Indias vast occupational diversity is framed around socio-historical categories and deeply embedded layers bounded by hierarchal social systems, such as skilled/unskilled, purity/pollution, stigmatised/dignified, touchable/untouchable that keep reproducing themselves in various socio-economic spheres to this very day. Humiliating occupation like manual scavenging are caste-based and religiously sanctioned either by tradition, birth or descent. Those who are boxed into these occupations are often brutally subjected to social exclusion whilst persistently having to bear the added burden and brunt of an all-pervasive socio-psychological humiliation.

Out of the multiple, often dehumanising caste occupations leaving people lingering half livinghalf dead in societys periphery and keeping them perennially dependent on dominant caste groups, the scavenging communities remain by any measure the most unfairly included and socially deprived. Occupying the lowest position in the caste hierarchy, they are, without any doubt, the most marginalised within the marginalised caste communities in Indian society.

Manual scavenging is caste-based hereditary occupation and predominantly linked with forced labour. It involves physical and manual removal of human excreta from dry latrines and sewers (using basic tools such as thin boards, buckets and baskets lined with sacking) and then having to carry the collected excreta on their heads for disposal.

In India and other caste-affected countries within South Asia, the term scavenger is being considered untouchable or polluting to other higher ups in the ascending order of castes. Such is the undignified nature and conditions of scavenging, that the United Nations Special Rapporteur was forced to note that

the degrading nature of this work is an extreme case and is very much tied up with the inequalities of a deeply ingrained caste system and the lack of choice in finding other types of work.1

Recent scholarly endeavours attempting to challenge this static nature of the notions of manual scavenging have begun to interrogate aspects such as human dignity or dignity oflabour and have raised fundamental questions. They opine that however much the struggle is against the caste-based occupation, the same seems not to be able to make any headway in the light of the complete absence of economic and social equality in India; these characteristics being the predominant nature of Indian society. Barbara Harriss-White (India Working: Essays on Society and Economy), Ashwini Deshpande (The Grammar of Caste: Economic Discrimination in Contemporary India) and S K Thorat (Blocked by Caste) have shown in their research as to how there is a high concentration of Dalits in menial, unclean and what is called in economic terminology as dead-end jobs, where 90% of such jobs are generally reserved for the Dalits.

Construction of Manual Scavenging Communities

Many theorists engaging with the subject of manual scavenging identify old sacred scriptures as the source of the practice. Bindeshwar Pathak (2000) and Gita Ramaswamy (2011) trace the origin of manual scavenging to the Narada Samhita, which mentions the disposal of human excreta as one of the 15 duties assigned to the slaves. Similarly, in Vajasaneyi Samhita, the authors state, Chandals and Paulkas have been referred to as slaves for the disposal of human excreta.

Scavengers, sweepers or safai karmacharis as an occupational category are historically known by different caste names in different parts of the country. However, the removers of night soil and the cleaner of latrines belong to well-defined social groups and have been included under the general nomenclature of Bhangi in India today (Shyamlal 1992: 11).

R E Enthovens (1920: 105) anthropological accounts of The Tribes and Castes of Bombay suggest that Bhangis were found almost in every district of the Bombay Presidency. However, many resided in Bombay (now Mumbai), Poona (now Pune), Ahmedabad, Surat and Kathiawar. He opines that theories concerning the origin of Bhangi points to broken or outcaste people and as a caste of scavengers and sweepers. They are conceived as the dregs of Hindu society and contain an admixture of outcastes who have fallen to this level, owing to offences against the social code of higher castes. While different Hindu texts identify them as the descendants of a Brahmin sage, the other reference is to them being offsprings of a Shudra father by a Brahmin widow.

It is posited that the term Bhangi is derived from the Sanskrit word Bhang, meaning hemp, and the habit of Bhangi to take Bhang (Stephen 1981; Shyamlal 1992; Srivastava 1997). Others trace its meaning to the word broken.

Another common name in usage throughout north India for night-soil removers is Mehta meaning prince or leader. The name, according to Shyamlal (1992: 11), is derived fromPersian Mehtarprincewhich may have been applied to ridicule them. Writing on the dynamics of caste among scavengers in Central Provinces, Russel and Lal (1916) note that the Mehtar were the sweeper caste in the Central Provinces that were made up of diverse elements. They pointed out that the Ghasia, Mahar and Dom castes who also engaged in sweepers work are amalgamated with the Mehtars.

Another name in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh is Valmiki. This designation was adopted to supposedly gain some respect as the followers of Valmiki Rishi, the author of the epic Ramayana. The religion is centred around the worship of two saints, Lalbeg or Bale Shah and Balmiki or Valmiki. Russel and Lal (1916: 22526) point out that

Balmiki was originally a low caste hunter called Ratnakar, however, he could not find any animals to hunt and started to rob and kill travelers. One day he met Brahma and wished to kill him but Brahma convinced him of his sins and directed him to repeat the name of Rama until he is purified of his sins. Ratnakar repeated the words Ram, Ram sixty thousand years at the same spot till Brahma returns. Brahma named him as Valmiki (from valmik, an ant-hill) and told him to compose Ramayana in seven parts, containing the deeds and exploits of Rama.

The saint Lalbeg is widely worshipped in Punjab by the sweepers. The religion of Lalbegis appear to resemble that of the Kabirpanthis and other reforming sects. The objective is toacquire a status that may elevate them from the utter degradation of their caste (Russel and Lal 1916: 22627).

Scavenging Communities during Mughal and Colonial Rule

In Punjab, the scavengers are known as Chuhra, derived from their work of chura jharna (to sweep scraps). The real construction of identity and its contestation began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For instance, Chuhra, the untouchable caste, used multiple strategies to seek freedom from subjugation. The Chuhras were reported as both the scavengers and agriculturists in British records (Prashad 2000: 28). Vijay Prashad further expounds that in the last decades of the 19th century, the Chamars and Chuhra had lost access to customary rights and could not be retained as village servants (Prashad 2000: 33). The Chuhra community, in particular, attempted two paths for their liberation: conversion to Christianity and migration to cities. Christians in Punjab, during this period, increased by 400%, mostly among the Chuhras who migrated to cities, such as Delhi, Shimla, Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Lahore. The statutory identification of Chuhra with sanitation as sweepers was evident during the colonial period. They migrated as workers, but remained sweepers through their services.

During the 1931 Census, J H Hutton clubbed the Bhangi, Chuhra, Halalkhors, Mehtars and Lalbegi under Scavengers. They inhabited different provinces and presidencies of British India. N R Malkani (1965) observes that urban scavenging has resulted in the creation of a Bhangi Caste which is untouchable, unseeable and unapproachable. Augmenting his argument, he states The Bhangi is essentially a recent product of urban life, first created as an occupation by Moslems and later in British rule made into a hereditary caste. Ramswamy (2011) also makes similar observation, emphasising that manual scavenging expanded phenomenally under the British rule, particularly in the mid-18th century that marked the beginning of industrialisation and urbanisation in the subcontinent. Enthoven (1920) affirmed the above arguments, noting that

Many Bhangis in the northern part of the Presidency appear to be immigrants from the United Provinces. It seems probable that in many cases Bhangis originally came to this Presidency as camp followers with the armies from the north.

Pertaining to the historical concretising of separate caste, Srivastava (1997: 1718) asserts that others feel that the practice of sweeping and scavenging disposal of human excreta byhumans entered India with the advent of Muslims (Mughals). It is stated that the system of bucket privies was designed and constructed during the Mughal era for their women in purdah (veil) as they were not allowed to go in the open for defecation, and thus, the war captives were forced to clean the bucket privies. These captives were not accepted into their own caste of origin and by the larger society and thus formed a separate caste.

Another dimension brought into the debates was posited by Russel and Lal (1916: 76) who state that

It can only be definitely shown in a few instances that the existing impure occupational castes were directly derived from the indigenous tribes. The Chamar and Kori, and the Chuhra and Bhangi, or sweepers and scavengers of the Punjab and United Provinces, are purely occupational castes and their original tribal affinities have entirely disappeared.

Conservative perspective: The whole attempt by the conservatives was to portray Muslims as villains and Hindus as saviours of the Dalits, while also avoiding subdivisions and disunity among Hindus.

The Arya Samaj founded by Dayanand Saraswati underlined the linguistic and racial purity of the Aryans and described the Samaj as a society of the Aryan race (upper castes). The Dalits were excluded from this, but were later offered to improve their caste status through shuddhi or purification (Thapar 2008: 4041). Similarly, different factions such as the All Indian Achutuddhar Committee, Shraddhananda Dalitudhar Sabha began working for spiritual well-being, religious protection and socio-economic upliftment of the depressed classes. Thus, the attempts by the Hindu organisations were fundamentally political, but under the guise of religion. By the 1920s, the movements claiming the status of aboriginal inhabitants of the land emerged among the Dalits. There were attempts to enumerate themselves in the 1931 Census as ad-dharmis, Adi-Hindu, Adi-Dravida, etc. They argued that the Dalits were the original inhabitants of this land and were conquered by the Aryans who enslaved the Dalits. The ad-dharmis in Punjab under the leadership of Mangoo Ram protested against the attempt of Arya Samajis to retain them as Hindus and asserted against them (Omvedt 1994; Mani 2005; Prashad 2000).

In the 1930s, B R Ambedkar clashed with M K Gandhi and his Congress over the separate electorate for Dalits. The ad-dharmi Mandal and Balmiki Sabha (Chuhras) of Jalandhar sent their signature in blood to London in support of Ambedkar as their leader and affirmed his statement that Dalits were a separate entity cast out by Hindu society (Prashad 2000: 87).

Reformist perspective: The Chuhras began to call themselves Valmikis and by the 1930s had conflicts with Chamars over the caste heritages. The Chamars were the followers of Ravidas, while the Chuhras claimed Valmiki as their guru. The clash was around the status and precedence of the guru (Prashad 2000: 90). These differences were cashed upon by the Arya Samajis to win over the Chuhras to Hinduism. Valmiki Prakash written by Ami Chand in 1936 became a staple track of the Balmiki community. The track highlighted conversation between Ram Sevak and Balmiki man and carried sustained attacks on the ad-dharmi movement and their leaders who were accused of separating the Dalits from the Hindus. It was enforced upon the Chuhras that Brahmins did not allow others to read the Vedas, whereas Ramayana was open for all, from Brahmins to Chandalas, and hence, Valmiki was chosen as a guru by the community. Even Thakkar and Harijan Sevak Sangh were involved in this politics (Prashad 2000: 9293). Thus, some Dalits succumbed to Arya Samajis and their political manipulation of the situation.

Prashad (2000: 8788) noted that in a meeting of Dalits and Arya Samaj, the Arya Samaj updeshak (missionary) sought pardon from Dalits and sought friendship with them. This meeting was presided over by Mangoo Ram at Shimla. In response, the Dalits asserted that they would not be swayed by hollow promises and occasional dramatics. In response,N L Varma, an Arya Samaj follower, said that he carried refuse from the latrines before the meeting, to which Chunni Lal, one of the ad-dharmi Dalit retorted, stating he cannot accomplish the work fully well unless he does it for at least 10 or 15 days.

