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Showing posts from January, 2015

Recalling Gujarat riots, US-based Human Rights Watch wonders why is Modi quiet on "ultranationalists"

By A Representative In a sharply-worded report, Human Rights Watch, the influential US-based non-profit organizations, has has said that, after coming to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite his “commitment” to freedom of speech, “has not ended state censorship or taken decisive action against ultranationalist and other religious militant groups.” On the contrary, the government under him has “tightened restrictions on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)”, the reason being that they are “highly critical” of big development projects' “negative impact on environment, health and livelihood.”.

US likely to seek abrogation of India's nuclear liability law for the sake of "market reforms", suggests WSJ

By A Representative Clear indications have emerged that, following the controversial nuclear deal between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the US would now insist that India should bend and water down the 2010 nuclear liability law, Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA). In an unsigned editorial, America's powerful business daily, "Wall Street Journal" (WSJ) has said that the deal was a "test" whether India would allow market forces to play a role in supplying nuclear technology, and if the "red tape" which still exists in the form of this liability is done away with.

Modi-Obama nuclear deal a "shameful capitulation" to MNCs: Indian taxpayers to pay for N-disaster

EAS Sarma By A Representative Even before the ink could dry on the Modi-Obama nuclear deal, anti-nuclear campaigners have taken strong exception to what they consider as “shameful capitulation” to US MNCs like Westinghouse and General Electrical (GE), which have lined up to supply key technology to the proposed plants in India at Mithi Vidri in Gujarat and Kovvada, Andhra Pradesh. Senior activist Kumar Sundaram and former power secretary, Government of India, Dr EAS Sarma have accused the Modi government for agreeing to allow taxpayers’ money to be spent as insurance cover in case of a nuclear disaster.

Golana: Price for justice... when Darbars wanted to teach Dalits lifetime lesson

Paying homage to victims at Golana By Gagan Sethi*  Eight years of continuous engagement, which included setting up of forestry cooperatives and conscientisation work among the youth, helped us infuse a sense of confidence and self-respect among the Vankar Dalits of Golana village, situated off Bay of Khambhat. Thanks to these efforts, the community had begun to stand up for its rights. It had begun to identify the entitlements the Dalits should get and also how they were deprived of their rights because the existing socio-political setup. An application for allocating land had been sent to the mamlatdar of Cambay, as Khambhat was called then. It was the same land that had been encroached upon by the upper caste Darbars of the village. In official records, it was a government land, set aside for housing for the weaker sections. The mamlatdar acted in favour of the Dalits. He did this despite political pressure. We believe he had orders from the then Kheda district collector, Ravi S...

Land acquisition ordinance: Calling it "anti-democratic", people's bodies decide to start united struggle

By A Representative In yet another effort to unite, trade unions and political parties came together with peoples movements in protest against the latest ordinance amending the land acquisition Act, 2013. Calling it “an attack on the constitutional rule of law”, the two-day national convention at the Nehru Yuva Kendra, New Delhi, on January 23-24 agreed that the ordinance was introduced by the government to “boost corporate loot of the land and other resources.” The participants also agreed to organize protests across the country during forthcoming budget session, starting in February third week.

Headless GSPC, propagated as Gujarat's bluechip PSU, sending strong feelers: Company is in real mess

Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel By A Representative  Gujarat government's premier public sector undertaking (PSU), Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) – which shot into prominence in 2005 following its loud claims of 20 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in the offshore oil-and-gas fields it was exploring in the KG Basin, Andhra Pradesh – appears to be losing sheen now within the government. Things have reached to such a point that not only the GSPC does not have a full-time managing-director (MD), it has no chairman worth the name ever since Varesh Sinha retired as Gujarat chief secretary in October-end 2014.

Allowing Nirma cement plant in Gujarat, Green Tribunal wants "wise use" of wetlands for "development"

By A Representative In a major boost to projects like Nirma Cement Plant, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) quotes the well-known Ramsar Convention to justify why even a wetland could be used for "development". Pointing towards the use of words "wise use", the NGT quotes the Ramsay Declaration as saying, “The issue of conservation of wetlands worldwide vis-a-vis development was taken cognizance of by the international community in Ramsar Convention in the following words: ‘Wetland should be conserved by ensuring their wise use'."

