राजग सरकार ने संस्कृति संबंधी केंद्रीय सलाहकार बोर्ड को पुनर्गठित करते हुए इसके सदस्यों की संख्या बढ़ाकर दोगुनी से भी अधिक कर दी है तथा नए सदस्यों में अधिकतर भाजपा के प्रति झुकाव रखने वाले लोग हैं।
पैनल के सदस्यों में भाजपा सांसद किरण खेर के पति और सरकार के मुखर समर्थक अनुपम खेर, मशहूर शास्त्रीय डांसर सोनल मानसिंह और बिहार एवं झारखंड के पूर्व राज्यपाल एम रामा जोइस शामिल हैं।
राजग सरकार ने इसके पहले इंदिरा गांधी राष्ट्रीय कला केंद्र के प्रबंधन को पुनर्गठित करते हुए वरिष्ठ हिंदी पत्रकार और आरएसएस विचारक राम बहादुर राय को इसका प्रमुख नियुक्त किया था। नए बोर्ड का हाल ही में गठन किया गया और इसकी पहली बैठक 22 अक्टूबर को हुई।
PHOTO COURTESY: NDTV
संस्कृति मंत्री महेश शर्मा की अध्यक्षता वाले इस 23 सदस्यीय पैनल में पंडित हरि प्रसाद चौरसिया, पंडित राजन मिश्रा और पंडित छन्नू लाल मिश्रा, पंडित शिव कुमार शर्मा भी शामिल हैं. छन्नू लाल मिश्रा लोकसभा चुनाव में वाराणसी सीट पर नरेंद्र मोदी के प्रस्तावक थे. बोर्ड के पुनर्गठन के बारे में पूछे जाने पर संस्कृति मंत्री महेश शर्मा ने कहा कि यह (पुनर्गठन) नियमित प्रक्रिया है।
भाषा की खबर के अनुसार, संप्रग सरकार में बोर्ड के सदस्यों की संख्या 11 थी और अब यह बढ़कर 23 हो गई है. इस बारे में पूछे जाने पर शर्मा ने कहा कि यह संख्या नियमों के अंदर है और अपने संबंधित क्षेत्रों के विशेषज्ञों को बोर्ड में जगह दी गई है. बोर्ड में नियुक्ति तीन साल के लिए होती है और सदस्य नीतिगत स्तर पर संस्कृति मंत्रालय को सलाह भी देते हैं।
भोपाल जेल ब्रेक में सिमी कार्यकर्ताओं के हाथों मारे बताए जा रहे हेड गार्ड रमाशंकर यादव की बेटी सोनिया ने सवाल उठाया है कि सिमी के खतरनाक आतंकियों की सुरक्षा में उसके पिता को अकेले ही क्यों तैनात किया गया था। इससे ज्यादा शर्मनाक बात क्या होगी कि जेल प्रशासन का एक भी अफसर उनके घर सांत्वना देने नहीं आया।
रमाशंकर दो साल बाद सेवानिवृत्त होने वाले थे। दोनों बेटों के सेना में नियुक्त होने के बाद बेटी की शादी करके अपने सभी दायित्वों से वे निवृत होना चाहते थे। 31 अक्टूबर से उनकी छुट्टी मंजूर हो चुकी थी, लेकिन 30-31 अक्टूबर की दरमियानी रात उनकी हत्या कर दी गई।
रमाशंकर यादव के बेटे प्रभुनाथ सेना में हिसार में तैनात हैं। उनका कहना है कि रमाशंकर नाइट ड्यूटी नहीं लगाने की गुहार लगा चुके थे। वे दो वर्ष पहले हार्ट पेशेंट हो गए थे। उनका इलाज चल रहा था। डॉक्टरों ने उन्हें रात में ड्यूटी न करने की सलाह दी थी। इसके लिए उसके पिता डॉक्टर के लिए परचे लेकर आईजी, डीआईजी जेल से मिले, लेकिन कोई सुनवाई नहीं हुई।
रमाशंकर के बड़ा भाई शंभूनाथ यादव भी सेना में हैं और गोहाटी में पदस्थ हैं। सोनिया तीन भाई बहनों में सबसे छोटी है। उसकी शादी 9 दिसंबर को होनी है। उसकी तैयारियों को लेकर घर में खुशी का माहौल था। इस घटना से न सिर्फ उनके घर में बल्कि अहिल्या नगर बस्ती में मातम पसर गया है।
सीएम शिवराज सिंह चौहान ने रमाशंकर यादव के परिजनों को 10 लाख रुपए की अनुग्रह राशि और पांच लाख रुपए बेटी की शादी के लिए देने की घोषणा की है।
Several hundred Muslim hardliners carried out the attack after an announcement was made in front of Rail Mosque in Montola area by some local supporters of Jamaat and its radical student unit Islami Chhatra Shibir Sunday afternoon.
A Hindu priest shows a broken piece from the desecrated idols at a temple in Habiganj's Madhabpur on Wednesday, November 2, 2016Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
The local leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami played a key role behind the planned attacks on Hindu houses and temples at Madhabpur in Habiganj on Sunday as a sequel of the communal attacks in Nasirnagar area of Brahmanbaria over a fake blasphemous post on Facebook.
Several hundred Muslim hardliners carried out the attack after an announcement was made in front of Rail Mosque in Montola area by some local supporters of Jamaat and its radical student unit Islami Chhatra Shibir Sunday afternoon, witnesses said.
During the mayhem that continued for several hours, three temples and at least 12 pavilions holding Kali Puja came under attack of the extremists.
The same day, some 3,000 radical Muslims attacked ad destroyed at least 12 temples and 100 houses in Nasirnagar area leaving over 100 Hindus injured.
