https://www.facebook.com/1763421933984632/

Towards Socialism, T-2235/2, Ashok Nagar, Faiz Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi, Delhi (2026)

01/03/2022

Deeply moving saga of Kashmir

• Joydip Ghoshal •

If the security of the land
Calls for a life without conscience…
Then the security of land
Is a threat to all of us - (Paash)
As part of the concerned citizen's initiative Dinesh Mohan , Harsh Mander, Navsharan Singh , Pamela Phillipose, Tapan Boe travelled across Kashmir valley in the winter of 2016 which was torn, lacerated with pain. The outcome was the book- Blood, Censored when Kashmiris became the Enemy. The killing of 22 years old Burhan Wani by the security forces became a rallying point for public rage and anguish. Infuriated crowds joined his funeral protest. The valley witnessed massive protest march . Security forces fired pellets upon the infuriated protestors . As a result many young protestors, bystanders were blinded and grievously injured or incapacitated for the rest of life. Most deaths were caused by injuries- waist above, without any warning fire. In Qazigund in Anatnaag district a boy was allegedly shot with pellets and drowned in a nullah . Police filed counter FIRs . It spoke of large violent mob attacking Central Reserve Police Force with lathi, bomb. The boy according to FIR was critically injured when the force tried to disperse the crowds using loud speakers, tear gas. His family claimed that the boy was not part of the protestors. In the old town of Baramulla a mechanic who could not walk without crutches and suffered from physical and visual impairment was also booked under Public Security Act. A stone mason from Khanpora in Baramulla district was wounded with pellets but he was not allowed for treatment. He was booked under the act. There was no proportionality of the state response. Stone pelting was met by pellet firing.
Blood, censored also discussed several reports that point out the role of individuals and law- enforcing machineries.
In 2009 IPTK and /APDP published a report Buried Evidence: unknown, unmarked and mass grave . It documented the cases of 2700 unmarked grave. They conducted fact finding in 55 villages in Bandipora, Baramulla, and Kupwara. In 2012 IPTK/APDP brought out another report Alleged perpetrators- stories of impunity in Jammu and Kashmir. It collected information regarding Gow Kadal Killings and Pathribal Encounter. Another report titled Structure of violence investigated instances of violence committed by security forces. Another report titled Amarnath Jatra: A militarised pilkgrimage published in association with Bangaalore based Study group EQUATIONS laid bare resource monopolization and instances of land grab and ecological devastation. Noted filmmaker |Sanjay Kak edited a book titled witness / Kashmir/ 1986- 2016 / nine photographers.
The violent protest of stone pelting left in their wake an epidemic of dead eyes. Army chief at that time issued warnings. Close on the heel of those warnings the DG of Central Reserve Police Force stated in unequivocal terms that the army would continue its use of pellet gun upon the protesting civilians. The only concession was that the guns would be fitted with deflector which would reduce the chances of hitting the pellets on faces. But if the soldier did not adhere to the protocol it would not be feasible. The authors cited examples to illustrate that the government's masculine Kashmir policy remained unchanged. Eighty per cent of the injured were below 25 years. The situation was described by New York Times as ' epidemic of dead eyes'. The Guardian reports ' In a matter of four to five week this summer , Indian troops with a clear mandate to be unsparing , wounded over 10, 000 people. Five- year- old Johra was admitted into Srinagar hospital with laceration in her abdomen and legs. She was one of the youngest victims. Swarm of pellets pierced fourteen - year- old Insha's face when she was cooking in the kitchen. The spray of the bullet was multi- directional and these were designed to catch the prey on the flight. But several countries used it to contain civilian demonstrators . The crowd- control - measures had blinded civilian protestors. In 2011 a mass uprising in Tahrir square toppled the Egyptian director . At that time a young police lieutenant became infamous because he fired pellets into the eyes of the protestors. His exemplary skills at blinding civilians earned him the nickname ' eye sniper'. The use of rubber bullets by police in the Catalonia region of Spain was banned after at least seven people were blinded by them on the street of Spain.
