Ranchi: Jharkhand, which is infamous for mob lynching incidents over cattle transportation or beef-eating suspicion, is now witnessing lynching incidents over child-lifting rumours on daily basis.
And leave aside the common people, police not sporting uniform, are also being termed as child-lifters and are being attacked.
On Wednesday, at least five cases of mob lynching took place in Jharkhand. All the incidents were triggered by rumours of child-lifting. Such incidents have caused the death of one individual while many have sustained serious injuries.
On Tuesday night, villagers at Gandakey, Ramgarh beat one unidentified man mercilessly terming him as a child-lifter. He was later taken to RIMS, Ranchi for treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
According to Ramgarh police, they have arrested five people and registered FIR against 50 to 60 villagers.
Ramgarh, a neighbouring district of Jharkhand’s state capital Ranchi, is the place where Alimuddin Ansari, was lynched to death for allegedly transporting beef in 2017.
At Bokaro’s Jarangdih village, police too have been attacked on being mistaken as child-lifters. Police, on the instruction of Superintendent of Police, in casual dress, had gone to arrest two men accused of coal theft —Tinku Pandit and Sandeep Singh from Jarangdih. But, while arresting the two, the policemen were attacked for being alleged child-lifters by the supporters of the two accused. Police service revolver had also been stanched, leading to the escape of the coal thieves.
Eleven criminals were sentenced for life term by the Ramgarh session court for killing Alimuddin, but later they got bail from High Court, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jayant Sinha had not just welcomed the criminals but had also garlanded them. The garlanding of murders by Sinha was termed as an encouragement to such criminals by social activists, and it seems like that it has served the purpose, as the residents of Ramgarh are not restraining from taking law into their hands.
As in Ramgarh itself, on Wednesday, in Chikor village which falls under Bhurkunda block, one Dhaneshwar Ganjhu (32) was beaten for allegedly being a child-lifter. Ganjhu was drunk and knocked a door and immediately collapsed in front of the door. Later, villagers gathered and started beating him, alleging that he is a child-lifter. He was tied to an electric pole and thrashed by villagers. He is under treatment right now.
Again at Tala village, Chanho, Ranchi three people handed over to police, who have been caught on suspicion of being child-lifters on Wednesday. Thanks to few alert villagers, who interfered and did not let mob beat much the victims.
Meanwhile, at Bokaro’s Jarangdih village, police too have been attacked on being mistaken as child-lifters. Police, on the instruction of Superintendent of Police, in casual dress, had gone to arrest two men accused of coal theft —Tinku Pandit and Sandeep Singh from Jarangdih. But, while arresting the two, the policemen were attacked for being alleged child-lifters by the supporters of the two accused. Police service revolver had also been stanched, leading to the escape of the coal thieves.
Similarly, on Tuesday, under Jainagar police station, at least six people had lynched villagers. The allegations were the same. Three tribal youth while going to visit the sister of one f the boys, stopped at Pratapur to ask the route. Mistaken as child-lifters the trio was being beaten, when three passerbys stopped and asked the mob, as to why they were beating them, they were also attacked and branded as the partners of the tribal boys.
And when the police was taking the injured youth for treatment, the mob pulled down tribals from the ambulance and attacked them again.
Koderma Superintendent of Police M Tamil Banan said that two cases have been registered in case where six people had been lynched – one for the attack and a separate FIR for obstructing government sanctioned work.
A week back, in Giridih, a woman who was consoling a child, on her mother’s request at a bank, was beaten after being mistaken as a child-lifter.
In past 7 days, news reports suggest that more than 44 people become victims of such rumours.
Jharkhand DGP, K N Chaubey claims to have alerted on-field officers to take swift action.
“I have told police officers to arrest as many accused as possible in such cases,” told the DGP.
The DGP also claimed that police is holding meetings with people and cautioning them against mob violence, but it needs the society’s contribution to control it.
Ranchi: Jaya, a resident of Raidih, Gumla had applied in 2017 for Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandan Yojna (PMMVY). She had provided all the documents to the respective Anganwadi centre, but she did not receive a single installment.
Rani and Sweta of Shikaripara, Dumka faced a similar fate. They complaints registered at the Anganwadi also went in vain.
And same happened with Ganga of Peterwar, Bokaro, who had applied for PMMVY two years back but did not receive any installment.
The four women are among the 202 women from 42 gram panchayats, who had interacted with a team of social activists headed by renowned Development Economist Jean Dreze. The meeting took place in six blocks of Jharkhand’s five districts to know how well the PMMVY had been implemented in Jharkhand.
Under PMMVY, Rs 5000 is given to a pregnant woman, if she gets registered to an angawadi centre and delivers a child in any government hospital. The First installment is of Rs 1000 while second and third are of Rs 2000 each.
Jean Dreze told eNewsroom, “Pregnancy is a time of hardship and uncertainty for rural women, when their special needs for food, rest and health care get little attention. Maternity benefit is a legal right under the National Food Security Act. It can be of great help to them and their children. Alas, the PMMVY’s restricted coverage, reduced entitlements and bloated formalities have undermined this essential right.”