The recent campaign on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) is the classic example for the reproduction of such an attitude within the reformist framework. While paying no heed to the rights of being of the traditional sanitation workers (safai karmacharis), technicalities of sanitation are instead given priority, plus the health of workers being noted as an important component within its framework. In the perspective of the SBA, more toilets equals cleanliness and more healthy workers equals clean India. Prashad, in as late as 1998, calls such approaches reformist, where a policy is posited in such strategic ways as to make the inhuman and poor working conditions of the scanvengers/safai karmacharis more tolerable rather than destroying the very system that generates it.

Abolitionist perspective: Ambedkar, however, has a different position pertaining to the same. His was a more fundamental argument that points out to the basis of social life itself, rather than drawing the same conclusions as the aforementioned authors. His arguments, often observed in tumultuous debates with Gandhi who he viewed as a mere reformist, asserted,

You (Gandhi) appeal to the scavengers pride and vanity in order to induce him and him only to keep on to scavenging by telling him that scavenging is a noble profession and that he need not be ashamed of it. (Ambedkar 1990a: 29293)

Yet, such glorification of manual scavenging was inhuman, unfounded and, not to say the least, laced with lethal repercussions. Reformism, in the perspective of Ambedkar, was nothing more than a sanitised conception of sanitation itself, strategically framed to obscure the controversial nature of manual scavenging and the very problematics of untouchability.

Bhagwan Das (1996: 10), in his seminal work Main Bhangi Hun reiterates this argument that

From the primitive time, I am the original inhabitant of Bharat land and did not accept the slavery and fought against the invaders. I did not bow down before the kings and Purohits nor did I worship their gods. I am part of the social group that safeguarded this freedom of the natives. My story starts from that day when the Aryan kings attacked the pious country like Bharat and made us slaves by removing crown from my head and forced upon my head the basket of refuse.

The abolitionist perspective challenges the confinement of scavengers in a system in which institutionalised inequality is legitimised by religious scriptures and whose fundamentalinforming principles are premised on the forms of reciprocal repulsion. The perspective instead presents struggle and resistance against manual scavenging as a means out of historical degradation and caste subjugation.

Profile of Castes Engaged in Manual Scavenging

The Government of Maharashtra in 2005 sanctioned a research project to study the prevalence, extent and nature of practice of manual scavenging in the state, under the Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation (MPBCDC). The data presented in this paper is based on a study carried out by the author under the aegis of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The study covered all the districts and talukas, urban local bodies (ULBs) (municipal corporations, municipal councils) and places whose population is 10,000 and above. Aiming to ascertain the numbers of dry latrines and manual scavengers, the study covered 2,753 households identified as engaging in manual scavenging with 4,182 individuals who are directly involved in different forms of manual scavenging.

The scavengers in Maharashtra are known as the Mehtar, Bhangi, Balmiki, Rukhi, Lalbegi in local and regional languages and, as aswaccha (unclean) safai kamgars or manual scavengers into a bureaucratic parlance. Of the total 59 castes listed as Scheduled Castes (scs) by the Census of Maharashtra, Mahar (Neo-Buddhists), Mang/Matang, Bhambi (Chambhar/Chamar) and Bhangi, these four together constitute almost 92% of the total sc population in the state.2 Mahars are numerically the largest SC with 57.5%, followed by Mang/Matang 20.3% and Bhambi (Chambhar) 12.5% of the SC population of the state, whereas the Bhangis with nearly 2% (1,86,776) are the fourth largest SC population of the state. Under the entry Bhangi there are 10 subgroups. They are namelyBhangi, Mehtars, Olgana, Rukhi, Malkana, Halalkhor, Lalbegi, Balmiki, Korar and Zadmalli (the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders [Amendment] Act, 1976, provided by the Registrar General of India.) The population of Bhangi is highly urbanised, accounting for nearly 92.7% in the said area. They are employed by both public and private/informal sectors in the state, such as the cantonment boards, municipal corporations, municipal councils, railways, airports, government/private hospitals, private housing societies/chawls and commercial establishments. The members of these castes are traditionally known as untouchables or outcastes and form the lowest stratum of the society. Their traditional occupations revolves specifically around the removal of dead animals, handling dead bodies on funeral ground, drum beating, cleaning/sweeping road/lanes in villages/towns and the manual removal and cleaning of human excreta.

Unlike other scs, such as the Mahar (Neo-Buddhists), Mang/Matang and Chambhar, Bhangis, being a moving population were not the part of traditional Maharashtrian village structure. However, being migrants from various parts of India initially brought by the Britishers, they have settled down in relatively urban areas of the state in the first half of the 20th century.

Demographic Profile and Migration Patterns

In Maharashtra, the untouchable groups (Mahar, Matang, Chambhar, Dhor, etc) had never performed the task of manual removal of human excreta. However, it is believed that during the pre-independence period, the native MuslimMehtar or Bhangi was the only (religious) group engaged in manual scavenging. As the British laid the foundation of railways and developed certain areas as cantonment towns (Mumbai, Deolali-Nashik, Ahmadnagar, Pune, Aurangabad and Kamtee-Nagpur-cantonment towns having military bases), the Bhangi/Mehtar or Valmiki, especially from northern parts of India, migrated to Maharashtra and to other southern parts of the country and settled in urban and semi-urban trading centres, including these cantonment towns. The Bhangis, Rukhis, Vankars and Meghwals from Gujarat migrated to Mumbai, Pune and Nashik in Maharashtra. All these castes are the migrants from Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

According to field observations and data collected through focus group discussions (FGDs), the earliest migration into Maharashtra is that of Gujaratis (Meghwals and Vankars). This first wave of migration dates back to the mid-19th century (the famous Chappania Akal, the famine of 1856) and early 20th century. Meghwals are numerically strong untouchable caste spread all over Gujarat. They were also known as Dhed, Mayavanshi and Vankar. They were never traditional scavenging communities, but in the absence of other scavenging castes in some villages they were expected to perform this task also. During the same period, Bombay was rapidly becoming the centre of trading activities of British. With the establishment of Board of Conservancy in Bombay in 1845, a process of systematic solid Waste Management and recruitment of Scavengers/Halalkhors has begun. Due to close proximity to Bombay, the Meghwals, Vankars and Rukhis who migrated to the city were employed as conservancy workers. They also migrated to nearby cities, such as Nashik, Pune and Aurangabad. Since then, they have settled in the state and are engaged in various forms of scavenging.

Other scavenging communities migrated from North India, especially from Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh in large numbers. They have significant presence in various cities/towns of Maharashtra. Though they are known by different names in their respective states as Mehtar, Bhangi, Chuhra, however, they prefer toidentify themselves as Balmiki/Valmiki and have also been notified as such in states like Maharashtra.

The Valmiki, unlike other untouchable groups, occupied a very low place in a traditional caste hierarchy in their place of origin. They performed the most obnoxious traditional occupation in the historical-caste structure. They were mainly engaged in polluted, inhuman occupations at the landlords houses in the village. Being at the bottom of the hierarchy without any access to land, education or any other dignified occupation, they were made completely dependent on theirpatron-landlords for their livelihood. As a result, they were subjected to a greater degree of humiliation and subjugation by the caste Hindus. In this context, migration perhaps was apreferred option as a means to escape the caste-based exclusion. Nonetheless, manual scavenging remains largely a caste-based or descent-based occupation even in urban areas and while migration has freed them from the immediate clutches of the landlord, yet, it has not helped them much in ridding themselves of caste-based discrimination.

Zone-wise Concentration by Caste and Category

An important component of the study reveals an important facet of the dimensions of manual scavenging. It was found that not only SC, but other groups such as Scheduled Tribe (ST), Denotified Tribe (DNT)/Nomadic Tribe (NT), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and General are found engaged in manual scavenging, although their percentage is very low or negligible. Hoping to provide a deeper understanding into the said subject, I present below some data that unravels specific social categories that are engaged in this occupation.

Scheduled Castes: According to the study, of the total identified sample of 2,753, a total of 87.7% belong to SCs. Zone wise, the Konkan region accounts for more than one-fourth that is 29.6%, followed by Pune 17.2%, Aurangabad 16.1%, Amravati 13.8%, Nagpur 13.0%, and Nashik standing at 10.1%.

Scheduled Tribes, Denotified and Nomadic Tribes: Among the ST/DNT/NT data reveals that only 0.9% ST households are found engaged in scavenging. More than half (58.3%) of them are in the Konkan region followed by one-fourth (25.0%) in Amravati. This is perhaps because of their high population in these regions. To be more specific, they belong to theMahadev Koli, Gond, Kolam and Katakari tribes. Besides these communities, there are a few who may fall into the DNT, NT category such as Kunchi Karve, Bhoi, Kaikadi and Vanjari. The traditional occupation of these STs, denotified and NTs are not scavenging; however, the likelihood of their own socio-economic marginalisation (conceived as a possible push factor), and the easy access to urban settings and employment opportunities available (conceive as pull factor), can perhaps be accounted as reasons for these communities to join these occupations.

Other Backward Classes: Of the total identified sample, 1.8% of the OBCs were found engaged in this occupation. Their presence was more prominent in the Konkan zone (nearly three-fourths). Whereas, their percentage is negligible in other zones. It is important to note that the Konkan division includes Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and has as many as six municipal corporations. The OBCs were mainly absorbed as employees in these ULBs, hospitals and the railways. They come from OBCs, such as Teli, Mali, Kunabi, Kumbhar, Sonar and Dhangar. While their traditional occupation was never scavenging, yet, according to the data collected, it was found that significant numbers of people from this category are getting into this occupation and their percentage is slightly high in urban settings, especially in MMR and other big cities. One reason for this could be the cut-throat competition for government jobs among the educated unemployed across the sections. As a result, many Shudra castes falling under the OBC category are attracted to such government jobs. Second, the relativeaccesses for this category into the administration of these institutions entering as a safai kamgar/sweeper could also be a means to finally get absorbed into other (dignified) departments and/or in due course be promoted as supervisor through their political connections and influence.

General category: Of the total identified sample, 9.6% of the aswachha safai kamgars/scavengers fall under general category. Within them, 81.5% are Muslims, 0.4% are Christians and 18.1% are Hindus other than SC, ST and OBC. The important point here is that even the Muslims have been included in the list of general category, which is a controversial issue. As per the Constitution, only Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions qualify to be included into the SC list, whereas, Muslim and Christian are not. However, field observations suggest that the Muslims have been performing this occupation since time immemorial, and a majority of them are even more backward than their Hindu counterparts. Another important aspect is that within MuslimMehtars, Lalbegi and Sheik are two distinct endogamous groups and intermarriages between these two are not allowed. Among Lalbegi, some are still Hindu and others have embraced Islam. Although they form a most significant part of the underprivileged section of our society, they are still deprived of many government programmes meant for the upliftment of the scavengers.

