ANTHROPOLOGY OF A GENOCIDE: November Revolution and OBAMA BIDEN Transition Project. Indian Army is SAFFRON Enough to Wipe Out Minorities and Indigenous Communities. And I am surrounded by My Helpless Faceless People Massacred in Killing fields Infinite! may We Stand United Ever to Defend Our BLOOD, FLESH and Bones? Have We Any Spinal Cord At All to Encounter the Troubled TIME Hegemony or Should We Retreat with Shattered dreams of Our Ancestors? Hunt for First Puppy in White House May Well End in India!

[PalashKL]

ANTHROPOLOGY OF A GENOCIDE: November Revolution and OBAMA BIDEN
Transition Project. Indian Army is SAFFRON Enough to Wipe Out
Minorities and Indigenous Communities. And I am surrounded by My
Helpless Faceless People Massacred in Killing fields Infinite! may We
Stand United Ever to Defend Our BLOOD, FLESH and Bones? Have We Any
Spinal Cord At All to Encounter the Troubled TIME Hegemony or Should
We Retreat with Shattered dreams of Our Ancestors? Hunt for First
Puppy in White House May Well End in India!



Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 103

Palash Biswas

Sikh Genocide 1984 The Plan (MUST SEE)
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=pRtdDm6DDDI
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Genocide of Gujrat, India
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=3lzJPLJ50y0
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Hindu Extremists Killing minorities in India (Part 1of 5)
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYo62MdjTQ
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Demolition of the Babri Mosque :Don't forget
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=benqtb1bVog

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ALL SIKHS AND MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS MUST SEE..BAN THE RSS
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=2T0e-UN4uX4

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Obama holds key economy talks
Aljazeera.net - 1 hour ago
Barack Obama, the US presidential-elect, is holding talks with key
economic advisers in Chicago in a bid to develop plans to aid the
struggling US economy.
On the White House Want a Security Post? Say Nothing. New York Times
Obama calling on economic experts for their advice The Associated
Press
Times Online - USA Today - CNN - TIME
all 4,410 news articles »




US Engages Russia on Arms and Missile Defense
New York Times - 1 hour ago
By Ellen Barry MOSCOW - Russia on Friday received new proposals from
the United States to reduce nuclear arms and provide greater access to
the Bush administration’s planned missile defense system, as leaders
in Washington moved to calm tensions ...
Medvedev hails US-Russia ties at new GM plant Reuters
What the Russian papers say RIA Novosti

WB govt to set up new industries at Singur : Buddhadev
The West Bengal government will announce in a few days plans to set up
new industries at Singur after the exit of the Tatas Motors from there
and has several proposals in hand, Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee has said.

US clamps down on Iran
Washington : The Bush administration has moved to clamp down on Tehran
by barring financial institutions from routing certain money transfers
through the United States on behalf of Iranian banks, Iran's
government and others in the country.

Specifically, the Treasury Department announced Thursday that it is
revoking Iran's so-called "U-turn" license that until now has allowed
for such money transfers under certain conditions.

"This regulatory action will close the last general entry point for
Iran to the US financial system," the department said in a release.

What about India! NO relief for the Starving MASSES as the captured
Economy feeds the Money machine , the Indigenous masses must Die!

Despite the slide in the price of crude oil in the international
market, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry on Thursday ruled out
any cut on the retail price of petrol and diesel on the plea that oil
marketing companies were still making losses on the sale of diesel,
kerosene and domestic LPG.

“I am not aware of any proposal to cut fuel prices. At present, the
reduction is not under active consideration,” Petroleum Secretary R.S.
Pandey said.

He said margins on sale of petrol have turned positive, but there were
under-recoveries on sales of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.
Besides, the rupee-dollar parity and international oil prices were
fluctuating on a day-to-day basis.

on the other hand , despite the change has come and Ameriac waits for
President elect OBAMA to end the Cursed age Of Warcrimes as BUSH is
AMBUSHED on Election day, The US Treasury Department is preparing to
open its $700 billion bailout package to companies outside the
traditional banking sector, 2008: Year of financial crisis
the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The initiative would make it easier for the Treasury Department to
help a broader variety of firms if their troubles put the wider
financial system at risk, the newspaper reported.

However, the companies would still have to be financial firms that
fall under federal regulators, it said, citing unnamed sources.

The plan, to be announced late next week at the earliest, could
ultimately involve "hundreds of billions" of dollars in the $700
billion program, the Post said.

Companies best positioned to receive the government money may be those
that resemble banks and engage in lending to businesses or consumers,
the newspaper said. Treasury Department officials are evaluating which
financial companies could become a bank or thrift holding company and
remain viable in the long run, it said.

The Marxists in India pose to be the mainstream resistance against
Fascism and Imperialism. It is up against Communalism but it never
mentions the social fabrics or the Manusmriti which divided Indian
Society into more than SIX thousand castes!The Marxists in India never
recognises Indigenous Identity or nationality and join the
parliamentary parliamentary Right and Left, Gandhian and socialist,
Pro US and RSS forces to crush whatsoever Peoples` resistance! Now,
asking the government to thoroughly probe reports of Hindutva elements
penetrating the army, the CPI(M) on Friday said the arrest of former
and serving officers in the Malegaon blast had brought the sanctity of
armed forces into question.

But the Marxist leader dies to defend the SAFRON Indian Army Sanctity
as the RSS defends the MANUSMRITI!

"So far there was a sanctity about the armed forces and that sanctity
we maintained and upheld. Now that is clearly breaking down. So there
is a requirement for immediate attention and correction," party
Politburo member Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.

Noting that such incidents had "disturbing implications" for national
security, he said terrorism by itself was "anti-national and the State
should move against it irrespective of which quarter it came from."

Even as Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit ‘confessed’ to his role in the
Malegaon blasts, a Colonel posted in Deolali and a Major came under
ATS scanner for interrogation in connection with the probe into the
blasts.

Related Stories
Malegaon blasts: Antony assures of action against Army officer
Hindu outfits gear up to provide legal aid to Malegaon accused
Malegaon blasts accused suspected to have J&K linksA Lt. Colonel in
Madhya Pradesh was reportedly picked up for questioning but there was
no official word on it. More arrests are not ruled out.

Lt Colonel Srikant Purohit, who was recently arrested by the
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for questioning in the Malegaon
blast case has reportedly confessed his role in the revenge attack.

According to reports, Purohit told the ATS officials that he prepared
the blue print of the conspiracy and provided ammunitions for the
September 29 'revenge' attack in Malegaon, which claimed the lives of
at least six people.

The 37-year-old officer has confessed to providing the logistics and
explosives to a radical Hindu outfit ‘Abhinav Bharat’, who carried out
the blast.

Lt Col Srikant Purohit was arrested by the Maharashtra ATS on Nov 5 in
connection with the September 29 Malegaon blast.

Defending Fascism the marxists in India Criticises Corporate
Imperialism by Zionist United states of America. It opposes Indo US
Nuke Deal and clings to Power Hegemony and NDA GOI led by Superslave
Washington planted Prime Minister until the Deal as well as Strategic
reallianc in US lead was finalised and the War zone in Middle East
shifted right into our Heart, the Peace zone of Indian ocean! It
skiped the responsibility to lead anti US anti Imperialist Movement.
It boasts to save India from global Recession justifying its former
association with the World bank Gangsters. Its Government in three
states West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura are engaged in Capitalist
marxist development welcoming Massacre specialists like henry
Kissinger and salem, union carbide and Dows, corporates like Tatas and
Zindals, MNCs like Metro Cash and Carry. It does everything to make
way for Monopolistic Aggression! At the same time it has no time to
expose Chettiar Chidambaram, RBI and FINMIN stealing Public MOney and
feeding Money Machine just because the Marxists in India are led by
the Zionist Brahmins for whom the sanctitity and sustenance of
Brahaminical hegemony is the queastion of Life and death. it has
forgot Idelogy and the legacy of Marx, Lenin, Mao and Che. But it pays
homage to the revolutionaries worldwide!

Slowdown in the world's leading economies such as the US, the UK and
Japan are likely to deepen even further, while the BRIC countries
are also showing signs of either a downturn or a slowdown, the 30-
member block of industrialised nations OECD said today.

The seven major economies of the world-- the US, the UK, Japan,
Canada, France, Germany and Italy-- are expected to see a continued
weakening outlook with cyclical slowdowns at levels not seen so far in
this decade, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) said, citing its Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs) data for
September 2008.

The CLI is an analytical instrument of OECD designed to provide early
signals of turning points between upswings and downswings in the
growth cycle of economic activity. OECD also noted that the latest
data for major non-OECD countries also point towards a downturn in
China and a slowdown in Russia and India.

"The message from Brazil is mixed by the latest data showing tentative
signs of a possible downturn," the OECD said.
The CLI for the United Kingdom fell by 1.4 points in September 2008
and was 7.5 points lower than a year ago.
According to the OECD, CLI for China decreased 0.7 point in August
2008 and was 3.2 points lower than a year ago. The CLI for India fell
by one point in August 2008 and was 6.6 points lower than in August
2007. Also the CLI for Russia decreased by 2.7 points in September and
was 2.2 points lower than a year ago.

Now see how Amusing it may sound!

Referring to effects of ongoing global financial meltdown on India,
CPI(M) MP Sitaram Yechury on Friday said government should focus on
empowerment of people to ensure success of its monetary policies.

"Seventy per cent of Indian population lives on less than Rs 20 per
day. You have to raise purchasing power of people to sell what you
produce," he said while addressing a panel discussion on "Crisis
Economy" during first alumni meet of JNU.

Accusing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of making a u-turn on
privatisation, he said, "Singh favoured full integration with global
financial market in 2006, but now he speaks of how to insulate our
economy from global financial effects."

Yechury, who was JNUSU president in 1977, advocated reliance on
internal resources to redress current credit crunch.

"Bush has left a debt of USD 10.33 trillion for Obama. Time will tell
how he tackles it but we cannot rely on US," he said.

Explaining the cause of global meltdown, Executive Director of Pepsico
India, Vivek Bharti said that financial innovation went ahead of
financial regulation in US.

He claimed the worst of this crisis was already over and interventions
that have taken place will lead to a phase of stability now.

Prof P K Chadha, Economic Advisor to Prime Minister, laid emphasis on
improving condition of agriculture and research related to it.

"Our economy is integrated to global world. So, we need a balance
approach to address the situation," he said.

INDIAN armed forces alligned with US zionist Military power is SAFRON
enough to wipe out the Minorities, aboriginal people and indigenous
Communities to create and sustain Favourable demography and Vote Bank
in defence of Manusmriti Apartheid Hegemony!

We have seen how the cruel Most realities of AFPSA has aliegnated
entire North East and Kashmir from the mainstream India!

We have also witnessed how the Histroic Repression of Agrarian Revolt
in India, the NAXAL Movement, thundering SPRING was glorified and
submerged into the Safron Nationality Resurgence as the Incarnation of
dictator Indira Gandhi into Goddess DURGA, the Killer of Indigenous
Negroid, Anarya and dravid Demonised resistance in this geopolitics
justjust after Liberation of BANGLADESH followed by a Gandhian
socialist Marxist Hindutva Pro US Total revolution!

We saw and felt how the Saffron Police, PAC and army Personnel dealt
with Riot torn Minorities in different parts of India. Personally, as
a professional journalist in UP during 1984 to 1990, I had to witness
the corpotarised Anti Muslim Riots and the Anti Sikh Genocide riots
and the biased role of Indian army!

The Police is once again exposed in Maharashtra!

But the Malegaon Hindutva Bomb exploded to expose the skin of the
SAFFRON Indian Army so much so that it happened never before!

Indian History is in fact an ANTHROPOLOGY OF A GENOCIDE Infinite!

Thus, the Change in America in November revolution Week invokes the
Dreams of our Ancestors once again!

My friends!

I am surrounded by My Helpless Faceless People Massacred in Killing
fields Infinite! may We Stand United Ever to Defend Our BLOOD, FLESH
and Bones? Have We Any Spinal Cord At All to Encounter the Troubled
TIME Harmonised or Should We Retreat with Shattered dreams of Our
Ancestors? Hunt for First Puppy in White House May Well End in India!

I saw my father to visit the slums and refugee villages, riot torn
minorities countrywide and spent his life to mobilise a National
movement. I have no Property to inherit. but I have inherited the
Legacy of Resistance uncompromising from my Father and it is the Folk
Tradition of our people very closely associated with nature. Thus, I
feel quite at home in North east, Himalays, Jharkhand, chhattisgargh,
Orissa and south India more than Bengal where I am based. Here, iI see
how Marxist Brahminical Hegemony and its Regimented Gestapo is engaged
in Deleting our People from life, livelihood, History and Geography!

A Colonel posted in Deolali and a Major may face interrogation in
connection with the probe into the Malegaon blasts as concerns over
more officers coming under the scanner on Friday rattled the Armed
forces.
As Mumbai's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) sought permission from the
Defence Ministry to question more Army personnel, there were reports
that a retired Lt General and a couple of serving Colonels could also
be involved.

A Lt Colonel in Madhya Pradesh was reportedly picked up for
questioning but there was no official word on it. More arrests are not
ruled out.

Government's worries were voiced by Defence Minister A K Antony who
said the alleged involvement of serving Lieutenant Colonel S P Purohit
in the Malegaon blasts was a matter of serious concern.

Necessary action will be taken against him by the Defence Ministry on
the basis of the Maharashtra police's investigation report in the
case.

Evading a direct reply on the involvement of more serving officers,
including one holding a senior rank, Antony said the Army was fully
assisting the investigation ‘without any hesitation’ and so was the
Defence Ministry.

"On the part of the Army, without any hesitation, they are fully
assisting and cooperating with the investigating agencies. We are
waiting for a report from the Maharashtra police and I can tell you,
we are taking it seriously," he added.

"We are awaiting the (Maharashtra police) report (in the case). We
will take all necessary action on the basis of the report," Antony
said, when asked to react on the involvement of a serving Military
Intelligence officer in the blast.

Pointing out that the Maharashtra police and the Intelligence Bureau
were investigating the whole issue, he said the inquiry by the
agencies outside the MOD was going on.

Police and central security agencies are also trying to trace the
links of two of the persons arrested in connection with the Malegaon
blasts to Jammu and Kashmir amidst suspicion that the RDX used in the
Maharashtra town could have been smuggled from the militancy-hit
state.

A senior official of ATS apprised the Army on Friday afternoon over
the missing laptop of Purohit and sought their cooperation in locating
it, official sources said.

They said Purohit's laptop, which could throw light on blast, has gone
missing after he was shifted to Mumbai to assist the ATS in
investigations from his place of posting Panchmari in Madhya Pradesh.

They suspect Purohit, after being posted in Military Intelligence,
used his contacts built during his tenure in Jammu and Kashmir where
he was stationed with the 41 Rashtriya Rifles.

Sameer Kulkarni, another of the nine arrested persons, is also alleged
to have travelled to J and K earlier in 2008 and the security agencies
now want to find out his links in that state.


To achieve socialism, the most militant workers must be organized into
a revolutionary socialist party. The ISO is committed to playing a
role in laying the foundations for such a party. We aim to build an
independent socialist organization, rooted in workplaces, schools and
neighborhoods that, in fighting today's struggles, also wins larger
numbers to socialism.
--From the ISO "Where We Stand"

My father was always involved in Refugee Movement since 1952.

He led the Peasants` Insurrection in DHIMRI Block in the Terai of
Nainital in 1958.

Movements and Insurrections are part of my Existence, I dare say!

I had been a Marxist since my Childhood.

Only difference it made when I beagn to read about our People,
indigenous, aboriginal, refugees, out castes, underclasses,
minorities, rural and slum people accross the Globe cutting off
political borders!

It made a huge difference while I tried to find the traces of our
massacred ancestor and their roots in world history!
it also made a Huge difference when I read AMBEDKAR and came to know
all about Manusmriti and apartheid Hegemonies! Then I could Identify
myself with our Negroid people!

Thus, I supported BARRACK OBAMA as Martin Luther King also shared the
DREAM of our parents and ancestors!

It's been an interesting week of politics and people watching, thanks
to Tuesday's victory of President-elect Barack Obama (with wife
Michelle after his victory.

So, AMERICA HAS elected a fresh new President. Who is BLACK. NEGROID!

A BLACK LASH ahead. Neither RED nor BLUE. It is BLACK all over!

It is a historic win because he will be the first large-eared Democrat
to lead this nation. Also, Paris Hilton actually voted.

Jesse Jackson cried on television. Spike Lee made fun of him hours
later.

CNN used "Star Trek" technology to beam in cor-respondents and
pointless celebrities.

Michelle Obama wore an unfortunate dress that reminded people of
Hades.

Washington residents took the White House in a manner reminiscent of
the mob that stormed the palace during the French Revolution.


MARXISTS DO not reduce politics to bourgeois elections. "The modern
representative state," Engels argues, "is an instrument for exploiting
wage labor by capital." However, unlike anarchists, socialists
consider the electoral arena an important place to disseminate
propaganda and elect representatives of the working class, when
conditions permit this.

"The workers must put up their own candidates in order to preserve
their independence, to count their forces, and to bring before the
public their revolutionary attitude and party standpoint," Marx wrote.
This is particularly important in the United States, where the two-
party system creates a lock on the electoral system that exclude
independent working-class voice.

Politics involves much more than elections. Indeed, as a means of
challenging capitalism, bourgeois elections are the lowest form of
struggle. The highest forms are those that mobilize the active power
of the rank and file--strikes, occupations, mass protests. Without
these, revolution would not be possible; and without revolution,
capitalism cannot be eliminated.

Anyone who has ever gotten involved in even the smallest struggle
knows that without organization, little can be accomplished. An
individual can't change much, no matter how committed he or she is to
changing the world. To take on an employer in a single workplace, to
protest a fare hike or to oppose a war, organization is necessary. To
take on the entire edifice of capitalist power obviously requires
organization of another order.

The most obvious case for organization is that the other side is very
organized and has the whole machinery of the state and lots of
resources at its disposal. The ruling class will literally stop at
nothing to protect its wealth and privilege. To effectively challenge
it, our side must be well organized and capable of mobilizing millions
of people.

The question is: What kind of organization? We have emphasized in our
commentary that genuine Marxism is distinguished from other forms of
socialism in its emphasis on the idea that workers and oppressed
people must liberate themselves--that without the active, mass
involvement of millions in their own liberation, liberation is not
possible. Some anarchists stop there and think they've exhausted the
question. Yet such an emphasis does not rule out--in fact it
necessitates--strong leadership and organization.

Maintaining that terrorism had no religion, Yechury said "Now the VHP,
Shiv Sena are talking about giving legal support to Hindutva
terrorists, but there is a big hue and cry when the Vice Chancellor of
Jamia Millia University talks of legal aid to his students, on whom
charges have not been proved, just because they are Muslims."
"So it is clear that even in the manner in which this issue is being
tackled, there is a communal bias. Therefore, we have said that
without prejudice and discrimination, the same yardstick should be
applied" to both kinds of terrorism.
In a statement, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau demanded firm action against
extremist elements in both communities. "They will have to be dealt
with firmly and their networks dismantled irrespective of the
community they belong to."
Asking the Centre to take the reports of Hindutva infiltration in the
Army "seriously", it said the role of the Bhonsala Military School in
Maharashtra should be probed. "No private educational institution can
be allowed to provide military training."
In the wake of the attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has alleged that
the Central government has not given the State necessary assistance to
combat Maoist activities despite ample evidence of its growing
influence in State.
In the editorial for the next issue of People’s Democracy – the
party’s weekly organ – the CPI (M) described the attack on Mr.
Bhattacharjee’s convoy last Sunday as a “warning bell.” Stating that
Central assistance has not been forthcoming till date, the party hoped
that the Centre would now provide all assistance to the State to
combat this challenge.
As evidence of its charge that the Centre has not been willing to
provide assistance to the State government to combat Maoists, the
CPI(M) cited the delay in deployment of extra Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) when the Left Front government had sought help to deal
with the Bhoomi Uched Prathirodh Committee in Nandigram.
Stating that BUPC should not be seen as a mere forum controlled by the
Trinamool Congress, the editorial states that the delay on the part of
the Centre to send extra CRPF forces to Nandigram raised genuine
suspicions about the Congress being eager to forge an electoral
understanding with the Trinamool. “This delay was utilised by this
grand alliance to reinforce the blockade of Nandigram and resist all
efforts to restore civilian rule in the area.”
According to the editorial, the Trinamool Congress had provided both
the opportunity and the cover to the Maoists to establish their
‘liberated zones’ in the Nandigram area. “And, the opportunity
provided by the Trinamool Congress and the grand alliance of all
reactionary forces and NGOs against the industrialisation policies of
the State government provided the shield for the Maoists to expand
their area of operations.”
Time and again accusing the Trinamool Congress of facilitating the
spread of Maoist activity in West Bengal besides helping the Bharatiya
Janata Party enter the State, the editorial adds that the Maoists, “in
all their plethora of incarnations,” have always declared the CPI(M)
as their enemy number one. Asserting that the CPI(M) was used to such
fierce ideological battles, the editorial warns that use of violence
would be countered.
Hindu orgs to provide legal aid to Malegaon accused
Pro-Hindu organisations have decided to start a Legal Aid Firm to
support the right wing forces accused in the Malegaon bomb blasts, a
leader of Abhinav Bharat and Hindu Mahasabha said in Pune on Friday.
An account has already been opened with a private bank in Pune to
offer monetary help to all those Hindus being wrongly hunted for
alleged terrorist acts, Himani Savarkar, said.
Asked about reported confessions made by Lt Col Prasad Purohit
regarding hatching the Malegaon blast conspiracy, Savarkar said, the
Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) personnel were harassing the accused and
extracting statements under duress.
Alleging that she was not allowed to present a copy of 'Bhagwad Gita'
to Sadhvi Pragya when she was brought to the Nasik court a few days
back, she said, "This is terrorism in police uniform."
Savarkar, who left for New Delhi last night, said Hindu outfits would
engage best legal talent to defend the wrongly accused community
members in the Malegaon case and they would also consult Supreme Court
lawyers for the purpose.
India can access surplus Gulf funds to beat global meltdown: PM
On the eve of his visit to Oman and Qatar beginning Saturday, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday suggested that India can leverage
"vast surplus funds" in the Gulf for its development needs in the
backdrop of current global financial crisis.
"The current international economic and financial situation provides a
unique opportunity for India to leverage the vast surplus funds in the
Gulf for our development needs and to accelerate trade and investment
flows into each of the countries", Singh said in a statement.
He said that during his visit he would be taking up with the
leadership of Oman and Qatar the safety and welfare of Indians working
there.
"We have a large number of Indian citizens working in Oman and Qatar.
Their contribution to these countries is widely acknowledged and
appreciated by the authorities....During my discussions in Oman and
Qatar, I shall also discuss in which we can assure their safety and
welfare", Singh said.
Referring to his visit to Qatar on November 9-10, the Prime Minister
said "we attach great importance to our ties with Qatar which is one
of the largest and most relaible suppliers of our energy needs from
the region".
He said given the complementarities between the two countries, "I am
confident that we can build a mutually beneficial and strategic
partnership in this sector".


Probe Rs 60,000-crore spectrum scam, says CPI(M)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded an enquiry into
what it claims is a Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) financial scam
involving the manner in which 2G spectrum was allocated by the Union
ministry of communications.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the CPI(M) said that the United
Progressive Alliance government had given away scarce spectrum at a
fraction of the market price leading to heavy revenue losses to the
nation.
'It is now clear from the sale of shares by Swan and Unitech that more
than Rs 60,000 crore has been lost to the national exchequer by giving
away scarce spectrum at a fraction of the market price. The CPI(M) is
shocked that the United Progressive Alliance government, instead of
addressing the huge scam that has taken place on the allocation of the
fourth licence in 2G mobile services has taken the position that
nothing needs to be done,' the statement said.
'For the release of the fourth licence and the spectrum required, the
Communications ministry adopted a completely inexplicable principle of
'first come first served' for allocating the licence as well as a
licence fee based on 2001 price. These 2G licences were priced at 2001
levels, allegedly to keep the costs low for the consumers. However,
this was not ensured through the licence terms and conditions. As a
result, the parties who had secured these licences have sold or are
selling their shares at huge profits,' the CPI(M) has claimed.
The CPI(M) has raised questions over the deal between the United Arab
Emirates' telecom operator Etisalat and Swan Telecom, and Unitech and
Talenor (of Norway).
'Swan Telecom bought a licence for 13 circles along with the necessary
2G spectrum for a paltry Rs 1,537 crore (Rs 15.37 billion).
Subsequently, it has sold 45 per cent of its stake to Etisalat for
$900 million, taking its book value to $2 billion. This is without
putting up any infrastructure, let alone starting operations,' the
CPI(M) statement alleges.
The statement goes on to say that the 'Unitech-Talenor deal is no
different. Unitech, like Swan, had not spent a single paisa for
executing its licence. It has now sold 60 per cent of its stake to
Talenor for Rs 6,120 crore (Rs 61.20 billion) while paying only Rs
1,651 crore (Rs 16.51 billion) as licence fee. The government has
actually got only one-sixth of what it would have got, had it gone
through a fresh auction route -- a loss of Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100
billion) to the exchequer on Swan and Unitech licences alone.'
Claiming that the total loss to the exchequer of giving away 2G GSM
spectrum in this manner, including to the CDMA operators, amounts to
more than Rs 60,000 crore and is 'one of the biggest financial scams'
in the country, the Left party has expressed surprise at the UPA's
handling of the situation.
The CPI(M) said that the government needs to look into why scarce
national resources were given away at throwaway prices to private
parties who have profited immensely from this move. The Leftists have
demanded that the government should either invoke fair trade practice/
anti-monopoly sections or look at other operative sections of the
licence to see how this can be prevented. 'If no other recourse is
available, it must levy a windfall tax on such speculative
transactions,' the CPI(M) said.
The Leftist have also said that the issue of allotting 3G licences too
should be done in a transparent manner.
The CPI(M) also alleged that one telecom company was reportedly 'using
the difference of revenue shares between different applications --
mobile, long distance and Internet -- to under-report its earnings,
seriously impacting the government's revenue share'.
The CPI(M) said that an enquiry should be held in this affair and
measures must be taken so that such a situation does not recur.
Chinese firms keen to set up joint ventures in West Bengal
A 12-member delegation from Chinese automobile company FAW Group
Corporation met West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and
Industry Minister Nirupam Sen expressing interest in setting up a
joint venture automobile unit.
This came on a day when auto industries seemed to be the focus area
during interactions with visiting delegations and the State
Government.
J. K. Saraff, Chairman, Ural India, told The Hindu that FAW was among
China’s largest automobile companies owned by the government. It makes
passenger cars, trucks and buses and was keen to set up a joint
venture in West Bengal.
They need 1,000 acres and would first check out Haldia and Kharagpur.
Ural India in Haldia rolls out Ural trucks.
The other delegation which was accompanied by Mao Siwei, China’s
Consul General here, saw interactions between a 15-member team led by
the Executive Governor of Hubei province, Li Xiansheng, and the Chief
Minister.
These interactions gain significance in view of the announcement made
by Mr. Bhattacharjee that the Government had received several
proposals for Singur and would announce a project once decision was
taken. Today, however, neither the government nor the visiting
delegations were willing to comment whether Singur had been discussed.
It may be mentioned that Hubei province is known for its automobile
industries.
SC will hear plea against West Bengal Govt, Tatas
11/7/2008
An application has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking return of
Singur land and enhancement of compensation for farmers, whose land
was forcibly acquired by the West Bengal government for Nano car
factory of Tatas.
The application has been filed by Kedar Nath Yadav, whose petition
challenging the forceful acquisition of land for Tata Motors is
already pending in the apex court and fresh application has been filed
in the same writ petition.
1000 acres of land had been acquired by the Left Front government
headed by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the possession of the same was
given to Tatas for common man’s car.
Tatas have decided to close down the factory in view of the violent
agitation led by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee against the
forceful acquisition of the fertile land of farmers.
Left Front government, however, decided not to return the land to
farmers.
The applicant has contended that since Tatas have already shifted to
Gujarat and have already closed down their Nano car factory in Singur,
the land should be returned to farmers, as there is no justification
of the decision of the state government to withhold the land.
The petitioner has also pleaded that the poor farmers whose only
source of livelihood was forcefully taken away should be adequately
compensated for the hardship and losses suffered by them.
Tatas have shifted their Nano car factory to Gujarat after state Chief
Minister Narendra Modi gave them 110 acres of prime land on express
highway.
Tatas were invited by several state governments.
Mr Bhattacharjee also tried his level best to dissuade Ratan Tata from
shifting their factory. Tatas shifted their factory following attack
on their staff members by agitating farmers.
Higher compensation has been demanded from Tatas for destroying the
fertile and cultivable land of farmers, who were forced to stop
cultivation of their land with effect from June 3, 2006.
Rahul's Father Distressed by Autopsy Report
Kundan Singh, the father of Rahul Raj, who was shot dead by the Mumbai
police a few days ago sparking an inter-state political controversy,
on Thursday said he was frustrated with the Center's indifference
towards his son's death while restating his demand for a high-level
judicial probe.
"Based on the autopsy report, it is clear that my son was shot by the
Mumbai police from a close range. Actions must be taken against the
police who murdered my son in cold-blood," Singh said.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at a news conference in Patna on Thursday
also stated that all evidence indicated that Rahul was not a threat to
anyone and yet the police shot him from a close range as indicated by
dark black marks around the bullet wounds.
Earlier, Congress state president Anil Sharma visited the house of
Kundan Singh in Kadam Kuan and supported his demand for the dismissal
of Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil.
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Radha Mohan Singh also
accused the Mumbai police of murdering Rahul Raj and demanded a
judicial probe in the case.
Bihar Hails Obama Victory
Following the historic victory of Illinois Senator Barack Obama in the
Presidential elections in the United States on Tuesday evening,
leaders in Bihar on Wednesday expressed their joy over the Senator's
win calling it a change of 'epic proportion'.
"Contrary to some doubts, Obama's presidency would be favorable to
India in both political and trade terms," Central Minister Dr. Shakeel
Ahmed said adding Obama's victory had enhanced the image of America
that was in tatters since last 4 years.
Congress state president Anil Kumar Sharma attributed Obama's victory
to the movement started by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa and the
struggle against segregation and racism by Martin Luther King.
O. P. Sah, the president of the Bihar Chamber of Commerce, while
hailing the victory of Obama, said that despite rumors of decline in
outsourcing by American companies, the likelihood of that happening
was real low considering labor was still cheap in India and the
American companies were driven by their profit margin.
Bihar Industries Association (BIA) President K. P. Jhunjhunwala also
expressed his hope of better trade ties between America and India
saying with a strong domestic economy under Senator Obama, the effect
would trickle down to Indian economy ultimately benefitting India and
its burgeoning IT sector.
UN agency links food crisis with global financial meltdown
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has cautioned that the
impact of the current financial crisis on the agricultural sector
could mean a surge in food prices in the coming year even as global
cereal production is expected to hit a new record this year.
In its bi-annual report 'Food Outlook', FAO noted that much of the
boost in cereal production took place in developed countries, where
farmers were in a better position to respond to high prices.
Developing countries, on the other hand, were largely limited in their
capacity to respond to high prices by supply side constraints on their
agricultural sectors.
Concepcion Calpe, one of the main authors of the report, said this
year's record cereal harvest and the recent fall in food prices should
not create a false sense of security.
"For example, if the current price volatility and liquidity conditions
prevail in 2008/09, plantings and output could be affected to such an
extent that a new price surge might take place in 2009/10, unleashing
even more severe food crises than those experienced recently," she
said.
"The financial crisis of the last few months has amplified downward
price movements, contributed to tighten credit markets, and introduced
greater uncertainty about next year's prospects, so that many
producers are adopting very conservative planting decisions."
FAO pointed out that the surge in food prices over the past year has
increased the number of undernourished people in the world to an
estimated 923 million, and this number could grow.
"There is a real risk that as a consequence of the current world
economic problems people will have to reduce their food intake and the
number of hungry could rise further," said Calpe.
To feed a world population of more than nine billion people by 2050
(around six billion today), global food production must nearly double,
according to FAO.
This requires addressing a number of challenges related to
agriculture, including land and water constraints, low investments in
rural infrastructure and agricultural research, expensive agricultural
inputs, and little adaptation to climate change.
It also requires more investments in agriculture, machinery, tractors
and water pumps, as well as more skilled and better-trained farmers
and more efficient supply chains.

MNS row: Fernandes, 4 other JD-U MPs quit LS
Five Janata Dal (U) Lok Sabha members from Bihar put in their papers
on Friday to protest against violence inflicted on north Indians in
Maharashtra.
The MPs are Prabhunath Singh, George Fernandes, Rajiv Ranjan Singh
Lallan, Kailash Baitha and Meena Singh.
Earlier on Thursday, JD(U) parliamentary party leader Prabhunath Singh
declared that the party MPs would give their resignations to Lok Sabha
speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday.
But, with Somnath Chatterjee admitted to hospital with a chest
ailment, the resignations were submitted to the LS secretary general.
Announcing the decision, Prabhunath Singh said that there was no
option left before his party but asking its LS members to resign as
the Maharashtra government was "patronising" those involved in such
attacks and the central government was "silent" on the issue.
"The decision was taken as no action was taken against the culprits
even after an all-party delegation of Bihar MPs met PM Manmohan Singh
a few days back," Singh said.
The decision to quit came after RJD claimed on Tuesday that around 75%
of the party's MPs and MLAs had sent their resignations to party chief
Lalu Prasad and the rest would follow suit.
Prabhunath and Rajiv Ranjan said the JD (U) planned to launch a
campaign in Bihar, starting from Motihari, which is associated with
Mahatma Gandhi, to tell people how the Centre has failed to protect
the north Indians.
"We will later take the campaign to other Hindi-speaking parts of the
country," Singh added.
Making a scathing attack on Lalu Prasad for suggesting that the MLAs
and MLCs of the JD (U) should also resign, he said the RJD was
attempting to impose President's Rule in Bihar instead of
Maharashtra.
"Some people are acting as a joker...some have lost mental balance,"
he said.
To a poser on Paswan's claim that the JD(U) was only "sacrificing its
finger not head" for the cause of north Indians, Singh said the LJP
has not even sacrificed its "nails" for the purpose.
Dismissing charges that the JD (U) was attempting one-upmanship and
had breached the unity of Bihar leaders on the issue, he said even now
RJD and LJP MPs can resign. "Why did they failed to take initiative.
The decision taken by the JD(U) MPs was that of its parliamentary
party.
"Our Rajya Sabha members have not resigned as they will raise the
issue when Parliament meets again (on December 10). Even if that fails
to make an impact, we will think on a new course of action," Singh
told reporters outside Parliament.
In a memorandum submitted to the Speaker, the JD (U) MPs also made a
veiled attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "It appears that the
shoulders on whom the constitutional responsibility rests are weak.
They are unable to take the responsibility," it said.
Alva claims Congress sold tickets, party in damage control
AICC general secretary Margaret Alva, who created a flutter by
alleging sale of party nominations in recent assembly polls in
Karnataka, could be in for trouble.
Party sources on Friday said that Alva's case could be referred to the
Central Disciplinary Action Committee of the party headed by Defence
Minister A K Antony.
Alva, who has been sulking since her son Nivedith was not given
nomination in Karnataka elections, had created an embarrassment for
the party on Thursday as she alleged adoption of "different
yardsticks" in deciding party nominations for upcoming elections in
six states.
She had wondered why her son and grandson of former Union Minister C K
Jaffer Sharief were not given nominations while relatives of two dozen
leaders were given tickets in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan
and Jammu and Kashmir.
"Were my son and Jaffer Sharief's grandson anti-national, terrorists
or smugglers?" Alva had asked. She is also apparently upset over the
appointment of her bete noire R V Deshpande as state party chief.
AICC general secretary Prithviraj Chavan, who is in-charge of party
affairs in Karnataka and who appeared to be in Alva's firing line, has
already dismissed her charges as 'unsubstantiated and born out of
frustration'.
Chavan had said "as long as Alva is general secretary, I will not
comment on her unfortunate statement. Since she is general secretary
of the party, any decision on it will be taken by the Congress high
command and Central Disciplinary Action Committee".
Congress disapproved of party general secretary Margaret Alva's
charges that election tickets were sold in Karnataka but remained
silent on whether it was a fit case for disciplinary action.
"We do not agree for sweeping statements and grievances ought not be
aired in public," AICC spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
Singhvi described Alva as a seasoned and senior leader of the party
but said for all her grievances, there are established and ample fora
within the party.
"We have no doubt that such outburst would recur again," he said.
Restrictions mar prayers at Jamia Masjid
Srinagar (PTI): Friday prayers could not be offered at Jamia Masjid on
Friday for the second time in the past three months as authorities
strictly enforced restrictions to thwart march called by separatist
forces here.
Prayers, however were held at holy Hazratbal and other shrines with
less attendance, official sources said.
The authorities were apprehensive of massive protests in the Masjid
area in the wake of Mirwaiz's house arrest since Wednesday.
Separatists had called a march ahead of the prayers to pay homage to
the martyrs of Jammu.
Hundreds of policemen and paramilitary personnel deployed in the
vicinity of the masjid did not allow the devotees to enter the masjid
since yesterday. No prayers could be offered there, the sources said.
This was for the second time in the past three months that the grand
mosque remained shut and prayers could not be offered. On August 29
also prayers could not be offered at the mosque in view of the
imposition of curfew.
Describing it as "unfortunate", Mirwaiz said "after curbing our
political and human rights, the authorities have also started
interfering in our religious rights."
"Interference in religious matters will not be tolerated," he said
adding "this exhibits the frustration of the government... by such
moves they cannot crush the ongoing freedom struggle," Mirwaiz said
over phone.
Ray's banned film restored, to be showcased in India
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Reuters
Posted: Nov 07, 2008 at 1747 hrs IST

Kolkata, November 7: The Oscars academy has restored a rare print of a
controversial film by Satyajit Ray that was banned by Indian censors
for glorifying monarchy in a Himalayan kingdom that acceded to India.
Made in 1971, "Sikkim" was about the Himalayan redoubt of the same
name ruled by the Chogyals before it acceded to India in 1975 amid
some criticism that New Delhi had browbeaten its tiny neighbour. China
opposed India's claim on Sikkim until 2005.
Sikkim is now India's second smallest state, wedged between Nepal,
China and Bhutan, and is strategically important for New Delhi.
Ray scholars say the Indian government's fears that the documentary
depicted monarchy in a way that undermined democracy -- at a time when
Sikkim faced being annexed by either India or China -- was unfounded.
"To imagine Satyajit Ray would glorify monarchy over democracy is
utterly wrong because he is the same person who could make films
ridiculing monarchy as we see in 'Hirak Rajar Deshe'," said Arup K.
De, head of the Society for the Preservation of Satyajit Ray Films.
It was thought that all the prints of the hour-long documentary had
been destroyed after it was banned by India.
But one was found at the British Film Institute in 2003 and it was
restored digitally frame-by-frame by the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences.
Audiences in India can watch "Sikkim" for the first time at the 14th
Kolkata Film Festival beginning next week. India lifted the ban about
four years ago, Sikkim's art and culture trust said.
"If everything works out, the video version would be shown at the
Kolkata Film Festival," Josef Lindner, the academy's preservation
officer, told Reuters. “The 35 mm version would be ready by end of the
year."
The academy has undertaken to restore damaged prints of the films of
Satyajit Ray, who was awarded a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1992. He
received the honour on his death bed in a hospital in Kolkata.
Lindner said Ray's "Shatranj Ke Khiladi" (The Chess Players), made in
1977, would be restored next.
The academy has so far restored and preserved 15 of Ray's feature
films and two documentaries, including "Sikkim".
Ray shot to global fame with "Pather Panchali" (Song of the Little
Road), "Aparajito" (The Unvanquished) and "Apur Sansar" (The World of
Apu) from his "Apu trilogy" -- a coming-of-age narrative describing
the childhood, education and early maturity of a young Bengali boy in
the early 20th century.
He directed several other films and wrote many books, some of them
widely translated into other languages.


THE GUILTY PEOPLE
- Not being globalized can be life saving for a nation
Cutting Corners
Ashok Mitra


True, the daily miseries encountered by millions and millions of the
poor in the country are indescribably grim. And yet, how does one
ignore the reality currently unfolding in the stockyard of our stock
markets, with scores of families getting ruined, persons engaged in
stock-broking firms all of a sudden losing their jobs, a few desperate
ones, who have seen their assets disappear in the course of a week’s
hurricane, choosing to commit suicide? A sullen anger, mixed with a
sense of fright on account of not knowing what is in store tomorrow,
hangs in the air. In a large number of cases, those rendered paupers
by the share-market devastation were more sinned against than sinning:
they were led up the garden path and soon lost their bearing, prudence
got juxtaposed with temptation; once they crossed the threshold, they
did not know what had hit them.
But were they not, in the final count, victims of the frenzy of neo-
liberal passion systematically encouraged in the country, and under
official auspices? A democracy survives because it accepts as its
guiding principle the onus of accountability. Those responsible for
the bloodbath going on in the bourses therefore need to be identified.
To pin the responsibility for all that happened and is happening on
the ‘bigger players’ in the United States of America and Europe, as
our prime minister has attempted to do, is sheer cowardice. The head
of the government cannot be allowed to get off that lightly; he has to
explain to the nation how the sorry mess we are in has come about. We
were a free, independent nation. We had — although here and there a
little cumbersome — at least a reasonably effective regulatory
framework of economic policies, including international economic
policies, which stressed the goals of self-reliance and planned
economic development with the public sector in command.
That framework was made to crumble on the ground that it was not
yielding enough — only a three to 3.5 per cent annual rate of gross
domestic product growth. Saboteurs were assiduously at work over the
years. Liberalization, heralded with much fanfare nearly two decades
ago, has now doubled the GDP growth rate. But more than four-fifths of
the nation have remained outside the orbit of this accelerated growth.
And a great many of the lucky less-than-one-fifth have been felled by
the present holocaust. The guilty crowd had impressive credentials; it
included civil servants in very senior positions with their nexus with
kindred souls in Western capitals and international financial
institutions. It was an amoral crowd, a part of India and yet not
quite belonging to it, springing from the post-independence generation
who monopolized the opportunities opened up by the vacuum created by
the departure of British civilians. They were in love with the steel
frame the colonial administration had built; their minds had the
imprint of imperial hauteur. They suffered — in the immediate post-
independence phase — the ruling politicians who talked of a
socialistic pattern of society and five-year plans. They had to obey
the politicians but they were unhappy about it. They were particularly
unhappy with an economic arrangement which discouraged foreign entry
into the vital sectors of the economy, clamped a strict regime of
exchange controls and discouraged consumerism.
While tucking their frustration within, the senior civil servants,
however, did not mind whatever advantages they could squeeze out of
this tight environment. The regimen of industrial licensing and tariff
regulations, for example, enabled the top brass of the civil service
to emerge as dispensers of favours to the private sector.
And since it was a full-blown democracy, the neo-liberals had never
given up their hope to conquer India. The Bretton Woods institutions
provided short- and long- term external credit. While extending
credit, they would preach the virtues of liberal economic ideas. The
civil servants were more than eager to endorse such external advice.
They could not proceed beyond a point because of the reservations
expressed by ruling politicians.
History cannot be rewritten. It is nonetheless useful to speculate how
circumstances would have shaped up had Indira Gandhi not been
assassinated in October 1984. Unlike her father, who had fond romantic
notions concerning economic self-reliance built on the edifice of
planning, Indira Gandhi was a cynic extraordinary; she had little
difficulty in mouthing socialist clichés and going ahead to
nationalize banks. while at the same time, without batting an eye,
signing after-hours concordats with private tycoons. While no
ideologue, she had pride, and a fierce ego. What was more, she never
forgot a slight. Lyndon B. Johnson treated her with condescension, and
Richard Nixon had called her a bitch. If she had to face a 1991-like
situation, with the country’s foreign exchange reserves down to a
couple of billion dollars and no Soviet Union in existence to hold her
hand, she would perhaps have still manoeuvred her way out of a total
capitulation; she would have certainly vetoed proposals from the
bureaucracy to go all the way to propitiate the Western masters. The
callow politicians of Doon School vintage who took over following her
assassination had moved very far away from Jawaharlal Nehru’s airy-
fairy ideology; they had no memory at all of the pledges of the
national movement woven around the theme of independent economic
development; Indira Gandhi’s personal hang-ups were not theirs either.
It was triumphant hour for the ‘there is no alternative’ — TINA —
brigade, who used the pretext of balance of payments difficulties to
embrace full-scale globalization.
Actually, there was an alternative; it lay in cutting the country’s
annual import bill by three to four per cent of the GDP. This would
have called for a social and economic regime. Altogether anathema to
the epicureans holding power in New Delhi at that juncture. The
Congress therefore became easy prey to the allure of globalization cum
liberalization. The Bharatiya Janata Party, that minor constituency of
the Swadeshi Jagran Manch excepting, happily went along.
The present prime minister, therefore, need not strain himself
overmuch to identify the parties responsible for our current mess.
They consisted of himself and his friends who took charge of the
nation’s economic affairs with effect from the beginning of the final
decades of the last century.
It is too late to suggest to him that, on occasion, non-globalization
can be a life-saver for a nation. Even so, consider the lines of the
Great Depression. The Soviet Union was still a pariah; the Western
nations would not have any economic relations with it. And that fact
actually saved the Soviet Union from disaster. While the US and Europe
sunk deep into recession and when long hunger marches by the
unemployed comprised the commonest of sights in the rest of the world,
the self- reliant Soviet Union registered a remarkably high rate of
economic growth accompanied by near- full employment during the same
period.
Contrast that piece of historical evidence with what is happening to
fully liberalized Russia at this moment. The bottom has fallen out of
its share markets, the foreign exchange reserves of the country have
declined precipitously in the course of the past two months, foreign
borrowings by the exciting new generation of private capitalists have
catapulted, there are bankruptcies galore, and lay-offs rise every
day. Economic liberalism is a hard task master. We Indians too are
learning that lesson even as our prime minister goes a-hunting for
scapegoats.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081107/jsp/opinion/story_10075412.jsp
Foreseeing the course of events, Ulyanov Lenin, from about the end
of September, 1917, pressed the central committee of the Bolshevik
Party to organize an armed insurrection and seize power. After some
resistance, the committee approved Lenin's policy. Lenin wanted to
make revolution now. Trotsky wanted to pair it with the meeting of the
All Russian Soviet. Under the lawful cloak of a broadly elected,
popular-representative body, the Soviets, the conspiracy could be
planned and prepared with a degree of carefulness which made Lenin's
plan for a spontaneous coup by the Party appear to be an irresponsible
adventure.
The Soviets assumed the right to decide on troop movement in St.
Petersburg area without anyone being able to challenge their illegal
actions. On October 26, the Soviets established a Military
Revolutionary Committee with Leon Trotsky as chairman. Thus Trotsky
became the chief of the general staff of the Bolshevik insurrection.
On October 20, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks left Kerensky's Preliminary
Parliament. The new Bolshevik slogans were "Petrograd is in danger",
"Revolution is in danger", "People are in danger"!
On October 21, Lenin returned secretly to the city to participate
in the Central Committee meeting of October 23. This was a historic
meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Only 12
people were present and accounted for. Ten of them voted for immediate
revolution, thus completely isolating the two democratic holdouts,
Kamenev and Zenoviev. A cabinet, known as the Council of People's
Commissars, was set up with Lenin as chairman, Trotsky as foreign
commissar, Rykov as interior commissar, and Stalin as commissar of
nationalities. Kamenev and Zenoviev resigned a few days later.
The All Russian Soviet Congress was supposed to meet on November
2, but the Menshevik majority decided to postpone to November 7, which
enormously helped the Bolsheviks. They had a week to prepare the
insurrection. The Insurrection proper took place on the evening of
November 6. St. Petersburg regiments voted to take orders only from
Trotsky as the representative of the Military Revolutionary Committee.
The government delivered a counter-stroke on November 6 by
occupying the newspaper offices of the Bolsheviks, but this merely
gave Trotsky an excuse to strike the first blow. The revolution began
without a shot. Insurgent troops occupied all bridges, railroad
stations, post offices and other public buildings. Armed workers,
soldiers, and sailors stormed the Winter Palace, headquarters of the
Provisional Government. Although the seizure of power involved tens of
thousands of men and women, it was virtually bloodless.
On the evening of November 6, the Soviet Congress met as planned.
Though the Bolsheviks did not have an absolute majority, they could
rely on the support of the left wing Social Revolutionaries. The
sessions had hardly begun when the right wing Social Revolutionaries
and the Mensheviks expressed that the Congress could not continue to
meet under the threat of arms, which the bombardment of the Winter
Palace had just signaled. As a protest against the insurrection, they
left the hall. In so doing, they surrendered the territory to the
Bolsheviks. During the night of November 7-8 the government
surrendered.
The second congress immediately called for the end of hostilities,
gave private and church lands to village soviets, and abolished
private property. Moscow was soon taken by force, and local groups of
Bolshevik workers and soldiers gained control of most of the other
cities of Russia. The remaining members of the provisional government
were arrested (Kerensky had fled the country). Old marriage and
divorce laws were thrown away, the church was attacked, workers'
control was introduced into the factories, the banks were
nationalized, and a supreme economic council was formed to run the
economy.
With triumphant scorn Trotsky could now reject all cooperation
with the moderate Socialists; "Your role is played out," he shouted.
"Go where you belong from now on--into the rubbish-can of history." At
this point the left wing Mensheviks under Martov had no choice but to
leave the Congress too. The Bolsheviks now had an absolute majority
and could approve what had happened. The rising in St. Petersburg had
succeeded. The Bolsheviks were in power.
The second revolution, which opened with the armed insurrection of
November 7 and 8, organized by the Bolshevik Party against the
Provisional Government, effected a change in all economic, political,
and social relationships in Russian society; it is often entitled the
Bolshevik, or October Revolution.
This week in Russian history... 7-13 November
November 7
1917 The October Revolution erupted on this day. The revolution began
with an armed insurrection in Petrograd and gave power to the Soviets.
The revolution was led by the Bolsheviks whose forces captured the
Winter Palace.
November 8
1986 Vyacheslav Mo­lo­tov died this day. In the twenties he climbed to
governing bodies as Sta­lin's protege. He was a leading figure in the
government until 1957 when he was dismissed from Presidium of the
Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev. In 1939, he signed the well-
known Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Given this treaty and secret protocol
Poland, Finland and the Baltic States were subject to partition
between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union; it also implied the Soviet
annexation of Bessarabia. This agreement let Hitler invade in Poland
on September 1.


North Korea says ready for dialogue with new U.S. administration
16:10 07/11/2008 |A senior North Korean diplomat said the country is
ready for dialogue with the U.S., in Pyongyang's first official
reaction to the election of Barack Obama.

Russia commemorates legendary 1941 Red Square parade
15:54 07/11/2008 |A parade took place on Moscow's Red Square on Friday
to commemorate the legendary military parade of 1941 and in honor of
the country's World War II effort.

November 9
1818 Ivan Turge­nev was born this day. He is recognized as one of the
major 19th century Rus­sian novelists. He began with his "A
Sportsman's Sket­ches" (1852), short stories based on his peasant life
experience. The writer was deeply concerned about the future of his
native land, which he embodied in his works: "Rudin" (1856), "Home of
the Gentry" (1859), "On the Eve" (1860), and "Fathers and
Sons" (1862). All offer realistic, affectionate portrayals of the
Russian peasantry and penetrating studies of the Russian cream society
who were attempting to move the country into a new age. Turgenev is
also known for his lyrics in prose, among which is the most striking
one ‘How beautiful were once the roses.' Couched in generalities,
Turgenev's themes are close to those of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky,
although he did not approve of religious and moral preoccupations.
November 10
1933 Ivan Bunin was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for the
strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian
traditions in prose writing".
November 12
1727 Ivan Shuvalov's birthday. He is recognized as the Maecenas of the
Russian Enlightenment. He was also Russia's first Minister of
Education; theatre, university, and academy of arts were instituted
with his active participation.
November 13
1851 The second oldest railway in Russia, The Moscow to Saint
Petersburg Railway, was opened this day. The construction was
supervised by Pavel Melnikov.
Compiled by Daria Chernyshova
http://www.mnweekly.ru/national/20081106/55355334.html

The Week In Review
Barack Obama President-elect : Remember for ever the Fourth of
November
-- PARAMANAND SOOBARAH
The skinny kid with a funny name and a black face has done it: he has
been elected the 44th President of America. This has been the greatest
social event of not just the week or the month, but of last hundred
years. Writing as I do for the younger generation, and knowing a thing
or two about discrimination myself, I think it would be useful for
them to understand this event in its proper context – the technical
details of the election are easily available in the media.
Discrimination against people on the grounds of race, colour,
community, caste or creed has disappeared officially from Mauritius a
long time ago, and has indeed been made illegal since Independence.
But I have personally met with it, but in a milder form than what
existed in South Africa or the USA. In the latter country, the
punishment of lynching was practised from time to time on Blacks by
crowds of white members or sympathisers of the white racist
organisation Ku Klux Klan. Freedom and peaceful existence for black
people who were descended from slaves was a distant dream.
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and his dream
You must have surely heard of the great black civil rights leader
Martin Luther King. He was active during the 1950s and 60s. He also
dreamt about equality and dignity for people of colour. When he
announced his dream to a mammoth crowd at Lincoln's Memorial in
Washington D.C. in 1963, he had never thought of the practical
possibility of a black person ever being elected to the highest office
in the land in less than half a century.
In those days black people were always referred to as "Negroes", and
that was the word which he also used in his speech. The more
politically-correct term "African American" had not yet been invented.
Black people were systematically subjected to police brutality and
were not allowed to stay in hotels and motels; areas were marked off
in public places, schools and other places with "Whites Only" signs
which were forbidden to them and in many states they had no right to
vote. Martin Luther King launched his movement in support of his
dream, which was that, one day, black children and white children
would be able to attend the same school and play together, that the
descendants of slaves would be able to sit down at table with the
descendants of slave-owners, and that his "four little children will
one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour
of their skin but by the content of their character".
And he summed up his dream as follows: "With this faith, we will be
able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work
together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail
together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be
free one day." At the end, he sang "Let freedom ring", and the crowd
joined in.
The Maker of Miracles has brought the dream off
Hundreds of thousands who were with him and the millions in America
and in the world who saw on TV or heard him on radio on that day are
still around, and watched with disbelief how Barack Obama, a black
man, has become President-elect of the United States of America. They
watched in amazement how quickly Martin Luther King’s dreams have come
true in such full and overflowing measure, and thanked the Lord for
it. Many were not able to hold back their tears, and not ashamed to
own it or to let them be seen. Jessie Jackson, who was there with
Martin Luther King when he announced his dream, was seen worldwide on
TV with tears streaming down his cheeks. The battle-hardened Colin
Powell, who investigated and surely learnt the minutest details of the
massacre of 500 civilians, including mainly old men, women and
children, in the village of My Lai in Vietnam in 1968, and who must
also have received all the details of the massacre of Palestinian
civilians in the refugee camp at Jenin in 2002, and had hard-heartedly
denied both massacres, could hardly restrain his tears when he was
being interviewed on TV about the results of the election; he even
acknowledged that all members of his family including himself had
broken down in on learning the news. It was a pleasure to see even
Condolleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, one of the closest allies
of President George W. Bush, announcing her immense satisfaction and
pleasure at the election of Barack Obama, holding back her tears with
great effort. A truly momentous occasion. We have witnessed history
being made.
Why do we welcome the Lord's bounty with tears?
To know why tears well up in a situation where rapturous joy and
dancing are expected, one must go back in time. It had been driven so
deep the minds of black people worldwide by white people who had
enslaved them that God had created them deliberately inferior for the
purpose of serving white people, that many had come to believe it. But
this was totally false, for they were capable of suffering both
physical and mental pain, and felt fully the minutest attack on their
dignity, even though for three centuries they had been kept as slaves.
During the Independence struggle from Britain, Englishman Thomas
Paine, a giant who influenced both the French Revolution and the
American struggle for Independence, called for the liberation of
slaves, but his advice was not heeded.
Then nearly a century later there came along President Abraham Lincoln
who called upon all the States of the Union to liberate their slaves.
The Southern States disagreed and President Lincoln took them on in a
bloody Civil War which lasted from 1861 to 1864, and defeated them.
"OK, you win" said the Southern States, "but we'll free the slaves on
our own conditions. Whites and Blacks will have to lead separate
lives." So they enacted their so-called Jim Crow laws, which made it
legal for local administrations, companies and institutions to require
that black people could not use facilities and services intended for
whites. They were also subjected to all sorts of cruel and degrading
forms of treatment. But the Blacks did not take this lying down, and
took their fights to the courts. Regrettably, in the Plessy v.
Ferguson case in 1896, the court ruled that the principle of "separate
but equal" which the Jim Crow laws represented in their view was
perfectly valid. In 1899, the court's ruling in the Cumming v.
Richmond County Board of Education case extended this principle to
schools, so that black children could not share the facilities
reserved for white children.
But the Blacks never stopped fighting. They formed organisations which
kept on opposing these inhuman laws. One of the earliest fighters was
Booker T. Washington. He was a self-made man who would have done any
community proud, except for the fact that he was black. When President
Theodore Roosevelt invited him to dinner in 1901, this was regarded as
an outrage by most Americans at the time (the blacks did not count as
human beings, and still less as Americans, in those days.)
The Civil Rights movement in earnest
In the 1950s, the Supreme of the United States changed in composition
and therefore also slightly changed their views. Two separate
developments took place. In 1954, they ruled in the Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas case that the education of black children
in separate schools was unconstitutional. In another development, on 1
December 1955, the brave 48-yr old Rosa Parks, a black woman member of
the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
(NAACP), refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man as the
law required -- she was arrested and fined $10. This act of defiance
is surprisingly reminiscent of Mahatma Gandhi's train misadventure at
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in 1893. Just as the train incident
provoked a revolution within Mahatma Gandhi himself and put him on the
satyagraha path, the Rosa Parks incident led to the Civil Rights
Movement in America. Many people joined the movement, and one of them,
the Revd Martin Luther King Jr, became its leader.
In 1957, an event occurred which attracted worldwide attention. In the
town of Little Rock, Arkansas, nine black students had been chosen to
attend Central High School because of their excellent grades. Although
in pursuance of the Brown v. Board Education Case ruling they were
entitled to attend, they received threats from various people and did
not attend – except one of them, a girl. When she turned up, she was
harassed and ill-treated and had to be rescued by the police. In the
days that followed, Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas, took position
against the Brown decision and against integration. That brought the
US President himself, then Dwight D. Eisenhower, into the picture and
he took action to ensure that the forces under the Governor (the
National Guard) did not intervene in an illegal act. For a few hours
the country held its breath fearing that the local forces would be
pitted against the national forces. This was the sort of effort that
was required to desegregate a school. The nine children did attend the
school, but were always harassed during their stay there. One of them
actually lost her temper one day: she spilled a bowl of chili on the
head of a white student who was harassing her during lunchtime. She
was expelled for it.
The Civil Rights March, 1963, and the dream speech, again
The meetings and demonstrations which the Civil Rights Movement held
under the guidance of Dr Martin Luther King in various towns and
cities up and down the States culminated in a very large march in
Washington on 28 August 1963. At the end the march, Dr King made the
famous dream speech referred to above. We return to the speech to
highlight an important aspect of it.
At the very beginning of it, Dr King said: "But there is something
that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which
leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our
rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not
seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the
high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative
protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must
rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul."
This wisdom of non-violence he had learned from Mahatma Gandhi, of
whose Satyagraha movement he had made a thorough study as it had
yielded Independence to India. Dr King's movement remained non-violent
throughout, and was joined or was sympathised with by many people from
the white community. The Kennedys and Vice-President Johnson were
great sympathisers. In the end it became a multi-racial movement.
The final abolition of the segregation laws
The agitation caused by the movement finally led to concrete results.
President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had taken over the Presidency
following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, was, as we
have seen, a strong supporter of the movement, and under his strong
pressure Congress voted, in 1964, to repeal the Jim Crow laws and
extend franchise rights to black people. Winning the victory in
Congress and in the law courts did not mean the immediate eradication
of the discrimination but intellectuals in the white community
acknowledged the evil nature of the practice. Those opposed to the
movement murdered Dr King but that did not end the social action,
which continued under the leadership of others. In the seventies the N-
word was gradually replaced by the term "African American"; this is
now regularly used to identify people of black ethnicity.
In the decades that followed many black people educated themselves and
improved their material conditions. But by and large, they are the
people who still have the greatest number of poor, of the sick,
particularly with aids, and of criminals, young and old, in prison.
One skinny young man, you would think all black but he had a white
mother and grand-mother who helped educate him and build his
character, who ended up studying at Columbia University and Harvard
Law School, decided he would devote his life to serving the poor,
practically all black, in Chicago. The experience he acquired in that
work was so solid that he was able to use that to get elected to the
Illinois Senate in 1996, where he served three terms.
In 2004 he was nominated Democratic Party candidate for the Senate
from Illinois, and he was also invited to give the keynote address at
the Democratic Party National Convention at Boston, Massachusetts. He
titled his speech: "The Audacity of Hope," and his oratory as well as
the points he made propelled him to national attention. His speech set
him out as a uniter and not a divider. "There's not a liberal America
and a conservative America – there's a United States of America." He
was himself against the Iraq war, but he spoke both of those who
supported the war and of those who opposed it as "patriots". Later in
the year he was elected to the US Senate from Illinois and moved to
Washington, D.C.
Watching the developments in the United States and in the world, he
became convinced that a change of direction was required in the
running of the country. He was not happy with the health care
available to the poor, nor with the difficulties faced by the middle
class while the very rich went on making billions of dollars. He was
also not happy with the country's energy policies, or with its
attitude towards climate change or with the war in Iraq. And it was
evident to him as it was by then to most Americans that the prestige
of America in the world had reached a very low ebb, totally unworthy
of such a great country. He knew that Hilary Clinton was a candidate
for the Democratic Party's nomination, but on reflection he came to
the conclusion that America needed him. And so he launched himself
into the campaign.
In Febrary 2007, he announced that he would seek the Party's
nomination. A gruelling primary season followed which pitted him
against the establishment of the Party. But he had one advantage that
Hilary did not: for purely ethnical reasons many African Americans who
had previously supported the Clintons switched over to his side. He
received, very notably, the support of famous TV host Oprah Winfrey,
"not because he was black, but because he was brilliant." The
brilliance has become more and more apparent as the months have passed
by. We have reported on these events at some lengths these last few
months, and there is little point in going over them. His acceptance
speech at the Democratic Party Nomination in Denver, Colorado on
August 28, 2008 remains a masterpiece of oratory.
The Presidential Campaign

His struggle against Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential
candidate, was by and large fairly civilised, although many in the
Republican Party raised issues that could only be described as
calumnious. In the absence of Barack Obama, John McCain would
certainly have been a good President. But he comes from a party that
is associated with the financial meltdown, and he still believes in
the free market and trickle-down economics that has brought ruin upon
America and on the world. But perhaps the greatest weakness of Senator
McCain was the Vice-President he had chosen.

Sarah Palin is certainly a capable Governor of Alaska, but she does
not have the breath of knowledge required of any person operating from
Washington. She was the butt of the comedy shows. Her ill-luck would
have it that comedian Tina Fey of the heavily watched Saturday Night
Live show is almost a look alike; in short bits of the show broadcast
around the world, people found it very difficult to distinguish the
real Sarah Palin from the comedian; the latter really made her look
very ridiculous.

We have already spoken about Palin's intellectual limitations. It now
appears that she was even worse. Palin thought that Africa was one
country -- she did not know about continents. She was unable to name
the countries even in her own continent North America, perhaps the
easiest of all general knowledge questions that any 11-yr old around
the world can answer correctly. One wonders whether she had ever
looked at a terrestrial globe. Even her claim about her mastery of
international relations because she could see Russia from her window
rested on untrue evidence. In the event of Senator John McCain having
been elected President, Sarah Palin would have been one heartbeat away
from the presidency. God be praised for the final outcome.

We must stress that we do not believe that this need be the end of
Sarah Palin. She is obviously a very intelligent person who can learn
if she puts her mind to it. She can also energise her party as even
Senator McCain cannot. She will probably be back in 2012.

Barack Obama, President-elect

On Tuesday night, late in the evening when it became clear that to him
that he had lost the race, Senator McCain gave an outstandingly
gracious "concession" speech; he asked all who had voted for him to
bring their cooperation to the new President.

