Agra Footwear Industry Generates 45 Tonne Waste Every Day, Poses Big Challenge: CSE Study

Mohd. Imran Khan | 04 Sep 2024

This is in addition to 978 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated every day, comprising wet, dry, domestic hazardous and sanitary wastes.

A shoemaker in Agra. (For representational purpose)

Patna: Agra -- the famous city of Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh – a footwear manufacturing hub, caters to 65% of domestic demand, generates 45 tonnes of waste every day, posing a huge environmental challenge, says a new study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based think-tank.

Such a large amount of daily waste has opened up a new front in the city’s struggle against environmental pollution and ecological mayhem.

“Agra’s claim to fame also rests on the city being the largest footwear manufacturing hub in India. Catering to about 65 per cent of India’s domestic demand, the city churns out 0.9 to one million pairs of footwear every day. Such a scale of production comes with its own set of challenges – the city produces about 45 tonnes of footwear waste in a day”, the CSE report said.

This is in addition to 978 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated every day, comprising wet, dry, domestic hazardous and sanitary wastes.

According to the report, Agra has 6,821 footwear manufacturing units – both formal and informal.

“Typically, footwear waste includes a very diverse range of waste items from leather, textile (polyester, viscose), synthetic polymers (polyvinyl chloride, ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), polyurethane (PU) and thermoplastic elastomers), hazardous wastes (foam soaked in adhesive solution), cardboard, metal and fines. Of the total quantum of footwear waste generated, over 31 tonne per day is contributed by the formal manufacturing industries; more than 13 tonne comes from the informal manufacturers who run their businesses from homes,” said Kuldeep Choudhary, programme officer and the lead author of the CSE report.

Abhikaam Singh Pippal, president of the Juta Dastkar Federation, said, “We must understand the challenges faced by home-based shoe manufacturing units. Their working capital is very small and they operate in very small areas with limited space for storage of discarded footwear waste. We welcome initiatives for capacity building of these units to enable them to operate an integrated waste management facility. The Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) and CSE may jointly facilitate such a process. We need support from the government to provide advanced machines for these units to reduce their waste generation.”

Atin Biswas, programme director of CSE’s Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy unit, said: “CSE has been working closely with the Agra Municipal Corporation to devise solutions for managing the historic city’s municipal waste. As part of this association, CSE undertook this year-long research to assess the ground reality of footwear waste management in Agra.”

Biswas added: “The CSE team mapped manufacturing units, estimated footwear waste generation, did characterisation studies to quantify the presence of different footwear waste fractions in terms of quantity and percentage, determined their calorific values, gained an understanding of current management and disposal practices and explored potential solutions. The result is this comprehensive report – Footwear Waste Management in Agra: A Ground Assessment.”

The report says that AMC is able to collect about 57% of the footwear waste generated by the home-based informal sector; the remaining 43% is littered across the city in drains and open spaces or event burnt. The formal manufacturing units have reportedly tied up with formal and informal waste dealers and management professionals to manage their waste.

“The larger share of Agra's footwear industry is informal in nature and operates under challenging conditions, but this presents a unique opportunity to uplift these communities. By providing financial aid, hands-on support in transitioning to sustainable practices, and raising awareness about the impact of poor waste management, we can foster positive change. Many organisations working on the ground with
right kind of support from the government, can play a crucial role in driving this transformation towards a more sustainable future,” said Choudhary.

Biswas said: “Considering the scale of production and footwear waste generation in Agra, special mechanisms including additional funding and infrastructure must be provided to help the municipal corporation manage this waste. More research is needed to explore the recycling-reuse-repurpose potential of the footwear waste fractions to create a business ecosystem.”

The CSE report has recommended a that comprehensive database (inventory) of all footwear manufacturing units in Agra (both formal and informal) be made and all units be geotagged and registered. The existing bye-laws need to be amended to address footwear waste management, covering aspects like collection, transportation, processing, disposal, fines and penalty clauses.

It further stressed the need to implement strict monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to penalise units that dispose of waste improperly, such as dumping in drains, open plots or unauthorised areas.

The report also called for developing protocols for managing hazardous waste. Promote the reuse of footwear waste materials to create other products (such as keychains or doormats) and support upcycling projects through self-help groups or local industries.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Patna, Bihar.

 

Why India Urgently Needs a Union Law to Protect Healthcare Workers

Jehosh Paul | 06 Sep 2024

It is ironic that in an era where the government is obsessed with the Uniform Civil Code, ‘One Nation, One Poll’ and other centralising policies— it hesitates to apply the same logic to safeguarding those who risk their lives for public health.

 

Image Credit: The Leaflet

The Union government’s stance, reiterated recently, that there is no need for a specific Union law to protect healthcare workers— citing that 26 states and Union territories have already enacted legislation for the purpose— belies the ground reality.

State-specific laws suffer from inconsistent application and weak enforcement. According to an analysis by Deccan Herald, states such as Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu do not extend legal protections to ‘auxiliary nurse midwives’ (ANMs), ancillary workers, and health visitors— roles critical to the healthcare system, especially in rural areas. This leaves these workers vulnerable, without legal recourse in the event of violence.

Further complicating the issue, only Goa has adopted provisions for graded penalties, which allow for punishments to be proportionate to the severity of the crime.

In contrast, the absence of such provisions in other states weakens the law’s deterrent effect, either by failing to properly address minor offences or by imposing disproportionately harsh penalties for less severe crimes.

Moreover, only Uttarakhand includes specific provisions for repeat offenders, meaning that most states allow individuals who repeatedly commit violence against healthcare workers to evade escalating consequences.

Additionally, in Bihar, offences against healthcare workers are compoundable, meaning they can be settled out of court. This undermines the severity of these crimes and allows offenders to escape stringent punishment.

These disparities create a confusing and inadequate legal landscape, where healthcare workers in states such as Goa or Uttarakhand might enjoy stronger protections than those in West Bengal or Karnataka, leading to unequal standards of safety and justice.

Also read: An analysis of how ill-managed the Covid pandemic was in India

Enforcement is another major challenge. Many police officers are unaware of the specific state laws protecting healthcare workers or unsure how to enforce them.

According to Dr Neeraj Nagpal, convener and managing trustee of the Medicos Legal Action Group in Chandigarh, “Without any provision in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), filing a case can sometimes mean taking a copy of the Act to the police because she or he may not even know about it.”

Dr Nagpal further explains that the “police may not even be sure under which Section to file such a case, highlighting the enforcement gaps that leave healthcare workers vulnerable.”

These failures are not just theoretical; they have real and dangerous consequences. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) estimates that 75 percent of doctors have encountered violence in their careers.

A plea filed by the Association of Healthcare Providers (India), Tamil Nadu chapter and Dr B. Kannan in the Supreme Court stated that not even 10 percent of cases registered under state laws against culprits reached the courts after a chargesheet was filed.

A study conducted at New Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital found that only 20 percent of cases were referred to the police, and none resulted in punishment for the perpetrators.

In Karnataka, a 2018 report by the Karnataka Law Commission revealed that between 2010 and 2017, only 173 cases were registered, with a mere 23 going to trial and only three resulting in convictions.

No cases awarded compensation to victims— a clear sign of the law’s ineffectiveness. These findings demonstrate that existing laws have failed to prevent attacks on healthcare workers.

Despite these realities, the Union government has been reluctant to enact a law. Previously, in 2019, the Healthcare Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill was introduced to create a dedicated legal framework to protect healthcare workers.

Also read: R.G. Kar murder and rape case: SC issues slew of directions, some missing from the written Order

However, this effort was shelved, as it was argued that these protections could be better implemented under the Epidemic Diseases Act (EDA), 1897 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Union home ministry had also expressed its “concerns that similar protections might be demanded by other professional communities”.

