Vol 7 Issue 6
Regn. no. M A H E N G/2004/15104
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Nov-Dec 2010
“From the right to know and the duty to inquire flows the obligation to act.” - Sandra Steingraber
www.ngoconnect.org
A ‘SHAKTI’ PROJECT
I n d i a ’ s Fi r s t N G O N e w s ta b l o i d CONNECTiNG
Who poses a threat to the State?
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ver since he became PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh has been considered the ‘clean’ face of politics. And few questioned his integrity.Now,however, for the first time, after the battery of scams that have erupted, more and more voices are asking, where does the Buck stop? And if indeed it stops at the Head, why is he shirking responsibility? We give below excerpts from some voices: Honest is, Who Honest Does Today, the Indian media—both print and television—(while) focusing on the recent corruption scandals involving the UPA Government with unusual zeal feels compelled to pay ritual obeisance to the “personal honesty and integrity” of Dr Manmohan Singh —even when there is clear evidence that the Prime Minister was well aware of various shady deals, as in the case of Telecom scam, and that he did nothing to stop the brazen economic crimes indulged in by his ministerial colleagues over the last 6 years. ,... because integrity in his job demands putting national interest above partisan politics and personal loyalties. Integrity also involves taking full responsibility for all his acts of commission and omission which have earned UPA II the dubious distinction of being publicly named as the most corrupt government in post independence India. - Madhu Purnima Kishwar <editor@manushi-india.org> Who is corrupt? For change to happen, the first step, has to be a change in leadership. India requires a different PM. Someone who is democratic, who attempts to understand people and their needs rather than the economics of corporate interests. It is increasingly clear that these last decades have liberalized corruption, not development or opportunity. (Southasian news) A fish rots from the head India’s situation is best explained by an ancient proverb, “A fish rots from the head down.” When the head is putrid, the body politic cannot be healthy. And when those at the helm remain wedded to grand corruption, clerks or traffic police cannot be singled out for taking small bribes. In fact, it is the self-perpetuating cycle of corruption at all government levels - federal, State and local - that has turned internal security into India’s Achilles heel. The cancer of corruption in India has alarmingly spread to elements within the two institutions that are central to the country’s future - the judiciary and the armed forces. And now even the media. .. It may take a second war of independence for India to gain true freedom from exploitation and pillage.... Brahma Chellaney (author of Asian Juggernaut - HarperCollins USA, 2010.)www.thehindu.com/opinion/ lead/article936001.ece? homepage=true*)
The corrupt Politican or a Doctor who helps the poor? Corrupt or Naxal sympathizer!!
not accidental. Governments have begun to opt for a colonial approach towards Naxalism and its myriad manifestations. The reason? Fear, perhaps terror. The corrupt can recognise their nemesis.
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re we seeing a liberalization of corruption? Has it been systematized? And is it a threat to the state? The sale of national and community assets, and disinvestment in these assets was part of the strategy - to raise money. The strategy was rationalized even when it threatened the lives of millions in tribal lands. In villages. In cities. Anyone questioning this grab has been labeled a naxalite or a maoist..
Accreditation of NGOs—by whom, for whom? In May 2009, the Planning Commission, Govt. of India, set up “a Task Force to examine the issues related to the evolution of an independent, national level, selfregulatory agency for the voluntary sector and to develop accreditation methodologies for voluntary organisations” .
