It is very interesting that Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit born inside the Canadian Arctic, has spoken of the issue of global warming and climate change as a human rights issue.
Indigenous people of the coldest parts of the earth have now joined debate as Inuit people are beginning to use power guzzling Air conditioners for the first time, running out of snow bricks for their houses and facing life threatening conditions when they fall through melting snow while hunting for food.
One cannot but see her case as a human rights issue for indigenous people especially vulnerable because their traditional habitats are low lying areas of the world.
This also is coming, at a time when the North American public, is exploring ways and means of "limiting the destructive impact of American foreign policy" in some resources rich parts of the earth, especially the Middle East, faced with a situation of rising global concern against a unipolar world.
The American public just does not seem to be biting, and ready to accept the charitable arguments of fostering democracy, rule of law and healthy civilizational principles, in the Middle East and is waking upto the reality of its power in a unipolar world.
The lady who is a lawyer by profession, has stated, "By protecting the rights of those living sustainably in the Amazon Basin, or the rights of the Inuit hunter on the snow and ice, this commission will also be preserving the world's environmental early-warning system ", in her arguments in front of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States in Washington.
Very interesting stuff.
One can only hope that the Indian Political Elite and Indian Science and Technology Establishment, (IPE, ISTE ), which has been so keen and active on the issue of civil nuclear cooperation with US and the Nuclear suppliers Group, will take note and begin to fashion its arguments in this light.
Showing posts with label colonial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label colonial. Show all posts
Monday, 5 March 2007
Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Dharampal Net Resources
Dharampal Net Resources
Dear Friends and Associates of Shri Dharampal,Today (19th February) is the date of birth of Shri. Dharampal. Since his demise there have been many discussions on how to take his work forward.
We at Samanvaya have done what we know best, put together the material that we have in our collection in the form of a website.
We are happy to announce the new website www.dharampal.net which will be an online repository of Dharampalji's website. Among its features, it contains a downloadable version of some of his publications, a collection of unpublished archival compilations, his note on possible future work based on them, related initiatives, life sketch, etc.
Currently the site is hosted in the Samanvaya website. Some of the features are not currently available or fully ready yet. This we will have ready in very soon.
We have provided a few snippets of the material in the website at the end of this mail. It is our hope that this Endeavour will be found useful by not just his friends, but, also those who want to embark on a journey of a discovery of India anew.
We welcome your comments and participation. We wish to thank many friends of Dharampalji for their voluntary interest and association in this effort, without their guidance this effort would not have been possible.
Warm regards,
Ramasubramanian
Chief, Samanvaya
chief@samanvaya.com
mob : 9444957781
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Samanvaya - Knowledge Services for Development Sectorwww.samanvaya.com
Please Note: Samanvaya New Office Address from 1st March 2007:
Samanvaya, 2nd Floor, Old No. 94, New No. 179,
Royapettah High Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600004
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dharampal.Net --- Some of the current information include:
Work Ahead : It may be worth mentioning that, these researches and studies were taken up by Dharampal in his individual capacity, also because he was not considered a scholar or a historian and did not even have a University degree. It may be mentioned that a question about his not having a degree was raised in the Bihar legislature during 1973.
Archival material : "...The extent to which it has been carried throughout all the irrigated region of the Madras Presidency is truly extraordinary.
An imperfect record of the number of tanks in 14 districts shows them to amount to no less than, 43,000 in repair, and 10,000 out of repair, or 53,000 in all.
It would be a moderate estimate of the length of embankment for each to fix it at half a mile; and the number of masonry works, in sluices of irrigation, waste weirs, & e., would probably be not over-rated at an average of 6.
These data, only assumed to give some definite idea of the extent of the system, would give close upon 30,000 miles of embankments (sufficient " to put a girdle round the globe" not less than 6 feet thick) and 3,00,000 separate masonry works. The whole of this gigantic machinery of irrigation is of purely native origin ..."
India 1947 - 64 : Events and their background - "When I first read President Roosevelt’s advice on India to the British in August 1942 (India: The Transfer of Power, vol 3), I took his statement to imply that the British should "act in such a way that India stays in the western orbit", quite literally.
It was only years later that I understood that Roosevelt was not thinking in terms of his preference for the West or the USSR, but rather that they, he and the British, "should try to think of some arrangement by which India found its place in the European and American, i.e., western orbit, rather than the Asiatic."
Quite naturally, Roosevelt and his friends, could not conceive an India, run according to the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi.
Relevance of Dharampal :... His interest in history or his work on the archives has been according to him, only an incidental outcome of his quest for understanding the reasons why the nation was in the state he found it in.
Perhaps that is why he never sought company among ‘historians’ and always seemed to befriend politicians, activists and such kind. His quest for understanding why things were so was obviously attached with the corollary why can’t things change from this situation...
Dear Friends and Associates of Shri Dharampal,Today (19th February) is the date of birth of Shri. Dharampal. Since his demise there have been many discussions on how to take his work forward.
We at Samanvaya have done what we know best, put together the material that we have in our collection in the form of a website.
We are happy to announce the new website www.dharampal.net which will be an online repository of Dharampalji's website. Among its features, it contains a downloadable version of some of his publications, a collection of unpublished archival compilations, his note on possible future work based on them, related initiatives, life sketch, etc.
Currently the site is hosted in the Samanvaya website. Some of the features are not currently available or fully ready yet. This we will have ready in very soon.
We have provided a few snippets of the material in the website at the end of this mail. It is our hope that this Endeavour will be found useful by not just his friends, but, also those who want to embark on a journey of a discovery of India anew.
We welcome your comments and participation. We wish to thank many friends of Dharampalji for their voluntary interest and association in this effort, without their guidance this effort would not have been possible.
