WIN: Voters in Maryland, Maine, and Washington (projected) break a 32-state losing streak and legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.
WIN: Voters in Minnesota vote down a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
WIN: The 113th Congress will have a record number of female senators: 20. Sixteen of them are Democrats; four are Republicans.
WIN: Elizabeth Warren (MA) is one of them. Elizabeth Warren won.
WIN: Mazie Hirono (HI) is also one of them. She is the first Asian American female senator!
WIN: Tammy Baldwin (WI) is also one of them, defeating popular Republican Tommy Thompson in the Wisconsin Senate race, making her both Wisconsin’s first female senator and the first openly gay member of the US Senate. Said Baldwin: “I am well aware that I will have the honour to be Wisconsin’s first woman US senator, and I am well aware that I will be the first openly gay member of the United States Senate, but I didn’t run to make history. I ran to make a difference. But in choosing me to tackle those problems the people of Wisconsin have made history.”
WIN: Claire McCaskill (MO) is also one of them, defeating the loathsome anti-choice rape apologistTodd Akin.
WIN:In Indiana, Democrat Joe Donnelly beat the loathsome anti-choice rape apologist Richard Mourdock in their race for the US Senate.
WIN: In Washington, Democrat Suzan DelBene beat the loathsome anti-choice rape apologist John Koster in their race for seat in the state congress.
WIN: In Illinois, Tammy Duckworth beat the loathsome anti-choice rape apologist Joe Walsh in their race for the US House of Representatives. Duckworth, who lost both legs serving in Iraq, is the first female war veteran with disabilities elected to the US Congress.
WIN:US voters chose women of color, women with disabilities, women who are gay, pro-choice women, and rejected men who minimize rape.
WIN: New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to have an all-female Congressional delegation: Two female senators and two female representatives. Their newly elected governor is also a woman.
WIN: Colorado and Washington voters legalized marijuana for recreational use. Massachusetts voters legalized marijuana for medical use.
WIN: A majority of US voters rejected bigotry and reelected our African American President.
WIN: US voters rejected voter suppression efforts and often withstood long lines and shady disincentives to vote. vote. vote.
That is not a comprehensive list. And there were also some disappointments. Some state initiatives passed that are shitty. Indiana’s new governor is Mike Pence, and we certainly aren’t the only state who elected a gross conservative to a statehouse or Congress in a hard-won race.
But it was a big night. A big night for progress. A broad mandate.
I hope the President hears the roar of his progressive base. I hope he knows what a difference it made when he spoke out in favor of marriage equality. I hope he governs like a person who won because of people who expect more.
I hope we all muster the strength and sustain the will to urge him ever forward.
A 14-year-old girl, Shikha Kaur, was killed on the spot while her 17-year-old friend Amandeep Kaur suffered injuries after an unidentified motorcycle-borne man opened fire at them in Peedal village, 25km from district headquarters Kaithal, around 8am on Wednesday. No motive could be established, as neither did the families suspect anyone nor did any eyewitness testify, said the police.
Minutes after the incident, a group of angry residents led by Shikha’s relatives placed her body on the Kaithal-Patiala road and damaged two state-run buses, though no casualty was reported. The police now blame the agitating mob for the killer’s escape as, for four hours, cops remained caught up in pacifying the protesters and could not launch an immediate manhunt.
Amandeep, a Class-12 student, was rushed to Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, around 40km away, with injuries to her wrist. She was scheduled to be operated upon late in the night. Shikha’s post-mortem examination, meanwhile, said she died of a gunshot near the stomach that pierced through her body.
According to what Amandeep purportedly told her father Jagdev Singh, she and Class-8 student Shikha were walking to their school — Shantiniketan Senior Secondary Public School — when a young man, who had his face covered with a piece of cloth, appeared in front of them on a bike and opened fire. Amandeep lost consciousness after that.
“We had no enmity with anyone. I don’t know why my daughter was killed,” said Shikha’s father Nanak Singh, a bus driver, who told the police that he was on duty in Cheeka town nearby when he got a call about the incident. Amandeep’s father Jagdev, a farmer, told HT from Patiala that his family, too, did not have enmity with anyone.
While superintendent of police (SP) Kuldeep Singh rued that no villager had come forward as witness, station house officer (SHO) Kashmir Singh added that their team had rushed to the murder spot immediately but had to first control the agitating family: “In the initial crucial hours, we were not allowed to take effective measures to nab the assailant, who could have dissolved into the mob and managed to slip away.”
