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By Ramakrishnan

Chou En-Lai, Panchen Lama, Mao Tse-Tung and His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Beijing, China in 1955. (Photo courtesy Tibet Images). July 1954 to June 1955 / Dalai Lama Visits China for peace talks and meets with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders, including Chou En-Lai, Chu Teh and Deng Xiaoping.

On 27 September 1954, the Dalai Lama was made as a Vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, a post he officially held for years.  The Lama in 1959 went back on all that under US pressures. 

The Seventeen-Point Agreement, on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, was an agreement between the Local Government of Tibet and the Central People’s Government of China. It was signed  on 23 May 1951, in Zhongnanhai, Beijing. The 14th Dalai Lama ratified the agreement in the form of a telegraph on 24 October 1951. Both parties agreed : “The Tibetan people shall unite and drive out invading imperialist forces from Tibet; the Tibetan people shall return to the big family of the motherland – the People’s Republic of China.”

In an appeal made on March 28, 2008, after violent protests by a few of his supporters in Tibet were suppressed,  the Dalai Lama said:  “Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet’s separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples.”

The Lama again went back, under US pressures, and joined hands with USA in June-July 2024, when Biden in brazen violation of One China Polcy,  signed “The Resolve Tibet Act.”

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Part-1 of  this two-part article was titled : Dalai Lama playing politics explicitly, is given Z-category security cover all over India, even as USA intensifies its interference with  ‘Resolve Tibet Act.’  Tibet has been part of China for centuries, under various feudal dynasties, and America always recognized Tibet as part of China. Tibet continued to be part of China led by the Communist Party of  China (CPC). It is not as if communists newly annexed Tibet. They only abolished centuries-old  serfdom and slavery presided by the Dalai Lama, who himself in 1954-55 accepted the social change.Taiwan regime also does not recognize Tibet’s independence. In this part-2, we see how together, the American super power, and the regional hegemoinst India seek to play a Tibet card, and use Dalai Lama as a pawn in their anti-China politics. Towards this end, they indulge in double-tongue, and violate the “One China Policy”  they had adopted for decades, so as to “contain” China. Modi-led India continues subservience to the global hegemonic strategy of USA in the Trump era.

Dalai Lama aged 89 was flown to USA in June 2024 ostensibly for knee treatment. In fact, he was taken as part of the Great Game by USA: Biden signed the dubious ‘Resolve Tibet Act’ while Dalai Lama was in USA. Both before and after Biden signed it, the US had consultations with the Lama, and with India, violating the One China Policy both adopted. 

A week  after Trump took office, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing on 26-27 January for a meeting that “reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties”, said MEA in a Presser. It was an important, positive but hesitant move after the thaw on LAC. And it is part of a double-tongued policy of Modi-3.0:

A few months after his return from USA, the Lama was taken to Karnataka’s Bylakuppe,the largest  Tibetan settlement outside China, ostensibly for rest and rehabilitation. That is the birth-place of Penpa Tsering, “elected” in May 2021 as  Sikyong (President) of “CTA”, ie., the Tibet Govt-in-exile.There he was visited, on 14 February 2025, by Bandi sanjay, India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs, and Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara of  Karnataka. It was the day on which PM Modi met President Trump. He was told he would get Z-category security, all over India! 300 armed security forces were posted in Bylakuppe, a small peaceful township! Discussions took place there about the future of CTA, of  Dalai Lama. And about his “re-incarnation” in which USA and India would play a crucial role, and China should have no role, they insist!

This Part-2 will focus more on the sinister role played by US super power, as part of its Asia Pacific strategy : “Dalai Lama on 2024 Aug 21 had met Biden administration officials in New York City as the India-based Tibetan spiritual leader continues with his effort for Tibetan self-rule,” wion news.com reported August 22. He was told Biden signed the Resolve Tibet Act.

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What’s behind this strategy of “self-rule”? 

A document which is a MUST-READ for anyone who thinks they know, or would like to know, the truth about the Dalai Lama is the US State Department publication ‘Foreign Relations of the United States 1964 – 1968 Volume XXX’.

In late 1958… the CIA trained more Tibetans at Camp Hale with a total of 259 Tibetans trained over five years in tactics representative of guerrilla warfare. The CIA, together with its Indian equivalent the RAW, continued the nefarious games till date. The above is a partly declassified document that showed how US meddled with Tibet. Wikileaks brought out more. The meddling and disinformation about Tibet continued, and would continue,  for decades, which is not a secret.  

“The five-fifty is a win-win strategy as it calls for renewed efforts to seek genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people in the next five years while strategising to strengthen and sustain the Tibetan movement over the next fifty years,” CTA chief Lobsang Sangay had said.

Neither USA nor India is really interested in the welfare of the Tibetan people, who were liberated from a serfdom where slavery was legal until 1950-51, when it was abolished. The Dalai Lama had accepted socialism, and in 1954 Sep, he joined  the Central govt of China as its Vice-Chairman, with Mao as the Chairman. Later, under US pressures, the Buddhist Lama reneged, and led an armed revolt with US aid, arms and training, acknowledged universally as a notorious CIA operation. That involved using child conscripts too.

Vietnam war  had led to the biggest anti-war movement in USA but the “Buddhist” Lama  never condemned the notorious war, nor any later war by USA. Ironically he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. But that is often the norm, the Peace Prize is a political reward by the West: “Throughout his life the Dalai Lama has had close associations with many Nazis, including Bruno Beger..”

“ The (CIA) program ended (for the time being) after President Nixon visited China to establish closer relations in 1972. The Dalai Lama then criticized this decision, saying it proved wholeheartedly that the US never did it to help the people of Tibet.”

“Why this Tibetan cause? “We will continue to engage diplomatically with allies and partners  to advance our US national interests and shared policy priorities,” an American  official said.

Human Rights is a stick to beat China, or any other country…USA which butchered  millions of people for decades  across the world through perpetual wars seeks to work for human rights in China! And NATO and India forces join forces in these crimes.

(for more on this subject, visit..

Tibet , Dalai Lama and USA (30/04/2019)

https://countercurrents.org/2019/04/tibet-dalai-lama-and-usa-ramakrishnan/

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Duplicity of India and the USA

“Dalai Lama on 2024 Aug 21 had met Biden administration officials in New York City as the India-based Tibetan spiritual leader continues with his effort for Tibetan self-rule,” wion news.com reported August 22. The officials told the Lama that President Biden signed the Resolve Tibet Act. The Dalai Lama was invited to USA in the name of knee treatment, but his brain was kept busy and active as he was continuously involved in explicitly political activity:   

Indian media concealed what was to happen in relation to Dalai Lama, who is used as a pawn in US hegemonic, strategic games.

We had asked questions like:

If the Dalai Lama was going to USA, why should a big delegation come all the way to India, meet him here, the Indian PM, the foreign Minister and other officials? What was cooking?  Why the Indian media failed to report the travel plan in advance?  

The US Congressional  bi-partisan delegation, led by Republican McCaul, India’s (‘official’) DD News reported, 20/06/24, traveled to Dharamshala, and presented the Dalai Lama with a framed copy of “The Resolve Tibet Act,” a bipartisan bill passed by the US Congress the previous week to enhance US support for Tibet. It was obviously a political activity, allowed by India, that involved USA and the Dalai Lama. Later the delegation met PM Modi, after they met Foreign Minister Jayshankar, and other (RAW?) officials at Delhi. Presumably they reported what they discussed with the Dalai Lama. Jaishankar appreciated their “strong and continued support for the strategic partnership between India and the US.”

In a brazen act of interference in China’s internal affairs, in their public meetings, the delegation advocated for Tibetan self-determination, and ironically asserted that Chinese interference in Dalai Lama’s succession would not be acceptable. This they did despite China’s multiple warnings before and during the trip, protesting any contact with the Dalai Lama.

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What is new in the Tibet policy of the super power USA and its junior partner India?

Modi agrees with hegemonist US rather than with Vajpayee

Meddling in China’s affairs is nothing new for the USA. What’s new?

ndtv.com Jun 21, 2024 reported:

The Tibet policy bill was hugely popular in the US Congress and was the “One voice of one nation, showing the US stands behind the people of Tibet,” Michael McCaul told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. “Tibet has never been a part of China. That’s just a lie. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) sends disinformation,” he added.

The fact is : it is not PRC, the communist China, that devised a new policy for Tibet, which was part of China for centuries, and successive feudal dynasties ruled it.  

This indicates how USA shifted and stepped up its own stance on Tibet, which is recognized by the whole world, including America India and EU, as part of China.

This false and provocative statement by McCaul goes against India’s  Delhi’s official position, as amplified by PM Vajpayee, whose BJP successor is Modi, that Tibet is part of China. Vajpayee signed in June 2003 an MOU : “ India recognized that Tibet (TAR) is part of the territory of China.” In fact it is a continuation of the policy PM Nehru had adopted but tampered with his Forward Policy during late 1950s.

It was explained then that Vajpayee got in return the first-ever recognition by China that Sikkim, a territory India annexed in 1975, is part of India. It is implied that both countries should not re-open Tibet and Sikkim.

PTI June 24, 2003 reported: “ The (Vajpayee) agreement  reiterated that New Delhi would not allow Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities in India.”

Does India endorse statements made by the US delegation on Indian soil? whether New Delhi continued to adhere to the ‘one-China policy’?

Ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal replied,  The Wire 2024 June 21 reported:

“The Government of India’s position on His Holiness the Dalai Lama is clear and consistent. He is a revered religious leader and is deeply respected by the people of India. His Holiness is accorded due courtesies and freedom to conduct his religious and spiritual activities,” he said. But what is the practice?

Obviously Modi-led India ditched the policy adopted by PM Vajpayee. US indulges in open anti-China activity, along with CTA and Dalai Lama, from the Indian soil. There is nothing “spiritual” in this. Modi agrees with hegemonist US rather than Vajpayee. And Modi emulates Nehru with his own itch for a new Forward Policy.   

The Wire report significantly added: “The missing phrase was, of course, any mention of political activities…As has been the norm since 2009, the MEA has not publicly reiterated the ‘One China’ policy, but neither has it been repudiated. On the US lawmakers’ remarks, Jaiswal passed the ball. “As regards the statements by the US delegation, I would refer you to the US side and it is for them to answer.”

2009 means the Congress-led UPA was in power. Thus this dubious policy was initiated by that regime. And Congress continues to tail USA. It is competing with BJP in that, and claims to be one-up in its anti-China policy. In fact, Rahul Gandhi often taunts Modi that he is not daring to question China.

