Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, Chapter 406
Palash Biswas
Aboriginal
www.globalonenessproject.org Interview with
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Aborigine Bob Randal Watch and Download Video for Free
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The
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rights activists, environmentalists, anarchists and anti-poverty,
anticapitalist, anti-globalization and ...
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Michael Owen | October 17, 2009
international interest when he said young Aboriginal gang members were
"pure evil", ...
Editorial: Vancouver teachers' bid to link Olympics to Holocaust
not in ...
will “occupy” Vancouver and increase poverty, damage the environment, degrade
stolen aboriginal ...
A
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week-long squat on vacant, city-owned property in autumn 2007. This demolished
Downtown Eastside ...
Book: "All
That We Say Is Ours"
long can we keep changing the guidelines and goalposts before people just throw
up blockades of resistance? ...
Hello!
Hello!
Oct 14, 2009
live in scattered regions through the country. Their culture is very different
and often isolated from ...
Ethnic Background May Be Associated With Diabetes Risk
Oct 6, 2009
compared the amount of total body fat to lean mass in 828 men and women of
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National Post editorial board: The body-bag farce
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Australians: Origins to Eureka
colonial press; the founding of Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria;
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Times
Our friend, Anil Chamaria, a Professor in Varha university has written an excellent article in the Hindi Jansatta edit page today to highlight Aboriginal Resistance culture Targeted by the Hegemony which confirms our outlook that the Maoist Menace Hype is all about an EXCUSE to Eliminate Aboriginal Indigenous Black Untouchable Negroids just to capture the natural resources. Linking Development to Maoismis a MYTH created to enhance Economic Reforms while Military OptionandZero Tolerance are the Methods OPTED.
One of the UNKNOWN Maoist Ideologue from Dantewada has objected my report on Lalgarh published in SAMAYANTAR alleging that I do defend the Marxist Brahaminical Hegemony! My readers may judge it. But the Maoists have no Explaination that their subvertive activities help the Corporate India , MNCs and India Incs to execute Ethnic Cleansing. The Maoist Strike against the State power but nowhere they HARM the Corporate Interest.
Chamadia has traced the historical outlines of Aboriginal Resistance Culture ,thanks!
A pall of gloom has descended on the Palipattu village in Thiruvallur district
of Tamil Nadu after 32 people were killed and three others injured in a blaze at
a firecracker shop Friday evening.
An official of Thiruvallur collectorate on the accident spot told IANS:
"Thirty two charred bodies have been recovered after the blaze. The dead include
shop workers as well as firecracker shoppers."
The Thiruvallur police have arrested the building owner Jaishankar and the
person who ran the shop Anandakumar.
According to him, 12 people from Andhra Pradesh and four from Tamil Nadu have
been employed in the shop.
The cracker shop was functioning out of a godown located behind a rice mill
in Palipattu village, some 90 km from Chennai, where many people had gathered to
buy crackers on the eve of Diwali.
Suddenly fire started and gutted down the cracker shop, killing and injuring
several people.
Two fire tenders doused the fire.
The Pallipattu police are investigating the cause of the accident as well as
whether the shop has been licensed to sell firecrackers.
Thiruvallur District Collector V. Palanikumar and top police officials are on
the spot overseeing the rescue operations.
The charred bodies have been taken to the government hospital in Tiruttani.
The injured have been sent to the same hospital.
we had predicted last night itself as soon as the news appeared on the TV
screens, it is now clear that it is the Sanathan Saunstha, another off-shoot of the
Abhinav Bharat Terror organizations with
established links to the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh & the Israeli
Mossad, are the ones responsible for the terror attack in Goa.
The
terror attack came during the Diwali festivities akin to similar attacks that
have occured in Delhi & elsewhere, earlier blamed on the usual suspects.
Also the blasts have been timed to counter the Indian vote in favour of the
Golsdtone Report, that haactivated the Israeli propaganda machinery & it's
terrorists assets & infrastructure.
Thanks
& Regards
Feroze & Kishore
Awami
Bharat
awamibharat.blogspot.com - do subscribe for free news - that
is true.
Red alert in Goa after blast, police search Sanatan
Saunstha office
Two persons were detained on Saturday in
connection with the explosion in Margao town in Goa in which a member of a
right-wing Hindu group allegedly linked to Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya
Singh was killed and another critically injured.
The blast took place at around 9.30 pm on Friday
night when explosives kept in a scooter went off on a busy street in the heart
of the town, 30 kms from here.
Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik said police were
probing the links of right-wing group Sanatan Saunstha with the blast. .
“The scooter which was carrying the explosives
belongs to Saunstha’s disciple Nishad Bakle,” he said.
A man named Melgunda Patil was killed in the blast
while another, identified as Yogesh Naik, is undergoing treatment at the Goa
Medical College hospital. Police said both belonged to the Saunstha, which is
allegedly linked to Pragya Singh.
The Sanatan Saunstha headquarters at Ramnathi in
Ponda, 20 kms from Margao, was raided on Friday night following the blast and
two persons have been detained from that town in the wee hours of the day,
police said. Further details about the detained persons were still awaited.
The blast, which occurred a few metres away
from the site of ‘Narkasur’ effigy competition, a ritual held on the eve of
Diwali, gutted three vehicles. Police have also found a bag containing a watch
and an electric circuit about 20 kms from the explosion site.
AdivasiAdivasis is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups believed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India. Adivasi societies are particularly present in the Indian states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Mizoram and other north-eastern states, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Many smaller tribal groups are quite sensitive to ecological degradation caused by modernization. Both commercial forestry and intensive agriculture have proved destructive to the forests that had endured Sweden agriculture for many centuries. Adivasi LifeOfficially recognized by the Indian government as "Scheduled Tribes" in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India, they are often grouped together with scheduled castes in the category "Scheduled Castes and Tribes", which is eligible for certain affirmative action. Adivasi HistoryAdivasi populations suffer disproportionately from India’s modernization. Many depend on India’s forests for their livelihood, and they have suffered from both the destruction of these forests as well as state efforts to preserve the forests which often fail to account for the populations that live within them (for instance, b y preventing them from selling materials they collect from the forest to anyone but the government, keeping their earnings artificially low). They are increasingly becoming migrant laborers, a process which tears at the social fabric of their communities. | |||||||||
| The condition of Adivasi populations varies quite considerably from one state to the next. National law gives states considerable power over defining who counts as a “Scheduled Tribe” and who does not. As a result, the same group might be considered a Scheduled Tribe in one state, but not in the neighboring state. This affects what kinds of scholarships, benefits, and affirmative action programs are available to members of that community. Despite their marginal position, Adivasis have contributed greatly to Indian history and society. Over time, many Adivasi traditions were incorporated into Hinduism and Buddhism. Adivasi CultureIn various parts of India Adivasis were incorporated into local states. In some cases they became the ruling families, in others the untouchable lower castes. Some were hired to fight wars for Indian kings, and under British rule they offered some of the fiercest resistance. Little is known about the relationship between the Adivasis and non-Adivasi communities during the Hindu and Muslim rules. There are stray references to wars and alliances between the Rajput kings and tribal chieftains in middle India and in the North-East between the Ahom Kings of Brahmaputra valley and the hill Nagas. They are considered to be ati-sudra meaning lower than the untouchable castes. Even today, the upper caste people refer to these peoples as jangli, a derogatory term meaning "those who are like wild animals" - uncivilised or sub-humans. The Adivasis have few food taboos, rather fluid cultural practices and minimal occupational specialization, while on the other hand, the mainstream population of the plains have extensive food taboos, more rigid cultural practices and considerable caste-based occupational specialisation. In the Hindu caste system, the Adivasis have no place. The so-called mainstream society of India has evolved as an agglomeration of thousands of small-scale social groups whose identities within the larger society are preserved by not allowing them to marry outside their social groups. The subjugated groups became castes forced to perform less desirable menial jobs like sweeping, cleaning of excreta, removal of dead bodies, leather works etc - the untouchables. Some of the earliest small-scale societies dependent on hunting and gathering, and traditional agriculture seem to have remained outside this process of agglomeration. These are the Adivasis of present day. Their autonomous existence outside the mainstream led to the preservation of their socio-religious and cultural practices, most of them retaining also their distinctive languages. Widow burning, enslavement, occupational differentiation, hierarchical social ordering etc are generally not there. Though there were trade between the Adivasis and the mainstream society, any form of social intercourse was discouraged. Caste India did not consciously attempt to draw them into the orbit of caste society. But in the process of economic, cultural and ecological change, Adivasis have attached themselves to caste groups in a peripheral manner, and the process of de-tribalisation is a continuous one. Many of the Hindu communities have absorbed the cultural practices of the Adivasis. Although Hinduism could be seen as one unifying thread running through the country as a whole, it is not homogenous but in reality a conglomeration of centuries old traditions and shaped by several religious and social traditions which are more cultural in their essence (and including elements of Adivasi socio-religious culture). | |||||||||
|
PUCL Bulletin,
February 2003
The
Adivasis of India -
A History of Discrimination, Conflict,
and Resistance
-- By C.R. Bijoy, Core Committee of the All India Coordinating Forum of
Adivasis/Indigenous Peoples
The 67.7 million people belonging to "Scheduled Tribes" in India
are generally considered to be 'Adivasis', literally meaning 'indigenous
people' or 'original inhabitants', though the term 'Scheduled Tribes'
(STs) is not coterminous with the term 'Adivasis'. Scheduled Tribes is
an administrative term used for purposes of 'administering' certain specific
constitutional privileges, protection and benefits for specific sections
of peoples considered historically disadvantaged and 'backward'.
However,
this administrative term does not exactly match all the peoples called
'Adivasis'. Out of the 5653 distinct communities in India, 635 are considered
to be 'tribes' or 'Adivasis'. In comparison, one finds that the estimated
number of STs varies from 250 to 593.
For practical purposes, the United Nations and multilateral agencies generally
consider the STs as 'indigenous peoples'. With the ST population making
up 8.08% (as of 1991) of the total population of India, it is the nation
with the highest concentration of 'indigenous peoples' in the world!
The Constitution of India, which came into existence on 26 January 1950,
prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place
of birth (Article 15) and it provides the right to equality (Article 14),
to freedom of religion (Articles 25-28) and to culture and education (Articles
29-30). STs are supposedly addressed by as many as 209 Articles and 2
special schedules of the Constitution - Articles and special schedules
which are protective and paternalistic.
Article
341 and 342 provides for classification of Scheduled Castes (the untouchable
lower castes) and STs, while Articles 330, 332 and 334 provides for reservation
of seats in Parliament and Assemblies. For purposes of specific focus
on the development of STs, the government has adopted a package of programmes,
which is administered in specific geographical areas with considerable
ST population, and it covers 69% of the tribal population.
Despite this, and after the largest "modern democracy" of the
world has existed for more than half a century, the struggles for survival
of Adivasis - for livelihood and existence as peoples - have today intensified
and spread as never before in history.
Over centuries, the Adivasis have evolved an intricate convivial-custodial
mode of living. Adivasis belong to their territories, which are the essence
of their existence; the abode of the spirits and their dead and the source
of their science, technology, way of life, their religion and culture.
Back in history, the Adivasis were in effect self-governing 'first nations'.
In general and in most parts of the pre-colonial period, they were notionally
part of the 'unknown frontier' of the respective states where the rule
of the reign in fact did not extend, and the Adivasis governed themselves
outside of the influence of the particular ruler.
The introduction of the alien concept of private property began with the
Permanent Settlement of the British in 1793 and the establishment of the
"Zamindari" system that conferred control over vast territories,
including Adivasi territories, to designated feudal lords for the purpose
of revenue collection by the British. This drastically commenced the forced
restructuring of the relationship of Adivasis to their territories as
well as the power relationship between Adivasis and 'others'. The predominant
external caste-based religion sanctioned and practiced a rigid and highly
discriminatory hierarchical ordering with a strong cultural mooring.
This
became the natural basis for the altered perception of Adivasis by the
'others' in determining the social, and hence, the economic and political
space in the emerging larger society that is the Indian diaspora. Relegating
the Adivasis to the lowest rung in the social ladder was but natural and
formed the basis of social and political decision making by the largely
upper caste controlled mainstream. The ancient Indian scriptures, scripted
by the upper castes, also further provided legitimacy to this.
The subjugated peoples have been relegated to low status and isolated,
instead of either being eliminated or absorbed. Entry of Europeans and
subsequent colonisation of Asia transformed the relationship between the
mainstream communities and tribal communities of this region. Introduction
of capitalism, private property and the creation of a countrywide market
broke the traditional economy based on use value and hereditary professions.
All tribal communities are not alike. They are products of different historical
and social conditions. They belong to four different language families,
and several different racial stocks and religious moulds. They have kept
themselves apart from feudal states and brahminical hierarchies for thousands
of years.
In the Indian epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas (folklores)
there are many references to interactions and wars between the forest
or hill tribes and the Hindus.
Eminent
historians who have done detailed research on the epic Ramayana (200 B.C
to 500 B.C) have concluded that 'Lanka', the kingdom of the demonic king
Ravana and 'Kishkinda', the homeland of the Vanaras (depicted as monkeys)
were places situated south of Chitrakuta hill and north of Narmada river
in middle India. Accordingly, Ravana and his demons were an aboriginal
tribe, most probably the Gond, and the Vanaras, like Hanuman in the epic,
belonged to the Savara and Korku tribes whose descendants still inhabit
the central Indian forest belt. Even today, the Gond holds Ravana, the
villain of Ramayana, in high esteem as a chief. Rama, the hero of Ramayana,
is also known for slaughtering the Rakshasas (demons) in the forests!
The epic of Mahabharata refers to the death of Krishna at the hands of
a Bhil Jaratha. In the ancient scriptures, considered to be sacred by
the upper castes, various terms are used depicting Adivasis as almost
non-humans. The epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Puranas, Samhitas
and other so-called 'sacred books' refer to Adivasis as Rakshasa (demons),
Vanara (monkeys), Jambuvan (boar men), Naga (serpents), Bhusundi Kaka
(crow), Garuda (King of Eagles) etc. In medieval India, they were called
derogatorily as Kolla, Villa, Kirata, Nishada, and those who surrendered
or were subjugated were termed as Dasa (slave) and those who refused to
accept the bondage of slavery were termed as Dasyu (a hostile robber).
Ekalavya, one of their archers was so skillful that the hero of the Aryans,
Arjuna, could not stand before him. But they assaulted him, cutting his
thumb and destroying his ability to fight - and then fashioned a story
in which he accepted Drona as his Guru and surrendered his thumb as an
offering to the master! The renowned writer Maheshwata Devi points out
that Adivasis predated Hinduism and Aryanism, that Siva was not an Aryan
god and that in the 8th century, the tribal forest goddess or harvest
goddess was absorbed and adapted as Siva's wife. Goddess Kali, the goddess
of hunters, has definitely had a tribal origin.
History of the Adivasis
Little is known about the relationship between the Adivasis and non-Adivasi
communities during the Hindu and Muslim rules. There are stray references
to wars and alliances between the Rajput kings and tribal chieftains in
middle India and in the North-East between the Ahom Kings of Brahmaputra
valley and the hill Nagas. They are considered to be ati-sudra meaning
lower than the untouchable castes. Even today, the upper caste people
refer to these peoples as jangli, a derogatory term meaning "those
who are like wild animals" - uncivilised or sub-humans.
The Adivasis have few food taboos, rather fluid cultural practices and
minimal occupational specialization, while on the other hand, the mainstream
population of the plains have extensive food taboos, more rigid cultural
practices and considerable caste-based occupational specialisation. In
the Hindu caste system, the Adivasis have no place. The so-called mainstream
society of India has evolved as an agglomeration of thousands of small-scale
social groups whose identities within the larger society are preserved
by not allowing them to marry outside their social groups.
