Kolkata: In a major haul by special anti-Fake Indian Currency Note team of Special Task Force, Kolkata, unearthed an illegal arms manufacturing factory and seized fake Indian currency worth Rs one lakh on Monday.
The FICN team first nabbed three men from the area adjoining the Kolkata Police Paddock and Manohar Das Tarang Pond of the city. The accused 38-year-old Suku Sekh, of Kaliachak Malda, 26-year-old Md Abdulla and Amjad Rayeen of Hazratganj, Bihar were dealing in a transaction of fake Indian currency notes and semi-finished country-made improvised guns among themselves, when the police intercepted them.
“During the arrest, the accused had about fake Indian currency notes of denomination 500 worth Rs 1,00,000 and about 40 semi-finished country made improvised arms in their possession,” informed an official of FICN team.
On interrogation, the statement of Md Abdulla, one of the arrested accused, lead the Anti FICN team of the STF to an illegal arms manufacturing factory in Choto Sreerampore, which falls under the Jaggatdal Police Station area of the Barrackpore Commissariat.
The illegal arms factory
“The raid at this arms manufacturing factory further lead to the arrest of six more people, who were working inside the illegal arms factory,” told Murlidhar Sharma, a senior police official of STF, Bengal Police to eNewsroom.
Interestingly, among all those arrested from the illegal manufacturing arm unit, none were residents of Bengal. One was from Navi Mumbai, four from Bihar’s Munger district, which is a specialist in manufacturing country made guns and one from Bihar’s Begusarai district.
The arrested from the illegal arm factory are– Navi Mumbai’s Mohammad Sabir Raien (28yrs), Bihar’s Md. Shaud Alam alias Sonu (24yrs), Md. Shanwaz alias Mister (25 yrs), Md Faisal (24 yrs), Md. Razi alias Raju (19 yrs) and Md. Chand alias Domu (24 yrs).
According to the officials, 20 pieces of semi-finished country-made improvised fire arms, one lathe machine, two milling machines and two drilling machines along with a huge amount of country-made improvised fire arms parts, raw materials and instruments were seized from the seized the factory.
Those arrested have been booked under section 120B, 489B, 489C of the Indian Penal Code r/w 25(1)(a)/ 25 (1B)(a) Arms Act vide STF PS Case no. 12 dated 31.07.2018.
All the above mentioned accused persons will be produced before the Ld. Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Calcutta, today.
Kolkata: July 30 had been decided as the d-day for 3.29 crore applicants in Assam, who have been waiting with bated breath to check their names in the second and final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The list finally out today has about 40 lakh applicants left out in the doldrums. Reacting sharply to the exclusion of this many citizens, Chief Minister of Bangla, Mamata Banerjee, said, “It’s an agenda to throw out Bengalis and Biharis out of Assam. So, we are worried, as citizens with Aadhaar cards are being declared as refugees in their own nation. A team of MPs will be sent to Assam and if required, I shall also go.”
The AITMC supremo, during her press meet, maintained that this was an agenda to isolate Bengalis who have been staying in Assam since long. “It’s not just Muslims but Hindus are also being targeted. People with a Bengali surname are being specifically targeted. We share the border with Assam, so we will also have to face the brunt. Those who have been excluded are not Rohingyas but Indian citizens,” she maintained.
On being asked if Bengal government would give refuge to those who have not made to the NRC list she said, “We will think about that when the situation arises but first answer, why should so many be thrown out of their state?”
Maintaining that she had her faith in Indian judiciary, Bengal’s CM questioned the central government’s intention. She asked, “Why is the government of India silent on providing protection to those who have not made it to the NRC? Why have they not passed a law for the protection of these many people? What happens if Bangladesh refuses to take in these many people?”
She alleged that the NRC is an ‘unnecessary provocation being made for elections’.
Referring to TMC MPs protesting against NRC at the Rajya Sabha, she further questioned. “There is no reason to panic said the Home Minister, but can he explain why 15 companies of armed forces have been dispatched to Assam. Why has all mode of communication been suspended in Assam?”
Mamata mentioned that she would be speaking to Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister, citing the UN resolution which allows a country to give shelter to refugees in distress.
She even claimed that many with valid documents had been excluded from the NRC.
The issue had also been highlighted by an independent study carried out by United Against Hate, in Assam with regards to NRC. “The fact is that here the citizen has the onus of proving their citizenship, a huge uncertainty is looming over the Bengali-speaking people of Assam, both Muslims and Hindus. During our research, we realized that the worst affected in this case are the women,” said senior journalist Amit Sengupta, who had accompanied the fact-finding team in Assam.
Adding to that Nadeem Khan, convener of UAH said, “The discrimination in Assam is not on the basis of religion but language. While researching in Assam we came to know of so many Bengali speaking Hindus who had summoned by the foreign tribunals.”