“There is not one inch of Indian territory under foreign occupation,” PM Modi declared in an all-party meet after Galwan. Not a bullet was fired along the LAC for over 5 decades, it was officially stated. ‘

Still both Congress and BJP speak as if China is India’s enemy. Like America, Indian riling classes extend bi-partisan support to Dalai Lama, formerly of slave-owning class of old Tibet. And both allied with the USA, allocated around Rs.7 lakh cr per year in the Union Budgets, and India emerged as a big arms buyer, and America, Israel and some in EU have a good share in India’s Defence imports. They need China, and Pakistan too, as ‘enemies’.  The Big Business, particularly Tatas, Ambanis and Adanis are big beneficiaries, even as Defence is opened up for private sector, and for 100 percent FDI. Thus India emulated USA and is emerging as a Military Industrial Complex.  The Defence sector is increasingly a happy hunting ground for  private sector, including foreign capital. Adani too made a big entry with ‘flying’colors. See:

India’s shift to a Defence-oriented economy, with increasing role for the private sector (19/03/2023.)

https://countercurrents.org/2023/03/indias-shift-to-a-defence-oriented-economy-with-increasing-role-for-the-private-sector/

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Few outside India believe claims that Dalai Lama is a mere religious figure

“NOISY PROTEST: Wherever the Dalai Lama travels these days, devotees of the Dorje Shugden sect accuse him of being a religious bigot. On July 9, 2015  protesters gathered outside the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center where the Dalai Lama was speaking.” – REUTERS/Paul Mooney. There were scores of such protests across Europe and Australia too. The Lama is accused of corruption, and nepotism too. His own brother and sister were CTA officials for long years; they are no more. There were child conscripts of Dalai Lama forces.

Few believe India’s claims on Dalai Lama being a mere religious figure.  Modi himself wrote after meeting the US delegation that just  returned after meeting with the Dalai Lama:

“Had a very good exchange of views with friends from the US Congress in a delegation,” Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter, adding that he “deeply” valued the “strong bipartisan support in advancing the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership”.  These developments and the India’s election results clouded some important developments.

Even as the new Cabinet (essentially the old core team, including the Foregn, Defence, Finance Ministers) was sworn in on June 9…

“ The newly elected National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, led by PM Modi, has approved, on Jun 11 2024,  the renaming of 30 places in Tibet, signaling a strong response to China’s nomenclature aggression in Arunachal Pradesh.  The names will be released by the Indian Army and updated on their maps along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), media reported. (business-standard.com)

This move is a direct retort to China’s renaming of 30 places in Arunachal Pradesh in April, Indian media reported. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has maintained that assigning “invented” names does not alter the reality. But it found no other way. Obviously it applies also to India that gave some new names.

The US delegation brazenly violated the international law in all this, and Delhi is complicit in it.  ‘

The US is bent on perpetuating the anti-China political activity, going on for decades on the Indian soil, as is clear from the report by the International Campaign for Tibet, a Dalai Lama outfit, June 19, 2024:

“The Tibetan children living here and in diaspora communities around the world, and those living under the repression of the PRC… they are Tibet’s future, and they give me such great hope…”  There were child conscripts of Dalai Lama forces earlier. And now again.

America-sponsored wars had five lakh children killed in Iraq war alone. Recent Gaza war saw tens of thousands of children killed, orphaned, homeless.

Tencho Gyatso, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, who was in Dharamsala and accompanied the delegation said: “China’s misplaced hope is that the Tibet issue will fade away…This high-level delegation making the lengthy journey to Dharamsala to meet with the Dalai Lama and elected Tibetan leaders shows that the United States will never forget Tibet.” she said.

US House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman McCaul affirmed that “US would not allow China to interfere with Dalai Lama’s succession”. (Times of India, June 20.). What business has America has in this affair? And how can India allow this, and tail USA on all this? 

The double-tongued policy Modi regime has been rightly criticized earlier by many like ..

Suhasini Haidar …@suhasinih (The Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu)

“In one month, our govt has issued statements on events in US (capitol riots), Sri Lanka (devolution), Pakistan (Temple attack) etc…, and also told half a dozen countries they have no right to comment on Indian “internal matters” (farmers protests, CAA,J&K etc)..”

But everyone can see India hosting for decades a  Tibetan “government-in-exile,” and its renewed political activity, now very brazen. It goes against all cannons of international law, against UN Charter, even as India backs USA harping on a “rules-based world order,” an euphemism for a hegemonism of USA. 

Reflecting the changed view, and a further shift in policy, of the Indian Establishment, Times of India 2024 June 21, said in its editorial: “ India has stopped referring to the One China policy for years…New Delhi should have no hesitation in backing the Tibetan cause. India needs  leverage.  And the Tibet issue is a big one.”  That reflects the mind of Indian establishment, though Delhi for now is engaged in duplicity.

China justifiably protested brazen interference by USA on the Indian soil.

And now one can see the reason behind China’s ire:

“It’s known by all that the 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. He called on Washington “to fully recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honour the commitments the US has made to China” on issues related to “Xizang” – the Chinese name for Tibet. China urged the US to “have no contact with the Dalai group in any form, and stop sending the wrong signal to the world.”

Lin said: “China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.” (19 Jun 2024,SCMP).

Observers recalled Pelosi’s 2022 visit as speaker to Taiwan prompted Beijing to suspend all cooperation with Washington for months. This visit could complicate Biden’s recent attempts to stabilise ties with China.

In fact, “Growing US-India cooperation could have been one of the triggers of the border clashes in the first place,” as said by an American expert. With such brazen violations, how can Modi-led India hope to mend its relations with China?

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New Elements in the US Policy on Tibet

Bill S.138, titled “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict Act”, is the Senate version of the bipartisan House bill HR. 533, which the House passed earlier on with a strong majority. Later it passed “The Resolve Tibet Act.” We shall now discuss its significance.

In a paper ORF published on Sep 03, 2024, Sujan R. Chinoy, Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi since 2019,  explained:

“The spirit of this law, ‘Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’, stands in contrast to historical US recognition of Tibet as a part of China.” 

A career diplomat from 1981-2018 , Chinoy held several important diplomatic assignments, and is a specialist on China, East Asia etc; he anchored negotiations and developed confidence-building measures (CBMs) with China on the boundary issue from 1996-2000. On deputation to the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) from 2008-2012, he wrote:

“The Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act directly refers to a “dispute” between Tibet and China, implying that they are two distinct geographical and political entities. This is different from the relatively restrained language used in the 2002, 2018, and 2020 Acts. Additionally, the latest legislation focuses on exerting pressure on China to have a meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama without the usual preconditions imposed by China, such as acceptance by the Dalai Lama that Tibet has always been a part of China.

“ Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama has been ready to reconcile to the fact that Tibet is (today) part of China. He has also declared that he is not seeking independence for Tibet and that he is committed to arriving at a negotiated settlement.”

“ Clause 5 of Section 2 [Findings of US Congress] of the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act states that the “US government has never taken the position that Tibet was a part of China since ancient times.”

The duplicity and double-tongued policy is made clear:

“ However, this reaffirmation does nothing to question the US position, shared by the global community, that Tibet is today part of China. The protection of human rights in Tibet and its right to self-determination have been revived in the new Act…The Act, like its predecessors, covers not just the Tibet Autonomous Region but also the areas of Greater Tibet, which have long since been carved and merged with neighbouring Chinese provinces such as Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan.”

This analysis by Ambani-funded ORF, a pro-govt think-tank, notably comes after the latest parleys and developments involving India, America and the Dalai Lama. Modi-3.0 is committed to these policies, notwithstanding some thaw regarding the LAC. The developments of Bylakuppe, and provision of Z-category security, are part of these policies of intervention in China’s affairs.

They are a hurdle to the resolution of India-China disputes, including on LAC. Trump is re-orienting America’s foreign policies, but unlike with Russia, he is hostile towards China. India’s Foreign Minister Jayshankar already had several rounds of parleys with the Trump Presidency.  

Alka Acharya JNU Professor, School of International Studies, and former director, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi, had warned in March 2018:

“For this one so-called ‘Tibet card’ that we appear to hold, the Chinese have six in their hand.”  And that is all the more dangerous given the volatile and inflammable situation in North-east, aggravated by the divisive politics of the sangh pariwar.

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India must give up its anti-China alliance with USA, more so in Trump era

“With an undisguised glee, Uncle Sam is nudging India into further spats with China.” Illustration: GT. “India should be wary of the West’s trap of “China vs. India” narrative,” commented Global Times, Apr 26, 2023, in a different context.

“India has once again indicated that it is willing to gradually ramp up pressure on issues like Tibet and Taiwan,” said Harsh Pant, an international relations professor at King’s College London. India’s foreign policy towards China, he said, has been undergoing a “gradual calibrated change” since 2020 Galwan clash. Since then, multiple rounds of diplomatic and military-level talks have failed to normalise relations. Both nations maintain a significant number of troops and advanced weaponry along the border.

Beijing had said that the border dispute was “not the entirety” of its relations with New Delhi, calling for steady ties. But India, unlike in the past, won’t agree with that.

Michael Kugelman, Wilson Centre, USA, said that it seemed as though India was “trying to signal that it can use its relationship with the US as leverage”. Modi’s hosting of the delegation was a “very explicit signal”, he said, that New Delhi was “fully” behind the delegation’s audience with the Dalai Lama, and that it wasn’t just “politely” facilitating it.  “India appears more risk tolerant now when it comes to how far it’s willing to go with pushing the Tibet issue,” Kugelman said.

While US-India security relations are deeper than ever before, Kugelman said, the US delegation’s meeting with the Dalai Lama could have consequences along the “Line of Actual Control” (LAC), the disputed 3,000-km (1,864 miles) Himalayan border, where China may react..

“That’s a real risk and will be something to watch,” he said, suggesting that the growing US-India cooperation could have been one of the triggers of the border clashes in the first place.

Recalling the extensive military exercises China conducted around Taiwan after Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in 2022, Kugelman said that her latest trip could give Beijing a “pretext to try to push back in a big way against India or the US or their allies”.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3267435/us-lawmakers-meeting-modi-after-dalai-lama-signals-new-delhi-shift-china-analysts

That was all in the Biden era.

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India and China in Trump era now agreed “to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence”

A week  after Trump took office, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing on 26-27 January for a meeting that “reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties”, said MEA in a Presser.  It was an important, positive but hesitant move after the thaw on LAC.

 Despite claims of personal rapport Modi has with Trump, nothing can be taken for granted. It is already evident in immigrants’ issue and tariff hikes. Trump’s policy is full of uncertainties,even for EU and NATO. India is very low on  Trump’s priorities.

The MEA Presser said:

“ 4. The two sides recognize that 2025, being the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China, should be utilized to redouble public diplomacy efforts to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public. The two sides will conduct a number of commemorative activities to mark this anniversary.”

The other points include:

“ 2. In this context, the two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025…They also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss resumption of provision of hydrological data and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers.

• The two sides agreed to take appropriate measures to further promote and facilitate people-to-people exchanges, including media and think-tank interactions. They agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries..

5. The two sides took stock of the extant mechanisms for functional exchanges. It was agreed to resume these dialogues step by step and to utilize them to address each other’s priority areas of interest and concern. Specific concerns in the economic and  trade areas were discussed with a view to resolving these issues and promoting long-term policy transparency and predictability.

