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Vol. 44 : No. 9
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Note
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News Wrap
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AGD
Calcutta Notebook
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RP
THE ANNA MOMENT
‘India Against Corruption’
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Satya Sagar
EXERCISE IN ESCAPISM?
Beyond the New
Land Acquisition Bill
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Yoginder Sikand
MYTH AND REALITY
Violence, Non-Violence
and Gandhi
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M N Majumdar
ALTERNATIVE SOCIAL INNOVATION
Design for Sustainability
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SCIENCE AND HUMANITY
Subverted by the Bomb
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Evaggelos Vallianatos
Letters
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E-mail : [email protected]
[email protected]
Website : www.frontierweekly.com
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Frontier
Vol. 44, No. 9, September 11-17, 2011
An Achilles Heel
One step closer to peace in Afghanistan? Not really. Then failure is not an option for the
Obamas. And all players involved in Afghan theatre understand what is at stake while hoping,
not against hope, to reach an agreement as the timetable for the much publicised American
troops withdrawal is approaching very fast. But the United States is unlikely to give up its
strong military presence in South Asia even as it prepares to begin withdrawing troops from
Afghanistan because Obama has too many domestic compulsions. Economic crisis apart, a
recent opinion poll showed nearly 70 percent of Americans demanded withdrawal as soon as
possible. And Obama will have to seek re-election next year. All this counts in expediting
America’s phased departure.
If anything America’s exit policy involves much more than removing troops from
Afghanistan. It’s a comprehensive plan covering military, political and diplomatic aspects of
the US mission in that hapless country where people have forgotten to live in peace. No
doubt Obama is trying to get rid of the quagmire called Afghan war but it is too misleading to
believe the stuff dished by the mainstream American media that the war was finally coming
to an end. A little bit of ‘troops calculus’, is simply puzzling, if not intriguing. When Obama
took office in 2009 there were 32000 US troops in Afghanistan. By December 2009 when this
number had grown to 68000, the Obama administration announced an ‘Afghan surge’ to add
over 30000 US soldiers. What all they are talking about withdrawal is just 33000 surge troops,
10000 by the summer of 2011 and the rest by 2012. In other words by the end of 2012, there
will still be 68000 troops in Afghanistan—twice as many as the 32000 when Obama took
office. Also, there are 50,000 NATO troops and approximately 100000 military contractors
who do not figure on Obama’s exit agenda. Since last year, the US has invested billions of
dollars in expanding military bases in Afghanistan. In short they are not pouring huge money
into the Afghan cesspool to organise a charity show. They intend to maintain a commanding
military presence even after Afghan forces take over the brunt of security duties.
Not that the US invaded Afghanistan to avenge the 9/11 tragedy. In truth the US invasion
of Afghanistan in 2001 grew out of a decade of US planning before 9/11, aimed at achieving
US objectives—to fill up a strategic vacuum in regional geo-politics, particularly after the
decline of Soviet Russia. America’s military expenditure in Afghanistan runs at $100 billion a
year while the full cost of the whole ‘war on terror’ may be as high as $3.7 trillion and is still
counting. Given the acute economic crisis, the war in Afghanistan has become increasingly
unsustainable. So the partial withdrawal of troops seems more than urgent for Obama to
minimise unproductive expenses. Also, the focus on ‘war on terror’ is being shifted to new
pastures as the jihadists have been forced, particularly after the killing of Osama bin Laden, to
move their bases from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen and parts of North Africa.
Afghanistan, one of the poorest and most oppressed on the planet earth, is a backward
Asian country of some 30 million people, with a largely rural economy. And yet the lone
superpower, with its high-tech military, has failed to conquer this nation after nearly a
decade of all-devastating war. Afghans are fiercely independent minded. Today the islamic
militants are in the lead, tomorrow some other actors may come in the field. The British
failed to subjugate them, the Russians suffered enormously for their Afghan adventure and
now Americans are testing the bitter fruit of Afghan war.
American presence, rather their brutal presence, has helped Taliban regroup and make
things difficult for the Afghan ruling elites to exercise their effective control beyond Kabul
without logistics support from American and NATO soldiers.
Nightraids, special operations, covert political assassination, extra-judicial killings, drone
strikes, the use of military contractors, massive detentions and torture and all-round terror
form Washington’s Afghan policy. Today ordinary Afghans are more scared of the Americans
than of the Taliban because of these night raids. Even a recent UN report admits, in no
uncertain terms, how American action in Afghanistan, has resulted in ‘excessive use of force,
ill-treatment, death and injury to civilians and damage to property’.
American troops withdrawal drama is actually aimed at Afghanising the Afghan security
establishment while paving the way for the emergence of a new client as their man in Kabul
Hamid Karzai is a totally discredited person for inefficiency and collision with the corrupt to
loot the exchequer. The hard reality is that the relationship between American Leaders and
Hamid Karzai is strained at best. Karzai, realising his declining importance to the Obama
government has often spoken out against US presence in his country, compounding, if
anything, American embarrassment. Then America’s strained relations with Pakistan, their
trusted flunkey in the region for the last six decades, might have a detrimental impact on
Afghanistan future.
Right now America is exploring many avenues at many levels to stabilise the Afghan situation
and reduce its war costs. There is a six plus two formula to solve the Afghan crisis. This plan,
as proposed by Richard Haass, President of the US Council on Foreign Relations, envisages the
involvement of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, India and Pakistan plus America and
Afghanistan. But there are not many takers for this gambit. Then direct negotiations between
the US and the Taliban, are going on but they are still up in the air. Taliban’s conditions may
make these talks a futile exercise as one of the Taliban’s main demands that all foreign troops
should withdraw from Afghan soil which will preclude reconciliation of any kind, is totally
unacceptable to Uncle Sam. Despite America’s phased withdrawal of troops from
Afghanistan, South Asia continues to remain a flashpoint and India can hardly avoid spill-over
effects stemming from the current Afghan imbroglio. 
COMMENT
‘Sickness’ means Big Business
AILING ‘AIR INDIA’ OTHERWISE A show-piece government company for ‘reformers’ frequently
hits the headlines for wrong reasons, of course. It’s a unique case of slow poisoning and yet
nothing happens to the economic offenders. For some people looting national assets is a way
of life and they could go away with it without being punished.
The draft report of CAG reportedly points out that Air India voluntarily closed services on
profitable routes. The Amritsar-Birmingham service was started in 2005. This was closed in
2008 citing 'technical problems.' Soon thereafter Jet Airways started service on this route.
Similarly services were closed on the profitable Kolkata-Bangkok and Kolkata-Dhaka routes.
Kingfisher and Jet Airways started services here. Other routes closed were those of DelhiKochi, Kochi-Kuwait and Kochi-Muscat. The management preferred to operate only on easy
routes even if they were unprofitable. All this cannot go unabted and for so long without
policy decisions at the top level.
Air India entered into a contract to buy 111 airplanes at a massive cost of Rs 44,000 crores
in 2005 when the company's market share was declining and the balance sheet was in the
red. Air India took 28 airplanes on dry lease between 2000 and 2005 even though it did not
have pilots to fly these. The management was more excited about making purchases than
making profits for the company. The company has the highest employee per aircraft in the
industry. The management was more interested in making fresh appointments rather than
getting works done from existing employees.
The problem is not restricted to Air India. It is common to other PSUs like MTNL and Prasar
Bharati which too are running in loss.
An unholy nexus has been established between the minister, secretaries and officials of
the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). All get opportunities of making money on the sly in
this dispensation. They can get commissions in purchases, appoint favourite persons, and also
use or misuse facilities like guest houses and free seats. In return, the secretaries guarantee
continued flow of government money. Privatizing the company will deprive the secretaries of
the various benefits that they get. Therefore, they plead with the Government to provide
more funds to keep the company afloat. Recently Rs 800 crores has been provided to Air
India as equity by the Government. The money will ensure that the stream of benefits
accruing to the minister and secretaries will continue unabated.
Air India has embarked on reducing incentives of the staff to cut costs; and slash fares to
increase customers. But fewer incentives will weaken the staff morale and cancel benefits
that may arise from slashing of fares. The reduced revenues from slashed fares will make
things worse.
