For whom happens to be Happy New Year as Indigenous People have to be killed worldwide 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 Post Modern Manusmriti Galaxy Order prevails all over the World and accrose the Galaxy thanks to Dominance of neo strategic Hindu Brahminical Zionist White Imperialism basedon on the one hand- Caste System and on the other hand Apartheid. Neoliberalism is the new name of Slavery. Globalistion has got the single point agenda of mass destruction. The charge was framed against executed brave saddam Hussain. Genocide is renamed with open market and Ruling Hegemony is called Civil Society. Borders have become irrelevant. Indigenous people all over the Globe has to be killed. mother language has to surrender and commit suicide as the language essential to survive in the Ultra Modern Hegemony Production System happens to be the languages of dominant castes and communities. English, Spanish and French have to take over. Culture is decultured and societies disorganised , nations and nationalities disorganised. Sovereignity and Freedom exist no more. human Rights and Civil rights suspended for ever. Entire world is a War Zone. This planet has become an Ultimate Killing fields and the Turminator rules. From Mexico to Thailand via the streets of Seattle, Katharine Ainger tracks the growing grassroots resistance to economic globalization; while The restless margins timeline highlights some key moments of international protest from 1994 onwards. The Indigenous people have been fighting all along the History. The history happnes to be the chronology of Genocides. Grek and Roman Empires, Fascism, Nazism. Colonial rule, Cold war and now Globalisation, Every phase of history has witnessed continuous Genocides worldwide and indigenous people have been killed every time , any time. Human Civilisation is the barbaric story of enslavement. Spartcus never ceased to strike and every time he is crucified. Asia, America, Latin america, Europe, Africa, australia - no part of this good earth has been spared by the dominant Hegemony. Now the Hegemony is Global which does not allow the indigenous people to exist anymore> They want to have eveything on the Land, In the deep sea, Underground, in the Space. Natural resources are targeted and the people owning all this, are being massacred brutally. All of us know the Oil story in Middle East. Military Imperialism has been taken over by corporate Imperialism. Humany depends on Purchasing Power as this World has been transformed into an Open Market and post Modernism has annihilated everything. Resurgence of Hindutva and realliance of global ruling Classes have worsened the situation. Mother Nature is gang Raped and her children are being killed everywhere! Thus, nothing happens to be Local in this Globe!Realliance of Ruling Classes worldwide made it essential that we must learn to survive with empowerment and realliance of indigenous people globally. We have to organise ourselves as a regemented Army of Indigenous People with an open forum of Global Black Untouchable Resistance! They celebrate Happy New Year in every corner of this Globe with strong Bulls and Bullions! Sensex India and shining India happen to be a Global NRI matter. They dance, make merry, eat cakes and delicious recipy, drink and swap life partners and friends. While half of the World Population is deprived of citizenship. They happen to be refugees. Immigrants. Untouchables.Land is captured. so is the Sky. Captured are all sources of drinking Water. Livelihood snatched. Indigenous production system destroyed. Sez has become the foreign territory. War Zone is shifted right into our heart. Middle east has broken the geography. globalisation has concentrated on single poin agenda and that is War against Terrorism. They have got an excuse to settle all scores with Asia. The excuse is taliban. Third world leaders have been executed everytime and no investigation leads to any clue.Who killed Mrs Indira Gandhi? For whom satwant and Beyant shot fire? Why the War criminals in bangladesh are at large after so many years of liberation? Who were behind the killing of Banga Bandhu Mujibur Rehman? Why Rajiv Gandhi was killed? Who have been the assasinators of Anawar Sadat? Perhaps it is brather better to ask questions like this: After whose demise the peace zone Indian Ocean has become the playground for world powers? Who tried to kill Fidel castro time and again? Who hanged saddam hussain and why? These questions may lead to some clue! New Year 2008 is launched at last with Rakhi Sawant and Bips dancing. In India, seventy three percent population faces starvation. Higher education finished. There is no job despite Reservation and quota. Constitution has become irrelevan with the gimmics of neoliberalism and globalisation. Untouchability prevails. Join electoral system with majoritarian representation deprive the minorities and nationalities all necessary share in Power. Clubbing of minorities hold power and enslavement continues. Nationalities face brutal repression. Bonded labour continues. So continues the persecution of minorities, untouchables, women and children. For whom we celebrate happy New year, tell me! In Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto has been kiled. Mussarraf continues. how long? We may not predict but US Army heads to Pakistan. George Bush and Manohan Singh, Modi, Patnaik, Pranab and Buddhadeb speak the same language. Internal Security is endangered. They have created four hundred foreign territories with armed guards to be reinstated around Fift Lacs! Indian army happens to be 27 lacs around. Who has endangered Internal Security? Kashmir and entire North East survive under AFSPA since fifties! The ruling class is ready to kill any resistance , any insurrection, any democratic movement. We have seen it in Singur, Nandigram, Kaling nagar and elsewhere in India. UsS Army and zionist MOSAD work in all trouble zonesand they blame only Al Quaeda and ISI! Why not CIA, Pentagon and Nasa? Why not White House. Oval Office, World bank, IMF, WTO, GATT and MNCs? We have to survive under SEZ, under siege!We have to brethe within Chemical Hubs. Hirosima, Nagasaki and Bhopal to be our destiny! WELCOME TO THE ZAPATISTA LA REALIDAD. When this dream that awakens today in La Realidad began to be dreamed by us, we thought it would be a failure. We thought that, maybe, we could gather here a few dozen people from a handful of continents. We were wrong. As always, we were wrong. It wasn?t a few dozen, but thousands of human beings, those who came from the five continents to find themselves in the reality at the close of the twentieth century. The word born within these mountains, these Zapatista mountains, found the ears of those who could listen, care for and launch it anew, so that it might travel far away and circle the world. The sheer lunacy of calling to the five continents to reflect clearly on our past, our present, and our future, found that it wasn?t alone in its delerium. Soon lunacies from the whole planet began to work on bringing the dream to rest in La Realidad. Who are they who dare to let their dreams meet with all the dreams of the world? What is happening in the mountains of the Mexican Southeast that finds an echo and a mirror in the streets of Europe, the suburbs of Asia, the countryside of America, the townships of Africa, and the houses of Oceania? What is it that is happening with the peoples of these five continents who, so we are all told, only encounter each other to compete or make war? Wasn?t this turn of the century synonymous with despair, bitterness, and cynicism? From where and how did all these dreams come to La Realidad? May Europe speak and recount the long bridge of its gaze, crossing the Atlantic and history in order to rediscover itself in La Realidad. May Asia speak and explain the gigantic leap of its heart to arrive and beat in La Realidad. May Africa speak and describe the long sailing of its restless image to come to reflect upon itself in La Realidad. May Oceania speak and tell of the multiple flight of its thought to come to rest in La Realidad. May America speak and remember its swelling hope to come to renew itself in La Realidad. May the five continents speak and everyone listen. May humanity suspend for a moment its silence of shame and anguish. May humanity speak. May humanity listen.... Each country, each city, each countryside, each house, each person, each is a large or small battleground. On the one side is neoliberalism with all its repressive power and all its machinery of death; on the other side is the human being. In any place in the world, anytime, any man or woman rebels to the point of tearing off the clothes that resignation has woven for them and cynicism has dyed grey. Any man or woman, of whatever colour, in whatever tongue, speaks and says to himself, to herself: ?Enough is enough! ? ¡Ya Basta!? For struggling for a better world all of us are fenced in, threatened with death. The fence is reproduced globally. In every continent, every city, every countryside, every house. Power?s fence of war closes in on the rebels, for whom humanity is always grateful. But fences are broken. In every house, in every countryside, in every city, in every state, in every country, on every continent, the rebels, whom history repeatedly has given the length of its long trajectory, struggle and the fence is broken. The rebels search each other out. They walk toward one another. They find each other and together break other fences. In the countrysides and cities, in the states, in the nations, on the continents, the rebels begin to recognize each other, to know themselves as equals and different. They continue on their fatiguing walk, walking as it is now necessary to walk, that is to say, struggling.... A reality spoke to them then. Rebels from the five continents heard it and set off walking. Some of the best rebels from the five continents arrived in the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. All of them brought their ideas, their hearts, their worlds. They came to La Realidad to find themselves in others? ideas, in others? reasons, in others? worlds. A world made of many worlds found itself these days in the mountains of the Mexican Southeast. A world made of many worlds opened a space and established its right to exist, raised the banner of being necessary, stuck itself in the middle of earth?s reality to announce a better future. But what next? A new number in the useless enumeration of the numerous international orders? A new scheme that calms and alleviates the anguish of having no solution? A global program for world revolution? A utopian theory so that it can maintain a prudent distance from the reality that anguishes us? A scheme that