06

Apr

KHATAM NAXALISM!!!!

It all started off with the Telangana movement in Andhra Pradesh, the very first instance of  armed struggle by peasants and farmers around 1946 in India , the communist movement which barely had supporters could now form a government of their own…The first communist government was formed in Kerala in the year 1957 which lasted for a short period….The party now split itself into two parts one was CPI and the other one  CPI(M),while the CPI advocated peaceful methods ,the CPI(M) followed centrist theory. .

The initiative i.e., naxalism was the brain child of CPI(M) and the name naxalism took birth at a remote village of West Bengal – Naxalbari, one movement that transformed India’s political future, gained a lot of momentum in a very short period. This movement of 1967 worked on the lines of a demonic strategy called – ‘Khatam’, literally meaning ‘ the end ‘, though this strategy was not the official line , it was mentioned in Charu Mazumdar‘s eight documents written in the 60’s..

Khatam meant annihilating  the class enemies i.e., zamindars and class oppressors and this strategy was supported mostly by those who were pro China communist movement .They called it a revolution but they couldn’t realize that it was sheer stupidity.

The initial days of the party had its objectives based on land struggles inspired by the naxalbari  incident but this objective faded off with time  and the class based annihilation policy was adopted. The purpose of  the movement was defeated and it was no more about fight for land!!! The movement was now demoniac….homicidal….bloodthirsty!!

In place of being  productive (what they could have surely been..if they dint follow this strategy) they were destructive in many ways…and now I feel its better to call it an imbroglio…some set of people confused about the reason of their existence.

It was with the death of  Charu Mazumdar  , the leader of all the mayhem ,that  the whole organisation got enervated….and now one doubts if it is a conspiracy against the nation on a whole  because of the statement made by the once CM of West Bengal Mr .Buddhadeb Bhattacharya .. “It’s a very complicated affair. The Indian Maoists have joined hands with the Nepalese Maoists, who maintain contact with terrorist outfits in the northeastern region, and the Inter-Services Intelligence is coordinating all of them.” when asked about how they procure all the arms and ammunition.

On the other side one wonders that “Even 62 years after independence more than 50 per cent of the people are living below poverty line. Hundreds of villages don’t even have drinking water. What is the way out,”? a veteran naxalite ideologue Suniti kumar Ghose  says that these people  have developed mass support. Despite the overwhelming use of force, they have stood their ground in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and are expanding. Without people’s support, this wouldn’t have been possible…and if that is the case then I suggest they get into the parliamentary system and fight for their rights with people’s support…..That is one option which is not available to the people of  China and Nepal….

further reading – http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article3250566.ece

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-04-06/india/2812506

0_1_chhattisgarh-s-bijapur-gadchiroli-district-bijapur-district

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalite-Maoist_insurgency

Related articles

14 years ago Short URL 4 Comments

18

Mar

“THE HARD-LINE”

With the double standards of US ( this one is a separate story all together!!) in maintaining strategic partnership with India as well as with India’s (widely regarded as) rival Pakistan, the gap between the two nations are increasing and that in a latent manner….Its time we realise that both the nations, India and Pakistan, need to bury the hatchet inorder not to give undue advantage to the so-called super power of the world…..

And the first issue that strikes our mind when we talk of the Indo-Pak relations is the kashmir issue, Lets first see what India had to say on this:

At a press conference in Srinagar on November 18,2004, Dr.Manmohan Singh said: “ I have made it repeatedly and extensively clear that any re-drawing of borders is not acceptable and any suggestion, which smacks of further division of the State, is also not acceptable.”

Its not the mistake of our honourable Prime Minister to be rigid on this issue, because any sign of flexibility from him would be to the detriment to India’s national interest. India has two options:

  • Making the status quo de jure by converting the LOC into an international border
  • continuation of the de facto status quo without making it  law concerning  and simultaneously working for an improvement in the bilateral relations through confidence-building measures and normalisation and strengthening of economic ties.

The second option , after a long time, seems to be working…Both the nations are working hard for normalization and strenghtening of economic relations.

Interestingly, when I was studying the whole issue from scratch I came across an article by Dr. Arshad.M.Khan, a retired professor who quoted ,”These floods in Pakistan, devastating as they have been, do offer an opportunity for India to extend a helping hand. The $5 million contribution to the relief fund is a good start. But it is an intangible swamped in the pool of aid from other countries. Imagine India providing direct and immediate relief in the form of food, tents, helicopters to ferry sorely needed supplies, and volunteers, even the military, who will be seen by Pakistanis as helpers in this catastrophe rather than in the familiar role of enemy. It would dramatically alter the Pakistani mind-set, and assuage the anger at the treatment of their Kashmiri brethren.”

