This is to spread the aims and goals of The Zeitgeist Movement :–

[আমরা এটাকে বলছি ‘যুগের হাওযা’ আন্দোলন – যাতে এক বিশ্বজনীন রসদ-ভিত্তিক অর্থনীতির কথা ভাবা হয়েছে, যার নির্যাস দেওয়া হয়েছে সুমিত্রা পদ্মনাভন এর “হট্টমালার দেশ অথবা যুগের হাওয়া” বইতে]

1. Conserving all the world’s resources as the common heritage of all of the Earth’s people. [পৃথিবীর সমস্ত সম্পদ কে সব মানুষের যৌথ সম্পদ হিসাবে রক্ষা করা]

2. Transcending all of the artificial boundaries that separate people. [মানুষের তৈরি ও বিভেদ সৃস্টিকারী সব সীমানা তুলে দেওয়া]

3. Evolving from a monetary-based economy to a resource-based world economy. [অর্থনীতি কে ক্রমশ অর্থ-ভিত্তিক থেকে বিশ্বজনীন রসদ-ভিত্তিক করে ঢেলে সাজানো]

4. Reclaiming and restoring the natural environment to the best of our ability. [প্রাকৃতিক পরিবেশ কে যতটা সম্ভব পুনরুদ্ধার ও রক্ষা করা]

5. Redesigning our cities, transportation systems, and agricultural and industrial plants so that they are energy efficient, clean, and conveniently serve the needs of all people. [শহর গুলোকে –যানবাহন, কৃষি ও শিল্পক্ষেত্রগুলকে কে যথাসম্ভব দূষনমুক্ত, অপচয়মুক্ত ও সকলের ব্যাবহারযোগ্য করে তোলা]

6. Sharing and applying all of the new technologies for the benefit of all nations. [সমস্ত নতুন প্রযুক্তি কে পৃথিবীর সব মানুষের কাজে লাগানো]

7. Using clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and tidal power, etc. [দূষণমুক্ত ও পুনর্নবীকরণযোগ্য শক্তির ভান্ডার কে কাজে লাগানো—যেমন বায়ু, সৌর, ভূতাপীয় ও নদী বা সমুদ্রের জলের স্রোত থেকে তৈরি]

8. Ultimately utilizing the highest quality products for the benefit of all the world’s people. [শেষ পর্যন্ত সবচেয়ে সেরা মানের উৎপাদিত দ্রব্য পৃথিবীর সব মানুষের কাছে পৌঁছানো]

9. Requiring environmental impact studies prior to construction of any mega-projects. [যে কোনো মেগা-প্রজেক্ট শুরুর আগে পরিবেশের উপর তার প্রভাব নিয়ে গবেষণা করতে হবে]

10. Encouraging the widest range of creativity and incentive toward constructive endeavor. [বিভিন্ন নতুন গঠনমূলক চিন্তা, শিল্প ও সৃষ্টিকে উৎসাহিত করতে হবে, মর্যাদা দিতে হবে]

11. Assisting in stabilizing the world’s population through education and voluntary birth-control to conform to the carrying capacity of the earth. [পৃথিবীর ধারণক্ষমতা অনুযায়ী জনসংখ্যা নিয়ন্ত্রণের জন্য মানুষ্ কে পরিবার ছোট রাখার জন্যে শিক্ষিত করতে হবে]

12. Outgrowing nationalism, bigotry and prejudice through education. [শিক্ষার মাধ্যমে ক্রমশ অন্ধবিশ্বাস, পক্ষপাতিত্ব, জাত্যাভিমান ও জাতীয়তাবোধ থেকে সবাইকে মুক্ত করতে হবে]

13. Eliminating any type of elitism, technical or otherwise. [প্রযুক্তিগত বা যে কোনো রকম বিষয়ে ক্ষমতা কে কুক্ষিগত করে রাখার যে প্রবণতা, তার থেকে মুক্ত হতে হবে]

14. Arriving at methodologies by careful research rather than random opinions.- [যে কোনো প্রযুক্তিগত সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে হবে অনেক গবেষনার পর—কারুর খেয়াল বা ইচ্ছের উপর নয়]

15. Enhancing communication in the new schools so that our language and education is relevant to the physical conditions of the world around us. [নতুন ইস্কুলে যুগের উপযোগী ভাষা ও ব্যবহারিক শিক্ষা দেওয়া হবে]

16. Providing not only the necessities of life but also offering challenges that stimulate the mind, emphasizing individuality rather than uniformity. [এই আন্দোলনের লক্ষ্য শুধু প্রয়োজনীয় বস্তু জোগানো নয়—নতুন নতুন চ্যালেঞ্জের মধ্যে দিয়ে বুদ্ধিবৃত্তির বিকাশ – যাতে প্রত্যেক মানুষকে ছাঁচে না ফেলে তাদের নিজস্বতাকে কাজে লাগানো যায়]

