In a shocking development in the controversy surrounding ‘Vedic Boards’, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has allegedly not scrutinized the syllabus of the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Sanskrit Shiksha Board (MSRVSSB) set up by the Veda Bhushan and Veda Vibhushan certifications offered by the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan (MSRVVP) before granting it equivalence with standard 10 and 12 certificates issued by other national educational boards.

This is significant because the results of Board exams play a crucial role in determining what courses and subsequently careers a student can pursue. The competition for admission to prestigious colleges, especially those that offer degrees in medicine and engineering is cut-throat to say the least. And even though the Vedic Boards insist their syllabus represents blended learning, one cannot ignore important questions about how well such an education can prepare students to pursue careers where the bulk, if not all the syllabus is rooted in western science and mathematics.

According to the website of the MSRVVP (https://msrvvp.ac.in/modal.html), written exams are conducted for this Vedic board’s students in four subjects – Sanskrit, English, Mathematics and Social Sciences. Vedas are taught via traditional methods of oral learning. The website does not mention any subjects such as Physics, Chemistry or Biology. Therefore, the revelation that the AICTE did not even bother to go through the syllabus of the Board is shocking!

According to The Telegraph, two education ministry officials had separately confirmed to the publication that the syllabus of the Vedic Board had not been scrutinized by the AICTE before granting the equivalence to the certificates. Both officials had allegedly tried to play down the serious nature of such an oversight, with one of them trying to justify it saying, “Colleges admit students on the basis of their own selection norms. They will see whether the students fulfil their expectations.”

Vedic education boards in India

Readers would recall that Patanjali, a group led by Baba Ramdev producing Ayurvedic and other products, had first pushed for a board to oversee Vedic education in India. In 2019, the Ministry of Human Resource Development approved Patanjali’s proposal and a Bharatiya Shiksha Board (BSB) was set up. According to the BSB website (https://bsb.org.in/gs_members_and_executive_board.php), while Ramdev serves as the President of the Executive Board and Chairman of the Governing Society. 

BSB aims “to equip (the students) with scientific and analytical outlook so that modern scientific thought contained in the Vedas, particularly disciplines of mathematics, astronomy, meteorology, chemistry, hydraulics, etc., could be linked with modern science and technology, and a rapport establishment between them and the modern scholars,” and “to undertake research in the interest of advancement of scientific knowledge in Vedas texts and Vedas Literature from the earliest time of Vedic period up to the present day, including areas of science, agriculture, technology, philosophy, yoga, education, poetics, grammar, linguistics, and Vedic tradition, and to provide for library, research equipment, research facilities supporting staff and other technical manpower.”

BSB says that the purpose behind creation of the Board is the “standardization, management, affiliation, recognition, certification, authentication, syllabi and programs “domain” area education in the country upto pre-degree level/senior secondary level or 5+3+3+4 pattern per NEP-2020.” It further explains, “The “Domain area” means a system of education which includes an Indian Traditional Knowledge like Vedic Education, Sanskrit Education, Shastas and Darshanas Education, Bharatiya Art, Bharatiya Parampara and Sanskrit Education, etc., imparted through Gurukulas, Veda Pathashala, Gurushishya Parampara or any other education system having its core value in Veda education with or without modern education which shall be in conformity with National Curriculum Framework.”

The BSB proudly displays the Cirtificate of Equivalence granted to it by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) on its website. It may be viewed here:

Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan (MSRVVP), Ujjain, is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Education, Government of India. It has set up the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Sanskrit Shiksha Board (MSRVSSB). This Board offers the Veda Bhushan certificate that is now (in wake of the AICTE circular) considered the equivalent of a class 10 certificate issued by other central and state boards of education, while the Veda Vibhushan is to be considered equivalent to the standard 12 certificate.

AICTE’s circular

According to the AICTE, the Department of School Education and Literacy that comes under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India had in consultation with the NCERT, have concurred with the various Bye-laws and Statutory requirements for the MSRVSSB and recognised it for school Education.

On September 13, AICTE had issued a circular to all Vice Chancellors of technical universities and all Directors/Principals of AICTE-approved institutions to accept as the Veda Bhushan and Veda Vibhushan equivalent of standard 10 and 12 certificates respectively.

A copy of the circular may be read here:

This was after the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) had said that the that MSRVSSB shall function as a regular school Board within India, via a letter dated August 3.

Concerns over “saffronisation” of education

As SabrangIndia has reported previously, academics have been raising concerns over the alleged attempt to “saffronise” education in India. In 2020, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), was in the news for ‘editing’ its Class 12 history syllabus. The CBSE dropped the chapter titled ‘The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles’. The next thing that made news was the decision by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to drop chapters on “federalism, citizenship, nationalism, and secularism” from the political science curriculum of Class 11. Also reportedly deleted was a section on demonetisation. However, as the news was followed by much debate, these ‘deleted’ topics were restored in the 2021-22 academic session. The education board had claimed that the edits were to lessen the “burden” on students as the Covid-19 pandemic was raging.

According to a detailed report in Frontline, the deletions were specific chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism and secularism which were “completely deleted” from the Class 11 Political Science syllabus. Other deletions included “business ethics, the Planning Commission and Five-Year Plans, demonetisation, goods and services tax (GST)” and “Indian democracy, social structure, stratification and social processes have been removed from Sociology”. The publication also reported that “entire chapters on early societies, nomadic cultures and confrontation of cultures have been removed from World History,” and that “portions about peasants, zamindars and the state and understanding Partition” had been axed as were issues “pertaining to gender, caste and social movements.”

Meanwhile in Madrasas…

All this while, it is noteworthy that Madrasas, that also claim to offer blended learning i.e students are taught modern subjects like Science and Mathematics, alongside traditional and religious teachings, have been repeatedly criticized for not being able to produce students who can compete with their counterparts from other national and state boards. 

In fact, this alleged lack of modern subjects in Madrasa curriculum, was one of the main reasons why at least two state governments – Assam and Uttar Pradesh, have taken a series actions to scrutinize every aspect of madrasas – from their funding to the Imams who teach there.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced that the state government is in the process of putting together a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to monitor the entry of Imams from outside Assam into the state. He said a government portal was being developed for such imams to register themselves when they came to Assam. He also clarified that this registration was not required for local imams. The announcement made on August 22, comes in wake of the arrest of nearly 30 people including at least three imams who taught at madrasas in the state. A few madrasas were also demolished for allegedly having connections with terrorist organisations, though in case of the madrasa that was demolished allegedly by local villagers in Kabaitary, the official reason given was that the structure was unsound and therefore dangerous for students.

Meanwhile, a survey of madrasa is on in Uttar Pradesh. The survey that began on September 19, is expected to end by October 15 and aims to ascertain the following information:

1.      Name of the madrasa

2.      Name of the organization that is running the madrasa

3.      Year of establishment

4.      Details of madrasa premises (owned or rented)

5.      Details of adequacy of madrasa premises, availability of resources, and structural integrity of madrasa building

6.      Number of students

7.      Number of teachers

8.      Details of curriculum

9.      Source of income

10.   If students have been enrolled in any additional schools

11.   If any non government organization is connected with the madrasa

12.  Remarks of the surveyor

 UP has 16,500 authorised madrasas, of which 558 are aided and 7,442 offer modern education. The total number of students at such madrasas is upwards of 19 lakhs.

Related:

Cooperate fully with madrasa survey authorities: Maulana Arshad Madani to UP madrasas

Discrepancy in reason for Madrasa demolished in Kabaitary: AAMSU

Education in India being ‘edited’ to suit a right-wing syllabus… one chapter at a time

The post AICTE recognises ‘Vedic Board’ qualifications allegedly without scrutinising syllabus appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Bru refugees who had fled Mizoram in 1997, in wake of an ethnic conflict, and come to Tripura, may finally find some closure. The Tripura High Court, in an order passed on September 26, has directed that the names of all eligible voters from among the refugees resettled in various villages be included in the electoral rolls.

This will ensure that they have a voice in the governance of the areas where they are building their lives afresh. But this was an uphill battle, and their potential disenfranchisement was only avoided due to the intervention of the Tripura High Court.

Who are Brus?

Brus, also known as Reangs are tribal people who practice Jhum cultivation. In the late 90s, a movement emerged to create an autonomous Bru territory carved from western Mizoram, parts of Tripura and even Bangladesh. In September 1997 the movement gained momentum and on October 21, 1997, a forest guard was killed in the Dampa Tiger Reserve allegedly by members of the Bru National Liberation Front. This led to clashed with the Mizos, and eventually 37,000 Brus were forced to flee Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts of Mizoram. While 5,000 people returned over 9 phases of repatriation since then, but around 32,000 continued to live in six refugee camps in Tripura.

