S.O.S - eVoice For Justice - e-news weekly

Spreading the light of humanity & freedom

 

Editor: Nagaraj.M.R....... vol.5 . issue.24 .........13/06/2009 

 

Editorial : Hey Ram , Jai Bheem  Save my India.

Even after 62 years independence in India , caste profiling , discrimination based on caste is prevalent . suffering people have got converted to christianity , sikh , buddhism , etc , still even after conversion people still identify converted person from his previous caste. Caste discrimination has deeply rooted down in the Indian psyche.

At the international level racial profiling , discrimination is the vogue in many developed countries like USA , AUSTRALIA , UK  inspite of tall talks of universal brotherhood. Innocent civilians , students , professionals are put behind bars in USA , UK , AUSTRALIA , etc as terror suspects , just for the reason that they are muslims or their skin color is dark , brown . In their view , all muslims , dark skinned persons are terrorists. However in reality it is the past presidents of USA  , past prime ministers of UK who were white skinned Christians who gave birth to many terrorist outfits like Taliban , alqueda  & aided them.  Does that mean that all Christians , white skinned  people are terrorist master minds , NO .

Every human being must learn to live as human beings , learn to respect dignity of other human beings  .  For every human being the preachings & life of Bapuji & Dr.B.R.Ambedkarji  itself is a role model. Jai Hind , Vande Mataram.

 

Your’s sincerely,

Nagaraj.M.R.

 

Racial Attacks In Australia: Can We Condemn?

By Dr. Shah Alam Khan

The recent or rather the ongoing attacks on Indian students down under are a chilling reminder on the existence of a farce Australian society, far from the helm of civilization. What more could have we expected from the discovery of John Cook, whose men had slaughtered the local Aborigines to make the continent livable. The savagery of John Cook's siblings has passed on, in good health, to future generations. But how justified are we as Indians to raise a hue and cry on these ghastly acts of prejudiced murder? Do we tow the same line when it comes to our equality records? How good are we, the brown men, in treating the brown and blacks amongst us? How fair are we, the citizens of a free and democratic country in giving justice to our own citizens? Do we fulfill the criteria to condemn these attacks? These are difficult questions with equally thorny answers.

We all know that the events of last week have been condemned by all including the Australian Prime Minister. Condemn? Murderers and racial thugs are not condemned, they have to be punished. Punished as a deterrent for their peer group. Punished to justify the cause of equality and also punished for justice to the victim.

But do we, Indians, practice all of this? Honestly not. Don't we take the wrong sides in our strife against dalits? How many of us have condemned with equal veracity the killing of harijans in Haryana and UP in recent past? How many of us even know about the Khairlanji massacre? How many among us would be willing to eat on the same table with an untouchable? These inequalities are a common or rather a daily occurrence in our country. Our abhorrence of people of different faith, low caste and different races is incredible and phenomenal. We even believe and differentiate on the basis of color, may be with a vigor and hatred that would make an Australian blush. How many times have we seen the demand for a"beautiful, tall and fair" bride in matrimonial columns. Demand for a Fair bride, in a land which was once dominated by the Dravidans, the real inhabitants of India, those whose genes bore the blueprint from the blacks of Africa.

We live through these atrocities as if they are a natural consequence of race and creed. Unfortunately, our belief in inequalities of caste, creed and religion are so strong that we refuse to raise questions and protest. It is an abject submission to the power of inequality which is rampant in India. So how can we question the Australians on their equality record? What message are we trying to give to the world? Maybe, we demand justice for some but it doesn't matter if we ourselves are the perpetrators of a similar crime.

My argument to bring the issue of our own record is not to lessen the measure of criminal misdoings of the white Australians. What more can we expect from a race which can even hijack and Europeanize the Christ? My point is that how can a society which is so deprived of justice and social equality raise a voice against the wrong doings of someone else with a fervor good enough to produce results? How can we point fingers when our own hands are red in the blood of egalitarianism? Contradictions in the Indian society are not new. We preach morality but rank highest amongst the most corrupt nations of the world. We preach Gandhism but stage pogroms to annihilate ethnic minorities (that too in the land of Gandhi!). We claim we have never attacked another country, but did we really had time to? We were busy attacking our own churches, our own dalits, our own adivasis, our own peasants, our own men, women and children in the name of caste, religion and race.

With hands across our hearts, we should ask, are we justified enough to question the barbarism in Australia? Isn't it time to set our own house in order? Can we stand up and be counted so that we can make our case strong against the Australians. Inner strength gives outer courage. India can claim its share of International justice only if its executive, its police, its judiciary and most importantly its people are willing to propagate and inculcate national justice and social equality.

 

Democratic Space- What Is That?

