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When the majority in the motherland flexes muscle over a song

Wednesday, May 15, 2013, 9:30 IST | Agency: DNA

The sight of an MP slowly walking out of Parliament while the entire House stood in respect for Vande Mataram, will be difficult to forget. Yet, the BSP’s Shafiqur Rahman Barq was simply exercising his rights. The fundamental duties added to the constitution during the emergency, ask us to respect only the national flag and anthem. At any rate, they are not legally enforceable. Our supreme court had held way back in 1986 that conscientious objectors were free not to sing the national anthem, while not showing disrespect to it.

Many people believe that Jana Gana Mana was written in praise of King George V, even though Rabindranath Tagore rejected that allegation convincingly. Earlier, when it used to be played at the end of a movie, such people would walk out, joining many others who felt it a waste of time to stay back for the national anthem.

The debate over Vande Mataram is more complicated. Originally, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s composition comprised only the 14 lines which are today the text of the national song. In 1881, he expanded it into a hymn to goddess Durga, and made it part of his anti-Muslim novel Anand Math.

Till the 1930s, everyone, Hindu or Muslim, sang it with fervour. In fact, the Vande Mataram flag also had the Islamic crescent and star on it. But as objections to it grew from Muslims within the Congress and outside, Congress heavyweights Nehru, Azad, Bose and Acharya Narendra Dev, decided in 1937 that the original two stanzas were not only unobjectionable, but had developed an identity of their own in the freedom movement.

However, singing them would not be mandatory at Congress sessions.

In the choice for national anthem, Jana Gana Mana won, but with its inspirational history, Vande Mataram became the national song. I have heard freedom fighters sing its first few lines right till their old age, remembering the slogan they shouted as they held up the tricolour in defiance and courted arrest.

The real problem with Vande Mataram is its co-option first by the Hindu Mahasabha, then by the RSS and its allies, none of whom had played any role in the freedom struggle. The slogan ‘Is desh mein rahna hoga to Vande Mataram kahna hoga’ is still used to browbeat Muslims. It took a judge of the stature of Justice BN Srikrishna to declare in court, during the hearings of his inquiry into the 92-93 Mumbai riots, that laying down conditions of residence on any citizen, let alone a community, by another group was not just communal but also fascist.

But much before 92-93, Mumbaikars were losing lives over Vande Mataram. In 1973, the Muslim League objected to the Shiv Sena’s decision to make its singing compulsory in Municipal Corporation meetings. Sena-League riots followed in which five persons died.

But a few months later, the “patriotic’’ Sena thought nothing of taking the help of “traitors” to get its candidate elected as Mayor. Bal Thackeray and GM Banatwala, head of the League, led Sudhir Joshi’s victory procession together.

Vande Mataram has a deep historical link with Mumbai. The first time it was sung from a political platform was in 1896 by Rabindranath Tagore in the Congress’ Kolkata session.

The president of the session was Mumbai lawyer Rahimatullah Sayani.

Muslim intellectuals of this city, such as Rafiq Zakaria and Sajid Rashid (both deceased), Asghar Ali Engineer and Syed Feroze Ashraf, have often stated that there’s nothing wrong in singing Vande Mataram — out of choice. Forcing them to do so — or not to — won’t do.

The author is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist.

1 Comment

by kracktivist on May 15, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Advocacy, Health Care, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights, Poetry

Tagged Asghar Ali Engineer, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, India, Jana Gana Mana, Mumbai, Muslim, Rabindranath Tagore, Vande Mataram

Posted by kracktivist on May 15, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/when-the-majority-in-the-motherland-flexes-muscle-over-a-song/

To Asghar Ali Engineer Saab, I say …

By- Ramu Ramanathan

To the local astrologer, I went and asked

Junaab: yeh inquilaab kab aayega?

His followers prohibited from worshiping idols

Yet his lordship prays to his fleet of Rolls Royce engines

Instead of blessing his tribe with the Ta’wil and Ta’fsir

When they crawl for the Sajda under his feet

Spies, spies, they are everywhere

Imprisoning you for what you think

Ali Sardar Jaffri

Balraj Sahni

Kamleshwar

Khwaja Ahmed Abbas

Krishnan Chander

Others

Unlike you
All of the above, sign Madame’s letter

Instead of throwing the pen, away

5-a.

You say to me
The Ganges may be Holier

But the canal

Near Maliyana and Hashimpura

Is bloodier

5-b.

The first story you told me
About the E Maidan

Where factories rioted with factories

And the brassware industry lived unhappily ever after

5-c

The second story you told me
About the constabulary
Who severed her legs

And yet, the young girl (known for her personal hygiene)

Crawled to the river in Logaingaon

To complete her daily bath

5-d

The third story you told me
About potatoes
Who were persecuted under Section 153 A

Since the innocent blood

Found beneath the soil

Improved crop cultivation

5-e

We have been notified

The 300 mini-riots in 1990

Cannot be classified as riots

It was an endeavour in communal harmony

To recycle the dead beings into medical implants

For the other

Asghar Ali Engineer Saab
To you, I say

Gaali khaya

Maar khaaya

Jihaad kiya

Now let’s go to a disco

Where I know a dervish DJ

We can drink all night

Till our faith fades away …

(Dr Asghar Ali Engineer passed away on 14 May 2013)

source- http://placesotherthanthis.blogspot.in/2013/04/to-asghar-ali-engineer-saab-i-say.html

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/rip-renowned-islamic-scholar-progressive-thinker-author-asghar-ali-engineer-no-more/

4 Comments

by kracktivist on May 14, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Poetry, Violence against Women, Women Rights

Tagged Asghar Ali Engineer, England, Ganges, Makes and Models, Recreation, riot, Rolls Royce, Sajda

Posted by kracktivist on May 14, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/to-asghar-ali-engineer-saab-i-say/

Mumbai – Critique of Maharashtra Women Policy- 2013 submitted by Women Groups #Vaw #Womenrights

CRITIQUE OF MAHARASHTRA WOMEN POLICY- 2013

SUBMISSION BY- MUMBAI WOMEN GROUPS AND ACTIVISTS

MAY 10TH 2013, Kamayani Bali Mahabal

The Mumbai Women groups and activists submitted their critique to the Women and Child Welfare Minister Varsha Gaikwad, at the committee meeting held today for finalisation of the women policy. The committee has 11 members .

The submission stated that the portrayal of women across the policy document reinforces gender stereotypes. The policy does not recognize women’s exploitation as a larger structural or systemic issue. The State continues to see women’s issues as ‘women’s problems’. An issue observed across the policy is that of referring to women as victims or pidit . The policy document typifies women as needy of welfare. So women are portrayed as victims and thus deserving of a piece in the development pie.

The objectives of the policy are very general and do not respond to the changing contexts and the current situation of women. It does not refer to any current data on women at the State level, for example, increasing caste violence, informalisation of labour in agriculture and otherwise, lowered sex ratio, honour killings, conditions of waste-pickers, sex workers, etc. The Policy with a very generic understanding of women’s concerns would lead to providing generic solutions

The policy is not framed within a rights based framework and this is evident from the titles of the sections which are for example day care centre, toilets, women’s hostels etc. The use of the term “adult unmarried women” (praudh kumarika)., assumes that all women have to be married by a certain age and those who cross that age would be referred to as adult unmarried women. So here we still function within the framework of family and marriage as the final goals to be strived for women. Anything outside of the family framework is treated as a problem to be addressed. In another place the word kalavantin has been used to typify women folk artists. The policy is oblivious of the fact that such a usage carries a very different connotation in terms of class and caste histories of exploitation. These and similar such usages probably would befit discussions in the 18th and 19th century but not so in the 21st century by which time we have benefited from learnings from the movement and feminist scholarship.All through the document sex selective abortion is referred to as female foeticide and this despite the fact that women’s movements have been crying hoarse over its use.

One of the very disturbing statements is regarding Sexual violence the reasons for which are attributed to mental illness amongst men or sexual distortions. One of the major contributions of the women’s movement has been to prove that violence is rooted in power and hierarchies whether they are related to case, class, gender, religion. Unfortunately the policy recognizes this not as an issue of broader systems and structures but one of individual malaise. The understanding of sex work also suffers from a similar problem. The entire discussion around sex work is under the broad title of sexually exploited women. Organisations working on the issue of sex work have time and again stated that sex work is not only about sexual exploitation. The policy should be explicit and state sex workers as sex workers and not try to portray them as ‘socially acceptable victims’

The policy is silent on the more pressing needs of the State, with its non committal on the reinstating of the women’s commission and its democratic functioning.. The policy comes across as a stand alone document with no forward or backward linkages. It does not take stock of the achievements of the past policies and neither does it mention the gender indicators which it wants to improve upon.

Below are some detailed critiques of chapters of the Policy Document

Chapter 5 – Awareness /Participation by NGOs….
• Instead of transferring the responsibility to NGOs the government should take full responsibility and take the onus of coordinating and networking with NGOs. They should become equally accountable to them.
• A trained social worker/ Counsellor should be appointed in every school and not a trained social volunteer as suggested to prevent student suicides
• Schools to be guided to undertake programmes/ activities with the purpose of bringing about awareness on gender equality
• The Censure board should include a member working on women’s issues
• When the nodal agency WCD makes training modules they should take inputs from NGOs experienced in that area before finalizing them
Miscellaneous
• The age limit for hiring a woman in crisis to a low cadre government job should be pushed back to 50, as many women between the ages of 35 and 50 years have never worked, and would therefore find it difficult to be seen as “employable”, making them vulnerable to poverty and further hardship, and exacerbating their crisis.
• Refresher training on gender issues to be offered to the police as well as school and college teachers at least once a year.

• MEDIA
• The provisions to grant powers to women commission, for approrpiate actiosn is very vague and arbitrary, unless they are defined .The issue of . Filming / video graphing in media of anything that is vulgar with a commercial purpose or insulting womanhood will be discouraged and such attempts will face legal actions. Rights of reinforcements in these matters will be assigned to an independent agency such as the Women Commission. Again, what is ‘vulgar with a commercial purpose’? Item numbers? Is every item number vulgar? How do we determine which ones harm women? How will such filming be discouraged? What on earth is the ‘rights of reinforcement’?. The policy document says formulating the censor board’ what does it mean, are they proposing a new censor board . The State policy should look at ways in which media can be used to empower women, instead of viewing media only through this punitive lens. This is very one-sided.
• Chapter 6- Education
Under the National Program for Education of girls at Elementary Level every blocks under each district of Maharashtra runs ‘Kasturba Gandhi Residential Schools. These schools are meant for girls and especially for those girls who are being employed as child labour and/or involved in home based work. Every school consists of 100 girls, due to which they could complete their education. Therefore we request that such programs must be implemented at all block levels. Today, it’s been functional only in few districts.

• Today most of the rural schools in Maharashtra do not have separate toilets for women school teachers and girls students. Therefore, separate toilets needs to be constructed for them.

• Every school must have complaints box, so that girl students who wants to complaint of sexual harassment can complete and report about the same. Also, there as to be redressal mechanism to address issues of sexual harassment at every school level.

• In spite of instituting monitoring committees at residential schools levels, which is suppose to hold meetings, submit regular reports to the higher authority, they do not act properly. Therefore there has to be a strict rules and regulations laid down for the same.
•
Chapter 9- Health

The Chapter on Health does not see women’s right to health as an individual in her own right and but simply as a mother, wife or daughter . The present policy however states the importance of women’s health more because it impacts the health of the child and the society at large. There is no mention of the social determinants of women’s health: poverty, caste, patriarchy as leading to poor nutrition, lack of access to medical care, etc in this section.

The promises such as a counselling centre per public health centre or every district will have a women’s hospital, the policy or the State absolves itself of providing basic primary health care for all, are very unrealistic .It shows disconnect with the ground reality wherein there are no well-functioning PHCs themselves or not stocked with basic medicines — iron and calcium for example for women. Rather than sensationalising the policy by giving everything “women special” there is a need for a more rational and sensitive health service in the State with focus on women, Dalits, tribals and other socially and economically discriminated sections.

• The Policy states about doing a new women health project, Instead of implementing yet another project, efforts should be made to gender sensitize other public health programs.
• Secondly the onus cant be on women alone, the accountability and responsiveness by the State needs to be mentioned.
• The Women’s orgs, NGOs and academic institutions should become obvious choices but they are not mentioned.PPP should not be an excuse by the State to wash its hands off from providing the services, instead, clear guidelines should be formulated to operationalise PPPs. T
• The Gender sensitivity programs should be across all carders of health care providers. It can’t be assumed that Physicians and those at decision making levels are sensitive.
• The policy should examine longer term strategies for addressing the social determinants of health. These are intended to highlight ways that gender inequality and health inequities (between women and men and between differing groups of women) can be addressed.
• To emphasize the importance of gender as a key determinant of women’s health and wellbeing.
• To recognize that women’s health needs vary according to their life stage.
• To prioritize the needs of women with the highest risk of poor health.
• To ensure that the health system is responsive and accountable to all women, with a clear focus on illness prevention and health promotion.
• To support collaborative research, monitoring, evaluation and knowledge transfer to advance the evidence base on women’s health.
• Instead of targeted health insurance , there should universal access to health care.
• Malnutrition is severe among women, the State should come up with a clear plan to combat it.
• Terminal care is needed for all women.
• Efforts will be made to improve women’s freedom to make decisions in regards of health and family planning.
• Special provisions should be made for health care for women in institutions such as prisons, shelter homes, women’s hostels, beggar homes etc.

In Chapter 15– Women and Law

Government of Maharashtra will adopt following measures for effective implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
• Provide safe working environment to its women employees at its workplaces which shall include safety from the persons coming into contact at the workplace.
• Display at any conspicuous place in the workplace’ the penal consequences of sexual harassments; and the order constituting, the Internal Complaints Committee.
• Organise workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitising the employees with the provisions of the Act and orientation programmes for the members of the Internal Committees in government offices.
• Provide necessary facilities to the Internal Committees or the Local Committees, as the case may be, for dealing with the complaint and conducting an inquiry.
• Provide assistance to the woman if she so chooses to file a complaint in relation to the offence under the Indian Penal Code or any other law for the time being in force;
• Cause to initiate action, under the Indian Penal Code or any other law for time being in force, against the perpetrator, or if the aggrieved woman so desires, where the perpetrator is not an employee, in the workplace at which the incident of sexual harassment took place;
• Treat sexual harassment as misconduct under the service rules and initiate action for such misconduct.
• Monitor the timely submission of reports by the Internal Committee.
• Notify a District Magistrate or Additional District Magistrate or Collector or Deputy Collector as District Officer for every District to exercise powers and functions under the Act.
• Monitor constitution of LCCs by the District Officers and appointment of Nodal Officers to be appointed by the District Officers in every block, taluka, tehsil in the rural area and in every Ward in the Municipal Corporation area.
• The Central government to pay State Governments grants of sums of money for payment of fees and allowances to be paid to the Chairperson and Members of the LCCs
• State Government to set up an agency to transfer the grants to the District Officer.
• The appropriate Government shall monitor the implementation of this Act and maintain data on the number of cases filed and disposed of in respect of all cases of sexual harassment at workplace. (Section 23).
• Receive the reports and monitor collection of annual reports to be received by the District officer (Section 21).
• Monitor the timely submission of reports furnished by the Local Committee to the district officer (Section 20).
• Monitor the measures taken by the District Officers for engaging non-governmental organisations for creation of awareness on sexual harassment and the rights of the women. (Section 20).
• Imposition of penalty on employers for non compliance with the provisions of the Act. (Section 26)
• Cancellation, of his license or withdrawal, or non-renewal, or approval, or cancellation of the registration for repeated non compliance to the Act. (Section 26)
• In the public interest or in the interest of women call and inspect records relating to sexual harassment from any workplace through the District officer (Section 25)
• Authorise officers to make inspection of the records and workplace in relation to sexual harassment, who shall submit a report of such inspection (Section 25)
• Provide finance and other such resources to develop relevant information, education, communication and training materials, and organise awareness programmes, to advance the understanding of the public of the provisions of this Act providing for protection against sexual harassment of woman at workplace (Section 24)
• Provide finance and other such resources to formulate orientation and training programmes for the members of the Local Complaints Committees. (Section 24)

PWDVA
• Wider publicity should be given by the government not only to women and girls, but also to men; government officials should set an example.
• Sensitizing police officials is not enough. Make them accountable through administrative and penal provisions if they refuse to assist the woman who complains of domestic violence.
• Protection officers – need to be trained as well as monitored. There has to be a system of accountability; more protection officers need to be appointed as the present number is inadequate.
• NGOs can play a complementary role, but the responsibility of implementing the Act cannot be outsourced to NGOs, as it is essentially a state responsibility.
• Political will to implement the Act needs to be exhibited through an adequate budgetary allocation and provision of required infrastructural facilities for personnel under the Act.
Suggestions regarding Special Court / Family Courts:
• Travelling allowance to needy women who attend court – proper criteria needs to be set, to avoid ad hocism and discrimination.
• For every court date, working women need to take half day or full day leave, which results in a loss of earning. Appropriate measures need to be taken to address this problem.
• Vacancies in family courts need to be filled up promptly to ensure that pendency of cases does not increase.
• Family court judges need to be trained to inculcate a gender perspective – they should not prioritize saving the marriage at the cost of physical security and mental well-being of the woman.
• There has to be a system of regular updation of knowledge of family court judges, and a proper system of monitoring the judgments delivered and the perspective with which such judgments are delivered.
• The state free legal aid service needs to be strengthened; legal aid lawyers should be competent professionals with integrity, who should undergo adequate training; women should not be subjected to harassment and demand of bribe by the legal aid lawyers.
• Fast track courts, if started, should not compromise over rights of the accused to a fair trial, and should follow the safeguards in law to balance the interests of the accused and the complainant.
Helplines for Women
Clarity is required on the following issues:

It is positive step that government has announced setting up of 1091 as a helpline number. The most important is that it should be placed within the police control room and should be operated by Police personnel and should be supported with regular trainings of police personnel and adequate publicity for the number to be known to people so that it can be effectively used by women in crisis. There should be a standardize catergorisation across the state and there should be systematic documentation of calls, action taken.

Elderly / Senior Women
• Its important to train police officials to be sensitive to the difficulties faced by the elderly, particularly elderly women
• They should not be called to the police station often
• Stringent action should be taken against police officials who refuse to register a complaint by elderly women, and against those who take a bribe from their relatives

Trafficking of Women

• The government needs to de-link trafficking and sex work completely, as trafficking of women and girls is done not only for sexual exploitation but also for cheap and exploitative labour, for forced marriage, adoptive or other intimate relationships.
• Ensure proper and effective implementation of Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA);
• Issue strict directions to law enforcement officials to act bona fide and with due diligence;
• Take strict action against public officials who are complicit in or connive with the perpetrators in trafficking of women;
• Ensure that women’s human rights including the right to dignity and privacy are respected at all stages of the legal proceedings, including at the time of registration of FIR, investigation and prosecution;
• Provide free legal aid to trafficked women, and protect them from intimidation / threat / coercion from the traffickers;
• Issue directions to all law enforcement and health officials not to conduct mandatory medical examinations on trafficked women, including for HIV / AIDS; the same is to be conducted only on a voluntary basis, if requested by the woman concerned;
• Provide adequate, confidential and affordable medical and psychological care to trafficked women,
• Ensure that strictly confidential HIV testing services are provided only if requested by the woman concerned, and any and all HIV testing is accompanied by appropriate pre- and post-test counselling;
• Any state initiatives for ‘rescue and relief’ of trafficked women should be conducted in a planned manner, with the participation of civil society groups, and after putting in place provisions to meet the needs of trafficked women;
• In contexts of inter-country trafficking, repatriation of the women to their country of origin should be resorted to, only after due consideration of the woman’s wishes;
• Provide directions to state enforcement officials not to detain trafficked women in nari niketans / government-run homes or institutions, as the trafficked women have committed no crime and their rights have to be respected;
• The state has to address the issue of trafficking, not only through a law and order approach that focuses on criminal law, prosecution and punishment, but through a human rights approach that keeps the trafficked woman’s right to privacy, dignity and other human rights at the centrality of state response.
• Strengthen measures to alleviate poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity, as well as educational, social and cultural measures to discourage the demand that fosters exploitation and leads to trafficking, particularly of women
• Provide adequate livelihood opportunities for rural women in order that migration is not the only means to secure reasonable wages and an adequate standard of living
• Address the structural causes of violence against women to ensure that migration is not resorted to as a means of escaping from violence and discrimination at the place of origin
• Put in place gender-specific interventions for contexts of natural disasters, displacement, political instability, civil unrest, internal conflict including communal violence, as such contexts exacerbate women’s vulnerabilities and may result in an increase in trafficking;
• Mandatory testing for HIV, as conceived of in the women’s policy, is violative of women’s human rights. Instead, women should be given information and raise their awareness about the advantages of testing.

Shelter

• The condition in Maharashtra government’s shelter homes is despicable, and does not provide a safe environment for women to live in, due to many incidents of sexual exploitation and rape in shelter homes. A social audit of all shelter homes operating in the state is required urgently.
• Ensure that all shelter homes are registered under the relevant laws, and that provisions for frequent monitoring of the conditions of the homes are implemented
• At present, women are so terrified of shelter homes that they would rather tolerate the violence in their matrimonial homes. This situation needs to change for the better, if the Maharashtra government is serious about empowering women.
• Ensure that shelter homes are provided with adequate facilities and a clean environment for the physical and mental well-being of the inmates
• Counselling, psychiatric and medical services should be provided
• Surprise checks should be conducted to ensure the proper management of shelter homes
• Financial audit requires to be done, as required.

Implementation of the Section 498 (A) IPC

1. In depth and intensive multidisciplinary research and documentation in the area of violence against women and law are required. There should be concerted efforts for coordinated research projects involving stakeholders like the police, judiciary, women’s organisations and academic institutions.

2. Capacity building for skilful investigations of crimes against woman will help in sensitive handling of cases. A protocol or ‘drill’ for investigation in cases of Section 498A IPC should be developed. The focus should be on women as citizen’s experiencing violence within the family.

3. Capacity building to enable the Criminal Justice System to uphold mental violence as legitimate evidence and render legally relevant facilities in cases of mental and emotional abuse will help address the current situation. Mental violence should be treated at par with physical violence.

4. The judicial decisions of compounding/reconciliation in cases of Section 498A should be critically reviewed through research.
PCPNDT ACT

The Policy says In order to make the PC-PNDT law provisions mandatory, the government will form a new protocol under PC-PNDT Act and will strictly implement it. This is a central act and they cannot make their own protocols. The State needs to ensure implementation of law without backlash on the right to abortion to women.

