Nelson Mandela Would Have Turned 99 Today, Let’s Recall His Words

July 19, 2017

Nelson Mandela would have turned 99 years old today. Born on July 18, 1918, he died five years ago at 95. Though not with the world, Mandela’s spirit for equalty and freedom, stays.

His politics stood for justice, and equality without any spirit of violence or revenge.
Here are some Quotable Quotes from Mandela
“Overcoming Poverty is Not An Act of Charity, Its an Act of Justice.”

“”Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.”

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

“Few things make the life of a parent more rewarding and sweet as successful children.”

“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but its lowest ones.”

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

“Our children are our greatest treasure. They are our future. Those who abuse them tear at the fabric of our society and weaken our nation.”

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

“Lead from the back – and let others believe they are in front.”

“A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favor. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.”

“Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.”

NOIDA Shanties where Zohrabi Lived Pulled Down, Amidst Heavy Rain

July 19, 2017

Image Courtesy: The Hindu
The Hindu reported that without notice or warning, shanties outside the Mahajan Moderne residential complex, where domestic worker Zohrabi had been allegedly confined and abused last week, were razed to the ground on Monday morning in the midst of pouring rain. Residents claim they were given no warning; forced to sit outside in heavy rain

Last week, Sabrangindi had reported how Zohrabi, a domestic worker, allegedly illegally confined and abused had found restoration and acknoledgement after citizens placed the issue on social media. Her neighbours,agitated over rumours of her confinement (found to be true) had, on July 12 stormed the housing society and vandalised property.

Five days after the mob vandalised property at the Mahagun Moderne residential society in Sector 78, the Noida Authority on Monday razed over three dozen shanties in the area where most of the agitators lived, the original crime committed by the employers of Zohrabi has been sought to be white-washed as the NOIDA authorities appear to have acted at the behest of residents of this posh housing complex and made the entire shanty ‘pay.’ Payback by the rich it seems.

Reports said that on July 12, a mob armed with sticks and stones stormed the housing society following allegations that their neighbour, a domestic help, was beaten up and held hostage by a family living in the luxury apartments. Before that all efforts by the husband of Zohrabi to locate her from inside the posh building had met with no success.

It was ‘citizen journalism’ at its very best. When Nilanjana Bhowmick and Tathagata Bhattacharya informed India and the world of the brute treatment meted out to 26 year-old Zohrabi, a domestic help in Noida, it set of a chain of concern and awareness that is seething, still. Their post said:

Edited after speaking to Zohra:
This is Zohra, a 26 year old who works as a domestic help in Noida. Following a tiff with her employer, she went missing for a day. Her family and neighbors – poor day wage laborers – started protesting and demanding to know her whereabouts. I spoke to her a while back and she confirmed she was locked up in a room the whole day [not in the boot of the car as my original post said]. Noida police, instead of taking action, is now firing at the protesters. There are at least five of them waiting outside, waiting for me to address this. I feel helpless and quite wretched because apart from posting on social media and speaking to the police, I don’t even know from where I should start addressing this deep rot!!

The residents of the shanties alleged that the authorities did not give them any prior notice before they razed their homes.Following the demolition, heavy rain lashed the city, and many of the families could be seen getting soaked as they had no shelter.

They told The Hindu:

“I have two little children and they are forced to sit in the open in the heavy rain. I cannot shift my family anywhere. If the demolition had been planned, then we should have been given some time. Where will I take my family now?” said Mohd. Javed.

“I had taken out a loan to run a tea stall. They [Noida Authority] also razed my shop. Their action has not only made us homeless, but robbed us of our livelihood,” he added.
Noida Authority officials, meanwhile, said that the demolition was part of an anti-encroachment drive.

The move to demolish the shanties came after Noida Authority additional CEO R. K. Mishra inspected the area on Saturday after residents of the society complained of security issues to Noida Authority CEO Amit Mohan Prasad.“On the complaints of security due to illegal encroachment, the authority razed the shanties and makeshift shops,” said Mr. Mishra.

‘Tussle proved costly’
Mahmood, a tailor who lived in the shanties, said they were given no time to move. “Heavy police force surrounded the area in the morning. The Noida Authority then razed all the shanties. We could not even shift our families,” he said.