The Jan 2020 agreement

In January 2020, a quadripartite agreement was signed between the Government of India, the state governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru representatives. The agreement was signed in the presence of then Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and leaders of Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples Forum (MBDPF), the largest forum of Bru migrants. A Rs 600 crore package was announced for the resettlement of Brus. According to this agreement, the refugees were to be given:

• Rs 1.5 lakh housing assistance to the migrants into three instalments

• Rs 4 lakh one-time cash assistance for sustenance to be handed over after 3 years

• Rs 5,000 monthly cash assistance

• Free ration for two years to migrants who wish to be permanently settled in Tripura

But there have been subsequent challenges in ensuring that these resettled Bru people are given the same rights as any other Indian citizen. One of their greatest challenges has been that getting their names enrolled in the voters’ lists of the villages where they have been resettled.

Enrollment of resettled Brus as voters

Village council elections in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) are due in the first week of November. Given how many of the areas where Bru refugees have been resettled fall under ADCs, it is vital to enroll Bru voters in these areas.

On September 16, the State Election Commission published a draft voters list for 2,634 constituencies in 587 village committees, covering 8,86, 334 voters including 4,40,132 women voters. But did not contain names of eligible relocated Bru refugees.  

Aggrieved by this, a group of Bru settlers moved the Tripura High Court. Times of India quoted an excerpt from their petition: “The state has 26,000 eligible Bru voters, out of which the names of only 5,000 people have been included in the electoral registers. The rest were left out as they didn’t get permanent houses and were not registered with the Registrar of Ordinary Residents.”

Tripura HC order paves way for voter enrollment

The Tripura High Court then took note of the latest report of the state revenue department. The court noted in its September 26, 2022 order, “As per the latest report received from the State Revenue Department there are 15 designated locations identified for the settlement of Bru migrants. Till date 5009 persons have been enrolled out of approximate 21703 eligible Bru migrants at different location.” The court also noted, “It is further revealed that enrollment of Bru migrants are being done where house constructions are completed and the families have been provided with the RoR which are being done by concerned Block Development Officers. The Electoral Registration Officers are ready to enroll the names of Bru migrants subject to completion of house constructions and where issues like record of residence are solved by the concerned Block Development Officers.”

The court laid emphasis in clause 4.9 of the quadripartite agreement of January 2020 and what it means for resettled Bru voters, and said, “The object of this clause in the Agreement is to treat them as a citizen of the State of Tripura having given their right to exercise their franchise. This object the government sought to be achieved should not be thwarted by the State Election Commission in a casual manner.”

Justice Arindam Lodh then passed an order saying, “I have considered that the election process has not been started. The process of preparing electoral roll is going on. In view of this, I direct the State Election Commission to complete the process of preparing electoral roll expeditiously and hold the election in accordance with law taking into account the grievance of the petitioners and also keeping in mind the 6 observation and direction as made in W.P(C) (PIL) no. 8 of 2022 [titled as Rajesh Debbarma & anr. vs. The State of Tripura & ors].”

The court essentially directed the State Election Commission to include names of all eligible voters from among Bru settlers in the electoral rolls of Tripura, irrespective of their names being registered in the Register of Ordinary Residents (RoR). Now the SEC is scrambling to meet the HC’s deadline.

The entire judgment may be read here: 

The wider problem of Bru resettlement

Meanwhile, the Central Government has given the state more time to deal with the wider issue of resettlement itself. Out of the over 32,000 eligible people, only a little over 3,000 have been successfully resettled so far. While the Central government has not set a deadline, it has granted the state government more time to complete the process.

There have been a few hick-ups in the resettlement process, the most notable being the outbreak of violence on November 21, 2020 when one person was killed and over 30 injured in police firing at a protest in North Tripura.

As per provisions of the January 2020 agreement, as many as 5,000 Bru refugees were to be resettled in Tripura’s North District. But the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) that comprises different groups such as Nagarik Suraksha Mancha and Mizo Convention, were opposed to this as they feared this influx of refugees would change the demography of the region.

This led to a call for a highway blockade, and over 3,000 people gathered at Chamtila in Panisagar subdivision to stop traffic on National Highway 8 that connects Tripura to Assam. While protesters maintained that their demonstrations were non-violent, police claimed that they were forced to open fire after exhausting all other non-lethal means to control the violent protesters.

Disenfranchisement of migrants and refugees

Democracy cannot thrive unless all voices are represented. However, the disenfranchisement of refugees and migrants has remained a persistent issue in many parts of India. While economic migrants struggle to cast their votes, due to inability to travel to their home states, the plight of people who are victims of forced migration, such as conflict affected people, climate refugees and other displaced people is worse.

Let us not forget that in the North East itself, climate refugees in Assam face hostility from people in their own state, despite being enrolled as voters. Bengali speaking Muslims who were forced to migrate downstream along the Brahmaputra as river erosion washed away their agricultural fields, and even entire villages, are often viewed as “outsiders” and “illegal migrants” from Bangladesh. They live under the constant fear of receiving notices from Assam’s Border Police asking them to prove their citizenship before the state’s infamous Foreigners’ Tribunals. There is also the looming threat of their settlements being bulldozed to clear “encroachment”, as the state government itself questions their antecedents and citizenship. One such eviction and demolition drive in Gorukhuti turned violent on September 23, when police opened fire on people protesting demolition of their huts. Two people, Maynal Haque and Sheikh Farid, were killed in the firing. While Maynal Haque was a 28-year-old daily-wage labourer who left behind aging parents, a widow and four children, Sheikh Farid was a 12-year-old boy who was merely passing by the scene of the firing on his way back from a local Aadhaar card centre.

Let Migrants Vote

Migrant workers too face challenges in exercising their right to vote as they often hail from faraway feeder states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, but work in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and the national capital of New Delhi.

Even though employers are legally obligated to declare election day (during Parliamentary elections) as a holiday so that workers can cast their vote, often just one day is insufficient for migrant workers to travel to their home states and cast their vote. This does not however, enable migrants to vote in state, municipal, panchayat and other local body elections in their home states.

As most migrant workers are constantly on the move and they live in temporary accommodations along job sites, they also do not have any permanent address in the states where they work, and therefore cannot enroll as voters there.

The problem has many layers, as there are temporary migrants and permanent migrants. The challenges posed by circular migration require a more nuanced approach to problem solving. Circular migration accounts for those migrants that have not permanently relocated to host cities, and instead circulate between host and home cities.

According to the 2011 census, the number of internal migrants stands at 45 crores, a 45% surge from the earlier census of 2001. Among these, 26% of the migration, i.e., 11.7 crores, occurs inter-district within the same state, while 12% of the migration, i.e., 5.4 crores, occurs inter-state.

SabrangIndia’s sister organization Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has been advocating for migrant workers’ right to vote as part of its Let Migrants Vote campaign.

Related:

Turmoil in the North East: A Bru Story

35 Bru refugees booked for crossing over to Tripura from Mizoram amid lockdown

Turmoil in the North East: One killed, 32 injured in police firing in Tripura

Let Migrants Vote

The post Why did it take an order from the Tripura HC to ensure proper enrollment of Bru voters? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In more shocking revelations in the Bhima Koregaon case, new information has emerged in connection with an alleged state-sponsored conspiracy against the human rights activists accused of masterminding the violence. Wired has now quoted researchers from security firm SentinelOne as saying that there is a link between the police and hackers.

“There’s a provable connection between the individuals who arrested these folks and the individuals who planted the evidence,” Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, a security researcher at SentinelOne told Wired. “This is beyond ethically compromised. It is beyond callous. So, we’re trying to put as much data forward as we can in the hopes of helping these victims,” added Guerrero-Saade, who will present these findings at a Black Hat security conference in August, along with fellow researcher Tom Hegel.

Wired reports that “SentinelOne’s researchers revealed ties between the hackers and a government entity: none other than the very same Indian police agency in the city of Pune that arrested multiple activists based on the fabricated evidence.” It further reports, “SentinelOne’s new findings that link the Pune City Police to the long-running hacking campaign, which the company has called ModifiedElephant, center on two particular targets of the campaign: Rona Wilson and Varvara Rao.”

ModifiedElephant: A sinister hacking campaign

In February 2022, SabrangIndia had reported how Sentinel Labs, another US-based cybersecurity firm (after Arsenal) had discovered more evidence of Rona Wilson’s devices being targeted. According to Sentinel Labs, there were two separate sets of hackers who targeted Wilson’s devices. They were employed, possibly by the same entity that has “interests aligned with the Indian State”.

One of the groups of hackers who targeted Wilson’s devices is an entity Sentinel Labs called ModifiedElephant. A report by Sentinel Labs said, “ModifiedElephant is responsible for targeted attacks on human rights activists, human rights defenders, academics, and lawyers across India with the objective of planting incriminating digital evidence.” They also found that “ModifiedElephant has been operating since at least 2012, and has repeatedly targeted specific individuals,” and that “ModifiedElephant operates through the use of commercially available remote access trojans (RATs) and has potential ties to the commercial surveillance industry.”

According to Sentinel Labs, “The objective of ModifiedElephant is long-term surveillance that at times concludes with the delivery of ‘evidence’—files that incriminate the target in specific crimes—prior to conveniently coordinated arrests.” The report further said, “After careful review of the attackers’ campaigns over the last decade, we have identified hundreds of groups and individuals targeted by ModifiedElephant phishing campaigns. Activists, human rights defenders, journalists, academics, and law professionals in India are those most highly targeted. Notable targets include individuals associated with the Bhima Koregaon case.”

The report added on a chilling note, “We observe that ModifiedElephant activity aligns sharply with Indian state interests and that there is an observable correlation between ModifiedElephant attacks and the arrests of individuals in controversial, politically-charged cases.”

Activists implicated in Bhima Koregaon case targeted using malware and spyware

After it was discovered that Rona Wilson’s phone had been infected with the Pegasus spyware that was revealed to have been purchased by the Government of India as part of a 2-billion-dollar defence deal with Israel in 2017, there have been significant developments in the case.

In February 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought the special court’s permission to hand over the devices of seven activists including Wilson to a special Committee constituted by the Indian Supreme Court to probe allegations related to the Pegasus scandal. The seven activists whose phones the NIA wanted examined are: Anand Teltumbde, Hany Babu, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen, Sudha Bharadwaj and Vernon Gonsalves. Of these, only Bharadwaj is out on bail. Together these seven people have 26 devices that were seized, first by the Pune Police and then by the NIA.

An electronic copy of Rona Wilson’s laptop was first examined by US-based digital forensics firm Arsenal. In February 2021 it was revealed that an attacker used malware to infiltrate the laptop and place incriminating evidence on it. According to Arsenal’s report, “Rona Wilson’s computer was compromised for just over 22 months.” They also found, “The attacker responsible for compromising Mr. Wilson’s computer had extensive resources (including time) and it is obvious that their primary goals were surveillance and incriminating document delivery.”

Then in December 2021 it came to light that an analysis by the Amnesty International’s Security Lab revealed that two backups of an iPhone 6 belonging to Wilson had “digital traces showing infection by the Pegasus surveillance tool”, something that by Pegasus’s own admission was licenced only to vetted governments. The phone backups were shared with the Amnesty team by Arsenal.

Finally, a New York Times expose shed light on how the Government of India had purchased the Pegasus software as part of a package included in a $2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017, thus bringing the entire controversy full circle.

Related:

Rona Wilson’s devices hacked by two groups of hackers employed by same entity: Sentinel Labs

Bhima Koregaon: NIA seeks permission to hand over phones of 7 accused to Pegasus Committee

Pegasus scandal: Did GoI engage in an elaborate cover-up?

Pegasus scandal: SC stays Justice Lokur Commission probe

Defence Ministry has had no transaction with Pegasus developer NSO Group: Centre in RS

Centre refuses to disclose use of Pegasus in affidavit, pleads national security

Pegasus Project: 5 targeted journalists move SC, say have been subject to intrusive hacking

Pegasus Snoopgate: RS MP, Journalists move SC for court monitored probe   

The post Provable connection between police and people who planted false evidence against Bhima-Koregaon accused: SentinelOne appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On Monday, three Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in the Drabgam area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama region. But this has done little to offer any assurance of security to the 800 Kashmir Pandits who live in South Kashmir, as they continue to fear for their safety.

The minority Hindu Kashmiri Pandit community has been in the crosshairs of terrorists over the last few months, and many prominent and beloved members of the community including pharmacists, teachers, government employees and businessmen have been gunned down so far. In fact, Ajay Pandita, a Sarpanch of a village in Anantnag, was killed way back in June 2020. By May 31, 2022, as many as 12 people have been killed.

On June 13, evening, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) tweeted saying they felt “something fishy” was going on.

#HMO#KashmiriPandits #CITEZENS OF INDIA
PLEASE SAVE RESIDENT KASHMIRI PANDITS
/HINDUS IN THE VALLEY AS SOMETHING FISHY IS GOING TO HAPPEN AGAINST US

— KPSS (@KPSSamiti) June 13, 2022

When SabrangIndia spoke to KPSS chief Sanjay Tickoo, he told us, “All I can tell you at present is that some of our sources, who are ordinary Kashmiris, not affiliated with any terrorist organization, have told us that something is about to happen.” While Tickoo did not elaborate what exactly was the nature of the treat he said, “We have advised all people to not let anyone other than the guards in after evening.”

KPSS has been at the forefront of protests demanding protection for the community. According to Tickoo, “At present a total of 808 families, comprising over 3,400 people live in different parts of the Kashmir Valley.” All these people are vulnerable, especially since the security provided to them was withdrawn by the government.

Now, the KPSS has written to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, appealing for a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the recent deaths. It has also appealed that the HC monitors the probe. They have brought to light threat posters issued by terrorist groups and annexed them with the letter to the HC. KPSS has also alleged that the government is not permitting Kashmiri Pandits to leave.

The entire letter, list of names of the dead, and threat posters from terrorist organisations may be viewed here: 

“We hope that after the summer vacation ends and the court starts functioning again, our letter is converted into a Public Interest Litigation by the honourable HC,” said Tickoo.

KPSS also tweeted a copy of a previous letter to Home Minister Amit Shah where they had expressed disappointment at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s failure to adequately address concerns repeatedly raised by the minority non-migrant Kashmiri Hindu community, many of whose people are forced to live amidst poverty and squalor in refugee camps, with few or no employment opportunities and with a constant threat to their lives.

On 25.10.2021, KPSS handed over a memorandum to @AmitShah in Srinagar as he failed to deliver what he approved. @HMOIndia is maintaining never ending silence.@Priyankac19 1990 was for #MigrantKPs & 2022 be for 808 #ResidentKP families. Plz shift us from #Kashmir to Maharastra. pic.twitter.com/0657HvJglK

— KPSS (@KPSSamiti) June 9, 2022

Meanwhile, IGP (Kashmir Range) Vijay Kumar told reporters in Srinagar on Monday that the three men killed in the Pulwama encounter have been identified as Junaid Ahmed Sheergojri of Gadoora, Fazil Nazir Bhat of Dabgram and Irfan Ahmad Malik of Abral Nikas. He told Times of India, “The encounter started on Saturday evening after a joint team of the Army, CRPF and J&K Police launched a cordon-and-search operation in Drabgam based on intelligence inputs received by SSP Pulwama about the presence of three local terrorists in the area.” Police have recovered two AK 47 rifles and a pistol from the site of the firefight. One of the terrorists killed was involved in the June 2 killing of a brick kiln worker. Terrorists have been targeting not only those Kashmir Pandit families who did not migrate during the exodus in the 1990s, but also migrant workers from other states, as well a security personnel. In a separate encounter in separate encounter in the Kreesbal Palpora area on the outskirts of Srinagar, another terrorist Adil Parray was gunned down on Sunday. He was believed to have been involved in the killing of two policemen and injuring a nine-year-old girl.

Related:

Hate speech impact on Kashmir Valley & Jammu, communal tension reported

Kashmir: Friday sermons in mosques express solidarity with Kashmiri Hindu brethren

Kashmir: Migrant labourer shot dead by militants in Budgam

Kashmir: School teacher Rajni Bala gunned down by terrorists in front of students

The post Minority Kashmiri Hindus fear “something fishy” in South Kashmir appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Sophie Zhang, the Facebook whistleblower who bravely exposed how her former employer, in a purported bid to maintain its relationship with the Indian government, did not take action against IT Cells run by various political parties who were abusing the platform to spread hate, has now pointed a finger at the Indian government itself, accusing it of ignoring her findings.

In an interview to BOOM, the fact-checking website said, “It’s been more than six months since the Lok Sabha officially wanted to invite my testimony, and refer that request to the Speaker. He has refused to respond. So effectively, it is an answer. And the answer is no.”

Zhang worked as a data analyst with Facebook between January 2018 and September 2020 when she was fired for demanding action against the multiple IT cellscomprising individuals at the helm of multiple, often fake accounts and groups, that were used to spread hate, propaganda and fake news, often so intertwined that they became indistinguishable from one another. She found that such IT cells gave regimes an “unfair advantage” over voters who could be swayed using the platform, thus rendering any electoral process just a hollow shell, democracy itself, a mere spectre.

The IT Cells accomplish all this using fake engagement to spam the target audience with the desired messaging, with the help of fake accounts or bots. Now, it is no secret the followers can be “bought”, but the way IT Cells operate it a little different from the overnight Instagram sensation who suddenly has over a million followers. Fake followers of influencers are easy to track as the rate of engagement remains low. The objective is just to bolster the follower base.

But in case of IT Cells the objectives are more sinister. The fake accounts are used to inflate the number of likes, comments and shares, thus bolstering actual engagement.It basically means that when a piece of propaganda, disguised as news, was shared, an artificial buzz was created around it to increase chatter on the subject using fake accounts.This manufactured chatter then drew attention of real people who were the original targets all along. What’s more, while the bots would only post positive or supportive comments, they would also launch an all-out campaign against anyone who posted a negative comment, essentially bullying them into silence.

Explaining the key difference between online engagement and real-world mobilisation, and why it bothers those who want to hold on to power, Zhang told BOOM, “Historically, dictators have not been able to respond when people went out on the streets. Because in the real world, there is no way for a small group of people to impersonate hundreds of 1000s of minions.”

According to Zhang she had been able to track down at least five such IT Cells when she worked for Facebook – two each allegedly affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC), an done allegedly run by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). While she was eventually able to have four of these taken down, one belonging to a BJP MP proved to be virtually impossible to take down due to Facebook’s lack of response.

“After a certain point, the coincidence started piling up. And so, if I had to personally guess, I would say that because this person was a member of parliament, they (Facebook) did not want to hurt the relationship with the Indian government. And they did not want to say no, because they would have looked absolutely terrible to refuse to take down this blatant violation of their terms of service. And so, they did the only thing that they could, which was refused to answer,” Zhang told BOOM.

Comparing the IT Cells and their deployment in the billion-dollar election enterprise, for the democratic process is treated as nothing but a business by politicians and powerbrokers, to an arms race, Zhang said that if the rules were enforced equally for all sides, then “no side would gain an advantage,” and if all parties reached an agreement, “They might be able to agree to a unilateral disarmament.”

Facebook’s silence on the rampant abuse of its platform for spreading hate

There have been multiple allegations of abuse of social media, especially during elections, with no consequences almost always for the powerful perpetrators, even as their toxic fan base grows – the ubiquitous bots drawing in supporters, sycophants and eventually even voters indoctrinated with the message that their success depended on the ouster, nay annihilation of the “others” or “outsiders”, and only one party could ensure that.

Readers would recall how the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had in late 2020 reported on Facebook’s unwillingness to take action against members of Bajrang Dal for abusing of its platform for spreading hate. The WSJ said Facebook had “financial and safety concerns” and that the social media giant’s internal security team had allegedly issued a warning that action against the group could result in physical attacks against the company’s personnel/facilities in India. According to the report, the tech giant also allegedly feared hurting its business prospects by infuriating India’s ruling Hindutva nationalist politicians.

CJP’s persistent efforts get lukewarm response from Facebook

Human rights defender, journalist and educationist Teesta Setalvad had also drawn attention to this ecosystem of hate while speaking at an online event organised by Real Facebook Oversight Board on January 20, 2022. Mincing no words, Setalvad had said then, “Facebook India as a platform is paying a dangerous role. Facebook has a vast clientele of 460 million plus users in English and 22 Indian languages and allows, unchecked inciteful content, that has become an unchecked instrument for targeting minorities, Dalits, women.”

Setalvad is secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), a human rights organization with a long and proud history of taking hate offenders to task via complaints to various judicial and non-judicial authorities. But Setalvad pointed out that complaints to Facebook seldom led to desired results. “In Oct 2018 we complained to Ms. Ankhi Das, the Public Policy Director, India, South and Central Asia, Facebook about the vandalisation of a Church in Varanasi, St. Thomas Church in the prime minister’s parliamentary constituency, by extremists, some of whom had also previously posted –on Facebook –inflammatory content targeting the Christian community. No response.”

Giving the example of T Raja Singh, who continues to spew anti-minority vvenom even today, Setalvad said, “In 2019, our HateWatch programme had analysed how one elected official of the influential ruling BJP party from a state in the south, Telangana amplified a rumour and added his own hate-filled speech on Facebook where he had half a million viewers. A year earlier, he had called for a vicious economic boycott of “terrorist Kashmiris” during the Amarnath Yatra on a video that has been viewed 3,00,000 times. Finally, he was a central figure flagged in the Aug 2020 WSJ Report on how the corporation ignored hate speech by BJP leaders in India to protect its business interests.”

When Facebook did take action, it was in essence ineffective. “By March 2021, when Facebook finally concluded that he, Raja Singh, had violated its own Community standards (Objectionable Content) and Violence and Criminal Behaviour rules, he was removed from FB. His Fan Pages with 2,19,430 and another with 17,018 followers, however continue to operate and generate provocative content,” said Setalvad. The complete text of her speech may be read here.

Related:

India’s Ecosystem of Hate: Is Facebook both, a Beneficiary and an Offender?
Facebook yet to take action against Bajrang Dal due to safety concerns: WSJ
Did Facebook just play a great Indian matchmaker and unite the Right, Left, and Centre?
After algorithm glitches Facebook CEO now talks of “operational mistake”
Delhi Govt’s Committee of Peace and Harmony to examine Facebook India’s role in Delhi riots
What is the BJP’s latest status update on Facebook?
Facebook protects hate speech by ‘regime favourites’ of ruling BJP?
 

The post Is GoI unwilling to investigate Facebook’s ecosystem of hate? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On May 27, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued a press release warning “the general public not to share photocopy of one’s Aadhaar with any organizations because it can be misused. Alternatively, a masked Aadhaar which displays only the last 4 digits of your Aadhaar number can be used for the purpose.”

Explaining the rationale behind the warning, the UIDAI said, “Only those organizations that have obtained a User License from the UIDAI can use Aadhaar for establishing the identity of a person. Unlicensed private entities like hotels or film halls are not permitted to collect or keep copies of Aadhaar card. It is an offence under the Aadhaar Act 2016. If a private entity demands to see your Aadhaar card, or seeks a photocopy of your Aadhaar card, please verify that they have valid User License from the UIDAI.” It said that the masked Aadhaar could be downloaded from the official website, and even went on to warn users against downloading Aadhaar using a public computer.

This advisory was however withdrawn on May 29, and in a new press release, the Ministry of Electronics and IT explained that the original advisory was issued “in the context of an attempt to misuse a photoshopped Aadhaar card.” It said, “However, in view of the possibility of the misinterpretation of the Press Release, the same stands withdrawn with immediate effect,” adding, “UIDAI issued Aadhaar card holders are only advised to exercise normal prudence in using and sharing their UIDAI Aadhaar numbers.”

As if to reiterate that all was well of the data and privacy protection front, it further said, “Aadhaar Identity Authentication ecosystem has provided adequate features for protecting and safeguarding the identity and privacy of the Aadhaar holder.”

But what does this flip-flop mean? Far from allaying fears, it has sparked fresh concerns about unauthorized people having access to Aadhaar data. Activists and civil society members took to Twitter to call out the government on this absurd about-turn:

And now government and @UIDAI adds to confusion and dishonesty by withdrawing the press release. Better to let people be robbed than deprive tech industry of convenient ‘onboarding’ of customers! Sure there was mega pressure! https://t.co/GpCaC1y427

— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) May 29, 2022

Schrödinger’s #Aadhaar https://t.co/j7vJgyjKM1

— Rethink Aadhaar (@no2uid) May 30, 2022

Just so I’m clear, UIDAI, when you “withdraw” your own press release that said photocopies of Aadhaar cards can be misused, are you now implying and guaranteeing that they *cannot* be misused?

Otherwise, what is it you are “withdrawing”? pic.twitter.com/Ok8NmimU5L

— Rohin Dharmakumar (@r0h1n) May 29, 2022

We have come a L-O-N-G way from RS Sharma sharing his Aadhaar number on Twitter and belligerently fighting with people online daring them ’cause harm’… to UIDAI cautioning people to not share it even with organizations because it can be *misused*. pic.twitter.com/OqHVxEw2LB

— Karthik ?? (@beastoftraal) May 29, 2022

Aadhaar: From inclusion to surveillance?

The Aadhar card, with its Unique Identification Number, at its inception was an identity document meant to be a means for inclusion. The Act itself is called The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. But as SabrangIndia has reported previously, in many cases, the programme has led to exclusion of people who need the Public Distribution System (PDS) the most. Starvation deaths were reported from Jharkhand (17) and West Bengal (7) since September 2017, as per a survey report released by the Right to Food campaign in December 2018. In many cases, the deceased had been denied foodgrains at subsidised rates as their ration cards were not linked to Aadhaar. One elderly woman’s old age pension was held up as her bank account was not linked to Aadhaar.

Now, some if not all of these concerns were addressed by the Supreme Court judgment in the Aadhaar case, especially with respect to PDS and welfare schemes, concerns about data privacy and surveillance remain. Privacy activists and human rights groups have been raising concerns about Aadhaar’s misuse ever since the programme was introduced in India.

The biggest concerns relate to how Aadhaar is either already linked or proposed to be linked to other databases. At present one’s PAN is linked to Aadhaar, and there is a proposal to link it to Voter ID as well, in a purported bid to weed out fake voters. But this linkage also poses a great risk to voter profiling, surveillance and even possible voter suppression.

Recently, over 500 entities such as civil rights groups including Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Peoples’ Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Adivasi Women’s Network, Chetna Andolan, etc.; as well as groups working to defend digital freedoms and rights, such as Rethink Aadhaar, Article 21 Trust, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), and the Free Software Movement of India, as well as activists, journalist and educators including CJP secretary Teesta Setalvad signed a statement calling the move to link Aadhaar with Voter ID “ill-thought, ill logical and unnecessary”.

The statement says that the signatories “are deeply concerned that this will almost certainly lead to mass disenfranchisement, could increase voter fraud, given the mass discrepancies in the Aadhaar database, and could violate people’s right to privacy by enabling voter profiling through the linkage of data sets.” It further elaborates, “India currently has no data protection law, and the current personal data protection bill has wide exceptions for the government. Any attempts to link Aadhaar to the voter IDs, would lead to demographic information which has been linked to Aadhaar, being linked to the voter database. This creates the possibilities for disenfranchisement based on identity, of increased surveillance, and targeted advertisements and commercial exploitation of private sensitive data.”  

A key reason cited is the violation of privacy and secrecy of vote. If the revelations of the Cambridge Analytica scandal where Facebook data of millions of users was used to allegedly rig the US elections in favour of Donald Trump by micro-targeting voters with false news is anything to go by, imagine the ramifications if it was demographic data of millions of Indians sourced from the Aadhaar database…

SC judgment on Aadhaar

In September 2018, the Supreme Court upheld Aadhaar’s constitutional validity. The Aadhaar case that was heard for a record 38 days by a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice AK Sikri, Justice AM Khanwikar and Justice A Bhushan delivered the verdict months after reserving judgment in May. There were three separate judgments from Justice Sikri, Justice Bhushan and Justice Chandrachud. CJI and Justice Khanwilkar did not pronounce a separate judgment but concurred with Justice Sikri. Justice Bhushan’s judgment was also in line with that of Justice Sikri. But Justice Chandrachud wrote a dissenting judgment.

However, in a partial victory for privacy activists, controversial sections such as those dealing with the national security exception and private players demanding Aadhaar data, were struck down. Section 33(2) of the Aadhaar Act that dealt with the National Security exception was struck down. This section permitted disclosure of information, including identity and authentication information, made in the interest of national security. Justice Sikri has also read down Section 33 (1) that enables disclosure of Aadhaar information on order of a District Judge. Now the owner of the information should be given opportunity of hearing before issuing such orders.

Additionally, Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, that permitted private entities to use Aadhaar information to authenticate the identity of a person, was also held unconstitutional. Therefore, no private company can either demand Aadhaar information or make it mandatory for providing services. Aadhaar would not be required for opening a bank account or for getting a mobile phone connection.

Section 47 that allowed only the UIDAI to file criminal complaints in case of data breach has also been struck down. It has been held that exclusion of individuals from filing complaints was arbitrary.

Justice Chandrachud’s dissenting judgment

Justice DY Chandrachud wrote the lone dissenting judgment saying Aadhaar is liable to be declared as unconstitutional. “Violation of fundamental rights under the Aadhaar scheme fails on the touchstone of tests of proportionality,” he said. “Constitutional guarantees cannot be compromised by vicissitudes of technology,” he noted in a strongly worded dissenting judgment.

Justice Chandrachud also expressed his apprehensions about the misuse of data for profiling saying, “Biometrically enhanced identity information, combined with demographic data such as address, age and gender, among other data, when used in increasingly large, automated systems creates profound changes in societies, particularly in regard to data protection, privacy, and security. Biometrics are at the very heart of identification systems. There are numerous instances in history where the persecution of groups of civilians on the basis of race, ethnicity and religion was facilitated through the use of identification systems. There is hence an alarming need to ensure that the on-going development of identification systems be carefully monitored, while taking into account lessons learnt from history.”

It is this part that sends a shiver down the spine, given how Aadhaar data can possibly be used for voter profiling, targeting and even subsequent gerrymandering if Aadhaar is linked with Voter ID.

Related:

Aadhaar linking to Voter ID: Empowering voters or enabling surveillance?

SC upholds Aadhaar’s Constitutional Validity, but partially addresses Privacy Concerns

Understanding the Aadhaar Case

The post What does the UIDAI’s flip-flop on Aadhaar mean? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The cruelty of Aurangzeb has been in the news for several weeks now given the resurgence in temple-mosque politics, 400 years after his death. Hindutva trolls and extremist groups spare no opportunity to remind us of how he razed several Hindu temples to the ground to build mosques.

The most popular example given is that of the Kashi Vishwanath temple that was demolished at the orders of the Mughal emperor, and how the Gyanvapi mosque was built using its debris. Today the mosque stands adjacent to the temple that was reconstructed later, but the controversy rages on as is evident in the ongoing case surrounding the court-ordered video survey and discovery of a Shivling on the premises.

But history is also replete with documented evidence of Aurangzeb having protected temples as well. Take for instance a ‘farman’ or royal decree issued by him to not demolish temples. The document that bears the emperor’s seal is displayed at the Bharat Kala Bhavan of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). In fact, Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran had reported this as far back as 2005! The document is dated 1658. Here’s a clipping of the news report.

The farman says, “Abul Hasan is hereby informed that under our religious laws, it has been decided that old temples will not be demolished. No new temple will be allowed to be constructed either. It has also come to our attention that some people are harassing Brahmins in and around Varanasi out of spite, and want to remove them from their positions as caretakers of temples. We therefore issue this farman to warn such people against harassing Brahmins or Hindus in the future. This way they can go about their livelihood in peace and continue conducting prayers as is the eternal message of Allah. This needs to be considered immediately.”

The same farman was also mentioned by historian Audrey Truschke in her book titled Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth. Some excerpts were published in Scroll.in in a February 2017 piece, where the author gave a few more such examples. Sample this:

“In 1687, the emperor gave some empty land on a ghat in Benares (which was, incidentally, near a mosque) to Ramjivan Gosain in order to build houses for “pious Brahmins and holy faqirs”. In 1691 Aurangzeb conferred eight villages and a sizable chunk of tax-free land on Mahant Balak Das Nirvani of Chitrakoot to support the Balaji Temple. In 1698 he gifted rent-free land to a Brahmin named Rang Bhatt, son of Nek Bhatt, in eastern Khandesh in central India. The list goes on and includes temples and individuals in Allahabad, Vrindavan, Bihar, and elsewhere.”

“Aurangzeb carried on the traditions of his forefathers in granting favours to Hindu religious communities, a continuity underscored by his dealings with the Jangam, a Shaivite group. The Jangam benefited from Mughal orders beginning under Akbar, who confirmed their legal rights to land in 1564. The same Jangam received several farmans from Aurangzeb that restored land that had been unfairly confiscated (1667), protected them from a disruptive local Muslim (1672), and returned illegally charged rent (1674). Such measures ensured that pious individuals could continue their religious activities, a component of Aurangzeb’s vision of justice.”

“Aurangzeb enacted similarly favourable policies towards Jain religious institutions. Again following Akbar’s example, Aurangzeb granted land at Shatrunjaya, Girnar, and Mount Abu – all Jain pilgrimage destinations in Gujarat – to specific Jain communities in the late 1650s. He gave Lal Vijay, a Jain monk, a monastery (poshala), probably sometime before 1681, and granted relief for a resting house (upashraya) in 1679.”

Now, this is not to say Aurangzeb did not demolish other temples. There is documentary evidence of that as well. But one must remember all historical facts, especially if the alleged actions of one man from 400 years ago are used to judge modern Muslims, often painted as hateful and cruel by right-wing extremist groups.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is all set to hear a plea by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM), the committee that manages the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi to stay the video survey that had been ordered there by a local court. The purpose of the video survey was to ascertain if a temple existed on the spot where the mosque was built. Controversy erupted yesterday when lawyers of the Hindu petitioners claimed that a Shivling had been discovered in the Wazu Khana (place where devotees wash their hands before prayers). Mosque authorities however say that it is just a portion of an old fountain that used to be at the spot.

Related:

Shivling ‘found’ on Gyanvapi mosque premises, court orders area sealed

Gyanvapi case: Two more advocate commissioners added to Shringar Gauri survey team

Gyanvapi case: Court to pronounce order in Shringar Gauri temple survey matter today

Gyanvapi case: One out of five withdrawing name from Maa Shringar Gauri temple petition?

Gyanvapi case: Videographic survey of Maa Shringar Gauri temple begins

Gyanvapi case: Allahabad HC stays ASI survey, proceedings before lower court

Gyanvapi case: Varanasi court to hear petition to hold prayers in Shringar Gauri temple

The post Did Aurangzeb also issue a ‘farman’ against razing temples? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Amidst the clamour for restoration of Hindu temples that were allegedly razed and desecrated to build mosques, one must never give in to versions of history manufactured and promoted by vested interests in order to drive a wedge between two communities that actually have a rich history of coexistence.

Day after the Supreme Court turned down an petition to open locked rooms at the Taj Mahal, asking the petitioner to “get a Ph.D” instead, an old document has emerged that showcases how Mughal kings had actually given back properties of Hindu kings at one point.

A document dated December 28, 1633, has emerged that showcases how Emperor Shah Jahan, who was at that time still in the process of building the Taj Mahal, had restored the lands and properties of Hindu King Jai Singh due to the goodwill gesture of donating a haveli (mansion) belonging to his grandfather Raja Man Singh for the construction of the mausoleum.

Mumtaz Mahal had died of post-partum complications following the birth of her 14^th child in Burhanpur on June 17, 1631 She was buried temporarily in Burhanpur itself and the body was moved to a small building on the banks of the Yamuna in Agra in December 1631. The Taj Mahal was built over 20 years and served as her final resting place. Shahjahan too was buried next to his beloved wife at the Taj.     

The document that showcases how Mughal rulers returned the lands and properties taken from their original owners, the Hindu rulers, is a farman that bestows upon Raja Jai Singh the ownership of four properties in Akbarabad. A translation of this farman that appears on page 171 of the book titled Taj Mahal: The Illuminated Tomb, authored by WE Begley and ZA Desai, reads as follows:

“Be it known through this glorious farman marked by happiness, which has received the honour of issuance and the dignity of proclamation, that the mansions (haveli) in the detailed endorsement (dimn), together with their dependencies, which belong to the august crown property, have been offered to that pride of peers and vassal of the monarch of Islam, Raja Jai Singh, and are hereby handed over and transferred to his ownership – in exchange for the mansion (haveli) formerly belonging to Raja Man Singh which that pride of grandees willingly and voluntarily donated for the mausoleum (maqbara) of that Queen of the ladies of the world, Lady of the ladies of the Age, that honor of the daughters of Adam and Eve and upholder of the stature of chastity of the Time, that Rabi’a of the world and chastity of the World and Religion, that recipient of Divine Mercy and Pardon, Mumtaz Mahal Begum.”

An endorsement on the back of the farman says:

“The mansions (haveli), together with their dependencies, belonging to the august crown estate, in exchange for the mansion (haveli) belonging to Raja Jai Singh, which that Pillar of the State (‘Umdat-al-Mulk), for the sake of the Illuminated Tomb, willingly and voluntarily donated as a gift (peshkash namudand), have been hereby granted by us to the said Raja and settled on him in full ownership.”

The pages may be viewed here: 

This showcases two things:

1)     The haveli that was given for the purpose of building the tomb, was donated willingly by Raja Jai Singh’s family.

2)     Emperor Shahjahan restored Jai Singh’s other estates in exchange for this haveli.

These two elements are significant, especially in light of the recent temple-mosque controversies such as Gyanvapi Mosque that is built adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple that was razed by Shah Jahan and Mumtaz’s son Aurangzeb.

The Hindutva right-wing extremist groups that have been overactive on Whatsapp groups and Twitter have been busy spreading hate by presenting only one side of Mughal history – the cruelty of Aurangzeb. But they have never showcased the camaraderie between Mughal and Rajput kings, or how inter-faith marriages were common at the time, making Hindus and Muslims each other’s kin. They only talk about how lands of Hindu kings were conquered or usurped by “Muslim invaders”, but never talk about how many Hindu Kings willingly formed alliances with Mughals to vanquish common enemies, as this was a political matter and had little to do with religion.

The famous Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb that was born in what we now call the state of Uttar Pradesh, has been the bedrock of India’s plural and syncretic culture – Hindus and Muslims forming the warp and weft of the nation’s rich socio-cultural fabric.

Related:

Wah Taj! Busting the many conspiracy theories about the monument that represents India

Is Taj Mahal not a part of Indian Culture?

The post EXCLUSIVE: Shahjahan returned properties of King Jai Singh for donating haveli for Taj Mahal appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As #BulldozerJustice trends on Twitter, perhaps it is time to take a look back at how the piece of heavy machinery has been deployed by multiple regimes to serve different agendas. How the actual term should read Bulldozer Injustice, because the people who are targeted are always economically weak and underprivileged.

Though the arguments put forth by various regimes have thus far boiled down to clearing encroachments and removing squatters and “miscreants”, the unspoken objective has been to sweep the great unwashed from the sightlines of the wealthy, right to shelter be damned! However, of late, the regime is using it to target minorities, specifically Muslims. What’s worse, is that now even members of other political parties have started insisting that the encroachers are “outsiders”.

Emergence of the Rohingya – Bangladeshi narrative

Bengali speaking Muslim residents of Jahangirpuri, the site of recent communal violence and an allegedly retaliatory demolition drive, were summarily dubbed “Rohingya” and “Bangladeshi”, first by Adesh Gupta who is the president of the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and later even Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders such as Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and National Spokesperson of AAP, Raghav Chada and Atishi Marlena, who accused the BJP of settling Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshis in different parts of the country to spark communal violence!

जहांगीरपुरी में बुलडोजर कार्यवाही पर प्रतिक्रिया pic.twitter.com/IgFBsmdtlm

— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) April 20, 2022

जिस दिन Amit Shah के घर Bulldozer चल जाएगा, इस देश में दंगे बंद हो जाएंगे।

BJP ने दंगे करवाने के लिए देशभर में बांग्लादेशियों और रोहिंग्या को बसाया है।

BJP List दे, किसे कहाँ बसाया है? इससे पता चल जाएगा- अगले दंगे भाजपा कहाँ करवाने जा रही है।

–@AtishiAAP #BulldozeBJPHQ pic.twitter.com/zxs3Das1gJ

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 20, 2022

This narrative was fueled further by media houses sympathetic to the regime, who somehow accepted this as justification for a demolition drive, that incidentally was carried out despite an order from the Supreme Court to maintain status quo. The mayor acted with impunity when he insisted that demolitions would stop only when authorities received a copy of the SC order!

It was crystal clear that the demolition was a way to punish the local Muslim residents of Jahangirpuri for protesting a Hindutva procession that passed through the neighbourhood on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti on Saturday April 16. While most media focused on reporting on the stone pelting and how at least eight policemen were reported injured in the clashes, one cannot ignore how vehicles were allegedly set on fire, and shops of Muslims were vandalised. In fact, subsequent news and fact-finding reports revealed that sensible community leaders had actually restrained impressionable youngsters from retaliating violently.

In the aftermath of the violence, the police arrested 14 Muslims. Though Prem Sharma, a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was also arrested, the police later withdrew their initial statement, allegedly under pressure from the VHP.

On Thursday, April 21, the SC ordered that status quo be maintained for two weeks even as it heard submissions in two Public Interest Litigations (PIL) against the demolitions that highlighted how the entire process was carried out in contravention of set procedure and law.

So, how did we get here?

Now, it is well known that after facing persecution in Myanmar, members of the Rohingya community who used to live in the Rakhine state started fleeing their homeland. While over 2,00,000 fled to Bangladesh where they continue to live even today in one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Cox Bazaar, lakhs of others fled to other countries including India. In fact, according to official figures as many as 40,000 Rohingya refugees were welcomed into India and settled mainly in Jammu, Rajasthan, and Delhi. Some of them migrated to other parts of the country such as Bangalore and Hyderabad, some even took refuge in Mizoram as they have families in the state. So, why is it after showing grace and compassion by letting in refugees, that politicians, who are seemingly across party lines, are suddenly blaming them for a law-and-order problems, especially in wake of the outbreak of communal violence during Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti?

As far as the Bangladeshi bogeyman goes, it has been used for over 50 years to spark ethno-linguistic divisions in the North East, especially in Assam. So much so that a blood was spilled during the Assam Movement that finally led to the signing of the Assam Accord that in turn paved the way for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC). In the 1980s Assam saw the violent fallout of the Assam movement in the Nellie massacre (February 18, 1983), where it was this narrative of the illegal Bangladeshis “infiltrating” Mongoldoi’s electoral rolls that unleashed terror and killing of Indians was spread far and wide. The massacre remains a blot on Assam’s history.

On the back of this was built, the shrill and hegemonistic movement for a ‘Grand Temple at Ayodhya’ (a euphemism for the demolition of the 400-year-old Babri Masjid) This movement saw violence erupt in several parts of India. Mumbai, then known as Bombay, was among the worst hit. In December 1992, as targeted violence erupted in several parts of the city, as the victory temple bell ringing processions (Ghantanaad celebrations) were allowed, and the spectre of evidence of communal bias (prejudice) in a once professional police force raised its ugly head. The right-wing BJP held up the ‘bogey’ of illegal Bangladeshi immigrant in bastis like Antop Hill being the epicentre of the violence.  (BJP state chief Dharamsingh Choradia was confronted with this at a press conference, and when unable to pinpoint the baseless allegation, stood exposed.

In the recent past two chief ministers and one home minister of BJP ruled states have been at the forefront of this Bulldozer Injustice – Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of Assam and Home Minister Narottam Mishra of Madhya Pradesh.

The rise of Bulldozer Baba in UP

Adityanath has been given the moniker of Bulldozer Baba for authorising the demolition of homes and properties of people who the regimes dubbed as either criminals or members of the mafia. In fact, it had all started with the use of bulldozers to raze the properties of those who had protested the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019. Adityanath had himself referenced the heavy machinery in multiple speeches in the run up to his re-election, further solidifying his reputation when his followers took out bulldozer rallies to celebrate his victory.

Himanta Biswa Sarma’s eviction drives in Assam

This was first seen around July 2021 in Assam, where shortly after coming to power, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma authorized a series of demolition drives to clear land “occupied by encroachers” so that it may be given to indigenous youth for farming and fishing. Two such drives took place in Dhalpur in Darrang district, a region that is home to hundreds of families who migrated here from other flood-prone regions of Assam. The eastern Indian state has been facing river erosion for decades, and often entire villages are washed away when the mighty Brahmaputra either overflows or changes course during the monsoon. Their homes and agricultural lands submerged, these people had no other option to move to safer regions within the state. In fact, most of the families evicted during the drives in August and September had been living there for 40-50 years.

However, a vast majority of such migrants are Bengali speaking people, instead of Assamese speaking people. These Bengali speaking Muslims and even Hindus are viewed as “outsiders”, often dubbed “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” in a state that has a bloody history of an ethno-linguistic struggle that is still a very sensitive subject. In short, there has been a fear that illegal Bengali migrants (both Hindus and Muslims) have entered Assam from Bangladesh by crossing a very porous and largely riverine border, and that their alleged objective is to supplant the state’s original Assamese population with a predominantly Bengali population. While this dispute had remained essentially ethno-linguistic for decades, the BJP added to it a distinct communal hue to it in a purported bid to further their divisive and communal agenda.

As was evident in the eviction drive, especially the one in Dhalpur, it was the homes of Bengali speaking Muslims that were targeted during the demolition drive. The Chief Minister had not only congratulated the local administration for their work in removing encroachments, he had also categorically dubbed the evicted people as “outsiders”. After the brutal police firing on September 23 in Gorukhuti, the demolitions were halted, but the stand of the ruling regime became even clearer when they insisted that rehabilitation and compensation will only be provided to families whose name appears in the NRC, thereby feeding into the whole Bangladeshi infiltrator narrative once again.

It is also noteworthy that the Assam state government has always been vocal about how they are not satisfied with the outcome of the updated NRC that was published on August 31, 2019 and left out over 19 lakh people. Muslim minority leaders have alleged that the demolition drives were authorised only because the regime could not exclude a desired number of Muslims from the NRC.

Narottam Mishra’s “stone for a stone” justification

Just a day after communal clashes erupted during a Ram Navami procession in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone, the district administration demolished 16 houses and 29 shops in five areas across the town. Home Minister Narottam Mishra issued a warning, saying, “Jis ghar se pathar aaye hain, us ghar ko hi patharon kaa dher banaenge (We will turn the houses from where the stones were pelted to a heap of rubble).” Mishra squarely blamed Muslims for the attack and attempted to justify the retaliatory demolitions that took place without following due process of the law.

He had used similar words in 2020 saying, “Jahan se pathar aaenge, wahin se toh nikale jaaenge’ (the evictions will happen where the stones came from)”. Narottam Mishra’s was then justifying the demolition of a poor Muslim man’s house. That demolition too was an act of “instant punishment” for the Muslim man, after allegations of ‘stone pelting’ at a mob were made during a communal clash in Ujjain.

But while the spotlight might be shining bright on Bulldozer Injustice at present, it has a history dating back to the mid-70s and early 80s.

Turkman Gate massacre

While one might fondly remember former Prime Minsiter Indira Gandhi’s “Garibi Hatao” slogan urging that poverty be removed from India, one cannot ignore how during the Emergency, she and her son Sanjay Gandhi presided over one of the first bulldozer campaigns in the country’s history. The 1976 Turkman Gate massacre is still fresh in the minds of people, even though the news media were prevented from covering the brutal incident where police opened fire upon people protesting the bulldozing of properties in low-income neighbourhoods in the area.

The whole project was primarily the brainchild of Sanjay Gandhi who wanted to move poor people outside the city. But the residents of the Turkman Gate area had lived there since Mughal times as it was part of the walled city, and would find it tedious and expensive to commute from the outskirts of the city to work every day. Understandably they refused to vacate the area. But this defiance cost them their lives when they ended up facing bulldozers and bullets. The only official record of death comes from the Shah Commission Report that says that 20 people were killed in police firing, actual casualties are debatably higher.

AR Antulay’s pavement clearing drive

Bulldozers were also deployed against alleged squatters, encroachers and sundry residents of low-income neighbourhoods (heartlessly dubbed slums) in Mumbai in the 80s. Then chief minister AR Antulay wanted to evict pavement dwellers and demolish their modest roadside huts during the monsoon of 1981. Most of these shanties belonged to migrant labourers who lived hand to mouth on their daily wages. In fact, it was due to a PIL filed by journalist Olga Tellis that led to the recognition of two basic elements of any eviction of any demolition drive. First, that the Right to Life conferred under Article 21 also includes the right to livelihood. Secondly, if a person is evicted from their home, it will also impact their livelihood. Though the right to shelter was not recognised as a fundamental right, the petition let to pathbreaking jurisprudence where the Supreme Court ordered that in case of evictions it would be mandatory for authorities to provide alternate accommodation to people if their shanties were torn down.

Mumbai’s Slum Rehabilitation failure

Over time, a cut-off date of January 1, 1995 was established, so that the government would not be held responsible for the rehabilitation of people who had settled on public or private land thereafter. The Slum Redevelopment Scheme was brought in by the Maharashtra government in 1998, and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority was tasked with building homes to relocate residents evicted from the land that was being cleared of encroachments. But a large number of people evicted from slums have been forced to live amidst squalor in transit camps in the absence of prop er rehabilitation.

Case in point is Rafiq Nagar in Govandi in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs. It is teaming with thousands of people forced to live cheek by jowl, their only luxury – 30 minutes of water supply each day. These people have been living in limbo as they were thrown out of their homes when the land was cleared for a redevelopment project, but most were never assigned homes under the SRA scheme. Some who did get homes were relocated to Malad! It is also noteworthy that a vast majority of Rafiq Nagar’s residents hail from the Muslim community.

Not far away is Cheetah camp, another low-income neighbourhood in Mankhurd that is home to some of the most economically weak families hailing from not just the Muslim community but also Dalits, who were forcibly moved here from the Janata Colony slum in 1976 to create space for expanding the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) premises. But this area has been vilified as “Mini Bangladesh” with rumour mills churning out new conspiracy theories about the intentions of its residents over the years.

It isn’t difficult to put two and two together to figure out who benefits from spreading such communal rumours.

But the woes of Mumbai’s low-income neighbourhoods did not end there. In January 2011 a demolition drive was started in Golibar in Khar. The area has been eyed by major real estate players as it is not only a stone’s throw from the airport and the railway station, but also close to other high income neighbourhoods in Bandra and across the tracks in Khar West where property prices are some of the highest in suburban Mumbai. In fact, Medha Patkar, spearheading the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA) had held a protest fast to urge the state government to reconsider their inhuman and greed-driven decision. It was revealed that not only were consent letters for a rehabilitation scheme in the area forced or forged in many cases, out of the 10,000 people displaced, only about 500 were rehabilitated. Patkar ended her fast after nine days only after then Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan gave an assurance to investigate the scam. 

Delhi’s apathy towards its poor

One would have thought that after the Turkman Gate massacre and also the SC judgment in the Olga Tellis case, Delhi authorities would have mended their ways. But many a demolition drive have been carried out in the national capital and surrounding areas in complete violation of the SC order since then.

For example, take the case of Delhi’s Shakur Basti where residents including infants, the ailing and the elderly were thrown out of their homes in the biting cold of December 2015. Far from providing alternate accommodation to the low-income migrant worker families hailing mainly from Bihar and West Bengal, many of them Muslim, over 1,000 families were left to fend for themselves, shelter-less and completely at the mercy of the elements. Congress leader Ajay Maken had moved court against this demolition and in 2019 the Delhi High Court ruled, “The right to housing is a bundle of rights not limited to bare shelter over one’s head. It includes the right to livelihood, right to health, right to education and right to food, including right to clean drinking water, sewerage and transport facilities.” The court further said that once a shanty town for eligible for rehabilitation, its residents should not be seen as illegal encroachers.