Even as none came forward as eyewitness, some villagers told HT on the condition on anonymity that the killer had an accomplice, a man riding besides him on another bike: “One motorbike was left behind. But in the melee later, someone took it away.”
via- Faisal Anurag
जेल से यह पत्र मुझे कल ही दयामनी ने पाठ्य था. यह पत्र आप सब के लिए है मैंने साथिओं से इसे साझा करने को कहा था.
आप सबों को जोहार,
मैंने झारखंड की धरती को कभी धोखा नहीं दिया. झारखंड की जनता के सवालों से कभी समझौता नहीं किया. कोयल नदी, कारो नदी और छाता नदी का बहता पानी इसका साक्षी है. इस धरती के मिट्टी-बालू में अंगुलियों से लिखना सीखा. कारो नदी के तट में बकरी चराते-नदी के पानी मे
ं डुबकी लगा कर नहाते तैरना सीखा.
आकाश के ओस के बूंदों से नहाये घास-फूस और पेड़-पौधों की छाया ने मुझे प्यार दिया –
इसका कैसे सौदा कर सकती हूं?दयामनी की हिरासत बड़ी, नगड़ी में पुलिस के साए तले निर्माण का अदालती फरमान जारीदयामनी बारला: 3 अगस्त 2011 को भूमि अधिग्रहण के विरोध में जंतर मंतर पर पर दिया गया भाषण जिस समाज ने मुझे जीना सिखाया, उस समाज के दु:ख दर्द का साथी अपने को कैसे नहीं बनाती? इनके हक-हुकूक-जज्बातों की रक्षा करना भी हमारी (सबों की) जिम्मेवारी है. और जिम्मेवारी निभानेवालों के लिए शायद यही रास्ता है. इनके हिस्से सिर्फ संकट और परेशानी ही लिखी हुई है, यही जिंदगी का सच है.
मैंने तो सरकार को बताने की कोशिश की थी कि आपका सिस्टम अपने नागरिकों के प्रति-अपनी जिम्मेवारी का निर्वहन नहीं कर रहा है. रोजगार गारंटी योजना के तहत ग्रामीणों का पलायन रोकने के लिए ग्रामीण इलाकों में ही 100 दिनों का रोजगार उपलब्ध कराना है, जिसके लिए अनगड़ा के ग्रामीणों ने जॉब कार्ड मांगने के लिए रैली की. उन पर केस हुआ. उस आंदोलन में मेरे साथ कई साथी उपस्थित थे. सर्वविदित है मनरेगा योजना के घोटाला के बारे में. सच्चाई यही है कि ग्रामीणों को कुछ भी नहीं मिला. लेकिन, हक मांगनेवाले अपराधी करार दिये गये हैं. मैं जेल पहुंच गयी.
नगड़ी में सरकार गलत तरीके से नियम-कानून को ताक पर रख कर 227 एकड़ कृषि भूमि पर कब्जा कर रही है. सरकार को बताने की कोशिश की कि आप गलत कर रहे हैं. कानून और मानवता के आधार पर. खेती की जमीन छोड़ दीजिए और बंजर भूमि पर लॉ कॉलेज और आइआइएम बनाइए, आप का स्वागत है. हमार गुनाह बस इतना ही है. इसी अपराध में हमारे चार साथी पहले ही जेल काट चुके, कई के हाथ टूटे. आज मैं जेल में हूं.
राज्य के लुटेरे आज सरकार और संवैधानिक संस्थाओं की नजर में देश के शुभचिंतक हैं. राज्य के संसाधनों को लूटनेवाले, मानवाधिकारों का दमन करनेवालों को सरकार और संवैधानिक संस्थाएं संरक्षण दे रही हैं और इस धरती के भूमिपुत्र/पुत्री- शुभचिंतकों को अपराधी करार दिया जा रहा है. सिदो-कान्हू-बिरसा मुंडा सहित तमाम स्वतंत्रता सेनानियों को भी यही ताज पहनाया गया था.
क्या सच है, क्या गलत है, मैं नहीं समझ पा रही हूं, लेकिन यही जिंदगी की हकीकत है कि मैं आज पत्थर हो गयी हूं. पूरी दुनिया सो रही है. रात का एक बजा है अभी. बिरसा मुंडा केंद्रीय कारा के महिला वार्ड में बंदी भी सो रहे हैं. मैं अकेली बैठी हूं. जिंदगी में किसी के दु:ख से अपने को अलग नहीं किया. दिन हो या रात, हमेशा लोगों का आंसू पोंछने के लिए रात का अंधकार भी मेरा रास्ता कभी नहीं रोक सका. लेकिन आज मेरे पैर बंधे हुए हैं. हर आंख का आंसू पोछनेवाले हाथ जकड़ दिये गये हैं. मेरे घर में भाभी की लाश पड़ी हुई है, मेरा परिवार भय से डूबा हुआ है और मैं जेल में निसहाय मूक-बधिर बन कर रह गयी हूं. आंख में आंसू हैं लेकिन बह नहीं पा रहे हैं. आज 6/11/12 को कोर्ट में जाना है. मुझे समझ में आ गया है कि कोई नया केस मेरे ऊपर चढे.गा, जिसके लिए मुझे कस्टडी में लिया जायेगा या रिमांड में या प्रोडक्शन वारंट जारी किया जायेगा. मैंने आज भाभी के अंतिम संस्कार माटी में शामिल होने के लिए कोर्ट को आवेदन दिया है. मुझे नहीं पता अनुमति मिलेगी या नहीं. मेरा भरोसा अब ‘भरोसा’ से भी उठ रहा है.
