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Are the Yeddy Diaries Forged?

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Prabir Purakayastha discusses with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta about the veracity of the diary entries showing payoffs to the top brass of BJP by Yeddyurappa.

The diary entries made by former Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa show Rs 1,800 crore payoffs to central BJP, and Jaitley, Gadkari, Rajnath, Advani and MM Joshi. Do the diaries disclose real payments made to the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party? Newsclick’s editor in chief Prabir Purakayastha in discussion with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.

Courtesy: News Click

A Dalit woman’s activism for Forest Rights in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh

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Shobha’s fight for forest rights has made her a target for harassment, violence

Located in a peculiarly odd terrain, Badi is a set of small huts spread across small hillocks on uneven land just adjacent to National Highway 39, connecting Robertsganj and Renukoot. Badi falls in the Chopan block of the Robertsganj taluka, Sonbhadra district. A long stretch of land lies bare, baking in the blazing sun. Families here live in abject poverty.

Dry patches of land give way to fragmented hutments. This land, on which Adivasis live, is desired by many, including the Jaypee Group, one of the largest companies for cement production. Per ground reports, the Jaypee Group has been eyeing the land since 2010, mainly because of its easy accessibility and connect with the highway. The area is rich in minerals like limestone, marble and iron ore.


The Badi area in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh

The silence of this vast expanse of land, with the sky closing in on you, melts into the bitter and bloody conflict for land between Adivasis and Dalits, and the police police, mining mafia and state forest department. And women from marginalised communities are at the forefront of this conflict.
 

CJP has traveled to Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, and is working to help forest rights activists there secure land. We are also providing legal aid to those who have been mired in false cases for the simple act of making claims to land that is rightfully theirs. Please support our efforts as we deepen our understanding of the Forest Rights Act, and stand with human rights defenders who are also conserving our forests by donating here.

It is in this context that the remarkable struggle of Shobha, a Dalit woman, stands out. In her fifties now, Shobha has struggled for four bighas (around one acre) of land for twenty years in Badi village. Her husband Ram Gharib has been with her in this struggle. Both worked as stone crushers in and around Badi and, years ago, slowly started clearing a small piece of land. Apparently, this angered the other communities.

In 2006, Shobha was sexually assaulted by a member of a dominant caste. Although she immediately went to the Chopan police station to file her complaint, the case wasn’t registered. It took two years for the police to lodge an FIR. In the course of attempting to get the complaint registered, Shobha traveled to Allahabad, and even Delhi. Finally, a lawyer, Mr. Vinod Pathak, met her and connected her to Roma, general secretary of the All India Union for Forest Working People (AIUFWP).

Joining the union in 2010 was the beginning of an emancipatory journey for Shobha, who started meeting with, and organising landless women. They took up various issues such as ration cards, police brutality etc. Meeting regularly, they were able to identify 150 bighas of farmland, and 500 bighas of land overall, by looking through land maps and court records. They called this the Durga tola, based on popular deity Durga mata, who is seen as a symbol of strength by various communities.
 

Facing retaliation for her activism

Shobha’s successes in organising the women in Badi tola threatened the vested interests that have had designs on the land for a long time. She faced a fatal attack in 2015: her house was reportedly set on fire.

Shobha narrates the ordeal, “The villagers gathered outside my house and started abusing me. While the women were right outside my house, the men hid themselves behind the small hillocks located near my house. They were throwing stones from there. The men must have been more than a hundred in number, and all of them were drunk. I locked myself inside with other women. My children and I hid under the bedding as they were attacking us from all sides. Still hiding under the bedding, I called police. The attack continued even in the presence of the police. Once the attack stopped, someone heard the Section Officer from Obra talking on phone that nobody had been hurt in the attack. However, the reality was that many women were hurt. There was an attempt to set my house on fire. Around six policemen were present during this incident. We were then taken to Churu Kand hospital, and were examined there. Afterwards, the police took us to Mirzapur jail, more than a hundred kilometres away, by pretending to take us home. When we asked the police to stop, they threatened to slap us.” Shobha says they were not told where they were being taken.

Shobha alleges that this incident was an attempt by the police and forest department to break the unity between the Dalits and Adivasis in the village, as many of those who attacked her house were Adivasis.

A fact-finding report compiled by the Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG) in July 2015 on the issue included following observation, “Though the issue is being portrayed as the clash between two communities, the origins of this conflict lie in the fact that the state government and the forest department want the real claimants/stakeholders of the land and forests (Adivasis and Dalits) to stay deprived of it.”

Despite the attack on her and several others, Shobha, her husband Ram Gharib and 18 other women were arrested on the basis of the FIR registered by the villagers. “They got witnesses to say that we hurt ourselves”, Shobha recalls. Her daughter lodged a reverse FIR against Yashoda, an ex-Block Development Committee member, and 14 other women. The police arrested Yashoda, who was reportedly one of the key people responsible for orchestrating the attack on Shobha’s house, and the other 13 women involved. However, the main culprits behind this–Kalwant Agarwal, the leader of the local mafia, and Dr. Mishra, a member of the ultra right-wing group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)–remained free. The villagers believe that Dr. Mishra was very interested in the land as he wanted to open a clinic there.

Recounting her days in the overcrowded Mirzapur prison, Shobha said, “They took our phones. They took our money [whatever little we were carrying]”. She added, “We had to sleep next to the bathroom in the cold, the blankets were torn. Our plates were made from cow dung.” After two days, Shobha and other inmates mounted a protest. “We demanded better sleeping space, blankets, better food,” she recalls. Shobha and other women fasted for two days.

The women were released on February 20, 2015, after the AIUFWP staged a protest at the District Magistrate’s office in Sonbhadra, around 80 kilometres from the jail.
 

The impact of reprisals against Shobha does not stop with her

When Shobha was incarcerated in 2015, her older daughter was the one who drafted the letter for her release, and led several movements for her release. However, when she came to the forefront of the struggle, those planning vicious attacks against her said, “She’s a bigger neta than her mother.”

When her home was attacked in 2015, Shobha’s elder daughter was in the 10th standard, with her other daughter in the 9th standard. Her son was in the 7th standard. Because of the constant repression that followed her afterwards, none of them returned to school. Shobha laments that they have been deprived of education out of fear. Many other families are also in a similar situation.

After was forced, against her will, to stop going to school, Shobha’s daughter started going to work, picking up bottles etc. from a nearby construction site. However, she would constantly hear sexually coloured remarks and feared that she would be sexually assaulted.

“My daughter has stopped going out. Whenever they step out of the house, I am constantly afraid if my daughters will reach home safely,” says Shobha. Her daughter says, “I don’t have the mental strength to step out of the house now. I will not study further. I will stay at home.”
However, the physical and emotional attacks on Shobha haven’t stopped there. Every now and then, she gets threats to leave the area and go somewhere else.

Recounting a more recent incident of her son being tortured, she says, “They took him and stood on his legs. As police officials filmed him, they asked him to say on recording that Shobha had employed her daughters as sex workers (“dhandha karti hai“). Afterwards he was beaten viciously.” He could escape captivity because of his presence of mind. But the episode scarred him, both physically and mentally. He emerged from the incident badly injured, and it took months for him to heal.

Shobha’s family lives in a permanent state of fear of threat and attacks. Shobha said her son, who started a small stall in the Badi area, was attacked again and threatened not to work there. He was forced to stop going to the stall.
 

Badi, forgotten, but for its resources

Apart from the struggles over land itself, the other women in the Badi area live in precarious situations. No government schemes reach here, and funds allocated are devoured by corruption and misappropriation, apparently by the same forces. For instance, many women have accused Yashoda of embezzling funds that would reach the Gram Sabha for pension schemes for widows and the elderly. Women reported a strange scenario in which Yashoda would allegedly ask married women to act as widows and would demand a considerable sum of money from their government pension once they received the money. “I don’t get widow pension even though I am eligible,” 60-year-old Paro Devi told a CJP team when they visited the Badi area. Paro Devi faces harassment from her brother, who has expelled her from her own land.“ He didn’t even allow me to scatter my husband’s ashes in the nearby naala.”


Shobha, with other women of the Badi area

However, even the extreme measures of torture, threats and attacks have not deterred Shobha from organising the women in the area. She acknowledges that being part of a union and a collective has given her a lot of strength. This was evident in how woman after woman spoke so highly of Shobha, how women were even willing to face the most brutal attacks with her. The women said firmly, “Come what may, and we have lost everything anyway. We are not losing our land for sure!”

