NYTimes Comment #40.
EthicalDemocracy
NYC
October 2nd, 2010
11:18 pm
http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/asia/03india.html
Let the Games Begin (collective sigh of embarrassed relief)
The fact is, India is finally, finally, finally ready to open the CWG Games, right on deadline.
Read the relentless, expose-bent, hard-hitting Indian media online.
India is ready. Just Barely. Finally.
So Jim Yardley's reporting is a trifle belated, understandably so.
Jim Yardley hits the nail on the head when he notes:
\"The answer, to many of those involved with the games, is that India’s political culture, if prized for its commitment to democracy, often seems unable to transcend its own dysfunction.\"
He adds:There were at least 21 governmental or quasi-governmental agencies involved in preparing for the Games, yet none were ultimately in charge, forcing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to try to personally take command as things went awry in August. Analysts say the absence of a clear line of authority translated into an absence of urgency and accountability.
Moreover, crucial figures in organizing the games had almost no experience in staging international events and were products of an insular Indian political culture where cronyism and nepotism often trump competence. End of quote.
Yardley's right.
As an Indian, I can say from lived experience (and I am in India volunteering five months every year), that almost every task/ venture/enterprise, is fraught with needless and wasteful uncertainty, delays, obstructionism, red tapism, ineptness, corruption, lack of basic hygiene in public spaces, overcrowding, etc etc, whether it's a train trip from point A to Point B, 35 km apart, or a rocket launch by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), or in this case the organizing of the CWG.
India Exasperates, India Endures, India Improves, Incredible India!
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------
New York Times copyrighted article by Jim Yardley and Hari Kumar
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/asia/03india.html
Showing posts with label Food Corporation of India (FCI). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food Corporation of India (FCI). Show all posts
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Saturday, September 5, 2009
India's Farmers TLTL -- Too Little Too Late
EthicalDemocracy
New York, NY
September 5th, 2009
7:32 am
Comment #17
New York Times
EthicalDemocracy
Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
September 5th, 2009
10:13 am
India TLTL -- Too Little Too Late
I have just returned to my teaching job in New York after three months conducting research in India. I traveled by bus and second class sleeper coaches on the Indian Railways and State buses, from Kerala to Kashmir, as I do twice a year, every year.
Caste-driven Psychopath as Finance Minister:Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement, (see his quote in NYTimes link below), is criminally irresponsible). This is the same political psychopath who, during this Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha said \"In order to distribute wealth in India, we must first create it.\"
Mukherjee and his family undoubtedly eat at least three meals a day, grown mainly by India's impoverished, marginalized, landless sharecroppers.
Mukherjee represents that dominant pervasive caste ideology (he is a Brahmin) that derails at every step, any radical-progressive path to social justice for the poorest, most vulnerable, most hardworking Indians.
Cheating Our Farmers: Our Indian farmers, among our poorest, get virtually no assistance, in the form of usable, timely, inputs and price supports, from India's caste-driven political elites in govt. Suicides have long been disproportionately prevalent among our farmers.
Caste Mindset Foments Inequality: Systemic Casteness, the root cause of India's entrenched socio-economic inequality, is pervasive throughout India, despite vigorous denial of this incontrovertible fact everywhere in India.
No Water/Food Security Policy: India does not have a national enforceable policy of rainwater harvesting. All of Kerala's abundant monsoon, for example, runs off into the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, after watering family fields.
Instead, that monsoon runoff in Kerala could become groundwater for the entire Southern grid. India has no fully articulated, benchmarked, accountability-driven, PRO-POOR food security or water security policy. India needs to speedily develop and enforce a water security policy in which unused monsoon rains become groundwater. Failure to conserve water must become a criminal offence, starting with our criminally negligent netas, both politicians and civil service bureaucrats with their guaranteed lifetime jobs.
Caste, Corruption, Apathy: Caste ideology combines with corruption-ridden, feudal and postcolonial dependency mindsets, to deliver a vast middleclass and dominant-caste apathy towards the masses of the poor. This caste ideology is so powerful that it has shown itself to be capable of recruiting across the social spectrum -- example, self-styled Dalit-ki-beti Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh who recently developed delusions of dominant-caste grandeur and wasted millions of taxpayer rupees to construct statues of herself across her state which leads in illiteracy, hunger and unemployment. That's caste performance and it punishes the poorest.
This blighted mindset makes it almost impossible to address food/water security issues using effective practical, commonsense strategies
The Drought/Flood Industry: Let's take India's desperate water insecurity. To be sure, there are monsoon shortfalls. But abundant monsoon years are not seen as periods of water conservation. Instead, heavy monsoons are bemoaned as floods, period of havoc and destruction. There is no concerted national policy fostering local community initiatives to dig wells and channels, sink borewells and distribute pumpsets, in anticipation of flood years.
Q.What makes a district droughted or flooded? Poor conservation, monoculture, loss of topsoil, reckless clearing of forest and tree cover. Droughts (and floods) for the most part are not naturally occurring events, not acts of nature, but the direct consequence of poor conservation, extraction, exploitation. Ideology becomes practice.
India therefore is not that much-touted India Inc. -- but India TLTL. Too Little Too Late. It's an ongoing tragedy.
Our unprecedented, deeply flawed democracy can and must do more for our most disadvantaged. Now not later.
Chithra Karunakaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
-----------------------------------------
NYTimes copyright
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/world/asia/05drought.html
Drought Puts Focus on a Side of India Left Out of ProgressBack to Article »
By JIM YARDLEY
The crisis has underscored the problems facing Indian agriculture as the population expands at the same time that water resources come under greater pressure.
=====================================================================================
New York, NY
September 5th, 2009
7:32 am
Comment #17
New York Times
EthicalDemocracy
Chennai, Tamil Nadu India
September 5th, 2009
10:13 am
India TLTL -- Too Little Too Late
I have just returned to my teaching job in New York after three months conducting research in India. I traveled by bus and second class sleeper coaches on the Indian Railways and State buses, from Kerala to Kashmir, as I do twice a year, every year.
Caste-driven Psychopath as Finance Minister:Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement, (see his quote in NYTimes link below), is criminally irresponsible). This is the same political psychopath who, during this Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha said \"In order to distribute wealth in India, we must first create it.\"
Mukherjee and his family undoubtedly eat at least three meals a day, grown mainly by India's impoverished, marginalized, landless sharecroppers.