Most profitable PSUs are today monopolies or have huge historical investments. The State
Bank of India, for example, has a huge network that was built over more than a century. It
manages the clearing house in most cities. These factors give it an edge over newly formed
private sector banks. This formula, however, is not applicable to companies like Air India,
MTNL and Prasar Bharati which are not able to face competition from private players.
They first make the PSUs sick and then sell them to private players at throw away prices. In
truth ‘sickness’ is a burgeoning business and there are many stake-holders—ministers,
bureaucrats, proxy private operators—to make PSUs unsustainable. 
NOTE
Shehla Massod and Rio Tinto
G Krishna & P K Roy write :
"I am proud to be an Indian.Happy Independence Day."
—Shehla Masood, 15 August, 2011
Gandhi said "the purpose of civil resistance is provocation". Anna has succeeded in provoking the Govt
and the Opposition. Hope he wins us freedom from corruption....’’
—Shehla Masood, 16 August, 2011
few minutes before her martyrdom.
[Shehla Masood, a Madhya Pradesh based civil rights and environmental rights activist was shot dead
by an unidentified person in front of her residence in Koh-e-Fiza locality in Bhopal around 11 AM on
16th August, 2011.]
IT IS THE IRONY THAT TIGERS, tribals, trees and civil rights and environmental rights activists
are being hunted and killed in the same manner.
The possible connection between her murder and Shehla’s raising the issue of illegal
Diamond mining project in Chhattarpur district, Madhya Pradesh by Rio Tinto, a transnational
mining company headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed
company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange must be
investigated along with other suspicions by a high level probe team.
She was active to save the watershed of the Panna Tiger Reserve and the Shyamri River,
one of the cleanest in the country from Rio Tinto’s mining activity along with other activists.
There is every reason to believe that the considered timing of her elimination during the
ongoing anti-corruption campaign when she was on her way to support Anna Hazare’s fast is
meant to overshadow the issue of illegal Diamond mining project in Chhattarpur district,
Madhya Pradesh by Rio Tinto and the political Mafiosi.
The mining block is inside a forest which is the northernmost tip of the best corridor of
teak forests south of the Gangetic plain. It is an established law that mining is non-forestry
activity. There is an immediate need for a probe to determine who allowed the mining to take
place in such an ecologically fragile area.
The Bunder mine project, near the city of Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh, about 500
kilometres south-east of Delhi, is likely to be one of the largest diamond reserves in the
world. It is estimated that there is a ''inferred resource'' of 27.4 million carats, a diamonds
resource seven times richer than the Panna mine, country's only working diamond mine.
A statement dated March 22, 2011 was laid in the Parliament (Lok Sabha) on “need to
review the diamond mining project in district Chhattarpur, Madhya Pradesh posing serious
threat to environment in the region".
Prior to the statement in the Lok Sabha, on March 10, 2011, the FOREST ADVISORY
COMMITTEE MEETING of Ministry of Environment & Forests listed Agenda no. 6 on
“Prospecting of diamond at 143 additional locations in 2329.75 ha. forest land located in 18
compartments in Buxwaha Range in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh by M/s Rio Tinto
Exploration India Private Limited. [File No. 8-49/2006-FC-(Vol.)]” to discuss it but did not do
so stating, “Due to paucity of time the proposal could not be discussed during the meeting”.
Rio Tinto project is threatening unique forest resources in the area affected by the mine in
Chhattarpur, MP. In this context, it may be noted that Roger Moody, a veteran journalist in
his book Plunder, describes Rio Tinto's activities as ranging from "brow-beating opponents,
leaning on governments and price-fixing, to violating international law, union-busting and
management of one of the world's biggest commodity cartels". His book outlines numerous
examples of its environmental irresponsibility.
It is germane to recollect what Sir Roderick Carnegie, as Chairman Rio Tinto-Zinc (RTZ) had
said at its 1984 shareholders' meeting: "The right to land depends on the ability to defend it".


NEWS WRAP
AGD
WELFARE SPENDING HAS been increasing in India, without much economic reforms.
Multiple graft scandals are occurring, as big government expands. Domestic fuel prices have
been hiked, which is administered by the government, but without any deregu-lation of prices.
While the union govern-ment of India has subsidized most petroleum products, it grossly
under-prices kerosene, the poor man’s cooking oil. Organized crime makes a profit by
adulterating more expensive gasoline with kerosene. Real estate and telecom are the most
corrupt business sectors where the government rules are most expansive or least transparent.
Aimed to guarantee the rural unemployed 100 days of work, the nationwide rural jobs scheme
has generated large number of cases of bureaucrats siphoning off money. The Food Security
bill will raise India’s annual food subsidies to one trillion rupees ($22.4 billion), but the
delivery mechanism for food subsidies is submerged in massive corruption. Ration cards that
identify subsidy recipients are easily forged. The ration shopkeepers sell subsidized grains at
market prices, and pocket the difference. Capital has taken flight since 2010, and
manufacturing and fixed investment are slowing down. The GDP growth has slipped below
8%, as business finds fewer opportunities to expand.
RIVER POLLUTION IN NADIA
There has been a continuous flow of polluted water and hazardous waste from Bangladesh
sugar mills and wine plants into the Ichamati, Churni and Mathabhanga rivers. A large number
of fishermen, living along the embankment of the rivers in Nadia and parts of North 24
Parganas district are faced with despair, as the polluted water of the rivers is unable to support
fish and other aquatic life. Since long a blockage has built up at the source of river Ichamati at
Pabkhali village in Majhdia. Flowing through Shibnivas, Hanskhali, Birnagar, Aranghata and
Ranaghat, the Churni river joins the Bhagirathi river, near Chakdah. Supply of fish has fallen
significantly, and the rivers scarcely cater to agricultural needs.
TRIBALS IN SUNDERBANS
Hailing from Ranchi, Manbhum, Singhbhum, Dalbhum and Mayurbhanj areas of Jharkhand,
most tribals in the Sunderbans (South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal) are associated with
their traditional business of hooch or country liquor manufacturing. Failures in implementation
of 100 days job guarantee scheme, under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(NREGA) have led to a large number of tribals, residing in several blocks of the Sunderbans,
to engage themselves in ‘haria’ (hooch) manufacturing units, to earn a living. Earlier tribals
who had been provided employment under NREGA schemes, later disassociated themselves
from the hooch manufac-turing business. In many cases, job cards of NREGA beneficiaries are
under the possession of political parties. Tribal people have to depend on political local
committees to get BPL and job cards. Several tribal communities, comprising Munda, Oraon,
Bedia, Bhumija, Mahali, Kora and Ganda, live in the 19 blocks of the Sunderbans. Tribals are
frequently despatched to jails, when they protest against illegal fisheries in the area.
AFGHAN TROOPS
TAKE COMMAND
While US and NATO forces have injured the Taliban in Afghanistan, they have failed to
reverse a rise in civilian deaths. In the second fortnight of July 2011, General John Allen, a
former deputy director of Central Command, assumed command over the 140,000 strong US
and NATO forces, in Afghanistan. As part of a security overhaul, the former Commander
General David Petraeus, the New Central Intelligence Army Chief, continues to monitor
operations by CIA paramilitary units in Afghanistan, and drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal
areas. The western allies are moving towards the exit, as Afghan security forces are steadily
taking formal responsibility. Afghan police have assumed command in peaceful Bamiyan
province. Even though six other towns and provinces have come under the control of Afghan
security forces, the transfer of command is symbolic, as the western forces will take the lead,
until foreign combat troops leave in 2014.
The Taliban have been pushed from some strongholds in the south, which increased security
for people residing around US positions. The western forces’ kill-or-capture raids finished
hundreds of insurgent chiefs from the battle fields, but enraged many Afghan communities.


Calcutta Notebook
RP
LAST THREE DECADES HAVE been the worst as for as negative projection of Islam is
concerned. Globally the US Empire, after the decline of Socialist block, was on the lookout for
unhindered control on oil resources. In order to dominate West Asia for the sake of oil
wealth, it designed mechanisms to demonize Islam as a cover for political control in the
region. These attempts of Empire peaked after the 9/11, 2001 when US media coined the
word Islamic terrorism. The political-economic phenomenon leading to terrorism was
presented as a religious one. During the same time in India the Hindutva political forces
asserted their political assertion by targeting Islam. In nutshell a religion which had come to
establish peace in the region came to be presented as religion of violence. Popular
perceptions about Islam as religion and its various aspects were so modulated to present
them as if the followers of this faith are moving around with bombs and swords.