17. Finally, preparing people intellectually and emotionally for the possible changes that lie ahead. [শেষ পর্যন্ত সমস্ত মানুষকে আগামী এই নতুন যুগের জন্যে মানসিক ভাবে ও বৌদ্ধিক ভাবে প্রস্তুত করে তোলা]

[Please check www.srai.org for details of the book “Hottomalar Desh othoba Juger Hawa” and the Venus Project]

Related posts:

1. Some Important Questions: Zeitgeist Movement
2. HUNGER SOS
3. NEPAL : Revival of Socialism through Rural Co Operative Movement

Please let us not forget that there is nothing so very great about meting out final judgment to a cold-blooded killer who had been caught red-handed. The hype is probably going out of proportions with an aim to make us a little more patriotic before the Independence Day. Well done, we understand this play on our distorted, negative sentiment commonly called ‘Patriotism’.

What bewilders us is the repeated description of Ajmal Kasab as ‘the only surviving terrorist’ connected to the terror attack in Mumbai on 26/11. ‘The ONLY LIVING TERRORIST’, ‘Ekmatro jibito jongi’ — goes on all the papers and channels with monotonous and sickening regularity. And the most intriguing fact is the utter silence of all the media about the names of Indian VIPs categorically mentioned in the FBI report.

Our common sense tells us that when Kasab was arrested and a number of them killed – another handful of them might have fled the site. Some of them – boys like Kasab, must have been there monitoring the show from outside – guiding them and informing them about the arrival of police and the military strategies. They must have melted among the Mumbai crowd.

And the news about the FBI report came in small letters in most papers some time towards the end of 2009. The fact that many Indian VIPS and VVIPS (whatever that means) were involved, they were found to be in constant contact with the terrorists, their phones, number of calls made etc etc …were specifically noted in the detailed report… But the information faded out … lost its punch …no big bold letters any more. We are patriots, we love our VIPs.

Please… let’s wake up! Let’s not be fooled any more. Before August 15, 2010 we want all the names mentioned in the FBI report. Let us show true patriotism… cleaning the filth– looking for a true and clean image – that’s Patriotism. All those who feel like us – please raise your voices.

—- Sumitra Padmanabhan,
HUMANISTS’ ASSOCIATION

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1. One year after 26/11
2. OUR MESSAGE : AND SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT
3. I am neither dead nor injured: Kishenji

With in two days Biplab Das and his friends got the girl admitted to local Taldangra Girls’ School and also managed to get hostel accomodation. A hostel in the name of Kasturba Gandhi offers residence to local girl students at a nominal cost.

This incident will act as a precedence and deter other such stray incidents in the poor tribal zone. The village panchyat will also be able to take similar steps whenever necessary. Congratulations to Biplab and his assistants Tarun and Prasanto.

Sumitra Padmanabhan,
Genaral Secretary,
HUMANISTS’ ASSOCIATION

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ভাতার থানার ও সি — কালী মন্দিরে বলি না দিয়ে পাঁঠাদের পুষে ফেললেন। নাম দিলেন রামু-শামু। ছবিতে দেখুন কেমন পাতা খাচ্ছে রামু-শামু। আর মা-কালীর জায়গা দখল করেছে খুদে খুদে রাধা-কৃষ্ণ। এই ঘটনায় যুক্তিবাদীদের অবশ্যই হাত আছে। পেপার কাটিং পড়ে নিন।

আমাদের আশা ভবিষ্যতে আরো ছোট হতে হতে রাধা-কৃষ্ণ ভ্যানিশ হয়ে যাবেন। নতুবা ঠাঁই পাবেন ও সি র ঘরের কোণে। ধন্যবাদ ও সি কে আর অসাধারণ ছবির জন্যে সঞ্জয় কে।

সুমিত্রা পদ্মনাভন

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People sang, prayed, marched with candles and protested against terrorism. It all sounds so common, a little silly and rather childish. On 26 November 2009, throughout the day all the TV channels showed thousands of people – young, smart, educated, upper or at least middle class Bombayites (now called Mumbaikars) thronging to the gateway or Taj hotel.