Not surprisingly, the powerful state machinery consisting of the forest department and police, allegedly in league with the mining mafia, has often succeeded in pitting one section of the community against the other. This is a time-tested method of breaking the back of movements and leads to a plethora of cross-complaints and, thereafter, it is often Adivasis and Dalits who bear the brunt of punitive action. The individual plight of Shobha and many others –including the human rights abuses they suffer—are thus intrinsically linked with the implementation of legislation like the Recognition of Forest Rights Act, 2006. Battling these abuses must also mean battling for implementation and accountability of this path-breaking legislation.
 

Related:

Dalit Forest Rights activist Shobha demands action against minor son’s illegal detention
Roma: Unbowed, Unbroken, Unbent
Sonbhadra’s Daughter Sokalo
Reclaiming land through peaceful struggles
 

Aurat March still faces never-ending backlash and threats of violence in Pakistan

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Aurat March started last year in Karachi and spread to the whole country this year. It has emerged as a new wave of feminism in Pakistan — and with that, the march organizers have been receiving rape and death threats online.

Aurat March
Image: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters
 
Islamabad: Aurat March 2019 was held on March 8 as part of International Women’s Day celebrations in different cities including Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi, Hyderabad and Larkana.  People from diverse backgrounds came out on the roads in large numbers to express solidarity with women. What happened next was a never-ending backlash and social media abuse for all the women involved or speaking for the march.
 
Aurat March started last year in Karachi and spread to the whole country this year. It has emerged as a new wave of feminism in Pakistan — and with that, the march organizers have been receiving rape and death threats online.
 
Nighat Dad, founder of the Digital Rights Foundation is one of the organizers in Lahore. She received rape threats on Twitter in reply to one of her posts on the Aurat March. Five other women reached out to her nonprofit organization, which works for digital rights in Pakistan and runs a cyber-harassment helpline, to complain of receiving rape and death threats.
 

A number of women connected with the march are facing violent hate speech, rape threats, acid crimes and worse. Women are being targeted for staging a demonstration for their own rights and publicly aligning with the cause of women’s rights and offering vocal support to Aurat March.
 

Digital Rights Monitor has reported various social media posts and users involved in incitement of violence against the demonstrators.
 
“The hate against Aurat March is demonstrative of the fact that the turnout and the zeal behind the march has touched a sore spot among of patriarchy. This is the main reason why, even days after the march, we are continuing to see hateful commentary, endless judgement and increasing threats of violence”, says Sadaf Khan, co-founder Media Matters for Democracy, “The march has touched such a raw nerve, that people are actually investing in spreading misinformation to discredit the movement”.
 
Doctored images from the march, often containing sexual innuendos and falsified slogans are being circulated online. While some users are trying to raise awareness about these morphed images, the negative public sentiment is still keeping these falsified images in circulation.


 
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the Aurat March, which was held across Pakistani cities on March 8.
 
The resolution, presented by Rehana Ismail of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), claimed that women had taken part in the march holding placards and raising slogans that were “obscene”.
“Some hidden forces have sped up their efforts to destroy our family system and social customs, the practical demonstration of which took place on March 8, 2019, in various big cities on Women’s Day,” the resolution stated.
 
It said the demands made at the event for women empowerment were “shameful and un-Islamic”.

Some of the slogans raised in the march were: “Khana garam kardoongi, bistar khud garam lo.” (I’ll warm up the food, you warm up the bed yourself.) “Tu kare to stud, mein karoon to slut” (If you do it, you are a stud, if I do it, I am a slut) and “Mera Jism, Meri Marzi,” (My body, my rules.)
 

Pakistan has experienced a surge in social media usage with more than 40 million Facebook users. The rapid growth has sparked an online debate about misogyny, with some women highlighting daily hate and pornographic messaging.
 
Many of these politico-religious parties, in past years, have rejected Pakistan’s Domestic Violence Bill calling it “anti-Islam”. In a contradiction of sorts, many of these parties, such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, also have vibrant women’s wings that are actively involved in their politics and activism.
 
A report by the Human Rights Watch last year estimated that 1,000 “honour killings” — the practice of relatives murdering girls or women because they think the victim has brought shame or dishonour on the family — take place in Pakistan each year.
 

When NZ citizens showed up in headscarves during Khutbah for Christchurch victims

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A two-minutes silence was observed throughout New Zealand with PM Jacinda Ardern quoting Prophet Mohammed and saying, “When any part of the body suffers, the whole body feels pain.”

New zealand PM
Image Courtesy: Reuters
 
The Muslim call to prayer sounded out over Christchurch and around New Zealand on Friday, as thousands gathered to remember the 50 people killed by a lone gunman at two mosques a week ago. A two-minutes silence was observed throughout the country with PM Jacinda Ardern quoting Prophet Mohammed and saying, “When any part of the body suffers, the whole body feels pain.” 


 
Imam Gamal Fouda of the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch said that he was expecting 3000 to 4000 people at Friday’s prayer service(Khutbah) at Hagley park, including those who came from abroad to be with members of Christchurch’s Muslim community and to attend funerals.
 
Most victims of New Zealand’s worst mass shooting were migrants or refugees from countries such as Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Somalia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
 
“We are broken-hearted, but we are not broken. We are alive, we are together, we are determined to not let anyone divide us,” Imam Gamal Fouda told the gathered crowd.
 
“To the families of the victims, your loved ones did not die in vain. Their blood has watered the seeds of hope,” he said in prayers broadcast nationally.
 
Non-Muslims stood in silence behind the prayer areas as Muslims offered their prayers a few meters from the church. Many women also chose to wear headscarves to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community.
 
“We are wearing headscarves showing our support, love and solidarity, and hope that by everybody doing this it will demonstrate to Muslim women … that they are one with us,” said Robyn Molony, 65, who was with a group of friends wearing headscarves at Hagley Park, where they walked daily.
 
A #headscarfforharmony movement was trending on Twitter.
 
Many citizens also performed the traditional ceremonial Maori Haka dance with a deafening chorus to condemn the Christchurch attack.

 
 
Within a week of the attack, New Zealand took swift action, announcing a ban on military-style semi-automatic and assault rifles under tough new gun laws.
 
Full text of sermons and supplication:
 
First Sermon (Khutbah):
Last Friday I stood in this mosque and saw the hatred and the rage in the eyes of the terrorist who killed and martyred 50 innocent people, wounded 42, and broke the hearts of millions around the world.
 
Today from the same place I look out and I see the love and compassion in the eyes of thousands of fellow New Zealanders and human beings from across the globe, that fill the hearts of millions more who are not with us physically, but in spirit.
 
This terrorist sought to tear our nation apart with an evil ideology that has torn the world apart. But instead we have shown that New Zealand is unbreakable, and that the world can see in us an example of love and unity.
 
We are broken hearted, but we are not broken. We are alive. We are together. We are determined to not let anyone divide us. We are determined to love one another, and to support each other.
 
This evil ideology of white supremacy did not strike us first, yet it struck us hardest. The number of people killed is not ordinary, but the solidarity in New Zealand is extraordinary.
 
To the families of the victims, your loved ones did not die in vain. Their blood has watered the seeds of hope. Through them, the world will see the beauty of Islam, and the beauty of our unity.
 
And Allah the Almighty says “do not say of those who have been killed in the way of Allah that they are dead, they are alive rejoicing with their Lord.”
 
They were the best of us, taken from us on the best of days, in the best of places and performing the best of actions.
 
And they are not just martyrs of Islam, but they are martyrs for this nation.
 
Our loss of you, is a gain to New Zealand’s unity and strength.
 
Your departure is an awakening not just for our nation, but for all humanity.
 
Your martyrdom is a new life for New Zealand and a chance of prosperity for many.
 
Our assembly here, with all the shades of our diversity is a testament of our joint humanity.
 
We are here in our hundreds and thousands unified for one purpose – That hate will be undone, and love will redeem us.
 
We are taught by our Prophet Muhammed peace and blessings be upon him that you can never truly show gratitude to the Almighty God, if you are incapable of thanking your fellow man.
 
To the people of New Zealand – Thank you.
 
Thank you for your tears.
 
Thank you for your Haka.
 
Thank you for your flowers.
 
Thank you for your love and compassion.
 
To our prime minister – thank you.
 
Thank you for your leadership, it has been a lesson for the world’s leaders.
 
