A social activist who worked all his life for weaker sections, Gopal is now 85 years old and is generally addressed as Pita ji by the younger generation of artists and activists. Gopal grew up as a child in Bigahna village which is known for some of its simple, small farmers being accomplished dhrupad singers. They would cultivate their fields in the daytime and gather in the evening for music. These singers include Rambahori, Parasram, Kamta Prasad and Ramvjay.

This news had attracted a lot of attention when broadcast on radio some decades back. Gopal, growing up in this village in the company of such accomplished singers, had a strong feeling that there isn’t such a wide gap or barrier between classical and folk music as is often taken for granted. This was confirmed by later experiences. A famous dhrupad singer told a folk singer from a tribal community who had just given a great performance at a Lok Laya festival — It is your singing of old days to which we trace origin of our own music.

As Gopal had been working among the weakest sections on land, justice and related issues, he soon realized that very rich folk song and dance forms exist among the weaker sections of society, including the tribal communities and dalits of Bundelkhand region. However when he tried to reach out to them, he found that they were so poor that it would be unfair to ask them to come to any performing centre without arranging for their travel.

Hence he started looking for donors who could pay the travel and other expenses plus a modest honorarium. After this the Lok Laya festival started and nine such festivals have been held so far in the campus of this organization in Chitrakut district (Uttar Pradesh).

However, the difficulties in which many artists continue to live has become an increasing concern and Gopal has been pleading with the government to take more steps for ensuring livelihood support to these artists based on their valuable arts and skills.

Ramjivan’s parents worked as bonded labourers in Bharkhari village of Hamirpur district (UP). When he was in class four he was forced by his parents’ employers to take their cattle for grazing. As he grew up, he spent his nights learning nautanki songs and Raawla dance. In a few years by sheer dedication and hard work he emerged as one of the most accomplished folk artists of the area famous for his tamboora singing and kabiri. Yet he continued to grapple with poverty and survival.

Naurangilal, born in a family of traditional sanitation workers, experienced extreme forms of untouchability and other humiliations from early childhood in Bakurkhurd village (Hamirpur district). A more interesting part of his father’s traditional professional was to play various instruments at weddings. Naurangilal was fascinated by this and he soon became an accomplished player of dafla.

What is common to both these folk artists is that they got enthusiastic response at Lok Laya (which literally means Rhythm of People).

Gopal travelled far and wide in rural areas to establish contacts with such unknown folk artists of great skills and accomplishments. He collected books and documents on folk arts and also established contacts with various scholars who were working as this issue.

What Gopal found in the course of this huge effort was that many accomplished folk artists are living in great economic difficulties. Families of several of them could not get two square meals a day and they had to toil as migrant workers to survive. In such a situation there was little incentive to hand over their skills to the next generation.

On the other hand, Gopal says that he also comes across cases of resilience and strength of folk arts and artists to survive against heavy odds, thanks mainly to their integration with the social fabric of villages. This effort was being supported by persons like Dr Ram Bhajan in Hamirpur district who left his job to help folk artists of Vinvaar and neighbouring villages in the revival of folk arts.

Efforts of Krishna Mohan Saxena and Vijay Srivastava helped Nautanki artists in and around Banda district, scholars like Dr Veena Srivastava, Dr Madhu Shukla and Ayodhya Kumud were helping to document important aspects of Bundelkhand’s folk arts in their research work and books. Social programs like PACS, organizations like PRIA and Sahbhagi have also donated for this cause from time to time.

These festivals were well-covered by local media and helped to generate a region-wide interest in the protection and strengthening of folk arts.

At a typical Lok Laya festival the beauty and vitality of folk-arts is very much in evidence. The presentations of occupational and caste-groups such as dhobis (washerfolk), Kahars (water-providers), kumhars (potters) and kachis (vegetable growers) were widely appreciated. As Lallu Ram Shukla of Music Dept. of Chitrakut University explained, these attract audience of the entire village community and such performances which continue all night help to strengthen the social fabric of rural life.

Even more lively were the presentations of ‘Rai’ and ‘Kolhai’ folk arts by Kol tribal artists. A new generation of Kol women like Booti Kol have left behind the cruel legacy of bonded labour to emerge as panchayat leaders and in addition they are very good folk artists.

