Opinion Killing Kyoto
An article in the CPM journal,Peoples Democracy,focuses on the just-concluded climate change conference at Cancun.
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An article in the CPM journal,Peoples Democracy,focuses on the just-concluded climate change conference at Cancun. It says a closer look at what was actually decided at Cancun,and what was not said,reveals a very different picture. It would show that in fact,all the disastrous formulations in the US-driven Copenhagen Accord have been carried through and formalised at Cancun,and will now inevitably form the basis for any new global climate agreement arrived at in Durban next year, it says,noting that the clear continuity in content has prompted some radical critics to label the summit Cancunhagen.
The Kyoto Protocol,with its crucial distinction between developed and developing countries,was critically wounded in Copenhagen and has virtually been buried at Cancun. It is now almost certain that the Kyoto Protocol will be replaced by a single framework for all categories of nations.
Binding targets for developed countries decided on the basis of the science regarding sustainable limits for atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations now appear set to be replaced by a pledge-and-review process with highly uncertain outcomes, it notes.
It says it is telling that in the Cancun Agreements,the LCA document is of 30 pages,the one on forests,again mainly in developing countries,nine pages,and the Kyoto Protocol document is just two pages long. Most of the meat of the Cancun Agreements is contained in the LCA text and it can safely be predicted that the LCA text will form the single framework basis for any agreement that emerges at Durban, it claims.
Rotting pillars
The CPIs official voice,New Age,focuses on the rot in the media in the light of the Niira Radia tapes. It says the revelations in the tape show that the rot in the media is no less than the one that has affected the other pillars of the democracy. Much is being talked about the political corruption and involvement of the corporate houses in promoting it,the most corrupt in the whole episode; the bureaucracy has not been touched. It is well known that the administration at all levels is stinking with corruption… Astonishing is the fact that the same corrupt bureaucracy has now started manipulating the Niira Radia leaks as well, it says. In the light of the matter going to the courts,it argues that a plan is afoot to confuse the whole matter and shield the real culprits,although the editorial maintains that the leaks are definitely selective.
Pointing out that corruption by those politicians in power was a known fact,it says what is new is that corruption is spreading to all spheres of economic and social life. The holy cows of judiciary and defence forces too have been badly affected. While a two-member bench of the apex court has insisted that there is something rotten in the Allahabad high court,a sitting judge of the West Bengal high court is going to face impeachment proceedings and another judge of the Karnataka high court is facing similar charges. More and more cases of corruption are tumbling out of the cupboard of the defence forces. In such a situation,it was expected that the media,supposedly the fourth pillar of the democracy and its watchdog will play its due role. Alas,it is not so. The journalists have turned out to be lobbyists, it says.
US string-pullers
The CPI(ML) says that the most significant aspect of the WikiLeaks disclosures about India was the extent of US interference in Indias affairs,especially relating to the nuclear deal and foreign policy,though the media has lost sight of these crucial revelations as it is largely focusing on the off-the-cuff remarks made by Rahul Gandhi to the US ambassador.
As far as the controversy over Gandhi is concerned,the lead editorial in CPI(ML) weekly journal ML Update says that the Congress today lacks the courage to boldly uphold even the stand taken by Jawaharlal Nehru,who had categorically said that while majority and minority communalisms are both dangerous,majority communalism is more so as it can masquerade as nationalism and therefore grow into fascism.
But behind the red herring of Gandhis remarks,attention has been diverted from the most significant WikiLeaks revelations about India. They show how not only the Congress and UPA government push pro-US policies,but even the BJP is persuaded by the US ambassador to calibrate their opposition to the nuke deal just enough,so as to ensure that the bill is passed, it says.
They also reveal how both US and Indian officials are very aware that Indian people have no tolerance for US interference or for inequality in the US-India relation,and therefore collude to mask this interference and inequality. For instance,former Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is heard cautioning the US ambassador against publicly instructing India on foreign relations, it says.
It says that Menon told US officials that India has to be seen following an independent foreign policy and Home Minister P. Chidambaram conveyed to the FBI director that we must be able to say we had access,even if Headley did not speak. In other words,the editorial says,we are being lied to by our government,about the extent to which coordination and dictation are taking place.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
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