By Dr. Shah Alam Khan

As if the Chhattisgarh government was not good enough to rain destruction on a soul like Dr Binayak Sen, we now have the Madhya Pradesh government arrest Mrs. Shamim Modi, a social activist and a law graduate working among the tribals in Betul district of the state. Geographically they seem to be different states with different issues; the fact that they are ruled by the same party is uncanny. What is even more interesting is the fact that both Dr Sen and Mrs Modi were involved in raising issues of the local people; their health, their employment and very importantly their environment.

In Algebra of Infinite Justice and throughout her other essays, Arundhati Roy has spoken of a democratic space. A breathing space within the plexus of a complex social order, to agitate and protest. In my opinion democratic space is an unwritten permission to think. A fundamental consideration and respect granted by a state to its subjects to raise a voice of dissent and disagree. It is this democratic space which forms the basis of a vibrant democracy. We Indians have witnessed a violation of this space time and now either as clamping of emergency, burning of books, boycotting movies or even building dams against local wishes. Violation on and off is a mistake but violation on a regular basis is a habit. This is even more dangerous when the infringement is by the perpetrators of democracy themselves. The ruling party in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh stands guilty of this crime. The BJP has a habit of intruding into the democratic space.

Most contraventions of this nature start as pin pricks to test a society. The experiment is completed with the implementation of harsher laws, more strict censorship and refusal to accept protest. India's neighborhood has witnessed this all. What could be more glaring than the Talibanisation of Pakistan. The resurgence of Taliban in Pakistan started with minor issues. They were seen as saviours from a US backed regime setting in order its own personal agenda than caring for the welfare and will of the people. Today Taliban threatens to annihilate the state. And remember it was the Pakistani state machinery which silenced those who made the correct noises. People like Pervez Hodbouy and Asma Jhangir stand isolated and lonely.

Freedom to protest is an intrinsic check mechanism in any democratic system. It provides a measure of accountability to the system. Even history remains witness to the power of protest. Who can ignore the fall of the German wall to persistent and powerful protest. Writers, artists, social activists, intellectuals, government employees, anyone can be a medium for this voice of reason. Disputing the government policies need not necessarily mean sedition. Governments are after all meant for the welfare of their subjects. If subjects are unhappy with a policy, they should have the right and freedom to organize and agitate. Labeling this agitating cohort as traitors is a calculated move by those who are inclined to fail democracy itself.

The cases of Dr Binayak Sen and Mrs Shamim Modi are no different. They are a minority which knows the art and power of protest. They know how to expand the democratic space. They asked questions which had uncomfortable answers. They are the true guardians of democracy. By actively using the state machinery against them, the governments of Chattisgarh and MP have shown a blatant violation of a valid democratic right. The BJP as such has proved beyond any doubt its inability to handle issues without blurring the line between civilization and savagery. It is of utmost importance that we Indians should be able to read the game plan of an organisation hell bent on destroying the democratic credentials of this beautiful country. There is an urgent need to protest against this brutality of thought. A clear message has to go today so that our generations to come could breathe in an infinite democratic space.

 

 

Draconian Laws, Delete Them

By Dr. Mookhi Amir Ali

Dr. Binayak Sen will now be out on bail but not without celebrating the second anniversary of his needless detention. He was detained under Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Under these laws a person can be detained for flimsy reasons with no provision of bail. This is not the only law in our book which can be used by the Government to harass a citizen who is inconvenient to them. Dr Binayak in addition to being a good and benevolent doctor is a conscientious human rights activist who was blowing whistles on Chhattisgarh government sponsored Salwa Judam's illegal killings of innocent tribals. The incarceration which the doctor has suffered was the "reward" the government of Chhattisgarh was giving him for his aggressive activism. Salwa Judam, whose misdeeds Dr. Sen was fighting against, has received strong disapproval of the Supreme Court of India.

Another recent instance of misuse of a bad law is the slapping of National Security Act on Varun Gandhi by the UP governmrnt The Chief Election Commissioner had already recommended FIRs against his hate-speech and the law was already taking its course. Even a layman would guess that the NSA was slapped against him with malafide intention of the state government to harass him and to keep him out of action during the pre-election days.

Such misuse of the draconian laws in our country is so extensive that one is inclined to believe that these laws are enacted as instruments of harassment and vendetta.
After every terror attacks young men are rounded up indiscriminately. They are locked up, tortured, humiliated for days and days and released after police finds no evidence against them. After bomb blasts in Makka masjid at Hyderabad in 2007, 75 young men were rounded up, detained illegally and tortured. When the case was handed over to CBI, within hours of interrogation the agency found the arrests of 43 persons unnecessary and released them. The remaining were acquitted by courts towards the end of 2008. The case remained unsolved. The Home minister P. Chidambaram has stated in a matter of fact manner that Makka case has now become cold. No wonder that most of the terror cases have remained unsolved and gone cold. A whopping 98 per cent of those arrested under stringent unconstitutional laws have had no case against them which can stand in the courts of law. It is as if the administration or the police knowingly arrest the wrong persons in order to shield the real culprits.

A thirty three year old software engineer Sadiq Shaikh was arrested on 24th September 2008, The crime branch booked him under Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act [MCOCA] for his alleged involvement in 11 July 2006 Mumbai train blasts. He was robbed of his liberty till ATS [Anti Terror Squad] took over the case and found no evidence against him. He was released this month. Like this Sadiq Shaikh many a young men were arrested in connection with this train blasts. They faced torture and humiliation. The Government of Maharashtra was mute spectator when anti-social elements threatened the legal fraternity of Mumbai against providing legal assistance to the detainees. Ultimately no evidence against these young detainees was found. The train blasts case remained unsolved and will be remembered as one more case of misuse of a draconian law and a case going cold.

Maulana Abdul Nasser Madani who has founded a secular political party in Kerala had spent 10 years in jail for alleged involvement in Coimbatore blasts in 1998, till he was acquitted of all charges against him. He spent only 4 years less than a life term. For no reason.

The draconian POTA was used by the Gujarat government to keep numerous persons in jail without bail accusing them of conspiracy to torch the train at Godhra station. The detainees right to liberty was in abeyance for seven years till Supreme court ruled that there was no case for booking them under POTA at all.

Following the Mumbai terror attack on 26/11, the Government of India was so rattled and came under so muchand MCOCA pressure from the NDA opposition that only after a debate of less than one full day it passed draconian amendments to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act [UAPA], which not only incorporated all the nefarious provisions of the infamous POTA and MCOCA, but also gave a new dimension to the age old universal maxim of "ïnnocent till found guilty". Under the amended UAPA, a court is barred from granting bail to an accused unless it finds the accused prima facie innocent. In other words the accused has to be treated as guilty unless an evidence of his innocence is convincingly presented. This is in contravention of Supreme court's direction that granting of bail should be the norm and its rejection an exception. As if this was not draconian enough the NDA wanted the confession made to the investigating agency admissible as evidence. No need to mention here that most confessions made to the investigating agencies are under duress or torture.

The opinions of two big names on this amendment to UAPAct deserve mention. Soli Sorabjee called the provisions of the amendment "constitutionally vulnerable" and "inconsistent with the International Covenent on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR]." Lord Meghnad Desai has called this amendment blatant violation of human rights. He said, "the law just passed by the Indian Parliament is unlikely to survive a PIL that challenges its violation of human rights."

So, there are bad laws in our statute-book . As long as there are laws which can be misused they will be misused.The bad laws are bad. They trample upon our human rights. They overturn many constitutional principles. As the Chief Justice of India puts it there are legislators who have no patience with the human laws to tackle terrorism. They don't want to be tied down by the human rights considerations. It is the duty of the legal community –in which the Chief Justice includes judiciary- to see that the constitutional principles are not diluted and the unconstitutional laws are protested against. The legal fraternity in India should establish a mechanism by which what is not constitutionally correct does not creep into our law-books and if it has creeped in, efforts should be made to repeal it. There should be a body of legal experts – a sort of legal ombudsman- who keeps a watch on the legislations passed in the parliament. If any act is found to be constitutionally vulnerable, as Soli Sorabjee puts it or is not consistent with Human Rights or any International covenant, the ombudsman should appeal to the legislative body to withdraw the bill or the act. The legal fraternity should stop bad laws from being enacted or from being notified and fight to scrap such laws from the book with the help of the courts.

An excellent amendment to the Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Act was passed by the parliament early this year. Under this the freedom to the police to arrest a person for a crime punishable by less than 7 years imprisonment was curbed. The Police would arrest a person only if he fails to respond to a notice to present himself at the station. In short the amendment obviated the necessity of an arrest and therefore the necessity of a bail. The Chief Justice of India endorsed this pro-people act and to emphasize this endorsement he made a startling statement that sixty percent of the arrests made in India are needless. The legal fraternity of Delhi came down on the street protesting against this law. Of course they had their argument. They marched to the parliament, blocked roads and even resorted to hunger-strike forcing the government to defer the notification of the act.

If the legal fraternity and the Delhi High Court Bar Association can stop this amendment to Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Act from being notified why can they not protest against the anti-people draconian laws being enacted or being misused? Why can we not revise our books to get rid of laws which violate human rights and right to liberty?

