Call to unite for total prohibition in Tamil Nadu

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State must provide rehabilitation for families of addicts: activists

C. Periyasamy (67) is a member of the ‘Youth Walk for Liquor-free Society’ organised from Kanyakumari to Chennai by the People’s Movement Against Liquor and Drugs (PMALD).

“The days I spent interacting with people creating awareness of total prohibition is what I consider the most meaningful period in my life,” Mr. Periyasamy, a retired regional probation officer from Ariyalur, told The Hindu on Thursday at the Gandhi Memorial Museum.

M. Anandhi Ammal from Chennai, who advocates total prohibition in the State, says that the team came across a large number of women, who are victims of domestic abuse because of liquor. “A woman, who works for daily wages, told us that she is hesitant to return home every day after work fearing abuse by her husband,” she says.

The team also encountered a 10-year-old boy who asked if there was any medicine to cure his father’s addiction to liquor, Ms. Anandhi Ammal adds. “Such incidents gave us more determination to fight against liquor and all the people should come together for total prohibition in the State,” she further says.

They also met a few families where the children had to drop out of schools to earn the bread after their fathers became alcoholics. R. Senthamilselvi, another member of the team, rues that a large number of school and college students are becoming liquor addicts under peer pressure.

Liquor addiction is one of the major reasons for the rise in number of crimes in society, says S. Dhanaraj, coordinator of the walk. “In several families, young girls are sent to textile mills for work under Sumangali scheme and their fathers use the money to get drunk,” she claims.

In order to create awareness among youth, the team makes students take a pledge against drinking liquor in each district.

S. Thiraviam (66), a visually challenged motor mechanic, notes that most of the addicts they encountered vowed to stop drinking if the TASMAC outlets were closed down. “They said they were unable to resist drinking if the liquor is sold in every street,” he adds.

Besides implementing total prohibition, the State should provide rehabilitation for families of addicts for their better livelihood, says Inamul Hasan, organiser of PMALD. “Involvement of civil society and students is required to bring total prohibition in the State,” concludes the 26 year-old.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/call-to-unite-for-total-prohibition-in-tamil-nadu/article6550914.ece

Reflecting on Ekta Parishad --- Past, Present and Future

Reflecting on Ekta Parishad --- Past, Present and Future

July 9, 2014

Rural youth in India have never had an opportunity to look at their own lives and to analyze why they are in so much poverty and encircled by what appears to be intractable problems. Poverty did not allow them to go to school and as non-schooled children have not had opportunities to use their brain and to think broadly on issues other than surviving. They have always been engaged in manual labour for making a basic living. They have been forced to accept all kinds of humiliation as they have not had any support structures and thus they have had no courage to stand up against the oppressors. They have always  lived in fear. Fear of the oppressor, fear of Government Officials, fear of so-called educated people and so forth means that they have not been able to advance.  This fear and hunger have been the two sides of the problem with which young people have had to live.

Back in the 1970s some voluntary organizations like Prayog, Gandhi Ashram and other organizations have played a role in breaking this chain of fear by bringing young people into training camps. Young people who were only using their physical strength to survive, suddenly found a new world around them and they began to discuss their life situation. In these camps, they started acting out their suffering through theater, songs, slogans and dialogue. A new consciousness arose wherein they were more confident and courageous. A new world of friendship and solidarity emerged around them and this new reality made them different kind of people. They became fearless and decided to fight oppression and poverty nonviolently.

One hundred young people coming together in youth camps became common practice. These youth camps were held in very simple settings and the campers shared all the responsibility to run these camps. The organizations were responsible for collecting food grains, feeding the campers and accommodating the campers.

The impact of these camps was beyond our imagination. These young people went back to their villages with a different set of understanding and capacity and thus they were able to challenge oppression of various kinds that they had been facing for generations.

