Banner Advertiser

Saturday, March 29, 2008

RE: [mukto-mona] "Kill three million of them,"said President Yahya Khan at the Feb.conference1971

WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/47464

hello,
can anyone provide me with the actual source of the Yahya saying?

is it written in any book? or how can i get a hold of his lecture?

best wishes.
ratan


------------------------------------

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm


*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/


****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[mukto-mona] Ending Corruption Towards a collaborative strategy


Ending Corruption: Towards a collaborative strategy

Prof. Syed Ahsanul Alam*

 

Corruption in its all shades and color is the illegal tool of accumulating illegal wealth depriving a person which creates inequality and social injustice. Corruption destroys social order, rule of law and all good governance efforts. Corruption and the corrupts are the enemies of the people and the society in any country. That is why fighting corruption and installing honesty is a pre condition for good governance for ensuring human rights, human dignity, equality and social justice and better business environment.

Holding the first position in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 5 consecutive years has tarnished the image of Bangladesh, and in such a situation majority of the citizens did not know what to do and how to start a fight against this man made tool of exploitation called corruption. Under the previous oppressive corrupt governance and social system conscious citizens attempted to raise voice against this evil through the media or different civil societies organizations. Today everybody including the Chairman Anti-Corruption Commission emphasizes on the reality of designing a collaborative strategy to limit this evil call corruption. The following nonviolent silent strategies may be used to curve down corrupt practices in every sector of Bangladesh.

 

Ending Corruption: Naming and shaming strategy

Naming and shaming can be a very effective tactic to eradicate corruption in any country. Even in developing countries, where corruption is accepted as a necessary evil, naming and shaming tactic has been effective in recent years.  In India, high profile cases uncovered and actively reported by the citizen action group have led to disgraceful dismissals of high level government officials and even criminal action against public figures. No such example has been set by the political governments in Bangladesh in the past.  But citizen action groups or the media demonstrated ability to generate outrage among the public that can be channeled productively to control and eradicate corruption. Nobody can undermine the role and power of media in the society for establishing good governance.

 

Ending Corruption: Creating awareness strategy among the Stakeholders

Everyday policy makers, professionals, business leaders, sociologist, economists and others independently generate amazing number of ideas and thoughts. The reasons that these ideas don't come to fruition is because like-minded reformers do seldom collaborate to bring changes.  There are a lot of international and domestic organizations, NGOs, government agencies, opinion leaders and others – that are all individually working on tackling corruption in a piece-meal fashion.  A more comprehensive approach to address corruption will be more fruitful.  Corruption can be marginalized if not eliminated if all stakeholders work together in a coordinated manner against corruption. 

Ideas and thoughts are ineffective if not put to actions. Unless what is thought is acted upon, such thought has no value.  What is important is the commitment of all the citizens – leaders of respective fields– to take on the challenge of ending corruption and to do one's own part to address it in a collaborative manner.  Corruption, as in all affairs in society may be viewed from the two sides: a demand side and a supply side.  The demand side can only be curbed by reforms of institutions, strengthened enforcement of law by a transparent judiciary.  As the owner of the country all citizens are affected by corruption everyday, and as such they should insist reforms of the legislative, executive and judicial organ of the country. The stake holders of a corruption free society should get united to raise voice against corruption to curve the supply side. Thus the citizens will have to participate in the battle against corruption and only moral support to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) is not enough to eliminate corruption.

 

Ending Corruption: Creating awareness among the Civil Society

Citizens face potential corruption practically at every level and every sector of life. It could be the local police, T.N.T, electricity and water authority, Municipal Corporation or the tax department. Government alone cannot succeed in combating corruption without the active participation of civil society and citizen action groups. Civil society is in the best position to articulate the grievances of the citizen and highlight priorities of action on corruption to governments. Civil society can serve many important roles–as observer, critic, analyst, campaigner, or protestor. It can create public awareness against corruption and mobilize citizens to fight against corruption in ways that governments cannot. Civil society can also play a strong role to organize campaigns against corruption. Center For Good Governance is working with many civic organizations for capacity building of such organization.

