Monday, June 27, 2016

मुल्क में यातना मुक्ति और अमनो-अमान के लिए एतेहासिक कबीर मठ में रोज़ा अफ़्तार और अल्लाहो अकबर के जरिये गूंजी कौमी यक्ज़हती की सदाएं

मानवाधिकार जननिगरानी समिति/जनमित्र न्यास, बुनकर दस्तकार अधिकार मंच, सावित्री बा फूले महिला पंचायत, बाल पंचायत के बैनर तले एवं टाटा ट्रस्ट, डिग्निटी के सहयोग से “संयुक्तराष्ट्र द्वारा 26 जून को यातना पीड़ितो लोगों के समर्थन में अंतर्राष्ट्रीय दिवस” के अवसर पर आज 26 जून, 2016 को वाराणसी के ऐतिहासिक मूलगादी कबीर मठ में मनाया गया | जिसमे एक बार फिर बनारस व आस-पास के बुद्धिजीवियों, सामाजिक कार्यकर्ताओं, जमीनी जनप्रतिनिधियों एवं शिक्षा जगत के लोगों के साथ ही विभिन्न धर्मो के धर्मगुरूओ का जमवाड़ा हुआ | जिसमे सभी सम्मानित जन ने अंतर्राष्ट्रीय यातना मुक्ति दिवस-26 जून पर राज्य सभा में लंबित यातना विरोधी बिल को पास कराये जाने की पुरजोर अपील एवं हस्ताक्षर अभियान द्वारा इसे जल्द से जल्द लागू कराये जाने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री एवं महामहिम राष्ट्रपति को ज्ञापन सौपने का निश्चय किया | जिसमे काशी के गंगा-जमुनी तहज़ीब को मजबूती प्रदान करने के लिए सर्वधर्म सम्भाव के तहत रोज़ा अफ़्तार का कार्यक्रम भी आयोजित किया गया |

कार्यक्रम की रूपरेखा पर प्रकाश डालते हुए मानवाधिकार जननिगरानी समिति के सीईओ डा0 लेनिन रघुवंशी ने कहा कि समाज में मानवाधिकार संरक्षण एवं मज़बूतीकरण के लिये पूरे विश्व में यातना मुक्ति हेतू 26 जून को अंतर्राष्ट्रीय यातना मुक्ति दिवस के रूप में मनाया जाता है | यातना मुक्त समाज निर्माण हेतू सरकार को यातना विरोधी क़ानून बनाकर अधिक जवाबदेह एवं संवेदनशील बनाया जाना चाहिये | यातना विरोधी कन्वेंशन (UNCAT/PTB) क़ानून को भारत में अविलम्ब लागू कराने में सभी राजनैतिक पार्टियों को अपनी महती भूमिका अदा करना चाहिये |
वरिष्ठ इस्लामिक विद्वान एवं मुफ़्ती मौलाना हारून रशीद नक्शबंदी ने कहा कि आज जरूरत है कि कौमी यकजहती और भाईचारा के नज़रिए से यातना विरोधी बिल को अवाम के हक़ में जल्द ब जल्द लागू किया जाए | ताकि ग़रीब,मज़लूमों के साथ इंसाफ हो सके और बनारस इस तरह के पहल के लिए हमेशा आगे रहा है |


मानवाधिकार जननिगरानी समिति के महासचिव जै कुमार मिश्रा ने कहा कि भारत में बढ़ते हुए मानवाधिकार हनन की घटनाओं एवं विभिन्न हिंसात्मक गतिविधियों से प्रभावित पीड़ित लोगों को जोड़ते हुए हम लोग यह वर्ष “यातना मुक्ति एवं सामाजिक एकता व अंतर्धार्मिक सौहार्द स्थापना वर्ष” के रूप में मना रहे है |
वरिष्ठ सामाजिक कार्यकर्त्ता डा0 मोहम्मद आरिफ़ ने कहा कि भारत सरकार द्वारा संयुक्त राष्ट्र संघ के यातना विरोधी कन्वेंशन (UNCAT) पर हस्ताक्षर तो किया गया है, किन्तु “यातना विरोधी बिल” राज्य सभा में लम्बित है | जिसके कारण भारत में यातना के विभिन्न स्वरूप से रोकथाम एवं पुनर्वास का कोई मज़बूत व प्रभावशाली नीति-नियम नहीं है | जिसे राज्य सभा में लागू कराये जाने के लिए हमारा यह अभियान जारी रहेगा |
विख्यात मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता व प्रसिद्द इतिहासकार डा0 महेंद्र प्रताप सिंह ने कहा कि विश्व पटल पर लोकतांत्रिक मानवीय क़ानून एवं संविधान के प्रति सरकार को जवाबदेह बनाने के उद्देश्य से यातना विरोधी कन्वेंशन (UNCAT) क़ानून को यू०एन० द्वारा सभी देशों के लिए अनिवार्य किया गया है | जिस पर भारत ने भी हस्ताक्षर किया है| लेकिन यह बिल अभी राज्य सभा में लंबित है, जिस पर हम सभी की मांग है कि उसे अविलम्ब लागू किया जाए |
समाजसेवी व वरिष्ठ अधिवक्ता तनवीर अहमद सिद्दीकी ने कहा कि पुलिस व संगठित यातना जैसे गंभीर मुद्दे पर यातना विरोधी बिल को पास कराये जाने हेतू सभी राजनैतिक पार्टियों से अपील की है | उन्होंने कहा कि रोज़ा अफ़्तार जैसे पवित्र कार्यक्रम से इसकी शुरुआत निश्चय ही फलदायक होगी |
प्रोफ़ेसर शाईना रिजवी ने कहा कि ज़ुल्म व ज्यादती का कोई भी तरीका इंसानी हक़ व हुकूक को पामाल करता है और आज के दौर में अकलियत तबके के लोग इसके सबसे ज्यादा शिकार है | आज मुल्क के सभी जेलों में मुस्लिमों व दलित कैदियों की तादाद सबसे ज्यादा है | ऐसे में यातना विरोधी बिल जैसे अहम विधेयक के लागू होने से जम्हूरियत व इंसाफ पसंदी को मज़बूती मिलेगी |
सुप्रसिद्ध समाज सेवी मुनीज़ा रफीक खान ने कहा कि आम जनमानस के परिपेक्ष्य में यातना विरोधी बिल को पास कराये जाने की उपयोगिता व महत्त्व को रेखांकित किया और मौजूदा समय में बढ़ते मानवाधिकार हनन की घटनाओं की रोकथाम में इस विधेयक को प्रासंगित बताया |
बौद्ध धर्म के अनुयायी अशोक आनंद ने कहा कि समाज के सभी वर्ग के बुद्धिजीवियों के संयुक्त प्रयास से एक सामूहिक हस्ताक्षर अभियान व अपील कार्यक्रम चलाया जा रहा है | इसमें हम सभी लोगो को अपनी महती भूमिका निभाने की अति आवश्यकता है जिससे ये पैगाम आम जन मानस तक पहुच सके और सरकार पर दबाव बनाया जा सके |
वरिष्ठ सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता बल्लभाचार्य पाण्डेय ने जोर देते हुए कहा कि क़ानून के अंतर्गत यातना के विभिन्न खतरनाक स्वरूप को समाप्त कर मानवाधिकार संपन्न समाज का निर्माण किया जाए और इस लोकतंत्र को और मजबूत बनाया जा सके |

इस कार्यक्रम के अंतर्गत शाम को पवित्र रमज़ान माह के रोज़ा अफ़्तार कार्यक्रम का भी आयोजन किया गया | मुल्क में यातना मुक्ति और अमनो-अमान के लिए एतेहासिक कबीर मठ में रोज़ा अफ़्तार का भी किया गया और कबीर की इस ऐतिहासिक प्रांगण में रोजेदारो ने नमाज अदा की अपने रोज़े खोले |



लाल बहादुर राम, सिद्दीक हसन, इदरीश अंसारी, महंत गोपाल दास, देव शरण शाश्त्री, आफ़ताब आलम, फादर आनंद, प्रोफ़ेसर महेश विक्रम, प्रोफ़ेसर शैला परवीन, सागिर, बाबुदीन, मुख़्तार, महताब, इरशाद अहमद, रहमानी, अजय सिंह, उमेश, छाया, आनंद, रोहित, अरविन्द, शिव प्रताप चौबे, क्रांति, राजेंद्र, घनश्याम विभिन्न मदरसों के शिक्षक व प्रबंधक शामिल रहे | अंत में धन्यवाद ज्ञापन मानवाधिकार जननिगरानी समिति की प्रोग्राम डायरेक्टर सुश्री शिरीन शबाना खान ने किया |



Sunday, June 26, 2016

SHACKLES OF MODERN-DAY SLAVERY


The latest figure available with the Human Rights Commission shows over 14 million children living under slavery. “If one does an honest counting, this number would surely jump to twice that — perhaps closer to 30 million,” said National Convener of People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Lenin Raghuvanshi. “Men, women and children are forced to work as bonded labourers in brick kilns and bangle industry. Unfortunately, women and children are never accounted for,” he added.

Raghuvanshi believes bonded labour is a contemporary form of slavery. “If it is still existing, it is a clear reflection of the failure of welfare state. The Government, which is supposed to provide them basic necessities, has failed them. As they are poor, they move out to eke out a living in cities and end up as bonded labourers in brick kilns and factories,” he added.

Majority of these bonded labourers are migrants workers who shift from impoverished regions like Bundelkhand, Bihar and Jharkhand in search of work, and since they are unskilled workers, they end up in brick kilns or bangle factories of Firozabad. In brick kilns, the entire family works as a team. “These migrant workers are allotted a piece of land by the owner where the workers have to dig the earth and then wet it with water to make the mud suitable for the moulding process. Generally for moulding, the whole family is engaged, including young children,” said Convener, Voice of People, Shruti Nagvanshi.

The labourers are paid Rs200 for making 1,000 bricks, which are then sold in the market for Rs7,000! These labourers are recruited by agents, who ask them to take their family along. “It is an attractive prospect where one is allowed to take his family with him. The labourer is promised accommodation, is often paid an advance — which is a veiled term for debt. Once he accepts the advance, he falls into the trap,” she explained.
The workers are not allowed to leave the brick kiln premises, and the living conditions are barely basic. Labourers live in shanties with bricks piled one upon another as walls and straw covering the top, which do not afford any protection from the sun and rains. These rooms are small, measuring 4 feet x 5 feet. In such tiny rooms, labourers and their families have to manage their kitchen and keep their household goods.
Studies carried out by different agencies also point to alleged sexual exploitation of women in brick kilns. Radha (name changed) was lured from her village in Jharkhand on the pretext of a job by another women and sold as a bonded labourer in a brick kiln at Jaunpur. She told human rights activists that she was raped daily by the brick kiln owner and was beaten up when she protested.
Young children are the worst sufferers though. They do not go to schools and instead help their parents arrange bricks for drying, and collect the broken and improperly moulded bricks. Once they get older, they are drawn into this trade having being trained from young age.
Kamla, mother of five, revealed how her two youngest children, Medhu (5) and Rani (3), used to cry for food. With barely Rs200 she made for making 1,000 bricks, she didn’t have enough to feed her family, and her daughter died of malnutrition before she could turn four.
Workers employed in brick kilns mostly belong to the Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST) and minorities, which are usually non-literate and non-numerate. They do not easily understand the arithmetic of loan/debt/advance, and documentary evidence remains with the creditor and its contents are never made known to them.
Full article as follows:
#endslavery #bondedlabour #slavery #u4humanrights #humanrights







Thursday, June 16, 2016

Women Activism and Politics in Sweden and India

Shruti Nagvanshi and I are going to participate in Conference on ‘Women Activism and Politics in Sweden and India’ to be held on 20th  & 21s June, 2016 at Karlstad University, Sweden. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Karlstad University, in collaboration with the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University, as a part of a series of conferences to be held in Sweden and India.

Shruti is going to present paper titled Reality of grass root on women rights in Northern India and I am going to present paper Masculinity and India on 21 September 2016.

Please find details as follows:

#u4humanrights #sweden #women #womenrights #india 

Monday, June 13, 2016

Case Study of Cartis India Survey on the Right to Education in Bihar: A Booklet

The NGO Caritas India working in Bihar had jointly organised the conference in collaboration with Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR). All the recommendations of the conference are being communicated to NGOs, political parties, Niti Ayog, members of parliament, Ministry of Human Resource Development and policy makers, Lenin said.

Caritas has opened many schools in Bihar for poor children and providing help to madrassas. While the PVCHR is working rigorously in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand on the issues of Human Rights and Child Rights from last few years. The Organization is also providing training and support to different organizations in 17 states of the country on the issue of Human Rights and Child Rights.


#u4humanrights #caritas #bihar #PVCHR #RTE #education

Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Saturday, June 04, 2016

Three surprise honour to Ms. Ruby Ray,Pandit Vikash Maharaj and Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi at city hall of Remschied,Germany



Three surprise honour to Ms. Ruby Ray,Pandit Vikash Maharaj and Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi at city hall of Remschied,Germany on occasion of 50th anniversary of Indo-German Society,affiliate Remschied.

Life time honorary membership of Indo-German Society,affiliate Remschied to Lenin Raghuvanshi as honour of his tireless and continuous work for promotion of pluralism and diversity .

Congratulation to all from PVCHR.

News in German as follows:
Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft
Drei überraschende Ehrungen bei Festakt
rei überraschende Ehrungen und ein Konzert krönten am Freitagabend den Empfang im Rathaus anlässlich des 50-jährigen Bestehens der Zweiggesellschaft Remscheid der Deutsch-Indischen Gesellschaft (DIG).
Die gebürtige Inderin Ruby Ray kann nicht nur famos kochen, sondern auch singen, wie sie eingangs des Festaktes mit einem Lied-Gebet unter Beweis stellte. Ray hatte vor zehn Jahren ein indisches Kochbuch herausgegeben und veranstaltet immer wieder Kochkurse.
Die zweite Ehrenurkunde gab es für den Pandit (Meister) Vikash Maharaj, den Sarod-Maestro. Sarod ist das persische Wort für Musik, aus dem sich im Indischen die Bezeichnung für das gleichnamige Saiteninstrument ableitet. Das ist ein mit Ziegenfell bespannter Mahagoni-Korpus unter 25 bundlosen Metallsaiten.
Vikash Maharaj ist zurzeit mit seinen Söhnen Abishek und Prabhash in der Stadt; als Maharaj-Trio geben sie am morgigen Sonntag (19 Uhr) mit dem Remscheider Gitarristen Uli Spormann in der Pfarrkirche St. Suitbertus ein Konzert. Eine Kostprobe gab es am Freitagabend im Ratssaal.
Die dritte Urkunde gab es in Abwesenheit für Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi, den Gründer der Gesellschaft in Varanasi, die die DIG in Remscheid besonders fördert. Dr. Lenin war schon einmal in Remscheid und empfing im Februar eine Delegation mit Helma Ritscher und jungen Remscheidern, die sich seit ihren Tagen auf dem Röntgen-Gymnasium engagieren – und für Ritscher quasi Garanten für den Fortbestand der Gesellschaft sind
Read link for details:

Please read news about Lenins' Visit in may 2015 to Remschied:


#u4humanrights #pvchr #remschied #germany #india #pluralism #diversity #dignity

Thursday, June 02, 2016

Slavery Persists for Millions in India, Despite Improvements


"These poor and deprived people are forced to leave their homes because of poverty. This is clear reflection of the failure of the welfare state," said Lenin Rghuvanshi of the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, the charity which put together a December report based on testimony from 450 people rescued from slavery and bonded labor in India last year, including Kamla.

"Bonded labor is a contemporary type of slavery," he said. "The government, which is supposed to provide them basic necessities, has failed them."

Radha, kidnapped from her family by a woman from her village and forced into bonded labor at a brick kiln near Varanasi, told the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights she was raped daily by the factory's owner when she was not cooking and cleaning for him, and then was beaten when she tried to object.