The former prime minister Manmohan Singh expressed serious concern over the violent protest in 2010. At that time he had called for revisiting the standard operating procedure and stressed upon that non-lethal measures should be used as crowd control technique. He had asked Home Minister P.Chidambaram to form a high- powered committee which would come out with a set of recommendations on non- lethal crowd control measures. No one in central government had expressed regret over the blinding of youth . It was beyond comprehension that why the pock- marked, bullet- ridden face of youth did not move the national media.
In any civilized country minimum necessary application of force should be the fundamental principle that must govern lawful crowd dispersal. The force that is used against the mob should be proportionate to the violent action of the crowd. It should be carefully calibrated . But the highest court of justice on 28th March 2017 during the fourth hearing of J &K Bar association's appeal for banning the use of pellet guns , the Supreme court apparently told the Bar association that it would ask the central government to stop the use of pellet guns if the Bar Association would persuade the youth to stop hurling stones and return to educational institutions. The then chief justice of India J.S Khehar said that 'We can direct them (the government) to suspend use of pellet guns for two weeks, but you must assure that violence and stone pelting will stop'. The response of the Supreme Court to the plea of Jammu Court Bar Association was clearly different form the manner in which it treated the plea of Extra Judicial Victim's Association of Manipur (EEVFM). In its order the Supreme Court said that the Military and paramilitary force can not use exceive force and allegation of brutalities should be probed.
The principle 4 of code of conduct of Police in India stated that as far as practicable the methods of persuasion, advice and warning should be used. Section 130 of the Code of Criminal Procedure stated that if the use of force became unavoidable , only then should the irreducible minimum force be forced.
Wilhelm Reich published a book called The Mass Appeal of Fascism in Germany in early 1930. In that book he pointed to the mass appeal of Fascism in promoting intolerance and prejudice in the nameof development and fascism. The world has much changed . But the self appointed defenders of nationalism had used the same methods to suppress dissent. The book Blood , censored discussed the theory of William Cousins who deliberated upon the making of Ghettoized violent community. According to the theory a person with a marker with indelible black ink went to city square and marked a dozen people with crosses on their forehead and went home. He did this for a few days. Among the marked people one could turned out to be a pickpocket. As soon as he committed the next crime the witness would notice that the perpetrator had mark of cross on his forehead. A few week later a person with a cross on his forehead might enter into an argument and beat a shopkeeper. Now the newspaper would report that these people had become a social menace. Now all the person who had marks on their foreheads became alert though they had nothing to do with the events. They called meeting to form solidarity society and discuss the discrimination they faced. The intelligence branch took cognizance of the meetings and one of the member got arrested for possessing anti- social literature. A demand might be raised demanding the banning of the society. The person who actually marked could come out and proclaimed that those person who had marks on their foreheads were funded by foreign agencies. He then took the mantle of defending common people. In the chain of events a person with mark on his or her forehead would kill the person who marked. The circle of vengeance , reprisals went unabated.
The feminisminindia.com rightly describes that this book not only raises awareness about the realities of the valley but also demands justice of the brutalities. Somehow this book acts as a testimony to the suffering of the people . This book attempts to outline a brief sketch of the conflict in the valley. The authors also made strong plea for for humanity, fairness and justice. In order to understand the ongoing conflict in the valley this book is must read. The concluding words of the book are really touching.
" We are told that a nation can not be strong if it is ethical or compassionate; that these are despicable sign of weakness; that a strong state is a state that is without morality or mercy. Who will tell them how wrong they are? That is only the weak who fell those who are weaker, whose hearts are empty of mercy, who celebrate the weeping of children. The truly strong are those who have the courage to be kind and just."
We hope this book will trigger a wide ranging discussion and draw the readers to a subject which is shrouded in jingoism and state sponsored propaganda.

