More Protests, as Villagers oppose Bauxite Mining in Odisha

March 14, 2018

Residents of 24 villages at the foothills of Kodingamali adjoining Koraput and Rayagada districts in Odisha, are up in arms against bauxite mining from hill in their immediate vicinity. The villages under eight panchayats of three blocks lie on the fringes of the hill and are being affected by the mining activities. The villagers have vowed to fight against the mining operations carried out by Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), sarpanch Hasa Madangi of Murkar panchayat told the Orissa Post.

Image: Bibhuti Pati

Kodingamali hill has rich deposits of bauxite over 428.31 hectare of area. The villagers had earlier placed their demands before the state government stating that bauxite mining could only be allowed on the hill if it establishes a plant in the area and employs local youth on the basis of their merit. Additionally, it demanded improvement in healthcare service, education, transport, power and drinking water facilities in the affected villages, for carrying out mining activities.

However, the government has allegedly turned a deaf ear to their pleas and is carrying out bauxite mining operations on the hill. Meanwhile, OMC has reportedly signed a contract with Vedanta Alumina in Lanjigarh to transport the raw material to the latter’s plant without conducting a Palli Sabha in the area, a villager Jawaharlal Bagh said.

These villagers have threatened to stop allowing mining from the hill and subsequent transport of raw material, if their demands are not met. Two days ago, the villagers had blocked the road connecting to the hill. They withdrew the protests after Lakshmipur SDPO Tapan Narayan Rath assured them of looking into their demands. They have called upon the state government to act on their demands failing which they will move the apex court for justice.

They have alleged that the OMC and the consultancy agency carrying out bauxite mining, are trying to foil their protests by using the service of middlemen and anti-social elements. However, villagers claim that they are determined to stay put despite such threats. Villagers from Odisha have won historic struggles against the Vedanta conglomerate, the POSCO Company and several others.

Related Articles:
1. Odisha Village Gram Sabha Opposes Vedanta
2. Intimidation & Illegal Incarcerations of Adivasis: Odisha Police Acting at the Behest of Vedanta?
3. SC Rejects Odisha Govt Plea for Mining in Niyamgiri: Watch 6 videos on Save Niyamgiri Struggle

Muslim man dies in Gujarat after being attacked by alleged Bajrang Dal members

March 13, 2018

Farzan Saiyad, 32, who was attacked in Chhatral in Gandhinagar district on March 5, 2018 by alleged members of the Bajrang Dal, died in hospital on Monday, March 12. Following his death, members of the Muslim community mounted a demonstration at the VS Hospital, and his family refused to accept the body until their demands were agreed upon. They initially called for the arrest of the accused, and for compensation. Saiyad’s family eventually agreed to accept the body after they were informed that all seven accused in the crime had been arrested. Imran Sheikh, a social worker aiding the family, said that following news of the arrests, the family accepted the body, and, “The Muslim community decided to collect funds for the family instead of waiting for the government”.

Image Courtesy: Express Photo by Javed Raja

Farzan and his mother Roshanbiwi were allegedly attacked while making their way to the fields on March 5. The attackers allegedly cut off three of Roshanbiwi’s fingers, and broke her arm. She remains hospitalised. Farzan’s skull was broken in the attack. Family members said that the two were attacked for not abiding by the Bajrang Dal’s directive to remain indoors.

Shamshad Pathan, a lawyer helping Farzan’s family and convener of the Alp Sankhyak Adhikar Manch, noted that that the authorities had repeatedly been notified “that communal tension was building up in Chhatral, but the government did not take any action. Farzan was killed because of utter negligence on the part of the government and its failure to maintain law and order. It is bound to pay compensation for the death,” he said. Recently elected Vadgam MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who briefly joined the protest, also said, “Time and again memorandums have been given to the Collector and the SP about violence in the area, but no action has been taken.” Farzan’s uncle, Ahmed Hussain Sabbir, said, “The tension started on December 6 when Bajrang Dal led a procession through the Muslim-dominated Kasbavaas in Chhatral to mark the demolition of the Babri mosque.”

