We cry Islamophobia in foreign lands, but we bully minorities in our own: Bangladeshi writer

April 21, 2017

"I shudder to imagine a scenario where we’d be on the receiving end — whether it’s vandalism of our places of worship, or physical assault on believers of our faith"

Would a truly religious person hurt someone else like this?/MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU/Dhaka Tribune

A few years back, I witnessed something that I, ever since, have identified as the prime example of a despicable direct attack on religious minorities.

It was a Friday afternoon. I was wrapping up my prayer mat, scanning the area for some shade to complete the munazat, when I saw few men storming towards an under-construction building. I grew genuinely alarmed, if not interested, when I saw one of them pick up a piece of metal rod before entering the construction site.

I was a curious little boy and had the time, so I followed. I quietly followed them as they made their way up the stairs. The end of the expedition had all of us walking into a small room on the fifth floor facing the mosque, to find an old labourer tirelessly working his razor-sharp saw at some steel beams, trying to cut out small segments. It was a noisy business.

The same people who provide moral support to hate crimes on religious and ethnic minorities, turning a blind eye to the culture of belittling other religions, kowtowing to radical fundamentalists and their backward visions for Bangladesh — the very same people cry dirty and loud about Islamophobia in foreign lands.

At that moment, it hit me why they were there, as the events began to unfold.

The men presented their allegations. As the story went, the old man had not stopped his work for the prayer, and the sound had bothered the men in prayer. Now, they were the judge, jury, and executioner.

The accused was met with frantic blows to his body with the rod, and once the sentence had been carried out, the religious police headed back downstairs. On their way out, they found another worker, much younger, fast asleep on top of a stack of bricks. I assumed that what he was up to must’ve been a very profane thing, because the man was immediately awakened with a few hits of the rod, and he was then asked to explain why he was in slumber instead of attending the prayer.

The bewildered worker mumbled, trembling with fear: “Ami toh Hindu,” (But I’m Hindu) to which the leader of the posse replied: “Tahole puja kor, ghumabi na,” (Then do your puja, don’t sleep) which was punctuated with cursing.

With that, they left, but I lingered on for a couple of more seconds, trying to process what just happened, accidentally catching sight of the terrifying look of despair on the young man’s face.

This story ends here. The story of the suffering of minorities throughout the country, however, doesn’t.

Some months back, a group of men in Sylhet got out of a mosque after their prayers and walked straight into an Iskcon temple and vandalised it, because the temple hadn’t paused their religious hymns.

Such was the prayer these devotees had just concluded. Such was their respect for the sanctity of their wudu, which is supposed to be the sacred state of sanctity in which Muslims can offer their prayers to the Almighty.

But we understand — the men felt disturbed. It doesn’t matter that it was something that might as well be an essential part of the religious proceedings.
It doesn’t matter at all. The majority wins.

Earlier this week, a news article quoted a fundamentalist leader trying to offer an explanation regarding the issue of the sculpture in front of the Supreme Court, saying the sight of Lady Justice may arouse, or otherwise agitate a man in prayer in the neighbouring Eidgah Mosque should he catch a glimpse of it. Such is his resolve, and his focus on his prayer. But we understand. It’s quite alright.

Almost every Thursday night, I, along with the entire neighbourhood, lose sleep to the ungodly screams of “scholars” preaching in Waz Mahfils. Among their scholarly wisdom, which they feed to the ordinary working men, are arguments like: “In some country’s tree we saw Allah’s name, but have you seen Bhagwan’s name? This means that Allah exists, He is real.”

And that’s just one such program, in one neighbourhood, and that too in the capital of our great nation.

There are those among us who take to defending fundamentalist ideologies with the excuse that ours is a Muslim-majority country (despite there being no recognition of that in the constitution), saying how ceding to the “majority” would be for the greater good, for averting another large-scale religion-based conflict, thereby justifying minorities being bullied over and over again through time.

To them I say: The murder of the freethinkers, innocent priests, and followers of different faith, the woes of the Santals of Gaibandha, the woes of the Hindu families of Nasirnagar – these are on you. Does that make you uncomfortable? It should. By God, it should.

Time and again, our Facebook newsfeeds buckle under the weight of rants calling out such “acts of religious intolerance” and preaching “humanity.”

