In a major boon to India’s powerful industrial group, the Adanis have been offered a $320 million “royalties holiday” in their prestigious coalmining project in Australia. The offer, reports Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), requires the Adanis to pay “just $2 million a year in royalties once the $21 billion project starts operating.”
Pointing out that “the royalty rate will then increase after several years”, quoting sources, ABC said, “Under the proposed agreement, the state would lose out on a total of $320 million in royalties”. The offer has come following Queensland state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s negotiations with Adanis over the proposed royalties holiday. Following the negotiations, the report quotes Palaszczuk as saying, "What we know about this project is that it is vital for regional jobs." The Carmichael project is expected to produce 25 million tonnes of coal a year in its first phase.
In a separate report, the British Guardian reports, it is a “$320m deferment of Carmichael coal export royalties”, adding, the Queensland government offer comes after “a former climate change adviser to the federal government said risks inherent in Australia’s largest proposed coalmine meant Adani could shelve its plans.”
The Guardian quotes Prof Will Steffen’s Climate Council report to say that a “carbon budget” approach to a global warming limit of 2C rules out Carmichael coalmine. “As a catalyst for opening up neighbouring mines, it could lead to total emissions from Galilee basin coal matching ‘one of the top 15 emitting countries in the world’ and making up 130% of Australia’s total carbon pollution.”, the report adds.
Quoting from the report, the Guardian says, “The carbon budget for 2C allows for less than 10% of existing Australian coal reserves to be dug up, leaving ‘no basis for developing any potential new coalmines, no matter where they are or what size they are’. This takes into account the ‘most economical’ existing sources of coal worldwide.” “There are two undeniable trends – an accelerating uptake of renewable energy and coal plant closures,” the report is further quoted as saying. “For Australia to fight these trends is economically, socially and environmentally unwise and counterproductive.”
Steffen said his key observation from the report was that rising impacts at “modest temperature rises” – such as bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef – along with more extreme events and warming of 1.1C-1.2C already “really put the pressure on getting out of fossil fuels probably faster than most people have thought”. Coal, which gives out “a lot more CO2 per unit of energy” than oil or gas, comes out as “the biggest loser” under a carbon budget, Steffen said, adding, “Basically, the story is we can still burn over half the conventional oil reserves, less than half the conventional gas reserves, but very little of the coal reserves, because coal emits a lot more CO2 per unit of energy.”
“The real question is how fast can we phase out our existing mines and existing power stations before their normal lifetime is up. How do we hasten the transition? So any talk of opening up a vast new area of coal is completely out of whack with what we know about what’s happening with the climate systems”, he added.
Related Articles:
1. Australian Govt Fails to Pass Native Title Changes: Setback to Adani 2. Adani: Indian Fishermen warn Australia against Environmental Impact ahead of Coal Mine Talks – ABC News
Nisarpur, one of the villages on the bank of the Narmada facing the threat of submergence, is now on the warpath. With the central and state governments threatening to evict villagers forcibly, sending police officials as 'emmisaries' even as the Narmada authorities are avoiding any dialogue, thousands of women and men have been on the streets every day.
About 100 kilometres from the Gujarat border, not very far from the Narmada river in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, Nisarpur village is on the warpath. With forcible eviction looming large over the village and government sending police officials to warn people, here, thousands of women and men are on the street every day. Three days back, it was total strike with all shops and activities closed. On Wednesday, the villagers took out a torchlight procession. On Thursday, again, there was a rally and mass meeting, followed by a special gram sabha to pass a resolute against evicting them by closing down the Narmada dam’s 30-odd gates.
Determined to challenge eviction, the big village, where about 3,000 families live, is almost a township. With all the social and public services, shops and markets, it is, however, dependent on agriculture. Traders to artisans, all gain their livelihood, thanks to the village’s agricultural prosperity.
Farmers of the village grow wheat, maize, banana, papaya, cotton, among other crops. The prime agricultural land attached with the village and all the houses of Nisarpur were recorded as affected by the Narmada Dam at levels below 110 meters.
Lands were officially declared acquired in the year 2000, but most of the farmers, potters, fish workers, laborers, and artisans yet to be rehabilitated. Majority of villagers complain extremely poor compensation for houses they have been asked to leave. The compensation is far from sufficient to build new houses at resettlement sites the project affected families (PAFs) have been offered.
The land the PAFs at the resettlement site has being offered has been acquired from 50-odd landholders. On this site, the project affected families (PAFs) if from four other villages — Kothada, Karandia, Raswa, and Rakti – would be resettled. Ironically, 30 of these 50 landlords today are landless! Nisarpur is just three km away from Narmada river and the well-known Koteshwar temple complex. Within this single village there are some 30 temples and 10 mosques.
Approximately 60% of Nisarpur’s population is poor, yet they have not received alternative livelihood, which ranges from fishing to making bricks at brick kilns. Many of them have not been allocated housing plots and have been cheated by middlemen, who grabbed the documents, especially of widows, and duped them.
Only recently, when complaints were written by activists, one middleman returned a widow’s documents along with Rs 15,000. However, all are not so lucky. This is not just the case with Nisarpur but also of large number of other villages in the three districts in bordering Narmada. Government officials are visiting each of the villages, telling people to vacate the villages. In order to make their mission successful, they are paying visits to communities as never before. While police and the lower revenue officials are ready for a dialogue, this not the case with higher officials attached with the Narmada project.
Meanwhile, villagers suspect, the recent inter-state meeting of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) in Delhi on May 17, 2017, would ensure that they are forced out of their village within the next two months, They strongly feel that all this is in violation of the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) and Supreme Court orders.
Alumni and students have protested an invitation to the controversial former inspector general of Bastar, Chattisgarh, SRP Kalluri to speak at a journalism seminar at Delhi’s Indian Institute of Mass Communication on Saturday has drawn protests from some students and alumni. “Should such a media-baiter [Indian Police Service] officer, who is also alleged to have hounded many journalists out of his region, be allowed to speak on the premises of a media institute of international repute?” about 50 alumni said in a letter on Thursday night to the government-run media school’s director general, KG Suresh.
In a letter circulated in the public dommain, they added: “Though we do not dispute any citizen’s right to speak on any issue of public importance…we firmly believe IIMC should deny this right to the likes of…Kalluri who loves to hate the media and media persons…” The police officer, who has been dogged by accusations of having been involved in severe human rights violations, has been invited to speak on marginalised communities at a seminar titled “Vartaman Paripreksh me Rashtriya Patrakarita” or nationalist journalism in today’s context.
It isn’t just Kalluri’s presence that has outraged the protestors: they have criticsed the premise of the seminar itself, which will begin, the invitation promises, with a 7 am yajna – a ritual worship or offering made before a fire.
Over the last few years, Kalluri has been accused of stoking protests against journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and researchers in Bastar. Several, including journalist Malini Subramaniam and human rights lawyer, Shalini Gera had to leave the region following harassment on Kalluri’s watch. He was transferred from his post in February. In March, he was served a disciplinary notice for attending an event in Bastar without official permission.
Local group in Jagdalpur protesting against journalists and activists, calling them Naxalites (Photo: Malini Subramaniam)
It wasn’t just Kalluri’s presence that had drawn the ire of the protestors: they objected to the theme of the seminar as well. “What defines ‘rashtriya’ journalism?” they asked in their letter. “Has any media school in the world introduced this discourse in its curriculum? What is the origin of the term?….It goes against the scientific and information-driven journalism.”
In addition to the yajna and Kalluri’s piece, the seminar is also scheduled to to feature the editor of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s mouthpiece, Panchjanya.
The seminar is being organised by a group called Media Scan.
One of the invites to the programme. It mentions the yajna. (Photo: Rohin Kumar)
Increasingly, at IIMC, the presence of conservative and rightwing groups has grown, drawing consistent protests. Talking to sections of the media, Indian Institute of Mass Communication’s director general KG Suresh described Media Scan as an “organisation of media persons” not affiliated to the Sangh. Suresh said he was unlikely to honour the alumni’s request to scuttle the seminar and, especially, Kalluri’s visit. “If we can listen to the Hurriyat, why can we not listen to Kalluri?” he asked, referring to Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, the Kashmiri separatist party.
A student of the institute, Rohin Kumar had written to him and faculty-members, in protest against the yajna. “The Indian state and its institutions have to maintain [a] “principled distance” from religiosity, is what I was taught,” he wrote. He also argued that the seminar was peddling “jingoism”.
The alumni has countered the director general's defence. “Your bid to wash your hands of the selection of speakers and theme notwithstanding, we believe that IIMC must have convinced itself of the righteousness of [the] seminar’s message before allowing it to be held at IIMC and what impression [it is] going to leave in the national and international community,” they wrote.
Defending himself against charges of allowing the institution to be used to spread RSS propaganda, Suresh pointed out that the campus is virtually empty now. “The academic session is over,” he said. “Except for the few in the hostel – who will vacate by May 31 – there is not even a single student here. Who am I saffronising then? The buildings?” He further said that the event being on a Saturday, no faculty or staff-member will be on campus either. “It will be their [Media Scan’s] own people and invitees,” he said. “If I had to saffronise, I would do it during the academic session.”
The text of the letter circulated by alumni may be read here:
An open letter to DG- IIMC, New Delhi
Sir, We, the former students of IIMC, are writing to you to express grave concern over a few developments in the institute.
It is learnt that the institute has given permission to Media Scan for organising a daylong programme on ‘Rashtriya Patrakarita’ which translates as ‘National Journalism’ in English.
