Life had already dealt Champa Das a tough hand. Not only was she a Dalit woman, she had been living in penury after the death of her husband and son. But things got even worse when she was served notice to appear before a Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam and defend her Indian citizenship. But she was spared the cruel fate of spending life behind bars in a detention centre after Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) took up her case and after long and persistent efforts, helped her get a judgment that recognised her as a stream refugee.
75-year-old Champa Das, widow of Dharani Das, was a resident of Boro Lechigaon village that falls under the jurisdiction of the Bijni police station in Chirang district of Assam. She was served notice by the Border Police on November 10, 2020 to appear before the Chirang FT by November 26, 2020.
Champa Das’s entire life fell out of gear as she grappled with this new challenge. The unlettered woman suffered from high blood pressure and constant worry only made her health worse. CJP found out about her when a neighbour contacted one of our Community Volunteers.
Our team met her the day after she received the notice and discovered that the wrong village had been mentioned in the FT notice. “We took the FT notice to the border police office and pointed out that it said Batabari instead of Boro Lechigaon. After eight days they took the notice back,” says CJP’s Assam state team in-charge Nanda Ghosh. But it did not end there…
Shockingly, on November 24, 2020 Das was served another notice in FT case no BNGNFT(CHR) 129/08. The CJP team comprising Ghosh as well as Advocate Dewan Abdur Rahim and Advocate Abhijeet Choudhury immediately swung into action.
A traumatised Champa told us, “I will die! Please save me from the detention camp!” She narrated the plight of an unfortunate neighbour saying, “She was taken to the Kokrajhar detention camp and came back home recently after being released. She told me about the horrible conditions of the jail. So, death is better than detention camp!”
CJP legal member Advocate Dewan Abdur Rahim look into the case and appeared before the FT. Due to her illness, it was difficult to take Das to the FT. She had to be taken to the hospital first and we sought more time to produce her before FT. We took her to the FT only after she had regained her health enough to manage the travel.
Stream refugees
Champa Das’s case in unique. Her family came to India from erstwhile East Pakistan in period preceding the Bangladesh war, and settled in the Coochbehar district of West Bengal. She lost both her parents at an early age and took up daily wage work and also worked as a domestic help to survive. She had no connection with any of her other family members.
One of her employers got her married to Dharani Das and she moved to Assam. But Champa was neither enrolled in a school or even in the voters’ list before she got married. It is only after marriage that her name appeared along with that of her husband in the voters’ list from 1997 onwards. At present, she has a Voter ID, Aadhaar Card, and a ration card.
CJP followed her case diligently and completed all necessary legal formalities. The FT case went on for a year and it was only recently that the FT recognised that she was part of a stream of refugees who came to India between January 1, 1966 and March 24, 1971. As a result, her name will now have to be struck off the voters’ list for ten years after which she will have to apply afresh for inclusion. But at least she will not have to go to a detention centre which could have been the likely outcome if Das never went to the FT and the case was decided ex parte.
CHAMPA DAS SHOWS HER JUDGMENT COPY
She was overcome with emotion as we handed her a copy of the judgment and said, “First I lost my husband, then I lost my son. When I got the notice, I couldn’t breathe!” Acutely aware of what happens next, she has made peace with the outcome of the judgment. She says, “For the last one year, I have spent sleepless nights. Now you say that my name will cut from the voters’ list for ten years? It is nothing… Now I’m free. At least police can’t detain me and send me to that horrible jail.” Expressing gratitude for our team she told Ghosh, “CJP, you, Advocate Rahim baba have done so much for me, I never forgot to you!”
This 14 April (2022) we will again witness different political outfits celebrating his anniversary with pomp and show. Over the last few decades most of the political parties have been garlanding this great champion of social justice. The latest in the Ambedkar fan club is the AAP party, the product of the RSS backed Anna movement, to declare Babasaheb as one of their two icons. Various affiliates of Hindu nationalism, the BJP and company, have lately been in lead in celebrating this day and undertaking many programs to show that they are also for Babasaheb. This year around various RSS organizations are undertaking programs on this occasion. BJP is planning ‘Social justice week’ (Samajik Nyay Saptah). They will be projecting Babasaheb’s work on social welfare, empowerment and representation of dalits in the social processes. They plan to visit Dalit households to spread the message about Central Government schemes which are supposed to benefit dalits and marginalized. RSS affiliate ABVP aims to propagate his work of social inclusion in different parts of the country.
This may be the biggest paradox of our times. These RSS affiliates stand for Hindu nationalism, the concept which is totally antithetical to what Ambedkar stood for, the concept of Indian Nationalism with secularism, socialism, democracy and social justice. He saw the caste-varna system as the backbone of Brahmanical Hinduism propagated by Hindu nationalists. In his struggles for reform within Hindu society he was not at all supported by Hindu Mahasabha- RSS. Be it Chavdar Talab or Kalaram Mandir the Hindu nationalists kept aloof from his efforts. He on one hand went on to burn Manusmriti as a rebellion against caste and gender hierarchy inherent in Brahmanical Hinduism, the ideological base of Hindu nationalism, and on the other went on to be the chief architect of India’s Constitution, which strove for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
While he was burning Manusmriti in protest, (a decade later) RSS Chief, Golwalkar was singing praises of the same book. This book upholds the caste hierarchy as something which has given stability to Hindu society. In response to the Indian constitution, the opposition came from the RSS camp that held that the Constitution does not have the ancient values of India (meaning Manusmriti). They were totally against reservations, and on this issue there were anti-Dalit riots in 1980s in Ahmeadabad and anti OBC riots again in 1986. With the Mandal Commission being implemented they did not oppose it directly but brought forward Kamandal, Ram Temple issue to polarize the communities.
Here comes a change in strategy. Rather than showing their true agenda of maintaining caste and gender hierarchy they floated various organizations to co-opt and subjugate dalit-OBCs. They floated the Samajik Samrasta Manch (Social Harmony Forum). In contrast to Ambedkar’s annihilation of caste they talk of the supplementary role of castes. The same has been presented by their ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhayay, as ‘Integral Humanism’.