But a survey done by non-government organization (NGO) volunteers found that 76 per cent women, who had applied for PMMVY benefits, since it got implemented, did not receive any installment.
Only 24 per cent of the total women applicants of PMMVY received any installment. And only 8 per cent received all the three installments.
The survey’s report was presented today at Ranchi during a press conference.
The study also found that the National Food Security Act 2013 (NFSA) directs the central government to provide all pregnant women a maternity benefit of Rs 6000, unless they qualify for maternity benefits as formal-sector employees. After negating this responsibility for four years, the central government launched the PMMVY in 2017. The PMMVY provides for maternity benefits of Rs.5000 in three installments, but only for the first child.
And women have to fulfill conditions such as early registration of pregnancy, an ante-natal check-up, and immunisation of the child. They also have to fill a long application form at the local Anganwadi for each installment.
The entire PMMVY system runs on the shoulders of Anganwadi workers, but in Jharkhand, the workers have not been paid for many months, thereby directly affecting the scheme.
The team also submitted a letter to Amitabh Kaushal, Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, Women and Child Development and demanded that the PMMVY scheme to be universalized as it will only cost Rs 400 crore for the Jharkhand government, 0.5 percent of the state’s budget. It also demanded for transparent in its process for both information and payments. Also the need for the payment to be timely was also expressed. And also the scheme should also be well-publicized or advertised to let know the people about the scheme as most of the rural women are not even aware about it.
After the PC was over, economist Jean Dreze told eNewsroom, “Pregnancy is a time of hardship and uncertainty for rural women, when their special needs for food, rest and health care get little attention. Maternity benefit is a legal right under the National Food Security Act. It can be of great help to them and their children. Alas, the PMMVY’s restricted coverage, reduced entitlements and bloated formalities have undermined this essential right.”
Ranchi: In yet another mob lynching case in Jharkhand, six people (three from Jharkhand and three from Uttar Pradesh) have been mercilessly beaten on suspicion of being child-lifters in Koderma district, on Tuesday.
Three tribal youth—Naresh Soren, Anil Soren and Mahadev Soren were riding a bike, to reach their sister’s house. However, when they stopped at Pratappur to ask about the correct route to Ghodthambha, the trio was attacked on suspicion of being child lifters. And when these three youths were being assaulted, three other small traders from Uttar Pradesh travelling through the area came to their rescue; they were also beaten mercilessly for allegedly being the partners of the tribals.
“We were crossing by, when we saw, a mob beating some men. We get down from our car and just asked – ‘What happened bhai? Why are you all beating them?’ On hearing us, they turned towards us saying, that we are also child-lifters and partners,” narrated Mohammad Aslam, one of the three small traders to eNewsroom.
When police reached the incident site and were taking the youth from the ambulance, the mob pulled down the tribals and beat them in the presence of two policemen. Later, when more police came, they lathicharged on the mob and disbursed them
Thirty six-year-old Aslam is married and has four children, while his two partners—Mohammed Bilal and Karamat Ali both are of same age group, 22-years of age and are married. Aslam and others used to do the same work in Bihar too and recently started it in Jharkhand.
Aslam was hit on eyes and body, while others were hit on their body parts.
“They broke our car, took away all the items from it. We had around Rs 12000 in a bag and 2000 in my wallet, they took it all,” he said.
A horrified Aslam, who, along with five other victims are in Jai Nagar police station added, “We come here as we can sell our items with the sole intention of making slightly better profit and nothing else. Now, I do not want to lodge any case, I just want to go from here.”
The ambulance that brought to tribal victims to Sadar Hospital
Meanwhile, the witnesses on the spot said that when police reached the incident site and were taking the youth from the ambulance, the mob pulled down the tribals and beat them in the presence of two policemen. Later, when more police came, they lathicharged on the mob and disbursed them.
However, even after 24 hours of the incident, there has been no arresting so far in the case. In fact, police has yet to register an FIR in the incident.
Koderma Superintendent of Police Dr M Tamil Banan did not respond to repeated calls made by eNewsroom. But Jai Nagar Officer-in-charge Ravi Kishore Prasad told eNewsroom. “We were first providing treatment to the victims. Now all are doing well. We have informed their parents and waiting for them to come and pick them.”
“Today, we will register FIR and then act on it, added Prashad.
Jharkhand is infamous for having highest number of mob lynching cases in India. According to data available the lynching cases take place, sometimes for cattle transportation, sometimes for alleged beef eating, in the name of witch-craft practice, besides child-lifting allegations. More than 20 cases have been reported in last three years.
Kolkata: After the final list of National Register for Citizen (NRC) in Assam was released on Saturday the first protest against it took place in Kolkata in front of Assam House where members of Joint Forum Against NRC (JFANRC) demonstrated and demanded that no NRC process be initiated in Bengal and the rest of India.
