Casteology Romps Home, Exit Ideology
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 28
Palash Biswas
http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
Mamata happy at rift in Congress, welcomes Somen Mitra
Kolkata, Jul 19 (PTI) Trinamool Congress today welcomed senior Congress leader Somen Mitra quitting the party describing it as a 'good' development and pledged to work with him in the fight against the state's ruling CPI(M).
"We welcome the decision taken by a senior state Congress leader and former WBPCC president Somen Mitra to leave and float a new party. We will work togther to fight CPI(M)", Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee told reporters.
She said Mitra had taken a step "in the right direction" and she said she would welcome him and his followers if they joined her party. "It is absolutely his choice." Banerjee recalled that a decade ago she had also left Congress to float Trinamool Congress to fight CPI(M).
Banerjee, who held two meetings with Mitra before he decided to part with Congress, claimed it was not possible to sincerely fight CPI(M) by remaining in Congress as the party had "hobbbed" with the Marxists at the national level.
Incidentally, Mitra had become president of the WBPCC in 1992 when he defeated Banerjee in an election.
There has been tussle between Mitra's camp and that led by Union Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi since the union minister was appointed PCC President early this year.
External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee had resigned as WBPCC chief after the last assembly polls in 2006. PTI
Casteology romps home!
Ideology EXIT!
Underworld should be ashamed of the Horse Trading, Fishing and abetting to save the Autocracy in full cry!
Jail birds out to save the government of India!
Blackmailing, Bargaining, doping, forgery,duping, hijacking and so on.. every crime is justified to win the war of trust vote!
Who says, Left stands with RSS?
No, it is committed to Dalit liberation !
And Lo! Dalit Queen Mayawati is projected full screen as the Next Prime Minister of India!
What a turnaround! Stranger than fiction. No Shakespeare, no kalidas would dream all this in their wildest dreams! Even Animal farm failed. Apple Cart is climaxed very well!
What a masterstroke is this to ensure to keep intact the Dalit and Muslim Vote Bank! I am sure that our friend , the Poet minister of Tripura, Anil sarkar would be the most relevant leader in this new equation. It is because of the decaying Dalit and Muslim base that the Left suffered so much in latest Panchayet and municipal elections and have to get an escape route to break out from the Chalk circle! Brahminical Bengal always despised this Dalit leader. As the Marxists were never found to quote Ambedkar anytime before Mayawati`s social engineering. But Mayawati had been the most despised politician for her casteology all the time. Ironically , the left has to opt for casteology discarding its so called Ideology!
Well, if you analyse the Votes ensured by the Dalit Party, BSP with nominal presence in West Bengal, you may understand the significance of this dramatic turnaround. With Somen Mitra breaking Congree and allying with fire Brand Mamata Bannerjee, Mayawati has emerged as the most deciding factor for the Ruling Left right in West Bengal!
This is all about the Mystery of the Marxists and all anti deal political parties, the EX third front leaders being so spell bound by the Mythical magical Indigenous Dalit power!
As somnath is off whip to bail out the government to save the deal as well as the UPA government for a fresh alliance anew in post election scenario with anti Fascism Ideology and antiRSS, pro Muslim stance, in the same manner Mayawati is projected as the Next prime Minister to send the message to the decaying Dalit Base that the Marxists only are sincere for the cause of Dalit Liberation which they could not convince the indigenous masses allocating generous grants to celebrate birth anniversaries of all Dalit icons including Dr Ambedkar, Jagjeevan Ram and Harichand Thakur. Dalit samanyay smiti failed to mobilise the Dalits so miserably and it has become a popular forum to search for appointments, placements and jobs with SC ST certificates! Marxist links with Matua Movement and Dalit sahitya Samiti have been snapped abruptly. In recent elections Matuas Voted for Trinamool congress and muslims followed suit! The results were obviously disastrous!
No wonder, this time, the Marxists have to opt for instituting new prises on Mayawati and Manyawar kanshi Ram along with running Harichand, Jyotiba Fule prizes!
I woun`t be surprised if the elit Brahmin leaders of Ledt front celebrate grand Mayawati Birth day parties in secular and progressive West Bengal calimed to be an Island devoid of Untouchability, Castism and discrimination!
In a bid to use the nuclear deal to turn Muslim mobilization into a polarization in its favour, the Bahujan Samaj Party is inserting the India-US pact into its grassroots campaign among the community.
The Marxist strategy is no different. It has carefully chalked out a plan to separate itself from the hated RSS, the Hindutva, Zionism and US corporate Imperialism while actually running ahead implementing the agenda of Hindu Zionist Manusmriti apartheid Americanisation of India, Buddha running blindly on superhighway of Capitalist Marxist Urbanisationa and Industrialising depriving the Indigenous communities of life and livelihood, killing them in Nandigram and Singur! BSP is the only force to enforce recognition for ant Hindutva drive of the Left despite Voting with RSS against the secular forces until recently, the UPA!
THe communists are using Individual Karishma of Mayawati to overcome another challenge from another feminine Individual karishma that of Mamata Bannerjee! They must woo the Muslims as well as the Dalits. Since the Dalit Movement never addressed nationalities and kept aside the aboriginal tribes, the Leftist Brahmins take the ST support granted in West Bengal as the tribal leaders tend to pursue the plight of Creamy layer!
The BSP is telling the Muslim community that Congress has compromised its interests by signing the nuclear pact. The raging issue would be part of the Dalit outfit's mobilization through 'Muslim bhaichara committees'.
The marxist message never sounds otherwise!
The strident stand taken by CM Mayawati against the nuke deal and her drafting of Islamic scholars to back her stand goes far beyond posturing as partymen are now spreading it to basic organizational units. Bahujan strategists conceived the 'bhaichara' committees as part of their outreach to communities outside its core Dalit base to spread the party's wings.
Clearly, the kingmakers in this political drama continued to be MPs from small parties such as the Janata Dal-S, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha who refused to reveal which way they were going.
With signs of the trust vote becoming a close call, leaders of the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the United National Progressive Alliance will meet on Sunday to discuss the possible scenario if the government falls, including a change of guard with BSP supremo Mayawati as the prime minister.Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Prakash Karat, Telugu Desam Party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu said the leaders would discuss "all possibilities" including a BSP-led Third Front government with Left support.
When asked whether he would accept Mayawati as the prime minister, Naidu asked, "Why should we be against it? We are not averse to it. But we have to discuss all these issues."
During the day, the TDP leader met Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan and Mayawati to mobilise support against the United Progressive Alliance government.
The CPI(M) central committee met today to chart out its strategy in the prevailing political turmoil, a day after it left out Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the whip to vote against the UPA Government during the trust vote on July 22.
The exclusion of Chatterjee is significant as the CPI(M) has so far maintained that he should toe the party line to vote against the government.
CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and senior leaders Sitaram Yechury, V S Achutanandan, Buddhadev Bhattacharya and Manik Sarkar were among the leaders who reviewed the political situation and discussed the course of action to be pursued in the coming days.
Ahead of the central committee meeting, members of the powerful politburo met for about one-and-half hours.
With signs of the trust vote becoming a close call, leaders of Left parties, BSP and UNPA are meeting tomorrow to discuss the possible scenario if the government falls, including a change of guard with BSP supremo Mayawati as the Prime Minister.
After a meeting CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu said that the leaders would discuss "all possibilities" including a BSP-led third front government with Left support. When asked as interim measure whether he would accept Mayawati as the Prime Minister, Naidu said "why should we be against it. We are not averse to it. But we have to discuss all these issues."
meanwhile, Political activity reached its crescendo Saturday with the Congress-led ruling coalition and opposition parties desperately tying up support and using every ploy to crack the numbers game in an outcome that was still too close to call.
In a major blow to the Samajwadi Party and in turn the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government ahead of the trust vote Tuesday, Shahid Siddiqui, a Rajya Sabha MP, shocked everyone by suddenly announcing that he was joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intensified its attempts to defeat the Congress-led government and held a dinner for its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners Saturday to ensure that its flock is intact.
On the other hand, With suspense mounting everyday in the run-up to the trust vote in parliament that will determine whether Manmohan Singh's government stays, Congress president Sonia Gandhi met all her party MPs individually asking them to put up a united face to ensure the government's victory in the trial of strength.Gandhi began meeting Congress MPs state-wise at her 10, Janpath residence as her chief troubleshooters were busy meeting smaller political formations to secure the magic figure of 272 required for the survival of the party-led coalition.
During the day, the TDP leader met CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan and Mayawati to mobilise support against the UPA government.
"We are working on a joint strategy to oppose the nuclear deal," Naidu said after meeting Mayawati.
Accusing BSP supremo Mayawati of devising a gameplan to become the Prime Minister, the Indian Justice Party on Saturday asked all Dalit MPs to vote for the UPA government during the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha to thwart her designs.
"I appeal to all 119 Dalit MPs to see through Mayawati's gameplan and vote for the UPA government during the trust vote," IJP president Udit Raj told media persons in Lucknow.
He alleged the BSP leader, taking advantage of the nuke issue, wanted to catapult herself on to the centre stage to realise her dream of the becoming the Prime Minister.
Raj asked the Dalit MPs to scuttle her gameplan by supporting the UPA government on the nuke issue on the floor of the House.
The IJP leader, a staunch critic of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, said Mayawati was not worthy of the post of the Prime Minister.
He alleged she had been selling the state since she came to power and charged her with amassing wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income.
"If she becomes the Prime Minister, she will sell the entire country," Raj said.
Citing various decisions of the Mayawati government, Raj alleged that she was working against the interest of Dalits in the state.
Given a chance at the national level, she would do the same and would not allow the Dalit leadership to emerge, he said.
Raj alleged the Mayawati government was harassing its political opponents, especially Dalit leaders like him.
Bookies bet on Manmohan Singh government to win
19 Jul, 2008, 1952 hrs IST, IANS
NEW DELHI: With less than 72 hours to go before the Indian parliament votes on a trust motion, bookies in the country - who have seen Rs.10 billion ($250 million) worth of bets flow in so far - see the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sailing through.
As hectic parleys continued by the opposition and ruling coalition partners to defeat or win support for the trust motion, the Indian bookies, notorious for fixing cricket matches, are offering odds of 38 paise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government to win - and Rs.2.90 if it loses.
This means, if a punter places a Re.1 bet on UPA winning and that happens, he or she stands to make only Re.1.38. But if someone bet on the UPA losing and that happens, the punter would earn as much as Rs.3.90 on the original Re.1 bet.
"We see a lot of cross voting and abstentions. This is what makes us confident that the government will win the trust motion," said one bookie based in the national capital, who did not wish to be identified since betting is illegal in the country.
Voting on the trust motion is scheduled in Lok Sabha Tuesday after Left parties withdrew support to the UPA government over the ruling coalition's decision to go ahead with the process of finalising the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
According to various estimates, punters had placed bets worth Rs.10 billion ($250 million) by Saturday evening. Bookies believe that by Tuesday morning, this figure would cross the Rs.30-billion ($750 million) mark.
According to a Mumbai-based bookie, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, whose Bahujan Samaj Party has 17 members in the Lok Sabha, may leave no stone unturned to defeat the confidence motion.
"But we feel that the support of Samajwadi Party (which has 39 MPs), and some cross voting and abstentions will ensure a victory for the government - even if it is with a small margin," he said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Bookies_bet_on_Manmohan_Singh_government_to_win/articleshow/3253933.cms
ND TV reports
India made its efforts on Friday to garner support for its case from IAEA Board of Governors and NSG countries, which are not part of the Board, on the safeguards agreement and other aspects of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
A 50 minute long closed-door affair in a Viennese hotel was what it took for Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and his team of Indian diplomats to convince IAEA board members of the merits of the safeguards agreement.
In a lobbying exercise to build up a global consensus towards the crucial approval of the India specific safeguards agreement, it was a private briefing for the 35-member IAEA board.
In all, 90 diplomats headed up to listen to India's defence, one western diplomat told NDTV that the group had many questions but that India answered them all.
At the lobbying excise that India undertook with the 60 member countries of the IAEA, the things seem to have gone in India's favour.
One diplomat said no one opposed the India Safeguard agreement but we have to wait, watch and see what happens on August 1 in IAEA, the nuclear watch dog of the world. It is yet to be seen whether they approve the safeguards agreement or not.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080057742&ch=7/19/2008%208:21:00%20AM
ZEE NEWS reports:
N-deal: India impresses IAEA, NSG
Zeenews Bureau
Vienna, July 19: Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon appears to have succeeded in convincing the IAEA Board of Governors regarding the India specific safeguards agreement. And, that’s evident from the response - none of the members opposed it.
The development came after Menon along with Dr R B Grover, Director (Strategic Planning) addressed the 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday in Vienna. Menon also briefed 19 of the 45 nations who are part of the Nucler Suppliers Group (NSG).
The success achieved by the foreign secretary is significant as India has not yet signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) yet has had a good track record when it comes to nonproliferation. This factor appears to have worked in India’s favour during the meeting.
However, it would be premature to assume that India has finally won the high stake game as the IAEA Board will only decide on August 1 via a vote.
India is seeking the approval from IAEA Board to clear the way of implementing Indo-US nuclear deal. IAEA Board consisting of 35 members out of which 26 are also part of the NSG.
Menon had also met IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei and discussed issues related to the safeguard agreement. India's envoy to IAEA Saurabh Kumar and Joint Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy Gitesh Sarma were also accompanying Menon.
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=456499&sid=nat
Teesri Kasam and my Heeramon Psyche!
I am reaching New Delhi on twenty Fifth by Rajdhani express for a personal visit. I told my journalist friends that I have to be present in the Ashoka Hall on 25th evening while Mayawati would be sworn in. I have to take over as the next Information and Broadcasting Minister as I am a bonafied campaigner of Dalit Liberation and have the links with the left parties and the third front with my Ideological background.
I may boast of the real legacy of Casteology as well as Ideology!
They enquired about my agenda. I answered that the first thing I will do, is that I would re institute all the English daily editors as editors in Hindi and language dailies with the language pay scale and dismiss all the Vernacular editorial mob without Spinal Chord, the media managers and public relation officers. At the same time I would regulate the Cocktail parties and gift ceremonies. I would ensure free supply of Color TV and PCs to every house hold to solve the Food crisis! More over, I would ensure the sanctity of all Swiss Bank accounts. i have to do everything to make the Rath of Blue Revolution on fast track!
My fraiends know me well and they never laugh!
I face a very common question often from my scribe friends,` why don`t you join the Active Politics?’ As my Leftist friends always complains, ` Why I do I write so many thing against communists without any break so mercilessly? ‘ Some friends are really annoyed of the continuous bombing!
I would rather answer, ` Field me anywhere against any Prime minister or at least any chief Minister,I would be right into the Politics and media would have to focus me!’
In fact, if I have to visit Nainital for an emergency anytime around parliamentary elections or Assembly elections, I have to be seized by my political friends to contest for their respective parties as Bengalies have more than three and half lac votes in Nainital Parliamentary constituency and Bengali refugees are majority in at least three assembly seats. Even my leftists friends in New Delhi tried to convince to fight it out for the Left. At that time I had been in close contact with top level communist leadership.
But it is a lifesaving coincidence that they never looked beyond Alliance politics in North India. When they chose to fight Assembly elections in UP and Uttarakhand, the citizenship act was passed already and I delinked with the communists already.
During last elections, BSP leaders in the Terai of Nainital tried their best to convince me for contesting Nainital Loksabha seat.
Some BJP leaders, amusingly tried to convince me.
My friends Kashi singh Airy and Late Bipin Tripathi always tried to rope me in active politics.
While I passed M.A. from DSB, Nainital in 1079, ND Tiwari, then Finance Minister of India convinced my father that I should join him as his P.A. and try my luck inactive politics. ideology never mattered to all these well wishers.
Since Bengalies as a community is a solid vote bank and now, habitual to vote en block like the Muslims, I might be a formidable candidate for any political party. At the same time I may get a good percentage of votes from other communities including Sikhs and the hill people as well. If party vote bank as such as that of BSP or BJP included, I may romp home very easily. These equations always have to be presented every time with graphic details physically or on phone. I am not spared at home in Sodepur in election times in Nainital. Outright rejected they would then plead for support for their Party candidate irrespective of my stance. it happens in Municipal elections also.
My family has seen enough politics and no one in the family is ever interested in politics! It is a bonus.
Then I had a real lifetime taste of Indian Power politics in 1977 just as a Teen Age while I had to deal with heavyweights like Tiwari and Pant, Rajmangal Pandey, Indira Hridyesh,Pratap Bhaiya, MS Bisht and a lot of them.
I was then associated with anti Emergency campaign and emerged as the most challenging student leader in the Mid term Loksabha elections in 1977, in Nainital.
Iwas one of the electioneering manager. I was focus on and had been very popular as My father was the prominent most refugee leader who led the Election campaign for Indira Gandhi. He disowned me in disgust.
I was the main campaigner for Mrs Indira Hridyesh in Haldwani and was fortunate to address meetings with Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. Sardar Bhagat Singh, one time district congress President and the greatest rival of my father in terai Politics since beginning crossed fences. Ramjee Roy, the freedom fighter and my father`s best friend also was in opposition and everyone worked with my strategies! Bharat bhushan defeated KC Pant in Loksabha and he had been very close to me.
Thanks god! I was just a teenager and was not entitled to vote!
I could not contest any election. Thus, it was easier for me to see the Top Level as well as Grass Root level party politics. i had been a constant visitor to different ministries and ministerial residences including the Finance Minister of India. I had an opportunity to watch the political game minutely.
I was so detached.
A creative write with journalistic instinct always worked within me and dictated me to refrain from active Politics. I saw all types of manipulations, corruptions, equations, turnarounds, abatement, hijacking and scandals!
`Teesri kasam’ is a Bollywood film which I never whenever screened. i always tend to identify myself as Hiraman gadiwaan. I have felt the stings of Calf Love. encountered most beautiful girls and ladies. I had soft corners for many of them. I enjoyed a delicate recipe of favour from some of them. But, the Hiramon Personality saved me always. Maare gaye Gulfam .. had been always the theme song and all such budding love affairs would end abruptly as Heeramon Bai disappeared from the life of life of the Gareewaan!
Active Politics just ended for me. It evaporated like calf love! It ended like teenage hallucination!
I am lucky, Teesri kasam worked in my life so well!
Major setback for SP; Shahid Siddiqui resigns, others may follow
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi, July 19: Even as the Congress appears confident of winning the trust vote, the Samajwadi Party is grappling with the growing dissidence within its ranks. The biggest setback for SP came on Saturday with its general secretary Shahid Siddiqui defecting to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Although, his defection won’t affect the UPA during the trust vote, as he is a Rajya Sabha member, his exit may only open the floodgates of the party. Hinting at a major defection possibility, Siddiqui said that he had the support of several other SP MPs.
Explaining the reasons behind his move Siddiqui said, “Our (Muslim) votes are being used, without us getting anything in return.” His moving to the BSP indeed can be termed as a major blow to the SP and its vote bank in western UP. "For the last one month, I have been feeling uneasy over the nuclear deal. I am of the opinion that it is not in national interest. I have been opposing it for the last three years," he said.
Siddiqui, also a journalist, said that he was taking this position heeding to the call of his conscience and would oppose the deal to the hilt.
"I am the one who had held Bush's hand and told him that India will not accept the deal."
Political analyst believe that the Mayawati, who drove into the capital at 1 am today morning, is keen to split the SP and erode the support base of the UPA in order to bring the government down.
She is especially keen on Muslim leaders, as part of her larger ambition to shore up the Dalit-Brahmin-Muslim votes, before she starts to stake claim for the Prime Minister’s chair – after the next elections. The Left and TDP have already come out in the open to stoke her ambition.
A visibly happy Mayawati said, “My stand is in favour of Sarva Samaj(all communities), especially Dalits and the minorities.”
“There is no deal with Shahid, I welcome him to BSP,” said a beaming Mayawati.
But the SP’s woes don’t end there as apart from Shahid, four more MPs have come out openly against the party, swearing to vote against the UPA.
The other rebels (their number is growing) are S P Singh Baghel, Lal Ahmed, Atiq Ahmed and Afzal Ansari. Reports also suggest that two more MPs are on the verge of rebelling against the party.
But, Mulayam Singh seemed unfazed and said, “Those who want to leave can do so. We are confident of winning majority.” He added that not just his flock, there were some other MPs who have come out in their support.
An emergency meet has been convened at party general secretary Amar Singh’s house to discuss the case of rebel MP’s ahead of the crucial floor test. SP with its 39 MPs has professed support to the nuke deal and the government. But, the emerging scenario may spoil its plans.
odern Times Politics is so familiar with me and I dare to smell every rot within with basi Instinct!
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=456540&sid=NAT
Marxist Anil Sarkar for Mayawati`s Castology
Palash Biswas
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
http://mepalash.blogspot.com/2007/05/marxist-anil-sarkar-for-mayawatis.html
Anil Sarkar, the Bengali reputed poet and Education Minister of Left Ruled Tripura has welcomed UP Assembelly Elections Results writing Poetry on Dalit daughter Mayawati. This is an old news item. But to day , he outlined the social eingineering of the Dalit cow Belt leader as the only way to change the Brahminical dominated social system in Bengal. He emphasized to follow Ambedkar.
On Tuesday, I witnessed the Dalit CPIM leader interacting different groups in Tripura Bhavan, Pretoria Street Kolkata. I talked to the leader exclusively and sought several clarification as a CPIM leader who outlined Dalit Strategy for the party. It was a family get together for us as my cusin brother, the poet Nitai Pada Sarkar and nephew Niranjan accompanied me. He is not well and hence, he could not visit, Keutia Sarkar Nursery, my brothers farm house and business centre of my nephew. So he called us in tripra Bhavan. Niranjan picked me from my home.
Quoting Party leadership he said that Mayawati has stopped Fascist Sangh Parivar to capture Uttar Pradesh and the young lady has to play a positive role in Indian politics.
He, however, avoided to comment on the most controversial issues like Singur and Nadigram, Chemical hub, Atomic Power plant, retail marketing, Industrialisation and indiscriminate land acquisition.
Rather the leftist Dalit leader is much more interested to launch a national Dalit Movement and without any hesitation he supported the casteology of Mayawati inspite of Party Ideology. At the same time, he was quite aggressive against the IN Law psyche of the Dalit intellectuals and leaders in Bengal. He told that any change is not possible in Bengal Scenerio unless the dalits asserts themselves in accordance with Ambedkar Ideology and casteology of Mayawati.
I think, this message is much more powerful than any of his poems on Mayawati which are beautifully translated in Hindi by Leeladhar Mandoloi, again a reputed poet and Krishna Kalpit.
He wrote;
The Himalayas in the North
Oceon lies in the South
Descends the storm from the North
Spreading snowy cool wind
And the wind stings
Disobedient and Unhumble
Hits the white colour skin
Very distressing
Descends the storm
Twenty first century belongs to Dalits
Twenty first century belongs to Exploited
Twenty first century belongs to Baba sahib
And to his obedient followers
Twenty first century belongs to the New Light.
Those who bear so much sorrow
Insult
Kicks
And persecution
Those who have been torn apart
On the Temple doors
Drinking wells
Those who have been driven away
Twenty first century belongs to them.
Hence, one Dalit woman
A non Aryan Girl
Becomes the general of aryavart
Immediately
The sky is lit
Wind becomes storm
An earthquake begins.
Because a Prohibited Girl
Alone and alone
Becomes so big!
As if a great river!!
Posted by Palash Biswas at 10:02 AM
Ideology as an instrument of social reproduction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology#Ideology_as_an_instrument_of_social_reproduction
Karl Marx proposed that a society's dominant ideology was a part of its superstructure.Karl Marx proposed an economic base/superstructure model of society. The base refers to the means of production of society. The superstructure is formed on top of the base, and comprises that society's ideology, as well as its legal system, political system, and religions. For Marx, the base determines the superstructure. Because the ruling class controls the society's means of production, the superstructure of society, including its ideology, will be determined according to what is in the ruling class's best interests. Therefore the ideology of a society is of enormous importance since it confuses the alienated groups and can create 'false consciousness' such as the fetishism of commodities. Critics of the Marxist approach feel that it attributes too much importance to economic factors in influencing society.
The ideologies of the dominant class of a society (dominant ideology) are proposed to all members of that society in order to make the ruling class' interests appear to be the interests of all. György Lukács describes this as a projection of the class consciousness of the ruling class, while Antonio Gramsci advances the theory of cultural hegemony to explain why people in the working-class can have a false conception of their own interests.
The dominant forms of ideology in capitalism are (in chronological order):
classical liberalism
social democracy
neo-liberalism
and they correspond to the stages of development of capitalism:
extensive stage
intensive stage
contemporary capitalism (or late capitalism, or current crisis)
The Marxist view of ideology as an instrument of social reproduction has been an important touchstone for the sociology of knowledge and theorists such as Karl Mannheim, Daniel Bell, and Jürgen Habermas, amongst many others. However, Mannheim attempted to move beyond what he saw as the 'total' but 'special' Marxist conception of ideology to a 'general' and 'total' conception which acknowledged that all ideologies resulted from social life (including Marxism). Pierre Bourdieu extensively developed this idea.
Ideology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things (compare Weltanschauung), as in common sense (see Ideology in everyday society below) and several philosophical tendencies (see Political ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society. The main purpose behind an ideology is to offer change in society through a normative thought process. Ideologies are systems of abstract thought (as opposed to mere ideation) applied to public matters and thus make this concept central to politics. Implicitly every political tendency entails an ideology whether or not it is propounded as an explicit system of thought.
Ideology in Cognitive Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, Post-Modernism and Critical Theory
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(June 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
In public discussions, certain ideas arise more commonly than others. Often people with diverse backgrounds and interests may find themselves thinking alike in startling ways. Social scientists might explain this phenomenon as evidence of ideologies.
Dominant ideologies appear as "neutral", holding to assumptions that are largely unchallenged. Meanwhile, all other ideologies that differ from the dominant ideology are seen as radical, no matter what the content of their actual vision may be. The philosopher Michel Foucault wrote about the concept of apparent ideological neutrality. Ideology is not the same thing as philosophy. Philosophy is a way of living life, while ideology is an almost ideal way of life for society. Some attribute to ideology positive characteristics like vigor and fervor, or negative features like excessive certitude and fundamentalist rigor.
Organizations that strive for power will try to influence the ideology of a society to become closer to what they want it to be. Political organizations (governments included) and other groups (e.g. lobbyists) try to influence people by broadcasting their opinions.
When most people in a society think alike about certain matters, or even forget that there are alternatives to the status quo, we arrive at the concept of Hegemony, about which the philosopher Antonio Gramsci wrote. Such a state of affairs has been dramatized many times in literature: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman have argued that social ideological homogeneity can be achieved by restricting the conceptual metaphors transmitted by mass communication.