It was this social engineering due to which they could mobilize dalits and Adivasis against the projected external enemy, the Muslims. They have adopted multiple strategies to work among dalit-OBC communities. Focus is on ‘Hindu unity’ against the enemy Muslims, who can be blamed for all the ills of Hindu society. This was seen in Gujarat carnage of 2002 when dalit-Adivasis were incited to undertake violence against Muslims while the organizers of the violence prepared the lists of those to be targeted.
During elections in UP in 2017, one of the propaganda was that Congress and Samajvadi Party are pro Muslims and it is only BJP, which can be for Hindus (dalit-Adivasis). The work of RSS affiliates, Samajik Samrasta Manch, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Seva Bharati, VHP and others dalit-Adivasi areas has been very consistent in wooing them over to Hindu nationalism.
In Adivasis areas, Shabri and Hanuman have been ionized. In areas with majority of other marginalized communities, many of the local icons have been promoted with anti Muslim slant, like Suhel Dev, icon of Rajbhar-Pasis. He has been given big projection while twisting the history that Suhel Dev fought for Hindu religion against Muslim Gazi Miyan.
RSS affiliates’ charity work and educational work services (Seva) amongst dalit areas is not like the right based approach of UPA, where Right to information was backed up by Right to food, Health and Education. Here a charity model is implemented and projected. In elections in 2022, the free ration scheme was backed up by the propaganda that it is due to BJP that poor are getting the benefit of free ration; they are Labharthi (beneficiaries) of BJP schemes.
The very presence of these Hindu nationalist organizations is a big factor in marginalized getting attracted to BJP. They also increase Brahmanical religiosity in the areas of their work. In tune with Sanskritization, the dalit and other marginalized communities feel honored and recognized by upper castes, and thereby shift their electoral loyalties to BJP. On the top of this it seems only RSS affiliates are in constant touch and interaction with dalit communities.
So while their political agenda is Hindu Rashtra, which Babasaheb said will be a calamity for large sections of population, dalits in particular, BJP is reaping big electoral rewards of its non electoral affiliates working for Hindu Rashtra. Right from elections of 2014, in many dalit-OBC areas, BJP is doing very well.
BJP’s massive win in the 2014 general election was greatly helped due to Dalit votes. Presently in Parliament 84 seats are reserved for Dalits. In 2014, the BJP won 40 of them, according to a study by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).Similarly in another CSDS study of post-poll analysis after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it was concluded that between 2014 and 2019; support for the BJP among Dalits, Adivasis and Other Backward castes has more than doubled. Not to be left behind even in the 2021 post-poll survey also; we see that this support is becoming much higher among Dalits and OBCs than among upper castes.
All this despite BJP’s policies which are resulting in erosion of reservation of dalits. Also there has been an increase in the cases of atrocities against them during the last few years. The change in RSS strategy through its affiliates towards the marginalized sections has richly rewarded them at electoral level.
Kashmir’s local news outlet Kashmir News Observer reported the death of South Kashmir’s Kakran Kulgam resident Satesh Singh on April 13, 2022. The Rajput was shot by unknown gunmen in the evening and died while being shifted to the hospital. Shocked by the incident, local Kashmiri Pandit groups like the KPSS asked Kashmiri people to decide once and for all, whether they are ‘welcome the minority community in the valley’.
According to the news agency, the police suspected it as a militant attack and cordoned off the area to nab the attackers. The Kashmir police tweeted, “Terrorists involved in this #gruesome terror crime will be neutralised soon. Search to track the involved #terrorists in progress.”
According to NDTV, Singh was shot in the head from a point-blank range. The news has upset the local minority community.
KPSS’ statement
Local organisation Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) strongly condemned the killing of Kashmiri Hindus on April 15. It said that the killings lists that were circulated in mosques in 1990 are still circulated on the internet and social media in 2022.
“Just modus operandi has failed but the mentality is the same as what we minorities faced in the early 1990s,” said KPSS President Sanjay Tickoo.
He said that certain vicious and ill-minded people are using a particular religion as a cover to annihilate religious minorities in the Kashmir valley. According to Tickoo these attacks are possible only through the help of the local population. As such, he said the role of the Kashmiri society cannot be denied in the crimes against Kashmiri Pandits.
“Every gunman known or unknown is a local person and their OGWs are also from our own Kashmiri society who create fake trust with religious minorities to collect details and help these gunmen to kill Kashmiri Pandits/ Kashmiri Hindus living in the Kashmir Valley,” he said.
Tickoo voiced concern about the Kashmir Exodus repeating itself in 2022, considering the collective silence maintained by the people that creates “trust deficits”.
The KPSS condemned the government for not bothering with the attacks stating that the administration is either not inerested in saving minorities or they are incompetent to handle the situation. Expressing disappointment at the 1990 coalition government for failing to protect the minorities, it said, “In the last three years the same government failed again in securing minorities living in the Kashmir Valley, it indicates the Kashmiri Minorities will again have to leave Kashmir due to failure of Kashmiri Society as well as the administration.”
Misinformation at an unfortune time
Adding to the ailings of the community, The Kashmir Files Director Vivek Agnihotri chose this time to share a tweet where an alleged terrorist group ‘Lashkar-e-Islam’ threatened to kill “kafirs” in Kashmir. News outlets like Amar Ujala, Lokmat News, News18, picked up this news based on Agnihotri’s tweet. However, by Friday afternoon Alt News unearthed many dubious aspects of the letter. The letter was unsigned had a spelling mistake in its English letterhead, showed the logo of another terrorist group – Jamaat-e-Dawa – entirely, had factual errors and resembled a similar letter allegedly issued by the Lashkar-e-Islam in 2016.
While it is true that such a letter was received by Baramulla resident Vijay Raina, the man claimed it was “sent by post”. For these reasons, the authenticity of this letter is questionable. Nonetheless, with the report of Singh’s death, Agnihotri’s tweet comes at an extremely untimely moment.