Mukherjee represents that dominant pervasive caste ideology (he is a Brahmin) that derails at every step, any radical-progressive path to social justice for the poorest, most vulnerable, most hardworking Indians.
Cheating Our Farmers: Our Indian farmers, among our poorest, get virtually no assistance, in the form of usable, timely, inputs and price supports, from India's caste-driven political elites in govt. Suicides have long been disproportionately prevalent among our farmers.
Caste Mindset Foments Inequality: Systemic Casteness, the root cause of India's entrenched socio-economic inequality, is pervasive throughout India, despite vigorous denial of this incontrovertible fact everywhere in India.
No Water/Food Security Policy: India does not have a national enforceable policy of rainwater harvesting. All of Kerala's abundant monsoon, for example, runs off into the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, after watering family fields.
Instead, that monsoon runoff in Kerala could become groundwater for the entire Southern grid. India has no fully articulated, benchmarked, accountability-driven, PRO-POOR food security or water security policy. India needs to speedily develop and enforce a water security policy in which unused monsoon rains become groundwater. Failure to conserve water must become a criminal offence, starting with our criminally negligent netas, both politicians and civil service bureaucrats with their guaranteed lifetime jobs.
Caste, Corruption, Apathy: Caste ideology combines with corruption-ridden, feudal and postcolonial dependency mindsets, to deliver a vast middleclass and dominant-caste apathy towards the masses of the poor. This caste ideology is so powerful that it has shown itself to be capable of recruiting across the social spectrum -- example, self-styled Dalit-ki-beti Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh who recently developed delusions of dominant-caste grandeur and wasted millions of taxpayer rupees to construct statues of herself across her state which leads in illiteracy, hunger and unemployment. That's caste performance and it punishes the poorest.
This blighted mindset makes it almost impossible to address food/water security issues using effective practical, commonsense strategies
The Drought/Flood Industry: Let's take India's desperate water insecurity. To be sure, there are monsoon shortfalls. But abundant monsoon years are not seen as periods of water conservation. Instead, heavy monsoons are bemoaned as floods, period of havoc and destruction. There is no concerted national policy fostering local community initiatives to dig wells and channels, sink borewells and distribute pumpsets, in anticipation of flood years.
Q.What makes a district droughted or flooded? Poor conservation, monoculture, loss of topsoil, reckless clearing of forest and tree cover. Droughts (and floods) for the most part are not naturally occurring events, not acts of nature, but the direct consequence of poor conservation, extraction, exploitation. Ideology becomes practice.
India therefore is not that much-touted India Inc. -- but India TLTL. Too Little Too Late. It's an ongoing tragedy.
Our unprecedented, deeply flawed democracy can and must do more for our most disadvantaged. Now not later.
Chithra Karunakaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
-----------------------------------------
NYTimes copyright
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/world/asia/05drought.html
Drought Puts Focus on a Side of India Left Out of ProgressBack to Article »
By JIM YARDLEY
The crisis has underscored the problems facing Indian agriculture as the population expands at the same time that water resources come under greater pressure.
=====================================================================================
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
HyperMilitarism vs. Social Justice
1. July 30, 2009 2:24 am Link
NYTimes
Hypermilitarism vs. Social Justice
More than anything else, this news analysis (See link below) tells us how profoundly affected contemporary South Asian nation-states are, by the centuries-long divide and rule legacy of British colonialism and imperialism.
The cooked-up borders devised and imposed by the Brits still haunt us today. Millions of innocents died during “partition”. The sores fester, the scars remain. This dehumanizing colonial legacy still affects every action by our indigenous neo-colonial elites, most of whom have inherited the mindset of those who colluded with, and profited from, the British Divide and Rule strategy.
The challenge for our leaders today is to give up the colonial dependency mindset of hypermilitarism as illustrated by your report on the new female recruits to India's BSF. Our colonial dependency mindset has been compounded by the neo-imperial projects of the US and US-led NATO in our region.
However, our leaders have no incentive to reverse direction and change course. There are limitless profits and political capital to be made, from hypermilitarism. Our leaders can only be held accountable by We the People. Our democracies are fragile and flawed but our civil society is still our best hope against the colonial ideology that continues to favor militaristic solutions to social justice problems.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------
NYTimes Copyright
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/women-deployed-to-indias-wall-of-death/#comment-341587
NYTimes
Hypermilitarism vs. Social Justice
More than anything else, this news analysis (See link below) tells us how profoundly affected contemporary South Asian nation-states are, by the centuries-long divide and rule legacy of British colonialism and imperialism.
The cooked-up borders devised and imposed by the Brits still haunt us today. Millions of innocents died during “partition”. The sores fester, the scars remain. This dehumanizing colonial legacy still affects every action by our indigenous neo-colonial elites, most of whom have inherited the mindset of those who colluded with, and profited from, the British Divide and Rule strategy.
The challenge for our leaders today is to give up the colonial dependency mindset of hypermilitarism as illustrated by your report on the new female recruits to India's BSF. Our colonial dependency mindset has been compounded by the neo-imperial projects of the US and US-led NATO in our region.
However, our leaders have no incentive to reverse direction and change course. There are limitless profits and political capital to be made, from hypermilitarism. Our leaders can only be held accountable by We the People. Our democracies are fragile and flawed but our civil society is still our best hope against the colonial ideology that continues to favor militaristic solutions to social justice problems.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------
NYTimes Copyright
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/women-deployed-to-indias-wall-of-death/#comment-341587
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Busy in Baloch? Let India Say NO, we are NOT
We cannot, as a nation with Gandhian ideals and practices, be on the path of ethical democracy, IF our Govt. is busy meddling in Baloch.
We the People have not given our elected govt. a mandate to be in Baloch. To
interfere in Baloch. Are we there?
The Joint Declaration from Sharm el Sheikh (see below), contains the following text:
[Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas.]
What "threats"? By whom? Terrorists nurtured by Pakistan? Well that would be Pakistan's problem not ours, take care of your own crap, Pak.
What threats? By whom? India? Is India busy in Baloch? Is that what Gilani is asserting? Why does the joint text statement contain absolutely no response on this point from Manmohan? Singh should have made some rejoinder.
Unfortunately Manmohan Singh failed to ask Gilani to clarify what he meant by his unprecedented assertion. Does Singh's silence imply India's involvement in Baloch?