Bringing women into the youth camps was not an easy task. On one hand there was their reservation of mixing with male members, and on the other, there was control coming from the society making it difficult for women to attend. Therefore it was not easy initially to get an equal number of women to participate. Even if they did come their learning process was much slower than the male participants. It took years of work before women started coming in larger numbers.  With fewer outside opportunities women participants began to move much faster and took up leadership in their communities. Wherever women were leaders, the organization was stronger and adopted change. Along with this the society also began to change its attitude towards women. People are no longer critical of women for attending youth camps. For both women and men travel together on bicycles, and people have no problem in accepting women as leaders and working under them. What we see today in many villages is the result of leadership provided by women. The Government officials who refused to listen to women initially are now most willing to attend to their grievances.

The success of this grassroots leadership model attracted many organizations in India and the demand came from different states to take up similar trainings in various states. So the organizational format moved from Madhya Pradesh to Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamilnadu Kerala, Rajasthan and so forth. In course of time this form of organizing became accepted at the national level as a mass movement, which protected the livelihood resources of marginalized people.

But all of this was not without reaction. The young leaders who returned to the villages raised many uncomfortable issues: corruption in the bureaucracy, caste and class discrimination, mafias using alcohol to control community life, bonded labor and child labor as a form of exploitation, the oppression of women, the unequal distribution of land and resources among the poor people, and so forth. All of these issues raised by poor people created ripples and this impacted the society. The reaction was beyond imagination. Officials called us anti-nationals, the media projected the organization as rabble-rousers, and the feudal landlords wanted to drive us out of their area. The activists of the organization were attacked, and some were put into prison, some got killed; it became challenging almost everyday.

This was the time when some of us came together to shape the organization under the name of Ekta Parishad. It was becoming clear that as individual groups it would be difficult to withstand constant retaliation. Only by creating a forum was the organization able to survive and this ongoing struggle began to change peoples’ lives. Over time Ekta Parishad became a well-known organization nationally and internationally. It had a lot of people whose spiritedness get the organization going, but there were others that were resisting the role being played in the society. As a Gandhian organization, the principal of transformative action was maintained in spite of all the challenges. Ekta Parishad activists were continuously trained to respect others even those that were resisting them.

Looking back on the history of EP, one can say that it achieved a lot in terms of building a “bottom up” organization and a leadership model. It was also able to follow the same process at the international level and create a international solidarity network.

Now when thousands of people are marching on the road for many days with very limited resources covering thousands of kilometers by way of footmarch to mobilize public opinion, then people know that the result of years of work to build leaders and an organization was genuinely ‘bottom-up’.

What is the future of this organization? In my opinion we have lived and worked for the last 25 years. I want to see this organization going on for another twenty-five years, that means, another generation. I want to see the organization not only growing but also changing with the times. We have addressed problem from at the local to national level. Now this is the time for us to give some attention to the international level and galvanize the forces that create more space for the marginalized communities. In a world where marginalization is becoming a major problem for millions of people, it is important to take responsibility and address the situation. Jai Jagat 2020 is a step in this direction. Moving out of national boundaries to explore partners at the global level, in order to act together for a better world, is the vision of the campaign. In a world, which is becoming more and more violent including economic violence, we have to take up the responsibility of bringing the agenda of nonviolence to as many groups and individuals as possible. In a world where profit making is the main pillar of development, we need to bring forward a new development discourse. We know that Ekta Parishad is not a big organization to take on such a huge responsibility and that only through international solidarity can headway be made. We in Ekta Parishad are open to join and collaborate with all positive processes in this direction. We want to make our humble contribution to make the world a better place for coming generations.

We don’t want to do it at the cost of our work in India. We want to use this an opportunity to deepen and expand our own work in India as well.  India has 650 districts and Ekta Parishad is only in 150 districts. Youth camps and leadership development will be taken up across the country in the next six years. Deepening and widening the engagement of the marginalized in India so that individual actions can be scaled up to the national level and work to change policies, while changing the situation locally is the challenge ahead. Creating greater space for women at the grassroots level through leadership is an essential condition of the work. While criticizing the global economy we feel the responsibility to work for strengthening the local nonviolent economy. It is also important to promote the concept of nonviolence as a theory and practice.

