Iron First 2007:India wants friendly neighbours
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
India wants friendly neighbours and it was trying to find amicable solutions to the disputes with Pakistan and China, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Friday.
"With Pakistan and China we do not want any confrontation and we are trying to find a solution amicably, but problems are there," Antony said in a brief interaction with reporters here.
Antony, who was here to participate in a Coast Guard investiture ceremony, was replying to queries on cross border militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and border disputes with China.
On the border dispute with China, he said serious attempts are going on to sort out the issue. Discussions are on between the Special Representatives of India and China and 11 rounds of talks have been completed.
"If something serious happens there is a mechanism to sort out the problem between the border security forces of the two countries and at diplomatic levels," he said.
The borders between India and China have not been demarcated officially. "We have our own perception of the border and they have theirs. While we believe that the entire Arunachal Pradesh is ours, China questions the same," he said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, compared to last year, the violence level had come down by 50 per cent, he said. The only concern now was of cross border militancy which was continuing even after three years of ceasefire.
"Terrorists and militants are coming from across the border and they are getting support from them," he said.
China's military wrapped up weeklong live-firing war games on Friday, the latest in a series of increasingly sophisticated exercises to prepare troops for complex battlefield situations. The ``Iron First 2007'' games closed with two imaginary rival armies fighting a six-hour simulated battle, the official China News Service said.
Commanders had to contend with electromagnetic interference that disrupted communications and electronics in a simulation of likely battlefield scenarios, the exercise's director, Lt. Gen. Feng Zhaoju, was quoted as saying.
Responses included fighting back with counter-interference, Feng said in the report.
The exercises were held near the central city of Zhengzhou. There were no reports of disruptions to commercial flights or other civilian transport in the area.
Photos posted on Internet news Web sites showed Chinese-made ZSL92 armored personnel vehicles splashing through creeks, as well as troops marching past rows of China's latest-generation ZTZ99 main battle tanks, and crews firing anti-tank guided missiles.
Also Friday, President Hu Jintao elevated top People's Liberation Army commander Chang Wenquan to the rank of full general _ the latest in a series of promotions placing Hu's apparent mark of approval on a new generation of top military leaders.
Chang, the head of the northeastern Shenyang Military District, is one of 11 members of the Central Military Commission, led by Hu, which has ultimate control of the 2.3 million-member armed forces. The People's Liberation Army explicitly owes its loyalty to the Communist Party instead of China's civilian government.
Indian sea routes will be under constant pressure: Antony
Kochi (PTI): With terrorists carrying out their operations in varied forms, Indian sea routes will be under constant pressure in the times to come, Defence Minister A K Antony said here on Friday. Addressing Coast Guard (CG) personnel after participating in an investiture ceremony, Antony said terrorists were engaged in smuggling of arms and counterfeit currency, besides trafficking of drugs, due to which "our sea routes would be under constant pressure". Stating that he was aware of the manpower shortage in the CG, the minister said a few steps have been taken to ease the difficulties. The government's priority was to modernise and expand the Indian Coast Guard, Antony said, adding everything possible would be done to remove the difficulties. However, it was CG's responsibility to ensure that available resources were utilised "judiciously and optimally", he said.
Is China more important to you than India: BJP asks Karat
New Delhi (PTI): Questioning the CPI(M)'s nationalist credentials, the BJP on Friday said its General Secretary Prakash Karat's comments on China shows that the interests of the Communist nation are supreme for it.
The saffron party also ridiculed the CPI(M)'s stand that it wants a discussion in Parliament on the Indo-US nuclear deal without voting saying the Left party is against voting as it did not want to be exposed.
"The comments of Prakash Karat finally exposes the sheer duplicity of the CPI(M) and establishes once and for all that for it the interests of China are primary and that of India secondary," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
He also asked Karat to explain whether the "US capital which is coming to Kolkata loses its imperial colour after investment in the Left-ruled state." The double-standard is more than evident, he added.
Prasad was reacting to Karat's statement in Kolkata yesterday that the US was trying to make India its strategic ally to counter China, "the most powerful socialist country capable of challenging the might of the USA".
On CPI(M) favouring a debate in Parliament under a rule which will not entail voting, he said "they don't want voting as it will expose its real face. Their opposition to the deal is just a show."
"The CPI(M) will never snap its ties with the UPA," he went on to add and alleged that its opposition to the nuclear deal was not "committed."
Myanmar must end human rights abuses: HRW
New York : The UN special envoy to Myanmar should demand that the military government commit itself to a quick transition towards a civilian rule through negotiations with opposition parties and civil society, a US-based human rights watchdog said on Friday.
It is important that this visit gets to the heart of the matter, the need to end continued "draconian military rule and systematic human rights abuses," Human Rights Watch's (HRW) Asia Director Brad Adams said.
On the eve of arrival of the envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, for his second visit to Myanmar since the military government's crackdown on pro-democracy Buddhist monks, Adams warned that "superficial dialogue" without a clear purpose or structure will simply lead to more "empty photo opportunities of opposition leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi with powerless government officials."
Human Rights Watch also urged Gambari to obtain public guarantees from the government of complete cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur to Myanmar, who is scheduled to visit the country in the next few days.
"Full cooperation with the United Nations on investigations into the recent crackdown should be a litmus test for the usefulness of continued engagement with the Burmese government," said Adams.
"This should include full and unfettered access to political prisoners and detainees, and to all official and unofficial places of detention, as well as protection for individuals who meet the Special Rapporteur," Adams said. Despite Gambari's brief to the Myanmar government to pursue "the promotion of an all-inclusive national reconciliation process" in his last visit to Myanmar four weeks ago, the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has continued to arrest individuals accused of being involved in the protests.