The government of Pakistan appears to be alleging that India is conducting political activities on the ground in Baloch. Manmohan is stated in media accounts to have asked for evidence. But he has not categorically denied any involvement by India in Baloch. So is India busy in Baloch, where it has no business to be, from an ethical standpoint? The ordinary people of Baloch are perfectly capable of asserting their political claims, whatever these might be, without any interference from India. India should have full faith in the ordinary people of Baloch, ful faith that they can claim their aspirations whatever these might be. What is seen as "strategic" is not necessarily ETHICAL. India needs to be ethical, not merely strategic for mistakenly perceived short-term geopolitical advantage. That would make us no better then Pakistan. No better than the Brits who divided us. Our secure refuge is Ethics -- It is the cornerstone of our revolutionary freedom, our liberatory politics, our social justice demands, satyameva jayate. That ancient ideal was freshly written in the courageous sacrifices made by our masses during independence.
So we need the truth from our elected representatives. We Indians have no business to be in Baloch. Unless we wish to be unethical and in pursuit of unethical means towards unethical ends, to compromise our fragile, flawed democracy that is long on promises but short on social Justice for our people right here at home. We have enough work right here in India, without trying to get busy in Baloch.
India has no ethical justification whatsoever to be busy in Baloch.
chithra karunakaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
----------------------
The Hindu Copyright
Baloch leaders back Manmohan on Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration
Praveen Swami
Imperative for India to speak up against Pakistan Army’s terrorism in Balochistan: Baloch society
“New Delhi ought to offer Baloch insurgents military support”
NEW DELHI: Ever since India and Pakistan signed a joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has come under sustained attack for consenting to the inclusion of a reference to Balochistan.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Joint Declaration records, “mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas.”
Even the passing mention of the conflict, Dr. Singh’s critics contend, endorses Pakistan’s allegations that India is supporting the long-running insurgency in its largest province.
But Baloch nationalist leaders see things differently. Many have welcomed the Declaration, and called on India to use the opportunity to raise the issue in talks with Pakistan.
Suleiman Khan, the United Kingdom-based heir to the throne of the Khanate of Kalat, is among those who hope that the Declaration will lead to international intervention in the conflict in his province.
“We earnestly hope,” he told The Hindu, “that India will now act on its moral responsibility to raise the Balochistan issue with Pakistan and the world.”
“In this century,” Mr. Khan said, “India has acquired great influence and power. With power come obligations. We are surprised that India, despite claiming that it is a democracy and a supporter of human rights, has so far chosen not to take a proactive role in Balochistan.”
Wahid Baloch, president of the Baloch Society of North America, agreed. “It is imperative,” he says, “for India to now speak up against the terrorism perpetrated by the Pakistan Army in Balochistan.”
“For a variety of reasons,” he argued, “India has been very hesitant to support the Baloch cause, even though among all nations it is the only one to have voiced some concern for our plight. But if Pakistan can provide support for groups in Jammu and Kashmir, and raise the issue on every available international forum, why is India hesitant to do the same for our people?”
Both leaders were insistent that India had no role in supporting Baloch insurgents — but both said New Delhi ought to offer Baloch insurgents military support.
“As far as I know,” Mr. Khan said, “there is no Indian support for Baloch freedom fighters. If there were, I would welcome it.”
Mr. Baloch went further. “India rightly supported the just war of the people of Bangladesh against tyranny, and helped them win freedom. It is morally obliged, as a democracy, to provide Baloch groups with training and material support to stop the slaughter of our people.”
Like Jammu and Kashmir, the origins of the conflict in Balochistan date back to the independence of India.
The Khan of Kalat, the monarch who ruled Balochistan under the umbrella of the British Empire, sought independence for his state in 1947. Pakistani troops moved into the region in March 1948, but Mir Ahmad Yar Khan — Mr. Khan’s grandfather—refused to sign the legally necessary Document of Accession. Pakistan settled the issue by despatching combat jets to strafe the Khan’s palace.
In mid-1950s, the Prince of Kalat launched the People’s Party, representing a new Baloch nationalism that cut across tribal and linguistic lines. In 1972, a People’s Party-led alliance won the elections. It demanded greater representation of the ethnic-Baloch in government and control over regional development.
Pakistan’s establishment rejected these calls. Matters came to a head in March 1973, after Pakistan interdicted weapons alleged to have been despatched by Iraq’s covert service to the head of the Balochistan provincial government, Sardar Ataullah Mengal. Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto promptly dismissed Mr. Mengal’s government, and a bitter insurgency broke out.
Led by the Marxist Balochi People’s Liberation Front and the Balochi Students Organisation, some 10,000 guerrillas took on six divisions of the Pakistan Army, backed by close air support. In all 5,300 insurgents, 3,300 Pakistani troops and perhaps tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting.
Since 2005, there has been renewed fighting in the region, fuelled by what Baloch leaders say is discrimination by the ethnic Punjabi-dominated federal government and Army. Insurgents have targeted troops and gas pipelines. Pakistan’s armed forces have, in turn, carried out massive bombardment and air strikes to quell the insurgency in which thousands have been killed.
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the principal voice of the Baloch nationalist movement, was eliminated by Pakistan’s armed forces in August 2006.
United Nations estimates, published in December 2006, stated 84,000 people including 33,000 children had been displaced by the fighting in Balochistan. More than 2,000 people are alleged to have disappeared after they were held by Pakistan’s police and armed forces.
-----------------------------
The Hindu copyright
Joint Statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani
News Update
Sharm-el-SheikhJuly 16, 2009
The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani met in Sharm El Sheikh on July 16, 2009.
The two Prime Ministers had a cordial and constructive meeting. They considered the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a view to charting the way forward in India - Pakistan relations.
Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries. Both leaders affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and to cooperate with each other to this end.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that Pakistan will do everything in its power in this regard. He said that Pakistan has provided an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai attacks and had sought additional information/evidence. Prime Minister Singh said that the dossier is being reviewed.
Both leaders agreed that the two countries will share real-time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats.
Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas.
Both Prime Ministers recognized that dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated India's interest in a stable, democratic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Both leaders agreed that the real challenge is development and the elimination of poverty. Both leaders are resolved to eliminate those factors which prevent our countries from realizing their full potential. Both agreedto work to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence.
Both leaders reaffirmed their intention to promote regional cooperation.
Both Foreign Secretaries should meet as often as necessary and report to the two Foreign Ministers who will be meeting on the sidelines of the forthcoming UN General Assembly.