हां, फैसल दा, बासवी जी, नेलसन, अलोका, प्रवीण, सुशांतो, मीडिया के साथी सहित सभी साथियों (सबका नाम नहीं ले पा रही हूं जो नजदीक में हैं और दूर में हैं) ने मेरा हौसला बुलंद किया है. मेरी आंख के आंसू पोछे हैं.
जेल में बंद कई लोग दुआएं दे रहे हैं कि तुमको यहां नहीं, बाहर रह कर काम करना है. मैं कोशिश करूंगी अपने को उसी तरह खड़ा रखने की, जिस तरह नदी, नाला, पहाड़, जंगल, गांव-गांव में खड़ा होकर नारा बुलंद करते रहे हैं. हम अपने पूर्वजों की एक इंच जमीन नहीं देंगे. आशा है आज का, अभी का यह क्षण ही जिंदगी का अंतिम पड़ाव नहीं है. जब तक कोयल, कारो और छाता नदी की धराएं बहती रहेगी, जिंदगी की जंग जारी रहेगी.
आप लोगों की बहन
दयामनी बरला
6 नवम्बर 2012, बिरसा मुंडा, केन्द्रिय काराग्रह, रांची (झारखंड)
Translation – Newzfirst
I have never deceived my homeland. I never overlooked the questions raised by the Jharkand people. The flowing water of the Koyal, Karo and Chata rivers is a witness to this. I learnt to write with my fingers in the mud and sand of this land. On the banks of the river Karo, while grazing my sheep, I learnt to bathe and swim. The shade of grass and trees covered with dew filled in the sky, gave me love; how can I sell this? How couldn’t I make the pain and suffering of the society which taught me how to live, a part of myself?
To protect the interests and rights of these people is our (everyone’s) responsibility. And I think this is the only way for the persons who try to fulfill this responsibility. Only dangers and troubles are written in their fate, this is the reality of life. I tried to tell the government that their system is not fulfilling its responsibility towards its citizens.
When the villagers of Anagda took out a rally demanding job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gaurantee Act (MGNREGA), which was started to prevent the migration of people from rural areas by providing them work for 100 days, a case was lodged against them. Many of my friends were present in that rally. The MGNREGA scam is clear before everyone. The truth is that the poor rural people did not get anything except that they were declared as culprits.
Then I was put in jail. Violating the laws of the land, the government was forcefully acquiring 227 acres of agricultural land from the villagers of Nagdi. I tried to tell the government that they are doing a wrong thing. On the basis of law and human values, I asked them to leave the agricultural land alone. You are welcome to build the Law College and IIM on an infertile and unproductive land, I said. My crime was this, because of which four of my people were already behind bars, many lost their hands and today I am behind bars. Today, looters of the state have become well wishers in the sight of the government and its institutions. On one hand, the exploiters of state’s resources and human rights violators are being given protection by the government, and on the other hand the sons and daughters who are the well wishers of the land are being declared as criminals. Every well wisher of the country is being treated in the same manner as Birsa Munda, who was termed as a criminal when he fought for the people.
What is right and what is wrong I am not able to understand. But I Know this much that I have turned into a stone today. The whole world is sleeping. It is 1’o clock in the night and the captives are sleeping in the women’s ward of Birsa Munda Central Jail. I am sitting alone. I have never kept myself away from the pain and suffering of others, whether it be day or night. Even the darkness of the night could not stop me from wiping the tears of others, but today my legs have been tied. Every hand which used to wipe another’s tear, has been chained. My sister-in-law’s dead body is lying in my house, my family is engulfed with fear and I am lying in the jail both helpless and speechless. I cannot shed tears even though I have tearful eyes. Today, on 6 November 2012, I have to go to the court. I have a feeling that a new case will be lodged against me, for which I will be taken into custody or be remanded or a production warrant will be issued against me. I am losing trust on trust itself.
