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COVER STORY 12

BRUTAL SUPRESSION Tamil Nadu’s General Dyer Moment

09 CARDINAL VALUES The Subtlest Way of Enimity Is the Deprivation of Prana Dharma

22 PROUTONOMICS Key Industries

26 HIDDEN AGENDA Big Media Houses Say Yes to Communalism, Black Money, Paid News REGULARS

31 ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT 05 Editorial The Laws of Nature and The Nature of Law 06 Letters

07 Inspirational 38 OPPRESSION Voluntary Slavery Part 1 46 Activities

Editor Editorial Board A’ca’rya Santosananda Avadhuta A’ca’rya Acyutananda Avadhuta / A’charya Vedprajinaananda Avadhuta / Sohail Inayatullah General Manager: Pranav Koul Business Director: Hanuman Khanduri Circulation Manager :Ramkesh Choudhary

Correspondents: Kanhu Charan Behura / Rajesh Singh / Ravindra Singh Layout & Design : Suman Jha

Rate (INDIA) Payments in India may be made by cheque favouring Neo-Humanist Education Foundation mailed to Newstand Price : Rs.25/- A’ca’rya Santosananda Avadhuta, JC-48, Khirki Extention, Main Road, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi- 110017 Annual Subscription : Rs. 275/- For outstation remittance from computerized banks/branchesadd Rs.30.00 for bank clearance charges. Two Years Subscription : Rs. 520/- Or amounts may be deposited directly to any branch of the State Bank of India as per details below: ThreeYears Subscription : Rs. 730/- Neo-Humanist Education Foundation, State Bank of India, Malviya Nagar Five Years Subscription : Rs. 1100/- Branch, C-30 Malviya Nagar, New Delhi 110017 Ten Years Subscription : Rs. 1800/- A/C No. 30379188250 IFSC SBIN0001493 Overseas (BY AIRMAIL) Overseas remittances may be made by Paypal using id [email protected] Annual : US$ 45/- Or electronic bank transferring above details and Swift Code SBININBB382

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Printed and Published: By Acharya Santosananda Avadhuta on behalf of Neo Humanist Education Foundation and printed at Royal Press B-82, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-1, New Delhi- 110020 and published from JC-48, Khirki Extension, Main Road, Malviyanagar, New Delhi- 110017 Editor : A’ca’rya Santosananda Avadhuta

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 3 Such people become pseudo-capitalists, and towards the end of the Vaeshya Age their dominance of society becomes evident. The vipras’ (priests’) crooked thinking blends with the vaeshya-like economic intellect of these pseudo- capitalists, but the pseudo-vaeshyas do not possess any of the good qualities of either the vaeshyas or the vipras (priests/intellectuals)… In their efforts to perpetuate their exploitation without hindrance, the pseudo-capitalists make use not only of their economic intellect but also of whatever other intellectual capacities they possess. By hook or by crook they even seize governmental power. They then use that power as an instrument of exploitation, a cruel machine to ruthlessly pulverize the whole of society. – Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

Fundamental Principles of PROUT

No individual should be allowed to accumulate any physical wealth without 1 the clear permission or approval of the collective body

There should be maximum utilization and rational distribution of all mun- 2 dane, supra mundane and spiritual potentialities of the universe

There should be maximum utilization of the physical, metaphysical and spiri- 3 tual potentialities of unit and collective body of the human society.

There should be a proper adjustment amongst these physical, metaphysical, 4 mundane, supra mundane and spiritual utilizations.

The method of utilization should vary in accordance with the changes in time, 5 space and person and the utilization should be of progressive nature.

4 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 From the Editor’s Desk SACRIFICE

The pictures below are of Palestine. The first is the picture of the ugly wall dividing this land due to religious hatred just like walls divide Bharatavarsha into 3 nations due to religious hatred. These partitions have poisoned the soul of each of the so-called independent nations. But these so-called nations of Bharatavarsh are united in allowing a handful of people of elite castes to exploit the people, control most of the land and leave the majority of the population facing drought, malnutrition, mafia lawlessness, massive looting of public wealth by these criminal elites who fly overseas where they have stashed their stolen money. Exactly 60 years ago, the Preceptor of PROUT, Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar made the following judgement in Gorakhpur: “The establishment of a classless society is only possible for those who accept Parama Purus’a [Supreme Consciousness] as the goal of their lives, for those whose entire mental power is ceaselessly directed towards one supreme goal. In a society where there is no class struggle, the remaining classes will have to disappear and all people will have to unite under the banner of one common ideology. This can only be done by sadvipras, and therefore, for the future welfare of the universe, a [benevolent] sadvipra dictatorship is an absolute necessity. The establishment of such an ideal is not possible within the democratic system because candidates depend on petty thieves, hardened criminals and antisocial elements for votes. Able and competent candidates are defeated in elections when the issues of casteism, provincialism, communalism, etc., are raised.” (Synthesis and Analysis) This judgement is even more true today than it was 60 years ago. And it was one year later in June of 1959 that Shrii Sarkar gave the first discourse on PROUT explaining the concept of Sadvipra in more detail. At that time, the government of India was not totally enslaved. Today, the world economy is in serious crisis hence there is enormous pressure to rob India. Everything in India is for sale - forests, coastlines, Red Fort, railway stations and above all human beings. In recent days, Cobrapost revealed that almost all media groups were willing to carry out political propaganda for a price. In the last year 1% of the wealthiest people captured 73% of the nation’s wealth. Unemployment is reaching all-time low and the government has stopped keeping statistics. All Prime Ministers are chamchas of the Ambanis and the Ambanis are the chamchas of the Rothschilds - mega capitalists behind the East India Company. This was the same situation economically when the freedom fighters 100 years ago were launching satyagraha against the British. All the sacrifice of Bagha Jatin, Bhagat Singh has gone in vain. India is enslaved economically. Prout advocates the Arthik Swaraj of every community. In China and in every other country a handful of people control the economy - industries, agriculture, trade - the rest of the people have to live and die as per the whims of these economic tyrants. Hence Prout calls for a freedom struggle for every panchayat and block to throw out outside exploiters and their netas, and establish economic democracy. Economic democracy is the revolutionary idea that control over the economy and economic power belongs not in the hands of the government or the corporates but in the hands of the local people. This economic power will not come to the people without a revolutionary struggle. However, this call for PROUT’s all-round or nuclear revolution has failed thus far. Shrii Sarkar identifies the reason for this in words that should shame Proutists: “But even if there is no defect in the philosophy but the person who takes the responsibility of implementing the philosophy is full of defects (actually we cannot call such a person a “pioneer”), then that high philosophy will remain confned to books only. The society will rush headlong to the depths of degradation, and no one will remain to save it. The people’s copious tears will drench their clothes, and they will die, banging their heads against the closed doors of human liberation. For them there will be no escape.” (Shivopadesh 4) In the photo below we see the photo of Fadi Abu Saleh who marched on a wheelchair, faced gunfire and died to fight for his freedom and the freedom of his people. For Proutists, all people - especially all persecuted and exploited people are their people. But where do we find Proutists marching like this against exploitation? This is what we must ask ourselves and each other and demand answers and demand action. As Shrii Sarkar admonished us: “The spirit to fght against all odds alone can solve the problems confronting human beings. March ahead and wage war against all diffculties, every impediment. Victory is sure to embrace you. Diffculties and encumbrances cannot be more powerful than your capacity to solve them. You are the children of the great Cosmic Entity. Be a Sadvipra and make others Sadvipras also.” (Future of Civilisation)

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 5 corporate funded parties since the this malevolent plan? Ambedkar 1990s. But ultimately we have to said that Mahatmas come and go, face the fact that thousands will but untouchability does not go. Will suffer and die because we refuse to the public say the same about your take action against this corporate Guru? Don’t you think that if you mafa medical system. do not stop this agenda then you - Dr. Jaidev Shekar, will be betraying your ideology? Dombivli, Mumbai - Chitti Munda, Ranchi

Agricultural Democracy Infantilisation and The article says that it is by liberating Degeneration of Politics Yuga Signifcance wealth from the capitalists from This was a long article that had Today we are bound to ask in which their machinery of exploitation much repetition. The point is made yuga are the Proutists in? There is will come crashing to the ground. connecting capitalism with the overall breakdown in society in so I mean – is anyone serious about Artha Shaastra. The question is many countries while at the same this? Look what we see is reaction – how is this religious capitalism time increasing hoarding of the and resistance to some corporate going to end? We all know that world’s and of India’s wealth by a projects but nowhere do we see any Maoism became a religion in narrow elite. So many people are in community trying to liberate itself China. The author seems to put a despair as they see no signs of hope. from the control of the government lot of faith in democracy but we Many other people facing extreme and their corporate masters. How think that most likely she would exploitation and imperialism are is it going to happen? You say that admit that for a large percentage fghting back realizing they have PROUT believes that this economic of the population, we have never nothing to lose. Where is the freedom struggle must come before had a democracy. To simply try Sadvipra – where is the person capturing political power. But who to resist fascism by clutching at with the courage to reach out to this is going to do this? If you really the illusion of upper caste liberal suffering humanity and inspire the believe in this – then why don’t you democracy is no way out as civil despairing? Is there any Proutist PROUT people do this? liberties are being repressed more in Satya Yuga who is willing to - Harthik Thorat, Samastipur and more. This system installed in unite the exploited people to fght India by the British and cemented for their rights? How long will we Depriving the Margianlised by their Constituent Assembly has delay being a Sadvipra and force of Education been a tool of exploitation in the west before it came to India. Fascist society to remain in Kali yuga? The author of this article seems to be - Bomen Horen, Dhanbad hate mobilization and communist a highly informed, thoughtful and totalitarianism are the outcome of Private Hospital Profts up hopeful person. But the reality is that this fraudulent system of capitalist to 1737% our economic system is based on democracy. This system must Let us get real here. The government caste exploitation. As our political be removed from this planet – knew all along this is what would and education system become otherwise freedom will remain a happen with the take-over of the subject to religious propaganda dream. private sector in medical care. The we can expect a systematic effort - Nirmala Gudee, Bellary government knows that creating a to strip the marginalized classes corporate medical insurance scheme (who make up a large percentage of Ideology of Religious will lead to large numbers of people the population) of all rights. Right Fundamentalism being deprived of basic care to the now we know that countless Dalits That was a real eye-opener – to hear decline and fall of public medical arrested during Bharat Bandh were that all religious extremists have centres. The ultimate reality is that beaten up and still rot in jail. We the same psychology and that any all the parties jostling and bribing know what happened to them after religious text can be interpreted for power do not care whether the Buddhism was defeated and after to support any doctrine. It was Indian people die or suffer. Hence the Peshwas seized control over the very interesting to see how ending we have an anti-democratic regime Maratha Empire. What is going on is capitalism involves removing this in control that no longer pretends social warfare against these groups. psychological structure of these religions that foster capitalism and to care. We can blame Nehru for It is meticulously planned and has are funded by capitalists. failing to institutionalize universal large media support. Who is going - Michael Dorai, Sainthia health and we can blame the current to save all these fellow Indians from 6 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 Inspirational Giuseppe Garibaldi

under a democratic Republican government. In 1834, Garibaldi participated in a failed insurrection in Piedmont, and like Mazzini was exiled to France.

Garibaldi in Latin America From Marseille, Garibaldi sailed to Brazil, where he became involved in the cause of Farrapos (Ragamuffn) rebels who were trying to proclaim another republic within Santa Catarina, Brazil. Garibaldi also became involved in the Uruguayan civil war, raising a small Italian force. Here in Uruguay, Garibaldi’s forces became well known for wearing their distinctive red shirts, and they were often referred to as the ‘red shirts.’

The Fight for Italian Independence In 1846, news from Italy encouraged Garibaldi to return home. In 1846, the new Pope, Pius IX instituted liberal reforms which encouraged Garibaldi to be hopeful of progressive change. In the revolutionary year of 1848, Garibaldi found himself back in Italy and he offered his services to the Sardinian Monarch – Charles Albert. Although Garibaldi was a Republican, he was willing to sacrifce his republican ideals in Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807- Early life Garibaldi the hope of supporting Italian 1882). Garibaldi was a central Garibaldi was born 4 July 1807 unifcation frst. However, despite fgure in the Nineteenth Century in Nice, France. His family were minor success at Luino and movement for Italian unifcation. fshermen and coastal traders, and Morazzone, the First Italian War of Garibaldi became an international for 10 years he served as a sailor Independence was unsuccessful. fgure synonymous with promoting himself. In 1833, he served in In 1849, Garibaldi was in national independence and the Navy of Piedmont-Sardinia. Rome, which had just been declared republican ideals. He led successful During a voyage to Russia, a Republic, however, it was under military campaigns in both Latin Garibaldi became acquainted with attack from French forces loyal to America and Europe and became the Republican ideas of Giuseppe the Pope. At the request of Mazzini, known as the ‘hero of two worlds’. Mazzini. Garibaldi enthusiastically Garibaldi led the military defence of His efforts in Italy played a very supported the aims of Mazzini’s Rome and scarcely escaped with his signifcant role in leading to Italian Young Italy and became a life- life. Faced with the overwhelming unifcation. long supporter of Italian unifcation numerical superiority of the French,

Proutjournal.com / JUNEJULY 2018 /// 7 Garibaldi had to withdraw his forces and create an Italian republic. But, the outbreak of the American civil to the Apennine mountains. he knew his army was too small war, he urged Abraham Lincoln to Depleted in resources – relying on his much stronger make the civil war conditional upon and lacking the support of the Piedmontese ally. Garibaldi agreed ending slavery. Garibaldi was held government, Garibaldi was forced to give his recent gains in Sicily in such high regard, that Garibaldi to emigrate again. This time he to Victor Emmanuel II – King of was even offered a command in the moved to New York, US where Piedmont as a way to effectively Union army. Garibaldi rejected the he joined a community of Italian promote Italian unity. After this offer because he wanted Lincoln expats. But, Garibaldi was soon on momentous occasion, Garibaldi to make frm opposition to slavery. the move again, sailing a trading rode to Naples not wishing to receive When Lincoln fnally agreed to ship ‘The Carmen’ around the any accolades for his services. the Emancipation Proclamation in world. In 1854, Garibaldi sailed in 1863, Garibaldi threw his whole another ship for Tyneside, England. Later Campaigns political support behind Lincoln’s As in many other parts of the world, Although this was a step towards endeavour. Garibaldi was warmly welcomed unity, Mazzini and Garibaldi still In 1870, the fall of the Second by the working men of Tyneside, desired to see a republic and also French Empire led to the creation who saw Garibaldi as a defender see the inclusion of Rome and the of a new French republic. Despite of democratic ideals and opposing Papal States. fghting French forces for many injustice. Assuming he would have years, Garibaldi was true to his Garibaldi returned to Italia in the support of the new Italian Republican principles and switched 1854, when he used an inheritance government, Garibaldi marched to allegiances in 1870 to offer his to buy a farm on a northern island Rome against the forces of Napoleon support to the new French Republic. of Sardinia. For a few years, he was III. However, fearing the reaction As was typical with Garibaldi, able to devote himself to agriculture. of Catholic forces sympathetic to he backed up words with deeds and However, in 1859, the Second the Pope, the Italian government went to France to assume command Italian War of Independence broke refused to back Garibaldi’s attempt. of an army of volunteers. out and Garibaldi was appointed a They even sent Italian forces to In 1879, Garibaldi founded major general with a guerilla force defend Rome against Garibaldi. the “League of Democracy” this based in the Alps. Garibaldi was injured in the foot, advocated universal suffrage, Garibaldi felt supporting but the fghting ended quickly. female emancipation, the abolition the Piedmontese monarchy was Garibaldi did not want his soldiers of ecclesiastical property and a the best chance of achieving fring on fellow Italians. Again, standing army for national unity. Italian unifcation and so he again Garibaldi was willing to swallow Along with Giuseppe Mazzini, sidelined his republican ideals to his pride for the long-term goal of Garibaldi supported the creation of a work towards the ideal of Italian Italian unity. European federation. He expressed unifcation. Garibaldi returned to fght an expectation that it would be a for Italy in the Third Italian War greater Germany that would lead a Campaign of 1860 of Independence. Garibaldi led his united Europe. In 1860, he successfully led a Alpine troops in Trentino and was Garibaldi died on 2 June 1882, relatively small force to military moderately successful. Due to the at the age of 75. He wished to have victory in Sicily. By defeating the strength of Italy’s ally – Prussia, a simple cremation, though he was Neapolitan troops with a diverse Austria ceded Venetia to Italy, but buried by his farm on the island of band of volunteers and local Garibaldi’s gains in Trentino were Caprera. peasant support, Garibaldi gained lost. worldwide renown and became a Garibaldi continued to agitate Sayings hero for the Italian cause. for the end of the papacy and led After conquering Sicily, he another small force against the “I offer neither pay nor sailed to mainland Italy (with the Rome garrison. But, Garibaldi was quarters, nor food, I offer help of the British Royal Navy) unsuccessful and suffered another only hunger, Thirsy, Forced and led his growing volunteer injury. marches, Battles and death. army to Naples. The advancing Let him who love his country army was welcomed by the Italian with his heart, and not merly population. But, it was with the Garibaldi, the with his lips, follow me. help of the Piedmontese Army that Internationalist Garibaldi was able to defeat the Garibaldi dedicated his life to “The slave shall show at large organised Neapolitan army. the cause of Italian unity, but he last to his free brothers a Garibaldi would have like was also interested in democracy sharpened sword forged to continue his march onto Rome throughout the world. In 1861 at from the links of his fetters.”

8 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 CARDINAL VALUES

The Subtlest Way of Enimity Is the Deprivation of Prana Dharma Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

The words prana dharma mean the cardinal characteristic of a Capitalism and communism are both ultravires to the prana dharma person which differentiates one of the people of the world. PROUT wants to maintain the integrity of person from another. Just as each human being has his or her own prana dharma of each and every samaja. traits, similarly an entire race living within a particular geographical, and on the whole a different internal discipline is known as prana historical and cultural environment outlook. dharma. To be more clear, when the will also inhere some traits which If we look at the racial stocks vital expression of a race takes a distinguish that particular race from of the world, this fact becomes particular course of manifestation, other. These traits or specialities evident – that in their approach of that course of manifestation is are inseparably embedded in the life, different races invariably differ known as prana dharma. internal behaviour of the entire from one another. This variation is Take the example of India. The population, and they help to less external and more internal. The people of India have been inheriting form a particular bent of mind, gradual development of internal their own prana dharma since time expression of external behaviour, discipline springs directly from the immemorial. They are basically attitude towards life and society, mode of living and education. This subjective in their approach to

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 9 life and the world. By nature they the students a high standard of existent. are parabhimukhi from the very behaviour, reverence and modesty. The English colonialists were inception of childhood – that is, they Now, the best way of enmity also cunning enough to discern ascribe Godhood to every action, against a person or a race is to the prana dharma of the people of thought and expression. The reason deprive the person or the race India, and they deprived them of for this is very clear. In ancient of the freedom to cultivate their the freedom to express their prana India, at the age of fve, a boy was prana dharma, and to prevent dharma. The British wanted to sent to the residence of a Guru or them from channelizing their bring the entire Indian race under enlightened teacher to learn till the potentiality accordingly. For their colonial grip to make the age of twenty-fve. The child used to example, the best way of enmity people slaves. They reformed the learn mainly paravidya or spiritual against a bird is to put it in a cage so old educational system of India knowledge and some aparavidya or that it will become a biped animal. and bluntly introduced the English mundane knowledge from the Guru. The long confnement in the cage, system of education. The English After the completion of student life, which is against the prana dharma education system was contrary to the youth could return to Garhasta of the bird, will deprive it of the that of India, because it was based Dharma (married life, career). In capacity to fy. on an objective approach and the the Grhasta Dharma, he used to Capitalism and communism complete denial of the subjective cultivate both spiritual knowledge are both ultravires to the prana approach. The British colonial and mundane knowledge. After dharma of the people of the world. masters educated the subjugated reaching 50 years of age, he used to PROUT wants to maintain the race on the lines of their own leave Garhasta Dharma and entered integrity of prana dharma of each and education system, and produced into vanaprasha (retiring to forests) every [samaja](1). Capitalism, by its a peculiar group of people who where he used to only cultivate hydra-headed greed for economic were neither Indian nor civilian spiritual knowledge. This is the exploitation, has made human beings nor serviceable. very reason why people developed slaves to circumstances beyond These so-called educated a subjective approach towards their control. In India, capitalism people of India were a complete life. This subjective approach to has sucked the vital energy of the departure from the mass of Indians life became the prana dharma of people by rendering them poverty in their habits, behaviour, thoughts, the people of India. We fnd that stricken. Similarly, communism has modesty and personal integrity. in India, even when a notorious gone against the very vital life surge That is why a gulf of difference robber goes to commit a crime, he of the people of India. Communists developed between the so-called takes the name of Mother Kali. In mouth enchanting, hollow slogans, educated people and the village the educational system of India, the and are trying to push the entire race people of India. By applying these cultivation of spiritual knowledge down the path of animality where subtle tactics, a group of people in was primary, and this instilled in cardinal human values are non- India became European in attitude although they were Indian in colour, and this group were instrumental “Now, let us observe if there is a close relationship between language and socio- in perpetuating the British Raj in economic progress and cultural development. I have already said that language India. is the vehicle of inner thoughts and ideas. Naturally it is inseparably linked The British colonialists applied the same tactics in China. with the Práná Dharma or fundamental characteristics of human beings. The The Chinese people, before the way people can express their thoughts and ideas in their own mother tongue Kuomintan regime, were laborious cannot be done in any other language. People feel uneasy when they speak and dexterous as well as religious. But by introducing opium, the in a language other than their mother tongue. If they constantly feel such British made the entire Chinese race uneasiness, their Prana Shakti or vital energy will be disturbed. Consequently inactive and indolent. Afterwards their vital force will be weakened. In such circumstance, a sort of psychological the communists, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, killed crisis will occur in the collective mental body as well as in the individual mind. the religion of the Chinese people This will result in the emergence of inferiority complexes which will cause and deprived them of their prana debility in the human mind. Those people whose language is suppressed loose dharma. In this way, the British and the communists brought the entire their moral courage, initiative and power to protest. Ultimately a defeatist Chinese race under their grip. psychology develops in them, and as a group such people face the prospect of PROUT does not want to turn total annihilation.” the hands of the clock back.(2) PROUT does not reject the western - Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar educational system. But at the same

10 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 prana dharma. “Although capitalism does not directly oppose Prana Dharma, the all-devouring PROUT is of the opinion that exploitation of capitalism robs the people of their possessions and drives them into the different races will assimilate the street as beggars. For such people it becomes virtually impossible to properly PROUT philosophy according to follow their Prana Dharma. Even the feudalistic exploitation in Indian social life did their prana dharma.(2) There is wide scope for adjustment. not run counter to the original Prana Dharma. But the present capitalistic (Vaeshyan) Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah exploitation has financially ruined the Indian people. Hence, it is impossible for the paradharma bhayavahah. people to follow their Prana Dharma. At this period of crisis in Indian Prana Dharma “It is better to die while the materialistic philosophies are getting scope to rear their heads. pursuing one’s Dharma Than to The socio-economic philosophy of Ananda Marga calls for the elimination of be led to catastrophe by following capitalism. It clearly emphasizes the need to fulfil minimum economic needs and adharma.” During the Muslim period in create an ideal congenial social environment in which there will be maximum India, social distress increased in utilization of collective wealth and the rational distribution of resources to solve all the fabric of Indian society. But economic problems. Every human being will get ample opportunity to follow Prana the Muslims could not deprive Dharma.” the people of India of their prana - Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar dharma. But during the British rule, both in the social and spiritual spheres, the people were deprived time, the western education system system. This crisis was largely due of their prana dharma. Some so- utterly failed to inculcate a sense to the defective British education called western educated people even of morality, reverence and a high system which was fundamentally now look down upon villagers for standard of behaviour among the against the prana dharma of the their simplicity and naivete. These students of India during the time Indian people. All the attempts to so-called educated people were of the British Raj. That is why in reform the education system proved misguided away from prana dharma PROUT’s system of education, we futile and led the nation towards because they were denied any stress the need to start “Ashramic further degradation. This was subjective approach in the western Schools” in every village of India. If because India’s educationists could education system. This is why such this is done, the corrosive tendency not reform the education system people have failed to become one introduced by the British can be according to the prana dharma of with the mass. checked at an early stage. In the the Indian people. Our Ananda PROUT equips human beings post-independence period of India, Marga school curriculum is with their own prana dharma and the leaders and educationists could based on the prana dharma of the thereby reinforces and strengthen not deeply understand the prevalent people of India, and furthermore, their march along the path of crisis of the Indian education it strengthens the people in their progress.

Footnotes (1) A samaja as per PROUT is a socio-economic, cultural ecoregion having the following common factors: a) same economic problems; b) uniform economic potentialities; c) ethnic similarities; d) the sentimental legacy of the people; and e) similar geographical features. – Eds. (2) The Author explains in an article on Education in the treatise Human Society, “Like provincialism and communalism, nationalism is highly detrimental to the minds of children. Children’s crystalline judgement power is to a large extent sullied by these sentiments. In newly-independent countries such perverted ideas as “Only my country’s products are good; we need learn nothing from others,” may be heard expressed at any time. Assertions such as “Everything is in the Vedas,” or “The social system that the great prophet So-and-so commanded us to follow cannot be even slightly changed because it is based on the words of God,” or “Such-and-such country learned how to make aeroplanes by studying our country’s Ramayana and Mahabharata” are the results of the national, religious or communal rigidities that have been injected into the minds of the students. “When the propounders of an education system are obsessed by chauvinistic nationalism, they often, in the name of preserving the national character, try to keep the students of that country segregated from the rest of the world. It must always be borne in mind that the bonds that afford opportunities for mutual contact and understanding between people should never be weakened but should always rather be strengthened, for in this lie the seeds of collective welfare.” – Eds. (3) That is PROUT will be put into practice expressed in kalidscopic ways as per the social, cultural, economic, spiritual and cultural characteristics, aspirations of that region or samaja. – Eds.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 11 BRUTAL SUPPRESSION cover story cover

Tamil Nadu’s General Dyer Moment Arun Kali Raja t is known that the people of What added new vigour to the current agitation is the Centre’s Thoothukudi have been protesting Iagainst the pollution of ground water approval for expansion of the copper smelter. The expansion and air by the copper smelter for years. plan also fuelled the current bout of protests This current phase of protest started in early march when the expansion of Sterlite plant to double capacity was announced. On the 100th day of protest i.e. 22nd May, against the Sterlite Copper Unit Ltd, thousands of people of Thoothukudi took out a pre-announced march towards the Collectorate. The march was to reiterate their demand to shut down the existing copper smelter, causing severe pollution and health hazards. Over 10,000 people – men, women and children marched to meet the collector.

12 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 The Tamil Nadu police lathi charged, shot with tear gas and smoke bombs at the protesters without provocation. When the people ran towards the collectorate, during which time certain government vehicles were reportedly torched, the police opened fre killing over 10 people and injuring several others. Over 3,000 police personal including commandos with self-loaded rifes were deployed to bring ‘situation under control’. Reports from the ground account for police chasing and unprovoked shooting at men and women and into fshing hamlets. There are videos of police personal shooting from a safe distance atop vehicles and armed with lathi entering the hospital and beating up the injured! This is nothing but a barbaric assault on the democratic rights of the people. On May 17th the Supreme Court sent a notice to Sterlite for dumping more than 3.5 lakh tonnes of copper slag in the Uppar river after a civil appeal was fled challenging a National Green Tribunal judgment. The police and tcorporate media have claimed that police stations and Sterlite worker quarters were attacked with petrol bombs but an investigation team found no damage to any building. Nor have they produced a single policeman or Sterlite worker who was hospitalized due to any such attacks. Furthermore women and children were there in the protest with tiffns and frst-hand reports say that the atmosphere was very much like a popular gathering like in the case of the Jallikattu protests. Protests against Sterlite have been going on for over two decades. J. Veerapandi, a postgraduate in chemistry, and a local, claims: “These villages situated close to Sterlite Copper Poster of J. Snowlin have been witnessing deaths caused by cancer and respiratory diseases, birth of children with congenital disorders and The people in the surrounding locality have increased instances of miscarriage. The villagers suspect that these are caused by liquid and gaseous effuents discharged been protesting against the plant’s operations from the copper-manufacturing unit. And this anxiety, fear and after severe land, water and air pollution anger brought the people together against the mega project.” caused by the operations of the plant as well The water in the villages close to the Sterlite plant is dirty yellow and undrinkable. Amid bouts of stomach and other as numerous regulation violations by the plant. medical problems faced by schoolchildren, even villagers are Yet the plant was never shutdown in spite of all forced to buy mineral water from the market. Because of the polluted air and ground water, the environmental violations. respiratory problems, skin rashes and related problems are

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 13 protests, Tamilisai, the leader of the BJP in Tamil Nadu demanded that the government stop the protest and repeatedly criticised other prominent persons supporting the protest. This is not surprising as Vedanta is said to be the biggest donor to the Congress and the BJP. After the fring, when a Tamil actor made sarcastic comments on Tamilisai’s support for the shooting, he was arrested. Protests against the proposed expansion of Sterlite copper smelting plant, a subsidiary of Vedanta have been happening for the past 100 days in Tuticorin. The people in the surrounding locality have been protesting against the rampant. Way back in 1998, the km from the ecologically sensitive plant’s operations after severe land, National Environment Engineering Gulf of Mannar Bioreserve, water and air pollution caused by Research Institute (NEERI), on the against the mandatory 25 km. The the operations of the plant as well instructions of the Madras High complex is also in close proximity as numerous regulation violations Court, checked out groundwater to habitations of the coastal town. by the plant. Yet the plant was samples taken from a bore well In this context, they point out that never shutdown in spite of all the adjacent Sterlite’s surge pond. It the industrial complexes in Manali/ environmental violations. found the presence of heavy metals Ennore, Ranipet, Cuddalore, Mettur When Vedanta (convicted in way beyond permissible levels and Thoothukudi have become court of having illegally fnanced including arsenic and aluminum. “environmental hotspots.” the Congress and the BJP) tried to Incidence of cancer increased On March 24th 2018 a similar expand its copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi in 2009, 2010 protest was called, participated by and 2011, he claims and goes tens of thousands of people with on to charge hospitals with not no untoward incident. This forced maintaining proper reports. The gas the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control leak from the plant on March 23, Board (TNPCB) and the Rural 2013, sparked public outrage and Development Offcer (RDO), to fears that Thoothukudi would turn take groundwater samples from 7 into the Bhopal of the south. Sterlite locations within Sterlite factory Copper had to be shut down premises and 8 from villages at least fve times in the past on around the factory. The results charges of violations or gas leak. revealed widespread and high While former chief minister levels of contamination in all J Jayalalithaa ordered the closure 15 groundwater sources. Levels of the unit on March 29, 2013, the of the neurotoxin heavy metal Supreme Court allowed operations lead, which is particularly toxic to continue after penalising the to children, were found to be company Rs 100 crore on April 2, between 4 and 55 times higher that year. than levels considered safe for But what added new vigour drinking water. The company to the current agitation is the has been shut down many a times Centre’s approval for expansion of through court orders for violation the copper smelter. The expansion of environmental safeguards, since plan also fuelled the current bout 1998. At least 15 workers have died of protests. There are many people and many have been injured due to who question the rationale behind hazardous working conditions. allowing an industrial estate of In April when a Tamil Nadu chemical units at a distance of 14 politician was involved in the