The
subjugated groups became castes forced to perform less desirable menial
jobs like sweeping, cleaning of excreta, removal of dead bodies, leather
works etc - the untouchables. Some of the earliest small-scale societies
dependent on hunting and gathering, and traditional agriculture seem to
have remained outside this process of agglomeration. These are the Adivasis
of present day. Their autonomous existence outside the mainstream led
to the preservation of their socio-religious and cultural practices, most
of them retaining also their distinctive languages. Widow burning, enslavement,
occupational differentiation, hierarchical social ordering etc are generally
not there. Though there were trade between the Adivasis and the mainstream
society, any form of social intercourse was discouraged. Caste India did
not consciously attempt to draw them into the orbit of caste society.
But
in the process of economic, cultural and ecological change, Adivasis have
attached themselves to caste groups in a peripheral manner, and the process
of de-tribalisation is a continuous one. Many of the Hindu communities
have absorbed the cultural practices of the Adivasis. Although Hinduism
could be seen as one unifying thread running through the country as a
whole, it is not homogenous but in reality a conglomeration of centuries
old traditions and shaped by several religious and social traditions which
are more cultural in their essence (and including elements of Adivasi
socio-religious culture).
Adivasis at the lowest rung of the ladder
Adivasis are not, as a general rule, regarded as unclean by caste Hindus
in the same way as Dalits are. But they continue to face prejudice (as
lesser humans), they are socially distanced and often face violence from
society. They are at the lowest point in every socioeconomic indicator.
Today the majority of the population regards them as primitive and aims
at decimating them as peoples or at best integrating them with the mainstream
at the lowest rung in the ladder. This is especially so with the rise
of the fascist Hindutva forces.
None of the brave Adivasi fights against the British have been treated
as part of the "national" struggle for independence. From the
Malpahariya uprising in 1772 to Lakshman Naik's revolt in Orissa in 1942,
the Adivasis repeatedly rebelled against the British in the north-eastern,
eastern and central Indian belt. In many of the rebellions, the Adivasis
could not be subdued, but terminated the struggle only because the British
acceded to their immediate demands, as in the case of the Bhil revolt
of 1809 and the Naik revolt of 1838 in Gujarat. Heroes like Birsa Munda,
Kanhu Santhal, Khazya Naik, Tantya Bhil, Lakshman Naik, Kuvar Vasava,
Rupa Naik, Thamal Dora, Ambul Reddi, Thalakkal Chandu etc are remembered
in the songs and stories of the Adivasis but ignored in the official text
books.
The British Crown's dominions in India consisted of four political arrangements:
-
the Presidency Areas where the Crown was supreme, - the
Residency Areas where the British Crown was present through the Resident
and the Ruler of the realm was subservient to the Crown, - the
Agency (Tribal) areas where the Agent governed in the name of the Crown
but left the local self-governing institutions untouched and - the
Excluded Areas (north-east) where the representatives of the Crown were
a figure head.
After
the transfer of power, the rulers of the Residency Areas signed the "Deed
of Accession" on behalf of the ruled on exchange they were offered
privy purse. No deed was however signed with most of the independent Adivasi
states. They were assumed to have joined the Union. The government rode
rough shod on independent Adivasi nations and they were merged with the
Indian Union. This happened even by means of state violence as in the
case of Adivasi uprising in the Nizam's State of Hyderabad and Nagalim.
While this aspect did not enter the consciousness of the Adivasis at large
in the central part of India where they were preoccupied with their own
survival, the picture was different in the north-east because of the historic
and material conditions. Historically the north-east was never a part
of mainland India. The colonial incorporation of north-east took place
much later than the rest of the Indian subcontinent. While Assam ruled
by the Ahoms came under the control of British in 1826, neighbouring Bengal
was annexed in 1765. Garo Hills were annexed in 1873, Naga Hills in 1879
and Mizoram under the Chin-Lushai Expeditions in 1881-90. Consequently,
the struggles for self-determination took various forms as independence
to greater autonomy.
A process of marginalization today, the total forest cover in India is
reported to be 765.21 thousand sq. kms. of which 71% are Adivasi areas.
Of these 416.52 and 223.30 thousand sq. kms. are categorised as reserved
and protected forests respectively. About 23% of these are further declared
as Wild Life Sanctuaries and National Parks which alone has displaced
some half a million Adivasis. By the process of colonisation of the forests
that began formally with the Forest Act of 1864 and finally the Indian
Forest Act of 1927, the rights of Adivasis were reduced to mere privileges
conferred by the state.
This
was in acknowledgement of their dependence on the forests for survival
and it was politically forced upon the rulers by the glorious struggles
that the Adivasis waged persistently against the British. The Forest Policy
of 1952, the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972 and the Forest Conservation
Act of 1980 downgraded these privileges of the peoples to concessions
of the state in the post-colonial period.
With globalisation, there are now further attempts to change these paternalistic
concessions to being excluded as indicated by the draft "Conservation
of Forests and Natural Ecosystems Act" that is to replace the forest
act and the amendments proposed to the Land Acquisition Act and Schedule
V of the constitution. In 1991, 23.03% of STs were literate as against
42.83% among the general population. The Government's Eighth Plan document
mentions that nearly 52% of STs live below the poverty line as against
30% of the general population.
In
a study on Kerala, a state considered to be unique for having developed
a more egalitarian society with a high quality of life index comparable
to that of only the 'developed' countries, paradoxically shows that for
STs the below poverty line population was 64.5% while for Scheduled Castes
it was 47% and others 41%. About 95% of Adivasis live in rural areas,
less than 10% are itinerant hunter-gatherers but more than half depend
upon forest produce. Very commonly, police, forest guards and officials
bully and intimidate Adivasis and large numbers are routinely arrested
and jailed, often for petty offences.
Only a few Adivasi communities which are forest dwellers have not been
displaced and continue to live in forests, away from the mainstream development
activities, such as in parts of Bastar in Madhya Pradesh, Koraput, Phulbani
and Mayurbanj in Orissa and of Andaman Islands.
Thousands of Korku children below the age of six died in the 1990s due
to malnutrition and starvation in the Melghat Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra
due to the denial of access to their life sustaining resource base. Adivasis
of Kalahandi-Bolangir in Orissa and of Palamu in south Bihar have reported
severe food shortage. According to the Central Planning Committee of the
Government of India, nearly 41 districts with significant Adivasi populations
are prone to deaths due to starvation, which are not normally reported
as such.
Invasion of Adivasi territories The "Land Acquisition Act" of
1894 concretised the supremacy of the sovereign to allow for total colonisation
of any territory in the name of 'public interest' which in most cases
are not community notions of common good. This is so especially for the
Adivasis. The colonial juristic concept of res nullius (that which has
not been conferred by the sovereign belongs to the sovereign) and terra
nullius (land that belongs to none) bulldozed traditional political and
social entities beginning the wanton destruction of traditional forms
of self-governance.
The invasion of Adivasi territories, which for the most part commenced
during the colonial period, intensified in the post-colonial period. Most
of the Adivasi territories were claimed by the state. Over 10 million
Adivasis have been displaced to make way for development projects such
as dams, mining, industries, roads, protected areas etc. Though most of
the dams (over 3000) are located in Adivasi areas, only 19.9% (1980-81)
of Adivasi land holdings are irrigated as compared to 45.9% of all holdings
of the general population. India produces as many as 52 principal, 3 fuel,
11 metallic, 38 non-metallic and a number of minor minerals.
Of
these 45 major minerals (coal, iron ore, magnetite, manganese, bauxite,
graphite, limestone, dolomite, uranium etc) are found in Adivasi areas
contributing some 56% of the national total mineral earnings in terms
of value. Of the 4,175 working mines reported by the Indian Bureau of
Mines in 1991-92, approximately 3500 could be assumed to be in Adivasi
areas. Income to the government from forests rose from Rs.5.6 million
in 1869-70 to more than Rs.13 billions in the 1970s. The bulk of the nation's
productive wealth lay in the Adivasi territories. Yet the Adivasi has
been driven out, marginalised and robbed of dignity by the very process
of 'national development'.
The systematic opening up of Adivasi territories, the development projects
and the 'tribal development projects' make them conducive for waves of
immigrants. In the rich mineral belt of Jharkhand, the Adivasi population
has dropped from around 60% in 1911 to 27.67% in 1991. These developments
have in turn driven out vast numbers of Adivasis to eke out a living in
the urban areas and in far-flung places in slums. According to a rough
estimate, there are more than 40,000 tribal domestic working women in
Delhi alone! In some places, development induced migration of Adivasis
to other Adivasi areas has also led to fierce conflicts as between the
Santhali and the Bodo in Assam.
Internal colonialism Constitutional privileges and welfare measures benefit
only a small minority of the Adivasis. These privileges and welfare measures
are denied to the majority of the Adivasis and they are appropriated by
more powerful groups in the caste order. The steep increase of STs in
Maharashtra in real terms by 148% in the two decades since 1971 is mainly
due to questionable inclusion, for political gains, of a number of economically
advanced groups among the backwards in the list of STs.
The
increase in numbers, while it distorts the demographic picture, has more
disastrous effects. The real tribes are irretrievably pushed down in the
'access or claim ladder' with these new entrants cornering the lion's
share of both resources and opportunities for education, social and economic
advancement.
Despite the Bonded Labour Abolition Act of 1976, Adivasis still form a
substantial percentage of bonded labour in the country.
Despite positive political, institutional and financial commitment to
tribal development, there is presently a large scale displacement and
biological decline of Adivasi communities, a growing loss of genetic and
cultural diversity and destruction of a rich resource base leading to
rising trends of shrinking forests, crumbling fisheries, increasing unemployment,
hunger and conflicts. The Adivasis have preserved 90% of the country's
bio-cultural diversity protecting the polyvalent, precolonial, biodiversity
friendly Indian identity from bio-cultural pathogens. Excessive and indiscriminate
demands of the urban market have reduced Adivasis to raw material collectors
and providers.
It is a cruel joke that people who can produce some of India's most exquisite
handicrafts, who can distinguish hundreds of species of plants and animals,
who can survive off the forests, the lands and the streams sustainably
with no need to go to the market to buy food, are labeled as 'unskilled'.
Equally critical are the paths of resistance that many Adivasi areas are
displaying: Koel Karo, Bodh Ghat, Inchampalli, Bhopalpatnam, Rathong Chu
... big dams that were proposed by the enlightened planners and which
were halted by the mass movements.
Such a situation has risen because of the discriminatory and predatory
approach of the mainstream society on Adivasis and their territories.
The moral legitimacy for the process of internal colonisation of Adivasi
territories and the deliberate disregard and violations of constitutional
protection of STs has its basis in the culturally ingrained hierarchical
caste social order and consciousness that pervades the entire politico-administrative
and judicial system. This pervasive mindset is also a historical construct
that got reinforced during colonial and post-colonial India.
The term 'Criminal Tribe' was concocted by the British rulers and entered
into the public vocabulary through the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 under
which a list of some 150 communities including Adivasis, were mischievously
declared as (naturally) 'criminal'. Though this shameful act itself was
repealed in 1952, the specter of the so-called 'criminal tribes' continue
to haunt these 'denotified tribes' - the Sansi, Pardhi, Kanjar, Gujjar,
Bawaria, Banjara and others. They are considered as the first natural
suspects of all petty and sundry crimes except that they are now hauled
up under the Habitual Offenders Act that replaced the British Act! Stereotyping
of numerous communities has reinforced past discriminatory attitudes of
the dominant mainstream in an institutionalised form.
There is a whole history of legislation, both during the pre-independence
as well as post-independence period, which was supposed to protect the
rights of the Adivasis. As early as 1879, the "Bombay Province Land
Revenue Code" prohibited transfer of land from a tribal to a non-tribal
without the permission of the authorities. The 1908 "Chotanagpur
Tenancy Act" in Bihar, the 1949 "Santhal Pargana Tenancy (Supplementary)
Act", the 1969 "Bihar Scheduled Areas Regulations", the
1955 "Rajasthan Tenancy Act" as amended in 1956, the 1959 "MPLP
Code of Madhya Pradesh", the 1959 "Andhra Pradesh Scheduled
Areas Land Transfer Regulation" and amendment of 1970, the 1960 "Tripura
Land Revenue Regulation Act", the 1970 "Assam Land and Revenue
Act", the 1975 "Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction of Transfer
of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act" etc. are state
legislations to protect Adivasi land rights.
In Andhra for example, enquiries on land transfer violations were made
in 57,150 cases involving 245,581 acres of land, but only about 28% of
lands were restored despite persistent militant struggles. While in the
case of Kerala, out of a total claim for 9909.4522 hectares made by 8754
applicants, only 5.5% of the claims have been restored. And this is happening
in spite of favourable judicial orders - orders which the state governments
are circumventing by attempting to dismantle the very protective legislation
itself.
The
callous and casual manner with which mainstream India approaches the fulfillment
of the constitutional obligations with reference to the tribes, and the
persistent attempts by the politico-administrative system to subvert the
constitution by deliberate acts of omission and commission, and the enormous
judicial tolerance towards this speak volumes on the discriminatory approach
that permeates the society with regard to the legal rights of the Adivasis.
Race, religion and language
The absence of neat classifications of Adivasis as a homogenous social-cultural
category and the intensely fluid nature of non-Adivasis are evident in
the insuperable difficulty in arriving at a clear anthropological definition
of a tribal in India, be it in terms of ethnicity, race, language, social
forms or modes of livelihood.
The major waves of ingress into India divide the tribal communities into
Veddids, similar to the Australian aborigines, and the Paleamongoloid
Austro-Asiatic from the north-east. The third were the Greco-Indians who
spread across Gujarat, Rajasthan and Pakistan from Central Asia. The fourth
is the Negrito group of the Andaman Islands - the Great Andamanese, the
Onge, the Jarawa and the Sentinelese who flourished in these parts for
some 20,000 years but who could well become extinct soon. The Great Andamanese
have been wiped out as a viable community with about only 30 persons alive
as are the Onges who are less than a 100.
In the mid-Indian region, the Gond who number over 5 million, are the
descendants of the dark skinned Kolarian or Dravidian tribes and speak
dialects of Austric language family as are the Santhal who number 4 million.
The Negrito and Austroloid people belong to the Mundari family of Munda,
Santhal, Ho, Ashur, Kharia, Paniya, Saora etc. The Dravidian groups include
the Gond, Oraon, Khond, Malto, Bhil, Mina, Garasia, Pradhan etc. and speak
Austric or Dravidian family of languages. The Gujjar and Bakarwal descend
from the Greco Indians and are interrelated with the Gujjar of Gujarat
and the tribes settled around Gujranwala in Pakistan.
There are some 200 indigenous peoples in the north-east. The Boro, Khasi,
Jantia, Naga, Garo and Tripiri belong to the Mongoloid stock like the
Naga, Mikir, Apatani, Boro, Khasi, Garo, Kuki, Karbi etc. and speak languages
of the Tibeto-Burman language groups and the Mon Khmer. The Adi, Aka,
Apatani, Dafla, Gallong, Khamti, Monpa, Nocte, Sherdukpen, Singpho, Tangsa,
Wancho etc of Arunachal Pradesh and the Garo of Meghalaya are of Tibeto-Burman
stock while the Khasi of Meghalaya belong to the Mon Khmer group. In the
southern region, the Malayali, Irula, Paniya, Adiya, Sholaga, Kurumba
etc belong to the proto-Australoid racial stock speaking dialects of the
Dravidian family.
The Census of India 1991 records 63 different denominations as "other"
of over 5.7 million people of which most are Adivasi religions. Though
the Constitution recognises them as a distinct cultural group, yet when
it comes to religion those who do not identify as Christians, Muslims
or Buddhists are compelled to register themselves as Hindus. Hindus and
Christians have interacted with Adivasis to civilize them, which has been
defined as sanscritisation and westernisation. However, as reflected during
the 1981 census it is significant that about 5% of the Adivasis registered
their religion by the names of their respective tribes or the names adopted
by them. In 1991 the corresponding figure rose to about 10% indicating
the rising consciousness and assertion of identity!
