Widespread Illegal Detentions & Arrests of Dalits , Combing Operations Continue in Dalit Bastis: Maharashtra

January 18, 2018

In the aftermath of the protests that erupted after Dalits were attacked in BhimaKoregaon, instead of arresting the accused and provocateurs of the violence namely Milind Ekbote and Manohar (Shambhaji) Bhide, the Maharshtra police is allegedly running an insidious combing and search operation especially in bastis where Dalit-Bahujan working class people reside. This has terrorised the people in these areas and while many have been arrested, some have had no option but to flee. This has severely disturbed the delicate economic and social fabric in which people survive, from one day to another. We have been receiving multiple SOS calls from people from different areas and thus we have prepared a brief summary of the information that we have received so far. This is a precursor to legal action that we plan to initiate. Kalyan East is particularly badly affected as are Powai and Kurla areas in the city of Mumbai and Nanded, Latur and Aurangabad. Day before yesterday nine such women arrestees –detained and then arrested by Kalyan police though they had nothing to do with the protests –were finally granted bail by the local court. When SabrangIndia team tried to reach out to the DCP and ACP from Kalyan area, they were unavailable. A delegation to the Commissioner of Police, Pune is being planned tomorrow to petition him on the issue.

Photos of a deserted area in Kalyan east where residents have fled because of the hounding and combing operations by the police.

In Kalyan east a serious section 307 (attempt to murder) has been lodged on as many as approximately 95 accused. At least 13 persons, as reported from Kalyan had to even spend a week or so in judicial custody in the absence of legal aid or any kind of support mechanism.

First and foremost, FIRs have been registered in an arbitrary manner on groups of people.

A large number of people, who approached us were charged with Sections 427 and Section 34 of IPC. Section 427 pertains to mischief causing damage to amounts more than Rs. 50 causing punishments with imprisonment of terms extending to two years, or fine or both. Section 34 pertains to a criminal act done by a group of persons in furtherance of common intention of all, where the person will be considered liable for it in the same manner as it was done by him alone.

FIRs have been filed referring to these sections but not naming any accused. For example, the case of damage caused to a bus which was traveling from Kandhar to Jham which could not identify the accused. It was merely said that two-three unidentified people from within the passengers started pelting stones and broke the glass of the bus.

The manner of composition of the FIRs is extremely vague. For instance, in another case of broken glasses of a FIAT showroom owned by Kanta Agency located at WajegaonNanded, the complainant merely said that glasses of the showroom were broken, causing damages worth Rs. 150000 and that one of the cars, of the FIAT Punto model’s front has hit by stones causing a damage of Rs. 50000. Here too, the complainants have failed to mention the names of the accused.

Other Sections such as Sec. 147 for rioting, Sec. 332 for voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, Sec. 336 for acts endangering life or personal safety of others, Sec. 353 for assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharge of his duty, Sec. 295 for injuring or defiling places of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class etc. have been imposed in FIRs which do not name any accused persons. On the basis of these FIRs, the Maharashtra police has been randomly arresting and picking up people from bastis.

People have been picked up from Kandhar, NandedGaon, Bhusaval, Umari, Himayat Nagar, Tamasa, Hadhgaon, Kalyan, Mumbai and other areas in groups of 20-25.

In another case, even as peaceful protests were going on in Hadhgaon taluka, Ashti village, men from the Rapid Action Force lathi charged on people. During the lathi-charge a school going boy died by head injuries. The parents have sought relief and the BharipaBahujanmahasangh has sent a letter to District collector of Nanded.

This is an emergency like situation. However, the mainstream media has chosen to completely side-line this issue. In these extraordinary circumstances, it is extremely crucial now that organisations and individuals come together to support those who have been victims of such combing operations.

Basu, not Bachchan is the real hero

January 17, 2018

It was January 2010. I was visiting Calcutta for the first time. It’s a big Indian city located in the West Bengal state of India. I always wanted to see Comrade Jyoti Basu- the former Chief Minister of the state who was at the time of my visit battling for life at a hospital.

Image Courtesy: Outlookindia.com

Ninety-six year-old Basu was the towering leader of India’s Marxist Communist Party and had led the West Bengal state for many years before he retired. Though he was disliked by the Indian bourgeois for his land reforms, he was equally disliked by the revolutionary communists who parted ways with him to launch an armed resistance that came to be known as the Naxalite movement. The Naxals often accused Basu of not doing enough for the poor and marginalized and rather suppressing the rebels and voice of dissent.

But there is one aspect of Basu that makes him a real hero for the minority Sikh community in that region. In fact, during my visit to Calcutta I stayed with Sohan Singh Aitiana, a Sikh political activist associated with Basu’s party. He has been a staunch supporter of Basu like many other Sikhs in Calcutta.

Basu had played a significant role during November 1984 when the country witnessed anti-Sikh massacre engineered by the Indian state following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in New Delhi.

Gandhi was murdered in retaliation of the military attack on the Golden Temple Complex, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar in June that year. The army invasion was ordered by Gandhi to flush out religious extremists led by a fiery Sikh preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who had fortified the place of worship. Bhindranwale was accused of running death squads from inside the temple. His supporters were behind many political murders, including that of Communists who were opposed to religious fanaticism.

The army operation had left many innocent pilgrims dead and several important buildings inside the complex heavily destroyed. Bhindranwale also died fighting against the army during the attack. This had enraged the Sikh community and under those circumstances Gandhi was murdered inside her official residence. The slain leader’s Congress party that claims to be secular organised mass violence against innocent Sikhs all over India.

Sensing danger in West Bengal, Basu displayed an exceptional leadership in his territory. He ordered the deployment of army and asked his party volunteers to come out in open and protect the Sikh community. While the entire country burnt leaving thousands of Sikhs dead, West Bengal remained largely peaceful with very few deaths. Since then the Sikhs in West Bengal always saw Basu as their saviour.

From Aitiana I learnt how Sikh community of his generation felt indebted to Basu who ensured that the Sikhs remained safe in his jurisdiction, whereas the community was hounded aggressively in the Congress ruled states where the police either sided with the mobs or looked the other way. Indira Gandhi’s son Rajiv Gandhi who succeeded her as the next Prime Minister drew maximum mileage from the bloodshed as he used the slogan of National Unity to win the next election with brute majority. Riding on the anti-Sikh wave famous Hollywood star Amitabh Bachchan also got elected as Congress MP. Bachchan was close to the Gandhi family and had remained with Rajiv Gandhi throughout the funeral of his mother.