However, BJP has maintained that no ‘bonafide citizen’ had been targeted. “Bengal’s Chief Minister is herself on a sticky wicket and hence is making a noise by dragging in the Bihari-Bengali angle. People will be given a chance to make claims and raise objections on the publication of NRC draft list,” Rahul Sinha, BJP national secretary said in an interaction with the Hindustan Times. Meanwhile, the home ministry has asked the Assam government to abstain from taking any action on the basis of the NRC draft list.
Baroda: Seven-years-old Khushi Dholakia, dressed in her fineries is patiently waiting for her friends at a Shiva Temple, in their neighbourhood. Both she and her friend are part of a bigger entourage of girls assembling in the temple to perform the rituals of the not-to-miss Gauri Vrat, a religious practice prevalent in Gujarat and the Hindi-belt of India.
What Gauri or Gouri Vrat is all about?
This five-day-long fast and rituals as informed by the girls and mothers assembled in the temple are primarily performed by unmarried girls as young as three years of age, with the intention of pleasing Shiva and getting a good life partner. According to Shiva Purana, Parvati had fasted or kept this vrat for five days to appease Lord Shiva, maintain theologists.
Each girl during this celebration is seen with an earthen pot called jaavar, where they sow seven types of seeds, mainly cereals and lentils. However, in today’s consumer-friendly market, jaavars with saplings are readily available; one needn’t put in that much effort.
“It is actually a ritual of the agrarian community, which is performed during monsoon. Somewhere it is linked with the idea of farmers pleasing the gods for a good harvest,” said Dr Bharat Mehta, a professor at MS University and a social activist.
“Every ritual reflect the mode of livelihood of any society. In the present generation of eFarmers, who reap crops on Hay Day or Farmville, you won’t find many who believe in such rituals,” added Mritunjay Kumar Yadavendu, professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Mahatma Gandhi Central University. He added that such practices are prevalent in almost every Indian state, the Hindi heartland, in particular.
A little more about Gauri Vrat
In these five days, the girls observing the vrat are not supposed to consume anything during the daytime barring water. After the sun sets, they are allowed to have their dinner comprising chapatti and sabzi, cooked without salt. Keeping the demand of unsalted food during this period, the market gets flooded with unsalted banana wafers in particular.
At present, parents from communities other than the agrarian community, encourage their girls to observe this fast. Girls too, give in to the peer pressure and insist on participating in this annual ritual. Schools also are very encouraging and allow the girls observing this fast to attend school in colourful fancy dresses during these five days.
Don’t question our faith
It is not just the illiterate or semi-literate parents who encourage their girls to fast but also highly educated parents. “It is our belief. There is no point of questioning it,” said Kailash Joshi, as school teacher and resident of Baroda. He has his nine-year-old daughter observing Gauri Vrat every year.
Keeps western culture at bay
It’s not just about questioning the social practices but also a way of making the girls rooted to Hindu culture right from a tender age. Hetal Rawal of Surat, while speaking to eNewsroom clearly stated, “Such practices will keep our girls away from practicing western culture. Such annual rituals will make our girls adhere to our Hindu tradition and in the long run will help them from not going astray. As parents it’s our duty to help them understand our beliefs and culture.” Rawal runs a jewellery shop in Baroda.
Activists differ…
According to social activists, lack of awareness for gender equality is the root cause for the prevalence of such practices. “Such practices reflect the patriarchal mindset of the society. From such a tender age, a girl is made to believe that finding a husband as good as Shiva is a priority in life and that all other things are secondary in life,” added Prof Mehta.
As a society, be it Hinduism or any religion has a very feudal mindset. “Coming to Hinduism, as Gauri Vrat is a Hindu festival, I wonder why no one complains about this concept where a woman is either elevated to the position of a goddess or branded as the evil witch. Why can’t they simply be treated as a normal human being,” pointed out Prof Yadavendu.
Change is the only constant
Prof Mehta however, feels that things are changing for sure. “It might take time, but change is on its way,” he said. Speaking about the importance, he says, “In Ramayana, Mahabharata and all other books, there is a reference of this vrat so people fear that not following the rule book would be seen as a rebellion. Hence, a number of educated people just allow their daughters to participate in it. They also teach that following the ritual is a must, but one must not forget that getting a husband is not the only agenda in life. I taught this to my daughter and many are doing the same.”
Giridih: During this rain-soaked season, while people across Jharkhand are enjoying the monsoon, thousands of villagers living near the iron and steel industry belt of Giridih have been deprived of the chance to enjoy the rains. The lives of the people in this town, which is just 220 kilometers away from Ranchi, have not been smooth, thanks to the incessant water and air pollution caused by these steel and iron plants.
Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Vijaya Jadhav, who has earned the title of Lady Singham, had been regularly receiving complaints about the sudden rise in pollution levels. Complaints were raised by everyone, from the mukhiya (panchayat head) to concerned citizens.