The police have acknowledged that there have been repeated instances of communal violence in Chhatral. Gandhinagar SP Virendra Yadav said, “In other cases that have happened in the recent past, we have made arrests and some matters are also in the court. We are aware of the recurring incidents and we are ensuring that there is no tension”.

My Award is a Tribute to the Reporter on the Ground: Uma Sudhir, NDTV

March 13, 2018

I am very honoured to be chosen for the Chameli Devi Jain award for 2017. I have several people to thank. First the Media Foundation, the jury Lalitha Panicker, Ritu Sarin and Rajdeep Sardesai, hugely respected names in the media fraternity.

I thank NDTV for giving me an opportunity to travel to remote areas and report on different kinds of issues. Grateful to NDTV that they allowed me the freedom to choose what I want to report on, without dictating the contours of the report. And, more important, for mainstreaming that issue, by making it a headline on the channel.

I need to also thank my team, TV is not possible without a team… camerapersons Nagaraju, Nazir Shaik and others whose enthusiasm and sustained energy drives me even when I feel tired, drained out and defeated. It is not always easy to do long, long hours of travel, reporting, writing and also what may seem like foolishly daring stuff alone, specially if there is a real threat that you could get beaten up if found out or caught during a sting operation. It has happened to us…. for instance, we were once kept captive, threatened to be beaten up, when we were caught by a child trafficking mafia. We got out, so feeling okay about it.

Another time, we have driven 18 hours to Chhattisgarh from Hyderabad, straight to an encounter site and reported out of there. We have driven from Vizag (after flying in from Hyderabad) through Srikakulam, all the way to Paradip, almost 20 years ago, during the 1999 Odisha super cyclone. We reached Paradip even before the authorities did. Those were the days of no cell phone, landlines were all gone… so you were virtually walking into a blackhole, till you get back.

Similarly, in Bellary when we were investigating the illegal mining operations… people scared us, saying it is dangerous, `you may never come out alive and we would never know where you are buried’. But we went in and came out, and I think there was bravado because we had each other for company.

So having another mad but professional and passionate person helps. The contribution of the team specially a cameraperson, for TV, cannot be overstated. One of my colleagues who recently quit said he did that because he felt very lonely after he lost his cameraperson… to downsizing, one of the challenges we are facing.

But today, I am not going to dwell on shrinking journalistic space, corporatisation / politicisation of media/news business, political colour in the newsroom, TV debates that turn into slanging matches, a live circus, or how social media that should have been a technological opportunity to democratise the media space is itself being turned into a new weapon to attack free media space… all that is happening and more… and all in this room are well-informed on these issues.

My perspective comes from the states. I speak as a reporter from a outpost. My designation is executive editor but what takes up most of my time and energy is everyday news reporting.
There are thousands like me across the country, who do every day basic reporting, without any halo or celebrity status or heroism. We need to value that reporting because that tells the real stories across the country.

These days Chandrababu Naidu is very much in the news and what he talks about is cooperative federalism. We in the bureaus also feel the need for cooperative federalism … the parallels apply to journalism as well. The view from Delhi is often very different from the view from the states. It is like the Centre and States. News can’t always be a Delhi perspective of happenings.

So it is often a battle about Your headline Versus My headline
I am not saying the regional headlines that should always become national headlines… That is not possible. But why does a Delhi headline become a national headline is our question and concern.

`Our’ as in we in the outposts. Delhi is not national. Delhi is your neighbourhood just like Hyderabad is mine. And that is something not just newsrooms but politicians need to understand too. That just because your GPS address is Delhi, it doesn’t automatically make you a national leader, the issue does not become national nor does the expert become someone with a national outlook or perspective or understanding.

I have been a field reporter for 25 years now, 20 years in tv, I can tell you it is certainly not easy. And there is an army of reporters like that across the country reporting in different languages, for different media, who are driven by the passion for news and for truth. Who do everyday news with that same commitment and passion, hopefully following the basic tenets of journalism like credibility, balance, fair with no bias.