While in Calcutta I kept trying to meet Basu at the hospital with the help of Aitiana but never succeeded. Nobody was allowed inside the Intensive Care Unit, except the close family members. The local Sikh community too kept visiting the hospital and prayed for the speedy recovery of their beloved leader. Then one evening when we stopped by at the hospital we saw heavy deployment of police and a huge crowd outside the building. We were told that Bachchan was visiting the ailing leader. After some time when Bachchan appeared there was a big cheer from the crowd that I realized had gathered not for Basu but to have a glimpse of Bachchan. Many were eager to take his picture on their mobile phones. That was the first time I saw Bachcha in person as he walked past.

There was a time when I too was a big fan of Big B, a term frequently used for Bachchan by media commentators. As a teenager I never missed a chance to watch his latest films. Supremo, a comic series based on him was my favourite. I kept checking with the bookstalls for it every month to get the newest edition of Supremo. I had sent a letter to Bachchan asking for his autograph on the mailing address I found either in Supremo or elsewhere. After some time when I got a postcard picture of him addressed to me with his autograph in the mail, I felt on top of the world. I loved to mimic his dialogues and sing his songs for my classmates and family. Collecting his posters also became my hobby. In 1982, when he got injured doing a stunt during shooting of film Coolie I too prayed for his long life. When he finally recovered I also thanked the almighty. I remember that when Coolie was released the Bachchan fans rushed to theatres to watch the particular scene that led to his injury. I still remember watching the caption appearing on the screen during that scene that announced it was here that Bachchan got injured.

All this however changed in 1984 after the massacre of Sikhs. Though I became an atheist as I grew older, being born in a Sikh family, I was carried away by the repression of my community at the age of 14. I was religious at that time and could not bear the loss of my compatriots. Although my family did not suffer during anti-Sikh violence as we lived in Punjab, we were very shaken by what happened to the people of our community in other states. I somehow started getting disinterested in Bollywood party because of growing sense of alienation within the Sikh community. When I learnt from someone that Bachchan was among those Congress supporters who had incited the mobs I couldn’t believe my ears. However, I do remember seeing him standing next to the body of Indira Gandhi lying in state on TV. During this time I remember having heard myself people chanting slogans, “Khoon ka badla khoon se lenge (we will avenge blood with blood)” on TV, but not sure if Bachchan was present at that particular moment or he also joined the chorus. There are some who claim that he did raise the slogan. US-based Sikhs For Justice had tried to get him summoned for inciting the anti-Sikh massacre. So much so, Bachchan had clarified to the Sikh clergy that he wasn’t involved in the violence. He continues to insist that he is proud of his partial Sikh heritage as his mother was a Sikh.

However, that does not help. Bachchan never uttered a word against the massacre and those who organised it. He rather got a privilege to get elected as Congress party MP. There is no doubt that the entire Congress machinery was involved in the massacre and for that reason Bachchan will always be seen as a complicit in the crime by the history. By remaining silent to the massacre of the Sikhs he did a great disservice to the humanity. The image of his being “an angry young man” who could fight single handed with goons on the silver screen gradually began receding in my memory. His actions on screen rather than his acting skills had influenced me at an impressionable age. Even as I kept watching some of his films during later years mainly due to peer pressure, I was left with no particular liking for him. The memories of 1984 kept coming back in waves whenever I used to see his image. I once thought of mailing back to him his autographed picture that I cherished so much along with a protest letter. Nevertheless, I never bothered about it and if I vaguely remember I threw it away in the garbage. Few months ago, I tried to confront him on Facebook when he was doing live posting, but he never answered my questions and kept responding to the greetings by those who joined.

The year 2002 became another watershed year for me. The state of Gujarat under Chief Minister Narendra Modi witnessed well organized massacre of Muslims. Those involved were the supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharitya Janata Party (BJP). The violence followed the burning of a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. Over 50 passengers had died in the incident that was blamed on Muslim fundamentalists by the Modi government. The BJP supporters used similar techniques to target Muslims that were applied against Sikhs by the Congress in 1984. Following into the footsteps of Rajiv Gandhi, Modi too emerged victorious in the assembly election held after the violence.

Notably, Bachchan had acted in Dev, a powerful film based on Gujarat massacre. He played as a police officer who is determined to punish the guilty involved in the killings of Muslims. Yet, he chose to ignore all this in real life when he agreed to become brand ambassador for Gujarat state at the request of Modi. So much so, he tried to project Modi in a positive light before 2014 when Modi became the Prime Minister of India with a brute majority in the national election held that year. Much like his deafening silence over 1984 anti-Sikh violence, his quietness over the Gujarat massacre was very disheartening. This is despite the fact that he frequently tries to make statement on social issues. How can he therefore be so indifferent to such violent crimes against minorities in India?

His track record leaves little doubt that he isn’t the real hero we should be looking at with some hope. For one, being an elected politician in the past, he cannot claim to be politically naïve or neutral to distance himself from such episodes. Also, being a character of films like Dev, he cannot plead ignorance over such inconvenient truths.

If I have to choose between Bachchan and Basu, I would pick the later as real hero. It was Basu who swam against the current by taking a strong position against violence against a minority community, while Bachchan was a beneficiary. He has established beyond doubt that he lacks courage to stand up against majoritarianism both in relation to the violence in 1984 and 2002. I don’t even recall if he ever took any position against similar violent incidents that happened in between 1984-2002 or later. When many actors and cultural activists have come out against recent attacks on minorities under Modi government, Bachchan has remained mum. On the contrary, Basu took a great political risk for Sikhs who merely form two percent of the Indian population. He had also acknowledged in his memoir that his party lost heavily in the general election that followed the 1984 carnage, whereas the Congress gained by polarizing Hindu majority against the Sikhs by using Gandhi’s murder as a political weapon to get sympathy vote. He had also pointed out that the BJP supporters too had participated in the anti-Sikh violence. This isn’t surprising as the Congress supporters too had participated in the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat as foot soldiers. Both parties have indulged in majoritarianism. The difference lies only in the brands. The BJP is an outright sectarian party that wants to transform India into a Hindu state, the Congress on the other hand tries to please Hindu majority under the garb of secularism. As against Basu, Bachchan failed to challenge both parties.

Basu was not a perfect politician. He he may have many limitations. But when he passed away on January 17 after I left without seeing him even once, he left behind a legacy of real secularism. This is the reason why the Sikhs in particular and minorities in general will always remember him as a statesman who continued to denounce religious intolerance. One striking thing I noticed during my trip to Calcutta was that a Sikh man who drove me around had a big sticker of Bhindranwale on the rear window of his car. In spite of his liking for Bhindranwale whose followers continue to hate communists for being agnostic this man said that he has always voted for Basu and his party and will continue to do so. I felt pity on those ordinary people who had gathered at the hospital where Basu was admitted to see Bachchan without realising that the actual hero was the one fighting for life inside and not the one they see in action on celluloid. Today when the minorities feel insecure under Modi government and the opposition lacks a strong leadership, Basu is even more relevant to get India out of the turmoil.

MOEFCC Clearance to Devsari HEP Project Sans Scrutiny: Activists

January 17, 2018

In a strongly worded letter to the minister of environment, forests and climate change, Dr Harsh Vardhan, activists and representatives of people’s movements (Matu Jansangthan) have questioned the cavalier manner in which the MOEFCC has left the critical and sensitive issue of grant of proposed Devsari HEP for grant of Stage-1 Forest Clearance without scrutinising the project in all its entirety. The activists claim that the MOEFCC has shifted the responsibility for clarifying the dispute over 0.754 hectare of forest land to the State Government which seems to have no conclusive answer to the same. The minutes of FAC dated 20-12-2017, can be found on http://forestsclearance.nic.in/ where you can see page no. 16 the grant of sanction for the proposed Devsari project.

The text of the letter is reproduced below:

To, January 17, 2018
Dr. Harsh Vardhan
The Minister
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
Mr. C. K. Mishra
The Secretary (EF & CC),
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, Jorbagh Road, New Delhi – 110 003
INDIA

Subject: Request to revoke the recommended Forests Clearance to Devsari Hydro Electric Project (252 MW), Uttarakhand
Dear Sirs,

This is in reference to the recommendation given by the Hon’ble Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) to the proposed 252 MW Devsari Hydroelectric Project on Pinder River in the State Uttarakhand in their meeting dated 20^th December 2017.

1. We understand that the proposal for the Stage-I Forest Clearance for the proposed HEP is incomplete because 0.754 hectare of forest land already stands diverted for the already existing Deval HEP.

2. MOEF & CC in its recommendation to the proposed HEP has adopted a hands-off approach when it says that any dispute between Deval HEP and SJVNL is the sole responsibility of the State Government and that MOEF & CC has no responsibility, financial or legal. However, it is the sole duty of the MOEF & CC to consider every proposal in complete detail and recommend the non-forestry use of the proposed forest land only after all the aspects/issues of the proposal have been looked into and dealt with and there is clarity with respect to the same. This project has been dealt with FAC at multiple points of time (specifically, 21-22.12.2012, 28.01.2015, 31.12.2015, 16.02.2016, 28.02.2017 and 30.08.2017) and a perusal of the minutes of these meetings suggests that issue of diversion the 0.754 hectares of forest land has lingered on and State Government and the project proponent for the proposed Devsari HEP (SJVNLtd.) and Deval HEP haven’t reached on any conclusion with respect to the same. In last their last meeting dated 20.12.2017, FAC did not conclusively deliberate on the issue that and instead have shifted the burden to the State Government. However, it is indeed incomprehensible that on what basis the State Government has been given the responsibility when they themselves haven’t reached any conclusion with respect to the issue in question. Such behaviour is unacceptable from the FAC is scrutinise the project in all its aspects.

3. The EIA-EMP Report for the proposed Devsari HEP was made in 2008, however, since then the ecology of the proposed project affected Chamoli regions has changed since then. In 2010 the region experienced large scale landslides and floods; local people’s agitation bear testimony to this fact. Letter and photographs can be produced if demanded. However, EIA has not taken into consideration the above.

4. In June 2013, there was a massive flood in the Pinder River specifically in the proposed project area. Since then the River has changed its course. The devastating floods and landslides led to roads getting disappeared affecting numerous villages. Still the reconstruction work is on-going. However, FAC has completely overlooked these facts.

5. Earlier FAC meetings took the right approach and did not recommend clearance without resolving the issue, and the latest FAC meeting seems to have over ruled the earlier FAC stand without any justification or reason.
All in all FAC has recommended the proposed HEP for grant of Stage-1 Forest Clearance without scrutinizing the project in all its entirety and has shifted the responsibility for clarifying the dispute over 0.754 hectare of forest land to the State Government which seems to have no conclusive answer to the same.

Therefore, we demand the MOEF& CC should not consider the FAC recommendation to the proposed HEP and direct the FAC to reconsider the issue and pass any decision after completely sorting these issues.

Regards

Dinesh Mishra, Manju Devi Agri, SurendraRawat, Mahipat Singh Kaithat, Madan Mishra, SubhashPurohit, SurendraParihar, Jiwan Mishra, Vimalbhai and all the members

The letter has been endorsed by Dr. Shekhar Pathak, Historian of Uttarakhand, Editor Pahar

Manoj Mishra, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, Dr. Sudha Vasan, Associate Professor, Delhi University, Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Associate Professor, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, Delhi, Pushp Jain, EIA Resource and Response Centre (ERC), Himanshu Thakkar, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People, Tarini ManchandaSocial& Environment Film Maker.

*(Shekhar Pathk, Manoj Mishra, Dr. Sudha Vasan, Dr. Sanjay Kumar were the members of “Peoples’ Public Hearing” on the proposed Devsari Hydro Electric Project (252 MW) and Dams on the Pinder River was held at the Sangam Ground, in Deval, Tehsil Tharali, at the confluence of River Kail and River Pinder District Chamoli, Uttarakhand, on 3rd April 2011 and Tarini Manchanda documented this PPH )

‘Aadhar will hollow out Constitution, Stalk Citizens & Crush Dissent’ : Divan

January 17, 2018

On the opening day of the arguments before the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court (SC), senior counsel for one bunch of petitioners, Shyam Divan, made a powerful opening statement.

The SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, and consisting four other judges Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Adarsh Kumar Sikri, D.Y.Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, is hearing the petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar contending that it violates an individual’s fundamental right to privacy, reports ANI. The hearings come on the back of a historic upheaval within the highest court. Last Friday, January 12, four of the five senior most judges, had in an unprecendented move, questioned the assignment of cases within the Supreme Court.

The petition that was originally filed in the Bombay High Court may be read here.

The text of the Opening Statement before the Supreme Court is reproduced here:

1. The case at hand is unique. In part, this is because the programme challenged here is itself without precedent. No democratic society has adopted a programme that is similar in its command and sweep. There are few judicial precedents to guide us. The closest foreign cases have all been decided in favour of the citizen, repelling the invasive programme by the State.

2. This case is about a new technology that the government seeks to deploy and a new architecture of governance that builds on this technology. The government and its supporters contend that the biometric technology employed and the Aadhaar Act is greatly beneficial. The petitioners challenge the programme and the statute and rely on material that discredits the government’s tall claims.

