Truth vs Hype: Assam – Violence by Design #mustwatch

 

NDTV India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

In Assam, the flames of violence refuse to fully die out. The police say they have made 100’s of arrests, registered nearly 400 FIRs, and claim to have provided village pickets in all sensitive districts. But many say that unless those who stoked the hatred are identified and brought to book, the climate of animosity will persist. This week, we investigate systematically how politicians and organisations on both sides resorted to fear-mongering and exaggerated claims on the issue of illegal migration, and then used the violence to further their political ambitions.

 

Watch the NDTV report by Sreenivana Jain here

 

 

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/truth-vs-hype/assam-violence-by-design/243241?pfrom=home-topstories

 

 

 

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‘Virgin births’ to become a reality soon? #WTFnews

Aug 19,2012,PTI

LONDON: An Indian-origin research geneticist who pioneered a celebratory work on eccentric creatures capable of reproducing without sexual contact has claimed that humans too are on the course for sexless reproduction in future. Aarathi Prasad from Imperial College London suggests that humans could well be looking at a future where babies are born without any sperm donors, let alone contact between the sexes.

Her book ‘Like A Virgin’ explores a fundamentally serious theme we human beings are in control of our own destiny and there is nothing sacred or special about life itself.

This is so because we live in a world where science means we can manipulate everything , even the process of reproduction, the Daily Mail reported. The central tenet of Aarathi’s story is that virgin births are now almost within the grasp of science.

An artificial womb — a plastic container specially designed to hold fluids and bacteria found in natural wombs, has already been pioneered in Australia. Aarathi says it will one day be technically possible for a man to develop a child in one of these ‘wombs’ without the co-operation of any female partner. She points out that science has already developed artificial sperm. And that such sperm has produced offspring. How far behind can be the synthetic egg?

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Urgent Appeal to Media and Press in the North east

This is an urgent appeal on behalf of the north east community living in Bangalore and other cities outside of the north east. As you are aware the situation in many cities has been tense fuelled by rumours of potential violence as well as stray incidents, which have resulted in many people leaving these states and returning to their respective homes in Assam and elsewhere.

As the trains start arriving in Assam and elsewhere there will be an urge to interview people to get a sense of what has been happening and we fear that some of thee stories may be based not on facts but on hearsay and rumour. We urge the media to exercise refrain in the way they carry the stories. The reality of the situation in Bangalore for instance is that community leaders and representatives from the north east and the Muslim community have been hard at work to build trust between these communities and restore peace here. If there any backlash that takes place in Assam as a result of the stories that are carried there is a danger of there being repercussions in cities like Bangalore.

We urge the media to be aware of the important role that they have in trying to bring back trust within all the communities and report without sensationalizing anything which could be used by troublemakers. The media in the north east has played a very vital role in promoting democratic values and ensuring the safety and security of people and we hope that at this critical hour all of you will join hands in promoting a more peaceful and stable future.

Friends and members of the north east community in Bangalore

Domestic Violence against Nurses by their Marital Partners: AIIMSA, New Delhi #VAW

A Facility‑based Study at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Kamlesh Kumari Sharma, Manju Vatsa
College of Nursing, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Background: In recent times, domestic violence against women by marital partners has emerged as an important public health

problem.

Objectives:1. To determine the prevalence, characteristics and impact of domestic violence against nurses by their marital
partners, in Delhi, India. 2. To identify nurses’ perceptions regarding acceptable behavior for men and women. Materials and

Methods: A facility‑based pilot study was conducted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Data were
collected using self‑administered standardized questionnaire, among 60 ever married female nurses working at AIIMS hospital,
selected by convenience sampling. The principal outcome variables were controlling behavior, emotional, physical and sexual violence by marital partners. Data were analyzed using SPSS 12 software.

The test applied was Fisher’s exact test and 1‑sided Fisher’s exacttest.

