[GreenYouth] Report of the Expert Committee on the draft Coastal Management Zone (CMZ)
Report of the Expert Committee on the draft Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) notification constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the Chairmanship of Prof. M. S. Swaminathan http://envfor.nic.in/mef/cmz_report.pdf peace, Ajay *~~ Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality. - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~* --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Necessity has no law —Giorgio Agamben
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C07%5C17%5Cstory_17-7-2009_pg3_4 A recurrent opinion posits the concept of necessity as the foundation of the state of exception. According to a tenaciously repeated Latin adage (a history of the *adagia’s *strategic function in legal literature has yet to be written), *necessitas legem non habet,* “necessity has no law,” which is interpreted in two opposing ways: “necessity does not recognise any law” and “necessity creates its own law” *(necessite fait loi).* In both cases, the theory of the state of exception is wholly reduced to the theory of the *status necessitatis,* so that a judgment concerning the existence of the latter resolves the question concerning the legitimacy of the former. Therefore, any discussion of the structure and meaning of the state of exception first requires an analysis of the legal concept of necessity. The principle according to which *necessitas legem non habet* was formulated in Gratian’s *Decretum.* It appears there two times: first in the gloss and then in the text. The gloss (which refers to a passage in which Gratian limits himself to stating generically that “many things are done against the rule out of necessity or for whatever other cause” appears to attribute to necessity the power to render the illicit licit (Si *propter necessitatem aliquid fit, illud licite fit.: quia quad non est licitum in lege, necessitas facitlicitum. Item necessitas legem non habet* [If something is done out of necessity, it is done licitly, since what is not licit in law necessity makes licit. Likewise necessity has no law]). But the sense in which this should be taken is made clearer by a later passage in Gratian’s text concerning the celebration of the mass. After having stated that the sacrifice must be offered on the altar or in a consecrated place, Gratian adds, “It is preferable not to sing or listen to the mass than to celebrate it in places where it should not be celebrated, unless it happens because of a supreme necessity, for necessity has no law”*(nisi pro summa necessitate contingat, quoniam necessitas legem non habet). *More than rendering the illicit licit, necessity acts here to justify a single, specific case of transgression by means of an exception. This is clear in the way Thomas in the *Summa theologica *develops and comments on this principle precisely in relation to the sovereign’s power to grant dispensations from the law (Prima *secundae, q. 96, art. 6: utrum ei qui subditur legi, liceat praeter verba legis agere *[whether one who is subject to law may act against the letter of the law]): If observing the letter of the law does not entail an immediate danger that must be dealt with at once, it is not in the power of any man to interpret what is of use or of harm to the city; this can be done only by the sovereign who, in a case of this sort, has the authority to grant dispensations from the law. If there is, however, a sudden danger, regarding which there is no time for recourse to a higher authority, the very necessity carries a dispensation with it, for necessity is not subject to the law *[ipsa necessitas dispensationem habetannexam, quia necessitas non subditur legit.* Here, *the theory of necessity is none other than a theory of the exception (dispensatio) by virtue of which a particular case is released from the obligation to observe the law. Necessity is not a source of law, nor does it properly suspend the law; it merely releases a particular case from the literal application of the norm: “He who acts beyond the letter of the law in a case of necessity does not judge by the law itself but judges by the particular case, in which he sees that the letter of the law is not to be observed [non iudicat de ipsa lege, sed iudicat de casu singulari, in quo videt verba legis observanda non esse]:’ The ultimate ground of the exception here is not necessity but the principle according to which “every law is ordained for the common well-being of men, and only for this does it have the force and reason of law [vim et rationem legis]; if it fails in this regard, it has no capacity to bind [virtutem obligandi non habet]’ In the case of necessity, the vis obligandi of the law fails, because in this case the goal of salus hominum is lacking. What is at issue here is clearly not a status or situation of the juridical order as such (the state of exception or necessity); rather, in each instance it is a question of a particular case in which the vis and ratio of the law find no application. *It is *only with the moderns that the state of necessity tends to be included within the juridical order and to appear as a true and proper “state” of the law. The principle according to which necessity defines a unique situation in which the law loses its vis obligandi* (this is the sense of the adage necessitas legem non habet) is reversed, becoming the principle according to which necessity constitutes, so to speak, the ultimate
[GreenYouth] Re: Rama Sene activists assault guest at wedding reception in Mangalore
it is horrible On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:26 AM, aryakrishnan ramakrishnan aryakr...@gmail.com wrote: Of course, this news didnot grab the attention as the Mangalore pub attacks. ' As usual the usual axe falls on the usual neck in the usual place at the usual time as usual.' - Kaufman Bob Is it a news? Aryan Rama Sene activists assault guest at wedding reception in Mangalore, Staff Correspondent We cannot file a case in the absence of a complaint, says A.S. Rao, the SP http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/16/stories/2009071659930700.htm MANGALORE: Sri Rama Sene activists allegedly assaulted a Muslim youth for attending a Hindu wedding reception in a restaurant here on Wednesday. Those who rushed to the rescue of the 30-year-old guest were also roughed up. Claiming responsibility for the attack, Madhu Urwastore, convener of the district unit of the Sri Rama Sene, told The Hindu that he (the Muslim guest) had no business attending a Hindu reception. “He was also misbehaving and getting close to women… so our boys beat him up and those who came to his rescue,” Mr. Urwastore said. The staff of the restaurant said that other than the newly married couple, there were 15 guests, including children. “It was a normal family affair and they seemed to be enjoying the party,” a staffer said. The waiter who was serving the guests said, “Suddenly, two men wearing saffron scarves entered the restaurant and asked the bearded man [Muslim guest] to vacate the place.” The waiter said that this warning was met with resistance from the other guests, and with help from restaurant’s staff, they made the two intruders leave. Meanwhile, about 70 Sri Rama Sene activists were staging a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office near the restaurant. They were protesting against Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah’s recent comments against Sene chief Pramod Muthalik. The restaurant manager said that the two activists returned with those who were demonstrating in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office complex. “We requested the activists to settle the matter outside,” he added. Once outside, the activists began to assault the Muslim youth, said one of the staffers of the restaurant. Presspersons, who were there, said that the attack bore some resemblance to the infamous pub attack. No action taken A police officer attached to the Pandeshwar station said, “It all happened too quickly for us to react. But we managed to shift the guests to a safe place.” However, no action had been taken against the assailants, he added. Superintendent of Police A.S. Rao said the police did not receive any complaint from the victims. “In the absence of the complaint, we cannot file a case of assault,” he said. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Re: What a Gandhiwadi Brahmin woman says to a Dalit Woman...
is there any posibility to be reformed the caste hinduism? or when will be the uppercaste mentalilities to be crushed?for the sake of democracy On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 8:09 AM, Ranjit Ranjit ranjit.ran...@gmail.comwrote: http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=322#more-322 What a Gandhiwadi Brahmin woman says to a Dalit Woman - *“Mayawati should be raped.” Says, Rita Bahuguna Joshi* Does this surprises you? Do you feel offended? [image: Pic Courtesy: www.expressindia.com] Pic Courtesy: www.expressindia.com I am not. One reason may be becasue I am a male and perhaps enjoy such sexist languague against any woman but apart from that I am not surprised becasue that is the langauage I have grown up hearing. The tone and tenor is too familiar. It never surprises me to know that how caste-hindu women participated actively in the lynching, raping, killings of members of Dalit family in Kherlanji, Maharashtra. It never surprised me about how caste-hindu women, to protect their caste kins-men murderers, gave false testimonies of being dishonoured by Dalit men and thus justified the Dalit massacres in Tsunduru in Andhra pradesh. I am not surprised because that is what Ritaji has also grown up hearing in her family and around - ” KILL, RAPE , BURN ” ( Exclusively reserved for those Dalits who do not fall to their places). I am not surprised becasue we get many comments on our blog sharing the same aspiration for Maywatiji and other Dalit icons, who in the true upper caste machoismo give false name and fake email ids. I only feel pity for UP Congress Chief that she was caught while saying this publically and above all Mayawatiji is the CM right now so she could get Ritaji arrested while fleeing to Delhi by road. Other wise like others she would have maximum raised some smiles/smirk here and there on her comment and would have gone ahead with her party work like her father did. For readers’ kind information, Rita Ji made this remark slamming Mayawatiji’s decision of sending DGP to investigate the cases of rapes of Dalit women and providing monetary compensation as per the provision of SC/ST Atrocity Act. Last heard, Rita ji was saying to the media that, “ I regret what I said in a fit of anger. It is being taken out of context. I am myself a woman and I should not have spoken these words … I really apologise”. Last time I also heard Rahul Gandhi spend a night with a Dalit family to show his friend the real India. This time he need not take that much efforts he could always rely on Ritaji and other party workers to show him and his friends the really ‘real’ India. July 16th, 2009 in Language http://blog.insightyv.com/?cat=65, Lawhttp://blog.insightyv.com/?cat=10| tags: Bahuguna http://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=bahuguna, Mayawatihttp://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=mayawati, Rahul Gandhi http://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=rahul-gandhi, Rapehttp://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=rape, UP http://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=up 2 Comments RanjuJuly 16th, 2009 at 8:16 pm revealing; exposing; eye opening shameless Congress’s shameless leaders it seems caste HIndu women need orientation/refresher courses to make them gender-sensitive i wonder why can’t 100 years of feminist activism could not address these problem? Are the caste Hindu feminists listening? when will they speak up for “uplifting” their fellow caste hindu women from the clutches of brahminism? Can the Indian Butlers and Wolfs speak now? ChristyJuly 16th, 2009 at 8:46 pm Ritaji represents the ‘upper caste’ woman who has completely surrendered (or can afford to surrender) to the patriarchal norms of the society. When such women become perpetrators of caste/gender hierarchies, they flourish on the (symbolic) facelessness/raping and burning of lower caste men/women.They become the ‘woman’, while all other lower caste women becomes ‘lesser women’ whose sexualities are asexualised, that is, where rape is not a crime but just something that they deserve!! -- Ranjit --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Peaceful activists imprisoned and beaten in Indonesia
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Forwarded Urgent Appeal: AHRC-FUA-008-2009 8 July 2009 - INDONESIA: Peaceful activists imprisoned and beaten ISSUES: Freedom of expression and association; political detainees; torture - Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward an appeal received by the Amnesty International group in Reading, England, regarding the sentence of two men involved in a peaceful political ceremony in 2004, who were convicted with treason in 2005. After receiving prison terms, it is reported that the men were beaten by prison guards without receiving any medical attention on February 1, 2009. Please send letters to the relevant authorities and urge them for an immediate release. For further queries please feel free to contact Sean O'Leary by his email s.v.ole...@reading.ac.uk mailto:s.v.ole...@reading.ac.uk s.v.ole...@reading.ac.uk Thank you. Urgent Appeals Desk Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) - AI Index: ASA 21/012/2009 8 July 2009 INDONESIA: Filep Karma, Yusak Pakage Former civil servant Filep Karma and student Yusak Pakage were arrested and charged with treason in 2004, after taking part in a peaceful political ceremony at which a Papuan independence flag was raised. In 2005 Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were convicted of treason and sentenced to 15 and 10 years in prison respectively. They have since had their sentences reduced by three months to mark Indonesia's Independence Day in 2008. Both men are being held in Abepura prison, where conditions are reported to be poor. In April 2008 Filep Karma was beaten up by prison guards after returning late from his prison leave. Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage are prisoners of conscience and we are calling for their immediate and unconditional release. UPDATED INFORMATION 26th May 2009 marks the 4th anniversary of Filep and Yusak's conviction. Please take this opportunity to call for their immediate release. On 1 February Yusak Pakage was severely beaten by prison guards. His glasses were broken and one of his eyelids was torn. He has since been moved to a prison intended for drug offenders. The incident occurred after Filep and five other prisoners had attacked prison guards to protest an assault carried out by the same guards on a newly detained student leader a few days earlier. URGENT ACTION NEEDED Please continue write to the government officials to express your strongest protest to the assault and detainment of the victims. SAMPLE LETTER: Dear Mr. President, I write with increasing concern for prisoners of conscience Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage who were arrested in December 2004, convicted of treason on 26 May 2005 and sentenced to 15 and 10 years imprisonment respectively. According to Amnesty International their crime was that they had taken part in a peaceful political ceremony at which a Papuan independence flag was raised. I was shocked to read recently that, again according to Amnesty International, Yusak Pakage was severely beaten by prison guards on 1 February, tearing one of his eyelids, an injury for which he is not known to have received any medical attention. He also had his glasses broken. Along with some other prisoners he was then moved to a tiny, windowless cell which, according to Filep Karma, was smeared with faeces. On 14 February Yusak, along with the other prisoners, was moved to the Sentani prison for drug offenders, in Jayapura. Amnesty International considers that Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage are being detained in violation of their fundamental rights to freedom of expression, opinion and association. I urge you to ensure their unconditional release without delay. Yours respectively, (Name) YOUR PROTEST LETTERS SHOULD BE SENT TO: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President RI, Istana Merdeka, Jakarta Pusat 10110, I INDONESIA Fax: + 62 21 345 2685 / + 62 21 526 8726 Minister of Justice Human Rights Mr. Andi Mattalata Minister of Justice Human Rights Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav No. 4-5 Kuningan Jakarta Selatan 12950 INDONESIA Attoney General Mr Hendarman Supandji Attorney General Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No.1 Kebayoran Baru Jakarta Selatan 12130 INDONESIA -- Thank you. Urgent Appeals Programme Asian Human Rights Commission (u...@ahrc.asia) - Asian Human Rights Commission 19/F, Go-Up Commercial Building, 998 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hongkong S.A.R. Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339 Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367 -- W A Laskar Freelance Reporter and Human Rights Activist with Barak Human Rights Protection Committee, http://bhrpc.net.googlepages.com 15, Panjabari Road, Darandha, Six Mile, Guwahati-781037, Assam, India Cell: +919401134314
