Updates from CPI (ML) Red Star December 2021
Great Victory for the Historic Farmers’ Movement against Corporatization of Agriculture!
PM Narendra Modi- Amit Shah team leading the neo-liberal, corporate/neo-fascist RSS/BJP regime has ignominiously surrendered before the determined historic struggle of the farmers for withdrawal of the three farm laws imposed by it for corporatization of agriculture. It is a great victory, let us celebrate it!
At the same time we cannot forget all the heinous crimes committed by Modi rule to divide and suppress the movement in which more than 700 farmers have become martyrs, four farmers were mowed down in Lakhimpur Kheri, and many other atrocities were committed by it. Still Modi is saying that he is doing it only because he failed to convince the farmers about his great intentions! It is a vicious statement!
The SKM had demanded the repeal of the 3 farm laws, legal guarantee for MSP, and implementation of APMCs and MSP in all states, including cutting down the prices of agricultural inputs. The SKM had demanded the withdrawal of all spurious charges leveled against the movement, condemned the malicious and criminal Sanghi propaganda of lies and calumnies against the heroic movement. So, while celebrating the victory, expressing joy for compelling Modi to apologize for what he has done, let us continue the struggle at all India level to achieve total victory in defeating corporatization of agriculture, and putting an end to farmers’ suicides by forcing the central and state governments to revere all steps taken to defeat the implementation of APMCs and MSP in all states.
Revolutionary greetings to all those, primarily the vast masses of people who firmly stood with the heroic farmers’ movement!
KN Ramachandran, GS, CPI(ML) Red Star.
AIKKS Press Release
When historic peasant is approaching completion of one year surmounting all types of state and non - state terror and defeating various forms of organized vilification campaign and naked conspiracy and there is going on active preparation for spreading the ongoing peasant movement through out India ; Modi government has forced to repeal pro corporate and anti peasant three black laws.
It is a historic victory. This victory is telling very clearly that sacrifice of more than seven hundred peasants ; heroic uninterrupted struggle of the peasantry and solidarity of working class, students and youth and other sections of the people have created such an atmosphere which compels fascist RSS-BJP to repeal black laws. It is a big blow also to foreign and domestic corporates who are trying their best for corporatization of agriculture.
Movement will continue as legal guarantee of minimum support price has not achieved.
People and people only are motive forces of history..
National Committee
All India Krantikari Kisan Sabha
19th November 2021
Samyukta Kisan Morcha Press Statement
November 19th 2021, 10.30am
The Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi announced the Government of India's decision to repeal all three anti-farmer, pro-corporate black laws first brought in as Ordinances in June 2020. He chose to announce this on Guru Nanak Jayanti.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha welcomes this decision and will wait for the announcement to take effect through due parliamentary procedures. If this happens, it will be a historic victory of the one year long farmers' struggle in India. However, nearly 700 farmers have been martyred in this struggle. The central government's obstinacy is responsible for these avoidable deaths, including the murders at Lakhimpur Kheri.
SKM also reminds the Prime Minister that the agitation of farmers is not just for the repeal of the three black laws, but also for a statutory guarantee of remunerative prices for all agricultural produce and for all farmers. This important demand of farmers is still pending. So also is the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill. SKM will take note of all developments, hold its meeting soon and announce further decisions.
Email: samyuktkisanmorcha@gmail.com
Advance to 12th Party Congress!
The12th Party Congress of the CPI(ML) Red Star is held from 24th to 29th September, 2022, at Kozhikode in Kerala at a critical turning point in our country’s history when the RSS led Manuvadi, Brahmanical, Savrna fascists have succeeded to come to power and trampling down all that was positive in our history. The significance of the 12th Congress is that it will put forward an updated Party Program and Path of Revolution based on present concrete condition and strive hard for unity of the communist revolutionary force to build a powerful communist party capable of taking up the task of building the broadest possible united front of the anti- fascist forces, and a common program based revolutionary left core with alternative development perspective.