“Many of the housing society’s residents had given expensive clothes to me for alteration. Now they will be after me for their clothes,” he added.

“We were peacefully living in the area and offered services to the upscale residential societies. We never realised that a tussle between a maid and apartment owners would prove to be so costly for so many families,” said Ramesh, who had lived in one of the shanties.

The residents said they had received a letter from the authorities two months ago asking them to clear encroachment from the road.

The shanties were then moved to a land that they claim belongs to a private citizen. The authorities, however, said that the land belongs to the Noida Authority.

If the demolition had been planned, then we should have been given some time to move. Where will I take my family now?… I have two little children and they are forced to sit in the open in the heavy rain, ” said Mohd. Javed, resident of the slum near Mahajan Moderne

Its Not about Yakub Menon Alone, Gandhi’s Son had Pleaded for Mercy for Nathuram Godse & Apte: Gopal Krishna Gandhi

July 19, 2017

The patholigical hate ridden Sanghis simply cannot put up fight fair, it seems. Ever since, the united opposition (18parties) nominated Gopal Krishna Gandhi as their consensus candidate for the post of Vice President, they have resorted to what they do best: launch a viciou campaign online. Bereft of anything else against him, the campaign says his “only ‘credentials’ are that he filed mercy petition for terrorist Yakub Memon”.

Gandhi’s reply was staunchly Gandhian. He jogged the sanghis non-existent historical memory and said that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s sons Mani Lal Gandhi and Ramdas Gandhi had appealed against the death sentence handed to Nathuram Godse who assassinated the Mahatma. And their plea for clemency had been not just for Godse. The sons had also pleaded for mercy for Narayan Apte, who was present at the spot when Godse pulled the trigger. In spite of the appeals, both Godse and Apte were hanged in 1949.

‘My appeal for mercy for any death row convict arises out of my conviction against reprisal punishment and is not confined to any individual. I believe that the death penalty and capital punishment belong to the medieval ages.” Gopaljrishna Gandhi retorted.

But then the medieval ages is where rabid communalist forces get their politics from: revenge-lust, blood and gore.

Gopalkrishna added: “That is my belief and as an ordinary independent person, it is my duty to say so. I have inspiration from two persons — Mahatma Gandhi, who was against the death penalty, and Babasaheb Ambedkar, who had said it is only proper that we should do away with the death penalty altogether.” Gopalkrishna, a former Bengal governor, said that as an “ordinary independent citizen”, he had reminded the Pakistan President that it was his responsibility to ensure that former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav was not sent to the gallows. A military court in Pakistan has sentenced Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and terrorism.

It was Rajiv Chandrasekhar, the Kerala NDA’s vice-chairperson, had written on the micro-blogging site: “Filing a mercy petition for someone who was convicted for mass murder is a campaign theme to be Vice-President?” Chandrashekhar is the controlling financier of Arnav Goswami’s Republic.

Stung by the decision of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik who, on July 18, announced support for Gopalkrishna, the BJP state unit president Basant Panda too had joined the bandwagon: “Gandhi had signed the mercy plea of terror convict Yakub Memon. It certainly raises questions on Naveen’s patriotism. It also shows that there is a tacit understanding between the BJD and the Congress.” Politically, Gopalkrishna appeared to have mustered more support than Meira Kumar, the Opposition’s candidate for President, with Naveen joining Nitish Kumar’s JDU in breaking the collective the BJP had built for yesterday’s presidential election.

Both Naveen and Nitish Kumar have announced that the BJD and JD(U) would support Gopalkrishna around the time he was filing his nomination. In 2012, Naveen had said Gopalkrishna was his “best friend”.

Gopalkrishna said he was an independent-minded individual with no political affiliation who had agreed to be the Opposition’s candidate as a representative of the average Indian citizen. “I am not here to oppose any individual or political party. I am here to place before the electors the aspirations of the common man…. I am here not to oppose but to unite… the integrated intelligence of our Parliament.”
Gopalkrishna said he hoped to flag three issues — restoring the faith of the common man in politics, underlining the need to stand up to divisive politics that could imperil the Indian civilisation and addressing the despondency that is setting in on under-25-year-olds who make up half of India’s population.

