Showing posts with label Press Statement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Press Statement. Show all posts

Friday, December 11, 2009

Press Release from UAPA Birodhi Mancha ( Prastatuti) (Anti-UAPA Forum-Preparatory)




Anti-UAPA Forum (preparatory) has organized a mass rally in Kolkata on 3 December 2009 to protest against Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The memorandum prepared by the forum was supposed to be delivered to the Chief Minister, West Bengal, however neither the CM nor any higher official was in Writers' Building to receive it. Thousands of people participated in the rally. Bellow is the copy of the memorandum.

UAPA Birodhi Mancha( Prastatuti)

18 Madan Baral Lane, Kolkata-12

MEMORANDUM

Date :04.12.2009


To

The Chief Minister

&

The Home Minister Government of West Bengal, Writers' Building Kolkata

Sub : On UAPA

Dear Sir

As you know that the UPA government had amended the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act 1967(UAPA) in 2004 and then again in 2008 in December 17, 2008. Not only that, the UPA government had also legislated a new law, National Investigations Agency (NIA) . These two legislations have freely borrowed from erstwhile TAD A and POTA, which were the successor of the infamous Rowlatt Bill prepared by the British in India to curb the nationalist movement.

We do hold along with other democratic minded people of India that these anti terror are reflection of the violence and brutality of the law and which will be used as instruments of the State to suppress all kinds of democratic and patriotic struggle against loot and plunder by corporate capital in connivance the central and various state governments, of natural resources of our motherland, India.

These amended laws are inherently draconian; all the rights of the accused , available in Indian Criminal Justice system are taken away- right to get bail, to cross-examine witnesses in open trial court, to be presumed innocence till found guilty(which completely reverses the civilisationally accepted norm of jurisprudence) and host of others. The pre-charge detention period without bail is extended to 180 days .It is pertinent to mention that in all anti -terror laws of other countries permit only 48 hours to 7 days as   Also Most importantly, the provision 43(F) stipulates that the failure to furnish or deliberately furnishing false information to an investigation officer is liable for punishment with a 3 year imprisonment. There is no scope for judicial review or periodical review of these laws by parliament. In all aspects these laws are anti people. Hence, we demand immediate repeal of these laws.

We also like to point out that the State Government has applied these laws without compliance of the requite provisions regarding notification in the newspaper; we hold that this a blatant violation of the stated provision of even the draconian law, UAPA. Hence all the arrests made under this laws are illegal. In fact, all those who were booked under UAPA , are either leaders or activists of democratic movements.

We demand immediate stop of use of IUAPA in West Bengal and other states and release of persons like Chhatrdhar Mahato Prasun Chatterjee, Raja Sarkhel, Swapan Dasgupta, Sukhsanti Buskey and others.

We hope, your government will consider these points and take appropriate steps to restore democracy in West Bengal.

For

UAPA Birodhi Mancha

 

Friday, November 6, 2009

Statement against Government of India’s planned military offensive in adivasi-populated regions: National and international signatories

October 12, 2009

Sanhati (www.sanhati.com), a collective of activists/academics who have been working in solidarity with peoples’ movements in India by providing information and analysis, took the initiative to bring together voices from around the world against the Government of India’s planned military offensive in Central India. A statement (Hindi version here, Bengali version here, Telugu version here, Italian version of Letter here, Italian version of Background Note here) and a background note were drafted in consultation with Indian activists, and duly circulated for endorsement. Readers are encouraged to endorse by mailing sanhatiindia [at] sanhati [dot] com with full name and affiliation.

To

Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister,
Government of India,
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi,
India-110 011.

We are deeply concerned by the Indian government’s plans for launching an unprecedented military offensive by army and paramilitary forces in the adivasi (indigeneous people)-populated regions of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal states. The stated objective of the offensive is to “liberate” these areas from the influence of Maoist rebels. Such a military campaign will endanger the lives and livelihoods of millions of the poorest people living in those areas, resulting in massive displacement, destitution and human rights violation of ordinary citizens. To hunt down the poorest of Indian citizens in the name of trying to curb the shadow of an insurgency is both counter-productive and vicious. The ongoing campaigns by paramilitary forces, buttressed by anti-rebel militias, organised and funded by government agencies, have already created a civil war like situation in some parts of Chattisgarh and West Bengal, with hundreds killed and thousands displaced. The proposed armed offensive will not only aggravate the poverty, hunger, humiliation and insecurity of the adivasi people, but also spread it over a larger region.