The reporters on the field face huge challenges and pressures, and yet report… and this award to me today I think is a tribute that reporter on the ground, because I am one among them.

That reporter is a first responder in the news chain. He or she knows best the ground reality and what exactly is the story. Allow the ground reporter that space, only then can journalism thrive and you will get real stories from the ground. Otherwise the real stories will be lost forever.

Last year’s winner Neha Dixit had made a reference to the Committee to Protect journalists report that said 27 journalists were killed in 25 years. This year we have again had unfortunate incidents of Gauri Lankesh, Santanu Bhaumik and others. Of course very worrying but at least there is outrage and there is an investigation… but what happens when the journalism in the journalist is killed?

What I am very concerned is that TV reporters are often getting reduced to sound-bite collectors. They become footsoldiers who are expected to get soundbites for a TV discussion in the evening for which the angle is already pre-decided. The reporter becomes a mere cog in the wheel and it is dangerous. Because you have no control over where the wheel or vehicle is going.

I am not at all saying that happens in NDTV, am talking in a more generic sense. The reporter gets reduced to a modern day version of a stenographer, where all that you need him or her to do is to have a mike in hand and a pair of legs to run around, with no mindspace or training or energy to look for real stories. That is why we are not able to do justice to our mandate to do journalism.

We need to value that reporter, that everyday reporting, because that is the only source from where you will get the news as it happens, when it happens, and from where it happens. We need to value that everyday reporting because that is where the truth is often hidden.

Yesterday evening, out of the blue, I got a call from a young girl who spoke to me in English and said `hello madam, I am Sania, how are you etc… then she said `speak to my dad’ and passed on the phone to Papalal. Now Papalal is a man who found this baby near the Gokul chat centre, one of the two places where twin blasts happened in August 2007. He says he informed the police, but they asked him to take the baby home, to keep her safe .. of course totally the wrong thing to do.. no baby can be handed over to anyone at random… but that evening and night was totally unusual. Even later no one came to claim the baby. Both Papalal and his wife brought up the baby as their own… till some fundamentalist groups found out that the baby was Muslim and they were angry that she was being brought up in a Hindu household. They wanted her to go a madarssah or a home for Muslim orphan children, so that she would imbibe those religious values. Papalal was even sent to jail on some charges. But thanks to a series of reports on NDTV, the family got some financial help and a lot of support. So happily this girl Sania is with this family that loves her and is bringing her up as their own.

Sania is now in middle school and doing well along with her younger siblings. The couple named their baby born after that Umanath, as a tribute to a journalist who had helped them keep their first daughter. Humbling for sure.((I did not mention this in my acceptance speech).

Those are things that you can’t attribute a value to… but I am grateful to NDTV for allowing TV and editorial space for such stories… that make a difference to lives… Any number of such stories of children, people caught in unfortunate situations but when you tell those stories, there is overwhelming response and support from people, from civil society, who actually do not expect anything in return for the help they extend.

Children who become victims of conflict situations, farmers suicides, victims of violence and discrimination, whenever you tell a story honestly, overwhelming numbers of people react with unimaginable empathy and reach out, contribute generously to change lives of people who would never know them… that has been a fantastic learning for me… that people like that exist. The silver lining in a world that otherwise makes us so cynical.

((((NDTV dared to allow me to report on nearly 100 youth picked up after the mecca masjid blast and twin blasts in hyderabad. This was much before trial etc happened… another matter they were all acquitted but what we questioned was the narrative dictated by the political and administrative leadershipt at that time, the police… something that often gets very difficult to challenge.))))(i would have liked to mention this but did not do in the acceptance speech)

This at a time when there are media houses, and this is primary info, where a channel head is quoted to have said at the time of Chennai floods: “Poor people die all the time, but they don’t make our TRP. Why don’t you move to areas where `people like us’ live… where we will get BMWs floating in the waters.”
Those are the times we live in. That is why a Chameli Devi Jain award is so important. It stands for all those values that we aspire for as journalists. It reinforces faith that the work you do matters, that it makes a difference. thank you.

(Uma Sudhir, who received the 2017 Chameli Devi Jain award for journalism gave this impromptu acceptance speech)

Assam Police Attack on Journalists Condemned

March 13, 2018

Reports of brute physical attacks on journalists, including women have been roundly condemned. The Network of Women in Media (NWMI) unequivocally condemns the physical attack by Assam police personnel on journalists on the Assam-Mizoram border at Hailakandi on March 10, in which a woman scribe was gravely injured.

Image Courtesy: Scroll.in

In a statement issued today, the NWMI states, :According to News18’s Emmy C Lawbei, who was injured in the incident, the police started raining blows on them when a heated exchange took place at the spot where protesters had gathered. She remembers that the police did not stop even when they were informed that Emmy and others present were journalists.

“I screamed and said I’m a journalist but they keep beating us. I felt a sharp pain on my butt, back and my arms. Police also opened fire and I was so scared, I started running back towards the car,” Emmy is reported as saying. She saw another woman colleague running towards the car and she followed her. “Police keep chasing, screaming and beating us. No matter how many times I shouted I’m a journalist, they turned a deaf ear. I also saw another reporter getting hit on his head, he lost his glasses and ran towards safe area. Another Reporter from Kolasib also got injured,” says Emmy.
“Attacks on journalists in the Northeast have become dangerously routine. Last year, two journalists from Tripura were killed. Santanu Bhowmik was hacked to death by a mob during clashes between two political parties in September last year. Two months later, journalist Sudip Datta Bhaumik was shot dead inside a Tripura State Rifles premises by a security guard. In Assam alone, 32 journalists have been killed in the last 30 years alone. In almost all cases, perpetrators have not faced any consequence, and it was only last year, that the Assam government gave out a compensation of Rs 5 lakhs.

“Women journalists in the state have often faced physical attacks in the hands of policemen.

“Violence of any nature should have no space in a functional democracy. The law and order machinery must not resort to violence as the first response to citizens exercising their fundamental right to protest. Violence directed at journalists trying to do their legitimate work in such situations points to a complete disregard for freedom of expression in general and media freedom in particular that are essential to the proper functioning of a democracy.

The NWMI has condemned the attack, and demands that the Assam government not only initiate an inquiry into the matter but take action against the erring policemen and make it clear that such violent behaviour will not be tolerated in the future.

Data on Child Sexual Abuse cases required from HCs: SC order

March 13, 2018

As instances of child sexual abuse are coming to light on a more regular basis, a three judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, has ordered data from the High Courts on the number of pending child sexual abuse cases booked under the POCSO Act, 2012.

STOCK IMAGE

In the year 2016 alone, as many as 106958 cases of crimes against children were recorded in 2016. Of these, 36,022 cases were recorded under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava filed a petition which said there was 95% pendency rate, as per the statistics of the National Crime Record Bureau. CJI Misra noted that the court wanted fresh and independent data collected by a team constituted under the supervision of the CJIs of the High Courts. The purpose behind asking for fresh and independent data remains unclear when the NCRB already had released the data.

The petition was filed in the case concerning the brutal sexual assault of an eight month old child who is admitted in AIIMS for intensive care under the court’s January 31 order. The child is serious and battling for her life right now.

As per the Act, special courts have been designated to look into the cases on a speedy basis. The Bench said it wanted to know the status so that it could set a deadline for the completion of trials in these courts. The Supreme Court has allocated four weeks for the High Courts to submit the data to the Supreme Court Registry..

In February, the court had said, “The death penalty is not the answer for everything.”

After Maharashtra, Gujarat & Odisha Farmers Protest, even threaten Self-Immolation

March 13, 2018

In Odisha, fast on the heels of Maharashtra’s spectacular farmer’s protest, 15,000 farmers farmers converged on Odisha capital on Monday to press for farm loan waiver and pension. Around 180 farmers are on an indefinite hunger strike.

Representation Image

Over 150 farmers from Gujarat’s Palanpurdistrict have threatened self-immolation. These farmers, hailing from the flood-hit areas of Ratangadh village of Kankrejtaluka in Banaskantha have made the threat of self-immolation over non-payment relief compensation, by the government.In a letter sent to district collector DilipRana, the farmers threatened to immolate themselves at the collectorate premises in Palanpur in the first week of April if their demand for compensation for erosion of land due to flood was not met by March 31.

The farmers stated that despite several reminders and request nothing had been done. This is in a state held up for the ‘Gujarat model’ of development. The Times of India quotes Dinesh Chaudhary, a farmer from Ratangadh, said, “On October 16 last year, we had given a memorandum to the collector bringing to notice about corruption in survey of compensation work for deciding the amount. We personally requested the officials but they turned deaf ears to our pleas.”

“A team of officials comprising gramsevak, revenue talati and a survey team visited the village but they considered just 10 rich farmers who had political backing while poor farmers were ignored,” the letter stated.

Odisha Farmers Demands: Their demands include, among others, the allocation of Rs 21,600 crore in the state budget for aRs 5,000 pension a month to each poor farmer in Odisha, which has 55 lakh farmers, of which 36 lakh are poor and marginal ones.

Protesting under the aegis of NavnirmanKrushakSangathan (NKS), the farmers came in a procession staged a protest near the assembly in Bhubaneswar. They also demanded a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 3,000 per quintal from the current Rs 1,550. “The state government can give a bonus of Rs 500 on every quintal of paddy procured. We also urge the government to waive the farm loan,” said NKS national coordinator Akshaya Kumar.

Talking about the Maharashtra protests, Kumar said, “The demands of farmers are similar across the country. Not only Maharashtra, farmers from Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir to Kanyakumari will also rise in protest against the government’s indifference to their problems.”

How the Modi Regime’s 2018 Compensatory Afforestation Rules Violates the Rights of Adivasis & Forest Dwellers

March 13, 2018

The Compensatory afforestation fund violates statutory rights of forest-dwelling communities

This is the Full Text of the note prepared for submission to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, by Pravin Mote and Devjeet Nandi of the All India Forum for Forest Movements (AIFFM), and Tushar Dash, SanghamitraDubey and Radhika of the Community Forest Rights -Learning & Advocacy (CFR-LA) on draft Compensatory Afforestation Fund Rules, 2018:
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act 2016 gravely violates the constitutional and legal rights as well as livelihoods of adivasis and forest dwellers in India, under Article 300A of the Constitution, Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) and the Forest Rights Act (FRA). In its current form, the Act encourages violation of rights and criminal atrocities against the forest communities by encouraging tree plantations and other activities on lands that already belong to them, and over which the Gram Sabha has the legal rights and authority of management and conservation. In response to protests by tribal organizations and forest rights groups, the then minister of MoEFCC had assured the RajyaSabha that the CAF Rules will ensure compliance with FRA and the decision-making authority of the relevant Gram Sabhas. The present draft rules renege on the assurance made by the minister and do not make clear provisions to incorporate FRA and the role of Gram Sabha in managing CA funds.

A study conducted by the CFR-LA on plantations under compensatory afforestation (CA) covering a macro-analysis of 2548 plantations across the country, and 129 case studies from the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat reveal gross violation of rights of scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers in implementation of CA.

Major objections to draft CAF rules
Draft Rules do not comply with FRA and PESA, and encourage land and forest rights violations
The Schedule V to the Constitution, PESA and the FRA provide for the democratic governance of land and forest resources by local communities who have traditionally lived in and used the forests for their sustenance. FRA, specifically, vests the right and authority to protect, regenerate, conserve and manage community forest resources (CFR) in the Gram Sabha and forest rights holders.Contrary to this, the CAF Act and draft Rules empower the forest bureaucracy with the management, administration and implementation of CA funds, thus violating Forest Rights Act and the constitutional and statutory rights of tribals and forest-dwelling communities.

(1) The Gram Sabha is the rightful authority to manage and administer CA funds, and not the forest department:
As per Section3 (1)(i) and Section5 of FRAthe right and authority to conserve, protect, manage and regenerate their community forests vests in the Gram Sabha and forest rights holders. Guideline issued by MoTA under section 12 of FRA for governance and management of CFRs clarifies that community forest resource areas constitute a new category of forest area to be governed and managed by Gram Sabhas and committees constituted under Rule 4(1)(e) of FRA, and require that CFRs of all villages with forests should be duly recognized. The guidelines require the state governments to make available funds under TSP, MGNREGA, CAMPA to the Gram Sabhas for development of CFRs.The draft Rules do not have provisions to ensure compliance with the rights and authorities of Gram Sabhas under the FRA, which requires the CA funds to be transferred to them for administration.

The draft Rules, under Rule 2(h), include a definition of ‘community forest management plan’. As the term is not used anywhere in the body of the Rules, the definition serves no purpose other than to undermine the authority of the Gram Sabha under S.5, FRA. The Gram Sabha is empowered to form a Conservation and Management Committee under Rule 4 (1)(e), FRA, which can prepare its own plans for forest conservation under the overall control of the Gram Sabha (Rule 4 (1)(f)). The provision must be removed to prevent misuse of the provision.

(2) Definition of Gram Sabha under draft Rules violates FRA:
FRA defines the Gram Sabha as an assembly of all adult persons of a village with the full and unrestricted participation of women. Village is further defined to include village as defined under PESA in Scheduled Areas, forest villages, old habitations or settlements, unsurveyed or traditional villages. The draft Rules, instead, gives a broad definition of Gram Sabha as per Article 243(b) of the Constitution, allowing Gram Sabhas at the level of the Panchayat,which could include multiple revenue villages with thousands of members. This restricts rightsholders from exercising direct management and control over forests.

(3) Draft Rules do not have provision to ensure recognition and vesting of rights of tribals and forest-dwelling communities while carrying out compensatory afforestation:
As per the aforementioned study by CFRLA, CA plantations have been widely set up on the claimed and titled forest land under FRA in many states. These include individual forest land and community forest resources, common lands, forests accessed for non timber forest produce, pastures and grazing grounds, as well as sites of religious and cultural significance. In many instances, access to these lands is prohibited or heavily restricted, preventing the exercise of forest rights, and leading to criminal atrocities under S.3(1)(g) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (PoA). Further, as per Guideline F.No.11-423/2011- FC, dated 8th November 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has also permitted the creation of land banks out of degraded and/or revenue forests, on which communities have recorded rights, for CA purposes. CA plantations are thus leading to gross land and forest rights violations of forest-dwelling communities. The draft Rules do not have any provision to ensure protection of legal rights of communities over customary forests.

The CAF Act and the draft Rules also provide for the use of CA funds for the relocation of villages within protected areas. This is completely illegal and in contravention of Section 4, FRA, which provides that no rights can be modified or resettle until the process of rights recognition is complete. Relocationshould rightly be included as a prohibited activity under Rule 5(6), for which CA funds cannot be used.

(4) Draft Rules illegally limit application of FRA to select areas:
The draft Rules limit the application of FRA by suggesting compliance ‘wherever applicable’. FRA, under section 4 (1) recognizes and vests rights in forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers in respect of all forest rights mentioned in section 3 over all types of forest land. Further FRA provides for a framework for recording the forest rights so vested and ensures protection of the rights while verification and recognition is completed. Therefore it is clear that FRA applies to all forest lands where tribals and forest dwellers have traditional and customary rights including land on which titles have been granted under FRA as well as forests over which claims are currently pending, or over which communities have pre-existing rights but have not initiated the claims process. It is estimated that the minimum area (where direct recorded evidence already exists) of forests over which governance and management rights of the Gram Sabhas under FRA can immediately be recognized is over 47% of India’s forests. The draft Rules however seek to limit compliance only to those areas where the titles of rightsholders have been formally recognized (titled), which is a mere 3% of the minimum potential of FRA.

