Police officials have revealed that the incident occurred on the fourth day of a nine-day Buddha Katha programme which was organised by the local residents. The complaint reveals that about 15 to 20 people arrived in several cars at the event from the upper caste community and started beating them up using rods, sticks, and even firing four rounds of bullets.

Local residents have further alleged that the Dalit community had earlier too received threats from members of the upper caste which warned them not to organise the Buddha Katha events. Furthermore, apart from the physical assault, the assailants reportedly stole money, electronic items, cash, and even a copy of the Indian constitution.

The complaint, lodged by local resident Ram Sagar at the Saadh police station, detailed the horrifying incident, stating, “Around 2 am on December 19, some anti-social elements attacked people sleeping in the pandal. They also opened fire using a rifle and injured Pintu, Nitin, Pankaj…The culprits broke a statue of Sant Ravidas.”

According to the police, a case has been registered against sixteen people under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The charges filed against the accused include rioting, assault, defiling a place of worship or sacred object, outraging religious feelings, and offences under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The identified perpetrators are Chandra Bhan Mishra, Golu Mishra, Shivam Mishra, Jeetu Mishra, Arun Kotedar, Kinnar Mishra, Vishambhar Mishra, and Manish Tewari.

Kanpur Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Anand Prakash Tiwari, addressing the incident, stated that the injured people are receiving treatment and their physical condition is stable. The police has stated that they have deployed additional police personnel, which includes senior officers, to prevent further violence in the village. In addition to that, the police has also stated that they have put up a statue in place of the one that was broken.

Tiwari went on to mention that five arrests have been made in connection with the case. “Senior officers, including me, reached the spot. We have made arrangements for better security, and we will keep vigil round the clock. We are also checking if the incident was part of a conspiracy to disturb the law and order situation in the village.”

Related:

From Ayodhya to Trivandrum, are Dalits still unsafe in India?

Standing Strong: CJP aids Dalit woman labelled as ‘Doubtful Citizen’

Continued Surge of Violence against Dalits Spans Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu

Four arrested for kidnapping and beating Dalit boys

The post Dalits attacked by upper castes at Buddha Katha ceremony in Kanpur appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It is the hate-filled messaging of the UP government, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its second term in office, strengthened by the hate speeches of the central government and party leadership in Delhi that has escalated the situation to the lawless state that it is today.

Subhashini Ali, former CPM member of parliament (MP) speaking to Aditi Sharma of Newsclick spoke at length of the recent disturbing developments in the state and the questionable manner in which any due process of law had been ignored to demolish homes in Kanpur, Sahranpur and Prayagraj (Allahabad). She sharply criticised the actions of the Sahranpur police in mercilessly beating Muslim youth within the police station last week end. This video, first published by NDTV is now, four days later, being “investigated” by the UP police. After this video became publis last weekend, BJP MLA from Sahranpur, shalabh Mani Tripathi, publicly stated that this was a “return gift” for the protests that took place last Friday. Sharply criticizing this hate filled comment, Subhshini Ali says that this kind of revenge-filled governanance gives out a very controversial message.

“If people do not have faith in the state, in the government, in the police, then the only shred of hope lies with the court.”

“At the start of its first term in 2017 this UP government conducted ‘encounter Raj’ –extra judicial killings—where apart from senior policemen, 37 per cen Muslims, Dalits and OBCs were targets,” she said. This kind of rule boded ill for the most marginalized sections of society.

The entire interview may be watched here:

“BJP का बुल्डोजर कानून तोड़ रहा है” – सुभाषिनी अली

Related:

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Weaponised Journalism: How many news publications really understand the gravity of illegal demolitions?
SC to hear urgent petitions against UP demolitions today
Bulldozer Injustice: Homes of June 10 rioters to be demolished?
Anti-CAA Muslim activist Afreen Fatima’s family members illegally detained!
Spontaneous pan-India protests against Nupur Sharma
Friday protests: More people booked for unlawful assembly

The post BJP’s Bulldozer is Breaking the Law: Subhashini Ali former MP, Kanpur appeared first on SabrangIndia.

After a video was widely circulated on Twitter, reports of violence breaking out in in Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh started coming in. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, after weekly Friday prayers, members of the minority community clashed with police in reacyion to the police lathi-charging some locals. According to other reports, the violence broke out in the Becongunj area near Yatimkhana after police baton-charged some locals. Hundreds of people had taken to the streets in protest. 

Some locals were observing closure of shops and had taken out a procession over an alleged insult to Prophet Mohammad. Soon after, the clash broke out.While the situation had been brought under control, the violence resumed a little later with at least two shots being fired. According to available reports, police have sought additional reinforcement.

Sabrangindia has learned that violence broke out after a local community leader had called for shops in the area to be closed in the area to “protest ” the objectionable remarks by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed. The few outfits belonging to the Hindu majority feared isolation and an attack by Muslims on the street and hence brick and stone throwing broke out. This was brought under control. Unconfirmed reports said that a ‘bandh” call has now been given. 

Kanpur District Magistrate Neha Sharma told the media that the situation has been brought under control. 
Action will be taken against the culprits, she said, adding that additional police force has been deployed.

While Modi is giving his monologue in Kanpur, Hindus and Muslims are fighting it out on the streets of Kanpur! pic.twitter.com/siumk204Hx

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) June 3, 2022

The post Violence in Kanpur, clash with police after Friday prayers appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“Bachhe ko lag jayegi sahab… Bachhe ko lag jayegi (The child will get hurt),” pleads a man who is being brutally thrashed in public by a policeman in Uttar Pradesh. In response another cop tries to forcibly take the scared and screaming child away from the father asking him whose child it was. “Mera baccha hai.. iski maa bhi nahi hain (This is my child.. doesn’t even have a mother),” he replies, all the while trying to protect the child from getting hit by the police stick.

The video which seemed to have been shot by an onlooker is distressing for the coldest heart. However the police continue with their brutality even as the man can be heard pleading for the cop to stop, and saying that his child can be hit and hurt if the cops continue thrashing him. 

According to UP Police, this is mild use of force. What is excessive then? pic.twitter.com/90KUIe33i4

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) December 10, 2021

According to the police, the man is an employee of the district hospital in Kanpur Dehat’s Akbarpur and his brother is a “regular nuisance maker”. A second man is seen inside a police vehicle, and it seems he is groaning in pain too. 

The shocking incident of excessive force took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Dehat’s Akbarpur town on Thursday afternoon. According to NDTV, the policeman who was seen mercilessly hitting the man carrying a child in his arms has been suspended for “insensitivity”. The suspension came after massive outrage over the incident was reported.

The cop is an inspector from the local police station. However the police response has been as shocking as this act of violence against the man and the child he is holding. According to news reports, a senior police official in Kanpur Dehat said on record that ‘light force’ was used and that the police actually tried to protect the child.

Kanpur Dehat’s Additional Superintendent of Police Ghanshyam Chaurasia told the media, “A few people were spreading lawlessness in the area, shutting down the Out Patients’ Department (OPD) of the hospital and scaring the patient’s away.” He added that the man’s brother, “the chief instigator,” is an employee of the district hospital in Kanpur Dehat’s Akbarpur and a “regular nuisance maker” who bit the police inspector’s hand while the victim also obstructed the police. 

However, NDTV reported that a second official in the area, Deputy Superintendent of Police Arun Kumar Singh had earlier accepted that excessive force was used in this case. Hours later the barbaric police action is still being called out.

सशक्त कानून व्यवस्था वो है जहां कमजोर से कमजोर व्यक्ति को न्याय मिल सके।

यह नहीं कि न्याय मांगने वालों को न्याय के स्थान पर इस बर्बरता का सामना करना पड़े,यह बहुत कष्टदायक है।भयभीत समाज कानून के राज का उदाहरण नहीं है।

सशक्त कानून व्यवस्था वो है जहां कानून का भय हो,पुलिस का नहीं। pic.twitter.com/xoseGpWzZH

— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) December 10, 2021

कुछ तस्वीरें यक़ीन से परे होती हैं लेकिन आदित्यनाथ के राज में यूपी में कुछ भी हो सकता है। #कानपुर pic.twitter.com/VkLpU6uoOR

— Vinod Kapri (@vinodkapri) December 9, 2021

When public outrage over the incident grew, the Kanpur Dehat police Twitter handle put out a written statement saying an inquiry has been ordered and the concerned police inspector has been removed from his post. However, the UP police statement called it “mild force”, and added that “protestors had locked the OPD of the District Hospital and disrupted its services.” Local Police claim they were attacked when they went to “restore order on the request of the Chief Medical Superintendent following which use of mild force was done which is no justification for the insensitivity by the policeman,” adding that “while controlling the incident, the cop showed insensitivity… he has been suspended with immediate effect.” The Police issued another statement, “Such conduct on the part of police personnel despite repeated instructions to respect the dignity of every citizen is not acceptable.” 