You are quoted by ‘The Telegraph’ on May 17, 2017 saying that IIMC is not an organiser but has only rented the premises. You have been quoted thus: "We give our hall for the use of media persons who want to organise an event as long as it is not objectionable, communal, obscene or provocative. Renting the hall is expensive. If I want to help a media organisation, we have to become their partner. Our only support is to give the hall. The organising, selection of speakers, paying for snacks et cetera is up to them. Exams and classes are over and we have not asked students to attend. Also, Saturday is a holiday. Can I stop anyone from lighting a lamp or garlanding an image? The yagna won't be held in the hall…..”
Sir, it is good that the institute has come out in support of media seminars and hope that it would be open to other such events as well in future. You have pointed out that the selection of speakers is not done by the institute. However, if a speaker is going to speak on journalism from the premises of IIMC, an institute which has produced hundreds of thousands of media professionals, and he is known for his open contempt to journalists, then it must ring in bells.
One of the speakers is former IG of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, Mr SRP Kalluri. While any individual of the country is well within his rights to speak on any issue of public importance in the institute but the background of that person must be looked into. That of Mr Kalluri, at least, doesn’t inspire much confidence as he has often been in news for openly condemning media.
To cite an instance, he had openly threatened a Hindustan Times journalist recently when he went seeking clarifications for a story the former IG. The IG is quoted in the newspaper’s Nov 14, 2016 report thus: “Aap log aise karenge to hum aapko jaane hi nahi denge ..mere reference se aap gaye the…,” (If you all do like this, we will not let you visit …you went with my reference to Bastar),” an angry Kalluri told Ritesh Mishra.” Earlier, as the same story speaks, he had told the correspondent of the same newspaper, “You write whatever that comes to your mind. We don’t care a damn….” Should an IPS officer, who gives a damn to media, and is alleged to have hounded out many journalists from his region, be allowed to speak on IIMC premises? Sir, you have been a stalwart in journalism and therefore we request to ponder over this question. We, at this juncture, are not bringing forth the human rights abuses that he has been found doing in Bastar for which he has also been admonished by the National Human Rights Commission. “Chhattisgarh Police raped and assaulted 16 women: NHRC” screamed a newspaper headline about Bijapur region of Bastar range which was taken care of by Mr Kalluri. The full report can be read accessed through the hyperlink.
To us, the very theme of the seminar, “Rashtriya Patrakarita” sounded perplexing. What exactly is meant by this term? What defines ‘rashtriya’ journalism? Is asking questions or doubting the State considered not ‘rashtriya’? Isn’t these two things fundamental to journalism? Moreover, in our nine-month stay at IIMC, none of our teachers or academics introduced us to this term called ‘national journalism’. Has any media school in the world introduced this discourse in its curriculum? From where does this term stem? In fact, you yourself, taught editing to many a batch. We don’t remember even you using this term. Goes without saying, it goes against the scientific and “information driven journalism". You have rightly pointed out that since IIMC is not one of the organisers and therefore it hasn’t selected theme, speakers etc. However, we strongly believe that IIMC must have taken care of the fact that as towhat message would be sent from the premises of the, arguably, the largest media school of Asia in the national and international arena. Can IIMC insulate itself from the consequences?
The programme schedule also points out that ‘yagya’ would be organised as a part of the programme. You have clarified that it will not be done in the hall provided by the IIMC. But the same Telegraph report quotes Media Scan proprietor Ashish Kumar. He says, "The yagna will not be performed by a priest but by one of us as organisers. What's wrong in it? Don't we light lamps and garland pictures at functions?". The report further writes, “Yadav said there was a Saraswati idol near the IIMC entrance but could not "recall any ritual" on it.”
We do believe that everyone is entitled to practise his/her faith. We want to bring in here that IIMC’s vision, as stated on its website, says, “The Indian Institute of Mass Communication will set global standards for media education…..contributing to human development, empowerment and participatory democracy, anchored in pluralism….”. We believe any practise done on the institute’s premises of a one particular religion is not in consonance with the very pluralism that the institute boasts of. Had it been an-all religion prayer meeting, then probably we could not have given this argument.
Sir, though we have passed out from the institute, but we still feel a belongingness towards it. We are writing to you with that spirit. We strongly believe that the organisation of the seminar, at heart of which lie many controversies, would badly damage the reputation of IIMC. And as alumni it would deeply pain us. Also, as stated above, it will not gel with the IIMC values and would, therefore, set a very bad precedent. While you have taken the charge of DG sometime back, a few of us had the good fortune of attending your classes as guest faculty when you were receptive to ideas and arguments of all the hues.
Taking into consideration the concerns raised by us, we respectfully demand the cancellation of the permission given to the organisers of this seminar. Also, we hope, that in future, you would consider all these points for the sake of good the institute.