A staff member of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) office in Giridih said, “People have been complaining for quite some time about contracting respiratory problems, tuberculosis, asthma, and skin-related diseases. They also maintained that the pollution was ruining not just the greenery of the area but also its water table. Many have complained of borewells drying up.”
Early on Thursday morning, the IAS officer paid a sudden visit to inspect the area. Following this, Jadhav told eNewsroom, “I reached the spot early in the morning because I knew that if it were during normal daytime hours and with media persons, the news might get leaked to the factory owners, and they might cover up most of the irregularities.”
Due to the unavailability of any camera personnel, the SDM herself took pictures of the smoke-emitting chimneys and the dust-covered expanse of land. She later shared the same with journalists.
“Pollutants like Ferro Manganese, Silica, and Coal are toxic and can choke one’s breath within a few hours. The level at which their concentration is rising is alarming in the specified area,” mentioned the IAS officer after her inspection.
There are at least 20 iron and steel factory units operating in Mohanpur, Manjhiladih, Mahtodih, Bhorandiha, Chatro, and their adjoining areas. Interestingly, there is a question mark over whether the area was an industrial belt originally. About 30,000 people inhabit the area surrounding these factories.
While the officials are yet to give an official statement on the matter, locals have claimed that it is a completely residential area, which has recently been converted into an industrial zone.
The website of the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) itself mentions at least eight industries—Saluja Steel & Power Limited, Atibir Industries Co. Ltd (Unit I), Atibir Industries Co. Ltd (Unit II), Biswanath Ferro Alloys Ltd, Harshit Power & Ispat Ltd, Venkateshwara Iron & Sponge (P) Ltd, Santpuria Alloys (P) Ltd, and Balmukund Sponge & Iron Ltd—under the category of highly polluting industries. There are a total of 52 such industries across Jharkhand.
“While inspecting, it came to my notice that there were no ESPs (electrostatic precipitators) running in any of the factories. I have been told that the ESPs are undergoing maintenance. When I confronted the officials, they claimed that they operate the ESPs for 12 hours during the day and do not use them at night. However, whenever I pass through those areas, I never find them functioning,” she said.
Jadhav also questioned why the state pollution control board official, whose office is in Hazaribagh, has never taken action against such factories. She pointed out, “While one cannot determine the exact Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 levels in Giridih, it feels like they are present at an alarming percentage. If it cannot be controlled, it will put Giridih’s air quality on par with Delhi.”
She added, “I have also inquired about the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities of these companies in the pollution-affected areas.”
The IAS officer further claimed that several types of violations are taking place by these companies, and that taxes and cess—ranging from carbon and coal taxes to an environment cess—should be levied on every company.
She added, “I am going to issue show-cause notices to all the industries for polluting their areas. I am not against industry because it provides employment. But earning at the cost of public health is not acceptable.”
Kolkata: Bongs are big foodies. In fact, cinema and food are the twin obsession of this community not to mention literature and Robindro songeet. They can hold forth on any of these subjects with a rare panache for hours on end. And when it comes to food, they can teach you a thing or two on the preparation method of Bengali dishes like macher jhol, bhapa ilish, dhoi mach or mutton curry. Rabindranath Tagore rightly said, “Do not blame the food because you have no appetite.’’ It is said his first lines as a child were about food. In fact, as a child, he had developed the taste to appreciate good food.
Every region throws up its own share of popular cuisine that stands the taste of time. When it comes to Bengali dishes, there is a cornucopia of choices — both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Some of the famous vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes of Bengalis are Jhol (light gravy containing vegetables), Ambol (tangy appetiser primarily containing unripe mango), Bhaja (vegetable fritters like brinjal, potato, ladies finger that are consumed with dal), Chochhori (mixed vegetables), Chhechra (fish head with vegetables), Sukto (appetiser containing an assortment of vegetables), Pithepuli (sweet dish), desserts etc.
Home-cooked dishes disappearing
The traditional popular food items that our thakumas (grand moms) dished out with so much effort are slowly giving way to more newfangled food items available at your nearest mall or food stores. The millennial generation seems to have taken a liking to these junk foods like burger, chowmein and similar other such item to satisfy their taste buds. “There was a time when Muri, chira, khoi, luchi, roti had been our staple breakfast items. But my grandchildren don’t like them. They prefer corn flakes with milk and banana and so do their parents,” said Seba Sarkar, a resident of AB Block, Salt Lake. “I love to gorge on pizzas and pastas. They are so yummy,” said a seven-year-old Rajrupa Dutta of Kankurgachhi.
