[ASEAK Release] FYUP: Institutionalising Inequality in Delhi University

- Association of Students for Equitable Access to Knowledge

Association of Students for Equitable Access to Knowledge (ASEAK) has been formed in the light of increasing restrictions on access to affordable reading material- specifically the lawsuit by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis on Rameshwari Photocopy Services in Delhi University on charges of copyright infringement. The Association has been, among other things, struggling against growing privatisation and commercialisation of higher education. With this perspective, we see the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) as a reform which has been designed to push forward the agenda of serving private commercial interests. And the implementation of such a regressive programme could only have been autocratic, which the events of last few months have demonstrated. Following are the grounds on which ASEAK rejects the FYUP, apart from condemning the absolute high-handed and authoritarian method of its implementation:

# Multiple-exit points and the question of drop-outs: The concept of multiple-exit points in the course, which has been harped upon as promoting students’ freedom to choose and decide, blatantly institutionalises already existing inequities in higher education. Multiple exits in the course accordingly ‘grade’ the course. So clearly, a 2-years course will be less valuable than a 4-year course. And the ‘freedom’ to complete it two years or four is really a question of who has the means to afford it. Higher education for many female students is a struggle, and they will be the first to be asked to take a token degree and discontinue education. Multiple-exit points is simply an exercise in making denial of education a formal system. 

Further, the multiple-exit points scheme is being projected as a solution to the high drop-out rate (30%, according to ‘studies’, as the Vice Chancellor claims: there is no systematic study of the matter). That a University doesn’t tackle the reasons why students are forced to drop-out and institutionalises ‘dropping-out’ lays bare their agenda of making education exclusive. 

[Release] Protest Held Across Cities Against Saffron Violence On FTII Students in Pune

Students’ Association 

Film and Television Institute of India, 

Law College Road, Pune: 411004

Following the dastardly assault on FTII students by ABVP activists, a rally was organized by the students association of FTII from the institute premises till Omkareshwar bridge , where activist Shri. Narendra Dhabolkar was brutally murdered. Simultaneous protests/agitations were organized in Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh by students unions, cultural group, civil society members and artists in solidarity with the students.

In Pune, the solidarity march comprised of the FTII students association and representatives of the Swatantra theatre group, Pune Municipal Kamgari Union, AISA and Yugpath along with members of the FTII administration, faculty and staff.

The Police had denied permission for the proposed rally citing Sec 37(1)(3).The permission was only granted at the last minute after more than 250 people gathered at the FTII gate . For an hour before starting the march the students and the supporters cried slogans, performed songs and plays in front of the institute gate.

Following the demonstration, the students took out a peaceful silent march covering their mouth with black ribbons. The placards and banner held by the students and supporters spoke of their demands and their disappointments apart from their anger regarding the state of affairs.

The march that began at FTII reached Omkareshwar chowk cutting through the city. At the Omkareshwar Chowk a minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect to the late Dr. Narendra Dabholkar. Mukta Manohar, General Secretary of Pune Muncipal Kamgari Union addressing the gathering congratulated the students for taking a bold initiative and asked the students to keep the fighting spirit alive in them for a lifetime. The General Secretary of FTII Student’s Association, Vikas Urs addressed the people gathered and thanked the police for providing support.

Solidarity March in Delhi was organized by NSD and supported by students of DU, JNU, Jamia Milia Islamia, Ambedkar College. More than 150 people sang songs, performed plays and shouted slogans as part of their protest.  In Hyderabad Street plays at different plays were performed. People in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh met to condemn the incidents and distributed pamphlets.

A charter of demands will be handed over to the Police tomorrow, reiterating that the flimsy charges slapped against 6 FTII students be immediately taken back, amongst other demands.

Vikas Urs,

General Secretary,

FTII Students’ Association,

9158737954

**********

Below are few photographs from protests held in various cities:

[Public Meeting] Remembering Dabholkar: Who is Afraid of Reason?

New Socialist Initiative (NSI) Public Meeting

Remembering Dabholkar:

Who is Afraid of Reason?

Speakers

Amitabh Pande 

(Astronomer & Science Communicator)

 Gauhar Raza 

(Scientist, Poet, Social Activist & Film Maker)

Sanjay Kumar 

(Teacher, Dept of Physics, St. Stephens' College & NSI activist) 

5 pm to 8 pm; 30th August, 2013 

SPWD Conference Hall, 14-A, Vishnu Digambar Marg, ITO, New Delhi. (SPWD is next to Hindi Bhavan and Ajoy Bhavan)

Well known rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was murdered on Aug 20 on a busy street in Pune. From all evidence his killing was a well planned conspiracy. Dr Dabholkar was a lifelong campaigner against superstition, blind faith, and godmen who exploited the gullible. His murder shocked many in Maharashtra. Citizens of Satara, his hometown, observed a spontaneous bandh. The city of Pune observed perhaps the first non-political shut down in its history in his memory. Popular sentiment against his murder appears so strong that the state government, which had been sitting on an anti-superstition bill drafted by him for more than a decade, passed it in two days after is death. Who could be so scared of Dr Dabholkar’s campaigns to get him killed? 

Egypt Today: The Challenges for the Democratic Popular Movement

[Editor's Note: After the fall of Morsi, Samir Amin had written that the fall of Morsi was a victory for Egyptian people which was also published in this blog on 4th July. Since than there has been accusations from some quarters that Amin supports military dictatorship, in the article below Amin clarifies and reiterate his position]

- Samir Amin

I

Too much is written on Egypt, which is understandable, even when coming from people whose knowledge of the Arab world is limited. 