27/02/2022

Emergence of two Gods

The political dispensation has lost its mind set and remaining dignity as the dominance of capital has become so unethical that such statements from our member of Parliament is beyond imagination. Downfall of rolling substance is continued unless there is something to check. We have lost the methodology to check. The absence of responsible opposition may be one factor, the media is another. Since the Nehru era the resources were never meant for the masses and the so-called mixed economy was tilted towards capitalism and this artificial socialistic and welfare state concept was carried by decade after decade. Economic reforms were introduced to pace this shift of resources to counted people and this act gained strong momentum with the advent of Mr. Narendra Modi. The largest democracy as known about India has witnessed a memorable day in the Parliament when Rajya Sabha, MP belonging to BJP, opened his mouth to justify the emergence two GODs.
Ambani, Adani must be worshipped,' says BJP's K.J. Alphons in Parliament'They created jobs, they need to be respected. The contribution of industrialists like Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani in creating jobs and making large investments in the country must be recognised. During a Budget debate in the Rajya Sabha over unemployment in the country, the Kerala MP said that these leaders ought to be "worshipped" for creating jobs. He also narrated, "you can accuse me of being a mouthpiece of the capitalists. The people, who have created jobs in this country, let me name those people, because you have named them. Be it Reliance, be it Ambani, be it Adani, be it anybody, they must be worshipped. Yes, because they provide jobs.The people who invest money-Ambani, Adani, every industrialist who creates money in this country-create jobs. They need to be respected."
The concepts propagated by present day political parties are unacceptable or objectionable too. Resources whether natural or human are not being respected and the level and the methodology to exploit more and more has been evolved. The real ownership belongs to the people of India. They are the masters of each and every precious resource, mines and other public properties. If in this democratic system we cannot regard the dignity of common masses then how can we justify our political journey? Above mentioned statement on the floor of Rajya Sabha may suit to BJP but is highly objectionable so far as concerning the masses of country. There is some other sources made it clear that after privatising any public enterprise approximately 80% of the workforce are bound to loose their jobs and livelihood. One can ask to this Mr. Alphons that what were the source and method of these two gods growing wealth? They have generated wealth from this land and people and now they can provide jobs. As we all know the emergence of capitalists are essential for the growth of economy but the way this country was mistreated and this process is continued, it has become a matter of strong objection that the present day democracy is meant for whom?.
The divide and rule policy is so much dominating the political scenario that political masters are still capable to divide people on caste, religion, race, region etc. lines and thus they successfully divert the attention of common people from the major issues affecting the social dignity, livelihood, education, health, agriculture, transportation, power etc. on every front.

26/02/2022

By what means can educate our masses politically to come out of this exploitative network
Debabrata Biswas, General Secretary, AIFB

Introduction:
India became independent on 15th August, 1947 by transfer of power, which was the strongest tool of the British imperialist to satiate the colonial interest in coming decades. In this pursuit the imperialist forces dominated the subcontinent and its people's interest as a whole. The real freedom never percolated to common people and at this juncture we have seen the dominance of imperialist forces in every sphere of life. The public assets that belongs to the people of the country are no more with the Government as the fast pace of privatisation defined and justified the naked loot of natural resources, PSUs, Public Sector Bank, Agricultural land, manpower, job extensive small scale industries etc. as it is on record that present general budget is the ninth budget of Modi regime. This budget is the continuation of procorporate polices and the negligence of common people.orporate polices and the negligence of common people.
Budget at a glance:
Just one day before the budget presentation ceremony two important documents were released that reflects health of our economy. The first vital document was the revised estimates of nation accounts for 2020-21 this document reflects the economic growth rate in downward direction as the growth rate was at 8.3% in 2016-17 and is 3.7% in 2019-20. The downward revision of 2019-20 estimates implies that the slow down in the economy was worse than what we learnt.
The next and second vital document was the economic survey 2021-22, which defines the Government's version of the crises in the economy that it is the not a result of demand deficiency but due to the supply constraints. There are several evidences to the contrary even by the Government's official data and statistics.
This economic grim situation has led to unprecedented misery to our citizen and this can be established by the data coming from multiple sources. Rural India has suffered a decline in incomes in the last seven years and wage workers have lost their work and are bound to render their services on fewer wage.
More than 40% of all workers engaged in agricultural work have seen a decline in income from crop cultivation as has been reported by the Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers for 2019 how can one rely on Government's promise of doubling famers' income in 2022. Farmers are struggling for their survival due to the continuous rise of input cost.
It is also noteworthy that the Economic Survey of 2021-22 makes no mention of the enactment of three farm laws, sixteen months long farmers' agitation and repeal of the laws by the Parliament. Similarly, in the budget speech of the Finance Minister, there is no reference to doubling of farm income, which was to be achieved by 2022-23. The Economic Survey highlighted the importance of crop diversification from water guzzling crops like paddy and sugarcane to cotton, horticulture, nutri-cereals, oilseeds and pulses. The Survey further recommended a thrust on animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries sectors. The Situation Assessment Survey 2021 also found that an agricultural household earned about 16 percent of his income from farming of animals. There is a welcome increase in allocation for the blue revolution.
The allocation for rural development as a percentage of GDP has declined from 0.60% in the budget estimate of 2021-22 to 0.54% in the Budget Estimate of 2022-23. Against the revised estimate of Rs 1,53,558 crore for the current year, budget provision for the next year has been slashed to Rs.1,35,944 crore. Outlay on MGNREGA, the largest rural employment scheme, has been pegged at Rs.73,000 crore although the Revised Estimate for the current year is Rs 98,000 crore. This is somewhat surprising since the Economic Survey actually provided evidence that demand for work under the scheme, even during the current year, continues to be higher than the pre Covid-19 pandemic level of 2019-20. Inadequate provision for the scheme in effect leads to demand suppression at the ground level and also periodic delay in wage payments to the unskilled labourers working to secure their subsistence.
While social protection schemes faced the guillotine, making it difficult for the poor and vulnerable to manage basic expenditures with inflation eroding the real value of earnings, the budget further contributed to reducing earnings. The best example of the government's insensitivity is the agricultural sector which has been under distress for the last five years with farmers' protests building up throughout the country. With a decline in demand for agricultural commodities contributing to lower price realisation, the reduction in fertiliser subsidy in agriculture will necessarily add to input costs and reduce profit margins even further. The budgeted subsidy at Rs 1,05,222 crore for 2022-23 is not only lower than Rs 1,40,122 crore for last year, but also lower than Rs 1,27,922 crore in 2020-21 when global fertiliser prices were much lower. With declining or stagnant expenditure on other agriculture support schemes, the crisis in agriculture is unlikely to go.
It is heartening that the allocation for the rural road programme (PM Gramin Sadak Yojana) has been substantially hiked from Rs14,000 crore in the current year to Rs.19,000 crore in 2022-23.
The allocation for the Department of Fertilisers has been reduced from Rs 1,49,663.28 crore to Rs.1,09242.23 crore. The Government is expecting the global prices of urea to cool down. Since we have substantial import dependence both for urea and DAP and the international prices of these fertilisers continue to be high, substantial reduction in the subsidy does not appear to be highly probable. Here again the allocation might require supplementary grant in course of 2022-23.
Just remember the slogan "Achchhe Din" lauded in 2014 and we have reached now "Amrit Kaal". This budget has clearly being charted out to handover the countries resources to few corporates and this trend thus has reached its pinnacle.
The issue is the approach to managing the economy. With the size of the budget increasing only by Rs 1.7 lakh crore, barely rising in real terms, the budget is in fact deflationary at a time when the need was to expand public expenditure. The justification that the government has increased capital expenditure by 25 per cent as against the withdrawal of expenditure on social welfare does not hold much ground given the level of distress that exists. But even for reviving growth, expenditure on social welfare, agriculture and rural infrastructure is, in fact, the best strategy in an economy struggling with low demand and low investment. Expenditure on social welfare at this juncture is as much a necessity as capital expenditure. What is, however, not necessary is the unwarranted giveaways to the corporate sector that were first given in 2019 to revive the economic slowdown. These not only continue and have been extended and enlarged. They are at the cost of the rightful welfare needs of the majority who have lost their lives, livelihood and dignity.
The government has given up any pretence of using social safety nets to protect the lives and livelihood of a majority of citizens. Several other schemes have either been discontinued or have been killed by reducing the budget allocation. For example, Rs 30,944 crore disbursed as part of cash transfers to women Jan Dhan account holders in 2020-21 was discontinued last year.
This Jumlebaj tenure of Mr. Modi is about to complete its eight years of governance in the month of May this year. Two crore jobs every year, to bring back black money, to double the income of farmers etc. were some loud slogans raised by Mr. Modi and in return he maintained his governance without fulfilling the any one of such slogans. Showing more attention to state assemblies he also declared many programmes and policies that were merely on paper or beyond the completion.
Conclusion:
Hopes and assurance to suck the remaining financial capabilities of middle and lower class people are continued. Just we can take few examples:- If we are ill and need quality treatment then we have to surrender all over wealth to corporates who are now in full swing to dominate the medical sector. We have to impart quality education to our kids then again we have to surrender our all assets to corporate who are in full dominance in the education field. If we have empty stomach then no need to worry as Government may announce further to extend free ration of 5 Kg. per house. On the pattern of central Government each and every state Governments are following the same trend to supply free ration to their citizens whether they are in NDA or out of NDA. Resources are the property of masses but the political culture has de-shaped and redefined a separate political language in which 'who is the master' is not clear to citizen. When we will understand the trend of system and by what means can educate our masses politically to come out of this exploitative network?