This reasoning was extended in 2022 when the Prevention of Violence Against Healthcare Professionals and Clinical Establishments Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, only to be shelved again with the argument that its objectives were covered by the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

This reliance on the EDA is problematic. The EDA’s provisions are tied to specific health emergencies and include a sunset clause, meaning the protections are temporary and will lapse after the pandemic ends. Limiting the protection of healthcare workers to such a narrow context fails to address the ongoing, systemic violence that they face.

However, a Union law could overcome these issues by integrating itself with the recently enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) that has replaced the IPC. This integration could ensure that protections for healthcare workers are embedded in a more permanent, uniform and widely recognised legal framework, addressing the enforcement challenges that have plagued state laws in the past.

It is ironic that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party often obsessed with uniformity— whether it is the ‘Uniform Civil Code’, ‘One Nation, One Poll’, or other centralising policies— hesitates to apply the same logic to safeguarding those who risk their lives for public health.

The need for a Union law is clear and urgent. It is not just about filling the gaps left by state laws, but about affirming a national commitment to the safety and dignity of all healthcare workers.

The government must act decisively, enacting a Union law that will protect healthcare workers across India, ensuring that they can continue their vital work without fear or hesitation.

 

Jehosh Paul is a lawyer and research consultant. He holds an LLM in Law and Development from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. The views are personal.

Courtesy: The Leaflet

 

Western Democracy Hasn’t Ever Been as Absurd as Today

Prabhat Patnaik | 07 Sep 2024

The devaluation of public opinion in metropolitan societies, funded by lobbies and vested interests, has already disempowered people to an extent that is unprecedented.

Supporters protest imminent suspensions and evictions of student protesters outside of Columbia University (Photo: Wyatt Souers)

During the entire post-war period when it has been in existence in the metropolitan countries, democracy has never been in as bizarre a state as it is today. Democracy is supposed to mean the pursuit of policies that are in conformity with the wishes of the electorate. True, it is not that the governments first ascertain popular wishes, and then decide on policy. The conformity between the two is typically ensured under bourgeois rule by the government deciding on policies in accordance with ruling class interests, and then having a propaganda machinery that persuades the people about the wisdom of these policies The conformity between public opinion and what the ruling class wants is thus achieved in a complex manner whose essence lies in the manipulation of public opinion.

What is currently happening, however, is altogether different: public opinion, notwithstanding all the propaganda directed at it, wants policies that are altogether different from those being systematically pursued by the ruling class. The policies favoured by the ruling class, in other words, are being pursued despite public opinion being palpably and systematically opposed to them. This is made possible by having most political parties line up behind these policies; that is, by getting a very large spectrum of political formations or parties backing these policies against the wishes of the majority of the electorate.

The current situation is thus characterised by two distinct features: first, a broad unanimity among the bulk of political formations (parties); and second, a total lack of congruence between what these parties agree on and what the people want. Such a situation is quite unprecedented in the history of bourgeois democracy. These policies moreover relate not to minor questions concerning this or that matter, but to fundamental issues of war and peace.

Take the United States. The majority of people in that country, according to all available opinion polls, are appalled by Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people; they would like the US to bring the war to an end and not keep supplying arms to Israel for prolonging it. But the US government is doing precisely the opposite, even at the risk of escalating the war into one that engulfs the entire middle east.

Likewise, public opinion in the US does not want a continuation of the Ukraine war. It favours an end to that conflict through a negotiated peace; but the US government (together with that of the UK) has systematically torpedoed all possibilities of peaceful settlement. Its opposition to the Minsk agreements, an opposition conveyed to Ukraine through British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s trip to Kiev, is what started the war in the first place. And even now, when Putin had made certain proposals for establishing peace, it egged Ukraine on to launch its Kursk offensive which ended all hopes of peace.

What is significant is that both the Republicans and the Democrats in the US are agreed on this policy of providing arms to Israel’s Netanyahu and Ukraine’s Zelensky, despite public opinion wanting peace and despite the fact that any adventurism by Ukraine runs the risk of unleashing a nuclear conflagration.