Too many are absorbing the info given by the mainstream western media, which is in that case as well as it is with respect to Venezuela for instance, almost always systematically distorted and even often completely false. Many are also simplifying the issue , the alternative being : "respect of elections’ results - we say in Egypt rightly of so called elections - or support to a military power". 

No , the real challenge does not allow that over simplification . The "movement" - a gigantic mass movement- expresses a set of demands: 1) for social justice, 2) for respect of human dignity and rights (ie; democracy understood as more than simply elections), 3) respect of national sovereignty and independence. These demands are objectively complementary, progressive, and involve moving away from neo-liberal economic and social policies which are at the origin of the disaster, and simultaneously moving away from alignment on the US and their allies (Europe, Israel, the Gulf countries) in international and regional politics. Yet wide segments of the movement understand that only in part, sometimes separating the issues and forgetting this or that one of the programme, that is the least that can be said. The Military high command makes use of that weakness by on the one hand supporting the mass people demand (removing Morsi) and on the other hand giving no power to the movement (keeping it for them). The struggle is on that ground, not on the one as defined by the Muslim Brotherhood or the Western powers. It is a struggle aiming at compelling the government to implement the 3 demands as formulated above, certainly not demanding the return of the so called elected Muslim Brotherhood !

About Saffron Violence On FTII Students: Punyanagari (The Virtuous City)

- Anand Patwardhan

Pune, Aug 22. Last night a FTII and Yugpath student organized screening of “Jai Bhim Comrade” began with a tribute to anti-superstition campaigner Narendra Dabholkar, who had just the previous day been gunned down by fanatics in the same city. It was our 4th screening of the film at the FTII and as before, the large NFAI auditorium was overflowing. The screening and discussions went off without a hitch. Not a single audience question led me to suspect that Hindutva elements were in attendance. In fact I am always happy to get questions from opposite sides of the political spectrum as I believe that such debates and discussions benefit everyone and are precisely the function of the kind of cinema I believe in.

As the film and discussion ended, some audience members left but more poured in for the next event - the first stage appearance of members of the Kabir Kala Manch (KMM) in over two years. It was of course a depleted KKM. Accused by the State of associating with Naxalites, three of their main singers and poets are still in jail awaiting trial. Last month Sheetal Sathe, their charismatic lead singer/poet was granted bail but was unavailable having just delivered a baby. Barring Deepak Dengle, other KKM members who are out of prison, were not lead singers but part of the chorus or the support team. As Jyoti Jagtap said to the audience in her introduction: “We are not trained musicians from the Gwalior gharana, or the Jaipur or Agra gharanas. We are working class youth from the basti, factory and farm-labour gharanas. We won’t be able to deliver the perfect note or play the perfect instrument but if you listen to our words, I am confident that what we have to say will be of interest.”

KKM lived upto its promise. They began with a song they dedicated to the memory of Narendra Dabholkar. It was the Ambedkar inspired song against superstition “Amhi Devhara Bajula Saarlay” (We have set aside all our gods). Following this was a rousing anti-nuclear song on Jaitapur, then the moving “Sau” an ode to Savitribai Phule and concluding with the defiant: “Kabir wants to break his shackles to dance and sing. Let him dance and sing !”

FTII Students' Association Calls For Solidarity Against Mindless Violence by Fascist Forces

                                                       

Students’ Association 

Film and Television Institute of India, 

Law College Road, Pune: 411004

On the 21st of August 2013 students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Yugpath, Pune organized a screening of ‘Jai Bhim Comrade’, followed by a discussion with Anand Patwardhan and a performance by members of the Kabir Kala Manch. At the close of this event, five students of FTII were physically attacked by twelve members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). 

Maharashtra has for centuries produced socially progressive activists. Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was one among them. The event on the 21st was organized by the students of FTII to also pay homage to Dr. Narendra Dabholkar. It is unacceptable that an attack of this nature can be inflicted on students for organizing cultural events, in a state, which has a rich and diverse cultural tradition. 

This is not an incident in isolation. The attacks on Amdavad ni Gufa an art gallery in Ahmedabad and the cancellation of Sanjay Kak’s film at Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune are recent examples of mindless violence by right-wing fascist groups. It is critical to challenge the growing impunity with which fascist groups are intolerant of artists, thinkers, students and any individual who are either opposed or not inclined to their politics. Such attacks by any fascist force violate the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. At a time when such attacks are becoming increasingly routine we appeal to the student community and all concerned individuals to register their protest.

On the 26th, this Monday, we are organizing a Solidarity March starting from FTII Campus, Law College Road to Omkareshwar Chowk at 4 PM. This march is a protest against the assassination of Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, the attack against the five FTII students, and all other acts of mindless violence by fascist forces. We demand that those guilty of attacking the FTII students be brought to justice and the charges against the FTII students be dropped immediately. Join us in solidarity as we peacefully march to celebrate the right to democratic dialogue and reclaim the right to expression. 

We appeal to students and free thinking individuals across the country to voice their protest. We urge you to use your art, your words and your ideas in defiance of such fascist forces.

Vikas Urs

General Secretary 

Students’ Association, F.T.I.I 

Contact- 09158737954, 

ftiistudentsbody@gmail.com, 

http://ftiistudentsbody.blogspot.com

Where Are The Emile Zolas’ of Our Times!