India's Shame

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Caste purity could not allow a Brahmin to touch and save two Dalit ( Balimiki) boys cleaning his `shit'. Deaths in the Soak pits in Gazipur village, Fatehpur District, Uttar Pradesh

Ms Mayawatiji,
Honorable Chief Minister of Uttar-Pradesh,
Chief Minister's Secretariat,
Lucknow
May 29, 2009

Two workers from valmiki Dalit community died after inhaling poisonous gases in a soak pit of Abdul Gani Locality of Fatehpur district on May 5, 2009. The victim Naresh aged 35 years, son of Bankelal was an employee of local Municipality while the other victim Deepak aged 22 years son of Munnilal, was a daily wage worker with the same municipality and a neighbor. Both were residents of Arabpur locality of Fatehpur.

A fact finding team constituted by Social Development Foundation, Delhi lead by Ms Sehroj Fatima, Chitrakoot, visited the site on May 7th, 2009, to take stock of the situation in Abdul Gani locality where the accident occurred and Arabpur locality where the families of the deceased workers live. The situation in the entire area is grim and unrest prevails still.

There is no manual scavenging prevalent in the district, said the District Magistrate a few days back in Fatehpur district of Uttar-Pradesh. Fact of the matter is that most of the districts in Uttar-Pradesh and elsewhere claim that manual scavenging have been eliminated. Many notices send by the National Human Rights Commission have been returned empty handed blaming the complainant for politicizing the issue.

About the victims:

Naresh who used to work in the Local Municipality as Safai Karamchari was aged 35 years and was living with his wife, four children, younger brother and sister. He was a permanent employee of the municipality for the past 10 years, yet due to economic pressure, would take up the private work of cleaning the soak pits on requirement. Due to lesser wages for Class IV employee in municipality, Naresh has to work beyond is working hours to meet ends. He used to go for cleaning jobs and even as part of orchestra playing in weddings in the area to earn a little more.

Despite repeated reports, the municipalities claim that there is no manual scavenging. Some of them feel that with the construction of cemented toilets without sewerage system, the issue of scavenging is over. Hence they falsely report about the elimination of scavenging. With low wages and irregular wages for the daily wage workers in the municipality, most of them work privately and clean night soil.

On the fateful day also, he went to clean the soak pit of one Jugal Kishore Misra, who promised Rs 1000 for the work, along with Deepak 22, an unemployed youth who would play drum and orchestra to meet his financial needs. Deepak was not married and was living with his parents and other siblings. Naresh and Deepak, parents were working in the Municipality. Deepak was highly dependent on Daily wage work and used to do all sorts of cleaning work and also be part of the Orchestra party like Naresh. On the day of incident, Naresh took Deepak along so that they can equally divide the money among each other after few hours of work.

What happened at the site?

Most of the houses in the area are dry latrine and the Balmiki community is still engaged in manual scavenging and this is how they earn their living. But there are few houses which have toilets connected to a deep soak pit where the waste gets collected over years. After few years, depending on the depth of the soak pit, people have to get it cleaned. This can be cleaned both through machines and also manually. Unfortunately, mechanization process has not yet happened in India and therefore we see young and old boys from the scavenging community involved in this gruesome work at the risk of their life. This can not be called a work as it involves killing of human dignity and degrading his self respect, yet despite all this, the work continues, thanks to our governments and their antipathetic bureaucratic attitude that emancipation of the community does not come in their mind and rehabilitation of the community means a job in the municipality for them.

In this particular case, Mr. Jugal Kishore Misra, the owner of the house where the site of accident is, engaged Naresh to clean the soak pit for Rs 1000. Naresh, after coming back from work, had his food and asked Deepak to come along to clean the soak pit. At first they used rope and bucket to drain waste water collected in the tank. But then the owner shouted at the two workers ordering them to get inside the tank and clean the entire tank properly.

On his insistence, the duo entered the ill-fated soak pit with help of an iron ladder, immediately lost consciousness and fainted in side the tank. Naresh got stuck in the sludge immediately while Deepak drowned in the waste water while yelling for help.

The owner and his son were witness to the entire episode, instead of rescuing the duo; they asked his grandson to inform the family of the victims. Even though the distance between the two localities was hardly 500-700 meters, but by the time the relatives reached and removed the bodies from the soak pit, both of them were dead.

Role of the Authorities

Later the doctors of the Government Hospital also confirmed the death. According to the relatives, if the owner had acted quickly in rescuing the men, they would have been alive. As the angry relatives demanded arrest of the owner and due compensation to the family, the police called PSC force to keep the protest under vigil.

The local tehsildar calmed the agitators by saying that the information of the death has been sent and they are waiting for the news from the State Government. While the officials from the Municipality gave Rs 5,000 to each of the victims family. While the SDM of the Area Mr Arvind Chaurasia said that since both of them have government connection they will not be eligible for compensation but help will be given from CM relief fund.

The police did not show the FIR while Mishra was having his connections. The cases have been filed after much pressure but people do not know what exactly the charges are. The community leaders have not been consulted on this, neither the family people were told about the charges leveled against Mishra. Moreover, the Post Mortem report has also not been given to the family people of both Naresh and Deepak.

It is sad that the authorities in the state still behave in feudal brahmanical way and do not have sense of duty towards the Balmiki community which remains lowest of the low due to its traditional occupation. Such racial prejudices on part of administration is condemnable and we demand strict against the police officials, district officials and municipality leaders.

Evidences collected from the relatives of the victim:

According to Naresh's wife Anita, Naresh was removing waste water from the tank with help of bucket and rope, but then the owner asked him to go inside the tank to clean it properly as he was paying him Rs 1000. Then they entered the tank with help of an Iron ladder, but soon lost his conscious and got stuck in the sludge. When the owner was questioned about his inaction he categorically said that he had only one son and moreover this work is of the Dalit untouchable community.

According to Rakesh, brother of the deceased Naresh, when they rushed to the site, they saw the sludge all over the place and the owners' family was also standing. When he looked inside the soak pit, he saw a body and soon realised that both of them had died in the tank. Then he tied rope on his waist and got down the tank. According to him, it was easier to lift Deepak's body as it was floating on water, but Naresh's body was stuck in the sludge. Both the bodies were full of insects. After removing the bodies from the tank, he was also feeling giddiness due to the gas.

The bodies were taken to the police station where they refused to register the case, next they took the body to the government hospital where the doctors refused to do post-mortem. But then the relatives got very angry and they agitated and blocked the road. This compelled the hospital to do postmortem but the report is still not made public.

According to Deepak's mother Rampati, Deepak will not be getting any compensation as both his parents are working in Municipality and he was unmarried. She also pointed out that nobody took photographs of the accident site. The postmortem was conducted at the time it was dark. They have not received the report as yet.

Jugal Kishore Mishra is a powerful man and trying to save his skins. For two days the local bar went on strike against filing case against Jugal Kishore Mishra. This shows which side the law stands in our society. It is tragic that the entire issue is being seen as a `mere accident' by the administration. After the Balmiki community protested, there are efforts to silent it by a token compensation from the Chief Minister's Funds.

While we demand the enough rehabilitation and compensation need to be paid to both the families so that none of their family people return to this disgusting work, it is also needed that government must work on taking prompt action on the issue. The Nagar Palikas are lying in the state and every year going for huge `appointments' to placate the Balmiki community for the `government' job. We request this must stop. To rehabilitate the community, a proper alternative time bound action plan is needed and the time has come when the government shows that it is seriously concern.

We demand the following:

1. Can the issue be just relegated to mere compensation according to the law? How much does government give to class IVth employee?

2. Should not there be an action against the owner of the house for forcibly sending the two into soak pit.

3. What is the role of municipality? The District Magistrate and Government Officials must see what have the municipality report to them related to this case.

4. Why this case shouldn't be filed against the authorities under the prevention of SC-ST act.

5. Compensate the families of both the deceased handsomely so that none of the family members return to this work again and it becomes a model code for every one. May be a hefty fine should be imposed on both the owner of the house as well as municipality. Some strict punitive measures are needed in this regard.

6. Order a judicial inquiry and ask for recommendation to eliminate this practice and fixing up responsibility and accountability of various departments.

I hope that your government will look into this serious crime against humanity and take necessary action.

Thank you,

For Social Development Foundation,

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Director

188, Master Block, Street No 5,

Shakarpur Extension,

Delhi-110092

 

 Fire At Vienna Exposes Ugly Realities Of Caste Discrimination In Punjab

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Punjab is burning. The Dalits are at the street. The government is seeking peace and every one is amused why the Dalits have taken to the street. Some are amused as why attack on Sant Niranjan Dass, head of Dera Guru Ravidas Sachkhand Balan and death of Sant Ramanand could spark such violent protest in Punjab. Unfortunately, they forget to understand the first question itself as why such Deras face attack by the fundamentalist Sikh groups. Is it because these Deras have provided a glimpse of hope and identity to a massive Dalit population in Punjab? Is it also not true that these Deras are also giving the upper caste Sikhs a run for their money and power?

Problem is in our perception about Punjab as a casteless society where Sikhism grew. The fact is that inspite of great preaching in the Guru Granth Saheb and their own sacrifices, the leadership that emerged in Punjab is upper caste dominated feudal Sikhs. And they have used the Gurudwaras for their political purposes. The Dalits were just not wanted in these Gurudwars. After the Ravidasis and Majahabis also started creating their own temples, the problem started growing. The slogan of `Guru Ravidas Mahraj ki Jai' reverberate in these Gurudwaras and perhaps that is considered to be a challenge to mainstream Sikhism. It's the question of identity. It is unfortunate that like Churches, Gurudwaras are also caste based. Once I happen to travel to Uganda and found that there was Gurudwaras for Ramdasis, for Jat Sikhs and for Ravidasis. It clearly means that despite converting to other religions and leaving your country, Indians are deeply rooted in their caste prejudices and have every power to demolish the powerful preaching of Gurus. When the preaching of the great people become issue of identity by their community people, the oppressed would also search for the similar identities and Punjab and elsewhere, the Dalit's quest for identity can not be negated and discounted. Interestingly, the `experts' from Punjab rarely brought this facts out how the agrarian community of upper caste Sikhs in Punjab has developed deep rooted prejudices and contempt towards the Dalits and the marginalized.

