ARE WE LIVING UNDER MARTIAL LAW
Sunita , owner of Danish Books has been summoned by the Chandrapur Police for interrogation today, 16 October 2006 along with Sh. Vijay Vairagade, a local social activist and his 16 year old son who is a minor. The police claim that they have clinching evidence against Sunita which proves beyond doubt that she has Maoist affiliations and is indulged in activities which are subversive in nature. However, the local thana and the police is not ready to part with any information regarding these charges to the lawyers who are there to represent Sunita.
It has been claimed by the police that Sunita belongs to Jehanabad of Bihar and her first husband was killed in police encounter. They also claim that 15% of the literature seized from the stall of the Daanish Book is of offensive nature and supports the politics of the Maoists.
To put the record straight Sunita has no connection with Jehanabad. Her parental family hails from Naugachiya District of Bihar. Actually by establishing a relationship between her and Jehanabad which is known for Naxal politics the MH police want to prove that she is also a naxalite. The police claim about her first husband being killed in police action is also a issue of imagination. Her first husband is a known leftist political activist and is based at Patna and very much alive. She is now married to Shri Dhruva Narayan, a reputed publisher, who has to his credit titles by Noam Chomsky, Samir Amin, Tariq Ali and other nationally and internationally reputed authors. Sunita has been active in student and women's movements and has worked with the National Commission for Women, a statutory body constituted by the Government of India for two years. She has also worked with Books For Change, a subsidiary of the ActionAid India, an international agency .
Sunita is a known publisher and distributor and she visits all major book exhibitions and fairs and put up her stall everywhere. As publisher and distributor gets calls from all kinds of people and they also visit her stalls. Chandrapur being on centre of police action against naxal activities in the region, police use their extraordinary powers to harass anybody. For last few months they have been raiding the houses of social activists and journalists and seizing books and implicating them in false criminal cases. According to reliable sources, the Chandrapur police intends to book Sunita under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
One needs to recall that yesterday on 15 october,2006 in a shocking and bizarre incident the Maharashtra Police, Chandrapur had seized 41 books from the stall of Daanish Books, which were displayed in the book exhibition which is held every year on 15-16 October, on the occasion of the Deeksha Day celebrations to mark the day when Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism 50 years ago . The books seized by the police for containing dangerous , anti state material include books like Marathi translation of the Thoughts of Bhagat Singh, Ramdeen Ka Sapna by B.D. Sharma, Jati Vyavastha- Bhartiya Kranti Ki Khasiyat by Vaskar Nandy, Monarchy Vs Democracy by Baburam Bhattarai, Nepali Samargaatha: Maowadi Janyuddha ka Aankhon Dekha Vivaran (The Hindi edition of eminent American Journalist Li Onesto's celebrated book Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal, Translated by Anand Swarup Varma), Daliton par Badhati Jyadatiya aur Unka Krantikari Jawab, Chhapamar Yudhha by Che Guevara and books on Marxism and Leninism and people's struggles. Non of the books seized by the police is banned or declared offensive by any state agencies.
A contingent of nearly 70 armed policemen surrounded the stall of Daanish Books this afternoon and remained there for more than three hours, making a list of books they wanted to seize. Earlier they made a list of more than 200 books. After a long argument Sunita had on telephone with the Chandrapur S.P., they removed many books and left with 41 books some of which have been mentioned above. They left the place after threatening Sunita that she would be arrested as they had information that she had Maoist links. When contacted, the S.P. assured Sunita that nothing would happen to her and he would personally come to see her next morning. But press circle is abuzz with rumours that Sunita might be arrested tomorrow as police suspect her to be a member of some Maoist outfit.
Friends, Sunita and Daanish Books are a familiar feature of many pro-people programmes or events where they put up their stalls unfailingly. They are publishers of repute with strong pro-people leanings. They publish and display books which are at many times critical of the state policies. Is it a crime to publish and display such books in a democracy like India? That such an action can be taken by the police without any hesitation shows that India is fast turning into a police-state and police feels free to indulge in such unlawful activities in the name of containing terrorism. They can seize books, arrest people and even kill them without any fear of public outrage.
We express our solidarity with Sunita and her colleagues at Daanish Books and condemn this highhandedness of the Chandrapur Police. We demand a statement from the Home Minister, Maharashtra on this incident.
This is an appeal to all of you to condemn this highhandedness of Chandrapur police and a request to all of you write to the S.P., Chandrapur condemning this incident and asking for their apology.
Telephone and Fax numbers of SP and DM of Chandrapur:
SP--Mr. Kadam 07172-255202 Fax: 07172-255800, Mobile: 09822943358
DM--Mr. Sanjay Jaisawal 07172-255300
Apoorvanand, Unv. Of Delhi
Shabnam Hashmi, ANHAD
Harsh Mander, AMAN BIRADARI
Ram Puniyani, AISF, Mumbai
Anand swaroop verma, Freelance journalist and writer
Aditya nigam, Fellow, CSDS
Khurshid anwar, ISD
Nivedita Menon, Unv of Delhi
Purushottam Agrawal, JNU
Dilip Simeon, Fellow, Nehru museum amd Teen Murti Library,
Jamal Kidwai, Aman Trust
Charu Gupta, Fellow, Nehru Memorial Library
Mukul Sharma, Amnesty International, India
Vijay Pratap, Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam
Imtiaz Ahmad, JNU
Poorva Bhardwaj, Nirantar
Jaya Mehta, Sandarbh Kendra, Indore, IPTA
Vineet Tiwari, Gen. Secretary, MP Progressive Writers' Association, Sandarbh Kendra, IPTA
Nasirruddin haider Khan, Journalist, Lucknow
Arshad Ajamal, Social Activist, Patna
Rupesh, , Social Activist, Patna
Kavita Srivastava, PUCL, Jaipur
Premkrishna Sharma, PUCL, New Delhi
Piya Chatterji
Anil Chaudhary, INSAF
Prabhakar Sinha, PUCL
Vijay Singh, Delhi University
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Rajni Tilak, NACDOR
Harjinder Singh, Hyderabad
Gautam Navlakha
Anil Sadgopal
Hari Lamba
Hari Sharma, SANSAD
D Narasimha Reddy, Hyderabad
Ganesh N Devy, Baroda
Kamla Prashad, National Progressive Writer's Association
Tanvir Akhtar, IPTA
Bhanu Bharati, Playwright and threatre director
Alok Rai, Professor, Deptt of English, DU
Arun Kumar, JNU
Subodh Malakar, JNU
Kamal Nayan Kabra, IIPA
Ashok Vajpeyi, Poet
Vishnu Nagar, Poet and Journalist
Monday, October 16, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Four dead and still counting
Four dead and still counting
[ 24 Sep, 2006 0046hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
BELWA (VARANASI DISTRICT): It's noon by the time Laxmina gets around to cooking but food's ready in a jiffy. Four rotis and a bowl of water in which she dissolves some salt. Dip, dip, dip...and three hungry kids gulp down their first and last meal of the day.
"By evening they will be crying again but I'll just give them a slap or two and they will quieten down and go to sleep," she says. Her face is deadpan but her voice betrays her desperation. It's been only a month since her nine-month-old daughter Seema died hungry and sick.
Before that in June, Laxmina lost her father Phoolchand. It's the monsoon months that are the worst in Belwa. With the brick kilns where most of this hamlet's Musahars work closed from July to October, death is forever at the door.
Bhotu, a 55-year-old bonded labourer freed some years ago, rattles off the names of those who have succumbed in the last two months: Muneeb, Monu, Seema and Karmina all aged between nine months and eight years.