They also looted valuables from the temples and houses. The mob was instigated by the local leaders of radical Islamist groups Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and Hefazat-e-Islam.
It was later found that illiterate Rasraj Das’ Facebook profile was used by someone else to share a defamatory post on Friday. Even though he removed the post immediately and apologised, he was caught and beaten up severely on Saturday, and later handed over to the police.
A shopkeeper at the Madhabpur rail station who was present at Sunday’s rally said seeking anonymity that Rajapur’s Ohid Hossain Master, Montola Bazar mosque’s former imam Md Osman, Hariprasadpur’s Ajob Khan and Montola Station mosque’s imam Mahbub who are known as local Jamaat leaders and supporters organised the attackers and provoked them to launch the attack in the name of protesting humiliation of Islam reportedly by Rasraj Das.
“During the protest programme, Ohid Master declared that such disgrace of Islam cannot be tolerated and action must be taken within that night. Hindu people will be drive out of the region one by one,” the shopkeeper told the Dhaka Tribune.
Another Syed Mamun Miah, who runs Sultanpur Shamsul Uloom Madrasa in the area, played an important role to organise the mob. With foreign funding, Mamun also runs “Hefazat-e-Islam Juboshongothon,” an associate organisation of the madrasa.
Locals wonder how Mamun bought huge land in the area even though he earns his livelihood from a small insecticide shop at Sultanpur. The madrasa students also get money from the authorities and many unknown youngsters are seen since the establishment of the madrasa.
On Sunday, the attackers held a protest procession from Nazarpur that ended in front of Mamun’s insecticide shop adjacent to the madrasa. Later, they launched attacks on temples and houses of the Hindu community which continued until 10pm.
When contacted, Mamun said that his elder brother was the owner of the madrasa and that its funds came from Dubai.
He refuted the allegation of his involvement in the attacks, saying: “I did not take part in the procession. The Hindus and Muslims of the area live here peacefully and harmoniously, and they help each other.”
A local Awami League leader wishing anonymity said: “Although we elected the upazila chairman from our party, the area is fully controlled by local Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists. They earlier did not get any issue to attack the minorities but the Nasirnagar incident has encouraged them to launch such a disgraceful attack.”
Judicial inquiry demanded
The violent attack on the Hindu localities of Nasirnagar was well planned, and was carried out with an intention to grab the land of the Hindus by driving them away, eminent citizens who visited the area on Wednesday said.
They blamed the local administration and police for not taking necessary action to protect the Hindus, and for not arresting the main culprits who incited Sunday’s attacks.
The fact finding committee of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), rights activists and politicians made the observation after visiting the affected area and talking to the victims. They also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.
On Tuesday, a delegation of the ruling Awami League’s central committee visited the area and assured the victims of taking necessary legal action against the perpetrators.
Rights activist Sultana Kamal was part of a six-member Nagorik Committee who visited the area on Wednesday. She said: “Everyone saw the organisers of the rally and those who attacked the Hindu houses and temples. So, there is no reason for non-identification of the criminals.”
Supporters of Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat are seen with sticks on a Nasirnagar street in Brahmanbaria on Sunday, October 30, 2016 during an attack on local Hindu minority house and temples. Dhaka Tribune
She said that they had no confidence on the local police and the administration since their role during the attacks had been questionable, and demanded that the government form a judicial inquiry committee and a fact finding committee comprising members of the civil society to unearth the incident.
Meanwhile, a 10-member delegation from Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikyo Parishad also visited the area.
Talking to reporters, General Secretary of the platform Rana Dasgupta demanded a judicial inquiry for identifying role of the local administration and the police, and bringing the real perpetrators to book.
On the other hand, separate teams from the NHRC, Communist Party of Bangladesh, and the Indian High Commission also visited the affected area Wednesday.
Minister downplays attacks
The intensity of the attacks in Brahmanbaria was not that much significant, local lawmaker and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sayedul Haque said on Wednesday.
Only one or two incidents of attacks took place in the area. “It was not that much as seen in the pictures,” he claimed.
“The situation is now under control,” he told reporters after visiting the affected area.
This Krishna Temple in Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar was vanalised during an attack on Hindu minority in the area on Sunday, October 30, 2016 Dhaka Tribune
Nasirnagar OC withdrawn
The Police Headquarters on Wednesday withdrew Md Andul Kader, the OC of Nasirnagar police, for negligence in carrying out duties during the attacks, Assistant Police Commissioner (Headquarters) Razon Kumar Das said.
Kader was also directed to report to the district police lines.
On Sunday, Kader and the local UNO gave speeches at Nasirnagar playground where the radical Islamists were holding a protest rally, though it had no permission.
BNP to send delegation on Friday
Meanwhile, the BNP on Wednesday said that a team comprising members of the central committee would visit Nasirnagar and talk to the victims tomorrow.
A six-member delegation led by BNP Vice-Chairman Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed will visit the area to find out the reasons behind the incident, said party chief Khaleda Zia’s press wing official Shairul Kabir Khan.
(This article was first published on Dhaka Tribune.)