Boora Batasha market in Rajasthan’s Karauli city once housed four fareedi sweet shops owned by Muslims. These shops sold batashe meethai, Indian cookies, misri, boora, dry fruits and many such confectionaries adored by lovers of Indian food. After the Karauli violence on April 2, 2022, these shops now lie as rubble between market shops, fact-finding team member Amir Sherwani told Sabrang India on April 14.
Sherwani visited the violence-inflicted area on April 11 with activist Aasif Mujtaba, journalists Syed Meer Faisal and Arbab and volunteer Danish. Early data acquired by the team showed that 62 properties were destroyed in the violence. Further, Sherwani noted a palpable tension in the area that had created a communal gap among people. They are part of a fact-finding team who’s report will be released soon.
“When we were talking to Muslim shopkeepers, non-Muslims maintained a distance from us. Even while talking to them, they kept their distance. The sensitive environment was very noticeable,” said Sherwani. Mujtaba squarely blamed the Hindutva assaulters, drawing parallels with the Delhi riots in February 2020.
“In both areas, people were living peacefully. The market had good inter-faith relations and the anti-CAA protests were peaceful. The moment the Hindutva mob entered these regions with the intent to create riots, violence broke out,” he said.
Ferocious attack in the market
Four out of eight Muslims shops in the bazaar were reduced to rubble. Some shopkeepers could not contain their tears on meeting the fact-finding team, explaining that no one from the authorities or government has come to talk to them even a week after the incident. According to locals, the region had not witnessed such a violence since 2012. Before that, there was another attack in 2006. However, people said that they had never witnessed such targeted aggression before. Only Muslim shops, amidst long lines of sores, were looted, burnt and destroyed to ruins.
“It was clear that the system was complicit. These were planned attacks,” said Sherwani.
The damage was much more than four shops. Of the 62 properties destroyed, 59 shops belonged to Muslims. According to Mujtaba, this included 44 well-established shops and 15 small shops. Overall, the economic loss is estimated over ₹ 5 cr. Yet, when he talked to victims, no one had received any compensation from the government. “There is never any moral justice by the system by way of legal punishment but even the economic justice here is highly inadequate,” said Mujtaba.
When shop-owners learnt about the attacks by Shobha yatra members – led by the BJP, Bajrang Dal and other RSS-affiliated groups – they immediately pulled the shutter and bolted home. On arriving, they learnt that the shops were attacked by right-wing groups.
Among them, the team spoke to Najmuddin, Usmaan, Qasim and brothers Jannar and Anwar all of whom suffered a loss anywhere between ₹ 4 lakh to ₹10 lakh. They filed FIRs in the nearby police station. However, Sherwani pointed out that even these documents maintained a “balanced” account, referring to “clashes” between Hindus and Muslims. Victims said that there was no conflict because they had run away from the place.
In Phootakot market where the aggressions began, the Manihar Muslim community lost choodi (bangle) shops with products of invaluable varieties from across India. Khatoon Bano and Sitara lamented the loss of their 400-year-old mansion whose ground floor was used as a bangle shop. Accounting for the glass furniture housed in the home of 16 people, the economic loss can amount to crores of rupees.
“There were Jaipuri bangles and others from across the country. It was a multi-storage building that is gone now,” said Sherwani.
Similarly, bangle-shop owner Abdul Hamid owned a store with a thousand different bangles and a showroom worth ₹ 8 lakh to ₹ 10 lakh. He told Sherwani there’s no way he can recover this loss.
Another victim, tailor and embroidery-worker Wahid, worked in a non-Muslim shop with four other Muslim employees. Even that shop was destroyed leaving the sole-breadwinner of 12 people unemployed. “It was a pre-planned, complete socio-economic boycott – an attempt to uproot them. Some people said they are not sure if they will get shops there again,” said Sherwani.
Further, Mujtaba pointed out that unlike the team, authorities had not mapped the loss in the area. He wondered how authorities would provide adequate compensation if they did not know the actual loss. “These are not rich people, these shops were their livelihood. And yet, when we met them, they had not received a single rupee,” he said.
Was the police complicit?
Like in Delhi riots, Mujtaba said that the violence had the tacit support of the police, who treated the violence one-sidedly.
Contrary to the idea that victims might have been reticent to speak to outsiders, the team four that local people were eager to talk to the team and express their anguish. They would have talked to other officials as well but were only visited by the tehsildaar and munshi to register the FIR. Still other victims have not been able to register their complaints. Bhaskar news on April 14 claimed that over 100 arrests were made by April 14 with 27 cases registered.
However, Mujtaba argued that even though the minority community was the clear victim here, Muslims were simultaneously being arrested by the police. Notedly, Muslim juveniles were remanded by the police.
“Just like in Khargone (Madhya Pradesh), there is an attempt to give the victim the colour of a perpetrator,” said Mujtaba. However, Sherwani agreed that some Hindu shops were also attacked; he added, however, that they were unable to access those areas. The group also tried to enter other violence-hit areas but these were closed off by the police.
On the attitude of the police, members observed that the police officials were not comfortable with the presence of the fact-finding team. Sherwani also spoke about bias of the police officers as they prevented the team from visiting a local masjid for prayers and expressed surprise to meet a Muslim journalist. At one point, 40-50 police personnel gathered around them with lathis. Eventually, the Superintendent of Police (SP) asked the group to leave if they were done with their work.
A tear in the social fabric
Videos and pictures shot by the team went viral on social media. Sherwani said that this had an impact on the state administration that prevented BJP leader Tejasvi Surya from entering the affected areas as well. Speaking to Bhaskar news, Minister Vishwendra Singh and Subhash Garg criticised the party members for only arriving at the area, partying at a hotel and then moving on to Delhi. Singh called it a clear violation of Section 144 and warned the BJP of arrest if any member tries to spread chaos.
However, Sherwani, more concerned with what did happen than what could happen said, “What concerns me is that there is a mistrust among the Muslim community against the state machinery which is not healthy for a welfare state. They feel they are not welcome because they are Muslims.”