A recent survey conducted in the slums of Mumbai by Women Networking (an informal network of community organizations, NGOs and individuals) has revealed that while 65% of the respondents (out of 700) were aware of the law on sex selection only 24 per cent knew that abortion is legal in our country. This high-level of awareness of PCPNDT Act is an outcome of the government’s efforts to save the girl child, but it has inadvertently resulted in mortality rate as high as 8% among women who are forced to approach ill trained health practitioners for abortions, because of poor awareness on women’s right to abortion. In Mumbai, the medical shops are directed not to sell drugs & injections related to abortion and contraception without a prescription from authorized doctors. The Maharashtra Policy needs to ensure that under no circumstances the right to abortion as stipulated in the Medical Termination of tHE Pregnancy (MTP) Act be curtailed.

Limiting access to safe abortion methods only pushes women towards unsafe methods, thereby endangering their health and survival. Monitoring women buying pills from pharmacies is regressive as it undermines the confidentiality aspect of abortion and can lead to harassment of women at the hands of officials. Such regulations are discriminatory and curtail autonomy of women over their own body, right to dignity and right to benefit from advances of science, medicine and technology.
Sex selection is a phenomenon which emerges from gender discrimination and socio-economic bias. All efforts to prevent sex selection must seek to address issues of gender discrimination, instead of further constraining women’s access to safe abortion services

Chapter- 19- Physically disabled and mentally challenged women

The chapter on women with disabilities finishes in 12 lines , which says a lot . The language should be women with psycho social disabilities and not physically disabled and mentally challenged . The Women with disabilities do not need ‘ Sypmathy” as the policy document says but ‘Empathy. Clubbing them with senior citizens is not at all justice to their needs and rights . They need more of integration with society and the so called normal citizens need to be sensitized with issue and concerns of women with psycho social disabilities especially the teachers , than, having special schools. The Policy only addresses physical access to transport and does not even touch upon the issue of forced psychiatric interventions and institutionalization. These acts of violence are done under the legal authority of the state, and in pursuance of wrong and discriminatory state policy, and there is no possibility of redress, emphasizing the message of all violence that tells the victim she is powerless.

There have been instances for forced sterilization were in the range of 5-7% for the combined group and 7.5% for women with mental disabilities. The high incidences of sterilization of women with disabilities happen because families and community do a role reversal viewing them as incapable of motherhood, which goes unchecked. Unjustified administration of drugs {tranquillizing the woman to ‘shut her up’) or withdrawal of drugs also comes under the realm of physical abuse. We see regular over medication of patients. There is no prescription audit and we are demanding it. Over medication is leading to patients having serious side effects and not being able to participate in the rehabilitation programs

Voluntary admissions, hospitalization and discharge favor men more than women. A study of five mental hospitals in the state of Maharashtra revealed that while men are admitted to hospitals for treatment in the early stages of diagnosis, women are “dumped” here only after their illness turns chronic ie when they turn dysfunctional and are unable to comply with their social roles. The policy needs to address
1. The Gender Gaps in Mental Health Treatment
2. Marriage and Lack of legal aid in rural areas
3. Stop Institutionalization
4. Initiate Community linked programmes
5. Legally ban forced sterilization of girls
6. Make policies which are more catered towards the needs of the women with disabilities.
7. Audit and monitor on a regular basis to make sure the implementation of these policies.
8. Bringing in accessibility features so as to make access to enforcement agencies and various redressal mechanisms easier and available.
9. ECT is used in most hospitals without permission
10. Punishment of erring officials and duty bearers.

Chapter 23– Sexually Exploited Women

This policy conflates trafficked women and those that are in sex work of their volition.
This is a deliberate attempt to ignore the supreme court who in the case of Budhadev Karmaskar v. State of West Bengal , wherein a regular criminal appeal relating to the murder of a sex worker in Kolkata was converted into a broader PIL to look into the issue of rehabilitation of sex workers. A panel was constituted by the Supreme Court order
dated 19.07.2011 with the following terms of reference:
• Prevention of trafficking,
• Rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave sex work, and
• Conditions conducive for sex workers to live with dignity in
accordance with the provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution (as modified by the order of the Supreme Court dated 26.07.2012).The Policy by the state of maharashtra clearly conflates all the three above instead of following the orders of the supreme court of India.

Chapter 24- Transgenders (Sr.No 24)

A welcome move to include transgender, the policy only suggests ‘preventive measures’ for stopping people from being transgender. It suggests that this can be done through monitoring pregnant mothers and hormonal levels. The policy shows a lack of sensitivity and understanding of the issue. One of the reasons cited for being a transgender is “under too much influence of women” or the reason for being transgender as a ‘distortion’, which reflects the level of empathy among the government for people’s choices.

• Definition of Transgender is absolutely incorrect – archaic words such as gender deformity, chop of their genitals etc are used.
Alternate definitions
- Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. (American Psychological Association)

- Transgender is the state of one’s gender identity (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both) not matching one’s assigned sex (identification by others as male, female or intersex based on physical/genetic sex -) ^ a b Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. ‘’GLAAD Media Reference Guide – Transgender glossary of terms”‘’GLAAD’’, USA, May 2010. Retrieved on 2011-02-24.)

- Transgender (sometimes shortened to trans or TG) people are those whose psychological self (“gender identity”) differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with. To understand this, one must understand the difference between biological sex, which is one’s body (genitals, chromosomes, ect.), and social gender, which refers to levels of masculinity and femininity. Often, society conflates sex and gender, viewing them as the same thing. But, gender and sex are not the same thing. Transgender people are those whose psychological self (“gender identity”) differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with. For example, a female with a masculine gender identity or who identifies as a man.
http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resources_definiton_of_terms#transgender ; Retrieved on 08-05-2013)
• Lesbian and bi-sexual women have been totally ignored in the policy -They need to be included
• The paragraph on preventive measures makes no sense and should be scrapped
• There is a complete welfare approach adopted rather than a rights based approach in the policy as far as transgenders are concerned
• There is no need for having a separate comprehensive Act for them to live a life of Dignity. The constitution already provides these rights. The changes are required through rigorous sensitization of stake holders and civil society and creation of structures to enable them to get their basic rights.eg modification of all official documents to include a sex option apart from male and female etc.
• Need to incorporate non-discrimination and equal employment opportunities in public and private organizations as well.

The Submissions by- Women Organisations / Networks and Individual activists
• Akshara
• Forum against Sex Selection- FASS
• Jan Swasthya Abhiyan- Mumbai
• Point of View
• Sneha
• Veshya Mukti Morcha
Individuals -
• Anagha Sarpotdar
• Kamayani Bali Mahabal
• Saumya Uma

#India- ‘Voluntary sex work is legal’ #womenrights #goodnews (kractivist.wordpress.com)

1 Comment

by kracktivist on May 10, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights, Poetry, Political Prisoners, Violence against Women, Women Rights

Tagged Maharashtra, Non-governmental organization, People, Politics of Sexuality, Prostitution, Sex worker, Sexuality, State

Posted by kracktivist on May 10, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/mumbai-critique-of-maharashtra-women-policy-2013-submitted-by-women-groups-vaw-womenrights/

Jharkhand – Cultural Activist Aparna Marandi gets bail after five months in jail

Ranchi , May 6,2013

Cultural activist Aparna Marandi accused of setting fire to seven vehicles at Kantikund in Dumka in a six-year-old case was granted bail on Monday by Jharkhand High Court.

Aparna Marandi was detained along with her four-year-old son Alok Maranchi, Hazaribagh social activist Sushila Ekka, and Baby Turi, an activist in Dhanbad were detained at Hatia station when they were on their way to Hyderabad on December 8, 2012. The others were allowed to go after two days. Ms Marandi’s bail application was rejected by Court of Judicial Magistrate and the District Court in Dumka.

“Like her husband Jiten Marandi, an accused in politician Babulal Marandi’s son killing who was later acquitted by the High Court, Aparna has been falsely accused. We condemn Jharkhand police’s repression against adivasis,” said Marxist Coordination Committee core committee member Sushanto Mukherjee.

Following the court’s order, Aparna Marandi is expected to be released from Dumka jail on Wednesday.

Keywords: Jharkhand, Aparna Marandi, High Court, Bail

#India – Change.org : Campaign Victory’s exposed #Vaw #Socialmedia

Kamayani Bali Mahabal, April 23 2013 , Kracktivism

l 23, 2013, Kractivism

”Every day, Change.org members win people-powered campaigns for social change”.

Just to give a background to those, who are reading about change.org for first time. It’s a popular and fast-growing website for petitions. In the last two years, Change.org has grown from 1 million to more than 25 million users, according to the site . It began as a liberal blogging site and then pivoted to become a hub for petitions, mostly with a liberal or populist bent.

Staring as dot.org domain name to its declaration that “our business is social good” to its certification as a B Corporation, Change.org positioned itself as a progressive force. It promised to run campaigns for “organizations fighting for the public good and the common values we hold dear—fairness, equality, and justice.” That’s no longer its mission. Something changed last year, The policy changed, ‘ partners’ became ‘advertisers ‘in the name openness, democracy and empowerment . So which means now they will accept paid promotions from conservative organizations, Corporations , that no bar. I had written Open letter to CEO Ben Rattray last year in which I said I will not participate but monitor change.org.

So here is an expose of monitoring campaigns of change.org in India

In India we have two petitions being hosted on change.org, one by victims and one by perpetrators ?

You think I am joking please read below

The Incident behind both the petitions :-

Late evening on 11 April 2013, a group of students from Nalsar Law University went to the Rain Club located in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, for what was meant to be a farewell party for the graduating seniors.

When they stepped out of the club around 10.30pm to wait for their cab, one of the women students spotted someone taking their pictures with a mobile phone. She objected and demanded to see the mobile. The mobile turned out to be a dummy, without a card in it. When she further objected and demanded that the phone with which photos were taken be handed over, other media cameramen who were present began to film the altercation.

The students were outraged at this invasion of their privacy and the callous response of media cameramen who continued the harassment by following them to the car and persisting in filming them even as they were vehemently protesting this invasion.

The next morning several Telugu channels began showing the footage. Some websites also put up the footage. TV9, ABN Andhra Jyoti, Sakshi TV, Studio N, NTV, IdlyTV, News 24 .

The incident represents blatant sexual harassment of women in a public place, criminal intimidation of the women with threat of public defamation through media. The anchors of the channels repeatedly referred to the women as punch drunk, half naked, and nude, when the women students were dressed in strapless evening wear. One of the female anchors referred to their attire as “creepily offensive short clothes.” They also claimed that they were dancing in the club although the entire story was played out on the street and not inside the club. The media persons were not present inside the club. To make matters worse, CVR News put together several clips of provocative dancing from various sources, implying that the present incident was somehow connected to those. Significantly, while only a couple of channels were present outside the club and were involved in the incident, the story was generously shared with many other channels and web sites. All the channels replayed the footage provided by the offending channels without providing any opportunity for the victims of this coverage to respond or give their side of the story.

The channels also were assuming the tone of moral police, claiming that the students were “leaving Indian traditions in tatters by their dressing and behaviour”. The anchors of the channels took on the role of moral police by commenting on the young girls’ clothing, even as the channels’ staple fare for advertising revenue on their news bulletins comprises song and dance sequences from films and film events featuring skimpily clad women doing vulgar dances to vulgar lyrics. The reporters and anchors held forth on excessive freedom for women and its “devastating” effects on society.

The channels also falsely claimed that the students’ behaviour was condemned by women’s organizations even though they only showed the statements of two little-known local politicians, thereby misleading public opinion.