Grinding poverty and abysmal living conditions that has been the lot of India’s adivasi population has been complemented by increasing state violence since the neoliberal turn in the policy framework of the Indian state in the early 1990s. Whatever little access the poor had to forests, land, rivers, common pastures, village tanks and other common property resources has come under increasing attack by the Indian state in the guise of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and other “development” projects related to mining, industrial development, Information Technology parks, etc. The geographical terrain, where the government’s military offensive is planned to be carried out, is very rich in natural resources like minerals, forest wealth and water, and has been the target of large scale appropriation by several corporations. The desperate resistance of the local indigenous people against their displacement and dispossession has in many cases prevented the government-backed corporations from making inroads into these areas. We fear that the government’s offensive is also an attempt to crush such popular resistances in order to facilitate the entry and operation of these corporations and to pave the way for unbridled exploitation of the natural resources and the people of these regions. It is the widening levels of disparity and the continuing problems of social deprivation and structural violence, and the state repression on the non-violent resistance of the poor and marginalized against their dispossession, which gives rise to social anger and unrest and takes the form of political violence by the poor. Instead of addressing the source of the problem, the Indian state has decided to launch a military offensive to deal with this problem: kill the poor and not the poverty, seems to be the implicit slogan of the Indian government.

We feel that it would deliver a crippling blow to Indian democracy if the government tries to subjugate its own people militarily without addressing their grievances. Even as the short-term military success of such a venture is very doubtful, enormous misery for the common people is not in doubt, as has been witnessed in the case of numerous insurgent movements in the world. We urge the Indian government to immediately withdraw the armed forces and stop all plans for carrying out such military operations that has the potential for triggering a civil war which will inflict widespread misery on the poorest and most vulnerable section of the Indian population and clear the way for the plundering of their resources by corporations. We call upon all democratic-minded people to join us in this appeal.


National Signatories
Arundhati Roy, Author and Activist, India

Amit Bhaduri, Professor Emeritus, Center for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU, India

Sandeep Pandey, Social Activist, N.A.P.M., IndiaMahashweta Devi, Social Activist and Writer, India

Manoranjan Mohanty, Durgabai Deshmukh Professor of Social Development, Council for Social Development, India

Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court Advocate, India

Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India

Colin Gonzalves, Supreme Court Advocate, India

Arvind Kejriwal, Social Activist, India

Arundhati Dhuru, Activist, N.A.P.M., India

Swapna Banerjee-Guha, Department of Geography, University of Mumbai, India

Anand Patwardhan, Film Maker, India

Dipankar Bhattachararya, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, India

Bernard D’Mello, Associate Editor, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), India

Sumit Sarkar, Retired Professor of History, Delhi University, India

Tanika Sarkar, Professor of History, J.N.U., India

Gautam Navlakha, Consulting Editor, Economic and Political Weekly, India

Madhu Bhaduri, Ex-ambassadorSumanta Banerjee, Writer, India

Dr. Vandana Shiva, Philosopher, Writer, Environmental Activist, India

M.V. Ramana, Visiting Research Scholar, Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy; Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, USA

Dipanjan Rai Chaudhari, Retired Professor, Presidency College, India

G. N. Saibaba, Assistant Professor, University of Delhi

Amit Bhattacharyya, Professor, Department of History. Jadavpur University, Kolkata

D.N. Jha, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Delhi, India

Paromita Vohra, Devi Pictures

Sunil Shanbag, Theater Director

Saroj Giri, Lecturer in Political Science, Delhi University, India

Sudeshna Banerjee, Department of History, Jadavpur University, India

Achin Chakraborty, Professor of Economics, Institute of Development Studies, Calcutta University Alipore, India

Anand Chakravarty, Retired Professor, Delhi University, India

Anjan Chakrabarti, Professor of Economics, Calcutta University, India

Subha Chakraborty Dasgupta, Professor, Jadavpur University, India

Uma Chakravarty, Retired Professor, Delhi University, India

Kunal Chattopadhyay, Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, India

Amiya Dev, Emiritus Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, India

Subhash Gatade, Writer and Social Activisit, India

Abhijit Guha, Vidyasagar University, India

Kaneez Fathima, Librarian and Activist, Hyderabad

Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA, India

Gauri Lankesh, Editor, Lankesh Patrike, India

Pulin B. Nayak, Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, India

Imrana Qadeer, Retired Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, J.N.U., India

Neshant Quaiser, Associate Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Central University, Department of Sociology, India

Ramdas Rao, President, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Bangalore Unit, India

S. Jeevan Kumar, President, Human Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh, India

V.S.Krishna, State General Secretary, Human Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh, India

Shereen Ratnagar, Retired Professor, Center for Historical Studies, JNU, India

Rahul Varman, Professor, Department of Industrial and Management Engineering, IIT Kanpur, India

