Editor: Rekha Saraswat

Vol. 78 No 1

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APRIL 2014

THE RADICAL HUMANIST (Since April 1949) Formerly : Independent India (April 1937- March 1949)

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Will Democracy succeed in Parliament this time?

Will the Voter regain his faith in his MP? Another occasion of hope for the Indians!

2014 -Lok Sabha Elections!!

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FOUNDER EDITOR

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EDITOR

M. N. ROY

REKHA SARASWAT

(Page 3)

(Page 2)

THIS MONTH'S CONTRIBUTORS UDAY DANDAVATE

TONY HENDERSON

(Page 5)

S.N. SHUKLA (Page 11)

JAWAHARLAL JASTHI

(Page 25)

(Page 9)

KULDIP NAYAR (Page 14)

MANZOOR ALI (Page 29)

K.S. CHALAM

V.B. RAWAT

(Page 16)

(Page 19)

ALKA CHADHA

DIPAWALI SEN

(Page 32)

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The Radical Humanist Vol. 78 Number 1

APRIL 2014

www.theradicalhumanist.com Contents

April 2014

Monthly journal of the

Indian Renaissance Institute Devoted to the development of the Renaissance Movement; and for promotion of human rights, scientific-temper, rational thinking and a humanist view of life.

Founder Editor: M.N. Roy Editor: Dr. Rekha Saraswat Contributory Editors: Prof. A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Dr. R.M. Pal, Professor Rama Kundu Publisher and Printer: Mr. N.D. Pancholi Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India, Ph. 91-121-2620690, 09719333011 E-mail articles at: rheditor@gmail.com Send Subscription / Donation Cheques in favour of The Radical Humanist to: Mr. Narottam Vyas (Advocate), Chamber Number 111 (Near Post Office), Supreme Court of India, New Delhi, 110001, India n.vyas@snr.net.in Ph. 91-11-22712434, 91-11-23782836, 09811944600 Please Note: Authors will bear sole accountability for corroborating the facts that they give in their write-ups. Neither IRI / the Publisher nor the Editor of this journal will be responsible for testing the validity and authenticity of statements & information cited by the authors. Also, sometimes some articles published in this journal may carry opinions not similar to the Radical Humanist philosophy; but they would be entertained here if the need is felt to debate and discuss upon them.

—Rekha Saraswat

1. From the Editor’s Desk: Indian Voters' Litmus Test in Democracy —Rekha Saraswat 2 2. From the Writings of M.N. Roy: Historical Role of Islam: The Mission of Islam 3 3. Guests’ Section: 10 Common Concerns about the AAP —Uday Dandavate 5 Lighter Touch To The Korean Issue Needed —Tony Henderson Composition of C.S.B.s Needs A Change

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—S.N. Shukla

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4. Current Affairs’ Section: Parties Ignore Human Rights —Kuldip Nayar From Mala vs Madiga to Yadav vs Modi —K.S. Chalam

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5. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section: A Silent Coup against Indian Constitution —Vidya Bhushan Rawat 19 Social Responsibility vs Social Accountability —Jawaharlal Jasthi 25 6. Academicians' Section: RSS: New Technology &Vitriolic against Minority —Manzoor Ali 29 Child Labour: Perspective Of Society, Art & Law —Alka Chadha 32 7. Book Review Section: Inclusive Growth —Dipavali Sen 35 8. Humanist News Section: Twenty Questions for Modi-Rahul-Kejriwal —Samajwadi Jan Parishad 37 Recent controversy regarding CCTV Footage in Tejpal’s case —N.D. Pancholi 39

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APRIL 2014 Mayavati is the pride of Dalits. Bukhari gives the clarion call to Muslims. We feel strong in collective identities and helpless and alienated without them. How can the voter cast an impartial independent vote when he is constantly under the shadows of his coterie?

Raveesh Kumar on NDTV asks hungry, desolate and impoverished villagers in U.P. and Bihar if they need a change of rule to better their living conditions and they without a second thought, pledge their adherence to their caste leaders for a life time without bothering to change their own dilapidated living circumstances. They want to use their voting rights only to ensure their caste supremacy in the ruling class. Where is the independent adult in the Indian masses who goes to vote as a responsible, aware citizen? We are so far away from the civic societies even in the urban areas. There too, we find small clusters of the upper and middle-class fully alienated from the large crowds of the lower-class slums dwellers. The former get all the benefits of privatization as well as favours

From The Editor's Desk:

Indian Voters' Litmus Test in Democracy! here, to pen down my editorial, I AsamI sitseeing huge crowds of people on the T.V. channels pouring out in large numbers to cast their votes for the ninety one seats in various parts of the country. It is a development very conducive for the growth of a healthy Parliament. Well, on the surface level, it sure appears to be so! But the reality is still to be proved!! I say this because I am very apprehensive about the existence of a democratic culture in our country as yet. The first fundamental requirement of democracy is the development of the individual into a mature citizen, who recognises himself as a respectable, independent, civic identity within his social set-up and who keeps his personal growth and progress into focus while selecting his representative in the government. The second basic necessity for a democratic state is the emergence of ‘civic societies’ (out of the patriarchal feudal sects and clans of an orthodox social structure) which recognise all individuals as citizens having equal rights and responsibilities within the State irrespective of their lineage and status supported with technologically advanced and socially impartial administrative infrastructure. We appear to have failed in both. No Indian recognises himself as an individual independent of his caste, class, region, state, language, religion, and community. Of course, he gains his initial identity through these but he does not learn to outgrow them. This is the demand of a feudal, insecure social structure where the basic principle of life is ‘conflict’ and not ‘co-operation’. We still live in a primordial society where ‘survival of the fittest’ was the rule.

Therefore, each group, small or big, is in constant fear of getting extinct by the other thus, simultaneously trying to impose and prove superiority upon the other. Modi is the Messiah of Hindus. Mulayam is the saviour of Yadavas.

from the government while the latter, neglected by both, is barely able to survive. The former is not bothered about the malfunctioning of the administrative machinery because it can easily afford both the private sector services through payments and the government services through bribe. On the other hand, the government machinery is not bothered about the latter because it can easily afford to neglect them and still win elections through corporate funds and emotional manipulations of class, caste, communal and religious sentiments. Kejriwal tries to awaken these marginalised people but gets slaps and blows in return because they are used to fearing and revering the ruler and he seems to be fit for neither. His democratic efforts depict him as a weak leader and they feel let down because democracy has yet no meaning for them. I sincerely hope against hope that all my interpretations are completely falsifies in my June editorial. Amen!!

— Rekha Saraswat

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From The Writings of M.N. Roy:

Historical Role of Islam Chapter II: The Mission of Islam Contd. from the last issue.... conqueror of Egypt, Omrou, Thewasvalient distinguished by poetic genius in addition to martial valour. The following remarkable passage occurs in his report to Khalif Omar, "The crowds of husbandmen who blacken the land may be compared to a swarm of industrious ants; and their native indolence is quickened by the lash of the taskmaster but the riches they extract are unequally shared between those who labour and those who possess." That was a view far in advance of time.

The idea of social equity was unknown in all the lands of ancient civilisation. The toilers, either as slaves or as Sudras, were objects of contempt and exploitation. They were hardly considered as human beings. The economic principle, primitively formulated in the memorable injunction of the first Khalif, evolved out of the interest of the Arab traders, revolutionised the old social idea. A part of the wealth produced by the toiling masses, when left with themselves, becomes a powerful impetus to trade. In his administration of the conquered kingdom of the Pharaos and the Ptolemies, the Arab warrior sought with success to mend the glaring inequities that had offended his poetic vision.

Egypt, robbed and despolied for centuries by the Greeks and the Romans, prospered under the Saracens.

There is no end of testimonies to prove that even in the predominently martial period of their history, the Saracens were far from being barbaric bands of fanatical marauders, spreading pillage and rapine, death and destruction in the name of religion. Then, the period of conquest was short, as compared to the long era of learning and culture that flourished subsequently under the patronage of the Khalifs as well as of the tributary and independent Empire. The military period 3

terminated with the establishment of the Abbassides at Bagdad - the "City of Peace" - just about a hundred years after the ascendancy of the Prophet at Medina. Since then, the military activities of the Arabs were essentially of the nature of current defensive and offensive operations of a far-flung Empire.

The stern enthusiam of the Saracen warriors was softened by time and prosperity. They began to seek riches no longer in war, but in trade and industry; fame, not on the field of battle, but in the pursuit of science and literature; and happiness, no longer in the fanatical worship of one God and his only Prophet, but in the harmless enjoyment of social and domestic life.

War was no longer the passion and proud profession of the Saracens, because they had found interest and delight in a peaceful world created by the prowess of their forefathers. The progeny of the intrepid heroes, who had flocked to the belligerent standard of Abu Bakr and Omar, with the hope of paradise and incidentally earthly spoils, found the modest occupatuion of trade and industry more profitable, and science and philosophy more gratifying.

Three hundred years of peace, prosperity and progress elapsed before the martial valour of the Saracens was rekindled by Christian aggression in the deceptive form of the crusades. Pillage and plunder, tyranny and oppression came to be associated with Muslim conquests only after the power of the Saracens had been overwhelmed by the Mongol barbarians from Central Asia; Arab learning and culture had been corrupted by the degenerating luxury of the court; and the proud standard of Islam having lost its original revolutionary lustre, had been prostituted in the rapacious hands of the Turks and the Tartars.

It is a gross misreading of history to confound Islam with militarism. Mohammad was a Prophet not of the Saracen warriors, but of the Arab merchants. The very name with which he baptised his creed contradicts the current notion about its aim. Etymologically, Islam means to

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make peace, or the making of peace: to make peace with God by doing homage to his Oneness, repudiating the fraudulent divinity of idols which had usurped His sole claim to the devotion of man; and to make peace on Earth through the union of the Arabian tribes. Peace on Earth was of immediate importance, and greater consequence. The temporal interest of the Arabian merchants required it; for trade thrives better under peaceful conditions. Since decayed states and degenerated religions bred the germs of continued wars and perennial revolts, their destruction was a condition for peace. The creed of Mohammad made peace at home, and the martial valour of the Saracens conferred the same blessing on the peoples inhabiting the vast territories from Samarkand to Spain.

As soon as a country came under the domination of the Arabs, its economic life was quickened by the encouragement of industry and agriculture. The spirit and interest of the Arab traders determined and directed the policy of the Islamic State. In the Roman world as well as in all the other lands of antique civilization, the ruling classes detested all productive labour, looked down upon trade and industry. War and worship were their noble professions. With the Arabs it was different. Nomadic life in a desert had taught them to appreciate labour as a source of freedom. With them trade was an honourable as well as a lucrative occupation of the free man. Thus, the Islamic State was based upon social relations entirely different from those of the old. Religion extolled industry, and encouraged a normal indulgence of nature.

Trade was free, and as noble a profession as statecraft, war, letters and science. The Khalifs of Bagdad were not only great traders; the earlier ones learned, and actually practiced some craft to purchase their personal necessities with the proceeds of manual labour.

Most of the great Arab philosophers and scholars came from opulent trading families.

The culture and refinement of the Courts of

Bokhara and Samarkand, the munificence of the Fatemite rulers of Africa and the splendour of the Sultans of Andalusia were equally produced rather by the profits of prosperous trade than by taxes extorted by despotic measures.

Under certain conditions, trade is a potent instrument of spiritual revolution. The aspiration of the Arab merchant produced the monotheism of Mohammad. This, in its turn, inspired the nomads of the desert to establish one of the vastest and most flourishing empires of history.

The laws of the Koran revolutionised social relations. Increased production, the result of this revolution, quickened trade which ushered in an era of cosmopolitanism and spiritual uplift.

Trade broadens the vision of man. Visiting distant lands, getting used to the sight of strange customs, mixing with peoples of diverse races, the trader frees himself from the prejudices and limitations born of the local conditions of his native land.

— To be Contd....

[Publisher’s Note: This book, first published in 1939, was written when Roy was in jail in the early thirties under a sentence of twelve years rigorous imprisonment, later reduced to six, for ‘conspiring to deprive’ the king-Emperor of his sovereignty in India. Looking back at events in the intervening period, one might wish that this book had been read more widely in the decade before the Indian sub-continent became independent and at the same time partitioned into two States. A better knowledge and more objective understanding of the history of Islam on the part of Muslim as well as non-Muslim India might have prevented much of the later tragic developments and human suffering. But it is never too late for knowledge and understanding to undo the harm that the lack of them has done. Hence, this small book on the historical role of Islam, in East and West, may itself have a historical role to play, apart from its intrinsic value as a scholarly treatise, beautifully written, on a fascinating chapter of human history.]

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Guests' Section:

10 Common Concerns about the Aam Aadmi Party —Uday Dandavate n the spirit of addressing concerns of some of the Aam Aadmi Party supporters, I invited people to express their views online. Here are my comments on some of the key points that came up during our interactions.

1. Why is Aam Aadmi Party so impatient in going national? It should have first set example of good governance in Delhi before going national.

Since the beginning of the anti-corruption movement the focus and appeal of AAP has been pan India. Unlike the All Assam Student Union (AASU) or Telagu Desam, Aam Aadmi party was not formed with a state level mandate to protect local pride. Most Aam Aadmi party supporters voted for the party because they wanted AAP to change the culture of politics in India. AAP did not get a mandate to govern Delhi. AAP won 28 seats whereas BJP won 31. Once it became clear that BJP was unable to form a government. AAP took the opportunity to use a brief stint in the government to test its concepts in participatory democracy, despite criticism from both the media and a section of its own supporters.

Rather than letting the assembly be dissolved after the BJP declined to form a government, AAP decided to treat Delhi as a laboratory for experimenting the concept of Swaraj, knowing fully well that the experiment would last only as long as the Congress Party would allow it to last or until AAP leadership decided it was time to extend the experiment to a larger canvassIndia. 49 days was not a long enough time to govern in a traditional sense, but it was enough time to discover the challenges of building an organization and cultivating a disciplined cadre to translate beliefs into action. When AAP gets a

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clear mandate to govern Delhi, it will be better prepared and wiser because it is learning from its mistakes and has gained confidence from its successes. For a Congress Party, which is used to propping up minority governments, and arm-twisting them into submission, the experience of supporting a non-submissive AAP government was indeed an unexpected experience. Instead of offering the Congress Party protection for their corrupt deeds the AAP government provided the Delhi citizens a quick trailer of their earnest desire to keep the promises made during the campaign and to start the process of punishing the corrupt, howsoever powerful they might be.

