Early in the morning on 16 June 2017, Comrade Zafar Hussein, an activist of CPI(ML) in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan, was kicked, punched and beaten to death by karamcharis of the nagarpalika (municipality) at the instigation of Nagar Parishad commissioner Ashok Jain when he resisted their attempts to take photographs and videos of poor women from the Bagwasa Kachi basti who were going to defecate in the open. Such photography and videography of women defecating is a clear instance of sexual harassment against women. This incident has yet again established how the Swachh Bharat campaign too is becoming an excuse for lynch mob attacks and attacks on women's dignity and rights.
Comrade Zafar himself had submitted a memorandum to the Nagar Parishad some days back protesting against the campaign of public shaming and bullying of women for defecating in the open. In the memorandum he had demanded community toilets and repairing of the non-functional public latrines constructed under the Swacch Bharat campaign. He had also unsuccessfully sought to submit the memorandum to the DM who had refused to accept it.
We demand that the Nagar Parishad Commissioner Ashok Jain and others named in the FIR lodged in Comrade Zafar's murder case be arrested and speedily punished. We demand that the Central Government and all State Governments officially declare public shaming and lynch mob tactics in the guise of Swacch Bharat campaign to be illegal and punish officials promoting the use of such tactics.
The drive to end open defecation cannot proceed on the basis of inflicting indignities on the poor and helpless people who have no access to private or public toilets. The present strategy of ODF campaign is giving rise to corruption, fake claims and public humiliation of deprived people. Governments must reverse this draconian strategy and unleash a positive campaign popularizing toilet use, with a focus on construction of toilets, assured availability of water, and proper arrangements for toilet-cleaning.
All over the country, sanitation workers are fighting for their dignity and rights against oppressive and inhuman working conditions. It is highly unfortunate that the Rajasthan Government, which denies sanitation workers their due rights, used them as fodder in the public shaming and lynching campaign on the pretext of Swacch Bharat.
We appeal to all the forces struggling against mob lynching, for women's rights and dignity, and for sanitation workers' rights, to unite in the struggle for justice for Comrade Zafar.
We salute Comrade Zafar's lifetime of activism as a Central Executive Member of the All India Construction Workers' Federation and a member of the CPI(ML)'s Pratapgarh district committee. Comrade Zafar gave up his life to uphold and defend the dignity of women who were at the receiving end of the draconian Swacch Bharat campaign.
In an order if May 25, the NGT (Pune Bench) orders three member investigation committee against Essar Company
The National Green Tribunal Bench west zone Pune comprises of Justice U.D. Salvi and Dr. Ajay Deshpande appointed a three member Court Commission comprising of Director MoEF with Senior Scientist of NEERI and Director of Marine National Park and Sanctuary, Jamnagar to probe and ascertain the exact area being used by the Essar Bulk Terminal (Salaya) Ltd. This is seen as a jolt to the big corporate like Essar Bulk Terminal (Salaya) Ltd.
The order dated May 25, 2017 says that –
(1) A committee comprising of Director of MoEF, Senior Scientist, NEERI and Director of Marine National Park and Sanctuary, Jamnagar is constituted to carry out local investigation at the project site of Respondent No.1 Essar Bulk Terminal (Salary) Ltd; 2.
(2) The Committee shall ascertain the extent of constructions going on and carried out by Respondent No.1 Essar Bulk Terminal (Salary) Ltd, particularly, soil-bund referred to in the Application, navigation route as well as location of the constructions with reference to the area of Marine National Park and Marine Sanctuary and ESZ, referred to in the Notification dated 22nd August, 2013; tidal water current and destruction of Mangroves, if any, and tidal current in and around Salaya Creek.
(3) The committee shall furnish its report on or before the next date of hearing on July 26, 2017.
(4) Logistic arrangements of the Committee-Members for the work of commission shall be made by Respondent No.2- State of Gujarat through the Collector, Jamnagar.
(5) Copies of the Application and record shall be furnished by the Registry, NGT (WZB) Pune to the Committee.
The plea was made on behalf of the Salaya Fishermen’s Association an application for appointment of Court Commissioner/Commission to carry out local investigation in order to ascertain the facts concerning the alleged illegal construction, soil bunds carried out by the Essar Bulk Terminal (Salaya) Ltd.