Lack of time and patience
Is the gradual disappearance of joint family sounding the death knell for traditional cooking? Lack of time and patience to cook traditional food items that used to be di rigueur in Bengali household once is becoming a thing of the past. The traditional recipes have always been passed down from generation to generation but in the age of nuclear family, this tradition is slowly coming under threat. In joint families, the adorable grandmas would take great pains to cook a variety of recipes much to the delight of all members of the family. The aroma of sarse maach (fish cooked in mustard) or, say, sarse hilsha would waft through the entire house.
A famous traditional Bengali dish– Bati Chacheri
“I learnt cooking from my thakuma (grandmom). She taught me how to cook various veg and non-veg food dishes. Since I have great interest in cooking, it wasn’t that difficult mastering the art,’’ says Papree Ghosh, who came with her two-year-old daughter for shopping. When eNewsroom asked her whether her mom-in-law stays with them, she said no. She also felt that unlike her grandma, she won’t be able to pass on the tradition to her daughter due to time constraints and other priorities in life. “Women are now spending considerable period of their time looking for jobs and improving their financial condition, so cooking seldom figures in their scheme of things,’’ adds Ghosh.
So in nuclear families where mothers are working women, it is quite difficult for them to juggle both cooking and office work with equal ease. As a result, employing a cook is the easy way out. So Gen Next is left with no option but to gorge on ‘instant’ food.
However, there are women who lament the dying tradition of home cooked foods. Take the case of Sushma Banerjee of FD Block who prefers to cook at home despite having a busy social life. “Cuisine defines the cultural identity of any community and Bengali cuisine being no different. But today’s young parents mostly believe more in eating in restaurants with their children rather than relish home-cooked dishes,’’ adding sweets made of nolun gur (jaggery) is a delicacy here during winter months. “Do we get such items anywhere?’’ she asks.
Eateries galore
Kolkata has some of the finest addresses to check out for traditional Bengali cuisine like Aaheli, 6 Ballugunge Place, Bhojohari Manna to name a few. The road side eateries are nonetheless popular as they are pocket-friendly. “I have been serving traditional items like daal, bhaja, sukto, dhokar dalna, maacher jol for more than a decade. I keep it simple, tasty and nutritious,” said Siddharta Ghatak of Aborani.
Pithebilashi, Kolkata’s only eatery that specialises in Pithe has experimented with pithe, along with stocking a range of traditional items at their store. “To keep up with changing tastes of Gen Next, we had to improvise a lot. But this has only made our outlet popular among young and old. Aam noler puli, ice cream gokul pithe, baked patisapta, illish, bhetkti, prawn patisapta, chicken and mutton pitisapta, veg patisapta, roti made up of Gobindabhog rice with Pahari mangsho (chicken and mutton) polanno etc are the most sought after items. We stock the traditional items as well,” said Nabanita Chatterjee of Pithebilashi. She is confident that the Gen Next will develop a taste for traditional Bengali food sooner rather than later.
Ramgarh: Alimuddin Ansari was lynched in the heart of Ramgarh town almost a year back. Since then, a lot has transpired, right from the accused being convicted to them getting a bail and a Union Minister inviting the flak for garlanding those out on bail. However, amid all, the Ramgarh district administration has been unsuccessful in ascertaining Alimuddin’s place of death, in these 390 days, since he has been lynched to death on suspicion of carrying beef.
Yes, believe it or not, the Ramgarh police have been unsuccessful to ascertain the place where Alimuddin had breathed his last, and because of it, the district administration has not issued his death certificate, till date.
Despite, Alimuddin, a resident of Hesla (Manua) village, Ramgarh block and Ramgarh district of Jharkhand, being brutally lynched by the gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) at a marketplace in Ramgarh on June 29, 2017 and his killers getting sentenced to life imprisonment, his assailants have been in ways appreciated by politicians. Most of the accused have been granted bail and interestingly, have been garlanded by Minister for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, a Harvard Business School alumni. However, amid all Alimuddin’s widow is yet to get his death certificate even after a year.
On that fateful day, Alimuddin who was carrying meat in his van was chased by some gau rakhshaks who later lynched him at a market called Bazaar Tand, located in the heart of the town. The entire act of lynching was recorded and was later made viral on social media. And when the police arrived, the victim was alive and was taken to RIMS, Ranchi, where it was officially documented that Alimuddin had succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the hospital.
The autopsy report
“His postmortem was done at RIMS. However, when we were handed the post-mortem report, we saw that ‘unknown’ had been written in name and address section of the report. Later, we submitted an affidavit, and then the hospital authorities wrote a separate paragraph to mention my father’s name and address,” said Sajjad Ansari, the elder son of Alimuddin.
The autopsy report, however, in general never mentions the place of death of the deceased.
Ironically, Ramgarh police officials who took Alimuddin to RIMS in their police vehicle, in this one year have been unable to ascertain the place where Alimuddin breathed his last while being ferried to Ranchi from Ramgarh.
