Ladakh Solidarity- PUCL-NAPM-VS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx-zYD4hZus 

Ladakh Solidarity- PUCL-NAPM-VS 

webinar on Ladakh: https://www.youtube.com/live/xx-zYD4hZus?si=aGj7bkd-m9616g4_

Ashish Kothsri hISTORICAL Context   https://youtu.be/xx-zYD4hZus?t=441  end=861 Land issue.. for tourist, miining, Vision from outside... - commwercial industrial profit making, security zone, religious,  the narrative itself..  Ecological crisis in terms of water, people from outside ladakh are also dependent on this as a source of water.. https://youtu.be/xx-zYD4hZus?t=861

https://youtu.be/xx-zYD4hZus?t=921 Kavita welcome Sonam...

Sonam Wangchuk,

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For 2024, Opposition is still in the game

For 2024, Opposition is still in the game https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/yogendra-yadav-writes-for-2024-opposition-is-still-in-the-game-9058961/

.. the BJP has not received a massive popular endorsement in the latest round.

Suppose the citizens of these states vote exactly the same way next year as they did in the recent assembly elections, the net gainer will
be Congress, not the BJP.

If we add up assembly-wise votes for each parliamentary seat, the tally will be

24 for BJP and 5 for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh (compared to 28-1 in 2019),

8 for BJP and 3 for the Congress in Chhattisgarh (9-2 in 2019),

14 for BJP and 11 for Congress in Rajasthan (24-0 in 2019) and

0 for the BJP and 9 for the Congress in Telangana (4-3 in 2019). In all, it would mean

46 seats for the BJP (loss of 19) and 28 seats for the Congress (gain of 22)

Look at the big picture.

In 2019, the BJP won 303 seats, just 30 seats above the majority mark.

The BJP faces significant depletions in Bengal, Karnataka  Maharashtra) and Uttar Pradesh

Add to it near-certain but minor losses in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana and Assam.

Rat-hole Mining - basics

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/understanding-rat-hole-mining-explained/article67588357.ece   the hazards of rat-hole mining — asphyxiation because of poor ventilation, collapse of mines due to lack of structural support, and flooding — to earn thrice or four times as much as working in farms or construction sites. Apart from issues of safety and health, unregulated mining led to land degradation, deforestation, and water with high concentrations of sulphates, iron, and toxic heavy metals, low dissolved oxygen, and high biochemical oxygen demand. At least two rivers, Lukha and Myntdu, became too acidic to sustain aquatic life.    In May 2023, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said the Coal Ministry approved mining leases for four of the 17 prospective licence applicants. This would lead to the commencement of ‘scientific’ mining ensuring minimal environmental impact through sustainable and legally compliant extraction procedures. Anti-mining activists, who are assaulted by miners off and on, said that ‘scientific’ would eventually be a fancy tag in a State where profit has driven coal mining.

An Introduction to Rat-hole Mining https://environicsindia.in/2019/02/20/an-introduction-to-rat-hole-mining/

On December 2018, the collapse of coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills, trapping at least 15 workers who were still missing and are feared dead, has thrown the spotlight on the “rat-hole mining.” Although banned, it remains the only procedure of coal mining in Meghalaya.

Few private players and some people who do invest in such mining are taking the help of Constitution to right their wrongs. They say, “Constitution’s 6th Schedule intends to protect the communities’ ownership over its land and autonomy and consent over its nature of use.” The ongoing coal mining in Meghalaya was a corruption of this Constitutional Provision. Private individuals with interests in earning monetary benefits from minerals under the land are engaged in coal mining. They are attempting to legitimize this act by claiming immunity through tribal autonomy over land ownership. In coming days, controversy over rat-hole mining in Meghalaya will increase and Central and State Government must work together in an amicable manner to stop such pathetic dehumanizing practice.

 https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/rat-hole-mining-1

Why was Rat-Hole Mining Banned?
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned rat-hole mining in 2014 for being unscientific, but the practice continues to be rampant.
Several accidents have resulted in deaths of rat-hole miners in the Northeastern state.
In 2018, 15 men involved in illegal mining were trapped inside a flooded mine. Only two bodies could be recovered in the course of the rescue operation that lasted for more than two months.
Another such accident took place in 2021 when five miners were trapped in a flooded mine. Three bodies were found before rescue teams called off the operation after a month. Add to this the environmental pollution caused by this method.
Mining, however, is a key source of revenue for the state government. The Manipur government has challenged the NGT ban, arguing that there is no other feasible mining option for the region.
A panel appointed by Meghalaya High Court in 2022 found rat-hole mining continues unabated in Meghalaya.

call for a rethink on River Front Development

Environment body calls for a rethink on River Front Development https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/environment-body-calls-for-a-rethink-on-river-front-development-9044988/lite/
 November 28, 2023

The India Rivers Forum, is calling for a suspension of the River Front Development (RFD) project and a proper review with the participation of everybody. “RFDs have been promoted in a big way by the central and state governments across the country in the name of rejuvenating and beautifying the rivers. Some of the prominent sites for RFD projects across India are Varanasi, Bhagalpur, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Hyderabad, Jammu, Kota, Bilaspur, Patna, Guwahati and Pune. Though RFD aims to revitalise the riverfront areas, in reality these projects are less about river restoration and more about the encroachment of floodplains and riverbeds characterised by heavily concretised embankments and other structures like barrages and also reclaiming floodplains and riverbeds for real estate development. The Pune RFD project follows the same trajectory”.

“With more than 20 per cent of the floodplains already encroached, breaching both the 25-year and 100-year flood lines across the city, construction of embankments and barrages on the prohibitive zone under the RFD project would further constrict the rivers, reducing their carrying capacity leading to an increase in the flood risk. There is no room for the rivers to absorb floods under this project, especially considering that the Pune region is going to experience an increase in rainfall due to climate change and existing encroachments”.

“We are not saying that the river should be left as it is. The river, seriously, needs rejuvenation but the way it is being done is killing the river.

Decolonize to Decarbonize: Our Call to Action for Climate Justice at COP28

Decolonize to Decarbonize: Our Call to Action for Climate Justice at COP28  https://www.climatejusticehub.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/D2D-Campaign-Briefer-for-COP28.pdf   imperialist countries in the global North and their corporations are using the climate crisis to co-opt peoples’ demands to transition away from fossil fuels to further colonise global South frontiers for resource grabbing and exploitation.... Apart from being unscientific or too resource-intensive to deploy at the scale and pace required, these ‘solutions’ are mere ploys to continue burning fossil fuels and profit off of the climate crisis. Worse, these result in what some would refer to as “green grabbing” or “green colonialism” since they historically led to restrictions on people's access to rights, services, and natural resources, including labour rights, healthcare, education, and the Indigenous Peoples' rights to free, prior, and informed consent.

https://www.climatejusticehub.org/2023/11/21/decolonize-to-decarbonize-our-call-to-action-for-climate-justice-at-cop28/ What are our demands at COP28?

Phase out all forms of fossil fuels

No to false ‘solutions’ to climate change. Market-based mechanisms cannot be presented as solutions

Uphold a people-led energy transition: it should be publicly-owned, wherein the people are allowed to exercise democratic control over the overhauling of existing energy systems

Global North countries must fulfil their financial obligations.Funding mechanisms and facilities must channel finance in the form of grants as compensatory funding and not as loans or for-profit investments

Polluters out  People in. deconstructing the existing power structures that favour global North countries and corporations. In practical terms, this amounts to institutionalising measures that will withhold the ability of corporations to access and influence climate policymaking and governance.

What Killed Gandhi!

By insisting on non-violence, Bapu extinguished the raging fire of communal violence in many parts of India but he himself fell victim to the bullets of an assassin. But how did it affect India for the next fifty years? 

बापू के आख़री कुछ साल | Mahatma Gandhi’s last years | तुषार गांधी https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJGcXsochYQ  Citizens for Justice and Peace Oct 1, 2023  

The last four years of his life proved to be the toughest test of Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-violence. From Direct Action Day to Partition, when the whole of India was burning in the fire of national hatred and violence, and the leaders of Congress and Muslim League were baking their bread, Bapu alone, risking his life, traveled from Delhi to Noakhali, Bihar. From Calcutta to Calcutta, he kept fighting for the unity of India, taking support of the stick of non-violence. History is witness to the fact that through this effort he was successful in maintaining peace in the eastern parts of the country, but he had to fall victim to Nathuram Godse's bullet. In his books and also in this interview, Bapu's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi says about his last years that because of this valiant effort, especially as a result of his martyrdom, the wind of national hatred blew in this country for about fifty years, if at all it did not last. Didn't get it.

Because times are changing now, and a new era of violence seems to be beginning, it has become necessary to remember those last few years of Bapu.

Citizens for Justice and Peace has been working for national unity in India for the last thirty years. We are Gandhiji's followers in this fight. This special video series with Tushar Gandhi is just an attempt to convey Gandhiji's thoughts to the public in the era of fake news and violence.

https://youtu.be/tXFQ0fx6PL0 On the Investigation- Discussion on Screening of Who killed Gandhi -

https://youtu.be/0uUwmjdxMcc On the Historical Context-

https://youtu.be/4NI5flM76Xc Why no public Screening of the Film Who killed Gandhi in India

https://youtu.be/A35gQbrGhf8  On the Hindutva Narrative

Q & A after a recent screening of the film..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB4i1G6OgYE

Caste, the cancer afflicting Sanatan Dharma

Caste, the cancer afflicting Sanatan Dharma https://www.allindiansmatter.in/caste-the-cancer-afflicting-sanatan-dharma/ But when Udhayanidhi Stalin points out how Sanatan Dharma has been corrupted, all of us are annoyed. How dare he call for its eradication? Ambedkar called for the ‘Annihilation of Caste’. Bapu too, in his own gentle manner, called for it. None of them called for a genocide of Hindus or the upper castes. Let’s not allow sanghis and bhakts fool us into believing it.

All reformers warned about the danger institutionalised oppression poses to the existence of Sanatan Dharma but we have not heeded the warnings. What is being sought to be eradicated is Varna Vyavastha and the prejudices it instils in all of us and the oppression which is its very creed. That cancer afflicting Sanatan Dharma must be eradicated. Otherwise, one day, it will ensure the demise of Sanatan Dharma itself.

  On the Hindutva Narrative - Discussion after screening of "who killed Gandhi"
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A35gQbrGhf8

G20 बनाम We20

3 सप्टेंबर 2023 रोजी वाढवण समुद्रकिनारीभव्य एल्गार मोर्चाचे आयोजन

3 सप्टेंबर 2023 रोजीवाढवण समुद्रकिनारीभव्य एल्गार मोर्चाचे आयोजन  .. justice was  trampled upon  by allowing the expansion of the port to JNPT on certain conditions. A grand Elgar march has been organized on September 3, 2023 at the beach of Wadhwan to warn the government of the demand to cancel theWadhwan  port forever, and to decide the direction of the further agitation, expressing outrage against this authority.

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