UCC: Women’s Forum Launches Campaign for ‘Immediate Withdrawal’ of Law Commission’s ‘Appeal’, ‘Questionnaire’

October 27, 2016

The Law Commission "fails miserably" in following the February 2014 guidelines laid down by the Indian government, is "likely to confuse issues of gender justice" pending before the Supreme Court and is ill-advised "the current communally charged atmosphere".

Photo: Jagrut Bharat

The Mumbai-based Forum Against Oppression of Women (FAOW) today launched a signature campaign calling upon the Union Law Commission to withdraw the “Appeal” and “Questionnaire” with immediate effect. It has appealed to women's groups and citizens across the country to endorse its statement detailing the reasons why the Commission should do so.

Among the reasons cited for the withdrawal is that the Commission "fails miserably" on all the guidelines stated by the government of India's “Pre Legislative Consultation Policy” published on February 5, 2014 which laid down 12 guidelines to be followed for the pre-legislative consultation. The most important of the guidelines stipulated that "Every department/ministry concerned should publish/place in public domain the draft legislation or at least the information that may inter alia include brief justification for such legislation, essential elements of the proposed legislation, its broad financial implications, and an estimated assessment of the impact of such legislation on environment, fundamental rights, lives and livelihoods of the concerned/affected people, etc… for a minimum period of 30 days."

Instead of placing a draft the Commission has chosen to put out a 'questionnaire'. According to the Forum, it is "impossible to respond to some of the questions" in the absence of such a draft.

Further, putting out such a draft at a time when several petitions on issues of gender justice are pending before the Supreme Court "without draft legislation in the current social context would in fact confuse the issue of gender justice".

"In the current communally charged atmosphere this issue requires utmost sensitivity. In fact some tribal organisations have already approached Supreme Court challenging the notion of a “Uniform Civil Code”, says the letter.

The Forum has appealed for an endorsement of its letter to the Commission. Those who agree to do so are requested to e-mail their endorsement to: faowindia@yahoo.co.in OR sandhyagokhale@yahoo.com.

Photo: Getty image

Full text of the letter addressed to the Law Commission:

We the undersigned organisations and individuals submit our response to the “Appeal” dated 7^Th October 2016, by the 21^st Law Commission to begin healthy conversation on viability of Uniform civil code as below.

We are aware that formulating any legal provision based on foundation of Indian constitution is an arduous task. It requires tremendous effort and commitment to basic tenets of the secular, democratic socialist framework of the Constitution.

For drafting of the constitution on 29 August 1947, Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to prepare a draft Constitution for India. The assembly met in sessions open to the public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution, the 308 members of the assembly signed the document on 24 January 1950.

Not only that but from 1930 women’s organizations have put out the demand for a comprehensive code. In response to that, under the chairmanship of law minister Dr Ambedkar, a committee was formed which modified further the first draft of Hindu code bill formulated in 1941. But many hindu fundamentalist voices from the assembly did not allow passage of this bill and in protest Dr Ambedkar resigned as law minister. Thereafter between 1952 to 1956 Jawaharlal Nehru managed to get the Hindu code bill passed in four separate segments.
We state all this to emphasise that no far reaching effective, just legal reform can be carried out without putting in similar sustained and intense efforts.

We are aware that any legal reform follows three phases: Pre-legislative phase, Legislative phase and Post-legislative phase.

This current effort of the law commission will fall within the ambit of Pre-legislative phase. The Law and Justice ministry of the Government of India has published the “Pre Legislative Consultation Policy” on 5^th February 2014, which lays down the to be followed for the pre-legislative consultation. There are total 12 guiding principles laid down in this policy.
The first two important points are reiterated here:

Every Department/Ministry shall proactively publish the proposed legislations both on the internet as also through other means; the detailed modalities of such publication may be worked out by the Department/Ministry concerned.
The Department/Ministry concerned should publish/place in public domain the draft legislation or at least the information that may inter alia include brief justification for such legislation, essential elements of the proposed legislation, its broad financial implications, and an estimated assessment of the impact of such legislation on environment, fundamental rights, lives and livelihoods of the concerned/affected people, etc. Such details may be kept in the public domain for a minimum period of thirty days for being proactively shared with the public in such manner as may be specified by the Department/Ministry concerned.