But this was too little too late, for just a year after the Shakur Basti demolition another demolition took place in Kishan Nagar village in South Delhi’s Mehrauli area in December 2016. Once again, the shanty town was inhabited by migrant workers from West Bengal and Assam, many of them Bengali speaking Muslims. Over 300 shanties were demolished leaving around 1,000 people homeless in the winter.

Then in July 2017, three dozen shanties near the posh Mahagun Modrene society in NOIDA were razed, purportedly to placate the wealthy residents who had just a week before the demolitions faced the ire of the shanty town’s residents when a domestic worker Johrabi was held hostage by the affluent family for whom she worked. The shanty town residents had stormed the posh society demanding that Zohrabi be released on July 12, 2017 after she had been missing for over 24 hours. But the matter did not end with her release. The rich residents retaliated by protesting the law-and-order problems created by the shanty town residents and a week later the shanties were demolished, leaving residents shelterless in the middle of the monsoon.

Then on October 28, 2017 in a spectacular display of force and violence, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA ) started a demolition drive in Delhi’s Kathputli Nagar, destroying properties of nearly 4,000 who had been living there for nearly 40 years. The neighbourhood was home to artists like qawwali singers and street performers such as puppeteers (from whom the area got its name). What’s worse, they brutally beat up students and activists protesting the demolition. Activist Annie Raja who is a senior citizen was beaten with steel rods and kicked and punched in the abdomen.

Sometimes other concerns pertaining to environment, pollution, garbage disposal etc. have been used to get court orders in favour of demolitions. Take for instance the case of the nearly 48,000 shanties that had come up alongside 140 kilometers of railway tracks, that the Delhi government has been eager to clear.

In fact, a litigation that goes back to 1985 is what triggered an order dated August 31, 2020 by the Supreme Court permitting the demolition. The original 1985 petition was filed by advocate MC Mehta in connection with air pollution. Over the years different related petitions pertaining to vehicular pollution, garbage disposal etc. were also tagged with this petition. On August 31, the SC ordered, “The encroachments which are there in the safety zones should be removed within a period of three months and no interference, political or otherwise, should be there and no Court shall grant any stay with respect to removal of the encroachments in the area in question.” Once againt it was Congress leader Ajay Maken who moved court, and the demolition was subsequently stayed in September 2020, when the Centre informed the court in September that they would not take any coercive action against the residents until a decision was made by the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Delhi government about the rehabilitation of residents. The Centre reiterated its stand in November 2020. But the fact that a demolition drive was considered in the first place amidst a raging Covid-19 pandemic is perhaps the greatest and most shocking indicator of administrative apathy.

Related:

Jahangirpuri Demolition: SC to take “serious view of demolitions after Mayor was informed of order”

Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister blames Muslims for Ram Navami day violence, justifies mass demolitions

Lives in the Rubble at Kathputli Colony

NOIDA Shanties where Zohrabi Lived Pulled Down, Amidst Heavy Rain

Has Bombay healed?

Anatomy of a Hate Crime

The post Evolution of Bulldozer Injustice appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On March 25, Sabber Kyaw Min, founder and director of Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, was detained by Hyderabad Police. A Rohingya refugee himself, Min is one of the most respected leaders of the migrant community in India.

But on March 25, Min alleges, that he was not only picked up on baseless charges, but also prevented from contacting anyone for a long time. When he was allowed to speak to someone, it was with the police listening as the call was conducted on speaker phone. But what’s worse is that the moment Min complained about how he was being harassed, a policeman slapped him!

After he was released from detention and finally reached Delhi, SabrangIndia spoke to him and in this interview, Min tells us his side of the story:

Q) You live in Delhi, but were detained in Hyderabad. How did that happen?

A) My in-laws live in Hyderabad, and as we had not been able to meet them in a long time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided to visit them. I decided to carry some Covid-relief materials such as sanitisers and masks with me along with a few posters that we use here in Delhi in Rohingya refugee settlements. There are 31 settlements of Rohingya refugees in Hyderabad, and community workers are engaging in similar drives in some of them. I took these materials with me as I thought it would help them.

Poster distributed by Min’s group among refugee families in Delhi

Q) So, did you give them that material?

A) Well after I reached my in-laws’ place in Hyderabad on March 25, I had a meal and rested a bit. After that some six or seven community workers who are all refugees themselves, came that evening to meet me for a “dua-salaam” (an informal meet and greet). They told me they wanted to conduct a proper training session on Covid care and management in Refugee Camp number 27 located at Royal Colony in Balapur. I told them that such a session would require prior police permission, but gave the people present there a few basic guidelines. I also gave them 10 sanitizer bottles each, about 50 posters and a few masks and requested them to share it with whoever needed help.

Q) What happened next?

Even while I was talking to them, I got a call from the police who asked me why I was in town? I explained I was visiting my in-laws. He then asked why was I conducting a meeting without permission? I explained to them that this was just an informal gathering of very few people who had just come to greet me. But shortly afterwards, two cops showed up, grabbed all my Covid supplies. They snatched my phone, made me sit in their vehicle, and took me to the Balapur police station. They questioned me again about why I did not seek police permission. I told them that this was not my first visit and that I was visiting my in-laws. I also told them that I didn’t know I needed permission for a visit. They then said I was conducting a meeting without permission to which I reiterated that it was an informal “dua salaam” with a few acquaintances who know me because of my work.

Then they started grilling me about my documents – what documents did I use to get flight tickets and my mobile SIM card. I explained I have a Refugee Card. Then they put me in a room next to the lock-up.

Q) Did they let you call anyone?

A) They had taken away my phone, so I asked them for it saying I needed to make a call. But they refused to give me my phone. By then, my wife had informed my team in Delhi about my detention and they contacted local social workers and human rights groups. They spoke to Ravi Nair at the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, Ravi Hemadri Daji who is the founder of Deployment Justice Initiative, Tapan Bose who is a filmmaker and Free Rohingya Coalition Ambassador and a few others. These people then started calling the police station and that is why the police let me go after a few hours. I am incredibly grateful to them and Human Rights Defenders and lawyers, because of whom I was released.

Q) But weren’t you allowed to even contact your lawyer?

Well, I got a call from a UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) lawyer, and police allowed me to receive the call, but put it on speaker phone so they could also listen in. He asked me if I was being harassed and I said, “Yes”. That’s when a police officer slapped me.

Q) He slapped you?

Yes. He slapped me, grabbed me by the hair, grabbed my collar and verbally abused me.

Q) What was this officer’s name?

A) His name was A. Shahidul. He is a sub-inspector. He was the one who slapped me.

Q) What happened next?

A) They made me sit in the room next to the lock up for about four hours. Then they took down my address in Delhi, my father’s name. Then they said that I must leave the city before 10 A.M the following day, or I will be detained again. Then they let me go. So, although I had a return ticket for March 28, I got an emergency ticket and returned to Delhi. I also sent a picture of the ticket to my father-in-law so that they don’t face harassment.

Q) But why do you think you were targeted?

A) I am well known in the media for my work, and have nationwide and even international contacts. The cops here have been harassing refugees and perhaps they feared I would file a report and inform the media and human rights organisations about it. Cops keep looking for a reason to detain refugees. Even if some refugee, who is settled in Jammu visits Hyderabad or migrates here and is given shelter by a family living in these camps, cops use it as an excuse to detain people. There is a lot of harassment. The police have two stooges among the refugees who keep the police informed about any new arrivals.

Q) What action are you planning to take now?

A) I have spoken to Ravi Nair and Tapan Bose. But frankly what action can be taken? Police know who I am and what I do, yet they treated me like a criminal. I told them clearly that I only work to highlight the injustice faced by Rohingyas and have never spoken ill of Indian authorities. I am worried that if I take any action, other refugees could face greater harassment.

Q) How many Rohingya’s are there in India at present?

A) There are 6,500 people in Jammu, 1,200 people in Delhi and about 8,000 in Hyderabad. There are 1,700 in Haryana, a total of approximately 2,000 people in Bangalore, Rajasthan and UP put together. While the Indian government says there are 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India, as per UNHCR estimates the number is closer to 18,000. According to our estimates, there are a 225 people in detention centres in Bengal, Assam and Tripura. 81 are detained in UP, 168 in Jammu and Kashmir, and 270 in Hyderabad. They are kept in different jails. Most of them are people who migrated from Jammu. Some people have been nabbed for having Aadhaar cards, some have been accused of being Bangladeshi and some were detained for offering shelter to other refugees.  

*Images courtesy Sabber Kyaw Min

Related:

We want to serve humanity: Rohingya refugees offer help amidst Covid

What will become of Jammu’s Rohingya refugees?

Rohingyas abducted, families attacked in Bengaluru!

The post Hyderabad cops detained me, slapped me, pulled my hair: Sabber Kyaw Min appeared first on SabrangIndia.