Showing posts with label fascism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fascism. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 07, 2022

Jaishankar: The Indian Zelensky

हम युक्रेन को पुर्ण समर्थन कर रहे हैं और हम विदेश मंत्री जयशंकर के बात से पुर्ण सहमत हैं। ये कोइ विरोधाभाष नहीं है। ज़ेलेन्स्की जिस चीज के लिए युक्रेन के भितर लड़ रहे हैं जयशंकर उसी चीज के लिए बिश्व मंच पर लड़ रहे दिखाइ देते हैं। 

रेसिस्म (Racism) हुवा फासिज्म (Fascism) ----- विश्व राजनीति में रेसिस्म हावी है। जयशंकर उसका विरोध कर रहे हैं। जयशंकर विश्व मंच पर लोकतंत्र के लिए लड़ रहे हैं। 

इस युद्ध के दो हीरो, ज़ेलेन्स्की और जयशंकर। फासिज्म (Fascism) वायरस का ही एक वैरिएंट है रेसिस्म (Racism) । 

































Jaishankar does it again: EAM’s masterclass exposing Western misperceptions on Indian diplomacy External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s language and logic during a talk at Globesec 2022 were polite yet assertive, simple but effective, and at the same time politically correct and intellectually sound ........ India’s mainstream media and social media are full of reports, commentaries and articles in praise of External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar’s replies to critical questions on the country’s positions on the war in Ukraine and several other foreign policy issues during his participation at Globsec 2022 Bratislava Forum, Slovakia. ........ There is no dispute that Jaishankar’s responses to questions were masterly. Any Indian listener would feel proud about what he said and the manner in which he said it. His replies and retorts reflected India’s current position in the world as an influential actor, constructive leader of the Global South and an independent major power. .......... It is quite understandable that the United States and its European allies have been lobbying hard through bilateral dialogues and even in international forums to make Indian policies aligned with the Western approaches to the Russia-Ukraine war. India is a strategic partner of the United States and a trade and investment partner of the European Union and is also a democratic polity, plural society and a market economy. ........... the popular perceptions among certain sections of the attentive public in the United States and Europe appeared as if India is a country that is siding with Russia, ignoring the deaths and destruction in Ukraine, bypassing the Western sanctions and funding Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying oil and indirectly helping Russian war efforts by refusing export of wheat despite the food crisis generated by the war-making it difficult for Ukrainian wheat to be put in the international market. ............

His language and logic were polite yet assertive, simple but effective and at the same time politically correct and intellectually sound.

....... India has made efforts to convince Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian president Vladimir Putin to resolve differences through dialogue. ......... He also said that India, like the European countries, has bought Russian oil to address its energy requirements amidst shortages in the market, India has restricted wheat exports to keep the speculators at bay and that like the American and European people, common people in India have also been suffering because of the war in Europe. .......... While the focus of the interview was on the Russia-Ukraine war, there was an attempt to corner him to take a definite stand in a scenario where a bipolar global power structure would emerge and whether India would be in the camp led by the US and Europe or in a bloc led by China and Russia. Jaishankar refused to view the world power structure in that mode and asserted that India would have its own way. A country where one-fifth of mankind lives and a country that ranks fifth or sixth among the economies in the world will have its own options and stay away from a fixed bloc. ............ not many countries are in a position to take sides! A large number of American allies, including in Europe, look up to China for economic collaborations and up to the United States for security partnership! The world now and even in the future will be more complex and cannot be viewed in binary terms.


Sunday, May 22, 2022

Putin Is Scheduled To Vacate Ukraine Tail Between Legs



We Should Say It. Russia Is Fascist.

It is fair to say it is for the president of Ukraine to decide when and how he will engage in peace talks with his madman adversary. Supplying aid and weapons is one thing. But actually fighting is quite another. And, remember, America offered to fly Zelensky out of the country. Do you want to go? No, I want to stay and fight. Send me some ammo.

Where things stand right now, if we stay on that trajectory, Putin vacates Ukraine tail between legs. And that will be a good outcome. It is in the very nature of dictatorships that when Putin sees military defeat in Ukraine, he will lose support in his inner circles in Moscow. Putin's inner circles function like a prison yard. You watch your back, I will watch mine.

Zelensky is a hero for democracy.

