PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2006 ID-2384
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ALL INDIA STUDENTS' ASSOCIA.riON (AISA) t4.s.os .
.
Resist the PM's Efforts To Give Colonialism a 'Human Face' ! .
On the 58th Anniversary of Independence, .
Will the PM Apologise For His Insult to Indian Freedom Struggle ?! .
.
'British Rule was an act of enterprise, adventure, creativity'-PM Manmohan Singh at the District Collector's Conference In .
Delhi in May 2005 .
'We did not entirely deny the British claim to 'good governance'; we only asserted our natural claim to self-governance'. .
-Manmohan Singh at Oxford Un1v .
The PM has tried to cover up the shame of the Congress-sponsored carnage agamst S1khs in 1984 by apologising to the nation; .
butm his speech from the Red Fort, wtll he apologise for the way in which lnd1an police and Army are recreating colonial horrors by beating up workers in Gurgaon, shootmg and arresting farmers in RaJasthan and Punjab, and the Raj legacy of unemployment and starvation are once again stalking India? Bhagat Singh had warned that colonial structures of exploitation would continue if Indian nation alism and freedom failed to have a revolutionary basis. Today, even the Supreme Court has shown its 'Black Saheb' nature by defending WTO-dictated policies of privatlsation of education, under which deprived sections of Indians will have no place, but NRis will enjoy reservation! .
To turn mfam1es into feats. accumulation is detached from despoliation, opulence has nothing to do with plunder. Broken memory leads us to believe that wealth is Innocent of poverty. -Eduardo Galeano .
How 1s the lndtan Prime Minister able to turn the infamy of two centuries of colonial exploitation and brutal domination Into a feat of 'adventure and enterprise'? How rs he able to argue that British wealth and status as a developed nation today is innocent of lnd1a's poverty? The editorials in the mainstream corporate media defended the PM's praise of the Raj; according to them, the PM's views are 'balanced', while the ·extreme' "ultra-Left" (CPIML) and the ·unra-R1ght" (BJP) are the only ones to have criticised that speech. Is this true? .
Does the Sangh Have Any Right to Criticise the PM's Pro·Raj Views? .
No one has pointed out that the founding fathers of the Sangh had expressed approval of Brit1sh Rule even at the height of the freedom struggle; Golwalkar had chast1sed the freedom fighters of being 'reactionary' (reactmg blindly against the British}! Back then, the RSS had recommended that nationalism should not be anti-colonial or anu-Bntish in content, but in fact should come from the inherent Impulse of Hindus for a Hindu Rashtra, a nation of therr own .
Did the British Provide 'Good Governance'? .
Manmohan Singh gave Bnt1sh colontalism a certificate of 'good governance'. saying the British were responsible for introducing 'Fair Play·. 'Rule of Law·. lnd1an bureaucracy, police, Un1versities and laboratories and even the 'Free Press'. Let's examme whether this is based on fact. .
'Fair play' and the 'Rule of Law'? Were the British and Indians equal In the eyes of this law? How can the institutionalised racism embedded in the colonial structures of 'governance' be called 'fair play'?! .
The ICS: Recall that even 1n the ICS about which Mr. Singh waxes lyrical, the demand for exams to be held in India was denied for half a century and lndtans were barred from holdmg the topmost posts .
Free Press: As for the fairytale of a 'Free Press' and freedom of expression -has Mr. Singh forgotten the draconian Rowlatt Act, introduced to muzzle dissent? Has he forgotten the horrific Ja!lianwala Bagh massacre unleashed in cold blood on people who res1sted the Rowlatt Act? Recall that the immediate context in which Bhagat Singh flung his bomb in the Assembly was the lndustnal Disputes Bill, brought in to ban workers' strikes. And the Un1versit1es and laboratories? .
Un iversities and labs: It is incredible that Manmohan Singh should thank the British for these-when the fact is that most Universities of the time were set up through nattonalist initiatrve and fund ingI .
.
True. Mr Stngh has quoted Angus Maddison to justify Indian 'grievance' against colonialism. pointing out that India's poor .
economic status in colonial t1mes What Mr. Singh doesn't mention is that the British consolidated their wealth and strength by .
mfllctmg th1s poverty through ruthless loot and repression .
What the PM Forgot to Thank the British For .
But there are many gifts for which Mr. S~ngh forgot to thank the British. Foremost among them are the deep communal wounds on our polity, inflicted by the policy of Divide and Rule, thanks to which our nation continues to bleed Mr. Singh may thank the British for Engl1sh: will he also thank them for their role in the calculated and painful amputation of Urdu from Hindi, which distorted our precious linguistiC legacy? .
The British introduced the barest minimum elements of modernity as were required to rule and to plunder effectively. Existing industry was brutally destroyed Concerned only with extracting back-breaking f'C" nue, they gave Institutions like the zamindari a new lease of life and brutally crushed anti-feudal uprismgs of the peasantry -the result is the mass of dallt agrarian poor remained shackled by structures of feudal oppression. .
sdl-Awadhesh Gen. Secy., AISA, JNU .
sd/-Sandeep Singh,, Jt. Secy., AISA,JNU .