Results: Sixty percent of nurses reported marital partner perpetrated controlling behavior, 65% reported emotional violence,

43.3% reported physical violence and 30% reported sexual violence. About 3/5th of nurses (58%) opined that no reason justified
violence, except wife infidelity (31.67%). Of the physically or sexually abused respondents, 40% were ever injured, and 56.7%
reported that violence affected their physical and mental health.

Conclusion: There is a high magnitude of domestic violence
against nurses and this is reported to have affected their physical and mental health.

 

 

download full report here

Cultural Activist, Jeetan Marandi languishes in Jail, his wife Aparna Marandi keeps the Battle on #mustread

 

WHO IS JEETAN MARANDI?

Jeetan  Marandi is a cultural activist from Jharkhand , a cultural activist who used to sing the folk songs and other revolutionary songs in villages of Jharkhand, to make the people aware of socio-political developments taking place in the state. He was misjudged due to his name. He is also  the secretaries of Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners.

He was arrested in 2008 and accused by the police of being involved in the murder of 20 villagers, including the son of former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi, in Chilkari in 2007.

He was sentenced to death in June 2011 by a lower court in Jharkhand. He has been an active participant in the movements against forcible land acquisitions in Jharkhand – and was actually arrested while he was on the way back from one such rally organized by the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikash Andolan, almost an year after the killings.

In December 2011, Jharkhand High Court turned down death sentences of four person including Jeetan Marandi in Chilkar massacre case for the want of substantial evidence. The  Court had acquitted the four accused in Chilkhari murder case on December 15, 2011. Giving them the ‘benefit of doubt’ the court said that it could not punish these people on the basis of the witnesses who themselves are of criminal background. Jeetan, Chattar Mandal, Manoj Rajwar and Anil Ram were first awarded death sentence by Additional Sessions Judge at Giridih on June 22, 2011. Jeetan Marandi and other three were convicted under Sections 143, 342, 379, 149, 120B, 30, 149, Copyright Licensing Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act along with Section 302.

The police chargesheeted him under various clauses of the penal code, and it has also been alleged that false witnesses were brought forth during the trial, leading to the death-sentence. This case falls into the larger pattern of victimization of the cultural political activists as well as those adivasi voices who are resisting the various injustices being inflicted by the state.

He has been slapped under the draconian law Crime Control Act (CCA) , and still contnues to langish in jail.I AM JEETAN MARANDI

He has written a letter from jail in name of the Nation

Dr Binayak Sen, in a public meeting in  Ranchi  in 2011 had said “An artiste and tribal rights activist, Jeetan was known to utilise the power of music to speak against government atrocities on the common man, especially tribals. “Artistes world over have used their medium of music, song, painting, etc. to portray the wrongs of society. Jeetan was fighting against displacement, corporate and political loot among other ills. It is ironic of the state government that in the land of Birsa Munda, it has been staying mum on his case.

Please sign online petition for his release-PLEASE SIGN ON-LINE PETITION FOR HIS RELEASE

His wife, Aparna Marandi is asking us if our nation is really independent. She says when I look around so many years after independence same repression as British is continuing and there is not much progress on health, education of poor. Educated are not getting jobs. She says my husband Jeetan Marandi is an example. He was writing songs to make people aware about their rights and to fight against obscurantism,dowry etc and he is in jail on false charges. I think we are not independent. For more Aparna ji can be reached at 09771949885

http://www.cgnetswara.org/index.php?id=13006

She sings song of jeetan marandi

ये आज़ादी है कैसा, कहने वालों को हक ये मिला है कैसा?….एक गीत

ये आजादी आज़ादी है कैसा?

कहने वालों को हक ये मिला है कैसा
देखो कितने भूखे नंगे तडप रहे हैं
ये आज़ादी का हालत है कैसा
देखो कितने महल ये चमक रहे हैं
कितनी झुपडिया उजाड पड़े हैं
ये आज़ादी मिली है कैसा?