14 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 in Tuticorin, the protests renewed spread to other villages. magisterial powers. against the operation of the plant. Prof Fathima Babu, who has Forty-seven-year-old Thousands marched in the streets led the peaceful struggle since Krishanmoorthi Kittu, one among demanding the immediate shutdown the beginning, pointed out that the 40 leaders who organised of the plant. To mark the 100 days the district administration had thousands and led the anti-Sterlite of the protest, the protesters had agreed in a meeting with various protest in Thoothukudi, Tamil announced that they would protest organisations on May 20 (in which Nadu, is still ‘on the run’. in front of the Collectors offce in district collector N Venkatesh was “On May 22, we planned a rally Tuticorin to demand the closure of absent) that the rally can be held at to the collectorate and a peaceful the plant. Section 144, preventing the SAV Ground on May 22. sit-in there. Our slogan was, we unlawful assembly was immediately “The whole town was will hold a sit-in protest at the announced. prepared to go to the Collectorate collectorate till the plant is closed. However, except a few places, on the 100th day. However, we We started our journey. Till ten kms, no announcement was made by the were concerned with the safety of from our starting point near a church administration. The collector did not the women, children and others. So, to the collectorate, everything was communicate with the people at all we agreed to hold the peaceful rally fne. After that, we didn’t realise during the 99 days of protests. No at the SAV Ground. However, there that we were walking into a trap warning was given on loudspeakers was massive barricading and people set by the plant hitmen and the or otherwise. TV scrolls late at were stopped at their localities and government.” night did not help. No tear gas, villages and not even allowed to He said when the government water cannons or lathicharge was enter the ground,” she said. Thereby, claims that we “ran amok”, they used. The frst killings, allegedly, the scattered crowd started moving should fnd out “whether anything were by the snipers. And why did towards the Collectorate. was destroyed in the ten km we the police kill people where there Signifcantly, both the district crossed. Nothing. There were at was no Section 144 imposed, as collector and SP Mahendran were least 150,000 people marching in Anna Nagar and Terespuram? reportedly not in town on this peacefully,” he adds. The protests are spearheaded by crucial day of mass protests. There “The police deliberately the residents of Kumarettiyapuram are unconfrmed reports that the pushed back our women by village, which is within 200 metres police fring order was fnally given touching their breasts so that we of the proposed plant, which later by three deputy tehsildars with get provoked. Then they fred tear gas. Then they themselves threw stones, set fre on vehicles and created chaos in the area. We all got scattered. Our women and children were beaten,” Kittu added. According to Kittu, three snipers were hiding on three vantage points. “When we reached the collectorate, it was the police that were ‘calling us inside’. The moment some 100 of us walked in, the fring started. Those who entered were rounded up and beaten. The only weapons we had were water bottles and biscuit packets…” Kittu said, alleging that it was a “pre- planned massacre.” He claimed that 18-year-old J. Snowlin fell on his left side after she was shot at the back of her neck and the bullet could have come out through her mouth. “Snowlin was a very bold girl and would bring her friends to the agitations. The last words I heard from her was ‘Down, down Sterlite…” he added.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 15 to disperse the crowd and they were herded into an open ground and then shot at. The Jallianwalla Bagh style operation was carried out using sophisticated weapons. Chilling videos of police men in t-shirts, standing on top of the vans and aiming at the protesters to take a precise shot emerged in the media. The poet Ilango Krishnan wrote the questions on everyone’s minds (English translation below): Our questions are simple. Who ordered the fring? You speak about what it ate before a corpse had died. Our questions are direct Is that young boy a terrorist? You whisper around about how the corpse had died. Our questions betray no confusion. How many people have you killed? You wanted to establish that the corpse was once breathing. Who needs the tales about your corpses? Who needs to know your rotten truths? My sister who died with her mouth blown Snowlin was one of the young cop that her hand is in a plaster cast. Why did you kill her? leaders of the mass protests, which Across the town were splashed My brothers who have not begun to originated in thousands from lanes, huge posters announcing the funeral live their lives yet bylanes and villages, walking across with the following message in Why did you kill them? miles to escape police barricades. Tamil (loosely translated): “She We will ask this. She was one of those who led the is dead, but we are not defeated. We will ask only this. rally onto the Tirunelveli Street, We will rise again, until Sterlite is We will keep asking just this close to the Third Mile Bridge, forced to go.” No wonder, there was Till your ears turn deaf which is adjacent to the “gateway” not a single cop accompanying the Till your power becomes a corpse. to the collector’s offce. The frst funeral procession. killings happened here on May 22. Kittu said that there were Police Killer Snipers A woman in Anna Nagar went spies among the protestors The mystery of the police fring with her daughter and son to the who were pointing a fnger on in Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) has rally. She said that Snowlin told protestors who should be shot at. deepened with the emergence of her moments before she was shot “They were shooting from a video in which snipers are seen dead that “we have to fght for the top of a van and from two shooting from atop a vehicle at the our generation and the future buildings. They were not even crowd. 12 protesters died in the generations”. wearing uniforms and they gave no shooting on Tuesday ,May 22, 2018. “She held onto my daughter warning,” Kittu said, adding that out It was reported that the weapon as she fell, her face smeared with the 13 dead, eight were the leaders, used in fring is 7.62 Self Loading blood,” said the woman. Did she see “which itself proved that the fring Rife, which is not advisable to who shot her? “No,” she said. was pre-planned.” be used against unarmed people Snowlin was with three of her When the protesters gathered and should not have been used in school friends, according to those in front of the collector offce on crowd management. It is further who saw her there. Her friend, May 22, 2015 the police resorted reported that even the people who Infanta, just about escaped, when a to violence. Civilians including used the SLR were plainclothed bullet, again, fred from an unknown women and children were brutally men and hence cannot be said to area, perhaps from a height, by an attacked by the hundreds of police be policemen. Tuesday marked unknown sniper, almost grazed her. men who were deployed on the spot. the 100th day of the latest round Another school-going friend had In what appears to be a planned of protests against the company, her hand twisted so brutally by a operation, tear gas was frst used which has been accused of being

16 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 responsible for air and water was crowd control they could have of Anna Nagar, and many of them pollution leading to health hazards. fred rubber bullets at the agitators. who were just standing near their Instead police used live bullets. houses received bullet injuries. One According to news report Even such a scenario they should person Mr. Kaliappan, died on the by The Hindu have shot below the knee. The spot from the police fring. Women “The rally, in which thousands of pictures of the dead protesters were also beaten up when the police local people participated under the suggest that all of them received entered their houses and even a banner of ‘Anti Sterlite Movement’, injuries above waist, either in 5-year old boy was stomped on the turned violent in the morning with chest or neck. This suggests that stomach and his 2-year old sister sections of protesters setting fre to the police shot with an aim to kill was assaulted by the police. vehicles, including those belonging the protesters. The witnesses have confrmed to the police. “Then comes the mystery that there was a massive and “Violence broke out when a snipers. In a video released by unwarranted door-to-door search in large number of protesters, who news agency ANI, a man wearing several areas. The police personnel took out a rally from various places a yellow T-Shirt is seen taking forcefully entered into the houses, in Thoothukudi, moved up to the aim and shooting from atop a damaging the properties. According four-road intersection close to the parked police vehicle. The man is to the people’s testimonies, mostly traffc signal on Palayamkottai using an assault rife. The vehicle young men were targeted and Road. is surrounded by police men in were illegally arrested and taken “Since prohibitory orders uniform. Then another man in black into custody. Those who were were in force they were denied clothes climbs up the vehicle and picked up were neither taken to permission by police personnel to takes his turn in shooting. A few any police stations nor produced proceed further. The protesters then seconds into the video a voice is before Judicial Magistrates. started hurling stones and footwear heard in the background making a Testimonies also revealed that at policemen, who carried shields shocking statement: “At least one 108 ambulance services were not with protective outft. should die”. made available. As per the accounts “All attempts to stop the Testimonies revealed that of the people, the 108 ambulance protesters failed and they marched on the morning of May 23, 2018, services were ordered by the ahead after breaking the barricades groups of people along with the police not to serve the people and toppling a striking force families of those who were dead who were injured during the vehicle near the traffc signal. The and injured due to police fring and demonstration. police made yet another attempt lathi charge, gathered in front of the According to the people’s near the Third Mile bridge on the Government Hospital, Tuticorin and testimonies, mostly young men were Palayamkottai Road to control the demanded action against the police. targeted and were illegally arrested protest. Tear gas was used to quell The police resorted to lathi charge and taken into custody. Those who the rioting mob, which continued to disperse the crowd in front of the were picked up were neither taken to regroup. An explosive substance Government Hospital. The crowd to any police stations nor produced was thrown at the police. in order to escape from the police before Judicial Magistrates. They “Meanwhile, a few photo brutality had to fee from that area were reportedly stripped, made to sit journalists were manhandled by and ran to the neighbourhood areas in only their underwear, assaulted, some protesters. The Hindu’s Rajesh and sought refuge in Anna Nagar. kicked and thrashed. No food or was assaulted and the memory card Even the family members and water was given to them until May removed from his camera. patients inside the Government 23 evening. Many of them had “The violence snowballed Hospital were attacked with lathis their limbs swollen and were found when the protesters entered by police who were present on limping. the Collectorate after clearing every foor and especially targeting A police inspector, Hariharan, barricades and pelted stones those wearing black shirts or cross from the SIPCOT Police Station, causing damage to window panes of across their neck. has been named in this case, as offce buildings. They torched many Immediately, a huge posse of in many other cases of illegal vehicles parked on the Collectorate police personnel were deployed detention and torture, by locals. premises and other places. in Anna Nagar who ransacked the His notoriety across Tuticorin is “The scene resembled a war houses and other properties in that legendary. Locals allege that “he zone in hours as about 50 two- area while searching for unknown is on the payroll of Vedanta”. He wheelers, six government vehicles persons. The residents of Anna was transferred on June 2 from the and two cars were damaged or Nagar were in great shock to see SIPCOT Police Station to Madurai. torched by the protesters inside the this sudden commotion and locked At the intervention of the Collectorate. themselves inside their houses. The Tuticorin Bar Association, the “If the intention of the police police also opened fre at residents principal district judge gave

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 17 directions for the magistrate to visit living in terror. Testimonies also Were they really police men or the police station to enquire about stated that the CCTV cameras in hired assassins of Vedanta? The the 95 detained persons. Thoothukudi South Police Station mystery snipers have to be brought The police shifted all these were covered with cloth when the to light. Until then real truth of the men to the Vallanadu Shooting persons illegally detained were the massacre in Tuticorin will not Range, thereby deliberately taken to that police station. come out. deceiving the magistrate. Finally, This makes it clear that what Can we allow such assassins when the magistrate reached the happened in Tuticorin was not mere to be used against agitators in a fring range, he found that 30 of crowd control effort. This was a state democratic country? them were minors/juveniles. He sponsored massacre. Another video ordered their immediate release. shot on Wednesday shows several Fraud Autopsy Members of the Tuticorin policemen gathered around a dying On May 23, 2018 fresh violence Bar Association stated that or already deceased Kaliappan with was unleashed on the family of the district judge released 366 one policeman saying “stop acting” those who were killed in the police innocent people who were falsely and another “let him die” and other atrocities the previous in Tuticorin. detained without any bail or videos show them dragging him by They had gathered in the Tuticorin surety after a marathon court his hands through the streets. government hospital and opposed session which stretched till late The News Minute quotes a the attempt by the government to night. protestor in its report: cover-up the cold blooded murder A young boy was targeted The tremor in his voice is by conducting autopsy without any by cops, and asked to locate an evident as Godwin Jose begins to witness. The police took control address. As he walked along, he was recount the horror of police fring of the hospitals and autopsy was taken to a police vehicle and then in the protest rally against Sterlite conducted. When the protests assaulted. “For two days the police on May 22. The 23-year-old from intensifed the police again resorted were coming again and again, Sorispuram in Thoothukudi was to fring. A 22 year old youth was shooting rubber and metal bullets among the tens of thousands of killed in the fring and about fve at random, breaking open doors, people who had gathered to take out people have been injured fatally. barging into homes and beating the rally which ended with bloody With this death toll has reached 13. up people. They were searching violence leaving at 11 dead and Dr. Edwin Joe, director of door to door and would beat up several injured. Medical education in Tamil Nadu and pick up all young men, come “The police opened fre when told the media today that out of what may, though most of them had we tried to enter the Collectorate. the 42 who were admitted in their nothing to do with the rally,” said a So, we stepped away and sat hospital, including 17 of the fatally young girl who works in a bank. somewhere outside. That was injured protesters. Also bodies of 10 At KVK Nagar, three young when there was a lathicharge too. protesters who were killed are kept men were talking in their verandah, Fearing lathicharge, we entered the in the mortuary. The actual death when the cops took them away. Collectorate again, and there was toll is still not known and the police They assaulted them for almost 24 shooting again,” Godwin says. are trying to cover-up the mass hours inside the police vehicle, with Godwin has no shred of doubt killings. no medical relief, food or water. that the fring was pre-planned. “A car was burning in the distance. “It looked as if the police were Media Repression So the cops said, book them in this singling out those who were vocal, The Home ministry asked the case,” said one of them. those who led the protests, and state government to cut off the Many young men have been shot them above the abdomen,” internet connection to three forced to leave from their homes, he says. districts Tuticorin, Nellai and as they fear for arrest and torture “There was of course Kanyakumari. The central by police even though they were indiscriminate shooting, too, and government has also announced not a part of anti-Sterlite protests many of us were hurt in the legs. But that para-military forces will on May 22, 2018 nor before. Those there were several rounds of fre, be deployed in these districts. who took part in the protests are and we could see they were picking Facebook pages of activists who apprehending arrest as police have the targets at times. Thamizharasan, have been voicing in support fled open FIRs against thousands of for example, was very active in the of the protesting people have unnamed persons. There were even protest for quite some time. He has been blocked at the behest of the instances where, families altogether been shot dead. When you target government. Why is the centre feeing from their homes fearing the organisers and kill them, it is blatantly interfering in the state? false cases by police. The PI team evident you want to kill the protest,” All of these are a precursor to witnessed a huge presence of police Godwin says. a massive violence that will be let personnel and observed people still Who were these snipers? loose on the innocent civilians.

18 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 In 2011, when the people of Idindhankarai and Koodankulam were protesting against the nuclear power plant, the government resorted to such acts. Power supply and mobile connectivity was terminated in the two villages. Journalists from various national media were prevented from entering into the villages and those who were on the ground were forced to leave the villages. Soon the media were also pressurized by the state to stop covering the police atrocities. Most of the media switched its narrative to “police taking actions to control the rioters”. Thousands of men, women and children gathered just months before, peacefully for their livelihood. They suddenly became rioters in the eyes of the state and its media. Who gave the order to shoot at the peaceful protesters is still not known. Several times the question Tamil Nadu has been seeing the spot. “It is unfortunate that the was raised to the police offcers an increased number of police state has failed to gauge the public and none of them gave any reply atrocities in recent years. Be it the mood. The people were angry but to the question. The people’s protests against the Koodankulam not violent. Certainly they were not protests were neither against the Nuclear power plant or ONGC oil angry against the government.” ruling government nor against exploration the state has responded The police fred teargas at the any political party. Yet the state to genuine people demands with protestors when they defed the machinery has exposed itself as mass state violence. The people ban, resulting in a clash between being a mere tool to the corporate in the Cauvery Delta region in police and protestors. When the looting. Tamil Nadu have been protesting rally reached the Collector’s The police have justifed against the proposed methane offce, the police opened fre twice, violence by saying that the protesters extraction project. The Centre killing several protestors. Sources have torched the vehicles near has responded with deployment say the police opened fre again the collector offce and only after of around 2000 para-military at Threspuram, a fsher village, that they resorted to lathi charge. forces in the region to quell the whose residents were spearheading Anyone who remembers the police protests. Even lighting a candle in protests in the evening. atrocities at the end of the Jallikattu memory of the massacred Eelam “It is pre-planned, cold blooded protest can understand the fallacy Tamils is a crime. Activists in Tamil murder,” says T. Velmurugan, leader of the police claim. During the last Nadu have voiced their concerns of the Thamizhaga Vaazhvurimai day of the Jallikattu protest police that Tamil Nadu is turning into Katchi, a local political party. “The themselves torched the vehicles another Kashmir. This is part police obviously want to quell the standing on the roads and blamed of what seems to be a new major protests. We have reasons to believe it on the protesters. campaign to fnally Aryanise Tamil that they have been bought over by The offcial reports have said Nadu. Sterlite.” that 11 people have been killed in Activists allege that three Ironically it is only due to the police fring including a 17 year rounds of fring at different places outrage due to reporting in the old girl. But ground reports indicate by the police were only an attempt British media that the government a much larger number in terms of to “dilute the protests”. “There was of Tamil Nadu was forced to close both people killed and severely an even bigger protest on March down the plant. Most likely the injured. Only an independent 24 in Tuticorin against Sterlite. plant will shift to a new location in inquiry will give the real numbers But it was peaceful,” says Henry Tamil Nadu to poison the people and damage caused by the police Tiphagne, the executive director of there while making profts. atrocities. People’s Watch; he was present on

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 19 ‘Firing Was Inevitable’ state is undermining the protesters.” on May 22 was carried out against Sources said the police had already There is palpable fear in several standard policing protocols. planned to open fre and intended to villages around Thoothukudi. “We Even if those going in kill the protest’s organisers. “It was have been hearing that police has procession were throwing stones, indiscriminate and random. There been indiscriminately going into the police had the equipment to face was no warning from the police that villages and threatening people. the situation, and offcers usually they were going to open fre” human People fear there could be violence “wait at the peril of their life for a rights activist Henry Tiphagne said. in the night,” Velmurugan said. magistrate’s order.” “The protest, which was at frst With apparent pressure on news In Thoothukudi, given that the peaceful and included a diverse channels to ‘limit’ the coverage of agitation was going on for 99 days, gathering including persons with rioting, there are still conficting and there was an announcement disabilities and transgender persons, reports on the number of deaths. of the 100th day protest, why was soon turned violent as a result of the While Chief Minister Edappadi it not monitored and escalated to police shooting at the Collectorate. Palanisamy claimed nine were higher levels of government for a As soon as people found out that killed in the protests, a statement solution, he asked in an interview to fellow protesters were shot dead issued by Bhanwarilal Purohit, The Hindu. by the police and several others the governor, put the number at Mr. Haasan warned that there were left injured, they resorted 11. Sources in Thoothukudi said should be no attempt at burying the to violence. The protesters began the number could be much higher. large scale violence that engulfed to target their violence towards “The police have just begun to go the town by making an individual the Sterlite Housing Quarters, home by home enquiring if they are policeman the scapegoat. To say which was located right beside the related to any of the deceased,” one that “one police offcer went berserk Collectorate.” journalist in the town said. and did it is not acceptable,” he said. Among those killed in the The handling of the jallikattu police fring was Thamizharasan, a Kamal Hassan Reports protests in January 2017 and leader of the Puratchikara Ilaignar Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam torching of vehicles then showed Munnani (Revolutionary Youth founder Kamal Haasan said that police personnel could Front); he was one of the organisers he saw about 20 people in the themselves be involved in arson. of the protests. Visuals of policemen Thoothukudi government hospital Why was there no suspension of the atop vehicles opening fre pointedly with bullet injuries to their upper police personnel involved, and only targeting the protestors have body indicating that they were fred transfers in Thoothukudi, he asked. emerged, lending credence to upon from a long distance. He saw Those agitating against the speculation that the fring was pre- only one person with a leg injury industrial plant were not carrying planned. during his visit there. weapons, unlike several protests Nityanand Jayaraman, of the “They [police] were aiming in North India, where people Chennai Solidarity group, termed for the gut and shoulder,” Mr. brandished unsheathed swords the state’s response “brutal”. “The Haasan said, charging that the entire and carried sticks. It became clear district has now been brought under police operation during the 100th in the aftermath of the violence police control. The idea is to clearly day of the current agitation against that bystanders suffered bullet kill the protests. It is sad that the the Sterlite Copper plant in the town injuries, such as a worker carrying a headload and a student waiting for his examination results. The inquiry into the violence should cover the aspect of why a second round of fring was ordered when people had started dispersing.

Foreign Corporate Swaraj Lawrence Summers, the World Bank’s chief economist in a confdential memo in 1991 said, “Shouldn’t the WB be encouraging more migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs (Less Developed Countries)? The measurement of the costs of the health impairing pollution depends on the foregone earnings from increased morbidity

20 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 of Tamil Nadu. The silence of the middle class about corporate atrocities against adivasis has led to now the targeting of middle class protestors as well. We can remember that Giovanni Gentile (writing for Mussolini) stated that “Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” Fascism has been described as “an attempt to create a ‘modern’ version of feudalism by merging the ‘corporate’ interests with those of the state.” We should note that feudalism is the economic system of the Middle Ages and that all religious extremist ideologies want to bring society back to that era – Church controlled Europe (admired and mortality. From this point of suffering from various forms in Poland, Hungary, etc), Islamic view, a given amount of health- of blackmail from the centre’s clergy controlled Middle East and impairing pollution should be done agencies are unable to organize any Brahmin controlled Puranic India. in the country with the lowest cost, resistance. Since the mysterious We can also remember that which will be the country of the death of Chief Minister Jayalalitha Mussolini dissolved Parliament lowest wages. I think the economic – that is under investigation after and created instead a “Chamber logic behind dumping a load of toxic being ordered by the Chennai High of Fascist Corporations” giving waste in the lowest-wage country is Court – we have seen the state them direct control over the impeccable and we should face up facing many crises. This is the government and the people of to that.” Sterlite Copper is a perfect frst time that the death of a Chief Italy. Finally we can remember example of WB’s expectations. Minister has been investigated that it was after visiting Mussolini’s According to a report published since 1947. The rumours swirl that Italy that B. S. Moonjie and disciple in The Wire, “The BJP received a it was her refusal to allow foreign Hegdewar brought the virus of total of Rs 15 crore from Sterlite corporates to take total control over militant religious fascism to India Industries, and Rs 7.5 crore from Tamil Nadu that led to her death. in the form of organizations directly Cairn India – a Vedanta Resources In case the resistance against modeled on those of Mussolini. It subsidiary – in the FY ending the Sterlite plant at Thoothukudi remains to be seen however whether March 31, 2014, the year the Lok is fnally broken over the days, a foreign corporate raj with a deshi Sabha elections were held”. The thanks to the state’s fre power, one religious whitewash will also take Congress also received funding could try taking a guess what the over the country. Ilango Krishnan from them and which is why they trends of Vedanta’s stock prices has written of such a future saying: have not reacted to these events. and political donations would In a country where cows are protected We should recall that in 2016, and look like then. And with the new We are grateful then later again this year, the BJP electoral bond scheme, Vedanta will government at the center passed be able to give unlimited amounts Lords, we bow to you an amendment, and a subsequent to political parties without have Rulers, we bow to you additional clause, to the Finance Bill to reveal to which party. If this Corporate owners, we bow to you in order to allow foreign companies is what they and their parties Kings, we bow to you like Vedanta to freely fund political will do in Tamil Nadu, one can We bow and pray to you, Lords campaigns in India, not just from only imagine what they will do Please remove the knives from our the date of the amendment, but in places like Orissa where their throats in fact retroactively. It appears violent greed is infamous. The Please tell us when the goats should this funding has been paid back reality is that now it is no longer arrive to be slaughtered with the blood of villagers trying adivasis in Chattisgarh, Orissa and We bow and beg to you to stop being poisoned by this Jharkhand who are outright shot for May you kill us company. protesting. Now this is happening The so-called Dravidian parties in educated and developed areas With little pain, our government.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 21 PROUTONOMICS KEY INDUSTRIES

Ronald Logan

Key industries would have no governmental subsidization and would not be able to extract profits beyond fair limits required for capital improvements, expansion of operations, and incentives for workers.

In a PROUTist economy, productive of social ownership and services they provide, would be and commercial activities would decentralization of economic under the oversight of global, be conducted by three types of power. There would not be state- regional, or local commissions. enterprise: private enterprises, owned enterprise, as this would These commissions would closely cooperatives, and key industries. go against the principle of social regulate and oversee the operations • Private enterprises would be ownership. However, industries of the key industries. confned to small-scale businesses, that have strategic importance to Consider a global telecommu- such as specialty stores, repair the society require governmental nications system designated as a shops, handcraft producers, and oversight of their management. key industry. This system is one in street vendors. These key industries would not which the whole world is dependent • Cooperatives would undertake be state-owned — they would be on its operations. So its proper all production, marketing, and cooperatively owned and run — control would lie with a global service activity except for that yet commissioned and regulated commission that develops and which is on a scale too small to by government commissions or oversees key industries involved be viable for cooperatives and that authorities. with telecommunications. This which is of strategic importance to This sort of oversight can be seen commission would see that all the society. today in many metropolitan transit corners of the planet are being • Key industries would be the authorities. These transit authorities properly and equitably served, that large-scale economic operations are corporations chartered by there is proper pricing for services, involved with products or services statute or by a government agency that research and development having strategic importance, such and created to provide the strategic are actively going on, that local as telecommunications networks, service of public transportation. facilities and telecommunication large scale banking, and energy satellites are functioning at a high utilities. In their system of internal Key Industry Regulatory standard, that jobs created by global organization, key industries would Commissions telecommunications services are be cooperatives. But they would Those enterprises designated as appropriately distributed among be contracted by government key industries would be internally the world’s regional and local commissions to produce their organized as cooperatives, with economies, and so forth. product or provide their service, and local people managing production By having a global commission these commissions would regulate and collectively owning the offces, to execute these functions, it would and oversee their operations. machinery, and plants involved become possible to effectively In the PROUT economy all in the businesses operation. But guide the balanced and integrated enterprises would conform, as the products they produce, the development of the local and regional appropriate, to the principles resources they extract, or the economies of the world. If, say, the

22 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 weaponry plants, creating insecurity for the region with no weapon production plants. So the weaponry production cannot be controlled by any region; it must be under the direct auspices of the world order. And it will have to be regulated by a commission established by the world order. This commission will award contracts within a given region for the production of weaponry. But the weaponry plant will not belong to the region. There may be proft-sharing and cooperative management of the plant, but the plant will be regulated, supervised, and opened and closed by outsiders whose loyalty is not to the region but to the global political order.

Regional Control Regional key industries would have local autonomy with regional telecommunications commission profts beyond a reasonable supervision, and then there would decided there is a need for new amount required for capital be a global oversight of the regional production of communications improvements, expansion of supervision, so that there would be a satellites, it might distribute operations, and incentives for hierarchical system. Take the airline production operations in several workers. This policy will serve industry. Planes fy everywhere, but regions, or it might concentrate to prevent their being kickbacks a given airport or airplane production production in a region that needs or other corruption in the plant may be in a specifed region, stimulus for the development of its administration of the key industry and that production plant, or that technical and industrial base. Such commissions. And it would mean airport, would be locally managed. decisions would get made keeping that essential services, products, Yet they would have to be under the in mind possibilities for maximum and resources are made available at safeguard, or oversight, of a global development of all of the world’s minimal cost. commission that maintains a certain local economies. standard. Outside inspectors will But the global commission Control of Global Key come and see that the standard is would also see that any production Industries the same from region to region. And or service it commissions is Consider the example of an industry if the standard is not well kept in a properly regulated and that services that supplies armaments to the given region – there are troubles in and products meet high standards. military. In a PROUT social order, the plant and the plant management So if a producer’s cooperative got the military would be operated is unable to fx the problem – the contracted to manufacture for the by the world government, and the commission may decide to close satellites, but was then consistently needed manufactured items would it and move it to a different area. lax in preventing environmental be procured from local industries This would be the prerogative of contamination in the production as needed. But the production the commission. But as long as the process, then the commission might of weaponry could not be plant remains in that area, the plant decide to end its contract with that locally-owned as this would be itself may be cooperatively owned enterprise and fnd another business problematic. If one region has fve and run, with services coming from to give the work to. weapons plants and a neighboring the local people. region has none, then the region No Proft – no Loss with none would feel at risk. Internal Management Key industries would operate on They could worry that the region Internal management within key a no proft, no loss basis. That is, with a predominance of weapon industries will be chosen by the there would not be governmental production capacity might decide workers. The plant is the property subsidization of their operations, that they are locally autonomous of the workers, but if they cannot nor would they be able to extract and assume control over all their produce according to the standards

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 23 should be competition among providers of services and incentive for excellence in service. Those who manage the company may gain proft by doing good service and competing successfully with other companies providing these services. At the same time, they should be curbed in their excesses. They should be inspired to bring maximum effciency and service, and yet not be allowed to exploit the people.

Regulation of Key Industries So there would be strong regulation by the codes established by the global confederation. These codes would that are demanded by the concerned to facilitate the smooth operations provide the basic guidelines for key commission, they will lose their of industries whose functions are industries. Yet within that system contract. So though they may have global and of a strategic nature. of governmental control, there will their own management scheme, still be the opportunity for advancement they are under the oversight of the Selecting and and development, there will be commission. They must work in Incentivizing Key Industry reward for excellence. So if a association with industries in other Management particular company is competitive regions. They would work together, In the global key industries, in its pricing, if it produces better and the facilitation of inter- management is not chosen by local quality products, it maintains very industry communication would be people because those industries high standards, it keeps prices low, handled by the commissions. These do not just serve the local people; it does other things which meet commissions will be governed they serve the people of many the needs of the people in a better by a systematic and hierarchical regions. Yet there must not be the fashion than in another company, administrative process. In the case development of international greed then it will be given rewards. But of key industries having global to control the international market. if this company becomes greedy importance, they would not Therefore, there must be a system and service declines due to greedy be associated with any region. of checks and balances so that there practices, or if it begins to provide Commissions would oversee is maximum cooperation, maximum faulty services to save the money production, production needs, effciency and output, and minimum and overall development of the greed involved. There should key industries on a global scale. not be weighty governmental Within the industry, each worker bureaucracy; nor should there be would have their own expertise, and greedy capitalists, eager to promote all would have a say. themselves at the expense of the local people. Both of these extremes Supervision of Key should be avoided. Industry Commissions How are they to be avoided? These commissions would be under How does one set up industries that the direct supervision of the world must serve large groupings of people governing council. The commissions internationally, and at the same would be an administrative function time is not driven to ineffciency of the world government, and they by bureaucratic involvement, or would answer to the council as is not driven to putting the needs it concerns the internal working of the people behind the greedy of various regions and their needs of those in control? How coordination. These commissions may both of these extremes be are not an administrative secretariat avoided? A middle path must be of the government’s operation; taken. There must be government they are commissions established regulation to curb excess, yet there

24 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 and increase its profts, then it again based upon this middle road. greater earnings for the particular would be sanctioned and certain As always, the management will company. So there should be some parts of its domain might go to a emphasize the incentive system so incentive to earn the merit of greater more successful competitor who that maximum creativity, maximum control. But all of these incentives better meets the needs of the people. production, will be highly rewarded. will be carefully monitored so that In this way, these companies The creative thoughts and opinions greed does not dominate the minds will be regulated. There will be of workers would be taken into of those concerned and service standards of excellence set by consideration. But, at the same become secondary. those who set the standards. Those time, no one would be allowed to be standards will be adopted by the personally in control of the company Worker Incentives global confederation and then the with no check and balance. There In key industry there is neither companies will be expected to would be a governing board of proft nor loss. And there are no maintain their business within the directors, and they will represent shareholders; there are none who guidelines of those standards. These all of the regions that are receiving gain personal proft. These industries standards will have great emphasis services. The government body exist to serve a primary function on the development of excellence. that is controlling the regulation which must be maintained for the Whoever serves the needs of the of the company should also be basic development of the society. people with the highest quality represented, and the workers as There should be no exploitation service at the most reasonable well should have representation in the society in this delivery of price will be commissioned to on the governing board. services, but there must be incentive larger and larger domains of Excess proft above and beyond for the individual worker to do well service. But, should they provide operations, capitalization and in the job place. inadequate service, then some of incentives will go to the designated While the company will simply their contracted services will go regions. However, the amount of take in revenue to cover what is elsewhere. profts will be closely regulated. needed to operate, yet within the The same standards and If profts go beyond a certain company there should be ample incentives would apply for point, there must be decrease in incentives for the workers to the workers within those large the charging for services. So proft enhance their production. There companies. In the management of would remain in a lower margin. must be recognition given to those these key service industries this If there is some margin of proft, who do outstanding work and middle path must be followed; in all it will be equally divided among different types of bonuses may be parts of the industry, individualized all of the regions, but proft motive offered. Vacation packages, time off, incentives must be rewarded. will be somewhat low because bonus money – all these incentives of regulation. Yet there would would come within the company’s Regulation of Profts be motive to increase services, operating costs. And there should In providing the service there is effciency and territory, because be a promotional system based on a system of management that is with greater territory there will be quality of work. If a worker does quality work then gains further educational background, there must be support for that worker to better them self educationally to make a more substantial contribution. Those workers who are industrious, get additional education, are skilled at their work, they will be able to advance themselves to a higher position with a better salary. Their incentives given within the company are all operating expenses of the company, because the company must provide incentives to the workers to do quality work. This can be done without shareholdings, or without company profts above and beyond operational expenses. This is all included within operational expenses.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 25 HIDDEN AGENDA

Cobrapost Sting: Big Media Houses Say Yes to Communalism, Black Money, Paid News

Exposé reveals some of the biggest names in the Indian media agreeing to business proposals by an undercover reporter pretending to seek promotion of the Communalist agenda and influencing of the 2019 electoral outcome for a price. [Reprinted from: The Wire] Times Now channel, the Times Nearly two months after Cobrapost of India and several other media frst reported how some media platforms. The ease with which houses were prepared to strike Jain discusses ways in which the business deals to promote the undercover reporter could pay communal agenda and help the company using black money polarise voters in the run up to the by routing those payments 2019 elections, the website has through other business houses released a second batch of video and families is hard to reconcile recordings shot surreptitiously by with Times Now’s campaigns in an undercover reporter that shows favour of demonetisation – which managers and owners of some of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had the largest newspapers and TV said was needed in order to deal channels succumbing to the same with black money. package of communal advertorials. Cobrapost sent an undercover Cobrapost said that the journalist, Pushp Sharma, to pose recordings it made showed how as “Acharya Atal”, a man who some two dozen news organisations identifed himself as a representative were willing to “not only cause of an unnamed “sangathan”, or communal disharmony among the organisation, but who gave the citizens but also tilt the electoral impression that he was a member outcome in favour of a particular of or close to the Nagpur-based party” for a price. Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh The only two media houses (RSS). In the recordings the whose representatives refused the website put up on YouTube. undercover reporter’s proposals Acharya Atal can be heard trying were the Bengali newspapers to strike deals with media house Bartaman and Dainik Sambad. executives involving the promotion In what is likely to alarm the of a communal agenda through fnance ministry and the income advertorials – paid-for content – tax department, several of the that would run on their newspapers, media houses – including, in some radio stations, TV channels and cases, proprietors like Vineet Jain websites. conversations, Jain and the group’s of the Times Group – have been executive president, Sanjeev Shah, recorded discussing ways in which Vineet Jain of Times can be seen and heard discussing proposed transactions running into Group the proposed deal in which Acharya hundreds of crores of rupees could The biggest name to be stung by Atal said he would pay Rs 500 crore be conducted using cash, i.e. black Cobrapost was Times Group owner in exchange for advertorials and money. and managing director Vineet events that would be presented as The Times Group owns the Jain. In a number of videotaped programming on Krishna and the

26 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 Bhagvad Gita but which would note or whatever.” agreeable to the idea but added serve as a cover for communalistic Incidentally, Rs 500 crore is that “if you are doing some infeld political agenda. equal to a little more than 5% of the activities that we don’t agree with In one of the meetings, Jain total revenue of Rs 9,976 crore that editorially, we will be criticising and Shah offer guidance to the the Times group earned in 2017. you”. She urged ‘Acharya Atal’ undercover journalist on how to not to resort to polarising activities make payments in cash even though Kalli Purie of India Today but when he said the course of the they said the Times group itself had group election campaign may not leave no use for cash. In his meeting with Kalli Purie, him any option, his insistence did “We found them naming some vice-chairperson of the India Today not become a deal breaker. big corporate houses which could group, Cobrapost’s undercover Pushp Sharma had earlier met help make black money squeaky journalist spoke about using Krishna TV Today’s chief revenue offcer, clean,” Cobrapost said. and the Bhagvad Gita to promote Rahul Kumar Shaw, who had It added that while Vineet Jain communalism since Ram and conveyed to him his own support said, “Aur bhi businessmen honge jo Ayodhya had become controversial. for the sangathan’s agenda. “I must humein cheque denge aap unhe cash He said the ‘sangathan’ would make tell you, I am very very pro, very de do” (There are other businessmen use of the Krishna messaging the pro to the government”. Soon after who would give us cheque against India Today group would put out to the meeting with Kalli Purie, Shaw sent an email proposing a Rs 275 crore advertising campaign – an astonishing amount for what was offcially going to be described as promotion of the Bhagvad Gita. The value placed on this one campaign alone was 20% of the total revenues earned by the India Today group in 2017. Cobrapost stings 25 media houses The second and fnal instalment of the exposé – codenamed Operation 136 – saw a total of 25 media houses “crumble under the weight of a ‘big business opportunity’ that was knocking on their doors without asking,” Cobrapost said. The sting covered a total of 27 organisations of which “almost all bent themselves backward to grab this opportunity,” barring Bartaman and the Dainik Sambad. Apart from the Times of India and India Today groups, the undercover investigation covered Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Times Group MD Vineet Jain (right) with finance minister Arun Jaitley Zee News, Star India, ABP, Dainik (left). Credit: Facebook Jagran, Radio One, Suvarna News, Red FM, Lokmat, ABN, Andhra Jyothy, TV5, Dinamalar, Big FM, the cash you may give them), his promote communalism among the Prabhat Khabar, K News, India aide Shah elaborated on this to the wider public as part of its “infeld Voice, the New Indian Express, undercover journalist saying: “Who activities”. The reporter also spoke MVTV and OPENmagazine. will take that from him in Delhi about translating the campaign Cobrapost was forced to suppose if Goenka says I want it in for his “political gains” and even withhold the recordings and Ahmedabad so that I Angadiya will said that he should not be held communications it had from its have contact in Ahmedabad where accountable later for polarisation. interaction with the Dainik Bhaskar they will exchange in number on a Purie indicated she was group after the latter managed to

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 27 them” at the outset and repeated in each meeting. The agenda included promoting communalism in the initial phase of three months through customised religious programmes to create a congenial atmosphere. Then the campaign was to be “geared up to mobilise the electorate on communal lines by promoting speeches of its hardliners, the likes of Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti and Mohan Bhagwat, among others,” said Cobrapost. Finally, as elections approach, the campaign would move to “target opposition leaders, namely, Kalli Purie of India Today. Credit: Facebook Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, caricaturing them obtain an ex-parte injunction from you should fnd a PR company of using less than dignifed language the Dehi high court. The website has repute which has inroads in the top like Pappu, Bua and Babua, said it will challenge the injunction. market, right, and they can control respectively, for them, in order to Hindustan Times: ‘If you give the reporters, kyonki they are the show them in poor light before couple of crores, automatically my source of news. the electorate.” The arrangement editorial is under pressure’. Bansal then differentiates included running the campaign on Another big media house, the between reporters who have a fre all platforms – print, electronic, Hindustan Times, also found the inside them and other reporters who radio or digital including, e-news undercover reporter’s proposal are “light minded and who are not portals, web sites and social media attractive with the group’s working for professional desire but such as Facebook and Twitter. executives offering “editorial monetary desire” and says the PR In his meeting with Kalli support” to ‘Acharya Atal’ for his company will work through them. Purie, ‘Acharya Atal’ insisted the activities as part of an advertising campaign also run in Cosmopolitan, package. A Standard Pitch the group’s fashion magazine. In a meeting with Avneesh The pitch made by the reporter in Bansal, associate vice president his meetings with management Offer to Swing Karnataka of HT Media Ltd, ‘Acharya personnel and owners of media Assembly Results Atal’ is told that money spent on houses was similar: he wanted them Operation 136, Cobrapost editor advertorials will produce editorial to run a media campaign on his Aniruddha Bahal said, also revealed dividends too: behalf promoting communalism, that most of the media houses Bansal: Mera personal offering them an ad spend ranging are either owned by politicians suggestion yeh hai, I am sure media from a few crore rupees to Rs. 500 themselves, particularly the regional strategy is a very very big part of crore in the case of the Times group. ones, or patronised by politicians, Sangh strategy, so you should attack The reporter’s modus operandi and therefore it was natural for in two ways. One is tying up with in dealing with large media houses them to become their masters’ media houses, so if you are giving was to dangle his bait before junior voice. “Crony journalism and the me a couple of crore rupees to talk executives, who then led him higher search for revenue made for a lethal positive about you, automatically and higher up the corporate food cocktail”, he said. my editorial is under pressure not to chain. In the fnal stage, Pushp In the case ABN Andhra go deep negative … Keep funding Sharma tried to meet with the Jyothy, a prominent Telugu TV the media house so agar hum ek owner directly in order to establish news channel patronised by TDP positive cheez ke liye fund kar rahe what he said was an “emotional supremo Chandrababu Naidu, hain, they will refrain from being go connect” that would convince the Cobrapost said, its chief marketing deep negative, but they can’t ignore ‘sangathan’ that the media house manager E.V. Seshidhar was candid a news genuinely believed in the goals enough to admit: “We have very Acharya Atal: Theeek hai, usko of the communalistic campaign good connects with TDP … We hush up kar dein, low tone de dein and was not simply engaging in a have to do [sic] lot of what do Bansal: This is one. transactional relationship. you call we have main offcial for Acharya Atal: Theek hai. The “essential ingredients” or AP government Andhra Pradesh Bansal: Doosri cheez kya hai, the deal were “spread wide before government, we have offcial event

28 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 telecaster rights for Andhra Pradesh to have an association with them. or serving pure rumours as news, government.” “For instance, Big FM senior as was recently witnessed during Stating that this connect went business partner Amit Choudhary the Kasganj communal riot in Uttar beyond the TDP, to include the BJP admits to the relationship between Pradesh earlier this year. “What our and other outfts, it said Seshidhar the company that owns Big FM and investigation shows is symptomatic even went on to state that their the party in power in no uncertain of the malaise that has set deep in newspaper Andhra Jyothy holds so terms,” it said, as it quoted the labyrinths of the citadel called much sway that they could infuence Choudhary as saying: “Waise bhi Fourth Estate. It also shows that the outcome of the Karnataka Reliance BJP ka supporter hee hai Indian media is on sale, lock, stock elections. (Anyway, Reliance is always a and barrel,” supporter of the BJP).” The release of the latest tranche Senior Journalists also Similarly, it quoted Basab of tapes only confrms this ugly Turned Power Brokers Ghosh, regional sales head of truth. Cobrapost said that it not only OPEN magazine, which is owned The Wire has written to approached those whose job it was by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, the media houses featured in to negotiate deals and bring business confessing his organisation’s Cobrapost’s Operation 136 and to the organisation, but also some allegiance to the RSS: “Acharyaji will update this story with their some senior journalists who have shayad aap bhi busy rehte hain responses as and when they are now become owners or CEOs aap shayad Open dekhte nahi hain received. and found them “genufecting regular. Main aapko ek baat bataata *Response received from before their big-ticket client” and hoon. Open jitna support karte hain Lokmat spokeswoman (May 25, “happily agreeing to work for his sangathan ka shayad hee koi karta 2017, 11:27 pm): agenda”. hoga. (Acharyaji, perhaps you are “Ethics and integrity have In this regard, it made mention a busy man and maybe you don’t been the hallmark of Lokmat’s of Purushottam Vaishnav, who is read OPENregularly. Let me tell 100 year long history. The views now CEO regional news channels at you one thing. Nobody supports the expressed in the video are personal Zee Media, saying he agreed to “run Sangathan [RSS] as much as does and the publication neither support down political rivals by unleashing OPEN).” or subscribe to it. We have robust their SIT ([investigative team] on editorial policy with multi level them”. 17 Media Organisations checks and balances to ensure “Content mein jo aapki taraf se Were Exposed in First unbiased reporting for our readers. The person in question is no more input aayega wo absorb ho jayega … Tranche humare taraf se jo content generate At the time of its frst ‘cash for a Lokmat employee and is not hoga investigative journalism hum coverage’ expose in March, associated with the publication in log karte hain karwa denge jitna Cobrapost had revealed how it had any capacity now.” hum logon ne kiya hai utna kisi ne surreptitiously flmed the interaction *Response of India Today group nahi kiya hoga wo hum log karenge its reporter had over several months to Cobrapost: (Whatever input you will send in with top executives at dozens of The India Today Group the form of content that will be leading newspapers and television stands for the highest standards of absorbed … the content we will channels across north India. journalism. The editorial has always generate … we have been doing worked independent of commercial transactions. The business side of the investigative journalism, we will Sting Team Left Shocked do it for you. [Compared to Zee] Incidentally, following the frst organization, irrespective of their none of the channels has done so release of tapes, Cobrapost editor seniority or personal political and many … we will do that),” it quoted Aniruddha Bahal had said that even religious leanings, do not infuence Vaishnav as saying. his undercover journalists were left our editorial coverage in any way, surprised by what they discovered. nor is any sales representative of RSS Inroads into “To our utter shock most of them ours authorized to offer editorial coverage. Newsrooms not only agreed to do what he asked Cobrapost also claimed that its for but also suggested myriad ways During the sting operation investigation established that the for undertaking a well-orchestrated, carried out by your undercover RSS, and as a corollary, its ideology, overtly communal media campaign reporter, he had conversations with have made deep inroads into the on behalf of their prospective big- various sales employees of our newsrooms and boardrooms of ticket client.” Group for an advertising campaign. Indian media houses where even Cobrapost had earlier stated He did not meet anyone from our owners either blatantly admit their that its investigation had revealed editorial team. allegiance to the party in power and yet another example of the Indian In fact, in the meeting with our its parent organisation or are eager media’s penchant for twisting facts senior management, as well as in the

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 29 advertising proposal sent to the undercover reporter on 16th February 2018, it is clearly mentioned that all the creatives would have to be approved by The India Today Group. Senior management also told your reporter that the Group will not do anything unethical, and that any advertising creative that divides the country on religious or caste lines will not be acceptable, and will not be aired on our channels. The India Today Group has always condemned paid news, and in its 43 years of existence, never indulged in any such practice. Any suggestion to the contrary would be malicious.

India or Hindia? Manuraj Shunmugasundaram In the midst of the triple talaq furore, an intervention by Shashi Tharoor, MP, in Parliament seems to have gone relatively unnoticed. The issue came up during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha on January 3 during a Starred Question about the steps taken by the Union government to make Hindi an offcial language at the United Nations. In the reply given by Union Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, delivered entirely in Hindi, she said the government “continues to take measures for the acceptance of Hindi as one of the offcial languages of the UN and to popularise Hindi worldwide”. She further assured the House that the government is ready to spend even Rs 400 crore every year to achieve this. If the government were to succeed, Hindi would become the seventh offcial language of the UN after Arabic, English, Russian, French, Spanish and Chinese. For Hindi to be accepted as an offcial language of the UN, it will involve the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly with a two-thirds majority. At frst sight, it appears the government is on a weak legal basis to embark on this complex pursuit to move a resolution to change the offcial languages of the UN and persuade at least 129 countries to vote in favour of such a resolution. The government has failed to even initiate a discussion on such an important agenda either in Parliament or among the people. It is equally worrying that the minister says the government is ready to foot a bill of Rs 400 crore every year when there is no indication that the fnance ministry has accorded the provisional sanction of funds or made any budgetary allocation in this regard over the past two years. The core issue is whether and why Hindi should be promoted over other languages spoken in India. Article 343 of the Constitution of India deems English and Hindi to be offcial languages of the Union. There are more than 600 million (close to 60 per cent) non-Hindi speakers in the country, according to the 2001 Census data. There are 22 languages recognised as offcial languages by the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. There have been repeated requests by non-Hindi speakers to give these languages constitutional status equal to that of English and Hindi. It is ironic that the government is expending signifcant diplomatic capital trying to place Hindi along with the six offcial languages of the UN when they have consistently denied equal offcial language status to the languages in the Eighth Schedule. The prime minister speaks to the nation on Independence Day and during his weekly radio addresses only in Hindi, neglecting even Gujarati. On March 31, 2017, the BJP government accepted the recommendation made by the Committee of Parliament on Offcial Language that “all dignitaries including Hon’ble President and all the ministers especially who can read and speak Hindi may be requested to give their speech/statement in Hindi only”. Public sector banks, the Railways and other Central government-run services are all tacitly being Hindi-ised. The situation is compounded by the fact that Parliament can itself hardly lay claim to being a multi-lingual institution. Article 120(1) of the Constitution states the speaker “may permit any member who can not adequately express himself in Hindi or in English to address the House in his mother tongue”. Moreover, the Rajya Sabha Handbook indicates that Parliament provides simultaneous interpretation services for Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Oriya, Tamil and Urdu only. When a member speaks in any of these nine languages, the speeches are translated into Hindi and English only. Therefore, a Malayalam-speaker will not have his speech translated to Bengali but only to Hindi and English. Or a member of Parliament representing Central Chennai will not be able to hear a Gujarati speech translated into Tamil but only in either Hindi or English. Compare this with the European Union Parliament in Strasbourg where 23 languages are simultaneously translated into one another. Without making the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha multilingual and inclusive, any efforts to make Hindi an offcial language of the UN will renew the fears of non-Hindi speakers. These cumulative events remind us of a question posed by DMK President Karunanidhi, where he wonders if we are living in India or “Hindia”.

30 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

The Nile perch is among the largest of freshwater fsh, capable of achieving a length of more than 6 The Laws of Nature and feet and a weight of more than 400 pounds. The perch is native to the sub-Sahara and is found not only The Nature of Law in the Nile but also in the Congo, the Niger, and other rivers, as well Fritjof Capra & Ugo Mattei as in Lake Chad and other major basins. For more than half a century, export, have robbed many local concentrated in the private however, it also has been found in people of their traditional livelihood hands of corporate banks) has Lake Victoria in east Africa, where in the fshing trades. Towns along produced huge benefts to a few it is not native, and where it has the lakeshore arose to service fshery at the expense of the environment subsequently become one of the best- workers, but these towns offer little and local communities. State known examples of the unintended in the way of basic services such as and capitalist ownership, most consequences of introducing a water or electricity. Local people notably the modern transnational species to an ecosystem. A brilliant who have not been assimilated into corporation, not unlike the Nile documentary by Hubert Sauper, the new local cash economy have perch itself, displays cannibalistic entitled “Darwin’s Nightmare”, been forced to leave their homes in tendencies, with various players made this story known to a wide search of work. Prostitution, AIDS, eating each other by way of war or public in 2004. and drug abuse by street children takeover. As a top-level predator of are rampant. Moreover, the Nile Similar examples can be extraordinary size, might, and perch cannot be sun-dried in the found all over the world. In the greed, the perch will eat most traditional way but instead must be Pacifc Northwest, a century of anything, including its own species. preserved through smoking, which extractive clear-cutting practices It has a potential life span of has caused a severe depletion of in forestry have devastated the sixteen years, giving it enormous frewood in the region. landscape, silted streams, and potential for ongoing destruction. It is diffcult to fnd a better endangered salmon habitat. As Its introduction by humans to Lake metaphor for the impact of the the trees have disappeared, so Victoria for commercial harvest modern economic and legal have many local livelihoods. In has caused the disappearance of paradigm on a local community. California and across the West and most of the endemic species in the Across the world, over and over Southwest, the overuse of water lake and has created disastrous again, this paradigm of short- for growing desert populations and social and economic consequences. term extraction, state sovereignty, industrial agriculture has resulted For instance, large-scale fshing and private ownership fueled by in depleted aquifers and over- operations, typically geared toward money (itself a legal abstraction stressed watersheds, worsening the

Across the world, over and over again, this paradigm of short-term extraction, state sovereignty, and private ownership fueled by money has produced huge benefits to a few at the expense of the environment and Nile Perch local communities Courtesy: Duane Raven

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 31 effects of drought and threatening livelihoods and food security. Juvenile salmon in a hatchery Across the world, food shortages, disease, and overpopulation, often resulting from short-term economic incentives or other human action, have played a part in creating income disparity and environmental degradation. Just as the Nile perch has devastated its new environment and may potentially eat itself out of Lake Victoria, it is no exaggeration to say that human civilization, together with many higher forms of life, may disappear from the planet unless we can reverse our extractive, destructive ways in time. Nor is it too far-fetched an idea to see modern capitalist institutions behaving as the Nile perch in relationship between the “laws of heart of this change of paradigms many places of this world. For Nature” and human laws. from a mechanistic to a holistic instance, the disruption caused by In science, the mechanistic and ecological world-view we fnd the development projects of global paradigm that began in the sixteenth a profound change of metaphor: corporations to attract rich tourists and seventeenth centuries includes from seeing the world as a in the global south is never taken an emphasis on quantifcation, machine to understanding it as a into consideration by the celebrative introduced by Galileo Galilei, and network. Networks, of course, are narratives of the development and on the human domination of Nature, patterns of relationships; hence, economic growth they produce. championed by Francis Bacon; the understanding life in terms of But deciding on a remedy frst view of the material world as a networks requires an ability to requires understanding how this machine, separate from the mind, think in terms of relationships system came about. We did not end advanced by René Descartes; Isaac and patterns. In science, this up with our current shortsighted Newton’s concept of objective, new way of thinking is known as economic and political system by unchangeable “laws of Nature”; “systems thinking,” or systemic accident, although, as we shall see, and a rationalist, atomistic view of thinking. We have also realized it wasn’t quite planned, either. Our society promoted by John Locke that Nature sustains life through a main thesis is that jurisprudence (the where there are no communities, set of ecological principles that are theory of law), together with science, only isolated individuals. generative rather than extractive. has contributed signifcantly to the In jurisprudence, the rationalist, A corresponding paradigm mechanistic modern worldview. mechanistic paradigm, developed shift has not yet happened either Because modernity, at least by seventeenth-century jurists like in jurisprudence or in the public since the seventeenth century, Hugo Grotius and Jean Domat, understanding of law. Such a shift is has produced the materialistic views reality as an aggregate of now urgently needed, since the major orientation and extractive mentality discrete defnable components, problems of our time are systemic of the Industrial Age, which lies at owners whose individual rights problems—all interconnected and the roots of today’s global crisis, are protected by the state. Indeed, interdependent—and our global both scientists and jurists must ownership and state sovereignty, crisis is an ecological crisis in the share some responsibility for the respectively championed by John broadest sense of the term. current state of the world. Locke and Thomas Hobbes, are We call for a profound change As we explore the relationship the two organizing principles of of legal paradigms, leading to a new between science and law, we shall legal modernity. Moreover, still in “ecology of law.” At the heart of discover that jurisprudence is an the Cartesian tradition, the law is this new ecological legal order intellectual discipline with a history seen as an “objective” framework lies a view of social reality not as and a conceptual structure that separate from the individual being an aggregate of individual show surprising parallels to those subject. “building blocks” but rather as of natural science. We shall also During the past three decades, a being composed of social networks see that their mutual interactions radically new paradigm has emerged and communities. Law, in this evolved over time, as did the at the forefront of science.4 At the view, is not an objective structure,

32 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 study of matter and brought forth legal modernity, known to jurists the mechanistic science of Galileo, also as legal absolutism. At the Descartes, and Newton. Nature was same time, law began to be seen as now seen as a machine made up of an “objective” framework separated discrete, measurable parts. Galileo from its interpreter—another legacy postulated that scientists should of Descartes that is still present in restrict themselves to studying the today’s legal thinking. measurable, quantifable properties The human dominance of of material bodies, such as shape, Nature advocated by lawyer and number, and movement. Other scientist Francis Bacon has produced qualitative properties, such as color, the ongoing exploitation and sound, taste, or smell, were merely destruction of Nature with ever more subjective mental projections and powerful technologies. The world should be excluded from the domain of Bacon and his contemporaries of science and its goal of describing was characterized by a tremendous Nature in mathematical terms. abundance of common resources, Galileo’s strategy of directing such as forests and fsheries, and scientists’ attention to the of communal institutions, such quantifable properties of matter as professional guilds and village proved extremely successful in structures, known collectively as but emerges from actively engaged classical physics, but also exacted a the commons. The capital needed to citizen and legal communities as heavy toll. During the centuries after develop manufacturing and industry the legal embodiment of their self- Galileo, the focus on quantities was was dramatically scarce. organization. extended from the study of matter Institutions such as individual to all natural and social phenomena. private property, stock corporations, From Holism to The subsequent mechanistic and sovereign states—and also Mechanism scientifc worldview of Descartes general freedom of contract and Until the end of the Middle Ages, and Newton, in addition to excluding fault liability—were created to cultures around the world observed qualitative properties, also omitted transform some of these commons Nature very closely and adapted more complex qualities, such as into concentrated capital. This their way of life accordingly. Their beauty, health, or ethical sensibility. was based on the horrifc crimes observations were often couched in The emphasis on quantifcation of slavery and the colonization religious or mythological language, prevented scientists for several of Africa and Asia. The success and, in general, Nature and its centuries from understanding many of this institutional scheme has laws were seen as emanating from essential properties of life. been staggering. In less than three God or some other divine power. hundred years the conditions have These beliefs implied rules for Power in Science and Law been reversed: today we experience human behavior that everyone was As the holistic view of Nature was a dramatic scarcity of commons and expected to follow; even law itself replaced by the metaphor of the an overabundance of capital. At the was a deeply spiritual concept, world as a machine, the goal of same time the agony of suffering based on obligation and on the science became knowledge that humanity is becoming more and proper role of an individual within could be used to dominate and more overwhelming as we have the a community and in relation to the control Nature. A similar movement highest number of refugees since life-sustaining earth.6 The Latin was afoot in legal thought. Jurists the Second World War. term agriculture, or “cultivation of like Grotius and Domat, both The law has played a the land,” refects this deep sense of contemporaries of Descartes, fundamental role in “naturalizing” obligation, which was perceived as promoted the view of reality as this power. The sovereign state and a process of creation and generation an aggregate of discrete defnable the sovereign private owner have through labor, knowledge, and skill, components (free individual acted as two mighty allies in the and certainly not as a process of actors), and ownership as an destruction of the previous legal extracting “value.” individual right, guaranteed by order based on social relationship This early holistic, communal the state, to develop Nature, that is, and the adaptation of humans conception of the universe and the to transform it into physical objects. to the ecological requirements planet continued to be dominant Indeed, ownership and state of Nature. Law has served as an until the Scientifc Revolution sovereignty—championed in the instrument of human domination of the sixteenth and seventeenth seventeenth century by John Locke over Nature, incrementally pushing centuries, which championed the and Thomas Hobbes, respectively— people away from participating in are the two organizing principles of Nature’s reproductive processes,

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 33 overcoming the old medieval assumed free to extract. Moreover, intentioned and mighty forces of organic wisdom. Henceforth, these apparently mutually exclusive change. Nature was seen as “belonging” domains are deemed to be governed Today, all political debates are to humankind, and Nature’s main by an irrefutable logic: more market frmly anchored in the powerful purpose was deemed the satisfaction equals less state, and more state academic discipline of economics, of human needs. While the daily implies less market. which, by successfully claiming experience of life in traditional to be an exact science, determines agricultural civilizations, hard and Market and State policy making and legislation. brutish as it might have been, linked This mechanistic vision of property Unfortunately, economics still human communities to the land and and sovereignty is responsible applies a short-term, reductionist, sustained a symbiotic relationship for the dramatic state of affairs linear, and quantitative bias with it, law and science converged on our planet. Property rights, typical of traditional scientifc with the rise of modernity to granting power to corporations thought, a consequence of the intellectually contrast humankind and supported by the state, made it mechanistic paradigm. Having with all other creatures, “freeing” natural for BP to increase profts by conquered the legal system humans from our ecological neglecting various safety measures through economics, this obsolete chains. Other creatures were seen on its Deepwater Horizon oil rig, mainstream view, rooted in the to live in a “state of Nature,” but which resulted in the devastating duopoly of property and state, now humans no longer belonged to the pollution of the Gulf of Mexico; fuels our ecologically destructive same category. Through science, and for Exxon to avoid fxing practices. humans could understand the radar on the Exxon Valdez, So-called economic laws Nature; through technology, we leading to the destruction of the produce major distortions because could transform it; and through ecosystem of Prince William Sound they are based on the assumption the legal institutions of property in Alaska. Through this culturally that it is natural and desirable for and sovereignty, Nature’s essence constructed mechanism of an institution to set growth targets could be transformed into a free extraction, the subprime that induce extractive individual commodity, a physical object mortgage bubble was produced, behavior while discouraging that humans could exploit or AIDS and malaria have remained virtuous practices. For example, “improve.” untreated in Africa, arms- if one considers water as just Today, the current mainstream traffcking is rampant and the another commodity, the laws of vision is essentially the same, which primary source of income for “scarcity” deem it desirable that is why most people considered all superpowers, and fnancial water should carry a price and not it “natural”—legal and even “creativity” in stock markets has be freely available for human use. benefcial to development and endangered the lives of many Economists make much out of this growth—to introduce the Nile people destroyed entire nations. observation by telling us that the perch to Lake Victoria. The general The concentration of power in state increase of price reduces the amount public broadly shares the conviction institutions determined the nuclear consumed, so they use an ecological that, in relation to a common catastrophes of Chernobyl and argument to recommend that public holding such as a lake or any other Fukushima; and the view of Nature water systems be transferred to for- potentially proftable resource, the as a machine, to be adapted to proft corporations. Unfortunately, natural self-interested behavior human use, has led to the tragedy of the laws of “supply and demand” is to beneft from it by extracting Lake Victoria and similar ecological make it natural for a corporation value. Introducing the Nile perch, catastrophes. to sell as much of its product as developing an uncontaminated Modern property rights, as possible in order to grow and cove, digging Alaska for oil, and structured, not only determine the prosper. So corporations proft fracking the land are all exercises behavior of participants in the legal from the excessive lengths of of economic freedom protected system but also, most importantly, showers that many Western people by private property, which grants display a remarkable independence enjoy. Rather than taking into sovereignty to individuals. The only even from the power concentrated consideration the long-term need agent that can check such freedom in governments. When corporations for ecological balance, economic is the sovereign state in a zero-sum are granted charters that allow them actors “naturally” act to expand equation between the two (more state to “live” forever but to legally their own business opportunities government equals less freedom avoid long-term consequences, with more investment in producing of property; more freedom equals they can easily evade their civic individual wants by means of less government), itself perceived responsibilities. The law, built on advertising, so that the production as a law of Nature. If the law (an property rights centered on the of useless, environmentally external limit) does not restrict a individual, has a life of its own harmful commodities is their top given action, the rational actor is and can defeat even the most well- priority.

34 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 Shampoo companies, for that can be described with scientifc book, we plead for a change of example, promote the desire rigor as objects of an external world. the legal paradigm, inspired by the for long, refreshing showers as However, as we will see, rather recognition of basic principles of a condition of individual self- than being natural, the state ecology and by the new systemic fulfllment, and mineral water and the market are only cultural thinking in contemporary science. companies induce the need to products. We often lose sight of The mechanistic scientifc drink bottled water transported the fact that they do not represent approach has served us, and in polluting trucks because it is an immutable status quo but can continues to serve us, very well in as much as fve hundred times be, and actually are, changed all many ways—one can still build more proftable than tap water. In the time by human agency. This a bridge using the principles of California, for example, the average mutable characteristic of law, if Newtonian physics, for example. cost of tap water is $1.60 per one properly harnessed, represents a But the limitations of this approach thousand gallons while the average path away from destruction and are becoming increasingly clear, cost of bottled water is about 560 toward a generative, ecologically particularly in relation to law. By times higher at 90 cents per one sustainable human endeavor. To take protecting corporate property rights gallon. this path, we frst need to carefully of extraction as natural, we have The disastrous effects of our reassess the current worldviews of created a kind of Frankenstein’s laws and economy are rather clear science and law. monster in which individual actors, at this point, but this understanding who are actually the creators of law, has not affected policy making. A New Science of no longer seem to have the power Instead, the legal system has Perception to curb the more destructive results cast our unsustainable model of Over the last three decades, the that this approach encourages. development in stone as property forefront of science has seen a Despite the systemic thinking rights. Current political and dramatic change of paradigms from at the forefront of science, the economic debates are dominated by the mechanistic and reductionist disciplines of law and economics fragmentation and linear thinking, worldview of Descartes and continue to support a short- with an especially unwarranted Newton to a systemic and ecological term vision, viewing reality in faith in both technological progress worldview. We have discovered that a mechanistic way. They put and infnite growth on a fnite the material world, ultimately, is at the center of their vision an planet. The idea of “development” a network of inseparable patterns atomized and abstract individual is fundamentally quantitative; it of relationships; that the planet as owner. This atom can exercise is rooted in seventeenth-century a whole is a living, self-regulating his ownership of the Earth notions of “improvement” and system. The view of the human body by extracting value from the today employs the concept of gross as a machine and of the mind as a commons at the expense of domestic product as the measure of separate entity is being replaced by others, thus generating the famous social wealth. one that sees not only the brain but metaphor known as the tragedy of But development does not also the immune system, the bodily the commons, which is a classic recognize that unrestrained tissues, and even each cell as a example of self-fulflling prophecy. extraction and exploitation of living, cognitive system. Evolution The dominant concept of natural and human resources is no longer seen as a competitive ownership as an individual right, is at odds with the fundamental struggle for existence, but is protected by the state to allow short- principles of ecology. The violation rather viewed as a cooperative term accumulation and extraction, of these principles has consequences dance in which creativity and the became the natural building block as lethal as ignoring the law of constant emergence of novelty are of the current legal order; as such gravity while climbing a mountain, the driving forces. With the new it has been responsible for crisis but because the effects are spread emphasis on complexity, networks, after crisis. The current collective across time and often are not located and patterns of organization, a perception of law as an “objective” in any specifc individual, they are new science of qualities is slowly or preexisting framework through more diffcult to vividly depict in emerging. which the behavior of the individual the immediate terms that might spur At the very heart of this change atoms can be classifed as legal or action. Skepticism, very often itself of paradigms from a mechanistic illegal, far from being “natural,” corporate-determined, can thus to a systemic view of life we fnd a is just a cultural construction be alive and well even in the face fundamental change of metaphors: of modernity. Modern law thus of such scientifc truths as human- from seeing the world as a machine embodies the Cartesian separation induced global warming. to understanding it as a network. As of an objectifed legal order— Both the state and the market we have mentioned, a corresponding analogous to Descartes’s res are determined by human-made law paradigm shift has not happened extensa (the object of thought)— but are presented as natural realities in law or in economics. In this that is essentially separate from the

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 35 everyday realm of human agency favor of the Sun as a result of new We must move from thinking of located in the domain of the res knowledge. This process requires a “mechanism of law” and move cogitans (the thinking subject). that we now, as a consequence of our toward an “ecology of law.” We This state of affairs is not new ecological knowledge, displace shall discuss the Nature of such a inevitable. Humans were able the individual owner from the paradigm shift in law, and compare to employ science and law to center of the legal system in favor it to the change of worldview that is transform common holdings of the commons. To do this we must now happening in science, in detail into a commodity and then into rethink the most intimate structure of in the following chapters. As a kind capital; we also have the ability the law to refect the basic principles of preview, the basic points of our to reverse this path, transforming of ecology and the new systemic argument are summarized in the some of our now overabundant thinking of contemporary science: table below. capital into renewed commons. no mechanistic separation between An ecologically transformed subject and object; no individual The Ecology of Law law can transform capital into atom, but community and In the strict scientifc sense, ecology natural commons by producing relationship as building blocks of is the science of relationships a sustained investment into a the legal order. The reality follows between the members of an sharing economy, into ecologically what we collectively think and do. ecological community and their compatible architecture, or into The legal order is the most environment. In this sense, then, environmental care. Such law important vehicle through which the ecology of law refers to a could also transform capital into a worldview is enforced and legal order that is consistent with social and cultural commons by transformed into social action, and honors the basic principles protecting the Internet against and thus human law is also the of ecology. The ecology of law privatization or by mandating the agency through which we may implies a process of transforming deployment of systems of generative implement new ideas and values. legal institutions from being property law instead of protecting We must rethink our human laws machines of extraction, rooted the freedom of extraction. and their relationship with the laws in the mechanistic functioning This process is urgently needed governing the ecology of a living of private property and state and overdue. It is as simple and planet. Such a rethinking, a kind of authority, into institutions based revolutionary as the Copernican Copernican revolution in the law, on ecological communities. The revolution, which at the dawn of must use Nature as a mentor and ecology of law seeks a quality of modernity displaced the Earth from model, putting the commons and economic life aimed at nurturing the center of the solar system in a long-term vision at center stage. and preserving Nature in the

PARADIGM SHIFTS IN SCIENCE AND LAW The Mechanistic Paradigm (“World as Machine”)

SCIENCE LAW Physical reality is an aggregate of separate Social reality is an aggregate of discrete individuals. building blocks. Scientifc knowledge is used to dominate and Law is used to protect extractive ownership as an control Nature. individual right. Scientifc truth (the “laws of Nature”) can be Natural law is based on human reason. arrived at through reasoning. Scientifc descriptions are objective, independent Law is an objective framework separate from a human of the human observer. interpreter. Scientifc knowledge is used to dominate Law is used to protect extractive ownership as an and control Nature. individual right.

The Systemic, Ecological Paradigm (“World as Network”)

SCIENCE LAW Physical reality is a network of inseparable relationships. Social reality is composed of social networks and communities.

36 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 Scientifc knowledge (“ecological literacy”) is The new ecological legal order is to be used by to be used to learn from and cooperate with Nature. ecoliterate citizens to protect and generate commons or resources jointly owned. Scientifc knowledge is always approximate; it emerges Law emerges from actively engaged citizens in self- from a process of establishing consensus in the scientifc organizing cooperatives and communities. community. Scientifc descriptions depend on the human observer and Law is what is deemed to be law by civic and legal on the process of acquiring knowledge. communities; it depends on human interpretations of social reality that can be benevolent, malevolent or ineffcient. interest of future generations and what we call an “ecolegal” order. their interests. Then we can overall human survival. The law Such an ecolegal order is built on decentralize power to small scale should mimic the natural strategies the recognition that human survival communities in tune with the laws of long-term ecological survival, on this planet is not guaranteed by of ecology. including the reduction of waste the destruction of life and by the Law is not something that and consumption. domination of Nature in search of exists independently “out there” as In a broader, more metaphorical growth. Rather, it seeks a quality an objective reality. It is a socially sense, ecology refers to a pattern of of economic life aimed at nurturing constructed order – a power that we, relationships that defne the context our living planet and focusing on the people and our communities, for a certain phenomenon. For generative, complex patterns of our bioregions must reclaim. Law is example, the ecology of education relationships. always a process of communing or would refer to the relationships In order to work properly, such a the utilisation of various material, between education and knowledge, legal order will require a basic public intellectual and other resources. careers, economics, wisdom, ethics, understanding of its operation and Law originates in social practice and politics, and so on, all of which Nature, because the law is deeply norms; it emerges from communities would be perceived as being part of a affected and determined by its of commoners. This insight can total pattern of relationships. In this component parts, the social actors— help us imagine and build a new broad sense, we use the term “the individuals. Today, such basic “ecolegal order” that has three ecology of law” to refer to a legal understanding and awareness of strategic objectives, they argue: order that does not see the law as a the law is dramatically lacking. The to disconnect law from power separate social feld independent revolution we need, like those that and violence (by reconfguring from politics, economics, justice, led us here (Copernican, scientifc, the nation-state’s authority); to religion, social norms of good industrial, bourgeois), is a collective make communities sovereign behavior, morality, and so forth. enterprise. It is independent of (by empowering commons); and Nor does this conception separate race, class, or gender but requires to make ownership generative the law into a domain of facts— everyone to develop some basic or benevolent (by integrating how the law is—and a domain of ecological literacy as well as an property rights with stewardship values—how the law ought to be. understanding of the Nature and responsibilities). In other words, an ecological function of law in today’s world. We An eco-friendly legal order vision of law does not reduce law must learn from our history, looking would recognize the holistic to a professionalized, preexisting, at both law and science as cultural perspectives of commons in objective framework “out there,” artifacts, collective enterprises, integrating costs and risks that market separate from the behavior it regulates parts of the fascinating and dramatic economies strive to externalize and tries to determine. Instead, law is journey of humanity. onto Nature, communities and always a process of “commoning” Instead of giving the law future generations. Above all, the a long-term collective action in authority to manipulate them, rampant inequality and suffering which communities, sharing a individuals should become of capitalism’s war on the planet common purpose and culture, generators of law themselves. would come to an end. This new institutionalize their collective will We should breach the artifcial legal order can be neither designed to maintain order and stability in gap between private and public nor imposed, but must instead be the pursuit of social reproduction. areas. If we separate law and allowed to emerge organically Thus the commons—an open the institution of political power, from ecological processes, from network of relationships—rather it (law) can become a language, collective subjectivities of various than the individual, is the building like culture, which communities bioregions learning from Nature block of the ecology of law and will communicate with about rather than dictating to it.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 37 OPPRESSION Voluntary Slavery Part 1 One must grieve the more and wonder the less at the spectacle of a million men serving in wretchedness, their necks under the yoke, not constrained by a greater multitude than they, but simply, it would seem, delighted and charmed by the name of one man alone whose power they need not fear, whose qualities they cannot admire because of his inhumanity and brutality toward them

Étienne De La Boétie

ow does it happen that so many men, so many villages, must shed their blood and sacrifce their lives, so many cities, so many nations, sometimes suffer under but from a single man; not from a Hercules nor a single tyrant who has no other power than the power from a Samson, but from a single little man. Hthey give him; who is able to harm them only to the Shall we call subjection to such a leader extent to which they have the willingness to bear with him; who cowardice? Shall we say that those who serve could do them absolutely no injury unless they preferred to put up him are cowardly and faint-hearted? If two, with him rather than contradict him. Surely a striking situation! if three, if four, do not defend themselves Yet it is so common that one must grieve the more and wonder from the one, we might call that circumstance the less at the spectacle of a million men serving in wretchedness, surprising but nevertheless conceivable. In their necks under the yoke, not constrained by a greater multitude such a case one might be justifed in suspecting than they, but simply, it would seem, delighted and charmed by a lack of courage. But if a hundred, if a the name of one man alone whose power they need not fear, for thousand endure the caprice of a single man, he is evidently the one person whose qualities they cannot admire should we not rather say that they lack not because of his inhumanity and brutality toward them. A weakness the courage but the desire to rise against him, characteristic of human kind is that we often have to obey and that such an attitude indicates indifference force; we have to make concessions; we ourselves cannot rather than cowardice? always be the stronger. Therefore, when a nation is constrained When not a hundred, not a thousand men, by the fortune of war to serve a single clique, as happened when the but a hundred provinces, a thousand cities, a city of Athens served the thirty Tyrants, one should not be amazed million men, refuse to assail a single man from that the nation obeys, but simply be grieved by the situation; or whom the kindest treatment received is the rather, instead of being amazed or saddened, consider patiently the infiction of serfdom and slavery, what shall evil and look forward hopefully toward a happier future. we call that? Is it cowardice? Of course there But O good Lord! What strange phenomenon is this? What is in every vice inevitably some limit beyond name shall we give to it? What is the nature of this misfortune? which one cannot go. Two, possibly ten, may What vice is it, or, rather, what degradation? To see an endless fear one; but when a thousand, a million men, multitude of people not merely obeying, but driven to servility? a thousand cities, fail to protect themselves Not ruled, but tyrannized over? These wretches have no wealth, against the domination of one man, this no kin, nor wife nor children, not even life itself that they can call cannot be called cowardly, for cowardice does their own. They suffer plundering, wantonness, cruelty, not from not sink to such a depth, any more than valor an army, not from a barbarian horde, on account of whom they can be termed the effort of one individual to

38 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 scale a fortress, to attack an army, one side fghting to retain its liberty, or to conquer a kingdom. What the other to take it away; to which monstrous vice, then, is this which would you, at a guess, promise does not even deserve to be called victory? Which men do you think cowardice, a vice for which no term would march more gallantly to can be found vile enough, which combat — those who anticipate nature herself disavows and our as a reward for their suffering the tongues refuse to name? maintenance of their freedom, or Place on one side ffty thousand those who cannot expect any other armed men, and on the other the prize for the blows exchanged than same number; let them join in battle, the enslavement of others? One As no other power than the power they give him; who is able to harm them only to the extent to which they have the willingness to bear with him; “who could do them absolutely no injury unless they preferred

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 39 hold more dear than the restoration of his own natural right, to change himself from a beast of burden back to a man, so to speak. I do not demand of him so much boldness; let him prefer the doubtful security of living wretchedly to the uncertain hope of living as he pleases. What then? If in order to have liberty nothing more is needed than to long for it, if only a simple act of the will is necessary, is there any nation in the world that considers a single wish too high a price to pay in order to recover rights which it ought to be ready to redeem at the cost of its blood, rights such that their loss must bring all men of honor to the point of feeling life to side will have before its eyes the the inhabitants of some countries, be unendurable and death itself a blessings of the past and the hope who could really believe that one deliverance? of similar joy in the future; their man alone may mistreat a hundred Everyone knows that the fre thoughts will dwell less on the thousand and deprive them of their from a little spark will increase and comparatively brief pain of battle liberty? Who would credit such a blaze ever higher as long as it fnds than on what they may have to report if he merely heard it, without wood to burn; yet without being endure forever, they, their children, being present to witness the event? quenched by water, but merely by and all their posterity. The other And if this condition occurred only fnding no more fuel to feed on, it side has nothing to inspire it with in distant lands and were reported to consumes itself, dies down, and is no courage except the weak urge of us, which one among us would not longer a fame. Similarly, the more greed, which fades before danger assume the tale to be imagined or tyrants pillage, the more they crave, and which can never be so keen, invented, and not really true? the more they ruin and destroy; the it seems to me, that it will not be Obviously there is no need of more one yields to them, and obeys dismayed by the least drop of blood fghting to overcome this single them, by that much do they become from wounds. tyrant, for he is automatically mightier and more formidable, the Consider the justly famous defeated if the country refuses readier to annihilate and destroy. battles of the city states of Greece consent to its own enslavement: But if not one thing is yielded to against the Persian Empire Greeks it is not necessary to deprive him them, if, without any violence and as an example to the world. of anything, but simply to give they are simply not obeyed, they What power do you think gave to him nothing; there is no need become naked and undone and such a mere handful of men not that the country make an effort as nothing, just as, when the root the strength but the courage to to do anything for itself provided receives no nourishment, the withstand the attack of a feet so vast it does nothing against itself. It is branch withers and dies. that even the seas were burdened, therefore the inhabitants themselves To achieve the good that they and to defeat the armies of so many who permit, or, rather, bring about, desire, the bold do not fear danger; nations, armies so immense that their own subjection, since by the intelligent do not refuse to their offcers alone outnumbered ceasing to submit they would put an undergo suffering. It is the stupid the entire Greek force? What was it end to their slavery. and cowardly who are neither but the fact that in those glorious A people enslaves itself, cuts able to endure hardship nor to days this struggle represented not its own throat, when, having a vindicate their rights; they stop at so much a fght of Greeks against choice between being vassals merely longing for them, and lose Persians as a victory of liberty and being free men, it deserts its through timidity the valor roused over domination, of freedom over liberties and takes on the yoke, by the effort to claim their rights, greed? gives consent to its own misery, although the desire to enjoy them It amazes us to hear accounts or, rather, apparently welcomes still remains as part of their nature. of the valor that liberty arouses it. If it cost the people anything to A longing common to both the in the hearts of those who defend recover its freedom, I should not wise and the foolish, to brave men it; but who could believe reports urge action to this end, although and to cowards, is this longing of what goes on every day among there is nothing a human should for all those things which, when

40 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 acquired, would make them happy How would he dare assail you if One should rather conclude that in and contented. Yet one element he had no cooperation from you? distributing larger shares to some appears to be lacking. I do not know What could he do to you if you and smaller shares to others, Nature how it happens that nature fails to yourselves did not connive with the has intended to give occasion for place within the hearts of men a thief who plunders you, if you were brotherly love to become manifest, burning desire for liberty, a blessing not accomplices of the murderer some of us having the strength to so great and so desirable that when who kills you, if you were not give help to others who are in need it is lost all evils follow thereafter, traitors to yourselves? of it. and even the blessings that remain You sow your crops in order Hence, since this kind mother lose taste and savor because of their that he may ravage them, you has given us the whole world as a corruption by slavery. Liberty is install and furnish your homes dwelling place, has lodged us in the only joy upon which men do to give him goods to pillage; you the same house, has fashioned us not seem to insist; for surely if rear your daughters that he may according to the same model so they really wanted it they would gratify his lust; you bring up your that in beholding one another we receive it. Apparently they refuse children in order that he may might almost recognize ourselves; this wonderful privilege because it confer upon them the greatest since she has bestowed upon us all is so easily acquired. privilege he knows — to be led the great gift of voice and speech Poor, wretched, and stupid into his battles, to be delivered to for fraternal relationship, thus peoples, nations determined on butchery, to be made the servants achieving by the common and your own misfortune and blind to of his greed and the instruments mutual statement of our thoughts a your own good! You let yourselves of his vengeance; you yield your communion of our wills; and since be deprived before your own eyes bodies unto hard labor in order she has tried in every way to narrow of the best part of your revenues; that he may indulge in his delights and tighten the bond of our union your felds are plundered, your and wallow in his flthy pleasures; and kinship; since she has revealed homes robbed, your family you weaken yourselves in order in every possible manner her heirlooms taken away. You live in to make him the stronger and the intention, not so much to associate such a way that you cannot claim mightier to hold you in check. us as to make us one organic whole, a single thing as your own; and From all these indignities, there can be no further doubt that we it would seem that you consider such as the very beasts of the feld are all naturally free, inasmuch as yourselves lucky to be loaned would not endure, you can deliver we are all comrades. Accordingly it your property, your families, and yourselves if you try, not by taking should not enter the mind of anyone your very lives. All this havoc, action, but merely by willing to be that nature has placed some of us this misfortune, this ruin, descends free. Resolve to serve no more, and in slavery, since she has actually upon you not from alien foes, but you are at once freed. I do not ask created us all in one likeness. from the one enemy whom you that you place hands upon the tyrant Since freedom is our natural yourselves render as powerful as to topple him over, but simply that state, we are not only in possession he is, for whom you go bravely to you support him no longer; then of it but have the urge to defend war, for whose greatness you do not you will behold him, like a great it. The very animals, God help refuse to offer your own bodies unto Colossus whose pedestal has been me! if men are not too deaf, cry death. pulled away, fall of his own weight out to them, “Long live Liberty!” He who thus domineers over and break in pieces. Many among them die as soon as you has only two eyes, only two Yet surely if there is anything captured: just as the fsh loses life hands, only one body, no more than in this world clear and obvious, to as soon as he leaves the water, so is possessed by the least man among which one cannot close one’s eyes, do these creatures close their eyes the infnite numbers dwelling in it is the fact that Nature, handmaiden upon the light and have no desire your cities; he has indeed nothing of God, governess of men, has cast to survive the loss of their natural more than the power that you us all in the same mould in order freedom. If the animals were to confer upon him to destroy you. that we may behold in one another constitute their kingdom by rank, Where has he acquired enough companions, or rather brothers. If their nobility would be chosen from eyes to spy upon you, if you do not in distributing her gifts Nature has this type. Others, from the largest to provide them yourselves? How can favoured some more than others the smallest, when captured put up he have so many arms to beat you with respect to body or spirit, she has such a strong resistance by means with, if he does not borrow them nevertheless not planned to place us of claws, horns, beak, and paws, from you? The feet that trample within this world as if it were a feld that they show clearly enough down your cities, where does he of battle, and has not endowed the how they cling to what they are get them if they are not your own? stronger or the cleverer in order that losing; afterwards in captivity they How does he have any power they may act like armed brigands manifest by so many evident signs over you except through you? in a forest and attack the weaker. their awareness of their misfortune,

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 41 there is any. For although the means of coming into power differ, still the method of ruling is practically the same; those who are elected act as if they were breaking in bullocks; those who are conquerors make the people their prey; those who are heirs plan to treat them as if they were their natural slaves. But certainly all men and women, as long as they remain human, before letting themselves become enslaved must either be driven by force or led into it by deception; conquered by foreign that it is easy to see they are some receive their proud position armies, as were Sparta and Athens languishing rather than living, and through elections by the people, by the forces of Alexander or continue their existence more in others by force of arms, others by political factions, as when at lamentation of their lost freedom by inheritance. Those who have an earlier period the control of than in enjoyment of their slavery. acquired power by means of war Athens had passed into the hands What else can explain the act in such wise that it is evident of Peisistratus. When they lose their behavior of the elephant who, they rule over a conquered country. liberty through deceit they are not so after defending himself to the last Those who are born to rulers are often betrayed by others as misled ounce of his strength and knowing scarcely any better, because they by themselves. This was the case himself on the point of being taken, are nourished on the breast of with the people of Syracuse, chief dashes his jaws against the trees and tyranny, suck in with their milk the city of Sicily when, in the throes breaks his tusks, thus manifesting instincts of the tyrant, and consider of war and heedlessly planning his longing to remain free as he the people under them as their only for the present danger, they has been and proving his wit and inherited serfs; and according to promoted Denis, their frst tyrant, ability to buy off the huntsmen in their individual disposition, miserly by entrusting to him the command the hope that through the sacrifce or prodigal, they treat their kingdom of the army, without realizing that of his tusks he will be permitted to as their property. they had given him such power that offer his ivory as a ransom for his He who has received the state on his victorious return this worthy liberty? We feed the horse from from the people, however, ought to man would behave as if he had birth in order to train him to do our be, it seems to me, more bearable vanquished not his enemies but his bidding. Yet he is tamed with such and would be so, I think, were it compatriots, transforming himself diffculty that when we begin to not for the fact that as soon as he from captain to king, and then from break him in, then he bites the bit, sees himself higher than the others, king to tyrant. he rears at the touch of the spur, as fattered by that quality which we It is incredible how as soon if to reveal his instinct and show by call grandeur, he plans never to as a people becomes subject, it his actions that, if he obeys, he does relinquish his position. Such a man promptly falls into such complete so not of his own free will but under usually determines to pass on to his forgetfulness of its freedom that constraint. What more can we say? children the authority that the people it can hardly be roused to the “Even oxen under the the yoke complain, have conferred upon him; and once point of regaining it, obeying so E’en the birds in their cage sing in pain,” his heirs have taken this attitude, easily and so willingly that one as I expressed it some time ago. strange it is how far they surpass is led to say, on beholding such And now, since all beings, because other tyrants in all sorts of vices, a situation, that this people has they feel, suffer misery in subjection and especially in cruelty, because not so much lost its liberty as won and long for liberty; since the very they fnd no other means to impose its enslavement. It is true that in beasts, although made for the service this new tyranny than by tightening the beginning men submit under of man, cannot become accustomed control and removing their subjects constraint and by force; but those to control without protest, what evil so far from any notion of liberty that who come after them obey without chance has so denatured man that even if the memory of it is fresh it regret and perform willingly what he, the only creature really born will soon be eradicated. Yet, to speak their predecessors had done because to be free, lacks the memory of his accurately, I do perceive that there they had to. This is why men and original condition and the desire is some difference among these women born under the yoke and to return to it? three types of tyranny, but as for then nourished and reared in slavery There are three kinds of tyrants; stating a preference, I cannot grant are content, without further effort,

42 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 to live in their native circumstance, that men, too, develop according I am of the opinion that one should unaware of any other state or right, to their early habits. He set the two pity those who, at birth, arrive with and considering as quite natural dogs in the open marketplace, and the yoke upon their necks. We the condition into which they between them he placed a bowl of should exonerate and forgive them, were born. There is, however, no soup and a hare. One ran to the bowl since they have not seen even the heir so spendthrift or indifferent of soup, the other to the hare; yet shadow of liberty, and, being quite that he does not sometimes scan they were, as he maintained, born unaware of it, cannot perceive the the account books of his father in brothers of the same parents. In such evil endured through their own order to see if he is enjoying all the manner did this leader, by his laws slavery. If there were actually a privileges of his legacy or whether, and customs, shape and instruct the country like that of the Cimmerians perchance, his rights and those Spartans so well that any one of mentioned by Homer, where the of his predecessor have not been them would sooner have died than sun shines otherwise than on our encroached upon. acknowledge any sovereign other own, shedding its radiance steadily Nevertheless it is clear enough than law and reason. for six successive months and then that the powerful infuence of Cato the Utican, while still a leaving humanity to drowse in custom is in no respect more child under the rod, could come obscurity until it returns at the end compelling than in this, namely, and go in the house of Sulla the of another half-year, should we be habituation to subjection. It is said despot. Because of the place and surprised to learn that those born that Mithridates trained himself to family of his origin and because during this long night do grow so drink poison. Like him we learn he and Sulla were close relatives, accustomed to their native darkness to swallow, and not to fnd bitter, the door was never closed to him. that unless they were told about the the venom of slavery. It cannot be He always had his teacher with sun they would have no desire to see denied that nature is infuential in him when he went there, as was the light? One never pines for what shaping us to her will and making the custom for children of noble he/she has never known; longing us reveal our rich or meager birth. He noticed that in the house comes only after enjoyment and endowment; yet it must be admitted of Sulla, in the dictator’s presence constitutes, amidst the experience that she has less power over us than or at his command, some men were of sorrow, the memory of past joy. custom, for the reason that native imprisoned and others sentenced; It is truly the nature of men and endowment, no matter how good, one was banished, another was women to be free and to wish to be is dissipated unless encouraged, strangled; one demanded the goods so, yet their character is such that he whereas environment always shapes of another citizen, another his head; instinctively follows the tendencies us in its own way, whatever that in short, all went there, not as to the that his training gives him. may be, in spite of Nature’s gifts. house of a city magistrate but as to Let us therefore admit that The good seed that Nature plants the people’s tyrant, and this was all those things to which he/she in us is so slight and so slippery therefore not a court of justice, but is trained and accustomed seem that it cannot withstand the least rather a resort of tyranny. natural to humans and that only harm from wrong nourishment; Whereupon the young lad said that is truly native to him/her it fourishes less easily, becomes to his teacher, “Why don’t you give which he/she receives with his/her spoiled, withers, and comes to me a dagger? I will hide it under primitive, untrained individuality. nothing. my robe. I often go into Sulla’s Thus custom becomes the frst Fruit trees retain their own room before he is risen, and my reason for voluntary slavery. Men particular quality if permitted arm is strong enough to rid the city are like handsome race horses who to grow undisturbed, but lose it of him.” There is a speech truly frst bite the bit and later like it, and promptly and bear strange fruit not characteristic of Cato; it was a true rearing under the saddle a while their own when ingrafted. Every beginning of this hero so worthy of soon learn to enjoy displaying their herb has its peculiar characteristics, his end. And should one not mention harness and prance proudly beneath its virtues and properties; yet frost, his name or his country, but state their trappings. Similarly men and weather, soil, or the gardener’s hand merely the fact as it is, the episode women will grow accustomed to increase or diminish its strength; itself would speak eloquently, and the idea that they have always been the plant seen in one spot cannot be anyone would divine that he was a in subjection, that their fathers and recognized in another. Roman born in Rome at the time mothers lived in the same way; Lycurgus, the lawgiver of when she was free. they will think they are obliged to Sparta, is reported to have reared two And why all this? Certainly suffer this evil, and will persuade dogs of the same litter by fattening not because I believe that the land themselves by example and one in the kitchen and training the or the region has anything to do imitation of others, fnally investing other in the felds to the sound of with it, for in any place and in any those who order them around with the bugle and the horn, thereby to climate subjection is bitter and to be proprietary rights, based on the idea demonstrate to the Lacedaemonians free is pleasant; but merely because that it has always been that way.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 43 The Supreme Ideology

Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti

Service to humanity is service to Parama Purusa [Supreme Entity], for the universe is created out of Parama Purusa. Hence every object of this universe is the creation of Parama Purusa. Hence serving the world is serving Parama Purusa – and thereby He becomes pleased.” Suppose you bring good sweets for Me but as I don’t eat sweet so much, I eat only a little, hence if instead of giving the sweets to me you give it to some other child, I shall be pleased. Likewise serving Parama Purusa is serving the world. The world is created out of Parama Purusa, hence render service as much as you can. Parama Purusa will be satisfed. Therefore one who is a true devotee, one who follows the real path of devotion will serve humanity to the maximum extent and together with this, whatever else he will do – singing, dancing, doing kiirtan. He will think that Parama Purusa should remain in everything, seeing everything. Hence Parama Purusa also wants that he should remain in the midst of his devotees, he should listen to their stories of pain and pleasure and watch their singing and dancing…… “It is not true that I am very far from common people, Furthermore, I am not in the heart of the Yogis.” This [saying of the Lord] sounds strange. The existence of mind depends on the psychic propensities. When in pleasure people laugh and when in pain they cry. This is a natural tendency of mind. By

44 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 special effort, they restrain their propensities. They check them. When the propensities are fully restrained there is, no expression at all. If propensities are checked like this, human beings will neither laugh in pleasure nor cry in pain but the natural thing in human life is to laugh in pleasure and cry in pain. When daughters come from their father’s houses to fathers- in-law’s house their mothers feel very sad. Hence the daughter and the mother clasp each other and cry for a long time; this is natural for human beings. This does not apply in the case of yogis as their hearts’ feelings are completely checked. If something pleasant happens they don’t burst out in joy. Even if the thousands of people die, they remain unaffected. God wants human beings to laugh and cry, sing and dance, eat and feed others. That is why the hearts of yogis are not an ideal abode for Parama-purusa. Here Parama Purusa says “I don’t remain in the hearts of the yogis because their hearts are like stone”. Like deserts the [greenness] and tenderness of the plains is not there. Hence Parama Purusa says: Madbhakta Yatra Gayanti Tatra Tist́hami Naradah Where my devotees laugh, cry, sing and dance and remain intoxicated in my name at that place only I love to remain. This is the path of devotion. I have nothing to say if you become a great scholar, I have also nothing to say if you are a great worker, but if you are great devotees you will enjoy bliss. This is why, for ordinary people, as well as for extraordinary persons of knowledge, and action the best way is the way of devotion. Do meditation, do kiirtan and bhajan sincerely and together with that, render maximum social service. This is the supreme ideology for an ideal human being.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 45 ACTIVITIES Koshal PROUT Activist Struggles against All Odds

Trilochan Meher is working to develop a model village in Budalbahal village in Subarnapur District. In 1985 the water reservoir at the top plane of the village burst causing great damage which led the village to become abandoned. Trilochan Meher, a chemistry teacher was inspired to come back and work to revive this village as a PROUT Master Unit. He worked to revive the well with hand-pump, construct basic housing, created basic roads, organize a Farmers Club, establish a cow shelter, established a Forest Rights Committee to gain control over the sale of valuable forest produce like tendu leaves which is guaranteed in the Forests Rights Act (FRA). However the migrated old residents were unwilling to come back out of fears of struggle and of wild elephants. Hence landless farmers from other poor districts like Sundargarh were brought and settle in creating a community dwelling. In addition basic electricity supply was arranged. Furthermore water conservation ponds were created in 16 places so that elephants would have a place to drink and would not damage the crops. However the village is right next to reserved forest and many poachers had been involved in smuggling animal products and valuable trees (used for housing and making bricks). The propagation of PCAP (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Plants) and the demand that the local people should have control over the sale of forest produce as mandated by the FRA caused him to earn the hostility of the forest guards and the police. When he warned people of the increasing encroachment of the Forest Department on agricultural land and village forest areas to make more illegal money, this hostility became virulent. Several times he was arrested and falsely charged in various cases. On two occasions he was severely beaten by these corrupt offcials. Despite this he is moving forward with new plans for expanding the farming, developing sericulture, apiculture, medicinal herb gardens and a unit for holistic health. However due to the expenses of the cases fled against him and the persecution by the local offcials and the regular attacks, he is currently facing a dangerous situation. Despite this he is determined to struggle against all odds.

46 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 ACTIVITIES

PBI Rally to Fight for Old and Disabled

Around 700 persons assembled on 11th June from different areas of Debgarh District in front of the Barkote Panchayat offce used by the government executive offcer of the district and the panchayat sarpanch. The rally, organized by Proutists, demanded that the government pension for the elderly and the disabled be increased from the present Rs. 300 to Rs.1500. Proutist leaders including the District Movement Secretary of Debagarh District Dolkar Boi, Kedarnath Sahoo (National Movement Secretary PBI), Shankar Lal, Surendra, Bishwanath Swain addressed the gathering. They emphatically showed that Rs. 300 is too meager an amount to be of any use to an old or a disable person. The district president of PBI, Subhash Chandra Behera also addressed the gathering along with Acarya Santosananda Avadhuta, the National Convenor of the party. In the end, the Executive Offcer came out of his offce and accepted the memorandum along with 500 individual petitions of old and disabled persons.

PBI Rally to Demand Reasonable Pension PBI’s Campaign to fght for the rights of the poor disabled and the senior citizens started in Palsagora of Boudh District on 12th June. Aditya Kumar (State Movement Secretary), the organizer of this event. PBI President of Bolangir District, Purnchand Bishwal besides an active PBI activist Kapil Kumar also participated. Acarya Santosananda Avadhuta also addressed the gathering. Around 500 persons assembled to voice their demand to provide a meaningful pension for the elderly and the disabled persons in the district. The speakers raised the basic issue of how when labourers who have worked hard for their whole lives for meager pay, then they are left to die in their old age. They are squeezed like oranges of all the juice of their vitality and then thrown aside in the dust-heap of society. The present pension of Rs 300 merely adds insult to the injury since it is insuffcient in enabling them to even consume enough food, let alone fulfll other basic needs like medicine. Therefore it needs to be raised to Rs1500/-.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 47 ACTIVITIES PBI Camping Office in Bari Assembly Constituency

As the economic situation worsens, it is creating an upsurge in the poorest areas of the country. Jajpur District of Odisha is one such area that has been in the news for starvation deaths, plight of the farmers aside from general economic woes. Hence the present meeting held on 12th June attracted the participation of several non-Proutists active social workers who were looking for genuine socio-economic change. Speakers stated that unless Prout’s mission of bringing economic liberty of villagers and breaks the mafa-business-government nexus, there is little chance of preventing the rapid decline not just in agriculture but in basic freedom for the farmers as well. Those who addressed the gathering included a veteran social activist Kulamani Shukla (former headmaster and head of Shiksa Samskar Abhiyan and Swadhinata Suraksa Manch. Prominent persons included the leader of the Odisha Teachers’ Union, Nrusingha Charan Behera and Engineer in Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra in Ratnagiri Village. Also the PBI offce in Bari Assembly Constituency was inaugurated by Acarya Santosananda Avadhuta. From this offce PBI activists will organize all electoral campaigns for this constituency. Dogma Free Society is the Ideal Society Udaipur, 16 June. A meeting on the topic “Traditions and Modernization” was jointly organized by the Society for Microvita Research and Integrated Medicine (SMRIM) and Renaissance Universal Club (RU), Udaipur on Thursday, 14th June, 2018 at Hotel Vishnupriya, Udaipur. Program was inaugurated by garlanding the picture of Shrii P.R. Sarkar,

48 /// Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 ACTIVITIES

founder president of RU as well as Propunder of Microvita and lightening the lamp. A Prabhat Samgiit ‘Maanush Sabaai Aapan’ was sung by Taponistha Rathore and after that President of RU & SMRIM, Dr. S.K. Verma welcomed the intellectuals present in the meeting and gave a brief introduction to RU. Secretary, SMRIM Dr. Vartika Jain highlighted the historical activities of Society since its inception in 2008. Keynote speaker and Guest of Honor of the program Shrii Harananda, Retd. Principal Chief Security Commissioner gave his talk about role of eminent personalities such as Shiva, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir, Kabir, Karl Marx etc. in development of various cults such as Shaivism, Buddhism, Nirgun bhakti movement, etc. and discussed about concept of Neo-humanism and Prout as given by Shrii P.R. Sarkar and their relevance in present time. He said that a dogma-free society is ideal for holistic development of this planet and for that a spirituality based lifestyle should be followed. Chief Guest of the program Shrii G. L. Verma, Retd. Dept. Director, NIRD, Govt. of India told that a proper understanding of historical events and to take everybody together towards a common objective is must to remove various anomalies of society. Shrii Harananda was felicitated by honorary life membership of SMRIM by Dr S K Verma, Dr Vartika Jain and Shrii Dinesh Sharma. In the end, after the question-answer session, Shrii O.L. Sharma, Secretary, RU gave thanks to all the participants and guests of the program. Anti-Alcohol Campaign in Kanpur A meeting of social activists including from Proutist Bloc India was held in Kanpur city to demand complete ban on the sale and manufacture of liquor. The meeting was jointly organized by Jyoti Baba, a dedicated social activist of Kanpur, PBI Kanpur District. Activists from Farukhabad District also attended. The programme which was chaired by the head of the Farukhabad District anti-alcohol movement Smt. Sulaksana Devi. The activists explained how the easy availability of alcohol was ruining the lives of people of all classes in the city. The activists emphasized that this must also be a social movement to change the collective psychology of the people in this regard. PBI speakers emphasized that the current downturn in the city economy was driving many people to liquor and that an economic movement for the revitalization of the city was also necessary. Dilip Awasthi, District President of PBI and Acharya Santosananda Avadhuta, National Convener of PBI also addressed the campaigners.

Proutjournal.com / JULY 2018 /// 49 ACTIVITIES National Convention of UPLF

The National Convention of UPLF was held at the Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi on 17th June. The meeting was chaired by Mahant Ram Tiwari. The meeting was inaugurated by Acarya Santosananda Avadhuta who gave a clarion call for labour to unite themselves under moralist leadership and fght for economic justice. He emphasized that their demands are not being met by the administration and hence it was only by uniting under moralist leadership to assert pressure by a labour uprising that there was genuine hope for real change. Swami Agnivesh, the chief guest, and head of a movement against bonded labour addressed the gathering and exhorted them to rise in the thousands and lakhs for the demand of a minimum monthy wage for labourers of Rs 21,000. This is the salary of the lowest grade government peon who does little mental or physical labour. A labourer who works all day in the hot sun breaking rocks or the ladies who labour all day in construction sites deserve at least this salary given to a government peon. Jitendra Tiwari, the President of Delhi state PBI talked about the increasing contractualisation of all forms of labour which includes teachers, professors and doctors. In the not distant future even government offcers from peons to IAS offcers will be appointed for limited contracts. The main goal is to keep the labourers in a fearful, precarious situation. Hence the precariat, especially manual labourers, of all classes must unite against this new exploitative economic order. Jitendra Tiwari expressed hope that UPLF will play a major role in this struggle. Y. B. Singh, the Secretary General of UPLF, declared that it was impossible in the present situation to sit idle and that UPLF will organize itself and will network with other groups to remove the present corrupt regime and bring moralists to power. He emphasized that labour laws are not being followed and the government is not interested in implementing them. Instead the government is changing labour laws to help the exploitation of the labour. Similarly the judiciary has no interest whatsoever even to hold the government to account for failing year after year to provide the wages of the poorest who worked under NREGA. This is a case of the government directly robbing the poorest workers and reducing the amount provided in the budget. Furthermore, legal disputes are supposed to be speedily settled by the court in 3 months time but currently takes up to 10 years in reality. Similarly workers pension applications can take more than a year to process. In his presidential address, Mahant Tiwari expressed his determination that UPLF will labour to implement the policies of PROUT through labour struggle aside from raising demands against various forms of exploitation. A resolution was passed by the assembled delegates to hold a dharna of UPLF and PBI on 23rd June to demand the implementation of Amiiri Rekha and to make Rs 21,000 the minimum salary for those doing hard labour. The dharna will be held before the offce of Chief Minister of Delhi.

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