All it takes them is a two-minute clip from NowThis or LADBible. Most recently, the instigator was an Indian singer who had tweeted something which, it is worth noting, was grossly misinterpreted.

I shudder to imagine a scenario where we’d be on the receiving end — whether it’s vandalism of our places of worship, or physical assault on believers of our faith.

Sayrat Salekin is a freelance contributor to Dhaka Tribune. Republished with permission..

Kashmiri students thrashed in Rajasthan University; hoardings in Meerut warn, ‘Quit UP or else’

April 21, 2017

Photo credit: Hindustan Times

Taunted as being “stone-pelters”, a group of Kashmiri students studying at Chittorgarh’s Mewar University, a private educational institution, were allegedly beaten up by locals on Wednesday.

This is not the first time that they have been targeted in this university which has around 500 students from Jammu and Kashmir.

“Six of us were assaulted in three separate attacks that took place at the same time in the market. The attacks seemed coordinated,” said Bahar Ahmed Giri, a student of pharmacy told the media.

“They hurled abuses, called us terrorists and said we throw stones at the army. They told us to go back to Kashmir and threatened that they won’t let us study here,” Giri told the Hindustan Times.

Though none was seriously injured, the students particularly agitated over the university administration’s failure to protect them demanded action against the attackers.

The police have registered an FIR against two unknown persons. The police said following an argument in the local market two persons hit two students who in turn retaliated.
“There is nothing serious. A little scuffle happened between the students and outsiders,” said the university’s director Harish Gurnani.

Meanwhile, a day after the thrashing of Kashmiri students in Rajasthan, hoardings were put up in different parts of Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh warning Kashmiris living in the state to quit or else.

Photo credit: The Hindu

The warning has reportedly been issued by the extreme rightwing Hindu group, Navnirman Sena.

“Boycott the Kashmiris who pelt stones at (the) Indian Army. Kashmiris leave Uttar Pradesh or (the) face consequences,” said the hoardings.

The hoardings are believed to be a response to videos circulating on the social media showing clashes between protesters in Kashmir valley and the security forces.

The hoardings were pulled down on orders of the district administration. The police said they would be filing a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The Sena chief Amit Jani told the Hindu, “We want to boycott Kashmiris socially and financially so that they can tell their brothers in Kashmir not to trouble the Army. This is an important thing which must be done in order to ensure the safety of the Army in Kashmir.”

Jani was arrested last year for threatening to kill JNU student leaders Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar.

A large number of students from Kashmir study in educational institutions in and around Meerut, such as Swami Vivekanand Subharti University.

When contacted by the Hindu, the vice-chancellor of the university said “the students from Kashmir were not aware of the hoardings but we are taking all precautions and safety measures”.

A second non-bailable warrant within a week issued against Televangelist Zakir Naik

April 21, 2017

Photo Credit: India Times

A special NIA court in Mumbai issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) on Thursday against controversial televangelist Zakir Naik, who is wanted in connection with his role in a terror case.

The warrant was issued following the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) submission before the court that Naik had failed to respond to three summons in cases filed under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against him last year.

The NBW will enable the NIA to seek the help of Interpol in bringing Naik back to India.

Only last week, the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act Court had issued an NBW against the controversial preacher in a money-laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate, after he failed to appear before it.

The NIA had filed a case against Naik and other members of his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) after the Dhaka bomb blasts in July last year. Intelligence agencies in Bangladesh had alleged that some of the youth responsible for the blasts were inspired by Naik’s teaching.

In recent months, the Union Home Ministry has cancelled the FCRA registration of IRF and Naik’s educational trust, barring the organizations from receiving any foreign funds.

Telangana Muslim Reservation Bill: Exercise in Deception, Unjust in Maths & Likely to Fuel Communal Populism

April 21, 2017

A leading intellectual and leader of the Pasmanda movement, the author dissects the recently passed Backward Class, Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe Reservation Bill, 2017 and explains it's deep flaws, most dangerous of all being the communal polarisation that will undoubtedly follow in a quota likely to be struck down

Muslim artisans making the pots for the Chhat pooja: Bihar

The recent Bill passed by the TRS government in Telangana that increased the quota for OBC (Pasmanda) Muslims and STs in public employment and education is flawed on many counts. Let me turn to the mathematics first. As we know the reservation structure in Telangana before the passing of the Bill was OBC 29% [Group A: 7%+Group B: 10%+Group C: 1%+Group D: 7%+Group E: 4%], SC 15% and ST 6%. The Bill has increased the OBC-E quota, which included 14 Muslim backward castes, from 4% to 12% and the ST quota from 6% to 10% thereby taking the quantum of reservations in the state to 62%.