[edit] History of the concept of ideology
The term was born in the highly controversial philosophical and political debates and fights of the French Revolution and acquired several other meanings from the early days of the First French Empire to nowadays. The word ideology was coined by Destutt de Tracy in 1796[1][2] assembling the parts idea (near to the Lockean sense) and -logy. He used it to refer to one aspect of his "science of ideas". (To the study itself, not the subject of the study.) He separated three aspects, namely: ideology, general grammar and logic, considering respectively the subject, the means and the reason of this science.[3] He argues that among these aspects ideology is the most generic term, because the science of ideas also contains the study of their expression and deduction.
According to Karl Mannheim's historical reconstruction of the meaning-shifts of ideology, the modern meaning of the word ideology was born when Napoleon Bonaparte (as a politican) used it in an abusive way against "the ideologues" (a group which included[citation needed] Cabanis, Condorcet, Constant, Daunou, Say, Madame de Staël and Tracy), to express the pettiness of his (liberal republican) political opponents.
Perhaps the most accessible source for the near-original meaning of ideology is Hippolyte Taine's work on the Ancien Regime (first volume of "Origins of Contemporary France"). He describes ideology as rather like teaching philosophy by the Socratic method, but without extending the vocabulary beyond what the general reader already possessed, and without the examples from observation that practical science would require. Taine identifies it not just with Destutt de Tracy, but also with his milieu, and includes Condillac as one of its precursors. (Tracy read the works of Locke and Condillac while he was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror.)
The word "ideology" was coined long before the Russians coined "intelligentsia", or before the adjective "intellectual" referred to a sort of person (see substantive), i.e. an intellectual. Thus these words were not around when the hard-headed, driven Napoleon Bonaparte took the word "ideologues" to ridicule his intellectual opponents. Gradually, however, the term "ideology" has dropped some of its pejorative sting, and has become a neutral term in the analysis of differing political opinions.[citation needed] Ideological references are important to many people throughout the world. Karl Marx used the term in his own context often throughout his works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology
Brahminical Left is Vertically Divided on Nuclear Renaissance,Stand Off Continuestitle~2851167 »Casteology Nationwide
by palashbiswas @ 2007-08-20 - 20:09:37
Mayawati Shatters SEZ Dreams!
Elephant Set to launch Casteology Nationwide
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
"prakash ray" writes:
WILL YOU SHUT UP>>> YOU FASCIST>>>>
On 8/19/07, palashc biswas wrote:
Buddha, Pranab Broker Indo US Nuclear Deal
CPIM Diversion Gimmick continues, Focus shifts in New
delhi from Kolkata
Pl Read:
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/august_a2007/articles.htm
Mayawati Shatters SEZ Dreams while THE UP government on Saturday amended the Special Economic Zone policy framed by the previous government. According to the new document, land owned by the farmers will not be acquired forcibly to set up SEZ. Meanwhile, Mayawati tries her best to escalate
her experiment of Casteology and social eingineering in UP countrywide. Now, Maya's man talks social engineering in Rajasthan.Mayawati's elephant seems all set to do an Uttar Pradesh in this desert state too. In an attempt to draw a bridge between the upper and lower castes, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday announced the formation of Brahmin-Dalit Bhaichara Committees in all 200 Assembly constituencies of the state.
After three straight sessions of losses, the Sensex today zoomed up by 286.03 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to settle in the green at 14427.55, following a rebound at Wall Street.While, in the backdrop of Nandigram SEZ issue, the government on Monday made it clear that farm land cannot be acquired without the consent of the owner but said dependence on agriculture sector for employment needs to be reduced.India's communists stepped up their opposition to a controversial nuclear deal with the United States on Monday, with one senior leader threatening to cut off vital support to the government if it pursued the pact. The four main left parties, who have 60 MPs in the Lok Sabha have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition not to pursue talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clinch the deal.
It is rather a worrying factor that Dalits have not achieved development even six decades after Independence and things need to be changed, said Usha Mehra, chairperson of Commission on Categorisation of Scheduled Castes in Andhra Pradesh.Usha Mehra along with members of the commission visited some SC colonies in Tirupati and surrounding areas on Sunday.Interacting with people of Gandhi Nagar, she urged them to keep their surroundings clean to prevent the outbreak of diseases.
Later, the commission members visited Chaitanyapuram Dalit Colony and received representations from people on categorisation of Scheduled Castes.
Usha Mehra said the commission would submit a report to Parliament after eliciting views of Dalits in the State on categorisation of SCs. She also visited Gandhipuram and Arundhati Colony in Tirupati rural mandal. MRPS leaders Raju Madiga, Gopi Madiga and Erraiah Madiga who met the commission, stressed the need for categorisation of SCs to provide social justice to all the castes.Mahajana Charmakarula Sangham president Muniratnam, Budaga Jangama Hakkula Porata Samithi leaders Kullayappa and Marranna and some research scholars from Tirupati also met the commission seeking categorisation of SCs.
Responding to a question by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee on the Nandigram issue in the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the effort is to discourage acquiring of fertile land.
No farm land can be acquired till there is consent of the owner, he said during Question Hour. Pawar said the government wanted the agricultural production to increase but at the same time, dependence of people for livelihood on the sector needs to be reduced.
Noting that a big majority of country's population depends on agriculture for livelihood, Pawar said 82 per cent of them possess less than 2.5 acres of land.
Most of them depend on rainfall, making their livelihood difficult, he said adding in view of this, it is better that they opt for alternative sources of employment.
Citing examples of developed countries like the UK and Germany, he said they also had heavy dependence on agriculture earlier, but now not more than four per cent of their population is into farming.
They diverted to other sectors and their problems were solved, Pawar said, adding the same example should apply to India if the situation is to change.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Shailesh Krishna said the state government has accepted the SEZ policy of the Central Government.The new SEZ policy approved by the state cabinet may affect the big industrial houses that were beneficiaries in the previous government, including the multi project one being set up by the Anil Ambani Group at Noida. Asked about the fate of projects approved by the previous government, Krishna replied that old proposals would be reviewed in the context of the new policy.
The Lok Sangharsh Morcha on Sunday gave a call to tribals and other downtrodden in Gujarat and other parts of the country to look for a solution to their problems “outside the framework of law.” They should remain prepared to fight long arduous battles to get justice from the “lawless governments.”
The Morcha, which organised a convention of the tribals and other downtrodden on the “People’s Rights and the Issues of Democracy in Gujarat” here adopted resolutions, including one condemning the alleged atrocities on the tribals by the Narendra Modi Government and his “false propaganda” on allotment of forest land to the tribals.
It called for the immediate scrapping of all Special Economic Zones and condemned the police firings in Khammam (A.P.), Nandigram ( West Bengal), Orissa and other States.
Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan and veteran Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande were present. Briefly dealing with the alleged police atrocities on the tribals agitating for their rights on the forest lands in various states, Collin Gonsalves, a senior Supreme Court advocate, said that from his long experience in practising law he had realised that there was “no law, no court, no government” for the poor and downtrodden. Pointing out that he was contesting several cases in the Supreme Court on the tribals’ rights on the forestland, he said it was hardly leading to anywhere.
“If you want to get your problems solved and re-establish your rights on the land you till, you must seek a solution outside the framework of law. He advised the tribals to join hands with the Dalits and Muslims to fight for the downtrodden.
Mr. Bardhan, addressing the gathering, said he supported the contentions of Mr. Gonsalves and regretted that the subsequent governments in the post-independent era had belied the hopes and expectations of the poor and the downtrodden of a better deal by their own government.
He said that even 60 years after Independence, nearly 80 per cent of the population in the country, largely constituted by the tribals, Dalits and Muslims, had to still survive on a paltry income of Rs.20 per family per day.
The government had no land to give to the tribals for tilling, but could give thousands of acres of land to the industrialists to set up the Special Economic Zones. Criticising the government’s SEZ policy, he said he was not opposed to industrialisation, but questioned the need for giving such large chunks of land to the foreign and domestic investors to set up SEZs which could solve the problems of thousands of families of poor tribals and marginal farmers.
Castigating the government for “its failure” to frame a proper land policy, Mr. Bardhan said the tribals were being driven out from the forests and the Dalits and other downtrodden from the land earmarked for the SEZs.
Displaced when they settle down in the slums in the urban areas, their houses were being “bulldozed.” The compensation paid to the poor in lieu of their land given for SEZs, was too inadequate, he felt.
Assuring that he and his party would be with the tribals and other downtrodden in their fight for justice and rights, Mr. Bardhan, however, advised them to wage a war under some political banner.
Durgapur SEZ plan for infotech
The Durgapur development authority has cleared a proposal by construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji & Co to set up an infotech special economic zone (SEZ).
The SEZ will come up on 25 acres allotted by the Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (Adda), whose board okayed the proposal yesterday.
Bansagopal Chowdhury, the Adda chairman, said the SEZ would be set up near the Software Technology Park in Durgapur’s Bidhannagar and will house a number of infotech companies.
“Shapoorji Pallonji will develop infrastructure for the Rs 100-crore project on 25 acres in Durgapur’s Bidhannagar area. The company will have to follow the land utilisation pattern fixed by Adda,” Chowdhury told a media conference. He said 5 per cent of the turnover of the project would go to the authority.
The project needs clearance from the approval board under the Union commerce ministry. If land acquisition is completed, approvals come through faster.The project, expected to be up and running by 2012, would generate around 4,000 jobs, Chowdhury said, adding that infotech SEZs have never been targeted by the Opposition.
The Samajwadi Party government had given approval to the Anil Ambani Group and six other private companies to set up SEZs in the Noida region.The cabinet has also decided to do away with first-come-first served policy. Proposals to set up SEZs will now be invited through open tenders. "This will ensure transparency in the selection of companies", Krishna said.
Krishna said under the new policy, SEZs will be developed through private-public partnership. Concessions to non-processing units will be withdrawn while processing units will continue to get the usual concessions.
Even as Anil Ambani's proposal for a special economic zone in Noida was turned down by the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday, Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai SEZ (formerly called the Maha Mumbai SEZ) has also run into problems.
In an affidavit filed before the Bombay high court on Friday, the Maharashtra government's industrial and urban infrastructure development arm, CIDCO, has opposed the state government's decision to notify 4,000 hectares of land from Khopta and 21 nearby villages for acquisition for the Mumbai SEZ in Raigad district.
The Mumbai SEZ is one of two being promoted by Reliance Industries [Get Quote] in the district, the other being the 4,000-hectare Navi Mumbai SEZ.
An affidavit to this effect was filed by the CIDCO managing director in the Bombay high court, which is hearing a public interest litigation on the acquisition of land for the Reliance SEZ. The PIL was filed by Peasant and Workers Party leader Datta Patil and others. The petitioners had made CIDCO a respondent in the PIL.
The affidavit states that the decision to notify the land from these villages was taken without consulting CIDCO, which is a planning body for the area. CIDCO had prepared plans to develop a township in this area, which was approved by the government, the statement said.
Besides the township, the affidavit states that the land in these villages will be required to develop a container freight station, container depots - since these villages are near Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust - and other allied activities.
The division Bench hearing the PIL, comprising high court Chief Justice Swatantra Kumar and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud, has adjourned the hearing for four weeks and directed Reliance Industries to file an affidavit.
Farmers in Dadar village of Raigad district whose land has been notified for acquisition for the Reliance Industries-promoted Mumbai special economic zone have formed a company to develop a multi-product SEZ on 2,500 acres, the minimum land required under current SEZ rules.
A company called Kalbhairav Agro & Development Company has been floated for the purpose and 450 of the 1,000 farmers in the village have become shareholders. This marks the first time farmers have proposed an SEZ.
Farmers have been allotted one share for every 1,000 square feet of land they own. Thus, a farmer owning 1 acre gets 40 shares.
The company is chaired by A B Patil, a commerce graduate who owns six acres and two jeeps. He said he was confident of others joining once they saw some action on the ground.
According to Patil, all registration formalities for the company are complete and the proposal has been sent to the registrar of companies. The formal proposal to set up the SEZ will be sent to the Centre and the Maharashtra government once the registration is received.
"The government's attitude to this experiment will reveal if it is really interested in farmers' welfare," he said.
The state government has notified nearly 10,000 hectares in 45 villages in the district for acquisition for the Mumbai SEZ, a move strongly resisted by farmers.
Kalbhairav Agro has not yet drawn up firm fund-raising plans, however. Patil said the company was talking to the promoters of Magarpatta City on the outskirts of Pune for ideas. Farmers there joined hands and successfully developed a township and an infotech park.
"We will learn from their experiences of becoming crorepatis," he said. Kalbhairva also intends to talk to financial institutions for assistance and is even planning an initial public offer.
Patil admitted the task of setting up the SEZ was difficult because the farmers would have to face the might of Reliance Industries [Get Quote] and the state government. But he said the company would go ahead because the "fruits of development should be enjoyed by farmers themselves and not a few outsiders".
Reliance Industries, he said, was offering farmers Rs 10 lakh an acre. But farmers can easily sell the land to other companies for no less than Rs 1 crore an acre.
POSCO unit should open by end of 2011: Govt
Zee News - 1 hour ago
New Delhi, Aug 20: South Korean steelmaker POSCO is making progress on its troubled plans for a plant in eastern India and the unit should begin production by the end of 2011, India's steel secretary said on Monday.