It is in this background that Asghar Ali Engineer’s popular work, seeped in profound
scholarship comes as a breath of fresh air, presenting the truth of the religion as propagated
by Prophet Mohammad in the war-torn tribal society of Saudi Arabia. Engineer, a
multifaceted scholar activist, has been one of the major contributors to the enrichment of
humane values in general and has been elaborating the values of Peace and Justice in Islam in
particular.
Engineer’s recent book—The Prophet of Non-Violence, Spirit of Peace, Compassion and
Universality in Islam (published by Vitasta Publishing Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2011, pages 246,
price Rs 395, HB) is actually a compilation of 19 of his essays, contributed periodically and
they address the vast range of subjects from the basic teachings of the prophet, concept of
war and peace, values of justice, status of women and finally a commentary on social issues.
Engineer does well to refer to the basic book of Islam, Koran as the base of his understanding
and brilliantly yet simply explains the truth behind the misconceptions popularized by the
motivated critics. His contention is that many precepts and misconceptions have been there
due to the history of Muslims, Muslim Kings and clergy who for their vested interests have
misrepresented the teachings of Koran, to suit their political and social interests. In order to
retrieve the reality of the Prophet of Non Violence from the myriad myths surrounding him,
the author, does not resort to Maulanas and Muftis (who give religious opinion) but to the
Koran itself in all its complexity. He places most of the teachings in their proper context to
elaborate the truth of teachings of the contributions of Prophet to the development of values
of humanism in the World.
Non-violence in Islam is a matter of deeper conviction and not of mere convenience. In
the strife-torn Arab society he preached for Brotherhood and Sisterhood, a novel concept in
the society divided along hostile tribal lines. The presentation of violent image of Islam took
place also during the period of crusades, which had nothing to do with religion but were for
expanding the empires of Christian Kings. Similarly currently Huntington thesis of clash of
civilizations has more to do with the oil lust of United States rather than with any religion as
such.
Similarly, Jihad, the much abused word, was the word abused by Muslim Kings for
conquering lands. These military expeditions were titled as Jihad while such wars had nothing
to do with spreading the values of Islam in any way. The same word is currently being
associated with terrorism. As such Jihad means ‘striving to the utmost’. It does stand for
striving for betterment. In Koran, this word appears 41 times and not once it stands for war
or violence of any type.
Even the perception of Islam being against Human rights is baseless as Equality is central
to Islamic teachings. That is one of the reasons for spread of Islam World over and India in
particular. In India the birth based inequality of caste system had been the major factor for
low caste shudras embracing Islam to escape the caste tyranny. The regimes being run by
despots in the name of Islam have violated Human rights but that again has more to do with
the political character of those regimes and is not related to religion.
All in all, this entire book is a timely intervention in the global debate on the nature of
Islam. Engineer totally identifies Islam only with Koran, this though on the dot, leaves out
other faces of Islam which prevail in the common sentiments, the Muftis, Maulanas, the
rituals in Islam etc, also need to be analyzed in their proper perspective. 

THE ANNA MOMENT
‘India Against Corruption’
Satya Sagar
TO CALL ANNA HAZARE'S crusade against corruption a 'second freedom movement' may
be hyperbole but in recent times there has been no mass upsurge for a purely public cause, that
has captured the imagination of so many.
For an Indian public long tolerant of the misdeeds of its political servants turned quasimafia bosses this show of strength was a much-needed one. In any democracy while elected
governments, the executive and the judiciary are supposed to balance each other's powers,
ultimately it is the people who are the real masters and it is time the so-called 'rulers'
understand this clearly.
Politicians, who constantly hide behind their stolen or manipulated electoral victories,
should beware the wrath of a vocal citizenry that is not going to be fooled forever and demands
transparent, accountable and participatory governance. The legitimacy conferred upon elected
politicians is valid only as long as they play by the rules of the Indian Constitution, the laws of
the land and established democratic norms.
If these rules are violated the legitimacy of being 'elected' should be taken away just as a
bad driver loses his driving license or a football player is shown the red card for repeated fouls.
The problem people face in India is clearly that there are no honest 'umpires' left to hand out
these red cards anymore and this is not just the problem of a corrupt government or
bureaucracy but of the falling values of Indian society itself.
That is why it is not clear at all whether the passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill with its
draconian powers of oversight over government functioning will work as an effective measure
against financial or political corruption.
The other larger obstacle to actually bringing meaningful change in the way India works
lies only in the lack of clarity on what the term 'corruption' itself really means. The sources of
this multi-headed evil run deep in the society and must be identified, debated and finally
uprooted in all its forms.
The policeman or government official taking a bribe, the politician acting as a middleman
for a corporation and so on are common examples of corruption in India. However going
beyond the obvious meaning of corruption as just financial fraud or bribery there is a need to
look at the many other ways in which established rules and universal principles are constantly
bent to suit one vested interest or the other.
TEN POINTS
Caste: This is the oldest form of corruption in the Indian sub-continent and one that continues
to this day- the bending of rules in favour of the 'upper' castes over the 'lower' ones. In
traditional India laws were always discriminatory in content, prescribing as they did different
kinds of punishment to people from different rungs of the caste ladder for the same crime.
Even today in many parts of India a savarna can go scot-free after murdering a Dalit while the
latter can be lynched for even skinning a dead cow. People of the same caste favour each other
over members of other castes all the time in different sectors of Indian life from government
and business to sports and even crime. Even in Bollywood the hero of every movie is a Singh,
Sharma or a Verma and almost never an Ahir, Topno, Pramanik or Sutar. For that matter, there
are very few in the English and Hindi language media too with such surnames. Next round
Anna can target this form of corruption and kick some ass (in his inimitable Gandhian way, of
course) to set things right.
Class: Money power has become the biggest bender of established rules in India as the
wealthy get away with almost anything and everything from evading taxes and stealing
common resources to changing national policies to suit their business interests. Across political
parties today members of parliament have become puppets of different big Indian and even
foreign corporations and act against the interests of the ordinary Indian people. Even more than
the politicians, who are mostly middlemen, it is the Tatas, Ambanis, Ruias and Mittals who
wield real power in India. That many of these corporate bosses have today joined the chorus of
voices against corruption is as dubious and laughable as Pappu Yadav going on fast in
solidarity with Anna's movement.
Race: Racism of skin color and looks is deeply rooted in a lot of Indian society and is a
constant source of discrimination in not just public behavior but also national policy and
politics. What else, if not racism, could be the reason that much of India and the national media
has not paid any attention to the heroic ten-year-long fast unto death of Irom Sharmila from
Manipur for repealing the dreaded Armed Forces Special Powers Act while a four-day- long
fast by Anna Hazare has the urban middle classes all emotionally charged up? And why else
should every depiction of Mother India be of a fair skinned Aryan looking lady with pink lips
and not one with dark skin or curly hair or north-eastern looks? Racism is surely one of the
most abhorrent forms of corruption possible in any society and Anna can help change social
attitudes next time by having a nice Santhal, Munda or Oraon woman play Bharat Mata in the
portrait behind him while he fasts on stage.
Gender: The ratio of women to men in the Indian population has been steadily falling in many
parts of the country as a silent genocide takes place every hour with parents willfully killing
off their girl children. According to the UNICEF foetal sex determination and sex selective
abortion by unethical medical professionals has today grown into a Rs 1,000 crore industry.
Women get routinely discriminated against in job selection, the wages they get and the public
and domestic violence they are subjected to. Denying women their equal rights as Indian
citizens is a form of corruption that not only violates the Indian Constitution but also basic
human principles. One does not expect Anna's movement to take on every issue in Indian
society but at least they can rebuff the public support that has been expressed for their cause by
the khap panchayats of Haryana!
Nepotism: This is the most widespread form of corruption in the Indian context with not just
politicians but film stars and cricketers promoting their kids over other more competent
candidates all the time. Power, wealth, beauty, talent almost everything it seems can be
'inherited' without any effort and leads to the accumulation of undue influence in the same few
families. The most glaring form of nepotism is practiced by family run business houses of
India where, irrespective of their competence or ability, the reins of control keep passing on
from father to son or daughter. If Indians want the country to be run solely on merit and
transparent rules then they should insist that the CEOs of Indian companies be selected on the
basis of an all India examination where everyone can participate. A severe taxation on
inherited property as practiced in the UK and other countries will also go a long way in
promoting a truly merit-based society.