So here on change org , we have a petition by supporters of NALSAR students asking for Stringent actions against media houses participating in voyeuristic reporting , addressed to Justice Katju, Chairperson, Press Council of India , Justice N V Ramana, Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Andhra Pradesh , Ms Aruna D K, Minister for Information & Public Relations, Cinematography, AP Film, TV & Theatre Dvlpt Corp, AP Justice Verma, Chairperson, News and Broadcasting Standards Authority Mr Manish Tiwari, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Union of India

The petition says

The media in our country has engaged in relentless sensationalism, resorting to cheap and lowly tactics to raise TRPs and viewership. This includes airing concocted stories; violating people’s privacy by taking video footage, morphing the images and airing it against completely fabricated and sensationalistic stories; secretly taking videos of people in private parties and clubs and extorting them; and engaging in harassing and abusive conduct. One such incident of unethical, irresponsible, and victimizing behaviour is an incident that occurred on the 121h of April, 2013 to college girls from NALSAR University of Law.The petition has reached 5000 plus signatures

And on the other hand, we also have change.org giving platform to the voyeuristic reporters .with a petition floated by Electronic Media Journalists’ Association of AP , asking to Condemn the action of a group of students who assaulted media persons addressed to, Manish Tiwari, I&B Minister, Govt of India , Prof. (Dr) Faizan Mustafa ,, Vice-Chancellor, Nalsar , Mrs D K Aruna, Minister of State in AP , Justice Mr M Katju, Chairperson, Press Council of India Justice Katju ,Justice Verma, Chairperson, News and Broadcasting Standards Authority ,Justice N V Ramana, Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Andhra Pradesh ,Hari Prasad, President of Electronic Media Journalists’ Association of AP Please note the targets of both petitions are same .

The petition says

Andhra Pradesh has the maximum number of television news channels not only in India but also in the entire world. The ratings and the importance of these channels show how reliable and responsible the media is in Andhra Pradesh. They never restore to cheap and lowly tactics. There is self-monitoring desk as well as the important organization NBA that keeps monitor on all the channels content.

This petition also has 5000 plus signatures

Now I want to ask change.org, which petition’s victory will be their victory ?

Wait a minute,

whoever wins or loses,

it’s a Win- Win situation for change.org.

As a big fans of freedom of speech, they claim their democractic platform. and well whoever wins. Change will be their submitting the petition claiming their VICTORY !! . But I wonder what will they do when they have to take a STAND ? So which petition will they push ? or will; they push both ? and then see pros and cons in context of the political situation and in a closed door meeting then thrash out two teams to work on these two petitions . Call both parties and weigh the probabilities and then take a call, keeping both parties in dark on probabilities ?.

So, guys wake up, all those who petition on change.org .This online platform is a for profit company , who through these petitions is trying legitimize their image as that of ACTIVISM .They also get commercial benefits through donations and sponsorships just by providing platform to all you ,under the garb of various human rights issues . VICTORY is for change.org

Change.org’s mission statement says ‘ to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see, and we believe the best way to achieve that mission is by combining the values of a non-profit with the flexibility and innovation of a tech startup. ” They call themselves “social enterprise,” using the power of business for social good. “Social Enterprise,” is a term that’s gotten a lot of hold among people who start companies and want to make a difference in the world. But social enterprise as opposed to what? Anti-social enterprise?

Here is where Change.org’s business model comes into play. Change.org sells what are called “sponsored petitions” to its advertisers. Most are nonprofits–right now they include Amnesty International USA, Greenpeace and the Human Rights Campaign — but there’s nothing to prevent companies from sponsoring petitions. Tapping into its audience, Change.org collects names on those petitions and then sells those who opt in to the sponsor, for about $2 per name. Some advertisers get discounts, and other pay more, for example, for people in specific states. Here is a request to Change .org , please, on behalf of companies everywhere Spare us the pieties about how “our business is social good.”

Change.org is a digital media business. Like MTV or Facebook, It creates or aggregates content, the petitions, to attract an audience whose attention, in the form of email addresses, it sells to sponsors.

It’s not selling social change. It’s selling you and me. .

So here is my Appeal to all friends, activists, celebrating their victories, and petitions on change.org,

It’s time ….

If you’re a member at Change.org take action by unsubscribing from their list. At the very least they can’t profit further off your email.. If you see petitions passed around by friends on Change.org don’t sign them and inform them what’s going on. It’s important to Explore alternatives

Hopefully the activists in India will very soon have their own activist, accountable, and transparent platform.

Watch out this blog for more

Expose- Loksatta Party Anti -Women, Anti- SC/ST shaking hands with Hindutva forces #Vaw (kractivist.wordpress.com)
PRESS RELEASE- Statement on Harassment and Sensational Misleading reporting of TV channels #Vaw (kractivist.wordpress.com)
INDIA: A Republic of the rapists, by the rapists, for the rapists? #Vaw (kractivist.wordpress.com)
#Mumbai – After sexual harassment at workplace, woman faces online slander #Vaw (kractivist.wordpress.com)

9 Comments

by kracktivist on April 23, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Censorship, Disability, Health Care, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights, Poetry, Political Prisoners, Press Release, Prison, UID, Uncategorized, Violence against Women, Women Rights, Women rights

Tagged Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh High Court, Banjara Hills, Ben Rattray, Broadcasting Standards Authority, business model, change, change.org, discrimination, Human Rights, India, Nalsar, online activism, Press Council of India, Sakshi TV, social enterprise, Social media, Vaw

Posted by kracktivist on April 23, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/india-change-org-campaign-victorys-exposed/

Vedanta- Social Media Campaign ‘ Khushi’ – Faking Happiness #CSR

Kamayani Bali Mahabal- April 17,2013 for Faking Happiness Campaign

Vedanta Resources plc is a London listed FTSE100 company which has brought death and destruction to thousands. 63% of it is owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal and his family through companies in various tax havens. It has been consistently fought by people’s movements but it is being helped by the British government to evolve into a multi-headed monster and spread across India and round the world, diversifying into iron ore in Goa, Karnataka and Liberia, Zinc in Rajasthan, Namibia, South Africa and Ireland, copper in Zambia and most recently oil in the ecologically fragile Mannar region in Sri Lanka.

Vedanta’s Record in India:

In Odisha, India:

Vedanta’s bauxite mining and aluminium smelters have left more than tenthousand displaced people landless, contaminated drinking water sources with ‘red mud’ and fly ash,and devastated vast tracts of fertile land in an area which has seen famine every year since 2007.Vedanta’s mine on the sacred Niyamgiri hills has been fought by Adivasi (indigenous)-led people’smovements for seven long years and has so far been stopped. This has rendered their subsidiaryVedanta Aluminium (VAL) a loss making company, starving it’s refineries at Jharsuguda and Lanjigarhof local bauxite.

In Goa:

Vedanta’s Sesa Goa subsidiary has been accused of large scale fraud and illegal mining.In June 2009 following a pit wall collapse which drowned Advalpal village in toxic mine waste, a 9year old local boy Akaash Naik filed a petition to stop the mine and mass protests later that yearhalted mining at one of Sesa Goa’s sites. In 2011 there were more major mine waste floods. In SouthGoa a 90 day road blockade by 400 villagers succeeded in stopping another iron ore mine. Sesa Goaare paying ‘silence funds’ to try and prevent similar action at their South Goa mine.

In Tamil Nadu, Tuticorin:

Vedanta subsidiary Sterlite has flouted laws without remorse, operatingand expanding without consent, violating environmental conditions, and illegally dumping toxiceffluents and waste. In 1997 a toxic gas leak hospitalised 100 people sparking an indefinite hungerstrike by a local politician and a ‘siege on Sterlite’ that led to 1643 arrests. Later that year a kilnexplosion killed two. An estimated 16 workers died between 2007 and 2011. Police recorded mostworkers deaths as suicides. Pollution Control Boards, judges and expert teams have on severaloccasions reversed damning judgements of the company, demonstrating large scale corruption andbribery. Activists are waging a court battle which has stopped operations for several short periods.

In Tamil Nadu, Mettur:

Vedanta bought MALCO ‘s aluminium complex at Mettur 2 yearsbefore permission for their Kolli Hills bauxite mines expired but continued to mine illegally for 10years. Five adivasi villages were disturbed and a sacred grove destroyed before activist’s petitionsstopped mining in 2008. Without local bauxite and with protests preventing bauxite coming fromNiyamgiri in Orissa the factory at Mettur was also forced to close. However, the abandoned andunreclaimed mines continue to pollute the mountains and a huge red mud dump by the Stanleyreservoir pollutes drinking water and blows toxic dust into the village.

In Chhattisgarh, Korba:

Vedanta bought the state owned BALCO’s alumina refinery, smelter andbauxite mines for ten times less than its estimated value in 2001 despite a landmark 61 day strike byworkers. Since then wages have been slashed and unionised workers are losing jobs. In 2009 afactory chimney collapsed, BALCO claimed 42 were killed, but in fact 60 – 100 people are stillmissing. Witnesses claim these workers from poor families in neighbouring states are buriedunderground in the rubble, which was bulldozed over immediately after the collapse

British Government’s special relationship with Vedanta

• The UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) and Department of Tradeand Industry (DTI) helped launch Vedanta on the London Stock Exchange andcontinues to support the company.
• Through the World Bank funded NGO Business Partners for Development, it hashelped Vedanta take over copper mines in Zambia . Although Vedanta has been finedfor poisoning the Kafue river and faced workers protests, the UK is helpingestablish it in Zambia by securing in the words of local NGOs “ a ‘champion’ withincentral government to further the ‘enabling environment’”.
• Meanwhile in Liberia in what has been described as one of the worst recordedconcession agreements in the country’s history Sesa Goa is accused of breach ofcontract and may have to pay damages of US$10 billion.
• Most recently when the Indian government held up Vedanta’s deal with EdinburghbasedCairn Energy by investigating Vedanta’s ability to manage strategic oil fields, UKgovernment officials, briefed “over dinner” by Cairn Energy, offered to “polish” and senda letter drafted by the company to the Indian Prime Minister to force the deal through.David Cameron even personally intervened, urging India to speed up’unnecessary delays’. As a result the Indian government caved in and allowed a dealwhich handed some 30% of India’s crude oil for a fraction of its worth to this notoriouscorporate.
• Vedanta’s Cairn India is now drilling for oil in the ecologically fragile off-shoreregion around Mannar in Sri Lanka – an area controlled by the Sri Lankan military.

Vedanta Resources, is attempting to claim to be social responsible via a huge advertising campaign. The latest is the social media campaign, ‘Khushi’, aimed at underprivileged children, is poised to complete one year. Launched on April 10, 2012. In this video we attack all tall claims of Vedanta Khushi Campaign.

The Reality is -

Vedanta has suffocated the life of Adivasis in Niyamgiri foothills. The entire area is overlapped with Red Mud. Most of humans, animals, birds and insects are infected with skin diseases. Proper medical facilities are unavailable; there is no sign of hospital. By pressures, by vicious means, by force, by paying less, Vedanta bought the farming and forest land of Local tribes. They cheated them by providing technical training to make them skillful workers in Vedanta Mines and factories, as soon as land got transferred, Vedanta thrown them out.

Red mud has converted all crop fields and forest into waste land, the vein is spreading. The river Vasamdhara is the main source of water for all constituents of habitats in Niyamgiri. Vedanta’s Red Mud resulted in converting drinkable water of Vasamdhara to polluted and toxic waste; it is causing dangerous skin diseases and cancer. Even Animals and birds are rejecting it to drink. The situation of Vasamdhara is same from Niyamgiri till Kalingapatnam. Amnesty International broke this harsh truth.

Niyamgiri foothills is a treasure of bauxite, Bauxite is a main component to make aluminum. According to statistic, Niyamgiri foothills contain 72 lakh million ton of bauxite. The average cost of 1 ton bauxite is approx 6500 INR, whereas all 72 lakh million ton is not awarded to Vedanta for mining. The prices are fixed very little, when Government awards a license to mine, it is simple to understand the covetous intentions of Vedanta by looking at the history and biology of Vedanta.