assures each of us a position, a task, a title, and no work? The echo goes on, a reflected image of the possible and forgotten: the possibility and necessity of speaking and listening; not an echo that fades away, or a force that decreases after reaching its apogee. Let it be an echo that breaks barriers and re-echoes. Let it be an echo of our own smallness, of the local and particular, which reverberates in an echo of our own greatness, the intercontinental and galactic. An echo that recognizes the existence of the other and does not overpower or attempt to silence it. An echo of this rebel voice transforming itself and renewing itself in other voices. An echo that turns itself into many voices, into a network of voices that, before Power?s deafness, opts to speak to itself, knowing itself to be one and many, acknowledging itself to be equal in its desire to listen and be listened to, recognizing itself as diverse in the tones and levels of voices forming it. Let it be a network of voices that resist the war that the Power wages on them. A network of voices that not only speak, but also struggle and resist for humanity and against neoliberalism. The world, with the many worlds that the world needs, continues. Humanity, recognizing itself to be plural, different, inclusive, tolerant of itself, full of hope, continues. The human and rebel voice, consulted on the five continents in order to become a network of voices and of resistances, continues. We declare: That we will make a collective network of all our particular struggles and resistances. An intercontinental network of resistance against neoliberalism, an intercontinental network of resistance for humanity. This intercontinental network of resistance, recognizing differences and acknowledging similarities, will search to find itself with other resistances around the world. This intercontinental network of resistance is not an organizing structure; it doesn?t have a central head or decision maker; it has no central command or hierarchies. We are the network, all of us who resist. This is an edited extract from Our Word is Our Weapon: Selected Writings by Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos (Seven Stories/Serpents Tail) Free Binayak Sen! The arrest of a doctor who works with poor communities in central India, on trumped-up charges of associating with ?terrorist? Naxalites, has sparked worldwide protest. Mari Marcel Thekaekara appeals for support. Doctor Binayak Sen is an unusual 58-year-old. He inspires people as a doctor, a kind, gentle human being and passionate human rights defender, a fighter for the rights of the poverty stricken tribal people to whom he has dedicated his life. Yet, after 30 years of committed work for the poor, he is currently languishing in a filthy jail in Chattisgarh, central India. The story is a long one. Binayak graduated from the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, one of India?s premier institutions. Even as a student he was something of a legend - charismatic, caring, concerned about every last patient. Stories are being exchanged on the web about him. Dr Sara Bhattacharji, one of his contemporaries, writes: ?As a new intern, in CMC Vellore, at the end of a gruelling day he realized he had written a prescription for Lasix (a diuretic) for a patient, without also including the required potassium supplement. The patient had of course left by this time. Binayak went to the medical records department and looked up the patient's address, then to the pharmacy where he bought the potassium, then sallied forth taking various bone-rattling village buses (remember this is a Bengali floundering without the local language, in rural Tamilnadu) to the patient's village, where he delivered the medicine to the patient.? That was early Binayak. Mine workers He became a paediatrician, then focussed on community health, which was his passion. Binayak met, wooed and married Ilina. He was fortunate to have found a soul-mate as committed to eradicating poverty as himself. Ilina - warm, caring, compassionate - is one of those rare individuals adored by everyone who knows her. The doctor?s heart was always with the poor, so he joined an organization run by the Quakers in Hosangabad. Here, in addition to the general work, he was involved in the care of tuberculosis patients. He began to visit some of the mine areas in South Madhya Pradesh (now Chhattisgarh). Contact with the extreme poverty and the plight of the unorganized mine workers moved him. He was invited to join them by their leaders and was primarily responsible for developing a low-cost clinic in Dalli Rajahara. The mine workers had employment - the hospital was run on their modest donations. The trade union was strong. Volunteers from the union helped to organize the people and work for education, and better social and environmental conditions. They also conducted anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco campaigns. This helped to keep costs down and left the doctors free to provide low-cost, good-quality clinical care. The hospital has now grown to a 90-bed facility. New models When he felt it could run without his help, Binayak moved on. He worked for some time in a mission hospital, nearby in Tilda. He treated patients and trained village health workers. Though he was happy doing this, he felt the necessity to do more than just treat the few who were able to access services. So they moved to Raipur and started a trust called Rupantar to explore models of development that reflect the people?s aspirations. The new place was totally different from Dalli Rajahara. The people lived in scattered villages. Most of them had a long history of being displaced by the damming of the Mahanadi river, especially the Hirakud Dam. Even as a student he was something of a legend - charismatic, caring, concerned about every last patient After a significant struggle, 12 of 18 villages were recognized and given amenities. The other six were destroyed, causing further displacement of people. Regular work was a problem. So getting people organized was hard. The issues needing attention were livelihood, education and health. As Binayak started to set up clinics and train health workers he also realized that the main problems were malaria, TB, high mother and child mortality. He experienced the slowly dawning realization that the people were chronically undernourished. This underlying malnutrition became an important focus for them, leading them to look at food security. An agricultural programme grew out of this. Another issue identified was violence against women. Ilina worked with the community to address this problem. As the health work grew, the problem of access to healthcare became evident. So it was logical to train local people in health. From the health centre they began satellite clinics for surrounding areas. Yet there were many people who still had to travel long distances to access care. Slowly malaria mortality began to decrease; antenatal care and immunization improved. Deaths from diarrhoea and dehydration came down and respiratory illnesses in children were treated. TB and malaria were still huge problems, both in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Health workers learned to take blood and sputum smears, give antenatal care, health education, to diagnose and treat common illnesses. A trained lab-tech added greatly to the quality of the care. Recognition The state recognized their work. Both Binayak and Ilina were part of the planning and setting up of the government health resource centre in the new state of Chhattisgarh. They greatly influenced the health worker programme, called the Mitanin model. Binayak was also asked to be part of the process of the planning for the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and was responsible for the training of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). In 2004 his alma mater, CMC Vellore, gave him the prestigious Paul Harrison award for his work. The citation read: ?Dr Binayak Sen has been true to the spirit and vision of his alma mater and has carried his dedication to truth and service to the very frontline of the battle. He has broken the mould, redefined the possible role of the doctor in a broken and unjust society, holding the cause much more precious than personal safety. CMC is proud to be associated with Binayak and Illina Sen.? The Naxalites Meanwhile, in Chattisgarh, a different kind of drama was unfolding. The state had a problem with the Naxalites (a Maoist-Leninist revolutionary army that believes in violence to achieve justice). The Naxalites had approached the very poor villagers and organized them to demand better wages. However, the Naxalites had their own agendas, and often used brutal violence. The state, in retaliation, started the Salwa Judum movement - supposedly a spontaneous response of the people to the violence. The government armed the tribal people - those who refused to fight were branded Naxalites. Many tribal people were trapped between the Salwa Judum and the Naxalites. The government brought in a draconian special security act. Binayak, with his long experience of the oppression and injustice meted out to the simple people in the area, found himself in the middle of a state-versus-terrorist war. Innocent tribal people were being tortured and beaten up mercilessly, women were gang raped, families were massacred, men killed in fake ?encounter? deaths and villages razed to the ground. All this was documented and reported by several newspapers. Human rights Binayak began to investigate and make public the human rights violations, through the Peoples? Union for Civil Liberty. He called for the violence to stop. ?For the past several years,? he said, ?we are seeing all over India ? and, as part of that, in the state of Chhattisgarh as well - a concerted programme to expropriate from the poorest people in the Indian nation their access to essentials, common property resources and to natural resources, including land and water... The campaign called the Salwa Judoom in Chhattisgarh is a part of this process, in which hundreds of villages have been denuded of the people living in them and hundreds of people - men and women - have been killed. Government-armed vigilantes have been deployed and the people who have been protesting against such moves and trying to bring before the world the reality of these campaigns - human rights workers like myself - have also been targetted through state action against them. At the present moment the workers of the Chhattisgarh PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties), of which I am General Secretary, have particularly become the target of such state action; and I, along with several of my colleagues, am being targetted