I thank all my friends, near and dear, who have extended their support to me in this time of sorrow. All my jail inmates are persuading me to fight this battle from outside the walls of this jail. I will try my best to be as steadfast as the mountains, rivers and forests which stand firm in the villages and towns, elevating the voice of this struggle. We will not give even an inch of our ancestral land. We hope that this moment will not be the end of our lives because until the streams of Koyal, Karo and Chata continue to flow, we will fight this battle.
Your Sister,
Dayamani Barla
(This letter was written to Faisal Anurag and was also first published in the Hindi Newspaper ‘Prabhat Khabar’)
(Washington, D.C.) – Suzanne Nossel, Amnesty International USA executive director issued the following statement in response to the re-election of President Barack Obama:
“When President Obama was first elected in 2008, many human rights activists rejoiced. It had been eight long years where the United States tortured, detained hundreds without charge and trial and tried to justify the horrors of Abu Ghraib. President Obama’s first campaign for the White House offered the promise of an administration that would recapture the United States’ credibility on human rights issues, bringing detention practices in line with international law, repudiating secrecy and ensuring that human rights weren’t traded away in the name of national security.
“More simply, President Obama promised a new dawn of American leadership, one in which human rights would be given more than lip-service.
“Unfortunately the first Obama administration broke many of its promises when human rights were pitted against national security interests. When it comes to countering terrorism, President Obama has hidden behind national security imperatives to shield administration policy in secrecy and pursue programs such as expanded drone use and thwarted accountability.
“President Obama’s second term will determine whether the post 9/11 stains on the United States’ human rights record are an anomaly or the new normal. It was Mitt Romney who said of the challenges of counter-terrorism that ‘we can’t kill our way out of this mess,’ But too many of President Obama’s policies are an attempt to do just that: kill lists, drone strikes and disposition matrixes will not restore the United States’ credibility or the respect it needs around the world to keep the United States safe.
“Unlawful killings and other human rights violations sanctioned by the U.S government undermine the rule of law globally, creating a climate in which other countries can point to a double-standard to justify their own human rights abuses with the refrain, ‘if the U.S. government does that, why shouldn’t we.’
The United States’ power and influence should derive from its commitment to the rule of law and to advancing human rights and dignity. President Obama should not trade that away at any price.
“President Obama has been given a second chance to keep his promises on human rights. Don’t blow it.”
Kareem Dennis (born 23 May 1986) is a musician and political activist of English and Iraqi descent, better known by his stage name Lowkey. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18,before taking a hiatus from the music business. He would return in 2008 with wider music coverage, featured on BBC Radioand appearing at various festivals and concerts including the Electric Proms,Glastonbury, T In The Park and Oxegen in the build up to his first solo album Dear Listener, as well as collaborating with other famous English musicians to form a supergroup. Though his mainstream support gradually declined due to his outspoken political views, his career continued to go from strength to strength as a solo independent artist, touring in countries all over the world including Lebanon, Australia, Greece, Venezuela, the United States, the West Bank in the Palestinian territories, Italy and many more. He released his second solo album Soundtrack to the Struggleindependently on 16 October 2011.
Lowkey ‘s second part to is famous song Obama Nation Off his forthcoming album Soundtrack To The Struggle. He once again points out that the U.S. is continuing the global empire building it started under George Bush. Obama has changed very tittle since he has come to office and it’s time for people to wake up and end U.S. imperialism, the exact thing our forefathers where fighting against.
The song Features M1 of Dead Prez and fellow UK rapper Black The Ripper.
It also includes video of Glenn Beck mocking Lowkey’s song “Terrorist?”. Which Lowkey counters by sampling a portion Lupe Fiasco’s song “Things I Never Said”, which goes “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist, Gaza Strip was gettin’ bombed, Obama didn’t say shit”.
Enjoy Lowkey’s Obama Nation Part 2
Lowkey Obama Nation Part 2 Ft M1 (Dead Prez) & Black The Ripper Lyrics
Buy Lowkey’s Obama Nation Part 2
[Chorus]
I don’t, i don’t want no,
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
Vote for your inauguration,
Cause i don’t need your,
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
[Lupe Fiasco]
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
[Verse 1 – M1 Of Dead Prez]
After you divorce yourself from the right wing
Propaganda campaign, it’s all simple and plain
America customed the game
Your president got an African name, now who you gone blame?