The channels interviewed some hundreds of them. All we heard were – ‘oh no, not again!’ ‘It should not happen again’, ‘We want peace’, ‘We will not tolerate terrorism’    ‘We salute the army and police for their bravery and sacrifice’ and such comments. We waited for some more serious and pointed questions, but were disappointed. Nobody asked these questions –

1. Why are we repeating the words ‘the only living terrorist, Kasab’? It was known one year back that some 20 odd armed boys landed on the shores of Mumbai on that fateful day. We can imagine many were among the crowd with their cell phones while the Taj was burning. They were definitely guiding Kasab and others who were active inside. It’s easy to guess that they mixed with the crowd of onlookers and vanished later. While Kasab was being interrogated, didn’t we get any clue? What have we done so far to find them? India has spent millions of rupees (31 crores, or 310 millions to be specific) on Kasab’s upkeep. What is the outcome other than knowing his life history?
2. FBI was handling the case and submitted their report this year. As reported in most newspapers, a number of Indians were found connected with the incident. Who are they? We want the names and wish to know what steps have been taken to book them. If they were arrested for interrogation, it would have been news, because many of them were ‘important persons’. So there is reason to believe that no steps have been taken against those mentioned in FBI report. Why is it so?

It is a pity that we Indians still get emotional and make sentimental exclamations. We behave as if these terrorist attacks are some natural calamities like Tsunami. We can only pray and sing for peace. Shame!

Picture Courtesy: Anandabazar Patrika, www.hurriyet.com.tr

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No, it is not in fear of the Maoists, but being unable to cope with the pressure from the government. They do not want to be a party to the state-sponsored terrorism. They cannot support the random and mindless killing of poor tribal people by branding them as ‘Maoists’. Some are forced to take transfer. Some of the junior officers had to resign as they could not follow the order of seniors.

One officer who has worked in the tribal belt of Bengal for some time said – it is more to please the ruling party that some of the police officers are unnecessarily torturing the jungle people. And as a consequence of this torture many of the common men have joined the ‘Maoist’ group.

Another sub-inspector of police who joined duty at Jangalmahal in 2002 and is posted at another thana at present recounts his tale of horror. “Our camp was at an old mansion in Belpahari. One day while returning from our usual round through an almost deserted village, we saw an old man on the verandah of a hut. On the instruction of our senior inspector three or four of us picked up this old man and literally carried him to our van. Some of the policemen even kicked him in the stomach calling him ‘Janajuddho’ (People’s war group). But I know the old man was doing nothing but boiling some leaves in a vessel. All of us knew that this bent old man could never be a militant terrorist. But he was anyway sent to the lock up as a man of the people’s war group.”

Soon after the explosion in the Jhitka jungle, the then additional Police Superintendent Sumeet Chaturvedi abruptly took a transfer from West Midnapur to Delhi. In his two years’ tenure in the state before he was posted at the jungle, he was under constant pressure. This young officer had witnessed how the CPM party was using the police force to keep the tribal people under pressure and was branding them as ‘Maoists’. These more humane officers had seen what enormous atrocities could be meted out to the starving or ill-fed poor people by the ‘loyal’ policemen always trying to please the ruling party. Before taking transfers, these men had expressed their painful tales of woe to their near ones.

Parveen Kumar, who was the Superintendent of police in W.Midnapur earlier for a long time was well-known for his strategies to counter Maoist insurgencies. He was close to the leaders of the ruling party and managed to get favorable postings. This Parveen Kumar on his return as the DIG, Midanapur range supposedly had some difference of opinion with the government’s decisions. In June this year, soon after leading the attack by joint forces in Lalgarh, he abruptly took a transfer from this state. It is heard that he does not intend to return to W.Bengal before 2013-2014.…

…Another police officer who has worked many years in the tribal area blamed the police atrocities along with lack of development in the region for the rise of today’s ‘Maoists’.

Many junior officers faced the wrath of seniors as they refused to follow their unethical orders. Additional police superintendent Sisir Das had to resign under such circumstances when he could not bear the pressure of unjustifiable instructions by his seniors. Most of these orders were not written down. So whenever there were any untoward incidents as results of these verbal orders, the junior had to bear the brunt.—said one such officer.

All the trouble started when there was a small blast near the Kolaichondi canal on the chief minister’s convoy on 2 November, 2008. The police started severe action in Chhotopelia village. They picked up school boys from this village 70 kilometers away from the incident, tortured women and humiliated teachers. A veteran officer posted in Jangalmahal argues –there are many who had been wrongly arrested as ‘Maoists’ and detained, who later really turned into Maoists.

Who is responsible for this?