नेशनल क्राइम रिकॉर्ड्स की 2015 की रिपोर्ट से खुलासा हुआ है कि देशभर की जेल में बंद कैदियों में से 55 फीसदी विचाराधीन कैदी मुस्लिम, दलित या फिर आदिवासी हैं। एनसीआरबी के अनुसार, जेल में बंद दो तिहाई कैदी विचाराधीन हैं और देश की सभी जेलों में कुल मिलाकर यह संख्या 2,82,076 हैं। इन कैदियों में से 80,528 निरक्षर हैं। विचाराधीन कैदियों में 1,19,082 दसवीं क्लास से ऊपर तक पढ़े हैं।
एनसीआरबी के आँकड़ों के अनुसार जेल में बंद कैदियों में से 70 प्रतिशत ऐसे हैं जिन्होंने दसवीं क्लास भी पास नहीं की है। इस प्रकार दलित, मुस्लिम और आदिवासी की जनसंख्या कुल मिलाकर देश की 39 प्रतिशत होती है। ऐसे में इस तरह के ये आँकड़े चिंता पैदा करते हैं।
2011 की जनगणना के मुताबिक, देश की 14.2 प्रतिशत आबादी मुस्लिम, 16.6 प्रतिशत आबादी दलितों और 8.6 प्रतिशत आबादी आदिवासी लोगों की है। इन्हीं तीनों समुदायों के कैदियों में विचाराधीन कैदी सबसे ज्यादा है, और दोषी पाए गए कम हैं। इस प्रकार कुल मिलाकर सारे कैदियों का 50.4 प्रतिशत होता है।
इसी प्रकार मुस्लिमों में दोषियों की संख्या 15.8 प्रतिशत है लेकिन विचाराधीन कैदियों की संख्या 20.9 प्रतिशत है। जो कि काफी ज्यादा है। दलितों में दोषियों की संख्या 20.9 प्रतिशत है और विचाराधीन कैदियों की संख्या 21.6 प्रतिशत है। इसी तरह आदिवासियों में 12.4 प्रतिशत लोग दोषी करार हो चुके हैं जबकि विचाराधीन कैदियों में उनका प्रतिशत 13.7 है।
एनसीआरबी के अनुसार, विचाराधीन कैदियों को जमानत के लिए कम से कम तीन महीने की सजा काटनी ही पड़ती है। 65 प्रतिशत लोग ऐसे हैं जिन्होंने 3 महीने से 5 साल जेल में बिता भी दिए हैं।
कैदियों का घनत्व सबसे ज्यादा (276.7 प्रतिशत) दादर और नगर हवेली की जेल में हैं। उसके बाद छत्तीसगढ़ (233.9 प्रतिशत) है और तीसरे नंबर पर दिल्ली (226.9 प्रतिशत) की जेल का नंबर आता है। चौथे नंबर पर मेघालय (177.9 प्रतिशत) और पाँचवें पर उत्तर प्रदेश (168.8 प्रतिशत) है। यूपी के बाद मध्यप्रदेश (139.8 प्रतिशत) का नंबर आता है।
भाजपा अध्यक्ष अमित शाह ने पांच दिन पहले इटावा की संकल्प रैली में कहा कि यूपी में कल्याण सिंह सरकार की ‘गुड गवर्नेंस’ की जरूरत है। लेकिन वह भूल गए कि कल्याण सिंह सरकार को खराब कानून-व्यवस्था की वजह से बर्खास्त कर राज्य में राष्ट्रपति शासन लगा दिया गया था।
Image: The Hindu
महज पांच दिन पहले यानी 27 अक्टूबर, 2016 को भाजपा अध्यक्ष अमित शाह ने मौजूदा राजनीतिक दिग्गज मुलायम सिंह के गढ़ इटावा में भाषण देकर हालिया इतिहास के उस दागदार अध्याय की याद दिला दी, जो इस देश के सद्भाव में जहर घोलने के लिए कुख्यात है। इस ऐतिहासिक शहर की एक रैली में शाह ने लोगों को याद दिलाया कि उत्तर प्रदेश में सुशासन तभी आ सकता है जब यहां ओबीसी नेता कल्याण सिंह (सिंह पार्टी से रिश्ते बिगाड़ कर बाहर भी जा चुके हैं) जैसी सरकार हो। लेकिन शाह को पता नहीं कि ऐसा कह कर उन्होंने इस देश के राजनीतिक इतिहास के किन कुख्यात दिनों की याद दिला दी।
शाह रैली में यूपी में कल्याण सिंह शासन के उन दिनों की याद दिला रहे थे, जो फर्जी मुठभेड़ों के लिए कुख्यात रहा है। ( उन दिनों फर्जी मुठभेड़ों में कई दलितों और मुस्लिमों को मार गिराया गया। शासन ने समाज के सबसे कमजोर वर्ग के लोगों को निशाना बनाया।) और सबसे बड़ी बात तो यह कि कल्याण सिंह का शासन धर्मनिरपेक्ष भारत के सामूहिक शर्म का काला अध्याय बन गया।
यूपी में कल्याण सिंह के शासन के दौरान ही 6 दिसंबर,1992 अयोध्या की बाबरी मस्जिद ढहा दी गई थी। इस विध्वंस के दौरान 3000 अदर्धसैनिक बलों की टुकड़ी चुपचाप किनारे खड़ी रही ( जिस वक्त कारसेवक कानून में हाथ में लेकर बाबरी मस्जिद तोड़ रहे थे, उस दौरान उन टुकड़ियों ने कोई हस्तक्षेप नहीं किया)। कल्याण सिंह की सरकार और उनके प्रशासन ने जानबूझ कर सुप्रीम कोर्ट की अवमानना की और बाबरी मस्जिद विध्वंस की अनदेखी कर दी। ( 6 नवंबर, 1992 को जब एडवोकेट ओ पी शर्मा ने यह बताया कि सैकड़ों-हजारों की संख्या में उन्मादी भीड़ (कारसेवकों की भेष में) अयोध्या में जमा हो रही है तो भी सुप्रीम कोर्ट हालात की गंभीरता को भांप नहीं पाया। अदालत की यह स्थिति भविष्य में न्यायपालिका की काबिलियत पर शोध का विषय बन सकती है। अदालत ने कारसेवकों को गिरफ्तार करने का आदेश देने के बजाय ऑब्जर्वर नियुक्त कर दिया, जो चुपचाप बाबरी मस्जिद के विध्वंस को देखता रहा।
बाबरी मस्जिद विध्वंस की राजनीतिक फसल काटने वाले भाजपा के सभी बड़े नेता 6 दिसंबर 1992 को फैजाबाद-अयोध्या में मौजूद थे। इन लोगों ने राम मंदिर आंदोलन की फसल काटी। (हालांकि यह 400 साल पुरानी मस्जिद को नामो-निशां मिटाने का आंदोलन था। रविवार के जिस अभागे दिन यह मस्जिद गिराई जा रही थी उस दिन ये नेता उन्मादियों का हौसला बढ़ाने और खुशी जाहिर करने के लिए खुल कर सामने खड़े थे। भाजपा के तमाम बड़े नेता खुल कर कार सेवकों का हौसला बढ़ा रहे थे। और मस्जिद उनके सामने गिराई जा रही थी। मैं सोचती हूं कि आज के कॉरपोरेट घराने के टीवी चैनल मसलन – टाइम्स नाउ, हेडलाइन्स टुडे, जी न्यूज, आईबीएन, ईटीवी, आजतक इस घटना की कैसी व्याख्या करते। क्या वह इसे देश के कानून के खिलाफ अपराध मानते या फिर इसकी कुछ अलग ही व्याख्या करते?