When they drop them bombs out of them planes
Using depleted uranium, babies looking like two headed aliens Follow the money trail it leads to the criminal
Ain’t nothing subliminal to it, that’s how they do it
See they game they run, give a f-ck if he’s cunning
Articulate and handsome, Afghanistan held for ransom
By the hand of this black man, neo-colonial puppet
White power with a black face, he said f-ck it i’ll do it
A master of disguise, expert at telling lies
Then they gave him a Nobel Peace Price
Should of known he was trained in Chicago
Word to Chairmen Fred and Mark Clark
What they do in the dark will come out in the light
Like a wiki leaks site
So I guess Nkrumah was right, who’s ready to fight?
Last stage of imperialism, I ain’t kiddin
In the immortal words of Marvin Gaye ‘This ain’t living’
[Chorus]
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
Vote for your inauguration,
Cause i don’t need your,
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
[Lupe Fiasco]
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
[Verse 2 – Black The Ripper]
O.B.A.M.A
You ain’t fooling everyone I see the games you play
You was V.I.P. at the B.I.C
And we know that’s code name for C.I.A
The same way your cameras are watching us we’re watching you
Think we’re easy to control you ain’t got a clue
Revolutions on the way, let’s see what your gonna do
You gonna send the troops? You gonna drop the nukes?
See it’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at
He’s sitting in the White House so who cares if he’s black
And why’s there soldiers still out there in Iraq?
Natural resources ain’t yours, its theirs give it back!
You’re just another puppet but i’m not surprised
Look at Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice
They didn’t change shit, house nigga’s fresh off the slave ship
You’ll all burn in hell even Michelle, Obama Nation
[Chorus]
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
Vote for your inauguration,
Cause i don’t need your,
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
[Lupe Fiasco]
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
[Verse 3 – Lowkey]
Was the bigger threat from Osama or from Obama?
Military bases from Chagos to Okinawa
I say things that other rappers won’t say
Cause my mind never closed like Guantanamo Bay
Hope you didn’t build a statue or tattoo your arm
Cause the drones are still flying over Pashtunistan
Did he defend the war? No! He extended more
He even had the time to attempt a coup in Ecuador
Morales and Chavez, the state’s are on a hunt for ya
Military now stationed on bases in Columbia
Take a trip to the past and tell em I was right
Ask Ali Abunimah or Jeremiah Wright
Drones over Pakistan, Yemen and Libya
Is Obama the bomber getting ready for Syria?
First black president, the masses were hungry
But the same president just bombed an african country
[Chorus]
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
Vote for your inauguration,
Cause i don’t need your,
Obama, Obama nation (abomination),
I’m not gonna,
[Lupe Fiasco]
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
[Hook 2x]
Is it Obamas nation or an abomination?
Is it Obamas nation or an abomination?
Is it Obamas nation or an abomination?
Doesn’t make any difference when they bomb your nation
So, We must ask ourselves, What is the dictionary definition of “Terrorism”?
The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion
But what is terror?According to the dictionary I hold in my hand, Terror, is violent or destructive acts
Such as bombing committed by groups in order to intimidate a population,
Or government into granting their demandsSo what’s a terrorist?
[Hook:]
They’re calling me a terrorist
Like they don’t know who the terror is
When they put it on me, I tell them this
I’m all about peace and love
They calling me a terrorist
Like they don’t know who the terror is
Insulting my intelligence
Oh how these people judge…
[Verse 1:]
It seems like the Rag-heads and Paki’s are worrying your Dad
But your dad’s favorite food is curry and kebab
It’s funny, but it’s sad how they make your mummy hurry with her bags
Rather read The Sun than study all the facts
Tell me, what’s the bigger threat to human society
BAE Systems or home made IED’s
Remote controlled drones, killing off human lives
Or man with home made bomb committing suicide
I know you were terrified when you saw the towers fall
It’s all terror but some forms are more powerful
It seems nuts, how could there be such agony
When more Israeli’s die from peanut allergies
It’s like the definition didn’t ever exist
I guess it’s all just depending who your nemesis is
Irrelevant how eloquent the rhetoric peddler is
They’re telling fibs, now tell us who the real terrorist is
[Hook:]
They’re calling me a terrorist
Like they don’t know who the terror is
When they put it on me, I tell them this
I’m all about peace and love
They calling me a terrorist
Like they don’t know who the terror is
Insulting my intelligence
Oh how these people judge…
[Verse 2:]
Lumumba was democracy – Mossadegh was democracy
Allende was democracy – Hypocrisy it bothers me
Call you terrorists if you don’t wanna be a colony
We used to bow down to a policy of robbery
Is terrorism my lyrics?
When more Vietnam vets kill themselves after the war than died in it?