Padma Velaskar, Professor, Center for Studies in the Sociology of Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India

Hilal Ahmed, Associate Fellow, Center for the Studies of Development of Societies, India

Reetha Balsavar

Sriparna Bandopadhyay, India

Chinmoy Banerjee

Kaushik Banyopadhyay, Student, IIT KGP, India

Pranab Kanti Basu, Department of Economics and Politics, Vishwa Bharati University, India

Durga Bhat, PUCL, Mangalore, India

Suresh Bhat, PUCL, Mangalore, India

Arunkanti Biswas, Former Deputy Director, NEERI, India

Nisha Biswas, CGCRI, Kolkata, India

Harsh Bora, Student, Delhi Law Faculty, India

Kaushik Bose, Reader, Vidyasagar University, India

Shitansu Shekhar Chakraborty, Student, IIT Kharagpur, India

Rabin Chakraborty

Indira Chakravarthi, Public Health Researcher, India

Dipankar Chakrabarti, Aneek, India

Tapan Chakraborty, Indian Statistical Institute, India

Nandini Chandra, Member of Faculty, Delhi University, India

Navin Chandra, Visiting Senior Fellow, Institude of Human Development, India

Jagadish Chandra, New Socialist Alternative, CWI, India

Pratyush Chandra, Activist, Freelance Journalist, and Researcher, India

Pritha Chandra, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT-Delhi, India

Dhiman Chatterjee, IIT Chennai, India

Aziz Choudry, Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University, Canada

Jaison C Cooper, Janakeeya Manushyavakasa Prasthanam, Kerala, India

Debarshi Das, IIT Guwahati, India

Probal Dasgupta, Linguistic Research Unit, I.S.I., India

Sangeeta Dasgupta, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, India

Surya Shankar Dash, Independent Filmmaker, India

Ashokankur Datta, Graduate Student, I.S.I. (Planning Unit), India

Aniruddha Dutta, Gender Women’s and Sexuality Studies, University of Minnesota, USA

Soumik DuttaS. Dutta, Delhi Platform, India

Madhumita Dutta, Green Youth Movement, India, Chennai

Abhee Dutt-Mazumder, TASAM, India

Durga Prasad Duvvuri, Independent Management Consultant, India

Ajit Eapen, Mumbai, IndiaSampath G, Mumbai, India

Lena Ganesh

M.S. Ganesh

Anjan Ghosh, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, India

Aurnab Ghose, IISER Pune, India

Anandaroop Ghosh, India

Pothik Ghosh, Editor, Radical Notes, India

Rajeev Godara, General Secretary, Sampooran Kranti Manch, Haryana (associated with Lok Rajniti Manch), India

Siddhartha Gupta, Senior Medical Officer, Kolkata Port Trust, India

Jacob, South Asia Study Center

Manish Jain, Assistant Professor, Center for Studies of Sociology of Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India

Shishir K. Jha, IIT Mumbai, India

Avinash K. Jha, Assistant Professor of Economics, Shri Ram College of Commerce, India

Partha Joarder, Scientist, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India

Bodhisattva Kar, Fellow in History, Center for Studies in Social Science, India

Harish Karnick, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur, India

Lateef Mohd Khan, General Secretary, Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, India

Sumbul Jawed Khan, Biological Sciences and Bio. Eng. Department, IIT Kanpur, India

Reetika Khera, DSE, Delhi, India

Rajeesh Kollakkandi, indianvanguard.wordpress.com

Lenin Kumar, editor, Nisan, India

Ravi Kumar, Editor of Radical Notes and Assistant Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia, Central University, India

Abhijit Kundu, Faculty, Sociology, University of Delhi

P. Govindan kutty, Editor, People’s March, Ernakulam, Kerala

Shakuntala Mahanta, IIT Guwahati

Bodhisattwa Maity, India

Parthasarathi Majumdar, Senior Professor, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India

Soumik Majumder

Dishery Malakar

Julie Koppel Maldonado

Udai Malhotra, Activist, India

Mallanagoudar.P.K., Journalist, Gauri Lankesh Kannada Weekly, Bangalore, India

Prabhat Mandal, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, India

Dr Nandini Manjrekar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Soma Marik