Urban Bias: Whether it be in terms of remuneration for their work and produce, investment in
infrastructure, job opportunities, healthcare or education the rural Indian is far worse off than
the urban one. Every national policy and rule is bent in favour of the cities and this must end if
India is to remain a united country for long. The city is always prioritized over the countryside
and it is ironic in some ways that almost all the support for Anna's Gandhian movement is
coming from the big cities and towns and virtually nothing from the villages.
Language: Forget about the imposition of Hindi on the people of southern India, it turns out
that the most oppressive use of the 'national language' is in fact in the so-called Hindi speaking
states. Over a dozen languages like Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, Rajasthani, Bundelkhandi,
Sadri, Chhattisgarhi are given short shrift by the champions of the elite Sanskritised Hindi over
the local languages of the northern Indian states. The lack of educational materials in their
mother tongue has resulted in low literacy rates for both children and adults in these parts of
India for decades, keeping them at a perpetual disadvantage. In states where the local
languages are properly supported and promoted like in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West
Bengal and Gujarat there is much greater literacy and also empowerment of the people.
Favouring Hindi or any language for that matter over another is a violation of the principle of
equal access to opportunities and a form of corruption that has not been properly addressed as
yet in the country.
Education: The open economic and cultural discrimination practiced against the 'uneducated'
people of India is a form of corruption that most 'educated' people don't want to recognize
because this obviously works in their own favour. As a result of this bias those with degreesreal and fake- get paid many, many times more than those who never went through school and
confined to manual work of different kinds. Many well meaning people think that the solution
is to provide 'education' the masses of India obfuscating the fact that the 'uneducated' need
food, clothing, shelter and dignified jobs before anything else. The worst aspect of this
phenomenon is that the poverty of the poor is blamed on their 'lack of education' and not on the
unjust economic structures of Indian society.
Religion: The biggest religious discrimination in India is not really against Muslims, who are
at least organized and vocal about their problems, but against the Adivasi populations of the
country. Subsumed under the category 'Hindu' there is no recognition as yet of their spiritual
and religious traditions that are distinct from Hinduism in many, many ways. Several Adivasi
groups in recent years have been demanding that the Indian government categorize their faiths
as a separate religion called 'Adi-dharm' or 'Sarna', a call that has repeatedly fallen on deaf
ears. Forcing indigenous people, who form over 10 percent of the Indian population, into a
religious identity not of their choice is to deny them their Constitutional right to freedom of
religion. Instead of imposing Hindu gods on them and seeking to 'convert' them to Hinduism
with trishuls and Shiva lingas they should be allowed to practice whatever religion they want,
derived from their own historical roots.
Nationality: India, for all its ancient glory and history, is really a new nation forged together
by first the Mughals and then the British empire. The latter in particular forced dozens of
smaller nationalities to become part of the 'Raj', whose territory was inherited by the current
Indian Republic. Gandhi, more than anyone else in the Indian freedom movement was
sensitive to this and had in fact declared his support for the demand for independence of the
Naga people. Other Indian leaders like Nehru and Patel looked upon themselves as the
managers of colonial property that the British had handed over to them. The reduction of the
entire idea of Indian nationalism to control over territory and domination over smaller
nationalities has been the biggest blot on the record of modern India in the last six decades. It
has led to countless killings of innocent people and even crimes against humanity in the name
of protecting the 'integrity' of the nation and is a corruption of every principle of nonviolence
and humanism that Gandhi espoused.
Anna Hazare could perhaps take on the Indian administration to recognize the rights to
autonomy or even self-determination of all nationalities within Indian borders that don't feel or
want to be Indian. Doing that will truly make Anna a true inheritor of the Gandhian tradition,
which is after all about the fight for justice for every human being and much more than merely
sitting on a fast for a public cause or wearing khadi or leading a simple life. When that
happens, the sub-continent will surely say 'We are all Anna Hazare' to the last man, woman
and child. 
[source : countercurrent.org dated 22-8-2011]
EXERCISE IN ESCAPISM?
Beyond the New Land Acquisition Bill
Yoginder Sikand
FACED WITH MOUNTING PRO-protests against forcible land acquisition by the state under
the guise of 'development', the Government recently unveiled the National Land Acquisition
and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011. The Union Ministry of Rural Development has
given the public time till the end of this month to send in their comments.
Activist groups have greeted the Bill with skepticism, pointing out that it fails to address
their core concerns. A detailed note circulated by Sangharsh, an umbrella group of a number
of widely-respected social activists and grassroots organizations from across the country and
linked to the larger National Alliance of People's Movements, points out numerous loopholes
in the Bill. It notes that the draft Bill envisages the government acquiring land for itself or with
the ultimate intent of transferring it to private companies. It argues that 'under no
circumstances' should lands be acquired for private companies, even under the garb of a 'public
purpose', and recommends that the draft Bill, which allows for this, be modified accordingly.
The Sangharsh note argues that in allowing for the acquisition of land for private companies,
even if for a purported public purpose, the Bill is deeply flawed, and that this clause 'is a
dangerous development that is unacceptable'. Further, it stresses, if land is to be acquired by
and for the government in a certain place, at least 80% of those whose lands will be lost must
offer their consent for the deal to come through. The draft Bill has this 80% consent clause
only with regard to land being acquired for private companies, and here, too, the question of
how this consent is to be ascertained has not been adequately addressed.
Sangharsh's opposition to the Bill's permission for land acquisition by private companies
reflects the concern that this would inevitably lead to widespread displacement and
impoverishment as well as ecological damage on a massive scale. This fear is fully justified.
The Sangharsh note quotes from the Supreme Court's recent decision in the Salwa Judum case,
where the Court had noted:
The justification often advanced, by advocates of the neo-liberal development paradigm, as
historically followed, or newly emerging, in a more rapacious form, in India, is that unless
development occurs, via rapid and vast exploitation of natural resources, the country would
not be able to either compete on the global scale, nor accumulate the wealth necessary to
tackle endemic and seemingly intractable problems of poverty, illiteracy, hunger and
squalor. Whether such exploitation is occurring in a manner that is sustainable, by the
environment and the existing social structures, is an oft debated topic, and yet hurriedly
buried. Neither the policy makers nor the elite in India, who turn a blind eye to the gross
and inhuman suffering of the displaced and the dispossessed, provide any credible answers.
Worse still, they ignore historical evidence which indicates that a development paradigm
depending largely on the plunder and loot of the natural resources more often than not
leads to failure of the State; and that on its way to such a fate, countless millions would
have been condemned to lives of great misery and hopelessness.
Another basic flaw of the Bill, Sangharsh points out, is that it allows for land to be bought by
private companies ostensibly for a 'public purpose'. The Sangharsh note points out that when
private companies are motivated essentially by the lure of profits and 'public purpose' is
supposed to be for the public welfare, it is unlikely that the two can be reconciled with each
other. The very definition of 'public purpose' in the draft Bill, Sangharsh argues, is
unacceptable. 'Public purpose' cannot be arbitrarily decided-by the state, corporate houses or
well-entrenched elites with their own skewed views about what is best for society. Rather,
Sangharsh argues, it has to be decided through a democratic process, reflecting the needs
particularly of the poor.
The Sangharsh note argues that the rehabilitation policy envisaged under the Bill is
unsatisfactory. The draft Bill provides for a National Monitoring Committee for Relief and
Rehabilitation, but Sangharsh argues for similar committees at the taluq, district and state
levels as well. It insists that provision must be made for providing compensation not just for
acquisition of people's assets, particularly land, but also for the loss of livelihoods and shelters
to all categories of persons affected by land acquisition. In the draft Bill, it points out, affected
rural families are entitled to a minimum of 1 acre land only in irrigation projects while
Adivasis are entitled to land in all projects. In other projects, the affected families would be
mandatorily entitled to one job per affected family or only a paltry sum of Rs 2 lakhs in lieu of
such a job. This, Sangharsh insists, 'is a complete dilution' of the principles of relief and
rehabilitation, and fails to ensure that the affected family should at least regain, if not better, its
standard of living on resettlement.