Among the Hindu general category, people use their political influence at the local level to grab a few posts of safai kamgar generally meant for the communities traditionally performing these occupations. It is observed that the general category persons entering this profession never perform these filthy tasks. They rather prefer to work as supervisors or sanitary inspectors and then try to become clerks or simply sub-contract out their task to somebody else from the scavenging castes. Advancement in technology and government measures to completely abolish the dry latrines (at least from urban and semi-urban areas) has brought some positive changes in the nature of this occupation. As a result, persons from general category seem not to mind joining as a safai karmachari and, thus, sweep roads for a few days and then switch over to some other tasks within the same department in due course of time.

Dimensions of Scavenging: Nature, Extent and Form

Manual scavengers in Maharashtra are engaged in five major activities of manual scavenging. Water-based latrine from amongst other scavenging activities in Maharashtra is the largest practice of manual scavenging where 43.4% (1,800) of the scavengers are manually cleaning excreta. Open defecation (as a part of community toilet block or roadside) is prevalent in 29.80% (1,239) cases. Open gutters/drains account for 24.7% (1,025). Manholes, which account for 1.5% (63) cases, are prevalent mainly in cities such as Mumbai and Pune. Only in a very few instances of 0.9% (55) dry latrines/Topli Sandas are in practice. Incidentally, large share of this belongs to the Aurangabad zone or region, especially the Cantonment area, with 89.09% (49) of the cases.

The nature of manual scavenging has changed over the years. In Maharashtra, the existence of dry latrine/dabba latrine is found only in a few areas of Marathwada region, namely Aurangabad, Jalna and Beed. However, the community/public toilet blocks or the water-based/latrines provided by ULBs in certain localities in semi-urban and urban areas are not adequate and not properly maintained. The practice of defecating in the open, alongside roads, open gutters, drainages, in the open space, and around toilet blocks has been found prevalent. This requires the manual scavenger as an employee of the ULBs or any other government organisation to manually remove/clean and dispose of human excreta and other waste.

The practice of scavenging and employment of manual scavengers by the local government authorities and private households has been banned under the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. This act was enacted in Maharashtra from 26 January 1997. The act declared the employment of manual scavengers engaged in manually removing human excreta an offence, and thus, banned the construction of dry latrines, advocating in the process the conversion of existing dry latrines into water-seal latrines. The study revealed that only 36% of the respondents are aware about this act. Not a single case is registered under the act till the government brought in a new legislation Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act in 2013. This clearly reflects the apathy of the state in the implementation of this act.

Further, as a strategy to eradicate this practice, it is identified as important to liberate and rehabilitate the manual scavengers into other dignified occupations. This resulted in the government launching the National Scheme of Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers and their Dependents in March 1992. However, the lukewarm implementation and the complete lack of coordination between the training and the financial organisation under the scheme hardly bore any fruit; instead, it rendered the scavengers unemployed and marginalised them even further. According to the data from the study, only 28% of the respondents are aware, and only 8% have benefited from this scheme in Maharashtra.

The Indian Scenario: Current Status

Around 60% of all open defecation in the world takes place in India (News 18 2012). To address this problem, the government of India had launched a programme called the Total Sanitation Campaign in 1999. The campaign became only partially successful and was restructured to make it more people-centric and was renamed Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) with a goal of eradicating the practice of open defecation itself by 2022. Maharashtra, along with Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, is on its way to achieve the goal of open defecation free state in the next two years. However, all such programmes seem to have been unable to effectively tackle the problem of providing adequate sanitation to the masses at large, which is directly responsible for the prevalence of the practice of manual scavenging in the country. The Census of India 2011 data on the type of latrine facility within households reveals that there are over 7.4 lakh households across the country where night soil is removed by humans. This does not include the households where night soil is disposed into open drain (over 12.33 lakh households) and night soil is serviced by animals (over 4.93 lakh) that are most likely to engage manual scavenging services subsequently. About 25 lakh households are still using dry (non-flush) latrines, employing manual scavengers directly or indirectly. Chandigarh, Sikkim, Goa and Lakshadweep are the only regions in the country that do not have a single instance of manual scavenging.

The census figures only throw light on various types of latrines and the modes in which human excreta is removed (by human) or serviced (by animal); however, it does not give the exact numbers of manual scavengers in each state. For the population of manual scavengers, we have to rely on Census 2011 and the data given by various ministries of the central government. According to Annual Report 200910, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, the population of manual scavengers in Maharashtra is 64,785. Of these, 19,086 are rehabilitated and about 45,699 scavengers are yet to be rehabilitated.

The Census of India 2011 data with regard to sanitation facility in Maharashtra is equally important and relevant in this context. Although it does not give exact population of manual scavengers in Maharashtra, however, it does provide the magnitude of the problem of sanitation facility and manual scavenging in the state. Table 1 reveals the condition of sanitation in both rural and urban areas in the state with types of latrines. If viewed carefully, except the latrines connected to piped water system, all other types of latrines invariably need to be cleaned/removed and disposed off by humans. In the light of this, the problem of manual scavenging therefore persists.

The population of the set of castes engaged in manual scavenging profession in Maharashtra is highly urbanised (92.7%). With the process of rapid urbanisation in the state, the problem of manual scavenging seems to be more aggravated in urban and semi-urban areas rather than in rural areas where villagers prefer open fields for defecation. The circular issued by the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra on 4 March 2013 with regard to survey of insanitary latrines reveals that there are 1,71,688 households spread out in 256 towns/cities. The data is based on Census 2011 and mainly includes the statutory towns in Maharashtra.

However, the Census 2011 data on sanitation reveals the challenges that rural Maharashtra has to face. It indicates that only 38% of households in rural Maharashtra have latrinefacility within the premises. The remaining 62% households have no latrine facility and, therefore, have to resort to alternative sources, namely using public latrine accounting for 10% and open field accounting for 90%. The most striking fact that has emerged from this data is that there are 4,291 households where night soil is removed by a human. In addition to this, there are 12,528 households where night soil is serviced by animals. The presence of both these categories, in other words, also suggests an engagement of manual scavengers for cleaning/removing and disposing off human excreta.

Conclusions

Seeking as I do to uncover the prevalence, nature and extent of manual scavenging in Maharashtra, and in the process, complicate and destabilise a historically embedded social notion formulated around an occupation, I consider it imperative to assert that time is ripe for theorising fundamental questions pertaining to the said subject. The urgency felt is much propounded in the light of a series of promulgation of acts and policies by the state to confront and rid caste-based manual scavenging from India. Having stated the above thought, it is also important to note that however noteworthy the states acts and policies, much remains desired in the implementation of the said policies that would directly affect peoples lives. Beginning with the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 and the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 and schemes such as the National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers and their Dependents (NSLRM), Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), National Safai Karmachari Finance and Development Corporation, Nirmal Gram Puraskar Yojana, Self-employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers and SBA, etc, the acts and programmes of the Government of India, in general, and of different states, in particular, remain nondescript. In many ways, they seem to have miserably failed to eradicate the inhuman practice of cleaning toilets and lifting human excreta by hand assigned mostly to some caste groups.

On this front, one of the arguments which I want to propose is that these occupations have always been caste/descent-based and are performed predominantly by members of Dalitcommunities. While government officials, politicians and judiciary (predominantly upper caste) have rarely shown any genuine commitment to its eradication beyond loud policy pronouncement when cornered by facts and figures, there is however a perennial denial of its social existence among those who wish to free themselves from the responsibility of their daily excreta produce. Several studies and reports emerging from civil society organisations and institutions have pointed to one single factthat the governments (central and states) have been the largest employer of manual scavengers and thus remain the biggest perpetrators of this crime. This is often viewed as fundamentally violating basic human rights of these voiceless citizens of the country. In an interesting report by Malakani Committee (1969) in the wake of Gandhi Centenary Year, the Bhangi Kashtha Mukti programme was launched by providing scavengers with wheelbarrows, subsidy to households to convert dry latrines into flush-out latrines, etc. The policy that informed the programme purported to address the issue of indignity, stigma associated with scavenging, and the consequent practice of untouchability against manual scavengers by eradicating unsanitary conditions around them. Most of such welfare policies/programmes of the state are informed by a belief that the inhuman state of manual scavengers and safai karmacharis are likely due to physical and unhygienic conditions, rather than sociocultural or ritual impurity imposed on their lives by the caste system.

Slavoj iek in his book The Plague of Fantasies, argues that In everyday life, ideology is at work especially in the apparently innocent reference to pure utility. He substantiates this by giving the example of toilet construction in three nations, namely United Kingdom, France and Germany and how it reflects the ideology of the nation. Similarly, the toilet system in india is of dry and open toilets. There is no concept of the flush in the Indian system. The inherent ideology of the system is that someone will clean the excreta. The Indian toilet ideology is rooted in the notion of the caste system. This, in turn, informs caste-based occupation and vice versa. Thus, manual scavenging becomes an essential element of the Indian toilet system as it provides labour to clean the excreta and creates a system of social obligation on the person doing the job of manual scavenging.

The state and central governments for a long time were even reluctant to redefine the term manual scavengers. This was because they feared the fact that they would have to bring these workers into the ambit of similar forms/practices of work, such as sewerage workers, sanitation workers in railways and hospitals, morgue workers and garbage loaders, who work in most hazardous and inhuman conditions. Manual scavengers, who risk their life to keep towns and cities clean, are, thus, in turn, constantly denied their fundamental entitlements such as housing, healthcare, education, social and economic security by the state. In fact, in India, even for the larger civilised society, such practices are considered as normal occupations and as the Dalits social obligations and contribution to the larger society.

Although many leaders have called it a national shame and demand for its immediate eradication, unfortunate as it may sound, political parties and civil society alike have rarely shown or considered the issue serious enough to warrant drastic action on the matter. Imbued and deeply rooted in caste, manual scavenging keeps persisting. This is one of the main reasons for the inability to secure any theoretical advancement that can provide superior insights and stimulate change in the said reality. Nonetheless, this should not be the reason for not attempting to raise the debate about manual scavenging to a valid place in both the moral and political discourse.

To finally conclude, the production of factual numbers that unravels the prevalence and extent of manual scavenging is imperative. However, in our context, when we transcend numbers and enter the more complex realm of lived experience, we are confronted in every sphere either by state lethargy, caste arrogance or even peoples wilful acceptance of the said occupation.

We live in a society soaked in caste, where societal solidarity is predicated and structured around forms of coercive equilibrium rather than consensual equilibrium. The social attitude that stems from such surreptitious premises often suffers from an epistemic blindness that binds caste groups into rigid silos. In such realities, whilst one has a clear view and perception of oneself, yet, one is blind to the realities of others. The interplay of such conjunctions often manifests more starkly in the public realm of social duties and political responsibilities as citizens. While those higher up in the caste hierarchy consider the production of waste their natural right and privilege, yet, the same caste feels no need to take the responsibility for the waste generated once the same is conceptually transformed into dirt. So pervasive is this cocooned attitude among the privileged caste that ones generated waste is often conceived not as ones own, but as the responsibility of other castes. The repercussions of such an attitude have been at the heart of the production and reproduction of the practice of untouchability, the essence of which can be articulated as, Whereas it is my God designed natural duty to produce waste, it is however the religiously ordained responsibility of the untouchable to clean the dirt. In this context, I opine that unless we address the fundamental mechanics of this basic conception, no policy nor campaign, however liberatory it may purport to seem, can fundamentally alter the lives and livelihoods of manual scavengers.

Notes

1 The Good Practice Book On the Right Track released by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Water and Sanitation (Lisbon, February 2012).

2 http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_sc_maha.pdf.

References

Ambedkar, B R (1987): The Triumph of Brahmanism, BAWS, published by Government of Maharashtra, Vol 3, pp 26669.

(1990): What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to Untouchables, BAWS, published by Government of Maharashtra, Vol 9, pp 29293.

Das, Bhagwan (1996): Main Bhangi Hun, New Delhi: Gautam Book Center.

Enthoven, E R (1920): The Tribes and Castes of Bombay, Delhi: Cosmo Publications, Vol I.

Malkani, N R (1965): Clean People Unclean Country, Harijan Sevak Sangh, New Delhi.

Mani, Braj Ranjan (2005): Debrahmanising History: Dominance and Resistance in Indian History, New Delhi: Manohar.

News 18 (2012): India Is Worlds Capital for Open Defecation: Ramesh, 12 July.

Omvedt, Gail (1994): Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India, Sage Publications, New Delhi.

Pathak, Bindeshwar (2000): Road to Freedom: A Sociological Study on the Abolition of Scavenging in India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, (new edition).

Prashad, Vijay (2000): Untouchable Freedom: A Social History of Dalit Community, New Delhi: OUP.

Ramaswamy, Gita (2011): India Stinking: Manual Scavengers in Andhra Pradesh and Their Work, Navayana Publisher.

Russel, R V and Hira Lal (1916): Tribes and Castes of Central Provinces of India, Delhi: Publications, Vol IV.

Shyamlal (1992): The Bhangi: A Sweeper Caste, Its Socio-economic Portraits, Sangam Books.

Srivastava, B N (1997): Manual Scavenging in India: A Disgrace to the Country, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi.

Stephen, Fuchs (1981): At the Bottom of Indian Society: The Harijan and Other Low Castes, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi

Thapar, Romila (2008): The Aryan: Recasting Constructs, New Delhi: Three Essays Collective.

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The Complexities of Liberation from Caste : Manual Scavenging in Maharashtra - Economic and Political Weekly

The all-volunteer force has been one of Americas great success stories over the past five decades. In 1973, the United States eliminated the draft, creating the military as it is today. While far from perfect, the U.S. armed forces have never been more professional, educated, or capable. With such willing and able volunteers, it should come as no surprise that most Americans consistently oppose military conscription.

After two decades at war, however, a group of prominent defense critics now argue the all-volunteer force is unfair, inefficient, and unsustainable. They argue that it contributes to the nations civil-military gap and threatens the social fabric of our democracy. Congress has even chartered a national commission to consider and develop recommendations concerning the need for a military draft.

The United States should maintain the all-volunteer force, however, despite this criticism. While the civil-military divide is large and growing, reinstating conscription will not address the problem. Moreover, short of an existential threat to the nation, a draft is not politically feasible, publicly acceptable, or militarily suitable. The success of the all-volunteer is due to the lasting impact and enduring influence of the Presidents Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force (or Gates Commission), which presented its final report to President Richard Nixon in February 1970 fifty years ago this month. This history of the commission and how it reached its conclusions offers lessons for the present day, and should inform our understanding of the U.S. military.

Nixons Campaign Promise

With a strong commission chair, an inclusive information-gathering process, and a coherent political strategy, the Gates Commission (named for its chairman, former Secretary of Defense Thomas Gates) helped bring an end to conscription in the United States and usher in the all-volunteer force. The commission included cabinet secretaries, politicians, retired generals, captains of industry, seasoned educators, civil rights activists, famed economists, and even a law student. It convincingly argued that military conscription amounted to an unjust government tax with inequitable human, cultural, social, and economic costs for a generation of draftees, and unanimously recommended an end to the draft. The commissions final report also recommended a more generous compensation and benefits package to recruit and retain servicemembers in a competitive market-based economy. Taken together, the Gates Commission is arguably the most successful blue-ribbon defense commission in U.S. history.

Throughout the 1960s, opponents of selective service openly criticized the draft as individuals found various ways to avoid conscription through delays, exemptions, and deferments. The deferment system was a particular source of angst for many Americans, as the public widely viewed it as exacerbating socioeconomic inequalities between rich and poor: The upper class went to college while the working class went to war. And the American war effort in Vietnam continued to escalate with no end in sight. By late 1968, nearly 37,000 U.S. troops had died in the war. According to the New York Times, the Pentagon estimated that roughly 33 percent of Americans killed in combat were draftees.

Meanwhile, domestic opposition to the war reached a crescendo at home. This opposition manifested itself through draft-resistance movements, widespread protests, and outright political disillusionment. For instance, a retrospective in the Washington Post described a massive, three-day protest outside the Pentagon in October 1967 as a cultural touchstone of the decade [and] defining moment of American history. Protests continued across the country, contributing to the nations divisive cultural and political climate and to President Lyndon Johnsons decision not to seek re-election in 1968.

In late 1966, Nixon was in the early stages of his own campaign for the White House. The former vice president began by forming an inner circle of like-minded advisers including Columbia University professor Martin Anderson, an economist by training to counsel him on all matters of public policy. At a March 1967 campaign meeting in Manhattan, Anderson recommended that candidate Nixon reverse his longstanding position favoring conscription and come out publicly against the draft. Asking for time to study the issue before eventually presenting his findings to the group, Anderson proposed, What if I could show you how we could end the draft completely and increase our military power at the same time?

After weeks of research, Anderson submitted a position paper to Nixon for review. In his memo, Anderson argued that the draft constitutes two years of involuntary servitude to the State and eliminating it would actually strengthen our security. Though Nixon expressed initial interest in the idea, several months passed without so much as a formal discussion or campaign meeting on the topic. But on Nov. 17, 1967, a young reporter from the New York Times asked Nixon for his thoughts on the draft. Anderson recalled, Nixon smiled and replied evenly, I think we should eliminate the draft and move to an all-volunteer force. The next day, the Times published an article titled, Nixon Backs Eventual End of Draft. With that, Nixon became the countrys most prominent public champion for the creation of an all-volunteer force. One year later, the American people elected him the 37th president of the United States.

In January 1969, Arthur Burns, a member of the Nixon campaign team, sent the president-elect a report outlining suggestions for early action, reminding him that one of your strongest pledges during the campaign was the eventual abolition of the draft. Burns recommended Nixon appoint a special Commission charged with the task of developing a detailed plan of action for ending the draft. Living up to his campaign promise, Nixon announced the commission by proclaiming, I have directed the Commission to develop a comprehensive plan for eliminating conscription and moving toward an all-volunteer armed force. The Commission will study a broad range of possibilities including increased pay, benefits, recruitment incentives, and other practicable measures to make military careers more attractive to young men. With that, Nixon set the slow wheels of government in motion.

Beyond staff, office space, and an operating budget, a blue-ribbon defense commission of this caliber would also require a cadre of prominent private citizens and former public officials to serve as commissioners and give this massive undertaking the public attention and credibility it deserved. Anderson recalled, The members of the commission were carefully chosen. It is relatively easy to select members of a commission so that the result is predetermined. We deliberately at some risk chose not to do that. Instead, we decided to appoint five people who were for the idea, five who were against it, and five who, while they had no clear position, were men and women of integrity. With this strategy in mind, the president asked former Secretary of Defense Thomas Gates, an all-volunteer force skeptic, to lead the commission. To his credit, Nixon knew that without a strong and well-respected commission chairman in the lead, any report recommending the transition to an all-volunteer force would be dead-on-arrival in Washington.

A Strong Chair at the Helm

An Ivy Leaguer, investment banker, and Navy veteran, Thomas Gates held several senior positions in the Eisenhower administration, including undersecretary of the Navy, secretary of the Navy, deputy secretary of defense, and secretary of defense. With an unparalleled Pentagon rsum, Gates was larger than life and highly respected among defense insiders. He enjoyed the gravitas necessary to lead such a consequential commission because he had been widely credited with major management innovations within the Department of Defense.

As chairman, Gates fostered a collegial commission environment where dissent was welcome. For instance, fellow commissioner Crawford Greenwalt asked Gates whether the Commission was obligated to recommend an all-volunteer force plan since his only concern was that he be free to reject the all-volunteer solution. Gates told him that it was not necessary for the Commission members to assume at the outset that an all-volunteer force solution was either feasible or desirable. According to Stephen Herbits, one of the last surviving commissioners who agreed to an interview for this research, We asked ourselves whether an all-volunteer force was both desirable and doable. Skeptics raised the question as to whether it was desirable. Proponents were not afraid to explore the question because they never doubted the wisdom of an all-volunteer force.

Reflecting on Gates leadership, famed economist and fellow commissioner Milton Friedman recalled, Tom Gates was a splendid, open-minded, even-handed chairman, who gradually shifted his position to become a convinced supporter of an all-volunteer army. Similarly, Herbits recalled, Everyone in the room respected Gates. He was thoughtful and never raised his voice. He never ruled with an iron hand and when he wanted to move on to another topic, everyone agreed. His sheer personal charisma and authority moved the process along. Clearly, Gates was the perfect choice to chair Nixons commission.

An Inclusive Information-Gathering Process Meets a Coherent Political Strategy

With less than a year to report his findings, Gates decided not to hold any public hearings on the commissions work. However, he did demand an otherwise exhaustive information-gathering process. This included briefings from senior Pentagon bureaucrats, meetings with the service chiefs and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visits to Capitol Hill, and thorough analyses from the commission staff. Beyond defense officials, the Gates Commission also heard private testimony from prominent veterans organizations like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Indeed, the commission understood the implications of its work for the American people, designing its final report to be a persuasive public document which presented the economic, social, and political arguments for a volunteer force and a rebuttal to the arguments against a volunteer force. Of course, this final report would not have come to pass were it not for the commissions preceding staff reports and studies. The staff director, William Meckling, organized the commissions research under directors responsible for total force manpower requirements; supply of officers; supply of enlisted personnel; and historical, political, and social research.

On Dec. 20, 1969, after months of study and debate, the commissioners unanimously concluded that an all-volunteer force was the most desirable solution, but not without some remaining internal differences. On Jan. 9, 1970, the commissioners met one last time to address their lingering disagreements. Gates facilitated a tense discussion wherein the commission argued over the wording and the feasibility of the [all-volunteer force] at particular force levels. This internal tension also stemmed from a debate over the war in Vietnam. Herbits, a Georgetown Law student at the time, objected to a draft version of the commissions final report, which included language supporting the Vietnam War. Herbits, usually deferential to the elder statesmen on the commission, spoke up in defiant opposition to the other commissioners. After arguing that the ongoing conflict was beyond the scope of the commissions work, Herbits threatened to vote against the final report as drafted. He recalled exclaiming, Do you really want the youngest member of this commission telling the country he doesnt agree with its report? In search of unanimity, Gates brokered a deal between the quarrelling commissioners by conceding Herbits point and omitting language supporting the war.

