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Prakash Karat: Govt aims at looting India’s natural resources & dismantling rural work programs

Kolkata, November 8, 2014: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of unveiling policies targeted at looting India’s natural resources and changing the basics of Indian economy, the CPI-M Thursday scoffed at his pet Swachh Bharat project, saying unless poverty was removed, the country could not be cleaned.

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat asked the people to rally against the “neo-liberal and communal offensive” and said his party would go all out to challenge the “right wing offensive”.

“The entire party should resolve to counter the right wing offensive in the country,” Karat said addressing an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the seventh party Congress of the undivided CPI, which led to the emergence of the CPI-M.

“The policies unveiled by Modi are aimed at changing the basics of the Indian economy and looting the country’s natural resources. People should rally against the neo-liberal and communal offensive,” he said.

Karat dismissed reports of sharp differences between party politburo members, blaming the “bourgeoisie media of misrepresenting matters”.

“The bourgeoisie media is trying to misrepresent, to twist matters to belittle our serious political discussion as mere tussles and rifts in the party,” he said.

Dubbing Modi a “demagogue”, CPI-M politburo member and former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the prime minister was going around the country asking people to sweep the streets.

“Should I take it that the prime minister doesn’t know unless poverty was alleviated, and people’s basic needs are addressed, the country cannot be cleaned?” Bhattacharjee asked.

“The previous prime minister, Manmohan Singh, seldom spoke. The present one only speaks. He is a mere demagogue,” he said.

Karat: Government bent on dismantling rural work programme

Kolkata, November 6, 2014: The CPI-M Thursday pulled up the BJP-led government at the Centre for being “bent on dismantling” the 100 days rural work programme (MgNREGS) that was one of the flagship programmes of the previous Congress-led regime.

Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat said the northeastern state of Tripura, the only government led by his party in the country, has been hard hit as the Centre reduced the allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

“One legislation, rights-based law which we got adopted in 2006 in parliament which provided 100 days of work on demand for a member of a family at a minimum wage, has provided some relief to the rural poor. Now the present government is bent on dismantling it,” Karat said here.

He claimed Tripura was the best performing state in implementing the MGNREGS and succeeded in ensuring 88 days of work.

“Now Tripura is in serious trouble as the Centre reduced 47 percent funds for MGNREGS. The Centre wants to limit the scheme to only 200 districts in the country,” he said.

CPI-M politburo member and former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee dubbed as “extreme right wing politics” the attempts to curtail the MGNREGS.

- ians

Pope Francis on how rivalry and vainglory weaken us

Vatican, November 7, 2014: Rivalry and vainglory are two worms that weaken the Church. We

should instead act in a spirit of humility and harmony, without seeking our own interests, Pope Francis told a congregation at Casa Santa Marta on Monday.

Taking a cue from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians, the Pope noted that a bishop’s joy lies in seeing love, unity and harmony in his Church. “This harmony – he said – is a grace, which the Holy Spirit creates, but we must do our part, we must do everything to help the Holy Spirit to create this harmony in the Church”.

This is why St Paul calls the Philippians to do nothing “out of selfishness or out of vainglory” or “fight against each other, just to be seen, to give themselves the air of being better than others.

“You see,” the Pope noted “this is not just something new to today”, but “goes way back.”

“And how often in our institutions, in the Church, in the parish, for example, in schools, do we find that, no?

“Rivalry; the need to be seen; vainglory. We see that there are two worms that eat the fabric of the Church, weakening her. Rivalry and vainglory go against this harmony, this agreement.

“Instead of rivalry and vainglory, what does Paul recommend? ‘Rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.’

“He felt this himself. He qualifies himself as ‘not worthy to be called an apostle,’ the least [among others]. He even strongly humbles himself there. This was his sentiment: He thought others were superior to him.”

Pope Francis then quoted St Martin de Porres, a “humble Dominican friar,” saying: “His spirituality was in service, because he felt that all the others, even the greatest sinners, were superior to him. He really felt this.”

St Paul then urges everyone not to look out for his own interests:  ”Look for the good of others. Serving others. But this is the joy of a bishop, when he sees his Church like this: the same sentiment, the same charity, being in unanimous accord. This is the air that Jesus wants in the Church. You can have a different opinion, that’s fine, but always within this air, this atmosphere: humility, charity, without despising anyone”.

- vatican radio

Church official: Silence makes government an accomplice in attacks

India, November 7, 2014: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) said that the silence from the part of the Narendra Modi government makes it an accomplice in the increasing attacks against minorities in the nation.

“The government is focusing on the development and city cleansing. What is needed is, first of all, a cleansing of the heart. We want a clean India, but above all from a clean heart, thanks to peace, justice and brotherhood,” said Father Charles Irudayam, Executive Secretary of the Justice, Peace and Development Commission in the CBCI.

Expressing the Indian bishops’ point of view, the priest said, “The new government of nationalist leader Narendra Modi is not openly against minorities, but we are sad and worried about what is happening in India: The government says and does nothing to stop the right wing religious groups who attack minorities. This makes the government an accomplice.”

“In the state of Chhattisgarh in Central India, the right wing religious majority groups have carried out further violence. The extremists have prevented the missionaries and Catholic clergy to enter certain parts of the territory and in some villages. That is why the Justice and Peace Commission sent a letter of formal complaint to the government,” said the priest.

Father Irudayam recalled that recently the entire Indian civil society publicly expressed its discomfort, requesting the intervention of the civil authorities.