23/02/2022

Air India operates flight to Ukraine; to bring back Indians amid rising tensions
New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) Air India on Tuesday operated a Boeing 787 aircraft to Ukraine to bring back Indians amid rising tensions in the eastern European country.

The aircraft, which has more than 250 seats, is expected to return to the national capital at around 10.30 pm on Tuesday, according to an airline official.

The flight AI 1947 took off from the airport here at around 7.30 am and landed at Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv at around 3 pm IST (Indian Standard Time), according to flight tracking websites.

In recent weeks, tensions have been escalating between Ukraine and Russia, and on Monday, Russia recognised the independence of two separatist regions in the eastern Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Indian embassy in Kyiv again asked Indian students to temporarily leave the country amid the rising tensions.

Air India, on February 19, announced that it would operate three flights between India and Ukraine on February 22, 24 and 26.

Meanwhile, full-service carrier Vistara's CEO Vinod Kannan on Tuesday said it has no plans to operate flights to Ukraine.

"At this time, we are not planning flights to Ukraine because of aircraft limitations and other reasons," he told PTI.

On February 17, the civil aviation ministry asked Indian carriers to look at the possibility of operating flights to Ukraine due to the increase in demand. Besides, the ministry had removed the curbs on the number of flights that can be operated between India and the eastern European nation under the bilateral air bubble arrangement to facilitate travel of Indians from that country.

22/02/2022

UP Police Filed 350 FIRs Against 5,000 named, and Over One Lakh Unidentified Persons During Anti-CAA Agitation: APCR

Representational photo.
India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—UP police filed as many as 350 FIRS against 5000 named and over one lakh unidentified persons during anti-CAA agitation in 2020.

This has been revealed in a report compiled by Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and released at Press Club of India on Wednesday.

Here is a press statement issued by APCR on its report.

“With the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019, the states all across India witnessed the unprecedented protests from people of all faiths, race, caste and creed opposing the discriminatory and arbitrary CAA legislation which if proceeded by the nationwide NRC and NPR as in State of Assam, threatens millions of Indian Muslims and throws the community into a citizenship crisis. As the massive protests erupted across leading to international scrutiny and criticism on this visibly discriminatory law, a violent crackdown to quell the protests was reported in many parts of the country. The heart of this crackdown was the state of Uttar Pradesh where the BJP-led government initiated unprecedented police brutality against the protestors resulting in the death of 23 innocent people.

“The nation today is in the middle of the most serious crises when all of it’s democratic institutions have come under attack in the last decade. Judiciary, media, election commission, parliamentary democracy all are being pushed to the wall. Fundamental rights of the people are being undermined by unforeseen might of the state apparatus. In this time of crisis, we as a civil and human rights advocacy group feel our responsibility to uphold the citizens’ rights guaranteed in the Indian constitution and the International Human Rights Law.

“The report titled “The Struggle for Equal Citizenship in Uttar Pradesh and its Costs: A saga of omnibus FIRs, Loot, Arrests and Harassment of Muslim minority” which was released today in the Press Club of India at New Delhi is an attempt to highlight the form and extent of the crackdown on the democratic protests for equal citizenship and its aftermath, in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

“The report also sheds light on the sheer brazenness of the state machinery in its violation of almost all the Constitutional mandates of the state government while dealing with peaceful dissent. No accountability and penalty on the state government is fixed even today. After two years of the ghastly repression of the civil protest, there has been no attempt to either compensate the families of the dead, or to the survivors who suffered loss of limbs and property. There has not been any significant attempt to initiate impartial investigations into police atrocities against the protesters. While the harassment of the protestors continues.

“Based on verified information in the public domain and accessing legal documents, an estimated 350 First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered regarding these protests against around 5000 named individuals and over 100,000 unknown persons, which gives a free license to the state police to implicate any person in these cases and subject him/her to unnecessary harassment without any fault. Our findings also concluded that about 3,000 people (dominantly Muslim) were illegally arrested without any due process of law under fabricated charges. Out of them many are still languishing in the jails even after more than two years since the anti-CAA protests began. On the first call of all India protests against CAA and NRC on December 19 in the year 2019, the state administration intimidated around 3000 people with ‘caution’ notices to stop them from exercising their fundamental right to protest. On the same day around 3305 people were detained which rose to 5400 within two days and many were later implicated in the same FIRs as mentioned above. Over 500 recovery notices for the damages to the public property have been arbitrarily issued, without due legal process, across ten districts for damages worth an estimated Rs.3.55 crores which the Supreme Court recently termed as illegal and unconstitutional. However, this does not reverse the torture and harassment they faced and after succumbing to it, some even ended up paying these unlawful fines. In the Kanpur district alone, around 15 families, mostly daily wagers, unaware of the due legal process even paid Rs 13, 476 each.

“We want to press upon the state government to immediately release official data in public domain regarding the number of FIR’s registered, people arrested, detained, accused, bailed, booked under stringent anti-terror legislations and other draconian laws in connection with the anti-CAA protests and also the details of those were sent recovery notices, properties attached and auctioned if any. The government must release a detailed report on the status of all these cases. All the fabricated cases against more than 1,00,000 peaceful anti-CAA protesters should immediately and unconditionally withdrawn by the state government.

“We strictly demand an expedited, fair and transparent court monitored inquiry into the state repression that has resulted in extra judicial killings, torture, and several other forms of state violence. The public officials and other individuals found guilty of indulging in excesses must be held accountable for their actions as per law. Any enquiry into the violence that took place during the anti-CAA protests must include in its purview allegations of involvement by members of the ruling party in fomenting violence.

“We urge the state government for a comprehensive compensation package for the kith and kin of those who were killed in police action including those who have suffered temporary or permanent disabilities due to unjustified police action.

“We believe that it is high time for initiating an urgent dialogue at the national level, with citizens, parliamentarians, legal experts and activists towards repeal of draconian, unconstitutional, and undemocratic legislations such as Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, (UAPA), AFSPA, National Security Act (NSA), Sedition that are being grossly (mis)used to quell fundamental rights of citizens in the country including the notorious Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 that has become an easy tool to incarcerate youths in the bogey religious conversions. All of these go against several international conventions on human rights violations that India has ratified.

“Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) demands the Union government to rethink and revisit its stance on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 which violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, taking note of the severe harm that this legislation has already done to the citizenry and the reputation of our nation. Anti-CAA dissenters are the equal and bonafide citizens of the country, we firmly believe that a people’s government must respect the people’s mandate and repeal this unwarranted and unconstitutional legislation. We need laws that respect human rights, celebrate diversity and promote unity while providing a conducive environment for the peaceful exercise of everyone’s rights that takes our country towards achieving new milestones of progress and prosperity.

“The burden is not alone on the government, the honorable Supreme court must also pay heed to the hundreds of petitions including ours (Association for Protection of Civil Rights vs Union of India), that challenge the constitutional validity of several provisions of the Citizenship Act and prays for restrictions on the nationwide NRC exercise. The Supreme Court must expeditiously hear these petitions and dispose off the matter at the earliest.”

Address

T-2235/2, Ashok Nagar, Faiz Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi
Delhi
110005

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Towards Socialism posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Towards Socialism:

Towards Socialism