A middle point can be that the Russian army vacates all of Ukraine and there is an internationally supervised referendum in Crimea to decide its final status. If that will get Putin out of the backyard, and we can stop playing will he, will he not about his possible use of nuclear weapons, that middle ground is worth the price for peace. And, of course, he pays for the rebuidling of Ukraine. He has plenty of money in western banks.

There is always a political solution. Just wars are also about arriving at peaceful, political solutions. The contours of a political solution must be explored.

It is moral clarity that sees you through.

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Sinema Is The Democrats' Sudetenland Moment



Sinema and Manchin are making Trump's second term possible. That is the only thing they are doing. Politicians picking voters instead of the other way round is not new to America. But what has been happening this past year in terms of denying voting rights is at a whole another level. You take a stand now, or you say bye bye to democracy in America. A country that can not muster whatever it takes to protect voting rights is no longer a democracy.

Wednesday, January 08, 2020

India: Democracy Itself Is At Stake

Narendra Modi is going to pay a big price for having misread his electoral mandate, which has been substantial. The mandate was for double-digit growth rates, it was for a five trillion dollar economy. It might even have been to stand up to Pakistan. But instead what the people have gotten is a tanking economy and an erosion of democracy. Democracy is not majority rule. Democracy is not elections. Democracy is respect for human rights and the rule of law.

When Kashmir was turned into an open-air prison, a lot of Indians celebrated, many stayed num. It might be okay to turn Kashmir into just another state in India, but then why would that not have applied to the states in the northeast? One might ask. But it has been utterly wrong to turn an entire state into an open-air prison. The fears of the protestors are not ill-founded. Police brutality unleashed upon primarily Muslim neighborhoods and institutions show where this thing is headed. The Indian Prime Minister, the Indian Home Minister, and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, at this rate all of them will be shown the door.

What is happening is happening in broad daylight, with full media coverage, with instantaneous global communication. There is nowhere to hide. This is fascism, plain and simple. India is seeing the largest protests in decades. This is Modi's undeclared emergency. The PMO has gone to hell. Extreme concentration of power is giving undesirable results.

This is an excellent opportunity for all non-BJP parties to come together. What they need is a proper organizational structure. They should form a federation of sorts. A vague alliance will not do. The structure should be strong enough that it has to give one post one candidate at all levels and across India. The BJP dominoes have been falling for a year now. That trend will continue.

When atrocities are committed in China, they try to hide it all. In India, you have nowhere to hide. If the bet is that the people at large will support the atrocities, that bet is misguided and wrong at the same time.

This is a tragedy because Modi had an excellent chance to take India to double-digit growth rates. A lot of people have had to give Modi the benefit of doubt over the years. There have been serious accusations against him before. But when he presented himself as a man committed to economic development, many believed him and gave him a chance. He does have a remarkable story. India is not known as a country where a chaiwallah (tea seller) can become Prime Minister. But chaiwallah or no chaiwallah, the fundamentals of democracy are not up for grabs. Modi and his party could get 60% of the votes, and they still would not have the option to do away with democracy. They are not even at 40%.

They should coin a new formation, an ABC, Anti BJP Coalition. The steering committee ought to have a proper structure. By joining the coalition, a party is agreeing to one office one candidate at all levels. In the steering committee, each party should have the same number of votes as it has MPs, and decisions should be taken by preferably consensus, if not then with a large majority of 65%, and in rare cases with majority vote. These two fundamentals would be enough to deliver the goodies. The people are already up in arms. They are ready to vote to teach the BJP a lesson.

हिन्दु धर्म के किस ग्रन्थ के किस लाइन के आधार पर आप देश पर फासिज्म लादने की सोंच रहे हो? ये तो आप दुर्योधन के रास्ते पर चल पड़े। अन्याय और अत्याचार तो दुर्योधनका रास्ता है। क्या हिन्दु धर्म में दुर्योधन की पुजा होती है?






'We are not safe': India's Muslims tell of wave of police brutality How hundreds of innocent Muslim residents of the city of Muzaffarnagar came to be rounded up on 20 December, before being tortured in police detention, is part of what Indian activist and academic Yogendra Yadav described as an unprecedented and ruthless “reign of terror” imposed upon the country’s most populous state over the past two weeks. .......

Since last month, India has been engulfed in the biggest nationwide protests in over four decades.

