Why doesn’t this man speak??

The Bengal government has messed up the Nandigram issue. It is just an indication of much deeper malaise. It has more to do with the arrogance of the ruling elite. They have lost touch with reality, and the problems of common people. Three decades of power has given rise to a breed of self serving politicians who gestate out of stagnant society that lacks any form of social mobility. Every social indicator is skewed favoring the elite, below the national average meaning common people particularly the marginalized live in abject conditions. In the meantime the ministers were busy discussing cricket and subtleties of English poetry!!. Comrades brown sahibs have since learned lesson, arrogant CM doesn’t open his loud mouth much these days. How is Left holding to power in this State for last few decades need to be studied, also the polling process needs closer scrutiny. Left ideologues seem to have entrenched into State machinery and that’s detrimental to democratic functioning, it is a fact noted around the world that Left finds it difficult to relinquish power and soon it is controlled by a coterie.

Further Left is also known to have no qualms in using goons to serve their purpose after all Marx never ruled out violence to capture power, it could even be ‘bloody’. The dedicated cadre is always ready to follow. The Red brigade is responsible for carnage in Nandigram is no secret.

This blogger is not entirely against Left I have met some admirable and committed people (among elder genration) but CPI(M) surely has started to loose it. Like what is happening in Bengal in Kerala too they have lost credibility among the civil society. There are some committed people in the Left and they are definitely not in CPI(M), atleast at the top level they are just power brokers with intellectual mask. For every Achuthanandan there are ten scoundrels like Pinrayi Vijayan. They have recently isolated mostly peaceful Christian community by their arrogant utterings, again they are very much responsible for communalizing the society. Bravo to that. Christians particularly in the coastal region have traditionally associated to Left, the scoundrels have fractured that too. I welcome the move by Christian 'sabha' to isolate Left. The power hungry leaders in CPI(M) should learn from the older generations and past leaders. I recall when i was a kid it was election time in kerala, and Baby John was hugely admired figure. He rarely lost elections, his party was RSP (Revolutionary Socialist Party), was quite popular. We used to run after the vehicles that threw pamphlets and join the shout “Baby john Zindabad”. He was a respected leader. RSP later split to RSP(Bolshevik)-geez are we Soviet!!. Incidentally the recent bad mouthing of Lenin by Bush was foolish, he needs to acquaint history better. Lenin remains one of the significant and admirable leader (same of course cannot be said about Stalin).

The Left at national level and Bengal (and recently in Kerala) represented by CPI(M) is elitist. Not only that they also are known to bully the smaller factions like CPI, RSP, Forward Block and so on. With little power they are making their intentions clear just imagine what happens if they get more power and influence. The smaller parties need take stand against this big brother functioning of CPI(M) coterie and put them in their place, the realities of the power base they represent. It is not surprising that Maoists and Naxals are getting credibility and acceptance among the most marginalized. CPI(M) surely is becoming a liability for the Left front.

There is one man who till recently was a spokesperson for Bengal government, part of ‘incredible Bengal’ campaign!!. Amartya Sen babu is known to perform bit of gymnastics when it comes to Left in Bengal. A Nobel Prize winner is seen with lots of respect by people all around the world, and views taken seriously. They are like elders with sane and sobering advice, and are expected to stand for what is true. But Amartya Sen is one of those typical armchair types who wouldn’t mind taking the bite out of falling crumbs and keep the Masters in good humour (comrades in CPI(M) do prefer tail wagging- it is the ‘adda affect’. I do like his writing though, his books are interesting read). So when Bengal is in serious trouble with Nandigram burning and people coming out in streets to protest our man refuse to open his mouth. That is much better than intellectual pimping I guess. Right comrade?!

Post script: It is the same arrogance that prevents Budhadeb Bhattacharjee from resigning despite months of simmering discontent.His incompetence is proved beyond doubt. His allies have accused him, the Court today has expressed the same, Governor has come out and pointed the wrong-unprecedented in recent times, the opposition has called his bluff, civil society have dissociated from him, finally the people of Nandigram as well as in Bengal and around the country are showing horror and disgust as details of carnage unfolds. If he has any shame, decency, or respect for people of Bengal, he should quit immediately. His strategy of offensive is misplaced and foolhardy, shows only how out of touch with reality he really is. If he is accusing Maoists then that is also his responsibility he is CM. Excuses won’t work. Budhadeb Bhattacharjee’s days are over he should resign gracefully. Otherwise it’s leading to President’s rule in State, that is not bad at all.