2. Supporting the Khap Panchayats and Somnath Bharati’s midnight activism have revealed Aam Aadmi party’s regressive social outlook.

This controversy surrounding Khap Panchayats was raked up after Yogendra Yadav’s statement to the press. It is important to understand what he said. “All castes tend to have their social organizations, which do internal dispute resolution. We certainly acknowledge the right of all such organizations to exist. They have a right to exist and perform a legitimate role because we do not want every social dispute to go to the court of law. The problem arises when the dispute resolution is done through cohesion…when the law of land is broken or when killings and murders are defended in the name of some adjectives like honor killing, etc.

We are absolutely unopposed to compromising any coercion, violation of law or any killing.” He clarified that “AAP will not fall before the feet of these community organizations for the sake of votes”. Arvind Kejriwal also clarified,“Khap Panchayats are a group of people who come together. There is no bar on people to assemble in this country … (But) whenever they take a wrong decision, whenever they take an illegal decision, they ought to be punished."

Banning castist or communal organizations is not a solution to eradicating inequality in Indian

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society. The difficult path of social reforms chosen by people like Ambedkar, Jyotiba and Savitribai Fule and more recently by Narendra Dabholkar stands greater chance of success in challenging the orthodoxy and rallying progressive forces. A secular democracy must fight regressive ideas through public education.

While several progressive minded people were initially alarmed by the reports of AAP support for Khap panchayats, a closer look at what Yogendra Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal actually said clarifies their secular and progressive credentials.

Likewise, midnight activism by Somnath Bharati against alleged sex and drug trade in Delhi created similar outrage amongst progressive Indians.The claims of African women have not been verified yet. The videos from the media and those released by the AAP do not support the claims of the women that Bharati led a mob or an assault on them. The matter has been investigated through independent and impartial judicial inquiry and a report has recently been submitted to the Lt. Governor of Delhi. Most local citizens attribute police’s refusal to follow Somnath Bharati’s orders to connivance between the police and local drug and sex trade.

If, the inquiry proves Somnath Bharati or other people guilty, they should face the legal consequences.

3. Recent violent spat between the supporters of AAP and the BJP in Delhi and Lucknow makes people wonder if at all there is any difference between the Congress, the BJP and the AAP with regard to hooliganism in politics.

Indulgence in violence is unacceptable. Keeping the cadres in check is the responsibility of political leaders. The apostle of peace- Mahatma Gandhi also had to suspend his agitation when it took a violent turn. AAP did not sit silently after violence broke out (as Modi did during anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat), nor did AAP justify the violence as Rajeev Gandhi did the massacre of Sikhs in 1984. He quickly apologized for the acts of AAP volunteers. The fact is that Aam

Aadmi Party is a product of people’s restlessness with the corrupt system and AAP leadership is determined to train its impatient cadres in non-violent Satyagraha.

4. In its ranks Aam Aadmi party has supporters of Naxalite movement. If AAP were to occupy power, naxalism will grow.

On the contrary, if Aam Aadmi party were to play a key role in shaping public policies, the Naxalite movement will recede. There is a direct link between unchecked exploitation of the poor by the state machinery and growth of Naxalism.

When the government machinery failed to serve the weakest sections of the society and instead became an exploitative machine, the poor and the landless were driven to arms only as a last resort to re-claiming their dignity. It is obvious that the same anger against the oppressive state machinery is driving weaker sections of the society to the AAP. They perceive in the AAP a hope for dismantling the corrupt system, which is thriving with the connivance of both the BJP and the Congress.

5. AAP leaders only know how to protest, how will they govern India?

The ruling party and the opposition share equal responsibilities in making a democracy work.

Unchecked governance, howsoever efficient, will inevitably lead to unchecked misuse of power.

The emergency era during 1975-77 has proved that in the absence of opposition Indira Gandhi’s administration committed atrocities that could be compared to atrocities committed by dictators worldwide. Shaping national discourse through dialogue and dissent is a critical aspect of establishing a clear vision and a consensus for national development. The Congress Party through its dynastic politics and Narendra Modi through his authoritarian style have only facilitated fast decline of democracy in India. On the other hand, within a very short time of its founding AAP is already dictating the national discourse for clean politics and setting public policy benchmarks for other state governments to follow.

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AAP represents a true dissenting voice of India and is providing provocation for alternative models of development. Regardless of who will form the government in Delhi, AAP will be in a best position to serve as the major opposition party that can hold the feet of the ruling party and the administration to fire and engage the imagination of everyday people. AAP is the only party that will keep the interests of common citizens at heart. AAP has made the commitment to engage citizens in dictating public policies and in serving as watchdogs against corruption.

6. With people like Medha Patkar in its ranks AAP comes across as anti-development, whereas Narendra Modi has the ability to cut red tape and implement projects efficiently.

Greed for consuming nature’s resources and scant respect for the rights of native population, has led humanity to the brink of ecological disaster. National Alliance for People’s Movement (NAPM) an alliance of grass root level organizations who champion the need for a just and sustainable development has been instrumental in ensuring that megalomaniac policy makers are restrained from upsetting ecological balance and are forced to respect the human rights of communities being displaced by mega projects. NAPM has joined AAP campaign and has offered to serve as the watchdog of AAP’s policies to help make India a world leader in sustainable development. Just as without Martin Luther King Jr.'s movement it would have been hard to envision African American population of the US getting equal rights, or without Ralf Nadar’s activism it would have been difficult to imagine passing of laws for protection of consumer rights, watchful activism of Medha Patkar and her colleagues from NAPM has made India cognizant of the need for environmentally responsible policies. On the other hand Narendra Modi has surrendered his administration to the interests of a small group of industrialists. He has diverted natural resources to help them conduct their business without interruption. A large crowd gathered in

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Ahmedabad recently to listen to Arvind Kejriwal has made Narendra Modi very nervous. He must be remembering Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

7. AAP is only an urban phenomenon.

Howsoever compelling its mission of eradication of corruption, the rural population has not yet bought into AAP’s vision.

The need for a party that will not sell itself out to the corrupt is a pan-India dream. Based on previous experiences- such as the movement for Total Revolution launched by Jayprakash Narayan in mid 70’s, and the anti-corruption movement led by V.P. Singh, it is clear that when an icon of hope catches the imagination of the masses, craving for getting out of the abyss spreads fast. It is a fact that with the fast declining credibility of the Congress Party, Narendra Modi appeared on the political scene of India as an alternative. However, as the anti-corruption movement gained momentum and ordinary citizens, traditionally averse to participating in politics, took to streets to assert their point of view, the Aam Aadmi party’s bold stand against the corrupt establishment has begun to resonate with people’s simmering anger. People realize that both the Congress and the BJP are a part of the same system.

A number of police officers, who traditionally have great respect for a clear line of authority, have begun to flock to the BJP. On the other hand, a number of social workers, representatives of NGO’s, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, professionals, academicians and creative people are drawn to the idea of disruptive innovation offered by the AAP. The results of Delhi elections have demonstrated that AAP’s appeal cuts across caste and religious divisions. Its message has already reached rural India. As the campaign picks up AAP’s prospects will improve just as they did during the campaign for Delhi elections.

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8. AAP has a narrow program focused on corruption. Governance is more complex than just blaming the corrupt.

Corruption touches every aspect of life. At the same time the AAP leadership is cognizant of the need for social reforms and sustainable and fair development. A number of professionals who are drawn to the AAP are engaged in studying models of governance that have helped countries around the world bring prosperity to its citizens through participatory democracy.

Young volunteers who have taken a break from careers involving state of art knowledge and technologies manage AAP campaign. While focusing on defeating the corrupt Congress and BJP AAP is committed to harnessing leading edge ideas and technologies to establish a new development model. AAP’s support base comes to a large extent from the younger generation.

The first time voters in Delhi formed the core constituency of the AAP. This generation is less concerned about pre-conceived models and ideologies and more eager to eradicate corruption and give their imagination a chance.

They have access to the Internet and have got accustomed to the Open Source model of contributing their own ideas for a larger good.

Crowd sourcing has become a reliable method of finding patterns in people’s needs and aspirations, more reliable than any expert opinion. In this background the youth are less loyal to centralized control and delivery mechanism and more tuned into the fuzzy space of collaboration and co-creation. As long as the

the citizens of Delhi.

Street demonstrations are a part of Delhi life.

Every political party worldwide resorts to mobilizing public opinion through street demonstrations. The position of the Delhi Chief Minister is different from other Chief Ministers in India. The police do not report to the Chief Minister, Delhi Assembly also has to seek permission of the home ministry through the Lt. Governor before enacting a law. The Congress Chief Minister Sheila Dixit campaigned for changing this situation without success through her entire ten year long tenure as the Chief Minister. Recognizing the strong grass root level support AAP has generated amongst the people of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal used a public venue to bring focus on an issue that remained a part of futile backroom negotiations during Sheila Dixit’s tenure. Rather than becoming a puppet holding a Chief Minister's position at the mercy of Congress High Command, Arvind Kejriwal demonstrated that he was irrepressible when it comes to exercising his powers as the Chief Minister, to serve his constituents.

10. Arvind Kejriwal is a polarizing figure. He likes to point accusing finger at people, instead of taking everyone along.

India is not in a mood to collaborate with the corrupt. People have lost faith in the existing system to deliver justice and want AAP to take a bold stand and demolish the corrupt system mercilessly. People have a real bad attitude about the established political system and Arvind Kejriwal’s no nonsense style reflects the intent to harness the imagination and energy of mood of the nation.

youth and wisdom of the honest citizens remains at the heart of AAP’s agenda it may be destined for successes beyond anyone’s imagination, because the awakening of Nation’s conscience will define AAP’s future role in serving the nation.

[Uday Dandavate studies people, cultures and trends worldwide and inspires people centered innovation strategies. He heads a design research consulting firm, SonicRim in U.S.A. He writes and speaks on topics related to people centered design and innovation in international 9. Instead of exercising his power as the Chief journals and conferences.

Minister Arvind Kejriwal resorted to street demonstrations in Delhi causing hardships to uday@sonicrim.com]

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Lighter Touch To The Korean Issue Needed —Tony Henderson to do about North Korea, how to What penetrate the untruths, what to propose that will lead to the best scenario of North and South Korea integration, the release from any need of occupying troops from foreign soils, and the dismantling of the nuclear weapons programmes of all sides – the US with close to 1000 strategic nuclear warheads at launch-ready status – those of North Korea, a not-so mere handful?

One commentator has it that only by North Korea arming itself with bargaining nuclear bombs can a plan of universal dismantling of all nuclear weapons begin, which might possibly be the best light anyone has ever placed on North Korea having nuclear weapons, seeing that in the end all will be outlawed, but that is a long shot indeed.

Looking into this issue journalist Mike Chinoy who wrote the book Meltdown has detailed the negotiations between Big Power USA and the two Koreas plus Japan and China in regard to the North Korea nuclear issue. That writer gives more details than really needed to see what’s been the problem in the past but rereading like examples of how talks went from neutral to positive, to negative and thence went on a recurring cycle that led everyone nowhere has been the bane and the barrier. By the final pages there is no doubt the USA hawks constantly beat down the USA doves and we see the results today.

It could have been so different given the good faith efforts of the likes of Kim Dae-jung, elected South Korea’s president in 1997 and a long time dissident. Kim had survived several attempts on his life by government agents. In 1981 he had been tried and condemned to death on sedition charges by military dictator Chun Doo-hwan; his

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execution was prevented only by the last minute intervention of the Reagan administration.

Kim proposed a radical shift in South Korea’s previously hard-line approach to the North.

Instead, he advocated what became known as the “Sunshine policy.” Underpinned by the belief that South Korea would not be able to handle the influx of refugees and possible internal instability that would follow the collapse of North Korea Kim sought to engage Pyongyang through expanded trade and economic ties and increased people-to-people contact. Kim loosened restriction of South Korean investment in the North and boosted humanitarian aid.

Then there was Roh Moo-hyun – a liberal human rights activist, labour lawyer, and longtime dissident, who campaigned with a promise not to ‘know-tow’ to the Americans. He called for continued engagement with North Korea and more independence from the United States.

Mike Chinoy reports Roh describing the North’s nuclear programme as less a threat than “a political card to secure their political regime and to secure economic assistance for implementing reforms and opening up. I don’t think it is an accurate description or accurate presumption to consider North Korea’s nuclear ambitions as a possible, usable tool. Common sense tells us that it is just trying to deter the possible attacks from United States by having a nuclear weapon and by guaranteeing its security.”

On the Japanese side Yasuo Fukuda replaced the hard-line Shinzo Abe as prime minister in 2007, as a moderate he gave a lighter touch to the Korean issue.

Junichiro Koizumi – at one stage early on announced plans to proceed with normalization talks with North Korea because he “judged that taking the first major step of moving from an adversarial relationship to a cooperative one would be in the best interests of Japan.”

As Chinoy reports: “In 2002 Koizumi invested enormous political capital in a diplomatic

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breakthrough with North Korea. Despite his personal friendship with President Bush, the Japanese prime minister, in stark contrast to the U.S. approach, had flown to Pyongyang to meet Kim Jong ll to sign a document dubbed the Pyongyang Declaration, setting the stage for further negotiations on normalising a long-tortured relationship – a development Koizumi believed was critical to the stability of Northeast Asia.”

The US officials had their worthies tackling the ‘problem’ of North Korea, Bill Clinton among them, but the hawks constantly defeated each and every move of reconciliation by those who saw resolution through negotiation and dialogue. Christopher Hill can be mentioned as another. He complained that negotiating with the North Koreans was often less fraught than dealing with the hard-liners of late 2006 and early 2007 – during the George Bush Jr. years (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009).

Then, on the South Korean side, came Lee Myung-bak – a hardliner, but now it is the turn of Park Geun-hye, eleventh and current President of South Korea, since 2013, of the Saenuri Party.

She is the first woman to be elected as President in South Korea. Her parents, the autocratic Park Chung-hee and Yuk Young-soo, with father a Korean general and statesman who led South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979.

Senior Park had legitimised his administration using the provisions laid down in the state of emergency laws dating back to the Korean War, he failed to address the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and the press, his security service, the KCIA, retained broad powers of arrest and detention; with many of Park’s opponents held without trial and frequently tortured.

With that legacy to overturn Ms Park has showed a more liberal tone so far.