 

Ending Corruption: Creating awareness among Chambers and Trade Bodies

As Civil society organizations, Citizens' action groups, NGOs, media, and Chambers–can play the largest role in improving governance both in the public and private sector.  Similarly Chambers can be more active by organizing seminars, workshops, round tables to generate awareness against corruption and unethical business practice. Chambers can establish anti corruption cell headed by a vice president with adequate funds to establish liaison with media, anti corruption commission (ACC) and other government agencies to combat corruption and protect its members from extortion and corrupt claims. Mega chambers should formulate code of conduct for their members and put pressure on the members for compliance.  Awareness regarding code of conduct for members of chambers would have trickle down effect on smaller business enterprises and so on. 

 

Ending Corruption: Creating awareness among Private Sector

The private sector can play a more active role in rooting out the supply side of corruption.  It is painful that most businessman and citizens looks at corrupt practice as a system.  According to unofficial estimates many business house just account for it on their books – as much as 10% – adding to the cost of doing business.  Business leaders as well as the government should take initiatives so that local and foreign investors can set up business enterprise and function in Bangladesh without resorting to corruption and extortion.  After 1/11/07 the present Anti corruption commission (ACC) visibly started a crusade against corruption which may be looked upon as a proactive move towards corruption free governance.

For eradicating corruptions the private sector must emphasize on internal controls and auditing mechanisms.  Corporate bodies and business houses needs to set clear and enforceable policies against corrupt or unethical business practices.  Business house need to periodically train middle and senior management on business ethics to ensure that standards are institutionalized throughout the organization.  Business houses should change their mind-set to prefer managers having comprehensive business education with emphasis on ethics.  Any business managers can not afford to be unaware of global ethical standards for doing business in Bangladesh.

 

Conclusion

In a developing country for good governance the fight against corruption is not easy. Bangladesh recently started drive against corruption. It is expected the present caretaker government, patriot citizens and other stakeholders will be able to address the most difficult challenge – fighting corruption. Corruption is a tremendous deterrent to good governance and development, and its burden falls heaviest on the shoulders of the poor people. An effective Anti-Corruption Commission – with strong political backing, can become a credible tool to deter corruption. All concerned should help the ACC to be fully operative. If Bangladesh wants to establish corruption free business friendly environment, wants to  become a country free of poverty and economically strong, where every citizen will enjoy his or her rights and a better quality life, ending corruption is the most important need. It is the responsibility of every stakeholder to respond to this need towards corruption free, transparent, participatory good governance ensuring equity and social justice.

No body will deny that, in Bangladesh the past governance mechanism was far less then satisfactory. Many issues and problems were the barriers to ensure good governance, equity and social justice.  Weak watchdog institutions corruption, political interference in administration, nepotism, misuse of power, absence of rule of law, non-accountable and non-transparent governments etc. are the common features of our governance which needs to be addressed on urgent basis.

 

 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author Syed Ahsanul Alam is an Associate Professor of marketing at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh and Chairman, Center for Good Governance. His recent administrative post includes vice rector IIBT (Premier University), Director, Sadharon Bima Corp., Treasurer. USTC (SWC), Representative of the President,USTC.He lactured widely at various business schools including University of Science and Technology, Open University, ABAC Thailand and also in Singapore. Rotarian Syed Ahsanul Alam is a well known Academician, Institution Building Personality and Activist for Good Governance.The Author may be reached at  Fax : 880-31-2550872,

 E-mail:centerforgoodgovernance@yahoo.com,

 Web-site: www.goodgovernancebd.org

__._,_.___

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona 
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] Helping the deprived children

Helping the deprived children

Many of us who go for a morning walk confront two contrasting pictures. One, of students rushing to schools and coaching centers by bus, cycle, car and scooter.

The other picture which makes one sad is of deprived children who move around with large sacks on their shoulders to collect plastic and scrap from the heaps of debris or the leftovers that shop keepers leave outside at closing time.

Children as small as six years are also seen doing all this. Unfortunately, this is the story of all Bangladeshi cities. Why should it happen when our government is not only providing mid day meals but has started evening schools for those who can't go to the school in the morning?

According to me, it is happening because we are happy only with our own progress and are not concerned with what is happening around us.

If we ever engage these children in discussion, we will find that their mothers are working as our domestic help and their fathers are driving rickshaws to take us somewhere.

We don't mind if our own child, after having taken coaching tor a year, which costs anything up to a lakh, suddenly declares that he would like to attempt the exam only next year I have seen parents anxiously escorting their children to examination centres, even if they have to take leave from the office.