Perfect! a positive thought- when this action comes from both the sides and a bit of initial confidence-building measures, which both of us lack ( the main obstacle in the way forward is our trust deficit),can make a great change.

A lot has been done on the economic front and a lot more need to come..few things like the gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan must pace up ,it would not only increase India’s economic and industrial capabilities, it would inturn strengthen ties between both the nations.( Yes!  India’s security concerns are not to be ignored..but that is what a dialogue is meant for)..There has never been a direct talk in the context of security concerns..but that should happen to take it further…The pipeline is an important confidence-building measure..The Pakistan Government has to be appreciated  for its keenness to go ahead with this project despite the issues. (Remember we need pakistan for our MFN status..)

There are many more sectors where Pakistan needs a helping hand and India needs Pakistan as well….Mainly sectors such as energy, health, market access, economics and finance, science and technology, women empowerment, water, humanitarian assistance, agriculture, not the least defense and security are a must in the bilateral exchange.

History is always right and it says that legitimate, mutually beneficial commerce does have a way of tempering hostilities..sounds right!!

References:

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers12/paper1169.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_relations

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012/Feb/12/strategic-shift-in-india-pakistan-relations-27.asp

http://islamabad.usembassy.gov/uspakstrategicdialogue.html

 

Related articles

14 years ago Short URL 3 Comments

02

Mar

“THE POLITICAL ALM”

          1.6 million US children on streets… you wouldn’t have cared about funding for their shelter and hunger because you find Indian children poorer and your heart pounds when you see shelterless Indian people…The government of India you say doesnt look after its kids and you ignite the minds of the general public that the policies made by Indian government are not people friendly….so you give alms to all of them through our not- for- profit organisations…Oh dear ‘US fund’!! Let me introduce you to everyone in my nation…

A recent survey says that US is the largest donor to Indian NGOs, funding about Rs.3,105 crores and the funds are sanctioned to the organisations which are dedicated to rural development, child welfare programs and many other awareness programs besides setting up religious schools, education of priests/preachers, religious functions and publication/distribution of religious literature among other activities. Well, India is not China.. Its constitution gives right to religion to its citizens and so lets not talk about religion in this post…we could well forgive them if they want to be ‘Jesus salesmen’ here… but its impossible to tolerate  their anti-development activities… One such anti-progress activity was against the nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu:

Recently known, but active for the past 22 years, This  organisation named PMANE ( People’s movement against nuclear energy)  organised protests against the kudankulam nuclear power plant(KNPP) , creating fear in the general public , that it could be another fukushima…  Though there were many analysis and surveys which proved that KNPP is constructed with state-of-the-art features such as the VVER-1000 MWe model reactors, passive heat removal systems etc. and a central panel which was deputed to study about the safety of the plant assured that it is an accident-proof plant and any fears regarding it is unscientific…protests from  PMANE (people’s movement against nuclear energy) were never ending.This is an example of an Indian NGO funded by the US to instigate public against the development of India. There are many more organisations funded from countries like Germany, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. which vote against the development of our society.Who can forget the fight against genetically modified crops like the BT-Brinjal and BT-cotton, which again was a hurdle to the fast growing bio-technology sector.

Talking about the necessity of nuclear power plants in India, the demand for electricity is on a rise and the traditional electricity production methods are not sufficient to meet with the demand. Today 2.9% of Indian power is generated by nuclear power plants and to satisfy the demands more of this energy is required. Though many restrictions were imposed on the nuclear import and export to India for the past 34 years, we have made tremendous development in this sector and now that the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty came to an end in the year 2009, there is an urge to prove ourselves in the nuclear power sector.

The advantages of Nuclear Power plants are:

  • Nuclear power plants do not need fossil fuels to produce electricity, and this means that they do not release harmful carbon emissions that contribute to pollution and climate change problem. Since there are no carbon emissions nuclear power is also considered clean energy source just like solar, wind or geothermal energy.
  • In order to properly operate nuclear power plants require nuclear fuel. Nuclear fuel mostly used in nuclear power plants in uranium though some nuclear power plants also use plutonium. Uranium is imported to India from various countries besides its own Thorium deposits which can be used for power production, and building more nuclear power plants would therefore contribute to better energy independence as there would be reduced need for importing expensive foreign fuels.

