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Extended Hindutva: NGO Politics, Cocktail Ideology and Anarchist Icons | |||||||||||||||||
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Extended Hindutva: NGO Politics, Cocktail Ideology and Anarchist Icons Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 43 http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
Kashmir crisis is quite reminiscent of pre Independence undivided India! I have already written on this topic:`Kashmir Crisis A Master Minded Hindutva Strategy to Stop Anti US Movement in India.’Mind you, just after Trust Vote I wrote,`They Stopped Mayawati and They May Stop Barrack Obama Also!’ Beware my friends! Be aware my countrymen! I have warned you of this time in earlier nineties with my serial interactive Novel, AMERICA SE SAVDHAN. It was my personal creative campaign against Imperialism and Colonisation! I am grateful that a personality no less than Mahashweta Devi recognised the incomplete and unsuccessful attempt. Most of us know about the market economy. Most of us know the third world Economists led by Dr Amartay Sen and Md Yunus. All these great intellectuals of our times advocate shamelessly defending US Imperialism asn globalisation. We know well the FDI fed Media Power which invests everything to make way for the sovereign Market. We know the Slave leaders of third world countries who have made the concepts of nation, Nationality, Culture, Mother Language, freedom, Fraternity, Equality, Democracy, sovereignty, Production system, democracy and human Rights quite irrelevant. We all know about the World Bank and its sister who fund the NGOs and tries its best to make the political borders diluted. World Bank is the US institution which is the foster mother of all the Civil Societies which tend to kill every opportunity for the Indigenous communities irrelevant! We see in Bangladesh where the political system as well as economy is taken over by NGOs led by Dr Md Yunus, the Nobel Laureate! The Left and third Front are united disassociating with UPA as well as RSS. It is a great development and should be noticed if we happen to be interested in some democratic space for the indigenous communities. We believe that without internal empowerment and autonomy no community may hold power. However it may upset the apple cart of the a Ruling power striking a suitable political equation to overwhelm the Majoritian Polity! We don`t believe that any individual or his personal achievement might do anything good for the Black Untouchables, the worldwide indigenous Black Untouchable brotherhood. But Indian Politics after Trust Vote has thrown the projected face of a Dalit Prime Minister in the Caste Hindu Arena of so called democracy! It may change the demographic equations in India. We should not forget the history how the Brahmins partitioned India to get a suitable demography to sustain Political Power after the Great Bargain with a Defeated Imperialism! The situation is also reminiscent of operation Blue Star! It is also reminiscent of anti Reservation movement. Personally, I respect all of them! Medha Patkar! On 3r August, 2008 these dignitaries met in New Delhi in a meeting of the executive committee of LOK RAJNEETI MANCH, which was launched in a BJP ruled state like Rajsthan in Jaipur in an inauguration convention held on 12th and 13th July, 2008. The executive committee assessed the political developments after the Trust Vote! Where are the minutes? We know only about the worry for the Parliamentary system and it`s so called holiness violated by Horse trading! These personalities are never interested to abolish inherent inequality, injustice, enslavement destined for the eighty five persent of the population which has no space for representation, awakening, empowerment, autonomy, identity in either Power hegemony or resistance hegemony monopolised by caste Hindus! They have not called for a Change! What they did? Yes, they have decided to launch another political party to participate in Parliamentary elections! What happens the constituents? The NGOs. Organisationally the constituents are: Mind you, Uttarkhand Lok Vahini was known as Uttarkhand Sangharsh Vahini and it had been a constituent of Indian People`s Front in eigties. The Vahini people are my personal friends and they have been associated to Naxalites, Gandhians and sarvodayees along with the socialists. Any Organisation should have an convincible object! What would be the Central Command? Let us go way back in sixties and seventies while Thundering Spring struck India! So much so that the documents of Charu Majumdar made it quite inevitable for the Ruling Hegemony to stand united.In 1971, our great army was used to crush the Naxalites in West Bengal and at the same time, it was fighting for the liberation of Bangladesh. The unprecedented achievement of Mrs Indira Gandhi as the third world leader and the resurgence of Indian as well as Bangla nationality proved to be fatal for Naxal Insurrection. Whatsoever infection left in the anatomy of the nation and particularly, the Youth and students, it was cured with the Gujrat and Bihar Students` Movement. Thundering spring was replaced by Total Revolution! Do you remember the concept of Total Revolution? Suppression Of Opposition, Total Revolution And Emergency In India are interrelated to sustain the Ruling Hegemony as Mrs Indira Gandhi underestimated the forces behind. She targeted the RSS but spared the socialists and sarvodayees to spread venom in the veins of the Nation. While she was unable to tackle the Bhashmasur as it once again occurred in Punjab while she created circumstances of Operation Blue Star to block Mandal commission report, Indira had no escape route but declaring Emergency which glamourised the Greatest pro US movement in India and which ultimately killed the Thundering Spring!The anrchy rooted deep in Indian psyche as we see no glimpse of genuine Mass Movements in Post modern Sensex shining India!
Jayaprakash Narayan Early life He joined “Bihar Vidyapeeth"[1]founded by Dr. Rajendra Prasad for motivating young meritorious youths and was among [2]the first students of eminent Gandhian Dr.Anugrah Narayan Sinha[3],a close collegue of M. K. Gandhi who later became first Finance Minister of Bihar. In October, 1920 Jayaprakash was married to Prabhavati Devi, a freedom fighter in her own right and a staunch disciple of Kasturba Gandhi. Prabhavati was the daughter of lawyer and nationalist Brij Kishore Prasad, one of the first Gandhians in Bihar and one who played a major role in Gandhi"s campaign in Champaran. She often held opinions which were not in agreement with JP"s views, but Narayan respected her independence. On Gandhiji"s invitation, she stayed at his Sabarmati Ashram while Jayaprakash continued his studies.[4] In 1922, Narayan went to the United States, where he worked to support his studies in political science, sociology and economics at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ohio State University.[5][6] He adopted Marxism while studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under sociologist Edward A. Ross; he was also deeply influenced by the writings of M. N. Roy. Financial constraints and his mother"s health forced him to abandon his wish of earning a PhD. He became acquainted with Rajani Palme Dutt and other revolutionaries in London on his way back to India. After returning to India, Narayan joined the Indian National Congress on the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1929; M. K. Gandhi became his mentor in the Congress. During the Indian independence movement he was arrested, jailed, and tortured several times by the British. He won particular fame during the Quit India movement. After being jailed in 1932 for civil disobedience against British rule, Narayan was imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, Yusuf Desai and other national leaders. After his release, the Congress Socialist Party, or (CSP), a left-wing group within the Congress, was formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as President and Narayan as General secretary. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, when senior Congress leaders were arrested in the early stages, JP, Lohia and Basawon Singh (Sinha) were at the forefront of the agitations. Leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali were described as “the political children of Gandhi but recent students of Karl Marx." Initially a defender of physical force, Narayan was won over to Gandhi"s position on nonviolence and advocated the use of satyagrahas to achieve the ideals of democratic socialism. Furthermore, he became deeply disillusioned with the practical experience of socialism in Nehru"s India. After independence and the death of Mahatma Gandhi, Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Basawon Singh (Sinha) led the CSP out of Congress to become the opposition Socialist Party, which later took the name Praja Socialist Party. Basawon Singh (Sinha) became the first leader of the opposition in the state and assembly of Bihar and Acharya Narendra Deva became the first leader of opposition in the state and assembly of U.P. In 1957, Narayan formally broke with the Praja Socialist Party in order to pursue lokniti [Polity of the people], as opposed to rajniti [Polity of the state]. By this time, Narayan had become convinced that lokniti should be non-partisan in order to build a consensus-based, classless, participatory democracy which he termed Sarvodaya. Narayan became an important figure in the India-wide network of Gandhian Sarvodaya workers. In 1964, Narayan was vilified across the political spectrum for arguing in an article in the Hindustan Times that India had a responsibility to keep its promise to allow self-determination to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. He hit back at critics in a second article, dismissing the Indian version of the “domino theory" which held that the rest of India"s states would disintegrate if Kashmir were allowed its promised freedom. In his graceful if old-fashioned style, Narayan ridiculed the premise that “the states of India are held together by force and not by the sentiment of a common nationality. It is an assumption that makes a mockery of the Indian Nation and a tyrant of the Indian State". [edit] Bihar Movement and Total Revolution [edit] Emergency Narayan was kept as detenu at Chandigarh even after he had asked for a month"s parole for mobilising relief in areas of Bihar gravely affected by flood. His health suddenly deteriorated on October 24, and he was released on November 12; diagnosis at Jaslok Hospital, Bombay, revealed kidney failure; he would be on dialysis for the rest of his life. After Indira revoked the emergency on January 18, 1977 and announced elections, it was under JP"s guidance that the Janata Party (a vehicle for the broad spectrum of the anti-Indira Gandhi opposition) was formed. The Janata Party was voted into power, and became the first non-Congress party to form a government at the Centre. [edit] An evaluation Narayan also wrote several books, notably Reconstruction of Indian Polity. He promoted Hindu revivalism, but was initially deeply critical of the form of revivalism promoted by the Sangh Parivar. He died in October 1979; but a few months before that, in March 1979, his death was erroneously announced by the Indian prime minister to the parliament as he lay fighting for his life in Jaslok Hospital, causing a brief wave of national mourning, including the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasting, and closure of schools and shops. When he was told about the gaffe a few weeks later, he smiled. In 1998, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India"s highest civilian award, in recognition of his social work. Other awards include the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965. Narayan is sometimes referred to with the honorific title Lok nayak or ‘guide of the people". A university (J P University in Chhapra, Bihar) and two Hospitals (L N J P Hospital in New Delhi and Jai Prabha Hospital in Patna) have been opened in his memory. The capital"s largest and best-equipped trauma centre, the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, also honors his contributions. [edit] References [edit] Bibliography [edit] External links JP"s ‘total revolution" TRANSFORMING THE POLITY — Centenary readings from Jayaprakash Narayan: Selected and introduced by Ajit Bhattacharjea; Rupa and Co., 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 195. RESTLESS AND struggling hard with the might of a titan against the dark forces of power politics, massive corruption, demon of communalism, bureaucratic dominance and moral bankruptcy, Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-1979) lived the life of a hero. It was his deep concern for the common man (that earned him the popular prefix “Lok Nayak"), which led him through Marxism and Socialism to Gandhian way. As the eminent editor, Ajit Bhattacharjea, puts it in his introduction, “The change from his own early Marxist phase is reflected in the contrast between his praise for State power in Why Socialism, written in 1935 and his censure of it in From Socialism to Sarvodaya, more than 20 years later. But, he later went further to find Sarvodaya inadequate in remedying deep-rooted social ills and stressed the need to mobilise mass struggle. He grew increasingly impatient and justified violence if the Government failed to perform, as he announced in New Delhi in 1969." Born in Bihar, Jayaprakash Narayan studied in the U.S. when he came in contact with radical socialist ideas. Returning to India in 1929 he worked with the Indian National Congress and formed the Congress Socialist Party in 1934 within the Congress organisation. He took a leading part in the Quit India Movement (1942-43), escaping from the high-security Hazaribagh prison. Soon after Independence, he formed a separate political body, the Socialist Party, which was later merged with Kisan Mazdoor Sabha to become Praja Socialist Party. Following Gandhiji, JP recognised the prime necessity of change in the individual who takes upon himself/herself the task of changing the society. In this lies the whole philosophy of JP"s total revolution. The gist of this concept is presented in his letter to people of Bihar and an extract from the Notes on Bihar Movement, both written in 1975. Earlier, he had also pleaded for reviving the ancient concept of dharma to suit democracy so as to ensure that the main mould of life remained indigenous. His basic objective is succinctly told in the text reproduced from JP"s weekly, Everyman"s. By 1957, Jayaprakash Narayan had quit active politics and took great interest in Vinoba Bhave"s programmes of Bhoodan-Gramdan and soon became known throughout the world as the Sarvodaya leader. In that capacity, JP espoused many a cause as that of Nagaland, of the surrender of dacoits, of Kashmir and communal harmony. The main quest, however, remained where and what it was, namely a relentless confrontation against corruption, money power and misuse of political authority which seemed to dominate the national scene even after 30 years of parliamentary democracy. JP could not sit idle when politics began at last to drift to an authoritarian rule. He was imprisoned on the eve of promulgation of Emergency in June 1975 but was released next year on account of shattered health and an unaccountable kidney trouble. But physically weak JP saw in the encircling gloom a ray of hope. He inspired political parties other than the ruling one to combine as a single Janata Party against dictatorship and the smothering of all freedoms under Emergency regime. It was his leadership and guidance, which mainly led to the victory of the Janata Party in the March 1977 elections. All went well for a few months. But unfortunately forces of selfishness, struggle for power and partisanship reasserted themselves and JP was a disillusioned man at the time of his death in October 1979. His long letter to the then Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, reflects his utter disappointment. The book under review is the first of several books proposed by the National Committee set up by the Government of India to celebrate the birth centenary of Jayaprakash Narayan (born on 11 October 1902). Carefully culled short extracts from JP"s writings, carrying a crisp introduction, have been arranged under 13 broad topics with prefatory notes. The selections should give a kaleidoscopic over-view of JP"s observation and aspirations most of which are very relevant even today and encourage the readers to go for the full text of his writings. LA. SU. RENGARAJAN http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/br/2003/01/07/stories/2003010700110300.htm The Means and End Of Revolution This, I think, is the most crucial question that every revolutionary must ask himself, “Who will inherit this earth?" Will crucial question that every earth belong to anyone? Will it belong to the man who can conquer it by his sword or to the man who can purchase it? Will it belong to the sword first or the sceptre? “To whom shall this earth belong?" That is the most crucial question, because there are more people on this earth who are deprived of their inheritance. They are driven from pillar