Dr Ram Bhajan has explained that talented women artists who inherit and develop great skills in their maternal homes are often discouraged from performing after their marriage.They and their families should be approached and encouraged to develop the talent further. He gave the example of Siyapyari Ahirwar who has emerged as one of the most celebrated artists after efforts to re-discover and encourage her talent were made.

Dr Veena Srivastava has pointed out that several folk artists of Bundelkhand have a special talent for combining singing, dancing and playing an instrument at the same time.

Dr Madhu Shukla has said that even the modest amounts sanctioned for folk artists generally fail to reach the truly deserving artists. She stated at a Lok Laya function that performers such as those seen at Lok Laya are true folk artists, but clever urban artists just take a few tips from them to emerge as more popular figures at urban stage and also corner more funds and fame.

Gopal has stated that the existing disbursal of funds for folk arts needs to be carefully re-examined so that complete transparency and honesty along with the right priorities can be ensured. He has made a strong plea for the government giving much more attention to the protection of folk arts and artists.

*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include “Hindi Cinema and Society”, “Man over Machine” and “When the Two Streams Met”

Courtesy: CounterView

The post Bundelkhand grassroots activist’s tryst with rich folk song, dance of weaker sections appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Photo Courtesy: The State

Noor Sridhar, an activist who has been working with people’s movements all his life went underground when several false cases were filed against him identifying him with the Naxal Movement. Due to the reconciliation efforts done with the Karnataka government by freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy, Gauri Lankesh and Late A.K Subbiah around 2013-14, Noor Shridhar could return to the mainstream and now is acquitted of all charges that he was facing since 5 years of his return.

He returned to the mainstream on December 8, 2014, with fellow activist Sirimane Nagaraj after spending a month in jail and was released from prison on January 15, 2015. The Court after four years and a half years has acquitted him from all cases. After coming into the mainstream, Noor Sridhar has mobilised several movements for primarily the ones for poor and landless in Karnataka called “Bhoomi mattu Vasati horata” ( Struggle for land and shelter). Along with social recognition, he has also gained legal recognition now.

Out of four cases he was facing, two cases were related to Chikamagalur that resulted in acquittal one year ago. And out of the other two remaining cases in Udupi court, one case he got acquittal six months ago and today he was acquitted of the other remaining case.

The court ruled that he was not involved in any of the crimes and that there were no witnesses of that nature. Padmanabh, who had returned to the mainstream after Noor Sridhar, is acquitted in 5 out of 07 cases. The court today acquitted him as well in the other three cases.

Noor Sridhar, who was activist since his student days, after coming to the mainstream has played an instrumental role in the struggle for Land and shelter movement and with Diddalli Adivasis Land struggle in Coorg district of Karnataka. He has an organic link with all people-centric movements.

It is ironic that on one hand activists who were linked with the Naxalite movement and were booked in false cases are acquitted and around the same time, Raichur police have arrested social activist and journalist Doddipalya Narasimhamurthy on false charges last week.

Speaking to Gauri Lankesh news, Noor Sridhar said- ” There were four cases against me. All were false cases but I had to go through the legal procedure. I had to do the democratic struggle in society and legal struggle for justice. This process is going on for the last five years and one by one, I was getting acquitted. Today even the final case was closed.

“I am relieved but happiness is only temporary as many activists are still in prison under false cases. This foisting of false cases will continue and only increase. We have to be ready for this and still continue the struggle for justice.”

He thanked Late A. K. Subbaiah Late Gauri Lankesh and H.S. Doreswamy who fought with the government for him.

He also thanked his family, friends, and comrades who stood by him and supported him whenever needed.

First published in https://gaurilankeshnews.com/
 

The post Karnataka: “Former Naxalite” Noor Sridhar acquitted from all cases appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Interview with Parvez Imroz

Interviewed by Gautam Navlakha

Activist Parvez Imroz, who has been working on the human rights-related issued for more than 30 years now, is in conversation with Gautam Navlakha. He says that he has never seen such fear in Kashmir before. Government claims to have arrested around 4,000 people in Kashmir, but the truth might be different.

Courtesy: News Click

The post Kashmir at Unprecedented Juncture appeared first on SabrangIndia.

For several years, a clutch of companies in the Mukesh Ambani-headed Reliance group have been under the scanner of a slow-moving multi-agency investigation by the government of India. At the centre of one of the main strands of the investigation is the D-6 natural gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the coast of Eastern India that Reliance Industries Limited – the Reliance group’s flagship company – operates together with British Petroleum, and a cross-country pipeline that carries gas from the Andhra Pradesh coast to Gujarat, which is operated by group company, East West Pipeline Limited.

The post What Happened to Tax Investigations on Ambanis? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It also “advised” KPT, renamed as Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) after late saffron leader Deendayal Upadhyay, to “stop all prohibited activities immediately in coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) area and restore the pre-conditions by removing bunds and obstruction made to stop the free flow of water”, which were found to have resulted in the destruction of the mangroves.

It asked DTP, which handles about 14% of major port traffic of India, to “cancel” all such leases for salt producers “with immediate effect” which fall under CRZ category 1-A area, “classified as ecologically sensitive area as per CRZ notification”, even as preparing a “restoration plan” for the impacted and surrounding areas, submit it to NGT “within a fortnight.”

Asking the Gujarat forest department to “take immediate action to restore the mangroves which are damaged within a period of six months”, the NGT order, dated September 11, said, within one month it should ensure “recovery of environmental damage and cost of restoration of mangroves damaged”.

The NGT order follows a plea by Bhikhabhai Rabari, from Jangi village, Bhachau Taluka, Kutch district, belonging to the NGO Kutch Camel Breeders Association’s (KCBA), against concerned officials of the Gujarat and Government of India, as also DPT, and two salt manufacturing units on the destruction of mangroves.

In his plea, represented through advocate Sanjay Upadhyay, Rabari alleged that there has been a “blatant violation” of the provisions of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011 as well as the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, by “rampant clearing of the mangroves” in Nani Chirai and Moti Chirai areas of Bhachau taluka in Kutch district by DPT.

These areas are known to be a habitat of indigenous Kharai camel, which live on mangroves. The rare camel species, numbering around 400, are a major source of livelihood for several hundred camel breeders of the region.

DPT is said to have allotted the areas falling under CRZ-I, which are under their control, for the extraction of salt, resulting in destruction of mangroves due to obstructions raised in the creeks without any permission of the Competent Authorities under CRZ Notification, 2011.

Though “multiple communications” were sent to DPT as well as the district collector, Kutch, as also other concerned officials, reminding them of the “blatant destruction of mangroves, which are habitat of 400 Kharai camels”, there was “no response”.
 

 

The post Kandla Port Trust activities ‘destroyed’ mangroves, affecting rare camel species: NGT appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: hindustantimes

Goa Congress MLA and six time chief minister Pratap Singh Rane accused environmental activists in Goa for bringing “mining in the state to a halt”. He called for the banishment of such activists from Goa. He blamed activists for rendering more than 40,000 people in the state jobless! The former chief minister was speaking in the Legislative Assembly.

He said, “There are some unemployed fellows who go to court every now and then. Who gives them money? And they are bringing stay orders and all that sort of nonsense. So many people are without jobs. People have no money. Government no money.”

In a judgement dated February 7, 2018 the Supreme Court had cancelled all renewals of mining leases for iron ore extraction in the state of Goa and wiped the slate clean for a fresh beginning. The Apex Court of India delivered the judgement in SLA (civil) 32128 / 2015 (Goa Foundation vs SesaSterlite Ltd. &Ors, “Goa Mining Lease Renewal case”). The SC had said that “there was no public purpose behind mining operations.”

Earlier, a decision of the Supreme Court  of 2014, the “Goa mining case”, Goa Foundation vrs. UOI &Ors, the Supreme Court had ruled that all iron ore mining leases in Goa had expired on November 22, 2007 and that mining after the said period was illegal. The SC then permitted the Goa government to resume mining after granting “fresh leases and fresh ECs”.

However, the BJP government led first by LaxmikantParsekar and later Manohar Parrikar, instead of prosecuting the illegal mining lease holders and going in for mineral auctions, renewed 88 mining leases indicating clear political patronage to private players. 56 of the 88 mining leases were renewed in the week between cabinet approval and promulgation of the MMDR Amendment Ordinance. Similarly, despite a finding that every single lease had violated the environmental laws, the MoEF& CC lifted the ban on 72 ECs.

