Grisly photos of the ongoing genocide in Sri Lanka

The brutal genocide in Sri Lanka carried out by the barbaric Sinhala fascist regime against the Tamils on the island is going on unabated, the regime being armed, egged on and aided by all the bloodthirsty swine in the filthy empires and wannabe empires of the world, with the full knowledge and support of the dirty scum in the United Nations. HUNDREDS are being butchered EVERYDAY from the air, sea and land by cluster bombs, firebombs, napalm bombs and every kind of lethal ammunition supplied by bloodthirsty barbarians in the governments and militaries of Israel, India, Iran, Russia, Pakistan and China. Want to take a look at handiwork of the Rajapaksa sewer rats? This post is for the enjoyment of all the sub-human swine who derive great sadistic pleasure at the sight of horrible photos. No, the clowns in the media will not show you any of this. For them, this is a “humanitarian operation” and they will carry only reports dished out to them by the swine in the Rajapaksa regime.

The world’s most bloodthirsty genocidal maniacs – the Rajapaksa goons would not spare anybody – neither the orphans nor the elderly nor the sick and injured nor medical staff nor children. For when almost the whole world is wholeheartedly backing and funding and arming the barbaric scum in their despicable acts of mass murder, all it takes is a complete media blackout, murdering and assaulting the few conscientous journalists like Lasantha and ordering all humanitarian aid workers and relief personnel out of the genocide zone to carry on one of the most horrific mass murders in recent history with full glee. Cluster bombs are used on civilian camps, napalm bombs are used on “safe zones” and hospitals are bombed from the air:

As for the Eezham Tamils and the diaspora, they must have now realised the futility of appealing to the conscience of the few civilised people in the world when all they do is to make a few mild noises. They must have smelt the stink of the souls of the vile bloodthirsty bastards in the Indian establishment who are playing an active role in the genocide as well as preventing civilised people from stopping the genocide. The people of Tamil Nadu owe them an apology for having elected idiots for whom the only thing that matters is staying in power in the state and clinging on to their ministerial portfolios at the centre.

After having realised that the whole world is playing a role in this genocide, they have no other option but to fend for themselves like they have been doing ever since the imperialists of Britain handed over the entire island to the bloodthirsty Sinhala fascist pseudo-Buddhists. They have no other option but to carry on their struggle for freedom on their own. The scum of the world, including India, will help the Sinhala fascist swine by building Nazi-style concentration camps for the “final solution” – exterminating those who were fortunate enough to survive the barbarians’ bombs. Having left with absolutely no one, they have only the LTTE that cares for them. Not the best allies, but what the hell, when the whole world is bent on exterminating them, the LTTE do seem like angels. If not the LTTE, then some other organisation will have to take up their just cause. The Sinhala fascist scum will never let the Tamils even live, let alone live with peace and dignity and equality on the traditional homeland of the Tamils. The struggle should continue. By any means. Till the ultimate goal is reached. Till the millions of litres of blood that they have shed gets represented as the colour of blood on the flag of a free Tamil Eelam:

All men and women are born equals and they have a right to live as free citizens of the world. No filthy swine on Earth can oppress a people seeking to live in freedom. No bloody rat can suppress a struggle to end oppression for too long. Not all the imperial scum of the world. Nor all the rabid dogs in the world. Nor the gods.

Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist is a free man, at last!

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani nuclear scientist and the man responsible for building Pakistan’s nuclear capability, was finally freed from house arrest by the Islamabad High Court last Friday. Dr. Khan, known to the world as A Q Khan, was accused of “proliferating” sensitive nuclear technology to a few countries. Under international pressure, the then Musharraf regime placed the scientist under house arrest after the now retired military dictator “pardoned” Dr. Khan, widely regarded as a national hero in Pakistan, after he supposedly confessed to “proliferating” nuclear secrets. The scientist later said that the “confession” was made under pressure.

Dr. A Q Khan is a free man now…

Image: Aamir Qureshi (AFP/Getty Images)

The fledgling but virtually powerless democratic government in Pakistan has been taken aback by international criticism and is considering filing an appeal to overturn his release. Despite the fact that the 72-year old scientist had been stripped of all his powers and the fact that his “proliferation network” had been dismantled long ago, the ailing scientist was not released after the democractic government took over in Pakistan.