The draft Bill thus completely overlooks the bitter reality that victims of displacement have
typically received grossly inadequate compensation, and that many of them have quickly
frittered away the small cash compensation that they received, leading to the pauperization and
destitution of their families. Sangharsh argues that to prevent this from happening, in rural
areas displaced families must have the non-negotiable right to land-based rehabilitation, with a
minimum of 5 acres of irrigated land of the displaced person's choice. This land, it adds, must
be allotted on an unconditional basis and with permanent title, and be within 2-3 kilometres of
the resettlement area. Fishing rights, in cases of irrigation or hydro-power projects, must be
allowed to the affected families, and this change has to be incorporated in the draft Bill.
The Bill envisages provision of housing units to house-owning affected families, but
restricts this to those who have been residing in the affected area for not less than 3 years at the
time of notification. Sangharsh argues that this period should be reduced to 1 year, and
suggests that the entitlement be extended to people in tenants and the homeless as well.
According to the draft Bill, when more than 100 families are displaced, the Collector of the
district is to provide them a range of infrastructural facilities and amenities, but Sangharsh
insists that this minimum of 100 families be reduced, given that in hilly regions, villages
typically have small populations.
Another issue that the draft Bill fails to adequately address, Sangharsh argues, is that of
multiple displacement, with people being evicted due to two or more projects over time or with
their lands being acquired for two or more components of the same project. The Bill, it insists,
must clearly prohibit multiple displacement of families. In case of excess acquisition of land or
failure to utilize the land for the acquired purpose, the same, Sangharsh insists, should be
returned to the affected families and communities.
The draft Bill requires a 'social impact assessment study' report, in consultation with the
gram sabha (or equivalent body in urban areas) as well as a public hearing to ascertain the
views of the would-be affected families in cases where the government intends to acquire more
than 100 acres of land. Sangharsh argues that such a study must be made mandatory for every
case of land acquisition by the government, irrespective of the quantum of land. Further, it
suggests, the report of the study must be approved of by the gram sabha or equivalent urban
body. The 'expert group' for appraising the report and the committee to examine land
acquisition proposals should also include members of the affected families, their
representatives as well as organizations, if any. The deliberations of these groups, Sangharsh
advises, must be intimated to the affected families and their organizations and should be
public. Moreover, all aspects of the project, including the necessary records, must be made
easily and freely available to the affected families in their local language.
Will a suitably-amended Bill, on the lines suggested by Sangharsh, satisfy the victims of
the rapacious 'development model' that brutally rules people’s lives? It would, of course, be a
march over the version of the Bill suggested by the Government. But, such cosmetic changes
can hardly suffice in the long-term, for which what is needed is nothing less than a radical revisioning of the very meaning of 'development' and, more than just that, of the purpose of life
itself. 
MYTH AND REALITY
Violence, Non-Violence and Gandhi
M N Majumdar
FORCE, VIOLENCE MAY NOT necessarily lead to capture of political power. But these
along with constructive programs aimed at improving the lot of the people coupled with
restrained violence plus mass support, can lead to political power. This happened in
revolutionary China, Cuba and hence the truth of the Mao dictum "Political power grows out
of the barrel of the gun" is conditional and its misapplication depending mainly on violence, as
happened in the Naxalite uprising of the 1970s, proved to be failure and disastrous.
Political power rests mainly on the confidence, trust and consent of the vast majority of
people. Adult franchise is a powerful weapon in the hands of the people as has been seen in the
general Elections of 1967, 1977, 2011 in West Bengal. Nevertheless, the state keeps at its
disposal enormous power of violence to keep the dissenters at bay, opponents obedient. The
state besides the very potent long ideological indoctrination, media, TV, film, etc. keeps at its
disposal enormous power of diverse forms of violence. The power structure of the government
is intact as long as the commands are obeyed and the army or police forces are prepared to use
their weapons. When this is no longer the case the situation changes abruptly. Not only the
rebellion is not put down but the arms themselves change hands—sometimes as in the
Hungarian revolution—within a few hours. This happened many times and can happen any
time particularly in states where governments, are not that strong and its credibility is lost as in
Bangladesh in 1971 and also in the last days (1946) of the British Raj in India.
Where power erodes it is replaced with violence, the extreme forms of which are military
dictatorships. Even legally constituted governments evince such tendencies. In early 1970s
govt. unleashed massive violence against the Naxalites and could crush them mainly because
the Naxalites could not elicit sufficient mass support for which their unwise programs are more
responsible. As people's confidence in the Left Front Govt. declined, more and more violence,
both overt and covert, were unleashed as have been witnessed in Singur, Nandigram, Lalgarh.
Power and violence at their extremes are mutually exclusive. Now the TMC under Mamata
Banerjee has come to power even without the power of violence.
Gandhi's so-called power of non-violence could have had different fate if he had to confront
enemies like Hitler of Germany or Stalin of Russia. There would have been massacres and
forcible submission from which Indians could not have recovered again in a century. The
British bore with Gandhi's non-violent Satyagraha movements because in some ways they
found it useful for their rule since these acted as a "safety valve" for letting out people's anger.
Still the British sometimes felt impatient even with that minor irritant that Gandhi was. When
Gandhi launched his Quit India Movement (1942) with his campaign of peaceful resistance,
Churchill raged that "he (Gandhi) ought to be lain bound hand and feet at the gates of Delhi
and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new Viceroy seated on its back". As
the resistance swelled (much of which became violent) he announced: "I hate Indians. They are
a beastly people with a beastly religion. (The Statesman, Oct. 31, 2010)
Gandhi might not have consciously colluded with the British. But with his backward
looking psyche, superstitions, religious nature and little understanding and vision about the
great and inevitable importance of modern S&T for India he was not perceived as a real threat
to the continuance of the British rule in India. The shrewd British were masters in politics and
statecraft with which they built up and controlled the vast empire all over the world. Except his
pseudo fight against casteism and flimsy opposition to British rule and the slogan of Quit India
(1942), his contribution seems only marginal. If, as some historians would have Indians
believe, that Gandhi's anti-British non-violent movements aroused the Indian masses against
the British paving the way for the final hammer of INA and Bombay Naval Mutiny of 1946
that had forced the British to leave, then one should also recognize the valuable contributions
of the tribal revolts of 19th century plus the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and the Terrorist
movements of the 20th century. He had little influence in the tribal areas and among the lower
castes who were the majority population. Katherine Mayo, author of Mother India (1927)
wrote (pp l33) :
When the Prince of Wales visited India in late November 1921 then Gandhi at the height of
his popularity and prestige called for a general boycott of the royal visit .But ignoring
Gandhi's call for the total boycott people mostly from the lower social strata gave the
prince a spectacular hearty welcome and ovation at Bombay ,Northwest India etc.
Despite so much of mass support and enormous justification for environmental protection, the
long dedicated heroic struggles of Medha Patkar and others could not save the river and
Narmada Bachao Andolon could not succeed. Evident reason : they were Gandhians and Nonviolent. Likewise at Dante-wada, Himangsu Kumar's 17-year-old Gandhiite Asram could be
devastated by security forces rendering him homeless and his Gandhibadi mission of rural
welfare demolished. Evidently Govt.'s power in the area has eroded and so they are resorting to
increased violence and the process spirals down. And for this they are even using the Harmads
of Salwa Judum.
Gandhi consciously perhaps did not do anything to help the British. He was honest and
sincere but was misguided by erroneous thinking. Whatever that may it be his social and
political activities neither helped Indian social progress, nor helped Indian Independence. Even
before independence his closest friends in the Congress including Nehru, Patel, Azad
marginalized him and could neither prevent India's partition nor prevent fierce communal riots
and killings of lakhs of people. If Nathuram Godse did not assassinate him, he would have died
broken heart observing the abject failure of all that he believed and strived for including his
social and economic programs that he assiduously built up. His backward looking psyche,
religious nature and little understanding of the great and inevitable importance of modern S&T
for India did not help progress. Despite his total failures Gandhi is still now projected as the
great father of the nation. Evidently the Congress leaders have learnt politics and statecraft.
It is claimed, written and preached every time everywhere that Freedom won on the
midnight of 15th August, 1947 was the grand victory of the Congress and Gandhi's force of
Non-violence. History is written by the victors which in the Orwellian language is—
Those who control the present control the past.
Those who control the past control the future.
Evidently rulers on both sides of the border have matured and learnt statecraft and history of
freedom struggle has been written and re-written to suit the rulers.
