To Russia, China with love

BRP Bhaskar
Gulf Today

The outcome of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visits to China and Russia last week testifies to the maturing of India’s relationship with the two countries, which, with Brazil and South Africa are its partners in the BRICS grouping. He was able to deepen ties with China, thanks to the spadework done by officials.

At an earlier phase in India’s diplomatic history, personal equations had played a major part in defining its relations with these countries. Ties with the Soviet Union were extremely formal until Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev established warm personal relations with Jawaharlal Nehru. The camaraderie that Nehru established with prime minister Zhou Enlai at Bandung kept Sino-Indian relations on an even keel until the 1962 border war drove the countries apart.

There has been a shift in the relative position of these countries in the global context since then. The Soviet Union has disappeared and its successor, Russia, does not possess the clout that it had. China, which the United States forcibly kept out of the world stage for a quarter century, has catapulted itself into the Number 2 position and is aiming for the top slot. Leaders still try to cultivate personal friendship but they know it cannot override political, economic and strategic factors.

At the end of the tour, Manmohan Singh said the visits had served their purpose and he was satisfied with the results.

His meeting with Vladimir Putin was the 14th successive annual Indo-Russian summit. A joint statement issued later referred to the cooperation between them in varied spheres such as space, energy, investment, high-tech trade, science, education, culture and tourism.

While Manmohan Singh was in Russia, the Indian government announced the commissioning of the first of two units of the Koodankulam nuclear project supplied by that country but the planned agreement for the supply of two more units did not materialise as the terms could not be settled in time.

The China visit yielded many agreements, some of which represent a significant advance. The most important of them aims at ensuring peace along the 4,000-kilometre long disputed border, which was the scene of a bloody conflict in the early 1960s. Beijing’s official assessment was that the visit sent a positive and powerful message that the two countries are committed to working together.

During the half-century that has elapsed since the war, the two countries have been in talks on the border issue with little progress. China has been arguing for some time that since the issue is highly complex a quick resolution cannot be expected and a framework should be established to prevent border incidents.

According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the border defence cooperation agreement has codified the good practices evolved in the handling of developments along the line of control. It also provides for the establishment of a hotline between the two military headquarters and increased contacts between the military commands.

On the contentious trans-border rivers issue, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding which expands the scope of the existing expert-level mechanism beyond providing hydrological data on the Brahmaputra during the flood season.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party invited Manmohan Singh to address its Party School, which nurtures the country’s future leaders. He took the opportunity to stress that the Chinese and Indian economies can be complementary and outlined certain specific areas where they can cooperate for mutual benefit.

“We both know that the benefits of cooperation far outweigh any presumed gains from containment,” he told China’s emerging young leaders. “Therefore we should engage with each other in a spirit of equality and friendship and with confidence that neither country is a threat to the other.”

Reciprocating the sentiments he expressed, Wang Yi said there are unprecedented opportunities for cooperation and the leaders of the two countries have agreed on deepening strategic partnership. The national television quoted a Party School student as saying Manmohan Singh made many useful suggestions and he would “try to advance bilateral cooperation from my position”.

Looking beyond the prism of bilateral relations, Manmohan Singh and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang decided to work on the proposed BCIM economic corridor project, which will bring Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar together and link up with the Asean, China-Asean and India-Asean free trade areas to create the world’s largest free trade area. Tantalising as its prospects are India is inclined to hasten slowly, pending detailed examination of its implications for the northeastern states.-- Gulf Today, Sharjah, October 29, 2013.

Congress plan to harass Udayakumar’s family in Nagercoil

The Congress party in Tirunelveli has announced that its workers will gherao S.P. Udayakumar's house in Nagercoil, where his aged parents (both in their 70s), his wife and two children, aged 12 and 14, live.

I spoke to Meera Udayakumar a few minutes ago. She said "It is very difficult to constantly live under fear. The police are outside for our protection. But it is extremely stressful for us, particularly for my in-laws, to have to live under constant surveillance. They have been complaining of fatigue. They don't say much, but I can see that all this stress is hurting them. My children are young, and are trying to take things in their stride. But it is difficult to constantly be told to stay indoors, to not go outside, and to see strangers walking in and out of our yard."