But if our domestic help's child stops going to school, we don't have the time to speak to the school authorities. In most cases we don't even bother to know what her children do.

But it makes a big difference when an educated person takes up the cause of such children. We all can help the cause. It simply calls for distributing our love.

What we need to do is to monitor the education of at least one deprived child. Just as all our investments shouldn't be in one portfolio, likewise our love should not be only for our own one or two children. Deprived children will actually fetch us better returns.

__._,_.___

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona 
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] Fwd. Secular Jihad By MUSTAFA AKYOL [The Wall Street Journal]

Posted by forum member Kamran Bokhari.

Excerpt: "Who would you expect to be zealous enemies of "moderate Islam"? Islamic fundamentalists? You bet. From Osama bin Laden & Co. to less violent but equally fanatic groups, Islamist militants abhor their co-religionists who reject tyranny and violence in the name of God. But they are not alone. In this part of the world, there is another group that holds a totally opposite worldview but shares a similar hatred of moderate Islam: Turkey's secular fundamentalists....Besides their ideology, Turkish secularists also use a seemingly realist argument. If religion is given even a little bit of space in public, they argue, it will soon dominate the whole system. This doctrine of pre-emptive intolerance guides, and misleads, Ankara's establishment on virtually every issue. If we allow the Kurds to speak in their mother tongue, the establishment has argued for seven decades, we will have a Kurdish problem. But today they have a much bigger problem precisely because they have suppressed the Kurdish language and culture. Despite their presumptions, it is repression, not freedom, that feeds political radicalism......But the Muslim-democrat AKP is quite different from the Islamists of the Middle East. That's simply because Turkish Islam is a unique interpretation of the global faith. Since the Ottoman reforms of the 19th century, Turkey's observant Muslims have been widely favorable toward democracy. And since the 1980s, thanks to their engagement in globalization and capitalism, they have become much more Western-oriented than much of the secular elite. That's why the secularists constantly accuse the AKP and the supporting "Muslim bourgeoisie" of serving "American imperialism" and "Zionism." The same paranoia is reflected in the chief prosecutor's indictment. In it he notes, apparently in all seriousness, that Colin Powell and other U.S. officials have praised "moderate Islam," and he connects Prime Minister Erdogan to "the American Broader Middle East Project which aims at ruling countries via moderate Islamic regimes."

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kamran Bokhari
Date: Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 3:14 PM

To: shaheryar.azhar@gmail.com

Hi Shaheryar, Mustafa (who is a friend) also has an article in today's WSJ called Secular Jihad. Best, Kamran

http://online.wsj.com/home  

March 26, 2008


OPINION


Secular Jihad

By MUSTAFA AKYOL
March 26, 2008

ISTANBUL

Who would you expect to be zealous enemies of "moderate Islam"? Islamic fundamentalists? You bet. From Osama bin Laden & Co. to less violent but equally fanatic groups, Islamist militants abhor their co-religionists who reject tyranny and violence in the name of God. But they are not alone. In this part of the world, there is another group that holds a totally opposite worldview but shares a similar hatred of moderate Islam: Turkey's secular fundamentalists.

This secular hatred comes, most recently, in the form of a stunning attempt by judicial means to shut down the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and ban its top 71 members, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from politics for five years. Even President Abdullah Gül, a former AKP minister, is on the to-ban list of the country's chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, who submitted his indictment to the Constitutional Court in Ankara on March 14. The court is expected to decide this week whether to take up the case.

[Secular Jihad]

It is, needless to say, the first time that a ruling party, which won 47% of the vote less than a year ago, is threatened with judicial extermination. In the past, pro-Kurdish parties have been closed down due to their links with the outlawed PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party). Yet the AKP is under threat simply because of its political views. It's a judicial version of the military coup d'etats that Turkey has experienced four times in the past half century.

Yet what are those political views of the AKP which, according to the chief prosecutor, require its banning? The 53,000-word indictment gives a clear answer: The AKP folks are too religious, they speak about God and religion in the public square, and they want more religious freedom.

The major "crime" of the AKP that is emphasized in the indictment, and which provoked the whole process, is the recent constitutional amendment that opened the way for female students to wear Islamic head scarves in Turkish universities. This ban was enacted in 1989 by a Constitutional Court decision. Since then thousands of young girls have been forced to choose between their beliefs and a university education. Some have gone to European or American colleges. Others have tried to wear wigs on top of their scarves in order to enter Turkish campuses.