(If the video does not load, you can watch it here.)

The democratic government should not consider filing an appeal to overturn his release. The ailing 72-year old scientist deserves to be a free man. Dr. Khan has committed no crime. Even in the episode of alleged “proliferation of nuclear secrets”, Dr. Khan was made a scapegoat by the military regime to cover up the involvement of members of the establishment who must have played a part in exchanging nuclear details with a country like North Korea in return for missile technology.

Why has Dr. Khan committed no crime? First, Pakistan is not a member of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) either. So the laws relating to “nuclear proliferation” do not apply to Pakistan. Pakistan did enact laws after the Khan episode against the transfer of nuclear technology, but Dr. Khan cannot be tried under those laws. The only law the scientist would have breached would be the secrecy laws for government officials. But again, it should be clear that one man alone cannot transfer such sensitive technology to other countries without the involvement of powerful members of the establishment. He was made a scapegoat and forced to take all the blame by members of the esatablishment who did not want the world to know the complete story. And the scapegoat was made to suffer under house arrest for so long. He deserves to be free now. And he should be given extra security by the government of Pakistan as rogue intelligence agencies like the Mossad and the CIA would probably want to kidnap him or assassinate him.

Dr. Khan is just a nuclear scientist. None of his alleged “proliferation” activities has led to any nuclear holocaust like the heinous crimes that were perpetrated on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. If anything, people like J. Robert Oppenheimer and Gen. Leslie R. Groves who were responsible for developing the first nuclear bomb are far, far greater criminals than someone like A Q Khan. For a world that did not punish the notorious war criminals who dropped the atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to call A Q Khan “a rogue nuclear scientist” is absolutely ridiculous. The real rogue scientists are the ones like Robert Oppenheimer who developed the filthy nuclear weapons that were used to annihilate the helpless civilians of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Then, there is this “proliferation” nonsense. Its outrageous that five countries (the U.S.A., Russia, China, France and the U.K.) claim every right to stockpile as many nuclear weapons as they like, develop “useable nukes” and even threaten to use it against other countries, and yet seek to prevent the “proliferation” of these weapons to other countries at the same time. It’s a different matter that countries like India, Pakistan and Israel have developed the nuclear bomb and North Korea may have done so.

“Non-Proliferation” is sheer bullshit without total nuclear disarmament! As long as the five self-proclaimed “nuclear powers” who have a “veto” in the United Nations Security Council do not want to give up the huge stockpiles of their disgusting weapons, other countries have every right to develop nuclear weapons to protect themselves from the countries that possess them! If humanity wants to prevent a repeat of the barbaric crimes that were perpetrated on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then all sensible people in the world must force the five self-declared “nuclear powers” along with any other country that possesses nukes to dismantle the stockpile of their filthy weapons completely. It’s these stockpiles that are a threat to world peace and security, and not the nonsense called “proliferation” that’s dished out by the “nuclear powers” to preserve their notorious hegemony in an unequal world. As long as the five self-proclaimed “global policemen” want to hang on to their filthy weapons, non-nuclear weapon states are well within their rights to nurture scientists like A Q Khan!

Speak the truth and get murdered; blatantly lie and get rewarded!

This is a post about two kinds of journalism under extremely different circumstances. First, a salute to several independent journalists who dared to speak the truth about one of the most evil, fascist, genocidal regimes in world history and have paid the price for it. Under an evil, barbaric, murderous regime that has crushed all norms of decency, democracy, human rights and civilised behaviour, several journalists have dared to uphold the norms of unbiased journalism, publishing the facts and questioning reports dished out by the war criminals running the government.