But the reality is different as is revealed to the present writer even not from deep study. It
was the INA's violent struggles under Subhas Bose (1945) that aroused the Indian nation.
Three of the top officers of the INA General Shah Nawaz Khan (Muslim), Colonel Prem
Sehgal (Hindu) and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon (Sikh) were put on trial at the Red Fort
for alleged crimes "waging war against the king Emperor". While Nehru was busy defending
the three; he (Nehru), Gandhi, Mohd Ali Zinnah and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had come to a
secret pact that if Subhas Bose was to enter India (as many knew he hadn't died in 1945), he
would be handed over and charged. On the other side, Nehru appeared in Barrister's coat to
defend the convicted three officers of the INA. This way he not only managed, even bettered
his public image. He always received tacit British cooperation in his shrewd political games.
Now his dynastic rule is established.
Unprecedentedly and mysteriously, these trials were very public. Due to the sympathy
toward Netaji and the INA in general, there was an instant and large spontaneous outpouring of
passion and patriotism among Indians. These stories inspired the Naval Mutiny at Bombay
which started on Feb. 18, 1946 and quickly spread to Karachi, Calcutta, Cochin and Vizag.
Sixty thousand sailors were involved in the naval strike that put the final nail on the coffin of
British rule in India. Names of the mutineer battle ships INS Talwar, INS Khyber are little
known to the present generation of Indian people. But the name of Battleship Pottemkin is
much better known. Next day Feb. 19, 1946 the then British Prime Minister Harold Atlee
declared that India would be given full independence. The heroism and sacrifices of the Naval
mutineers and people and workers of Bombay, Calcutta, Karachi and at other places exceed
those of the 1905 naval strike in Russia's Black Sea fleet immortalized in Eisenstein's classic
film Battleship Potemkin. Utpal Dutt, the famous Bengalee writer and actor wrote and
dramatized a play "Kallol" depicting aspects of Naval Mutiny for which he was arrested in
Dec. 1965.
The British became extremely nervous in Feb. 1946 because Indian army was not obeying
British Officers and the INA spirit widely spread also in the army and air force, to say nothing
among the Indian public. It was no longer possible to rule India with army from Britain which
was devastated by WWII and the British wanted peace. The British people would have
revolted against their Government if Britain had to send English troops to maintain the colony
in India which had the potential of a protracted war. So, the British took the wiser and shrewd
course of granting independence which was also being pressed upon by the USA. So the
British handed over the power to its lackeys the Congress in India and the Muslim League in
Pakistan and ended its two century of direct colonial rule.
[See : Phani Bhushan Bhattacharya: Nau Bidroher Itihas (in Bengali, 1979). Websites
under Indian Naval Mutiny of 1946 (Much revealing information]. The mainstream politicians
from Jinnah to Gandhi to Nehru to Maulana Azad all let these heroic final freedom fighters
down. This rebellion and its genesis was a God send to reinforce religious and class harmony,
which was forged instantly without any machination. And Freedom earned that way would
have been real freedom and the country would not have been partitioned sowing the seed of
perennial enmity and hatred in the subcontinent.
In Calcutta's Raj Bhavan in 1956 Lord Clement Atlee was staying as state guest and Justice
P B Chakrabarty, the then acting Governor asked the former British PM "what was the extent
of Gandhi's influence upon the British decision to quit India". Atlee's lips widened in smile of
disdain. He uttered slowly :
"m-i-n-i-m-a-l"!
Another question was asked to Atlee : if the Quit India Movement of 1942 (incidentally which
was not much non-violent) had subsided and nothing major happened in the mainstream
politics, why did the British had to leave so suddenly in 1947? Atlee's response was : erosion
of loyalty to the British Crown among the Indian army and navy personnel as a result of the
military activities of Subhash Bose.
Personal ambition, ego overtook the greater interest of the nation and its people and in
various ways the Congress leaders colluded with the British and accepted a partitioned India
on communal lines spoiling for ever the future of the country with a sham independence. Phani
Bhushan Bhattacharya mentioned the name of Bhulabhai Desai who was a Congressman in the
secret All India Coordination Committee of the Revolutionaries that included people from the
Army, the Air force and the Navy.
In retrospect, Nehru appears to be the shrewdest of all the national leaders and his dynasty
still rules. Gandhi was a confused personality who was marginalized in the wee hours of
independence. Patel was like him, not untransperant. The national leaders from Jinnah to
Nehru to Patel to Azad put their personal image, ambition and ego above the greater interest of
the people and the country and conceded the partition on communal lines. Their political stand
was highly anachronistic. They opted for a secular India but accepted a Pakistan based on
Islamic religion. All of them spoiled the grand possibility of a real revolutionary freedom
without permanently putting the subcontinent in ernbitterment and communal curse.
Subhas Bose was dreaded and hated by most of the big national leaders. Now he is little
more than an icon. And the heroes of the Naval Mutineers have been quietly forgotten. It's
simply intriguing that those who condemn violence, now eulogize and glorify past
revolutionaries. Not even the enquiry report of 600 pages prepared by a committee in 1946 has
not been made public even 65 years after the episodes. The committee consisted of the
following well known personalities:
Tekchand, Konger Dulim Singh, Jayakar, Justice Jaffarullah, K Benkatarama Sastri, Justice
Biswas, Sir Ahladi Krisnaswami Ayer. As yet this report has not been made public and
strangely parliamentary political parties have not demanded its publication.
THE OPPOSITE OF VIOLENCE IS NOT NON-VIOLENCE
"Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent.
Violence appears where power is in jeopardy, but left to its own course it ends in power's
disappearance. This implies that it is not correct to think of the opposite of violence as nonviolence; to speak of non-violent power is redundant. Violence can destroy power, it is utterly
incapable of creating it. Hegel and Marx's great trust in the dialectical 'power of negation', by
virtue of which opposites do not destroy but smoothly develop into each other because
contradictions promote and do not paralyze development, rests on a much older philosophical
prejudice : that evil is no more than a private modus of the good, that good can come out of
evil, that in short, evil is but a temporary manifestation of a still-hidden good. Such timehonored opinions have become dangerous. They are shared by many who have never heard
Hegel-Marx, for the simple reason that they inspire hope and dispel fear—a treacherous hope
used to dispel legitimate fear. By this, I do not mean to equate violence with evil". (Hannah
Arendt: On Violence)
A society divided into antagonistic classes or conflicting groups with conflicting interests is
vibrant and alive notwithstanding occasional violent conflicts. The state has evolved to
moderate and manipulate these conflicts and keeps going the normal necessary activities of
production and services. To a chemist as the present writer is, the state can be likened to a
moving machine consisting of various parts in which constant frictions are unavoidable and
only natural, however well it is built with the best of materials and well oiled. The frictional
losses are inevitable and some loss of energy has to be accepted. Likewise in a pluralistic
democratic society some conflicts, some "waste of energy" is unavoidable. Indeed these help
social progress as has been said by T S Eliot in his Notes Towards the Definition of Culture
(1948). In another chemical imagery a society divided into two broad antagonistic classes (like
the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in Marxian view) is inherently unstable like a chemical high
explosive like nitroglycerine or TNT whose molecules contain two antagonistic parts—viz. a
reducing (fuel) glycerine or toluene part, and an oxidizing nitro group part—are combined to
produce an apparently stable molecule. But slight shock or spark can cause heavy explosion
with the release of highly destructive energy that is capable of completely destroying the whole
molecule. The revolutionaries are supposed to supply the shock or spark by way of carrying
newer ideas and information. But it is the business of the state to prevent explosion that has the
potential of destroying the whole society as in a chemical high explosive. Hence politics has
been defined as the art and science of governance. Democratic Pluralism ensures the state
machinery not to blow up but keep going with minimum energy loss through diverse frictions.
"Neither a classless society, nor a society of strict and impenetrable social barriers is good
.... We think of friction as waste of energy a classless society should always be emerging
into class, and a class society should be tending towards obliteration of its class distinctions
So, within limits, the friction not only between individuals but between groups, seems to
me quite necessary for civilization. The universality of irritation is the best assurance of
peace. A country within which the divisions have gone too far is in danger to itself: a
country which is too well united—whether by nature or by device, by honest purpose or by
fraud and oppression—is a menace to others. In Italy and Germany, we have seen that a
unity with politico-economic aims, imposed violently and too rapidly, had unfortunate
effects upon both nations .... Ideally, each village, and of course more visibly the larger
towns, should have each its peculiar character". (T S Eliot, loc cit.)
