Desicritics Category: Politics: Africa

Food or Fuel - A Hobson's Choice

Shantanu Dutta — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:14:35 EDT

I grew up hearing stories about the Bengal Famine of 1943-45, hearing about them from my mother about how close to four million people died due to what was essentially a man made tragedy as food grains were diverted by the British Indian Government to feed the Allied Armies and the war effort, putting civilian lives at a much lower priority. My mother recounts stories of how food was scarce but unavailable as the prevailing shortages and black marketing and hoarding made it unaffordable for most of the farmers who actually grew the food in the first place. Wealthy families who could afford to still buy would often cook a little extra, running soup kitchens of a kind for those who turned up at their doors.

Hearing and reading about the food riots in various parts of the world makes one wonder if the man made famines are coming back to haunt us again. Food riots have already been reported in Haiti, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mozambique, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia. India thus far has been spared because the country has been self sufficient in food but the impact sooner or later will be felt here too no doubt with inflation making food grains inaccessible to many, especially those out of the ambit of the revamped public distribution system or the various employment guarantee schemes.

But what is worrying now is not that food shortages are happening but the reasons why they are happening and the fact that unlike the famine victims of the 1940s, who were largely ignorant of the causes as well as ignorant of the way, they could protest, today’s generation is empowered enough to make their voice heard but not necessarily knowledgeable enough to reverse powerful processes that seem driven by irreversible policy imperatives

Here is the grim scenario of how the post modern Frankenstein is playing out :

“Briefing media persons in New Delhi on Wednesday, the director-general of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf said: "World food prices have risen 45% in the last nine months and there are serious shortages of rice, wheat and maize." He singled out bio-fuel programme as one of the major contributing factor to the global price rise as it has caused diversion of farmland from food to fuel crops and the prices of bio-fuels which scaled up in tandem with the prices of fossil fuels in turn affected the food prices.”

Now with the prices of crude oil consistently rising and trading for long at prices of over at one hundred dollars a barrel, it is imperative to look for alternative beyond fossil fuels. And the search for an alternative seems to have zeroed in on bio fuels wherein farmers once enticed by cash crops to abandon staples are now being enticed to grow food product but use them not for food but to produce fuel. And so farmers in several parts of the world including the USA have increasingly switched to producing corn for the purposes of producing ethanol. This has obviously reduced the area available for cultivation for crops like wheat and diversion of corn from the market place to the refinery. Climate change over the years has also begun to affect farm yields.

In India, the government has mandated the blending of ten percent ethanol in all petrol to be marketed from October. Apart from technical issues (Germany has scrapped a similar program finding it unviable); there is the question of where this ethanol is going to come from. If it is going to come from domestic sources, then it would mean that in India too, land would come from that part of the agricultural land that is currently being used for growing food grains. This along with the fact that increasingly needs for infrastructure are being met by acquiring agricultural land (West Bengal being a well known case in point) means that food grain production in India will decline. India's food grain production could fall 11 million tonnes short of the target of 220 million tones according to the pre budget economic survey presented before the budget.

Caught between the need to feed its people and the need for energy to transport people and goods, it seems that not just India but just the world itself is caught between a rock and a hard place. The tragedy is that in earlier days, thought the effects of famine were colossal, they were localized and temporary and with the right kind of political will, they could be handled in part, because if parts of the world had food shortages, there were other parts of the world that had surpluses and imports or food aid could be arranged. The news this time round is that the shortages of food could be global and there simply may not be enough food any where in the world that is available for import. That the whole world could be headed for a chronic and slow famine with some of the environmental tinkering that we have done apparently irreversible in the short haul at least is a grim thought.

African Union Troops Help Take Back Anjouan, Comoros

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:58:36 EDT

I am not sure how many of you know but there is a wee bit of a war going on in a tiny corner of the world in the Indian Ocean (See here for a bit of a background to this war). So some of the regional African heavies got together, threw their weight around, created an army and went to kick out the chaps who declared independence. Now this step was very interesting for so many reasons. But as usual, I had some stupid questions:

So this step was carried out without UN blessings. How many of the howlers at the Iraq war out there are howling equally at this imperialistic step? Speak up, guys, I cannot hear you loud and clear. ...
So this was a dump on a secessionist self-determination exercise. How many of the secessionist self-determinist howlers are howling equally at this step? Hello? Can't hear you.
So Anjouan declared independence. I must have missed the announcements of recognition by the USA, Germany, UK etc. just like they did for Kosovo. Where are the police forces and aid convoys from the EU?
When is the African Union going to deal in a similar way with Congo, Zimbabwe, Darfur, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, Western Sahara?
Typically, Anjouan is the island which is most economically active and rich. So this is basically a fight over resources - it was the people who do not have money who went to kick out the people who have money because the people who have money were refusing to pay the people without money.
The country was sent to the dogs by some exceedingly stupid economic policies of the state-directed kind. Who will repair this and provide aid to fix these issues? The invasion has immediately mucked up the economics of that island for the next many years anyway. The only basis remaining is, whoops, we mucked up again, because of our political, economic and military policies, our people are AGAIN starving, please help with money, food, equipment. (Tens of coups since independence, welcome to paradise on earth.)

Thinking about all these questions, the quote "is hammam me hum saab nange" (In this bathhouse we are all naked) comes to mind. All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

US Bombs Somalia, Sticks Her Nose in Palestinian and Colombian Affairs

Temple Stark — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 18:10:48 EST

Really, I'm as pro-American as anyone when it comes to the belief of the potential and power and generosity of the country, my country. But it gets involved where it is often unwelcome, and where it won't at all benefit the situation. How often does it do good?

A trifecta of such adventures hit home this week.

SOMALIA
On Sunday and Monday in hits meant to go against Al Qaeda in southern Somalia, it was, it appears, regular citizens in the area who suffered the most by losing their lives.