Extracts from her speech to a joint session of the USA Congress in 2013 tell of her formal stance toward North Korea, and Northeast Asia: “The

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Republic of Korea will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. Pyongyang’s provocations will be met decisively…

“At the same time, I will not link humanitarian aid provided to the North Korean people, such as infants and young children, to the political situation. And with the trust that gradually builds up, through exchange, through cooperation, we will cement the grounds for durable peace and, eventually, peaceful reunification…

And: “Asia suffers from what I call “Asia’s paradox”, disconnect between growing economic interdependence, on the one hand, and backward political, security cooperation on the other. How we manage this paradox – this will determine the shape of a new order in Asia.

Together, we must meet these challenges. And so I propose an initiative for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia. We cannot afford to put off a multilateral dialogue process in Northeast Asia.”

Of course it can be said ‘talk is cheap’ but there is a strong wish by many on the Korean Peninsula to march forward with acts that bring unity across that divide. With a single and happily unified Korea, it would make sense for China, Korea and Japan to be much closer which would negate any need for any USA pivot.

Asia is big enough to look after itself and without the USA fears – which can be said are unfounded – of some strange attack on its far away nation it can withdraw its armaments and troops, and bases, and redirect its energies to nuclear and conventional disarmament to the betterment of all countries in the world under threat due to its War on Terror.

Tony Henderson is Journalist and Chairman of the Humanist Association of Hong Kong. He is a freelance writer working in Hong Kong, since 1980, and previously Japan, for seven years following two years in Mauritius after a year in Libya. tonyhen1@gmail.com

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Composition of Civil Services Boards Needs To Be Changed —S.N. Shukla of the assurance given by Inthepursuance Prime Minister in the Collectors’ Conference in 2005 the Cadre Rules of all the three All India Services (IAS/IPS/Indian Forest Service) were amended in August 2006 to provide security of tenure to the officers of these services against frequent arbitrary premature transfers. By the said amendment a new clause (c) was inserted after clause (b) in Rule 7 of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1964 to provide that the Central Government, in consultation with the state government(s) concerned, may determine the tenure of all or any of the Cadre posts in that state and that transfers before completion of the prescribed minimum tenure will be made only on the recommendation of the Committee on Minimum Tenure specified in the Schedule annexed to the Rules or the existing Civil Service Board in that state. Similar amendments were made in the Cadre Rules of the IPS & Indian Forest Service also. In pursuance of the amended Rules while notifications for IAS Cadre in 13 states were issued in the years 2007-08, the central government kept dragging its feet for the issuance of notifications in other states, including UP, due to opposition of the state governments even though under the Rules only consultation with them, and not their consent was required. Thereupon, Lok Prahari filed a PIL WP No. 2425(M/B) of 2011 in the High Court at Lucknow for directing the Central Government to issue the requisite notification. Subsequently, in pursuance of the directions issued by the Apex Court in WP (C) No. 82 of 2011 to provide security of tenure to IAS officers, the Central Government issued Notification No. GSR dated 28.1.2014 amending the IAS Cadre Rules and substituting Rule 7 thereof with overriding effect. The Schedule to Rule 7 provides that

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every State Government shall constitute a Civil Services Board which shall consist of(i) Chief Secretary: Chairman (ii) Senior most Additional Chief Secretary or Chairman, Board of Revenue or Financial Commissioner or an officer of equivalent rank and status: Member (iii) Principal Secretary or Secretary, Member Department of Personnel in the State Government: Secretary Identical GSRs have been issued for IPS and Indian Forest Service with the only change that in the CSB mentioned above Principal Secretary or Secretary Home and Director General of Police and Principal Secretary or Secretary Forest and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest have been added as members. (iv) and (v) to the Civil Service Board (CSB) mentioned in the Schedule in the case of IPS and Indian Forest Service respectively. Surprisingly, in utter disregard of the orders of the Apex Court and the aforesaid GSRs issued in pursuance of the directions of the Apex Court the state government of UP is reported to have opposed the new rules regarding transfers of officers of the All India Services. While congratulating the Central Government for this much needed, though highly belated, move it is necessary to draw their attention to the following drawbacks/anomalies in the composition of the Civil Services Boards mentioned in the Schedule to the newly substituted Rule 7 I. CSB for IAS Officers1. The prescribed composition of the CSBs does not take care of the basic need to have an independent professional body to regulate transfers and postings of IAS officers which are made on the whims and fancies of the political masters. UP is a glaring example of this where indiscriminate frequent arbitrary premature transfers have been made with impunity despite existence of the CSB for the last 12 years.

2. It is futile to expect that CSB will serve the purpose of its establishment if its composition

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can be manipulated by the state government to pack it with pliable convenient officers of its choice. It is, therefore, necessary that the composition of the CSB is made, as far as possible, independent of the government of the day.

3. For the reasons stated below the present composition of the CSB is unlikely to ensure that the Board functions fearlessly and independently of political interference and not merely as a rubber stamp as has been the case in UP. (i) The Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Personnel are highly vulnerable being at the mercy of the Chief Minister. (ii) In UP there are 12 Cadre & ex-Cadre posts of the rank of Chief Secretary and the junior most can be the Chief Secretary. Likewise, the Principal Secretary/Secretary, Department of Personnel can be the junior most among scores of such officers. It is prima facie improper that such junior officers should be deciding the transfer and posting of their seniors. To cap it all, in UP the present Principal Secretary, Personnel is a convict sentenced to 3 years imprisonment on the corruption charges. (iii) The Chairman Board of Revenue may be senior to the Chief Secretary. It will be awkward for him to serve as a Member in the CSB. II. CSB for IPS Officers1. The presence of officers at Sr. No. (ii) and (iii) in the CSB will hardly serve the purpose as they will have little knowledge of IPS officers in the state and the service matters of IPS officers are dealt with in the Home Department, and not in the Personnel Department.

2. As in the case of CSB for IAS, there is a need to make the composition of CSB independent of the personal choice of the Chief Minister.

Moreover, there are 10 DGP level officers in the state and generally DGP is not the senior most among them. Hence, instead of officers at Sr. No. (ii) and (iii), it will be proper to have, apart from the DGP, the two senior most police

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officers in the state. It may be mentioned that senior most police officer is also a member of the Committee for promotion from PPS to IPS. This will also take care of the personal likes and dislikes of the DGP in respect of various officers.

III. CSB for IFS OfficersWhat is stated above in respect of CSB for IPS officers applies mutatis mutandi to CSB for IFS officers also. To take care of the aforesaid glaring drawbacks/anomalies in the composition of CSBs it is suggested that their composition be modified as followsIV. CSB for IAS officers(i) Like the collegiums in the Supreme Court and High Courts the CSB should consist of the Chief Secretary and the two senior most IAS officers in the state (except, of course, those convicted for moral turpitude or facing disciplinary proceedings for major penalty) and the senior most among them should chair the meetings of the CSB. This will give the CSB requisite strength as the other two members should be able to withstand undue pressure from the Chief Secretary and political bosses. (ii)The Principal Secretary/Secretary Department of Personnel should be non-member Convener of the CSB. V. CSB for IPS officers(i) Instead of officers at Sr. No. (ii) and (iii) in the present composition, the two senior most police officers in the state, subject of course to the restriction mentioned above, should be included in the CSB. (ii) The DGP should be the member Secretary of the CSB. VI. CSB for IFS officersThe CSB for IFS officers may also be restructured on the lines suggested above for the CSB for IPS officers. Apart from the changes in the composition of the CSBs it is also necessary that suitable instructions are issued to the state governments for proper implementation of the amended Rules in true spirit. The purpose of this whole exercise will not be served if the CSBs continue to justify all premature transfers on the omnibus grounds of

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‘administrative exigency’ or ‘public interest’. It is, therefore, necessary that they are required to indicate in each case the specific reason and circumstances to justify premature transfer an officer on the ground of so called administrative exigency or the public interest. Implementation of the aforesaid suggestions is necessary to

ensure that the purpose of the latest amendments to the Cadre Rules of all the three All India Services is achieved.

S.N. Shukla, General Secretary, Lok Prahari, is a retired I.A.S. officer, and is an Advocate in Lucknow High Court. He may be contacted at: shukla.sn@gmail.com

Time To Vote For The Best Candidate And Not A Party In his concluding address to the Constituent Assembly its President Dr. Rajendra Pradsad had warned: “Whatever the Constitution may or may not provide, the welfare of the country will depend upon the way in which the country is administered. That will depend upon the men who administer it. If the people who are elected are capable and men of character and integrity, they would be able to make the best even of a defective Constitution. If they are lacking in these, the Constitution cannot help the country.” During the debate in Lok Sabha on the Representation of the People Bill Shri Krishna Chandra Sharma emphasized, “It is of great importance that altars of democracy in our land should be kept pure and unblemished”. The degeneration in the polity of the Country during the last 64 years has shown how true and prophetic the above quoted observations were.

We are reminded of the following words in the speech of Mr. Winston Churchill in British Parliament on the eve of our independence: “Power will go to the hands of the rascals, rogues and freebooters”. We seem to be moving in the direction predicted by Mr. Churchill. However, the people themselves are responsible for defiling the temples of Democracy by electing persons with criminal background and those whose sole aim is to get power and wealth at the cost of society and even nation. Thanks to the lavish pension and other perks to ex-legislators and schemes like MPLAD, politics has become the most lucrative profession for the scum of the society. For this reason our organization Lok Prahari has been concentrating on efforts through judicial intervention to keep out persons of criminal background and minimize the influence to caste, community, and corruption in elections. Because of illiteracy, ignorance, and poverty of the masses measures like additional affidavit about assets and criminal antecedents and NOTA have not prevented undesirable persons from succeeding because of backing of political parties who have no qualms in exploiting caste/communal sentiments and using money and muscle power for their narrow political gains. Ultimately it is the people themselves who suffer. Like a fish their fate is the same irrespective of the political party whose bait they take. As James Bovard put it :”Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner”. The only way to get out of the present murky situation is that we elect the best persons who are well known for their integrity, capability, and concern for the people. If our MPs are capable persons of integrity and character, they will take care of the rest. Unless we vote for the best candidate, and not on party lines, we shall continue to be ruled by persons who lack in these basic qualities, so essential to provide good governance. As Burke said all that is required for the triumph of the evil is that the good keeps quite. Hence it is the pious duty of all the well wishers of the country not only to make it a point to exercise their franchise but also to vote for the best candidate ignoring one’s party preference. People get the government they deserve. Therefore, in their own self interest also the voters should make the most of the opportunity to elect only the right persons cutting across party lines in the current Lok Sabha poll. —S.N. Shukla (shukla.sn@gmail.com)

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Current Affairs' Section

Parties Ignore Human Rights —Kuldip Nayar get a fillip when Dictatorships democracies falter. India committed this cardinal sin when it abstained from voting at the UN Human Rights Council. A resolution was sought to be passed to seek an international, transparent inquiry to find out whether Sri Lanka had killed in cold blood 40,000 soldiers and others in the wake of hostilities against the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE). They had surrendered unconditionally.

India’s abstention reminds me of the words of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru: When aggression takes place or human rights are violated, we will not and cannot remain neutral.

Yet the Manmohan Singh government has been found placating the dictatorial government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Colombo. New Delhi did not bother the harm it would be doing to the cause of Tamils’ rights and their own say in governance.

My hunch is that bureaucrats in the Ministry of External Affairs, with their mindset, decided to stay absent what they thought was “in the interest of the country.” The hapless minister, Salman Khurshid, went along. He probably wanted the release of 100 fishermen who had “strayed” into the waters claimed by Sri Lanka.

What will Salman Khurshid do now when the Colombo’s navy has killed four fishermen?

That DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, otherwise supporting the ruling Congress, should accuse New Delhi of letting down the Tamils in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and other places is understandable. But what is not understandable is the policy by which the Manmohan Singh government is pursuing to uphold the sentiments and aspirations even when the

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election of a new government is six weeks away.

Sri Lanka should not mistake the timidity of the ruling Congress for India’s betrayal of democratic rights of Tamils.

I was not surprised to read the Rajapaksa government’s reaction: Thank you. No doubt, New Delhi was under pressure from the democratic world, led by America, that China and Pakistan, where democracy has been reduced to a relative term, supported Colombo.

India’s obvious stand should have been to vote for the resolution to reiterate its policy to protect human rights. Small sovereign nations should have felt let down.

I do not regret the defeat of the LTTE which was largely a terrorists’ organization. But as a humanist, I feel sad over the killing of soldiers and their supporters after the surrender. The Sri Lankan army, obviously with the blessings of President Rajapaksa and his brother, Defence Minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, had no remorse over their indulging in a blood bath.

The world would not have known about the killings if the enterprising BBC Channel 4 had not shown the documentary on the killings and atrocities committed not only against the LTTE troops but also against the innocent Tamils.

Colombo’s own inquiry was eyewash, exonerating the army and heaping the blame on the Tamils who wanted an equal say in the affairs of Sri Lanka.

India has tried to persuade the Sinhalese, a preponderant majority, to give autonomy to the north, Jaffna. But all such efforts, going back to the days of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, have borne no fruit because New Delhi is afraid lest any corrective step should alienate a neighbor which is hobnobbing with China. But how long would we take a hypocritical stand of placating the ruling Sinhalese and assuring the Tamils of autonomous status? On paper, the Sinhalese and Tamil are two official languages. But in practice Tamil has no place. Even a police station does not entertain a complaint written in Tamil, much less in the state secretariat.

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I can appreciate the argument that the estranged Sri Lanka, next door neighbours, is capable of harming India. But what worse can Colombo do when it has allowed China to have its footprints in the country? On the one hand, Beijing has been given the development of Trincomalee port and, on the other Sri Lanka has become a refuge for some anti-India elements.

We can probably do little when the Sri Lankan government is averse to accountability. It has already rejected two earlier resolutions—one of them was in conjunction with the UN Secretary General. By abstaining from a move that was meant to put pressure on the government to come clean, New Delhi has tried to let Colombo off the hook. Probably, we did so because our own record on human rights is so blotched that we do not want to set a precedent of an inquiry by outsiders.