Thank you for holding our families close and honoring us with a simple scarf.
 
Thank you for your words and tears of compassion.
 
Thank you for being one with us.
 
Thank you to the New Zealand government and to all the wonderful people who have shown us that we matter and are not forgotten.
 
Thank you to our police force and front-line services.
 
You put our lives before your own every day.
 
Thank you to the neighbours who opened their doors to save us from the killer.
 
Thank you to those who pulled over their cars to help us.
 
Thank you to those who brought us food and held us when we found it difficult to stand.
 
Thank you, New Zealand, for teaching the world what it means to love and care.
 
To my brothers and sisters, those who are here today to perform the weekly Friday prayer.
 
Thank you for coming together once again. It is easy to feel lost after the trauma you and I experienced. But the promise of Allah made to us is true:
 
“Give glad news to the patient – Those who when afflicted they say, To Allah we all belong, and to Him we shall return. They are those upon whom God’s Mercy descends”.
 
Thank you for your strength and your forgiveness. Thank you for your anger that is restrained and for your mercy that is over-flowing.
 
Thank you for your steadfastness and standing tall when many others would fall.
 
Second Sermon (Khutbah):
Islamophobia KILLS. Muslims have felt its pain for many years. It has killed before in Canada and its brutality was used against teens in Norway and against innocent Muslims in the U.K., USA and other countries around the world.
 
Islamophobia is REAL. It is a targeted campaign to influence people to dehumanize and irrationally fear Muslims.
 
To fear what we wear. To fear the choice of food we eat. To fear the way we pray and to fear the way we practice our faith.
 
We call upon governments around the world to bring an end to hate speech and the politics of fear.
 
The martyrdom of 50 innocent people and the injury of 42 last Friday did not come over night. It was the result of the anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric by some political leaders, some media agencies and others.
 
Last week’s event is proof and evidence to the entire world that terrorism has no color, has no race and has no religion.
 
The rise of white supremacy and right-wing extremism is a great global threat to mankind AND THIS MUST END NOW!
 
I want to take this opportunity to thank my Muslim and non-Muslim brothers and sisters for attending today and I would also like to thank our international guests who are with us and had come to our support and aid in these difficult times and moments.
 
Supplication (Dua) 
O’ Allah have mercy upon us all.
O’ Allah have mercy upon those who were massacred last week.
O’ Allah grant them the highest level of paradise.
O’ Allah grant the injured a speedy recovery and grant the families of the victims patience.
O’ Allah grant our nation and country New Zealand peace, security and protect it and its people from all evils.
O’ Allah grant the entire world peace, security and prosperity.
God defend our free land, God defend New Zealand.
 

Amit Shah called out for calling Bangladeshis ‘termites’: US Govt Report

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The US State Department’s “India 2018 Human Rights Report”, has, in its chapter on “Freedom of Movement” clearly criticized BJP chief Amit Shah for terming alleged Bangladeshis who may be in Assam as “termites”. Shah’s abusive and denigrative use of the terms was used in the context of the names of over 40 lakh perons being truck down from the list of National Register of Citizens, under preparation in Assam. Arguably a vast majority of those excluded are in fact Indian citizens. The US state ddepartment report was released recently.

Amit Shah
Image Courtesy: NDTV

Pointing out that four million residents were excluded from Assam’s final draft list, leading to “uncertainty over the status of these individuals, many of whose families had lived in the state for several generations”, the report regrets, the Indian law does not even contain the term “refugee,” treating refugees like Rohingiyas as “any other foreigners.” The present Indian regime has also come in for criticism: “Undocumented physical presence in the country is a criminal offense. Persons without documentation were vulnerable to forced returns and abuse”, the report says.
 
The entire report may be read here:  https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/289490.pdf
 
The entire text of the chapter from the report titled “Freedom of Movement”:
The law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation. The government generally respected these rights. In 2015 the implementation of a land-boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh enfranchised more than 50,000 previously stateless residents, providing access to education and health services.

The country hosts a large refugee population, including 108,005 Tibetan refugees and approximately 90,000 refugees from Sri Lanka. The government generally allows the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to assist asylum seekers and refugees from noncontiguous countries and Burma. In many cases refugees and asylum seekers under UNHCR’s mandate reported increased challenges regularizing their status through long-term visas and residence permits. Rohingya refugees were registered by UNHCR but not granted legal status by the government.

Abuse of Migrants, Refugees, and Stateless Persons: The law does not contain the term “refugee,” treating refugees like any other foreigners. Undocumented physical presence in the country is a criminal offense. Persons without documentation were vulnerable to forced returns and abuse.

The courts protected refugees and asylum seekers in accordance with the constitution.

Refugees reported exploitation by nongovernment actors, including assaults, gender-based violence, fraud, and labor exploitation. Problems of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and early and forced marriage also continued. Gender-based violence and sexual abuse were common in camps for Sri Lankans. Most urban refugees worked in the informal sector or in occupations such as street vending, where they suffered from police extortion, nonpayment of wages, and exploitation.

UNHCR and NGOs observed an increase in antirefugee (specifically anti-Rohingya) rhetoric throughout the year in advance of state and 2019 national elections, which reportedly led to an increased sense of insecurity in refugee communities. On October 4, the Supreme Court rejected a plea to stop the deportation of seven Rohingya immigrants from Assam. The court noted the individuals, held in an Assam jail since 2012, were arrested by Indian authorities as illegal immigrants and that Burma was ready to accept them as their nationals.

According to media reports, the nationality of the immigrants was confirmed after the Burmese government verified their addresses in Rakhine State. Rights groups said the government’s decision to deport them placed them at risk of oppression and abuse. According to HRW, the government deported the seven ethnic Rohingya Muslims to Burma where “they are at grave risk of oppression and abuse.” HRW further noted, “The Indian government has disregarded its long tradition of protecting those seeking refuge within its borders.”

In-country Movement: The central government relaxed restrictions on travel by foreigners to Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, and parts of Jammu and Kashmir, excluding foreign nationals from Pakistan, China, and Burma. The Ministry of Home Affairs and state governments required citizens to obtain special permits upon arrival when traveling to certain restricted areas.

Foreign Travel: The government may legally deny a passport to any applicant for engaging in activities outside the country “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.”

The trend of delaying issuance and renewal of passports to citizens from the state of Jammu and Kashmir continued, sometimes up to two years. The government reportedly subjected applicants born in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, including children born to military officers deployed in the state, to additional scrutiny and police clearances before issuing them passports.

Citizenship: On July 31, the government of Assam published the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a document intended to define individuals with a claim to citizenship in a state that experienced an influx of foreigners in 1971. In 1985 the government declared that anyone who entered Assam without proper documentation after March 24, 1971, would be declared a foreigner.

The names of four million residents were excluded from the final draft list, leading to uncertainty over the status of these individuals, many of whose families had lived in the state for several generations. Individuals will be required to go through an appeals process to have their names included in the final list of Indian citizens.

The Supreme Court is overseeing the process, and four million individuals were given 60 days from September 25 to file a claim or objection. On September 24, ruling BJP party president Amit Shah called Bangladeshis who may be in Assam “termites” who will be struck from the list of citizens.

Internally displaced persons
Authorities located IDP settlements throughout the country, including those containing groups displaced by internal armed conflicts in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Maoist-affected areas, the northeastern states and Gujarat. The 2018 annual report of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center asserted 806,000 individuals were displaced because of conflict and violence as of December 2017, with 78,000 new displacements due to conflict in 2017.

Estimating precise numbers of those displaced by conflict or violence was difficult, because the government does not monitor the movements of displaced persons, and humanitarian and human rights agencies had limited access to camps and affected regions. While authorities registered residents of IDP camps, an unknown number of displaced persons resided outside the camps. Many IDPs lacked sufficient food, clean water, shelter, and health care.

National policy or legislation did not address the issue of internal displacement resulting from armed conflict or from ethnic or communal violence. The welfare of IDPs was generally the purview of state governments and local authorities, allowing for gaps in services and poor accountability. The central government provided limited assistance to IDPs, but they had access to NGOs and human rights organizations, although neither access nor assistance was standard for all IDPs or all situations.
NGOs estimated Gotti Koya tribe members displaced due to prior paramilitary operations against Maoists numbered 50,000 in Chhattisgarh and 27,000 in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In October 2017 the Hyderabad High Court directed the Telangana government not to displace the Gotti Koya tribal members or demolish their dwelling units.