The protest meeting organised by JFANRC witnessed large numbers of representatives from different social platforms presenting their views and reasons against NRC. Speaking to eNewsroom, Prasenjit Bose, Kolkata-based economist and social activist said, “We are appealing to all political parties in Bengal to initiate talks of having a resolution to stall NRC implantation in Bengal as we have seen the inhuman side of this process in Assam. Around 19 lakh individuals who have not made it to the NRC list are on the verge of becoming stateless. It is violation of Human Rights.”
Bose further added, “We do not want NRC for West Bengal. Bengal witnessed an influx of refugees since the First World War. It has a history of having large number of refugees so how will these people prove their citizenship? We have gathered here also to place a demand before the CM of Assam to grant citizenship to these 19 lakh individuals who have been excluded from the final NRC list on humanitarian grounds, if nothing else. The way people are being excluded from the list is itself questionable.”
Imtiaz Ahmed Mollah, another speaker said, ” Deportation of even a tiny fraction of the NRC-excluded persons is an impossibility. The only just and humane solution to the problem is to initiate the process of granting Indian citizenship to those who have been excluded irrespective of their religion, language, caste or ethnic background. Any discriminatory treatment vis-a-vis the NRC-excluded individuals on the grounds of religion, place of birth etc. would be a violation of Constitutional provisions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which India is a signatory.”
Raising their voice and concern over the NRC exclusions and their fate in detention centres, Gitali Thakur, an Assamese lady based in Kolkata, expressed concern and said, “Life in detention centres is worse than what we can even imagine. They are devoid of basic amenities. The basic idea for NRC was to eliminate the non-Indians from Assam, but the way it has been implemented has exposed a sinister agenda of basically targeting the minorities, something which we don’t endorse.”
Two demonstrators with their placards before Assam House, Kolkata
Students present outside Assam House also expressed their concern. Jaysree, a young college student who preferred being addressed by her first name, said, “Whatever that is happening in Assam will happen at a much larger scale here, if NRC gets implemented in Bengal, given the size of our state. The sifting of individuals based on the documents of their forefathers is cruel, as back in the Fifties not many were educated.”
She added, “The way even documentary evidences have not been taken into account as in cases of certain renowned individuals, like the family members of the former President of India, scares me a lot. We have the documents of my grandmother, who had shifted to Bengal way ahead of 1971, but am sceptical about how the officials would respond to the documentary evidences that we have.”
Adding to that her contemporary Debarghya said, “The foundation of India’s independence and democracy is being violated by NRC, which I believe is highly anti-national.”
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he more the things change, the more they stay the same. Even may get worse.
It was in the early 1980s. I was posted in Indore. I wanted to see a judgement delivered by the court in Neemuch a few days earlier. I reached there by taking an overnight bus and was in the court before 10. A woman in her late 20s was in charge of the record room. I identified myself and told her the purpose of my visit to Neemuch. She asked me to come three days later. Staying there three days was not possible for me. I pleaded and pleaded and pleaded with her but to no effect. Feeling dejected, I stood by a pillar in the veranda when a lawyer came to me and asked about my business in the court. I explained to him everything. He asked me to give the lady ten rupees and she would show me the file. I was horrified. I did not have the courage to offer ten rupees to a woman. So I requested his help and gave him a 20-rupee note. From his purse he took out two ten-rupee notes; one he gave me, took me to the woman and gave her the other tenner. Promptly, the lady told me sweetly: Vo saamne ki almari mein upar ke khane mein us case ki file hai, aap nikaal lijiye (There in the upper shelf of the Almira is the file of the case. Please take it).
Now the case which took me to Neemuch. There was a Muslim family in Ajmer. The man was head master of a high school. His two young sons were studying in the same school. Wife’s brother was settled in Pakistan (perhaps Karachi). The boys went to Pakistan to spend some time in Mama (Maternal Uncle)’s house. While they were there, relations between the two countries deteriorated following Bangladesh war. Pakistan declared India an enemy country. In panic, Mama destroyed the Indian passports of the boys and managed Pakistani passports for them.
Normal relations were restored between the two countries during the Janata Party government of Morarji Desai. The two brothers came to India on Pakistani passports and applied for Indian passports explaining the circumstances in which they had to acquire the Pakistani passports. Their case was pleaded by Barrister Umashankar Trivedi, who was an eminent Supreme Court lawyer and had specialised in such cases. The Ministry of External Affairs, however, denied them the Indian passports. The Ministry’s decision was challenged in the court. I don’t remember now how the case was shifted to Neemuch. The Neemuch court, however, upheld the government decision.
On reaching Neemuch, I first met Barrister Trivedi, who lived in Neemuch. He was absolutely confident about the boys getting the Indian passports as they were born and brought up in India. After seeing the judgement and taking necessary notes, I went to the police station where the boys were supposed to be kept in havalat. But the Thanedar said: Hum ne ye roj roj ka jhanjhat nibta diya.