-Subhash Gatade

(This is the text of an invited Lecture delivered at a seminar on ‘Literature and Human Rights’ organized by Department of English, Pondicherry University, 7-8 August 2013.)

Each one has his reasons: for one, art is a flight; for another, a means of conquering. But one can flee into a hermitage, into madness, into death. One can conquer by arms. Why does it have to be writing, why does one have to manage his escapes and conquests by writing? Because, behind the various aims of authors, there is a deeper and more immediate choice which is common to all of us.

                                                                 What is Literature? Jean Paul Sartre

I

It is difficult to start when you are among an august gathering of masters and students of a subject you are not much aware of and are asked to say something to them. Today I find myself in that unenviable situation.

Let me admit here that when I received the information of the seminar I was really very excited to learn that scholars of literature would be focusing themselves on human rights, an issue which demands urgent attention from every thinking and concerned human being. But when the question of joining the debate arose, I was really in two minds. In fact, I was bit reluctant to come here for two simple reasons. 

Firstly, being a left activist for larger part of my social life, I have been more accustomed to address public meetings on specific issues or share my ideas on a particular theme among activist circles. There have not been very many occasions when I had the opportunity to come to such gatherings.

Second reason was very personal. The moment my daughter came to know of this invite she advised me to be extra careful with my English pronunciation.

So with due apologies to you all in advance – who might have harrowing time listening to my English for next couple of minutes – here I begin.

II

Not some time ago I came across information of an unusual book ‘Writer’s police’ written by Bruno Fulgini, an employee at the French Parliament, whose job was to scan old files at the office of the Paris police. What he found interesting in the two hundred year old police files that beyond criminals and political figures, there were files on writers and artists as well. In fact, this book provides details of the way in which great writers of late 18th century who were living in Paris at that time were kept under surveillance by the then rulers of France.It was clear to these protectors of internal security of a tottering regime that the renowned literati then, might be writing fiction, but their sharp focus on the hypocrisy of the aristocrats or the livelihood issues of ordinary people was adding to the growing turmoil in the country. They knew very well that they might be writing fiction for the masses but it is turning out to be a sharp political edge that hit the right target and is becoming a catalyst for change. History bears witness to the fact that all those meticulous efforts put in by the police to curtail the free flow of ideas proved futile and how French revolution of those times emerged as a beacon of hope for thinking people across the world.

Or take the case of the novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ or, Life Among the Lowly, an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel “helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War”. Details of the popularity of the book can be had from the fact that it was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible.

A Socialism for the 21st Century

- Richard Wolff

[Note: Richard Wolff is one of the most distinguished Marxist economists of our times. Working along with his colleague Stephen A Resnick (1938-2013), he has brought back Marx’s notion of surplus into the definition of class. In this article, while re-evaluating 20th Century Socialism, he argues that a Socialism for the 21st Century must include and stress the importance of micro-level social transformation at the base of society in the workplace. Ending exploitation in workplaces is that transformation. Instead of workers producing surpluses for others to appropriate and distribute, they must now do that for themselves collectively. They must become their own board of directors.]

Capitalism has stopped "delivering the goods" for quite a while now, especially in its older bases (Europe, North America and Japan). Real wage stagnation, deepening wealth and income inequalities, unsustainable debt levels and export of jobs have been prevailing trends in those areas. The global crisis since 2007 only accelerated those trends. In response, more has happened than Keynesianism returning to challenge neoliberalism and critiques returning to challenge uncritical celebrations of capitalism. Capitalism's development has raised a basic question again: What alternative economic system might be necessary and preferable for societies determined to do better than capitalism? That old mole, socialism, has thus returned for interrogation about its past to draw the lessons about its present and future.

The Historical Background of Socialism

Since the mid 19th century, socialism has mostly been differentiated from capitalism in two basic ways. Instead of capitalism's private ownership of means of production (land, factories, offices, stores, machinery, etcetera), socialism would transfer that ownership to the state as the administrator for public, social or collective ownership. Instead of capitalism's distribution of resources and products by means of market exchange, socialism would substitute state central planning to accomplish that distribution. Marxism was generally viewed as the basic theoretical criticism of capitalism that went on to define and justify a social transition from capitalism to socialism. Communism was generally viewed as a distant, rather utopian stage of social development beyond socialism wherein class differences would disappear, the state would wither away as a social institution, work activity would be transformed and distribution would be based purely on need.

Before 1917, socialism comprised both the critical analysis of capitalism and the anti-capitalist programs promoted by various social movements, labor unions, writers and political parties. They advocated transitions from private toward state ownership of means of production, and from market toward state-planned distribution. Socialism was stunningly successful at winning hearts and minds; it spread quickly across the globe. By 1917, a revolution in Russia enabled a new government to replace the capitalism it had inherited with what it understood as socialism. Bolshevik leaders thus moved to nationalize productive property in industry and institute planning as hallmarks of the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics' (USSR's) economy.

Yet Soviet socialism also changed and complicated the meaning of socialism in the world. Beyond being a general theory and program of anti-capitalism, socialism came also to be the label applied to what was said and done in and by the USSR. This change had profound consequences. Socialists around the world split into two wings or segments. [1] For one wing, the evolving Soviet revolution was the realization of what socialism had always sought. It therefore had to be defended at all costs from capitalism's assaults. That wing increasingly defined socialism as what the USSR did after 1917; Soviet socialism became the model to be replicated everywhere.