मौजूदा भाजपा अध्यक्ष अमित शाह इधर यूपी में अपराधियों को ढूंढ़ कर उन्हें जेल भेजने को लेकर काफी मुखर रहे हैं। लेकिन उनकी नजर में ये अपराधी कौन हैं। मुख्तार अफजल अंसारी के भाई, समाजवादी पार्टी आजम खान और अतीक अंसारी या फिर बीएसपी के नसीमुद्दीन सिद्दिकी। ये सभी मुसलमान हैं। साफ है कि शाह और बीजेपी की नजरों में सिर्फ मुसलमान ही अपराधी हैं। क्या कोई हिंदू अपराधी नहीं है। क्या भारत में इतने निचले स्तर की राजनीतिक बहस संभव है।
बीजेपी के अध्यक्ष कहते हैं कि उनकी पार्टी में कोई अपराधी नहीं है। बीजेपी में गुंडों के लिए कोई जगह नहीं है। हम देशभक्तों की पार्टी हैं। शाह ने तो पार्टी के लिए सरकार की ‘सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक’ का भी राजनीतिक लाभ लेने में कोई कोताही नहीं बरती। उनकी पार्टी का रवैया ऐसा है, जैसे देशभक्ति पर उसी का एक मात्र अधिकार हो। लिहाजा बीजेपी की रैली भी जय श्रीराम और भारत माता की जय के नारों से शुरू हुई। ऐसे में यह कल्पना करना मुश्किल नहीं है कि बीजेपी क्या चाहती है।
बहरहाल, इटावा में 27 अक्टूबर की संकल्प रैली और शाह के भाषण के बाद बीएसपी और समाजवादी पार्टी ने प्रतिक्रिया व्यक्त करने में देर नहीं की। समाजवादी पार्टी के राजेंद्र चौधरी ने शाह के बयान को बचकाना करार दिया। शाह के बयान को खारिज करते हुए चौधरी ने कहा कि नीति आयोग के गठन के बाद यूपी को मिलने वाले केंद्रीय अऩुदान में 9000 करोड़ रुपये की कटौती की जा चुकी है। साफ है कि केंद्र यूपी के साथ सौतेला व्यवहार कर रहा है। शाह और पीएम को यह बताना चाहिए कि बीजेपी को 73 सांसद (इनमें अपना दल के दो सदस्य शामिल हैं) देने वाले यूपी के लिए उन्होंने क्या किया है।
मायावती ने भी शाह को आईना दिखाने में देर नहीं की। कल्याण सिंह की सरकार के ‘गुड गवर्नेंस’ की याद दिलाते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि 1992 में खराब कानून-व्यवस्था, कोर्ट की अवमानना और गैर संवैधानिक काम के लिए कल्याण सिंह की सरकार बर्खास्त कर दी गई थी। कल्याण सिंह की सरकार के ‘गुड गवर्नेंस’ की याद दिलाकर अमित शाह ने यूपी की 22 करोड़ जनता का अपमान किया है। अमित शाह को अपने इस बयान के लिए माफी मांगनी चाहिए।
मायावती ने 1992 के दौर याद दिलाते हुए कहा कि बीजेपी के पास गुड गवर्नेंस का कोई उदाहरण नहीं है और इस संदर्भ में यूपी में कल्याण सिंह की सरकार की याद दिला कर उसने खुद को एक्सपोज ही किया है। बीजेपी को यह याद रखना चाहिए कि 1992 में बाबरी विध्वंस के आरोप में कल्याण सिंह की सरकार बर्खास्त कर दी गई थी और राज्य में राष्ट्रपति शासन लगा दिया गया था।
शाह का बयान इस साल जनवरी में आई उन रिपोर्टों के नौ महीनों के बाद आया है, जिनमें कहा गया था कि यूपी के मुख्यमंत्री रह चुके कल्याण सिंह को राज्य में पार्टी की कमान सौंपी जा सकती है। कल्याण सिंह इस वक्त राजस्थान के गवर्नर हैं। अगले साल चुनाव के बाद यूपी में 21वीं सरकार बनेगी। 26 जनवरी, 1950 के बाद यूपी में अब तक नौ बार राष्ट्रपति शासन लागू हो चुका है।पहली बार 1970 में 17 दिनों के लिए राष्ट्रपति शासन लागू हुआ था। यूपी की दो महिला प्रधानमंत्री हुई हैं। पहली सुचेता कृपलानी, जिनका शासन 1963 से 1967 तक था। दूसरी मायावती, जो चार बार इस राज्य की मुख्यमंत्री रहीं। पहली बार 1995 ( 137 दिनों के लिए), 1997 में (184 दिनों के लिए) 2002 में ( एक साल 118 दिनों के लिए) और 2007 में ( 4 साल 137 दिनों के लिए)। 2003 में यूपी विधानसभा के स्पीकर केसरी नाथ त्रिपाठी ने जोड़-तोड़ कर सत्तारुढ़ गठबंधन से बीएसपी के 15 विधायकों को तोड़ने में अहम भूमिका निभाई। (मायावती इसके खिलाफ सुप्रीम कोर्ट पहुंची, जहां चीफ जस्टिस एम एम पुंची, जस्टिस के टी थॉमस और जस्टिस एन श्रीनिवासन के फैसले के बाद मुलायम सिंह के नेतृत्व में सरकार बनी। इसे बीजेपी पीछे से सपोर्ट कर रही थी। )
पिछड़ों और मुसलमानों के मसीहा की छवि लिये मुलायम सिंह 1989 में यूपी के मुख्यमंत्री थे। (एक साल 201 दिन के लिए)। इसके बाद वह बाबरी मस्जिद के विध्वंस के बाद 1993 में मुख्यमंत्री बने ( 1 साल 201 दिन के लिए)। 2003 में भी ( 3 साल 257 दिनों के लिए ) भी वह सीएम बने। इसके बाद उन्होंने कमान बेटे अखिलेश सिंह यादव को सौंप दी। अखिलेश भारी मतों से जीत कर 15 मार्च 2012 को सत्ता में आए।