Hiroshima bomber dies as Bush reminds rise of Hitler, Lenin !
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Hiroshima bomber dies at 92
All N-weapons to be removed from high alert: UN
United Nations : The UN General Assembly's disarmament committee approved a resolution calling for all nuclear weapons to be taken off high alert over objections from the United States, Britain and France. The resolution calls for taking steps to decrease the readiness of nuclear weapons systems by "ensuring that all nuclear weapons are removed from high alert status." The vote was 124-3 with the three Western nuclear powers voting "no." There were 34 abstentions, mainly from NATO and Western countries as well as China. Russia did not vote. John Duncan, Britain's ambassador for multilateral arms control and disarmament, said on Thursday that his country voted against the resolution because there are more pressing issues to create a "nuclear-free world."
"We think a lot of de-alerting has been done. We have done a lot of de-alerting," he said. "We think the emphasis should be on other things, the numbers of nuclear weapons, not the operational readiness, and also the concerns of proliferation." The resolution, co-sponsored by Chile, New Zealand, Nigeria, Sweden and Switzerland, now goes to the 192-nation General Assembly for a final vote. Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do reflect world opinion. Richard Grenell, spokesman for the US Mission to the United Nations, said: "While we are thankful to the sponsors for making important changes to the original draft, the United States has an obligation to manage its military forces to ensure we remain able to protect our security and fulfill our commitments to our allies."
President George W Bush has compared Congress' Democratic leaders to people who ignored the rise of Lenin and Hitler early in the last century, saying "the world paid a terrible price" then and risks similar consequences for inaction today. Bush accused Congress of stalling important pieces of the fight to prevent new terrorist attacks by: dragging out and possibly jeopardising confirmation of Michael Mukasey as US attorney general, a key part of his national security team; failing to act on a bill governing eavesdropping on terrorist suspects; and moving too slowly to approve spending measures for the Iraq war, Pentagon and veterans programmes.
"Unfortunately, on too many issues, some in Congress are behaving as if America is not at war," Bush said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
"This is no time for Congress to weaken the Department of Justice by denying it a strong and effective leader.... It's no time for Congress to weaken our ability to intercept information from terrorists about potential attacks on the United States of America. And this is no time for Congress to hold back vital funding for our troops as they fight al-Qaeda terrorists and radicals in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima died at 92.
For six decades he had steadfastly defended the Hiroshima mission.
Tibbets died on Thursday at his Columbus home after a two-month decline caused by a variety of health problems, said Gerry Newhouse, a longtime friend.
Throughout his life, Tibbets seemed more troubled by other people's objections to the bomb than by having led the crew that killed tens of thousands of Japanese in a single stroke. The attack marked the beginning of the end of World War II.
Tibbets grew tired of criticism for delivering the first nuclear weapon used in wartime, telling family and friends that he wanted no funeral service or headstone because he feared a burial site would only give detractors a place to protest.
And he insisted he slept just fine, believing with certainty that using the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved more lives than they erased because they eliminated the need for a drawn-out invasion of Japan.
Tibbets said, 'What they needed was someone who could do this and not flinch and that was me,''' said journalist Bob Greene, who wrote the Tibbets biography, ''Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War.''
''I'm not proud that I killed 80,000 people, but I'm proud that I was able to start with nothing, plan it and have it work as perfectly as it did,'' he said in a 1975 interview.
''You've got to take stock and assess the situation at that time. We were at war. You use anything at your disposal.'' He added, ''I sleep clearly every night.''
Man who won the war
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. was born on February 23 1915, in Quincy, Illinois, and spent most of his boyhood in Miami. He was a student at the University of Cincinnati's medical school when he decided to withdraw in 1937 to enlist in the Army Air Corps.
''I knew when I got the assignment it was going to be an emotional thing,'' Tibbets told The Columbus Dispatch for a story on the 60th anniversary of the bombing.
''We had feelings, but we had to put them in the background. We knew it was going to kill people right and left. But my one driving interest was to do the best job I could so that we could end the killing as quickly as possible.''
Tibbets, a 30-year-old colonel at the time, and his crew of 13 dropped the five-ton ''Little Boy'' bomb over Hiroshima the morning of August 6, 1945. The blast killed or injured at least 140,000.
Three days later, the US dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing at least 60,000 people. Tibbets did not fly in that mission. The Japanese surrendered a few days later.
Tibbets retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general in 1966. He moved to Columbus, where he ran an air taxi service until he retired in 1985.
Tibbets again defended the Hiroshima bombing in 1995, when an outcry erupted over a planned 50th anniversary exhibit of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Institution.
The museum had planned to mount an exhibit that would have provided the context of the bombing, but veterans groups objected that it paid too much attention to Japan's suffering and underestimated the number of Americans who would have perished in an invasion by Japan. Tibbets denounced it as ''a damn big insult.''
The museum changed its plan, and agreed to display the fuselage of the Enola Gay without commentary, context or analysis.
Tibbets is survived by his wife, Andrea and three sons Paul, Gene and James as well as a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A grandson named after Tibbets followed his grandfather into the military as a B-2 bomber pilot currently stationed in Belgium.
US faces burning emissions issue
Severe United States wildfires can contribute as much as vehicles to carbon emissions in some US states, although the amount is highly variable. New research published in the online open access journal Carbon Balance and Management quantifies these emissions and suggests fires will complicate emissions monitoring and modelling efforts, according to Eurekalert, the news service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Christine Wiedinmyer of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Jason Neff of the University of Colorado, both in Boulder, US, used satellite imaging data to determine the extent of fires over the period 2002-2006. They estimated the output of CO2 based on the degree of forest cover in a particular area.
Typical annual emissions from fires are around 5 percent of the manmade total for the United States. However during major fires in the Western and Southeastern US, the proportion of fire contributions to CO2 emissions can increase dramatically. The authors note, "A striking implication of very large wildfires is that a severe fire season lasting only one or two months can release as much carbon as the annual emissions from the entire transportation or energy sector of an individual state."
Although the release of CO2 in fires should be balanced over the long-term by the uptake of CO2 as new vegetation grows, the immediate impact of the fires on atmospheric CO2 is significant. This may create difficulties in accounting for carbon sources and sinks, and in assessing trends with current remote sensing technologies.
Dr Wiedinmyer also warns, "There is a significant potential for additional net release of carbon from the forests of the United States due to changing fire dynamics in the coming decades." Although fire emissions are not currently included in most CO2 emission restriction agreements, increasing fire frequency and severity can lead to greater emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere and compound the problems that are related to manmade emissions.
The fires include wild fires, prescribed burning and burning for agricultural purposes, but the majority of these emissions come from needle leaf forest fires in the western and southeastern States.
Rice answers diplomats' revolt over forced Iraq postings
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to quell a revolt among US diplomats angry over attempts to fore foreign service officers to work in Iraq or face dismissal.
Rice plans to send a cable to all US embassies and missions abroad explaining the decision to launch the largest diplomatic call-up since Vietnam, following a contentious town hall meeting on Wednesday where angry diplomats raised deep concern about the "potential death sentence" of being ordered to work in Iraq, the State Department said.
"The secretary is going to send out a cable worldwide to people talking about this decision as well as encouraging people to serve in Iraq," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, saying the message would be distributed on Thursday.
He stressed the cable was not a "direct response" to Wednesday's unusually hostile session, but that "it speaks to some of the concerns that were aired in that town hall meeting."
Rice, who did not attend the meeting, was also making clear in the cable that foreign service officers have an obligation to uphold the oaths they took to carry out the policies of the government and be available to serve anywhere in the world, McCormack said.
"I don't know if we will have to direct assignments or not," Rice told reporters Thursday en route to diplomatic meetings in Turkey and the Middle East. "But we are one foreign service, and people need to serve where they are needed."
As for the diplomats' objections, she added: "I'm glad they spoke up because it's a sensitive issue. The department hasn't had directed assignments for a long time. I understand that."
India must be given 'augmented' voice in UN: Hillary Clinton
India, which has "special significance" as an emerging power, should be given a bigger voice in regional and international institutions like the UN, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner for the upcoming US Presidential election has said.
"....India has a special significance both as an emerging power and as the world's most populous democracy. As co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, I recognize the tremendous opportunity presented by India's rise and the need to give the country an augmented voice in regional and international institutions, such as the UN," Clinton, who according to polls is leading in the race to become the next US President, said.
The former first lady also said terrorists are increasingly finding safe havens in Pakistan, its staunch ally in the war on terror, and called for "redoubling" of efforts in the South Asian country.
"Terrorists are increasingly finding safe havens in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan," Clinton wrote in an Essay in the respected Foreign Affairs Magazine.
She also said America's relationship with China will be "the most important bilateral relationship" in the world.
"The US and China have vastly different values and political systems, yet even though we disagree profoundly on issues ranging from trade to human rights, religious freedom, labor practices, and Tibet, there is much that the US and China can and must accomplish together," Clinton said.
The Democratic senator slammed the Bush administration for "squandering the respect, trust, and confidence of even our closest allies and friends."
After 9/11, Clinton said the world rallied behind the US and "we had a historic opportunity to build a broad global coalition to combat terror, increase the impact of our diplomacy, and create a world with more partners and fewer adversaries."
Iran, IAEA end latest talks
TEHRAN (AP): Iranian officials and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog ended four days of talks here aimed at resolving questions related to the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme, state media reported.
The conclusion of the talks comes as the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany meet in London on Friday to try to coordinate strategy toward Iran's disputed nuclear activities.
A Saudi Arabian official, meanwhile, said Arab states in the Persian Gulf had proposed to Tehran that they set up a consortium to provide Iran with enriched uranium as way to defuse the nuclear fight.
The Iranian side expressed satisfaction with the U.N. discussions, which focused on P-1 and P-2 centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, said a report on the Web site of Iran's state broadcasting company. The talks, which began Monday and ended Thursday, were the third round between the two sides to discuss the machines.
``In the talks, the agency's negotiators raised their questions and ambiguities over the machines, and the Iranian side provided necessary answers and information,'' the Web site quoted Javad Vaeedi, head of the Iranian negotiating team, as saying. The report did not provide further details.
The discussions were the latest attempt by the Vienna, Austria-based IAEA to address outstanding questions about the Iranian programme, which some Western countries believe is cover for weapons development _ an allegation Tehran denies. IAEA deputy chief, Olli Heinonen, headed the U.N. delegation.
US pushes partners for tougher sanctions on Iran in London talks
London (AP): U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns was pressing for a hardening of U.N. sanctions against Iran during talks in London on Friday on Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and France support new sanctions if Iran continues to refuse to suspend uranium enrichment, though fellow permanent U.N. Security Council members Russia and China remain skeptical.
Burns was meeting diplomats from the four other permanent Security Council members and Germany for midmorning talks to rally support for a tougher track with Tehran, which has a deadline next month to fully disclose details of its nuclear program.
The U.S. and allies accuse Iran of using a civilian power program as cover to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge and insists it needs the technology to generate power.
After talks Thursday in Vienna with Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Burns told reporters that Washington wants a resolution on a third round of U.N. Security Council sanctions passed soon.
``There are sanctions being implemented ... and there will be a third Security Council sanctions resolution'' if Iran continues to defy the council, Burns said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave the call qualified backing on Thursday, saying Germany will support new U.N sanctions if Tehran fails to meet the December deadline to provide full details of its program.
But Iran's former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, said Friday in Tehran that talks between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog were making progress and he warned the U.S. to avoid resorting to threats.
``The U.S. is making mistakes. Iran is having talks (with the IAEA) and has said it will respond to IAEA questions. They are gradually coming and taking their response. One has to wait, talk and make discussions,'' he said.
Rafsanjani also spoke about the prospects of a U.S. attack against Iran, saying it would create a quagmire for Washington with unimaginable consequences.
Britain is likely to press for European Union sanctions against Iran within weeks, including bans on investment or export credit guarantees.
At a meeting in Luxembourg on Oct. 15, EU foreign ministers failed to agree on sanctions against Iran, despite an effort by Britain and France to get the 27-nation bloc to adopt specific measures as part of its common foreign policy.
Brown ``has already said the U.K. supports a further U.N. Security Council resolution if Iran does not comply with its international obligations,'' Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement.
During a state visit to Britain this week, Saudi officials discussed the possibility of creating a Middle East consortium of users of enriched uranium, the Foreign Office said.
The proposal by the Arab nations around the Persian Gulf is to build a uranium enrichment plant in a neutral country to supply the region's states, including Iran, with reactor fuel for nuclear energy programs.
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband briefly discussed the proposal with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, during talks, a Foreign Office spokesman said.
Prince Saud told London's Middle East Economic Digest that the plan had been proposed to Iran's government, which said it would consider the proposal.
However, the Iranians previously ignored a similar offer from Russia _ to host Iran's uranium enrichment facilities on its territory to allay Western concerns about monitoring.

