Articles by Jai Sen

between the upper and the lower classes, whether expressed in terms of caste or class. And this does not mean that the fight will be between the B JP and the BSP a complex interregnum of alliances will precede any solid polarisation between mutually exclusive political identities. It remains to be seen how far Mulayam Singh will be able to retain his relevance as the main anti-BJP force the JD may decide to strike an alliance with the BSP or the latter may decide to go alone or the old alliances might stick for the time being. The problem however with the left-centrist agenda is the matter of social base they are invariably based on the might of the middle forces who have shown a tendency to switch sides. Any democratic assertion, or even a radical one, has to be based on something similar to the independent assertion of the dalits not as a secondary force but as a force desiring their own prime minister (or their chief minister at a later date) and the most backward YET another large UN Conference is shortly coming up Habitat II, in Istanbul, Turkey, focusing on the conditions of cities. As has now become a standard procedure, the main intergovernmental meeting will be accompanied by a 'parallel' NGO meeting. Again, as in the case of recent such meetings such as that in Beijing, NGOs have been very active in the preparatory work, and have come up with a strong agenda that challenges the official line. But a significant feature of the Istanbul meeting is that for the first time, 'CBOs' (community-basedorganisations)

National Rehabilitation Policy A Critique Jai Sen There are several drafts of a 'national rehabilitation policy' prepared by the government in 'private' circulation, and critiques have begun to appear. This note seeks to contribute to the policy debate and suggests that what is needed is a national displacement policy.