While stating that people’s faith in politics had “collapsed”, Gopalkrishna made it clear he had in mind not just those opposed to his candidature but also those supporting him.
Gopalkrishna himself plans to write to each and every member of the electorate — made up of members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — seeking a conscience vote, something Meira Kumar had also done. The Opposition plans to make a video of his letter for wider circulation in the hope of mobilising opinion in his favour strong enough to weigh on the electorate.

The Trinamul Congress today purchased 1,000 postcards after Gopalkrishna said he would mail one to each MP, highlighting some issues he wants to raise through his candidature. The idea of sending a postcard to each MP was Gopalkrishna’s, a Trinamul MP said.

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta quits as EPW editor: Adani Pressure

July 19, 2017

Economic & Political Weekly (EPW) editor Paranjoy Guha Thakurta stepped down after the celebrated and well-regarded Economic and Political weekly (EPW) refused to back him for his story against the political-corporate nexus published in the June 19 issue of the prestigious weekly. “As of today, i have resigned,” he told Sabrangindia late last night. This move signals an all time low in Indian journalism: EPW has enjoyed a long and illustrious history in publication and prided itself, at least on being indepedent of such pressures.

Paranjoy, as he is well known and regarded has become one of the most recent –though not possibly the only — top-level editorial casualty of corporate India’s bullying of investigative journalism.
The well established academic journal Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) has been served a defamation notice by the Adani Group on July 13. The notice was served over a story EPW ran on how the government allegdly altered rules for special economic zones (SEZs), which led to the Adani Group reaping a profit of Rs 500 crore. The EPW’s article titled “Modi Government’s ₹500 Crore Bonanza to Adani Group Company”. It claimed: “By frequently changing the rules relating to power projects located in special economic zones, the department of commerce in the ministry of industry and commerce has allowed Adani Power claims for refunds of customs duties to the tune of ₹500 crore. Curiously, the duties were never paid.”

The story was run by EPW in Vol. 52, Issue No. 24, June 17, 2017. In response to the article, EPW received a legal notice from a lawyer representing Adani Power, which is headed by Gautam Adani. The legal notice accused EPW and the writers of the article of defamation and threatened legal action unless the piece was retracted, an unconditional apology was issued, and any defamatory material on Adani not be published by the magazine “in any manner whatsoever”.

EPW, had then, just a week ago stood by its story and in his reply to Adani Power’s lawyer, EPW’s advocate reaffirmed that each and every word in the article was truthful and backed by documentary evidence. In the reply to the notice by Adani, they have stated among other things,

“8. That on the issue of misuse of the export promotion scheme, even the Hon’ble Supreme Court has used very harsh language against your client as to how your client has misused the scheme and fraudulently inflated export turnover, and how your client has even without making actual exports, played around with the provisions of the scheme and tried to take undue advantage thereof. This finding of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has also been quoted by my client’s in the said article. Thus, the reporting done by my client’s is not only back and supported by documentary evidence, but also by judicial pronouncement.

“9. That in view of the above it is re-iterated that there is not an iota of substance in your client’s bald claims. Your client will be well advised to withdraw your legal notice dated 24.06.2017, failing which my client shall be constrained to invoke the majesty of law to the hilt, should your client choose to trigger the first ill conceived/advised shot. Your client may kindly note the adage “be you ever so high, law is above you”. Your client may further be informed that truth can never be suppressed and it is the constitutional obligation of an independent journalist to surface the truth at any cost. I do sincerely hope, you would be gracious enough to suitably advise your client appropriately.”

Known as SLAPP, this well-oiled tendency of corporates and the powerful has been used the world over. In this case, the multi-crore defamation case has been again filed as a means of countering critical reporting.

Thakurta resigned after the directors of the trust which runs the storied journal ordered him to take down two articles on the Adani group.Last month, Adani Power Ltd. sent a letter via its lawyers to EPW, the article’s four authors (which included Thakurta) and Sameeksha Trust, which owns and runs the journal. The lawyer’s letter demanded that immediate steps be taken to “remove/delete and unconditionally retract” two articles – ‘Did the Adani Group Evade Rs 1,000 Crore in Taxes?’ (January 14, 2017) and ‘Modi Government’s Rs 500-Crore Bonanza to the Adani Group’ (June 24, 2017) – that they said were defamatory and harmful to the reputation of their client.