Punjab, they say, represent India's pride, a state that changed us from a food importing country to a food sufficient country. Punjab, the state of green revolution, though many of us always questioned this. Yet, long back, I mentioned in one of my long notes that Punjab's green revolution actually strengthened the feudal values. Feudalism is not just enemy of egalitarian values but thoroughly against nature and environment. Today, the beautiful land of Punjab have no water ( water level has depleted) and the mustered field have been replaced for cash crops and big wedding points and shopping malls which show the `growth' rate of Punjab.

While none can condone the violence and burning of trains, the fact is, this incident in Vienna has happened at a time when we are still analyzing our poll results. Our national and international media suggested that India is now looking forward for a `progressive' government, and that the current verdict was against `regionalism', and casteism. Paradoxically, just a few days back, in the review committee meeting of World Conference Against Racism and Xenophobia, the international agencies, civil society organizations, governments failed to address the issue of caste. Despite much hype created in Durban about the discrimination based on caste, the government of India ensured that nothing happens on this front.

But then old habits die hard. Those, whose lives have been based on purity of castes, do not really change even when they go abroad. Those who believe in superiority of a particular race do not change even staying in countries where they enjoy freedom and civil liberties. Two most important and visible communities of India in abroad are from Gujarat and Punjab. Both these states are supposed to be growing with a growth rate more than our central figures. Both these states are fantastic for `investors' and are providing `stable' governments yet they are far behind the national figure of male female ratio. While the Muslims in Gujarat are still far boycotted and Dalits completely on the margins in the absence of a popular Dalit movement there, in Punjab the situation is different. Sikhism was actually a way of life which revolted against the caste hierarchies. Guru Granth Saheb is perhaps the only holy book where you have `sabad' and kirtans of different Sufi Saints including Kabir, Ravidas, Dadu, Nanak and Jaisi. Yet, like every other revolution, the Sikkhism itself became victim of the hierarchical system as the Jats hijacked the social justice agenda of Sikhism. The agenda then turned to Sikh identity ignoring the demands and assertions of the Dalits, mostly the Majhabis and Ravidasis.

Punjab has the highest percentage of Dalit population (27%) and yet despite good economic changes, Dalits are discriminated by the Jats in not only Punjab but elsewhere. Unfortunately, in the name of minority rights, these Jaat Sikhs gets away with everything and turn violent. None of us can forget the case of Baant Singh, a Majahabi Sikh, whose hands and legs were chopped off by the powerful Jats because he objected to molestation of his daughter and raised the voice against discrimination in the Manasa region of Punjab. Ironically, Punjab did not burn then.

I have been involved in a similar fight for the Dalit rights in the Uttarakhand state's Tarai where over 150 families of landless Dalits have not been able to get their land rights for over last twenty year despite favorable verdict from every court of the country including Supreme Court. Even when the Lokayukta of Uttarakhand found that contempt of the court verdict has been made by the authorities. The land grab by this powerful Jat Sikhs in the Tarai belt is well known to be described here. And who are the victims; it is predominantly the Dalits and tribal. The Tharus and Boxas are still tilling their own land as bonded labour. The Akalis and all the political parties actually tried to raise the issue of discrimination against Sikhs but the same time forget when they themselves discriminate against some one else.

The massacre in Vienna, as some Austrian papers wrote, is the sign of dirty side of Indian social system. Despite our government and intellectual hiding their misdeeds, caste is a reality in this country and Dalits at the receiving end. It is not therefore strange that the reports coming from Vienna blame the Ravidasis for `denigrating' the Guru Granth Saheb. To justify a murder we make statement. Every fundamentalist create a situation to ensure that his viewpoint look rational. A dynamic way of life like Sikkhism could easily become victim of the caste hierarchies reflect that the Indians as a society become a follower of a person not because of his or her ideals but because of the birth based identity. Therefore, we end up respecting the person for being one among us and `preaching' certain gospel and doing miracles in their names. A revolutionary therefore is brahmanised and converted into a money minting machine for the greedy leaders who make big business in the name of religion. This is true about every one. Religion has become the biggest threat to world peace and the sooner people understand the thugs doing business in the name, the better for the world peace. A revolutionary like Bhagat Singh, who wrote against religion and caste and had the courage to shave off his beard and hair, thus become symbol of `Jaat' `pride or simply ` Chhora Jaat da'. When such things happen the Dalits would automatically opt for Udham Singh, a martyr who died for the cause of the country. Obviously, the mischief makers will create such divide based on caste for their own purposes leaving people fight. That unfortunately happened in Vienna.