A national party stooping to such levels and harassing elderly people and children exposes the total corruption that has set into our system. Compare the Congress' actions to the dignified manner in which the protestors at Idinthakarai are conducting themselves.

This harassment has to stop. Let Congress express itself, but within the limits of decency and democracy if they know what these words mean.

The Chennai Solidarity Group for Koodankulam Struggle (Address:  C/o H16/9 Seevakan Street, Kalakshetra Colony, Chennai 600 090) has suggested that telegrans or fax messages be sent to Congress President Sonia Gandhi asking her to keep her party men under control, and teach them some decency.

It can be a short message like this: "Congress workers plan to gherao anti-nuke protestor Udayakumar's family comprising 70-year-old parents, and children aged 12 and 14. Does this shameful action have your consent? If not, please stop your workers from harassing the elderly, women and children."

Sonia Gandhi’s address: 10, Janpath, New Delhi.
Tel. (O) : +91 11 23792263, 23019080  (R) : 23014161, 23014481

Fax : +91 11 23018651

Reign of Terror in Koodankulam: Fact-finding team's report

A three-member fact-finding team which visited Koodankulam and neighbouring villages says in its report that the law-enforcing machinery has been behaving in a way which has no place in a country that calls itself democratic.

“If people who have resisted and protested peacefully for a year can be charged with sedition and waging war against the nation in such a cavalier way as has been done here, what is the future of free speech and protest in India?” the team asks in its report released today.

The team comprising  Mr. B. G. Kolse Patil, former judge of the Bombay High Court, Ms Kalpana Sharma, senior journalist, Mumbai and Mr. R. N. Joe D’Cruz, Tamil writer, Chennai, visited Idinthakarai, Tsunami Colony, Vairavikinaru and Koodankulam and recorded the testimony of witnesses regarding police atrocities of September 10 and 11.

The following are excerpts from the report:

From individual testimonies of people in Idinthakarai it is evident that many people have been injured. We saw people with burn injuries when they came in the path of the tear gas shells that were fired. Others had injuries from the lathi charge. In several cases people had to get stitches on these wounds. But the most important issue that appeared repeatedly was that people were afraid to step out of the village to seek medical help for fear that they could be arrested.

 Villagers complained about the desecration of the Lourdes Matha Church in Idinthakarai, where police had reportedly broken an idol of Mother Mary, and had urinated inside the church premises. Broken pieces of the idol were shown to the team.

In the Tsunami colony, the fear was palpable. Most houses were locked as people are afraid to return to their homes. Several villagers showed us their houses where windowpanes had been broken, cupboards ransacked and doors damaged allegedly by the police who entered the village on September 10. Thereafter for several days, a police force camped in the village. As a result even today many of the residents of the village are afraid to spend the night there and instead sleep in the tent outside the Lourdes Matha church in Idinthakarai.

Fear was also evident in Vairavikinaru village where villagers showed us evidence of the destruction to houses when the police party raided the village on September 10. Nine people were arrested including a 16-year-old boy and a 75-year-old man who is practically blind in one eye. The people we spoke to kept repeating that they did not know what they had done to invite such treatment from the police.

Villagers in Koodankulam are even more terrified as they live closest to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project. On September 10, a large police contingent entered the village, arrested 34 people, broke into houses where the frightened residents hid, and destroyed property and vehicles. Now, villagers said they are so afraid that they lock their doors after dark, many cannot sleep and are fearful when they hear a vehicle entering the village.

In all these villages, one common factor was that each of those arrested was charged under identical sections. These included 124A (sedition), 121A (waging war against the state), 307, 353 and 147 and 148.

The other more disturbing testimony was from the women in all four villages. They spoke of the abusive and sexist remarks of the police when they came to their village and also when some of the women went to the police station. One disabled woman gave evidence of physical molestation and another, who was part of protest on the beach near the plant, spoke of police chasing the women into the sea and making obscene gestures.