People of all religions, classes, castes and ages took to the streets in opposition to a new citizenship amendment act (CAA) passed by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his Hindu nationalist BJP government, which many say discriminates against Muslims and undermines India’s secular foundations. The government has dealt with the dissent with increasing repression, with authorities banning gatherings of more than four people and demonstrators met with batons and tear gas. .......... Nowhere has the crackdown been so brutal and so openly communal against the Muslim community than in Uttar Pradesh. According to accounts given to the Guardian by dozens of victims, witnesses and activists, police in the state stand accused of a string of allegations: firing indiscriminately into crowds; beating Muslim bystanders in the streets; raiding and looting Muslim homes while shouting Islamophobic slurs and Hindu nationalist slogans; detaining and torturing Muslim children. The allegations further include forcing signed confessions and filing bogus criminal charges against thousands of Muslims who had never been to a protest. ....... Hundreds of Muslims and activists remain behind bars across Uttar Pradesh and thousands have been placed on police lists. And the orders, it appears, come from the very top......... BJP state chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, a militant Hindu nationalist notorious for his open hatred and persecution of Muslims, pledged to take revenge on protesters in the wake of the unrest. The police took him at his word. “It was kristallnacht for Muslims,” said activist Kavita Krishnan, describing the events that unfolded across the state on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 December.......Nearby, maulana Asad Raza Hussaini, a respected Muslim cleric, and his students at Sadaat Madrasa, an Islamic seminary, were resting after afternoon prayers when about 50 police officers, bearing batons and iron rods, broke down the doors and burst in. They were allegedly looking for people who had taken part in the protest but upon entering the madrasa began violently smashing everything in their pathway. ....... “The maulana told the policemen gently that none from the seminary took part in any protest rally and pleaded for them not to vandalise the Qur’an centre in the madrasa,” said a neighbour who witnessed the police attack but did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal. “It was then that the policemen and Rapid Action Force personnel [a branch of the police that deals with crowd control] pounced on him.” ....... The police then rounded up Hussaini and 35 of his students, 15 of whom were under 18 and mostly orphans, and took them to a nearby police barracks. Here the cleric was, witnesses allege, stripped of his clothes, beaten and a rod shoved up his anus, causing rectal bleeding, while the students were allegedly tortured with bamboo rods and made to shout Hindu nationalist slogans Jai Shri Ram” [Hail Lord Ram] and “Har Har Mahadev” [Save us Lord Shiva]......... “The maulana had been beaten up very badly and was left without a single cloth on his body and when he was released we found him in very bad shape,” said Salman Saeed, a local Congress leader who came to pick up Hussaini and several students from Civil Lines Barracks. “He was badly wounded and bloodied, with many bruises across his body. He could not stand up on his legs and was bare-bodied. We were shocked to see the maulana in that condition. He is bed-ridden now.”........ While Hussaini and all his underage students were released at 2am that night, 12 adults students and the madrasa cook remain behind bars and have been charged with taking part in violence, despite never partaking in a protest. ...... “The police said to me, ‘if you tell us the names of 100 Muslims involved in the riots we will stop beating you’,” recounted Sadiq, as he lay bed-bound and weak from his injuries in his one-room family shack. “I kept telling them I had nothing to do with the riots, that I did not know anything but they kept beating me. The policemen told me to shout ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and I told them I would not so they put an iron rod into the flames of the car that was on fire and then held it against my hands to burn me.” ......... “Then some of the police officers tried to pick me up and put me in the flames of the car on fire,” Sadiq said, “but two of them said ‘no, let’s just take him to the police station’.” ........ Sadiq was kept in police detention for the next four days. Stripped to his underwear, he said he was tortured. For two days he was given no food or water and no medical treatment for his badly bleeding wounds. When he was finally released his condition was so bad his mother, Rehana Begum, fainted when she came to collect him........ According to multiple accounts, in the late-night raids on Muslim homes carried out in Muzaffarnagar and across the state over those two days, women, children and the elderly were not spared the brunt of the police brutality. ........ One such victim was 73-year-old Hamid Hasan, who was viciously beaten when police stormed into his house late on 20 December, using metal batons to attack him, his 65-year-old wife and his 22-year-old granddaughter, Ruqaiya Parveen, who was hit so hard across the head she collapsed from the wound and had to have 16 stitches. ......... Hasan wiped away tears as he showed the wrecked remnants of the wedding gifts purchased for his granddaughter’s forthcoming marriage, including a destroyed television, ripped sofa, overturned fridge and smashed air-conditioning unit he had saved up his whole life to buy. “My family did not take part in any protests, why would they do this to us,” wailed Hasan, who could barely walk from his injuries. “Muslims in this country are being made to live in fear, even in our homes we are not safe from violence now.” ....... Hasan’s 14-year-old grandson Mohammad Ahmad was also dragged from his bed by the officers, beaten in the street and then detained and allegedly tortured by police in the police barracks, along with Hasan’s son Mohammad Sajid, 40. Ahmad recounted how he witnessed officers force his uncle Sajid to sign a confession that a gun and bullets had been found in the police raid on their home. “He did not want to sign it but he had to because we were terrified,” whispered Ahmad softly, his legs still wrapped in bandages from the beatings. ........

