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My interest is about implementing Green Democracy
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I am always interested in Democracy; I am, because I love it; because it permits freedom for its people to defy. Until one defy cannot taste the excellence of this system.
However, I have also seen and experienced that in democratic India the state power performs like egoist fool and biased enemy to the agitators. They appear violent towards those who deny accepting government orders and launch rallies. Whether it is in peaceful Narmada Bachao (save the Narmada river) Movements or in Bhumi Uchchhed Protirodh Andolon (movement against farmland acquisitions) state power appeared like furious bull. They even do not hesitate to use lethal bullet to stop them.
In recent past we have seen during Nandigram and Singur crisis in West Bengal, state police fired on unarmed farmers who stood against the state government’s order of compulsory farmland acquisition for setting up industry. On 14th of February 2007 almost 14 people died. Is this ‘feel good face’ of Democracy?
Here lurks big enigma. The realities about democracy we Indian experience, some how, differ with the rosy concept peeps through books. If people have right to raise voice and enjoy freedom of speech, then why wont they protest against unjust. Why, if are allowed to cannot cry loud? Why state would use force to stop them?
Which I want to mention here is, the frequent violation of human rights, unfortunately become common scene in India. That sullied the glory of the best concept ever to run a state, Democracy.
The increasing number of atrocities, crime and corruption in government offices are alarming in India. Political parties are least bothered about disorders. They are, in fact, involved in crime and corruptions. Media reports confirmed about the bribery, rigging and horse-trading by the parliamentarians.
Therefore, if I get any opportunity to intervene and examine the process and possibilities of Democracy, I would like to find out ways to implement non-violent means to run a state. In addition, the vital issues, which in India not addressed properly by political parties, are all about environment. As a developing country, to go green, is a social and moral responsibility.
Though the terms ‘green,’ ‘environmental,’ ‘ecological’ and ‘sustainable" mean different things to different people; indeed each word has contested meanings. As the term 'ecological' remain a technical biological significance, but it has seeped irreversibly into much larger social contexts, especially radical politics. Arne Naess' famous distinction between "deep" and "shallow" ecology can be useful [Naess, 1998]. John M. Meyer has proposed a contrast that cuts through Naess' distinction, namely between "broad" and "narrow" ecology or environmentalism (in terms of political vision, mainly) [Meyer, 2005]. One may think of radical ecology vs. reform environmentalism in either or both ways. Harlan Wilson in his valuable paper on the Paradoxes of Green Democracy used the colour "brown" to refer to anti-environmentalist ideologies and practices. Here with the term ‘green’ I not just only want to mean something good and something moral, but also something which is solely biased to environment saving political proposition. To me this green democracy stands for an idealistic means to have non-violence and peace in the country. It would comprise of responsible citizen and humanist government. That would be a state of less corruption more prosperity.
Perhaps neither bill passed by parliament nor one-man propaganda can change the whole. It needs, empirically I can say, a systematic media coverage and involvement of political leaders. To change things radically every one should have move. In other developed countries, there are pressure groups to stand for environment related issues, or stand against the agendas, which hamper sustainable developments, in India that we lack.

September 30, 2008 | 1:58 PM Comments  0 comments



My Experiment with Green Democracy
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

