Sunday, May 26, 2013

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Editorial, WORKERS OF THE WORLD, DIVIDE!?, in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 30 April 2013 issue, Vol. 9, Part 1, No. 8.

WORKERS OF THE WORLD, DIVIDE!?

 On the eve of the glorious festival cum fighting day of the world working class, we are quite sad to thus parody the clarion call of Karl Marx, evolved in the course of generations of intrepid working class struggles for socio-economic justice and humanist liberation. However, the existing sad state of affairs in the country and the world over is that workers are sought to be, and in reality also are, divided on sundry categories – of race, gender, country and region – and tend to quarrel with sections among themselves than putting up a united struggle against corporate plunderers. This disease has widely spread to Andhra Pradesh also or else it would be difficult to understand the rabid opposition to the allotment of captive iron ore mining rights to the prestigious Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited [of ‘Navaratna’ status], a wholly Government of India owned undertaking, running one of the largest integrated steel plants in the world at Visakhapatnam, which by the way has also thereby expressed its intent “to set up commensurate value addition facilities such as Beneficiation Plant, Pelletisation Plant, Steel Mill, depending on the quantum of iron ore  reserves available at Bayyaram (Khammam District) and other proposed allotment of mines in Warangal and Karimnagar districts.” And the sadder part is the participation of misguided workers of the region in, and the espousal by the ‘left’ parties/groups of, this unjust agitation which hurts more the interests of the working people at large than in any way contributing to the progress of the region/state. We endorse the view that any labor movement worth its name must be multiracial, multi-gender, multi-aged, skilled/non-skilled, …… LGBT-inclusive, and so on…” and as such strongly condemn such anti-people, anti-labor moves by vested interests and misguided parties/persons and call for broad and harmonious unity and struggle of working persons irrespective of all divides. In contrast, we really appreciate the campaign by Manda Krishna Madiga espousing the just causes of all old persons and widows, many of whom may be present or former workers, which good effort has also drawn applause from all right-thinking persons cutting across all sectional/political divides. §§§

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Editorial: 'A FORUM OF LAST RESORT' in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 April 2013, Vol. 9, Part 1, No. 7 issue

A FORUM OF LAST RESORT

  is certainly required in our Indian conditions, of course not as a Court to direct or command, but as an entity to pressurize and lobby for, the needed justice tempered with social consciousness and mercy, in some extreme cases of maladministration of justice or executive excesses. The highly intellectual but eccentric Justice Katju has mooted the launching of a Court of Last Resort saying “It has been felt for quite some time that injustice is being done to a large number of people who have been languishing in jail either as under trials whose cases have not been heard for several years, or who have unjustly remained incarcerated, either because: (1)  The police have fabricated evidence against them, or (2)  For want of proper legal assistance, or (3)  Who have had to spend many years in jail and ultimately found innocent by the court;” and curiously projected himself as the champion of ‘minorities’ whom he singled out as the usual victims. And generally he appeals for mercy to such persons from minorities/some high profile figures but overlooks the woes and weal of innumerable persons from working class, peasant and tribal communities who are languishing in jails just for demanding their rights and facilities on the allegations of aiding and abetting extremism and terrorism. He remembers and fights for pardon to Sanjay Dutt, who in our opinion could be let out on probation but with strict directions for community service in public toilets, or sweeping roads, etc. in vindication of his own propagated filmi principle of gandhigiri, but forgets to even consider the woes and weal of a Soni Sori who was so cruelly tortured and is now again imprisoned for espousing the causes of tribal women in Chattisgarh; and also conveniently does not refer to Afzal Guru who was so unjustly dealt with and whose hanging has given rise to renewed terror in the Kashmir valley and elsewhere. Such a Forum, we do not prefer the appellation ‘Court’, should take up sensitive issues like stopping the hanging of politically motivated convicts/terrorists like Bhullar which, if carried out, could give rise to explosive situations harmful to the unity and security of the country and again give fillip to wild terrorist activities in the name of Khalistan, Eelam, etc. Also it should do all in its power to secure justice to the oppressed people like the Chattisgarh tribals or Suzuki workers so unjustly left to rot in jails without bail even. §§§