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Police Bruatalities on Adivasi of Orissa

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:33:00 +0000

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Incidents happened on 29th August, 2009 at Sil Punji Village; Chandiposh G.P; Banki P.S; Gurundia Block; Bonei Sub-Division; Sundergarh District, Orissa

INTRODUCTION:

This is the true story of excesses committed by police authorities on innocent poor tribals. The fateful early morning of 29th August, 2009 wrecked havoc on poor tribals of Munda Basti of Sil Punji village that falls under Banki Police Station in the Gurunida block of Sundergarh district of Orissa. Police not only brutally assaulted those tribals but also abused them in filthy language by calling them by caste as if all tribals are Maoists, Naxalies, anti national and what not. There is strong anger amongst the tribals, the way police have behaved with innocent tribals who are also equal citizens of the country. The story is based on the inputs of our volunteers, discussions with few members of fact finding team headed by Mrs. Serophina Toppo who is Hon¡¦ble Chairperson, Zilla Parishad, Sundergarh that went in to study and investigate reported incidents of police excesses. The team consisted of few social workers and an advocate, who have visited the affected village areas at Sil Punji on 9th September, 2009. They also had detailed discussion with the members of the victimized families to know the realities of what happened on 29th August¡¦ 2009.

HARD FACTS

Their report also confirms police brutalities on innocent tribals exposing how the innocent tribals in our rural tribal areas are harassed and tortured by falsely pushing them in jails in criminal cases to which they have nothing to do. However, on the contrary, Police authorities takes proud by weaving stories to hide their mischievous acts by labeling tribals as dreaded hard core Maoists. This is a very serious matter that invites attention of the authorities at the highest level, as the very police who are duty bound to protect the constitutional rights of the people of our country have themselves exceeded all the limits to encroach upon the rights of very poor tribals. These incidents have further confirmed that the police at Sundergarh district have expertise in weaving false stories while dealing with tribals. What surprises us the most is that all this happens despite enough provisions are available in the Constitution of India that protects the rights of tribals. If Maoists or Naxals are operating in tribal areas, it is due to the failure of the administrative machinery who has neglected all those areas dung last 63 years. Maoists have not made their bases in a day in all those areas of the country that have been neglected but in the name of development hundreds of Millions have been spent. It is those corrupt faces who are responsible but now when the industrial corporations have laid their eyes on tribal areas to forcibly acquire land and virtually loot the natural mineral wealth, police swung in to wreck havoc on innocent tribals to secure the interests of those industrial and mining corporations. Police brutalities on innocent tribals at Sil Punji village is a very serious matter that invites attention of all, specifically of those constituted authorities of both the state and central government to take urgent steps to bring to justice all those persons however powerful they may be so as to ensure that the constitutional rights of tribals are protected.

Realities of Gurundia Block:

It is pertinent to state here that the incidents have taken place at a village that comes under Gurundia Block, most backward block of the district where hardly anything has changed in last 63 years our gaining independence from British. Most of the residents here are tribals with high rate of illiteracy, No roads, no health care facilities, no electricity, even safe drinking water is a luxury but yes, on papers millions have been spent in the name of development. It is also time to raise questions at the revenue officials that where has gone all that money that was spent in the name of development in this block since last 63 years. Who are those corrupt faces who are responsible for making lives of the tribals miserable by eating away the money that was meant for the development? Where are those brave police faces who have miserably failed in their duties during all these years to allow Maoists to make their bases and inroads in tribal areas and now when the interest of mining corporations has come up, they have suddenly realized that Maoists is a problem. The recent incidents are one more example in the long list of atrocities committed on tribals at the hands of industrial and mining corporations where police have failed to nab the culprits but instead by committing excesses on tribals they have booked hundreds of tribals in false criminal cases. There is no hesitation to say that police at Sundergarh district in particular appears to be a puppet in the hands of Industrial and mining corporations who have no respect for tribals or their culture.

The Fateful Morning of 29th August, 2009:

Normal routine lives starts from very early morning in almost all the rural tribal areas of our country. Mundari Basti at Sil Punji village is no exception. Tribal villagers usually get up at about 4 o¡¦clock in very early, go out of their houses to attend routine nature call and take bath etc before they could come back to their houses, take food and go out to work as daily wage earners. But 29th August, 2009 was unusual as on that fateful morning havoc wrecked on them by the police. Those tribals when they came out of their houses to go for toilets and take bath at the river were surprised to see many heavily armed police and CRPF people all around their village. Soon those police personnel went in to the houses searching for male members whom they pulled from their beds. Those who have already gone outside were also caught while they were taking bath or even attending the nature¡¦s call. Once caught, they were badly physically assaulted by slapping and kicking them and tied with the trees for over five six hours, without giving them any water or food. They were abused in filthy derogatory language by calling them by their caste labeling tribal community as dreaded criminals. Law breakers, anti nationals, Maoists and what not.

Confusion and Chaos at Munda Basti, Sil Punji village.

Complete chaos and confusion took the tribals at Munda Basti in to the grip. Women, children and old aged persons were in great shock and watching with fear live horror show happening in front of their eyes. They were scared and in great panic to see their brother, father or husbands being severally assaulted. They failed to understand why all these happens to them, what is their fault or what wrong they have done that are treated in such inhuman way. Why this entire curse has broken down on their heads? What is their crime? Why so many heavily armed policemen are behind their blood? Why they are treated even worst than animals? Why police has taken away their family members? They wondered why police was shouting at them and calling them as Naxalites or Maobadi. But worst was yet to come. After the naked dance of brutalities, police again dragged those tribals, kicking, pushing and thrashing them on the forest path to take them to the road where few police vans were parked. Here they were herded in to the police vans.

Innocent tribals labeled as dreaded hard core Naxalites

Police van took those tribals to the Homeopathic College Ground located at Sector- 5 in the Rourkela Steel Township. Thrashing and beating continued here also before three or four villagers were released and forwarding thirty tribals (including few minors) to jail by labeling them as hard core dreaded Naxalites, implicating all of them in a Case No. 31 of Date 17-07-2009 registered Banki Police Station inviting penal action u/s 147/148/341/ 353/364/395/307/506/121/121A/149 IPC; 25/ 27 Arms Act/ 9 B; Indian Explosive Act./7 Cr. L.A. Act turned to u/s 47/148/341/353/364/395/307/302 /506/121/ 121A/149 IPC 25/27 Arms Act /9B /Indian Explosive Act. 7Cr. L. A. Act.

Conditions and versions of the released persons and families back home.

Those who have been released have given their statement that confirms that even while they were taken to Rourkela were not spared and were regularly beaten badly. Brief statement is made here under to share with readers.

1. Anil Oraon (minor) 13 years of age; is in great shock and has fallen sick, undergoing treatment at the Orind Hospital at Latikata. He is the only male member in the family who has to look after his old mother and sister in law. On the fateful morning of 29th August, he was also pulled out of bed by the police, was repeatedly slapped while another policeman kicked him and thrashed him with the butt of the rifle.

2. Elam (minor) 16 years of age and Purno Chandra Patro (handicap person) are suffering from mental shock trying to come out of the memories of the ordeal that they have suffered at the hands of armed police.

3. Joseph Oraon, age about 50 years who was caught on the river bank while he was attending the nature¡¦s call. He has been brutally beaten. When he shouted for help, police torn off his Banian and pushed in his mouth to keep him quiet. He shares that he was very badly beaten all the way while he was being taken towards Latikata.

4. Johan Oraon, age about 35years also of Sil Punji village was caught by police on river bank, where he had gone to do latrine. He was also beaten very badly, and on his shouting for help, was also treated the way Joseph Oraon was treated by tearing off his Banian and pushing it in his mouth to keep him quiet. He has also been badly beaten all the way to Latikata.

5. Jai dev Munda, age about 35, was holding his one year old sick child while they were taken to the road. After about two kilometers, the sick child was taken away from him and handed over to a villager to send back to the village. Child is sick and with no money at home, gives an idea of lives after the male folks have been forcibly taken away from their families.

Mothers and Children need Urgent attention:

6. A tribal woman delivered a baby on the road side just a day back. There are 45 children in the age of one to seven years who are left behind in the house with their mothers. There is a badly of just few weeks. There are five old aged women who are all above seventy years of age. They need urgent care in shape of medicines and food.

Further arrests by the police:

Again Banki Police arrested few more persons.

ÏnOn 03-09-2009 Mr. Hanuk Munda aged about 35 years. Of village Jharbeda ÏnOn 05-09-2009 four tribals of Rukha village namely Mr. Edmond Guria of 27 years; Samuel Guria of 20 years; Man Mashi Bhengra of 35 years and Rajesh Guria of 45 years of age are arrested. ÏnOn 07-09-2009, Bolang police arrested 3 more tribals from village Topdih who are Mr. James Purty of 38 years, Mr. Bishikeshan Singh of 50 years (Ward Member) and Mr. Gidian Topno of 38 years..

Reaction of the people so far:

Action of the police committing brutalities and calling tribals as Naxalites or Maoists is a very serious offence committed by them. Under no circumstances, such statements can be justified. There is a strong wage of anger amongst tribal community all over the district. There is a strong demand from almost all quarters of the tribal community for the unconditional release of the innocent tribals and punishment to the guilty.

Road Blockade by the people:

There was a road block from 8th to 10th of September, 2009 by the villagers who had no other option to awake the sleeping administration. Public representatives Hon¡¦ble MLAs Mr. Bhimsen Choudhary, Bonei, Mr. George Tirkey Birmitrapur; Mr. Gregory Minz, Rajgangpur; Mr. Jogesh Singh Sundargarh were all present with the villagers who negotiated with the administration. Mr. Prafull Majhi Hon¡¦ble MLA Talsera has extended his moral support and consent to join the struggle with all the ward members, sarpanches, samittee members , Block Chairpersons, Zilla Parishad members. If the tribals are not released within 10 days, i.e. before 20th September, 09, indefinite bandh of the whole Sundergarh district will take place on and from 21st September, 2009.

Meeting with Administration:

On 9th of September, 09, at about 4 PM, a meeting was held with the Sub-collector, Bonei Sub-Division, at Chandiposh Panchayat office. In the open talk with Administration, it has been assured that they are looking into the matter of unconditional release of all the thirty tribals who are in now way Maoists and supply of medicines and ration on most urgent basis to the victimized families to take care of mothers and children who are left alone. The incidents have exposed further how innocent tribals are victimized by none other than the very authorities that are duty bound to protect their lives and properties. Let us wait for the actions of the government who have assured to do the needful before 20th of September, 2009, so as to save the tribals of the district from their proposed protests from 21st onwards.

Date: 11th September, 2009
Pravin Patel
Director,
Tribal Welfare Society

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Naxal beheaded a Jharkhand police officer

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Maoists have beheaded Jharkhand police inspector Francis Induwar, who had been kidnapped by the ultras a week back reportedly demanding release of three arrested Naxalites including Kobad Ghandy in exchange for the officer, an act termed as unacceptable by the Centre today. The body along with the severed head of 37-year-old Induwar, who worked in intelligence wing of the state police, was found near Raisha Ghati under Namkom police station area, about 12 km from here, Superintendent of Police (Ranchi Rural), Hemant Toppo, said.

Induwar, who is survived by his wife and three sons, had been kidnapped on September 30 by the Maoists from Hembrom Bazaar in Khunti district, about 70 km from here. The Maoists later reportedly demanded release of three rebels -- Ghandy, Chhatardhar Mahato and Bhushan Yadav -- in exchange for the officer.

PTI / 06 Oct. 09

A Jharkhand police officer, who had been abducted by Maoist guerrillas and was sought to be swapped for three of their leaders, including Kobad Ghandy, was found with his throat slit on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway Tuesday morning.

Francis Induwar, who worked as an intelligence official in the Special Branch, had been kidnapped five days ago. The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) left a pamphlet claiming the killing, a police official said. "Francis has been awarded death to protest the police repression," stated the pamphlet by the outlawed group.

"The body of the official was found near Taimara valley situated on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway on Tuesday morning. The body has been identified and sent for postmortem. Maoists killed him by slitting his throat," said R K Mallik, the deputy inspector general of police, Ranchi range. "This is an act of cowardice of Maoist rebels who killed a police officer who was posted in the Specials Branch," Mallik said.

Indwar was abducted September 30 evening from the Hembrum market in Khuti district, about 65 km from here, where he had gone to collect information from a contact. On Saturday, a person claiming to be 'Samarji', secretary of the Maoist South Chotanagpur Committee of Jharkhand, put forward the conditions for releasing Induwar.

"The abducted police inspector of intelligence department is in our possession. He is safe. He will be released after the arrested leaders - Kobad Ghandy, Chatradhar Mahto and Bhushan Yadav - are released," local newspapers had quoted Samarji as saying. "Do not torture relatives of Kundan Pahan and other people, otherwise we will abduct family members of government officials," it went on to say. Police suspect the role of the Kundan Pahan group in the killing. It is active in the border areas of Ranchi, Khuti and Jamshedpur.

Indo-Asian News Service / Ranchi, October 06, 2009

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After a severe drought, what led to the worst floods in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh?

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:22:00 +0000

Blame it on the rain, you could say. Irrigation officials say these are possibly the worst floods in this area in 10,000 years. But what caused this disaster? Could it have been better managed?

Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Krishna and Guntur are the worst affected districts. Overall, at least 18 lakh people in nearly 400 villages of Andhra Pradesh have been affected by the floods. 180 villages in Kurnool, 89 in Mahbubnagar, 100 in Guntur and 22 in Nalgonda are in bad shape due to the flood waters.

Five hundred fifty five army men, 6 choppers, 1000 swimmers and 254 boats are involved in the relief work.

Unprecedented rains in North Karnataka on Thursday flooded several districts, cutting off areas like Bijapur, Bagalkot and Bellary. Karwar for instance got 50 cm of rain in a single day, locals called it the heaviest downpour in 50 years.

The waters inundated the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers and the Karnataka government released upto 8 lakh cusecs of water from the Almatti and Narayanpur dams, in a single day.

From the last week of September, Andhra Pradesh was experiencing heavy rains, some areas got over 30 cm in a single day. This brought heavy inflows into major projects in Krishna Basin like Jurala, Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar, Prakasam Barrage and Sunkesula.

Early on Friday, reports started coming in of water levels rising dangerously in the border town of Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh.

By evening, the water level had crossed the danger mark in Srisailam dam... in a single day on Friday, the reservoir had received over 25 lakh cusecs of water in 12 hours, whereas it is designed to get no more than 13.6 lakh cusecs.

On Saturday, the maximum water limit was crossed in Srisailam, Jurala and Sunkesula projects causing inundation in many villages in the backwaters. Kurnool town and several villages in Kurnool, Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda districts were flooded.

From the Srisailam dam, the waters were flowing into Nagarjunasagar dam... and on Sunday morning, 10.85 lakh cusecs were released to keep the masonry dam safe.

The waters that reached Prakasam Barrage in the coastal Krishna district on Monday have submerged hundreds of villages. Prakasam Barrage has never received such huge amounts of water in the last 100 years.

Critics point out that the Andhra Pradesh government could have better anticipated and prepared for systematic release of waters from the Sukeshu, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams before matters got really out of hand.

The Andhra Pradesh government however points out that it is the first time in history that the scale of floods has been so massive.

"This is known as PMF or possible maximum flood, which happens once in 10,000 years," said Geetha Reddy, AP Information Minister.

The Met department has said there is likely to be a letup in rains and Karnataka has said they will release minimum waters. So, the waters in the major dams may be safely regulated.

ndtv / October 5, 2009

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Land dispute carnage in Khagaria district of Bihar

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:32:00 +0000

Hours before dawn broke on the 140th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, suspected Maoist guerrillas gunned down 16 people, including five children, after dragging them out of their homes here in Bihar's Khagaria district, 190 km from Patna. The killings were apparently over a land dispute between Musahars, who are mostly landless Dalits, and Kurmis, who come under Other Backward Castes (OBCs).

"Land dispute was the cause of carnage," Khagaria SP Indranand Mishra said. In a sign of assertion, possibly egged on by the Maoists, Musahars were demanding the Kurmis vacate their land for them. Another senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, said the killings could be the work of Naxalites. "The extremists took up the cause of Musahars who are Maoist sympathisers," he said.

Some time after Thursday midnight, at least 24 gunmen descended on Amousi village, where 21 villagers were asleep, guarding their farmland and cattle. They were woken up, dragged out of their homes and their hands tied up. The children who were killed in this carnage were all between 10 and 15 years of age.

However, before the bloodbath began, four of the 21 captives managed to escape under the cover of darkness. Of the 17, one Paro Singh survived as he lay pretending to be dead even after the killers' bullet -- they were shooting indiscriminately -- missed him.

As the assailants left, Paro Singh ran to the village and informed the villagers. The police reached five hours later, and recorded the statement of Singh who said he could identify 10 of the killers as they were local Musahars.