But it appears that when it comes to mining, both the BJP and Congress parties have a similar stand.

Rane, who is the longest serving member of the Goa Legislative Assembly, said, “We have to take action against them banish them. Such people are not welcome to Goa. All they do is go to court get a stay order and stop work. Throw them outside Goa. They have destroyed Goa. They have ruined business in Goa. Such fellows should not be welcomed in Goa.”

He also demanded that the “law should be amended” so that the industry could start “again” and “people could get employed”.
 
The Supreme Court while passing orders on the petition filed by the Goa Foundation as well as an individual SudipTamhankar had directed the state government to grant fresh leases.As per a 2015 amendment, granting of leases involves a process of auction.

To avoid this process, the government has been seeking an amendment to the Act to do away with the process of auctionor alternatively, through a separate amendment to the Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concessions (Abolition and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987 retrospectively extend the validity of Goa’s mining leases to circumvent the Supreme Court’s order.

This Act was enacted by the Parliament in 1987 to convert Goa’s mining concessions granted by the previous Portuguese regime ‘for perpetuity into leases as defined in the Mines and Mineral Development Act, 1957 with a fixed validity.
 
 

The post Cong MLA Pratap Singh Rane demands that Activists who oppose mining be banished from Goa appeared first on SabrangIndia.

He died on 29^th of June after a prolonged fight with throat cancer at a private hospital of South Kolkata.

Hailing from a poor peasant family of West Medinipur, he managed to perform creditably at the then intermediate science examination of the University of Calcutta from Jhargram Raj College and then got admitted into the Presidency College, which had then an extraordinary galaxy of brilliant students and teachers. The reader may find a glimpse of it in his autobiography Rajnitir Ek Jiban (A Life of Politics) published by Ananda Publishers, Kolkata. The book, it may be noted, was written when he was already a patient of cancer. It also describes what he had to undergo during his student life.

After his graduation, he received his M. Tech degree from the University of Calcutta and stood first, by virtue of which he was awarded a lucrative fellowship.

But he had already acquired a close familiarity with the nature of feudal exploitation in the countryside and felt the need to struggle against it. That was a period of strong political turbulence and a leftist surge. As a young man with a strong sensitive mind, Santosh Rana became attracted to it, and after the Naxalbari uprising, supported it. He then decided to give up his lucrative fellowship and organize the peasantry of his area.

Quite a few student and youth activists, led by Ashim Chatterjee, also went to the area. In late 1967, he, then serving as a school teacher, was arrested under the Preventive Detention Act, and released in early 1969. Then he restarted his work in the countryside along with his fellow activists. The result of their work was the Gopiballabhpur uprising. After about one year of initial progress, the movement received a setback, mainly due to the left adventurist practices that gripped the CPI (M-L). In his autobiography and some of his articles, he has analyzed the reasons for the setback.

Finally, Santosh Rana was arrested from a Kolkata shelter in 1972. He spent five years in jail.

In 1977, when his organization decided to participate in the assembly polls, he was elected to the assembly. During the process of reorganization and reunification of the Naxalite movement, he became an important leader of it.

What is important about his personality is that he, despite many trials and tribulations, never surrendered to frustration and went on adding to his knowledge about society and politics by study and practice.

He was a prolific writer, and since the later eighties of the last century, wrote many articles on various issues dealing with the question of identities and the relation of identity struggle with class struggle as well as the problems of building socialism and communism. A number of his articles were compiled in two volumes named ‘Samaj, Shreni O Rajniti’ (Society, Class and Politics) and Bampantha O Ganatantra (Leftism and Democracy). If one goes through these two collections, one will have a glimpse of the range of his knowledge and ideas.

One point should be noted in this connection, Rana’s deep thoughts about the problems of socialism led him to believe that there could be no flourishing of socialist practice and of dictatorship of the proletariat without the broadest possible democracy. He, along with his close colleague Vaskar Nandy, wrote much on the subject.

Even when he was struggling with cancer, his pen did not stop functioning, and he wrote many articles for Frontier, Deshkal Bhabna, Sramajibi Bhasa, etc. Some of his articles were translated from Bengali into English, and published in Frontier. He also co-authored, with Kumar Rana, a factually rich book on dalits and adivasis in West Bengal. This small book is a veritable treasure house of information on the depressed identities of West Bengal. He was a prolific translator also and translated a number of books into Bengali. Two of these books are William Hinton’s The Great Reversal and Samir Amin’s The Future of Maoism.

Santosh Rana had many detractors also, and often many kinds of lampoons were directed against him on many occasions. It should be noted that many of those who tried to denigrate him never had the courage to get involved in struggles that Rana did; they never thought of sacrificing their worldly interests for the cause they pretended to uphold. These self-styled ‘radical’ intellectuals only learnt some phrases like ‘revolution’ and ‘armed struggle’ and hence their radicalism became symbolic of the motto ‘opportunism for myself and Marxism for others.’ Santosh Rana, however, did not pay such criticism any heed because he was well aware of the nature of hollowness of those critics and their criticism. Rana’s demise marks the end of a long journey, a journey of unflinching commitment to the people.

First published in Frontier, Vol. 52, No. 2, Jul 14 – 20, 2019, Kolkata

Courtesy: Counter Current

The post Santosh Rana: A Rebel with a Cause appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Right To Information (RTI) activist, Nanjibhai Sondarva (35) was allegedly clubbed to death by six persons in March, 2018.

His only crime being that he had filed an RTI application demanding transparency about funds spent on the construction of a road in his village. Just an year before his murder, his family was allegedly assaulted by the village sarpanch who was said to be furious at Nanjibhai for using RTI to expose financial irregularities in the developmental works undertaken in the village.

National Commission for Human Rights (NHRC) has recently registered a complaint filed by Venkatesh Nayak, RTI research scholar and coordinator of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) pressing for a thorough inquiry into the murder of Rajesh Sondharva
Nayak noted, “Although Rajesh was not an RTI activist himself, this is the 14th instance of murder in Gujarat with an RTI connection. Since October 2005, media reports have linked at least 13 murders to citizens’ RTI interventions aimed at exposing corruption and wrong doing in the administration- the second highest after Maharashtra (17 alleged murders, so far). The country-wide tally now stands at 83 reported cases of alleged murder and at least 165 cases of assault, 180 cases of harassment or threats- all targeting RTI users and activists. At least six cases of death by suicide have also been linked to RTI-activism of the victims.” CHRI maintains The Hall of Shame where they map and document instances of attacks on RTI users.

As Nanjibhai’s case was admitted in the trial court, the local police didn’t do enough to monitor it. This included an absence of reporting on the violation of bail conditions by the accused. Rajesh was trying to highlight the violation of bail conditions by the accused.

In the note that Nayak shared with human rights groups, he expressed concern if the Whistleblowers Act ever see the light if the day.

Parliament enacted the Whistleblowers Protection Act (WBP Act) more than five years ago, in February 2014. The Act has not seen the light of day. Instead the Government pushed through the 16th Lok Sabha, a series of retrograde amendments that would have effectively discouraged any potential whistleblower from exposing corruption and wrong doing. The proposed amendments barred inquiry into complaints if they were covered by any of the exemptions listed in Section 8(1) of The Right to Information Act, 2005 – imported lock stock and barrel into the WBP Act.

The Bill has lapsed with the constitution of the 17th Lok Sabha. 

The note highlighted that the Rajkot police has refused to publicise a copy of the FIR relating to the alleged murder of Rajesh Sondharva. Uploading FIRs on the Police’s websites is a mandatory requirement as per the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the matter of Youth Bar Association of India vs Union of India & Ors.,[Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 68 of 2016, order dated 07 September, 2016].

The Rajkot Police has refused to put a copy of this FIR on the website claiming that it is a sensitive matter. In the Youth Bar Asson. case the Hon’ble Supreme Court made an exception to the rule of proactive disclosure only for FIRs relating to sexual offences, offences under POCSO Act or those relating to terrorism or insurgency. The murder case of Rajesh Sondharva does not fit into any of these categories.
 

The post Gujarat: NHRC to inquire murder of late RTI activist’s son appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Image Courtesy: www.jagran.com

Renowned peace activist, litterateur, J&K chapter chairperson Pakistan India Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and former Head of the Department of Urdu, University of Jammu, Prof Zahuruddin passed away on Saturday after a brief illness. He was 75.
 