जनपद कानपुर देहात में एक बच्चे को गोद में लिए हुए व्यक्ति पर पुलिस द्वारा लाठीचार्ज किये जाने के प्रकरण को अत्यंत गम्भीरता से लेते हुए @adgzonekanpur को प्रकरण की तत्काल जाँच करवाकर दोषी पुलिसकर्मियों के विरुद्ध कार्यवाही करने हेतु निर्देशित किया गया है।(1/2) pic.twitter.com/o4D0VMoHhU

— UP POLICE (@Uppolice) December 9, 2021

दि0 9.12.21 को जिला अस्पताल कानपुर देहात में प्रदर्शनकारियों द्वारा #OPD सेवा एवं चिकित्सा सेवाओं को बाधित करते हुए पुलिस से भी अभद्रता की गयी।स्थिति नियंत्रण करने के दौरान एक पुलिसकर्मी द्वारा असंवेदनशीलता का परिचय दिया गया,जिसे मेरे द्वारा तत्काल प्रभाव से निलम्बित किया गया। https://t.co/76H5dnbtxR

— ADG ZONE KANPUR (@adgzonekanpur) December 10, 2021

Just a few days ago, aspirant teachers launched state-wide protests to condemn recruitment irregularities and the brutal police lathi-charge on individuals observing a candle march on December 5, 2021. On Sunday, a large group of hopeful teachers gathered in Lucknow to condemn the infamous irregularities in the 2019 Uttar Pradesh exam that was to recruit 69,000 assistant teachers across UP. However, the peaceful protesters ended up facing heavy police lathi-charge. The incident sparked huge outrage among Opposition party leaders and the masses.

On November 11, 2021, an alleged “encounter” was carried out by the Loni police in Ghaziabad district. However, as it was reported in the days following, each of the seven men who were injured had “identical uniform injuries” below the knee. The CPI(M) Committee wrote to the UP Cheif Minister and called this an act of “shocking police atrocity” adding that the Loni Police Station SHO Rajendra Tyagi was only suspended after he “publicly objected to his transfer” and  demanded that “a case of attempt to murder and other relevant sections should be levied on the SHO and he should be arrested and prosecuted”.  It is important to note that the injured men are all Muslims. 

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An ‘encounter’ in UP: Identical injuries, allegations of ‘cow slaughter’, Muslim daily wagers in jail?

The post Kanpur Dehat cop brutally thrashes man holding his child appeared first on SabrangIndia.

From a humble beginning nearly 240 years ago, the leather tanning industry in Kanpur city of UP grew in leaps and bounds. But it has seen a downfall during the past five years. For the first time nearly 140 leather tanneries have shut their business raising a question on their survival.

History:

 Leather industry in Kanpur dates back to 1778 when the East India Company made its foray in the region. Earlier, they were stationed at a nearby mofussil town Bilgram but by the permission of Nawab of Awadh they were allowed to set up their cantonment in Kanpur. They developed the local artisans mainly Dalits in making saddlery for their horses and other leather products. All of them were hand made by the artisans. By 1798, the East India Company got complete control over Kanpur and the trade flourished though in unorganised sector. One of the main products was Mashq (leather bag made from animal hide used to carry water). This Mashq led to the development of art of tanning leather. In the beginning the animal hide was processed with bark of Babool tree which was available in abundance. In 1840, the saddlery made in Kanpur was sent to England in a fair where it was liked by all thus giving a boost to the art.

In 1857, after the mutiny the reins passed in the name of Queen Victoria. Now the trade was fledging and in 1859 the first Government Harness and Saddlery Factory was established by Colonel John Stewart. Soon many other factories like Cooper Allen and Company also cropped up. However, no Indian was allowed to set up his leather factory. The first leather factory came up in 1902 in Jajmau and it was followed by several others. All of them in the beginning were owned by Muslims. Non-Muslims preferred other trades as textiles, jute, flour mill etc. The rapid industrialisation of the city earned Kanpur the title of Manchester of East.

Naiyer Jamal who has inherited a leather tannery has preciously preserved the history of leather tanning business in Kanpur. Now a days he is sitting idle in his tannery due to the closure. Often spending time with his fellow tanners, Jamal laments the sordid state of affairs.

“When India became independent in 1947, there were 13 leather tanneries. In 1992 their number stood at 175 which soon rose to 402. But during the last five years due to closures only 260 tanneries are left in Kanpur,” Jamal said.

The Issue and its affect:

 Due to a government order, from mid-December last year, nearly 250 leather tanneries in Kanpur have been closed. The closure was to last till March 2019. The reason being that the effluent from these tanneries was discharged in Ganga thus polluting the water. Closure of these units meant that devotees can take holy dip during the recently concluded Kumbh-2019 at Prayagraj.

Earlier, it was supposed that after the Kumbh the tanneries will be allowed to function but there has been no such development. Tannery owners believe that it is now no more feasible to run their business in Kanpur. They are contemplating to shift their units to West Bengal where it is reported that government has adopted friendly policies for leather units.

As per an estimate due to the closure the industry has suffered a loss of nearly 3000 crores. Kanpur accounts for leather export of nearly 6000 crores. New orders are not coming and old orders are not being completed. Situation has turned to such a state that industrialists have failed to send leather samples to Hong Kong Leather Fair. The total leather business of Kanpur amounts to nearly 12000 crores annually.

The units are now facing survival crisis. As per reports many tanneries in Jajmau locality of Kanpur had stock of raw hides. Since, they are unable to process them, they are being sold off at half the price to those units which are functioning in Unnao. Even the drums installed at these tanneries are very costly ranging between 20 lakhs to 10 lakhs. These drums need to be rotated and filled with water. Non-usage of these drums may result in their getting spoiled in future. Many of these drums are imported from other countries.  Most of the tanneries have taken loan from bank and due to non-payment it has turned Non Performing Asset. Banks too are now in the process of auctioning the leftover hides to recover their dues. A trader informed that tanneries in Jajmau alone accounted for employment to half a million people. Most of the labours have migrated to other states as it was hard for them manage their expenses. Foreign trade worth Rs 1000 crore has been affected. Several buyers from Greece, Italy, Japan and US have cancelled their orders.

Present status:
The tannery owners have now approached the Court. As per reports their petition will come up for hearing on May 23. Prior to it government has issued orders to disconnect power connections in nearly 225 tanneries. This was being done to ensure their complete closure. On May 15, tannery owners protested against this decision and blocked national highway. The protest continued for several hours. Police resorted to mild lathcharge amidst stone pelting by protestors. The tannery owners claimed that several families also live inside the tannery compound. Disconnecting power will lead to hardships for them during the month of Ramzan.

Presently 225 tanneries are closed since December while 28 are running on partial capacity. Tanners claim that as per past practice they themselves used to close their units three days before each Shahi Snan in Kumbh since water takes three days to reach from Kanpur to Allahabad in Ganga.

The stakeholders:
 Broadly there are three major stakeholders in this crisis. Firstly, the industrialists then UP Jal Nigam and National Green Tribunal. Major issue is of polluting the Ganga river. A tannery owner claimed that all tanneries in the area discharge only 9 Million Litres of water Daily (MLD). This water from the tannery is first treated by the unit itself and then discharged into conveyance channel to Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CTEP) at Wajidpur. After proper treatment, it is then discharged in irrigation channel or Ganga. This CTEP has been set up as a joint venture of tanners and UP Jal Nigam. The tanners even pay monthly processing fee for the treatment of their water. The running of this plant is with UP Jal Nigam. The capacity of CTEP is 36 MLD.

Tanners claim that since they do not discharge so much water then from where is this CTEP getting full. Their claim is that it is other waste water from domestic channel and other industrial units but only the tanneries are being targets.