1977 तक भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस (आईएनसी) का यूपी में कोई मुकाबला नहीं था। सिर्फ 1968 और 1970 में चौधरी चरण सिंह (भारतीय क्रांति दल) का थोड़े दिनों तक शासन रहा। इमरजेंसी के बाद भी कांग्रेस की सरकार बनी। पहली वीर बहादुर सिंह की 1988 में और दूसरी 1989 में एनडी तिवारी के नेतृत्व में। लेकिन इसके बाद मंडल आंदोलन से पैदा हुए पिछड़े उभार और फिर 1992 के बाबरी विध्वंस के बाद यूपी का गढ़ कांग्रेस के हाथ से निकल गया। यूपी में बीजेपी की सरकार चार बार बनी। पहली बार कल्याण सिंह के नेतृत्व में 1999 में ( 2 साल 52 दिन)। इसके बाद रामप्रकाश गुप्ता के नेतृत्व में 1999-2000 तक। ( यह सरकार 351 दिन चली।)। इसके बाद राजनाथ सिंह की सरकार 2000 में बनी ( यह सरकार 1 साल 131 दिन चली)। बीजेपी मंडल राजनीति के अंतर्विरोध और रामजन्मभूमि की विभाजनकारी राजनीति के बाद ही यूपी में पैर जमा सकी। 2014 के लोकसभा चुनाव में इसे भारी सफलता मिली और इसने 80 में से 73 सीटें जीत ली।
हाल के ओपिनियन पोल (सितंबर, 2016 के) बताते हैं कि यूपी चुनाव में बीजेपी को हल्की बढ़त हासिल है। साफ है कि इसे देख कर बीजेपी राज्य में तेज ध्रुवीकरण की राजनीति पर उतर आई है ताकि अपनी बढ़त को और मजबूत बना सके। अब देखना बाकी है कि बीजेपी की इस कोशिश का राज्य की 22 करोड़ आबादी पर क्या असर पड़ता है। राज्य की यह आबादी विविधता से भरपूर है और उसके पास क्षेत्रीय राजनीतिक विकल्प भी मौजूद हैं। अगर विभाजनकारी राजनीति के खिलाफ बहुजन राजनीति मजबूत होकर खड़ी हुई तो भारत की राजनीति में दखल और आतंक के इस मौजूदा दौर को झटका लगेगा। कम से कम थोड़े समय के लिए इसका जोर तो कम हो ही जाएगा।
Intolerance is a rising global concern and South Asia is no exception. In Uttar Pradesh, India, a young victim of a so-called honour killing left a chilling video predicting her death at the hands of family members. In Quetta, Pakistan, an entire generation of lawyers was killed in a deliberate attack. In Bangladesh, independent bloggers who have spoken out for LGBT rights and for preserving the secular fabric of the nation have been killed with frightening frequency.
Image credit: Shazaib Akber/EPA
Disturbed by such incidents and grappling with questions about how disparate events relate to one another, in March 2016 we initiated Intolerance Tracker, a website to collect and document stories from across South Asia. Collaborating with Timescape, an online map-based storytelling platform, we aimed to track these events to consider their frequency and to highlight patterns. Too often, past events inevitably slip from memory within contemporary news and social media cycles.
Over the past six months, members of our growing team of students and other supporters have tracked over 300 incidents covering India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. These stories can be uploaded by anyone – and so to ensure credibility we have referenced them through established media reports.
The map takes its starting point from two definitions of intolerance: first, the 1981 declaration by the UN General Assembly on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. Crucially, this also highlights the importance of the active intention behind an action. Second, we used the 1995 UNESCO Declaration of Principles of Tolerance which sees tolerance as a rejection of “dogmatism and absolutism” and “an active attitude prompted by recognition of the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms of others”.