Almost 3 NGOs were found using funds from the US to oppose the Kudankulam Nuclear power plant and the protestors have mentioned that it is for the good of the Indian society, I doubt if these funding agencies even knew that their nation, the US is the super- star of Nuclear power.To all of them:

‘I would advice you to look into your affairs instead of worrying about India’s safety, We know what we want better than you….’you couldnt give food to your mom, sad that you want to gift golden bangle to your aunt’… We are going to be a super power,we’ll give alms to you some day!!’

references:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2106151/Government-finds-facts-PMs-comments-foreign-NGOs-fuelling-anti-Kudankulam-fire.html

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf53.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_India

Related articles

15 years ago Short URL Comments

////////////////////

21

Feb

A ‘Legal’ rape…!!

If you are wondering about the title of the post, My mind is perfectly healthy and the title is a volition. The word ‘rape’ may sound derogatory to some of you, but the IPC (Indian Penal Code) has defined it and since the post has a legal context, I have decided to use it. The most common and literal meaning of rape is sexual abuse and it is prescribed as crime under section 375 of the IPC , and has undergone many changes over the years , several amendments added to it, it has covered almost all possibilities of sexual abuse.Some of them are section 376 (A), 376 (B), 376 ( C & D), so on..I was right when said ‘almost all’, it meant ‘not all’ and that possibility of rape which is not condemned by the IPC , I choose to name it a ‘legal’ rape. It is all about the non-consensual sex in a matrimonial home. We generally commiserate when a stranger is associated in this form of abuse but its difficult to condone that we have blinded ourselves from women who suffer this form of violence every day of their lives, where the perpetrators are the spouses. Though many countries have recognised the act of spousal rape an illegal activity, it has to be simulated from our nation’s view point.

India as a nation has gone through a lot of changes over the last century but its importance for marriage remains undiminished. My mind wavers on being proud over this fact, and the reason for my confusion is not wrong. In an indian matrimonial home, the wife is thrown into self-abnegation. She works hard for her family, sometimes out of trepiditon, she loses all her individuality and now learns to live for her family forgetting herself. Yes, not all women but most of them in rural India still face this situation. Marriage is a squalor to many women in India already and upon this the vehement sexual abuse by her spouse is a turpitude. The torpor of many women who fear stricture  has vitiated the society.The IPC was in no way able to alleviate this issue.

Section 375, the provision of rape in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has  mentioned this clause- “Sexual intercourse by  man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.”

Section 376 of IPC imposes punishment for rape. According to the section, the rapist should be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than 7 years but which may extend to life or for a term extending up to 10 years and shall also be liable to fine unless the woman raped is his own wife, and is not under 12 years of age, in which case, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 2 years with fine or with both.

section 376 (A) details that  Intercourse by a man with his wife during separation is an offence.—”Whoever has sexual intercourse with his wife, who is living separately from him under a decree of separation or under any custom or usage without her consent shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to fine.”

IPC section 498(A) deals with dowry related harrasements and the protection of women from domestic violence act 2005 has a very narrow scope.

The effect this abuse brings to the victim cannot be numbered, very few of them are

  • Physical injuries to vaginal and anal areas,bruising.
  • Anxiety, shock, depression and suicide tendency.
  • Gynaecological complaints like miscarriage, stillbirths, bladder infections and infertility.
  •  insomnia, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, loss of sleep and guilt.

The above reasons makes us demand an immediate remedy to marital rapes in our country in which 1/4 th of all rapes come under this category.

None of the IPC sections has provided security to women against the horrendous act . The irony is that a women here has the right  to life but not  the right to defend her body from this brutal abuse. Her ‘no’ no more means a no to him. Dignity is something one would love to retain irrespective of their marital status and the court has offended itself by not giving importance to this exploitation of dignity .It is the duty of the court to defend the fundamental right of the citizens.

A habitat which is virulent and the idea to cohabit with a person who by all means demeans a women is greviously hurting. An immediate change is to be brought in ,a new legislation criminalising spousal rape is the need of the hour, only then can we fulfill the vision of making India -‘a utopia’.

(section 375:  Rape.—A man is said to commit “rape” who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the six following de­scriptions:—First.—    Against her will.Secondly.—Without her consent.Thirdly.— With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or of hurt.Fourthly.—With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband, and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be law­fully married.Fifthly.—  With her consent, when, at the time of giving such consent, by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication or the administration by him personally or through another of any stupe­fying or unwholesome substance, she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of that to which she gives consent.Sixthly.—  With or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age.)

references:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marital_rape

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_of_Women_from_Domestic_Violence_Act_2005

http://www.indialawjournal.com/volume2/issue_2/article_by_priyanka.html

Related articles

15 years ago Short URL 2 Comments

/////////

07

Feb

The ‘creamy’ layer of India….