This is very basic…
One nation in the world has over a thousand military bases
They say it’s religion, when clearly it isn’t
It’s not just Muslims that oppose your imperialism
Is Hugo Chavez a Muslim? Nah… I didn’t think so
Is Castro a Muslim? Nah… I didn’t think so
It’s like the definition didn’t ever exist
I guess it’s all just depending who your nemesis is
Irrelevant how eloquent the rhetoric peddler is
They’re telling fibs, now tell us who the terrorist is
[Hook:]
They’re calling me a terrorist
Like they don’t know who the terror is
When they put it on me, I tell them this
I’m all about peace and love
They calling me a terrorist
Like they don’t know who the terror is
Insulting my intelligence
Oh how these people judge…
[Outro: x2]
You think that I don’t know,
But I know, I know, I know
You think that we don’t know
But we know
You think that I don’t know,
But I know, I know, I know
You think that we don’t know
But we DO
Was Building 7 terrorism?
Was nanothermite terrorism?
Diego Garcia was terrorism,
I am conscious the Contras was terrorism,
Phosphorous that burns hands – that is terrorism,
Irgun and Stern Gang that was terrorism,
What they did in Hiroshima was terrorism,
What they did in Fallujah was terrorism,
Mandela ANC – that was terrorism,
Jerry Adams IRA – that was terrorism,
Eric Prince black water – it was terrorism,
Oklahoma, McVeigh – that was terrorism,
Everyday USA – that is terrorism,
Everyday UK – that is terrorism,
Everyday…
A 4-minute music video directed by KP Sasi and based on Kamaan Singh Dhami’s anti-war song “American War Paar Da! (Check Out the American War!).” It is a satirical and is a severe indictment of America’s role in escalating world conflict.
Originally written following the post-9/11 bombing of Afghanistan by the USA, and developed to address the occupation of Iraq, the song comments on various aspects of the American empire – its stockpile of nuclear bombs, its cozy relation with fanatical and dictatorial regimes, and in fact, the very notion of American peace and liberty. Copy left right & Center!
Workers of Maruti’s Manesar plant, who were terminated following the violence on July 18, began a dharna in front of the Gurgaon Court/District Commissioner’s Office on Wednesday morning, even as tension was palpable in the area.
“The police came in the morning and pulled off the tents from the site. The workers, about 350 in number, had to re-install the tents and the dharna has begun. More workers will join later ,” alleged Satbir Singh, President, Haryana CITU. Many central unions such as the AITUC and CITU, as well as Maruti’s Gurgaon union have pledged their support to the protest.
“While we will not take part in the hunger strike, we will join them in the protest rally to be held after it as a mark of support,” Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union General Secretary Kuldeep Janghu told a news agency on Tuesday.
In a release, the MSWU has demanded an independent impartial probe into the July 18 incident, and into the role of the management in it, the immediate release of all arrested workers, reinstatement of all 546 terminated workers among others.
The release issued on Tuesday by the provisional working committee of the Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union (registration no. 1923) said the united protest action was to seek justice for 149 workers ‘languishing’ in Gurgaon Central Jail for the last three-and-a-half months, and the 546 permanent workers who have been terminated from their jobs. It said the 149 workers would go on hunger strike inside Gurgaon jail.
“We have the solidarity of the around 2,000 contract and casual workers who have also been unceremoniously thrown out of their jobs,” the release , signed by Imaan Khan, Ram Niwas, O. P. Jat, Katar Singh, Yogesh, Raj Pal, and Mahabir said.
On Thursday, the workers plan to take out a rally in the area to submit a memorandum to the local Minister. They said they were forced into this protest action as the workers’ family members, relatives and well-wishers had given umpteen memorandums to all the Ministers in the State but in vain.
“The entire leadership (of MSWU) was put behind bars and is being portrayed as ‘killers’ without any impartial investigation, and complete silence on the role played by the Maruti management,” the release said.
Meanwhile, trade unions have condemned the Maruti Manesar management for ‘operating under police cover’. “This is a complete violation of all democratic norms in the country,” Singh said.
A Special Investigation Team formed by the Haryana Government has reportedly concluded that the violence at the plant on July 18, in which an HR manager was killed, was due to internal issues between the management and workers. It is said to have ruled out external influence, as suspected by the company.
The Justice AP Shah panel has done to well to lay down an enforceable roadmap that can strengthen privacy laws in the country. It’s now for the legislature to take the issue to a logical conclusion
A haveli courtyard is an apt metaphor for the complexity which is involved in drafting a law on privacy. Though the courtyard gives an appearance of openness, it is limited by the walls, doors and windows which surround it. The architecture represents a mediated understanding of the options which are available to the resident in sharing and limiting information to family and strangers. A somewhat similar project is in the works with the Union Government taking steps towards the enactment of a privacy law.
