sinhalese, including a group of Buddhist monks led by the Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, stormed and vandalised a mosque in Dambulla. The mosque was declared an illegal structure, but it is unclear how this far this is accurate.
Several videos, broadcast on national TV in Sri Lanka and now circulating globally on YouTube capturing the violence beggars belief. There are members of the sangha engaged in physical violence and verbal abuse. There is a member of the sangha who disrobes and exposes himself, in public, in front of the mosque. In one video, Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala thero suggests that the maniacal mob is actually a shramadaanaya, and that destroying the mosque is something that they should in fact be helped by the government.
Aside from the physical violence, which includes scuffles with Army and Police personnel, the derogatory and racist language employed by Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala thero and other Buddhist monks during the attack against the mosque, and a nearby Hindu kovil, is appalling. Though the violence of the Sinhala idiom employed loses much in translation, Groundviews put into English the most disquieting comments for a wider appreciation. More startling are anti-Muslim, Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist Facebook groups that have thousands of active members and with content too inflammatory to even translate.
A week after this violence,it has not received the condemnation it deserves from the President, government or mainstream media. Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, perhaps reacting to the indelible record of violence captured in film, attempted to suggest to the BBC that the footage of the mob broadcast on TV was doctored. Ironically, his own media websites showcase the same violence, in greater detail. A Press Release issued on 25th April from the Government Information Department, only in Sinhala, strangely referred to the violence as a ‘minor misunderstanding’, yet reiterated that Sri Lanka is “a multi-religious, multi-ethnic society” and that “in addition to respecting their constitutional obligations, as well as the policies and principles of the government, all Sri Lankans have a long standing tradition of being respectful of each other”.
What is the fall-out?
The photographs, audio and video recordings of the violence in Dambulla have gone global. They cannot be erased. Incensed by this incident and those who led it, there are now growing threats of violence by sections of the Muslim community, though there are many voices, including the Muslim Council, who are calling for calm, and a more reasoned approach to the transformation of this conflict, noting that the actions of a few are not indicative of the nature of the majority.
There is a real danger that unaddressed or if simply glossed over, this militant religious extremism can very quickly and very seriously undermine Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation, and contribute to new, more geographically dispersed violent conflict. Extremists from both the Sinhala-Buddhist community and the Muslim community can also use this incendiary incident in Dambulla to stoke up communal tensions, leading to heightened fear and anxiety.
What can we do?
The shameful behaviour and expression employed by the Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter, along with the monks he led and the crowd of thugs is not remotely associated with or reflective of the philosophy of the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha, or the way in which a Buddhist monk is supposed to behave and speak. Many online have already expressed their dismay and deep concern over the actions of a few, placing Sri Lanka in the media spotlight again for all the wrong reasons.
We have a choice, but time is running out. Speak up. Put your name in a comment below, in English, Sinhala or Tamil. Say that last week’s violence was not in your name. Renounce a fringe lunacy and resist extremism. By putting your name below, oppose mob violence and bigotry as ways to resolve disputes.
If we have to fight, let’s fight to keep Sri Lanka free of extremists who threaten not only what they seek to destroy, but also who and what they claim to represent.
Put your name down, resist violence, pass on the message
https://notinournamesl.wordpress.com/category/english/
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