This contrast between what the people want, despite all the propaganda they have been subjected to, and what the pollical establishment ordains, afflicts all metropolitan countries; but nowhere is it as stark as in Germany.

The Ukraine war directly impinges on Germany in a manner it does not on any other metropolitan country, since Germany was entirely dependent on Russian gas for its energy needs. The sanctions on Russia have caused a shortage of gas; and the import of more expensive substitutes from the US has pushed up gas prices to levels that strongly impinge on the living standards of German workers.

An end to the Ukraine war is urgently demanded by German workers; but neither the ruling coalition, consisting of the Social Democrats, the Free Democrats and the Greens, nor the main opposition consisting of the Christian Democrats and the Christian Socialists, is showing any interest in a peaceful resolution of the conflict. On the contrary, the German political establishment is trying to whip up fears of Russian troops appearing on German borders, even though, ironically, it is German troops that are stationed at present in Lithuania on the borders of Russia!

In their desperation for an end to the Ukraine war, the German working people are turning to the neo-fascist AfD, which professes to be against the war (though one knows it will inevitably betray this promise once it comes anywhere near power) and the new Left party of Sahra Wagenknecht that broke away from the parent Left Party, Die Linke, on this very issue of war.

Exactly the same is true of German attitudes toward the genocide in Gaza. While the bulk of the German population opposes this genocide, the German government has actually criminalised all opposition to the Israeli genocide on the grounds that it constitutes “anti-semitism”. It even broke up a convention that was being organised to protest against the genocide, to which internationally-known speakers like Yanis Varoufakis had been invited.

The use of the “anti-semitism” stick to beat all opposition to Israel’s aggression is pervasive in other metropolitan countries, too. In Britain, Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour Party, was hounded out of that party, ostensibly on grounds of his so-called “anti-semitism” but actually because of his support for the Palestinian cause. And US campus authorities have invoked this charge against the widespread campus protests that have rocked that country.

Such riding roughshod over public opinion is typically sought to be achieved by keeping these burning issues of peace and war off political discussion altogether. In the coming US presidential elections, for instance, since both the contenders, Donald Trump and Kamla Harris, are agreed on supplying arms to Israel, this issue itself will not figure in any presidential debate or in the presidential campaign. While other topics where they differ will hold centre-stage, the crucial one that affects people and where they hold a different opinion from the contestants, will not be an issue for debate.

One reason for the support of the political establishment for Israeli actions, which is far from being a negligible one, is the generous funding that such support gets from pro-Israel donors. According to a report published in the Delphi Initiative (August 21), half the cabinet of Keir Starmer, the newly-elected Labour Prime Minister of Britain, had received money from pro-Israel sources to fight the elections that brought them to power. The same number of the same journal also reports that one-third of the Conservative members of the British parliament had received money from pro-Israel sources for elections. Pro-Israel money, in other words, is available to both the main parties of Britain; this makes support for Israeli actions a bipartisan affair.

On the other hand, what happens to those who stand with Palestine is illustrated by two cases in the US Members of the Congress, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, both black progressive representatives, who were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and strong critics of Israeli genocide, were defeated by the intervention of AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee), a powerful pro-Israel lobby, which poured millions of dollars into the effort.

The Delphi Initiative of August 31 reports that $17 million had been spent for Bowman’s defeat and $9 million for the ad campaign against Cori Bush. Interestingly, the campaign against Cori Bush did not mention Israel’s aggression against Gaza, as AIPAC knew that on that particular issue the public would have supported Cori Bush rather than her opponent, and hence frustrated its plans for her defeat.

What all this means is that a fundamental decision on war and peace that affects everybody is being taken in the metropolitan countries against the wishes of the people by a political establishment that is financed by lobbies with vested interests.

In the metropolis there has thus been a transition from “manipulation of dissent” through propaganda, to the total ignoring of dissent, even dissent by a majority, that has proved to be immune to propaganda. This represents a new stage in the attenuation of democracy, a stage characterised by an unprecedented moral bankruptcy of the political establishment.