Paro told TOI that local Musahars four months back had threatened him and his family with dire consequences if he did not vacate his farmland. "We had petitioned district officials, but it was useless," he said, and added that he never expected Musahars to resort to such an extreme step for grabbing his land.

Musahars, the poorest among poor Dalits in Bihar, are so named for their rat-catching skills. Many of them eat rodents. While 14 of the victims belonged to backward Kurmi caste, two were Kushwahas, also OBCs.

Khagaria has not witnessed caste clashes before. In fact, Bihar, too, hasn't seen caste war for years -- the last one taking place in 2000 when at least 34 OBC Yadavs were killed in Aurangabad's Miapur village in retaliation of the killing of an equal number of upper caste Bhumihars in Jehanabad's Senari village in 1999.

The attack amounts to a political setback for CM Nitish Kumar, who has been trying to build a grand alliance between non-Yadav OBCs and the Maha-Dalits -- that is all Dalits except Chamaars and Paswans. The assault on Kurmis hits at Kumar's core constituency.

Not surprisingly, Lok Janshakti Party's Ramvilas Paswan has said, "Nitish has a lot to explain... He should take moral resonsibility and resign."

Alauli block, under which Icharwa falls, has seen Maoist violence in the past also. Two policemen were killed, a farm house and a brick kiln blown and six tractors of a road construction company burnt by Maoists in different incidents during the last three years in the area.

At the time of going to the press, cops claimed to have arrested eight of the 10 named accused besides four suspects. A massive combing operation was on to nab others, the SP said, and added that the police are probing if it was a Maoist operation.

TNN 3 October 2009

http://bihar.ozg.in

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Koraga Adivasi - The Primitive Tribal Group of Kerela

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:03:00 +0000

Dear All,

As we all know Koragas are one of the extincting PTGs community. Their population is declining. They are untouchables even for the dalits including all the caste Hindus. Their traditional Hero Kanthara agitated with the caste Hindus for the dignity of the community and killed by the upper caste people. Hubashika, once upon a time the koraga king has a dynasty and ruled the coastal region but beaten, enslaved by the Mayura Sharma the famous Kadamba king of Banavasi and since then koragas ran away to the forest and in medieval period the jain kings who ruled the coastal part brought the koragas from the forest and tamed them for ajal practices. In the ajal practice the bad things, evils, shani, grahacharas, diseases of the upper caste people and the naadu (village) is symbolically transferred to the koraga community members. The tip of the nail and hair of the upper caste person is mixed in to the rice and that will be provided to the koraga community members through this practice. Hundreds of such practices are in the ajal. By the intervention of the SGA, koraga started to organize themselves since 1990Ã¢â¬â¢s and in the year 1993 August 18th first time in the history of the community they made a rally at Mangalore and urged the administration to have the study of the community. Dr. Mohammad Peer committee is formed.

The committee gave the recommendations to the government. Prominent recommendation was to provide the land to each family and agriculturise the koraga community members. Since then koragas are fighting with the administration to provide the land. Lot of agitations in a variety continued, they went to jail, they went forwarded even in front of the guns of the forest officials, they encroached the forest land, they made continues dharna from panchayath to district level and ultimately in 2002 the Karnataka Government decided to provide the land to the koragas and at present 450 women got the land entitlement deeds with the extent of minimum one acre each.

Rehabilitation work is going on and slowly koragas are becoming the agriculturist. In the organization process the identity of the koragas became the stronger motive and in the process they questioned the caste Hindus and they analysed the structural causes for the situation of the koraga community and ultimately rejected all the believes, rituals, traditions connected with the hindu caste society. This leads to a movement on abolition of Ajal practices. Ultimately the Government of Karnataka passed the Karnataka Ajal Abolition Act. While doing so they rejected all the cultural tools, music dances, entertainments because all are connected with ajal, untouchability and Hindu caste society.

Ashok Kumar Shetty
Project Coordinator
Samagra Grameena Ashram, Pernal, Udupi

Following part is added by Editor / Moderator

The origin of Koragas is associated with a few legends such as rise and fall of certain dynasties and empires in the pre-historic period of northern Kerala. Thus koragas are believed to be the ancestors of a defeated dynasty, which was driven to forests and subsequently became slaves to the mighty. Another legend is regarding the issues of a Brahmin woman by a sudra. It is said that the social unacceptability of their children in the caste-dominated society was so rigid that the children were looked down upon with contempt and their future generation was named as Koraga.

The area of habilitation of Koraga is Kasaragod District. According to the PTG survey 1996-97, the population of Koragas is 1349. Their population during 1981 Census was 1098. A study undertaken during 1988 by KIRTADS, the State's Tribal Research Institute, shows that the Koraga population during 1998 is only 1330. The diminishing trend is not much significant as in the case of Cholanaikans. Considerable number of Koragas is seen in Karnataka State also.

The Koragas are seen mostly in rural areas. Due to their unhygienic way of life all other communities used to observe untouchability with Koragas. In earlier days they used to remove carcasses and ate the decaying flesh of dead animals.Even now a section of the non-tribals treat them as unapproachable and untouchable and all of them were slaves till the State banned slavery through the Bonded Labour Abolition Act. The Koragas speak a language of their own with resemblance to Tulu and Kannada. They have very little interaction with other communities.

The Koragas who live in plain areas are called Kuntu Koraga and those found in forests are named as Sappu Koraga [ living in the forest]. In Kerala only Kundu Koragas are seen and the Sappu Koragas are found in Karnataka State. The Kuntu Koraga covers two sections of Koragas viz. Badiyadika group and Pulikoor Group. Out of the 111 Koraga families living in Pavoor colony, a major portion is following Christianity and is known as Christian Koraga. Koragas are also classified as sappu Koraga and Kuntu Koraga on the basis of their clothing habits . Those who use garments of leaves are called Sappu and other group who uses clothes are called Kuntu. In fact, all Koragas in plain areas use clothes. Now- a - days sappus are also using clothes.

In Kasaragod District, Koraga live in 52 settlements distributed in Kasaragod and Manjeshwar blocks. There are two settlements in kasaragod block, one each in Kasaragod Panchayat ( Vidhyanagar colony] and Mentalloor Panchayat [ Pulikur colony). In Manjeswar Block, there are 50 settlements distributed in the following panchayats, viz. Badiadka[6], Meencha [6], Vorkady [7], Paivalige [ 11], Puthige [3], Mangalpady[5], Bellur [1], Enmagage [ 6], Kumbala [4] and Manjeswara [1].

The Koragas of Kerala follow makkathayam [patrilineal] rule of succession. Still a portion of the Koragas have nothing much to entail, except a few implements and household utensils. A large faction of the Koragas is engaged with basket making. In olden days a few were engaged in scavenging. They used to beg rather than undertaking agriculture activities or minor forest produce collection. Koragas were experts in crocodile capturing and they used to eat its flesh. Now none of this occupation could give them the subsistence level income for their livelihood.

The conventional Koraga houses are thatched huts with grass or leaves, with open sides. Now more than 80% families have received departmental houses.

The traditional God of Koragas is sun. Mariarnma and Kata (swami] are their popular Gods. However, the new generation is interested in worshipping the Hindu Gods.They bury the dead.

www.scheduledtribekerala.gov.in/koragas.htm

http://kerala.ozg.in

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Mahatma Gandhi tag to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:15:00 +0000

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the UPA government�s flagship job scheme that provides 100 days of work in a financial year to every rural household, will now be called the Mahatma National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

The new name will be unveiled on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Friday, a rural development ministry official told HT. Thursday�s cabinet approval paves the way for the government to bring an ordinance to adopt the new name, which will be ratified by Parliament during its winter session in November.

The name change is aimed at preventing state governments from taking credit for the scheme. The Centre has expressed concern over attempts by opposition-ruled states � particularly by UP chief minister Mayawati and her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar � to publicise NREGA as their own programme by printing their pictures on the job cards.

The Congress is seeking a revival in both these states.

Senthil comments -

Actually, the very concept of this NREGA is flawed. This programme can be rightly called as Rural Destruction programme. IF we see all the works done under this scheme, all are like putting a pinch of salt in the sea. None of them are really productive work, nor it helps the community or the people.

The detrimental effect is that, NREGA collapses the work ethics of the people. WIth Rs.2 per kg rice scheme, and 100 days NREGA, most of the workers, lost the incentive to work. Two days of work is enough to buy the rice at 2/kg. So for any agricultural work, they dont come forward to work..

There is no accountability in these works. Just for the sake of work, some unproductive works are chosen. In normal course of society, when a land owner employs the workers, he expects a productive work, and a result at the end of the day.

In case of NREGA, there is no ownership of the scheme or the work undertaken. The workers usually work in a complete leisure, and lethargic. In my region, in many villages, simply a layer of clay for around .5 to 1 feet is scrapped and then this work is added to NREGA scheme.

The fate of farmers is now left to fend for themselves. Everyone knows that agriculture is a labour intensive work, even when machinery is used. By driving away from farmers, the very fundamental of our society gets broken.

Its akin to giving incentive to factory workers not to work there. What if the government comes up with a plan to provide employment to all IT employees, with 10% higher salary than the current one, along with reducing the dollar value. The present NREGA scheme is like that.

The government considers people as only votebanks, and NOT as a society. That's why, it doesnt care how much the farmers suffer or commit suicide.

I often suspect that this very scheme itself is a conspiracy.. by driving away workers away from farmers, it will make farming unsustainable. THis will force farmers also to move away from agriculture, which will create a food crisis. By artificially creating a food crisis, the government plans to take over land in the guise of Special Agricultural Zone, without any resistance. A sure plan to alter the very fundamentals of our society from diverse participatory one, to a corporate one like america.. a kind of medieval european fuedal society is being created.

http://india.ozg.in

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Vedanta Chimney Disaster - Govt issues look-out notices against Chinese workers of Balco plant

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:19:00 +0000

Dear all,

As was feared, the nexus of the state with the Balco is established by the fact that they have allowed the chinese team to flee. The act of the government to bolt the stable after horses have run away. Shame on such governance. Moral of rulers going down to gutters. I have rasied the matter again and again that those who should be behind the bars are protected by none other than the state government. They were not only escorted out of Korba but were provided shelter at Community Centre at Bilaspur under police protection. They sliped out in groups to Raipur under the cover of the night, reports suggests that they stayed at posh Hotel Babylon at Raipur and from there to Raipur Airport where they have boarded the flight to New Delhi and Kolkatta to flee the country.

I share here below the news published online in Indianexpress.com

Pravin Patel

The government has issued country-wide look-out circulars (LOC) at all airports and ports of exit against 89 Chinese engineers and workmen employed at the Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) thermal power plant in Korba, Chhattisgarh, where a chimney collapse on September 23 left more than 45 dead.

The government has given the passport details of these Chinese personnel to immigration authorities and asked them to ensure that they do not leave the country and assist the police investigations into the incident if required.

New Delhi was forced to issue the LOC after all the 89 Chinese personnel, employed by Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO), China, for the construction of the thermal plant for BALCO, fled Korba after the chimney collapsed.

On Friday night, the immigration authorities at the IGIA airport in Delhi intercepted four Chinese engineers trying to board a flight to Beijing. These engineers were directed to report to the Superintendent of Police, Korba, and asked not to leave the country till the statements of those involved are taken.

This step by New Delhi has raised an alarm in Beijing with Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan seeking an urgent meeting with Joint Secretary (East Asia) Vijay Gokhale on Saturday and complaining about Chinese workers being held in India. However, New Delhi explained its position to Ambassador Zhang as 70 persons are feared dead in the tragedy and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has already ordered a judicial inquiry.

The Chhattisgarh police has already questioned eight Chinese employees of SEPCO in connection with the case registered against the company following the collapse of the chimney.

"We had detained eight Chinese staff, including three women, from the airport following a communication from the Korba superintendent of police to the airport officials that they could be required in connection with the investigations," Raipur district superintendent of police Amit Kumar said. "After questioning, the Korba police finally cleared them and said that they were no longer required (for the investigation)", he said, adding that all of them left for New Delhi by the evening flight.

A large number of Chinese employees, mostly engineers, had fled Korba fearing that workers and even locals could attack them after the chimney at the power plant site, which was being constructed by the Chinese company, collapsed. Initially, many of them checked into hotels at Bilaspur and Raipur from where they moved to Delhi and Kolkata, police sources said. Police have registered a case against BALCO, SEPCO and Gannon Dunkerly and Company Limited (GDCL). Police said GDCL staff, too, fled Korba, fearing a backlash.

As many as 45 bodies have been so far retrieved from the debris and operations for clearing the debris would take 24 more hours.

http://chhattisgarh.ozg.in

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Demolishing the walls of hate

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:09:00 +0000

India is going to celebrate 141st birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation, on 2nd October. His teachings on non-violence and the message to demolish the walls of hatred has become more relevant today as the country has witnessed terrorists' attack in different strategic locations at Mumbai and the month-long communal violence in Kandhamal has tarnished the peaceful image of Orissa in the last one year.

The continuous terrorist attacks at Mumbai, Ajmer, Hyderabad, Bangalore and other places in the country has projected a negative image of Muslims. All Muslims cannot be terrorists. Similarly, the Hindus, who resort to planting bombs are not saints. All Christians cannot be angels. Ironically, the walls of hate have been built in this country amongst all the faiths and communities thanks to growth of fanaticism and religious chauvinism unleashed by vested interests having a say in our collective religious lives.

Swami Vivekanand had said, "Every religion is a statement of God." If every religion is a god-given statement and if the goal of all religions is the same, where is the need of unleashing a terror in the name of religion? How can there be an Islamic terrorist or Hindu terrorist or even a Christian terrorist? Who have coined all these phrases? How can there be a religious hiatus? How can a Temple of God or Masjid of Allah or a Church of Jesus be the devil's workshop?

If any self proclaimed god's representative on this earth does it, I think we should lynch him or her without having any mercy. Does it mean, I give a call that we should take law in our own hands? Can in a civilized society, I say let us wield guns to kill the devils like naxals are doing in Orissa and elsewhere? Am I sure who I call a devil is a devil? My answer to all these questions is an emphatic - NO.

All these I say in the context of terrorism, which troubles you, me and all of us and in fact most parts of this country are under the fear of attack of terror. Terrorism in the name of religion is an out come of intense sense of hate. Vandalizing churches in Kandhamal or any other religious institutions is also an outcome of hate. Cities after cities are burning. In the name of Naxalism, hundreds of criminals are throwing challenge to the government killing police officers and common innocent people just giving them a bad name. These criminals are getting support in the name of ideology, getting money to unleash terror in the jungles. Where from do they get money to continue with their diabolical activities? Is it just the looted amount from the rich or that they are being funded by some sources which are working against the interest of the country? If they are so patriotic and lover of the people, what prevents them to come forward to take care of their own country and become leaders. Violence cannot be a means to achieve any salutary end howsoever glorious that may be.

Is it not correct that in their love for jungle-raj, Innocent people are being mercilessly killed? It is a war against the government. It is a challenge to the civil society? Every body in this country is condemning terrorism. We see terrorism with a jaundiced eye. We term an act of terror as Islamic terror or Hindu terror or Christian terror. And then we go on to blame the government of the day. If a Mumbai like incident happens killing three hundred people, we take out procession wielding candle lights to claim that we are Indians. We shout slogans "jo hamse takraiega voh chur chur ho jayega." little realizing that we are never strong and emotionally united.

Though a good number of voters from among us do not vote, they talk of the requirement of stringent laws. They hate politicians but go to them for favour when they get caught for offending the laws. In most cases police is approached for favour by offenders themselves through powerful public representatives. If my neighbour's house is a haven of terrorists, I do not dare to inform police about it least my family will be in trouble. I do not realize that I am the next person in the queue for the chopping block.

What have we learnt from experience? Can police stop terrorism? Can government stop terrorism? Can law stop terrorism? If our collective wisdom finds an answer in "Yes"- then I would say we are irrational.

I put a situation to all of uscan there be a vacuum in the air or water? The moment, vacuum is created, water or air gush in to that vacuum. Tradition has it that when a state / kingdom becomes weak, the neighbouring powerful kingdoms attempt to invade it and annex it. This has been the history of the world, particularly the sub-continent that we call India or Bharat today.

Over 500 small and big kingdoms fought among themselves for centuries together and thus became prone to attack from forces those came from beyond the Sindhu river. Foreign invasions continued unabated. Countries became weaker economically. The trend continued. Status quo-ists representing higher class always remained the beneficiaries in any given period. The back bone of this great land was the spiritualism (love for gods and goddesses) but it received shocks because of spread of hate by one religion against another. The flourishing culture of the Gupta era in the third century gradually collapsed and there has been a decline in all spheres be it art, culture or languages. India continued to fight foreign elements particularly in the last thousand years.

In 1947, British left. We got independence. We gave a constitution to ourselves. We became a biggest democracy of the world. But we failed to give ourselves the much desired identity - a sense of being Indian. We continued to be divided emotionally. We feel being Indians when we are abroad with our passport. We feel being Indians when there is a war or a cricket match. We feel being Indian when there is a picture like Laggan or Chak De or Border but that is for the purpose of a temporary entertainment.