The Somalian government, not yet completely in place, said 27 civilians were killed, the BBC reported. The new government would have ostensibly have benefited after having just fought back control over the group Union of Islamic Courts took over much of the south. Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf backed the American action.

The next day, there were anti-American protests in the small town of Dobley, with about 600 people taking part.

The likely target was Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan who is thought to have a major role in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It was 257 people who were killed at that time.

Colombia
"The United States stands with Colombia."

President Bush popped his mouth off about Colombia it would seem just to get in another dig at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez deserves much criticism but do Bushes words help or hinder a solution? Bush said he would side with Colombia in any acts of aggression towards it. Again, he's talking about war.

Venezuelan and Ecuadorean soldiers massed on their respective Colombian borders after Colombian forces crossed into Equador, without notice or permission to go after a senior rebel figure Luis Edgar Devia Silva (aka Raul Reyes), second in command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who was killed. The Colombian government also said they had evidence of Venezuelan support of FARC.

America supports Colombia's uninvited incursion into another country because it likes to do the same.

"America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers," said President Bush, who has transformed anti-drug aid into anti-terror funding.

When I hear of such things, I always try and think how the American government and American people would react if Canadian or Mexican troops did the same thing. You know the answer and the American government action, would be similar, especially in the case of Mexico.

Bush used the mini-crisis as an opportunity to say a free-trade agreement was absolutely necessary for "economic security." Cynical? It has been turned away by Congress because of what its opponents think are poor human rights and labor rights standards.

Is it worth bringing up that America is loudest against another heavy oil-bearing country? It's hard to say, but it's equally hard to deny the coincidence.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa said the Colombian actions had disrupted negotiations for political prisoners, including former Colombian Sen. Ingrid Betancourt. Correa immediately cut off diplomatic relations with Colombia and brought troops to the border.

WEST BANK AND GAZA
To use understatement to it's fullest, America has been involved in the Israel-Palestinian "troubles." For decades. It entirely depends on how you view Democracy - and, I guess, this whole article rests on that positioning - but the anti-Israeli Hamas government has been shunned by American officials and authorities. In a very strong comparison, it's as if the Irish Republican Army had taken power in Northern Ireland in the mid-1980s.

This one perhaps can be viewed in a much more stark, and different light because of Hamas' violent actions. It's not as cut and dry.

But a plot to overthrow the Hamas government and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has been revealed this week. An incompetent plot, which underlines the global sigh of relief when George Bush leaves office that will cause the temperature of the earth to rise 2 degrees for a week. Like many Americans have come to realize, a good idea in the hands of President Bush and his administration rots and spoils. sometimes it explodes.

Simply put, Vanity Fair reported that the president, deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice decided to overthrow the newly elected Hamas government that won 56 percent of the vote in 2006. They armed the Fatah "movement" to do the deed, but it didn't work.

Supplied arms. Like the main issue behind Iran-Contra. Eliott Abrams was also a significant part of that Reagan-era scandal.

Tom Casey, a State Department spokesperson said the country was forbidden by law from furnishing arms to Fatah.

"The [Vanity Fair] story alleges that there was some kind of secret plot on the part of the U.S. government to create an internal conflict within the Palestinians, specifically an armed conflict," Casey said in a statement. "That's absurd. That's ridiculous."

The effort energized Hamas, who took control of the Gaza Strip and united the "country" more behind it, though certainly not entirely. The move was internationally condemned.

The Jerusalum Post reported that "David Wurmser, who resigned as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief Middle East adviser a month after the Hamas takeover, said he believed that Hamas had no intention of taking over the Gaza Strip until Fatah forced its hand."

America, as many other countries, do a lot of good with their voice, with its power to draw a consensus. With weapons it hasn't fared out as well for the country or the world.

Gillian Gibbons Released, Teddy Mo' No More

Deepti Lamba — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 12:50:05 EST

The first time my daughter laid eyes on a white teddy bear in a mall she let out a delighted squeal. She hugged the stuffed animal and walked around with it as if it was her baby. She slept with her teddy, she ate alongside her teddy and the only place she wasn't allowed to take her teddy was to the bathroom.

Like Calvin and Hobbes, Parita and her teddy were inseparable. She even tried to feed her teddy milk and khaana. Of course, one fine day, Teddy was given up for Barney and then Barney was given up for a doll. Yet she is still quite possessive about her teddy. He has to be within her playing periphery.

I was about five when a mean laborer stuffed my stuffed dog up the kitchen's chimney, or that was what my mother told me. I still remember the dog's long floppy ears, brown coat and red nose. I was upset for weeks together and even now when I visit home, the chimney is a reminder of the tears I shed as a tot.

The entire ruckus over Teddy Mo' was much ado about nothing. The kids meant no harm, the teacher meant no offense.

The class voted the name Muhammad for their Teddy not in jest but probably in pure innocent love. It is a sign of veneration for the Prophet, the only special person who their special toy could be named after was their Prophet.

Adults would obviously go down the slippery slope - today it's a stuffed toy, tomorrow an animal could be named after the Prophet etc. But children don't think that way and this lady for all her ignorance didn't think that way. She probably knew that kids love their toys with all their little hearts.

Mrs. Gibbons is back in Britain and has only good words to put in for Sudan and its people.

"The Sudanese people I found to be extremely kind and generous and until this happened I only had a good experience."

"I wouldn't like to put anyone off going to Sudan.

"I would like to thank Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi and I would like to thank all the people who have worked so hard to secure my release and make my time more bearable."

She even said she was treated well in prison and did not mean to offend any one by her actions.

The teacher's local MP, Louise Ellman, has welcomed Mrs Gibbons' return but said the jail sentence "should never have happened".

"The original incident was something very innocent and then what should have been seen as a minor error - and certainly a very innocent one - suddenly became blown up into something extremely important and the whole thing has been very, very worrying and quite horrendous."