Several teams of officials have inspected the tanneries and plant. Fresh directions are received from NGT. Administration too acts on them but the result is that the tanneries remain closed.

Political Ramifications:
The leather industry has started facing the pinch since 2014. Pech Bagh, a raw hide market in Kanpur now wears a deserted look. In 2015, Abdul Haq, Vice President of Hide Merchants Association had read the writing on the wall. His grandfather has started the raw hide business in 1888 at Pech bagh. Within a year of BJP government at Centre, Haq had then claimed that soon Pech Bagh Hide Market will vanish.

The apprehension is coming true. Half of the shops have been converted to readymade garments shops. From approximately 500 members of the association, half of them have left the trade. The remaining sit idle. Hardly a truck load of hide comes in a week. The prices have dropped from Rs 15 lakh per truck to Rs 7 lakh per truck.

Most of the traders involved in the leather business are Muslims while the workers are Dalits. “This was from the beginning as only these two communities had no hesitation in dealing with animal hide while others had religious sanctities,” Jamal said. Both the sections are equally affected. “BJP understands very well that both these segments are not going to vote for them. So there is a move to wipe out this trade. Raising a bogey over Ganga and animal hide will further enhance their image, “Dr Imran Idris, a state-level office bearer of Samajwadi Party and resident of Kanpur said.

The repercussions are being felt not only in markets of Kanpur but in far villages. Skinning of natural dead animals is done by mostly Dalits. Now they try to avoid the transportation and there have been instances of attack while transporting the hide. The source of animal hide is thus drying.

Courtesy: Two Circle

The post After 240 years Kanpur leather industry on the verge of permanent closure: An annual loss of 1200 crores appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Renowned scientists including American mathematician David Mumford, a recipient of the Fields Medal (considered “Nobel Prize for Mathematics”), Indian physicist Ashoke Sen, a Padma Bhushan awardee who is renowned for his work on String Theory, and Thomas Kailath, a distinguished information theorist and recipient of the US’ National Science Medal, endorsed the statement. The countries represented are India, USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, Australia, Italy, South Africa, France, Mexico, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal.

A wide range of Indian institutes in the fields of science and technology were represented among the signatories, including Chennai Mathematical Institute, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Indian Institute of Science, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and several IITs, including some from IIT Kanpur itself.

According to the statement, on 14 March, the institute’s Senate voted to revoke Dr. Saderla’s PhD thesis, on the ground of plagiarism. This comes soon after four senior professors – Ishan Sharma, Rajeev Shekhar, Sanjay Mittal and Chandra Shekhar Upadhyay – had been found guilty of caste-discrimination against Dr. Saderla by no less than three inquiry processes.

Dr. Saderla had joined the IIT Kanpur in January 2018, and had allegedly faced a campaign of caste-discrimination immediately upon his joining. His complaint against the four professors was found to be true by three inquiries – a three member fact finding committee established by IIT Kanpur, an inquiry conducted by a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court on the IIT Board of Governors’ request, and an inquiry conducted by the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes. All inquiries had found that the four professors had committed offences under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. An FIR has also been registered against the four by the Kanpur police, citing provisions of the Atrocities Act, as well as the IT Act, and Section 500 (defamation) of the IPC.

According to the statement, the allegation of plagiarism in Dr. Saderla’s PhD dissertation had first been raised via an anonymous email when Dr. Saderla’s complaint against four senior professors was pending a decision. The institute’s own Academic Ethics Cell’s subsequently reviewed Dr. Saderla’s PhD dissertation and had found “no reason to revoke the thesis.” The ethics cell found that there was no plagiarism in the creative and technical part of the dissertation, and had recommended that Dr. Saderla rewrite certain introductory sections and resubmit his thesis, along with a letter of apology. However, the Senate vote, which was conducted despite the lack of a quorum according to information received, went against Dr.Saderla. The statement quoted Dr. Saderla’s statement to a newspaper that the revocation of his thesis is a “ploy to torture him” and stated that this claim stood legitimised. On 9 April, the institute’s Board of Governors will meet to consider the Senate’s recommendation and take a final decision.

Documentation and information provided to the press by sources indicated that the IIT Kanpur management has been under pressure from the Ministry of Human Resources Development in the Union Government with regard to the handling of Dr. Saderla’s case. Allegedly, the four senior professors accused of caste-discrimination against Dr. Saderla are “well connected,” the sources said, and following the success of his complaint against them a “powerful lobby of upper-caste professors in IIT Kanpur have been conspiring to push Dr. Saderla out of the institute.” The report by the NCSC of its inquiry into the caste-discrimination complaint explicitly mentioned the role played by the MHRD in the matter.

The statement said “we…are dismayed by IIT-Kanpur’s vindictive attitude towards and actions against the young Scheduled Caste scholar Dr. Saderla” and called upon “the institute’s senate to rescind its recommendation to revoke Dr. Saderla’s thesis.” Further, highlighting the alleged “atmosphere of hostility and alienation” faced by students and faculty of marginalised sections at the IIT Kanpur and pointing out that only 4 of the total of 394 faculty members at the institute were from the SC/ST/OBC/PWD categories, in violation of the constitutionally mandated reservation policies, the statement “urge[d] the IIT-Kanpur community, as members of one of India’s distinguished academic institutions, to take cognisance of the alleged climate of hostility and alienation suffered by scholars of marginalised social sections at the institute – whether students or faculty – and take proactive measures to address their concerns.”

Contact:
Abir Dasgupta 7715098856, dasgupta.abir@gmail.com Sukruta Alluri 8826132559, sukruta.alluri@gmail.com Dheeraj Singh 8860073670, dheeraj012@gmail.com

Caste-discrimination and institutional harassment at IIT Kanpur – Statement

According to a ​news report published in the Indian Express on 1 April 2019​, the Senate at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur has recommended revocation of the PhD degree of Dr. Subrahmanyam Saderla, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. He is an alumnus of the same institute, where he received his MTech and PhD degrees. The revocation of his degree would result in the termination of his position at the institute. The senate’s recommendation will reportedly be placed before the institute’s Board of Governors soon, where the final decision rests.

Dr. Saderla, who is a member of a Scheduled Caste, joined IIT-Kanpur in January 2018. A ​news report of 19 April 2018 on the website newsclick.in indicates that upon joining the institute, he was the subject of a sustained campaign of caste-based discrimination by four senior professors – Ishan Sharma, Sanjay Mittal, Rajeev Shekhar and Chandra Shekhar Upadhyaya, who made casteist remarks against him and questioned his mental fitness to be an assistant professor at the institute. He submitted a complaint regarding this against the four professors, which was taken up by a three-member committee set up by the institute.

According to Dr. Saderla’s complaint, he was humiliated and ridiculed at conferences organised by his department and in social settings including one dinner party at the home of one of the four senior professors. The complaint also reported that emails had been circulated among faculty members questioning his credentials. The Indian Express quoted him saying “In addition to the caste-based discrimination I have been facing by the hands of these professors since the day I joined IIT Kanpur, they have now started making random allegations on my research work…They started digging up things against my wife. I am continuously being harassed and anonymous emails against me are doing the rounds in the institute.”

The three member committee found that Dr. Saderla’s allegations were true and recommended that the institute’s Board of Governors take action against the four senior professors. Following this, at the board’s request, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court investigated the complaint once again, and also found the accusations against the four professors to be true.

According to an ​Indian Express report of 20 November 2018​, following the committee’s recommendations and the retired judge’s findings, the institute’s Board of Governors decided to demote Sanjay Mittal and Chandra Shekhar Upadhyaya, and let off Ishan Sharma with a warning. Rajeev Shekhar had meanwhile been appointed director at IIT Dhanbad and thus shielded from institutional action at IIT Kanpur. According to the same report the Kanpur police also registered a First Information Report under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act, and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the four professors. The National Commission for the Scheduled Castes also took cognisance of the case on the basis of a complaint submitted by Dr. Saderla, and issued an order that the institute lodge an FIR against the four professors under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and suspend them from duty; this order was stayed by the Allahabad High Court on an appeal by the four.

IIT Kanpur’s faculty forum has sided with the four senior professors who were found guilty of caste-based harassment by the university appointed committee and stand accused of an atrocity under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. On ​22 November 2018, The Indian Express reported that a group comprising 130 faculty members resolved to “divest” the institute’s Deputy Director and the Head of the Aerospace Engineering Department, who were seen as supportive of Dr. Saderla, at an “emergency meeting” convened after the filing of the FIR. They demanded that the institute “defend” the four professors and bear their legal expenses. The forum requested that faculty members contribute voluntarily to a “legal defence fund” for the four professors.

It is in this climate where a large section of the faculty body of the institute is hostile to Dr. Saderla that the current developments have taken place. An anonymous email sent to several faculty members on October 15, 2018 alleged that Dr. Saderla had plagiarised sections of his doctoral thesis on parameter estimation of unmanned aerial vehicles using flight test data at low and high angles of attack. The anonymous complaint was referred to the institute’s Academic Ethics Cell, which investigated the complaint and submitted its report in November 2018.
The report of the nine member ethics committee found “no reason to revoke the thesis” according to the Indian Express. It stated “…there is no allegation of plagiarism with regards to the scholar’s research work comprising his creative and technical part of the dissertation, including detailed experiments, tables, figures and the conclusions drawn from them. Thus the only instances of copying are restricted to certain introductory passages in several chapters and mathematical basics and preliminaries.” The nine member committee in its report stated “the committee felt that it would not be proposed to consider revocation of the thesis” instead recommending that Dr. Saderla rewrite the passages in question and submit an updated thesis in a month, and tender an apology letter to the institute’s director for his “misdemeanour.” Dr. Saderla complied with these recommendations and duly submitted an updated thesis and letter of apology within the recommended time period. However, in a meeting of the institute’s Senate on 14 March 2019, it voted to have Dr. Saderla’s PhD revoked.

News reports based on Right-to-Information requests have revealed that IIT-Kanpur is woefully behind in implementing the constitutionally mandated reservation of faculty positions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Dr. Saderla is one of only four Scheduled Caste faculty members at the institute, of a total of 394. In fact, he was recruited in the first place on a special drive to appoint faculty members from among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It has also been reported that three-fourth of all students who have dropped out of, or been expelled from, the institute belong to socially marginalised sections, including the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Persons With Disabilities. In such a climate, Dr. Saderla’s statement to the Indian Express that “the recommendation to revoke my thesis is only a ploy to torture me” stands legitimised. The institute’s senate’s actions smack of a vendetta against Dr. Saderla, following the success of his complaint of caste-based harassment and discrimination against four senior professors who enjoyed wide support among the institute’s faculty members.

We, the undersigned, are a worldwide group of scholars, academics, activists and others, who are dismayed by IIT-Kanpur’s vindictive attitude towards and actions against the young Scheduled Caste scholar Dr. Saderla. We call upon the institute’s senate to rescind its recommendation to revoke Dr. Saderla’s thesis, and to adhere to the institute’s own Academic Ethics Cell’s recommendations which found “no reason to revoke the thesis.” We further urge the IIT-Kanpur community, as members of one of India’s distinguished academic institutions, to take cognisance of the alleged climate of hostility and alienation suffered by scholars of marginalised social sections at the institute – whether students or faculty – and take proactive measures to address their concerns.

Signed

1. Aakash Singh Rathore, Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla 2. Abdul Matin, Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University 3. Abhinav Basak, PhD Scholar, IIT Kanpur 4. Abhishek Atreya, Bose Institute, Kolkata 5. Abhishek Bhattacharyya, PhD candidate, University of Chicago 6. Abhishek Dhar, Professor, International centre for theoretical sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, India 7. Abir Dasgupta, Independent Journalist, Mumbai 8. Abu Anand, Research Scholar, University of Toronto, Canada 9. Achin Vanaik, Former Professor of IR and Global Politics, Delhi University 10.Addanki Hareesh,IIT BHU Varanasi 11.Adhip Agarwala, Postdoctoral Fellow, ICTS-TIFR, Bangalore 12.Aditi Maddali, Research Scholar, TISS Mumbai 13.Ajay Bhardwaj, PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 14.Ajay Gorla, Nizam College, OSMANIA UNIVERSITY Hyderabad 15.Ajay Kaladharan, Research Scholar, Oklahoma State University, USA 16.Akash Gautam, Assistant Professor, Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, Univerity of Hyderabad 17.Akash Gautam, Assistant Professor, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 18.Akhil Kumar, Professor of Information Systems and SCIS Research Fellow, Smeal College of Business, Penn State University 19.Alam Khan. Research scholar, IISc Bangalore. 20.Alex George, Navayana 21.Alladi Sitaram, Professor Emeritus, Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru 22.Alladi Uma, University of Hyderabad 23.Alli Sateesh Kumar, Software Engineer, TCS Hyderabad 24.Alok Bajpai, Psychiatrist 25.Alok Laddha, Chennai Mathematical Institute 26.Alokmay Datta, Raja Ramanna Fellow, CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata 27.Alpa Shah, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics 28.Amit Upadhyay, TISS Hyderabad. 29.Amita Kanekar, Independent Researcher 30.Amiya Dev, formerly of Jadavpur University, Kolkata 31.Ananya Parikh, Research Scholar, JNU and Visiting Faculty, SSLA, Pune 32.Anayat Bhat, Research Scholar, University of Konstanz,Germany 33.Andrew Halladay, Ph.D. student, University of Chicago 34.Anindita Bera, Post doctoral fellow, Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel 35.Anindya Banerji, Postdoc, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. 36.Anish Vanaik, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat. 37.Anjali Monteiro, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 38.Anushka Sen, PhD student, Indiana University 39.Aparna Mohan, PhD student, IIT Madras 40.Aparna Ros P, PhD Research Scholar, Department of HSS, IIT Bombay 41.Apoorva Nagar, Assoc. Professor, IIST, Thiruvananthapuram 42.Aravindhan Nagarajan, Research Scholar, TISS Mumbai 43.Arijeet Mandal, Assistant Professor, Department of Film Studies, Jadavpur University 44.Arjun Jayakumar, PhD Student, IIT Madras 45.Arpan Saha, Doktorand, Universität Hamburg. 46.Arul Shankar, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Toronto 47.Arun Som, IIT Bombay 48.Arundhati Roy, Writer and Activist, New Delhi 49.Arvind Sivaramakrishnan, Adjunct Faculty, IIT Madras. 50.Ashok Sircar, Professor, Azim Premji University 51.Ashoke Sen, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad 52.Asrith Dasari, IIT Bombay 53.Atul Anand, Research Scholar 54.Avijit Pathak, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU, New Delhi 55.Avinash Kumar, Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, SSS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 56.Avishek Konar, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School 57.Ayesha Kidwai, Jawaharlal Nehru University 58.Badri Raina, Retired Faculty, Delhi University 59.Balaji S B, Completed PhD degree in Indian Institute of Science, Completed Masters in IITK 60.Bhanu Pratap Das, Professor of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. 61.Bhanuj Kappal, independent journalist, Mumbai 62.Bhavtosh Bansal, Associate Professor, IISER Kolkata 63.Bidyut Kumar Patra, Faculty, NIT Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha. 64.Bindhulakshmi P, Faculty, TISS Mumbai 65.Biri Arun, NIT Rourkela, Odisha 66.Bursenla, Alumni – Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. 67.C R Pradeep, Professor, CIT Tumkur 68.Chandan Gowda, Professor of Sociology, School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru 69.Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Distinguished Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Syracuse University, USA 70.Charles Xu, PhD candidate, Caltech, California, US 71.Chinmoy Banerjee, Retired Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University, Canada 72.Chloe Drewett, PhD Student, University of Adelaide 73.Claudio Cassardo, Professor, University of Torino, Italy 74.Dakshina Ranjan Kisku, Associate Professor, National Institute of Technology Durgapur, India 75.Darshana Mitra, Student, Columbia Law School 76.Dattaraj Dhuri, Research Scholar, TIFR Mumbai 77.David Graeber, Professor of Anthropology, London School of Economics 78.David Mumford, Fields Medal Recipient, MacArthur Fellow, University Professor Emeritus in the Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University 79.Debrup Chakraborty, Associate Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 80.Deepak Kapur, Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of New Mexico 81.Dhiman Chatterjee, IIT Madras 82.Dilip M Menon, Mellon Chair in Indian Studies, University of Witwatersrand 83.Dinesh Mohan, IIT Delhi 84.Dolores Chew, Liberal Arts Program Coordinator, Marianopolis College, Westmount, Canada 85.Dona Biswas, Research Scholar, Ambedkar University, Delhi 86.Dr AK Ghosh, IIT Kanpur 87.Dr Satyaki Roy, IIT Kanpur 88.Dr Sunny Sandhu , Alumnus AIIMS , Founder AtelierOM 89.Dr. A K Biswas, Retired IAS and former Vice-Chancellor, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, Bihar 90.Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Senior Professor and Chair – Big Data Analytics, Goa Institute of Management 91.Dr. Anant Parghi, Assistant Professor, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat,Gujarat-INDIA 92.Dr. Ananth Shankar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 93.Dr. Aparna Sundar, Independent Scholar, Toronto, Canada 94.Dr. B Karthik Navayan, Hyderabad 95.Dr. B Shobha, Associate Professor, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Hyderabad 96.Dr. Bhanukiran Perabathini, Assistant Professor, Mahindra Ecole Centrale, Hyderabad 97.Dr. Bittu K.R., Associate Professor, Ashoka University 98.Dr. C.D. Modhera, Professor, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat,Gujarat-INDIA 99.Dr. Debasattam Pal, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay 100. Dr. Dulari Hansdah, NIT Jamshedpur, Jharkhand 101. Dr. Faruk Azam, Postdoc Scholar, The University of Tokyo & The University of Lille, France 102. Dr. G Vijay, School of Economics, University of Hyderabad 103. Dr. Goldy M. George, Activist, Social Scientist, Writer, Chattisgarh 104. Dr. Hiren Gohain, Assam 105. Dr. Koonal Duggal, New Delhi 106. Dr. Lalit Saini, Assistant Professor, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat,Gujarat-INDIA 107. Dr. Luis Dias, MBBS, DGO (OBGYN), DNB (OBGYN), DRCOG (London), MRCGP (London) now founder and Project Director of Child’s Play India Foundation www.childsplayindia.org) 108. Dr. Mallarika Sinha Roy, JNU 109. Dr. Manu V. Mathai, Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, India. 110. Dr. Nagarjuna G. Alumnus IIT Kanpur, Associate Professor, HBCSE, TIFR. 111. Dr. Pankaj Tame, PhD IIT Bombay 112. Dr. Priya Kurian, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Waikato, New Zealand 113. Dr. Rajender Kumar, Assistant Professor, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat,Gujarat-INDIA 114. Dr. Ranganatha N, Karnataka 115. Dr. Rosalva Aída Hernández Castillo, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, México DF 116. Dr. Sowmya Dechamma, Associate Professor, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad 117. Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, Public health doctor 118. Dr. Umakant, Independent Scholar, New Delhi 119. Dr. V. Ranjth Babu, Associate Professor, SNIST, HYDERABAD. 120. Dr. Vivek Kalyankari, Assistant Professor, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat,Gujarat-INDIA 121. Dr. Yash Paul Kundal, Principal, Government Degree College, Ramnagar, Jammu and Kashmir 122. Dr.A.Suneetha, Senior Fellow, Anveshi RCWS, Hyderabad. 123. E Asaithambi, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Pachaiyappa College, Chennai 124. Elancheran T S, Software Engineer, California, US 125. Eleanor Newbigin, SOAS, London, UK. 126. Emiliana Cruz, CIESAS-CDMX 127. Enakshi Bhattacharya, IIT Madras 128. Fleur D’Souza, Retired Associate Professor of History, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai 129. Francesca Matrone, PhD student, Italy 130. Gautam Bharali, Professor ofMathematics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 131. Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak, University Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University 132. Gayatri Menon, Associate Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore 133. Gayatri Nair, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad 134. Gee Imaan Semmalar, Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni, Bangalore 135. Giribabu D,Assistant Professor, MANIT Bhopal 136. Giuditta Soccali, PhD candidate, Politecnico and University of Torino, Italy 137. Gutta Rohith, Human Rights Forum 138. Harjinder (Laltu) Singh, IIIT-Hyderabad. 139. Harsh Kapoor, Independent Researcher and Archivist, New Delhi 140. Hartman de Souza, Author 141. Hema Preya Selvanathan, PhD student, University of Massachusetts Amherst 142. Hrushikesh Naik, National Institute of Technology ROURKELA 143. Ishan S Bhadoria, Alumni TISS Mumbai 144. Ishan, Civil society Activist,Ranchi 145. J Devika, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram 146. Jaesica Chandan, Ashoka University 147. Jagdish Chand, Centre for Education and Communication, Mathura, UP 148. Jai Sen, Independent Researcher, Editor 149. Jaikumar Radhakrishnan, Professor, School of Technology and Computer Science, TIFR, Mumbai 150. Jayant Lele, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada 151. Jenny S, Researcher, Centre for Equity Studies, Delhi 152. Jens Lerche, Reader (Professor), Department of Development Studies, SOAS, London 153. Jit hazarika, PhD Candidate, Tata Institute of Social Sciences 154. Jitendra Shah, ex-faculty, VJTI, Mumbai 155. Joby Joseph, University of Hyderabad 156. Joe Godinho, Management Consultant at IP-Innovation Partnership, Ireland. 157. Joel Lee, Assistant Professor, Williams College, USA 158. John Drury, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Sussex, UK 159. Joya Roy, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi 160. K. Murali Krishnan, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, NIT Calicut 161. K. Srilata, IIT Madras 162. Kamalakar Duvvuru, Freelance writer, Hyderabad 163. Kamlesh Bharodiya, Alumnus, IIT Kanpur 164. Kanthi Swaroop, IIT Bombay 165. Karthikeyan Damodaran, Visiting Fellow, University of Goettingen, Germany 166. Kartikeya Jain, New Delhi 167. Khaliq Parkar, NMIMS University, Mumbai 168. Koel Das, IISER Kolkata 169. KP Jayasankar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. 170. Krishna Hanumanthu, Chennai Mathematical Institute 171. Kriti Budhiraja, Research Scholar, Sociology, University of Minnesota. 172. Kunal Chattopadhyay, Jadavpur University 173. Kuriakose Mathew, IIT Bombay 174. Kushal, BS-MS Student, IIT Madras 175. Labani Jangi, PhD student, CSSSC, Kolkata 176. Leslee Lazar, visiting faculty, IIT Gandhinagar 177. M Sridhar, Retired Professor, Department of English, University of Hyderabad 178. M. V. Ramana, Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and alumnus of IIT, Kanpur 179. Madhavi Shivaprasad, Tata Institute of Social Sciences 180. Madhusudhan Raman, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 181. Mahendra Gaikwad, IIT Delhi, Hydraulic Engineer-Germany 182. Mahendranath R, Masters student, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria 183. Maitreyee Saha Sarka, SINP, Kolkata 184. Maitreyee Shukla, M.Phil Research Scholar, IIT Bombay 185. Mallika Sarabhai, Dancer, Choreographer, Actor, Activist, Ahmedabad 186. Manoj Puravankara, Reader, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 187. Maroona Murmu, Associate Professor, Department of History, Jadavpur University 188. Mary John, CWDS New Delhi. 189. Mathew D. Marques, Lecturer, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Australia 190. Matta Vyshali Nanda, IIT(BHU) Varanasi 191. Miray Philips, PhD Candidate, University of Minnesota 192. Mohammad Afzal Shadab, Grad Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 193. Mohan D, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad 194. Mritunjay Kumar, PhD Scholar, IIT Kanpur 195. N Raghavendra, Faculty, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad 196. Nairit Sur, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 197. Nandini Chandra, University of Hawai’i at Manoa 198. Nandini Sundar, Delhi University 199. Naresh Kumar Sharma, University of Hyderabad 200. Naveen Gaur, Dyal Singh College (University of Delhi), Delhi, India. 201. Naveen Surendran, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum 202. Nicolas Jaoul, Research officer, CNRS, IRIS/EHESS, Paris 203. Nihav Dhawale, PhD Candidate, NCBS-TIFR, Visiting Scholar – Yale University. 204. Nijil Lal C. K., Research Scholar, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 205. Nikhila Henry, Writer and Journalist 206. Nilima Regina Topno, Associate Professor, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Patna 207. Nivedita Menon, JNU, Delhi 208. Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor (emeritus), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Laureate Professor, University of Arizona 209. Odile Henry, Professor, Political Sciences department, Paris 8 University 210. Oindrila Deb, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Basel, Switzerland 211. Om Damani, Professor, IIT Bombay 212. P Ashish Kumar, University of Hyderabad. 213. P R K Rao, Retired Professor, IIT Kanpur 214. P. K Abdul Rahiman, University of Madras, Chennai 215. P. Naveen kumar , Research Scholar, University of Hyderabad. 216. Pablo A. Ruffino, PhD Student, Politecnico di Torino, Italy 217. Pallavi Rao, PhD Candidate, Indiana University-Bloomington 218. Paolo Rapisarda, School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton 219. Parswa Nath, Senior Research Fellow, TIFR Hyderabad 220. Partho Sarothi Ray, Associate professor, IISER Kolkata 221. Patricia Gruben, Associate Professor (retired), School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Canada 222. Paula Rocha, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Porto – Portugal 223. Peishi Cheng, PhD candidate, Caltech, California, US 224. Pradip Kumar Datta, JNU 225. Prajit K Basu, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Centre for Neural and Cognitive Science, Centre for Knowledge Culture and Innovation Studies, University of Hyderabad 226. Prajwel Joseph, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 227. Prashant Usha Vijaykumar, MA Student, TISS Mumbai 228. Pravabati Chingangbam, IIA Bangalore 229. Praveen Singh, Research Student 230. Preeti Kharb, Reader, NCRA-TIFR, Pune. 231. Pritam Singh, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies 232. Probal Dasgupta, Retired Professor, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 233. Procheta C.V. Mallik, Trustee and Principal Scientist, Innovation and Science Promotion Foundation, Bangalore, India 234. Prof Ashok Kumar Turuk, NIT Rourkela 235. Prof Diego Napp, Centre of Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications, University of Aveiro, Portugal 236. Prof Dr. Ralf Meyer, Mathematisches Institut, Universitat Gottingen 237. Prof Gangadharan Menon, Rachana Sansad College, Mumbai 238. Prof Jacob Tharu, Retired Professor, EFLU Hyderabad 239. Prof Shukla Swant, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi 240. Prof. Deepak Malghan, IIM Bangalore 241. Prof. Jugal Verma, Professor of Mathematics, IIT Bombay 242. Prof. Meena Dhanda, University of Wolverhampton 243. Prof. Sandeep K Shukla, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur 244. Prof. Sudhir Ghorpade, IIT Bombay 245. Prof. Sujatha Surepally, HOD, Sociology, Satavahana University 246. Prof. Thomas Kailath, Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University 247. Prof.Mohan Rao, recently retired from JNU. 248. Prosenjit Das, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum. 249. Proshant Chakraborty, Independent Researcher, Mumbai 250. Proteep Mallik, Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore 251. Pujita Guha, JNU, New Delhi 252. Purandar Bhaduri, IIT Guwahati 253. R Azhagarasan, Lecturer, Department of English, University of Madras 254. R Srinivasan, Chennai Mathematical Institute 255. R. Ramakumar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. 256. Rachel Sieder, CIESAS, Mexico City 257. Rahul Basu, Goa 258. Rahul De, Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University 259. Rahul Menon, TISS, Hyderabad 260. Rahul Pandey, ex-faculty and presently visiting faculty – IIM Lucknow; ex-faculty – IIT Bombay 261. Rahul Siddharthan, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai 262. Rajiv Velicheti, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Hyderabad 263. Raju Chalwadi, IIT Bombay 264. Ram Puniyani, Activist, Mumbai 265. Ramchandra Phawade, Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad. 266. Ramesh Bairy T S, IIT Bombay 267. Ravi Chalwadi, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai 268. Ravi Kunjwal, Postdoctoral Researcher, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Canada. 269. Ravi Vijaya Satya, Bioinformatics Scientist, California, USA 270. Ravichandran Bathran, Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Madras 271. Ravinder Kumar Banyal, Reader, Indian institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. 272. Resmi Lekshmi, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum. 273. Reva Yunus, Assistant Professor, School of Liberal Studies, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru 274. Richa Gupta, Research Scholar, CSSSC, Kolkata 275. Rita Kothari, Professor, Ashoka University 276. Robert Langdon, Professor of Religious Iconology and Symbology at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 277. Ronak M Soni, Stanford University 278. Ronnie Sebastian, IIT Bombay 279. Rossi D’Souza, Research Student, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education – TIFR 280. Ruchi Shevade, Eklavya. 281. Rupali Samuel, Independent Researcher, New Delhi. 282. S Anand, Navayana 283. S Sheerazuddin, Associate Professor, SSN College of Engineering, Chennai 284. S. Akshay, IIT Bombay 285. S. debbarma, professional officer,ANU, Ex Scientist govt of India 286. S.P. Rajaguru, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India 287. Saientan Bag, Postdoctoral Fellow, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. 288. Samantak Das, Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University 289. Samir Gandesha, Director, Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC Canada 290. Sandeep Krishna, Associate Professor, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 291. Sandeep Pandey, Activist and (former) Visiting Faculty at IIT-Kanpur, IIM-Ahmedabad, IIT-BHU 292. Sandip Varkey George, IISER Pune, India 293. Sanjay Jhingan, International College of Liberal Arts, YGU, Yamanashi, Japan 294. Sanjay Katheria, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel 295. Sanjit Chatterjee, Associate Professor, IISc, Bangalore 296. Sanjukta Poddar, PhD Student, University of Chicago 297. Sannaki Munna (ASA-UoH), Research Scholar, University of Hyderabad. 298. Santos Kumar Das, NIT Rourkela, Odisha 299. Saptarshi Mandal, Assistant Professor of Law, Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat 300. Sarayu Menon, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 301. Sarbajaya Kundu, Research Scholar, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 302. Sasanka Roy, Associate Professor, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata 303. Satish Deshpande, Professor, University of Delhi 304. Satyaki Mazumder, IISER Kolkata 305. Satyendra Mishra, Associate Professor, NIFT Kanpur 306. Saumia P S, JINR, Dubna 307. Saurav Islam, IISc, Bangalore 308. Sayantani Bhattacharyya (National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneshwar) 309. Seema Saha Poddar, service 310. Shah Alam Khan, Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 311. Shalini Bhattacharya, IISER Tirupati. 312. Sharmila Sreekumar, IIT Bombay 313. Shaunna Rodrigues, Ph.D. Student, Columbia University 314. Shekhar Research Scholar, UoH, Hyderabad. 315. Sheshan P, MS Student, IIT Madras 316. Shilpaa Anand, BITS Pilani – Hyderabad Campus 317. Shiva Shankar, Chennai Mathematical Institute 318. Shruti Sharma, Research Scholar, CSSSC, Kolkata 319. Siddharth Joshi, FPM, IIM Bangalore 320. Sivarani Thirupathi, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India 321. Smt. Prithvi Pothupogu, NIT, Warangal 322. Sneha Visakha, Lawyer and Researcher 323. Solomon Benjamin, IIT-Madras (2010). 324. Somnath Waghmare , Research Scholar , TISS , Mumbai . 325. Soumya Datta, Faculty of Economics, South Asian University, New Delhi. 326. Soundarya Iyer, London School of Economics 327. Sourabh Wade, Researcher, IIT Bombay 328. Souvik Mandal, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology & Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, USA. 329. Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, Bard College, New York 330. Sriramkrishnan Muralikrishnan, PhD Student, The University of Texas at Austin, USA and alumnus of IITK 331. Subhashis Banerjee, IIT Delhi 332. Subhojoy Gupta, Assistant Professor, IISc Bangalore. 333. Subodh Kunwer, PhD Scholar, Delhi University 334. Suchetana Banerjee, Assistant Professor, Literature and Theatre, SSLA, Pune 335. Suchetana Chatterjee, Presidency University 336. Sujatha Subramanian, PhD Candidate, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University 337. Sukhendu Mehrotra, Chennai Mathematical Institute 338. Sukruta Alluri, Research Scholar, CSSSC, Kolkata 339. Sumathi Rao, Professor, Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad 340. Sumati Surya, Prof Raman Research Institute 341. Sumeet Mhaskar, Associate Professor, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy 342. Sumeru Hazra, Tata institute of fundamental research 343. Sumit Haldar, IISc Bangalore 344. Sumit Kumar, Postdoctoral fellow, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Hannover 345. Sumit R Das, Professor, University of Kentucky / Adjunct Professor, TIFR 346. Sunil Yadav, Ph.D Scholar, Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai 347. Supratik Chakraborty, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay 348. Supratim Sengupta, IISER Kolkata 349. Supurna Dasgupta, PhD student, University of Chicago 350. Suresh Devashayam, Professor of Bioengineering, Christian Medical College 351. Suresh Govindarajan, IIT Madras 352. Suryakant Waghmore, Associate Professor, Sociology, IIT Bombay 353. Susie Tharu, Retired Professor, EFLU Hyderabad 354. Sutanoya Chakraborty, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 355. Suvankur Sukul, PhD student, UChicago 356. Suvrat Raju, Associate Professor, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research 357. Swadheenananda Pattanayak, Institute of Mathematics and Applications, Bhubaneswar 358. Swapnil Khandekar, Alumni IIT-M, IIM-C 359. T Pradeep Chakravarthy, Research Scholar, University of Hyderabad 360. T R Govindarajan, Chennai Mathematical Institute. 361. T. Jayaraman, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. 362. T. V. H. Prathamesh, Universitat Innsbruck 363. Tanujit Biswas, IISc Bangalore 364. Tapan Kumar Mandal, Deputy Librarian, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 365. Tathagata Sengupta, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education 366. Tejas Harad, Copy Editor, Economic and Political Weekly 367. Tsering Thargay, Sikkim University 368. Tyler W. Williams, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago 369. Ujithra Ponniah, Assistant Professor, TISS, Hyderabad. 370. Uliya Yashtala, Musician, US 371. Urmila Bhirdikar SNU 372. Usha Shankar, Principal Consultant, NMSWorks Software Pvt Ltd 373. V S Sunder, Retired Professor, IMSc Chennai 374. Vaibhav Kumar, IIT Kanpur Alumnus (MTech Mechanical Engineering, 2013) 375. Vaibhav Vaish, Alumni, IIT Kanpur (BTech EE, 2004) 376. Vaibhav Wasnik, Indian Institute of Technology, Goa 377. Valerian Rodrigues, Department of Humanities, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada 378. Vanessa Assumma, PhD Student, Italy 379. Vasantharajan G, PhD student, IIT Madras 380. Vasudev Dehalwar, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, MANIT, Bhopal, India 381. Vasudha Sawalker, PhD Student, Goa University 382. Vasvi Oza, Artist, Bengaluru 383. Veena Naregal, Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi 384. Venkata Sai Kiran Yatagiri, Masters in Mechanical Engineering, SIUE, USA 385. Venu Madhav Govindu, IISc Bengaluru 386. Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Author and Human Rights Activist, New Delhi 387. Vijay Pratap Singh Aditya, CEO, Ekgaon Technologies, New Delhi 388. Vikas Bajpai, CSMCH, JNU 389. Vinod John, IISc Bangalore 390. Virendra Sule, IIT Bombay 391. Vivek Kumar Mehta, Alumnus, IIT Kanpur 392. Vivek Kumar, Centre for the Study of Social Systems/ Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. 393. Wandana Sonalkar, Retired Professor, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 394. Wenceslaus Mendes, Goa 395. Winnifred Louis, Professor, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia 396. Y Srinivasa Rao, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Bharathidasan University, Thiruchirapalli 397. Yashodhan M, BS+MS student, IIT Madras 398. Yashpal Jogdand, Assistant Professor, IIT Delhi 399. Yashwant Zagade, PhD Scholar, TISS, Mumbai. 400. Zoya Vallari, Postdoctoral Scholar, Physics Department, Caltech, California, US