First, one of the greatest journalists in the world, Lasantha Wickramatunge, the editor of The Sunday Leader, who was always known for his unbiased journalism, one who dared to expose corruption and crimes of any regime in Sri Lanka. He was on the hit-list of the murderous Rajapaksa goons’ regime for some time. He paid the ultimate price, when he was attacked viciously and then shot dead as he was driving to work by a government death squad, similar to the ones that are used to butcher innocent Tamil civilians in many parts of Sri Lanka:

Image: www.dailymirror.lk

Lasantha was not just an honest journalist, but an extremely intelligent man. He knew his life was in danger for he had predicted his own death at the hands of a government death squad and had written an article and saved it on his computer, to be published after the the scum beings killed him. He puts the blame squarely on the Rajapaksa regime. Read the full article here. Here are some excerpts (emphasis added):

No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honour to belong to all those categories and now especially the last……We find ourselves in the midst of a civil war ruthlessly prosecuted by protagonists whose bloodlust knows no bounds. Terror, whether perpetrated by terrorists or the state, has become the order of the day. Indeed, murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges. For neither group have the risks ever been higher or the stakes lower……Why then do we do it? I often wonder that. After all, I too am a husband, and the father of three wonderful children. I too have responsibilities and obligations that transcend my profession, be it the law or journalism. Is it worth the risk? Many people tell me it is not……But there is a calling that is yet above high office, fame, lucre and security. It is the call of conscience.The Sunday Leader has been a controversial newspaper because we say it like we see it: whether it be a spade, a thief or a murderer, we call it by that name. We do not hide behind euphemism. The investigative articles we print are supported by documentary evidence thanks to the public-spiritedness of citizens who at great risk to themselves pass on this material to us. We have exposed scandal after scandal, and never once in these 15 years has anyone proved us wrong or successfully prosecuted us……Every newspaper has its angle, and we do not hide the fact that we have ours. Our commitment is to see Sri Lanka as a transparent, secular, liberal democracy…

…The Sunday Leader has never sought safety by unquestioningly articulating the majority view. Let’s face it, that is the way to sell newspapers. On the contrary, as our opinion pieces over the years amply demonstrate, we often voice ideas that many people find distasteful. For example, we have consistently espoused the view that while separatist terrorism must be eradicated, it is more important to address the root causes of terrorism, and urged government to view Sri Lanka’s ethnic strife in the context of history and not through the telescope of terrorism. We have also agitated against state terrorism in the so-called war against terror, and made no secret of our horror that Sri Lanka is the only country in the world routinely to bomb its own citizens. For these views we have been labelled traitors, and if this be treachery, we wear that label proudly……Neither should our distaste for the war be interpreted to mean that we support the Tigers. The LTTE are among the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations ever to have infested the planet. There is no gainsaying that it must be eradicated. But to do so by violating the rights of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting them mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames the Sinhalese, whose claim to be custodians of the dhamma is forever called into question by this savagery, much of which is unknown to the public because of censorship.What is more, a military occupation of the country’s north and east will require the Tamil people of those regions to live eternally as second-class citizens, deprived of all self respect. Do not imagine that you can placate them by showering “development” and “reconstruction” on them in the post-war era. The wounds of war will scar them forever, and you will also have an even more bitter and hateful Diaspora to contend with. A problem amenable to a political solution will thus become a festering wound that will yield strife for all eternity. If I seem angry and frustrated, it is only because most of my countrymen – and all of the government – cannot see this writing so plainly on the wall.

It is well known that I was on two occasions brutally assaulted, while on another my house was sprayed with machine-gun fire. Despite the government’s sanctimonious assurances, there was never a serious police inquiry into the perpetrators of these attacks, and the attackers were never apprehended. In all these cases, I have reason to believe the attacks were inspired by the government. When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.

The irony in this is that, unknown to most of the public, Mahinda and I have been friends for more than a quarter century…

…In the wake of my death I know you will make all the usual sanctimonious noises and call upon the police to hold a swift and thorough inquiry. But like all the inquiries you have ordered in the past, nothing will come of this one, too. For truth be told, we both know who will be behind my death, but dare not call his name. Not just my life, but yours too, depends on it.

Sadly, for all the dreams you had for our country in your younger days, in just three years you have reduced it to rubble. In the name of patriotism you have trampled on human rights, nurtured unbridled corruption and squandered public money like no other President before you. Indeed, your conduct has been like a small child suddenly let loose in a toyshop. That analogy is perhaps inapt because no child could have caused so much blood to be spilled on this land as you have, or trampled on the rights of its citizens as you do. Although you are now so drunk with power that you cannot see it, you will come to regret your sons having so rich an inheritance of blood. It can only bring tragedy. As for me, it is with a clear conscience that I go to meet my Maker. I wish, when your time finally comes, you could do the same. I wish.