For once let's see the issue from the children's point of view, and set aside the adult political commentary.

Interview with Suchitra Vijayan: Lines of Grey and Social Change Through Photography

Vivek Sharma — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:55:55 EDT

Lines of Grey is a project of social change through photography conceptualized and cultivated by Suchitra Vijayan. The idea is to provide cameras to the children, enabling them to capture their world in pictures. The concept is similar to the award winning documentary film Born in Brothels, where children of the red-light district in Calcutta recorded moments of their lives through cameras handed out to them. Using the donations from friends and volunteers around the world, Suchitra supplied disposable cameras them to the street children in Tanzania. Cameras in the hands of these children first flicker a smile on their lip. A dream flourishes when their camera captures what any eye merely glances over, never stops to see. The idea rests upon a slogan associated with the project, called Every child is an artist.

Suchitra is a barrister by training and works for the UN. After schooling from Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan in Chennai, Suchitra moved to UK where she graduated with a LLB and European Law (Hons.) in 2004. Since then she has worked for UN War Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and UN War Tribunal for Rwanda. Suchitra is as young and relentless as she is passionate about her NGO effort. She epitomizes the modern Indian woman, who is global not only in her aspirations and achievements, but also in her pursuit of her dreams and ideals. Her own photography is quite fascinating, and she recently was awarded with the Nikon Imaging - Emerging Talent of the Year award. Suchitra is very well read, widely traveled, and immensely inspiring person, and I am sure this allows her to be an exemplary mentor.

I owe my friendship to Suchitra to our shared love for poetry and literature. Back in 2004, when she was still a student, we exchanged several emails, discussing authors, philosophers and poems. Even back then, I was amazed at her intensity, work ethic, and nature of her will to effect change. Many of us are able dreamers, capable but lazy poets or many times, well meaning mortals trapped in our daily circle of money, education, career, love, relationships, parties and movies. It requires a strong sense of purpose to go out there and try to organize something voluntarily, without a material gain in sight. Suchitra has been actively harvesting creativity in form of images from the children in Tanzania, and has managed to get to a point where some of these will be exhibited in Bay Area in US, and in Chennai, India.

While the intentions are noble, the effort is charged with single-minded devotion, the approach is based on aesthetic, the labor is of love, there are many hurdles in realization of real goals. Let us assume that such an effort can indeed empower kids to channelize their creativity. Yet to make a significant change, one needs volunteers around the globe to carry this effort. The whole issue of logistics is baffling one, and so far Suchitra has limited her scope to Arusha, Tanzania. One might argue that what the kids need most is education, clothing, housing and means to earn a livelihood. The photography seems like a distraction, as if, from those goals. Having worked with children in slums in Delhi, I figured that most children were motivated by play, by humor, by adventure. Poverty molds the scope of their imagination, but does not curtail it. The richest tales would surface through conversations with these children, and the only lesson I learned there was this: No amount of money or schooling distributed randomly to these children can help them as much as a personal attention, where both their angst and amazement at this world are interpreted, addressed and cultivated. Suchitra has been working to provide the flash of hope, a snapshot of creativity and joy to these children.

I shot a few Questions to Suchitra and here they are:

Why lines of grey?

To answer why “Lines of Grey “ I need to talk about my fascination with the colour grey. This goes back to my own love affair with black and white photography. Like all great love affairs, it started with this heady feeling of getting the winds knocked out of me and I was in an expedited hurry to learn and discover everything there was to know about this medium. In that process I came to understand this subtle but complexly layered colour called “Grey”. Grey is an achromatic colour between white and black that exist in the state of great lightness, caught between the lighter side of black and darker side of white. Grey is a shade of remarkable gradation, it is its own complement. Grey remains grey when its colour spectrum is inverted, and therefore has no opposite and alternately is its own opposite.

Lines of Grey represent the street children who are a part of this project; each shade with its complex mixture of shadows, highlights and mid-tones. They are the product of economic and social injustice that is rampant in this world. These children are prisoners of prejudice, social attitudes and numerous negative associations. Just like the shade grey, these children live on the marginalized edge of extremes. They are the existing reality and the beautiful abstraction.

How long do you plan to carry out this project? What happens when you move from your present appointment?

The photography project was designed to last for a period of six month. Then the process of compiling the children’s images, their stories and thoughts begins. This will culminate with the launch of our website and series of exhibitions. The money generated from this project will go back to these children. The website is also geared toward having individuals sponsors for addressing the education and other economical needs of these children. Since I no longer live in Africa, I am planning on getting my friends from that area and some of the older kids form the Project to co-ordinate and continue the project.

What is future of lines of grey?

Right now 24 hours of sleep doesn’t seem enough to accommodate the collective dreams and aspiration of everyone who is a part of LOG. Not surprising since most of us are dreamers first. Left to our devices we would conjure an imagine where LOG would solve all of the worlds problems. (Chuckles) . On a more serious note, there are plans underway to start similar projects in India. In June 2007, Lines of Grey was registered as an NGO in India, and plans are underway to launch the NGO in the United States. Right now the projects focus on photography as the medium. If every child is an artist, then art should also take different forms.

Honestly I am not sure what future lies for Lines of Grey. I am not sure if we can generate enough interest, enough momentum to sustain the NGO. I am not sure if it will make any sustainable change. But Lines of Grey is not just a project, it’s an idea. Everyone who is a part of this project decided to be a part of an experiment that seeks to make a difference at a personal level. The project runs on the inherent belief that individuals still possess the power to make that little difference that will one day become a part of the critical mass required to change this society and change it fundamentally.

Do you have plans of expansion outlined for your idea or project?