We the People have not given our elected govt. a mandate to be in Baloch. To
interfere in Baloch. Are we there?
The Joint Declaration from Sharm el Sheikh (see below), contains the following text:
[Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas.]
What "threats"? By whom? Terrorists nurtured by Pakistan? Well that would be Pakistan's problem not ours, take care of your own crap, Pak.
What threats? By whom? India? Is India busy in Baloch? Is that what Gilani is asserting? Why does the joint text statement contain absolutely no response on this point from Manmohan? Singh should have made some rejoinder.
Unfortunately Manmohan Singh failed to ask Gilani to clarify what he meant by his unprecedented assertion. Does Singh's silence imply India's involvement in Baloch?
The government of Pakistan appears to be alleging that India is conducting political activities on the ground in Baloch. Manmohan is stated in media accounts to have asked for evidence. But he has not categorically denied any involvement by India in Baloch. So is India busy in Baloch, where it has no business to be, from an ethical standpoint? The ordinary people of Baloch are perfectly capable of asserting their political claims, whatever these might be, without any interference from India. India should have full faith in the ordinary people of Baloch, ful faith that they can claim their aspirations whatever these might be. What is seen as "strategic" is not necessarily ETHICAL. India needs to be ethical, not merely strategic for mistakenly perceived short-term geopolitical advantage. That would make us no better then Pakistan. No better than the Brits who divided us. Our secure refuge is Ethics -- It is the cornerstone of our revolutionary freedom, our liberatory politics, our social justice demands, satyameva jayate. That ancient ideal was freshly written in the courageous sacrifices made by our masses during independence.
So we need the truth from our elected representatives. We Indians have no business to be in Baloch. Unless we wish to be unethical and in pursuit of unethical means towards unethical ends, to compromise our fragile, flawed democracy that is long on promises but short on social Justice for our people right here at home. We have enough work right here in India, without trying to get busy in Baloch.
India has no ethical justification whatsoever to be busy in Baloch.
chithra karunakaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
----------------------
The Hindu Copyright
Baloch leaders back Manmohan on Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration
Praveen Swami
Imperative for India to speak up against Pakistan Army’s terrorism in Balochistan: Baloch society
“New Delhi ought to offer Baloch insurgents military support”
NEW DELHI: Ever since India and Pakistan signed a joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has come under sustained attack for consenting to the inclusion of a reference to Balochistan.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Joint Declaration records, “mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas.”
Even the passing mention of the conflict, Dr. Singh’s critics contend, endorses Pakistan’s allegations that India is supporting the long-running insurgency in its largest province.
But Baloch nationalist leaders see things differently. Many have welcomed the Declaration, and called on India to use the opportunity to raise the issue in talks with Pakistan.
Suleiman Khan, the United Kingdom-based heir to the throne of the Khanate of Kalat, is among those who hope that the Declaration will lead to international intervention in the conflict in his province.
“We earnestly hope,” he told The Hindu, “that India will now act on its moral responsibility to raise the Balochistan issue with Pakistan and the world.”
“In this century,” Mr. Khan said, “India has acquired great influence and power. With power come obligations. We are surprised that India, despite claiming that it is a democracy and a supporter of human rights, has so far chosen not to take a proactive role in Balochistan.”
Wahid Baloch, president of the Baloch Society of North America, agreed. “It is imperative,” he says, “for India to now speak up against the terrorism perpetrated by the Pakistan Army in Balochistan.”
“For a variety of reasons,” he argued, “India has been very hesitant to support the Baloch cause, even though among all nations it is the only one to have voiced some concern for our plight. But if Pakistan can provide support for groups in Jammu and Kashmir, and raise the issue on every available international forum, why is India hesitant to do the same for our people?”
Both leaders were insistent that India had no role in supporting Baloch insurgents — but both said New Delhi ought to offer Baloch insurgents military support.
“As far as I know,” Mr. Khan said, “there is no Indian support for Baloch freedom fighters. If there were, I would welcome it.”
Mr. Baloch went further. “India rightly supported the just war of the people of Bangladesh against tyranny, and helped them win freedom. It is morally obliged, as a democracy, to provide Baloch groups with training and material support to stop the slaughter of our people.”
Like Jammu and Kashmir, the origins of the conflict in Balochistan date back to the independence of India.
The Khan of Kalat, the monarch who ruled Balochistan under the umbrella of the British Empire, sought independence for his state in 1947. Pakistani troops moved into the region in March 1948, but Mir Ahmad Yar Khan — Mr. Khan’s grandfather—refused to sign the legally necessary Document of Accession. Pakistan settled the issue by despatching combat jets to strafe the Khan’s palace.
In mid-1950s, the Prince of Kalat launched the People’s Party, representing a new Baloch nationalism that cut across tribal and linguistic lines. In 1972, a People’s Party-led alliance won the elections. It demanded greater representation of the ethnic-Baloch in government and control over regional development.
Pakistan’s establishment rejected these calls. Matters came to a head in March 1973, after Pakistan interdicted weapons alleged to have been despatched by Iraq’s covert service to the head of the Balochistan provincial government, Sardar Ataullah Mengal. Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto promptly dismissed Mr. Mengal’s government, and a bitter insurgency broke out.
Led by the Marxist Balochi People’s Liberation Front and the Balochi Students Organisation, some 10,000 guerrillas took on six divisions of the Pakistan Army, backed by close air support. In all 5,300 insurgents, 3,300 Pakistani troops and perhaps tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting.
Since 2005, there has been renewed fighting in the region, fuelled by what Baloch leaders say is discrimination by the ethnic Punjabi-dominated federal government and Army. Insurgents have targeted troops and gas pipelines. Pakistan’s armed forces have, in turn, carried out massive bombardment and air strikes to quell the insurgency in which thousands have been killed.
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the principal voice of the Baloch nationalist movement, was eliminated by Pakistan’s armed forces in August 2006.
United Nations estimates, published in December 2006, stated 84,000 people including 33,000 children had been displaced by the fighting in Balochistan. More than 2,000 people are alleged to have disappeared after they were held by Pakistan’s police and armed forces.
-----------------------------
The Hindu copyright
Joint Statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani
News Update
Sharm-el-SheikhJuly 16, 2009
The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani met in Sharm El Sheikh on July 16, 2009.
The two Prime Ministers had a cordial and constructive meeting. They considered the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a view to charting the way forward in India - Pakistan relations.
Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries. Both leaders affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and to cooperate with each other to this end.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that Pakistan will do everything in its power in this regard. He said that Pakistan has provided an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai attacks and had sought additional information/evidence. Prime Minister Singh said that the dossier is being reviewed.
Both leaders agreed that the two countries will share real-time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats.
Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas.
Both Prime Ministers recognized that dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated India's interest in a stable, democratic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Both leaders agreed that the real challenge is development and the elimination of poverty. Both leaders are resolved to eliminate those factors which prevent our countries from realizing their full potential. Both agreedto work to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence.
Both leaders reaffirmed their intention to promote regional cooperation.
Both Foreign Secretaries should meet as often as necessary and report to the two Foreign Ministers who will be meeting on the sidelines of the forthcoming UN General Assembly.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Gay Mullahs We Need YOU
Can a gay MULLAH please step forward? We all know you exist. But instead of burying your head in the sand or hiding in the closet We need you to speak out against Sec 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a law that dates back to 1860, during the British Colonial oppression of India.
Today, because India is a secular democracy all individuals and groups have a right to express a personal opinion. However, my personal opinion or anyone else's cannot have the status and authority of LAW.
The law stands above personal opinion. The law of the land has the solemn obligation to protect and preserve the rights of ALL individuals. The diverse LGBT constituency has long been denied equal civil rights in marriage and divorce under Indian Law. Their private sexual lives have long been criminalized under Sec 377 of the IPC. This is inhumane, uncivilized,unethical, unconstitutional and wrong. The Indian state has committed a CRIME against homosexuals by denying them their civil rights.
The Indian state or any secular democratic state IS NOT A PARTNER NOR CAN IT ADJUDICATE PRIVATE ACTIVITIES OF CONSENTING ADULTS, whether heterosexual, homosexual, transgender or any other sexual orientation.
Repeal 377. It's got to go.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/After-Deoband-other-Muslim-leaders-condemn-homosexuality/articleshow/4723843.cms
Times of India copyright
After Deoband, other Muslim leaders condemn homosexuality
1 Jul 2009, 1238 hrs IST, PTI
audio
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
NEW DELHI: Amid government moves for a re-look at criminalising homosexuality, several Muslim leaders have said any attempt to legally permit
unnatural sex is an attack on religious and moral values.
"Legalisation of homosexuality is an attack on Indian religious and moral values," over a dozen prominent Muslim religious leaders said in a statement.
The statement has been endorsed by Maulana Jalaluddin Omari, President of the Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana Muhammad Salim Qasimi, Rector of Darul Uloom Waqf, Deoband, Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, among others.
"We are shocked to see reports in the media that the Union government is considering the repeal of Section 377 of the IPC, which means making homosexuality legal," the statement said on Tuesday.
It said that homosexuality is a sin and a social evil which will only lead to societal disintegration and break-up of the family.
Appealing to the government not to be influenced by the "decadent trends of the Western culture" and not to give in to the demands of a minuscule minority, the statement said the government should not test the patience of the silent vast majority of the country which abhors such behaviour.
A prominent body of Muslim community Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had earlier hit out at the government's proposed move, saying the repeal of the section would create "sexual anarchy" in the society.
"The section should stay as its repealing would result in sexual anarchy in the society. Those opposing the section are influenced by Western culture. Those who argue for independence do not realise that independence should have its limits," Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind spokesperson Abdul Hameed Noamani said.
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband had earlier also opposed the Centre's move to repeal a controversial section, saying unnatural sex is against the tenets of Islam.
"Homosexuality is offence under Shariat Law and haram (prohibited) in Islam," Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband Maulana Abdul Khalik Madrasi has said.
The reaction came after reports that Centre was likely to convene a meeting soon to evolve a consensus on repealing a controversial section of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises homosexuality.
-----
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Today-is-judgment-day-for-gays/articleshow/4726608.cms
Today is judgment day for gays
2 Jul 2009, 0730 hrs IST, Smriti Singh, TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court is due to deliver on Thursday its much-awaited verdict on a petition seeking decriminalization of
homosexuality.
Seven months after concluding the hearings on the petition filed by Naz Foundation, a bench consisting of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar will announce whether section 377 IPC could be “read down” to decriminalize private consensual sex between adults of the same sex.
As an NGO working among AIDS/HIV-affected people, all that the petitioner sought was a reading down of the wide-ranging provision, which imposes life sentence on those found to have “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. Much as the provision sounds archaic, there is little likelihood of it being repealed as the relief sought by the petitioner, by its own admission, has been framed “to ensure the continuance of applicability of section 377 to cases involving children or cases involving non-consensual sex.”
Thus, if the high court saves the provision by reading it down, section 377 will continue to be in the statute book to deal with paedophilia and non-consensual sex between members of the same sex. This is a likely scenario going by the observations made by judges during the hearings last year and the contradictions that remained unresolved in the government’s stand.
While the home ministry wanted the petition to be dismissed, the health ministry supported its contention that section 377 criminalized homosexuality per se, it was obstructing the AIDS/HIV prevention efforts among high-risk groups. Whatever the outcome, this is the second time the Delhi high court will be pronouncing on Naz Foundation’s petition against section 377. In 2004, it dismissed the petition at the preliminary stage stating that “an academic challenge to the constitutionality of a legislative provision could not be entertained.” It further said that when no personal injury was caused to the petitioner by this provision, the petition could not be examined.
The foundation then approached the Supreme Court, which disapproved the manner in which the high court had disposed of the matter. SC observed that when there was a debate on this issue the world over, “where is the question of the petition being academic? We are not able to accept the approach of the high court that it is an academic exercise and there is no personal injury.” Accordingly, in 2006, SC directed HC to reconsider the matter in detail. The judgment is coming close on the heels of statements from ministers on the possibility of a legislative intervention because of growing demands from the community of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT). If the judgment serves the purpose of decriminalizing homosexuality, the government will be spared the burden of amending a provision laden with religious and cultural sensitivities.
Interestingly, in the new team of law officers appointed by the government, at least two of them — attorney general Goolam Vahanvati and additional solicitor general Indira Jaising —- have publicly supported the demand for decriminalizing homosexuality.
---
wikipedia copyright
Chapter XVI, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code a piece of legislation in India introduced during British rule of India used to criminalise homosexual activity.It is also commonly referred to as the ‘Anti-sodomy Law’. The Section 377 was drafted in 1860 by Lord Macaulay as a part of the colonial project of regulating and controlling the British- and Indian-origin subjects, which reads:
* Unnatural offenses: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
* Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in this section[1].