Satyabrata Mitra

Siddhartha Mitra

Tista Mitra, Journalist, India

Najeeb Mubarki, Assistant Editor, Editorial page, Economic Times, India

Dipankar Mukherjee, PDF, Delhi, India

Subhasis Mukhopadhyay, Frontier

Soumya Mukhopadhyay, Market Researcher - Independent filmmaker, Kolkata

Sakuntala Narsimhan, Writer, India

Nalini Nayak, Reader in Economics, PGDAV College, Delhi University, India

Soheb ur Rahman Niazi, Student, Jamia Milia Islamia, India

Rahul Pandey, India

Dr. Swadhin Pattanayak, India

Jai Pushp, Activist, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, India

Divya Rajagopal

Ramendra, Delhi Shramik Sangathan, India

V. Nagendra Rao, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad, India

Sankar Ray, Columnist

Partho Sarathi Ray, IISER, Kolkata

Kirity Roy, MASUM and PACTI, India

Atanu Roy

Anindyo Roy

Dunu Roy, Social Activist, India

Anil Sadgopal, Education Activist and Former Professor of Education, Delhi University, India

Sanjoy Kumar Saha, Reader, CSE department, Jadavpur University, India

Sandeep, Freelance Journalist

Dr. K. Saradamoni, Retired Academic

Madhu Sarin, Social Activist

Saurobijay Sarkar, Indian Institute of Marxist Studies

Satyam, Rahul Foundation and Dayitvbodh, India

Samriddhi Shankar Ray, Concern, IISc Bangalore, India

Sujay Sarkar

Meera Sehgal, Department of Sociology, Carleton College, USA

Jhuma Sen, Delhi

Samita Sen, Professor, Women’s Studies, Jadavpur University, India

Santanu Sengupta, UDML College of Engineering, India

Ajay Kishor Shaw, Mumbai, India

Dr. Mira Shiva

Sheo Mangal Siddhantankar, General Secretary, CPIML-New Proleterian, India

Jagmohan Singh, Voices for Freedom Punjab, India

Sandeep Singh, Mumbai, India

Harindar Pal Singh Ishar, Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court, India

Preeti Sinha, Editor of Philhal, Patna, India

Sirajuddeen K M, P A College of Engineering, Mangalore

Oishik Sircar, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, India

Satya Sivaraman, Journalist, New Delhi, India

Yogesh Snehi, DAV College, Amritsar, India

Srinvasashala, Human Rights Organisation, Hyderabad, India

K. Sriram

Viviek Sundara, Mumbai, India

Saswati Swetlena, Programme Officer, Governance and Advocacy Unit, National Center for Advocacy Studies, India

Damayanti Talukdar, Kolkata

Divya Trivedi, The Hindu Business Line, India

Satyam Varma, Rahul Foundation

N Venugopal, Journalist, Hyderabad, India

G. Vijay, Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Hyderabad, India

R.M. Vikas, IIT Kanpur, India

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International Signatories

Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, M.I.T., USA

David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, The C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center, USA

Michael Lebowitz, Director, Program in Transformative Practice and Human Development, Centro Internacional Mirana, Venezuela

John Bellamy Foster, Editor of Monthly Review and Professor of Sociology,University of Oregon Eugene,USA

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor and Director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University, USA

James C. Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Yale University, USA

Michael Watts, Professor of Geography and Development Studies, University of California Berkeley, USA

Mahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Departments of Anthropology and Political Science, Columbia University, USA

Mira Nair, Filmmaker, Mirabai Films, USA

Howard Zinn, Historian, Playwright, and Social Activisit, USA

Abha Sur, Women’s Studies, M.I.T., USA

Richard Peet, Professor of Geography, Clark University, USA

Richard Levins, John Rock Professor of Population Sciences, Harvard University, USA

Gilbert Achcar, Professor of Development Studies and International Relations, School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, U.K

Massimo De Angelis, Professor of Political Economy, University of East London, UK

Gyanendra Pandey, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History, Emory University, USA

Brian Stross, Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas Austin, USA

J. Mohan Rao, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA

Vinay Lal, Professor of History & Asian American Studies, University of California Los Angeles, USA

James Crotty, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Haluk Gerger, Political Scientist, Activist, Political Prisoner, Turkey

Justin Podur, Journalist, Canada

Hari Kunzru, Novelist, U.K.

Louis Proyect, Columbia University

Biju Mathew, Associate Professor, Rider University, USA

Balmurli Natrajan, Campaign to Stop Funding Hate and South Asia Solidarity Initiative, USA

Hari Sharma, President, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy, Canada

Harsh Kapoor, South Asia Citizens Web

Kim Berry, Professor of Women’s Studies, Humboldt State University, USA

Shefali Chandra, Professor of South Asian History, Washington University at St Louis, USA

Angana Chatterji, Professor, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, USA

Paresh Chattopadhyay, Département de Sociologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada

Stan Cox, Senior Scientist, The Land Institute, USA

Martin Doornbos, Professor Emeritus, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, Netherlands