#endslavery #pvchr #bondedlabour #u4humanrights




Every day as Kamla dug through the mud and molded bricks for north Indian kiln, her two hungry children would cry out to her for food. The 200 rupees ($3) she made for producing 1,000 bricks at a time wasn't nearly enough to feed her family, and her daughter died of malnutrition before she turned 4.
Kamla's story, told to one of the many charities fighting forced labor in India, is common enough to explain how slavery persists in the country despite rapid development that has helped make India the world's fastest-growing economy.
On Tuesday, the South Asian democracy topped a global slavery index counting some 18.35 million modern slaves — or 40 percent of a global total of 45.8 million. The report, released by The Walk Free Foundation, included children and adults forced into labor, often unpaid or to pay off a debt, as well as child brides, child soldiers and migrant workers in 167 countries.
"These poor and deprived people are forced to leave their homes because of poverty. This is clear reflection of the failure of the welfare state," said Lenin Rghuvanshi of the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, the charity which put together a December report based on testimony from 450 people rescued from slavery and bonded labor in India last year, including Kamla.
"Bonded labor is a contemporary type of slavery," he said. "The government, which is supposed to provide them basic necessities, has failed them."
Officials with the Indian Labor Ministry declined to comment on the slavery index report, which showed China a distant second with some 3.39 million modern slaves counted. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. North Korea was found to have the highest per capita rate of modern slavery, with 4.37 percent of its population affected.
The problem of slavery in India — including child marriage and bonded labor — has long been a challenge and cause for shame. Just last week, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee lambasted India's record on human rights, asking how India could have so many slaves. "I mean, seriously, do they have just zero prosecution abilities, zero law enforcement? I mean, how could this happen? It's on that scale, it's pretty incredible," Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said.
Many had seen the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, who was awarded along with Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, as a sign that India would be forced to better protect its 1.25 billion citizens from abuse.
But child labor, the trafficking of sex workers, and bonded labor remains widespread, despite India's rapid economic growth over the past decade. Laws meant to keep children in school and out of the workplace are routinely flouted, as millions are forced into difficult and sometimes toxic jobs including rolling cigarettes, blowing glass in factories, mining in stone quarries or dyeing leather in tanneries.
Some activists blamed the government for maintaining a top-down economy where illegal labor can still flourish because of high unemployment and abject poverty in the countryside. While the official jobless rate has hovered around 10 percent since 1983, some economists say that counting only the number of people actively looking for work ignores the masses who have only part-time jobs or who have simply given up.
"The laws are there, but there is no political will on the part of the government to implement them," peace activist Swami Agnivesh said. "The government can't afford to annoy rural rich as well as the urban rich who are exploiting the situation."
Amid the rising criticism, the Indian government on Monday published draft legislation to curb human trafficking without punishing its victims. "At present the law says the trafficked and the trafficker are both criminals and they both go to jail. Now, we are saying the victim will not go to jail," said Maneka Gandhi, the government's minister for women and child development, according to Press Trust of India.
Still, some activists said the situation was improving in India, thanks to public awareness, legal reforms and police-backed raids on factories employing workers illegally.
"We get 20 complaints per day from family members and public in general" reporting labor abuse — a sign that awareness of the problem was growing, said Ramesh Senger from Satyarthi's Save the Childhood Movement.
He noted that India's carpet industry used to employ 300,000 trafficked children just a decade ago, but that the number has come down to an estimated 5,000-10,000. Meanwhile, the number of children forced to work making plastic bangles in parts of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh is now negligible, whereas thousands worked in the industry 10 years ago.
India's garment industry hub in the Indian capital has also eliminated child labor, Sanger noted as an example of how police-backed raids can make a difference.
"We rescued nearly 400 children in the area between 2012-2014," he said. "The garments industry in the area no longer employs child labor."
But for those still mired in forced labor, the scourge can't be ended soon enough. And with little recourse against abusive employers, they can only hope to be rescued by a charity intervening.
Radha, kidnapped from her family by a woman from her village and forced into bonded labor at a brick kiln near Varanasi, told the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights she was raped daily by the factory's owner when she was not cooking and cleaning for him, and then was beaten when she tried to object.
"I was so scared," she said. "I'm still in pain from the rapes."

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Varanasi Weavers Crisis

उत्पीड़न का सामाजिक भूगोल

Please find write up of Ramji Yadav. He is facing resource crunch but he is very active on basis of committment.
रामजी यादव का जन्म बनारस के एक गाँव चमांव में हुआ . शिक्षा के दौरान ही वामपंथी आन्दोलन की ओर झुकाव तथा कई वर्ष बनारस , कानपुर तथा दिल्ली में पूर्णकालिक राजनीतिक कार्यकर्ता के रूप में काम . बाद में लेखन और वृत्तचित्र निर्माण करने लगे . जाने-माने कथाकार , कवि एवं समीक्षक . अथकथा-इतिकथा (कहानी संकलन) एवं अँधेरा #भारत (उत्पीड़ितों की आत्म कहानियां) के अतिरिक्त ज्योतिबा फुले , भारतेंदु हरिशचंद्र , डॉ अम्बेडकर , गिजुभाई बधेका एवं रामचंद्र शुक्ल संकलन प्रकाशित . उल्लेखनीय और प्रशंसित वृतचित्रों में गाँव का आदमी , एक #औरत की अपनी कसम , समय की शिला पर , पैर अभी थके नहीं , यादें , पानीवालियां , खिड़कियाँ हैं बैल चाहिए , The Caste Matters , We Shall Reject आदि हैं . फ़िलहाल #कनहर सिंचाई परियोजना पर एक उपन्यास ‘प्रेमकथा में डूबगाँव’ एवं प्रचुर कथा एवं गैर कथा लेखन के अलावा भारत के जनांदोलनों के दस्तावेजीकरण के साथ ‘गाँव के लोग’ नामक ट्रस्ट का संचालन . #बनारस और यदा-कदा #मुंबई में निवास .
संपर्क – ग्राम -- अहिरान , पोस्ट – चमांव , शिवपुर , वाराणसी – 221003
मोबाइल – 91 -- 9454684118 , 969984413
ईमेल –yadav.ramji2@gmail.com