People protest against Coca Cola Plant in Ballia, UP

This report taken from http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2007/1054.html , people of Sinchachawar village, Ballia District of UP took out a peaceful protest march against exploitation of Coca Cola in Ballai village of UP State.

Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, India (October 25, 2007): Over 600 people marched and rallied against the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the village of Sinhachawar in Ballia district in India yesterday, demanding that the plant be shut down permanently.

The community has accused the bottling plant of pollution and also illegally occupying land held by the village assembly. A visit by community members to the factory premises in May 2007 found the bottling plant indiscriminately dumping its hazardous waste inside and outside the factory premises. In 2003, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India assessed the sludge at eight Coca-Cola bottling plants, and found them all to contain excessive levels of lead, cadmium or chromium. As a result, the CPCB ordered the Coca-Cola company in India to treat its waste at all its bottling plants as industrial hazardous waste, and deal with it accordingly. Four years later, the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Sinhachawar has failed to follow the orders. In particular, the dumping of such hazardous waste violates the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 from the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India.

"We are demanding that the Coca-Cola bottling plant cease its operations permanently because they are destroying our land and water, the very source of our livelihoods," said Mr. Baliram Ram of the Coca-Cola Bhagao, Krishi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, the main organizer of the protest.
The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Sinhachawar has also built its boundary walls encompassing some land that is owned by the village assembly. In December 2005, villagers noticed that the Coca-Cola bottling plant had blocked access to a public road that went through the bottling plant. The villagers forcibly removed the gates placed by the bottling plant on either side of the road. The community is alleging that the Coca-Cola bottling plant illegally occupies another 1.5 acres of village assembly land.
The community is also concerned about water shortages in the area as a result of the extraction of water by the Coca-Cola bottling plant. The area is already experiencing water shortages, and the villagers point to other communities in India around Coca-Cola bottling plants where the water crises have been severely exacerbated as a result of Coca-Cola's operations

The bottling plant in Sinhachawar is a Coca-Cola franchisee owned unit operated by the Brindavan Bottlers Limited, which is owned by India's largest bottler of Coca-Cola, the Ladhani Group of Companies. The bottling plant is in the process of being bought by the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Ltd, the subsidiary of the Coca-Cola company. The protest at the Coca-Cola bottling plant came a day after another demonstration at the District Magistrate's office in Balia on October 23 where community members presented their demands to the District Magistrate.

The bottling plant has come under increased scrutiny after the community visit to the plant which confirmed that Coca-Cola was carelessly and illegally dumping its waste around the factory premises and into the surrounding fields. The head of the village council, Ms. Chinta Devi, has led the campaign to permanently shut down the plant. Last month, the union of village council heads in the district passed a resolution against the Coca-Cola bottling plant, insisting that it be shut down. The protest at the Coca-Cola bottling plant ended after community members lodged a police report accusing the plant of pollution, illegal land occupation and theft of water.

The Coca-Cola company's operations in India have been challenged by various communities across India who are experiencing severe water shortages as well as polluted water and land as a result of the company's practices. The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada, one of the company's largest in India, has been shut down since March 2004.

The local campaigns to challenge Coca-Cola in India have found tremendous support internationally, and particularly among college and university students in the US, UK and Canada. Over twenty five colleges and universities have taken actions against the Coca-Cola company.
The full report of the May visit to the Coca-Cola bottling plant with images can be found at http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2007/cokebaliafact.html, in Hindi at http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2007/baliahindireport.pdf
For more information, visit www.IndiaResource.org

Know your Yahoo

Yahoo has been found to use its technology to track and give information about dissidents to Chinese government. Many champions of freedom in China are now in detention thanks to sleuth work of Yahoo. That in Business terminology it is referred to as ‘strategical understanding’. How much ‘investors are happy’ one doesn’t know (incidentally investors are gods in this cozy little world) but yes top Chinese commies are not complaining. Capitalists of world unite you have nothing to loose but your ethics. That’s Chinese trap for you!! (a kind of counter McCarthyism and as part of tradition Yahoo is too happy to oblige).

‘Total’ an oil giant want to keep sucking in Burma their argument is enlightening ‘if we don’t do it someone else will do it’. Such commitments and dedication to their job, we mortals have to learn a lot.

So next time you use Yahoo forget not to appreciate the sacrifices they are doing to maximize their profit. It is the ultimate act in the globalized world. World will be a better place to live if we emulate them in our daily life, individually and collectively. Yahoo will of course justify that ‘it has nothing to do with business it is a political matter’. If only drug peddlers could use the same subtleties.