Refoulement: The government detained Rohingya in many of the northeastern states of the country. For example, after serving the allotted time for illegal entry into the country, the government obtained travel permits for seven Rohingya refugees from Burmese authorities and, according to media reports on October 4, the seven Rohingya were transported from prison to the border town of Moreh in Manipur state to be deported.

In July, Minister of State Kiren Rijiju informed the lower house of parliament that the Ministry of Home Affairs instructed state governments to identify Rohingya migrants through the collection of biometric data. The Ministry of Home Affairs directed state governments to monitor Rohingya and restrict their movements to specific locations. The government advocated for the return of Rohingya migrants to Burma.

Access to Asylum: Absent a legal framework, the government sometimes granted asylum on a situational basis on humanitarian grounds in accordance with international law. This approach resulted in varying standards of protection for different refugee and asylum seeker groups. The government recognized refugees from Tibet and Sri Lanka and honored UNHCR decisions on refugee status determination for individuals from other countries, including Afghanistan.

UNHCR did not have an official agreement with the government but maintained an office in New Delhi where it registered refugees and asylum seekers from noncontiguous countries and Burma, made refugee status determinations, and provided some services. The office’s reach outside of New Delhi was limited, however. The government permitted UNHCR staff access to refugees in other urban centers and allowed it to operate in Tamil Nadu to assist with Sri Lankan refugee repatriation.

Authorities did not permit UNHCR direct access to Sri Lankan refugee camps, Tibetan settlements, or asylum seekers in Mizoram, but it did permit asylum seekers from Mizoram to travel to New Delhi to meet UNHCR officials. Refugees outside New Delhi faced added expense and time to register their asylum claims.

The government generally permitted other NGOs, international humanitarian organizations, and foreign governments access to Sri Lankan refugee camps and Tibetan settlements, but it generally denied access to asylum seekers in Mizoram. The government denied requests for some foreigners to visit Tibetan settlements in Ladakh.

After the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, the government ceased registering Sri Lankans as refugees. The Tamil Nadu government assisted UNHCR by providing exit permission for Sri Lankan refugees to repatriate voluntarily. The benefits provided to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees by the state government of Tamil Nadu were applicable only within the state. The central government approved the extension of funding to run the camps until 2020.

Employment: The government granted work authorization to many UNHCR-registered refugees, and others found employment in the informal sector. Some refugees reported discrimination by employers.

Access to Basic Services: Although the country generally allowed recognized refugees and asylum seekers access to housing, primary and secondary education, health care, and the courts, access varied by state and by population. Refugees were able to use public services, although access became more complicated during the year because many refugees were unable to acquire the digitized identity (Aadhaar) card necessary to use some services.

In cases where refugees were denied access, it was often due to a lack of knowledge of refugee rights by the service provider. In many cases UNHCR was able to intervene successfully and advocate for refugee access. The government allowed UNHCR-registered refugees and asylum seekers to apply for long-term visas that would provide work authorization and access to higher education, although the rate of renewal for long-term visas slowed significantly. For undocumented asylum seekers, UNHCR provided a letter upon registration indicating the person was under consideration for UNHCR refugee status.

The government did not fully complete a 2012 Ministry of Home Affairs directive to issue long-term visas to Rohingya. It has reportedly slowed renewals for those with long-term visas significantly, limiting access to formal employment in addition to education, health services, and bank accounts.

Sri Lankan refugees were permitted to work in Tamil Nadu. Police, however, reportedly summoned refugees back into the camps on short notice, particularly during sensitive political times such as elections, and required refugees or asylum seekers to remain in the camps for several days.

Government services such as mother and child health programs were available. Refugees were able to request protection from police and courts as needed.

The government did not accept refugees for resettlement from other countries.

Stateless persons
By law parents confer citizenship, and birth in the country does not automatically result in citizenship. Any person born in the country on or after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987, obtained Indian citizenship by birth. A child born in the country on or after July 1, 1987, obtained citizenship if either parent was an Indian citizen at the time of the child’s birth.

Authorities consider those born in the country on or after December 3, 2004, citizens only if at least one parent was a citizen and the other was not illegally present in the country at the time of the child’s birth.

Authorities considered persons born outside the country on or after December 10, 1992, citizens if either parent was a citizen at the time of birth, but authorities do not consider those born outside the country after December 3, 2004, citizens unless their birth was registered at an Indian consulate within one year of the date of birth. 

Authorities can also confer citizenship through registration under specific categories and via naturalization after residing in the country for 12 years. Tibetans reportedly sometimes faced difficulty acquiring citizenship despite meeting the legal requirements.

The Assam state government began a process to update the NRC to determine who has legal claim to citizenship in the country, and who is determined to have migrated illegally per a 2014 Supreme Court order. According to official reports, the government has excluded an estimated four million persons from the NRC draft list published on July 30. 

The central and state governments indicated that all persons not listed were able to file claims and objections for 60 days from September 25. The future legal status of those excluded is not clear. Many individuals may be declared citizens at the end of the process, while others may be at risk of statelessness.

According to UNHCR and NGOs, the country had a large population of stateless persons, but there were no reliable estimates. Stateless populations included Chakmas and Hajongs, who entered the country in the early 1960s from present-day Bangladesh, and groups affected by the 1947 partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan. 

In September 2017 the central government stated it would appeal to the Supreme Court to review its 2015 order to consider citizenship for approximately 70,000 Chakma and Hajong refugees. Media quoted Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju saying the Supreme Court order was “unimplementable.”

Children born in Sri Lankan refugee camps received Indian birth certificates. While Indian birth certificates alone do not entitle refugees to Indian citizenship, refugees may present Indian birth certificates to the Sri Lankan High Commission to obtain a consular birth certificate, which entitles them to pursue Sri Lankan citizenship. 

According to the Organization for Eelam Refugees’ Rehabilitation, approximately 16,000 of 27,000 Sri Lankan refugee children born in the refugee camps have presented birth certificates to the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai. According to UNHCR, the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission issued 2,858 birth certificates during the year.

UNHCR and refugee advocacy groups estimated that between 25,000 and 28,000 of the approximately 90,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu were “hill country” Tamils. While Sri Lankan law allows “hill country” refugees to present affidavits to secure Sri Lankan citizenship, UNHCR believed that until the Sri Lankan government processes the paperwork, such refugees were at risk of becoming stateless.
 

Is India’s democracy being sold through electoral bonds?

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Electoral reforms activists, former chief election commissioners, and constitutional experts have slammed this move for obfuscating transparency rather than enhancing it. It would make political funding, especially by corporations, opaquer as neither the donors nor the parties have to reveal who donated what to which party. That itself violates the constitutional principle of free and fair elections.

Electoral Bond
Image Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 
In the petition filed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury before the Supreme Court with regards to the electoral bonds, the BJP-led central government said in an affidavit that the decision to issue electoral bonds would promote transparency in funding and donations received by political parties.
 
It could be a political eyewash and self-serving interests as the BJP was the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bond scheme launched by the government in 2017-18, bagging 94.5% of the bonds worth a little over Rs. 210 crore.
 
The BJP’s audit and income tax reports submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) list voluntary contribution of “Rs 210,00,02,000 through electoral bonds”, Economic Times review of the party’s annual audit report for 2017-18 shows.
 
Electoral reforms activists, former chief election commissioners, and constitutional experts have slammed this move for obfuscating transparency rather than enhancing it. It would make political funding, especially by corporations, more opaque as neither the donors nor the parties have to reveal who donated what to which party. That itself violates the constitutional principle of free and fair elections.
 
Spending on the election ending May 23 is set to rise 40 per cent to 500 billion rupees ($7 billion), according to the New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies. “It won’t be an exaggeration to say our elections will never be the same again,” said N. Bhaskara Rao, the group’s chairman, who has advised previous Indian governments in a report by The New Indian Express. “What is this if not the auctioning of our democracy to the highest-paying corporation?” he said.
 
What are electoral bonds
Anyone can buy an electoral bond at the government-owned State Bank of India in denominations ranging from 1,000 rupees to 10 million rupees ($14 to $140,000). Afterwards, they are delivered to a political party, which can exchange them for cash. They don’t carry the name of the donor and are exempt from tax.
 
They are available for a period of 10 days each in the months of January, April, July and October, with an additional period of 30 days specified by the central government in the year of general elections.
 