by the Chhattisgarh state in the form of punitive action, illegal imprisonment. And all these measures are being taken especially under the aegis of the Chhattisgarh Public Security Act.? This infuriated the local police. They filed trumped up charges against him, branding him a Naxalite and accusing him of smuggling letters for a jailed prisoner he was treating medically. He was arrested and jailed on 14 May 2007. The campaign Wikipedia informs us that on 12 June , in an interview with ABC Radio National (Australia), the noted Indian commentator P Sainath said: ?You have a number of studies, reports and investigations done by the People's Union for Civil Liberties, of which Binayak is a leading member, on "fake encounters". The word "encounter" has a very special meaning in India. It means the police kill someone, he may be unarmed, he may be tied to a chair. Then he posthumously becomes a Maoist. That's immediately conferred on you in death. [There have been] a number of studies on these ?encounters?, and on fake killings, and on a vigilante war that the government is waging on the Maoists... That's what got Binayak Sen into trouble... The charges brought against him - it's very interesting. The police now have sort of outsourced the smear campaign to the media. So the media bring incredible charges against him which the police then do not repeat in the court." [1] Noam Chomsky and several other prominent figures issued a Press Statement dated 16 June 2007 alleging that: ?The fake encounters, rapes, burning of villages and displacement of adivasis [indigenous tribals] in tens of thousands and consequent loss of livelihoods have been extensively chronicled by several independent investigations. Dr Sen's arrest is clearly an attempt to intimidate PUCL and other democratic voices that have been speaking out against human rights violations in the state.?[2] ?The word "encounter" has a very special meaning in India. It means the police kill someone, he may be unarmed, he may be tied to a chair. Then he posthumously becomes a Maoist. That's immediately conferred on you in death.? - P Sainath On 31 August the Supreme Court of India issued notice to the Chhattisgarh Government on a petition seeking Dr Sen's release from alleged illegal detention. The bench of Justices sought response from the Chhattisgarh Government after senior counsel Soli Sorabjee claimed that Dr Sen had been illegally detained since 14 May on fabricated charges of supporting Naxalites. [3] Other protests against Dr Sen's arrest have come from Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, Magsaysay Prize winner Aruna Roy, Booker Prize winner Arundathi Roy, retired judge Rajinder Sachar of the Delhi High Court, film maker Shyam Benegal and many eminent medical professors and scientists in India, the US, Britain, Australia and beyond. Ilina Sen, friends and colleagues who have been inspired by Binayak, urge like- minded people from all over the world to join the protest to fight for justice both for Binayak Sen and the thousands of adivasi people suffering oppression in Chhatisgarh. To join the protest see : Amnesty International's Public Statement Savebinayak.org website Mari Marcel Thekaekara is a regular contributor to the NI who works with adivasis in sothern India. Brand-hopping beauties Advertising has always viewed women as vessels for consumer goods. In India, Mari Marcel Thekaekara witnesses an unholy confluence of snob appeal, racism and skullduggery. Skin whitener being flogged in India using a famous white woman ? Catherine Zeta-Jones. ?To wax or not to wax?? That is the question. Then there?s the ouch!! pluck, bleach, shave or laser. The new woman has myriad choices (within the rules of the game, of course). Hair must be luxuriant, glossy and dandruff-free if it?s on your head. If it?s on your face, legs or anywhere less mentionable, you stand in mortal danger of being dubbed follically challenged. These are the critical issues for today?s Indian woman, according to the gospel of advertising. ?You?ve come a long way, baby,? is definitely the message being blasted at them in this, our Information Technology era. Bangalore and Bombay boast thousands of IT and management women. Professionals who have had to prove they are better than men in order to get to where they?ve got. Yet women in Indian ads remain stereotyped and boringly predictable, though in newer, subtler ways. Word has been out for some time now that India and China are where the markets are. When you are dealing with the female half of a billion people, however, the attack has to be multi-pronged to hit the jackpot. And our versatile, street-smart and savvy ad men know this. Our burgeoning, much-touted middle class numbers ? apparently ? 250 million, or roughly the entire US population. But even the other lot, the poor, can provide profits. Living in the back of beyond as I do, the purchasing power of India?s élites stuns me whenever I visit a metropolis. I asked my son to buy me an assortment of magazines from happening Bangalore to read about 21st century ?shopping? India. Unbelievably, we now have Indian editions of Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Elle. Even our home-grown specials like Femina have the glossy, hi-tech look, aimed at the ultra-rich, and are consequently devoid of articles that might venture beyond the spheres of fashion and domesticity. However, it took India Today Spice to really do me in. ?Go brand-hopping,? they urged, ?for the hautest of the hot buys.? And kidding they were not. In poverty-stricken India there?s a readership of women who would buy (or aspire to) a dress that costs 246,000 rupees ($5,366) or a Trusardi bag for $2,290, or a more casual Aigner bag for a trifling $1,745. An advert for men?s clothing goes the whole hog on sexual clichés Babes, not behenjis Why is this more than merely mindless shopping? Because it epitomizes, at the highest purchasing level, what is being done to India. The Indian woman is being transformed, created anew. She is being told that to be beautiful and cool, she must look like an Italian model or a Parisian socialite. All the ads in the upper-crust magazines demand this. In local lingo you must stop being a behenji ? an Indian stereotype, homegrown, almost rustic, dressed in Indian traditional (not cool ?ethnic?) salwars or saris, unburdened with good taste. To be a behenji is to be pitied by the urban, ultra-cool types who read Indian Cosmo, Elle and Marie Claire and try their damnedest to look Western smart. A few years ago, I laughed at the new Sunsilk shampoo ads which told women it was specially made for long black hair (read 99 per cent of Indian women). Now the upper crust and middle class are told not to be boring behenjis but to go blonde or at least streak their hair. Contact lenses turn you blue-, green- or hazel-eyed. And of course skin must turn white to be perfect. This predilection for white (in India, it?s called ?fair?) skin is an ancient Indian obsession. One of the most successful ad campaigns was for a whitening cream called Fair and Lovely. It can be found in remote villages where women cannot afford a cup of milk or sugar for their tea. But Fair and Lovely and Sunsilk marketed their cream and shampoo in tiny one rupee (2 US cents) plastic or foil sachets which crept into every crevice of rural India. The lesson was well learnt. There?s more money to be made from our masses, our poor millions. And exploiting - sorry, ?targeting? - the rural woman became the new ad line. Our rich women are no less gullible. L?Oréal and Garnier were quick to capitalize on the Indian woman?s obsession with skin colour. So, while they strive to bronze white women in London, Rome and Paris, in India they promise to lighten you up with chemicals. L?Oréal?s White Perfect comes with the slogan ?skin bright, perfect white?. In India derogatory references to skin colour are routinely ignorant and crass. There is some waving of the cultural flag by the moral police who claim traditional Indian values are being swept away by decadent, permissive Western influences. But these are warped protests. They do not want ?liberated? women (read women in Western garb), because this threatens to overturn patriarchal control mechanisms. It implies the questioning of decision-making male authority. It means the docile, submissive, dowry-bringing daughter-in-law goes out of the window. Although the ?now? ads portray the modern Indian woman as a liberated, cool consumer, there is a new twist in the tale. Formerly, ads were blatantly sexist, draping semi-nude women around any product, ranging from cars to washing machines. Now you have the modern woman panting after the male. So the nude is the male stud with the perfect Greek god body. And the women drool, chase and/or attack him. Implicit is the message that the new liberated woman, out there in the office, is sex-starved and can?t wait to pounce. One of the most obnoxious is an underwear ad on TV which had women mobbing a man because of his irresistible jocks. He is left bemused, his body dotted with lipsticky kisses. Modern domestic goddess Another has the boss drooling, licking his lips, a glazed look in his eyes. His bespectacled (read sex-starved) secretary, not unreasonably, thinks he?s hitting on her and begins to unbutton her shirt, sending out I?m-for-it-too vibes. But it?s not her the bossman is leching after. It?s a Kwality-Walls ice cream being licked sensuously in the background by another, a beautiful babe. So what?s new? The ads directed at the average middle-class woman show her dressed more traditionally. But she is poised, beautifully groomed, not a hair out of place, has the perfect home and, if it?s detergent, her family is delighted because the kids go to school in spotlessly laundered clothes thanks to mummy and the washing machine detergent. Or hubby comes home to gourmet meals. Sings hosanna to his smart wife who shops so cleverly that she produces instant to-die-for coffee, noodles or soups which save money, nourish the body while pampering the taste buds. So the stereotyped ideal Indian woman is preserved. She is educated, modern, beautiful ? but also the dutiful, perfect wife and mother. All washed up Go a zillion notches down the economic ladder to majority India. No glossy magazines here. It?s where the hoi polloi, the illiterate, the unwashed starving millions without spending power live. But nowadays even the poor get to watch telly, courtesy of community TVs donated by local governments at election time. And it is through this medium that unlettered Indian women are conned into buying fairness cream to make their skin white and shampoo to make their hair silky black. Traditionally every village had local, organic, home-produced shampoos and soap powders made from plants ranging from reetha soapnuts to hibiscus flowers. Now these products are in demand by the élite (who?ve ?discovered? organics) while poor women buy chemical, synthetic substitutes. The 10-gram sachets sold at one rupee a pop are a rip-off. The rich city woman pays far less for her half-litre bottle. Economy of scale? Or gross exploitation? Women in ads never make decisions about banking, insurance or pension funds. Here the woman is the wife whose thoughtful, intelligent husband, sage and omnipotent, has invested wisely to provide lavishly even in their old age. If a woman executive is shown, she is advertising a suit. Mostly she?s the secretary. The stewardess. Always smiling, happy to be of service. There?s the implication that she?ll go to any length to serve. It?s supposed to be naughty-clever copy. Space here for men to fantasize. ?One is not born a woman but made,? Simone de Beauvoir wryly noted several decades ago. In the current Indian scenario the aptness of that remark seems tragically appropriate. Why do women continue to take pride in allowing themselves, their bodies, to be exploited and abused? The Indian women?s groups who protested against beauty pageants had little support. The women who do a bikini trot to become beauty queens don?t see themselves as exploited. Real life, as always, is elsewhere. As I write this, today?s newspaper reports that self-help groups of the women of Vellore rescued over 200 children from bonded labour. This is a world away from the delusional dreams of adland. Perhaps the day will come when all women, not just commie-hippy-liberated-feminist ones, will recognize and fight against the ad culture that denigrates and devalues them. Mari Marcel Thekaekara is a frequent contributor to the NI. Combatting caste Mari Marcel Thekaekara reports from India on the stink of untouchability and how those most affected are trying to remove it. Sweeping shit: this woman in Gujarat is one of India?s 800,000 toilet cleaners. Stan Thekaekara ?In the rainy season,? the woman began, ?it is really bad. Water mixes with the shit and when we carry it (on our heads) it drips from the baskets, on to our clothes, our bodies, our faces. When I return home I find it difficult to eat food sometimes. The smell never gets out of my clothes, my hair. But this is our fate. To feed my children I have no option but to do this work.? Narayanamma began cleaning human excrement at 13. She is now 35. The stench is nauseating, overpowering. First, she sweeps the shit into piles. Then, using two flat pieces of tin, she scoops it up and drops it into a bamboo basket which she carries to a spot where a tractor will arrive to pick it up. No gloves. No water to wash with. She hitches up her sari tightly so that it does not trail on the ground or touch the shit. Still, it is almost impossible to go through a whole day?s work without some of it inadvertently getting onto her clothes and person. After 20-odd years of cleaning toilets, Narayanamma clings to a dignity which is markedly at variance with the work she does. She is dressed neatly, immaculately clean. Jasmine adorns her oiled and well-groomed hair. Narayanamma and 800,000 other toilet cleaners are on the lowest rung of the caste system in India. They are despised by everyone. They experience absolute exclusion from the cradle to the grave. They are the other face of India; the one that nobody likes to see. It is in sharp contrast to the progressive, technological, we-have-the-bomb-and-are-no-longer-the-Third-World face. Chennai railway station says it all. It has a hot spot for laptops to download mail, mobile phone chargers, international food counters offering burgers, chocolate mousse and chow mein next to hot dosas and chicken tikka. Yet, a few metres away, sweeper women clean shit in the most primitive manner possible, lifting it out of the railway track with a stick, broom and pieces of tin. Why does this unacceptable, utterly obscene dichotomy exist? Because hardly anyone wants it to change. Caste permeates every pore of Indian society in hidden, insidious ways. It is so complex, few Indians begin to understand it completely, although it is present in our lives in subtle and not-so subtle ways. Even though the caste hierarchy is a Hindu construct, conversion does not always help: Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs and Muslims often still cling to their caste identities when searching for marriage partners. In the beginning... Many sociologists believe the caste system in India originated as a way of dividing labour, as well as a method of exercising social control and maintaining order. Its power ? and almost absolute acceptance ? stems from the fact that caste derives religious sanction for India?s majority from the 4,000-year-old Manu Sashtra or laws of Manu. According to this, society was divided into four broad social orders, or varnas, each arising from a certain part of the Creator?s body. From the head came the Brahmins, a priestly class, who are the most pure. From the arms came the Kshatriyas, the warriors and rulers. From the lower limbs were born the Vaishyas, the traders. And from the feet the Sudras, the lowest caste, destined to serve the other three. Apart from these four varnas, there are over 3,000 sub-castes, or jatis. Each of these practises exclusion of varying degrees against each other. An orthodox Brahmin family will not accept a marriage with another Brahmin of a slightly different sub-caste. Nor will most people eat food cooked by someone from a caste lower than their own. Below all these, ?Untouchables? were considered so impure and polluting that they were not even included in the system by Manu. This translated into complete exclusion from society. Their hamlets were outside the village, and they could not even talk to or walk on the same path as the other castes, much less touch them. When the British ruled in India, they left caste well alone to avoid unrest. In some ways they even reinforced it, finding Brahmins useful as an army of clerks and administrators who served the British Empire faithfully. Today, in India, the Untouchables call themselves ?Dalits?, which means ?Broken People? Today, in India, the Untouchables call themselves ?Dalits?, which means ?Broken People?. There are almost 180 million Dalits in India alone and at least another 60 million around the world who face caste discrimination of various kinds. On a daily basis, Dalits have to deal with the fact that they will not be served food in many eateries. They must sit outside and drink their tea at a distance from the other customers. Special ?Untouchable? cups are placed on the shelf outside. The Dalit customer has to take his or her cup, place it on a counter carefully without touching the waiter. The tea will then be poured from a safe, non polluting distance and the Dalit must pick up the cup, drink the tea, wash the cup and place it back on the secluded Dalit shelf outside. This is known as the ?two-glass? system. In one recent survey of 22 villages in Tamil Nadu, 16 practised the ?two glass system?; 14 villages had the ?chappal? system where Dalits have to remove their footwear when they enter the caste part of the village; and in 17 villages Dalits were forbidden to enter the village temples. In four villages Dalits had come together to combat these practices and they have largely been abolished.1 Anjamma: a servant of the gods Anjamma is a jogini or devdasi (servant of the gods). This is a system by which Dalit girls are offered to the goddess Yellamma just before they attain puberty. These girls are raped by the temple priests. Then other men take over. They are forced into prostitution in the name of religion. My mother died when I was three. When I was seven, my brother got polio and was paralyzed. My father had to take out a loan and I went to work rolling bidis (cigarettes) to help pay it back. But it was not enough and the landlord to whom my father owed the money said that he should send me to be dedicated to the goddess to earn more money. I didn?t want to go. I felt very bad. My father said: ?If you don?t obey me, I will die.? So I went to the temple. All my relatives came. I had a new sari and many jasmine garlands. The priest called a man to tie the wedding tali [necklace] around my neck. The man was Rangasamy and he was 25 years old. I was eight. Three times a year we joginis used to go to the temple for important festivals. Everyone worshipped us and treated us well. We danced and went into a trance. Everyone fell at our feet and called us goddess. On those days we became very important. The rest of the time they made fun of us. When I was 12, I came of age (puberty). Rangasamy kept coming and telling me: ?I tied tali on you, why don?t you sleep with me?? I said no. But everyone in the village said: ?Child, you are a jogini. It is your duty. You have to sleep with him.? He had a wife and two kids. He gave me money and rice. After one year I had a child, a baby boy. Soon after that, he abandoned me. I went to Bombay for construction work to support my child. When I returned to the village another fellow called Raghav was very nice to me. He said to my father: ?I will protect her.? He also had kids. I became pregnant again and had a girl. But he left me after six years. I joined the joginis? organization. I decided to fight the system. To prevent my sisters from suffering like me. I go to temples now and stop the jogini dedication. People said: ?After sleeping with so many men, what?s your problem?? The upper caste men started saying we spread AIDS. I said: ?You sons of bitches, motherfuckers, bastards, go tell that to your wives and mothers. I?ll get the government to do DNA tests on all jogini kids and you can take them. I?ll take the joginis away and look after them. I?ll expose each of you who sleep with us and then abuse us.? Yes. They?ll shut their mouths and run when they see me now. Interview by Mari Marcel Thekaekara. India's curse India?s real curse lies in the fact that, 57 years after Independence, Dalits continue not only to face daily injustices, but they can be murdered, raped and viciously humiliated merely because they have tried to break out of the caste trap to assert their rights as equal beings. Often the supposed transgression is something as ludicrous (to the outside world) as wearing footwear when walking through the dominant caste?s village, riding a bicycle or daring to wear clothes considered uppity, above their station, by the neighbourhood bullies. Often the punishment has the tacit approval of the entire village with a sizable number joining in, making the beating, rape, humiliation, a public spectacle to teach the entire caste a lesson, to remind them of their place in society. This is caste in its ugly, undisguised form. Such incidents are so common that Indian newspapers often don?t even bother reporting them. The big question is: why has so little changed for so long? Immed-iately after Independence, there were visionaries who dreamed of equality, justice and freedom for all Indians. Mahatma Gandhi led this movement. However, it required retributive justice, the distribution of land to the landless, special privileges for those who had been oppressed and neglected for millennia. The brilliant, pro-poor Indian Constitution envisioned all this. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Dalit leader and intellectual, was its architect. It identified all the marginalized castes and tribes of India (officially termed Scheduled Castes and Tribes) and issued directives for positive discrimination, commonly called the ?reservation system?, to ensure that these communities would be brought out of bondage and poverty. Subsequent Acts also sought to protect them, but the situation has only marginally improved because the Acts, like the Constitution, are ignored or violated. Today, Dalits remain the poorest of the poor; they are the majority of child workers, illiterates, bonded labourers, and have the worst health, the worst education and the worst jobs. Dalit women like Narayanamma easily qualify for the worst-off women in the world. Gandhi?s dream of education for every Dalit child lay shattered in the dust Many people were motivated and inspired by Gandhi?s call to rebuild the nation. But after Independence, the spirit of sacrifice gave way to greed and power politics. The movement was not far-reaching enough; it was too fractured to have any real impact and leaders became corrupt. Gandhi?s dream of education for every Dalit child lay shattered in the dust, trampled on by venal politicians in the corridors of power. Academics talk of lack of political will to describe successive governments? failure to protect Dalits. Translated, this means police officers stand in the background and watch upper-caste mobs burn Dalits alive, because the village considers they are getting too big for their boots. Feudal landlords are aided by corrupt civil servants and government officials in maintaining the status quo. So they approve and abet in the exploitation of Dalits, turn a blind eye to bonded labour, and the terrorizing, killing, rape of Dalits who protest. Meanwhile everyone mouths the rhetoric of the Constitution and government documents hypocritically pay lip-service to it. Although India presents the worst-case scenario as far as atrocities and discrimination go, the situation in neighbouring Nepal is almost as bad. Caste discrimination also remains alive and well wherever the Indian Diaspora has migrated. Other forms of caste discrimination, outside of a Hindu context, can also be found in other countries in Asia and Africa. A recent UN study officially redefined caste discrimination ?on the basis of descent or work and occupation? and listed the countries as Bangladesh, Britain, Burkina Faso, the Caribbean, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Japan, Kenya, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Malaysia, Micronesia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Yemen.2 Perversely, caste discrimination in Diaspora communities in the West has become worse in the last few years; as communities have grown larger, caste distinctions become more pronounced. In addition, the rise of Hindu fundamentalism has promoted the ?be proud of your culture? (read caste) syndrome, leading to greater segregation, separate temples and gurdwaras, and ugly divisions. Bleak though the situation often appears, there is some hope. Throughout India?s chequered history there have been people who fought for the rights of the oppressed. Even before Gandhi campaigned for the rights of Dalits, Christian missionaries had begun educating them. Their motives were questionable ? to convert the heathen. And many allowed upper caste converts to cling to their caste identity. Nevertheless they educated more Dalits and adivasis (indigenous peoples) than anyone else. Martin Macwan, Gujarati Dalit leader for the last 25 years, believes education is a lethal weapon in combatting caste oppression. ?Traditionally, the varna system banned education for Dalits. The laws of Manu declared: ?Even by mistake if a lower caste person hears the vedas (holy scriptures), molten lead should be poured in his ears? and ?his tongue should be cut off if he recites the sacred verses.? They had it all figured out. Knowledge is power; it is the key to empowering our people.? No entry ? Pujamma has sat outside the temple begging for 40 years. Because she is a Dalit she will never be allowed inside. Stan Thekaekara The 1970s brought a new breed of activists, young people who sought not to dispense charity, but to fight injustice. For three or four decades now, all over India, Dalit human-rights defenders have consistently taken on the State, fighting the police, feudal landlords and exploitative employers at individual, regional and national levels. They support ordinary Dalits trying to assert their rights in rural areas in spite of violent reprisals from the dominant castes and the police. The situation, however, remains dire in North India and particularly hopeless in the state of Bihar. Hope must be won from the Dalit people?s ability to mobilize themselves. To take pride in their identity, build up their self-esteem, assert their dignity and demand their rights both privately and in public spaces. From now on, it is Dalits who will determine their future. Paul Divakar, Convener of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) in India, explains: ?We don?t expect easy solutions or quick results. We need to go through certain processes to free ourselves from the ?Brahminical mindset?. Whereas in the early 1950s we fought visible forms of untouchability which spun around concepts of self-respect, now NCDHR has decided to fight for land rights. Land is central to eradicating untouchability. On paper, 80 per cent of rural Dalits have access to land but the moment they try to assert control over this land they are harassed.? In politics too, there has been change. The fact that a Dalit, K R Narayanan, was elected as President in 1997 was no small victory. The last decade has seen the rise of strong Dalit political parties. While these parties are just as corrupt as all the others, their emergence gives the community crucial bargaining power and political space. More recently, the success of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights in the build up to the World Conference Against Racism, held in South Africa in 2001, has given a new impetus to the grassroots Dalit movement. Public hearings were held in many state capitals in India, where Dalits spoke from the heart, revealing the harrowing experiences they had been through. Ordinary people were often visibly moved. Many wept openly. After an intensive advocacy campaign, the Dalit question finally received United Nations recognition. In March 2005, two Special Rapporteurs were appointed to work on it. They will submit a yearly audit on ?discrimination based on work and descent?, and track governments? action and indictment record against those who perpetrate atrocities. Discrimation in detail In India, Brahmins, who are 3.5 per cent of the population, hold 78 per cent of the judicial positions and approximately 50 per cent of parliamentary seats.1 Mass rapes often form part of the tactics of intimidation used by upper-caste gangs against lower castes. The Home Ministry reported that, between 2000 and 2001, there was a 16.5 per cent increase in reported rape cases.1 Each year, inter-caste violence claims hundreds of lives; in 2001 it was especially pronounced in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.1 In India, among the millions of bonded labourers (estimates range widely between 20 to 65 million for 2001), the Government found 85 per cent to be Dalits or from lower castes. These included a large number of children.1 Dalits and adivasis (indigenous peoples) form the largest proportion of those who drop out of school. In rural areas, between the ages of five and nine, 36.1 per cent of Dalit boys and 48.4 per cent of Dalit girls dropped out.2 About 75 per cent of Dalit communities live below the poverty line.3 Two-thirds of the Dalit population is illiterate.3 Half are landless agricultural labourers.3 Only seven per cent have access to safe drinking water, electricity and toilets.3 1 India Human Rights Report, www.ncbuy.com/reference/country/humanrights_toc.html?code=in 2 National Sample Survey Organization, India 1997. 3 Dr J Muthumary, University of Madras ?Dalit women in India? www.ambedkar.org/WorldwideDalits/dalitwomeninIndia.htm Bhopal Declaration In India, the last five years have seen encouraging trends in the shape of the Bhopal Declaration, a huge government consultation of Dalits about what needed doing, and the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), a commitment from the Government, spearheaded by the Indian Congress Party, to work for the poorest. For the first time ever, the corporate world has also been exhorted to reserve jobs for Dalits. Indian corporations (which include some of the richest people in the world) are eager to get rid of the embarrassing, backward, feudal image projected by caste discrimination to the outside world. There is increasing awareness of social responsibility and many companies are now eager to be involved in change. One can hope that these changes will mean that at the very least, Dalits should be able to live free from fear of murder, rape and violence merely because they are born Dalit. That would be one step towards civilization. P Sainath, an Indian writer who has covered atrocities against Dalits for many years, observes: ?We are witnessing the single greatest struggle for human dignity on Planet Earth by some 250 million people. I have no doubt that the outcome of this great struggle will be in favour of the Dalits. The only question is, which side will you and I be on??3 www.villageservicetrust.org www.idsn.org/un.html Dalit Public Hearing, April 2000. View from the top KR Narayanan was India?s first and only Dalit President from 1997 to 2002. Mari Marcel Thekaekara found him ready to speak his mind. The contradiction confounds you. A Dalit elected to the highest post in the land in a country where every day Dalits are humiliated, raped, tortured and killed. Of course, governments are notorious for tokenism; show-casing their support for minorities through figurehead appointments. In India it?s a fine art. But in Kocheril Raman Narayanan (or KRN as he is known), India?s first and only Dalit