The indictment also presents lengthy quotes from Prime Minister Erdogan that demonstrate his "antisecular views and activities." These include his remarks in June 2005 to CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "My daughters can go to American universities with their head scarf. There is religious freedom in your country, and we want to bring the same thing to Turkey." In another "criminal" statement, made in London in September 2005, Mr. Erdogan said, "my dream is a Turkey in which veiled and unveiled girls will go to the campus hand in hand." During a February 2005 interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag, his "crime" was to note, "We Turks prefer the Anglo-Saxon interpretation of secularism to the French one" -- for the former grants more religious freedom to its citizens. For the chief prosecutor, these all prove that Mr. Erdogan and his party aim to dilute and then overthrow secularism.

Actually there is some truth to this claim, because Turkey's official secularism is fiercely illiberal and shows limited respect for religious freedom. Any religious expression or symbol in the public square is considered an infringement of secular principles. For Ankara's old guard, the public square should be dominated by what former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer proudly defined as "the state ideology."

According to Princeton historian Sükrü Hanioglu, this ideology is rooted in the "vulgar materialism" of late 19th-century Germany, which heralded a postreligious age of "science and reason." This philosophy, which was emulated by some of the Young Turks and inherited by most of their Kemalist successors, has been openly endorsed by the Constitutional Court. "The secularism principle," Turkey's top judicial body argued in a 1989 decision, "requires that the society should be kept away from thoughts and judgments that are not based on science and reason."

A similar secular fundamentalism is propagated in the West by popular thinkers such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens -- but there it is one of many competing ideas. In Turkey secular fundamentalism is the official ideology, and it is eager to crush any alternative.

Besides their ideology, Turkish secularists also use a seemingly realist argument. If religion is given even a little bit of space in public, they argue, it will soon dominate the whole system. This doctrine of pre-emptive intolerance guides, and misleads, Ankara's establishment on virtually every issue. If we allow the Kurds to speak in their mother tongue, the establishment has argued for seven decades, we will have a Kurdish problem. But today they have a much bigger problem precisely because they have suppressed the Kurdish language and culture. Despite their presumptions, it is repression, not freedom, that feeds political radicalism.

Turkish secularists also portray the AKP as part of the radical Islamist movement. For them, there is no difference between the Gucci-wearing, head-scarved woman in Istanbul who wants to study business and the chador-wearing woman in Tehran who cries, "Death to capitalism!"

But the Muslim-democrat AKP is quite different from the Islamists of the Middle East. That's simply because Turkish Islam is a unique interpretation of the global faith. Since the Ottoman reforms of the 19th century, Turkey's observant Muslims have been widely favorable toward democracy. And since the 1980s, thanks to their engagement in globalization and capitalism, they have become much more Western-oriented than much of the secular elite. That's why the secularists constantly accuse the AKP and the supporting "Muslim bourgeoisie" of serving "American imperialism" and "Zionism." The same paranoia is reflected in the chief prosecutor's indictment. In it he notes, apparently in all seriousness, that Colin Powell and other U.S. officials have praised "moderate Islam," and he connects Prime Minister Erdogan to "the American Broader Middle East Project which aims at ruling countries via moderate Islamic regimes."

The U.S. should indeed encourage Turkey not to enact a "moderate Islamic regime" -- a project that exists only in the fantasies of Turkish secularists -- but to achieve a real democracy in which the sovereignty of the people overrides the ideology of its bureaucrats and army officers. What the latter threatens these days is not only the most popular and successful political party of Turkey, but also this country's democracy.

Mr. Akyol is deputy editor of Turkish Daily News.

See all of today's editorials and op-eds, plus video commentary, on Opinion Journal1.

And add your comments to the Opinion Journal forum2.

  URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120648058852163507.html

  Hyperlinks in this Article:
(1)
http://online.wsj.com/opinion
(2)
http://forums.wsj.com/viewtopic.php? t=1899
Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
RELATED ARTICLES FROM ACROSS THE WEB
Related Web News
•  Ban Sought on Turkey Rulers  Mar. 16, 2008  time.com
More related content Powered by Sphere

---------------

http://cdy.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/2/183

Entangled in Secular Nationalism, Feminism and Islamism

The Life of Konca Kuris

Burçak Keskin-Kozat

bkeskin@umich.edu.