“Since my husband got murdered, I have visited Ramgarh police station several times. Each time they have simply maintained that they are not sure of the place where he had died, hence were not being able to issue any letter in this regard. I also went to Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), but he also passed on the buck to the Ramgarh police, saying that they would issue it,” rued Mariam Khatoon, widow of Alimuddin Ansari, who has been running from pillar to post to get his death certificate issued.
Without Alimuddin’s death certificate family is not being able to make claim against government promises made to them.
“Without his death certificate, we have been unable to claim for the government job and ration shop, which had been promised by the state administration,” she said.
Ramgarh court, which convicted the 11 accused, for life on March 21 earlier this year, had also ordered the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) to compensate the family within two months. But the family is yet to get any compensation.
“Tired of approaching the police, I decided to meet deputy commissioner Rajeshwari B. She took a week’s time, following which I approached her again, she then took an extension of another week, which has just ended,” added Mariam.
When Rajeshwari B, DC, Ramgarh was contacted, she told to eNewsroom, “Death certificate could not be issued as the police could not ascertain Alimuddin’s place of death.” On being questioned, if it was a deliberate act, as so many people die on their way to the hospital and have their mortal remains in the police custody and still have their death certificates issued.
She replied, “We cannot comment on the same. But now we have found a solution to this. We will be asking the ward councillor of the area, where Alimuddin has been buried to give a written statement and on basis of that document we shall be issuing the death certificate of Alimuddin. I am in touch with his widow and it will have it done soon.”
The counsel of Alimuddin’s family, Shadab Ansari however, added, “The family has decided to file a writ petition before the court, seeking its intervention, in case the death certificate is not issued this time.”
Significantly, Alimuddin was lynched on a day, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condemned the killings taking place across India in the name of cow worship and had maintained that it is not acceptable. Still, Jharkhand police has failed to document the information, which is vital for deceased’s family.
So I asked the owner of the name what Bismi means. She said Bismi means ‘beginning of all good things’ and the word has been taken from the Quran. Krishna is from Gita. Incidentally, Krishna is also part of the name of her father – Sreemangalam Krishnan Nair.
She said her father was a Congress leader, a rebel against all odd practices in her ‘very orthodox Hindu family’. As part of his rebellious nature, he named his eldest daughter Bismi Krishna. ‘My dad taught us not to get engaged with less important things in life, religion being one of them’, Bismi said. Her brother is named Shine Krishna (Christianity and Hinduism)
How did the other members of her ‘very orthodox Hindu family’ take to her unorthodox name? She said her grandmother never called her Bismi till her death; she used to call her Parvathi or Ruby (her nickname).
Her father had joined politics against the wishes of her grandparents. He was a good public speaker and used to write a column. At a very young age, he had become popular in the region. He had declared a war against ‘nasty rituals’ at home and her grandmother and other relatives could not come to terms with his behaviour; they never ‘let us mingle with the people of lower castes’. Grandfather was, however, ‘kind of ok’.
Bismi said that people from different castes used to come to meet Dad at home. After they left, ‘my grandmother would sprinkle cow dung and wash the place. It hurt my Dad a lot’.
‘Once’, she recalled, ‘when my dad came home I was crying loud to sit with farmers and have food with them on a harvest day which was objected to by my relatives as well as by farmers themselves out of fear , Dad made me sit with them and asked them to feed me’. Gradually, the things became slightly, but only slightly, better as the other members of the family considered it futile to pick up fights with her father who was uncompromising about his beliefs.
Born in 1942 Krishnan Nair died in June 1986. He was a member of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). Bismi said his death was a mystery, officially it was hepatitis but rumours were there that he was poisoned. Nothing, however, came out of the several inquiries held at the time. Her mother was in her early thirties. ‘After the Dad’s death our life turned upside down, no visitors came (otherwise every morning we saw an ocean of people in front of our house even before we woke up in the morning). My mom had a tough time after Dad’s death. She had submitted the resignation letter (as a Bank Manager) a few days before Dad’s death to take care of us and to adjust with Dad’s busy schedule but her senior officer hadn’t forwarded the letter to RBI luckily.’
Not only in the family, Bismi faced problems outside also. People thought she was born to parents of mixed religions. ‘Whenever I went to a bank, or some institution or anywhere, the people became curious to know my religious status,’ she said.
Hyper-active as a child, Bismi preferred to play the games like the boys. While her father supported her, the women in the family were worried whether she would get a good guy to share her life with. From the 6th standard she started playing sub junior nationals in ball badminton (which was more popular then than shuttle badminton), Prakash Padukone was the commentator in most of the national events where she played. She won the ‘Star of India ‘award thrice. She said, ‘the saddest part was my Dad wasn’t alive to see me crowning the best player in India award.’
Because of her greater interest in sports, she found it difficult to cope with the missed classes. Still, she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Geology and B1 degree in German language. She got married at 18, even before she had completed her Bachelor’s degree. They have two kids with religious status of ‘No Caste, No Religion’.