If we look at the “Appeal” published by the 21^st Law commission of India, it fails miserably on all the guidelines stated by the PLCP referred to above.

In this context hence, we place before you our main concerns regarding your appeal in the context of the “Uniform Civil Code”:

The Questions are asked in context of “Uniform Civil Code”. But there is no draft put out of “Uniform Civil Code” referred to time and again in the “Appeal”.
The “Appeal” is accompanied by one questionnaire the purpose of which is purportedly to solicit ideas and opinions for a comprehensive exercise of revision and reform of family laws. In the absence of any draft put out, it is impossible to respond to some of the questions.
Most of the questions are “multiple” choice or binary in nature. Such kind of questionnaires are normally subjected to statistical analysis. We realise that the manner in which the questions are posed are misleading or at times leading to seek some answer which could then be put to some sort of statistical analysis. This leads us to wonder whether it is process in which some sort of majoritarian view point would get imposed on marginalized section of society based on the quantitative result. In fact, most of the issues raised in the questions do not confine to a yes-no/ one word/ multiple choice answers, but should be part of long debates, and consultative processes which should follow from detailed presentation of some existing draft.
This kind of an appeal makes a mockery of the pre-legislative process, which is not to be equated with “electoral” democracy based on numerical equations.
At this moment, many from the Muslim community, progressive women’s collectives and other organizations which also have men in forefront, are raising issues of gender equality before the Supreme Court. Given that the Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging some of the gender biased aspects of Muslim Personal law, the timing of this “Appeal” and questionnaire raises many doubts. Introducing this “Appeal” and “Questionnaire” without draft legislation in the current social context would in fact confuse the issue of gender justice.
In the current communally charged atmosphere this issue requires utmost sensitivity. In fact some tribal organizations have already approached Supreme Court challenging the notion of a “Uniform Civil Code”.
This “Appeal” without a draft legislation would definitely be used as a tool to vitiate and polarize communities given the fact that elections are soon to be held in some states.

Taking into consideration our submissions above, we respectfully request the Law commission to withdraw the “Appeal” and “Questionnaire” with immediate effect.

Yours sincerely,

Forum Against oppression of Women, Mumbai

आदिवासियों की मौत पर गैर संवेदनशील है महाराष्ट्र सरकार- बॉम्बे हाई कोर्ट

October 27, 2016

नई दिल्ली। मुंबई के आसपास के इलको में हो रही आदिवासीयों की मौत से बॉम्बे हाईकोर्ट चिन्तित है। कोर्ट ने महाराष्ट्र के फडणवीस सरकार को कड़ी फटकार लगायी है।

आदिवासी क्षेत्र में काम करने वाले संगठनों का कहना हैं कि आदिवासी बच्चों की मौत कुपोषण से हुई है। अगर सरकार इन क्षेत्रो में खाद्य सामग्री वितरण करे तो हालात सुधर सकते है। लेकिन सरकार ने अभी तक इसपर कोई कदम नहीं उठाया है। हाईकोर्ट का इस पर कहना है की सरकार की गतिविधियां बताती है कि वह कितनी ज्यादा गैर संवेदनशील है।

न्यायाधीश वीएम कानाडे ने राज्य के मुख्य सचिव को निर्देश भी दिया कि वे कुपोषण के कारण हो रही मौत के मामलों को व्यक्तिगत रूप से देखें और इसे रोकने के लिए जरूरी कदम उठाएं। और साथ ही कोर्ट को ये तलब करे की सरकार ने क्या कदम उठाए है ताकि आदिवासियों की कुपोषण से होने वाली मौतों को रोका जा सके। कोर्ट ने कहा कि आदिवासियों के कल्याण के लिए जो कानून या योजनाएं है उन सभी को यहां लागू किया जाना चाहिए।

न्यायमूर्ति वीएम कानडे व न्यायमूर्ति स्वप्ना जोशी की खंडपीठ ने कहा कि आठ साल से कुपोषण से हो रही मौतों को रोकने के लिए अदालत आदेश दे रही है पर सरकार व सरकारी अधिकारी गहरी नींद से जागने को तैयार नहीं हैं। – सरकार कागज में आदर्श स्थिति दिखाती है पर जमीनी हकीकत कुछ और ही है।

न्यायाधीश कानाडे ने ये भी कहा कि "इस मामले में सरकार बिल्कुल भी गंभीर नहीं है। समाज के बिल्कुल निचले वर्ग से आने वाले आदिवासियों के बच्चों को यह सरकार मरने के लिए छोड़ दे रही है और उनके खाने-पीने का कोई इंतजाम नहीं कर रही है।" हाईकोर्ट ने जिस याचिका पर सुनवाईं करते हुए ये बाते कही है उस याचिका में बताया गया है कि अब तक इन आदिवासी इलाकों में 18,000 बच्चों की मौत हो चुकी है।

कोर्ट ने साफ-साफ कहा हैं कि अगर आदिवासी बच्चों के मौत का सिलसिला नहीं थमा तो सभी विभागों के सचिवों को कोर्ट में व्यक्तिगत रूप से पेश होने के लिए कहा जायेगा और उनके विरुद्ध कोर्ट की अवमानना का मुकदमा चलेगा।

भारत सरकार एक तरफ देश को सुपर पावर बनाने का सपना दिखा रही हैं, बुलेट ट्रेन चालने की बात कर रही हैं और दूसरी तरफ मुंबई से महज 100 कि.मी. की दुरी पर बच्चे कुपोषण की मौत मर रहे है। आजादी के करीब 70 साल बाद भी अगर देश में बच्चों की जान भूख और कुपोषण से जा रही है तो इससे ज्यादा दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण कुछ और नहीं हो सकता।

Courtesy: National Dastak

Kerala Hindu outfit leader, K P Sasikala, booked for hate speech

October 27, 2016

A top woman functionary of a Kerala-based Hindu outfit has been booked for her alleged inflammatory speeches, which were widely circulated on social media.

Police today said the case was registered against ‘Hindu Aikya Vedi’ state President K P Sasikala under IPC section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony).

She has been charged with the non-bailable offence based on a recent complaint filed by government pleader C Shukkur, they said.

The complainant had alleged that some of Sasikala’s recent speeches, being widely circulated on social media, could flare up communal tension in the state.

He had also submitted to police a CD containing some visuals of the speeches, downloaded from YouTube, besides web links.

Kasaragod District police chief Thomson Jose said the case was registered after verifying the links of the speeches and collecting details about its places of occurrence.

“Though the petitioner had submitted several materials to prove his point that the accused had made inflammatory speeches, we could find objectionable content in some of the speeches only,” he told PTI.

A detailed investigation will be held in this regard before proceeding further, the official added.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter

170 Years more before economic Equality between Men and Women, predicts WEF

October 27, 2016

A worrisome figure that has emerged from World Economic Forum’s (WEF) report estimates that the global gap between the earnings of men and women will not be closed for another 170 years, providing current trends continue to exist.

Representational picture. Image credit: Behind the Door of 104

The Swiss forum based out of Geneva has published its Global Gender Gap report for the year 2016, which analyses Gender Gap Index (GGI) of 144 countries from around the world. The GGI calculated by WEF takes into consideration four key areas to calculate relative gaps between women and men: health, education, economy and politics.

While the report cites some improvement in the rest of the areas, the most challenging gender gaps remain in the economic sphere. It states, “At the current rate of change, and given the widening economic gender gap since last year, it will not be closed for another 170 years. The economic gender gap this year has reverted back to where it stood in 2008, after a peak in 2013.”

On average, the 144 countries covered in the report have closed 96% of the gap in health outcomes between women and men, unchanged since last year, and more than 95% of the gap in educational attainment, an improvement of almost one full percentage point since last year and the highest value ever measured by the Index. However, the gaps between women and men on economic participation and political empowerment remain wide. Only 59% of the economic participation gap has been closed—a continued reversal on several years of progress and the lowest value measured by the Index since 2008—and about 23% of the political gap, continuing a trend of slow but steady improvement.

Estimating years to close gender gaps in other areas, it says, “The currently widest gender gap, in the political dimension, is also the one exhibiting the most progress, narrowing by 9% since 2006. On current trends, it could be closed within 82 years. The time to close the health gender gap remains undefined. Formally the smallest gap, it has oscillated in size with a general downward trend. Today, the gap is larger than it stood in 2006, in part due to specific issues in select countries, in particular China and India.”

India has moved up to rank 87 out of 144 countries on the GGI ranking list from last year’s 108 out of 145 countries. Its GGI is 0.683 – up from last year’s 0.664. The increase in the GGI indicates closing of the gender gap in the respective country as far as the mentioned key areas are considered.

Pakistan is ranked second last in the list with a GGI of 0.516 – better than only Yemen, whose performance, according to the report, is worst in closing the gender gap in the country. Bangladesh tops the list among the South Asian countries with a rank of 72, while China ranks 99, Nepal 101, Bhutan 121 and Sri Lanka 100 on the list by WEF.

Four Nordic countries – Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden have topped the list with GGIs higher than 0.8. No country has fully closed its overall gender gap, but those in the top five, which also includes Rwanda, have closed more than 80 percent of theirs.

However, the report forecasts fastest closing of the gender gaps in South Asia with a projected period of 46 years, as opposed to 61 years for Western Europe, 72 years for Latin America and 79 years for Sub-Saharan Africa.

“As-Salaam-Alaikum, Namaste, this is Radio Mewat!” Sorry, No ‘News’, No ‘Politics’

October 27, 2016

Because of government restrictions, community radio stations often find themselves unable to voice the community's major concerns. Radio Mewat was recently confronted with such a dilemma when 'gau rakshaks' raped two women and killed two of their older relatives. Also, when soon thereafter came the clampdown on biryani selling on the streets, ostensibly to check sale of prohibited cow meat.

Warisa Bano, radio reporter. Photo: Mubarik Khan

Warisa Bano had a dream. Unlike other young women in Mewat, she wanted to be a radio jockey. She grew up listening to BBC’s Hindi service, the only news channel her grandfather tuned in to every day. She was amazed at how a box could beam out voices from afar. She wanted to be part of this magic. Her family refused to allow her to enrol in college as they feared that an educated girl would not find a groom. Warisa had a serious problem at hand.

Mewat, a district in India's northern state of Haryana, is not an easy place for women to have ambitions. Located 70 kilometres from India’s capital Delhi and predominantly Muslim, the region has low literacy rates and women are generally married off early. It’s not unusual for many to have 8-10 children. Ever since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Delhi, Mewat’s problems have been aggravated. Its illiteracy, unemployment and lifestyle are all being interpreted through the prism of religion.

Warisa, then aged 19, found an ally in her grandfather who, on her insistence, accompanied her to the only community radio station in the vicinity, Radio Mewat, 23km away from her home. It was the initiative of an ngo, SMART (Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation), which was set up in 2000. When the Government of India revised its policy guidelines in 2007 to allow not-for-profit organisations a licence to run community radio stations, which were earlier restricted to educational institutions only, SMART grabbed this opportunity. Radio Mewat was launched in September 2010. When Warisa turned up, Radio Mewat invited her to be the guest on their programme ‘Aaj Ka Mehmaan’ (Today’s Guest). Warisa was on air.

Her keenness to join the radio station resulted in a long period of negotiations with her family. They conceded but with certain conditions – Warisa had to complete all the household chores before she left home. That meant that she had to get up every day at 4 am – summer or winter – to complete her work. She would then leave home at 6:45 am, take different modes of transport to cover the distance to reach the station at 8 am. She was never late. Within no time at all she became a known voice, and became what can only be called a celebrity in her community. Warisa began receiving invitations to be the Guest of Honour at local school functions. She was invited to hoist the national flag on Independence Day in a local girl’s school, and also make the keynote address at the opening of the first women’s police station in the district, an honour by any standard but even more remarkable given Warisa's journey. She was featured on Doordarshan, the national television channel and other local channels. In less than a year Warisa was transformed into a confident, mature woman with a voice that was known everywhere.

Warisa speaking on national television. Photo: Mubarik Khan.

After 4 years of working at Radio Mewat, Warisa had a sizeable following. She decided to put her stardom to use and contested elections for local self-government – the panchayat. She lost by a whisker. She then decided to pursue a career in medicine and is now working as a lab assistant at a local medical college. She is now 23, and is still unmarried.

