28
February, 2004
Hundreds
Of Lost Souls Still In No Man's Land
By Astrid Van Genderen Stort
Hundreds of Iranians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis
and Sudanese have spent the past 10 months in the no man's land between
Jordan and Iraq, still with no hope of repatriation
Mining To Destruction
And Hijacking
Their Rights To Submission
By Goldy M. George
Mining industry is an industry where large scale
environmental degradation and humanrights violation takes place in full
view of the public eye. But the persons involved in these crimes get
away quite easily
27 February, 2004
British
Public Is Funding Hindutva Extremism
By Awaaz - Soth Asia Watch
A report prepared by Awaaz - South Asia Watch Ltd,
says RSS branches in the UK have been raising large amounts of money
in the name of charity for natural disasters like the Gujarat earthquake
and funding sangh parivar groups, including groups that have incited
anti-minority violence
Hubbert's
Peak: The Impending
World Oil Shortage
By Kenneth S. Deffeyes
An overview of the of the book "Hubbert's
Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage" By Kenneth S. Deffeyes
Haiti - Insurrection
In The Making
By Yifat Susskind
An excellent backgrounder on the political crisis
in Haiti
26 February, 2004
Washington
Utilizes Rightist Terror
To Effect Regime Change In Haiti
The Bush administration is utilizing an armed rebellion
by fascistic thugs in the north and center of Haiti to effect a longstanding
goal of regime change in the impoverished Caribbean nation
The Pentagon
Sounds
The Alarm On Global Warming,
Why Isn't Bush Listening?
By Arianna Huffington
According to a new Pentagon study change will happen,
according to the report's authors, as soon as the next three years,
with the most devastating fallout potentially occurring between 2010
and 2020
25 February, 2004
Forecast
Of Rising Oil Demand Challenges
Tired Saudi Fields
By Jeff Gerth
Saudi Arabia's oil fields now are in decline, prompting
industry and government officials to raise serious questions about whether
the kingdom will be able to satisfy the world's thirst for oil in coming
years
Even if Palestine
Wins At The Hague...
By Ali Abunimah
An ICJ decision on the separation wall in Palestine
would be of no value unless it is accompanied by a determined Palestinian-led
strategy to translate it into action
Democracy in
Afghanistan?
By Meena Nanji
In sticking to the June 2004 schedule for Afghan
elections against recommendations from a variety of sources, George
Bush is confirming his own penchant for the appearance of democracy
rather than any real participation in the political process by a majority
of citizenry
Uma Bharati's
Cow Agenda
By Ram Puniyani
Right from the word go Uma Bharati has brought
in Hindutva into her style of functioning and polices.She has banned
liquor and non vegetarian food in the three "holy" cities
and to back it up she is now giving a 'cow tilt' to Madhya Pradesh's
economy by giving primacy to establishing Goshala
Hindutva Culture
And Electoral Alliances
By Nalini Taneja
Despite the recent victories in the assembly elections
one can say that in electoral terms the BJP remains just where it was
in the last round of national elections. In ideological terms it is
much stronger than it was in the last round, primarily because its social
and political vision finds favour with and reflects the prerogatives
of the ruling classes better than any other party
24 February, 2004
Israel
Boycotts International Court On
West Bank Barrier
By Chris Marsden
The Israeli government is refusing to accept the
right of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to render
an advisory opinion on the legality of its West Bank security
barrier
A Wall As A Weapon
By Noam Chomsky
The Hague hearings will end in an advisory ruling
that the wall is illegal. It will change nothing
HAITI: How
Washington Set
The Stage For Uprising
By Lee Sustar
The anti-Aristide opposition that is behind the
uprising shaking Haiti today is a Washington-connected collection of
Haitian businessmen and a scattering of former leftists
Gunned Down With Abandon
By Robert Fisk
Iraqis who fail to see US military checkpoints,
who overtake convoys under attack--or who merely pass the scene of an
American raid--are being gunned down with abandon. US official "inquiries"
into these killings routinely result in either silence or claims that
the soldiers "obeyed their rules of engagement"--rules that
the Americans will not disclose to the public
For The Right To
Strike!
By Tapan Sen
Today India is witnessing the 9th all India general
strike since the onset of the disastrous liberalised economic policy
regime. It's for the worker's right to strike made illegal after a court
ruling
23 February, 2004
Haiti:
Washington Gives Greenlight To
Right-wing Coup
By Richard Dufour
Former military and death-squad leaders are attempting
an armed overthrow of the elected president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, with the connivance of an elite-controlled political opposition
and under the complacent eyes of Western governments
Hindutva And
The Dalit-Bahujans:
Dangerous Portents
By Yoginder Sikand
Hindutva, the unique Indian form of Indian fascism,
is the modern incarnation of Brahminism. Although it projects itself
as the defender of the 'Hindu' community against imagined 'enemies',
such as Muslims and Christians, it is actually premised on an unrelenting
hostility towards the vast majority of the so-called 'Hindus' themselves-Dalits,
Shudras and tribals
Is It Safe To Play
Cricket In India?"