Now 41, Bismi is running a small company (at Trivandrum) which deals with sports infrastructure, concept development and implementation and interior designing. She said her company was doing ‘considerably well’ till some time back; of late a lot of orders have been blocked because of her political background.
Bismi’s daughter, now 13, is also a badminton player.
Jaipur/Alwar: They were sitting out, waiting for them to arrive. The darkness of the night and the cotton crop, well hid their silhouette, as two men in their late twenties, with two cows, came treading the unbeaten path. A bullet is fired in the air. The man leading the way runs into the field, a group of men jumps out and follows his trail, unaware of the second man, who hides in the field and crawls for hours to reach a safe place alive.
Hours later, a mob-lynched body of the young man, who was later identified as Rakbar Khan alias Akbar is handed over to the police, only to be declared ‘brought dead’ by the medical experts. According to Shafique Khan, the grieving father of the victim, Akbar, had travelled all the way to Alwar Haryana from Kolgaon, to buy cows.
Muslims too rear cows
“We make a living by rearing cows and goats. We may not worship cows, but we also take care of cows. It’s our livelihood. My son, a father of seven kids, had travelled to buy the cows. We sell milk, you see. We have been aware of the fact that people are being lynched in the name of Gau Raksha. But we don’t have another alternative livelihood, so we continued buying cows for our small dairy. However, we had never thought that my son would have to face such a painful death. Every single joint of his body was broken, right from his neck to his toes, by these men,” said a grieving Khan.
On being asked if they had ever thought of giving up dairy farming or are now thinking of starting another business, he said, “We have been doing this for ages. We will continue doing this. We have two cows and my son had gone to buy goats, instead, he bought two milch cows in hope of expanding our dairy business. I continue with our work, we may be Muslims but that doesn’t mean that we can’t take care of cows. Just because we are allowed to have beef doesn’t mean that we slaughter every cow we get.”
On being asked, if it was the police who were responsible for his son’s death, as suggested by the local BJP MLA, Gyandev Ahuja, he said, “No. my son was lynched by the gau rakshak mob, which mercilessly beat him and left him lying in a puddle of mud. It was from here that the police picked up my son and took him to the hospital, where he died. My son, his dying statement has mentioned that he was lynched by six men; two of them have been arrested. We want justice.”
Rakbar Khan was lynched on Friday night
We are milkmen and not cow smugglers
However, on being asked about the allegation of his son being a cow smuggler, he said with a sob, “Gyandev Ahuja is spreading rumours about my son to protect his goons. However, let me very clear, we are milkmen and my son had gone to purchase cows for our dairy business.” On being asked about the politician’s claim that there an FIR had been lodged against the victim, in 2014, he said, “Well, there had been a complaint against my son on mere suspicion. Had it been a valid complaint, wouldn’t he been put behind the bars.” He then added, “Why doesn’t the lynch mob come and lynch all of Rakbar (Akbar)’s kid. We are all going to die of hunger. All our savings are gone and also our son. How will we able to fend for his children, the youngest is only two years old.”
Call the police, why lynch?
Adding to that Shameem Ahmed, a resident of Kolgaon said, “Rakbar (Akbar) being lynched to death can’t be justified on the basis of a mere suspicion of him being a cow smuggler. Even if we assume that he was, he shouldn’t have been lynched, he should have been handed over to the police and let the judiciary decide on the case. I presume, this is deliberately being done to dilute the case, as it was done with Pehlu Khan’s case.”
Gau Raksha or extortion?
Meanwhile, Jaipur Chapter of Public Union of Civil Liberty (PUCL) highlighted another existing problem that needs to be investigated. “Akbar alias Rakbar was killed in the jungle of Lalawandi, Ramgarh. It is well known that extortionists under the garb of Gau Rakshaks are roaming the streets looking for a prey. If those carrying cows are able to pay the sum demanded, then they are allowed to go or else fired at and killed. This time too this has been the case, as reported by activists from the ground level,” claimed the communiqué, issued jointly by its president Kavita Srivastava and general secretary Anant Bhatnagar
Politicians responsible for lynch culture
Another Mewati Muslim, Dr Mohammad Jamshed, hailing from Nu district of Haryana, maintained that the mobocracy won’t come to an end, despite the Supreme Court intervening, as the politicians are encouraging their foot soldiers.
“In a country, where MPs garland the accused on being granted bail or when politicians come out to justify lynching, they in a way give out a message – do what you want we are there to cushion you. Be it Pehlu, Junaid, Umar, Akhlaque, Afrazul, or any other Muslim lynched in India, the accused have been granted bail. They have been provided with government jobs. Or, as in the case of Sambhulal Regar, he became the pin-up boy of the Hindutva camps. These acknowledgements are like the dangling carrots which will make many more of these unemployed youths to wreak havoc in the name of Gau Raksha. The fact that this lynching and Swami Agnivesh’s assaults come immediately after the Apex Court’s direction to tackle mobocracy, is definitely more disturbing,” said Jamshed.