Warisa’s is just one of many stories that speak of the transformative power of radio, in a community where watching television is considered against the tenets of Islam, and women are not allowed to go out; there are no restaurants or movie halls, malls or gardens. Even the mosques are not open to women who are confined to the house. In these circumstances, radio has become their only companion. Until a few years back the women were not even allowed a mobile phone but at least that has changed and has now afforded them an opportunity to connect to radio. Through this device, they listen, and call into the community radio station.

From Radio Mewat they get information about local government schemes, consumer rights, nutrition, financial inclusion – a programme to help people learn about financial institutions including banks, and create an understanding of the financial services that can be accessed. Through this programme SMART helped open over 25,000 savings accounts, helped farmers access loans and insure their crops and helped landless labour borrow money to start small businesses), learn English, maths and the history of Mewat. For women, particularly the radio is a boon. It has served not only as a platform for expression but also as a one-stop shop for solutions.

In 2013, when Mewat had a sensitive district police chief, Radio Mewat did a programme with the police department where the radio doubled up as a complaint registering centre. The majority of complaints came from women who do not feel safe going to a police station. Through this programme hundreds of issues were addressed including the presence of an illicit liquor distillery, in a predominantly Hinduvillage, that used to serve as a hangout for all the men. The complaint which was sent to the radio station was taken up by the police and the distillery was raided and shut down. This helped in building the credibility of both the community station and the police. Radio Mewat won two national awards for its community engagement and innovative programmes.

Warisa, reporting from slums near Delhi. Photo: Mubarik Khan.

As a result of a government ban on news and current affairs on community radio stations and private FM stations, the radio has been walking a thin line trying to separate development news from current affairs. Despite all the constraints, Radio Mewat has helped bring in more transparency and accountability in this district. Consequently, it has also caused disquiet in the corrupt administration. Radio Mewat has been blamed for making the people aware of their rights, and encouraging them to speak up, and demand their rights.

Not being allowed to broadcast news undermines a key objective of community radio stations: giving a voice to people living at the margin. Recently, the radio station was confronted with a big dilemma when alleged cow protectors raped two women and killed two of their older relatives. Their crime was consumption of beef, an inexpensive and a high protein food for the less privileged, in an area where it is proscribed by the state of Haryana’s BJP government. This incident was followed by a clampdown on biryani (a rice dish layered with meat) to prevent local people from using cow meat. By any reckoning this was a national issue being played out in the station’s backyard, but the radio team was forced by law to not report either the incident or provide a forum for the local people to express their grievances. Besides, there was a threat from district officials that if Radio Mewat gave legitimacy to the protesters – it would be shut down.

These are difficult times for community radio stations like Radio Mewat. On the one hand the support from the government in terms of advertisements or sponsored programmes (the only way to get some financial assistance) has been stopped and on the other hand the community feels the radio is no longer a voice of the community, as it is not airing their concerns. For a community radio, which is supposed to be community owned – a radio by the people, for the people and of the people – the big question is: does one get into discussing the growing turmoil in the community or just focus on non-controversial issues like imparting education, propagating government schemes or being agony aunt to the women of Mewat? As the content of the radio programmes is constantly monitored by the central government, it is not easy to engage in discussions that the regulators could find subversive which, in turn, could lead to the lockdown of these small community run stations.

When this issue was discussed with the community, the mood was firm. Under no circumstances did they want their radio to be shut down. They were perhaps cognisant, too, of the transformative role that radio played in their lives and how it could also help in discovering the next Warisa from a remote village of this abysmally poor area when she hears the voice on her FM radio “As-Salaam–Alaikum, Namaste, this is Radio Mewat”!

(Archana Kapoor is a publisher, author and a community media activist. She is an independent filmmaker and Founder of Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation (SMART) – a non-governmental organisation which works with marginalized communities in India.)

This story was first published on openDemocracy India.

Farhan Akhtar questions CM’s Role in ADHM-MNS Deal, dubs it as ‘terrible Precedent’

October 27, 2016

While Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has incurred wrath of a number of politicians, filmmakers and activists for brokering a deal between the xenophobic political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and makers of the film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, filmmaker and activist Farhan Akhtar too has slammed the CM for facilitating the deal and setting a “terrible precedent”.

Image: BFI

According to an Indian Express report, Akhtar has criticised MNS and questioned the government’s role as the mediator, and said, “The only word, I think, that comes to mind is unfortunate, because it has set a terrible precedent.”

Following MNS’ threat of vandalising theatres screening Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which has a Pakistani actor Fawad Khan in it, CM Fadnavis had called for a meeting of the party president Raj Thackeray and the producers, in which it was agreed that the filmmakers will not cast Pakistani artistes in future and will pay Rs 5 crore as ‘prayashchit’ (penance) to the Army welfare fund.

Referring to the series of incidents since MNS’ threats, Akhtar told Express, “It’s not even the government telling you what you should be doing and not doing. So who are you listening to? You are listening to the people who are threatening you with violence. Now, when you have the threat of violence, it’s not only about you. You have kids at home, you have a family.”

Speaking to The Indian Express during the promotion of his next film, Akhtar questioned the selective targeting of the film industry. “By all means pass a law. If you pass a law, you are representing the voice of the people. We’ve elected you to do it, so by all means pass a law. But don’t hold that standard only for the film industry. Why only the film industry? Because we are easy targets. Why don’t you stop business between India and Pakistan, this two billion dollars of business that happens every single year. Stop it, go the whole hog. This is like window dressing,” he said.

Supporting Johar’s statement in which he had explained how the circumstances were different when he had signed Khan, Akhtar said, ““People were encouraging exchange, our Prime Minister travelled there. It was an air, an environment of optimism, an environment of wanting bridges to be made. That’s the environment you started functioning in. Now, if that’s changed, you cannot hold this person by his throat and say that what you have done is wrong, and force you to say things and force you to pay money.”

To read the full report, click here,

VHP नेता के भड़काऊ बोल, मुसलमानों को कहा भारत में रहना है तो पैगंबर को नहीं श्रीराम को करो फॉलो

October 27, 2016

विश्व हिंदू परिषद के एक वरिष्ठ नेता ने मुस्लिमों से कहा है कि अगर उन्हें भारत में रहना है तो पैंगबर मोहम्मद को छोड़कर श्रीराम के रास्ते पर चलना होगा। साथ ही उन्होंने कहा कि अगर वे इस्लाम धर्म छोड़कर हिंदू धर्म अपना लेते हैं तो उनकी पूरी सुरक्षा की जाएगी।

न्यूज वेबसाइट Coastaldigest.com की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक विश्व हिंदू परिषद के ज्वाइंट सेक्रेट्री सुरेंद्र कुमार जैन रविवार को ‘हिंदू जाया घोष’ मीटिंग में बोल रहे थे। इस मीटिंग में जैन ने मुस्लिमों को हिंसक बताते हुए कहा, ‘मुस्लिमों में कुछ ऐसे ग्रुप हैं, जो कि एक दूसरों को नफरत करते हैं।

सुन्नी शियाओं को मारते हैं और शिया सुन्नियों को मारते हैं। मुस्लिम देशों में कोई शांति नहीं है। दुर्भाग्यवश, वे लोग इस देश में भी शांति भंग करना चाहते हैं।’ साथ ही जैन ने मुस्लिमों से कहा कि उनके पैतृक हिंदू ही थे। अगर वे इस्लाम को छोड़कर हिंदू धर्म अपना लेते हैं तो विश्व हिंदू परिषद उनकी पूरी सुरक्षा करेगा। अगर मुस्लिम भारत में रहना चाहते हैं तो मुस्लिमों को पैंगबर मोहम्मद की जगह, श्रीराम के रास्तों पर चलना होगा।’

सुरेंद्र कुमार जैन पहले भी विवादित बयान देते रहे हैं। उन्होंने अप्रैल महीने में दारुल उलूम देवबंद पर बैन लगाने की मांग की थी। जैन ने देवबंद को आतंक की फैक्ट्री करार दिया था। बता दें, दारुल उलूम देवबंद ने भारत माता की जय को मुस्लिम विरोधी बताया था। उसके बाद जैन ने फतवा जारी करने वाली मौलवी के खिलाफ देशद्रोह का मामला दर्ज करने की मांग की थी।

जनसत्ता की खबर के अनुसार जैन ने कहा था, ‘भारत को खत्म करने के लिए देवबंद में जहरीले बीज उगाए जा रहे हैं। यूपी सरकार को दारुल उलूम देवबंद को बैन कर देने चाहिए। फतवा जारी करने वाले मौलवी के खिलाफ देशद्रोह का केस दर्ज कर भेजना चाहिए।’ साथ ही उन्होंने कहा था कि वे कहते हैं कि भारत माता की जय बोलना मूर्ती पूजा करने जैसा है। मैं उनसे पूछा चाहता हूं जीत के लिए इस्तेमाल होने वाले नारे ‘जय’ क्या किसी तरह की पूजा है?

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter

मध्य प्रदेश: व्यापम के बाद एक और बड़ा भर्ती घोटाला, RSS का नाम आया सामने

October 27, 2016

भोपाल। बीजेपी शासित मध्य प्रदेश में तीन साल पहले उजागर हुए व्यापम घोटाले के बाद एक और बड़ा भर्ती घोटाला सामने आया है। यह घोटाला राज्य की सबसे अहम मानी जाने वाले भर्ती आयोग मध्य प्रदेश लोक सेवा आयोग (एमपीपीएससी) में सामने आया है। एमपीपीएससी द्वारा कुछ साल पहले उच्च शिक्षा विभाग में की गई प्रोफेसरों की सीधी भर्ती में भारी अनियमितता सामने आई हैं। इस घोटाले में राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ का नाम भी सामने आ रहा है।

जनवरी 2009 में एमपीपीएससी ने उच्च शिक्षा विभाग में प्रोफेसरों की भर्ती के लिए 385 पदों का विज्ञापन जारी किया था। इसके तहत प्रोफेसर पद पर सीधे साक्षात्कार के माध्यम से नियुक्ति की जानी थी। वर्ष 2011 के मध्य में यह प्रक्रिया पूरी हुई थी। भर्ती को लेकर समय-समय पर कई शिकायतें होती रहीं जिनको देखते हुए उच्च शिक्षा विभाग में आयुक्त कार्यालय द्वारा एक चार सदस्यीय जांच समिति का गठन किया गया था। उसी समिति ने हाल में अपनी रिपोर्ट राज्य सरकार को सौंपी है।

जांच समिति ने भर्ती प्रक्रिया में गड़बड़ी से जुड़े कई मुद्दे उठाए हैं। जांच समिति ने कहा है कि आयोग द्वारा विज्ञापन जारी होने तथा चयन हेतु साक्षात्कार पूरा करने के बाद अनुभव के बारे में जो स्पष्टीकरण जारी किया गया वह पूरी तरह नियम के विरुद्ध है। जांच समिति ने कहा कि भर्ती प्रक्रिया के लिए साक्षात्कार होने के बाद अगस्त, 2011 में विज्ञापन में संशोधन जारी किया गया। नियमानुसार यदि संशोधन करना आवश्यक था तो पूरी प्रक्रिया निरस्त कर फिर से आवेदन मंगाए जाने थे लेकिन ऐसा नहीं किया गया।

जांच समिति ने कहा कि उच्च शिक्षा विभाग के भर्ती नियमों के मुताबिक अनुभव योग्यताएं, जो पारंपरिक रूप से पदोन्नति के लिए भी स्वीकार की जाती हैं, से अलग योग्यताओं की व्याख्या या स्पष्टीकरण लोक सेवा आयोग द्वारा जारी किया गया। इससे स्पष्ट है कि चयन में भर्ती के लिए अलग मापदंड अपनाए गए। विज्ञापन जारी करते समय अनुभव योग्यताओं को स्पष्ट न किए जाने से बहुत से संभावित उम्मीदवारों को मौका नहीं मिल पाया।