Government and Vedanta has fixed the price of Niyamgiri foothills, the predators have camped and pasted like a woodworm. Vedanta Aluminum Ltd is camped with crooked intentions in Laljiganj located at south Odisha . A fake kingdom of 700 Hectares expanded by cheating legally and eating illegally, hooks or crook they used every evil outfit.

Village Bundela initiated the revolution against Vedanta few years back, many voices were raised, and dozens of revolutionaries are martyred. There are few Tribal’s if they further replaced from this areas, they will lose their name from World map. They are already on the way of extinction because of Vedanta what a Price tag we have placed on forest and tribes in this materialistic world. We are the silent observer of slaughter of Humanity.

JOIN US FAKING HAPPINESS CAMPAIGN

https://www.facebook.com/groups/fakinghappiness/

Inside report from the Supreme Court Niyamgiri case against #Vedanta #mustread #mustshare (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Vedanta nudges Odisha again for bauxite supply (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Vedanta-Sterlite – Dangerous by Design #CSR #Humanrightsviolations (kractivist.wordpress.com)

8 Comments

by kracktivist on April 17, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Censorship, Disability, Health Care, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights, Poetry, Political Prisoners, Press Release, Prison, Uncategorized

Posted by kracktivist on April 17, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/vedanta-social-media-campaign-khushi-faking-happiness-csr/

The Namo Story – Gandalf and His Flo Chart

Excerpt

Gandalf And His Flo Chart

As Narendra Modi sets about pursuing his ambitions with a well-crafted image of a ‘doer’ and a politician ‘who means business’, a new biography separates the man from the myth, Outlook

Kingshuk Nag

THE NAMO STORY A POLITICAL LIFE
BY
KINGSHUK NAG
PUBLISHED BY ROLI BOOKS | PAGES: 188 | RS. 295

A lot of the myths around Modi and his economic prowess are based on half truths and gross exaggerations. Modi’s hyped Vibrant Gujarat shows, for instance, convey the impression that Gujarat leads other states in attracting foreign investment. But the truth is that Gujarat has received only 5 per cent of foreign investments in India in the last 12 years. Maharashtra and the National Capital Region of New Delhi are far ahead.

Nowadays and more often than not, the website of the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) does not open easily. It is as though the bosses of GSPC do not want information about the company to be public. But this was not always the case. On a Sunday at the end of June 2005, during torrential monsoon rain over the city of Ahmedabad, Narendra Modi suddenly called for an evening press conference. Rudely awakened from their post-lunch siesta, mediapersons tore to the Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration to figure out what the matter was. Modi was at his ebullient best: “I am proud to announce the biggest gas find in India. We have discovered more than 20 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas. GSPC has discovered this gas which is valued upwards of $50 billion,” Modi said. The gas had been struck at the distant Krishna-Godavari Basin off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, where GSPC had taken up exploration. Modi’s officials were quick to point out that the discovery made by GSPC was higher than the 14 tcf discovered by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in the same basin.

The hype created by GSPC soon emboldened Modi to egg the state government-owned company to go international. GSPC took up blocks in Egypt, Australia, Yemen and Indonesia. Earlier, Modi had signed an MoU with Russia’s Astrakhan province for the same purpose.

Less than eight years later, the GSPC bubble burst. After some false indicators, the discovery proved to be nothing but a mirage. The Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons, which independently evaluates such ‘discoveries’, had figured out that the find was not worth 20 tcf but only about 2 tcf. GSPC managers realised that even this 2 tcf would be difficult to extract because the costs would be very high. According to a senior official, Modi was informed about all this two years ago. He heard the matter out and said nothing more. Obviously, no public announcements were made, but GSPC had reputedly borrowed upwards of Rs 9,000 crore to fund the exploration that has, so far, yielded little. At the fag-end of the campaign for Election 2012, Arvind Kejriwal had also brandished documents to show that GSPC had entered into a partnership with a company based in Barbados and had thrown away its stakes for a pittance. This has apparently rattled Modi who has built his image on probity.

Modi may not have berated his officials. But to cover up all this and in a bid to be seen as a successful venture, GSPC has spawned several subsidiaries in related businesses like gas transmission, gas purchase and sale and even supply of gas to domestic households. In the first week of October 2012, it bought 65 per cent of the equity in Gujarat Gas Company, an entity owned, till then, by British Gas, an MNC. If newspaper reports are to be believed, there was an element of coercion in the takeover: by raising the prices of supplies, Gujarat Gas, which supplies domestic gas in Ahmedabad, was locked in a dispute with the Gujarat government.

Later, British Gas put up Gujarat Gas for sale. Media reports allege that Adani Gas and Torrent Power, two private companies interested in the purchase, were advised to keep away. In the end, GSPC took over Gujarat Gas at a cost of Rs 2,694 crore that was a heavy discount from the market price of Rs 4,000 crore British Gas was expecting. Barely three weeks later, on October 21, Britain’s high commissioner in India, John Bevan, called on Modi, ending 10 years of boycott of the Gujarat chief minister. Her Majesty’s government announced that the engagement was to further British business interests in Gujarat. Thus, Modi was able to achieve twin objectives: provide for a profitable revenue stream for the down-in-the-dumps GSPC, and rein in the British, whose attitude had been troubling him for long.

Riots and After

It was as if the entire Gujarati society held the community of Gujarati Muslims responsible for the Godhra train incident, even though it had taken place far from Ahmedabad. The collective national conscience was jolted by these acts and yet the local press seemed in sync with the mood in the state. Worse still, representatives of the Congress, who should have been galvanised into action, were untraceable. Gujarat Congress chief and former chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary was nowhere to be seen. Protesting the mayhem were only members of ngos; their voices did not carry far. In some places, though, local communities refused to be drawn into the rioting: a good example is a 20,000-population slum, Ram Rahim Nagar, that had both Hindus and Muslims living side by side, which maintained absolute peace. In many places, Dalits who had lived cheek-by-jowl with Muslims were being drawn into the conflict. Leaders of the Left and the Samajwadi party did arrive in town on the night of February 28, but they were unable to get the police commissioner to act.

News of the trouble shook the Delhi establishment. Defence minister George Fernandes was dispatched to Ahmedabad to deploy the army (if the state government wanted it) and bring the situation under control. Fernandes, a socialist who had visited Ahmedabad in 1969 as an activist in the midst of major riots, was shocked by what he saw. I met him on March 2 at the Circuit House. Though I had no previous acquaintance with Fernandes, he sent away the chief secretary and other heads of civil administration, and sought a detailed report from me. It was clear from the conversation that Fernandes was getting contra-indications about the intention and seriousness of the government in trying to put down the violence. At the end of a three-hour conversation, Fernandes volunteered that he had heard the arsonists had been given three days to do whatever they wanted. I told him this was unconfirmed news off the grapevine. The meeting ended when minister of state for defence, Harin Pathak—who was also the Ahmedabad MP and a hardcore Hindutva man—barged into the room. He flung himself on the sofa: his body language suggesting that he did not want this meeting to continue. Meanwhile, Modi was seen doing nothing to control the situation. There were murmurs in senior police echelons that their chief had been asked to keep silent. Stories were doing the rounds about how Modi had called a meeting of senior civil and police officials at his home on the evening of February 27 saying that if there was a Hindu reaction it should be “allowed”. The allegation of such a statement being made by Modi has persisted for many years. But it has been denied by Modi, who was many years later quizzed by officials of the SIT.


	The decision to bring the charred bodies to Ahmedabad was taken at a meeting presided over by Modi, despite being told it was ill-advised.

The SIT gave him a clean chit saying there was no “prosecutable evidence” to try Modi. Of course, the fact that such a meeting to review law and order was held has never been denied. I asked Modi’s then private secretary, Anil Mukim, whether his boss had ever spoken of allowing a “Hindu reaction”. He told me: “Not in my presence.” However, it is a fact that the decision to bring the bodies of those who perished in the Godhra carnage to Ahmedabad was taken at a meeting presided over by Modi, even though civil servants and police had warned that such a move was ill-advised and could lead to a law-and-order situation. The charred bodies were brought in trucks to Ahmedabad in the wee hours of February 28. This contributed towards inflaming the public mood, especially because no curfew had been imposed in anticipation of trouble. It was also strange that the bodies of those killed in Godhra were handed over to the office-bearers of the VHP, and not to the next-of-kin of the deceased.Rioting started in the early morning of February 28. In one of the first instances, a British Gujarati Muslim family returning to its ancestral village was waylaid on the highway and killed. Modi’s minister Haren Pandya, who was later slain, told me he had also advised against a move to bring the bodies to Ahmedabad, but was shouted down by cabinet colleagues who said a “reaction” in Ahmedabad would benefit the BJP in the next elections. Pandya subsequently tendered this evidence in camera to a Citizens’ Tribunal comprising retired high court judges. He told them about a meeting of ministers where Modi had talked about allowing a “Hindu reaction”. I later asked Pandya whether he had, in fact, given such a testimony and what made him do so. He claimed he understood the “Hindu anger” as a reaction to the Godhra incident but could not reconcile with the killing of people in retaliation.

Incidentally, Pandya was also part of a mob which had participated in arson, but not killings. An inquiry by the nhrc later reported that the then home minister, Gordhan Zadaphia, had raised his fingers in a victory signal even as killings were going on. So bad were the riots that even a sitting Muslim judge of the Gujarat high court was targeted at his official residence. He had to be rescued by well-wishers and shifted elsewhere. The collector of Gandhinagar—a Muslim—had his car stoned. In many parts of the state, hoardings came up welcoming visitors to the ‘Hindu rashtra’. A sign in Ahmedabad welcomed them to ‘Karnavati’ (the ancient Hindu name of the place where Ahmedabad came up in 1411). When a journalist queried VHP president Keka Shastri how marauding crowds were able to target commercial establishments owned by Muslims—in spite of their carrying no board proclaiming their ownership—and leave out Hindu-owned establishments, he said that a list of the ownership of establishments—religion-wise—was available with his organisation…. Journalists like Sheela Bhatt believe (though these views do not have many takers) that when riots broke out after the Godhra carnage, Modi “got damn scared”, but persisted with (ill-advised) bravado.

Modi: The Man

Modi’s knack for gauging the public mood is attributed to his days in the RSS. Like all organisers, he was groomed to speak and listen to a huge number of people and gather information. “I am half a newsman,” remarked Modi when I entered his chief ministerial office one day, many years ago. Modi was reading reams of papers on his table: printouts of freshly-filed stories on the newswires. “The way he gossips is not funny…” says a journalist who knows him well. “He can be a newsman’s delight or nightmare, depending on which way you look at it,” says another reporter. His reason: Modi makes it a point to read and scrutinise newspapers and websites and react to the stories almost immediately. Most contemporaries of Modi across the nation are not known to be so alert and on the ball. This reliance on gathering information has also helped Modi develop another skill: that of public relations which, in some ways, is a related trade. A good example is the 3D technology Modi leveraged in the last election. Film director Mani Shankar from Hyderabad, who imported the technology from the UK where it is used to beam music shows, shared: “We did not approach Mr Modi with our services. His men sought us out.” Modi was dressed differently each day for the 3D show: in an array of multi-coloured kurtas. A public relations specialist says Modi seems to believe in the dictum that “style is the man”. He is well-groomed, wears good clothes, dons Ray-Ban sunglasses and shows off pedicured feet with clipped nails and scrubbed skin.


	When TOI reported how Modi and Advani entered Akshardham to pose next to the bodies of the slain assailants, Modi was incensed.