Robert A Hueckstedt, Professor, University of Virginia, USA

Louis Kampf, Professor of Literature Emeritus, MIT, USA

Emily Kawano, Director, Center for Popular Economics, USA

Arthur MacEwan, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

Bill Martin, Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University, USA

Ali Mir, Professor, William Paterson University, USA

Anuradha Dingwaney Needham, Longman Professor of English, Oberlin College, USA

Kavita Philip, Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA

Nicholas De Genova, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Latino Studies, Columbia University, USA

Peter Custers, Academic researcher on militarisation, Netherlands

Radha D’Souza, School of Law, University of Westminster , UK

Gary Aboud, Secretary, Fisherman and Friends of the Sea, Trinidad and Tobago

Mysara Abu-Hashem, Ph.D. Student, American University, USA

Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Professor of English, Montclair University, USA

Husna Haider Ali, People’s Resistance and Labour Party, Pakistan

Nadim Asrar, Ph.D. student, University of Minnesota, USA

Margaret E Sheehan, Attorney at Law, USA

Jude Baggo, Secretary General, Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, Philippines

Arpita Banerjee, Lecturer, Whittemore School of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, USA

David Barsamian, Director, Alternative Radio, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Oyman Basaran, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Deepankar Basu, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Kasturi Basu, Rutgers University, USA

Sharmadip Basu, Syracuse University, USA

Joseph A Belisle

Daniela Bezzi, Journalist, Italy

Varuni Bhatia, Assistant Professor, Religous Studies Program, N.Y.U., USA

Anindya Bhattacharya, Faculty, University of York, UK

Sourav Bhattacharya, University of Pittsburgh, USA

Swati Birla, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Norma G. Biňas, Secretary-General, International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) Philippine Chapter

Peter J. Bloom, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California Santa Barbara, USA

Windel Bolinget, Secretary General, Cordillera Peoples Alliance, Phillipines

Rosalind Boyd, Centre for Developing-Area Studies, McGill University, Canada

Sister Maureen Catabian, Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Philippines

Dominique Caouette, Département de Science Politique, Université de Montréal, France

Joan Carling, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), Thailand

Paula Chakravartty, Associate Professor, Department of Communications, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Ipsita Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin, USA

Piya Chatterjee, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies, University of California Riverside, USA

Ruchi Chaturvedi, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA

Chitrabhanu Chaudhuri, Ph.D. Student, Department of Mathematics, Northwestern University, USA

Dan Clawson, Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USALen Cooper,Victorian Branch,Communication Workers Union Australia

Priti Gulati Cox, Artist, USA

Linda Cullen, Canada

Huma Dar, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, Canada

Koel Das, UCSB, USA

Atreyi Dasgupta, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA

Grace de Haro, APDH Human Rights Organization, Argentina

Nandini Dhar, Ph.D. student, University of Texas Austin, U.S.A.

Emily Durham-Shapiro, Student, University of Minnesotta, USA

Arindam Dutta, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, MIT, USA

Anne Dwyer, University of Washington, US

AIlgin Erdem, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. USA

T. Robert Fetter, USA

James D. Findlay, California State University, Northridge, USA

Kade Finnoff, Doctoral Candidate, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center, New York, USA

Nora O. Gamolo, Peace and Collaborative Development Network, Philippines

Kaushik Ghosh, University of Texas, Austin, USA

Bishnupriya Ghosh, Professor of English, University of California Santa Barbara, USA

Vinay Gidwani, Professor of Geography, Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA

Wendy Glauser, MA candidate, Political Science. York University. Toronto, Canada

Ted Glick, Climate Crisis Coalition, Climate Crisis Coalition and Chesapeake Climate Action Network, USA

Ozlem Goner, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Inderpal Grewal, Yale University, USA

Shubhra Gururani, Associate Professor of Anthropology, York University, Canada

Anna L. Gust, University College London, UK

Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South

Arne Harns, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Free University of Berlin, Germany

Amrit Singh Heer, Graduate student, Social and Political Thought, York University, Canada

Azad Hoshiarpuri, Indian Worker’s Association, Great Britian

Helen Hintjens, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands

Adrienne Carey Hurley, McGill University, Canada

Zeba Imam, Ph.D. student, Texas A&M University, USA

Kajri Jain, University of Toronto, Canada

Dhruv Jain, Graduate student, York University, Canada

Mohamad Junaid, Graduate Student, Department of Anthropology, City University of New York, USA

Jyotsna Kapur, Associate Professor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA

Nada Khader , Executive Director, WESPAC Foundation

Jesse Knutson, University of Chicago, USA

David Kotz, Professor of Economics, UMass, Amherst, USA

Krishna MV, NIH, USAPeter Lackowski, Writer/Activist, USA

Thomas Lamarre, William Dawson Professor, East Asian Studies, McGill University, Canada