The petition before the NGT alleged that Essar Bulk Terminal has encroached upon protected Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of Salaya Marine National Park and Sanctuary resulting in the destruction of mangroves, obstruction to inter-tidal water in Salaya Creek which is harmful to environment and biodiversity. The Essar Bulk Terminal (Salaya) Ltd. In its reply had stated that there has been no illegal construction made by the corporation.
On behalf of Salaya Fishermen’s Association, advocate Asim Sarode submitted before the NGT that the Notification dated August 22, 2013 declared area admeasuring 326.26 sq.km. around the Salaya Marine National Park and Marine Sanctuary as ESZ of which area admeasuring 208.5818 sq.km towards landward side and 105.14 sq.km towards seaward and 12.5384 sq.km area covered by rivers; and therefore, the communication dated 28.8.2014 by CCF, Marine National Park, Jamnagar is not a complete disclosure of the facts, particularly, when Essar Bulk Terminal (Salaya) Ltd has not produced any lay-out or sanction-plan of the construction of the project and any details of the construction to be carried out in the project. He further submitted that a thorough, on the spot, local investigation is necessary to answer clearly the questions raised by concerned fisherfolk.
The NGT, after perusing the letter dated 28.04.2014 of CCF, Marine National Park realised that some directions were found as to the exact location of Essar Bulk Terminal (Salaya) Ltd. where the proposed Marine Facilities including conveyor corridor and Jetty of M/s. Essar Bulk Terminal (Salaya) Ltd. are being constructed. It is mentioned that the nearest point of Eco Sensitive Zone from the said Jetty is approximately 150 meters and the distance of 4.6 Hectare forest land diverted for this purpose is approximately 1.9 km. from the nearest point of the Marine National Park and Marine Sanctuary.
Given this background to the dispute raised by local fishermen's association, the NGT set up the Committee to get to the actual facts.
Former Chief Justice of India, PN Bhagwati passed away on June 15, 2017 at New Delhi
Image: Reuters
Justice Prafulla Chandra Natwarlal Bhagwati, a distinguished judge, respected not only in the legal fraternity but by people from all walks of life, by the rich and the poor, by the elite and downtrodden, passed away on June 15 at New Delhi.
Justice Bhagwati the Father of the Human Rights Jurisprudence through Judicial activism converted the rights to livelihood, shelter, health and water into basic fundamental rights enforceable by courts.
He expanded the frontiers of Human Rights Jurisprudence and brought large sections of the Indian people within its reach.
During his college days he was actively involved in the Freedom Struggle under the leadership of Ms. Aruna Asaf Ali and was arrested on Aug 14 1942, and imprisoned for one month.
He was appointed as Judge of the Gujarat High Court in 1960 and was elevated as Chief Justice of Gujarat in 1967 at the age of 46.
In 1973 he was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court. On July 12, 1985 he became the Chief Justice of India and retired on Dec 21, 1986.
He has been honoured by many national and international Organisations. He is the recipient of Padma Vibhuhshan Award.
Justice Bhagwati’s dedication to the cause of human rights was not limited to India.
He chaired the United Nations Human Rights Committee. He organised judicial colloquia in different parts of the world on domestic implementation of international human rights instruments.
The united nations high commissioner for human rights appointed hum as regional adviser for the Asia Pacific Region. He also carried out several missions for the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the International Commission of Jurists. His services have been utilized by several countries including, Mongolia, Cambodia, Nepal, Ethiopia, and South Africa in framing their Constitution and particularly the chapters on human rights. He also chaired the World Congress on Human Rights held in New Delhi in 1990. He was also a member of the Committee of Experts of International Labour Organisation.
Today Justice Bhagwati has become synonymous with justice and human rights. He has earned immense respect and affection of common people. Relationship of SOCO Trust with Justice P.N. Bhagwati has been long lasting for the past 35 years. We have lost a patron, philosopher, guide and well wisher.
THE National Fish workers Forum has urged Shipping Minister to launch legal proceedings against the owner, Captain and crew of the Panama registered cargo vessel which had hit a fishing boat off Kochi, killing two persons. In a letter to the Shipping Minister, a copy of which was released to the media here, Forum national chairperson Narendra R Patil and General Secretary T Peter also said cargo ships and foreign fishing vessels should not be allowed in Indian coastal waters.
The nationwide forum has also demanded that adequate compensation should be paid to the families of the fishermen who had lost their lives and fishing boat and implements which had suffered severe damage in the collision should be restored.
