Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Jim Carrey Call to action on Burma and Aung San Suu kyi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NySuaJ2B20E
Jim Carrey Call to action on Burma and Aung San Suu kyi
Jim Carrey Call to action on Burma and Aung San Suu kyi
More Democracy Leaders Arrested. Military Continues to Hunt Down, Arrest, Torture, and Kill Peaceful Demonstrators
On the night of October 12th, Htay Kywe, one of the last remaining leaders of the 88 Student Generation who had been evading the authorites was arrested. Several other leaders were also arrested, including Mee Mee, who as seen above, was one of the main faces during the protests in August and September. The military continues to hunt down those who speak out. Already thousands have been arrests, many disappeared, tortured, and even killed. To see lists of monasteries raided, those arrested, killed, and disappeared, go to the AAPP website. Send an email to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to take concrete measures to ensure that the brutal treatment stops.
China is paralyzing UN Security Council action on Burma. They are the main economic, military, and political supporters of the military junta. For fifteen years China has refused to press its closest ally to allow its people human rights, and used its veto power to block the UN Security Council from acting. As a result, the UN is making the same mistakes it made on Darfur and Rwanda. We are calling on people of conscience throughout the world to boycott the 2008 Chinese Olympics, join our efforts. | |
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| Jim Carrey Call to Action : UN Must Act | |
| Appeals viewers to email Ban Ki Moon to coordinate response from UN Security Council | |
To send a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon urging him to take the lead on pushing for UN Security Council action on Burma- Click Here Now! | |
| Visit Our YouTube Page: www.youtube.com/uscampaignforburma | |
| Hollywood: UN Should Act on Burma | |
| Letter from over 25 Celebrities Calls on Secretary General to "Personally Intervene" | |
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| Today, over 25 Hollywood celebrities sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to "personally intervene" to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The letter was organized by the US Campaign for Burma and Human Rights Action Center and led by Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston. Click Here to Read the Letter and see who else has signed on | |
| Courage and Outrage | |
| The largest peaceful demonstrations in Burma in 10 years, and the regime responds with brutal force. On September 5th, troops sent in for first time and fire warning shots at monks. | |
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On August 15th, the regime hiked up fuel prices - up to quintupling the price of natural gas; this is despite the fact that the regime makes billions from the export of oil and natural gas. Then on the 19th, peaceful protests began in the capital Rangoon, and since then have spread. The speculations that protests would die down in Burma have proven wrong, and even though over 150 democracy activists have been arrested so far, many people are stepping up and calling for an end to injustice. Day after day people continue to march through the streets in towns all over Burma, making their simple and peaceful demands. | |
| Eastern Burma: Ignored Brutality | |
| 3000 Villages Destroyed in Burma, 1 million refugees, and the UN Security Council Does Nothing | |
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It is one of the most forgotten areas of the world; a place where mass displacement, forced labor, rape, torture, and all forms of persecution are a common reality. The destruction of over 3000 villages has led to the worst humanitarian situation in Asia. The ruling military junta in Burma maintains a steady strangulation throughout the country, and especially over the ethnic minorities in eastern Burma. These mass atrocities have been able to continue because of the support of countries such as China, whose cash, weapons, and political support ensure that the generals´ grip on power will remain. | |
| Red Cross Condemns Burma’s Abuses | |
| Harshest Criticism Since Rwandan Genocide | |
| The International Committee of the Red Cross usually maintains a neutral position; however, at the end of June this year, the ICRC strongly condemned the regime on grounds of forced labor and repeated atrocities committed against groups in eastern Burma- including murder, violence, arbitrary arrest and ´large scale´ destruction of food supplies. According to the BBC, this is the strongest public criticism since it spoke out against the Rwandan genocide over a decade ago. ICRC president, Kellenberger, noted that the reason for this harsh statement is the "continuing deadlock" with the authorities. |
| "Enough is enough." | ||||||
| Celebrities Join the US Campaign for Burma to Call for Action on Burma at the UN Security Council | ||||||
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Walter Koenig (Star Trek's "Pavel Chekov") at the Mae Tao Clinic on the Thailand-Burma borderMonday, October 15, 2007
Gopal Godse: The Living Legend
Gopal with his wife Sindhu at his Poona apartment
Back in 1948, Gopal Godse was a 28-year-old storekeeper at an Indian Army barracks in Pune. He, together with his brother Nathuram, friend Narayan Apte and four others, masterminded the killing of Gandhi, the great bane of the nation.
Notwithstanding the fact that his own brother, friends, and he himself may be sent to the gallows, this act of bravery was carried out unflinchingly, for they new that it was, but a small price to pay for the sake of the nation. Gandhi HAD to pay for all his wrong doings. Nathuram and Narayan were subsequently sentenced to death, and hanged on 15th November 1949. Gopal and four others were sentenced to life in prison. He was released in 1967. Gopal Godse is the only surviving member. Since then, he has been arrested and harassed by the police several times for expressing his sentiments against Gandhi.