Though Article 350A of the Constitution requires primary education to
be imparted in mother tongue, in general this has not been imparted except
in areas where the Adivasis have been assertive. NCERT, the state owned
premier education research centre has not shown any interest. With the
neglect of Adivasi languages, the State and the dominant social order
aspire to culturally and socially emasculate the Adivasis subdued by the
dominant cultures. The Anthropological Survey of India reported a loss
of more than two-thirds of the spoken languages, most of them tribal.
Fragmentation Some of the ST peoples of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
W. Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram have
their counterparts across the border in China (including Tibet), Bhutan,
Myanmar and Bangladesh. The political aspirations of these trans-border
tribes who find themselves living in different countries as a result of
artificial demarcation of boundaries by erstwhile colonial rulers continue
to be ignored despite the spread and proliferation of militancy, especially
in the north east, making it into a conflict zone.
The Adivasi territories have been divided amongst the states formed on
the basis of primarily the languages of the mainstream caste society,
ignoring the validity of applying the same principle of language for the
Adivasis in the formation of states. Jharkhand has been divided amongst
Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa though the Bihar part of
Jharkhand has now become a separate state after decades of struggle. The
Gond region has been divided amongst Orissa, Andhra, Maharashtra and Madhya
Pradesh. Similarly the Bhil region has been divided amongst Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
In the north-east, for example, the Naga in addition are divided into
Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Further administrative
sub-divisions within the states into districts, talukas and panchayats
have been organised in such a way that the tribal concentration is broken
up which furthers their marginalisation both physically and politically.
The 1874 "Scheduled District Act", the 1919 "Government
of India Act" and later the "Government of India Act" of
1935 classified the hill areas as excluded and partially excluded areas
where the provincial legislature had no jurisdiction. These formed the
basis for the Article 244 under which two separate schedules viz. the
V Schedule and the VI Schedule were incorporated for provision of a certain
degree of self-governance in designated tribal majority areas. However,
in effect this remained a non-starter. However, the recent legislation
of the Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 has
raised hope of a radical redefinition of self-governance.
By not applying the same yard stick and norms for Adivasis as for the
upper caste dominated mainstream, by not genuinely recognizing the Adivasis'
traditional self-governing systems and by not being serious about devolving
autonomy, the Indian State and society indicates a racist and imperialist
attitude.
The call for a socially homogenous country, particularly in the Hindi
Hindu paradigm have suppressed tribal languages, defiled cultures and
destroyed civilisations.
The
creation of a unified albeit centralised polity and the extension of the
formal system of governance have emasculated the self-governing institutions
of the Adivasis and with it their internal cohesiveness.
The struggle for the future, the conceptual vocabulary used to understand
the place of Adivasis in the modern world has been constructed on the
feudal, colonial and imperialistic notions which combines traditional
and historical constructs with the modern construct based on notions of
linear scientific and technological progress.
Historically the Adivasis, as explained earlier, are at best perceived
as sub-humans to be kept in isolation, or as 'primitives' living in remote
and backward regions who should be "civilized". None of them
have a rational basis. Consequently, the official and popular perception
of Adivasis is merely that of isolation in forest, tribal dialect, animism,
primitive occupation, carnivorous diet, naked or semi-naked, nomadic habits,
love, drink and dance. Contrast this with the self-perception of Adivasis
as casteless, classless and egalitarian in nature, community-based economic
systems, symbiotic with nature, democratic according to the demands of
the times, accommodative history and people-oriented art and literature.
The significance of their sustainable subsistence economy in the midst
of a profit oriented economy is not recognised in the political discourse,
and the negative stereotyping of the sustainable subsistence economy of
Adivasi societies is based on the wrong premise that the production of
surplus is more progressive than the process of social reproduction in
co-existence with nature.
The source of the conflicts arises from these unresolved contradictions.
With globalisation, the hitherto expropriation of rights as an outcome
of development has developed into expropriation of rights as a precondition
for development. In response, the struggles for the rights of the Adivasis
have moved towards the struggles for power and a redefinition of the contours
of state, governance and progress.
http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalit-tribal/2003/adivasi.htm
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Census information of some form
has been collected in Canada since the 1611 census of New France.
Aboriginal people, identified or not, have been included in these
enumerations. The collection of this information has had a profound
impact on Aboriginal people and has been an element that has shaped
their relationship with the dominant society. In response, Canadian
Aboriginal people have often resisted and refused to co-operate with
census takers and their masters. This article is an examination of this
phenomenon focused on the censuses conducted in the post-Confederation
period to the present. A census is made to collect information on
populations and individuals that can then be used to configure and
shape social and political relations between those being enumerated and
the creators of the census. However, the human objects of the census
are not just passive integers and they have resisted its creation in a
number of ways, including being “missing” when the census is taken,
refusing to answer the questions posed by enumerators or even driving
them off Aboriginal territory. A census identifies elements of the
social order and attempts to set them in their “proper” place and those
who do not wish to be part of that order may refuse to take part.
Archivists and historians must understand that the knowledge gained in
a census is bound with the conditions of own creation. This has been
noted by contemporary Aboriginal researchers who often state that the
archival record of their people often distorts history and reflects the
ideas and superficial observations of their Euro-Canadian creators.
Changes to the Census of Canada since 1981, have increased the
participation rate and therefore changed the nature of the record.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/t67t91j831485813/
Adivasi Contributions to Indian Culture and Civilization
Adivasi traditions and practices pervade all aspects of Indian
culture and civilization, yet this awareness is often lacking in
popular consciousness, and the extent and import of Adivasi
contributions to Indian philosophy, language
and custom have often gone unrecognized, or been underrated by
historians and social scientists.
Although popular myths about Buddhism have obscured the original
source and inspiration for it's humanist doctrine, it is to India's
ancient tribal (or Adivasi) societies that Gautam Buddha looked for a
model for the kind of society he wished to advocate. Repulsed by how
greed for private property was instrumental in causing poverty, social
exploitation and unending warfare - he saw hope for human society in
the tribal republics that had not yet come
under the sway of authoritarian rule and caste discrimination. The
early Buddhist
Sanghas were modelled on the tribal pattern of social
interaction that
stressed gender equality, and respect for all members. Members of the Sanghas
sought to emulate their egalitarian outlook and democratic functioning
At that time, the tribal republics retained many aspects of social
equality that can still be found in some Adivasi societies that have
somehow escaped the ill-effects of commercial plunder and exploitation.
Adivasi society was built on a foundation of equality with respect for
all life forms including plants and trees. There was a deep recognition
of mutual dependence in nature and human society. People were given
respect and status according to their contribution to social needs but
only while they were performing that particular function. A priest
could be treated with great respect during a religious ceremony or a
doctor revered during a medical consultation, but once such duties had
been performed, the priest or doctor became equal to everyone else.
The possession of highly valued skills or knowledge did not lead to a
permanent
rise in status. This meant that no individual or small group could
engage
in overlordship of any kind, or enjoy hereditary rights.
Such a value-system was sustainable as long as the Adivasi community
was non-acquisitive and all the products of society were shared.
Although division of labor did take place, the work of society was
performed on a cooperative and co-equal basis - without prejudice or
disrespect for any form of work.
It was the simplicity, the love of nature, the absence of coveting
the goods and wealth of others, and the social harmony of tribal
society that attracted Gautam Buddha, and had a profound impact on the
ethical core of his teachings.
(To this day, sharing is a
vital and integral part of the philosophy of the Mullakurumba Adivasis
of South India. When the Mullakurumbas go hunting a share is given to
every family in the village, even those who may be absent, sick or
cannot participate for
any other reason. An extra portion is added for any guest in the
village and
even a non-tribal passersby will be offered a share. Not sharing is
something they find difficult to comprehend.)
Nevertheless, tribal
societies were
under constant pressure as the money economy grew and made traditional
forms
of barter less difficult to sustain. In matters of trade, the Adivasis
followed
a highly evolved system of honour. All agreements that they entered
into
were honoured, often the entire tribe chipping in to honor an agreement
made
by an individual member of the tribe. Individual dishonesty or deceit
were
punished severely by the tribe. An individual who acted in a manner
that
violated the honor of the tribe faced potential banishment and family
members
lost the right to participate in community events during the period of
punishment.
But often, tribal integrity was undermined because the non-tribals who
traded
with the Adivasis reneged on their promises and took advantage of the
sincerity
and honesty of most members of the tribe.
Tribal societies came under
stress due to several factors. The extension of commerce, military
incursions on tribal land, and the resettling of Brahmins amidst tribal
populations had an impact, as did ideological coercion or persuasion to
attract key members of the tribe into "mainstream" Hindu society. This
led to many tribal communities becoming integrated into Hindu society
as jatis (or castes) while others
who resisted were pushed into the hilly or forested areas, or remote
tracks
that had not yet been settled. In the worst case, defeated Adivasi
tribes were pushed to the margins of settled society and became
discriminated as
outcastes and "untouchables".
But spontaneous
differentiation within tribal societies also took place over time,
which propelled these now
unequal tribal communities into integrating into Hindu society without
external
violence or coercion. In Central India, ruling dynasties emerged from
within
the ranks of tribal society.
In any case, the end result
was that throughout India, tribal deities and customs, creation myths
and a variety of religious rites and ceremonies came to absorbed into
the broad stream of
"Hindu" society. In the Adivasi traditions, ancestor worship, worship
of
fertility gods and goddesses (as well as male and female fertility
symbols), totemic worship - all played a role. And they all found their
way into the practice of what is now considered Hinduism. The
widespread Indian practice of keeping 'vratas', i.e. fasting
for wish-fulfillment or moral cleansing also has Adivasi origins
Mahashweta Devi has shown
that both
Shiva and Kali have tribal origins as do Krishna and Ganesh. In the 8th
century,
the tribal forest goddess or harvest goddess was absorbed and adapted
as
Siva's wife. Ganesh owes it's origins to a powerful tribe of elephant
trainers
whose incorporation into Hindu society was achieved through the
deification
of their elephant totem. In his study of Brahmin lineages in
Maharashtra,
Kosambi points to how many Brahmin gotras (such as Kashyapa) arose
from tribal totems such as Kachhapa (tortoise). In Rajasthan,
Rajput rulers recognised the
Adivasi Bhil chiefs as allies and Bhils acquired a
central role in some
Rajput coronation ceremonies.
India's regional languages
such as Oriya, Marathi or Bengali developed as a result of the fusion
of tribal languages with Sanskrit or Pali and virtually all the Indian
languages have incorporated words from the vocabulary of Adivasi
languages.
Adivasis who developed an
intimate knowledge of various plants and their medicinal uses played an
invaluable role in the development of Ayurvedic medicines. In a recent
study, the All India Coordinated Research Project credits Adivasi
communities with the knowledge of 9000 plant species - 7500 used for
human healing and veterinary
health care. Dental care products like datun, roots and
condiments
like turmeric used in cooking and ointments are also Adivasi
discoveries, as are many fruit trees and vines. Ayurvedic cures for
arthritis and night blindness owe their origin to Adivasi knowledge.
Adivasis also played an
important role in the development of agricultural practices - such as
rotational cropping, fertility maintenance through alternating the
cultivation of grains with leaving
land fallow or using it for pasture. Adivasis of Orissa were
instrumental in developing a variety of strains of rice.
Adivasi musical instruments
such as the bansuri (flute) and dhol (drum),
folk-tales, dances and
seasonal celebrations also found their way into Indian traditions as
did
their art and metallurgical skills.
In India's central belt,
Adivasi communities rose to considerable prominence and developed their
own ruling clans. The earliest Gond kingdom appears to date from the
10th C and the Gond Rajas were able to maintain a relatively
independent existence until the 18th C., although they were compelled
to offer nominal allegiance to the
Mughal empire. The Garha-Mandla kingdom in the north extended control
over
most of the upper Narmada valley and the adjacent forest areas. The
Deogarh-Nagpur
kingdom dominated much of the upper Wainganga valley, while
Chanda-Sirpur
in the south consisted of territory around Wardha and the confluences
of
the Wainganga with the Penganga.
Jabalpur was one of the major
centers of the Garha-Mandla kingdom and like other major dynastic
capitals had a large
fort and palace. Temples and palaces with extremely fine carvings and
erotic
sculptures came up throughout the Gond kingdoms. The Gond ruling clans
enjoyed
close ties with the Chandella ruling clans and both dynasties attempted
to
maintain their independence from Mughal rule through tactical
alliances. Rani
Durgavati of Jabalpur (of
Chandella-Gond
heritage) acquired a
reputation
of legendary proportions when she died in battle defending against
Mughal
incursions. The city of Nagpur was founded by a Gond Raja in the early
18th
century.
Adivasis
and the Freedom Movement
As soon as
the British
took over Eastern India tribal revolts broke out to challenge alien
rule.
In the early years of colonization, no other community in India offered
such
heroic resistance to British rule or faced such tragic consequences as
did
the numerous Adivasi communities of now Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, Orissa
and
Bengal. In 1772, the Paharia revolt broke out which was followed by a
five
year uprising led by Tilka Manjhi who was hanged in Bhagalpur in 1785.
The
Tamar and Munda revolts followed. In the next two decades, revolts took
place
in Singhbhum, Gumla, Birbhum,
Bankura, Manbhoom and
Palamau,
followed by the great Kol Risings of 1832 and the Khewar and Bhumij
revolts
(1832-34). In 1855, the Santhals waged
war against the permanent settlement of
Lord Cornwallis, and a year later, numerous adivasi leaders played key
roles
in the 1857 war of independence.
But the
defeat of
1858 only intensified British exploitation of national wealth and
resources. A forest
regulation passed in 1865
empowered the British government to declare any land covered with trees
or brushwood as government forest and
to make rules to manage it under terms of it's own choosing. The act
made
no provision regarding the rights of the Adivasi users. A more comprehensive Indian Forest Act was passed in 1878,
which imposed severe restrictions upon Adivasi rights over forest land
and produce in the protected and reserved forests. The act radically changed the nature of the
traditional common property of the Adivasi communities and made it
state property.
As punishment
for Adivasi resistance to British rule, "The Criminal Tribes Act" was
passed by the British Government in 1871 arbitrarily stigmatizing
groups such as the Adivasis (who were perceived as most hostile to
British interests) as congenital criminals.
Adivasi
uprisings in the Jharkhand belt were quelled by the British through
massive deployment of troops across the region. The Kherwar uprising
and the Birsa Munda movement were the most important of the late-18th
century struggles against British rule and their local agents. The long
struggle led by Birsa Munda was directed at British policies that
allowed the zamindars (landowners) and money-lenders to
harshly exploit the Adivasis. In 1914 Jatra Oraon started what is
called the Tana Movement (which drew the participation of over 25,500
Adivasis). The Tana movement joined the nation-wide Satyagrah Movement
in 1920 and stopped the payment of land-taxes to the colonial
Government.
During
British rule, several revolts also took place in Orissa which naturally
drew participation from the Adivasis. The significant ones included the
Paik Rebellion of 1817, the Ghumsar uprisings of 1836-1856, and the
Sambhalpur revolt of 1857-1864.
In the hill
tribal tracts of Andhra Pradesh a revolt broke out in August 1922. Led
by Alluri Ramachandra Raju (better known as Sitarama Raju), the
Adivasis of the Andhra hills succeeded in drawing the British into a
full-scale guerrilla war. Unable
to cope, the British brought in the Malabar Special Force to crush it
and
only prevailed when Alluri Raju died.
As the freedom movement widened, it drew Adivasis into all aspects
of the
struggle. Many landless and deeply oppressed Adivasis joined in with
upper-caste
freedom fighters expecting that the defeat of the British would usher
in
a new democratic era.
