Tens of thousands converge in Okinawa to protest Osprey deployment

Monday, September 10, 2012

An aerial photograph shows thousands of people gathering in Naha to protest the deployment of the controversial Osprey aircraft. KYODO PHOTO

Kyodo

NAHA — Tens of thousands of people gathered for a rally in Okinawa on Sunday to protest against the planned deployment of U.S. Ospreys in the prefecture in the face of a series of problems involving the tilt-rotor military aircraft.

An elderly demo participant holds a sign bearing the kanji character for “anger.”

“It cannot be considered normal to live under conditions in which an Osprey may fall from the sky at any moment,” Masaharu Kina, chairman of the Okinawa prefectural assembly, told the protesters at a seaside park in Ginowan, which hosts the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station.

Organizers said 101,000 people took part in the rally.

The protest was held after safety concerns over the deployment of the aircraft in Japan were amplified following Osprey crashes earlier this year in Morocco and Florida. Pentagon reports suggest human error was a factor in both crashes.

On Saturday, it was also reported that an Osprey made an emergency landing at a field behind a church in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Thursday.

Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima told the rally the U.S. and Japanese governments “aim to bring Ospreys, whose safety cannot be assured, into Futenma without making any improvements.”

Among the participants was Yoshitaka Shinjo, 45, a neighborhood community leader from Ginowan. “While I oppose the Osprey deployment, I also believe in the need to remove the dangerous Futenma air base.”

The rally on Sunday was organized by the prefectural assembly as well as Okinawa municipality leaders and business circles. Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima did not attend.

In a message sent to the rally organizers and read out to participants, Nakaima said, “I will continue to convey Okinawa residents’ opposition to the deployment to the Japanese and U.S. governments.”

Odisha, India: Commerce and transport shut down by mass actions against government’s war on the people

Last month, in an earlier bandh in Odisha against petrol prices, mass actions shut down train service

Maoist bandh hits life in west Odisha

SUDHIR MISHRA | BALANGIR | The Pioneer | Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Further asserting their consolidation in Balangir district and other parts of western Odisha, the Chhattisgarh-Odisha State Committee of the CPI-Maoist on Monday called a 24-hour bandh affecting normal life in Balangir, Bargarh, Nuapada and other western Odisha districts. The bandh came demanding halt to anti-insurgent operations, release of Maoists and innocent tribals from jails and opposing the proposed constitution of NCTC.

According to reports, in Ghunsar village, the generator of Airtel tower was burnt down by the Maoists which was preceded by road blockades between Khaprakhol and Lathor and Khaprakhol and Nuapada. They also set fire to a kendu leaf godown in Khaprakhol block area. SP R Prakash said the blockades were cleared in the morning.

Almost all shops, business establishments, petrol pumps in Khaprakhol remained closed during the bandh.

Police seized posters and registered a case in connection with the burning incident. Only after investigation, will it be known who burnt the generator of the cell phone tower, Prakash said.

The 24-hour bandh had its impact on the western Odisha districts with vehicular traffic of all kinds coming to a grinding halt even as business establishments and Government offices were open in many parts during the day.

A report from Nuapada said that bus service was paralysed resulting in no movement from Nuapada to Padampur and Chhattishgarh to Khariar.

Pune, India: Alert news reveals the shocking, embarassing presence of Maoist posters on buses

[The orders of repressive government are designed to result in silent, fearful obedience–yet often result in defiance.  The bourgeois media in India produced this nervous report of mysterious, intrusive and illegally defiant Maoist posters in Pune. — Frontlines ed.]

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“Maoist posters on city buses go unnoticed for over a month”

Chandan Haygunde, The Indian Express, May 09 2012

CPI (Maoist) poster in a PMPML bus

At least two buses belonging to Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) have been moving about flashing Maoist posters — both inside and outside — for more than a month now without coming to the notice of the authorities or being reported.

The Indian Express on Tuesday spotted the posters, issued by banned Naxal outfit CPI (Maoists), on two PMPML buses.

The posters demanded unconditional release of seven Maoist operatives — Kobad Ghandy, Vijay, Vikram, Madanlal, Mahesh, Bhanu and Anjela. Calling them “revolutionaries”, the posters also called for a bandh in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa on March 23, indicating that they were pasted on the two buses more than a month ago.

While one of the bus (MH 12 EQ 4596) plied on Swargate-Dhayari route, the other (MH 12 EQ 5241) on Swargate-DSK route.

Neither the police nor PMPML officials were aware of these posters. When contacted, PMPML Chairman R N Joshi said he would ask the transport manager to look into the matter.

Similar posters were first spotted in the city at the Patrakar Bhavan, the building of S M Joshi foundation in Navi Peth on March 23. Later, they were also seen at the district collectorate, Pune Railway Station, Central building and in the Pune Camp area.

India: Maoist bandh paralyses Narayanpatna

Bandh (shutdown) of Narayanpatna. Mass actions included downing trees to block roads.

KORAPUT/JEYPORE: The two-day bandh call by Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of CPI (Maoist) paralysed traffic in several areas of Narayanpatna on Friday.

Trees have been felled to disrupt traffic with communication from Laxmipur to Narayanpatna and towards Bandhugaon completely blocked. Though the bandh was called on short notice, the impact has been unprecedented in the backdrop of kidnapping of Jhina Hikaka. The mediapersons covering the event too are hauled up in the jungles of Naryapatana.

The Maoists are protesting the entry of military from Chhattishgarh and have demanded withdrawal of the forces. Besides, they have asked for a ban on liquor in tribal areas, land rights for tribals and closure of paramilitary forces camps in the region. On Thursday night, the Maoists had set construction vehicles of a contractor afire at Pendajam village under Semliguda police limits.

SP Avinash Kumar said the road blockade will be soon cleared.