This article focuses on the experiences of Konca Kuris, a veiled Turkish activist, in order to explore the meaning of feminism and the construction of the feminist subject in the non-West. I specifically argue that feminist activism gains meaning in and through interactions among different groups of women and within larger historical discourses. Through a focused analysis of 20th-century Turkish political history, I unpack the multilayered formation and reception of Kuris's experiences with respect to the nationalist trajectory of secularization, interactions among local feminist groups, and the patriarchal Islamist elite.





Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home.
__._,_.___

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona 
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] Re: Transcript of Obama's speech in Philadelphia - Presenting Farida Majid as th

WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/47434

During the 2000 Election, Maccain was very critical of the religious
right, so much so that he lost the nomination to Bush as he lost a
very important voting block. Now he is actively coddling the religious
right, going for endorsements from pastors like Haggie of Texas, the
one who called Catholics whores). Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell etc
blamed 9/11 on the gays, abortion and liberals. Robertson called for
assassination of Chavez. Wright blamed on the US foreign policy. Which
one is more likely or rational? Why is Wright is being called
anti-american where as all the republican politicians actively seek
votes from these other pastors?

------------------------------------

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm


*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/


****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

RE: [mukto-mona] "Kill three million of them,"said President Yahya Khan at the Feb.conference1971

WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/47441

Human memory is treacherous and at times very ungrateful
too. The tragedy of our association with Pakistan
from 1947 to 1971 was a miscalculation of historical facts which only became
brazen and murderously open in 1971. The lethal brew of religion and politics
which the Bengali nation was made to drink through the mischievous manipulation
of the Pakistani political military clique could not kill the conscious of a
nation but its effects also can't be entirely ignored. People who do not find
any danger of annihilation by any foreign power now and are trying to rewrite
the pages of history from 1947 to 1971 are deliberately ignoring the dire
realities of those tumultuous grim years. The alien invaders who were bent upon
to exterminate us as a race can't be forgotten now or ever. We faced the decedents of Halaku Khan who were
deprived of any intelligence but had gruesome power to bring peril and
pestilence. If they could over power our resolve to resist them this nation would
have been skilled alive which could make us a new breed of modern day slaves.
In that hour of trial India
saved us from annihilation and by doing so if India
had a strategic interest to weaken Pakistan
that is their national interest but they deserve our eternal gratitude. If any
one intends to deny that fundamental truth that is their shameless nature we don't
share that.

Akbar Hussain

------------------------------------

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm


*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/


****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Re: [mukto-mona] Re: Transcript of Obama's speech in Philadelphia

WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/47442

If you truly care about the poor, then show them paths to prosperity, not welfare checks. Do not give them a system that will entrap them to be forever poor. I know one thing, and that is, the poor people cannot help the other poor. It's the rich who create jobs for the poor. The government is supposed to provide only security and services to the people.

Socialism is the dawn of Communism. Socialism is based on the principle of redistribution of wealth (Obama doctrin), which is dastardly detrimental to a society and the nation, as a whole. What this idea of artificial redistribution of wealth means is that you take away part of the income from very successful people and reward others who did not earn. I heard a very interesting story on last Friday from a therapist at our department. While he was treating a an woman patient - she started to talk about her family. The therapist asked - what do you do? The patient said - "why will I work? I never worked in my life; my mother never worked in her life; the government is supposed to take care of us." Obviously, this poor woman is living on the welfare checks all her life. This is an extreme situation, but this type of extreme situations will multiply under socialist system, and the entire society could become a welfare society, and the state could become a
welfare state.

My transformation has not lessened my caring for the poor. It brings me to a story I read in my childhood. One night, a thief entered into the house of Muhammad Muhasin. Muhasin woke-up and caught the thief. The thief said, I have nothing to feed my starving children; I need money to buy food for them. Muhasin was moved by his story. He gave him five dollar and told him to by an Axe, not food. The thief surprisingly asked - how the Axe will relieve my family's hunger? Muhasin said - go to the forest, cut some woods and sell them in the market as fuel for the wood burning stoves. So he did. Soon his entire family joined him, and they never had to steal again. I believe in this kind of permanent solution for the poor. I want prosperous jobs for the poor, not welfare checks. This solution can only be provided by a strong capitalist system.