Those who know him well say he has been fond of good attire and personal grooming from the beginning. “He came from a very small town where most people did not iron their clothes. Modi, as a boy, had no access to ironing services. But he would try to press his clothes by using some heavy objects or whatever he could lay his hands on,” says journalist Darshan Desai who has researched his early days. RSS insiders remember how he ran afoul of his bosses in his early days in the organisation, when he trimmed his beard in order to look better. This apparently was not the norm in the RSS, at least then. In the early ’80s, he started patronising a barber—a Muslim incidentally—who had his salon close to the RSS headquarters and who gave him a Rajesh Khanna-style haircut. A few years later, Modi started riding a Bajaj Chetak scooter. After becoming chief minister, he began patronising Jade Blue, a clothing outfit in Ahmedabad. Tailors from Jade Blue reportedly go to his house and take his measurements. The shop has now developed its own brand of Modi kurtas.If stylish clothes go a long way in enhancing personality, so do pictures. Modi knows this well. If those who have had a peep at his portfolio are to be believed, it contains hundreds of shots of the big man striking various poses. Modi loves to project himself as a hero, a powerful man, destroying all villains. Any contra-projection angers him. I got a taste of this on the morrow of the Akshardham incident in September 2002. When the Times of India reported how Modi and Advani ventured to enter the complex and pose next to the bodies of the two assailants who had been shot to death, I was greeted by an early morning call from an incensed Modi. “Why are you writing that we went in after the intruders were killed? It conveys that I am a weak man,” Modi said.

Analysts agree that Modi loves his image of an Alpha-Male. “He is especially the subject of adulation amongst women. Many well-educated, well-heeled women swoon over him. Many are head-over-heels in love with him, without knowing him personally,” confirm observers. “Gujarat is essentially a mercantile state with no martial tradition. Heroes of the Bollywood type, successful in doing the impossible, are conspicuous by their absence in Gujarat. Perhaps there is a perceived need for such heroes, especially amongst women. The image of Modi satiates that need,” speculates Reema Desai, a 40-year-old Gujarati woman who lives in Mumbai. Many journalists on the Modi trail in the last elections confirm this adulation is waning.

Weaving fantasies is part of the Modi myth. Many in Gujarat who participated in the Navnirman movement of 1974 say Modi fans try to project him as the hero of the movement, when he did not even have a role in the affair. They also say it is ludicrous to suggest Jayaprakash Narain was impressed by what he saw of Modi in those days. “This is absolute balderdash,” says social activist Hanif Lakdawala.”‘I am not too sure JP even encountered Modi.” “Wonder if such myth-making has the support of Modi,” says another student leader of those days. He points out how the cries of “dekho dekho kaun aaya, Gujarat ka sher aaya”, which greet Modi at election meetings, may not be all that spontaneous. Even Modi’s men do not deny their boss has the knack for creating hype. Everybody agrees Modi is a good orator and an effective public speaker. Part of this ability is God-given and part developed by training in the RSS. But almost everybody agrees Modi hits opponents below the belt and resorts to cheap humour that titillates but is not expected of a person so high in public life. “To that extent, he has not overgrown his mofussil days. Such cheap diatribes are lapped up by rural crowds,” says a minister in his government. A TV anchor says Modi used to be crude on the box before he became chief minister—“he was ready for a fight and often his facial expressions put off many viewers.” All through Election 2012, he referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as ‘Maun’ Mohan Singh, alluding to the silence he maintained on many public matters. “This is the sort of stuff that goes around in SMS jokes, not fit to be part of a speech of a leader,” says journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. The instance of Modi labelling Sunanda Puskhar as the “Rs 50 crore girlfriend” of Congressman Shashi Tharoor also indicates the Modi brand of humour. This author also recollects how he was the butt of this cheap humour in the midst of the 2002 riots. A colleague received a phone call from an inspector of the intelligence branch, who informed her that there was the threat of physical attack upon the author. The author immediately called up the chief secretary and dgp, who were nonplussed and seemed to be ignorant of the threat. A little while later, Modi called up the author himself and guffawed: “What is all this that I am hearing about a life threat to you? Arrey, I only told the intelligence to ensure your safety. After all, you are writing so much against the police that I thought that somebody could attack you, ha ha ha.” In another instance when the author encountered Modi in public after many months, during which he had lost a substantial amount of weight, the big man said: “You seem to be suffering from diabetes.” The statement was greeted by a stunned silence by Modi’s men. A minister in attendance tried to cover up by saying that Modi sahib was wondering whether you have started going to the gym.

Can he become prime minister?

It takes neither a degree in rocket science, nor one in psephology, to guess who was happiest when Modi won the Gujarat assembly elections for the third time in a row. Of course, the party in question will never admit to its euphoria in public. But when Modi took oath at a glittering event at Sardar Patel Stadium, leaders of the Congress—albeit privately—applauded the loudest. To them, Modi’s victory was a certain sign that he would inevitably make his way towards Delhi as the BJP’s next prime ministerial candidate—and therewith consolidate minority votes across the nation against the BJP and in favour of the Congress.

“Muslims in Gujarat—to some extent—may have made their peace with Modi, but in minority circles across the nation, he is nothing but a hate figure. His projection of being a great performer on the economy front cuts no ice with the minorities,” says a senior Congress leader.

Photograph by Siddharaj


	With Modi being projected as PM candidate, Congress believes it’ll get Muslim votes. But Muslims are fed up of being taken for granted.

India’s electoral system—called the first-past-the-post—does not require a candidate (or a party) to get a majority of votes to get elected. Often, candidates and parties come to power based on minority votes. Now consider the fact that Muslims make up nearly 15 per cent of the electorate. The belief in Congress circles is that Muslims will vote for the Congress with a vengeance. To get another 15 per cent is not such a great deal, feel Congress leaders. In fact, the victory of the Congress-led alliance in both 2004 and 2009 is attributed to the votes it got from Muslims. This was topped up by votes from other sections. The performance of the Vajpayee government (1999-2004) was good and India was really ‘shining’. In 2004, liberalisation was more than a decade old and the benefits of reforms were being felt across India in the form of higher disposable incomes and better lifestyles. Vajpayee’s image was good and the government did not provoke a strong anti-incumbency. Yet, much to analysts’ surprise, the NDA government was booted out of power. What happened?“Vajpayee had made an attempt to make Modi quit his post in 2002, but failed. The consolidation of Hindu votes in Gujarat brought Modi back to power in Gujarat, but the consolidation of minority votes against the BJP forced the government out of power in New Delhi,” confesses a BJP insider. The same sentiment returned the Congress-led alliance back to power in 2009, at a time when there were murmurs that Modi could possibly cross over to Delhi. “The Congress allowed itself to be destroyed in Gujarat by Modi, but in the process strengthened itself at the federal level,” chuckles a Congress leader.

The Congress is hoping for an encore in 2014, but politics seldom follows a predictable path. For one, Muslims are fed up of being taken for granted by the Congress government. “They feel that they have nowhere else to go and that with the BJP around, they will have no option but to vote for the Congress. But this is a fallacious belief,” says Altaf Hussain, a Muslim businessman from Mumbai. “I would say that many Congress leaders are soft Hindutva proponents who pay only lip service to our cause.”

Changing alignments in the Muslim pattern of voting have been confirmed by the estrangement of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) from the Congress. Staunch allies for nearly three decades, the MIM, which is a force in Hyderabad (where Muslims constitute some 35 per cent of the population), has walked out of the UPA alliance in New Delhi and the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Though he refrains from calling Sonia Gandhi names, MIM party chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been shouting from the rooftops that the Andhra Pradesh chief minister is ‘communal’. MIM is now expected to join hands with a breakaway Congress faction: the YSR Congress led by Jagan Reddy. The latter, who has ruled out a tie-up with the BJP, favours a loose alliance of third parties across the nation. Such an alliance may potentially include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in UP and the YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh. This alliance may tilt the Muslim votes in its favour, so the Congress gambit may be misplaced. But this will be of little solace to Narendra Modi, other than the fact that the two combinations may undercut each other. In fact, this is what had happened in the recent Gujarat elections over some seats: though the Congress could have won because of sizeable Muslim votes, the BJP did instead. The presence of independent Muslim candidates divided the vote, thereby affecting the Congress. A prime example was the Jamalpur-Khadia assembly seat in Ahmedabad, where Muslims account for 60 per cent of the votes. Yet the BJP had the last laugh, because up against the Congress Muslim candidate was another—a rebel Congress Muslim. They cut into each others’ votes and the BJP candidate sailed through.

Senior leaders of the BJP are falling over each other to congratulate Modi and hail him as the suitable prime ministerial candidate. Many of them, both BJP national leaders as well as satraps of different states, scrambled to Ahmedabad to attend Modi’s investiture. Still insiders say that the last thing they would want is to have him lead the party.

“Even the RSS, the mother organisation of the Sangh parivar where Modi began his political life, is opposed to him,” confides a party insider. “The RSS is a disciplined party but everybody who knows him well is aware that Modi will not listen to Nagpur at all and hijack the BJP to serve his own end,” the insider, who has risen from the ranks of the RSS and is now in the BJP, discloses. Incidentally, the RSS, even in Gujarat, is opposed to Modi because of his ‘self-willed’ ways. If party veterans are to be believed, the trio of L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, too, would like to keep Modi at bay. “Advani is already 85 years old. This is his last chance to become prime minister. He would not like Modi to upstage him,” party sources reveal. Though Advani was Modi’s original benefactor in the BJP, those who keep close tabs on the relations between the two aver that the former is totally dependent on the Gujarat chief minister to get elected to the Lok Sabha from the Gandhinagar constituency. They also point to how Modi has drawn more applause at election rallies they have jointly addressed since 2004.

Photograph by Jitender Gupta


	“In some ways you don’t have to formally designate him candidate for PM,” says a political analyst. “He is already so in public perception.”

The crafty ‘legal eagle’, Arun Jaitley, is close to Modi and has contributed hugely to the latter’s cause. “Jaitley is a great strategist and a brilliant lawyer. But he has no political base of his own,” says the insider. He deduces that even if a BJP-led coalition comes close to power, it could succeed only if it has a prime ministerial candidate acceptable to all. “That means a Manmohan Singh-type of prime minister. Jaitley feels that he himself could fit the bill,” a party insider asserts. Of course, there is no concrete proof of Jaitley’s strategy. But the insider says that if Modi fails to become prime minister, Jaitley wants that Modi should support him. The argument is that since the lawyer has no political base, Modi will not be threatened by him and therefore he can afford to bide his time as Jaitley holds the reins. But in the corridors of power in Delhi, the belief is that the relations between Modi and Jaitley are a bit frosty these days. This would imply that if push comes to shove, it cannot be taken for granted that Modi will root for Jaitley, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat and has got a fresh, six-year mandate in 2010. But the days preceding his nomination were marked by intense speculation that the Delhi lawyer would have to seek accommodation from some other state. Sushma Swaraj wants to be the first woman prime minister of the BJP. Indeed, during Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s lifetime, she had sought and secured his support too. But to the RSS, Swaraj is suspect because of her husband Swaraj Kaushal’s socialist background. There is no love lost between her and Modi either. Her comments at Vadodara amidst the heat of electioneering, that Modi could be a prime ministerial candidate, are attributed to convoluted political logic that only politicians can make head or tail of. In the words of a BJP insider, Sushma, by projecting him as a prime ministerial candidate, wanted to keep Modi in Gujarat till 2014 and prevent him from becoming the BJP president. The argument goes that as BJP president in Delhi, Modi would consolidate his position faster than if he were to remain in Gandhinagar as the chief minister. In the event, Modi did not press for his candidature after (Nitin) Gadkari stepped down. This was perhaps due to strategic reasons and internal opposition.Strong BJP chief ministers like Shivraj Singh Chauhan of Madhya Pradesh and Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh have not shown any inclination to bid for the top post. The possibility of them throwing in their hats at a later stage cannot be discounted. “Our chief minister’s performance has been brilliant. Chauhan is a great administrator and has brought so much investment into the state. But he works silently and does not make a big song and dance like Modi. He is good material to be a prime minister,” says Anil Sharma, a merchant from Indore and a BJP supporter. There is a similar support for Raman Singh whose strong stand against Maoists is cited as evidence of his being a strong man. It is not that Modi does not know of these inner machinations of senior leaders of his party. But he also knows that he is very popular with the middle-rung leaders and the rank-and-file of the party, the kind of people whose personal ambitions don’t clash with his and who are looking for a leader who can take them to victory. Modi knows that it is only a BJP victory that can give such smaller leaders a share of the spoils of office. He is also aware that these leaders consider him the only one cut out for the job. “Modi sahib will overpower the opposition inside the party because of the massive support he enjoys at the grassroots level. The BJP bosses may lock the doors in Delhi, but our leader will break open the lock and with the tremendous support of the state party workers Modi will be anointed as the bjp’s PM candidate. A chief minister like Shivraj Singh Chauhan can be good but they cannot lead the party to victory nationally,” says a Modi acolyte in Gujarat….