Draft Rules dilute the constitutional and statutory requirement of free, prior and informed consent of Gram Sabhas
The Draft Rulesprovide that CA activities will be “taken up in consultation with the Gram Sabha or Van SamrakshanSamiti or Village Forest Committee as the case may be, and shall be in consonance with the provisions of the [FRA] wherever applicable”.

(1) Mere consultation is not equal to free, prior and informed consent:
Requiring mere consultation is a violation of the constitutional and statutory rights of forest-dwelling communities under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) and FRA, which decentralizes governance of lands and forests with the local communities. As mentioned above, S.3(1)(i) and S.5, FRA empower the Gram Sabhas of all STs and other forest-dwelling communities to conserve, protect, manage and regenerate their customary forests. The Supreme Court held in the case of Orissa Mining Corporation v. Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Changethat the Gram Sabha is the rightful authority to take decisions relating to the protection of rights of forest-dwellers, as well as the protection and conservation of the forests. This makes mandatory the requirement of obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of Gram Sabhas for any activities on their customary lands. The MoEF’s own order F. No. 11-9/1998- FC(pt) dated 03.08.2009 expressly stipulates that the use of and forest land for non-forest purpose requires prior recognition of forest rights, and the free, prior and informed consent of Gram Sabhas, in the local languages.
As per evidence collected from the states in the aforementioned study, the prior consent of the Gram Sabha was not sought in an overwhelming majority of the cases in Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Rightsholders also do not have any prior information on proposed and actual plantation activities. There are also instances in Odisha, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, where consent from the community and gram sabhas has been obtained through fraudulent and coercive means.

(2) Absence of participation in decision-making has an adverse impact on livelihoods of rightsholding communities:
The requirement of mere consultation restricts the ability of rightsholders to participate in decision-making relating to their rights and livelihoods. Communities widely report livelihood and food distress on account of monoculture plantations of commercial species such as teak and eucalyptus on cultivation land and community forest resources. This destroys local biodiversity and limits access to their resource base, which fulfills essential needs for income, food, medicine, fuel and firewood, NTFP, grazing pastures.

(3) VSS and JFMC cannot substitute Gram Sabhas
Consultation with Gram Sabhas can be bypassed under the draft Rules, as consultation is proposed with Gram Sabha or the Van SamrakshanSamitis (VSS) or Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs). Equating Gram Sabha, which is a statutory authority established by FRA and PESA, with VSS/JFMC, which are not legal bodies, is a blatant violation of law. They are not lawful authorities to consult regarding CA activities. As per our study, in Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the Forest Department has adopted this practice of obtaining consent of JFMCs by bypassing the Gram Sabhas, which is a violation of FRA.

Apart from the above objections and concerns on the CAF Rules we would like to submit the major demands made by forest rights groups to the government to,

Repeal CAF Act or amend it to ensure compliance with the Forest Rights Act; ensure that forest rights are duly recognized and vested before land is used for CA plantations
Ensure that all accumulated CA funds are democratically managed and administered by transferring to the Gram Sabhas empowered to manage and conserve forests, and, at the minimum, all activities with the fund must be done with the free, prior and informed consent of Gram Sabhas;
Those illegally evicted and/or relocated for CA plantations must be restituted and compensated
Immediate withdrawal of Guideline F.No.11-423/2011- FC, dated 8th November 2017 for creation of land banks for CA purposes from revenue and common lands.

Liverpool FC’s Mohamed Salah’s goal celebrations: a guide to British Muslimness

March 13, 2018

Salah celebrates scoring a goal. Peter Powell/EPA

Liverpool FC’s Egyptian-born forward Mohamed Salah is currently one of the Premier League’s most prolific goalscorers. This, his debut season with Liverpool, has seen Salah earn multiple accolades: most left-footed goals scored in a Premier League season, second-fastest player in Liverpool’s history to reach 30 goals, one of the top ten goalscorers in Europe, and 2017 African Footballer of the Year.