On Barrister Umashankar Trivedi’s instructions, an Indore lawyer (known to me) challenged the Neemuch court judgement in the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Indore Bench). That’s how I came to know of the case.
On reaching Neemuch, I first met Barrister Trivedi, who lived in Neemuch. He was absolutely confident about the boys getting the Indian passports as they were born and brought up in India. After seeing the judgement and taking necessary notes, I went to the police station where the boys were supposed to be kept in havalat. But the Thanedar (police officer) said: Hum ne ye roj roj ka jhanjhat nibta diya. Hum unhe jeep mein baithake Barmer le gaye aur seema se us paar Pakistan mein push kar diya. Ab Pakistan jaane aur vo jaanen (We have removed this everyday problem. We took them in a jeep to the India-Pakistan border in Barmer district and pushed them on the Pakistan side. Now it is between Pakistan and them).
When I reported this to Barrister Trivedi, he was simply devastated. For quite some time he was not able to speak.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not of eNewsroom. This is an open forum and we try
to give space to every school of thought.
Ranchi: In 2018, Pathalgadi movement had made headlines across India. It had been reported that the adivasis (tribals) of Jharkhand and Chattisgarh were indulging in anti-national activities by erecting stones in honour of their ancestors to announce important decisions regarding their families and villages or to mark the boundary of their villages. While this movement took in many districts of the two states, Khunti district remained the epicenter. Later, police arrested several Pathalgadi movement leaders, villagers, lathi charged and fired on the protesting tribals. Cases of sedition were slapped on more than 14000 tribals in Khunti itself.
Now for two days, on August 6 and 7, 2019, a fact-finding team comprising activists, academics, researchers and lawyers visited a few Pathalgadi villages in Khunti (Ghaghara, Bhandra and Habuidih in Khunti block and Kochang and Birbanki in Arki block) to understand the Adivasi motivation for doing Pathalgadi and the response of the administration.
The team met several residents of Khunti and its neighbouring villages. Following which they also met the deputy commissioner (DC), Khunti Suraj Kumar.
On Thursday, they also held a press conference in Ranchi and presented their fact-finding report.
One deaf man was beaten as he was unable to hear the instructions given by the police. One woman was stripped and beaten by the mahila police and was unable to move for a week. A pregnant woman, Ashrita Munda, was at home when the police came into her house and beat her with a stick. She delivered a physically disabled baby. The police vandalised houses, vehicles and livestock.
It addition to using tear gas, the police also fired at people. Two people were shot, one of them, Birsa Munda, died at the spot. Many people ran away from their villages for several months and as a result, also missed the sowing season. The DC denied all the violence unleashed by the police. The violence was not restricted to Ghaghara. People were also beaten in the villages of Uduburu and Jikilata. Several houses were ransacked by the police in ‘kurki jabti’ (impoundment). In Totkara, the police let their dog loose on the people. The dogs badly bit a 25-year woman, Mariam Soy.
The fact-finding team found that Pathalgadi movement to be a non-violent response to specific policies of the government, like its attempts to dilute land laws, failure to respect the worldview of the Adivasis, implementing schemes without the consent of the Gram Sabha, non-implementation of PESA and provisions for the fifth scheduled areas and rampant violations of human rights violations. The team noted that despite most of the interpretations of the Constitutional clauses written on the pathals or stone slabs may be wrong or far-fetched, they are based on valid issues and demands of Adivasis and their basic idea about the supremacy of the Gram Sabha.
The report mentions that pathalgadi is a traditional practice of Munda Adivasis to erect stone slabs (pathals) in honour of their ancestors, to announce important decisions regarding their families and villages or to simply mark the boundary of their villages. Since 2017, pathals painted with Constitutional provisions for Adivasis, judicial orders and their interpretations have been erected in several villages of Jharkhand.
The villagers read these provisions and orders to mean the following – (1) The supremacy of the powers of the traditional Gram Sabha and the traditional Adivasi governance systems. (2) The rights of Adivasis over land. (3) The restricted rights of non-adivasis and outsiders in the scheduled areas to settle down and work. And (4) that Adivasis are the original inhabitants and owners of India.
Th members of fact-finding team during the press conference on Pathalgadi in Ranchi
The visiting team claimed that the immediate trigger for Pathalgadi was the state government’s repeated attempts to amend the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act to ease acquisition of Adivasi land. The state government also did not allow Adivasis to protest against this move, by forcefully preventing their entry into Ranchi for a demonstration in 2016. The police also fired at the crowd, which resulted in the death of one person from Khunti. There are also apprehensions that the recently auctioned Parasi gold mines in the neighbouring block of Tamar will lead to acquisition of people’s land in Khunti for construction of roads and other infrastructure related to the mines. The people firmly said that nature (including land) is an integral part of the Adivasis’ religion and governance system. According to the DC, however, acquisition of land is essential for development projects.
There is also anger against the constant attack on Adivasis’ right to self-governance. Gram Sabha is not consulted before implementing projects in Adivasi-dominated areas. Several residents of Pathalgadi villages have publicly rejected Aadhaar as they are apprehensive that Aadhaar will ease exploitation of Adivasis and their resources by outsiders, as the unique identification system equates Adivasis with the ‘aam aadmi’ (common man).
Many people in the visited villages did not vote in the recent Lok Sabha elections as they felt that their Gram Sabha and Gram Pradhans are the primary governance entities. Anger against the government policies also played a role.
The team found that the state responded to Pathalgadi with severe repression and violence. A day after the Pathalgadi ceremony in Ghaghara on 26 June 2018, thousands of police personnel lathi charged at the people. Several people were beaten up with sticks, including the elderly, women and children. One deaf man was beaten as he was unable to hear the instructions given by the police. One woman was stripped and beaten by the mahila police and was unable to move for a week. A pregnant woman, Ashrita Munda, was at home when the police came into her house and beat her with a stick. She delivered a physically disabled baby. The police vandalised houses, vehicles and livestock.
It addition to using tear gas, the police also fired at people. Two people were shot, one of them, Birsa Munda, died at the spot. Many people ran away from their villages for several months and as a result, also missed the sowing season. The DC denied all the violence unleashed by the police. The violence was not restricted to Ghaghara. People were also beaten in the villages of Uduburu and Jikilata. Several houses were ransacked by the police in ‘kurki jabti’ (impoundment). In Totkara, the police let their dog loose on the people. The dogs badly bit a 25-year woman, Mariam Soy.
A total of 29 FIRs have been filed against people of pathalgadi villages. There is an apprehension that these FIRs may have charged all the Gram Pradhans of the pathalgadi villages and about 30,000 unnamed people under various charges, including sedition. The villagers get scared whenever the police visits their village, because any of them could be considered as one of the ‘unknown others’ in the FIRs. There were reports of more arrests in Ghaghara as recently as this month. Many people named in the FIRs or picked up by police were not even aware of the charges against them.
Due to this violence, there is immense fear amongst people. The police has continued its visit to villages and are picking up of villagers at random or raiding their homes. According to 15 FIRs, available with the team, the police has charged about 100-150 persons and 14000 unnamed people under several charges that include abetment, obstruction to public servants while discharging their duty, creation of public nuisance, criminal intimidation and even sedition. It also includes 20 people who are activists, writers and journalists charged with sedition only because they had raised questions, on social media, on the government’s actions in Pathalgadi villages and attack on Adivasi rights.
A total of 29 FIRs have been filed against people of pathalgadi villages. There is an apprehension that these FIRs may have charged all the Gram Pradhans of the pathalgadi villages and about 30,000 unnamed people under various charges, including sedition. The villagers get scared whenever the police visits their village, because any of them could be considered as one of the ‘unknown others’ in the FIRs. There were reports of more arrests in Ghaghara as recently as this month. Many people named in the FIRs or picked up by police were not even aware of the charges against them.
The police has forcefully set up camps in schools and community buildings without the consent of Gram Sabhas in many Adivasi villages. The team found that government schools in Kochang and Kurunga were merged with faraway schools and their building was converted into police camps. The local administration even forged a resolution of the Kochang Gram Sabha to show consent to acquisition of a land for setting up a permanent police camp in the village. The Gram Pradhan of Kochang, Sukhram Soy, who opposed it fiercely, was murdered few months ago. The villagers alleged lack of adequate action and investigation by police in this matter.
Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, whose members initiated the fact- finding expressed concerned with the silence of political leaders on the violations of Adivasi rights in Pathalgadi villages.
It appeals to all opposition parties to stand with the Adivasis of Khunti and seek accountability from the state government. The team through press conference also made demand from the government. (a) The government must immediately withdraw all FIRs and charges of sedition on the thousands of unnamed residents of Khunti and activists. (b) The government should undertake judicial inquiry into the violence unleashed by security forces in Ghaghra and other villages and ensure punitive action against the personnel responsible for the human rights abuses. It must also ensure compensation to victims of police atrocities in these villages. (c) The government must remove all police camps from the nine schools and two community buildings. (d) The government should initiate genuine dialogue with representatives of the Pathalgadi villages, Adivasi organisations and experts on the interpretation of Constitutional provisions written on the pathals. (e)The government must ensure strict immediate implementation of all provisions for the fifth scheduled areas and PESA.
The inquiry team included JJM, a network of several people’s organisations and activists. Several organisations such as Adivasi Adhikar Manch, AIPWA, HRLN, Jharkhand Munda Sabha and WSS were part of the team.
Ranchi: It is not hidden anymore that in last three years, Jharkhand has witnessed the maximum number of hunger deaths in India. And after every death, the administration or government despite being in denial, promised that they would insure that ration supply improves in the respective areas.
However, this doesn’t seem to be the case for West Singhbhum, where a hunger death took place in December 2018.
In Podahat village of Sonua block, one Biren Diggi had died of starvation after being denied food grains for four months.
However, Kaushalya Diggi of the same village informed, “Despite so many complaints since then, the villagers are yet to be given ration for September-December 2018.”
