[Reader-list] anti-war campaign

[Boud Roukema]

[this is a cross-post to imc-india & reader-list]

Jeebesh wrote:

> This is the time to build solidarities and accelerate
> resistance. Time to think about suffering and imagine possible ways
> of living and thinking that speaks a different vocabulary.

On Thu, 4 Oct 2001, Suchita Vemuri wrote:

> excellent commentary (jeebesh's) on the present. taking his comment
> forward -- what thoughts on methods to take solidarity forward? i've been
> listening to people "ask" for this, but together, the overwhelming majority
> refuse to accept a minimum common platform, instead want all their "pure"
> messages incorporated so that only a handful of the "pure" can possibly be
> part of the solidarity. -- recently some people had a peace vigil at the raj
> ghat in delhi -- 200 attended and they were all very pleased with themselves
> that "so many" had come and what a "good" demonstration it was!! 200 in a
> city of 13 million !!
> 
> what shocks me is how blind the "pure" are -- so, once again, any thoughts
> on how to get a solidarity move going? -- the danger (and, fear) of communal
> strife in india is more awful / fearful today than it has been in a long
> time -- maybe as bad or worse han it was at the time of the ayodhya
> demolition and the bbay riots after -- s

Jeebesh, Suchita,

I think electronic fora like reader-list clearly have a role in
getting different "purists" to listen to each other and to understand
each other.

However, reader-list is not intended to be a news agency (as I understand
it) - it's for wide ranging discussion. 

Although e-connected activists in Delhi are presumably a tiny
minority, you can surely still help coordinate things. One possibility
would be another mailing list deliberately dedicated to agreeing on
"minimum common platforms" for specific events/actions.

Another key element of building solidarity and accelerating resistance
would surely be getting India.Indymedia off the ground. Its role is
different and complementary to that of reader-list. And also different
and complementary to a list specifically for agreeing/debating on
activist type actions.

See the FAQ on indymedia:
-  http://process.indymedia.org/faq.php3

My impression of Indymedia sites around the world is that they have
helped different activist groups who would normally be fighting over
"purism" to at least coordinate their actions in terms of reporting
news events, and to actions such as street demonstrations, or even
more importantly, to occasional letter-writing/telephoning/faxing
campaigns to members of parliaments.

Indymedia should certainly *not* replace other actions. On the
contrary, to have an Indymedia site accepted, diverse groups (e.g.
socialists, anarchists, greens) already involved in grass-roots
actions have to talk to each other and accept to cooperate in
supporting and running the site.  If, as a by-product, they also
decide on common, non-violent street actions, so much the better!

> From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
...
> But I dont want to elaborate on their argument, only to state that I
> completely agree with their call for caution in applauding the
> slogan of anti-imperialsim when it comes to the USA and conveniently
> forgetting the big, little and miniscule imperial aspirations of
> every gang of armed thugs, or pious non-violent satyagrahis, that
> flies the flag of national liberation.

By the nature of its software, and by the agreed upon socio-political
principles of non-hierarchy, open meetings, etc, an (or some) Indian
Indymedia sites would contribute to preventing the creation or limiting
the dictatorial or lethal power of any "anti-imperialist empires" that
anti-imperialists might want to create. At the same time it would help
limit existing imperialism, whether Western-imposed or indigenous...

So, how about some action on Indymedia? 

Did anyone here participate in an Indymedia discussion at the Delhi
anti-war meeting this evening (Thu 4 Oct)? Or how about the splintENDS
group in Shillong? Have you got some groups together?

More on Indymedia:
-  http://newimc.indymedia.org

- http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-india/2001-August/thread.html
- http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-india/2001-September/thread.html

plus the sites themselves:

http://www.indymedia.org
http://india.indymedia.org  (unofficial)

Boud (Indymedia volunteer)