This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

The Sakhalin Chapter of the Russian Orthodox Church officially announced that it is planning to construct a church and tourist centre in Moneron. This is in addition to the construction of churches in Kunashir and Iturup. The Orthodox Church is working desperately to stamp its presence in every piece of Russian territory.

The Sakhalin Region is a very dear piece of Russia for the church. The competition among various groups of missionaries is intense. Ever since Russia opened Sakhalin to outsiders, the religious wars have been sweeping the region. Many different Christian churches have set up shop here including Southern Baptists and Mormons from America, two Korean Churches, a Polish Catholic Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church among others. Sakhalin also has Buddhist, Bahai, Neo-Pagans and Hare Krishna followers among other groups. The Sakhalin Chapter of the Russian Orthodox Church has often been complaining to the Federal Government about the “proliferation” of religion and cults in Sakhalin. In 2003, the then-Sakhalin Governor Igor Farkhutdinov publicly declared that Muslim and Jewish cultures weren’t Russian. The Orthodox Church has not managed to shut down any of the religious movements on the island but has ensured that the semi-legal Azeri community has not set up a mosque on the island.

The Sunday Cathedral opened in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 1993 and the number of parishioners has dwindled there every year. The fault definitely does not lie with the “proliferation” of missionaries in Sakhalin. It has more to do with the authoritarianism of the church. Since 1993, the church has been raised and put on a pedestal by opportunistic politicians. The Federal Government has given so much importance to the Russian Orthodox Church that many nationalists claim that to be Russian is to be a Russian Orthodox Christian. Interestingly enough, the Federal Government announced the construction of Orthodox Churches on two Southern Kuril Islands just before President Putin’s announcement that the other two Southern Kuril Islands were on offer to Japan. In other words, the Russian stamp on the islands that Moscow planned to keep was Orthodox churches.

The pristine and virgin Moneron Island is Russia’s last untouched paradise in the Far East. Russia’s only marine national park has been kept unspoilt thanks to restricted tourism. Environmentalists have long opposed any development on the island. The Orthodox Church’s proposal to build a chapel on the island is completely blessed by the government and the FSB, whose director recently inspected the island. Sources have even indicated that the church plans to turn the island into some sort of religious retreat. The chapel and the tourist complex could open the floodgates for hordes of visitors and seriously endanger the fragile eco-system of the island. It would be really unfortunate if a beautiful virgin paradise island fell to the nefarious deigns of the Orthodox Church’s rapid expansion programme.

The last few days have been a living nightmare for Bombay. It all began on Tuesday afternoon when heavy rains lashed the city's suburbs for 4 hours. This combined with a high tide, caused flooding in all of Bombay's western and central suburbs. In my area, I saw people swimming in 6 feet-deep water. Most people abandoned cars on the roads and many buses were also abandoned.

Many people were stranded in railway stations, airports and their offices and even schools. People were stuck there for 2 days. To make matters worse, our phone lines were destroyed and there was no electricity for 44 hours!

The destruction is visible on the streets and most shops have suffered major losses.

We Bombayites are a resilient lot and we will rise above this tragedy. As we have proven time and again, nothing can keep us down!

This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

The European Union’s collective economic clout necessitates that it play a more dominant role in international affairs. There is no doubt that the EU does value human rights and upholds democratic systems. It’s also heartening to know that a powerful political entity maintains friendly relations with virtually the whole world.

However, a fine line has to be drawn between assisting other countries and interfering in the affairs of sovereign nations. The European Parliament’s July 6 resolution calling for Russia to return the “occupied Northern Territories” to Japan is rightly being viewed as an open act of hostility. The EU stated in that resolution that stability in the Far East is very important for global security and European interests in the region. Nevertheless, the European Parliament will be well served to know that Russia and Japan would never engage in an armed conflict over the Kurils. Bilateral negotiations are going on in this bilateral conflict. Despite this dispute, Russia-Japan relations have rarely been this good. Cultural and economic ties are developing rapidly between the two nations and there is hardly any kind of security threat in this region.

The July 6 resolution smacks of sheer hypocrisy. The resolution condemns Japan’s revised history curriculum for what it calls an attempt to instigate nationalist passions and breed hatred among youth. The criticism is restricted to how Japanese historians see their conflict with China in World War 2. The EU resolution completely endorses both Japanese claims on the Southern Kurils and Tokyo’s unwillingness to compromise.

The resolution which talks about ending “illegal occupations” in Asia conveniently ignores China’s brutal and illegal occupation of Tibet. More than one million Tibetans have been killed since China occupied the country in the 1950s and yet the European Union makes no mention of this. Human Rights and illegal occupations can be ignored if a country is seen to be more powerful than the EU.

Russian Government officials have also indicated that the resolution might have come down hard on Russia to appease an angry Japan, which expressed displeasure with the European support for China in the latest rift between the Asian rivals. The European torch-bearers of fairness have enough skeletons in their closet. The European Parliament should concentrate on solving Europe’s numerous problems before preaching to Russia and Asian countries. After all, those living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

Life hasn’t been easy for Sakhalin’s Indigenous Peoples. One can’t help but feel that they have been given a completely raw deal over the last few centuries. First, Russian settlers grabbed their land and turned it into a penal entrenchment colony and then Japanese colonisers wiped out many of their customs and evicted them from the southern part of the island. The Soviets were sensitive to the needs of the Indigenous People but made them dependant on the state for survival. Now, not only are they not receiving any state support but the oil and gas projects are threatening their traditional sources of livelihood.

The ‘Green Wave’ action, which was simultaneously launched in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Moscow and New York, generated a lot of media hype and publicity but it managed to achieve little else. “Parking” reindeer near Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 installations didn’t make the oil giants budge an inch. Sakhalin Energy, in response, denounced the protest action and released a list of things it has done for the Indigenous People. The Sakhalin Shelf Project operators are so used to these “indefinite protests” that they are hardly rattled despite the hype. A few months ago, another “indefinite protest” had to be called off as construction workers were ready to assault the protestors who were blocking the entrance of an installation.

It isn’t just the oil and gas projects that Indigenous People’s groups are protesting. Members of the Evenk community are on a hunger strike as they feel that the Sakhalin Administration is ignoring their appalling living conditions. Since two weeks of picketing, with signs saying “hunger, misery, tuberculosis - merit of officials,” didn’t work, the Evenk activists have taken the extreme measure of an indefinite hunger strike. The Sakhalin Administration has developed some sort of immunity to such kind of protests and will probably continue ignoring these protestors.

Sakhalin’s Indigenous People’s groups must realise that they are no closer to their goals after staging many such protest actions. These groups need to frame a different kind of strategy. There are several international organisations that look after the welfare of Indigenous groups. Such organisations have a long history of dealing with governments and large multinational corporations. Leaders like Aleksey Limanzo need to gather support from these international organisations which are ready to advice and even financially back a long term campaign to help establish the rights of Sakhalin’s Indigenous Peoples.

Support also must be gathered from within and Indigenous groups need the strong backing of ordinary Sakhaliners. There is a great deal of sympathy in Sakhalin for the island’s original inhabitants and this can be mobilised into mass support. When Sakhaliners unite the decision-makers are forced to listen.

A well planned and coordinated approach will help Sakhalin’s Indigenous Peoples protect their rights and their way of life.