Under the present circumstances the intellectuals should search for the truth, collect
information, analyze them and disseminate them. The tribals were grossly betrayed in the past
and reduced them to pathetic existence. Didn't ancestors of this great land Bharat treat the
tribals in ways similar to those the European colonizers did in the North and South Americas,
Australia and Africa?
The primitive agrarian community based on cooperation and common property in the land
was a potent form of social organization, which could lead directly into higher forms of social
organization without having to go through the phase of capitalistic production. In the later
years of his life Marx was inclined to such thinking [Eric Fromm : Sane Society, Ch 7].
Indian Constitution was framed by a Constituent Assembly constituted of 389 members
(296 from India with 93 from the Indian states) that worked from 1946 to 1949 and served as
its first Parliament. The members were representatives from less than 10 percent of the
population elected on the basis of the govt. of India Act 1935 and not on the basis of universal
adult franchise. Naturally, as Subhas Kashyap writes :
"the constitution did not represent a complete break with the colonial past, 75 percent of the
constitution can be said to be a reproduction of the Government of India Act, 1935 with
suitable adaptations and modifications."
The Congress in India and the Muslim League in Pakistan came into Power from the Authority
inherited from the British Royalty. This authority was not derived from the people of India on
the basis of universal franchise.
The constitution has become accepted. It did not evolve but imposed. But its most
important part, the directive principles, should be justiciable that is, made into laws. Amartya
Sen's recent book "Identity and Violence", 2006, is highly illuminating which emphasizes
Democratic Pluralism. Sen has brilliantly shown that all people, all human groups have
multiple identities, not one exclusive or unique like ethnicity, religion, language or culture.
Such identities should be recognized and respected to. Reason, education, tolerance and
freedom of expression and activities can minimize the need for much violence in resolutions of
conflicts mainly between the state and the dissenters. And people can build up a better India
where Democratic Pluralism will flourish. Such approach is consistent with the greatest
principles of modern science, particularly the great entropy law, which applies to society also.
Extreme violence must have to be avoided. Conflicts will ever remain. That is also a sign of
health and conducive to progress. But these should be settled through discussions and
negotiations. Politics, is the art and science of control and manipulation of social psychology
.For this best brains of the land are recruited by the states with handsome emoluments and
perquisites while the unorganized resourceless oppositions are naturally handicapped. Even the
open organized political parties are divided. But why? 

ALTERNATIVE SOCIAL INNOVATION
Design for Sustainability
[Ezio Manzini is an Italian design strategist, one of the world's leading experts on sustainable design, author of numerous design
books, professor of Industrial Design at Milan Polytechnic, and founder of the DESIS (Design for Social Innovation towards
Sustainability) network of university-based design labs. His work over the past 30 years in sustainability and social innovation has
coalesced around four watch words : small, local, open and connected. Recently Sarah Brooks spoke with him. Excerpts :]
Q: What's most interesting to you right now?
A: Right now, what's most interesting me is what we can do to catalyze the most abundant
resources we have on the planet, which are our human capabilities. This is, if you want, my
motto and it is also a very deep philosophical issue. If we consider that we have a very small
heavily populated planet, to move to sustainability we have to make best use of all the
resources we have.
We can look to the people of the planet in two ways. We can see 7 billion people on the
planet today or 9 billion people tomorrow as the biggest threat and the biggest problem,
because we are a little planet. But given that those 7 billion people are you, me, my friends and
the people we know, we see them not as problems but as people with capabilities, intelligent
operators. So the planet is very rich with potential intelligent operators. What does it mean to
enable all the potentialities of so many intelligent people? The system can help in catalyzing
the best, or catalyzing the worst. Or in making people more stupid than normally they are. I
think this is a very big challenge. This is the biggest challenge with the most potential.
Collectivity can help.
There is, in my view, a new model of organizing society and the production and
consumption and whatever. When I use the words small, open, local and connected, this is my
way of telling the story. People can tell it in another way, but the result is similar. Of course it's
a metaphor: having small entities that when connected, become bigger entities. It's evident that
it comes very strongly from the network. But once it appears, it's not only related to what you
can do, strictly speaking, in the network and technologies. It's a way to imagine the way in
which the social services are delivered in society and the way in which we can imagine
economies that are at the same time rooted in a place and partially self-sufficient but connected
to the others and open to the others. This is a very interesting relationship between being local,
being related to a certain context and at the same time being open and connected, not
provincial or one closed community that risks being against the others. This is an idea that is
clear and strong if you talk about the arena where people are dealing with networks, open
source and peer to peer. But it can become a very general metaphor, and embed itself in some
realities to become a powerful way to organize a sustainable society.
Having dealt with sustainability for the past 30 years, I have had to reframe several times
my way of discussing the problem. A lot of sustainability topics were simple to discuss in a
naive way 30 years ago because nobody, us included, had concrete ideas on how a sustainable
society would have been. Now, luckily, a lot of experiences have been done and good ideas
have spread. As a researcher I look for ways to propose a topic in a relatively new way that can
help the process to move faster, or find a better direction. Today, for instance, my way to deal
with sustainability has shifted toward social innovation.
For me, dealing with the needed sustainable changes that are mainly cultural and behavior
change, the pivotal moment has been when I moved from saying "What can I do to help people
change behavior?" toward the discovery that a lot of people (even if they aren't yet so visible)
had already changed, and in a good way, their behaviors. And that therefore, the right question
is: "What can I do to trigger and support these new way of thinking and doing? How can I use
my design knowledge and tools to empower these grass-roots social innovations?" 
[source : countercurrent.org]
SCIENCE AND HUMANITY
Subverted by the Bomb
Evaggelos Vallianatos
The United States assumed the mantle of Western civilization immediately after blasting Japan with atomic weapons on August 6 and
9, 1945. Scientists created those weapons. By that act, scientists made science dangerous and changed themselves, America, and the world
forever.
IN 1963, DAVID LILIENTHAL, chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission, the
precursor to the Department of Energy, raised grave doubts about science and scientists
because of the bomb. He said the bomb brought large amounts of money to scientists at
universities, diverting them from research and teaching, making them exclusive experts on
weapons of war. This new function diluted "the spirit of independent inquiry," making
scientists "uncritical advocates and even lobbyists for various huge 'programmatic' technical
enterprises." This was especially manifest in the behavior of the atomic scientist who birthed
the bomb.
According to Lilienthal, the atomic scientist took "some of the attributes of his worldshaking creation; there was, in the public mind, something unearthly, something superhuman,
something uncanny about him."
Lilienthal said that giant programs engulfing science have a corrosive influence on the
independence of scientists, how they view themselves and how lay people view them, as well.
He described the new, post-bomb "infallible" scientists as "organization men," and science as
"a hot stock market item, a growth stock."[1]
More than 30 years later, Sir Joseph Rotblat, a 1995 Nobel Laureate in Peace, confirmed
the uneasiness—indeed, the fear—that Lilienthal expressed concerning the bomb-made
scientists. He said that nuclear bombs subverted not merely the scientists, but the creativity of
science, making its application the "detriment of mankind." Rotblat accuses scientists of
becoming a major force in the nuclear arms race, which is "a complete perversion of the lofty
ideals of science."
Rotblat did not explain what those ideals might be, but he expressed concern that advances
in science or unrestricted scientific research may lead to wholesale destruction, including the
end of human life on earth. To avoid such a disaster, he recommended the imposition of
restraints in physics and biology research. In addition, he said, scientists ought to take a kind of
Hippocratic oath not to use scientific knowledge for the detriment of mankind.[2]
Science is potentially lethal because, in many instances, it does not serve the well-being of
citizens. Instead, it is a subsidiary to war; it fuels a medical system based on drugs rather than
healing; it supports industrialized agriculture hooked on broad-spectrum toxins (biocides) that
poison humans, wildlife and the country's food and drinking water. Science is the bread and
butter of numerous other hazardous industries.