Official figures put the protest death toll in the state at 17. All were Muslim and the youngest was eight.

...... Not only did the police force the family to bury Noor 60km (40 miles) away from Muzaffarnagar, but they accompanied the body to the ground, prevented proper funeral rites being carried out and then confiscated the burial certificate from the family. “It is clear they want to destroy all evidence about his death,” said his brother-in-law Mohammad Salim. .........

“Every rioter is thinking they made a big mistake by challenging Yogi ji’s government after seeing strict actions taken by it against rioters,” said the chief minister’s office in a recent series of twitter posts. “Every rioter is shocked. Every demonstrator is stunned. Everyone has been silenced.”



India: largest protests in decades signal Modi may have gone too far Demonstrations against citizenship act continue despite ban, uniting people of all ages, castes and religions ...... “They are denying us our basic right to protest, so how can we still call India a democracy?” said Khan. “Modi has underestimated the Indian people if he thinks he can tear apart our constitution and try to divide us all down religious lines with this citizenship act. We stand here today united as Indians, Muslim brothers with Hindu brothers, and we will stay out here on these streets until the citizenship act is revoked and Modi is on his knees.” ........ in Bangalore police did not have enough buses to transport all those they had arrested. Police jails began to overflow. ....... “It’s the sign of a paranoid, insecure regime who can not deal with dissent in any way,” Guha said after he was released from detention. “We’ve had difficult times in our republic but this is one of the worst I’ve seen in my 60-year lifetime.” ....... “This is how Modi ran Gujurat, with a completely iron fist,” said Guha. “They manipulated universities, they intimidated the media, threatened the judiciary – and they think they can extend that to all of India. This regime hates Muslims and now, more clearly than ever, it is exposed for what it is: authoritarian and sectarian and spectacularly bigoted.” ......... after Modi’s re-election in May, when he won a huge parliamentary majority, the agenda picked up the pace. ......

The brazenness of the citizenship law has galvanised the masses in opposition in a way that public lynchings of Muslims, low-level sectarian violence and the Kashmir decision all failed to do.

...... “This citizenship legislation is at the core of their Hindu nationalist project, where the relegation of Muslims to second-class citizens is fundamental,” said Niraja Gopal Jayal, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. ....... “In Modi’s first term you saw it gradually through the fostering of an ecosystem that was hostile to Muslims, where for example those who carried out

vigilante lynchings of Muslims

could act with complete impunity.......... there is this sense that they are on a roll and can accomplish whatever they want. ...... “So this legislation, where Muslims will be lucky if they are counted second-class citizens and not just thrown in a detention centre, is an inevitable culmination of that project. But judging by the protests, it is also possible that this time they have gone too far and never anticipated this kind of response.” ........ the demonstrations were part of “a battle for democracy, a battle for civil liberties, a battle for secularism and the plural character of Indian society.” ........

For one of the first times since Modi came to power, his slick social media and spin operation has failed to shift the narrative in his favour.

The diverse makeup of participants in the protests means Modi’s attempts to dismiss them as self-loathing liberals and hopeless cosmopolitans have been met with derision. ......... “What we are living in now is already a kind of undeclared emergency, where in effect in many parts of India democracy has effectively been suspended by Modi’s government,” Komireddi said...... “In 2014 India was the first democratic country to succumb to this wave of populism,” he said, “and now India will be the first country that will show the way to reclaim democracy from the clutches of these thugs.”









Sunday, December 15, 2019

Trade War: US, EU, China, Japan

The trade war is a proven recipe for a global recession or worse and possible political mayhem. Trump's trade war with the EU bores ill for global trade because the EU has none of the China issues, supposedly. Bilateral trade is a primitive concept. It is like ditching digital money and going back to silver coins.

A global depression would create a new wave of fascism across the planet. Irrationality will come to rule.

The only hope is that all this saber-rattling is posturing and will soon give way to common sense. But there are no such signs yet on the horizon.

The idea that every country and every group of countries have been unfair to the US on trade ...... the whole idea of "fair trade" has been that the US has been unfair to the rest of the world, especially to the poorest countries. Racist white nationalism will also have you believe that you feel sorry for the whites because they have suffered so much from racism.

Brexit? Aexit?

The sensible thing to do would be to attempt WTO reform. Killing the WTO takes us back to the 1930s. So far the global economy's resilience built through trade has held. But that resilience can stretch only so much.

Trump's trade temper tantrums are insanely destructive. And his traditionally pro-trade party is going all the way with him. It is strange. This might not be the first time politics trumps sound economic theory.

A trade war with Europe would be larger and more damaging than Washington’s dispute with China Data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative shows that in 2018, the U.S. imported $683.9 billion of EU goods and $557.9 billion from China. ..... There have already been tariffs on European steel and aluminum — which led the bloc to impose duties of 25% on $2.8 billion of U.S. products in June 2018, and, there’s an ongoing dispute regarding Airbus and Boeing — but experts believe a wider spat with Europe would be much more damaging than the current tit-for-tat with China. ....... “In 2018, the U.S. exported more than three times more to the EU than to China,” Hense said, adding that the region could therefore hit back hard against Washington. ..... “The rules of international trade, which we have developed over the years hand-in-hand with our American partners, cannot be violated without a reaction from our side” ...... Both economies are slowing down, and the cyclical effect of the tariffs is likely to be pretty strong ..... Speaking at the U.S. Senate in mid-July, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that “crosscurrents, such as trade tensions and concerns about global growth, have been weighing on economic activity and the outlook.” .......

the business models of multinational firms is in danger as a result of a potential U.S.- EU trade war

...... “Much of the (EU-U.S.) trade takes place within firms rather than between them … (as a result) when you impose tariffs between the U.S. and Europe, you end up raising the prices for consumers and complicating the way goods are assembled in both places, as in the U.S.-China case, but you also end up disrupting the profitability of the business models for large multinationals,” he said. ...... “Since many, if not most of those large multinationals are American, this is going to put a further drag on the U.S. economy” ....... “A trade war between the U.S. and Europe would be more challenging than a trade war between the U.S. and China because it would weaken U.S. multinationals, reduce the size of the markets U.S. firms can access, and create incentives for U.S. firms to divest from their foreign assets and so unleash further foreign competition”.....“In other words, it would undo all the structural advantages that successive U.S. administrations created since the end of the Second World War”


How Trump May Finally Kill the WTO

Friday, July 19, 2019

These Are Concentration Camps On The Border

The US President is on record telling the top immigration law enforcement officer, if you break the law, I will pardon you. As in, break the law as much as you want. When you create such an environment, you will see the sociopaths and the sadists in such organizations gravitating towards the scenes of action. Obviously, the policy is break the families, traumatize the too young, torture as necessary. So as to send the message. Don't be coming over to the US border.

Then you bar journalists from getting anywhere near. Unless you are doing the illegal and the inhumane, why will you feel the need to deprive US journalists of their lawful rights? And how is it being possible to deny those rights? Of the journalists.

What are concentration camps?

These people are fleeing gang violence. They are fleeing other forms of violence. They are fleeing acute destitution due to things like hyperinflation brought about by US policies like economic sanctions.

This is cruelty. America is losing its character, slowly but surely.

The definition of a concentration camp is, are they being dehumanized before they are being eliminated? You don't need copycat gas chambers. Elimination by gang violence can also be counted. Dehumanization through the mouth of the President Of The United States counts. Filthy, racist talk, whether or not it be supported by polls counts. Racism is not okay, poll-tested or not.

The world is watching. God is watching.

Concentration camps are places where you keep people against their will (and, in this case, against the law) to dehumanize them so that when you later eliminate them there is little outcry. So the question is, are these people being dehumanized. They are. By the dude holding the biggest microphone in the country.

If the likes of them stay away from the border, might they be eliminated? Yes. Most of them are fleeing violence.

The Statue Of Liberty has become unnecessary in the New York harbor. It is an anachronism. Take it to the southern border. That land is the new ocean.

To call these camps concentration camps is not disrespect for the Holocaust victims. The only true way to honor them is to act so such acts are not repeated. Standing against border racism is honoring the Holocaust victims.

This country needs to protect itself first and foremost. Right now it is busy eating itself from the inside. It is fast losing its character, at least the official version of it.

Before Germany became officially a fascist country, it was a vibrant democracy of very well educated people. Before Hitler became a dictator, he was thought of a clown.

The time to speak up is now.

A lot of Americans opposed Jewish immigration in the 1930s. How is that for a comparison? There were organized efforts.



Monday, June 03, 2019

Real Donald Jerry Seinfeld Trump?



We look for grand strategy. There is none. People accuse Trump of lying: "Four lies in one tweet!" Trump is not a liar, but a bullshitter. A bullshitter is such a habitual liar, he does not know, he does not care he is lying. If you know Trump, he is a joke. If you don't know him, he is a fascist. Hitler was a joke in 1920s Germany. He was considered a clown.

Trump won 2016 by spending very little money. As late as August he was way behind in the polls.

It is funny until it is not funny. Real lives are at stake.

A fascist intimidation of Mueller and Pelosi is on full public display. Ken Starr did pronounce Bill Clinton guilty and recommend impeachment to the Congress. Mueller's logic that he cannot pronounce guilt was not applied in his statement to the media. He could not prosecute, but he could pronounce guilt. But he was intimidated. He made it clear he has no desire to appear before Congress. He does not want to be at the receiving end of fascist harangues. A guy who was the top law enforcement officer of the country is running intimidated. That shows Trump is not funny. He is dangerous.

Pelosi's intimidation is on full public display. The moment Hillary lost the election in 2016 is when she fainted on TV. And she fainted a few days after Trump said in a debate with her about rape in the military: "Whichever genius came up with the idea of women serving in the military!"

That is extreme emotional intelligence but going in the dark direction. He swatted every Republican competitor in the race with a phrase or two. There was Little Marco. Bush was a shame to his family.

He did the same to the voters. You are angry? Let me tap into that.

That fountain of anger has stayed with him. Step back and look objectively. Is he not doing everything he can to push the US economy and the global economy into a Grand Depression? There is a cliff and he knows it. Once he manages to push the global economy into a Great Depression, it might take anyone a decade to turn things around. But the point is, if more people are going to be angrier, his support base is going to expand. That is what he is counting on. Yes, there is a strategy. Those who say Trump has no strategy are in denial.

Fascist intimidation is working. Pelosi has until October. After that, the presidential campaign sucks up all the oxygen in the room.

The country is in meltdown mode. Steve Bannon and Donald Trump both are looking for a "hard Brexit" for America. Britain wants a divorce with Europe. America wants a divorce with the world.

Are we moving towards a WTO minus the United States? Will that be as harmless as a Trans-Pacific Partnership minus the US? Experts tell us trading blocs are no solution. They were a feature of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

These are dangerous times. This trade war is not a China-US war. It affects every country. Every country needs to speak up.






Andrew Yang: The Only One With A Solution
In The News (3)
In The News (2)
A Bad Scenario For Trump
In The News (1)
The Possible Outline Of A Deal Between Xi And Trump In June
Will The Trade War Force A New Equilibrium?



CIA admits role in 1953 Iranian coup The CIA has publicly admitted for the first time that it was behind the notorious 1953 coup against Iran's democratically elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, in documents that also show how the British government tried to block the release of information about its own involvement in his overthrow...... Britain, and in particular Sir Anthony Eden, the foreign secretary, regarded Mosaddeq as a serious threat to its strategic and economic interests after the Iranian leader nationalised the British Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, latterly known as BP. But the UK needed US support. The Eisenhower administration in Washington was easily persuaded....... Mosaddeq's overthrow, still given as a reason for the Iranian mistrust of British and American politicians, consolidated the Shah's rule for the next 26 years until the 1979 Islamic revolution. It was aimed at making sure the Iranian monarchy would safeguard the west's oil interests in the country....... One document describes Mosaddeq as one of the "most mercurial, maddening, adroit and provocative leaders with whom they [the US and Britain] had ever dealt". The document says Mosaddeq "found the British evil, not incomprehensible" and "he and millions of Iranians believed that for centuries Britain had manipulated their country for British ends". Another document refers to conducting a "war of nerves" against Mossadeq.....

Mosaddeq epitomised a unique "anti-colonial" figure who was also committed to democratic values and human rights

..... there was never really a fair compromise offered to Mosaddeq, what they wanted Mosaddeq to do is to give up oil nationalisation and if he'd given that of course then the national movement would have been meaningless....... The basic facts are widely known to every school child in Iran