Courtesy: Counter Current

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The claim of Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that he had made UP a ‘crime free’ state fell on its face on Thursday evening when a 38-year-old journalist was shot dead in Kanpur. Naveen Gupta, a journalist working with Hindi daily Hindustan, was shot dead by three bikers in Bilhaur area of Kanpur.

According to Superintendent of Police (rural) JP Singh, police has filed cases against unidentified assailants and has rounded up few suspects for questioning and investigation. The incident was recorded at 5.30 pm when Naveen was sitting near a shop in Bilhaur Nagar Palika. According to the police version, three attackers approached Naveen on two bikes and opened fire at him. Principal secretary (information) Awanish Awasthi informed media in Lucknow that CM Yogi Adityanath has expressed condolence and ordered DGP Sulkhan Singh to carry out the investigation in the case.

Naveen succumbed to injuries and died on his way to the hospital. He was declared ‘brought dead’ at the hospital. According to the SP JP Singh, the police is talking with the family members of Naveen to find out the motive behind the killing. The incident comes as a blot on the CM Yogi Adityanath who made a remark on Tuesday about investments in the state. He claimed to have sent criminals to their “right place” after coming into the state’s power.

In the latest world press freedom rankings, India was ranked at 136 among 180 countries. The ranking, released in April, marked “nationalism” and “self-censorship” among the media outlets behind the such a low place for India.
 

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Within days of UP’s newly-elected chief minister Yogi Adityanath declaring a crackdown on slaughterhouses, three butcher shops were gutted in Hathras town even as the police have swung into action across the state. Arson by cow vigilantes has not been ruled out in the burning down of the Hathras shops.

A front-page news published in the Urdu daily Inquilab has reported that police have shutdown slaughterhouses and illegal butcher shops across numerous cities in UP, including Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Gonda, Kannauj, Hardoi, Kanpur, Varanasi, Jaunpur and Azamgarh. Being targeted are not only slaughter houses and butcher shops selling buffalo meat but even those selling mutton and chicken, according to reports.

Meanwhile a news portal reports that illegal slaughter houses and meat shops were sealed by the police in Lucknow, the state capital.

Here below is an English translation of the Inquilab report:

No sooner has Yogi Adityanath taken charge of UP after a thumping BJP victory in the Assembly polls, that he has targeted the food habits of the state’s minorities. In his very first directive as chief minister, he has ordered a clampdown on illegal slaughter houses across the state. And the police have been swift in enforcing the directive. Reports from different cities indicate that the police crackdown on slaughter houses and butcher shops has created an atmosphere of fear and terror among those engaged in the business, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

In Ghazipur, one slaughter house and several shops have reportedly been sealed by the administration. The crackdown has continued for the second successive day in Gorakhpur with one slaughter house and many shops being shut down. Locals have complained that even shops selling mutton, chicken and fish are not being spared.

Slaughter of cows and its progeny have been banned in UP but those engaged in the buffalo meat business too are being targeted. The new CM reportedly wants to ban the slaughter of buffaloes as well.

The administration claims that its actions are only against illegal slaughter houses and butcher shops where the licenses have expired.

In Gonda, 12 shops have been shut down in the meat market. Similar action has been taken against one shop in Kannauj, four in Hardoi, three in Kanpur, three shops and one slaughter house in Maunath Bhanjan.

In Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the crackdown has continued for the third successive day. In Jaunpur, 12 shops have been sealed and orders have been issued for the shutdown of slaughter houses in the city’s vicinity. In Azamgarh, too, several shops have been ordered shut.

Following the shutdown of all slaughter houses in Gorakhpur, the Qureshi community demonstrated before the district collector’s office on Wednesday. They threatened to take to the streets unless a solution was found to restore their means of livelihood.

The strict action launched by the administration has generated uncertainty and fear among butchers who trade only in mutton. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation, poultry traders have increased the price of chicken.
 

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Over eight years, he remained semi-literate, but he learned the fine art of creating new shoe designs from photos, making sure the shoes would fit, last and be comfortable. But his skills did not change his status as a casual worker with no medical or other benefits and no prospect of pension. As Hussain came of age working with cow hides, Kanpur’s once booming leather economy began to shrink, pushed to the edge by falling global demand, environmental regulations and contemporary cow politics.
 
Three years ago, with no prospects of a better life or a pay hike, Hussain and five friends from his mohalla (neighbourhood) quit the only job they knew. He drives an autorickshaw today; the others run roadside snack stalls.
 