Our insensitivity can be seen from the fact that practically no political party has included violation of human rights in its election manifesto. Two main parties, the Congress and the BJP, have such a bad record of their rule that they do not encourage even a discussion on the subject. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a political platform of NGOs, should have had human rights violations on top of its agenda. But it too is losing its way—idealism—in an effort to become an alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

People want a change. The AAP can emerge a power to reckon with. But its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, is as much surrounded by a coterie as are the Congress and the BJP. The AAP can retrieve the ground it has lost provided it does not make the election an end by itself. What the nation needs is a force to uphold the lower half to eliminate corruption and to reiterate the ideology of pluralism.

Had the Sri Lankan government kept their principles above politics of power, it would not have been facing the charge of war crimes. But it is futile to expect this from Rajapaksa who is a dictator through and through. It is a pity that New Delhi has arrayed itself with such countries, known for the suppression of common man, particularly the Tamils. The din of election has suppressed even the demand for justice.

Striking a personal note, I recall my visit to Colombo. There was a midnight knock at my hotel door and the police barged in to search the room for any discriminatory material. After some time the police force withdrew on its own. My crime was that I had held a press conference during the day to demand the removal of ban on LTTE and fight it out politically.

Kuldip Nayar is a veteran syndicated columnist catering to around 80 newspapers and journals in fourteen languages in India and abroad. He may be contacted at: kuldipnayar09@gmail.com

"The cultural and moral crisis of modern civilisation is compelling sensitive and thoughtful men throughout the world to turn towards its humanist tradition. The movement for a humanist revival grows stronger every day. It is being increasingly realised that the baffling problems of our time call for a sober rationalist approach. The restoration of moral values in public life is the crying demand.

There is no doubt about the sincerity of the agonised cry for a better and harmonious life on this earth. Yet, it seems to be a cry in the wilderness. The cause of this distressing experience is the negative consequence of modern scepticism. The critical thought of the nineteenth century challenged the pretension of the rounded-up system of classical philosophy which claimed to have discovered ultimate truth in the light of "right reason"."

M.N. Roy (From the Preface of Reason Romanticism & Revolution)

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From Mala vs Madiga to Yadav vs Modi- a Deep Social Upheaval —K.S.Chalam dramatic political events Thebothrecent at the state and national levels indicate a serious social disorder in our country.

Though caste identities have been used for political purposes in the Parliamentary process, where number dominates ideology, never before unscrupulous methods of dividing castes and even families for the purpose of gaining the vote share seem to have been employed. The trend reminds that caste has emerged as a political institution with social characters which some of our political sociologists have of late recognized. But, the consequences of the current political manipulations, we are afraid, would have long term adverse social impact.

Interestingly, no political party has a social agenda of caste eradication; therefore the trend is accepted as a matter of fact without any dispute. Sometimes we feel deeply pained and lapse in to despondency for the way the politics in India is played. There is no honesty in the methods of political parties during the election season and some of the left including the socialist groups are not far away from this forced decadence. Everyone is interested in the votes and wishes to get elected through the dubious means of whipping caste passions or sentiments by promoting the petty leaders from caste or sub caste groups within a party or outside. All the parties once again talk about the need for caste-based reservations and possibly would work against the principles once elected to power. Is this a contemporary problem in India?

Perhaps, we have examples of such incidents in our epics. The pundits and experts of our scriptures tell us that Lord Sri Ram was pampered by Vashista, the Rajguru to prove that there is no unity among the kshatriyas and the

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kulaguru of Kshatriyas, Vishwamitra was inferior to Brahmin Vashista. There were scholars like Garbe. R, who have written on such topics during the 19th century and Sharad Patil has extensively cited the works in his writings with examples from Maharashtra scholarship. As the current elections and government policies seem to broadly respect the age old Sanatana dharma irrespective of declared or concealed agendas, a brief academic reflection on the puranic characters as seen from the present political war seems to be inevitable.

It may not be out of place to bring in here puranic symbols when we talk about castes, as the legends were in a way reflections of the classical varna dharma. Lord Sri Ram was definitely the jewel of the ancient classical era or treta yuga? Therefore, it is desirable to look for the exemplary characters in our Lords and Leaders to find parallels in the current debates conducted by our seasoned media honchos with the support of paid intellectuals / managers. As things stand now, most of the dominant parties have their own legacies, family or parivar.

The former is blood related and the latter is genetically connected. The former may not have a head quarter and the latter a formal functional relationship. But, both the institutions are deeply embedded in our ethos and control politics and openly quarrel accusing each other.

In fact one of our freedom fighters from Andhra late P.H. Gupta has written in the 1950s in Caravan about the schools of thought as Vasista, Viswamitra etc as they appear in different puranic periods as characters might be varna-based schools. He questioned how could they live so long and be present in Ramayana, Mahabharata and assumed that they are not human or divinely characters, must be asramas advocating specific thought. The issue here is that some strong characters are projected as the formidable candidates for PM post like, Modi, Rahul, Kejrival, Mulayam, Nithish, Chandra Babu Naidu etc. Sadly the fair sex is deliberately dropped off in the mainstream discussions on

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future PM even by the lady prattlers.

Among the prospective candidates, Modi is the Prince among the peers. Let us look at his personality. Is Modiji in any way inferior to lord Sri Ram in his commitment to sanatana dharma and rastra dharma though some claim that he has failed in his raj dharma? In the Kaliyug both rajdharma and rastra dharma should be merged for administrative convenience of good governance as defined in modern heaven (USAWB).

Modi has an additional qualification of belonging to Backward Class which perhaps Lord Sri Ram doesn’t possess. In fact, Harsh vardhan of BJP in Delhi has said that “even god cannot stop Modiji to win". Or some of our experts might find that even the color of the leader resembles the dark icon, it is not difficult to paint both the characters as backward castes?

Some friends have brought to my notice that in some social networks, Sri Ram was depicted as ancient prince and projected as historical character living with flesh and blood. It might be possible during the current euphoria to project him as a backward class person given his quarrels with dhobis, Sambhuka being the present backward caste. We have now the advantage of hundreds of channels and social networks in all languages to devote time and energy to recreate modern epics. May be soon we may get writings depicting such episodes .Some organizations have already placed experts outside India who are expected to do that for an international audience.

The current fight to gain control over UP reminds us the kind of games played in Andhra, a few years ago in breaking the solidarity among the dalits (there could be many reasons). In fact, the whole caste system itself is a ladder of inequities. Now the BC upsurge, some claim, seems to be a blemish for the traditional ruling classes / castes particularly their formidable dominance in terms of numbers. The chief among them is the Yadav (ahir) parivar and their ability to garner support from other socially 17

disadvantaged including the Muslims (artisans).They might capture Delhi anytime, if left free. The OBC power in UP, Bihar and other parts of cowbelt is due to some castes like the Modis and their ubiquitous presence in places where the Yadavas are found. Unlike the Yadav and other OBCs, Modi, Sahu, Gupta (Agrahari-Vaisya / sundaria-baniya) and similarly placed castes in the North as telis, oil pressures and small shop keepers /dealers are noticeable BCs.They have traditional contacts with the market and know about the nuances. Unlike the Sonis who are small in number, this group is well entrenched and might become a great threat to traditional castes who have been enjoying power and patronage despite small number.

If the Modis and Yadavs who have some economic potential to challenge the money power are allowed to emerge, they might become, to use Phuley’s term the Rakshaks of the socially disadvantaged. Or they might take away their share that reduces the major chunk now enjoyed by the traditional groups. The solution perhaps suggested by the advisers is, emulate Andhra experiment where Sudras are enjoying power by dividing the disadvantaged as ABC and D. There is no doubt that there are different gradations among the OBCs. The service castes like Dhobi, Nayi etc who are in multitudes are always marginalized is another serious issue for political engineering. The left from the time of Lohia have tried to win the confidence of the lower castes.

Of late it is alleged, alienated without any constituency and turned irrelevant with their obsolete rhetoric?

However, the current Modi-Yadav war in UP is only symbolic that it would break the nascent stage of Bahujan’s power. How do we expect that in a Country like India the traditional governed castes would be allowed to occupy positions of power, if at all permitted, it should be with the blessings of the gods on earth!

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K.S. Chalam has been Vice- Chancellor, Dravidian University, Kuppam (AP), (2005); Member, Planning Board, Govt. of M.P., (2002-04); Founder Director, UGC Academic Staff College, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam (1987-2005); Director, Swamy Ramananda

Tirtha Rural Institute, Pochampally, Hyderabad (1997-98); Professor of Economics, Andhra University (1990-2005). He is on several Committees as Hon’ble Chairman, Member such as UGC, NCRI, A.U. etc. He may be contacted at: chalamks@hotmail.com

An Appeal to the Readers Indian Renaissance Institute has been receiving regular requests from readers, research scholars, Rationalists and Radical Humanists for complete sets of books written by M.N. Roy. It was not possible to fulfil their demands as most of Roy's writings are out of print. IRI has now decided to publish them but will need financial assistance from friends and well-wishers as the expenses will be enormous running into lakhs. IRI being a non-profit organization will not be able to meet the entire expenses on its own. Initially, following 15 books have been ordered for print: New Humanism; Beyond Communism; Politics, Power and Parties; Historical Role of Islam; India’s Message; Men I Met; New Orientation; Materialism; Science & Philosophy; Revolution and Counter-revolution in China; India in Transition; Reason, Romanticism and Revolution; Russian Revolution; Selected Works-Four Volumes; Memoirs (Covers period1915-1923).

Cheques /bank drafts may be sent in the name of ‘Indian Renaissance Institute’ at (address): Shri B.D. Sharma, Advocate, Chamber No.111 (Old), Supreme Court, New Delhi-110001 Online donations may be sent to: ‘Indian Renaissance Institute’ Account No: 02070100005296; FISC Code: UCBA0000207 UCO Bank, Supreme Court Branch, New Delhi (India) We make an earnest appeal to you to please donate liberally for the cause of the spirit of renaissance and scientific thinking being promoted in the writings of M.N. Roy. Thanking you B.D. Sharma N.D. Pancholi, Narottam Vyas President (IRI) Secretary (IRI) Treasurer (IRI) A note of Appreciation and Thanks: We have received the following donation from noted veteran Historian: Ms. Romila Thapar - Rs. 10,000/—Rekha Saraswat

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IRI / IRHA Members' Section:

A Silent Coup against Indian Constitution —Vidya Bhushan Rawat is passing through one of the most India crucial phases of its political life. As the exercise of the ‘democracy’ begins the future of the country would also be locked and will be opened on May 16th only. It is important to understand the dangers of what has happened so far. The results will be out in a month but it is for the first time in our history that ‘someone’ has already ‘declared’ himself as the prime minister of the country. Things are not simple.

Today, the ‘man’ is already declared as the ‘most powerful’ person of the country and every other questioning him has been made as person against ‘development’ and pseudo secular. It is not easy for a person who is the main accused for instigating violence against Muslims in Gujarat and had kept conspicuously silent when people were crying for help such as fellow politician Ehsaan Jafari who was burnt to death by the barbaric anarchist mob which was allowed to do things at its own whims by the state administration and who was admonished by his own prime minister, to be ‘anointed’ as a ‘national icon’. Witness the systematic campaign, rumors, fudging of data and then controlling the entire communication through a fictitious army of ‘devotees’ on social media and enforce ‘curfew’ in the news rooms which is worse than what Doordarshan and Aakashwani did in 1975. Today the role being played by embedded media is perhaps much disturbing and scornful to opponents and dissenting view point. If one has to see the replica of methods that Sanjay Gandhi used during emergency, these elections and the campaign management by the likes of Amit Shah are the best example.

We know media is Modified and at the moment not ready to listen to anything which can suggest that India had lot of achievements during the

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past 60 years. It seems that India got freedom by the help of freedom fighters owning their allegiance to Hindutva and after that everything that the Gandhi family did was simply to destroy India. In criticising Sonia, Rahul and Indira, they have also made mockery of Nehru without any respect to either history or his contribution which political opponents are supposed to do even if they disagree. That started last year on October 31st in Ahemdabad when chief minister of state made political speech to denigrate the first prime minister of India just to score a political point about Sardar Patel.

Yes, Congress is guilty of one hundred things. It demolished democratic values such as happened in 1975. Congress promoted cronyism. It promoted sycophancy. It converted governors to agents of the congress party. It denigrated autonomous institutions like National Human Rights Commission, National Women’s Commission and other such autonomous bodies by picking up absolutely political flatterers to head those bodies which have responsibilities to provide justice to the people. It was the party that imposed Emergency in 1975 and anti-Sikh violence in 1984 in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi are some of the darkest chapters of Congress Party’s life which are hard to erase as there is no remorse in ‘real’ sense. There were communal riots in the country and the government really did not take actions strongly.

Meerut, Maliana, Bhagalpur, Nellie, Bombay, Malegaon and many more saw communalization of administration and police force. Today, there are talks of failures of dealing with these riots but it is also necessary to understand as to who are the forces which speak language of hatred and retribution, who communalise the administration and used such symbols in public life and political speeches which unambiguously make the minorities feel as ‘secondary’ citizens of the country?

There is no doubt that Congress has been a party of the brahmanical elite whose main

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interest was to maintain status uo through ‘liberal democratic’ face. But definitely you cannot blame Nehru for this. At least Congress remained much more democratic during his regime and des ite all his weaknesses Nehru never ever courted the religious thugs, urus and communal forces. The down fall of Congress began in the ost 1980s with return of Indira andhi who created a Bhindarwalen and then a eased Hindus in Pun ab. The same things ha ened in Jammu and ashmir where Indira andhi sought votes for the rotection of Hindus. San ay andhi was known to flirt with religious fundamentalists. Ra iv followed Indira’s legacy and actually a lied the same tricks though he was definitely much bolder and wiser in many senses.

He signed Pun ab and Assam accords even at the cost of his own arty 's government. His own cousin Arun Nehru was flirting with Hindu urus and Babas and got o ened the locks of dis uted ‘structure’ in Ayodhya. ater, Ra iv started with Ramra ya and lost the elections.

The biggest damage done to Congress was by P.V. Narsimharao who was basically influenced with the Sangh philosophy and had a number of friends there. Rao believed in Vajpayee more than in his own Congress colleagues. The demolition of Babari Masjid in December 1992 was a well-planned strategy of Sangh Parivar and it appears that Narsimha Rao had knowledge about it. There is nothing new of these ‘exposures’ now as two veteran journalists late Nikhil Chakrawarty and Prabhash Joshi were known to some of these deliberations between various groups. It was only after that ‘breach’ of promise that Prabhash Joshi started writing about Hindutva activists as ‘terrorists’ otherwise he was always considered to be an insider.