• During his visit, Foreign Secretary called on Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Director of the Office of Central Commission of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Minister H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, and Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China H.E. Mr. Liu Jianchao.

https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/38946/Visit_of_Foreign_Secretary_to_China

Vikram Misri also met Liu Jianchao, Head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, India Today reported: The two officials discussed the implementation of the consensus over the Ladakh border deal, ways to strengthen dialogue, and issues of regional and international concern, according to statements from both sides. It is significant in the Trump era when both India and China are facing tariff wars and other threats.

Similar agreement was arrived at Mamallapuram summit between Modi and Xi jinping in October 2019. They had the decided to celebrate that whole year. India China bilateral trade surged despite Delhi’s call to “Boycott China goods.”

But the anti-China lobbies in the Govt, driven by USA, had derailed all that. The alibi was the much-blown up Galwan with a few casualties. Thousands died in IPKF ops in Srilanka, but that did not hurdle bilateral relations.

After Galwan PM Modi officially declared “ not an inch of our land is under occupation.” And it was said “not a single bullet was fired along the LAC  over  4-5 decades, despite the LAC dispute.”

When that is the case, why the hostile propaganda in the media as if China is India’s enemy? Why escalating the military build-up along LAC?

 India and China, should redouble public diplomacy efforts to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public. People-to-people exchanges, including media and think-tank interactions, must be intensified. They should not be allowed to be derailed under pressures from Trump or the pro-US lobbies entrenched in the Indian State and polity.  

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See for more on Tibet Dalai Lama and related issues, by the author…

Indian Hawks Join Hands With US Vultures Against China ( June 16, 2020).

https://countercurrents.org/2020/06/indian-hawks-join-hands-with-us-vultures-against-china/)

Dalai Lama turns 85 today and 60 years of that he served US imperialism, operating from Indian soil, playing havoc with India-China Relations (06/07/2020)

https://countercurrents.org/2020/07/dalai-lama-turns-85-today

Disinformation, a key instrument of  India’s foreign policy in relation to China and Pakistan? (01/07/2023)

https://countercurrents.org/2023/07/disinformation-a-key-instrument-of-indias-foreign-policy-in-relation-to-china-and-pakistan

Ramakrishnan is a political observer, who contributed to countercurrents.org.

6 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Vijay Prashad

The whole thing is a fiasco. The theatrical drama in the White House’s Oval Office triggered a series of predictable responses around the world. Outrage at US President Donald Trump for his rudeness and ridicule for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were some of the reactions. Then, the failure of French President Emmanuel Macron to create a European agreement with the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer and Zelenskyy revealed the absolute dead ends that confront this exhausted war in Ukraine. The question that these discussions provoke is simple: is there an exit for this war?

Permanent War

If the war aims of Zelenskyy and his European partners are to weaken Russia or to overthrow the government of Vladimir Putin, then this war might either go on forever or accelerate into a dangerous nuclear scenario. Opinion polls in Russia show that Putin’s approval rating is now at 87%. Even with a mountain of salt, this is far higher than the approval rating in France for Macron. With Russia’s economy resilient during this war, it is unlikely that it will be further weakened with the continuation of hostilities. What the evidence shows, however, is that Europe’s economy is suffering from war inflation that has not been reduced. If this war is to continue, Macron said, then European states would have to increase their military spending to 3% or 3.5% of their GDP. This would further damage the living situation of most Europeans. Would young, working-class Europeans be willing to go and man the dangerous frontline in Ukraine on behalf of a war aim (weakening Russia) that is impossible? It is unlikely. (There is a separate cruelty of middle-class Ukrainians fleeing the country for Western Europe and then working-class Western Europeans being asked to come and defend that country for them).

A permanent war will lead to unnecessary loss of life in Ukraine and to a permanent economic crisis in Europe. It is also unlikely because the United States will not financially and militarily back such a war indefinitely, resulting in the collapse of any long-term European commitment to Ukraine.

The Korean Solution

If neither Ukraine nor Russia are willing to move to a ceasefire and then a negotiated settlement (which would include security guarantees for all sides), then there is the possibility that the current frontline that stretches from northern to eastern Ukraine will become a permanent Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Ukraine would thereby be divided indefinitely with an immense waste of social wealth to maintain a perpetual frontline. This is the most likely scenario, although it might not be palatable for Europeans to have a Korea within their continent.

The South Korean military maintains 600,000 troops along the 38th Parallel, alongside almost 30,000 US troops. Much the same is the situation in the north. Billions of dollars are spent annually on surveillance and logistics for over 900 square miles of territory that is not available for economic use. Europe would have to underwrite this Korean solution for Ukraine for eternity (just as the United States provides guarantees and funds to South Korea, and China does the same for North Korea).

A Security Consortium

The Helsinki Process that emerged to bring the US and USSR into negotiations in 1975 and that formed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has played almost no role for peace in the war on Ukraine.

The only interlocutors that have been given permission to speak about the war in Ukraine on behalf of Zelenskyy have been the United States, the Western European leaders, the leaders of the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Leaders from Europe’s east – apart from those who are integrated into the NATO-EU – have been either silent or told that their opinions do not matter. But it is these eastern European countries that share with Ukraine the fact of having a border with Russia, and it is these countries that most need to form a security consortium that includes Russia and provides mutual guarantees. Those countries that directly share a border with Russia’s west are – from north to south – Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan (Lithuania and Poland share a border with the Kaliningrad Oblast, which is a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea). Three of them (Finland, Estonia, and Latvia) are members of NATO and of the EU, while one of them (Norway) is a NATO member but not in the EU.

Would it be possible for these eight countries to call a conference with Russia on the broader issues of security rather than the narrow issue of Ukraine? That three countries that border Russia are already NATO members (one of them, Norway, was a founding member in 1949) suggests that the problems in Ukraine are separate from NATO membership itself. Rather, they stem from anxiety about a border line created in a hurry when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 (this impacts Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, but not Norway and Finland, which were not part of the Soviet Union).

In the early 1980s, former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme chaired the Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues, whose 1982 report Common Security: A Programme for Disarmament made the case that ‘The task of diplomacy is to limit, split, and subdivide conflicts, not to generalize and aggregate them’. In other words, all conflicts cannot be settled at the same time. A ceasefire is good in itself; the issues to resolve need to be separated, and those that are easier dealt with first to build confidence. To bundle all issues into one problem makes a dispute intractable.

The countries that border each other, including those that border Russia to its south and east, must live next to each other. They cannot lift themselves out of their geography and go elsewhere. Ukraine cannot be relocated to France. It must remain beside Russia. In that case, these countries need to find a way to build trust.

To begin with, the assertion that one cannot trust a neighbour is the worst way to build confidence between the peoples of neighbouring countries. Neither the EU nor NATO (without full US military backing) can subordinate Russia and force it to bow before Ukraine. A British cabinet minister said last year that his country would last only six months in a full-scale war with Russia. Meanwhile, a Kiel Institute for the World Economy report suggests that Germany is spending its money buying weapons but does not have a standing army capable of self-defence, let alone winning an offensive war against Russia. Europe, without the United States, is a shadow.

It would behove all parties if a country that borders Russia calls for such a security consortium to be built and if it is able to get guarantees from NATO not to expand further eastward and from Russia to draw back its military from the border regions. There are long relations among these countries, with families on both sides of the border. Any lessened tension in general is good for humanity, and if such a manoeuvre will lead to peace in Ukraine, that would be far better than a permanent scar on this part of the European continent.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter.

6 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Quds News Network

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Despite the widespread destruction from Israel’s 15-month assault, over 150,000 students have enrolled in 165 government-run schools across Gaza, following the Ministry of Education’s launch of a compressed academic year on February 23.

More than half of these schools are forced to operate in three shifts daily due to the severe destruction caused by Israel’s assault, according to the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1893557802494288066]

Over 7,000 teachers have been mobilised to support the disrupted education system, with 30 schools in northern Gaza, 52 in Deir al-Balah, 57 in Khan Younis, and 26 in Rafah.

[https://twitter.com/UNOCHA/status/1897282952540905654]

Gaza Education

Despite efforts to restore education, Israel’s blockade and the destruction of infrastructure continue to deny Gaza’s children their basic right to learn.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1894857757339304029]

Tala, an 8th-grade student, returned to school after losing one of her best friends in the Israeli assault.

“Heba was my best friend. She was killed in an Israeli attack on her family’s home last year. She always sat next to me in class, but now I’m sitting here without her,” Tala said, noting that several of her classmates were also killed.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, over 15,000 school-age children have been killed, along with more than 800 workers in the public education sector during the Israeli assault which led to a disruption of formal education for two consecutive academic years, lasting a total of 300 days.

Ahmed Musleh, a 10th-grade student at a central Gaza school, said they are surrounded by rubble with no furniture, textbooks, or devices available.

“We depend on the teacher’s explanations. The students suffer a lot because we have no access to textbooks or devices. The prices of paper and even pens are expensive because the crossings are closed by the Israeli occupation, and such materials aren’t getting through,” he said.

Israel’s direct targeting of school and educational buildings has caused significant damage to 95% of these structures. Furthermore, 85% of them are no longer operational due to complete or partial destruction, along with the loss of all resources, including school and administrative furniture, textbooks, devices, and equipment, the Office stated.

“Usually, this would be a day of celebration—seeing the children in their new uniforms and heading to school. Today, all we hope for is that the war ends and the ceasefire continues before we lose any one of them,” the mother of Tala told Quds News Network.

6 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Nick Beams

US President Trump’s imposition of a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, which came into effect on Tuesday, has sent a shock wave through the global economy as the realisation grows that the entire framework of economic and trade relations set in place after World War II has disintegrated.

In addition to the tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico, the US added another 10 percent to tariffs against China, on top of the 10 percent that had earlier been enacted.

China has retaliated with a 15 percent tariff on American agricultural products including chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, as well as a 10 percent tariff on sorghum, fruits, vegetables and dairy products.

Beijing has added 10 US companies to the so-called “unreliable entity list,” meaning they are prohibited from exporting or importing in China or making new investments. It also made 15 US entities subject to an export control list.

Canada has responded with an immediate 25 percent on $21 billion worth of US imports, to be followed by a tariff on around $90 billion worth in three weeks’ time.

The tariff measures were initially unveiled by Trump shortly after his inauguration on the grounds that Canada was not doing enough to halt the flow of the drug fentanyl into the US. But this was only a pretext for the expansionist aims of the US as Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has now blurted out.

At a press conference on Tuesday, he said the issue of cross-border trafficking of fentanyl was “completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false.” What Trump really wanted to do was to trigger “the total collapse of the Canadian economy because that would make it easier to annex us.” Earlier Trudeau had told a meeting of business leaders that Trump’s focus on critical minerals meant his annexation threat was a “real thing.”

It is a sure sign of the economic and geopolitical breakdown. What might have been said behind closed doors is now out in the open, as imperialist leaders publicly accuse each of lying in order to cover up their real agenda.