We have a democracy. We are duty bound to elect our own leaders so that we govern ourselves. Yet we were taught to hate politics. By doing so we prevented good people from entering politics. Ultimately unwanted people got into politics. When they fail to give results, we blame the government ignoring the fact we ourselves are responsible for the failure. When the leaders or managers of a democracy are not competent and committed to the purpose they are elected, then anarchy is bound to visit. Government is bound to face challenges from within in the form of terrorism in White and Red.

White terrorism involves the babus, bureaucrats, politicians and contractors who eat the vitals of the institution they are serving and close their eyes for every thing around. For them country India is not important- what is important is their money, monthly salary, happy-home, luxury and extra perks (illegitimate income). These people justify taking money for any thing and every thing be it taking a ration card, birth certificate or movement of a file from one table to another table. Is it not terrorism when a pensioner does not get pension money merely because he does not have money to satisfy the greed of a Babu.

Thousands of people are dying of heart-attacks and shocks on account of harassment from the government offices. And, Orissa still remains one of the poorest states because of the large scale corruption as the funds allocated for the development of the poor people is being eaten away by the corrupt government officials and politicians.

The other form is Red that involves criminals in the name of Islamic terrorists or radical Hindus or rich and powerful Christians- who never mind to see the picture of the dead in the pools of blood and taking credit in the number of deaths they count. While the first one comes from one's selfishness, the second one comes from the intense hate.

In fact both corruption and terrorism are behavioral disorders and these cannot be stopped by enforcement of laws. Laws can be enforced only if the citizens approve of it. In Delhi, building bye-laws are being violated every day by educated residents, police and Municipal Corporation officials. Smoking is banned in Delhi but police officers themselves are found smoking at public places. Therefore, behavioural disorders cannot be corrected unless there is pressure from the social milieu.

This means terrorism and corruption shall continue unabated until our house (read country) continues to be divided. Today, our house is not in order. How would we bring order to our house?

There has to be an intense sense of hate against the activity such as terrorism and corruption.. This intense sense of hate can be fostered only when there is a collective programme involving each and every individual and that programme has to be a celebration that people must enjoy. This will bring in the much desired order to our house. But how can it be done?

Yes It can be done, by inculcating a sense of belonging to the house in each individual and the house is our country. The answer is we must love our own nation. Once we get united emotionally, we can fight any thing and everything that comes in the way of our nation's progress. We need a mechanism or instrument that can keep us united and that instrument could be a powerful weapon to create a sense of hate against terrorism and corruption. What could be the nature of that instrument? That must be an instrument which does not hurt any good citzen's sentiment irrespective of his or her social and religious identity. That instrument must take care of the common interest of every body against terror. That must wake up the cynics (selfish educated) from the deep slumber to make them aware of their own responsibility. That must aim at addressing a problem common to all of us and for this we require an electrifying moment. What gives us electrifying moment?

Glory gives us electrifying moment. It may come to us in form of a victory in war, windfall in money, power or an award in respect of an achievement. Country's glory comes mostly in victory in wars or contests or festivals. There are two types of festivals. One you bask in glory for the past achievements and the other is a festival of commitment. Festival of commitment includes EID, Rakhi, Garva Chauth in North India and Savitri brat in Orissa among other festivals and the other one is Independence Day, Dusshera or Janmastami.

Now what I am indicating is a festival of commitment to the country. It has to be a festival across the country involving all Indians at one point of time. For this festival there has to be a mantra for all people. That mantra has to in the people's language and in fact in one's own mother tongue. That mantra is the pledge of allegiance to the constitution which rules supreme and which is our true national religion. We have tried to draft that mantra to say "we the people of India today do solemnly pledge ourselves to the service of our nation with honesty, sincerity and commitment, always keeping our nation's interest paramount in all that we think do or say for the greater glory of this land." This is in circulation in a large number of educational institutions. This is being appreciated by lawyers in Delhi. We are now drafting the pledge in all Indian languages and making ourselves ready for the big moment and the biggest movement. If this gives us the desired yield then what are we going to achieve? Please see:

1. The biggest campaign to promote Indian-ness.
2. The first pledge of allegiance to the constitution.
3. The biggest campaign to hate corruption and its ugly face called terrorism.
4. The first national festival in the true sense.
5. The first national event involving all Indians in unison.
6. The first national event involving all religious institutions
7. The first stepping stone to a cultural renaissance.
8. The first movement which gives equal importance to all languages, all individuals, all faiths.
9. It will be the biggest secular festival in the country to be celebrated religiously.
10. It will be the first major step in the country to demolish the walls of hate amongst different faiths.

Two pertinent questions often come to me. The questioner asked, "I am little worried about playing the nationalism card over and above the call to be a true Indian - tolerant, living with the cherished values of ahimsa, and the values taught by a long lineage of sages and seers of this land. Does the nationalism call not worry you? And the answer is why should this nationalism call worry any body? We say one should be tolerant, live a life with cherished value of ahimsa and stick to moral values. This is what we say in the pledge itself. You love your nation does not mean you hate another. It is a call to the whole humanity to love one's own soil and people. Anybody cannot and never talk of violence in any form.

The other question - what was the need to involve religious institutions in a national pledge festival activity which is more political in nature? And the answer is we are talking of a celebration of our commitment to the country. In fact such a thing involving all religions for our country has never happened in India. Religious bodies need not affect their regular temple / mosque / church or other institutional rituals.

All that these institutions need to do is to make people alert by beating drums from temples, sending out the clarion call from masjids, and through the pealing of church bells, and the like, so that people can be alerted about taking the pledge. Since there are religious shrines in every village and hamlet and city and corner of India, this will take the message to even remotest village in the country and involve each and every household. The Pledge Festival will evolve as a festival of commitment to the country to be reiterated by each and every citizen. Even those who would not like to empathize with or participate in such a festival will get the message and ask themselves about their roles in this sense of belonging to the country.

For thousand years, India has been seeing bloodshed owing to religious fanaticism and the religious institutions which have been shaping the civilizations at times jumped the rails. The consequences have been terrible and gory. When our religious bodies talk of tolerance, they themselves become parties to instigate violence by one community against another. Today our intellectuals have forgotten that collectively religious institutions can form the most powerful institution which can really play a great role in fostering social harmony and love among the people.

Let all the religions join together for this common cause that people must hate Terrorism and Corruption. All religions preach the value of love. In the court of God, Ram, Allah and Jesus, there cannot be any place of hate against civilization. Hence, let this be our message on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti to all the religious institutions that they help us to demolish the walls of hate amongst the communities and let us unitedly work to make this a reality.

Biraja Mahapatra

http://india.ozg.in

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Communalizing History: Shivaji and Afzal Khan

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:49:00 +0000

The assembly elections have been declared in Maharashtra, and with this the atmosphere is heating up politically. In this state there have been substantial number of farmer's suicides, all over there are serious issues related to rising prices, unemployment and other problems of daily life. But it seems that some political parties in Maharashtra are not much concerned about these core issues of society and seem to be more interested in the identity issues emerging from the past. Recently (September 3rd, 2009) tension developed in Miraj, Sangli and neighboring areas during Ganesh festival. This is the major festival of the state. During the festival trouble began with the erection of an arch on the route of Ganesh Visarjan, this arch depicted the slaying of Afzal Khan by Shivaji. Anticipating trouble due to the communal polarization around Shivaji and Afzal Khan, to maintain peace, the police removed the arch. Protesting against this removal of the arch some Ganesh Mandals decided not to immerse the Ganpati idols till the arch was restored. This is what led to the violence in due course, in which one person died and five got injured.

BJP leadership condemned the Governments' step of removing the arch. Shiv Sena leader asserted that they will put posters of Shivaji slaying Afzal Khan all over the state and stated that had Shivaji been not there all of us would have been reading Namaz! The state administration did control the situation but since by now lot of emotive appeal has been generated around Shivaji it was an easy job. Few years ago during the previous Parliamentary elections, the same parties had tried to organize the procession to demolish the tomb of Afzal Khan. Fortunately at that time it was brought to people's notice that this tomb was built by Shivaji himself and the matters came to a rest, but not before it created lot of bad blood. The matters related to Shivaji are very sensitive in Maharashtra, the state administration has even planned to construct the statue of Shivaji in the Arabain sea, costing thousands of crores, from public exchequer, at the cost other public necessities.

As a matter of fact, Shivaji is popular amongst people, not because he was anti Muslim or worshipper of Cows and Brahmins, but because he reduced the taxation on the poor peasants. Shivaji adopted humane policy in all the aspects of his administration, which did not base itself on the religion. In the recruitment of his soldiers and officers for army and navy, religion was no criterion and more than one third of his army consisted of Muslims. The supreme command of his navy was with Siddi Sambal, and Muslim Siddis were in navy in large numbers. Interestingly his major battles were fought against the Rajput army lead by Raja Jaisingh, who was in the administration of Aurangzeb. When Shivaji was detained at Agra forte, of the two men on whom he relied for his eventual escape, one was a Muslim called Madari Mehtar. His confidential secretary was Maulana Haider Ali and the chief of his cannon division was Ibrahim Gardi. Rustom-e-Jamaan was his bodyguard.

His respect for other religions was very clear and he respected the holy seers like 'Hazarat Baba Yaqut bahut Thorwale', whom he gave the life pension and also he helped Father Ambrose, whose church was under attack in Gujarat. At his capital Raigad, he erected a special mosque for Muslim devotees in front of his palace in the same way that he built the Jagadishwar temple for his own daily worship.

During his military campaigns Shivaji had issued strict instructions to his men and officers that Muslim women and children should not be subjected to maltreatment. Mosques and Dargah's were given due protection. He also ordered that whenever a copy of Koran came into the hands of his men, they should show proper respect to the book and hand it over to a Muslim. The story of his bowing to the daughter-in-law of Bassein's Nawab is well known to all. When she was brought as a part of the loot and offered to him, he respectfully begged her pardon and asked his soldiers to reach her back from the place from where she was forcibly brought in. Shivaji was in no way actuated by any hatred towards people of other religions.

As a matter of fact he had great respect for holy people of all religions. All this goes on to show the values of communal harmony which Shivaji pursued, and that his primary goal was to establish his own kingdom with maximum possible geographical area. To project him as anti-Muslim and anti-Islam is travesty of truth. Neither was Afzal Khan an anti Hindu king. When Shivaji killed Afzal Khan, Afzal Khan's secretary Krishnaji Bhasker Kulkarni attacked Shivaji with a sword.

Today communal forces are out to 'use' Shivaji issue, to communalize the same for their political goals. In Maharashtra, Shivaji Afzal Khan have been projected as Hindu and Muslim kings. From amongst all the possible pictures of Shivaji, why is the one related to Afzal Khan is chosen? One can also show the pictures of his Pratapgadh fort with Afzal Khans tomb in that, one can show Shivaji paying respect to the Mazar of Madari Mehtar, a Muslim prince, who helped him to escape from Agra? The very selection of this picture is to divide the communities along religious lines. Communal interpretation of History, Communal historiography has been the major tool in the arsenal of communal forces. Minorities should not react to such things and try to call for peace with all the communities all the time. Now we are witnessing this pattern of history being used to communalize the society, to create sectarian divides in society. What is needed is to overcome these communal angles, to undermine identity issues, to build the Indian nation. We need to look at historical icons, as kings ruling for power, rather then the representatives of a particular religion.

Ram Puniyani

India.ozg.in @ FB

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Goli maar do, but we will never go back

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:29:00 +0000

Rana Ram carries a bit of his pained past in a weathered wallet that's always close to him. It's a photocopy of a grainy clipping from an Urdu newspaper that shows a woman and her child. The caption reads: 'Impressed by Islam, the woman with the baby became a Muslim'.

"This isn't true,'' says Rana, a lean man with expressive eyes. For the last 18 months, he has been crying himself hoarse that the newspaper lied. "No, that's not why Samdi Mai, my wife of 10 years, changed her religion. Ever since my father-in-law switched his faith, we were under pressure from the maulvis and others to become Muslims too."

But Rana, of Sadiqabad tehsil in Pakistan Punjab's Rahimyar Khan district, resisted. Then one day, when he was away tending goats, a fleet of cars filled with bearded men arrived at his house. On his return, he found his wife gone. The 30-year-old farmhand rushed to the police station only to be told that his wife had converted of her own will.

Someone passed on a message a few days later. It said, "To get her back, you also must become a believer."

Rana, though, wasn't ready to give up. He managed to get back his three-year-old daughter at a village 'court' after paying off the decision-makers. But his wife was 'out of the question'. That's when he decided to take the weekly Thar Express to Rajasthan.

Over the past four years, more than 4,000 Hindus have come to India from Pakistan, hoping never to return. A majority says they lived in constant fear of losing their religion, of worrying that their daughters would be dragged away and converted to Islam. Whenever such traumatic incidents occurred, local authorities just looked away. It was simply a question of 'us' and 'them'.

Laxmi Ram, daughter-in-law of Arjan Ram from Punjab's Bahawalpur district, says her uncle's seven-year-old daughter was abducted and that's the last they saw of her. Kewal Ram, from Punjab's Rahimyar Khan district, says his sister's daughter was converted to Islam by a locally influential man after her husband's death. "I went to every authority, two top minority leaders, one a Hindu, the other a Parsi. But nothing happened. That's when I decided to leave Pakistan, the only home I had known."

Displaced people like Kewal Ram now live in wretched settlements in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer. And though they are disappointed with the local authorities' attitudes, they say, "Goli maar do, par wapas nahin jayenge."

This exodus from Pakistan is not new. During the 1965 and 1971 wars, Hindus arrived in steady streams from across the border. "The demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 sparked a violent reaction in Pakistan, forcing many Hindus to flee. In the following years, the rise of extreme fundamentalism in Pakistan further ensured that migration continued," says H S Sodha, president, Seemant Lok Sangathan, which works for refugees across Rajasthan.

The latest rush started around 2007. Refugees say fundamentalism has grown dramatically in Pakistan's Punjab. Dina Ram, who now lives in Jaisalmer's Bhil Basti, says older Muslims were more understanding towards minorities. "The younger boys are more fanatical," says this former resident of Rahimyar Khan. And it is not the Taliban at work.

Like Rana Ram, many of the displaced come from Sadiqabad tehsil. Its Rahim Yaar Khan district is too far away for the followers of Baitullah Mehsud, based in Pakistan's remote northwest. Rather, refugees say, a general pro-conversion social climate prevails in rural Punjab that encourages even shopkeepers, neighbours and schoolteachers to urge Hindus to convert. Allurements ("Tumhari shaadi kara denge"), taunts ("Why do you worship idols?"), fear ("Tum dozakh mein jaoge") and veiled threats ("Tumhare liye yehi accha rahega") â?" every ploy is used to make them cross over to Islam.

There's a class dimension to the problem too. The refugees are among the poorest of the poor. Many originally belong to Rajasthan's border districts; their ancestors had moved westward in search of employment before Partition. Most worked as farmhands for zamindars and then were forced out. Dhapobai from Bahawalpur district, who now lives on Jodhpur's outskirts, says her family changed home 25-30 times. Being rootless, they are at the mercy of the local powers: zamindars and maulvis. Class exploitation combines with religious bigotry to force them to quit Pakistan.

About 100 displaced families live in Kali Beri, 20 km northwest of Jodhpur. The settlement looks like a half-excavated Stone Age ruin abandoned by archeologists. Thorny vilayati babools are everywhere, but there is no sign of toilets, electricity or hope. "Every family has a malaria patient," says Goman Lal, a resident since 1997. "The men work in the stone quarries and do 10-12 hours of backbreaking toil. But they have no complaints. These mines have saved our life and honour."

They live under stacked blocks of unpolished sandstone. Byapari Ram, 32, stays here with his family. His arrival on January 4, 2009 was spurred by Rana Ram's plight. "I feared we would be the next target," he says. His new home is furnished with just a bunch of plastic sacks packed with clothes, and a trunk with his sisters' photographs. "I wish I could get visas and bring them here," he says.

Having fled from religious pressures, the displaced land in further humiliation. When they arrive on the Thar Express, which runs from Karachi to Jodhpur, border officials are rude and demand bribes. Imran Kumar says that at Munabao, the first stop in India, an official confiscated his passport and demanded Rs 7,000. He got away with paying Rs 2,600. "Back there, Muslims troubled us. But I can't understand why even Hindus treat us badly," he despairs.

A majority of the displaced are either Meghwals (SCs) or Bhils (STs). Those in Ramdev Nagar feel the absence of a proper burial ground. Though Hindus, the Meghwals bury their dead. "We have had to fight with other communities. The government has given us jeevan daan but we also need mrityu daan," says Nand Lal, a former driver in Karachi who got Indian citizenship in 2005.

There is another battle. Those on extended long-term visas are legally bound not to leave Jodhpur's municipal limits or travel west of NH-15. But with limited jobs, many slip awayto other towns in Rajasthan.

In December 2008, a high-powered committee submitted its report on ways of improving the lot of these displaced people. But, says H S Sodha, also a committee member, even those with citizenship are not part of any state scheme for SCs. They don't have BPL cards either. "They need better livelihood programmes and comprehensive social security. Land should be more easily made available to them. Those on long-term visas but yet to receive citizenship are not eligible for a driving licence, bank account or insurance scheme. This must change."

Citizenship itself is an issue. Before 2004, the displaced had to stay put for five years to become eligible. This has been extended to seven. Application fees too have doubled. Between 2004-05, 11,327 were granted citizenship. Expectedly, this number dropped to 1,201 in 2005-06 and 1,207 in 2006-07. However, Naveen Mahajan, DM, Jodhpur, says that the administration is seriously trying to help. "We are preparing the list of those who have got citizenship. Our prime focus will be on BPL cards. We are identifying a piece of land for their rehabilitation in Jodhpur," he says.

One thing is for sure: nobody wants to go back. "Sar kalam kar do, wapas nahi jaoongi (You can chop my head off, I won't go back.)," says Chhannobai from Bahawalpur district. Jeobai, the family's female head, takes pride in the fact that "Bacchi bacha ke aayein hain. Yehi bahut hai. (We have saved our daughters. That's enough)."

Rana Ram now lives with his uncle on the city's outskirts. Every morning, he gets up around five, cooks for his kids and readies his eight-year-old son for school before setting out to work in the quarries. It's a tough life. But he doesn't care. "At least I have the freedom to keep my faith and live without fear," he says.

The great escape

On the midnight of August 15 last year, two young boys fled the bondage of their Muslim landlord and crossed the border to freedom. The sand was soft and they could scoop it out with their bare hands. But the fence was deeper than they had imagined. It was midnight, August 15, 2008. The Indo-Pak border was floodlit and any moment they could have been caught and sent back to the hell they were trying to escape.

They had walked 20 km, fleeing at noon when everyone had gone for Friday prayers. It was sheer luck that in his rush, the master had forgotten to tie them up. For three years that had been the routine, ever since their father sold them off to the Pakistani landlord for Rs 50,000.

Bhagwan Ram was 14 then and Pahelwan Ram 11. Their mother had died and their father needed the money for his second marriage. So, Bhagwan Ram and his brother became the property of Haji Zamir. For three years, the lads were strapped to a plough and made to till the fields from 6 in the morning till 6 in the evening. Dinner was the Zamir family's leftovers. And, at night, they were tied to their cots.

This was why they were seeking freedom on the midnight of August 15 last year. They had heard of relatives who lived east, "where the sun rose every day", a place called Jaisalmer. So they followed the sun as it slid west, and then the stars and a smelly canal that runs from Rahimyar Khan to the Indian border. On the way, they stopped at Dadi Ka Mazar, and sought dua. If they were to cross the border, dodge BSF bullets, and eventually find their relatives, they would surely need more than just the blessings of Tanot mata, their deity.

But they needn't have been here at all. Their master had given them a choice: "Become Muslims, forget Tanot mata, stop worshipping the boots (idols), and from tomorrow, you will get some money, more rotis, more dal, and maybe later, some land, and even a woman in your bed. And at night, nobody will tie you up. You will be free".

They chose real freedom instead.

When they could dig no further, they pulled at the wires till the gap was wide enough for them to scrape through. They still remember how the barbs dug into their flesh, the blood â?" but they kept their tryst with the midnight hour and got their independence.

And then, after stumbling along the sand on the Indian side for an hour, maybe more, suddenly the three â?" their cousin Sumeer Ram had come along too â?" were overpowered by sleep.

They were woken by the sun beating down on their faces. "A farmer saw us," says Pahelwan. "He asked where we were from. We said we were from Pakistan, and asked for water. He filled our two bottles, but said he would have to take us to the police. That was fine by us. We wanted to tell the police our story. We wanted rotis and dal. We wanted them to take us to Jaisalmer, where every day from our virtual prison in Pakistan, we saw the sun rise."

When they were handed over, the BSF jawans blindfolded them and took them back to the border. "They followed our footsteps," says Sumeer Ram. "They wanted to find out if we were telling the truth." After that, it was a year and three days in a police lock-up at Ramgarh in Jaisalmer. They didn't mind this either. They were never tied up and there was always enough roti and dal. Bhagwan Ram said, "I held the feet of the police officer and told him to shoot me, kill me but not send me back."

Freedom finally came on August 19 this year, when the Union home ministry decided not to deport them. They were released on the guarantee of their grandfather, who lives in Jaisalmer's Bhil basti. He traced them after a local newspaper report about three boys who had run away from Pakistan.

It will be at least another seven years before Bhagwan, Pahelwan and Sumeer can become Indians. Till then, every Monday, they must visit the local police station to prove that they haven't gone back to the hell they managed to escape from.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Goli-maar-do-but-we-will-never-go-back/articleshow/5060544.cms

http://mantra.ozg.in

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Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:22:00 +0000

The great Indian divide along north-south lines now stands blurred. A pathbreaking study by Harvard and indigenous researchers on ancestral Indian populations says there is a genetic relationship between all Indians and more importantly, the hitherto believed ``fact'' that Aryans and Dravidians signify the ancestry of north and south Indians might after all, be a myth.

``This paper rewrites history... there is no north-south divide,'' Lalji Singh, former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and a co-author of the study, said at a press conference here on Thursday.

Senior CCMB scientist Kumarasamy Thangarajan said there was no truth to the Aryan-Dravidian theory as they came hundreds or thousands of years after the ancestral north and south Indians had settled in India.

The study analysed 500,000 genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 diverse groups from 13 states. All the individuals were from six-language families and traditionally ``upper'' and ``lower'' castes and tribal groups. ``The genetics proves that castes grew directly out of tribe-like organizations during the formation of the Indian society,'' the study said. Thangarajan noted that it was impossible to distinguish between castes and tribes since their genetics proved they were not systematically different.

The study was conducted by CCMB scientists in collaboration with researchers at Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. It reveals that the present-day Indian population is a mix of ancient north and south bearing the genomic contributions from two distinct ancestral populations - the Ancestral North Indian (ANI) and the Ancestral South Indian (ASI).

``The initial settlement took place 65,000 years ago in the Andamans and in ancient south India around the same time, which led to population growth in this part,'' said Thangarajan. He added, ``At a later stage, 40,000 years ago, the ancient north Indians emerged which in turn led to rise in numbers here. But at some point of time, the ancient north and the ancient south mixed, giving birth to a different set of population. And that is the population which exists now and there is a genetic relationship between the population within India.''

The study also helps understand why the incidence of genetic diseases among Indians is different from the rest of the world. Singh said that 70% of Indians were burdened with genetic disorders and the study could help answer why certain conditions restricted themselves to one population. For instance, breast cancer among Parsi women, motor neuron diseases among residents of Tirupati and Chittoor, or sickle cell anaemia among certain tribes in central India and the North-East can now be understood better, said researchers.

The researchers, who are now keen on exploring whether Eurasians descended from ANI, find in their study that ANIs are related to western Eurasians, while the ASIs do not share any similarity with any other population across the world. However, researchers said there was no scientific proof of whether Indians went to Europe first or the other way round.

Migratory route of Africans

Between 135,000 and 75,000 years ago, the East-African droughts shrunk the water volume of the lake Malawi by at least 95%, causing migration out of Africa. Which route did they take? Researchers say their study of the tribes of Andaman and Nicobar islands using complete mitochondrial DNA sequences and its comparison those of world populations has led to the theory of a ``southern coastal route'' of migration from East Africa through India.

This finding is against the prevailing view of a northern route of migration via Middle East, Europe, south-east Asia, Australia and then to India.

TNN 25 September 2009

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Aryan-Dravidian-divide-a-myth-Study/articleshow/5053274.cms

http://india.ozg.in

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The Contours of Alternative Development

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:49:00 +0000

Any development process that we engage ourselves in should be aimed at bringing happiness to the lower strata of our Society, who today are deprived of the most fundamental needs of food, work, shelter, health and education. If a large majority of our population sleeps hungry every day, what is the point of trumpeting loudly about our GDP growth? If extensive migration from village continues unabated in search of invisible work to overcrowded cities, how irrelevant is the talk about India becoming a superpower. The destruction of rural harmony and substituting it by urban disorder, slums and pollution makes a mockery of our claim to be a "Shining" or "Incredible" India. What the continuing direction of so-called development has produced is making the vast majority, specially in rural countryside, helpless, miserable, virtual beggars with loss of self-esteem and self-confidence. With all the talk of planned growth and socialistic pattern of society in the first 40 years after independence and with reversal of direction to free market and globalization in the subsequent 20 years, what we have proudly achieved is a fragmented and divided society with power and wealth in hands of unscrupulous few who are free to exploit the majority on the plea of taking the country forward. Look around you and we find a dirty India, an unhappy India, a miserable India, a divided India, a directionless India, an India devoid of its morals, traditions and moorings, a rootless India! It makes feel like crying what have the leaders, the learned, the educated, the intelligent people done to this country that was once the Jewel of the East?

But let us not despair. All is not lost particularly amongst the youth. They only need to be told the truth, the facts and what the future holds for them. Their future is at stake and they cannot sit idly, helpless and allow the deterioration to take place. They will ACT.

What do we need to do?

A. FOOD SECURITY WITH FARMERS' SECURITY

First and foremost, knowing that a large majority of our population lives in the rural countryside and is dependent on agriculture for a living (don't we all want food to keep alive?), we have to concentrate first on developing and investing in agriculture. The government moans the fact that agriculture growth is only 2% whereas industrial growth is 8 to 9% and hence3 justifies further investment in industry. It wants the people to believe that we can eat steel if we do not get food.

In this context, it is pertinent to mention that today the government policy is to augment agriculture productivity by

Aggressively promoting rice and wheat cultivation at the expense of other beneficial and healthy crops
Marketing laboratory-developed high-priced high-yielding hybrid paddy and wheat seeds that require heavy inputs of fertilizers, urea and water
Providing loans to farmers for purchase of above items and giving fertilizer subsidies
Periodically waiving off farm loans
Shedding crocodile tears on farmers' suicides due to excessive debt

All the above actions, whoever thought of them, have resulted in increasing poverty of farmers, infertility of farmland due to excessive chemical inputs, disappearance of our biodiversity on the farm through systematic disappearance of bajra, jwar, madua and other crop grains, promoted monoculture resulting in malnutrition, put farmers in debt on account of forced seed and fertilizer purchase, etc. The list is endless and the final result is today the farmer is hungry and tomorrow we all will be hungry.

Our farmlands are shrinking replaced by large industries, airports, highways, expanding urban centres, malls, SEZ's, etc. In fact our leaders want to urbanize villages and import the food that we need for our sustenance. How foolish can you get?

Our farmlands are becoming infertile by excessive government promotion and use of fertilizers and pesticides necessitated by high yielding rice and wheat seeds developed by our "dedicated" laboratories and research teams.

Our farmers are getting deeper and deeper in debt because even before they can produce any crop, they have to buy seeds, buy fertilizers, buy pesticides and for all this take loans. With stress on monoculture of rice and wheat, they have to depend on market to sell the rice and wheat they grow (they have to purchase other food items from market to make a full meal). Markets are always cruel to the weaker sections and hence the farmer returns with less income than what he invested. And if Rain God is angry (where is the guarantee of water through planned irrigation?), the farmer is desolate and destroyed.

The net result of shrinking farmland, infertility of soil and the destroyed farmer is less food for all of us and then the only alternative is to pray to God to save us all!

The alternate development path is clear. First stop what we are doing. Then go back (nay forward in real sense) to how we were doing farming 70 or 80 or 90 years back.

We had indigenous seeds then of our own developed by nature over centuries which we preserved and stored for farming so that we never paid for seeds. We made organic manure with nature's help to add fertility to soil and again we did not pay for such fertilizers. We grew variety of crops and vegetables so that we had a healthy diet and did not have to depend on the market. We also grew what we ate and ate what we grew.

In addition, today we have developed organic methods of farming and manure making that increase overall agriculture productivity not just for one crop or two but over a wide range of our produce.

The soil remains fertile or even increases its fertility, no loan is taken by farmer for farming, farmer eats a healthy mixed diet, and agriculture production as a whole increases adding to the food security of the nation. Is this a dream? Of course not. Examples are plenty in India where by following this, farmers are happy and growing a variety of crops in abundance for our nation. It is such a crime and an irony that in today's India. The farmer who grows our crops and feeds us city folks has to sleep hungry and ultimately commits suicide. Are we so dumb and insensitive?

What I have said above is supported by the following

"Is Alternative Agriculture Revolutionary?" an article by Rajinder Chaudhary contained in Alternative Economic Survey, India 2007-2008 by Alternative Survey Group entitled "Decline of the Developmental State", published in 2008 by Daanish Books, Delhi
"End of India Farmers" an article under the title "Growth and Equity : Policy Demands, Commitments and Performance", contained in Citizens' Report on Governance and Development 2008-2009 by Social Watch India, published in 2009 by Daanish Books, Delhi
"Why is Every 4th Indian Hungry?" a book by Dr. Vandana Shiva and Kunwar Jalees, published in 2009 by Navdanya, Delhi

We have to say NO to :

 Hybrid and genetic seeds
 Monoculture in farming
 Fertilizers and pesticides
 All government propaganda in support of above

We have to say YES to :

 Indigenous seeds
 Multi-crop bio-diversity in farming
 Improved organic manure making
 Improved organic farming methods
 Freeing ourselves from the market

This will only result in food security in the long run for the nation. Anything less, we are fooling ourselves.

B. RURAL INDUSRIALISATION

The second point we have to tackle in our alternate development process is creation of employment and increasing earning potential of rural sector to supplement farming income. This only will stop rural migration to cities. Jobs have to be created in villages, not in cities, and giving doles through various Government Schemes has to stop. We do not have to make our rural population beggars at the mercy of the Government (isn't that what NREGA has done?) but give them work and employment opportunities so that they are masters of their destiny. In short, we have to produce an army of rural entrepreneurs in our villages through agro-processing in tiny and small scale sectors.

But first, villages must get electricity not through large power plants (their power is invariably reserved for cities) but through tiny and small power generating units such as micro-thermal and micro-hydro power plants, small solar plants, small wind mills, and such units all such power generation owned, operated and maintained by villagers themselves. The real power then is in their hands.

Is the above possible? Why not? If a man can land on the moon, why not small economically viable power units, if we put our brains behind it and back it with funds, determination and commitment.

With power available both for lighting and for small industrial units, one can think of :

 Tiny oil mills  Tiny rice mills  Tiny flour mills  Tiny jaggery (gur) making machines  Tiny potato chips making units

and many such agro-based units not food parks, not large mechanized units but small individual machines in multiples promoting larger employment and earning base as well as making the village self-sufficient. They do not have to buy oil, they produce their own; they don't buy flour, they make their own; they don't buy harmful sugar, they produce their own beneficial gur, etc. There is employment and earning and a spirit of self-dependency inculcated in the village community.

Today for all areas of agro-based manufacturing, there are small and tiny sector plants that are equally efficient in producing quality goods.

We need to promoter aggressively and unapologetically tiny and small that creates jobs not unemployment, creates earnings for all not just for few, conserves and protects not destroys and pollutes nature.

What all the above means that we need to halt the pace of urban development and focus instead on rural areas where the large majority of neglected poor but wise and honest people are desperately eking out a living. The rich need to be neglected for the moment (they had their fill) for the benefit of the poor. Otherwise, the day is not far off when clashes, violence and bloodshed due to glaring disparities will occur uncontrolled and unabated.

Real India resides in villages, the First India is our Farmer and this has to be our focus of alternative development. Make the Farmer our King, make the Villager our Master and restore the balance in the society. Village still preserves our age old culture (we call them backward) and India has survived centuries because of our values, traditions and time-tested practices. Let us not give all this away at the false glitter and glamour of westernization put in the garb of modernization.

We will then win and so will our youth! We do not want to become superpower, we want to be superhappy!!

- Prem P. Verma
- Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum

We wish you a very happy Durga Puja and Dussehra - NFI

Listen Bhajan @ http://bhajan.ozg.in

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In Rome, Durga Puja is not welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:48:00 +0000

What does it mean to celebrate Durga Puja in Rome? It means to be humiliated, harassed and hounded by city officials who happen to be pious Christians. Alright, I could be utterly wrong in presuming they are pious since I have no independent confirmation of their piety or otherwise. But let's get back to the question with which I began. Late Thursday night I was at the park near my house where the local Bengalis organise Durga Puja every year. It's a raucous celebration of faith and culture. The food stalls are invariably hugely popular and there I was with my nine-year-old daughter, standing in a queue for kathi rolls. After what seemed like an interminable wait, it was our turn to be served. Just then my BlackBerry beeped. Balancing the piping hot rolls, dripping oil, tomato ketchup, green chilli sauce and lemon juice, in one hand, I tried to read the e-mail on my handset.

No luck. I got shoved around, nearly dropped both rolls and my phone, and decided to let the e-mail wait. Later, away from the crowd, I checked the e-mail and it was a fascinating story. Since the identity of the person who had sent the mail is not really relevant, let me reproduce the text: "The Municipal Police authorities of Rome have today withdrawn permission, granted three weeks ago, to celebrate Durga Puja in Rome. The cancellation came a few hours before the Ambassador of India was scheduled to inaugurate the Puja at 8 pm local time. No acceptable explanation has been given. This has caused the local Indian community the loss of thousands of Euros spent in preparatory arrangements. The same thing was done in the same manner in 2008 also. Please monitor developments."

Now that's awful, I told myself, here I am having kathi rolls and there they can't even celebrate their own festival. On Friday, I called a friend in Rome who provided me with the latest details. Our Ambassador, Mr Arif Shahid Khan, a feisty man who has in the past taken up the issue of Sikhs being forced to take off their turbans at Italian airports, campaigned throughout the day, calling up officials, including the Mayor of Rome, and contacting members of the 'Friends of India' group in the Italian Parliament, arguing with them why permission for the Puja should be restored. By evening, the authorities had reversed their order and permission was granted to celebrate Durga Puja, which will now begin on Saturday, Ashtami — a full 48 hours behind schedule. Provided, of course, there is no last minute cancellation, as it happened on Thursday. Mr Khan will inaugurate the Puja, an honour he richly deserves.

The story behind the cancellation needs to be told, if only to point out that Christian countries in the West, whose Governments so blithely criticise the 'lack' of 'religious freedom' in India, have no compunctions about trampling on Hindu sentiments at home. After last year's experience, when permission for celebrating Durga Puja in Rome was abruptly withdrawn by officials who cited specious reasons to justify their grossly unfair decision, the organisers, led by Mr Rajesh Sahani, a Sindhi from Kolkata who speaks flawless Bengali, took ample precautions this year. They were given permission to organise the Puja at Parko Centocelle, a public park on Via Cailina, Torpignattara. Three weeks ago, permission was granted for the Puja at the park and necessary formalities were completed.

Early this past week, the Puja organisers were told they could not use the park as a crime had been committed there and the location posed security-related problems. The organisers agreed to change the venue. Another park was selected, permission was given to celebrate Durga Puja there, and the preparations began all over again in right earnest. Then, like a bolt from the blue, at 4 pm on Thursday came the withdrawal of permission by the Municipal Police. The organisers were bluntly told to pack up and leave hours before Durga Puja was scheduled to begin with Akal Bodhon in the evening. Why? No reason was proffered.

Some officials are believed to have told the organisers that the cancellation of permission at the eleventh hour, both last year and this year, was meant to be "retaliatory action against the persecution of Christians in India". It may be recalled that the President of Italy, Mr Giorgio Napoletano, has been vociferous in demanding that Europe should do more in support of Christians in India and to help them 'affirm their right to religious freedom'. The Government of Italy has in the past summoned the Ambassador of India to convey to him that it has "deep concern and sensitivity for the ongoing inter-religious violence... that has caused the death of many Christians." The Pope has been no less harsh in denouncing India.

There could be another reason, apart from its "deep concern" about the welfare of Christians in India, for Italy's callous disregard of the sentiments of Hindus in that country. Although the Italian Constitution guarantees religious freedom, under the Lateran Treaty with the Vatican, Italy recognises only the three religions of Semitic origin — Christianity, Judaism and Islam. All other religions are no more than paganism and are to be shamed and shunned. The Vatican would not countenance any open breach of the Lateran Treaty; Italy would not want to be seen as recognising Hinduism.

"It's only natural that Italy should have a surfeit of churches. But it's the rejection of any other faith than Christianity, Judaism and Islam that explains why there are so many mosques but virtually no temples in Italy although this country has a large Hindu expatriate population," my friend told me while regretting the attitude of the Government and the local authorities. According to him, there are only three temples in Italy: One in a garage in Venice; another at Frescolo and the third at Reggio Emilia. These survive at the mercy of local zoning officials.

But for Mr Arif Shahid Khan's pro-active involvement — most Ambassadors tend to stay aloof from community affairs — this year too there would have been no Durga Puja in Rome. Indians in Italy owe him a debt of gratitude. So do Bangladeshis who are equal participants in this annual celebration of dharma's victory over adharma, of the triumph of good over evil. Cultural and linguistic affinities unite Bengalis, irrespective of whether they are from the west or east of Padma, during this autumnal festival celebrated around the world.

Meanwhile, let's not get carried away by the West's bilious and bogus criticism of religious freedom in India and indulge in self-flagellation. Let the West look at its own ugly, septic warts. If Christians can celebrate Christmas in New Delhi, Hindus have the right to celebrate Durga Puja in Rome. This is non-negotiable.

dailypioneer.com
Kanchan Gupta

http://bhajan.ozg.in

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Second Annual Forum of Water Community, UN Solution Exchange at Kolkata, 28-30 October 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:41:00 +0000

The Water Community of Solution Exchange is planning its Second Annual Forum in Kolkata. Over the past few years, this has become the most important national event for the water and sanitation sector. It is an exciting opportunity for practitioners in the field to listen to leading speakers, share experiences and get a first-hand view of carefully selected projects.

The event will last 2 ½ days and the dates are 28-30 October, 2009. The venue is Hotel Hindustan International, Kolkata. About 150-200 participants are expected to attend the Forum. The Annual Forum brings together the lead practitioners on water, governance, resource management, sanitation and drinking water in India once a year. These practitioners are from the government, private sector, donors and the UN, who are mostly members of the Water Community. It is one of the important water-related events on the national calendar. The event also helps the Community set priorities for discussions and action groups during the year. It raises the profile of water-related issues nationally and internationally through debate and the media.

The Forum is open to all members of the Water Community and practitioners working on water and sanitation. We are also planning to especially invite members and water practitioners from two geographical areas:

· The north-eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim

· The eastern states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.

The forum will discuss water and sanitation related issues from each of these geographical areas. The Water Community is planning to run two parallel discussion tracks to bring out issues especially from the north-east and east, both of which are under-represented in the discussions and the Community. We plan to have state-wise and thematic discussions on watsan. An indicative agenda is given below. Each speaker will get 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for discussions.

There will also be a third track, covering the rest of the country. This will be thematic as well, but will cover issues pertinent to the rest of India. The tentative programme illustrates how these will run.

The participants will have the opportunity to interact face to face, rather than virtually, to discuss important concerns relating to water in India. The participants will take the seminar's agenda forward online through discussions and action research projects. The outputs from the discussions on the water community have been used as inputs in project proposals, research documents, state and national level policies, and as repositories of information. Ideas for these discussions originate in face-to-face meetings such as the national forum and add new life to the vibrancy of the community.

The expected outputs from the Forum are:

1. At least 3 action research projects identified, and the groups constituted

2. At least 15-20 discussion topics identified, and the query posers identified along with timelines

3. Highlight issues from the North-East to promote possible collaboration with organizations working in the region and elsewhere

1. Identify one action research project and constitute the group

2. Identify up to five discussion topics from the region

3. Expand membership in the region

As part of the Forum, we will hold a Knowledge Mela where selected organizations can showcase their work and have face-to-face discussions with participants. This is a knowledge sharing mechanism that helps small, grassroots level organizations demonstrate their projects at a national forum, an opportunity they seldom get.

We would also like to organize a field visit and would like suggestions on this. This one-day exposure trip can cover one or more key projects/developments in water and sanitation near Kolkata

Can you please suggest,

1. Organisations/experts and government officials from the north-east who can attend the forum

2. A theme for your specific state related to water/sanitation issues

3. Speakers/presenters who can talk about these themes

Last year, the Joint Secretary (RWS) Mr. T M Vijay Bhaskar attended the meeting and we organised an `open house' on issues pertinent to the Department of Drinking Water Supply. We had field visits to several sites in and around Bangalore, the venue for the 2008 Annual Forum. About 120 people from all over India attended the forum.

Indicative programme 28-30 October 2009 28 October

0900 Registration 1000 Opening session 1030 1530

One hour break for lunch, from 1300 - 1400

Perspectives from North-Eastern states

Theme I: Water management in wet hilly areas
Theme II: Focus on human use of water
Theme III: Challenges of access to water
Theme IV: Arsenic contamination in Assam
Theme V: Sanitation challenges in hilly areas
Theme VI: Low cost sanitation solutions
Theme VII: Mega-projects in the North-Eastern Himalayas
Theme VIII: Water and climate change
Perspectives from the Eastern states
Theme I: Arsenic contamination in Bengal, Bihar and other states
Theme II: Maintaining water quality during floods
Theme III: Sanitation challenges in flood prone areas
Theme IV: Local government institutions' role in sanitation
Theme V: Coping with the endless cycle of floods and droughts Challenges facing the rest of India
Theme I: Water security in the time of climate change solutions from the government and communities
Theme II: Coping with fluoride contamination of drinking water
Theme III: Challenges in scaling up sanitation coverage
Theme IV: Challenging mind-sets in sanitation new approaches
Theme V: How can sanitation be incentivised

1530 - 1700 Action points from discussions queries, action groups

29 October 0830 1700 Field visit

30 October 0900 1000 Sharing experiences from field visits

1000 1300 Knowledge mela face-to-face interaction at tables for selected NGOs or individuals
1300 1400 Lunch
1400 1500 Key takeaways from the Forum and wrapping up

http://kolkata.ozg.in

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Prosecute the State Public Information Officer Kerala Raj Bhavan

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:11:00 +0000

The action of the State Public Information Officer, RajBhavan supplying documents pertains to the sanction accorded by the Governor of the State to prosecute Mr Pinarai Vijayan , the General Secretary of the CPI(M) in SNC Lavellin case to the counsel of Mr.Pinarai Vijayan , while denying the very same documents to Mr.D.B.Binu,General Secretery -Human Rights Defence Forum has kicked off a new controversy in the Sate . Rather than the political discussion on this action, what is proposed to be focused in this write up is the legality of the action from the perspective of Right to Information Act 2005.

Right to Information Act is a tool that enables the citizen to gauge the performance of the Government and governmental bodies by allowing access to informations regarding their actions in discharge of public duties. As per law every public authority is accountable to its people for they are people destined to serve people for consideration they receive without fear and favour. Though the administration was supposed to be transparent, there was no enforceable right to gather information / documents from the public authorities with the result even if some body happened to possess information and supporting materials, he would be still handicapped to use them as they are matters legally not accessible to the public. The RTI Act has now trodden a new path through which now any citizen can, as a matter of enforceable right, can get information and supporting documents (subject to certain exceptions) from specified public authorities. Under Section 8(1) (h) of the RTI Act , there shall be no obligation to give to any citizen information �which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders�. It is this exception that has been relied by the State public information Officer of the Raj Bhavan for denying information to Adv,D.B.Binu. But strangely this clause did not occur to the concerned officer when the accused in the case through his counsel requested for the same documents.

Now let us see the issue as it is placed before the State Information Commission by Mr.D.B.Binu in the complaint filed by him praying to prosecute the officer who denied information to him. Lat me reproduce the petition itself:

BEFORE THE HON�BLE STATE INFORMATION COMMISSION, KERALA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Petitioner/Complainant:

D.B. Binu, Advocate, �Cochin Chamber of Lawyers�, Providence Road, Kochi - 18 (General Secretary, Human Rights Defence Forum, �The House of Lawyers�, I.S. Press Road, Kochi � 18). Mob: 9895135081.

Respondent/Respondent:

The State Public Information Officer, Kerala Raj Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram � 695 099.

COMPLAINT FILED UNDER SECTIONS 18(1), 20(1) & 19(8)(b) OF THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005

The Petitioner/Complainant respectfully submits as follows:

1. Petitioner/Complainant is a General Secretary of the Human Rights Defence Forum and State Council Member of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). He is a social and human right activist and a Lawyer by profession.

2. Petitioner under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act made an application dated 11.6.09 before the Respondent seeking the following informations:

a. A certified copy of the sanction accorded by the His Excellency Governor R.S. Gavai and other connected documents to the CBI for prosecuting the CPM State General Secretary Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan in S.N.C. Lavellin Case.

b. Certified copies of the documents/informations regarding the names of the Legal Experts with whom the Governor of the State sought the legal opinion in the matter and copies of their legal opinion, the legal fee if any paid for the legal opinion specifying the amount to each Lawyers and the receipt for such payment and the letter of the prosecution of the CBI seeking sanction for prosecution and their written submission justifying their request for sanction.

c. Certified copies of the all communications in the above matter done from the office of the Governor.

d. Copy of the document if any submitted to either the Government or the Ministry granting sanction to prosecute Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan.

3. The Respondent by communication dated 15.6.09 denied the above informations under Section 8(1)(h). The above complaint is filed against the order denying information under Section 8(1)(h). During the pendency of the above complaint Petitioner came to know that the above documents were however made available to another applicant who is said to be the counsel for Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, the Secretary of the CPI(M) [as per the news item appeared in Deshabhimani, a mouth piece of CPI(M)] and those documents have been used by Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan for challenging the order granting sanction to prosecute him. A true copy of the news item appeared in Deshabhimani dated 11.9.09 is produced herewith and marked for reference as Annexure-A3.

4. It is submitted that as per Section 8(1) there shall be no obligation to give to any citizen information �which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders�. The information sought by the Petitioner as a citizen and public spirited person was denied on the ground that the information if made available would �impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders� whereas when the application by the Counsel for the Accused in the case requested, it was readily made available despite the imminent and possible danger of being using the document to �impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders�. The stand of the Respondent denying information to the Petitioner was therefore without any bonafides and an action vitiated by malafides. The Respondent was acting virtually against the directions of the Right to Information Act and was using the provision to defeat the legal rights of the citizen. If the Respondent had any bonafide in the plea of denying information under Section 8(1)(h), he should have denied the same to the counsel for the accused or for that matter to all those who applied for the same documents. The discrimination made by the Respondent is an abuse of the power vested in him. By doing so he has malafideny denied information to the Petitioner despite his entitlement to have the document.

5. In the circumstance the Respondent is liable to be proceeded with disciplinary action for malafidely denying the request for information, and/or denying information without any reasonable cause. Further the Respondent is liable to be directed to pay penalty at the rate of Rs.250/- each day till the information is furnished to the Petitioner. The Respondent may also be directed to pay compensation to the Petitioner for the loss suffered by him which is quantified as Rs.1,500/- in prosecuting his application seeking information under the provisions of the Right to Information Act.

6. It is submitted that the information sought is very urgent especially having regard to the fact that those documents have been used for impeding the process of law, challenging the order granting sanction for prosecution. Therefore this complaint may be considered out of turn having regard to the large public interest involved in the matter. In the interest of justice it is therefore prayed that this Hon�ble Commission may pleased to grant the following reliefs:

1) order to take disciplinary proceedings under Service Rule for malafidely denying information or denying information without any reasonable cause that was sought by the Petitioner vide Ann-A1 application;

2) direct the Respondent to pay penalty at the rate of Rs.250/- each day till the information is furnished to the Petitioner;

3) award cost to the Petitioner quantified at Rs.1,500/- as compensation for the loss and injury suffered by him in the prosecution of his application under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act; And

4) pass such other order that this Hon�ble Commission may pleased to pass in the facts and circumstance of the case.

Dated this the 18th day of September, 2009.

COMPLAINANT. Adv. P.K. IBRAHIM,

COUNSEL FOR THE COMPLAINANT.

The above Petition is now pending and let us wait the law to take its course. Further discussion, after the Commission pass its orders. Till then

http://kerala.ozg.in

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Child rights in the Adivasi Community

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:58:00 +0000

Theoretically, the child Rights are right to life with dignity, fundamental freedom (protection and participation) and right to development, inherited in all human beings below the age of 18, irrespective of their race, colour, sex, creed or any other status. In practice, these rights are neither promoted nor protected honestly by the State except in a few cases to show the world community. Though the rights of the Indigenous People are violated from every corner but the community seems to be more sensitive towards the child rights even though the community may not be aware about the theoretical aspect and the UN convention on right of the child, 1989. The practice of child rights is very much prevalent in the indigenous community of Jharkhand. Precisely, because the foundation of the community is based on the principles of collectivism, collective decision, autonomy, non-profit ethos and equality for all. The child rights can be seen in the various aspects of the Indigenous community.

Socio-Cultural Arenas: The Indigenous community is closed to the nature, which reflects in their unique culture, principles, ethos, attitudes and behaviors. The folk songs, dance, music, paintings and male & female dancing together are the most significant outlook of it, where children plays significant role. The children are also equally treated as an adult and there is also no such discrimination with children based on gender. 'Akhra' is an open place in the Indigenous village, where all kinds of activities including community meetings, cultural activities, imparting traditional education, etc are carried on, where children equally participate and also expresss their viewes. They even get space in the decision making of their families. Presently, the globalization has hit the community and they are attracted towards the other culture, which is really a big threat to the community.

Economic Activities: The Indigenous economy is based on agro-forest, which derives from the natural resources. The children of Indigenous community always have a major economic contribution to their family and community. Unfortunately, when a child of the poor does any physical labour, which has a direct link to the economic gain is called 'child labour; though the physical as well as mental labour of the elite children does not come under the purview of child labour. One can argue that when a poor child becomes a child labour or working child his/her rights are completely seized but in the case of an elite child, he/she enjoy his/her rights even while undergoing through physical or mental labour. The relevant question is who will decide whether all forms of work done by any child should be counted as child labour because it may be unfair if the sunglasses decide about the destiny of children.

While analyzing about the economic contribution of children of the indigenous community, one would surely count it as the outcome of child labour. Of course, one can not deny about the prevalence of working children in the community. But apart from that the most important aspect needs to be looked upon is how the community perceives children's economic contribution to the community. When children are employed in factories, garages and hotels, they are not paid wage of an adult though they work even more than adults. Apart from economic exploitation, they are also exploited physically, verbally and mentally as well but in the case of Indigenous community, children are not exploited for the economic gain.

There are various forms of collective work culture in the Indigenous community like Pancha, Madait and Dihari, which are based on cooperation against the economic exploitation. Consequently, when a child works in place of an adult, his/her share of work is counted as the work of an adult. In Pancha and Madait, which are mostly based on cooperation to each other, if a child takes part in case of any other engagement of an adult member, the contribution of a child is equally counted as an adult, which the so-called mainstream of the society lacks. A child is also given the equal wage in case of he/she works as a daily wage earner, which is a minor practice within the community.

Health and Education: The issues of health and education are always matter of serious concern if one sees it with the sunglasses and also the education lance of the Lord Macaulay. The Indigenous community has been victimized by the system of governance as a result; their graph of development in health and education is growing very slowly. But as far as the traditional health and education systems are concerned, the indigenous community is still well and advance, where children are the part and partial of the system. All kinds of diseases are healed with the herbal medicines and traditional methods of healing on one hand and the children are also imparted practical education regarding socio-culture, economic, forest, occupation, craft, etc by the adults through various means on the other. But the clash between traditional and modern systems is the basic reason for deterioration in the community therefore there must be a holistic approach to address the issues.

Hunting practices: The hunting is a very important aspect of the indigenous community, which is mostly done during the winter and autumn seasons. The community does a normal hunting practice and there are also some special hunting practices like Bishu Shikar (annual hunting festival) and Jani Shikar (hunting festival of women). Usually, in Bishu Shikar, the indigenous people go for hunting in a group, where adults, children and hunting dogs are part of it. Similarly women, girl children and hunting dogs take part in the Jani Shikar, which is organized after every 12 years.

Apart from these, there is a common ongoing hunting practice in the community, where children are part of it with adults and hunting dogs. Interestingly, in all kinds of hunting practices, the share of prey is divided equally among all the members including children and hunting dogs. The children are neither uncounted nor discriminated irrespective of their age but they are given equal entity as a member of the community. But does it mean children play the roles of adults? The answer would be obviously not but enjoying their childhood, the children get the equal entity in the community.

Children in TSG: The traditional self-governance system of the Indigenous community is a symbol of collective decision making though it faced criticism by saying that the TSG lacks the access for women and children. The fact is instead of taking any arbitrary decision; children are given space to put their views on the matters. Presently, as the world is moving faster, the Indigenous people have also opened the door for children and women in the system of traditional self governance. Of course, this aspect needs more progressive thoughts. The TSG also requires to be strengthened with support of the civil society organizations, where child participation can be ensured with the true spirit.

Conclusion:

The child rights are inherited part of the indigenous community, which has been in the practice in various aspects of the community for centuries but the world community did not recognize it deliberately. In the era of globalization, the basic principles of the Indigenous community are under the threat, which would have the direct impact on the child rights of the community. But at the same time, it is also unfair to argue that the collectivism is at stake because the city based Indigenous people are moving towards the individualism. But one must remember that merely 8.3 percent Indigenous people live in the cities and the rest 91.7 percent of them still reside in the villages, whose life cycle moves round the nature with it core values of collectivism, collective decision, autonomy, non-profit ethos and equality for all. Therefore, the child rights needs to be seen with the community spirit rather than looking with the beautiful sunglass of the UN (CRC). Child rights are the basic fundamental rights of children, which needs to be promoted and protected at all level.

Gladson Dungdung

India.ozg.in @ FB

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What will one say if the state selectively picks up innocent citizens, kills them and presents false stories to save its skin?

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:19:00 +0000

In the aftermath of Gujarat carnage the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee subtly reprimanded Modi Governemtn that Raj Dharma should have been followed. The implication was that state should have actively intervened to protect the innocents who were killed during the violence. What will one say if the same state selectively picks up innocent citizens, kills them and presents false stories to save its skin? While taking the oath, while joining the state one is supposed to treat all citizens as equal irrespective of their religion caste and gender. What do we say about the state, which goes on to kill its innocent citizens who happen to belong to minority community?

As the Citizen's Tribunal pointed out in the aftermath of Godhra train burning Gujarat State machinery was told to sit back when the rioters were unleashed to kill and maim, to loot and to rape during the carnage. Now we know that in the same state, police officers have become emboldened enough to pick up minority elements, kill them in cold blood and proclaim that it is an encounter! The repeated cry of terrorists planning to kill Modi has been a favorite ploy of the police officers for killing innocents to please the CM, to seek promotions. It also helps to create a larger than life picture of Modi.

When Ishrat Jahan was killed in the June 2005, along with three others, the police officers boasted of their success that they have ably averted the attack on Modi by killing four terrorists of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Forensic and post mortem reports confirm that they were killed in cold blood on 14th June, shot at close range in a police custody and then, taken in a car, then put in a row on the road on the outskirts of Ahmadabad. To show that it was encounter, arms-ammunition was kept on their body. At this point of time National Human Rights Commission asked for magisterial inquiry. Later state Government also confirmed of magisterial inquiry going on. At the same time the police investigation was also started. Justice Tamang has come out with his report that it was not an encounter and that the four killed in cold blood by police were not having any terrorist links. In response the Gujarat government is leaving no stone unturned to say that Justice Tamang had no business to release his report, the Gujarat high court has brought a stay on the report. But already the contents of the report are known through the media reports and Gujarat Government is finding no place to hide its face, also Supreme Court has seen nothing wrong in what Justice Tamang did. The total lack of remorse on the part of Gujarat Government is not surprising at all!

The officer, D. G.Vanjara, who killed these four, was also the one who had brutally killed Soharabbudin and his wife Kauserbi, and is now behind the bars. There is a section of Gujarat people, who are very appreciative of what Vnajara has done, and the situation which Modi Government has brought in. Now the Gujarat Government asks that when the police inquiry was going on, what is the legality of magisterial inquiry? On the contrary as per the law after the death of a person in police custody, or due to police action of this type, inquest, magisterial inquiry and police inquiry all these have to be done.

It is not that it is the first time that encounter, fake encounter killings, are taking place. The difference here is the total identification and defense of such acts by the political leadership of state. The difference is that a section of people are being made to believe such dastardly acts are needed to make the society safe. The effort of Gujarat Government is just to show a brave face in the light of exposure of its brutality in killing the innocents. Incidentally Ishrat was wearing her college, Khalsa College Mumbai, Identity Card around her neck when she was killed in cold blood. Legal nuances and nitty gritty apart where are we heading in twenty in Twenty-first Century?

Just slightly an year ago in the face of police arrest of many Muslim youth in the aftermath of bomb blasts citizens tribunals were held in Hyderabad and then in Jaipur. Legal luminaries and social activists formed the jury of these tribunals. Both tribunals pointed out that the attitude of police is very biased and many a Muslim youth are being arrested without any proof whatsoever. Will such actions by state, will such a defense of killing of innocents, not intensify the sense of injustice amongst a section of Indian citizens?

Where are we heading to? On one hand there are inquiry commission reports showing as to how communal organizations orchestrate crimes and the section of police and part of state administration colludes. On the other plane there is the phenomenon of terrorism, which has many factors contributing to it but it is only Muslims who are blamed for that. We are also witnessing a serious and by now inbuilt discrimination leading to exclusion of minorities from the social facilities. In such an atmosphere what will happen to the psyche of the youth and others from minority community? The social disparities we are creating due to such policies are there for all of us to see. The tragedy is that a section of people have started asserting the correctness of these happenings. The situation which is being created due to all this is further used to blame minorities for it. The Modi-Vanjara duo, which is becoming a law unto them, is the symptom of deeper malaise of Gujarat.

Ram Puniyani

http://gujarat.ozg.in

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Developmental View of the Birsa Commando Force (a terrorist organization)

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:11:00 +0000

(Talk with commander of the Birsa Commando Force, Chirang district on August 21st 2008)

I along with my other co-workers arranged for a meeting with the BCF (Birsa Commando Force) - an underground group which had been agreed on an arrangement of ceasefire with the Indian Govt. We had been invited to community leader's house for breakfast and the group members came to the house itself instead of us meeting them in their camp as we had agreed upon earlier. Around 5 of them arrived at 9:15 am and we began with a brief introduction and our purpose behind the meeting. Following are the proceedings of the meeting:

When did the BCF come into being and why was the need felt to initiate it?

They began by saying that we are an ugravadi sagathan (terrorist organization) established in 1996 after the ethnic clashes. The main purpose was to protect our future generations from being wiped out. Earlier we were in the forests and had weapons and were considered to be an underground group by the govt. It was on the 14^th August 2004 that they agreed to a ceasefire with the govt. Since then their main demands have been rights of adivasi over land and a schedule tribe status. They felt that it was important to stay in these camps in different districts in case clashes broke out again. Earlier the govt. wouldn't pay attention if a layman approached them for some kind of information and the officials would patronize them and keep delaying any kind of official work. However since the formation of the BCF they feel that the officials listen, mainly out of fear and their work gets done faster. The BCF has its camps in 8 districts- Bongaigaon, Kokhrajhar, Dhubri, Nalbari, Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Dibrugarh, Tinsukhiya . They had around 40 such camps in all eight districts, there were presently 35 men in the Deosri camp. They complained that the govt. was supposed to give them certain facilities being in a designated camp as part of the ceasefire agreement such as food and accommodation but till date they had not received anything except promises. They raised funds from the local people and survived on the same.

Hitesh Soren was the commander of the Chirang district; he had just taken over the position seven months ago. Each of the 8 districts had a commander and they formed a high power committee which was headed by CIC (Commander In Chief) Bir Singh Munda and Durga Hansda was the Chairman. They had had several talks with the govt. officials on various occasions but there had been no concrete results. They said that if their demands weren't met then they would have to take matters into their own hands. They had even met the DC on various occasions but he had not responded favorably. They said in Deosri area 30% of the population comprised of encroachers, if the govt. decided to evict them then where would all these people go? They had even approached the MLC of the area James Basumatary and though he had promised to help them before he got elected he had fallen back on his word and had not supported them in any way. They made it very clear- 'hum videshi nahi hai' and said that they would take great offense if any one referred to them as outsiders since they had now been on this land for centuries. They didn't want to be seen as outsiders from Jharkhand or Orissa, this was their home now.

Which issue do you give the top most priority which you would want to look at first?

They said that they gave priority

· Firstly to the relief issue- all the families which haven't received the release money.

· Secondly the rights over the land

· Thirdly the condition of the education system- such as the EGS schools was not running efficiently.

· Livelihood issues

· Health

· Eviction issue to dealt as priority

There was also this constant threat of evictions from the forest dept. It was only some 6-7 months back that the villagers in Aiepuali received a notice that they would have to evict in 15days time. It was only after they protested that the eviction was called off. They said that they had to live under the constant threat of eviction and they had threatened the forest officials that in case the govt. kept on bullying them like this the events of '96 might be repeated. They also felt that they had been let down by those very people who they had voted for. During election times all the candidates had come seeking their vote and promising them that they would fight for them but no one had shown any interest in helping them after they had won. He was quick to add that in Shrirampur they have 'badey log' (big people) from their community and even in the BTC govt. they had 3 representatives Bir Singh Munda had ties with these high officials however these influential adivasis were very few in number and hadn't been able to do much for them- Our people are leading a hand to mouth existence with rice coming in only once in a month that too which is sufficient for only 10 days.

So, what vision do you have in mind concerning Deosri's development?

They said that they had built a camp here only some 7 months ago earlier they would stay in their homes. They felt that the people needed protection and guidance. They were especially anxious concerning the education of the youth and the adolescents in the area. They would visit the schools to see how the teachers were teaching and would evaluate them. They had also wanted to start coaching classes for the students and had even approached the AASAA for assistance however they hadn't been very forthcoming and the project had fell through. They go from village to village monthly or twice a month to talk to the villager heads, relief committee heads and the villagers and also to hear their grievances. Another issue was of the roads in the area which were in a terrible state they had even approached the Executed Member and the Member of Legislative Council concerning the matter. Since the authorities are afraid of them the people now have faith in them. They felt the main problem of their community was that they earned less and consumed more. The people of the community would even come to their camp to settle petty disputes.

There are other groups here like the AASAA and the Cobra, so what is the main difference in your ideologies and have you sat together for talks?

Our main demand is for the rights of adivasis over land but the other two groups give priority to the ST status over the land issue. We feel that first and foremost we should ask for ownership over land, what good will a ST status does us if we are landless. Once we are granted rights over the land then we will demand for a ST status. If all of the four groups were to come together then a lot can be achieved but we have many differences so it is not possible as of now. We have many problems in this area, class 8^th-9^thpass students are dropping out of school and are getting married, and we are vehemently opposing this practice. We at the BCF are very disciplined and strict, so sometimes the youth are scared to approach us, we have even called some of them to our camps but they refuse to come out of fear. We believe in disciplining the youth especially when it comes to drinking and wandering around at night, watching CD's, killing fish with poison which causes dysentery. We have even seized CD's and fined and thrashed those caught fishing with poison. We identify those youth in the community who have bad habits and we discipline them by thrashing them up. We are not like other groups which turn a blind eye to the bad habits of their members. Now that we are on ceasefire we want to bring some kind of development for our people.

Interviewed by Kadey Soren

Philadelphia, PA

kadey.soren@jharkhand.us

www.jharkhand.us/

--
Sudesh Kumar

J H A R K H A N D
www.jharkhand.org.uk

sudesh.kumar@jharkhand.org.uk

India.ozg.in @ FB

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The real story of an Adivasi youth

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:40:00 +0000

I would like to share the story of Govind Majhi, a tribal youth of 29 years, living in a remote tribal village known as Patua, amidst forests of Latikata Block of Sundergarh district in Orissa. During my over 12 years of working with tribals in many tribal areas of our country, I have met several youths many of whom have developed as good dedicated volunteers who work for the welfare of their community in and around their area, but Govind Majhi is one youth who is totally different from others, who has proved that poverty can not come in the way if there is a strong determination and confidence to address the poverty.

My first encounter with him was hardly of a minute or two. I was the Speaker at a public meeting that was held near to his village, Govind was one amongst those over 5,000 tribals who had participated in that public meeting. After the meeting, just as I was about to board the vehicle to take me to Rourkela, Govind Majhi tried to talk to me. I asked him is there any thing specific or urgent; he replied that greatly inspired by my address he wants to work with us to improve conditions at his backward village. Since I was getting late for another meeting, I advised him to meet our district officials and assured that we will definitely work if he prepares a good team of dedicated volunteers.

Almost over two months had passed, during which there was no news from Govind. On one evening, when I was at Kolkata, he telephoned me informing that his team of about thirty youth is now ready. He also requested me to visit them in my forthcoming visit to Sundergarh district as we had three more programs on 8th and 9th August, to coincide with World Indigenous Day. Since all the programs were fixed, I advised him to join us at the seminar at Rajgangpur on 9th August, 09 where I will be with him for half an hour.

Soon after the seminar was over, I invited Govind for discussion but media reporters including OTV took half an hour before we could hardly discuss any thing. Govind was anxiously listening to our interaction with the media. I invited him and others to discuss about our organizational matters. Govind also called in few of his villagers to have talks with me. I learnt that almost all of them are very poor, making living as daily wage earners. They stated that for the first time in his life, they have met people who work for poor as their friends. Govind was anxious to say so many things in that short time. I also noticed tears in his eyes. I advised him that if he can come with me and stay with us for that night, we can discuss at great length. He promptly agreed. It was little over 9 PM when we reached Pantha Niwas at Rourkela where we were staying. I and Govind talked till about 3 in the morning which I share with you all in shape of a real story.

Patua is a small village with a population of about 3,000, almost all are poor tribals. No internal roads, no electricity, no high school, no college, no doctor in the primary Health Centre is the reality of development. Ganju Tola where Govind resides with his father, wife and 2 ½ year daughter is a part of the Patua, which is part of Bad Dalki Gram Panchayat in Latikata block of Sundergarh district of Orissa.