Many police personnel who kept quiet in fear of seniors for so long are now expressing there opinion. They are agreeing that as in Lalgarh, even in Nandigram they had to launch severe action from the beginning only to please the CPM. …

[Translated from an article in Bengali in ‘iCore EKDIN’ daily newspaper dated 2 November, 2009. (পুরো লেখাটা, ভুক্তভোগী পুলিশদের নামসহ পাবেন ‘iCore একদিন’ পত্রিকার প্রথম পাতায়, ২ নভেম্বর, ২০০৯. “মাও-দমনের স্নায়বিক চাপ নিতে পারছেন না বহু পুলিশকর্মী” এই শিরোনামে।)]

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2. West Bengal: Maoists free cop in prisoner swap
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Those who agree with the idea are free to offer new points, ask questions based on the article mentioned above and design a short draft for starting signature campaign –in print and via internet. All are welcome to join and help.

The need is more now than ever. With the government’s apathy towards the needs of poorer classes, with no easy insurance scheme in sight, with no chance of free healthcare in the near future, it is reasonable that people would like to have an option. I mean, why spend all our hard-earned money on doctors, pathologists and nursing homes? We even need to bribe the government hospital staff for common assistance. We still suffer and die in the end, don’t we?

We can eat well, read and travel more with that kind of money and have a better life in general even if a little shorter; I mean minus those months in the hospital, in Intensive Care Unit or under ventilation. Isn’t money meant for buying better stuff?

I see thousands of people turning paranoid as they approach old age. They save money for treatment, they suffer from constant fear and some become patients of depression. No, not in fear of death, but in fear of suffering alone in ill-equipped and expensive hospitals. For example, morphine is in acute shortage. So, a cancer patient is often forced to suffer acute pain. What right do hospitals have to keep you in exchange of good money when they cannot offer relief? The patients’ suffering does not end there. They lose all their life’s savings, their family suffers physically and mentally. Finally death comes to all when the bereaved are financially drained too. It is a sort of catch 22 situation and people after a healthy, happy, active life surely do not deserve this in the end.

Legalizing euthanasia does not mean that people will rush for it. It will only assure us that in irreversible cases or intolerably painful situations, there is some solace. We need not be blackmailed into spending and suffering simultaneously. And it will be entirely as per our own will. No ‘benevolent’ family member need to take the decision of hospitalizing on our behalf.

Only this knowledge would improve the quality of life. People in the age-group of 60-90 can then really enjoy life. Having control over our own life –and death is a wonderful idea. In fact it’s beautiful.

                                               ***

So we request the government to give a thought, go through the pros and cons, and make ‘Swechhamrityu’ legal in India.

In fact, clearing the hospital bill of anything from 25000 to 25, 00,000 while taking delivery of the lifeless body of our near ones is a common experience many of us are faced with in our life. And we are lucky, if you consider the 78% of Indians who cannot spend more than 20 rupees per day. As long as the government can spend crores for keeping military and police force, there is no logic behind not providing medical help free of cost. So, logically speaking, the provision for euthanasia in exceptional situations, or after a certain age is a must.

Sumitra Padmanabhan                          

G.S. Humanists’ Association, Kolkata

 [E mail :  sumitra_humanist@hotmail.com]

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This is Bholanath Bagdi (80), Bankura. He is comparatively well-to-do. His wife works -- threshes rice for others. He has no complaints.

We are used to the idea of getting foreign grants for developing the really poor areas—the slums in cities and the poverty stricken jungle people of the tribal belt. But real development comes from within the people, from self-reliance. The state can only provide infrastructure—roads, electrification, water supply, healthcare and education.

Samir Saha Poddar, an engineer and social activist writes for ‘iCore Ekdin’ on 8 October that according to a report by Khargapur IIT on an investigation conducted on the 74 blocks of Jangalmahal –

There are 130,00,000 (approx)  tribal people living in the forest area of West Bengal (parts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur districts).

69% of these people are living below poverty-line. (Below 368 rupees per head, per month)

85% villages in this area are without electricity

Supply of water is a meager 9% of actual requirement.

Against the ‘100days’ work’ project, they get work for 6-7 days on an average.

59% of the people never got any education.

There is 1 doctor for every 13000 people in the area.

So, when this was the general picture of a part of West Bengal, 11 months ago, people formed there own ‘People’s Committee’. They started working for their own development. Spread over 2100 square kilometers of the forest area, the committee workers made roads, tube-wells, hospitals. To make 20 kilometers of red earthen road in Dharampur area, they spent 47000 rupees; whereas the Panchayat requires 300,000 rupees to make the same length of road. People came to know of the source of wealth amassed by local leaders like Anuj Pandey.

Whatever the people did in a few months may be small compared to their need, but they did it themselves. They were self-reliant. In the 1300 and odd villages they showed that they did not need any state intervention; the land, the water and the forests belonged to them. So, they knew what kind of development they wanted and they were ready to work hard for it.