The other wing disagreed. Socialism's traditional theory and program did not need - and ought not - to be adjusted to replicate what happened in the USSR. Some in this wing criticized what the Bolsheviks did in the USSR (particularly in terms of political freedoms and civil liberties). Others believed that peaceful, nonrevolutionary and electoral strategies were surer roads to socialism than Bolshevik revolutionary politics. For them, "evolutionary" socialism was a better road to take than revolutionary socialism. Classical socialism, for this wing, was very different from what happened and evolved in the USSR.

Press Release: 'Batla House Encounter Case' Verdict - A Mockery of Justice

- Press Release issued by Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association (JTSA) on 31st July, 2013

Calling the verdict by a Delhi court holding Shahzad Ahmad guilty of murder and many other offences in controversial Batla House encounter case as “perverse and a mockery of justice” , the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (JTSA) has expressed shock over the flagrant violation of settled principles of criminal jurisprudence in the case.

Releasing analysis of the judgment entitled “Beyond Reasonable Doubt? The Conviction of Shahzad Ahmad”, here on Wednesday, Manisha Sethi, President of JTSA, said that the judgment assumes the facts that were required to have been examined by the court as to whether the prosecution had proved them or not, and projects these assumptions as “findings”.

“Beyond Reasonable Doubt? The Conviction of Shahzad Ahmad” is a point-by-point critique of the judgement of the Additional Session Judge Rajinder Kumar Shastri. The report also contains photographs and sketches to explain its objections on the findings of the judgement.

Press conference by JTSA on 31st July. Photo: Mukul Dube

Commenting on theory of escape of accused Shahzad Ahmad propounded by the judgement, Manisha Sethi said that the police had claimed that two terrorists managed to escape from the flat while opening fire on the police, the court comes up with completely new story, purely on the basis of conjectures.

“Forgetting even the basic legal principle that prosecution must prove its case in the manner alleged, the court speculates that these two persons might have taken shelter in some other flat and then escaped posing as local residents.”, Manisha Sethi said.

Solidarity Demonstration to be held for Niyamgiri Struggle in Delhi on 31st July

The prospects for Vedanta’s Niyamgiri mine are looking even more remote as the results of the Palli Sabhas being held on the command of the Supreme Court’s April judgement on the mine, flood in. Five gram sabhas have been held so far in the villages of Serkapadhi, Kesarpadhi, Tadijhola, Kunakadu and Palberi. In all the five villages, villagers have expressed a thundering NO to the proposed mining activity by Vedanta. In one gram sabha after another, the people have unanimously passed resolutions asserting their rights to the whole Niyamgiri range as their sacred mountain. They have made it clear, that they lay claim to the whole mountain range.

In the first gram sabha in Serkapadhi village on 18h July, 2014, Sarat Chandra Mishra the district judge of Rayagada -- in violation of his role as an independent observer in the Supreme Court verdict -- kept directing the people on what they could and could not do. He threatened to call off the meeting when the people pressed Judge Mishra to reject the joint verification report conducted by local revenue and forest officials. This report, the villagers accused which tries to limit the territory of worship and habitat of the Dongria tribe to specific demarcated areas, and that they were duped into signing it. In fact, Judge Mishra's true colours, and his clear partiality was revealed completely when he raised his voice at a tribal who demanded to see a photocopy of the resolution they were being asked to sign saying: “You are acting too smart despite being illiterate. If you had some education you would have sold the country”. This comment led to a lot of uproar during the gram sabha as well as later on when the news spread. Since then, the two appointed judges have have not embroiled themselves in any more controversy, and maintained a neutral public stance during the proceedings. 

After Serkapadhi, the gram sabha resolutions by the villagers have rejected the 'joint verification report' by the state government. All the gram sabhas have been held with the deployment of heavy police and security forces. In each gram sabha, people from the nearby villages have come in large numbers to stand in solidarity with the village where the gram sabha is being conducted. 

Maruti-Suzuki Workers' Struggle for Justice Continues: Nine Comrades Granted Bail by a Lower Court

Press Release issued by Provisional Working Committee, Maruti Suzuki Workers Union on 24th July 2013.

Today, 24th July 2013, the nine comrades in Kaithal District Jail, Haryana were released on bail after months of intense pressure by the movement and other solidarity efforts. Among them are Comrade Ramniwas, member of Provisional Working Committee, Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, Com. Deepak, General Secretary of Hindustan Motors Sangrami Shramik Karmachari Union, Com. Somnath, correspondent of the workers’ newspaper, Shramik Shakti and Suresh Koth, local panchayat leader from Jind, Dr. Ashwini, doctor and local social activist and others. The fake cases on them which range from Section 307 (Attempt to Murder) and the Arms Act (possession of illegal weapons etc) foisted by the police to break the valiant demonstration by over 2000 people in Kaithal on 19th May 2013 will continue. However even in the space of these two months after these targeted political arrests, we have not been cowered down and carried on continuous struggle, and it is due to this that the powers-that-be have been forced to accede to the force of the truth of our struggle.

The next date for hearing after 19th July on the framing of charges for the 147 workers in Gurgaon Jail is on 27th July 2013 as their trail still has not started, and that is also the date when the last of the witnesses for the counter-case on the management will depose before the court.

Our primary demands of release of the 147 fellow workers who have been denied bail for more than one year now and the quashing of false cases against them and on 66 others who have non-bailable arrest warrants against their name, still remains. As Suzuki Motors Chairman, Mr. Osamu Suzuki visits India, we want to reiterate our second demand of reinstatement of all the terminated workers, and that the government stop acting with only in favour of the interests of the company and implement labor laws in the region.