Posco plant to begin operations by 2011-end Business Standard
Posco likely to start production at Indian steel plant by late 2011 MarketWatch
Activists protest POSCO project in Orissa
NDTV Correspondent
Monday, August 20, 2007 (Cuttack)
Using religion to express dissent, activists opposed to the Rs 52,000 crore POSCO steel project in Orissa marched from Cuttack to the Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar.The march was organised to pray to Lord Shiva for the withdrawal of the Korean steel company's project.
Earlier, the POSCO India had announced it's plan to start construction work for its 12 million tonne steel plant in October this year.
Udyam - a youth body - organised the Bol Bom March on Sunday to protest against the impending displacement of 20,000 people.
They also protested the right accorded to POSCO to draw 15 to 18 crore litre of water per day from the river Mahanadi, which they said would endanger the livelihood of lakhs of farmers.
“the Undercover Economist” & Underwear Technologies
A new book “the undercover economist” unravels the mystery why rich are rich and coincidently I had explained over the years in much simpler way India is basically exporting raw materials or products that are low tech and have low value additions. I actually coined a term “Underwear Technology”- India promoted underwear technologies providing incentives worth $50b annually.
I have attached it after the message again.
India can be rich only when it firstly promote inventors and engineers who could found tech companies than displace commission agents, secondly promote development of globally competitive products with patent protection and serve the world market, thirdly minimize differential cost between producers and consumers and fourthly promote high technology industries and freeze investment on low technology products.
India's Lower Castes Seek Social Progress In Global Job Market
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 20, 2007; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901724.html?hpid=moreheadlines
PUNE, India -- As a Dalit, Pratibha Valmik Kamble is part of the poorest and most ostracized community in this subcontinent's ancient caste system, a group of people so shunned that they are still known as untouchables. Her mother is a maid, her father a day laborer.
Yet here in this prospering city, Kamble, 24, was recently applying to an Indian firm called Temp Solutions to go to Philadelphia for a well-paid social service job there. During the interview, she twisted her hands nervously in her lap, knowing that if she landed the position, she would not only make more money than both of her parents combined, she would enhance their social status, and her own.
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Michael Thevar, who recruits lower-caste workers for temporary jobs, speaks to Pratibha Valmik Kamble, right, and Vivek Kumar Katara in Pune, India. (By Emily Wax -- The Washington Post)
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India has long had an affirmative action program for federal government jobs, setting aside 23 percent of positions for the most oppressed castes. Now activists are campaigning to open the private sector to them as well, whether the employer is Indian or multinational. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently said he favors that goal.
So does Temp Solutions co-owner Michael Thevar, himself a member of a low-ranking caste. He gave Kamble the job. "I'm so proud of you," he told her after delivering the good news. "I know so well how much you struggled. That's why I am that much more impressed."
Kamble's eyes went wet as she straightened her mustard-colored outfit and smiled, appearing to be almost embarrassed by his praise.
Recruiting drives aimed at hiring members of India's unprivileged castes, who make up 70 percent of the population, remain rare in the subcontinent's booming service sector. But as India hurtles into world markets, such hiring has touched off a larger debate over the country's 3,000-year-old caste system.
In much of India, the system organizes people into a rigid social order by accident of birth, determining everything from professions to marriage partners.
While the caste system is outlawed by the constitution, low-caste Indians still experience severe discrimination. Dalits are regarded as so low that they are not even part of the system. To this day, they are not allowed to enter many Hindu temples or to drink water from sources used by higher castes.
So far only two major companies -- Bharti Enterprises and Infosys -- have announced they would set aside jobs for Dalits and other oppressed castes.
Ramesh Bajpai, executive director of the New Delhi-based American Chamber of Commerce in India, said the issue of affirmative action for oppressed castes has not been raised among his members -- an indication, some Indian workers contend, that many U.S. companies are not fully aware of the caste system and its complex legacy of discrimination.
India-based executives for IBM and Microsoft, which are among the top foreign employers in this country, declined to comment for this article.
"Things are changing in India and, I believe, changing for the good," said Bajpai. "As far as we know, our member companies try to hire across the spectrum of Indian society. But since the government has started talking about this issue, we in the industry will follow. It is a complex and interesting discussion."
Airtel to connect Haryana Tech Park
Signs MoU with Selecto Systems to provide data, fixed voice and mobile services to the Technology Park
Monday, August 20, 2007
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Selecto Systems for providing telecom network infrastructure and services for its IT SEZ-Haryana Technology Park (HTP) on the Delhi – Agra National Highway in Haryana.
Selecto Systems promotes the HTP and is technically assisted by Paharpur Business Centre and Software Technology Incubator Park.
The MoU assigned Airtel the "Preferred Telecom Service Provider" status and will be given preferential rights to establish and provide telecom infrastructure and services at the HTP.
Milan Rao, chief operating officer - North, Airtel Enterprise Services and Kamal Meattle, chief executive officer, Selecto Systems signed the MoU.
The HTP is being built on 1.65 million square feet area and will be ready for
occupation on January 1, 2010 and will service 30,000 users.
The Park will be equipped and serviced facility suited for international IT, KPO and BPO firms.
As a part of the MoU, Airtel will set up the telecom network infrastructure at the SEZ, ensuring all the SEZ clients have access to telecom services. Airtel will also establish a dedicated help center to address the telecom requirements of the SEZ clients.
Airtel will provide data, fixed voice and mobile services to the HTP. Companies at the SEZ will also be able to safeguard themselves against any unforeseen disasters by
having access to back up their critical business data and applications through the business resiliency and continuity services.
There are several exclusive features of rich countries;
1. People of rich countries are highly skilled.
2. Rich countries have very high productivity per employee.
3. Rich countries sell high value high technology products and buy low technology products; it is reverse for poor countries.
4. Rich countries have very efficient legal system and law is enforced vigorously.
5. There are ethical standards in every day life and every one is accountable to society.
6. Rich countries have low level of corruption.
All rich countries are efficiently governed.
Ravinder Singh August20, 2007
Progressindia2007@ yahoo.com
http://www.slate. com/id/2171898/
the undercover economist
Milton Friedman, Meet Richard Feynman
How physics can explain why some countries are rich and others are poor.
By Tim Harford
Posted Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007, at 7:07 AM ET
If economics can tell us something useful about crime, marriage, or carpooling—as I believe it can—then other academic disciplines should have something to tell us about economies. Last month, Science published an example that may turn out to be important. Two physicists, Cesar Hidalgo and Albert-László Barabási, and two economists, Bailey Klinger and Ricardo Hausmann, have been drawing unusual pictures of economic "space" that promise a deeper understanding of the biggest question in economics: why poor countries are poor.
There are many explanations, but some are easier to test than others. One very plausible account of why at least some poor countries are poor is that there is no smooth progression from where they are to where they would be when rich. For instance, to move from drilling oil to making silicon chips might require simultaneous investments in education, transport infrastructure, electricity, and many other things. The gap may be too far for private enterprise to bridge without some sort of coordinating effort from government—a "big push."
That is an old and intuitive idea in economics, but as an informal argument it leaves a lot to be desired. For a start, while plausible, it might not be true. If it is true, it might be far more so for some kinds of economy than for others. And if there is to be a big push, in which direction should it go?
Testing the idea took three steps. First, economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research broke down each country's exports into 775 distinct products. Next, Hausmann and Klinger used that data to measure how similar each product is to each other product. If every major apple exporter also exports pears, and every major pear exporter also exports apples, then the data are demonstrating apples and pears to be similar.
Presumably, both economies would have fertile soil, agronomists, refrigerated packing plants, and ports. For the third step, Hausmann and Klinger called upon Hidalgo and Barabási, who specialize in mapping and analyzing networks. The result was a map of the relationships between different products in an abstract economic space. (And look at more maps here. Apples and pears are close together; oil production is a long way away from anything else.
"The physicists' map shows each economy in this network of products, by highlighting the products each country exported. Over time, economies move across the product map as their export mix changes. Rich countries have larger, more diversified economies, and so produce lots of products—especially products close to the densely connected heart of the network. East Asian economies look very different, with a big cluster around textiles and another around electronics manufacturing, and—contrary to the hype—not much activity in the products produced by rich countries. African countries tend to produce a
few products with no great similarity to any others."
That could be a big problem. The network maps show that economies tend to develop through closely related products. A country such as Colombia makes products that are well connected on the network, and so there are plenty of opportunities for private firms to move in to, provided other parts of the business climate allow it. But many of South Africa's current exports—diamonds, for example—are not very similar to anything.
If the country is to develop new products, it will mean making a big leap. The data show that such leaps are unusual.
None of this is proof that other development prescriptions— provide financing, fight corruption, cut red tape, and lower trade barriers—are useless. Nor is it a green light for ham-fisted industrial policy. Klinger warns: "It's easy to take the policy implication too far and start trying to pick and choose where to settle in the product space." But it is a big step forward. Policy-makers should take note, and economists, too.
Tim Harford is a columnist for the Financial Times. His latest book is The Undercover Economist.
Aamdani Athanni Kharcha Rupia – Economic Profile Of India ©
On one front India has corporate indulging in grabbing farmers land at 20 years old rates with GOI connivance who have not developed a single technology in 2-5 generations (Ambanis, Tatas & othrs), on another there are political agents specializing in converting slum properties in to super malls, on yet another there are moneylenders who charge 120% interest from farmers and small businesses, on yet another front there is run way imports of all kind of products at practically no duty and exports are generally raw materials or low value added products. In the following you can see June imports are 52.25% higher which was 46% in April.
Non-oil imports during June, 2007 were estimated at US $ 13530.70 million which was 52.25 % higher than growth on non oil imports of US$ 8887.25 million in June, 2006. Non-oil imports during April-June, 2007 were valued at US$ 40078.64 million which was 50.36% higher than the level of such imports valued at US$ 26654.92 million in April-June, 2006.
http://commerce. nic.in/pressrele ase/pressrelease _detail.asp? id=2112
https://www. cia.gov/library/ publications/ the-world- factbook/ rankorder/ 2187rank. html
Now Earnest & Young has also come out with prediction of India overtaking Developed countries in GDP like Goldman Sachs. I asked GS top executives in India, Can you give me the items India shall export in 2050? They couldn’t say a word. In the second link all other “Tigers” have substantial trade surplus. China has $179b surplus, Russia $105b that is one seventh in population, Brazil $13.5b, South Korea $2b, India is the only emerging economy that had rapidly growing trade deficit that was $41b in 2006.
153rd Out Of 158 In Current Account Balance
You see that in the list India ranks at the bottom.
A common argument to counter trade deficit issue is India is getting NRI investments and remittances of Indian workers. But can they substitute for gross incompetence of Commission Agents kind of Indian corporate? Goods made in India could have created millions of jobs. By the way the commission agents corporate who claim most of India financial resources have neither created new jobs for 10-15 years nor any significant technology.
I as an inventor put Man Mohan Singh in absolute idiot class firstly for promoting commission agents in the country and then diverting all the hard earned NRI deposits and remittances at their disposal. As a matter of fact India
There was a popular song “Aamdani Athanni Kharcha Rupai”, Indian imports are growing at twice more rate than exports.
India is either exporting low value addition goods or simply raw materials like iron ore, food items and raw cotton and low technology products.
https://www. cia.gov/library/ publications/ the-world- factbook/ rankorder/ 2078rank. html
Indian Exports Under 1% Of The World.
Indian exports are less than 1% of the world at that too consists of mainly low value added products and raw material.
But the problem is Man Mohan Singh can’t think of any one other than Ambanis or Tatas. You can see Tatas operating in areas marked in red failed to produce goods India imported worth $70b and figure for Ambanis could be $20b in expanding the full list. RIL exports of petroleum products have little value additions.
Ravinder Singh August06, 2007
Inventor
Progressindia2007@ yahoo.com
http://commerce. nic.in/ftpa/ default.asp
Top 15 Commodities EXPORTS
Rank Commodity Apr-Mar 2006 Apr-Mar 2007
1 PETROLEUM (CRUDE & PRODUCTS) 11,639.65 18,551.91
2 GEMS & JEWELLARY 15,529.06 15,585.69
3 RMG COTTON INCL ACCESSORIES 6,553.69 6,752.39
4 MACHINERY AND INSTRUMENTS 5,077.54 6,504.71
5 DRUGS,PHRMCUTES & FINE CHEMLS 4,995.25 5,512.12
6 OTHER COMMODITIES 2,510.73 5,413.68
7 MANUFACTURES OF METALS 4,233.24 5,026.58
8 TRANSPORT EQUIPMENTS 4,322.97 4,905.92
9 PRMRY & SEMI-FNSHD IRON & STL 2,982.73 4,374.30
10 COTTON YARN,FABRICS, MADEUPSETC 3,944.78 4,136.55
11 IRON ORE 3,801.10 3,891.67
12 NON-FERROUS METALS 1,340.29 3,486.58
13 PLASTIC & LINOLEUM PRODUCTS 2,819.32 3,191.40
14 ELECTRONIC GOODS 2,173.06 2,732.17
15 DYES/INTMDTES & COAR TAR CHEML 1,649.39 2,253.59
Total 103,090.53 126,331.10
Exchange Rate: (1US$ = Rs. ) 44.2735 45.2495
Top 15 Commodities of Import
Rank Commodity Apr-Mar 2006 Apr-Mar 2007
1 PETROLEUM, CRUDE & PRODUCTS 43,963.09 57,074.45
2 ELECTRONIC GOODS 13,241.75 15,946.32
3 TRANSPORT EQUIPMENTS 8,838.47 15,413.57
4 GOLD 10,830.52 14,461.11
5 MACHRY EXCPT ELEC & ELECTRONIC 10,009.81 13,848.87
6 METALIFERS ORES & METAL SCRAP 3,881.80 8,333.77
7 PERLS PRCUS SEMIPRCS STONES 9,134.42 7,487.40
8 IRON & STEEL 4,385.74 6,043.47
9 ORGANIC CHEMICALS 4,739.30 5,435.86
10 COAL,COKE & BRIQUITTES ETC. 3,868.70 4,595.42
11 OTHER COMMODITIES 5,896.25 4,534.21
12 FERTILEZERS MANUFACTURED 1,673.26 2,673.43
13 NON-FERROUS METALS 1,844.37 2,605.95
14 ARTFCL RESNS,PLSTC MATRLS,ETC. 2,267.71 2,601.84
15 INORGANIC CHEMICALS 2,244.82 2,375.44
Total 149,165.73 190,565.97
Exchange Rate: (1US$ = Rs. ) 44.2735 45.2495
END NOTES
i Appeal on Nandigram Violence
The continuing violence in Nandigram, West Bengal resulting in needless death and injury to innocent
villagers, has become a cause of great concern to people all over India.
Whatever may have been the initial reasons for the start of the conflict it is clear from media reports and
eyewitness accounts that the situation now is spinning out of control, resulting in a fratricidal war between
different sections of the local population.
It is also evident that over the past several months of agitation and turmoil thousands of ordinary people- of
all political hues- are unable to make a livelihood, go about their daily work or even enjoy the basic right
to sleep without fear. Women in particular have been severely affected while many children are unable to
attend school normally.
Casteology Wins, Ideology Defeated!
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
http://o3.indiatimes.com/palashbiswas/archive/2007/05/11/4231914.aspx
A political party committed to ending oppression of the downtrodden by upper castes has taken an absolute majority of state legislative seats in Uttar Pradesh.A political party with socialist leanings has regained power in India's most politically influential state. Meticulous poll planning by Mayawati - especially the strategy of wooing Brahmins and other upper castes in a big way in a rainbow coalition helped add to her traditional vote base of Dalits and Muslims. Indian shares bucked weak global markets to gain 0.18 percent Friday, boosted by signs one party would win an outright majority in an important state election and data showing moderating inflation and strong industrial output.
The 30-share benchmark BSE index rose 24.93 points to 13,796.16, although only 11 components gained. The index fell 0.99 percent on the week.
"I think both the Uttar Pradesh elections and lower inflation numbers would have given comfort to our markets," said Jayesh Shroff, a fund manager at SBI Funds Management.
India's most prominent Untouchable leader pulled off a surprise election victory in the country's most populous state today, stalling the political ambitions of the Gandhi family's heir apparentwhile the country's ruling and main opposition parties both lost seats. Thus, India paid homage with full pomp and honour on Friday to the "martyrs" who battled British rule 150 years ago in the country's "first war of independence".Mayawati, who uses only that single name, leads the Bahujan Samaj party, which looks set to sweep the polls in Uttar Pradesh, a northern Indian state of 170 million people and the country's most important bellwether of public opinion.The result was a lesson for Rahul Gandhi - the son of Sonia Gandhi who runs the ruling Congress party - who spent a month criss-crossing Uttar Pradesh but in the end could only hold on to his 25 seats.However,the results were not expected to hurt Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's central coalition as the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also fared poorly, disproving exit polls that had forecast an improved showing. Now, the impact of this unexpected result on next Presidential Election has to be seen. As Mayabati has got the trump card, Congress or BJP should not have any say.
Shouting "Mayawati Zindabad" and "BSP Zindabad", the BSP backers took to the streets in virtually every town and city across Uttar Pradesh.So the results of the Uttar Pradesh elections are out, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has made a stunner of a win.Pre-poll surveys and exit polls had forecast the BSP to emerge as the largest party in the 403-member assembly but it was not expected to win a majority on its own.
On Friday, as counting of ballots neared a close, the party had won 204 seats of the 397 declared, NDTV said.With Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati poised to return to the helm in Uttar Pradesh, the state's bureaucracy, especially those who were known to be close to outgoing Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, are nervous.
It is post-Ambedkar dalit movement against post modern manusmriti! They have changed their tools. Why should not we! Politics is Shining Super power India's largest industry, it is the state's corporate sector, and it is a key avenue of employment. Political analysts described the UP result as a "bolt from the blue". Why?On the other hand,the victory of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which represents India's former 'untouchables', analysts said, could indicate that the state was moving away from divisive, caste-based politics and had voted for a new, broader coalition. As early trends showed BSP surging ahead in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the BJP chose to keep its cards close to the chest on the issue of joining hands with Mayawati's party to form the next government. Why? They may strike any deal and you don`t have any question to ask. All morality is reserved for the Dalits!
With UP election results defying every analysis, exit poll, survey and forcast, it is clear that Casteology wins in contemporary Indian Polity and Ideology is finally defeated. hindutva have lost its face in UP. We have seen how ideology works in recent times to annihilate the Dalit Rural India, its life and livelihood. Expressing her gratitude to the people for their support, Mayawati paid tribute to her mentor and BSP founder Kanshi Ram and architect of the Constitution B.R. Ambedkar and said that her party would provide a government that would root out injustice and crime. Uttar Pradesh is a chronically poor rural backwater that would be the world's sixth most populous state if it were a nation. Less than half its women can read or write their name, but it has also produced most of India's prime ministers.The Congress used to have a combination of Muslims, Dalits, and forward castes when it used to win elections after elections.
It was social engineering and ideology which boosted the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to victory, declared a triumphant BSP chief Mayawati who is poised to become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time.Dressed in her favourite pink salwar-kameez, Mayawati said at the press conference at the BSP party headquarters here after paying floral tributes to life-size statues of Dalit messiah B.R. Ambedkar, her mentor and BSP founder, the late Kanshi Ram.
'A big social change has taken place in Uttar Pradesh and all sections of society has supported the party. Our chalking out a carefully planned strategy has brought this success,' a beaming Mayawati told a crowded press conference as cameras whirred and photographers clicked.
Condemning the action of former minister Mohamed Azam Khan, who was shown by TV channels shredding official papers before leaving his office after the party's defeat, she said the Director General of Police has been asked to probe the matter and she would do the needful after taking oath as chief minister.
She thanked the Election Commission for conducting a free and fair poll and appreciated the role played by all commission officials.
Ambedkar as the maker of the Indian Constitution, provider of the present order, a Bodhisatva, a constitutionalist, a messiah, a saviour, an SC leader, a liberal democrat, a staunch anticommunist, a reformist allergic to revolutions of whatever kind and thus, in a nutshell as the bourgeoisie liberal democrat par excellence. Barring Dadasaheb Gaikwad and the movement of the Dalit Panthers for a while post-Ambedkar leadership failed to pay any attention to the material aspects of life and mystified the problems of dalits. To take one example, while political power was a means for Ambedkar, it appears to be the end for Kanshiram.
In a captive polity and economy, ruled by coradors of corporate Imperialism, ideology fails to help common Indian masses. Finally, Indian society speaks out. We have caste in our blood. Masses do not understand ideology, but they do understand caste very well. Rearrangement of forces in accordance of social realities apart from so called ideology always helping the rotten brahminical dominace and Zionist Imperialist MNC Rule, have open the doors of State Power for UP dalits under the leadership of a pragmatic leader like Mayabati!
This casteology has to be understood! Since , it is clear ideology, Left or Right has failed to change the society accordingly.Thirty years on, BSP politics has gifted Mayawati a unique political situation.In UP, Mayawati, as everyone knows and as the successive elections results have proved, has undisputed hold over the Dalit votes.In the last election in UP, she secured 98 seats out of 403 seats with 23 per cent of the vote share.In UP, Dalits constitute around 21 per cent of the electorate and it stands to her credit that she is able to transfer her share of votes to any candidate or party she chooses and that too at her price.In the past, slogans like Tilak, taraju aur talwar, unko maro juthe char ('Brahmins, traders and the warrior caste should be kicked') used to be the mantra of electoral success when Kanshi Ram, her mentor and the founder of BSP, took his movement to the economically poor and socially condemned Dalits, who were in search of a leader and a political party.She thinks quickly, changes tack quickly, and is mindful only that the Dalits are still backing her.
The people of Nandigram have set an example before the country by resisting the Left Front Government's move to acquire land for a chemical hub compelling it to backtrack, a leader of a LF ally said today.
"The unrest at Nandigram was caused by the Front Government's move to acquire land for a chemical hub. But the people have not parted with their land. The people at Nandigram have set an example by resisting the move," PWD minister and senior RSP leader Kshiti Goswami said.
Addressing the state conference of the party's trade union wing, UTUC, Goswami accused the West Bengal of arrogance.
With West Bengal`s ruling Left Front and the Opposition Trinamool Congress agreeing to hold a peace meeting on Nandigram, the East Midnapore district administration is likely to convene an all-party meeting today to prepare the ground for the peace initiative.
Villagers detain two Posco employees
In an ugly twist to the face off between Posco-India and the people of Paradip area where the company proposed to set up a 12 million tonne steel plant, three employees of the company were detained by the villagers of Gobindpur when they had gone there to canvas for land acquisition for the project this afternoon.All the three employees were locals and were from the Kujanga office of the company, about 20 km from Paradip. The vehicle they were traveling has also been damaged, sources said.Meanwhile, latest reports said, one of the three detainees, a lady executive named Rosalin Parida along with the driver of the vehicle have been released by the villagers.The other two employees, who are still held captive by the villagers in Patna village, neighbouring Gobindpur under the Dhinkia gram panchayat, were Pranabananda Das, public relations officer of Posco's Kujanga office and Debasish Swain, an executive.
It may be noted that Posco, which is facing stiff resistance from the local people on the issue of land acquisition for its project, had recently initiated steps for direct negotiation with the villagers to buy the private land within its site following the government advice to this effect. The company required 4004 acres land for the project, of which 3566 acres are
government land and 438 acres private land.
The wave on which Mayawati rode to power in Uttar Pradesh could bring in its wake seminal changes in the way politics is done at the Centre and in the countryside. Political analysts said by combining the underprivileged with the Brahmins, the BSP leader has transcended the politics of caste and vested in the dalits the leadership of the SC-Muslim-Brahmin social combine that had kept the Congress in power for decades.The emerging scenario reinforces the possibility of regional players growing beyond home states and navigating coalitions at the Centre.
It was as results poured in from different parts of the state indicating that the party could form a government on its own. Jubilant party workers burst crackers and distributed sweets and hugged each other as every favourable results brought a roar of cheers. Carrying BSP flags, party workers had started gathering near their leader's residence at Mall Avenue since early morning as if they knew what was in the offing.
In fact, the gain for the BSP is in a way loss for the BJP, which had emerged as the champion of the upper castes in the post-Mandal, mandir phase.
As we see in West Bengal, despite being ruled by left over three decades the Dalits and underprevileged classes have no sapce in life or livelihood.On September 29, 2006, four members of a poor peasant dalit family in Khairlanji village in Bhandara district of northeast Maharashtra were brutally killed in planned mob violence. The women members, mother and daughter were raped, sexually assaulted. All the members were paraded naked and tortured and assaulted on their private parts. Only the father, who was away, working in the fields, escaped this horrible fate. Neither the administration nor the media has taken steps that behooves an institution of a democratic civilized society as local women continue to agitate. Committee Against Violence on Women files this note.
Then, friends, what is the use of this bloody Ideology which may not help us in any way?
Think!
Just Think and decide!
Let us formulate similar casteology whereever peoples resistance fail to express itself in the so called democratic set up!
If the Brahmins ruled India for thousands of years enslaving the rest of the population, why should we not have uppercast support to destroy their dominance. mayabati has exactly done the same with surgical precision!
Rather it may be analysed how Congeress and BJP, SP and Left failed to maintain Brahminical supremacy in COW Belt, which could not be revived by the extremist Hindutva!
If the Brahmins and other uppercaste are ready to allow adequate space for others and more importantly, accepts Dalit Leadership as they accepted in UP, a new wave of social changes may be expected henceforth!
Is a brhmin leader like Ms Mamta Bannerjee in bengal ready to accept Dalit leadership sacrificing her own political ambition to overthrow the Marxist capitalist Brahminical MNC Raj In bengal?
Rabindranath Tagore, the man who coined Indian Nationality, knew well about Dalit Emergence as he belonged to an outcast Peerali Brahmin community and his family led Brahmo samaj.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's central relevance for securing the Indian democratic revolution. Although the dalits have wrested significant gains in various domains of social life during the last five decades, the relative gulf between them and non-dalits seems to have remained the same if not actually increased. On the other hand the emerging world order signified by the process of globalisation is bound to change the grammar of oppressed peoples' struggles all over the world. The dalits too, therefore will have to wage now and in future a revolutionary struggle at one and the same time on two fronts marked by the caste and the class.
Rabindranath Tagore, who died in 1941 at the age of eighty, is a towering figure in the millennium-old literature of Bengal. Anyone who becomes familiar with this large and flourishing tradition will be impressed by the power of Tagore's presence in Bangladesh and in India. His poetry as well as his novels, short stories, and essays are very widely read, and the songs he composed reverberate around the eastern part of India and throughout Bangladesh.