Regards, We, the journalists who were students of IIMC
There are over four dozen signatories to this protest letter.
With rumours raging across parts of Jharkhand about child kidnappers on the prowl, seven people were lynched in separate incidents on Thursday while at least six have had a narrow escape in the past 10 days
Photo credit: Hindustan Times
The Jharkhand police today disclosed that hundreds of adivasis have lynched seven people in separate incidents across Jharkhand over rumours that child kidnappers were on the prowl in the tribal districts of south Jharkhand.
The rumour-mill has resulted in adivasis along the borders of Seraikela-Kharsawan, East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum districts picking up their traditional weapons and going after strangers.
The seven persons lynched on Thursday included four Muslims and three Hindus from the neighbouring non-tribal areas. “These are highly superstitious acts that cannot be called communal,” East Singhbhum senior police superintendent of police, Anup T Mathew, told The Hindustan Times.
But the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Babar Khan insisted that the four Muslim men were no strangers in the area and “there is certainly a different cause for the murder, which police should probe”.
Baseless rumour-mongering to incite passions has often been the trigger for communal violence in the past.
Suspecting a communal angle to the killings the relatives of the Muslims have refused to bury the deceased till the killers were arrested and a compensation of Rs. 25 lakh was paid to each of the victims’ families, according to the Hindustan Times report.
Stating that in fact there has been no reported incident of any child abduction in the region, Mathew added that “a massive awareness drive is required to check the attacks and killings.”
The police have been moving from village to village in the adivasi belt announcing on loud speakers that to dispel any fear of child kidnapping. In the first incident on Thursday, the victims were four Muslim youth, all cattle traders, who were cornered and lynched. When the police tried rescuing the traders, the adivasis attacked them too and damaged their vehicle before fleeing from the place.
In a separate incident later the same day, the adivasis lynched three young men (Hindus), two them brothers and thrashed their grandmother.
On teaching non dalit students: their parents were not happy with my ideas of annihilating caste and class differences.
Image Courtesy: Bama
“I personally feel that teachers can do wonders if they really commit themselves to shape the future generation. But it is a pity most of them perpetuate the caste system, and instead of annihilating caste, they annihilate dalit students through their words, attitudes, approach and inhuman behaviour. Even dalit teachers do not involve themselves and play a neutral role for fear of revealing their identity. Our educational system does not help us to grow as full human beings, compassionate and rational, smart and good at the same time. Everything is determined by money and caste. It is a competitive education system which produces only money-making machines, not sensitive and humane persons. The system is self oriented, and does not care for fellow human beings. The higher the level of education, the greater the rigidity and lack of sensitivity.” The well-known writer Bama is also a school teacher. She taught school children from 1979 to 2015, when she retired. She says she is "fortunate enough to get education", a privilege of upper caste men, and she is fortunate to have become a teacher despite being dalit. In an interview with the Indian Cultural Forum, she recollects the ways in which inequalities persist in the education system. “The education system does not care for an egalitarian society or social justice… Instead of changing the existing unequal system, it justifies it.” But Bama also has a message of hope: teachers can do wonders if they commit themselves to shaping the future generation.
We are familiar with Bama the writer, but tell us about Bama the teacher.
Teaching was my childhood dream. In my village, especially in our dalit surroundings, the only role models I had were my teachers in school. Beyond that I had no idea or opportunity to dream of some other career. As early as the time I was in the second standard, I wanted to become a teacher. That’s what my mother told me later. Once I became a teacher, I realised it is a challenging job, but I enjoyed it. Being with children and grown up girls and boys made me happy, and I always had a feeling of growing up with them. The constant interaction with young students and the responsibility of shaping and forming young minds and hearts, enabled me to refresh and renew myself continuously. The contacts I had as a teacher with the students and their parents helped me to know and understand the society empathetically but also critically. It made me realise my own responsibility to society.
Tell us about your teaching career.
I started my teaching career in 1979 and retired in 2015. During these 36 years, I taught in different schools and in different places.
In 1979 I taught in a nursery school in a semi-urban area. In 1980 I taught twelve-year-olds in a matriculation school in Chennai. From 1980 to 1985 I worked in a Girls’ High School in a village. These students were 15 and 16 years old.
In 1985 I resigned from my job to become a nun in a convent. In 1988 I became a nun, and again started teaching. This time I taught in an Anglo Indian girl’s high school in Chennai. The students were 15 and 16 years old and were from an elite class. In 1992 I was transferred to Jammu and I taught rich fifteen-year-olds. Midway, I left the convent and came home.
From 1992 to 1995 I taught in a village Higher Secondary school to students; and in 1995 I volunteered to work in a remote village primary school where most of the children were dalits. I worked there till I retired.
My subjects are English and Maths. When I was with students below the age of ten, I taught them all the subjects (Tamil, English, Maths, Science and Social science). When I worked in the high school and higher secondary schools I taught only English and Maths.
Literacy and education have historically been restricted to a small section of people. As a dalit woman, a teacher and a writer, what do you feel about being a vital part of the education process?
I think I am fortunate enough to get education and to become a teacher though I am dalit. But all along, I experienced discrimination because of my caste and gender. I was humiliated. That’s my lot sometimes even today.
As a teacher I am happy that I had a lot of opportunities to instil hope and courage in many of my students, especially dalit students, besides teaching them academic subjects. To commit myself in forming young minds and to enable them to find their strengths, weaknesses, to celebrate their self identity and self worth was responsible work I was able to do joyfully for almost 35 years.
Who are your students? What socio-economic background do they belong to?
For the better part of my teaching career, I taught in village schools, and the students were mostly dalits. They were very poor with no social status and were exploited by different people in society. Being with them, I shared their hurts and pains and humiliations, and I have written short stories based on these experiences. While teaching non-dalit students, I often faced conflicts because they and their parents were not happy with my ideas of annihilating caste and class differences.
Are your students aware of your writing and activism?
My students knew that I am a writer and an activist. Sometimes I used to share my experiences with them and discuss current issues. As far as possible I would relate academic subjects with day-to-day life situations and issues. When my students went to high school and college, some of them read my books and shared their thoughts with me. Some met me and spoke about my work. Some have done research on my writing.
Dalit autobiographies illustrate how upper caste teachers discriminate against dalit students. They are made to sit separately, they are made to clean the class room and derogatory language is used against them. These accounts are from a few decades ago. Do you think educational spaces have grown more inclusive?
I do not agree that the stories of victimisation of dalit students are only narratives of the past. As a child I faced this kind of discrimination, and even now many a dalit student face them. They are forced to do all the menial jobs in school. They are ill-treated, segregated and wounded by unkind casteist words and deeds. Their self-respect and self-esteem are not taken into account and they face partiality and humiliation everywhere. This attitude is seen even in the primary level, and it continues to the higher level of education. The deaths of Rohit Vemula and Muthukrishnan are the brutal examples of this inhuman attitude in our educational institutions.
Though caste-based peer groups may be prevalent among children, children also easily cross caste boundaries by making friends outside their caste or sharing food? As a teacher what have you seen of casteism among students?
We know caste is decided by birth in our country. Caste feeling is instilled in children by their families when they are very young. Children are taught about caste and untouchability, and they are taught who to relate to and who to avoid. In many villages dalits and non-dalits live separately and don’t mingle with each other. Non-dalit students are told not to go to dalit students’ areas and if dalit students go to their non-dalit friend’s houses they are chased away by their elders. Non-dalit parents often tell their children that dalit children are thieves, ugly, dull-headed, impure, dark, and they use vulgar and abusive language. In spite of all this coaching, non-dalit students sometimes become friendly with dalit students, and they play together, study together, eat together, share their things… But when they grow up, their caste mentality surfaces. The education they get does not help them to behave as human beings with human values. Instead they live true to their caste, class, colour and sex differences. I have written several short stories based on real events and experiences.
How can children be taught about the caste system? And how can they be taught to annihilate caste?
In my teaching career I tried different methods to teach children about the caste system and the need to annihilate the caste system. I would tell them how babies are born without any caste tags, that all babies are in their mothers’ wombs for ten months and all babies are born in the same way. I would explain the poet Inquilab’s powerful consciousness-raising song “Manushangda” which says that all human beings are of equal stature and worth. I would sing it with them.There’s also a song by Bharathi about a cat. It says a cat gives birth to four kittens – one is white, one black, one grey and the last one has the colour of a snake. Whatever the colour, all are kittens. Similarly humans may vary, but all are equally human.
In these ways, I would use academic subjects to inculcate humanistic values in my students… Often I would use skits, songs and dances, and story-telling sessions to make them understand the values of equality and fraternity.
I personally feel that teachers can do wonders if they really commit themselves to shape the future generation. But it is a pity most of them perpetuate caste system, and instead of annihilating caste they annihilate dalit students by their words, attitudes, approach and inhuman behavior. Even dalit teachers do not involve themselves for the fear of revealing their identity and play a neutral role.
The educational system that we have, does not help us to grow as full human beings who are compassionate and rational-smart and good – at the same time. Everything is determined by money and caste. It is a competitive education which produces only money making machines and not sensitive human persons. It is self oriented, and does not care for fellow human beings. The more you go high in education the more you become rigid and insensitive. It does not care for an egalitarian society but it is self glorifying. Instead of changing the society it justifies the existing unequal system without caring for social justice.
A Professor was beaten up, arrested, and suspended in the climax of a grand, long war waged against him.