Expansion is a big word for the small acts we do. When I think in terms of expansion, I think about mainstream awareness about this kind of work. Every time I return back to India, I feel the phase at which the country is heading towards its intellectual death has been hastened. We have become a celebrity hungry society tuned only to the stories of rich and famous. We have become characters in soap opera in search of an author. Series of reality shows with “celebrities” shaking their legs to the latest bollywood number has become the nations pre-occupation. Urban India with its increasing disposable income has become deaf and indifferent to the stories of the “other” India and the underdogs of this world. If these stories do surface from time to time they become marketable commodity in a culture of sensationalism. True voices become buried and often do not have a platform. In this context Lines of Grey is a form of social documentary through the eyes of the “others”.

For instance, imagine giving cameras to the kids from various fishermen villages affected by the Tsunami. Imagine the powerful images these children would harvest from their reality. Their images have the power of self. If there is an expansion, that expansion to me is not kick starting more projects all over India and other parts of the world. But merely getting enough people interested to look and maybe think.

Have you noticed any change in lives of kids over last many months?

I wish I could say with brimming confidence that “yes I have”. But the harsh reality is not so. This project hasn’t altered their life drastically. But I can vouch for the happiness and joy that I witness every time I handed over the camera. I remember the immense pride, I felt when I saw the first set of pictures when it was developed. How they reacted when they saw their pictures. But these are not tangible and I am very aware of that. Inheritances of fond memories cannot be converted to currency. But they are nonetheless inheritance everyone should have a stake in and I can but only hope that LOG is contributing towards this in some measure.

On the more pragmatic side, in the great Indian art of self justification, I often tell my self the project just got over. When the website is done, when the exhibitions happen things will be different.

Here are a few websites that provide images and information about Suchitra and Lines of Grey:
Photos from Suchitra
Sulekha.com

The Bell Curve and Its Relevance to India

Ledzius — Tue, 9 Oct 2007 02:23:14 EDT

I know this is a highly controversial topic, but the authors of The Bell Curve, Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray have argued that intelligence is one, if not the most, important correlative factor in economic, social, and overall success in America.

They maintain that, apart from having lower income, people with lower IQ tend to have lower ethical standards and are prone to committing more crimes than their higher IQ peers.

I don't agree with all of the authors' assertions, but at the same time do believe that a higher IQ of the general population in India would be a significant factor of its economic growth in the coming decades. And working towards that is the most significant investment we Indians can make today, to pave the way for a higher standard of living in our future.

And, no, I am not going to suggest any controversial scheme like eugenics, for instance. What I am going to recommend instead is improving education in rural areas, and taking care of IQ-affecting health issues simultaneously.

Where do we Indians stand?

According to another book, IQ and the Wealth of Nations, the average IQ score for an Indian is 81. To put this in perspective, the corresponding figures for Japan, China, the US, Philippines, and Nigeria are 105, 100, 98, 86, and 67 respectively. According to the same book, differences in national income (in the form of per capita gross domestic product) correlate with differences in average national IQ.

So what does this mean for us? According to some analysts, India is supposed to have the third largest GDP behind the US and China by 2050. From 2007 to 2020, India's per capita GDP in dollars will quadruple. They base these estimates on current trends in the economic growth patterns of these countries.

But I am skeptical about these figures. These financial analysts seem to be oblivious of social factors that could dampen these kind of rosy projections.

Some major factors include corruption, lack of planning or foresight, terrorism, refusal to honour basic social contracts (witness the political drama in Karnataka now), Maoism, goondaism, disregard for the environment, etc.

In all these regards, China is much ahead of India as of now. Right now their main problems seem to be a lack of knowledge of English, and a substantial rural population (with lower productivity). But given China's rapid pace of building new cities and encouraging their children to learn English, these problems would diminish in the next couple of decades. China is poised to become the superpower of the mid-century, easily overtaking the US.

Unfortunately, we Indians don't seem to have any such long-range plans. Our infrastructure projects are haphazard and paved with controversies of one sort of the other. Corruption is rampant at every stage of the bureaucracy and political machinery. Politicians indulge in vote bank politics, and not focus on key issues like primary education and health care for everyone.

This is perhaps the pitfall of being a democracy where the majority of the voting population does not even have a high school education. Since there is a strong correlation between education and IQ levels, I guess one could say the main fault lies with the voting populace itself.

If we go back to the history of developed countries, we will find that the majority of them had fared much worse at some point in time. But they somehow managed to extricate themselves from their miseries and rose up to becoming what they are now.

On the other hand, countries with an average IQ substantially less than that of India (like most in sub-Saharan Africa) degenerated into complete disasters with famine, civil wars, genocides, AIDS epidemics, etc. and are constantly looking towards the rest of the world for assistance of one form or the other.

It is my own belief that, however rotten the current system might be, India can find a way out, and that would be largely due to the efforts of people in the top ten percent of the IQ profile in all levels of the administration and the corporate world.

But at the same time, we have to make sure the remaining ninety percent don't derail this process. This is because, most of the factors which are detrimental to progress, like corruption, religious fundamentalism, crime, Maoism, and just plain incompetence, have to do with the sections of the population that are towards the lower end of the IQ distribution, approaching that of sub-Saharan Africa.

One way to mitigate this is to shift the whole IQ profile up by at least 5-10 points, so that even those on the lower end are out of the range that leads to societal collapse.

Fortunately, I believe, there have already been some social and infrastructural changes that are in favour of higher IQ for future generations of Indians. Let me list them out.

1. General awareness has increased - Thanks to televisions, cell phones, and even the Internet, many Indian youths (even rural ones) have become more knowledgeable on a range of topics compared to those ten years ago. Many now are aware of the opportunities that globalisation has presented them with, and attempt to learn new skills (even brown collar ones). Since job opportunities for these skill sets are limited in the rural sector, there has been unprecedented migration to urban areas. While this does place a burden on the urban infrastructure, at least they are not rotting in villages with nothing to do. However, it seems like communities with less clout like the Scheduled Tribes and the Dalits are not reaping the benefits of this paradigm shift, since they are kept out of the loop by some of the castes higher up in the order. The growing Maoist threat is a direct result of this frustration among these unprivileged sections.