Rather Rashi,the play, writtenby Tagore in 1932, is set in the time when caste system was its height. Tagore's vision was perhaps prophetic when he "signalled" a social change - an upheaval brought about by the Sudras - the fourth caste. This is reflected in the chariot (during the Rath yatra called the Mahakaal - lord of time/Shiva), which does not move when pushed, by the Brahmins and kshatriyas. The rope of the chariot symbolises the bond of human relationships. These relationships in the course of time had undermined the role and rights of many and kept them suppressed. To a certain extent the chariot is an allegory for the division of society into different castes and sections.Caste is like a malaise, which only seems to spread its tentacles further coming down as does from the Vedic times. Though times have changed - the caste system as an "evil" has not withered away. On the contrary, it has lead to further "fragmentation" of society. It is a well-known fact that Brahmins and kshatriyas were at the top of the caste hierarchy and used this to oppress people. So when they try to push the chariot it does not budge. This sends signals of worry down the common people who try to appease the Gods in vain. It is finally the Sudras who are successful in moving the chariot.
This play Rather Rashi seems relevant even today on account of caste acting as a single divisive factor to a large extent, which leads to strife and tension. We are facing the brunt of it all - communal riots, child labour, political tensions - all deep-seated evils in the social fabric of the country. Rabindranath did come from a Hindu family—one of the landed gentry who owned estates mostly in what is now Bangladesh. But whatever wisdom there might be in Akhmatova's invoking of Hinduism and the Ganges, it did not prevent the largely Muslim citizens of Bangladesh from having a deep sense of identity with Tagore and his ideas. Nor did it stop the newly independent Bangladesh from choosing one of Tagore's songs—the "Amar Sonar Bangla" which means "my golden Bengal"—as its national anthem. This must be very confusing to those who see the contemporary world as a "clash of civilizations"—with "the Muslim civilization," "the Hindu civilization," and "the Western civilization," each forcefully confronting the others. They would also be confused by Rabindranath Tagore's own description of his Bengali family as the product of "a confluence of three cultures: Hindu, Mohammedan, and British".
The BSP's strategy of wooing Brahmins and other upper castes in a big way in a rainbow coalition helped add to its traditional vote base of Dalits and Muslims. The BSP may ultimately not need support from other parties to run a government. Scores of BSP workers celebrated and danced outside the residence of their leader and future Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati. Stunning its rivals, Mayawati's BSP scored a spectacular victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.Her party secured an absolute majority on its own to end 15 years of coalition politics in the state.The ruling Samajwadi Party suffered severe losses, winning 97 seats. The BSP, which always campaigned on an anti-upper caste plank in its two decades of electoral politics, fought the polls this time without any allies and won 203 of the 396 seats for which results were declared.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who won from both Gunnaur and Bharthana, conceded defeat in the wake of his party's drubbing and resigned in the afternoon
In the 2002 assembly elections, the BSP had won 99 seats while the Samajwadi Party bagged 143. The BJP was third last time too, winning 88 seats and the Congress had secured 25 seats.The Ajit Singh-led RLD had won 15 seats and the CPI-M one seat. Others accounted for the remaining 32 seats.Mayawati's strategy of sewing up rainbow coalition, particularly wooing Brahmins and other upper castes, appeared to have paid rich dividends to BSP in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, results of which were out on Friday.In her strategy that is seen by political observers as one of the biggest attempts at social engineering in recent years, the BSP supremo shed her image as only a dalit leader and and aligned with upper castes, against whom her party had in the past carried out a consistent campaign.Casting aside her 'anti-Manuvadi' stance, her pet theme against upper castes, Mayawati ensured substantial number of tickets to Brahmins and also others while keeping her dalit votebank intact.
With polling in one constituency countermanded, the half-way mark for a simple majority in the 403-member assembly will be 202. With BSP no longer requiring its support, Congress said that it will play the role of opposition in Uttar Pradesh.Set for a fourth term as chief minister, the 51-year-old Dalit leader unseated her bitter rival Mulayam Singh Yadav and delivered a body blow to the BJP's hopes of building on its string of victories in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Mumbai corporation.Chief campaigner Rahul Gandhi's electioneering appeared to have helped the Congress only retain its existing number of seats. The party is placed fourth, winning 21 seats and leading in three more.The Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, with its clout in western UP, managed to retain its hold by winning five seats.
UP to get single party govt after 14 years
Uttar Pradesh will usher in single party rule after 14 years with the thumping victory of the Mayawati-led BSP bringing coalition politics to an end.
BSP reached the crucial 202 mark in the 403-member House as the results of the assembly polls were announced today.
Riding on the Ram wave, Kalyan Singh led the last single party government when BJP assumed office on June 24, 1991. The government was dismissed on December 6, 1992 by the Centre following demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya.
The assembly elections in 1993 saw Samajwadi Party and BSP fighting the polls together and had won 175 seats. Though the BJP had won 177 seats, the Congress and the Janata Dal extended support to the SP-BSP alliance which resulted in anointment of Yadav as the Chief Minister of the state.
The SP-BSP government was short lived and the two parties turned bitter foes after the attack on the BSP supremo Mayawati in 1995 following her withdrawal of support to the SP government.
The assembly polls, that followed soon after were held under the President's rule in 1996 saw BSP forging an alliance with the Congress and bagging 67 seats while the Congress had to contend with only 33 seats.
The BJP had in 1996 won 176 seats and emerged as the single largest party but yet it could not form the government as no party was ready to support it.
The BJP and BSP, however, stitched an alliance about seven months after the polls on the basis of six monthly rotational formula.
BSP leader Mayawati became the Chief Minister for the first six months but later broke the alliance throwing the state into political turmoil once again.
A Dalit Voice piece
" Casteology" replaces ideology: That is why all over India caste-based parties are coming up only because the SC/ST/BCs Ñ the country's three most oppressed segments ÑÊhave found in them better response. Since caste (jati) is nothing but an extended family, a people belonging to a jati find themselves more at home in their jati party.
Lalu Prasad's RJD, Mulayam's SP, Mayawatis BSP, Sharad Pawar's NCP, Ramdoss' PMK are prominent caste-based parties. A coalition of such parties is ruling in the Centre and in the states like Maharashtra, Karnataka etc.
As parliamentary democracy wakes up more and more oppressed people, more and more caste-based parties will spring up. This is natural in a country like India where every ideology has failed including Marxism and the only ideology that gave confidence to the deprived destitutes is "casteology", if we can coin a word like that. And a coalition of different castes and communities will rule the different states on the principle that each caste and community should gets its share of human rights in proportion to its population.
The future political setup in India will be mainly caste-based as the oppressed sections are losing faith in the existing party formations and the governments they form. We are happy the Brahmins, the principal component of India's ruling class, have also finally realised this supreme Truth and getting ready to form their jati party. Wonderful.
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/jan_a2005/editorial.htm
Caste based discrimination still prevalent in India, says ILO report
Caste-based discrimination maybe abolished by law in India but it remains a major cause why backward classes, especially the Dalits, remain confined to menial tasks like manual scavenging and removal of dead animals, a latest report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on discrimination in the job sector has said.
Affirmative action has been able to assist only a small number of Dalits in finding formal jobs but has failed to provide even and equal opportunities to all, the report added.
"Violence, discrimination and segregation are a daily experience for millions of men and women in several regions of the world. But the practice (of discrimination that is rooted in caste or similar systems) is most widespread in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal," the report, titled 'Equality at Work: Tackling the Challenges' remarked.
The report, a follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, was released in New Delhi by the Union Labour and Employment Minister, Oscar Fernandes, on Thursday.
The report added that Dalits are generally not accepted for any work involving contact for water and food for non-Dalits or entering a non-Dalit residence. "Thus, they are excluded from a wide-range of work opportunities in the area of production, processing or sale of food items, domestic work and the provision of certain services in the private and public sectors," the report said, adding their situation is further impaired by limited access to education, training and resources.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=25c6d65f-1c3e-4d0c-845a-1a2e84f184fa&&Headline=Casteism+still+prevalent+in+India%2c+says+ILO+report
Theorising The Dalit Movement: A Viewpoint
But, of course, Dalits can no longer be excluded. The Constitution and laws of the land are now, in principle at least, fully inclusive. Untouchability, once the clearest manifestation of social exclusion, is now illegal and the practice of it in any form is a punishable offence. Over the past five decades there have been many determined efforts to make the principle of inclusion effective, starting with reservation of seats for Dalits in legislative bodies and subsequently in educational institutions and public services. And by a variety of objective criteria, the condition of Dalits today is far better than what it was in the past.
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2223/stories/20051118000407000.htm
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X(1992)55%3A1%3C154%3ADASPIM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R
http://www.gla.ac.uk/sociology/units/anthrop/dalit/sisoc.htm
http://cssaame.com/issues/18_1/RACINES.pdf
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/may2005/article.htm
http://www.navayana.org/content/reviews/vijayprasad-DDL.htm
http://www.sephis.org/pdf/rnsrawat3.pdf
http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-ilaiah050304.htm
http://pd.cpim.org/2006/0129/01292006_surjeet.htm
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=dalit
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1121
http://www.pucl.org/from-archives/Dalit-tribal/mandal-2.htm
http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2004/Smith,%20PJ.pdf
http://www.kent.ac.uk/clgs/documents/nsflt_abstracts.doc
http://www.dalitnetwork.org/go?/dfn/blog/2006/06/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1831106.stm
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2318/stories/20060922003902500.htm
http://www.dalits.org/charter.html
The State of Dalit Mobilization:
An Interview with Kancha Ilaiah
(This is the transcript of an interview with Kancha Ilaiah, a Dalitbahujan intellectual and professor of Political Science at Osmania University in Hyderabad. Ilaiah is author of the recently published book Why I am Not a Hindu. The interviewers are Chris Chekuri and Biju Mathew. The interview was conducted in July 1997.)
http://www.foil.org/resources/ghadar/v1n2/ilaiah.html
Dalits, Panchayat Raj And
Power Equations
By Goldy M. George
09 May, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Creation of Panchayat Raj is perhaps the best transformation in democratic India to realize the participation of ordinary people in power sharing. Amendment of Article 73 of the Constitution was envisioned as the best among decentralization polity in democracy. Theoretically Panchayat Raj would mean the power distribution from a stringent centralized set-up to a decentralized one, gazed with radical change both at the level of delivery of goods and in the social composition.
After the new generation of Panchayats have started functioning several issues have come to the fore, which have a bearing on human rights. The important factor, which has contributed to the Dalit situation vis-à-vis the Panchayat system, is the nature of Indian society, which of course determines the nature of the state. The Indian society is known for its inequality, social hierarchy and the rich and poor divide. The social hierarchy is the result of the caste system, which is unique to India. Therefore caste and class are the two factors, which deserve attention in this context.
At another level it is essential to look into the question: who are the victims of the social system and nature of the state? They are women, the Dalits, Adivasis and the poor. How can the process of decentralization through strengthening the democratically elected local bodies tackle these issues along with defining rural development in compressed way? Whether the decentralization process and the decentralized institutions increase human rights violations or enhance the possibility for respecting and observing human rights?
http://www.countercurrents.org/george090507.htm
Theorising The Dalit Movement: A Viewpoint
Anand Teltumbde
INTRODUCTION
The Dalit movement, in the familiar sense of organised resistance of the ex-untouchables to caste oppression, may not be traced beyond colonial times. However, in a wider sense of the struggle of lower castes against the hegemony of Brahminical ideology, it has to coexist with the history of caste itself. The broad framework of caste remaining the same, the Dalit movement could also be seen in a historical continuum with its previous phases. In another sense, it could be taken as the articulation phase of the numerous faceless struggles against the iniquitous socio-economic formation ordained by the caste system, that has occupied vast spaces of Indian history. By any reckoning it seems to have done well in identifying its friends and foes, putting in place its strategies and tactics and more importantly, carving out a space for itself in every sphere. It kept pace with the changes taking place in socio-political sphere during the colonial times and thus displayed significant learning during this phase. However, it could not do so thereafter when it had to consolidate its gains particularly in the context of substantial changes that befell during the post-independence times.
http://www.ambedkar.org/research/THEORISING%20THE%20DALIT%20MOVEMENT.htm
The Bhopal Declaration and a Tribal Fishworker’s Cooperative
C.N. Subramaniam
In January 2002, the government of Madhya Pradesh hosted a conference on the Dalit movement in which leading Dalit intellectuals participated and adopted the so-called Bhopal Declaration. A few weeks before that a contract between the government of Madhya Pradesh and a cooperative of dam displaced tribal fishworkers had lapsed and the government was procrastinating in renewing the agreement. Finally when the government did agree to renew the contract the terms were so harsh that the cooperative has found them unacceptable.
These two events which are apparently unconnected provide an insight into both the actual issues before the dalit movement and the real face of the government of Madhya Pradesh.
http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv8n1/bhopal.htm
Complying with an Election Commission order, the BJP has issued a public condemnation of an anti-Muslim CD released by its state leaders ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
''The party has no hesitation in doing so. In consonance with the stand that the party had suo motu...the party categorically declares that it does not approve of the contents of the said CD. It strongly condemns the same,'' it said in a statement.
However, the statement was prefaced by a caveat that it reserved its right to challenge the jurisdiction of the three -member Election Commission to pass such an order when the BJP has questioned its quorum due to the participation of Navin Chawla.
The party also cited submissions it made to the Election Commission that it had acted immediately after a row erupted over the disc and removed a state party spokesman from his post.
With the poll panel having rejected BJP's demands to exclude Election Commissioner Navin Chawla from the hearing of the CD case, the BJP maintained that its condemnation of the disc does not amount to giving up its right to challenge any derecognition order passed by a bench that includes him.