[GreenYouth] UPDATE (Sri Lanka): A police officer charged with the murder of Gerald Perera remains in service at Gampaha Police Station
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-017-2009 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAU-017-2009 17 July 2009 [RE: UAU-019-2008: SRI LANKA: Police accused of Gerald Perera's torture are acquitted] --- SRI LANKA: A police officer on trial for the murder of Gerald Perera remains in service at Gampaha Police Station ISSUES: Extrajudicial killing; police inaction; rule of law --- Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to report that a police inspector being tried for the assassination of Gerald Perera is still working for the state as an officer. The victim was a complainant in a torture trial against police officers when he was shot dead. With one of the accused in such a position of power, others involved in the case are concerned for their lives. The situation shows a clear lack of political will in Sri Lanka to adequately protect witnesses in cases against figures of authority. UPDATED INFORMATION: Gerald Perera was assassinated in November 2004. As a torture victim he had stood in a landmark case and won a record level of compensation, but was shot before the criminal case against six police officers had concluded (see UA-157-2004 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2004/862/ , UP-76-2004 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2004/875/ , UP-120-2005 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/1295/ and more recently UAU-019-2008 http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2812/ ). Despite being accused of torture and of involvement in Perera's assassination, and despite being interdicted as a result, Sub Inspector Makavitage Suresh Gunasena now works as a police officer attached to the Gampaha Police Station. The employment of any civil servant who is involved in a criminal case is against the law in Sri Lanka. But to keep an officer armed and in service, despite his being charged with the murder of a complainant who was testifying against him, makes the AHRC strongly question the professionalism and the conduct of the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General and their departments. The commission remains extremely concerned for the safety of Perera's family members who are witnesses in the case. SUGGESTED ACTION: Please write to the relevant authorities listed below urging the immediate discharge of Sub Inspector Makavitage Suresh Gunasena and the arrangement of effective protection for witnesses in the case. To support this appeal, please click: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAU-017-2009 --- SAMPLE LETTER: Dear ___, SRI LANKA: A police officer on trial for the murder of Gerald Perera remains in service at Gampaha Police Station I am extremely concerned to hear that a police inspector being tried for the assassination of Gerald Perera is still working for the state as an officer. Gerald Perera was assassinated in November 2004, a few days before he was due to give evidence before Negombo High Court. As a torture victim he had taken a landmark case and won a record level of compensation, but was shot before the criminal case against six police officers had concluded. Despite having being accused of torture and of involvement in Perera's assassination, and despite being interdicted as a result, Sub Inspector Makavitage Suresh Gunasena now works as a police officer attached to the Gampaha Police Station. The employment of any civil servant who is involved in a criminal case is against the law in Sri Lanka. But to keep an officer in service, despite his being charged with the murder of a complainant who was testifying against him, makes the AHRC strongly question the professionalism and the conduct of the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General and their departments. The commission remains extremely concerned for the safety of Perera's family members who are witnesses in the case. I am writing to demand the immediate discharge of Sub Inspector Makavitage Suresh Gunasena from his post until the trial has concluded, and to request the arrangement of effective protection for witnesses in the case. I look forward to your action in this matter. Yours sincerely, -- PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO: 1. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse President Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka C/- Office of the President Temple Trees 150, Galle Road Colombo 3 SRI LANKA Fax: +94 11 2472100 / +94 11 2446657 Email: secret...@presidentsoffice.lk mailto:secret...@presidentsoffice.lk 2. Mr. Jayantha Wickramaratne, Inspector General of Police (IGP), New Secretariat Colombo 1 SRI LANKA Fax: +94 11 2 440440/327877 i...@police.lk 3. Mr. Mohan Peiris Attorney General Attorney General's Department Colombo 12 SRI LANKA Fax: +94 11 2 436421 4. Secretary National Police Commission 3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers, 109 Galle Road Colombo 03 SRI LANKA Tel: +94 11 2
[GreenYouth] Re: Who the hell is Varkala Radhakrishnan?
On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 11:01 PM, Anivar Aravind anivar.arav...@gmail.comwrote: On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 10:30 PM, Sebin Jacobsebinaja...@gmail.com wrote: Marxist position in this issue can be read from http://www.pragoti.org/node/3495 Do you mean CPIM Position? Anivar Hmm, I must think twice before saying so. But AFAIK, pragoti is CPIM's node. You could also take into consideration that the Padam teams' accusation against Com. MA Baby included his position on Gay-Lesbian rights. -- Understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] In memory of T K Ramachandran
On first death anniversary of Dr.T.K.Ramachandran, Bookport inaugurates a shelf on Kerala Studies and organises a discussion on one of the themes of his concern July 21, 11.30 am at Bookport Ernakulam. Kerala Studies shelf inauguration: *Dr.P.K.Michael Tharakan * (Vice Chancellor, Kannur University) Discussion: What Does Today mean to Communist thought? Moderator: T.N.Joy Beginning:Dr. T.V.Madhu ( Head of the Department, Philosophy Department, Calicut University) All are invited --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Fw: LIFE IN STRUGGLE CELEBRATION: Honoring Hari Sharma at 75