We observe with alarm, the similarity in the recent statement on 18th July of MSIL Chairman R.C. Bhargava who said “Japanese investors are jittery over the situation of labour unrest in India because of what happened in Manesar”, and the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court’s verdict on 22nd May 2013 dismissing bail pleas of the arrested workers saying that “foreign investors are likely not to invest the money in India out of fear of labour unrest”. We appeal to all to keep vigil so that the government and justice-giving agencies are not influenced by the false propaganda and money-power of this highly exploitative company management.

Sacking 'Ad-hoc' Teachers: Destroying Lives and Playing with the Future of Higher Education

- Mukul Mangalik

‘People are people through other people’ (Xhosa proverb).

‘We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery’ (Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator).

Delhi University (DU) colleges are in the grip of frenzy. With the DU administration breaking promises for appointing permanent teachers against existing and newly sanctioned posts since 2009-10, large numbers of ‘ad-hoc’ appointees are being shown the door as new ‘ad-hocs’ are poised to replace them. This has been happening systematically and with determination since 2012, but the scale on which it is being pursued this summer appears to be unprecedented.

This is being done through the unfair practice of holding repeat interviews for the same jobs. Serving ‘ad-hoc’ teachers, it must be emphasized, have been selected at different times through due process for these jobs. This renders the repeat interviews nothing other than forms for the exercise of power over ‘ad-hocs’ and instruments for deepening the presence and footprint of footloose, malleable labour at DU. The large-scale sacking, or threat of removal of teachers currently underway needs to be brought to an immediate halt and dignity and secure employment guaranteed to all colleagues.

‘Ad-hoc’ appointees become teachers in colleges after going through merit-based interviews. They are appointed for durations of up to four months. Within this period--in the event that the vacancy in question may be longer than four months--selection committees are supposed to be constituted, fresh interviews advertised, and appointments made against temporary or permanent posts. University Ordinances are clear on this issue.

If, for whatever reasons, this does not happen, the fairest possible practice has been that the previously appointed ‘ad-hocs’, who are in no way responsible for delays in interviews for longer-term posts, continue until such time, in the near future, that this process is completed.

All of this has been informed by the understanding that ‘ad-hoc’ or ‘adjunct’ conditions, must remain, at most, a transient moment in teachers’ lives, and that too only if absolutely necessary. The regular work of teaching demands regular forms of employment. Anything else would negatively impact teachers’ work apart from constituting unfair labour practice.

There is adequate evidence regarding the long-term mental and physical destruction caused when people are faced with job insecurity and/or under-employment. Yet, all across the colleges of DU, undergraduates are being taught by thousands of teachers struggling to offer the best they can in the face of indignities, terrible economic insecurity, and the increasing threat of stress-related illnesses. 

Poster Design: Harsh Kapoor

Pabnava to Natham: Whatever Happened to the Struggle for Annihilation of Caste!

- Subhash Gatade

..the world owes much to rebels who would dare to argue in the face of the pontiff and insist that he is not infallible. I do not care about the credit which every progressive society must give to its rebels. I shall be satisfied if I make the Hindus realize that they are the sick men of India, and that their sickness is causing danger to the health and happiness of other Indians.

                                                                    - B. R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

I

Pabnava : Not Just the Name of a Village

200 Dalit families fled Pabnava village after being attacked by a
dominant caste mob due to an inter caste marriage.

Dalit residents of Pabnava, district Kaithal, Haryana would never be able to forget this year's birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. The intervening nights of April 13 and 14 would forever remain etched on their minds. They still shiver when they remember how a four hundred strong mob of the local landowning community called Ror Marathas, armed with spears, batons and other sharp edged weapons, attacked the basti and ransacked more than 200 houses and left 6 dalits injured. It was supposedly to avenge the 'dishonour' wrought on them by a dalit youth who had dared to marry one of 'their girls'. To quote Raji, one of the victims, '..they came like a tornado'.

One could easily notice simmering tension in the village since a few days, as news had come in that Meena (21) daughter of an influential Ror Maratha from the village called Pirthi Singh had married a dalit boy Suryakant s/o Mahendra Pal and had eloped with him. They had married on 9 th April in the high court of Punjab and Haryna and had sought protection from the administration. As per the instructions of the court they were staying in the district protection home, Kaithal. The news that the couple was staying at Kaithal reached the village on 12 th April. The very next day the Rors held a community Panchayat to deliberate on the matter.

For the 5,000 strong Ror Marathas, with control over most of the landholdings in the area, it was 'unpardonable' that one amongst the 300 Chamar families who mostly depended upon the Rors for their regular livelihood, had dared to marry one of their daughters. And to avenge this insult they had given an ultimatum to the dalits to return the girl within two days or face the consequences. Apart from the Rors and Chamars, the village has 200 Balmiki families, around 200 OBC households and a few Brahmin households.

Dekhna Hai Zor Kitna Baajue Katil Mein Hai: Struggle of Maruti Suzuki Workers against Capitalist Dictatorship

Statement issued by New Socialist Initiative, Delhi, in Solidarity with the Struggles of Maruti Workers.