Narsimha Rao’s depended on notorious babas like Chandra swamy and others who were actually ‘secular’ mascots of Hindutva. There were other ‘Shankaracharyas’ too who might have condemned BJP for political reasons but never really were different from them. All this only helped the Hindutvaisation of Congress Party.

The last ten years of Manmohan Singh regime were different. Congress, for the first time,

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accepted that coalition era had arrived in India and had to provide political space for smaller political parties for maneuvering. UPA-I started with great promises and government listened to civil society voices too. There was no hope for the government’s return to power but it returned. Thus, UPA-2 started to believe in the ‘whim’ that there is no opposition to it now. It started with vigorous ‘corporatisation’ by Man Mohan Singh and his close associates like P. Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahaluwalia.

The unrest caused in the states like Chhattishgarh, West Bengal and elsewhere added with growing corruption in fixing up the amount of coal block. The UPA did not take things seriously and kept things under cover.

The anti corruption plank was hijacked by the same forces who were actually the counter-parts of Manmohan Singh and his team in the Hindutva organization.

The government never came out openly against Hindu fundamentalists. It played tricks and today we are in a condition where the government is ready to go out but people are really terrified and disturbed when the option and opportunities for a possible new regime are provided to us. We have no problem if those claiming to be ‘new’ and ‘alternative’ provide alternative to Chidambaram, Montek, Manmohan's economics or give us an inclusive government. The problem is that the new entrants are more ‘nationalistic’ and jingoistic in their approach whose different ‘senas’ will be ready to beat up the people for their dissent like the goons of Sanjay Gandhi did during emergency.

Hence India faces the biggest challenge to its very idea and concept. The secular socialist democratic republic is under the threat from those whose heart lies in big corporations of America and Europe and who want to sell the public land and resources to those looters within India or outside for a throw away price in the name of ‘growth’. That is not the onlyy problem; the very premise of our nationhood is now under

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‘arrest’ by those who have no history of fighting for the country and those who are actually replicas of Talibanees and separatists of Muslim League which sought Pakistan with an idea that Hindus and Muslims cannot live together despite the known history of people in India living together despite all kind of differences.

Frankly speaking these forces are not fighting to eliminate a secular congress but to replace a brahmanical government which has become totally discredited. So, it is nothing but an attempt to retain the hegemony of miniscule minority which has been marginalized politically though their control over politics, bureaucracy, media and our national life remains uninterrupted. The fight of the Sangh parivar is against a Congress which would be lead by the Gandhi family and which is attempting to return to its secular socialist roots.

Congress lost the plot because its brahmanical government wanted to appease all by doing nothing. It kept mum rather than taking strong action on issues like corruption and wrongful arrests of Muslim youths. It failed to bring the issues of minorities, Dalits and OBCs to the fore and fight for them with ideological clarity. The whole issue of food security, and natural resources was dealt with more of symbolism and less of seriousness which resulted in more backfiring.

We also know there was a communication gap between the government and the party. The party was moving towards a different direction while the Ministers in the government were in different mood. Leaders like Kapil Sibbal, Chidambaram, Moily, Pawan Bansal, Ashwini Kumar, Rajiv Shukla, Shree Prakash Jaiswal, Rita Bahuguna and Shinde brought Congress tto a situation from where it had no where to go as there is not much perceptional difference between these leaders' thought and Hindutva and we can always find them in the other camp if things do not materialize here. The perception that Congress is corrupt went beyond the roof top. Now, this perception would not have built 21

up to tthis extent had the Congress done something good for the Muslims, OBCs, Dalits and Aadivasis more than the few added constitutional provisions in the technical sense.

The dole out packages would not really work as people want participation in power. MNREGA and Mid Day meal would not work if they remain symbolic when the school education is privatized and people are still not able to get work for more than 40 days a year.

Yet, a secular congress remains the best bet for India despite all these hiccups. We have no issues even if a so called 'third front' comes to power with a clear commitment to secular socialist republican ideals of the country. We have no issue whether Mayawati become Prime Minister or any other Dalit Bahujan leader or our friends from the left as India needs to be governed by those political classes who worked for the people and not paratroopers who have been let loose on people from above. We believe in the people of India and have faith in them yet we have to understand now the enormity of these elections and why the saffron forces must be defeated at all cost who have unabashedly connived with the corporate media and administration at one hand while hoodwinking people in the name of social engineering in the villages, on the other . A careful image has been crafted of Narendra Modi as a ‘tea-seller’ who was ‘humiliated’ in his childhood. His macho images are also being projected and promoted actively everywhere including the social media.

The last six months campaigning pattern can be seen which has silently upstaged and pulled the rug from beneath the parliamentary system. In the system, we elect our members of Parliament and they elect a prime minister. Today, our democratic module has been carefully converted into a US style poll where we ‘need’ experts and therefore we have bureaucrats, army commanders, policemen, businessmen joining politics. There is no bar on any one’s contesting elections but attempt to subvert public opinion through embedded media has to

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be condemned. India will have to see these general elections in a different way. Yes, for the first time, we are witnessing the open defiance of norms and decency. Despite all our aversion to the Modi brand of politics and that of the Hindutva, the elections this time have crossed that limit. The corporate houses have cleverly done a coup against Indian democracy. First they manipulated a protest in the name of ‘fight against corruption’ and through Kejriwal and Anna attempted to discredit every institution we build up through hard work of our political forefathers. Now, the entire Anna team's political ambitions have come out in the open and Kejriwal has formed the party. The media had no option but to openly wage a war against him. The reason for a war against Kejriwal is because the media felt that a highly demoralised Congress Party would not be able to take on Modi and AAP is becoming the ‘biggest’ hurdle to Modi on his way to 7 RCR. The media has already made Modi Prime Minister and Modi is behaving as a prime minister of India. His body language, contempt for his predecessors and all other opponents look as if he would be able to run the government without any opposition. The Hindutva ‘event managers’ are targeting political leadership and trying to eliminate them following example of Israel which have used the same methodology to eliminate the genuine Palestine leadership. As more intelligence, military and policemen are joining the team. It looks they are following the same tricks as they did in their duties.

Where are the common men and women in it?

Celebrities are being appointed and we are informed, none less than Amit Shah that it is time for ‘experts’ to be brought in. What is the expertise of Hema Malini, Smriti Irani, Paresh Rawal, Kiron Kher and Meenakshi Lekhi? Is shouting at others on the TV Debates like Prime Time and using the worst kind of language towards your opponents the only talent that is being sought? The system of nurturing a

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constituency and leaders interacting with their people has been done away with. Why should Rajnath Singh leave Ghaziabad constituency for Lucknow? Why we fight in two constituencies? I think Mayawati does the best. She does not need a certificate whether she can win an election or not. She has rarely contested and that has given her strength to campaign for her candidates.

Despite Supreme Court warning, we have seen that those who are accused were given tickets by the BJP. And now we have seen the fulmination and vitriol by Amit Shah, Modi’s notorious but trusted colleague to ‘manage’ things in Uttar-Pradesh. Already a vicious atmosphere has been created. But the most damaging thing to Indian democracy has been in the way of hiding facts from the people and absolute capitulation by the media which always claimed how it fought the tyranny of Indira Gandhi in 1975. The tyrant today is much more dangerous and fascist in attitude than Indira Gandhi. For all her shortcomings, Indira Gandhi had in her heart the socialist tendencies and she would never ever surrender to these crony thugs even when she might have sat with them.

Today, the entire agenda is being framed by the charlatans of these corporate thugs. They have turned out to be propaganda machinery of a man called Narendra Modi. Even within the BJP if any one raises question the ‘forward defense’ shouts at others. The nation wanted to know as to why a devotee named as ‘Madhu Kishwar’ was granted interview by her God Narendra Modi?

And one should know that media like a political opponent would try to pin down a simple man like Rahul Gandhi. Arnab tried to humiliate him without telling us the fact that Arnab Goswami and his 'Times-Now' team feel the ‘Bhagya Vidhata’ of India is a plain criminal and outright fascist who would not allow himself to be scrutinized to public. None in the media ever questioned why he is not talking to media? Yes the focus was on others and of course the PR agencies working overtime to give us ‘shining Gujrat’ feel all the time where just two days ago

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three people were killed in a man-hole cleaning the human excreta. Why we are not informed that Modi and his government handed over in platter the precious communal land to the industrialists. Today, village Panchayats in Gujarat do not have land. The success of a few powerful Gujratis is being presented as a great ‘revolution’ done there. Thankfully, India is not Gujrat. It is much more vibrant and colorful than a state where money matters more than anything else. So the fight of people of India is not against a tyrant but also against the corporate media which has made itself more powerful than anything else. It has packaged news to sell its own interest. The time has come to expose the activities inside the newsrooms.

The immunity that they have got in the name of ‘media’, ‘writer’ and ‘journalists’ must be done away with. It is time to have a press council which can have the power of derecognizing them. After all, media is not above Indian law. If they claim to be unbiased and committed to news then it is time to ask them the question that how much space have they given to political parties other than the saffron group. During emergency we used to call Aakashwani as ‘Indirawani’ but today with hundreds of channels, all of them have been ‘fixed’ by the ‘Hindutva’ ‘managers’.

Just a few days back we got the news that in one EVM in Assam the authorities found that pressing any button would only stamp Lotus. It is time to put a break on it as things are moving dangerously and with entire administration now polarized and communalized we are heading towards anarchy and chaos. Democracy is not a guarantee to peace building alone. Democracy has been hijacked by the corporate and manuwadis who are now using all their tricks to deny others their rights. How can we succeed as a democracy when it become symbolic and provide legitimacy to all illegitimate acts? Can any democracy allow an individual to snoop? Will any democracy allow its leaders to speak the language of retribution, hatred and murder? For

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a pluralistic society with so much of diversity, the corporate honchos added with their admen masquerading as journalists and opinion makers have converted it into an ‘Americanised’ debate where an entire country of over one billion people are being asked to decide between three choices. This game of first converting a non entity into a brand and then discrediting democratic institutions to dislodge a democratically elected government was unheard of at least in India. But the corporate did it. And now they are not even giving us an alternative. They have already declared Modi as prime minister through their ‘surveys’ which they carry on so vigorously to manipulate public opinion.

All the people believing in the norms of democracy are worried about the non-representation of minorities as well as numerous minorities even among Dalit Bahujans and Aadivasis. They are worried about why people are not included in decision-making.

With every election, the number of these segments in our parliament is reducing and we have no way to increase their fair representation.

How can the demand for a fair representation of 15-20% of its Muslim population in our power structure be termed as ‘communal’. It is a fact that it is not communal when Ramdev, Ravi Shankar and other ‘bhudevtas’ seek vote for Modi but when Shahi Imam speaks not to vote for BJP that is termed as communal. You bring out hate speech of Iqbal Masood some six months back and send him to Jail but have no action against either Amit Shah or Vasundhara Raje (the later holding a ‘responsible’ position).

If past speeches have to be found and people banned on those lines then Advani, Uma Bharati, Modi and others will only find their place in Jails but then the ‘movement’ for ‘Ram janambhoomi’ was the ‘biggest’ movement of his life which Advani termed it as bigger than the ‘Quit India’ movement of 1942. Nothing is communal when Vijay Kumar Malhotra says Okhla and Jamia Nagar areas in Delhi are dens

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of ‘terrorists’. We know what hate speeches mean. Those who have seen the role played by Hindu media as well as the political class of the Hindutva, just search for videos of 1989,1991, 1992 in Uttar-Pradesh, Bihar and elsewhere of speeches of all these gentlemen and women.

Already those who fought against this tyranny are being targeted. They are being abused and if they are invited to media discussions they are being lynched. Anchors have already decided who to provide space and who to demolish.

Indian parliament seems to be made virtually a non-entity in front of these larger than life anchors. They have created situations which need to be defeated now. The war is on the people of India. It is the war of lies, deceit, calumny, distortion, falsification and glorification of information to deny people their legitimate right in the democracy. We elect our leaders to work for us but leaders are being imposed from the above. Celebrity culture is being developed to dupe people. Socialism is the dirty word for media and corporate but that is the part of our Preamble. They hate secularism too and that is why it is the biggest challenge today. Will India remain the same after May 16th? Will hate mongers be there to decide our destiny? Will those who are ready to sell our resources to crony and corrupt corporate will be our ‘decision makers’? How can anyone be our leader whose name creates fear and hatred among 20 percent of its population which is in real sense around Twenty Crore, a number which is much bigger than the

combined population of France, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Itlay and perhaps a few other European countries.

When India was gradually moving ahead and the polity was becoming more decentralized, this threat has emerged in the form of a ‘cult’ revolving around a person. The important part of parliamentary system is that it provides opportunity to all and that is why people like Mayawati, Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Phoolan Devi and many others could make it to the Parliament and became leaders of their state. If we are unable to preserve our democratic system, the manipulators will impose upon us leaders from above to lead the nation. It is this danger lurking over our head that we have to demolish in these elections. It is time we ask for a change in our political system and make it more proportionate to provide opportunity and space to all the marginalized sections of society. Our political system also needs effective changes as Germany did in the aftermath of Hitler who also came through ‘popular mandate’. When the system converts to proportionate arrangements there is little chance of a fascist takeover of the state. We hope that the people of India will not allow the constitution to be defeated in these elections.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a Radical Humanist, political analyst and human rights activist based in Delhi.

He may contacted at: manukhsi.blogspot.com; VidyaBhushanRawat@freetohumanity

"The rejection of a priori speculative philosophical system set human spirit free from the bondage of the venerable belief that the solution of all the problems of life could be deduced from abstract first principles. But, at the same time, it sowed the seeds of the moral and cultural crisis of our time.

The baby was thrown out with the bath-water. With the rejection of the metaphysical concept of "right reason", rationalism became meaningless; it was replaced by all sorts of mystic urges, such as intuition, elan vital, entelechy, as the basic guiding principal of life. If empiricism deposed reason from the seat of the supreme judge, pragmatism subordinated moral values to practical considerations."

M.N. Roy (From the Preface of Reason Romanticism & Revolution)

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Social Responsibility vs Social Accountability —Jawaharlal Jasthi t is necessary to distinguish between the two. It has to be conceded that it is futile to question the legitimacy of corporate social responsibility at this stage, particularly in view of specific provision made in the new version of the Companies Act. In the case of a natural individual the question of social acceptability does not arise. He/she is accepted with all his/her disabilities and drawbacks. The society takes responsibility to make up the deficiencies, if any, in the individual. But it is not the case with an artificial organization. As it is artificially created for a purpose, it is necessary that it is acceptable to the society into which it is brought.