“I had never imagined that a WhatsApp forward would cost me my job, my dignity, and everything that I have loved”, said Professor Sunil Waghmare, worriedly. “I want my life back. I have had no experience of fighting injustice of this scale before” he says, referring to the mob that humiliated and slapped him within the campus premises, in public view. He was forced to leave his small room in Khopoli after the incident, and left for his village along with his family.
A whole month after the incident, Waghmare’s complaint to the police has led to the registration of a First Investigation Report (FIR) at Khopoli police station, accusing the principal Dr. Pawar of casteist discrimination, describing years of mental as well as physical harassment. The FIR was filed on 1st of May, at 00:57 hours, after a day long intense effort at the police station. On the following day, an all-party meeting of Khopoli’s political outfits was held. As local media reports show, the leaders threatened to launch a morcha if the “fake” atrocity case was not withdrawn.
The WhatsApp Incident
But how did this happen–how could a message sent in a closed group spiral into such violence within an interval of two days? Letters and memos served to the Professor over the past eight years reveal that he has been targeted for a much longer period. The WhatsApp based incident, his arrest, and suspension are only the climax of a protracted, targeted discrimination.
Was this the first time that a joke was shared on the group?
“It is not true that the group members would share messages purely administrative or official in nature. However, I was the only one to be warned after I forwarded a text about Shivaji Maharaj, someone I deeply respect. It was a forward about his birthday (being commemorated twice). I had received this on a different group, and simply re-posted it on my college group.” Screenshots of messages previously shared on the WhatsApp group reveal that prior to this incident, various kinds of messages were posted by members–jokes, comments, wishes, and festive greetings, among others. The WhatsApp group was far from being the “official communication” channel of the college, as the FIR against him says. When the police arrived at the scene of violence, they picked up Waghmare and subsequently summoned the WhatsApp group administrator, Professor Nagargoje, to lodge an FIR against Waghmare. (FIR no. 44, dated 17 March 2017, 5:35pm, Section 295A–Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs). The WhatsApp group was created four years ago and has 34 members–the Professors and principal of KMC College, Khalapur. What transpired between the time the message was posted, that is on 15 March 2017 at 23:41 hours on the WhatsApp group, and the mob incident within campus premise in the afternoon of 17 March 2017? How did the “mob” get access to screenshots of the message shared on a closed group comprising only 34 members? Who really forwarded the message to outsiders? Who had gathered the mob that publicly thrashed Waghmare? What were their motives?
Video clips on YouTube by a local channel, Sanwad Marathi, depict the episode of the violence unleashed on Professor Waghmare. In the management office room (located within the campus premise next to the principal’s room), the Professor is seen sitting on a chair surrounded by about twenty people. He is initially asked questions about his WhatsApp message. The faces of the people are clear in the video clip. Suddenly, one person walks forward and starts slapping Waghmare and a commotion breaks out. Some are seen stopping the blows, some are seen contributing to it. When this ends, the people present in the room suddenly decide that Waghmare must not be allowed to sit on the chair. In the video clip on Youtube, they are seen asking him to sit on the floor. The clip then shows the Professor unconscious, resting his head on a table, and the police are lifting a semi-conscious person from the floor and then taking him to the police van, amidst loud chants of “Jai Shivaji, Jai Bhawani” by the onlookers. Matters get worse–he is arrested by the police, and made to spend a night in the police lock up. An emergency meeting of the management committee is held the same evening and he is suspended for six months with immediate effect.
Eye-witness accounts, the principal, colleagues of Waghmare, as well as local activists insist that those who entered the college premises on 17 March 2017 were neither students nor colleagues (as the media had initially reported) but were outsiders, most of whom belonged to political outfits. But how exactly were these “outsiders” mobilized based on a post shared on an internal WhatsApp group? If this was indeed about an offensive post, why was this not resolved in a non-violent way by a group consisting of Professors?
Relationship with the Principal
When one examines the kind of relations Waghmare shared with the members of the WhatsApp group, the one that stands out is his relationship with the principal, Dr. N.B. Pawar. Numerous memos, letters, and complaints over an eight-year period reveal the bitter relationship that the two shared. In a written statement submitted to the police urging for an FIR, Waghmare describes in detail his difficult relationship with the Principal. In the year 2014 alone, the principal had served as many as five memos (dated 12/03/14, 11/07/14, 17/09/14, 10/10/14, 27/11/14) to Waghmare–at least one every two months. The letter also reveals that the principal made Waghmare conscious of the latter’s dalit identity on numerous occasions over the last eight years, subtly as well as overtly. The principal has said, “Since you (Prof. Waghmare) belong to the SC community, it is on account of reservations that you have got these posts, despite not being capable,”[1] according to Waghmare’s letter.
