Be The Change

be the change you wish to see in this world

Archive for April, 2006

Linking to Support the Bhopal and Narmada Campaigns

Posted by k.r.a.k.t.i.k on April 15, 2006

Here are a couple of useful diagonal bands to display on your blogs and webpages and do your bit to support the Bhopal and Narmada movements, now gathering strength in Delhi and around the world.

Note: The code below is to be put between the <head> and </head> tags of your template.

If you have any suggestions for improving these bands or new ways to spread awareness, please leave a comment – and do spread the word by linking back to this post using this link. And if you choose to use one or more of the bands, leave us a comment with a link to your blog / website, so we can all show our support.

For an example of how the bands would look on your blog/webpage, visit here.

Bhopal

Bhopal Left Diagonal Band

<!-- Bhopal left code starts-->
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.geocities.com/ganganesh86/bhopalleft.js">
</script><noscript>
<a href="http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/FaxAction/email_action.php">

http://bhopal.aidindia.com/</a></noscript>

</head>
<!-- Bhopal left code ends-->

Bhopal Right Diagonal Band

<!-- Bhopal code right starts here-->
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.geocities.com/ganganesh86/bhopalright.js">
</script><noscript>
<a href="http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/FaxAction/email_action.php">

http://bhopal.aidindia.com/</a></noscript>

</head>
<!-- Bhopal code ends here-->

Narmada

Narmada Left Diagonal Band

<!-- Narmada left code starts-->
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.geocities.com/ganganesh86/narmadaleft.js">
</script><noscript>
<a href="http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada/">

http://www.aidindia.com/narmada</a></noscript>

</head>
<!-- Narmada left code ends-->

Narmada Right Diagonal Band

<!-- I support NBA code right starts here-->
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://www.geocities.com/ganganesh86/narmadaright.js">
</script><noscript>
<a href="http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada/">

http://www.aidindia.com/narmada</a></noscript>

</head>
<!-- I support Narmada code ends here-->

Posted in Activism, Society and Change | 10 Comments »

14th April – Dr. Ambedkar’s birthday

Posted by bethechange on April 14, 2006

ambedkarBhimrao Ambedkar (1891-1956)
Founding Father, modern India
M.A. 1915, Ph.D. 1928
LL.D. 1952 (hon.)

Ambedkar was a leader in the struggle for Indian independence, the architect of the new nation's constitution, and the champion of civil rights for the (then) 60 million members of the "untouchable" caste, to which he belonged. He spoke and wrote ceaselessly on behalf of "untouchables," but his passion for justice was broad: in 1950 he resigned from his position as the country's first minister of law when Nehru's cabinet refused to pass the Women's Rights Bill. Ambedkar was committed to maintaining his independence, and many of the positions he staked out in a long and complex relationship with Gandhi – on the future of Hinduism, for example – remain central to debate within Indian society.

Ambedkar received a scholarship to Columbia University from the Maharajah of Baroda, who would deal with him only through an intermediary. He earned an M.A. in 1915 and then a doctorate at the London School of Economics, returning to Columbia University for a Ph.D. that he received in 1928. In 1952 Columbia presented him with an honorary doctorate for his service as "a great social reformer and a valiant upholder of human rights." In 1995, a bronze bust of Ambedkar was donated to Lehman Library by the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organizations of the United Kingdom.

At Columbia University, Ambedkar studied under John Dewey, who inspired many of his ideas about equality and social justice. Ambedkar later recounted that at Columbia he experienced social equality for the first time. "The best friends I have had in my life," he told the New York Times in 1930, "were some of my classmates at Columbia and my great professors, John Dewey, James Shotwell, Edwin Seligman, and James Harvey Robinson."

"My final words of advice to you is – Educate, Agitate, Organise – have faith in yourself. With justice on our side, I do not see how we can lose our battle. The battle to me is a matter of joy. The battle is in the fullest sense spiritual. There is nothing material or social in it. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of the human personality." –Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.

Posted in Society and Change | 29 Comments »

Your Land – My Land?

Posted by k.r.a.k.t.i.k on April 8, 2006

Some observations on the Narmada and Sardar Sarovar Dam issue:

Who gets to decide on what is right and what not? Who really decides what is development for the country? My country.

Is it the person who gives the orders to send more than 300 policemen in riot-gear to forcibly arrest and fetch three almost unconscious people who have touched nary a morsel for eight days? The person who forcibly feeds them against their will?

Another observation from the above and having watched at least 5 odd movies on Bhagat Singh's life and times (which I don't claim were terribly representative, but the facts are recorded in history as well) – how is this forced-feeding different from what the British did in 1923? Is it that now its done in a fancy ward called the ICU in AIIMS Delhi instead of a jail in Punjab?

From an article on rediff.com: is it easier to identify with a MiG pilot killed in the line of duty for his country or a model, the decked up face of society, shot in cold blood and denied justice persistently, than 35,000 far-flung and remote families in a place most of us will never even place on a map, leave alone visit? Is identification all there is to addressing injustice?

On desicritics: How is Medha Patkar and her stand different from that of Lata Mangeshkar's on the Peddar Road flyover? Does anyone have a right to impede the technological progress of the country? By no means, but does that give anyone (read GoI and the Sardar Sarovar Project) the right to displace thousands of people from their homes without even offering the most basic remuneration – a suitable new home?

How many college students in our country care about this issue? How many even know that this is an issue? Or that thousands are being displaced? Or that there is a river called the Narmada? Is the youth of the country aware of this issue, leave alone pro-active on it? Would you exchange SMSes on this?

These and a lot of other postings all over the www; the only thing that seems to really stand out amongst all these is the fact that society in general doesn't seem to care, and that there would be much more done if only it were for some active participation from people all around the country.

Think about it – the freedom struggle, the anti-VietnamWar demonstrations in the US, the Jessica Lall case more recently – the only reason people have responded has been the presence of the fear that the malaise in question may and indeed will come to haunt them in the not-so-distant future. The Vietnam War had a draft in place in the USA – as against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with no compulsory enrollment for young people of military-service age; seems to explain the absence of those anti-war protestors better. And a lack of identity with the situation.

What if your home were to be seized in the name of development, and in return you weren't even given a suitable place to live? Leave alone compensation. Would you keep quiet?

Would you want everyone else to?

Posted in Activism, Society and Change | 6 Comments »

 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.