The above-mentioned challenges can be met only if there is also resource mobilization from urban Indians and international communities. Of course the major part of the resources come from local people and their need to solve their life related problems. Solidarity support is seen as additional. Our international friends have shown how a minimum of international support in terms of human and financial resources along with lobbying and campaigning has advanced the work hitherto. I am sure we will continue to receive the same level of support in the coming years as well. Educating the urban middle class Indians and enlisting their support in the process of changing the situation of India is also an urgent agenda.

Many of us who are giving leadership to EP may not be there in 25 years time. A new brand of leadership will emerge and they will direct the organization in a more creative and progressive way. We believe this vision and work will also continue. Resisting the destruction in today’s society means that we are compelled to create a more harmonious and just development and a culture of politics that is ethical and nonviolent.

 Rajagopal.P.V

Ministry of Peace in Georgia

July 1st

Gandhi Foundation opened up in Georgia on June 30th, 2014 at the Tbilisi State University.  Leader of Ekta Parishad Rajagopal PV, leading Gandhi Scholar Ramin Jehanbegloo and International Initiatives representative Jill Car-Harris congratulated Georgian Gandhi Foundation for its opening.  The Rector of Tbilisi State University Dr. Vladimir Papava also spoke at the meeting together with prominent board members of Gandhi Foundation Georgia, Ms. Nina Tsikhistavi and Irakli Kakabadze.  

Georgians had invited Mr. Rajagopal PV to understand the Abkhaz and Ossetian conflict in the country and use their Indian experience to offer advice. They also met with the Indian Ambassador of Armenia and Georgia, Mr. Suresh Babu.  

Georgia's Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, Mr. Paata Zakareishvili held a one hour long meeting with Rajagopal PV and Jill Car-Harris and noted that opening up of Gandhi Foundation will create new opportunites for peaceful dialogue between different confilicting sides in South Caucasus.   Rajagopal PV, Ramin Jahanbegloo and Jill Carr-Harris  noted that having a Ministry of Peace was a great step forward and an example for other countries. They also met with the Minister of Sports and Youth of Georgia, Levan Kipiani and this Ministry will be collaborating with Georgian Gandhi Foundation in a youth training later in the year. Rajagopal PV, Jill Carr-Harris and Ramin Jahanbegloo are in Georgia for two weeks conducting lectures and taking up a  five day training program in Batumi, the Black Sea city in western Georgia. 

Localization: A Response to Resist Globalization - A letter from Rajagopal P V

Globalization and its impact can be seen and felt in every nook and corner of India. Adivasis have already lost their control over land, forest and water as the mining industries are aggressively moving into their regions. Farmers are losing their land everyday for industrialization and infrastructural development. Water sources are drying up as the cities are demanding more water and the industries are sucking up every drop of water. Rivers are completely polluted by sewage from cities and effluents from factories. Of course this is one side of the picture. Promoters and propagators of the present day development paradigm will show the other side where everything is glittery. Ekta Parishad critiques this model of development and as a result is focussed on resisting globalization through action at the grassroots.

Ekta Parishad begins its work from a statement of Mahatma Gandhi where he says "the focus of all your activities should be poorest and weakest" and his larger philosophy of Sarvodaya  is about building a socio-political-economic order from the bottom beginning with the last. This is the driving philosophy whereby we want to begin at the bottom and slowly empower and organize people socially, politically and economically. Ekta Parishad has adopted a two-fold strategy in its approach. One the one side, we are trying to resist the onslaught of global forces through struggle and dialog and on the other hand we are constantly in a process of coordinating and strengthening the economy of the people so that they can make a living based on their skills, capacities and resources without migrating into cities and slums. A statement like this may sound easy but it is an ongoing battle almost everyday.

Having worked at the national level for policy change for so many years, we now feel that a lot more energy needs to be spent at the grassroots level to create the economic power that will allow people to stay on and resist. This is the thinking behind our strategy "Back to the Roots" This strategy was adopted also because of the impact of our struggles: many people getting control over land as a result of policy shift at the top. Hence retaining the land, developing the land and making it productive enough in a sustainable way is the next stage of our struggle. To advance this agenda we have created an Arthik Manch or Economic Forum, which is a forum that focuses on the economic dimension of rural India. The forum is now exploring various possibilities like strengthening the economy through land related activities, forest and forest produce related activities and also cottage industry based activities.