My experience as a journalist, taught me to understand that to be democratic is to be liberal. Liberty of individual, which is a shrinking balloon in today’s complex world, is in risk. Democratic right now means mere suffrage. Existing civil societies in India howl for common people, though, there are lobbies and hidden pages written by market leaders. In this context, I, as a person tried to move something upright.
Since 2002, I am working for Green Democracy. To do this I initiated Dhee Society for Human Resources, a social welfare organisation, apolitical, neutral and out of the partisan politics, the prime intention was to eradicate illiteracy from locality. Voyage started from Sodepur, a small town near Kolkata. From illiteracy eradication, DSHR adopted program for sustainable developments. Challenges were many like unemployment, alcoholisms, pseudo prostitutions and negligence about health and hygiene. The worst challenge was to make people understand the vitality of environment. I took initiative to plant 10000 trees in and around Sodepur involving more than two hundred youth of the locality.
Through working with these people, I have seen that illiteracy and ignorance about democratic and social rights have captivated them in a faulty politics, to them Democracy is meant for election only. Getting seats in parliament or in legislative assemblies or in municipalities are, unfortunately, the prime concerns for politicians. To be more specific, in West Bengal, which is known as the most stable state in the country ruled by communist front for more than last thirty years, the so-called three tire system of Panchayeti Raj could not assure development in villages, rather the malign politics delayed developments. Central Government’s efforts are not reaching in the remote villages of West Bengal, due to political differences between two, so the scene is, there is neither provision of proper education nor job security, and people are dying without foods and medicines. Human right violations are common scene in general. Nothing is reaching to the poorest of the poor, not even pure and safe drinking water.
Former prime minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed and said that, in India about 260 million people are still in below poverty line. It is said that one quarter of the world's poor, is living in this country. About 30 % of this huge democracy’s population is living on less than one Euro per day. About 300 million people are living on less than 50 pence per day. 150 million people living in slums. Being Mumbai the industrial capital and the wealthiest (because of Bollywood) metropolitan in India, is shockingly narrating a morbid story, more than 50% of its population living in shantytowns, open spaces, or on pavements. The World's largest slum, on 432 acres of land, is Dharavi, located in Mumbai. In addition, in the political Capital of the country there are almost 150,000 street children getting no education and moral and ethical values. However all political moves, affiliated by political parties, are populist.
In this dire crisis my effort, I know, is not enough, though, at least, moving a pebble to console my soul.
My emphasis is on three projects,
1. Dharitree, Free education for poor children, especially educating children about their democratic rights and the social responsibilities. Nurturing their creative impulses and inspiring them to be proactive for social cause especially on environmental issues. Ninety-seven children get involved; they started writing for wall magazine ‘Nolen’. The practical democracy experimentally implemented and inspired them to form Young Parliament. I always tried to teach them to take their own decisions through a democratic procedure. Interestingly we noticed that some leaders among those children popped up who lead others, set agenda, and oppose adverse decisions. We name them Didhiti, the beam of hope. This is how; my experiment with green democracy started and went on.
2. Sambal, the project for unemployed youth, which I try to make viable. Unemployment is a curse, in countries like India. Without initiative of small-scale industry it is next to impossible to cope with, I thought. For setting up industry, they need fund, which for me, now, to provide is hardly possible. So started thinking from ground zero level and bridge the gap with knowledge. I started informing youth about several government schemes, in addition to this started helping them out to prepare projects. I personally inspired them to produce Mushroom for marketing purpose. Because the weather condition is ideal for oyster and button mushroom cultivation and it involves low budget to start with. Therefore, in 2003 we started free teaching on how to cultivate mushroom. In the first batch, 25 young men came in and get involved in the cultivation, now those 25 people involved 150 families in this agro based small scale business.
3. Sri is the most vital but half implemented project on the front of women empowerment. We started educating mothers of those children of our Dharitree about the use of nutrition, health and hygiene, the pluralistic social values and the constitutional rights. However, lot more things are there in blueprint to implement.
I think, how I started and how it ran is important, because, neither government grant nor corporate funds sponsored my task. I never looked for these too. My point is always clear, if anything to do, that must be freely done, and must be done by own, however, I know nothing is free in capital-moved world. This dichotomy propelled us to raise fund, right from the pocket. With the help of some other friends and inspired youth our voyage started. We painted greeting cards and hawk for development, organised art exhibitions, published magazines, conducted article writing competitions for school children to get initial fuel to run the engine. Fortunately, this move gave us prominence in locality. We move forward. The effort, which I kicked off, gradually got more legs to tackle. Now DSHR is a community of more than thousand enthusiasts who subscribe Bhuma, a weekly Email Magazine and write for this. The journey, I realise, is not smooth. Political heads try to stop us, but my team never let it lie down.

September 13, 2008 | 9:46 AM Comments  0 comments



Tibet Crisis
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

What are they doing? Are they killing people in Tibet? what was their fault? seeking democracy, cultural ethnicity, or demand of freedom?

China, I think, should mind the will of people of Tibet too. Conflict is not the solution. Hey friends what do you think?

March 27, 2008 | 12:56 AM Comments  0 comments

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The Individual Liberty; a Farce
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Democratic and civil rights give a person the opportunity to demand and insist on the fulfillment of economic rights. In the absence of a political freedom no deprived is either able to raise voice or can change fate.