Workers of Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) are fighting the most important working class struggle at the moment in India. One hundred forty seven of them have been in prison in for the past one year, without any chargesheet and bail. Their demonstrations have suffered tear gas and lathi charges. Their family members have been threatened and tortured. More than two thousand of them have been unemployed for the last one year. Their demand is very simple: Implement the law of the land. Workers right to form their own union, regularization of contract jobs, and safeguards against arbitrary dismissals, are all on statute books. It is well known that these laws are routinely flouted in the country that calls itself the largest democracy in the world. Yet, the workers of the MSWU are not ready to give up. They are up against the largest car maker in the country, that sold more than ten lakh vehicles and earned more than three thousand crore rupees in profit last year. In complete support to the Maruti Suzuki stands the state government of Haryana; its ministers, bureaucracy and police. Also in support is the corporate media, whose greed for advertisements from one of the largest advertisers in the country is much greater than any commitment to honest reporting. The unholy alliance of capital, politicians, bureaucracy and media is vicious, unscrupulous, dishonest, brutal and arrogant. Workers’ struggle has long ago gone beyond demands for economic gains. At stake for them are their rights as citizens and workers. They are fighting for justice, fair-play, and minimal decency due to every human being.

Maruti Suzuki is a ruthless employer. Seventy five percent of its work force is on contract earning upto Rs 10,000, with no security of employment. It produces one car every 45 seconds, and squeezes maximum from workers, who do not get even breaks for going to toilet. They lose half day's wages for reporting late by five minutes, and even after prior reporting of sick leave they lose up to four days' wages. The struggle of workers of the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki started in June 2011 with a demand for a union of their own. The existing union was based at the other plant at Gurgaon. In workers’ view it did not represent their interests on issues like work speed ups, remuneration, and most significantly contract workers' special concerns. Workers started organising for an independent union very carefully, keeping it a secret from the management, as Maruti Suzuki is known to not tolerate any autonomous initiative by workers. However, company's stooges in the state government's labour office informed it of workers' application for an independent union, and the same day it started harassing workers who had taken the initiative for forming the union. It dismissed eleven workers whose names appeared in the application to labour department. Workers responded by a sit-in protest inside the factory. Company securtiy and police surrounded the factory but refrained from a direct assault to force workers out, as it might have damaged expensive machinery. Cordoned off workers braved it for eighteen days, without electricity, sanitation and little water and food. Other workers' unions in the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt struck in solidarity and large public meetings were held outside the factory. Finally, the company agreed to take back dismissed workers. 

The Coconut Terrorists: Javed-Ishrat Encounter Case

- Mukul Sinha 

Editor's Note: Below are updates on Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case by Mukul Sinha, eminent lawyer and civil rights activist from Gujarat. If you are on facebook you can follow the "Ishrat Jahan Fake Encounter Case Evidence Series" here. If you are on Twitter you can follow the latest from him here.  

13th July: The ACP Shri Parixita Gurjar was called early in the morning on 15th June 2004 and appointed as the investigating officer of the encounter carried out by the police men of the crime branch. It may be mentioned that Parixita Gurjar was also working with the crime branch. She immediately drew up a list of articles which were found in the scene of crime which are as follows: 

One AK 56 rifle, Three magazines, Two 9 mm pistols of Foreign make, 9 mm magazine No. 2, AK-56 cartridges No. 171, Pistol cartridges No. 6, Satellite Mobile, Mobile Phone Nos 2, Cash amounting to Rs 2,06,000, Iraq currency Dinar - 25, Oman currency Bhaisa-300, Explosive powder approximately about 17 kgs, dry coconuts - 30 nos, time piece watches - 3 nos, telephone diary and account diary.

Of these articles, the ones which have the potential of causing serious physical hurt are the AK-56 rifle and its magazines, 9 mm pistols and its ammunition, the explosive powder and the 30 dry coconuts when thrown real hard.

Now lets look at some statements and evidences to find out how many of these really belonged to the deceased who had come allegedly to kill Modi.

Relevant Extract from Police Inspector BA Patel's statement (RC BS1/S/2011/0005-CBI, SCB, Mumbai)

"On 14.06.2004 morning, I had left Arham Farm to meet Shri Singhal for some work. Shri Singhal had asked me to come to him to the SIB office, bungalow no. 31, Shahibaug. We had reached there around 10:00 AM. Shri Rajinder Kumar had met Shri Singhal there in his office and he had handed over a AK 56 rifle, ammunition, magazines, two pistols and its ammunition to Shri Singhal in a bag"

So all the guns and its ammunition were planted by the police and hence could not have belonged to the four 'terrorists' who were killed. Hence we are left with the 17 kg of explosives and 30 dry coconuts. Lets hear what DFS Gandhinagar has to say about the 17 kgs of deadly explosives.

Here's an extract from the FIR (bearing no. DCB PS I CR No. 8 of 2004) filed by the SIT team that was constituted by the High Court of Gujarat.

Para 8.5: "A gunny bag containing 17 kg of yellow powder was seized from the Indica car. It was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by the DFS (Directorate of Forensic Science), Gandhinagar and the Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives, Vadodra and it was subsequently opined that the subject chemical mixture is not an explosive mixture"

So as per the opinion of DFS Gandhinagar, the 17 kg deadly explosives was nothing but harmless yellow powder.

Now we are left with just 30 dry coconuts. So the dreaded LET terrorists came armed with 30 dry coconuts to liquidate the Chief Minister of the State. It should be noted that these weapons of mass (modi) destruction were sourced from Javed's father, Mr Gopinath Pillai's backyard, gifted to his grandchildren, i.e. Javed's three children.

Bodhgaya Bomb Blasts: Are 'We' Ready to Look Beyond the 'Usual Suspects'

- Subhash Gatade

I

Encore! Mr. Praveen Swamy has 'discovered' the 'usual suspects' once again.