The PM was happy to sit and chat with corporate leaders to understand how more money could be made. And now we find that in his leadership, senior ministers have been at the forefront of scams of lakhs of crores.... When a majority of policies are being driven to help companies access national assets, when checks and balances are being diluted through new laws in all sectors (mining, agricultural, industries, energy) and when we see attempts to influence these policies, why can we not ask whether these policies are indeed for the benefit of the nation or for corporate entities. These are attempts to undercut due democratic processes. After all, corruption threatens the economic viability of the state. Why are they not greater threats to the State than the words of an individual? (Southasian news) “It may take a second war of independence for India to gain true freedom from exploitation and pillage”. India confronts several pressing national security threats. But only one of them - political corruption poses an existential threat to the state, which in reality has degenerated into a republic of mega-scandals. ...When important decisions, from arms procurement to policy changes, are often tainted by corrupt considerations, it is inevitable that national security will get compromised. If India today is widely seen as a soft state, much of the blame must be pinned on the corrupt and the compromised that lead it. Such ‘softening’ of India has made the country a tempting target for those seeking to undermine its security. (Brahma Chellaney is the author, most recently, of Asian Juggernaut - HarperCollins USA, 2010.) www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/ article936001.ece?homepage=true* Travesty of Justice The conviction of well-known public health doctor and human rights worker Dr Binayak Sen by a Raipur Sessions Court on charges of ‘sedition’ and ‘waging war against the Indian State’ carries a sentence of life imprisonment, a drastic and completely unjust fate, to be handed out to one of India’s finest social activists. The higher Indian judiciary must uphold principles of law, justice and the rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution and undo the severe
The 132 page Report of the Task Force is available at http:// www.karmayog .org/redirect/ strred.asp? docId=31670 Pushpendra Kumar from the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), who has also contributed suggestions to the Task Force says about the Task Force and this report that:
damage done to the reputation of the judiciary itself through the Raipur court’s flawed judgment. The charges against Dr Sen, made under draconian ‘antiterrorist’ laws, are trumped up and intended to ‘punish’ him for his outspoken criticism of the Chhattisgarh government for its human rights violations against its own tribal populations. Dr Sen has already spent over two years in prison and was released on bail by the Indian Supreme Court. That the world’s largest democratic country cannot tolerate criticism and non-violent human rights activism is a matter of shame to Indian citizens everywhere and this attitude of intolerance needs to be roundly condemned. Such low quality of justice, routinely delivered in our courts, is indeed itself a threat to Indian democracy. Not only should Dr Sen be released immediately from imprisonment and charges withdrawn, there needs to be a thorough inquiry against all those who have framed him so maliciously. The Jharkhand government has launched a new operation in the state, which can be called the “Operation NGO Hunt”. In a latest discovery, the Jharkhand Police have found 1300 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as “sympathizers” of the Naxalites though nobody knows the ‘parameters’ of ‘ s y m p a t h i s e r ’ . gladsonhractivist@gmail.com A Strange Democracy (excerpts from an article by M.J.Akbar) India has become a strange democracy where Binayak Sen gets life in jail and dacoits get a life in luxury. It takes years of
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pressure for government to move against those looting the nation’s treasury; and when the majestic forces of enforcement do go on a “raid” they give their quarry enough time to remove every trace of evidence. The political-industrial nexus is above the law, because it controls enforcement. But if the ruling class of India could have hanged Binayak Sen instead of merely trying to send him to jail for the rest of his life, it would have done so. Binayak made a fundamental, mortal mistake. He was on the side of the poor. That is a non-negotiable error in our oligarchic democracy… End the Naxalite problem by elimination of the messenger; and the poor will not have the courage to ask for more than the trickle allotted to them by a gluttonous government. …. Prosecuting lawyers are in the pay of government, as are the jailors. And yet two policemen refused to back the prosecution. A fabricated unsigned letter, apparently cooked up on a computer printout, seems to have been sufficient to convince the honourable guardians of our judicial system that Binayak Sen deserved a sentence reserved for only the most hardened murderer. But it is only in a dictatorship that disagreement is sufficient reason for incarceration. India seems to be developing a two-tier democracy: generosity of the law for the privileged and vindictive, distorted application on the underprivileged. If Binayak Sen is guilty of sedition on the basis of fictitious evidence, then, as was famously said during the great Gandhian movement against the British between 1919 and 1922, there are not enough jails in India to hold those equally guilty. The reference is
“I find the entire exercise directed to corporatising the voluntary sector. This is against the spirit of the National Policy for the Voluntray Sector and will have disastrous impact on the sector. The composition of the participants of the Task Force also bears testimony to my point. The voluntary sector needs a different kind of professionalism, one that is largely different from the professionalism required in the corporate sector (or corporate NGOs). The significance of the voluntary sector lies in its creativity, diversity,strong links with the community, its localised nature, voluntary spirit, its capacity and courage to question, to challenge the dominant paradigms of development. I also find this an effort to further encroach upon the autonomy of thevoluntary sector. The proposed composition of the National Accreditation Council includes representatives of government bodies, corporate bodies (CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, ICAI, other chambers of commerce and industry) and grant making government and international organisations. One would expect that this would be a body comprising either exclusively or predominantly representatives from the voluntary sector. There is a need to recognise the diversity and wisdom of the voluntary sector. The sector itself can find ways of enhancing accountability and transperency. No one size can fit all and no superimposition of norms (read corporate norms) is going to help. Let the debate on such important issues as accountability and transparency be taken to the vast expanse of the civil society.” Contact dg@caparthq.delhi.nic.in and rupapc@nic.in