Thanks.

Jiten Roy

------------------------------------

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm


*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/


****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Re: [mukto-mona] Re: Transcript of Obama's speech in Philadelphia - Presenting Farida Majid as the latest Obama sycophant

WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/47435

John McCain could be right. Iran wants to harass USA at any cost, and that could override religious differences between Shia and Sunni. Iran is aiding Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which is Sunni. Why that type of cooperation is improbable in Iraq?

Now about the lobbyist - she has categorically denied any such affair.

Jiten Roy

------------------------------------

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm


*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/


****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Re: [mukto-mona] Re: newsweek cover story: When Barry Became Barack

WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/47445

1. Words--- uttered or written down ---- have the potentiality to impact our thoughts and deeds. This impact can be short lived and enduring as well. Speeches made during election campaigns are qualitatively different from speeches made at historic moments. Election speeches have an immediate goal---- to capture power by playing with voters' minds. A good election campaign speech utilizes the art of rhetoric in the best possible way.

2. One historic speech was the 30-minute speech delivered by the architect of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman on the 7th of March 1971. About one million people assembled in the Race Course field in Dhaka to listen to this speech. Immediate goal of this speech was not power, but much more than that. It was a call for self determination against the Pakistani rulers. That speech inspired the freedom fighters during the 9-month period of arms struggle that ended up with the emergence of Bangladesh as a free country. A Bangladeshi poet Nirmalendu Goon wrote a poem calling that speech a poem and the orator a poet.

3. I would like to put both Gettysburg Address and "I have a dream" speech in this category. Both Moses's speech and Mohammed's speech during last pilgrimage have big impact on human societies as these were kind of manifesto for changing the world the way the two Prophets had thought to be most befitting. Gandhi's speech in the movie "Gandhi" emphasizes on a great political philosophy that is necessary to rule a country which has diversity in so many ways.

-SC


------------------------------------

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari

http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm


*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/


****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[mukto-mona] EDM ON HASINA

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35423&SESSION=891


__._,_.___

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona 
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] EARLY DAY MOTION AT HOUSE OF COMMONS ON BANGLADESH

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35503&SESSION=891


__._,_.___

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona 
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[mukto-mona] RamParvesh:CITU victim

 
Killer Bees, Worker Ants 5 Apr 08 (http://tehelka.com/story_main38.asp?filename=cr050408killerbees.asp)
The murder of Ram Parvesh Singh, an electric cable worker, by CITU goons is the story of the Left's growing anti-worker character, says H. SINGH
EVERY YEAR five to six contract workers of Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) Limited, a company that supplies electricity to Kolkata and adjoining districts, die digging ditches in which electricity cables are to be laid. It generally occurs when a worker's pickaxe accidentally strikes some existing underground
cable. It is a horrible death - half the body evaporates and half of it is charred. The death of CESC worker Ram Parvesh Singh, 45, on March 10, however was different. He and 15 others were brought to Kolkata's National Medical College hospital after being beaten up by a mob.
All of them were active members of CESC Contract Mazdoor Sangh (CCMS), a union of contract workers of CESC. They allege that they were surrounded and beaten up by five truck-loads of men belonging to the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the trade union wing of the CPMat a place called Ruby Katra. Baban Paswan, secretary of CCMS, says, "Ram Parvesh and colleagues were distributing leaflets and canvassing for the strike when they were attacked by CITU goons." The workers say they were assaulted because their union is not affiliated to any of the central trade unions or to any parliamentary political party. In short, because they dared to be independent. CCMS had called a 48-hour strike on March 10 and 11, demanding that the 22 labour-supply contract firms working for CESC respond to their charter of demands.
Their principal demand is that these firms and the state government recognise them as 'Electricity Workers', rather than 'Construction Workers,' a demand that has been ignored for twenty years. Why should they make such a demand, and why should it then be opposed? Shyam Sunder Ram, president of CCMS says, "It is a question of identity. Every year, some amongst us die on the job. If we are required to do such risky work, we need to be respectedfor it. CESC's permanent workers who handle high-voltage cables get Rs 5 lakh as compensation in the event of death. The maximum that we have ever got was Rs 153,000. Many times, we get no compensation at all. Even a casual worker in CESC gets a daily wage of Rs 225. We, being 'construction workers' under the contract system, get Rs 110 and 21 paise for a day's work. Most of us are Dalits from Bihar and UP. Yes, we want parity in terms of wages and compensation, but more than that, ours is a struggle for izzat."
Abhash Chatterjee, the owner of one of the 22 contracting firms, retorts, "There is no such thing as an electrical worker. The Directory of Electrical Inspectors is the licensing body which conducts certain tests before anybody is given a designation. These men do not qualify for any higher designation. As far as their
safety is concerned, we are working closely with CITU to take care of that. We will be having our fourth workshop very soon. We have bought safety-jackets worth Rs 1,900 each. All workers are insured."