Such moral bankruptcy of the traditional political establishment also constitutes the context for the growth of fascism; but whether or not fascism actually comes to power, the attenuation of democracy in metropolitan societies has already disempowered people to an extent that is quite unprecedented.

 

Beauty, Caste and ‘Miss India’ Contests

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd | 02 Sep 2024

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has touched a raw nerve and has rocked the core cultural preserve of the casteist 'parampara' upheld by Hindutva forces.

A Raja Ravi Verma painting. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his Prayagraj meeting on August 24, 2024 said that “90% Indians do not figure even in the Miss India contest”. As a response to this statement, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiran Rijiju said Gandhi’s reflected only his “Balak Buddhi” (childish mentality). This phrase to target Rahul Gandhi was also used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament debates earlier. The question, however, is: what is the truth about 90% Indian women and participation in Miss India contests and selection of Miss India, and then moving forward to the global pageant for Miss World?

This whole Miss India contest has set a standard for beauty of women. It has become a cause of huge celebration as well as social and cultural status. In the pre-Independence era, it was impossible to imagine a Brahmin or a Kshatriya woman participating in such a body display of ‘beauty’. But, in post-Independence India, it is the upper caste young women who train themselves for this achievement with some already winning the contest. But the idea of ‘that beauty’ lies in caste, colour and education stereotypes. 

The very idea of beauty in India is constructed around a certain type of complexion and a woman’s social location in terms of caste and class. Those who judge and define which woman is ‘beautiful’, as well as participants who reach that platform, are all aligned in terms of caste, complexion and wealth.

Dalit/adivasi/OBC (Other Backward Classes) women cannot reach the beauty contest platforms because these are out of their reach.  Both judges and participants draw heavily from the written and painted visual images of beauty from ancient Sanskrit books. The modern paintings of a model beauty also draw heavily from those textual narratives.  

In India, the idea of woman’s beauty basically comes from mythological books, described by the writers in Sanskrit, as well as paintings that influenced the very same caste and class people. A writer as an influential intellectual narrativised the women of those castes and classes, and the painter enfigurated it as an art, either from those textual narratives or from their existential life. For example, the modern Indian woman’s beauty is governed by Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings of mythological women in multiple colours. The standard beautiful women in those paintings happen to be Saraswati, Lakshmi, Parvathi, Sita, Shakuntala and so on. Ravi Varma never painted Surpanakha as a beautiful woman. Nor did his paintings show any working woman as beautiful. In mythological texts, all Shudra women were supposed to be working women and were not supposed to be beautiful, Such women’s caste and their labouring life in the fields itself determined the definition of beauty. The beautiful goddess Saraswati never was meant to give them education and beautiful goddess Lakshmi was never meant to give them wealth. This long-lasting mythological relationship between beauty and caste did not disappear in Independent India. Text books that children read continue to inject the very same idea of beauty.

The description of Varudhini’s beauty and her love affair with Pravarakhya, in Markandeya Purana, is described in many school books. Let us remember that these narratives of beautiful women have been set in the caste background of Brahmins or Kshatriyas. The Shudra and Vaishya, 'Mlecha' women are never described as beautiful in what the Right-wing scholars and leaders now call “Hindu Books”. 

The same idea of a woman’s beauty dominates our film industry, TV serials, anchors and presenters. 

It is an undeniable fact that there are thousands of women from Shudra/Dalit and adivasi communities who were as beautiful as the mythological women, if not more. Where is a description of them in mythological books? Except some Gopika women narratives in a negative sense in Mahabharata around Krishna’s life, no women's beauty narratives of Shudra/Dalit/adivasi women ever got written or painted.   