President, they got more than they bargained for. Elected in 1997, he refused to be a rubber-stamp President, confounding his critics by speaking out on a range of issues. India?s 10th President was elected to office in an unprecedented social revolution, winning 95 per cent of the votes of the Electoral College, made up of representatives from both Houses of Parliament and legislative assemblies of the state. He defeated his rival T N Seshan, a formidable, feisty Brahmin Election Commissioner who had put the fear of God into Indian politicians. The defeated candidate angrily dismissed the decision. KRN won, Seshan pointed out ?only because he was a Dalit.? Six days before Narayanan became President, police opened fire on a Dalit protest, killing nine unarmed Dalits. In his acceptance speech, KRN noted: ?That the nation has found for its highest office someone who has sprung from the grassroots, is symbolic of the fact that the concerns of the common man [sic] have now moved to the center stage of our political life. It is this larger significance of my election rather than any personal sense of honour that makes me rejoice on this occasion.? Now 84, he is courteous and charming, giving of his time generously despite a painful, debilitating illness. From a village hut to the presidential palace in Delhi is a long way. How did it happen? ?Frankly, I don?t know. I did not really try for these things, aim for anything very big. Most things came by chance, a combination of circumstances, rather than my own effort. I suffered as a Dalit, had my share of humiliation, but I did not view myself as a suffering Dalit. I did not have a feeling of bitterness. ?Born in 1920 and living in a small village, there was diversity and discrimination. But not of such intensity as the atrocities that one hears of nowadays. How I got out of it was: I always wanted to study. There was a Malayalam primary school in my village. There were several times when I could have dropped out. We had to pay fees and Father had very little money. The management co-operated up to a point, but after months of no fees they sent me home. Father scraped together a little money and sent me back. It was always touch and go. Frequently I had to stand in the corner or on the bench for non-payment of fees. ?Later, when I moved to Kerala to study, the perennial problem of poverty loomed threateningly overhead. My uncle knew a government lawyer. He wrote him a letter asking if I could eat with his family. I was very shy about going to someone for food. My good friend Mathew came with me. I was outside the door with the letter, saying: ?I don?t want to go in.? Mathew pushed me in. Literally physically gave me a push so I fell inside the door. The lawyer said: ?Just a minute, let me consult my wife.? He went inside, came back and said: ?You can come for lunch and dinner every day.? He was an exceptionally good man. And in spite of all the problems I finished my degree.? With typical modesty, he does not mention that he got a first, coming top of the whole university that year. There followed a promise by the Maharaja?s Chief Minister, the Diwan, that he should be sent to Oxford. But the Diwan went back on his promise, saying: ?Who does this Harijan (Gandhi?s term for Dalits, literally ?God?s people?) fellow think he is coming to see me with a silk jibba and a gold watch?? KRN replied that he ?never owned a silk jibba. I wear only khadi (Indian homespun cotton). And the watch is a rolled gold one presented to me by a friend after I passed with a first. If the Diwan is that petty, I don?t want anything from him.? After failing to procure an interview with the Maharaja, KRN declined to accept his degree, skipping the convocation, an unthinkable act in those feudal times. The British Resident asked, ?Where is the Harijan boy who came first?? This caused a furore in Kerala. ?Revolution has to come from below ? through education and through protests from the oppressed people? ?From then on I was determined to go to Delhi. The Chief Secretary called me, ?How will you go to Delhi? It is freezing there. You will need warm clothes. I will give you a loan of 500 rupees?. I replied, ?I can?t pay you back.? He insisted. ?It?s OK. It will be a loan in name only. You need money for clothes, your train fare etc.? So I purchased my first and only suit, a railway ticket, some essentials. And a new chapter of my life started.? KRN then moved to Delhi and on to a distinguished career which included a degree at the London School of Economics, a period as a journalist, time as a diplomat, an academic, ambassador to the United States, Vice-President and finally President of India. As President, he spoke up on behalf of women, Dalits and tribal people. Why does India have this paradox, on the one hand the best IT experts in the world, on the other the feudal caste system? And why hasn?t it changed despite a strong Constitution? ?Fifty years is a miniscule period for the caste system which has survived for thousands of years. The caste system has fundamentally been attacked by very few people. Even the lower castes found it convenient, a kind of safety system to manage, mingle in society. Everyone had someone to exploit. Though there were many challenges, no fundamental revision was ever attempted. There was a great vision at Independence but too many people found it a useful system. The opposition was basically related to land struggles and the feudal economic system in existence. Morally only Gandhi shook the system, but the economic foundations were too strong. So when it came to the question of destroying it, as far as the mind is concerned, everyone would say it is bad and we should destroy it. But the economic foundation of caste had to be uprooted and no-one really wanted to do that. Today, caste is being perpetuated by politics and politicians.? How can we change this? ?Revolution has to come from below ? through education and through protests from the oppressed people. We need to gather much more momentum, from world opinion, human-rights groups, etc. We need to give up the bitterness and move on. To be proud of being Dalits. Learn from the Black Panthers, the Black is Beautiful movement. Assert Dalit pride. Only then will we learn to express and assert ourselves. I believe that ultimately we will overcome.? Much ado about oil The US may not like it, but Venezuela?s Hugo Chávez is charting an independent foreign policy. And according to Alex Sánchez Nieto it makes complete sense. Venezuela?s feisty president, Hugo Chávez, is a vocal critic of corporate-led globalization and a major thorn in the side of Washington. He may have few admirers in the Bush Administration but in Caracas he governs with a solid majority, while across Latin America he has strong support from other like-minded governments. Aside from Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, Chávez has befriended Bolivia?s Evo Morales, Ecuador?s Rafael Correa and Nicaragua?s Daniel Ortega ? as well as the leaders of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Beyond Latin America, Chávez has developed close relationships with Vietnam, Libya, Syria, Iran, the Russian Federation and China. In March this year, Venezuela signed a joint venture agreement with China?s National Petroleum Corporation to develop oil in the Junin-4 bloc of Venezuela?s Orinoco Oil Belt. After the signing, Chávez noted that ?Venezuela wants to become a reliable, growing source of oil supply for China?. Last year, the country exported 300,000 barrels a day to China; this year?s target is 500,000 barrels. The March meeting was the latest round of contact between China and Venezuela, which peaked when Chávez visited Beijing in June 2006 to meet with President Hu Jintao. The previous month Chávez flew to Moscow to firm up a major arms purchase from the Russian Federation. Also of note was Chávez?s trip last June to Belarus. In return, a Belarusian delegation, headed by State Secretary Viktor Sheyman, visited Venezuela. Twenty-two declarations were signed, including another joint venture oil project in the Orinoco basin. Friendly relations have also developed with Vietnam. Chávez twice met with President Nguyen Minh Triet ? once in August when the Venezuelan leader travelled to Vietnam, and then again when both leaders attended the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Havana in September. A Venezuelan delegation, headed by deputy foreign minister Hely Vladimir Villegas, returned the visit in March. The most important outcome of this event, according to an article by Thai Press Reports, was that Venezuela affirmed its support for Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2008-09 term. Venezuela may attempt to become a non-permanent member, too, and is already courting potential support from its new friends. Chávez has also cosied up to several governments in the Middle East not known for their pro-US sentiments ? namely Syria, Iran and Libya. The Venezuelan President travelled to Damascus last August, where he met President Bashar al-Assad. In November the two governments ? along with Iran ? signed a preliminary agreement to construct a $1.5-billion, 140,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery in Syria. Chávez also met long-time Libyan leader Muammar al Qadhafi on a visit to Tripoli in May 2006. Chávez had met Qadhafi four times previously and their friendship is well known. The Libyan leader has presented Chávez with the Qadhafi Human Rights Prize, while Chávez often quotes Qadhafi?s Green Book in his speeches. Both are leading members of OPEC ? the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. With regard to Iran, several new initiatives have occurred during the Chávez presidency, the most symbolic being a weekly Caracas-Tehran flight, with a stopover in Damascus. The Venezuelan state-controlled airline Conviasa and Iran?s national carrier, Iran Air, will operate the flights. ?Mr Chávez is much loved in our country and our people want to come here to get to know this land,? said Iran?s ambassador to Venezuela, Abdullah Zifan, when the flights were announced. Chávez has been working hard to firm up arms deals from non-Western sources. In 2006, he startled the world by announcing a massive $3-billion weapons purchase from Moscow: 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles (type AK-103), 24 Sukhoi (SU-30) fighter jets and 53 military helicopters. The first two jets were delivered last December to the Luis del Valle Garcia Air Base. There is also a continuous two-way flow of military personnel between Caracas and Moscow. Venezuelan pilots are already taking flight instruction classes from Russian teachers, while Russian technicians instruct local mechanics on how to service the newly purchased equipment. A

