CounterCurrents: Double Whammy On Farmers: On Top Of Demonetisation India Scraps Wheat Import Duties!, Trump And The Attack On Free Speech

Dear Friend,

Government of India has struck a double whammy on Indian farmers. The farmers who are already cashless even to buy seeds due to the illconceived demonetisation were struck down by the decision of the Indian government to scrap wheat import duty (from 10 percent to zero). The logic behind this move is questionable and will surely have a devastating effect on Indian farmers in a way that cheap edible oils import already have

Today is International Human Rights day. We've    a number of stories from Myanmar on the plight of Rohingyas, Kathy Kelly writes from Kabul, Abdul Majid Zargar from Kashmir and many more. 

Also more stories from around the world. 

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Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org




Double Whammy On Farmers: On Top Of Demonetisation India Scraps Wheat Import Duties!
by Colin Todhunter 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/double-whammy-on-farmers-on-top-of-demonetisation-india-scraps-wheat-import-duties/

Government of India has struck a double whammy on Indian farmers. The farmers who are already cashless even to buy seeds due to the illconceived demonetisation were struck down by the decision of the Indian government to scrap wheat import duty (from 10 percent to zero). The logic behind this move is questionable and will surely have a devastating effect on Indian farmers in a way that cheap edible oils import already have





I Am In Queue. I Am Not A Black Money Holder
by N Srinivasa Rao

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/i-am-in-queue-i-am-not-a-black-money-holder/

The common people have been reduced to a set of criminals. They are now positioned in a way that they now need to declare “I am in queue. I am not a Black money holder”.






#HumansOfDeMonetisedIndia: Vanaja, The Domestic Help

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/humansofdemonetisedindia-vanaja-the-domestic-help/

My name is Vanaja. I am a 46 year old domestic help. I have been working as a domestic help for the past 22 years. They say there’s enough cash in banks for everyone. But all we get after standing in winding queues is Rs 2000 notes. What are we supposed to do when most shops are reluctant to tender change. It pains me that I have to go through so much pain to get my hard-earned money. The only respite is that we get things on credit from most of the kirana shops in our area. We have tightened our belt..






Rohingya Tragedy And Aung San Suu Kyi’s ‘Buddy’ Solution
by M Adil Khan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/rohingya-tragedy-and-aung-san-suu-kyis-buddy-solution/

Persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar is continuing with impunity and without a break. Dieng and Yanghee Lee, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, have confirmed these atrocities and “requested independent UN investigations on the alleged ‘ethnic cleansing’ and other mass atrocities in the Rohingya region of Rakhine State”. But Aung San Suu Kyi has remained defiant to an extent that when asked by her admiring Myanmar crowd of these allegations during her recent visit to Singapore at a town hall meeting she responded callously that these are “external fabrications” and then“laughed out loud” – Hillary Clinton did the same when she reported to her colleagues, Gadhafi’s murder which she herself engineered!





Decline Of Human Rights Protection Regime
by Pushkar Raj 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/decline-of-human-rights-protection-regime/

The recent summoning of Chhattisgarh officials by the National Human Rights Commissions (NHRC) for abuse of power is significant due to the expectations from human rights protection institutions in the country to deliver on their mandate. However, concerned officials may never appear before the commission to explain their conduct indicating a steep decline in human rights protection regime in the country.





Human Rights Day, A Call To Care
by Kathy Kelly 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/human-rights-day-a-call-to-care/

December 10th marks the U.N. Human Rights Day, celebrating and upholding the indispensable and crucial declaration of universal human rights.On the eve of this event, I visited a refugee camp housing 700 families in Kabul. Conditions in refugee camps can be deplorable, intolerable. Here, the situation is best described as surreal. As I approach the entrance to the camp with my friends Nematullah, Zarghuna and Henrietta, we are overcome by the stench emanating from an open sewer filled with filth. I ask myself, “Can this be real?”





Gay Manifesto & International Human Rights Day
by Dr P S Sahni 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/gay-manifesto-international-human-rights-day/

Twenty-five years ago in November-December 1991, the AIDS BhedbhavVirodhiAndolan (AIDS Anti-discrimination Movement, ABVA) brought out the first Report titled ‘Less Than Gay’ on the status of homosexuality in India, The English language weekly, SUNDAY, then edited by VirSanghvi, dubbed it as pornographic literature! 





Kashmir: Human Rights Observed In Breach
by Abdul Majid Zargar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/kashmir-human-rights-observed-in-breach/

Physicians for Human rights (PHR) is a New-York based, nobel peace prize  winner, international organization which attempts to use Science & Medicine to prevent human rights violations around the world.  In its  report of December 2016, Kashmir has found a special mention with respect to latest intifada post killing of Burhan Wani in July 2016. The relevant extracts of the report are reproduced hereunder






Trump And The Attack On Free Speech
by William T. Hathaway

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/trump-and-the-attack-on-free-speech/

Let’s welcome our new Commander in Chief by demonstrating how little he knows about the Constitution of the United States. Each incoming president is required on inauguration day to take the oath of office, affirming to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.” But Trump proved his ignorance of this document when he recently wrote, “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag — if they do, there must be consequences — perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail!” The Supreme Court, however, thinks otherwise. It has twice ruled that burning the national flag is not a crime but a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment, a legal way to protest government policies.





The European Union’s Future: Beyond Italy’s Referendum
by Jon Kofas  

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/the-european-unions-future-beyond-italys-referendum/

The mainstream media and politicians reinforce xenophobia by the manner they cover related issues, thus contributing to public distraction from the core issues. Given the current economic, and sociopolitical trends, Europe will find itself at some point in the not too distant future in the same course toward authoritarianism as the US. In a continent that has experienced Nazism, Fascism, and varieties of authoritarian regimes in the last century the signs are evident that indeed history is not a steady Hegelian line of progress but one of regression that reflects the irrational in human nature.






John Glenn (1921-2016): The End Of An Era
by Ugo Bardi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/john-glenn-1921-2016-the-end-of-an-era/

John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962. It was the start of the adventure that led to the lunar landing in 1969; only seven years later. It was an age of enthusiasm and of great expectations; a time that, today, looks remote. The conquest of space may have been made possible by the high energy yield of fossil fuels that made us rich. But it is a wealth that we don’t have anymore; the depletion of the high yield fossil resources is making us unable to afford the kind of extravagances that were possible decades ago. So, the death of John Glenn may signal the end of the cycle of human spaceflight. 






The News Demonetisation Devoured
by Suraj Kumar Thube 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/the-news-demonetisation-devoured/

Amidst the nationalist hysteria, prominent personalities like Balmuralikrishna, Fidel Castro, Jayalalitha and C Ramaswamy passed away this month. Is it too much to ask for decent, insightful stories being made on what these people stood for and the legacy they leave behind at a time of trumped up nationalism displayed by our news channels?




The Fall Of Italy’s Demolition Man
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/10/the-fall-of-italys-demolition-man/

No one model of explanation will do here. The populist parties in Italy, as they have shown in other parts of Europe, are bothering the forces of the establishment who merely wish to ride out the storm. But to do so will take more than a technique of comfortable argument proposed by Rajoy.