Last week, the Commission reserved its decision on demands for derecognition of the BJP and asked it to come out with a public condemnation of the video.
Building A House Of Beauty and Truth
Chandalika: Initial Fundraiser for Gandhi Fo
Three top scientists caution on deal
Sandeep Dikshit
NEW DELHI: Three of the country’s top nuclear scientists have said that once the nuclear deal is in place, India’s commercial nuclear interaction with other countries will be “firmly controlled” by Washington through the Hyde Act enforced through the U.S. “stranglehold” on the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
The scientists — P. K. Iyengar (former chairman, Atomic Energy Commission), A. Gopalakrishnan (former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board chief) and A.N. Prasad (former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director — have written a letter of appeal to Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation and pointed out several lacunae in the draft safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“We are strongly of the opinion that the government should not seek the IAEA Board’s approval for the current draft safeguards agreement until its implications are debated more fully within the country and with a group of experts who were not party to the IAEA negotiations,” they observed, adding that analysts had convincingly refuted the government’s main reason for pushing the deal — energy security to the country.
The deal will not be governed by the bilateral 123 Agreement because it is anchored in U.S. domestic laws, including the Hyde Act, which contains several stipulations “extraneous to the issue of bilateral nuclear cooperation, including foreign policy behaviour which India needs to adhere to if the deal is to be kept alive.”
“India-specific?”
The deal could also have other serious repercussions, including a potential weakening of India’s nuclear deterrent and an inability to protect & promote indigenous R&D efforts in nuclear technology.
They expressed doubts about the safeguards agreement being India-specific. For, it was “distinctly” clear from the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement that no uninterrupted fuel supplies were guaranteed. “The government had assured that this defect will be corrected in the safeguards agreement but since the IAEA was all along known to be no fuel-supply guarantor, it is not surprising that Indian negotiators have failed to obtain any assurance in this regard.”
“The corrective measures mentioned in the preamble to the safeguards agreement have nothing that anchors them to any section in the operative part of the agreement.”
“The nation would like to know clearly what these corrective measures are, before plunging headlong into this deal. India being merely allowed to withdraw the Indian-built civilian [pressurised heavy water reactors] PHWRs from safeguards, and that too after stripping them of all spent & fresh fuel and components of foreign origin, is not a corrective step because this action does not ensure uninterrupted operation in the event of disruption of foreign fuel supplies.”
“Even here, Article 32 of the Safeguards Agreement appears to stand in the way of any such withdrawal. Besides, this relaxation does not apply to the imported power reactors, which will use up the bulk of our investments in nuclear power; these units will perpetually stay under safeguards, even after fuel supplies are denied,” noted the scientists.
The scientists also drew attention to the fact that the Hyde Act prohibits the U.S. administration from directly or indirectly assisting India with lifetime fuel supplies after suspension of the deal. “Therefore, the government owes a clarification to the Parliament and the public about how they intend to avoid the consequential huge economic loss from the non-operation of these extremely costly imported reactors, as a result of fuel denial.”
The government also needs to clarify its thinking on the Additional Protocol before entering into the safeguards agreement. The government had pledged to secure an unqualified right to reprocess spent-fuel and even termed India’s right to reprocess “non-negotiable.” But the 123 Agreement has an “empty theoretical right” to reprocess.
The actual permission will come after years, when a dedicated state-of-the art reprocessing plant is built anew to treat foreign fuel, along with a host of allied facilities.
Similarly, there are many other key safeguards-related issues which have been unaddressed in the draft safeguards agreement and none had been handled adequately or in an acceptable manner.
“We therefore appeal to the Members of the Lok Sabha to direct the government not to proceed further with the current safeguards agreement, and ask the Prime Minister to initiate wide-ranging and structured deliberations on the deal to develop a broad consensus among political parties,” they said.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/19/stories/2008071961631200.htm
'Nuclear deal can only be to the advantage of India'
ibnlive.com
Published on Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 02:16 in Nation section
Tags: Nuclear Deal, IAEA
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Supporters of the Indo-US nuclear deal say it would help in solving the country’s energy needs and end its nuclear apartheid. Critics say the deal would put India in the grip of America and end India’s nuclear sovereignty. What does India gain from the deal? Does the deal endanger sovereignty? Arundhati Ghose, India’s former ambassador to the UN, explained the pros and cons in a web chat. Excerpts from the chat.
Vinu: Is it true that India is running out of Uranium and needs the Indo-US nuclear deal badly to free her own stockpiles of uranium for continuing its strategic nuclear programme. Also by not placing under safeguards mean they are to be used for strategic military purposes. Please clarify.
Arundhati Ghose: India does not have large supplies of uranium. In any case, our uranium is low grade. We have also not been able to mine the uranium we have due not only to financial constraints, but also, due to environmental objections from local groups. Even if this were overcome, we would not have enough to meet our energy demands. Eight reactors have been left out of those classified as civilian in the separation plan. If we need to use them for producing fissile materials for weapons, we could do so.
Taku Chatung: What is the concept of ‘safeguards agreement’ and likely to be after agreement with the IAEA board of director?
Arundhati Ghose: A safeguard agreement signed with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) ensures that none of the material or facilities which are safeguarded are diverted for military purposes. This is particularly relevant for imported facilities and material including fuel. This is done through routine inspections by teams of IAEA experts working with our scientists at the facilities which have been identified for safeguards.
Murugan: How does the Hyde Act bind India? Is it against our sovereign interests?
Arundhati Ghose: The Hyde Act is an internal, domestic law of the US. It enables the US government to enter into an agreement with India for civil nuclear deal cooperation, which was not permitted under existing US laws. The Hyde Act has been passed. Once the deal is approved by the US Congress, it will be the latest expression of the sovereign will of the US and according to the US constitution will prevail over the Hyde Act which had only enabled this agreement.
Dinesh: Can you point out any one risk that we have to face by signing this deal? I don't agree with the Left, but still as layman I am interested to know is there any issue that is not good for India in this deal?
Arundhati Ghose: The US is going out of its way to help us in this deal. They have even changed their domestic law to enable them to push this forward. My worry is what do they expect in return? Would we be able to tackle these expectations with the delicate diplomacy that is required? It is a new world and we have to learn how to live with it.
Arjun: How does nuclear energy help us satisfy our energy needs? It will make up only a small fraction of our energy requirements. The essence of this deal is politics and the need for India to get out of the isolation it finds itself in the nuclear arena. Why raise this bogie of energy security?
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/nuclear-deal-can-only-be-to-the-advantage-of-india/68863-3.html
US raises pitch to sell India its missile defence system
19 Jul, 2008, 1900 hrs IST, PTI
FARNBOROUGH: With India hastening its search for a system to beat threats from ballistic, tactical and cruise missiles, the US has raised a pitch to sell its front-line 'Patriot' missile system, and also delivered "classified presentation" to Defence Ministry officials.
"Raytheon is interested to bid with the Patriot system to the Request for Quotation (RFQ) for medium range surface-to -air missile (MR-SAM) issued by India recently," the US defence major's Patriot Programme vice president and deputy Skip Garret said here on the sidelines of the Farnborough international air show.
Though India has sought a small number of the MR-SAM with 50-km range - it is learnt that the RFQ was for just one system - the Patriot missiles with "high probability kill" could easily take care of India's needs, Garret said, raising the campaign decibels to a new high.
Officials from the US Department of Defence had in the last few months given some classified presentations on the Patriot's capabilities to officials from the Indian Defence Ministry, who "formally expressed interest" in the system, he said.
Patriot, the foundation of the US Army's integrated air and missile defence architecture, is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather system field to defence advanced threats, including aircraft, tactical-ballistic-cruise missiles
Govt hints at new law to counter Hyde Act
Official sources maintained that India's obligations were spelt out in the 123 agreement with the US. The Hyde Act is purely a US domestic law which cannot override the agreement
New Delhi: The government is "open to the idea" of amending domestic law to counter the US Hyde Act which has been the major cause of opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal from the BJP and Left parties, highly placed official sources said.
Ahead of the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the sources said the government is confident of winning it and pursuing its "unfinished agenda" of reforms in insurance, banking and pension sectors after discussions with its new ally, the Samajwadi Party.
Defending the controversial deal as one in the best interests of India, the sources maintained that India's obligations were spelt out in the bilateral 123 agreement with the United States. The Hyde Act is purely a US domestic law which cannot override the bilateral agreement, they said.
All the same, the government is "open to the idea" of amending the Atomic Energy Act to counter the Hyde Act which critics see as a legislation that puts shackles on India's right to conduct nuclear tests.
The BJP has favoured an Indian legislation to tackle the Hyde Act, but sources said that the Opposition party had not spelt out the changes it wants in the Atomic Energy Act. "We are willing to look at all options provided they are feasible," the sources said.
Meanwhile, the government appears satisfied with the response from the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) who were briefed by Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in Vienna.
However, it is not minimising the difficulties that may lie ahead and rejects suggestions that once the Safeguards Agreement is approved by the IAEA, the nuclear deal is on "auto pilot."
"We cannot take NSG for granted. It works on the basis of consensus," the sources said.
Regretting the "hurry" with which the Left had withdrawn support to the government over the deal, the sources said that even after the approval by the NSG and the US Congress, India had the option of not operationalising the deal if its final shape did not satisfy Parliament.
After the entire process of approval, India would have to file a declaration about the deal before the IAEA. Only after that would the deal be operationalised, they pointed out.
Asked if the government would go ahead with the deal even if it lost the trust vote, the sources said, "We are not going to lose the vote. The rest is hypothetical."
The sources emphasised that the UPA government was not "a one-issue government" but the nuclear deal had occupied "so much space" at a time when inflation needed to be tackled as top priority.
"We will pick up the threads after the 22nd," they said referring to the trust vote.
The government, they emphasised, had a good record but also "an unfinished agenda." Inflation had been kept under 4 per cent during the first four years but had risen due to circumstances beyond its control.
The approach to tackling inflation was to ensure that the economy grew at 7.5 to 8 per cent without causing hardships to the poor sections of the people, the sources said, adding that controlling inflation would be the government's top priority.
Controlling inflation would take sometime but the Indian economy was "by and large" well managed. The food economy in particular had been handled very well unlike the other countries, they said.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1573424
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Congress expects support from 'unexpected quarters'
Congress leaders appeared much relieved today amid claims that the Government has a comfortable majority and would receive support from "unexpected quarters."
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is hosting a dinner tomorrow ahead of the trust vote amid a declaration by the Congress that there will be "surprises" in its favour from all parties, excluding the Left.
Congress leaders appeared much relieved today amid claims that the Government has a comfortable majority and would receive support from "unexpected quarters."
"We expect support from unexpected quarters from outside our traditional support base. We have built a cushion of surprises. There will be support from all parties excluding the Left," AICC General Secretary and Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan told reporters here.
The National Conference and constituents of the UPA and its supporting parties like Samajwadi Party as also CLP leaders, PCC chiefs, AICC office-bearers are among the 500-odd guest list for the dinner.
Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have also been invited.
Chavan's statement which spoke of surprises meant or implied that some members of the BJP, BJD, Shiv Sena and Akali Dal could also support the Government in the trust vote.
Meanwhile, party sources expressed confidence that MPs from Manipur and Nagaland could also vote for the Government in the trust vote.
Party leaders have been maintaining that they have a minimum support of 280-plus MPs.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Advani okayed N-deal, backed out later: Sibal
Advani's consent came after Manmohan explained the deal to him along with former Prime Minister Vajpayee and former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra in December.
New Delhi: BJP leader L K Advani had conveyed his consent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Indo-US nuclear deal but later backed out, Union Minister Kapil Sibal said here today.
The senior Congress leader said Advani's consent came after Singh explained the deal to him along with former Prime Minister Vajpayee and former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra in December last year.
Vajpayee and Mishra agreed fast that the deal is in the national interest as they were aware of the foreign policy, Sibal told Karan Thapar's programme 'Devil's Advocate' for CNN-IBN.
Advani also told the Prime Minister that "we are now in a position to support the deal" and that Singh should send a letter which will be responded to, Sibal said.
When the Prime Minister wrote the letter, Advani replied saying that he is not able to deliver the promise he had made to him as "senior party leaders are opposed to it," Sibal said.
The Science and Technology Minister said former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh too was happy with the deal when NSA M K Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar met him.
"Gentlemen, I must compliment you on a job well done," Sibal quoted Jaswant Singh as saying .
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Soren gets invite to UPA dinner
The invitation assumes significance as the party is said to be divided on whether or not to support the government.
New Delhi: Reaching out to JMM whose five MPs would be crucial during the confidence motion on July 22, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today invited its chief Shibu Soren and other MPs of the party to his dinner for UPA constituents tomorrow.
Invitations have been sent to all five JMM MPs, including Suman Mahto, Sudam Marandi, Hemalal Murmu and Teklal Mahto. The invitation assumes significance as the party is said to be divided on whether or not to support the government.
Though the party's Chief Whip Teklal Mahto is insisting that all the five MPs will vote for the confidence motion, Soren has not made any comment on the issue amid reports that he is in touch with the NDA as well following an offer of help to make him the Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
It is also learnt that a group of party MPs will be meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Meanwhile, the party postponed till tomorrow the crucial meeting of its Parliamentary Board which was scheduled for this evening.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
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By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 18, 2008; Page A01
GADDOPUR, India -- On a muggy monsoon-drenched afternoon, Shakuntala, a rail-thin girl with bloodshot eyes, cooled her father's visitors with a bamboo fan, trying to ward off the heat and the flies while they feasted on lentils, stewed chicken and hot bread.
Like many women in this village of Dalits -- the lowest caste in India's social pecking order -- Shakuntala, 16, lives a meager existence. Her opportunities in life, beyond domestic servitude, are limited. If she remains in the village, she will probably be pressured to marry before she makes it out of her teenage years. As she was in her father's house, so she will be in her husband's.
But Shakuntala has one role model, a woman who overcame the limitations of caste: Mayawati, a Dalit daughter of the soil and, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, one of the most influential politicians in the world's largest democracy.
Mayawati, who like Shakuntala uses just one name, is a powerful symbol of possibility for Dalits, once known as untouchables. By putting the issue of caste at the center of political debate, she is shaking the very foundations of this country's centuries-old social order, a system by which Indians' professions and status are inherited at birth.
Caste is seen by some as the most corrosive aspect of Indian society, much like racism and past slavery in the United States. But oppressed castes, including Dalits, represent a majority in India. Most Dalits cannot afford to educate their children in the private, English-language schools that prepare them for higher-paying jobs. Though illegal, violence against Dalits is still widespread.
Over the past decade, Dalits have achieved some progress, particularly in access to higher education and government jobs. There is now even a small Dalit middle class, thanks largely to affirmative-action programs and urbanization.
Mayawati is a symbol of such changes, but an imperfect one. She has repeatedly been accused of corruption. Critics say she has enriched herself and her family rather than her fellow Dalits, whom she publicly and passionately professes to represent.
She shows no compunction about flaunting her diamond rings and bejeweled necklaces. Her real estate holdings are vast. And a colossal bronze statue of her has been erected on a hilltop in the state capital of Lucknow, bathed in golden light bulbs, with the inscription "A Symbolic Place of Social Change."
Still, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (Majority People's Party) won a resounding majority in last year's elections in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. She is now trying to use that momentum to help her party win in other states. According to analysts and aides close to her, she is positioning herself to become the country's prime minister.
"People have seen my work, seen my record. Now the nation is watching what I am doing," Mayawati, 52, said recently in a rare interview with a pair of American journalists in her sprawling residence in Lucknow.
"We have this culture in India and, being a Dalit woman, I faced more of it -- doubly -- as a Dalit and as a woman," she said later. "Slowly things are changing."
For Shakuntala, the 5-foot-tall, unmarried chief minister is a towering figure.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
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"Mayawati is like a mother to me," Shakuntala whispered as a relative scolded her to return to washing the pots. "She's like a god."
'Triumph' of Democracy
Mayawati was born to a working-class family. Her parents had migrated from the villages of Uttar Pradesh to New Delhi. Her mother was illiterate and pressured by her husband to have sons, a fact Mayawati said in her autobiography that she resented. She was also angered that Dalits had to live in separate quarters from other castes.
After school, Mayawati became a government teacher and received a law degree. She often gave speeches at anti-caste rallies in New Delhi and planned to become a lawyer in the government service.
But Kanshi Ram, a well-known anti-caste activist, had other ideas. With her feisty popular appeal, Mayawati seemed to Ram to be the perfect candidate to go into politics and turn the caste system on its head. He told her so.
By the early 1990s, she was campaigning on a motorbike, darting through villages with her signature pigtails flowing behind her. In 1995, she was elected chief minister in a short-lived coalition government. She has held the post three more times. Her terms, however, have been bogged down in bitter political infighting; only one of them lasted longer than six months.
Today, with her hair cut short, Mayawati -- now referred to unflatteringly by some as the Queen of the Dalits -- travels by helicopter, a common mode of transport for India's politicians.
The shift in her ways has not gone unnoticed. Newspapers brim with stories questioning how the daughter of a postal clerk amassed a $13 million fortune.
She has said that at least $3 million of that sum came from admirers. But India's Central Bureau of Investigations discounted that claim and is looking into the possibility that the money was siphoned from a $40 million road project linking the Taj Mahal to other tourist destinations.
Other investigations have turned up inconsistencies in her persistent claims of how she derived her wealth.
Corruption allegations against Indian politicians are so common that they frequently fail to dent their reputations. Mayawati is used to such scrutiny, which she says is politically motivated to discredit her. And in any case, arguments over whether she is a Dalit savior or sinner are frequently eclipsed by her historic achievement as the first Dalit woman elected to high office.
"Mayawati is the single largest triumph of India's democracy, much like what Obama is for America but perhaps even more significant considering she has overcome both handicaps of being a Dalit as well as a woman," said Ajoy Bose, who wrote a political biography of Mayawati. "People ask me whether she is good or bad, but I am not in the business of giving character certificates. All I know is that she is very relevant and a political phenomenon not just for India but the entire world."
Mayawati's penchant for self-aggrandizing statues is seen by supporters as an act of defiance in a culture in which Dalit leaders.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
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Kneeling over a soapy bucket to wash the lunch dishes, Shakuntala said she admires Mayawati for her largess.
"She should have those things, which we all want," Shakuntala said, trudging off to get more water.
Treating the Patient
Mayawati lives in a salmon-colored mansion, and on a recent day she wore socks with sandals, a simple cotton Indian pantsuit and a diamond ring.
She was confident and relaxed, a posture that may reflect her party's new national prominence. In her drawing room, images of Dalit leaders adorn the walls, along with two busts of Buddha. Mayawati converted to Buddhism from Hinduism, which sanctions the caste system.
In state elections last year, Mayawati drew into her party Brahmins, India's highest caste of priests and intellectuals. With the ruling coalition fraying over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, she now appears to be courting Muslims and communists as well.
"An intelligent doctor would treat the disease step by step. What we are doing is step by step. I understand that for centuries people fought, so it's not easy to bring them together," Mayawati said. "We have done that in U.P."
Asked whether she wanted to become prime minister of India, she seemed to demur: "I don't indulge in self-praise, I'll become this or that. It all depends on the people. I believe in doing rather than saying."
Still, she is clear about her determination to expand her party's national footprint. She said she is so focused on her political career that she has no time for romantic relationships, movies, even extended family.
"That's why I am unmarried," she said. "I don't even keep my parents here."
'An Icon for Untouchables'
In her village about 250 miles east of Lucknow, Shakuntala attends a government school. Her teachers sometimes fail to show up for work, a widespread problem across India.
Shakuntala wants to learn English, but her father is disabled and unemployed. He can't afford to send her to private schools, which teach English and afford wealthy Indians access to higher-paid jobs.
When pressed about her ultimate dream, Shakuntala disclosed that she would like to become a schoolteacher, like Mayawati. Her eyes are weak and slightly crossed, however, making it difficult for her to read.
Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable. (Photo By Emily Wax/twp - Photo By Emily Wax/twp)
Discussion PolicyDiscussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
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She wants to get them examined, but the local government health clinic is an empty, crumbling structure. In the nearest town's district hospital, only two full-time doctors serve nearly 300,000 people. Stray dogs wander in and out. There are no surgeons or eye doctors.
The clinics are basically drug dispensaries. Serious health issues are treated at hospitals in New Delhi, an overnight train ride from Lucknow. In effect, the clinics are like the government schools, more symbolic than functional.
"We are like pilots without planes," said Vijay Parkash, one of the two doctors at the health clinic. He said he hoped that Mayawati's recent promise of a 30-bed hospital would be more than election-year prattle.
With the aim to increase her national profile, Mayawati has embarked on several high-profile development projects, including the construction of a $9 billion highway connecting her home state to New Delhi. She wants to provide round-the-clock electricity to the state.
Critics say Mayawati's goals are too lofty for a state more in need of basic projects, even if those projects don't have the high-profile panache befitting a political leader who might soon be the country's prime minister.
"I like her for her anti-caste ideology. I like her as a woman who has become an icon for untouchables," said Kancha Ilaiah, an author who has tried to raise awareness about the injustices of caste. "But that shouldn't erase the painful lack of clean drinking water, education and health care."
For Shakuntala and many other Dalits, the symbol of Mayawati is enough, for now at least. The symbol itself gives hope to a people broken by generations of discrimination. It's a symbol that keeps Shakuntala in school, even if she wishes her school taught English and the teachers showed up more often.
"I am happy just to go," she said, shrugging.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071702719_4.html\
Will Mayawati be the next PM of India?
Who will be the next PM? While political analysts believe that BSP could emerge as a major player in the next Lok Sabha. While hopes of Mayawati becoming the next PM is high; she needs to clear her image before becoming the leader of the nation..
CJ: M Shamsur Rabb Khan , 1 day ago Views:269 Comments:2
AFTER MANMOHAN who? This is the question on everybody’s lips right now. Speculations are rife in the political circle about the possible alternative in case the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) fails to win the trust vote on July 22. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made it clear that it would prefer general elections rather than heading any sort of temporary alliance. Well, it won’t mind a Prime Minister (PM) from parties other than Congress for a short stint of one year. With leaders of various political parties working on to create alliances, the vote of confidence could result in re-alignments not just at the centre but also in the states. The only leader left is Mayawati, who can be considered for the PM post. In politics, such possibilities do happen.
Among other regional parties, the Telugu Desam has come up with an idea of supporting the proposal for making Mayawati the next PM of India. Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s (TRS) also supported this move. Many of her political friends believe she is prime ministerial material. Given her meteoritic rise in recent times, Mayawati can be the woman of the moment. As political analysts feel that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may emerge as a major player in the next Lok Sabha, the elevation of its chief to the PM’s post is very much on the cards. The national Democratic Alliance (NDA) and UPA along with other smaller parties will lend support to Mayawati if she is chosen to head the government at the centre.
If selected, Mayawati, one of the most maverick politicians and chief minister of India’s largest state with a population of 160 million people, would be the first Dalit PM of India. On the national politics, only late Jagjiwan Ram got the honour of reaching to thepost of deputy PM of India during Janta Party’s regime. In recent times, Mayawati or ’behenji’ as she is called has emerged as the most influential low-caste politician in India’s history. Whether she will become the PM remains to be seen. But her importance in the current political imbroglio can not be denied.
With her resounding victory in the last Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in 2007, Mayawati stunned all political pundits and defeated all major opponents, shaking up the country’s traditional political order, which has been dominated by upper caste inclination. Her triumph is the victory of democracy though her critics especially Mulayam Singh Yadav rates her as crude politician. Of late, she has been accused of corruption because of her unprecedented wealth.
As a vital ally, Mayawati’s BSP can play a crucial role in government formation at the centre, and as she is bent on voting against the motion, BJP and other allies who are opposed to Manmonah Singh’s N-deal may prove to be decisive. Since Samajwadi Party (SP) came to the rescue of Mayawati, the UP CM has sharpened her attacks on Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav. She is not sparing Congress Party leaders as well; especially, her target of attack has been Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru dynasty, for touring UP villages and eating and sleeping in low-caste homes. In Rahul’s growing bonhomie with Dalits, she
Other Articles by M Shamsur Rabb Khan
July 11 the day of aftermath
If Left’s support is love, its withdrawal is revenge
Are Indian selectors biased?
more >> sees the erosion of her Dalit votes.
Corruption is in fact the most serious criticism against Mayawati. The latest accusations surfaced this month when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plans to go ahead with the probe regarding the disproportionate wealth that she has accumulated. Her wealth just a year ago was four crore, which increased to 52 crore! She has a villa in the elite diplomatic enclave of New Delhi, and about five crore in bank accounts. Though Mayawati promptly denied the charges as politically motivated, she has to come clean if she is to be selected for the PM post. Just wait and watch out.
http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=137819
Maya's dream for PM's post gets more backing
19 Jul 2008, 2044 hrs IST,IANS
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati looked like emerging as the dark horse in the rapidly shifting political racetrack sands with two regional party leaders, both from Andhra Pradesh, declaring their support to her as a prime ministerial candidate on Saturday.
"Mayawati will play a crucial role in the third front. Why can't she be the prime minister," Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters after he met Mayawati at her residence here.
Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, said he would meet Mayawati again before Tuesday's crucial trust vote in parliament.
Naidu's public support for Mayawati's prime ministerial ambition came a few days after Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao met her and announced his party's backing to her.
"If and when the situation comes, we will be the first party to present Mayawati's name for the post of dalit woman prime minister. Any progressive party will be happy to support her," Rao said last week.
Mayawati's entry into the political turmoil over the India-US civil nuclear deal appears to have send worrying signals to the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and its supporters. Both the Congress and its new friend Samajwadi Party fear that the BSP supremo would poach their MPs.
Munawar Hassan, a Samajwadi Party MP who had already joined BSP, said in Lucknow that more MPs from the party are against the India-US civil nuclear deal and would be defying the party whip.
More shocking for the Samajwadi Party was the switching over of its general secretary and senior leader Shahid Siddiqui. The Rajya Sabha MP, who attended a breakfast meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence in his role as an editor of an Urdu daily, drove to Mayawati's Delhi residence straight after that to declare his allegiance to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
"Since last month, I was feeling suffocated in the party. And I was forced to support the deal. This deal is against the Muslims and India. This deal will make us the slave of the US and lead us to darkness," said Siddiqui.
"The government should go," he declared as a beaming Mayawati looked on.
The TDP chief, who has made efforts to bring the BSP and the Left closer, has been trying to get Mayawati into his almost broken United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA). The UNPA, formed a year ago as a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political alternative, is on the verge of collapse after the Samajwadi Party joined hands with the Congress.
Keen to form a third alternative, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) general secretary Prakash Karat also has met Mayawati last Sunday, inspiring the BSP chief to go ahead with her moves to spoil the plans of both the UPA and the NDA.
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