The bonds can be purchased only after making payment through KYC-compliant account. They can be encashed by an eligible political party only through a designated bank account with the authorised bank.
 
An electoral bond is valid for 15 days from the date of issue. No payment would be made to any payee political party if the bond is deposited after the expiry of the validity period. The bond deposited by any eligible political party into its account would be credited on the same day.
 
SBI is the only authorised bank to issue such bonds.
 
Who can buy electoral bonds
As per the provisions of the scheme, electoral bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or entities incorporated or established in India. A person can buy electoral bonds, either singly or jointly, with other individuals.
 
Even foreign companies can buy electoral bonds.
 
Which parties can receive electoral bonds
Any party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and has secured not less than 1% of the votes polled in the last election of the Lok Sabha or legislative assembly will be eligible to receive electoral bonds.
 
No opposition to overhaul
“India’s campaign finance overhaul began in 2017, when parliament approved an amendment that made it easier for companies to donate to campaigns, including removing a cap on corporate donations (the maximum used to be 7.5 per cent of a company’s average net profits over three years). Now new firms can also donate to political parties, opening the door for shell companies to be set up expressly for the purpose,” TNIE reported.
 
Requirements for companies to disclose how much they donated and to which party were also eliminated.
 
The changes were introduced in parliament via a money bill, a measure that only needs to be passed by the lower house controlled by Modi’s ruling coalition and not the opposition-led upper house.
 
A similar tactic was used to pass with little debate rules that changed the definition of a foreign company. Previously, all subsidiaries of international entities were treated as overseas donors and not allowed to make political contributions. Now if a foreign firm has a stake of less than 50 per cent in a company operating in India, that unit can fund Indian elections.
 
While several lawmakers protested the moves, analysts said the amendments will benefit both Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the main opposition Congress party. It was said that nobody from the opposition spoke up because they too could gain if they came to power.
 
Experts unanimously slam move
This wide leeway to corporates have drawn the ire of Jagdeep Chhokar, founder-member of the Delhi-based civil rights organisation Association of Democratic Reforms and a long-time crusader for electoral reforms. It was because of his petition in the PIL against Finance Bill unduly favouring corporations in political funding, that the Supreme Court issued a notice to the central government and Election Commission.

Chhokhar insisted that the government at the Centre is “hoodwinking the public and electorate”, because although political parties would have to show the amount of political funding in their balance sheet, they do not have to disclose to which party they have donated, Newsclick reported.
 
If the donation is made to the ruling government, the electorate would have no way of knowing the extent of crony capitalism because the party in power would obviously “reward” major and significant donors with government contracts, licenses and tenders. Moreover, the government in power would get detailed information on which the corporation has donated what amount, and can thus arm twist those who have funded its rivals more, he said in the report.
 
S Y Quraishi, a former chief election commissioner echoed Chhokhar in the report. He agreed about the apprehension of potential arm twisting by the powers-that-be. He said that the electoral bonds are the exact antithesis of transparency. The bonds will ensure the anonymity of donors, but “also kill whatever little transparency that exists now.”
 
He said, “The removal of the ceiling of 7.5% of a company’s profits that could be donated has compounded the problem. Very soon we will see companies spending all their profits on politics alone and control governments. So far, all donations above Rs 20,000 are disclosed by political parties to the Election Commission. In future, no one will know which corporation donated how much and to which party. And the inevitable quid pro quo will never be apparent.”
 
Nasim Zaidi, ex-chief election commissioner who retired in July last year has also voiced his misgivings about the government not consulting the EC before introducing electoral bonds though that was mandated by law, and also stated that because of electoral bonds, corporations would never file the donations they made to political parties, thereby trampling on the people’s fundamental right to know.
 
Legal scholar Gautam Bhatia has explained why these bonds are a threat to democracy, while Suhrith Parthasarathy, a lawyer practising in the Madras High Court, has detailed how they reward corruption, the report said.
 
The mounting criticism is apparent and the bonds are under immense scrutiny considering the nearing Lok Sabha elections. Will it be the country’s democracy that sizzles on this political self-serving hot plate?
 

Contamination of groundwater in Gujarat villages continues unabated for decades

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A report on the groundwater pollution in Luna village accessed by an environment NGO has once again pointed to the alarming rate of groundwater contamination in the industrial belt in Padra, Vadodara. The issue at hand seems to be a consistent problem for over decades and yet, nothing is being done about the contamination.


Image Courtesy: DNA

Vadodara: All is not well in the ‘vegetable bowl’ of Gujarat. A report on the groundwater pollution in Luna village accessed by an environment NGO has once again pointed to the alarming rate of groundwater contamination in the industrial belt in Padra, Vadodara. The issue at hand seems to be a consistent problem for over decades and yet, nothing is being done about the contamination.
 
According to Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), the groundwater pollution in Luna has reached alarming levels as it has crossed even the limit of discharge norms of industrial effluent. The permitted limit of industrial effluent discharge is 250 mg/litre chemical oxygen demand (COD) whereas the COD level of groundwater at Luna is ten times higher, in the range of 2,225 to 2,722. This, they say, is the highest COD level reported in groundwater from anywhere in the country, so far.
 
Activists have been calling it a terrorist attack on the region’s groundwater.
 
The report was a result of a joint investigation carried out by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), Farmers Action Group (FAG) and affected farmers in October and December 2018.
 
It further found that the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) was 10172 mg/l and 11188 mg/l while the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) was 198 mg/l and 72 mg/l (26.12.2018) respectively for the two months. The accepted limit of TDS and BOD even in treated effluent water is 5000 mg/I and 100 mg/I. In groundwater, the accepted limit for TDS and BOD is 300mg/I and 2 mg/I respectively.
 
Rohit Prajapati of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti said that the issue was first raised in the year 1999.
 
“A ruling of the Supreme Court had clearly stated that polluting industries that fail to meet effluent norms had to be shut down. But nothing of that sort has happened. The report that we accessed through RTI shows what inaction by the concerned authorities have done to the groundwater on which the farmers and locals are dependent,” said Prajapati.
 
16 of the 21 groundwater samples taken by officials of the state government’s environmental watchdog Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in two villages of Vadodara district were found to be highly contaminated. They were found to be discharging reddish, brownish and yellowish water.
 
Vadodara-based environmental body, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India; Gujarat  chief minister; secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change; chairman, Central Pollution Control Board; Gujarat chief secretary; additional chief secretary, Gujarat Forest and Environment Department; senior officials of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and the Vadodara district collector. They wrote to them to draw their attention towards the “dangerously very high COD” (Chemical Oxygen Demand) levels in the groundwater in villages in Gujarat and how the contamination has continued unabated for decades.
 
Full text of letter:
 
This is to draw your attention to the findings of reports that we availed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 on 11.03.2019, to take action in view of Dangerously Very High COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) levels observed in ground water in village Luna, Padra Taluka, Vadodara District.
 
The levels were determined as an outcome of a joint investigation carried out by Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), Farmers Action Group (FAG) and affected farmers in October and December 2018.
 
The evidences in the October and December 2018 investigation (click Annexure) reports evidence/ ascertain alarming levels of groundwater pollution crossing even the limit of industrial effluent discharge norms.
 
The groundwater of the village Luna, Padra Taluka, Vadodara District have COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) 2225 mg/l (16.10.2018) & 2722 mg/l (26.12.2018), TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) 10172 mg/l (16.10.2018) & 11188 mg/l (26.12.2018), Biological Oxygen Demand) 198 mg/l (16.10.2018) & 72 mg/l (26.12.2018). It is pertinent to note that the COD of the groundwater has even crossed the acceptable or permitted limits of the industrial effluent discharge which is  250 mg/l COD. The following table is self-explanatory and invites exemplary action against the defaulting industries and the main concerned officials who have failed in preventing the pollution and allowing it to reach this disastrous situation in spite of repeated complaints by us and the villagers.

[Table]
 
PSS, FAG and the villagers have petitioned since 1999 against the polluting industries, the non-compliance of Supreme Court Order, dated 22.02.2017, and also the continual neglect by concerned authorities in taking stringent legal actions against the errant companies who blatantly discharge untreated chemical effluent with impunity.
 
Following are some of the main reports, documents, letters which were also part of the case filed by Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) and Farmers Action Group (FAG) in Supreme Court, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 375 of 2012:
 
1. February 1999: The investigation into the water, air and land pollution by Indian People’s Tribunal (IPT) constituted by Voluntary organisations showing massive pollution in the “Golden Corridor of Gujarat” – Vapi to Vadodara.
2. April 2002: Investigation by GEC (Gujarat Ecology Commission) found that groundwater in 74 out of 184 talukas were severely contaminated.
 
The report of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee, dated April 2004. The relevant parts of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee report of 2004 are as under:
 
“The Committee feels that unless this Hon’ble Court directs the State Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to immediately step in and supply fresh water in tankers or in pipes, for drinking and also for agricultural purposes, the present situation is bound to continue for several more years since de-toxification of the contaminated groundwater resources strongly recommended by this Committee, will take a few years.  Therefore, Hon’ble Court may consider to issue appropriate directions to the State Governments of Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat to take following steps:
(ii) The State Government of MP and Gujarat be directed to supply water to the affected communities through tankers on a daily basis at the cost of the Government and the concerned industry associations.
(iii) Within 6 months, the Government should release permanent water connections through pipes for drinking purpose and some appropriate arrangement for irrigation purposes so that the dependence on tankers is removed.
(v) The status report of contamination of water be prepared and based on that, action plan for decontamination of ground water also be made within a reasonable time frame.
For the above, the Committee will be grateful to the Hon’ble Court.”
 
Based on this report Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 695 of 1995 Order, dated 07.05.2004, is as under:
 
“We have perused the Second Quarterly Report from February, 2004 to April, 2004 filed by the Monitoring Committee to oversee the implementation of directions passed in the writ petition. The report records that due to indiscriminate dumping of hazardous waste due to non-existent or negligent practices together with lack of enforcement by authorities, the ground water and, therefore, drinking water supplies have been affected/damaged. The state Government of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are directed to take steps to supply fresh drinking water in tanks or pipes, particularly, taking into consideration; the fact that summer season has already set in. It shall be done expeditiously.
 
Industrial estates of Vapi, Ankleshwar, and Vadodara in the state of Gujarat and Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh were inspected by the Committee. The two State Governments would ensure supply of water in such villages/areas which are affected, list whereof has already given by learned counsel for the petitioner to learned counsel appearing for the two States.”
 
3. April 2008: CPCB released “Report on Effluent Conveyance System (M/s ECPL for Nandesari Industrial Area and Industries Located near Vadodara, Gujarat” highlighting the grim situation due to the industrial pollution in the area.
 
4. 12.05.2010: Referring to the February 2010 Effluent Conveyance System report of CPCB the PSS wrote a letter to the then Minister of State for Environment and Forests demanding that GPCB should not issue any new no-objection certificate (NOC) / NOC for expansion / Consolidated Consents and Authorization (CCA) application for Vadodara District since Effluent Channel Project were not able to meet the applicable norms and standards.
 
5. 27.01.2011 and 24.02.2011: The Collector of Vadodara was left with no choice but to order GPCB to prepare a status report of the condition of groundwater in Luna village. The report, based on investigations conducted on 27.01.2011 and 24.02.2011, was prepared by GPCB with the involvement of the community and the local elected body. This report is equally shocking; barring one bore well, all 33 bore wells were found to have colored and contaminated water. Eleven bore wells, which were sealed due to contamination, were not investigated. One bore well, whose water was not colored at the time of the report writing, was soon after found to be colored.
 
6. 05.05.2011: Effluent Channel Project Ltd. (ECPL) informed GPCB vide its letter that certain non-member industries of ECPL having a Zero Discharge Status were disposing their untreated wastewater through Reverse Boring. ECPL also informed that it had been regularly submitting monthly reports relating to violations of inlet norms to GPCB.
 
7. September 2011: The Institute of Seismological Research, Department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, submitted a report regarding groundwater pollution in Vadodara, exposing the extent of damage to groundwater due to the industrial pollution in Luna village. The relevant extracts are set out herein below:
 
“The Baroda Textile Effects Pvt. Ltd factory manufactures dyes and colors. The team members of ISR visited the TSDF waste disposal site of the factory that is designed by N.P.C New Delhi. It has a total area of 14000 m2 and depth of approximately 7m from the surface with a capacity of 80,000 m3. It was constructed during March 1997 with projected life of 6 years, i.e. until 2003. The purpose of the storage tank was to dump the hazardous waste generated from the industrial process. Disposal of the hazardous waste up to June 2011 is 97046 M tonnes. Not only the Industry kept on using the tank beyond its life, it raised the height of the tank by further 3 m above the ground level in 2006 to dump 50 % more waste than the capacity. Due to additional overload of dump and overage, some cracks have developed on the sidewalls of the tank. Some ground cracks are seen around the Tank. The disposal tank is open to sky and the solid waste in fine powder form becomes liquid due to rains…
 
On visual examination, we found that the walls of the disposal tank are badly cracked. The tank was constructed in 1997 and its life was 6 years. The disposal tank has been used much beyond its life. Moreover, initially, the disposal tank walls were up to the ground level only. The walls were raised above the ground by three meter to increase the capacity by 42 %. The tank walls were found to be badly cracked from which leakage of chemical waste is possible. Ground cracks were also observed near the tank.”
 
8. 14.05.2012: Villagers of Luna, District Vadodara wrote a letter to the Chairman and CEO of Huntsman International India (P) Ltd. demanding immediate action to address the contamination of groundwater of Luna Village due to crack in the western wall of Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) of their company Baroda Textile Effects Pvt. Ltd.
 
9. 22.05.2012: FAG wrote a letter to the Chief Minister and GPCB highlighting the grim situation of Effluent Channel Project (ECP) of Vadodara and demanded that immediate steps be taken to remedy the situation before it goes out of hand.
 
10. 28.05.2012: FAG wrote a letter to MoEFCC and CPCB expressing concern over the adverse effect on their agriculture due to seepage in ECP and demanded that the authorities should stop the use of ECP for conveying industrial effluent to the sea, and make alternative arrangements for disposal of effluent.
 
11. May 2013: ‘A REPORT ON GROUNDWATER POLLUTION IN PADRA TALUKA, DIST: VADODARA, GUJARAT” by the Central Pollution Control Board – in its recommendations clearly states:
 

  • Comply with CCA conditions particularly for non-compliance of prescribed discharged norms.
  • Expedite the establishment of disposal point into the Sea i.e. the Gulf of Cambay suggested by NIO.
  • Take strict actions against the defaulter industries.
  •  

That the report further recommended:

  • Concerned departments may address the grievances of villagers regarding drinking water supply to these villages.
  • Groundwater remediation work should be carried out immediately.
  • Fresh water from Narmada canal may be provided to affected farmers for irrigation.
  • Further industrial expansions and/or new chemical industries may not be encouraged in the area.”
  •  

12. 14.02.2014: Report by the GPCB regarding illegal hazardous waste dumping below ground inside the factory premises of (Previously known as Metrochem Industries Limited, then Baroda Textile Effects Private Limited) Huntsman International India (P) Ltd. clearly states:
 
“Crux of visit of Baroda Textile Effects P. Ltd:
 
This unit is visited under Hazardous Waste Rules under Instructions from HO. The unit has capped their landfill site and all the provided extraction wells (seven of which three are containment wells) have started operations. The water extracted is treated in their Ground Water treatment system and then reused in the plant for washing purposes. Following this, the company started further investigations to find out the cause behind the color in the groundwater. After extensive preliminary studies, they dug up the portion of land at the old gypsum storage yard in Phase I of their operations. They dug upto a depth of 3.8 mtrs and covered an area of 1782 m2 in the first phase. The quantity of gypsum+contaminated soil excavated in the first phase was 3784 MT, of which, 1205 MT gypsum was sent to the cement industry and 2579 MT contaminated soil was disposed at an external TSDF. In the 2nd phase of their operations, they dug upto a depth of 3.6 mtrs covering an area of 1150 m2 at the old gypsum storage yard. The quantity of gypsum+contaminated soil excavated in the second phase was 3836 MT, of which, 877 MT gypsum was sent to the cement industry and 2959 MT contaminated soil was disposed at an external TSDF. The land at first phase has been lined and concreted with facility for runoff collection (photo). The land at phase 2 is being converted into a garden (photo). In phase 3 of the operations, being carried out at the area behind the H-Acid Warehouse, they have already dug upto a depth of 1.8mtrs covering an area of 810m2 and excavated 1346MT of gypsum+contaminated soil, of which, 257 MT gypsum has been sent to the cement industry and 1389MT contaminated soil was disposed at an external TSDF. The industry came across RCC flooring at 1.6mtrs depth below GL (photo). At the time of visit of phase 3 operations, it is observed that the entire gypsum sludge has been lifted from site and at a depth of 1.6 mtrs (photo). They have come across blackish waste, which is powdery in nature (photo). The wall enclosing the compound has gypsum sludge stuck on it (photo). A JCB is called and the RCC flooring is dug up (photo). It is observed that the same blackish colored waste is present under the RCC also (Photo). The JCB digs further to reach fresh soil at a depth of further 1.8-2 mtrs. This shows that the entire RCC area, which is found at a depth of 1.6mtrs, conceals the blackish colored sludge (probably iron waste) underneath upto a depth of 1.8 mtrs (photo). The JCB also digs horizontally to expose the brickwork of area under the cooling tower of CPP (Photo) and the same blackish waste is recovered, but in wet form (photo). Similarly, the flooring of filter house area beside the H-Acid warehouse also shows a gap between the flooring and the consolidated soil beneath (photo). On further examination, it is observed that hazardous waste (probably gypsum sludge is buried beneath the filter press section also). A bright yellow colored waste is also recovered from the excavated portion in some areas (photo).
 
When the sludge excavated is added to water, it gives the same color as the water found in the nearby borewells (photo). In addition to the sludge, the excavation also unearthed, filter cloth, tank, etc.  The various Samples collected are as follows : (1) Black colored wet solid sample collected from excavated portion below the boundary wall of cooling tower of CPP (2) Yellowish white colored sample collected from excavated portion below the boundary wall of cooling tower of CPP (3) Blackish colored sample collected from excavated land opposite boundary wall of cooling tower of CPP (4) Blackish powdery sample collected from below RCC slab, (found 1.6m below GL) near warehouse of H-Acid plant. (5) Blackish contaminated soil found about 1.8mtrs below RCC slab (which is already 1.8 mtrs below GL) in phase 3 of the excavation (6) Yellowish colored sample collected from hazardous waste stuck to the boundary wall of filter house area of H-Acid plant. (7) Bright yellow colored sample collected from excavated area of phase 3. Videography of the entire procedure has been carried out.”
 
13. February 2016: “Ground Water Pollution In Luna, Dudhawada, Piludara Area Near Vadodara, Gujarat”, July 2016, provides sufficient evidence to take the immediate action. The report also recommends immediate, short-term, and long-term remedial measures.

14. 16.10.2018: Status of Groundwater joint investigation done by GPCB, FAG, and PSS,
15. 26.12.2018: Status of Groundwater joint investigation done by GPCB, FAG, PSS, affected Farmers and Huntsman International India (P) Ltd. highlighted high COD 2225 – 2959 in the Abstraction Well 1 and 2 of the Huntsman inside the factory premises next to the Landfill Site.
 
There have been several such letters written by PSS, FAG and repeated investigations conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, and various agencies appointed by the concerned authorities. These efforts and track records clearly demonstrate that the groundwater of villages around the ECP area is critically contaminated and needs immediate intervention, by the concerned authorities to stop further pollution of any kind and to implement well-devised short-term and long-term plans to remediate the groundwater of the area.
 
Further, a number of meetings were organised in the presence of the Member Secretary of the GPCB, the representatives of the industries of the ECP area, and representatives of affected villages and voluntary organisations working in this area on environmental concerns. In these meetings, there was no dispute about contamination of groundwater and spreading of contamination in the area. There is acknowledgement and agreement that the ECP channel and a number of industries along the ECP channel are responsible for this dangerous level of contamination of groundwater.
 
Since the year 2000, we have been communicating about the issue and about the non-compliance of ‘Effluent Channel Project’ (ECP) of ‘Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’, with the concerned authorities. This is now a publicly well-known fact. There has been no-response from the authorities in terms of definitive actions on ground and our continuous appeals have been responded with undeniable display of their nonchalance and lack of commitment to the environment and law of the land.
 
Similarly, it is expected that the Governments and State ought to implement, in letter and spirit, the Supreme Court Order, dated 22.02.2017, of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 375 of 2012 and National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, Order dated 03.08.2018 and 19.02.2019, in Original Application No. 593 of 2017.
 
The Order, dated 22.02.2017, of the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 375 of 2012 (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anrs V/s Union of India & Ors) clearly states:
 
“14. […] The concerned Pollution Control Board is also hereby directed, to initiate such civil or criminal action, as may be permissible in law, against all or any of the defaulters.”
Even the Environment Laws are also very clear. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 clearly states:
 
“17. FUNCTIONS OF STATE BOARD
 
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the functions of a State Board shall be —
(a) to plan a comprehensive programme for the prevention, control or abatement of pollution of streams and wells in the State and to secure the execution thereof;”
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 clearly states:
 
“15. PENALTY FOR CONTRAVENTION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT AND THE RULES, ORDERS AND DIRECTIONS
 
(1) Whoever fails to comply with or contravenes any of the provisions of this Act, or the rules made or orders or directions issued thereunder, shall, in respect of each such failure or contravention, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both, and in case the failure or contravention continues, with additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after the conviction for the first such failure or contravention.
 
(2) If the failure or contravention referred to in sub-section (1) continues beyond a period of one year after the date of conviction, the offender shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to seven years.
 

17. OFFENCES BY GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS

(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by any Department of Government, the Head of the Department shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
 
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall render such Head of the Department liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercise all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
 
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act has been committed by a Department of Government and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any officer, other than the Head of the Department, such officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.”
 
In such circumstances, we call for the Secretary, MoEFCC, the Chief Secretary, Gujarat State and the Chairman & Member Secretary of the GPCB to enlighten us as to what led to contamination of groundwater at such an irreversible level. The track record and evidences clearly demonstrate the failure of the Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary of Forest and Environment Department of Gujarat State, the Chairman of GPCB, the Collector of Vadodara District, who are and were holding the posts from 2000 – 2019. They have failed in their duties and responsibilities to act against the polluting industries inspite of repeated complaints and representations by the villagers and us.
 
We are extremely disturbed that the Secretary, MoEFCC; the Chief Secretary, Gujarat State; and the Chairman & Member Secretary of the GPCB are openly allowing the VECL to consistently and admittedly violate environment laws. They are also turning a blind eye to the known and admitted violation of the Order, dated 22.02.2017, of the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 375 of 2012 (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anrs V/s Union of India & Ors) and National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, Delhi Order, dated 03.08.2018, and 19.02.2019, in Original Application No. 593 of 2017, (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anrs V/s Union of India & Ors). This is nothing but Contempt of the Supreme Court’s Order.
 
The CC&A, dated 06.01.2015, clearly mentions, “10. VECL have only one outlet for the discharge of its effluent and no effluent shall be discharged without requisite treatment & without meeting with the GPCB norms.” There are many more such terms and condition mentioned in the said CC&A but the concerned authorities have failed to look into the compliance of these crucial terms and condition of CC&A.
 
Your inaction gives a clear indication that you all, as concerned authorities, are not only well aware of these facts, but you also have taken conscious decisions to illegally allow such consistently blatant, admitted, and undisputed violations of environment laws of the land and Supreme Court Order, dated 22.02.2017, in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 375 of 2012.
 
It is utterly shocking to put on record that the entire stretches of the pipeline, laid inside the existing old brick-and-mortar Effluent Channel, was installed whilst effluent was continuously flowing in Effluent Channel of VECL. It is noticed during our visit with the GPCB and VECL officials that the newly installed pipeline along Luna-Ekalbara is leaking. Two pipeline stretches, one installed at Luna-Ekalbara, and another one-year-old pipeline installed along part of Karakhdi-Hathiapura, were inspected by the Regional Officer and the Vigilance Officers of GPCB, and officers of VECL in the presence of the affected people. A detailed letter, dated 14.06.2018, 30.06.2018, 09.11.2018, 15.11.2018, 03.12.2018, 28.01.2019, 04.02.2019, and 04.03.2019 with videos and photographs were sent to you all by the FAG. This clearly indicates that the groundwater contamination is continuing due to leakage of pipeline at various places.
 
Neither the GPCB nor the industrialists have denied that the groundwater is severely contaminated, that the contamination is spreading in different areas, and it has reached irreversible/ irreparable levels because of incessant industrial activities.
 