Kaushalya was one of the hundreds of villagers from 11 villages across West Singhbhum protested in front of the district’s Deputy Commissioner’s office against the denial of their Public Distribution System (PDS) foodgrains for many months over the past two years.
Non or irregular ration distribution whether of cancellation of ration card or not linking to Aadhaar has been a serious issue for Jharkhand, as it caused several troubles for cardholders and several deaths also took place because of it, but it seems government and administration has yet to learnt from it.
Many participants at the dharna shared their ordeals.
John Kayam of Chakradharpur’s Baipi village said, “None of the cardholders of our village has received PDS grains for the months of September-December 2018. We complained several times to the Supply Officer, District Grievance Redress Officer (DGRO), Deputy Commissioner and even the State Food Commission.”
The National Food Security Act mandates that all grievances are to be redressed within one month. Many cardholders present in the dharna said that despite having repeatedly complained to the block and district administration over the past one year, their issues remain unresolved.
Kelaram Majhi from the neighbouring village of Kupui echoed the same, “We have also not received grains for those months. Eighty-one cardholders of the village have decided that they will not take any PDS ration till they get their pending grains.”
People of other villages too such as Khuntpanin block’s Ulirajabasa, Bada Bankua, Onkolkuti and Sonua’s Podahat also shared that they were yet to get ration for a few months over the past two years.
Cardholders of Lupungutu village of Chaibasa Sadar block shared that the ration dealer makes them authenticate in the electronic Point of Sale machine but does not give them grains.
The National Food Security Act mandates that all grievances are to be redressed within one month. Many cardholders present in the dharna said that despite having repeatedly complained to the block and district administration over the past one year, their issues remain unresolved.
Villagers of Kupui said that the Block Supply Officer and the ration dealer had forged their thumbprints and signatures in a report to the district administration, according to which the cardholders of the village received grains for September 2018 (which they are yet to receive).
The DGRO also threatened them that their ration cards would be cancelled if they did not agree to take the ration for months other than September-December 2018.
Two senior citizens burn the effigy at dharna site
People of Khuntpani’s Ulirajabasa said that they did not get ration for three months in 2016, one month in 2017 and four months in 2018. After several complaints, they were called for a district-level hearing. But the DGRO declared that they would get pending grains only for the four months of 2018. According to her, cases of 2016 and 2017 are very old.
An old man Suniya Jojo of Baipi angrily reacted, “Don’t the officials feel ashamed to eat the ration meant for the poor.”
Manki Tubid, who works on people’s rights in the district said that irregularities in the PDS are not limited to a few villages, but are widespread across the district.
While the ration dealers claim that they are not allocated grains, according to the administration, the dealers are regularly allocated grains as per their online transaction reports. A question raised by everyone in dharna was “where is the grain going then?” This also makes the claims of the government that Aadhaar has helped in checking leakages in the PDS hollow.
Since Aadhaar was made mandatory in the PDS, cardholders have been facing several hassles. Ration cards not linked with Aadhaar were cancelled in thousands. Many of them are yet to be reissued new cards. None of the dealers maintains exemption registers to distribute grains to those who are not unable to successfully authenticate themselves through biometrics.
Representatives met the OSD of the DC and submitted a memorandum, which included the following demands:
Pending grains of all the villages from 2016 onward should be immediately distributed to the cardholders. All eligible families whose ration cards have been cancelled, should be immediately issued new cards. Ration dealers responsible for siphoning off PDS grains should be terminated and all functionaries responsible for the irregularities should be adequately punished. And that Aadhaar-based bio-metric authentication system should be removed from the PDS.
The beneficiaries also burnt effigies of the DGRO and the District Supply Officer, before the end of the dharna.
Arun Jaitley was more of a master of manoeuvrings than a legal wizard or a politician. He was intelligent, of an amiable demeanour, an entertainer, friendly to journalists and darling of corporate houses and press barons. He believed in making ‘adjustments at the ground level’ rather than fighting head on. He got Dow Chemical (successor to Union Carbide in the Bhopal Gas Disaster litigation) out of the legal wrangle and the gas victims came to know only much later about Jaitley’s role.
It’s not that his behind-the-curtain operations always succeeded. When he failed, he got angry to the point of looking almost a boor. In a long article in The Pioneer, he criticised the Supreme Court in unsavoury terms when the apex court dismissed then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s petition challenging the appointment of Justice (retd) R A Mehta as the Lokayukta of the State and quashed the appointment of Justice (retd) Chandrasekaraiah as the Up-Lokayukta of Karnataka. The procedure for appointment of Lokayukta in the Gujarat Act is substantially different from the procedure in the Karnataka Act. In his anger, Jaitley conveniently (or mischievously) ignored this fact while attacking the Supreme Court. Unworthy of an eminent lawyer!
Jaitley was again angry when he could not get the Supreme Court endorse a certain decision of the Narendra Modi government in which he was an important Minister. He told Rajya Sabha: ‘With the manner in which encroachment of legislative and executive authority by India’s Judiciary is taking place, probably financial power and budget making is the last power that you have left. Taxation is the only power which states have.’ This was on the day the Supreme Court queered the Centre’s nefarious plan to usurp the legislative powers of Uttarakhand.
Jaitley’s role in persuading the party leaders to declare Modi as the prime ministerial candidate before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections is only too well known. He also helped Amit Shah get out of the fake-encounter case. Chief Justice of India Palanisamy Sathasivam, who had finally acquitted Shah of the charges, was, on retirement, appointed Governor of Kerala.
It was to no minor credit to Jaitley that Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister today and Atal Bihari Vajpayee completed his full term. Jaitley helped Modi get out of the post-Godhra messiness mainly by making adjustments at the ground level. The situation was such as could not have been controlled by purely sticking to the letter and spirit of the law. Then Jaitley’s role in persuading the party leaders to declare Modi as the prime ministerial candidate before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections is only too well known. He also helped Amit Shah get out of the fake-encounter case. Chief Justice of India Palanisamy Sathasivam, who had finally acquitted Shah of the charges, was, on retirement, appointed Governor of Kerala.
Earlier, Jaitley had saved the Vajpayee government from possible pre-mature demise. Tehelka had exposed coffin scam along with other defence scandals of George Fernandes who was Defence Minister in Vajpayee’s NDA government. Sonia Gandhi, who had become Congress president a few years earlier, took up the defence scams, mainly the coffin scam. She asked her party men to collect signatures all over the country on a petition to the President seeking an inquiry by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the scams. The Congressmen worked with a missionary zeal and were reported to have collected around 6.25 crore signatures in a three-month-long countrywide drive.
Such a massive mobilisation of the Congress party on an issue of vital public interest had not been witnessed in the past several decades. The top NDA leaders went into panic. Defence Minister George Fernandes lost his sleep, and with that, part of his sanity also. He went on threatening to file a sedition case against Sonia Gandhi if she did not desist from what he said was demoralising the armed forces. ‘Agar us Mahila ne apana muhn band nahin kiya to kanooni kararvai karenge’ (if that woman does not shut her mouth, we’ll take legal action against her), he told a press conference in Bhopal, adding that ‘it will not be limited to defamation, but may be sedition also’. Sonia Gandhi had, in spite of her linguistic handicaps and ‘lack of experience’ in politics, caught the imagination of the masses. It was claimed that Sonia, accompanied by all PCC presidents, would hand over the signatures to President K R Narayanan and seek action.
Then ‘something’ happened. Sonia Gandhi accepted Prime Minister Vajpayee’s offer to head the Indian delegation to the United States for the UN’s special session on AIDS. Instead of seeking a fresh date from President Narayanan for submission of the signatures, she gave instructions to some AICC functionaries to take the truckloads of the bundles of signatures to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and present these to the President. The 11-member delegation of the Congress that called on the President included Pranab Mukherjee, N D Tiwari, Motilal Vora, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and Mukul Vasnik. On the whole, it was a miserably low-key affair and ended in a chaffy anti-climax. In contrast to the wide publicity that Sonia’s call for collecting signatures had attracted across the country, the actual submission of the signatures to the President turned out to be a non-event, with a paragraph or two appearing on inside pages of only a few newspapers. PCC chiefs, who had worked hard to collect the signatures and seen it as a new beginning in the party, felt cheated.
Sonia also got some alterations made in the petition submitted to the President. While the original petition, on which the signatures were collected, had categorically demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the entire gamut of affairs exposed by the Tehelka website, including the coffin scam, the petition that was actually submitted to the President left it up to the President as ‘the protector of the Constitution’ to decide ‘how to save the people of India from this impervious government’ of NDA which ‘has lost the moral right to rule.’
This done, the BJP pushed into the background not only Quattrocchi but also the Bofors gun deal and Fernandes stopped threatening her with sedition cases. What was more, Vajpayee, who had been much offended by Sonia’s speech in Lok Sabha, became an admirer of her to the puzzlement of some of his own party leaders. With the good work done by then Law Minister Arun Jaitley, the Delhi High Court cleared Rajiv Gandhi of involvement in the Bofors kickbacks scandal. As Quattrocchi’s involvement was more complicated mainly because of his refusal to come to India, the machinery was set in motion to ease his ordeal also. Sometime later, two of his accounts in London banks containing 3 million euros and one million US dollars were defreezed.
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Kolkata: A round table discussion was organised to highlight how media can strengthen the electoral democracy. But eminent participants felt that at present, there is a need to first strengthen media, as a huge section of the media was damaging the Indian democracy with sensational news, TRP focused and pro-government stories.
On Saturday, West Bengal Election Watch (WBEW) in collaboration with Association For Democratic Reforms – New Delhi (ADR) organized a round table discussion on ‘Role Of Media In Strengthening Electoral Democracy’.