More on Dalit Panchayats and Matua Dharma of Bengal
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Why the East Bengal Refugees are Discriminated and Hated
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidDate=2006-09-19&hidType=FEA&hidRecord=0000000000000000128393
No To SEZ And A Dalit QuestionSome other dalit speakers quoted Ambedkar and Guruchand Thakur and insisted to punish Buddhdev Bhattacharya. Bhumi Ucched Committe leaders demanded ...
o3.indiatimes.com/subaltern/archive/2007/06/02/4475774.aspx - 55k -
Premchand Fielded to Defend capitalist Development and ...... single point orientation to disassociate jogendra Nath Mandal, Harichand Thakur, Guruchand Thakur and dalit masses from the so called Dalit Movement. ...
indiainteracts.com/members/2007/08/02/Premchand-Fielded-to-Defend-capitalist-Development-and-Urbanistaion/ - 100k -
Sify Blogs India - Your free thought space with free 10 MB image ...Thus Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj and Guruchand Thakur opposed the so called struggle for freedom to ensure Brahminical Raj. The Brahmins succeeded at last ...
palashbiswas.sifyblogs.com/blogs_postcomment.php?blogid=1937&art_id=7235 - 130k -

Friends!
I have written how Dalit Panchayats are highly replicable as I felt during Tumkur Peace event. As I am based in Kolkata, I feel the heat and dust of scientific hegemony in Mraxist ruled states. In many states, even the government does not care much for the functioning of Panchayats.In some states , Panchayat elections are overdue. Proxy leadership and irrelevance of reseravtion prevail everywhere. In West Bengal, recent ration riots have exposed the so called success of Panchayati system.
Mind you, Bengal along with Maharashtra has been the very base of Dalit Movement in India. People all over the world knows about Jogendra nath Mandal. But a very few people heard about harichand Thakur who led the anti untouchability movement in Bengal early in 19th century and succeeded as British Raj prohibited Untouchability in Bengal much beforerest of India.
A fewer people are aware of Matua Religion which is dalit religion in fact. Harichand Thakur was the first man in Indian history to declare that Dalits are not Hindu. He said that Matua Dharma is dalit religion, though he did not use the exact word dalit. His son Guruchand Thakur led the dalit awakening movement in Bengal. Thus dalitology is well rooted in our legacy which is potentially theoritised by Raj and Jyothi. Further, they translated this Matua dharma or Dalitology in practice as in form of Dalit Panchayt. here, I see Bengal and Maharashtra Dalit legacy well linked with Dalit Movement in south India.
I talked to dr Jagadish Haldar this afternoon. He is a vetern Matua. A naxalite in ideology and also participated in liberation war of Bangladesh. He is very much active in dalit Refugee movement. When he came to know about Dalitology and dalit Panchayat, he was just thrilled. What he said is much more important that participation in polity or reservation or hold on state power, everything related to dalit empowerment is insufficient without separate mechanism of self government for Dalits as well expressed in dalit Panchayat. he also emphasised on the leadership of Dalit women! He asserted that provided Mayawati and othetr Dalit leaders leading in North India do realise the importance of dalit panchayat phenomena, we may ensure a global black untouchable movement!
Thus, I am posting some articles , news items and feedback on Dalit Panchayat. I am also giving you the links to understand dalit Movement in West Bengal, harichand Thakur and Matua dharam!
nandigram: InsurrectionIn West Bengal, Dalit movement is represented by two types of people. First who are aligned with the Red Horses of Post Modern Globalisation and do act as ...
nandigram.blogspot.com/2007/04/insurrection.html - 45k
Muslim-Dalit relations, The Milli Gazette, Vol.6 No.13, MG131 (1 ...In areas such as Bengal, a strong political alliance was formed between the Namasudra (Dalit) movement and the Muslims, which gained strength because both ...
www.milligazette.com/Archives/2005/01-15July05-Print-Edition/011507200555.htm - 28k -
INSIGHT: DEWAR: The Caste and Its IdentityThey feel isolated in their long-standing movement. Nor are other Dalits seen to have ... I found that the majority of them live in Assam and West Bengal, ...
insightjnu.blogspot.com/2005/09/dewar-caste-and-its-identity.html - 24k -
Sify Blogs India - Your free thought space with free 10 MB image ...Bengal has been always way ahead in Dalit Movement and Harichand Thakur established Matua Dharma refusing Hinduism in as early as in the first part of 19 th ...
palashbiswas.sifyblogs.com/blogs_postcomment.php?blogid=1937&art_id=7235 - 130k -
palashbiswas - Monday, November 27, 2006 EntriesOrakandi, the centre of Matu Dharam was the home of Didima. Orakandi is situated under Gopalganj Subdivision, the home of Banga Bandhu Mujib, ...
o3.indiatimes.com/palashbiswas/archive/2006/11/27.aspx - 51k -
Thakur, Harichand (1811-1877) a Hindu votary and founder of the matuya sect, was born in Orakandi of kashiani upazila in gopalganj (Greater faridpur) on the thirteenth day of Falgun 1214 of the Bangla calendar. His father, Yashomanta Thakur, was a Maithili Brahmin and a devout Vaisnava.
Harichand received little formal education. After completing his initial schooling in a pathshala, he attended school for only a few months. He then started spending his time with shepherds and cowboys and roamed with them from one place to another. He started changing from this time. He was loved by all of his friends for his physical beauty, naivete, love for music and philanthropic attitude. He could also sing bhajan (devotional songs).
Harichand's doctrine is based on three basic principles-truth, love, and sanctity. The doctrine treats all people as equal; people are not seen according to castes or sects. Himself a Brahmin, he professed mixed with lower-caste people and treated them with the same dignity as he did other castes. This is why most of his followers believe Harichand to be an avatar (incarnation) of vishnu, and are from the lower strata of society. They used to affirm: Rama hari krisna hari hari gorachand. Sarba hari mile ei purna harichand (Rama is lord, Krishna is lord, lord is Chaitanyadev. But all of them make our Harichand, who is our lord.)
Harichand did not believe in asceticism; he was more of a family man; and it is from within the family that he preached the word of God. He believed that 'Grhete thakiya yar hay bhaboday. Sei ye param sadhu janio nishchay' (the best ascetic is he who can express his devotion to God remaining a family man). He mobilised all the neglected sects and castes and inspired them to remain true to the openness of Hinduism.
Harichand left 12 instructions for the matuyas, known as Dvadash Ajna (Twelve Commands): 1. always speak the truth, 2. respect your parents like gods, 3. treat woman as your mother, 4. love the world, 5. remain liberal to all the religions, 6. never discriminate on racial counts, 7. try to establish Harimandir (temple of the Lord), 8. sit in prayer everyday, 9. Sacrifice your self for God, 10. do not practice asceticism in a garb, 11. hold the six cardinal passions in check, and 12. utter the name of your Lord while working with your hand. Harichand died on Wednesday 23 Falgun, the year 1284 of the Bangla calendar. [Monoranjan Ghosh]
Hindu bathing festival in Gopalganj

The Maha Baruni Bath Festival of the believers of the Hindu religion began at village Orakandi under Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj early Monday.
The fair is organised every year marking the birth anniversary of Hindu priest Sri Sri Harichand Thakur, who was born in the village 184 years ago.
As they believe that Harichand

More on Dalit Panchayats and Matua Dharma of Bengal Palash Biswas Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551 Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com Why the East Bengal Refugees are Discriminated and Hated http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidDate=2006-09-19&hidType=FEA&hidRecord=0000000000000000128393 No To SEZ And A Dalit QuestionSome other dalit speakers quoted Ambedkar and Guruchand Thakur and insisted to punish Buddhdev Bhattacharya. Bhumi Ucched Committe leaders demanded ... o3.indiatimes.com/subaltern/archive/2007/06/02/4475774.aspx - 55k - Premchand Fielded to Defend capitalist Development and ...... single point orientation to disassociate jogendra Nath Mandal, Harichand Thakur, Guruchand Thakur and dalit masses from the so called Dalit Movement. ... indiainteracts.com/members/2007/08/02/Premchand-Fielded-to-Defend-capitalist-Development-and-Urbanistaion/ - 100k - Sify Blogs India - Your free thought space with free 10 MB image ...Thus Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj and Guruchand Thakur opposed the so called struggle for freedom to ensure Brahminical Raj. The Brahmins succeeded at last ... palashbiswas.sifyblogs.com/blogs_postcomment.php?blogid=1937&art_id=7235 - 130k - Friends! I have written how Dalit Panchayats are highly replicable as I felt during Tumkur Peace event. As I am based in Kolkata, I feel the heat and dust of scientific hegemony in Mraxist ruled states. In many states, even the government does not care much for the functioning of Panchayats.In some states , Panchayat elections are overdue. Proxy leadership and irrelevance of reseravtion prevail everywhere. In West Bengal, recent ration riots have exposed the so called success of Panchayati system. Mind you, Bengal along with Maharashtra has been the very base of Dalit Movement in India. People all over the world knows about Jogendra nath Mandal. But a very few people heard about harichand Thakur who led the anti untouchability movement in Bengal early in 19th century and succeeded as British Raj prohibited Untouchability in Bengal much beforerest of India. A fewer people are aware of Matua Religion which is dalit religion in fact. Harichand Thakur was the first man in Indian history to declare that Dalits are not Hindu. He said that Matua Dharma is dalit religion, though he did not use the exact word dalit. His son Guruchand Thakur led the dalit awakening movement in Bengal. Thus dalitology is well rooted in our legacy which is potentially theoritised by Raj and Jyothi. Further, they translated this Matua dharma or Dalitology in practice as in form of Dalit Panchayt. here, I see Bengal and Maharashtra Dalit legacy well linked with Dalit Movement in south India. I talked to dr Jagadish Haldar this afternoon. He is a vetern Matua. A naxalite in ideology and also participated in liberation war of Bangladesh. He is very much active in dalit Refugee movement. When he came to know about Dalitology and dalit Panchayat, he was just thrilled. What he said is much more important that participation in polity or reservation or hold on state power, everything related to dalit empowerment is insufficient without separate mechanism of self government for Dalits as well expressed in dalit Panchayat. he also emphasised on the leadership of Dalit women! He asserted that provided Mayawati and othetr Dalit leaders leading in North India do realise the importance of dalit panchayat phenomena, we may ensure a global black untouchable movement! Thus, I am posting some articles , news items and feedback on Dalit Panchayat. I am also giving you the links to understand dalit Movement in West Bengal, harichand Thakur and Matua dharam! nandigram: InsurrectionIn West Bengal, Dalit movement is represented by two types of people. First who are aligned with the Red Horses of Post Modern Globalisation and do act as ... nandigram.blogspot.com/2007/04/insurrection.html - 45k Muslim-Dalit relations, The Milli Gazette, Vol.6 No.13, MG131 (1 ...In areas such as Bengal, a strong political alliance was formed between the Namasudra (Dalit) movement and the Muslims, which gained strength because both ... www.milligazette.com/Archives/2005/01-15July05-Print-Edition/011507200555.htm - 28k - INSIGHT: DEWAR: The Caste and Its IdentityThey feel isolated in their long-standing movement. Nor are other Dalits seen to have ... I found that the majority of them live in Assam and West Bengal, ... insightjnu.blogspot.com/2005/09/dewar-caste-and-its-identity.html - 24k - Sify Blogs India - Your free thought space with free 10 MB image ...Bengal has been always way ahead in Dalit Movement and Harichand Thakur established Matua Dharma refusing Hinduism in as early as in the first part of 19 th ... palashbiswas.sifyblogs.com/blogs_postcomment.php?blogid=1937&art_id=7235 - 130k - palashbiswas - Monday, November 27, 2006 EntriesOrakandi, the centre of Matu Dharam was the home of Didima. Orakandi is situated under Gopalganj Subdivision, the home of Banga Bandhu Mujib, ... o3.indiatimes.com/palashbiswas/archive/2006/11/27.aspx - 51k - Thakur, Harichand (1811-1877) a Hindu votary and founder of the matuya sect, was born in Orakandi of kashiani upazila in gopalganj (Greater faridpur) on the thirteenth day of Falgun 1214 of the Bangla calendar. His father, Yashomanta Thakur, was a Maithili Brahmin and a devout Vaisnava. Harichand received little formal education. After completing his initial schooling in a pathshala, he attended school for only a few months. He then started spending his time with shepherds and cowboys and roamed with them from one place to another. He started changing from this time. He was loved by all of his friends for his physical beauty, naivete, love for music and philanthropic attitude. He could also sing bhajan (devotional songs). Harichand's doctrine is based on three basic principles-truth, love, and sanctity. The doctrine treats all people as equal; people are not seen according to castes or sects. Himself a Brahmin, he professed mixed with lower-caste people and treated them with the same dignity as he did other castes. This is why most of his followers believe Harichand to be an avatar (incarnation) of vishnu, and are from the lower strata of society. They used to affirm: Rama hari krisna hari hari gorachand. Sarba hari mile ei purna harichand (Rama is lord, Krishna is lord, lord is Chaitanyadev. But all of them make our Harichand, who is our lord.) Harichand did not believe in asceticism; he was more of a family man; and it is from within the family that he preached the word of God. He believed that 'Grhete thakiya yar hay bhaboday. Sei ye param sadhu janio nishchay' (the best ascetic is he who can express his devotion to God remaining a family man). He mobilised all the neglected sects and castes and inspired them to remain true to the openness of Hinduism. Harichand left 12 instructions for the matuyas, known as Dvadash Ajna (Twelve Commands): 1. always speak the truth, 2. respect your parents like gods, 3. treat woman as your mother, 4. love the world, 5. remain liberal to all the religions, 6. never discriminate on racial counts, 7. try to establish Harimandir (temple of the Lord), 8. sit in prayer everyday, 9. Sacrifice your self for God, 10. do not practice asceticism in a garb, 11. hold the six cardinal passions in check, and 12. utter the name of your Lord while working with your hand. Harichand died on Wednesday 23 Falgun, the year 1284 of the Bangla calendar. [Monoranjan Ghosh] Hindu bathing festival in Gopalganj The Maha Baruni Bath Festival of the believers of the Hindu religion began at village Orakandi under Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj early Monday. The fair is organised every year marking the birth anniversary of Hindu priest Sri Sri Harichand Thakur, who was born in the village 184 years ago. As they believe that Harichand?s residence is one of the holiest places containing holy water, thousands of pilgrims take baths in Kamona Sagar and Dudh Sagar ? two ponds in the residence ? on the date of his birth ?to purify them with the holy water and to be cured of their diseases.? Thousands of pilgrims from across the country, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand attended the festival. Article on: Matuya Thumbs\TM_0187.JPG Media Related to this article Matuya Hindu religious community, founded by Sri Sri harichand thakur of Gopalganj. The word 'matuya' means to be absorbed or remain absorbed in meditation, specifically to be absorbed in the meditation of the divine. The Matuya sect is monotheist. It is not committed to Vedic rituals, and singing hymns in praise of the deity is their way of prayer and meditation. They believe that salvation lies in faith and devotion. Their ultimate objective is to attain truth through this kind of meditation and worship. They believe that love is the only way to God. The Matuya have no distinctions of caste, creed, or class. They believe that everyone is a child of God. The Matuya believe that male and female are equal. They discourage early marriage. Widow remarriage is allowed. They refer to their religious teachers as 'gonsai;' both men and women can be gonsai. The community observes Wednesday as the day of communal worship. The gathering, which is called 'Hari Sabha' (the meeting of Hari), is an occasion for the Matuya to sing kirtan in praise of Hari till they almost fall senseless. musical instruments such as jaydanka, kansa, conch, shinga, accompany the kirtan. The gonsai, garlanded with karanga (coconut shell) and carrying chhota, sticks about twenty inches long, and red flags with white patches, lead the singing. Shrishriharililamrta is the principal religious scripture of the Matuya. Apart from praising Hari and meditating upon him, the Matuya believe in kindness to the living. In order to stress the importance of all living creatures and the equality of all life, they say that the remains of what a dog has eaten are holy food and that what is upheld as holy by the vedas and orthodox religion is to be violated. These ideas are expressed in the following lines of verse: Hari dhyan Hari jnan Hari nam sar Premete matoyara matuya nam yar Jibe daya name ruchi manusete nistha Iha chhada ar yata sab kriya bhrasta; Kukurer prasad pele khai Veda-bidhi shauchachar nahi mani tai. The Matuya are found in Bangladesh and west bengal. Their principal temple is at Orakandi in gopalganj, where a fair is held every year on the 13th day of the lunar month in Falgun, on the birth anniversary of Harichand Thakur. Thousands of devotees from all over the country gather on the occasions, bringing rice, lentils, and vegetables as token of their devotion and love. [Monoranjan Ghosh] Matuya Sangit spiritual songs of the Matuya sect, containing praises of the god Hari and their gurus, Harichand Thakur and Guruchand. Composers of Matuya songs include Aswani Gosai, tarak chandra sarker, Manohar Sarker, Mahananda Sarker, Rasik Sarker, Prafulla Gonsai, Surendranath Sarker, and Swarup Sarker. Composed in the manner of baul songs, these songs are predominantly about love (prem) and devotion (bhakti). The closing lines of the songs mention the name of the composer. Musical instruments such as the drum, shinga, and kansa are used as accompaniments. The devotees dance while they sing. Matuya songs describe the longing of the soul for the divine. As in other religious poetry, the desire of the human soul is imaged in terms of human love as in the following songs: Hari tomar namer madhu pan korla na man-bhramara (The honey-bee mind has not drunk the honey from your name, oh Hari), Kabe tanre pab re, paran kande Harichand bali (When shall I meet Him, my soul cries for Harichand), Amar ei akinchan, he Guruchand tomay ami bhalabasi (Listen to me, O Guruchand, I love you). [Wakil Ahmad] BENGALI DALITS WARNED AGAINST DESTROYING ETHNIC IDENTITY Futile surname change from Chandala to Namasudra http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/feb2006/articles.htm S. BISWAS, CALCUTTA (address withheld) Any muddle-headed debate on social reforms like surname-shedding or not using any caste and clan-connoting names has been an age-old disease of the social clerics. Leave apart epic authors, even M.K. Gandhi renamed the Scheduled Castes as Harijan so that the odium of caste stigma became further radicalised. Gandhi never uttered a word about the need of abolition of caste system ? which till date remains the basic causation of social depredation and national vivisection. Even the British Census Commissioner had to entertain scores of petitions from the indigenous for changing their present occupational names and traditional names, which gathered derogatory moss by usage in caste-contaminated parlance. CHANDI WORSHIPPERS CALLED CHANDALAS The worshippers of Chandi, the Chandalas, also by this process shed traditional racial name and were voluntarily advised to have the name of Namasudra in the caste menu. Little did they know then that the name Namasudra contained caste appellation of social slavery. No other oppressed caste surrendered so abjectly to Aryan social slavery as did the Namasudras in the process. This was the result of an intellectual fraud which had advised Guruchand Thakur in this behalf. This self-slandering process must stop. Enlightenment is absolutely necessary to be focused on the preconditions of caste slavery like lack of equitable and universal education, health care, removal of social exploitations. That itself can bring about a new age of qualitative social living. Such an emerging society need not bloch over name and surnames. Who does not know that by whichever name you call rose ? rose is a rose. Every man is a self-evident corporate self. Even toads have a Latin name, but no religion to distort their mood. SURNAME CHANGE WON'T CHANGE STATUS Caste pogrom continues unabated despite ineffectual reform efforts. Valuable time has been wasted to only dogmatise the hate syndrome of caste. Slum-dwelling and BPL have become a way of life. With caste-soaked and subsoiled ground conditions, all such reform remedies are bound to prove futile. In fact, even after prohibition of the slang Harijan, the upper castes call them by this very name ?not once but three times over. No opportunity of slandering is spared. Even crows and vultures are called Harijan birds with a motive. After observing the incidence of caste fall-outs in all conceivable spheres during the last 58 years of democratic social experiment, any measure short of abolition of caste would be a monstrous social deception. If developing countries all over the world could do much better without caste, why the Hindu religious leaders shy away from drawing any lesson from them? The exercise of surname-dropping is imminently and essentially an expression of frustration in addressing the real problem of caste. For everyone knows if caste is removed, Hinduism would be dead which the beneficiaries of Hindu cannot afford. Surname, in as much as name, is not a patented belonging of any caste excepting that it may reflect the family genealogy, occupational legacy or clan name of some caste-based data is also maintained for the safeguard of Dalit interest. Like proper names, shuffling of surname over diverse caste groups is often noticed. There is indeed no law to stop name and surname-shuffling which is not strictly poaching. Keeping up with this trend would be much better than totally dropping surnames. Such trends would have mopped up artificial social differences. In modern society surname is not only cultural offshoot. In several cases, wife continues to retain maiden surnames along with husband's. They may belong to different caste though. It is thus tending to be an optional suffixing already which transcends caste. These things happen only when there is better education and economic well-being to neutralize the effect of caste radicalism. ABOLISH CASTE SYSTEM NOT SURNAME Naming has always been a symptomatic culture of preaching hero-worship. For that reason, there is no bar to use any high-sounding name or surname. The local rulers also appropriated the designation of Rajput. Some pujaris call themselves Sharma and so on. Many have dropped their surnames voluntarily. What big purpose