EWTS 2013 Taslima Nasrin on empowering women through secularism - Kudos Taslima!

Editorial "ECODAMAGE AGGRAVATES CALAMITIES" in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 30 June 2013 issue, Vol. 9, Part 1, No. 12

ECODAMAGE AGGRAVATES CALAMITIES

The pictures above show the havoc wrought by recent Uttarakhand floods, and the innovative efficiency and dedicated service of the relief workers, especially the Army soldiers in India or China in such situations. But the point remains whether this calamity that has gulped thousands of lives and destroyed crores of properties was entirely natural, whether it was wholly unforeseen or was reasonably predictable. In June 2008 when Professor G.D. Agarwal embarked on a fast unto death in protest against building big dams in the Himalayan region, we had editorially warned that Damming the Ganges could be quite dangerous to the fragile ecosystems of the region with calamitous consequences for the people and that this relatively recent geographical formation in creational timescale could not possibly endure such human tampering. Several environmentalists/social activists have been vehemently protesting and agitating against such ‘rape of nature’ in the sensitive mountainous and riverbed regions, and 2 years ago Swami Nigamanand sacrificed his life in an indefinite fast to protest the rampant stone crushing and strip mining in the region. But, the grisly greed for profits exacerbated by the capitalist globalization processes has overridden all such protests and agitations to continue indulging in catastrophic constructions/destructions in the region thereby upsetting all the natural defences to any such unforeseen ravages of nature. We agree with Mr. K.V. Raman [DNA News Agency] that “the catastrophe that struck … is an instance of what occurs if nature is exploited beyond what it can endure. The monsoon arrived early and came down heavily. But the destruction was the outcome of the damage done by man. Illegal constructions on the banks of the rivers and on mountain slopes have proliferated, … within a fragile eco-zone. In spite of repeated warnings, real estate activity and tourism has been allowed without restraint.  Over the past few years, numerous dams and hydroelectric projects have been constructed that have also put additional pressure on the natural system. …the Alaknanda and Mandakini carried whatever was in their path; houses and hotels, roads and bridges … were washed away within minutes. This is a grim lesson from which we must learn to curb the activities that interfere with the environment.” The lesson to be learnt is clear and critical: “Live harmoniously with Nature or Die in disasters and disgrace!” §§§

DAMOCRACY The Movie (English) - the hazards of big dams depicted forcefully

Editorial "CHANGE THE WORLD, SAVE THE PLANET" in 15-31 May 2013 issue, Vol. 9, Part 1, Nos. 9-10 of LAW ANIMATED WORLD

CHANGE THE WORLD, SAVE THE PLANET!

Yes, to save our planet from utter ruin (terracide) by the current capitalist industrialization processes and social systems, it is essential to change the world i.e. the modes of production, distribution and governance presently oppressing the world people. On this depends even the survival of our Mother Earth – the only planet in the universe known to generate and support any bio-species. As in case of all progressive movements, which till date have recorded significant successes in achieving basic human rights and civil liberties for the people in general, it is the working classes of the world who have to stand and fight in the forefront of the struggle for such a crucial change. As Marx and Engels declared long back, working classes cannot liberate themselves except by liberating the whole society from the trammels of the suffocating capitalist order and ultimately obliterating their own existence for the emergence of a classless society of cooperating individuals. The present trend of hazardous industrialization and greedy profiteering processes have brought ruin to the ecosystems in the world and given rise to the dangerous climate change phenomena threatening the very existence of the life systems. In this background, everywhere among the most progressive sections, the concept of eco-socialism is gaining ground. It sees the ultimate welfare of the humankind in harmonious living with all other bio-species and on the destruction of the inhumanly greedy capitalist globalization processes by fully protecting the rights of the Mother Earth and of all humans as dignified individuals. The importance of such an initiative and struggle by the people is once again underscored by the recent Occupy-Gezi protests in Taksim Square, Istanbul which started as righteous protests by a few individuals against the razing of the Gezi Park but have now snowballed into an immense mass movement encompassing lakhs of people from not only the working classes but several other sections of the society, fighting for the protection of their environmental wellbeing as also for the destruction of the oppressive capitalist systems. We wish every success to the Turkish people as also the people of the world in this and such other seminal struggles §§§

Editorial "NaMonia and Changing Equations" in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 June 2013, Vol. 9, Part 1, No. 11 issue

NAMONIA AND CHANGING EQUATIONS

The political landscape in India is changing fast with different national and regional parties preparing for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in 2004 and the raging NaMonia [a term coined to describe the fanatical admiration for the Gujarat CM Narendra Modi in BJP circles]  in the most potential challenger – the Bharatiya Janata Party – is disturbing not only the general secular-minded public but also causing much discontent among veterans in that party even, as illustrated by the recent resignation drama enacted by Lal Krishna Advani. Though it is true that more bloodshed has been caused in communal riots during the Congress regimes than under the BJP rule, the definite commitment of that party to a pro-Hindu political and governance system coupled with the atrocities against minorities in Gujarat under Modi have made that party a virtual outcast for several centre/left parties. Strangely, that party patriarch, Advani, who was indeed responsible for the rise of Hindutva forces by his famous rath yatra and then destruction of Babri Masjid and commitment to the construction of Ramjanambhoomi Mandir, all of which were key factors catapulting that party with mere 2 MPs to the ruling echelons with Vajpayee as the No. 1 [and PM] followed by himself as No. 2 [and Dy. PM], alone could have to some extent mollified the aversion and discontent of other parties towards BJP by his more mature and more-liberal-now approaches. But, it is perplexing and also saddening to see such a veteran, who should have been normally accepted as the No. 1 and pushed as the prime ministerial candidate, being shunned by younger upstarts in that party out of their NaMonia. Now that Nitish Yadav of JD (U) has also broken alliance with the BJP, it seems the coming elections can be damaging to it and lend a definite advantage to the incumbent ruling party, though it is steeped in the mire of corruption, loathed by the public in general and badly mauled by attacks from the left-extremists and other terrorists. Parliamentary left parties, with no vision or program for forging a left democratic front even, seem to be in the lurch and may but tail this or that centre/left national/regional parties with all their illusions about, and in their peaceful march to, parliamentary socialism.  §§§

Jagriti - Aao Bachchon Tumhen Dikhayen Jhanki Hindustan Ki

Raj Kapur songs collection