For politicians Politics is Business, for fund raisers (read businessmen) Business is Politics. For Yahoo, Business is not Politics but Service, profit is just incidental!!. For Chinese, Politics and Business are Service it just that commies are thick headed when it comes to be bothered about people- the reason why capitalism can flourish unhindered in commieland, it is better option than democracy. The irony is hard to miss and as Marx should have put it so rightly “bloody the dissidents comrades, the dialectics of materialism starts in Beijing”.

Should this be confined to US Congress only? Shouldn’t international community take action against unethical practices followed by Yahoo??.Privacy is as important particularly of common people, probably more important than much hyped freedom of expression. State or corporate has absolutely no business to intrude into privacy of people.

What’s the problem with our neighbors?!!

It sometimes shocks you the kinds of things happening in the neighborhood. So Pakistan again is spinning down. Sri lanka is in civil war with LTTE even using air strikes. Nepal has somehow managed to stay put after years of uncertainty, a fragile truce in Bangladesh, military junta in Burma. China is not democratic-meaning rights of citizens curtailed (but is a member of UN Security Council!!), so is the case of Bhutan. Nearby Afghanistan is in serious problem, Thailand too is under martial rule. Phew !!. Not that India doesn’t have problems but rarely it threatens the nation, it is generally confined to few pockets.

The most tragic case is that of Sri Lanka, I have a strong liking for this country and have read lot about this island. At one point I took out around 3-4 months to read fiction and non fiction, as also movies from this region, I also knew some journalists who had come for training at Mass Com, as also artists through exchange programs. It saddens me immensely when I see pictures of violence and killings from this beautiful island. Elitist policies probably triggered through linguistic arrogance escalated into ethnic conflict now almost a civil war, isolating the North-east region. Now though it is the ego of leaders involved. Peace is very much possible provided new and younger people are involved, they are now pawns in the hands of people trying to settle their own scores. Sri Lanka has had its share of violence I guess it is time to try peaceful means to solve the problem. It cannot go on like this. Buddhist monks representing majority Singhalese should take the initiatives and show an egalitarian approach to the problem. This blogger has yet to come across an incident or effort on the part of monks to reach the Tamils. The role of religion-community leaders in creating peace is immense (south Africa is good example). Monks in Sri Lanka have a huge responsibility, it is time they intervened.

Pakistan’s problems have its roots in lack of sufficient mobility in society, it still is very much feudal and the demarcation is stark as is the case in most of North India. Socio-cultural and political elite come from same stock, most have spend time in Britain and other places. The common people are mostly absent from the scene. Add to this, mullahs as alternative- disappointed, most people seem to be gravitating to this possibility. Feudal nature of the society is very much reflected in the presence of strong Army in matters Civilian. The establishment fed the zealots with active support from US of A ostensibly to dislodge Soviet commies from Kabul, commies left but the genie wouldn’t go back to the bottle, now it is ready to engulf. Ditto what Indira Gandhi did with Sikhs, it did immense damage and many innocent people lost their life. Sikhs are small community and geographically confined, the reason why the genie didn’t do much damage, but it was worst phase in independent Indian history. This not true with muslims who are in absolute majority in Pakistan, with changed equation vis-à-vis terrorism around the world things may go out of hand as fundamentalists are quite effectively playing the victim role-majority of people have started to empathize. With USA, Britain and other powers loosing credibility even good intention will backfire, most common people don’t have any trust for these foreign powers, intervention would be seen with suspicion, playing into the hands of fundamentalists.

So there things don’t look rosy in Pakistan. It is entirely the result of selfish people at the helm, the feudal elites saw to it that the democratic institutions don’t establish itself. What flourished in Pakistan in last many decades was Army, as also the fundamentalist. Till recently they worked in synergy (since the West wanted it that way), now they oppose (again due to reasons very much originating in West). So guess who will replace Army?. Obviously for USA, Army is the best bet otherwise it is over for them in this ‘strategic region’. It also means Gen Musharaff may be dispensable (remember what happened to Gen. Zia?), a coup within the Army would help USA immensely since all the fingers are pointing to Musharaff, he goes means all the blame will be taken care, a new dictator can take the baton and give some hope till it wears out. That is American realpolitik. That is the tragedy. Whatever said Gen Musharaff’s days are numbered but Army is here to stay for a long time to come, under a puppet government is immensely desirable for the outside powers. Keep an eye on developments in this part of the world…hopefully sanity prevails.