“In some ways you don’t have to formally designate him as prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, he is already so in public perception,” a political analyst suggests. Though it is virtually a fait accompli that Modi will be the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, can he actually pull off a victory and occupy South Block? Or will the Congress gambit pay off?

(Nag is currently resident editor, Times of India, Hyderabad, and was chief of bureau in Ahmedabad during the riots.)

Narendra Modi’s Rs 9,000 crore gas misadventure (kractivist.wordpress.com)
#India – Gujarat riots were not spontaneous and sudden Mr Narendra Modi (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Glaring Lies of Glorious Gujarat: Exposing Narendra Modi and His Claims (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Open letter to #FICCI on Narendra Modi hiding the Truth about Women in Gujarat #Vaw #Womenrights (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Narendra Modi – Repeats every female stereotype he condemns #Gender #Womenrights (kractivist.wordpress.com)
Gujarat reeling under severe drought – #Narendramodi (kractivist.wordpress.com)

4 Comments

by kracktivist on April 17, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Advocacy, Announcements, Human Rights, Justice, Kractivism, Law, Poetry, Political Prisoners, Prison, Violence against Women, Women Rights

Tagged Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons, GSPC, Gujarat, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, India, Krishna-Godavari Basin, Modi, Narendra Modi

Posted by kracktivist on April 17, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/the-namo-story-gandalf-and-his-flo-chart/

Your Laughter by Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda

Poster by Kamayani Bali Mahabal

Take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
… do not take from me your laughter.

Do not take away the rose,
the lance flower that you pluck,
the water that suddenly
bursts forth in joy,
the sudden wave
of silver born in you.

My struggle is harsh and I come back
with eyes tired
at times from having seen
the unchanging earth,
but when your laughter enters
it rises to the sky seeking me
and it opens for me all
the doors of life.

My love, in the darkest
hour your laughter
opens, and if suddenly
you see my blood staining
the stones of the street,
laugh, because your laughter
will be for my hands
like a fresh sword.

Next to the sea in the autumn,
your laughter must raise
its foamy cascade,
and in the spring, love,
I want your laughter like
the flower I was waiting for,
the blue flower, the rose
of my echoing country.

Laugh at the night,
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter
for I would die.

-Pablo Neruda

1 Comment

by kracktivist on April 14, 2013 • Permalink

Posted in Advocacy, Censorship, Disability, Human Rights, Kractivism, Law, Minority Rights, Poetry, Political Prisoners, Prison

Tagged Augusto Pinochet, BBC, Chile, Communist Party of Chile, Isla Negra, Matilde Urrutia, Mexico, Nobel Prize, Pablo Neruda, Salvador Allende

Posted by kracktivist on April 14, 2013

http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/your-laughter-by-chilean-poet-pablo-neruda/

कॉमरेड शालिनी को भावभीनी श्रद्धांजलि , Tributes paid to Comrade Shalini

उनके अधूरे कार्यों और सपनों को पूरा करने का संकल्‍प लिया

लखनऊ, 4 अप्रैल। कॉमरेड शालिनी जैसी युवा सांस्कृतिक संगठनकर्ता के अचानक हमारे बीच से चले जाने से जो रिक्तता पैदा हुई है उसे भरना आसान नहीं होगा। उन्होंने एक साथ अनेक मोर्चों पर काम करते हुए लखनऊ ही नहीं पूरे देश में प्रगतिशील और क्रान्तिकारी साहित्य तथा संस्कृति के प्रचार-प्रसार में जो योगदान दिया वह अविस्मरणीय रहेगा।

का. शालिनी की स्मृति में आज यहाँ ‘जनचेतना’ तथा ‘राहुल फ़ाउण्डेशन’ की ओर से आयोजित श्रद्धांजलि सभा में शहर के बुद्धिजीवियों तथा नागरिकों के साथ ही दिल्ली, पंजाब, मुम्बई, इलाहाबाद, पटना, गोरखपुर सहित विभिन्न स्थानों से आये लेखकों, संस्कृतिकर्मियों, सामाजिक कार्यकर्ताओं और साहित्यप्रेमियों ने उन्हें बेहद आत्मीयता के साथ याद किया। उन्हें भावभीनी श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित करने के साथ ही सभा में उन उद्देश्यों को आगे बढ़ाने का संकल्प व्यक्त किया गया जिनके लिए शालिनी अन्तिम समय तक समर्पित रहीं।

शालिनी पिछले तीन महीनों से पैंक्रियास के कैंसर से जूझ रही थीं और गत 29 मार्च को दिल्ली के धर्मशिला कैंसर अस्पताल में उनका निधन हो गया था। वे केवल 38 वर्ष की थीं।

राहुल फ़ाउण्‍डेशन के सचिव सत्‍यम ने कहा कि का. शालिनी का राजनीतिक-सामाजिक जीवन बीस वर्ष की उम्र में ही शुरू हो चुका था। गोरखपुर, इलाहाबाद और लखनऊ में प्रगतिशील साहित्य के प्रकाशन एवं वितरण के कामों में भागीदारी के साथ ही शालिनी जन अभियानों, आन्दोलनों, धरना-प्रदर्शनों आदि में भी बढ़-चढ़कर हिस्सा लेती रहीं। जनचेतना पुस्तक केन्द्र के साथ ही वे अन्य साथियों के साथ झोलों में किताबें और पत्रिकाएँ लेकर घर-घर और दफ़्तरों में जाती थीं, लोगों को प्रगतिशील साहित्य के बारे में बताती थीं, नये पाठक तैयार करती थीं। गोरखपुर में युवा महिला कॉमरेडों के एक कम्यून में तीन वर्षों तक रहने के दौरान शालिनी स्‍त्री मोर्चे पर, सांस्कृतिक मोर्चे पर और छात्र मोर्चे पर काम करती रहीं। एक पूरावक़्ती क्रान्तिकारी कार्यकर्ता के रूप में काम करने का निर्णय वह 1995 में ही ले चुकी थीं।

इलाहाबाद में ‘जनचेतना’ के प्रभारी के रूप में काम करने के दौरान भी अन्य स्‍त्री कार्यकर्ताओं की टीम के साथ वे इलाहाबाद विश्वविद्यालय के छात्रों के बीच और इलाहाबाद शहर में युवाओं तथा नागरिकों के बीच विभिन्न सामाजिक-राजनीतिक गतिविध्यिों में हिस्सा लेती रहीं। इलाहाबाद के अनेक लेखक और संस्कृतिकर्मी आज भी उन्हें याद करते हैं।

पिछले लगभग एक दशक से लखनऊ उनकी कर्मस्थली था। लखनऊ स्थित ‘जनचेतना’ के केन्द्रीय कार्यालय और पुस्तक प्रतिष्ठान का काम सँभालने के साथ ही वह ‘परिकल्पना,’ ‘राहुल फ़ाउण्डेशन’ और ‘अनुराग ट्रस्ट’ के प्रकाशन सम्बन्धी कामों में भी हाथ बँटाती रहीं। ‘अनुराग ट्रस्ट’ के मुख्यालय की गतिविधियों, पुस्तकालय, वाचनालय, बाल कार्यशालाएँ आदि की ज़िम्मेदारी उठाने के साथ ही कॉ. शालिनी ने ट्रस्ट की वयोवृद्ध मुख्य न्यासी दिवंगत कॉ. कमला पाण्डेय की जिस लगन और लगाव के साथ सेवा और देखभाल की, वह कोई सच्चा सेवाभावी कम्युनिस्ट ही कर सकता था। 2011 में ‘अरविन्द स्मृति न्यास’ का केन्द्रीय पुस्तकालय लखनऊ में तैयार करने का जब निर्णय लिया गया तो उसकी व्यवस्था की भी मुख्य जिम्मेदारी शालिनी ने ही उठायी। वह ‘जनचेतना’ पुस्तक प्रतिष्ठान की सोसायटी की अध्यक्ष, ‘अनुराग ट्रस्ट’ के न्यासी मण्डल की सदस्य, ‘राहुल फ़ाउण्डेशन’ की कार्यकारिणी सदस्य और परिकल्पना प्रकाशन की निदेशक थीं। ग़ौरतलब है कि इतनी सारी विभागीय ज़िम्मेदारियों के साथ ही शालिनी आम राजनीतिक प्रचार और आन्दोलनात्मक सरगर्मियों में भी यथासम्भव हिस्सा लेती रहती थीं। बीच-बीच में वह लखनऊ की ग़रीब बस्तियों में बच्चों को पढ़ाने भी जाती थीं। लखनऊ के हज़रतगंज में रोज़ शाम को लगने वाले जनचेतना के स्‍टॉल पर पिछले कई वर्षों से सबसे ज़्यादा शालिनी ही खड़ी होती थीं।

कवयित्री कात्यायनी ने उन्हें बेहद हार्दिकता से याद करते हुए कहा कि हर पल मौत से जूझते हुए शालिनी हमें सिखा गयी कि असली इंसान की तरह जीना क्या होता है। आख़िरी दिनों तक शालिनी अपनी ज़िम्मेदारियों और राजनीतिक-सामाजिक गतिविधियों के बारे में ही सोचती रहती थीं। अक्सर फोन पर वे साथियों को कुछ न कुछ जानकारी या सलाह दिया करती थीं। शुरू से ही उन्हें अपने से कई गुना ज़्यादा दूसरों का ख़्याल रहता था। उन्हें मालूम था कि मौत दहलीज़ के पार खड़ी है मगर मौत का भय या निराशा उन्हें छू तक नहीं गयी थी। स्वस्थ होकर ज़िम्मेदारियों के मोर्चे पर वापस लौटने में उनका विश्वास और इसे लेकर उनका उत्साह हममें भी आशा का संचार करता था।

