The Movement of India May - June 2010 October-December 2009 the Bi-Monthly Movement Rs
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The Movement of India May - June 2010 October-December 2009 The Bi-Monthly Movement Rs. 20 of India Vol. 5, Issue 1 News Magazine of National Alliance of People’s Movements July - 2010 WhoWho IsIs AfraidAfraid OfOf CasteCaste CensusCensus POSCO and TATA ? People’s Resistance in Orissa ? Interview with Prafulla Samantara Bhopal Verdict A Mockery of Justice People’s Audit of SEZs Independent People’s Tribunal on Land Acquisition and Green Hunt People’s Politics in Nepal Am I a Maoist? Tributes:1 Ashish Mandloi and Acharya Ramamurti The Movement of India May - June 2010 October-December 2009 Subscribe to the Voice and Vision of India Subscribe to The Movement of India Appeal for Subscriptions, Sponsorships, Donations, and Reports/Articles We are currently in the process of streamlining various activities required to bring out MoI with good quality and in time. 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Darapuri Joe Athialy Madhuresh Kumar Resistances in Orissa: Mukta Srivastava Interview with Prafulla Samantara 5 C. Balakrishnan Clifton D’Rozario Who is Afraid of Caste Census? 11 Siddharth Narrain Rahul Pandey People’s Politics in Nepal 14 Manish Jain The People’s Audit of SEZs 17 Adithya T.K. Dayanand Doddatti Independent People’s Tribunal on Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt 22 Advisory Team A Statement on Maoist Violence 25 Medha Patkar Am I a Maoist? 27 Aruna Roy Sister Celia POSCO Project Facsheet 29 S.G. Vombatkere Gabriele Dietrich The Bhopal Verdict 33 S.R. Suniti Sandeep Pandey Cost of Protesting Peacefully in Orissa 35 U.R. Ananthamurthy Trilochan Sastry A Tribute to Ashish Mandloi 37 Ajit Sahi Neelabh Mishra A Tribute to Acharya Ramamurti 38 Administration Support News & Notes from People’s Movements 39 Kalpana Page Design T. K. Dayanand Doddatti Images Courtesy www.flickr.com www.frhino.org Send us your comments on - the articles published and your suggestions for improving the quality of MOI. 3 The Movement of India May - June 2010 October-December 2009 corporates, has been development, have opposed unfortunate too. Equally sad it. has been the recent warning Kaveri Rajaraman’s issued by Home Minstry to article on Nepal is a first intellectuals and citizens who hand account of the ongoing oppose the government’s churnings of people’s politics offensive against adivasis in in the Himalayan neighbour. the name of anti-Maoist We pay tributes to operation. Ashish Mandloi and We present a factsheet Acharya Rammurthi. of key events connected with Ashish-bhai was a key POSCO project and a first- activist and a pillar in the hand account of impact on Narmada Bachao Andolan people of Dhinkia, since his early youth. His Gobindapur and Nuagaon untimely death is a big loss villages after facing attack to the narmada movement from security forces. and activists everywhere. The tragic events in Acharya Rammurthi was a Orissa make the interview of veteran Sarvodayi leader The judgment on Bhopal Prafulla Samantara very whose death has left behind gas tragedy came a week topical. This interview is a a grand legacy of Gandhian before we were going to the part of MOI’s initiative to political thought and print. It has once again document opinions and educational activism. exposed the weakness of reflections of senior activist- This issue also contains India’s legal-political system leaders. Ashok Chowdhury reports from two crucial in regulating industries and and Medha Patkar were citizen’s events held recently making them accountable to interviewed in the previous in Delhi – the People’s the people. The people are, issue. Another unique section National Audit of SEZs and as expected, outraged at the in MOI, besides interviews of Independent People’s gross injustice, as expressed activists, is the record of Tribunal against forced land in NAPM’s statement important news and notes acquisition, displacement published in this issue. This across the country connected and war on people in India’s outrage has found echo with people’s issues. The tribal and farming regions. among sections of ‘interviews’ and ‘news & The Movement of India is mainstream media and notes’ are our efforts to steadily stabilizing its editing politicians too, and we hope chronicle the history of and production processes. that the accused will be ordinary people and people’s Now the bigger challenge for brought to book and tens of movements in India. us is to increase subscription thousands of affected people The demand for caste base and distribution. will receive due census has again brought the Towards this end we request rehabilitation. debate on caste based you, the readers, to spread The government’s oppression to the fore. The word about MOI and help us response to the rural people article by Darapuri gives a make new subscribers. in Orissa who are non- historical perspective of caste Please send us your violently protesting forced census and explains why comments on the articles acquisition of their lands for sections of higher castes, who published and your mining projects of POSCO, have usurped fruits of suggestions for improving the Tata, Vedanta and other quality of MOI. - Editorial Team 4 The Movement of India May - June 2010 October-December 2009 Madhuresh : Could you political change. However, movement took place in the alternative which Orissa against corruption. please explain the nature of democratic process came out People like us who were not social movements which with was not up to the students also courted arrest emerged in Orissa in the post people’s mandate. Many with the student leaders. In emergency and post young people sacrificed their the 1980s a people’s liberalisation period? Also tell lives during the Emergency movements against forced us about the key actors in these in the movement led by displacement took place in movements and how nature of Jayprakash Narayan and in western Orissa in these movements have changed Orissa by an ideal man like Gandhamardan Hills. This over the years. Do also explain Navakrishna Choudhury. In movement can be called the how the character of state itself the period of 1977-80, there mother of all people’s has undergone change, if at all. were no social movements as movements against bauxite such though there had been mining and industrialization Prafulla Samantara : After students movements. In in Orissa. This forceful the Emergency, the 1980s when Congress came movement against a public monopoly of the Congress back, a very forceful students sector corporation saw ended and there was a 5 The Movement of India May - June 2010 October-December 2009 participation of all sections of resistance against Utkal corporate bodies and the society including women Aluminium in Kashipur that foreign investments. They continued for five years. A started in 1994 and is still on. choose what to support or similar movement took place You can see that what not to support. Even the in Baliapal and in northern successive governments of small radical political parties coastal Orissa against the Biju Patnaik, J B Pattnaik, or which come forward in proposed missile range of now of Naveen Patnaik, support are not clearly Ministry of Defence. whether in power or in against the corporates or These two movements opposition have supported liberalisation, this is became very successful in the companies and never the interesting, since there is a Orissa. Even after an movements. Why is it so, lack of clarity in principles as investment of over three because their stand on far as mining, big investments hundred crores, BALCO had politics of development in or big industries are to withdraw from globalisation era stand in concerned. However, after Gandhamardan hills. contrast with what people the Kalinganagar massacre Similarly, the defence project think. Though there was where 14 people were shot by the government also had resistance when the public dead by the police some to be withdrawn because of sector came up, the public political parties, including the the strong resistance. The sector did not deal by bribing Left came forward against opposition, also led by Biju the people or any political the government.