[Assam] My do paise 10-0524/ Re: Naxal Etc.

[Chan Mahanta]

Hi Netters:

As I mentioned earlier, I shared some of the discussions regarding  
Naxals etc. pursuant to my responses to Kamath's article posted here  
by our friend  Nava Thakuria with my old friend, Murthy Sudhakar, who  
was my classmate at IIT-KGP. Sudha, as we call him, has a lot of  
connections with Assam and the region, not the least of which was our  
joint B.Arch. Thesis project -- a resort at Barapani, now in   
Meghalaya.  So he is not unaware of what goes on there and is a well- 
wisher. With that intro, I present some of his thoughts here. If you  
care to respond, you can mail to him directly, or thru myself.

Best.

cm



Begin forwarded message:

> From: murthy sudhakar <murthysudhakar at hotmail.com>
> Date: May 24, 2010 12:23:57 PM CDT
> To: chandan mahanta <cmahanta at gmail.com>
> Subject: My do paise 10-0524
>
> I have been following the discussion in your Assamnet on the subject  
> of naxalism, democracy and violence. I have some thoughts:
>
> 1. What we have in India is a ritualistic democracy (not dissimilar  
> the Presidential Elections in the US), in which a large # of people  
> (mostly rural and urban poor) participate. Other noble aspects of  
> ideal democracy - basic rights, entitlements and access to  
> nutrition. healthcare, literacy, education and opportunities remain  
> denied to most. India ranks 127th or so, amongst nation in UN Human  
> Development Index.
>
> 2. Our democracy has always been (more so since 1991) guided by  
> money and and hence money determines who governs and that determines  
> what shape the policies take- once again similar to the US.
>
> 3. Under the post liberalization regimes, the policies have favored  
> those who feed the machine and independent of the dominant political  
> party (and its coalition), the same money holds its sway. That we  
> want to ape China economically is only a minor force driving this.  
> The primary forces involved are those that have been given the  
> license to loot, exploit and profit from the nations resources. Once  
> again no different than the US.
>
> 4. For some unknown reason, in many parts of the world including in  
> India, the mineral wealth appears to be buried in the bowels of the  
> earth inhabited by indigenous, tribal or adivasi or native people.  
> Rivers suitable for damming  also favors these people! Exploitative  
> forces under the banner of the "country's progress" want to benefit  
> from these without giving the people sitting on these minerals the  
> attendant benefits from the sweet profits mining and the related  
> industries bring in to the corporate world.
>
> 5. Violence (himsa and ahimsa) appears to be another issue. Non  
> violence, as the word is popularly used, reduces ahimsa’s ethical  
> principle to human behavior that is explosive, visible and  
> episodic . We see, as we should, violence in meaningless wars  
> between nations or blowing up of a bus; but fail to recognize  
> malnutrition in children or the pollution of a river or exploitation  
> of a whole people by the State (and its moneyed alies), as himsa.
>
> 6. Violence begets violence. The discontent of the naxalites is just  
> that- violent (and senseless) reactions to what they live and see as  
> institutionalized violence over which they have no control. The  
> State has the paternal responsibility to address these issue; but  
> when the State itself becomes an integral part of the exploitation  
> of  minorities (who's protection is the State's responsibility) then  
> we have these eruptions. Eruptions, like pimples on a face are  
> annoying, irritating and even troubling-but they are just symptoms  
> and not the problem.
>
> 7. The noble ideals of the Constitution have been discarded and  
> inequity grows in our land. We are and should be justifiably proud  
> of the many achievements of our citizens. But, this has been come  
> against the backdrop of growing inequity and a steadily widening gap  
> between the few and a vast majority. We cannot have a diseased body  
> and be proud only of our beautiful eyes!
>
> 8. Each of us, you and I, need to know in which camp we are.  
> Intellectual, liberal, conservative or fanatic- it does not matter.  
> We are now and will continue to be affected. As long as we see the  
> issues as separate from our lives or our roles or participation in  
> this divide we will continue to argue the micro issues and forget  
> the bigger picture and miss possible solutions.
>
> 9. Finally, Peter Singer opens his book “One world – The Ethics of  
> Globalization” with a provocative argument. Comparing the violence  
> (himsa) of September 11th 2001 in New York City with the steady  
> emission of carbon dioxide (himsa) from gas guzzling SUVs, he  
> writes, “Yet both are indications of the way in which we are now one  
> world, and the more subtle changes to which sport utility vehicle  
> owners unintentionallycontribute will almost certainly kill far more  
> people than the highly visible one.” (The emphasis is mine.)
>
> My do paise
>
> murthy sudhakar   www.infraSys.biz    www.vishva-karma.org
>
>
>
> The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars  
> with Hotmail. Get busy.