Narrating '[t]he same old, depressing story of incompetence and apathy' behind the Bodh Gaya bombings  Swamy has shared with the readers how "[I]ndia’s police and intelligence services knew there were plots to attack the temple." and how ".. jihadists quite publicly announced they intended to attack Buddhist targets. ... From January, Government sources have told Firstpost, the Intelligence Bureau had issued several warnings pointing to heightened risks to Buddhist religious targets in India, as a consequence of anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar." 

Of course, after giving enough hints about who the perpetrators could be, he has been careful enough to add - supposedly to maintain objectivity of his profession that: 

"It’s too early to come to conclusions on who the perpetrators might have been—unlike Internet conspiracy theorists, who’ll be blaming everyone from Islamists to the intelligence services themselves in coming hours. Criminal investigators need evidence, not guesses about motives. There are some pieces of evidence already available, though."

Readers of his erstwhile employer namely 'The Hindu' group of publications can vouch that it is not for the first time that he has done it. They have been witness to his similar write ups, providing enough juicy details of the cross-border connections of these terrorists, after every such terror attack. It is a different matter that later it turned out that many of these write ups were pure work of fiction as it was discovered that the actual perpetrators were Hindutva terrorists only. e.g. Any independent reader can see for herself/himself what Praveen Swamy had written about say Mecca Masjid blasts, Ajmer Sharif blasts and Samjhauta Express bomb blasts (all in the Year 2007) and what were the conclusions of the investigators later.

Any cursory glance at the media scene in this country can make it clear that Praveen Swami is not an exception.

Praveen Swamy's Evidence that "Indian Mujahideen" is behind the Bodhgaya Bomb Blast

It is important to remember this fact because with the bomb blast at Bodh Gaya, the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment and which is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha - the remaining being Lumbini, Sarnath and Kushinagar - the whole debate around terrorism has entered a much difficult terrain. 

स्वतन्त्रता – या कॉपीराईट

- रिचर्ड स्टालमैन

कॉपीराईट की व्यवस्था प्रिेन्टिंग प्रैस के काल में लिखने व प्रकाशन के व्यवसाय पर औद्योगिक नियमन के रूप में स्थापित की गयी थी। इसका लक्ष्य भिन्न भिन्न स्रोतों से रचनाओं के प्रकाशन को प्रोत्साहन देना था, जिसके लिये प्रकाशकों को लेखकों की नवीन रचनाओं को छापने के लिये उनसे अनुमति की आवश्यकता का सहारा लिया गया। इससे रचनाकारों को प्रकाशकों के माध्यम से स्थायी आय मिली, और लेखन को प्रोत्साहन मिला। आम लोगों को भी इससे लाभ हुआ, जबकि नुक्सान लगभग नहीं के बराबर था। कॉपीराईट ने प्रकाशकों की ही सीमित किया, आम पाठकों को बाधित नहीं। एक बार किताब खरीद लेने के बाद वे किसी भी रूप में इसका इस्तेमाल कर सकते थे, अपने जानकारों से इसे साझा कर सकते थे, पूरानी किताबों की दुकान में इसे बेच सकते थे। इस प्रकार तर्क दिया जा सकता है कि कॉपीराईट से सर्वजन को लाभ हुआ, तथा इस प्रकार पिन्टिंग प्रेस के समय में इसको  वैधता प्राप्त थी। सब कुछ सही था (उस समय में)

अब हमारे पास सूचना के वितरण का नया ढंग है: कम्पयूटर तथा नेटवर्क । इनके ज़रिये किसी भी प्रकार की सूचना, चाहे वह साफ्टवेयर, संगीत, पुस्तक या फिल्म हो, की प्रतिलिपी बनाना व उसमें मनचाहा परिवर्तन करना बेहद आसान हो गया है। ये पाठकों व श्रोताओं को सभी प्रकार के डाटा की असीमित सुलभता प्रदान करते हैं – यानि कि सूचना का यूटोपिया। 

लेकिन एक रोड़ा इन असीम संभावनाओं के रास्ते में था: कॉपीराईट। जिन पाठकों व श्रोताओं ने प्रतिलिपी बनाने की नयी क्षमताओं का उपयोग किया तथा इनको अन्य लोगों से साझा किया, वे तकनीकी रूप में कॉपीराईट का उल्लंघन कर रहे थे। वही कानून जो पहले प्रकाशकों पर लाभकारी औद्योगिक नियमन था, वही अब आम लोगों के हित में रूकावट था। 

ऐसा कानून जो सर्वसाधारण की उपयोगी गतिविधियों को रोकता हो, जनतन्त्र में उसमें देर सवेर ढील दी जाती है। लेकिन यह वहां नहीं होता जहां कारपरेशनों के पास राजनीतिक ताकत होती है। प्रकाशकों की लॉबी लोगों को अपने कम्यूटरों की क्षमताओं का उपयोग करने से रोकने के लिये अडी हूई थी, तथा कॉपीराईट का कानून उसके लिये एक तैयार हथियार था। उनके प्रभाव के अन्तर्गत सरकारों ने कॉपीराईट के नियमों को नयी परिस्थितियों के अनुरूप आसान बनाने की बजाये और अधिक सख्त कर दिया तथा सूचना को साझा करने पर कड़े दन्ड देने लगीं। नागरिकों के खिलाफ प्रकाशकों के हित साधने का नवीनतम फैशन सूचना साझा करने वाले लोगों के इन्टरनेट कनेक्शन काट देना है, जिसे ’तीन आघात’ कहा जाता है। 