Similarly, Mujtaba said that unlike other riot incidents, officials could not blame the attack on “outside elements”. As reasoning, he recalled the story of clothes shop owner Irfan, whose well-established and four-shop long store was tucked in a corner of the market. While popular in the area, the shop was a diamond in the ruff for newcomers. “He (the shopkeeper) asked me, ” How could these people find my shop?” Such facts point out that there is a definite attempt to rile up the people,” he said.
Looking back at the experience, Sherwani said that citizens must collectively worry about this erosion of trust in a secular democracy.
Muslim women are being increasingly targeted with vile sexual threats, both online and on the ground. The blatantly abusive behaviour is often spearheaded with impunity by right-wing extremists and socio-culturally influential members of the majority community. Therefore, it is time to delve into legal provisions pertaining to such threats that have been becoming increasingly common.
Take for example the words of Bajrang Muni Das, the ‘Mahant’ and ‘Hindutva’ leader from Khairabad, UP. On April 2, 2022, Das openly threatened Muslim women with sexual assault while addressing supporters from his vehicle parked outside a mosque in Sitapur. Das’s audience comprised people who were part of a procession on the occasion of Hindu New Year. Much like many such processions being taken out recently, they made it a point to halt outside a mosque. This is where Das spoke into a microphone connected to loudspeaker and said, “If you tease a single [Hindu] girl, I will abduct your daughters and daughters-in-law from your house, and rape them in public.” The vile rape threat was filmed on video and went viral online shortly thereafter.
Taking cognisance of the offence and seeking arrest of the accused, National Commission for Women (NCW) reportedly stated, “The NCW has come across a Twitter post enclosing video of a priest Bajrang Muni threatening to kidnap and rape Muslim women while addressing a gathering in Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh. It has been reported that police personnel were also present at the location; however, none of them stopped him from making such an outrageous statement against women.”
On April 8, 2022, the Uttar Pradesh police finallyfiled a First Information Report (FIR) against Das, four days after the incident.As reported by The Print, the said Hindutva leader was charged under sections 298 (utterance or gesture in the sight of that person or places with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person), 354 (sexual harassment, making sexually-coloured remarks) and 509 (using word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Muslim women in Hate’s crosshairs
This is not the first time where Muslim women have been targeted. It was Citizens for Peace and Justice (CJP) that, in May 2021, approached Twitter over sexually violent content against Muslim women. We brough to light several instances of unchecked accounts promoting material that was not only pornographic but also glorified sexual violence against Muslim women. The accounts in question shared hundreds of pornographic videos of women in hijab every day, with inflammatory captions presenting Muslim women as objects, meant to be sexuallyexploited. Photoshopped pictures of Hindu men and pregnant women in saffron hijab were also widely shared by these accounts.Twenty-one such abusive accountswere removed after our complaint.
The fact that social media can be toxic to and for all women, regardless of religion, region, political affiliation and even nationality, is indisputable. But in India, Muslim women in particular are subject to an orchestrated right-wing campaign, abused for both their gender and their religion. This is made worse with the tacit complicity of the government of the day that harbours a hate-filled ideology and holds undisputed sway and power.
Although people of all genders can experience violence and abuse online, the abuse experienced by women is often not just sexist or misogynistic in nature, but online threats of violence against women are often sexualized and include specific references to women’s bodies and person. The aim of such verbalised gender violence and abuse is to create a hostile online environment for women with the goal of shaming, intimidating, degrading, belittling or silencing women.
There are even professionally successful and influential Muslim women on Twitter with verified accounts who are subjected to slurs and threats of sexual violence quite frequently. Noted journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who works for The Wire, told Article14 that words like begum and hijabi have been converted into sexualized slurs to attack Muslim women just like jihadi is used to abuse Muslim men.“The word halala is used by IT cell trolls as a coded rape threat. There is a campaign to attempt to incite sexual violence and other crimes against Muslim women but its larger goal is to further isolate Muslim men from society,” she said.
In July 2021, nearly 80 Muslim women were targeted and put up “for sale” on the S**li Deals app, and in January 2022, over 100 Muslim women were targeted using the B**li Bai app. Both B**li and S**li are sexually derogatory words used to target Muslim women. In both cases, there was no real sale of any kind – the purpose was to degrade and humiliate Muslim women by sharing their personal images, and also to harass them by sharing their personal information.
Noor Mahvish, one such young woman targeted by the S**li Deals app shared her experience in a blog on CJP saying, “The Sulli Deal app that was hosted on GitHub listed (as if to auction) the profiles Muslim women with their pictures, as if they were objects. My picture and information were also made public. Along with me, there were 80 other Muslim women who have been listed (sic) on that app. The Women who were targeted are very vocal on social media, they proudly represent their community and are bravely fighting against this fascist regime. The most common thread behind those listed on Sulli Deal is that they are vocal Indian Muslim women.”
Hasiba Amin, a national coordinator for the Congress party with 139,000 Twitter followers, opened her account on 13 May, a day before Eid, to find that she had been “sold” in an online “auction”.She tweeted, “These people are placing bids to own me and this handle claims that I have been sold to someone. He says ‘enjoy brother’.” Amin had filed a complaint with the police regarding this incident. Journalist Sania Ahmad was also targeted by an unknown account, Sullideals101. “This account has been harassing me since the past one year. I had complained but that went in vain,” she told Article 14.
As reported by SabrangIndia, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Dr Fernand de Varennes, has taken note of the vile anti Muslim ‘S**li Deals’ as hate speech. Varennes said such harassment of Muslim women in India must be condemned and the law should act against it “as soon as they occur”. He added that “all Human Rights of minorities need to be fully and equally protected.”
Repercussions of online sexual abuse
The repercussions of such incitement of sexual violence against Muslim women sees its history in the incidents of communal violence and genocidal pogroms that have damaged India’s social fabric for decades. In both the 2002 Gujarat genocidal carnage and the Muzaffarnagar pogrom of 2013 rape and gendered violence was used as a weapon of violence against Muslim women.
Right before the anti-Muslim carnage broke out in Gujarat, we saw mass distribution of hundreds of pamphlets with all sorts of messages spreading hatred against Muslims. One such pamphlet titled Jihadinciting sexual violence against Muslim women was circulated. In the next few months 300 to 500 Muslim women were raped, killed and mass humiliated in full public view. CJP secretary Teesta Setalvad, who was documenting the 2002 Gujarat violence and its aftermath saw this on the ground as she interviewed women in relief camps and they shared theirfirst-hand experiences with the senior journalist and human rights defender.
This sexually driven propaganda achieved two aims: creating a band of men who view women of a particular community as targets for mass sexual violence and in every instance of mass violence, women are attacked to insult and attack the honor of a community.
Details of this hate speech preceding the 2002 genocidal pogrom was documented in Communalism Combat, March-April 2002, chapter entitled Pamphlet Poison. The Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Crimes Against Humanity, Gujarat 2002 also documented this thoroughly (Role of the Media), Hate Speech and Hate Writing. On the 20th anniversary of the Gujarat pogrom, secretary, CJP had documented the lineage of this kind of hate speech in that state since the early 1990s which has now gone national.
At that time, the mode of communication was limited to pamphlets but now the same message is being circulated on a much wider, national level scale which is facilitated by social media platforms like Twitter. Sexist or misogynistic abuse and threats have become rather common online. Suspending a few accounts or deleting some tweets are measures that are merely small dents on these concerted, wide-ranging, politically driven campaigns that are also aimed at misusing and manipulating platforms like Twitter for their illegal acts. India has had a history of targeted communal disturbances even when social media was absent and not a reality, so we can only imagine the kind of consequences such incitement on social media can have now.
The systemic nature of this online Islamophobic, racist, casteist and misogynist abuse indicates that it is produced and circulated by organised groups. Studies such as those conducted by Professor Shakuntala Banaji who teaches at the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics endorse this.More often than not, when it comes to such cases, especially women from marginalized sections, the persons who set things in motion are often found to be pawns of people who have power and clout, both political, social and economic.Her book co-authored by Ramnath Bhat titled Social Media and Hate is an excellent resource for anyone who wishes to learn more about the subject.
CJP’s sister organization, SabrangIndia has documented hate trends on social media systematically, especially how especially abusive #hashtags proliferate the public sphere and are a precursor to physical targeting of minorities.
The ease and speed with which content can proliferate on Twitter means that women’s experiences of violence and abuse on the platform require an urgent and adequate response from the company, which is lacking. Its algorithms fail to detect such content. Unless any user manually reports a particular tweet, it does not get taken down and in most cases even after it is reported, it doesn’t get taken down before it reaches the desired audience. The accounts, mostly anonymous, know that there is hardly any precedent for anyone in India from being prosecuted for misogynistic or hate speech. They are also aware that even if one handle is banned by a platform, it is easy to set up another account using another anonymous handle. The fact that they are able to have such a wide reach despite their content that is violative of twitter’s community guidelines, means they are able to thrive and mushroom into more and more accounts.
The violence and abuse many women experience online has a detrimental effect on their right to express themselves equally, freely and without fear. A December 2021 survey commissioned by Amnesty International also shows that women who are more active on the platform were more likely to report experiencing online abuse, compared to those less active – 40 per cent of women who use the platform more than once a day report experiencing abuse, compared to thirteen per cent who use the platform less than once a week.
Violation of Laws
The Indian Penal Code:
Section 153: Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot
Whoever malignantly, or wantonly by doing anything which is illegal, gives provocation to any person intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause the offence of rioting to be committed;
Punishment:
If the offence of rioting be committed in consequence of such provocation – be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both; and
If the offence of rioting be not committed, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.
Section 153A: Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.
(1) Whoever—
(a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racials, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or
(b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity,
(c) organizes any exercise, movement, drill or other similar activity intending that the participants in such activity shall use or be trained to use criminal force or violence or knowing it to be likely that the participants in such activity will use or be trained to use criminal force or violence, or participates in such activity intending to use or be trained to use criminal force or violence or knowing it to be likely that the participants in such activity will use or be trained to use criminal force or violence, against any religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community and such activity for any reason whatsoever causes or is likely to cause fear or alarm or a feeling of insecurity amongst members of such religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community
Punishment:
Imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 153B: Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration.—(1) Whoever, by words either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise,
(a) makes or publishes any imputation that any class of persons cannot, by reason of their being members of any religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community, bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established or uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, or
(b) asserts, counsels, advises, propagates or publishes that any class of persons shall, by reason of their being members of any religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community, be denied, or deprived of their rights as citizens of India, or
(c) makes or publishes and assertion, counsel, plea or appeal concerning the obligation of any class of persons, by reason of their being members of any religious, racial, language or regional group or caste or community, and such assertion, counsel, plea or appeal causes or is likely to cause disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will between such members and other persons.
Punishment:
Imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 292: Sale, etc., of obscene books, etc.—
(1) For the purposes of sub-section (2), a book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object, shall be deemed to be obscene if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect, or (where it comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items, is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.
(2] Whoever—
(a) sells, lets to hire, distributes, publicity exhibits or in any manner puts into circulation, or for purposes of sale, hire, distribution, public exhibition or circulation, makes, produces or has in his possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation or figure or any other obscene object whatsoever, or
(b) imports, exports or conveys any obscene object for any of the purposes aforesaid, or knowing or having reason to believe that such object will be sold, let to hire, distributed or publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation, or
(c) takes part in or receives profits from any business in the course of which he knows or has reason to believe that any such obscene objects are, for any of the purposes aforesaid, made, produced, purchased, kept, imported, exported, conveyed, publicly exhibited or in any manner put into circulation, or
(d) advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever that any person is engaged or is ready to engage in any act which is an offence under this section, or that any such obscene object can be procured from or through any person, or
(e) offers or attempts to do any act which is an offence under this section,
Punishment:
On first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees.
In the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, and also with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees.
Section 293:Sale, etc., of obscene objects to young person.
Whoever sells, lets to hire, distributes, exhibits or circulates to any person under the age of twenty years any such obscene object as is referred to in the last preceding section, or offers or attempts so to do.
