> Dear All,
>
> We are sorry to announce that the programme scheduled for tomorrow has been
> postponed due to unforseen circumstances. But by Monday, we will have a new
> venue booked & the invitation for the same will be resent to all concerned.
>
> The reason for the postponement too needs to be shared with all our comrades
> & would leave most as bewildered as we are.
>
> *This is first, to state, a direct fallout of the demonstration that we had
> staged against the US Consul General Paul Folmsbee on the 16th of December
> '09 & a section of the elite management of the Press Club has insitigated a
> ban against Kishore Jagtap & myself.*
>
> The Press Club was booked by Yavar Ali Qazi & he has the receipt for the
> same. Then late in the evening on Saturday, he was informed that as the
> above two were the speakers & since they were banned, the Public meeting on
> Palestine could only continue without them. *Let it be on record that we
> have never been intimated by either Gurbir Singh or Jatin Desai about the
> ban, either in writing or even verbally & this should have been conveyed to
> us.* Then since the programme was on Monday, it was practically impossible
> to change the venue at the last moment. Jatin bhai & myself were together
> for 3 days during the Indo-Pak conference in Delhi & he should have atleast
> intimated us then. I then called up the Press Club & asked for the same in
> writing, but Mr. Mascerhenas too was not forthcoming & said that since we
> were not members of the Press Club, there was no reason to give the same.
>
> Then I called up Gurbir Singh & he did not attend my call but he did speak
> to Kishore. During the conversation he said that since the Press Club was a
> *'Private'* body, they could take these steps. *For us the term 'Private'
> was even more shocking*, as technically he is right, but morally far from,
> as Gurbir does come from a Left background. Sections of the Elite
> journalists in India have forgotten the role that the Media has played in
> the Indian Freedom Struggle & how the media supported the anti-colonial
> movements across the nation. This is apparent to us now.
>
> *We again reiterate that the demonstration was not against the media, but
> was clearly directed against the US & it's representatives in India & this
> seems to have riled certain elitists & pro-American sections & assets within
> the Media.* We were later given to understand that the Press Club had
> organized a Press Meet along with the *American Centre (another Imperial
> front organization).* The agenda was to discuss the Obama-Manmohan Singh
> meeting in Washington DC.
>
> All that he said was in any case the same old propaganda that we read
> everyday in our corporate newspapers. *Folmsbee went on to speak about the
> 'common values' that the India & US share, especially he was pleased at the
> growing role of the FBI in India & the general Indian role in the global war
> on terror. This was a typically Bush-like speech & that is all that we can
> expect.* So much for the Press Meet. *
>
> And we get banned for this, great !!*
>
> *Sections of the Elitist Corporate Press always hide behind the hubris of
> 'Freedom of Expression' or 'Freedom of the Press'. The basic point is that
> the freedoms have been far too abused by the media, as with every freedom
> comes a responsibility & a sense of accountability & it can be stated, that
> both of the above are totally lacking in the media of our neo-liberal
> age.*Recently at a meeting veteran journalist
> *Kuldip Nayar* (who is one of India's most respected & widely read) spoke
> eloquently about the corruption that has pervaded the media. He spoke about
> planted & paid stories, journalists who wilfully distorted facts & did not
> even bother to verify their stories. Thus this entire pattern has caused
> untold damage to the social fabric of the nation. Worst he said, has been
> there mis-reporting on the issue of terror & the sort of problems that this
> has created for millions of people.
>
> *And we get banned for protesting against the US pro-Consul!!*
>
> *From what we have learnt from our senior & respected journalists, the task
> or rather duty of the journalists was not too add to the Government
> propaganda machinery, as it was far too powerful in anycase. The task was
> too question & challenge the hegemony of the all-powerful state & be an
> effective counter-check to the all-pervasive hegemony. But the media from
> being the Fourth Pillar of Democracy has been subverted to become the Fouth
> Pillar of the Elite Establishment. It's role has undergone a radical change
> & now is part of the Mis-Information Ministry.* The task of the media now is
> to *'manufacture consent'* (to use a Chomskian term) for government
> policies, either in the realm of war or as is currently on in the enthnic
> cleansing of the Adivasi population in the forests of *Dantewada* or in
> spreading *Islamophobia*, amongst a host of other issues. For over a year,
> the corporate media ran a systematic campaign, vilifying all Adivasis &
> their regions as 'Naxalite Infested' & after having successfully run the
> campaign are totally absent from the scene of the mass murder, even as the
> Government has unleashed it's firepower against our very own civilian
> population.