Maire Leadbeater (human rights activist Auckland New Zealand)

Joseph Levine, Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

George Levinger, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

David W. Lewit, Alliance for Democracy, USA

Jinee Lokaneeta, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Drew University, USA

Ania Loomba, Catherine Bryson Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Sanjeev Mahajan

Sunaina Maira, Associate Professor, University of California Davis, USA

Panayiotis “Taki” Manolakos, Writer/Activist, USA

Red Maples for Teachers of English abroad in Korea (TEA-KOR)

Carlos Marentes, Farmworkers.org, USA

Erika Marquez, New York, USA

Thomas Masterson, Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, USA

David Matsinhe, University of Alberta, Canada

Jim McCorry, Belfast, N. Ireland

Victor Menotti, Executive Director, International Forum on Globalization, USA

James Miehls, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Stephen Miesher, Associate Professor, University of California Santa Barbara, USA

Raza Mir, Professor of Management, William Paterson University, USA

Katherine Miranda, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras.

Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute, USA

Roger Moody, Association for Progressive Communication, UK

Agrotosh Mookerji, Statistician and student, UK

Joshua Moufawad-Paul, Ph.D. student, York University, Canada

Sudipto Muhuri, Researcher, Germany

Yasser Munif, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. USA

Alan Muller, Executive Director, Green Delaware, USA

Jed Murr, University of Washington, USA

Sirisha Naidu, Assistant Professor of Economics, Wright State University, USA

Sriram Natrajan, Independent Researcher, Thailand

Nandini Nayak, SOAS, University of London, UK

Ipsita Pal Bhaumik, NIH, USA

Harsh Kumar Punja, Teacher, Rome, Italy

Moreno Pasquinelli, Spokesman of Antimperialist Camp

Shailja Patel, USA

Saswat Pattanayak, Editor, Radical Notes, USA

Ranjit Paul, Retired Professor of Physics, North Bengal University, India

Sukla Paul, Retired Reader in Physics, North Bengal University, India

Anne Petermann, Global Justice Ecology Project

Frank Peters, Associate Chair, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta, Canada

Bhanu Poudyal, Contemporary Marxism Study Group, USA

Ahmed Pouri, Coordinator of refugees organisation PRIME, (Participating Refugees In Multicultural Europe )

Mike Alexander Pozo, Political Affairs Magazine

Ashok Prasad, Dept of Chemical Engg, Colorado State University, USA

Kaushik Sunder Rajan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California Irvine, USA

Kaveri Rajaraman, Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, USA

K. Ravi Raman, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, UK

Smita Ramnarain, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Leena Ranade, AID India, USA

Nagesh Rao, Assistant Professor, The College of New Jersey, USA

Ravi Ravishankar, Campaign to Stop Funding Hate, USA

Chandan Reddy, Assistant Professor, University of Washington, USA

Bruce Rich, Attorney, USA

Dr. Andrew Robinson, UK

Mandy Rohr, Social Activist, Germany

Rose, on behalf of the Revolutionary Organization of Labor, USA

Rachel Rosen, International Workers of the World and OSSTF, USA

Eric B. Ross, Professor of International Development Studies, The George Washington University, USA

Seth Sandronsky, Journalist, USA

Amit Sarkar, Visiting Fellow, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID/NIH, USA

Bhaskar Sarkar, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California Santa Barbara, USA

Erik Schnabel, San Franciscio, USA

Helen Scharber, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Anna Schultz, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology, School of Music, University of Minnesota, USA

Svati Shah, Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Abi Sharma, President - Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas (PNEFA), USA

Shaheen Shasa, USA

Sam Shell, Kasama Project, USA

Snehal Shinghavi, Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin, USA

Tyler Shipley, Department of Political Science, York University, Canada

Samira Shirdel, Community Advocate, Chaya: a Resource for South Asian Women, USA

Jon Short, Department of Communications Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Karin Astrid Siegmann, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands

Kuver Sinha, Texas A&M University, USA

Subir Sinha, SOAS, University of London, U.K

Julietta Singh, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA

Preethy Sivakumar, York University, Canada

Yannis Skalidakis, Ph.D., School of Political Sciences at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Ajay Skaria, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota, USA

Stephen C Snyder

Nidhi Srinivas, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management, The New School, USA

Chukka Srinivas

Poonam Srivastav, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, USA

Priyanka Srivastava, Ph.D. candidate, University of Cincinnati, USA

Rachel Steiger-Meister, Graduate Student, Wright State University, USA

Makere Stewart-Harawira, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta, Canada

