by Prakash Karat*

Article reproduced from People's Democracy of December 09, 2007


The 123 agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation with the Untied States has finally been discussed in both houses of parliament. As expected, a majority of the members in both houses have opposed the nuclear deal on various grounds. This debate should have taken place in the monsoon session itself and could have been a timely warning to the government not to proceed with the deal.

The opposition to the deal was expressed mainly in three forms. Firstly, the demand that the nuclear deal be not proceeded with to the next stages for operationalisation, given the provenance of the Hyde Act and the failure to get the assurances made by the Prime Minister in August 2006 incorporated in the 123 agreement. Secondly, there was the demand for renegotiation of the deal. Thirdly, some of the parties took the stand that only by clearing all doubts and achieving a consensus should the deal go forward. In this connection some demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

 

From the Zapatista uprising in 1994 and the Seattle demonstrations in 1999, the worldwide alliance of movements against neo-liberal globalisation, war, patriarchy, racism, colonialism and environmental disasters have grown from strength to strength.

 

*Application Date : JANUARY 5 2008* 
More info @ http://cacim.net/twiki/tiki-index.php?page=Fellowships

 
CACIM (Critical Action - Centre in Movement), an initiative towards cultivating and nurturing a culture of critical reflexivity and action in individual and public work, is offering three Fellowships on the World Social Forum process. CACIM is involved in detailed research on and documentation of the Forum and other related processes (such as social movements); plays an active role in the organising process of WSF in India and globally; publishes books, reports, newsletters, and bibliographies on the Forum, both in Hindi and English; and organises debates and discussions around related issues. For more details of our work on the Forum, see www.openspaceforum.net and www.cacim.net.