The letter said that unless this was done, “our clients shall be constrained to take such action as they may be advised”.

The Sameeksha Trust board, met in Delhi on Tuesday, ordered the editorial department to take the two articles down (alongside which Thakurta had also posted a copy of the Adani letter and a legal response by EPW). Thakurta resigned soon after the meeting. He told Sabrangindia that this was the cost that investigative journalism would be increasingly asked to pay.

Founded in 1949 as the Economic Weekly, EPW took on its current name in 1966 and is one of India’s most respected publications, straddling scholarship and political commentary. Thakurta, a highly regarded business journalist and political commentator, took over the editorship in January 2017 from C. Rammanohar Reddy, who ran the journal for over a decade.

The Adani letter is the latest in an example of what media analysts and lawyers call ‘strategic lawsuits against public participation’ – or SLAPPs. In a 2015 editorial calling for the United States to emulate California and enact a federal law protecting free speech against encroachment by powerful interests, the Los Angeles Times pithily described what SLAPPs are all about: “A deep-pocketed corporation, developer or government official files a lawsuit whose real purpose is to silence a critic, punish a whistleblower or win a commercial dispute.”

The action of the Sameeksha Trust to, literally, back out of the story when a simple legal notice or letter had been written and a case not even been filed, has raised eye-brows. Legal notices threatening very expensive and time-consuming litigation are increasingly being used by large corporations to intimidate editors, proprietors, journalists and writers and prevent them from shining a light on allegations of wrongdoing. In this case this is a corporation that is also very close to the political leadership in New Delhi.

Thakurta, a senior journalist, author and political commentator, took over as Editor of EPW in 2016. Rammanohar Reddy, who was its Editor since 2004, quit over differences with the board of trustees on the publication’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

The fact that the Sameeksha Trust, with a powerful and prestigious Trust Board felt compelled to take this decision is a tragedy. Apart from Deepak Nayyar its chairman, The Trust Board has the poowerful corporate figure, Deepak Parikh and historian Romila Thapar on it. It has had a long and illustrious history of reletaively un-tainted journalism. That will stand seriously questioned today.

Thakurta’s books Gas Wars (crony Capitalism and the Ambanis) was self-published. It investigates and reveals how India’s and the country’s natural resources of natural gas and oil have been controlled and manipulated by this industrial house, aided and abetted by those in power of different political hues.

His other critical work, Media Ethics is a must read for journalists. He says here, ” Media Ethics is a comprehensive textbook designed for under- and post-graduate students of mass communication and journalism courses. It discusses key ethical issues in the light of the new face of journalism and the dynamic changes that are taking place in media today. The book gives an introduction to readers about ethics, the history of media ethics and journalism in India. The book delves into key issues like truth, objectivity, sensitivity, and privacy. It explores in detail issues related to fairness in reporting and codes of conduct of the Press Council of India. It then discusses the ‘media market’ with issues like social responsibility, industrial journalism, advertorials, etc. The chapter on media law in India discusses democratic principles, Areopagitica, free speech vs the law, concerns like libel, privacy, copyright, obscenity, contempt of court, and right to free information…”

Dalits Claim Back ‘Promised Land’ under Mevani’s Leadership: Gujarat

July 19, 2017

As Dalits Plant Flag of Self-Respect under Mevani Leadership, Families Get Back land promised since 1970s: Gujarat
The Battle for the Dalit Base: From the fields of Gujarat to the floor of Parliament

Its election year in Gujarat and the Dalits though numerically strong like Bengal have a seven per cent vote. Its also the month that NDA II under Modi is likely to install Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit to the high office of President. In this context and political atmosphere, the Azaadi kooch yatra commemorating one year of the shameful Una public flogging of 5 Dalits assumed great significance. Jignesh Mevani, the lawyer-leader of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch who led this yatra, planted the flag of self-respect on the land at Lavara in Banaskantha, land promised to Dalit families since the 1970s.

“If your chest is actually 56 inches, Modiji, then remove the dabang (strongmen)…. If you don’t, your BJP will be finished here…. Your Hindu nationalism is a fraud and it is our duty to expose those who kill peasants, workers and youths in the name of the cow,” Mevani told the cheering crowd at Lavara.

Sabrangindia had been among the first to focus on the land campaign led by Mevani over the years. “Land to the Dalit Tiller, not to Tycoons is our Mission: Jignesh Mevani” was a detailed interview with him on the issue (December 2016).

Keeping Mevani company on July 18, were Kantibhai Solanki, who was supposed to have been given possession of the land in the 1970s, and Dalpat Bhatia, who had taken up the cause of the Dalits in Lavara, a village in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, 200km from Gandhinagar. Last Saturday, July 15, , Mevani, a 36-year-old lawyer, had issued an ultimatum that if the plots allotted to seven Dalits in Lavara in the 1970s under the Gujarat land ceiling law were not restored, 10,000 protesters would block the highway to Dhanera that branches out to Kandla Port and Rajasthan.
Clearly nervous with the agitation, on July 18, the district administration had restored the plots to two Dalits, one of who was Kantibhai. Today’s “takeover” would have largely been a token gesture devoid of tension but for one factor: Kantibhai complained that he was threatened by Kalusinh Vaghela, from whom the land was taken.

Vaghela belongs to the landed Darbar caste, categorised as part of the Other Backward Classes, while Kantibhai is a Dalit. The latent friction between the two – which need not mean they are openly hostile to each other – represents an undercurrent now at play in Gujarat and some northern Indian states.

As the symbolic march to claim back the promised land took place Mevani received a chit from the police present, in warning. Watched closely by about 2,000 Dalits, communists and Muslims, Mevani read the piece of paper that told him not to carry out a symbolic takeover of the land by planting blue Ambedkarite flags. Mevani, a fiery leader, did so anyway, after limiting the number of those who accompanied him to the plot. A large police force kept watch as Mevani marched through the freshly tilled soil in driving rain and hoisted an indigo blue flag featuring the Ashok Chakra and sporting the words “Jai Bhim”.

An FIR was also lodged against the threats received by the Dalit family prior to the protest event. The FIR was filed at Dhanera where around 2,500 people had gathered at the conclusion of Azadi Kooch, a march to commemorate one year of Una flogging incident. It was after this that the Dalits and rights activists led by Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch leader Jignesh Mewani reached Lavara village, 12 km away, and planted blue flags on the 18-acre land.

“The district administration decided to start the process of returning the land a day before we were planning to forcibly take possession of the land. We take it as a positive sign and now we will make sure that this happens all over Gujarat. On August 15, we will gather at Soneth village in Banaskantha and ensure that Dalits there get their land back,” said Mewani. “We also give the state administration time till December 6, which is Babasaheb Ambedkar’s death anniversary, to make sure that land allotment for Dalits takes place. If not then over 50,000 Dalits will congregate and forcibly take possession of the land,” he added.

The Dalits call it a battle for self-respect – and Mevani is part of a new breed of leaders tapping into the discontent that is also fuelled by rising aspirations. If Mevani makes inroads into the state’s consciousness, a casualty could be the broader “Hindu umbrella” that the Sangh parivar and Narendra Modi are seeking to unfurl.

It was only after the sustained protests under Mevani that these land claims were met. For years, the battle has been within the Courts in Gujarat but there have been no positive gains for Dalits despite Court orders in their favour.

Speaking to the media, Solankibhai, who got the land back, said: “My father had fought for this land since the 1970s. The Darbars wouldn’t part with it. Now we are better off and my brother is a postman. We are not ignorant of our rights. Last year, I complained to the tehsildar. Not a single official came until Jigneshbhai’s Azadi Kooch started. Yesterday the tehsildar came, made us sign some paper and gave us possession of the land. Kalubhai challenged me that he would never allow me to farm here.” Before this moment of empowerment, the Solankis were mere sharecroppers on the same land, growing jowar and bajra and giving Vaghela a fourth of the produce as rent.

Dalits are the most populous in this village, with about 100 households, followed by the dominant Darbars who have 80 families.

The Vaghela household, spread over more than an acre in several concrete dwellings, overlooks the fields. A worker loading grain in Vaghela’s godown said he wasn’t home.Kalusinh’s brother Brahmarsinh Vaghela, a former sarpanch, said: “Yes, my brother held the land but the Dalits were the sharecroppers. There is no question of any conflict. But it is sad that the police had to come to our village for the first time in my memory. There has never been any caste clash here.”

What makes Mevani strike a chord with young Dalits? Vipul Parmar, a computer operator who was part of the land takeover, said: “I had not heard of Jigneshbhai until a week back and was attracted by the posts on social media. He seems to be the only leader in Gujarat who is talking about the Dalits. I am in this land movement not because I want to do farming but because it is about self-respect. Even if Ram Nath Kovind (the NDA candidate) becomes President and comes here, the Thakurs will make him sit in a corner. Dalits who watch the news now know that the BJP is a Manuvadi party that silently hates us and makes us clash with Muslims.”

For Lakshmiben Maharia who came all the way from Ahmedabad to support the Azadi Kooch march it was the gender issue that found resonance. “I joined Jigneshbhai when he came to our village and explained that wearing a ghunghat (veil) is outdated and an unhealthy tradition. Despite anger from elders, all of us women stopped wearing the ghunghat. Land is important but we educate families with drunkard husbands (despite prohibition in the state) not to waste money they will gain from land on liquor. We won’t allow any man from our community to beat his wife if he is drunk.”
The agitation will not end here. In Banaskantha’s Sonheth village, Mevani has announced an agitation to help 63 Dalit families whose allotted land has been under the occupation of of dominant castes. There is some potential for conflict as claims and counter-claims ensue.

1. If the Cow is Your Mother, You Bury Her: Gujarat Dalits Cry Liberation
2. The Nation Does Not Need the Gujarat Model: Jignesh Mevani

NDA on the Backfoot: BSP Leader Mayawati Resigns from RS over Attacks on Dalits

July 18, 2017

On the day after its Dalit president elect Ram Nath Kovind is predicted to make an easy win to India’s Presidentship, the ruling NDA under Modi refused the courtesy of a parliamentary debate to BSP supremo and Rajya Sabha member Mayawati on Tuesday when she began to speak on atrocities against Dalits under Modi’s NDA II. From Rohith Vemula, to Una to now the attacks on Dalits at Shabbirpur under Adityanath-ruled BJP, Mayawati was furious when she was not allowed to speak by the ruling party benches. While it is deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha of the PJ Kurien who stopped her after three minutes, it was the blustering of ruling party benches that would not allow her to get a word in.

Janata Dal leader and 11 times member of parliament, Sharad Yadav was seen urging the chair to allow her to speak. CPIM’s Sitaram Yechury also said that Dalit atrocities were increasing under NDA II.

Mayawati has been speaking powerfully in Parliament on the attacks on Dalits and minorities. The recent UP state elections saw her party emerging third as a split vote ensured the BJP under Adityanath a sweeping win. Her resignation letter may or may not be accepted (as the format of the resignation is reportedly a one line one) but it is likely to sned a powerful message.

Ironically this comes on a day that the Modi government handed over the powerful portfolio of the I & B Ministry to the prime minister’s favourite Smriti Irani. Irani had been removed after her mis-handling of the Rohith Vemula case when her stand was perceived as singularly anti-Dalit. That and the attack on the universities, especially the Jawaharlal Nehru Universdity (JNU) happened under her watch. Now she’s back and in control of a powerful ministry where the media falls under her. As do the government’s channels like Doordarshan though technically the Prasar Bharati is supposed to be ‘independent.’

Mayawati’s resignation letter may be read here.

Related Articles:

1. First Gaurakshaks Targeted Muslims, Now They Have Turned on Dalits: Mayawati
2. Calling Smriti Irani’s Bluff: Twisted Truths in Parliament

Petition Against Maharashtra’s Cow Vigilantes: Bombay High Court

July 18, 2017

Petition Against Maharashtra’s Cow Vigilantes: Bombay High Court

Shadab Patel, a Bandra based businessman has, on Monday filed a PIL before Bombay high court, seeking action by the Court against “self-proclaimed gau rakshaks“ in Maharashtra.

Expressing a grave apprehension that these self-styled cow vigilante groups could stir up trouble during the upcoming Bakri Eid festival, Shadab Patel has urged the court to direct the state to take effective steps to protect citizens, especially those who deal in trade and transport of cattle, from lynch mobs. The anxiety in Maharashtra has grown given the fact just a few days back, a Muslim, and a BJP worker was brutally beaten up in Nagpur after allegations of carrying beef. In a stark example of vigilantes taking law into their own hands and committing the crime of assault, PTI reports that after the assault, the man himself was arrested as ‘it was proven and tested that he was carrying beef,’

“The cow vigilantes groups and sanghatnas are taking law in their own hands and immediate action should be taken against them. They are a threat as they cause disturbance or riot-like situation in the name of beef,“ said Patel in the petition filed through his lawyer, Asif Naqvi.“The citizens have a right to life and right to carry out business and trade, guaranteed by the Constitution of India. It cannot be be violated by such cow vigilantes, whose main aim is to create a sense of fear in the minds of people,“ said the petitioner.

The petition claimed that since 2014, around 24 persons had been killed allegedly by cow vigilantes across India. It listed various incidents from the killing of Mohammed Akhlaq, to Pehlu Khan, Junaid Khan and the most recent attack on a man last month in Nagpur.

“The state and Centre have miserably failed to curb such attacks, hence it is necessary for the court to make guidelines for preventive and safety measures,“ said the petitioner. The PIL has asked the court to direct the state to set up a 24-hour helpline to “keep a check on illegal acts by cow vigilantes moving around freely in the name of cow protection in large groups“. The state should also ask each police station to maintain a list of such vigilante groups in their areas and submit a report to court on action taken against them. The petitioner said the state should provide 24-hour security to traders when transporting livestock. He sought implementation of a Supreme Court order suspending the Union government’s notification banning sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets for slaughter.“If the state cannot provide safety to citizens who deal in cattle trade and transport, they should be provided gun licences to save their lives,“ added the petition. The PIL is likely to be heard later this week.

In the Nagpur incident, newspaper PTI reported that the Nagpur Rural Police have arrested Salim Shaha, a BJP worker who was allegedly beaten up by cow vigilantes earlier this week, under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act for possession of beef.

Shaha was beaten up by some people on July 12 on the suspicion that he was carrying beef. Police had said on Sunday that as per the forensic laboratory report, the meat which he was carrying that day was beef. Superintendent of police (Nagpur Rural) Shailesh Balkawde told PTI today that Shaha was arrested last night, and produced before Narkhed magistrate’s court in the district today which sent him in police custody for one day.

Police will ask for extension of his custody tomorrow, the SP said, adding that a case has been registered at Jalalkheda Police Station. Shaha (34), a resident of Katol town in Nagpur district, was returning home on his motorcycle when a group of five or six men accosted him at a bus stop in the Bharsingi village on July 12. They allegedly assaulted him on the suspicion that he was carrying beef. Shaha’s family, however, said he may not have known what he was carrying. The family was initially reluctant to talk about the forensic report, stating that it was already “in trouble”.

But “Salim may not have been aware of what he was carrying,” a relative said. The Nagpur (rural) unit president of the BJP, Rajiv Potdar, had said Shaha would be dismissed from the party.After Shaha was beaten up and taken to a hospital, four men–Ashwin Uike (35), Rameshwar Taywade (42), Moreshwar Tandurkar (36) and Jagdish Chaudhari (25)–were arrested and booked under charge of voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

Its Education But Not for All Under Modi Sarkar

July 18, 2017

The job promises have been proved a Jumla.

Interview with Vikram Singh
Interviewed by P. Ambedkar, Produced by Newsclick Team

There is a clear policy of the ruling establishment to restrict Higher Education to the affluent sections of the society. The 20 million jobs that were promised to the youth have only been an election “Jumla”.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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Its Education But Not for All Under Modi Sarkar

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