Though the district administration claims the kids died because of various ailments, the villagers hotly contest this. "We cook once in three or four days, can our children be healthy?" asks Kismati, whose three-year-old son Muneeb died on May 29.
Just three days earlier, the primary health centre at Baragaon had recorded that the child weighed only 10 kg and suffered from severe malnutrition.
In a health check of children in Belwa, People's Vigilance Council for Human Rights (PVCHR), an organisation that works in the area, found that more than 80% of kids were malnourished.
"But it took three deaths for the district authorities to issue Antodaya Ann Yojna (AAY) cards (which entitles the holder to 35 kg of rice and wheat at a subsidised price of Rs 95)," says Lenin Raghuvanshi of PVCHR.
Before that they survived on low-quality grain and chaff doled out to them by the kiln owner instead of cash or just starved. "We go to work even when someone has died and the body is at home.
But even though the money is so little (Rs 140 for 1,000 bricks), the worst is when the kilns are closed. Then the people start dying," says Bhotu. And it starts with the children.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2021616,curpg-2.cms
Heart of darkness
Neelam Raaj
[24 Sep, 2006 0050hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Food is precious here. Be it scouring harvested cornfields to collect the scraps that have fallen unnoticed or following field rats to their burrows to scrape out stored grain, no effort is spared.
In tougher times, even undigested grain from cow dung is washed, cooked and eaten. For the Musahars of eastern UP, the battle to stave off hunger is fought grain by precious grain.
"Our life is worse than rats. Even they get more to eat than us." Coming from a Musahar, which literally means rat-eater the statement's no exaggeration. All around the narrow strip of land on which their small hutments stand are lush corn and paddy fields but the best they can hope for is one square meal a day.
Without land, even that's hard to come by. Of the five lakh Musahars in eastern UP, only 0.5% own land. Most don't own the land their huts stand on. Work is scarce, too. With mechanization reducing the demand for agricultural labour, they toil away at brick kilns and stone quarries for meager wages or subsist on sale of minor forest produce.
In this scenario, government schemes such as PDS, ICDS and mid-day meal could be the proverbial lifelines but they aren't. Complaints pour in from village after village.
"I can afford to lift only 10 kg of grain but the quotedaar (as the ration shop owner is called here) fills the entire amount in the ration book. He makes entries for three months even when I haven't bought anything," says Mahendra, a white-card holder from a village in Bhadohi district.
Colour coding has been used to distinguish ration cards ever since the introduction of the targeted public distribution system in 1997, with white denoting BPL families and red for severely impoverished families who are eligible for Antodaya Ann Yojna (AAY) cards.
At the Musahar basti in Gohilaon, Geeta has neither food nor a ration card. "My husband and I make mahua leaf pattals but we get only Rs 10 every second day. When my children cry too much, I go and beg for some food," she says, as an emaciated three-year-old clings to her.
Ramani, a widow, is one of the 11 in the hamlet of 35 families who has a red card. But unable to afford even the Rs 95 needed for lifting her quota of ration, she sold her card for a few kilos of rice.
"Complaints of large-scale irregularities in PDS have been pouring in. But all that the administration does is temporarily suspend the licence of a ration shop owner. In no time, they're back in business," says Rolee Singh, whose NGO Paharua recently held a public hearing in Bhadohi to draw attention to the issue.
If PDS and ICDS have failed the Musahars, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) hasn't come to their aid either. A case in point is Mirzapur district's Damahi village.
Jaisingh, who has been toiling at a stone quarry for over 10 years to pay off a debt of Rs 15,000, hasn't heard of the scheme or the promised 100 days of work though his village falls under it. Every day, he walks 15 km to the quarry even as the road leading to his village is laid by migrant labourers.
Paid a measly Rs 10 for a three-foot-long stone, he knows his loan will never be repaid or his stomach ever be full. Damahi's Musahar tola, which had five starvation deaths last October, has no anganwadi. The mid-day meal is served at the local school but discrimination persists. "If we are employed as cooks, children of other castes refuse to eat.
Even our children are made to sit separately in school and fed half of what the other kids get," complains a Musahar woman. Musahars are the "outcastes within the outcastes" and lack any kind of social status, explains Samar Pandey, a research scholar at JNU who has conducted several studies in the area.
"They lack even the institutional relationship of jajmani under which a landowning family lets a Dalit live and work on their land. Musahar women don't even get the mandatory saree gift on festivals or when the landlord's son is getting married."
Shunned and starving, that's life for the Musahars.
[ 24 Sep, 2006 0046hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
BELWA (VARANASI DISTRICT): It's noon by the time Laxmina gets around to cooking but food's ready in a jiffy. Four rotis and a bowl of water in which she dissolves some salt. Dip, dip, dip...and three hungry kids gulp down their first and last meal of the day.
"By evening they will be crying again but I'll just give them a slap or two and they will quieten down and go to sleep," she says. Her face is deadpan but her voice betrays her desperation. It's been only a month since her nine-month-old daughter Seema died hungry and sick.
Before that in June, Laxmina lost her father Phoolchand. It's the monsoon months that are the worst in Belwa. With the brick kilns where most of this hamlet's Musahars work closed from July to October, death is forever at the door.
Bhotu, a 55-year-old bonded labourer freed some years ago, rattles off the names of those who have succumbed in the last two months: Muneeb, Monu, Seema and Karmina all aged between nine months and eight years.
Though the district administration claims the kids died because of various ailments, the villagers hotly contest this. "We cook once in three or four days, can our children be healthy?" asks Kismati, whose three-year-old son Muneeb died on May 29.
Just three days earlier, the primary health centre at Baragaon had recorded that the child weighed only 10 kg and suffered from severe malnutrition.
In a health check of children in Belwa, People's Vigilance Council for Human Rights (PVCHR), an organisation that works in the area, found that more than 80% of kids were malnourished.
"But it took three deaths for the district authorities to issue Antodaya Ann Yojna (AAY) cards (which entitles the holder to 35 kg of rice and wheat at a subsidised price of Rs 95)," says Lenin Raghuvanshi of PVCHR.
Before that they survived on low-quality grain and chaff doled out to them by the kiln owner instead of cash or just starved. "We go to work even when someone has died and the body is at home.
But even though the money is so little (Rs 140 for 1,000 bricks), the worst is when the kilns are closed. Then the people start dying," says Bhotu. And it starts with the children.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2021616,curpg-2.cms
Heart of darkness
Neelam Raaj
[24 Sep, 2006 0050hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Food is precious here. Be it scouring harvested cornfields to collect the scraps that have fallen unnoticed or following field rats to their burrows to scrape out stored grain, no effort is spared.
In tougher times, even undigested grain from cow dung is washed, cooked and eaten. For the Musahars of eastern UP, the battle to stave off hunger is fought grain by precious grain.
"Our life is worse than rats. Even they get more to eat than us." Coming from a Musahar, which literally means rat-eater the statement's no exaggeration. All around the narrow strip of land on which their small hutments stand are lush corn and paddy fields but the best they can hope for is one square meal a day.
Without land, even that's hard to come by. Of the five lakh Musahars in eastern UP, only 0.5% own land. Most don't own the land their huts stand on. Work is scarce, too. With mechanization reducing the demand for agricultural labour, they toil away at brick kilns and stone quarries for meager wages or subsist on sale of minor forest produce.
In this scenario, government schemes such as PDS, ICDS and mid-day meal could be the proverbial lifelines but they aren't. Complaints pour in from village after village.
