[PEN-L:28672] Vandana Shiva and BJP Re: critiques of Vandana Shiva

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

> Vikash Yadav wrote:
>
> > To which book by Vandana Shiva are you referring?  Her latest book
> > _Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit_ is so poorly
> > written that it does not seem to merit a sophisticated critique.
>
> How about a non-sophisticated critique? What does she get wrong, in
> 200 words or less?
>
> Doug

In 1998, Vandana Shiva defended the BJP's rise to power as a triumph
of a populist, pluralistic, and non-discriminatory "swadeshi"
coalition.  She may have changed her mind about the BJP by now, but
her poor political judgment is of a piece with her ill conceived
environmental philosophy.

*****   Power Shift in India

By Vandana Shiva

Vandana Shiva views India's recent election as a referendum against
economic globalization - not the victory of right-wing fundamentalism
portrayed in the Western press

Due to its history of advocating a Hindu nationalist state, the
victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India's March
elections raised fears that the new government might enact policies
discriminating against Muslims and other religious minorities. Such
fears have been the focus of much of the Western press coverage of
the Indian elections. Writer, activist, and scientist Vandana Shiva
offers a different perspective on the significance of this shift in
the leadership of the world's largest democracy.


Since 1991, India has opened its economy and resources to the global
economy. It lowered its tariffs and offered lucrative incentives to
attract multinational companies. In the recent elections, the
defeated Congress Party, which ruled in India for nearly 50 years,
had campaigned on promises to continue to boost foreign investment
and open the country's markets to outside competition.

In contrast, the leaders of what is now the ruling coalition promised
economic policies with a strong swadeshi thrust. Swadeshi is the
concept of economic self-reliance invoked by Gandhi during India's
struggle for independence from British rule. The coalition's goal is
to ensure that India is built by Indians.

The Western press's portrayal of the governing co-alition as
"fundamentalist right-wing" misses the point. What the diverse
parties actually have in common is a rejection of the global economy
as the path to progress for India. At a time when governments
elsewhere are giving their economies and societies over to global
corporations, the new swadeshi coalition strongly supports citizen
rights to food, water, and livelihoods. The government has made clear
that if free trade and the fundamental rights of people are in
conflict, it is free trade that should be sacrificed, not people's
rights.

That position presents a sharp contrast to the one presented by the
US government at the 1996 Food Summit in Rome. The US delegation
opposed recognizing food as a human right, partly on the grounds that
such a position would interfere with the free trade of food
commodities. (See YES! #1 Winter 1997 page 48.)

India is also likely to question policies at the powerful World Trade
Organization (WTO). The new coalition says it will form its agenda on
WTO issues "in the widest perspective of the universal goal of
creating a world order which is more equitable, humane, and free of
exploitation."

Far from being based on religious extremism, the new coalition is
composed of diverse ideologies from the left and the right. The
coalition's official statement says, "We are committed to
establishing a civilized, humane, and just civil order, which does
not discriminate on grounds of caste, religion, class, color, race,
or sex. We will truly and genuinely uphold and practice the concept
of secularism consistent with the Indian traditions of sarva panth
samadhara (equal respect for all faiths) and on the basis of equality
for all."

If India's pluralistic swadeshi coalition is able to remain in power,
India could show the way to a period beyond globalization and
corporate rule based on principles of diversity, decentralized
democracy, ecological sustainability, and social and economic justice.

<http://www.futurenet.org/6RxforEarth/shiva.htm>   *****
--
Yoshie

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* Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
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