It is sad to say that half of the globe still struggling to find stability, to find freedom and financial strength. Look at Asian scene. Nepal is, emerging as a democracy, bathing in blood. (Welcome to this dream state.) Bangladesh is suffering from ill democracy, (sad! Try again.) In countries like Pakistan democracy turned to Autocracy and again turning head to the Democratic process. In Afghanistan, geography changed, human right is stumbling. In Iraq suffocating violence, toxic choking air and surfeit of tears tear off hopes of democracy.

Lincoln's comment defined this stuff, as it is 'by the people, for the people and of the people' political scenario. In multi party system like India, however, suffrage cushions common men, corruption empowers and power corrupts. The avarice of shrewd politicians completely twisted the patriotic concept.

The ideal condition for the democracy needs democratic mass. That means awareness in people who must be educated and well fed.

Statistics say Asian big (nuclear power) brothers India, Pakistan, and china still struggling against poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy. However, the rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China is threatening highly advanced countries in Europe. India runs faster in the same race. Market indexes are curving up. Bombay stock exchange has crossed �fifteen thousand� mark milestone, however, the story of poverty remains almost same in India.

Zoom in...

Still; in Darjeeling tea estates of West Bengal people are starving; surviving without food, dying without medicine. Communist government of this Indian state is trying to hide the truth. They are now firm to acquire lands from farmers to set up industries or industrial estates, which means welcoming �capital� and saying good-bye to agriculture. It might sound weird; but the harsh truth is ruthless, to capture land government instructed police to shoot farmers. In Singur and Nandigram poor peoples blood shaded the gaudy face of Indian democracy.

West Bengal is not the only instance of disorders. Humiliation of public wish by the state power has become a common phenomenon in democratic India.

Zoom out...

It is said that freedom must have two facets one is political, if there is any; the other one might be economic. The concept of freedom starts with the options open. Poverty stricken man never can rank education before food, future before the present or the welfare for others before his own. Thus, he withdraws himself from the race of the so-called development.
When the state, designs, directs and imposes an agenda, to which all must conform and within which all are confined, people finds no meaning for political freedom.

In ideal civil society, there are as many focal points as individuals, who all design, shape and direct their own lives, guided by their own interests, ideals and passions.
However, no such country is �ideal� in nature. The sublimed concept of welfare state; now bookish term; which is for bookworms to use, to lecture and lament.

March 19, 2008 | 12:25 AM Comments  0 comments



Another glasnost and the other rebel
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Just two decades it took to happen. Through out the globe, no other revolution put equal impact straight off, like Internet did, undoubtedly. Even in the impoverished Africa or developing Asia ICT changed the means of struggle, means of achieving goals.

One of my Zimbabwean journalist friends, Saru, explains how they struggle to publish reports. She was a reporter for an English daily, though unfortunately, the government army collapsed their office and they lost jobs. To fight this unjust she started writing for Internet magazine. Started bloging and filing stories for different websites.
“That worked well”, she says, “people of Zimbabwe use to read those sites and get informed.”
-Are they making decisions to take effective steps?
-I don’t know, really. But the thin hope-brook still is flowing.

If not in Zimbabwe, in other places, I know, how political decision makers turned alert. The fear of media is the fear of God, now. In countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and India media played crucial role in decision-making and is playing till today.

Recently, we have seen, during General Musarraf’s regime, emergency was declared to trim the power of media in Pakistan. All major news channels were forced to down shutter. Newspapers, in editorial contents, were denied liberty. The freedom of speech too was withdrawn. But it is the web media, which revealed all mess before the whole world and forced them to retreat. In Bangladesh recently, a story of human right violation to a journalist popped up through Internet. Whole world excoriate the crime.

Is this enough? Should we now ‘sit on the sty of contentment’ and die non-productive, because few deprived got justice out of it or urban life became simpler? If the answer is no, then jump in and make the move effective.

Your emotions, my friends, are global. Pain, sorrow or pleasure neither boundary nor dogma can cage. So unleash folded wings, start flying now. Express your self. Do what ever you wish to. Post your voice, video clips or scribbles. May be someone eagerly listening you as you are listening to him or her.