"I can afford to lift only 10 kg of grain but the quotedaar (as the ration shop owner is called here) fills the entire amount in the ration book. He makes entries for three months even when I haven't bought anything," says Mahendra, a white-card holder from a village in Bhadohi district.
Colour coding has been used to distinguish ration cards ever since the introduction of the targeted public distribution system in 1997, with white denoting BPL families and red for severely impoverished families who are eligible for Antodaya Ann Yojna (AAY) cards.
At the Musahar basti in Gohilaon, Geeta has neither food nor a ration card. "My husband and I make mahua leaf pattals but we get only Rs 10 every second day. When my children cry too much, I go and beg for some food," she says, as an emaciated three-year-old clings to her.
Ramani, a widow, is one of the 11 in the hamlet of 35 families who has a red card. But unable to afford even the Rs 95 needed for lifting her quota of ration, she sold her card for a few kilos of rice.
"Complaints of large-scale irregularities in PDS have been pouring in. But all that the administration does is temporarily suspend the licence of a ration shop owner. In no time, they're back in business," says Rolee Singh, whose NGO Paharua recently held a public hearing in Bhadohi to draw attention to the issue.
If PDS and ICDS have failed the Musahars, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) hasn't come to their aid either. A case in point is Mirzapur district's Damahi village.
Jaisingh, who has been toiling at a stone quarry for over 10 years to pay off a debt of Rs 15,000, hasn't heard of the scheme or the promised 100 days of work though his village falls under it. Every day, he walks 15 km to the quarry even as the road leading to his village is laid by migrant labourers.
Paid a measly Rs 10 for a three-foot-long stone, he knows his loan will never be repaid or his stomach ever be full. Damahi's Musahar tola, which had five starvation deaths last October, has no anganwadi. The mid-day meal is served at the local school but discrimination persists. "If we are employed as cooks, children of other castes refuse to eat.
Even our children are made to sit separately in school and fed half of what the other kids get," complains a Musahar woman. Musahars are the "outcastes within the outcastes" and lack any kind of social status, explains Samar Pandey, a research scholar at JNU who has conducted several studies in the area.
"They lack even the institutional relationship of jajmani under which a landowning family lets a Dalit live and work on their land. Musahar women don't even get the mandatory saree gift on festivals or when the landlord's son is getting married."
Shunned and starving, that's life for the Musahars.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
EN SKOLA och 24 timmars kök för 500 svältdrabbade barn
Jag skrev 300 barn dock har jag precis fått ett email från PVCHR som säger att en färsk beräkning säger 500 barn som lider av svält. Donera generöst snälla!! Kram-Parul
EN SKOLA och 24 timmars kök för 500 svältdrabbade barn
Kära vänner,
Jag är så oerhört tacksam för ert fantastiska och kontinuerliga stöd. Jag undrar om era vänner/familjer/företag skulle vara intresserade av att skänka pengar, allt från 1 krona till 49 000 SEK. Jag har ett organisationsnummer skulle det behövas för företagssponsring. Företag får gärna skylta med sin sponsring på alla möjliga sätt.
Jag har undersökt med mina olika kontakter i Indien, och hittat ett svält drabbat område med 10 byar som innefattar 500 barn i Uttar Pradesh. Gruppen heter PVCHR och har jobbat i området i 13 år. Vår skola/24 timmars köket kan, enligt PVCHR placeras på ett sätt så att skolan/köket är tillgängligt för alla byar att ta sig till. Jag kommer att personligen vara i området så fort jag har pengarna som behövs.
Skolan/köket kommer att ha mat 24 timmar om dygnet och lärare och sk. social workers under dagen. Tanken är; först mat, växande tillit till sin omgivning och sedan lek och skola.
Budgeten för detta är till en början ca. 400 000 Indiska rupees, dvs. ca. 60 000 SEK, jag har 11 000 SEK och behöver enbart 49 000 SEK.
Projektets konto är NORDEA: 3480 5634235
Tusen tack för varenda krona som ni stöttat dessa barn med,
Kramar- Parul
EN SKOLA och 24 timmars kök för 500 svältdrabbade barn
Kära vänner,
Jag är så oerhört tacksam för ert fantastiska och kontinuerliga stöd. Jag undrar om era vänner/familjer/företag skulle vara intresserade av att skänka pengar, allt från 1 krona till 49 000 SEK. Jag har ett organisationsnummer skulle det behövas för företagssponsring. Företag får gärna skylta med sin sponsring på alla möjliga sätt.
Jag har undersökt med mina olika kontakter i Indien, och hittat ett svält drabbat område med 10 byar som innefattar 500 barn i Uttar Pradesh. Gruppen heter PVCHR och har jobbat i området i 13 år. Vår skola/24 timmars köket kan, enligt PVCHR placeras på ett sätt så att skolan/köket är tillgängligt för alla byar att ta sig till. Jag kommer att personligen vara i området så fort jag har pengarna som behövs.
Skolan/köket kommer att ha mat 24 timmar om dygnet och lärare och sk. social workers under dagen. Tanken är; först mat, växande tillit till sin omgivning och sedan lek och skola.
Budgeten för detta är till en början ca. 400 000 Indiska rupees, dvs. ca. 60 000 SEK, jag har 11 000 SEK och behöver enbart 49 000 SEK.
Projektets konto är NORDEA: 3480 5634235
Tusen tack för varenda krona som ni stöttat dessa barn med,
Kramar- Parul
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Interview – Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi
Interview – Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi
The situation of the untouchables from what it was in the 1947 has changed in theory as we look at it today. However, this change is negligible. The change in the approach by the upper caste towards the lower caste has also changed. In the past, I am told, that if anyone from the lower caste some 40 years ago breached the unwritten law of caste hierarchy, the person would be beaten up in public. Now the person will be shot and the village burned down and the women raped. Yet we say that there are laws in place in India which prevent such atrocities from happening. It is a big joke.
Say, for example, before a few years there was no law to punish crimes committed against the people from the lower caste. Now we have a law. The people who need to enforce this law are still the upper caste and those from the lower caste who are into law enforcing agencies are a small minority. The excuse is the members from the lower caste are not qualified on the ground that they are physically unfit, and do not have enough education. How on earth can these people be ever fit, if they starve for almost half of their life, if they are denied admission to schools and if their parents will have to engage in bone breaking work in remote areas and the children are also expected to work with their parents even if they are six or seven years in age. How can one expect a person from such background compete with the physique of a person form the upper caste who is fed with the best food and is privileged to get better education? Those who are lucky to somehow to get appointed in the police or other offices are either appointed at the lowest possible position as peons or cleaners and in the police as constables. They are just there to survive and are under the threat of their superior officers who are also corrupt to the root. Soon, to survive these persons also will become corrupt and would do no good to the community they come from and will not even help their own family. Several of them get converted to other religion so that they will be no more be associated with their original caste or community. So it is possible, that many of such converts would never show any sympathy to the members of their former community.
There is considerable amount of conspiracy, nationwide, against the lower caste. This was evident from the nationwide spell of destruction of statues of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. It is an irony that he is the father of the Indian Constitution and also a dalit who fought his way in the caste ridden society. The destruction of Amebkar statue happened in several places in Uttar Pradesh also. In one such incident, which happened in Piyari village, the people from the lower caste tried to fight against those who came to destroy the statue. To their surprise they found that among those who came to destroy the statue there were police officers also. The people from the Dalit caste faced them with sticks and tried in vain to prevent the distraction. The result was that the local police registered a case and a counter case. One against those who came to destroy the statue and one against those who tried to prevent the destruction. Of course when the police registered the case, they conveniently avoided those from the police department. The case was filed in a local court. However, soon to the surprise of the upper caste they found that the judge was from a lower caste, which is a rarity. Without notice to anyone involved in the case, the case was soon transferred to another court.