Unfortunately, even fifty years after independence, Dalits and
Adivasis have benefited least from the advent of freedom. Although
independence has brought widespread gains for the vast majority of the
Indian population, Dalits
and Adivasis have often been left out, and new problems have arisen for
the
nation's Adivasi populations. With the tripling of the population since
1947,
pressures on land resources, especially demands on forested tracks,
mines
and water resources have played havoc on the lives of the Adivasis. A
disproportionate
number of Adivasis have been displaced from their traditional lands
while
many have seen access to traditional resources undercut by forest
mafias
and corrupt officials who have signed irregular commercial leases that
conflict
with rights granted to the Adivasis by the Indian constitution.
It remains to be seen if the the grant of statehood for Jharkhand
and
Chhatisgarh ameliorates the conditions for India's Adivasis. However,
it
is imperative that all Adivasi districts receive special attention from
the
Central government in terms of investment in schools, research
institutes,
participatory forest management and preservation schemes, non-polluting
industries,
and opportunities for the Adivasi communities to document and preserve
their
rich heritage. Adivasis must have special access to educational,
cultural
and economic opportunities so as to reverse the effects of colonization
and
earlier injustices experienced by the Adivasi communities.
At the same time, the country can learn much from the beauty of
Adivasi social practices, their culture of sharing and respect for all
- their deep humility and love of nature - and most of all - their deep
devotion to social equality and civic harmony.
Notes
Abhishek Sheetal from the Munda tribe in Jharkhand wrote to us
emphasizing how traditionally tribal societies valued gender equality,
respect for nature and equality of all trades. This Munda fable
is particularly illustrative:
There was a king who lost a war
with Munda tribals. He sent a messenger to the king of Mundas. The
messenger looked around but could not find the king or his palace. He
asked one farmer as to where to find the king. The farmer replied, "He
was here a while ago, let me see (he looks around)....Oh there he is
(pointing to a man plowing his fields with his bullocks)... He is
working there."
References:
1. What is
Living and What is Dead in Indian Philosophy - Debiprasad
Chattopadhyaya
1b. Stcherbasky:
Buddhist Logic (New York, 1962), Papers of Stcherbasky - (Calcutta -
1969,71)
2.
The Indian
Historical Review, Vol. 16:1,2 Baidyanath Saraswati's review of P.K
Maity, Folk-Rituals of Eastern India
3. Bulletins of the ICHR (Indian Council of Historical Research)
4. Studies in the
History of Science in India (Edited by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya)
5. Adivasi: A
symbiotic Bond
- Mari and Stan Thekaekara (Hindu Folio, July 16, 2000)
Note: The term Adivasi
has been used broadly to represent those classified as Scheduled Tribe
under the
Indian constitution. Roughly speaking, the term translates as
aboriginal or
native people (or native dwellers).
Some Dalit activists now
prefer to also be characterized as Adivasis. Others seek to bring all
of India's oppressed groupings under the 'Bahujan Samaj' umbrella.
While the term Harijan is largely out of favour, there are some who
simply identify with the government designated terms ST (scheduled
tribe) and SC (scheduled caste).
Although, districts with
large Adivasi
populations are to be found almost throughout India, the majority of
India's
Adivasis hail from Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Orissa. Tripura,
Arunachal, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland also have large
Adivasi populations.
There are also districts in Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Maharashtra,
Andhra and Tamil Nadu with sizeable Adivasi populations.
Also see: Adivasi and other Revolts, Unsung
Heroes of the Indian Freedom Struggle
Related Articles:
Buddhist Ethics and Social
Criticism
History of Social Relations in
India
Key Landmarks in the Indian
Freedom Struggle
Also see Topics in
Indian History
http://india_resource.tripod.com/adivasi.html
Colonialism, Culture, and Resistance Book Description
How did resistance to colonialism form a source of alternative
modernity in India? Why did the process fail to strike roots? Building
upon four decades of serious research, this unique collection discusses
different forms of resistance to colonialism and their role in the
formation of alternative modernity. It also provides an engaging
account of the development of political and cultural consciousness in
the subcontinent.
Investigating three areas of resistance -
armed uprising, intellectual dissent, and cultural protest - K.N.
Panikkar argues that these were informed by a vision of a condition
beyond colonialism in which tradition and modernity selectively, but
creatively, came together. This had manifestations in several fields of
cultural and intellectual concern - social ideas, cultural practices,
scientific enquiries, and literary and artistic creativity.
According
to the author a creative dialogue between tradition and modernity was
crowded out of public space by the dual pressures of revivalism and
colonial modernity. The void thus created was filled either by the
culture of the capitalist west intially provided by colonial modernity
or by the obscurantism of tradition, currently being elaborated and
advocated by Hindutva. The failure of alternative modernity has also
led to an uncritical acceptance of globalization and sympathetic
response to cultural revivalism. Based on a variety of sources, in both
English and regional languages, this volume provides a new
interpretation of the intellectual and cultural history of colonial
India.
theorists, and philosophers, especially those concerned with the
history of ideas and Indias intellectual and cultural past.Professor
Panikkars essays on colonialism and culture have been seminal and
insightful. The present collection explores among other themes, the
making of colonial hegemony and the resistance to it through cultural
forms, thus making visible new and thoughtful historical perspectives.
- Romila Thapar,
Emeritus Professorr of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University
In
a fast-changing intellectual climate, K.N. Panikkar has stood his
ground with remarkable tenacity. He is our foremost historian who has,
for well over four decades, explored the social histories of South
India from a Marxian perspective. This volume bears testimony, if it
were ever needed, to his scholarship. - Mushirul Hasan,
Vice Chancellor and Professor of Modern Indian History, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Author:
K N Panikkar,
EAN:
9780195681536
Deliverable Countries: This product ships to United
Arab Emirates, Australia, Belgium, Bahrain, Switzerland, China,
Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan,
Kenya, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa.
http://www.infibeam.com/Books/info/K-N-Panikkar/Colonialism-Culture-and-Resistance/0195681533.html
Indian fireworks blaze 'kills 30'
 Firecrackers are widely used during the Hindu festival of Diwali |
At least 30 people have been killed
and 10 injured in a fire at a fireworks warehouse in south-east India,
the Press Trust of India says.
Police said 30 charred bodies had been pulled from the warehouse at Pallipat, near Chennai, according to the report.
Most of the victims were reported to be traders buying up fireworks ahead of the Diwali festival on Saturday.
It was not immediately clear how the fire started. Accidental explosions are common at Indian fireworks factories.
Many such factories are illegal, providing fireworks for weddings, festivals and other ceremonies.
In
July at least 16 people were killed after an explosion and fire at
another fireworks factory in Tamil Nadu state, of which Chennai is the
capital.
Fireworks celebrations are an important part of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
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Pakistan begins Taliban assault
 Hakimullah Mehsud is the new leader of the Pakistan Taliban |
Fierce fighting has broken out as
Pakistan's army launched an air and ground offensive against Taliban
militants in the South Waziristan area.
Officials said 30,000
troops, backed by artillery, had moved into the region where Pakistan
Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud is based.
Militants were reported to be offering stiff resistance as troops advanced from the north, east, and west.
A curfew was imposed in the region before the offensive began.
There have been several co-ordinated Taliban attacks in recent days, killing more than 150 people in cities across Pakistan.
Pakistan's
top army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed that a fully-fledged
assault had begun and said that an offensive could last up to two
months.
"The objective is to clear this terrorist organisation
from the area, who has taken over the area, turned these state
institutions, organisations out and has taken the entire population
hostage," he told the BBC.
He added that intense fighting was expected during the course of the operation.
Dozens of casualties have already been reported by local officials as both sides used heavy weapons.
The
bodies of three Pakistan soldiers were taken to the northern town of
Razmak. There have also been unconfirmed reports of militant deaths.
Nearly
all communications in the region were down after the Taliban destroyed
a telecommunications tower at Tiarza, local officials said.
Reports
from the area are sketchy as it is difficult and dangerous for foreign
or Pakistani journalists to operate inside South Waziristan.
Air attack
Aerial
bombardments in the the Makeen area, a stronghold of the Mehsud tribe
and a key army target, were also reported by local officials and
witnesses.
| FORCES IN WAZIRISTAN Pakistan army: Two divisions totalling 28,000 soldiers Frontier Corp: Paramilitary forces from tribal areas likely to support army Taliban militants: Estimated between 10,000 and 20,000 Uzbek fighters supporting Taliban: Estimates widely vary between 500-5,000  |
One resident of Makeen town described the onset of fighting.
"We
heard the sounds of planes and helicopters early Saturday. Then we
heard blasts. We are also hearing gunshots and it seems the army is
exchanging fire with Taliban," Ajmal Khan told the Associated Press
news agency by telephone.
The ground operation comes after
weeks of air and artillery strikes against militant targets in the
region, which lies close to the Afghan border.
Thousands of civilians have fled South Waziristan in anticipation of the offensive.
Aid
agencies say that many more are expected to flee but the tough terrain
and the Taliban's grip on the area will present difficulties.
Transport has been difficult as roads have been blocked by the military.
There
is a huge army presence on the road between Tank and Dera Ismail Khan,
says the BBC's Islamabad correspondent Shoaib Hasan, near South
Waziristan.
On his way to South Waziristan, he passed several army convoys on the road.
There has been no comment from the Pakistan military yet.
The
mobilisation came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani
held a meeting of the country's senior political and military
leadership.
Lengthy planning
Recent militant
attacks were seen as an attempt to divide public opinion, but they
appear to have strengthened the resolve of the government, which says
the Taliban must now be eliminated, our correspondent added.
 Pakistanis have fled the Afghan border region as troops move in |
The army has been massing troops near the militants' stronghold for
months - ever since the governor of Pakistan's North West Frontier
Province announced a ground offensive in South Waziristan on 15 June.
Pakistan's government has been under considerable pressure from the US to tackle militancy there.
North
and South Waziristan form a lethal militant belt from where insurgents
have launched attacks across north-west Pakistan as well as into parts
of eastern Afghanistan.
South Waziristan is considered to be the first significant sanctuary for Islamic militants outside Afghanistan since 9/11.
It also has numerous training camps for suicide bombers.
Are you currently in South Waziristan? Have you left
your home due to the prospect of a military attack? Have you seen army
convoys? Send us your stories using the form below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8311927.stm
Middle East |
|
| |
 | | Iraq's cabinet ratifies a deal with two foreign energy companies to develop the giant southern oilfield in Rumaila. |
The UN Human Rights Council backs a report into Israel's Gaza offensive accusing both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. | | A Saudi camel owner sues oil giant Saudi Aramco for $250,000 after a prized beast falls into a hole in the desert. |
FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS
| | | |
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MORE FROM MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS MEDIA ROUND-UP | | YOUR PERSPECTIVE FEATURES A GUIDE TO THE MIDDLE EAST
Compiled by BBC Monitoring |
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Colonialism and cultural resistance
20 May 1992
Whitefella comin': Aboriginal Responses to Colonialism in Northern Australia
By David S. Trigger
Cambridge University Press, 1992. 250 pp. $45 (hb)
Reviewed by Andrew Honey
Trigger's
book focuses on Doomadgee, a mission settlement on the Nicholson River
in the Queensland gulf country 80 km west of Burketown, established by
Open Brethren in 1936. It is an interpretation of social life up to
1983 based on original research.
After pastoralists drove
Aborigines off their land, the northern Protector regularly issued
rations in the 1890s, which “engendered a form of accommodation” to
state coercion and land dispossession and led to the pauperisation of
the Aborigines.
However, only with the establishment of
Doomadgee have Aborigines been subject to “forces of hegemonic
domination”. It is this part of Trigger's study that breaks new ground.
The missionaries saw the poor physical conditions combined with
“moral danger”: At Burketown “no little girl is really safe, such is
the depraved condition of the people here”, whereas at Doomadgee there
was the “pure, clean atmosphere of a Christian home”.
The
“girls” (some were 24 years old!) were locked up overnight and
forbidden to leave the mission unaccompanied during the day.
Social distance
There
was a physical division between the “mission”, which contained the
houses of the white staff, the school and the clinic, and the
“village”, which contained Aboriginal housing and none of the service
facilities.
This physical separation and the retention of
services in the white domain is reproduced in many places where there
appear to be two separate towns, for example Toomelah and Boggabilla in
northern NSW.
Trigger argues that
Aborigines seem more committed than whites to maintaining this social
distance. He believes Aborigines exclude whites as part of a “defence
against constant administrative intrusiveness and attitudinal
ethnocentrism”.
The internal politics of the “village”, he concludes,
involved
the “attribution of social status” in a manner totally different to
that of non-Aboriginal society, centring on language, country and kin.
A
valuable aspect of Trigger's study is his discussion of conflict, which
he describes as quite common, and its resolution independent of the
“village” administration. This reinforces the interpretation of
Aboriginal “dispute processing” advanced by Marcia Langton in “Medicine
Square” (1988).
Trigger attempts to ascertain the extent to
which Aborigines have imbibed the racial ideology shared by the
missionaries and the racist governments of Queensland and the Northern
Territory.
This was that “mixed-race” children on cattle
stations and in fringe camps should be separated from “full-bloods”
because they were more assimilable into white society.
At
Doomadgee, Aborigines referred to those of mixed descent as
“half-caste”, “quarter-caste” and “Yellafella” and considered them a
separate social group.
The attribution of “Yellafella” status
depended on a person's skin colour, knowledge of their parents and
grandparents and their general behaviour and usual associates.
Trigger
found that persons attributed “Yellafella” status were twice as likely
to be in employment, more than six times as likely to have access to a
vehicle and were favoured in obtaining newer housing.
Trigger
believes that Aboriginal thought has not embraced the white ideology
that attributes inherent characteristics to skin colour or ancestry,
but rather that it emphasises the “importance of mixed-descent people
having been provided with different opportunities by the world of white
officialdom and employers”.
Christianity
Did Christianity legitimate the domination over Aboriginal society or provide a basis for resistance?
The
steps to become a Christian were first to approach a church elder and
make a “profession of faith” or be “saved”, then to be baptised and
finally to live an “authentic Christian life”.
Only a few of the large number of Aborigines who had been “saved” and baptised were in fellowship at any one time,
in 1982 constituting 30 or 40 out of 260 adults.
In
an aspect that Trigger does not explore further, there seems to be a
female bias in the numbers of both those baptised (59%) and those
attending Brethren meetings (67%). This seems to call for further
explanation, given that women could not speak at church meetings or
become elders.
Many Christian Aborigines opposed initiation
ceremonies because they regarded Aboriginal law as dangerous “in some
spiritual sense”. As a result, there was considerable tension between
Christians and those committed to Aboriginal law.
Trigger
argues that Aborigines have not kept the two traditions “intellectually
separate”. That a number of law experts have over the years been
baptised and that “square up” rituals followed the deaths of
Aborigines, including church elders, are cited as examples of the
considerable tolerance of aspects of Christian belief among the broad
group of Aborigines not in fellowship.
In material terms, those
who were regular churchgoers were four times more likely to be living
in newer housing than irregular churchgoers, and all churchgoers were
three times more likely than non-churchgoers to be living in newer
housing.
Overall, Trigger finds that among converts,
“Christianity has operated as a powerful legitimating ideology for
White authority”. But after 50 years, the Aboriginal domain and the
distinctly Aboriginal form of politics still formed part of a “culture
of resistance”. The tactical management of social distance, the failure
of the evangelical endeavour to embrace more than a minority of
Aborigines and the failure of the management ethos to convince most
Aborigines of its legitimacy are evidence of this.
The great
merit of Trigger's book is not simply to have moved away from
interpreting Aborigines as mere victims, but to have explored,
following Genovese and others in Afro-American history, original
material on different forms of resistance and accommodation. He has
given both an original account and a unique interpretation.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/1992/56/3232
Culture Wars Counter Attack: Remembering Aboriginal Resistance to the Invasion
by Joseph Toscano
Friday January 27, 2006 at 12:25 AM
Repost from Anarchist Age Weekly Review 676
The 30 or so people who gathered at the
corner of Bowen and Franklin Streets in Melbourne last Saturday to mark
the 164th anniversary of the execution of the indigenous freedom
fighters Tunnerminnerwait and Peevay, decided to appoint a Steering
Committee to examine the possibility of ongoing action.