--- On Fri, 17/7/09, Hari Sharma at Seventy Five hari_sharma_at...@shaw.ca wrote: From: Hari Sharma at Seventy Five hari_sharma_at...@shaw.ca Subject: LIFE IN STRUGGLE CELEBRATION: Honoring Hari Sharma at 75 To: san...@sansad.org Date: Friday, 17 July, 2009, 1:19 PM LIFE IN STRUGGLE CELEBRATION: Honoring Hari Sharma at 75 LIFE IN STRUGGLE CELEBRATION November 14-15, 2009 Honoring Hari Sharma at 75 Organizing Committee, Hari Sharma at 75: Abi Ghimire, Amarjit Chahal, Bhanu Poudyal, Chinmoy Banerjee, Harinder Mahil, Raj Chouhan, Sarabjit Hundal, Shinder Brar Dear Friends, We are friends of Hari Sharma who have come together to celebrate Hari's 75th birthday in a manner that is appropriate for a person whose life and work have impacted on and been connected with so many of us in the Vancouver area, nationally and internationally. We invite you to participate in the activities we are planning to celebrate not only Hari's life but the lives that we have all lived in struggle in his company. Some of us have been with Hari since the early 1970's when he was organizing international support for political prisoners in India, some joined him when he took lead in organizing resistance to the imposition of fascist dictatorship in India by Indira Gandhi in 1975 through the formation of Indian People's Association in North America (IPANA) (for which his Indian passport was impounded in 1976), and some came into his orbit with his organization of resistance to the ongoing attempt to impose a Hindu-chauvinist, fascistic polity in India through the formation of Non-Resident Indians for Secular Democracy (NRISAD) in 1993 that later developed a wider focus and became South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD). Hari Sharma taught in the Department of Sociology in Simon Fraser University till his retirement in 1999 as professor emeritus. As a teacher he taught on Marxism and revolutionary struggles inspiring many students, and as a professional he vigorously defended academic freedom and the right of faculty to teach according to their political beliefs without persecution (including the valiant fight he put up to get his own tenure). However, he spent the major part of his enormous energy in the last forty years as an activist in the South Asian and the left community in Vancouver. The primary focus of Hari's activities has been the opposition to imperialism at the global level with a particular concern for the impact of imperialism and the struggle against it in India. These have engaged him in anti-war work locally and in the international campaign against nuclear weapons. But at the same time, Hari's defense of people's right of self-determination, national liberation, and livelihood has led him to a wide range of activities in support of wars of national liberation and people's struggles for land, livelihood, social justice, and dignity. Hari has been vigorous in opposition to state repression in the service of Capital and an energetic champion of the rights of political prisoners in India and elsewhere. For the last twenty-five years he has been a passionate defender of the rights of minorities in India, particularly the Sikhs who came under attack from the state and state-sponsored mobs in 1984 and Muslims who came under similar attack beginning with the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. For these activities he was twice denied visa to enter India on his Canadian passport. Recently he has been denied Overseas Indian Citizensihip. Locally, Hari has been a leader in the struggle against racism in Vancouver through the formation of the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism (BCOFR) and an inspiration behind the organization of farm workers in British Columbia into the Canadian Farmworkers' Union (CFU), the first president of which is a part of this organizing committee. Hari has also been a leader in organizing the South Asian community to seek acknowledgement from the Canadian government of the injustice done to our community by the racist policies of the government that turned away the immigrant ship Komagata Maru from the shores of Vancouver in 1914. As a mobilizing force in support of people's struggles, a champion of human rights and social justice, and a voice of conscience against the oppression of people everywhere but particularly minorities in India, Hari has brought many people to engage in struggle with him in Canada and the USA and connected with many people internationally. He has been a teacher and guide-and gadfly--of two generations of progressive South Asians in the Vancouver area of BC. We invite you to celebrate the struggles we have engaged in as a community of faith in human rights, human dignity and social justice in fellowship with Hari Sharma. We plan to hold a
[GreenYouth] Ashok Mitra on Budget 2009
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090717/jsp/opinion/story_11247748.jsp# WHERE THE DIVIDEND LIES - The Union budget has ignored the *Economic Survey*CUTTING CORNERS - Ashok Mitra In the mid-1940s, the country’s apex bank, the Reserve Bank of India, was still very much a fledgling institution, groping its way around. To improve the quality and processing of data as well as its global understanding of economic and monetary issues, the RBI decided to set up a research department. A few members of technical staff were scraped together from the bank’s operational wings along with a handful of bright young economists and statisticians recruited from outside. They were boxed in an obscure corner on the top floor of the bank’s imposing building on Bombay’s Mint Road and left to their own devices. One afternoon, an out-of-town visitor keen to meet a college-mate, who had joined the RBI research staff, walked into the Mint Road office and enquired where exactly the research department was located. He asked hither, he asked thither, nobody could help him. He was about to give up and leave when a bank clerk took pity and called him back: “Well sir, you take the lift at that corner, take it and go to the top floor, step out of the lift, walk twenty paces to the right, then turn to the left, walk another fifteen paces from that spot, now turn to the right and you will come to a biggish room where you will find a cluster of young people gossiping and occasionally reading newspapers. May be they are the research department.” In other words, in that era, nobody took the research department of the RBI — or for that matter, that of any other official institution dealing with economic, monetary and financial matters — seriously. More often than not, an outfit of this kind was the object of banter and ridicule. The members of research staff were at most tolerated, few believed they could make any substantive contribution to either policy-making or operational efficiency. A sea-change has taken place since Independence. Economics is now a holier-than-thou profession. Most ministries dealing with economic affairs now recruit sophisticated research staff with formidable academic credentials and are equipped with state-of-the-art computers. The state governments have not lagged behind, nor have banks and corporate firms. The country’s prime minister himself had once headed the government’s economic research division. Senior economists with, for instance, the ministry of finance and the Planning Commission are at present a much-sought-after, high-profile species. They produce reports, in season and out of season, on the burning economic issues of the day. Their advice, admonitions and prognoses are supposed to be major inputs at the disposal of policy-makers, including ministers. None dare keep them at arm’s length. On the contrary, if gossip is to be lent an ear, their sage words uttered every now and then have a considerable impact on the movement of share prices in the market. The *Economic Survey* put out annually on budget eve by the ministry of finance is the product of its economic research contingent. This year’s * Survey* has a breathtaking quality. It is seemingly unaware of the grave economic recession — the gravest in eight decades — that has currently overtaken the United States of America as well as Europe. The fact that at the root of the crisis is the greed and venality of private enterprise is of no matter to those who have authored the document. Problems of both economic stability and economic growth, the *Survey* assumes, have a unique solution: globalization and even more globalization; the nation’s fate is to be left entirely to the care of private initiative. It recommends disinvestment, at galloping speed, in public sector undertakings including in the nine undertakings that are making huge profits, the*navaratna*. It pitches for privatization of the country’s railway network and mines. It totally ignores the hard reality that foreign — particularly American — banks and insurance companies are now a thoroughly discredited lot and proven hotbed of corruption and other gross financial irregularities, often necessitating injection of public funds for their survival. The *Economic Survey* actually urges greater scope for their entry into the Indian economy. Those who have prepared the *Survey* are true-blue neo-liberal economists, on the same wavelength as savants on the staff of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and other admirers of the concept of global economic equilibrium nestling in American and British academic institutions. The central objective of the*Economic Survey*, evidently in the view of its authors, is not to inform the nation and politicians in charge of its destiny about the economic realities here and overseas, nor to suggest policies and programmes which take into account the substance of these realities, but to indulge in abstract pedantry. Perhaps their product is more