With a unanimous agreement secured, Gates shifted his attention to combating opposition to the final report. According to Gus Lee and Geoffrey Parker, Mr. Gates thought it was essential that the commission squarely face all major objections to the volunteer force, and eventually a complete section of the report was set aside to refute common criticisms of the volunteer force concept. As such, the commissioners socialized their final recommendations over dinner with key stakeholders, including Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor. Bernard Rostker writes, As the Gates Commission proceeded to prebrief the services on their emerging recommendations, it became clear that the commissioners views were different from those prevailing in the Pentagon.

The next morning, Resor attended the commissions meeting to formally deliver the Armys official response to the reports findings and recommendations. Throughout the meeting, Resor frequently referred to would-be volunteers as mercenaries. According to Martin Anderson, At some point, [Milton] Friedman couldnt take it anymore and responded to Resor, Look, lets make an agreement. If you promise to stop calling my volunteers mercenaries, I will promise to stop calling your draftees slaves. To that end, the commissioners argued conscription imposed social and human costs by distorting the personal lives and career plans of the young and by forcing society to deal with such difficult problems. Volunteers, on the other hand, would maintain a high quality force that is more experienced, better motivated, and has higher morale. Tensions remained high as the commission prepared to publicly issue its final report. To get ahead of any Pentagon misinformation campaign, Gates went out of his way to visit the Senate Armed Services Committee and allay lingering congressional concerns. By engaging Washington stakeholders throughout the process, Gates clearly understood his central role in ensuring the commissions success.

In close consultation with the White House, the commission published its final report through the Government Printing Office and Macmillan Company. The Nixon administration would ensure maximum public exposure of the Gates Commission report by printing 5,000 hardcover books and another 100,000 paperback copies by March 1970. This proved to be a smart and wildly successful public information campaign. Gates showed remarkable leadership in the final stretch as he led the commission to settle its remaining differences and eventually persuaded all members to sign without a single dissenting opinion. The importance of the commissions unanimity on an all-volunteer force cannot be overstated. The commissioners, representing a veritable cross-section of society, signaled to the defense establishment that the American people were ready to embrace a historic policy change by replacing conscription with an all-volunteer force.

Keep the All-Volunteer Force

The inequitable human, cultural, social, and economic costs of conscription during the Vietnam War robbed a generation of draftees of their youth. The Gates Commission deserves a great deal of credit for helping to end military conscription in the United States and laying the intellectual foundation for the advent of the all-volunteer force three years later. Ultimately, the Gates Commission succeeded because Gates led an inclusive information-gathering process, satisfying stakeholders, and employed a coherent political strategy, overcoming opposition.

Indeed, the all-volunteer force is the cornerstone of the modern American military. The U.S. military today is a more effective, just, equitable, and meritorious institution, thanks in large measure to the commissions foundational work 50 years ago.

Like conscription, however, the all-volunteer force has come at a significant cost. While the Gates Commission asserted that conscription offers the general public an opportunity to impose a disproportionate share of defense costs on a minority of the population, the same could be said for the all-volunteer force today. In fact, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates illustrated this point during a 2010 lecture: Yet even as we appreciate, and sometimes marvel at, the performance of this all-volunteer force, I think it important at this time to recognize that this success has come at significant cost. Above all, the human cost, for the troops and their families. But also cultural, social, and financial costs in terms of the relationship between those in uniform and the wider society they have sworn to protect. After two decades at war, the 50th anniversary of the Gates Commission serves as a timely reminder that military service is a costly endeavor, for volunteers and their families alike.

Maj. Brandon J. Archuleta, Ph.D. is a strategic planner in the Army war plans division and author of the forthcoming book, Twenty Years of Service: The Politics of Military Pension Policy and the Long Road to Reform. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, or U.S. government.

Image: U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion Oklahoma City (Photo by Amber Osei)

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Fifty Years After the President's Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force - War on the Rocks

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It's widely known by this point that several members of the royal family reportedly watch The Crown, although most haven't admitted to it publicly. But there's another current royal TV series which is reportedly very popular at the palaceand it's a lot cheekier than anything Peter Morgan has written.

The Windsors, which began airing on the UK's Channel 4 in 2016, reimagines the lives of the royals as a satirical soap opera. Critics have called the show "a riotous parody," and according to the Daily Mail's royal correspondent Rebecca English, the Windsors themselves (or at least the people who work for them) agree.

"I cant tell you how funny this programme is," English tweeted alongside an announcement for the show's season three premiere. "Very sharp and well-researched. All of the depictions are side-splittingly funny (Princess Anne is a hoot). Well worth a watch and a giggle. Its very popular at the palace too."

Given how irreverent the show is, its popularity at the palace is something of a surprise, but demonstrates that (some of) the royals really aren't afraid to laugh at themselves. Storylines on the show range from gleefully absurdPrince Charles's identical twin brother, Chuck, is discovered in an atticto soapya jealous Pippa Middleton tries to poison Meghan Markle ahead of her wedding to Harryto somewhat pointed satirea disillusioned William calls for a referendum on the abolition of the monarchy.

Significantly, the Queen and Prince Philip do not appear at all in the show, although they're mentioned often.

If all this sounds intriguing to you, the good news is that the first two seasons of The Windsors are available to stream Stateside courtesy of Netflix.

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The Windsors TV Show on Netflix is "Very Popular" At Buckingham Palace - TownandCountrymag.com

There are a host of important, even vital ideas behind All the Dead Ones, a hybrid period piece addressing Brazils unresolved legacy of slavery and the imprint its had on an all-too-often downplayed contemporary racism of malignant toxicity. Set largely in 1899, 11 years after the abolition of slavery but designed so modern So Paulo increasingly bleeds into the picture, the films worthy goals are hampered by an obviousness that favors exposition over subtlety: Having a character express her colonialist guilt by seeing the ghosts of dead slaves feels far too stale when presented with such Freudian hysteria. Caetano Gotardo and Marco Dutra, collaborating as directors for the first time, channel the artificiality of late Manoel de Oliveira but without the enticing mystery, hampered by an understandable earnestness that yearns for a more subtle approach. International prospects are uncertain at best.

It doesnt help that the character one instantly bonds with dies after the first few minutes. Josefina (Alade Costa) is an old servant to the Soares family, an aristocratic coffee plantation clan whose waning power hasnt affected their sense of entitlement. When Josefinas no more, matriarch Isabel (Thaia Perez) bemoans the fact that theres no longer anyone to wash her feet, let alone make a decent cup of java.

Isabel keeps a tight rein on daughter Ana (Carolina Bianchi), whose loosened hair and air of barely contained hysteria speak of both madness and a dangerously uncontrolled sexuality. Her sister Maria (Clarissa Kiste), a nun whod prefer a cloistered existence, is concerned by Anas constant references to their former plantation, which the women left five years earlier with the understanding theyd only temporarily be in So Paulo.

The trio of white women is representative everyone in the film is representative of three different approaches that came with the loss of status as wealthy land and slave owners. Isabel simply refuses to live any other way, her reduction in circumstances resulting in painful psychosomatic ailments. Anas neuroses are less genteel, and shes begun to imagine she sees some of their dead former slaves, not in a menacing way, just present. Marias response to their fall from grace was to enter the convent, where shed prefer to remain permanently away from the world that betrayed her, were it not that shes the sole family member with her head together. Hoping for some help, she journeys to see her father Baron Jorge (Luciano Chirolli) at their former plantation, now owned by rich Italians, but hes not especially interested in shaking up a life with decreasing responsibilities.

With Josefina gone, the family needs household help so upper-class neighbor Romilda (frequent Oliveira actress Leonor Silveira) loans her servant Carolina (Andra Marquee), whos less than satisfactory. Meanwhile, Romildas nephew Eduardo (Thoms Aquino) is proposed as a suitable suitor for Anas hand; though carrying the taint of being mixed race, at least hes willing to woo Isabels daughter, whos not merely beyond the dew of youth but also demonstrably nuts. Eduardo naturally is a representative of another kind of figure: elegant, highly cultured and sensitive to the enchantment of poetry and music, hes designed as a man trapped between the expectations of race and class, plus hes had a same-sex affair that adds another label to a character already over-burdened with signifiers.

Ana begins to obsess on the need to find their former slave In (Mawusi Tulani), wife of Josefinas grandson Antnio (Rogrio Brito), believing she can fill the role of servant as well as work some Candombl magic to heal Isabel. When Maria makes her unproductive trip to see her father, she also locates In, whos suppressed her Angolan faith in recent years knowing that adherence to African religions will harm her ability to fit into the realities of a deeply divided post-slavery Brazil. Though unwilling to return to the Soares family circle, she agrees to briefly help Maria, largely because she hopes to find her missing husband. The ceremony she stages in their home in the city revives pride in her faith, and she stays in So Paulo with her young son Joo (Agyei Augusto), connecting with a community of co-religionists as she searches for Antnio.

In their similarly female-centric previous films, directors Caetano Gotardo (The Moving Creatures) and Marco Dutra (Good Manners) also used characters as stand-ins for societal ills, but with All the Dead Ones, theyve added a hermeticism that blocks emotional involvement, not helped by the obviously calculated construction of each role. Even Antnio, a relatively minor figure, is made to stand for something when he becomes a street lighter, making him not just a symbol of modernity but also someone bringing light into the darkness. Unquestionably, the issues Gotardo and Dutra are grappling with deserve to have more light shone on them, especially the way the ruling class and the Church suppressed African spirituality, yet the film feels so predetermined that the message, never so urgent as now with the Bolsonaro government in power, is weakened.

Even the potentially interesting idea of gradually introducing elements of modern So Paulo feel somehow unremarkable. Its first noticed in music of uncertain date that plays over some early conversations, then more as a building is glimpsed going up near the Soares home. Soon the sound of fireworks is heard (in the daytime), construction noises invade the houses quiet interiors, a wall of graffiti is seen, and then finally the whole modern city is laid out before In and Joo as they picnic on a bluff. Its an interesting conceit, yet like the characters themselves, so calculatedly designed to point out the continuity of racism and class divide in contemporary Brazil that it becomes yet another concept to identify and catalog in ones head before moving on.

Visuals from the always welcome DP Hlne Louvart (Invisible Life, Happy as Lazzaro) are handsomely composed, keeping a tight rein on what can be seen outside the Soares mansion until gradually more and more is glimpsed as their world splinters and reality intrudes. The film is divided into chapters, which helps with the construction.

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All the Dead Ones: Film Review - Variety

Banks will stay closed from Eight to 15 March. There are Sundays on March 8, the birthday of Hazrat Ali on 9, Holi on 10, bankers' strike on 11, 12 and 13, the second on 14 and Sunday on 15. Due to this individuals could need to face problem. Checks price crores of rupees can get caught. Various companies akin to mortgage disbursements might be affected.

->Cash deposit and withdrawal wont be doable. Due to long-term financial institution closure, the quantity in ATMs may also be exhausted. However, its not a lot of an issue for these doing digital transactions, as a result of money disaster, the colours of Holi dont fade, so do the vital work beforehand.