Govind Majhi, hero of our true story was born in the year 1981 to Kali Majhi (father) and late Raibara Majhi (Mother). He has a younger brother Laxman Majhi and two married and one unmarried sisters. They own besides their small house is one and half acre of non irrigated land on which except paddy nothing is grown.

What is poverty was not known to Govind Majhi in his childhood days. The family used to take one meal a day which was considered as a routine as almost all the houses same was the practice. A private secondary school that had come up at Bad Dalki was also instrumental in brining in change in the lives of the Majhi family, thanks to the efforts of Govind. At the age of 17, he studied up class IX and X in that secondary school. Here he came in contact with other students, some of whom became his friends. He used to visit them at their houses where for the first time in his life came to know that they not only take two meals a day but also enjoys breakfast and have other luxuries. He was in dilemma, not able to understand the realities of life.

He asked his father why they do not eat two meals a day as his friends do at Bad Dalki. Kali Majhi, his father tried to impress upon him that he is now grown up, it is time for him to understand hard realities, if he wants to survive, as they are poor, they can not afford the luxury of meals twice a day. Paddy grown in their one and half acre of land is not enough for one year, if they take meals twice a day. All the rice will be finished in five to six months. What they will eat for the rest of the year till new paddy arrives? What ever little money he earns working as a daily wage earner is not enough to meet other requirements. They will die of hunger, if they eat twice a day. Govind was upset by learning lesions of the realities of life. His father even advised him to keep away from visiting houses of his friends. Young brain of Govind was in puzzle as to why they are poor and his friends at Bada-dalki are rich. He decided to talk to his friends.

Next day he asked his friend at the school, how many acres of land they own? He was surprised to know that they had no land at all. He got confused as how without land they manage to have so much rice that feeds them twice a day throughout the year. Another friend informed that they have eight acres of land that gives them enough paddy that is much more than what they require, as such they sell those surplus paddy to buy other necessities.

After a week or so, on a Sunday morning Govind reached his friend's house that had no land at all. Here he understood that besides land, jobs in the state and public sector also helps to earn salaries with which they can buy all the rice and other food stuff as well as fulfill other social and economical requirements. He wanted to know, how his father can also get a job that can earn him salary. He understood that jobs are not easy, since required educational qualification is a must for getting any job, which is neither with him nor with his father. He understood that the circumstances in which they are living do not permit him to go for higher education as there is no money to buy even books. He realized that even he can not they can start working Govind learnt one more lesson to put at rest the question that hanunted his mind.

Instead of getting dishearten, he decided to accept it as a challenge that he will not accept it as their fate but will do every thing that can bring in the change. He decided to discontinue studies after class X and work with his father as a daily wage earner to earn money that can help his younger brother Laxman to go to college at Rourkela. He discussed with Laxman who ultimately agreed to do what ever is best in the interest of the family. This was the turning point for the better for Kali Majhi family.

Govind after finishing class X at Bada- Dalki left the studies; joined his father to work full time on his farm and also working as a labour to earn wages. His brother Laxman studied hard as was greatly inspired by the sacrifice of his elder brother. He went to Vedvyas and Rourkela where he not only graduated but also cleared his Diploma in Electrical engineering with good results. One out of many of his applications for jobs; finally he got a call from the Indian Railways with whom he now works in their electrical department, presently posted at MALDA in West Bengal.

Majhi family not only now enjoys food twice a day but also afford to spend money on other needs and comforts they need. Govind has one mobile phone through which, he is in regular contact with his brother and married sisters. Kali Majhi is now 65 years of age. He has stopped working as a neither labour nor works at his farm any more. Govind sighs to say that his mother died of cancer seven years back, was unlucky to see the change in our lives. He regrets that if the change would come few years earlier, she would have died happily. He gets disturbed to say that his mother never enjoyed the luxury of eating two meals a day.

Govind also proudly says that Laxman has made two Fixed Deposit of Rs.10, 000/- each i.e. Rs. 20,000/- in the name of his younger unmarried sister Jasumati so that with that money with interest, they will spend in her marriage. He intends to make one more fixed deposit of Rs. 10,000/- later in this year. He has also paid all the money that was spent for the marriage of one of his sister few years back. Besides, the same Laxman also paid medical bills of about Rs. 8,000/- that was spent in the illness of one of his sister and also of his father. Laxman's college friends are also employed elsewhere. Three of them are in BSF, five are police constables, one is with HAL at Sonabeda and five are at Rourkela Steel Plant.

Now Govind aspires to bring a change in his village. He states that in the name of development what they have got in last sixty years is one Anganwadi, a primary school that has classes up to class VIII, few tube wells that often goes dry in summer. Rivulet which flows round the year is at a short distance of ½ kilometer but only Kudar Tola residents are given the facility of lift irrigation that irrigates their 20-25 acres of land. No internal roads or lanes in the village. During rainy days, it is extremely difficult to ride bicycle or even walk on those muddy and marshy lanes full of pits. No electricity though power lines are not far off. The post office is a one man show with postman performing duty from postman to postmaster.

Primary Health Care is a cement concrete structure with no medial staff, forget about doctors. He says. No body has seen any doctor from the day that health centre has been constructed. No ambulance has ever come to their village. When some one falls seriously ill, they used to take the patient, lifting with cot to take to Latikata walking all the way. Now they take patients to the main road, from where they take them to Latikata or Rourkela by bus or Auto Rickshaws that ply regularly.

He adds saying that just as they suffered, there are many families in Patua who are as poor as they were on one day. They also manage with one meal a day to survive. He adds to say that when guests arrive at some ones house and they have no rice in the house, they manage by taking from some ones house to be returned later on. Govind wants that all the villagers should come out of their tragedies at the earliest, as they have managed to do so. Rs. One or Two per KG rice scheme has no doubt helped few families but neither all the families have cards nor the quantity they get in a month is sufficient for them. He says instead of giving us rice at Rs. One or Two per kg, give us water from the rivulet that flows round the year near to their village to produce rice that they need. He also lists elephant menace as one more area of problem.

About NREGA he says that till date no work has been done under NREGA at his village. The only work done is to construct a road from Deditola to Kendu Berli, which is five KM away from their village. They demanded work near to their village but no result. Even after the road work is over before one and half year, no payments has been made till now. Villagers have gone several times to Sarpanch and also to BDO but all in vain. Sarpanch says he has submitted all the required papers while BDO informs that the papers are incomplete and not sufficient.

This real story of a poor tribal boy demonstrates that where there is a will, there is a way. Poverty does not come on the way, if there is strong determination and self confidence to deliver results. We have found a leader in a small village through whom, we are sure, changes at a fast pace will take place in the days to come.

Pravin Patel

Join fans of http://india.ozg.in

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Zero tolerance policy towards corruption in NREGA (National Rural Employment Gurantee Act) is failed in Jharkhand.

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:41:00 +0000

The Congress-led UPA government propagated the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 known as NREGA, as one of its biggest achievements, during the last general election. The government of India had brought NREGA with the objectives of enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household and also increases the sustainable agriculture economy. But it failed to meet the objectives in Jharkhand. If anyone willing to know about the ground realities of NREGA, must visit to Latehar district of Jharkhand. or even roam across Palamu, Hazaribagh and Deoghar districts, the fact is, one can find more or less the same stories across the state that how the poor are being betrayed by the government officials, the contractors and the middlemen in NREGA.

NREGA has got a different meaning in Jharkhand. After immolation of Tapas Soren, suicidal death of Turia Munda and assassination of Lalit Mehta related to NREGA, a slogan emerged "NREGA Jo Karega So Marega" (one who work for NREGA may lose life) known to everyone in the state. Secondly, when a strong nexus among government officials, contractors and middlemen was exposed in many cases, the people took for guaranteed that if anyone willing to work in NREGA must keep quiet and accept the destiny because raising question against nexus can put one in a danger. The corruption in NREGA has crossed the limit now therefore the Governor and the Bureaucrats are also openly speaking in the public domain on the matter but irony is no one takes step to bell the cat. Interestingly, the NREGA has become milch cow for the government officials, the contractors and the middlemen instead of ensuring employment to the rural masses.

NREGA was launched in 200 districts of India including 20 districts of Jharkhand on 2^nd February, 2006. The programme was extended to entire Jharkhand by including another 4 districts in second and third phases respectively. According to the report of the Ministry of Rural Development the government of India, 8.73645 lakh people were given employment for 134.57 lakh days in Jharkhand till 15^th of September, 2009. Among these 15.1 percent (47.49 lakh) Dalits, 42 percent (134.02 lakh) Adivasis and 32.7 percent (102.87) women got the employments. The government of India has sanctioned Rs.1397.57 crore to the Jharkhand government but unfortunately, it utilized merely 37.1 percent (Rs.518.87 crore) of the total fund. Under the programme 114009 schemes are taken up but only 22.8 percent (26062) schemes have been accomplished and 77.2 percent (87947) schemes are still in progress.

According to the government report, there were 3736526 rural families including 1655281 BPL families in Jharkhand in the financial year 2008-09. In this year, 2710647 families were projected for providing employments of 100 days therefore 3375992 job cards were issued but in practical merely 46.69 percent (1576348) families were given employments. The government of India had sanctioned Rs.180580.1 lakh to the state government and after adding the amount of previous year, the total sanctioned amount was Rs.236337.4 lakh. But unfortunately, merely 56.77 percent (Rs.134171.1 lakh) fund was utilized and Rs.102165.7 lakh remained unspent, which would have ensured 100 days employment to 10 lakh families.

The status of financial year 2009-10 shows that 2864120 families are projected for providing employments under NREGA therefore 3494390 job cards have been issued but as usual only 25 percent (873645 families) of them were given employment. The government of India has sanctioned Rs.45333.29 lakh and after adding the amount of last year the total sanctioned amount is Rs.148153.9 lakh. But the sad part is merely 35.02 percent (Rs.51887.28 lakh) fund is utilized till September 15 and Rs. 96266.57 lakh is still unspent. It is uncertain whether the rural poor would get benefit of the balance amount as the election of Legislative Assembly is at the door therefore the NREGA's work can be hampered.

The pathetic story of NREGA doesn't end here. There are also some serious problems in disbursal of wages. The wage has been fixed at the district level therefore the rate varies from district to district in Jharkhand. The labourers are paid highest wage of Rs.114.39 in Hazaribagh district and the lowest wage of Rs.78.39 in the Adivasi dominated Gumla district. Therefore, one may assume it as a case of discrimination with the Adivasis in NREGA. There are also some cases of gender based discrimination in wages. A woman is paid less than a man though both of them do the same work in NREGA.

Corruption is the most serious issue in NREGA, which is prevalent at every level. The share is fixed for the government officials in each scheme and misappropriation of fund is going on shamelessly across the state. The first share goes to the government official in percentage. Hence, the Panchayat Sevak gets 4 percent, 5 percent goes to the BDO and another 5 percent is fixed for the Junior Engineer. Secondly, the higher officials bag their share separately, which comes from the junior officials. Thirdly, the labourers are paid less than actual wage but the contractors maintain fixed wage in job cards & muster roll and also add more working days in it. Though the wage is paid to the labourers through the Bank accounts but contractors and middle men comfortably get their share. Fourthly, the schemes are also not accomplished properly but the full amount is released without proper verification. Finally, the labourers are also asked to pay for the job cards. Hence, there is a check post of loot in each turning point of NREGA.

Interestingly, the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary, all are aware about the rampant corruption in NREGA but none of these working to bring back the NREGA on the right track. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice K.G. Balkrishnan says, "NREGA is under the clutch of middle men." Similarly, the Governor of Jharkhand, K.S. Narayanan has also raised very serious questions and took classes of the Deputy Commissioners many times. According to the Advisor of the Governor of Jharkhand, G. Krishnan, the Junior Engineers (JE) and the Block Development Officers (BDO) are the most corrupt officers and they do not even believe in the Gram Sabhas. But the pertaining questions are why the state government is not taking stringent action against those officers? Will crying foul solve the problem? And does it mean the only the lower level officers are responsible for it?

Though the Gram Sabhas and Panchayats have been assigned roles and responsibilities under the NREGA but in practice there is a huge gap in Jharkhand. The government officials do not even recognize the traditional Gram Sabhas precisely because the Gram Sabha can expose the misconducts. Secondly, the block offices have become the centre stage of corruption.

In these circumstances, if NREGA has to achieve its objectives, the government must take strong steps to kill the bird. Firstly, percentage share of the government officials in schemes must be stopped immediately. Secondly, the block offices should be closed down and a direct link should be established between district headquarters and the Gram Sabhas. The Gram Sabhas must be given the right of issuing job cards, preparation of muster rolls, planning, implementation and monitoring of the schemes. Thirdly, a strong legislation needs to be brought with the provisions of severe punishment as dismissal from the service, imprisonment and recovery of grabbed money with ten times penalty. There should be also a special court, which can sort out the matters in time bound manners. But the unanswered question is will our Politicians and Bureaucrats ever be ready for it as they are the people who brought loot culture to the state of Jharkhand?

Gladson Dungdung

India.ozg.in @ FB

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The greatest militant threat facing India comes not from the Islamists but Naxal Maoists

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:11:00 +0000

Last November's fedayeen-style attacks on Mumbai may have reminded the world that India was not immune to terrorism. But few outside the subcontinent are aware that the greatest source of militancy in this diverse country comes not from Islamists but Maoists.

Insurgencies by Naxalites (named after Naxalbari, a town in West Bengal where rural peasants took up arms against oppressive local landowners in 1967) have proliferated over a vast beltway stretching from the forests of Bengal in the north to Kerala in the south.

Astonishingly, there is believed to be a Naxalite presence in one-third of the Indian landmass, or 16 of India's 28 states. Authorities estimate that one-fifth of the nation's forests are under Naxalite control.

In comparison, at the beginning of this year the Taliban in neighbouring Pakistan was believed to control a maximum of 11% of the country, all in the North-West Frontier province and Federally Administered Tribal Area along the border with Afghanistan. Little wonder, then, that the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, recently dubbed the Maoist rebels the "single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country".

In contrast, the Economist derided them as "an outmoded ideology" that is "out of keeping with the modern India of soaring growth, Bollywood dreams and call-centres".

Such typecasting – of India's apparent economic dream and the seemingly luddite rebellion opposed to it – is as much a part of the problem as the violence that has embroiled rural India. Vast economic and social disparities between rich and poor persist here despite, and indeed because of, the economic boom of recent times. Although the Indian constitution outlaws the caste system, it still causes much discrimination with, in the words of University of Westminster's Radha D'Souza, the poorest facing "routine everyday violence" by the police.

India's controversial special economic zones, like those in China and other developing nations, have also played a role, causing massive dislocations of communities in the name of giant hydro, mineral or logging projects that benefit powerful local and multinational businesses.

The Naxalites are a product of these traumas. Like the Taliban in neighbouring Pakistan, they capitalise on the latest experiences of generations-old corruption, harassment and nepotism and promise stability, an equitable share of wealth and quick, if brutal, justice.

They are particularly popular among the poorest communities, especially in rural areas such as the remote forests of resource-rich Chhattisgarh where Aboriginal tribespeople have been forcibly "relocated" to make way for mining companies hungry for the iron ore buried under their feet.

Authorities have facilitated relocations like this – even the communist-led government of West Bengal that championed land reforms for the poorest in the late 1970s stands accused of removing peasants to make way for a Tata car factory.

The Naxalites are often the only ones standing up for the dispossessed. Leaders like Koteswar Rao (known as Kishanji) claim their overall aim is to "liberate" the poorest and transform India into a socialist state along the lines of Maoist communism.

Such rhetoric marks the Naxalites out as true insurgents. Like a fledgling state, the rebels administer justice in "people's courts", and raise "taxes" from families and businesses in areas under their influence. Indian authorities say the largest Naxal network, the Communist party of India (Maoist), raised 10bn rupees (£125m) in "taxation" in 2007.

But the Naxalites are far from a united force. Regional rivalries – most broadly split among different political and militant factions – have occasionally led to bloody internecine conflict. As a result, Naxal allegiances typically vary from village to village in every region they are present.

Some Naxal rebels have been guilty of committing wanton atrocities that their critics say prove they are not about liberation but to intimidate ordinary villagers into joining their ranks. During election periods, for instance, Naxalites have threatened to cut off voters' hands. Naxalites are openly hostile to parliamentary politics – they view mainstream communist parties such as those of West Bengal and Kerala states as enemies of India's underclasses.

Others, such as the anthropologist George Kunnath, speak of the movement's positive contributions – the emancipation of indentured "schedule caste" labourers who are otherwise condemned to generations of de facto slavery, greater social equality between men and women, and their promotion of education for all.

Whether or not the positives outweigh the negatives, the government has itself been guilty of excesses.

In Chhattisgarh, government security forces and a vigilante militia known as the Salwa Judum – ostensibly created to protect people against Naxal rebels – have been implicated in atrocities like extra-judicial killings and forcible evictions that have exacerbated the conflict. According to Amnesty International, villagers who complain of police or paramilitary abuse are branded Naxalites to silence them.