>
> Another glaring example was the* 'Indo-US Nuclear Deal'* & the entire media
> parroted the Government line barring a few exceptions. Worse, on
> the*'Global War on Terror'
> *, the Corporate Media has been reduced to printing verbatim the
> mis-information provided by the Intelligence Bureau (our very own ISI) & the
> Police. No investigation whatsoever into the lies that have spread fear in
> the hearts of 200 million Muslims, who are increasingly seen as terror
> suspects due to the atmosphere of Islamophobia that pervades the front pages
> & the airwaves.
>
> *Thus never has it crossed the minds of the Press Club Management to invite
> a group of Muslims or other secularists who have been exposing the terror
> attacks, including 26/11 & battling Islamophobia??*. We guess not. Within
> the Press Club we have individuals who are supporters of Modi, the leading
> face of Fascism in India. These individuals have their own doubts about the
> encounter killing of Ishrat Jehan, now proved without a doubt of being one
> of Modi's myriad victims. Also journalists who naively believe in the benign
> role of the US in resolving the Kashmir dispute, between India & Pakistan.
> *
> And we get banned. Thankyou!*
> *
> And look at the Imperial Fascist nature of the American Empire.* The US is
> currently directly involved in five wars across the Asian & African
> continents in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen & Somalia. That is, even as
> it worsens the Israeli stranglehold over Palestine & especially the inhuman
> siege of Gaza. The US threatens to Nuke Iran. It is deepening it's military
> presence in Columbia, as it seeks to role back the Bolivarian Revolution
> across South America & has singled out Chavez' Venezuela. This is the Global
> situation.
>
> *And we get banned for taking on the US Pro-Consul!!*
>
> *And we were under the wrong impression that there were certain elements
> within the Press Club leadership that had LEFT leanings.
> *
> *Can any sane person any longer deny that the CIA had no role to play in the
> planning, execution & financing of Mumbai 26/11?* Has not it been proved
> that David Coleman Headley is a CIA operative & was the mastermind of the
> terror attack on Mumbai? Is it not true that the CIA warned the Government
> of India about the impending terror attack, but did not warn Pakistan? It is
> not obvious even to the layperson, leave alone political thinkers?
>
> *As soon as Headleys' role was revealed, one would have expected the Press
> Club management to call of the Flomsbee meet & in fact boycott all American
> programmes till it was proved otherwise.* But the certain sections of the
> elite journalists who have lost their idelogical moorings are at the root of
> the intellectual crisis in the media.
>
> I*n fact the 'Deadley Headley' matter truly came to the fore just a few days
> prior to us getting wind of the fact that the US Consul General was coming
> out of his Fortress at the US Consulate at Bridge Candy & that is when we
> decided to hold our demonstration.
> *
> We had planned to demonstrate for 10 minutes, as beyond that it would be
> impossible as the Police Station is right across the street. One would
> recall that when Sec.of State Hillary Clinton had visited India (July 17-19
> '09) & unfortunately our city as well, the police had whisked us away from
> our homes as they wrongly believed that we were planning demonstrations
> against her. So as far as the Indian State & the Police apparatus are
> concerned our anti-imperialist credentials are very strong indeed. We have
> filed a case against the Police for their unlawful detention & that is a
> case we are currently winning.
>
> *The demonstration as even our worst detractors will attest, was totally
> Non-Violent.* As soon as Folmsbee got up to speak, Kishore Jagtap began to
> raise anti-imperialist slogans (America - Quit India / Extradite Headley CIA
> agent / Release Vikram Buddhi / Down with US Imperialism / Mahatma Gandhi
> Zindabad / Dr. Ambedkar Zindabad / Shivaji Maharaj Zindabad / Vande Mataram
> / Jai Hind !!). We then distributed pamphlets to the journalists present &
> after 10 minutes as planned, we walked out of the Press Club. *We did not as
> much touch a single journalist, turn over a chair, or throw a shoe . . .
> like the two courageous journalists whom we admire, Jarnail Singh
> (Chidambaram, Home Minister) or Montazer-al-Zaida (President Bush).*
> *
> To our utter surprise the entire Press Corps walked out with us.* The Press
> wanted to know more about the *Headley issue *as well as the young
> Indian, *Vikram
> Buddhi *who is currently incarcerated in a US jail on false terror charges &
> we conducted an informal Press Conference in the open area outside the
> premises of the Press Club.
>
> To our pleasant surprise, the police did not appear & we carried on for a
> cup of tea & hot samosas. *The organizers then were gathering the
> journalists again & the Folmsbee Press Meet did carry on & he did put
> forward the Bush-Bama line as expected. So their Press Meet did take place &
> our intention as stated was never the Press Club, but the US Consul General.
> *
> *Any sane person in India is aware that the US has a very deep reach into
> our media, with a number of journalists on it's payrolls. Planeloads of
> journalists, intellectuals & strategic 'experts' have been now indoctrinated
> & cultivated as assets to be delployed as & when they are required. It goes
> without saying that these assets exist within the political parties,
> buereaucracy & our military-defence-intelligence establishment.*
>
> *Currently, we also need to state, that both Kishore Jagtap & myself are
> being threatened & targetted by the Abhinav Bharat & the Sanatan Sanstha,
> both of which are being investigated for their role in fomenting terror
> across the country.* Both these organizations have deep ties with the Mossad
> (mentioned in the chargesheets filed by the Anti-Terror Squad). As of now I
> have been given 24 hours police security as the threating calls are now at
> the rate of 2 per week. And the friends who have enforced the ban on us are
> aware of these facts.
>
> Awami Bharat, which comprises a small band of courageous & merry youngsters
> have changed the entire paradigm of the discourse on 'terror' & have
> successfully challenged even the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks & there is none
> in Mumbai who can now deny the role of the US-CIA in the terror attacks on
> our city.
>
> Even though our resources are few, we have accomplished far more at the cost
> & threart to our very own lives.
>
> Let it also be stated that since alst night we have been receiving support
> from all quarters & more so from vast sections of the media & the social
> movements.
>
> We would have atleast expected a dialogue with those within the Press Club,
> who have enforced a ban on us for doing our duty.
>
> In Solidarity with all those who strive for Truth & Liberty.
>
> Feroze Mithiborwala & Kishore Jagtap.
> 0091-9820897517 / 9324514101
>
> Varsha V V, Sayeed Khan, Amol Madame, Arif Kapadia, Vilas Gaikwad, Avi G,
> Jyoti Badekar, Chetna Birje, Reshma Jagtap, Avinash Kamble, Asif Khan, Syed
> Iftikhar Ahmad, Ghazala Azad, Mumnawwar Azad, Munawwar Khan, Yavar Ali Qazi
>
>
> AWAMI BHARAT
> For an International Struggle against Imperialism, Zionism & Brahmanism
> awamibharat.blogspot.com
>
>
>
> *B H A R A T B A C H A O A N D O L A N*
>
> *"FOR A NATIONAL STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPERIALISM, ZIONISM & BRAHMANISM*"
>
> *PUBLIC MEETING*
>
> *"LIBERTY TO PALESTINE"*
>
> *"END THE SIEGE OF GAZA"*
>
> *"BOYCOTT ZIONIST APARTHEID ISRAEL"*
>
> Venue: PRESS CLUB, AZAD MAIDAN, OPP. CST, MUMBAI.
>
> DATE/TIME: 18th JAN '10, MONDAY / 3-5pm
>
> :Speakers:
>
> Comrade Prakash Reddy (CPI, Mumbai Gen. Sec.), Com. Saeed (CPM, State
> Committe), Feroze Mithiborwala (IPPSF, Founder), Comrade Sanjay Singhvi
> (CPI-ML, Central Politburo), Adv. Yusuf Muchala, Col. Sudhir Sawant
> (Shivrajya Party, National President), Comrade Vasudevan (National Trade
> Union Initiative - NTUI), S S Yadav (Republican Party of India, Economist),
> Syed Iftikhar Ahmed (Islamic & Phule-Ambedkarite Scholar), Asif Khan (Muslim
> Intellectual Forum), Sudhir Dhawale (Republican Panther), Aslam Ghazi
> (Jamaat-I-Islami-Hind), Kishore Jagtap & Sayeed Khan (Awami Bharat, National
> Convenors) amongst others . . .
>
> 1) To Condemn the Israeli War & Siege on Gaza & the Occupation of
> Palestine.It was on the 18th of January 2009, that Israel stopped it's
> 23 day long
> genocidal onslaught on the Civilian popualtion of Gaza. Once again the
> Palestinian Resistance triumphed & the Israeli Holocaust war-machine had to
> withdraw in the face of growing International opprobrium & isolation. We
> thus again reiterate our demand for the criminal prosecution of the Israeli
> Political, Military & Religious leadership for being complicit & guilty in
> the mass murder of more than 1400 Palestinian Civilians & thus call for the
> implementation of the "Richard Goldstone Report".
>
> 2) We also condemn the Mubarak Regime of Egypt in being complicit with the
> US-Israel & EU Imperial-Zionist powers, for the continuing inhuman Siege of
> Gaza. We also condemn the fact that the US is currently constructing an
> 'audacious' STEEL WALL on the Gaza border, 14 kms in length & 30 metres in
> depth. This will effectively deprive the Gazan population of any modicum of
> 'hope' or even their basic needs, as the Tunnels that are Life-Line of Gaza
> will be terminated. So much for Obama's hypocritical & deceitful speeches.
>
> 3) "CAIRO DECLARATION", 2010 http://cairodeclaration.org : At the recent
> gathering in Cairo (27th Dec '09 to 2nd Jan '10) of more than 1400 Palestine
> Solidarity activists from across 43 nations, was passed the "Cairo
> Declaration" that called for to "End Israeli Apartheid" & "Freedom for
> Palestine". The activists, that included a delegation from India, had
> congregated to go to Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinian-Gazan
> population but were prevented by the Mubarak regime. The entire episode too
> will be discussed.
>
> 4) INDO-PALESTINE PEOPLES' SOLIDARITY FORUM (IPPSF) & the "DELHI
> DECLARATION", 2009: Recently at a solidarity conference that was held in
> Delhi on the 23rd of December '09, it was finally resolved to establish the
> IPPSF, so as to create an All-India network to actively stand in solidarity
> with Palestine as well as oppose the deep penetration of Zionist Israel into
> India. Therein was also released the "Delhi Declaration" (attached). We will
> also be discussing the process whereby this Forum would be established
> across Maharashtra as well as the rest of the nation.
>
>
> *:ORGANIZERS:*
>
> *Dinu Randive, Comrade Arun Velaskar, Mukta Srivastava, Mulniwasi Mala,
> Sudhir Dhawale, Major Barve, Bhagwan Kesbhat, Uttam Gade, Simpreet Singh,
> Shyam Sonar, Varsha V V, Sanjay Shinde, Shridhar Shirsagar, Reshma Jagtap,
> Jagdish Nagarkar, Madhav Wagh, Baba Dalvi, Shravan Devre, Valji Bhai, Abid
> Zaidi, Chetna Birje, Vilas Gaikwad, Avinash Kamble, Jyoti Badekar, Arif
> Kapadia, A. H. Faruqi, Yavar Qazi, Aarti Bonkar, Ravi Joshi, Pooja Badekar,
> Munawwar Azad, Ghaza Azad, Manohar Rajguru, Munawwar Khan, Farid Batatawala,
> Mark Anthony, Tito Eapen, Harshavardhan Vartak, Rahul Gupta, Shadab Sheikh,
> Dr. Ashwin Bhosle, Farrouk Mapkar, Dr. Rizwan Sheikh, Santoash Khangaonkar &
> Sainath Shinde.*
>
> *Awami Bharat , National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), Trade Union
> Centre of India (TUCI), Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), Safai
> Kaamgar Mazdoor Union, BAMCEF, Republican Panther, Phule-Ambedkari Vichar
> Manch, Jamaat-i-Islami-i-Hind, Aapli Mumbai, Marathi Bharati, All India
> Milli Council, National Minorities Federation, OBC Parishad, Republican
> People of India, Marathi Bharti, NEEDS, Vidyarthi Bharti, Muslim
> Intellectual Forum, Gujarati Intellectual Forum, Hindu Vikasini, Christian
> Panther, Yuva Sarkar, Ganai Sanskrutik Utthan*
>
> *Contact: (0091) 98208 97517 / 93245 14101 / 93237 03158 / 99693 63065*
>
> *JAI HIND! JAI BHARAT! FOR A SOUTH ASIAN UNION! ONE ASIA - UNITED ASIA!*
> *Address: c/o – Room No. 3, Plot No. 108, Borgaonkar Plot, Siddharth Clny,
> Swastik Nagar, Chembur, Mumbai.*
>
--
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
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