The threat to the Canadian and Mexican economies is a very real one. More than 80 percent of the exports of both countries go to the US. According to an analysis reported by the Wall Street Journal, Canada could face a contraction of up to 5 percent of GDP and Mexico 3 percent.

Europe is also directly in the firing line with Trump having threatened to impose tariffs of 25 percent, after denouncing the European Union as an organisation set up to “screw” the US.

In his address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump emphasised that the imposition of “reciprocal tariffs” would go ahead after the delivery of a report on April 2. The planned measures go far beyond tariffs and will include retaliation for any measures, such as the European value-added tax and regulations on the tech giants, which the US considers inimical to the profits of its corporations.

After lobbying by major US auto companies, Trump has given them a one-month reprieve on the Mexico-Canada tariff, which his press secretary Karoline Leavitt said was aimed at ensuring they were not “at an economic disadvantage.” How a one-month carve-out would assist the auto firms in their planning operations that extend over years she did not say.

Even before the one-month delay, there have been warnings that whatever the twists and turns in the future, the damage has already been done.

Matthew Holmes, executive vice-president in the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, told the Journal: “Businesses just can’t switch their whole model to avoid tariffs and then go back again, depending on what politicians decide on any given day.”

The Trump trade war not only threatens every economy in the world but also the US itself. One indication is the fall in share values on Wall Street, which has wiped out all the gains made since the Trump election victory in November. So far, a total of around $3.4 trillion has been wiped off market capitalisation.

Warnings about the impact of tariffs have been coming thick and fast. The farming sector is one of the first to be hit, as industry representatives denounce the tariff measures.

“Contrary to what the president thinks, this means nothing but pain,” Aaron Lehman, head of the Iowa Farmers Union, told the Financial Times.

Other comments to the FT were in the same vein. Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, said farmers were “frustrated.” Tariffs were not something to be taken lightly and to “have fun” with, but hit businesses in the wallet. They have rocked a “core tenet on which our trading relations are built, and that is reliability.”

Referring to Trump’s election claims that he would bring down prices and grow the economy—part of the snake oil claims that induced millions of people to vote for him out of anger and disgust with the Democrats—Michael Hanson, a spokesperson for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said: “Tariffs on Canada and Mexico put those goals in serious jeopardy and risk destabilising the North American economy.”

The New York Times has reported that “anxious business groups” were holding meetings to determine their responses, with some even considering a legal challenge to the national security authority under which Trump has imposed them.

Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at the banking and financial forum Nationwide, has said that if the tariffs were maintained and retaliation followed, economic growth would be at least one percentage point lower in 2025 than it had been in 2024, coming in at just 1.5 percent.

The outlook for the American economy appears to be rapidly worsening. Last Friday, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s running estimate of GDP growth forecast a contraction of 1.5 percent in the first quarter. In an estimate published on Monday, that contraction had risen to 2.8 percent.

US businesses are reporting significant declines in new orders and employment. The ISM purchasing manufacturers index for February dropped to 50.3 from 50.9 the previous month. The level of 50 marks the boundary between expansion and contraction. Other indexes pointed to a steep decline in new orders, falling from 55.1 to 48.6.

The prospect of a significant downturn in the US economy is also reflected in the bond market. Yields (interest rates) on the 10-year government bond have been falling.

Normally they could be expected to rise in the expectation by investors that the Federal Reserve would not be cutting rates because of inflationary pressures caused by the tariff hikes, which, contrary to Trump’s lying claims that they are paid for by foreigners, hit consumers and businesses.

But market sentiment is shifting rapidly. At the beginning of the year, there was an expectation that there would only be one interest rate cut this year. But now there is an expectation of three cuts starting in June.

This is because investors fear that Trump’s tariff measures will push the economy towards a recession in which the Fed will feel the need to cut rates. One of the concerns of the Fed, though this is not mentioned openly, is that a recession could set off a sharp fall on Wall Street and lead to financial turmoil.

As Emmanuel Cau, an analyst at the Barclay’s bank, told the FT: “Investors have started to really fear Trump’s policies. If there is a growth problem in the US, that will be hard to ignore … People are nervous, with some even starting to fear a recession.”

6 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Michel Chossudovsky

[This conversation between Prof. Michel Chossudovsky and Drago Bosnic was produced by Lux Media. You may watch it here.]

Donald Trump has initiated bilateral peace negotiations with the Russian government of Vladimir Putin without the participation of (no longer president?) Mr. Zelensky. Moreover, Washington’s European NATO allies were not invited to the peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia. Will these confused negotiations –accompanied by increased sanctions against Russia– succeed?

Chaos on the Geopolitical Chessboard: Trump Against His European Allies

Britain’s Prime Minister Starmer, France’s President Macron and Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz are committed to a continuation of the Ukraine War as “a means to achieving peace” on behalf of powerful financial interests.

Visibly, however, there is a split in the so-called “Deep State”; conflicts within the Global Capitalist World Order, coupled with the bribing of politicians and the collapse of the decision-making process in both Europe and America, not to mention, the weaponization of AI, coupled with negligence and ignorance regarding the dramatic consequences of military escalation.

Remember the words of George W. Bush:

“I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.”

***

“Peace is a forbidden word.”

France, Germany and the UK have expressed their intent to continue to endorse the Neo-Nazi Kiev regime’s failed military agenda as a means to allegedly “reaching a long lasting peace.” The links of the Kiev regime to the Nazi parties and their links to Nazi Germany during World War II are barely acknowledged. Politicians are the victims of their own propaganda.

Britain’s Prime Minister Starmer says that he is in favour of military conscription: “‘ready and willing’ to put British boots on the ground in Ukraine.”

“The British Army currently has just over 74,000 full-time personnel of which around just 20,000 are battle-ready soldiers. Russia, … has close to 1.5 million active soldiers”

Conscription of troops has also been envisaged by France and Germany.

A shocking [confidential report of 68 pages released in November 2022] warned that a Russian invasion of Europe is “more likely than ever. … Germany’s [former] Inspector General of the Bundeswehr (Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) General Eberhard Zorn swore that the Bundeswehr is in for hard times. A conflict with Russia is becoming more likely, the general warned. The Bundeswehr must prepare for a possible attack, he said.”

The underlying mood in both Brussels and Berlin is to contemplate a pre-emptive (“defensive”) war against the Russian Federation which supposedly threatens to invade Western Europe.

What we are witnessing is a potential split within the US-NATO alliance, which could lead to devastating consequences.

Achieving a lasting peace requires the outright dismantling of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

—Michel Chossudovsky, March 2, 2025

__________________________________________

Our message to the peace movement across the land worldwide:

Abolish NATO!

In solidarity with the people of Ukraine!

На знак солідарності з народом України

PEACE IS ALMOST A FORBIDDEN WORD – MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY & DRAGO BOSNIĆ

__________________________________________

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research.

5 March 2025

Source: michelchossudovsky.substack.com

By Michel Chossudovsky

Author’s Introduction

We must understand the history of the U.S.-sponsored February 2014 Coup d’Etat which paved the wave for the adoption of IMF-World Bank shock treatment, namely the imposition of devastating macro-economic reforms coupled with conditionalities. This process –imposed by the Washington Consensus– was applied in developing countries since the 1980s, and in Eastern Europe and in the countries of the Soviet Union starting in the early 1990s.

Below is an the article describing the IMF reforms which I wrote in early March 2014, in the immediate wake of the Euromaidan Coup d’Etat which was led by the two major Nazi “parties”: Right Sektor and Svoboda, with the financial support of Washington.

What Is the End Game

The World Bank and the IMF reforms –while establishing the ground work– are no longer the main actors, representing the country’s creditors.

The traditional IMF-World Bank reforms are in many regards obsolete.

The Neoliberal Endgame for Ukraine –resulting from unsurmountable debts– largely attributable to military aid is the outright privatization of an entire country by BlackRock which is a giant portfolio company controlled by powerful financial interests with extensive leverage.

BlackRock signed an agreement with President Zelensky in November 2022.

The Privatization of Ukraine was launched in liaison with BlackRock’s consulting company McKinsey, a public relations firm which has largely been responsible for co-opting corrupt politicians and officials worldwide, not to mention scientists and intellectuals on behalf of powerful financial interests.

The Kyiv government engaged BlackRock’s consulting arm in November to determine how best to attract that kind of capital, and then added JPMorgan in February. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced last month that the country was working with the two financial groups and consultants at McKinsey.

BlackRock and Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2022. In late December 2022, president Zelensky and BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink agreed on an investment strategy.

—Michel Chossudovsky, April 27, 2024

The February 23, 2014 Coup d’Etat

In the days following the Ukraine coup d’Etat of February 23, 2014 leading to the ousting of a duly elected president, Wall Street and the IMF –in liaison with the US Treasury and the European Commission in Brussels– had already set the stage for the outright takeover of Ukraine’s monetary system.

The EuroMaidan protests leading up to “regime change” and the formation of an interim government were followed by purges within key ministries and government bodies.

The Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Ihor Sorkin was fired on February 25th and replaced by a new governor Stepan Kubiv.

Stepan Kubiv is a member of Parliament of the Rightist Batkivshchyna “Fatherland” faction in the Rada led by the acting Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk (founded by Yulia Tymoshenko in March 1999). He previously headed Kredbank, a Ukrainian financial institution largely owned by EU capital, with some 130 branches throughout Ukraine. (Ukraine Central Bank Promises Liquidity To Local Banks, With One Condition, Zero Hedge, February 27, 2014)

Kubiv is no ordinary bank executive. He was one of the first field “commandants” of the EuroMaidan riots alongside Andriy Parubiy, co-founder of the Neo-Nazi Social-National Party of Ukraine (subsequently renamed Svoboda), and Dmitry Yarosh, leader of the Right Sector Brown Shirts (centre in image below), which now has the status of a political party.

Kubiv was in the Maidan square addressing protesters on February 18, at the very moment when armed Right Sector thugs under the helm of Dmitry Yarosh (image above, centre) were raiding the parliament building.

The Establishment of an Interim Government

A few days later, upon the establishment of the interim government, Stepan Kubiv was put in charge of negotiations with Wall Street and the IMF.

The new Minister of Finance Aleksandr Shlapak (image below) is a political crony of Viktor Yushchenko –a long-time protegé of the IMF who was spearheaded into the presidency following the 2004 “Colored Revolution”. Shlapak held key positions in the office of the presidency under Yushchenko as well as at the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). In 2010, upon Yushchenko’s defeat, Aleksandr Shlapak joined a shadowy Bermuda based offshore financial outfit IMG International Ltd (IMG), holding the position of Vice President. Based in Hamilton, Bermuda, IMG specialises in “captive insurance management”, reinsurance and “risk transfer.”

Minister of Finance Aleksandr Shlapak works in close liaison with Pavlo Sheremeto, the newly appointed Minister of Economic Development and Trade, who upon his appointment called for “deregulation, fully fledged and across the board”, requiring –as demanded in previous negotiations by the IMF– the outright elimination of subsidies on fuel, energy and basic food staples.