3. The petitioners are certain that if the Aadhaar Act and programme is allowed to operate unimpeded it will hollow out the Constitution, particularly the great rights and liberties it assures to citizens. A People’s Constitution will transform into a State Constitution.

4. The question that arises is whether the Constitution of India allows the State to embrace this new programme or whether the Constitution repudiates this giant electronic mesh. The petitioners submit that the Constitution firmly repudiates Aadhaar.

The Constitution must do so in order (a) to preserve itself, its abiding values, its foundational morality and (b) to protect citizens from the advent of an all-seeing, intrusive State that recognises not the individual, but a number.

5. Writing in 1974, Nani Palkhivala analysed the Kesavananda Bharati case in a slim volume he titled, The Constitution: Defaced and Defiled. The threat here is far more insidious. We do not have a frontal attack on the Constitution by amending it. Instead, through a succession of marketing stratagems and by employing smoke and mirrors, the government has rolled out a little understood programme that seeks to tether every resident of India to an electronic leash. This leash is connected to a central data base that is designed to track transactions across the life of the citizen. This record will enable the State to profile citizens, track their movements, assess their habits and silently influence their behaviour. Over time, the profiling enables the State to stifle dissent and influence political decision making. As the Aadhaar platform extends to private corporations, the degree of tracking and extent of profiling will exponentially increase. Several State governments have started using the Aadhaar platform to build profiles of residents that is reminiscent of totalitarian regimes.

6. At its core, Aadhaar alters the relationship between the citizen and the State. It diminishes the status of the citizen. Rights freely exercised, liberties freely enjoyed, entitlements granted by the Constitution and laws are all made conditional. Conditional on a compulsory barter. The barter compels the citizen to give up her biometrics ‘voluntarily’, allow her biometrics and demographic information to be stored by the State and private operators and then used for a process termed ‘authentication’. The State issues an Aadhaar number and then requires the number to be embedded across service providers and agencies — unless the number is seeded in databases of the service provider, the citizen is denied access to these most essential facilities. Inalienable and natural rights are dependent on a compulsory exaction.

7. The State is empowered with a ‘switch’ by which it can cause the civil death of an individual. Where every basic facility is linked to Aadhaar and one cannot live in society without an Aadhaar number, the switching off of Aadhaar completely destroys the individual.

8. Could it ever be envisaged that under this Constitution which ‘We the People’ have fashioned after a long freedom struggle steeped in sacrifice, the State can arrogate to itself so much power that it can ‘extinguish’ a citizen or be willfully blind with respect to a citizen who would like to identify himself in a manner other than Aadhaar?

9. The Constitution balances rights of individuals against State interest. Aadhaar completely upsets this balance and skews the relationship between the citizen and the State, enabling the State to totally dominate the individual. The Constitution of India is not a charter of servitude. Aadhaar, if allowed to roll out unimpeded reduces citizens to servitude.

10. What then are some of the key issues that arise in this case?

a) Whether the Constitution of India sanctions the creation of a surveillance state and surveillance society where routine and regular every day transactions are recorded by the State;
b) Whether the personal autonomy of Indians extends to biometrics such as finger prints and iris scans and consequently whether citizens of India can be required to use their bodies as markers wherever demanded;
c) Whether the Rule of Law, a basic feature of the Indian Constitution mandates that where demographic and biometric information is collected from citizens at the instance of the State, the exercise is (i) backed by law, (ii) carried out by government alone having regard to the very sensitive and personal nature of the information, (iii) preceded by a meaningful process of securing informed consent. Whether the Aadhaar project conflicts with the Rule of Law and constitutionalism?
d) Is the Aadhaar Act, 2016 a validly enacted law, having been passed as a Money Bill?
e) Whether the right to privacy guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution, especially dimensions such as ‘the right to be let alone’ and ‘the right to be forgotten’, entitle a citizen to protect her personal identity, her movements, her social interactions, etc., without being forced to part with personal information to the State and without being forced to embed her information with government departments and private entities?
f)Whether in a democracy, the citizen has a choice for establishing her identity. Correspondingly, whether the State is under an obligation to allow access to benefits, services, subsidies, etc. so long as the individual chooses to identify herself in some reasonable manner?
g) Whether the coercive power of the State under the Aadhaar project can extend to children?
h) Whether in a digital world the right to personal autonomy extends to informational self-determination? Whether an individual can protect herself by controlling the information she chooses to put out?
i) Whether the vulnerability of the Aadhaar database compromises national security?

11. In this batch of cases the challenge is directed at the constitutional validity of:

(a) The Aadhaar programme that operated between 28.01.2009 until the bringing into force of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 on 12.07.2016;
(b) The Aadhaar Act, 2016 (and alternatively certain provisions of that Act);
(c) Elements of the Aadhaar project or programme that continue to operate though not within the cover of the Act.
(d) Specific Regulations framed under the Aadhaar Act, illustratively the Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulations, 2016.
(e) A set of subordinate legislation in the form of statutory rules/ regulations including:
The Money Laundering (Amendment) Rules, 2017;
(f) All notifications (nearly 139) issued under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act (assuming the Act is upheld) in so far as they make Aadhaar mandatory for availing certain benefits/ services/ subsidies including PDS, MGNREGA and social security pension;
(g) Actions on the part of the authorities to make Aadhaar mandatory even where not covered by Section 7, inter alia,
• Actions by CBSE, NEET, JEE.
• UGC requirements for scholarship. (h) Specifically, actions on part of the Union government mandating linking of mobile phones and Aadhaar vide DoT circular dated 23.03.2017.
(i) Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act in so far as it violates Article 21 by mandating linking Aadhaar to PAN and requiring Aadhaar linkage for filing returns.

12. Apart from the declaratory reliefs regarding ultra vires and certiorari to quash the provisions/actions enumerated above, there are certain other reliefs that are also sought including:
(a) Suitable declarations regarding the physical autonomy of a person over her own body qua the Indian state;
(b) Mandatory directions requiring the respondents to give an option to persons who are enrolled with the Aadhaar programme to opt out and to delete the data with suitable certification for compliance;
(c) Mandatory directions to all concerned authorities that should the Aadhaar Act, etc. be upheld, nevertheless, every person must be entitled to avail services, benefits etc. through alternative means of identification. Negatively, nothing can be withheld from a citizen merely because she/he does not have an Aadhaar card or does not wish to use their Aadhaar card.
(d) Mandatory directions consistent with the fundamental right to privacy and the right of a citizen to “to be let alone” that no electronic trail or record of his/her authentication be maintained.

