SAD DEMISE OF A DEDICATED CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER

SAD DEMISE OF A DEDICATED CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER

This is to convey my heartfelt condolences to the near and dear of Sri Yashpal Chibbar, the indefatigable human rights activist and the dedicated General Secretary of the People's Union for Civil Liberties on 2 December 2008 at Delhi. It will not be an exaggeration to state that Sri Chibbar worked heart and soul for the cause of the common man in India, for the protection and promotion of civil and human rights to all sections of people, especially the downtrodden and sacrificed himself like a bright candle dispensing light to one and all. No words are adequate to applaud his stupendous work for the cause of socialism, democracy and human rights. Let us all vow to follow his path and his resolve for upholding and promoting human rights in India and the world. - I.MALLIKARJUNA SHARMA, Advocate and Convener, MARXIST STUDY FORUM and Editor, LAW ANIMATED WORLD, a world law fortnightly published from Hyderabad, H. No. 6-3-1243/156, M.S. Makta, Opposite Raj Bhavan, Hyderabad - 500 082. Ph: 040 - 23300284.

Editorial 'Wanna Socialism Without Terror' in 15-30 November 2008 October Revolution Special issue of LAW ANIMATED WORLD

Wanna Socialism without Terror

There is a sea of difference in the circumstances in which the early utopian or scientific socialist ‘seers’ lived, preached and practiced and the present space age in which all elements of both progress and reaction are developed to an unprecedented degree. At that time “there were no railways, no motor cars, no electricity generation and no large scale steel industry. Radio had not yet been invented.” The classes and class struggles talked of in the Marxian times are no longer relevant or acceptable this day when so many other social groupings overlap against the mostly economic classification envisaged in those times. Capitalism did not boil down to the two-class model but has given rise to more variegated classifications and developments. So what is the meaning in sticking to the outworn phrases and irrelevant ideals of those times? This is the question often posed by angry and educated youth who are not favourably disposed to Socialism. We do recognize the elements of truth in their scornful contentions but at the same time point out that there are also some things – some priniciples, some social customs and some ethics which are viewed or desired to be constants for any meaningful social progress. Most of the people even today are theists, adhering to sundry religions and accept the sermons from their preachers about the age-old ethical and religious ‘good’s. Likewise the ideal of individuals composing a society, cutting across the barriers of caste, status, class and even religion, rising above ‘self’ and working for the social good in a system mainly of socialized means of production, carefully planned and efficiently operated for equitable distribution resulting ultimately in the individuals’ all-round development, also has its virtue of constancy. It has also a quite modern ring and is certainly better than the greedy, callous and ruthless mindset generated by untrammelled capitalism to which the present globalizaiton processes are degenerating. However, the means to be followed by the change-desiring sections and classes of people have also to be in consonance with the high ideals and they should take cognizance of the changing needs and circumstances of the people, shunnig from mindless violence, especially indiscriminate terrorism, in their just struggles for social transformation. In short, we need a socialism without terror and with a human face, and not the naked gods of Howard Fast or terror molochs of Ayodhya or Bombay communal fanatics either §§§

Editorial, 'fESTIVAL OF LIGHTS', 31 October 2008 issue of LAW ANIMATED WORLD

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

The gala religio-cultural event joyously celebrated mainly in India but also all over the world by billions of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and sections of Buddhists too, and joined in by unassuming millions belonging to other religions even, has its libertarian significance too. Especially among the Sikhs, as it is said Guru Hargobind secured release of himself and also 53 Hindu kings from Mughal prisons and returned to Amritsar on that day when the Golden Temple and the whole town was illuminated with diyas (small clay lamps) to revel at the occasion, it is annually celebrated as the Bandi Chodh Diwas (Prisoners Release Day). We know the Hindu myth of Satyabhama, pet wife of Krishna, said to be an incarnation of Goddess Earth, killing Naraka, the demon of evil and darkness, and freeing from his captivity hundreds of beautiful princesses, on the eve of this festival to be jubilantly celebrated by rows of lights set up to mark the occasion. What was more enlightening was to find that in India it perhaps originated among Jains, adherents of a sort of ‘trans-theistic’ religion, when they started celebrating the Nirvana, long long ago in 527 BC, of their last theerthankara, Lord Mahavira, to symbolically keep the light of their Master’s knowledge alive saying, “Since the light of knowledge is gone, we will lit up the ordinary matter” (gaye se bhavujjoye, davyujjoyam karismamo). And in Nepal where it is celebrated with gusto, it is said to be a sort of folk festival too, marking the end of a harvest season and also the beginning of the Nepal Sambat (New Year). As such we have no hesitation in joining the festivities along with the ordinary masses of all denominations and earnestly wishing all the best for all suffering humanity of the world and hope that our rationalist friend would find nothing irrational, nor atheistic comrade find anything superstitious, in our happy Diwali greetings for, after all, we are only yearning for ‘the light of virtue and truth to dispel the darkness of evil and ignorance’ (Tamasoma jyotirgamaya)! §§§

Editorial, DISTRESS SUICIDES, in Vol.4: Part 2, 15 October 2008 issue of LAW ANIMATED WORLD

DISTRESS SUICIDES

seem to have spread from the ranks of farmers to those of artisans also in Andhra Pradesh. Eminent social scientists underscore that this phenomenon of large scale farmers suicides is something entirely new and link it to the last decade of globalization and trade liberalizaton under a corporate-driven economy. Some blame the modern ‘neo-coloinalist’ collaboration setup as directly responsible for all this mess. They point out that prior to the British occupation Indian peasant used to earn significantly more than the English farmer, and it is the colonial system of plunder and iniquitous land use that led to the collapse of the flourishing agriculture and handicrafts. After Independence, Indian farmer again rose up and was always able to feed the ever increasing population of the country with his skills and toils but again the LPG processes have reversed the trend. “Agrarian distress and consequent mass suicide since 1997 once again started when India again exposed its agriculture to foreign companies in 1991.” The same is true for the fate of handicrafts... And all this a part of the worldwide globalized ‘free trade’ cannibalism. See this severe indictment: “The transformation of life into commodities kills, but nowhere is this more deadly than in the extreme market conditions of contemporary China. Red capitalists use anything … for runaway overproduction. The Chinese commodities inundating the earth stem from a pitiless market of low-paid laborers, including children and prisoners, who put in long hours... With massive unemployment in rural areas and a huge migration to cities … life for many unfortunate Chinese is a constant struggle of one against all in which stolen children are sold for profit...” And that is exactly what is ailing us too. So in the final analysis it is an acute human rights crisis created by cruel capitalist greed but our human rights commissions and superior courts seem to be ‘blissfully ignorant’ and the State, giving up the welfare state ideal, aids and abets the monstrous capitalization spree. And ‘we the people’ are baffled, unable to fight concertedly to defeat such dehumanizing processes and forces §§§

Editorial: COMBATING TERRORISM, of Law Animated World, Vol. 4: Part 2, 30 September 2008 issue

COMBATING TERRORISM

is not easy, indeed it is one of the most difficult tasks, not only for the different governments at the helm, but also for the progressive people at large. It involves basic questions of theory and practice. And terrorism is not a uniform monolith either; it consists of various varieties in different circumstances. The world today is convulsed by Islamic terrorism but that too has different strands. Even Bin Laden’s tirades against the American tyrants are not just religio-fanatic but curiously advert to several ‘secular’ causes. As one serious researcher puts it: “The vast majority of Bin Laden’s public statements provide secular, not religious, rationales for 9/11. The principal purpose of the attack was to punish the ‘unjust and tyrannical America’. The casus belli he invokes over and over again is injustice not impiety. … Bin Laden almost never justifies terrorism against the West as a means for subordinating Western unbelievers to the true faith. Instead, he almost always justifies terrorism against the West as a form of legitimate self-defence.” And we know terror was and is used in legitimate self-defence or even in counter-offensives against oppressive/imperialist regimes. However, we unequivocally condemn terrorism of the type which indiscriminately kills and maims non-combatant innocents on whatever ‘noble principles’ or ‘high ideals’ advocated in support. The recent bomb blasts by Islamic terrorists in various cities of our country belong to this category. Long back Marx had so analytically stated, “Terror consists mostly of useless cruelties perpetrated by frightened people in order to reassure themselves. … the blame for the Reign of Terror in 1793 lies almost exclusively with the over-nervous bourgeois, demeaning himself as a patriot, the small petty bourgeois beside themselves with fright and the mob of riff-raff who know how to profit from the terror.” Today’s terrorists also belong to similar social groups, though here surcharged with religious frenzy. To combat it needs not just tough police and military measures but also mass awareness and education programs not only to isolate terrorists but also to fight against the glaring injustices in the socio-economic systems which give fillip to such outbursts §§§

Editorial - "Right to Live v. Right to Know" in the 15 September 2008 issue of LAW ANIMATED WORLD, Vol. 4, Part 2, No. 17

RIGHT TO LIVE V. RIGHT TO KNOW

That the entire biomass in this static-dynamic cosmos (akhila charaachara viswam loni samasta praanikoti) is to be viewed with due care and respect is our ancient wisdom, occasionally noted but often flouted. We humans acted with impunity and cruelty to cause extinction of innumerable biospecies. Our superiority complex as also the arrogance about the uniqueness of our intelligence leading to novel scientific, techonological advances and tamperings with nature are some main causes; and the same now drive us toward a perhaps inevitable danger of annihilation. In our thirst for knowledge and greed for power we have split the atom, generated vast energies, committed genocides as also created dangers of a nuclear holocaust. Now we are on the brink of creating black holes, which Dr. Otto E. Rössler fears may eat up our entire earth in a matter of years if we are unable to cope with them – all this in the name of the biggest scientific experiment in world history to know the secrets of the universe. Are we unwittingly behaving like ‘Bhasmaasuras’? Doubts crop up though the spirit of enquiry tends to belittle all that as mere gibberish. Dr. Rössler and others have even approached the European Court of Human Rights, saying: “CERN itself has admitted that mini black holes could be created when the particles collide, but they don't consider this a risk. [But] … it is quite plausible that these little black holes survive and will grow exponentially and eat the planet from the inside. … We submitted this application to the ECHR as we do not believe the scientists at CERN are taking all the precautions they should be in order to protect human life." Not only the human but the entire earth should be protected. Hitherto, we are accustomed to respect the right to know as an integral part of the right to life, but now comes the juncture of a calamitous conflict between it and the very right to live. Let us hope the time has not completely run out and human wisdom prevails in the end to thwart any possible dangers to our geo-bio §§§

Edtorial 31 August 2008 typing mistake regretted

In the editorial of 31 August 2008 issue of LAW ANIMATED WORLD, posted on this blog [as also in the printed version of the newspaper), a material mistake occurred: It was typed: WOLD, instead of WORLD. We very much regret the mistake and request the readers to read it as WORLD. The title of the Editorial is: 'ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM'. - I.M. Sharma.