Another key appointment is that of Ihor Shvaika (image below), a member of the Neo-Nazi Svoboda Party, to the position of Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food. Headed by an avowed follower of World War II Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, this ministry not only oversees the agricultural sector, it also decides on issues pertaining to subsidies and the prices of basic food staples.

The new Cabinet has stated that the country is prepared for socially “painful” but necessary reforms. In December 2013, a $ 20 billion deal with the IMF had already been contemplated alongside the controversial EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Yanukovych decided to turn it down.

One of the requirements of the IMF was that “household subsidies for gas be reduced once again by 50%.”

“Other onerous IMF requirements included cuts to pensions, government employment, and the privatization (read: let western corporations purchase) of government assets and property. It is therefore likely that the most recent IMF deal currently in negotiation, will include once again major reductions in gas subsidies, cuts in pensions, immediate government job cuts, as well as other reductions in social spending programs in the Ukraine.” (voice of russia.com, March 21, 2014)

Economic Surrender: Unconditional Acceptance of IMF Demands by a Puppet Government

Shortly after his instatement, the interim (puppet) prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk casually dismissed the need to negotiate with the IMF. Prior to the conduct of negotiations pertaining to a draft agreement, Yatsenyuk had already called for an unconditional acceptance of the IMF package: “We have no other choice but to accept the IMF offer”.

Yatsenyuk intimated that Ukraine will “accept whatever offer the IMF and the EU made” (voice of russia.com, March 21, 2014).

In surrendering to the IMF, Yatsenyuk was fully aware that the proposed reforms would brutally impoverish millions of people, including those who protested in Maidan.

The actual timeframe for the implementation of the IMF’s “shock therapy” has not yet been firmly established. In all likelihood, the regime will attempt to delay the more ruthless social impacts of the macroeconomic reforms until after the May 25 presidential elections (assuming that these elections will take place).

The text of the IMF agreement is likely to be detailed and specific, particularly with regard to State assets earmarked for privatization.

Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice, according to Bloomberg, are among key individuals in the US who are acting (in a non-official capacity) in tandem with the IMF, the Kiev government, in consultation with the White House and the US Congress.

The IMF Mission to Kiev

Immediately upon the instatement of the new Finance Minister and NBU governor, a request was submitted to the IMF’s Managing director. An IMF fact-finding mission headed by the Director of the IMF’s European Department Rez Moghadam was rushed to Kiev:

“I am positively impressed with the authorities’ determination, sense of responsibility and commitment to an agenda of economic reform and transparency. The IMF stands ready to help the people of Ukraine and support the authorities’ economic program.” (Press Release: Statement by IMF European Department Director Reza Moghadam on his Visit to Ukraine)

A week later, on March 12, 2014, Christine Lagarde met the interim Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk at IMF headquarters in Washington. Lagarde reaffirmed the IMF’s commitment:

“[to putting Ukraine back] on the path of sound economic governance and sustainable growth, while protecting the vulnerable in society. … We are keen to help Ukraine on its path to economic stability and prosperity.” (Press Release: Statement by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Ukraine)

The above statement is wrought with hypocrisy. In practice, the IMF does not wield “sound economic governance” nor does it protect the vulnerable. It impoverishes entire populations while providing “prosperity” to a small corrupt and subservient political and economic elite.

IMF “economic medicine” while contributing to the enrichment of a social minority, invariably triggers economic instability and mass poverty, while providing a “social safety net” to the external creditors. To sell its reform package, the IMF relies on media propaganda as well as persistent statements by “economic experts” and financial analysts which provide authority to the IMF’s macroeconomic reforms.

The unspoken objective behind IMF interventionism is to destabilize sovereign governments and literally break up entire national economies. This is achieved through the manipulation of key macroeconomic policy instruments as well as the outright rigging of financial markets, including the foreign exchange market.

To reach its unspoken goals, the IMF-World Bank –often in consultation with the US Treasury and the State Department– will exert control over key appointments including the Minister of Finance, the Central Bank governor as well as senior officials in charge of the country’s privatization program. These key appointments will require the (unofficial) approval of the “Washington Consensus” prior to the conduct of negotiations pertaining to a multibillion IMF bailout agreement.

Beneath the rhetoric, in the real world of money and credit, the IMF has several related operational objectives:

1) to facilitate the collection of debt servicing obligations, while ensuring that the country remains indebted and under the control of its external creditors.

2) to exert on behalf of the country’s external creditors full control over the country’s monetary policy, its fiscal and budgetary structures,

3) to revamp social programs, labor laws, minimum wage legislation, in accordance with the interests of Western capital,

4) to deregulate foreign trade and investment policies, including financial services and intellectual property rights,

5) to implement the privatization of key sectors of the economy through the sale of public assets to foreign corporations,

6) to facilitate the takeover by foreign capital (including mergers and acquisitions) of selected privately owned Ukrainian corporations, and

7) to ensure the deregulation of the foreign exchange market.

While the privatization program ensures the transfer of State assets into the hands of foreign investors, the IMF program also includes provisions geared towards the destabilization of the country’s privately-owned business conglomerates. A concurrent “break up” plan entitled “spin-off” as well as a “bankruptcy program” are often implemented with a view to triggering the liquidation, closing down or restructuring of a large number of nationally-owned private and public enterprises.

The “spin off” procedure –which was imposed on South Korea under the December 1997 IMF bailout agreement– required the break up of several of Korea’s powerful chaebols (business conglomerates) into smaller corporations, many of which were then taken over by US, EU and Japanese capital. Sizeable banking interests as well highly profitable components of Korea’s high tech industrial base were transferred or sold off at rock bottom prices to Western capital. (Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order, Global Research, Montreal, 2003, Chapter 22).

These staged bankruptcy programs ultimately seek to destroy national capitalism. In the case of Ukraine, they would selectively target the business interests of the oligarchs, opening the door for the takeover of a sizeable portion of Ukraine’s private sector by EU and US corporations. The conditionalities contained in the IMF agreement would be coordinated with those contained in the controversial EU-Ukraine Association agreement, which the Yanukovych government refused to sign.

Ukraine’s Spiraling External Debt

Ukraine’s external debt is of the order of $140 billion.

In consultations with the US Treasury and the EU, the IMF aid package is to be of the order of $15 billion dollars. Ukraine’s outstanding short-term debt is of the order of $65 billion, more than four times the amount promised by the IMF.

The Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves have literally dried up. In February, according to the NUB, Ukraine’s foreign currency reserves were of the order of a meagre $13.7 billion, its Special Drawing Rights with the IMF were of the order of $16.1 million, its gold reserves $1.81 billion. There were unconfirmed reports that Ukraine’s gold had been confiscated and airlifted to New York, for “safe-keeping” under the custody of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

Under the bailout, the IMF –acting on behalf of Ukraine’s US and EU creditors– lends money to Ukraine which is already earmarked for debt repayment. The money is transferred to the creditors. The loan is “fictitious money.” Not one dollar of this money will enter Ukraine.

The package is not intended to support economic growth. Quite the opposite: Its main purpose is to collect the outstanding short-term debt, while precipitating the destabilization of Ukraine’s economy and financial system.

The fundamental principle of usury is that the creditor comes to the rescue of the debtor: “I cannot pay my debts, no problem my son, I will lend you the money and with the money I lend you, you will pay me back”.

The rescue rope thrown to Kiev by the IMF and the European Union is in reality a ball and chain. Ukraine’s external debt, as documented by the World Bank, increased tenfold in ten years and exceeds 135 billion dollars. In interests alone, Ukraine must pay about 4.5 billion dollars a year. The new loans will only serve to increase the external debt thus obliging Kiev to “liberalize” its economy even more, by selling to corporations what remains to be privatized. (Ukraine, IMF “Shock Treatment” and Economic Warfare by Manlio Dinucci, Global Research, March 21, 2014)

Under the IMF loan agreement, the money will not enter the country, it will be used to trigger the repayment of outstanding debt servicing obligations to EU and US creditors. In this regard, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) “European banks have more than $23 billion in outstanding loans in Ukraine.” (Ukraine Facing Financial Instability But IMF May Help Soon – Spiegel Online, February 28, 2014)

What Are the “Benefits” of an IMF Package to Ukraine?

According to IMF’s managing director Christine Lagarde, the bailout is intended to address the issue of poverty and social inequality. In actuality what it does is to increase the levels of indebtedness while essentially handing over the reins of macro-economic reform and monetary policy to the Bretton Woods Institutions, acting on behalf of Wall Street.

The bailout agreement will include the imposition of drastic austerity measures which in all likelihood will trigger further social chaos and economic dislocation. It’s called “policy based lending”, namely the granting of money earmarked to reimburse the creditors, in exchange for the IMF’s “bitter economic medicine” in the form of a menu of neoliberal policy reforms. “Short-term pain for long-term gain” is the motto of the Washington-based Bretton Woods institutions.

Loan “conditionalities” will be imposed –including drastic austerity measures– which will serve to impoverish the Ukrainian population beyond bounds in a country which has been under IMF ministrations for more than 20 years. While the Maidan movement was manipulated, tens of thousands of people protested they wanted a new life because their standard of living had collapsed as a result of the neoliberal policies applied by successive governments, including that of president Yanukovych. Little did they realize that the protest movement supported by Wall Street, the US State Department and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was meant to usher in a new phase of economic and social destruction.

History of IMF Ministrations in Ukraine

In 1994 under the presidency of Leonid Kuchma, an IMF package was imposed on Ukraine. Viktor Yushchenko –who later became president following the 2004 Colored Revolution– had been appointed head of the newly-formed National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Yushchenko was praised by the Western financial media as a “daring reformer”; he was among the main architects of the IMF’s 1994 reforms which served to destabilize Ukraine’s national economy. When he ran in the 2004 elections against Yanukovych, he was supported by various foundations including the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). He was Wall Street’s preferred candidate.

Ukraine’s 1994 IMF package was finalized behind closed doors at the Madrid 50 years anniversary Summit of the Bretton Woods institutions. It required the Ukrainian government to abandon State controls over the exchange rate leading to a massive collapse of the currency. Yushchenko played a key role in negotiating and implementing the 1994 agreement as well as creating a new Ukrainian national currency, which resulted in a dramatic plunge in real wages:

Yushchenko as Head of the Central Bank was responsible for deregulating the national currency under the October 1994 “shock treatment”:

• The price of bread increased overnight by 300 percent,
• electricity prices by 600 percent,
• public transportation by 900 percent.
• the standard of living tumbled

According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Committee, quoted by the IMF, real wages in 1998 had fallen by more than 75 percent in relation to their 1991 level. (http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft /scr/2003/cr03174.pdf )

Ironically, the IMF sponsored program was intended to alleviate inflationary pressures: it consisted in imposing “dollarised” prices on an impoverished population with earnings below ten dollars a month.