It has to be built and managed in a way acceptable to the society in which it operates. To make it acceptable to society is the primary responsibility of the promoters of the organization. Because the organization is recognized under law as independent of the promoters, it is a practice to call it the responsibility of the organization itself to make it acceptable to the society. Rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin.

When you get certain rights you necessarily get reciprocal responsibilities with it. Same is the case with getting of responsibilities. But usually the latter aspect is ignored. That is, responsibilities are cast without conferring any rights.

The company (or corporation) is primarily a business organization. Companies are involved in all kinds of economic activities. Manufacturing is the more prominent line of economic activity.

In the process of manufacturing any product the company has to consume certain natural resources which basically belong to the society.

It does not get it free. It pays for it. But every manufacturing process results in pollution in many ways which means that it damages nature to that extent. We know there will be pollution.

I

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Nevertheless, we continue to encourage establishment of manufacturing companies as we need the products. We need employment and revenue in the form of taxes as well. The price paid for resources consumed does not cover the cost of damage to the environment. It is largely this pollution and damage to environment that makes the company socially not acceptable. Being a business organization, there is a tendency to avoid costs as far as possible and pay less for the resources consumed. Over and above that, there is damage to the nature caused by the exploitation of natural resources, as in the case of extraction of minerals, release of effluents after manufacture and pollution of water, soil and air.

In order to compel the company to make good the damage, laws are made prescribing responsibilities upon the company in that regard. That is, it is basically the responsibility of the licensing authority to ensure that the operations of the company do not result in damage to the nature and environment. It is necessary to ensure that the conditions prescribed are strictly followed by the company.

Any failure in this regard makes the company not acceptable to the society. It is not a question of its social responsibility. It is a necessity to get social acceptability itself. It is a responsibility in itself. It is necessary to ensure sustained development. In practice, law prescribes an acceptable level of pollution and demands that the companies comply with those limits. But this acceptable level of pollution refers to the effluent. It gets accumulated and over time it reaches unacceptable levels. At that stage, it is not possible to close the industry as many interests are developed in its existence– like employment, dependent subsidiary activities and more than anything else revenue in the form of taxes to the government. The damage done to Nature also cannot be repaired. Even if the company becomes unacceptable to the society, it is not possible to discard it.

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Logically, the polluter must pay for the damage and repair the same. That is the basis for the concept of corporate social responsibility. To that extent there cannot be any question about the legitimacy of the responsibility. But there is a big lacuna in the legal framework. There are many instances where the companies violate human rights. The case of Bhopal is a staring example. There are no laws to meet many situations, the basic responsibility of the law making authorities is lacking. Instead of attending to such crying needs, law is diverted to unwanted lines which could not have happened unless there is some other motive for it. The damage done must be repaired or compensated in any other form. But the damage done to Nature cannot be repaired and what cannot be repaired cannot also be compensated in the form of money. But the concept of corporate social responsibility is trying to find a monetary equivalence to the damage done which is futile.

Also the human suffering cannot be ignored.

Life has to be repaired, if not redeemed. The tobacco and alcohol industries can be considered as examples in this regard.

“Cigarette smoking is injurious to health.” But the industry cannot be closed. It is argued that closure results in unemployment. It is also a golden goose for revenue. Tax can be increased continuously without any limit as and when required. It can always be argued that it is a hazardous product and heavy tax is only to discourage its consumption in the interest of public health. The product is hazardous.

Nevertheless, the company is the darling of both the public and government.

The Altria Group Inc. is the biggest manufacturer of cigarettes and owns the popular brand of Marlboro. During 1990s the company was finding it difficult to face the public, which it has to hold as per law, due to inconvenient questions raised by the public in the meetings. They realised the unacceptability of the company and decided to go for heavy expenditure on philanthropy, to encourage arts,

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education, public health and research programs. The share price started to increase and now nobody raises any inconvenient question in meetings. On the other hand it is admired and appreciated. Can we call it discharge of social responsibility? Whatever they do they cannot prevent the damage to the health of the smoker as it is the inevitable consequence of smoking itself. Is it the company alone that is responsible for it? We fail to face the problem squarely, but continue to call the company a culprit. We are losing sight of the fact that the very concept of corporate personality is invented to help economic activity undisturbed over a long period – beyond the lives of its creators and managers. The Companies Acts are strained to ensure that company’s funds and resources are not used for any purpose other than its business. But money tempts badly. It is a substantial amount gathered in tiny quantities from thousands of contributors promising them good return over time. It attracted attention of politicians. After all it is not the shareholders that are in control of the company. They may be owners, but they cannot exercise the rights of ownership. It is not difficult to manipulate the managers. But the law is standing in the way. It is politicians that make laws. Why to sit helpless?

Law is made to allow companies to contribute for political purposes. To justify that step, they called the company a ‘corporate citizen’ as if they are bestowing an honor on the company.

The next logical step is to thrust somemore responsibilities on the ‘citizen’. The result is the corporate social responsibility!

Company is an instrument of economic activity.

That instrument has become a person, then a citizen and perhaps next it may be an individual with a right to vote and contest elections! Just a provision in the Companies Act will make it possible. Companies earning more than Rs.5 crores in a year are made to spend at least 2% of their earnings on social responsibility. The managements of all the companies were falling head over heels to report their social

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commitments in the annual reports even before the Act has come into force. It is a laudable commitment as long as it does not touch my pocket. Now that it is in the Act itself, it has become a legal requirement and ceases to be a social responsibility. It is a legal responsibility.

Complying with laws is not a social responsibility. It is the responsibility of every individual in the society. But company is not an individual. The provision helps the management to spend certain amount out of the funds of the company for a purpose which he considers as social responsibility. The law failed to define what social responsibility is and how the money is to be spent to discharge that responsibility. An attempt is made in Schedule VII under section 135 of the new Act to prescribe what items of expenditure will be considered as items of social responsibility. The company is expected to spend their funds only on those items to satisfy the requirements of law under section 135 of the Act. One of the ways suggested to spend the funds is that it can be added to the funds established by the state or central government.

The government of Chhattisgarh state took the earliest opportunity to take advantage of the provision in the Act and Rules and declared the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy, 2013.

Under the policy, the Chief Minister Community Development Fund is constituted and it is made mandatory for the companies having profits up to Rs.500 crores, to deposit 3% of those profits into the Fund. For profits above Rs.500 crores, additional 2% has to be deposited. The state government linked it to the various facilities and concessions and incentives offered by the state to the industries established in the state. In India company law is a matter of central government and they stated that the legality of the action by the state government is being investigated. The companies themselves might not have any objection to deposit the amount with the Fund as prescribe by the state and wash off their hands. But unfortunately, the state government is more anxious than the central government

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and prescribed 3% of the profits, in the place of 2% prescribed in the Act. That is why they are also not happy. In spite of the fact that companies are subject to central laws, state governments are allowed to levy so many taxes and duties on the companies for various purposes. Technically, the central government can take objection stating that the state government has no right to prescribe allocation of profits earned by the companies in the name of social responsibility or for any purpose, so to say. In such a case, the state may call it by another name, like development tax and pass it in the state Assembly. Can the central government object to it? Encouraging business organisations to keep in view their social responsibilities is one thing. But to make it obligatory under law is an entirely different matter. We do not find any such parallel in the Companies Acts of any other country. Perhaps our government felt it an opportunity to show they are pioneers in this line. But by doing so, they have mutilated the ‘basic structure’ of corporate law. All these days the Companies Act is understood as a statute to protect the body corporate and enable it to function efficiently as a tool for economic activity. Now, with this provision, it is denuded and made to stand naked at the cross roads with all the lustful eyes probing it for an opportunity to exploit. It may sound a harsh and unsavory comment, but it is proved by what the Chhattisgarh state has done.

It is only the beginning. Many more claims are sure to come up.

There are many individuals in our society who earn more than Rs.5 crores every year. But there is no law which prescribes that they shall spend any amount for social purpose. Then why such a responsibility is thrust upon the company which is not a citizen of the society? Is it not primarily the responsibility of citizens to take care of the society of which they are a part? The social responsibility of an individual citizen is higher and more obvious than that of a body corporate which is fictitious. The individual citizen has a

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mind of his/her own to understand and act and enjoys so many rights as a citizen. But the body corporate has no mind to think or to understand. If a citizen has a sense of social responsibility, he won’t wait for a law to force him to discharge his duty. But, unfortunately, very few citizens at that level have that sense of responsibility. It only shows the necessity for such a law in their case than in the case of corporate bodies. People like Ajim Premji, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett pledged billions of rupees for social activities out of their personal funds, not from the funds of their companies.

They did not do it because of any legal compulsions. They did it because they have a sense of social responsibility. Why there is no such responsibility cast on individuals who have higher earnings – High Net-worth Individuals (HNI)? Why no percentage is fixed to be spent on wages and welfare of workers of the company?

Why is the company compelled to spend its resources on something alien to its purpose?

Spending something to get social acceptability is different as it is necessary in the long time interests of the company. Social responsibility is something beyond that and prescribes a responsibility which is non-existent but for the legal prescription in the Act. On the other hand social responsibility of an individual citizen is consequential to his citizenship which cannot be ignored. But it is ignored by law and left to the whims of the individuals. It is to cover up this lacuna that the responsibility is being shifted to fictitious persons like companies.

Strictly speaking, why is the company called a ‘person’? It is a misnomer. After all, it is the product of a contract between individuals in a group. Every contract survives the parties as the obligations and rights under the contract pass on to the estate or successors of the party on his death. The law recognized it as an organization independent of the members constituting it to facilitate economic activity. Just because it retains its state in spite of changes in the members and managers, it is not necessary to

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designate it as a ‘person’. It can continue as an organization. Now, the person is being extended and stretched to perform unrelated activities. It results in absolving the persons and organisations that are primarily responsible for such activities. If the primary school in the village has no benches, toilets or drinking water facilities for the students, there is no need to find fault with the government department. The company functioning at that place can be called to fill the gap. The government can go on collecting taxes and other revenues from the village and use the funds for many ‘other’ purposes.That appears to be the motive behind these pious proclamations. We do not know what more is likely to come in future!

Obviously a tendency has developed to invade and erode the corporate personality and exploit its resources for ulterior purposes. Various theories are developed to justify the same process. There are many professionals in every company. The area of operation of every profession is clearly cut and defined. But the area is not well defined for the company secretary because he is supposed to be responsible to ensure that all the laws that have a bearing on the company are fully complied with. That is, he is the custodian of corporate personality. It is mainly his responsibility to protect the corporation as an independent organization and concentrate on its economic activity. Doing something to obtain social acceptability is necessary and it is part of long term strategy of a company. But to assume responsibilities alien to its purpose is self-destructive and has to be prevented. It is obvious that the government is trying to shift some of its primary responsibilities on to the companies and save the public funds to offer to vote banks. There appears to be no other motive in this move.

Jawaharlal Jasthi is a vetaran Radical Humanist and Rationalist, writer and author from Hyderabad, A.P. He may be cotacted at: jjasthi@yahoo.com

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Academicians' Section:

Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh, New Technology and Vitriolic against Minority —Manzoor Ali Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) is Rashtriya a rightist organization wrapped in the shell of cultural nationalism. It was established in 1925 with a sole objective to create Hindurashtra (Hindu nation). Its idea of having a nation for Hindus precedes the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan that came in 1940. Since then RSS has made seamless efforts to achieve its objective. Sangh has used all the available means and method overtly or covertly for their purpose. After the assassination of Gandhi, it was banned for a short stint. The ban was revoked with the promise from RSS leadership pledging not to get involved or interfere in political affairs of the nation. Realizing their weak position against the Congress, which had a historic mandate due to their role in freedom struggle it strategized to focus on preparing the social base for their politics, i.e. Hindutva. To spread their ideology RSS launchedOrganiser, an English weekly, and Panchajanya, a Hindi weekly, in 1947 and 1948 respectively. This was in an age when print media’s stature was unchallenged and the availability of other media like radio sets and services were restricted in terms of region and class. Literate people were mostly dependent on the print media only.

In the aftermath of economic reforms, the mode of communication has changed a lot with the revolution in information technology. But, RSS has adapted itself with time and exploited audio, video and internet for their agenda. In the age of Information Technology (IT) the youth has been detached from the newspapers and it spends more time on internet and social media. RSS designed itself to tap the youth by having its

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account on Facebook, twitter and other social sites. “Besides reworking on the shakha-format, new media has been embraced, and the ‘packaging’ of the message has changed. Power Point presentations and documentaries are used in special shakhas. The ‘Join RSS’ link on its website has generated responses; its sympathisers are active on Twitter and Facebook; and they have mailing lists.”

The targeted audience of RSS propaganda is not only the Hindu community but people of all religions. RSS on several occasions has claimed that Sikhism and Buddhism are integral parts of Hinduism. Now, through media intervention RSS wants to Indianise Muslims as well. The launch of Paigam TV is being planned in the months ahead of next year’s general election and follows on the heels of an Urdu newspaper launched recently by the Sangh known as Paigam Madre Watan. An FM channel is also part of the strategy.

Girish Juyal, the paper’s chief editor and a former RSS pracharak, is behind the initiatives.

“About 99 karyakartas will be shareholders of the company. They will be like-minded, and the TV channel shall be on the lines of Zee Salaam...

We need to reach out to and educate Muslims about Islam,” he said.

To consolidate and expand their mass base is one thing RSS is working upon. But, United States’ media propaganda against Islam and its demonisation has helped RSS back in India.

“September 11 brought those prejudices to the fore in the West. It also helped hate-mongers in India to jump on the American bandwagon”, notes A.G. Noorani. The whole atmosphere, since Sept 9/11, in India has vitiated against Muslims. RSS do not have to put extra efforts for this. For instance, in case of Mumbai bomb blast in 2006 media goes vitriolic against Muslims. “It seems to me that the mainstream media’s portrayal – bordering almost on paranoia – of SIMI as a terrorist outfit often conceals more than it usually reveals. Such a portrayal masterfully hides media’s own anti-Muslim prejudices which on many occasions seem like

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Islamophobia”, argues Irfan Ahmad. Hasan Suroor argues that “…there is also a political agenda at work here…which is, to promote a negative image of Muslims and portray them only as fatwa-spewing, book-burning vandals.