To transfer the case it need to be done with the sanction of a superior court. So it means that the superior courts also in a way connive with the upper caste. Nothing better could be expected from a place where in the recent past, a District Judge who replaced another District Judge who was on transfer, before occupying the chair used by his predecessor, who also happened to be from a lower caste, conducted some religious ceremonies in court to purify the chair occupied by his predecessor and also washed the chair with the water from the river Ganga, which is believed to purify the chair. Such is the judiciary in this country. Now you tell me how in such a country changes are possible?
Regarding the police in this place, particularly in Varanasi, even though there are a few hundred cases which I have brought to their notice about atrocities committed against the members of the lower caste, none of these cases were registered under the law which is implemented to punish people committing such acts, the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act. In January this year in Hinauti village of Chandauli district a group of people from the upper caste committed rape against a young lady belonging with Nut (Dalit) community on the ground that one of them had breached the caste hierarchy. After a great effort on the part of victim and her family members, FIR was registered against accused person, but soon after family members of accused persons began to give threatening and made pressure to withdraw the case. In such whole situation police did nothing, but when human rights organizations including AHRC highlighted the matter through urgent appeal and media, then police come to their sense and took action against perpetrators. There are hundreds of similar incidents.
When one person from the upper caste commit a crime, whatever it may be, after trial the person who committed the crime is punished. However, when it comes to the lower caste the entire community is punished. The punishment is not by the court, but by members from the upper caste and the crime is not theft or murder. It could be anything from polluting the village well by draining water from it or washing in the pond thereby polluting the pond or even walking in the road while an upper caste was using the same road. The punishment is instant and often carried out by gangs of upper caste members by burning down the houses of the lower caste, beating the residents and often molesting or raping their women in public. In one such incident which happened in Narkati village when a similar upper caste police raided the village a five year old girl cried out loud since she was afraid of strangers. Her name is Anjali. These people who saw her crying did not spare her. She was also beaten up by police men when she was five years old. A complaint was lodged with the NHRC. Indian People’s tribunal headed by Justice Sukumaran was reported to UP Government. But no action has yet been taken. There is no law and there is no rule of law for these people.
The current trend is to charge anyone and everyone alleging that the person is a Naxalite. Even children aged from 9 are charged with offences allegedly of having involved in Naxalite activity. This happens with the knowledge of the court. Currently the Ram Nagar juvenile court has ordered detention of nine such children. If the police are corrupt, the judiciary is impotent also aid the police and other caste Hindus. It is general attitude of local police to make allegation against the men belonging to Dalit community as a suspect of “Naxlites”. But simultaneously they ignore the men of upper caste belonging to Shri Ram Sena, which is a private army of upper caste land lords Hindus.
It is very easy for anyone to say that we have constitution, laws, police and wonderful courts which passed beautiful judgments in the past. But what I stated above are the real facts and the real India. This is what I can say from my limitted experience from one state in India and this country have a few dozen more states and 1 billion people.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Interview of Lenin by Mr. Bijo Francis of AHRC,Hong kong
The situation of the untouchables from what it was in the 1947 has changed in theory as we look at it today. However, this change is negligible. The change in the approach by the upper caste towards the lower caste has also changed. In the past, I am told, that if anyone from the lower caste some 40 years ago breached the unwritten law of caste hierarchy, the person would be beaten up in public. Now the person will be shot and the village burned down and the women raped. Yet we say that there are laws in place in India which prevent such atrocities from happening. It is a big joke.
Say, for example, before a few years there was no law to punish crimes committed against the people from the lower caste. Now we have a law. The people who need to enforce this law are still the upper caste and those from the lower caste who are into law enforcing agencies are a small minority. The excuse is the members from the lower caste are not qualified on the ground that they are physically unfit, and do not have enough education. How on earth can these people be ever fit, if they starve for almost half of their life, if they are denied admission to schools and if their parents will have to engage in bone breaking work in remote areas and the children are also expected to work with their parents even if they are six or seven years in age. How can one expect a person from such background compete with the physique of a person form the upper caste who is fed with the best food and is privileged to get better education? Those who are lucky to somehow to get appointed in the police or other offices are either appointed at the lowest possible position as peons or cleaners and in the police as constables. They are just there to survive and are under the threat of their superior officers who are also corrupt to the root. Soon, to survive these persons also will become corrupt and would do no good to the community they come from and will not even help their own family. Several of them get converted to other religion so that they will be no more be associated with their original caste or community. So it is possible, that many of such converts would never show any sympathy to the members of their former community.
There is considerable amount of conspiracy, nationwide, against the lower caste. This was evident from the nationwide spell of destruction of statues of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. It is an irony that he is the father of the Indian Constitution and also a dalit who fought his way in the caste ridden society. The destruction of Amebkar statue happened in several places in Uttar Pradesh also. In one such incident, which happened in Piyari village, the people from the lower caste tried to fight against those who came to destroy the statue. To their surprise they found that among those who came to destroy the statue there were police officers also. The people from the Dalit caste faced them with sticks and tried in vain to prevent the distraction. The result was that the local police registered a case and a counter case. One against those who came to destroy the statue and one against those who tried to prevent the destruction. Of course when the police registered the case, they conveniently avoided those from the police department. The case was filed in a local court. However, soon to the surprise of the upper caste they found that the judge was from a lower caste, which is a rarity. Without notice to anyone involved in the case, the case was soon transferred to another court.
To transfer the case it need to be done with the sanction of a superior court. So it means that the superior courts also in a way connive with the upper caste. Nothing better could be expected from a place where in the recent past, a District Judge who replaced another District Judge who was on transfer, before occupying the chair used by his predecessor, who also happened to be from a lower caste, conducted some religious ceremonies in court to purify the chair occupied by his predecessor and also washed the chair with the water from the river Ganga, which is believed to purify the chair. Such is the judiciary in this country. Now you tell me how in such a country changes are possible?
Regarding the police in this place, particularly in Varanasi, even though there are a few hundred cases which I have brought to their notice about atrocities committed against the members of the lower caste, none of these cases were registered under the law which is implemented to punish people committing such acts, the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act. In January this year in Hinauti village of Chandauli district a group of people from the upper caste committed rape against a young lady belonging with Nut (Dalit) community on the ground that one of them had breached the caste hierarchy. After a great effort on the part of victim and her family members, FIR was registered against accused person, but soon after family members of accused persons began to give threatening and made pressure to withdraw the case. In such whole situation police did nothing, but when human rights organizations including AHRC highlighted the matter through urgent appeal and media, then police come to their sense and took action against perpetrators. There are hundreds of similar incidents.
When one person from the upper caste commit a crime, whatever it may be, after trial the person who committed the crime is punished. However, when it comes to the lower caste the entire community is punished. The punishment is not by the court, but by members from the upper caste and the crime is not theft or murder. It could be anything from polluting the village well by draining water from it or washing in the pond thereby polluting the pond or even walking in the road while an upper caste was using the same road. The punishment is instant and often carried out by gangs of upper caste members by burning down the houses of the lower caste, beating the residents and often molesting or raping their women in public. In one such incident which happened in Narkati village when a similar upper caste police raided the village a five year old girl cried out loud since she was afraid of strangers. Her name is Anjali. These people who saw her crying did not spare her. She was also beaten up by police men when she was five years old. A complaint was lodged with the NHRC. Indian People’s tribunal headed by Justice Sukumaran was reported to UP Government. But no action has yet been taken. There is no law and there is no rule of law for these people.
The current trend is to charge anyone and everyone alleging that the person is a Naxalite. Even children aged from 9 are charged with offences allegedly of having involved in Naxalite activity. This happens with the knowledge of the court. Currently the Ram Nagar juvenile court has ordered detention of nine such children. If the police are corrupt, the judiciary is impotent also aid the police and other caste Hindus. It is general attitude of local police to make allegation against the men belonging to Dalit community as a suspect of “Naxlites”. But simultaneously they ignore the men of upper caste belonging to Shri Ram Sena, which is a private army of upper caste land lords Hindus.
It is very easy for anyone to say that we have constitution, laws, police and wonderful courts which passed beautiful judgments in the past. But what I stated above are the real facts and the real India. This is what I can say from my limitted experience from one state in India and this country have a few dozen more states and 1 billion people.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Interview of Lenin by Mr. Bijo Francis of AHRC,Hong kong
Dalit centennial report
Greetings from Rajesh Angral
Jai Bhim!
Recently we the dalits of Canada celebrated the 100 years of dalit heritage in Canada. I participated there and we celebrated the dalits centennial with pride. In this celebration dalits from all over the North America participated.
The celebrations were organized by the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Vancouver under the chairmanship of President of Sabha Mr.Bill Basra and with the support of the honorary chairs Mayor Derek Corrigan (Burnaby) and Commissioner Lahori Ram (Economic Development, State of California).
The Dalit Indian Consul General Mr. Ashok Kumar also shared his greetings. He also shared the greetings and message of the Indian High Commissioner Ms. Shyamela Cowsik that “The Dalit Centenary celebrations will naturally give pride of place to one of the giants of the Indian independence movement, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was also one of the leading architects of the constitution of independent India” was also acknowledged and appreciated.
Others who participated and share their greetings from govt of Canada were councilor Sav Dhaliwal (Burnaby), MLA Raj Chauhan (Burnaby-Edmonds), MLA Dave Hayer (Surrey), MP Peter Julian (Burnaby), MP Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey-N. Delta), Ex-Premier BC & MP Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver), MLA Sue Hammel (Surrey), MLA Bruce Ralston (Surrey), councilor George Chow (Vancouver), and Deputy Commissioner Paul McDonnell (Burnaby). MLA Hayer added to the celebrations by making a special presentation of a proclamation to the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
Friends I would like to request you to publish this report to all the news papers, magazines and any other source of media print or electronic so that each and every Dalit should feel proud that their other dalits are celebrating 100 years and doing good advocacy for dalit issues. If it will be published in the media Non-Dalit will also accept that days are not far away when they have to treat equally the dalit and they have to share the equal Human Rights. Very soon we will build up an International Advocacy Group all over the world to do advocacy of Dalit Issues with various countries. Your suggestions are welcome.
Subject: Dalit centennial celebrated by the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Vancouver (Canada)- Vancouver: Dalit-Canadians from across Canada gathered at the Shri Guru Ravidass Community center in Burnaby in the morning of August 20 and then in the evening they gathered at the Surrey’s Bombay Banquet Hall to pay tributes to the pioneers of Canada.
To have these celebrations blessed, the organizers invited Shri 108 Sant Naranjan Dassji and Shri 108 Rama Nandji of Dera Such Khand Ballan (Jullandhar, Punjab). Among other occasions, the Sabha had also previously invited Sant Niranjan Dass Ji and Sant Rama Nand Ji in 2000 to officially inaugurate the community center (and a temple) at 7271 Gilley Avenue in Burnaby.
Among organizations that came to participate included Shri Guru Ravidass Society of Calgary, Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Montreal, Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Ontario, Shri 108 Sant Sarwan Dass Charitable Trust of UK, Shri 108 Sant Sarwan Dass Charitable Trust of Vancouver, and Chetna Association of Canada. These organizations were represented by Sunil Raju, Sewa Virdi, Jaswinder Rana, Charanjit Banga, Tilak Toora, Sukhdev Rattu, Santokh Sund, Nirmal Chandarh, Kamlesh Chandarh, Virinder Bangar, and others.
Religious celebrations in the morning at the temple and social celebrations at the banquet hall were packed. All participants were displaying a sense of pride in their heritage and were cherishing the occasion that was one of the significant milestones in the Dalit history of Canada.
While the morning was blessed by the grace of Sant Niranjan Dass Ji and with the kirtan by Sant Rama Nand Ji, the evening was entertained by the pop-singer Kaler Kanth who provided a delightful entertainment with the music that was played by Kishore Kaler on the keyboard, Raymon Bhullar of Dhol Nation Academy on the Dhols, and Vijay of Vijay Academy and his team on other instruments.
The celebrations were organized by the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Vancouver under the chairmanship of Bill Basra and with the support of the honorary chairs Mayor Derek Corrigan (Burnaby) and Commissioner Lahori Ram (Economic Development, State of California).
The Indian Consul General Mr. Ashok Kumar also shared his greetings. The greetings and message of the Indian High Commissioner Ms. Shyamela Cowsik that “The Dalit Centenary celebrations will naturally give pride of place to one of the giants of the Indian independence movement, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was also one of the leading architects of the constitution of independent India” was also acknowledged and appreciated.
Others who participated and graced the occasion by their presence included councilor Sav Dhaliwal (Burnaby), MLA Raj Chauhan (Burnaby-Edmonds), MLA Dave Hayer (Surrey), MP Peter Julian (Burnaby), MP Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey-N. Delta), MP Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver), MLA Sue Hammel (Surrey), MLA Bruce Ralston (Surrey), councilor George Chow (Vancouver), and Deputy Commissioner Paul McDonnell (Burnaby, Parks and Recreation). MLA Hayer added to the celebrations by making a special presentation of a proclamation to the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
Gurpreet Singh, broadcaster with Radio India also participated in these celebrations along with Ram Partap Kaler, Nirmal Chandarh, Harjinder Mal, Roop Ahir, Satpaul Mahey, Kamlesh Chandarh, Nagina Bangar, Gulshan Kalsi, Dyal Karra, Rajesh Angral, Sucha Jassi, Dr. KP Singh, Sunil Raju, Sewa Singh, Jaswinder Rana, Tilak Raj Toora, Charanjit Banag, and others.
Early settlers who came to Canada included Mr. Mahia Mehmi of village Mathida, Mr. Basanta Ram of village Mahilpur, Mr. Essar Ram of village Lageri, and Mr. Gurditta Ram of village Upplan. Descendents of these early settlers who came to receive the recognition included Jai Mehmi (from Victoria), Kamal Bhullar (of Surrey) and her brother Kewal (from Delta), Hukam Chand from Burnaby, and Sudarshan Ardhawa of Burnaby.
The primary reason for organizing these celebrations was to pay tributes to pioneers and the other reason was to display pride in the Dalit heritage”, said Bill Basra, president of Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha and the chair of the Dalit centennial celebrations committee. “We have a strong history, and our forefathers have survived the most secluded conditions that were imposed by the caste system and we are grateful to our forefathers for persevering and keeping the heritage alive ”, continued Basra.
The same sentiments were expressed by Lamber Rao and Gurmit Sathi, members of the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
“This was a great occasion to reflect on our Dalit identity and heritage”, says Rao.
One of the other milestones that were laid at these celebrations was the national meeting of the Ravidassia organization that took place on August 19th at the Shri Guru Ravidass temple in Burnaby.