So strike

According to Amardeep Kaushik, the official of the Joint Forum of Bank Associations (UFBU) in Agra, the Indian Banks Association has proposed a 12.5 % improve in salaries, which isnt acceptable.

Bank staff will go on strike for 3 days from March 11 to 13, after negotiations with the Indian Banks Association failed on pay revision.

The financial institution union calls for that the wage be elevated by no less than 20 %, banks have a five-day workday, merger of particular allowances in primary pay, abolition of NPS, pension updation and so forth.

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Banks will probably be closed for Eight consecutive days in March, deal with all of your work beforehand - Sahiwal Tv

Armed with machetes and pitchforks and uttering chants of Freedom or Death, hundreds of men and women made their way along a 26-mile route along the River Parishes of Louisiana.

The spectacle which I witnessed in November 2019 in St. John the Baptist Parish, in the heartland of Louisianas sugar cane and oil industries was a reenactment of what historians believe was the largest slave rebellion in United States history, the 1811 German Coast Uprising.

That winter, along the east bank of the Mississippi River, Charles Deslondes, an enslaved man believed to have arrived in Louisiana from Haiti, led a group of about 30 enslaved people in an uprising at a plantation owned by Manuel Andry. They killed Andrys son, Gilbert, and then set out to establish a black state along the banks of the Mississippi. As the movement continued, the uprising grew to about 500 people headed for New Orleans.

In real life, a group of 100 armed bounty hunters put the uprising down. Dozens of the rebels were subjected to a monstrous public punishment that included torture and execution. Many were decapitated their heads placed on spiked poles along a 60-mile stretch of the Mississippi River in a message meant to frighten other enslaved people who might have dared to resist.

In the reenactment, which artist Dread Scott is making into a documentary film that is set to be released in October 2020, the revolt ends in victory.

As a scholar who studies race and how historical events are represented and remembered, I see Scotts forthcoming film as an opportunity to correct a glaring problem with the way that slavery is taught or not taught in U.S. schools. And that is, the history of slavery in America is often either excluded or taught in ways that humiliate students and sympathize with slaveholders.

The history of slavery is also usually not taught as something that was created by white supremacy, and protected and sanctioned by the Constitution.

Scotts film which is being produced with a US$1 million budget deliberately reimagines the outcome for one of several slave revolts an aspect of slavery that scholars believe has not gotten its due.

Though some might criticize this cinematic interpretation as historically inaccurate, I believe the reenactment can generate important classroom discussions about historical memory and the history of slavery.

What does it mean, for instance, to imagine freedom as something that happened instead of something that was destroyed for those who participated in slave revolts? What does it mean to transform their death and public punishment into an uplifting narrative of hope and freedom?

How to confront the histories and afterlives of slavery is a central concern for Dread Scott, whose artist name pays homage to the 1857 Dred Scott Supreme Court case that ruled against an enslaved mans bid for freedom.

Scott says it was an ethical decision to refuse to replicate a massacre of black people at the hands of white bounty hunters who would earn money from their deaths.

As Scott has stated, the reenactment is interrupting the historic timeline.

Scott is not a historian but an artist who calls upon the public to imagine speculative histories. In this respect, I believe that his work examines freedom struggles and abolition across time. Scotts endeavor contributes significantly to a much-needed conversation about slavery and the violence that it entailed. It leaves open the challenge of how to reimagine art for arts sake, and to instead use art for the sake of social action.

Revisiting histories like the history of slavery is a painstaking and painful task. The difficulties are not only about asking the nation to confront the legacy of racial supremacy. Rather, the 1811 Slave Rebellion Reenactment is also about creating new political futures.

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Slave revolt film revisits history often omitted from textbooks - The Conversation US

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On Jan. 13, the nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards were announced. With six nominations, Parasite was the movie that shook the world. The movie received great reviews since its premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and praise from critics like Stephanie Zacharek of Time magazine, who said, It tells a story you could probably follow without subtitles, or any dialogue at all: the faces of these actors show with piercing clarity how it feels to be outsiders in a world of wealth and privilege.

The film delivers messages that are easily understood by people across different cultures, regardless of language, which is precisely why it smashed barriers and continues to thrive nearly a year after it premiered. Bong Joon-hos masterpiece is one of the best films of 2019.

Parasite is not only a work of art; it is a dark commentary on society and social stratification.

The winning streak of Parasite began when it became the first South Korean film to win Palme dOr at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, but the beginning of 2020 seems to be the time for Parasite to shine as it continues to break into the mainstream. In early January, director Bong Joon-ho and his team earned South Koreas first ever Golden Globe for best foreign language film.

Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films, said Bong Joon-ho through his interpreter Sharon Choi as he accepted the award. Bong Joon-hos Golden Globe acceptance speech reflects how the mainstream Hollywood media remains stuck in only two categories: movies in English and movies not in English. In the one-minute speech, Bong Joon-ho managed to criticize the movie industry for its outdated structure, and he encouraged people to engage more with foreign language films.

The film didnt stop there. Following its Golden Globe win, Parasite continued. It was the first foreign language film to take home the SAG Award in the prestigious best cast in a motion picture category.

During the backstage interview after the award show, Choi Woo-shik, who played Kim Ki-woo, shared how he hopes that there will be more appreciation for foreign movies following the success of Parasite. Destroying boundaries and making history seems to be a mission for the Parasite team.

For the past 92 years of Academy Awards history, there have only been 11 foreign language films nominated for best picture. Evidently, it remains difficult for foreign films to break the English language barrier that leads to awards in Hollywood. Despite numerous accusations of lacking diversity and systematic racism, award shows kept their barricades up high.

In the 2019 Oscars, Alfonso Cuarns Roma had the public hopeful, as it was nominated for a total of 10 categories. Unfortunately for foreign moviegoers, Roma was placed in the foreign language film category while Green Book pocketed the award for best picture.

Yet, Parasite, against all odds, managed to snatch the grand prize and become the first non-English language film to win best picture at the Oscars. The film acquired four awards out of six nominations, including best director, best foreign language film, best original screenplay and best picture. However, its not the numbers that matter. The movies victory matters because it signifies a new era, a post-Parasite era, in which foreign films can easily be recognized and awarded.

At the interview after the show, Bong Joon-ho expressed his opinion on the universality of Parasite, stating, Perhaps the deeper I delve into things that are around me, the broader the story can become, the more appeal it can have to an international audience. Although the details of the story are based off of South Koreas class system, the message resonates with anyone who lives in a world that continually separates the rich from the poor, the haves from the have-nots.

The film is a metaphor for the mainstream movie industry: English-language films are the haves and foreign-language films are the have-nots. The haves seem to have endless achievements, fed with a silver spoon. They are continually awarded for the things they have done. Whereas the have-nots work tirelessly, only to get awarded when they can unambiguously surpass the same standards as the privileged.

The best picture win for Parasite is merely a start to the abolition of the archaic concept that detaches the haves from the have-nots. As the films co-writer, Han Jin-won says, To win best picture means that this film was voted by the members of the Academy and I realized that will signal the beginning of a different kind of change for international cinema, not just for Korea.

When asked to give a message to Hollywood actors of Asian descent, director Bong Joon-ho stated that he doesnt think that we should be emphasizing borders or divisions, whether its the U.S., Europe or Asia, as long as we focus on the beauty of cinema. He emphasized that we are all just making movies, implying that where one creator came from does not matter more than what the creator makes.

The movies Oscars moment is historical because of its impact. The historical win marks the beginning of a post-Parasite era that accepts diversity and appreciates a work of art regardless of its origin. The general public has entered this new era with the help of new technologies and ever-growing streaming services; it is the industry that needs to catch up. The one-inch-tall subtitles should not be the reason for us not to enjoy a piece of work.

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'Parasite' Is Winning Awards and Destroying Barriers - Study Breaks

John Beatty submit or be crushed

by James A. Bacon

Loudoun public school officials thought it would be a good idea to provide cultural competency and sensitivity training to teachers, administrators and school board members. As described by LoudounNow, the county rolled out a workshop series designed to push participants outside their comfort zone and question their belief systems. In particular, participants were forced to grapple with the benefits afforded them from generations of white privilege, stretching back to Americas earlier days.

Last week, board member John Beatty made the mistake of actually participating in the conversation. He made the observation that in the Jim Crow era following Reconstruction former slaves were worse off than they had been during slavery because they lacked the patronage of a master. The comment was meant to be an indictment of Jim Crow, not an endorsement of slavery, but it ignited a firestorm.

Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee Chairwoman Katrece Nolen and Executive Board member Wande Oshode found his observation so heinous that they called for him to be removed from two school board committees and asked the full board to condemn his comments.

Most people in the civilized world recognize this statement as being rooted in the very racist, inhumane and oppressive institution of slavery. To justify any aspect of slavery only 66 years after Brown versus Board of Ed eliminated inequities in the public school systems, and only a year after LCPS made national news about racially-insensitive lessons and conduct by administrators, is absolutely inexcusable, Oshode said. No parent of minority children should feel comfortable with Mr. Beatty remaining on the school board.

Ill get to the substance of Beattys remarks in just a moment. But theres a more immediate issue at stake. Since when is it justifiable to spend public funds to provide ideological indoctrination of teachers, administrators and elected officials? Make no mistake, these workshops are not about having an open dialogue about race. Theyre about propagating a leftist view of race and American history and brow-beating people into submission. In the supposed land of the free, these workshops are nothing less than political re-education sessions.

In an email response to Nolen and Oshode, Nolen responded that his comments were misconstrued. He does not support slavery, he said. I abhor slavery and all the injustices that have occurred since then. He continued:

In reading the quote out of context, I agree that it is offensive. However, the point I was making was not, as I was speaking to the issue of being deliberate and thoughtful before taking any actions. As elected officials, we have an obligation to consider all sides of any question and to carefully consider the ramifications of any actions we take. History teaches us that if we fail to do so, our actions can have far-reaching negative consequences. I referenced the Jim Crow laws as a particularly egregious example of this, as the laws made it impossible for the recently freed slaves to support their families. To avoid making similar mistakes, we must always consider all sides of any question and think carefully about the impact of our actions. And as I have just learned, we must also guard our words to make sure that when quoted out of context, they cannot cause offense.

Beattys argument in a nutshell: You took my quote out of context.

Thats the safe argument. If I were in his shoes, I would make a very different argument. I would argue that Oshodes comment was offensive indeed that the entire workshop series was offensive. I would criticize the expenditure of public funds to engage in political indoctrination.

By way of preface, let me state the obvious so the enforcers of PC rectitude dont accuse me of what they accused Beatty of. Im not defending slavery. Slavery was a moral abomination. As practiced in the United States, the institution expropriated the value of the slaves labor, sexually exploited slave women, broke up the families, subjected them to mistreatment and brutality, and inflicted a multitude of other harms. Slavery was a hideous stain on American history. There is no moral defense of slavery. None.