Latehar/Ranchi: They were on their way to a cattle fair, to sell off their last batch of oxen and start a new business when a mob lynched the two Muslims- a 35-year-old cattle trader and another a 12-year-old boy. Following which the dead bodies of the victims were left to hang from a tree in the nearby forest.
Throughout the act of violence, Azad Khan, the father of the 12-year-old child witnessed his son being lynched and hanged. But the fear of the angry mob deterred him and others to rush to the rescue of the victims.
The incident, often referred as the Jharkhand mob lynching 2016, happened exactly five months after India’s first mob lynching case in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri, where Akhlaque Ahmed was lynched by a mob for allegedly having beef in his house.
However, two years later, the accused are out on bail and the family is claiming that they are once again being threatened by the killers.
The families of the victims have claimed that the mob lynching was a pre-planned case and not a spontaneous incident, which led to the victims’ death.
Listen to the widow of Jharkhand first’s mob lynching victim
“Arun Sao and Bunty Sao (the accused) had come to our house to warn my husband. My husband was bathing when they reached our residence. They told him to stop trading cattle else they would kill him,” said Saira Bibi, wife of Mazloom, while speaking to eNewsroom.
Mazloom and two of his partners—Azad Khan and Mohammad Nizamuddin, were cattle traders dealing in oxen, which are often used to plough the fields. They used to buy oxen from one fair to sell them in another. Azad Khan happens to be the father of 12-year-old Imtiaz Khan, who too was lynched by the mob. He too had got death threat to discontinue, cattle trade.
A devastated Saira, further informed, “Before walking into our home to warn my husband, they had threatened him on the roadside too. As a consequence, my husband and his partners decided to sell off the oxen purchased from another fair and start some other business.”
Azad, at that time, was recuperating from a fracture, asked his 12-year-old son to accompany his partner, Mazloom, to the Chatra cattle fair to sell off the oxen the owned. With a herd of cattle, the duo opted for the walk to fair.
Azad Khan, father of Imtiaz
“Soon after they left with the herd, we got informed about the duo being picked by a couple of men, who took both Mazloom and my 12-year-old son to the Chandwa forest. We rushed to the forest area, where from a distance; we saw the angry mob lynching Imtiaz and Mazloom. My son was crying for help,” narrated Azad.
“But the mob was so violent that I could not gather the courage to go and at least try to save my son. The fear that they could also kill me made me helplessly watch my son and Mazloom being beaten and hanged from a tree,” said Azad in a chocked voice.
Azad, Nizamuddin and few other people are the witnesses to the lynching. They filed the first Information Report (FIR), in which Azad specified one Vinod Prajapati as the prime accused, along with 12 of his associates, who formed the lynch mob. Prajapati was a local BJP leader.
During the investigation, 8 accused were arrested barring Prajapati. “Police never arrested the prime accused Prajapati. And even before filing the charge sheet, the accused managed to get a bail from the Jharkhand High Court,” said Abdul Salam, the counsel of Mazloom and Imtiaz.
Significantly, this case where a 12-year-old had been lynched to death, didn’t seem enough to have the trial in a fast track court. “I had prayed several times before the judges to shift the case to fast track court, but they never paid heed to our request,” said the lawyer.
The bail has further boosted the morale of accused and they even threatened Azad, the prime witness in this case.
However, Jharkhand Police’s spokesperson RK Mallick, on being asked about justice being delayed in the Latehar case, told eNewsroom, “Bail is a normal process and a right of accused. However, eventually, you will see the accused getting punished. In at least three of the lynching cases (Ramgarh, Bokaro and Jamshedpur) in Jharkhand, police have ensured justice, as the accused have been punished by the trial court.”
However, Saira, wants the justice to be delivered fast. With five children to take care of, the court case is consuming too much of her time and energy. “I want that we get justice fast. My husband was hanged; I want his killers to be hanged to death.”
But, the way the case has been moving so far, getting justice seems to be a mammoth of a task for the victim’s family. Primarily, because the accused have a strong political connect. According Manauwar, brother of Mazloom, “The prime accused had hosted Jharkhand’s Chief Minister Raghubar Das at his residence, just a few days prior to the gruesome mob lynching that he led.”
Manauwar Ansari, brother of Mazloom
“Also, a para-teacher Vishal Tiwari was accused of being one of the killers. He has been initially suspended from his job, but two years later, he is back to work,” informed Manauwar. “We had written to Deputy Commissioner and education department officials but they are yet to take notice of our complaint,” he added.