would it then serve to impose a caustic ban on use of surnames? Whereas, in all fitness of things a ban should have been imposed on caste itself long back. Surname-banning at the most may serve fanning fresh caste animosities. Surname or not, so long caste is retained one has 100 ways open to advertise and communicate about one's caste or social status in terms of caste and wealth even. The matrimonial ads without surnames serve the same very purpose even today. The neo-Muslim and neo-Christian have their own problem. They have elaborate names and surnames, reflecting their class group, not caste. But in the caste subsoil, practice antedates caste stigma. But how could one address their problem even if surname is to be dropped from their Islamic name/surname. Dalits, Panchayat Raj And Power Equations http://www.countercurrents.org/george090507.htm By Goldy M. George 09 May, 2007 Countercurrents.org Creation of Panchayat Raj is perhaps the best transformation in democratic India to realize the participation of ordinary people in power sharing. Amendment of Article 73 of the Constitution was envisioned as the best among decentralization polity in democracy. Theoretically Panchayat Raj would mean the power distribution from a stringent centralized set-up to a decentralized one, gazed with radical change both at the level of delivery of goods and in the social composition. After the new generation of Panchayats have started functioning several issues have come to the fore, which have a bearing on human rights. The important factor, which has contributed to the Dalit situation vis-à-vis the Panchayat system, is the nature of Indian society, which of course determines the nature of the state. The Indian society is known for its inequality, social hierarchy and the rich and poor divide. The social hierarchy is the result of the caste system, which is unique to India. Therefore caste and class are the two factors, which deserve attention in this context. At another level it is essential to look into the question: who are the victims of the social system and nature of the state? They are women, the Dalits, Adivasis and the poor. How can the process of decentralization through strengthening the democratically elected local bodies tackle these issues along with defining rural development in compressed way? Whether the decentralization process and the decentralized institutions increase human rights violations or enhance the possibility for respecting and observing human rights? Empowerment of a different kind! In Chhattisgarh there has been a sharp increase in violent manifestations of casteism ever since the local government system began it?s functioning. When the Panchayat Raj institutions have been seen by the upper castes as the tool for the lower castes to assert their right as individuals living in a democratic polity the latter have become targets of caste based discrimination and violence. This rising unrest at the local level has become a common phenomenon. Aghru Suryavanshi, a Dalit is not in his village Goud for the past one year. His major crime is that he had defeated his rival Ballu Singh Thakur on a general seat during the last Panchayat election, which drew wrath of the upper caste. Goud is a Panchayat in Janjgir district of Chhattisgarh. Dalits in this village have long-standing story of caste assault and aggression to tell. In the Panchayat elections of January 2000, Mithailal Lahare was elected as the Sarpanch under the reservation quota. The dominant upper caste people, who disliked his stay in the office, dismissed him after a no-confidence motion. This is yet another classical example of harassment and humiliation of Dalits in achieving their political rights under social compulsion. He stayed in the office for about 2 years after which the power automatically came back into the hands of the non-Dalits who could better manipulate the village politics. Even after duly getting elected, the Dalits are not getting the power and status they deserve. ?No confidence motion is the best way invented by the upper caste to takeover from the Dalits?, says Awadh Nawrang Sarpanch of Nangaridih Panchayat in Janjgir. Devkuwar Sarith Sarpanch of Bada Darha Panchayat expressed her ambiguity saying, ?untouchabilty practises are touching unpredictable magnitudes and there is an unvarying threat from the upper caste segment to bring in no-confidence and overthrow me. Women face it the worst. How will I work freely under this circumstance?? In the last one-year there were 34 cases of no-confidence motions in Dalit Panchayats. Reservation being the modus by which Dalits could get into power sharing is seen as a means of disgrace by the upper caste segment thereby instigating a lobby to dismantle all reservations. What has happened in the last few decades is a gradual, sensible and rationale growth in the level of awareness among the Dalits. Questions relating to caste issue have been challenged that intimidates the very existence of the caste politics within the Panchayat Raj itself. In recent time these question were more related to the aspects like delivery systems, mid-day meal, etc. Scores of such cases frequently occupy space in the media. Mounting Caste Violence Violent attacks on Dalit bastis have been reported at many places in the state. In the background of these cases, in some way or other, is the power equation in the Panchayat. In 2004 there was an attack on Dalits in Gumka of Durg district by the upper caste segment. According to a report by Dalit Study Circle, the setting conditions of this began with the last Panchayat elections when the Dalits supported a candidate against the whims of the caste Hindus. Similar incident happened in Goud in 2005, here there were several rounds of violence against the Dalits, beginning with the social boycott to refusal of worship rights of village goddess and finally converging into several rounds of violence. However the tension was set much before with the coming of a Dalit to power as Sarpanch. In 2005 September a third incident of similar style was reported from Bhokludih village of Mahasamund district. Here the tension detonated with the mid-day meal scheme run by the non-Dalit Sarpanch. According to Tamaskar Tandon member of Dalit Mukti Morcha (DMM), ?these assaults are expressions to survive the challenge to the caste hierarchy?. With strong presence of caste disparity, utilizing the government machinery like the police has happened in a number of cases. The Pipariya Police on the instruction of the Sarpanch of Khairwar Panchayat in Kawardha district on 5th October 2004 detained one Bannu Satnami. Next day morning his body was found lying in front of the police station. During the year 2004-05 there were as many as 13 custodial deaths in Chhattisgarh, of which 11 were Dalits, a self-explanatory figure showing how police is deployed as a tool of caste atrocities. Defining Discrimination In the village there is clear discrimination on the lines of caste. DMM activist Guddu Lahare says, ?in the Panchayat there are two major means of discrimination. One is that the Dalits are kept away from the Panchayat proceedings, developmental work, schemes, etc. and another is that wherever Dalits are in power by virtue of reservation they are targeted and their posts are declared null and void after a certain period of time?. This is seen in good number in many Panchayats. For example the development work in the Panchayat in the Dalit bastis are not properly done. Nor the Dalits are involved in the planning and implementation process. Hence these settlements are still lying under bad condition. Secondly the Dalits who are in positions like Sarpanch or Panch they are toppled within a short period by bringing in a no-confidence motion. This has barred many Dalits off exercising their rights in the Panchayat institutions. Those who had survived are only based on the principles set by of the caste masters or by applying corrupt politics. In Hasda village of Raipur the Panchayat has served the Dalits cultivating the land since 1965 with a notice of evacuation. Paul Ratre served with a similar notice says, ?it is another form of discrimination synthesised with the Panchayat Raj, where the power at the grassroot is being manipulated by the caste Hindus to take away even the remaining resources and subjugate the Dalits.? Dalits are socially boycotted; anyone who dares will have to pay the penalty of 10000/- rupees. Landlessness and land alienation is a major issue of Dalit reality. In one village near Baramkela of Raigarh district nearly 200 families are landless and also their homestead land is also going out of their hands since they had been notified by the Panchayat to leave the land. The land is said to be government land. However they had been living on this land for the past many generations. Mid-day meal and discrimination against Dalit children in the schools are very high. DMM and other Dalit organizations have undertaken the fact-finding investigations in several villages. Similar investigation needs to be undertaken in different places too. Here again there is a social boycott imposed on Dalits. In earlier days the boycott was mostly imposed by the caste Panchayats, but in recent time the Panchayat itself is undertaking it, under the guise of land encroachment. Scores of such cases from each district had come into the limelight through local media. Hirri village of Bilaspur, Salkhan in Raipur are the latest victims. Finally While analysing these cases, such incidences happened only when Dalits began to assert their political rights through Panchayat institution. It is evident that the upper castes controlled the affairs of the village cannot tolerate the changes being brought about by the decentralized democratic institutions. In the backdrop of such incidences an array of question raises with reference to Panchayat Raj vis-à-vis Dalits. The initial prediction of decentralization envisioned through Panchayat Raj hasn?t become a reality. It also tells us how Panchayat Raj is utilised as a tool of disempowerment of Dalits and consolidation of caste system. In conclusion one may say that the new Panchayat Raj in so far as it will weaken the bureaucratic stranglehold is welcome and attempts should be made to strengthen it against the feudalist casteism, bureaucracy and state government. But how far it has helped the Dalits to come into the centre stage is absolutely questionable. Dalit Study Circle, A unit of Dalit Mukti Morcha, Chhattisgarh Creation of a casteless and peaceful society is indeed the first step towards just, egalitarian, and harmonious society. A society of equals, neither unequal nor more-equals, beyond the strings of caste, class, gender, race, etc. Otherwise it leads to social oppression, political exploitation, economic deprivation, cultural domination, gender discrimination, class isolation, deliberate exclusion. Lets? believe in a society beyond this. Dalit Mukti Morcha is a mass based Dalit Organisation in Chhattisgarh. For further information on DMM, write to dalitmuktimorcha@gmail.com "Dalit panchayat chiefs able to function independently" http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/04/stories/2007050413110500.htm Staff Reporter Timely intervention by authorities helps them immensely, says Collector To help Dalit presidents to work independently: Collector DINDIGUL: Quick and timely intervention against disruption in proceedings and functions of panchayats headed by Dalit presidents and continuous persuasion and interaction with other communities in these panchayats by the District Administration are helping Dalit presidents to function independently. It even enthuses them to demand schemes for welfare of other communities in their respective panchayats. These were the points highlighted at a special meeting of Dalit panchayat presidents with Collector R. Vasuki here on Thursday. N. Pallapatti panchayat president J. Jaya told that she was not allowed to function independently owing to non-cooperation from the vice-president. He did not sign cheques to draw money for implementing development works, as joint-signature was necessary to draw money from the bank. He tried to silence her activities. She refused to oblige. When panchayat clerk Manikandan too refused to oblige the vice-president, a gang assaulted him and fractured his leg. Acting on a petition submitted by Ms. Jaya, the Collector withdrew the cheque issuing power from the vice-president and handed it to the block development officer (village panchayat). After frantic persuasion, seven out of the total 12 ward members extended their support to Ms. Jaya. The Collector informed that the assaulters were arrested and cases filed against them. Common facilities Iyyamkottai panchayat president Kesari Varman proudly said that his panchayat had a common well, burial ground and temple. (His panchayat had won Rs.1-lakh cash award for having attained untouchability-free panchayat status. Presidents of Thoppampatti, Kanavaipatti, Azhagupatti, Sirugudi and R. Vellode panchayats appealed to the Collector to allot more group houses for backward class beneficiaries. Ms.Vasuki said that presidents of Anaipatti, Thottanuthu and Dharmathupatti panchayats too were facing problems. Officials were directed to monitor the proceedings of these panchayats to identify the disturbing factors and find a solution. Mandaikadu, Keeranur and Thevarappanpatti panchayats were recommended for Nirmal Gram Puraskar award for cleanliness and total sanitation. Of the total 72 panchayats led by Dalit presidents, 45 panchayat chiefs took part in the meeting. No State support for elected Dalit panchayat leaders: Krishnasamy Our Special Correspondent Puthiya Tamizhagam leader sees attempt to sabotage "padayatra" CHENNAI: Puthiya Tamizhagam president K. Krishnasamy, has blamed government machinery for the non-completion of poll formalities in Keeripatti, Pappapatti and in two other panchayats in Madurai and Virudhunagar districts. The machinery failed to provide adequate protection to the elected Dalit panchayat presidents to continue in their posts. Major political parties in the State, including the communists, were also not ready to support the cause of Dalits, Dr. Krishnasamy told reporters here on Saturday. The denial of police permission for the Puthiya Tamizhagam's goodwill "padayatra" from Madurai to Keeripatti panchayat from May 23 was an attempt to sabotage his move to bring a negotiated settlement, Dr. Krishnasamy said. . Many Hindu leaders were ready to find an amicable solution to the issue but the police and the political parties were not interested in settling the issue. http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/22/stories/2005052213361600.htm Caste bias unchecked here: 17 Dalit panchayat presidents sign statement As many as 17 Dalit panchayat presidents in Madurai district admit that caste-based discrimination, including the `two-tumbler' system, still exists in their villages. A few of them even allege that the vice-presidents, mostly caste Hindus, occupy chairs at official meetings while they sit on the floor as "mute spectators". The presidents have signed a statement attesting to this fact to a non-governmental organisation that surveyed villages in Madurai. --S V Kumar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S. Vijay Kumar The Hindu MADURAI: In the Keeripatti reserved panchayat, where elections could not be held for a decade following stiff resistance from caste Hindus, the newly elected panchayat president, M. Balusamy, admits to the prevalence of caste discrimination. "The two-tumbler system still prevails in our village. Even a small boy, belonging to the dominant community, calls a senior Dalit by his name. In the nearby Poothipuram reserved panchayat, the president sits on the floor while the others occupy chairs and conduct official proceedings," Mr. Balusamy told The Hindu on Sunday. The study conducted by Evidence, a Madurai-based Human Rights Organisation, revealed that "untouchability" prevailed in one form or the other in 70 per cent of the 83 reserved village panchayats in the district. Answering a printed questionnaire, the panchayat presidents acknowledge that at least 25 forms of "un