अपर्णा मरांडी

Listen to her here http://cgnetswara.org/index.php?id=13077

Here , Aparna Marandi is singing a Santhali song written by jailed adivasi cultural activist Jeetan Marandi which talks about ill effect of drinking. The song says you are drinking and your house is getting destroyed, your children are suffering, their education is getting affected. The song requests please leave drinking and take care of your family.

http://www.cgnetswara.org/index.php?id=13126

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Two Muslims who took on the Azad Maidan rioters- #mustread

 

HAVE FAITH, WILL NOT FIGHT

While last Saturday’s riots stoked resentment against Muslim leaders, two members of the community taught a few others that Islam is about humanity

Jyoti Punwani , Mumbai Mirroe, August19,2012

Even as the leaders of Saturday’s rally shrug off any responsibility for the violence, two ordinary Muslims, Shadab Siddiqui and Farooq Mapkar stood up to a number of vandals in their community and took them on single-handedly and unarmed. Both say they could not watch as the youngsters sullied the name of Islam through their misconduct.
Thirty six-year-old poetess and social activist Shadab Siddiqui was on her way to work on Saturday afternoon when she saw around 40 Muslim boys with flags, travelling on the roof of the same Harbour line train as she was on.
They were all headed to the Azad Maidan rally, and were shouting religious slogans, clambering down into compartments, leaning out and clinging on to windows.
“Other commuters were not only getting annoyed with the noise they were making, but were also worried that they could lose their limbs, or even their lives,” she said. However, every time a commuter told them to get down, the commuter ended up getting shouted at.
Shadab, who works in the office of the Avami Vikas Party (recently founded by ex-ACP Shamsher Khan Pathan), had herself sent out press releases for the rally. “We made sure to describe it as a peaceful protest, but these boys were anything but quiet. It really bothered me,” she said. She immediately called an Urdu journalist and asked him to alert the police, but nothing happened.
When the train halted at Wadala, Shadab got off and requested the railway police to take action, but they said they were helpless. Then, she marched straight to the motorman who also said he didn’t dare intervene. Feeling she had had enough, Shadab jumped onto the tracks in front of the train, sat down there, and shouted that she would not move till the boys came down. If they didn’t, she told the motorman, he could start the train and run her over. “I thought that if the boys saw a Muslim standing up against them, they would be very ashamed,” she said.
It worked. And Shadab only got up when the last boy got off the roof and into the compartment.
“Earlier, I didn’t want to go to this allmale rally,” she said. “But now I was so furious that I decided I would go to Azad Maidan, get onto the stage and tell the organisers that they had failed in their responsibility to ensure a peaceful rally.”
However, when she reached CST, Shadab found vehicles burning, and volunteers asking everyone to go home. As she entered the station, she saw that a bus had been set on fire.
“Many women and children were huddled inside the police cabin on Platform 1 for a very long time. Non-Muslims kept asking me what was going on, and I felt so ashamed. If I could, I’d talk to those boys and tell them that inconveniencing others is not Islam.”
For Farooq Mapkar, a victim of the Hari Masjid firing during the 92-93 riots, it would have been easy to join the mob of youngsters he saw misbehaving with a Hindu at Wadala station on the way back from the rally. Especially since Mapkar has been fighting for 14 years to get the policeman (a Hindu) who shot him inside Hari Masjid punished. Instead, when the youngsters got on the train, Farooq reprimanded them all the way from Wadala to Mankhurd.
The youngsters shot back, saying that Hindus had killed Muslims in Assam. “That doesn’t justify your behaviour here with innocent Hindus,” Farooq told them. “I told them my story, and also that those who have helped me the most have been non-Muslims. I explained to them that their misconduct would make it very difficult for any Muslim to expect non-Muslims to help them in future.”
Farooq said he felt that his patience had paid off when the group of once-incensed youngsters turned around and apologised to him as they got off the train.

Shadab Siddiqui said she wishes she could tell the rioters that inconveniencing others is not Islam

Farooq Mapkar spent a long time convincing a group of Muslim boys that hurting innocent Hindus in Mumbai was not the answer to their problems

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