Ask Larsen & Toubro to stop work for building Statue of Unity in memory of Sardar Patel: Gujarat activists

By A Representative Several senior activists and intellectuals of Gujarat have taken strong exception to Gujarat government handing over the construction work of the 182-metres high Statue of Unity to India’s top project developers, Larsen & Toubro, allegedly without following necessary legal procedure. Wondering why was the Gujarat government in such a hurry, a letter to the Union environment secretary by two dozen prominent citizens said, no consultants were appointed to even prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the project.

Geotechnical, geological studies on Sardar Statue site raise serious issues

Several senior activists and intellectuals, including Trupti Shah, Girish Patel, Mahesh Pandya, Ghanshyam Shah, Persis Ginwalla, Rohit Prajapati, Himanshu Thakkar, Nandini Oza, Prasad Chacko, Shripad Dharmadhikary, and others have asked the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change,Government of India, to immediately halt of all activities related the Statue of Unity project, proposed in the memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the midst of Narmada River, about 3.2 km downstream of Sardar Sarovar Dam, or face legal action. Text of the letter: We were expecting after our letter dated July 17, 2014 that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET) and the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) would appoint a consultant to conduct the requisite Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project known as Statue of Unity. We are shocked to know that this process, required under environmental laws, has not been carried out, nor have you taken any of the ...

India's opposition streams show rare unity, speak out against the Centre's "anti-people" land ordinance

Sharad Yadav By A Representative In a rare occurrence, the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), the apex body of tens of rights organizations, succeeded in bringing together different opposition streams in Delhi. The event was a discussion on the land ordinance promulgated by the NDA government, and how it has already begun to impact one of the most important projects being implemented – of having a Greenfield capital for Andhra Pradesh following bifurcation of the state and formation of Telangana. The NAPM had called for discussion those parties which disagree with the Government of India move.

"The Economist" recalls Modi role in 2002 Gujarat riots, questions his silence on RSS-backed ghar vapsi

Modi with Sakshi Maharaj By A Representative In a hard-hitting commentary, the influential British weekly, “The Economist”, qualifying the whole RSS-Sangh Parivar “ghar vapsi” (home coming) “offensive” and “threatening” to Indian Muslims and Christians, and “highly contentious”, has sharply questioned Modi’s “reticence” on the issue. The top weekly believes, while some reports want one believe that Modi tried to rein in the hardliners, the fact is, he cannot hope to antagonize them. After all, it is they solidly stood with Modi when he was “shunned internationally” following the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Narmada oustees' long-pending complaints: Apex court asks Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra to act urgently

By A Representative The Supreme Court’s Social Justice Bench has directed Grievances Authorities (GRAs) of three states – Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra -- to urgently dispose of all the pending complaints of Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) oustees lying before it by February 28, 2015. The apex court direction came follow another order on January 9 to the three state governments to immediately appoint judges for all the GRAs, whose primary job is to look into complaints of the oustees. Madhya Pradesh has to appoint five judges, Gujarat two and Maharashtra one.

Adanis face legal challenge to Aussie coalmining venture, say it's designed to "frustrate" approved project

Coalmining project site By A Representative In a fresh trouble for the Adanis’ ambitious coalmining project in Australia, the Central Queensland community organisation, the country’s Mackay Conservation Group (MCG), has launched court proceedings challenging Environment Minister Greg Hunt and the the Adani Enterprises over the approval of the controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland. South Asia Times (SAT) News Service of Australia quotes a statement posted on the Adani Australia’s website to point towards how the company is ragged by the latest development.

Adanis' ambitious coal-mining project in Australia again under cloud, with "predictions" of Labor victory

By A Representative If early predictions of an Australian Labor Party (ALP) possible win in the elections in the province of Queensland come true, the Adani Group's ambitious Carmichael Coal project in the Galilee Basin – one of the largest coal mine projects in tin the world – may be a big loser. The Australian news portal South Asia Times (SAT), quoting ALP leaders, said, the ALP has announced it will “halt the unprecedented financial support for the project pledged by Queensland's conservative Liberal-National Campwell government.”

Narmada dam outees: Apex court asks Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra to set up grievances mechanism

Narmada dam oustees By A Representative The Supreme Court’s newly-formed social justice bench, which has commenced hearing on the Sardar Sarovar Project case has asked the state governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, to appoint Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA), meant for looking into complaints of the oustees of the Narmada dam. Presided over by Justice Madan Lokur and Jusice UR Lalit, the bench began hearing on the case related to further raise in the height of the dam, on January 9, 2015.