25, 28, 33, 35,….No, This isn’t a mathematical series from Shakuntala Devi’s book of numbers. Any Indian would quickly give another answer “quota” (literally means reservation).While segregation among the citizens of any nation would be titled a ‘social evil’, the quota system functions as a special privilege to several sections of people here ( also a bane to several sections!!).Long ago, the ultimate form of dicrimination in India was untouchability, which interfered with national efficiency all along the line and the quota system has taken its role and is now playing a hindrance to the society.

Lets see how its undermining the development of our society:

The Indian constitution asserts that all its citizens shall have equal opportunity of receiving education.Nothing shall preclude the state from providing special facilities for the educationally backward sections of the population. There is nothing objectionable in this statement, infact it is justified to provide facilities for the educationally backward class. The statement clarifies that the main reason to adopt the quota system in India is to promote social justice to the oppressed class ( here the uneducated or little educated class).Written 62 years ago, this statement has taken education to every corner of the nation, it sadly works well only in case of schooling.

Once a student completes his/her high school, its a ritual for him to go through entrance test to get admitted to a professional course,(here’s where the title of the post finds its meaning); the rank of a student purely depends on his performance elsewhere in the world but here it depends on the caste ( OC, BC, SC, ST) he belongs to. Any student belonging to the BC, SC and ST is provided with a relaxation in the eligibility criteria ( if the cut-off marks is 40 on 100 marks for OC it is relaxed to 15 for the SC,ST and BC ). This may not be the intention of the constitution but helps plays a critical role in vote politics of India. This is the modern quota sytem , it is a barrier, it narrows, it restricts, it separates. Though many advocate that this system was the reason for the development of many classes till date, there are others who say it has played as a bias in case of opportunities to the talented. A horse should never be afraid to run a race with another horse and it doesnt make sense for one horse to run ahead of the ‘go’ signal.The whole idea of equality has gone astray due to this. While the sytem has increased the opportunity for the said caste, it has axed the opportunity of many deserving students.

The supreme court of India pronounced an apt opinion on the reservation system, the ‘creamy layer‘ concept which stated that “by excluding those who have already attained economic well-being or educational advancement, the special benefits cannot be further extended to them and , if done so, it would be unreasonable, discriminatory (or) arbitrary resulting in reverse discrimination”. While this statement included all castes, the political parties played foul and pressurized the exclusion of  the SC, ST and other reserved caste and now refers only to the OBC population of India which makes one wonder if there is none from SC, ST or other reserved category who have attained economic or educational advancement after 64 years of  independence. It shocks how the politicians here ,with selfish motives, still take to these cheap ways of gaining votes.

No doubt the ‘creamy layer’ concept brings some hope, but justice is met only if it is extended to the classes excluded from the concept(SC, ST and other) and also find its mention in the constitution. If it doesn’t sound too ambitious, this concept would bring down the number of layers in the Indian caste hierarchy and would bring us close to our resolution of  constituting India into a Sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic and securing ourselves with justice, liberty,equality and promoting fraternity as the preamble of our constitution shouts!

(The Supreme Court defines “creamy layer” by quoting an office memorandum dated 8 September 1993.The term was originally introduced in the context of reservation of jobs for certain groups in 1992. The Supreme Court has said the benefit of reservation should not be given to OBC children (SCs, STs, and the unreserved are exempt now) of constitutional functionaries such as the president, judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, employees of central and state bureaucracies above a certain level, public sector employees, members of the armed forces and paramilitary personnel above the rank of colonel, lawyers, chartered accountants, doctors, financial and management consultants, engineers, film artists, and authors. OBC children belonging to any family that earns a total gross annual income (from sources other than salary and agricultural land) of Rs. 450,000, as the income ceiling for the creamy layer raised from 250,000 (US $ 5,500 in 1993 when the office memo was accepted) to 450,000 in October 2008, belong to the creamy layer and so are also excluded from being categorised as “socially and educationally backward” regardless of their social/educational backwardness.-from wikipedia)

OC- Open category; BC- Backward caste; SC- scheduled caste; ST- scheduled tribe; OBC- other backward class.

Related articles

15 years ago Short URL 5 Comments

///////

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started