There is an interesting realization in the organization that it is not only important to create wealth but also important to plug the leakage. In the coming days, Ekta Parishad will be conducting important studies in relation to plugging leakages. We have also realized that there is a lot of limitation if we want to play in the market place. Market being so aggressive, every penny that people earn gets spent on items that may not be their real need but are perceived as important needs. The desire to show the world that we are advancing by acquiring objects that are not necessarily based on need but are based on greed and to establish a social standing is causing money to go out of the village. We know that this is a deeper area of analysis and in a world where communication is so fast, television has reached every village it will be difficult for most people to truly understand this. We believe that it is only through greater levels of understanding and enlightenment, we can really plug the outflow of money from the villages.

Arthik Manch will be working on 3 levels: 1) providing necessary resources, skills and capacities to organize the village economy based on local resources and local capacities 2) empowering people to understand the need and methods to plug the leakage 3) to have a greater understanding of global economy and market forces and think of strategies to deal with it. We believe that if we are able to work at these three levels, we will be able to introduce the idea of local currency. The larger goal of this process is to strengthen Localization to resist Globalization. Even though Mahatma Gandhi spoke about this in his idea of Gram Swaraj (Village Autonomy), these ideas are today finding greater acceptance and resonance in the international development discourse.

Criticizing global process or analyzing global process will have its own place but what is more important is to strengthen local economy and help people to resist the global process in order to protect their own social, cultural, economic and political freedom and space. In the coming years, Ekta Parishad would like to work in this direction. At the moment, we are exploring partnerships with as many organizations and individuals who are interested in this process. The idea of localization process gives tremendous scope for all kinds of organizations and individuals to get involved: localization of education, food, culture, agriculture, industry etc. Each one can find a field according to their interest and Ekta Parishad would like to keep our doors open for all kinds of experimentations.

 Rajagopal P V

http://www.ektaparishad.com/Home/TabId/55/ArtMID/709/ArticleID/130/Localization-A-Response-to-Resist-Globalization-A-letter-from-Rajagopal-P-V.aspx

Youth-Leadership-Camp

http://ektaparishad.com/Home/TabId/55/ArtMID/709/ArticleID/133/Youth-Leadership-Camp-25-28-July-2014-in-Sheopur.aspx

Jai Jagat 2020

Dear Friends,

On the basis of our learning from previous campaigns such as the Jan Chetavani yatra in 2006, the Jan Adesh march in 2007 and Jan Sathyagraha in 2012, Ekta Parishad is now positioned to launch a new campaign called Jai Jagat 2020. You may take note that in previous campaigns we used the adage Jan, meaning ‘people’, and this is because we focused on marginalized people. In the 2020 campaign we are broadening to Jagat, meaning all people in the world. This does not mean that the work of Ekta Parishad alters its direction from changing its focus away from the lives of poor people. We continue to organize marginalized communities for their control over land and natural resources, as a way to fight poverty. At the same time we realize that this problem is not limited to India alone and that people from almost every country across the world are experiencing similar challenges. Market driven globalization is depriving millions of people from their land and accessing resources. People are being dispossessed and forced into cities and slums.  This means that we need to work at a global as well as at the grassroots level to bring about real change.

Jai Jagat actually means VICTORY OF THE WORLD. That is very close to the concept of  Sarvodaya (‘well being of all’) that was given by Mahatma Gandhi. The underlying principle is that, if there is a victory then it should be the victory of our common humanity not the victory of one nation over another. The victory should also be based on the victory of living commodiously together, and of people coexisting with nature. If the victory is for everyone and for everything, then this is the best. A modern world needs to imbibe these new values, the values of Jai Jagat and Gandhi’s notion of Sarvodaya.