The population of Muslims in Telangana is 12.68%. As far as Muslim castes are concerned while OBC-A includes Muslim scavengers (mehtars) and OBC-B includes the Muslim cotton carders (known variously as dudekula, laddaf, pinjari or noorbash) along with other Hindu backward castes, the OBC-E exclusively recognizes 14 Muslim caste groups. According to the Sudheer Commission Report (2016) about 81% Muslims were already covered in the existing OBC sub-quotas (A, B and E) and it were mostly the forward ashrāf castes like the syeds, pathans, mirzas, moghals, etc., that were excluded. One may therefore infer that 10.27% Pasmanda Muslims (81% of 12.68% Telangana Muslims) were already recognized in the OBC (A, B & E) quota before the passing of the recent Bill. However, the dudekula caste alone constitutes about 35% of Telangana Muslims and 4% of Telangana population. So after adjusting for the dudekula and mehtar castes the OBC-E group actually includes around 6% Muslim population. In that case the existing 4% quota for OBC-E was quite reasonable. The increase in OBC-E sub-quota from 4% to 12%, almost double the population that it actually encompasses, defies all rational argument to say the least.

How then does one interpret the recent move?

Before going further a few preliminary remarks would be in order here to contextualize the discussion:
A. Indian Muslims, like all religious groups, are differentiated into various caste groups. Historically, the high caste ashrāfs conceived Muslims as a ‘nation’ and mobilized for self-determination through the Muslim League before 1947 (When I say this I mean ashrāfs as a class. Indeed, a few nationalist ashraf Muslims like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and others opposed the Pakistan movement).

The 1946 elections which is dubbed as the consensus on Pakistan and in which Muslim League won handsomely was marked by a restricted electorate and ‘nearly 85% of the population was excluded…’. It is mostly the propertied and educated classes among Muslims, the high caste ashrāf, that voted for Pakistan and the vote of subordinated Muslim caste groups was not even put to test. In fact, lower caste Muslim organizations like the Momin Conference were actively contesting the two nation theory at the time, a factor much ignored in the dominant discourse.

It is due to the tragedy of the Partition that Muslims lost the reservations in Independent India that they enjoyed as a ‘community’ in the pre-1947 phase. One cannot simply demand a separate ‘nation’ and ‘reservations’ at the same time. The ashrāf class have already got what they desired—the nation-state of Pakistan—and now they have no moral claim left for reservations any longer. It is only the subordinated Pasmanda Muslims who can negotiate with the state for reservations now.

B. Since the category ‘Muslim’ had already become a suspect category due to the Partition tragedy the ideologues of the Pasmanda movement have mostly preferred that similarly placed caste groups across religious communities be clubbed together for purposes of reservations.
In Bihar the OBC list is subdivided into Annexure I (Most Backward Classes) and Annexure II (Backward Classes) with most of the subordinated caste Muslims being recognized in the MBC category along with other Hindu castes. P. S. Krishnan has argued that sub-quotas like the “Backward”, “More Backward”, “Most Backward” and the “Extremely Backward” (Pichade, Ati Pichade, Atyant Pichade and Sarvadhik Pichade) could be crafted and similarly placed castes across religions and thereafter be judiciously accommodated. In this scheme while Extremely Backward refers to those castes which have neither skills nor assets (nomadic people or service providers), Most Backward to those who have no asset base but have skills (the artisans/craftsmen), the More Backward castes to the castes of small peasants, especially tenantry without rights, and the Backward to caste groups which have relatively substantial asset base but are yet socially backward. From the Pasmanda vantage point the Bihar Formula works well without triggering off communal polarisation and therefore the politics of exclusive ‘Muslim’ sub-quotas has been often criticized.

C. Historically, religion has emerged as a political category in its own right and has been dominated by the interests of higher castes across religious groups in South Asia. It is indeed unfortunate that in the post-Partition phase due to their cultural capital and control over the community institutions, the ashrafs who had not migrated to Pakistan continued to represent the Indian Muslims. The persistence of the episodes of communal riots and symbiotic discourses of ‘Muslim backwardness’ and ‘Muslim appeasement’ whipped variously by high caste Muslim, Hindu or Secular nationalists have effectively worked to bury the substantive demands of survival and empowerment for the subordinated sections across religions. The limitations of secular-communal or majority-minority duopolies are too evident to be ignored now. I have called this the ‘post-minority condition’ elsewhere.

D. However, in the last few years with the substantive erosion of the state from employment and education, even the policy of reservations has become a useful tool for the hegemonic classes. The tendency to exploit the contradictions among the populace emerging from the principle of graded inequality in a caste-based social order is glaring. Hence, the politics of social justice has been effectively reduced to social engineering with all parties working to galvanise various caste/religious interest groups for electoral dividends. In this game reservation has become an affective rallying point for the bahujan salariat but has little to offer to the vast majority of other deprived community members. One has to rethink the overemphasis on the symbolism of reservations in social justice politics.

It is from the vantage point of the aforementioned discussion that one could understand the recent Bill. In all likelihood the revised quota will be struck down since it exceeds the Supreme Court ceiling of 50% for reservations and confronts the impossibility of being placed within the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution due to an unfavourable government at the Centre. While the TRS government credits itself for having realized one of the key promises in its manifesto by chalking out a 12% quota for ‘Muslims’, the BJP has predictably responded by suggesting that religion-based reservation may lead to creation of another Pakistan. While the almost coeval timing of PM’s recent statement concerning Pasmanda Muslims in Orissa (April 15) and the passing of the Bill by the TRS government (April 16) is indeed intriguing, commentators like Kingshuk Nag are not wrong in arguing that the Bill will pave the way for dangerous competitive communal populism and may advantage the BJP.

In fact, this drama could have been entirely avoided had the Andhra Pradesh government followed the Bihar Formula in 2004 itself when it first introduced the OBC-E category exclusively for Muslim caste groups. The subsequent Andhra High Court interventions rejecting this move as a ‘communal quota’ are sensible, but absolutely inconsistent because even OBC-C (which includes only Christian caste groups) and OBC-D (which includes only Hindu caste groups) are not technically immune from such a charge.

At the beginning of 2017 the AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi had asked the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao ‘to exercise caution while increasing Muslim reservation to 12 per cent as it may give rise to legal complications and cause Muslims to lose the existing 4 per cent quota’. However, with both the AIMIM and Congress supporting the Bill now it seems that those fears have been probably allayed in their view. In fact, ‘Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri (Majlis) supported the Bill and suggested an official amendment to create BC-F category to cover those groups among Muslims who had been left out. He wanted the existing 4 percent reservation for BC-E group containing 14 groups should be retained as it is and the additional 8 per cent hike proposed to cover Syed, Moghal, Pathan and local Arab groups’.

According to this position, Pasha suggests that one must continue with 4% OBC-E and the remaining 2.41% ashrāf Muslims (19% of 12.68% Telangana Muslims) should get 8% reservations as OBC-F. This suggestion is again problematic because reservation is not a poverty alleviation exercise. Only socially backward and underrepresented sections can be included in the OBC quota. Ashrāfs are not socially backward and are already overrepresented in the Telangana government services (the representation of Muslims in Telangana government services is 7.36% which would be mostly cornered by them). There is no case at all for inclusion of ashrāf Muslims in the Telangana OBC quota. The poor sections among ashrāf, or any other group for that matter, have to be addressed by other affirmative action/poverty alleviation programs and not through reservations.

Broadly speaking, the recent Bill appears to be a short term ruse by the TRS government to galvanise the Muslim vote-bank. It is bound to pave the way for communal rhetoric from which BJP is bound to benefit in the long run. Indeed, if one chalks out a 12% quota for 6% Muslim population segment then the charge of ‘Muslim appeasement’ doesn’t really appear off the mark at all. While being critical of TRS one may also ask that if the BJP is really serious about Pasmanda Muslims then it must work towards ensuring inclusion of Dalits belonging to Christian and Muslim communities within the SC quota. This has been a long pending demand of the Pasmanda Muslims and the BJP at the centre is well placed to execute that.

All in all, the recent Bill appears to be an exercise in deception, unjust in its mathematics and has the potential to ignite a spiral of dangerous communal populism. The strategic blunders of secular politics have turned out to be the biggest blessing for the BJP over the past few years. Since this is now understood even by a lay person on the street yet the persistence of such self-defeating moves, such as the recent Bill, pushes one to ask further: are they merely innocuous strategic blunders? Or worse?

[The author is Director, Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Exclusion Studies & Transformative Action (ACESTA), Glocal University (India). However, the views expressed here are personal. He can be reached at khalidanisansari@gmail.com]

1. ‘Stop pandering to the elite Mussalmaan’

2. Politics over Muslim Personal Law and UCC: The Pasmanda Position

3. For Dalit-Muslim unity, Mayawati must focus on caste, not religion

WATCH: Father of Mohsin Shaikh murdered in 2014 releases video, asks for justice and compensation

April 20, 2017

The family of Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh, a Pune based techie who was killed soon after Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister of India, continues to wait and hope for justice and fulfillment of promises and compensations.

Mohsin’s father, Mohammad Sadiq Shaikh, released a self-made video where he is seen talking about the shortcoming of the justice process and delay made by the administration in providing the compensation and promised a job to the younger brother of Mohsin. This video was uploaded earlier this month.

In the video, Sadiq says, “It has been three years since the death of my son. And I have not received any money from the victim relief fund.”

Talking about the progression of the case Sadiq said, “The case was promised to be brought on Fast track but it has not been done yet. Nor I have got any justice.”

Then Sadiq moves into the reason behind putting up the video. He said, “My younger son is getting married by the end of April. As he has not got any job yet, we are bound to borrow money from people to fulfill the money need.”

He said, “If my son (Mohsin) was alive today, he would have been earning well and I’d not be asking any money from the victim relief fund. Eve if my younger son was employed, there would be no money crisis.”

Few days before getting killed, Mohsin got a job in WIPRO.

Before ending the video, Sadiq said, “I request to the government of Maharashtra and government of India through this to provide me justice in this case.”

In 2014, during the aftermath of uploading of derogatory images of Chatrapati Shivaji and late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray led to the sporadic violence by right-wing activists across the Maharashtra state resulting into the destruction of public and private properties. The violence claimed the life of Shaikh resident of Solapur whereas another youth Younus Khan was left battling for his life in hospital.

Courtesy: Two Circles

Mohsin was the resident of Solapur and was working in an IT company situated in Hadapsar area of Pune who, according to the police, was assaulted by the members of Hindu Rashtra Sena when he was returning from a Mosque to his rented home in Bankar Colony, Hadapsar after offering night prayer at around 9.00 pm on Monday.

Following this brutal killing, the then CM Prithviraj Chavan announced and provided Rs 5 lakh to the family as compensation and also promised to provide a government job to Mubin Shaikh, a brother of Mohsin. However, no such job was given to him by the state government citing technical flaws in offering a job to the brother of the victim.

On September 5, 2014, a district level committee established under Central Relief Scheme held a meeting in Solapur and it found deceased family eligible for compensation of amount Rs 3 Lakh from the Central Government.

Talking with TwoCircles.net in 2016, Sadiq Shaikh told, “I keep calling Mantralaya and every time they give me different answers. Sometime Jagtap Sahib picks up the phone and says the file has gone missing while other time Govindraj Sahib says it is in progress.”

In 2016, apart from five – two juveniles and three others rest of the accused arrested in this case continue to remain in jail after their several bail applications were rejected by Pune’s Session Court and Bombay High Court.

The juveniles were granted bail after two months of their arrest in August 2014 and three other accused – Shubnam Dattatrey Barade (19), Mahesh Maruti Khot (24) and Abhishek Chavan (29) all residents of Kalepadal near Hadapsar were granted bail by Bombay High Court in April 2016. While granted bail, the high court imposed severe conditions on the accused.

A special court in Pune rejected bail plea of Dhananjay Desai for the third time. The court also rejected his discharge application citing evidence against him establishing his role in the criminal conspiracy behind the killing of Mohsin.

Temple Prayers, Azaan, Ganeshotsav or Garba: How High Does the Decibel Level Go?

April 20, 2017

2005: On the eve of Ganeshotsav, the Supreme Court turned down the plea of the government of Maharashtra for relaxation in the night-time ban on loudspeakers. But in response to a petition from the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court passed a further order on October 3. The apex court’s attention was drawn to the fact that under sub-Rule(3) of Rule 5 of the Noise Control Rules, 2002, state governments have the discretion "to permit use of loud speakers or public address systems during night hours (between 10.00 p.m. to 12.00 midnight) on or during any cultural or religious festive occasion of a limited duration not exceeding fifteen days in all during a calendar year".

Judicial History on the Do’s and Don’ts on Noise Pollution
In October 2005, Communalism Combat carried a cover story on the contentitious issue of religious festivals and noise pollution tracing the trajectory of the critical issue that affects both the health and environment in our courts. We reproduce it here for the interest of our readers

With growing awareness in the country about the hazards of noise pollution, the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India framed a draft of Noise Pollution (Control and Regulation) Rules, 1999 inviting objections and suggestions from the public. The following year the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 came into force.

The regulations asked state governments to demarcate areas under their jurisdiction into industrial, commercial, residential or silence areas/zones and to ensure that the noise level in each of these areas stayed within the outer limits specified by the ministry. At the same time, it was also stipulated that no one could use loudspeakers and public address systems without prior permission from relevant authorities. It was also provided that "A loudspeaker or a public address system shall not be used at night (between 10.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m.) except in closed premises for communication within".

Certain amendments were made in the Noise Rules in November 2000 and again in 2002. The latter gave some leeway to state governments: "the State Government may… permit use of loudspeakers or public address systems during night hours (between 10.00 p.m. to 12.00. midnight) on or during any cultural or religious festive occasion of a limited duration not exceeding fifteen days in all during a calendar year".

Earlier, in a 1998 writ petition filed in the Supreme Court (see main copy), the main prayer was for a court order directing all state governments to rigorously enforce the existing laws for restricting the use of loudspeakers and other high volume noise producing audio-video systems "so that there may not be victims of noise pollution in future".

In 2003, the apex court later attached to the writ petition a special leave petition that questioned the discretion given to states to relax the night-time ban on loudspeakers on the plea that without proper guidelines this would defeat the very purpose of the noise control rules.
In its judgement of July 18, 2005, the division bench of Chief Justice RC Lahoti and Justice Ashok Bhan made certain observations and issued some specific directions:

Observations:

Noise pollution is a serious issue as it can be related to the constitutional right to life (Article 21). The right to life enshrined in Article 21 is not of mere survival or existence. It guarantees a right of persons to life with human dignity… Anyone who wishes to live in peace, comfort and quiet within his house has a right to prevent the noise as pollutant reaching him.
Those who make noise often take shelter behind Article 19(1)A pleading freedom of speech and right to expression. Undoubtedly, the freedom of speech and right to expression are fundamental rights but the rights are not absolute… Article 19(1)A cannot be pressed into service for defeating the fundamental right guaranteed by Article 21.
Noise is more than just a nuisance. It constitutes a real and present danger to people’s health.
The Legislature and the Executive in India are (not) completely unmindful of the menace of noise pollution. Laws have been enacted and Rules have been framed by the Executive for carrying on the purposes of the legislation. The real issue is with the implementation of the laws. What is needed is the will to implement the laws.
The Supreme Court in Church of God (Full Gospel) in India vs. KKR Majestic Colony Welfare Assn., (2000) 7 SCC 282, held that the Court may issue directions in respect of controlling noise pollution even if such noise was a direct result of and was connected with religious activities. It was further held: "Undisputedly, no religion prescribes that prayers should be performed by disturbing the peace of others, nor does it preach that they should be through voice amplifiers or beating of drums. In our view, in a civilised society in the name of religion, activities which disturb old or infirm persons, students or children having their sleep in the early hours or during daytime or other persons carrying on other activities cannot be permitted".
Several interlocutory applications have been filed in this Court, wherein it was pleaded that restriction on bursting of firecrackers in the night should be removed during the Diwali festival. Similar relaxation was demanded for other festivals… Indian society is pluralistic. People of this great country belong to different castes and communities, have belief in different religions and customs and celebrate different festivals. We are tolerant for each other. There is unity in diversity. If relaxation is allowed to one there will be no justification for not permitting relaxation to others and if we do so the relaxation will become the rule. It will be difficult to enforce the restriction.