“This is the first time in the history of Canada that the Ravidassia organizations have come together to discuss their common platform and plan for establishing the national or international federation of the Ravidassia organizations”, says Amarjit Lealh, the 1st vice president of Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
The next national meeting of the Ravidassia organizations will be held in Calgary, announced Sukhdev Rattu of Shri Guru Ravidass Society of Calgary.
For this occasion, a souvenir magazine was also published by the editorial team of Gurmit Singh Sathi, Lamber Rao, and Jai Birdi. It was released at the temple by Shri 108 Sant Niranjan Dass Ji and at the banquet hall, it was released by the Indian Consul General, Mr. Ashok Kumar.
In addition to paying tributes to the early settlers, others were also recognized for their contributions. Among these included a renowned poet and an activist Amrit Diwana of Surrey and the Kabaddi star Lember Jassi, who now lives in Calgary.
“Celebrating these centenary celebrations is truly an honor and privilege that we will cherish for the rest of our lives”, says Roop Chandarh, treasurer of the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
Chandarh also extended his congratulations to all on this auspicious occasion.
@@@@@@@@
Jai Bhim!
Recently we the dalits of Canada celebrated the 100 years of dalit heritage in Canada. I participated there and we celebrated the dalits centennial with pride. In this celebration dalits from all over the North America participated.
The celebrations were organized by the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Vancouver under the chairmanship of President of Sabha Mr.Bill Basra and with the support of the honorary chairs Mayor Derek Corrigan (Burnaby) and Commissioner Lahori Ram (Economic Development, State of California).
The Dalit Indian Consul General Mr. Ashok Kumar also shared his greetings. He also shared the greetings and message of the Indian High Commissioner Ms. Shyamela Cowsik that “The Dalit Centenary celebrations will naturally give pride of place to one of the giants of the Indian independence movement, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was also one of the leading architects of the constitution of independent India” was also acknowledged and appreciated.
Others who participated and share their greetings from govt of Canada were councilor Sav Dhaliwal (Burnaby), MLA Raj Chauhan (Burnaby-Edmonds), MLA Dave Hayer (Surrey), MP Peter Julian (Burnaby), MP Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey-N. Delta), Ex-Premier BC & MP Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver), MLA Sue Hammel (Surrey), MLA Bruce Ralston (Surrey), councilor George Chow (Vancouver), and Deputy Commissioner Paul McDonnell (Burnaby). MLA Hayer added to the celebrations by making a special presentation of a proclamation to the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
Friends I would like to request you to publish this report to all the news papers, magazines and any other source of media print or electronic so that each and every Dalit should feel proud that their other dalits are celebrating 100 years and doing good advocacy for dalit issues. If it will be published in the media Non-Dalit will also accept that days are not far away when they have to treat equally the dalit and they have to share the equal Human Rights. Very soon we will build up an International Advocacy Group all over the world to do advocacy of Dalit Issues with various countries. Your suggestions are welcome.
Subject: Dalit centennial celebrated by the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Vancouver (Canada)- Vancouver: Dalit-Canadians from across Canada gathered at the Shri Guru Ravidass Community center in Burnaby in the morning of August 20 and then in the evening they gathered at the Surrey’s Bombay Banquet Hall to pay tributes to the pioneers of Canada.
To have these celebrations blessed, the organizers invited Shri 108 Sant Naranjan Dassji and Shri 108 Rama Nandji of Dera Such Khand Ballan (Jullandhar, Punjab). Among other occasions, the Sabha had also previously invited Sant Niranjan Dass Ji and Sant Rama Nand Ji in 2000 to officially inaugurate the community center (and a temple) at 7271 Gilley Avenue in Burnaby.
Among organizations that came to participate included Shri Guru Ravidass Society of Calgary, Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Montreal, Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Ontario, Shri 108 Sant Sarwan Dass Charitable Trust of UK, Shri 108 Sant Sarwan Dass Charitable Trust of Vancouver, and Chetna Association of Canada. These organizations were represented by Sunil Raju, Sewa Virdi, Jaswinder Rana, Charanjit Banga, Tilak Toora, Sukhdev Rattu, Santokh Sund, Nirmal Chandarh, Kamlesh Chandarh, Virinder Bangar, and others.
Religious celebrations in the morning at the temple and social celebrations at the banquet hall were packed. All participants were displaying a sense of pride in their heritage and were cherishing the occasion that was one of the significant milestones in the Dalit history of Canada.
While the morning was blessed by the grace of Sant Niranjan Dass Ji and with the kirtan by Sant Rama Nand Ji, the evening was entertained by the pop-singer Kaler Kanth who provided a delightful entertainment with the music that was played by Kishore Kaler on the keyboard, Raymon Bhullar of Dhol Nation Academy on the Dhols, and Vijay of Vijay Academy and his team on other instruments.
The celebrations were organized by the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha of Vancouver under the chairmanship of Bill Basra and with the support of the honorary chairs Mayor Derek Corrigan (Burnaby) and Commissioner Lahori Ram (Economic Development, State of California).
The Indian Consul General Mr. Ashok Kumar also shared his greetings. The greetings and message of the Indian High Commissioner Ms. Shyamela Cowsik that “The Dalit Centenary celebrations will naturally give pride of place to one of the giants of the Indian independence movement, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was also one of the leading architects of the constitution of independent India” was also acknowledged and appreciated.
Others who participated and graced the occasion by their presence included councilor Sav Dhaliwal (Burnaby), MLA Raj Chauhan (Burnaby-Edmonds), MLA Dave Hayer (Surrey), MP Peter Julian (Burnaby), MP Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey-N. Delta), MP Ujjal Dosanjh (Vancouver), MLA Sue Hammel (Surrey), MLA Bruce Ralston (Surrey), councilor George Chow (Vancouver), and Deputy Commissioner Paul McDonnell (Burnaby, Parks and Recreation). MLA Hayer added to the celebrations by making a special presentation of a proclamation to the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
Gurpreet Singh, broadcaster with Radio India also participated in these celebrations along with Ram Partap Kaler, Nirmal Chandarh, Harjinder Mal, Roop Ahir, Satpaul Mahey, Kamlesh Chandarh, Nagina Bangar, Gulshan Kalsi, Dyal Karra, Rajesh Angral, Sucha Jassi, Dr. KP Singh, Sunil Raju, Sewa Singh, Jaswinder Rana, Tilak Raj Toora, Charanjit Banag, and others.
Early settlers who came to Canada included Mr. Mahia Mehmi of village Mathida, Mr. Basanta Ram of village Mahilpur, Mr. Essar Ram of village Lageri, and Mr. Gurditta Ram of village Upplan. Descendents of these early settlers who came to receive the recognition included Jai Mehmi (from Victoria), Kamal Bhullar (of Surrey) and her brother Kewal (from Delta), Hukam Chand from Burnaby, and Sudarshan Ardhawa of Burnaby.
The primary reason for organizing these celebrations was to pay tributes to pioneers and the other reason was to display pride in the Dalit heritage”, said Bill Basra, president of Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha and the chair of the Dalit centennial celebrations committee. “We have a strong history, and our forefathers have survived the most secluded conditions that were imposed by the caste system and we are grateful to our forefathers for persevering and keeping the heritage alive ”, continued Basra.
The same sentiments were expressed by Lamber Rao and Gurmit Sathi, members of the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
“This was a great occasion to reflect on our Dalit identity and heritage”, says Rao.
One of the other milestones that were laid at these celebrations was the national meeting of the Ravidassia organization that took place on August 19th at the Shri Guru Ravidass temple in Burnaby.
“This is the first time in the history of Canada that the Ravidassia organizations have come together to discuss their common platform and plan for establishing the national or international federation of the Ravidassia organizations”, says Amarjit Lealh, the 1st vice president of Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
The next national meeting of the Ravidassia organizations will be held in Calgary, announced Sukhdev Rattu of Shri Guru Ravidass Society of Calgary.
For this occasion, a souvenir magazine was also published by the editorial team of Gurmit Singh Sathi, Lamber Rao, and Jai Birdi. It was released at the temple by Shri 108 Sant Niranjan Dass Ji and at the banquet hall, it was released by the Indian Consul General, Mr. Ashok Kumar.
In addition to paying tributes to the early settlers, others were also recognized for their contributions. Among these included a renowned poet and an activist Amrit Diwana of Surrey and the Kabaddi star Lember Jassi, who now lives in Calgary.
“Celebrating these centenary celebrations is truly an honor and privilege that we will cherish for the rest of our lives”, says Roop Chandarh, treasurer of the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha.
Chandarh also extended his congratulations to all on this auspicious occasion.
@@@@@@@@
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Starvation deaths continue in Shankarpur village of Varanasi
Starvation deaths continue in Shankarpur village of Varanasi
This is to inform you painfully that a starvation death has taken place in Shankarpur village, block Chiraigaon, dist. Varanasi of UP state of India. He was weaver by profession. Girija Prasad Rajbhar, son of Nirhu Rajbhar was suffering from hunger and malnutrition for last 8 to 10 months. Succumb to death on 11June 06 in the morning roundabout '7 'O' clock due to hunger and deficiency of medicine.
Girija Prasad Rajbhar, weaver by profession had totally lost his livelihood. Before his death he was working as daily wager and florist, hardly to arrange two times meal for his family. Despite hard working, beyond his capacity, he was unable to get rid of utter financial crisis and poverty. Some 5 to 6 months back when the breadwinner of the family finally got bed ridden, he had to die one Sunday morning due to the terrible deficiency of medical treatment. He has left his wife, three sons, and parents after him, to whom life has become a nightmare. Though the administration had already been informed about the plight of dead weaver, no any official seem to have come to address his concern. Now that the breadwinner is no more, the family is undergoing an inexplicable crisis. Old parents will do somehow but children are not getting enough food to feed them even once in a day. Every alternate day they are bound to sleep empty stomach.
Unfortunately Pappu Rajbhar, younger brother of Late Girija Peasad Rajbhar is also on the verge of starvation death. He along with his wife and son bound to undergo same hardships, which his elder brother underwent.
The root cause of weaver's suffering lies in the discriminatory behavior of the bigwigs of the village under the leadership of village head Sunder Yadav who belong to the Yadav community. Despite the fact that they are just 450 in number out of the total population of the village, they influence every scheme of things in their favor because they are powerful and dominating enough. Shankarpur is the symbol of absolute failure of rule of law. Village head is violating all Supreme Court’s interim order on Mid Day Meal and food security schemes.
Starving Rajbhar family is paying for the same power structure of the village.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Although the state government of Uttar Pradesh claims to be spending large sums of money on welfare schemes, still people are starving, despite the knowledge of the authorities and the wider public.
Dr N C Saxena, the Commissioner of the Supreme Court charged with following-up on the court's orders related to the right to food, wrote to the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh on 5 July 2005 stating that he has received no evidence of any action taken by the state government of Uttar Pradesh to address ongoing starvation deaths in Varanasi, Sonebhadra, Jaunpur, Khusinagar and Mirzapur districts. He stated bluntly in the letter that the deaths "show that Supreme Court orders are not being implemented in the state".
AHRC (Asian Human Rights Commission), Hong Kong and People’s Vigilance committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) issued the Hunger alert on the other hunger deaths of weavers in same village. FIAN International, Germany launched hotline campaign on same cases.
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/1120/
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/1270/
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=com_urgentactions&Itemid=46&uaID=50
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=51
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=129&Itemid=50
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=234&Itemid=103
PLEA:
1. Give orders to issue a red card, food for work, and place him under other support schemes.
2. Take appropriate action against the negligent authorities for the death due to diseases of malnutrition and starvation and against the panchayat (village) secretary, village head and others for taking no action to prevent starvation deaths in the village.
3. Ensure the Dalit cook for midday meal in Primary school of Shankarpur Village according the Supreme Court order in case of PUCL v/s Govt. of India. Take appropriate action against the panchayat (village) secretary, village head and others for taking illegal action to remove the dalit cook and appoint the OBCs male cook.
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister's Secretariat
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91-522-2230002/2239234
Email: csup@up.nic.in
PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:
1. Justice A. S. Anand
National Human Rights Commission
Sardar Patel Bhaven, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi - 110 001
INDIA
Tel: + 91 11 23346244
Fax: + 91 11 23366537
E-mail: ionhrc@hub.nic.in or chairnhrc@nic.in
2. Justice A P Mishra
Chairperson
Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission
6-A Kalidass Marg
Lucknow Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
3. Mr. Jean Ziegler
UNCHR, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
c/o Mr. Carlos Villan Duran
Room 4-066
OHCHR,
Palais Wilson,
Rue des Paquis 52,
Geneva
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9010
Email: sect.hchr@unog.ch
4. Mr. Anthony Banbury
Regional Director
World Food Programme
Unit No. 2, 7th Floor
Wave Place Building
55 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Patumwan
Bangkok 10330
THAILAND
Tel: +66-2-6554115
Fax: +66-2-6554413
Email: Anthony.banbury@wfp.org or Bkk.unescap@un.org
5. Mr. Gian Pietro Bordignon
Country Director
World Food Programme
2 Poorvi Marg, Vasant Vihar,
New Delhi 110057
INDIA
Tel: +91-11-26150000
Fax: +91-11-26150019
Email: wfp.newdelhi@wfp.org
6. Dr. N.C. Saxena and Mr. S.R. Sankaran
Commissioners
Supreme Court of India
SAMYA, R-38A, 2nd floor
South Extention - part 2
New Delhi - 49
INDIA
Fax: +91-11-5164 2147
Email: commissioners@vsnl.net
This is to inform you painfully that a starvation death has taken place in Shankarpur village, block Chiraigaon, dist. Varanasi of UP state of India. He was weaver by profession. Girija Prasad Rajbhar, son of Nirhu Rajbhar was suffering from hunger and malnutrition for last 8 to 10 months. Succumb to death on 11June 06 in the morning roundabout '7 'O' clock due to hunger and deficiency of medicine.
Girija Prasad Rajbhar, weaver by profession had totally lost his livelihood. Before his death he was working as daily wager and florist, hardly to arrange two times meal for his family. Despite hard working, beyond his capacity, he was unable to get rid of utter financial crisis and poverty. Some 5 to 6 months back when the breadwinner of the family finally got bed ridden, he had to die one Sunday morning due to the terrible deficiency of medical treatment. He has left his wife, three sons, and parents after him, to whom life has become a nightmare. Though the administration had already been informed about the plight of dead weaver, no any official seem to have come to address his concern. Now that the breadwinner is no more, the family is undergoing an inexplicable crisis. Old parents will do somehow but children are not getting enough food to feed them even once in a day. Every alternate day they are bound to sleep empty stomach.
Unfortunately Pappu Rajbhar, younger brother of Late Girija Peasad Rajbhar is also on the verge of starvation death. He along with his wife and son bound to undergo same hardships, which his elder brother underwent.
The root cause of weaver's suffering lies in the discriminatory behavior of the bigwigs of the village under the leadership of village head Sunder Yadav who belong to the Yadav community. Despite the fact that they are just 450 in number out of the total population of the village, they influence every scheme of things in their favor because they are powerful and dominating enough. Shankarpur is the symbol of absolute failure of rule of law. Village head is violating all Supreme Court’s interim order on Mid Day Meal and food security schemes.