Watching Indian television channels, it seems there is a rule of thumb to keep out Muslims who do not fit this image.”

Although, it would be unfair to categorise all the Hindu media personnel as biased against minority but Muslims are grossly underrepresented which do effect the reporting.

A study conducted by Anil Chamaria, Jitendra Kumar and Yogendra Yadav (CSDS) says, “If men and women are taken together, the share of upper caste Hindus or ‘dwijas' in the upper echelons of the media is 85 per cent. These castes account for 16 per cent of the national population. Brahmins alone, the survey found, hold 49 per cent of the top jobs in national journalism. If non-‘dwija’ forward castes like Marathas, Patels, Jats and Reddys are added, the total forward caste share stands at 88 per cent.”

Muslims are only three per cent. This upper caste crowded media reinforce dominant discourse on day to day basis. To sum up the helplessness of Indian Muslim vis-à-vis biased media Mirza Asmer Beg argued that “No serious effort is made by Indian media to understand Islam and its real meaning. Media approach is very uncharitable when it comes to Islam.

Muslims lack space to explain their views hence cause anger and violence out of frustration”.

Apart from that, India has been a Hindu nation.

Its secular character has been overrated. Aijaz Ahmad has given reference to Perry Anderson, who argued that India has been “a Hindu communal state that uses secularism as its legitimating ideology.” However, Society is less secular than State and after the death of Nehru, Hindutva forces have successfully mobilised the sentiment of Hindus against the so called ‘suppression of Hinduism’ at the hand of modern Indian Congress leaders. The media, both print and electronic, has been dominated

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by upper caste Hindus and hence turn out to be potential supporters without having any ‘official’ affiliation to the RSS. The news channels reporting about the bomb blast, Saas-bahu serials presenting the RSS views on family, film industry projecting villain mostly belonging to Muslim community, all manifest the dominant discourse of Hindutva, biased against Muslims.

RSS doesn’t write the scripts of TV or films. It was written by people who either believed in the same ideology without attending shakhas or they try to sell the dominant belief.

For instance, there are IT professionals, impressed by the RSS backed Narendra Modi, running the internet site called as ‘Cyber-Hindu’.

They defend everything related with Modi. They hardly listen to the counter-argument of opposition and turn out to be cyber-fanatics.

The media projection of Narendra Modi and RSS manoeuvring has attracted these people. But, one must critically analyse the popularity of right-wing politics in the nation. Is it for real or fake? If one looks at the recent sting operation

by Cobra post on many IT companies who are selling their expertise to popularise a leader and defame its opposition at the same time. it says 69 per cent of Modi’s supporters are fake. But, these IT companies not limited to the image projection job but also provide data of caste, religious and ethnicity of the residents to the political parties and help creating riots. For instance, “How do you engineer a riot digitally?

Ask Bipin Pathare, who runs Om Consultancy Service in Andheri East, Mumbai. Pathare tells Cobrapost’s undercover camera that he has “designed” software which gives access to booth-wise data of voters, according to their language, region and religion, so as to approach them differently…This is useful if somebody wants to spread a rumour or stop the minority voters from venturing out on polling day. “Yes,” says Pathare, “this helps us know how many Muslims live on which road. We have to set an atmosphere so that they don’t enter in the area, that there is some disturbance. Our men will

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have to spread a rumour that there is some disturbance out there so they don’t venture out.”

He also offers the routine service—to design a server overseas for negative publicity and send out smses. “And, no, nobody will be able to find out my server,” Pathare assured.

At the end one can conclude that today’s India has been not only dominated by Hindu population but also by the idea of majoritarianism. A vocal minority vociferously propagates and practices Hindutva but there is a large majority which remains silent, which encourages the vocal group. This silent majority actually believes in Hinduism and from time to time it tries to differentiate between Hindutva and Hinduism. It argues that Hinduism is a religion or way of life. RSS with the help of this approach always aspires to convert this silent majority into its voters. Since mid-1980s, the rise of right-wing politics, the whole discourse on secularism has changed. Right-wing politics equates secularism with ‘Minorities appeasement’. Any policies meant for the upliftment of Muslims goes through a minute scrutiny of the secular policy makers to stop antagonising Hindus. Be it the issue of granting reservation to the Muslims, discussing Article 341, announcing policy measures for minority, or legislating Communal Violence Bills etc. Now, policy makers, more overtly, use the lens of Hinduism to think of minorities rather than using the secular framework to deal with them.

Similarly, all the political parties mostly trade a safe route and avoid antagonising the majority.

Reference: 1. PrashantJha, ‘Sangh’s Flexibility mantra to rope in youth’, The Hindu, Oct. 16, 2013.

2. Ajmer Singh, ‘People affiliated to RSS plan TV channel to educate Muslim About Islam’, Economic Times, Nov. 15, 2013.

3. A.G.Noorani, “Islam and Jihad”, Leftword, New Delhi, 2010.

4. Irfan Ahmad, ‘The Secular State and the Geography of Radicalism’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. xliv, No. 23, 2013.

5. Hasan Suroor, “India’s Muslim Spring: Why is nobody talking about it?”,Rupa Publication, New Delhi, 2014.

6. Special Correspondent, The Hindu, June 5, 2006.

7. Kerstin W. Shands (ed.) “Neither EastNor West: Postcolonial Essays on Literature, Culture, and Religion”, Sodertorn Academic Studies, Sweden, 2008.

8. Aijaz Ahmad, ‘Communalism: Changing Forms and Fortunes’, The Marxist, Vol. xxix, 2013.

9. Perry Anderson, After Nehru, London Review of Books, Vol. 34, No. 15, 2012.

10. Cobrapost, ‘Working out the Riot Math’, Outlook, Dec. 9, 2013.

Manzoor Ali is Research Officer, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi-110029. He may be contacted at: manzoorali.ali@gmail.com

Dear Friends, Your article for the RH should be emailed at: rheditor@gmail.com or posted at: C-8, Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P. Please send a passport size photograph and your brief resume if it is being sent for the first time to the RH. A note whether it has also been published elsewhere or is being sent exclusively for the RH should also be attached with it.

— Rekha S.

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Child Labour: The Perspective Of Society, Art And Law —Alka Chadha labour is one of the major vices of Child our country. Synonyms of it can be poverty,

unemployment,

low wages, poor standards of living, ignorance, illiteracy and social attitude which force a child to work against his wishes. Having no family or disturbed family life, poverty and biased attitude of society towards certain classes, unfulfillment of desires paves out a way for theft, prostitution, drinking, gambling etc. All this simultaneously curbs the mental progress and personality development and ultimately leading him on the path of crime. “The first general laws against child labour, the Factory Acts, were passed in Britain in the first half of the 19th century.

Children younger than nine were not allowed to work and the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours.”1 Children are mostly found working in brick kilns, construction sites, embroidery works, in tobacco industry, diamond, glass, hosiery, hand loomed cloth, embroidery, leather goods, plastic, bangles and sporting goods, trafficking, coal houses, chimney sweeps, assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a store’s products, stone crushing, as errand boys selling flowers, pens, books, boot polishing, as domestic and agricultural helps etc. Children often also undergo psychological dent from working and living in surroundings where they are denigrated, work under duress or experience

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brutality and abuse. “The Victorian Era became notorious for employing young children in factories and mines and as chimney sweeps.”2 Children working in factories with hot furnaces, are exposed to hazardous chemicals like arsenic and potassium, for instance, those who work in glass blowing units where their lungs and eyes get effected and children get prone to diseases like tuberculosis, asthma and bronchitis (Human Rights Watch, 2012). Millions of children are occupied in work in situations which are considered undesirable for children. They are also victims of other illicit activities like sale and trafficking, sexual exploitation, debt bondage and even forced labour. There are many cases where the parents sell their children as bonded labour for a petty sum of money. While in other cases the children are made to work to help their own fathers in fields or family business. They are put to jobs to supplement the income. Children working as domestic helps, mostly girls, are made to work for long hours at a very nominal salary and beyond that are subjected to different kinds of abuses like verbal, physical and even sexual abuse.

“Child labour played an important role in the Industrial Revolution from its outset, often brought about by economic hardships. Charles Dickens, for example, worked at the age of 12 in a blacking factory, with his family in debtor’s prison.”3 According to Thomas De Gregori, an economics professor at the University of Houston, in an article published by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank operating in Washington D.C., “it is clear that technological and economic change are vital ingredients in getting children

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out of the workplace and into schools. Then they can grow to become productive adults and live longer, healthier lives. However, in poor countries like Bangladesh, working children are essential for survival in many families, as they were in our own heritage until the late 19th century.”4 Various government and non-government organisations are contributing in eradication of child labour like Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Anti-Slavery International - an International NGO, charity and a lobby group, based in theUnited Kingdom, found in 1839, the world’s oldest international Human rights organisation, Global March Against Child Labour, Rural Institute for Development Education and The International Labour Organization’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), found in 1992, and even the Indian projects like National Child labour, Employment, Self Education etc.. In the 1990s almost every country in the world became a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, or CRC. There are many laws pertaining to child labour like Children [Pledging of Labour] Act (1933), Employment of Children Act (1938), The Bombay Shop and Establishments Act (1948), Child Labour -Prohibition and Regulation Act, The Indian Factories Act (1948), Plantations Labour Act (1951), The Mines Act (1952), Merchant Shipping Act (1958), The Apprentice Act (1961), The Motor Transport Workers Act (1961), The Atomic Energy Act (1962), Bidi and Cigar Workers (Condition of Employment) Act (1966) and State Shops and Establishments Act. The Child labour Prohibition and Regulation Act was enacted in 1986. The Act prohibits employment of children in certain specified hazardous jobs

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and regulates the working conditions in others. In 1987 National Policy on Child labour came up to focus on rehabilitation of children working in dangerous situations. “India has the largest number of children employed than any other country in the world. According to the statistics provided by The Government of India around 90 million out of 179 million children in the six to 14 age group do not go to school and are engaged in some occupation or other. This means that close to 50 per cent of children are deprived of their right to a free and happy childhood.”5 Among many projects going on, one is INDUS, which is a joint venture of Ministry of Labour- Government of India and Department of Labour- USA (USDOL), started in 2000, active in 21 districts across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Its motive is also to locate children working in harmful conditions, especially those under the age of 14, giving them vocational training, providing financial help to the families of children withdrawn from work and creating awareness among people to stop child labour.

“Labour Department and NGO Pratham mounted the country’s biggest ever raid for child labour rescue in the Eastern part of New Delhi, the capital of India. The process resulted in rescue of 480 children from over 100 illegal embroidery factories operating in the crowded slum area of Seelampur. For next few weeks, government, media and NGOs were in frenzy over the large numbers of young boys, as young as 5–6 year olds, released from bondage.”6 Along with all these measures, the intellectual class of poets, writers, teachers and artists are also putting in their efforts in bringing awareness among the society. Paintings of Courbet, Bikash Bhattacharya, and Satwant Singh etc directly or indirectly, silently speak about the unfulfilled wishes of a child and reflect the social circumstances.

Myriad documentaries, advertisements, theatre, street plays and demonstrations play a great part in changing the vision of the people. The

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visual artist found a new language of protest through the modes of formal distortion, satire, wit and pun. Now even the ancient Indian art form of puppets is being used in a new way, not only being used to entertain, but to educate, inspire, and even to fight the plague of child.

Kalraj Natraj and Prakash Garaud, a doctorate in theatre, are helping in bringing new awakenings among people through puppet shows. They make presentations in native languages to make people become a part of the scenario and empathize with it. “ILO TV shows their acts to create awareness and responsibility.”7 To sum up, it appears whatever rules may come, whatever steps Government may take, whatever Acts may be launched, nothing can work efficiently till the human conscience awakens and each one of us feels and owns the duty to make this world a better place to live in by treating every child as one's own; not playing games by keeping innocence at stake but by dealing with them with humanity, love and affection! Keeping one’s conscience awake is the onlyy way out to this seething problem of child labour!!

References: 1.Laura, Del Col, The life of the Industrial Worker in Ninteenth Century England, West Virginia University 2. Ibid 3. Daniels, Barbara, Poverties and families in Victorian Era

4. De Gregori, Thomas R., Child labour or Child prostitution?, Cato Institute.

5.http://www.ecoindia.com/views/labour.html 6. Wikipedia, Child labour (http://www.tehelka.com/story_mail39.asp?filen ame=cr050708laterdayslave.asp) 7.http://www.videomeli.com/video/pfydro4X2t0/ .html Further References: ·http://www.artnewsnviews.com/view-article.ph p?article=the-post-1960s-scenario-in-the-art-o f-bengal&iid=35&articleid=1057#sthash.mho omgpb.dpuf ·http://erikaunapuu.wordpress.com/category/es says/ Plate: 1)i1.trekearth.com/photos/70a691/child_labour .jpg 2) Banksy Child Labour is on Whymark Avenue, Tottenham. Nearest tube stop 2min walk: Turnpike Lane, Piccadilly Line. On the side of Poundland, http:// lifeatthezoo.com/2012/08/exploring-banksy-chi ld-labour/ 3)“Scream”: an ILO/IPEC project to raise awareness of child labour through education, media and art, International Training Centre of ILO, Italy 4) Rajashekhran Parameshwaran, Child labour, 2010, 26”x 21” Alka Chadha has a Doctorate in Drawing & Painting and is Ass. Professor in R.G. (P.G.) College, Meerut. She can be contacted at: acart2009@gmail.com

"Whoever are more concerned with the the freedom and welfare of the people, can begin doing things by themselves, irrespective of the attitude of the establishhed government. But they must have confidence in themselves, and the confidence is given by the humanist philosophy of life."

M.N. Roy, (New Humanism, page 110)

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Book Review Section:

Inclusive Growth —Dipavali Sen [Ed. Masroor Ali Beg, Inclusive Growth Challenges and the Way Out, published by A.K. Publications, Delhi, 2014; English, hardcover, pp 344, un-illustrated, price Rs 1550.] generation back, economic growth was in itself envisaged to be an inclusive concept. How on earth could growth that is exclusive be? For a country breaking out of its ‘vicious circle of poverty’, wasn’t growth automatically supposed to be for all? But the performance of the Indian economy has shown otherwise. The poor, it has revealed, need to have a special mention lest the rest of the country forgets them and forge ahead.

‘Inclusive Growth’ has thus emerged as a term in Economics. A body of literature is growing up on the subject.