2. Elimination of leaded petrol - More than 100 million people in India (or 10%) battle the debilitating effects of lead poisoning, according to a recent study. Children with high blood lead levels suffer from lower IQ, poor motor coordination, and anti-social behaviour. One of the main sources had been leaded petrol which was prevalent till a few years ago. With its phase-out, we will see less people exposed to high lead levels, and this would cause a positive shift in the IQ. Unfortunately, another major source of lead poisoning, leaded paint, is still being manufactured in this country on a large scale. It is imperative for the government to mandate a gradual phase-out of lead-based paints made here. It is noteworthy that China is precisely doing this now after the controversy surrounding its exports with high lead content.

3. Intercaste marriages - Indians have a diverse gene pool, since we have had migrations/invasions of several ethnic groups for millenia. Unfortunately, most rural people had historically married from the same village or extended family. This leads to IQ-diminishing recessive traits (where both parents have to contribute the defect) in their children. With more people migrating to urban centres, the odds of them getting married to someone from a different caste or region increases, and the likelihood that they share the same recessive traits diminishes, so the chances of their children being affected are much smaller. I have myself seen many cases where the children of intercaste marriages seem to be more successful compared to those from the same castes in question. Another advantage of intercaste marriages is that, the prominence given to castes will in itself diminish over time, since we will see a greater percentage of the population which doesn't have allegiance to any one community, which means fewer caste-based conflicts.

Even though the above factors are in our favour, they are not enough. We need to be more proactive in this regard. These are what I believe are needed-

1. Compulsory education for children - It is really sad that there is no successful government policy in place that ensures all children get the fundamental right to have a decent education. This is true of most of rural India (where the schools are totally dysfunctional), as well as the migrant labour population of urban India. The children have no choice but to help their parents with their work, effectively dooming them to the same standard of living as their parents.

2. Improving prenatal and childhood nutrition - If you observe the employees at your local Food World store, you can make out that most of them have stunted growth, and are not particularly smart either. The average "silly village girl" in India looks nowhere near Priyanka Chopra (who is 5'8), but rather is around 5'2 and weighing 45 kgs.

According to the Nutrition Foundation of India, 90 per cent of adolescent girls, women and children suffer from iron deficiency. In children, anaemia can cause a 5-10 point deficiency in IQ and hamper growth and language development. Fortunately, anaemia can be easily prevented by iron supplements which are really cheap. Two years ago, an `Anaemia-free India' campaign was launched by Lions Clubs International and the Indian Medical Association to address this problem. Let us hope it is successful.

I would also like to see fish oil made available to pregnant women across India (since this has been shown to boost the IQ of the children), but this is not practical given that a) many Indians are vegetarian and b) it is very expensive to produce high quality fish oil without toxins like mercury.

Regarding protein deficiency (which causes stunted physical growth), I speculate that the greater purchasing power of all Indians would automatically lead to a diet richer in protein. And this would be true of vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians.

If we take care of the above aspects, as well as phase out lead from paints, all the factors put together should bump up the average Indian IQ by about 10 points, to about 91. That would place it almost on par with a Western nation like Greece which has a value of 92 currently.

Regulation of Foreign Land Ownership Proposed in South Africa

Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta — Wed, 5 Sep 2007 00:16:57 EDT

In a South African report, "Measures to curb or control foreign ownership of land in South Africa are proposed in a government-commissioned report, a copy of which was obtained on Monday". Why would the South African Government want to do this? Surely it would be helpful for the country to have more foreign investment? Here's another report on the expert committee.

But no, the problem is different. The ANC is currently very very far behind in the issue of land redistribution and the "natives are restless" if you excuse the pun. Looking at the sheer disastrous and incompetent mess that Robert Mugabe has done in Zimbabwe, it obviously wants to avoid it.

But to cut up land from commercial farms, parcel it out, provide restitution to the owners, provide farm implements, training, irrigation, roads, market place, etc. etc. is quite complex. Remember that land redistribution is extra-ordinarily difficult to pull off successfully (India is one of the places where it has happened reasonably well!).

But the ANC is running way behind for a variety of reasons. See here, here, and this quote

In 1994 when apartheid ended, whites owned 80% of the land. The new government promised land would belong to all who worked it. But this has not happened and whites still own 75% of the country.

The government has to do something fast but looking at the solutions given and the aim to find out the nationality of the owners, I am very afraid that the ANC will blame the foreigners. This will immediately mean that the white farmers will be targeted just like Zimbabwe.

The crime in South Africa is unbelievable. Strangely enough, the world media ignored a large demonstration here in London where South African citizens protested against the crime in South Africa. This is the reverse racism in action. Crime and racism is only newsworthy when it is done by the whites, not by the blacks. Try to find something major on this in coverage on BBC, Times, etc. etc.

But most of the perpetrators of the crimes are dispossessed and unemployed black youth. And the ANC is falling behind in land reform and employment generation, which is in turn pushing up crime and and and. I dont have a good feeling about South Africa at this moment. And the current president Thabo Mbeki is a blithering idiot for his treatment of Zimbabwe, his Health Minister, his Deputy Health Minister, his treatment of the odious countries such as Libya and Iran when he was on the UNSC, his bizarre thoughts about AIDS.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Short Story: A Slow Death

PH — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 05:32:25 EDT

Fatima thanked God. She thought herself lucky: Amin was a prize catch. He was young, handsome and had a steady job. She lazily tugged at the hem of her bridal skirt with her big toe. It had been a tiring day. The wedding had made the day tediously long, and the quiet night came as a relief. She heard footsteps. ‘It must be Amin’, she thought; her toe tugged at the hem a little harder.

They had polite conversation for a while, and then she felt his warm palms on her wrist. Terrified, she searched his face for expressions and thought she saw a tinge of love. This relieved her somewhat. They kissed. But a few minutes later, Faitma turned pale. As his warm palms moved up her legs, she froze. Her skin was taut, her muscles contracted, her neck was tense, and she wanted to push him away. But she felt paralyzed and numb; it was awful.

Days went by. They knew each other better. But the sex was awful-for Fatima, at least. Night after night, she would lie down and freeze in the act, essentially absent. After the first few times, Amin began to notice her face during sex. He would search her for any signs of pleasure or pain, but see none. Tonight, after the act, he asked her. “What is it?” He tried to sound as gentle as he could, and stroked her cheek. She didn’t move. He lay next to her and whispered in her ear, “Fatima, do you not like it?” She winced and answered in a deadpan monosyllable, “No”.

“No, as in, you don’t like it?” he prodded.

“No, it isn’t that”, she replied. Just as Amin thought she was opening up, she sealed the conversation, “I’ll be fine after some time.”

Her toe began to tug at the hem of her gown. She’d never expected this. Ever since she’d seen Amin, she’d wanted to kiss his boyish round face. This wasn’t right. Why did love making bring those memories back? How could a pain older than a decade deny her a pleasure now? Or was it forever? Why did Amin’s grip inevitably remind her of her mother holding her legs apart, while the other lady’s blade … She quivered. How could she tell him? This scar was too personal: you couldn’t just show it to someone. It was too much to bear: every time he made love, she wasn’t there. The pleasure she’d sought in love turned into the pain she’d fought to forget. A tear welled up in her eye. She must’ve sinned, she thought: all those desires that she felt for Amin-they were sins. That night, she fell asleep asking God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Amin, too, was suffering. He kissed and stroked her more than usual, as though compensating for her absence in sex. He felt guilty making love to her: how do you make love to an absence?

“How long have you been married?” the doctor asked.

“Little over a year now”, Fatima mumbled. It’d been three weeks since the fever hit her, and she was drained.

“Hmm”, the doctor continued, “are you the only wife?”

“Yes”. This made Fatima smile a bit.

“Have you given or received any blood?”

“No”.

“Have you had relations with another man?”

“No!” Fatima was almost offended by this one.

“Do you have children?”

“No. But what…”

“Fatima, listen. You have tested positive for HIV. It is a virus that adversely affects your body’s resistance to illness. I think..”, the doctor paused and looked Fatima straight in the eye, “ if what you tell me is true, I think your husband may have it too ... from another woman.”

Fatima smiled wistfully. As a little girl, traumatized by that blade, Fatima had been sure she'd die. She hadn’t thought it would take so long.

The Rape of the Congo and the Ghost of Neo-colonialism

C R Sridhar — Mon, 14 May 2007 00:19:21 EDT

For the people of Congo Free State created by Leopold II in the nineteenth century, the chicotte was the most feared symbol of oppression. This whip made of raw, sun-dried hippopotamus hide and cut into a long sharp-edged corkscrew strip was used by the minions of King Leopold II to instill terror among the blacks in the rubber plantations of Congo. Those who would like to disabuse themselves of the notion of the 'White Man's Burden' in Africa should look no further than the old archive photographs to see chicotte in action. The victim always a black lies on the floor on his stomach with his feet and hands bound. Then the chicotte is applied on the bare buttocks of the victim. The blows were so severe that it left permanent scars on the flesh. Twenty-five strokes of the chicotte meant unconsciousness for the victim and a hundred or more strokes resulted in his death.

Civilizing Mission

The system of forced black labor instituted by Leopold II in Congo was under the cover of the "civilizing" mission, which was used to justify imperial domination during the scramble for Africa. In 1876, King Leopold of Belgium founded the International African Association in Brussels. The conference was opened with fanfare attended by famous explorers and the cr�me de la cr�me of European society. Leopold II who delivered the keynote address couched in high moral purpose said, 'To open to civilization the only part of our globe which it has not yet penetrated, to pierce the darkness which hangs over entire peoples, is, I dare say, a crusade worthy of this century of progress....". The objective of the International African Association was again impeccably noble. It was to abolish "the [Arab] slave trade, establishing peace among the chiefs, and procuring them just and impartial arbitration."

Voracious appetite for overseas territorial expansion

King Leopold II had a voracious appetite for acquiring overseas territorial expansion. As the King himself wrote, 'No country is complete without overseas possessions.' Under the cover of philanthropic motives he set out to grab territories in Africa. 'Between 1880 and 1884,' writes J. Stengers in King Leopold's imperialism, 'the king sent out expeditions, led mainly by Stanley, which established a fairly loose occupation of territory in the Congo by means of outposts.'

Supernatural tricks

Stanley and his white assistants proceeded to hoodwink the Congo chiefs into believing that whites had supernatural powers so that the chiefs would hand over their land to Leopold. One of the bizarre tricks, notes Adam Hochschild in his book King Leopold's Ghost, was to attach batteries to the arm under the coat by a band connecting the palm so that the current would flow from the white man's hand to the Black man's hand causing a powerful shock. This trickery established the myth that the white man was so powerful that it was useless to resist them. Another trick was to light the cigar with a magnifying glass and claim proximity to the Sun God! Apart from supernatural tricks, boxes of gin were given to Congo chiefs. As a result, in the Congo, whole villages were signed away to Leopold.

Diabolical maneuvering

At the Berlin Conference held during 1884-85, Leopold laid claim to a huge tract of the Congo region (80 times the size of Belgium) and formally declared a Congo Free State in 1885 with himself as sole owner (The Scramble for Africa, Congo under Leopold II and later developments). Leopold shrewdly realized that he had to obtain the consent of Bismarck of Germany, as one of the conditions laid down by the iron man of Germany was that any European nation, which occupied an African coast or declared a 'protectorate', had to notify such action to the signatory powers. Even though Leopold's claim on Congo alarmed Bismarck, he soon capitulated for he thought that giving Leopold elbowroom in Black Congo would widen the scope of Leopold's altruistic activities to humanize the blacks in Congo.

Fresh from the heady success of negotiations and obtaining concessions from Bismarck, Leopold negotiated with the French in January 1885 for permission to extend his control over Congo. Apart from the northern and eastern boundaries already recognized by Germany, Leopold driven by greed for territorial expansion when he expanded his control to the south as far as the watershed between the Congo and the Zambezi. In 1884 he had already obtained recognition for Congo by the United States.

The frontiers of the free State of Congo thus defined ' turned out to be a territory,' says Stengers, 'monstrously disproportionate to the resources at its disposal. Its slender finances did not at first allow the establishment of more than a rudimentary government.' The mismatch between resources available to occupy such a large territory in Congo did not curb the monomaniacal ambitions of Leopold to expand the territories outside Congo.

Free state of Congo

The free state of Congo was established in 1885. Its capital was established in the port town of Boma. The transportation system was established to exploit and plunder the rich natural resources of Congo. A complex system of transportation connected Atlantic coast to Stanley Pool (later Leopoldville, now Kinshasa). From there onwards, Africans were brutally used as human mules to relay heavy loads of supplies including maxim guns for another 250 miles. From there, steamers could cruise along the Congo River for 900 miles to Stanley Falls (Kisangani). Thereafter, the river, renamed Lualaba, was navigable for another 500 miles deep into the rainforests of the southern Congo. Leopold financed the building of a substantial river fleet of steamers. (The Scramble for Africa, Congo under Leopold II and later developments). Historians note that thousands of Africans died as porters serving their colonial masters.

The Rule of Chicotte

Leopold ruled Congo with a brutality that numbs our senses. The colonial over lords viewed Congo as a land meant to establish white supremacy over a land not populated with human beings. Contrary to the careful spin of a humanitarian Sovereign, Leopold unleashed a brutal exploitation that bears eerie similarity of the death camps of Hitler. In fact to mentally image the excesses of Leopold's minions, one has to keep in mind the sheer brutality of the SS under Hitler's regime. Not unlike the death camps of the Third Reich that had the foreboding sign in front, Arbeit macht frei(work makes you free) Leopold also believed in the civilizing influence of hard work in his infamous rubber plantations. In his less charitable moments he observed that the lazy natives deserved hard work to strengthen their character.

In a masterly study of Leopold's monstrous colonial enterprise Adam Hochschild in his book King Leopold's Ghost notes: " Leopold's claim that his new state was providing wise government and public services was a fraud. There were no schools and no hospitals except for a few sheds "not fit to be occupied by a horse". The use of the dreaded chicotte was routine. In a particularly revolting account of the whipping administered on the black Africans, a missionary E J Glave wrote in his diary, 'we persuade ourselves that an African's skin is very tough. At the first blow, the victim yells horribly; then quietens down into a groaning. After 25 or 30 blows, the victim loses his senses. This punishment is far worse when inflicted on women and children. Small boys of 10 or 12 working for hot tempered masters are often most harshly treated.' Stanislas Lefranc, a Belgian prosecutor in Congo, was sickened at the brutal whipping of some thirty urchins whose crime was to laugh at the presence of a white man.

The terrible carnage of the people of Congo coincided with the rubber boom. In 1887, the demand for rubber grew as rubber was used increasingly for inflatable cycle tubes for bicycles. Motorcars also became popular and the tyres for motorcars required rubber. In 1891, Leopold issued a decree creating a monopoly of trade in rubber and ivory to himself. 'Joint ventures ensued between Belgian, British and Dutch firms,' says Stuart Nolan in Belgium's imperialist rape of Africa, 'the astronomical profits saved Leopold's colonial empire. An example given is the 700 percent profits of the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber and Exploration Company (ABIR).'

A private army called the Force Publique was used to brutally extract from the native labor rubber without any payment of money. Adam Hochschild, provides an insight into the terror tactics employed by an officer known as Fievez against those who refused to collect rubber or failed to meet their quota: "I made war against them. One example was enough: a hundred heads cut off, and there have been plenty of supplies ever since. My goal is ultimately humanitarian. I killed a hundred people... but that allowed five hundred others to live." Another Belgian Captain Rom had ornamented his flowerbeds with the heads of 21 natives murdered in a punitive expedition. Those who failed to supply the required rubber quota to the Belgian masters had their villages burnt down, children murdered and hands cut off as punishment. Some historians have observed wryly that the Belgian way of promoting progress in Congo was indeed quaint.

If an estimate of the death toll were to be made on account of the slavery inflicted by Leopold the figures would be in the region of 10 million. The Congolese historian, Prof Ndaywel e Nziem estimates the death toll at a staggering 13 million.

The plunder

For the Belgian King Leopold the return on brutal exploitation in Congo was enormous.

'He spent the equivalent of $6 million to upgrade the Royal Palace at Laeken, and several more millions to build monuments like the Chateau d'Ardennes, Brussels' Arcades (Arch) du Cinquantenaire, Ostend's seaside arcade and the golf course. He funded universities and museums. Millions more went into secret purchases of more properties through his doctor or architects. Leopold turned the Congo into a major 'off shore' money-laundering center. Investments (exceeding a billion dollars) were made in Asia, Latin America and the Near East. His Congo-based companies pursued construction deals in China, fishing rights off Morocco, mines in Greece and the Philippines and rubber concessions in Bolivia.' (The Scramble for Africa, Congo under Leopold II and later developments).

Public outcry and human rights movement against the Belgian King Leopold forced the parliament to assume control of Congo in 1906. The change of hands did not change the fate of the Congolese as they suffered forced labor and heavy taxation. The Congolese were used as cheap labor for Belgian mines and agricultural firms. The exploitation was so mind boggling that by 1950 the profits from the rape of Congo was more than twice the domestic average in Belgium itself.

Independent Congo

In 1960 Congo became independent from Belgium. But the ghost of King Leopold haunted the free nation again. In the elections that followed a charismatic leader Patrice Lumumba became the first prime minister of Congo. 'When on the first day of independence, the Belgian King, Baudouin,' writes Osei Boateng 'made an ill-judged patronizing speech praising the genius and courage of Leopold II whose reign of terror had seen the death of an estimated 10 million Congolese.' (Confessions of a CIA Agent...How the imperial powers control Africa by remote control in New African-April 2007). The speech incensed Lumumba who went to the podium and trashed the Belgians' colonial record. He also spoke of the need 'to bring an end to slavery imposed on us by force.'

Lumumba realized that after the depredation of Belgian colonial rule, Congo had fewer than 20 university gradates with no cadres of doctors, lawyers or engineers. While Brussels planned to allow Congolese their political freedom, they were interested in retaining control of military, economic and commercial levers of power in their hands. The task of guiding Congo to safe shores was an uphill task for Lumumba.

Smarting under the rebuff given by Lumumba, the Belgian government began to foment trouble for independent Congo. On 11 July 1960, the province of Katanga- home to the bulk of Congo's copper, cobalt, uranium, gold and other mineral wealth- announced it was seceding. Belgium was the principal owner of the wealth and it was perceived in Brussels that resource rich Katanga tied to Belgian interests might not be a bad idea. Moise Tshombe, a quisling and a traitor, led the secession.

No coffin for Lumumba

Meanwhile, US policy makers viewed the political developments in Congo through the tainted glass of cold war politics. Increasingly, Washington grew uneasy at the prospect of Congo charting her independent future away from imperial interests. As Congo was a country with rich mineral wealth, US became uneasy with the fiery nationalism of Lumumba and the Soviet influence in Africa.

The CIA in Congo was asked to get rid of Lumumba. President Eisenhower reputedly gave assent for the assassination of Patrice Lumumba and things began to unravel for Congo as the destabilization game was put into action.

Soon on 2 December 1960, Lumumba was arrested in Kasai province and transferred to Leopoldville by air. In full view of television cameramen Congolese soldiers beat Lumumba. Finally, he was murdered after being extensively tortured along with his two companions Maurice Mpolo (information minister) and Joseph Okito. Under the supervision of Belgian officers their bodies were sawn up and doused in drums of acid to destroy any evidence of foul play.

In a game of musical chairs played for the leadership of Congo, Moise Tshombe, a quisling and a traitor, who led the secession Katanga, headed the government in 1964. At that time there was a virtual civil war in Congo with the supporters of Lumumba ranged against the government of Tshombe. The private army of Tshombe, consisting of white mercenary soldier including South Africans was pressed into service to crush the insurgency. US also aided Tshombe by calling in their animals- a vicious band of Cuban exiles, white South African mercenaries to fight the insurgency. CIA pilots bombed the rebel positions and escalated the conflict. Finally, the insurgency was weakened in November 1964 with the help of US and Belgian paratroopers who were air dropped in Stanleyville. The fortunes of the rebels declined and died thereafter. (Killing Hope - William Blum).

Ghost of neocolonialism

The Ghost of neocolonialism stalked Congo again when Mobutu, an army strongman, came to power in November 1965 backed by US and Europe by over throwing Tshombe and Kasavubu. Mobuto became a puppet on a string and guided his country's destiny to suit the interests of his European masters and US. Congo was bled again and its wealth worth billions of dollars was siphoned off to US and Europe.

Under the tyrannical rule of Mobutu for three decades, there was widespread abuse of human rights and arrests without trial for most of his political opponents. Torture became an instrument of state policy. This was put to ruthless effect on Pierre Mulele, a pro Lumumba rebel leader, who had his eyes were gouged out, his genitals ripped off, and his limbs amputated one by one. For the Congolese there was no respite from rampant abuse and corruption even after eighty years of colonial repression.

Meanwhile, Mobutu sporting trendy leopard skin toque and glasses looted Congo. Western attire and ties were banned, and men were forced to wear a Mao-style tunic known as an abacost. In 1971 Congo was renamed Zaire. He also renamed himself as Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga ("The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake and arising from the blood and ashes of his enemies like the Sun which conquers the night.").

Mobutu acquired properties all over Europe and stashed around $5 billion in foreign banks. In 1997 Mobutu met his nemesis when after years of economic mismanagement he was overthrown in a popular uprising led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Mobutu died of prostate cancer while in exile in Tangiers (Morrocco) on 7 September 1997.

The painful lessons of history

There is an African proverb, which says 'until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters.' The proverb is deeply ironic and sad because it is true. African history was largely written from the standpoint of its Colonial masters. Colonizers wrote textbooks and books were banned expressing a different perspective. The press was also censored. The written record of the devouring of Africa by colonialism was excised from memory. Memories of the rubber era exploitation did not find its way into official history.

'In particular, little effort is made,' says Mark Curtis in Web of Deceit, 'to explain the background to conflicts, with struggles often portrayed simply as the result of tribal passions. Television audiences therefore have in general very little understanding of events in the developing world or of major international institutions or relationships. Much reporting promotes the view of the innate faults of Africans.'

The Western press with few exceptions has reinforced the stereotype of Africans as post-colonial failures destined to tribalism. Niall Ferguson, an empire enthusiast and an ideologue with intellectual pretensions, heaps calumny on Africans by saying that they cannot rule themselves. This canard has to be firmly rejected by writing history from the standpoint of its victims. Ideally, this should exhume the dark history of its colonial past to understand the link between the policies of the Western countries and the conflicts that breed in Africa.

It is only then, as the African proverb gently reminds us, the lions would have their historians.