We started tracking stories by including incidents where people had been targeted on the basis of their religion, activism and political ideology, caste, ethnicity, gender, class and sexual orientation. The perpetrator list includes governments, police, private companies and other political, social and religious organisations as well as individuals. Recognising that in many cases a particular incident often has multiple actors as well as layers of influence and politics, the map allows users to choose as many options as applicable in an attempt to highlight the complexity of a particular incident.
Lessons from the map
Some revealing patterns are already emerging. In 86 cases, the government itself was a key perpetrator. Equally revealing was that of these 86 cases, 64 were instances where the views of individuals and groups were seen to challenge the state. It’s difficult to challenge structural and top-down forms of intolerance, such as the use of archaic “sedition” laws to silence student activists in India, when claims of national security and sedition are used to stymie alternative views. In such instances, people are faced with difficult choices about which institutions or organisations they can turn to as they resist the impunity of their governments.
The category of “individuals” as perpetrators is a curious one, because in many incidents it is unclear whether particular individuals have acted independently or on behalf of someone else, for instance, fringe religious and social groups. Worryingly, their actions often overlap with those of government or police or extend discriminatory legal frameworks, such as the numerous cases of vigilante violence related to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. In cases where the state is complicit in perpetuating a culture of intolerance and cycles of violence, it’s difficult to really determine the perpetrator with certainty. Particularly if fringe groups and individuals start to become unofficial arms of state violence.
Attacks against women, gender and sexual minorities are also common. These include honour killings and moral policing of women’s actions and behaviour by family members and other self-professed moral authorities. In Pakistan, Qandeel Balooch, a television and social media celebrity, was recently murdered for “bringing disrepute to her family”, while in Mangalore, a pub and lounge was attacked and women brutally beaten up for “tarnishing Indian values”.
An uneven landscape
Our reliance on news reports undoubtedly means that the map might reinforce some of the unevenness of the media reporting on incidents of intolerance. For example, rampant and everyday forms of gender, caste, or class discrimination perpetuate structural intolerance but often fly under the media radar. And while religious violence is also widely reported, incidents related to gender and sexual orientation appear less frequently. This could be because victims of sexual violence are less inclined to report such cases.
As we continue to use the map to track incidents of intolerance, we’re seeking to overcome these imbalances by reaching out to institutions and individuals in South Asia and widening our scope of sources. We hope that by putting these stories on the map, trying to understand their spatial patterns and visualising their cumulative impact, we can open new lines of inquiry and spur debate about solutions to this urgent and growing problem.
Ramashankar Yadav was a father of two Sons and a daughter .. Both the sons are in the Indian Army. The world till now knows according to the official version that Ramashankar Yadav aged 58 & with a history of heart ailments was killed by 8 SIMI terror suspects on the night of 30th or 31st.
Image: Hindustan Times
A Chief Head Warden even if guarding the B Block alone would not have the keys to the cells. The keys are deposited in the Jailors room after a lock out of the entire jail by 6.00pm. In a medical emergency the keys to the cell are bought by the OCD team & surely not handed over to a individual.
In a announcement, the police has claimed that the cells were opened by the terrorist with keys made of tooth brush and wood. This is history and a miracle of science in the making. The locks of the cells are always out of reach of the prisoners. The latch is placed at least a good two feet away from the gate etched in a hole within the wall. Even if one were to have the original keys there is no way that a prisoner could open a lock on his own.
If by killing a Chief Head Warden under trials are able to escape from a High Security Prison ..then obviously there is something wrong with the narrative. The inner walls of all prisons are electrically fenced so using bed-sheets to escape would be highly improbable from a compound housing terror suspects.
A prison has several layers of security. If scaling the walls could do the trick then we could hear about prison escapades on a daily basis. As the walls are accessible to the prisoners throughout the day.
According to the official version the CCTV footage also seems not to be working. This is not done at all as every week while block inspection happens everything is checked that includes cells, prisoners things, electric connections, communication lines etc.
A full fledged multiple layered enquiry needs to be put in place to probe the murder of the Chief Head Warden Ramashankar Yadav and all those behind the gruesome murder need to be bought to book. Otherwise cruel injustice would be meted out to the country and it’s Jawans !!.. Reminding again both the sons of the deceased have been dedicated to the service of the Nation.
Even as ‘facts’ come in flying thick and fast in this ‘developing story’, as a film-maker I cannot but help analyze the script/ screenplay/ dialogues offered so far by the cops, the Chief Minister and assorted BJP spokespersons on TV.
Firstly, let me acquaint you with a basic premise: Cinema works on the basis of “willing suspension of disbelief”. Audiences have to believe that their favourite superstar can thrash 50 people simultaneously or catch a flying bullet with his teeth. That he can just stick a moustache on his face and even his mother can not recognize him anymore. Willing suspension. Of disbelief.
But even in our highly Bollywoodized country, dear BJPfolk and MP Police, your story, script, screenplay & dialogues are really terrible! And people in real life don’t embrace disbelief readily, unless they’re your cadres or blind Bhakts.
The citizens (or rather as Amartya Sen says “argumentative Indians”) will ask questions, challenge your narratives, reject your ‘spins’ and even criticize you! They enjoy many fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution, but also exercise their fundamental duties – that’s the very nature of Democracy, a fact that our Hon’ble Minister of State (Home, ie, Internal Security) seems blissfully unaware of, like his many partymen who invoke some faux-nationalism, suggesting it is ‘unpatriotic’ to question the government, a tendency they themselves perfected during their years in opposition!