Despite this situation, villagers expressed their determination to oppose the project. However, they repeatedly asked why no one from the government or from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited was prepared to hold a proper public hearing where they heard the apprehensions of the villagers and presented their point of view. They asserted that as the people living closest to the nuclear plant they had a right to question and to know all the facts.

Although we did not have the time to independently verify some of the things the villagers told us, we could conclude the following based on what we saw and heard:

1. We believe that our findings raise a matter of great gravity given that they endorse widespread reports about violence against women, children and the elderly by the police. The actions of the police also include acts of looting and damage to public and private property and open intimidation. Most importantly, they represent acts of illegality that cannot be challenged by the victims as the perpetrators of the crimes are the

police themselves. We urge the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, State/National Commissions for Women, and the National/State Human Rights Commissions and the Hon'ble Supreme Court to take serious note of these violations and act to restore normalcy and a sense of justice.

2. That sections like 124A, 121A had been irrationally used to charge those arrested on September 10. Villagers showed us notices from the police with identical charges irrespective of the age of the person arrested, including four juveniles and several senior citizens.

3. The public humiliation and beating of young boys and old men is bound to leave deep wounds in the psyches of the victims and those who witnessed it. Mothers and husbands have seen their sons and husbands beaten and dragged off by the police.

4. So many women spoke about the abusive language and sexual gestures and actions of the police that we do not doubt their version.

5. The action of the police has created a fear psychosis in the area. There are police barricades at the entrance to Kudankulam and some of the other villages. When you go on the road you can see the massive presence of the force. People feel as if they are under a state of siege.

6. The desecration of the Lourdes Matha Church in Idinthakarai by the police is a dangerous and deplorable act.

7. The injuries that we saw were real and not imagined. The fact that people have little or no access to health care and are afraid to step out and seek it is a serious matter. Many said they did not dare step outside the village to seek medical help for fear of being arrested or attacked by the police.

8. The damage to homes in the Idinthakarai Tsunami Colony are also real and not imagined, as alleged by the police and mentioned in newspaper reports. The fear created by the police in that and other villages where they attacked is also there for all to see.

9. The fact that people feel helpless about reporting these atrocities is another reality that does not require further confirmation. Repeatedly we were told that people did not know how to seek justice when doing so would mean going to the very police that had attacked their homes and arrested their people.

10. The refusal of the authorities at the Juvenile Home to allow us to see the boys in their custody further strengthens our fears and suspicion that the boys had been badly beaten and traumatised.

We believe the use of force against peaceful protestors was extreme and totally unjustified. People have the right to hold a peaceful protest and even if the police have to disperse them, there are ways to do so without injuring people. Why was no effort made to negotiate with the leaders of the movement before lathi-charging a crowd in which there were so many elderly people, women and children?

The reign of terror that followed September 10, resulting in a palpable fear in all the villages, is condemnable, as is the desecration of places of worship by the Police. These villages have no choice but to live in close proximity to a facility that they believe puts their lives in danger. Is the government planning to continue terrorizing them to force them to stop expressing their concern?

The targeting of women by the police through abusive language and physical molestation has to be condemned in the strongest terms. Why were male policemen allowed anywhere near women protestors when women police were also present in strength?

Although we have attached a list of 56 people who have been remanded, many more people cannot be traced or have been reported missing. Furthermore, the police appear to have deliberately lodged those remanded in jails far away from the area, thereby making it virtually impossible for the families to visit them.

After two days of listening to testimonies and viewing the damage done to homes and vehicles allegedly by the police, we have to conclude that this kind of behaviour by the law-enforcing machinery has no place in a country that calls itself democratic. If people who have resisted and protested peacefully for a year can be charged with sedition and waging war against the nation in such a cavalier way as has been done here, what is the future of free speech and protest in India?

Dissent as high crime

BRP Bhaskar

Gulf Today

 

More than 7,000 people living in villages around the site of the Koodankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu are facing charges of sedition, an offence for which the Indian Penal Code prescribes a punishment of up to life imprisonment. Their crime: they are asking the government not to commission the nuclear plant as they fear it will endanger their lives and livelihood.

Under Section 124A of the IPC, whoever, by words, spoken or written, or by signs or visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government, is guilty of sedition.

Continued use of this legal provision, enacted by the British regime in 1870, by governments to deal with dissent is a stark reminder that the colonial character of the state apparatus remains intact more than six decades after the country gained freedom and proclaimed itself a democratic republic.

The loose wording of the section allows the authorities to cast the net wide. The British, however, used it with circumspection. They targeted the leaders of the freedom movement and not the ordinary people. They never slapped sedition charge against several thousand people at the same time, as the Tamil Nadu police has done.

The British tried Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who had declared self-rule was the people’s birthright, for sedition and jailed him twice, in 1897 and 1909, and Mahatma Gandhi once, in 1922. Both the leaders were prosecuted for articles they had written in their publications.

In one of the impugned articles Gandhi had said, “The sepoy has been used more often as a hired assassin than as a soldier defending the liberty or the honour of the weak and the helpless.” In another, he had written: “We are challenging the might of this government because we consider its activity to be wholly evil. We want to overthrow the government.” When the charges were read out in court, he admitted guilt.

When a member of parliament questioned the continuance of the sedition law in 1951, a year after the Constitution was promulgated, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru said, “The sooner we get rid of it the better.” However, neither he nor his successors removed the obnoxious provision from the law, and the state governments have invoked it time and again against critics.

The Supreme Court, while upholding the constitutional validity of the IPC section on sedition, ruled that it can be applied only to “acts involving intention or tendency to create disorder or disturbance of law and order, or incitement to violence.” However, governments continue to invoke it even against those involved in peaceful movements against government policies.

Those against whom it has been wielded include Binayak Sen, noted paediatric surgeon working among the tribes of Chhattisgarh; Arundhati Roy, Booker Prize winning writer; Ajay Sahu, leader of the movement against the POSCO steel project in Odisha and SP Udayakumar, leader of the anti-nuclear campaign at Koodankulam. Sen has been charged with helping Naxalite rebels. Roy is being prosecuted for questioning the government’s Kashmir policy.

The conviction rate in sedition cases is only about five per cent. However, governments continue to invoke it recklessly as the courts, considering the seriousness of the charge, often deny the accused bail.

Four years ago the Gujarat police registered five sedition cases against the Times of India after it reported that Home Minister Amit Shah had rewarded Police Commissioner OP Mathur for scuttling a fake encounter investigation. The high court threw out the cases. Both Shah and Mathur are now facing criminal charges.

Binayak Sen’s case became a cause célèbre after more than 20 Nobel laureates signed a petition against his prolonged incarceration. The Supreme Court then granted him bail, reversing its earlier stand.

The sedition charge against Aseem Trivedi, a cartoonist who caricatured national institutions, recently provoked a national debate on this legal provision. Recognising the popular mood, the government decided to drop the charge of sedition against him. The use of the law against entire villages in Tamil Nadu figured only marginally in the debate.

Britain repealed its sedition law two years ago. The Indian political class is not willing to give up the anachronistic legacy of British rule embedded in the IPC because it is yet to develop the sensibility needed to accept dissent as an essential part of democratic practice. -- Gulf Today, Sharjah, September 25, 2012.

Citizens' appeal to end intimidation of protesters at Koodankulam

Dear friends,

Eminent Indian citizens like Prashant Bhushan, Aruna Roy, Binayak Sen, Vandana Shiva, Lalita Ramdas, Partha Chatterjee, Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik, Gnani Sankaran, John Dayal, Meher Engineer, Sandeep Pandey etc. have endorsed an appeal urging people of India to demand that the government immediately stops intimidating and harassing peaceful protesters in Koodankulam.

The appeal has also demanded that the Indian government should put an immediate moratorium on nuclear energy projects and should engage people into widest possible consultation on safety, costs, environmental and other impacts of nuclear energy and its relevance for India’s energy future before embarking on a massive nuclear expansiondespite popular protests, objections by independent experts and the global trend of shift away from nuclear energy. 

This appeal is a reflection of our collective frustration and instead of being sent to the Govt, it will be presented before people of India.