The history of the communist movement shows that more than the enemy outside, it is the right opportunist and left adventurist trends within the movement, which has caused ir-repairable damage to it. These deviations make the communist party incapable of analyzing the concrete situation, to study the fast changes in its policies by the imperialists, and to develop the theory and practice of revolution according to the changing situation. If it was the uncompromising ideological struggle waged by the communist revolutionaries against the revisionist line of CPI and neo-revisionist line of CPI(M) during 1964 to ’67 led to the Naxalbari Uprising, to break away from the revisionist path, it was the failure to continue this ideological political struggle for analyzing the concrete situation in the country and to chalk out the path of revolution according to concrete Indian conditions led to the left adventurist line which resulted in the disintegration of the Marxist-Leninist movement very soon. It is a matter of great concern that in spite of the severe reverses suffered by the international and Indian communist movement during the last few decades due to such mistakes, almost the same is happening once again presently. Even after the collapse of social democracy in Bengal and Tripura, sections of the ML forces compromise with them. Even after total alienation from the masses, the so-called Maoists still stick to the left adventurist path.
It is in struggle with these deviations, the Red Star could develop its understanding on transformation of colonial forms of exploitation to neo-colonial forms under US imperialism during the post Second World War years, on the IMF-World Bank induced Green Revolution leading to vast changes in the production relations in agricultural sector, recognition of the integral relations among class struggle, caste struggle and gender struggle in the caste based Indian society, importance of waging theoretical offensive against the Manuvadi/Hindutva/ Savarna RSS ideology, recognition of the contradiction between capital and nature as a major contradiction, development of the concept of building a Bolshevik style party surrounded by class/mass organizations which are politically led by the party, but organizationally independent etc. This theoretical offensive has led to merger of many sections of ML forces from all streams, strengthening it. It has also made the Red Star capable of leading a number of mass movements against the ruling forces and play an important role in the ongoing farmers’ movement and other struggles.
The importance of the 12th Congress is that while evaluating the experience of fighting against the neo-fascist, neoliberal/corporate Modi rule, it shall put forward the path of immediate struggles, while building up an anti- fascist broad front and its revolutionary core, based on which it shall carry forward the task of uniting all communist revolutionary forces and recruit tens of thousands of students, youth, women, workers and peasants to strengthen the party. We appeal to all ML forces to come forward and join in this significant party building and development of struggles at this crucial situation. The 12th Congress shall also chalk out steps to strengthen the concept of proletarian internationalism and to strengthen the ICOR. Let us energetically take steps to make the 12th Party Congress a great success.
When Historic Farmers’ Movement Completes One Year, Develop it as Mighty All India .Movement against Corporatization and Fascist Modi government!
On 26th November, the ongoing farmers’ movement completes one year at Delhi borders, and across the country. Preparations are underway in every state to observe the day with massive Mahapanchayats, assemblies, gatherings, etc.with the determination to continue it till victory.
SKM has called for re-starting the Sansad March aalso from 29th November, during the winter session of the Parliament, with every day 500 farmers marching to Parliament in tractors..
On 22nd November, a huge Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat will be held in Lucknow under the banner of SKM. On 28th November, another massive Kisan-Mazdoor Mahapanchayat will be organized in Mumbai also under the banner of SKM. In this way, in spite of all maneuvers of Modi govt to suppress it, the farmers’ movement, it is picking up momentum across the nation.
Meanwhile, in spite of self-censuring by the mainstream media, news of many farmers’ suicides from states where the APMC and MSP facilities are not available as in Punjab, Haryana and western UP are coming out. It shows that the ongoing struggle for repeal of the three farm laws for corporatization of agriculture is not just a need of the farmers of these three areas, but it is a demand of the farmers’ movement.
In several parts of the country, farmers are protesting for procurement of crops at MSP rates.. In Jaipur, farmers held a protest for procurement of Bajra, while in Karnal, Haryana, farmers held a protest for procurement of paddy. In Prayagraj, farmers held a protest and organized a march to Galla mandi. Farmers presented a 9-point demand memorandum which includes procurement of paddy at ₹1940 per quintal and dismissal of Ajay Mishra Teni. Thus, in different states with state specific demands the movement should be developed for APMCs and MSP as repeatedly called by the SKM. As some of the constituents .of the AIKSCC are reluctant to take initiative or become part of such a step due to their organization specific problems, as SKM has called, all organizations prepared to do so should take up this task.