“The central government of Narendra Modi has never condemned the violence. This silence means that, in its mind, it shares the approach and ideology of an India reserved for Hindus. But this idea goes against our Constitution, which outlines a democratic and pluralistic nation. It is the government’s responsibility to respect and ensure respect for the Constitution,” explained Irudayam.

“At this stage, after Modi’s first hundred days in office the Indian Church and its Bishops are on alert and follow what happens very closely. Some Bishops have asked: how long will the government’s complicity with those who carry out violence last? Some eminent jurists and Hindu intellectuals support this position, and ask the government for a clear pronouncement. If not, they explain, violence against religious minorities will increase,” continued the Secretary.

Father Irudayam concluded, “We know that Pope Francis accompanies us in our efforts for peace and justice; a non-violent struggle, raising his voice in public and to God through prayer. Ours is a commitment to social and religious harmony.”

- agenzia fides

New details emerge in killing of Pakistani Christian couple

Pakistan, November 8, 2014: New details have emerged about the killing of a Pakistani Christian bonded laborer and his wife, who were killed after being accused by local Muslims of blasphemy.

Shehzad Masih and Shama Bibi, who was four months pregnant at the time of the killing, were locked inside a brick-making factory before their murder to prevent them from fleeing their debts, relatives said Wednesday.

The couple were later beaten, surrounded by a crowd of up to 1,500 villagers then thrown on top of a lit furnace, multiple witnesses said. By the time the Muslim mob was done, only charred bones and their discarded shoes remained.

The gruesome incident took place Tuesday in the tiny hamlet of Chak 59 (village 59) near Kot Radha Kishan town, some 60 kilometers southwest of Lahore.

It has sparked protests by Christians and outrage among rights activists, with police arresting 44 suspects as of Wednesday.

Jawad Qamar, a local police official, said according to initial reports events began to unfold more than a week earlier with the death of Shehzad’s father, a local religious healer.

“When he died, Shehzad’s wife went to his room and cleaned up the mess. There was a trunk in his room, Shehzad’s wife took the things that could be useful and threw the trash in front of her house,” said Qamar.

“The garbage collector collected the trash the next day and told a local cleric that he had collected pages of the Koran thrown in front of Shehzad’s house from the trash.”

Iqbal Masih, Shehzad’s older bother, told AFP that he and his whole family were bonded workers paying off their debts to the brick kiln owner, a man named Mohammed Yousuf — an illegal practice branded by rights groups as akin to modern-day slavery.

“We take advance money from the owner and work for him, it has been going on for years. On November 3, the owner had called Shehzad and detained him sensing that he might run away to save his life,” he said tearfully.

The allegation against the factory owner was repeated by two other witnesses interviewed by AFP, but denied by his son Khawar Yousuf.

“We don’t know what has happened, the family has been working for us for 20 years and we have never noticed anything bad.”

“It’s wrong to say that my father locked them up,” he added.

‘Begging for mercy’

Malik Abdul Aziz, a cameraman who witnessed the event, said around 1,500 people gathered from nearby villages after being stoked up by local clerics who announced the couple had committed blasphemy over the loudspeakers of their mosques.

“They started beating the couple with sticks and bricks chanting slogans of ‘We will lay down our lives for the honor of the prophet’ and then tore off their clothes”, said Aziz.”The couple were screaming, begging for mercy and saying they have not committed any sin.”

“The mob dragged them for around 20 yards and laid them on top of the brick kiln oven and kept them there till they were burnt,” he added.

It was not clear whether they were already dead or burnt alive.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in the majority Muslim country, with even unproven allegations often prompting mob violence.

Those who take part in the violence are rarely if ever prosecuted — a fact not lost upon the relatives of the deceased.

“I need justice but I am sure I won’t be able to get it, the clerics are too powerful,” Shehzad’s brother Iqbal said.

Tahir Ashrafi, a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology, Pakistan’s top religious body, held police responsible for failing to act to protect the couple before the mob violence occurred.

“This case must go to an anti-terrorism court and the culprits must be arrested and punished, including the mullah (who made the blasphemy accusation in mosque) if he’s involved,” he said.

- afp / ucan

I.S. militants publish prices for Christian slaves in Iraq

Iraq, November 8, 2014: A document issued by Islamic State (IS) militants has revealed the prices that captured Christian and Yazidi women and children are to be sold for as slaves in Iraq.

The prices for Christian and Yazidi slaves vary according to age: 40 to 50-year-old women are to cost 50,000 dinars (£27/ €34/ $43) each; 30 to 40-year-olds are to be sold for 75,000 dinars (£40/ €51/ $64) each; and 20 to 30-year-olds cost 100,000 dinars (£54/ €68/ $84) each. A girl aged 10-20 years is to be sold for 150,000 dinars (£80/ €102/ $128), and a male or female child aged one to nine years is 200,000 dinars (£107/ €136/ $170).

The document explains that IS has decided to control the prices of the slaves due to a “significant decrease” in the market selling “women and spoils of war”. IS has vowed to execute anyone who does not abide by the price controls it has imposed, and individuals are not authorised to purchase more than three – unless the buyers are foreigners such as Turks, Syrians and citizens of the Gulf Arab states.

IS militants took over large swathes of central and northern Iraq over the summer, causing at least 160,000 Christians to flee to safer areas. The few Christians remaining under Islamist rule have the choice to pay jizya (a humiliating tax indicating their inferior status), convert to Islam, flee or be killed.

Sharia law allows Muslims to take human beings as slaves as part of their war booty in the context of jihad.

- barnabas team