When Cricket Determines Our Nationalism

April 12, 2016

The defeat of India by West Indies in the T-20 World Cup triggered a controversy at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students. Some Kashmiri students have been accused of raising anti-India slogans and burst firecrackers upon India's defeat. The Kashmiri students, in turn, allege that the violence was started by non-Kashmiri students the next day when a group waving tricolour and chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' attacked a group of Kashmiri students returning from Friday prayers. Police used lathi charge to control students in which some non-Kashmiri students were hurt and subsequently the Central Reserve Police Force, actually a paramilitary force, has replaced the Jammu & Kashmir police on campus. NIT has been shut down and students asked to vacate the hostels.

Since the RSS-backed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to power in New Delhi, the academic atmosphere of one more campus has been disturbed. It really is a pity that people associate their nationalistic ideals with cricket teams and are ready to clash over victory or loss in their matches.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) itself claims to be a private body inspite of its rather pompous name. How can a team constituted by it be at all considered a national team?

The Supreme Court has recently reprimanded the BCCI for its arbitrary functioning and refusing to implement the Lodha committee recommendations. That refusal by the BCCI to have a representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on its governing council reveals an obdurate and obstinate unaccountability, where the body simply does not want to be held accountable to the people at large, who are contributors to its funds. There are states like Gujarat and Goa which have received preferential treatment by the BCCI in the form of disproportionate funds when, on the other hand, states like Bihar don't receive any funds at all.

Is it any surprise, then, that Bihar doesn't have a single player in the BCCI constituted Indian team? How could or can, then, BCCI claim to represent the country? Imagine if more such private bodies came into existence and each fielded their separate teams. Which team would then be considered to represent India?

Students from both sides whether they raised pro or anti-India slogans have demonstrated an immaturity in asserting their nationalistic preference(s) based on the outcome of a game of cricket. It is also astonishing that pro or anti-Pakistan slogans were raised at the NIT, Srinagar when Pakistan was not even one of the sides playing during the match in question!

This sloganeering shows how people can easily get carried away when jingoistic slogans are raised. There are much more serious anti-national activities going on within the country, for example, corruption, about which we need to be worried. Similarly, there is lot of good work going on within the country, about which we can feel proud.

It is a real pity, then, that – rather than concerning ourselves with real issues on ground – we let our emotions get fired up entirely based on the results of game of cricket and get carried away in sloganeering to the point where the situation can turn violent.

The intention of this government seems to be precisely this: divert people's attention from real issues, like price rise and an absence of any quality governance, to emotional issues like nationalism.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has, to some extent, done the job of dissociating feelings of nationalism from being associated with cricket teams by making players from different nationalities play as part of a single team. The IPL has also highlighted that these are professional players who can be bought and sold, which implies that they play for money.

Within the IPL, players can switch teams, depending on who pays them more. Similarly, even when they play in ‘national’ teams the prime motivating factor for the players is money. It is unthinkable that any player would play for his national team merely out of a feeling of patriotism without any payment in exchange. In fact, if players had any nationalistic feelings they would not indulge in match fixing, sometimes deliberately causing their teams to lose a match.

With the game of cricket and its management becoming so highly commercialised does it make any sense to associate nationalistic feelings with these teams? In fact, it is these very commercial interests that exploit our nationalistic feelings. If we agree that sports must be played with a sportsman or sportswoman-like spirit then we should appreciate that, whoever plays the better game, wins, irrespective of their nationality.

When Arundhati Roy was once asked to convey her best wishes to the Indian team before an international event she said her favourite team was the one from Sri Lanka. Why should every Indian be expected to endorse the Indian team in a sporting event and worse why should this determine out commitment to nationalism?

Just recently, the Mumbai High Court has also reprimanded several Cricket associations for using huge volumes of water to maintain their pitches while the state of Maharashtra is suffering from an acute drought. People and cattle are dying because of water shortage. In the context of recent debate on nationalism it may be interesting to ask what is more nationalistic – to play cricket or to save people and cattle?

The senior BJP leader and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has said that Maharashtra will lose Rs. 100 crores if IPL were to be moved out of Maharashtra. He suggested that this money could be used for tackling the drought situation and for relief for affected people. It has also been emphasised by the Cricket associations and the government that potable water is not used for maintenance of pitches, which is estimated to require 60 lakh litres of water this season.

What people like Thakur don't realise is money cannot be a substitute for water or food. If you have money but there is no potable water left, how would you quench your thirst? The situation is gradually becoming more and more serious and we cannot adopt a complacent attitude. We need to save even non-potable water which can be used for other, far more necessary activities like irrigation, sanitation (toilets), washing of clothes, etc.

(Sandeep Pandey, a Magsaysay awardee for emergent leadership has trained in Mechanical Engineering but has been working on social justice issues; he is co-founder of Aasha)

Role Model: Muslim Female Architect Who Broke Glass Ceilings Hard As Concrete

April 12, 2016

Zaha Hadid
As a luminary in the world of architecture, Zaha Hadid, who died on March 31, was a celebrity whose name, face and buildings are known by millions. But the grief felt by women architects is on a different, intimate scale. With Hadid’s passing, we have lost a role model in a field that has few others.

That is not to say that there are not a great many accomplished and inspiring women in architecture. But none have achieved Hadid’s prominence – as, indeed, have few male architects. Against all odds, and a great deal of prejudice, she broke one glass ceiling after another, no mean feat when that glass was as hard and thick as concrete.

Her buildings redefined our ideas of what was possible, from the bursting energy of the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein, Germany to the undulating angles of the Guangzhou Opera House in China.

Hadid, in 2014, became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Two years later, she became the first woman awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects Royal Gold Medal in her own right.

As I explore in my new book Where Are the Women Architects?, role models are deeply important. Having a personal relationship with a role model is not necessary; an effective role model may be a prominent figure in the profession or even a historical one. Role models boost self-esteem by countering negative stereotypes that cast doubt on a person’s abilities to perform well in the profession. They increase motivation for career advancement and success. And they foster a sense of identification with a field, combating alienation.

For these reasons, the scarcity of female role models in architecture can be profoundly damaging. A recent Equity by Design report examined the reasons that women drop out of architecture. Almost one-third of female respondents who had left the profession gave the lack of role models as the deciding factor.

Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan. Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Given that architecture has a tremendous attrition problem – despite comprising nearly half of all architecture students, women represent less than 20 percent of licensed practitioners – we could ill afford to lose our most prominent female role model.

Our response, however, should not be “Who will be the next Zaha?”

There was one Zaha, and there will always only be one Zaha.

Instead, the architecture profession needs to focus on removing the formidable barriers that continue to keep women from rising to the top. And the media, too, has a vitally important role to play in paying attention to the outstanding work being done by women architects around the world. Journalists might also reflect on how they treated Hadid herself, who for every positive line written about her seemed to attract another two that cast doubt on her work or integrity.

For mixed in with the grief at Hadid’s loss is also anger among women architects who, no matter how they felt about her work, could empathize with the hostile reactions that, too often, seemed to come her way.

After Hadid won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, architectural journalists who might have been expected to laud her achievement instead commented negatively on her looks, clothes, ability to speak English and her talent and worthiness as a laureate. No other Pritzker Prize winner had been subjected to such a belligerent press response.

The New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp referred to her as “a big, raucous peasant woman” whose “earthier appetites” leaned toward eating lamb testicles over reading books. Guardian reporter Stuart Jeffries suggested that the price of her global travels and successes was to be single and miserable. Edwin Heathcote of the Financial Times rudely asked her if she deserved the prize.

That Hadid rose above it, fought back, and even walked out of interviews may have been perceived by some as diva-like. But to many women in architecture, her toughness was about a refusal to be dismissed. And that meant a lot.

We are currently in the midst of a grassroots movement in architecture, led by many young women and men, demanding that the profession become more diverse and egalitarian.

Hadid had, in recent years, become outspoken on the professional difficulties she faced as a woman, and she had an authority and platform to speak about discrimination that won’t be easily replaced.

She leaves, as part of her great legacy to female architects around the world, a duty to carry that light forward for the next generation of women who, like Hadid, will fight for – and, I hope, find – their place in architecture.

(Zaha Mohammad Hadid, was an Iraqi-born British architect. She was the first woman and the first Muslim to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, winning it in 2004. She received the tirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. She breathed her last in USA on March 31, 2016).

This article was first published on The Conversation.

Fate of ISIS Captive Indian Priest Fr. Tom Uncertain

April 12, 2016

“Ms Sushma Swaraj [the Minister for External Affairs] has categorically assured the delegation that Fr Tom Uzhunnalil is safe and that the government is adopting all possible means for the quick and safe release of Fr Tom,” the Catholic Bishops Conference of India said in a statement earlier this month [April 2016] after a meeting with her.

The CBCI delegation, led by its deputy secretary general, Monseigneur Chinnayyan, had little more to add on the fate of the Salesian priest who was kidnapped on March 4 from a home for the aged and disabled run by the Missionaries of Charity in Aden, Yemen. Sabrangindia has been following this story over the past three weeks, since Good Friday this year.

Four Missionaries of Charity and 12 others were murdered in the attack by militants reportedly connected to ISIS, as was widely reported in the media. Reports later went viral when someone wrongly quoted Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna saying in an Easter Vigil homily that the ISIS had crucified Fr Uzhunnalil on Good Friday. Till the moment of the writing of this piece, there is no further information, either from the CBCI or from the Indian government.

Hopes for Fr. Tom have waxed and waned with divergent “news” going viral on social media, and even usually reticent web portals. In a communiqué on Easter night, Bishop Paul Hinder, in charge of the Catholic Church in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen, indicated that the priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco order was alive though “no information can be given about the efforts to get Fr. Tom free.’

The bishop asks “not to decrease the prayers” for Fr. Tom. Bishop Hinder said he had “reason to believe that the man in robes was alive and in the hands of the kidnappers.” Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who had earlier reportedly confirmed the execution of the priest, later told the Kathpress news: "There is still hope."

The reports of the crucifixion of Fr Tom first flashed when Cardinal Christoph Schönborn was quoted reportedly mentioning it during the Easter Vigil at Stephansdom. The Dominican prelate was quoted saying the 56-year-old Salesian was crucified by ISIS on Good Friday. Polonia Christiana carried the news, based on Austrian media reports. Catholic News World carried the report on Easter, March 27. Church sources now say the Vienna cardinal might have based his statement on a WhatsApp message.

Last year, Fr Alexis Prem Kumar, a Jesuit from Tamil Nadu working in Afghanistan looking after schools in remote areas, was abducted by one faction of the local Taliban and released many months later. He remains silent on the months of his captivity when every moment was an uncertain pause between life and death as he was handed over by one group to another, taken long distances blindfolded, and kept in caves and huts.

In Iraq, it (India) really has no more has any political and diplomatic clout, or even a dialogue route, to the local powers…. India has to depend on the Saudi route, and, of course, Washington.”

His release was the result of much diplomacy of course, and complex negotiations between the Jesuits, the Vatican, the Saudis, Pakistanis, Afghan government and private armies, and the Pakistani army, surely. The Americans, who have much clout with the Saudis who in turn have a running financial, theological and political relationship with all Islamist groups worldwide, according to the international diplomatic and security establishments, also played a role. And so did money. No one is talking, and therefore no one will know.

This is the way it has always happened. If Fr Tom is alive, and I hope and pray he is, this is the way he will be released. This has happened even with the ISIS where a lucky few have found their way to freedom. A very few, one may add. The gory pictures of beheadings, incineration, hangings and firing squads serve a wider psychological purpose for the terrorists.

Bishops in India’s north eastern states know a thing or two about negotiating with armed political ethnic and religious groups in that region, who routinely abduct civilians, run a parallel taxation structure, and make some cash through abductions. In the past, such groups have also abducted, or kidnapped as they say, the occasional priest, diocesan or religious.

Rarely have the clergy been killed, though this too happens, in the North East as much as in Orissa. But when the priest is set free, one can be quite sure it is not because of a change in heart of the militant group.

The church is helpless on the face of terrorism. Within India, we have seen it in Kashmir, Punjab, the Naxalite and Maoist movements, and of course the myriad shapes militancy takes shape in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

We also see it in the context of the Hindutva terror and violence, where the state machinery is either complicit or guilty of impunity. Religious and diocesan men and women are even more helpless. And the individual Christian man or woman who ventures into these dangerous zones can trust only in God, for he or she does not even have the financial resources that are so much a part of escaping the brunt if militancy.

India as a country is particularly vulnerable when its citizens are abducted. Unlike in the past, or at the beginning of the US misadventure in Iraq, it really has no more any political and diplomatic clout, or even a dialogue route, to the local powers. It cannot have a connect with the Islamic State, or with its allies in Pakistan-sponsored groups that target either Afghanistan or India itself. At the end of the day, India has to depend on the Saudi route, and, of course, Washington. The Vatican too can really operate only through the Saudi rulers or Washington. It has failed to make any impress on the current crisis in Syria. The Vatican and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation have been reportedly working with Mid East groups for Fr Tom Uzhunnalil’s rescue.

Will Secular India Survive?

April 12, 2016

Will Secular India Survive? This was the title chosen for an anthology edited by historian Mushirul Hasan, published in 2004. Twelve years later the question seems to be relevant to a greater degree and needs to be answered with a sense of urgency. Searching for a convincing answer, we have to assess how far had India been made a secular state when after independence it had adopted a constitution, and how far was secularism so embraced practised by the custodians of state authority till the beginning of the present dispensation at the centre.

The constitution ‘enacted, adopted and given to ourselves’ in November 1949 did not declare that India would be a secular state. Constituent assembly leaders like Nehru and Ambedkar were sure that by not proclaiming any ‘state religion’ and by enshrining in the constitution principles of citizen’s equality and non-discrimination on the ground of religion they had put India on a secular footing.

To make things clearer, they had added a few more provisions in the constitution – religious freedom allowed to individuals and communities subject to specified conditions, no compulsion to pay tax for promoting any particular religion, no religious instruction at all in educational institutions wholly maintained out of state funds, and no compulsory religious instruction or worship in other recognized and aided institutions.

Democracy being a game of numbers, to protect religious minorities from a highly probable hegemony of the predominant majority in respect of educational development they included in the constitution a fundamental right – notably, unlike other such rights, unqualified – to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

The constitution-makers did not enshrine in the charter of governance produced by them any ‘non-establishment’ clause or a ‘wall of separation’ between religion and state, as under the US constitution. On the contrary they included in it a number of provisions essentially creating religion-state links — theological restrictions on entry into Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh religious institutions to be removed by law, cow and its progeny to be meticulously protected [due to the majority community’s reverence for the bovine as later acknowledged by the apex court], and the religious practice of wearing and carrying kirpans to be respected as a fundamental right of the Sikhs.

The party now ruling at the centre is translating into practice its own well known ideology. Communal vituperation by its partners in governance and atrocities by its followers in the society are being met with a calculated silence.

Within six years the constitution was amended to obligate the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to provide specified annuities for the maintenance of local dewasom temples. In the eyes of the constitution-makers these selective religious and community-specific provisions had no adverse effect on the secular character of the state. In 1976, fully retaining all of these, the constitution was amended to add the word ‘secular’ to the description of India in the preamble. From a sovereign democratic republic the nation was upgraded to the status of a ‘sovereign socialist secular democratic republic.’.

It was thus restrictive secularism, not absolute or unqualified, that the founding fathers of the constitution had opted for. From the very beginning the Congress party pursued this hybrid concept without caring for its inherent limitations. As a matter of its policies the community-specific religious provisions of the constitution gained an upper hand at the cost of diluting its mandatory principles of equality of, and equal protection of laws, for all citizens irrespective of religious persuasion.

The frequency of communal riots was not controlled with an iron hand. Educational rights of religious minorities were given the treatment of ‘constitution proposes government disposes.’ In mid-1960s the Congress government deprived the Aligarh Muslim University of its statutory autonomy and, on its action being challenged in the apex court, convinced the court that the institution had not been established by the Muslims. The process of social reform was restricted by it to some chosen communities, on the pretext that others were yet not ready for change.

There are no foolproof safeguards against these in the constitution; and there are precedents in the policies and practices of the Congress party which ruled the country for long years since independence, claiming exclusive credit for winning freedom from British raj. Its criticism of the present government is an instance of pot calling the kettle black.

(The author is Professor of Law & Former Chair, National Minorities Commission)

How the NDA II Government has Starved NREGA of Funds, Two Years Running

April 11, 2016

Image: jan-chetna-manch-patamda.com

India’s first, and path-breaking rural works scheme (the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, NREGA) was, in the first instance a part of NDA II, read Narendra Modi’s pet ‘to be reviled’ Congress scheme. Now,, this scheme is currently being starved of Central government funds.

As a result, despite three years –in some parts, four –of consecutive drought –the poorest of the poor are not getting state assistance when they need it most.

However, due to the sharp scrutiny from the Supreme Court, that has now pulled up the Centre for not releasing adequate funds, on time, as mandated to do under the law, the Centre is being made accountable.

Under the Act, passed in 2005 and which became effective in 2006, the government provides a guarantee of up to 100 days of wage employment in rural areas to any household whose members are willing to do manual work. Started in 2006, it draws from the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act of 1977, which was enacted after policymakers found that providing wage employment was the most effective and quick way of providing relief to people facing drought.

The Right to Food Campaign has been campaigning consistently on this issue. Following this, the Swaraj Abhiyan filed a petition on the issue in the Supreme Court. The Swaraj Abhiyan conducted an intense survey of Bundelkhand district in October 2015 and thereafter filed a petition asking for judicial directives for government schemes to be implemented forthwith to stem the acute distress prevalent in rural India. The petition was heard on January 4 and 22, 2016 and again in February 2016. A copy of the petition and written arguments were covered by Sabranginida. The public interest litigation can be read here,

On April 6, 2016, last week, a bench comprising Justice MB Lokur and Justice NV Ramana directed the Centre to release funds immediately, and “not after one year”. It told the Centre: “If you are not releasing funds, no one will like to work.” On April 7, while continuing its hearing, the judges said the provision of employment opportunities in rural projects had been turned into a “chicken and egg situation” by both the central and state governments. While the Centre said that there was not enough demand for work in the states, the states, in turn, said that the Centre had not allotted enough funds for them to effectively run the programme. The next hearing on the petition will be on April 12.

"Relief has to be given immediately and not after one year. Temperature is soaring at 45 degree celsius, there is no drinking water, nothing is there. You have to do some thing and provide relief on time," the bench said. It said as per government's own figures, average workdays is 48 days, while the statute says it should be 100 days.

"The argument holds substance that since you (Centre) are not releasing the funds, states are not willing to allocate works to people under MGNREGA and hence the average workdays will fall," the bench also comprising Justice N V Ramana said."We should realize that there is problem. Nine states and now Rajasthan have declared drought. It is difficult to believe that there is no drought in Bundelkhand and Marathwada," the bench said.

The Truth Lies in the Figures
In his latest, 2016-17 budget speech, union finance minister Arun Jaitley allotted Rs 38,500 crore to the rural employment scheme. While doing so, he claimed “If the total amount is spent, it will be [the] highest budget spend on MGNREGA.” Jaitley added that the scheme would focus on creating 5 lakh farm ponds and wells, and 10 lakh compost pits for the production of manure.

Why then is there still a shortage of funds?

Largely due to the false claims of the Central government. While announcing an allocation of Rs 38,500 crore for MGNREGA for 2016-17, the Finance Minister claimed that “if it is spent, will be the highest ever expenditure on MGNREA”. But twice in the past the expenditure on the programme has exceeded the allocation for 2016-17; Rs 39,377 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 38,552 crore in 2013-14. In fact, the highest-ever outlay since the scheme was first implemented in 2006 was Rs 40,100 crore, in 2010-11.

Pending Programme Payments
Through the past financial year, 58 per cent of the total wages were simply not paid by the Centre. This failure to contribute to a robust rural works programme by the Modi Regime has caused acute distress in nine Indian states badly affected by drought and totally affected 24 states.

2015-2016, the last financial year came to an end with 24 Indian states facing a total of Rs 12,483 crore worth of pending payments in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The pending payments amount to over a quarter of the total expenditure incurred on the programme in these states in 2015-16.

The main reason for this lies with the Centre. Pending payments have mounted due to insufficient transfer of funds from the central government to these states. The shortage of funds in these states – which include all the nine states reeling under drought – has led to millions of workers facing tremendous economic hardships due to long delays in wage payments.

Even as per official calculations – which are a gross underestimation – 58 per cent of the total wages were not paid on time in 2015-16. Even when the workers do get paid, they will not get the compensation which is to be paid in cases of delays in wages, mandatory under the law.

Centre Makes a Mockery of Its Own Decision to Increase Work Guarantee to 150 days
The insufficiency of funds also makes a mockery of the central government’s decision to increase the guarantee of work to 150 days a household in 2015-16 in the drought-affected states. Again as per official records, only 7 per cent of the total rural households registered in NREGA in the drought affected states got work for more than 100 days.

Apart from starving the programme of funds, the government is also not fulfilling its promises and making false claims. The Finance Ministry released only Rs 2,000 crore of the additional Rs 5,000 crore it agreed to spend on NREGA if the expenditure on the programme exceeded the allocated budget of Rs 34,699 crore in 2015-16.

2015-16 was the second year in a row in which the NDA government capped expenditure on NREGA.

By the end of 2014-15 also, nine states were left with pending wages worth Rs 1,203 crore which were made only after these states received funds for 2015-16. The same will happen this year as well; a whopping 30 per cent of the allocation for 2016-17 will be spent just in clearing pending payments from last year.

With no commitment of providing additional resources if the expenditure on the programme exceeds Rs 38,500 crore in 2016-7, the under-funding of NREGA is likely to continue this year as well. These facts expose the hollowness of the central government’s claim of delivering a “pro-poor” budget for 2016-17.

Centre’s Allocation Ignores Inflation
The NREGA is also being undermined by the stagnation of its wages, which are revised by the central government every year. State-wide increase in NREGA wages for 2016-17 range between 0 to 11 per cent, compared with last year’s wages (it is interesting to note that the wage increase of all the eight North Eastern states is less than 4 per cent).

In many states, the NREGA wage is even lower than the minimum agricultural wage, thus failing to provide adequate economic security to rural households. For example, the NREGA wage rate of Jharkhand is Rs 45 less than its minimum agricultural wage.

The central government has provided no justification for the nominal and differential rates of increase across the country. As payment of wages are now linked with the quantum of work done by them, many workers are paid even less than the paltry NREGA wages; either due to their inability to do the stipulated amount of work or due to errors in the measurement of work done by them.

The NDA government is killing a programme whose decade-long achievements were recently hailed as a cause for “national pride and celebration” by the Union Minister of Rural Development.

By failing to ensure timely work and payment and other entitlements to rural workers (such as unemployment allowance in case of non-availability of work, compensation for delayed wages, worksite facilities and timely redress of grievances), the central government is legally violating the employment guarantee act. It is contributing to the suffering of rural workers and forcing them to either migrate in distress or engage in exploitative employment.

In this context, the Right to Food Campaign has also demanded the following:

Immediate payment of all pending NREGA payments.
Compensation for delayed payments to be paid automatically along with wages.
As stated in the Ministry of Rural Development’s Master Circular on NREGA, the 1st tranche of funds (half of the total person days agreed to in the labour budget) should be released in the month of April.
A separate allocation to be made for the additional 50 days of employment per household approved for drought-affected states.
Increase in the NREGA wage rate to a minimum of Rs 250, indexing the wage rate to inflation and transparency in wage revisions
Time-bound punishment to all persons violating any entitlement of the employment guarantee act through institutionalization of social audits and other grievance redress mechanisms.

Ten Years of Injustice: Tehri Dam Survivors

April 11, 2016

A Documentary Film, Ten Years of Injustice, directed by Vimalbhai, released in Delhi on Saturday is testimony to the human and ecological crisis that has emerged in the Himalayan region after construction of dams like the Tehri Dam

The movie is a testimony to the human and ecological crisis that emerged in the Himalayan region after the construction of dams such as Tehri which have ruined the lives and livelihoods of local communities and caused irreparable damage to the ecology, environment and cultural values that were centuries old.

The film also speaks of the long history of illegal and forced land acquisitions, violations of environmental safety norms and the utterly unfair rehabilitation policies by various governments
Internally displaced families are still seeking justice 10 Years After the Dam was Commissioned

Justice Rajinder Sachhar,, public intellectual and former judge of the Delhi High Court released the film on Saturday, April 10. Shambhunath Shukla, senior journalist and former editor with Amar Ujala Hindi Daily released the book ‘Why Dams?’ written by Vimal bhai and published by National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM).

“We can never feel the pain experienced by those who have faced the loss,” senior advocate Sanjay Parikh.

The film documents years of work done in the dam affected regions of Uttarakhand and discusses the environmental degradation, displacement and loss of livelihoods of the people in Uttarakhand owing to building of large dams. Complementary to the film is the book that also reflects on the worsening state of ecology, environment and people in Uttarakhand.

“Who really benefits from the dams?” asked Shambhunath Shukla while elaborating upon how the rehabilitation of people in the vicinity of the Tehri dam has been both thoughtless and callous. The people have been relocated to an area which has only worsened their quality of life. Overall too the move has brought environmental devastation.

“Until now, the problems arising in the Uttarakhand region and the Ganga Valley –much of which is caused by the number of small and big dams built — has been overlooked by the unjust greed for electricity; we have to save ecology and people’s rights over the natural resources provided by the Himalaya” said Vimal bhai, while criticising the Namami Ganga initiative which talks only about the pollution and cleaning of the River Ganga but evades the issue of dams on Ganga. “We will not give up until our rivers and our people get their rights,” he added.

Adv. Sanjay Parikh, fighting the legal battle for people on the Tehri Dam issue since 1992, was felicitated by people’s movements. He has been part of this endless struggle and extended support, which has benefited people of Uttarakhand and also provided strength to other people’s movements nationwide.

Justice Rajinder Sachhar along with Ms. Medha Patkar, Puran Singh Rana, senior activist of Matu Jansangthan and others honored Sanjay Parikh, gifting him with the Preamble of constitution and a shawl. Justice Rajinder Sachhar appreciated the Sanjay Parikh’s work and the fight for deepening of human rights jurisprudence since 1986 and evaluated his contribution worthy for a people’s award equivalent to a Bharat Ratna.

Sanjay Parikh, with his long 24 years’ experience handling the legal battle of the Tehri dam oustees and the NAPM shared insights: he said that the Indian judiciary has failed to understand the real problems caused by these large dams; both the Government and also the Judiciary have focused on rehabilitation issues without adequate attention being paid to the basic environmental concerns.

The Tehri Dam was environmentally not feasible and was, thus, kept at the planning stage only for many years after which the Government simply went ahead with the decision to just build it. Adequate rehabilitation has not been effected which refutes the claim of benefits to people from the Tehri Dam. The lack of social assessment and other devastation of cultural values because of displacement were missing in the prior assessment. The rights of people and environmental norms have been largely ignored.

Parikh shared with the people his experience of the area where the dam was built: villages looked deserted and depleted; displacement caused immeasurable impact on local populations. The project alienated the culture and society along with their association with the forests. “It was hard to witness the devastation and face the people as an advocate; we are human beings and cannot overlook the plight of people and upcoming devastation” said Mr. Parikh. He ended his conversation with the poem ‘Man Chaahta hai’, written by Vimal bhai.

During the panel discussion on “Tehri dam and Dams of Ganga Valley”, Medha Patkar, with her long journey of fighting for the justice of people displaced and against the large dams, termed it an emotional journey.

“Tehri Dam is a part of series of acts of planned violence on people’s lives, livelihoods and the environment” said Medha Patkar. These atrocities are not considered anti-national whereas the people raising voices for the justice are termed anti national. The Government is playing a very dangerous role in diverting the people’s attention and defaming real struggles to facilitate the transfer of natural resources into the hands of industries and the rich.

The current development model is a slave of industries and corporates, moving out the people from their own villages and habitats; exploiting the natural resources available for all. The Government, administration and others are rarely questioned inside the Courts when there is a constitutional challenge. There is also unwillingness to even listen to those people who are fighting for people’s issues. “We should never aspire for the legal justice but for human Justice”, she added.

“Three things impacting judgements are principles, pragmatism and prejudice”, said Usha Ramanathan, Legal Researcher and fellow at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies observing the travesty of justice in Tehri Dam case. There is a distinction between impartiality and neutrality.

Mr. Soumya Dutta, a noted environmentalist spoke of the inequality in planning and the delivery of benefits: the largest good of the largest number was hardly ever a guiding principle causing people to suffer their lives, livelihoods and environment. The Ganga – Brahmputra river system brings in a lot of silt resulting in a very fertile soil deposition which has supported the agrarian system catering to food security for the majority of the population of India, but ignoring these facts, the rivers are getting dammed which is resulting in declining reservoir capacity too apart from its larger socio-environmental impacts.

The struggle for Dam free rivers and people’s rights will continue with greater support and strength, the meeting resolved.

Dongria Tribals Gherao Police Station over Leader’s arrest

April 11, 2016

Image: orissapost.com

Over two hundred Dongria Kandhs belonging to 12 villages located on the foothills of Niyamgiri in the district gheraoed Muniguda police station on Saturday, demanding the release of their leader Dasuru Kadraka, who was arrested on charges of Maoist activities two days back.

Wielding traditional weapons, the tribals gheraoed the police station and staged a sit-in in front of it. They demanded that Kadraka must be released unconditionally.

“He (Kadraka) was taken away by the police when he was going to a daily market. We asked the police why they did so because we know he is innocent. It is fine if they free him. If not, we will take out a rally against the police and the district administration tomorrow,” Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti secretary Lada Sikaka said.

However, police said Kadraka has been forwarded to court for his involvement in ‘Maoist’ activities.

“They (Kondhs) had come here to protest the arrest of Kadraka, who is involved in the torching of a JCB machine and a tractor in the area. We have evidence against him in connection with the case. The villagers are saying that he is innocent but we convinced them that the police have evidence against him,” Laxman Kumar Patel, additional SP, Rayagada said.

VIDEO

Courtesy: http://odishatv.in/odisha/body-slider/dongrias-gherao-police-station-over-leaders-arrest-136170/

Attempts to Kidnap Tribal Rights Leader Prafulla Samantara Foiled, Allegations of Corporate Crime

April 11, 2016

Human Rights Defender, Prafulla Samantara, President, of the Lok Shakti Abhiyan and Convenor of NAPM was allegedly set upon by goons hired by the Vedanta company on April 6, 2016 and was rescued by the timely intervention of the villagers

There is an appeal to the national media to turn the spotlight on the Koraput district of Odisha where Gram Sabhas of five villages have rejected the proposal of mining of the Niyamgiri hills by Vedanta and where allegations of police-govrnment-criminal nexus is threatening the fundamental rights of Adivasis

This attack on Prafulla Samantara is being seen by human rights activists as a bid to break the back of tribal unity that has stood firm against efforts by the corporate giant to get Gram Sabhas to change their stand on bauxite mining in the region

April 2016
The Supreme Court directed the Odisha government to file a fresh petition on Niyamgiri mining after it had tried the irregular route of filing an interlocutory application to re-open the Supreme Court’s decision on this case without making Gram Sabhas a party. The Odisha government’s move for mining in the Niyamgiri hills received a jolt today with the Supreme Court of India directing it to file a fresh petition making all the affected and interested sides as parties in the application.

February 2016
In February 2016, in a questionable move, Vedanta moved the Supreme to, essentially, re-visit the judgement of April 2013. This application had not even made the Gram Sabhas parties to the application. This move was made through an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court. The historic judgement of the Supreme Court of India, giving primacy to the rights of tribals, the indigenous peoples, can be read here.

November 2015
In November 2015, tribals had united, again to oppose mining in Niyamgiri Hills The Hindu had reported that organisations like Niyamgiri Surakshya Samity (NSS), Lok Sangram Manch (LSM) and All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS) have decided to restart organising people’s movement against alleged attempt of Odisha government to revive proposal of bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hill range. These organisations had played a key role during the agitation of Dongria Kondh tribals against the mining of this hill range. As per some reports in media, the State government is planning to reconvene Gram Sabhas in Niyamgiri region with an aim to get permission for bauxite mining. It may be noted that in July and August 2013, Gram Sabhas had been held in villages of Niyamgiri hill range under judicial supervision because of direction of the Supreme Court. Tribal inhabitants of this region had rejected bauxite mining plan in the region for Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL).

August 2013
In August 2013, months after the landmark judgement by the Supreme Court, all12 villages in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa have rejected Vedanta Resources’s proposal to mine bauxite in the region after a decade-long battle between tribespeople and the London-listed mining company run by NRI Anil Agarwal.All Niyamgiri villages turn down Vedanta’s mining proposal.

April 2013
The April 2013 judgement of the Supreme Court giving tribal rights primacy over corporate mining was hailed as a breakthrough for indigenous people’s rights as well as a step forward for safeguarding the environment, Indigenous (Adivasi) communities will have the final decision on plans for a bauxite mine by a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Resources in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa is a landmark victory in recognizing indigenous rights in India, Amnesty International said today. A 670-hectare bauxite mine was due to have been developed on the Dongria Kondh Indigenous community’s traditional lands and habitats which they consider sacred. "The Dongria Kondh community, whose identity is fully dependent on these hills, has been fighting for the survival of their way of life for a decade. The mine would have resulted in violation of their rights as Indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to water, food, health, work, amongst others.

Prafulla Samantara’s Account:

On April 6, 2016, I was returning from village Masiput of Koraput district attending a meeting of people belonging to five villages who have been opposed to mining on a small hill named Dangadeula on which the villagers depend for domestic animal feed, clean water from streams and also fuel for kitchen.

While I was on my way, 10 young goons, allegedly hired by Vedanta Company tried to kidnap me and take me away essentially to prevent me from attending meetings with villagers all opposed to mining by Vedanta. Meanwhile the villagers, after getting information, rushed to the spot and the goons freed me to go.

Again, the same afternoon, some musclemen, known to be involved in antisocial activities came to my room in a hotel in Koraput and threatened me. They warned me against support and solidarity to the local people who have been resisting destructive mining of bauxite on the Dangadeula hill. I firmly replied that force could not stop me from my active support and solidarity to the people who were once displaced by the Upper Kolab reserviour. The bauxite mining will not only destroy homes and livelihood but will impact on local water streams that will dry up, impacting –not just polluting – the quantity of water in the Kolab reservoir.

I have observed that in many districts of Odisha where my work takes me and where bauxite ore is available, there are repeated attempts from what I believe is the Vedanta Company –and their hired men – to launch attacks on me, physically. This is nothing but a criminalisation of the corporate regime.

This is the fourth time that Vedanta has attempted a physical attack on me and other friends. Meanwhile the government of Odisha is trying to go in for mining in the Niyamgiri Hills, even after the Gram Sabhas of the Donguria tribals had rejected mining after the historical judgement of the Supreme Court in 2013. Simultaneously, police repression is also increasing every day in the Niyamgiri Hills by which innocent tribals who resist Vedanta Company being victimized and even detained and arrested on false charges. There have been even instances of some extra judicial killings.

Each time I have meeting to attend meetings with tribals and their supporters in towns like Bhawanipatna, Koraput, Rayagada, the company’s hired goons and some agents are using intimidation — threats —to conspire to attack me physically. Some top police officers have also been involved in vicious propaganda against me in a bid to mislead other local activists with baseless allegations that I am a Maoist!

This is ridiculous as I take inspiration from the ideology of democratic socialism with ideals Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan and Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar. The intention of police officers is to pressurize local activists and populations not to be associated with anti corporate struggle.

This is a cruel example of criminalisation of the police administration for private, corporate profits at the cost of democratic values and constitutional right to life and livelihood.

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Dongria Tribals Gherao Police Station over Leader’s arrest

Attempts to Kidnap Tribal Rights Leader Prafulla Samantara Foiled, Allegations of Corporate Crime

Prafulla Samantara’s Account:

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