to post. The law in its majesty forbids them to sleep under bridges, to sit and live on the pavement and to beg on the streets and to steal from houses where there are heaps of bread. They have no place, not even a few inches to stand upon God"s earth. And we have been chanting almost every day; “0, Mother earth, you have been supporting all people on your breast, while you have been supported by the God Vishnu Himself." This question asked by the destitute and the poor has never been answered. Who is it that needs a revolution? Those who enjoy status and prestige in the present social order? They do not need the revolution. Any social change would be to their disadvantage. Therefore the revolutionaries call them the ‘vested interests." It is in their interest to maintain their status quo. So it is this ‘last man" who has to make this revolution. He is not only the man who will benefit by the revolution, but also the maker of the revolution. Therefore the revolution haste be brought about in the context of democracy and by democratic methods, whether constitutional, extra-constitutional or un-constitutional. Democratic means peaceful. It is calculated to bring man nearer to each other: a revolution that will not prove divisive. We have to explore a technique of revolution which will be cohesive. ——————————————————————————– The Means and End of Revolution In our vision of this revolution, all progress means advance and all advance means approach-approach to one another, coming nearer to one another. So we have to explore, to find out a technique of revolution that will bring men closer together; closer in mind also. Because, if men come closer together merely in body, and not in mind, then what will happen? They may not embrace each other, but merely wrestle with each other. The process is the same. In wrestling also you have to embrace each other. But as Harold Laski once wrote, “I embrace my enemy the better to choke him." So this embrace of death is not calculated to bring about any revolution that will be human: human in the sense that it will be a revolution that brings each man closer to his brother. This is not a question Of violence or non-violence. The fundamental question in democracy is, “Who will be the supreme authority-the soldier or the citizen?" Who will depend upon whom? Will the soldier depend upon the citizens or the citizens depend upon the soldier? What will be the sanction of our democratic order? Whether the final arbiter will be the ploughman or the hangman? I had a heart to heart talk with an enlightened gentleman this afternoon and he told me, “there can be no morality without fear." And I can tell you that from what I know and what I feel, and what I have experienced that fear is the dark room in which all negatives are developed. The morality which fear begets is a counterfeit morality. It is a misnomer. That is why our ultimate sanction in the other world is Yamaraj, the god of death. He metes is not Lord Vishnu, the preserver. We worship Vishnu, but in the heart of our hearts we pay tributes to Yamaraj, who after all seems, to be the power behind Vishnu. Our orthodox pundits often say, “the glory of the Vedas rests on the bow and the arrow." The Koran in one hand and the sword in the other." The Bible in one hand and the crusades in other." What does it mean? It means that it is brute force, physical power on which on our democracy rests today. The citizen is sovereign under the constitution, but actually it is the citizen on whom the soldiers depend. So, what does this revolution signify? What is its objective? We wanted to liberate the plough and other implements of production from the domination and dread of the sword and from the abject subservience to the throne, which is the symbol of the "state" under any social order. This is the primary aim of the revolutionaries; in the world, belonging to whatever persuasion. ——————————————————————————– War: Detrimental to the Evolution of Humanity I am reminded of the Third International held in Moscow in 1919, which declared the aims of Communism-Communism as it is understood in Russia, because Communism is also not the same everywhere. There is a Communism of the Russian orientation, there is a Communism of Marxist orientation, there is a Communism of the Namboodripad variety, the Naxalite variety, Dange variety, Jyoty Basu variety. So we have several brands of Communism. In his book on Communism, Harold Laski wrote: “Communism is like a hat that has lost its shape because everyone wears it . That is what is happening to our concept of ‘revolution." The Third International in Moscow laid out the aims of Communism. The first waste end the domination of capital, the second was to wipe out the state boundaries, the third was to make war impossible. It was not Gandhi, who for the first time asserted, that war was inhuman, and detrimental to the evolution of humanity. ‘It was Karl Marx who for the first time uttered this truth which will hold true for all time to come. This is the timeless truth that he uttered, and he alone had the courage to do so. No religious leader, no rishi or saint, no prophet before Karl Marx had the courage or the vision or the foresight to utter this truth. ——————————————————————————– No Poor : No War Every religion prescribes charity-`daan". And the Christian scriptures say that poverty was designed with a view to charity. Unless you have poverty, you can"t have charity. If you have to be bounteous, generous to the poor there must be some people who suffer from want; want in order to provide you with an opportunity for charity. So every religion has prescribed charity, but no religion has asserted so unambiguously as Karl Marx that there will come a day when there will be neither be poor nor the rich on this planet; and there will come a day when there will be no war. He never asked whether this was possible. As revolution is the art of making the impossible, possible; the possible, probable; and the probable, feasible. A revolutionary mind is not pragmatic. Pragmatism, as a matter of fact, does not exist in any of our relationships. ——————————————————————————– Hand in Hand to Hell Life means relationship; and relationship is based on mutual faith. If men did not believe in each other, they could not even sin together. If you want to commit a murder with the other companion there has to be good faith amongst you, which they call ‘honour among thieves." In one of Shakespeare"s works there is a very fine sentence, “So march on. Let us on to it. But hand in hand to hell." Freedom means the freedom to go to hell. It is my choice whether I want to go to hell or heaven. The hell of my choice is heaven, and the heaven that is imposed on me by another is prison, it is hell. That is what Milton wants to convey in his ‘Paradise Lost" seems to have glorified Satan. ——————————————————————————– Togetherness Means Sharing Weal and Woe We, in this country have the freedom to go to hell if we like. But, let us go to hell hand in hand, because if you want to go to hell singly, personally, the way to hell is paved with good intentions but evil consequences. This togetherness is the first necessity of social life. And togetherness means sharing weal and woe. Sharing not only material goods but sharing weal and woe. Sharing is not distribution. Distribution is an entirely different thing. And revolution does not strive merely for distribution, not even equitable distribution, but Sharing. And in sharing, the basis is love, brotherhood, fraternity. So it is a familistic, fraternal, social order, for which this revolution ought to work. ——————————————————————————– Mutual Support Society Who will be the architect of this revolution? The man who needs most. But the difficulty is that the man who needs the change most in the social order does not seek it. The necessity is there, but it seems that the aspiration is wanting, because his mind has been conditioned in the present social order by politicians, by educationists and by religion. Why does the poor man bear the burden of his poverty? He suffers the pangs of poverty, because he hopes to become rich someday. So this hope sustains him in his poverty, and in his penury. ——————————————————————————– And why does the rich man bear the Burden of his Riches It is not in the nature of man to possess or to amass. Man wants use, not possession. Possession is a liability. If he had the assurance that he could get a thing whenever he wants it, he would not hoard. He stores because there is insecurity for the morrow. So he provides for a rainy day. Everyday is a rainy day, because there is no security. So, psychologically, fundamentally, the poor man