Combined with the abrupt hikes in fuel and energy prices, the lifting of subsidies and the freeze on credit contributed to destroying industry (both public and private) and undermining Ukraine’s breadbasket economy.

In November 1994, World Bank negotiators were sent in to examine the overhaul of Ukraine’s agriculture. With trade liberalization (which was part of the economic package), US grain surpluses and “food aid” were dumped on the domestic market, contributing to destabilizing one of the World’s largest and most productive wheat economies, (e.g. comparable to that of the American Mid West). (Michel Chossudovsky IMF Sponsored “Democracy” in The Ukraine, Global Research, November 28, 2004, emphasis added)

The IMF-World Bank had destroyed Ukraine’s “bread basket.”

By 1998, the deregulation of the grain market, the hikes in the price of fuel and the liberalisation of trade resulted in a decline in the production of grain by 45 percent in relation to its 1986-90 level. The collapse in livestock production, poultry and dairy products was even more dramatic (see this). The cumulative decline in GDP resulting from the IMF-sponsored reforms was in excess of 60 percent from 1992 to 1995.

The World Bank: Fake Poverty Alleviation

The World Bank has recently acknowledged that Ukraine is a poor country. (World Bank, Ukraine Overview, Washington DC, updated February 17, 2014):

“Evidence shows Ukraine is facing a health crisis, and the country needs to make urgent and extensive measures to its health system to reverse the progressive deterioration of citizens’ health. Crude adult death rates in Ukraine are higher than its immediate neighbors, Moldova and Belarus, and among the highest not only in Europe, but also in the world.”

What the report fails to mention is that the Bretton Woods institutions –through a process of economic engineering– played a central role in precipitating the post-Soviet collapse of the Ukrainian economy. The dramatic breakdown of Ukraine’s social programs bears the fingerprints of the IMF-World Bank austerity measures which included the deliberate underfunding and dismantling of the Soviet era health care system.

With regard to agriculture, the World Bank points to Ukraine’s “tremendous agricultural potential” while failing to acknowledge that the Ukraine bread-basket was destroyed as part of a US-IMF-World Bank package. According to the World Bank:

“This potential has not been fully exploited due to depressed farm incomes and a lack of modernization within the sector.”

“Depressed farm incomes” are not “the cause,” they are the “consequence” of the IMF-World Bank Structural Adjustment Program. In 1994, farm incomes had declined by the order of 80% in relation to 1991, following the October 1994 IMF program engineered by then NUB governor Viktor Yushchenko. Immediately following the 1994 IMF reform package, the World Bank implemented (in 1995) a private sector “seed project” based on “the liberalization of seed pricing, marketing, and trade.” The prices of farm inputs increased dramatically leading to a string of agricultural bankruptcies. (Projects: Agricultural Seed Development Project | The World Bank, Washington DC, 1995)

The IMF’s 2014 “Shock and Awe” Economic Bailout

While the conditions prevailing in Ukraine today are markedly different to those applied in the 1990s, it should be understood that the imposition of a new wave of macro-economic reforms (under strict IMF policy conditionalities) will serve to impoverish a population which has already been impoverished.

In other words, the IMF’s 2014 “Shock and Awe” constitutes the “final blow” in a sequence of IMF interventions spreading over a period of more than 20 years, which have contributed to destabilizing the national economy and impoverishing Ukraine’s population. We are not dealing with a Greece Model Austerity Package as some analysts have suggested. The reforms slated for Ukraine will be far more devastating.

Preliminary information suggests that IMF bailout will provide an advance of $2 billion in the form of a grant to be followed by a subsequent loan of $11 billion. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide another $2 billion, for a total package of around $15 billion. (See Voice of Russia, March 21, 2014)

Drastic Austerity Measures

The Kiev government has announced that the IMF requires a 20% cut in Ukraine’s national budget, implying drastic cuts in social programs, coupled with reductions in the wages of public employees, privatisation and the sale of state assets. The IMF has also called for a “phase out” of energy subsidies, and the deregulation of the foreign exchange markets. With unmanageable debts, the IMF will also impose the sell off and privatisation of major public assets as well as the takeover of the national banking sector.

The new government pressured by the IMF and World Bank have already announced that old-aged pensions are to be curtailed by 50%. In a timely February 21 release, the World Bank had set the guidelines for old-age pension reform in the countries of “Emerging Europe and Central Asia” including Ukraine. In an utterly twisted logic, “Protecting the elderly” is carried out by slashing their pension benefits, according to the World Bank. (World Bank, Significant Pension Reforms Urged in Emerging Europe and Central Asia, Washington Dc, February 21, 2014)

Given the absence of a real government in Kiev, Ukraine’s political handlers in the Ministry of Finance and the NUB will obey the diktats of Wall Street: The IMF structural adjustment loan agreement for Ukraine will be devastating in its social and economic impacts.

Elimination of Subsidies

Pointing to “market-distorted energy subsidies”, price deregulation has been a longstanding demand from both IMF-World Bank. The price of energy had been kept relatively low during the Yanukovych government largely as a result of the bilateral agreement with Russia, which provided Ukraine with low-cost gas in exchange for Naval base lease in Sebastopol. That agreement is now null and void. It is also worth noting that the government of Crimea has announced that it would take over ownership of all Ukrainian state companies in Crimea, including the Black Sea natural gas fields.

The Kiev interim government has intimated that Ukraine’s retail gas prices would have to rise by 40% “as part of economic reforms needed to unlock loans from the International Monetary Fund.” This announcement fails to address the mechanics of full-fledged deregulation which under present circumstances could lead to increases in energy prices in excess of 100 percent.

It is worth recalling, in this regard, that Peru in August 1991 had set the stage for “shock treatment” increases in energy prices when gasoline prices in Lima shot up overnight by 2978% (a 30-fold increase). In 1994 as part of the agreement between the IMF and Leonid Kuchma, the price of electricity flew up over night by 900 percent.

“Enhanced Exchange Rate Flexibility”

One of the central components of IMF intervention is the deregulation of the foreign exchange market. In addition to massive expenditure cuts, the IMF program requires “enhanced exchange rate flexibility” namely the removal of all foreign exchange controls. (Ukraine: Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation, See also http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2012/cr12315.pdf)

Since the outset of the Maidan protest movement in December 2013, foreign exchange controls were instated with a view to supporting the hryvnia and stemming the massive outflow of capital.

The IMF-sponsored bailout will literally ransack the foreign currency reserves held by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). Enhanced exchange rate flexibility under IMF guidance has been endorsed by the new NBU governor Stepan Kubiv. Without virtually no forex reserves, exchange rate flexibility is financial suicide: it opens the door to speculative short-selling transactions (modelled on the 1997 Asian crisis) directed against the Ukraine’s currency, the hryvnia.

Institutional speculators, which include major Wall Street and European Banks as well as hedge funds, have already positioned themselves. Manipulation in the forex markets is undertaken through derivative trade. Major financial institutions will have detailed inside information with regard to Central Bank policies which will enable them to rig the forex market.

Under a flexible exchange rate system, the Central Bank does not impose restrictions on forex transactions. The Central Bank can however decide –under advice from the IMF– to counter the speculative onslaught in the forex market, with a view to maintaining the parity of the Ukrainian hryvnia. Without the use of exchange controls, this line of action requires Ukraine’s central bank (in the absence of forex reserves) to prop up an ailing currency with borrowed money, thereby contributing to exacerbating the debt crisis.

The graph below indicates a decline of the hryvnia against the US $ of more than 20% over a six-month period.

(Source: themoneyconverter.com)

It is worth recalling in this regard that Brazil in November 1998 had received a precautionary bailout loan from the IMF of the order of $40 billion. One of the conditions of the loan agreement, however, was the complete deregulation of the forex market. This loan was intended to assist the Central Banking in maintaining the parity of the Brazilian real. In practice it spearheaded Brazil into a financial crash in February 1999.

The Brazilian government had accepted the conditionalities. Marred by capital flight of the order of $400 million a day, the money granted under the IMF loan –which was intended to prop up Brazil’s central banks reserves– was plundered in a matter of months. The IMF loan agreement to Brasilia enabled the institutional speculators to buy time. Most of the money under the IMF loan was appropriated in the form of speculative gains accruing to major financial institutions.

With regard to Ukraine, enhanced exchange flexibility spells disaster. Contrary to Brazil, the Central Bank has no forex reserves which would enable it to defend its currency. Where would the NBU get the borrowed forex reserves? Most of the funds under the proposed IMF-EU rescue package are already earmarked and could be used to effectively defend the hryvnia against “short-selling” speculative attacks in the currency markets. The most likely scenario is that the hryvnia will experience a major decline leading to significant hikes in the prices of essential commodities, including food, fuel and transportation.

Were the Central Bank able to use borrowed reserves to prop up the hryvnia, this borrowed money would be swiftly reappropriated, handed over to currency speculators on a silver platter. This scenario of propping up the national currency using borrowed forex reserves (i.e. Brazil in 1998-99) would, however, contribute in the short-term to staving off an immediate collapse of the standard.

This procedure provides “extra time” to the speculators, who are busy plundering the Central Bank’s (borrowed) currency reserves. It also enables the interim government to postpone the worst impacts of the IMF’s “enhanced exchange rate flexibility” to a later date.

When the borrowed hard currency reserves of the Central Bank run out –i.e. in the immediate aftermath of the May 25 presidential elections– the value of hryvnia will plunge on the forex market, which in turn will trigger a dramatic collapse in the standard of living. Coupled with the demise of bilateral economic relations with Russia pertaining to the supply of natural gas to Ukraine, energy prices are also slated to increase dramatically.

Neoliberalism and Neo-Nazi Ideology Join Hands: Repressing the Protest Movement Against the IMF

With Svoboda and Right Sector political appointees in charge of national security and the armed forces, a real grassroots protest movement directed against the IMF’s deadly macroeconomic reforms will, in all likelihood, be brutally repressed by the Right Sector’s “brown shirts” and the National Guard paramilitary led by Dmitry Yarosh on behalf of Wall Street and the Washington consensus.

In recent developments, Right Sector Dmitry Yarosh has declared his candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections. (Popular support for the Yarosh is less than 2%)

“Russia put Yarosh on an international wanted list and charged him with inciting terrorism after he urged Chechen terrorist leader Doku Umarov to launch attacks on Russia over the Ukrainian conflict. The ultra-nationalist leader has also threatened to destroy Russian pipelines on Ukrainian territory.” (RT, March 22, 2014)

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s State prosecutor, who also belongs to the Neo-Nazi faction, has implemented procedures which prevent the holding of public rallies and protests directed against the interim government.

28 February 2025

Source: michelchossudovsky.substack.com

By Countercurrents Collective

Netanyahu’s office announced Sunday that Israel has stopped humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip following the expiration of the prisoner-ceasefire deal. An Israeli official stated that the decision was made in full coordination with the Trump administration.

Israel has violated the ceasefire deal on the table by rejecting to go ahead with talks about the scond phase.

On Saturday night, Netanyahu’s Office announced that Israel had adopted the US’s proposal for a temporary ceasefire spanning the Ramadan and Passover periods in exchange for releasing half of Israeli living captives.

Israel demanded Hamas release five living captives and 10 bodies of deceased captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and increased aid to the Gaza Strip.
It also sought to extend the first phase of the ceasefire by a week. Israel requested, through mediators, Hamas’s response to their proposal before the end of Friday.

Hamas informed the mediators that it rejected the Israeli proposal and considered it a violation of what was agreed upon in the ceasefire.

Hardline former Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “Now is the time to open the gates of hell—cut off electricity and water, return to war, and, most importantly, not settle for only half the prisoners. Instead, we must follow President Trump’s ultimatum: either the immediate release of all prisoners or opening the gates of hell on Gaza.”

The Government Media Office in Gaza said:

⭕️ Israel’s announcement on blocking the entry of essential aid to Gaza represents a continuation of the genocidal war on the Palestinian people.

⭕️ Preventing the entry of aid effectively means waging a war of starvation against the people of the Gaza Strip, who are entirely dependent on aid coming through the border crossings.

⭕️ We have warned from day one about the dangers of silence regarding Israel’s violations of the ceasefire agreement.

⭕️ We demand that the mediators, as guarantors, exert pressure on the Israeli occupation to fulfill its commitments under the agreement in all its stages, implement the humanitarian protocol, and allow the entry of shelter and relief supplies.

Hamas movement in a press statement said:

⭕️ Netanyahu’s decision to halt humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a coup against the ceasefire agreement.

⭕️ The mediators and the international community must press the Israeli occupation and stop its punitive and immoral measures against more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.

⭕️ Israel’s allegations regarding Hamas’s violation of the ceasefire agreement are misleading and baseless.

⭕️ The behavior of Netanyahu and his government clearly violates Article 14 of the agreement, which stipulates that all measures related to the first phase continue in the second phase.

⭕️ We reaffirm our commitment to implementing the signed agreement in its three phases, and we have repeatedly announced our readiness to begin negotiations for the second stage of the agreement.

⭕️ We call on the mediators to pressure the occupation to implement its obligations under the agreement, in all its stages, and to implement the humanitarian protocol.

2 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Brett Wilkins

As Palestinians released from Israeli imprisonment recount torture and other abuse suffered at the hands of their former captors, the Trump administration on Friday approved a new $3 billion weapons package for Israel.

The new package, reported by Zeteo‘s Prem Thakker, includes nearly $2.716 billion worth of bombs and weapons guidance kits, as well as $295 million in bulldozers. The Trump administration said that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale,” allowing it to bypass Congress, as the Biden administration did on multiple occasions. However, the weapons won’t be delivered until 2026 or 2027.

[https://bsky.app/profile/premthakker.bsky.social/post/3ljbfkyztf22p]

From October 2023 to October 2024, Israel received a record $17.9 billion worth of U.S. arms as it waged a war of annihilation against the Gaza Strip that left more than 170,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and millions more displaced, starved, or sickened. Israel is facing genocide allegations in an International Court of Justice case brought by South Africa. The International Criminal Court has also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Reporting on the new package came after U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday announced an effort to block four other arms sales totaling $8.56 billion in offensive American weaponry to Israel.

Meanwhile, some of the approximately 1,000 Palestinians released by Israel as part of a prisoner swap described grim stories of abuse by Israeli forces. The former detainees, who were arrested but never charged with any crimes, “have returned visibly malnourished and scarred by the physical and psychological torture they say they faced in Israeli prisons,” according toThe Washington Post. Some returned to what were once their homes to find them destroyed and their relatives killed or wounded by Israeli forces.

Eyas al-Bursh, a doctor volunteering at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City when he was captured by Israeli troops, was held in Sde Teiman and the Ofer military prison in the illegally occupied West Bank for 11 months.

“The places where we were held were harsh, sleep was impossible, and we remained handcuffed and blindfolded,” al-Bursh told the Post.

“We endured psychological and physical torture without a single day of respite—whether through beatings, abuse, punches, or even verbal insults and humiliation,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces told the Post that it “acts in accordance with Israeli and international law in order to protect the rights of the detainees held in the detention and questioning facilities.”

However, farmer Ashraf al-Radhi, who was held for 14 months—including at the notorious Sde Teiman prison in Israel’s Negev Desert—told the Post that “we witnessed all kinds of humiliation.”

According to the newspaper:

Radhi said he “wished for death” during his detention, which included long periods when he was blindfolded, handcuffed, andcrammed into a filthy cell with dozens of other prisoners. The 34-year-old said he had no access to a lawyer; no idea why he was there; or what, in his absence, had become of his family.

Rahdi also said that Mohammed al-Akka, a 44-year-old detainee held with him, died last December. Al-Akka is one of dozens of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody, some from suspected torture and, in at least one case, rape with an electric baton. A number of Israeli reservists are being investigated for the alleged gang-rape of a Sde Teiman prisoner.

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

1 March 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Asma Anjum Khan

He was the second caliph of the Muslims who didn’t live in a big mansion, like his predecessors.

He would be found sleeping under a tree in hot summers.  Someone from outside Madinah would be surprised to find him thus. But as a matter of fact this happened often. The grand Caliph would feel tired running after and searching for  camels from the state treasury, then he would find some rest under a tree.

Such simplicity today seems unbelievable.

H.Umar Farooque RA is one of the most esteemed and interesting personalities of Islam.

Some say democracy and Islam have nothing to do with each other. While a clear reading without prejudice is all that it needs to inform us, that is not the truth,

In the incident below we find the seeds of democracy buried in and all those who say Islam is not democratic can modify their views if they choose to.

It so happened that….

Once a load of chaddors ( bedsheets)  arrived in Madinah from somewhere.

All were distributed one for one person living in Madinah.

When during the week Umar RA went to masjid on a jumma , a sort of unusual argument happened between him, his son and a questioner from the crowd.

The reason?

The reason was Umar’s abaya, his cloak.

Umar ‘s abaya was freshly and brilliantly stitched with the help of those large chaddors.

But how could one chador be enough for his large stature? He was a tall and well -built man.

Umar RA had been asked to stitch an abaya ,long flowy kurta, of the chaddor , but him being a very tall well built man the chaddor was not enough for  his kind of physical stature.

Yet his gown got stitched.

How?

You will know, read further.

He wore the new gown , thanked his Allah and went to deliver his jummah khutbah; as the leader of the Muslims has the duty of delivering a weekly address to the Muslims every Friday afternoon.

A common man call him Aam aadmi, from the gathering in the masjid , got up even before Umar RA could start speaking and pointed his arrow towards the caliph. Caliph was, you call call him,  sort of Prime Minister.

The questioner from the crowd, a common man, asked Umar, his leader,

“How could you get your abaya stitched , when you also got one chador like us?”

The man was right. Justice was the norm. Even Caliph Umar had received only one piece of Chaddor like the rest of the citizens.

Hence, the question and the questioner.

What was being implied here in the august gathering of men at the holy mosque of Madinah as is obvious, was corruption.

So had Umar taken ‘one chador more ‘ for himself? While the rest of the Muslims had received only one?

How could this be possible?

Justice was the norm in that Medinan society.

And did you notice the dare devilry of the questioner to get up in the gathering and pose the question directly to his Caliph, i.e. his leader?

This is, folks,  the true democracy where, even the most ordinary of the persons had the courage to pose a question to the supreme authority, without fearing of consequences.

In fact there were no consequences, muslims could question their leaders, demand to know the details of whatever was happening at the time.

Here you can imagine, your own dear irresponsible systems of justice, but at your own peril.

Now coming back;

Did Umar being, the Prime Minister steal one more chaddor when everyone else got only one?

Was the question. Perhaps in most minds.

Because it was obvious to everyone present, that Umar’s abaya would not fit into one chador. Him being very tall and stout.

One can imagine the thunder in the Friday crowd gathered ‘to listen’ patiently to their leader; not like us today who rush out of our well-built masjids to have a bite of our favourite biryanis and qormas, post jumma  khutbah.

Now let’s focus on this rare drama happening on a jumma some one thousand four hundred years ago.

The man angrily asked if the supreme leader “ had stolen” the second chador for himself?

Imagine!

The  supreme authority  being accused of theft by a common man.

No no, don’t imagine…Please don’t.

Just chill. Read and forget. Be as numb as possible.

Our collective habit is difficult to abandon for us.

H. Umar RA started crying hearing this.

Wonder he didn’t order to cut off the throat of the callous questioner.

After a brief and very difficult pause, Abdullah  the son of Umar got up and revealed the secret behind this alleged corruption.

Abdullah informed the august gathering that when he saw his father struggling to stitch his abaya with his one chador unsuccessfully, he gifted him his own share of  chador to him. And Umar’s abaya got stitched , now comfortably.

Umarthe Caliph after controlling his emotions, appreciated the one who raised the doubt about him stealing a chaddor, for this sensible question, and said,

“As long as people like you exist, we have amaan ( to live in safety.)

Wonder he didn’t send the man to the gallows for daring to ask a question to him the Prime Minister.

This is how truedemocracy works where the supreme authority stands equal with the rest of the citizens.

Umar further added that As long as, such fearless  people who have the  courage to question the authority ; the people(community) shall remain in peace.

A sensible reader would find lots of nuances for and of democracy in this incident. But as most of us have turned into dumb asses in the last few years, expectation criteria falls low.

Go and grab your next OTT with hot coffee. Have it cold , better  for you,  you and your sensitivities are cold.

The incident of Umar RA shows, most of all the ability the courage the audacity of the Aam Aadmi  to question the highest authority.

This is what true democracy is and should be and secondly and most importantly, the higher authority appreciates the questioner and welcomes him and didn’t send him to the gallows.

But Umar was Umar, he wanted to resolve the situation in his own way of truth.  He asked the man who questioned him, what in case,

had he found him guilty of stealing one chador from the state treasury?

The questioner was also one of his kind, he  replied,

“Had we found you stealing the chaddor or misbehaving with us for our questions,”   the subject of that young state, he said,

  “ we would have straightened  you with our arrows!”

(Yatha Raja , tatha Praja) ‘यथा राजा तथा प्रजा’

But what we see today is a spectacle of public and private sentiments. Ramadan has arrived. Can we from this year, try to be authentic in our speech and behaviour?

Let’s pledge so.

But   what have  we been doing now ; drawing our half torn chaddors more closely over us and pretending to sleep?

But not before our OTTs.

Shubh Ratri

Asma Anjum Khan teaches English , attempting and is tempted to write

28 February 2025

Source: countercurrents.org

By Admiral L Ramdas and Lalita Ramdas

This article was published in CC on 27/02/2022. We are republishing it due to its importance in the present times.

Twenty years ago, in end February 2002 we were in Palo Alto with our daughter towards the end of a successful lecture tour organised by  friends –to build a coalition of groups and voices prepared to stand up against the proliferation of Nuclear weapons.

It was with horror and disbelief that we watched on the news, the unfolding of the tragic events starting 27 February into the first week of March….from Godhra to Ahmedabad and across the state

• The burnt train at Godhra – the incendiary speeches and broadcasts
• The fires, the killings, the mayhem –
• The deliberate targeting of all those belonging to one community
• The brutality of rapes and murders – of Muslim women
• A state and a people gone mad with blood lust
• The inaction of the State Police
• The deliberate delay in calling in the Army Units who had been flown in but remained in their barracks for the crucial 48 to 72 hours before being ordered to “restore peace, law and order”.

Were these indeed images of our land and our people? That too in Gandhiji’s Gujarat?

Being many thousand miles away was the toughest of all – what to believe – what to dismiss as exaggerated reports? This was  before the WhatsApp pandemic had hit us.

Then slowly as calls and eye witness accounts started trickling in – the dreadful reality slowly began to hit home and we could no longer escape from the numbing truth that this was indeed true and for the most part was deliberately organised violence leading to communal carnage. The world began calling it a Pogrom, and worse – Genocide.

I did the only thing I could do at that time, which was to write an anguished letter to my Prime Minister – Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee – one of the hardest things to do.  I am sharing extracts herewith:

“My Dear Prime Minister Vajpayee ji,

“It is indeed with a heavy heart that I write to my Prime Minister at this time. The recent happenings in Gujarat have completely shaken my confidence in the Government and its capacity to uphold and protect a democratic and secular India.”

“The entire nation is shocked at the callousness and inefficiency displayed by the law and order machinery of the Government of Gujarat, which not only failed to perform its duty to its citizens, but also stood by and in several cases actually incited what can best be described as a pogrom.”

“The democratic and secular traditions of India have been severely endangered by the recent events. In addition, the carnage in Gujarat has created an increasingly negative image of India among people in many parts of the world.”

“I joined the Navy at the age of fifteen just a few months after Independence. My growth in the Navy has coincided with that of the country and I rose to head the Indian Navy from 1990 to 1993. We have had many distinguished servicemen from the minority communities who have reached the highest ranks in the service.

To name a few: Field Marshal Manekshaw, Marshal of the Air Force, Arjan Singh, Air Chief Marshal Idris Latif, Admirals Cursetji, Pereira and Dawson – all Chiefs of the Indian Navy; the Keelor brothers of the Air Force who both won the Mahavir Chakra; Brigadier Usman, decorated posthumously with the Mahavir Chakra, Lance Naik Albert Ekka ñ Param Vir Chakra (posthumous), and men like my own steward, M.Ali, who served me faithfully while I was commanding INS Beas in the 1971 operations”

“The Indian Armed Forces have always been one of the strongest pillars of our secular democracy. They have maintained their political neutrality and have respected civil authority since Independence despite trends to the contrary in our immediate neighbourhood. They represent a microcosm of the diversity of India which has always been its strength. Over the years India has witnessed the steady process of communalization and politicization of our bureaucracy and the police. It would be a tragedy indeed if these processes were to affect the Armed Forces of this land. This could herald a potentially disastrous and unmanageable situation where our uniformed personnel could find themselves in opposing camps with all its attendant dangers.”

Here are a few among the list of recommendations sent to the Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee.

1. 1. Constitute a Commission of Enquiry by a Bench of three sitting judges from the Supreme Court of India to look into the entire sequence of events beginning with the tragedy on the train to the subsequent massacre of minorities in Gujarat.Bring to book all the guilty persons including politicians, bureaucrats and police personnel who have been directly responsible for dereliction of duty.3. Ban extremist right wing organizations like the VHP, Bajrang Dal, and the RSS, as has already been done with SIMI.4. Set up camps immediately for those dispossessed;  initiate a rehabilitation programme with neccessary resources; and equitable compensation to families of all victims.As a former Chief of the Indian Navy, and as a concerned citizen, I can no longer remain a silent observer of what is tantamount to ethnic cleansing and genocide of our own people. I urge you to steer the nation firmly away from the path of extremism and fundamentalism of all shades.

Unfortunately I am out of the country and cannot therefore meet you in person to share this with you.”

Ramdas

*********************************************************************
Needless to add, there was no acknowledgement let alone a response. This has, sadly been the fate, for the most part, of many of the letters and statements addressed to either the Honourable  President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, or indeed to the Prime Minister. But of that another time. To return to the Tragedy of Gujarat ……The letter from America was dated March 11 2002. We returned home to India by end March – but were part of the ongoing, intense debates and discussions that accompanied the public outrage and shock following the events in Gujarat.

Inter Faith Fact Finding and Peace Mission – April 2002

In early April of 2002, a number of us, representing many sectors and faiths, decided to make a visit to Gujarat. Many of us had known each other and worked on peace and conflict issues earlier.  We had been in continuous touch with each other ever since the terrible events of Feb 28 – March 2 when the Indian Army was finally provided the necessary facilities and invited to provide ‘aid to civil power’.

Although the worst of the carnage was over by the time we visited Gujarat a month later – it was clear that the people, especially the minorities, were both insecure and faced continuing harassment and abuse.

Our purpose was simple and clear – to gather facts from a variety of sources and to try to restore a sense of confidence among the people. Hence the composition of people from all faiths. These included the late Nirmala Deshpande who led the delegation; the Late Swami Agnivesh; John Dayal, Navaid Hamied ; Admiral Ramdas – to name a few…..

Knowing that a special Army Unit had been deployed to Gujarat, I decided to call on the General in charge and apprise him of our mission and our presence in the city. It was a pleasure to meet Lt Gen Zameeruddin Shah, and receive a briefing. I remember very clearly that this was an era before the mobile phone had become popular – and my wife had thrust our newly acquired phone into my pocket just before I left for Gujarat. I mention this in light of subsequent events.

Nirmala Didi’s colleague and friend had generously offered to accommodate the group in ‘Eswar Bhavan’ where he lived. No sooner had we moved in, we were virtually ‘gheraoed’ – by elements who clearly knew who we were.

One could guess their political affiliation, when we were told to “send out the Muslim members of the group” or else face arson and attacks on the entire group. How much more brazen could they get.

After a quick consultation we decided to move to the well known Sabarmati Ashram, so as not to embarrass or endanger our well meaning host..

But the unrelenting mobs followed us to the Ashram – with loud demands that we could only stay ‘if the Muslim members of the group were sent out’! At this point I realized that things may get worse, and the Sabarmati Ashram may itself be threatened.

I therefore decided to call the General, popularly known as “Zoom” Shah, and explained our predicament. He said don’t move sir, we shall do something very soon. Sure enough in about ten minutes two jeeps with mounted Machine guns appeared from either side of the road, no sooner were they sighted the members of the “Goonda Mob” scurried away. Just shows the effect of the mere presence of the ARMY. And yet it is a point to ponder seriously and ask the question why it took three days before the Army was deployed on the streets of Ahmedabad and elsewhere.

In 2018, on the occasion of the release of Gen Shah’s book called ‘ Sarkari Mussalman’, I remember being distressed to read that some senior officers of the Army had expressed concerns about “Zoom” aka an officer named ‘Zameeruddin’ being tasked with leading troops for this sensitive mission. It was good to hear that Gen Padmanabhan, then Chief of Army Staff, did exactly what I had myself done in 1971 – disregarded the voices of dissent and suspicion, and told ‘Zoom’ to proceed on this mission. As Captain of the INS BEAS in the 1971 operations, I was cautioned likewise about my steward Ali. Needless to say, I rejected the idea outright and sailed through the 1971 war against Pakistan with Ali by my side.

I am proud of officers like Gen Padmanabhan and Lt Gen Zameeruddin Shah who bring credit to our fine syncretic service traditions. But, these were also early signals of how communal prejudice was already present and active in the majority community, including our Armed Forces. Alas we did not take these warnings seriously enough.

WHY TALK ABOUT GUJARAT TODAY – WHAT LESSONS HAVE WE LEARNED?

Having managed to locate this letter after two decades – I have been in a further dilemma – as to whether or not to bring this up again at this time, twenty years after the tragedy of Godhra and Gujarat. My wife Lalita and I have agonised over this for some time. We both concluded almost simultaneously, that silence was not an option.  We are senior citizens – who have lived through partition and its horrors. My wife has seen at first hand the brutality of the 1984 Pogrom and worked for nearly two years with the survivors of the Sikh community. We are witness to similar incidents of growing intolerance and communal violence across the country. That these are happening, with impunity, in the land of Buddha, Mahavira, and Mahatma Gandhi is disturbing to say the least.

Therefore our decision is, that as a former head of one of our Armed Forces, I should continue to try to speak Truth to Power – which is the one lesson my training in the Navy has taught me.

I have always believed that the Armed Forces represented the uncompromising commitment to the Constitution and its values. We have been clear that there is no way our Services can allow the influence of intolerance, religious bigotry and divisive communalism to infect our secular fighting forces. And yet we have almost helplessly watched the toxin of xenophobic politics relentlessly being injected into the life blood of  our democracy.

Despite our Constitutional vision and Dharma so to speak – this is being eroded and weakened – and it is troubling to large numbers of us – possibly the silent majority. We draw attention to these personal and anecdotal events – because it is from the strength of one’s personal experiences that one builds convictions and value based principles which are essential in our varied and complex societies.

There are a few other troubling issues which must be highlighted in the lessons learned

• The role of Media which is no longer able to call a ‘spade a spade’ – someone rightly described Gujarat-02 an “archetypal post truth event”.
• Lack of accountability and liability – many fact finding missions and investigations later – the only ‘fact’ being quoted is that the then Chief Minister was cleared and given a “clean chit”
• Time and time again – leaders of many political parties who pour hate and invective and instigate violence have literally managed to get away with murder. In a recent article,  Cherian George, an academic, refers to this as “predatory populism” – which turns into a story of self defence instead of pre-meditated mass murder. This often leads to “decent citizens baying for blood”.
• Again to quote Mr Cherian George -we are facing a situation of ‘Think Global and Kill Local’ – the assaults on Human Rights and on Democracy are virtually ignored or condoned by the international community because of the imperative of geo-political and economic interests over so called concerns about Human Rights.

So as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the Tragedy of Gujarat – this is a call to the Conscience of all those who still believe in Humanity and Insaaniyat and who will continue to speak up and speak out on behalf of all the injustice , the deaths and violence wrought on thousands of innocents.  Let us not forget that few have been arraigned or brought to book – whereas 32 accused of bomb blasts, again in Gujarat, have been recently awarded the death penalty ….

Our struggles to uphold our Constitution must continue with renewed fervour. We reaffirm our belief in Justice, Equality, Freedom, Fraternity and Secularism, as the guiding principles of our Republic. Then alone can we proudly sing :

“Saare Jahaan se Achha Hindustan Hamara” – Jai Hind – Jai Jagat!

Admiral L Ramdas, Former Chief of Naval Staff with Lalita Ramdas

28 February 2025

Source: countercurrents.org