The ambit of Section 377, which was devised to criminalize and prevent homosexual associations - sodomy in particular, extends to any sexual union involving penile insertion. Thus even consensual heterosexual acts - but coitus - such as fellatio and fingering may be declared a punishable offense under this law.
The Indian Penal Code was later reproduced in most other British colonies – and to date many of these laws are still in places as far apart as Singapore and Sri Lanka.
In 2006 it came under criticism from 100 Indian literary figures,[2] most prominently Vikram Seth. The movement to repeal Section 377 has been led by the Naz Foundation India Trust, an activist group. It is currently under a constitutional challenge at the Delhi High Court.
It must however be noted that convictions under this law are extremely rare, and in the last twenty years there have been no convictions for homosexual relations in India.
==================================================================================
Today, because India is a secular democracy all individuals and groups have a right to express a personal opinion. However, my personal opinion or anyone else's cannot have the status and authority of LAW.
The law stands above personal opinion. The law of the land has the solemn obligation to protect and preserve the rights of ALL individuals. The diverse LGBT constituency has long been denied equal civil rights in marriage and divorce under Indian Law. Their private sexual lives have long been criminalized under Sec 377 of the IPC. This is inhumane, uncivilized,unethical, unconstitutional and wrong. The Indian state has committed a CRIME against homosexuals by denying them their civil rights.
The Indian state or any secular democratic state IS NOT A PARTNER NOR CAN IT ADJUDICATE PRIVATE ACTIVITIES OF CONSENTING ADULTS, whether heterosexual, homosexual, transgender or any other sexual orientation.
Repeal 377. It's got to go.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/After-Deoband-other-Muslim-leaders-condemn-homosexuality/articleshow/4723843.cms
Times of India copyright
After Deoband, other Muslim leaders condemn homosexuality
1 Jul 2009, 1238 hrs IST, PTI
audio
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
NEW DELHI: Amid government moves for a re-look at criminalising homosexuality, several Muslim leaders have said any attempt to legally permit
unnatural sex is an attack on religious and moral values.
"Legalisation of homosexuality is an attack on Indian religious and moral values," over a dozen prominent Muslim religious leaders said in a statement.
The statement has been endorsed by Maulana Jalaluddin Omari, President of the Jamaat-e Islami Hind, Maulana Muhammad Salim Qasimi, Rector of Darul Uloom Waqf, Deoband, Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, among others.
"We are shocked to see reports in the media that the Union government is considering the repeal of Section 377 of the IPC, which means making homosexuality legal," the statement said on Tuesday.
It said that homosexuality is a sin and a social evil which will only lead to societal disintegration and break-up of the family.
Appealing to the government not to be influenced by the "decadent trends of the Western culture" and not to give in to the demands of a minuscule minority, the statement said the government should not test the patience of the silent vast majority of the country which abhors such behaviour.
A prominent body of Muslim community Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had earlier hit out at the government's proposed move, saying the repeal of the section would create "sexual anarchy" in the society.
"The section should stay as its repealing would result in sexual anarchy in the society. Those opposing the section are influenced by Western culture. Those who argue for independence do not realise that independence should have its limits," Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind spokesperson Abdul Hameed Noamani said.
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband had earlier also opposed the Centre's move to repeal a controversial section, saying unnatural sex is against the tenets of Islam.
"Homosexuality is offence under Shariat Law and haram (prohibited) in Islam," Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Darul Uloom Deoband Maulana Abdul Khalik Madrasi has said.
The reaction came after reports that Centre was likely to convene a meeting soon to evolve a consensus on repealing a controversial section of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises homosexuality.
-----
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Today-is-judgment-day-for-gays/articleshow/4726608.cms
Today is judgment day for gays
2 Jul 2009, 0730 hrs IST, Smriti Singh, TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court is due to deliver on Thursday its much-awaited verdict on a petition seeking decriminalization of
homosexuality.
Seven months after concluding the hearings on the petition filed by Naz Foundation, a bench consisting of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar will announce whether section 377 IPC could be “read down” to decriminalize private consensual sex between adults of the same sex.
As an NGO working among AIDS/HIV-affected people, all that the petitioner sought was a reading down of the wide-ranging provision, which imposes life sentence on those found to have “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. Much as the provision sounds archaic, there is little likelihood of it being repealed as the relief sought by the petitioner, by its own admission, has been framed “to ensure the continuance of applicability of section 377 to cases involving children or cases involving non-consensual sex.”
Thus, if the high court saves the provision by reading it down, section 377 will continue to be in the statute book to deal with paedophilia and non-consensual sex between members of the same sex. This is a likely scenario going by the observations made by judges during the hearings last year and the contradictions that remained unresolved in the government’s stand.
While the home ministry wanted the petition to be dismissed, the health ministry supported its contention that section 377 criminalized homosexuality per se, it was obstructing the AIDS/HIV prevention efforts among high-risk groups. Whatever the outcome, this is the second time the Delhi high court will be pronouncing on Naz Foundation’s petition against section 377. In 2004, it dismissed the petition at the preliminary stage stating that “an academic challenge to the constitutionality of a legislative provision could not be entertained.” It further said that when no personal injury was caused to the petitioner by this provision, the petition could not be examined.
The foundation then approached the Supreme Court, which disapproved the manner in which the high court had disposed of the matter. SC observed that when there was a debate on this issue the world over, “where is the question of the petition being academic? We are not able to accept the approach of the high court that it is an academic exercise and there is no personal injury.” Accordingly, in 2006, SC directed HC to reconsider the matter in detail. The judgment is coming close on the heels of statements from ministers on the possibility of a legislative intervention because of growing demands from the community of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT). If the judgment serves the purpose of decriminalizing homosexuality, the government will be spared the burden of amending a provision laden with religious and cultural sensitivities.
Interestingly, in the new team of law officers appointed by the government, at least two of them — attorney general Goolam Vahanvati and additional solicitor general Indira Jaising —- have publicly supported the demand for decriminalizing homosexuality.
---
wikipedia copyright
Chapter XVI, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code a piece of legislation in India introduced during British rule of India used to criminalise homosexual activity.It is also commonly referred to as the ‘Anti-sodomy Law’. The Section 377 was drafted in 1860 by Lord Macaulay as a part of the colonial project of regulating and controlling the British- and Indian-origin subjects, which reads:
* Unnatural offenses: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
* Explanation: Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offense described in this section[1].
The ambit of Section 377, which was devised to criminalize and prevent homosexual associations - sodomy in particular, extends to any sexual union involving penile insertion. Thus even consensual heterosexual acts - but coitus - such as fellatio and fingering may be declared a punishable offense under this law.
The Indian Penal Code was later reproduced in most other British colonies – and to date many of these laws are still in places as far apart as Singapore and Sri Lanka.
In 2006 it came under criticism from 100 Indian literary figures,[2] most prominently Vikram Seth. The movement to repeal Section 377 has been led by the Naz Foundation India Trust, an activist group. It is currently under a constitutional challenge at the Delhi High Court.
It must however be noted that convictions under this law are extremely rare, and in the last twenty years there have been no convictions for homosexual relations in India.
==================================================================================
Thursday, May 7, 2009
NUCLEAR, not Diplomatic, 'Disconnect' between US and Pak
My published NYT comment #83.
May 07, 2009 5:13 pm
Link
May 07, 2009 3:53 pm
US-Pak NUCLEAR not Diplomatic 'Disconnect'
What we have is not merely a diplomatic disconnect. That's small potatoes, talk is cheap.
What the entire world is faced with is a NUCLEAR 'disconnect' in which the US and NATO have not so far reassured and convinced the world that Pak's warheads are 100% secure. Nothing less that a 100% guarantee will do. This is extremely serious. Everything else pales into insignificance.
Why is the IAEA silent? Why is el-Baradei dumbstruck on this issue? Why does the world not have a guarantee from the IAEA that Pakistan's warheads are fully secured and under continuous IAEA surveillance?
The US will never act in the best interests of the Pakistani people. The US will never act in the best interests of the Afghan people. Afghans and Pakistanis, Indians and Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis and Nepalis and Maldivians know this in their hearts.
Pakistanis especially are being humiliated (even as they are bribed) by the US in this 50 year master-stooge relationship. Pakistan has not thrived under a half-century of US domination and manipulation.
The diverse peoples of South Asia are related by blood and history. It is up to us South Asians, despite centuries of Brit divide and rule colonial strategy, to work together in fellowship and cooperation. Pakistanis have to vomit the hate propaganda they have been fed by their feudal elites to keep them servile, hungry, poor and with no prospects for employment except as suicide bombers and terrorists. And India must help and respect Pakistan in the spirit of sisterhood for the sake of every woman, child and man in our South Asia region.
Pakistanis, Indians and Afghans are closer to each other than they can ever be to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, China or the US. That's a fact.
Chithra Karunakaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
-------------
NYTimes copyright
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/politics/08cooper.html
On the White House: In Diplomacy, a Pakistan Disconnect
By HELENE COOPER
As American and Pakistani diplomats met, there was a gap between the sentiments expressed in public and those voiced in private.
May 07, 2009 5:13 pm
Link
May 07, 2009 3:53 pm
US-Pak NUCLEAR not Diplomatic 'Disconnect'
What we have is not merely a diplomatic disconnect. That's small potatoes, talk is cheap.
What the entire world is faced with is a NUCLEAR 'disconnect' in which the US and NATO have not so far reassured and convinced the world that Pak's warheads are 100% secure. Nothing less that a 100% guarantee will do. This is extremely serious. Everything else pales into insignificance.
Why is the IAEA silent? Why is el-Baradei dumbstruck on this issue? Why does the world not have a guarantee from the IAEA that Pakistan's warheads are fully secured and under continuous IAEA surveillance?
The US will never act in the best interests of the Pakistani people. The US will never act in the best interests of the Afghan people. Afghans and Pakistanis, Indians and Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis and Nepalis and Maldivians know this in their hearts.
Pakistanis especially are being humiliated (even as they are bribed) by the US in this 50 year master-stooge relationship. Pakistan has not thrived under a half-century of US domination and manipulation.
The diverse peoples of South Asia are related by blood and history. It is up to us South Asians, despite centuries of Brit divide and rule colonial strategy, to work together in fellowship and cooperation. Pakistanis have to vomit the hate propaganda they have been fed by their feudal elites to keep them servile, hungry, poor and with no prospects for employment except as suicide bombers and terrorists. And India must help and respect Pakistan in the spirit of sisterhood for the sake of every woman, child and man in our South Asia region.
Pakistanis, Indians and Afghans are closer to each other than they can ever be to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, China or the US. That's a fact.
Chithra Karunakaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
-------------
NYTimes copyright
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/us/politics/08cooper.html
On the White House: In Diplomacy, a Pakistan Disconnect
By HELENE COOPER
As American and Pakistani diplomats met, there was a gap between the sentiments expressed in public and those voiced in private.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Long Term Threat To South Asia -- Taliban Or US?
My Comment # 18. April 14, 2009 11:51 pm Link
Who’s the real threat in the South Asia region– The Taliban?
Or the US and US-led NATO?
The fact is the Taliban emerged from the mujahideen that the US nurtured, armed and trained in the 10-year Cold War face off in Afghanistan against the erstwhile Soviet Union. The US were the paymasters and handlers of the Taliban and the ISI.
The US govt. has been a force for destabilization and lately, state-sponsored terror, since the Dulles era of the State Dept in the Eisenhower administration, targeting Pakistan for satellite status after Pakistan was weakened by the Brit-driven Partition. The South Asian nation states went from colonization to neo-imperial threat.
The physical presence of the US and the US-led Nato in my South Asia region distorts intra-regional geopolitics among the sovereign nation-states (some more fragile than others).
The US now holds the balance of power in the region, which is its core objective in every region of the world.
I wonder how Obama would feel if his daughters Sasha and Malia were killed in a US drone attack. That happened to children last week in a NATO airstrike, and the death of children was confirmed by President Karzai.
When civilians are killed by the US and US-led NATO, recruitment demands into the Taliban ranks are more likely to succeed, especially when families are grieving and therefore more vulnerable to Taliban and warlord pressure.
The US and NATO have no legitimacy in the South Asia region.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------
New York Times copyright
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/south-asias-taliban-problem
April 14, 2009, 5:19 pm
South Asia’s Taliban Problem
By The Editors
--------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/world/asia/14afghan.html?emc=eta1
Civilians Died in Airstrike by NATO, Afghan Says
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
Published: April 13, 2009
----------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/world/asia/15afghan.html?ref=global-home
In Recruiting an Afghan Militia, U.S. Faces a Test
U.S. Army officers held a meeting, or shura, with Afghan elders in Maidan Shahr who read a threatening Taliban "night letter" sent to a village elder warning people not to associate with American forces.