He shows no signs of lowering his goal tally as the season goes on, with commentator and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher viewing Salah as a strong contender for another Player of the Year award. In a league that is regularly touted as so open that any team can win, lose, or draw against any other, unpredictability is the name of the game. Yet this season, Salah’s consistent goalscoring record seems to buck that trend. Salah’s counterattacking form was of particular concern for Manchester United when they played Liverpool on March 10, as they sat deep and defended against the Merseyside club for much of the match.

Beautiful though they are to watch, what I find most interesting about Salah’s goals are his celebrations and their reception. Because consistently, Salah does two things after scoring. First, he hugs his teammates, a typical response. But then, he performs sujood, the Islamic act of prostration.

Sujood normally occurs twice in every section of salaat – a word commonly mistranslated as prayer (following its Arabic root, salaat is better translated as “connection”). A Muslim who performs salaat the requisite five times daily finds themself in sujood 34 times each day. In Islamic thought, sujood is perceived of as the physically lowest, but spiritually highest, position a person can take. Salah’s performance of sujood outside of salaat, then, is a specific expression of gratitude for goals scored.

Though many other Premier League footballers are Muslim, Salah is the only one who regularly prostrates on the pitch.

Getting goals

Liverpool fans have taken note. After his recent Champions League goal against the Portuguese side Porto in Liverpool’s 5-0 victory, some fans developed a chant praising him:

Mo Sa-la-la-la-lah, Mo Sa-la-la-la-lah
If he’s good enough for you he’s good enough for me.
If he scores another few then I’ll be Muslim too.
If he’s good enough for you he’s good enough for me.
He’s sitting in the mosque that’s where I wanna be.

The chant, which is a rewrite of lyrics from the 1996 song Good Enough by British power pop rock trio, Dodgy, quickly went viral on Twitter and YouTube. News outlets including Al Jazeera and the BBC laud the chant as a demonstration of inclusivity. It is catchy, for sure. But is it inclusive? It’s not quite that simple.

Salah’s work and the chant itself fit squarely into two common narratives: that of the good Muslim/bad Muslim; and the good immigrant. Articulated by political scientist Mahmood Mamdani, among others, the good Muslim/bad Muslim binary portrays the “good” as those who appease society by accepting majority values and customs, while the “bad” are those who resist it religiously, culturally, or politically.

Being good

The “good” Muslim is the “hero” imam of Finsbury Park, who stopped worshippers from beating up a terrorist named Darren Osborne after he drove a van into a crowd during Ramadan 2017. The “bad” Muslim is the director of the “controversial” advocacy group CAGE, who refused to allow police to search his laptop and mobile phone under Schedule 7 powers granted to the British government by the Terrorism Act.

This binary maps onto those immigrants who are perceived of as “good”. In his note that opens The Good Immigrant, editor Nikesh Shukla references writer Musa Okwonga when arguing:

The biggest burden facing people of colour in this country is that society deems us bad immigrants – job-stealers, benefit-scroungers, girlfriend-thieves, refugees – until we cross over in their consciousness, through popular culture, winning races, baking good cakes, being conscientious doctors, to become good immigrants.

Salah is one of those good immigrants.

And here is the paradox of his sujood. Being praised by non-Muslim Liverpool supporters as “good” is positive, of course. But it is conditional. The chant makes clear that it is only “if” Salah continues to score goals that his displays of Muslimness will be accepted. It is only “if” he remains good that he will continue to be worshipped by them. It is only “if” he furthers his professional excellence that opinions about Islam may shift.

Addictive as it is, the chant flies in the face of spoken word poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan’s demand that society move beyond loving the Muslim who excels in athletics or bakery to include those who “don’t offer our homes or free taxi rides after the event” and are “wretched, suicidal, naked, and contributing nothing”. The double-edged sword of Salah’s sujood is that it is tied to his excellence on the field.

If he stops scoring, he will stop performing sujood. As a result, fans will love him – and Islam – a little less.

Asif Majid, PhD Canddiate in Anthropology, Media, and Performance, University of Manchester

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Getting goals

Being good

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