Highlights, court directions:

There shall be a complete ban on bursting sound emitting firecrackers between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It is not necessary to impose restrictions as to time on bursting of colour/light emitting firecrackers.
No one shall beat a drum or tom-tom or blow a trumpet or beat or sound any instrument or use any sound amplifier at night (between 10. 00 p.m. and 6.a.m.) except in public emergencies.
The peripheral noise level of privately owned sound system shall not exceed by more than 5 db(A) than the ambient air quality standard specified for the areas in which it is used, at the boundary of the private place.
No horn should be allowed to be used at night (between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.) in residential area except in exceptional circumstances.
There is a need for creating general awareness towards the hazardous effects of noise pollution. The State must play an active role in this process. Special public awareness campaigns in anticipation of festivals, events and ceremonial occasions whereat firecrackers are likely to be used, need to be carried out.
The States shall make provision for seizure and confiscation of loudspeakers, amplifiers and such other equipments as are found to be creating noise beyond the permissible limits.

On the eve of Ganeshotsav, the Supreme Court turned down the plea of the government of Maharashtra for relaxation in the night-time ban on loudspeakers. But in response to a petition from the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court passed a further order on October 3. The apex court’s attention was drawn to the fact that under sub-Rule(3) of Rule 5 of the Noise Control Rules, 2002, state governments have the discretion "to permit use of loud speakers or public address systems during night hours (between 10.00 p.m. to 12.00 midnight) on or during any cultural or religious festive occasion of a limited duration not exceeding fifteen days in all during a calendar year".

It was further contended that since in its July 18 judgement the apex court had not specifically upset the division bench judgement of the Kerala high court and had also not even otherwise expressed and recorded any specific opinion on the constitutional validity or otherwise of sub-Rule(3), the state governments could exercise the power conferred by sub-Rule(3) of Rule 5.

Admitting the point made, the court agreed to re-open the case for fresh hearing to the limited extent of examining the constitutional validity of sub-Rule(3). Until then, Rule 5 would remain in force. The court once again refused the plea for allowing the bursting of firecrackers on Diwali.

Unfortunately, the failure of both the government of Maharashtra and the apex court to refer to sub-Rule(3) of Rule 5 earlier, and the concession of the point when raised by the Gujarat government subsequently has, however, reintroduced the element of resentment and competitive religiosity and taken some of the shine off the widely welcomed Supreme Court ruling of July 18.

Man Who is Part of a Lynch Mob is a Freedom Fighter a la Bhagat Singh: Sadhvi Kamal

April 20, 2017

Leaders of lynch mobs who have killed fellow humans, Cow vigilantes accused of lynching a Muslim dairy farmer in Rajasthan’s Alwar this month are equal to freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh or Chandrasekhar Azad, the controversial Hindutva leader Sadhvi Kamal has said. In a video circulated on social media, the 39-year-old who prefers to call herself “didi” is purportedly seen as meeting Vipin Yadav, one of the people arrested on charges of assaulting Pehlu Khan on April 1. Sadhvi is the president of Rasthriya Mahila Gau Rakshak Dal, a self-styled cow protection group which operates in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Kamal grabbed headlines last month after she forced the administration in Rajasthan’s capital Jaipur, to seal a hotel for allegedly serving beef. The hotel is owned by a Muslim businessman.

“When Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad went to jail, then they were also perceived as criminals and bad people but are now known as heroes. Similarly, people such as Yadav will also be known as heroes in the future for protecting gau mata,” she told the media. In this shocking way she gave encouragement to a criminal guilty of a heinous killing. Will she be booked for abetment to the crime?

Vipin is one of five people arrested on the basis of footage of the assault circulating on social media but isn’t named in the FIR filed on the basis of Khan’s statement hours before his death. The police are battling charges of inaction and laxity in a case that has sparked nationwide outrage and even rocked Parliament. None of the six named in the complaint have been arrested.

The purported video was allegedly shot when Vipin was taken by police to a college in Behror where the 19-year-old wrote his exams. “Lord Krishna also went to jail for the ‘uddhar’ of people. Don’t sit idle at the jail and teach all the inmates to chant jai gau mata,” Kamal is heard as apparently saying in the video.

People in the backdrop can also be heard chanting “Jai Gau Mata”. In the video after visiting the accused, she is show inquiring about his health and asked, “Are you getting proper meals and are you well. When Yadav nodded, she asked him not to hesitate and speak up. “Don t worry. You seem to be scared,” she said to which Yadav replied, “No, there no such matter.”The sadhvi is seen advising Yadav to not sit idle in jail, but spread the message of sacrificing lives while protecting cows.“You must teach everyone in jail to say ‘jai gau mata’, she said.

When contacted, she confirmed meeting Vipin Yadav at the college.“I just went to assure him of our support,” she said. Last month, the sadhvi and her supporters had laid siege to a Jaipur hotel over rumours that it was hosting a “beef party”.

Earlier this month, a 55-year-old man died at a hospital in Alwar district after allegedly being beaten by a group of cow vigilantes. The deceased, Pehlu Khan, and four others, including his two sons, were beaten brutally by some locals at Behror who suspected they were smuggling cows.

Kamal’s outfit is among many fringe groups that are gained prominence after the BJP-led government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over. These groups claim to work for protecting cows from being taken to slaughter houses. Critics, however, accuse the vigilante groups of attacking people, mostly from the minority Muslim community, merely on suspicion.

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You Have No Sense of Responsibility, NGT tells Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

April 20, 2017

The country's top environment court, the National Green Tribunal came down forcefully today on spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, stating, "You have no sense of responsibility. Do you think you have the liberty to say whatever you want?" The report was first flashed by NDTV.

The country's top environment court, the National Green Tribunal came down forcefully today on spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, stating, "You have no sense of responsibility. Do you think you have the liberty to say whatever you want?"

Last year, in January 2016, Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation fined Rs 120 crore for damaging Yamuna floodplains. A panel appointed by the National Green Tribunal found that the organisation had harmed the ecology around the banks of the river while making preparations for the World Culture Festival.

In a hearing yesterday, Sri Sri had callously said that if any damage has been caused to the environment by the huge three-day cultural festival he held on the banks of the River Yamuna in Delhi last year, it is the government and the court who should take the blame, because they allowed the event.
"If, at all, any fine has to be levied, it should be levied on the Central and state governments and the NGT itself, for giving the permission. If the Yamuna was so fragile and pure, they should have stopped the World Culture Festival," the 60-year-old, who has lakhs of followers around the world, said in a Facebook post.

A team of experts has testified to the National Green Tribunal that the event, which included a 7-acre stage for musicians and dancers and sprawled across 1,000 acres, had "completely destroyed" the riverbed. They said reversing the damage will take at least 10 years and about 42 crores. In January 2016, Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation fined Rs 120 crore for damaging Yamuna floodplains. A panel appointed by the National Green Tribunal found that the organisation had harmed the ecology around the banks of the river while making preparations for the World Culture Festival.

Sri Sri and the Art of Living Foundation, which was founded by him, have denied all allegations of damaging the fragile ecosystem of the Yamuna.

Environmentalists last year asked for the "World Culture Festival" to be disallowed, but the National Green Tribunal said it was too late to call off the event and fined the organization five crores. Sri Sri at the time said he should be given an award for hosting a spectacular event that drew people from across the globe to the banks of one of the world's most polluted rivers.

Showing India and the world that he cared little for the mass destruction being caused to the Yamuna, the event had opened with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on stage next to Sri Sri. Modi, in one aspect of his public marketing image likes to show at least that he is committed to the movement against climate change !!

In March last year a further controversy was generated around the issue when a Gujarat based activist, Roshan Shah alleged that “Facebook Violating Article 19, "Filtering" Content Critical of Sri Sri's AOL”. This was on March 12, 2016. Roshan Shah, an Ahmedabad-based activist had, in a communication with the Director General of Police, Gujarat and the ACP, Cyber Crime Cell asked for registration of a first information report against Facebook for “intercepting messages” and “filtering content.” .The complaint related to the controversy afoot over days in March last year relating to the World Culture Festival where Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who runs the Art of Living Foundation receiving a Rs. 2.5 cr as a government grant, using Indian army for the construction of a bridge, and chopping off trees.

Scroll.in had in an investigative report shown how “India’s spiritual gurus are the newbie gods of consumer goods” (April 2016)

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You Have No Sense of Responsibility, NGT tells Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The country's top environment court, the National Green Tribunal came down forcefully today on spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, stating, "You have no sense of responsibility. Do you think you have the liberty to say whatever you want?" The report was first flashed by NDTV.

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