Shortly thereafter, President-elect Barack Obama appeared on a wide
rostrum at Grant Park, Chicago to address the 200,000+ crowd that had
come to celebrate his victory. Assurances were earlier given that
precautions had been taken to guarantee his security; given past
experience, many were quite concerned about this. When Barack Obama
appeared and spoke, all were impressed, even overwhelmed by his
serious bearing. He did smile but only when he had just walked in and
then not much. He spoke in a sombre tone; there was not a shadow of
gloating or triumphalism in his voice or his bearing. One felt that he
had been overawed by his success, and that he had seen the titanic
responsibilities awaiting him. Myself, a Hindu, got the impression
that he had, like Prince Arjun in the chariot on the battlefield of
Kurukshetra, seen God Almighty and the Universe and everything it
contains in the mouth of the Lord.

When he spoke, his words rang out like short peals of thunder. "To
those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those
who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who
have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we
proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from
the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the
enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and
unyielding hope."

He thanked all who helped him and acknowledged the support he had
received from his family. He also had some very gracious words for
Senator McCain. When he had done, he walked away, and must have
started working almost immediately.

Back to the source

For those to whom this may mean something, Barack Obama is an ardent
admirer of Mahatma Gandhi. Anybody studying Martin Luther King, the
architect of the change in community relations in America, must
perforce make his way ultimately to Mahatma Gandhi. He is reported to
have written the following in an article: "In my life, I have always
looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodied the
kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people
come together to do extraordinary things...That is why his portrait
hangs in my Senate office; to remind me that real results will not
just come from Washington, they will come from the people."

God Speed, Barack Obama!

http://www.mauritiustimes.com/071108soobarah.htm



The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.


d. The New Context of the 18th Century

Outside Europe, the older pattern of the rise and decline of major
states continued, with the predominant gunpowder states entering
periods of reduced effectiveness. However, in Europe, the development
of the centralized monarchies opened the way for growing power at the
beginning of the great socioeconomic transformations of early
modernization. 1

1700–1800

NON-EUROPEAN EMPIRES. The OTTOMAN EMPIRE continued to be a major power
but lost a series of wars and considerable territory, especially to
Russia and Habsburg Austria. The administrative system and the
military became increasingly ineffective as corruption and internal
rivalries grew. Local governors in Egypt, North Africa, and the
Balkans grew more independent, and attempts at administrative and
military reform had little effect. Finally, a more comprehensive
reform effort strongly influenced by European models as undertaken by
SELIM III (1789–1807), but he was overthrown by conservative opponents
of reform (See 1789–1807). The MUGHAL EMPIRE experienced succession
conflicts and the growing power of provincial governors (See 1526–1761
(1857)). Mughal authority was seriously threatened by a revival of
Hindu forces under the Marathas and the Rajputs and the emergence of
the SIKHS as a new militant religious community (See 1500). However,
the expansion of European powers brought the Mughal Empire to an end.
Portuguese influence declined and was replaced by the growing power of
the EAST INDIA COMPANIES (See 1761, Jan. 14) of the British, French,
and Dutch. In a series of conflicts, the British ultimately defeated
the Dutch (1759) and the French (1763). The English East India Company
gained full control of Bengal and Bihar by 1764 but ruled in the name
of the Mughal emperor. By the early 19th century, the British
controlled nearly all of India. The formal end of the Mughal Empire
followed a major revolt in many areas of northern India in 1857–58.
The last Mughal was deposed, and in 1858 THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT
by the British Parliament created direct rule by the monarch of
England, ending government by the East India Company and the Mughals.
Other major non-European empires also declined during the 18th
century. The collapse of the Safavid state in Iran brought a period of
warfare and disunity to Iran. By the end of the 18th century, the Qing
dynasty in China exhibited the characteristics of decline. The
strength of the military was reduced; the bureaucracy became
increasingly corrupt and inefficient. Large-scale revolts, like that
of the White Lotus Society (1796–1804), emphasized the growing
weakness of the empire (See 1796–1804). 2
EMERGING GREAT POWERS. Some states in Europe made an important
transition during the 18th century to new centralized systems that
could draw strength from the growing commercialization of society and
the beginnings of industrialization. As a result, by the end of the
century, France, Great Britain, and Prussia, along with the Russian
Empire, displaced Spain, Habsburg Austria, and Portugal as major
powers in European and global affairs. The Dutch Republic became a
preeminent commercial power with large overseas possessions but was
not a significant military presence. 3

ROYAL ABSOLUTISM was the primary force in developing strong central
governments in some of the emerging powers. FRANCE was earliest, with
the effective absolutism of LOUIS XIV (r. 1643–1715), but his
successors were less effective and French monarchical absolutism came
to an end with the FRENCH REVOLUTION, beginning in 1789 (See
Overview). During the reign of Frederick II, the Great (1740–86),
Prussian royal absolutism and great-power status were confirmed.
RUSSIA modernization, centralization, and expansion in both Europe and
Asia were strengthened by CATHERINE THE GREAT (r. 1762–96) as Russia
became a major intercontinental power, with some overseas expansion
into North America and northern Pacific islands. The AUSTRIAN
HABSBURGS gained territories at the expense of weaker neighbors like
Poland and the Ottoman Empire, but were less successful than Prussia
and Russia in improving the effectiveness of their royal absolutism.
The reforms and policies of Maria Theresa (r. 1740–80) and Joseph II
(r. 1780–90) were not sufficient to create administrative unity among
the scattered Habsburg domains. In SPAIN and PORTUGAL reform efforts
by leaders like the Marquis de Pombal in Portugal failed to revive
effective state power. In POLAND the state simply ceased to exist as
nobles limited the ability of monarchs to institute reforms and
Russia, Prussia, and Austria took control of all of Poland in three
partitions (1772, 1793, 1795) (See 1794, March 24). 4
PARLIAMENTARY STATES. The centralized parliamentary state in ENGLAND
provided the effective support for expansion. English colonial
settlements in North America and the expansion of the East India
Company in India created a global empire during the 18th century.
After its successful revolt against Habsburg control at the beginning
of the 17th century, the DUTCH REPUBLIC emerged as a significant
commercial power. The Dutch created an overseas empire with holdings
in North and South America, South Africa, and the Indian Ocean basin,
especially in southeast Asia; its wealth made it an important
political force in Europe. By the middle of the 18th century, it had
become a minor European power and its commercial preeminence was lost
to Britain, although the Dutch still maintained a small but important
overseas empire. 5
“WORLD WARS” OF THE 18TH CENTURY. Many of the conflicts among the
European powers involved clashes beyond the European continent. They
were primarily European wars fought on a global scale, with two chief
lines of conflict: the struggle for continental domination in Europe
and the battle for control of overseas colonies and naval access to
them. In the continental struggle, France, Prussia, and Russia became
the great powers, and in global maritime empires, Great Britain was
the major force. The European names of the most important global wars
in creating this power structure are the War of the Spanish Succession
(1701–14) (See 1701–14), which began the reduction of French power in
North America; the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) (See 1740–
48); and the Seven Years' War (1756–63), which resulted in France's
loss of most of its overseas empire in India and North America;
finally, there were the wars of the era of the French Revolution and
Napoleon (See Overview), which were fought in North America, Asia, and
Africa as well as in Europe.
http://www.bartleby.com/67/578.html

The British Presence in India in the 18th Century
By Professor Peter Marshall
A wall carving of a battle between British and Indian soldiers At the
start of the 18th century, the East India Company's presence in India
was one of trade outposts. But by the end of the century, the Company
was militarily dominant over South India and rapidly extending
northward.

Page 1 of 6

1. East India Company
2. Regional politics
3. A new empire in India
4. Company government
5. Territorial expansion
6. Find out more
Print entire article
East India Company
British involvement in India during the 18th century can be divided
into two phases, one ending and the other beginning at mid-century. In
the first half of the century, the British were a trading presence at
certain points along the coast; from the 1750s they began to wage war
on land in eastern and south-eastern India and to reap the reward of
successful warfare, which was the exercise of political power, notably
over the rich province of Bengal. By the end of the century British
rule had been consolidated over the first conquests and it was being
extended up the Ganges valley to Delhi and over most of the peninsula
of southern India. By then the British had established a military
dominance that would enable them in the next fifty years to subdue all
the remaining Indian states of any consequence, either conquering them
or forcing their rulers to become subordinate allies.

'...India became the focal point of the Company's trade.'
At the beginning of the 18th century English commerce with India was
nearly a hundred years old. It was transacted by the East India
Company, which had been given a monopoly of all English trade to Asia
by royal grant at its foundation in 1600. Through many vicissitudes,
the Company had evolved into a commercial concern only matched in size
by its Dutch rival. Some 3000 shareholders subscribed to a stock of £3
200 000; a further £6 million was borrowed on short-term bonds; twenty
or thirty ships a year were sent to Asia and annual sales in London
were worth up to £2 million. Twenty-four directors, elected annually
by the shareholders ran the Company's operations from its headquarters
in the City of London.

Towards the end of the 17th century India became the focal point of
the Company's trade. Cotton cloth woven by Indian weavers was being
imported into Britain in huge quantities to supply a worldwide demand
for cheap, washable, lightweight fabrics for dresses and furnishings.
The Company's main settlements, Bombay, Madras and Calcutta were
established in the Indian provinces where cotton textiles for export
were most readily available. These settlements had evolved from
'factories' or trading posts into major commercial towns under British
jurisdiction, as Indian merchants and artisans moved in to do business
with the Company and with the British inhabitants who lived there.

Regional politics
The East India Company's trade was built on a sophisticated Indian
economy. India offered foreign traders the skills of its artisans in
weaving cloth and winding raw silk, agricultural products for export,
such as sugar, the indigo dye or opium, and the services of
substantial merchants and rich bankers. During the 17th century at
least, the effective rule maintained by the Mughal emperors throughout
much of the subcontinent provided a secure framework for trade.

'The Mughal empire had disintegrated...'
The Company's Indian trade in the first half of the 18th century
seemed to be established on a stable and profitable basis. Those who
directed its affairs in London could see no case for military or
political intervention to try to change the status quo. The British
did, however, start to intervene in Indian politics from the 1750s,
and revolutionary changes in their role in India were to follow. This
change of course can best be explained partly in terms of changed
conditions in India and partly as a consequence of the aggressive
ambitions of the local British themselves.

Conditions in India were certainly changing. The Mughal empire had
disintegrated and was being replaced by a variety of regional states.
This did not produce a situation of anarchy and chaos, as used once to
be assumed. Some of the regional states maintained stable rule and
there was no marked overall economic decline throughout India.

'A successful kingmaker...could become prodigiously rich.'
There were, however, conflicts within some of the new states.
Contestants for power in certain coastal states were willing to seek
European support for their ambitions and Europeans were only too
willing to give it. In part, they acted on behalf of their companies.
By the 1740s rivalry between the British and the French, who were late
comers to Indian trade, was becoming acute. In southern India the
British and the French allied with opposed political factions within
the successor states to the Mughals to extract gains for their own
companies and to weaken the position of their opponents. Private
ambitions were also involved. Great personal rewards were promised to
the European commanders who succeeded in placing their Indian clients
on the thrones for which they were contending. A successful kingmaker,
like Robert Clive, could become prodigiously rich.

A new empire in India

Monument at the Plassey battlefield The Anglo-French conflicts that
began in the 1750s ended in 1763 with a British ascendancy in the
southeast and most significantly in Bengal. There the local ruler
actually took the Company's Calcutta settlement in 1756, only to be
driven out of it by British troops under Robert Clive, whose victory
at Plassey in the following year enabled a new British satellite ruler
to be installed. British influence quickly gave way to outright rule
over Bengal, formally conceded to Clive in 1765 by the still
symbolically important, if militarily impotent, Mughal emperor.
'...the governors of the Company's commercial settlements became
governors of provinces...'
What opinion in Britain came to recognise as a new British empire in
India remained under the authority of the East India Company, even if
the importance of the national concerns now involved meant that the
Company had to submit to increasingly close supervision by the British
state and to periodical inquiries by parliament. In India, the
governors of the Company's commercial settlements became governors of
provinces and, although the East India Company continued to trade,
many of its servants became administrators in the new British regimes.
Huge armies were created, largely composed of Indian sepoys but with
some regular British regiments. These armies were used to defend the
Company's territories, to coerce neighbouring Indian states and to
crush any potential internal resistance.
Company government
Inscription on a stone laid by the Honourable Warren Hastings The new
Company governments were based on those of the Indian states that they
had displaced and much of the effective work of administration was
initially still done by Indians. Collection of taxes was the main
function of government. About one third of the produce of the land was
extracted from the cultivators and passed up to the state through a
range of intermediaries, who were entitled to keep a proportion for
themselves.
In addition to enforcing a system whose yield provided the Company
with the resources to maintain its armies and finance its trade,
British officials tried to fix what seemed to them to be an
appropriate balance between the rights of the cultivating peasants and
those of the intermediaries, who resembled landlords. British judges
also supervised the courts, which applied Hindu or Islamic rather than
British law. There was as yet little belief in the need for outright
innovation. On the contrary, men like Warren Hastings, who ruled
British Bengal from 1772 to 1785, believed that Indian institutions
were well adapted to Indian needs and that the new British governments
should try to restore an 'ancient constitution', which had been
subverted during the upheavals of the 18th century. If this were done,
provinces like Bengal would naturally recover their legendary past
prosperity.
'The ignorance and superstition...should be challenged...'
By the end of the century, however, opinions were changing. India
seemed to be suffering not merely from an unfortunate recent history
but from deeply ingrained backwardness. It needed to be 'improved' by
firm, benevolent foreign rule. Various strategies for improvement were
being discussed. Property relations should be reformed to give greater
security to the ownership of land. Laws should be codified on
scientific principles. All obstacles to free trade between Britain and
India should be removed, thus opening India's economy to the stimulus
of an expanding trade with Europe. Education should be remodelled. The
ignorance and superstition thought to be inculcated by Asian religions
should be challenged by missionaries propagating the rationality
embodied in Christianity. The implementation of improvement in any
systematic way lay in the future, but commitment to governing in
Indian ways through Indians was waning fast.
Territorial expansion
The conquests that had begun in the 1750s had never been sanctioned in
Britain and both the national government and the directors of the
Company insisted that further territorial expansion must be curbed.
This proved a vain hope. The Company's new domains made it a
participant in the complex politics of post-Mughal India. It sought to
keep potential enemies at a distance by forming alliances with
neighbouring states. These alliances led to increasing intervention in
the affairs of such states and to wars fought on their behalf. In
Warren Hastings's period the British were drawn into expensive and
indecisive wars on several fronts, which had a dire effect on the
Company's finances and were strongly condemned at home. By the end of
the century, however, the Company's governor general, Richard
Wellesley, soon to be Marquess Wellesley, was willing to abandon
policies of limited commitment and to use war as an instrument for
imposing British hegemony on all the major states in the subcontinent.
A series of intermittent wars was beginning which would take British
authority over the next fifty years up to the mountains of Afghanistan
in the west and into Burma in the east.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/east_india_06.shtml

South Asian History: Pages from the History of India

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsung Heroes of the Indian Freedom Struggle (1763-1856)
(A Brief Summary)
While much has been written on the Indian Freedom Movement as led by
the Congress and Gandhi, little is known of the numerous uprisings by
peasants, tribal communities, princely states and other isolated
revolutionary acts of resistance against the British. Heroic acts of
resistance against the British during1763 to 1857 are almost unknown.
The following is a listing of armed revolts that were brutally
suppressed by the British as the East Indian Company consolidated it's
rule in the century preceding the 1857 revolt:-
Sanyal Revolt : 1763-1800
Dhaka: 1763
Rajshahi: 1763-4
Cooch Bihar: 1766
Patna: 1767
Jalpaiguri, Rangpur and surroundings: 1766-69, 1771, 1776
Purnea: 1770-71
Mymensingh: 1773
Midnapur: 1766-7
Dhalbhum Rajas: 1766-7
Peasant's Revolt, Tripura: 1766-8
(led by Shamsher Ghazi in Roshanabad)
Sandip Islands: 1769-70
(S. of Noakhali)
Moamarias, Jorhat/Rangpur: 1769-99
Chakmas, Chittagong: 1776-89
Gorakhpur, Basti and Bahraich: 1781
Rangpur Peasants: 1783
Sylhet: 1787-99
Radharam: 1787
Khasi revolt: 1788
Agha Muhammad Reza: 1799
Birbhum, Bishnupur: 1788-9
Bakarganj Peasants: 1792
Vizianagram: 1794
Poligars Uprising: 1795-1805
included Tinnevelly, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Sivagiri, Madurai, N.
Arcot
Chuar Peasants, Midnapur: 1799
Bednur: 1799-1800
Vaji Ali, Awadh: 1799
Ganjam, Gumsur: 1800, 1835-7
Palamau: 1800-2
Vellore Mutiny: 1806
Bhiwani: 1809
Naik Revolt: 1810-16
(in Bhograi, Midnapur)
Travancore: 1808-9
(under Velu Thambi)
Bundelkhand Chiefs: 1808-12
Abdul Rahman, Surat: 1810
Benaras Hartal/Agitation: 1810-11
Parlakimedi, W. Ganjam: 1813-34
Kutch: 1815-32
Rohilla Revolt: 1816
(included Bareilly, Pilbhit, Shahjahanpur, Rampur)
Hathras: 1817
Paiks: 1817-18
(included Cuttack, Khurda, Pipli, Puri)
Bhils: 1817-31, 1846, 1852
(included Khandesh, Dhar, Malwa)
Kols: 1820-37
(included Sighbhum, Chota Nagpur, Sambhalpur, Ranchi, Hazari Bagh,
Palamau, Chaibasa)
Mers, Marwar 1819-21
Gujars, Kunja: 1824
Sindgi, Bijapur: 1824
Bhiwani, Rewari, Hissar, Rohtak: 1824-26
Kalpi: 1824
Kittur, Belgaum: 1824-29
Kolis: 1828-30, 39, 1844-48
Ramosis, Pune: 1826-29
Garos: 1825-27, 1832-34
(Also known as the Pagal Panthis Revolt - in Sherpur, Mymensigh
distt.)
Assam: 1828-30
(included Gadadhar Singh 1828-30, Kumar Rupchand 1830)
Khasis: 1829-33
(led by Tirot Singh)
Sighphos: 1830-31, 43
(Assam/Burma border)
Akas: 1829, 1835-42
(Assam)
Wahabis: 1830-61
(spread from Bengal, Bihar to Punjab and NWFP)
Titu-Mir, 24-Parganas: 1831
Mysore Peasants: 1830-31
Vishakapatnam: 1830-33
Bhumij, Manbhum: 1832
Coorg: 1833-4
Gonds, Sambhalpur: 1833
Naikda, Rewa, Kantha: 1838
Farazis, Faripur: 1838-47
Khamtas, Sadiya-Assam: 1839
Surendra Sai, Sambhalpur: 1839-62
Badami: 1840
Bundelas, Sagar: 1842
Salt Riots, Surat: 1844
Gadkari, Kolhapur: 1844
Savantvadi, N. Konkan: 1844-59
Narasimha Reddy, Kurnool: 1846-7
Khonds, Orissa: 1848
Nagpur: 1848
Garos, Garo Hills: 1848-66
Abors, NE Hills: 1848-1900
Lushais, Lushai Hills: 1840-92
Nagas: Naga Hills: 1849-78
Umarzais: Bannu: 1850-2
Survey Riots: Khandesh: 1852
Saiyads of Hazara: 1852
Nadir Khan, Rawalpindi: 1853
Santhals: 1855-6
(included Rajmahal, Bhagalpur, Birbhum)
These revolts show how widespread the opposition to British colonial
rule was. Though fragmented, this opposition eventually crystallized
into a more sweeping and cohesive force that would eventually lead to
1857 - which provided a brief and faint glimmer of freedom that would
not be won untill almost a century later.
http://india_resource.tripod.com/revolts.html
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The introduction of this article does not adequately summarize the
article. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, it should
be expanded. (September 2008)
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
????? ?????? ????? ???


Capital
• Coordinates Peshawar
• 34°00'N 71°19'E? / ?34, 71.32
Population (2008)
• Density 6,500,000 (Estimate) [1]
• 115.3/km²
Area
27220 km²
Time zone PST (UTC+5)
Main language(s) Pashto (official)
Urdu (national)
Status Tribal Areas
• Districts • 7 Agencies
• Towns •
• Union Councils •
Established
• Governor/Commissioner
• Chief Minister
• Legislature (seats) 1st July 1970
• Owais Ahmed Ghani
• none
• none (n/a)
Website FATA

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan are areas
outside the four provinces bordering Afghanistan, comprising a region
of some 27,220 km² (10,507 sq mi). The other area of Pakistan also
outside the provinces is Azad Kashmir.
Contents [hide]
1 Geography
2 Governance
3 FATA before independence
3.1 Ancient history
3.2 Turko-Pashtun Era
3.3 Mughal Empire
3.4 Durrani Empire
3.5 Sikh Rule
3.6 British Raj
3.6.1 First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42)
3.6.2 Annexation of Sindh and the Punjab (1843-49)
3.6.3 Sandeman system
3.6.4 "Policy of Masterly Inactivity" or Close Border Policy
3.6.5 Forward Policy and Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-79)
3.6.6 Scientific Frontier and Durand Line (1893)
3.6.7 "Hit and Run" Policy and war with tribes (1897-98)
3.6.8 Withdrawal and concentration policy
4 FATA after Independence
4.1 1947–1979
4.2 1979–1991
4.2.1 Soviet invasion
4.2.2 Civil war
4.2.3 Taliban rule in Afghanistan and its influence on the FATA
4.3 2007 anti-militancy campaign
5 Extension of adult franchise to the FATA
6 Economy
6.1 Mining
6.2 Industrialization
6.3 Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs)
6.4 Irrigation projects
7 Education
8 Health
9 See also
10 References
11 External links


[edit] Geography

Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
District map of NWFP and FATA.The FATA are bordered by: Afghanistan to
the west with the border marked by the Durand Line, the North-West
Frontier Province and the Punjab to the east, and Balochistan to the
south.
The total population of the FATA was estimated in 2000 to be about
3,341,070 people, or roughly 2% of Pakistan's population. Only 3.1% of
the population resides in established townships.[2] It is the most
rural administrative unit in Pakistan.
The Tribal Areas comprise seven Agencies, namely Khyber, Kurram,
Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North and South areas of Waziristan and six
FRs (Frontier Regions) namely FR Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Tank, FR
Banuu, FR Lakki and FR Dera Ismail Khan. The main towns include
Miranshah, Razmak, Bajaur, Darra Bazzar, Ghalanai as Head Quareters of
Mohmand Agency and Wana .
The 7 tribal areas lie in a north-to-south strip that is adjacent to
the west side of the 6 frontier regions, which also lie in a north-to-
south strip. The areas within each of those 2 regions are
geographically arranged in a sequence from north to south.
The geographical arrangement of the 7 tribal areas in order from north
to south is: Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, North
Waziristan, South Waziristan. The geographical arrangement of the 6
frontier regions in order from north to south is: Peshawar, Kohat,
Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Dera Ismael Khan.
There are 20 legislators from FATA in the National Assembly and Senate
of Pakistan. (12 MNAs & 8 Senators.)
Name of the current governor is Awais Ahmad Ghani

[edit] Governance
The region is only nominally controlled by the central government of
Pakistan. In reality it is practically entirely controlled by the
Pashtons, the region is controlled by tribal elders.
The mainly Pashtun tribes that inhabit the areas are fiercely
independent but, until friction following the fall of the Taliban in
neighbouring Afghanistan, the tribes had friendly relations with
Pakistan's central government.[3] These Tribes are governed by the
Frontier Crimes Regulation introduced under the British Era. They are
represented both in Pakistan's lower house and in its upper house of
parliament. Previously, tribal candidates had no party affiliations
and could contest as independents, because the Political Parties Act
had not extended to the tribal areas. However, tribesmen were given
right to vote in the 1997 general elections despite the absence of a
Political Parties Act.
Historical populations
Census Population Urban
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1951 1,332,005 -
1961 1,847,195 1.33%
1972 2,491,230 0.53%
1981 2,198,547 -
1998 3,176,331 2.69%
The head of each tribal Agency is the Political Agent. The Agent
wields extensive powers. Each Agency, depending on its size, has about
2 to 3 Assistant Political Agents, about 3 to 4 Tehsildars and 4 to 9
Naib Tehsildars with the requisite supporting staff. Each FR is headed
by the DC/DCO (for FR Peshawar, DC/DCO Peshawar and so on). Under his
supervision there is one Assistant Political Agent and about 1 or 2
Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars, as well as support staff. Each Agency
has roughly 2 to 3 thousand Khasadars and levies and 5 to 9 Wings of
FC for maintenance of law and order in the Agency and borders
security.
About 30% of the FATA is inaccessible both politically and
administratively.[clarify]
"Tribal elders, local imams and governors known as political agents
[...] are the on-the-ground arbiters of all decisions in many
districts," according to a July 2007 report in The New York Times.
"The political agents are widely considered corrupt."[4]

[edit] FATA before independence
[edit] Ancient history
There are scant sources on the ancient history of the tribal belt,
excepting tribal annals. Successive invaders have passed through this
area or incorporated it within their empire. These included the Aryans
(before 500 BC), thereafter the Achaemenian (as a result of Cyrus the
Great's conquests), Graeco-Scythian invasions (324-320 BC) under
Alexander the Great, Mauryans (313-232 BC), Greco-Bactrians (185-90
BC), and Sakas from 97 BC. During the first millennium CE, Parthians,
Yue-chi (i.e. Kushans), Sassanians, White Huns and Turks followed in
succession. They have the admixture of various warriors who passed
through this area. For instance, the Afridis have "an admixture of
Greek blood."[5]
From 500 BCE to 200CE, Gandhara - the general area from Islamabad to
Kabul - was influenced by the Achaemenians. For the following century,
it was influenced by the Mauryans, and for the century after that it
was influenced by Graeco-Bactrians. Thereafter, Saka nomadic invaders
entered Gandhara. The Pashtun language, widely spoken in the region,
is probably a Saka dialect introduced from the north.[citation needed]
The region which includes "Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier of
Pakistan have seen perhaps more invasions in the course of history
than any other country in Asia, or indeed in the world."[6] During
this period, when the plains had been dominated by great powers, the
hill tracts and tribes continued to protect their independence.

[edit] Turko-Pashtun Era
The spread of Islam in the tribal belt dates back to the rise of the
Turkish dynasty in Ghazni from about 960 AD. Mahmud of Ghazni
conquered and incorporated areas of the subcontinent up to Lahore.
Ghorid Sultan Muizzuddin Muhammad, with his headquarters in Ghor,
subdued the north part of the subcontinent and was the founder of
Muslim supremacy in Delhi in 1206. The fall of the Ghorids was
followed by successive incursions of various forces from Central Asia.
The most notable of these were those of conquerors Genghis Khan in
1221 and of Timur in 1398.
The tribesmen formed the "spearhead of the Muslim penetration and
conquest of India, first as soldiers of fortune and later as powerful
kings, even as sultans and emperors."[citation needed] "The Turks were
a small band of chosen favourites; the soldiers, and later the rulers,
were Ghaljis or Afghans."[citation needed] Apart from the Turks, i.e.
Ghaznavids (1001–1186), Ghorids (1186–1290), and Tughlaqs (1321–1451),
three Afghan dynasties, i.e., Khaljis (1290–1321), Lodis (1451–1526)
and Suris (1539-55), had sat on the throne of Delhi. But their
authority did not extend over the tribal belt. Babur, the conqueror of
India and founder of the Mughal dynasty, wrote of the empire of Lodis
that "its writ did not run effectively west of the Indus, and it had
no control over the Afghan or Pashtun homelands from which its rulers
had originally come."[citation needed]
The Afghan dynasties who ruled in India "attracted many frontiersmen
to their banners."[citation needed] The firman (royal edict) of Bahlol
Lodhi (1451–1489), the ruler of Delhi, encouraging frontier tribes of
the northwest to take service in Delhi stated:
Hindustan can best be held by somebody who rules over a nation with
tribes. Let every Afghan tribesman bring his relatives leading a life
of indigence, let them come and take up estates in Hind, relieving
themselves from straitened circumstances, and supporting the State
against powerful enemies.[citation needed]
The declining flow of Pashtun(Afghan) warriors from the tribal belt
may be one of the important causes of their downfall.[citation needed]
The lack of support became obvious after the death of Sher Shah Suri
in 1555.

[edit] Mughal Empire
Babur (1526–1530), a descendant of Timur, came down from Central Asia
to Kabul in 1504. He was the founder of the Mughal dynasty (1526–1857)
in the subcontinent. The support of the tribesmen helped him in his
conquest of India. "In all these expeditions there is no doubt that
Babur's armies were greatly strengthened by tribal contingents
supplied by the Yusufzais and other tribes".[citation needed] Not only
Babur, but also the remaining Mughal rulers greatly "depended on
Afghan mercenaries". At the same time Babur's main adversaries were
the tribesmen on their own home ground. These stood on the lines of
communication which a prospective conqueror of Hindustan, who starts
from Central Asia, must secure and maintain through the hill country
intervening between Kabul and the Jihlam [Jhelum] River[7]. Many years
were to elapse before Babur could do this, and reading between the
lines of his story, we can see very clearly that he was in a continual
state of anxiety and annoyance over difficulties that in fact he was
never able entirely to resolve. Later emperors of his line were no
more successful in achieving enduring solutions."[citation needed]
Babur mentions the names of the local tribes in his autobiography,
this is the first time they were recorded.[citation needed] The
prominent ones mentioned by Babur are Yusufzais (Babur married a
Yusufzai woman), Afridis, Orakzais, Bangash, Turis, Dilazaks,
Mohmands, Gigianis, Muhammadzais, Lohanis, Niazis, Isa Khels, Ghaljis
and Wazirs. The Afridis live in Khyber, the Yusufzais in Swat and the
Samah, the Muhammadzis in Hashtnagar, the Bangashes around Hangu, the
Lohanis in the Daman, the Ghaljis around Ghazni. The Khattaks, who are
not mentioned by Babur with this name, live in the neighbourhood of
Bannu.
Babur could not master the territory bounded on the north by the Koh-i-
Sufaid down as far as Bannu, where Bangash, Turis, Wazirs live, as is
clear from his comments:
The tribes of Bangash lie out of the way, and do not willingly pay
taxes. Being occupied by many affairs of superior importance, such as
the conquest of Kandahar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Hindustan, I never
found leisure to apply myself to the settlement of Bangash. But if
Almighty God prosper my wishes, my first moment of leisure shall be
devoted to the settlement of that district, and of its plundering
neighbours.[citation needed]
He writes in a similar tone about Wazirs, but his hope of dominating
them was never fulfilled. Similarly, Akbar the Great (1556–1605) could
not prevail "in any decisive fashion against any of the tribes except
those who found it to their interest, in return for consideration, to
guard the King's highway."[citation needed] Thereafter "no serious
endeavour was made by any of his successors, or indeed by the Durranis
who followed to bring … any of the … mountain regions under
administrative subjection…"[citation needed]
During the reigns of Jehangir (1608–1627) and Shah Jahan (1628–1658),
the wars against the Yusufzais and hillmen continued. The Mughal
rulers were also fighting for the possession of Kandahar. The struggle
for Kandahar did not absolve the Mughals from the troubles in the
tribal area. Jehangir in the third year of his reign, in 1607, visited
Kabul. The most successful Mughal General Shah Beg who had taken
possession of Kandahar some twelve years back was given governance
over "the whole and troublous Sarkar of Kabul, Tirah, Bangash, Swat
and Bajaur, with entire control over the Afghans of these regions, an
assignment of their territories in jagir, and the title of Khan-i-
Dauran (Chief of the Age)".
Shah Jahan appointed one brave general, Said Khan from Kohat, as
governor of Kabul, and raised him to the rank of commander of 5000
cavalry. The North-West Frontier Province in general, especially
Khattaks along with a number of other tribes, were under revolt
against the last powerful Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (1658–1707).
Thereafter the Mughal emperors were too weak to think of an
adventurous course of controlling the tribes.[citation needed]

[edit] Durrani Empire
When Nadir Shah, the King of Persia, invaded India in 1739, the Afghan/
Pashtun contingent became the corps d'elite of his army, hence the
name "pusht: ribs or bones structure". The Afghan/Pashtun corps of
cavalry, numbering between 4000 and 16,000, was commanded by Nur
Muhammad Khan, an Abdali of Alizai clan. They accompanied the king to
India and "participated in all the dangers and successes of that
campaign."[citation needed] Ahmad Khan was the commander of the Abdali
contingent from Afghanistan. He was the bodyguard of King Nadir Shah
of Iran. When Nadir Shah, after his successful invasion of India, was
returning to Persia, the tribes had closed the defiles and besieged
him. His forces could not win against them in spite of loyal support
of Afghan Abdalis, and "had paid a heavy toll in cash to the
mountaineers" to get a passage. [8]
Nadir's support to Abdalis led to the jealousies of other ethnic
groups in Persia and he was murdered in 1747 by Muhammad Khan Qajar,
the founder of Qajar dynasty who succeeded him on the throne of
Persia. The commander of Abdali contingent Ahmed Khan, aged 24, forced
his way to the royal tent only to find Nadir dead. Ahmed Khan finding
his patron dead made his way to Kandhar and then to Kabul along with
his Abdali contingent. He is the founder of the independent kingdom of
Afghanistan in that year. He was a "born leader … he had himself
crowned as Ahmad Shah in Kandhar. He assumed the title Durr-i-Durran,
Pearl of Pearls… From that time his tribe, the Abdalis [which is a
branch of Saddozai clan] have been known as the Durranis."[citation
needed] Later he conquered and incorporated West Punjab and Kashmir in
his empire and thus under him Afghanistan and most of the present day
Pakistan were formed as one state.
Ahmad Shah Abdali (1747–1773) was the hero of the most important
battle of Panipat north of Delhi in 1761, which he fought with the
help of Pashtun tribesmen. He defeated the great army of the Maratha
confederacy. It was "one of the decisive battles of the world", for it
eliminated the prospects of Maratha domination over north India, it
hastened the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, facilitated the rise
of Sikhs in the Punjab, and finally paved the way for "the gradual
extension of British authority to Delhi and later to the
Panjab."[citation needed]
However, the tribal belt "remained a welter of warlike tribes … it was
the inexhaustible spring from which mercenary armies could be drawn".
[citation needed] Throughout history they have enjoyed independence or
a semi-independent status. The powerful rulers tried to subdue them
but eventually they had to compromise to give them a semi-independent
status. Even the Pathan dynasties ruling over India depended on
manpower from the tribal territories but their writ did not extend to
these territories.

[edit] Sikh Rule

The Durrani ruler of Lahore, Shah Zaman (1793–1800), the grandson of
Ahmad Shah under compulsion of infighting at Kabul withdrew from
Lahore in 1799 and appointed a Sikh leader, Ranjit Singh as his
viceroy. Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1799–1839) was an ambitious and
capable ruler. He established Sikh rule in the Punjab. When he could
not expand his empire towards east and south due to the presence of
English, he decided to move towards the west. He was able to overrun
the trans-Indus plains including Peshawar and Bannu.
When he decided to pass through the tribal belt and establish his rule
in Jalalabad and Kabul, several battles were fought. Finally, the
Sikhs were stopped in the hills around Jamrud where the tribes gave
them fierce battle. The Sikhs were defeated and retreated in 1837. It
was here that they lost their renowned general Hari Singh Nalwa, who
had earlier captured Bala Hissar (the citadel of Peshawar) in 1834.
The Sikhs' rule around Peshawar was not stable. They "possessed but
little influence in the trans-Indus tracts, and what influence they
had was confined to the plains. Even here they were obeyed only in the
immediate vicinity of their forts which studded the country". The
tribesmen checked the advance of Sikhs and safeguarded their
independence as always in the past.

[edit] British Raj
During early 19th century, the British had established their supremacy
over the subcontinent except Balochistan, Sindh and the northwest
tribal belt. All of these areas are now part of Pakistan. These were
practically independent but theoretically under Kabul. The NWFP west
of the tribal belt and the Punjab had become independent of Kabul
under Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh.
It was the period when Russia was advancing southwards in Central
Asia. The British government in London was perturbed and thought it an
"imminent peril to the security and tranquillity" of the Indian Empire
and asked the government of India to checkmate them. Thus began
British involvement with NWFP, its tribal belt and Afghanistan.

[edit] First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42)
It was understood both in London and Calcutta, which was then the
headquarters of the ruling East India Company, that the Emir of
Afghanistan was entering into secret negotiations with Russia.
Accordingly, in 1838, the Government of India declared war against
Afghanistan. Since Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Punjab, would not
give passage to the East India Company's army through his territory,
Lord Auckland, the British Governor-General of India (1838-42),
decided to dispatch his forces through Sindh. Earlier, Governor-
General Lord Minto (1807-13), as a precaution against the threat of
French invasion, had concluded a treaty of "eternal friendship" with
the Amir of Sindh in 1809. Now, Auckland forced the Amir to agree to
give passage to the English army and to contribute money towards the
Afghan war and threatened him with "power to crush and annihilate
them," and that they "will not hesitate to call it into action, should
it appear requisite, however remotely, for either the integrity or
safety" of the British empire. [9]
In 1839, the British-led Indian Army passed through Sindh and
Balochistan and conquered Kandahar and Kabul, the capital city of
Afghanistan. The army of occupation decided to stay back in Kabul.
During the winter of 1841-42, there was a mass uprising against
foreign forces and the Indian army comprising twelve thousand soldiers
left the city of Kabul along with their followers and marched eastward
in the direction of Jalalabad for safety. The tribesmen gradually
destroyed the entire Indian forces while on retreat. By January 1842,
only one Dr Brydon was able to reach Jalalabad to narrate the tragic
story of the massacre of their comrades. "A large British-led army had
not been wiped out so completely in living memory." [10]

[edit] Annexation of Sindh and the Punjab (1843-49)
As a consequence of the defeat in Afghanistan, to rehabilitate their
prestige, the East India Company forced a war on Sindh, defeated the
Baloch forces of the Talpurs at the battles of Miani and Dabo, and
annexed the province of Sindh in 1843. After the death of Ranjit
Singh, there were a series of revolutions in the Punjab. The English
fought two wars in the Punjab against Sikhs in 1846 and 1848-49 and
after successively defeating them annexed the province of the Punjab
in 1849. Beyond the plains of Sindh and the Punjab which the Company
forces had conquered, there lived the Pathan and Baloch tribes in the
hills.

[edit] Sandeman system
The arrangement made by Sandeman is known as the Sandeman System. It
rested on the occupation of central points in Kalat and tribal
territory in considerable force, linking them together by fair-weather
roads, and leaving the tribes to manage their own affairs according to
their own customs and working through their chiefs and maliks. The
maliks were required to enlist levies paid by government but regarded
as tribal servants.
It is also known as the Khassadar system. For sometime there was no
interference with the tribes. Sandeman adopted a policy in which he
used the local tribes for purposes of policing the tribal area. He
recruited tribesmen and formed khassadar Regiments. These Regiments
took the place of the British Army in tribal area. Large subsidies
were paid to the tribal maliks. These maliks had to perform certain
difficult duties such as protecting merchants, keeping roads open and
in case of trouble, finding out the troublemakers. The system of
khassadars, or tribal police was somewhat successful in Balochistan.
It was to give monetary benefits to the tribesmen under the
supervision of maliks, in return for maintaining order in the tribe.
Since these areas nominally acknowledged the sovereignty of Kabul, the
British according to a treaty with Amir Sher Ali, the King of
Afghanistan, signed in 1879 took over Pishin and Sibi, apart from
Kurram, and Khyber. Thus the British were able to reach Chaman, which
is at a short distance from Kandahar in Afghanistan.

[edit] "Policy of Masterly Inactivity" or Close Border Policy
The Punjab Government under the overall direction of the British
Government in India followed a policy that required guarding the
frontier to minimize the tribal raids and, in case of raids, send
military expeditions for reprisals. "Non-aggression on tribal
territory and non-interference in tribal affairs" were the objectives
of this policy.[citation needed] Following their defeat in the First
Anglo-Afghan War (1838-42) the British had realized that the task of
ruling over the tribal territory in NWFP and Afghanistan was beyond
their resources in India. Thus they followed the policy of "masterly
inactivity" or "close door policy" and their interest in the affairs
of the tribal area in NWFP and Afghanistan remained minimal.
For purposes of defence, a paramilitary force under the Government of
the Punjab called the Punjab Frontier Force was raised and later it
was merged with the regular Indian Army in 1886. The defence was
organized by creating a line of forts along the administrative
boundary. Roads were built to connect these forts and facilitate inter-
communication.
Simultaneously conciliatory measures were adopted. Agreements were
concluded with the tribes to maintain peace and order for which they
were paid monetary benefits in the shape of subsidies and allowances.
The tribesmen were allowed to enter British administered territory for
purposes of trade and commerce, but British officers were not allowed
to enter the tribal territory. According to British sources the
tribesmen broke the agreements very often. As a consequence the
government had to stop allowances, impose fines, enforce blockades and
if these did not work they had to resort to military operations.
"Between 1849 and 1899, the Punjab Government undertook as many as
sixty-two expeditions."[citation needed]
From the annexation of the Punjab in 1849 to the outbreak of the
Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878 the British followed the "so-called
close-border policy" but abandoned it thereafter.

[edit] Forward Policy and Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-79)
There was a change in British policy after 1876, owing to the conquest
of Sindh (1843) and the Punjab (1849), as well as to concern among
British strategists in London about the advance of the Russian armies
in Turkestan. The policy of Benjamin Disraeli, who became prime
minister of Britain in 1874, was to build a strategic line of defence
against Russian advance in Central Asia. It was felt that sooner or
later the British and the Russian forces would confront each other in
Central Asia. This thinking led the British to increase their sphere
of influence in Afghanistan. In 1876 Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India
wrote to the Secretary of State for India that:
The more I think over the geographical facts of our position the
stronger becomes my impression that the real key to it is at Kabul
from Herat to the north-east extremity of Kashmir one great continuous
watershed [of Hindu Kush mountain] seems to indicate the natural
defensive bulwark of India. I am inclined to think that, if we took
our stand along this line, with a sufficient margin north of it to
leave us in command of the passes on both sides, our position would be
a sufficiently strong one for all defensive purposes.[citation needed]
Amir Sher Ali of Afghanistan refused to allow a British envoy at
Kabul. Following this, Lord Lytton declared war on 20 November 1878,
and British troops invaded Afghanistan. Sher Ali ran away and later
died. His son Mohammad Yaqub Khan concluded the Treaty of Gandamak on
26 May 1879 agreeing to British terms including ceding of Pishin and
Sibi (now part of Balochistan), besides Khyber and Kurram, The war had
encouraged the British formally to occupy most of the tribal belt. It
included a permanent advance and control of the Khyber Pass, but the
Kurram valley was occupied some years later.

[edit] Scientific Frontier and Durand Line (1893)

Afghanistan before the Durand agreement of 1893.Lord Lytton (1876-80)
put forward the idea of a scientific frontier. Military experts came
to be divided into two groups – the forward and the backward. The
backward group advocated that Indus should be the frontier line
because the tribesmen were troublesome and fanatic and would not
tolerate interference; it was difficult to fight in the mountains; and
it was very expensive to have British Cantonments in the tribal
territory.
The forward group advocated that the frontier should be from Kabul
through Ghazni to Kandhar because unless the tribal country was
occupied tribesmen would continue to give trouble; river frontier was
not a frontier at all; tribal area could pay the expenses of military
occupation if its mineral resources were developed; and even if the
policy was expensive it must be adopted for the sake of India's
security.
For some time the British policy oscillated between the backward and
the forward schools. In the time of Lord Lansdowne (1888-94) a
compromise was arrived at. The boundary between Afghanistan and India
was drawn on scientific lines keeping in view the requirements of
defence. The dividing line came to be known as the Durand Line.
Accordingly, in 1893, Sir Mortimer Durand concluded an agreement with
Abdur Rahman Khan of Afghanistan fixing the boundary line from Wakhan
in the north to the Iranian border in the south (i.e. the junction of
Iran, Afghanistan and Balochistan). There was also some adjustment of
territories. For instance, the British Government agreed to Amir of
Afghanistan retaining Asmar and the Amir in turn agreed that "he will
at no time exercise interference in Swat, Bajaur and Chitral".
Similarly, the British Government agreed to leave to the Amir a
portion of Waziristan (i.e. Birmal) and Amir relinquished his claim to
the rest of the Waziristan. A clause in the agreement stated:
The Government of India will at no time exercise interference in the
territories lying beyond this line on the side of Afghanistan, and His
Highness the Amir will at no time exercise interference in the
territories lying beyond this line on the side of India.[citation
needed]

[edit] "Hit and Run" Policy and war with tribes (1897-98)
In the beginning the British had adopted an attitude of conciliation.
Frontier duties were abolished, free trade was established, medical
facilities were provided and tribesmen were recruited in the army and
the police. Since this policy could not remove the basic cause of the
trouble—the economic needs of the area–it failed. The tribesmen
continued to plunder the British territory. To check this, the policy
of reprisals—fines, blockades and expeditions—was adopted. These
methods were used to force the tribesmen to come to terms. This was
called the "Hit and Run Policy". It also did not succeed.
The policies and the intrusion of British forces, especially in
Waziristan was seen by tribesmen as a "menace" to their independence.
[citation needed] When in June 1897, the Political Agent had gone with
a military escort to select a site for a levy post in Maizar, a Waziri
village, in North Waziristan, they were "at first hospitably received,
but suddenly attacked. All their officers [who were British] were
killed or wounded…"[citation needed] This was followed by an attack by
tribes of Malakand against the garrisons in the pass and in Chakdara.
By August, Mohmands attacked at Shabqadr, and later Afridi and Orakzai
attacked at Tirah and the Khybar post was lost by the British. The
Samana forts were attacked and "the garrison in one case wiped out to
a man." Later Khyber was reoccupied and Khyber Rifles were re-
established and new roads and more forts were built.
This uprising involved bulk of the tribes: Darwesh Khel Waziris, the
Swatis, the Mohmands, the Afridis and the Orakzais. The Mohmands did
not rise in 1897.

[edit] Withdrawal and concentration policy

After the 1897-98 war with tribes, the controversy between the
backward and the forward schools assumed a new meaning. Now the
controversy was whether the tribal territory up to the Durand Line
should be occupied or should the British fall back upon Indus. The
tribes who had neither been consulted nor considered did not like this
change and interference in their affairs. They resented the loss of
their independence and uprisings continued.
To meet the situation, Lord Curzon (1899–1905) adopted a policy of
"withdrawal and concentration" – withdrawal from the advanced posts,
employment of the tribal forces for the defence of the tribal country,
concentrations of British forces in British territory as the second
line of defence and the improvement of the means of transport and
communication. This policy continued up to 1919.
By January 1899, about 10,000 British troops had been stationed on the
northwest frontier. Lord Curzon gradually withdrew large number of
troops from certain areas including the Khyber Pass (except Jamrud)
and the Kurram valley (except Thal) and Waziristan but concentrated
troops in British lines and also deployed in lieu levies commanded by
British officers and retained troops at Chakdara, Malakand and Dargai.

[edit] FATA after Independence
[edit] 1947–1979
The year 1947 marked a turning point in the history of the Tribal
Areas, as a new and independent state of Pakistan replaced the British
raj. With the termination of British rule, all the agreements and
treaties which bound the Tribal Areas with the British government in
Delhi were abrogated under the Indian Independence Act 1947.
Constitutionally, the Tribal Areas became independent and it was up to
the new state of Pakistan to enter into fresh agreements and treaties
with the tribal chiefs. The tribal chiefs (Maliks) were also cognizant
of the fact that they would have to enter into new arrangements with
Pakistan under terms and conditions that would guarantee the rights
and privileges they enjoyed under the British. For this purpose, the
new state of Pakistan secured through its political agents in the
tribal agencies an agreement with the maliks in 1947. Under this
agreement the maliks declared the Tribal Areas a part of Pakistan and
pledged to provide any help to the new country whenever the need
arose. They also made a commitment "to be peaceful and law abiding and
to maintain friendly relations with the people of the settled
districts."[citation needed] In return and "on the foregoing
conditions the Government of Pakistan pledged to continue the existing
benefits."[citation needed] The Government of Pakistan also made a
commitment to maintain the existing internal arrangements in the
tribal areas. To provide a legal and constitutional cover to these
agreements, the Governor General of Pakistan issued a series of orders
and notifications. Under these orders and notifications, the Tribal
Areas were declared part of Pakistan with effect from 15 August 1947.
The Governor-General of Pakistan assumed direct jurisdiction of the
tribal Areas.
In a subsequent development, the Government of Pakistan entered into
revised agreements with the tribal chiefs in 1951-52 acquiring greater
control and authority in the Tribal Areas. These agreements were
concluded with the willing cooperation and the goodwill of the tribal
people, and were meant to enlarge the scope of the existing
agreements.
From 1947 till the formation of One Unit in 1955, the NWFP Governor
acted as agent to the Governor-General of Pakistan in relation to the
administration of the Tribal Areas, and exercised immediate authority
in those areas. His Secretariat, known as the "Local Administration of
NWFP", headed by the Chief Secretary, dealt with all matters in
respect of the Tribal Areas. All policy directives from the Federal
Government were communicated to the Chief Secretary, who furnished the
compliance reports to the Federal Government. Since there were no
Divisional Commissioners in those days, the Political Agents and the
Deputy Commissioners used to correspond directly with the local
administration.
On the formation of West Pakistan (One Unit) in 1955, the
administration of the Tribal Areas was taken over by the Governor of
West Pakistan; and the Federal Government was left only with policy
control. Under new set up, the West Pakistan Governor, acted as Agent
to the President of Pakistan. These arrangements continued till 1958.
In October 1958, the administrative set up of the Tribal Areas was
reviewed; and it was considered imperative that the system of
administration on the spot should have centripetal quality.
Consequently, administration of all the Tribal Areas was vested in the
Resident Commissioner from November 1959 to August 1960, thereafter,
these areas continued to be administered directly by the West Pakistan
Government. The post of Resident Commissioner, however, was abolished
in 1960 as an economy measure, but evidently, the real cause of the
change over was the dual control of the Resident Commissioner by the
Federal Government and the Provincial Government.
Although the 1956 Constitution was based on the integration of West
Pakistan into One Unit, the political parties with their support base
in the former provinces, especially Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan did
not accept the merger of these provinces into One Unit. They continued
to demand the dissolution of One Unit and the revival of the former
provinces. National Awami Party (NAP), which was supported by the
Pashtun and Baloch nationalists, was in the forefront of the struggle
for the revival of the former provinces. The mass movement against
Ayub Khan, which forced Pakistan's first military ruler to step down
in 1969, had incorporated the dissolution of One Unit as one of the
main items on its agenda. Thus, General Yahya Khan, who took over from
General Ayub Khan, accepted the demand for the dissolution of One
Unit. On July 1, 1970, One Unit was dissolved and the former provinces
of West Pakistan, namely Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan were
revived.
With the dissolution of One Unit, the Tribal Areas of Dir, Swat,
Chitral, Malakand Protected Areas, and the Hazara Territory, were
included in the NWFP. Similarly, the tribal Areas of Balochistan,
namely the Districts of Zhob, Sibi, Loralai and Chagai were made part
of Balochistan. The rest of the Tribal Areas, namely the Agencies of
Mohmand, Kurram, Khyber, Bajaur, Orakzai, North Waziristan, South
Waziristan, and the adjoining areas of Kohat, Peshawar, Bannu and Dera
Ismail Khan Districts were declared as Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA).

[edit] 1979–1991
[edit] Soviet invasion
The decade-long war in Afghanistan had a negative impact on the tribal
areas and their infrastructure. With Pakistan becoming the frontline
state in the war of resistance against the Soviet forces, the border
between Pakistan and Afghanistan virtually ceased to exist. The tribal
belt became the main supply route for the Mujahideen fighting the
Soviets. The tribal areas provided a base for the Mujahideen, and
weapons, supplies, and other war sustenance efforts were routed from
these areas.[citation needed]
Large numbers of Afghan refugees arrived in the FATA, placing pressure
on the local resources. In some cases, refugees outnumbered the local
population. The war also brought a culture of guns and drugs.[citation
needed] During this period, the economy of the tribal areas, which was
already underdeveloped, suffered enormously.
The local administration, which already exercised only nominal control
over the tribal population, was rendered totally ineffective under the
impact of the ongoing war in Afghanistan. The result was that all
kinds of illegal activity, like smuggling, drug trafficking and gun
running, flourished in these areas.

[edit] Civil war
With the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989,
there was a bloody war between the Soviet-installed Afghan regime and
the Afghan Mujahideen groups. Because security and peace were lacking
in Afghanistan, there was no question of the Afghan refugees returning
to their country. The tribal areas, therefore, continued to be the
home of millions of Afghan refugees.

[edit] Taliban rule in Afghanistan and its influence on the FATA
In 1996, Kabul fell to the student militia known as the Taliban. As a
result of nearby Taliban, the writ of the government of Pakistan in
the FATA became less effective. Some people of the FATA joined the
Taliban in fighting against the Northern Alliance. Movement of men and
material across the international border between Pakistan and
Afghanistan was unregulated. Several aspects of the FATA's culture
have been influenced, and in some cases the traditions of tribal
people were affected by the more conservative interpretation of Islam
favoured by the Taliban[11] . A large number of people from different
regions of Pakistan and the world entered Afghanistan to join what
they claimed was jihad against the Northern Alliance.

[edit] 2007 anti-militancy campaign
On June 4, 2007, the National Security Council of Pakistan met to
decide the fate of Waziristan and take up a number of political and
administrative decisions to control "Talibanization" of the area. The
meeting was chaired by President Pervez Musharraf and it was attended
by the Chief Ministers and Governors of all 4 provinces. They
discussed the deteriorating law and order situation and the threat
posed to state security. To crush the armed militancy in the Tribal
regions and the NWFP, the government decided to intensify and
reinforce law enforcement and military activity, take action against
certain madrassahs, and jam illegal FM radio stations.[12]

[edit] Extension of adult franchise to the FATA
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page. (May 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
Although Pakistan adopted universal adult suffrage as the basis of its
electoral process immediately after independence in 1947, the people
of FATA, due their autonomous status did not have this right for about
fifty years.[citation needed] In the first Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan (1947-54) FATA were represented by one member; whereas 4
states of the region, namely Swat, Dir, Chitral and Amb had 3 seats in
the Assembly in accordance with the formula worked out by the Cabinet
Mission Plan (1946). Under 1973 Constitution, the maliks (numbering
about 37000) constituted the Electoral College for the election to 8
seats of the National Assembly. Under the legal, political and
constitutional reforms package of Musharraf regime, known as Legal
Framework Order (LFO) the number of National Assembly Members (MNAs)
to be elected from FATA have been increased to 12. In 1996 the federal
government of Pakistan decided to introduce adult franchise in the
Tribal Areas for the elections held in 1997.
The 1997 elections were the first held in the Tribal Areas on the
basis of universal adult suffrage. According to the electoral rolls
prepared for the 1997 elections, the total number of registered votes
was 1.6 million, including 0.4 million female votes. The extension of
adult franchise in FATA was a long-standing demand of the people of
Tribal Areas. But the successive governments of Pakistan had been
postponing this decision due to their policy of appeasement towards
the tribal chiefs (Maliks), who feared the loss of their entrenched
privileged positions in the areas in case method of direct elections
was introduced.
A large number of candidates contested the 1997 elections and the turn
out was considered high.[citation needed] A total of 298 candidates
stood for the eight seats of the National Assembly The average turn
out was 33.69 per cent. In some areas, like Bajaur Agency, the turn
out was 65 per cent; but in South Waziristan, which is the center of
Pakistan's military operations against the suspected foreign
militants, the turn out was reported to be as low as 19.64 per cent.
In the last elections held on 10 October 2002, the total number of
registered votes was 1,289,274. The number of male registered votes
was 814,921; while the number of registered female votes was slightly
higher than in the 1997 elections (469,053). The average turn out was
25.48 per cent.
Despite the introduction of adult franchise, the people of the Tribal
Areas do not yet enjoy political and legal rights as equal citizens of
Pakistan as their transition from autonomous regions into full settled
areas with representation with the government has often been slowed
down by Local Maliks, who are gradually losing their traditional
power. Article 25 of the 1973 Constitution declares that all citizens
of Pakistan are equal before law; but this article is not applicable
to FATA, although under Article 1 of the Constitution FATA is part of
the territories of Pakistan, many in Pakistan and particularly in FATA
want this changed. The two elections (1997 and 2002) following the
introduction of adult franchise in FATA were held on non-party basis.
Despite the persistent demands by the political parties and civil
society organizations in the region, the political parties have not
been allowed to extend their activities in the Tribal Areas. Under
Article 247 of the Constitution, federal government enjoys absolute
authority over the Tribal Areas. Under sub-section (7) of the same
Article, High Courts and Supreme Court of Pakistan are barred from
exercising jurisdiction over FATA. The draconian law known as Frontier
Crimes Regulations (FCR) framed by the British in 1901 to keep the
people of Tribal Areas under suppression is still the law of the
Tribal Areas. Before 1956, FCR covered the whole of the NWFP; but
through an amendment, the settled districts of the province were
exempted from FCR. Similarly, FCR was abolished in 1973 in
Balochistan. However, the people of FATA are still governed by FCR,
which has been denounced by all the political parties as undemocratic,
repressive and violation of human rights.[citation needed] With the
increasing literacy rate and integration of the FATA with the rest of
the country not to mention that many inhabitants of FATA have set up
colonies, where 2nd and even 3rd generations can be found (In Panjab,
Sindh), the local population is demanding greater representation and
integration within the federation.

[edit] Economy
There is no banking system, and smuggling of opium and other
contraband is routine, according to a July 2007 report in The New York
Times.[4]
Foreign aid to the region is a difficult proposition, according to
Craig Cohen, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington, DC. Because security is difficult, local
nongovernmental organizations are required to distribute aid, but NGOs
tend not to trust the military and the military tends not to trust the
tribal chiefs — who won't cooperate unless they, too, get a cut of the
money, he said. Pakistani NGOs are often targets of violent attacks by
Islamist militants in the FATA. There is so much hostility to any hint
of foreign influence, that the American branch of Save the Children
was distributing funding anonymously in the region as of July 2007.[4]
The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page. (May 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

[edit] Mining
The FATA contain proved commercially viable reserves of marble,
copper, limestone and coal. However, in the current socio-political
conditions, there is no chance of their exploitation in a profitable
manner.[citation needed]

[edit] Industrialization
Industrialization of the FATA is another route or remedy proposed for
a rapid breaking up of the tribal barriers and promoting the cause of
integration.[citation needed] The process of industrialization through
a policy of public / private partnership would not only provide
employment opportunities and economic benefits but also assist in
bringing the youth of the tribal area at par with those of the
developed cities in the rest of the country.

[edit] Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs)
The concept of setting up ROZs in FATA and Afghanistan is an element
in the United States Government's counter-terrorism and regional
economic integration strategies.
[edit] Irrigation projects
Water is scarce in the FATA. When the British forces occupied Malakand
they started work on the Amandara headworks to divert the water from
the Swat River through a tunnel to irrigate the plains of Mardan and
Charsadda. The aim was not to get more wheat or sugarcane, but to
‘tame the wild barbarian tribes'.[citation needed]

[edit] Education
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas literacy rate is 17.42%, which
is below the 43.92% average in Pakistan. 29.51% of the males and only
3% of females receive education.[13]

[edit] Health
There is one hospital bed for every 2,179 people in the FATA, compared
to one in 1,341 in Pakistan as a whole. There is one doctor for every
7,670 people compared to one doctor per 1,226 people in Pakistan as a
whole. 43% of FATA citizens have access to clean drinking water.[13]
Much of the population is suspicious about modern medicine, and some
militant groups are openly hostile to vaccinations. In June 2007, a
Pakistani doctor was blown up in his car "after trying to counter the
anti-vaccine propaganda of an imam in Bajaur", Pakistani officials
told the New York Times.[4]
For information about a hospital in Ghalanai, see Mohmand Agency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federally_Administered_Tribal_Areas

Tax History Project

A Tax Revolt or Revolting Taxes?
by Joseph Thorndike
Date: Dec. 14, 2005


Last Friday marked the 232nd anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, a
fixture in the folklore of American nationalism. Every schoolchild
learns the story of the tea, Boston Harbor, and a band of ersatz
Indians. But what did the tea party mean? And more to the point, what
is its legacy for contemporary American politics?
For many critics of the modern federal state, the tea party
demonstrates the inchoate antitax strand of American political
culture. In 2002 Citizens for a Sound Economy, now part of
FreedomWorks, introduced www.usteaparty.com, a Web site linking modern
tax politics to the famed episode of 1773. "Today, we're having a new
tea party against high taxes!" the site declares.
Fair enough. But was the original tea party a protest against high
taxes? Not really. In fact, the Boston Tea Party was sparked by a tax
cut, not a tax increase. That colonial exercise in civil disobedience
was certainly a protest against oppressive taxation, but it was also a
revolt against tax preferences. Specifically, the tea party was
sparked by an 18th century version of corporate welfare.

The Brewing Revolt

Taxation figures prominently in the narrative of American
independence. The French and Indian War (known in Europe as the Seven
Years' War) ended in 1763, leaving Great Britain in firm control of
most of North America. But victory came at a steep price: Between 1754
and 1763, the British national debt rose from £75 million to £133
million. In London, leaders of the empire looked to the American
colonies for help in paying the tab.
A series of revenue measures followed, including the notorious Stamp
Act of 1765. Colonial leaders complained that stamp taxes were
unconstitutional, insisting that direct levies designed to raise
revenue -- rather than regulate trade -- were the preserve of colonial
legislatures. To drive the point home, political and commercial
leaders organized a series of protests, including a remarkably
effective boycott of British goods. Parliament eventually gave in,
rescinding the stamp tax in 1766.
But new taxes soon followed. In 1767 a new chancellor of the
exchequer, Charles Townshend, convinced Parliament to impose modest
import duties on items of broad colonial consumption, including paper,
paint, lead, glass, and tea. Colonial leaders responded with another
organized protest, mobilizing popular support for nonimportation and
nonconsumption agreements. As historian T.H. Breen argued in The
Marketplace of Revolution, those boycotts played a vital role in
radicalizing the colonial population in the lead-up to war.
Once again, Parliament backed down, repealing all but one of the
Townshend duties. The prime minister, Lord North, insisted on
retaining the tax on tea, determined to underscore Parliament's right
to impose direct levies on the colonies. The tea tax was not
lucrative; after the costs of collection, it raised very little
revenue. But Lord North considered it a vital symbol of imperial
authority.
Some colonial leaders tried to hold the line in the face of North's
intransigence, but unity soon crumbled and imports resumed, including
shipments of dutied tea. However, at the same time colonial merchants
increasingly turned to smuggled tea, much of it coming from Holland
and the Dutch colonies. Contraband tea was cheaper than the British
imports, and smugglers soon captured roughly 90 percent of the
colonial market.
The Tea Act
Had Lord North left well enough alone, things might have remained
relatively calm. But in 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act. Designed
to rescue the ailing East India Company, which was struggling against
a crushing debt load, that new legislation granted the company a
virtual monopoly over colonial tea sales. Drawing on a huge inventory
of unsold tea in its London warehouses, the company prepared to ship
600,000 pounds of tea to the colonies. The company would assign that
tea to a few chosen consignees, leaving most American merchants --
including those with a thriving trade in smuggled tea -- completely
out of the loop.
Tea exported from Great Britain was usually subject to an export tax,
but Parliament agreed to exempt the company from that duty. Lord North
again refused to repeal the remaining Townshend duty on tea, still
devoted to its symbolic value. But even so, the exemption from export
duties would allow the East India Company to sell the tea at rock-
bottom prices, undercutting smugglers. American consumers would have
enjoyed a windfall: a happy influx of cheap, high-quality British
tea.
If Lord North and the East India Company expected a warm reception,
they were in for a rude awakening. Colonists agreed with Lord North
that the tea tax held great symbolic importance, and they reacted
violently to the Tea Act. Foes threatened anyone who might be inclined
to cooperate. As one rabble-rouser warned in a New York newspaper, "A
thousand avenues of death would be perpetually open to receive and
swallow you, and ten thousand uplifted shafts, ready to strike the
fatal stroke whenever a favourable opportunity offered for the
purpose."
Under such pressure, the consignees in several American cities refused
to accept the tea shipments once they arrived in the colonies. But in
Boston, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to back down,
insisting that the tea be offloaded into warehouses. In response, a
crowd of patriots gathered on the night of December 16. Organized by
Sam Adams and his radical cadre, the Sons of Liberty, the protestors
boarded the Dartmouth, a cargo ship loaded with 342 chests of tea.
They were joined by onlookers who blackened their faces with soot to
mimic the Indian disguise of the original protestors. That large but
surprisingly disciplined crowd methodically dropped the entire tea
shipment into Boston Harbor. Losses totaled almost £10,000 -- a vast
sum for the era.
Reaction to the protest varied dramatically. Royal officials were
predictably outraged, but even many colonial leaders were aghast at
the organized criminality. Benjamin Franklin, among others, insisted
that the tea owners should be compensated for their losses. But the
British reaction swept aside those concerns. A series of punitive
measures, known as the Coercive Acts, swept through Parliament. One
act closed the port of Boston to all commercial activity until the tea
losses had been repaid. Colonists were outraged by that heavy-handed
lawmaking, and soon enough, colonial leaders were organizing a broad-
based, powerful response.
Many historians consider the tea party a principal catalyst of the
American Revolution. The cross-sectional outrage engendered by the
Coercive Acts helped unify the colonies at a critical juncture, and
within a few years sustained violence would tear the colonies from the
empire.
The Meaning of the Tea Party
What prompted the Boston Tea Party? Was it outrage over the tea tax?
Or was it Parliament's ham-handed effort to rescue the East India
Company, establishing a pernicious monopoly at the expense of colonial
merchants? For many years, historians emphasized the monopoly
argument. In 1917 Arthur Schlesinger Sr. insisted that complaints
about the tax on tea were "the flowering, not the roots, of the tree
that had been carefully planted and nourished by the beneficiaries of
the existing business order."
More recent historiography gives greater weight to ideas and ideology,
accepting complaints about the tea tax more or less at face value.
While not ignoring the role of commercial interests, historians like
Benjamin Labaree emphasize the importance of antitax thinking.
"Opposition to the East India Company's tea plan was based almost
entirely on the issue of the tax," Labaree wrote in his landmark study
of the tea party. While smugglers helped organize the antitea
campaign, monopoly concerns were too remote to energize most
Americans.
The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle. Clearly,
resentment of the tea duty was central to the tea party. Like Lord
North, colonial leaders understood that any move to accept the dutied
tea would imply a similar acceptance of the right to impose those
duties.
But it's also true that those abstract, ideological concerns had
carried little weight between 1770 and 1773 -- years during which Lord
North had ostentatiously refused to eliminate the tax on tea. "As
American colonists went about their daily affairs in September 1773,"
Labaree said, "almost all of them ignored the desperate efforts of a
few radical patriots to keep alive the spirit of resentment." Only
when the Tea Act united antitax feeling with plans for a state-
sanctioned monopoly did that resentment again boil over.
"Most politicians sense that Americans hate taxes," according to
Julian Zelizer, a prominent political historian with a fondness for
tax issues. "We are a nation with a long tradition of tax revolts."
Indeed we are. But tax revolts come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and
meanings. Sometimes they give voice to a simple antipathy for taxes of
any sort. Other times they focus on methods of imposition and
assessment -- the famous colonial slogan "no taxation without
representation" gave voice to that sort of political and procedural
concern.
But some tax protests -- including the Boston Tea Party -- have also
been infused with a sense of fair play. Americans resent arbitrary and
capricious taxes, especially when revenue tools are compromised by
special interests. Loopholes and tax preferences are a powerful source
of antitax activism.
http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/ArtWeb/1BC5839831CD15EE852570DD0061D496?OpenDocument
ANTHROPOLOGY OF A GENOCIDE:
TRIBAL MOVEMENTS IN CENTRAL INDIA AGAINST
OVER-INDUSTRIALISATION
By Felix Padel and Samarendra Das for the SAAG 2006
India's present investment boom, as it opens its markets and
"resources" to foreign
companies, has a shadow side too few are aware of. Essentially, the
boom is at the
expense of uprooting indigenous communities all over central India,
and at the cost of
permanent damage to India’s environment. The “mineral wealth” lying in
the mountains
of Orissa, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand States – a non-
renewable resource
- is being opened up to an unprecedented scale of mining and metal
manufacture by
Indian as well as foreign companies. Extracting vast quantities of
iron-ore, bauxite,
chromite, coal etc from these mountains not only affects the immediate
and long-term
well-being of India's environment. It also leads to mass
dispossession. Even more so the
huge factories which process this ore into metal, and the huge dams
being constructed. It
is a little-known fact that supplying electricty and water to metal
factories has always
been one of the main reasons for big dams.
Adivasis show an increasing determination to stand up and refuse to be
displaced.
Even the most generous "R & R packages" offer only cash and promises
of jobs (which
in practice are rarely kept): not land for land (as required by
international standards set by
the International Labour Organisation etc). This means Adivasis
inevitably lose their
traditional lifestyle of cultivating their own food as their own
masters. This is what lies
behind the police killing of 14 Adivasis at Kalinganagar on 2nd
January, who were
protesting against a steel plant about to be constructed on their land
- the most highprofile
of a long train of similar events.
This situation is also connected to the spread of Naxalite and Maoist
influence in
these areas, and the recent escalation to a state of war and mass
displacement in the
Bastar region of Chattisgarh, famous as India's "tribal heartland",
where at least 60,000
Adivasis have been displaced within the last one year (June 2005-June
2006), as part of a
military policy to starve the Maoists of their support base. An
estimated 670 villages of
exceptional beauty lie burnt and abandoned. Here too, the driving
force is the State’s
plans for more mines and metal factories.
What should be or could be our role as anthropologists in relation to
these swiftly
unfolding events?
One need is for anthropologists to speak out about what is at stake
here: the
qualities of tribal society, the reasons why displacement and loss of
their land and selfsufficiency
lead to a cultural genocide, and consequently, the validity of
Adivasis'
struggle to keep their land and culture intact. As I suggest in this
paper, this needs to start
off through a questioning of popular and semi-official concepts about
the nature of tribal
society and development.
Another role can be to analyse the power structures which impose these
changes
on Adivasis, including the mining companies themselves, as a means not
just to affirm
the validity of these movements to maintain Adivasis' lifestyle, but
actually bringing
anthropology into another world of possibility, which opens up when we
invert our usual
perspective and make the social structure of the world's rich and
powerful into our object
of study, as opposed to our usual role of analysing the world’s most
marginal or
traditional communities. Felix Padel’s first book, The sacrifice of
human being: British
rule and the Konds of Orissa (1995), pioneered analysing the colonial
power structure
imposed over a tribal people during the 19th and 20th centuries. The
book we are now
writing together analyses the invasion of aluminium companies into the
same tribe’s
territory, and the indigenous movement to prevent their mountains
being mined for
bauxite and people’s land being taken over by metal factories and
dams.
Corporations in particular cry out to be understood afresh through the
tools of
social anthropology. It is increasingly clear that nowadays large
mining and other
companies have an influence and impact over and above that of elected
Governments. As
anthropologists we need to ask: What are these impacts? How do these
companies
exercise such power, trans-nationally? And how can we contribute to
civil society by
using our expertise in social structure and symbolism to analyse the
web of relationships
and the value system of those who are imposing changes not just over
tribal India, but
over all of us?
For the highly complex structures of power which dominate life in
modern society
are surely visible in their most naked, starkest form in what has been
and is being
imposed on tribal people in the name of “development”. If so, then
analyzing this process
of imposition, in a way that involves seeing it through the eyes of
those being imposed
upon or resisting, gives anthropologists our most potent way to
reflect back from the
traditional societies we know about to our own modern society.
The genocidal impact on India’s Adivasis is replicated in almost every
country
where tribal societies have managed to survive into the 21st century.
The parallels with
events all over the Americas, Africa, and elsewhere in Asia and
Australasia are very
strong. Analysing these parallels uses our understanding of events in
the world’s remotest
corners to cast light onto the mainstream social system we are part of
ourselves.
This reflection back to “us” is all the more necessary because several
of the
mining companies involved in the most controversial Indian projects
are based in London
or other foreign cities, and all the projects are facilitated by a
background situation
dominated by financial imperatives which derive from World Bank-
orchestrated loans,
and policies designed by the DFID (Department For International
Development of the
British Government). In every country, the World Bank and financially
dominant foreign
governments play a similar role controlling or manipulating policy and
facilitating the
entry of multi-national corporations “behind the scenes”. Is it not
time for anthropologists
to analyse this system of control head-on and call into question its
defining concepts?
There has obviously been a general process of displacing mining and
heavy
industry from Western Europe eastwards, towards East Europe and Asian
countries, as
well as southwards to Africa. While officially this is invariably
couched in terms of
bringing “development” and “foreign investment”, when seen from the
viewpoint of
those displaced, it is actually based on the most rampant
dispossession and exploitation.
Financial investment in many cases is a direct cause of displacement.
As Dai Sing Majhi,
one of the leaders of the Lanjigarh movement, expressed this, “They
are flooding us out
with money”. Literally, money coming into the area buys up Adivasis’
land and resources
and buys them out.
This brings up a more painful level of the reflection back to “us”.
Could it be that
we are materially “over-developed”, and that this over-development is
based on
dispossession in the “fourth world” of indigenous people? Cars and
supermarkets are
among the most obvious symbols of “over-development” to anyone who
comes fresh to
life in Britain from the third world. The choice of models and brands,
and the rapid
turnover and wastage, tell a story which links material prosperity in
the West directly
with the poverty and exploitation in the East. Since every car and all
the aluminiumwrapped
goods in the supermarket use, and essentially destroy and waste
(despite
recycling claims), metals that are mined and manufactured in highly
exploitative
conditions far from our eyes. In this sense our own lifestyle here is
not separate from the
struggle of tribal people in India against the imposed
industrialisation of their own land.
Anthropology excels in understanding relationship, and the elements
which give
structure to social relationships. The main tendency has always been
to study tribal
societies as if they were separate entities. In fact they have always
existed in relationship
to neighbouring peoples. A few of the best studies focused on this,
and some also
suggested that “the administration operating from various centres” be
included in the
overall social structure of a land or a people.1
Some recent anthropology subjects colonial life and its discourse to
anthropological analysis. What is a matter of urgency is to understand
the power
structures which are imposing changes onto tribal societies now, as
part of the whole
pattern of relationships which have formed between Adivasis and
outsiders, including the
administration: a pattern which is in many ways oriented towards
exploiting and
dispossessing indigenous people.
Vedanta Resources and the fight for Orissa’s Bauxite Malis
Focusing here in most detail on Orissa, famous for its ancient
cultural traditions, not least
those of diverse tribal societies, the names Vedanta and Kalinganagar
are today’s
symbols of the extreme pressures which tribal people face, as well as
of powerful
movements to prevent industries taking over tribal territory.
For Orissa is in the throes of great controversy just now about plans
to expand
bauxite-mining and aluminium manufacture on the one hand, iron-mining
and steel plants
on the other, as well as new mega-dams for supplying both industries.
A British
registered company called Vedanta Resources is highest profile in the
aluminium field,
though projects by several other aluminium companies also make
headlines. The killings
which took place on 2nd January at Kalinganagar were brought on by the
Indian company
Tata’s attempts to construct a new steel plant there. This event has
put the spotlight on
numerous iron-ore and steel projects in the State, particularly the
terrible effects of largescale
iron-mining in north Orissa and over 70 sponge-iron factories there,
and a highly
controversial deal with the Korean company Posco (Pohang Steel
Company) to mine
Orissa’s iron and build a huge new steel plant and new port facilities
near Paradeep.
Vedanta’s huge alumina refinery is nearly complete at Lanjigarh in
southwest
Orissa, right on the source of the Bamsadhara river where it forms
below the Niyamgiri
mountain range. The location was dictated by a lease to mine bauxite
on the northwest
ridge of this range, though environmental clearance to carry out
mining there has not yet
been granted. The ridge is extensively forested right up to its
summit, and is sacred to the
Konds. Beyond the summit, in the valleys and hill-slopes of the
Niyamgiris, live one of
Orissa’s most traditional tribes, the Dongria Konds.
What follows is a brief history of the aluminium industry in Orissa,
recounted as a
way into comprehending the complex structures behind today’s
situation.
Back in the 1920s several of the biggest mountains in south Orissa
were identified
as sources of good quality bauxite, when a geologist named Fox
outlined the very plans
for an integrated aluminium industry in south Orissa which are being
pushed forward
now, 80 years later. Plans based on mountain-top mines, refineries and
smelters, big
dams harnessing Orissa’s biggest rivers, a railway network, and port
facilities for export.
The base rock of these mountains had recently been named Khondalite
after the Konds
(early British sources usually called them Khonds) – a naming which
acknowledges the
close relationships which exists between these mountains and this
people. 2 Most of the
bauxite mountains occur in Kond territory, and when asked their
religion by Census
officials Konds have often answered simply Pahar or Donga (Mountains).
In the 1950s-60s Indal (Indian aluminium), a subsidiary of Alcan
(Aluminium
Canada), built an aluminium smelter at Hirakud in northwest Orissa,
processing bauxite
mined and refined to the north of Orissa. This obtained hydro-power
and water from the
State’s first mega-dam of the same name, near Sambalpur, which
displaced at least
160,000 people, more than 50% of them Adivasis. Few if any were
properly rehabilitated.
The dam was justified in terms of irrigation - a canal system
irrigates about twice the area
of cultivated land indundated by the reservoir; hydro-power - of which
an inordinate
proportion went to the smelter - and flood control - though major
floods in 1980 and 1999
caused by the need for sudden release of heavy rainwater to save the
dam, caused more
damage and loss of human life than anything that had occurred
previously.3
In the 1970s an extensive survey was carried out of the bauxite
mountains.4 This
resulted in the setting up of a new Orissa-based aluminium company in
1980, Nalco
(National Al.Co.), which established an extensive mine on top of the
biggest mountain
(Panchpatmali in Koraput district), a refinery nearby at Damanjodi,
powered and watered
by the Upper Kolab dam (which displaced an estimated 3,000 and 14,000
people
respectively, mostly Adivasis) and its smelter at Angul (central
Orissa), linked by a new
railway through the south Orissa mountains (Koraput-Rayagada). Nalco
is a Public
Sector Utility (PSU), which makes a large profit for the State.
Attempts to privatise it in
2003 met with stiff resistance from employees.5
Subsequent attempts to set up bauxite mines and aluminium factories
have been
opposed by large-scale movements, in which Adivasis and Dalits have
played a central
role, facing frequent arrests and beatings by the police and “company
goons”. First came
an attempt to mine the top of Gandhamardan in west Orissa by Balco
(Bharat Al.Co.),
another PSU. This is another exceptionally well-forested range. Local
people made great
sacrifices to oppose Balco’s plans. When their husbands were jailed,
women stopped the
police and company vehicles by putting their babies in the vehicles’
path, to show they
had no future if the mountain was mined. The company went so far as to
construct a
colony for several hundred employees – never used and now taken over
by the jungle,
after the Minsistry of Environment and Forests denied clearance to the
project in 1987.
In 1993, several companies made a concerted effort to set up bauxite
mines and
factories in Kashipur, an isolated region in Rayagada District,
against strong opposition.
The front-runner was a consortium called Utkal, whose basic plan was
to mine bauxite on
Bapla Mali and refine it in a big factory on the site of a small Kond
village called
Ramibera. At first the consortium consisted of Tata and Indal with
Norsk Hydro
(Norway’s biggest corporation). Between 1998 and 2000 as the local
movement against
Utkal gathered strength, Tata left, and Alcan bought up a major share
in its subsidiary
Indal, and sold it on to Hindalco (Hindustan Al.Co), India’s other
major al.co, which had
been set up by the Birla family in the 1960s in collaboration with the
US company
Kaiser.
As opposition to Utkal hardened, so did local politicians’ anger with
the Adivasis
who stood in the way of development plans. On 16th December 2000,
police opened fire
on a gathering of Adivasis opposed to Utkal in the village of
Maikanch. Days earlier
there had been meetings in Rayagada organised under the World Bank’s
scheme of
Business Partners for Development, while the DFID had commissioned a
report on Utkal
from the Centre for Development Studies at Swansea University, whose
team witnessed
the tension in the build-up to this event: armed youths blocking the
road to Maikanch,
and politicians of all three main parties calling those supporting the
company “patriots”,
and those those who opposed the project “traitors”, who should be
“taught a lesson”.6
On the 15th people from many villages had gathered at Maikanch, Konds,
Jhorias
(Jharnia), Dalits and others. A group of politicians and journalists
from Kashipur and
Rayagada tried to pass Maikanch and cow them. They came off worst in
the fight and
evidently (pulling Ministry strings) called out the armed police to
come the next day.

When the police lorries approached the entrance towards Maikanch, the
large crowd of
men retreated up the hill, afraid of provoking a fight, leaving the
women and children as a
pacifying factor between themselves and the police. But the police got
into a fight with
the women, “laid their hands on them”. So the men came nearer, down
the hill. The
police retreated out of the village, and opened fire. Two Jhoria men
and a youth died at
Maikanch, and a dozen were seriously wounded.
Far from cowing opposition, the movement against Utkal had won the
moral
high-goround and hardened its resolve. Norsk withdrew, under pressure
from human
rights activists in Norway, leaving the consortium to two different
companies from the
original three: from Tata + Indal + Norsk, it had become Alcan +
Hindalco – and yet it
remained inscrutably, the same Joint Company venture.
Also, an Enquiry into the causes of the Maikanch killings was set up.
This was
headed by a Judge named P.K.Mishra, who took extensive evidence, and
altogether 3
years to file a report. Witnessing one session of this Enquiry on 29
May 2002, we saw a
senior executive of Utkal who professed ignorance about company
accounts and a
missing sum of 70 crore rupees, allegedly used by Utkal officials for
bribes. We also saw
an Adivasi woman and a Dalit woman taking the stand. Each kept her
hands clasped in
Johar/Namaste in an appeal for truth and justice, as they recounted
how the police had
attacked them that day. Mishra’s verdict in the Report was ambiguous,
censoring certain
police officers, but condoning the project.
Vedanta started up while Utkal was stalled, compensating for earlier
company
defeats by moving swiftly to start construction of its Lanjigarh
refinery. The company’s
original name was Sterlite. It already had a major share of India’s
copper and zinc
industry when it bought up Balco in March 2001 in a notoriously
undervalued
privatisation sell-off of a PSU.7 Sterlite bought a controlling 51%
share in Balco, which
gave it a new centre at Korba in Chattisgarh, where Soviet assistance
had helped build a
refinery and smelter back in the 1960s-70s, supplied with bauxite from
several mountaintop
mines in central India (especially Amarakantak and Mainpat).
The great prize for all the aluminium companies is Orissa’s bauxite,
which is of a
better quality than Chattisgarh’s (higher alumina content in relation
to silica and iron),
allowing it to be refined at a lower temperature, saving costs.
Sterlite had let go the leases
on Gandhamardan and Sosubohu Mali (Mother-in-law Daughter-in-law
Mountain) on the
east of Kashipur (where it had also met opposition), but retained
Niyamgiri’s north-west
ridge. Orissa’s recent history is a patchwork of MoUs (Memoranda of
Understanding)
between the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and a large range of
Indian and foreign
mining companies. All the biggest mountains in south Orissa have now
been the focus of
such deals.
Vedanta is not primarily an India company. In December 2003 it was
launched on
the London stock exchange as Vedanta Resources Plc (VRP), through the
services of the
world’s highest paid mining executive, Brian Gilbertson, in order to
raise funds for
modernising its Balco facilities at Korba and building the Lanjigarh
refinery, whose
design was entrusted to an Australian firm named Worley. By the end of
January 2004,
the Collector of Kalahandi, Saswat Mishra, had persuaded half a dozen
Kond villages to
accept financial compensation and a concrete house on Vedanta’s
behalf, and these were
given a sudden order to vacate their villages, which were immediately
bulldozed along
with their embedded sacred stones. Amoro devata bi nasht kole ( “they
even destroyed
our gods”) as one woman said. These villagers were moved in police
trucks to
“Vedantanagar”, a new colony, where they became a captive labour pool,
living without
land between refinery and mountain.
So technically, the Lanjigarh refinery is being built by an Indian
company,
Vedanta Alumina Ltd (VAL), based in Mumbai. But actually, VAL is a
subsidiary of the
London company, Vedanta Resources Plc. During the ‘90s, several cases
were brought
against Sterlite for non-payment of taxes and conjuring its profits
out of India via a
holding company in Mauritius, Twinstar Trading. Now the route for
collecting profits
abroad is streamlined.
The head of Sterlite-Vedanta is Anil Agarwal, who owns a multi-million
house in
London and is on Forbes’ list as one of the world’s top billionaires.
The other Directors
of Vedanta Resources included some people of great influence: Sir
David Gore Booth
had been Britain’s High Commissioner to India (1996-8), Jean-Pierre
Rodier had been a
senior executive in Pechiney (France’s aluminium company, which had
helped set up
Nalco and was now merging with Alcan), Naresh Chandra (India’s Home
Sec. 1990,
Cabinet Sec. 1990-2, Senior Adviser to the PM 1992-5, and India’s
Ambassador to the
US 1996-2001), and P.Chidambaram, who left to become India’s Finance
Minister in the
Govt. elected in May 2004.
The major investors in Vedanta include Barclays, Deutsche Bank and ABN
Amro. Financial investment is pouring into what was a remote area of
west Orissa, much
of it, according to common knowledge, in the form of bribes. The
refinery is nearly
complete.
An enquiry and strong report from the CEC (Central Empowered
Committee,
advisory body to India’s Supreme Court), recommending closure of the
whole project on
environmental grounds has gone unheeded by the Supreme Court, which
has repeatedly
delayed judgement in the case during the very space of time when the
refinery is fast
nearing completion. It will be hard to order the dismantling of a
modern, brand new
alumina refinery, however dangerous for the environment its siting may
be, right at the
start of the Bamsadhara river. Adivasi opposition under the Niyamgiri
Surakshya Samiti
(Niyamgiri Protection Society) was at first relatively muted in the
face of violent attacks
and arrests by police and goons. These culminated in the alleged
murder of Sukra Majhi,
a Kond leader run down alone in the evening of 27th March 2005, on the
newly metalled
road to Lanjigarh.8
Recently though, opposition to the refinery has swelled, as local
people witness
the corruption which Vedanta has brought to the area on many levels,
and awareness
increases of the environmental effects on what has been an extremely
fertile area. The
refinery’s red mud pond (a notorious source of pollution, where a ton
of toxic waste is
dumped for every ton of alumina produced) is sited right beside the
Bansadhara, one of
Orissa’s major rivers, near its source. Adivasi families have been
torn into opposing
factions. There have been numerous, though unrecorded cases of rape,
work deaths in the
harsh conditions at the refinery site, suicide and even murder in an
area that previously
had a low crime rate.
Huge bribes have reportedly been offered to facilitate environmental
and forest
clearance for the mining lease on top of the mountain. Yet this has
not been forthcoming:
the Supreme Court’s delay in passing judgement has not allowed Vedanta
to start bauxite
mining, while it has allowed the refinery to be finished, for the case
involves
environmental clearance to mine Niyamgiri, as well as whether to allow
the refinery. If
this clearance is given and Niyamgiri starts to be mined it is a clear
violation of India’s
legal system on several counts. What heightens this symbolism is the
name and deity
associated with this mountain range. Niyam means Law or Rule, and the
local god,
worshipped by Hindus and Adivasis, is Niyam Raja: Lord of Law. As a
Dongria shaman
tells his story:
“There are five brothers, and the youngest one is Niyam Raja…
Niyam Raja wondered what to do and decided to become the guardian of
the streams and mountain range. So he decided to stay on the top of
the mountain,
and created mango, jackfruit, pineapple, orange, banana, and seeds. He
said to
us “Now live on what I have given you.” Actually Niyamgiri is the
first Dongria,
he is one of us, but he wants to stay at the top. We like to be here
at his feet.
At the top you have all the herbs and plants creating a magnetic force
which keeps us healthy. We worship Niyam Raja by sacrificing goats and
pigs.
We have to offer him the first taste, otherwise he won’t accept our
offering. That
is why we don’t disturb anything on the top part of the mountain.
Niyamgiri is
sacred for us.” 9
It seems that Dongrias have a clearer understanding about the life-
giving role of these
mountains than most scientists. The majority of experts in bauxite
have long since limited
their expertise to studying how to extract it and measure its
properties for the al.co.s. Yet
it is generally known that the bauxite cappings on top of mountains
promote exceptional
fertility in a wide surrounding area. Large tracts of the tropical
forests of Brazil and the
Guianas, west Africa, and north Australia are associated with a wealth
in bauxite.
Aluminium is the commonest mineral in the soil, forming around 8% of
the earth’s crust.
Its bonding properties play an important role in the soil’s ability to
retain moisture.
Bauxite’s percentage of aluminium is the most concentrated of any
rock, at up to 50% or
higher. The layer of bauxite, usually 10-30 feet thick just below a
hardened outer crust,
retains moisture near the mountain summits even in the hot season,
releasing the
monsoon rain throughout the year in numerous streams that form on the
mountain’s
flanks. It is this water-retaining capacity that is under threat.
Where bauxite is mined, the
surrounding area hardens and fertility-promoting qualities go into
reverse. The results can
be seen around Panchpatmali, where a process of dessication has taken
place all around
the mountain. The Dongrias’ taboo on cutting trees on Niyamgiri goes
deep in their
culture and religion. Who are we to say their concept of a “magnetic
force” created by the
wild plants and trees on top of the mountain is superstition?
And the environmental degradation that is certain to follow if
Niyamgiri is mined
is replicated in numerous other Malis, whose fate hangs in the
balance. Near Karlapat to
the west, Khandual Mali is now leased to the world’s biggest mining
company, BHP
Billiton, which is sponsoring social work in Orissa to pave its way
with “good works”.
Utkal is all set to go ahead and build its refinery in Kashipur to be
fed by a mine on Bapla
Mali (Bat Mountain), and a police post has been built near Kucheipadar
to intimidate
Kond resistance, alongside numerous arrests and other forms of
intimidation. Just to the
south, Hindalco has got clearance to build another refinery at
Kansariguda, applying for
clearance to mine Kodinga Mali; Larsen and Toubro has plans for
similar mines on
Kuturu Mali and Siji Mali; Jindal plans a mine on Mali Parbat; Nalco
reportedly has
plans to expand its operations onto Deo Mali, Orissa’s highest
mountain; a company
called Jimpex has carried out a survey of the mountains in the remote
area of the Kuttia
Konds in southwest Kandhamahal district, where several villages are
known to have been
marked for displacement; and a Canadian company called Continental
Resources has
taken over the lease for Gandhamardan.
And without waiting for clearance to mine Niyamgiri, Vedanta is
already starting
construction of the new smelter it plans to supply from Lanjigarh.
This is near
Jharsaguda. Hindalco too plans another smelter in northwest Orissa.
The DFID has given
a grant for expanding the use of water and hydro-power from the
Hirakud dam for
multiple industries. New dams are also planned: a Lower Suktel dam
(Balangir district)
has already met determined resistance, which in turn elicited
ferocious police
repression.10 There is likewise both heavy investment in and
resistance to plans for a
massive new dam called Polavaram south of Orissa in Andhra Pradesh,
where one
element is likely to be Jindal’s plans for bauxite mining at
Anantagiri and a refinery and
smelter near Vishakhapatnam.
Several of Orissa’s biggest reservoirs have a close association with
the aluminium
industry. The Upper Indravati project involved seven dams. It reversed
the Indravati’s
flow from south to north, where part of it is channeled along canals,
where richer farmers
have bought up land for intensive fertilizer-based farming, and part
of it joins the Tel
river. Vedanta has had a pipe constructed to bring water from the Tel
near Kesinga to its
Lanjigarh refinery, a distance of about 50 kms. The pipe is in place,
but leaders in
Kesinga have called a series of strikes, and are unwilling to allow
their water to be taken
to Vedanta’s factory.
Indravati displaced about 40,000 people. As in all of Orissa’s big
dams, no
proper record was kept of those displaced, and few if any were
properly resettled while
their compensation at a rate of Rs.14,000/- per acre for land taken
has never been paid.
Surrounding villages who were promised electricity from the huge hydro-
power to be
generated are still without any. Two of the four turbines got silted
up and stopped
working after a short time. The loss of forest alone has been
horrific: the reservoir’s sides
are a ghost-city of dead trees, and displaced people have felled much
of the remaining
forest all around the reservoir, simply to sell the wood as a means to
survive. The project
was funded by loans from the World Bank. As a tribal women said to a
WB official
visiting a site to be affected in April 1993, “If we starve, you also
bear a responsibility”.
A movement against the dam had been crushed by mass arrests in April
1992.11
For Orissa’s indigenous and cultivating population then, all these
projects spell
worse poverty and a destruction of their accustomed lifestyle. Hence
the movements of
indigenous people and activists, facing great odds and taking risks,
but a steady stream
running through Orissa’s history since Gandhi’s time and before. These
movements
across Orissa are increasingly well co-ordinated and supported both by
intellectuals and
activists in India as well as from abroad. The Kashipur movement in
particular has long
been seen as the cutting edge of People’s Movements in India.
For the mainstream, non-cultivating, urban and town-based population,
the
industry promises a whole new era of prosperity, kicked off by huge
sums of FDI
(Foreign Direct Investment), where those with initiative and business
acumen can make a
quick fortune.
Yet the aluminium industry’s history world-wide clearly shows the
tendency of a
struggle for profits between the companies and local governments at
the expense of
indigenous people – a struggle which the companies always win, backed
up by the
world’s most powerful governments. 12 The companies’ profit starts
from getting bauxite
cheap. Its value rises exponentially along the production line,
especially with the huge
subsidies the industry invariably receives in costs of electricity,
water etc.
Social Structure of a Company
The situation outlined above unfolding in Kashipur and Lanjigarh is
replicated in its
structural features across all the continents. Probably a majority of
the world’s surviving
indigenous peoples have faced displacement and a consequent onslaught
on their culture
and community from mining companies in recent years. As
anthropologists, what can we
offer in the way of a clear analysis of these structural features?
In its formal internal structure, a company such as Vedanta shows
hierarchy in
quite an extreme form from Directors and many layers of officials,
down to those who
mine Vedanta’s bauxite (around 50-75 rupees per day at Vedanta’s mines
in Chattisgarh)
and others who do the hardest labouring jobs.
But at the unformalized level of what actually happens, a company is
not a
discrete entity. Vedanta alumina (VAL) is a subsidiary of Vedanta
Resources, and both
form part of a conglomerate of interlocking companies. Then there are
the lawyers who
work for Vedanta, the Banks which invest in Vedanta, the political
parties which become
close to Vedanta….
And the security forces they hire to patrol their sensitive projects
such as
Lanjigarh. For villagers in that area, Vedanta is half-way to being
their new authority, in
control of jobs, housing, electricity and water supply, education,
medical care, law and
order…. The new factory and those in charge of it dominate their world
now. Police
tactics co-ordinate with the company’s designs. At Maikanch and
Kalinganagar, why
were the police supporting the companies against those being
dispossessed of their land
by the company?
The way society divides when a mining company enters a new area is
another
structural feauture. Splitting Kond villagers into those who have
accepted compensation
and those who have refused it is a classic divide-and-rule tactic,
used by companies to
divide the opposition. In Kashipur and Lanjigarh, many such tactics
have repeatedly
splintered the movement, though without managing to destroy it. In
general, those who
follow the company at any cost, rise some way up its hierarchy, while
those who do not
stay down. So families and villages become divided by different
interests and levels of
prosperity that never existed before. Commenting on this division
generally within the
large local area affected, people say:
Jo Loko companyro paise khauchanti support korichanti.
Jo loko companyro paise nahee khauchanti virod korichanti.
Those who eat the company’s money support it.
Those who don’t eat the company’s money don’t.
“Paise khauchanti” refers particularly to accepting bribes, and the
almost universal
conviction that the companies “buy people up” through various forms of
donation or
bribe.
In many ways, the dividing line between company and government is very
tenuous. They form policy and take action together through business
deals and shared
interests, and also connect through “revolving doors”, as in
P.Chidambaram’s transition
from being a Vedanta Director (business executive), to becoming the
Indian
Government’s Minister of Finance. Do his business interests and aims
as director of
Vedanta not continue to inform his policies as Finance Minster?
And Sir David’s place among the Directors indicates a definite though
discrete
link with the UK Government. The DFID’s role in Orissa comes into
crucial question
here. They helped lay the groundwork of “liberalization” that allows a
British registered
company to lease land and build factories in Orissa. They are known to
have helped
Vedanta set up in London. The DTI (Dept for Trade and Industry of the
British
Government) advertised Vedanta’s Lanjigarh project as an investment
and employment
opportunity. The biggest question is whether the DFID’s main purpose
in Orissa is really
“poverty eradication” and “development”, or whether promoting British
commercial
interests is actually a higher priority – whether, in Vedanta’s case,
there is a strong
ulterior motive of gaining access, through a company financed and
registered in Britain,
to Orissa’s bauxite and expanding metal production?
The DFID co-ordinates its policy closely with the World Bank, whose
loans are
bigger to Orissa than to any other State. Orissa is India’s most badly
indebted State. It can
only repay its loans + interest with massive further loans.13
Obviously, behind closed
doors, the Orissa Govt. has been persuaded that the only way out is to
open up their
mineral assets to foreign companies. And in a way, perhaps this is why
Orissa entered the
debt trap – lured there by the very projects which created the initial
infrastructure for
future foreign-controlled mining projects. The loans ensured it is the
Govt., and even
more the people of Orissa, who bear the real cost, while foreign
companies are
guaranteed the final profits.
A brief history of Alcan’s relationship with British industry makes
these
connections clear. The company was vital as a source for Britain’s
arms industry during
the first and second world wars. During the 1960s its interests in
Guyana and Ghana were
supported by threats from the WB to withdraw loans to those countries.
14 It also acquired
control of the British Aluminium Corp., and now controls the major
share of aluminium
plants in Britain. The threats make it clear that Alcan has the
strongest support from the
US as well as British Governments. In Britain and the US, a regular,
guaranteed supply of
aluminium at the cheapest possible rate is a matter of highest
concern, since it supplies
one of the arms industry’s basic resources, and “aerospace/defence” is
central to both
nations’ economy. This is why aluminium is classed as a “strategic
metal” by the US
Administration, meaning its supply is to be guaranteed and stockpiled.
. The connection between companies and political parties is another
key part of the
social structure. During the expansion of aluminium companies in the
USA from the
1940s on, for example, Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) was closely
associated
with the Republican party, Reynolds with the Democrats. Utkal in
Kashipur was
supported by an “All-Party Committee” from the three dominant parties
from the early
1990s. Vedanta’s links have been closer with the BJD and BJP parties,
under Orissa’s
present Chief Minister, Naveen Pattnaik. In May, his administration
made a joint
statement with Vedanta about setting up a new Vedanta University in
the State, making
clear his full support for the Lanjigarh refinery. Meanwhile the
Congress party has taken
a firmer stand against the Vedanta deal and refinery, stressing the
transgressions of the
law.
But what difference do elections really make? If the Congress party
come to
power in Orissa, will they continue to try and prevent companies like
Vedanta taking
over tribal land, or will they succumb to pressures behind the scenes
– pressures from
foreign consultants backed by the WB and DFID, as well as
“inducements” from the
companies? In the US and UK too, no Government confronts the power of
the big
companies head-on: if a major part of Britain’s revenue comes out of
arms manufacture
and sales, is it surprising if regulations controlling export to
countries using them for
internal repression have regularly been broken? And if revenue
generated by exploiting
Orissa’s “mineral wealth” appears to be needed right now, not least to
pay off the vast
debt to the WB, what party elected in Orissa is going to be able to
withstand the pressure
and inducements, and say “No” to more mining deals?
In other words a company’s political connections and finances are
extremely
complicated. But in anthropological terms, at the same time, the basic
power structure
imposing itself on Adivasis is in some ways very simple. They
understand better than any
social scientist the rough end of the company’s power, and how it
affects the behaviour of
the administration towards them.
As anthropologists we are trained to look at the difference between
how a society
represents itself, and how it actually behaves – the emic and etic
viewpoints. Companies
are an interesting case, in that their “façade of caring” often
contrasts starkly with their
methods of manipulation and domination. BHP Billiton has been working
carefully to
build up a caring image in Orissa before it starts up any mining,
through workshops with
NGOs and a mobile eye clinic.
Vedanta’s promotional literature emphasizes their CSR (Corporate
Social
Responsibility), and the benefits they bring to those they have
displaced in education and
medicine. The choice of name is highly significant. Vedanta
encompassing the whole
body of ancient Vedic and Upanishadic knowledge. What does the name
signify? What
does it mean that a company with this name invades an area so
ruthlessly, as part of its
plan to become India’s biggest aluminium producer? That it wishes to
mine the sacred
Niyamgiris? And what is the relationship between company codes of
behaviour and the
Adivasi codes of behaviour of those displaced or opposing the project?
From a tribal point of view, the company is essentially invading their
territory,
taking over their land and common space, and bringing in outsiders who
serve the
company or set up many side businesses. The police are completely with
the company,
arresting people who oppose it, and failing to register assaults on
tribal people, including
the death of Sukra Majhi and others.
The most striking model for this kind of takeover of a territory is a
slow invasion
staged by another company, many years ago: a British company, and one
of the world’s
first registered companies. The East India Company set a model of
legal and financial
manipulation, backed always by the threat of force, to gain ever more
territory, until it
had become the Government of India, uniting a vast area under its
control. Its first
priority, like any company, was to make a profit. The hierarchy it
established to make its
profit is essentially still in place: the Collector in charge of a
District is a post inherited
from when he was the Company’s Tax Collector. So how did a Company
become a
Government back then? And is the same thing happening today, in a
different, more
complex form?
Company Indian Government UK Govt.
Vedanta Resources in London DFID, DTI & other
and its investors, including Ministries
Barclays Bank
VAL office, Mumbai Central Ministries of Finance, Mining, DFID ,WB &
UN
Envir. & Forests, etc Agenbcies in Delhi &
Korba complex, where Vedanta Orissa & their Consultants
Controls Balco’s integrated alu-
industry within Chattisgarh
The elected Govt. of Orissa & the
administration, Civil, Police, Forestry
The Lanjigarh project, The Collector, SP, DFO and the hierarchy
Hierarchy of officials of Police, Forestry officials etc
& employees
Daily contract labour on bauxite
mines and construction
______________________________________________________________________________________
The displaced and affected villagers,
and the movement against Vedanta
Social Structure of an aluminium company
This diagram suggests a model for Vedanta’s social structure in its
internal and external
aspects, with head offices abroad, and co-ordination with certain
Ministries and officials
in the Indian and foreign Governments. Contrast in salaries alone
shows the extent of the
hierarchy: from the pay of a top Vedanta official or foreign
consultant for the DFID and
other agencies, down to the daily contract labour in a bauxite mine
etc, for about 50/-
rupees per day. And outside and below the model, those who are
displaced without
rehabilitation, those who are forced or choose to remain outside the
Vedanta system.
Dumont’s Homo Hierarchicus stressed the hierarchical aspects in Indian
society, but isn’t
this type of company hierarchy, that grew up in the West, a type even
more extreme?
The question of development
Now that we have a model of the companies’ social structure, how can
we gauge the
effects on what anthropologists usually study – the social structure
of a tribal
community?
The convention in company and government discourse is to assume that
industrialisation increases people’s standard of living through a
handful of main indices,
such as income, education, mortality rate. But statistics are easy to
manipulate, and even
if they could be collected in a perfectly neutral way, they tell a
very one-sided story. In
fact, none of the big displacements in Orissa kept even the most basic
statistics to show
the number of displaced and where they resettled.
And the indices themselves are highly flawed: a higher income does not
mean a
higher standard of living, because prices are rising, and money has
assumed far greater
importance than it used to have. Tribal people in Lanjigarh villages
before Vedanta came
grew most of their own food, so had relatively small financial needs.
A tribal family
working its land for instance, needs to hire people to work in the
fields at the busiest
times of year. But no-one, even from the same village, will work for
30/- rupees a day
any more, since the Company pays 70/- a day for stone-crushing. Tribal
people in
Vedanta’s colony for the displaced may have got cash compensation and
their children
get more schooling, but does this make up for the land and sense of
community they lost?
And how much of this schooling is a form of indoctrination?


To indicate the effects on tribal villages in the Lanjigarh area,
let’s divide the
social structure into the various domains conventional in
anthropology:
Religion & value system: Underminined by loss of connection with the
land and divisions in the
community, and the penetration of money into relationships. The very
act of breaking up the earth
for mining and construction contradicts the traditional reverence for
Darni Penu, the Earth Deity.
Traditional values, beliefs, norms of behaviour are thus torn apart,
and shared festivals for first
fruits of various crops etc that traditionally bring a village
together fall into disuse.
Kinship & Clan system: Strong tensions emerge within and between
families according to the stand
different individuals take seeking employment or opposing the company.
One of the biggest splits
was between the six villages who accepted compensation for their land,
who were displaced to
“Vedantanagar” colony, and those which refused, and were left just
outside the refinery walls. The
first group will never grow their own food again and have lost the
spatial community of a Kond
village. Their fortunes now depend on pleasing company officials. The
second group are also
affected at every level, and blame the first group for giving in to
the pressure and allowing the
company in.
Political organisation: The process of land acquisition for the
company involved side-lining the gram
sabha (village council): according to the “Panchayat Raj” (empowerment
of local government),
no project should buy up tribal land without a due process of
consulting this council. This sidelining
effectively rendered village political organisation powerless. Almost
every aspect of life
that a village used to decide for itself is now in the hands of the
company hierarchy.
Education: Most schools in tribal villages are set up with no
understanding about indigenous knowledge
and values, so indirectly or directly undermine them
Economy: The most basic change is from owning land and growing their
own food to dependence on the
company for earning a living: a complete break from the traditional,
largely self-sufficient
economy that defined their lives just 3 years ago.
Effects on tribal social structure
If any culture on earth is sustainable in the true sense of a
lifestyle that does not damage
the environment and can sustain itself for hundreds of years, a tribal
culture is, where
people grow their own food, and interact with nature without taking
too much and
basically without waste. Their concept of niyam, as rule or law, is
very strong, and so are
communal values of sharing and equality. Yet company literature
actually suggests they
are bringing Adivasis a more “sustainable” lifestyle! The use of this
word “sustainable”
has actually lost any environmental content and the new concept of
“sustainable mining”,
disseminated in the report by the world’s 10 biggest mining companies
on Mining,
Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD), has come to mean simply
“profitable
over a number of consecutive years”.15
Corporate culture comes down to a single value: profit. Companies are
legally
bound to put the aim of profit for shareholders above any other
consideration. Green
issues are only considered important in their PR aspect. 16
In the name of “development” enormous sums have been allotted to
tribal areas,
and almost none of it reaches the people or helps to pull them out of
poverty. 17 Much of
the money, such as loans for the Indravati reservoir, has actually
reduced tribal people to
a far worse poverty than they ever endured while living on their own
land.
The main concept of development which generates projects from the DFID
to the
DKDA (Dongria Kond Development Agency) is “evolutionist” in its
concept of fixed
stages of development from “primitive” to “modern, industrialized”,
and based in the idea
that financial investment stimulates development. Obviously, big
industrial projects
represent a very one-sided kind of development, neglecting community
values at the
expense of material change, and they follow a model of change set by
the West. Social
evolutionism came out of Darwin’s theory of how species have evolved,
but in many
ways the application to society was done badly: every species has its
own line of
development, there is no single path.
Obviously tribal people wish for development in the overall sense of
better water
supply, education, healthy care, as well as better administration and
justice from the law,
but they wish to be in charge of the process. To quote Bhagwan Majhi,
one of the leaders
of the Kashipur movement against Utkal:
“We ask one fundamental question: How can we survive if our lands are
taken away from us? We are tribal farmers. We are Earth Worms. Like
fishes
that die when taken out of water, a farmer dies when his land is taken
away
from him. So we won’t leave our land. We want permanent development.
Provide us with irrigation to our lands. Give us hospitals. Give us
medicines.
Give us schools and teachers. Provide us with lands and forests. The
forests
we want. We don’t need the company. Get rid of the company.
We do not oppose development. In fact we all want development. But
what we need is stable development. We won’t allow our billions of
years old
water and land to go to ruin just to pander to the greed of some
officers. We
ask them not to get engaged in these destructive works. Stop this
work. Give
us what we want if you really mean development. We tell this to our
leaders.
But the government has not even agreed to talk to us. They should
think that
nature is not only for just one or two, or three or four generations.
Nature
has created us, it helps us survive.
Being rulers, how can you adopt policies that would destroy our land
in the coming 30-35 years? Stop the company. We ask these questions.
They
say that you are fools. You don’t understand, if you did, you would
not
oppose the company. The collector says this. The SP [Superintendant of
Police] says this.
I put a question to the SP. I asked him, Sir, what is development?
What
worth is development if it ends up in relocation of people? The
people, for whom
development is meant, should reap benefits. After them, the succeeding
generations should reap the benefit. That is development. It should
not be merely
to cater to the greed of a few officers. To destroy the age-old
resources is not
development.” (from an interview in A. & S.Das’ film, Matiro Puko)
In the name of development, a cultural genocide is being waged against
Adivasis: a slow
death of everything which made their life meaningful.
Those who die in police shootings as at Maikanch and Kalinganagar are
the most
blatant deaths. These shootings follow a pattern set by the colonial
rulers. General Dyer’s
slaughter in Amritsar in 1919 is the biggest, most infamous shooting
on a crowd. But
similar shootings took place in Orissa during the “Quit India”
movement in 1942, in
Balasore and Koraput Districts. The biggest police shootings in
Koraput were against
largely tribal crowds attacking the police stations at Pappardahandi
and Maithili, where
15 and 5 people died respectively. For leading the latter attack,
Lakshman Naik was
executed by hanging in August 1943.
But this bloodshed is only the highest profile deaths. Well over one
million people
have been displaced by big industry in Orissa since Independence, over
half of them
Adivasis. Few indeed ever received adequate compensation. The rules
restricting sale of
tribal lands to non-tribals, which form part of the 5th Schedule of
India’s Constitution,
have not been applied properly. This is the verdict of B.D.Sharma, ex-
Collector of Bastar,
and ex-Commissioner for Scheduled Tribes and Castes. As he says, the
dominant attitude
from the present administration seems to be that “a good tribal is a
displaced tribal”.18
How can we even begin to know how many people have died from this
displacement, in
work accidents, from starvation, suicide, murder? Bhubaneswar is full
of tribal refugees
living in slums. What will they preserve of their culture and society?
For Adivasis, these big projects are not development at all. If pushed
to admit that
they obviously have not raised most oustees’ standard of living,
supporters of further
industrialisation bring in another argument which justifies Adivasis’
displacement as a
“sacrifice” they have to make “for the nation’s progress”.
Essentially, this is the modern
idiom of human sacrifice – the “price of progress” in an endless
stream of modern
“consumer durables”. Until we destroy the whole earth? And why should
Adivasis of all
people be sacrificed?
The main trend is to depict resistance to industrialisation as “anti-
development”,
and the tribal people themselves as “primitive” and “backward”. One
stereotyped
argument that is often repeated, which was first used against Verrier
Elwin, is to distort
any positive view of Adivasi society or idea that they should be
allowed to remain in their
villages on their own land, into the intention to “keep them in a
museum” – “Do you
want to keep them in a museum? How can we let them remain in their
primitive state?”
To understand the origin of this stereotype, one needs to comprehend
the role
which anthropology played during British times. Many administrators
and missionaries
wrote books about the tribes of central India. The theoretical or
ideological framework
almost without exception is “evolutionist”, promoting the idea that
tribal society
represents a “primitive stage of development” (Padel 1995). Modern
anthropology rejects
this view, and looks on tribal societies as no less sophisticated than
mainstream society:
more developed than us in many areas, less developed in others. The
areas where tribal
societies are more highly developed than us include a huge sensitivity
and knowledge
about relating to nature – in effect, the art of living sustainably.
The same administrators who wrote ethnographic volumes defining tribal
societies through negative stereotypes, also set up ethnographic
museums which
displayed tribal artifacts, and even lifesize models of tribal family
groups (in
Bhubaneswar museum for instance), which again emphasize the idea that
Adivasis are
“primitive”. These museums “preserve” tribal culture by taking their
tools, instruments
and dresses from villages and placing them in museum cases to gather
dust, where their
life as objects of daily use simply dies. Everywhere, ethnographic
museums have
supplemented a political reality of systematically destroying tribal
culture. In the US
countless such museums preserve beautifully the artifacts of America’s
indigenous tribes
who suffered genocide from European settlers and soldiers. In Orissa,
this process of
death-by-museum continues today. Alongside the Damanjodi and Kolab dam
development projects which dispossessed thousands of tribal families
in Koraput District
during the 1980s, the authorities paid for an ethnographic museum in
Koraput town, to
preserve a memory of the cultures they were destroying.
“Genocide” is thus not too strong a word for what is happening to
Orissa’s
Adivasis: a slow death. Not literally the physical death of every
individual, as happened
in the paradigm cases of America’s and Australia’s tribes. But a
psychic death:
technically, “ethnicide” - the killing-off of cultures. And without
their culture, seeing the
sudden confiscation of the land where their ancestors lived and the
collapse of their
communities, no longer able to grow their own food and forced to eke a
living through
degrading, exhausting coolie work for the very projects which
destroyed their homes,
Orissa’s displaced Adivasis exist in a living death, witnessing the
extermination of all
they have valued. The fact that their artifacts and traditional hand-
made, home-dyed barkcloths

are safe in museums adds insult to their loss: these too are preserved
in a living
death.
So “preserving them in museums” is part of the genocide. And their
traditional
lifestyle, which Adivasis are risking their lives to maintain in
Kashipur or Kalinganagar,
is not primitive at all. It’s highly developed and a lot more
sustainable than mainstream
lifestyles.
Commemorating Kalinga through Steel
The mountains in north Orissa are as rich in iron as those in south
Orissa are rich in
bauxite. In fact what this means is that the Iron quantity is slightly
higher in north Orissa:
there the alumina content goes for waste. In south Orissa’s
refineries, it is the iron content
that goes for waste. Hitler, or one of his metallurgists is said to
have remarked that “he
who controls Orissa’s iron, controls the world”.19
The iron-ore mines are already extensive, and around 80 sponge iron
factories in
north Orissa process the iron-ore into a form acceptable to a steel
plant. Orissa presently
has 3 or more working steel plants, the biggest at Rourkela run by
SAIL (Steel Authority
of India Ltd). Deals recently signed plan a huge expansion, in the
mining as well as steel
plants: over 30 new steel plants, most of them in an area named
Kalinganagar
The first event in Indian history fully attested by inscriptions was
Ashoka’s
conquest and slaughter of the Kalinga people in the 3rd century BC.
This is because
Ashoka set up inscriptions all over his Mauryan empire commemorating
this conquest.
These were almost India’s first inscriptions. Ashoka was adopting and
Indianising what
was essentially a Greek custom, from Greek influence at his father’s
court. But Ashoka’s
inscriptions had an element of honesty and self-criticism unique in
history. Far from
glorifying his conquest, he is ashamed of it, because of the thousands
of Kalinga people
he had slaughtered and enslaved. Two of these inscriptions are cut on
rock faces in
Orissa, where the Kalinga lived. To justify his rule, Ashoka describes
his administration
in terms of dharma - human law based on divine law - and promises
justice for everyone,
including the “forest tribes”.20
Konds, who call themselves is Kuwinga, are probably essentially the
same people
as the Kalinga. From early British Gazetteers it is clear that as
Orissa’s Rajas near the
coastal areas came under British control they threw out large
populations of Konds, in
order to increase the revenue from their lands and make them more
“profitable”. These
joined the main concentration of Konds in central-west Orissa, where
Konds number
around a million – Orissa’s largest tribe. Konds still live in many
parts of Orissa’s coastal
plain. A recently constructed Arati steel plant has displaced Konds
from villages close to
the city of Cuttack.21
Whether or not Konds are one and the same as the Kalinga people, to
planners the
name evokes merely Orissa’s “glorious past”. Hence “Kalinganagar”, an
“industrial park”
13,000 hectares in size in Jajpur District where various companies
have drawn up plans
for new steel plants. Another supremely ironic naming, since the
outrage which Orissa’s
indigenous people suffer now evokes the outrage which Kalinga suffered
at Ashoka’s
hands.
Orissa’s present plans for expanding iron-ore mining and steel plants
are on a
staggering scale. Head of the list is the Orissa Govt.’s deal with
Posco, whose main
objective is Orissa’s iron, but agreed to set up a steel plant in
Orissa if it could import a
certain percentage of iron-ore from outside India. At a range near
Keonjhar named
Gandhamardan (like the bauxite-range in west Orissa), Rio Tinto Zinc
has been involved
in tests in a joint venture with SAIL, with “illegal” unregistered
mines adjacent to the
Public Sector mines. The negative impact on tribal villagers is hard
to convey. Streams
from the mountain they always relied on are running dry, forest is
disappearing, and their
life is dominated by the earth-moving vehicles operating above and all
around them.22
Plans for Kalinganagar’s steel plants were formulated during the
1990s, when
land acquisition was entrusted to IDCO (the Industrial Development
Corp. of Orissa).
Presently two steel plants are working, and two or three others are at
an advanced stage
of construction. The biggest working one belongs to Nilachal Ispat
Nigam Ltd. It
displaced 639 families, of which only 183 have members working for the
company.23
On 9th May 2005, a company called Maharashtra Seamless Steel planned a
puja to
propitiate the earth (Bhumi) on the site chosen for their steel plant.
Film footage shows
the authorities disarming seated Adivasis of their bows and arrows,
before attacking them
with lathis, the event culminating in a woman run over by a truck and
killed, and many
arrests. 24 women from Chandia and other villages were arrested and
kept locked up for
over 3 weeks.24 Since then, Maharashtra Seamless has cancelled their
project.
Two days after this on 11th May, another Bhumi Puja in west Orissa
caused
similar violence. This was to inaugurate construction of the Lower
Suktel dam project in
Balangir District, displacing at least 26 tribal villages. Already the
authorities had tried to
force people to accept advance compensation, though most refused.
Villagers beaten by
the police at this event, whom we met, were still stunned at the
violence, saying, surely
this is how police behaved during the Freedom Struggle against the
British Raj? 25
Adivasi religion tends to honour the Earth above other deities, so
they are incensed by
Hindu pujas to the Earth performed by Brahmin priests as a prelude to
dishonouring the
Earth by bulldozers which level it – especially when the piece of
Earth in question is their
own land.
The two biggest steel plants planned at Kalinganagar are by Tata and
Mittal..
Tata’s attempt to set up a big new steel plant at Gopalpur in south
Orissa was defeated by
a popular movement in 1996. On 23 July 2005 Tata performed their Bhumi
Puja at
Kalinganagar, despite a protest by around 3,000 Adivasis. A public
hearing on the issue
came 4 days later on the 27th! And so the ground was laid for the
Kalinganagar massacre.
On 2nd January 2006 the Jajpur District authorities were determined to
inaugurate
construction of Tata’s steel plant, which Adivasis from various
villages were determined
to prevent. When the authorities refused dialogue with Adivasi
leaders, protestors broke
through a police cordon. After a policeman was killed, police opened
fire on the crowd,
and firing continued a long time. The final death toll was 12 Adivasis
dead (later rising to
14), and 70 badly wounded. Dead and wounded included women and
children. Six
Adivasi corpses were returned for cremation two days later with their
hands cut off, and
genitals mutilated.26
From then till now (Jan.-April) Jajpur Adivasis have blockaded
National Highway
200 from north Orissa, affecting transportation of iron-ore being
taken for export via
Paradeep. This blockade is organised by a local Adivasi organisation
set up in the
Kalinganagar area in 2004, Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Mancha (People’s
Platform Against
Displacement), whose demands include proper land-for-land compensation
and
punishment for the officials responsible for the massacre, including
Saswat Mishra, who
had been posted as Collector here in Jajpur District after his evident
“success” promoting
Vedanta as Kalahandi Collector. The Adivasi blockade like the massacre
has divided
opinion in Orissa. Some mainstream commentators have depicted these
Adivasis as
“terrorists” who “asked for it” or “outsiders”, since 80% of them are
of the Ho tribe, who
may have migrated from the area north of Orissa in the early 20th
century. The Orissa
Govt. has rushed a new “R & R policy” (Resettlement and
Rehabilitation) through the
Legislative Assembly, determined to end the blockade as soon as
possible for fear of its
negative impact on potential investors, and the stalling of Tata’s
steel plant.
This new R & R policy was effectively written for the GoO by the DFID
and UN
officials overseeing policy in Orissa.27 It still falls short of
compensating land for land
lost, and its intension of making those displaced “stakeholders” in
the project is little
more than nice words: it does not mean being in a position to dictate
policy about what
happens on their dispossessed lands.
Meanwhile, protests against iron mining and sponge-iron plants in
north Orissa
have been growing in strength. In one case, near Orissa’s biggest
steel plant at Rourkela,
several of these factories had been targeted by a large crowd of
protestors on 24 March
2006, complaining of lack of compensation, heavy pollution and the
Govt.’s failure to
ensure factories’ compliance with laws restricting pollution, more
employment of local
people (since the tendency in all these projects is to bring in
outsiders, who get more jobs
than locals do). Police charged the crowd, and arrested about 100
people, many of them
women and schoolchildren, who have been held for several months. 28 In
another case,
on 20th May, security forces from Bhushan Steel Company opened fire on
a crowd of
protestors during construction of the boundary wall for a steel plant
in Dhenkanal
District. Ten were injured, but this time, the Collector arrested 5 of
the company officials
in charge. 29
The history of Iron and steel is also the history of war and conquest,
from the start
of the iron age to the various steps in the development of steel, to
the US steel magnates
known as “the robber barons”, who formed many of the patterns of
modern company
behaviour, to the steel companies such as Krupp who fuelled the first
world war, to the
use of local bauxite, limestone & dolomite in Orissa’s steel plants.
Arms companies use
as much steel as they ever did, while it is as true now as in 1951
that
“at the very core of the military-industry complex… Aluminum has
become the
most important single bulk material of modern warfare. No fighting is
possible,
and no war can be carried to a successful conclusion today, without
using and
destroying vast quantities of aluminum… Aluminum makes fighter and
transport
planes possible. Aluminum is needed in atomic weapons, both in their
manufacture and in their delivery… Aluminum, and great quantities of
it, spell the
difference between victory and defeat…” 30
The civil war in Bastar
Tata’s steel plant in Orissa may have been stalled by the Kalinganagar
protest, just as its
plans for a steel plant at Gopalpur were stopped by a movement in
1996. In neighbouring
Chattisgarh the civil war has created a climate where tribal
resistance is greatly
weakened, and Tata’s plans for a steel plant at Chitrakut in Bastar
(just beside the area’s
largest waterfall on the Indravati river) are moving ahead. Several
MoUs for mining and
metal factories have been signed for the Bastar region. Since over 60,
000 tribal people
have been removed from their villages by the war, their ability to
fight displacement has
been seriously weakened.
Latest reports from a BBC correspondent suggest that the number of
displaced
Adivasis has reached 100,000, and that destruction of villages and
forced relocation of
their population has become a routine practice by the Salwa Judum and
security forces,
carried out with beatings, killings and rape. It is even said that
villagers refusing to join
Salwa Judum are punished with 7 lashes and a fine of Rs.700/-. From
June 2005-June
2006 the official death toll in the war inflicted by the Maoists
numbered 191 civilians, 25
paramilitaries (including soldiers of the Naga battalion brought to
Bastar in 2005), and 12
SPOs (Salwa Judum). The death toll inflicted by security forces on
civilians and Maoists
is not forthcoming. It is unlikely to be lower, and could be
significantly higher than these
figures.31
Bastar shows how quickly the division of society over mining issues
can descend
to the extreme level of civil war. Briefly, Naxalites have controlled
the remoter parts of
Bastar for over 20 years.32 Their base there has got stronger, and
alliance with Nepal’s
highly successful Maoist uprising has turned them into Maoists, in the
popular mind at
least, so that the terms Maoist and Naxalite are almost synonymous
now. Within the last
year, the Indian army has launched a full-scale war against them,
partly to try and prevent
Maoists’ power increasing to the level it has in Nepal, since the PM
has declared this war
against the Maoists the greatest internal security threat India has
ever faced. And partly in
order to impose rapid industrialisation on the Bastar region without
the kind of protests
which have held up projects in Orissa. The forced relocation of over
600 tribal villages
has been spurred by trying to cut the Maoists’ support base. It also
opens up the land to
be taken over much more easily by corporate ventures.
The war really took off when Salwa Judum (“Peace March”) was founded
in June
2005 as a tribal youth militia against the Naxalites. It was started
by a tribal politician of
the ruling BJP party, Mahendra Karma. Advertised as a “spontaneous
uprising of the
Adivasis against the Naxalites” it was actually a police-armed and –
trained militia, which
has effectively divided most Adivasi communities in Bastar, polarizing
people into
having to take either the Naxal or the Salwa Judum side. There are
reports of police and
army burning tribal villages suspected of supporting the Maoists, and
forcing the youth
among the refugees to train as Salwa Judum cadres, where they
automatically get a salary
as SPOs (Special Police Officers). This instigates the Maoists to
attack and kill Salwa
Judum people, and there have been a number of gruesome cold-blooded
killings by
Maoists of tribal Salwa Judum members. Yet the Maoists too are largely
Adivasis, even if
their leadership may be from outside Bastar. 33
And atrocities of the security forces and Salwa Judum against Maoists
and
civilians are not reported. The Chattisgarh Govt. passed a special
Security Act earlier this
year which imposes a complete censorship on reports on the Bastar war
that do not
follow Govt. sources, and journalists who have tried to bring out real
news or reveal the
real status of Salwa Judum have been hounded. 34
The dominant model of warfare now is the US-led war in Iraq, and the
Bush
administration’s rejection of the Geneva Convention on the spurious
basis that terrorists
sometimes target civilians and do not observe the conventions of
warfare either, brings a
degeneration in the rules of war. In Bastar too, it is clear that
numerous atrocities are
being committed by both sides, even though only one side’s atrocities
are being given
coverage in the media – the side labelled “terrorists”. Yet both sides
are clearly using
terror as a weapon.
This civil war is thus a classic example of the “resource curse”,
where a region’s
mineral (or other natural resource) wealth becomes a cause for a
breakdown in social
norms, leading to civil war (as in Chattisgarh) and impoverishment
(Orissa).35 Many
countries in Africa and South America have gone down this road. In
Columbia for
example, the polarisation of large areas between FARC (and other
communist-inspired
military groups) and right-wing militias supported by the army, has
long targeted anyone
who makes an independent stand for human rights. And in Peru, the rise
and fall of
Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) serves as a close model for what has
happened in
Nepal and Bastar: the high level of exploitation combined with Govt.
attempts to impose
projects and displace indigenous people allowed the most extremist
faction of Maoists to
emerge as Sendero Luminoso, which was as uncaring of indigenous people
and their
traditions as the mainstream was.
Mao himself imposed rapid industrialisation, aimed at maximizing steel
production, with unparalleled ruthlessness: 30 million people are said
to have died as a
result of his enforced shift away from agriculture to industry. 36
Most of the Maoists in
Bastar appear to have little respect for tribal traditions, and by
undermining the old
patterns of leadership and political organisation they may have
weakened the very
tradition of resistance which Bastar has been so famous for. Since the
widespread
rebellion in 1910, Bastar Adivasis have shown a strong ability to
unite in direct action,
which paid off in resistance to plans for a steel plant at Mavalibhata
in 1992. 37
Bastar is India’s tribal centre. The best books on tribal India are
about Bastar’s
most famous tribes, the Muria and Maria Gonds.38 Until June 2005 the
position of
Bastar’s Adivasis was still generally free-er than elsewhere in India,
in the sense of being
less controlled and imposed on and less displaced, even though the
level of exploitation
had steadily increased.
If Bastar shows the extreme form of dispossession and de-tribalisation
by civil
war, Orissa shows a slower genocide. Both patterns were set long ago
throughout North
and South America, where settlers gradually took over almost all the
land that had
belonged to indigenous people, and justified doing so by a rigid set
of negative
stereotypes about the indigenous people, and a mindset completely
closed to “the other”,
whose land they invaded. More tribes were exterminated than survived.
In many cases,
conflict was brought on by miners pursuing the mineral wealth in the
mountains, gold
and silver first, followed by other minerals. Often soldiers or
settlers pursued a conscious
policy of genocide. 39
Orissa’s Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, has staked much on a series
of deals
with mining companies, in the belief that exploiting the State’s rich
mineral resources
will transform Orissa from poor to rich, and pay off its debts. In the
Orissa Assembly on
4th Dec. 2004 he stated:
“No-one – I repeat no-one – will be allowed to stand in the way of
Orissa’s
industrial development and the people’s progress.”
But who defines the people’s progress? It is a striking feature of the
whole controversy
that the voices of Adivasis have rarely been heard. The media and
staged events in
Bhubaneswar give them only snippets of coverage, compared to the
Ministers and others
at the apex of the power structure. The same Naveen Patnaik wrote in
his introduction to
his book The garden of Life: an introduction to the healing plants of
India (1993):
“The fundamental philosophy of Ayurveda says that suffering is a
disease…, that
man is interdependent with all other forms of life. Spirit is
described as the
intelligence of life, matter as its energy. Both are manifestations of
the principle
of Brahman, the oneness of life.
To the founders of Ayurveda… The man who recognizes how he is linked
with universal life is a man who possesses a sound soul because he is
not isolated
from his own energies, nor from the energies of nature. But as the
highest form of
life, man also becomes its guardian, recognizing his very survival
depends on
seeing that the fragile balance of nature, and living organisms, is
not disturbed.
In Ayurvedic terms this means that man must prevent wanton
destruction.
What he takes he must replace, to preserve the equilibrium of nature.
If he cuts
down a tree for his own uses, he must plant another. He must ensure
the purity of
water. He must not poison the air… If a man wilfully disturbed the
balance of
living things, he disturbed himself.”. 40
This is a great description of the philosophy of advaita Vedanta.
Presumably when he
wrote these words in America, Naveen did not know he would one day try
and impose a
programme of rapid industrialisation in his native Orissa. Speaking
against this
programme, Kishen Pattnayak, a leader of Orissa who followed the
Gandhian socialist
path, summarised the argument as follows:
“Orissa has enormous mineral reserves. This is considered to be the
biggest asset
to increase the prosperity of Orissa. This is really a myth. Mining
areas of Orissa
have never been known for being rich or developed. Now the condition
is
becoming much worse……A few national/multi-national companies and their
contractors and those ministers and officials helping these companies
in unlawful,
unethical manner become the owners of huge property. Orissa as a state
is not
going to get any benefit from this……Overall the state and the people
will suffer
the loss, only a small class of rich people will be created. Rich will
become richer,
poor poorer. Mining is a curse to the indigenous people and the
environment.” 41
For Adivasis then, the idea of more projects displacing them is
anathema, and a case of
over-industrialisation, not real development at all.
Anthropologists have often served the administration as well as mining
corporations, as gatherers of data and legitimizers of imposed change.
42 How do we help
to build up a concensus in favour of allowing Adivasis their land and
separate identity?
How do we build an authoritative critique of the genocidal policies
still being imposed on
indigenous people before it is too late?
REFERENCES
1. This is from Evans-Pritchard’s Nuer (1940), which is excellent on
Nuer inter-relationships with their
neighbours, the Dinka. He was with the Nuer in South Sudan during the
time of their effective conquest by
British-led forces, and must have witnessed the complete disruption of
their normal life. Although he
sketched out the need for anthropological analysis of the
administration, he did not actually do it, perhaps
because during the 1940s it was still too hard to escape the colonial
paradigms of discourse, and might have
been seen as too subversive to the establishment.
2. Fox, C.S. 1932, Bauxite and Aluminous Laterite. (2nd edition)
London: Technical Press, pp.135-6.
3. Viegas, Philipx 1992.,“The Hirakud Dam Oustees: Thirty Years
After”, in Thukral, Enakshi Ganguly ed.
Big Dams, displaced people: Rivers of sorrow, rivers of change. Delhi:
Sage.
4. Rao, M.G. & P.K.Rama October 1979. East coast bauxite deposits of
India. Report by the Geological
Survey of India.
5. Jojo, Bipin K. 2002, ‘Political economy of large dam projects: a
case study of Upper Kolab Project in
Koraput District, Orissa’, in Thakaran ed. 2002. On the attempt at
Nalco’s disinvestment see V.Sridhar in
Frontline 17 Jan. 2003.
6. From an interview with Ian Barney, whose report for DFID gives a
reasonably balanced account of the
Utkal project up until the Maikanch firing: Ian Barney A.B. Ota, B.
Pandey & R. Puranik 2001. Engaging
stakeholders: lessons from three eastern India Business case studies.
Swansea: centre for development
studies and Bhubaneswar: Resource Centre for the social dimensions of
business practice.
7. Bidwai, Praful 2001. “Balco’s privatization”, in Alternative
economic survey 2000-2001. 2nd
generation reforms: Delusions of development, By Alternative Survey
Group, Delhi: Rainbow Publishers,
Azadi Bachao Andolan & Lokayan.
8. PUDR (People’s Union for Democratic Rights) May 2005, Investigation
into the impact on people due
to the Alumina projects in south Orissa, Bhubaneswar. On Vedanta, our
main sources include VRP’s
anuual reports and “Nostromo Research” 2005, Ravages through India:
Vedanta Resources plc Alternative
Report, London and the India Resource Center, Delhi.
9. Quoted from A. & S.Das’ film Matiro Puko, Company Loko (Earth Worm,
Company Man) about
Orissa’s indigenous people’s response to mining.
10. Interveiews with villagers opposing the Lower Suktel dam appear in
Matiro Puko.
11. Quotation from Catherine Caufield, 1998, The World Bank and the
poverty of nations. London: Pan,
p.227. On the Indravati movement, see State of Orissa’s Environment: a
Citizens’ Report, 1994,
Bhubaneswar: Manoj Pradhan & Council of Professional Social Workers,
pp.144-5.
12. Graham, Ronald 1982, The aluminium industry and the third world.
London: Zed: the best overall
account of the aluminium industry.
13. Govt. of Orissa, Finance Dept.: Fiscal and Governance Reforms,
Bhubaneswar 2001.
14. Graham 1982 on Alcan, passim.
15. Moody, Roger 2005. The risks we run: Mining, Communities and
Political Risk Insurance. Utrecht:
International Books.
16. Bakan, Joel 2004, The Corporation: the pathological pursuit of
profit, London, Constable.
17. Sainath, P. 1996, Everybody likes a good drought: Stories from
India’s poorest districts, Penguin.
18. B.D.Sharma, Press release, Mysore, 22 Feb. 06,
forest...@yahoogroups.com.
19. Hitler’s interest in Orissa’s bauxite/aluminium and iron-ore is
outlined in an article in Oriya by Ajit
Mahapatra in Samaj (3 May 2005), who met one of Hitler’s key metal
experts, and the widow of another.
20. Romila Thapar: Asoka and the decline of the Mauryas, Delhi OUP
1961.
21. L.E.B.Cobden-Ramsay: Feudatory States of Oriss, Bengal Secretariat
Book Depot, 1910, no.21 of the
Bengal District Gazeteers. The Konds displaced by the Arati company’s
steel plant have a court case in
process for compensation etc, and invited us to visit but so far we
have not been able to do so.
22. Footage of iron-mining on Gandhamardan is shown in Matiro Puko.
23. Some of those displaced (though only 25 of the 183 families
working for the company) live in
Gobarghati, the resettlement colony. Families who cannot get work for
the company have to travel 15 kms
daily to work crushing stones for construction, for just 40 rupees a
day. Of the other steel companies that
have started up at Kalinganagar, Mesco and Jindal displaced 50-60
families each, and Rohit 12 families. A
corridor linking the plants has displaced 28 families. From Pradhan,
Satapathy Feb. 2006. Police firing at
Kalinganagar: a report by People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL),
Orissa.(www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalit
-tribal/2006/kalinganagar.htm)
24. Matiro Puko shows footage of this police att.ack, as well as the
arrested women.
25. Lower Suktel villagers interviewed in Matiro Puko.
26. Pradhan 2006, news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4686638. Early
reports (but not Pradhan’s Report)
say that five or six of the dead had been taken away injured by police
who returned them later as the
mutilated corpses (ind_...@rediffmail.com). Kin burnt the dead
without requesting independent

verification of the genital mutilation.
27. A Committee on R & R was formed on 6th Jan. which declared its
results in mid-April, based on a
policy drafted with UNDP/DFID guidelines
(agami...@yahoogroups.com). But this does not offer land
for land as the Adivasis demanded, and International Labour
Organisation regulations require.
28. About 40 sponge iron factories operate in Sundargarh District
alone. Most lack proper approval or
safety measures (an article in Sambad dated 11/4/06 names 4 factories
where workers had recently been
killed). Nepaz, the focus of protest, is the District’s largest. It
started up in 2002, without the required Gram
Sabha permission. The gherao outside this and 4 other factories on
24th March was attended by about 5,000
people, supported by a local MLA. They were demanding statutory
pollution controls, more employment
for locals, and proper development of the surrounding area. According
to news reports the police attacked
first, and after people entered the Nepaz factory gates, police lathi-
charged and made a first wave arrests.
More followed in the evening to dispel a road block, and more the
following night and morning, tracing
protestors to their villages. A month after these arrests no bail had
been granted, even for the schoolchildren
whose ages had been falsified. Such “false charges” have been a
consistent weapon used to harass those
who protest against industrial projects. Informatiion from Voice for
Child Rights Orissa
(vcro...@yahoo.com) and a freelance journalist
(pradeep...@yahoo.com).
29. Statesman news service, see epgo...@gmail.com.
30. Dewey Anderson, Aluminum for Defence and Prosperity,. Washington:
US Public Affairs Institute,
1951.
31. Gill McGivering: “Journey with Naxalites”, June 2006 at bbc.co.uk,
and “Chattisgarh – the ugly
physiognomy of counter-insurgency” via vskv...@yahoo.co.in..
32. Bastar was a single District till 2000, when it was divided into
three.
33. Among many recent articles see “Naxals regrouping to strike back
at Naga jawans” 26/2/06 (www.epao.
net/GP.asp?src=9.13.270206.feb06), “K.P.S.Gill as Chattisgarh State
Security Adviser” 19/4/06
(thehindu.com), “Naxalite antidote: ten troopers for a rebel” 23/4/06
(telegraphinidia.com), “An appeal to
stop the most heinous kind of displacement in Chattisgarh” (April 2006
at gnsa...@gmail.com &
sanjay...@gmail.com), and the PUDR Report April 2006: Where the
State makes war on its own
people at www.pudr.org/pages/salwa.judum.pdf, Statement from Amnesty
International dated 10/3/06
criticising atrocities by Maoists and State forces alike, and
particularly the formation of Salwa Judum.
34. On the censorship and harassment of journalists: an article in the
Times of India 17/2/06 on a statement
from the International Federation of Journalists in London urging
India’s President not to assent to the
Special Public Security Bill passed by the Chattisgarh Assembly
(indiatimes.com).
35. Michael Ross, Jan.1999, “The political economy of the resource
curse”, in World Politics no.51.
36. Jung Chang: Mao, the unknown story (London: Cape 2005), and Wild
Swans: three daughters of China
(NY: Simon & Schuster 1991). 30 million people are estimated to have
died of starvation at this time and
anyone who tried to inform the great leader of what was really
happening was liquidated.
37. Nandini Sundar: Subalterns and sovereigns: an anthropological
history of Bastar 1854-1996, 1997. On
the steel plant defeated during the 1990s, see the writings of
B.D.Sharma, ex-Collector of Bastar and ex-
Commissioner for Scheduled Tribes and Castes, who opposed the project
vociferously.
38. W.V.Grigson: The Maria Gonds of Bastar (1938), Verrier Elwin: The
Muria and their Ghotul (1947).
39. Darwin witnessed a general undertaking bthe extermination of
tribal people in Argentina in the 1830s.
“Ishi’s tribe” was exterminated by settlers in California during the
1860s.
40. Naveen Patnaik, Doubleday, New York 1993.
41. This is part of a passage intended as a forward for our book on
the aluminium industry, Out of this
earth: Orissa’s indigenous lifestyle and the aluminium cartel.
Kishenji died in September 2004.
42. Chapter 7 of Felix Padel’s book The sacrifice of human being
analyses the role of the anthropologist in
the colonial social structure.
Felix Padel is a freelance anthropologist trained at Oxford and Delhi
Universities. His first book analysed
the imposition of colonial structures over a tribal society. For the
past 4 years he has been researching and
writing a sequel to this with the Orissa writer and film-maker
Samarendra Das about attempts to set up an
aluminium industry based on mining the Konds' mountains, and the
indigenous movement against.
http://www.freewebs.com/epgorissa/FelixPadel-SamarendraDas.pdf


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Times OnlineNovember 7, 2008
Life imitates West Wing for Obama's attack dog Rahm Emanuel
(Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
Rahm Emanuel agonised over the offer from Barack Obama as he also
coveted a top job in Congress
Image :1 of 2
Hannah Strange
Video: Obama prepares for office
When Sarah Palin vowed that there would soon be a pitbull in the White
House, some on the Obama campaign might have allowed themselves a
knowing chuckle.
Several weeks of ferocious campaigning later, one is indeed on its way
to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He certainly doesn’t wear lipstick – but
has been known to sport a leotard.
Described by those who know him as variously an attack dog, warrior,
political gangster – the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as Barack Obama’s
chief of staff has sent a shiver of unease through Republicans hoping
for a new spirit of conciliation under the newly-elected president.
Related Links
'Attack dog' takes job as Chief of Staff
Victorious Obama to pick White House team
Bush unveils details of transition to Obama
Others say the take-no-prisoners partisan nicknamed Rahmbo is a
perfect fit for the almost preternaturally serene Mr Obama, who will
need political strongmen around him if he is to push through the
radical changes he seeks.
The inspiration for The West Wing’s fictional deputy chief-of-staff,
Josh Lyman, the most unlikely moments in the character’s story are
plucked straight out of Mr Emanuel’s reality.
When Lyman reads a Washington Post profile of him which tells how he
sent a congressman a rotting fish in the post, he asks his assistant,
Donna, if she was the source. In fact, it was Mr Emanuel – who
reportedly once sent a pollster he had fallen out with the same gift –
as a warning never to cross him again.
It is not the only episode in Mr Emanuel’s history which reads like a
scene from a gangster movie.
At a dinner to celebrate Bill Clinton’s first presidential victory –
Mr Emanuel was his chief fundraiser – he began to reel off the names
of those who had 'crossed' him. He grabbed a steak knife and began
plunging it into the table shouting “Dead! Dead! Dead!” after each
name.
“When he was done the table looked like a lunar landscape,” a witness
relates. “It was like something out of The Godfather. But that’s Rahm
for you.”
Mr Emmanuel became infamous for his cutting manner during the Clinton
years, even towards the world’s most powerful leaders.
In 1998, when Tony Blair visited the White House at the height of the
Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Prime Minister and Mr Clinton scheduled a
public appearance. As he was preparing to walk out, Mr Emanuel
cautioned Mr Blair : “This is important. Don’t f*** it up.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5106463.ece
Rahm Emanuel: A Tough Taskmaster for Obama
By James Carney / Washington Friday, Nov. 07, 2008Rahm Emanuel talks
with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.
Alex Brandon / AP
Print
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presidential campaign, Republicans took delight in portraying Barack
Obama as all talk and no action. But his naming of Illinois
congressman Rahm Emanuel as his White House chief of staff shows that
the Democratic President-Elect has no intention of letting that charge
stick.

Related
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More Related
Rahm Emanuel
Obama, Emanuel Statements
Emanuel In As Obama Chief of Staff
Obama may speak beautifully and inspirationally about hope and change,
about bipartisan cooperation and a better America. But he clearly
understands that you just can't sit around talking about all the good
things you want to do when you get to the White House and then expect
them to happen all by themselves. Which means you can't hire a staff
that's going to gather at work every day, hold hands and sing
Kumbaya.
Instead, you bring in a guy like Emanuel, the most hard-headed, no-
nonsense, foul-mouthed, smart-as-hell, get-it-done-or-get-out-of-my-
way Washington insider of his generation. And you put him in charge of
a White House staff whose task it is — and this is putting it
conservatively — to conceive, propose, promote and somehow push
through Congress the most ambitious agenda any President has carried
forth at least since Ronald Reagan rode into town with a lopsided grin
in January 1981. "Rahm does not sing Kumbaya," laughs an old friend
and colleague. "He barks orders." His hometown paper, the Chicago
Tribune, calls Emanuel "a brutally effective taskmaster."
Not everyone in Congress, or in Washington, particularly likes
Emanuel, 49, the former senior Clinton White House official who just
won his fourth term in Congress representing a portion of Chicago and
who serves as the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House. Even some
members of his own party (including members of the black and Latino
caucuses) bear no affection for him, especially those who feel he has
run roughshod over their prerogatives in pursuit of some greater goal
— like wresting control of the House from the Republicans in 2006, a
project Emanuel spearheaded. Others simply fear him. But few people
who know and have dealt with Emanuel are not greatly impressed with
his energy, intellect and sheer will. "It shows Obama is serious about
getting things done, and that he knows he doesn't have a lot of time
to do it," says an Obama campaign insider. "And it shows that he
realizes that he needs someone to corral the Democrats in Congress. If
they're running off in all directions, Obama's agenda will go
nowhere."
Some on both the left and right have criticized Obama's choice of a
profane Washington insider for chief of staff as evidence that his
promise that he wanted to raise the level of civility in our politics
was all talk. But those critics misunderstand the nature of the job
and the role Emanuel will be playing. Obama will he the public face
and voice of his Administration. He'll set the tone. Emanuel will
oversee the hard work of running the White House and pushing the
agenda in the halls of Congress. "The job now is to translate the
dreams into reality," says Paul Begala, a Clinton White House veteran
who knows Emanuel well. "Barack will be the inspiration, Rahm will be
the perspiration." (See pictures of Barack Obama's campaign behind the
scenes.)
That Obama made Emanuel his first White House pick shows how
dramatically different he wants his transition to be from the
disastrous one of the last incoming Democratic President. In 1992,
Bill Clinton took his time in choosing his staff, and he focused much
of it on the cabinet, believing the White House staff to be secondary.
His eventual selection of personal friends from Arkansas like his
first chief of staff Mack McLarty proved that Washington outsiders
aren't so good at running Washington.
Emanuel started out with Clinton in the 1992 campaign as a fundraiser.
He was relentless, and successful. By January 1993, he'd moved up the
ladder in Clinton's world to the point where he was named White House
political director. In that job, he offended enough people — in
particular Hillary Clinton — that he was demoted and almost fired. But
he stuck around, worked hard and ended up being the primary force
behind some of the biggest legislative successes of Clinton's
presidency: the North American Free Trade Agreement, the so-called
crime bill and welfare reform.
It's important to note that none of those bills could be defined as
part of a liberal agenda. In fact, by pushing for them, Clinton (and
Emanuel) angered large numbers of liberal Democrats. And when he ran
the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 2006 cycle, he
infuriated some liberals by recruiting conservatives and moderate
candidates — people who supported gun rights or opposed abortion — to
run in red districts. (That anger faded after Emanuel's recruits
helped sweep the Democrats into power in the House two years ago.)
All of which explains why the caricature of Emanuel in Congress as a
hyper-partisan Democrat is both true and beside the point. He is a
partisan, in the sense that he is a tireless advocate — but he is that
way whether he's advocating for the Democratic Party in congressional
races or for legislation on behalf of his President that many
Democrats oppose. (Read "Congressional Races to Watch '08.")
Several days passed after word that Obama wanted Emanuel as his chief
of staff before Emanuel actually "accepted" the job. Some observers
expressed frustration that he seemed to be dragging out the first high-
profile hire of an incoming Administration whose campaign had been
respected for its notable lack of drama; others speculated that
Emanuel was torn, because he had spoken openly of following Nancy
Pelosi as Speaker of the House. But Emanuel's path to the Speakership
wasn't guaranteed. More importantly, his wife and three children live
in Chicago. Friends say Emanuel struggled with the idea that he'd have
to move his family to Washington, and that his family is reluctant to
do it. In the end, Emanuel said yes. "A new President, a person you
know well and respect immensely, asks you to be White House chief of
staff for the most historic presidency of your lifetime?" says an
Emanuel friend who worked with him in the Clinton White House. "And
you say no? In the end, I don't think so."
"Rahm's impatient. He's been in Congress five and a half years. How
long can he wait?" jokes another friend. "He's aggressive and creates
his own weather. He's always pushing the envelope: 'What's the next
thing?'" (See the next President's to-do list.)
Does hiring Emanuel mean Obama will be bringing in mostly old Clinton
hands to populate offices in the West Wing and Cabinet agencies? Not
necessarily. The Democratic bench is deep, but it is deep in large
part because so many Democrats earned executive branch experience
during the eight years of the Clinton presidency. It would be absurd
to imagine Obama bypassing all the experience in the name of bringing
in only fresh blood. Undoubtedly, Obama will also bring in loyal
campaign staffers and advisers who are not Clinton-era veterans. But
installing someone like Emanuel to anchor the White House staff makes
eminent sense. As Begala says, "It helps to shave someone around who
knows where the Situation Room is."
—With reporting by Karen Tumulty

See pictures of the world reacting to Obama's win.)

(See pictures from the historic Election Day.)
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1857368,00.html?imw=Y

Clinton: Obama made good choice for chief of staff
By ADAM GOLDMAN – 13 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her first public
appearance since former rival Barack Obama was elected president,
praised his choice for White House chief of staff, a former top aide
to her husband.

"President-elect Obama made an excellent choice," she said of Illinois
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, adding that he "understands both ends of
Pennsylvania Avenue."

"He gets things done," she said at a news conference Thursday night
before she and former President Clinton were honored at a gala at the
newly refurbished Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. "Rahm is
determined and effective."

She also called on Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the Senate's longest-
serving Republican, to resign after he was convicted of corruption
charges.

The event at which the Clintons spoke kicked off the opening weekend
of the Intrepid after a nearly two-year restoration. President Bush
next week will deliver a Veterans Day address on the famous World War
II aircraft carrier.

Clinton, a New York Democrat, said she talked with Obama after his
historic victory, which made the Illinois senator the first African-
American elected to the White House, and promised to work with him as
he faces challenging times taking office.

"I want to be a good partner with him in the Senate," said Clinton,
his former rival for their party's presidential nomination. "The
Senate is going to be the place that determines whether his agenda is
successful. We are going to work together. We are going to work across
the aisle."

Clinton said that Obama has to move quickly on national security and
the economy. He was wise to begin preparing for his transition into
the White House, she said.

"I give him credit for being ahead of the curve," she said. "I think
he'll put together a good team."

Asked whether she would join an Obama administration, Clinton said: "I
want to be the best senator I can be from New York."

Stevens, who has secured billions of dollars in federal funds for his
state, was clinging to a narrow lead in a re-election bid after being
found guilty of lying on Senate records to hide hundreds of thousands
of dollars in home renovations and gifts he received from a
millionaire businessman. He is appealing and told voters he's not a
convicted felon — at least not until the appeal process is over.

But Stevens, Clinton said, has to go.

"I think that he should step down, and I think that we may actually
win that seat still," she said.

An exit poll and incomplete ballot results had Stevens, a 40-year
incumbent, with a very slight lead over Democratic rival Mark Begich,
the mayor of Anchorage. More than 60,000 absentee and questioned
ballots remained to be counted Thursday, so the outcome may be days in
coming.


Democrats jockeying for top Obama Cabinet posts

From Ed Henry
CNN White House Correspondent


(CNN) -- To the victor belong the spoils, and after eight years out of
the White House, Democrats want to be spoiled with high-profile jobs.


Senior Democrats say Sen. John Kerry is gunning to be the next
secretary of state.

"For every senior job, there is probably 10 qualified people, and
it's hard to be the person to tell the nine that they are not the
number one pick," said former Clinton White House press secretary Joe
Lockhart.

Senior Democrats say Sen. John Kerry is jockeying to be secretary of
state -- and has a good case after endorsing President-elect Barack
Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

But some Democrats worry he can veer off message, just like Vice
President-elect Joe Biden.

And that notion keeps New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Republican
Sen. Chuck Hagel in the hunt. Watch more on the Obama transition to
power »

Health care is another top priority, and a natural fit in the Cabinet
would be well-respected former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

But Democratic sources say Howard Dean, a doctor who had a strong run
as the Democratic National Committee chairman, is hungry for the job.

Don't Miss
Emanuel pick gets mixed reaction
Pentagon prepares for wartime transition
Obama's priority: Fixing the economy
Speculation about Obama's treasury secretary has centered on Lawrence
Summers, though he's faced controversy for sexist comments he made
while serving as president of Harvard University.

Another name being mentioned? Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul
Volcker.

"Though he's not a person who would stay four or eight years, given
his age, but to get things started, [he] would be a fabulous choice,"
said Alan Blinder, the former vice chairman of the Fed.

Plugged-in Democrats say there's also serious talk of Obama briefly
keeping Robert Gates, President Bush's defense secretary, on board to
show that the new president is not just looking for "yes men."

"I think you need a mixture of loyalists, people that President Obama
trusts and works with, and people from the outside who bring a
different perspective, who can question his decision, question his
judgment," Lockhart said. Watch more on whether Gates will stay on »

One advantage Gates may have is that he's not lobbying for the job.
Oftentimes, insiders who lobby too hard for Cabinet posts end up not
getting them.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/07/dems.position/

Vanishing jobs, stressed consumers in US feed downturn
WASHINGTON (AP): The unemployment rate has bolted to a 14-year high
and Ford Motor announced plans on Friday for more layoffs, the latest
in a vicious cycle of vanishing jobs and stresses on American
consumers that is spelling deeper trouble for the already sinking U.S.
economy.

The Labor Department said that another 240,000 jobs were cut last
month, as the jobless rate zoomed to 6.5 percent in October from 6.1
percent in September. Last month's total matches the rate in March
1994.

Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co. provided further evidence of the weakening
economy, saying it plans to cut about 2,260 more jobs and that it
burned through $7.7 billion in cash in the third quarter.

Unemployment has now surpassed the high seen after the last recession
in 2001. The jobless rate peaked at 6.3 percent in June 2003.

October's decline marked the 10th straight month of payroll
reductions, and government revisions showed that job losses in August
and September turned out to be much deeper. Employers cut 127,000
positions in August, compared with 73,000 previously reported. A
whopping 284,000 jobs were axed in September, compared with the
159,000 jobs first reported.

So far this year, a staggering 1.2 million jobs have disappeared.

Ford said it lost $129 million in the third quarter and went through
$7.7 billion in cash. The company said it will cut another 10 percent
of its North American salaried work force costs as it tries to weather
the worst economic downturn in decades.

And more ominous news was looming Friday as General Motors Corp. was
expected to release a gloomy earnings report for the third quarter.

Racing to assemble his new Democratic Cabinet, President-elect Barack
Obama will huddle with economic advisers later on Friday. His team has
been in close contact with the Bush administration to pave the way for
a smooth hand-off of power.

On the crucial jobs front, the situation is likely to move from bad to
worse next year. Many expect the jobless rate to climb to 8 percent,
possibly higher, next year. In the 1980-1982 recession, the
unemployment rate rose as high as 10.8 percent before inching down.

Stressed consumers are cutting back on their shopping and trying to
trim their debt. Economists believe consumers cut back on borrowing in
September, as another report to be released Friday is expected to
show.

Nearly half a million Americans filed new claims for unemployment
benefits in the last week alone, and skittish shoppers handed many
retailers their weakest sales since 1969, government reports out
Thursday showed.

The Labor Department said new filings for jobless benefits clocked in
at 481,000, a dip from the previous week but a still-elevated level
that suggests companies are resorting to big layoffs to cope with the
economy's downturn.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Circuit City Stores Inc., drug
maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.,
auto parts maker Dana Holding Corp., cable operators Comcast Corp. and
Cox Communications Inc. and Fidelity Investments are among the
companies that recently have announced layoffs.

To provide fresh relief, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats, in
a lame-duck session later this month, would push to enact another
round of economic stimulus to provide more relief, which could include
extending jobless benefits.

A $168 billion package, including tax rebates for people and tax
breaks for businesses, was rolled out earlier this year. Short of a
package of $100 billion or more, the House could press the Senate to
pass a smaller $61 billion measure that would bankroll public works
projects to help generate new jobs and would extend unemployment
benefits.

Companies are begging for help, too. The leaders of General Motors,
Ford and Chrysler and the president of the United Auto Workers union
came to Capitol Hill to discuss billions of dollars more in financial
help.

Reeling from layoffs and watching their wealth shrink as home values
and nest eggs have been clobbered, shoppers turned extra frugal last
month and sent sales at many retailers down sharply.

Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of
Shopping Centers, summed up the situation as ``awful.''

According to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index, sales fell 1 percent, the
weakest October performance since at least 1969 when the index began.

Target Corp. and Costco were among the many retailers reporting sales
declines last month. Even teens stayed away from malls. American Eagle
Outfitters Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. reported drops in sales.
But Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, logged a sales
gain as shoppers hunted for bargains.

The Federal Reserve ratcheted down interest rates last week to 1
percent and left the door open to further reductions in a bid to
prevent a drawn out recession in the United States.

The country's economic state has rapidly deteriorated in just a few
months. The economy contracted at a 0.3 percent pace in the July-
September quarter, signaling the onset of a likely recession. It was
the worst showing since 2001 recession, and reflected a massive
pullback by consumers.

As U.S. consumers watch jobs disappear, they'll probably retrench even
further.

That's why analysts predict the economy is still shrinking in the
current October-December quarter and will contract further in the
first quarter of next year. All that more than fulfills a classic
definition of a recession: two straight quarters of contracting
economic activity.

Rich nations should abandon 'unsustainable' lifestyle: Wen
Beijing (PTI): Appealing to the developed world to abandon their
unsustainable and lavish lifestyle, Chinese Premier Wen Jibao on
Friday said that global financial crisis should not be allowed to
undermine climate change efforts. "The developed countries have a
responsibility and an obligation to respond to global climate change
by altering their unsustainable way of life," the official Xinhua news
agency quoted him as saying.

Addressing a high-level conference on climate change jointly hosted by
China and United Nations today he made these remarks and said that his
government has always "laid great importance" to climate change.
Representatives of governments, international and non-governmental
organisations from nearly 100 countries are taking part in the
conference that focuses on technology development and transfer.

Premier Wen also urged developed nations to help developing countries
to cope with the global climate change. The meet brainstormed on the
international negotiation process on climate change.

The conference will cover a wide array of topics including the current
status of technology transfer and best practices, mechanism for
overcoming barriers to technology transfer, roles and potential
collaboration of public and private sectors, among others.

The Chinese government has set a target of reducing energy consumption
per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 per cent and major
pollutant emissions by 10 per cent from the 2005 levels by 2010 to
protect environment, save energy and ensure a sustainable
development.

Wen said at the conference that China "has confidence to fulfill this
goal".
'Surcharged emotions' of 'patriotic' students: BJP on ABVP protest
New Delhi (PTI): A day after ABVP activists protested against S A R
Geelani at a seminar, the BJP on Friday termed it as an expression of
"surcharged emotions" by "patriotic" students.

"The surcharged emotions of patriotic students can't be simply
ignored," party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters here
today reacting to the incident.

A group of ABVP activists yesterday went on a rampage at Delhi
University, vandalising the venue of a seminar in protest against
presence of S A R Geelani, acquitted in the Parliament attack case and
spat on him.

Around 50 youths damaged property and hurled abuses on Geelani at the
seminar on 'Communalism, Fascism and Democracy, Rhetoric and Reality',
disrupting the programme briefly.

"His (S A R Geelani) association with militants can't be denied and
one can simply say that he was just saved by the skin and the shroud
of mistrust still prevails about him," Rudy added.

He alleged that the coming together of pseudo-secular sympathisers and
certain radical groups had emerged in the university community
meeting.

The party, however, said that the protest by the student body could
have been "more hygienic."

"The Bharitiya Janata Party has taken note of the protest by ABVP
activists at a Delhi University seminar and we certainly feel that the
nature of protest should be more hygienic," Rudy said.

'Obama's presidential acceptance speech partly written in London'
London (PTI): Barack Obama's electrifying presidential acceptance
speech in Chicago in the US, widely lauded all over the globe, was
partly written by a Liberal Democrat tax lobbyist in a London flat in
Notting Hill.

Obama's speech to hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago on
Tuesday night was one of the most widely-watched and repeated
political addresses in recent history.

According to 'The Daily Telegraph', parts of the speech were crafted
by Jacob Rigg, 27, a volunteer adviser to the Obama campaign, in his
flat in Notting Hill, west London.

Rigg works for 'The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners', which
lobbies and advises on tax issues.

Rigg said the inspiration for the Chicago speech was the most
celebrated piece of oratory in American history, Abraham Lincoln's
1863 address at Gettysburg.

Lincoln's speech, made two years before the end of the American Civil
War, spoke of the "unfinished work" and the "great task remaining" of
building a democratic republic.

In his speech, Obama had said: "The road ahead will be long. Our climb
will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but
America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we
will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there."

Having worked in Washington as a lobbyist, Rigg has links with some of
Obama's Senate staff, the report said.

Working from home in his own time, Rigg was involved in writing the
President-elect's speech, contributing via phone, e-mail and video
conferences.

Rigg said he had also drafted a significant speech the world will
never hear, the one that Obama would have given if he had lost the
election, according to the daily.

Rizwanur Rehman case: SC to hear Todi's plea on Nov. 10
New Delhi (PTI): Industrialist Ashok Todi, who is fearing arrest in
the Rizwanur Rehman case, on Friday moved the Supreme Court
challenging the order of a Kolkata trial court issuing non-bailable
warrant against him and other accused for their failure to appear
before it.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan posted the matter for
hearing on November 10 after Todi's counsel said that his surrender
would lead to his arrest and therefore the petition should be heard on
an urgent basis.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Todi, who has been
chargesheeted for alleged abetment of suicide of his son-in-law
Rehman, said that despite the October 13 order of the apex court there
was no protection to the industrialist.

The apex court had earlier said that trial in the case would not
commence till the Calcutta High Court decides a petition filed by Todi
challenging CBI's decision to chargesheet him in the case.

Todi, along with six others, was chargesheeted by the CBI on September
22 for alleged abetment of Rizwanur's suicide. A Metropolitan
Magistrate in Kolkata has asked the accused to appear before it on
October 27 but they had failed to abide by the order leading to the
issuance of NBW.

In the beginning of the matter, when Salve mentioned the petition, the
Bench said the accused can cooperate in the proceedings related to the
case.

However, Salve said the arrest warrant was coming in the way and the
surrender of the accused would lead to his arrest and the previous
order of the apex court would become meaningless.

The senior advocate gave another dimension to the case saying that it
has acquired a communal tinge in West Bengal.
Obama's victory a vote for engagement and dialogue: Rehman
Islamabad (PTI): Americans have backed an international order that
focuses on engagement and dialogue for resolving global challenges by
voting for President-elect Barack Obama, a Pakistani minister said on
Friday.
Obama's victory is a triumph of multilateralism as an international
order and the US polls have shown significant changes in voters'
preferences that reflect the future President's vision for America's
role vis-a-vis the rest of the world, Information Minister Sherry
Rehman said. "By voting for Mr Obama, Americans have placed a seal of
approval on an international order that puts primacy on engagement and
dialogue for resolving global challenges," she said.
Rehman's comments came in the wake of Pakistan's call for the US to
end missile strikes in its tribal areas and to back efforts to engage
the Taliban and other militant groups in dialogue to end violence. "We
look forward to the opportunity of working with the new US
administration that has positively reciprocated to our desire for a
partnership that works for world peace and regional stability," said
Rehman.
"Obama's victory is inspiring for proponents of democracy and
reinforces their firm belief in democracy's power to bring about a
definitive change in leadership and policy through genuine
participatory processes," she said in a statement.
The President-elect's campaign slogan for change has "created a new
set of global expectations about the US, which will be a major
challenge for its new administration. Yet, it also presents an
opportunity for bringing about qualitative policy changes that can
create enduring global peace and economic security," she said.
Antigua wants to rename highest peak 'Mount Obama'
St John's (Antigua) (AP): Antigua's Prime Minister wants to rename the
island's highest mountain peak "Mount Obama" in honor of the US
president-elect.
"Boggy Peak", as it is currently known, soars more than 396 meters
over the island's southern point and serves as a transmission site for
broadcast and telecommunication providers. It also is a popular hiking
spot.
Political analyst Avel Grant says the name change could draw more
tourists to the island.
Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer announced the plans Wednesday in a
congratulatory letter to President-elect Barack Obama.
Attorney General Justin Simon said on Thursday he will research if
parliament needs to approve the name change.

Pre-poll survey predicts Congress victory in Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit might return to power
for the third consecutive term in Delhi, a pre-poll survey on Friday
claimed, predicting a scrape through for the Congress in the coming
Assembly polls.
The survey conducted by Star TV claimed that ruling Congress, which
has 47 MLAs in the present assembly, will get 38 seats in the 70-
member assembly while opposition BJP will improve its tally from 20 to
29 in this election.
However, according to the survey, BSP will not get any seats despite
an increase in its vote share from 2003's 5.76 per cent to 10 per cent
projected this time.
In what could be bad news for BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate
Malhotra, Dikshit is way ahead of the South Delhi MP in popularity
with 37 per cent of the 6,248 respondents favouring the Congress
veteran. Malhotra polled 14 per cent.
The survey, which was conducted between October 27 and November 1,
claimed that Congress will lose its vote share by 6.1 per cent from
2003's 48.13 per cent.
The BJP is also poised to increase their vote share with 39.5 per cent
votes as against last time's 35.33 per cent.
On the performance of the Dikshit government, 46 per cent of the
respondents termed it "good" or "very good" while 24 per cent termed
it "bad" or "worse".
Forty-eight per cent was of the view that the individual performance
of the Chief Minister was "good" while 20 per cent rated it bad.
Only 31 per cent rated BJP's performance as "good" while 22 per cent
termed it either bad or worse.
VHP accuses Orissa govt. of inaction on Laxmanananda murder
New Delhi (PTI): Accusing the Orissa Government of not taking any
action, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Friday demanded immediate arrest
of those involved in the killing of Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal
district of the state.
VHP leader Pravin Togadia said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been
"surprisingly inactive" in taking action against the accused as he did
not want to offend "certain people."
"The Orissa Government failed miserably to take action against the
killers of Swamiji. We will not tolerate this," he said addressing a
rally here to pay tribute to those killed in police firing on this day
in 1966 while demonstrating near the Parliament against cow
slaughter.
Togadia also demanded immediate arrest of all those involved in the
killing of the VHP leader.
Kandhamal district witnessed widespread violence after the
assassination of the VHP leader on August 23.
The VHP leader also criticised the Maharashtra government for
arresting Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit
in connection with the Malegaon blasts.
Addressing the gathering, RSS Chief K S Sudarshan demanded framing of
a law to ban cow slaughter and appealed to the gathering to strengthen
the movement for cow protection.
BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate in Delhi V K Malhotra said if voted
to power he will take stringent measures to stop cow slaughter in the
city.
He said no hotels in the city will be allowed to serve beef.
Various speakers from religious bodies also addressed the rally
organised by 'Rastriya Godhan Mahasangha' and demanded complete ban on
cow slaughter and a separate ministry for cow protection.
The high barriers facing foreign workers

7 Nov, 2008, 1320 hrs IST, BusinessWeek
Moira Herbst

From technology giants like Microsoft (MSFT) to agricultural employers
such as New York State's Torrey Farms, businesses tend to have a
pretty straightforward take on immigration policy: If workers from
other countries want to come to the US, government should let them in.
This is a controversial stance among Americans who fear losing their
jobs. But companies say the economy overall will be stronger with more
workers, whether they're designing software, milking cows, or
performing other tasks that Americans can't or won't do.
Technology companies have pushed for years to let in more skilled
workers. The easiest place to start, they say, is by granting green
cards for permanent residence to students from overseas who get
advanced degrees at US universities, especially in fields such as
science, math, and engineering. Today, these students need to apply
for residence along with everyone else, and many can't get the papers
to stay. "Over half of our PhDs are foreign-born students, and we
won't even give them a green card," says William D. Watkins, chief
executive of storage equipment maker Seagate Technology (STX). "So we
educate them at our universities, which are the best in the world, and
then we send them back home. It's crazy."
Tech companies would like to see more experienced workers from
overseas, too, both on a temporary and permanent basis. Under the
current system, the number of high-skill workers allowed in each year
on temporary work visas is capped at 65,000 (with a further 20,000 for
those with advanced degrees). Compete America, a lobbying group
representing Intel (INTC), Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL), and others,
wants the cap increased to at least 115,000. Tech companies have many
Washington supporters on the issue, but their efforts have been turned
back by critics who say the work visa program is subject to misuse and
fraud.
Waiting Game
Technology companies also want additional green cards for skilled
workers from abroad. The number of so-called "employment-based green
cards" is capped at 140,000 per year now, and only 7% of those, or
9,800, can go to workers from any one country. That cap has had the
affect of making immigrants from populous countries such as India and
China wait five or more years for their green cards, even after the U.
S. government decides to approve their applications.
Complete America would like the overall green card cap to be raised
and the 7% restriction for each country to be lifted. In addition, the
group has asked for green cards that went unused in years past to be
reauthorized so they could be issued in the future. This "green-card
recapture" would free up 200,000 to 300,000 green cards for current
immigrants. James Goodnight, CEO and founder of Cary (N.C.)-based
software maker SAS, says the US risks losing talented workers to
Canada and Europe if it doesn't adopt more accommodating policies.
"They have a policy of welcoming foreign people with PhDs and highly
trained workers, whereas for some reason our country doesn't want them
anymore," says Goodnight.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/The_high_barriers_facing_foreign_workers_in_US/articleshow/3684802.cms
Americans losing confidence in the Fed: Survey

7 Nov 2008, 2043 hrs IST, REUTERS
NEW YORK: Most Americans say the country's financial crisis has hurt
their confidence in the Federal Reserve, according to a Reuters/
University of
Michigan survey released on Friday. The poll found sentiment toward
banks and other financial institutions, like insurance firms and
mutual funds, has also deteriorated.
At the same time, the economic downturn has dented trust in the
nation's financial authorities. Twenty-six percent of Americans said
they were "a lot less" confident in the Fed, which is the U.S. central
bank, now than five years ago. That was up from 7 percent back in
1987, before Greenspan began his 18-1/2-year term at the helm of the
Fed.
An additional 29 percent said they were "a little less" confident in
monetary policy-makers. "The loss of confidence in both fiscal and
monetary authorities was associated with less favorable levels of
consumer sentiment," said Richard Curtin, director of the Reuters/
University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.
The data suggested that, while consumer confidence may experience a
momentary rebound from the results of the presidential election, such
a bounce will likely be fleeting. "These honeymoons are based on the
promise for improvement, more about people feeling better about the
future policy than actually doing better," Curtin said.
US jobless rate at 14-year high of 6.5%

7 Nov 2008, 1907 hrs IST, AGENCIES
WASHINGTON: The government says the nation's unemployment rate bolted
to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as employers slashed
240,000 Right approach for different stages of career
jobs. It was stark proof the economy is almost certainly in a
recession.
The new snapshot, released by the Labor Department, shows the crucial
jobs market deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace.
The jobless rate zoomed to 6.5 percent in October from 6.1 percent in
September, matching the unemployment rate in March 1994. Employers
have cut jobs each month this year.
The struggling US economy had lost 159,000 jobs in September as the
credit crunch hit a broad swath of industries.
When people lose their jobs, they tend to pare back family budgets and
fall behind on their debt - not a good prospect for an economy
suffering a simultaneous credit crisis and spending slowdown.
Buffett, Google's Schmidt in Obama's adviser team

7 Nov 2008, 1742 hrs IST, AGENCIES
LONDON: US President-elect Barack Obama has appointed a 17-member high-
level team of advisers including billionaire investor Warren Buffett
and
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt to guide him in channelising the
economy, a media report says.
"US President-elect Barack Obama has appointed a team of high-level
advisers including billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Google
Chief Executive Eric Schmidt to guide his thoughts on the economy
ahead of taking office on January 20," the Telegraph report stated.
The team, to be called the Transition Economic Advisory Board (TEAB),
will meet for the first time in Chicago today to discuss the state of
the economy and the prospect of taking early action.
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway, would
participate through speakerphone in the meeting.
Further, the report stated that Obama might use this opportunity to
appoint his first Treasury Secretary.
The advisory board has 17 members including former Fed Chairman Paul
Volcker, whose name has also been connected with the Treasury job, and
former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who would also be at the
meeting at the Chicago Hilton today, the daily said.
At present, Robert Rubin is Chairman and Director of the Executive
Committee of global financial services major Citigroup. Besides,
corporate America is also well represented in the team, with Time
Warner Chairman Dick Parsons and Xerox Chairman Anne Mulcahy and
Schmidt, who was a loyal supporter of Obama during his election
campaign, it added.
Other members of the board comprise Laura Tyson, one of Obama's key
economic aides, former House of Representatives member David Bonior,
two former SEC Commissioners Roel Campos and William Donaldson, and
Chairman of the Midwest JP Morgan Chase William Daley, the Telegraph
report said.
Further, TIAA-CREF President and CEO Roger Ferguson, Michigan Governor
Jennifer Granholm, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Classic
Residence by Hyatt CEO Penny Pritzker, Robert Reich and Laura Tyson
from the University of California and DE Shaw Managing Director
Lawrence Summers are on the board, it added.
Saudi Arabia agrees to bail out cash-trapped Pak

7 Nov, 2008, 1505 hrs IST, AGENCIES
LAHORE: Saudi Arabia has reportedly agreed to bail out cash-strapped
Pakistan with 'substantial oil supply' on deferred payment and cash
assistance.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide 'tangible assistance' to "ease"
Pakistan's balance of payment pressure' and assured the visiting
Pakistani delegation of investing more than one billion dollars in the
livestock and agricultural sectors.
"Foreign Minister Shah Mehmoud Qureshi is expected to announce the
Saudi package in Islamabad on Friday," the Dawn News reported.
The Saudi leadership also said that they would increase hiring of
Pakistani labour and would provide more financial assistance through
the Friends of Pakistan initiative.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Saudi King Abdullah decided to
expand the volume of mutual trade from 5.7 billion dollars to 7
billion dollars. They stressed long-term strategic mutual ties and
enhanced defence co-operation
ADB says slowdown could turn into global recession

7 Nov, 2008, 1227 hrs IST, AGENCIES
SINGAPORE: The world could easily slide into a global recession, the
Asian Development Bank warned on Friday, adding that growth in Asian
economies w
ill slow further next year amid weaker demand for their exports.
Recent dismal trade, employment and manufacturing data all point to a
shrinking international economy and falling consumer demand for
products made in Asia, said ADB Managing Director General Rajat Nag.
``The global slowdown could easily turn into a global recession,'' Nag
said in a speech in Singapore. ``Growth in developing Asia will likely
slow further in 2009.''
Governments across the region have slashed growth forecasts this year
as a credit crisis that began last year in the U.S. spreads across the
globe, battering investor and consumer confidence.
``Asia's economic and financial systems will likely come under
increased pressure,'' Nag said. ``Asia's export-dependent economies
also face a sharp slowdown as global demand weakens.''
Citi readies for another round of layoffs: Sources

7 Nov 2008, 1059 hrs IST, REUTERS
NEW YORK: Citigroup is drawing up lists of employees in a division
including investment banking who will be let go in another round of
layoffs,
people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The layoffs are part of Citigroup's previously announced plans to
reduce headcount by about 9,100 across the company by next October.
The second-largest US bank by assets has already eliminated about
23,000 positions this year.
Details of the upcoming round of layoffs in the institutional clients
group have not been announced.
Some cuts will be in sales and trading and investment banking, and
will be announced in coming weeks.
Reductions are expected in areas ranging from prime brokerage to
structured finance to investment banking, according to people familiar
with the matter.
Citigroup spokesman Dan Noonan declined to comment.
Citigroup has had several rounds of layoffs this year, and has cut
positions outside these broader waves as well.
In the middle of October, 11 US equity research analysts were laid
off.
Citigroup had about 352,000 employees as of the end of September,
about 58,000 of whom were in the institutional clients group, which
includes alternative investments, global transaction services, capital
markets and global banking.
At the end of 2007, the bank employed 375,000 people.
Eurozone "very probably" in recession in 2009: Juncker

7 Nov 2008, 2209 hrs IST, AGENCIES
BRUSSELS: The economy of the 15 nations sharing the euro will "very
probably" be in recession next year, the chairman of the eurozone
finance
ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Friday.
"Europe will very probably be in recession in 2009," said Juncker, who
is also Luxembourg's finance minister and premier.
Speaking on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels, Juncker said he
expected the eurozone economy to show growth or contraction somewhere
between a European Commission forecast for 0.1 percent expansion in
2009 and an IMF estimate for shrinkage of 0.5 per cent.

GM warns of cash crisis next year


7 Nov 2008, 2225 hrs IST, AGENCIES
NEW YORK: US car maker General Motors warned on Friday that it would
run out of cash in the first half of next year unless economic and
market conditions "significantly improve."

Genocide in India:
A Planned Program

It all began in Godhra - or so the right-wing saffron combine
(Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)and Bajrang
Dal) and its government in Gujarat maintain.

On February 27, the coach of a train carrying 'kar sevaks' (religious
workers) was set on fire by a mob, killing 58 of them. Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi, calling this a "terrorist attack", dubbed the
carnage that ensued from the next day as a justified "reaction". It
left more than 700 killed, with the numbers still mounting, and tens
of thousands homeless.

However, investigation reveals that what happened did not have its
genesis in Godhra -- it lay in the long-term plan to cleanse Gujarat
state of its 8.73 per cent Muslim population. As part of its game
plan, the VHP had even issued pamphlets calling for the economic
boycott of Muslims. And no one was spared - not even judges, police
officers, Members of Parliament, pregnant women, infants, children,
young men, greying older men and women, teenaged girls, mothers.

These events are memorable for the intensity of the violence, the
brutality and meticulous manner of destruction. Muslims were attacked
in cities and villages across the state, their property burnt or
looted and their houses and business establishments reduced to ashes.
Entire Muslim localities have been reduced to rubble, mosques all over
the state have been burnt, Korans reduced to ashes and temples have
started sprouting in impromptu places where there were shops or
mosques.

All this while law enforcing agencies watched and took part actively
along with politicians, peoples' representatives and professionals
from all walks of life in utterly destroying the foundation of civil
society.

Everywhere in capital Ahmedabad and in smaller towns and villages,
refugees of this carnage now live in camps, schools or people's
houses. The numbers could be about 35,000 or more in Ahmedabad alone.
In rural areas like Sardarpura in Mehsana district, the victims have
shifted to other villages which are more friendly. Though they have
been given clothes, food and shelter, toilet facilities are non-
existent and bathing a forgotten luxury.

Only a small Citizen's Initiative (a loose grouping of concerned
individuals and non-government organisations) is distributing relief
supplies. This Initiative has also started building toilets apart from
providing desperately needed psychiatric counselling services. But
there is a lot more that needs to be done. The task is not easy; at
least in Mumbai, during the post-Babri Masjid demolition riots in
1992-93, there was a massive outpouring of relief from all sections of
society, which is absent in Gujarat. The contrast is more marked as
there was such an outpouring of relief after last year's earthquake
in the state.

For the survivors of the genocide at Naroda near Ahmedabad, justice
and sanity are now alien. "Why don't you export Muslims to another
country?" asked Iqbal Malik, an auto rickshaw driver from Naroda,
where the carnage claimed over 20 lives.

Shah Alam mosque, a historic symbol of religious unity, is now a
refuge for over 6,000 people. Community leaders are providing food,
and even clothes and people live under large tents. "Only Allah is our
protector. We have no one else now," said greying Zubeidabibi Ahmed
Mia, who escaped with her life.

Tales of horror abound. Said Salimbhai from Naroda, "We saw young
women being raped and killed, pregnant women speared to death with
their unborn children. People came with petrol cans, they exploded
cooking gas cylinders in our houses. The police watched and when we
pleaded for help, they told us to run away or we would be shot."

Rehmanbhai Shakhubhai, admitted in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital said
he lost three children in the attack and only his daughter, who was to
get married on March 18, survived. "The Bajrang Dal came shouting 'Jai
Sri Ram'. They burnt everything. Only my wife and daughter are alive,"
he said. Afsana, his daughter, sits on the bed, her head shaved, her
hands burnt and her torso covered in bandages. "They set fire to my
brothers after dousing them with petrol. I tried to save them but the
mob surrounded me and I had to run away. Who will marry me now," she
asked?

"I saw Jaideep Patel with a revolver, inciting crowds," said Mansuri
Yusuf, an employee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Services. "He
said 'finish all the Muslims'. There were two Ahmedabad municipal
corporators with him and a local criminal." Dr Patel, the Gujarat
state VHP President has since denied this allegation.

"Even 10 days after the carnage, there was no help from the
government. It is the Muslim community which has given us clothes food
and shelter," said Yusuf.

Similarly, at the municipal school at Dariyakhan Gummat, survivors of
another carnage say that only the Muslim community is helping the
5,000 people in the camp.

In Mora village, all 106 homes belonging to members of the Bohra
community have been destroyed. "A mob looted my father's cycle shop
and burnt my husband's tailoring shop. I managed to break the window
of my house and run out. My family of 14 stayed in a small bathroom
for three days. We had no food or water. I used to hit my children and
tell them to stay quiet. I refuse to go back there -- we will be
killed. What will we do now?" wept Farida Abbasi Boliwalla, whose
family has incurred a loss of Rs 900,000 (1US$=Rs 48).

Another woman, preferring anonymity said that in the Godhra GIDC area,
all factories of Muslims were burnt and looted in the presence of the
police. There are several Bohra settlements in all parts of
Panchmahals district where Godhra is located and the entire losses
could amount to Rs 200 million, she said.

"The VHP also threatened the convoys which were escorting Muslims and
tried to attack them. They threw stones and chased the trucks. They
tried to burn my grandchildren but we managed to rescue them. They
kept saying "Yahan se Muslim hatao" (Drive out all Muslims)," said 35-
year-old Miriam Yakub Sayed.

The long-term plan to decimate the Muslim population is now becoming
clear. A resident of Dekwa village of Halol taluka, a store owner,
said three months ago meetings were held near Pawagadh, under the
guise of social upliftment by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. "Even at
mohallas (street corners), secret meetings were held to tell people
that the Muslims were their enemies," he said.

The Bajrang Dal has been paying people and giving them trishuls
(tridents) to kill Muslims, adds the resident. "They tell Muslims that
they will pay them Rs 5,000 not to offer namaz (prayers). Voters'
lists have been used to identify and kill our people," he added.

Thirty km from Godhra, Sofia (name changed) had gone to celebrate
Bakri Id at her mother's house in Randhikpur village. Their homes were
burnt and a large group fled the village. They travelled from village
to village and on the way to Panivela, the group, which had eight
women including Sofia, were assaulted by upper caste people from her
village who then gang raped her and other girls and left them on the
road. She could name the perpetrators - they include a doctor, a
lawyer and a local sarpanch (elected village head). She sat on the
road for a day and a night before the police found her.

"When I recovered I was the only one alive, there was no one else. My
mother was killed as well," she said. The 22-year-old can barely
articulate her experience and she is in desperate need of counselling
and help to recover from her trauma.

Sundarpur village in Mehsana district, has 700 homes of Muslims in a
population of 3,500. The mob came on the evening of February 28 and
started burning houses. "By the time the police came, everything was
burnt. Their plan was very clear," said residents.

While the death toll is still mounting, there are three major
questions which need to be addressed from a long-term point of view --
security, sanity and justice.

Most people don't want to return to their homes - who will guarantee
their safety? There is a terrible sense of loss, that no justice will
ever be done and the perpetrators of these events will go scot-free.

Moreover, the rural areas are being totally neglected and there are no
interventions. People don't have any money and are dependent on relief
only from the Muslim community. Understandably, there is a tremendous
sense of isolation.

Women, especially those who have seen the violence and have been
sexually assaulted, are bereft of any specialised interventions. Some
women have lost their entire families. Older women and men too have
been assaulted and in some cases, have no one left. Many children have
been attacked and their future seems forever tainted by these
incidents. This is a major area where some intervention is necessary.
Reaching out to the people is important as also providing some cash
allowance.

The government's lack of interest and justification of this violence
is compounding the situation. The important thing now is to reach out
and let those affected know that all of us care deeply about what has
happened and help them to fight for justice as well.

– It all began in Godhra - or so the right-wing saffron combine
(Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)and Bajrang
Dal) and its government in Gujarat maintain.

On February 27, the coach of a train carrying 'kar sevaks' (religious
workers) was set on fire by a mob, killing 58 of them. Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi, calling this a "terrorist attack", dubbed the
carnage that ensued from the next day as a justified "reaction". It
left more than 700 killed, with the numbers still mounting, and tens
of thousands homeless.

However, investigation reveals that what happened did not have its
genesis in Godhra -- it lay in the long-term plan to cleanse Gujarat
state of its 8.73 per cent Muslim population. As part of its game
plan, the VHP had even issued pamphlets calling for the economic
boycott of Muslims. And no one was spared - not even judges, police
officers, Members of Parliament, pregnant women, infants, children,
young men, greying older men and women, teenaged girls, mothers.

These events are memorable for the intensity of the violence, the
brutality and meticulous manner of destruction. Muslims were attacked
in cities and villages across the state, their property burnt or
looted and their houses and business establishments reduced to ashes.
Entire Muslim localities have been reduced to rubble, mosques all over
the state have been burnt, Korans reduced to ashes and temples have
started sprouting in impromptu places where there were shops or
mosques.

All this while law enforcing agencies watched and took part actively
along with politicians, peoples' representatives and professionals
from all walks of life in utterly destroying the foundation of civil
society.

Everywhere in capital Ahmedabad and in smaller towns and villages,
refugees of this carnage now live in camps, schools or people's
houses. The numbers could be about 35,000 or more in Ahmedabad alone.
In rural areas like Sardarpura in Mehsana district, the victims have
shifted to other villages which are more friendly. Though they have
been given clothes, food and shelter, toilet facilities are non-
existent and bathing a forgotten luxury.

Only a small Citizen's Initiative (a loose grouping of concerned
individuals and non-government organisations) is distributing relief
supplies. This Initiative has also started building toilets apart from
providing desperately needed psychiatric counselling services. But
there is a lot more that needs to be done. The task is not easy; at
least in Mumbai, during the post-Babri Masjid demolition riots in
1992-93, there was a massive outpouring of relief from all sections of
society, which is absent in Gujarat. The contrast is more marked as
there was such an outpouring of
relief after last year's earthquake in the state.

For the survivors of the genocide at Naroda near Ahmedabad, justice
and sanity are now alien. "Why don't you export Muslims to another
country?" asked Iqbal Malik, an auto rickshaw driver from Naroda,
where the carnage claimed over 20 lives.

Shah Alam mosque, a historic symbol of religious unity, is now a
refuge for over 6,000 people. Community leaders are providing food,
and even clothes and people live under large tents. "Only Allah is our
protector. We have no one else now," said greying Zubeidabibi Ahmed
Mia, who escaped with her life.

Tales of horror abound. Said Salimbhai from Naroda, "We saw young
women being raped and killed, pregnant women speared to death with
their unborn children. People came with petrol cans, they exploded
cooking gas cylinders in our houses. The police watched and when we
pleaded for help, they told us to run away or we would be shot."

Rehmanbhai Shakhubhai, admitted in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital said
he lost three children in the attack and only his daughter, who was to
get married on March 18, survived. "The Bajrang Dal came shouting 'Jai
Sri Ram'. They burnt everything. Only my wife and daughter are alive,"
he said. Afsana, his daughter, sits on the bed, her head shaved, her
hands burnt and her torso covered in bandages. "They set fire to my
brothers after dousing them with petrol. I tried to save them but the
mob surrounded me and I had to run away. Who will marry me now," she
asked?

"I saw Jaideep Patel with a revolver, inciting crowds," said Mansuri
Yusuf, an employee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Services. "He
said 'finish all the Muslims'. There were two Ahmedabad municipal
corporators with him and a local criminal." Dr Patel, the Gujarat
state VHP President has since denied this allegation.

"Even 10 days after the carnage, there was no help from the
government. It is the Muslim community which has given us clothes food
and shelter," said Yusuf.

Similarly, at the municipal school at Dariyakhan Gummat, survivors of
another carnage say that only the Muslim community is helping the
5,000 people in the camp.

In Mora village, all 106 homes belonging to members of the Bohra
community have been destroyed. "A mob looted my father's cycle shop
and burnt my husband's tailoring shop. I managed to break the window
of my house and run out. My family of 14 stayed in a small bathroom
for three days. We had no food or water. I used to hit my children and
tell them to stay quiet. I refuse to go back there -- we will be
killed. What will we do now?" wept Farida Abbasi Boliwalla, whose
family has incurred a loss of Rs 900,000 (1US$=Rs 48).

Another woman, preferring anonymity said that in the Godhra GIDC area,
all factories of Muslims were burnt and looted in the presence of the
police. There are several Bohra settlements in all parts of
Panchmahals district where Godhra is located and the entire losses
could amount to Rs 200 million, she said.

"The VHP also threatened the convoys which were escorting Muslims and
tried to attack them. They threw stones and chased the trucks. They
tried to burn my grandchildren but we managed to rescue them. They
kept saying "Yahan se Muslim hatao" (Drive out all Muslims)," said 35-
year-old Miriam Yakub Sayed.

The long-term plan to decimate the Muslim population is now becoming
clear. A resident of Dekwa village of Halol taluka, a store owner,
said three months ago meetings were held near Pawagadh, under the
guise of social upliftment by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. "Even at
mohallas (street corners), secret meetings were held to tell people
that the Muslims were their enemies," he said.

The Bajrang Dal has been paying people and giving them trishuls
(tridents) to kill Muslims, adds the resident. "They tell Muslims that
they will pay them Rs 5,000 not to offer namaz (prayers). Voters'
lists have been used to identify and kill our people," he added.

Thirty km from Godhra, Sofia (name changed) had gone to celebrate
Bakri Id at her mother's house in Randhikpur village. Their homes were
burnt and a large group fled the village. They travelled from village
to village and on the way to Panivela, the group, which had eight
women including Sofia, were assaulted by upper caste people from her
village who then gang raped her and other girls and left them on the
road. She could name the perpetrators - they include a doctor, a
lawyer and a local sarpanch (elected village head). She sat on the
road for a day and a night before the police found her.

"When I recovered I was the only one alive, there was no one else. My
mother was killed as well," she said. The 22-year-old can barely
articulate her experience and she is in desperate need of counselling
and help to recover from her trauma.

Sundarpur village in Mehsana district, has 700 homes of Muslims in a
population of 3,500. The mob came on the evening of February 28 and
started burning houses. "By the time the police came, everything was
burnt. Their plan was very clear," said residents.

While the death toll is still mounting, there are three major
questions which need to be addressed from a long-term point of view --
security, sanity and justice.

Most people don't want to return to their homes - who will guarantee
their safety? There is a terrible sense of loss, that no justice will
ever be done and the perpetrators of these events will go scot-free.

Moreover, the rural areas are being totally neglected and there are no
interventions. People don't have any money and are dependent on relief
only from the Muslim community. Understandably, there is a tremendous
sense of isolation.

Women, especially those who have seen the violence and have been
sexually assaulted, are bereft of any specialised interventions. Some
women have lost their entire families. Older women and men too have
been assaulted and in some cases, have no one left. Many children have
been attacked and their future seems forever tainted by these
incidents. This is a major area where some intervention is necessary.
Reaching out to the people is important as also providing some cash
allowance.

The government's lack of interest and justification of this violence
is compounding the situation. The important thing now is to reach out
and let those affected know that all of us care deeply about what has
happened and help them to fight for justice as well.

– Meena Menon
March 21, 2002

Top

By arrangement with Womens Feature Service
http://www.boloji.com/wfs/wfs009.htm

Incidents of Genocide in IndiaKrishna Kumari Areti, ICFAI

Abstract
The author jots down the incidents of Genocide in India from the date
of independence till date. India witnessed the first genocide at the
time of partition immediately after the independence. The two-nation
theory led to the division of the country and the Hindus in India and
Muslims in Bengal migrated to their destined homelands. In this
process several lives were lost on both sides and women were kidnapped
and raped and at times murdered. In this article the mass murders and
rapes of thousands of women at the time of partition was elaborately
discussed. The then Hyderabad State underwent trauma in the hands of
the Razakar who had invaded the villages of Telangana and created
havoc. Ultimately the problem was solved with the intervention of the
then Home Minister. But, Kashmir remained as an unending and
unresolved problem between both the nations. The author suggests for a
strong domestic law to safeguard the unity in diversity of India

http://works.bepress.com/krishnaareti/1/





Palash Biswas



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