In the 1990s, Kanpur’s leather industry employed a million workers (there are no official data), according to IndiaSpend’s inquiries with the government and leather-industry representatives. With 176 of 400 leather tanning units shutting over 10 years, according to a joint secretary–who requested anonymity since he is not authorised to talk to the media–in UP’s industries department, that number has halved.
 
But earnings from the auto were irregular, from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 a month. So, Hussain is about to begin a job designing and fixing ‘uppers’ (the upper part of a shoe that contains the tongue) at a shoe factory in NOIDA, located in UP but an extension of the metropolitan region of Delhi, India’s richest province, by per capita income.
 
“They are giving me Rs 12,000 a month but the working conditions are good,” he said, describing how he would work in an air conditioned workplace, be given a managerial task, monitoring the supply line, and stand a better chance to get married.
 
“Kab tak auto chalaunga. Long-term mein thoda standard job chahiye na? (How long will I drive an auto to make a living? In the long term, I need a job of some standard, don’t I?)” said Hussain.
 
Hussain’s story is common enough in UP, a state with about 70 million unemployed young people, aged 15 to 34, comprising a fourth of jobless Indians. UP’s median age is is 23, the least in India, and jobs–as the findings of a poll commissioned by IndiaSpend reported on February 6, 2017–are this election’s leading issue.
 
The decline of UP’s industrial powerhouse offer clues to its future
 
To understand why UP–a state with 138 million voters–cannot offer gainful employment to young people like Hussain, we looked for answers in the decline of Kanpur’s leading industry, leather and leather products.
 
Kanpur’s financial wellbeing is important to UP. The district that houses the city and its industrial areas contributed Rs 19,000 crore–or 4%–to the state’s gross domestic product of Rs 4.6 lakh crore ($ 75 million) in 2013-14, according to UP government data. This is the fourth-highest contribution by a single district–the differences between the top four are slender–along with Agra, Lucknow and Gautam Buddha Nagar (which includes NOIDA).
 
With 2% of UP’s population, Kanpur employs 6% of UP’s urban workforce, according to the sixth economic census, 2012-13. Only NOIDA generates more jobs–it employs about 10% of UP’s urban working population.
 
UP has 16% of India’s working youth (15-34), and 20% of its child population (5-14), which will join the job market over the next decade. About 45% of voters are below 35 years of age, according to data estimate from UP Chief Electoral Officer’s website, highest proportion in India, alongwith Bihar.
 
The future for these children is not good. Like Hussain, nine in every 100 students in UP leave school before completing class IV, the highest primary school dropout rate among India’s large states, according to 2015-16 district information system of education data. It has one teacher per 39 school students, as IndiaSpend reported on January 5, the worst in India, and the lowest enrolment rate among large states.
 
To the ranks of 70 million semi-educated youth, this means, will be added more semi-educated youth. And, if Kanpur’s economy is any indication, even casual, semi-industrial jobs once available to people like Hussain may no longer exist.
 
How Kanpur’s leather industry lost its shine
 
Called ‘Cawnpore’ during the Raj, Kanpur was once among India’s leading cities. It ran its first electric tram in 1907, the same year as what was once Bombay, and seven years after trams were first introduced in Kolkata.
 
The first textile company—Elgin Mills—was started here, five years after the revolt of 1857, paving way for nine textile companies before the start of the 20th century, making Kanpur northern India’s biggest industrial city.
 
Post-independence, most large Kanpur industries hit a growth block. The textile mills went into decline, after nationalisation in the 1970s. The other big Kanpur brand, Lal Imli blankets, set up by British India Corporation in 1876, also died a slow death post-nationalisation. It was leather that led the revival of Kanpur’s manufacturing sector in the 1980s.
 
The district is still the leading producer of leather and leather goods—predominantly footwear—with a quarter (268) of India’s footwear factories. Footwear exports form 40% of India’s leather exports and a third of India’s leather (and leather-product) exports go from Kanpur. Multiple regions in Tamil Nadu together contribute to 34% of these exports.
 
But Kanpur’s leather industry, as we said, is now in such a state of distress that large-scale migration is now evident, as the city’s population growth-rate drops.
 

Figures in %; Note: GBNagar = Gautam Buddha Nagar, includes NOIDA
Source: Census of India
 
UP’s population grew 20% over the decade ended 2011, and while other large and growing UP cities, such as Lucknow, Agra and Meerut stayed close to this number, Kanpur’s growth rate fell to 9%, after seven decades of a 20% increase. Noida grew at over 40%, indicating rapid urbanisation and development.
 
Fall in global demand hit Kanpur the hardest
 
Global demand for leather, mainly from advanced economies, fell after 2014. This can be traced to the slowing of European economies and China. Leather exports from India fell by 4% in 2015-16 after growing over six years, but exports from Kanpur declined 11% over the same period.
 
Data obtained from Central Regional Office of Council of Leather Exports, Kanpur
 
Kanpur suffered especially in the footwear components and finished leather goods category. Saddlery–the leather gear used in horse-riding–is exported almost exclusively from Kanpur and its demand did not suffer, but did stagnate.
 
“Leather and products demand from the European Union has contracted in the past couple of years,” said Ali Ahmed, regional director (central region, Kanpur) of Council of Leather Exports.
 
Industry struggles to comply with green rules
 
Environmental regulations imposed on tanneries have crimped industry finances. The establishment of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2010 and its rigorous monitoring of pollution levels led to 128 of Kanpur’s 400 tanneries shutting. There are also at least 500 cases against other leather units in the principal bench of the NGT, as it records archive indicates.
 
“The tanning industry is known to be very polluting, especially through effluents high in organic and inorganic dissolved and suspended solids content,” noted this 2007 report. “A significant part of the chemical used in the leather processing is not actually absorbed in the process but is discharged into the environment.”  
 
Cow politics now impacts the flow of raw material
 
Before 2014, about 1,000 cattle were brought to Kanpur’s largest abbatoir. Last year, after three years of political heat and emboldened Hindu vigilantism, this dropped to 500 and post-notebandi–as the scrapping of 86% of bank notes, by value, is termed colloquially–the number fell to less than 100, industry representatives told IndiaSpend on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue. The numbers are now rising, slowly.
 
“Cattle, which are now become a liability to farmers, run about 10 industries,” said Taj Alam, vice president of Uttar Pradesh Leather Industries Association. These industries include pharmaceuticals where gelatin prepared from hoofs, horns and the insides of hides are used, soaps where animal fat is used, upholstery where hair is used.
 
No place for the small entrepreneur
 
Worst impacted by the slowdown are small-scale leather shoemakers.
 
“Leather now represents the expensive segment in fashion merchandise,” said Mohammed Raees, a footwear maker in Begumganj, Kanpur’s traditional small-scale footwear hub. “Cheaper footwear and ladies’ purses can be produced using newly developed polymers, which people can afford and prefer as well.”
 
Begumganj and adjoining Chamanganj housed at least 1,000 household leather factories, according to local residents. These small businessmen had to adapt with changing market preferences. “Indians now demand cheaper stuff for regular use,” said Ahmed. “We had to change too.”
 
Guddu Mohammad, 50, a shoe worker, and his four associates work as skilled artisans in the only surviving household shoe making factory in Begumganj. “There were thousands of such shops in my childhood in Kanpur,” he recalled. “The large-industry revolution, which swallowed small shoemakers like us, could not accommodate all of us skilled workers.”
 
(Waghmare is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

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Kanpur, Dec 18
PTI Report:
Simmering disconent against the Centre was evident when, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled address in the city on December 19, a rally hoarding was set ablaze by unidentified miscreants in Sarvodaynagar area here.An FIR has been registered following the incident that took place last night, after BJP leaders here took up the matter with senior district and police officials.

BJP district president Surendra Maithani said party men had rushed to the spot were the hoarding was set ablaze and informed Kanpur SSP Akash Kulhari who directed Kakadev police station to file the FIR. Maithani said they have apprised the Chief Minister's Office and the Prime Minister's Office of the incident.

Meanwhile, preparations are on in full swing at Nirala Nagar Railway ground where Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address the Parivartan Rally at noon tomorrow. The Special Protection Group and district administration are overseeing security arrangements.

A skill development exhibition will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister ahead of his rally, preparations for which are being overseen by Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy today.

The Congress meanwhile staged a demonstration here against the Prime Minister opposing the demonetisation measure. Congress district president Harprakash Agnihotri said the party would strongly oppose the rally.

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