Among other demands is that the Indian Navy and Coast guard should be directed to protect fishermen who put out to sea, the forum said adding free medical aid should be provided to the injured fishermen and their loss should be compensated. The cargo vessel, Amber L, had collided with the fishing boat on June 11 at 2.30 am. While two fishermen drowned, one was missing and 11 others had been rescued.
NHRC issues notices to the Haryana DGP and Gurugram Police Commissioner over gang rape of a woman: asks police chiefs of Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad to explore joint action programme to check crime in the NCR region
The National Human Rights Commission, on the basis of media reports about a gang rape in Gurugram on 30th May, 2017, has issued a notice to the city Police Commissioner calling for a detailed report. The Commission has observed that the incident makes it clear that night patrolling on the road by the police was not being done.
The Director General of Police, Haryana has been directed to inform about the steps being taken to ensure safety of the citizens, specially the women. They have been given four weeks to respond.
The Commission has also called for comments of the Police Commissioners of Delhi, Faridabad and Senior Superintendents of Police, NOIDA and Ghaziabad with their suggestions, if a joint action programme by the law enforcing agencies of the NCR region could be planned and executed to deal with such heinous crimes against women. Their response is expected within six weeks.
The Commission has observed that though the direct involvement of any public servant in the incident is not apparent yet the sorrowful contents of the media reports are indicative of an atmosphere of fear, insecurity and uncertainty prevailing in the NCR region, especially the places like NOIDA, Faridabad and Gurugram etc. Ensuring safety of the citizens, specially, the women and children, is one of the prime duties of the State. It seems that some conspicuous steps are immediately required to be taken by the law enforcing agencies so that these kinds of incidents do not reoccur.
According to the media reports, carried on the 7th & 8th June, 2017, a woman had some altercation with her neighbours in the night of 29th May, 2017. She decided to go to her parent's house. On NH-8, she got a lift from a truck driver who tried to harass her so she left the vehicle. Thereafter, she was offered a lift by occupants of a Magic van heading towards Gurugram only to be sexually assaulted by them. Her perpetrators snatched her daughter away and covered her mouth to stop her from crying. Before leaving the place of crime, one of the men threw the crying baby at the road divider inflicting injuries on her head.
The woman walked on the road with her injured daughter and reached a factory, where one guard on duty asked her to wait till the dawn when the baby was examined by a doctor who told that she was dead. The woman travelled with her child's dead body in a Metro train to reach her parents place at Tughlaqabad in Delhi. There, another doctor examined the baby and declared her dead. Later, the woman again went to Gurugram to lodge an FIR.
Two civilians died every week, on average, in police firing in India, according to national crime data for the years 2009 to 2015.
The data provide perspective to the death of six farmers in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district on June 6, 2017, when police fired on protesting farmers demanding better prices.
As many as 796 civilians died due to police firing between 2009 and 2015, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
A plentiful harvest in 2016 and imports drove some prices down 63%. A shortage of cash because of demonetisation led to “fire sales”, accentuating the price drops. Despite Rs 3.5 lakh crore–enough to build 545Tehri-sized dams–invested over six decades to 2011, more than half of all farms depend on rains. These are the three factors agitating Indians who depend on farming–90 million families, or 54.6% of India’s 1.2 billion people, IndiaSpend reported on June 8, 2017.
The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the state government in response to the deaths. The state’s home minister initially denied reports of firing by local police on agitating farmers but later admitted that police resorted to firing to gain control of the rioting mob during the protest.
“The National Crime Records Bureau statistics say 318,528 farmers committed suicide between 1995 and 2015. A study suggests more than 2,000 farmers are heading to cities every day to make a living.” wrote Shashi Shekhar, editor-in-chief, Hindustan, in a column for the Mint on June 12, 2017. “The time has come when New Delhi and state leaderships thought seriously about this issue. The police or para-military force of independent India don’t look good firing at their own people. We don’t need more Mandsaurs.”
J&K drives decline in police firing
As many as 4,747 incidents of police firing were reported between 2009 and 2015. Over the years, firing incidents have decreased, mostly due to decline in incidents in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), which witnessed severe unrest between 2008 and 2010. For instance, in 2010, 662 incidents of police firing were reported in J&K, in which 91 civilians and 17 police personnel died, and 494 civilians and 2,952 police personnel were injured.
55% firing incidents in 2015 classified as ‘on other occasion’
Of the 156 incidents of police firing in 2015, 86 were classified as ‘on other occasion’, 30 to effect arrest and 21 in riots. These incidents killed 16, five and 11 civilians, respectively. In the same year, 19 incidents of police firing in self defence led to 10 civilian deaths.
Source: National Crime Records Bureau, Crime In India reports 2014, 2015
Among the states, Rajasthan reported the maximum occasions (35) where police resorted to firing in 2015, followed by Maharashtra (33) and Uttar Pradesh (29).
Before 2014, the incidents of firing were categorised as: Riots, anti-dacoity operations, against terrorists and extremists and others. Between 2009 and 2013, these categories saw 1,371, 174, 815 and 775 incidents of police firing, respectively.
Source: National Crime Records Bureau, Crime In India reports for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013
Between 2009 and 2015, as many as 471 police personnel died during police firing, the NCRB data reveal.
First they killed the Mahatma. And then they went after his message of empathy.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
At the finale of SPIC MACAY’S 5th International Convention in Delhi on June 10, the first act in the all-night concert was Carnatic vocalist TM Krishna, along with violinist RK Shriramkumar and mridangist Arun Prakash. Krishna opened with Thyagaraja’s spectacular composition Dasharathi in raga Todi – brooding, turbulent, and dissonant – before seguing into a soaring, cascading thillana in Behag by Lalgudi Jayaraman. Next he sang a plangent viruttam written by the Tamil writer Perumal Murugan in raga Sahana, and followed it with a crest jewel of Carnatic music, Syamasastri’s O Jagadamba, in the majestic raga Anandabhairavi.
Things were going superbly well – Krishna was intense and ecstatic as ever, and the playful ease between the three musicians (who are great friends) kept the performance energetic and unpredictable at every turn. Many other lovely ragas – Varali, Kharaharapriya, Neelambari, Begada – were woven into the main repertoire of compositions, framing the major pieces and leading from one to the next in Krishna’s inimitably mellifluous and agile way.
And then, a little over an hour and forty minutes in, Krishna, who can never resist some shock-and-awe tactics, began to sing Narsi Mehta’s 15th century poem in Old Gujarati, Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye, which was adopted by Mahatma Gandhi into the roster of prayers routinely sung at the Sabarmati ashram.
A rendition of ‘Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye’, by Amjad Ali Khan and Bismillah Khan.
Krishna started off in Suruti (tuned by Arun Prakash, the mridangam player who is also a composer), before finally arriving at Khamaj, which is the raga in which this well-known bhajan is normally sung. It was electric to watch Krishna moving out of Telugu and his native Tamil into Gujarati (his accent is perfect, by the way), and bringing his Carnatic concert to a close with one of Gandhi’s favourite prayer songs, that was once so familiar to all Indians.
Every moment of the evening had been deeply moving up to this point, but to hear Vaishnav Jan To in Krishna’s voice was to have tears in one’s eyes.
For just hours before, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah had insultingly referred to Gandhi as a chatur bania (“wily trader”) at a public meet in Chhattisgarh, dismissing the Mahatma’s contribution to India’s freedom movement as somehow clever, instrumental, transactional and devoid of the ideals and values that we invariably associate with the Gandhian struggle. Gandhi was just another scheming bania – a disparaging dig at his trading caste.
TM Krishna. Photo credit: Bharat Tiwari
Krishna timed his comeback extremely well, to remind us with this beloved and beautiful song of a man whose political and spiritual memory is daily being impugned in Narendra Modi’s India. The maestro sharply brought to our flagging attention the central theme of the bhajan, which is empathy, the ability to identify with the suffering of another human being.
Consider a person to be pious, says Narsi Mehta, only if he can feel another’s pain (peed paraai), only if he reaches out to alleviate another’s hurt (para-duhkha), and only if he does so without pride (abhimaan) in his own compassion. How terribly Hindutva distorts the essence of Hindu piety, and twists what it means to be a true vaishnav jan – the equivalent, in medieval Gujarat, of a devout Hindu.
Mehta wrote and Gandhi advocated sincere fellow-feeling, the capacity to suffer for and with someone else, without self-congratulation, as the quality that makes anyone a real Hindu. A regime led by a rightwing Hindu supremacist party that normalises terrorising of minorities, lynching of Dalits and Muslims, and breaking all bonds of human solidarity and mutual respect that have kept us together as a political community despite all sorts of differences, simply does not use the same idiom as Mahatma Gandhi. Nor is it truly “Hindu” in any recognisable traditional sense of the term.
Ravi Shankar and George Fenton
In the audience on that Saturday evening were hundreds of young people. Under the leadership of Kiran Seth, the non-profit SPIC MACAY has brought arts exposure and arts education to millions of students for the past forty years. I remembered attending free SPIC MACAY concerts and lecture-demonstrations in school and college, where I first got to see and hear some of India’s greatest living artists.
I realised I had grown up knowing the words and tune of Vaishnav Jan To, and that it was a Gandhian song, without feeling anxiety because its words were in a language that was not my own though it never felt alien. I wondered how many of the students sitting in the hall that night knew what Krishna was singing; what it meant for him to be singing this bhajan and not some other; and what had changed so horribly in the country that it became heartrending to hear this composition in the current context. Gandhi never felt so urgently important, nor so inaccessible, as for those 15 minutes of Krishna’s rendering of what ought to be – and was, for decades – a sort of anthem for all Indians, especially Hindus.
India’s tragedy under the Hindutva boot is not only that its opposition parties, especially the Congress and the Left, have failed to stand up to fascism. It is not only that Sangh ideologues feel free to play fast and loose with history, vilifying Gandhi, appropriating Ambedkar, tearing down every pillar of the Nehruvian state, and worst of all, eviscerating the Constitution. The most damaging effect of the BJP rule is the slow, steady erosion of empathy as a public value, leaving us morally impoverished – lesser human beings and lesser Indians.
Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je peed paraai jaane re. Soon there will be no one of that description left in the majoritarian Hindu Rashtra.
As part of the Government’s agenda to privatize the railways, the upcoming auction of the Kanpur and Allahabad railway stations on June 28, has created tremendous amount of restlessness among the Indian populace.
We at Sabrangindia, attempted to identify the various stakeholders who would be affected by this policy change. The key stakeholders are, the railway employees, railway passengers, the Government and the private companies.
However, the worst losers, we can identify are the railway employees and passengers. Thus, we contacted members of various Workers’ Unions, Trade Unions. The unions very clearly state their disapproval of this move, terming it as undemocratic.
Some of the excerpts are given below.
We first had a telephonic conversation with representatives of the Northern Railway Men's Union, here is what they had to say.
Q. What is your opinion on the recent policy for privatization of railways? How do you think it will affect the railway employees?
A. The private owners (thekedars) will only take not give. (Vohsirfsabkijaannichodneaayenge). The existing employees may not be removed. No new employees will be hired on regular hiring terms. The thekedars may make employment on contract basis.
Q. How do you think this change will affect passengers? Will it be a boon or bane?
A. The passengers will be the losers. The private players will keep increasing the prices of the tickets. All their decisions will be for the sole purpose of profit making. The Indian Railways which were started 150 years ago were meant to be a service to society. The present Government has today decided to convert the age old service into a business. (Yeh log lootne aye hai, lootkechalejayenge).
Q. Do you think this will affect the rail routes in any way?
A. In my opinion, I do not think the rail routes will be changed as long as they enable profits. They will only concentrate on making profit.
Q. Ma’am, what is your opinion on the recent policy for privatization of railways?
A. The ruling Government is on a sell out spree. All national assets are being sold to make profits. Indian Railways is the biggest railway network in the world. It is a lifeline for the entire population whether the young or the old, rich or poor. Thus, making the railways private will cause immense damage to the Indian populous as a whole. The revenue from railways becomes part of Government revenue as of now. Privatising railways completely is the ultimate agenda of the Government; this will lead to loss of revenue to the Government treasury. This move exposes the capitalist, pro corporate agenda of the Modi Government, further proving that he has no regard for the poor workers.
Q. What do you think will be the direct impact of this move on Railway employees?
A. The employees will face massive unemployment. The private players will increase the workforce by hiring contract labourers. The salaries of railway employees will be reduced. No social securtiy will be provided to the employees. No consideration will be given to the safety of the employees. Thus, their performance will suffer and it will pose a higher risk to the safety of the commuters and passengers alike. The resultant precarious job situation will create havoc in the lives of the Railway workers.
Q. How do you think this change will affect passengers?
A. With the private players coming in, there will be no accountability. The subsidies in price of tickets that are provided to the poor, elderly will not be provided by the profit driven private players. Safety of passengers will remain a big question.
Q. What is your opinion on the recent policy for privatization of railways?Do you think there will be a negative impact of this move on Railway employees?
A. We are in support of continuing Railways as a Public Sector Undertaking. We are strongly against the privatization of railways.The employees will be heavily exploited.
Indians from across the country seem to be angered with this move of the Government. The time is not to raise voices but to unite and act.