Taslima ready to stay in Bengali hub
OUR BUREAU

New Delhi/Calcutta, Dec. 22: Taslima Nasreen today said it was not the Centre but she who had suggested that she stay at Chittaranjan Park in the capital.

Government sources said this was the first time they were hearing that Taslima had no problem staying at CR Park. Till now, it had only been Calcutta or nothing for her.

Seeing it as a positive signal, the government said the controversial author was probably looking for a face-saver. “Providing security to Taslima at CR Park is not impossible. Dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi also stayed there under Delhi police protection. She was shot dead after she shifted to her Ashoka Road residence,” said an official.

Sources said Taslima had told officials “how can you compare Calcutta with a small locality” when they offered her accommodation at the Bengali hub in south Delhi.

In an interview to The Telegraph today, she indicated willingness to comply with all the conditions set by the government. “I’m willing to stay with security if it could be arranged. I told them (the officials) that I would avoid public places, wouldn’t attend meetings and seminars, just keep in touch with my friends and write from time to time. That’s all I had wanted.

“I know this is not possible in Calcutta right now so I just wanted to know if I could lead a normal life like this in Delhi. If I could have security living in a house where some of my friends would be able to drop in and if I could go meet them sometimes.”

External affairs ministry joint director Amit Dasgupta, whose name figured frequently in Taslima’s conversation with the newspaper, declined comment.

Taslima said the day Dasgupta met her to inform her about the government’s decision regarding her stay in Delhi, she had said she wanted to stay at CR Park. “I told him that if he felt I needed security, let me be given that kind of protection. If there’s a threat to one’s life, one has to live with security like I used to in Calcutta,” Taslima said.