and the rich man have the same mind. The rich man is afraid of becoming poor, and the poor man hopes to become rich. That is why both co-operate with each other in maintaining the present social order. He was also once poor. Rich man does not belong to a different species. He was also once poor. Just as every saint has a past and every sinner a future, every rich man has a past and every poor man has a future. Therefore when we say that if we liquidate the rich man, poverty could be eliminated, we are labouring under a serious delusion. This is a delusion, because a rich man does not belong to belongs to the same species as we do. This what we call I call faith or in Sanskrit you may call it ‘astikata·" Faith in, the goodness of every man, because goodness is man"s nature Wickedness requires a reason. ——————————————————————————– Sympathy So this revolution is trying to find out, is in quest of, a technique that would be effective as well as human; that will be in consonance with our end, the end in view being that men should come closer together. All advance is approach. Every step in this revolution muse bring men nearer to each other. In democracy, your opponent is not your antagonist just as in a game, say of cricket or of cards; your opponent is your playmate on the other side. A playmate on the other side is not your adversary; he is a part of the game. ——————————————————————————– A Contradiction But there is a serious contradiction in our present democratic set-up. The candidate belongs to a party, but the representative is a representative of the people. It is the voter who has elected him, but the party can order him out. So I have always felt that the party is a conspiracy against the people. We want a voter democracy and not a democracy of the candidates. Candidates are concerned not with public opinion, but with gathering votes. ——————————————————————————– Mob and people Pickwick was once asked by his friend Snodgrass, a very difficult question, “How to act when in doubt?" Pickwick was a quick-witted guy who could answer any question offhand. So he said, “when in doubt, follow the mob." But that did not solve the problem. So Snodgrass asked, “What if there be two mobs?" “Then follow the largest." That was Pickwick"s prescription. But there is a world of difference between a mob and the people or the public. What is a mob? A faceless, amorphous blob of population. So it"s neither the people nor the public. The people are an entirely different category. What is a mob? A mob is a congregation of people, a collection of people which has several heads, but no brain. Several breasts, but no heart. The people have consciousness, a purpose. They gather together for a certain purpose. So democracy is not the ‘cracy" of the crowd, neither is it my cracy. As the orthodox people always say, orthodoxy is my doxy, heterodoxy is your doxy." Democracy is cracy and autocracy is your cracy. That is the level on which our politics has been working for the last few years, for the last several years you might say. ——————————————————————————– Changing the Context So, we have to change the very basis of our political system, the system of our democracy. Democracy of the candidate is an auction of the candidate and of the voter. It was perhaps Edmund Burke, remember right, who said, “Leaders are bidders at an auction on popularity". So in the capitalist context, even democracy will be auctioned. Even gods will be auctioned, men will be auctioned of course. That is why we want to change this context. Revolution has three-dimensions-change of context, change of value and change of heart. We want to change this context, because in the context of commercialism and capitalism, every blessed thing becomes a commodity. It is either purchased or sold, including man and So, we want to liberate man from this context. And what man? It is not we who will liberate him. It is the last man who needs a revolution, a social change, who will liberate himself. ——————————————————————————– Man With Implements Now, what is the distinction between the man who needs change and who does not need change? I shall just analyse this more or less in a symbolic manner. There is the man with the sword who enjoys his status in the present society; there is the man with the purse, with his coffers, who also enjoys considerable social status because he can purchase everything, he can purchase even democracy; and then there is the man of power. Power is the most dangerous of all these intoxicants. The man in power is tipsy most of the time. So, we have to liberate the man who has neither the sword nor power in his hand? He has the means and implements of production. But we have always conditioned him into the false notion, that power rests with the sword, the purse and the sceptre. As a matter of fact they are all created by the man who wields the instruments of production. Who made the sword? Who made the safe? And who made the throne on which the king sits T It is the man with the implements, tools, who has made all these symbols of social status and social prestige, as well as social power. ——————————————————————————– Where Lies The Real Power? So, it is the man with the implements and tools who forges the instruments of his exploitation and suppression. This is revolutionary trade-unionism. Organise labour on this basis, and they will realise ICQU the real strength is with them, not with the soldier or the capitalist or the man in power. This is the social revolutionary consciousness that we have to rouse among the common people. We been deceiving them, cheating them into believing that real power is not in the instruments of production, but in the instruments exploitation and destruction. What"s the difference between an implement and a weapon? If I were to use a sword to cut a cucumber, you would all ridicule me. You would say the poor man does not the poor use of a sword. The proper use of a weapon is to take life. It is to destroy life. The proper use of a sword is to take life. To use the sword for any other purpose is to misuse the sword. But the hammer and the Sickle, if you use them for destroying life, you are misusing them. They have been designed to produce life-giving, material goods. So real power, the ultimate power is with the man who has implements in his hand and not with the man with the armaments. ——————————————————————————– A Cudgel to Keep Silence! This is not a question of violence or non-violence. If you reduce a social virtue into an abstract theory or a principle, it loses its essence. It ceases to have any bearing on real life. This has happened to me in actual life. ——————————————————————————– Spiritual Values That"s the monstrosity which we create a social value of a creed. That is why there have been more wars than religion and God than in the name of the kingdoms and property. Spiritual values are quite different from religious values or ethical values. So I have given you some idea of the new context that we want to create, for a new value will require a new context. And who will bring about this revolution? The man has translated revolutionary values into his own life. ——————————————————————————– Translate Values into Your Life Once I was addressing a huge meeting, a mass meeting of students at Patna, and they asked me, “Well, what do you expect us to sacrifice? We have no property. So, we cannot give a portion of it in charity. We have no money. So we can"t give you any donations. We are merely students at college. So, what is the actual programme, the code of conduct, that you could prescribe for us? The students asked me what they could do I said, I can assure you about one thing. I can point out to you definitely one thing that you can do and that is, today you write to your father that relinquish all claims to his property, because you don"t believe inheriting property. Not only private property but hereditary property. The secretary of the meeting came and whispered in my tit seems we have invited a wrong man", because they were prepared to do anything except translate revolutionary values into their own lives. So this is change of heart, and this change of heart to begin with the revolutionary himself. ——————————————————————————– Let The Man With Plough Make History I hope that you and I and all of us will realise that the maker history in the future will be the man with the plough and not the man with the sword. So far human history has been made by kings, warriors, heroes and politicians. We are looking forward today when you will be made by the common man. He will no longer be object of history, but the architect of history. History has not come to an end, time has not stopped and there is no last word in history; there is no last event in history. Every event that is recorded history is not repetitive. Every event is unprecedented. So let us task ourselves whether this has happened anywhere else. If it has not happened anywhere else, it should happen in India, simply cause it has not happened anywhere else. This is the spirit in which in which we have to approach this stupendous task of Total Revolution. By conferring the Bharat Ratna on Jayaprakash Narayan, the BJP government has made amends for a national lapse. What is surprising about the decision is that it took so long to materialise. It is an irony that even the Janata Party government, which owed a lot to JP, fought shy of honouring him with the nation"s highest award. And even when the Janata Dal, which claims to be the custodian of JPism, was in power, JP"s claim was not considered. It obviously took solace in the fact that Gandhi had also not been given this award. JP, who shunned power, would have been happier if the Congress leadership had followedthe Mahatma"s advice and dissolved the party once India attained freedom. It is a different matter that JP got disillusioned with not just Congress politics but party politics as well. However, his doughty spirit that lay dormant during his Sarvodaya days got a spark when in the early Seventies students in Gujarat launched their anti-corruption crusade. The Nav Nirman movement, as it was called, captured JP"s imagination and when students in his home state too rose in rebellion, he found himself in the vanguard of a new movement with its self-proclaimed aim of Total Revolution. The agitation he spearheaded caught the fancy of the youth all over the country and its reverberations began to be felt even in the national Capital. Indira Gandhi and her younger son Sanjay Gandhi recognised the threat JP posed to the domination of politics by the Congress party. Far from meeting the challenge democratically, Indira Gandhi took to the easier path of imposing the Emergency on the nation and putting JP behind bars.But the inspiration he provided was enough to unite heterogeneous forces like the Jan Sangh and the socialists under the banner of the Janata Party and bring down the Congress government in the 1977 election. But the celebrations did not last long, as cantankerous Janata Party leaders fought among themselves and helped the Congress stage a quick comeback. The return of Indira Gandhi also marked the failure of JP"s mission. His Total Revolution today lies in a shambles as can be gauged from the fact that one of its leading lights — Laloo Prasad Yadav — is now in jail charged with amassing a fortune through fraudulent means. On the political front, the Janata Dal, which claims to follow JP"s ideals, is now a spent force waiting for its obliteration even as its caste-based offshoots like the RJD and the Samajwadi Party stay afloat, purely on caste issues. On the plus side, some of the political forces inspired by JP continue to play a leading role as in Bihar where the radical left movement owes itsgenesis entirely to him. The anti-landlord agitation in Bodh Gaya has spawned a political movement which has given the landless self-respect and the ability to stand up for their rights. The irony is, none of these groups today professes any connection with Jayaprakash Narayan.
Why a National Alliance of People"s Movements?In the villages and valleys of India, on its hill-sides, beaches and festering cities, millions of people are struggling for a livelihood with dignity. Villagers in different parts of India are trying to save their common natural resources like forests and pastures from privatization and exploitation for short-term profits, while the urban poor are struggling for their right to life and livelihood. In many places adivasis and other rural people are struggling to save their lands from submergence by dams or from being ravaged by large industrial projects. Elsewhere marginal farmers and landless labourers are fighting for land-rights and fair wages. Traditional artisans whose livelihood has been undermined by the mechanized mass production of the modern economy, are striving to find ways of surviving. Meanwhile millions of people, who suffered this fate over the last century are toiling in the expanding metropolitan cities and living in sub-human conditions. Even those who have acquired higher incomes and joined the middle class are caught in tension-filled, automated lives in which there are subtler form of alienation. Even the elites, who live in luxury, are not entirely protected against the negative fall-out of what has passed for ‘progress" and ‘development" for over a century. They must, after all, breathe the same polluted air and suffer the impact of a depleted ozone layer. Thus all over the world some people are urgently striving for a new kind of ‘development" - one which does not irretrievably damage the environment and demean the sacrifice the toiling masses for the prosperity and pleasure of the upper classes. In India this awareness has found expression in various different forms of thought, action and struggle over the last five decades. A diverse range of individuals, groups and movements have opted to stay out of the structure of state power and work for the unfulfilled promise of a democratic, egalitarian and independent India. These efforts have extended from local issues based campaigns and agitations to lobbying for policy changes, to nation-wide mobilisation on broader issues. Over the last decade many people involved in this work have felt the need for building a common platform and formation which will go beyond mere networking on specific issues. Several attempts have been made in this direction and it is out of those experiences and processes that the National Alliance of People"s Movements (NAPM) emerged in 1992, as the ‘New" Economic Policy began to take effect and the Ayodhya agitation shook the nation. This lent a still greater urgency to the need for an effective alliance to strengthen the secular ethos and struggle for a development that empowers people against the hegemonic, exploitative culture associated with the terms ‘privatisation" and ‘liberalization". What is a National Alliance?The NAPM has been a growing process. It does not strive to be a federation of constituent members. It is a coming together, a process of like-minded groups and movements who while retaining their autonomous identities, are working together to bring the struggle for a people-oriented development model to the centre-stage of politics and public life. It is understood that such an alliance, emerging with a definite ideological commonality and common strategy, can give rise to a strong social, political force and a national people"s movement. Over the last three years a series of discussions have led to the evolution of a minimum agreed ideological and programmatic basis. Evolving a finer understanding of these concepts and finding more effective ways of working towards these goals is an ongoing process which requires the participation of more and more people. Over the last four years there have been several national and regional meetings of NAPM all over the country. A mass rally was organised against Dunkel in Delhi and at other places. A meeting of like minded organisations, including some trade unions, organised in Bhopal on December 1, 1992, saw the process take a definite shape. The organisation held meetings and conclaves at Calcutta, Bangalore, Puri, Allahabad, Baroda, Bombay and various other parts of the country to thrash out many issues and areas of conflict and also to clarify the ideological aspects. However the alliance got strengthened with the shared campaigns and common programme that highlighted the issues at stake. Among other programmes, the public meeting at Delhi on March 3, 1993 against the Dunkel Draft and New Economic Policy (NEP) was attended by over ten thousand people from the grass root organisations from all over the country who expressed their resolve to fight against the current policies and the paradigm of development. Following that, regional meetings were held in all parts of the country and the campaign against NEP and multinational companies was observed. A national conference on development and displacement was organised at Mumbai in September 1995 in which eighty organisations engaged in mass struggles on development issues participated. A determination to form a political force with the victims of the post-independence development model, programmes and projects at the fore-front gave rise to a national strategy. Meetings of public interest lawyers from various states as well as of the artists and writers were arranged in Mumbai, to appeal to them to play a role. This process of dialogue with intellectuals, scientists, technologists and journalists is to continue in all regions hereafter. The alliance of movements and organisations with a mass base and separate identities is a people"s political process that sees and stresses its role and relevance beyond the elections and electoral power politics. Our strategy, therefore, will always be drawn with the main purpose of putting the people"s fundamental issues on the national political agenda. The state of electoral politics today is that for the first time in post independent India, there is a similarity in the nature, policies and behaviour of all major political parties - national or regional. All of them are in power in one or more states and are pursuing NEP with vigour. In a sense, the present national politics and its agenda does not take cognisance of the issues of eighty percent of the population- the toiling masses, the real producers and the backbone of the nation. Moreover people are mad to believe that there is no alternative. So it is time to reaffirm our vision and our plan for a just and sustainable appropriate development. People should now take the initiative, dictate and control through a national endeavour outside of narrow electoral politics. Thus NAPM"s work has to gather the kind of momentum and scale that the present situation demands and become a national movement indeed. There is a need for many more people to come together and explore ways of creating an effective political platform for building a movement for fundamental change. This process requires a deeper dialogue and discussion on many more issues and questions than those we have addressed so far. National Tour and Convention With this objective in mind and in the context of the forthcoming general elections NAPM had organised and undertaken a National Tour from January 31 to mid March. The tour commenced at Ahmedabad and culminated at Sewagram Ashram in Wardha. Activists numbering 15 and more from various organisations traveled together, mostly by road in 14 States to meet like-minded organisations and hold discussions, public meetings and press conferences. The meetings discussed the possibility, nature and goals of a national level alliance. It focused on how the issues mentioned earlier could be raised to have a bearing on the forth-coming elections. The tour appealed to people to question candidates on these issues and also to explore other ways of placing them on the national agenda. The tour culminated in a national convention in Wardha. Over 300 people representing about 100 organisations from 17 states gathered there to decide on how to strengthen this platform and launch a national movement for people based development. We were aware that even though there is a widely shared sense of urgency and solidarity about the objectives outlined here, there may be some skepticism about the viability of such an endeavour. To some extent these doubts are a consequence of how the earlier attempts have fallen short of our own expectations. But we can learn from these experiences and by building closer working association, we can forge the links which will form a chain capable of sustaining a movement that will prevail. It is towards this that the 3 day long deliberations at Wardha tried to evolve a People"s Resolve. This is neither a manifesto nor a charter of demands. It clarifies our ideological position on most of the issues and can be a basis for strengthening the unity among people"s organisations of a wide range and also for evolving a programme. A National Programme for NAPM which has a twofold action plan -at the local as well as the national level was finalised by consensus at Sewagram. Both the People"s resolve and the Programme follows. The organisational form and administrative framework was discussed to finally select a team of national convenors and the state convenors. The latter are to call a meeting of all concerned organisations and individuals at the state level to introduce our issues and goals and can forward the process of a national unity through state level committees and common action programs. NAPM appeals to all the concerned individuals and organisations to join us and be a part of the process to shape it as a national movement. People"s ResolveNAPM resolves that: 1. We believe that people"s right to life with dignity is paramount. We are committed to fight poverty, loss of livelihood, unemployment. We oppose all policies and processes which exclude people, deprive them of their livelihood, result in spiraling prices, create unemployment, and prevent their human potential to contribute to the enrichment of social and cultural life. We strive towards an equitable, just, and sustainable society which ensures rights and opportunity for all its members to live with dignity and without fear. a. We are committed to a people-oriented and ecologically sound economic policy giving priority to protection of people"s livelihood and production for people"s needs in a sustainable way. b. Such a policy requires the development of a people"s democracy based on people"s control over resources. This should be built up from the local community through the intermediate to the national level. The basic principle will be that the first claim on the use of resources will be with regard to the satisfaction of basic needs and the protection of livelihood. Regarding further use democratic planning and decision-making has to be introduced at all levels. A revised Panchayati Raj (Gram Raj), will be the basis for this. A basic precondition is the right to information and matching of experience with expertise regarding the availability and sustainable use of resources. 2. We oppose the uncontrolled powers of global and national capital. We oppose all forms of foreign imperialist intervention which deprive a people of their control over resources and security of food and livelihood. The present process of globalisation is artificial and unsustainable. It is not irreversible as ideological propaganda tries to make people believe. a. We oppose the profit-oriented New Economic Policy with its attendant liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, because it marginalises and even excludes a majority of people and exhausts the resources of the nation for the sake of accumulation of profit in the private hands of a minority at the national as well as international level. b. We, therefore, propose that India quits the WTO and campaigns for an alternative institution to regulate world-trade in a democratic, pro-people and environmentally sustainable way. c. We propose that India refuses to submit to any conditionalities and structural adjustment programmes imposed by IMF, WB and similar international institutions. These organisations should not be allowed to formulate and influence polices in any sector, and particularly, the vital areas of health, education, communication, media, public distribution system, biodiversity, environment, labour legislation. These institutions should be appropriately democratised to reflect the composition and the aspirations of the world community. d. Multinational companies should be made to quit India. We call upon people to boycott all MNC goods. e. The foreign debt is, on one hand, unreal; and on the other, it is an imposition by the elite on our masses. This so called debt has been repaid several times over. It must be unilaterally written off. India should launch an international campaign to confront the global debt-regime, with its unjust and unsustainable mechanisms of accumulation. It should seek support from fellow Southern countries for an alternative international exchange, trade and finance system. 3. We struggle for a reorientation of economic policy. Priority will be given to the protection of existing livelihood, generation of useful and remunerative employment, production for people"s needs, development and ecologically sustainable harnessing and use of natural resources. a. We are committed to the removal of unemployment and control over spiraling price-rise by adopting decentralised production and marketing, using labour intensive technology, ensuring distributive justice which meets the needs of the people. b. The village community as a whole must be in full control of natural resources, planning replenishment and utilisation of resources and implementing accordingly. This is to ensure fulfillment of basic needs and freedom from want. It will safeguard creativity within a simple lifestyle and ensure that biodiversity will also be protected. Special steps need to be taken to guarantee full participation of Dalits, Adivasis and women in all decision making of each village community. c. We oppose the integration of agriculture into the world market. Priority should be given to food security and improvement of people"s health status through it. This cannot and should not be pursued by banking on large-scale, high-tech farming which neglects and destroys the productive potential and the livelihood of crores of middle and poor peasants and landless labourers. We call for a reversal of the surplus extraction from agriculture/rural areas and the institution of fair and equitable wages for agricultural labour. We are committed to equitable redistribution of land and water controlled by local communities and people"s institutions and with ecologically sustainable and non-destructive farming techniques. d. We support the legal protection of people"s right of access to common property, resources of forests, common land and water. Public debate and democratic procedures are needed to plan and monitor sustainable use and upgrading of these resources. Our aim is a revitalisation of the rural economy, including the resource-base for forest dwellers, rural artisans and rural industries with the help of old and new eco-friendly technologies. The same approach applies to the fisheries, fodder economy sector. e. We oppose the present industrial policy which abandons social responsibility and devalues human labour, as it looks only at profitability and not at the usefulness of products, employment potential and environmental costs. First priority deserves to be given to create humane conditions in the informal sector which provides an extremely vulnerable livelihood to a large majority of workers in the country. Appropriate legislation regarding minimum-wages, safety, health, working hours and environmental protection is needed. The viability of production in this sector has to be enhanced by regulated prices of raw materials, public subsidy for relevant R"D, fiscal policy and other measures. f. We oppose the irresponsible policy of closures and lockouts in the organised sector and support the take-over of units by the workers (along the lines of the take-over of Kamani tubes). g. We oppose an energy, communication and transport policy which channels public funds into creating the infrastructure of big dams, telecom facilities, air and road transport, etc. for the benefits of global and national capitalists, consumerists and the elite. These funds should be diverted into the development of the Infrastructure of cheap local transport, small scale energy generation mostly through presently non-conventional, environmentally non-destructive and replenishable sources including bio-mass, solar, wind, and tidal energy, education and health facilities for the mass of people. 4. Human beings and nature have a unique relation. Natural resources are our life support. No living being can survive without using nature and hence all have a right to natural resources. Beyond survival, we love nature, its beauty and generosity. We relate to nature as a giver of life and owe its endowment to future generations. a. We value conservation of our natural wealth - air, land, water, forest, mineral and aquatic wealth and biodiversity. Human and all forms of life are dependent on nature and are part of the larger universe. We oppose the irreversible destruction of nature. In the present critical condition, destruction of natural forests and rare, endangered species must be immediately stopped and regeneration should receive highest priority. b. We stand for water management beginning with micro-watershed development and river basin as the unit of planning. We oppose large, centralised water projects. Within a watershed, community level distribution should be on per capita basis not excluding the landless and with priority for drinking water, one crop protection, water-intensive cropping and use for industrial purpose in that order. Forest management and protection should be done by granting community right to forest - with minor and major forest produce and maintaining ‘community forest" with people"s consent and participation. 5. We uphold human dignity and equality in all respects, but support positive discrimination as a historical necessity for justice. a. We stand in solidarity with the struggles of the Dalits to secure fundamental human rights and justice. We support the policy of reservations for sections, economically and socially deprived for ages, irrespective of religion. We oppose casteism in its entirety and strive towards its total elimination, and the full and equal participation by Dalits in all aspects of social, political, economic, and cultural life which would make the reservation measures superfluous. We affirm freedom of religion provided it does not come in the way of any of the oppressed sections. We work for enforcement of laws against untouchability and discrimination through adequate mechanisms of implementation, irrespective of religion. b. The nature based life, economy and culture of Adivasis - settled and nomadic - cannot be encroached upon. Their land and other life support taken away by illegal means or immoral ways should be returned back with proper historical investigation. We stand for tribal self-rule with their rights to natural resources and their distinctive cultural identities. We do not rule out the need for exchange between tribal communities and the rest of the society on technology, systems of knowledge, trade and economy with due protection from exploitation. Any change in their life should be on their own terms and with their meaningful participation in the decision making about their life and society. c. We reaffirm freedom of religion and the foundational secular tradition of India, and the rich diversity of cultural, religious, and humanist traditions. We strive for the protection and equal participation by Muslims and all other religious communities within our nation. We oppose communalism and resolve to intervene in caste and communal riots to establish peace and protection of life and livelihood. We resolve to actively stem communalisation of politics as well as civil and administrative life; and to oppose all attempts to establish the social and political domination of religious nationalism. d. We propose and stand committed to complete universal primary education in the mother tongue all over the country. The present emphasis on higher education and elite educational systems must be reversed. We believe that it is feasible to achieve universal primary education with the resources available in the country. 6 a. We denounce production, trade and import of all alcoholic drinks and harmful habit forming addictive drugs. They must be prohibited and banned. We will strive for educating and motivating people to be free of addictive habits. b. We propose to prohibit and ban the propagation of consumerist culture which demeans the dignity of women, encourages child abuse, thwarts the growth of children into mature human beings and encourages violence; and develops insensitivity to the finer values of life. We value the conservation of our inherited plural cultures and values based on family and kinship of village community. There is an immediate need to halt the invasion through unrestrained broadcasting of Western culture through television, radio, and internet. 7 a. We envisage a new understanding of Bharatiyat (Indianness) grounded in the equality of all our cultures and languages. It should be possible for different, particularly, hitherto marginalised and excluded perceptions of Indianness to find a place within this broad definition of culture. These must be expressed and respected in the institutions of education, communication and governance. b. We condemn all organized violence both private and state. The problem of terrorism which has arisen in the wake of the alienation and repression of minorities, cannot and should not be tackled by state-terrorism through the deployment of military and paramilitary forces and their intervention in civil matters. c. The recognition of diverse cultural traditions should go ahead hand in hand with the affirmation and safeguarding of basic universal human rights and collective obligations. Arts and literature of various cultural traditions should be treated with dignity and uniqueness and not just preserved but facilitated and supported for fullest expression. 8. We oppose gender inequality, which is fundamentally based on patriarchy, in every form; and strive towards providing all basic human rights for women irrespective of caste and religion. We recognize that women are oppressed at the multiple levels of caste, class, religion, and gender. We work towards fully gender-just civil laws which shall govern marriage, divorce, property rights, inheritance, adoption, maintenance, free from discrimination on ground of religion. We support the equitable valuation of women"s labour and recognize the significance of women"s contribution in sustaining community and culture. We value women"s empowerment and participation in all fields equal with men in all decisions, policy-making and implementation in social, economic and political aspects. 9. We are committed to a new polity which can"t be achieved merely by changing a few politicians. Decentralisation of power and fully participatory democracy which will ensure maximum economic political power to rest with the people and the role of the State reduced to a minimum. We believe that the unity of people"s organisations will go a long way in appealing to the nation to rise up and not just demand electoral reforms with right to recall but a basic transformation in political structures and administrative processes. Non-electoral politics too will have not a weak but strong position and role to play in empowering, mobilising the people, stirring the conscience of the nation and bringing to the central stage, people"s agenda. It will be people"s politics. a. We support peace and peaceful resolution of conflicts in all arenas. We demand comprehensive global nuclear, chemical, and biological disarmament, and a ban on testing and development of all such and new weapons. We call for a drastic reduction of conventional armaments and forces to maintain minimum defensive capabilities. b. We strive towards the establishment of fraternal and close relations in all areas with our neighbouring countries with whom we share common bonds of culture and history. We support people"s initiatives to promote grassroots participation in this area. c. We call for a restructuring and reinvigorating of the United Nations system to reflect the plurality of our world"s cultures and communities. We demand that the UN system be fully democratised and made accountable to the people. All international economic bodies must be brought under the purview of this renewed United Nations. 10. We are determined to work for a humane, inclusive and democratic society based on mutual respect and care for life. Sadagi (simple living) is not an ideal dream. A commitment towards Samata (equality) and distributive justice necessitates a more judicious use of resources which ensures fulfillment of the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, health and education for all. This can be ensured only when superfluous public spending and wasteful consumption are stopped and not material abundance but creativity and selfless humanity is valued. Cognisance must be taken of existing traditional knowledge systems that have existed through the ages. Such systems have contributed towards Swavalamban (self-reliance) and respect for nature. While encouraging the contribution of traditional knowledge systems to the Indian way of life, inegalitarian exploitative relations within and exploitation of these systems by foreign interests should be prohibited. We are neither against science nor do we reject technological innovation. We are committed to careful choice of technology based on our values and vision, goals and means. An organic interaction and interrelation between the traditional sustained practices and beneficial new discoveries should be promoted on the basis of equality and justice, to attain a truly prosperous and humane life for all. The National Programme1. To organise a strong agitation against the controversial proposed Enron Power Project with an aim to remove the multinational destructive project. The Enron Power Project is but a symbol of the so-called development planning which has been imposed on the people without their participation: lack of political transparency: politics of non- accountability: unequal globalisation and unwarranted role of Multinational companies and foreign capital: unsustainable power policy and anti-people paradigm of development. We will make an instant move against the project and strengthen the ongoing struggle. 2. We should struggle for the abrogation of the Land Acquisition Act and bring in the development policy, law for a decentralised planning with the right over the resources like land, water, forest, minerals and fish of the village communities and full participation in the development planning of these resources. The idea of the village self rule for tribal villages envisaged in the Bhuria Committee Report should be made applicable to all rural areas and opposition to displacement and ‘no" to development without consent of the people. ‘Land Grabbing" program for re-occupying the land which was alienated from the people fraudulently or forcibly would be taken up. 3. Opposition to the destitution and displacement from livelihood, villages in the coastal areas and fish workers and other communities due to globalisation, encroachment of the MNC"s, on massive wealth, or due to Tourism, Prawn Culture and other forms of displacement. The Coastal Zone Regulations should be strictly implemented without violating the rights of the local people regarding livelihood and residence. 4. Every organisation will choose one or more villages within its range and work for the ‘village self-rule" on the basis of equality and self-reliance. A camp of the representatives of the organisations will be organised in the Narmada Valley in June 1996 regarding the “identification and evaluation of local resources". The villages for such an action program would be declared on 15th August, and the evaluation, target and scope would be decided by 1996 October. 5. A camp of the women representatives of the people"s organisations from all over India for the planning of a nationwide campaign on “anti- liquor, anti-lottery" agitation under the leadership of women. The camp would decide about the strategy, program and action. 6. Every organisation would launch struggle against ‘atrocities on women". Every organisation should write letters to the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court condemning the injustice meted out to Bhanvaribai and insisting on justice to her. 7. In case of raking up Kashi, Mathura or any other place after Ayodhya by the communal forces, strong action program against such attempts by the people"s organisations all over India with the help of ‘Rashtriya Yuva Sangathan". 8. A sustained and intense campaign against MNC"s with the slogan “Not Pepsi/Coke- we want water". A vigorous campaign for Swadeshi with the actions like smearing the posters/hoardings of Pepsi/Coke. 9. The alliance calls unto peasants all over India while raising the demands of- (a). Doing away with the subsidies on consumerist items, urban-industrial elites sections and rural elites. (b). Renumerative prices for the agricultural produces based on the real costs, like those of industrial products. 10. The emancipation of scavenger section of the populace from abominable traditions and their rehabilitation in an honorable profession and mobilisation against caste system. 11. National/regional convention for a campaign by the youth against corruption, consumerism, destructive industries. The youth groups should collect “superfluous" material from every house in their town/village on a voluntary basis. Auctioning of the "swadeshi" articles (proceeds of which may go to NAPM and local movements) and bonfire of foreign goods. 12. Special programs for the local representatives of the organisations who happen to be from the depressed classes, whereby their leadership would emerge 13. Meetings/conventions of the lawyers, literateurs, artists, journalists on national/regional level. These are already fixed in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar. 14. Any atrocity, repression on any of the colleagues of the Alliance should be responded to immediately with the participation of all. 15. A documentation centre is to be started in West Bengal. All member organisations are requested to send data and documents. 16. A bulletin in English for communicating NAPM programs, propagation, consultative groups should be made available at various places for technical information, guidance etc.. The NAPM colleagues should help in purchasing the periodical (Rs. 5) as much as possible. http://www.proxsa.org/politics/napm.html#appeal Medha PatkarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
Medha Patkar (Marathi:मेधा पाटकर, born December 1, 1954) is a social activist from India.
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