Where people wanted control over a small area and were ready to work for their own well-being, the state sent the joint forces – police and central military forces. Thousands of them in uniforms, month after month camped and patrolled the area, beat up and arrested the men-folk, molested the women, took occupation of their school buildings and demolished their health-centers. We have read in papers during June to August of this year how they manhandled and maimed common villagers and defecated in their drinking water wells.

For a long time section 144 is effective there so that nobody can come in a group to investigate what the state machinery was doing, no one could feel the pulse of these people. The villages are devoid of men who fled in fear of being arrested and tortured.

Finally the leader and spokesperson of the Committee Chhatradhar Mahato was arrested on 26 October.

Most of these families depended on their meager income by making and selling plates and bowls from Saal leaves (No, they do not cut down trees, they gather leaves and twigs). The festive season of Kolkata, came and passed peacefully during September, when hundreds of thousands of rupees were spent for a singles Durgapuja structure. In total some 2000 such ‘pujas’ were conducted in the city. And in the jungles about 200-300 kilometers away from the city, hundreds of innocent boys and able-bodied men were under arrest, their bundles of saal leaves stacked in their mud-huts gathering dust. With practically no income, daily meal is a problem for them. And soon their tribal festive season is approaching. How do they celebrate?

What is the big idea? Kill all the poor people? They are getting smart! We are ashamed to face them—because they want to work hard and be self-reliant? They do not beg or steal like the urban poor!

Rabindranath Tagore once said – “Making mistakes is not such a terrible thing, not getting independence is terrible. When you have the freedom to make mistakes, you get closer to truth…only through self reliance men make mistakes and overcome them … you cannot eat even the most delicious food when your hands and feet are tied and someone feeds you. But you can starve while striving to grow your own food”.

They are now closer to Tagore’s teachings.

 [Courtesy –column by Samir Saha Poddar‘iCore Ekdin’ 8 October, 2009]

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All the news items point to one thing– lack of understanding, resulting in utter confusion.

“We have come here for peace. Innocent villagers are getting trapped between the Maoists and the security forces. We would like both sides to drop their arms and come for talks,” said film director Aparna Sen.

We are surprised that the intellectuals who visited Lalgarh are dividing the poor villagers from the so-called ‘Maoists’. The active group comprised of some of the villagers only are trying to protect their folks from police atrocities. Their only demand is to remove the police. And Police has justified the demand of the so -called Maoists by cruel and indecent behaviour during the last 4 days.

In Pirakata a section of the state armed police (SAP) — terrified of IED explosions – caught  hold of local youths and forced them to poke around for hidden mines and explosives?

Acts like this will trigger more calls for vengeance and lead people to doubt the sincerity of the government’s attempts to pacify the tribal villagers.

In Kuldiha, poice forces are torturing women. As per the report, a woman, Bijola Mahato says that the police women lifted her sari, while showering lathis on her  the menfolk ( Police) made indecent remarks — ” Since your husband is not at home, let me come tonight…” The husbands have fled, some are in relief camps, the cows are left without food, the wares they make for a living — plates and bowls made of dried Saal-leaves are bundled and left unsold.

Who gave the Army and Police the right to disrupt the normal life in villages and insult poor, hungry people in this manner? Isn’t forcing local youths to look for mines — the height of human rights abuse? Where is army discipline? Are they at war with their own people?

We request the intellectuals to highlight these Army and Police atrocities, for which these people are fighting for the last eight months.

It is equally sad that Mamata Banerjee, instead of voicing sympathy for the poor & deprived people of our land, has asked for announcing  the zone as “Disturbed Area”. Does she know that ‘Disturbed  Area’ will justify permanent Police posting and continuing atrocities? Have we all foergotten Manipur and what rights the Armed Forces Special Powers Act are endowed with?

Please stop this confusion and face the facts –

The people are hungry and without a livelihood,

The Army and police are not their well-wishers.

Let us all unitedly demand social justice.

SUMITRA PADMANABHAN
G.S., HUMANISTS’ ASSOCIATION
P 2, BLOCK B, LAKE TOWN
KOLKATA – 700089

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3. Police brutality: Uncertain Future for the Athlete of Lalgarh

A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him. This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he’s not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. However, he has no idea why he’s attacking the new monkey.One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced.

Eight new monkeys are now in the room. None of them have ever been sprayed by ice water. still none of them attempt to climb the ladder.

All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why……..

Interesting …eh?

I find an acute similarity of this monkey business with the religious rituals practiced by humans. Many irrational practices might have started centuries back by priests using fear tactics to control the masses. Belief in fate and afterlife has been ingrained into our minds by the priestly classes. The rest is what we see now.

Sumitra Padmanabhan

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