According to her, Dasgupta did not agree to her staying at CR Park or any other place in Delhi. “He said I couldn’t return to Calcutta either. So I asked him how long it would take for me to return to normal life and he said they did not know and could not say anything at this moment.”

The official apparently gave her security concern as the reason. “Amitbabu has not been able to convince me of this need for security where I will have to continue living in hiding. I am under great confusion,” Taslima said.

She iterated her complaint that she was under very tight security and was not allowed to meet anybody. “I can’t go anywhere, no one can meet me.”

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee denied the suggestion that Taslima was under “house arrest”.

Asked by reporters in Calcutta today about possible restrictions on her return from Delhi, Mukherjee said: “She is not under house arrest.”

The government’s policy, he said, was to make all appropriate arrangements for the safe stay of a guest.

“We have communicated to her that she can stay in the country as long as she wants, which is our rule here,” the foreign minister said.

Those looking after Taslima in Delhi have been asked to set right any problem she might face during her stay.

“At the same time, our guest should not do anything that may hurt the sentiments of any section of the population.”

Taslima, Mukherjee added, had to be put in a secure place because of “trouble over her in some parts of the country, including Calcutta”.

“One must try understand that she had been staying in Calcutta before being shifted. She must think it over why she had to leave Calcutta.”

WITH REPORTS FROM BHAVNA VIJ-AURORA, MOHUA DAS AND MITA MUKHERJEE
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071223/jsp/bengal/story_8700922.jsp

It is simple Game of Demographic Vote Bank Mobilisation

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

Note: I will be away in Patna since tomorrow upto 29th December to attend National Conference of Bamcef where I have to speak on Dalit Bengali Refugee problems. Friends in Bihar and jharkhand may contact me on mobile number: 9903717833.

Despite the protest of so called Civil society plus the omnipotent, secular,progressive Intelligentsia Kolkata- Ruling Hegemony in bengal, led by Marxist Gestapo Head Capitalist Chief Minister Buddhadeb and the Elite Brhmin from Keernahar may not set the Politics of Demography on the stake, specially just before Panchayat elections. Modi`s landslide victory has eased the way for the ruling Left to mobilise the Muslim Votebank against communal forces. All CPIM topguns are exploding in district level party conferences against communal, antiprogress imperialist forces and singing the melodious song of Unity. The UPA led by Congress has no way but to oblige just after serial blasts in Uttaranchal, Punjab and Gujrat. Results from Himachal have not to be different. Neoliberal trap and strategic Hindu, zionist white realliance under US lead has led to unprecedented resurgence of Hindutva. Modi is not simply a Brand only as Buddhadeb. So identical and so different. Both uses communal trump card. grand alliance of Brahmin ruling Elite and Muslim Vote Bank in West Bengal has got the much needed injection from Modi. Thus, Modi and Buddha, both depend one another for vote bank mobilisation on Minority security trumpcard and majority dominance under majoritarian electoral system. But Hindutva has got the ideological backing from apartheid forces of Hindu,zionist , white post modern Galaxy order.

Menwhile, External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday gave no assurance on whether controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen would be allowed to return to Kolkata. So, it is more than sure that Taslima is not allowed to come Kolkata in near future what if she has opted to withdraw her next novel which was to be released in Kolkata Book Fair. It is in no way any matter related to any book or right to expression neither it has to do anything with communalism or religion. It is a simple demographic mobilisation gimmick, similar to the artificial Riots created with surgical precision for her ouster!

"She is not under house arrest," Mukherjee said when reporters asked him if the Centre had imposed restrictions on Taslima's return to Kolkata. Later, in Burdwan, he said it was the state that would have to decide on her stay in the city.

Mukherjee added that Taslima could stay in the country as long as she liked but the writer should also remember that she should not do anything that would hurt the sentiments of some people in the country.

"The Centre had arranged a safe haven for her stay as Taslima had faced threats in some parts of the country, including Kolkata. Her needs were being looked after," the minister said.

Asked about possible restrictions on her return to Kolkata, Mukherjee said, "Whether she will come to Kolkata or go to Chennai ... She is not under house arrest."

The government's policy was to make all appropriate arrangements for the safe and secure stay of a guest, he said.

State transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, though, remained firm on his earlier stand on Taslima, saying he had no problems in giving Taslima shelter at his house in Salt Lake.

"I remain firm on my earlier stance. If the Centre can provide her visa and security and the state government can maintain law and order, then there is no problem if Taslima expresses her wish of staying at my home," he said.

Husain exhibition resumes in Delhi

An exhibition of works of acclaimed painter M F Husain resumed in the capital on Sunday, defying threats by Hindutva organisations which earlier forced the organisers to close down the display for a day.

The 'India in the Era of Mughals' exhibition reopened at the Arts Gallery of the India International Centre (IIC) at 11 a.m. amid tightened security, IIC officials said.

On display are 20 graphical prints of Husain's paintings which are permanently housed at Fida Museum in London and these works are a tribute to the history of Indian cinema.

This is the first major exhibition of Husain's works in Delhi after a gap of about 20 years.

The IIC and exhibition sponsor Dolly Narang suspended the show for a day on Saturday following threat calls, SMSs and letters on December 20 and 21 from Delhi, Mumbai and Pune from Hindu activists including Bajrang Dal. Hussain's alleged obscene portrayal of Hindu Goddesses had invited the wrath of Sangh Parivar.

However, after a meeting of the IIC Board of Directors and Narang, it was decided to go ahead with the December 17-28 exhibition from today.

The 92-year-old artist, described by Forbes Magazine as the 'Pablo Picasso of India', is currently in self-exile in Dubai after a series of protests against him for his depiction of Hindu Goddesses.

Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM)
P.O. Box 5493, Santa Clara , CA 95056-5493
Tel: (212) 592-3627, Fax: (212) 202-7683
Email: info@hrcbm.org or Human.Rights@ hrcbmdfw. org
Web: http://www.hrcbm. org or http://www.hrcbmdfw .org

HRCBM PRESS RELEASE
Date: December 22, 2007

A 33-member Executive Committee of the Bangladesh National Chapter of the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM-Bangladesh) was constituted at an assembly held on the premises of Swami Bholanandagiri Ashram Trust at 12 KM Das Lane , Tikatuly, Dhaka recently.

Dr Ajoy K Roy, a retired professor of Dhaka University, and Mr. Rabindranath Trivedi, a former additional secretary of Bangladesh government and and ex- Press Secretary to the President of Bangladesh, were elected unanimously as President and Secretary General of HRCBM-Bangladesh National Chapter (HRCBM-Bangladesh NC), respectively, at the meeting chaired by Professor Ajoy K Roy. The Executive Committee is comprised of retired government officials, university professors, advocates, philanthropists, former ambassador, leaders of Hindu, Baidya (Buddhist), Christian and Adibashi (Indigenous People) communities, journalist, and businessmen.

At first meeting of the Executive Committee on December 10, 2007 at 12 K M Das Lane , Tikatuli, Dhaka-1203, Professor Ajoy Roy, (President, HRCBM-Bangladesh NC ) stressed the need of formation of Bangladesh Chapter of HRCBM tracing the historical development of HRCBM USA in 2001 primarily to protect the rights and uphold the cause of Bangladesh minorities. He emphatically declare that – To-day, the 10th December, is the World Human Rights Day, so we have to say straight to the Government as well to the World community of Nations that we, the Minorities of this part of the world now constituting Bangladesh, have been the victim of persecution, physically, mentally and materially since the division of the Indian Subcontinent in 1947 and exposed to many discriminatory laws and constitutional amendments in which our fundamental rights have been constrained and marginalized. We, on this auspicious day, very sadly remember betrayals of many commitments from political pa