Punishment:
On first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees.
In the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and also with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees.
Section 294: Obscene acts and songs.
Whoever, to the annoyance of others,
(a) does any obscene act in any public place, or
(b) sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place.
Punishment:
Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine, or with both.
295A Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”
298 Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person
Whoever, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person, utters any word or makes any sound in the hearing of that person or makes any gesture in the sight of that persons or places any object in the sight of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Section 351: Assault.
Whoever makes any gesture, or any preparation intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that he who makes that gesture or preparation is about to use criminal force to that person, is said to commit an assault;
Explanation.—Mere words do not amount to an assault. But the words which a person uses may give to his gestures or preparation such a meaning as may make those gestures or preparations amount to an assault.
Section 354: Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty.
Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will there by outrage her modesty;
Punishment
Imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Section 354 A: Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment.
(1) Aman committing any of the following acts—
(i) physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures; or
(ii) a demand or request for sexual favours; or
(iii) showing pornography against the will of a woman; or
(iv) making sexually coloured remarks, shall be guilty of the offence of sexual harassment.
Punishment:
Any man who commits the offence specified in clause (iv) of sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
Section 503: Criminal Intimidation.
Whoever threatens another with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intimidation.
Punishment – Section 506:
Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
If threat be to cause death or grievous hurt, etc.—and if the threat be to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any property by fire, or to cause an offence punishable with death or 8 [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or to impute unchastity to a woman, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 504: Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace.
Whoever intentionally insults, and thereby gives provocation to any person, intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause him to break the public peace, or to commit any other offence;
Punishment:
Imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 505: Statements conducing to public mischief.
(1) Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report,—
(b) with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility; or
(c) with intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community;
Punishment:
Imprisonment which may extend to 6 [three years], or with fine, or with both.
(2) Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.—Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement or report containing rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote, or which is likely to create or promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities;
Punishment:
Imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 509: Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any words, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman;
Punishment
Simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and also with fine.
The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
Section 2: Definitions
(a) “advertisement” includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other document and also includes any visible representation made by means of any light, sound, smoke or gas;
(b) “distribution” includes distribution by way of samples whether free or otherwise;
(c) “indecent representation of women” means the depiction in any manner of the figure of a woman, her form or body or any part thereof in such a way as to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to, or denigrating, women, or is likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals;
Section 3: Prohibition of advertisements containing indecent representation of women.
No person shall publish, or cause to be published, or arrange or take part in the publication or exhibition of, any advertisement which contains indecent representation of women in any form.
Section 4: Prohibition of publication or sending by post of books, pamphlets, etc., containing indecent representation of women.
No person shall produce or cause to be produced, sell, let to hire, distribute, circulate or send by post any book, pamphlet, paper, slide, film, writing, drawing, painting, photograph, representation or figure which contains indecent representation of women in any form.
Punishment: Section 6
Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 3 or section 4 shall be punishable on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, and with fine which may extend two thousand rupees, and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment for a term of not less than six months but which may extend to five years and also with a fine not less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to one lakh rupees.
The Information Technology Act, 2000
Section 66A: Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.–
Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device,–
(a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or
(b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device;
(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages.
Explanation.–For the purposes of this section, terms ―electronic mail‖ and ―electronic mail message‖ means a message or information created or transmitted or received on a computer, computer system, computer resource or communication device including attachments in text, image, audio, video and any other electronic record, which may be transmitted with the message
Punishment:
Imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.
Section 67: Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.
Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.
Punishment:
On first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees.
In the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.
Judicial Precedents
Hate on social media platforms can have catastrophic impacts of communal violence, offline. The Law Commission Report, 2017 stated that “Hate speech has the potential of provoking individuals or society to commit acts of terrorism, genocides, ethnic cleansing etc. Such speech is considered outside the realm of protective discourse. Indisputably, offensive speech has real and devastating effects on people’s lives and risks their health and safety. It is harmful and divisive for communities and hampers social progress. If left unchecked hate speech can severely affect right to life of every individual.”
CJP had uploaded a 2-minute-long video citing the Equality Labs report raising the rising hate speech on Facebook India during 2018. Real threat presented by Facebook to an estimated 300 million Indian caste, religious, gender, and queer minorities both in India and abroad is a ticking tomb of communal violence, caste and hate speech. The video may be viewed here:
In Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan v. Union of India, 2014 11 SCC 477, the Supreme Court has unambiguously stated that hate speech is an effort to marginalise individuals based on their membership to a group, that can have a social impact. Moreover, the Court stated that hate speech lays the groundwork for broad attacks on the vulnerable that can range from discrimination, to ostracism, deportation, violence, and even to genocide.
In the same case, the Supreme Court cited Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Taylor, (1990) 3 SCR 892, stating, “Three main prescriptions must be followed while interpreting the word “hatred” as is used in legislative provisions prohibiting hate speech. First, courts must apply the hate speech prohibition objectively. The question courts must ask is whether a reasonable person, aware of the context and circumstances, would view the expression as exposing the protected group to hatred. Second, the legislative term “hatred” or “hatred or contempt” must be interpreted as being restricted to those extreme manifestations of the emotion described by the words, “detestation” and “vilification”. This filters out expression which, while repugnant and offensive, does not incite the level of abhorrence, delegitimisation and rejection that risks causing discrimination or other harmful effects. Third, tribunals must focus their analysis on the effect of the expression at issue, namely whether it is likely to expose the targeted person or group to hatred by others. The repugnancy of the ideas being expressed is not sufficient to justify restricting the expression, and whether or not the author of the expression intended to incite hatred or discriminatory treatment is irrelevant. The key is to determine the likely effect of the expression on its audience, keeping in mind the legislative objectives to reduce or eliminate discrimination.”
In the case of Amish Devgan vs Union Of India 2021 1 SCC 1, the Supreme Court quoted Benjamin Franklin, “It remains difficult in law to draw the outmost bounds of freedom of speech and expression, the limit beyond which the right would fall foul and can be subordinated to other democratic values and public law considerations, so as to constitute a criminal offence. The difficulty arises in ascertaining the legitimate countervailing public duty, and in proportionality and reasonableness of the restriction which criminalises written or spoken words. Further, criminalisation of speech is often demarcated and delineated by the past and recent significant events affecting the nation including explanation of their causes. Therefore, constitutional and statutory treatment of ‘hate speech’ depends on the values sought to be promoted, perceived harm involved and the importance of these harms. 57 Consequently, a universal definition of ‘hate speech’ remains difficult, except for one commonality that ‘incitement to violence’ is punishable.”
The court elaborated on the concept of Hate Speech by identifying three elements:
Content-based: Open use of words and phrases generally considered to be offensive to a particular community and objectively offensive to the society.
Intent-based:Speaker’s message to intend only to promote hatred, violence or resentment against a particular class or group.
Harm-based/ impact-based:There is an element of harm to the victim which can be violent or such as loss of self-esteem, economic or social subordination, physical and mental stress, silencing of the victim and effective exclusion from the political arena.
In the same case, the Apex court also cited Andre Sellars from his essay ‘Defining Hate Speech’ where he examined the concept of hate speech in different democratic jurisdictions and formulated common traits in defining ‘hate speech’. He says:
Hate speech targets a group, or an individual as a member of the group
One should be able to objectively identify the speech as an insult or threat to the members of the targeted group, including stigmatising the targeted group by ascribing to it qualities widely disregarded as undesirable
Speech should cause harm, which can be physical harm such as violence or incitement and true threats of violence
Speech should have no redeeming purpose, which means that ‘the speech primarily carries no meaning other than hatred towards a particular group’
In the case of State of Karnataka and anr vs. Dr Pravinbhai Togadia (2004) 4 SCC 684, the Supreme Court held, “Communal harmony should not be made to suffer and be made dependent upon the will of an individual or a group of individuals whatever be their religion bit of a minority or that of the majority… the valuable and cherished right of freedom of expression and speech may at times have to be subjected to reasonable subordination to social interests needs and necessities to preserve the very core of democratic life preservation of public order and rule of law. At some such grave situation at least the decision as to the need and necessity to take private reactions must be left to the discretion of those entrusted with the duty of maintaining law and order and interposition of courts…”
Here is a list of serial hate offenders who seem to be part of an “orchestrated right wing campaign”.
As a step towards curbing the spread of communal hate and violence, Citizens of Peace and Justice (CJP)decided to file a petition to form Mohalla Committees in all communally sensitive areas and strictly implement Rule of Law against Hate Offenders. We had also filed a joint-petition with other like-minded groups to the police to police to conduct thorough investigation and take action against actual perpetrators in the S**li Deals and B**li Bai cases.
Farmer unions-organised Minimum Support Price (MSP) protests and seminars voiced hope that the campaign week will raise awareness about the need for a legal guarantee on crop procurement.
After successfully conveying contentions with each of the three farm laws over the course of the farmer’s struggle during Covid-19, farmers now aim to educate the masses about MSP. As such, seminars, discussions, meetings and even a jal satyagraha has begun from April 11.
“We hope with this campaign to revive the cardres that were neutralised after December and to tackle misconceptions against legal MSP like dangers to GDP etc. Mass media is the best way to contact the people, so we have started these campaigns to provide this information in the public forum,” said farmers umbrella body Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) member Ashutosh.
The leaders demanded the MSP based on the Swaminathan Commission report, i.e. one and a half times the comprehensive cost (C2). Officials intentionally went into theory details to ensure that people understand the gravity of the demand that farmers have asked for since before the farm movement. Accordingly, they asked local protests to talk about crops that do not have MSP and require the same to breakeven.
Karnataka’s Mysore farmers came through on this advice by piling grain sacks outside the District MP Pratap Sinha;s office. SKM meber Yogendra Yadav also attended the event. Later, farmers held a seminar in the city to discuss MSP.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin, Kovilpatti and Ettayapuram districts observed protests as an MSP guarantee campaign. Women also participated and distributed pamphlets for the same. Similarly, Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, Muktsar and Tarantaran district farmers submitted a memorandum to authorities and carried out awareness rallies.
The jal satyagraha in Madhya Pradesh too reached Barwani by April 14.
A legal guarantee of MSP was one of the six key issues during the 11 rounds of talks between the SKM and the Centre. It was also one of the key assurances made to the SKM the government letter on December 9, 2021, on the basis of which the Delhi protest sites were vacated. After four months, the government is yet to form a committee for discussing the legal guarantee of MSP.
Earlier, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said that the government is awaiting names from the SKM for setting up the committee. However, farmers tressed that they had sent a reply regarding the same on March 24 and then on March 30 that farmers wanted to know about the mandate and tenure of the committee. It sent the government five questions. They were:
1. What will be the TOR (Terms of Reference) of this committee?
2. Apart from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which other organisations, persons and functionaries will be involved in this committee?
3. Who will be the chairman of the committee and what will be its functioning?
4. How much time will the committee get to submit its report?
5. Will the recommendation of the committee be binding on the government?
“This email was resent on March 30. So that there would be no excuse in this regard, on April 1, we made this letter public through the press. But today [April 14], even after three weeks, we have not received any answer to these questions,” said SKM leader Darshan Pal.
He urged Tomar to send clarifications on these points at the earliest so that the farmers can decide whether to participate in the committee. He said that deliberately spreading confusion among the public without answering these questions raises questions about the government’s intentions.
“The SKM again clarifies that unless we are fully aware of the nature and agenda of this committee, it will not be worthwhile to participate in any such committee,” said SKM leader Hannan Mollah.
Speaking at the Ambedkar Jayanti lecture organised by Community for the Eradication of Discrimination in Education and Employment and telecast on LiveLaw on April 14, Orissa High Court Chief Justice S Muralidhar on Thursday said laws are structured to discriminate against the poor and that the system works unequally for the poor and the rich. “There are many barriers to accessing justice that a marginalised person faces,” Muralidhar said. “The system works differently for the poor. The laws and processes are mystifying even for an educated literate person. The laws are themselves structured to discriminate against the poor,” Chief Justice Muralidhar said. “Muslims and people from the Scheduled Caste and OBC communities formed the majority of those facing trials and convicted in the country,” he pointed out.