In 1974, Elting E Morison, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, raised
doubts that modern science and engineering fulfilled human needs. He was almost certain that
"the stream of new artifacts" would clash with human nature. As a result, he said: "There
seems ...to be a developing mismatch between our extending knowledge of what we can do
with the materials and forces in the world around us and our older, but less certain,
understanding of what we have to do to be ourselves. And in this mismatching—such is the
power in our machinery and such is the confusion about our real needs—we are likely to come
away losers—ground down, blown up, twisted out of shape, crammed into computer-designed
compartments, bored to death."[3]
This dangerous and tragic dilemma complements and results from the twisted values the
bomb infused into science and technology. Nuclear power plants, the civilian partners of the
bomb, illustrate the human predicament in the 21st century. Take, for example, the San Onofre
Nuclear Generating Station of Southern California Edison.
Ace Hoffman, a software developer and writer on nuclear issues for several decades, is
convinced the San Onofre plant is unsafe and ought to be shut down immediately. On January
10, 2010, he explained why:
Nuclear power is not cheap, it's not carbon-free, and it's not safe. The waste problem is
intractable. A meltdown, which can contaminate an area the size of Pennsylvania, can occur at
any moment, at any plant. Huge amounts of noney are spent in backdoor ways to keep nuclear
power plants operating. Huge amounts of water and other natural resources are wasted every
day, and huge amounts of coal and oil are burned to mine and mill the fuel that is used in
nuclear power plants. Just look at the cleanup bills for our weapons sites, such as Hanford,
Washington, to get an idea of what the real cleanup costs for nuclear power plants (which
create even MORE waste than our military programs) will be. Over the past four decades, San
Onofre has created millions of pounds of deadly radioactive waste. These are poisons whose
dangers are not diminished by baking, burning, cooling, compressing, decompressing, mixing,
shocking, shaking, liquefying, gasifying, or solidifying. [These are] [p]oisons which physically
destroy any container you put them in ...There is no reason to keep San Onofre open any
longer, and many good reasons to shut it down forever—including the 500 NEW pounds of
high-level nuclear waste it creates every day it remains operational.[4]
Government and the nuclear industry ignore these legitimate concerns and keep the fragile
nuclear factories in place. It's possible they are locked into this deadly policy in order to
maintain their control over nuclear weapons.
Barack Obama campaigned for the presidency with a healthy skepticism of nuclear power.
Yet, in his State of the Union speech on January 27, 2010, he promised government subsidies
to build "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants."
This kind of reversal of values on the part of Obama, and the tragedy and mistakes that are
certain to follow from the country's nuclear path, come out of a complex of powerful economic
and military interests, all revolving around the idea and manipulation of science, which was
wedded to the bomb. One realizes—and Lilienthal spoke about it vigorously—that science in
America, especially in the case of nuclear weapons and energy, is big and dangerous.
The nuclear catastrophe in Japan in March 2011 adds urgency to the sense that this military
game of camouflaging nuclear bombs with the lipstick of nuclear power plants has gone far
enough. Time is right for the abolition of this deadly nuclear danger.
The World Council for Renewable Energy, centered at the University of Liechtenstein,
urged the world on March 13, 2011, to, "terminate reliance on and trade in this incredibly
dangerous technology.... It is 'five past twelve' when it comes to turning away from toxic,
deadly nonrenewable energy resources, one of the very banes of humanity. "[5]
Indeed, ending nuclear energy would be the first step to freeing humanity from the bomb.
Solar energy is both feasible and inexhaustible. Germany is moving on that path.
Equally important, the absence of the nuclear threat would liberate science to return to its
roots, explore the cosmos and improve the well being of people. Science would, finally,
divorce itself from the bomb. 
References :
1. David Lilienthal, "Change, Hope, and the Bomb" (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963)
61-72, 76.
2. Joseph Rotblat, "Science and Humanity in the Twenty-First Century" Nobelprize. org.
3. Elting E Morison, "From Know-How to Nowhere: The Development of American Technology"
(New York: New American Library, 1977) 137.
4. Personal communication from Dr Janette Sherman, January 11, 2010. Ace Hoffman is the author of
"The Code Killers." See www.acehoffman.org.
5. Peter Droege, University of Liechtenstein, www.wcre.org.
Source: Marx Laboratory, Aug 8, 2011
LETTERS
No Change in Jangalmahal
Sanhati strongly condemns the recent arrests of activists by the central and state government joint
security forces in the Jangalmahal region of West Bengal. It is a renewed attempt by the state
government to prevent access to this area. In the space of the last two weeks two such incidents have
taken place: first the arrest in Belpahari of Arun Chakrabarty, an activist associated with the Bandi
Mukti Committee and two medical students on 7th August while they were collecting data on adivasis
who are imprisoned under various political charges in West Bengal prisons and then that of Dr
Siddhartha Gupta and Abhijnan Sarkar on 14th August while they were returning from attending a
medical camp at Patharchakri village. Incidentally, Siddhartha Gupta and Abhijnan Sarkar, who had
treated 140 poor adivasi patients in the medical camp the previous day, have been charged under Sec.
151 of the CrPC which is purportedly to "prevent the commission of cognizable offences".
It is a matter of grave concern that the newly elected government in West Bengal led by the
Trinamool Congress is walking in this path, in spite of its pre-poll promises of withdrawal of joint forces
from Jangalmahal and normalizing the situation there, release of political prisoners and stopping
terrorizing by the state. The brutal repression by the joint forces and the CPI(M) harmads on the people
of Jangalmahal while Sec. 144 was promulgated there for a period of nearly two years, and access to all
citizens was blocked, is well known. It is quite apparent that the government of Mamata Banerjee is
following in their footsteps, surely with the active encouragement of the central home ministry led by P
Chidambaram. Furthermore, Mamata Banerjee's recent announcement at a public meeting in Jhargram
about her intention to recruit thousands of adivasi youth as "special police constables" is very ominous
as it is clearly an attempt to start a Salwa Judum like force in the adivasi areas of West Bengal,
disregarding the well known atrocities by the Salwa Judum in Chattisgarh and the recent judgment by
the Supreme Court declaring any such arming of a section of the population completely unconstitutional.
This is clearly a nefarious scheme in the name of bringing employment and development to the adivasis
of Jangalmahal. At the same time, there are reports that the Trinamool Congress is building its own
private gangs in the area, emulating the example of the Harmad Bahini, and giving them equally
ominous names, such as Bhairav Bahini (terrible force). At the same time, even after four months of
coming to power, no efforts are being made to release the hundreds of adivasi men and women who had
been arrested during the course of the joint forces operation in Jangalmahal and who are languishing in
jail till date.
These moves by the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal are aimed at intensifying
oppression on the people of Jangalmahal. All democratic-minded people demand that unhindered access
to the area should be allowed to all people; the joint forces, whose occupation of the area has marked a
dark phase in Indian history, be immediately withdrawn; any plan to create state or quasi-state vigilante
forces be cancelled; and all political prisoners, including the hundreds of adivasis arrested from the
Jangalmahal area, be immediately released.
Sanhati
RENAMING THE LADY DUFFERIN VICTORIA HOSPITAL
Dr Kadambini Ganguly (18 July 1861–3 October 1923), who was the First Female Medical Graduate of
India, was one of the first female graduates of the British Empire and was also one of the first female
physicians of South Asia to be trained in Modern European Medicine.
She studied medicine at the Medical College, Bengal (now known as Calcutta Medical College). In
1886. she was awarded a GBMC (Graduate of Bengal Medical College) degree, which gave her the right
to practise medicine.
Opposition from the teaching staff and orthodox sections of society, could not prevent this
courageous lady to go to the United Kingdom in 1892 and return to India after qualifying as LRCP
(Edinburgh), LRCS (Glasgow), and GFPS (Dublin). She worked for a short period in Lady Dufferin
Victoria Hospital at Calcutta. Subsequently she started her own private practice.
The MAJUMDAR INSTITUTE OF HISTORY, SOCIOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
AND HEALTH SCIENCES, KOLKATA, in its meeting held on the 20th Day of April, 2011, at the
School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, while celebrating the SESQUICENTI-NARY of this pioneer
female medical doctor, the first native Lady Doctor of the Lady Dufferin Hospital at Calcutta, resolved
to request the Chief Minister of the Government of West Bengal, to rename the Lady Dufferin Victoria
Hospital in the name of Kadambini Ganguly as a SESQUICENTENNIAL homage to this pioneer
legendary personality.
Sisir K Madumdar and 69 others,
Kolkata