(This opening statement was made to by the senior counsel on behalf of S. G. Vombatkere & Others who are the petitioners in Writ Petition(Civil) No. 829 of 2013)

Understanding Aadhar
Written Arguments by Petitioners, April 2017
Top IAS men, including 2 from Gujarat Denounce Aadhar as a Smokescreen for Corruption

‘FIR against Us an Afterthought, No Offence Made Out’: Jignesg Mevani & Umar Khalid move Bombay HC

January 17, 2018

Recently elected independent MLA, Jignesh Mevani and student leader Umar Khalid have separately challenged the malafide actions of the Pune police in booking them for inciteful speech. Both have filed writ petitions in the Bombay High Court praying for a quashing of the malafide FIRs against them. In an FIR filed on January 3, the Pune police have filed this FIR for separate speeches made at Pune on December 31, 2017.

Image courtesy: cjp.org.in

CJP has carefully de-constructed these speeches to show how in no way do they connote hate speech or inciteful speech

How Hate Builds
How to File an FIR Against Hate Speech

For the past fortnight, Dalit basis and communities have been targeted with combing operations by different sections of the Maharashtra police, causing fear and terror in different areas. Kalyan east, Latur and Nanded have been particularly badly affected. Two men from the far, Hindutva right, also booked as the agent provacateurs for the Bhima Koregaon violence, Milind Ekbote and Mandohar (Shambhaji Bhide) have escaped state action.

Jignesh Mevani’s petition (Writ Petition Criminal 118/2018) was filed last week and Umar Khalid’s yesterday. Calling the FIR an “afterthought”, filed after more than 72 hours of speeches delivered, it talked about the grave risk to Jignesh Mevani’s life and emphasised on the need to protect him. It further stated that though the Section 153A was charged on Mevani, nothing in the speech makes the “incitement” standard for permissible restrictions on freedom of speech and expression as explicated by the Honourable Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v/s Union of India, 2015.

Making a similar point, Umar Khalid in his petition (Writ Petition Criminal 220/2018), further said that for an offence to be identified as committed under Section 153A IPC it is necessary that the intent and outcome of an action would be promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, resident, language etc. where such actions are a prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. It said that nothing done by Umar Khalid (or Mevani) promotes enmity between religious groups or is prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. It said that in the absence of knowledge about the specific communities that had been “alienated” by his speech, the Section 152A could not be applied.

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Spontaneous protests erupted across the state of Maharashtra after Saffron flag bearers attacked Dalits who had come to Koregaon, 30 kms.away from Pune to commemorate the bi-centenary of the battle of BhimaKoregaon, an event of assertion of the Dalit identity. In the background of these protests and a Bandh that was called immediately after, the Vishrambaug Police station, Pune police registered FIRs against Umar Khalid, a PhD student from JNU along with the newly elected MLA in Gujarat, JigneshMevani under Sections 153A, 505 and 117. The FIR mentioned Umar Khalid as accused no. 1. Responding to this, Umar has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court praying for thequashingofall such false cases charged against him.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), a civil rights organisation committed to defending the rights of those charged with false cases for defending rights of the oppressed, has with its legal aid team assisted the filing of the petitions of Jignesh Mevani and Umar Khalid. Both the petitionsmay be read here.

Jignesh Mevani Petition

Umar Khalid Petition

The petitions, say that even if the FIR is taken at its face value, the charges [mentioned in the FIR] do not contain allegations of cognizable offences.

Details of Jignesh’s petition
On the eve of the bi-centenary of the battle of BhimaKoregaon, a program named “ElgaarParishad” had been organised in Shanivarwada, Pune in which JigneshMevani was invited as a speaker along with other luminaries and activists from various fields such as Justice KolsePatil, politician and Dalit leader Mr. Prakash Ambedkar, activist Ulka Mahajan, SoniSori, Umar Khalid and others. The FIR had quoted the following portions from Mevani’s speech, “If we want to win against the new peshwai, if we want to take this BhimaKoregaon struggle ahead, if we want to get inspired by this struggle, this wont happen through electoral politics. I believe that people who are fighting for the people of Maharashtra and Gujarat should be there in the Assembly and the Parliament of this country. But Annihilation of caste will happen through the struggle on the streets. The rule of one section over the other will end only with the struggle on the streets.”

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The petition averred, “The meeting ended peacefully and there was absolutely no call for any enmity between any of the communities nor was there any hate speech or call for violence”. It added, “No protection was given by the police to the members of the Dalit community when they were attacked [in BhimaKoreagon] nor were any measures taken by the police to control the law and order situation when the call for the Bandh was given. As the Respondent No.1 [State of Maharashtra] failed on both the counts in maintaining law and order in the State, they have falsely filed an FIR against the Petitioner to put the entire blame of their failure on the Petitioner.”

It further added that for an offence to be identified as committed under Section 153A IPC it is necessary that the intent and outcome of an action would be promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, resident, language etc. where such actions are a prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. It said that nothing done by the Jignesh Mevani promotes enmity between religious groups or is prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. It said that in the absence of knowledge about the specific communities that had been “alienated” by Mevani’s speech, the Section 152A could not be applied.

Similarly, regarding Section 505 dealing with statements conducive to mischief, also charged upon him, it said that not a single false fact or incident was reported by the Petitioner so as to create any mischief.

Regarding the Section 117 of the Indian Penal Code, which talks about Abetting commission of Offence by the Public or by more than 10 persons, the petition stated that the entire FIR is silent about what offence has been abetted by the Petitioner.

The petition made a case that no purpose would be served by having the investigation continue, and hence exercising its powers as mentioned in “MadhavraoJiwaji Rao Scindia v SambhajiraoChandrojiraoAngre, AIR 1988, it may, taking into consideration the special facts of the case, quash it.”

Details of Umar Khalid’s petition
On the eve of the bi-centenary of the battle of BhimaKoregaon, a program named “ElgaarParishad” had been organised in Shanivarwada, Pune in which Umar Khalid was invited as a speaker along with other luminaries and activists from various fields such as Justice KolsePatil, politician and Dalit leader Mr. Prakash Ambedkar, activist Ulka Mahajan, SoniSori, JigneshMevani and others. The FIR had quoted the following portions from Umar’s speech, “Bhima – Koregaon struggle can be made the future, its time to resist, will fight the struggle and win in this struggle will be the homage to the martyrs. The end of new Peshwai will be the homage to martyrs of Bhima-Korgaon”

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The petition averred, “The meeting ended peacefully and there was absolutely no call for any enmity between any of the communities nor was there any hate speech or call for violence”. It added, “No protection was given by the police to the members of the Dalit community when they were attacked [in BhimaKoreagon] nor were any measures taken by the police to control the law and order situation when the call for the Bandh was given. As the Respondent No.1 [State of Maharashtra] failed on both the counts in maintaining law and order in the State, they have falsely filed an FIR against the Petitioner to put the entire blame of their failure on the Petitioner.”