That Sikkhism in Punjab is closely associated with power politics particularly as Akalies have used the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee ( SGPC) for their own purposes. The Gurudwaras help them control the sentiments of Sikh community. It is rare that this SGPC could ever come out against the caste based violence and caste system. If the caste based love affair meet with the worst form of action from the `grieved' parents, it reflect to the very idea of society that exist in Punjab and how they inherit it elsewhere. The number of `honored killing' or what could be suggested as `shameless killing' by the Indian Diaspora, predominantly the Sikhs from Punjab reflects the ugly side of our growth pattern. Growth in term of economy can not really make a country great. Punjab's caste discrimination actually reflect its ugly side that despite all this hoopla about Punjabiat, there is a darker side often hidden by our media and intellectuals.

There is no doubt about the fact the Sikhism was initially meant to demolish the caste system and idol worshipping. Guru Nanak's message was universal and none can deny the important role that Gurudwaras played in social mobilization. It is an example. There is also little doubt that Punjab was better off then many other states in India in terms of violence against the Dalits. There was no brahmanical hegemony and Sikhism itself is a great way of life. But Punjab's problem started with mixing of Sikhism with political agenda by various political parties. When SGPC become a part to control minds of people, then one can imagine the condition of the society.

One would have imagined that powerful movements like that of Nanak's would have demolished the caste structure in Punjab. But contrary to that spirit, the caste discrimination grew because of feudal values. Punjab's prosperity is because of the Dalit labour work harder in Punjab. The influence of Sufism in Punjab was tremendous and finding caste discrimination rampant the Majhabis and Ravidasis started their Deras and sects. And today the number of these Deras are over 300 in entire state.

Punjab's Dalits mostly wanted to fight a religious battle through religiosity. Revolutionary Sufi saint Ravidas wrote " Paradhinata paap hai, jaan lehu re meet, ravidas das pradhin se kaun karre hai preet' meaning, please understand that enslavement is sin, Saint Ravidas says,who loves an enslaved person. Now such a person who talks of freedom. He says that those who studied Vedas were called Pandits ( Knowledgeable) and those who make your shoes were called Chamars. How can you divide one human race into so many caste and Varnas?

Ravidas attacked the brahmanical system and the Dalits in Punjab got liberation in his spiritual values. Many of the Ravidasis shifted to Europe and America and have actually followed the same pattern as the SGPC and other upper caste Sikhs in Punjab. When money floats a lot and not much to work, you only develop empty institutions for the purpose of religious change. Punjab's religious sects are more spiritual in nature and have rarely helped the Dalits to get out of the Hindu varna fold. And therefore, the Dalits gets agitated on the issues when the religious leaders face threat or attacked which is absolutely right, yet the same people do not get agitated when their rights are not honored, when their daughters are discriminated and molested. It is the question one has to address.

I always wonder why Chamars, one of the most enlightened communities among the Dalits could get political wisdom in Uttar-Pradesh yet remain on the margin in Punjab despite better economic status. The answer was clear that in Uttar-Pradesh, despite poverty, they embraced Ambedkar's methods of fighting a battle politically. In Punjab, it is still a spiritual battle for getting recognition. It is still the concentration of one sect and one cult and without much social change. The focus there have been more on more institutions, temples, charitable causes a clear pattern of the Sikhism which always believed in charity. Ofcourse, charity do not grant you right and in fact some time takes them away from you. Hence the issue of Punjab's Dalit's identity can not really get resolved through controlling Gurudwaras but in more enlightened political battle.

In the morning, I spoke to a friend in Punjab. I thought he was much agitated on the issue but then found that he did not belong to the same sect and hence he was not very happy with current turn of events. Punjab's Dalits are powerful enough to give the powerful people a run for their money. Economic changes have given them a lot of things but they will have to understand that they will only be helping the status quoists if they do not raise their issues on a broader political front. Just using the spiritual battle will take you nowhere. One can understand that as long as the Jaat Sikhs will have their leadership from the powerful SGPC, the Deras will continue to provide alternative to Dalits. The incidents in Vienna are not isolated. It is basically to control the Sikh mind. Such incidents are not happening suddenly. Prejudices are being played by the political masterminds.