By DEXTER FILKINS
Published: April 14, 2009
===================================================================================
Who’s the real threat in the South Asia region– The Taliban?
Or the US and US-led NATO?
The fact is the Taliban emerged from the mujahideen that the US nurtured, armed and trained in the 10-year Cold War face off in Afghanistan against the erstwhile Soviet Union. The US were the paymasters and handlers of the Taliban and the ISI.
The US govt. has been a force for destabilization and lately, state-sponsored terror, since the Dulles era of the State Dept in the Eisenhower administration, targeting Pakistan for satellite status after Pakistan was weakened by the Brit-driven Partition. The South Asian nation states went from colonization to neo-imperial threat.
The physical presence of the US and the US-led Nato in my South Asia region distorts intra-regional geopolitics among the sovereign nation-states (some more fragile than others).
The US now holds the balance of power in the region, which is its core objective in every region of the world.
I wonder how Obama would feel if his daughters Sasha and Malia were killed in a US drone attack. That happened to children last week in a NATO airstrike, and the death of children was confirmed by President Karzai.
When civilians are killed by the US and US-led NATO, recruitment demands into the Taliban ranks are more likely to succeed, especially when families are grieving and therefore more vulnerable to Taliban and warlord pressure.
The US and NATO have no legitimacy in the South Asia region.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------
New York Times copyright
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/south-asias-taliban-problem
April 14, 2009, 5:19 pm
South Asia’s Taliban Problem
By The Editors
--------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/world/asia/14afghan.html?emc=eta1
Civilians Died in Airstrike by NATO, Afghan Says
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
Published: April 13, 2009
----------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/world/asia/15afghan.html?ref=global-home
In Recruiting an Afghan Militia, U.S. Faces a Test
U.S. Army officers held a meeting, or shura, with Afghan elders in Maidan Shahr who read a threatening Taliban "night letter" sent to a village elder warning people not to associate with American forces.
By DEXTER FILKINS
Published: April 14, 2009
===================================================================================
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Incredible India vs. Malnourished India
My comment #13.
March 13, 2009 8:10 am
Link
March 13th, 2009 0:40 am
Incredible India vs. Malnourished India
Sorry bureaucrats and politicians, you can't eat democracy and the right to vote. People need food.
The video that accompanies the article (below) is horrifying. It provided images of the most egregious cases of malnutrition, images I have never seen in all my years traveling all over India. They certainly exist.
Child and women's malnutrition especially are rampant in the poorest, most economically disadvantaged parts of India, but also where GROWTH trumps DEVELOPMENT.
While the article provided information on increased malnutrition in growth-driven Gujarat and Maharashtra it would have been useful to contrast this with data from say, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where more equitable socio-economic conditions have prioritized development over growth and likely lessened malnutrition.
Absolute hunger among is prevalent among infants, toddlers and young children in India, but there is a pronounced pattern of child and women's malnutrition in those parts of India where patriarchy is the incontestable norm; women don't have land rights; women's educational attainment is low; public health and other social services are negligible.
What is unsupportable is the India government's criminal policy of stockpiling foodgrains by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in rodent-infested warehouses, when clearly the most urgent priority must be given to distribute a variety of food staples rapidly and efficiently to people in areas where it is most needed.
As the article and video make clear, malnutrition is entirely preventable and is costly for education, health, employment and other sectors of the Indian economy.
While the government clearly must do much more, this is a problem that requires vigorous and widespread civil society consciousness-raising and participation to grapple with this shameful inequity that cruelly denies our children (as well as their mothers) a most basic need.
Democracy is a mockery without it.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
Recommended by 34 Readers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists
Malnutrition in India is worse than in many African nations, stunting the growth of children like this girl in Shivpuri, photographed in November 2008.
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: March 12, 2009
http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2009/03/13/world
/asia/13malnutrition.html#postComment
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/13/world/asia/20090313-malnutrition-audioss/index.html
New York Times copyright
Additional sources:
UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/index.php
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
http://www.ifpri.org/
World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.who.int/countries/ind/en/
all sources are copyrighted by the related organizations
===================================================================================
March 13, 2009 8:10 am
Link
March 13th, 2009 0:40 am
Incredible India vs. Malnourished India
Sorry bureaucrats and politicians, you can't eat democracy and the right to vote. People need food.
The video that accompanies the article (below) is horrifying. It provided images of the most egregious cases of malnutrition, images I have never seen in all my years traveling all over India. They certainly exist.
Child and women's malnutrition especially are rampant in the poorest, most economically disadvantaged parts of India, but also where GROWTH trumps DEVELOPMENT.
While the article provided information on increased malnutrition in growth-driven Gujarat and Maharashtra it would have been useful to contrast this with data from say, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where more equitable socio-economic conditions have prioritized development over growth and likely lessened malnutrition.
Absolute hunger among is prevalent among infants, toddlers and young children in India, but there is a pronounced pattern of child and women's malnutrition in those parts of India where patriarchy is the incontestable norm; women don't have land rights; women's educational attainment is low; public health and other social services are negligible.
What is unsupportable is the India government's criminal policy of stockpiling foodgrains by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in rodent-infested warehouses, when clearly the most urgent priority must be given to distribute a variety of food staples rapidly and efficiently to people in areas where it is most needed.
As the article and video make clear, malnutrition is entirely preventable and is costly for education, health, employment and other sectors of the Indian economy.
While the government clearly must do much more, this is a problem that requires vigorous and widespread civil society consciousness-raising and participation to grapple with this shameful inequity that cruelly denies our children (as well as their mothers) a most basic need.
Democracy is a mockery without it.
Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
Recommended by 34 Readers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Indian Growth Soars, Child Hunger Persists
Malnutrition in India is worse than in many African nations, stunting the growth of children like this girl in Shivpuri, photographed in November 2008.
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: March 12, 2009
http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2009/03/13/world
/asia/13malnutrition.html#postComment
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/13/world/asia/20090313-malnutrition-audioss/index.html
New York Times copyright
Additional sources:
UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/index.php
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
http://www.ifpri.org/
World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.who.int/countries/ind/en/
all sources are copyrighted by the related organizations
===================================================================================
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