But, my question is…

Do this society can afford this rise? Especially when, still it is divided with poverty and unemployment. We, still, cannot provide our children fresh water, twice-a-day meal and not even safe air to inhale. The sulphur of violence is blowing in the wind. Basic education, in most of the poor countries, is not prime priority, to children, as social security is denied. People say digital divide should be figured out.

You can aspire for a change, perhaps for a specific change. But you don’t know how. Who is responsible to implement the solution? Should, United Nations or the regional authority or civil society agents, take part in it? Are the steps UN has taken sufficient? Civil society agents (NGOs), in some cases, are too much interested about their own profits. Then who, who can obliterate the disparity and how, I don’t think state authority will be interested to give people chance to sting them.

Big multinational corporate houses can come forward and shoulder the responsibility. If they refuse from the point of development view, why not from their own standpoint of profit and usability, as in India and China, we observed, telecom companies made it possible, to some extent.

February 27, 2008 | 7:11 AM Comments  0 comments



The prologue to the truth
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

1
We are used to a society, a morality, which is based on violence. We all understand its pros and cons. However it infects us, pollutes our children. We are brought up with it. The human nature always conspires to imitate, to conform. It corrupts, consciously or unconsciously, our psyche. We find ourselves violent.
During terrorist attack on World Trade Centre we have seen the trauma. The hellish scene on TV screen, made us nearly mad. We jumped out and excoriated terrorism. And we became almost equally heinous to tackle the battle. Our ego mesmerised our emotion. We, unfortunately, terrorised the people of the world with our ballistic missiles. Roar of worldwide intellectual failed to stop us. We were strong and determined to carry our strike on. Those who supported us became our men, and others were enemy. There was clear polarisation in media world too. Our media hailed our stand all along. They did never even raise eyebrow when our valiant warriors were killing innocent men and children or were amused in gang rape. They published our propaganda, day after day; telecast it round the clock, 24X7. The other media used to annoy us, however, could not deter us from the mission of destruction.
Are not we ashamed of our deeds? To punish wrong if battle is necessary, should we not fight it for innocents? If yes, then why are we not doing?
Utter confusion reigns over us. We do not know what actually we should do, how can we get rid of this dilemma. Ears are fatigued with high moral discourses. Our need is to find a short-cut-way to happiness. New man of new millennium does have no faith in any ism, any Logos, they are panicky and struggling with the ‘risk-society’.
Pace is the God, now, and the money is the Goddess. High way to that heaven must be good investment plan, few mathematical tricks and customized morality. Will it, soothe, really, people of modern world?
The answer I know is, ‘No’.
2
It must, now, be confessed that the religion I mean is not based on rites. Rather it is about human being. It relates individual’s sorrow and joy, triumph and failure. It gives a person his own identity and rational approach to others.
Hinduism defines nature as Dharma. And Dharma is the universal truth. It has enormous facets to glitter. The inner truth is the immortality of the supreme Ego of man (Atman), which is almost equally strong and able as the Omnipotent Brahma. It is the Complete; in individual it is present as Atman. Like a fire covered with ash. There is the hidden possibility.
So the ‘kingdom of God is within you’. But you have to have the key to enter into the realm. You need to decode the enigma and understand what you are and where you live in with intellectual reasoning. And then the quest for God may start. There is neither heaven nor hell out of this mundane life.
Scientific discoveries helped conceptualise the knowledge immensely. Science always proved the rule of nature. New scientific discoveries have provided spiritual masters new path to walk on. In many occasions they have accepted the scientific truth and moulded their teachings accordingly.
Kantian metaphysics is an instance to bridge religion and science. Theosophists in India had also tried to minimise the gap between two. Social reformers lit up many dark zone of religion with the light of scientific knowledge. And thus the modern religion took shape.
Newton’s axioms are now religious truth as Darwin’s ‘struggle for existence’ theory is. As science progressed, religion progressed too. As well as the evil forces of this universe also find its own way to advance.