Starving Rajbhar family is paying for the same power structure of the village.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Although the state government of Uttar Pradesh claims to be spending large sums of money on welfare schemes, still people are starving, despite the knowledge of the authorities and the wider public.
Dr N C Saxena, the Commissioner of the Supreme Court charged with following-up on the court's orders related to the right to food, wrote to the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh on 5 July 2005 stating that he has received no evidence of any action taken by the state government of Uttar Pradesh to address ongoing starvation deaths in Varanasi, Sonebhadra, Jaunpur, Khusinagar and Mirzapur districts. He stated bluntly in the letter that the deaths "show that Supreme Court orders are not being implemented in the state".
AHRC (Asian Human Rights Commission), Hong Kong and People’s Vigilance committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) issued the Hunger alert on the other hunger deaths of weavers in same village. FIAN International, Germany launched hotline campaign on same cases.
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/1120/
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2005/1270/
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=com_urgentactions&Itemid=46&uaID=50
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=51
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=129&Itemid=50
http://www.fian.org/fian/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=234&Itemid=103
PLEA:
1. Give orders to issue a red card, food for work, and place him under other support schemes.
2. Take appropriate action against the negligent authorities for the death due to diseases of malnutrition and starvation and against the panchayat (village) secretary, village head and others for taking no action to prevent starvation deaths in the village.
3. Ensure the Dalit cook for midday meal in Primary school of Shankarpur Village according the Supreme Court order in case of PUCL v/s Govt. of India. Take appropriate action against the panchayat (village) secretary, village head and others for taking illegal action to remove the dalit cook and appoint the OBCs male cook.
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister's Secretariat
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
Fax: + 91-522-2230002/2239234
Email: csup@up.nic.in
PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:
1. Justice A. S. Anand
National Human Rights Commission
Sardar Patel Bhaven, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi - 110 001
INDIA
Tel: + 91 11 23346244
Fax: + 91 11 23366537
E-mail: ionhrc@hub.nic.in or chairnhrc@nic.in
2. Justice A P Mishra
Chairperson
Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission
6-A Kalidass Marg
Lucknow Uttar Pradesh
INDIA
3. Mr. Jean Ziegler
UNCHR, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
c/o Mr. Carlos Villan Duran
Room 4-066
OHCHR,
Palais Wilson,
Rue des Paquis 52,
Geneva
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9010
Email: sect.hchr@unog.ch
4. Mr. Anthony Banbury
Regional Director
World Food Programme
Unit No. 2, 7th Floor
Wave Place Building
55 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Patumwan
Bangkok 10330
THAILAND
Tel: +66-2-6554115
Fax: +66-2-6554413
Email: Anthony.banbury@wfp.org or Bkk.unescap@un.org
5. Mr. Gian Pietro Bordignon
Country Director
World Food Programme
2 Poorvi Marg, Vasant Vihar,
New Delhi 110057
INDIA
Tel: +91-11-26150000
Fax: +91-11-26150019
Email: wfp.newdelhi@wfp.org
6. Dr. N.C. Saxena and Mr. S.R. Sankaran
Commissioners
Supreme Court of India
SAMYA, R-38A, 2nd floor
South Extention - part 2
New Delhi - 49
INDIA
Fax: +91-11-5164 2147
Email: commissioners@vsnl.net
Sunday, August 27, 2006
RTI and Appeal of Aruna Roy
Jantar Mantar ,
New Delhi
20th August , 2006
Dear friends,
The Government of India's decision not to table the RTI amendments Bill in this session of Parliament, is a great democratic success. We have all collectively contributed to it. There can be no doubt that the wide spectrum of overwhelming support for this issue, from many States, even those under floods, political parties , media, different individuals, groups and networks, Anna Hazare and Sandeep Pandey on an indefinite hunger strike, mobilizing support, has strengthened democratic processes and ensured accountability of an elected government to its people. The referendum has amply proved the tremendous interest and commitment of the ordinary citizen.
We are all aware that it is only a conditional commitment from the Government. The following is an extract from the PTI report on the governments commitment:
"Government has dropped the move to amend the Right to Information Act in the current session of Parliament to keep out of public purview file notings in some areas.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri said here that following a decision taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the amendment bill was not likely to be introduced in the current session Parliament concluding on August 25.He said there have been considerable apprehensions about the proposed changes and clarifications in the Right to Information Act. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister have received several representations in this regard and it has been decided that the issue should be first discussed with all stakeholders, he said.
In view of this, Pachauri said, the bill to amend the RTI Act was not likely to be introduced during the current session of Parliament as decided by the Prime Minister." PTI
We would like to take this opportunity to tell you how much the Campaign to Save the RTI Act, (and its dharna at Jantar Mantar) appreciates your participation and support.
We are wrapping up the dharna, but not the Campaign! We have to work hard to keep up public pressure. We must take up the government's promise to engage with " stake holders", and ensure that this interaction takes place. Please continue:
With the referendum- the secnd round of counting will be on the 24th and results can be given at 65121727
With the signature and letter campaigns
Organising meetings and discussing the issue widely
Putting Pressure on political parties
Meet your MPsPlease do stay in touch.
In solidarity,
Aruna Roy
(On behalf of the Campaign)
New Delhi
20th August , 2006
Dear friends,
The Government of India's decision not to table the RTI amendments Bill in this session of Parliament, is a great democratic success. We have all collectively contributed to it. There can be no doubt that the wide spectrum of overwhelming support for this issue, from many States, even those under floods, political parties , media, different individuals, groups and networks, Anna Hazare and Sandeep Pandey on an indefinite hunger strike, mobilizing support, has strengthened democratic processes and ensured accountability of an elected government to its people. The referendum has amply proved the tremendous interest and commitment of the ordinary citizen.
We are all aware that it is only a conditional commitment from the Government. The following is an extract from the PTI report on the governments commitment:
"Government has dropped the move to amend the Right to Information Act in the current session of Parliament to keep out of public purview file notings in some areas.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri said here that following a decision taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the amendment bill was not likely to be introduced in the current session Parliament concluding on August 25.He said there have been considerable apprehensions about the proposed changes and clarifications in the Right to Information Act. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister have received several representations in this regard and it has been decided that the issue should be first discussed with all stakeholders, he said.
In view of this, Pachauri said, the bill to amend the RTI Act was not likely to be introduced during the current session of Parliament as decided by the Prime Minister." PTI
We would like to take this opportunity to tell you how much the Campaign to Save the RTI Act, (and its dharna at Jantar Mantar) appreciates your participation and support.
We are wrapping up the dharna, but not the Campaign! We have to work hard to keep up public pressure. We must take up the government's promise to engage with " stake holders", and ensure that this interaction takes place. Please continue:
With the referendum- the secnd round of counting will be on the 24th and results can be given at 65121727
With the signature and letter campaigns
Organising meetings and discussing the issue widely
Putting Pressure on political parties
Meet your MPsPlease do stay in touch.
In solidarity,
Aruna Roy
(On behalf of the Campaign)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
India Today published in its special edition (Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand) mentioned about Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi as “Guide of Oppressed”... -
Lenin Raghuvanshi, a UP-based social activist, remarks the BJP has been using a feudal tool to control crime by creating a climate of fear ...
-
Brutal Hostel Ragging at Allahabad University and Prolonged Delay in Justice: An NHRC Case Analysis (Diary No. 28171/CR/2022 | Case No. 77...