Warm regards,
Ramasubramanian
Chief, Samanvaya
chief@samanvaya.com
mob : 9444957781
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Samanvaya - Knowledge Services for Development Sectorwww.samanvaya.com
Please Note: Samanvaya New Office Address from 1st March 2007:
Samanvaya, 2nd Floor, Old No. 94, New No. 179,
Royapettah High Road,Mylapore,
Chennai - 600004
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dharampal.Net --- Some of the current information include:
Work Ahead : It may be worth mentioning that, these researches and studies were taken up by Dharampal in his individual capacity, also because he was not considered a scholar or a historian and did not even have a University degree. It may be mentioned that a question about his not having a degree was raised in the Bihar legislature during 1973.
Archival material : "...The extent to which it has been carried throughout all the irrigated region of the Madras Presidency is truly extraordinary.
An imperfect record of the number of tanks in 14 districts shows them to amount to no less than, 43,000 in repair, and 10,000 out of repair, or 53,000 in all.
It would be a moderate estimate of the length of embankment for each to fix it at half a mile; and the number of masonry works, in sluices of irrigation, waste weirs, & e., would probably be not over-rated at an average of 6.
These data, only assumed to give some definite idea of the extent of the system, would give close upon 30,000 miles of embankments (sufficient " to put a girdle round the globe" not less than 6 feet thick) and 3,00,000 separate masonry works. The whole of this gigantic machinery of irrigation is of purely native origin ..."
India 1947 - 64 : Events and their background - "When I first read President Roosevelt’s advice on India to the British in August 1942 (India: The Transfer of Power, vol 3), I took his statement to imply that the British should "act in such a way that India stays in the western orbit", quite literally.
It was only years later that I understood that Roosevelt was not thinking in terms of his preference for the West or the USSR, but rather that they, he and the British, "should try to think of some arrangement by which India found its place in the European and American, i.e., western orbit, rather than the Asiatic."
Quite naturally, Roosevelt and his friends, could not conceive an India, run according to the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi.
Relevance of Dharampal :... His interest in history or his work on the archives has been according to him, only an incidental outcome of his quest for understanding the reasons why the nation was in the state he found it in.
Perhaps that is why he never sought company among ‘historians’ and always seemed to befriend politicians, activists and such kind. His quest for understanding why things were so was obviously attached with the corollary why can’t things change from this situation...
Friday, 5 January 2007
Fencing And Western Thought
As part of an attempt to define an anthropological ontology of Western thought, one certainly needs to consider Dharampal's work.
In thought processes, post Industrial Revolution Western civilization, centred in Europe and this is where we certainly need to focus on. I think the Islamic world's obsession with American foreign policy, is no more than a historical diversion, as far as anthropological ontology of Western thought is concerned.
Here I will try to discuss the concept of fences and fencing.
While fencing in the literal sense means "to erect a fence, using materials such as wires, stakes, and rails, to create a barrier or enclosure", a fence itself is often described as - "an enclosure, a barrier, a wall, a weir, a boundary line, a defense against perceived threats".
Thus characterizing the bulk of the achievements of post Industrial Western civilization, may at first glance, seem extremely sweeping, generalist, exaggerated, uncharitable and indeed, un Christian. However, bear with me for a while.
My intention is not to dole out historical kudos or abuses, but to understand from the perspective of a non Westerner, the sum achievements of post industrial Western civilization to reducing the sufferings of men and women, in the West as well as in the non Western world.
Prima facie, having an appreciative eye for the material prosperity of the Western and developed world, one may not have many qualms about giving the bouquet to Western society for their achievements in ridding common sufferings in the Western parts of the world, underpinned by a largely liberal form of governance.
But how has the Western thinker fared with regard to the non Western world.
The Western man, in all his waking moments, can be seen as, - in the process of - "erecting fences" in real literal as well as metaphorical senses.
This to me, is what constitutes a defining characteristic, of the compulsive dynamism of Western thought. Crtitical thought comes much later and derives from this initial, fencing syndrome, that is at the core of Western thought and thinking about world, society and self.
In thought processes, post Industrial Revolution Western civilization, centred in Europe and this is where we certainly need to focus on. I think the Islamic world's obsession with American foreign policy, is no more than a historical diversion, as far as anthropological ontology of Western thought is concerned.
Here I will try to discuss the concept of fences and fencing.
While fencing in the literal sense means "to erect a fence, using materials such as wires, stakes, and rails, to create a barrier or enclosure", a fence itself is often described as - "an enclosure, a barrier, a wall, a weir, a boundary line, a defense against perceived threats".
Thus characterizing the bulk of the achievements of post Industrial Western civilization, may at first glance, seem extremely sweeping, generalist, exaggerated, uncharitable and indeed, un Christian. However, bear with me for a while.
My intention is not to dole out historical kudos or abuses, but to understand from the perspective of a non Westerner, the sum achievements of post industrial Western civilization to reducing the sufferings of men and women, in the West as well as in the non Western world.
Prima facie, having an appreciative eye for the material prosperity of the Western and developed world, one may not have many qualms about giving the bouquet to Western society for their achievements in ridding common sufferings in the Western parts of the world, underpinned by a largely liberal form of governance.
But how has the Western thinker fared with regard to the non Western world.
The Western man, in all his waking moments, can be seen as, - in the process of - "erecting fences" in real literal as well as metaphorical senses.
This to me, is what constitutes a defining characteristic, of the compulsive dynamism of Western thought. Crtitical thought comes much later and derives from this initial, fencing syndrome, that is at the core of Western thought and thinking about world, society and self.
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