Privacy law as it is understood at present is usually limited to the odd writ petition filed against the Government by a private individual seeking enforcement of a fundamental right to privacy. Recently, such adjudication has been limited to high-profile individuals, and where there is wide voyeuristic interest. For instance, two recent petitioners include industrialist Ratan Tata and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. Here, it is important to stress that with the state gathering more and more data about individuals through the Unique Identification Authority of India scheme, there is a need to democratise the right by making legal provisions for its enforcement. In making such provisions a balance has to be maintained, where information which serves public interest or gathered through informed consent is not encumbered in the name of protecting individual privacy.
To find this balance, the Government late last year tasked a Committee of Experts chaired by Justice AP Shah to prepare a report on the Privacy Bill. Readers would recall that Justice Shah had authored a judgement which read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, decriminalising homosexual activity. A closer reading of the judgement shows the reliance placed by the court on the privacy right and to reach its determination. With such credentials, the Justice Shah Committee has exceeded the high expectations placed on it, presenting a fair and balanced approach towards a privacy law in India.
At the very outset the report clearly marks its objectives, from which it then commences to study judicial precedent on privacy as well as the experience of foreign jurisdictions. On the basis of this study, it has evolved nine privacy principles which encompass within it distinct aspects of individual privacy. Such a nuanced approach to privacy is certainly welcome given that privacy as a right is often subjective, varying drastically in its appreciation as per civil society, private industry and even Government itself.
Beyond the specific aspects of the privacy right, the report extends the right both to Government as well as private industry. This is a sign of the times, best put by Pranesh Prakash, policy director, Centre for Internet and Society, when he says that citizens reveal more data about themselves to social networking websites than they would to the Government
under torture!
Another significant aspect is the proposed co-regulatory regime which the report suggests. And, experience has taught us that a right without an effective remedy to enforce it counts for a little more than a black letter on paper. In this respect, the report proposes a sectoral regulator which has supervision over State level privacy commissioners. In addition to this, the report also proposes a system of self-regulation where industry-specific standards may be proposed and then sanctioned by the privacy commissioners. However, contrary to the present approach of tribunalisation, the report suggests that recourse to civil courts for aggrieved persons should always be kept open.
Though the origins of the privacy rights may be antiquated, widespread consensus suggests that the modern practice and substance of privacy law owes its beginning to an article published in the fourth volume of the Harvard Law Review. The article, authored by Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren drawing a physical justification for what seemed like a novelty back then, stated that the law regarded a man’s house as his castle.
Sadly, the right has not seen a proper development in India, mainly due to the absence of an overarching legislation as well as a lack of understanding of its proper contours. At least in this respect, the report marks a significant development in the drafting of a comprehensive privacy legislation in India. A haveli, a house or a castle — the Justice Shah panel has provided a useful blueprint to the legislature to build an effective and balanced statute to safeguard individual privacy.
The West Bengal High Court judgement of August 2012 granting ‘political prisoner’ status to seven members of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) clarifies and reinforces the provision of law as stipulated in West Bengal Correctional Service Act 1992 and the definition of political prisoner therein.
PUDR welcomes the judgement to the extent that it brushes aside the mystique woven by lower courts in denying the status of political prisoner to PCPA members on insubstantial grounds despite the law being vivid and clear on it. Section 24 of the West Bengal Correctional Service Act 1992 takes a broad and encompassing view of what constitutes a political offence. It includes all political and democratic movement that crusades to further social and economic justice without any personal greed or motives and despite the ideological persuasion and means or orientation towards established legal order to be political movement. Consequently, any one detained for being associated with these movements is to be political prisoner. The High Court judgement therefore brings forth the irony and contradictions of the justice delivery mechanisms in India.
The West Bengal High Court Judgement however has its own perils. The high court in its judgement refrained from striking down the category of political prisoner because the said category was not challenged on valid grounds in the legal matter before its disposal. The court found the category of political prisoner to be discriminatory and reinforcing inequality. It held that basic minimum facilities that are stipulated for the political prisoners under West Bengal Correctional Service Act 1992 shall be moderated and made accessible to all prisoners. In this concern PUDR would also like to draw attention on the colonial practice of discriminations in Indian jails, entirely based on class and various categorisations of prisoners. While the notion of equality is no doubt welcoming, HC judgment is conspicuously silent on upholding of prevalent structured inequality in Indian Jails. Secondly it would be quite disingenuous to reduce the struggle for the status of political prisoner to the notion of equal access to facilities inside prison. Contestations over status of a political prisoner or category of ‘political offence and offenders’ goes beyond prison entitlements. It is about defining the domain of ‘legitimate’ politics and diverse politics of dissent and resistance being constitutive of such domain.
