Category Archives: Movements

Countryside, Movements

दो कठ्ठा ज़मीन : किशोर

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Guest post by KISHORE

बच्चा मुसहर को सन 1986 में भूमि सुधार अधिनियम 1961 के तहत 0.26 डेसिमल (लगभग एक चौथाई एकड़) ज़मीन बिहार सरकार द्वारा दी गयी थी. इस एक्ट के तहत भूमिहीनों को ज़मींदारों से अर्जित अधिशेष भूमि दी जानी थी. बच्चा मुसहर ज़िंदगी भर सरकार द्वारा उनके नाम पर करी गयी ज़मीन पर हल चलाने को तरसते रह गए पर उन्हें अपनी ज़मीन पर कदम रखने का अवसर नहीं मिला. उन्होंने  ब्लाक, जिला और राजधानी तक ना जाने कितने दफ्तरों के चक्कर लगाये पर ज़मीन पर उनका मालिकाना हक, उस कागज़ के पुर्जे तक ही सीमित रहा.

सन 2000 में बच्चा मुसहर अपनी ज़मीन के मालिकाना हक़ के अधूरे सपने के साथ इस दुनिया से चले गए. बच्चा मुसहर को गुज़रे 13 साल बीत गए पर उनकी विधवा आज भी उस कागज़ के टुकड़े को संभाले बैठी है पर उनको ज़मीन पर कब्ज़ा नहीं मिल सका. दफ्तरों के चक्कर लगाने का सिलसिला बच्चा मुसहर के बाद उसकी विधवा और बच्चों ने भी जारी रखा पर ज़मीन की बंदोबस्ती के लगभग तीन दशकों के बाद आज भी ज़मीन उनके कब्जे में नहीं है. Continue reading दो कठ्ठा ज़मीन : किशोर →

Capitalism, Government, Law, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Workers in Maruti Suzuki Manesar plant – Justice Delayed is Justice Denied: ICLR

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Preliminary report of the findings of the INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON LABOUR RIGHTS, released on 31 May 2013, New Delhi

The International Commission for Labor Rights (ICLR) constituted a team of lawyers and trade unionists from France, Japan, South Africa, the USA and India to investigate the incidents that led to the summary dismissal of over 500 permanent workers and over 1800 contract workers at the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) in August 2012. The team was constituted to bring international law and policy perspectives to bear on a situation that has festered for almost a year, with – at a minimum – 147 workers in jail over that period. The Commission reminds the Government of India that, under well-recognised international and domestic principles, “justice delayed is justice denied.”

The group also brings important comparative perspectives on the current or proposed role of this company in the global economy. MSIL has a parent company in Japan, substantial exports to Africa and Europe, a proposed assembly plant in South Africa, and an investor base in the United States – understanding the company’s practices in India is an imperative for those committed to corporate accountability and sustainable development jurisdictions outside India. Continue reading Workers in Maruti Suzuki Manesar plant – Justice Delayed is Justice Denied: ICLR →

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Centre watch, Government, Movements

Promises and Perils of FYUP: An Appeal to Students and Citizens: Sunny Kumar

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This is a guest post by SUNNY KUMAR At the current moment, Delhi University is caught in a tremendous crisis. On the one hand, the DU administration is hurriedly forcing through the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP). On the other hand, students, teachers, intellectuals and all those concerned with education are opposing it. The DU administration has declared that all students taking admission in DU will enter a four year honours degree. Within this FYUP scheme, if students wish they can leave at the end of two years with a Diploma or at the end of three with a Bachelor degree (without honours). It is only at the end of four years that they can leave with a Bachelor (Hons) degree. Teachers and academics have raised many valid objections about the way in which this tectonic shift is being imposed on DU. Here, we will not belabour many of the arguments that have been made effectively elsewhere. Instead, we will mainly address the Vice Chancellor’s two central claims – of greater employability and flexibility – being made in defence of the FYUP.

To understand the new scheme better, let us look at what will be taught under FYUP.

Will the FYUP, with the above course content and its multiple exit options truly make students more employable? Will it help them get better jobs or give them extra advantage in choosing future academic options? Let us look at some of the facts: Continue reading Promises and Perils of FYUP: An Appeal to Students and Citizens: Sunny Kumar →

Bad ideas, Law, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

PUCL statement condemning the Maoist massacre in Darbha Valley

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This statement was put outby the PEOPLE’S UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES on 26 May, and the one below it on 25 May by PUCL’s Chhattisgarh unit

PUCL Condemns Killings of Congress Party leaders, their PSOs and Ordinary Villagers by Maoists in Dharba Ghati of Sukma District, Chhattisgarh

The PUCL strongly condemns the ambush of a Congress party election cavalcade by the dalam of the CPI(Maoist) party at Dharba Ghati area in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, 25th May, 2013, resulting in the death of 28 people including Congress party leaders, their personal security officers and ordinary villagers of the area. PUCL denounces as totally unacceptable, the abduction, kidnapping and subsequent killing in cold blood of the Congress party President of Chhattisgarh, NK Patel, and his son Dinesh. The Maoists also killed Mahendra Karma, the founder of the dreaded Salwa Judum, and his security guards. Continue reading PUCL statement condemning the Maoist massacre in Darbha Valley →
Capitalism, Debates, Left watch, Movements, Politics

Manifesto of a New Initiative: Statement by New Path

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This guest post is a statement by NEW PATH, a collective of people, mostly from backgrounds in social movements and mass organisations, who have been discussing how the work of people’s struggle and revolutionary transformation can be taken forward in the Indian context. Those discussions led to the decision to found a new organisation, tentatively called “New Path”.

Below is the draft manifesto, sent to us by friends associated with the initiative. It is being circulated for comments, criticism, suggestions and observations. New Path does not aim to be a traditional revolutionary party. Rather, it seeks to be a political formation that seeks out opportunities, through struggle, to weaken bourgeois hegemony in this country.
Continue reading Manifesto of a New Initiative: Statement by New Path →

Capitalism, Centre watch, Government, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Stop the Police Brutality Against Maruti Suzuki Workers: Joint Statement

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The following is a joint statement issued by ADR Punjab, PUCL Haryana, PUDR and NTUI against police repression on Maruti Suzuki workers

Kaithal, 19 May 2013: The Haryana Government yet again in a brazen and outright cowardly manner has sought to protect the interest of capital and particularly the management of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd by refusing to allow the victimised workers and their families to undertake a peaceful demonstration planned for today which was expected to draw in ten thousand people from across the state.

A short while ago, police lathicharged a peaceful demonstration of workers families outside the residence of State Industry Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala. Scores have been hurt in the lathicharge and the demonstrators are being arrested.

The Haryana Government, on the eve of this peaceful protest at Kaithal, imposed IPC Section 144 in the town and arrested close to 100 workers and their family members from the dharna site at the Kaithal Mini Secretariat at 11:30 pm last night. Several more were picked up from the entry points to the town including the bus terminus this morning. The workers and their family members have been sitting on an entirely peaceful dharna at the Mini Secretariat from 28 April 2013 demanding release of the 147 workers in Gurgaon Jail and reinstatement of the workers, both permanent and contract, terminated without enquiry following the 18 July incident. Despite the heavy police mobilisation and barricades at entry points of the town, thousands of people from across Haryana have been pouring into the city to gherao the State Industries Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala at his residence. Wives, mothers and sisters of workers are present in large numbers at this demonstration demanding a just inquiry and an end to the state effort at criminalisation of the workers.

Continue reading Stop the Police Brutality Against Maruti Suzuki Workers: Joint Statement →

Government, Identities, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Letter from Shahbagh: Kalyani Menon-Sen

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POWER_OF_LIGHT_orgGuest post by KALYANI MENON-SEN: Ever since I came back from Dhaka on 12th April this year, I have been opening my mailbox every morning with a feeling of excitement and anticipation, confident that there will be a mail from  Bangladesh with the latest news from Shahbagh. Just brief snippets – a slogan, a comment, a moment captured in a cellphone photo – but they are enough to bring back the   feeling of being there, feeling the excitement and the energy, sensing the emergence of a new kind of political space – chaotic and confused, yet alive with radical possibilities.

But last Sunday, 12th May, came a brief one-liner from Habib: “The police have dismantled Projonmo Chottor. Will keep you informed of further developments.”  Continue reading Letter from Shahbagh: Kalyani Menon-Sen →

Identities, Movements, Right watch

Asghar Ali Engineer (1939-2013)

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B_-_portrait.Ashgar_Ali_Engineer-Salzb05__c__RLA_Foundation__Ulrike_AltekruseAn obituary by ZAHIR JANMOHAMED: I first met Asghar Ali Engineer in January 2002 in Mumbai. I was a fellow with the America India Foundation and a few weeks later I would be posted to work with an NGO in Ahmedabad.

A few minutes before his presentation, I noticed him standing off to the side in silence, staring at the ground. I walked up and introduced myself. I was young, in my twenties, and I did not know what to say.

“As-salaam alaikum,” I said.

“Wa-alaikum salaam,” he replied.

I am not sure what response I expected but I thought that perhaps because he and I share the same faith that we might have a special bond, that my greeting would spark a conversation. After all, I always thought phrases like these serve less as greeting and more as an announcement, as in, I am part of the same religion as you.

But Asghar saab just held my hand and then put his hand on his heart. “Nice to meet you,” he said, and then stared at the ground again in silence. I thought it was odd, rude even.

As I continued to meet Asghar saab, I realized that he had very little patience for superficial connections. I witnessed this when I saw him greet crowds after his lectures. If you told him you were from the same caste or city he would not be as excited as if you told him that you also believe that we must fight patriarchy with the same vigor that we must fight communalism. Continue reading Asghar Ali Engineer (1939-2013) →

Bad ideas, Centre watch, Debates, Empire/ Imperialism, Frontiers, Identities, Law, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Gandhi’s fourth monkey: Suvaid Yaseen

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Guest post by SUVAID YASEEN: Incredible India is a land of promises. Amnesia and half narratives. Selective remembrance and deliberate forgetting. The national interest is incredibly important. And everything is allowed in this war.

Gandhi’s – the father of the nation – maxim of bura mat kaho, bura mat suno, bura mat dekho (don’t say evil, don’t hear evil, don’t see evil), interestingly forgets to say bura mat karo (don’t do evil). So, you can do it, and forget it. Gandhi should smile. And his monkeys can make merry.

Mohammad Yasin Malik, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front commander turned ‘Gandhian leader’ must know this irony very well.

When, in the early nineties, the guns started ringing, Kashmiris were told that they should leave the path of the armed struggle and have a peaceful agitation, and they would be listened to, by India and by the international community. Continue reading Gandhi’s fourth monkey: Suvaid Yaseen →

Capitalism, Debates, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Let us declare that a state of war exists

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“Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural resources are being exploited by a handful of parasites.” Those are not the words of a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), though the film has that too. These words are of Bhagat Singh, revolutionary freedom fighter who has today been appropriated by everybody for their own purposes.

The most remarkable thing about Sanjay Kak’s new film Red Ant Dream is Punjab. Occupying more than a third of the film, its use of the revolutionary sentiment in today’s Punjab takes forward the debate on the Maoist and other resistance movements in India. Instead of getting into the debates around the Maoist movement in central India, the film makes for a powerful document of the how and why the revolutionary ideal lives in India 2013. Continue reading Let us declare that a state of war exists →

Bad ideas, Capitalism, Centre watch, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Evicting the Gandhians: Justin Podur interviews Himanshu Kumar

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Himanshu Kumar

Himanshu Kumar is a Gandhian activist who, together with his wife, ran the Vanvasi Chetana Ashram in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh for 22 years. He learned the local adivasi language (Gondi) and worked through the Ashram to help adivasis access their rights under the law. Starting in 2005, during the murderous Salwa Judum campaigns of vigilante groups against the adivasis of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Himanshu worked to try to get villagers back to their homes, get people falsely accused out of jail, and win justice for the victims of police and vigilante crimes. His Ashram was eventually bulldozed and he was forced to move to Delhi, from where he continues to try to follow up with legal cases on the state’s treatment of the adivasis. JUSTIN PODUR interviewed him there in February 2013.

JP: When I first got here, you told me you would probably be in jail shortly. Maybe we should start with that story? Continue reading Evicting the Gandhians: Justin Podur interviews Himanshu Kumar →

Bad ideas, Culture, Government, Movements, Violence/Conflict

A Report from the Protests: Kavya Murthy

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Guest post by KAVYA MURTHY.

In the middle of the day a few days ago, a group of around ten people held hands and blocked the traffic on the road opposite the police headquarters at ITO, Delhi, protesting and calling for the removal of the Police Commissioner after a young, young child  had been raped and the police had done nothing, not file an FIR, nor act.

In this instance, it was not only the brutality of the act that had shaken us up. A young child, five years of age, raped by neighbours, bad enough to hold one’s head in shame – yes. There was outrage. But there was also outrage that a police officer had tried to bribe the family of the girl – with two thousand rupees – to avoid filing an FIR. Then, to add insult to injury, a young woman protester slapped repeatedly by an impatient policeman, an Assistant Commissioner of Police no less, when she tried to get inside the hospital where the child was in a critical condition.

Why were we there, that afternoon outside the Delhi Police Headquarters? What had prompted people to gather at the AIIMS metro station the day the child was shifted there for care, what was being said, who was being addressed? Was it  a silent vigil, in hope that this little child does not meet the same fate as the 23 year old woman gang raped just a few months ago? Was it also to say,  this is not the first time it is happening after that fateful day on December 16, 2012? 363 rapes already in just around the NCR the last few months, and here we are again, not exactly happy to be standing outside in outrage thinking of a little girl with bottles in her vagina and terrible infections. Continue reading A Report from the Protests: Kavya Murthy →

Frontiers, Identities, Movements, Right watch

बंगलादेशी जनउभार और भारत की मुर्दाशान्ति: किशोर झा

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Kishore Jha is a development professional and is working in the field of children’s rights for the last two decades. This piece was originally published on the NSI blog.

सन २०११ में भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ अन्ना आन्दोलन में उमड़े हजारों लोगों की तस्वीरें आज भी ज़ेहन में ताज़ा है। उन तस्वीरों को टी वी और अख़बारों में इतनी बार देखा था कि चाहें तो भी नहीं भुला सकते। लोग अपने-अपने घरों से निकल कर अन्ना के समर्थन में इक्कठे हो रहे थे और गली मोहल्लों में लोग भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ नारे लगा रहे थे। इंडिया गेट से अख़बारों और न्यूज़ चैनलों तक पहुँचते पहुँचते सैकडों समर्थकों की ये तादात हजारों और हजारों की संख्या लाखों में पहुँच जाती थी। तमाम समाचार पत्र इसे दूसरे स्वतंत्रता आन्दोलन की संज्ञा दे रहे थे और टी वी देखने वालों को लग रहा था कि हिंदुस्तान किसी बड़े बदलाव की दहलीज़ पर खड़ा है और जल्द ही सूरत बदलने वाली है। घरों में सोयी आवाम अचानक जाग गयी थी और राजनीति को अछूत समझने वाला मध्यम वर्ग राजनैतिक रणनीति का ताना बाना बुन रहा था। यहाँ मैं आंदोलन के राजनितिक चरित्र की बात नहीं कर रहा बल्कि ये याद करने की कोशिश कर रहा हूँ कि उस आंदोलन को उसके चरम तक पहुचाने वाला मीडिया अपने पड़ोस बांग्लादेश में उठ रहे जन सैलाब के जानिब इतना उदासीन क्यों है और कुछ ही महीने पहले बढ़ी आवाम की राजनैतिक चेतना आज कहाँ है? Continue reading बंगलादेशी जनउभार और भारत की मुर्दाशान्ति: किशोर झा →

Movements, Politics

Gonojagoron march in Dhaka April 6, 2013

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Images courtesy KALYANI MENON-SEN

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Frontiers, Identities, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

In Delhi for Dhaka: A solidarity vigil for Shahbagh

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The New Socialist Initiative (NSI), Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (JTSA), Nishant, Anhad, Krantikari Lok Adhikar Sangathan and the Stree Mukti Sangathan have put out this statement in advance of the demonstration tomorrow (9 April) 2 pm before the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi.

The neighbouring country of Bangladesh is going through a new churning. Hundreds and thousands of people have hit the streets of Dhaka, demanding strict punitive action against ‘war criminals’ and their organisations, who forty-two years ago—at the time of the liberation struggle/war of the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)—colluded with the Pakistan army and committed untold acts of atrocities on the general public.

Basically, there are two main demands of the protesters: war criminals should be strictly punished and organisations like the Jamat-e-Islami, Bangladesh, should be banned and all commercial and other kinds of establishments run by it should be proscribed. Continue reading In Delhi for Dhaka: A solidarity vigil for Shahbagh →

Government, Identities, Law, Movements, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

What a time to be in Dhaka! Kalyani Menon-Sen

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This is a guest post by KALYANI MENON-SEN

I am in Dhaka right now.

Being here at this moment, in Shahbagh (Projonmo Chottor, as it is now called) and on the streets with activists from the Gonojagoron Mancha – young people, academics, veterans of the liberation movement, singers, artists, writers, professionals and thousands of ordinary people – is a unique and inspiring experience.

Battle for the soul of Bangladesh – Rally in February against the killing of Rajab Haider, the blogger who was a key figure in the protests against Islamists

The similarities and differences with the Delhi mobilisation are striking. Continue reading What a time to be in Dhaka! Kalyani Menon-Sen →

Bad ideas, Identities, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Of imagined solidarities and real fears – The politics of the Sri Lankan Tamil cause in Tamil Nadu: Anonymous

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This is a guest post by ANONYMOUS:  When elephants fight it is the grass that suffers, so goes an old Kenyan proverb. In the maelstrom of political hysteria unleashed by Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi ostensibly in aid of Sri Lankan Tamils, democracy, truth and solidarity have been the biggest casualties. Over the past few months, Tamil Nadu has witnessed attacks on Sri Lankan Buddhist monks and Christian pilgrims, and the government sanctioned blockade of Sri Lankan schoolchildren and sportspersons.

The latest salvo from Chennai regarding Sri Lanka is the Tamil Nadu assembly resolution calling upon India to press for a United Nations Security Council mandated referendum amongst Tamils living in Sri Lanka as well as Tamils of Sri Lankan origin in other countries on the question of carving out an independent Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka. This is in addition to demands to declare Sri Lanka a ‘hostile state’, impose some form of sanctions etc. Continue reading Of imagined solidarities and real fears – The politics of the Sri Lankan Tamil cause in Tamil Nadu: Anonymous →

Bad ideas, Everyday Life, Excavation, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Haryana Police and Administration Repress Ongoing Maruti Workers’ Struggle: MSWU

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Guest Post by Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, Provisional Working Committee

Third Day of our Fast Unto Death – Police and Administration Gearing up for Further Repression of Our Struggle!

Friends,

Today is the third day of our fast unto death that began on 28th March. However it seems that the state is adamant on responding to our peaceful movement with increased violence and use of brute force. Today, when the local people of nearby villages and our family members came to lend their support to us at the site of the hunger strike, they were greeted by an increased number of policemen. When we tried to meet Haryana Industrial Minister Randeep Surjewala – we have been sitting outside whose residence for the last 6 days braving rains and the cold – he flatly refused to meet us. When the family members surrounded him demanding our rights then a large number of police men appeared at the site and the minister left the place using the police to disperse the people. Now there are 2 police vans stationed here and the small shopkeepers and tea stall owners in the area are being threatened by the administration to withdraw their support from our movement. When the administration realized that we are not going to abandon our struggle because of their threats then they put pressure on the owner of the plot where we are sitting and tried to use him force to us out.
Continue reading Haryana Police and Administration Repress Ongoing Maruti Workers’ Struggle: MSWU →

Capitalism, Everyday Life, Mirror Worlds, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Letter from Jail: Maruti Suzuki Workers Union

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Guest Post by MARUTI SUZUKI WORKERS UNION
(Reg. No. 1923, IMT Manesar)

Appeal from Jail
Stand in Solidarity with us for Justice

We are workers of Maruti Suzuki, who are behind bars since 18.07.2012 as part of a conspiracy, and without any just investigation. 147 of us are inside Gurgaon Central Jail. Since July, 2500 permanent and contract workers have been terminated from our jobs. In these past more than 8 months, we have sent our appeal to almost all administrative officials and elected representatives, including Chief Minister Haryana and the Prime Minister of India. But neither have our appeals been heard nor have we been granted bail.

Continue reading Letter from Jail: Maruti Suzuki Workers Union →

Empire/ Imperialism, Movements, Politics, Violence/Conflict

“Politics Pulls at Me” – The Palestinian Youth Movement: Sunaina Maira

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bab-al-shams

The establishment of Bab Al Shams, a direct action against Israel’s settlement enterprise. (Photo credit: Issam Rimawi / APA images)

SUNAINA MAIRA writes in muftah.org 

The eruption of resistance villages is an extension of popular struggles in which young Palestinians have been actively involved since March 15, 2011. During Palestine’s so-called Arab Spring, a series of protests organized by youth erupted in Ramallah and in other sites across the West Bank, as well as in Gaza and within the 1948 borders of Israel among the “’48 Palestinians.”

Inspired partly by the Arab revolutions and in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, this new “youth movement” is but one phase in ongoing resistance against Israeli occupation, colonialism, and apartheid. Nevertheless, as the second anniversary of the Palestinian youth movement approaches, it is important to reflect on a phenomenon that largely remains in the shadows of much more dramatic revolts in North Africa, and the more difficult struggle, in a sense, that Palestinian activists have been waging for democracy as well as national liberation.

Read the full article

Capitalism, Centre watch, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Responding to a debate on the Kudankulam struggle against nuclear energy

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Taking the debate on nuclear energy forward (after the wonderful review of MV Ramana’s book by Nityanand Jayaraman), here’s an exchange between Rahul Siddharthan and Madhumita Dutta in The Hindu in September 2012, Siddharthan advocating nuclear power, Dutta pointing to its utter indefensibility.

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Jal satyagraha at Kudankulam in September 2012

Dutta says, in her response to Siddharthan‘s initial article:

In the case of Kudankulam, the fisherfolk have been…asking to see the disaster management plan which, till date, remains a secret, even under the Right to Information Act. Given the inherent uncertainties of natural disasters, questions about preparedness to mitigate impact of calamities such as tsunami waves of higher magnitude are being asked. Continue reading Responding to a debate on the Kudankulam struggle against nuclear energy →