Australia has been involved in a viscous culture war
over the past 2 decades that has been conducted by a small but
influential clique of reactionary historical revisionists who enjoy a
great deal of support in the Federal Cabinet and Murdoch's flagship in
Australia - The Australian. This war has been fought to undermine gains
made by indigenous Australians, the trade union and community based
orgnisations. They have succeeded in their efforts to undermine the
gains made by people who have been oppressed for generations.
Ironically, while historical revisionists that deny the Holocaust
occurred are correctly marginalised and ridiculed, those in Australia
who deny the reality of the colonisation process in this country are
lauded, are given a voice by both the Federal government and
influential sections of the corporate media. The formation of a group
that is willing to take these historical and cultural revisionists head
on, is long overdue.
The best way to tackle the lies and
misinformation that is currently doing the rounds, is by publicly
commemorating significant events in our past, by erecting memorials,
plaques and statues to physically mark these events, by putting
pressure on local councils to establish and maintain these memorials
and encouraging them to hold seminars and information days to inform
the residents of their municipalities about these significant events
and to put pressure on the government of the day to ensure that these
important stories are told in the National Museum, the National
Library, the National Art Gallery and most importantly of all, the
story about the indigenous resistance to white colonisation is told in
the Canberra War Memorial.
If you are interested in joining
and supporting the 'CULTURE WARS COUNTERATTACK', keep reading the
Anarchist Age Weekly Review and listening to the Anarchist World This
Week [3CR Wednesdays 10am] to find out what is planned for the rest of
the year.
PERSONAL OBSERVATION
I first came across
the story of Tunnerminnerwait and Peevay in a second hand bookshop 4 or
5 years ago. I'd heard about the first executions that had occurred in
Victoria in the early 1840's, but knew nothing about them. It was one
of those fortuitous meetings that happen once in a while. In the bottom
shelf of the Australian History section was a copy of Jack of Cape
Grimm which has been written by Jan Roberts as a bicentenary subject.
She wanted to do a TV series, nothing came of it, now her book, like
the bones of Tunnerminnerwait and Peevay rotting underneath the Queen
Victoria Market, have joined the community's collective
unconsciousness.
I've been thinking about organising
something to mark their execution for 2 to 3 years. It was only late
last year after a little bit of prodding from a friend - Bill, that the
Anarchist Media Institute organised a commemoration. Even if 3 or 4
turned up, the event would stir up a few leaves in the collective
amnesia of the city of Melbourne.
Saturday was the hottest
day for over a year, temperatures soared around 40degrees. The spot -
corner Franklin & Bowen Streets is bare asphalt, workmen were
trying to get in and out of RMIT in their utes. About 30 of us made a
circle, a few talked about the significance of the events, for an hour
we remembered, we had blown life into this city's forgotten history.
Although the media had been invited, no one came, no one called. I
didn't expect anybody to bother; they had bigger fish to fry - what was
happening at Ramsey Street, the cricket and 101 other meaningless
events to cover.
It doesn't matter, we have started a
tradition which will grow and grow, a Steering Committee was appointed
- ‘THE CUTURE WARS COUNTER ATTACK' was born kicking and screaming. It
is amazing what happens when we try to make the ideas in our heads a
reality. Tunnerminnerwait and Peevay's deaths are not forgotten. People
had tears in their eyes as I recounted their stories. A bunch of
flowers, an A3 poster and a leaflet were taped around a tree, someone
else will come across their story, maybe, just maybe, they will take
the trouble like you to join us next year.
AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY WHO? (from Anarchist Age No 643)
Every Australian knows about the Ned Kelly gang, how many Australians
are familiar with the story of PLANOBEENA, PYTERRUNNER, TRUCANNINI,
TUNNERMINNERWAIT and PEEVAY - Fanny, Matilda, Truganni, Jack and Robert
- 5 indigenous Tasmanians who fought an effective campaign against the
invading European settlers on the Eastern outskirts of Melbourne in the
late 1841.
Their exploits rival those of the Ned Kelly gang.
One group has been ignored and forgotten, the other immortalised in
Australia folklore Three military expeditions were launched against 5
of the 17 Tasmanian Aborigines that had been brought across from
Tasmania by the Aboriginal �protector� Robinson - for the purpose of
aiding in the civilisation of the Aborigines of Australia Felix-the
remnants of the Tasmania tribes who had fought a 34 year battle against
the invasion of Tasmania by European settlers were once again
conducting war against the invaders, this time in Victoria.
All 5 were familiar with firearms and the ways of European settlers.
The invaders held no fear for them and they were able to evade 3
military expeditions that were sent to kill them.
They raided
station after station from Dandenong to Cape Paterson. They stole
firearms and burnt down stations, trying to avoid unnecessary deaths
and gunfights. They killed 2 whalers, Cook and Yankee, wounded 5
settlers, burnt down numerous farmhouses and evaded capture for 8
weeks. Although they set out to drive the settlers from the bush, they
didn�t harm women or children and only fired at those that fired at
them. Considering the outrages that had been perpetrated on them and
their families in Tasmania, it�s extraordinary that they didn�t kill
many more settlers when they had the opportunity to even up the score.
They were finally captured near Anderson�s Inlet, not far from Cape
Patterson, after an exchange of gunfire with an overwhelming party of
soldiers, police, settlers and black trackers, who were used to
pinpoint their position in the bush. In 8 weeks, this small band had
sent a shiver down the spine of the 15,000 Europeans who were living in
Melbourne and its environs in late 1841.
The Aboriginal
prisoners arrived in Melbourne 6 days after they were captured in
chains and under military escort on the 21st November 1841. All the
defendants were charged with murder, they appeared in court on the 20th
December 1841. Mr. Redmond Barry, the standing Defence Counsel for
Aborigines who represented the 5 in court, was the same man who
presided over the trial of some of the miners who were involved in the
Eureka rebellion in 1854 and the judge who sentenced Ned Kelly to hang
in 1880.
Barry conducted a very skilful defence, Robinson
gave character evidence for the fire, and later the same evening the
jury took half an hour to reach a verdict. The men were found guilty of
murder, the women were found not guilty. The jury made a very strong
plea for clemency for the men �on account of general good character and
the peculiar circumstances under which they are placed�.
The
next day Judge Willis sentenced the 2 men to death and the 3 women were
discharged into Robinson�s care. The jury�s plea for mercy was rejected
by the Executive Council of New South Wales. There had never been an
execution in Melbourne since it was founded in 1836.
It�s
ironic that the first 2 executions were of indigenous resistance
fighters. The execution was carried out on the site of the current
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology on the 20th January 1842. 5000
people, a quarter of Victoria�s white population turned up for
Melbourne�s first public executions.
Tunnerminnerwait faced
the execution calmly, Peevy was terror struck and had to be dragged up
to the gallows. The gallows were poorly built, the execution had no
previous experience, the trap doors opened, both men only partially
fell, �the 2 twisted and writhed convulsively in a manner that
horrified even the most hardened�. A spectator kicked the piece of
timber holding the trapdoor partially opened, Robert slowly choked to
death.
Jack and Robert were buried outside the Melbourne
cemetery (under the current Victoria Market). Aboriginal armed
resistance continued in Victoria till the 1850�s.
SOURCE OF MATERIAL FOR ARTICLE: Jack of Cape Grim by Jan Roberts, Greenhouse Publications 1986, ISBN 086436007X
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/104827.php
Archive for the 'subaltern agency' Category
Slide-show of Resistance at the West-Bank
Stellan Vinthagen April 29th, 2009
At
the next Resistance Studies Seminar at Gothenburg University on the 7th
May we will have the opportunity to learn first hand of the resistance
done in the everyday and in actions by Palestinians.
Jonathan Pye shares his experiences from the West Bank as an
activist with the International Solidarity Movement. Beginning with
last years olive harvest via the struggle against settler theft of
property and against the wall, to the solidarity demonstrations with
the people in Gaza during the massacre. A slide-show from the
activities is presented in order to give a personal view rather than a
macro-political analysis. An example of what activism in Palestine can
be like for the curious about the current situation and those who
themselves consider going there.
The seminar happens in Room 403. Seminars happen as usual every
second Thursday at 15:15-17:00, Annedalsseminariet, School of Global
Studies. Post-seminar at 17-, Restaurant Gyllene Prag. (RSN Work Group
Meetings at same place at 14) (You find the seminar text one week
before and more information above on “Seminars”). Are you interested to
present at a seminar or have ideas? Email Stellan Vinthagen (write
“stellan.vinthagen” and then add “@resistancestudies.org”)
Resistance studies seminar on Anti-privatisation struggles in India
Stellan Vinthagen April 19th, 2009
On Thursday we have the next resistance studies seminar in Gothenburg. We are honoured to have PhD Katrin Uba from
Department of Government, Uppsala University who will present her
research on resistance against privatisation in India. Her PhD; “Do Protests Make a Difference?: The impact of anti-privatisation mobilisation in India and Peru”, was presented 2007.
In order to get a good discussion at the seminar we urge all
participants to read parts of her thesis beforehand. Of course it is
not necessary to read it all, but some of it, in order to get the
critical discussion going forward.
Katrin Uba suggest that participants of the seminar read the thesis in one of the two ways - depending on the main interests of the reader: (1) In case of the interest in labour movement India – read introduction and the 1st essay (2) In case of the interest in outcomes of social movement mobilisation – read introduction and 3rd essay.
This time we also get an introductory lecture between 13-15 from
Katrin, before the seminar (room 403). And as always, we gather for the
seminar between 15 and 17, and then for the post-seminar session at
restaurant Gyllene Prag from 17 and onwards. (More practical
information you will find at the link “Seminars” above).
All welcome!
Art and Resistance?!
Stellan Vinthagen March 20th, 2009
This
Wednesday I did a talk on Resistance Studies at the art exhibition hall
Magasin 3 in Stockholm, Sweden. The talk was in connection to an
ongoing exhibition by the artist Santiago Sierra (info in Swedish about this exhibition or the official site of Santiago Sierra in English).
I outlined what “resistance studies” is and talked especially on
everyday resistance and constructive resistance, and towards the end I
did show loads of photos of examples of strong symbolic expressions of
constructive resistance.
In the discussion afterwards several people asked me what I tink of
the art of Sierra and if art can be part of resistance. I am convinced
that art is possible as resistance but I am not convinced about Sierra
I must admit. Some of the things he does seems more like an act of
repeating the repression than the resistance to the repression…
I am more impressed by our old hero Banksy
who does (at least) two things different to Sierra; he acts in the
public space, and he display hopefull/humouristic resistance to power.
Of course, I am able to see that Sierra is upset and against
repression, I like that. But is that enough? Does not the artist also
have a responsibility to do more than show how ugly the world is? What
happens when you show the oppression of the “castless”/untouchables
(Dalits) in India by, like Sierra, letting them for free make art of
their work with human shit, and then that art is sold by Sierra for a
lot of money to art-collectors? No money goes to the Dalits…Of course
it shows how twisted the world is, how sick the art industry is, and I
am convinced Sierra want to show that problem, and expose the art
industry, but, still, what about the Dalits? What about Sierra’s role
in repeating the repression?
I would love to get to know what more people think about the art of Sierra. Feel welcome to contribute your thoughts.
Creating histories of authenticity and resistance: Race, ethnicity and the right to land in Brazil
Stellan Vinthagen December 16th, 2008
Next
RESISTANCE STUDIES SEMINAR Dec 18 (15-17 at Annedalsseminariet, see
above at “Seminars”) is with Post-Doc Patricia Lorenzoni. You are all
welcome! This is her handout for the seminar:
Dear Seminar attendees,
My
research concerns the relation between claims on land, ethnic
minorities and history in Brazil. Working with readings of legislative
and other official documents, I am exploring how the understanding of
the historical relationship between the State and different minority
groups sets a framework for the negotiations of rights.
Below is a series of translated passages from four different documents. The first is the Estatuto do Índio,
the main legislative document regulating the relation between the
Brazilian state and the indigenous minorities. Although this document
from 1973 is on several points incongruent with the current
constitution from 1988, due to the impossibility to reach an agreement
in all necessary instances on a new legislation, the Estatuto do Índio is still in force. The second document is the democratic constitution from 1988.
Following these documents are excerpts from Programa Brasil Quilombola,
a booklet published in 2004 by the government special secretariat on
promoting politics of racial equality (Seppir). The publication is an
explanation of the government program with the same name and launched
the same year. This program aims at the recognition and
non-assimilationist integration of descendants of quilombos,
or maroon societies (i.e., descendants of fugitive slaves). Quoted is
also from the regulations of Incra (the government authority for land
reform) on the definition of a quilombo.
A note on the translations: I have kept certain Portuguese terms in the texts (such as quilombo, negro and índio)
since they carry connotations that are not easily translatable into
other languages and contexts. My presentation will revolve around the
quotations below, and also around these terms and how they are used.
1. Estatuto do Índio, 1973, article 1:
This law regulates the legal situation of índios or silvícolas
and of indigenous communities, with the purpose of preserving their
culture and integrate them, progressive and harmoniously, into the
national communion.
2. Estatuto do Índio, 1973, art 11:
Through
decree by the President of the Republic, the emancipation of the
indigenous community and its members can be declared, from the tutelary
regime established by law, to the full integration into the national
communion, this if it is demanded by the majority in the group and
proven in inquiry realized by a competent federal organ.
3. The Constitution of Brazil, 1988, art 231, §§1-2:
For the índios
are recognized their social organization, habits, languages, beliefs
and traditions, and the original right to the lands that they
traditionally occupy, falling on the Union to demarcate them, protect
and make respected all of their goods. Lands traditionally occupied by índios
are those where they live in permanent character, those used for their
productive activities, those that are indispensable for the
preservation of the environmental recourses necessary for their
well-being and those necessary for their physical and cultural
reproduction, according to their habits and traditions.
4. The Constitution of Brazil, 1988, art 232:
The Índios, their communities and organizations are legitimate parts to enter into court to defend their rights and interests.
5. Programa Brasil Quilombola, 2004, p. 9:
It is more plausible to affirm that the connection to the past [in the quilombo]
resides in the maintenance of practices of resistance and reproduction
of one’s way of life in a determined locality where the
collectivization of material and immaterial goods remain. In this way,
communities remnants of quilombos are social groups whose ethnic identity distinguish them from the rest of society.
6. Programa Brasil Quilombola, 2004, p. 10:
The
ethnic identity of a group is the base for its form of organization,
its relation to other groups and for its political action.
7. Instrução normativa no 16, Incra, 2004:
The characteristics of remnants of quilombola
communities should be attested through auto-definition of the
community. Auto-definition should be demonstrated through a simple
written declaration from the interested community, with specifications
of negro ancestry, historical trajectory, resistance against oppression, cults and habits.
People Power 3?
jj February 22nd, 2008
The
Philippines had a peaceful political revolution in 1986. Led by Corazon
Aquino the opposition organised huge demonstrations against the
fraudulent election Marcos arranged in January the same year. The name
People Power became widely known and inspired other people around the
world. In 2001 president Estrada was forced out of office in what was
labelled the “sms-revolution”.
Hundreds of thousands of civil society activists was several times
mobilised to meet at a specific place and time via sms communication in
this “People Power 2”. This “high tech” means of organising has been copied by others several places worldwide.
In recent weeks a new wave of sms’s has been calling for a “People
Power 3” and yesterday (February 21) stating that the militaries will
soon withdraw their support for the present president, Gloria Arroyo.
This coming Monday is the 22nd anniversary of People Power1 and could
be an important day for new non-violent actions to resist the present
regime.
Take Action! 83 Ways to Change the World!
Stellan Vinthagen January 31st, 2008
The Museum of World Culture
in Gothenburg recently started an exhibition on activism, displaying
various forms of activism which people around in the world use in order
to change their worlds. 83 different action forms are shown: e.g.
violent rebellion, civil disobedience, clown armies,
guerilla-gardening, knitting, seed-banks, remaking of IKEA-furniture,
etc.