As for me, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I walked tall and bowed to no man. And I have not travelled this journey alone. Fellow journalists in other branches of the media walked with me: most of them are now dead, imprisoned without trial or exiled in far-off lands. Others walk in the shadow of death that your Presidency has cast on the freedoms for which you once fought so hard. You will never be allowed to forget that my death took place under your watch. As anguished as I know you will be, I also know that you will have no choice but to protect my killers: you will see to it that the guilty one is never convicted. You have no choice. I feel sorry for you, and Shiranthi will have a long time to spend on her knees when next she goes for Confession for it is not just her owns sins which she must confess, but those of her extended family that keeps you in office.

As for the readers of The Sunday Leader, what can I say but Thank You for supporting our mission. We have espoused unpopular causes, stood up for those too feeble to stand up for themselves, locked horns with the high and mighty so swollen with power that they have forgotten their roots, exposed corruption and the waste of your hard-earned tax rupees, and made sure that whatever the propaganda of the day, you were allowed to hear a contrary view. For this I – and my family – have now paid the price that I have long known I will one day have to pay. I am – and have always been – ready for that. I have done nothing to prevent this outcome: no security, no precautions. I want my murderer to know that I am not a coward like he is, hiding behind human shields while condemning thousands of innocents to death. What am I among so many? It has long been written that my life would be taken, and by whom. All that remains to be written is when.

That The Sunday Leader will continue fighting the good fight, too, is written. For I did not fight this fight alone. Many more of us have to be – and will be – killed before The Leader is laid to rest. I hope my assassination will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration for those who survive to step up their efforts. Indeed, I hope that it will help galvanise forces that will usher in a new era of human liberty in our beloved motherland. I also hope it will open the eyes of your President to the fact that however many are slaughtered in the name of patriotism, the human spirit will endure and flourish. Not all the Rajapakses combined can kill that…

If you remember nothing else, remember this: The Leader is there for you, be you Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, low-caste, homosexual, dissident or disabled. Its staff will fight on, unbowed and unafraid, with the courage to which you have become accustomed. Do not take that commitment for granted. Let there be no doubt that whatever sacrifices we journalists make, they are not made for our own glory or enrichment: they are made for you. Whether you deserve their sacrifice is another matter. As for me, God knows I tried.

Lasantha, in happier times…

Image: The Sunday Leader

Lasantha was not the first to be killed, nor will he be the last. Just a few days before this attack, MTV/MBC/ Sirasa the most popular television station in Sri Lanka that ran several television and radio channels in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil and English), was destroyed with explosives and by gunfire by one of those infamous “white van” death squads of the Sri Lankan government.

After Lasantha’s death, the editor of Rivira, a Sinhala weekly that was known for its neutral views, Upali Tennakoon and his wife were brutally assaulted by a gang of knife wielding scum on motorcycles. Both the editor and his wife suffered several knife cuts.

The injured editor of Rivira…

Image: www.huffingtonpost.com

Today, Lal Hemantha Mawalage, news producer at state-run Television station, Rupavahini, has been admitted to the Colombo General Hospital after being attacked with machete and knives by unknown assailants at 11:30 p.m. Friday while walking in Athurugiriya in Colombo, sources in Colombo said. Mr Mawalage suffered injuries to both hands and body, according to his relatives. The attackers are suspected to be allied to non-cabinet Minister of Labour Mervin Silva who was involved in an altercation at Rupavahini on 26 December.

Informed sources said Minister Silva was irked by the actions of Mr Mawalage who had allegedly commended his fellow journalists at Rupavahini for helping to defend his news editor collegue, T.M.G Chandrasekara, when the Minister attacked him.

Lal Hemantha Athula Mawalage, in a serious condition…

Image: www.freemediasrilanka.org

If this is the fate of independent Sinhala journalists, then that of Tamil journalists, is worse. Not only do the Tamil journalists of the fascist state risk their lives, but they risk infinite detention without trial and torture.