We are aware that the above terms and terminologies are drawn from the Hindi language and are generally confined to India, but we believe that these words are very relevant in a global campaign.  What is being proposed, as the forthcoming global action, is that no one country or group of people can bring about genuine change. The increasingly destructive trends need to be counteracted by local and global action that is coordinated and done simultaneously. Such a large-scale effort needs to challenge and sensitize global organizations and global players. While a very strong component of Ekta Parishad’s actions will be in India responding to the local problems, we are very keen to work with as many organizations as possible at every country level and at the global level in order to advance the survival agenda of nature and people on the planet.

In relation to Jai Jagat2020, some action plans are already in the pipeline. These have emerged through various discussions and we are still open and willing to incorporate new ideas and new programs in order to gain wider participation.

The following eight proposed actions are being considered:

1.      Youth training in non-violent action will be a major component of this campaign. This is an opportunity to train and sensitize as many young people as possible in the coming years. In India there have been widespread alliance building with many other organizations. The plan is to reach out to more than hundred thousand young men and women in all 660 districts of the country. We are planning to organize youth and work camps in every district involving a minimum of 200 youth in each district. These camps will provide the opportunity for young people to discuss, to understand issues and also to make action plans that challenge deprivation and alienation of land and resources from the poor non-violently.

2.      We also plan to involve collaborative partnership with civil society groups in various other continents and countries.  Friends in Ekta Parishad have been involved in youth training programs in Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Senegal, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, England, Spain as well as in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. We have been most willing to share our limited skills and capacities with those who are looking for such skill training to work more effectively among young people. We have also provided exposure and training to many who have come to India from various parts of the globe to learn from our way of working among the marginalized groups.  We believe in alliance building and networking with all like-minded people and groups.

3.      An international youth program has been designed for the month of September 2014, in which about 30 young social leaders from 15 countries are expected to participate. This program will be organized in India in order to give people exposure to building social actions nonviolently. If anyone finds this interesting, please consult the International Initiatives site at www.internationalinitiative.org.

4.      In 2016 a similar program is being designed for women leaders who may visit India to see how grassroots women leaders have been able to transform their lives through their own efforts. Again this visit will be through the Indian villages and the visitors will travel and interact with grassroots women leaders for a period of two weeks. This travel will culminate in to a women leadership camp and a conference by women.

5.      In 2018 we are planning to organize an international conference on Non-violent Economy. You may be aware that in some parts of the globe, this alternative economy is called ‘social economy’, ‘solidarity economy’, etc. In India we call it nonviolent economy. These economic relations encourage and promote a development model based on self-reliance, reciprocity and more fair exchange, and counter the current violent and dominant economy. The challenge will be to create a non-violent economy while continuing with non-violent social change through struggle.

6.      In this note we are only providing an initial action calendar in India. We are sure other timelines will emerge from different organizations in other parts of the world. In order to link all these actions to a global process, a group of 100 friends (an international team) will march from Delhi Rajghat  (the resting place of Mahatma Gandhi), to Geneva or the United Nations HQ. The UN was established in order to uphold the human values, dignity as well as human rights of every individual. This is time for ordinary people to remind citizens in different parts of the world that we need inclusive and equitable relationships. This is the time for people to walk, talk and sing in the reshaping a world in which the diversity of people and nature can be maintained. This march will take nearly 15 months and this is the time for all partners to organize small and big marches in their own cities, countries or in the regions to march for a new world order.

7.      The entire campaign of Jai Jagat 2020 is built around the notion that “our world can be different if we are not indifferent”. Another important notion is that “in a world torn between silence and violence we need to come together to introduce the culture of active nonviolence”.

8.      This is a call for every one interested to join the campaign or to support the campaign in whichever way people feel it is fitting.Some possible actions are as below.

a.       Connect us with organizations and campaigns with which you are familiar.

b.      Get this document into your publications, websites, newsletters and other channels of dissemination.

c.       Encourage journalists to write about it.

d.      Find an opportunity to visit India or invite us to your in-country programs.

e.       Make small financial contributions to support the youth training.

We hope to receive your valuable suggestions and inputs in shaping this campaign as it is going to impact the lives of millions of people as well as on the planet. We believe that such a campaign can have a huge impact on the institutions and policies at the global level.

Rajagopal P.V.

http://www.etopia.be/spip.php?article2395

http://www.etopia.be/spip.php?article2395