Decoding the Bhopal ‘encounter’ – a film-maker’s perspective:
After several incriminating videos of the so-called ‘encounter’ (a classic Indian euphemism for cold-blooded, execution-style murder by cops), now come some damning stills! (See pic above).
Surely, it is just a coincidence that the killer and the killed are wearing the same sports shoes, same make and colour. Not fishy at all, no?
But the big question is: Since jails don’t allow belts/shoes/watches, how/where did the #SIMI men find these? While walking to the jungle? In one of the shoe closets at the three usually heavily-guarded gates they crossed? Or in the shoe rack on top of the jail’s watch tower? Or did they first walk from the jail to the ATS squad office, raid their sports shoes supplies, then quietly marched to the jungle, huddled together atop a hill, waiting to be killed?
Let’s not even ask the other questions! Between the 8 of them, two allegedly had desi, crude pistols – how did they manage to get these? Or for that matter the knives? From some corrupt prison staff? Or found them lying on the road they walked on? Or through an accomplice, waiting for them outside? In which case, why was the accomplice stupid enough not to get an SUV or a van to drive them a couple of hundred miles away at night, maybe even take them outside the state and/or drop them to a railway station, for them to vanish on separate long-distance trains?
As per media, police reports say the escapees fired 2 rounds at them while they fired 47 rounds. So, the escapees got 2 desi guns with only one bullet each? How stupid of them!
A video shows a cop ‘recovering’ a knife-machete from an escapee’s waistband. A shiny, broad-blade, 5-6 inches long. How did this escapee manage to walk with this knife tucked inside his (new) jeans, without slicing his groin or cutting open his thigh? Warning: don’t try this at home, but without walking, just try & tuck in a large kitchen knife into your waistband!
The jailbreak itself is the stuff of legend. Like Jai-Veeru in Sholay with the “angrezon ke zamaaney ke jailer”. Let’s us now examine the screenplay in sequentially.
Scene 1: Ramashankar Yadav, on jail watch duty, is assaulted by one or many of the undertrial SIMI activists, who apparently slit his throat with a sharpened steel plate. His colleague and alleged eyewitness Chandan Ahirwar is spared, but locked inside a cell.
It isn’t clear how many SIMI men assaulted Mr. Yadav and how. Some media reports suggest that the 8 men were not kept in the same cell, or even in the same barracks, but were split up in different parts of the Bhopal Central Jail. Of these 8, 3 were apparently housed together in one section, another 3 in a different barrack and the last 2 in a third section of the jail.
Let’s assume and accept that a group of 3 assaulted Mr. Yadav.
The next question is how? No details have emerged or been offered by the jail authorities yet. There are no eyewitness accounts of the other jail inmates, locked up in the surrounding cells, in whose line of vision, this assault must have happened.
But, let’s accept scene 1 of the MP cops’ screenplay without further scrutiny – that the escapees attack a warden. They steal the keys from him to open other cells to free their friends. But they forget to free their own leader Abu Faisal alias Doctor from a nearby cell? How clumsy and stupid, but let’s say they were in too much of a hurry!
The story is curiouser if it turns out that the 8 were not housed in the same barracks – how did the escapees free the others, across different barracks, with a free run of the entire jail, with no guards or jail staff anywhere to stop them – where and how did they get the keys to the other barracks & cells? From who?
Cut to Scene 2: But how did they manage from there? The staffers inside the barracks don’t have keys to the entire jail and all its entry/ main & intervening security gates, but only for their respective cell blocks. Any movie-goer knows that!
So, how did the escapees cross gate 1, 2 and 3? Did these gates have no security or armed guards? The cops’ screenplay suggests they had made keys from wood and metal spoons. When? That night itself? Or well in advance? Either way, the jail staff on duty and armed guards just looked on as these escapees stood around gate 1 for hours, filing and chiseling the spoon, fitting & trying it and finally making a duplicate key? And then, they repeated the process at gates 2 and 3?
Across all sorts of jailbreak films, this scenario has never even been imagined!
Scene 3: The screenplay now suggests that after crossing the gates, they climbed a 32-feet high external wall, jumping over its parapet by making a “ladder out of bedsheets”. Imagine 1 man climbing the rope-knotted-bedsheets and reaching the top of the first wall. Then what – he jumps down thirty two feet, landing perfectly on his brand-new sports shoes? Or climbs down another bedsheet-rope that he has carried to the top? Now it is the turn of escapees 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 to repeat this mountaineering feat.
No police or jail staff spots them during the long time it took them to do this? No one from the watch tower? No armed guards see them? And – no CCTV cameras capture this remarkable Olympian achievement?
As per Firstpost, “The parapet wall has live wire. How did eight prisoners scale the 32 feet wall without even one, coming in accidental contact with the live wire?” Perhaps they were wearing Havells’ shock-laga-laga rubbersuits under their new jeans and shirts?
If this were a Bollywood movie, we would’ve walked out saying “kya bakwaas script hai”! Even Bollywood veterans like Ajay Devgn, Raveena Tandon, Anupam Kher and Paresh Rawal would agree. But this screenplay carries on.
Scene 4: The escapees come out of the ISO-certified Bhopal Central jail. What do they do next? They go for a leisurely walk, covering less than 1.5 km/ hour for 7-8 hours. Not in any hurry. No sense of urgency to escape. And they decide to stick together, all 8 of them. Not split into two teams of 4 each or four teams of 2 each and go off in different directions, making their own capture difficult. Were they too overconfident, or were they just too stupid to take these basic, elementary steps? In that case, they seem to be too foolish to be “dreaded terrorists” or any sort of “masterminds”!