Several of them have been murdered in cold blood, like Sivaram and Nadesan. Others like Tissainayagam are detained infinitely without trial under draconian laws and tortured.

Tissainayagam started news-website called OutreachSL.com using a grant from FLICT (Foundation for Local Initiatives in Conflict Transformation). FLICT is a Sri Lankan based grant making body funded by the international community (primarily the German government). FLICT funds civic and government initiatives including the government’s Peace Secretariat.

Tissainayagam apprehended by TID (Terrorist Investigation Department) and all staff of the website were apprehended by the TID. Since then, the fascist thugs have kept in detention and tortured him without being given a chance of trial.

Journalists Tissainayagam and Jasiharan being “arrested” and taken away…

Image: Reuters

The German ambassador, Juergen Weerth, had this to say at the funeral of Lasantha Wickrematunge…

“Today is a day when one remains speechless,” Weerth said at the funeral Monday. “Maybe we should have spoken before this. Today it is too late.”

“Today is a day when humanity has lost a major voice of truth. But he will live in his work,” AFP report said quoting the Ambassador.

Six former US ambassadors have expressed the same in a letter to the leader of the fascist regime.

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Rajapakse’s government was directly to blame for the death of the editor as it had “incited hatred against him.”

Four more media personnel have been forced to flee Sri Lanka fearing for their lives. They are Sanath Balasuriya and Poddala Jayantha of Lake House, Sunanda Deshapriya and Uvindu Kurukulasuriya of the Free Media Movement. Last week Upul Joseph Fernando of the Lankadeepa, Rathnapala Gamage of Lankadeepa, and Chevan Daniel of MTV left the country. In addition, Iqbal Athas, Keith Noyahr, Namal Perera and Anuruddha Lokuhappuarachchi had already left the country.

Now, to the second part of this post. I do not want to demean or dishonour the honest, sincere, persons who have laid down their lives in defence of the ethics and principles of journalism in a banana republic ruled by fascist, genocidal thugs, by posting something about a person who is paid by the fascist regime to act as its mouthpiece in a neighbouring country where the press are supposed to be “free”. Free, as in free to take huge amounts of money and receive a few “awards” from the fascist goons. Of course, it’s the infamous sewer jounalist of Chennai, Mr. N. Ram, the editor-in-chief of The Hindu, and his bunch of liars, who have been publishing “news” about the genocide in Sri Lanka by faithfully reproducing every single word that the war criminals have been dishing out to him. For this toilet paper, there are no civilians killed in this genocide, when the fact is that hundreds are being killed everyday in “safe zones”, hospitals and ambulances being bombed from the air and with artillery and multi-barrel rocket launchers. For these filthy scum journalists, there is no attack on the media when it is a fact that tens of journalists have been murdered and assaulted and the fact that Sri Lanka is the second most deadly place for journalists in the entire world. All because of this:

The sewer journalist N. Ram receiving an “honour” from the fascist regime…

This vile liar has received the same award from the murderer-in-chief of the current genocidal regime as well as an award by a government run body that praised “his service to journalism in Asia”. There exists no word in the English language or any language in the world, to describe a “journalist” who is awarded for “journalism” by a fascist, genocidal regime that ranks 165th out of 173 countries in Press Freedom and the country where the second largest number of journalists are brutally murdered or maimed for doing their work.

Journalists who dare to speak the truth get murdered but sewer journalists who blatantly lie get rewarded. These are the sad facts about journalism in Sri Lanka.

Related posts:

It’s time to act, Chief Minister!

A genocide most foul!

A Sinhala speaks out against the genocide in Sri Lanka

The world watches as a rogue government unleased genocide

¡San Ernesto de La Higuera!

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was martyred on October 9, 1967. Forty one years later, an image of this Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary, doctor, guerrilla leader, author and military theorist remains the most famous photograph in the world!

Ernesto Che Guevara . . .

Image: Wikimedia Commons

There is so much to write about the most famous revolutionary in the world that I don’t know what to write. So I’ll just mention a few ways in which the icon of rebellion is remembered across the world (taken from wikipedia articles):

Nelson Mandela has referred to him as: “An inspiration for every human being who loves freedom”

Jean-Paul Sartre described him as “not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age.”