The hindsight of international political scene gives you bitter info. Destroyed Iraq is still not rebuilt. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar politically lost their compass. Bombing is still on in Afghanistan. Children are growing up in refugee camps, playing with lethal weapons, and breathing toxic air. The meek world is being threatened nuclear holocaust by warmonger leaders.
Countries like Iran aspire for nuclear power. The only use of it, kids of those countries know, is on the battlegrounds to annihilate enemy. They don’t perhaps realise that the enemy is the mankind itself. A rumour is also blowing in the wind; intelligence agencies are working on it to find out; that terrorists have nuclear power too. They are equally equipped to bring doomsday.
William Golding rightly commented, in his ‘Lord of the flies’, “Man produces evil as bee produces honey.” “The mankind,” is in “grief… sheer grief, grief, grief.” Shakespeare said, though, that ‘joy’ is also woven fine with the ‘woe’.
3
So, when I started my voyage to joy. I remember, I was just crossed my adolescence, and not in journalism then. The joy, I thought, my God is. Where did I not go to grab? After few days, though, I realised it was the toughest thing to put in pocket. Moreover, I noticed my anger about the disorder around. I tried many religious schools and different meditation courses like Buddhist Vipassana to Hindu yoga to dig up real reason of anger, and hatred. Finally I found the hidden enemy out. It is violence living within to spoil the eternal bliss. The Lucifer, I assume, is the brewer of superbia, avarice and anger.
J Krishnamurti writes in his ‘Beyond Violence’, “It (violence) is like a stone dropped in a lake, the waves spread and spread, at the centre is the ‘me’. As long as the ‘me’ survives in any form, very subtly or grossly, there must be violence.”
This ‘me’ is not Hindu’s Atman. It is the ego and self-centrism of a man. The pivot man, who wrinkled my mind and tried to bring me out, is so-called naked fakir of India, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (The Mahatma). 4
Non-violence and truth (Satya) were inseparable. There was no God, to Gandhi, higher than the truth.
The ‘truth is God’ proposition was of crucial importance to Gandhi and the evolution of his thought. It slipped in me as well. So, I have chosen journalism as career, I believed and still do that in this profession I would have opportunity to unmask hypocrisies.
Truth is ever a cardinal characteristic of philosophical speculation in India. Hinduism always recognized ‘truth’ as one of the basic attributes of the Divine life. The Srimadbhagwat says ‘Sattyam param Dhi mahi’ truth should be regarded as Prime.
Religion according to Mahatma Gandhi was not totally esoteric. He wanted to craft a secular, ideal God for poor India, addressing all religious creeds. Like King Akbar he never named it though. Effort was only to canopy different isms of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and others. In his melting pot he wanted to see them happy, spiritually close to each other.
The Love that Gandhi believed in led him to staunchly reject the use of evil means no matter how good the goal. For him a good end would be corrupted and not reached if wrong means are used. Ahimsa is the use of non-violent means to achieve ends believed to be good. Gandhi said paraphrasing Christ that “we reap exactly as we sow”.
The concept of Ahimsa is a complex ethical virtue. It has figured prominently and is given enormous significance in the religion of Jainism. It has acquired special importance as a philosophy of life and a technique of action has grown around it in the hands of Mahatma Gandhi during a period over of three decades. It has great significance for people like us, as well, who are insistently contemplating a new social order to outlaw terrorism and violence from our midst.
5
"Who listens to me today?" Mahatma Gandhi asked once helplessly. In those days India was just divided into two and was burning in communal fire. The prophet of non-violence had to suffer the bloody agony. All hopes were uprooted. Before he was killed he saw dreams to die. It was not Godse, but religious fanaticism, killed the man.
Gandhi recognized ‘fear’ to be ‘the cause of violence’. According to his analysis fear is the most degrading human emotion. It destroys our mind and corrupts our morals. This is the reason why on many occasions Gandhi said that he ‘preferred violence to cowardice’.
In this freak and risky society, frenzied people, fanatic nationalists, blind cadres are fighting each other to prove them right, raise their flag of ego up above. You must know the field and have patience. I deny sword and pick up pen, as it is mightier, I believe. To face truth need reasoning, need the power of scientific knowledge, as well as a religiously responsible mind. That state descends to a person through love. Because, life is beautiful and love is the God, the moment we realize that we are all parts of a single spirit, there will be no violence for the simple reason that it hurts one’s own self.

February 16, 2008 | 2:30 AM Comments  1 comments

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