Born into the Maang community in Nanded, 34 year old Prof. Waghmare’s journey and career are characterized by struggles. After completing his M.Com in Nanded, and B.Ed in Yavatmal, he joined the KMC College, Khopoli on November 6, 2009 as an Assistant Professor in the Commerce Department. In September 2010, he was given additional responsibility by being appointed Vice Principal of the Commerce Department. “There were no problems that the management had reported with my work. But things changed once Dr. Pawar became the principal in 2012. Suddenly, I was slapped with several memos and show cause notices, and finally in March 2014, I was unfairly removed from the post”, said Waghmare, who is currently the Head of Department but was suspended after his arrest. His family has returned to their village in Nanded.
A Hurried Suspension on Vague and Frivolous Grounds
There are safeguards and university guidelines on suspension of a Professor belonging to an SC community. As per the rules, a three-member committee is to be constituted to decide upon the suspension of such a Professor, with one of the three members belonging to the SC community. However, this procedure was not followed in the hurry to suspend Waghmare for a six month term. In the suspension letter dated 17 March 2017, the charges mentioned are–“a) misconduct, b) moral turpitude etc., c) and misuse of social media (WhatsApp)”, with salary reduced to half the amount along with disciplinary enquiry. However, in reality, he has not received these half wages for the last two months, straining his already vulnerable financial situation.
One of the most detailed letters in this context is one written by Waghmare describing the discriminatory and prejudicial behavior of the Principal, dated 19 January 2015, two years and three months prior to this incident. At the time a copy of this letter was also sent to the President of the Khalapur Taluka Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (KTSPM), Khopoli which runs the college.
Why was a formal complaint with the police or SC/ST commissions not lodged before this incident? “When I gave the management my complaint letter in January 2015, they assured me that they would take action on it. It was on their request that I did not formally lodge a complaint anywhere else. To avoid badnaami (shame). For a few months after this, the principal was silent. However, nothing was done on my letter and a few months later he began harassing me again.”
Suddenly thrown out of his teaching Profession, Waghmare has been shuttling between the police station, courts, and lawyers in order to have the case against him quashed.
Reversal of Victim and Accused
With the victim facing arrest and the perpetrator free, the extent of subversion of justice leaves much to be answered. According to sources, the police had received several letters from various local level organizations and political outfits such as the Shiv Sena seeking Waghmare’s arrest for his WhatsApp forward. The response demonstrated by the police in arresting the victim, and inviting the assailants to lodge a case against him reveal how the system has responded to local political pressures instead of upholding law and order. In cases of caste atrocities, matters get worse with the threat of agitations and strikes. When met in person, the police denied that any such incident had taken place, and refused to talk to a fact-finding team that had visited the station. The consistent demand of the mob that Waghmare not be allowed to sit in a chair but be made to sit on the floor demonstrates the desire of the people to humiliate him. According to Waghmare, the mob reappeared at the police station and repeated the same demand there, due to which even at the police station, Waghmare was asked to rise from the chair and sit on the floor.
A copy of Waghmare’s statement seeking justice has also been sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (Pune), the Superintendent of Police (Raigad), Vice Chancellor of the Mumbai University, the Reservation Cell of Mumbai University, Joint Director of Education (Panvel). The demands are: quashing the FIR against him, revoking the illegal suspension, dismissing the Principal who has had a history of targeting Dalits and initiating proceedings against him under the SC/ST laws.
On 1 May, 2017, an FIR was finally registered by the police in the name of Waghmare against the principal, Dr. Pawar, at 00:57 hours after a day-long drama at the police station. The recent Maratha agitations have meant that every case of caste atrocity is dismissed as false and it is a battle before an FIR is even lodged. However, the accused, Dr. Pawar, has not been arrested.
Prof. Sunil Waghmare, his wife Jyotsna, and their young twins continue to wait for the elusive silver lining to what seems like their life’s darkest time. They just want to be able to return to their home and their life.
In the last three years, under BJP rule at the Centre, the NPAs of the banks have tripled – from Rs. 2.3 lakh crores to Rs. 6.8 lakh crores
India’s banking system, which was robust enough to withstand the financial crisis of 2008, is facing a crisis today. The banks, particularly the public sector ones, are burdened with huge amounts of non performing assets (NPAs), which are threatening the viability of the banking sector. In the last three years, under BJP rule at the center, the NPAs of the banks have tripled – from Rs. 2.3 lakh crores to Rs. 6.8 lakh crores. Currently, the NPAs of public sector banks stand as high as 11% of their total advances.
Non-repayment of loans by some of India’s biggest corporate houses is the major cause of this huge accumulation of NPAs. According to the chairman of Parliamentary Accounts Committee, K V Thomas, a handful of big corporate houses account for 70% of the NPAs of the banks.
The Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitly, tried to absolve himself and his government of all the blame, claiming that the NPAs are a legacy problem. According to him the loans that were given during UPA government have turned bad and are accumulating as NPAs today.
While it is true that the UPA government compelled the public sector banks to dole out loans worth lakhs of crores to a handful of corporates, the BJP government is not far behind. It is helping the same corporates in continuing to default on the repayments – with the aid of loan refinancing and restructuring schemes introduced by the Reserve Bank. In the last three Modi years, public sector banks have been pressured to restructure bad loans (under various schemes of RBI) worth Rs. 3.5 lakh crores belonging to the corporate houses.. These restructuring deals simply meant that the companies get new loans to pay off their old loans, which they have already defaulted on. These schemes also involve changing the terms of payments in favour of the defaulting corporates.
The infamous case of Vijay Mallya defrauding the public sector banks, is all too well known. Less publicised are those of Modi’s own crony capitalists. It is estimated that companies controlled by Adani, owe a debt of Rs. 72,000 crores mostly to public sector banks. Since 2014, two power companies controlled by Adani’s firms have been extended loan refinance worth Rs. 15,000 crore by the public sector banks. This was done when both the companies’ earnings -before tax- were not even enough to cover the interest cost on the loans they have taken. In this sweetheart deal, the previous defaulted loans were replaced with new loans and loan repayment date was extended by one more decade. Additionally, a moratorium on interest payments was given for a considerable period, meaning that in this period these two firms need not pay even the interest amount.
Similarly, after Modi came to power, Mr. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Gas Transport Infrastructure Ltd. (RGTIL), was given a loan refinance of Rs. 4,500 crores and an extension of payment period by more than a decade.
According to Arun Jaitly, most of the NPAs and bad loans are due to projects in power, infrastructure, mining and steel sectors – which are owned by the large corporates like Reliance, Adani and Vedanta. Let us not forget, these are the same companies (remember Vedanta’s land grab in Orissa), whose factories and plants were set up by grabbing thousands of acres of land belonging to famers and tribals.
These billionaire promoters and owners of the companies should have been compelled to transfer the shares (equity) of these companies, to the public sector banks, in lieu of the unpaid loans. Or, they should have been made to inject fresh capital in to the defaulting companies. Refinancing of the loans, extension of payment schedules and moratoriums on interest payments – without placing any responsibility on those who control the companies are bound to bring even heavier losses to the banks in the coming days.
The government seems to think that Mukesh Ambani, with net worth of more than Rs. 1.5 lakh crore rupees needs assistance in paying back the loans of his companies, while the farmers of this country are given no recourse after severe droughts and crop losses. Desperate after years of draught, farmers from Tamil Nadu and elsewhere have been agitating for months for loan waivers. Their appeals to the central government have fallen on deaf ears. Modi government steadfastly refused to provide any assistance to the debt ridden farmers. Are the farmer’s making ridiculous demands? Consider this – The entire amount of crop loans in India is worth Rs. 75,000 crore, while Mr. Adani’s firms alone owes Rs. 72,000 crores to the banking system. Adani gets a generous restructuring on the defaulted loans, while the farmers get tough love.
While the corporates are being given a free pass, Mr. Modi’s pets in RBI are baying for the blood of public sector banks. Recently, RBI’s deputy chairman Viral Aacharya suggested that the solution to the NPA crisis is re-privatisation of some of the public sector banks and some divestment of government’s stake in others, in favour of private players. RBI Chairman, Mr. Urjit Patel was not far behind, with suggestion that small banks afflicted with NPA problems should be allowed to perish naturally. The RBI satraps seem to be forgetting that it is the bulwark of public sector banks that protected India’s financial system from the crisis of 2008.
For Mr. Modi it is not enough, that Indian corporates have defrauded banks of the public money, they are now being offered the ownership of these banks. Concession after concession given to corporates is what marks Mr. Modi’s 3 years at the helm and there is no indication of change in course away from this. Mr. Modi is making sure that those whose money purses have brought him power are going to stay safe and sound from the consequences of their own financial and business follies. Now that he has passed a law allowing corporates to make anonymous donations to political parties, grateful corporates will no doubt be flooding him with gratitude funds for his never ending election campaigns.
The government has been far too dependant on the US economy for job opportunities rather than building these within India
Interview with Kiran Chandra May 19, 2017 Interviewed by Pranjal , a Newsclick Production
Recent media reports have showcased massive job cuts in the IT sector. Here, in this interview, Kiran Chandra from Forum for IT Professionals, speaks to Newsclick on the issue. Automation is one of the chief reasons for this retrenchment.
Global leaders in the industry, especially in the U.S, have started adopting a protectionist policy for their countries. As a result, they are also altering the way jobs are outsourced to India.
The third important reason for this is the policy paralysis which has affected India over the past three decades. The government has been depending on the US economy for job opportunities rather than building these within India .