Solidarity Program: Justice for Maruti Suzuki Workers

“Never, in all these years of my life had it occurred to me that the courts too care only about the rich. I am now beginning to believe that God too is only a rich man’s God.” - The wife of a terminated Maruti Suzuki worker

Dear Friends and Comrades,

The saga of struggle in the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki that has unfolded over the past two years has both wrenched our hearts as well as filled it with hope. The courage and fortitude with which the workers and their families have carried on the struggle has been remarkable. At the same time, the unflinching posture assumed by the state and our political leaders in open and unqualified favour of the multinational auto manufacturer has once again underlined the skewed power relations in this country that prides itself on its vibrant democracy. The right to association, to a life with dignity and freedom of expression seems clearly dispensable against the weight of corporate interests.

The incident of 18th July that led to the death of a HR Manager snowballed into international news. However, what was not reported was the way the Haryana police literally hunted down workers from their homes and even the streets. After the first few days of frenzied arrests, the police started picking up people to their own admission according to a list supplied by the management. 546 permanent workers were terminated along with 1,800 contract workers. The shop floor was conveniently purged of all those who had been part of the previous process of unionization or had ever dared to question unfair labour practices. The force with which the company, the government and unfortunately also the media has been putting forth the fact of a manager’s death serves to hide numerous other facts. Facts such as the prime witnesses presented by the company naming the accused in alphabetical order; such as the ever vigilant CCTV cameras being inexplicably switched off; such as the absolutely instrumental role played by the one manager who died in the incident in the registration of the Workers Union; and the presence of 100 hired bouncers in the premises. Instead, a sum of Rs 1.43 crore has been paid to the Public Prosecutor who in contravention to his mandate of representing the law of the land has turned a deaf ear to all these and other such inconsistencies in the management’s account. The workers have been demanding an independent enquiry into the incident because of the explicit bias of the Special Investigation Team of the Haryana Police, but to no avail. Evidently, all the arguments and requests being made by the workers have been conveniently set aside by branding their protests as that of “Ultras”, where even asking for one’s basic Constitutional rights appear as stretching the limits of democracy and in that having the verdict as good as passed against them even before the charges have been framed.

The Fall of Morsi: An Important Victory of the Egyptian People - Samir Amin

- Samir Amin

  

Yes, the fall of Morsi and of the rule of the Moslem Brothers is an important victory of the Egyptian people. It was expected by all Egyptians. 25 millions of citizens had signed a petition requiring the departure of Morsi, elected only thanks to a massive fraud; whose legitimacy was not recognized by the Egyptian judiciary body, but who was imposed by the decision of Washington. The body of “international observers of elections” had indeed failed to see the fraud!

The government of the Moslem Brothers was pursuing the same reactionary policy as that of Mubarak, and even in a more destructive way for the majority of popular classes. It made clear that it did not intend to respect the rules of democracy; it mobilized criminal gangs paid to harass the popular movements, continuously waving the flag of a “civil war”. Morsi acted as a brutal dictator, setting in all positions in the State of exclusively devoted Moslem Brothers. The combination of a disastrous economic and social policy and of the disrespect for normal management of the State led to an accelerated decline of earlier illusions of a good part of the society; the Moslem Brotherhood showed their real face. Yet the western powers continued to support the “elected President”, claiming that the regime was progressing toward democracy. Probably just as the Democratic Republic of Qatar is!

What happened on June 30th was expected. Mass demonstrations, larger even than those of January 2011: 16 million people on the streets, as recorded by the Police. Morsi responded by moving again the flag of the “civil war”. But he was unable to mobilise more than a few hundred thousands of paid supporters.

Can The Real Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Ever Stand Up?

- Subhash Gatade

I

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

It has been more than two years that A G Noorani's important book 'Article 370 : A Constitutional History of J and K' (OUP, 2011, Pages 480) has hit the stands and has been able to clear many a confusions about the tumultuous era in post independence times pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir. 

Basing himself on authentic documents, letters, memorandums, white papers, proclamations and amendments the author, a constitutional expert himself, has not only provided new insights about the period but has also tried to bring forth an important summary of the developments then and the role played by different stakeholders. While we have been witness to a process of erosion of the article 370 today, the book underscores the politics behind its erosion, which was negotiated between Prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah and had a stamp of approval from Sardar Patel and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.

For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which daily invokes name of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh - percursor to its present incarnation namely BJP - to oppose Article 370 which guarantees special status to Jammu and Kashmir - this exposure that the said Article had full approval from Mukherjee as well as then Home Minister Sardar Patel is nothing but blasphemous. Despite its important bearing on its overall posturing, one is yet to come across any strong rebuttal from the saffron quarters to this claim barring its usual rhetoric which says that it is an "[a]ttempt to distort history at the behest of separatist friendly pseudo-secularists and pseudo-intellectuals." Interestingly while lashing out at the contents of the book, Mr Jitendra Singh, the then spokesperson of BJP for J & K and its National Executive member had rather indirectly acknowledged what the author wanted to convey by stating that "[T]he late leader had suggested to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to put a time-bound rider on 'Article 370' and specify for how long it was being envisaged,". 

It is worth emphasising that this is not for the first time that Dr Mukherjee's consent to full autonomy to Kashmir has come up. In his write-up in 'The Greater Kashmir' Mr Balraj Puri, the veteran journalist from the state had provided further details about the same: