Programming:
The modern condition entails freedom of occupation but this freedom often brings with the likelihood of alienation, and the possibility of discrimination.This theme delineates around nostalgia, threat and bonding, all aspects of the creation of community.
Here’s adding some gung-ho to the very creamy issue of nuclear weapons and energy.What do you and I understand?
What do we make of it?
[Brought to you by the White Ribbon Abhiyaan.Message also circulated at Blogbharti.]
[ click on the ballot box]
This is a message in public interest circulated by the White Ribbon Campaign for Peace(India).You can also view it here and on Blogbharti.
Please copy and distribute extensively.
——————————————————————————————–
Feminist, blogger and activist Anasuya Sengupta, in an essay called ‘Fundamentalisms of the Progressive‘ wrote,
‘One of our campaigns was to wear a white ribbon for peace (the White Ribbon Campaign for Peace, India) – we used it both as a symbol and as a talking point, to begin conversations about violence of all kinds, including what we call ‘communalism’ in India (the rousing of hatred against particular communities). Initially, some of our friends scoffed at us, and wondered what an insignificant white ribbon could do, to change attitudes and animosities.
But the interesting thing was that there were so many people – both young and not so young – who were unable to be political in the same way as they saw ‘activists’; they felt this meant standing at street corners with banners, or going on rallies, or shouting slogans against the government. They found this too ‘political’ (in their understanding of the term), and yet they were deeply disturbed at the kinds of violence being perpetrated in the name of religion.
So for these people, wearing a ribbon was the beginning of a series of conversations they had with others, which began other processes of change, at least in terms of breaking the silence around violence.
And because it was something everyone could do – and have conversations at whatever level of politics and ideology each was comfortable with – it wasn’t intimidating in any way, and yet gave a sense of belonging to a community against violence, and speaking up for peace.’
———————————————————————————-
Do you believe in pluralism and justice?
Are you Secular, liberal, free thinking?
Do you believe that all religion has in its essence ways of leading a soulful, integrated and fulfilled life?
Do you believe that religious extremism has done us no good?
Say No to religious bigotry.
It’s happening.It’s finally happening!
And it is also time to shed light on what really happened in Godhra.
———————————————————————————–
The Tehelka Story on the operation brings to us the remorseless voices that orchestrated the tragedy.
After having moved the fourth estate, lets hope and pray that this operation moves the judicial machinery into taking the right steps towards trying and punishing all the accused named and implicated in the videos.Elections are due in December and contrary to the BJP’s view that this comes as a sabotaging act to the electoral process, this is in fact an aid to the concept of free and fair democracy.
A lot of what the tapes tell us is common knowledge in Gujarat. But having perpetrators implicate themselves on film is evidence that cannot be easily denied.And for the process of trial there is this and much more.It is time for the Center and the Election Commission to step in and stop the same criminal government from coming back again, in the name of development and progress.
For the public of Gujarat that seeks to put the shadows of 2002 behind, there can be no circumventing the issues of 2002.These are glaring wounds that yearn to be dealt with.
As a people we give thanks in deference to the entire Tehelka team, to Tarun Tejpal, Harinder Baweja, Ashish Khetan and Shoma Choudary among others.
Indscribe has an account of the gruesome details that Operation Kalank has brought to light.(via Blogbharti)
———————————————————————————–
Where is the place for looking at space defining interventions within identity politics in South Asia?
One often finds that the Indian political landscape or to put it largely, the South Asian Political landscape ridden with extremely tight notions of identity.Understandably because of the region’s history with the idea of religion and politics that grew around it.
As a consequence of this, people that want to speak of these ideas find themselves on a no man’s land between tight lipped conservationists and sometimes tighter liberationists.
If you don’t want speak of a revolution then where might be the space to speak in ways that are new and innovative? What is the language in which you are going to pitch your discourse of identity if you do not draw from existing discourses?
Somehow, No one wants to listen.
Read between my lines.Please.
————————————————————-
Image thanks to my new best friend.
It’s now also a blog.
During OSSW’07( One State Solution Week, 2007), I wasn’t entirely for having a centralised blog because that would mean isolating audience on one portal, and this event was supposed to have happened on various blogs.
But for all our future campaigns in order to gather consciousness, thinking, action and people, we have a blog.
…….
…
Leaving you with some sound bytes at the end of what is going to be a bi-annual event, the One State Solution Week, September 2007 has urged you think about:
Democracy: Government of the people, by and for the people. Wherein an individual attains his full capability and is nurtured, physically, economically, intellectually, spiritually and emotionally.
A democracy entails substantive freedoms, such as choice, rights to livelihood and well-being for all it’s citizens.Critics of the democratic system say that often, a democracy implies the rule of the majority, and since this is often the case, the system needs to be nudged in the direction of non-centralised local, participatory and communitarian frameworks.
Communalism: Politics that seeks to unite on the basis of shared values , such as faith. The word communalism has its roots in the ‘commune’ or the ‘commune of communes’, or the ideal community. It implies a municipal system for ruling or governing.
In South Asia, especially India, the meanings and ramifications of communalism have been distorted partly because of it’s implications within a democracy. Communalism has been implemented on the lines of religion and has been divisive and propagandistic, because of the history of religion in the subcontinent.
See the Wikipedia entry here.
Nuclear Energy and Weapons: The world’s energy requirements can be met by two ways: the hard energy path and the soft energy path.
The hard energy path uses potentially non-renewable resources and is irreversibly destructive of the environment*.It requires a very technologically adept work force and high capital investment. Hard Energy Paths include fossil fuels, coal and oil, nuclear power plants and hydro-electric power plants.
The soft energy path uses renewable and environment friendly, locally viable means to make electricity.Soft energy paths include solar,wind, bio-mass alcohol, bio-gas and many more lesser known technologies.
These definitions were built by Amory Lovins who is the Founder of the Rocky Mountain Research Institute for energy resources in America , and a passionate advocate for sustainable energy around the world.Here is an interview of him at the California based Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility website.
Alice Miceli is an artist trying to capture images of radiation in the Exclusion Zone at Belarus, where the Chernobyl Reactor was. An exclusion Zone is a cordoned site with contamination of grave levels. The Chernobyl Exculsion Zone is between Belarus and Ukraine in Europe. She documents her project at this blog.
The Chernobyl Disaster occurred when a plant in the Chernobyl Reactor exploded, and needs to be examined from the view-point of the viability of nuclear energy.
The Indian Nuclear programme has been seriously under-debated considering the enormous ramifications of the implications of both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.
The nuclear arms race in South Asia is largely a consequence of post-Partition animosities, and the tussle with India’s neighbour, China. India’s foray into nuclear technology was early, with the Indian Atomic Energy Commission being established just a year after Indian Independance.Pakistan set-up its Atomic Energy Comission in 1956, after its devastating defeat in the Bangladesh War.
From Dr Raja Ramanna’s, former weapons scientist,
“There was never a discussion among us over whether we shouldn’t make the bomb. How to do it was more important. For us it was a matter of prestige that would justify our ancient past. The question of deterrence came much later. Also, as Indian scientists we were keen to show our Western counterparts, who thought little of us those days, that we too could do it.”
———————————————
So that’s it from us (me and SS).But there is more to come.
Thanks also to all the minds that gathered at the Sarai reader-list!
Since this a bi-annual event, interested people are invited to be a part of its conceptualization, planning and execution. In the green-room is a web-site, and hopefully some cultural mish-mash, real time!
E-mail your responses and suggestions to onestatesolution@gmail.com.
And keep thinking! BIG!
———————————————————————————————————————————–
*George Lakoff and Mark Johnson,’ Metaphors We Live By’, 1980
Visual from the Street Sign Generator at the Generator Blog.