Confrontations with power relations as well as creative re-making of
established structures and systems for own purposes (DIY, i.e. do it
yourself or direct action) are part of the approaches. And much more…
The exhibition is a result of collaboration between a number of researchers within a research project around “Underground”, funded by Museion,
Gothenburg University and the Museum of World Culture. Major parts of
the actions displayed are building on the work by Karl Palmås &
Otto von Busch (on Hacktivism) and Stellan Vinthagen (on Political Undergrounds).
The exhibition goes on for 1,5 years and integrates with community
events by various activist groups and open lectures on the theme of
resistance and activism. Go and see it! Tell others about it!
- Art-related resistance , Civil Disobedience , Discourse , Gender , Media , Nonviolent Action , Protest , Resistance , Technology , Violence , subaltern agency
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The Gothenburg Resistance Seminar: Next on Everyday Resistance
Stellan Vinthagen January 25th, 2008
Safaa Daoud will present a paper on Everyday Resistance next Thursday (the 31st of Jan) and by that start this semester’s Gothenburg Resistance Studies Seminar.
Her paper discusses how everyday political acts are possible to
understand as relevant resistance in the line of James Scott’s classic
study.
With this seminar we at the Resistance Studies Network hope to
initiate a discussion on resistance which highlights forms of
resistance that are not often understood as “resistance”, forms which
everyone is doing in their “private” life and which acctually might be
a lot more important than the occasional dramatic public forms of
resistance.
The paper is possible to download at the link to “Seminars” above on this site, or directly here.
Hope to see you at the seminar!
Antistrategic resistance according to Foucault
Per Herngren July 19th, 2007
I am working with the notion of antistrategic resistance and found this interresting quote from Michel Foucault:
“If someone ask me what it is I
think I am doing, I would answer: if the strategist is a man who says
“what importance does a particular death, a particular cry, a
particular uprising have in relation to the great necessity of the
whole, and of what importance to me is such-and-such a general
principle in the specific situation in which we find ourselves?” then
it is indifferent to me whether the strategist is a politician, a
historian, a revolutionary, someone who supports the Shah or the
ayatollah. My theoretical morality is the opposite. It is
“antistrategic”: be respectful when singularity rises up, and
intransigent when power infringes on the universal.”
Source: “Is it useless to revolt?” (Inutile de se soulever?). Quoted here from Foucauldian Reflections. Who quoted from Eribon, Michel Foucault, (pp. 290-91).
The “Righteous”: Individual Resistance of Great Importance
Stellan Vinthagen July 8th, 2007
Resistance
is, when it is studied, regularly understood firstly as a collective
project; within a movement, a organisation or a “mass” of people.
Secondly resistance is connected to dramatic and public confrontations.
That might be because such resistance makes more noice, more headlines
and through its very nature; disturbance on the public streets of urban
environments. Both these assumptions might be wrong. James Scott has in
his now classic work on resistance shown that resistance is, at least
in severe oppressive situations (like serfdom, slavery, small farming
in the country side in the Global South, in the cast system in India,
or generally in authoritarian or totalitarian states) more likely to be
hidden and disguised.
A strong statement showing how resistance might be entirely
individual, yet massive in its scale, is the book by Martin Gilbert
(www.martingilbert.com): The Righteous - The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust (2002) (Bye for about $13 at Amazon).
In it Gilbert vividly describe the stories of individual brave actors
who, while risking their own life, saved Jews during the Nazi
occupations in various European countries. He describe the general
phenomenon of “the righteous” in the introductory and concluding
chapters, and between them he goes through various stories structured
according to the situation in various countries, like Poland, Germany
and Hungary.
An amazing number of today 21 758 (see the list at Wikipedia) non-Jewish individuals have already been formally recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” (hasidei umot haolam) by Yad Vashem,
the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. And a lot more candidates are on the
way being recognized (only in Lithuania another 2 000 individuals),
while others don’t want to be public about their brave contributions
(e.g. in Denmark the underground resistance movement has asked the
whole collective to be named, not individual heroes).
I think about my own grand father, Gustaf Nilsson, who was a soldier
in Sweden during the war and who ended up in a military prison after
letting Jews who had arrived in a small boat (probably from Denmark)
and walked through his guard at the South border of Sweden. He never
talked about it, at least my my father and grand-mother never talked
about it, even though my grand-father was a trade union activist and
thus an out-spoken political individual. I just found out about it when
I cleared out the house of my grand mother after she died. Then I found
the court papers of the military. I guess there are a lot of people
like him, people who for various reasons did not talk about it, people
we probably never will know of, who made a life saving act but didn’t
see it as much in the light of the war, the Holocaust and all the
suffering that happened.
It is interesting to see that these brave individuals come from all
kinds of social sectors (clergy, organized support groups, farmers,
work camp guards, SS-soldiers, German supervisors, etc…). And it looks
like more or less equal division between those who knew and had a good
relation before the war/occupation to the Jews they saved, and those
who saved strangers who just knocked on their door or were in a
dangerous situation. (For more information check the website Holocaust Heroes).
The high number of individuals and their mainly isolated decision to
risk torture, death and danger for their own family by helping people,
without having anything to gain from it, is impressive and demands our
interest. The thousands that did help become even more interesting to
understand when we think about all the millions who did not make such
brave acts, the many million Jews that were exterminated and tortured
without getting any help…These “islands of exception” becomes a
challenge to explain since even though six million Jews were murded,
tens of thousands were saved.
Major Helmrich and his wife who helped Jews in Poland explained it
by saying: “we decided that it would be better for our children to have
dead parents than cowards as parents” (p. 526).
Gilbert presents a number of reasons given by the “righteous”
themselves but no clear common denominator seems to surface. Not
Christian values, earlier friendship, opposition to the Nazi occupation
or ideology, contempt for prejudice, a value for justice or any other
reason seem to explain it fully. The almost universal “explanation”
from the righteous was in the line of what a Lithuanian couple said:
“We did the only thing a decent person would do…” (p. 525), does not
explain it either. And maybe there is no single factor, or even a
common combination of factors that unite the individuals who faced
death while helping those who suffered and risked even more just
because they happend to be Jews. Maybe individual resistance demands
individual explanation?
But some interesting tendencis exist, e.g. the difference of numbers
who helped in the various countries. In Bulgaria (where relatively few
Jews where murded) only 17 individuals have been recognized, but in
Poland (where a lot of Jews where murded and a general anti-Semitic
sentiments existed, even before the Nazi occupation) there are at least
6 004 individual resisters (see Yad Vashem, and Gilbert p. 550).
So, when we do resistance studies it needs to recognize the extremly individual and hidden nature of some forms of resistance.
Resistance studies need to investigate such resistance as well since it
do matters; for each saved person or particular reduced oppression it
means a lot, at least for those concerned, and, it might, taken
together represent a massive resistance activity which in its effects
actually seriously undermines oppressive structures. The difficult
question, though, is HOW do we study such individualized and hidden
resistance?
Kathy Ferguson video keynote
Christopher Kullenberg June 18th, 2007
On the Resistance Studies Network inauguration Kathy Ferguson spoke on
resistance toward the military expansion, colonialism and appropriation
in Hawaii. The video-streams are ready to be watched in four parts.
Just click on the numbers to be redirected to Youtube: Part 1, 2, 3, 4.
- Academia , Occupation , Resistance , Seminar , The Network , Uncategorized , Video , subaltern agency
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Biggest wave of Egyptian workers resistance since WWII
Stellan Vinthagen May 21st, 2007
After
my blog entry on the 1st of May (see the archive), in which I was
pessimistic about the role of trade unions in workers resistance, I am
happy to report that some parts of the workers movement are very vital.
Several hundreds textile workers, mainly female emploees, some with
their children, occupy their factory, the Mansoura Spanish Garment
Factory in the Nile Delta since April 21. They are demanding a living
wage and payment of the with-held bonuses since 1999 (!). The factory
is also under a contested sale which endanger the workers livelyhood.
Since 2006 Egypt have seen its biggest wave of workers resistance
since the second world war, this time also in the private sector
industry (according to the Middle East Report Online). It all started
in the textile industry but has spread to other sectors. “In March, the
Egyptian daily al-Masri al-Yawn estimated that around 222 sit-in
strikes, work stoppages, hunger strikes and demonstrations had occured
during 2006. In the first five months of 2007, the paper reported a new
labour action nearly every day. The citizen group Egyptian Workers and
Trade Union Watch documented 56 incidents during the month of April and
another 15 during the first week of May.”, according to a report by
Harvey Thompson (18th May 2007).
These strikes are typically “illegal” since the state-controlled (so
called “yellow”) General Federation of Trade Unions is not authorizing
the actions.
Similar to what seems to be the case in other countries, the
militant workers organisations are mainly the newly organised workers
within non-established trade unions. It is probably also not a
coincidence that it all started in a female worker sector, the textile
industry.
Resisting history
Stellan Vinthagen May 14th, 2007
Everytime
someone experience oppression somekind of trace, damage or traumatic
experience is created. That is then an effect of the destructive
power relation that sort of “lives” on, maybe many years after. If that
person then learns how to live with that experience, to go on with a
life afterwards, with the help other peoples care, theraputic
treatment, own healing, forgeting or phsycological surpression - then,
arguably, that is possible to understand as “resistance”. Resistance
against an oppressive experience, against the continuation of that
domination over ones own life and everyday. By learning how to live
with or heal, to overcome the physical, social, emotional or
pshycological damage of oppression we might actually do resistance,
resistance against the continuing effects of the oppression.
If that is correct, then it is possible to do resistance even to
that power relation which no longer is a relation, which no longer
exists, as long as the effects of it exists, as long as power is
remembered, relived in our lives and surivive in its social
consequences. Power is only power as long as it is treated as power,
remembered, feared, refered to. And, even when it did win, did dominate
and oppress - it might, still, be defeated, undermined, destabilised,
deconstructed or abolished, even “after the battle”.
Thus, it is never to late to overcome oppression, to conquer the
seemingly victorious and powerful power. Well, that, if something,
gives hope. History is not yet completed.
The State of Workers Resistance
Stellan Vinthagen May 1st, 2007
Since
it is the first of May it might be appropriate to reflect on workers
resistance. Is it growing or decreasing? What forms of workers
resistance exists?
I come from a country (Sweden) where the 1st of May is a holiday,
the government has been a “workers government” (Social democrat)
basically since the 1930s, longer than most other places in the world
(interupted by cautious bourgoius coalitions some few shorter periods,
the latest with a conservative party branding itself a new “workers
party”!), a country where about 80 % of the work-force are organised in
a union, thousands of workers and social democrat party members
demonstrate on the 1st of May even when the social democrats are in the
government… Still, it is a country where we have seen, since the 1990s,
the common trend towards liberalisation of the market, privatisation,
opening up of global finance flows and dismantling of the
welfare-state, like in other countries in the world, responding to
neo-liberal globalisation. Yet, the big union-organised workers strikes
have been lower than ever. That is strange since workers has been under
attack the last two decades and they are organised at a degree which
workers could just dream of when they started about 150 years
ago…Instead we have even seen how the main union in Sweden, LO, during
an economic crisis in the 1990s agreed on forbidding strikes…
It is, generally speaking, a world trend that unions are organising less workers and unions are organising less strikes, see ILO-statistics.
But the differences are vast. In the global South, e.g. in India, a lot
more strikes are happening and new unions are created. Still, the trend
is gowing down anyhow, towards less strikes, even in India.
The variation in different countries in the West (see the OECD-comparison)
is still important (e.g. are strikes more frequent in Denmark, Canada,
Iceland and Norway)and depending on how you compare strikes (size,
frequency, intensity or duration) you get differnt results which means
that more specific and theoretically informed research needs to be done
on the development of strikes (se IALHI-research project).
But so far I have only talked about strikes, and then, official
strikes, those who enters the statistics. Smaller wild-cat strikes are
often not part of the official statistics. But more importantly, the
class-struggle is not only expressed through recognised unions’
publicly declared strikes…We have all other kinds of methods which
workers use: sabotage, go-slow, pretending to be sick, theft and other
kinds of everyday resistance at the work-place. Until we have an
overall picture of all that kind of resistance it is not possible to
say if workers resistance are diminishing or growing. And, by its very
nature, hidden forms of resistance is not easy to bring into
statistical graphs…
The American Database Bank
(which is a company involved in the emplyment screening and background
history industry) estimates that about one third of all work places
experience employee thefts and that US work-places loose about $ 120
billion each year because of workers thefts. Employee theft are rising
every year by 15 % according to the commerce professors and authors of
the 1991 book “Reducing Employee Theft”. That seems to be a trend that
continues: the food retailers in the US claim 17 % increase of thefts
from 2001 to 2002, according to the Food Marketing Institute. According to a survey 2002 by the retail industry in the US employee theft costs $ 15 billion per year, while shoplifting costs 10 billion, and both kind of thefts are on the rise.
Instead of understanding such employee theft as “shoplifting
addiction” it is possible to understand it as a class struggle and
“proletarian shoplifting”, i.e. as workers (and ordinary consumers)
leveling of capital owners profits, increased “pay” for their work or
reduced “price” for their life-essentials.
But the question is if it is an effective strategy for class
struggle? Of course capital owners will increase the price of their
goods according to estimates of what they loose by theft and general
production losses. The ordinary consumers, those who don’t steal or
don’t steal enough…will have to pay the price of the theft of others
(an average family of four pay about $ 440 more per year because of thefts).
This kind of class struggle thus might be more of an individualised
profit and/or survival strategy in a time of a defensive union and
strike strategy, less of a collective anti-capitalist resistance
strategy.
Obviously the picture of workers resistance is not so obvious as it
might look at the first glance (”decreasing workers militancy
globally”). There are a number of factors to take into account and
differences among workers and countries. The need for research is
clear. One of those trying to understand the changing forms of workers
resistance is Curtis Price, e.g. in his “Fragile Prosperity, Fragile Social Peace“ (in Swedish by the journal Riff-Raff which is dedicated to understanding changing capitalist resistance among workers).
The Suffering of Suppression and of Resistance
Stellan Vinthagen April 3rd, 2007
I just watched a very good play movie on MK, Umkonto We Sizwe, the armed wing of ANC in South Africa during apartheid; “Catch a fire”
(2006). It was, according to my judgement, an unusual movie. It showed
how the brutal and general oppression of white supremacy forced
apolitical blacks in South Africa into making resistance during the
1980s. But more importantly, it showed the tensions and suffering
created on families - both from apartheid itself (by being a suspected
“terrorist” by being black) and from doing armed resistance. The film
shows the human difficulties in this situation, and in a very unusual
sensitive way, how the ”freedom fighters” were ordinary, and sometimes
very weak persons, yet brave and risk-taking. It showed how ordinary
secrets and unsurity in a love relationship where used by the security
branch, and how one of the more difficult things necessary to forgive
was the betrayal by friends, loved ones and comrades. I must say
that this is one of the most honest films of armed resistance I have
seen, of the human weakness and greatness involved in fighting for
that dignity you - by the circumstances - are kind of forced to do.
That is probably since Shawn Slovo, the director of the movie, is the
son of Joe Slovo, one of the creators of MK, killed in the 1990s.
To me personally, it is, even after interviewing MK soldiers (1994)
in South Africa, hard to understand the personal risks they were
taking, how they dared to resist, even though they risked torture, life
in prison, degradation, being murded, or even worse - seeing their
family tortured and degraded….During my research in South Africa, that
was the repeated question: How did you dare to take the risks to fight?
And, mostly, the answer was: I did not have a choice, I had to do
it, it became a part of my life, how it was.
This film, better than anything I have seen, portray that, that
choice to resist; a choice which is forced, which is desperate, yet
hopefull - weak and broken, yet strong and unbeatable - filled with
human fear and fault, yet a respons of dignity.
By the way, the film also shows, in a beautiful scene, hidden
everyday resistance, how the workers waiting in a line to get into
their work at a power plant - after a sabotage action by MK - sing a
freedom fighter song in their own language, while being searched by the
apartheid security guards, but pretending for the guards to sing about
beautiful girls…
I strongly recommend people to download, bye or borrow the film: Catch a fire.
Creating Empowerment Through Resistance
Stellan Vinthagen March 13th, 2007
Five researchers - at the time of writing - connected to the still continuing Empowerment Network at Stockholm University (ENSU), published 2004 a very interesting article about “Validation, Techniques and Counter Strategies: Methods for Dealing with Power Structures and Changing Social Climates”. (Reference info exists at Diana Amnéus’
page). Their starting point is the classic “Master Suppression
Techniques” discussed by Berit Ås (1978), various techniques in which
normally women are made invisible by men (e.g. by ridiculing or
withholding information) but also, as Berti Ås later explains, by
techniques of objectification and threats & violence. A group of
female PhD students at Stockholm University learned about the theory of
Berit Ås and recognized these “ruler techniques” of suppression from
their own experience and started to discuss how resistance would be
possible. In 2004 they wrote a text about it and just recently - some
days ago - that text became available on the Internet.
In their text they suggest a number of corresponding techniques for each of the ruler techniques; one validation technique
(which confirms and supports the person suppressed, validating the
human value of that person, thus changing also the group climate) and
one counter strategy (i.e. a way to do resistance to the
suppression). For example is the ruler technique “invisibilizing”
countered by “taking up space” and validated by “visibilizing”. Each of
these counter strategies and validation techniques are then discussed.
The work by
this cross-disciplinary group of authors: Diana Amnéus
(Public International Law), Ditte Eile, former Jonasson (Pedagogy),
Ulrika Flock (Biochemistry), Pernilla Rosell Steuer (German) and Gunnel
Testad (Literature Studies) - is a major break-through, since the
“suppression techniques” have been discussed and used within mainly the
feminist movement (but also within other power critical groups) without
resulting in a clear strategy of how to counter these forms of everyday
“herrschaft” or suppression. Women experience these forms of
suppression regularly but not only women. More rulers than men are
using the techniques, as is pointed out by the authors. This kind of
suppression of others exists at universities in which those higher in
rank at seminars are able to suppress those with lower rank with the
help of e.g. ridiculing. Ruler techniques can be used in corporations,
by parents against children, in the military, etc. I would argue that
all unjust hierarchies not only keep its hierarchy with formal rule
behaviour but also with informal ruler techniques, i.e. suppression.
That is a way to protect injustice and discourage resistance.
We
at the Resistance Studies Network are interested in cooperation with
the authors of this important text and with the new active members of
the Empowerment Network. It would therefore be helpful if our readers
contributed with comments to this resistance relevant text by writing
at our blog. Even if you happen to agree totally with the authors about
their suggestions there are a lot more to say and discuss. We are e.g.
looking for empirical illustrations, case-studies or further techniques
that could shed some light on these important forms of everyday
resistance.
Enjoy the reading and let me know what you think!
History of Aboriginal Resistance in Australia
Stellan Vinthagen March 7th, 2007
There
has been a myth of white settlers populating an nearly empthy Australia
with aboriginal tribes too weak, primitive and submissive to make any
resistance. One website have compiled a historic table telling the
various major resistance acts done by aboriginal people since 1790
until some years ago, a list that shows that the myth is not right,
that an impressive level of aboriginal resistance have existed more
than 200 years and with very varied expressions. The list builds on
historic literature from the 1980s.
Check it out: aboriginal resistance time line.
Reflections on subaltern agency.
Christopher Kullenberg February 7th, 2007
This
monday an interesting seminar on post-colonial theory took place, where
a majority of the resistance studies network attended. As I had to run
off early to attend another seminar on Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit,
I did not have time to answer an important question that Stellan asked
me. Now, I have given it a bit of thought, and decided to write it down.
The seminar departed in a text by John Beverly which addresses the
problem of subaltern politics, resistance and agency (which are tightly
interwoven with each other). To put it briefly, it is impossible for
the subaltern position to remain intact in order to represent itself or be represented, as Spivak argues in the famous text Can the subaltern speak?.
Now, the text by Beverly takes this problem onto a political level and
asks the question whether collective political projects can ever
include the subaltern position, since the nature of politics and the
state are necessarily hegemonic, and forces inclusion (often by
transforming, hierachization and opression) or exclusion (which
preserves the status quo for subaltern agency). This is indeed very
interesting, and reminds me of Deleuze & Guattari’s nomadology,
where nomad agency is necessarily opposed to the State-apparatus, and
can never reach the monstrous political power of the State without
transforming its entire conditions. When outlining this problem, which
has no solution, Stellan asked me for one, and at the time I did not
have an answer… why not? Well, because there are many obstacles
involved. Here are a few:
1. Subjecting the world’s population to a politics of domination:
As global politics is centered around liberal democratic values,
narratives to which one has to conform to in order to be heard, it
would require the subaltern position either to be transformed
(sameness) or excluded with silence or violence (difference). Politics
is in this sense binary, requiring either homogenization for
participation (sometimes occuring in the nationalist left), or
representation (which puts us back to Spivaks dilemma).
2. The impossibility of the local when things are global:
Coca-Cola, the ozone-layer, capital and the Internet(s) are all
circulating globally but produce effects locally, even if realized very
unevenly. To face them with political agency, there is no hope for
subaltern agency since “smooth space will not suffice”. It took Empires
to build these problems, and it takes collective action to undo their
bad side-effects.
For a solution, I do not know what to propose, since there is no way of putting it in a singular shape. But Michel Serres has, I believe, found the proto-shapes of a way of not
thinking difference or dualisms about these problems. Since the
production of the global condition is ever-present and shapes the lives
of everyone, there is however one thing that unites (but is often the
source of conflicts) - the object. Be it particles in
the air leading to global heating, weapons, or medicine. These are
concerns for everyone which ties all of us together for good and worse,
and requires a morality expressed in third-person. When we make the atomic bomb, we
must undo it. This undoing of evil then, needs to focus on the problems
that we are all facing. Only then can the problem of representation be
resolved and terminated once we see that today we create global misery.
This position is one of heterogenous dialogue, where the object precedes culture, gender, ethnicity, religion et cetera.
http://resistancestudies.org/?cat=23
Adivasis, Culture and Modes of Production in India
Journal article by Gail Omvedt; Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, Vol. 12, 1980
Journal Article Excerpt
|
(179), but also, for all of Hindu/Indian culture they represent an |
United Nations Day of Shame
Nations Day: A UN flag which
has no flame retardants (Day of Shame:
Saturday, October 24)
Those who think that the United Nations will
protect human rights,
must believe that the fox will guard the hen house.
protect human rights,
United Nations Conspiracy (Hardcover) by Robert W. Lee
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=
jperna12
Imagine the same things that The
United Nations is doing, in other countries, HAPPENING RIGHT
HERE:
IMAGINE:
That you wake up tomorrow morning, and learn that The
United Nations has declared your country to be a "no fly zone". The airport is
closed. There are no more flights in or out.
IMAGINE:
That you head out for work, and you find foreign troops in
your streets. These foreign troops have set up "check points". You car is
searched, and all weapons are taken from you. All political or religious
literature is taken from you. Hopefully you are not arrested. If you ARE
arrested you will be held without a trial.
IMAGINE:
That you learn that some of your fellow citizens organized
a protest demonstration, and were shot down in the street.
The February 12th 1999 New York Times accused UN
personnel of executing children, suspected of being rebels, and a score of
patients at Connaught Hospital in Freetown on January 12th. Other reports
described the summary detention of civilians, brutal body searches, "whipping,
beating, varying types of public humiliation" of detainees including children
and acts of sexual assault committed by "peacekeepers."
IMAGINE:
That The United Nations changes your President as they
recently did in Haiti.
Changing Commands:
The Betrayal of America's Military
by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188191903X?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The United Nations
is creating a world government.
United Nations Conspiracy (Hardcover) by Robert W. Lee
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=
jperna12
Imagine the same things that The
United Nations is doing, in other countries, HAPPENING RIGHT
HERE:
IMAGINE:
That you wake up tomorrow morning, and learn that The
United Nations has declared your country to be a "no fly zone". The airport is
closed. There are no more flights in or out.
IMAGINE:
That you head out for work, and you find foreign troops in
your streets. These foreign troops have set up "check points". You car is
searched, and all weapons are taken from you. All political or religious
literature is taken from you. Hopefully you are not arrested. If you ARE
arrested you will be held without a trial.
IMAGINE:
That you learn that some of your fellow citizens organized
a protest demonstration, and were shot down in the street.
The February 12th 1999 New York Times accused UN
personnel of executing children, suspected of being rebels, and a score of
patients at Connaught Hospital in Freetown on January 12th. Other reports
described the summary detention of civilians, brutal body searches, "whipping,
beating, varying types of public humiliation" of detainees including children
and acts of sexual assault committed by "peacekeepers."
IMAGINE:
That The United Nations changes your President as they
recently did in Haiti.
Changing Commands:
The Betrayal of America's Military
by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188191903X?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations has declared your country to be a "no fly zone". The airport is
closed. There are no more flights in or out.
your streets. These foreign troops have set up "check points". You car is
searched, and all weapons are taken from you. All political or religious
literature is taken from you. Hopefully you are not arrested. If you ARE
arrested you will be held without a trial.
a protest demonstration, and were shot down in the street.
personnel of executing children, suspected of being rebels, and a score of
patients at Connaught Hospital in Freetown on January 12th. Other reports
described the summary detention of civilians, brutal body searches, "whipping,
beating, varying types of public humiliation" of detainees including children
and acts of sexual assault committed by "peacekeepers."
recently did in Haiti.
Changing Commands:
The Betrayal of America's Military
by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188191903X?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
totalitarian, by American standards. Are we supposed to believe that all of
these dictators are planning to give up their power so that we can have a one
world constitutional republic, with a competitive free enterprise system?
totalitarian socialist superstate?
Nations.
government.
governments, and by the governments.
peace.
the Emerging New World Order by William F.
Jasper
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791354?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Would a United Nations world government respect
freedom of religion?
Freedom on the altar: The U.N.'s crusade against God & family by William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006F585G?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Would a United Nations world
government respect the right to keep and bear
arms?
Global Gun Grab by William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Who created the United
Nations?
The Fearful Master: A Second Look At the United Nations
(Paperback) by G. Edward Griffin (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GT17KC?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Of the 17 individuals identified by
the US State Department as having helped shape US policy leading to the creation
of the United Nations, all
but one were later identified as secret members of
the Communist Party USA. The secretary-general of the
United Nations Conference was Alger Hiss, who subsequently
served time in prison for perjury about spying.
Inside the United Nations
by Steve Bonta (Paperback - 2003)
Videos and Books Galore
United Nations Exposed - Part
1
The United Nations Exposed
(Paperback) by William F. Jasper
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919048?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part 2
46 Angry Men: The 46 Civilian Doctors of
Elisabethville Denounce U. N. O. Violations in (Paperback)
by The Civilian Doctors of
Elizabethville
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K6TN5M?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United
Nations Conspiracy by Robert W.
Lee
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations
Exposed - Part 3
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations
and the American Decline (Paperback) by James Perloff
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791346?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The Insiders (Mass Market
Paperback) by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919099?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Global Gun Grab (Paperback) by
William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qgLnTOxKk&NR=1
Trashing the Planet: How
Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of The (Hardcover)
by Dixy Lee Ray and Lou
Guzzo
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791354?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Would a United Nations world government respect
freedom of religion?
Freedom on the altar: The U.N.'s crusade against God & family by William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006F585G?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Would a United Nations world
government respect the right to keep and bear
arms?
Global Gun Grab by William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Who created the United
Nations?
The Fearful Master: A Second Look At the United Nations
(Paperback) by G. Edward Griffin (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GT17KC?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Of the 17 individuals identified by
the US State Department as having helped shape US policy leading to the creation
of the United Nations, all
but one were later identified as secret members of
the Communist Party USA. The secretary-general of the
United Nations Conference was Alger Hiss, who subsequently
served time in prison for perjury about spying.
Inside the United Nations
by Steve Bonta (Paperback - 2003)
Videos and Books Galore
United Nations Exposed - Part
1
The United Nations Exposed
(Paperback) by William F. Jasper
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919048?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part 2
46 Angry Men: The 46 Civilian Doctors of
Elisabethville Denounce U. N. O. Violations in (Paperback)
by The Civilian Doctors of
Elizabethville
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K6TN5M?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United
Nations Conspiracy by Robert W.
Lee
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations
Exposed - Part 3
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations
and the American Decline (Paperback) by James Perloff
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791346?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The Insiders (Mass Market
Paperback) by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919099?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Global Gun Grab (Paperback) by
William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qgLnTOxKk&NR=1
Trashing the Planet: How
Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of The (Hardcover)
by Dixy Lee Ray and Lou
Guzzo
The Fearful Master: A Second Look At the United Nations
(Paperback) by G. Edward Griffin (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GT17KC?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Of the 17 individuals identified by
the US State Department as having helped shape US policy leading to the creation
of the United Nations, all
but one were later identified as secret members of
the Communist Party USA. The secretary-general of the
United Nations Conference was Alger Hiss, who subsequently
served time in prison for perjury about spying.
Inside the United Nations
by Steve Bonta (Paperback - 2003)
Videos and Books Galore
United Nations Exposed - Part
1
The United Nations Exposed
(Paperback) by William F. Jasper
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919048?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part 2
46 Angry Men: The 46 Civilian Doctors of
Elisabethville Denounce U. N. O. Violations in (Paperback)
by The Civilian Doctors of
Elizabethville
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K6TN5M?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United
Nations Conspiracy by Robert W.
Lee
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations
Exposed - Part 3
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations
and the American Decline (Paperback) by James Perloff
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791346?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The Insiders (Mass Market
Paperback) by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919099?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Global Gun Grab (Paperback) by
William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qgLnTOxKk&NR=1
Trashing the Planet: How
Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of The (Hardcover)
by Dixy Lee Ray and Lou
Guzzo
1
(Paperback) by William F. Jasper
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919048?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part 2
Elisabethville Denounce U. N. O. Violations in (Paperback)
by The Civilian Doctors of
Elizabethville
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K6TN5M?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United
Nations Conspiracy by Robert W.
Lee
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations
Exposed - Part 3
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations
and the American Decline (Paperback) by James Perloff
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791346?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The Insiders (Mass Market
Paperback) by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919099?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Global Gun Grab (Paperback) by
William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qgLnTOxKk&NR=1
Trashing the Planet: How
Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of The (Hardcover)
by Dixy Lee Ray and Lou
Guzzo
United
Nations Conspiracy by Robert W.
Lee
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations
Exposed - Part 3
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations
and the American Decline (Paperback) by James Perloff
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791346?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The Insiders (Mass Market
Paperback) by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919099?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Global Gun Grab (Paperback) by
William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qgLnTOxKk&NR=1
Trashing the Planet: How
Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of The (Hardcover)
by Dixy Lee Ray and Lou
Guzzo
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882792369?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Exposed - Part 3
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations
and the American Decline (Paperback) by James Perloff
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791346?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The Insiders (Mass Market
Paperback) by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919099?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Global Gun Grab (Paperback) by
William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qgLnTOxKk&NR=1
Trashing the Planet: How
Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of The (Hardcover)
by Dixy Lee Ray and Lou
Guzzo
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations
and the American Decline (Paperback) by James Perloff
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0882791346?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
The Insiders (Mass Market
Paperback) by John F. McManus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919099?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
William Norman Grigg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1881919056?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
United Nations Exposed - Part
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qgLnTOxKk&NR=1
Trashing the Planet: How
Science Can Help Us Deal with Acid Rain, Depletion of The (Hardcover)
by Dixy Lee Ray and Lou
Guzzo
United Nations Exposed - Part 5
John Birch Society Audio Gems (Audio Cassette)
by various
(Author), John Birch Society
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F13X2A?ie=UTF8&seller=A1AVPSERX4QF0E&sn=jperna12
Patriot Expo of
SC Myrtle Beach Freedom
Weekend
http://targetfreedom.typepad.com/targetfreedom/2009/10/patriot-expo.html
Do not miss the
Myrtle Beach Freedom
Weekend , November 14th & 15th, 2009 at the Ocean Dunes Resort &
Villas in Myrtle Beach, SC
Visit the ultimate resource
for defending liberty
CLICK HERE:
http://targetfreedom.typepad.com:80/
1. Links to liberty defending organizations
2. Links to
liberty defending web pages
3. Links to A MASSIVE assortment of liberty
defending videos
4. A stream lined system for contacting legislators with
suggested letters
5. Links to liberty defending egroups
6. Links to
magazines, literature and other materials
Censorship of these kind of links is
rampant. Adding spaces is the usual method.
If the link is not clickable try pasting it
into the address bar.
Remove extra spaces if need be.
Or try clicking on the link as it
appears in the blog
at:
Surf the REST of the blog while you are
there.
IF CENSORSHIP OCCURS THE
CREDIBILITY OF THE MESSAGE IS AFFIRMED. WOULD GOVERNMENT TRY TO STIFLE A MESSAGE
THAT IS NOT EXPOSING THE TRUTH?
Oppression
of expression is confession
To have your address removed from my
address book, please reply to this e-mail with REMOVE in the subject
line.
Visit the ultimate resource
for defending liberty
CLICK HERE:
http://targetfreedom.typepad.com:80/
1. Links to liberty defending organizations
2. Links to
liberty defending web pages
3. Links to A MASSIVE assortment of liberty
defending videos
4. A stream lined system for contacting legislators with
suggested letters
5. Links to liberty defending egroups
6. Links to
magazines, literature and other materials
Censorship of these kind of links is
rampant. Adding spaces is the usual method.
If the link is not clickable try pasting it
into the address bar.
Remove extra spaces if need be.
Or try clicking on the link as it
appears in the blog
at:
Surf the REST of the blog while you are
there.
IF CENSORSHIP OCCURS THE
CREDIBILITY OF THE MESSAGE IS AFFIRMED. WOULD GOVERNMENT TRY TO STIFLE A MESSAGE
THAT IS NOT EXPOSING THE TRUTH?
Oppression
of expression is confession
To have your address removed from my
address book, please reply to this e-mail with REMOVE in the subject
line.
for defending liberty
CLICK HERE:
http://targetfreedom.typepad.com:80/
1. Links to liberty defending organizations
2. Links to
liberty defending web pages
3. Links to A MASSIVE assortment of liberty
defending videos
4. A stream lined system for contacting legislators with
suggested letters
5. Links to liberty defending egroups
6. Links to
magazines, literature and other materials
rampant. Adding spaces is the usual method.
into the address bar.
appears in the blog
at:
there.
CREDIBILITY OF THE MESSAGE IS AFFIRMED. WOULD GOVERNMENT TRY TO STIFLE A MESSAGE
THAT IS NOT EXPOSING THE TRUTH?
of expression is confession
address book, please reply to this e-mail with REMOVE in the subject
line.
Gaza "constitutes collective punishment of the Gaza population, in violation of
international law". - Navanethem Pillay (UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights)
Dear All,
This is great news.
Finally the UNHRC has adopted the Resolution wherein the vote on the Goldstone
Report has been passed, much to the consternation of Obama (the guy who got the
Nobel . . . some award), as well as the Netanyahu's & the Gordon Brown's
& the Sarkaozy's.
The good news is that those who voted for the resolution included
China, Russia,
Egypt, India, Jordan, Pakistan, South Africa, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia, Djibouti, Liberia, Qatar,
Senegal, Brazil, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria and
Palestine.
Six countries voted against the report, including US, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Slovakia and the
Ukraine.
Among those that abstained were Bosnia, Burkina-Faso, Cameron,
Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Belgium,
South Korea, Slovenia and Uruguay. Madagascar and Kyrgyzstan were not present
during the vote.
Also the statement by Navanethem Pillay -
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights included below is very clear
it it's condemnation of the Israeli Genocidal war & the blockade on Gaza
& the Settlements both in the West Bank & East Jerusalem. Ms. N. Pillay
has also spoken out against the threat that Israel poses to the Al Aqsa Mosque
& the fact that Israel has been debarring Palestinians from even praying at
the Mosque
.
For me personally the fact that India has
voted for the resolution has come as a very pleasant surprise & is a
breakthrough for the Palestine solidarity movement in our country & we need
to build on this victory. It is very important that we organize a series of
meetings across the country to highlight the findings & observations of the
'Goldstone Report'.
The immediate Israeli reaction to the Indian vote
was a spate of terror warning that are currently being issued as 'Breaking News'
on our TV screens. Israel expects it's synagogues in India to be attacked now.
There was also a minor scooter-bomb attack (ala Abhinav Bharat-Mossad) in Goa,
where as we all know is a haunt for Israeli soldiers, the Mossad & the
Israeli druglords.
This sort of news is only meant to counter the
pathbreaking Indian vote at the UN. Also Israel's Mossad is very capable of
staging false flag terror attacks on the Synagogues (Iraq 1948), especially the
7 of them which are in Bombay, some of which till date have been looked after by
the Muslims of Bombay, as the Jewish community began to leave for Israel. As we
approach the 'first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks', of which
undoubtedly (even by the admission of certain senior police officials in their
private conversations) Israel was the biggest beneficiary, this will only
become more pronounced.
But for now, we need
to focus on the Goldstone Report which has been accepted by the International
community, barring the ones that have recieved & conferred the Nobel Peace
Prize.
In Solidarity with the International Intifada.
A HAPPY DIWALI
TO YOU ALL.
Feroze Mithiborwala
Awami Bharat (National
President) / Free Gaza India (National
Co-ordinator)
==============================
============
UN Human Rights Council endorses
Goldstone report
nongovernmental organizations, the UN Human Rights Council on Friday adopted the
resolution submitted by Palestine by a vote of 25 to six, with 11 abstentions.
The council is made up of 47 members and requires a majority of votes to
pass a resolution.
The Palestinian envoy to Geneva, Ibrahim Kraishi, had
demanded the UN body pursue criminals "wherever they are and whoever they
are."
"The occupying power wants to make it look like it's doing the
right thing," he said. "It wants the international community to look as if it's
mistaken. But it's not logical. It's not possible for everybody to be wrong at
the expense of one power."
"My people will not forgive the international
community," Kraishi concluded, if it cannot see fit to pursue investigations
against the crimes in Gaza.
The Israeli representative called the
report's adoption "a setback for the efforts to revive peace," and said the move
to pass the resolution would be "rewarded by terrorism." He reiterated Israel's
right to defend itself.
The few Western states that spoke showed concern
about why the special session was being called when the report had been on the
agenda just two weeks earlier during a regular session of the Human Rights
Council.
Deputy US Ambassador to the
United Nations Alejandro Wolff called the resolution "regrettable," and
said it went "beyond the scope of the Goldstone report." He said the resolution
contained elements that should be "discussed within a final-status agreement,"
including Jerusalem.
Wolff said the report failed to deal adequately with the asymmetrical
nature of the confrontation, and the adoption of the resolution could only
postpone a lasting peace and deepen the divide between Israel and
Palestine.
Six countries voted against the
report, including US, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Ukraine.
Among those that abstained were
Bosnia, Burkina-Faso, Cameron, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Belgium, South
Korea, Slovenia and Uruguay. Madagascar and Kyrgyzstan were not present during
the vote.
Those voting yes
included China, Russia, Egypt, India, Jordan, Pakistan, South Africa, Argentina,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia, Djibouti, Liberia, Qatar,
Senegal, Brazil, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria and Palestine.
The
voting was postponed for several hours before the session started. Following the
delay, more than 20 states and 30 nongovernmental organizations, including the
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Dameer and Adalah addressed the council.
Delay and preambles
The
French requested first a short delay for consultations and then a longer
two-hour delay, to which Egypt, one of the sponsors of the resolution,
objected. Although stating immediately after the Egyptian objection that he
heard "no objections" to the French request, the Belgian president said that
council would then proceed to a vote.
Finally opening the Friday morning
session, the League of Arab States
lamented what it termed the continuing violations of human rights and aggression
by the government of Israel against the people of Palestine.
Syria, Iran, and Libya associated
themselves with the Arab statement and emphasized the necessity, in the Libyan
delegate's words, of "continuing to discuss the Goldstone report and look into
its recommendations."
The Libyan delegate, whose country had raised the report in the
Security Council session held this past Wednesday, also called for the matter to
be considered and acted upon by the UN General Assembly.
The Libyan
delegate called the draft resolution a "a
litmus test" that would prove whether international human rights law creates
legal obligations or are mere "slogans that are misused" to accomplish political
ends.
A spokesperson for UN Watch, a pro-Israel NGO, claimed Israel had
done more than the US or the UK in Iraq or Afghanistan to "safeguard the rights
of civilians in the war zone" in Gaza.
A former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Col. Richard
Kemp addressed the UN session and said that based on his knowledge and
experience, Israel "did more to safeguard the
rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of
warfare."
This was immediately followed by a statement from the
Israeli NGO, the Adalah Legal Center for
Arab Minority Rights in Israel, stating that based on its long and extensive
experience in the Israeli courts, these courts have failed to adequately deal
with violations of law by Israeli soldiers. She went on to enumerate the laws
and some examples of cases that evidence the failure of the Israel judicial and
legislative bodies.
Mustapha
Barghouti, speaking for the Palestinian Center for Human Rights,
recounted the international crimes that he had witnessed as a doctor in
Palestine. He called the Goldstone report a test of the integrity of the UN's concern for
human rights and respect for the rule of law.
The deputy
permanent representative of Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference
, then introduced the resolution with an oral amendment for a new
paragraph "condemning all targeting of civilians and stressing the urgent need
to ensure accountability for all violations of the international human rights
law and international humanitarian law to prevent future violations."
The
president of council then gave the permanent representative of Israel the floor
as a concerned country, who quoted Justice Goldstone as expressing his concern
that the draft resolution was too harsh on Israel, stating "this time Justice
Goldstone is correct." He continued that Israel, however, did not agree with
what Justice Goldstone had said in the report. He ended with an implicit threat
by his government to stop cooperating with the council and to sabotage the
Middle East peace process.
The Palestinian ambassador then spoke, saying
that he "would not use the rostrum of the council to condemn either Hamas or
Israel," and plead that "all we want is to ensure that criminals everywhere do
not enjoy impunity."
He ended by requesting consensus in the council on
the resolution.
The United States made a statement before the vote
lamenting the council, for dealing with the report as an urgent manner, instead
hoping that the council would delay action on the report. As in his statement
delivered during the general debate on the resolution, the US delegate again recalled that more than six
months should be given to Israel to investigate the allegations of international
crimes.
He did not address the statements by several Israel
officials that unequivocally stated that "no Israeli soldier" would be
prosecuted because of the allegations made in the report. The US also called for a vote on the resolution
stating that it would vote no and calling on other states to join
them.
Also speaking before the vote Chile, Brazil, and Argentina generally spoke in
support of the resolution
, although most expressed dissatisfaction with the way this session had
been convened.
Slovenia, Uruguay, Norway, and Mexico stated that while they
could not support the draft resolution and would abstain. Several of these
states also reiterated their support for the Goldstone report and the human
rights of the Palestinian people.
No
state joined the United States in announcing it would vote against the
resolution.
The
resolution
The three-part
resolution calls for Israel to cease settlements in East Jerusalem, to allow
unhindered access to the Al-Asqa Mosque and for the council to refer the report
of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict to the General Assembly.
The omnibus resolution also called for the High Commissioner for
Human Rights to continue to report on the situation of human rights in
Palestine.
When the vote was finally taken in recorded form at the
request of the United States, 25 states voted for the resolution, six voted
against, and eleven abstained.
After the resolution was passed, about a
dozen states elaborated on their votes. The HRC president then stated he would transmit
the resolution "urgently" to the General Assembly.
Finally, the Algerian ambassador challenged the US
ambassador to back his oral commitment to making the Human Rights Council
a real body of action, by ending the armed conflict in Palestine and taking
meaningful action on violations of human rights in Palestine.
Curtis
Doebbler contributed to this report.
xxxxxxxxxx | Statement by Ms. Navanethem Pillay United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the 12th Human Rights Council Special Session | xxxxxxxxxx |
Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the Human
Rights Council,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (the
OPT) remains of grave concern. There is strong evidence indicating that all
parties to the conflict—in different ways and with different effects—have
committed and continue to commit serious violations of international human
rights and humanitarian law. Many of these violations have been documented in my
report to your last regular session, which I also submit today for your
consideration.
Allow me to discuss two issues that
require all our attention, namely the situation in East Jerusalem and the continuing blockade
of
Gaza.
In the past weeks, there have been numerous clashes in and around the
Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The stringent restrictions imposed by Israel
on Palestinians wishing to enter this Mosque must be lifted in order for members
of the Palestinian community to exercise their right to
worship.
In East Jerusalem home demolitions
continue. My Office has called for an immediate halt to the recent
wave of eviction orders and demolitions of Palestinian houses in the occupied
territory. OHCHR views these practices as violations of both international
humanitarian law and of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights. Despite condemnation expressed by the international community,
the tragedy of losing their homes continues to be inflicted on many Palestinian
families.
Excellencies,
Turning now to the situation in Gaza, I wish
to express once again my dismay at the continuing blockade that severely
undermines the rights and welfare of the population there. The living conditions
of Gazans keep deteriorating as a result of restrictions on the import of
services and goods, including basic food and fuel supplies. The blockade
prevents the delivery of essential building materials and thus hampers the
reconstruction of homes and infrastructure destroyed during Israeli military
attacks in December 2008 and January 2009. It
constitutes collective punishment of the Gaza population, in violation of
international law.
It must be lifted. Israel must allow the free movement of goods and people into
and out of Gaza and between Gaza and the West Bank.
A culture of impunity continues to prevail in the
occupied territories and in Israel in relation to violations of international
humanitarian law and international human rights law. I have pointed this
out in my report to this Council. The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the
Gaza Conflict, led by Justice Goldstone, made a similar assessment.
Let me take this opportunity to
reiterate my support for the recommendations of the Fact Finding Mission,
including its call for urgent action to counter impunity. I encourage the
Council and the broader international community to give full consideration to
the Fact Finding Mission's report. I also wish to underscore the necessity for
all parties to carry out impartial, independent, prompt, and effective
investigations into reported violations of human rights and humanitarian law in
compliance with international standards.
For those in detention, the widespread recourse to military
justice systems, which do not meet international standards of due process,
remains of grave concern. Due process and the rights of those in any form of
detention must be respected at all times.
Mr. President,
Accountability for breaches of
international humanitarian law and for human rights violations, as well as
respect for human rights, are not obstacles to peace, but rather the
preconditions on which trust and, ultimately, a durable peace can be
built.
The reactions
from victims and concerned people and organizations to the postponement by this
Council of its deliberations are compelling evidence that addressing impunity
for human rights and international humanitarian law violations is essential to
preventing further violence and shoring up the peace process. I encourage all
Members to have a constructive role in supporting accountability for serious
violations.
In seeking a
political solution to the decades-long conflict, the international community
must anchor its efforts in international law, in particular international human
rights and humanitarian law.
To conclude, all human rights are equal
for all human beings, and no party can claim that, in defending or supporting
its own population, it is allowed to disavow the rights of others. All
parties have an obligation to respect the human rights of their own people, of
their own neighbours, of all.
Let me reiterate that respect for human rights is an
imperative in building a solid foundation for both justice and peace. I hope you
will emphasize this basic principle in your deliberations.
Thank you.
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