But it appears from their comments that Beattys critics have no interest achieving a dispassionate understanding of the peculiar institution. Their apparent intent is to portray slavery not only as a moral evil but as an unadulterated evil in every aspect. Their political goal is to maximize white guilt. Thus, they find offensive any observation that could be construed (in their minds) as diminishing African-American victimhood and white guilt, thus reducing their moral leverage in contemporary debate.

It is not defending slavery, however, to contend that American slavery was not in the same league as the Holocaust in its severity, as some have suggested it was. (The slaving wars in Africa and the middle passage in which slaves were packed into slaving vessels and transported to the Western hemisphere were a different matter; millions of people died.) It is not defending slavery to note that, following the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the slave population in the United States flourished demographically. To Beattys point, it is not defending slavery to observe that, as abusive as many were, white slave owners had a material incentive to protect the value of their property by keeping their slaves in good health while Jim Crow-era landowners had no comparable incentive to look out for their sharecroppers. It is not defending slavery to consider the possibility that, from a purely material perspective (food, shelter, other basic material needs), African-American slaves might have been better off than, say, penniless Irish immigrants stepping off the ship in New York harbor.

But the leftist cultural competency and sensitivity crowd isnt interested in the complexity and nuance of history. Their starting position is maximizing white guilt, and they work backwards through history from there. They have no interest in dialogue they lecture, others must listen. They have no tolerance for dissent. Rather than engage in rational discussion, pointing out the errors in his thinking and inviting him to adopt another view, Beattys critics seek to cast him into outer darkness.

Oshode and Nolen are entitled, of course, to their own opinions. They are entitled to criticize any elected official they want. And they are free to organize any kind of event they want on their own dime. But Loudoun County has no business using public funds to organize political indoctrination sessions, compel public employees to attend them, and encourage participants to question their belief systems. Virginians should condemn such a use of taxpayer dollars.

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From Diversity Training Sessions to Political Re-Education Camp - Bacon's Rebellion

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had refused to remain as Prime Minister of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government and to commit to fulfilling and delivering the PH General Election Manifesto at a Feb 25 meeting in the Prime Ministers Office, according to DAP Secretary-General and Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng.

In a statement today, Lim, who was Finance Minister during the PH administration, said the PH governing coalition comprising PKR, Amanah, DAP and Bersatu that won the mandate may have different ideologies and aspirations, but made common ground and was bound by the General Election Manifesto agreed to by all.

He said over the last 21 months, the PH government had worked hard to fulfil and deliver the manifesto promise progressively.

Amongst them [are] the reduction in toll rates for the North South Highway by 18% for private vehicles with no toll hikes for the remainder of the concession period, the MySalam project offering monetary assistance ranging from RM4,000 to RM8,000 for those suffering from 45 critical illnesses, the abolition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with Sales and Service Tax and repaying GST refunds amounting to RM19.4 billion.

The retention of our international credit ratings despite having to pay tens of billions for 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Tabung Haji and other related scandals, revival of major infrastructure projects following savings of over RM50 billion from renegotiation and rationalization of previous government projects, speeding up digitalisation through promoting e-wallets, creating 350,000 jobs for those unemployed who cannot get jobs through the RM6.5 billion Malaysian @ Work programme and many other initiatives, he said.

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Dr M refused to be PM of Pakatan Harapan govt Guan Eng - The Edge Markets MY

A unique conference is being held in Wisbech to explore Cambridgeshire's ongoing fight against slavery.

The town, which is where the first English anti-slavery researcher and campaigner Thomas Clarkson was brought up has been central to the battle to abolish slavery and people-trafficking for more than 200 years.

Next month Wisbech is hosting a conference with key national and international activists to look at how far abolition still has to go, and how slavery in its many modern forms can be tackled today in the light of what's been achieved so far.

It is inspired by Thomas Clarkson's campaign chest which has pride of place in the Wisbech and Fenland Museum. Clarkson's research and lifelong campaign led finally to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

Local people with an interest are invited to attend Cambridgeshire's Abolitionists, a one- day event, at St Peter's Church Hall in Wisbech on Saturday, March 14 as long as they book a place before March 2.

Local speaker and manager of the Rosmini Centre Anita Grodkiewicz will talk about the centre's 18-month Government-funded project partnered with Fenland District Council to research modern-day slavery in the area.

She said: Exploitation of vulnerable people modern slavery is happening in Fenland. It's a hidden crime and as such the statistics vary depending on who's reporting them you can't get reliable figures.

For the project we trained more than 150 local people who might come across victims in the course of their work to look for the signs and to report what they find.

What I'm sure of is that more agencies need this training. We've got to raise awareness further and fight modern-day slavery, because it's not going to go away on its own.

Victims can be in your workplace, the place where you get your car washed or your nails done. They may be building a wall in your garden or tarmacking your drive.

Other speakers at the conference include Jakub Sobik of Anti-Slavery International which was founded by Thomas Clarkson in 1839, Ruth Dearnley, CEO of Stop the Traffik, and historian Rebecca Nelson of the Wilberforce Institute's Usable Past Project,

who will present her recent research.

Find more details and book a free ticket to the conference including free refreshments and lunch through Wisbech and Fenland Museum website via this link: https://www.wisbechmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/2020-03-14

Cambridgeshire's Abolitionists is part of Articles for Change, a project funded by the Museum Association's Esme Fairbairn Collections Fund and is supported by Cambridgeshire

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Wisbech is venue for conference on anti-slavery - Fenland Citizen

What are we dealing with?

Indias numerous public pronouncements that Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) belonged to it must not be ignored. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has reiterated this stance.

Talking to soldiers in Kashmir on the occasion of Holi in the aftermath of the abolition of Article 370, he stated that Pakistan illegally occupied parts of Kashmir, which, according to him, still stings. The BJP president and other senior BJP leaders, including Federal Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, have repeated the same stance on different occasions.

Moreover, we should be aware of the fact that as far back as in 1994, the Indian parliament had passed a unanimous resolution stating that the aforementioned places lawfully belonged to India. A recent statement by the Indian army chief stating that if instructed by the parliament, the armed forces will take appropriate action, should be a cause of concern for Pakistan.

For Islamabad, in order to ward off any such move from India in the near to medium term, it must urgently focus on the following areas:

Make sure that people, especially those dealing with India, have the right understanding of everything that is going on in Modi-led India. For example, despite all the news reports and opinions published on the subject in Pakistans print media, it appears that a very few among us have got a clear understanding of the idea and meaning of Hindutva.

How many of us have actually read Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar? We need to encourage ourselves to read the relevant texts so as to be in a better position to deal with it. Similarly, there is a lot of talk in Pakistan about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, but very few among us appear to have a clear idea of what exactly this amendment is all about, because many of us have not read the Citizenship Act of 1955 itself, which has been amended.

The same seems to be true about our lack of understanding of the UN resolutions concerning India and Pakistan, and so on. Therefore, one area in which more homework needs to be done, so as to make sound policies towards India, is to read more and more about the country, and read original documents.

Indias position on the aforementioned regions is not new. The question which needs to be addressed is: why does it feel confident to raise it now? It appears that one factor that has led to more aggressive posture on the part of New Delhi is the fact that several of the important roads which are part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor pass through Gilgit-Baltistan. The US and India make no secret of their opposition to the China-led Belt and Road Initiative.

We know that the containment of China is a stated policy of the US under the Trump administration. It is an open secret that India is as much interested in containing China, if not more, as the US is. Therefore, Pakistans diplomatic troubles needs to be understood in the context of a complex interplay between international developments, and must be handled accordingly.

Policymakers in Pakistan need to do some soul searching and find out why the US, and even some Muslim Arab countries do not appear to be forthcoming in Pakistans support. Therefore, Pakistan needs to take the requisite measures to urgently repair its relationships with these countries and seek their diplomatic support in dealing with New Delhi.

The third element, closely connected with the second, is that of the state of the economy. One of the main reasons as to why the world is more inclined to work with India is its vibrant economy, with an impressive growth over the past three decades. For any country to be taken seriously, it needs to have a dynamic economy, one in which other countries have economic stakes. Therefore, Pakistan needs to make itself economically attractive. This is a medium to long-term objective. But work on it can begin immediately so as the world knows that it is serious in correcting course.

And, finally, putting ones own house in order is what needs to be focused on. Internal political and social instability weakens the polity and gives leeway to external powers to promote their agendas. Credible political and electoral processes, coupled with rule of law, strengthen state, society, and economy overall and enable it to safeguard its interests with confidence.

Therefore, in order to strengthen its hands externally, Pakistan needs to pay attention to its internal political and social stability. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had once famously said thus: Peace at home, peace in the world. That perfectly applies to every country.

And last, though not the least, enhancing hardcore defence capabilities is what deters adversaries from committing misadventures. Although it is hard to see Pakistan matching Indias defence capabilities in the conventional domain in the foreseeable future, Pakistans nuclear capabilities need to be in order and projected with caution and sobriety. Referring to the same too frequently on different forums, reduces, rather than enhances, the deterrence value of such weapons.

The writer is research analyst at theInstitute of Regional Studies,Islamabad. Views are personal.

Email: [emailprotected]

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What are we dealing with? - The News International

A wave of green change is sweeping across the corporate landscape and they have profound consequences for the way in which all of us will be employed and how we will consume, writes Joe Gill.

No one should underestimate the power of large institutional investment firms as they react to the mega theme of environmental change.

Over the past two years, in the investment business in which I work, we have noted a sharp step-up in the focus being given to all things linked to sustainability and climate change.

This has come from the top as board directors and senior executives have chosen to shift gears in how they deploy capital.

Increasingly, if as a company you want to attract debt or equity finance, you will have to prove at a minimum that you have started a journey towards sustainability.

The power of money will have a greater effect on behaviour and investment decisions than any amount of protesting.

Companies worldwide are recognising the need to change tack, encouraged no doubt by consumers and employees advocating the need for change.

The corporate response is multifaceted.

Individual companies can start by converting their own internal business operations.

A switch to 100% electric cars, the abolition of single-use plastics, full recycling of all waste and a reliance on renewable energy are ways in which industry can move the dial.

At another level, companies can change their product suite to incorporate environmental priorities.

Packing products in fully reusable boxes instead of plastic is one option.

Another is to change whatever is being produced in to a 100% recyclable product.

Other companies are being created to fully exploit the sustainability agenda.

Power companies that rely completely on renewable energy are a good example of that.

Food companies that manufacture food in ways that do not damage the environment are another.

The trends are only going to grow and expand in the months and years ahead.

The investment community does not expect companies to convert overnight.

Instead, they look for boards and management teams that commit to a journey of change.

Once a detailed plan is put in place, and authority is given at a senior level to an accountable post holder who reports to the board, investment firms are supportive.

This explains, for example, why large asset managers are staying supportive of a fossil fuel company like BP because it has laid out concrete plans to move to a zero-emission footprint within a determined number of years.

Every private company and public sector employer will have to respond in kind.

Politicians and regulators will add pressure too but it is those who supply finance that has the greatest influence on how businesses and civil servants react.

If a bank or an investor provides money at a discount to those who pursue true climate change strategies it has a major impact.

Equally, if those providers decide to charge a premium for access to finance if companies do not change their behaviour it has the same result.

In recent weeks, amid a string of negative news stories, there was a fantastic development in the South Atlantic.

Researchers found there 55 thriving blue whales.

For decades the number of whales in that area had collapsed to single figures as whale hunting had driven the species close to extinction.

Moreover, the numbers suggest the oceans continue to have the health needed to sustain these creatures.

It was politicians and money providers that put a stop to whale hunting and look now at what impact that has.

Ignore those who tell you responding to environmental damage is worthless.

A huge amount of change is now kicking off and if everyone supports it climate change can be addressed and tackled appropriately.

--Joe Gill is director for origination and corporate broking with Goodbody Stockbrokers, His views are personal.

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Joe Gill: Wall of money ready to drive climate change projects - Irish Examiner

Advertised as a series of 15 sessions, designed to help couples 'invest on their relationship and build a strong marriage the course is open to those who are married and those who are yet to tie the knot. The target age group is 18 to 65 years.

The course, among other issues, teaches the following: 'What is Marriage', 'Understanding Mantra', 'Why Marriage', 'Anger Management', 'Rules and Responsibilities', 'Mistakes by Husbands', 'Basic Needs of Wife', 'Dos and Donts by Husbands', 'How Can You be an Ideal Husband', 'Happiness Mantra, 'Foolish Expectations', 'How Can You be an Ideal Wife', How to Win Your Husband', and 'Home Management and Decisions Impact'.

Lessons will be delivered through video conferencing or as audio lessons, lasting 60 minutes each. These lessons are offered in Hindi and English. The Institute lists its aims as: 'Helping all to achieve healthy, fulfilling, loving long-term intimate relationships', 'Reducing the divorce rate India', 'Improving the emotional health of the families that children grow up in', and 'Unleash a wave of health in intimate relationships for future generations'.

It also has a focused list of those it would ideally like to help. These include singles who are having difficulty developing intimate relationships, couples currently in an intimate relationship which is characterised by ongoing conflict, distance and/or lack of satisfaction in relationship, and parents experiencing problems, difficulties and concerns raising children of any age.

Ilyas Shamsi, founder of the Institute told THE WEEK, "Our courses are based on the belief that prevention is better than cure. So we equip people with the skills to deal with marriage and family better. We do not believe in counselling or taking medication to control problems in and because of relationships"

Shamsi holds a bachelors degree in science, but believes that his two decades as a social activist have given him the requisite expertise to teach people how to navigate relationships better. He claims to have been closely associated with the demand for the abolition of Triple Talaq as well.

"These modules have been developed by me based on experience. We do not have the staff to conduct classroom based training, so it is over phones or video chats", he said.

The courses, he said, are open to people of all faiths and are based on a 'donation model'. "Even if you donate just one rupee to the course, you are eligible to take it", he said, and added that he is yet to come across a dissatisfied client.

However, Lucknow-based clinical psychologist Dr Krishna Dutt dismissed the advertised course as a money making gimmick.

The advertisement uses superfluous words. For instance, how do you win your husband as marriage is not about winning or losing. What are the mantras which are being offered? It seems to be completely unscientific. There is use of some psychological jargon for a project management based approach to marriage and family life.

Dutt likened the course to the numerous personality development courses which are currently the rage. Many of these courses are about teaching how to decorate homes or speak English, neither of which has any bearing on the development of an individuals personality. This course too seems to be the work of amateurs, he said.

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An institute in Hyderabad is offering Dulha Dulhan course to ensure a happy married life - THE WEEK

Background picture. Lady Rhondda, George Grantham Bain Collection, (Library of Congress). Pubic domain.

Sarah Tanburn

Rocking the Boat is a delightful read for the professional and amateur historian alike. Angela V John, honorary professor at Swansea University, has a sterling academic record and these essays are thoroughly referenced and researched. Here we have six engaging short biographies of Welsh women who campaigned for justice.

Published last year, the book has received well-deserved plaudits in many distinguished circles. From feminist historian Sheila Rowbotham to poet and essayist John Barnie, critics have found much to praise. Jones explores not only the lives of her subjects but the way biography itself works. She does so in lucid, involving language illustrating the challenges of their times.

In her introduction, Jones tells us these women demonstrate different perspectives and ambiguous relationships to Wales as well as divergent models of nationhood. The same applies to their relationships with womanhood itself. Despite those differences, there are a number of common themes straddling this century and a half of activist women.

Discussing the novelist Menna Gallie, Jones puts these connections into context. She reminds us that another way of understanding [Gallies desire for the good community is] as an integral part of the broader meaning of political, a meaning which had a particular resonance for women.

Jones recycles the 1970s womens liberation insight that the personal is political, to recall the profound impact of recognising that all our lives are political, happen in ways which are shaped by our society. If we believe that life can be better, we need to change not only the political icing but the social cake.

The women Jones discusses: Frances Hoggan, Margaret Wynne Nevinson, Edith Picton-Turnbull, the Rhs sisters Myfanwy and Olwyn, Lady Rhondda and Gaillie, all knew this. Lady Rhonddas campaign for peeresses in their own right to sit in the House of Lords was only won in 1963; that success had global significance, removing the final obstacle to the UKs signature of the UNs Convention on the Political Rights of Women. Others were formidable campaigners for the vote. Less constitutional yet just as politically constructed were the Rhss war work, Picton-Turnbulls struggles against underage sex trafficking (then called Mui Tsai), the sideways, socialist wit of Gaillie, and much education activity.

Looking outwards

Whether extending existing political structures or working far beyond them, internationalism is a key strand. It is remarkable to see these women campaigning to improve conditions in India and Malaya, reporting on the conflicts of Northern Ireland or connecting with Black activists for civil rights in the United States.

These concerns were sometimes rooted in religion and Empire. Despite her preaching, Picton-Turnbull developed a wide range of badly needed services in India. Much as Wilberforce, the lionised champion of abolition, was fundamentally a missionary, such women improved the lives of many even while supporting the overall machinery of colonialism.

With this caveat, the evidence of Rocking the Cradle gives the lie to claims that first or second wave feminists were unconcerned with matters beyond their own class and colour. From 1919-1920 Myfanwy Rhs worked with war victims in remote Serbia. Alongside her pioneering career as a doctor, Hoggan was close to W. E. B. Dubois and was closely involved in improving race relations at home and abroad. Nevinson organised London dairymaids and was a Poor Law Guardian for decades. There are many other examples throughout these histories.

Such experiences also emphasise the internationalism of many Welsh families at that time. Of course, most of those overseas adventures had been military and male, but such women carved out their own connections.

Education, education, education

Education is as important in these histories as the vote itself. For all these women, access to education was itself a challenge, alongside a commitment to improving education for other women. Hoggan had to gain her medical licence in Dublin, and practiced in Prague and Paris before returning to London to work alongside Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. She also played a significant role in creating a pyramid of school opportunities for Welsh girls, not least to encourage better teaching.

Olwen Rhs was an early assessor for the Central Welsh Board of Education, which created secondary schools in Wales some years before a state system was introduced in England. She and her sister Myfanwy, despite prize-winning work, could not receive degrees as Cambridge University denied them to female graduates until 1948.

It is a shocking reminder to see how recently these changes came about and emphasises the importance of fighting to defend such victories. Today the UN recognises girls education as a fundamental development goal. We still have a long way to go but in this country we enjoy the basics of a universal system, available as much to girls as boys. Our inheritance owes much to women such as these.

Welshness

Not all these women were born in Wales and only three of them spoke the language. Welsh itself does not appear central to their self-conception, though Jones quotes Gallie, who published in English, saying I wrote and spoke with a Welsh accent.

The accent is pervasive whatever language and stage we examine, although their Welshness, their essential roles in our history and the role of Wales in their lives, is drawn elsewhere. Affinity (the Celtic passion for pedigree as Jones quotes Myfanwy Rhs), hiraeth, roots all count for more for these women. Their self-assertion and campaigns for social justice are both born of their conception of themselves as Welsh women, and influences the battles they pick.

I found this reassuring, as a Welsh learner. The importance and position of Wales comes from multiple sources and can be strong in different arenas, just as feminism centres women but not all feminists have the same priorities.

The women who rocked the boat were unapologetic, determined and unyielding in their commitment to fight for women, social justice and their beliefs. All of them did good in Wales and far beyond. When historians look back from the mid-21st century, what will they say about the Wales we are making today?

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Review: Rocking the Boat - Welsh Women who championed equality 1840 to 1990 - Nation.Cymru

ALL PHOTOS RBC: the Advisory Council under the CEC abolished following criticism of voting on amendments to the ConstitutionAGN Moscow / Sergey Vedyashkin According to the CEC head Ella Pamfilova, the CEC concluded that the current form of the independent experts (NES) for us was totally unacceptable, calling it an absolute anachronismAGN Moscow / Sergey Vedyashkin of the Scientific expert Council under the Central election Commission (CEC) was abolished. The decision was taken unanimously at the meeting of CECAGN Moscow / Sergey Vedyashkin

the Scientific expert Council under the Central election Commission (CEC) was abolished. The decision was taken unanimously at a meeting of the CEC, the correspondent of RBC.

According to the CEC head Ella Pamfilova, in Ccentrizbirkom came to the conclusion that the current form of the independent experts (NES) for us was totally unacceptable, calling it an absolute anachronism. According to her, 10 Mar everyone experts can come to the CEC and to discuss the work of the expert platform. Pamfilova also said that the abolition of the expert group of four people under the Chairman of the CEC.

the Decision on liquidation of the R / V was made after one of the members of the Council, Boris Nadezhdin, has prepared a letter criticizing a nationwide vote on amendments to the Constitution and a proposal to hold a special meeting of the CEC on this topic. This became known in the presidential administration, after which Pamfilova held a unpleasant conversation with officials of the Kremlin. Nadezhdin himself said that the idea of CEC it eventually dissuaded colleagues on the Council.

the Day before Pamfilova held a meeting of the Council, which invited members to consider changing the format of the work. We intend to create a more effective interaction with the experts. But now we are not satisfied neither, nor you. Therefore, we would like to consult with you and find the right shape, she said.

RBC Previously reported that CEC pereformuliruem the Council because of claims of the Kremlin to his work. Claims are that the R / V there is no work plan, its members do not hold regular activities, the Council is not divided into working groups. One of the interlocutors RBC stressed that it is just about the reformatting, however, the composition of the Board changed much, and it will decrease.

Now in NES consists of several dozen people, including political scientists Yevgeny Minchenko, Valery Solovey and Dmitry Oreshkin, representatives of the largest polling agencies, editors-in-chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets and echo of Moscow Pavel Gusev and Alexei Venediktov, as well as the leader of Patriots of the great Fatherland Nikolai Starikov, and the President of the Institute of Middle East Yevgeny SATAray. Since the formation of the Council in 2018, he met three times. Several times the meeting had to be cancelled because most members of the NES did not.

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RBC: the Advisory Council under the CEC abolished following criticism of voting on amendments to the Constitution - The KXAN 36 News