MB Civic

This report from India makes very clear how Mussolini’s definition of facism– when State and Corporate power is combined–works in our current real world. This illustrates the kind of “democracy” that can result from the efforts of unwaveringly pro-corporate politicians of all political stripes….

Today’s commentary:
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-08/08shiva.cfm

==================================

ZNet Commentary
Corporate Rule = Facism August 10, 2006
By Vandana Shiva

Terror in Dadri – “Urja” Nagar (Power City) become “Ujar Nagar” (City of
Devastation)

On the outskirts of Delhi, in Dadri, Ghaziabad, Reliance Energy has plans
to build the world’s largest gas based power plant of 3500 MW. The
investment outlay is more than Rs. 10,000 crore (US $ 2.2 billion).
However the real investment is the 2500 acres of land in the most fertile
region of the world, with alluvial soils built up over millennia by the
Ganges and Yamuna rivers, irrigated by the Ganga Canal system. Farmers on
whose land the power plant is to be built, did not even know the
Government had acquired the land till the foundation stone was unveiled.
Since then, the villagers of the region have been resisting the forced
take over of their land. Farmers of seven villages have been on a hunger
strike since January 2006 at the protest site in Village Bajhera Khurd in
Dader.

When I went to Bajhera with Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh and
Satpal Choudhary of the Lak Tantrik Party in May 2006, Dr. Jaipal Singh,
one of the protestors on a fast said that the villagers came to know of
the acquisition only from local newspapers at the time of unveiling of the
power project. No consent was taken and no notice was served. When they
challenged the injustice and illegality of the acquisition of their land,
the authorities told them to either go to Court or accept the
“compensation” being awarded.

With Delhi’s explosive urban sprawl, land in Dadri is worth Rs. 13,500 /
Sq.m. Farmers are being offered only Rs. 120/- Sq.m. Further the power
project only needs 700 acres, but 2500 acres have been acquired because of
high real estate value. And finally no legal procedure has been followed
in acquiring the land.

Farmers have torn down the fence, and have been ploughing their fields to
assert their rights. On 8th of July, India ex Prime Minsiter V.P. Singh
who has recently launched a farmers front Jan Morcha to stop farmers
exploitation and oppression, was to join farmers in tillilng the land.

The night before, 100 vehicles of the police entered Bajhera Khurd, fired
bullets and tear gas at the protestors, then entered the village, broke
open doors, assaulted women, children, the old and the disabled, cows and
buffaloes, stole every womens gold jewellery, robbed money from safes and
trunks, broke every car and motorcycle, took away every mobile phone so
that the village was left with no mobility and no communication.  Mr. V.P.
Singh was arrested along with Raj Babbar, the famous bollywood filmstar
and M.P. at the Delhi border

On 11th July, I went to visit the women of Bajhera. The foods the
community had collected to serve 100,000 who were to join the protest on
8th had been heartlessly destroyed. Prem Pal, the Son of Rohta Singh had
been shot in the foot but was not given medical help. Instead he was
thrown in Jail.

Harvati had been attacked severely on her legs and neck. She cannot speak.

Sona’s pregnant daughter-in-law was dragged out of a room after breaking
down the door. The attack has traumatized her to such an extent that she
is having fits. Her husband Charan Singh was thrown in Jail.

Maya, a widow had all her cash and jewellery stolen. Her son, Sunil drives
a taxi for a living. He had just sold an old car for Rs. 30,000/-. That
was taken. Tear gas was exploded in his eyes. He has lost his sight. Maya
said “his eyes was what kept the family alive. How will we survive”.

Even the disabled were not spared. Makhan Singh was attacked by a Bayonet.
When Lal Giri was attacked, his aged mother Asharfi threw herself in the
way to protect him.

Dalit labourer Udaibir’s son Jagdish’s sons leg has been broken, and a 16
year old son Chandeema is in jail. His wife’s mangal sutra was snatched.
His one and a half month grandson Kapil who was in his lap was snatched
and thrown on the floow.

Dulari, Sashi, Masla….. no one was spared. Shiela was hit on the head
and face with a bayonet. Her head is still bleeding.

People’s land and people’s blood, is the subsidy being given to
corporations to build power plants and cities, shopping malls and golf
courses. This is not “Shinning India” or “Smiling India”. This is India
enslaved, India in tears.

The Emergence of the Corporate State leads to the emergence of facism

The partnership between corporations and Governments is leading to the
emergence of a corporate state – with the state using its political power
to help corporations appropriate the wealth and property of citizens, and
corporations using their economic power to help politicians who have
helped them to crush democratic dissent. This gives a few people such
power that they can rob people of all freedoms. Monopoly markets lead to
quasi-military authority. The corporate state becomes a facist state.
Facist dictatorship is an inevitable outcome of market dictatorship. This
is what the atrocities in Bajhera Khurd in Dadri symbolize. Every village
is being made a concentration camp. Every home is being turned into a
torture chamber.

Policies which combine the colonial / feudal principle of the “eminent
domain” with the market principle of corporate concentration must become
an assault on people’s rights.

The colonial land acquisition act gave unbridled power to the colonial
state to acquire land for public purpose. However, an obsolete act
continues to be used to grab land from farmers for private profit. Whether
it is for the Reliance power plant in Dadri or the Reliance Special
Economic Zones in Haryana and Maharashtra, or the Retail Hubs Reliance is
setting up in Punjab, fertile land has been forcefully acquired by
Governments at rates 1000 times lower than market rates, and handed over
to corporations. Markets are for corporations, not the farmers. For the
farmers it is the brute force of a facist state using colonial laws.

In a democracy, land and resources should be governed on the basis of the
public trust doctrine, not the eminent domain principle. In times of
corporate globalsiation, the Land Acquisition Act can only be the
instrument of facism. It must be set aside. Let corporations negotiate
directly with farmers. If farmers do not want to sell their farmland a
brute state should not forcefully acquire it. If they do, they should get
the full market price.

The Newsweek of July 17, 2006 has a cover story on Mukesh Ambani, the
brother of Anil Ambani, who is setting up the Dadri power plant. Mukesh
Ambani is also setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZ) outside Delhi and
Mumbai. In addition he is planning to create 1600 farm supply hubs across
India. He calls himself the Wal Mart of India and claims that his success
comes from “Government is ceding its powers”. However like in Dadri,
Mukesh Ambani’s SEZ’s of 150 square kilometers outside Mumbai has been
based on land acquisition with Government help. This is not about
Governments ceding its powers, but Government exaggerating its powers to
force citizens to cede their resources and assets so that businesses like
Reliance can grow bigger. When Newsweek has a cover story on Mukesh Ambani
as India’s Mister Big who could spark Asia’s next boom, they are not
telling the story of how ordinary farmers are being robbed of their land
and livelihood to create this boom.

We cannot allow facism to be the foundation of India’s economic growth.
The Dadri atrocity must never be repeated if India is to stay democratic
and free.

—
You are currently on Mha Atma’s Earth Action Network email list, option D (up to 3 emails/day).  To be removed, or to switch options (option A – 1x/week, option B – 3/wk, option C – up to 1x/day, option D – up to 3x/day) please reply and let us know!  If someone forwarded you this email and you want to be on our list, send an email to earthactionnetwork@earthlink.net and tell us which option you’d like.

“Our German forbearers in the 1930s sat around, blamed their rulers, said ‘maybe everything’s going to be alright.’ That is something we cannot do. I do not want my grandchildren asking me years from now, ‘why didn’t you do something to stop all this?” –Ray McGovern,  former CIA analyst of 27 years, referring to the actions and crimes of the Bush Administration