Raja Swamy, Campaign to Stop Funding Hate, USA

Usha Titikshu, Photojournalist, Nepal

Wendel Trio, Former Chair, European Alliance with Indigenous Peoples

Shivali Tukdeo, University of Illinois, USA

Sandeep Vaidya, India Support Group, Ireland

Chris Vance, York University, Canada

Rashmi Varma, University of Warwick, U.K

Ramaa Vasudevan, Dept of Economics, Colorado State University, USA

Nalini Visvanathan, Lecturer in Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

Robert Weil, University of California, Santa Cruz Assistant Professor/Lecturer (retired) and social activist

David Welsh, San Francisco (California) Labor Council, USA

Daphna Whitmore, Secretary, Workers’ Party, New Zealand

T. Wignesan, Editor, Asianists’ Asia, Centre de Recherches, CERPICO and CREA, France

Michael Williss, Research Officer, Australian Education Union, Australia

Ferd Wulkan, Massachusetts Society of Professors, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

Daphne Wysham, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies, USA

Friday, September 4, 2009

Stand With the Struggling Masses of Lalgarh

[We have received a statement on Lalgarh from Central Committee of the Communist Party Reorganization Centre of India (Marxist-Leninist), [CPRCI(ML)] through email. We publish it bellow.]


Stand With the Struggling Masses of Lalgarh

The purpose of the current much-trumpeted operation by the paramilitary forces in Lalgarh region of West Midnapore (West Bengal), is to suppress the democratic upsurge of the tribals and to send out a warning to all oppressed sections against any attempt to similarly challenge the State authority and establish people’s authority. It is also part of the ruling classes’ systematic long-planned attack on the communist revolutionaries nationwide who are challenging the entire system of exploitation and oppression. For these reasons it is incumbent on all communist revolutionaries and revolutionary democrats to stand steadfast by the tribals of Lalgarh, oppose the State’s campaign of suppression, and uphold the right of the masses to rebel against the existing oppressive social, economic and political order and set up their own popular authority. Whatever the differences of tactical line among the communist revolutionaries, they stand united and with the revolutionary masses against the enemy onslaught.

The sparking point for the current rebellion was the atrocities committed by the police on the ordinary tribals to exact vengeance for a CPI (Maoist) land-mine attack on the West Bengal Chief Minister. These vengeful acts by the police ignited a great store of popular wrath built up over years of autocratic, exploitative, and terroristic treatment of the tribals at the hands of the police and the CPI (M) machinery. There followed an extraordinary and inspiring democratic assertion by the tribals, drawing on their traditions of collective struggle and management of their own affairs. The tribal masses seized control of the area, blocked off entry points, gheraoed the local police station, formed the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, drove the police and administration out of the area, and declared their democratic demands. No doubt these demands were of a limited nature (i.e., not relating to a change in production relation). Rather, these demands focused on punishment of the guilty police officers by the traditional tribal method of public humiliation, compensation to the victims of police atrocities and an end to all such police repression. More important than the individual demands was the fact that the struggle amounted to a political contest between the will of the oppressed masses and the will of the reactionary ruling classes and their State authorities.

The State authorities were well aware that any real concession to even the most obviously justified demands would only further strengthen the organization, consciousness, and fighting spirit of the tribals. Moreover, the ruling CPI (M) beset by agitations and rebellions in Nandigram, Singur, and elsewhere, and facing general elections in May 2009, needed time to maneuver and re-group. Initial attempts by a private army of CPI (M) hoodlums to terrorise the tribals had proved unsuccessful. Hence the CPI (M) and the State machinery decided to play a waiting game.

The tribal rebellion achieved several important political gains. It thoroughly exposed the pretensions of the CPI (M) regarding its record among the rural poor. It exposed the acute backwardness actually prevailing, the absence of even minimum welfare facilities (such as healthcare and employment generation), and the corruption of the CPI (M) party.

At the same time, the upsurge showed what the tribal masses were capable of, on the basis of their self-organisation and unleashed initiative. Because of its evidently mass democratic character, the tribal upsurge also awakened a sense of identification among the broad tribal masses of the region not only in contiguous areas but even at distant places, beginning a political process among them as well.

The State machinery (at the central and provincial levels) and the CPI (M) lost no time in portraying the tribals as puppets of the CPI (Maoist). The communist revolutionaries themselves are being portrayed in the State and corporate media propaganda as fearsome and sinister terrorists. In this fashion the State has for some time now been preparing the ground for a much more intense and no-holds-barred military assault nationwide on the communist revolutionaries and the masses under their influence. However, the tribals of Lalgarh, seeing the whole-hearted manner in which the comrades of the CPI (Maoist) threw in their lot with them, and contrasting them with the ruling pseudo-communists, refused to be swayed or cowed down by the State propaganda. Rather, they have openly expressed their support for the CPI (Maoist) comrades working among them.

The obstacle to the State armed forces re-entering Lalgarh was not principally military but political: the CPI (M) feared having to pay a heavy political price. Ultimately, once the elections were over, the Central and state governments, headed by the Congress and CPI (M) respectively, set aside their rivalries in order to crush the Lalgarh people’s movement. Care was taken to ensure that the Trinamool Congress which otherwise has been using various popular issues in order to hit at the rural CPI (M), remained mum throughout the “cleansing operations”.

No doubt, a successful armed blockade altogether preventing the entry of the State forces was not possible, given the actual balance of forces prevailing at the time and the level of the people’s movement. The police-paramilitary operations appear to have regained control over part of the Lalgarh region, and the coming days will be full of trials and sufferings for the people of the region as the combing and “cleansing” operations continue. Yet the masses and the CPI (Maoist) forces are continuing their resistance.

However, the ultimate consequences of the State’s operation will be intensified alienation and simmering anger among the tribal masses, which offer fertile grounds for an even more powerful organized mass revolutionary upsurge in the future.

The CPRCI (ML) supports the tribals’ demand that the police and paramilitary forces of all varieties be withdrawn from the Lalgarh region. It express solidarity with the struggling masses of Lalgarh, congratulates them for their exemplary struggle, and urges them to continue their struggle in appropriate forms through ups and downs until they attain victory as part of the revolutionary movement of the Indian people.

Secretary, CC
CPRCI (ML)

June 23rd 2009

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Press Statement

Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan

The Orissa police detained Mr. David Pugh, a teacher from US on 12th August along with advocate Miss Protima Das and an anti-displacement activist Mr. Pradeep who accompanied him assisting in translation and showing the area in Kalinganagar and Sukinda on their way back to Bhubaneswar.
They were taken to Badchan Police station near Chandikhol. Mr. David Pugh was kept for 5 hours in the police custody from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. in night. He was mentally tortured illegally. After that they released him and asked to stay back for interrogation again on 13th August in the afternoon. Miss Pratima and Mr. Pradeep are being kept under detention.
Mr. David Pugh visited Kaliganagar and Sukinda to see the Industrialization and its effects on the people and the movement against industrialization and mining. Miss. Protima Das was requested to help Mr. David Pugh as translator and Mr. Pradeep as guide as he belongs to the Sukinda. They all had gone to Kalinganagar after attending a People’s Tribunal on Displacement, Sez and Corporate Violence in Orissa organized in Bhubaneswar by Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, an anti-displacement front of movements from various parts of India including that of Orissa. Activists from all areas in Orissa had come to explain their conditions of destitution and destruction at the People’s Tribunal.
Amin Maharana, a Central Council member of Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan is also suspected to be detained by the Police from Bhubaneswar. He is an Environmental and anti-Displacement activist working in Sukinda area for many years now. He is a cultural performer. He has written many songs about people’s devastation due to displacement and also released an audio CD on the issue.
The Government of Orissa has been unleashing brutal repression on the anti-displacement movement for the last two years. The detentions are part of the larger plans of the Government to coerce the people to accept the displacement and give up their lands.
We appeal to all democrats to immediately intervene and put pressure on the Govermenent of Orissa to release Miss. Pratima, Mr. Pradeep and Mr. Amin Maharan, (if he is also arrested) without subjecting them to any kind of harassment.
We demand the Government of Orissa to immediately release Miss Pratima Das, Mr. Pradeep and Mr. Amin Maharana and stop harassing Mr. David Pugh.
Mr. David Pugh is again taken into custody at 2 pm now and being interrogated at Bhubaneswar hotel in Bhubaneswar by the police officials.
Chief Secretary & Chief Development Commissioner of Orissa: 011-91-674 - 2536700 Phone,
Chief Secretary & Chief Development Commissioner of Orissa: 011-91-674 - 2536700 (Fax)
Email: csori@ori.nic.in
The Prime Minister’s Office
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi,
India-110 011.
Telephone: 91-11-23012312 .
Fax: 011-91-11-23019545 / 011-91-11-23016857.
SHIVRAJ V. PATIL HOME MINISTER
011-91-104 23092462
011-91-104 23017256 (PH) - 011-91-104 23794842
011-91-104 23793716
011-91-104 23794833 (Fax)
Rajeev Kumar Mital
PS To HM 011-91-105 23092631 300 26109478
OSD To HM 011-91-107 23092361
011-91-107 23092113 (Fax)

Source: kasama