कॉ. शालिनी एक कर्मठ, युवा कम्युनिस्ट संगठनकर्ता थीं। आज के दौर में बहुत से लोगों की आस्‍थाएं खंडित हो रही हैं, लोग तरह-तरह के समझौते कर रहे हैं, बुर्जुआ संस्‍कृति का हमला युवा कार्यकर्ताओं के एक अच्‍छे-खासे हिस्‍से को कमज़ोर कर रहा है, मगर शालिनी इन सबसे रत्तीभर भी प्रभावित हुए बिना अपनी राह चलती रहीं। एक बार जीवन लक्ष्य तय करने के बाद पीछे मुड़कर उन्होंने कभी कोई समझौता नहीं किया। उसूलों की ख़ातिर पारिवारिक और सम्‍पत्ति-सम्‍बन्‍धों से पूर्ण विच्छेद कर लेने में भी शालिनी ने देरी नहीं की। एक सूदख़ोर व्यापारी और भूस्वामी परिवार की पृष्ठभूमि से आकर, शालिनी ने जिस दृढ़ता के साथ पुराने मूल्‍यों को छोड़ा और जिस निष्कपटता के साथ कम्युनिस्ट जीवन-मूल्यों को अपनाया, वह आज जैसे समय में दुर्लभ है और अनुकरणीय भी।

अनुराग ट्रस्‍ट के अध्‍यक्ष और चित्रकार रामबाबू, आह्वान के सम्‍पादक अभिनव सिन्‍हा, आख़ि‍री दिनों में शालिनी के साथ रहीं उनकी दोस्‍त और कॉमरेड कविता और शाकम्‍भरी, जनचेतना की गीतिका, लेखिका सुशीला पुरी, नम्रता सचान, आरडीएसओ के ए.एम. रिज़वी आदि ने शालिनी के व्‍यक्तित्‍व के अलग-अलग पहलुओं को याद किया।

भारतीय महिला फेडरेशन की आशा मिश्रा ने कहा कि शालिनी जिन मूल्यों और जिस विचारधारा के लिए लड़ती रहीं, आखिरी सांस तक उस पर डटी रहीं। छोटी उम्र में जितनी वैचारिक समझदारी, कामों के प्रति गहरी निष्ठा शालिनी में दिखती थी, इसके उदाहरण कम ही देखने को मिलते हैं।

देश के अलग-अलग हिस्सों से बुद्धिजीवियों, साहित्यकारों, एक्टिविस्टों द्वारा भेजे गये कुछ चुनिन्‍दा शोक-संदेशों को उनके आग्रह पर उनकी ओर से पढ़ा गया। एकीकृत नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (माओवादी) के सांस्‍कृतिक प्रभाग के प्रमुख निनु चपागाईं ने कहा कि उनकी पार्टी के सांस्कृतिक कार्यकर्ता जनचेतना, अनुराग ट्रस्ट और राहुल फ़ाउण्डेशन के साथ एकजुटता व्यक्त करते हैं ताकि वे कामरेड शालिनी के अनेक दायित्वों को पूरा कर सकें। उन असंख्य लोगों के ज़रिए जिनके लिए उन्होंने क्रान्तिकारी साहित्य उपलब्ध तथा कराया तथा सांस्कृतिक संघर्ष के अनेक मोर्चों पर उनके कार्यों से आने वाले अनेक वर्षों तक परिणाम मिलते रहेंगे। ‘पहल’ के सम्‍पादक ज्ञानरंजन ने कहा कि हमारे सारे वैचारिक मोर्चों पर काम करते हुए शालिनी ने जो बलिदान दिया वो अपने आप में एक मिसाल है। इतने कठिन समय में ऐसा कोई और उदाहरण हमारे सामने नहीं है। साहित्‍यकार शिवमूर्ति ने अपने संदेश में कहा कि कामरेड शालिनी का निधन संघर्षशील आम जन के लिए एक अपूरणीय क्षति है। एक लम्बे समय से मैं उनके व्यक्तित्व के विभिन्न कोणों से परिचित था। उनकी मृत्यु पूर्व लिखी गयी लम्बी कविता ‘मेरी आखिरी इच्छा’ पढ़ने से उनके निडर और क्रान्तिकारी विचारों और दृढ़ इच्छाशक्ति का पता चलता है।

पी.यू.सी.एल. की कविता श्रीवास्तव ने शालिनी, उनके कार्यों, उनके लेखन, उनके विचार और उनके साहस को क्रान्तिकारी सलाम करते हुए कहा कि शालिनी का ब्‍लॉग मेरे जीवन में हुई कुछ सबसे अच्छी बातों में से एक है। वरिष्‍ठ लेखक-पत्रकार अजय सिंह ने कहा कि मेरे लिए शालिनी और लखनऊ में हज़रतगंज के गलियारे जनचेतना पुस्तक स्‍टॉल जैसे एक-दूसरे के पर्याय बन गये थे। शालिनी हमेशा हल्की व दोस्ताना मुस्कान से स्वागत करतीं, और नयी-पुरानी किताबों व पत्रिकाओं के बारे में बताती थीं। स्टूल पर सीधी, तनी हुई बैठी शालिनी की मुद्रा मेरे ज़ेहन में अंकित है। प्रगतिशील वसुधा के सम्‍पादक राजेन्‍द्र शर्मा ने अपने सन्‍देश में कहा कि कामरेड शालिनी ने एक साथ कई मोर्चों पर जूझते हुए जनसंघर्ष की एक व्यापक परिभाषा गढ़ी थी। उन जैसी ईमानदार साथी का इतना आकस्मिक निधन स्तब्धकारी दुर्घटना है। हमारी कतारों से एक उज्ज्वल ध्रुवतारा अस्त हो गया।

कवि नरेश सक्सेना, मलय, विजेन्‍द्र, नरेश चन्द्रकर, कपिलेश भोज, लेखक सुभाष गाताड़े, डा. आनन्द तेलतुम्बडे, चन्‍द्रेश्‍वर, वीरेन्‍द्र यादव, मदनमोहन, भगवानस्‍वरूप कटियार, प्रताप दीक्षित, शालिनी माथुर, शकील सिद्दीकी, गिरीशचन्‍द्र श्रीवास्‍तव, अजित पुष्‍कल, फिल्‍मकार फ़ैज़ा अहमद ख़ान, उद्भावना के सम्‍पादक अजेय कुमार, बया के सम्‍पादक गौरीनाथ, सबलोग के सम्‍पादक किशन कालजयी, समयान्‍तर के सम्‍पादक पंकज बिष्‍ट, जनपथ के सम्‍पादक ओमप्रकाश मिश्र, प्रो. चमनलाल, पत्रकार जावेद नकवी, दिव्‍या आर्य, डा. सदानन्‍द शाही, शम्‍सुल इस्‍लाम, मुम्‍बई के हर्ष ठाकौर, लोकायत, पुणे के नीरज जैन, सीसीआई की ओर से पार्थ सरकार, जन संस्‍कृति मंच के महासचिव प्रणय कृष्‍ण, जलेस के प्रमोद कुमार, सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता अशोक चौधरी, वी.आर. रमण, डा. मीना काला, मोहिनी मांगलिक, हरगोपाल सिंह, नाट्यकर्मी राजेश, डा. साधना गुप्‍ता सहित अनेक व्‍यक्तियों ने का. शालिनी के लिए अपने शोक-संदेशों में कहा कि उन्होंने तमाम कठिनाइयों से लड़ते हुए जिस तरह जीने की जद्दोजहद जारी रखी वह सभी नौजवानों और खासकर उन स्त्रियों के लिए एक मूल्यवान शिक्षा है जो इस देश को बेड़ियों से आज़ाद कराने का लक्ष्य लेकर चल रहे हैं। क्रान्तिकारी आन्दोलन की दशा को ध्यान में रखते हुए, उनकी कमी को पूरा करना आसान नहीं होगा।

इस अवसर पर शालिनी के अन्तिम अवशेषों की मिट्टी पर उनकी स्मृति में एक पौधा लगाया गया।

सधन्यवाद,

(रामबाबू)

कृते, जनचेतना तथा अनुराग ट्रस्‍ट

(सत्‍यम)

कृते, राहुल फाउण्‍डेशन

फोनः 0522-2786782 / 8853093555 / 8960022288 / 9910462009

Comrade Shalini’ s Poem – My Last Wish – A Revolutionary Will #mustread (kractivist.wordpress.com)

Hari Prasad Chaurasia’s life in 60 minutes #Sundayreading

Rajeev Chaurasia on what it took a son to condense 74 years of his maestro father’s life into an hour

Gitanjali .Chandrasekharan @timesgroup .com

On April 12, Rajeev Chaurasia will figure if he passed the “agneepariksha”. The 43-year-old son of flautist Padma Vibhushan Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia excitedly awaits the release of Bansuri Guru, a film he directed on his father, which is the Films Division’s first project to release commercially under the PVR Director’s Rare banner.
He landed the job accidentally, when he realised that the directors proposed by Films Division knew little about the maestro’s life. “They’d ask him fairly basic questions about his performances and work in Bollywood. I thought, main kya kar raha hoon?” Rajeev says in Hindi reminiscent of his Allahabad roots.
The hour-long documentary, that features interviews of Panditji and his students, traces his journey from the akhadas of Allahabad (Panditji was born into a family of wrestlers for whom a profession in music was unthinkable) through Cuttack (where he landed his first job as an artiste), to Mumbai, ending at the Vrindavan gurukul he set up.
It wasn’t easy convincing Films Division, Rajeev says in a candid moment. “The first proposal I took was on one sheet of paper. They asked me to come back with an 80-page script.” Rajeev spent three months reworking the script, and the next three years filming the docu. Although it was a familiar subject, he realised serious research awaited him. Details that had receded into obscurity over the years began to surface, like the story behind Panditji’s first flute.
“He was around 10. I am not sure if it was a mela, but my father spotted a man selling flutes. When he stopped for a drink of water, Panditji picked it up.”
Among those voicing the musician’s journey is 90-yearold P V Krishnamoorthy, AIR’s station director in Cuttack who gave Panditji his first music job in 1957. “He said Panditji was popular with the ladies,” laughs Rajeev.
Being family didn’t always help, though. Rajeev says he was pushing his father to do things he hadn’t been asked to pull off. “There was some friction. Anybody else would have been shown the door. I could take liberties,” he smiles.
Among those Rajeev was keen to include in the film but couldn’t is Annapurna Devi, late Pandit Ravi Shankar’s first wife, and his father’s guru. “It took him three years to convince her to teach him. An exponent of the Sur Bahar, she asked him how she could teach him since he was a flautist. He said all he wanted to learn from her was music; instruments didn’t entertain boundaries.”
Although Panditji visits his guru at her south Mumbai residence every Gurupurnima, the reclusive artiste asked to be excused from the film.
The toughest task awaited Rajeev once shooting had wound up. A hundred hours of footage had to be trimmed to an hour.
Panditji’s Bollywood connection — he composed songs for Chandni, Darr, Lamhe and Silsila among other blockbusters with santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma — is evident as Amitabh Bachchan lends his voice as narrator. Popular tunes (the haunting melody from Jackie Shroff-Meenakshi Sheshadri-starrer Hero), are welded into the background score. “These tunes would comfort me when I was homesick in America,” adds Rajeev, a student of finance from the University of Texas. His career in media which started with Sony TV in the 1990s before he took over as MTV’s programming head, and finally launched a travel channel three years ago, made the job a bit easier.
Do Panditji’s sons, Vinay and Ajay, from his first marriage to late Kamala Chaurasia find space in the film? “Only those people connected to Panditji’s musical journey are featured,” Rajeev says, adding that the family — Panditji’s second wife Anuradha, Rajeev’s wife Pushpanjali and their two children — is also seen in one solitary scene.

A picture from the 1970s with kathak exponent Sitara Devi, at a common friend’s wedding

At riyaz with wife Anuradha ‘Angurbala’, a classical vocalist

With Lata and Usha Mangeshkar at Tirupati temple in the 1960s

Rajeev Chaurasia

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Rajeev Chaurasia on what it took a son to condense 74 years of his maestro father’s life into an hour

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One bilion Riising- Light a Candle for Soni Sori and All women Prisoners

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