Dear colleagues and friends, New Year’s Greetings! Tomorrow, the 4^th of January, 2011, is the 61^st birthday of Dr. Binayak Sen. Let us flood the Raipur Jail with greetings, telegrams and cards to Dr. Sen wishing him on his birthday. Raipur Additional District and Sessions Judge B. P. Verma sentenced PUCL’s (People’s Union for Civil Liberties) National Vice President Dr. Binayak Sen to life imprisonment under charges of sedition 124 (A) of the IPC read with conspiracy (120-B IPC) along with convicting him concurrently u/s 8-(1), (2), (3) and (5) of the Chhattisgarh Vishesh Jan Suraksha Adhiniyam,2005 (Chhattisgarh Special Public Safety Act, 2005) and u/sec 39 (2) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 2004 (amended) on the 24th of December 2010. Dr Binayak … [read more]

Delhi Convention on Kashmir AZADI: THE ONLY WAY 21 OCTOBER 2010, NEW DELHI ORGANISED BY COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS (CRPP) *A REPORT* The convention on Kashmir that was held on the 21 October 2010 proved to be historic in every aspect given the topicality of the issue. As can be noticed from the title of the convention itself we at the CRPP thought it necessary to pose the question directly, as the people of Kashmir, in their persistent struggle for their right to self-determination braving the repressive apparatus of the Indian State had dared even in their death. When people are being killed in hundreds; maimed, tortured, raped and put behind bars in thousands; it is of utmost significance as a responsible body which gives paramount importance to … [read more]

By Emily Wax Washington Post, Foreign Service Saturday, July 17, 2010 SRINAGAR, INDIAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR — One minute, a shaggy-haired 21-year-old is on the Internet, mixing brooding rock music with video footage of young Kashmiris protesting Indian control of this disputed Himalayan region. The next, he’s out on the streets wielding a more traditional weapon: the stone. The latest outbreak of dissent here, dubbed “Kashmir’s stone war,” marks a shift in the mostly Muslim region’s long-running struggle for autonomy. In a post-9/11, globalized world, Pakistan-backed separatists no longer roam the streets of this summer capital with guns. Instead, the heirs to the conflict are styling their discontent after cellphone images of the Palestinian uprising and its … [read more]

First of all in the mineral-rich belt in the south-east the Indian government awarded vast swathes of land to mining companies and heavy industries with contracts worth dozens of billions of Euros. They come to exploit the natural resources leaving little more than pollution and depleted resources. On the land they wish to appropriate, however, happen to live people mostly without property titles – the Adivasi, Hindi for native people. They are the poorest of the poor, excluded from caste society like the untouchables (Dalits), but differently to them living in formerly remote areas, in the jungles, which provided their livelihood in subsistence. Thus for business there is only one solution: drive them off their lands like its predecessor evolving capitalism did with the European … [read more]

A Note of POSCO Pratirodh Sangharsa Samiti ( PPSS), Jagatsinghpur, Odisha A Brief Background: On June 22 2005, Pohang Steel Company (POSCO), a large South Korean corporation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Orissa in eastern India. This MOU outlined POSCO’s proposal to invest in the mining industry and build a steel plant, captive power station and port in Erasama block of Jagatsinghpur district. For the last five years, people living in the villages of the proposed site under the banner of POSCO Pratirodh Sanghrsa Samiti (Anti-POSCO People’s Movement) have been relentlessly protesting against the land acquisition process. More than 4000 families totaling a population of 30,000 will be affected by the project. These include all those persons … [read more]

Zhao Dongmin was arrested on 19 August last year after organizing more than 380 workers from about 20 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to form a labour rights group tasked with overseeing and monitoring SOE restructuring, and reporting corruption and abuses of power. The Shaanxi Union Rights Defence Representative Congress was formally banned by the municipal government of Xi’an on 27 July, after which Zhao wrote an open letter protesting the action to the State Council, the municipal, provincial and central committees of the Chinese Communist Party. He was arrested 18 days later. Since his arrest, Zhao’s case has been taken up by an increasingly vocal group of supporters, many of whom share his leftist political views. Zhao was the head of the Shaanxi Mao Zedong Thought Study … [read more]

On 17th October, when people were celebrating Dussehra to mark the victory of Good over the Evil, the Democratic Front Against Operation Green Hunt, Punjab, held a massive Convention in Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall, Jalandhar on "War against the people & Role of Democratic Forces." It was addressed by noted pro-people thinker & Booker Award winner writer Arundhati Roy and Gandhian social activist Himanshu Kumar. Hundreds of people from all walks of life - University Professors, Research Scholars, Students, Artists, littérateur, cultural activists, press-persons, farmers, agricultural & industrial laborers, trade unionists, thinkers etc., participated from all across Punjab & Chandigarh. The Convention Hall having a seating capacity of 900 was overfilled & hundreds of people were left to hear … [read more]

We had the renowned author and activist Ms. Arundhati Roy as a special observer in the IPT. The esteemed members of the Jury were Retd Judge of Jharkhand High Court, Justice Vikramaditya Prasad, Sri Prashant Bhushan Senior Supreme Court advocate, Sri K.S. Subramanian, I.P.S. and former Director General of Police, Sri C.S. Jha, former CMD of BCCL and ECL and others. We are sharing the observations and recommendations of the Jury. We hope it will have a huge impact in the human rights movement. Independent people’s tribunal on operation green hunt in Jharkhand (held in Ranchi on 25th and 26th Sept 2010) Observations of the Jury The jury heard the testimonies of a number of social Activists working the Tribals in Jharkhand as well as a number of Tribals themselves who have been … [read more]

Early recovery typically requires rapid assessment that may help initiating a transition from life saving to life sustaining activities in the affected areas. This phase entails issues like resettlement, livelihood restoration, rebuilding of basic infrastructure and planning for effective rehabilitation phase. The major challenge in this phase would be the magnitude of physical disaster. The scale of mammoth challenge can be gauged from the damage data. According to NDMA's update of 23rd December, over 1.9 houses are damaged in the country. Sindh province appears to be the worst hit accounting for over 1.1 million damaged houses. Estimates of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, government offices, culverts do not appear in this report. However, various other reports provide … [read more]

Liu Xiaobo is a neo-liberal gadfly. His unreserved admiration for the political, economic and social system of the United States of America has been aptly expressed in his “Charter 08”. Is it because he has been sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy? In the 1980s Liu said in an Interview that only 300 years of occupation by a western colonial power could improve the situation in China: “Three hundred years of colonial rule. See what Hong Kong is like today, after one hundred years of colonial rule. China is so big, so of course it would require three hundred years of colonial rule to bring it up to the standard of Hong Kong; I guess three hundred years might even be not enough.” (Interview in Jiefang Yuekan, December 1988) As an unswerving supporter of the … [read more]

A Brief Report of the proceedings of the Sit-In on the evening of 7 August 2010 against the crimes on the people of Kashmir by the Indian State The evening of 7 August 2010 witnessed after a long long time voices of freedom from the people of Kashmir. Despite the heavy repression and the draconian laws to maim and incarcerate the people of Kashmir, to subjugate their indomitable spirit for Azadi, the evening of August 7 at the heart of Delhi just half a kilometre away from the parliament witnessed unprecedented scenes of assertion of the political will not to say genuine desire of the Kashmiri people for freedom from the exploitative and oppressive rule of the Indian State. Around six to seven hundred people had gathered including people from various peoples organisations in Delhi to … [read more]

2 PM, 3RD AUGUST 2010, RAJENDRA BHAVAN, DEEN DAYAL UPADHYAY MARG, NEW DELHI The Public Meeting to demand the judicial enquiry into the killings of Azad, the spokesperson and Polit Bureau member of the CPI (Maoist) along with journalist Hem Chandra Pandey at Rajendra Bhavan, New Delhi was addressed by a large number of prominent citizens in the presence of packed auditorium. Dr. B D Sharma, former National Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Tribes of Government of India chaired the public meeting and started the proceedings of the meeting by calling upon the audience to observe one minute’s silence in commemoration of Azad and Hem Chandra Pandey. Dr Anup Saraya a well-known doctor and democratic rights activist convened the meeting to start it proceedings. G N Saibaba, … [read more]

Now, Israel is moving towards the criminal prosecution of those who advocate Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as tools to press Israeli compliance with international law and norms in its Apartheid rule and occupation of the Palestinian people. It is targeting BDS activists for lengthy interrogations and arrest for nonviolent resistance. Its diplomats are considering intervening against BDS successes in localities, such as Olympia, Washington, where a food coop joined the boycott of Israeli goods. This movement, people must understand, is spurned by the failure of governments to bring justice to the Palestinians, a point recently made by Antony Lowenstein. As BDS grows, it’s shaping up as a truly global movement. This is an open call from Indian academics, writers and … [read more]

CONSTITUTE JUDICIAL INQUIRY INTO THEIR KILLINGS IMMEDIATELY Rajendra Bhawan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg 2PM, 3 August 2010 Speakers: Agnivesh, Amit Bhaduri Arundhati Roy Ashish Gupta/ PUDR B D Sharma G Haragopal G N Saibaba Jagmohan Manoranjan Mohanty Mehar Engineer Mrigank PC Tiwari Rajender Sachar/ Pushkar Raj/ PUCL Rajkishore, RDF SAR Geelani Satnam Sujato Bhadro Neelabh Pankaj Bisht Sumit Chakravartty Varavara Rao And Others Azad, the spokesperson of the Central Committee of CPI (Maoist) along with a freelance journalist, Hemant Pandey from Delhi was murdered in cold blood in the early hours of 2 July 2010. The circumstantial evidence clearly shows that both were caught in Nagpur by Central and Andhra Pradesh intelligence agencies in a joint … [read more]

The assassination of Azad is a continuation of state terror and war on the people of India. This act exposes the disinformation campaign surrounding the state’s “ceasefire” proposal, which is nothing but a deception by the Government of India. It puts a spotlight on the real intentions of the regime in launching “Operation Green Hunt” which has turned the whole of India into a war zone and hurled the unrestrained brutality of 250,000 paramilitary and police forces against the people, in its attempts to auction off the natural resources of the country. Those in power in India know full well that the brutal abduction and killing of Azad and other popular leaders of the resistance will deter neither the tribal people nor his party the CPI (Maoist) nor any who oppose the … [read more]

The Union Home Minister has ordered an enquiry to find out any possibility of sabotage. During the day the leaders of CPI (Maoist) clarified through a long statement that they were not responsible for the train tragedy and condemned any possible sabotage work if any force involved behind the incident. They have also expressed their condolences for the families of deceased. The PCAPA also clarified that their activists are not involved in this incident. They suspected the ruling CPI(Marxist) to have been involved in the sabotage desperately trying to tilt the public opinion against the fighting forces. Purposefully the media did not cover the statement issued by the CPI (Maoist) while playing the false stories and commentaries blaming the CPI (Maoist) for the incident. Some all India … [read more]

According to Arman Mili newspaper, the officials of the Interior Ministry of Afghanistan intend to impose a ban on peaceful demonstrations in order to avoid the growth of the opposition’s influence. According to the law and the new constitution, demonstration and freedom of expression are legal rights of the citizens. But they are being violated permanently by the government and its foreign supporters. More than two thousand people, students and peasants of Logar, gathered in demonstrations and blocked the Kabul-Gardiz highway in Purak village to protest against the daily killing, detention and torture carried out by US/Nato forces in the province, reacting in particular to the last episode in which the US forces broke into a house late in the night, in the village of Kamal Khil, … [read more]

The recent speech of Karzai about the intervention of US, UN and EU in the “home affairs” and election process of Afghanistan was not something incident. In fact it was not something new for the people of Afghanistan and the world. But it was shocking news for his lords as he dared to present himself as an independent president. The “Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan” and “Electoral Complaints Commission” were never recognized independent and fair by the people of Afghanistan since their establishment and following their missions. As their funds and resources are coming from specific foreign sources they had to obey their orders and implement their plans accordingly. The US and EU provided budget for the elections, employed the election’s key staff, … [read more]

The US and NATO leaders continue to play a game with their armed rivals. They believe to drag the rebels to the peace table by force and undermine their demands and peace conditions prior to the negotiations. Nobody trusts in each other and does no dare to disclose the place of the talks and identity of the involved delegates. Usually both of them prefer to deny it. The anti occupation resistance in Afghanistan is not limited to Hezbe Islami (Hekmatyar’s Party) or Taliban. It is a popular resistance without particular leadership or organization. The Islamic Party of Hekmatyar and some collaborative Taliban have their own registered parties and representatives in the puppet regime of Karzai as ministers, governors, MPs, Commanders, Advisors/consultants since 2004-5. They are … [read more]

The Taliban regime has been overthrown both because of its enormous inferiority in comparison to its aggressors and due to the fact that they did neither allow political nor cultural dissent. After two decades of sufferings, many Afghans wanted to believe the promises of their aggressors: they hoped that the Americans could bring wellness, peace and freedom. Notables, intellectuals, petty politicians and Ulema, jumped on the bandwagon, joining the court of the puppet Karzai. Among them there were also some war lords, narcotic traffickers, criminals who had committed severe crimes against their own people. After few time, the people of Afghanistan understood the big imperialist trick. Large amounts of money coming in to the country were pocketed by the new parasites, finishing on … [read more]