“Born in a very remote hilly terrain of Dudu-Basantgarh of erstwhile Udhampur district in Jammu region, Prof Zahur rose to eminence by his hard work, perseverance and carved his distinctive niche in academic, literary arenas and later in post-retirement life as a peace activist and member PIPFPD committed for the cause of communal harmony and Indo-Pak friendship,” Kashmir Times reported.
 
Prof Zahuruddin joined the Department of Urdu, Jammu University as a lecturer in 1973 and rose to the position of its Head, a position which he held for seven years from 1993 to 2000. He also served as the Registrar and Controller Examination, University of Jammu, besides serving as Dean Faculty of Arts for three years, the report said.
 
During this period, he also won accolades for his literary works. As an author Prof Zahur won special recognition among litterateurs and lovers of Urdu for his works “Development of Urdu language in Jammu region” (English), which was his part of his D Lit thesis, “Urdu Drama Aur Haqeeqatnigari”, “Jadeed Urdu Drama” and “Trilok Chand Mehroom as a poet”, critically evaluating the poetic works of father of legendary Urdu litterateur Prof Jagan Nath Azad, the report said.
 
Pakistan India Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and J&K state chapter of PIPFPD condoled the demise of their long-time member, who was also chairperson of J&K chapter.
 
“Prof. Zahuruddin’s immense contribution to the cause of communal harmony and peace between India and Pakistan will be remembered by Forum members. We vow to take forward his commitment to peace, democracy and justice. He will be remembered for his unflinching faith and commitment to democratic ideals and humanist values. In the field of peace activism, he leaves behind a vacuum in the region. PIPFPD deeply mourns his death,” PIPFPD said.
 
He is survived by his wife Mrs Doori – a retired plus two lecturer and two sons Dr Suhael Zahur and Asir Zahur, an engineer by profession. 
 

The post PIPFPD mourns Prof. Zahuruddin’s demise appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: https://www.thenewsminute.com

Dandeli: Renowned Uttara Kannada advocate and activist Ajit Nayak (58) was hacked to death by unidentified people near his office in Dandeli town around 9.30 pm on Friday. Uttar Kannada is a district of Karnataka and shares a border with Goa.
 
He was the president of Dandeli Taluk Horata Samithi and was going towards his car with two people with an intention to return home when a masked person attacked him with a sword. He sustained injuries to his head and ear and was bleeding profusely when being rushed to the hospital. He was declared brought dead. Meanwhile, the attackers fled the scene.
 
“As news of Ajit’s murder spread, many people gathered at the hospital in solidarity where his body was kept on Saturday. The killing also drew reactions from members of bar associations in nearby Sirsi and Karwar, with many members boycotting court proceedings on Saturday,” The News Minute reported.
 
Additional Superintendent of Police, Uttara Kannada, K.G. Devaraju, told The Hindu on Sunday, “We are on track. We are hopeful of cracking the case in two days.” Sources said that the police had got information on the lawyer’s property disputes and the cases he was arguing in court.
 
“Condemning the crime, all lawyers boycotted court proceedings and took out silent marches in Dandeli and other taluk headquarters in Uttara Kannada. They also submitted memoranda to the Deputy Commissioner in Karwar and tahsildars in other taluks of the district seeking strict action,” reported The Hindu.
 
“Nayak was a proponent for several environmental causes, including the rejuvenation of the Kali river. He was the president of the Dandeli Taluk Horata Samiti and an active campaigner of the Kali Bachao Andolan, a movement to safeguard the Kali River from damming, industrial pollution and rampant sand mining. He was also the former president of the Dandeli Block Congress Committee. He was also vocal in the implementation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority reforms in Karnataka and various other causes like anti-corruption,” the TNM report stated.
 
A case has been registered in Dandeli Town police station. Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohan Prasad, inspector Aneesh Mujawar and sub-inspector Ullas Parmar are in charge of the investigation and said that they are yet to find leads in the case.
 
He is survived by his wife and two sons.

The post Lawyer behind ‘save Kali river’ murdered in Karnataka appeared first on SabrangIndia.