LET US SAVE LIVES
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
The Gujarat High Court on Friday dismissed a petition from an NGO and the wife of a former MP killed in the post-Godhra riots seeking the registration of an FIR against Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 62 others for their role in the violence.High Court Justice M R Shah quashed the petition of 'Citizen for Justice and Peace' and Zakia Jafri, wife of former MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the city's Gulbarg Society in the 2002 riots.The court observed that the petitioners had the option of filing a complaint before a magistrate against all the persons named in the petition. The court further said that it could not direct the police to register a complaint.The NGO had approached the High Court on Friday after submitting the tapes of a Tehelka expose as evidence against the Chief Minister and others. However, the court said it cannot accept the tapes on the day of judgment.Jafri, in her petition, had asked the court to direct the police to register an FIR against Modi, his ministers, VHP leaders and senior police officials on the ground of mass murder and criminal conspiracy.The petitioners have decided to approach the Supreme Court against the high court decision, their advocate Sohail Tirmizi said.
"Mukesh Varma" wrote:
Remembering Sikh massacre of 1984 in the wake of so much of

World Bank to rejuvenate the Rural Economy
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
CNN-IBN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
MP dead, Rs 3,000 cr PSU scam gets murkier
By Siddhartha Gautam for CNN-IBN
More than two months after he apparently died in a car accident, chairman of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Ajit Singh, is back in the news. His party Chief, Sharad Yadav says Singh was murdered. What is interesting is that Singh was involved in the Rs 3,600 crore NAFED scam that was exposed by a CNN-IBN Special Investigation last year. [1055 hrs IST]
http://ibnlive.com/
The World Bank on Friday agreed to sanction a loan of 944 million dollars (about Rs 3,400 crore) to India for strengthening its rural cooperative credit system, vocational training programmes and community-based water management projects. According to an agreement signed here, the multi-lateral agency would give 600 million dollars (Rs 2,160 crore) for boosting rural cooperative credit institutions, 280 million dollars (Rs 1,008 crore) for supporting 400 industrial training institutions (ITIs) over four years and 64 million dollars (Rs 230 crore) for Karnataka-based water tank management projects. The agreement was inked by Finance Ministry joint secretary Madhusudan Prasad and World Bank country director Isabel Guerrero in the presence of World Bank President Robert B Zoellick, who is on a three-day visit to India. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes were also present.
"The three projects, signed today, reflect the Government of India's and World Bank's priority in rejuvenating the rural economy," Chidambaram said.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday attributed the fall in wholesale prices-based inflation to steps taken on the monetary front and said the government will continue to monitor the price-situation.
"Inflation is down because we have taken steps on monetary side. We will continue to watch inflation," he told reporters here.
Inflation rate fell to five-year low of 3.02 per cent for the week ended October 20.
He said consumer prices-based inflation was also down by 80 basis points in September over the previous month. The point to point rate of inflation, based on the CPI-IW, has decreased from 7.26 per cent in August to 6.40 per cent in September.
This was the first official data on inflation after the RBI announced its mid-term credit review on October 30, in which the central bank hiked by 0.5 per cent, the percentage of cash that banks need to keep with it to tighten liquidity conditions.
The Finance Minister refused to comment on rising global oil prices. "I have no comments on oil issue," he said.
Though inflation is down, RBI said rising international oil prices could push it up.
As the oil prices went up over 90 dollars a barrel on Thursday, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora met the Finance Minister to look for options to address the issue of its impact on margins of domestic oil companies.
A fag-end buying interest in heavy weight stocks, especially banking sector, helped the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex wipe-off early losses and close over 251 points higher on Friday. The Sensex, which commenced the day lower by 446 points down, bounced back to close with a gain of 251.88 points at 19,976.23 after shying away from the intra-day peak of over 20,000 points. It touched the day's high of 20,025.63 points and a low of 19,255.77, showing a gap of nearly 770 points. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty surged 59.95 points at 5,926.40, after touching the day's high of 5,944.75 and a low of 5,714.25 points. The market remained weak in early trade in line with a weakening global trend but recovered on emergence of buying by funds following reports of a decline in inflation rate. The late buying was more confined to sectors like banking, capital goods, metal and public sector undertaking. Banking index gained 389.84 points at 11,241.53 followed by capital goods index by 245.22 points at 20386.41. PSU index rose by 227.97 points at 9930.27 and metal index by 111.12 points at 17693.66.