Calling the FIR an “afterthought”, filed after more than 72 hours of speeches delivered, it talked about the grave risk to Umar Khalid’s life and emphasised on the need to protect him.

It further stated thatthoughthe Section 153A was charged on him, nothing in his speechmakes the “incitement” standard for permissible restrictions on freedom of speech and expression as explicated by the Honourable Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v/s Union of India, 2015.It added that his speech was completely distorted and taken out of context:

Regarding Section 117 of the Indian Penal Code, which talks about Abetting commission of Offence by the Public or by more than 10 persons, the petition stated that the entire FIR is silent about what offence has been abetted by the Petitioner.

The petition also said that the FIR was “clearly politically motivated” as Umar has consistently taken public positions against the ruling party. It mentioned an earlier effort to embroil Umar Khalid in completely unfounded criminal proceedings when an FIR was registered by Delhi police on February 11, 2016. He was arrested by the Delhi police as per that FIR and was admitted to bail after 36 days, i.e. March 18, 2016. Till now, no charge-sheet has been filed in that case. The bail order that was issued on March 18, required Umar to take permission of the court while traveling out of Delhi, however, taking note of his conduct there was a stipulation in that condition. Since then, he travelled to several places, addressed public meetings where he has been a vocal opponent of the ruling party.

In the light of these factsthe petition made a case thatno purpose would be served by having the investigation continue, and hence exercising its powers as mentioned in “MadhavraoJiwaji Rao Scindia v SambhajiraoChandrojiraoAngre, AIR 1988, it may, taking into consideration the special facts of the case, quash it.”

Remembering a Man of Conviction, Rohith Vemula on His Second Death Anniversary

January 17, 2018

“Rohith was a Man of Convictions. Nobody could have done what he did, if they did not have conviction in their Ideas”

– Sreerag, President, Students’ Union, Hyderabad Central University (HCU).

Two years after his institutional murder, Rohith’s memories live on and continue to inspire students’ organisations and individuals to demand what is rightfully theirs, but has been structurally denied to them. Students from marginalized sections- Dalits, Adivasis, Women, Muslims, Laborers, Workers, Farmers and many others have come out on the streets of the country demanding the right to education for all, in a dignified manner.

In the name of justice, the government played a lot of tricks, right from denying Rohith his identity, to harassing Radhika Vemula to the (humiliations contained) Roopanwall Committee report. The report was summarily rejected by Radhika Vemula on the grounds of its ridiculous findings that “research scholar Rohith Vemula committed suicide last year because he was “a troubled individual”, not because of caste discrimination.” The report also said Vemula was not a Dalit”

While the struggle for justice for Rohith goes on, students across the country, and even in HCU, a politically conscious space dotted by numerous autonomous students’ groups, still struggle for their rights.

Amid the preparations for the second Shahadath Diwas for Rohith (today), we were fortunate to speak to Sreerag Poickadan, the President of the Students’s Union at HCU. In a historic moment of show of solidarity, Sreerag was elected as the President of the Students’ Union in the month of September, 2017 as a candidate of the Alliance for Social Justice (ASJ).The grand alliance was forged in the context of the increasing attacks led by the RSS-BJP-ABVP against public universities in India. Within HCU in the last one year, there were moves by the administration to unilaterally change the constitution of the Students’ Union, and several proctorial enquiries were instituted against Union office-bearers as part of the attempt to clamp down on the students’ movement. Talking about the relevance of a joint forum like the Alliance for Social Justice (ASJ), Sreerag said, “This alliance for social justice can be a model that can be followed in our joint struggles against the present fascistic regime. However the leaders (in the opposition) are more interested in sectarian politics” Talking about the challenges faced to form such a forum, Sreerag says, “ We do have our disagreements, but all these sections, whether left, liberals, or anyone else are for the idea of democracy and hence we need to come together in united actions”

While responding to the question about how the struggle for social justice is located after the spontaneous agitations that erupted in the background of Rohith Vemula’s institutional murder, Sreerag feels that the main influence of the struggle has been that the movement has grown to various parts of the country, evoking all oppressed sections. “This is the remarkable legacy of Rohith”, he adds affirmatively.

However, many mainstream parties that had joined the struggle for social justice seem to have lost interest. “The problem is that they are controlled by upper castes and classes and could not see a scope to appropriate our struggle. We are okay with solidarity but no one should try to appropriate the struggles that the students are waging”

Despite the uproar after Rohith’s institutional murder, the HCU campus has seen a variety of assaults, reminiscent of the McCarthyan regime. “The attitude of the administration has not changed because it is controlled by people who have vested interests. They will never be interested in protecting interests of students from marginalised sections. This is why we have been pushing for the Rohith Act” adds Sreerag.

In another stark instance of caste discrimination,a Dalit professor, K Laxminarayana, was abused by Karan Palsaniya, a PhD student in the History department. The offender is also a senior leader of the ABVP, not just in Hyderabad – he is a national co-convenor of the students’ wing of the ruling party, Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Sreerag feels that the assault on him came because being a Dalit professor, he was talking about both saffronisation and privatisation of Indian education systems. “There the line of caste is drawn” notes Sreerag.

“Rights of the students, and even Professors now, are suspended arbitrarily, unilaterally. We are not going to accept such unilateral decisions, taken without any consultations with elected representatives and students’ groups. The Students’ Union has been consistently taking up issues of fee hike, arbitrary suspensions” says Sreerag in a firm tone. He feels that despite being aware of the limitations of the students’ union, the unions have the potential to work for the welfare of the students. How they want to use the platform of the students’ union, is up to the students.

Beyond the university campuses, there have been multiple assaults on assertion from marginalised sections, especially Dalits. Commenting on the recent attacks in Bhima Koregaon, Sreerag says, “See, these attacks were always there. These are not new. These are inevitable. They [the oppressors] are getting frustrated with everything.” He believes all these experiences will help people in evolving their politics. “Possibly, we will see the idea of a new nation, a just nation emerging. We disagree with the idea of the nation in its current form” he resolutely notes.

“Rohith was the Vice President of Ambedkarite Students’ Association (ASA) when I joined, Sreerag recollects, “Rohith always spoke about ideas in his mind. He always thought a lot and read. He always wanted to engage in discussions and had conviction in his ideas. Only a person who has deep conviction in his ideas can do such a thing na?” He leaves us with this profound question.

What are the career prospects for a madrasa student?

January 17, 2018

The second part of a six-part series which takes an in-depth look inside Bangladesh’s madrasa education system

What are the career prospects for a madrasa student?