By Raja Swamy
With the Indian cricket team's tour of Pakistan
just days away, Indian's are fruriously discussing whether it is safe
to play cricket in Pakistan, but they forget to ask the question,"
Is it safe to play cricket in India?"
Five Women Tonsured
For Converting
To Christianity
By John Dayal
Five women in an Orissa village tonsured for converting
to christianity
Get Converted
& Damned Too
By Dr M P Raju
Till now Conversion to Christianity or Islam was
to cost you only the Scheduled Caste status; now by the grace of the
Judiciary it may cost even the Scheduled Tribe Status
Forget
Valentine's Day
By Kalpana Sharma
Why should the Sangh Parivari's pay so much attention
to Velentine's day? Will this not be better if they tackled the manner
in which girls continue to be treated and deal with the mockery of marriage
where girls are openly traded?
22 February, 2004
Now
The Pentagon Tells Bush:
Climate Change Will Destroy Us
By Mark Townsend and Paul Harris
Climate change over the next 20 years could result
in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural
disasters
Iran's Elections
Bolster Hardliners
By Angus McDowall
Hardliners in Iran could pursue a more aggressive
nuclear policy and crack down on the country's reformists after taking
control of parliament in an election boycotted by their opponents
21 February, 2004
India
Shining: Ram, Raymond And Goan Holidays
Advani admits that the NDA government got the
'feel good' inspiration from a Raymond Suiting ad. Hence you have the
glossy India Shining images chasing and mocking at you wherever
you go
No
Honour In Honour Killings
By Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta
In many honour killings, the women of the family
actively participated in killing their own daughters or sisters. When
the women themselves participate in such a disgusting crime, how can
one blame only the men?
If Gods Become
Silent The
SpeechlessMust
Speak
By Udit Raj
Dalits are rejecting Hinduism. Why make a song
and dance
about it?
20 February, 2004
Palestinian
Issue Riddles Bush's 2005 Budget
By Sam Bahour
In the proposed $2.4 trillion Budget of the United
States Government for Fiscal Year 2005 the Bush Administration failed
in realistically engaging the issue toward a peaceful resolution of
the Palestinian conflict, but, viewed through the proposed budget, President
Bush has totally adopted the state line of Israel on almost every account.
Bottom line, the Israeli military campaign against Palestinians will
continue and the US taxpayer is knowingly, or otherwise, footing the
bill
Detained And
Tortured By The US Military
By Jim Loney
Ahmed is a 52 year-old farmer who lives on the
outskirts of Bagdhad. He was detained and tortured by US forces at the
end of January. Here is his story
19 February, 2004
One
Third Of The Worlds Urban Population
Lives In A Slum
By Simon Whelan
United Nations reported that one billion peopleapproximately
one third of the worlds urban dwellers and a sixth of all humanity,
live in slums
A Palestinian
Authority Steeped In
Paralysis And Corruption
By Hasan Abu Nimah
The PA has been reduced from a national liberation
movement and state-building entity to nothing more than a security agent
and scapegoat for the occupier
Globalisation,
Fascism And Dalits
By Goldy M. George
An alliance of Dalits, Adivasis, women and working
class should emerge to challenge the existing citadels of power headed
by a bunch of upper caste elite
18 February, 2004
Jean-Bertrand
Aristide And The Dead End Of
Left Nationalist Politics
A letter on Haiti from a reader and a reply by
World Socialist Website correspondent Richard Dufour which puts the
Haiti violence in perspective
17 February, 2004
US
Double Game In Haiti
By Tom Reeves
Even as Colin Powell insists the U.S.
does NOT seek "regime change," the attempt to oust the legitimate
elected government of Jean Bertrand Aristide grows more violent by the
day
Basis of Minorities-Genetic
or Social
By Ram Puniyani
RSS is no spokesperson of Hindus, it does represent
the most retrograde values of a section of Hindu community. If it is
serious about ensuring that the concept of minorities is done away with,
it should stop the whole paraphernalia, which it has unleashed upon
the country, to spread hate
Income Inequality
In India
By Jayati Ghosh
The period since the neo-liberal economic reforms
were introduced in India has been one of dramatically increased income
inequality. For the bottom 80 per cent of the rural population - well
more than half of India's total population , who now number nearly 600
million, per capita consumption has actually declined since 1989-90.
16 February, 2004
Tutu
tells : Apologise For 'Immoral' War
By Nigel Morris
Archbishop Desmond Tutu will challenge Tony Blair
and George Bush today to apologise for their pursuit of a counter-productive
and "immoral" war in Iraq
Ngo
Factor At Wsf Worries Activists
By Humeira Iqtidar
The anti-globalization movement can only continue
its remarkable progress if the socially progressive participants are
politicized. If it becomes a giant NGO forum, sponsored by rich donors,
it can easily lose its effectiveness