Guevara remains a beloved national hero in Cuba (almost a secular saint, to many on the Caribbean island), where he is remembered for promoting unpaid voluntary work by working shirtless on building sites or hauling sacks of sugar. To this day, he appears on a Cuban banknote cutting sugar cane with a machete in the fields. Cuban school children begin each morning by pledging “We will be like Che.”

In his native Argentina, where high schools bear his name, numerous Che museums dot the country and in 2008, a 3.65 metre (12 foot) bronze statue of Che was unveiled in his birth city of Rosario. Che was also voted “Argentina’s greatest historical and political figure.”

In the land where he was executed, Bolivia, Che Guevara has been transfigured and “canonised” by the local Bolivian campesinos. No longer is Che Guevara considered as a guerrilla insurgent, but he is now viewed as a “Saint” by locals who had come to refer to him as “San Ernesto de La Higuera” (Saint Ernesto of La Higuera). Accompanying his “Sainthood” came prayers for favours and legends of his ghost still walking the area.

In Bolivia, images of Che now hang next to images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Che’s murdered body is now compared to John the Baptist and in many homes, Che’s face competes for wall space with a host of Roman Catholic Saints. Some rural campesinos now believe that if you whisper Che Guevara’s name to the sky or light a candle to his memory, you will find your lost goat or cow.

For instance, Manuel Cortez says: “It’s like he is alive and with us, like a friend. He is kind of like a Virgin Mary for us. We say, Che, help us with our work or with this planting, and it always goes well.”

Throughout the world, Che is regarded by the youth as an icon. He is the world’s most famous rebel, a man who symbolises the spirit of revolution. Even those who despise Che’s egalitarian ideals and rebellious spirit shamelessly make use of his image to sell their products!

Watch this Spanish song dedicated to el Guerrillero Heroico, San Ernesto de La Higuera, Ernesto Che Guevara . . .

(If the video does not load, you can watch it here.)

Here is the footage of the victorious Cuban revolutionaries, after the overthrow of the infamous military dictatorship of the notorious tyrant Gen. Fulgencio Batista . . .

(If the video does not load, you can watch it here.)

Che was captured in Bolivia while he was leading a revolution in that country. On October 9, Bolivian President René Barrientos ordered that Guevara be killed. The executioner was Mario Terán, a sergeant in the Bolivian army. Moments before Guevara was executed he was asked if he was thinking about his own immortality. “No,” he replied, “I’m thinking about the immortality of the revolution.” Che Guevara also allegedly said to his executioner, “I know you’ve come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.”

Cowards can only kill the icon of rebellion, they can never kill the revolutionary spirit. The spirit of San Ernesto de La Higuera will not leave this planet until the ills that plague the world are cured. El Guerrillero Heroico is simply immortal!

¡Viva la Revolución!

(After reading this, in case you think that I’m a “communist” or a “Marxist”, I can only laugh my heart out at you People tend to be so biased in their views about economic concepts that they get the shock of their lives when they come across someone who is free of bias )

Related posts:

Bastille Day

A Republic is born!

Brazil looks set to fuel a war on poverty with newly discovered oil reserves

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, inaugurated the country’s new deepwater oil field on Tuesday. Trial extraction of oil by Petrobras began in the Jubarte oil field 77 kilometers off the coast of the state of Espirito Santo. The discovery of massive oil reserves has triggered a debate in Brazil on how to use the country’s newly discovered oil wealth to fight poverty and transform the South American giant into a developed country.

Brazil . . . will oil lead to progress? . . .

Image: www.newspapercountry.com

President Lula, who grew up in extreme poverty (he was a shoeshine boy and a street vendor when he was a child), called the reserves a gift from God that should be used primarily to benefit the country by using it to lift people out of poverty and investing in education and health. Brazil may change its laws dealing with oil exploration and may create a new corporation to manage the oil reserves or increase its stake in Petrobras, the state-owned oil production company. Read more about the debate in this link.