The notion of a woman’s beauty runs through modern cinema, TV serials, TV anchors and also stage anchors. This notion gets extended to women’s beauty contests where fame, publicity, popularity, money and glamour are involved. From where do the Miss India selection committee members draw their notion of beauty? What castes do they come from? Most of them invariably are from the upper castes and draw their idea of beauty from mythological books, Ravi Varma paintings and daily discussions about the very same standards of beauty in their drawing rooms and dining tables. Framed paintings hang on their walls.

The cinema and TV industries select women of ‘that beauty’ plus modern English education and their adaptation to designer clothes. The Shudra/Dalit/adivasi women have no access to these things even now.

In the West, the idea of women’s beauty is consciously getting diversified with the inclusion of black, brown and other women, not just white. We can see this in their cinemas and on television. There are no ‘divine standards’ for beautiful women in the Western civilisation.

In India, such inclusiveness of women in all fields is not yet a norm. Rahul Gandhi is now talking about such unusual things as a changemaker. Certainly, in traditional and conservative discourse and political postures, changemakers are attacked as ‘childish’, what in Hindutva language is termed as ‘Balak Buddhi’.

Even in normal liberal discourse, issues such as which caste represents India as Miss India or Miss World, are considered immature and childish. But at least one politician, now Leader of the Opposition, is raising these questions. Should they dismiss him as childish?  

If one looks at the list of women who won the Miss World representing India, one can see the connection between caste and English education.

The first Miss World in 1966 was Reita Faria, a converted Catholic Christian upper caste woman from Goa. The second was Aishwarya Rai, another well-educated upper caste woman from Karnataka’s Konkan region. The third, Diana Hayden, fourth Yukta Mookhey, fifth Priyanka Chopra and sixth Manushi Chhillar.

We all know how Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra became globally popular actresses by using the Miss World status. They all have caste-class status with good English medium education. All of them first became Miss India and moved on to become Miss World.   

 If such questions are raised by Shudra/Dalit/adivasi men or women intellectuals, the ‘others’, who represent the high moral, casteless, pretentious intellectuals, ignore or dismiss them as foolish. When a leader like Rahul Gandhi talks about these things, at least a section of the media notices while the ‘other’ (in this case, the ruling force) responds. That itself contributes to change- making.

The metaphor ‘Miss India’ is politically powerful. The absence of 90% Indians in all fields, including in the realm of representing ‘womenness’ by women themselves because they are born Shudra or Dalit or Adivasi, is very creative.

In an ideologically oppressive culture, the idea of parampara (tradition) that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh/Bharatiya Janata Party intellectuals and leaders term as nationalistic, that parampara in the cultural realm of beauty comes only from certain books, which transcends into paintings and practice in real life. That, in fact, is not nationalism.

Raising questions about that realm, therefore, touches a raw nerve that parampara, and exposes its mapping onto modern civil society and state.

Rahul Gandhi has rocked that core cultural preserve of the casteist parampara. One hopes that those who need change and want to be included in every sphere, including in the Miss India and Miss World pageant, understand this.   

The writer is a political theorist, social activist and author. He is

former Director, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad. The views are personal.

 

The Crisis in Afghanistan is a Result of US Recklessness

Abdul Rahman | 09 Sep 2024

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The US presidential hopefuls have traded accusations regarding who is responsible for the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, but fail to consider the well-being of the Afghan people.

The third anniversary of the end of the two decades of US war and occupation in Afghanistan coincides with a particularly contentious presidential election year in the US. Both the Democrats and Republicans are busy blaming each other for the fiasco. It is clear that Afghanistan has become yet another embarrassing episode in the long history of US imperial adventures which no one wants to take responsibility for.

Two of the top generals in the US army, Mark Miley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Kenneth McKenzie, former chief of US Central Command, who led the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, testified in front of Congress earlier this year. They blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the disaster of US withdrawal.

Miley and McKenzie blame the Donald Trump administration for negotiating with the Taliban and signing the Doha agreement in February of 2020. Not only did the agreement exempt the Taliban from participating in any Afghan led peace process, it also forced the US-backed Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban members from prison, strengthening the fundamentalist movement’s campaign against the government.

The Biden administration, the generals claim, failed to make timely decisions about the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which created the chaos in which hundreds of Afghan citizens and 13 US servicemen were killed.

The death of 13 US servicemen during an attack at the Kabul airport at the time of the withdrawal on August 26, 2021 has become a key issue for the Trump campaign. 

While both Trump and Biden agree Afghanistan was an “endless war” from which both wanted to withdraw, it seems that owning the outcome may have electoral repercussions. That is why, though Kamala Harris calls the decision to withdraw forces from Afghanistan, “the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war” she blames Trump for the Taliban taking power in Afghanistan. At the same time, Trump calls the withdrawal the “most embarrassing moment” in American history, blaming Biden for his “incompetence.”

In this electioneering, the overall criminality of the occupation itself has become lost. As journalist Eugene Puryear of BreakThrough News told Peoples Dispatch, “the US never should have been in Afghanistan, and the end of the occupation was yet another reminder of the criminal imperial policies that callously took the lives of millions and destabilized multiple countries.”

The “Afghan people are sadly suffering the bitter consequences of the reckless policies of the Bush-Obama-Trump-Biden administrations,” Puryear said.

Humanitarian disaster

Neither of the US presidential hopefuls from the two dominant parties seem concerned about the Afghans who are forced to live under Taliban rule, especially after a two-decades-long war apparently waged to avoid that specific situation. This war cost the lives of nearly 200,000 people, including thousands of US soldiers, over USD 2 trillion of American taxpayers’ money, and prolonged the plight of millions of Afghans forced to live as refugees.

Last year, the Biden administration released a document on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. This document admits that the US had decided to withdraw from the country even after knowing that the Taliban would take power. The Taliban took over power in Kabul in the middle of August 2021, even when a large number of US forces were still present.

The document denies that the objective of the US invasion in Afghanistan was ever to “build a nation” after shaping and backing various governments since 2001. It claims the only objective behind the occupation was to tackle threats to the US, completely discrediting the participation of dozens of other countries and forces there.

The Biden administration pats itself in the back for carrying out the “largest airlift ever conducted in US history” between August 14 and August 31, and credits itself for releasing “critical assets” by withdrawing from Afghanistan. Because of those “critical assets” the US is able to “lead the world” today and focus on dealing with wars in Ukraine and alleged threats from China, it claims.

“It is hard to imagine the United States would have been able to lead the response to these challenges as successfully, especially in the resource intensive way that it has, if US forces remained in Afghanistan today,” the document reads.

Now that the occupation is over, the US has ignored the plight of millions of Afghans, particularly women, which was one of the key justifications of the initial invasion and occupation. It claims how Afghanistan became a burden at a time when “critical assets” were needed to sustain new wars.

The document claims terrorism was dealt a fatal blow in Afghanistan as they are incapable now to launch attacks against US interests. However, even this claim rings hollow when its own top military officials now talk about their lack of knowledge regarding the actual presence and capabilities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan today.

Meanwhile, over 44,000 Afghans remain stuck in Pakistan who worked with the international forces, mostly the US, in Afghanistan for the period of the occupation. They cannot go back home due to the fear of Taliban persecution. Despite repeated reminders, the Biden administration has failed to fulfill its promise to repatriate these refugees. These are a fraction of Afghan refugees all over the world which are facing increased pressure from their hosts to return.

The difference between the Biden administration’s boasting about the objectives of its occupation and the actual plight of Afghans, both inside Afghanistan and refugees, is what Puryear calls West’s belief that “the lives of those in the Global South are totally expendable, of use only insofar as it helps further the agendas of the empire.”

The indifference towards Afghan refugees “also represents a clear capitulation to racist anti-immigrant sentiment that codes all Afghans as terrorists. Ultimately, it speaks to the injustices imposed on so much of the globe by countries like the US, who invade, occupy, and plunder for their own benefit,” Puryear claims.

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch

 

Remembering Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago Speech on 9/11, 1893

S N Sahu | 11 Sep 2024

In the context of the horrors of 9/11 of 2001, that speech has enduring significance.

Today is 9/11 and its invocation year after year following the horrific destruction of twin towers of New York on that day in 2001 and series of other attacks on several other US establishments by fanatics sent shock waves through the world. In our own history, 9/11 is refreshingly associated with Swami Vivekananda’s acclaimed speech on that day in 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago and Mahatma Gandhi’s First Satyagraha launched on the same day in 1906.

It is pertinent to reflect on Vivekananda’s spellbinding utterances in his Chicago speech outlining not only the universal values of tolerance but also of acceptance. It was that illuminating speech which made him a celebrity commanding the attention and admiration of people across US.

In the context of twenty first century world, specifically India, confronting the alarming trend of polarization of society and lynchings of people on the basis of their faith and food they eat, Vivekananda’s Chicago speech is of enormous importance.

Attack on Culture of Tolerance and Acceptance

Swamiji proudly proclaimed, “We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true”. He proceeded to emphatically add “I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation”.

He who explained India’s civilisational heritage rooted as much in culture of toleration as in acceptance would have been horrified to see the negation of his utterances by those who wield power by securing the mandate of the people and taking oath of allegiance to the Constitution providing for coexistence of all faiths within the framework of secularism. He who understood India in terms of its composite identity based on what he called a “Vedantic brain and Islamic body” would have been deeply hurt to note that Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in his election speeches in 2024 spewed venom against Muslims with impunity and sullied the age old heritage of our civilisation marked by coexistence of all faiths. It is all the more tragic that Modi who considers Vivekananda as his idol is saying and doing something completely contrary to the words and deeds of Swamiji.

Mohan Bhagwat’s Assault on the Vision of Vivekananda

Even earlier in 2018 on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago speech the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat while speaking in the same venue where Swamiji spoke in 1893 used the uncharitable word "dogs" to obliquely refer to other faiths. While claiming in his speech that Hindus have no aspirations of dominance and the community would prosper only when it worked as a society he disparaging said, "If a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy the lion. We must not forget that."

What Bhagwat said six years back when Swamiji’s historic speech was being celebrated, brought out a sinister design to proclaim supremacist idea on the basis of his attempts to draw parallel between lion and Hinduism and refer to other faiths as wild dogs.

So while RSS Chief trampled upon the vision of Vivekananda in 2018, six years later, Modi smashed the ideals of tolerance and acceptance so eloquently uttered by Swamiji in 1893 by targeting Muslims of India with hate filled speeches while seeking mandate of the people.

“Sectarianism, Bigotry and its Horrible Descendant, Fanaticism”

Swami Vivekananda towards the end of his Chicago speech talked about perils of a closed mind-set arising out of sheer narrowness and, blind and uncritical adherence to a particular denomination. He painfully remarked, “Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair”.

“Had it not been for these horrible demons,” he continued, “human society would be far more advanced than it is now”. Exuding optimism he affirmed, “But their time has come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal”.

The hope of ending “….all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal”, which Vivekananda hoped for in 1893, has been tragically dashed by none other than those who swear by his name. It was evidenced by what Bhagwat’s outrageous remarks in 2018 and Modi’s vilification of Muslims of India in 2024.

Now that people have given a mandate in 2024 general elections in favour of a strong opposition and Modi and his party have failed to secure majority in the Lok Sabha the utterances of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in America and earlier in the Lok Sabha that all religions talk of a fearless posture, Abhay Mudra, sound so refreshing in face of hatred being spread by employing religion of majority people.

Unity of All Faiths

While addressing the final session of the World Parliament of Religions on 27th September 1893 Vivekananda very thoughtfully said, “If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance:

"Help and not Fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."”

Those utterances are of critical significance for coexistence, peace and harmony in society often marred by venomous utterances by those entrusted with the responsibility to govern India.

S N Sahu Served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India K R Narayanan.