Dalit Adivasi Adhikar Andolan released a 10 point manifesto for Safaikaramcharis to ensure that political parties take note and implement their demands.
picture from facebook page of Dalit Adivasi Andolan
The Safaikaramcharis who are mostly manual scavengers lead pathetic lives in sub-human conditions and as many as thousands have even lost their lives due to occupational hazards. Yet no political party has taken up their issue to ensure safety measures or suitable compensation or their right to a life of dignity.
The manifesto begins with a demand for an unconditional apology from the Prime Minister for the historic injustice done through manual scavenging.
And to release every individual whether it is a child, man or woman from this labour in a time bound manner. The manifesto also demands that the sewerage deaths of the safaikarramcharis should be recorded and brought out in public along with the measures taken by the Government to stop these deaths.
Implementation of Article 21 of the constitution of India which guarantees the right to Life is another point in the manifesto. This right to be given in the form of issuance of ‘RL 21 card’ . This card should ensure the safai karamchais and their dependants access to quality education, healthcare, livelihood along with all other social security schemes and entitlements.
Demand for 1% budget allocation exclusively for the welfare of Safai Karamcharis from the Union budget; a special session in the parliament to stop sewer deaths and liberation and rehabilitation of persons engaged in manual scavenging are another two demands in the manifesto.
The manifesto even demands a separate Ministry to release and rehabilitate manual scavengers headed by the Prime Minister.
In order to increase the accountability the district magistrate should be held responsible for every sceptic or sewer death. Compensation on the death of a worker should be enhanced to 1 crore a one time payment and subsequent grant of 50 lakhs for rehabilitation.
On 6 April, the previews of the first two chapters from Anand Patwardhan’s documentary, “Vivek” (Reason) were released on YouTube by a handle which goes by the name of Vivek Reason. So far, four videos are available for public viewing. The 13-minute-long previews are part of a 240-minute-long documentary which has eight chapters. Together, they showcase “a chilling account of how murder and mind control are being applied to systematically dismantle secular democracy” in India. “Reason” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September last year, and also won the Best Feature-Length Documentary at the 31st International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in November.
Patwardhan has been making hard-hitting documentaries for over four decades now. His films such as “Father, Son and Holy War” (1995), and “Jai Bhim Comrade”(2011) document the violent attacks by the authoritarian and casteist, right-wing forces in the country. “Reason” discusses burning issues such as the death of leading rationalists and thinkers, upper-caste resistance to dalit activism, the evils of manual scavenging incidents and methods of radical organisations – and links these with the right wing, in both its official and unofficial forms.
The first two chapters trace the reasons behind the death of rationalists, and intellectuals like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and Gauri Lankesh. Dabholkar was gunned down during his morning walk in Pune in 2013. He had been at the forefront of a life-long campaign against superstition and was involved with the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti. The section on Pansare includes footage of his public speeches following Dabholkar’s killing. “Who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi? It is that very ideology that killed Dabholkar as well,” Pansare says, pointing to the involvement of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates.
The latter two chapters examine the recent killings of dalits and Muslims in the name of the cow. Since the BJP government came into power in 2014, lynching in the name of cow-protection has become the new normal. Mohammed Akhlaq, a 52-year-old man who lived in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, was lynched by a group of men for allegedly slaughtering his neighbour’s calf and consuming its meat on 28 September 2015. The police investigation later found no beef in his house. Since then, attacking minorities in the name of the cow has increased. Last month, Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group based in the United States revealed links between almost all cow vigilante groups in India and the Hindutva organisations in India. The report also maintained that the lynchers enjoy political and administrative patronage.
Last week over 100 members of the Indian film fraternity issued an appeal urging Indians not to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Anand Patwardhan was one amongst the signatories which included other well-known names like Vetri Maaran, Sanalkumar Sasidharan, Deepa Dhanraj, and editor, Bina Paul. Written as an appeal to “protect the democracy of the country”, the statement charged the right-wing government for “unleashing of polarisation and hate politics; cow vigilantism; marginalisation of dalits, Muslims and farmers and increasing censorship.” Patwardhan’s film, “Reason” packs a scathing investigation of all these issues.
Senior journalist Abhisar Sharma discusses how Modi dodged the press again at the release of BJP’s manifesto ‘Sankalp Patra’.
In this episode of ‘Bol Ke Lab Azad Hain Tere’, senior journalist Abhisar Sharma discusses the BJP manifesto ‘Sankalp Patra’ and how Modi again dismissed an opportunity to face the press in the event, unlike Rahul Gandhi, who did take questions at his party’s manifesto release. Abhisar also questions the raids on Congress leaders’ associates by the BJP.
The plea moved by advocate Sanjiv Kumar has also sought a direction to book them under various charges, including sedition and inciting hatred, of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
New Delhi: A plea moved before the Delhi High Court has sought direction to the Election Commission to ban National Conference’s leaders Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party’s Mehbooba Mufti from participating in the Lok Sabha poll as their “statements are against the Indian constitution”.
All the three leaders are the former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir.
The plea moved by advocate Sanjiv Kumar has also sought a direction to book them under various charges, including sedition and inciting hatred, of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
“Issue directions to the respondent number 1 (EC) to ban the NC and the PDP from Lok Sabha election 2019 as respondent number 4 and 6 (the three leaders) are presidents of their respective parties and represent their parties and their ideologies,” it alleged.
The petition filed by him alleged that the statements given by the three leaders were against the Constitution, adding that the court or the ECI should bar or impose conditions on their entry into the general elections.
“Will it not be a mockery of democracy to allow those people and parties to participate in the Lok Sabha election when people/parties openly call for sedition to divide Mother India on the basis of religion (Muslim majority) and two prime ministers (for Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India)…,” it said.
The plea is yet to come up for hearing.
Reacting to this, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, “Why waste time in court. Wait for BJP to scrap Article 370. It will automatically debar us from fighting elections since Indian constitution won’t be applicable to J & K anymore. Na samjho gay tou mit jaouge aye Hindustan walo. Tumhari dastaan tak bhi na hogi dastaano main (If you won’t understand, you will be finished. Your story will not be in the history)”
Seven-phase Lok Sabha polls are set to begin on April 11 and will go on till May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.
Following the bandh called by Dalit groups to protest the Bhima Koregaon violence, a number of Dalits were picked up by the Maharashtra police in combing operations and jailed. While most are out on bail now, they are still fighting these vindictive cases. All this while the real perpetrators of the violence itself go scot free. So what is the election buzz in Siddharth nagar, kalyan?
Nagpur: While addressing the crowd at the election rally of Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attacked the Congress party’s manifesto in an outrageous language and asked if it belonged to the Congress or Jaish-E-Mohammed (JeM). Fadnavis seems to have taken special umbrage at Congress’s poll promises of removing the army from Jammu and Kashmir, repealing the AFSPA and section 124A of IPC on sedition and claimed that these will create loopholes in our security system. It should be noted that these are long standing demands of rights organisations especially from areas that have significant army presence and where the sweeping powers (including a license to kill) given to it by the AFSPA have wreaked havoc. Even the Sedition law that the manifesto promises to repeal is a British era relic that is often used to curb dissent.
As the BJP tries to hold on to its 2014 electoral fortunes, it increasingly seems to be resorting to divisive and hateful language. But for a Chief Minister to compare the opposition to a terrorist organisation that is alleged to have been behind the worst terrorist attack in Kashmir is hitting a new low. But it is not surprising given that the Prime Minister himself has been pandering to majoritarianism in his election speeches. (Economic Times)
By exploiting a national tragedy and using divisive rhetoric for petty electoral gains, leaders like Devendra Fadnavis are threatening the very foundation of a democratic nation like India. Such comments only lower the prestige of a constitutional post like that of a Chief Minister and bring to question the ability of those who occupy it.