The session was engaging as the participants discussed about their experiences regarding recent elections and challenges faced by the media. All participants reaffirmed the critical role played by media in facilitating free and fair election and in holding government accountable for strengthening inclusive democracy.
“Independent and strong voices are important to strengthen media, but we do not need media house like Republic, it is not doing journalism. Every time we open our cable, almost a minute we have to watch Republic forcibly, why should we watch it? asked Pankaj Dutta former IPS officer.
Participants also raised concerns about shrinking space for free and non-agenda based journalism and illustrated how commercial interests guided media houses in most cases, resulting into restriction of freedom for ethical journalism. Corporate and political tie up further influenced media houses and reduced their freedom of amplifying people’s genuine concerns to larger society. Often big media houses were driven by TRP hence they preferred such news that would create ‘sensation’.
Regarding deterioration of press freedom in India, all participants felt that alternative platforms should be used to express opinions and news. In this regard they highlighted the good role of various news portals which were using social media platforms. Civil society should support these portals, through donations or sharing their news, for sustenance of such portals. All participants agreed that health of democracy could be measured by health of media in a country and India as well as West Bengal are experiencing a tough time in this regard.
“We need to first strengthen the media itself, in order to strengthen our democracy, summed up Former Chief Justice Malay Sengupta just at the end of the discussion.
The discussion was attended by well-known media personalities, civil society representatives, former Chief Justices, academicians, researchers as well as WBEW Executive Committee members. And chaired by Honourable former Chief Justice Kolkata and Mumbai High Court and President of WBEW Chittotosh Mukherjee. Coordinator of WBEW, Dr. Ujjaini Halim, welcomed all the participants and highlighted the need for this consultation briefly. Snehasish Sur, senior journalist, Doordarshan Kolkata and President Kolkata Press Club, facilitated the discussion.
Dr. Ujjaini Halim also clarified some positions of ADR and WBEW. She mentioned while the organisations have no declared position on EVM controversy, but they have opposed Electoral Bond, Amendment of Right to Information and One-Nation-One Election agenda. And that ADR and WBEW have always taken a strong position against paid and fake news. She expressed hope that media consultations would further strengthen role of media in electoral democracy in a constructive way.
Others who participated, were executive committee members of WBEW Malay Sengupta (Former Chief Justice, Sikkim High Court), Prof Satyabrata Chowdhury (Former President Indian Association) Prof Manabendra Mondal (Former Secretary Forum of Voluntary Organisation West Bengal). Media personalities and researches Rajat Roy, Sudipto Sen, Kalyan Banerjee, Prof Biswanath Chakraborty were among keynote speakers. Representatives of other Media Houses like Dainik Biswamitra, Rajasthan Patrika, Dainik Statesman, Enewsroom, Hindustan Samachar and Ganasakti were also present in this discussion. Civil society organisations like Indian Institute for Mother and Child, Durbar Mahila Samannay Committe, SHIS, Forum of Voluntary Organisation West Bengal, FIAN West Bengal, Vivek Pathe, Nari o Sisu Kalyan Kendra, Khidirpur Swaraj attended the round table.
And along with Indian participants, two girls– Silvia Taranto and Ulrike Plank from Italy and Germany also remain present to witness the discussion.
Ranchi: Recently North Indian Textile Mills Association and Tea Industry have given advertisements in newspapers, to show how deep economic crisis their sector and its people are facing.
Now, Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FJCCI), Ranchi has put up several hoardings in the state capital including one right in front of the residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das to tell people how badly the industry sector is suffering in Jharkhand, a state known for its mineral resources and industries.
The hoarding pointed out the emergency situation industries of Jharkhand are facing. It appealed and mentioned the specific problems of the crisis. And it has warned that if situation does not improved they will desert the state.
The hoarding (see the picture)
It writes in Hindi, “Vayapariyo Ki Marmik Pukar, Ab To Shudh Lo Sarkar (Painful call of traders, now pay heed to us, dear government)”.
The FJCCI has also mentioned the specific issues the industries are facing including acute power shortage, failure of single window system, harassment by the police (especially to transporters), lack of basic facilities in industrial areas and red-tapism among others.
10000 industrial units in Jharkhand has been shut down
Federation’s president Deepak Maroo held a press conference and said, “We have tried to present our issues before the ministers and chief minister, but all went in vain. No one paid heed. So we have no option but to put hoardings. We started by putting them up in front of CM’s residence and several parts of Ranchi.”
“The hope of increase of industries have been dashed now. Two years back, the industries which were doing good have got ruined now. He further claimed, “Because of the insensitivity of state government (read Raghubar Das government) more than 10000 industrial units have been locked. And several are fighting for their existence,” he added.
Warning to move to Bengal
Federation has told its district units to install such hoardings in every district. Its members also said that if despite this the government does not pay heed to their grievances, they will be forced to start large scale protests.
While the hoarding clearly mentioned that it is a mayhem now and warned the Raghubar Das government that they can move to Bengal, if immediate action not taken on their grievances.