Not many years ago we saw the incidents to control Gurudwara in Talhan, in Jullandhar. As the Dalit's assertion will try to match the upper caste power in Punjab, these issues will continue to threaten peace and harmony. The upper caste Sikhs seems to be deeply concern of the growing power of the Ravidasis and Majahabis, particularly those living abroad. The control is coming through the NRI money and therefore it is important for them to teach a lesson. Charges are leveled against Ravidasis that they disrespect the Gurugranth Saheb. It is absolutely false as I have attended their congregations in Punjab and found them extremely well versed in the Granth Saheb and respecting it. It is another matter that they recite the verses of Ravi Das also and there is nothing wrong in that. However, the real fear of those who disagree with the Ravidasis is their cry and matching power with the upper caste Sikhs. Like the statues of Ravidas Maharaj in the Gurudwara is a matter of heart burn for many of the upper caste Sikhs but then why should they have a problem with that. If you do not allow them to your Gurudwaras and if the Churas and Chamars (Punjabi Dalit writer Balbir Madhopuri's autobiography clearly mention how the upper Caste Gurudwaras discriminated against the Dalits) continue to be treated like animals and discriminated against then these Deras would always provide them a strength. The Sikh leadership which predominantly hails from the upper caste background need to start a process of reconciliation and it will not work by calling a meeting of the upper caste parties. Punjab's problem is the increasing gap between the Sikhs and the Dalit Sikhs. The Sikh leadership has failed to realize this issue and became equally brahmanical in nature therefore ignoring the vast interests of the Dalits in Punjab. Punjab's Dalit need sharing in power and respect at every forum. Such threat as emerged from Vienna which tried to eliminate the spiritual leadership of Dalit will only anger them and create a further wage between the two communities which will end in clashes and fragile peace in Punjab, perhaps more dangerous than what we saw in the height of violence in Punjab in 1980s.

 

 

 

Why The Torture Photos Should Be Released
By Mary Shaw

The Obama administration continues trying to block the release of some
additional photos of detainee abuse. The excuse? They say exposing the
photos could incite anti-American violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan.
They seem to forget that we're already seeing anti-American violence
in those countries. And they seem to forget why.
They seem to ignore how much this move is reminiscent of the Bush
administration's culture of secrecy. If it's not openly acknowledged,
then it doesn't exist. "We do not torture," Bush would tell us, as if
saying the words would make it so.
But the world knew better. The terrorists knew better. As they do now.
And that, not so ironically, has contributed to the ongoing anti-
American violence in the world.
Now, despite Obama's attempts at containing the photos, descriptions
of what they depict are leaking into the media. An article in the
British newspaper the Telegraph elaborates:
"At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a
female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping
a male detainee.
"Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners
with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube."
That's our tax dollars at work.
And that is one reason why the Obama administration must release the
photos: In this so-called democratic republic, We The People have a
right to know how our intelligence agents and military personnel are
treating their detainees. Those intelligence agents and military
personnel are technically our employees, after all. And detainee abuse
is no "state secret".
But the accountability shouldn't stop at the domestic front. The Obama
administration should release the photos to demonstrate to the world
that the Bush-Cheney culture of secrecy has ended.
Otherwise, the world will continue to wonder what we're hiding, and
why. And that can only make things worse. That could be what incites
much more anti-American violence.
Obama campaigned on a promise to repair this nation's reputation in
the world. In order to do that, we must own up to what happened,
apologize to the world for it, and enforce strict policies against
repeating our mistakes going forward.
And we must fully investigate the torture issue. All those responsible
must be held accountable, not just Lynndie England and her peers who
were simply having too much fun following the misguided orders they
were given.
Until we do so, the world will continue to view us with suspicion and
distrust. And deservedly so.

 

 

Horrific UN And US Death Statistics
Expose Obama’s Fake War On Terror
By Dr Gideon Polya

The Bush (now Obama) War on Terror has been described by sensible and
humane observers of the carnage as a "fake anti-terror war". The
following statistics derived from authoritative UN, US and medical
literature sources bear out the racism, dishonesty and criminality of
the genocidal US Alliance (the US, UK, NATO and racist White
Australia).
Thus we are told that about 3,000 people were killed in the 9-11
atrocity and it can be estimated from conservative sources that about
7,000 Western civilians have been killed by Muslim-origin non-state
terrorists in the last 40 years (this figure including about 2,000
racist Zionists colonizing Arab lands and ignoring mounting scientific
evidence for US involvement in the 9-11 atrocity) (see “Is US
responsible for 9-11 atrocity? Scientists find [unignited] nano-
thermite [high explosive] in WTC dust “: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/29921/42/
" ) .
However the number of people actively or passively murdered in the
Bush (now Obama) War on Terror (1990-2009) now totals 9-11 million
(this figure including the 0.6 million opiate drug-related deaths,
50,000 of them American, due to the Bush - and now Obama - complicity
in the US Alliance restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium
industry) (see “9-11 excuse for US global genocide. The real 9-11
atrocity – millions dead [9-11 million] in Bush Wars [1990-2009] “: