Delhi: The sour relationship between Delhi Police and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi Government is known to everyone, but today while giving compensation to the two families of Delhi Police constables, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that he considers Delhi Police like his family.
Kejriwal presented a cheque of Rs. 1 crore each to the family members of the police officers as part of Delhi government’s compensation policy.
Delhi government’s compensation policy covers armed forces, police and paramilitary officials who die in the line of duty in the national capital.
Addressing the gathering Kejriwal said, “Today we enjoy a sense of security for ourselves, our children and our family because of courageous policemen like Birendra Singh and Deepak Kumar.”
“In our nation, when sports stars return, governments rush to shower them with gifts and money but what about the soldiers who lose their lives in line of duty? How can we forget about their sacrifice?” he asked.
He also pointed out on the occasion, “Recently I was attacked twice, once at the Signature Bridge inauguration when people threw bottles at me while I was speaking on the stage, the other when I was attacked in the secretariat and a miscreant tried to throw chilli powder in my eyes. This angered our MLAs who demanded that Delhi Police should be removed from the scheme as they had failed to protect me from such miscreants. I do not agree with this. Delhi Police is like my family.”
Delhi chief minister said that AAP government wanted to compensate the two martyrs within a month of their martyrdom but could not as LG obstructed the policy.
“I respect the Delhi police. Perhaps some senior officers work in collusion but the constable and police men who are like Birendra Singh and Deepak Kumar bring honour to the Delhi Police and risk their lives for the safety of the city,” added Kejriwal.
On the occasion, party’s national spokesperson Raghav Chadha demanded from central government to give Rs 5 crore as compensation to martyrs, “Delhi government gives the highest compensation to martyrs of any state or even the central government. If a small state like Delhi can give 1 crore to its martyrs, the central government should also be more generous and offer 5 crore compensation to the martyrs.”
Dhanbad/Ranchi: On Thursday, Kamala Devi, a female worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party tried self-immolating herself at the Katras police station, Dhanbad. Following which she alleged that Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Baghmara MLA Dhullu Mahto and his aides have sexually harassed her and despite approaching the police, no action was being initiated against the accused.
On Friday, Mahto organised a press conference and alleged that Kamala who runs a beauty parlour is in multiple relationships and that Giridih’s MP Ravindra Pandey too had a relation with her. He further maintained that the allegations against him was a conspiracy hatched by the five times MP to malign his image. To strengthen his claim, Mahto produced pictures of Kamla with Giridih’s MP before the media persons.
#MeToo
Mahto, during the press meet even put forward a demand for the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate his sexual harassment allegation case #MeToo. He declared, “I am ready to resign, if the MP also resigns and allows the CBI to investigate.”
However, Pandey refuted the allegations #MeToo and said that the MLA had lost his mental balance. “I do not have time for such trivial things, because it is a serious charge, he should face the inquiry,” the MP said.
Who is Dhullu or Dulu Mahto?
The 43-year-old Mahto is a two time MLA from Baghmara and considered a favourite of Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das. First time in 2009, he had won the election on a Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (JVM)’s ticket. But in 2014, he jumped the fence and joined BJP.
In 2014’s election affidavit, Mahto declared that there were at least 10 criminal cases pending against him, including an attempt to murder case. During his term as a BJP MLA, he has been accused of ransom and thrashing of policeman.
In July, Surjit Singh, manager of Oriental India, a coal outsourcing company had accused the MLA off issuing life threats to him. The MLA supporters had also beaten Vivek Batham, Oriental India’s engineer, for which the company had lodged a police complaint against the MLA and his supporters. In the ongoing term, the MLA has also been convicted in a case and spend 11 months in jail for eleven months.
The MLA now runs a self made force, called Tiger Force, a brainchild of Samresh Singh, a former MLA. The strongman is also considered Robin Hood by many. He has a website, www.dhullumahto.com, which mentions that, Mahto spent his early days in poverty and because of it, he could not study more than higher secondary. However, things seem to have changed for the 2014’s affidavit also showed that the self-made messiah of poor has at least four vehicles including one Fortuner.
Caste, Coal and Giridih Lok Sabha seat, the bone of contention
Though Mahto surname people in Jharkhand mostly belong to Kushwaha community, but Baghmara MLA is not a Kushwaha. In fact there is confusion about his caste, that whether he is from Teli caste, which comes under backward community, But some also says, he is a dalit.
But Mahto had always had the image of a strong man, who controls several coal depots in and around Dhanbad.
Because of coal business related rivalry, Mahto had also made corruption allegations against Giridih MP and said that, “Giridih MP owns 500 dumpers, which he bought through corrupt means.” According to him, these heavy vehicles are operational in several collieries of Jharkhand.
These allegations #MeToo were refuted by Pandey. But, then political observers say that BJP senior leaders are not happy with the work of five times MP and he will not be BJP candidate in 2019 Lok Sabha election. Many even presume that at the behest of other BJP leaders from Jharkhand who do not want Pandey to get a ticket, Mahto is preparing his ground.
And more than being of different caste background, and having involve in same coal trading, what is more vital is Mahto’s MLA constituency which is part of Giridih parliamentary constituency and the Mahto is one of the top contenders for BJP’s Lok Sabha candidature from Giridih.
Significantly, the allegation of #MeToo was slapped on Mahto immediately after a few days of Baghmara MLA organising a political rally at Pirtand, an important area of Giridih parliamentary constituency.
Amid all these, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and JMM leader, Hemant Soren tweeted and expressed surprise that why MLA Dhullu Mahto is not behind bars, and BJP, which talks a lot about women safety, has not taken any action so far?
Dhanbad: We all are well acquainted with the notorious Gangs of Wasseypur from Dhanbad and the credit goes to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. How would you react if we told you that unlike the gang of goons on whom Kashyap’s much acclaimed film was based, there is another gang trying to etch a new image of the coal capital of India. An all girls gang of 20 school students christened as ‘Gang of 20 Water Leaders’ are busy reshaping the water contour of the city.
Mind you, unlike the explicit spewing members of the Gangs of Wasseypur, these girls are fluent English speaking, convent educated girls. Yes, you heard that right. These 20 students of Carmel School, Dhanbad have been diligently working for the past three years to conserve water in Dhanbad.
How it all began
Thanks to Eklayava Prasad, of Megh Pyne Abhiyan (Cloud Water Campaign), for having organized a workshop, in Dhanbad, 2015. It was here that it all began with Carmel School having sent its students. In a way, this workshop gave birth to the Gang of 20 water leaders of Dhanbad.
Eklavya, has working in the field of water conservation for over two decades now. A Master degree holder from Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai he has been extensively working for water conservation in Rajasthan and Bihar.
“I am from Dhanbad and I have always wanted to work for the betterment of my native place. During the time of united Bihar, this feeling was for Bihar. So after working in Rajasthan, I returned to Bihar and we started the campaign, Megh Pyne Abhiyan, where we specifically worked for five flood prone districts of the state,” revealed the water crusader.
Megh Pyne Abhiyan or the Cloud Water Campaign works for sustainable and effective management of water centric activities with a simple belief – revive, innovate and institutionalize water and sanitation management in rural India.
However, the water conservationist, before taking up the Dhanbad initiative, which was part of South Bihar during the united Bihar period, had long realized that the water situation of South Bihar was different from the North. Thereby, it conducted a national level workshop in Dhanbad, in the year 2015.
“The girls from Carmel School too had participated in this workshop. I was leading these girls. Interestingly, when the workshop got over, Eklavya proposed the idea of forming a group that could contribute towards it in Dhanbad,” recalled Sonali Singh, a teacher of Carmel School while talking to eNewsroom.
Megh Pyne Abhiyan’s Eklavya Prasad during a session with the gang
When activity means conservation
The campaign was prepared in such a way that it stretched over the activity hours of the participating students. Care was taken for these tasks of being flexible and each participant was given sufficient time to complete the tasks.
Sonali revealed, “Initially, only five to six girls were interested in this campaign. But, when I explained the importance of water conservation to my students 20 girls got ready for it. The sessions with Eklavya were generally conducted during the ‘zero period’ of the school hours. Since the tasks were stretched over a time span of two to three months, the education of the students was not hampered.”
Making of the Change Makers
“One of the girl’s came up with the idea of calling our team – Gang of 20 Water Leaders. Initially, we considered it to be a temporary name for our group. However, later we realized that the name was matching with the Gangs of Wasseypur, a film which had brilliantly essayed the under bellies of Dhanbad. But it also had created a negative image about our city. Hence, we continued using the name to create a positive image of Dhanbad,” said Shreya Shrivastava, a standard XII student who has been part of the group since 2015 told eNewsroom.
Talking about these unique change makers, Eklavya, their mentor said, “We had also wanted to keep an exciting name for the group to attract young members to join. So we agreed to keep the name.”
Adding to that Amish Singh, another member said, “So far we have taken up three types of activities. The first was to document the water situation of Dhanbad through photographs. The next task was to conduct surveys to understand the source of it on which the residents of Dhanbad are dependent. To our surprise and against popular belief that people are dependent on water sourced from Maithan Dam, we realized that 65 percent of Dhanbad’s population was dependent on ground water.”
The most taxing task was for the group to visit hundreds of households in Dhanbad to know how much water was consumed on a daily basis.
“But more than making others learn about water conservation or harvesting, it is we who have learnt and implemented it in our daily lives. Now we know that by only closing tap, we will not be saving enough water. We have come to know the importance of rain water harvesting and that during monsoon we can save 3.3 million gallon of it in our house. And most importantly, now we have dug wells in our homes too.”
Water Conservation going to be part of Carmel’s School Syllabus
Realizing the importance of water conservation and harvesting, Carmel School has also decided to include it in their syllabus from next session.
“We are working on it and from the next session, it will be part of the school curriculum for the student between class 6 and 12,” said Sonali.
The school along with Eklavya is also working on the next group of the gang, as most of the members of the present group are in their transition phase and will soon be passing out from the school. So, all attempts are being made to ensure that the baton is passed on their successors.
However, the seeds of a desire to conserve water have been planted in their minds of students like Amisha and Shreya, who wants to do Master in Business Administration (MBA), and Event Management respectively. However, one common thread that binds the members of the gang is that water conservation is now part of their life. And this is how a change is ushered in.
Delhi: A day after the attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, no FIR being initiated by the Delhi Police and Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking Delhi’s CM to lodge an FIR, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had some hard hitting questions for the Delhi Police and central government to answer.
Party’s national spokesperson, Raghav Chadda, issued a statement, “After being a witness to the shocking attack on CM Kejriwal within the secretariat premise, I must say that I am more appalled by the blatantly careless attitude of the people in positions of responsibility.”
Raghav first questioned the silence of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. He said, “Despite the Delhi Police being under the control of Lieutenant Governor (LG), he has neither issued any statement nor condemned the attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. It is no secret that the LG has been acting upon the wishes of his political masters. But stooping down to a point where you no longer exercise your responsibility towards the security of citizens is beyond being shameful.”
AAP’s national spokesperson also expressed surprise on the advice of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Arvind Kejriwal, after the attack, “The Delhi Police comes under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Ministry of Home Affairs and not surprisingly, the Home Minister Rajnath Singh refrained from condemning the act. Instead, as if to rub salt to the injury, he called up CM Kejriwal and asked him to lodge an FIR regarding the incident. Is this to say that the Delhi Police is not capable of or will not take suo moto cognizance of the attack on the elected head of Delhi’s government.”
In the statement he even questioned , “If tomorrow, someone was to attack or assault PM Modi, would PM Modi have to go to a police station to lodge his FIR? What kind of behavior is this? This is the fourth attack on CM Kejriwal and the Delhi Police has failed to, rather refused to file a charge sheet in any matter yet. Is this a concentrated effort by Delhi Police in collusion with BJP?”
He then pointed out, “What’s even worse is that a video has surfaced of the alleged ‘interrogation of the miscreant’ being done by the Delhi Police. It is alarming to say the least that the otherwise unpopular and curt Delhi Police is seen extending warm hospitality and camaraderie towards the miscreant as though he is a relative. Is this how the police is supposed to behave with someone who has attacked an elected representative, let alone the Chief Minister? Where is the sense of moral and professional responsibility? This sends a clear signal to all goons that are supported by the BJP or have affiliations with the ruling party that they will enjoy impunity in the hands of Delhi Police.”
He then revealed, “The Facebook account of the attacker has also been discovered wherein one can clearly see that he has been poisoned by BJP’s propaganda. He calls himself a nationalist while attacking the person who has won by an unprecedented mandate of the people. Such anomalies can only be expected out of the BJP.”
“We have seen that he calls himself a BJP pracharak, a nationalist and a patriot and this kind of frenzied behaviour is being allowed by the Delhi Police because they are working in collusion with the BJP. Every BJP goon is being treated like a damaad by the Delhi Police,” Raghav added.
Kolkata: After Indian Cricket Team Captain Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma’s wedding, if any other celeb wedding has caught India’s attention then it’s the Deep-Veer wedding. The Italian wedding of Bollywood heartthrobs Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone is the second celeb wedding in the same destination as that of Virushka couple.
However, unlike Ranveer and Deepika’s marriage celebration had been kept under the wraps unlike the other Italian wedding, where Virat and Anushka doled out glimpses of the wedding ceremonies. This definitely disappointed billions of fans of the two actors while media kept churning stories, with the only two pictures of the wedding that Deepika had tweeted.
Watch here the new and stunning pictures of the unforgettable marriage solemonised at the scenic Lake Como, which the couple chose to officially share once they reached Mumbai.
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ver Rs 871 crore has been placed at the disposal of political parties through Electoral Bonds just before the Assembly elections in five Indian states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Over Rs 400 crore was collected in October itself. There is no record of the amount collected by these parties by any other means.
A report in The Hindu, based on the information supplied by the State Bank of India (SBI) under RTI query, Electoral Bonds worth Rs 401.73 crore were sold by SBI in the October 1-10 window, most of these Bonds being in denominations of Rs 1 crore and above. This was the fifth tranche. The highest number of Bonds, about 37.5 per cent (worth Rs 150.7 crore) were sold in Mumbai. The second highest sale was in Kolkata (Rs 62.6 crore worth). Earlier, the SBI had sold Bonds worth Rs 222 crore in March, Rs 114.9 crore in April, Rs 101 crore in May and Rs 32 crore in July.
Only the SBI is authorised to sell the Bonds, through its designated 53 branches across the country. The Bonds are in the denominations of Rs 1000, Rs 10,000, Rs one lakh, Rs ten lakh and Rs one crore. An individual or an organisation/body can purchase these Bonds from a designated SBI branch after fulfilling the KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements. The name of the purchaser will not be displayed on the Bond.
State Bank of India (SBI) under RTI query revealed that Electoral Bonds worth Rs 401.73 crore were sold by SBI in the October 1-10 window, most of these Bonds being in denominations of Rs 1 crore and above. This was the fifth tranche. The highest number of Bonds, about 37.5 per cent (worth Rs 150.7 crore) were sold in Mumbai. The second highest sale was in Kolkata (Rs 62.6 crore worth)
The buyer can donate these Bonds to a political party which is registered with the Election Commission and has received not less than one per cent of the votes in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly election. The party can encash the Bonds only by depositing these in its bank, registered with the Election Commission within 15 days of the issuance of the Bond. If not deposited within 15 days, the amount of the Bond will be credited to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The scheme was included in the 2017-2018 budget proposals.
This Electoral Bond scheme was described as a “retrograde step” by O P Rawat in August last year — before his elevation as the Chief Election Commissioner. In his keynote address at a conference of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Rawat had observed that the “recent amendments in the election and income tax laws make it clear that any donation received by a political party through an Electoral Bond has been taken out of the ambit of reporting in the Contribution Report which political parties have to submit to the Election Commission (EC).”
He had added: “Implication of this step can be retrograde as far as transparency is concerned. Furthermore, where contributions received through Electoral Bonds are not reported, a perusal of Contribution Reports will not make it clear whether the party in question has taken any donation in violation of Section 298 of the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits political parties from taking donations from Government companies and foreign sources.”
Besides, the Election Commission had earlier expressed its apprehension over the abolition of relevant provisions of the Companies Act of removing a cap of 7.5 per cent of profit for political donations can lead to money laundering by setting up of shell companies for diverting funds for donations to political parties.
Indian cricket team’s captain Virat Kohli is considered to be the most valuable celebrity brand in our country. He rakes in crores through his endorsements of a multitude of products. Just switch on your TV set, and his all-pervasive presence in numerous ads lights up your drawing room. In these endorsements, he comes across as a perfect example of poise and gravitas, something the viewers find extremely reassuring and soothing. He is a man for all seasons. After all, the illusory world of ads is far removed from the quotidian world. In these ads, Kohli is everything we expect an ideal human being to be: sober, intelligent, compassionate, aggressive, and by no stretch of imagination, arrogant. He can’t put a foot wrong — such is the halo of his infallibility.
Let’s be honest, Kohli has dropped the ball
Now, the all important question: why is it that Kohli’s confidence bleeds over into arrogance and bossiness when the captain in him resurfaces with a vengeance? Why is that that the man, known for his coruscating centuries against any team in the world, suddenly morphs into a Mount Vesuvius ready to erupt? For a while, Kohli the batsman and skipper is subsumed by a more preachy, self-righteous and know-all sportsman who has a word of advice for those who feel that he is after all not the best batsman in the world despite his record-breaking feat every year. If god has given Kohli one face, then he has to make himself another because he can, if need be, rebuff anybody who has the cheek to tell him that he enjoys watching the battings of Australian and English players more than that of Kohli or any other Indian batsmen for that matter. Kohli had a piece of advice for this fan of his: If he can’t enjoy the batting of Indian team then he has better live in a foreign country. After all, Kohli can’t digest the fact that even Indian fans can take a shine to batsmen from countries other than India. He simply needed a pretext, a casus belli that could be packaged to the public as a justification for such vitriol. That he had dropped a clanger by overreaching himself became evident when cricket fans, sick as a parrot, came down on him like a ton of bricks. According to them, it ill behoves a cricketer of his stature to suggest such options to a cricket fan who had the gall to speak his mind. Kohli, his critics feel, should have taken such innocuous remarks in his stride rather than letting his tongue run away with him.
Does success matter more than sobriety?
Kohli’s career trajectory in the last ten years has mostly been driven by hunger for runs than anything else. He has led himself to believe that more than behaviour what makes him a blue-eyed boy of his fans are his brilliant stroke plays and boundaries. His every achievement on the field becomes a cause for frenetic celebrations for the country. It is as if scoring centuries and breaking records are the only criterion for people of Kohli’s ilk to achieve greatness and immortality.
Tendulkar and Dravid were equally great and talented batsmen. Their humbleness and sobriety were like snatches from another world. They always made sure that they struck a balance between professional landmarks and personal distinctions. Their very name evoked respect and adoration. They displayed aggression in their batting and not in anything that had to do with flaunting personal machismo or bravado.
Kohli simply needed a pretext, a casus belli that could be packaged to the public as a justification for such vitriol. That he had dropped a clanger by overreaching himself became evident when cricket fans, sick as a parrot, came down on him like a ton of brick
Sadly, those days are over now. We now have a captain who wants the team management to dance to his tune; he doesn’t like the team coach to breathe down his neck and dictate terms on matters concerning selection of players. In the disastrous England tour this September, Prithvi Shaw didn’t get a chance to play in the Indian team despite being brought in as an urgent replacement for Murli Vijay. Any sensible cricket aficionado would be tempted to ask why this young man was not given the Indian cap and rather made to cool his heels at the pavilion? Did Kohli ask him to understand the nuances of the game before being given the opportunity to play as an opener? And look what this young promising opener did against the West Indies in the first test. He made a brilliant hundred which had all the elements of craftsmanship, patience, maturity and intelligence. We have every right to ask why this young man was given a raw deal in England. Sorry. Neither team coach Shastri nor any member from the management have any answer to this. They would rather prefer to guard their tongues.
Kohli’s next challenge is in Australia
The test and one-day series against Australia starting this month will once again put Kohli’s captaincy abilities to test. His not-so-convincing record overseas in test series as a captain is there for all to see. An impression has gained ground that Kohli mostly fails to marshal his resources on the field and at times his error of judgment proves costly for the team in crucial stages of the game.
By the time, Kohli walks in to bat on the Australian pitch; he will have exorcised his recent memories and focus on his game. We are sure some more records might tumble with Kohli adding one more feather to his illustrious career.
What we all cricket fans are praying is that the skipper remains grounded all through the series and gives the team a rare overseas win. This would be his priceless year end gift to us.
Ranchi: Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)’s Jamua MLA Kedra Hazra, who has been accused of threatening a rape survivour and protecting his rape accused nephew has made his nephew surrender before police on November 8.
Soon after the surrender of the accused, who has also claimed to be a minor, the two times BJP MLA stated that he respected law. He further alleged that the rape allegation on his nephew was a conspiracy by the opposition parties because of his popularity. Now law will take its own course.
Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Rajiv Kumar before whom the boy surrendered said that the accused would be sent to a juvenile home, in Deoghar, as he is a minor.
Watch BJP MLA's statement after the accused's surrender:
The case got highlighted when the minor girl, a resident of Karodih village in Jamua, told her parents about the accused raping her when she had gone to relieve herself on October 25. When her parents went to accused’s residence then his father Nakul Hazra, brother of Kedar Hazra, got angry and threatened them to not make false allegation.
The family then contacted MLA Hazra, who was out of station. The family was assured by the MLA of holding a panchayat and helping them to settle the matter. However, when he organized the panchayat then the accused was not present and the girl insisted on calling the boy, following which the accused’s father got angry and started to beat the survivor and her mother with slippers.
The MLA also threatened the family of set ablaze their house and throwing them out of the village.
On October 30, an FIR was lodged and on November 5, girl recorded her statement before the court, where she narrated about how the MLA had threatened then and was protecting the accused.
Protest march organized by CPI-ML in Jamua
Several political parties, including CPI-ML, JVM, JMM and AAP had criticized the MLA for shielding the rape accused.
Meanwhile, CPI-ML, went ahead with its plan of organising a protest march on November 10, demanding dismissal of MLA Kedar Hazra from BJP, for shielding the accused. The march led by former MLA of Bagoder, Vinod Singh they hit the streets of Jamua to demand justice for the rape survivour and her family.
Ranchi: Kedar Hazra, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Jamua (Giridih district) assembly segment has been accused of protecting a rape accused. The two times BJP MLA has also been accused of threatening a minor rape survivor and her family during a panchyat session. He allegedly intimidated the victim by saying that her home would be set ablaze and both she and her family would be thrown out of the village.
The minor rape survivor recorded her statement before the judicial magistrate Pawan Kumar under section 164 of CrPC on Monday during which she claimed that at the panchayat, Nakul Hazra, father of the accused, beat both the survivor and her mother with slippers.
The mother of the survivor while talking to eNewsroom, said, “When my daughter informed us about the rape, vidhayak ji (the MLA), whose nephew has raped my daughter asked us, not to lodge a police complaint as he would settle it in the panchayat. But he did nothing apart from shielding the rapist. In the meantime, lodging of the FIR got delayed.”
Earlier, on October 25, the family explaining the circumstances under which the 15-year-old girl was raped, stated, “We don’t have a toilet. So, she went out into the fields to relieve herself, when Nitish Hazra, son of Nakul abducted her and took her to the forest area, where he raped her despite her putting up a fight. He later threatened to kill her if she approached the police and left.”
Nakul is the brother of Kedar Hazra, BJP’s MLA from Jamua and according to the victim’s family, they all live in the same village – Karodih.
The minor’s family accused the family of not paying heed to their pleas. “When we went to meet Nitish’s father to share the ordeal, His father after listening to us got angry, and accused us of levelling false allegations against his son. He claimed that their son couldn’t rape.”
After returning from the accused home, they called the MLA. “We made a call to Vidhayak ji. He was out of Giridih and said us to wait till he returned. The villagers asked us wait till he returned because of his assurance,” she added.
“But after four days, when he returned and called panchayat, the boy was not present during the meeting. Vidhayak ji asked my daughter to narrate what happened to her. On which she demanded that the accused should be present in the panchayat against whom the allegation has been made. But, after listening to my daughter, Nakul got angry and started beating her and me with slipper. He said that, he (Nitish) will not appear in panchayat as we were making false allegations. Later vidhayak also threatened us to set ablaze our house and have us thrown out of the village,” added the mother.
Thereafter, on October 30, the family lodged an FIR at Jamua police station, following which the minor underwent a medical test and had her statement recorded before magistrate. However, the accused is yet to be arrested.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rajiv Kumar on being asked about the progress in the case, told eNewsroom, “The hunt is on, soon the accused will be arrested.”
When eNewsroom contacted Kedar Hazra, to seek his comment on this case, the MLA, disconnected the call after listening to the question.
However, Ravindra Rai, BJP MP from Koderma, under which Jamua constituency falls, claimed that it to be a ploy to tarnish the MLA’s image.
Meanwhile, the issue of the MLA shielding the accused is being widely criticised and protested. CPI-ML leader Vinod Singh, who is going to lead protest march on November 10 told eNewsroom, “It is not only about BJP’s Jamua MLA. Be it Jharkhand, UP or some other place, if any party person is involved in cases of violence against women, the party has either saved or patronised the accused. BJP which came up with slogans like, Beti Bachao, Beti Padao, its leaders have always been seen standing with the accused and culprits rather than the victims.”
“In this case, the MLA should be arrested for threatening the victim’s family. And if BJP really cares for the women, then it should dismiss the Jamua MLA,” Singh added.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s District Convenor Krishan Murari Sharma threatened that if accused has not been arrested, party will hit the street for the justice of the victim.
Kolkata: The readers of Kolkata can boast of a new edition to their ever-increasing list of libraries in the city. But the book that the readers might get to read may take many by surprise.
For this library offers no ordinary books but ‘human books’ to answer the reader’s queries. Called, a Human Library, it allows a person to borrow a ‘human book’ for around 25 minutes. The human book is nothing but a fellow human, who is either a survivor, achiever or a representative from the minority community. The borrower within the stipulated time can question them seeking an answer to help them clear misconceptions, prejudice or provide more information for better knowledge or even get inspired by their tales. These books are to be returned to the depot once the reader completes his interaction for the stipulated time.
Kolkata’s first to highlight stereotypes
The first human library to be set up in the City of Joy is looks all set to highlight social stereotypes prevalent in the Bengali community. Speaking to eNewsroom, the Kolkata depot manager Deblina Saha, said, “It is a concept designed to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue. It is a place where real people, marginalised people share their stories. More precisely it is a place where non-conformed questions are expected, appreciated and answered.”
Saha plays an important role in bringing the library to Kolkata. The library is bringing about a social change globally, since 2000. The worldwide movement, which began in Denmark’s Copenhagen, has been replicated in various part of the world.
How it works?
The human books are volunteers belonging to various walks of the life, who have faced discrimination based on race, religion, sexual preference, class, gender identity, sex, age, life style choices, disability and other aspects of their life. The human library provides an opportunity to share and understand the experience of another human being in a community.
“It is a concept designed to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue. It is a place where real people, marginalised people share their stories. More precisely it is a place where non-conformed questions are expected, appreciated and answered,” said Saha, the organiser.
Kolkata Connect
Thrilled about the concept of a human library, Saha applied for its licence. “When I read about it, I thought that something like this must happen to my city. So, I applied to its Denmark office for the licence in the first quarter of 2017, but was rejected then,” said the 27-year-old lady, who is a post graduate in Sociology from Jadavpur University. However, the rejection didn’t make her lose hope. She applied again and finally got the approval in September 2018.
On being asked if her being a student of Sociology had inspired her in any way to get associated with this movement, she didn’t deny the link. “Being a student of Sociology, these things bother me. This unequal treatment, these social taboos, prejudices do have an impact. Unless and until these prejudices, these stereotypes are dispelled, our society will not evolve. I aspire to have a better future for those who belongs to the marginalised sections of our society,” said Saha.
At present the human books are being screened through the organiser’s personal contact. “We do not have that man power to verify the stories individually so we are relying on personal contacts. Around 18 human books will be sharing their stories covering14 topics which have a deep social relevance. Books would include a survivor of child sexual abuse, domestic violence, sex worker, queer community, HIV positive, solo female traveller to name a few. We would be revealing all the topics by the mid of December,” she revealed.
Many Takers
“Human library is a novel attempt where one is interacting with a living book. Conversations with resource persons enable one to know more or rethink accepted ideas like a survivor of sexual abuse can break our assumed notions of safety in trusted relationships,” said Piyali Sur, Associate Professor of Sociology, Jadavpur University.
Perhaps that has, Aparajita Dutta, geared up as one of the prospective readers, needless to say, the girl is very excited about the whole affair. “I have read about it and felt such interactions are a must to shed our judgemental attitudes towards people who are marginalised. Am looking forward to it,” said the second year English (hons) student of Lady Brabourne College.
Scheduled to be hosted at Rabindra Tirtha, New Town on January 6, the library will open its door to the visitors between 12 to 3:45pm.