There are a number of farmers who had been practicing organic farming (i.e. farming without the use of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers) but because of the groundwater pollution, they are not in the position to claim their agriculture produce as organic. Further, animals used for animal husbandry are forced to drink this contaminated water and eat the fodder, which is grown using contaminated groundwater.
 
The farmers who are affected by groundwater contamination and pollution have not been compensated in terms of money or in kind, in spite of the fact that nobody disputes the fact that the problem of contamination of groundwater and air pollution is because of the polluting industries located around the villages and area vis-à-vis the ECP.
 
As far as industrial clusters around ECP are concerned, they are located in the vegetable basket of Gujarat, on fertile land, which is prima facie contradictory and illegal. Majority of the industries located in this cluster do not even have the required buffer zone as per the stipulated condition in the Environment clearance. The main purpose of the buffer zone is to avert the effect of negative impact of pollution on the surrounding residential rural area. No action has been taken against these defaulting industries even after repeated letters about the violation.
 
Keeping in mind the above alarming facts and undisputed realities by CPCB, GPCB, Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited, the industries located in this area, we can surely declare this grave situation as a “Chemical Emergency”. In order to reduce further harm to the people and environment, the following immediate steps must be taken by the concerned authorities:
 

  • File a criminal case against all the industries around ECP demanding exemplary action against their main personnel for contamination of groundwater till they prove that they are not responsible for contamination of groundwater and the case should be heard in the Special Court on a  day to day basis.
  • File a criminal case against the Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary of Forest and Environment Department of Gujarat State, the Chairman of GPCB, the Collector(s) of Vadodara District who are and were holding the post from 2000 – 2019, for their failing in their duty, inspite of repeated complaints, in preventing the contamination of groundwater at irreversible level.
  • Take exemplary action against all the industries that has not provided the stipulated and required buffer zone around their industries.
  • Take exemplary action, including cancellation of “Consent to Operate’ (CTO) and ‘Environment Clearance’ (EC), against all the defaulting polluting industries located in Nandesari Industrial Estate, Vadodara Industrial Complex, and ‘ECP industrial Cluster’.
  • Cancel the ‘Consolidated Consent and Authorization’ (CC&A) of ‘Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’.
  • Immediately implement the direction of closure notice dated 13.12.2018 given to the ‘Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’ instead giving them the extension for the implementation of the closer order.
  • Initiate criminal case against the all concerned and responsible officers of ‘Vadodara Enviro Channel Limited’ and defaulting industries.
  • Monitor, using latest flow meters, the use and misuse of groundwater by the industries from their premises and check the tankers, which are coming from a faraway distance.
  • Allow the use of present remaining sources of clean water, outside the industries, by the farmers and villagers of the affected areas for drinking and agricultural purposes only and not for any commercial or industrial use.
  • Ensure Ad-hoc Exemplary Monetary Compensation along with medical services to the farmers and villagers who have suffered from the groundwater pollution. This should collectively be decided by CPCB, GPCB, affected farmers, and the representatives of the Voluntary Organisation working in this area on the basis of monthly instalments per contaminated well until decontamination of well is done by way of short-term and long-term remedial measures, including but not limited to technically and scientifically sound holistic nature restoration of polluted and damaged land and water areas based on the “Polluter Pays Principle”.
  • Immediately pay lump sum Ad-hoc Compensation of Rs. 2 Lakhs per well/bore well whose waters are contaminated since last 3 years, Rs. 5 Lakhs per well/borewell whose waters are contaminated since 3 – 5 years and Rs. 10 Lakhs per well/borewell whose waters are contaminated more than 5 years. Pay lump sum ad-hoc compensation of Rs. 15,000 per month per well/borewell until decontamination of the groundwater is achieved and real actual compensation is paid to them.
  • Immediately pay per day per animal, the value of milk yield, to the farmers engaged in animal husbandry and are having affected buffalos, cows, and other animals that are drinking contaminated groundwater and/or their fodder is grown using contaminated groundwater.
  • Immediately pay Ad-hoc Compensation per season per acre to the farmers who are forced to use contaminated groundwater for irrigation of agricultural land and hence are facing several severe problems.
  • Appoint a competent committee to assess the ongoing and past damages to quantify the real compensation payable to the farmers for the damage done.
  • Appoint a team of experts to determine and monitor the groundwater levels and quality of water on a periodic basis.
  • Devise short-term and long-term plans for remedial measures to decontaminate and remediate the groundwater based on the “Polluter Pays Principle”.
  • Declare a ‘Chemical Emergency’ in the ‘ECP Industrial Cluster’ and include ECP area as a Critically Polluted Area.
  • Impose an immediate moratorium on expansion of existing industries and for new industries in this area.
  • Devise an option of shifting of known polluting industries from this area in the interest of life, livelihood and environment of the area. These efforts must ensure regenerative design principles, follows all environment related laws in letter and spirit, and not just shift the same type of conventional industrial activities to other areas.
  • Implement the Order, dated 22.02.2017, of the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 375 of 2012 (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anrs V/s Union of India & Ors) and National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, Delhi Order, dated 03.08.2018 and 19.02.2019, in Original Application No. 593 of 2017, (Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti & Anrs V/s Union of India & Ors) in letter and spirit.
  • Appoint a high level committee of the MoEF&CC, CPCB, GPCB, local state authority, representatives of affected villagers and the representatives of the voluntary organisations working in this area on environment and independent expertise to help design, monitor, and evaluate all these works carried out in the area, on a daily basis.

 
We expect your prompt and positive response in the interest of life, livelihoods, and environment in the affected areas.
 
If you do not act now, your inaction shall be considered as Contempt of the Court of the Hon’ble Supreme Court order, dated 22.02.2017, in our PIL – Writ Petition (Civil) 375 of 2012 and may / will result in suitable further action on our part.
 
Signatories: Rohit Prajapati, Krishnakant and Swati Desai
 

Women win fight for lawyer’s rights to practice in Chhattisgarh

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In a relief for lawyers from other states, The State Bar Council of Chhattisgarh annulled a 2015 resolution passed by the Bastar Bar Association barring them from practicing in Jagdalpur. The decision was made in an appeal by lawyers of the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JAGLAG), Shalini Gera and Isha Khandelwal against the 2015 resolution.


Isha Khandelwal (left) with Shalini Gera; and (right)  Image Courtesy: Ramesh Pathania/Mint
 
Jagdalpur: In a relief for lawyers from other states, The State Bar Council of Chhattisgarh annulled a 2015 resolution passed by the Bastar Bar Association barring them from practicing in Jagdalpur.
 
The decision was made in an appeal by lawyers of the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JAGLAG), Shalini Gera and Isha Khandelwal against 2015 resolution. The resolution passed by the Bar Association was part of the pressure exerted on JAGLAG that eventually forced their eviction.
 
Though Gera and Khandelwal subsequently registered themselves with the Chhattisgarh State Bar Council after appealing against the resolution, they pushed for quashing of the same, for the benefit of their colleagues and other lawyers.
 
Two and a half years after JAGLAG first began providing legal aid in the Bastar region, the Bastar Bar Association held a general body meeting. At that meeting, a resolution was passed that prohibited non-local lawyers from appearing in cases without the prior approval of the association, Bar & Bench reported.
 
The Association passed a second resolution, an act of open hostility, saying that it would not be responsible if something untoward happened to the lawyers.
 
JAGLAG was eventually forced to exit Jagdalpur and relocate to Bilaspur, from where they continued to serve their clients.
 
In a previous interview with Bar & Bench, Shalini Gera spoke on the harassment JAGLAG and other lawyers faced from the local bar association and the police. “For the first four years, they didn’t have any issues with us; we even co-hosted a seminar on legal aid and justice with them. Just as police harassment increased, even they started harassing us. They were probably being pushed by the police. So, the police used many strategies – direct threats, pushing the Bar against us and the Samajik Ekta Manch. These were not independent incidents,” she said.
 
Shalini Gera, 46, and Isha Khandelwal, 26, fresh law graduates from Delhi (Gera, a PhD in neuroscience, came to law late) started the Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JAGLAG) in 2013 in a sparsely furnished two-room house. They first took up the task of documentation and filing RTIs.
 
They began to assist local lawyers to bring their cases to a conclusion. JAGLAG became a mobile hub for public-spirited legal interns from all over the country wanting to understand the law’s working in mofussil towns.
 
Representing tribal activist Soni Sori’s case in the Essar case gave them credibility.
 

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