The High Court Judgement in totality circumvents what it asserts in the first instance. It subverts the broader understanding political offence as defined in the West Bengal Correctional Service Act 1992 by proposing trampling of boundaries between ‘political’ and ‘routine’/ non political offence. Following this judgement the Ministry of Home Affair, Government of India swiftly moved to direct the West Bengal Government to either consider an amendment of the West Bengal Correctional Service Act 1992 or to appeal against the high court judgment in order to prohibit the conferment of the status of political prisoners to those who question and revolt against the state. Paradoxical it may seem but overall picture around West Bengal High Court Judgement and the MHA directive represents a continuum of subverting a law- (West Bengal Correctional Service Act) 1992- with democratic potential. More so it aims at redefining the contours of the political by ironing out the politics of resistance and dissent.
PUDR demands:
1. That the provision of West Bengal Correctional Service Act 1992 be adhered to and implemented in right spirit rather than cultivating pretext for its subversion.
2. That overall living conditions inside prison be made just and humane and rights of prisoners be upheld rather than simply juxtaposing and inducing unsubstantiated contradiction with privileges of political prisoners.
3. Release all political prisoners and initiate dialogue with them to comprehend and redress the fundamental causes of political unrest.
Voters a continent apart made history on Tuesday on two divisive social issues, with Maine and Maryland becoming the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, while Washington state and Colorado legalized recreational use of marijuana.
The outcome in Maine and Maryland broke a 32-state streak, dating back to 1998, in which gay marriage had been rebuffed by every state that voted on it. They will become the seventh and eighth states to allow same-sex couples to marry.
“For the first time, voters in Maine and Maryland voted to allow loving couples to make lifelong commitments through marriage – forever taking away the right-wing talking point that marriage equality couldn’t win on the ballot,” said Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group.
Washington state also was voting on measures to legalize same-sex marriage, while Minnesota voters were considering a conservative-backed amendment that would place a ban on same-sex marriage in the state constitution.
The marijuana measures in Colorado and Washington set up a showdown with the federal government, which outlaws the drug.
Colorado’s Amendment 64 will allow adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana, though using the drug publicly would still be banned. The amendment would also allow people to grow up to six marijuana plants in a private, secure area.
Washington’s measure establishes a system of state-licensed marijuana growers, processors and retail stores, where adults can buy up to an ounce (28 grams). It also establishes a standard blood test limit for driving under the influence.
The Washington measure was notable for its sponsors and supporters, who ranged from public health experts and wealthy high-tech executives to two of the Justice Department’s top former officials in Seattle, U.S. Attorneys John McKay and Kate Pflaumer.
“Marijuana policy reform remains an issue where the people lead and the politicians follow,” saidEthan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which opposes the co-called “war on drugs.” ”But Washington state shows that many politicians are beginning to catch up.”
Estimates show that pot taxes could bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year, but the sales won’t start until state officials make rules to govern the legal weed industry.
In Massachusetts, voters approved a measure to allow marijuana use for medical reasons, joining 17 other states. Arkansas voters were deciding on a similar measure that would make it the first Southern state in that group.
Maine’s referendum on same-sex marriage marked the first time that gay-rights supporters put the issue to a popular vote. They collected enough signatures over the summer to schedule the vote, hoping to reverse the outcome of a 2009 referendum that quashed a gay-marriage law enacted by the state Legislature.
In both Maryland and Washington, gay-marriage laws were approved by lawmakers and signed by the governors earlier this year, but opponents gathered enough signatures to challenge the laws.
In Minnesota, the question was whether the state would join 30 others in placing a ban on gay marriage in its constitution. Even if the ban is defeated, same-sex marriage would remain illegal in Minnesota under statute.
Heading into the election, gay marriage was legal in six states and Washington, D.C. – in each case the result of legislation or court orders, not by a vote of the people.
In California, voters were deciding whether to repeal the state’s death penalty. If the measure prevailed, the more than 720 inmates on death row there would have their sentences converted to life in prison.
While 17 states have ended capital punishment, most did so through legislative action. Only in Oregon, in 1964, did voters choose to repeal the death penalty; they later reversed themselves to reinstate it.
In all, there were 176 measures on the ballots Tuesday in 38 states, according to the Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California.
Other notable ballot measures:
– Maryland voters approved a measure allowing illegal immigrants to pay lower in-state college tuition, provided they attended a state high school for three years and can show they filed state income tax returns during that time. About a dozen other states have similar laws, but Maryland’s is the first to be approved by voters.
– In Oklahoma, voters approved a Republican-backed measure that wipes out all affirmative action programs in state government hiring, education and contracting practices. Similar steps have been taken previously in Arizona, California, Michigan, Nebraska and Washington.
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