HERE, WE have a member of the employers association openly admitting that they work closely with CITU. He is confident that the regulations and authorities are
on his side. When, at the Til Jala police station, Investigating Officer of the case, Moinak Banerjee was asked who had murdered Ram Parvesh and why, he curtly replied, "I am not bound to disclose information to the media." This statement was delivered on March 12, on a day when local pressmen were already talking about the involvement of Gaurang Dutta, a CITU activist, in the violence. Incidentally, the FIR contains names of other CITU activists as well. Unlike the police, the CITU is not tight-lipped.
Divyanjan Chakraborty, general secretary of the All India Construction Workers Union (a CITU affiliate), did not deny that Dutta is a CITU activist or that CITU is being blamed for the murder. Instead, he said, "Ram Parvesh was drunk and fell down in a big drain near Ruby Hospital. Unfortunately, the striking union has registered a FIR, and Gaurang was named in it. The whole thing is a campaign to malign CITU." The lines are clearly drawn. On one side stands an amorphous mass of workers with a few nuclei like the CCMS. On the other stand employers, holding the hands of central trade union leaders and parliamentarians, guarded by officers in khaki.
It's a textbook example of neoliberalism at work, but one that leaves many questions unanswered. The most important being, how and why did a workers' organisation like CITU turn into a anti-worker outfit? Sharmista Choudhury, general secretary of the Kinnison unit of the National Jute Manufacturers' Corp. Ltd. Mazdoor Union, is one of the few women who have dared to step into trade union politics. She says, "In power for 30 years, the CPM has today become just another reactionary bourgeois government. In West Bengal, at least, CITU is but an extension of the government. Struggle is no longer on its agenda. The mill-owners are its natural allies, not the workers. The CITU can no longer call itself a trade union centre in the actual sense, because it negotiates on behalf of the owners, keeping the interest of the owners in mind. The CITU leadership is totally alienated from workers' aspirations and works to serve vested interests."
Subhash Roy, leader of the Shramik Sangram Committee, has more than four decades of experience in trade-union politics. The bearded elder holds a similar, albeit more eloquent, opinion. "The CPM had actually started abandoning the working class in the mid-60s. What they did after coming to power in West Bengal defined
their policy for the rest of the country. During the five years between 1977 and 1982, CITU would take every issue, even a petty issue, to the secretariat, under the slogan 'vam front sarkar, sangramer hathiyar' ('Left front government is our fighting weapon!'). This systematically eroded the fighting capacity of the working class.
The result was that when employers began their offensive in 1982, openly defying the state machinery, the workers were already politically disarmed.This led to the era of kalo chukt or 'black agreements', when union leaders consistently compromised workers' interests through under- the-table deals, leading to further degeneration of the party and its trade-union wing. So today, we have the party openly attacking peasants in Nandigram and workers in Kolkata," he says, adding, "This probably answers your 'How?' But the answer to your 'Why?' can be given in two words — 'class betrayal'. "
Despite this, one may still ask why the CITU (or the CPM) stoops to murder today? The answer is simple. Peasants and workers have finally begun to assert their independence and started to break out of the CPI (M) stranglehold. For the party, this simply amounts to revolt, which must be punished with death. A tiny section of the Indian working class has begun to stand up on its feet. Its incipient rejection of the traditional pattern of trade union politics deeply antagonises the existing labor aristocracy. It's this marginal group that Ram Parvesh represented. His was a death foretold.

__._,_.___

*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh

http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm

*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf

*****************************************

MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm

*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm

*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona 
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/


*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm

*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/


Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm

*****************************************

Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:

http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm

****************************************************

VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

****************************************************

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___