Shamsher Khan, a local youth who had fought for the justice in Latehar lynching also rued over the fact that the court normally fix date of hearing after a period of three months. That’s why even after two years, witnesses account is yet to be completed,” he said.
With 28 months elapsing since the two were lynched in the first lynching case of Jharkhand, there is little hope left for the families of the victim to get justice.
Since Jharkhand police and the court could not set an example in the first lynching case of the state, it could not deter other ‘gau rakshaks’ from lynching. Following this case, 11 more have been lynched, in the name of cow protection in Jharkhand.
Will July 17, judgement of the Supreme Court help the families of the Latehar lynching victims get faster justice?
Kolkata: Rivers can create havoc. But if you have to be residing in Assam and are a Bengali speaking resident then the after-effect of the Brahmaputra river swallowing villages after villages, in Assam every year during the monsoon, can be even more devastating.
For a better understanding, take the example of Rashminara Begum, who was three-month-pregnant when she was arrested and taken to prison after she failed to prove that error in the date of birth, mentioned in her school leaving certificate was a mere clerical error. Thus she was declared a foreigner.
The truant Brahmaputra and NRC crisis in Assam
The village where she grew up, has long been engulfed by the Bhramaputra river and along with it were swallowed all the necessary documents, the pre-Independence documents along with a certificate which declared that her grandfather was a freedom fighter and a Congress leader. The letter of identification from the secretary of the gram panchayat that mentioned that she had moved to her present village after marriage was also not considered to be sufficient enough to prove her nationality.
“My grandfather was a freedom fighter. My brother has a government job. How can I be called a foreigner?,” rued Rashminara, while talking to a fact-finding team that had travelled from Delhi to Assam for a ground-zero assessment of the problems that lie with the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
An initiative of human rights organization – United Against Hate (UAH) had SR Darapuri, former inspector general of Uttar Pradesh Police, senior journalist Amit Sengupta and activist Nadeem Khan, along with nine more team members comprising human right activists and journalist to gauge the existing scenario of Assam.
The findings compiled into – Fact Finding Report on Assam, Doubtful Citizenship, Distorted Rights, was released at the Kolkata Press Club on Wednesday by Sengupta, Khan and senior journalist Debashis Aich.
Need for NRC to be implemented without bias
Speaking about their experiences, Sengupta declared, “This report is not driven by any political agenda. It’s a non-biased, balanced report about what we experience in Assam. There are many more heart-wrenching stories like that of Rashminara in the report prepared by us.” He then added, “Based on the meetings we had with lawyers, activists, politicians and the common people of Assam, we realized that it was the women who are the worst affected by the NRC being updated. About 3000 people were sent to the prisons, with the onus being on them to prove their Indian citizenship. And let me tell you, even those who have been asked to prove their citizenship feel that if NRC is implemented once and for all so that the question mark looming above their head regarding their nationality ends once and for all.”
Bengali speaking population, the target
Adding to that Khan, who is also the convener of UAH, said, “Unlike the common perception, that it’s the Muslims, who are on the verge of being persecuted, we discovered that along with many Bengali speaking Muslims, Bengali speaking Hindus had also been summoned by the hundred-odd foreign tribunals set up in Assam for the identification of the nationality of people residing in Assam.”
He added, “Let me be clear on this – there is no religion-based discrimination in Assam. What we understood after researching there was that the discrimination was on the basis of the language – Bengali.”
The activists also alleged that the tribunals set up by the government were not completely unbiased and impartial. They stated that during their stay in Assam, they had come across many cases, some of which they have mentioned in the report, where the citizenship had been denied on flimsy ground.
Digital notice escalate problems
“Adding on to the woes of these people is the fact that the NRC reports and updates and notices are being uploaded on the internet. Many don’t have access to the internet and are not tech savvy, so we came across many cases, where these people missed out on their hearings as the notice or summons were released online. Thereby, they got listed as D-voters or doubtful voters and would now have to prove their nationality,” explained Sengupta.
The report further adds that the government’s move or decision to support the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016, which proposed to accept illegal immigrants who are Hindu, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis and even Christians but Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh as Indian citizens are making things more complex.
Summing up the report, Khan said, “The present condition of Assam is like a catch 22 situation and we are simply demanding an impartial solution to the existing situation. Our report is a gateway to the Assam crisis, which needs to be addressed without any political agenda.”
NRC and Political agenda
However, on being asked, if there was a political agenda, Sengupta said, “Being part of a fact-finding team, I really don’t want to comment on the political part. All that I can say was that this entire process of NRC being updated was begun by the Congress. However, this was being done in phases back then and has been fast-tracked by the BJP, which is the ruling government both at the centre and state.”
Adding to that Khan concluded, “After conducting the fact-finding research in Assam, we discovered that NRC is the Ram Mandir for Assam, about which both the ruling and opposition party will talk about but not bring in a proper solution to have it resolved.”