Signatures in large numbers are being collected  and this appeal is being released in different parts of the country by concerned people.

In Mumbai, we invite you to the release event of this national appeal on Koodankulam, at 6:30 pm in Chaityabhoomi, Dadar on May 20, 2012 India Gate. The appeal would be released by prominent human rights activist Binayak Sen and film-maker Anand Patwardhan.

in soldarity
Coalition for Nuclear Disarmamment and Peace ( CNDP )
Konkan Vinashkari Prakalp Virodhi Samiti,
Konkan Bachao Andolan
Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, ( Mumbai Unit )

contact-  Anuj-9757475875, Kamayani -9820749204

The cost of procrastination

BRP Bhaskar
Gulf Today

Mark Twain once said, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” The Indian administration has elevated the American humorist’s quip to the level of a principle of governance.

From Kashmir to Koodankulam, the administration has routinely pigeonholed several pressing issues. Some of them are coming back to haunt the nation, demanding a high price for procrastination.

The Manmohan Singh government cannot be apportioned much blame for the Kashmir problem, which is as old as the free nations of India and Pakistan. The problem has internal and external dimensions, and these aspects have been complicated by insurgency and cross-border terrorism.

The government cannot, however, escape blame for failing to douse the flames of discontent in Kashmir. A year ago, in a time-buying effort, it appointed a three-member team of interlocutors to talk to all sections of people and make recommendations. Last week the team submitted its report, which calls for “meaningful autonomy”, speedy development and withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which allows the army to act with impunity.

The report has not generated much enthusiasm in government circles. Few expect the central administration to push for autonomy as it is sure to invite strong criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, not to mention Hindu extremists who have assaulted several persons for not toeing their hard line on Kashmir.

Kashmir is the oldest and most intractable of the problems before the administration, and Koodankulam the newest. It is also a simple one inasmuch as a decision can be taken without having to look over one’s shoulders constantly.

The Koodankulam issue relates to the future of a nuclear power station, the first phase of which is ready for commissioning. Worried by the Japanese experience at Fukushima, last month residents of villages near Koodankulam launched a mass movement demanding that the project be scrapped. They suspended the agitation after Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and the Tamil Nadu Assembly endorsed the demand.

Instead of using the time thus gained to remove the people’s apprehensions about their safety, the administration went ahead with preparations to commission the plant. The villagers then returned to the battlefield with renewed determination.

Procrastination on the Telangana issue has created an explosive situation in Andhra Pradesh. In the 2004 election manifesto the Congress party had committed itself to the formation of Telangana state and included it in the common minimum programme of the first United Progressive Alliance government.

An 11-day fast by Telangana leader K Chandrasekhara Reddy forced the second UPA government to announce it would “start the process” of state formation. It then constituted a committee to look into the issue. Early this year the committee submitted its report, which merely listed three possible ways in which Andhra Pradesh can be split.

A mass movement in support of the state demand, which began five weeks ago, has disrupted life in Telangana and hit other areas too. More than 120 passenger trains running through the region are cancelled or diverted each day. Thermal power stations in Telangana on which other states too depend for power are not able to keep up production. Yet there is no sign of a sense of urgency in the way the administration handles the problem.

The northeastern state of Manipur is reeling under the impact of a double blockade of national highways, which began in August. The first blockade was imposed by the Kuki tribe to press the demand for carving out a Sadar Hills district by splitting Senapathi. The Nagas, who oppose the Kuki demand, launched a counter-blockade.

The double blockade has affected flow of essential commodities to the region, leading to steep rise in prices. A cylinder of cooking gas now sells at Rs 2,000, which is five times the normal price. Hospitals in the state are not able to undertake surgeries due to shortage of medical supplies.

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh met the prime minister in New Delhi on Thursday to apprise him of the situation in Manipur. However, so far there has been no central initiative to resolve the issue, which has the potential to precipitate ethnic strife in the entire northeast. The government’s indifferent approach has led some observers to speculate that it may be cynically looking for some political dividend from the worsening situation. -- Gulf Today, Sharjah, Octoner 17, 2011.