Photo:Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune

The majority of madrasa graduates, who belong to the Qawmi madrasa stream, believe that they do not need much education applicable in this life and what they learn is oriented to the hereafter.

As a result, their career path is also exclusively connected to the religious teaching, preaching and rituals.

This core religious population come from 39612 Qawmi madrasas across the country, with 5,247,660 students studying at different levels, according to a research published in 2011 by Professor Abul Barkat.

As the career path of this large number of students are limited to religion based professions as a whole, the job field for madrasa educated students is narrower comparing to that of the general education students.

The main reason behind the narrow career opportunities is that they are not taught the basic skill set needed for mainstream jobs.

The other portion of population in madrasa education are exposed to a blend of religion and general education which may provide students with both religion-based and general career opportunities. These are the Alia madrasas. Those students have better career prospects, but not as good as the general education students.

The government recognized Alia madrasa system has approximate 20,000 institutions of four million students while the government itself runs six of them. These madrasas follow the curriculum and syllabus framed by an education commission constituted by the government.

The Qawmi madrasas, which have the largest number of students among the institutions of religion education streams have their own syllabus, books, which are not recognized by the government. They do not offer government recognized degrees, except the ‘Dawra-e-Hadith’ which has been given equivalent status to a post graduate degree very recently.

In the past, Quami students could switch to the Alia system or the general system in secondary level to get access to the general field’s job. But, after the government introduced the PSC/PEC and JSC/JDC examination, they lost the chance of switching after class five.

Professor Dr. Abdul Kadir of Arabic department of Dhaka University observed that the Qawmi syllabus could not be transformed into a time-appropriate one as the authorities of the madrasas, which have been run privately, do not want their system to be reformed or interfered with by the government.

“As a result, over the years, this system has remained untouched and unrecognized”, he said.

Career options for Qawmi students are limited

The philosophy of Qawmi targets life after death. They gather thorough knowledge on Quran and Sunnah to lead life accordingly and get peace in heaven. They believe in living a simple life on earth with minimum requirements, and thus education and skills which are useful on earth is vastly neglected there.

“The objectives of Qawmi madrasa education and general education system is totally different. The people who want to do the work of Allah learn at the madrasa education system,” said Mawlana Rafiqul Alam, principal, Monshipara Hafijiya Madrasa and Eyatimkhana, Gazipur.

Students may earn a livelihood by providing home tuition to students of general stream, or adults who lack fundamental knowledge in Islam like the five-time prayers, reading Quran etc, he said.

“They want to serve Islam and live Islam. After finishing a number of stages, they start teaching at the madrasas, preaching Islam or conducting prayers at the mosques,” said Abdullah, once a Qawmi madrasa student, now a graduate of the Dhaka University.

Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune

He said that when he was a student there, he saw a small portion of them opting to enter the Alia madrasa.

A few of the Qawmi students after finishing madrasa education go abroad for higher degrees in Middle Eastern countries. They become Islamic scholars. Some stay abroad and others come back.

“This number is low as in the Qawmi system as students find it hard to complete all classes. It is not easy to become a full-fledged scholar. A larger portion of students stop education before they finish even the secondary level,” he said.

What do the Qwami students do for a living?

Teachers and students said, working as an imam, muezzin or a khadem at mosques or teaching in madrasas is common among them. A small number of them switch to small businesses for a secure source of income, as religion-based jobs are very poorly paid.

For example, the duty of an Imam is to lead namaz and the muezzin is to recite the call to prayers five times a day. Apart from a profession they do this out of religious duty.

These people are paid from the mosque’s fund which is raised by pious Muslims and influential people.

In cities and towns on average, Imams’ and Khatibs’ monthly remuneration is between Tk five to 15 thousands. Muazzin get a maximum Tk ten thousand and Khadems Tk four to five thousand.

In the villages they are even lower paid as the mosque committees’ fund is small. In some villages they are paid a maximum Tk1,000 monthly. Some Imam and Muazzins just get paddy which are collected from the villagers. However, most mosque committees there provide them with three meals a day. They live at the mosque free of cost.

In city areas Khatibs at big mosques may earn an additional Tk four to twenty thousand a month by conducting Jumma prayers.

As a result, to meet the expenses of their families many of them are engaged in tuition, conduct milads and doa mahfil, speaking at waz mahfil as religious preachers etc.

“As their housing and meals are free of cost they can survive. Besides, they do not pay much attention to life on earth,” said Mawlana Rafiqul Alam.

Jahirul Islam, assistant professor of Arabic department, Dhaka University said that Imams are associated with the madrasa and the mosque to perform the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger. “As a result, they are not vocal for a salary hike. Many of them keep silent out of shyness,” he said.

Alia madrasa opens doors, sometimes

Degrees offered by the Alia madrasas are equivalent to the degrees offered by the general education system. But Alia madrasas also run into problems when trying to get their students into the mainstream job market.

The government has planned for Alia madrasa students to join the mainstream workforce after completing their Alim degree, equivalent to an HSC.

The number of students coming from the madrasas to general education and specialized sectors like medical and engineering institutions, and applied and theoretical science departments of the public universities are still few.

Previously, Alia madrasa students took a 100-mark Bengali and a 100-mark English exam at the Dakhil and Alim levels. Recently they have introduced 200 marks course for the subjects to make them eligible for university admission tests. But their curriculum has not been reformed, said Jahirul Islam, the Dhaka University teacher.

The madrasas which were once breeding ground of scholars, with leaders like Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and scientist Muhammad Qudrat-I-Khuda among their students, are now struggling to produce good students.

Now, students from these madrasas are not focused on building a career in Islamic education. Many of the students switch to general education after Alim examination and get admitted to universities. But a big portion of them choose subjects like Arabic, Islamic studies at the university. Religious customs play an instrumental role in their day-to-day life. However, there are instances that ex-students get detached from their religious customs while at university or professional lives.

At public universities’ admission test, Alia madrasa students now-a-days perform quite well. A good number of university teachers are from madrasa backgrounds.

Those, who wants to be Islamic scholars get admitted to Islamic universities and take leading roles among the religious-minded communities.

Many public universities have some departments for madrasa students like Arabic, Al-Quran, Daw’ah and Hadith, Fiqh for madrasa students. Thousands of students gain their degree in these subjects every year.

Asked about the job sectors in which Alia madrasa students are doing well, Madrasa Board chairman professor AKM SaifUllah told the Dhaka Tribune that their students are doing well in Public Service Commission exams and in other jobs.

“At present we have seen a number of students enter BCS cadre service like administration and police cadre. We are now giving emphasis on sciences, which is helping to produce experts in IT sector too.”

Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune

Eight Facts About Israel

January 17, 2018

“While visiting Israeli PM Netanyahu is being heartly welcomed by Indian PM Modi, here is a snapshot of Israel’s bloody and brutal past”

Although India consistently supported the Palestinian struggle to reclaim their lost lands and for forming their own country free from Israel, in recent years India has shown a distinct shift towards greater friendship with Israel. This trend has received a boost with the RSS backed BJP govt. coming to power in India in 2014. Israel is being portrayed as a valiant nation and a friend of India, whitewashing its brutal history of suppression and violence. Here are some shocking facts about Israel, lest we forget.

In 1920, the estimated population of Palestine was 603,000 of which Arabs were 90% and Jews 10%. Arabs comprised both Muslims and Christians. Led by British Zionists and general anti-Jewish actions in Europe, heavy migration of Jews to Palestine was organised for the next 16 years so that by 1936, the number of Jews had risen to 385,400 (27.8% of population) while 983,200 Arabs were living there. In 1948, through a UN overseen action, Israel was created leading to a war in Palestine (called ‘Al Naqba’ or catastrophe by Palestinians. This war was an onslaught on Palestinians forcing them to leave the lands of newly formed Israel. Between 1947 and 1950, 531 villages and towns were ethnically cleansed and people forced to flee their ancestral lands. Some 804,767 Arab Palestinians became refugees in surrounding countries. Jewish owned land holdings went from 8% prior to this war to 85% in 1950. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Zionist forces backed by Western powers was done by mass killings in 33 villages/localities.

[Source: Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle by Mazin Qumsiyeh excerpted in Americans for Peace Now , sister organization of Shalom Achshav , Israel’s preeminent peace movement.]

Body Count: Nearly 10,000 Palestinians have been killed since 2000
Since 2000, 9510 Palestinians and 1242 Israelis have been killed in the conflict. This includes 2167 Palestinian children and 134 Israeli children.

In the same period, 95,299 Palestinians and 11895 Israelis have been injured.

These are figures of directly caused death by opposition actions. It does not include deaths of Palestinians due to malnutrition or other indirect effects of Israeli actions like the blockade of Gaza, etc.

[Source: B’Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories ]

Political Prisoners: Over 6000 Palestinians are in Israeli prisons

Israel is holding 6279 Palestinian political prisoners, including 300 child prisoners and 65 female prisoners. 520 of these are serving life terms while 466 are serving sentences of 20 years or more.

Palestinians are holding 0 Israeli prisoners.

[Source: Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association ]

Nearly 50,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished
Since 1967, Israel has demolished 48,488 Palestinian homes while no Israeli home has been demolished by Palestinians.

According to B’Tselem , Israeli Defence Forces carry out three types of mass demolitions of homes as part of a policy: 1) ‘Clearing Operations’ for military needs; 2) administrative demolitions of unauthorised houses in Area C of West Bank where Israel still forcibly retains planning and building authority and 3) punitive demolitions of houses intended to punish relatives and neighbours of Palestinians suspected of being involved in attacks against Israeli civilians or soldiers.

Note that data is for ‘structures’ only and if a 3 storey building which was home to 3 families is destroyed, it is still counted as 1.

[Source: The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions ]

Israel has forcibly settled 500,000 Jews on Palestinian lands since 1967
Israel has built 261 settlements on Palestinian land consisting of 163 ‘Jewish only’ settlements and 98 outposts. This includes 24 neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem.

After the 1967 war, this policy of forcibly taking over land and settling Israeli citizens on it was adopted. Over 500,000 Israeli citizens are now living in settlements on the West Bank. The sezed lands were declared closed military zones and Palestinians residing there or using the land for cultivation were forbidden to ever enter the area without military permission. Palestinian habitations have been walled off and a complex system of by-passes and roads built for their movement requiring military passes with armed guards monitoring all movement.

[Source: A mericans for Peace Now , sister organization of Shalom Achshav , Israel’s preeminent peace movement.]

UN has condemned Israel 77 times for its illegal activities
The United Nations (UN) has passed 77 resolutions against Israel between 1955 and 2013 criticising it for unlawful attacks on neighbours, violation of human rights, gobbling up Palestinian land, illegal settlements, and Israel’s refusal to abide by the UN Charter and the Geneva Convention, besides the core issues of refugees, occupation of Jerusalem and expanding its borders.

Palestinians have been targeted by only 1 such UN resolution.

Such is the impinity of the Israeli state, backed by the US, that it has paid no heed to this condemnation by the global body and continues its policies unashamedly.

[Source: Americans for Peace Now , sister organization of Shalom Achshav , Israel’s preeminent peace movement, drawing from Paul Findley’s book Deliberate Deceptions (1998, pages 192-4) for resolutions passed from 1955 to 1992 and UN.org for 1993-2013]

Israel is a global exporter of war and violence
Israel spends 5.4% of its GDP on defence, one of the highest proportions in the world. Propped up by the US, Israel has become a major exporter of arms in its own right. In 2017 it was the world’s 7th largest exporter of arms according to SIPRI . It is well known for supplying arms and expertise to right wing death squads, dictators and repressive regimes round the world.

Since its formation in 1949, Israel has been aggressively involved in several declared and undeclared wars and several other military actions that are not officially called wars by Israeli state but in eality are wars. The major wars are: ‘War of Independence’ (1947-49); Suez-Sinai War (1956); Six-day War (1967); War of Attrition (1967-70); ‘Yom Kippur’ War (1973); First Lebanon War (1982-85); Second Lebanon War (2006); Gaza War 1 (2008-09); Gaza War 2 (2012); Gaza War 3 (2014). Besides these, it has officially listed its suppression of Palestinian intifadas (uprisings) as wars. These were the First Intifada (1987-93) and the Second (Al-Aqsa) Intifada (2000-05). All these wars have been marked by brutal massacres of civilians, including the infamous Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacres in 1982.

[Source: MERIP and JVL ]

First published in Newsclick.

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‘Aadhar will hollow out Constitution, Stalk Citizens & Crush Dissent’ : Divan

‘FIR against Us an Afterthought, No Offence Made Out’: Jignesg Mevani & Umar Khalid move Bombay HC

Remembering a Man of Conviction, Rohith Vemula on His Second Death Anniversary

What are the career prospects for a madrasa student?

The second part of a six-part series which takes an in-depth look inside Bangladesh’s madrasa education system

Career options for Qawmi students are limited

What do the Qwami students do for a living?

Alia madrasa opens doors, sometimes

Eight Facts About Israel

“While visiting Israeli PM Netanyahu is being heartly welcomed by Indian PM Modi, here is a snapshot of Israel’s bloody and brutal past”

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