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National Convention of Anti-Nuclear Movements begins tomorrow

The Indian ruling class’ colonial mentality was revealed by what Dr. Manmohan Singh said while accepting an honorary degree from the Oxford University on July 8, 2005: “As we look back and also look ahead, it is clear that the Indo-British relationship is one of ‘give and take’. The challenge before us today is to see how we can take this mutually beneficial relationship forward in an increasingly inter-dependent and globalized world that we live in.”

Chennai : India | Jan 03, 2014 at 5:37 AM PST

By chnarendra

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/16267934-national-convention-of-anti-nuclear-movements-begins-tomorrow

Confronting the Nuke-colonization of India: A National Convention of Anti-Nuclear Movements will be held in Idinthakarai, Tamil Nadu on January 4 and 5. This will be inaugurated by Admiral (retd.) L. Ramdas.In the context of the unprecedented threats facing the world due to global warming and the rapid depletion of conventional energy sources, the nuclear establishment is most opportunistically pushing nuclear energy as a climate-friendly energy source. However, all the activities associated with nuclear power generation – the mining and processing of uranium, the building of nuclear power stations involving huge amounts of cement and steel, the long construction process, the decommissioning of plants and the handling of radioactive waste – are highly unsafe and expensive, and cause enormous climate-changing pollution. Nuclear energy is not cheap, safe, clean or sustainable. It also does not offer a solution to our energy problems.

The Nuke-Colonization of India
However, the government of India headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh has been aggressively expanding nuclear power generation and enhancing nuclear business with countries such as the United States, Russia, France, Kazakhstan, Australia, Japan and others without any regard for the norms of democratic decision making. Throwing all the democratic precepts and practices to the air, the two-term UPA government unilaterally took upon the task of nuclearizing the highly and densely populated country, India, and securing a ludicrous legacy for the discredited prime minister.

A highly populated country like India does have an increasing need for energy. But for that very reason, the energy options we choose must be economical, sustainable, safe and environmentally-friendly. Moreover, energy distribution must be made more equitable, just and efficient.

What is happening in India right now is not just nuclearization of the country, but growing nuke-colonization, colonizing India all over again with the help of nuclear powers such as the United States, Russia, France etc. Both the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are complicit in this national crime!

Both these parties project nuclear energy as THE panacea for all of the country’s ills and evils. It is projected as the single solution for the nation’s lack of energy security, military security and the overall national security. All this in a country where hundreds of millions of people do not have food security, nutrition security, water security, sanitation security, other basic needs of life or human dignity! In the ruling classes’ colonial mode of thinking, “the quality of life greatly depends on amount of energy spent.” For a developing country such as India that has many other pressing needs like food, housing, education, health, transportation and so on, energy alone cannot and should not be a top priority.

The Indian ruling class’ colonial mentality was revealed by what Dr. Manmohan Singh said while accepting an honorary degree from the Oxford University on July 8, 2005: “As we look back and also look ahead, it is clear that the Indo-British relationship is one of ‘give and take’. The challenge before us today is to see how we can take this mutually beneficial relationship forward in an increasingly inter-dependent and globalized world that we live in.”

Those of us who are aware of the colonial history and exploitation know that colonialism was indeed a “give and take” relationship. The colonized gave and the colonizers took. In Manmohan Singh’s convoluted thinking, colonial exploitation was a “mutually beneficial relationship” and must be taken forward “in an increasingly inter-dependent and globalized world that we live in.” After opening up the Indian economy for globalized corruption and exploitation, he set out nuclearizing the Indian energy sector for foreign invasion and contamination. He and his government want to give more to the British and to all the others in detriment to the interests of ordinary Indians.

The Left thinkers in India problematized this pro-colonization thinking rightly and aptly. They said: “We say that neo-liberalism is a means of recolonisation of the economy, of opening up our country to intensified exploitation by imperialism and its local collaborators under a new international regime, which is reminiscent of the old colonial order. Manmohan Singh vicariously agrees with this: we oppose neo-liberalism because it recreates the horrors of colonialism; he denies (implicitly) the horrors of colonialism because he supports neo-liberalism. His Oxford speech should serve to convince all who are sceptical that the struggle against neo-liberalism is but a continuation of our struggle for freedom.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not stop there. When he met with the United States President George W. Bush in September 2008, he brazenly lied to him: “People of India deeply love you.” He said: “In the last four and half years that I have been Prime Minister, I have been the recipient of your generosity, your affection, your friendship. It means a lot to me and to the people of India.” The grateful Prime Minister acknowledged Bush’s part in ending India’s nuclear winter: “For 34 years, India has suffered from a nuclear apartheid. We have not been able to trade in nuclear material, nuclear reactions, and nuclear raw materials.

In India, huge resources have already been wasted on nuclear power projects that are expensive, inefficient, hazardous and also potentially catastrophic. The Indian nuclear establishment has expressed interest in amending the Indian Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to facilitate privatization. While private companies will make money, Indian taxpayers and ordinary citizens will bear the cost of dealing with all the liabilities such as nuclear waste, decommissioning, possible accidents, public health issues and other dangerous consequences.
India’s nuclear program has been and continues to be vigorously resisted by the people of this country whose struggles in the past have stopped two nuclear power stations in Kerala – Peringome and Kothamangalam – from coming up. This Idinthakarai Convention expresses its total support and solidarity to the people’s struggles resisting various nuclear projects at Koodankulam, Kalpakkam, Thevaram, Madurai, Manavalakurichi and Pazhaya Kayal in Tamil Nadu, and the other Uranium mining and nuclear power projects in Jadugoda, Meghalaya, Haripur, Jaitapur, Kovvada, Mithi Virdi, Fatehabad, Banswada, Chutka and so forth.

In this background, the organisers have convened all the anti-nuclear movements, groups and activists from all over India to discuss the ongoing developments and the upcoming dangers, and devise a national strategy to confront the nuke-colonization of our country and our futures. This is a strategy-oriented convention rather than a talking-forum and it focuses on national networking and activism.

They wish to have a broad-based national debate on India’s energy policy, nuclear policy and other related issues.
chnarendra is based in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, and is a Reporter for Allvoices

January 3, 2014 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized