No POSCO Plant in Odisha, Boon or Loss?

April 8, 2016

UPDATE: March 9, 2016

POSCO’s Submission in the National Green Tribunal Saying it Will Not Establish a Plant in Odisha
Press Release

POSCO today informed the National Green Tribunal of its inability to complete the Steel Plant by July 2017 which is a condition in the environment clearance given for 8 million tonnes instead of 12 million tonnes. Further POSCO submitted that they are not in a position to carry on any work on the strength of this environmental clearance.

Prafulla Samantara, President, Lok Shakti Abhiyan had challenged the clearance for 8 million tones given in the year 2013. POSCO was not providing any answers to these queries for the past six months. This ambiguity got cleared yesterday. POSCO has to clear out.

There has been illegally felling of more than 2 lakh trees which is an irreparable loss to environment. It was done without forest clearance.

So the price of economic value of loss should be recovered from POSCO to enable a regeneration of the forest. Mr Samantara has demanded that the government withdraw all the false criminal charges against people of Govindapur and Dhinkia and other Activists who were protesting democratically against displacement and land acquisition for POSCO.

He also urges the government to allot pattas of forest land to the villagers where they had access to cultivation since 1928. They are entitled as forest dwellers under FRA 2006 according to the Report of the Meena Gupta Committee.
Prafulla Samantara, President, Lok Shakti Abhiyan

April 8, 2016

Late evening today, Friday April 8, 2016 the news that the POSCO Plant would no more be set up in Odisha was received differently by different quarters, with rights activists, tribal communities and activists rejoicing and others –which include sections of the media—portraying it as a ‘loss’

Today, at a hearing before the National Green Tribunal (NGT),Posco India reportedly said that it would not establish the proposed 12 million tonne capacity steel plant near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha.The counsel of the South Korean company stated this before the National Green Tribunal during a hearing conducted on Friday. According to information, an NGT bench headed by Justice Swatantra Kumar conducted the hearing on a petition filed by noted environmentalist Prafulla Samantara opposing establishment of the proposed project near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

Samantara had alleged before the NGT that environment clearance availed to the South Korean steel major by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).Accordingly, the NGT had served notices to the MoEF, Posco and the Odisha State Pollution Control Board.

Notably, the Pohang Steel Company, the fourth largest steel-maker of the world, had signed an MoU with the Odisha Government on June 22, 2006 to establish a 12 million tonne capacity steel plant near Paradip. Though, the company had availed primary environment clearance from the MoEF, it faced many hurdles in getting subsequent environment and forest clearances. It also faced protests from locals and different political parties over displacement, water and captive port issues.

Unparalled state repression had marked the people’s struggle against the establishment of the plant. Three activists protesting were also killed when Odisha police were accused of open connivance with the company in 2013.

On May 15, 2010 the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas shells and lathicharged hundreds of villagers staging a dharna on the road at Balitutha in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa to clear all hurdles against land acquisition and allotment of mines to Posco at the earliest as committed by the government.It was alleged that this was done to help the administration acquire land for the steel project—Posco—police mercilessly beat up the villagers injuring more than 100 including many women from Dhinkia and nearby villages, (The Hindu, May 16, 2010: 8)

The South Korean company’s move to have a captive port was opposed as it would, arguably adversely affect Paradeep Port. The protesters also objected to its plan for captive iron ore mines instead of purchasing ore from the Orissa Mining Corporation. It has been alleged that the proposal to draw water from Mahanadi Barrage would affect the irrigation system and lead to ecological degradation. The Centre as well as State Government were accused of ignoring the issues raised by the anti-Posco protesters (Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti). Though the district authorities earlier termed the blockade illegal and clamped Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the area (prohibiting the assembly of five or more people), the government held no formal dialogue with the agitating villagers before using the police to remove the road blockade.

Today, April 8, 2016, the NDTV reported the move as a threat to the future of 2,000 families who had given land for the project. “With the ratification of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2015 by Parliament, which disallows preferential treatment for giving mining leases, uncertainty looms over the future of the steel-giant POSCO, threatening the future of over 2,000 families in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, who had given away their land for the project. The matter was also reported in The Economic Times.

I want Justice Not Character Assassination: Delta’s Father, Mahendra Meghwal

April 8, 2016

Releasing a Fact-Finding Report into the Murder of Delta Meghwal, her father, Mahendra Meghwal demanded Justice not Character Assassination of his Dead Daughter.

“I want justice for my daughter Delta. There should be an immediate stoppage to blatant attempts at character assassination.” A detailed factfinding report was released in Jaipur today at the Vinoba Nyan Mandir, Jaipur. Among the groups that have been part of the fact finding are All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Samiti, Natuonal Federation of Indian Women, PUCL-Rajasthan. These were the Organisations who also addressed the press conference and released the report.

Sabrangindia had been among the first to raise the issue of the rape and deat5h, in mysterious circumstances of delta Meghwal on Sunday, April 4 The Real Story Behind the Rape and Killing of Dalit Girl Student, Delta Meghwal . Another fact-finding report had also been released earlier .

Demands that were made today:

1. Section 302 should be applied to the FIR and investigation and should not be removed until the complete investigation is over including the question of ‘drowning’ in the tank of its size.

2. An independent investigation be ordered by the CBI.

3. The security of other girls studying in the same institution is a matter of grave concern. A High Level Inquiry Committee of the Education Department needs to be set up to assess whether Security Concerns of Girls in this Hostel are being thoroughly met; and Steps should be taken by the College Administration to Ensure proper Security;

4. There has been a clear-cut violation of the newly enacted Sexual Harrasment Act of 2013 (Sexual Harassment at Workplace , Prevention, Prohition and Redressal Act). Therefore, Section 26 of this Law should be applied; Rs 50,000 fine should be levied on the institution and its permission/registration withdrawn.

5. Students, Teachers and Staff of this and Other Institutes should be given adequate trainings to become familiar with the POCSO (Protection of children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) and other laws concerning gender related offences.

6. The State Bal Adhikar Ayog (Rajasthan Commission for the Protection of Children) should immediately visit the institution and speak individually to all students. Trainings should also be conducted. Similarly the State Women’s Commission should also have direct contact with the women students and teachers of the institution.

7. The School in Delta Meghwal’s village Trimohi on Gadara Road, Barmer should be named after her and be declared as the Delta Meghwal Government Primary School. The school should be extended to secondary level so that girls have the facility to study in the cillage itself.

8. Prosecution of both Eashwar Chand Ved, chairman of the Jain Adarsh Teacher Training Institute and Secretary and Jagdishmal Lodha for criminal negligence should be initiated.

9. A Compensation of Rs 25 lakhs has also been demanded.

Report on Delta Meghwal Rape and Murder

Mangal Pandey Martyrd Today, 159 Years Ago: 1857

April 8, 2016

The Man who Fired the First Salvo that then set off 1857 Revolt Against the British was hung on April 8, 1857

The First War of Independence began, metamorphically, with the salvo fired by Mangal Pandey. Resents had been brewing against oppressive British rule. The immediate provocation was the use of greased cartridges by the British. A rumour widely spread that the lubricant used was either cow or pig lard, which was repugnant to Hindus or Muslims, respectively. The belief arose among the sepoys that the British had deliberately used the lard on the cartridges.

Pandey was court-martialled by the British with speed and alacrity on April 6, 1857. At his hearing he insisted he had acted alone and in the name of India. He was due to be hanged on April 18 but the British, fearful of the widespread unrest, brought forward the date of execution and Pandey was hanged on 8 April 1857. Born on July 19, 1827, Akbarpur, a town near Faizabad. India, Pandey was hanged on April 8, 1857 at Barrackpore.

It was on a quiet and sleepy afternoon, a Sunday, in March 1857, that Mangal Pandey, an agitated sepoy in the English East India Company’s 34^th Native Infantry marched on to the parade ground in Barrackpore, exhorting his comrades to join him in protecting their religion from the Europeans. When British officers arrived to arrest him, he drew his sword on them and then turned his musket on himself. As he was led off to the gallows just a few days later, Mangal Pandey passed into history and legend as the man who had fired the first salvo—into what was to turn into a nationwide uprising against the British.

The First War of Independence has been controversially taught through colonial historiography as a minor mutiny. Over the years, independent Indian historians have brought in the rational and more cohesive understanding. A commemorative postage stamp with his image on it was issued by the Indian government in 1984.

This video, made for an easy understanding of the Revolt of 1857 has been produced by Khoj – Education for a Plural India.

The greatest and the most widespread armed uprising which shook the foundations of British rule in India took place in 1857. The accumulating hatred against British rule which had resulted in numerous though localised, outbreaks burst forth in a mighty rebellion in 1857. The dispossessed rulers of Indian states, the nobles and the zamindars (landlowners) who had been deprived of their lands, the Indian soldiers of Britain’s army in India, and the vast masses of peasants, artisans and others who had been ruined by British economic powers and had been rising up in revolt in their isolated pockets, were now united by the common aim of overthrowing British rule. The introduction of greased cartridges which showed the British rulers’ complete disregard of the religious beliefs of the Indian people provided the immediate cause of the revolt. It was on this day 159 years, April 8, 1857, ago that Mangal Pandey was martyrd.

The uprising again began in Meerut on May 10, 1857 when the Indian soldiers killed their British officers and marched to Delhi. They were joined by the soldiers stationed in Delhi and proclaimed the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II as the Emperor of India. The rebellion spread like wild fire and the British rule ceased to exist over a vast part of northern and central India for many months.

The major centres of the revolt, besides Delhi, where some of the fiercest battles were fought were Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Bundelkhand and Arrah. Local revolts took place in many other parts of the country. Among the prominent leaders of the uprising were Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope, Bakht Khan, Azimullah Khan, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh, Maulvi Ahmadullah, Bahadur Khan and Rao Tula Ram.

Mangal Pandey Indian soldier

Document:
From the Trial of Mangal Pandey

Proceedings in continuation of a native General Court-martial assembled at Fort William, and re-assembled at Barrackpore on Monday, the April 6, 1857, by order of the Major-General Hearsey, for the trial of Sepoy Mungul Pandy, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, and all prisoners who may be brought before it.

PRESIDENT:

Subadar-Major Howahir Lall Tewary, 43^rd Regiment, Native Infantry.

MEMBERS:
Subadar Bhola Opudeah, 17^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Hurruck Sing, 40^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Ram Sing, 9^th Battalion, Artillery.
Subadar Amaunt Khan, 37^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Sewumbur Pandy, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Dirga Ram, 70^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Khooda Buksh, 2nd Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Meerwan Sing, 70^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Sookhlal Misr, 43rd Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Ajoodhia Tewary, 70^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Jalim Sing, 43rd Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Dewan Allie, 9^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Mohun Sing, 65^th Regiment, Native Infantry.
Subadar Lalla Ram Buksh, 8^th Regiment, Native Infantry.

JUDGE ADVOCATE:
Captain G.C. Hatch, Deputy Judge Advocate-General, Presidency Division.

INTERPRETER:
Lieutenant JamesVallings, 19^th Regiment, Native Infantry.

The Court re-assembled at the Mess House of the 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, at Barrackpore, at 11 a.m., the President, Members, Judge Advocate, Interpreter all being present.

Lieutenant and Brevet-Colonel S.G. Wheler Commanding the 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, being appointed Prosecutor, takes his place in Court.

Mungul Pandy, Sepoy, No. 1446, 5^th Company, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, is brought a prisoner in Court.

The Division Orders directing the re-assembly of the Court-martial at Barrackpore, and the Station Order directing the hour and place of the Court’s assembly, are produced and read.

The names of the President and Members of the Court are read over to the prisoner.

BY THE JUDGE ADVOCATE

Question:         Sepoy Mungul Pandy, do you object to being tried by the president or by any of the Members of this Court-martial?

Answer:           No, I do not object.

The interpreter, President, Members, and Judge Advocate make the prescribed solemn affirmation.

The following charge is read:

Mungul Pandy, Sepoy, No. 1446, 5^th Company, 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, confined by order of Major-General J.B. Hearsey, Commanding the Presidency Division, on the following charges:

1^st – For mutiny, in having at Barrackpore, on the 29^th March 1857, gone on to the parade ground in front of the quarter-guard of his regiment armed with a sword and musket, and then and there used words tending to incite the men of his regiment to turn out and join him in resistance to lawful authority.

2^nd – For having, on the occasion set forth in the first charge, used violence against his superior officers Sergeant-Major James Thornton Hewson and Lieutenant and Adjutant Bempde Henry Baugh, of the 34^th Regiment, Native Infantry, by discharging at them, severally, his loaded musket, and then and there striking and wounding with his sword the said Lieutenant B.H. Baugh and Sergeant-Major J.T. Hewson.

By order of the Major-General Commanding Presidency Division.

ASST. ADJT. GENL.’S OFFICER, (Sd.) A.H. ROSS, Major,

BARRACKPORE; Asst. Adjt. Genl., Presy. Divn.

The 5^th April 1857.

BY THE JUDGE ADVOCATE

Question:         Sepoy Mungul Pandy, No. 1446, 5^th Company, 24^th Regiment, Native Infantry, how say you, are you guilty, or not guilty, of these charges?

Answer:          Not guilty.

60 % Water Cuts in Hospitals, Fear of Shut Down in May: Marathwada

April 8, 2016

Latur’s 600-bed Civil Hospital Reels Under Water Cuts due to Drought, Private Clinics also Affected

Acute water cuts due to the crippling drought in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra have put tremendous burden and pressure on Latur’s 600-bed Civil Hospital that is now catering to a one hundred per cent rise in normal and emergency cases with patients preferring government facilities to the more expensive private ones. With the situation at a crisis level already in April, there is a real worry that in the latter part of May health services may have to be shut down, or curtailed.

“The average normal demand for water in our hospital is 1 to 1.25 lakh litres,” Dr Shailendra Chauhan, resident Medical Officer told Sabrangindia, “ Due to the cuts the Mahanagarpalika can only give us 30-40,000 litres per day. This is when pressure on our facilities is increasing. We normally catered to 30-35 normal deliveries every day; this figure has shot up to 50-60. Caesarian operations that averaged 10 a day are now up to 20.”

This means greater pressure on the 600-bed hospital that remains the main source for the region. The district does not have a hospital leaving this the major hospital for patients to turn to.

“This cut on the normal quota of water supply due to the drought, made more acute by increasing pressure of patients has forced us to cut the water supply by tap. Only limited and control water is supplied in drums, to the patients, “added the doctor.

This inevitably has had an impact on the overall cleanliness and while things are currently in control with private trusts and others chipping in by supplying water from tankers, there is a deep apprehension as to how the month of May will turn out. “Emergency road accidents, regular deliveries these are constants; how we will cope with these towards the latter half of May causes great concern. We just hope that we will not be forced to close down,” he adds on a somber note.

The Latur Civil Hpsital has 600 beds and due to acute water shortage in the Marathwada region is facing pressure of medical cases, normal and emergencies all being diverted to it as patients –faced with a huge economic crunch due to crippling drought—cannot anymore access the fancier and more expensive private medical facilities. There are 12 to 15 such in Latur.

The Latur Civil Hospital has a Staff of 425 Post Graduate Medical Students and 125 full-fledged Lectures/Associate Professors. The Nursing Staff is also vast numbering at 400-450. This entire team is currently under tremendous pressure in regular touch with the government administration and private organizations to alleviate the crisis.

On April 7, the Economic Times had reported that the situation is so grim that private doctors in the region are finding it tough to treat patients and are putting off surgeries. Many of these are being diverted to the government civil hospital that is facing a crush and burden.

There is presently an acute shortage of water as the Manjra dam and Dhanegaon river that used to supply water to the district has gone dry doctors. Bore wells within a 20-30 kilometres radius of Latur have run completely dry.

While basic medical services and access to basic drinking water threatens many ares of the state, including urban centres, Maharashtra will still go ahead and use huge quantities (nearly 60 lakh litres) of water on 20 IPL matches at three venues in the state between April and May 2016.

‘Break People’s Jaws if they don’t shout Bharat Mata ki Jai’ BJP Minister, Chhatisgarh

April 8, 2016

Yet Another Call to the Mob, Now Another BJP Minister Openly Exhorts Cadres to Violence if they do not Shout ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’

The Chhattisgarh Agriculture Minister from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Brij Mohan Agrawal is the latest among a strong of ‘public figures’ exhorting cadres to violence over the ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ slogan as reported by the Press Trust of India .

The event took place in the capital city of Raipur on April 7, 2016 . Brijmohan Agrawal said, "if any anti-national slogans are shouted in front of BJP workers, then they should respond with full force.” He was speaking at the Ekatma Parisar function held on Wednesday. He warned people against shouting anti-national slogans and said, "We have the power to rip out their jaws."He further mentioned, "It was unfortunate that even after 69 years of independence anti-national slogans are being raised."

He added, "Hamare karyakartaon ke saamne agar koi rashtra virodhi naara lagaye, toh uska jawaab puri takat ke saath dena chahiye ki hum log Bharatiya Janata Party ke hai.
(Translation: If someone were to shout anti-national slogans in front of our workers, they should answer with full force).

“Toh Bharatiya Janata Party ke iss sthapana diwas ke avsar par… jo rashtra virodhi naare lagayenge, unke jabde ko ukhadne ki hum takat rakhte hai, ye unko batane ki avashyakta hai
(Translation: On the occasion of BJP’s anniversary… we have to tell those who raise anti-national slogans that we have the power to rip out their jaws.)," he mentioned.

"Agar hindustan ki dharti pe tumne janm liya hai, hindustan ka tum ann kha rahe ho, hindustan ka pani pi rahe ho…tumhare marne ke baad bhi agar tumhe do gaj zameen milegi, toh voh hindustan ki dharti pe milegi. Isliye Bharat mata ki jai bolna padega
(Translation: If you eat Hindustan’s grain, are born here, drink the country’s water, and if you are buried in this land after you die, you have to say Bharat Mata ki Jai)," Agrawal threatened during the public event.

Agarwal is the last among a long line of leaders who have openly violated Indian law and threatened violence against citizens.

On the Second Death Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Fr Frans van der Lugt sj, Syria

April 8, 2016

April 7, 2016
The city of Homs in western Syria, is the third largest city of the country after Aleppo in the north and the capital Damascus about 170 kilometres to its south. Its population consisting of Arabs, Sunni Muslims, Alawites and Christians- reflected the religious diversity of Syria. The city has a number of historic mosques and churches and is not far from the Krak des Chevaliers castle, a world heritage site.

Today Homs is a devastated city: bombed, battered and bruised by five years of a bloody civil war. Thousands have fled their homes to Damascus and even abroad. Many from here have died. For those who stay on in the midst of ruins, skeletal bombed-out buildings in a ghost-town, there is a feeling of hopelessness, of not knowing what to do and where to go. The children smile-but they seized with a fear which is palpable: those five years and below only know war. The youth talk aimlessly-searching for ways and means to escape from a world of hopelessness. The adults are still tongue-tied for any meaningful conversation. Many of them just want to wake up from what they hope –is just a bad dream. Sadly, enough, the tragedy which has gripped their lives is real!

However, there is a sudden change in the moods of the adults and youth when they talk of one man: Fr. Frans van der Lugt. Their eyes light up, a sense of nostalgia envelops them, as they latch on to the person and message of this great human; because he still lives on in their hearts and minds, some of them do feel that there will be a new dawn!

Who was this ‘Abouna Frans’ as he was fondly referred to? Fr Frans van der Lugt, was a Dutch Jesuit priest who devoted his life to the people of Syria; when civil war erupted there in 2011 he chose to remain in the country, suffering the shortages and terrors of the conflict alongside both Muslims and Christians. He was born on April 10 1938 in The Hague, Netherlands- the son of a banker. He joined the Jesuits in 1959 and seven years later went to the Middle East. With the exception of a short break to complete his doctorate in Psychology, he spent the rest of his life from 1976 in Syria. In Homs he founded the Al-Ard institute, where handicapped children of all religions and ethnic groups found a home –of warmth and acceptance.

His twilight years however were shattered with the civil war. As the fighting intensified, Fr Frans moved to the Jesuit residence in Boustan –Diwan (the inner city). From there he shared the suffering of the inhabitants, refusing to leave, even as that part of the city continued to be bombed from all sides. His centre before long became a home for those who had nowhere to go: Muslims and Christians; women and men; old and young. It was a haven for them and Fr Frans was their refuge. His message to all was one of hope: of mercy and reconciliation, of justice and of peace! Listening to those who knew him, those who experienced his warmth, his love, his courage to give “all-of-himself” to those in need- would easily touch a heartless person.

Because there were several rebels in the old city- that part was under siege. There were no food supplies coming in nor were people being allowed in or out. Though a relatively ‘normal’ life continued just streets away, in the government-held zones, starvation was claiming lives in the rebel enclave. Fr Frans existed on olives and broth fortified with weeds picked off the streets. “The faces of people you see in the street are weak and yellow,” he told a journalist “Their bodies are weakened and have lost their strength.” With his training in psychology, he documented the spread of mental illness among those who found themselves besieged: “I try to help them not by analysing their problems, as the problems are obvious and there is no solution for them here. I listen to them and give as much food as I can.”

Frans was a healer – he touched the broken spirits of a battered people; he did not care for himself, if someone was physically sick, he did all he could (with the little he had) to make them well again. His forte however, was to soothe the mental and the spiritual suffering they were going through. They sought his guidance and his direction- when they overwhelmed by the brutality around them.

Very ironically he was gunned down on World Health Day, April 7, 2014, by those who felt that this healer had no right to live to heal the brokenness of Homs and Syria. It was just three days before what would have been his 76^th birthday. On hearing about his tragic death Muslims and Christians came together despite the hostilities around them – to bury him in the compound of the Jesuit Centre.

Fr Frans is revered as a Saint today by both Muslims and Christians. His tomb is visited today by people from all walks of life. They pray to him: so that he intercedes with his creator that justice and truth triumphs in Syria and in other parts of the Middle-East; for lasting peace and security in the region. They will never forget his words “the Syrian people have given me so much, so much kindness, inspiration and everything they have. If the Syrian people are suffering now, I want to share their pain and their difficulties”. This he did in full measure: he lived with them, he died for them.

On April 9, 2014 Pope Francis at the General Audience in Rome said “last Monday in Homs, Syria, Rev Fr Frans van der Lugt one of my Dutch Jesuit confreres was assassinated at the age 75. He arrived in Syria some 5o years ago and always did good to everyone generously and with love. He was therefore loved and highly esteemed by Christians and Muslims.

His brutal murder has deeply distressed me and has made me think again of the many people who are suffering and dying in that tormented country, my beloved Syria, which for too long has been the prey of a bloody conflict that continues to reap death and destruction. I also think of the many people who have been kidnapped, Christians and Muslims, Syrians and those from other countries, including bishops and priests. Let us ask the Lord that they may soon return to their loved ones and to their families and communities.

From my heart I invite you all to join me in prayer for peace in Syria and the region, and I launch a heartfelt appeal to the Syrian leaders and to the international community: Please, silence the weapons, put an end to the violence! No more war! No more destruction! May humanitarian laws be respected, may the people who need humanitarian assistance be cared for and may the desired peace be attained through dialogue and reconciliation.”

On February 10^th 2014 The” Erasmus “blog in The Economist had a powerful article on Fr. Frans entitled ‘A Voice Crying in the Wilderness’- of the courage he demonstrated to tell the world of the pain, hunger and suffering of the people around him; a person who would never desert his people. Two months later the ‘Erasmus’ blog had these very moving words, “by staying in the heart of besieged Homs, during a takeover by rebels who included militant Islamists and then during a government siege, he was offering succour to all victims of the conflict—and a kind of reproach to all the belligerents.

He knowingly risked his life by remaining in a place where some Islamist rebels were active; but he also bore witness to the cruel consequences of the siege by refusing to leave when it would have been so easy to do so, and nobody would have blamed him. From the perspective he offered, all civilian victims were worthy of compassion, and fighters on both sides bore a share of blame. That sounds like a truth worth dying for—and it goes a bit further than religious dialogue.”

In a world torn asunder by violence and hate; by discrimination and divisiveness; by powerful vested interests who do all they can to destroy the lives of ordinary mortals, Fr Frans is a beacon of hope; not only for the people of Syria-for whom he gave up his life- but for people everywhere –who yearn for a new dawn, a better tomorrow. He was relentless in his struggle to establish that better “tomorrow” for his people. He did NOT succeed in that endeavor. Despite the hopelessness and fear that have gripped their lives, many in Homs and in other parts of Syria are convinced that his martyrdom will not go in vain.

5^th April. 2016
(Fr Cedric Prakash works with the Jesuit Refugee Service(JRS) in the Middle East. He recently spent some time in Homs, Syria where Fr. Frans lived and died)

Hate Speech: Who Would Know Better Than Amit Shah?

April 8, 2016

Amit Shah, the BJP’s National President has given a clean chit to Baba Ramdev over his expressly uttered fantasies to ‘chop of heads of any and all, especially those in the much-loved skull caps, who refuse to utter Bharat Mata Ki jai.”

Image: Indian Express

Who better than Amit Shah to play judge and jury on hate speech?

First, Shah told The Hindu that the "whole country" – specifically using "rashtra" a term with several connotations – is with the BJP on the nationalism debate, failing to explain what that meant for all of those people who refuse to chant Bharat Mata ki jai. Then, when asked about Ramdev, he reportedly told a TV channel "Baba Ramdev is not a member of the BJP. However, I want to know from those who talk of free speech, does it not apply to Baba Ramdev."

It should be reassuring to hear that the president of one of the country's largest political parties has suddenly become a champion of free speech, except if we remember this party and government’s discomfiture with political critiques and their rights to free speech.

Barely three days ago, on April 4, the BJP's own Information Technology cell chief Arvind Gupta announced that the party had against a journalist for using photoshop to joke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closeness to the Saudi royal family. And despite several news reports about the government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) being misused to ‘morph’ pictures of the prime minister neither the government nor the BJP (a beneficiary of the morphing?) has yet filed a case against the ‘morph-ers!’

But before he became a champion of Baba Ramdev’s brand of free speech, Shah himself had spewed his own brand of free speech attracting censure from the Election Commission of India (ECI). He had even been charge sheeted for this very speech made in Muzaffarnagar in September 2014.

2014
In April 2014, during electioneering for the Lok Sabha Polls he made his famous ‘Revenge Speech” in Shamli. Shamli one of four districts of western Uttar Pradesh was swept by brute violence in September 2013 that left over 60 dead, over ninety per cent Muslims. The count of how many lost their lives, incidentally, by rights activists and the figures presented in court are much higher. The violence had also contained the characteristic revenge rapes of young Muslim women and girls and widespread displacement from which the local community still reels. Not just the ruling Samajwadi party, but sections of the BJP have been held responsible for the violence.

Modi’s close aide Amit Shah had then said ‘Apmaan ka badla toh lena padega’ The occasion was a meeting with Jat leaders, critical to winning the polls and the location was 40 km from Muzaffarnagar town. Here was a speech, brimming with vitriol. With him, present, was BJP legislator Suresh Rana, who is accused of instigating the riots last year. “This election is about voting out the government that protects and gives compensation to those who killed Jats,” Shah had said. “It is about badla (revenge) and protecting izzat (honour).” The use of such hate speeches and communal polarisation, not to speak of the ‘Modi magic’ had ensured the saffron party win in 71 out of the 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Amit Shah’s ‘revenge’ speech had received a great deal of media attention and had prompted the Election Commission to ban him from campaigning in the state. The EC move came a day after two FIRs were lodged against Shah. “The commission is, prima facie, of the opinion that…you have violated the provisions of model code of conduct… Therefore, the commission gives you an opportunity to explain your stand in making the above said statement before 5 pm on April 9, 2014, failing which the EC shall take a decision without further reference to you,” the notice said, while mentioning his objectionable remarks made at three places. The ban was lifted later. Shah was charge sheeted for this criminal offence under section 123(3) of the Representation of People’s Act.

A year later in the lead up to the Bihar state polls, Shah did it again.

2015
Is Pakistan ‘code-word’ for Muslims, Mr Shah?

During the run up to the Bihar state polls in October 2015, Shah had used the ‘crackers in Pakistan’ metaphor as a threat cum warning ‘if the BJP lost elections in Bihar.’ He wording in the election rally at Raxaul was precise. “Agar BJP galti se bhi Bihar me haarti hai to jay-parajay to Bihar me hogi, pataake Pakistan me chhutenge (If BJP loses in Bihar by mistake, then victory-defeat will be in Bihar but crackers will be burst in Pakistan”).

(This, by the way, is a Sangh Parivar favourite. Using the Pakistan metaphor to constantly ‘other’ and target Indian Muslims. Remember, also, Narendra Modi’s controversial poll campaign in the lead up to the 2002 state elections in Gujarat by —barely months after the carnage of 2002 that rocked the state –repeatedly referring to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as “Miyan Musharraf” when talking in public meetings of his resolve to fight Pakistani terrorists. BJP even published advertisements asking people to choose between “Modi and Musharraf.”)

2016
And much more recently, while leading the saffron assault on the north eastern state of Assam where electioneering is on, Amit Shah vowed to calibrate nature and control how birds fly, under BJP rule. Mother Nature would, so to say, bow to the Borders drawn by the Rashtra. 'If BJP Wins Assam, Not A Bird Will Fly Across,' Amit Shah

In West Bengal, however, out of respect –some would say electoral greed – for the 34 per cent Muslim vote across the state – Amit Shah magnanimously stopped his speech for the Azan (prayers)

So its clear that hate speech or political consideration, sedition or free speech, for the likes of Amit Shah it all really depends on who is speaking, where and when.

On Sedition, Freedom of Expression
And here is what Shah has had to say on BJP and the Sangh’s favourite buzz word, sedition "Sedition is being camouflaged as freedom of expression. In the name of expression of freedom, the debate on anti-national slogans is being turned in another direction," Amit Shah said. Citing the Emergency, when the Congress "crushed the voices of the common people during the period", Amit Shah said that it had no right to lecture others.

That is until Baba Ramdev stepped in to threaten that millions of us could have been beheaded. But for the writ of the Rule of Law and the Constitution quite wisely being made the bedrock of India, 69 long years ago. Thank you Babasaheb and the Fathers and Mothers who formed the Constituent Assembly. And by the way, who did not compel anyone to say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai.’

Another victim of state religion, free-thinker hacked to death by machete: Bangladesh

April 7, 2016

Nazimuddin Samad, Image Source: Facebook

Late on the evening of yesterday, April 6, 2016, at approximately 9 pm in the evening, Nazimuddin Samad, a student of the Jagannath University, was hacked to death by unknown assailants in Dhaka’s Sutrapur.

Samad had been organising campaigns for secularism on Facebook, and a day before the murder, Samad posted about his concerns over the “deterioration of law and order” in the country, calling it a “public disgrace.”
A post on the Bangla secular blogging platform Mukto-Mona (“Free Mind”) has responded to tonight’s attack saying, “Even though nobody has claimed responsibility for this murder, the modus operandi was very similar to all the killings carried out by the extremist Islamist militants in Bangladesh.”

Mukto-Mona, describes Nazimuddin was a courageous freethinker; he was vocal in his support for a secular and humane Bangladesh.

As he was returning from his university a few young men, who came there on a motorcycle, intercepted him at the Ekrampur crossing and started hacking him with their machetes. In the end, they made sure that Nazimuddin would die by shooting him in the head. Witnesses said the assailants shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is great) as they killed Nazimuddin.

Even though nobody has claimed responsibility for this murder, the modus operandi was very similar to all the killings carried out by the extremist Islamist militants in Bangladesh.

An Inquiry into the killing has been demanded A timeline of the killings of secularists in Bangladesh is available at bit.ly/CFIBangladeshTimeline.

According to the statement here he regularly posted atheist and feminist criticism of Islam. He was critical both of the Islamist political parties, and against the failings of the current government. Shortly before he was killed, he wrote a post implying that the ruling Awami League party would fall if it did not make swift changes, writing (in Bengali): “The situation of the country, deterioration of law and order in the country, speak that maybe you cannot stay long in power.”

In earlier posts, Nazimuddin responded to a cleric’s violent speech against women which referenced the Quran, contrasting the speech with the claim that “Islam is the highest honor given to women!” He asked for justice for a girl known as Tonu, who had been raped and killed in the military area of ‘Cantoment’, Comilla.

Nazimuddin recently criticised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s support for madrassa (Islamic schools), which are increasingly associated with Islamist radicalism and militancy in the country. Nazimuddin had also shared posts from Washiqur Rahman Babu who was killed last year in a similar attack, carried out by two madrassa students who claimed they were acting on orders from someone associated with their Islamic schools.

In another post, he proposed a satirical strategy to overcome the aggressive push toward Islamism in the country, writing: “Please let’s have Sharia Law for just five years in Bangladesh. Rule the country with Medina Law. I guarantee you, after this 5 years, no Muslim of Bangladesh will ask for Islamic law! The loss and damage we will have after five years, it will take 1400 years to restore us to a modern country.”

Nurul Amin, assistant commissioner of Sutrapur division police, is reported as saying that the assailants must have kept an eye on Nazim’s activities ahead of the attack, and were aware of his route home. “We are investigating the case sincerely to know the motive of the murder,” he said.
President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), Andrew Copson, commented tonight:

“It is clear from Nazimuddin’s Facebook posts and protest activity that he was a politically and socially engaged young man. He offered criticisms of certain radical religious figures and doctrines, thoughts of a kind that many people, not just atheists and humanists but also many religious people, express all over the world, every day.

“Every time a thoughtful and honest person like Nazimuddin is hacked or gunned down, apparently for doing nothing more than speaking their minds on secularist, political and religious topics, we and others will make a point of finding out what he said, what he did, what he wrote about, and sharing it. It will be seen by more people than ever would have seen it before. And we will remember his name and the growing list of names of those who were singled out and killed, by small-minded, hateful extremists who appear to think that words can be killed. They cannot.”

In 2015, four bloggers variously identifying as humanist, atheist and freethinkers, as well as one publisher of secular books, (http://iheu.org/huge-alliance-protests-government-response-to-bangladesh-blogger-murders/)were killed by groups of men in machete attacks. These men in their writings or actions had all defended freedom of expression and belief, and criticised radical Islamism or particular religious ideas (which they variously regarded as prejudiced or socially detrimental). While this kind of writing and activism, especially where it contains humanistic, atheist or secularist criticism of Islamism, appears to most likely to attract the hit squads, the range of hatred encompassed by Bangladeshi radical Islamists also extends to foreigners and other religions; an Italian aid worker and a Japanese investor were killed in September and October 2015 respectively, an Italian priest was shot in November but survived, and ISIS claimed responsibility for the stabbing of a Christian convert last month ostensibly as a “lesson to others”.

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Another victim of state religion, free-thinker hacked to death by machete: Bangladesh

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Releasing a Fact-Finding Report into the Murder of Delta Meghwal, her father, Mahendra Meghwal demanded Justice not Character Assassination of his Dead Daughter.

The Man who Fired the First Salvo that then set off 1857 Revolt Against the British was hung on April 8, 1857

Document:From the Trial of Mangal Pandey

Latur’s 600-bed Civil Hospital Reels Under Water Cuts due to Drought, Private Clinics also Affected

Yet Another Call to the Mob, Now Another BJP Minister Openly Exhorts Cadres to Violence if they do not Shout ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’

Amit Shah, the BJP’s National President has given a clean chit to Baba Ramdev over his expressly uttered fantasies to ‘chop of heads of any and all, especially those in the much-loved skull caps, who refuse to utter Bharat Mata Ki jai.”

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

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Important Links

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Document:
From the Trial of Mangal Pandey