An urn kept in his house, contains the ashes of his brother Nathuram. It was his dying wish that they be immersed in the river Indus, when India stands undivided again. Let us hope that this great sacrifice made by these men is not in vain.
Below are some of his recollections and notable quotes taken from some news articles andGopal Godse offered a razor-sharp recollection of his own role in the killing, from the moment when Nathuram Godse asked him if he would participate - "I gave my consent immediately" - to a first botched attempt on 20 January 1948, 10 days before the assassination. On that occasion, the conspirators detonated explosives in a wall at the New Delhi house with a view to drawing people away from Gandhi, but stopped short of tossing a grenade at their intended victim for fear of killing bystanders.
"Gandhi used to claim the Partition would be over his dead body. So after Partition when he didn't die, we killed him. "
"You know, I had mixed feelings," he said. "I knew I was going to lose a brother; and I had no doubt that I was going to be arrested and share his fate. On the other hand, our target had been fulfilled. We had done away with somebody who was not only satisfied with the creation of Pakistan; he wanted to see Pakistan progress; he was in fact the father of Pakistan. "
"So if you ask me, did I feel any repentance, my reply is no -- not in the least. We had taken the decision fully knowing what we were doing. We knew if we allowed this person to live any longer, he would do more and more harm to Hindus, and that we could not allow it."
"Our love for the motherland made us do it. We are not ashamed of it. Gandhi should have been honest to admit that his life was a failure. "
"You see, right from Pakistan and Bangladesh every Muslim is a converted Hindu. Gandhi's appeasement attitude (towards the Muslims) went far too much. That was why we killed him. Two hundred and fifty thousand Hindus were killed in Noakhali in October 1946. Hindu women were forced to remove their sindhoor and do Muslim rituals. And Gandhi said, 'Hindus must bow their heads if Muslims want to kill them. We should follow the principle of ahimsa (non-violence).' How can any sensibleNathuram Godse : Group of Accused
A group photo of people accused in the Mahatma Gandhi's murder case. Standing: Sukhwinder Singh, Madanlal Pahwa, Digambar Badge (Approver). Sitting: Narayan Apte, Vinayak D. Savarkar, Nathuram Godse, Vishnu Karkare
Nathu ram godse's speech at the trial
DO read it fully Full text of Godse's speech at his trial.....
" On January 13, 1948, I learnt that Gandhiji had decided to go on fast unto death. The reason given was that he wanted an assurance of Hindu-Muslim Unity... But I and many others could easily see that the real motive... [was] to compel the Dominion Government to pay the sum of Rs 55 crores to Pakistan, the payment of which was emphatically refused by the Government.... But this decision of the people's Government was reversed to suit the tune of Gandhiji's fast. It was evident to my mind that the force of public opinion was nothing but a trifle when compared with the leanings of Gandhiji favourable to Pakistan.
....In 1946 or thereabout, Muslim atrocities perpetrated on Hindus under the Government patronage of Surhawardy in Noakhali made our blood boil. Our shame and indignation knew no bounds when we saw that Gandhiji had come forward to shield that very Surhawardy and began to style him as 'Shaheed Saheb' - a martyr - even in his prayer meetings...
....Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogans of truth and non-violence which he ostentatiously paraded before the country... I could never conceive that an armed resistance to the aggressor is unjust...
... Ram killed Ravan in a tumultuous fight... Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness... In condemning Shivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Govind as 'misguided patriots,' Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit... Gandhiji was, paradoxically,
a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the country in the name of truth and nonviolence, while Rana Pratap, Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their countrymen forever...
....By 1919, Gandhiji had become desperate in his endeavours to get the Muslims to trust him and went from one absurd promise to another... He backed the Khilafat movement in this country and was able to enlist the full support of the National Congress in that policy... very soon the Moplah Rebellion showed that the Muslims had not the slightest idea of national
unity... There followed a huge slaughter of Hindus... The British Government, entirely unmoved by the rebellion, suppressed it in a few months and left to Gandhiji the joy of his Hindu-Muslim Unity... British Imperialism emerged stronger, the Muslims became more fanatical, and the consequences were visited on the Hindus...
The accumulating provocation of 32 years, culminating in his last pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the existence of Gandhiji should be brought to an end immediately... he developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was the final judge of what was right or wrong... Either Congress had to surrender its will to him and play second fiddle to all his eccentricity, whimsicality... or it had to carry on without him... He was the master brain guiding the civil disobedience
movement... The movement may succeed or fail; it may bring untold disasters and political reverses, but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's infallibility... These childish inanities and obstinacies, coupled with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty character, made Gandhiji formidable and irresistible... In a position of such absolute
irresponsibility, Gandhiji was guilty of blunder after blunder...
....The Mahatma even supported the separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency and threw the Hindus of Sindh to the communal wolves. Numerous riots took place in Karachi, Sukkur, Shikarpur and other places in which the Hindus were the only sufferers...
....From August 1946 onwards, the private armies of the Muslim League began a massacre of the Hindus... Hindu blood began to flow from Bengal to Karachi with mild reactions in the Deccan... The Interim government formed in September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members, but the more they became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were
a part, the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them...
....The Congress, which had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted Pakistan and abjectly surrendered to Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory became foreign land to us... This is what Gandhiji had achieved after 30 years of undisputed dictatorship, and this is what Congress party calls 'freedom'...
....One of the conditions imposed by Gandhiji for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan government...
Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of it... The people of this country were eager and vehement in their opposition to Pakistan. But Gandhiji played false with the people...
....I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred... if I were to kill Gandhiji. But at the same time, I felt that Indian politics in the absence of Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and be powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of Pakistan...
....I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus... There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book, and for this reason I fired those fatal shots...
....I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me... I did fire shots at Gandhiji in open daylight. I did not make any attempt to run away; in fact I never entertained any idea of running away. I did not try to shoot myself... for, it was my ardent desire to give vent to my thoughts in an open Court. My confidence about the moral side of my action has not been shaken even by
the criticism levelled of against it on all sides. I have no doubt, honest writers of history will weigh my act and find the true value thereof some day in future. "
Part - 7 !!!
Summary of List of Documents and Annexed
(1) Dy. Prime Minister's statement dated January 12, 1948. Payment of Cash Balance to Pakistan. Late Sardar Valabhbhai Patel, then Dy. Prime Minister has in his statement exposed Pakistan's highhandedness and double game of acquiring cash balances from India and at the same time continuing the invasion on Kashmir. he has strongly defended in the statement India's stand on withholding the money.
(2) The Finance Minister's account of negotiations reaffirms. Sardar Patel's stand and sounds a note of warning that India cannot be cowed down by the campaign of hectoring, bullying and scandalizing on the pert of responsible Ministers of Pakistan.
(3) The extract "India's spontaneous gesture of goodwill" first reiterates India's stand as just but then it yields to Gandhiji's fast and declares immediate release of the cash balances of Rs. 55 crores.
(4) This in an extract from the Prime Minister's statement. It avers that after consultation with Gandhiji Government had decided to release Rs. 55 crores.
(5) The resolutions of Hindu Mahasabha at its Bilaspur session in December, 1944: They were supported by Shri N. V. Godse.
(i) Basic principles of Constitution of independent Hindusthan : which will be styled as "Constitution of Hindusthan Free State."
(ii) Historically, politically, ethnologically and culturally Hindusthan is one, whole and indivisible and so she shall remain.
(iii) The Government to be democratic and federal in character.
(iv) The Federal Legislature to be bi-cameral in structure.
(v) Election to be on adult franchise on one man one vote basis. The electrorates to he joint with reservation of seats for minorities on population basis.
(vi) Fundamental Rights : All citizens to be equal in and before law. There shall be no law, civil or criminal, substantive or procedural, of a discriminative nature.
(vii) No citizen by reason of his colour, caste or creed to be prejudiced in any way in regard to public employment, office or power or honour or exercise of any profession, trade of calling.
(viii) All citizens shall, subject to public order or morality, enjoy freedom of conscience and profession and practice of religion and protection of culture and language and no law shall be made directly or indirectly to endow any religion or prohibit or restrict the free exercise thereof or give any preference or impose disability on account of religious belief of religious status.
The Will
The will of Nathuram is in the form of a letter in Hindi, addressed to. Shri Dattatraya Vinayak Godse, his younger brother. The Magistrate put a seal over it on November 15, 1949. The Jail authorities passed on the letter to Shri Dattatraya.
Nathuram left behind only valuable property-his ashes-and instructed how to dispose them of.
Ambala Jail,
My dear Dattatraya,
You are allowed to perform last rites of my body you may perform them in any manner. But I am to express herewith a specific wish.
The river Indus (Sindhu), on the banks of which our Pre- historic Rishis composed the Vedas is the Boundary of our Bharatvdrsha i.e. Hindusthan.
My ashes may be sunk in the Holy Sindhu river when she will again flow freely under the aegis of the flag of Hindusthan. That will be the sacred day for US.
It hardly matters even if it took a couple of generations for realising my wish. Preserve the ashes till then, and if that day would not dawn in your life time, pass on the remains to posterity for translating my desire into reality.
If and when the Government lifts ban on my statement made in the Court, I authorise you to publish it.
14-11-1949
Nathuram Vinayak Godse
I have donated Rs. 101/- on this day for its utilisation for the dome (kalasha) of the sacred Somnath temple which is under construction.
15-11-1949
Nathuram Vinayak Godse
7-15 a.m.
Seal of The Magistrate
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