The 600-million-dollar loan would be implemented through NABARD over the next five years to extend formal credit access to rural people, a Finance Ministry official said.
The loan amounting to 280 million dollars would be utilised by the Labour Ministry to revamp 400 ITIs through upgrading the skills of workers.
Based on the pilot scheme, the World Bank has already finalised projects for Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The project for Karnataka would cover 1,225 tanks and bring an estimated 52,000 hectares under improved irrigation, Chidambaram said.
Govt. mulling petrol, diesel price hike
New Delhi : The government is exploring various options, including a marginal hike in prices of petrol and diesel, and a possible duty cut to ease burden on state-run oil firms that are increasingly losing revenue due to global crude prices surging close to USD 100 dollar a barrel.
"We will do all that is possible to protect the interests of our PSUs," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said after a brief meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue on Friday.
Deora said the issue could not be discussed at length due to paucity of time and a separate meeting may have to be convened next week to discuss the matter.
"A decision may take two-three days," he said, but did not rule out the possibility of a price hike. "I cannot say that (prices will not be increased)."
Deora is also believed to have briefed UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on the scenario emerging from international crude oil prices touching USD 96 a barrel.
When the Cabinet had on October 11 decided on sharing the burden of Rs 54,935 crore arising from not raising petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices between the government and PSUs, the Indian basket of crude was averaging USD 68-69 a barrel.
However, the Indian basket is now trading at over USD 85 per barrel, widening the revenue loss of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum by nearly Rs 7,000 crore.
The state-run firms are currently incurring Rs 240 crore loss per day on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG (cooking gas) and PDS kerosene.
Japanese investments in India to touch USD 5 bn in 3 yrs
Kolkata : Japanese investments in the country is expected to touch five billion dollars over the next three years, a government official said here on Friday.
From July 1991 to July 2007, cumulative FDI flow from Japan was around 2,585 million dollars out of 60.2 billion dollars that the country received in total, Sanjay Thade, Director in the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy, said in a seminar on 'Doing Business with Japan' organised by FICCI.
Most of the investments would flow into auto, auto components, infrastructure and chemicals sectors.
India mainly exports gems, jewellery, iron ore, textiles and marine products to Japan.
The balance of trade was in favour of Japan, he said, adding that it is the 13th largest trading partner of India.
Referring to the Indian toy industry, he said that the government was in talks with Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) for developing a testing centre for toys exported to Japan.
FDI in single brand retail should conform to norms: Govt.
The government on Friday said Foreign Direct Investment up to 51 per cent in retail of single brands, which was allowed last year, should conform to certain policy norms, including an obligation on the foreign firm to sell the products under the same brand internationally.
"Single brand product retailing would cover only products, which are branded during manufacturing," a statement from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said here.
Besides, products should be sold under a single brand internationally, it said.
Under the existing policy, the government allows FDI only in single brand retail and cash and carry wholesale business by global retail chains.
US retail major Wal-Mart has signed up a joint venture with the Bharti Group for the cash and carry business model.
Global luxury brands such as Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Llardo, Rino Greggio, Damro, ETAM, Zegna and Lee Cooper were among the first to get FDI permission under the single brand retail window.

Globalisation, Poverty and Food security:
Towards the new millenium
By Utsa Patnaik
(The following is an excerpt from an unpublished paper presented by the author at the 1998 Conference of Indian Association of Women’s Studies, Pune. We are grateful to the author for her kind permission to use this in South Asia Documents. SAD team would also like to acknowledge Women’s Equality, the quarterly bulletin of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), where this excerpt has recently been carried.)

The present period is one of retrospection, as we take stock of the achievements and failures of a half- century of developmental efforts in an India independent of colonial rule. In the last decade, under the pressure of international developments and the Bretton-Woods institutions' hegemonic neon liberal vision for indebted countries, there has been a decisive shift in the policies followed in India towards greater opening to global markets and capital flows, and this is having profound effects on our economy and society. As we move inexorably towards the new millennium, the question inevitably arises—when will we succeed in finally doing away with the stigma of being the one country in the world, with the largest numbers of absolutely poor people, the largest number of illiterate people, the largest number of malnourished children, the largest number of maternal deaths in parturition, the largest number of child worker, the list is seemingly endless. All these statistics, a half-century ago, were applicable to China, not to India; but socialist China by 1978 (the end of the Maoist Periods or in three decades after its formation had already done immeasurably better than has India by 1998, five decades after Independence, in the spheres of health, education and poverty reduction. It is necessary to identify the salient failures in our development effort and their cause in order to see the way forward. This is all the more important in an area when fuller participation in the world economy via external trade liberalisation and internal structural adjustment programmer is being put forward as the panacea to all problems—an agenda which sounds hollow even to some of its advocates after South- East Asia's travails, admittedly, but an agenda that is still being pushed strongly by the Bretton Woods institutions.

In this paper we discuss in what ways in the era of greater integration into world trade and investment flows ('globalisation'), trade liberalization accompanied by 'structural adjustment' actually raised poverty (and even the all-India crude death rate in one year of maximum adjustment) in the first half of the nineties

Improved Food security and some Poverty reduction in the Eighties

We have elsewhere characterised the period 1950-1990 as broadly one of food first policies in the sphere of agriculture, which has been jettisoned for an exports first set of policies in the current decade of the nineties as India went in for trade liberalisation and structural adjustment. The main planks of the latter as it affects agriculture and food security has been the rapid freeing of both exports and imports of agricultural commodities. Trade in agricultural products were brought within the purview of the GATT negotiations for the first time in the prolonged Uruguay Round of negotiations, which via the Dunkel draft brought in provisions for ensuring market access for the North's agricultural products and changes in the patent laws relating to products of plant and animal origin. As a signatory to the GATT 1994, India committed itself to doing away with quantitative restrictions on agricultural trade and to amending its patent laws. We will look at the impact of this liberalisation briefly in the next section, at present noting that these measures are a complete reversal of the earlier emphasis on food security, which may have been flawed with regard to the concept of food security itself, but nevertheless represented some awareness of the dangers of relying excessively on the international market.

From a situation when it was a large foodgrains importer in the sixties, India had attained national self-sufficiency in food production from the second half of the seventies onwards when imports dropped to negligible levels and some periods even saw a small export. Availability refers to the sum of domestic output plus net imports plus change in stock; while up to the mid-70s rising per head availability could only be ensured by quite large food imports, as the green revolution fructified domestic output proved sufficient. But the green revolution placed unbalanced emphasis on the cereals at the expense of the pulses; while annual cereals availability per head rose by 34 kg. between the 50s and the 90s, we find that precisely the period of green revolution, namely the two decades beginning in the 60s, saw a sharp drop in per head pulses availability from 22 kg. to 14 kg.; even though efforts have been made to stem the rot and the rate of decline has certainly slowed down, at present every Indian has only half the level of pulses available as in the early 1950s--only 12 kg. compared to 24 kg. then. Pulses have been traditionally the main source of protein for the poor who cannot afford animal protein sources like milk in adequate amounts; the average mass diet has thus worsened considerably in terms of nutritional balance even as its calorific value has risen. The average Indian has still not recovered the consumption level she had at the end of the first World War owing to the large food availability decline by nearly 30% which had taken place in British India until Independence.

However food self-sufficiency is always defined in terms of satisfaction of internal market demand, not in terms of satisfaction of people's basic needs; and this is where the question of purchasing power and access to basic food needs in the sense of ability to purchase, become very important in a poor country. It is quite possible for output per head to rise but if the distribution of the output worsens, we may end up with the same or even higher levels of poverty. This is precisely what happened; despite the steady rise in the per head grain output, the share of the total population which was below the poverty line, did not fall in any true sense until the 1980s. The distribution of the increased average supplies, was not towards those who were the most poor and deprived but towards the upper groups of consumers, who became better off and ate more grain-intensive animal products even while the poor population remained as numerous—increasing in absolute terms and maintaining the same high share of the population, over two fifths, during more than 30 years after 1950. Urban poverty is very largely the outcome of the migration of rural destitutes to city slums in search of a livelihood. The ability to reduce hard-core urban poverty which in isolation from other factors could be relatively easy to do, is constantly undermined by the new waves of migration undercutting urban wages and replenishing the pool of unorganised surplus labour for small scale industry and the service sector. The key to reducing urban poverty thus lies in the provision of employment and food security in rural

This outcome of increase in concentration of incomes was the logical accompaniment of strategy of change followed in the rural areas in particular—which entailed little effective land reform and relied on the well-to-do farmers and the landlords in already irrigated areas to deliver output growth. Between the early 60s and the mid-70s, the real earnings of rural labour fell drastically and the rapid food price inflation of the period also hit hard all net purchasers of foodgrains—the small farmers, urban, unorganised labour, petty artisans, small cash crop producers and so on. It was owing to the widespread unrest following food price inflation, and the price-rise resistance movement, that political Emergency was imposed in mid-1975. We may identify this as the beginning of the erosion of the political hegemony of the Congress party, starting in the Southern states.

From this period onwards state intervention in the foodgrains economy rose considerably, for the inflation-sensitivity of the population, its vocal urban lower income segment in particular, had been demonstrated in no uncertain terms. By the mid- eighties the FCI and state agencies were procuring at least one-eighth of the gross grain output, in some years up to one-sixth; as a share of total market supplies this was very substantial, ranging from one-third to four-fifths. It was only in the 80s that rural poverty fell to below 40% of the population for the first time since Independence and continued to fall until it reached the lowest level estimated so far, 34% in 1989-90.

What happened during the eighties, to improve food security somewhat for the poor and initiate a decline in poverty? We will discuss this question at some length because it will help to explain how and why the new policies of cutting development outlays and cutting social subsidies in the nineties as part of the structural adjustment policies (SAP), necessarily results in rise in mass poverty As a result of a very detailed analysis of the reasons behind the fall in poverty during the 80s and rise in poverty during the early nineties, we find the following main factors at work:

First and most important, the extension of the Public Distribution System (PDS) of foodgrains and other necessities to the rural areas on quite a significant scale took place from the end-70s onwards. This was linked to the assumption of power in a number of states, of non-Congress popular governments which seemed at least during that period to be rather more responsive to mass demands. Until the early 80s it was the three Left-dominated states: West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, along with the sensitive border states Jammu and Kashmir, and the Union Territory of Delhi, where at least a third or more of grain needs per head of population, were being met from the PDS whereas in other states with much higher poverty incidence, such as Bihar and Orissa, a very small fraction of needs were being met by the PDS

However this picture of good PDS functioning being confined almost entirely to the Left bastions changed in the course of the 80s: both the NTR government in Andhra Pradesh and the non Congress Tamilnadu governments placed a high priority on providing additional subsidy out of state funds over and above the Central food subsidy to keep the final price of basic grains affordable for the poor. Andhra Pradesh operated highly popular Rs2 per kg. rice scheme, Tamil Nadu started a scheme of meals for schoolchildren as Kerala had already done much earlier, and registered improvement in school enrolment rates. The Janata government in Karnataka too extended the PDS.

All this would not have worked well in isolation if many of these states had not also tried at the same time to revive democratic decentralization such as the system of village self-government in a new form through regular elections for village panchayats. West Bengal had done this already with some success, because registration of the Sharecroppers in 1978 followed by campaigns to restrict rent to legal levels, had laid the basis for a considerable weakening of the hold of the jotedar and money lender on rural society, allowing the panchayats to become more representative than they would have been otherwise. Andhra Pradesh introduced the mandala system and Karnataka revived panchayats while Kerala which was already far ahead of other states on many social indicators, launched a drive for complete literacy and recently initiated comprehensive planning from below. All measures which increase democratic participation would also raise the effectiveness and reach of a public distribution system.

The common criticism of the PDS regarding its urban bias is thus no longer as valid as it was earlier. Since 1971 the number of fair price shops distributing PDS supplies has more than tripled to 4 lakh, the bulk of the addition being in rural areas, and domestic food procurement tonnage has more than trebled as well. Although the share of food subsidy in GDP rose little from 0.4 to 0.6 percent, more of the subsidy went to rural areas in recent years.

The most important determinant of decline in poverty everywhere in India from the late seventies to 1987, and the continuing decline in certain states even during 1987 to 1993 when all-India poverty was rising, was the ability of those states to hold down the prices of basic foodgrains in an extended PDS even when the Prices of other goods were rising. It might be asked, how an individual state can influence food price when the Central government fixes the issue price of foodgrains on a uniform basis for all states. This issue price is already the outcome of applying a central food subsidy, which covers the cost of transport, handling and storage. The main procuring areas being in North India these costs would otherwise raise price excessively in the other states. The state-level issue price is usually higher than the central issue price owing to local costs of movement, handling and storage which also have to be covered.

Despite a uniform central issue price however, there is a lot of variation among states regarding the price at which grains were actually supplied locally. This difference arose from the fact of an additional subsidy being provided out of the state budget by those states which had some sensitivity to popular demands. Owing to the extra subsidy, some states restricted the local issue price to within 10-11% higher only than the central price, (Kerala Karnataka and West Bengal) while others gave even larger additional subsidy and lowered the local issue price to notably below the ce