This is what has happened in Chhattisgarh. Following the successful Kisan Mahapanchayat, the Kisan Magasangh has taken up a campaign demanding the establishment of APMCs and and providing MSP with legal protection. A time bound demand is presentedbefore the stat government. In Berhampore in Odisha a Kisan Mahapanchayat is planned on 7th December. Here is also the plan is to launch statewide agitation for APMCs and MSP. In W. Bengal a massive Mahapanchayat is going to be mobilized on 22nd December. In other states also AIKKS is strengthened and struggle for APMCs and MSP shall be organized
In UP, the Kisan Mahapanchayat is organized on 22nd November. Following this AIKKS is organizing a two day special conference for extending support to the SKM led struggle at Lucknow on 11-12 December.While Modi gpvt is intensifying fascist attacks as in Lakhimpur Kheri to suppres the farmers movement, let us intensify our efforts to spread the struggle for the APMCs and MSP at all India level, carry forward the campaign for defeating BJP in UP elections and to get the thre farm laws repealed.
Launch countrywide democratic movement against UAPA and all other draconian laws!
The neo-fascist Modi regime as well as the state governments, especially the BJP led state governments are imposing draconian laws like UAPA and terrorizing all sections of people. Even members of fact finding teams, democratic rights organizations, RTI activists and journalists are not spared. The whole state machinery is criminalized to intensify these attacks. CPI(ML) Red Star condemns state terror in all forms against the people. It calls upon all progressive democratic forces to condemn this fascist attack on popular forces. Let us launch countrywide democratic movement against UAPA and all other draconian laws!
Uphold the martyrdom of comrades Sivaram and Sharmista, shining examples of self-sacrifice and dedication to revolution!
The departure of comrades Sivaram and Sharmistha, PB members of the party at the prime phase of their revolutionary career is a great loss to the entire revolutionary movement. They has all round excellence in all fields and inspired all those who came in acquaintance with them. Still comrades and people who worked with them are organizing memorial meetings in different forms. Itwill continue as even after their martyrdom more and more people are getting inspired by their contributions in different fields. The memorial meeting organized by the WB state committee of the party in memory of com. Sharmistha and publication of a compilation of a part of her articles on 3rd October at Kolkatta attracted large numer of party members and supporters and addressed by leading comrades of the party as well as other organizations.
In Bhubaneswar, the members of the Basti Suraksha Manch and trade unions collected money to install his statue in front of Inquilab Bhavan, the headquarters of party, BSM and TUCI in Odisha on 28th November, six months after his departure. Tens of thousands of BSM and workers along with party comrades from all over the state, the central party leadership and leaders of numerous other friendly organizations participating in the program. Red Salute to our beloved departed comrades Sivaram and Sharmistha.
Glasgow: Another round of promises, but little action: Climate crisis cries for immediate solutions; But COP 26 also ended with tons of speeches, but no action!
Some 24 members of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) and 55 countries of the African Group (AG) comprising 54℅+17℅=71 ℅ of world population have been excluded from unjust 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This situation creates a compelling logic for adoption of the third commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol for post 2020 period because the 37 countries failed to comply with it with impunity. The COP 26 negotiators suffers from poverty of imagination under the influence of corporations which have made nation states subservient to their naked lust for profit at any cost. These 37 countries played a notorious role in killing the Kyoto Protocol and replacing it with a non-binding treaty.
During COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015, the Parties to the UNFCCC reached a voluntary Paris Agreement to combat climate crisis. The individual targets for 36 countries included in Annex B to the Kyoto Protocol for the first commitment period and their emissions targets included EU, US, Canada, Japan, Croatia, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Australia. US did not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. In December 2011, Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol effective from December 2012. The Protocol had extended the 1992 UNFCCC that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part one) global warming is occurring and (part two) that human-made CO2 emissions are driving it. The Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997. It had entered into force in February 2005. As a consequence of the insincerity of the key polluters, the 36 countries global emissions increased by 32% from 1990 to 2010.