Compounding matters, the Indian government looks to be escalating its military presence in affected regions and especially in Chhattisgarh. Since July, it has deployed hundreds of soldiers along with air and paramilitary forces to combat the Naxalites in Chhattisgarh who, in turn, have murdered scores of police personnel.

To his credit, Singh acknowledges that the Naxalite rebellions are at least in part a consequence of decades-old alienation of the poorest owing to discrimination, poverty and harassment. Yet there are no clear signals that the rhetoric is being matched with economic and social policies capable of bridging the social and economic divides between rich and poor. Without that divide there would be no Naxalites.

Gurdian UK / 16 Sept 2009

Bollywood.ozg.in

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NREGS: not caste in stone - The Hindu

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:07:00 +0000

Balijas, Reddys and other upper or dominant castes working on improving the lands of Dalits? It's happening here in Kondama Naiyuni Palayam village of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. Call it necessity. Call it NREGS. The heavy late rains may have brought relief to Rayalaseema region in terms of fodder, and drinking water. But they also devastate the short duration crops that people have sown. So this village and its neighbours are heavily NREG dependent.

"We work together, all of us, and not on a caste basis," say E. Ravi and K. Maheshwar, both Balijas. NREGS work priorities are clear here. The land development programme under it must first exhaust dalit and adivasi households before serving the others. In places like K.N. Palayam, where the villagers are organised, this actually gets done. It is not the same everywhere. And it would be rash to conclude that the NREGS is breaking down social hierarchies big time. It is certainly calling them into question, though.

There is also economic necessity. "Even people with 25 acres in our rainfed farms seek NREGS work, says Narasimha Reddy in Palacherla village. Yes, he confirms, most landowning Reddy households in this village of 350 families are reporting for NREG work — a big shift in attitudes. About 400 people — an equal number of men and women — go to the NREG site.

Impact on social structures

Within limits, says Malla Reddy, a 35-year veteran of NGO activism here, the NREGS does impact on social structures. Now, when landowners call Dalits or Adivasis to work, they are relatively more respectful. Because the labourers have the option of Rs. 100 a day work here."

In K.N. Palayam, groups like the Rural and Environment Development Society have sharpened that impact. REDS has managed a creative interpretation of NREG rules locally. "You'll find several households that have exceeded 100 days work," says C. Bhanuja, President of REDS. We did.

It isn't all quite simple, however. Both, the programmes' own problems and those within the economy and society surface often. A full fifth of those seeking work in K.N. Palayam are over 60 years of age. S. Kadhar Wali, who is well over 70, puts it simply: "Why work at 70? You may as well ask, why eat at 70." He and his wife S. Bibi have been doing NREGS work from 2006. This year, Bibi dropped out after a bout of typhoid. "We returned to work as the rise in food prices has destroyed poor people these past few years."

In Aiyaram Gopalapadu, Kurnool, ex-Sarpanch C. Sankaraiah, clings to the old hierarchies. "I won't do it," he says, dismissing NREG work. "I own nine acres. It's insulting." But what about those 30-acre rainfed farmers in Anantapur, spotted at NREG sites? "Anantapur politics are very different from our politics here." But one of his sons is working at the very site he leads us to.

Contradictions do plague the NREGS in its present avatar. One, between landowners and landless labourers. "This Rs. 100 a day wage is killing us," grumble many of the bigger landowners. Actually, most workers average Rs. 80. But the bigger owners are hostile. And then there are the small and medium land holders. They employ wage labour — but also work at NREG sites themselves to make ends meet. "This wage is hurting our farming operations and driving the price rise," goes the chorus in Palavai, Palacherla and elsewhere.

The same voices protest when asked what they would do if the NREG wage fell to Rs. 50 tomorrow. "How will we survive? We need this wage." These are people owning between 5 and 8 acres.

The late rains stoke the farmer-labourer contradiction. The farmers want NREGS put on hold so they can attend to their fields and find labour for them. The landless cannot afford to go without work for any length of time. That's when migrations surface again, though overall, the programme has reduced them considerably. That's the case in K. Nagalapuram in Kurnool, where we run into many labourers leaving for Bangalore. Another universal complaint is about payment delays. "These are killing," says Somappa as he departs for Bangalore.

There is also the odd village where the NREG has been captured by local mafias determined to keep the wages down. As In Harekal in Kurnool district where NREGS work vanished for months. (However work resumed the next day following a report in Eenadu after our visit.) Or in Pothireddypalli in Mahbubnagar, where the priority for work on Dalit lands is being subverted. Tractor owners evade land development work on Dalit farms. "Our bills will never be settled," claims one of them. In Anantapur, the Lambada adivasis of Kareddypalli tanda are bogged down by bureaucratic quibbles and local tensions. "Our tanda is in Kadiri Mandal [rural]," points out T. Nagesh. "But our fields are just yards away in the next, Nallacheruvu mandal. The people there won't let us work and the officials do nothing." And so several in the tanda have migrated — to Kerala.

And there is the work itself. The broad success of NREGS in states like Andhra has seen some romanticise it. You only have to attempt the body-sapping work that a hungry malnourished people do, in sizzling temperatures, to swiftly abandon such ideas. Hearing of NREG "boycotts" in villages like Sanevaripalli in Anantapur, we went there. "What boycott?" asks Nagappa, who owns five acres here. "They give us impossible work. See this rocky land. Don't tell us about trenching and digging, just try it yourself in this hard and dry soil. And what will it achieve? Why can't they give us sensible work which we can do."

Not insurmountable

"These are not insurmountable problems," says Malla Reddy. "The people of this village themselves are showing us alternatives within the NREGS." They show us large tracts of land that can be made cultivable removing the small but heavy rocks that dot them. "Then there is the development of common lands with vegetation and fodder. Farm ponds could also prove crucial. You have to be imaginative and use diverse approaches across regions. In Anantapur for instance, we have forests without trees. The regeneration of those could be a major work. In zones like these, rain-fed horticulture development would help. And in fact, we should be creating work for landless and small farmers round the year. We need very strict enforcement of priorities that demand Dalit and Adivasi lands be the first to benefit. Finally, it means dumping the 100-day per household yearly limit on work. All this can only happen when you move from piecemeal action to integrated, long-term planning."

The Hindu / 14 Sept 2009

Andhra.ozg.in

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India Partition Puzzle - Role of British Policy

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Jaswant Singh in his recent book on Jinnah has praised the secular nature of Jinnah and has held Nehru-Patel responsible for Partition of India. Many people from Pakistan are praising Jaswant Singh's book to the sky, while here in India there is a mixed reaction. Most strong one came from BJP President Rajnath Singh who hinted that any praise of Jinnah, will be met with strict action. The problem with such formulation, Jinnah was secular, Nehru-Patel were responsible for partition, is that it is an extremely superficial analysis and does not look at the complex multilayered phenomenon of partition tragedy. It totally by passes the role of British rulers and the different interests of diverse classes during freedom movement. The response to the book is either at emotive level, our leader versus your leader, or how dare you speak against our icon!

In the midst of the whole debate, the British get away with the cake. As such they not only took all the measures, implemented all policies which were divisive but also accepted all the demands which led to partition. In the process they ensured that even after they leave, the interests of imperial powers, UK-USA, in the Middle East remain safe and secure. This ensured that they continue to dominate the area and retain their military and political base in the region. While the mini battle, Jinnah versus Nehru-Patel is on, the role of the major culprits of partition, the Colonial powers of yesteryears and the imperialist power of today is generally not being brought under scrutiny.

If we look at the British polices, right from the beginning there were germs of divide and rule. They saw Indian society as divided along religious lines, underplaying the fact that the real divisions were not along religious lines but along class and caste lines. Shaken by the massive revolt of 1857, their subtle policies of 'divide and rule' started becoming more overt and articulate. In 1858 Lord Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay Province, in his communication to The East India Company's executives wrote, "Divide et Impera' (Divide and Rule) was old Roman motto and it should be ours." In return Charles Wood, Secretary of State for India wrote that, "The antagonism of Indian races was an element of strength to the British India. Therefore 'a dissociating spirit' should be kept up, for if India was to unite against us, how long could we maintain ourselves."

Both these quotes amply indicate towards shape of policies in times to come. As a foundation of these polices, 'doctoring of mass consciousness' along religious lines began through specially sponsored History books. The two major ones' in this direction were Six Volume 'History of India as told by her Historians' by Elliot and Dawson and History of India by James Mill, who periodized the Indian History into Hindu Period, Muslim Period and British period. This periodization gave the impression that history's period is determined by the religion of the king. Needless to say that the medieval administration of Kings was never based along religious lines; their court officials and chain of Landlords were belonging to both the religions. These British sponsored accounts of History argued that Muslims Rulers had enslaved India and now British have come to end the misrule of Muslim Kings. Such an account became a convenient tool in the hands of Hindu communalists, Hindu Mahsabha and RSS, to play their part of divisive politics amongst masses. The Muslim League turned it around to say that Muslim rulers were glorious and great.

This communalization of minds was the fertile soil on which the communalists could plant their narrow agenda of Muslim Nation and Hindu Nation. Another British Historian Sir T.W. Holderness in his book Peoples and Problems of India mooted the idea that Hindus and Muslims regard themselves as separate nations. This book came out in 1923 and in the same year Savarkar came out with his book, 'Hindutva or Who is a Hindu'?, where the same formulation was presented in a different way.

At concrete level on the political chessboard, Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India, partitioned Bengal (1904) with communal motivation and this was probably the first concrete experiment in communalizing the politics at big level. Curzon went on to declare that this is an attempt to invest in the Mussalmans of Eastern Bengal. Just a couple of years later (2006) the delegation of Muslim Landlords and Nawabs was received by Viceroy, where he declared that these Muslim elite to be the representatives of Muslim community. The delegation went to ask for separate electorate for Muslims, and these separate electorates introduced later acted as the trigger to polarize the nation along religious lines. Many a members of this delegation were also part of United India Patriotic Association, an organization of Hindu and Muslim landlords and Kings which had come up in the wake of formation of Indian National Congress. Indian National Congress was critical of British and in response, this association pledged to enhance the loyalty of the people to the British crown.

Thus Viceroy Minto subtly encouraged Muslim communalism, and later the same delegation members went on to form Muslim League. Lady Minto in her communication takes pride in what the Lord had done. She commented that what has happened, the receiving of delegation etc. will pull back sixty million people from joining the ranks of seditious opposition, meaning the rising national movement.

MacDonald's Communal Award of 1932 was the next step, which enhanced the communal divides. Interestingly in 1939 Congress firmly told the British that they will not join the war efforts until they are guaranteed freedom in return. And lo and behold in 1940 Jinnah comes with the demand for Pakistan at Lahore Muslim League convention. Can such things be coincidental? Demand of Pakistan may have been a bargaining counter but its timing is interesting.

No doubt the Cabinet mission plan could have prevented partition, but it is debatable whether it would not have sown the fissiparous tendencies amongst the princely states and the states where Muslim League was in majority. The other necessity which made British to partition India, related to their strategic needs in the area. At the end of WWII, the global power equations changed. USA and USSR both emerged as major powers. US had posted its representative in India from 1942. With British deciding to leave India, freedom was imperative. The British calculation at this time was that an Undivided India with leadership of Congress will not let Britain continue with its military bases in the area. With USSR coming up in a big way, Mao Tse Tung rising in China and section of Congress leadership impressed by socialism, UK-USA were sure that India will not side with them in their global designs of countering USSR militarily and in continuing their oil plunder in middle east. Here comes the Radcliff Line, which runs in the areas adjacent to Iraq, Afghanistan and Sinkiang. British diplomats had the job cut out for them, to make Jinnah accept moth eaten Pakistan and to make Congress leadership to accept the partition.

Somehow the plans of imperialists were immaculate. And in times to come Pakistan, where Mr. Jinnah wanted to have religious freedom, was converted into a land ruled by Mullahs, Army and American Ambassador. It was the same Pakistan which was supported to the hilt on the Kashmir issue; the idea was that US strategic interests are safe with this arrangement. It is a matter of great relief that Pakistan is struggling to come out from the vice like grip of Army, but can it shed its client state type status vis a vis US, is the million rupee question. The people of Pakistan have been big victim of Imperialist designs all through while Pakistan military has been having all the green pastures for itself.

In partitioning India, colonialists reaped rich harvest at the cost of the people of the subcontinent, millions dead, a single entity India, divided into Pakistan, India and Bangla Desh. These countries keep on spending a major part of their budgets in investing in armaments and fattening of their armed forces, something which could have been meaningfully invested for the growth and development of the region. We need to wake up from the blame game and see the real culprit.

Ram Puniyani

india.ozg.in @ FB

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Five girls killed in Delhi school stampede

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:21:00 +0000

A stampede at the Government Senior Secondary School at Khajuri Khas in the trans-Yamuna area on Thursday morning left five girls dead and 35 students injured. Six of the victims are in the Intensive Care Unit of the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in a critical condition.

The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry by the area Deputy Commissioner and announced an ex gratia of Rs.1 lakh to the families of each of the deceased and Rs.50,000 to each injured.

Tragedy struck around 9.15 a.m. when students of Classes VII, X, XI and XII were in the school to take the first term examination.

"There was a lot of confusion about the seating arrangement because of rain. Then there was an announcement asking the boys to go to the first floor," said a Class X girl student.

She said a large number of girls were in the corridor and the classrooms on the first floor. When the boys reached there, some of them allegedly started misbehaving with the girls. This apparently triggered panic and the girls ran towards a narrow staircase, resulting in the stampede.

A Class X student, Jyoti, said some of the injured girls fell unconscious.

While 33 of those injured were rushed to the GTB Hospital in ambulances and police vans, the others were taken to another nearby hospital. Doctors at the GTB Hospital tried to revive five of the victims, but finally declared them brought dead. They were identified as Lalita, Mumtaz, Ayesha, Monika and Afroz. Most of the deaths were due to head injuries.

As news about the stampede spread, local residents gathered outside the school in large numbers demanding action against the administration.

They damaged a chartered bus and blocked traffic for some time. Girl students alleged that eve-teasing by outsiders was common in the school, which conducted separate classes for girls and boys. The police later barricaded the lane leading up to the school.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit visited the injured at the GTB Hospital in the afternoon. She said an inquiry had been ordered and the guilty would be punished.

The police have registered a case of causing death due to negligence and are waiting to record the statements of those injured.

The Hindu / Sep 11, 2009

http://india.ozg.in @ FB

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After Ishrat Jehan, truth must come out in the Batla House Encounter: Demand for Judicial Probe

noreply@blogger.com (Ozg Media Consulting) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:04:00 +0000

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,

A judicial inquiry report on the killings of four Muslim youths in Ahmedabad in June 2004 has revealed they were abducted and killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat Police. It was falsely claimed by the police that all four, including Ishrat Jehan - a girl student from Mumbai - belonged to a terrorist organisation and had plotted to murder Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Together with the case of Sheikh Sohrabuddin earlier, there is clear evidence piling up that the Gujarat government, over the last 8 years, has repeatedly staged fake encounters and murdered people in cold blood, branding them as 'terrorists'. However Narendra Modi or BJP governments are not alone when it comes to such encounters and minority witch-hunts in the name of 'fighting terrorism'. Arbitrary killings and arrests of Muslim youth and their implication in false cases continue unabated across the country in state after state ruled by constituents of both the UPA and the NDA.

One such sordid 'encounter' occurred last year on 19th September, when two young men were shot dead at Batla House by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police, who claimed they were operatives of the Indian Mujahedeen, which was allegedly responsible for the Delhi serial blasts. Civil rights activists had pointed out several loopholes in the police version. The photographic evidence of the dead bodies clearly showed external injuriesa fact confirmed by the post mortem reports of the deceased. Who caused those injuries?

If indeed, as the Delhi Police claims, the boys fired upon the police party, and were killed in return fire, how was it that there were injury marks on the bodies? Further, bullet injuries on the forehead of 17-year-old Sajid indicates that he had been shot while being forced to squat or kneel.

It is to be noted that no magisterial enquiry was allowed into the 'encounter' even though this is mandatorily required by law. The enquiry conducted later at the request of the Delhi High Court by the National Human Rights Commission can only be termed a farce, as it relied solely upon the version provided by the Delhi Policethe accused party! In its rush to pronounce the innocence of the Delhi Police, the NHRC refused to even maintain a fig leaf of impartiality and fairness.

In the light of recent revelations from Gujarat in the case of Ishrat Jehan we believe that it is only appropriate, ethical, and legally incumbent upon the UPA government to re-open the Batla House 'encounter' case. We strongly feel that the truth must come out in the Batla House 'encounter' in the interests of justice and as a deterrent to the politics of murder indulged in by sections of the Indian police.

We urge you, therefore, to immediately institute a Judicial Probe, under a sitting judge of the Supreme Court to verify the truth about the Batla House 'encounter'.

Manisha
Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association

http://delhi.ozg.in

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