CounterCurrents: The People Make The Peace: Vietnam's Lessons For Today, Israel/Palestine: Is It Too Late For Peace?

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Binu Mathew
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www.countercurrents.org


JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar Arrested On Sedition Charges And Remanded To Police Custody
By Countercurrents.org

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc120216.htm

Kanhaiya Kumar, president of Jawaharlal Nehru University's students union (JNUSU) was arrested in a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy. He was remanded to three-day police custody by a Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate


JNU Former Deans Shocked At The Sedition Charges Slapped On JNUSU President
By Former Deans of JNU

http://www.countercurrents.org/fdjnu120216.htm

We the undersigned who have taught at the Jawaharlal Nehru University for long and have served as Deans of its various Schools at different times are shocked to hear that the President of the Students’ Union has been arrested on charges of sedition. As he belongs to the All India Students’ Federation, his views and political associations are well-known, and to accuse him of sedition is beyond the bounds of credibility. The only previous occasion when the President of the JNUSU had been arrested was during the Emergency of 1975-77, and the present situation on the campus brings back memories of the Emergency days. We urge the Union government to take immediate steps to prevent the intimidation of students and to ensure that the normal functioning of the University is not disrupted in any way


Former Students Of JNU Condemn The Arrest Of JNUSU President
By Former Students Of JNU

http://www.countercurrents.org/fsjnu120216.htm

We condemn in the strongest possible words the high-handed police action in JNU. This is reminiscent of the dark days of the emergency when the state had swooped down on the campusand had arrested many on false and trumped up charges. While we hold no brief for those who raised objectionable slogans, the arrested students have been charged with anti-national activities, precisely the charges on which we were also arrested during the draconian emergency


JNUSU President's Arrest: Fascism In The Name Of Nationalism
By People's Union For Democratic Rights

http://www.countercurrents.org/pudr120216.htm

People's Union For Democratic Rights (PUDR) strongly condemns the Delhi Police for arresting the JNU students’ union president, Kanhaiya Kumar today, 12th February, on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy for holding a protest demonstration on February 9th against the judicial hanging of Afzal Guru, three years ago


NATO To Send Thousands Of Troops To Forward Bases In The Baltics And Eastern Europe
By Thomas Gaist

http://www.countercurrents.org/gaist120216.htm

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will expand its military infrastructure in Eastern Europe and deploy thousands of additional troops to areas bordering the Russian Federation, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday just prior to NATO discussions in Brussels


Israel/Palestine: Is It Too Late For Peace? 
By Alan Hart

http://www.countercurrents.org/hart120216.htm

If the occupied and oppressed Palestinians insisted on the dissolution of the PA and handing back to Israel full responsibility and complete accountability for occupation, the answer to my headline question might not be yes


Quality Of Components In Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant In India - 
Case Study Of The Defective And Prematurely Aged Polar Cranes
By VT Padmanabhan

http://www.countercurrents.org/vtp120216.htm

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) claimed that ‘unflinching commitment to quality and safety are the hallmarks of Indian nuclear power plants”. This case study of the polar cranes installed in KKNPP reactor buildings is a live testimony of the quality assurance programme of NPCIL and the role of AERB in ensuring this


The World Abets Thai Generals That Torture 
By Basil Fernando

http://www.countercurrents.org/fernando120216.htm

A trio of human rights groups in Thailand has released an importantnew report on torture by military and paramilitarypersonnel in the south of Thailand. The 120-page report, by the Cross Cultural Foundation, Duayjai and Patani Human Rights Organisation, is the most thorough account of the use of torture in Thailand’s south of recent times. Drawing on careful documentation of 54 cases of torture, 32 within the last two years, it presents a grim picture of conditions in military custody


The People Make The Peace: Vietnam's Lessons For Today 
By Steve Thornton

http://www.countercurrents.org/thornton120216.htm

Last year there were 3,343 events scheduled to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. In 2016 there are more to come. They are all funded by the Pentagon and its “partners.” Most are reunions and DAR banquets. But the “Vietnam War Commemoration,” authorized and funded by Congress back in 2008, is not really about honoring veterans. The Pentagon’s purpose is to rewrite the history of the War. That's why it is so important to read The People Make the Peace, recently published by Just World Books. It chronicles a 2013 trip to Vietnam by nine U.S. antiwar activists. Their first-hand accounts bring to a new generation some much needed clarity about our country’s criminal involvement in Southeast Asia


Dalit Struggles And Choice 
By Cynthia Stephen

http://www.countercurrents.org/stephen120216.htm

One of the queries raised by a senior retired government official from the Dalit community, who continues to engage with community issues well into his retirement, asked this question in the wake of the Rohith Vemula incident: "Should Dalit energy be wasted for causes like protesting against execution of Memon, favouring beef eating and needless confrontations with ABVP ???" I spent a lot of time mulling over this issue. Why did this valid question arise in the mind of our elder brother? I have not heard this question from anyone else in this entire very vexed debate. Most interlocutors seem to take for granted the fact of Rohith's involvement in larger issues as well as campus politics. Why then this question? I feel this is a valid question as it raises a number of issues of agency, voice, and representation