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2006 ID-2384
.
.
ALL INDIA STUDENTS' ASSOCIA.riON (AISA) t4.s.os .
.
Resist the PM's Efforts To Give Colonialism a 'Human Face' ! .
On the 58th Anniversary of Independence, .
Will the PM Apologise For His Insult to Indian Freedom Struggle ?! .
.
'British Rule was an act of enterprise, adventure, creativity'-PM Manmohan Singh at the District Collector's Conference In .
Delhi in May 2005 .
'We did not entirely deny the British claim to 'good governance'; we only asserted our natural claim to self-governance'. .
-Manmohan Singh at Oxford Un1v .
The PM has tried to cover up the shame of the Congress-sponsored carnage agamst S1khs in 1984 by apologising to the nation; .
butm his speech from the Red Fort, wtll he apologise for the way in which lnd1an police and Army are recreating colonial horrors by beating up workers in Gurgaon, shootmg and arresting farmers in RaJasthan and Punjab, and the Raj legacy of unemployment and starvation are once again stalking India? Bhagat Singh had warned that colonial structures of exploitation would continue if Indian nation alism and freedom failed to have a revolutionary basis. Today, even the Supreme Court has shown its 'Black Saheb' nature by defending WTO-dictated policies of privatlsation of education, under which deprived sections of Indians will have no place, but NRis will enjoy reservation! .
To turn mfam1es into feats. accumulation is detached from despoliation, opulence has nothing to do with plunder. Broken memory leads us to believe that wealth is Innocent of poverty. -Eduardo Galeano .
How 1s the lndtan Prime Minister able to turn the infamy of two centuries of colonial exploitation and brutal domination Into a feat of 'adventure and enterprise'? How rs he able to argue that British wealth and status as a developed nation today is innocent of lnd1a's poverty? The editorials in the mainstream corporate media defended the PM's praise of the Raj; according to them, the PM's views are 'balanced', while the ·extreme' "ultra-Left" (CPIML) and the ·unra-R1ght" (BJP) are the only ones to have criticised that speech. Is this true? .
Does the Sangh Have Any Right to Criticise the PM's Pro·Raj Views? .
No one has pointed out that the founding fathers of the Sangh had expressed approval of Brit1sh Rule even at the height of the freedom struggle; Golwalkar had chast1sed the freedom fighters of being 'reactionary' (reactmg blindly against the British}! Back then, the RSS had recommended that nationalism should not be anti-colonial or anu-Bntish in content, but in fact should come from the inherent Impulse of Hindus for a Hindu Rashtra, a nation of therr own .
Did the British Provide 'Good Governance'? .
Manmohan Singh gave Bnt1sh colontalism a certificate of 'good governance'. saying the British were responsible for introducing 'Fair Play·. 'Rule of Law·. lnd1an bureaucracy, police, Un1versities and laboratories and even the 'Free Press'. Let's examme whether this is based on fact. .
'Fair play' and the 'Rule of Law'? Were the British and Indians equal In the eyes of this law? How can the institutionalised racism embedded in the colonial structures of 'governance' be called 'fair play'?! .
The ICS: Recall that even 1n the ICS about which Mr. Singh waxes lyrical, the demand for exams to be held in India was denied for half a century and lndtans were barred from holdmg the topmost posts .
Free Press: As for the fairytale of a 'Free Press' and freedom of expression -has Mr. Singh forgotten the draconian Rowlatt Act, introduced to muzzle dissent? Has he forgotten the horrific Ja!lianwala Bagh massacre unleashed in cold blood on people who res1sted the Rowlatt Act? Recall that the immediate context in which Bhagat Singh flung his bomb in the Assembly was the lndustnal Disputes Bill, brought in to ban workers' strikes. And the Un1versit1es and laboratories? .
Un iversities and labs: It is incredible that Manmohan Singh should thank the British for these-when the fact is that most Universities of the time were set up through nattonalist initiatrve and fund ingI .
.
True. Mr Stngh has quoted Angus Maddison to justify Indian 'grievance' against colonialism. pointing out that India's poor .
economic status in colonial t1mes What Mr. Singh doesn't mention is that the British consolidated their wealth and strength by .
mfllctmg th1s poverty through ruthless loot and repression .
What the PM Forgot to Thank the British For .
But there are many gifts for which Mr. S~ngh forgot to thank the British. Foremost among them are the deep communal wounds on our polity, inflicted by the policy of Divide and Rule, thanks to which our nation continues to bleed Mr. Singh may thank the British for Engl1sh: will he also thank them for their role in the calculated and painful amputation of Urdu from Hindi, which distorted our precious linguistiC legacy? .
The British introduced the barest minimum elements of modernity as were required to rule and to plunder effectively. Existing industry was brutally destroyed Concerned only with extracting back-breaking f'C" nue, they gave Institutions like the zamindari a new lease of life and brutally crushed anti-feudal uprismgs of the peasantry -the result is the mass of dallt agrarian poor remained shackled by structures of feudal oppression. .
sdl-Awadhesh Gen. Secy., AISA, JNU .
sd/-Sandeep Singh,, Jt. Secy., AISA,JNU .
.
.