Their insincerity became more pronounced during the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2013-2020). The 37 countries that had binding targets included Australia, the European Union (and its then 28 member states,(now 27) Japan, New Zealand, and Russia did not take targets in the second commitment period. Canada had withdrawn from the Protocol in 2012 and USA did not ratify it.In a clear illustration of how international law is just a declaration of pious intentions, Paris Agreement entered into force in November 2016 within 6 months of its adoption, prior to the entry of force of the second commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. In effect, it is crystal clear that Washington Declaration was aimed at killing the Kyoto Protocol. There was no need for non-binding Paris Agreement, there was a requirement for adopting third commitment period of Kyoto Protocol for 37 countries.
It is high time for the G-79 (LDMC + AG) and G-77 (134 counties) to unsign the Paris Agreement, and demand amendment of the Kyoto Protocol for the third commitment period. The Paris Agreement suffers from poverty of ambition to combat climate crisis. It must be realised that Paris Agreement cannot keep global temperature rise below 2° C above pre-industrial levels. It suffers from poverty of competence to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5° C. It will never make finance flows consistent with a low GHG emissions and climate-resilient pathway. Unless the entire focus is brought on the “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) of the 37 countries in pursuance the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, there cannot be climate justice. ……
The proposed third commitment period of Kyoto Protocol under UNFCCC must factor in the role of weapon manufacturers including nuclear weapon owners who are the biggest polluters, they constitute an unacknowledged cause of climate crisis. It has come to light that Pentagon budget makes USA, a bigger polluter than 140 countries combined. It may be recalled that it was US government managed to incorporate fake climate solution-carbon trade in the Kyoto Protocol. The dilution of Protocol was conceded by EU and others to keep USA as a party to the Protocol. USA became a party to the Protocol but subsequent to the dilution it unsigned the treaty. By doing so it boycotted both the first and the second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol. LDMC and AG must reject fake solutions to the crisis. The EU should recall and re-adopt it's original position against carbon trade. In order to combat climate crisis, to begin with weapon owners and the 37 countries must be made to ratify the UN treaty on prohibition of nuclear weapons which came into force from January 2021.
In the background of these developments, what happened in Glasgow was only a repetition. Tons of speeches, but no action. Modi’s speech at the conference and Indian bureaucrats’ performance only helped further dilution of the decisions. How can we expect that net carbon emission can become zero, when $3 trillion is expected to be spent on fossil fuel including coal in the coming decade? When the governments of India like countries consider talking about ending coal based power plants is a crime? What is required is a systemic change, putting an end to the capitalist imperialist system, and realizing a socialist future which will go for an alternative development perspective which is nature friendly, sustainable and egalitarian, along with democratization based on all power to the people, starting the planning from the grass root level, starting the discussions for it from the neighborhood committees.
RSS Agenda behind Modi’s Invitation for the Papal Visit to India
P J James
Modi’s meeting with Pope Francis, Head of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican City State and the invitation extended to him to visit India have attracted much attention. For instance, while the BJP leadership has described the developments a “watershed in global politics”, the Catholic Bishops’ Council termed it “historic”, even as the KCBC leader Cardinal Alencherry of the Syro-Malabr Church claimed that “the invitation extended to Pope would increase the prestige of India among the community of nations.”
The approach of RSS to the issue was very revealing. For, following Modi’s meeting with Pope Francis, RSS national general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale welcomed it as a normal event thus: “It is natural for a head of State to meet another head of State. Vatican is a recognised State.”
However, this approach of RSS seems to be a sudden somersault since for the last several years it has been consistently and resolutely opposing a Papal visit to India, and even as late as 2017, the RSS has been vehemently opposed to a Papal visit to India. The last visit of a Pope- the second visit of John Paul II- was in 1999. At that time, RSS-affiliated Parivar outfits such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal not only staged protests but also sought an apology from the Pope for alleged conversion by Christian missionaries in the past especially with reference to the centuries of colonial oppression and discrimination against Hindus in Portuguese-occupied Goa. VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore even went to the extent of describing the Pope as a “dacoit”.
During his Sri Lanka visit in 2015 followed by Myanmar and Bangladesh visits during 2017, Pope Francis reportedly had expressed his desire to visit India. But the RSS and its various outfits were against that. And alleging religious discriminations by Christian missionaries including allegations of rape by them in Meghalaya, many Hindutva organisations in 2017 even sent petitions to Pope seeking his apology for such acts.
In the meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (that was conspicuously silent on the martyrdom of Stan Swamy, a victim of Hindutva fascism as well as on the innumerable saffron atrocities on Christian churches and institutions including 305 attacks in the number in the first 9 months of 2021 alone), which was keen to maintain its unholy nexus with the ruling regime, have been consistently lobbying the Modi government since 2014 for inviting Pope to India. But on account of the reluctance on the part of RSS to give the green signal, the government was keeping this request in abeyance even as in its external relations the Modi government pursued an apparently cordial diplomatic relation with Vatican. It was part of that in October 2019, the Union Minister from Kerala V Muraleedharan visited Pope Francis in October 2019 and gifted a copy of Bhagawad Gita to him. He was just emulating the CPI (M) chief minister of Kerala E K Nayanar who along with Pinarayi Vijayan (present chief minister) also had the Bhagavad Git as a gift to Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Compared with erstwhile popes, Pope Francis is different in many respects. His crusade against conservatism within Church, solidarity with the oppressed and the persecuted, stand with the cause of the refugees, deep concern on corporate-induced global environmental catastrophe are all known widely. The most striking is his open denunciation of “Islamophobia” so assiduously brought up by US imperialism and espoused by its accomplices and lackeys as a justification for most heinous Yankee aggression and occupation in West Asia, North Africa and in many parts of the world. Unlike his predecessors, Pope Francis has no qualm in publicly declaring his solidarity with the most persecuted including the Palestinians and the Rohingyas defined by UN as the “most persecuted minority in the world today”. While in Dhaka, Bangladesh, grasping the hands of a group of Rohingya refugees, Pope Francis said: “Dear brothers and sisters, we are close to you. And on behalf of all those who have harmed you and of the indifference of the world, I ask forgiveness.” In solidarity, he added: “The presence of God today is also called ‘Rohingya’.”
In this background, the immediate and, of course, opportunist political significance of inviting Pope, according to political commentators, is to be understood in relation to the forthcoming Assembly elections in Goa and Manipur where the percent of Christian voters are around 25 and 40 percent respectively. Especially when the BJP is facing people’s simmering fury against its regime in Goa, the Pope’s visit is expected to politically help the Hindutva forces to consolidate the Christian vote-bank in their favour. This becomes all the more significant in view of the severe blow faced by BJP in the latest Assembly by-elections where it could manage to win only 7 seats out of 29 spread across 10 Indian States.
However, the second agenda behind Pope’s visit seems to have deeper and broader global ideological dimensions. In spite of Pope Francis’ firm opposition to Islamophobia and unwavering solidarity with the oppressed Muslims the world over, the Saffron think-tanks know that himself being a head of State who is aware of the diplomatic etiquette, he will not say anything on such controversial questions while in India. On the other hand, his presence in India will indirectly act as a facilitating factor for further strengthening of the unholy nexus with the official Catholic bodies like CBCI towards isolating and targeting the Muslims.
This becomes all the more significant in Kerala where the Catholic hierarchy hands in glove with the Sangh Parivar and with the connivance of the ruling CPI (M), the self-professed Marxists is engaged in a no holds barred offensive against the Muslims. Attributing “love jihad” (a conspiracy theory that alleges Muslim men waging a campaign to court women of other especially Christianity with the objective of converting them to Islam) and “narcotics jihad” (or “drug jihad”) against other religions. The CPI (M) allying itself with the Christian Kerala Congress, the latter having the same wave length with Brahmanical Sangh Parivar in its approach towards Dalits and Muslims, has been the biggest beneficiary of this variant of Islamophobia during the last local body and assembly elections.
The ideological bankruptcy of the depoliticised CPI (M) that in Kerala has already created a fertile ground for the flourishing of feudal/Brahmanical values cutting across mainstream parties and organisations. The consequent all-pervading dominance of Hindutva mind-set now enables the RSS with its unholy relationship with Catholic leadership in Kerala to take advantage of the situation in targeting the Muslims. This is self-evident from the immediate meeting of Surendran, the State BJP chief with Cardinal Clemis, leader of CBCI, following reports on Pope’s imminent visit to India. Thus concerted efforts are already in full swing to transform the RSS and BJP as a strong political force in the State using the Papal visit which is expected to materialise in the beginning of 2022.
High-time for Drastic Mass Political Actions
Soumya Dutta.
In June 2021, the Second-Order Draft of the IPCC Working Group II report (part of the set of upcoming Sixth Assessment Reports), which assesses impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, was partially leaked to the media. Later in August 2021, the IPCCs sixth Assessment - Working Group-I report, "Physical Science Basis of Climate Change" was released. This report, assessing the State of the Climate and its contributing factors, as well as possible trajectories, is very clear that over the last few years post the over-hyped 2015 Paris Agreement on limiting Climate Change to non-catastrophic levels, the governments and industry-businesses have done very little to move away from the destructive pathways. While it's clear that these are the governments and business-industry responsible for both causing the Climate Crisis by unlimited extraction-destruction-emissions, and also for taking mitigating actions to prevent Earth Systems Collapse. This has caused a fresh set of alarm about the time-window of actions and the scale of global changes called for. But Nature was sounding these warnings for quite some time now. July 2021 turned out to be the "hottest month ever recorded". The mid 2019 to mid 2020 saw Australia’s worst bushfires that killed over one billion (100 crores) animals and countless other insects and other life. It also sent about 700 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - a part of which was surely captured by phytoplankton s in the ocean. The US western coast saw some of the biggest wildfires in a century (burning over five million acres of forests) and possibly the worst continuing drought in over a millennia. Its Gulf Coast was hit by an unprecedented five consecutive hurricanes. Texas suffered a huge snowstorm and power outages. Both the "less cyclone prone" western coast and the usually post-monsoon cyclone prone eastern coast of India got hit by consecutive big cyclones for four years running (and counting). This was the first time in over 7-8 decades that the Arabian Sea facing west coast faced 4 consecutive years of big cyclones. And the torrential rains and devastating flooding with the large losses of lives and property, from northern Germany and Belgium to western India, is another reminder that these “new normals” are now challenges of saving lives by the millions, and arresting many millions more from becoming “climate Refugees”.
India’s west coast is now becoming the target of a big cyclone every year – four years in a row for now, and millions of coastal inhabitants from its more cyclone prone east coast are now looking at the prospect of permanently leaving (as unrecognised "climate refugees") – to an uncertain place and future. And two of the normally coldest places on Earth, Siberia and Alaska, have experienced record 40C+ temperatures for sustained periods, leading to widespread wildfires. Cool Canada and north-Eastern USA is right now experiencing Rajasthan’s desert like temperatures, and under the influence of a huge heat-dome. Arctic expeditions have shown that both on-land permafrost and shallow sea-bed methane hydrates are releasing the potent Green house gas Methane at increasing rate. Nearly 40% of the Coral reefs globally – called the rainforests of the ocean and nurturing nearly 30% of all marine life -- have been bleached and died, with projections that nearly 90% will die if the temperature rise reaches 1.5C. What that will do to the rich coastal ecosystems and hundreds of millions who depend on these rich fisheries, is not difficult to understand. Nearly 10% of insect species are already facing a loss of range, with the prospect of extinction (with huge implications for agriculture and forest biodiversity).
And the impacts that were predicted for times decades from now, has actually started happening. The Amazon rainforest, one of the biggest CO2 sinks till now, has possibly started releasing more CO2 than it’s absorbing or sequestering. This is an early signal that the dreaded "Amazon/ Tropical Forest Dieback" phenomenon can start much sooner than climate models predicted. Far in the north, the Arctic Ocean ice cover is shrinking so fast that greedy mineral explorers and shipping companies are looking for “new business opportunities”, of oil-gas and minerals mining, as well as "shorter router from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans, a global commercial shipping "bonanza". This, along with super-fast Greenland (and Antarctic) ice-sheet melting is adding massive amounts of cold water, visibly slowing down the Earths biggest natural heat transport mechanism, the global ocean currents (Thermo-haline Circulation, or the Atlantic Meriodinal Overturning Circulation AMOC), another possible tipping point for a major earth systems collapse.
From the science of emissions and temperature rise, and taking into account the time lag of temperature rise behind the atmospheric CO2 concentration, it’s now quite clear that we will cross the first redline of 1.5C above pre-industrial mean temperature – by the fairly conservative projections of IPCC -- as early as the decade of 2030-2040. And It’ll be more than a herculean task to limit the rise within 2C in the 2nd half of this century. The all round catastrophic consequences of that breach can be looked at from the toned-down (politically vetted) IPCC Special Report SR1.5, released in October 2018.
The challenges of drastic and urgent actions to limit the damages of the climate Crisis, has been fully understood by both the global political and business leadership, for decades now (as evidenced by scores of "internal and confidential" reports from fossil fuel industry giants), but willfully and criminally neglected and suppressed. Any action by smaller governments of most vulnerable nations have also been suppressed and often - bought over for a few million dollars. People's movements and civil political actions to stop this wanton destructions, have often been repressed - often brutally, by the same political leadership that professed positive climate action and claimed international awards (like the farcical UNEP "Champion of Earth" prize for Mr Modi). The game of tomfoolery and farcical drama continues, masquerading as "progressive climate action"!
The same story plays out in India, where no meaningful actions have been taken to secure the lives and livelihoods of multiple millions of vulnerable. In India, where a huge population lives in close proximity to coastal belts, high mountains, arid lands, rivers and deserts, the challenges are to get communities understand and prepare for these massive threats to both their lives and livelihoods. And we have not yet started these preparations, in any real sense. The Covid-19 crisis has shown us how high a price people have to pay, if its leadership is knowingly and callously unprepared. And yet, the damages caused by this Covid-19 crisis is but a curtain raiser of much worse crises that the Climate Crisis might bring – in far larger scale and scope. Though people’s actions are building up in several countries, sadly in India, this is not even a major issue for discussion, not to mention for elections. The youth climate justice movements in many countries are becoming more vocal and more millitant. The long delayed CoP-26 is scheduled to take place this November in Glasgow, and surely there will be increased pressure form now-alarmed public opinions from several countries. The life-and-death question is, will that be the "Social Tipping Point" for decisive Climate Action, or we will be hurtling towards certain climate catastrophe, as we are doing now?
There are the coupled crises caused by the globally accepted political economy of market capitalism, of neo-liberalism -- fast disappearance of multiple species (collapse of biodiversity), rapidly Advancing desertification in many countries, humongous inequity and fast eroding spaces for people's voices to be heard as important decision making inputs. Ordinary people have been pushed far out from the decisions, even discussions of what the world is facing, who and what caused these, how and what are the actions being / to be taken in these. An equally important question is - how do the global community take back control of running the world's affairs from the exploiting class who have created these multiple crises. How do we bring back - to the arena of mass political awareness and actions to these critical issues of, not only our times, but as important for the next few thousand years ? For what we do - or do not do - will determine what life on Earth faces for the next few millennia. And the time for those actions was 'yesterday'.
Let's put all our understanding, our political intellects and intents, put in our socio-political networking and try to better understand these issues and take decisive political actions to take back control of the human actions on this planet. For that is not only the most important thing for humanity, for the next thousand years at least, but also for present day life on Earth.
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