Brazil also looks set to enhance its military capabilities to safeguard the country’s newly discovered wealth. The Brazilians are looking to develop the capability to build nuclear submarines with help from France or as a joint project with neighbour Argentina. A good move, as the notorious international killer corporate oil mafia may try filthy tricks to lay their dirty hands on the oil wealth that belongs to the people of the Latin American country.

Accelerated efforts to build Brazil’s first nuclear submarine are under way . . .

Image: www.globalsecurity.org

An alien Earthling wishes Brazilians good luck in their endeavours to utilise the newly discovered oil reserves to eradicate poverty in Brazil and to transform the country into a developed one!

India must stop the repression in Kashmir!

Ever since the state government of Jammu & Kashmir collapsed after the Amarnath land transfer controversy, Kashmir has been on the boil. Read the latest news on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir here.

A paradise where peace has been lost . . .

Image: www.photoatlas.com

It all started with the state government’s decision to transfer 0.4 square kilometres of land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB). After the People’s Democractic Party (PDP) decided to withdraw from the state government led by the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad (of the Congress) over the issue, the land transfer order was revoked. However, the revocation order could not save the government and Ghulam Nabi Azad had to step down.

Mass protests erupted in the Jammu region (which is mainly Hindu with a Muslim minority, mainly belonging to the Gujjar community) against the revocation order. One person committed suicide and three were killed in firing incidents by troopers. The protestors in the Jammu region tried to enforce a blockade of the Kashmir Valley (which is mostly Muslim; the third region in J&K is Ladakh, which is largely Buddhist) by blocking the road link to the Kashmir Valley.

This led to a shortage of medicines, food, fuel and other essential commodities in the Kashmir Valley. Though the government maintains that it tried to keep the highway open and provide security to trucks plying on the route, mobs had virtually succeeded in enforcing a blockade of the entire Kashmir Valley. Mobs also attacked truckers from the Kashmir Valley and beat several of them severely and killed one trucker. Though many Gujjar Muslims supported the demands of the Jammu region, mobs also attacked the homes and properties of Muslims in the region.

Apart from the shortage of essential commodities in the Kashmir Valley, the region’s fruit crop could not be transported to their markets and they began to perish. The Kashmir Fruit Growers Association gave a call to march to Muzaffarabad (on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control) to market their produce as the Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country. Separatist leaders joined the fray and exhorted people to join the march to Muzaffarabad. Huge numbers of people from throughout the Kashmir Valley began a march to cross the Line of Control (LoC) despite a ban. Certain notorious elements across the border in Pakistan have sought to inflame passions on this issue and cause more trouble as well.

Fifteen people were killed in firing incidents on the protestors. Sheik Abdul Aziz, a separatist leader and a moderate, was among those killed. Following his death, separatist leaders in Kashmir gave calls to organise protests. More than fifteen people were killed and hundreds injured when police and paramilitary forces opened fire on the protestors. Apart from a few fringe elements who attacked the police and threw stones at them, the protestors, including women and children, were unarmed and peaceful. Hundreds more were injured in brutal beatings by the police and paramilitary forces. Shamefully, even ambulances were not allowed to operate during the protests and some were attacked. Some media personnel were not spared either. Notorious, heinous and disgusting laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed Areas Act that have no place in any society that calls itself civilised have been in force as they have always been in Kashmir and parts of the North-East.

Concerned that the peaceful protests were snowballing into an independence movement with calls for freedom and an end to Indian rule in Kashmir, the government decided to impose a curfew in all districts of Kashmir. Prohibitory orders have been in place for a week till now and eight more people were killed and many more beaten by the police and paramilitary forces. Newspapers have not been in circulation and the people of Kashmir are being subjected to extreme hardship because of the curfew.

The issue has been given a communal colour and it has brought out the divisions in Indian society. The sheer hatred that many people in different parts of India have for the Kashmir Valley and Kashmiris is evident on the internet on articles about this issue that allow comments. It is enough to disgust anyone who does not share the views of the hate-spewers.

Thankfully, not everyone in India has a sick, savage, regressive, backward and barbaric mindset that supports the repression of the people of the Kashmir Valley. There have been articles written by Indians like this one by Prem Shankar Jha that show that humanity and common sense are not dead in India.

There have been protests by truly patriotic people against the repression in the Kashmir Valley and in favour of finding a peaceful solution through dialogue:

Janahastakshep, PUCL and PUDR are holding a dharna on August 30 at jantar mantar from 11am to 1pm in protest against the crackdown on non violent people demanding ‘azadi’. IT is clear that only way in which Indian state restore its authority is by using coercive means. It is a form of collective punishment of the people that indefinite and unrelenting curfew has been imposed. Already reeling under economic blockade the imposition of curfew is making it worse with even hospitals not being allowed to function fully and attacks on ambulances and injured. Food is in short supply. Water and electricity disrupted. No one is allowed to move about even with curfew passes and there are restrictions placed on media. For 18 years it was told by Indian state and Indian opinion makers that if only the movement sheds weapons talks can be held. When that happened and largely non violent protests began instead of heeding the voice of the people and reaching out to them through talks the Indian state has decided to show its iron fist. Right to life and right to live in dignity stands suspended. Are we going to sit silently when such harsh measures are adopted? Do we want guns to make their reappearance as the Indian state is provoking the people to do? IF we believe that unity of people and their aspirations are our major concern should we not come out in solidarity and support for their cause which they were carrying out peacefully?Please spread the word to gather at jantar mantar on saturday August 30 at 11 am to protest the severe repression let loose on the people.
WE intend to demand lifting of curfew. Restoration of civil liberties. Allowing non violent assembly. Talks with people at the highest level so that 61 years of denial, repression, charade of dialogue, manipulation is discarded and substantive progress is made to democratically and peacefully resolve the intractable problem.

Though such voices of moderation, peace and wisdom are in a minority, the important thing is that atleast some Indians have begun realising that strong arm tactics and brute force are not the way to find a solution to this issue and the larger Kashmir problem. Kashmiris have been alienated completely from the rest of India. This is the time to change policy and find a solution to the issue by putting an end to the repression in Kashmir and finding a solution that is acceptable to all by means of dialogue with the people of Kashmir. People who truly love our country should not let our voices get drowned by those of the hate-spewing scoundrels who are the curse of India and of humanity as well.

Massive anti-war protest march in Denver

More than two thousand Americans, led by about fifty members of the Iraq Veterans against the War, took part in an anti-war protest march in Denver, Colorado. The march was from the Denver Coliseum to the Pepsi Centre, the venue of the Democratic National Convention. The protest march was held after a concert that was attended by an estimated nine thousand people at the Coliseum.

If the video does not load, you can watch it here.

This is what the veterans among the protestors had to say:

“We are the veterans! The Iraq War veterans! The anti-war veterans! We are soldiers! Anti-war soldiers!”

Jan Critchfield, 24, of Seattle said he served in Iraq in 2004, and after returning home, came to believe that the war was an “unlawful, immoral occupation.”

The protestors held placards that read:

“US out of Iraq!”, “Troops out now!” and “No War on Iran!”

Robert Joyet had this to say: “I’m ashamed at the poor turnout here. I’d have hoped more Americans … maybe they’re sidetracked by corporate interests. I worked three times in Afghanistan as an engineer and when I was there security was tentative and that was three years ago. The situation there is getting like it was in Iraq. I think it’s a lost cause and we should just get out. It’s a farce. These politicians go on their “fact finding mission” and don’t talk to anybody about it [the situation]. It’s disgraceful.”

Jean Toth expressed his wish: “I’d love for people to see that not all Americans are all about war.”

Judy Gear hates war: “We’re very against the war and very concerned about the environment and that’s why I’m here to stop all our invasions of various countries.”

Daniel Hernandez was clear about the reason for his participation: “Well I’m just here to show my solidarity with everyone else who opposes the war. I want to show the rest of the world that not all Americans supported our invasion of Iraq.”

Delaine Novak had this to say: “We’re here today because we don’t believe in the occupation of Iraq. We need to pull the troops out and spend the money here at home – this war was just about oil. We need to end this war, we didn’t ask for this.”

War is a filthy, disgusting concept meant for the benefit of a few at the expense of all other Earthlings . . .

Image: www.iranian.com

Three cheers for the truly patriotic American citizens who participated in the anti-war march!!!