Tribal body threatens economic blockage of Rourkela, housing one of the largest steel plants of India

By A Representative In a strongly worded letter to the President of India, a tribal organization operating off Rourkela, well-known township on the northern border of Odisha and popular for India’s one of India's largest steel plants, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has threatened to trigger an indefinite economic blockade starting with January 20, 2015. Operating in Sundargarh district, in which Rourkela falls, the tribal body, Zilla Adivasi Mulbasi Bachao Manch, has said that the “blockade” would continue till the demand for cancellation of the Odisha government move to merge several tribal areas in the Rourkela Municipal Corporation is not cancelled.

What's the cost of standing up for fundamental rights in India?

By Priya Pillai* Sunday marked yet another black day for fundamental rights in India. Though these charter of rights are enshrined in our constitution, my experience on Sunday morning at the Delhi airport show that these are not equally accessible to all citizens.Early morning on January 11th 2015, I was to leave for London to address a British Parliamentary panel of the effects a London-based British company has on forest communities and regions in India. I was stopped at immigration, my baggage was de-planed, the immigration officer claimed that this was being done on the orders of Government of India, and my passport was stamped with the word “offload”. No further reason was given. On a day that several Heads of State, millions of people representing every possible cross section of society, marched for Freedom of Speech, a very poor precedent was set on the same by the largest democracy in the world. As a lawyer and activist, this incident has only deepened my conviction to keep fig...

Virbant Ahmedabad? Sabarmati riverfront oustees offered poor quality houses sans water and sanitation

By Hitesh Chavda Even as the Vibrant Gujarat investors' summit entered its second day, facts have come to light suggesting how indifferently the oustees of a top state-sponsored project in Gujarat's business capital, Ahmedabad, are being treated by the state authorities. Latest information at the Ahmedabad Muncipal Corporation (AMC) suggests a sharp rise in complaints regarding extremely poor quality of houses, offered to hundreds of people uprooted because of the Sabarmati Riverfront, a project tom-tommed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “model” of urban development for other top Indian cities to follow.

Stereotypes: It’s all in the mind... Our cultural invasion and Adivasis' gender perceptions

By Gagan Sethi* Before we would begin working in a village following our “mandatory reconnaissance and trust-building visits”, normally, we would summon village community representatives, about 30 of them, to Ahmedabad for a 10 day training camp. In most cases, only men would turn up for training. The training camp would be held at the St Xavier’s College campus, where the Behavioral Science Centre was located. It was recently renamed as Human Development Research Centre (see photo). In the camp, we would normally get representations from cross section of the community in which we worked. We ensured that if there were elders, there were equal number of youths (“juvarniyas, we called them) as well. And if there were small and marginal farmers, there should also be landless workers. But we were never successful in getting many women to the training camps. If at all, they had to be brought separately, and not with men. Often, we would had to make arrangements for their training camps in o...

Protest letter to Ban Ki-moon visiting Gujarat: Intellectuals, activists seek justice for Narmada dam oustees

By A Representative In an open letter to United Nation secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, slated to visit Gujarat to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit on Sunday, followed by his decision to inaugurate a solar power project on the canal of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), senior Indian activists, intellectuals and professionals have conveyed their concern over the “plight” of thousands of families of indigenous origin, farmers, fisher people because of the SSP. The letter said, these people are facing “the threat of ouster” and not being provided with “justice, despite stringent laws for rehabilitation and judicial directions”.

Forest Rights Act "violated" in Gujarat: Adivasi landowners being asked to vacate land, hand of sand mafia seen

By A Representative Following notices served to take back land allocated to the Narmada dam oustees in September 2014 in Vadodara district, now fresh cases have come to light in Chhotaudepur distict of South Gujarat, where the tribals who were allocated land under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, are being asked to vacate their land. Bringing this to light, senior social activist Romel Sutariya has accused the forest department of seeking to “snatch away the land allocated to them.” He added, the tribals are being vacated despite the fact that they are the real owners of the land as per the revenue record.

Modi compares his efforts to "rejuvenate" India with Gandhi on arrival as NRI hundred years ago

By Satyakam Mehta It was an occasion for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pat himself, going so far as to compare his claimed efforts to infuse a life into India with what Mahatma Gandhi had initiated exactly a century ago as "a non-resident Indian (NRI)". Modi inaugurated the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) by exhorting the NRIs and People of Indian Origin (PIO) to join India’s new growth story, which he believed had only one parallel – of what Mahatma Gandhi began doing on his return from South Africa to set foot on his home soil on January 8, 1915.

Farmers' suicide: Pressure mounts on leaders ahead of rally to mark Vibrant Gujarat summit inaugural

Sagar Rabari By A Representative Even as the Sanyukt Khedut Sangharsh Samiti – the joint action committee of farmers' non-political bodies – has declared it will go ahead with its plan to “oppose the wasteful expenditure behind the Vibrant Gujarat 2015 extravaganza” on January 11-13, apprehensions have run strong that the Gujarat government will do all-out to crush their planned meeting of farmer activists to converge at Adalaj on January 11 for a protest. The committee has said, the “farmers' rights rally”, which began on January 1, will show its might, come what may, reaching Adalaj, in the outskirts of Gandhinagar, Gujarat capital.

Rs 1,000 crore scam in payment to Narmada dam oustees: Commission asked to scrutinise into all cases

  By A Representative In an important setback to the protagonists of the Narmada project, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has come down heavily on rampant corruption, alleged to be to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore, asking the state government to ensure that the Justice Jha Commission of Inquiry  looks into every case of corruption. Ramant corruption resulted from the Madhya Pradesh government policy of handing over cash instead of land as compensation to the Narmada dam oustees. The top anti-dam body, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), welcoming the High Court order, said, the court has "validated" the Jha Commission, wanting the inquiry to "reach its logical conclusion."

Gujarat: Vibrant PM’s global showcase begins even as petty thieves burgle, celebrate in Gandhinagar

By RK Misra* A new year is a harbinger of hope. Optimism is the flavour of the season; so let’s go along. Gandhinagar, the state capital of Gujarat, is glowing like the peach-coloured skin of an affluence soaked offspring. One of three man-made cities in India after Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar, it is decked up like never before. Gujarat’s first woman chief minister, Anandiben Patel has done in a few months what Narendra Modi could not, even in 13 years. She has given an absolute makeover to Gandhinagar.

Gujarat: Vibrant PM’s global showcase begins even as petty thieves burgle, celebrate in Gandhinagar

By RK Misra* A new year is a harbinger of hope. Optimism is the flavour of the season; so let’s go along. Gandhinagar, the state capital of Gujarat, is glowing like the peach-coloured skin of an affluence soaked offspring. One of three man-made cities in India after Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar, it is decked up like never before. Gujarat’s first woman chief minister, Anandiben Patel has done in a few months what Narendra Modi could not, even in 13 years. She has given an absolute makeover to Gandhinagar. The city has turned spanking new and could easily be mistaken for an American creation. As it stands today purely in terms of civic showmanship, it could do the country proud. How long it can remain this way in the face of our pan-spitting and street littering ways is anybody’s guess. But for the moment let’s luxuriate in likable thoughts. The reason for this massive effort at makeover is that Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar, is hosting the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas, normally held in Delhi o...

Equality a far-fetched idea: Casteism prohibits normal persons to access public spaces

By Gagan Sethi*   In Golana village of Central Gujarat, the Dalit hamlet, known as Vankar Vas, was getting overcrowded. Families were growing, and the 100-odd households in the Vas now had grown up children, some of whom had married. Almost every household had two families living in one room plus the outer courtyard. Blame it on overcrowding; family quarrels had become pretty common. The year was 1984. With the cooperative now generating regular income for the Vankars who were its members, the young Turks of the Vas began pressuring the elders, called mahetars, to negotiate with upper caste Darbars, who controlled the panchayat, to allocate some common village land for housing. However, Dalit’s claiming such a right, especially when elders knew that a big portion of the panchayat controlled common village land was encroached upon by few powerful Darbar families, was blasphemy. The matter came up for discussion at a cooperative meeting, and those of us from the NGO who were wor...

Learn from organisational skills of BJP-RSS, not their politics, Prof Ghanshyam Shah advises liberals

By A Representative In a sharp interview, well-known Gujarat-based academic, Prof Ghanshyam Shah, has said that as liberals, he and others, should learn something from the BJP and the RSS. Talking with news portal scroll.in , the veteran academic, who is also a known critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “We liberals have to learn a lot from the BJP and RSS – their organisation, ideological clarity, commitment to working for a cause rather than political positions.” He adds, “The BJP connects with people at an emotional level because it is seen as a movement to transform society, not a party trying to win seats in an election.”