This book is a very recent addition to it.

The Foreword is by Prof. Alakh N. Sharma, the Director of the Institute of Human Development, New Delhi, and Editor, Indian Journal of Labour Economics. As it says, the volume is a “quite comprehensive” one of 22 research papers on the challenges faced by India on achieving Inclusive Growth. It has been edited by Dr Masroor Ahmed Beg, a prominent name in the area of international business, Indian economics and Islamic banking. It stems from the national conference hosted by Zakir Husain Delhi College in January 2014 where Dr. Beg is Associate Professor.

The book is in eight sections. The first covers the General Aspects of Inclusive growth. The leading article here, by Nirmal Singh, studies the impact of the Globalization process on Indian economic development by using data fitted in it though quadratic functions. It finds that the growth rate of the GDP during 1990-2012 was statistically different from that during 1951-1990. But the

A

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growth rate has been spiraling downwards and, in the absence of policy initiative on inclusiveness, increasing poverty is a real apprehension. This paper sets the tone of this section, nay, the entire collection. A good appetizer!

Section II, titled Exclusion of Marginalized Groups, opens with the paper by Dr. Beg’s own socio-economic study of minorities in India, with special reference to Major Minorities, basically Muslims. It draws attention to the fact that Muslim communities in India are among the poorest in India, ranking with Dalits and Adivasis. Immediate social action is needed for these marginalized Indians.

Section III, Employment Generation and Growth, discusses whether MGNREGA is a lifeline for the rural poor or a mirage, and whether the manufacturing section is a panacea for generating employment.

Section IV, Gender Issues and the Future Society, has two remarkable articles. One points out that women are affected differently by climatic changes and disasters and need to be made more involved in concerns of policy-making. The other says: “If Indian Labour-markets can be summarized in one phrase, it is this, Gender, Caste, Community and Exclusion!”(p 155) Agrarian Issues and Growth are taken up in Section V. It iterates that the most important pro-poor linkages operate through the effects of increased productivity on food prices. Also, the fundamental wage inequity between men and women remains untouched by the advent of new technology in agriculture.

What about education, supposedly a great inclusive force? Section VI – Educational Deficiency – has five papers treating this issue.

The consensus is that innovative and technology-based teaching methods should be encouraged, rather than the conventional ones.

Higher education as well as elementary

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education has a great role to play in bringing Inclusive Growth about.

Section VII – Poverty and Growth – meets the issue of inclusive growth head on. The first paper (by Mehta Upbraid) urges how necessary it is to “evolve a comprehensive framework and active social policies in (the) form of social safety nets” (p 277). The second one (by Gurvinder Kaur) brings forth the conclusion that, due to Liberalization and Globalization, the ‘poverty rate’ has been decreasing in the entire South Asia region, but – at the same time - the number of poor people has got increased.

Section VIII treats a novel aspect –‘Techno-issues and Growth’. The recent emergence of India as a global player in software development, IT, and call centre operations has had a real impact on governance and development at a domestic level in areas such as e-governance, e-commerce and e-health. Some of the e-Governance projects launched in India are Akshaya, Lokvani, e-Krishi-Vipanan, e-Chaoupal and Janamitra.

The paper by Seema Singh and Rajiv Ranjan Singh calls them a “mixed success” (p 328). It points to the urgent need of developing a trained rural work force in order “to be able to realize the dream of inclusive growth for real

India i.e. rural India through e-Governance” (p 329).

The Index is rather short. The editing could have received a little more attention. For example, in the very phrase I have just quoted, there should have been punctuation marks (commas) at either end of the “i.e.” In the earlier quote from p 277, the article “the” is my improvisation.

In the Foreword, Prof. Alakh N. Sharma had pointed out another gap – that of leaving out health and nutrition which are critical aspects of growth being inclusive.

Nevertheless, all the 22 articles in this collection have their feet firmly planted in the Indian soil.

Based on statistical as well as theoretical analysis, all of them make value-additions to the subject of Inclusive Growth. The cover is attractively designed and the tables, charts and figures clearly presented. All those who take an interest in the Inclusive Growth of our country, come on! Take a look at this book [Ms. Dipavali Sen, from DSE and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (Pune), Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan teaches at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Delhi University. She is a prolific writer and has written creative pieces and articles both in English and Bengali. dipavali@gmail.com].

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Humanist News Section: I

Twenty Questions for Modi-Rahul-Kejriwal Pressing Issues before the people: All three of you are in the Prime Ministerial race. But why are you not talking about the real issues facing the people? Do you have no concern with pressing problems like poverty, unemployment, backwardness, hunger, malnutrition, exploitation of workers-farmers, poor state of education and health, atrocities on Dalits and women and communalism? Why are you avoiding these real issues and indulging in trivialities and light dramatics?

Unemployment: There is massive unemployment in the country. Youth have to leave their homes and migrate hundreds and thousands of kilometers in search of jobs. How are you going to deal with this? Lakhs of small and cottage industries have closed down in the current phase of globalisation and liberalization.

Jobs have also been lost due to mechanization.

Are you ready to reverse this development which destroys employment?

Wages: Real wages are going down, while prices are going up. In the MNREGA, government is not prepared to give even minimum wages. Jobs are not being regularized and pension is not being provided in public as well as private sector. Why are you silent on this issue? Why did the AAP not fulfill its promise to end contract labour system?

Seventh Pay Commission: If the government does not have enough resources for welfare of people and development, why did it hugely increase salaries of officers-professors through fifth and sixth pay commission? Why has it announced again the seventh pay commission?

Why are you not concerned about low income of common working masses whose hard work is actually running the country?

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Crisis of Farming: Farmers are the food-providers (annadata) of the nation. But they are continuously in crisis. More than three lakh farmers have committed suicide in last 19 years. Farmers’ suicides have taken place in large numbers in Gujarat also. Are you not guilty for this? How will you change this present system based on the destruction and exploitation of agriculture and farmers?

Same Economic Policy and Development Model: The sham of the Gujarat development model has been exposed. But that is the model being implemented in the whole country and the present sorry state of the country is precisely result of the same. Mr. Kejriwal has not revealed what is his model and how it differs from the Modi-Manmohan model?

Corporate Rule: Each and every government of the country is bending backwards to please corporates by displacing farmers and Adivasis, destroying forests, rivers and environment and creating scams and super-scams for the benefit of them. Are these corporates bigger or the people of this country above them? Mr. Kejriwal has targeted only one corporate house. Why can’t he see that all corporate houses are the same and equally guilty?

Foreign Capital: Our elders made many sacrifices for independence, but our governments are again forfeiting it by inviting multinationals and allowing them to loot our natural resources, exploit our labour and capture our markets. Is this not a betrayal, a treason? Mr. Kejriwal, what do you have to say on it? Please clarify.

The Biggest Scam: The government of India has given tax exemptions of the order of Rs. 31,88,752 crores in 4 central taxes to the companies and the rich in last eight years.

Subsidies,cheap-land-water-power-minerals-lo ans and tax exemptions by state governments are in addition to it. This is a loot of this poor country. You are either involved in this biggest scam of the nation or just silent about it. Why?

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Environment: You have talked about saving Ganges and other rivers. But can’t you see that the roots of their destruction lie in modern development, urbanization and modern industrialization? Why don’t you speak on them?

Why is protection of forests, land, air and bio-diversity not on your agenda? Why are you not ready or advocating to ban dangerous technologies like genetically modified seeds or nuclear technology?

Business of Education: Today only 11 out of a hundred Indian children are able to enter colleges. Sixty two children out of a hundred drop out before their tenth standard. Various governments have run away from their constitutionally mandated responsibility and put education in the hands of private profiteers. This has ensured that only people with money would get education and that too market-oriented education. Trade of education is essentially an evil. When will the day come when each and every child of this country will get free and meaningful education without any discrimination, as envisioned in our constitution? Only a common school system based on neighborhood schools can achieve the target of the universal education. That is the experience worldwide. Do you agree with this?

Non-e isting Health Services: In the same manner, while deliberately ruining the public health services, private doctors, private hospitals and the pharmaceutical companies have been given full freedom to loot the people.

Many people die a slow painful death, get indebted or forced to go to quacks or Tantriks and get cheated. Is this ‘Sushasan’ or ‘Swaraj’?

Dominance of English: English rulers have left but their language continues to rule us. Crores of children and youth are frustrated and get inferiority complex while a handful of people at the top continue to maintain their monopoly and the whole nation remains a nation of imitators without original ideas due to this. Why have you done nothing about it & are silent about it?

Justice for Women and Dalits: You have done 38

nothing and said nothing against the ‘Manuwadi’ system that has given low status to the women and Shudras. Destruction of the caste system and patriarchy does not appear to be your goal.

Then are your statements about liberating women, Dalits and backward communities a hoax? Should we conclude that you do not want to change the system, you just want to change the government to gain power?

Alcoholism: One major factor behind atrocities against women, crimes and ruining of families is growing addiction to alcohol, drugs etc. Then why do all govts. encourage use and sale of alcohol, Gutka, Cigarettes & why enough steps are not taken to free society from these evils?

Communalism: What have you done to counter communalism which has led to fight among neighbours and spread the poison of hatred among the people? Modi is of course a product of the same, but Rahul-Kejriwal are also answerable. In spite of terrible riots in Muzaffarpur in the neighbourhood immediately before the Delhi election, AAP maintained a silence over it in that election? Kejriwal went to Gujarat, challenged Modi, but did not comment on the communal genocide of 2002. Can opportunism & compromise of this type counter the monster of communalism and fascism?

Parachute Candidates: All parties in this election have suddenly imposed from the top high profile candidates such as film stars, retired officers, company executives, cricketers, NRIs. They are suddenly dropped from the sky. Tickets have also been allotted in plenty to those who have switched parties and who are wealthy. Do you have any principles or not? What happened to the big talk of politics from below, participatory politics, transparency, clean politics etc.?

Divergence between speech and action: Sometimes you travel by Metro or local train; at other times you use a chartered plane. Have you given a thought to how much money & petrol is spent and consumed for one person to travel by a chartered plane, how much carbon footprint is

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left? You talk of the Aam Admi but organize lunches of Rs. 20,000/ head. What is this?

Personality Cult: A big weakness in the Indian political system is that the leaders grow bigger than the party and the principles. The leader is presented as a miracle-maker or superman as if once he comes to power, all the problems of the country will be solved. This is exactly what happens in our society where godmen or Babas or Gurus claim to work miracles and solve all problems. Aren’t all three of you guilty of promoting this evil of superstition, miraclism, superstardom, personality worship and lack of ideology in Indian politics?

Lastly, Mr. Narendra Modi, there appears to be a combination of pro-corporate policies, communalism and dictatorial tendencies in you.

This is an ideal situation for fascism. You want to make the entire country like Gujarat. Does that mean that the genocide of 2002 will be repeated throughout the country, there will be a flood of false encounters everywhere & land will be taken away from the farmers and given to companies?

Mr. Rahul Gandhi, for the last 23 years, the anti-people policies of privatization, liberalisation and globalization have been mainly imposed and promoted by the Congress rule. Where were you when these policies brought miseries like price rise, unemployment and corruption? Shouldn’t the people of India punish the Congress for the same?

Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, the country had great hope in you. But you did not run the government for even 50 days and fled from the battle scene.

Can the country’s problems be solved just by the Lokpal bill? How are your policies different from that of the Congress and the BJP? By supporting capitalism which has continuously brought newer and newer crises all over the world and which is itself undergoing a crisis, what kind of new politics you are practicing?

If you do not answer these burning questions it will be concluded that your intentions are not honest.

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Issued by: Samajwadi Jan Parishad: A Polittical Party committed for a radical and total change.Phone:09425040452(Sunil),09495994 773(Joshy Jacob), 08004085923(Aflatoon) aflattoon@gmail.com; sjpsunil@gmail.com II

Recent controversy regarding CCTV Footage in Tejpal’s case: Without going into merits and demerits of the case, I would like to make following comments with respect to three arguments advanced in the recent controversy revolving around the two articles published in the ‘Outlook’ and the on-line daily ‘The Citizen’ relating to a CCTV Footage in Tejpal case: Firstly, it has been alleged that the said two articles amount to be a renewed media campaign that threatens the course of justice. It is beyond my comprehension as to how publication of articles, views and opinions can threaten the course of justice! The Supreme Court many a time, especially in the matter of Zee News vs. Navjot Sandhu (2003) has stated that ‘judges do not get influenced by propaganda or adverse publicity’ and that cases are decided on the basis of evidence on record.

For example, in the Parliament attack case in spite of heavy propaganda in the media against the four accused, including the teacher S.A.R. Gilani who was accused as the mastermind of the ‘attack’- even a documentary was made to that effect and repeatedly telecast by certain channels, the High Court and Supreme Court acquitted him along with two other accused.

Secondly, I am more worried about the pernicious argument which stresses that bail should not be granted to the accused in rape cases because there is no ‘witness-victim protection mechanism’ and if accused gets bail, he may threaten witnesses or tamper evidence.

It is such like arguments which have led the Governments to introduce provisions of

THE RADICAL HUMANIST

APRIL 2014

‘Protected witnesses’ in the lawless laws like TADA & POTA in the past and in the UAPA and the NIA Acts at present. Under such provisions name and address of the ‘protected witness’, who may even be complainant or victim, is not disclosed to the accused. ‘Witness’ is produced in court in camera, stands behind a screen where the ‘witness’ is able to see the accused but the latter is not, and thus his evidence is recorded. The accused is confronted with an almost insurmountable handicap in being deprived of the necessary information permitting him to know the identity of the witness, to test his reliability or to cast doubt on his credibility. Such procedure is unfair and against the principles of natural justice, and human rights activists are agitating against it. If our feminist and civil liberty activists demand

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‘witness-victim protection mechanism’, I am afraid such provisions as available in UAPA and NIA Acts may soon be extended to the rape laws.

Thirdly, regarding the argument that such articles are deliberate attempts to influence public opinion against the complainant’, I would like to say that it is an insult to our fellow citizens saying that they cannot be trusted to read or to understand or to discriminate. Free expression of opinion is essential to the very existence of a democracy. Free expression and free discussion even of ideas unpalatable to us enable us the testing of our own prejudices and preconceptions.

Comment sent by: N.D. Pancholi, Secretary IRI, New Delhi; ndpancholi44@gmail.com; Mob.: 91-9811099532

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