The Video may be viewed here
He made the remarks while delivering a lecture on the topic “Appearing In court: Challenges In Representing The Marginalized”, to mark the 131st anniversary of BR Ambedkar. In his lecture, Justice Muralidhar pointed out that 55% of the 3.72 lakh people in India who are awaiting trial, belong to the Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Classes, Live Law reported.
Of the 1.13 lakh convicts, 21% belong to the Scheduled Caste and 37.1% to the Other Backward Class category, Muralidhar said. More than 17% of those under trial and 19.5% of the convicts are Muslims, the Odisha High Court chief justice said.“ Yet these are the persons who are likely to find it difficult to come forward to fight for their rights,” he said.
He added that many people who are under trial continue to remain in jail despite being granted bail because of their inability to arrange surety bonds. Justice Muralidhar also expressed concern on the quality of legal aid in the country for those unable to afford legal representation.
“The lack of confidence in the legal aid lawyer is a reflection of the general approach to welfare services by the providers,” he further said. “I call it the ration shop syndrome. The poor believe that if you get any service for free or it is substantially subsidised, then you cannot demand quality.”
“The system works differently for the poor. The beggars’ courts, the Juvenile Justice Boards and the Mahila Magistrate courts are the first point of encounter for the poor with the legal system,” he said
The chief justice also cited a study that found that human rights lawyers belonging to Dalit and Adivasi were labelled as “Maoist or Naxalite lawyers”. “Their experience tells them that it [the legal system] operates to oppress them and they have to devise ways to avoid it rather than engage with it,” Muralidhar said. “We need to revive discussions around decriminalising many of the surviving activities of the poor.”
Emphasising that Constitution acknowledges persons who by birth, descent, caste and class have been denied justice over generations, he said it also envisages the State to come up with affirmative actions to redress such historic injustices. “These include those belonging to the SC, ST, Dalits, Adivasis, socially and educationally disadvantaged classes, economically deprived classes and a whole host of others, including religious and sexual minorities, differently abled and children in conflict with the law,” he said. “Then there are status offenders – sex workers, mentally ill and many others whose very existence and every activity is criminalised and, therefore, very often find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Thus, begging, street dwelling, and prostitution are all treated as law and order problems.”
“It is a matter of concern that in at least 20 states in India, there are still anti-beggary laws. Only in Delhi and J&K have these laws been struck down by judicial verdicts. Then there are de-notified tribes who have for long been the victim of police atrocities. Those coming in conflict with the law in these situations are invariably those below the poverty line and high-risk groups for whom legal aid is an absolute necessity.”
Stating that structures that marginalise a sizeable section of the population are yet to be dismantled, Chief Justice Muralidhar asserted that this is why we still have amongst us those engaged in manual scavenging, sewer cleaning or forced labour doing all our dirty work “at the cost of their dignity and right to life”.
Talking about how to meet the challenges, the Chief Justice said that the marginalised largely view the legal system as irrelevant and as a tool of empowerment and survival. “Their experience tells them that it operates to oppress them and they have to devise ways to avoid it rather than engage with it. We need to revive discussions around decriminalising many of the surviving activities of the poor,” he said.
Days before Ambedkar Jayanti, sanitation workers’ Kachra Vahtuk Shramik Sangh (KVSS) union declared that workers’ provident funds (PF) worth ₹ 190 cr is yet to be deposited in their accessible accounts. Enraged by this revelation, around 600 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) workers observed a two-day protest from April 12, 2022 at Azad Maidan, Mumbai.
Since their contract began in 2009, the BMC told sanitation workers in the Solid Waste Management (SWM) department that they will receive PF in the future. Accordingly, money was deducted from their wages. However, some workers said they received insufficient amounts in their account while others never got any such deposits.
The KVSS calculated that PF worth ₹ 190 cr was due from the BMC with each sanitation worker deserving PF worth ₹ 3.80 lakh.
“The money is either not transferred or deposited, and the worker has not even been informed. Still others say the money is kept in an account that is inaccessible to the people. We have repeatedly asked the BMC, where has this money gone? But now after such a long time, people have gathered in protest,” KVSS Organiser Anushka Damle told SabrangIndia.
Accordingly, protesters gathered on Tuesday and Wednesday to demand an immediate disbursal of funds, and an investigation into the matter. On the first day, they bagged a meeting with the Chief Engineer but were disappointed by his claims that he’d have to wait for approval from higher-ups.
Among those enraged by this delay was worker Sunil Bhima Kunchikorwe, who has been working for BMC since 2004. The veteran contract worker lost his right hand in an accident on January 15, this year. Despite PF and ESIC deductions, Kunchikorwe did not receive an ESIS card nor PF number. After the incident, he asked many ward officers for his PF details but was snubbed by authorities.
“He is without wages as he cannot work, and has no fallback arrangement to rely on,” said Ranade.
Many similar stories persist in BMC’s administration. However, on the eve of Ambedkar Jayanti, Kunchikorwe received some good news. The KVSS met SWM Deputy Municipal Commissioner Sangeeta Hasnare who provided his ESIC number. While, it is not known how much money is in the account, the gesture gives hope to similar workers who do motor-loading work, often without any safety gear.
“Hasnare assured us that she will look into the matter and workers’ PF accounts. By April 16, she promised to get us the court orders and all related information regarding PF pendency,” said Damle.
Further, the BMC promised to provide workers with the duty orders/slips to acknowledge their permanency in the BMC.Aside from this, the administration will also make the timeline to arrange for regularisation of workers as per court orders. The KVSS will get updates on all this by April 19.
With this, the union has paused its morcha and now waits for April 22 when the BMC is expected to provide as per court orders all necessary information for workers’ PF. Failing this, the KVSS intends to file a contempt petition against the BMC.
CHAMPA DAS SHOWS HER JUDGMENT COPY