[GreenYouth] Can't forgive Rita, she will be punished: Mayawati
*Can't forgive Rita, she will be punished: Mayawati* NDTV Correspondenthttp://www.ndtv.com/news/search/results.php?cfeed=tw%3BSU%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.ndtv.com%3BLC%3A%23003399%3BVC%3A%23008000%3BDC%3A%2399%3BTB%3A0%3BPBG%3A1%3BGP%3A0%3B%3BRBG%3A%23DCDCDChl=enq=NDTV%20Correspondentsite=ndtv.com, Friday July 17, 2009, Lucknow http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/cant_forgive_rita_she_will_be_punished_mayawati.php AFP image Uttar Pradeshhttp://www.ndtv.com/news/india/cant_forgive_rita_she_will_be_punished_mayawati.php#Chief Minister Mayawati said on Friday that state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi's derogatory remarks against her cannot be forgiven and that she will be punished. Mayawati on Friday raised questions on why no action was taken against state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi by her party president Sonia Gandhi. No action has been taken against Rita at the party level. Sonia Gandhi also apologised after Rita's comments under duress, said Mayawati at a press conference. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said that her party had decided not to disrupt Parliament over the issue, adding that legal action against the state Congress chief would go on. Rita may get a bail like Varun Gandhi, but she cannot be pardoned, she said. Mayawati further said that Congress shouldn't think her party workers are weak. If I didn't stop BSP workers on Wednesday night, Congress workers would have gone underground, she said. However, the UP Chief Minister requested her party workers not to protest violently. Meanwhile, a court in Moradabad reserved order on the bail plea of Rita. She was arrested on Thursday in a midnight crackdown -- Ranjit --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] pointless ripples in the gay bay
This is an article which came in Deccan Herald, Bangalore on July 17th, 2009. It raises some practical questions. it will be interesting to answer these. K C Santhosh Kumar www.kanipayur.blogspot.com Pointless ripples in the Gay Bay http://www.deccanherald.com/content/14134/pointless-ripples-gay-bay.html By Ingrid Albuquerquehttp://www.deccanherald.com/content/14134/pointless-ripples-gay-bay.html Pointless ripples in the Gay Bay By Ingrid Albuquerque *In a country that is already beset with so many problems, following the high court legalisation of homosexual rights and the matter now going before the Supreme Court, national attention and focus has returned to the gay debate.* It is a waste of time really; the conclusion will be the same — inconclusive! The moral majority and salty saints will continue to protest vehemently, and the demanding minority will only stamp and stomp with greater force as they knock down Delhi’s door in the cry for acceptance. This time around, we would be wise to move beyond the debate. Let’s consider the very possible reality that once the law is nationally ‘de-criminalised’ and homosexuals and lesbians force their way into the mainstream, the next step will be the demand for acceptance of gay marriage and thereafter the very natural insistence on being permitted to adopt children and have a family. Everyone, a gay writer insists, has the right to shape family forms that fits his or her needs. It is a popular misconception in India that the West easily accepted same-sex relationships, or agreed that same-sex-parent families can or should be created so readily. The defining moment in British engagement with the issue was the passing of the controversial Section 28 of the Local Government Act of 1988, which outlawed support by local authorities for the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ and “the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. A similar ‘touchstone moment’ in the United States was in 1996, when in the face of gay movements in different states, the Congress rushed into law the Defence of Marriage Act. India is at the fork of the road now and has to determine whether it will ultimately succumb as the West did, or preserve its long-standing resistance to upsetting the traditional family cart. Debating the issue can bring no new insight. Instead, let’s fast-forward our way into the future and visualise a scenario in which gay families become part of the mainstream family network and the impact this will have on society. Most of the research done on the pros and cons of gay parenting are methodically flawed because they are driven by political agendas instead of an objective search for truth. Openly lesbian researchers will manipulate findings to portray homosexual parenting in positive light, whereas gay-bashing research will do what it can to show that children raised in homosexual households are doomed from the word go. *Where does it all lead to* To sincerely explore the subject instead of debating it every citizen could conduct a personal research to get answers to some common-sense questions: n In a lesbian household, is a child to be raised by two moms, both to be called ‘mummy’ or will it be ‘Ratna mummy’ and ‘Nirmala mummy’? Likewise in the opposite, will a child have two daddies? * How will that child describe the family in school essays and who will protect the student from the derision of other students? *Often, the child of a pilot wants to be a pilot, a doctor’s child heads for medical school; will the child adopted by a homosexual parent feel inclined to follow in the footsteps of the parental choice? * If children of same-sex-parents did make friends, would those friends feel comfortable visiting the household? * Let us put aside the chief argument against gay adoption which is that homosexual relationships are often unstable and that most homosexuals are promiscuous. If gay marriages are legalised, will the Indian courts have to start a whole new system for gay divorces, property rights and custody fights? * How will the passport office and other government and academic organisations deal with the chaos of re-creating application forms? Would they then read thus ‘Name of father’ and then ‘Name of mother other father?’ These questions are just the tip of the iceberg. It would not be a bad idea for high school and pre-university students to deal with the subject in class assignments, projects and surveys. After all, they are the generation that will be impacted the most by the current laws being amended, re-drafted and debated. Moreover, their direct encounter with the truth will help them make their own wise choice should they ever reach dilemma’s turnpoint. --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send
[GreenYouth] Re: Who the hell is Varkala Radhakrishnan?
Each and every communistparty claim that they are THE LEFT in Kerala. Each one claim that they are THE PEOPLE of Kerala Are they? Please be specific what one mean by LEFT and who is LEFT. There is a story doing its round that EMS Namboothithirpad became the first CM of Kerala because the Central Leadership of Communist Party of India was not comfortable with the sexualities of the other two who were considered to be CM by the undivided CPI in 1957. Thus EMS who was nowhere in the scene became first CM of Kerala sealing its fate to be reactionary society lead by paranoid, insecure and facist parties which claim to be LEFT. On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 5:25 PM, Sebin Jacob sebinaja...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 11:01 PM, Anivar Aravind anivar.arav...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 10:30 PM, Sebin Jacobsebinaja...@gmail.com wrote: Marxist position in this issue can be read from http://www.pragoti.org/node/3495 Do you mean CPIM Position? Anivar Hmm, I must think twice before saying so. But AFAIK, pragoti is CPIM's node. You could also take into consideration that the Padam teams' accusation against Com. MA Baby included his position on Gay-Lesbian rights. -- Understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Wallerstein on Hondruas - The Right Strikes Back!
[Quote What about the United States? When the coup occurred, some of the raucous left commentators in the blogosphere called it Obama's coup. That misses the point of what happened. Neither Zelaya nor his supporters on the street, nor indeed Chavez or Fidel Castro, have such a simplistic view. They all note the difference between Obama and the U.S. right (political leaders or military figures) and have expressed repeatedly a far more nuanced analysis. It seems quite clear that the last thing the Obama administration wanted was this coup. The coup has been an attempt to force Obama's hand. This was undoubtedly encouraged by key figures in the U.S. right like Otto Reich, the Cuban-American ex-counselor of Bush, and the International Republican Institute. This was akin to Saakashvili's attempt to force the U.S. hand in Georgia when he invaded South Ossetia. That too was done in connivance with the U.S. right. That one didn't work because Russian troops stopped it. Unquote] http://gritodebatalla.blogspot.com/2009/07/wallerstein-on-hondruas-right-strikes.html http://gritodebatalla.blogspot.com/2009/07/wallerstein-on-hondruas-right-strikes.htmlWallerstein on Hondruas - The Right Strikes Back!http://gritodebatalla.blogspot.com/2009/07/wallerstein-on-hondruas-right-strikes.html Immanuel Wallerstein July 15 2009 Agence Global http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XXdeLZSofUw/Sl6Rb3Gv_nI/A0U/rEKUKNAJfok/s1600-h/ImmanuelWallerstein.pngImmanuel Wallerstein, Senior Research Scholar at Yale University, is the author of The Decline of American Power: The U.S. in a Chaotic World (New Press). The presidency of George W. Bush was the moment of the greatest electoral sweep of left-of-center political parties in Latin America in the last two centuries. The presidency of Barack Obama risks being the moment of the revenge of the right in Latin America. The reason may well be the same -- the combination of the decline of American power with the continuing centrality of the United States in world politics. At one and the same time, the United States is unable to impose itself and is nonetheless expected by everyone to enter the playing field on their side. What happened in Honduras? Honduras has long been one of the surest pillars of Latin American oligarchies -- an arrogant and unrepentant ruling class, with close ties to the United States and site of a major American military base. Its own military was carefully recruited to avoid any taint of officers with populist sympathies. In the last elections, Manuel (Mel) Zelaya was elected president. A product of the ruling classes, he was expected to continue to play the game the way Honduran presidents always play it. Instead, he edged leftward in his policies. He undertook internal programs that actually did something for the vast majority of the population -- building schools in remote rural areas, increasing the minimum wage, opening health clinics. He started his term supporting the free trade agreement with the United States. But then, after two years, he joined ALBA, the interstate organization started by President Hugo Chavez, and Honduras received as a result low-cost oil coming from Venezuela. Then he proposed to hold an advisory referendum as to whether the population thought it a good idea to convene a body to revise the constitution. The oligarchy shouted that this was an attempt by Zelaya to change the constitution to make it possible for him to have a second term. But since the referendum was to occur on the day his successor would have been elected, this was clearly a phony reason. Why then did the army stage a coup d'état, with the support of the Supreme Court, the Honduran legislature, and the Roman Catholic hierarchy? Two factors entered here: their view of Zelaya and their view of the United States. In the 1930s, the U.S. right attacked Franklin Roosevelt as a traitor to his class. For the Honduran oligarchy, that's Zelaya -- a traitor to his class -- someone who had to be punished as an example to others. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XXdeLZSofUw/Sl6Rk8rLYVI/A0c/1t1S8zMeao8/s1600-h/Honduras3.pngWhat about the United States? When the coup occurred, some of the raucous left commentators in the blogosphere called it Obama's coup. That misses the point of what happened. Neither Zelaya nor his supporters on the street, nor indeed Chavez or Fidel Castro, have such a simplistic view. They all note the difference between Obama and the U.S. right (political leaders or military figures) and have expressed repeatedly a far more nuanced analysis. It seems quite clear that the last thing the Obama administration wanted was this coup. The coup has been an attempt to force Obama's hand. This was undoubtedly encouraged by key figures in the U.S. right like Otto Reich, the Cuban-American ex-counselor of Bush, and the International Republican Institute. This was akin to Saakashvili's attempt to force the U.S. hand in Georgia when he invaded South Ossetia. That too was
[GreenYouth] Left Is Wrong on Iran
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/956/op5.htm Left is wrong on IranWho are and who promoted these leftist intellectuals who question the social uprising of the people in Iran, asks *Hamid Dabashi* * http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/print/2009/956/op5.htm#1 -- When a political groundswell like the Iranian presidential election of June 2009 and its aftermath happen, the excitement and drama of the moment expose not just our highest hopes but also our deepest fault lines, most troubling moral flaws, and the dangerous political precipice we face. Over the decades I have learned not to expect much from what passes for the left in North America and/or Western Europe when it comes to the politics of what their colonial ancestry has called the Middle East. But I do expect much more when it comes to our own progressive intellectuals -- Arabs, Muslims, South Asians, Africans and Latin Americans. This is not a racial bifurcation, but a regional typology along the colonial divide. By and large this expectation is apt and more often than not met. The best case in point is the comparison between what Azmi Bishara has offered about the recent uprising in Iran and what Slavoj Zizek felt obligated to write. Whereas Bishara's piece (with aspects of which I have had reason to disagree) is predicated on a detailed awareness of the Iranian scene, accumulated over the last 30 years of the Islamic Republic and even before, Zizek's (the conclusion of which I completely disagree with) is entirely spontaneous and impressionistic, predicated on as much knowledge about Iran as I have about the mineral composition of the planet Jupiter. The examples can be multiplied by many, when we add to what Azmi Bishara has written pieces by Mustafa El-Labbad and Galal Nassar, for example, and compare them to the confounded blindness of Paul Craig Roberts, Anthony DiMaggio, Michael Veiluva, James Petras, Jeremy Hammond, Eric Margolis, and many others. While people closest to the Iranian scene write from a position of critical intimacy, and with a healthy dose of disagreement, those farthest from it write with an almost unanimous exposure of their constitutional ignorance, not having the foggiest idea what has happened in that country over the last 30 years, let alone the last 200 years, and then having the barefaced chutzpah to pontificate one thing or another -- or worse, to take more than 70 million human beings as stooges of the CIA and puppets of the Saudis. Let me begin by stating categorically that in principle I share the fundamental political premise of the left, its weariness of US imperial machination, of major North American and Western European media (but by no means all of them) by and large missing the point on what is happening around the globe, or even worse seeing things from the vantage point of their governmental cues, which they scarcely question. It has been but a few months since we have come out of the nightmare of the Bush presidency, or the combined chicaneries of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and John Ashcroft, or of the continued calamities of the war on terror. Iran is still under the threat of a military strike by Israel, or at least more severe economic sanctions, similar to those that are responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis during the Clinton administration. Iraq and Afghanistan are burning, Gaza is in utter desolation, Northern Pakistan is in deep humanitarian crisis, and Israel is stealing more Palestinian lands every day. With all his promises and pomp and ceremonies, President Obama is yet to show in any significant and tangible way his change of course in the region from that of the previous administration. The US Congress, prompted by AIPAC (the American Israel Political Affairs Committee), pro-war vigilantes lurking in the halls of power in Washington DC, and Israeli warlords and their propaganda machinery in the US, are all excited about the events in Iran and are doing their damnedest to turn them to their advantage. The left, indeed, has reason to worry. But having principled positions on geopolitics is one thing, being blind and deaf to a massive social movement is something entirely different, as being impervious to the flagrant charlatanism of an upstart demagogue like Ahmadinejad. The sign and the task of a progressive and agile intelligence is to hold on to core principles and seek to incorporate mass social uprising into its *modus operandi*. My concern here is not with that retrograde strand in the North American or Western European left that is siding with Ahmadinejad and against the masses of millions of Iranians daring the draconian security apparatus of the Islamic Republic. They are a lost cause, and frankly no one could care less what they think of the world. What does concern me is when an Arab intellectual like Asad AbuKhalil opts to go public with his assessment of this movement -- and what he says so vertiginously smacks
[GreenYouth] The myth called 'civilised and cultured' upper caste women- womenspeak !!
http://blog.insightyv.com/?p=336#more-336 Womenspeak By *Cynthia Stephen* [image: brinda] Will they stand up now ? Sushmaji (BJP), Brindaji (CPIM), Prabhaji (Cong) showing their 'all' women-unity on 'women's' reservation bill. Photo courtesy: TOI, New Delhi The Mayawati - Rita Bahuguna fracas can of course be read, and rightly so, as a typical case of a casteist and classist response of frustration with the fact that power is in the hands of the subaltern(s) in UP. There can be nothing but condemnation for the words used by a woman who is in public office and has a political lineage to boot, on the elected representative and leader of the state of which she is a citizen. It is of course unfortunate that the woman’s house was burnt down by some miscreants after her remarks, but that can be said to be collateral damage. Rita has been roundly condemned by all concerned and the Hindu, in an editorial, has called for Sonia to sack her as UPCC chief. But added to the fact that Brahminical Patriarchy is showing its colours, there is also the fact that the media is playing it up as a “fight for Dalit Votes (between Cong and BSP)”, as if Mayawati won and became the CM of UP for the fourth time on the Dalit vote alone! But we need to look at another aspect. While women are slowly - too slowly, alas - coming into their own in the public sphere in India especially in governance, where we have several women in Cabinet positions, as President (Pratibha Patil), Chief of the main constituent of the ruling coalition (Sonia Gandhi), some women Chief ministers Sheila Dixit and Mayawati - and ex- chief ministers - Vijayaraje Scindia - younger women coming into parliaments and assemblies - Kanimozhi, Priay Dutt, Seilja - , and important roles in opposition - Mamata Bannerjee - as in West Bengal, which has had no opposition worth the name for decades. On the other hand, we see that women in public office, despite their being relatively so few of them, do not get along too well, may be because solidarity among women is still looked upon with disfavour by our patriarchal society which actually pioneered the concept of “divide and rule”. Thus, it is no wonder that the women’s reservation bill has had such a stormy history, and its future does not appear to be too rosy. Only some have understood the rather nuanced position taken by Sharad Yadav, who asserts strongly the need for reservation/representation for women on the basis of thier caste-class origin, but of course he is damned by the Brahminical media for “blocking the women’s reservation bill”. But over and above this, the level to which the discourse among the women themselves has sunk to be noted and condemned. Not many know that a couple of days ago, the Rajasthan Assembly was thunderstruck by the former CM, Vijaya Raje Scindia’s remarks in reply to criticism by a minister in the present government - she walked up to his seat, and asked how he would feel if she went around claiming that his wife was given to drinking and carousing in the streets every night! The assembly was shocked into silence at her words. And in Andhra Pradesh, just before the elections, there have been some very unedifying TV talk shows in which some of the leaders of the women’s wings of political parties - notably the Praja Rajyam and some other prominent women political leaders engaging a free-for-all slanging matches on air, which served to further bring to public disrepute their capacities as leaders and spokespersons for their parties or their constituents. The point to note is that while communal rioters have routinely targeted the bodies of the “other” women for violence and rape, the new trend appears to be get women “leaders” who are already insecure and unsure of their roles in power and governance to attack other women in public office, and even more so if the woman in question is single, dark skinned, and/or belongs to a marginalised group. It is interesting to note how this major incident has not made it into the blogosphere which has had so much to say about Mayawati’s statutes, her diamonds, her cakes, her clothes …! And Indian feminists and slacktivists have not jumped into the fray with statements, placards, or candle-light protests! Just goes to show how ‘class’ and “caste” will show itself up even in its silences. Let us break the silence, but let us keep our dignity, and that of others as well. July 17th, 2009 in Gender http://blog.insightyv.com/?cat=91, Statehttp://blog.insightyv.com/?cat=19, violence http://blog.insightyv.com/?cat=85 | tags: Bahugunahttp://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=bahuguna, BSP http://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=bsp, Congresshttp://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=congress, Mayawati http://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=mayawati, Rapehttp://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=rape, Scindhia http://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=scindhia, Sharad Yadavhttp://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=sharad-yadav, Sonia http://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=sonia, UPhttp://blog.insightyv.com/?tag=up, women
[GreenYouth] Iran: Tehran Erupts Again!
[The eruption of vigorous street protests again yesterday, in response to a sermon by a highly influential, conservative and controversial cleric at a Friday prayer meet, only goes to show that the turbulence is far from over.It is just not that people groaning under Mullahcracy are protesting, the Mullahcracy itself stands badly fractured. It is just not ordinary mortal Ahmedinajad, even the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's divine halo stands severely dimmed and diminished. That cannot but be an indicator of a huge crisis of legitimacy for the regime. Another interesting aspect is that the protests have shown up Iranian civil society significantly more modern than much of its Arab neighbourhoods. Women played a major role. The final outcome is of course open ended.] http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-prayer18-2009jul18,0,4387707,full.story Iranian protesters galvanized by sermonThey clash with security forces in Tehran after a sermon by top cleric Hashemi Rafsanjani, who criticized the election and called for rule of law, unity and dialogue. By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim July 18, 2009 Reporting from Tehran and Beirut — A sermon by powerful cleric and opposition supporter Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani reignited Iran's simmering protest movement Friday, heartening thousands of supporters who braved tear gas and club-wielding militiamen to march and chant slogans across Tehran. In a highly anticipated speech, Rafsanjani slammed the hard-line camp supporting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criticized the June 12 election results and promoted several key opposition demands. Analysts said his description of the unrest as an ongoing crisis was a signal to keep the pressure on Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His speech, as well as the pitched clashes between security forces and supporters of opposition figure Mir-Hossein Mousavi that followed, suggested the political firestorm unleashed by the marred vote would continue and that the movement it had inspired remained strong. We could have taken our best step in the history of the Islamic Revolution had the election not faced problems, he told worshipers gathered for Friday prayers in and around Tehran University. Today, we are living in bitter conditions because of what happened after the announcement of the election result. All of us have suffered. We need unity more than any time else. Mousavi and his supporters claim that Ahmadinejad, backed by Khamenei, falsified results and stole the election. Khamenei, who is supposed to be above partisan politics, infuriated them by coming down squarely on the side of the incumbent. Mousavi's backers widely interpreted Rafsanjani's speech as anything but a call for unity. They chanted boisterous anti-government slogans for hours in defiance of menacing security forces and plainclothes Basiji militiamen. Immediately after his speech, Tehran residents could be heard from rooftops and balconies in various districts shouting support for Rafsanjani. The main goal of Rafsanjani's sermon today was to improve his own position so that he can pressure Khamenei, said Meir Javedanfar, an Iran analyst. He got large numbers to come to the streets and to listen to him. He showed that he is not a spent force. Even before the speech, security forces were taking away young men in police vans. Helmeted Basiji militiamen aboard motorcycles began pushing toward crowds of young men and women brandishing eye-catching ribbons in green, the color of the opposition movement. Some women defiantly wore *chadors* in bright green instead of the traditional black. After the sermon, downtown Tehran erupted in violence. Security forces attacked demonstrators, older and grayer than recent gatherings, who were chanting Death to the dictator! and God is great. Tear gas filled streets as protesters sought to enter the gates of the university, which riot police had locked. The crowds swarmed through downtown, chanting slogans, lighting cigarettes and holding them in front of their faces to counter the effects of the tear gas. Masked demonstrators also set fire to trash in the middle of roadways to burn off the tear gas, videos posted on YouTube showed. One group shut down two highways, while a second handed flowers to smiling policemen and kissed them on the cheeks, according to witnesses. Another large group gathered in front of the Ministry of Interior, which is under the control of Sadegh Mahsouli, a wealthy ally of Ahmadinejad. Mahsouli! Mahsouli! Give my vote back, they chanted, according to a video posted to YouTube. Demonstrators also began to head north to approach the headquarters of state broadcasting, which has barely reported on the unrest and aired a cooking show on television during Rafsanjani's speech. Last Thursday five of my friends were arrested, and they are in . . . Evin Prison, and it's my duty to come and participate, said Nahid, a 22-year-old law
[GreenYouth] Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-75263.html * Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement Mumbai, Jul 17 : Welcoming the joint statement of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani signed on the sidelines of Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt, several Indian peace activists, including Admiral (retd) L Ramdas and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt today said it has put the Mumbai attacks and terrorism upfront unlike the impression sought to be created by hawkish elements in both the countries. ''The statement of Mr Gilani that whosoever was behind the Mumbai attacks will be brought to justice is a positive development and we urge Pakistan to follow it up with appropriate and immediate action,'' the activists said. The joint statement de-linking terrorism from dialogue was a positive sign as the terrorists had the capacity to derail the peace process through their nefarious activities, they noted. Urging India and Pakistan to start working together on the issue of terrorism quickly, the activists said both were victims of terrorism -- mostly from the same elements. The only way to isolate and defeat the terrorists was by both the countries engaging in constant dialogue and cooperation to root out this menace, they said, adding that a joint mechanism against terrorism was necessary. Pointing out that prior to 26/11, four rounds of composite dialogue were held on the identified eight issues and significant progress was made on all fronts and major breakthroughs were in sight when the Mumbai terror attacks derailed the process, they said that in hindsight, it appeared that 26/11 was perhaps enacted to scuttle such breakthroughs that appeared imminent. ''The resumption of composite dialogue is the only road map towards permanent peace in the sub-continent and if the joint statement is implemented in letter and spirit, the resumption of dialogue can take place as early as September, when the leadership of both the countries meet on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly,'' the activists said in their joint statememt released here. The signatories to the joint statement also included Kamla Bhasin, Prof Kamal Chenoy, Jatin Desai, Mazher Hussain, Varsha Rajan Berry, Lalita Ramdas, Sukla Sen and Manisha Gupte. --- UNI * --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Re: [india-unity] Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement
Thanks a lot for this message of solidarity. But then, we all are on the same boat. Sukla On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 9:16 AM, Dr Walter Fernandes walter.ne...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Sukla. I am sure many others join you in this expression of hope in a future of peace, though we know that we have a long way to go. Walter Dr Walter Fernandes Director North Eastern Social Research Centre 110 Kharghuli Road (1st floor) Guwahati 781004 Assam, India Tel. (+91-361) 2602819 Email: nesrc...@gmail.com Webpage: www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/NESRC - Original Message - *From:* Sukla Sen sukla@gmail.com *To:* citizen-mumbai citizen-mum...@googlegroups.com ; peoples mediamediainitiat...@yahoogroups.co.in; india-un...@yahoogroups.com ; IHRO i...@yahoogroups.com ; issueonlineissuesonline_worldw...@yahoogroups.com; invitesp...@yahoogroups.com ; greenyouth greenyouth@googlegroups.com *Sent:* Saturday, July 18, 2009 9:06 AM *Subject:* [india-unity] Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-75263.html * Peace activists welcome Indo-Pak Joint Statement Mumbai, Jul 17 : Welcoming the joint statement of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani signed on the sidelines of Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt, several Indian peace activists, including Admiral (retd) L Ramdas and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt today said it has put the Mumbai attacks and terrorism upfront unlike the impression sought to be created by hawkish elements in both the countries. ''The statement of Mr Gilani that whosoever was behind the Mumbai attacks will be brought to justice is a positive development and we urge Pakistan to follow it up with appropriate and immediate action,'' the activists said. The joint statement de-linking terrorism from dialogue was a positive sign as the terrorists had the capacity to derail the peace process through their nefarious activities, they noted. Urging India and Pakistan to start working together on the issue of terrorism quickly, the activists said both were victims of terrorism -- mostly from the same elements. The only way to isolate and defeat the terrorists was by both the countries engaging in constant dialogue and cooperation to root out this menace, they said, adding that a joint mechanism against terrorism was necessary. Pointing out that prior to 26/11, four rounds of composite dialogue were held on the identified eight issues and significant progress was made on all fronts and major breakthroughs were in sight when the Mumbai terror attacks derailed the process, they said that in hindsight, it appeared that 26/11 was perhaps enacted to scuttle such breakthroughs that appeared imminent. ''The resumption of composite dialogue is the only road map towards permanent peace in the sub-continent and if the joint statement is implemented in letter and spirit, the resumption of dialogue can take place as early as September, when the leadership of both the countries meet on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly,'' the activists said in their joint statememt released here. The signatories to the joint statement also included Kamla Bhasin, Prof Kamal Chenoy, Jatin Desai, Mazher Hussain, Varsha Rajan Berry, Lalita Ramdas, Sukla Sen and Manisha Gupte. --- UNI * __._,_.___ Messages in this topic http://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/message/32630;_ylc=X3oDMTM3MnZscTU4BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwNzA3Njk2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTQ0NDUyNQRtc2dJZAMzMjYzMQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzEyNDc4ODg4MjgEdHBjSWQDMzI2MzA-( 2) Reply (via web post) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJyazAyaGgzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwNzA3Njk2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTQ0NDUyNQRtc2dJZAMzMjYzMQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzEyNDc4ODg4Mjg-?act=replymessageNum=32631| Start a new topic http://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaThpdWU4BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwNzA3Njk2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTQ0NDUyNQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEyNDc4ODg4Mjg- Messageshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJma2k3MnVhBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwNzA3Njk2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTQ0NDUyNQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNtc2dzBHN0aW1lAzEyNDc4ODg4Mjg-| Fileshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJnaXZjZ3E0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwNzA3Njk2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTQ0NDUyNQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNmaWxlcwRzdGltZQMxMjQ3ODg4ODI4| Photoshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNWQxMHJwBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwNzA3Njk2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTQ0NDUyNQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNwaG90BHN0aW1lAzEyNDc4ODg4Mjg-| Linkshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/india-unity/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJncjloY3FvBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEwNzA3Njk2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTQ0NDUyNQRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNsaW5rcwRzdGltZQMxMjQ3ODg4ODI4|