Did they never watch TV or any films like Shawshank Redemption, Escape to Victory and see Sean Connery, Tim Robbins and John Travolta escape? What about our own Amitji, Shatrughan Sinha and the many peculiarly-named villains who have broken out of various Bollywood prisons in the last 60 years? So naïve!
Scene 5: The ‘cop screenplay’ now says that the escapees armed themselves somehow at night. Curiously, apart from 2 desi guns, the escapees get some knives – for what? Hand-to-hand combat with the heavily-armed ATS men? IGP Choudhary suggests on camera that his men have sustained injuries, but not from the 2 bullets supposedly fired at them. So, only knife injuries? How? Maybe once the escapees had been shot dead and the ATS chaps went nearer to check etc, the corpses’ hands twitched and jerked involuntarily but inflicted precise non life-threatening injuries. Even in death, they were considerate enough to not slice open an artery or a vein – how terribly kind-hearted terrorists?!
Triumphant IGP Yogesh Choudhary and valiant cops speak of the ‘encounter’ proudly on camera, telling us how bravely they tackled these men. Gushing TV anchors, wearing flack jackets and in combat mode themselves, inform us that 8 terrorists have been “neutralised” – never mind that these were undertrials, yet to be convicted for any offence, let alone for terrorism, by any court.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister slips up and admits that the ‘terrorists’ had no gun, only some kitchen utensils they’d sharpened into makeshift knives. He blows apart the whole brave-cops-under-enemy-fire-reluctantly-retaliate-and kill narrative.
While the drama unfolds, the absolute worst happens for Madhya Pradesh Police- a video apparently shot by the local sarpanch shows us a plainclothes cop ‘recovering’ a knife-machete from a corpse’s waistband, another brave one aiming at a figure lying on the ground and firing in cold blood while off-screen voices shower some abuse and even acknowledge that someone is shooting it all on video. We also hear a voice saying – “shoot him in the chest ”.
And then comes a second video. And a third video. And a fourth video. All of them are on YouTube for anyone to browse Here is a video of 5 men atop a hillock, no guns or weapons in sight.
An independent eyewitness journalist writes to CM Chouhan – they had no way to escape – on the other side was a sheer drop of a couple of hundred feet. They were surrounded. They wanted to surrender. They were killed in cold blood.
Finally – Dear Madhya Pradesh Government, ATS & Police, you need to hire better scriptwriters; this is such a terrible story full of large, gaping holes! Learn from the #GujaratModel. 20-30 “encounters”, clearer plotlines & savvier ‘spin’ management! Despite that, they made history by having the largest number of IPS officers & cops arrested & jailed in independent India! And – never have your Home Minister ‘monitor’ the encounters directly – it may land him in jail too!
Postscript: Sanjiv Shami, Chief, Anti-Terror squad too confirms on camera that the escapees had no guns (a stand he reiterates to Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV today). As per NDTV “Mr Shami says he is aware that since he first declared the men who were killed were unarmed two days ago, other police and government officers have contradicted him. He says he stands by his account.”
Mr Shami further suggests that even killing these unarmed men was alright as they were ‘dreaded criminals’. The Chief Minister, IGP Choudhary, Central Cabinet Ministers and various BJP leaders also offer variations of this logic as a justification. The online Bhakt-brigade floods the twitter universe, spreading the ‘party line’, heavily trolling anyone questioning the ‘encounter’. Minister Venkiah Naidu suggests it may be unpatriotic and urges people not to play ‘politics’ (even as CM Chouhan makes a political spectacle of the slain cop Ramashankar’s funeral).
In the process, the top cops and the netas ignore recent key judgements by the Supreme Court of India on fake encounter cases!
“It does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the State. The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both… This is the requirement of a democracy,” the Supreme Court held in a July 2016 judgment on 1,528 cases of alleged fake encounters involving the Army and the police in Manipur.
One of the judgments even recommended death penalty to “trigger-happy” cops and compared them to Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg trials who tried to brush off their culpability on their superior officers.
“We are of the view that in cases where a fake encounter is proved against policemen in a trial, they must be given death sentence, treating it as the rarest of rare cases. Fake ‘encounters’ are nothing but cold blooded, brutal murder by persons who are supposed to uphold the law,” the Supreme Court held in Prakash Kadam versus Ramprasad Vishwanath Gupta on May 13, 2011.
Justice Katju who wrote the 2011 judgement, goes on TV, terming the Bhopal incident a fake encounter, a murder, for which the guilty must be hanged!
This story is far from over. On test are India’s democracy, its judicial system and institutional safeguards like the NHRC. And we – the people of India, the ultimate custodians of our democracy!
I have personally spoken at length to the innocent Muslim men (two of them doctors) of Malegaon, framed by Maharashtra ATS and police in the 2006 terror attack case – they spent five and a half years in prison – subjected to tortures, narco-analysis tests and produced in court with their ‘confessions’. They escaped any ‘encounter’ or the gallows only as Hemant Karkare, an upright officer, soon after taking charge of the dreaded ATS in 2008, unearthed a conspiracy behind the Malegaon terror attacks, involving Hindutva zealots like Sadhvi Pragya, Aseemanand and Col Purohit among others. The Malegaon Muslims continued to languish in jail, finally getting bail only in end-2011. The judicial system still dragged them through its wheels till May 2016, when they were finally acquitted by the Special MCOCA Court.
You might wonder what’s the connection between Malegaon and Bhopal – you see, the ATS from both states claimed that the men they had arrested had a SIMI connection! SIMI, it would seem, is their synonym for ‘terrorist’. No wonder various BJP folk use the two interchangeably!
(The author is an eminent documentary film-maker. His most notable work is the feature-length documentary Final Solution on the communal Gujarat riots of 2002.)