जांच समिति ने रिपोर्ट में बताया कि सरकारी कॉलेजों में कार्यरत उम्मीदवारों द्वारा प्रस्तुत अनुभव प्रमाण पत्रों के अलावा जो अनुभव प्रमाण पत्र प्राप्त हुए हैं वे प्रारंभिक रूप से संदेहास्पद लगते हैं। अनुभव प्रमाण पत्रों की सत्यता की जांच सरकारी विश्वविद्यालय या कॉलेज से नहीं कराई गई। इसके अलावा उनकी पुष्टि के लिए संबंधित दस्तावेज भी उपलब्ध नहीं कराए गए हैं।

रिपोर्ट के अनुसार अनुदान प्राप्त संस्थाओं में नियुक्तियों का अनुमोदन उच्च शिक्षा आयुक्त द्वारा किया जाता है। इन संस्थाओं में काम करने से संबंधित कई अनुभव प्रमाण पत्रों के साथ इस तरह के अनुमोदन का कोई भी प्रमाण उपलब्ध नहीं हैं। आयोग द्वारा आठ अगस्त, 2011 को जारी स्पष्टीकरण में बताया गया कि केवल सरकारी और अनुदान प्राप्त गैर-सरकारी संस्थाओं का ही अनुभव मान्य होगा। अनुदान प्राप्त न करने वाली गैर-सरकारी संस्थाओं का अनुभव मान्य नहीं होगा लेकिन नियुक्ति में इस तरह के अनुभव भी मान्य किए गए हैं।

जांच समिति ने सवाल उठाया कि जिस विषय में पीएचडी नहीं है उसमें चयन न होकर किसी अन्य विषय में चयन किया गया। कुछ उम्मीदवारों का चयन पहले हुआ, पीएचडी की डिग्री उन्हें बाद में मिली। कुछ ऐसे उम्मीदवारों का चयन भी हुआ जिन्होंने स्कूल के संविदा शिक्षक के अनुभव का प्रमाण पत्र आवेदन में लगाया था। विश्वविद्यालय अनुदान आयोग (यूजीसी) के दिशा-निर्देश के अनुसार प्रोफेसर पद के लिए चार साल का स्नातकोत्तर कक्षाओं में पढ़ाने का अनुभव अनिवार्य है। आयोग की इस भर्ती प्रक्रिया में इस नियम को सिरे से नकारा गया है।

आपको बता दें कि एक बार चयन प्रक्रिया शुरू होने के बाद शर्तों में किसी तरह के बदलाव नहीं होते। अगर ऐसा करना अनिवार्य हो तो पहले के आवेदनों को रद्द कर दोबारा आवेदन मंगाए जाते हैं। उच्च शिक्षण संस्थानों में नियुक्ति की पूरी कार्रवाई आयोग द्वारा संपन्न की गई और अनुभव प्रमाण पत्रों की जांच भी आयोग द्वारा ही की गई थी। आयोग द्वारा प्रस्तुत सूची के आधार पर उच्च शिक्षा विभाग ने चयनित उम्मीदवारों की नियुक्तियां की थीं। दरअसल यह पहली बार नहीं है जब मध्य प्रदेश लोक सेवा आयोग पर सवाल उठे हों। इसके पहले भी परीक्षाओं के पेपर लीक मामले में आयोग संदेह के घेरे में आ चुका है। वर्ष 2012 में आयोग द्वारा आयोजित एक परीक्षा का पेपर लीक होने के बाद पूरी परीक्षा रद्द करनी पड़ी थी।

संदेह की सुई राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ की तरफ भी उठ रही है। जिस समय यह भर्ती प्रक्रिया चली उस दौरान प्रोफेसर पीके जोशी मध्य प्रदेश लोक सेवा आयोग के अध्यक्ष थे। उनका कार्यकाल 13 जून 2006 से 28 सिंतबर, 2011 तक था। आयोग के तत्कालीन अध्यक्ष को राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ की पृष्ठभूमि का माना जाता है। उच्च शिक्षा विभाग के सूत्र नाम न बताने की शर्त पर जानकारी देते हैं कि चयनित कई उम्मीदवार भी संघ की पृष्ठभूमि से जुड़े हैं। इससे पहले व्यापम घोटाले में भी संघ से संबंधित लोगों के नाम आए थे। संघ के उच्च पदाधिकारियों पर आरोप लगे थे कि कई चयन उनकी सिफारिश के आधार पर हुए हैं।

Courtesy: National Dastak

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