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Caste Punishment
Letters Assam and the north-east are particularly vulnerable to such attacks with their still pristine environment and their insulation from capitalist development. As in the Narmada Bachao Movement, defence of livelihood and defence of land and nature have coalesced. The government of Assam has sought to evict peasant villagers near Lapetkota village in Dibrugarh district of Assam in order to gift the land to Reliance Industries to set up a gas-cracker unit for production of naphtha, etc, from natural gas. Faced with stiff resistance, they now have offered to buy land from the villagers at a subsidised rate, while asking the peasants to buy land elsewhere at market rates! Again, helped by an environmental impact assessment report prepared by a group of scientifically tempered university teachers, the Oil India Limited authorities are planning to set off explosions under the bed of the Brahmaputra river in a seismic survey for oil. The Krishak-Mukti Sangram Samiti, several nature-conservation groups and many intellectuals have pointed out that the survey may have unforeseen consequences for the environment, especially as the relatively young river is volatile and is in the process of changing its course, as evidenced by massive erosion in the north bank. Further, the sedimentary bedrock in an earthquake-prone river may be vulnerable to shock-waves. The endangered Gangetic river dolphin, native to the river, may have its hearing permanently damaged leading to extinction. Other forms of aquatic life will also not be safe. It is obvious that immediate support to the indigenous people, including 3.35 lakh fishermen whose fate had been called bleak even by the pro-OIL report, is needed from progressive democratic forces all over the country. HIREN GOHAIN Guwahati It is high time we provide for the imposition of a collective punitive fine on the whole caste group responsible for such incidents through necessary legislation. The fine should be high enough to act as an effective deterrent, and any refusal to comply should attract confiscation of property of the leaders of the caste group to Subscription (Rs) Six One Two Three months year years years Institutions – 1250 2300 3300 Individuals 500 935 1750 2500 Concessional Rates Teachers/Researchers – 685 – 1800 Students – 450 – – Concessional rates are available only in India. To avail of these rates, a certificate from the relevant institution is essential. Remittance by money order/bank draft preferred. Please add Rs 35 to outstation cheques towards bank collection charges. Institutions – 1500 – 4150 Individuals – 1250 – 3500 (US $) Air Mail Surface Mail Institutions 1yr 2yrs 3yrs 1yr 2yrs 3yrs Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh 80 150 200 65 120 175 Other countries 150 275 375 90 170 240 Individuals Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh 50 90 125 30 50 75 Other countries 100 175 240 65 120 170 All remittances to: Economic and Political Weekly Hitkari House, 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road,
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Director : S L Shetty Economic and Political Weekly December 2, 2006 (Continued from p 4926) realise the fine amount. While it may take months and years to book the individual culprits and bring them to justice, the imposition of the collective fine should be prompt. I believe that providing for such a deterrent measure to deal with groups, which otherwise escape from any responsibility, is consistent with the basic spirit of our Constitution. At another level, we should strive to spread the awareness that Hinduism does not approve of inequality, injustice and even the caste system, and that caste discrimination is immoral in terms of the basic values of Hinduism. M V NADKARNI Bangalore MANU N KULKARNI Bangalore Here are some guidelines fortake up to six to eight months from the address, day-time phone numbers andauthors who wish to make date of acceptance to appear in the email address. submissions to the journal. EPW. Every effort will, however, be made (The email address of writers in the Special to ensure early publication. Papers with Article, Commentary and Discussion immediate relevance for policy would be sections will be published at the end ofEPW welcomes original research papers considered for early publication. Please the article.) in any of the social sciences. note that this is a matter of editorial * Authors are requested to prepare their * Articles must be no more than 8,000 judgment. soft copy versions in text formats. PDF versions are not accepted by the EPW. Authors are encouraged to use UK Englishprocessed. EPW invites short contributions to the spellings (Writers using MS Word or this along with the submitted paper. poses challenges in processing. Readers of EPW are encouraged to send comments and suggestions (300-400 words) * Graphs and charts prepared in MS * All submissions will be acknowledged Office (Word/Excel) or equivalent software immediately on receipt with a reference on published articles to the Letters column. number. Quoting the reference numberare preferable to material prepared in All letters should have the writer’s full name in inquiries will help. jpeg or other formats. and postal address. * EPW posts all published articles on its web site and may reproduce them on CDs. * Every effort is taken to complete early processing of the papers we receive. Since we receive more than 35 articles Address for communication: EPW encourages researchers to comment every week and adequate time has to be Economic and Political Weekly, on Special Articles. Submissions should be provided for internal reading and external Hitkari House, 1,000 to 2,000 words. refereeing. It can take up to four 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road,
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TCaste Punishment
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