Postcard News, synonymous with misinformation in the garb of news, continues to post with impunity content which is communal in nature, provocative in tone and mostly untrue. In 2017, Alt News had chronicled numerous instances of fake news posted on this website. The fact that Postcard News has been exposed repeatedly seems to have made no dent in its penchant for fake news. Here are some more instances wherein Postcard News has resorted to misinformation.

1. Fake news of Jain monk assaulted by Muslims

In March 2018 in the run-up to the Karnataka election, Postcard News ‘reported’ that a Jain monk had been assaulted by Muslim youth in Karnataka. The Karnataka govt was the target as it was alleged that there is no safety in the state.

Not only was this information patently false and malicious, disseminated with the objective of inciting hatred but this misadventure landed Mahesh Vikram Hegde in prison. The Jain monk was NOT attacked by members of the Muslim community but had in fact met with an accident due to which he had sustained injuries.

2. Rumour mongering over the death of Paresh Mesta in Karnataka

The body of 23-year old Paresh Mesta was found floating on a lake after the flames of communalism singed Uttara Kanada district of Karnataka in January 2018. Mesta’s death was communalised – it was alleged that he was tortured and mutilated by ‘jihadis’. Postcard News was among those who fanned the fire, ‘reporting’ gory details of Mesta’s torture.

This report was a malicious concoction. This was confirmed by the Department of Forensic Medicine, Manipal which conducted the post-mortem and released a document which gave a point-by-point rebuttal of each of the allegations of torture and mutilation of Paresh Mesta.

3. Fake extract from Pranab Mukherjee’s book

In June 2018, Postcard News published an article in which it claimed that former President Pranab Mukherjee had written in his book that Sonia Gandhi took umbrage over his words praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Postcard News reproduced an ‘extract’ from the book which said, “After PM Modi completed one year of his term in office, I praised him for the work done so far, on which Sonia Gandhi took umbrage and became angry. Once, while coming out after addressing the parliament, I happened to come face to face with her. She was accompanied by Gulam Nabi Azad and Mani Shanker Aiyer, who greeted me but Sonia kept waiting for me to greet her first. She forgot that the First Citizen of the country was in front of her. She had to acknowledge the President of the country and not Pranab Mukherjee. This greatly pained me from inside, that Sonia is so used to subservience.”

Alt News reached out to former President Mukherjee’s office to check if this was an excerpt from his books. His office stated, “The book ends when he became the President. Covers the period between 2004-2012. So where does the question of something in May 2015 arise?” In another article, it said that Mukherjee had claimed that Sonia Gandhi hates Hindus. This too turned out to be false.

4. Fake letter about Sonia Gandhi and Karnataka minister engineering Lingayat issue

“MASSIVE EXPOSE! Karnataka minister M B Patil’s letter to Sonia Gandhi reveals that Global Christian Council and World Islamic organisation masterminded the division of Lingayats in Karnataka!” The website circulated a letter which it claims was written by M. B. Patil, President of Bijapur Lingayat Association, to Sonia Gandhi. This was also tweeted by Mahesh Vikram Hegde.

As expected, this letter turned out to be a fabrication. Not only were the language and contents of the letter a dead giveaway, a quick Google search revealed that ‘Global Christian Council’ and ‘World Islamic Organisation’ do not exist. Alt News also spoke to M B Patil who rubbished this letter and said he will file for defamation. Following Alt News’ expose, the article and Mahesh Hegde’s tweet disappeared from the internet.

5. Fake news of textbooks in Karnataka encouraging religious conversion

“Massive controversy breaks out as Social Science textbook in Karnataka includes chapters on How to Islamize country, how to spread Christianity and force kids to visit Mosques and Churches!” screamed the headline of a Postcard News article of June 2018. The article explained that the chapter has been included “on orders of Congress high command which is nothing but a mouthpiece of ROME and VATICAN” and further added that “Sonia Gandhi is spearheading a campaign to turn the country into Christian dominated Nation by helping missionaries and Churches in mass conversions.”

This claim too was false. Alt News has reported how social science textbooks of Karnataka include chapters not only on Islam and Christianity but also about the various strands of Hinduism. Moreover, the chapter on Christianity and Islam had been prescribed under the syllabus for social science by the National Curriculum Framework, 2005.

6. Fake quotes from Farhan Akhtar and A R Rahman

When communal violence broke out in Kasganj, U.P in January 2018, a quote ascribed to actor Farhan Akhtar began circulating on social media. According to the quotation, the actor justified the death of those who were killed in the communal violence that erupted in Kasganj on Republic day. Postcard News was among those which carried this quote.

Needless to say, this quote turned out to be fake. Akhtar came out with a clarification, tweeting that he had never said what is being attributed to him by nefarious elements on social media and urged his fans and followers to be cautious about what and what not to believe on social media.

Postcard News had also posted a quotation attributed to musician and composer A R Rahman, according to which Rahman welcomed the government’s initiative to curb cattle slaughter and said that “Killing cow hurts the sentiments of billions of Hindus.”

This lie was busted by SMHoaxSlayer in an article which clarified that Rahman had not said these words.

7. Old image used to show lathicharge by West Bengal police

In June 2017 Postcard News posted a picture of a bloodied man claiming him to be a victim of lathi-charge by West Bengal (WB) Police against supporters of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GFM) who were agitating against the govt’s diktat that Bengali be taught compulsorily till Class 10 in schools across the state.

The picture is actually that of Col DK Rai, who commanded the 6/8 Gorkha Rifles. Only, Col Rai passed away on March 29, 2017. He was attacked by the police during the Gorkhaland protest in 2008 and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the veteran CPI(M) leader, was the chief minister of West Bengal at that point of time.

8. Fake news on Rajdeep Sardesai’s son

“Rajdeep Sardesai’s son will lose his medical seat for getting admission by saying that his parents were NRIs?” asked the headline of an article on Postcard News in February 2018. The article was based entirely on Prashant Patel Umrao’s unsubstantiated allegation that journalist Rajdeep Sardesai’s son had availed admission under the NRI quote at Manipal University in 2013.

Once again, this information turned out to be untrue. Sardesai placed documents regarding his son’s admission process in the public domain which revealed that he had gained admission for the medical course at Manipal University on merit. Manipal University also tweeted about this issue from their official handle.

Ishan Sardesai, rank 1050, was admitted to the MBBS course KMC, MANIPAL in 2013 under the General category based on merit. The allegations made about his admission are malicious and totally false. The controversy is uncalled for.

— Manipal Academy of Higher Education (@ManipalUni) February 12, 2018

Misinformation propagated by Mahesh Vikram Hegde – the founder of Postcard

Mahesh Vikram Hegde, founder ofPostcard News is a repeat offender when it comes to disseminating misinformation. On numerous occasions, Hegde has made false claims via his Twitter account.

“Muslims responsible for 95% of rapes”

Mahesh Vikram Hegde tweeted on July 3 that an overwhelming majority of rapists in India from 2016-2018 were Muslim. He added that 96% of victims of rape are Hindu women.

As a matter of fact, the NCRB which is the nodal agency for crime tabulation in India does not record crimes on the basis of the religion of the perpetrator and victim. This was confirmed by NCRB in a conversation with Alt News, calling this message false, malicious and complete misrepresentation of facts.

Photoshopped image of Jawaharlal Nehru

In October 2017, Hegde tweeted a photograph which showed former PM Jawaharlal Nehru in the company of women. The post was meant to show Nehru as a womaniser.

The picture was photoshopped. Nehru is not even present in the original image. Boom Live had published an article according to which this photograph is of ‘chorus girls’, a theatrical group in the USA which incorporated various dance forms such as ballet and burlesque.

Old photoshopped pic which has been making the rounds for a few years now tweeted by @mvmeet, the founder of fake news portal @postcard_news pic.twitter.com/6DofYIfvnt

— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) October 14, 2017

Despite the numerous occasions on which it has been called out, Postcard News continues to spread fake news. This may be disconcerting but perhaps not surprising. When Mahesh Vikram Hegde was arrested in March 2018 for posting communally inciteful fake news, Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde had expressed outrage along with numerous BJP MPs, MLAs and party leaders. Moreover, Mahesh Vikram Hegde is followed by PM Narendra Modi on Twitter. A portal like Postcard News continues to flourish because a number of ministers and members of the ruling party regularly share content from the website. The political patronage and support enjoyed by Postcard News seems to guarantee a degree of incorrigibility and brazenness.

The post Postcard ‘News’: A Mega Factory Of Fake News That Continues To Spew Venom appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Hakim Sinan village, Ranibandh Block, Bankura District, West Bengal:

It was getting dark in the forest. At a distance, light was gleaming from oil lamps in the village.

“Did you breastfeed these Saal trees? Why are you stopping us from cutting them down?” growled the poachers.

“How can you breastfeed your own mother?” retorted the resolute Adivasi women.

Culturally, forests have played a vital role in the lives of the Santhal tribes. This is much more evident in villages that live on the fringes of the forests. It is a relationship built on reverence and compassion.

Forests provide the tribes with fuelwood, leaves, herbs, fruits and honey. It is also the abode of many Gods and Goddesses. In fact, Santhals are proudly the forest people. The isolated Hakim Sinan village in Bankura district of West Bengal is an embodiment of this relationship of tribal communities with the forest. For Adivasi women, this bond is even stronger; the forest nurtures the community like a mother.

Illegal logging in this forest village had always been a problem. There had been intermittent and uncoordinated protests by many in the community. Women in the village had raised the issue on their own when they would cross the timber mafia in the forests. But not a leaf moved.

When NGO PRADAN started organising the Santhal women of Hakim Sinan village into Self-Help Groups (SHG) some years back, it was their first close interaction with outsiders. Interestingly, no one in this village had ever been to a bank: let alone open a bank account. A savings and credit group was formed which helped the families save money periodically and supported them for their credit needs. But this is not a story of financial sustainability – it is a story of the transformation of women from this village into an unwavering collective who can stand for their rights and values they cherish. Even in the face of life-threatening danger.

As poor and vulnerable Adivasi women in this village were organised, they grew in strength and confidence. Unfortunately, during this period, unabated illegal logging exacerbated to the point that it threatened the very existence of their forest. The destruction of their culture and harmonious relationship with Mother Nature stared at them. Moved by this destruction, this unified group of women decided to take a stand. But they were up against men with arms and influence. All they had were mere sickles and sticks and an insurmountable belief in their own collective strength.

When the women in one of their group meetings announced that they would now take turns to guard the forest every night, the rest of the village was bewildered.

                         ‘How will these frail women take on the poachers?’

So, it began: the women grouped themselves and every night, one group would vigil the forests. Simultaneously, they lodged a complaint at the forest department.

The Nights Of Skirmish

On a moonlit night, one group of ‘guarding women’ came face to face with the poachers. One woman ran back to the village. An altercation ensued. A knife was put to the throat of Lokkhimuni Soren. The mighty were ready to shed blood. In the meantime, the rest of the women dashed to the forest. This group of 15 women was not backing down. The poachers threatened to come back with greater force.

On another night of skirmish, the poachers growled, “Did you breastfeed these saal trees? Why are you stopping us from cutting them down? Who are you to stop us?” 

“How can you breastfeed your own mother? This forest is our mother and we will give our lives but will not let you cut the trees,” they retorted.

The poachers had to go back empty-handed again. More skirmishes followed but they halted the devastation of their forest.

The news of Adivasi women standing up to powerful poachers spread like forest fire. The women also repeatedly engaged with the Forest Ranger. An official meeting was arranged between them and forest officers. All poachers were subsequently arrested. Each one of them was fined ₹5,000. Illegal logging of trees in the vicinity of Hakim Sinan village and beyond has abated. There is still an undercurrent of threat to this collective from vested interests but the women of this SHG are confident of taking on any challenge to save their forest: their Goddess, their Mother.

Photo Credit: Souparno Chatterjee, PRADAN

Additional Inputs to the Story: Souparno Chatterjee; PRADAN Khatra Team, Bankura district, West Bengal.

The post With Just Sickles And Sticks, Adivasi Women Save A Forest appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

आज हमारा समाज आधुनिकता के झंडे गाड़ रहा है, भारतीय सभ्यता के और उन्नत होने की दुहाई दे रहा है, समाज में स्त्री-पुरुष के हर क्षेत्र में समान होने के कसीदे पढ़े जा रहे हैं। वहीं हमारे ही समाज में वैवाहिक जीवन में बिस्तर पर स्त्रियों की समानता का ग्राफ शून्य के साथ विराजमान है, अरे जब घर में महिलाएं अपने पसंद के भोजन का मेन्यू निर्धारित नहीं कर सकतीं तो बिस्तर पर साहचर्य सम्बन्ध में पसंद की बात तो बहुत दूर की है। सीधे पितृसत्तावादी शब्दों में कहें तो ये बात ही अश्लील है। हमारे यहां कहने को तो दाम्पत्य जीवन सहभागिता का मर्म है, सहमति ही रिश्ते की ईंधन है परन्तु सच्चाई इससे कोसों दूर है।

भारतीय आदर्श समाज में दाम्पत्य जीवन में साहचर्य संबंध में मेन्यू क्या होगा इसका निर्णय केवल पुरुष ही लेता है, वहां सहचरी की इच्छा-अनिच्छा से कोई लेना देना नहीं होता, तो फिर ये कैसी बराबरी और कैसी सहभागिता? मेरे ख्याल से सहभागिता के माने यही होते हैं कि दो व्यक्ति जो कि पार्टनर हैं एक-दूसरे के साथी हैं, वे अपनी-अपनी इच्छा अनुसार परस्पर संतुष्टि तक एक-दूसरे का सहयोग करेंगे। अमूमन प्रत्येक कार्य(खासकर प्रणय सम्बन्ध के संदर्भ) में ताकि जीवन की रेलगाड़ी हंसी-खुशी और तारतम्यता के साथ चलती रहे।

बहरहाल, ऐसा हो नहीं रहा है चूंकि ऐसा होने भी लगे तो ये कोई आदर्श स्थिति बन नहीं जाएगी क्योंकि दो भूखे लोग भरपेट खाना खायेंगे तो इसमें आदर्श स्थिति क्या है? जबकि दोनों भरपेट खाने पर तृप्त ज़रूर होंगे, जिससे तन-मन दोनों खुश रहेगा और सम्बन्ध भी अच्छा रहेगा। इस अवस्था को आदर्श स्थिति तो कतई नहीं कह सकते लेकिन ये प्रसन्नता के क्षण अवश्य कहे जायेंगे।

दरअसल आदर्श स्थिति का ज़िक्र इसलिए ज़रूरी था क्योंकि लोग-बाग आदर्श स्थिति अथवा अवस्था के बारे में विचार करते ही उससे कन्नी काट लेते हैं ऐसा क्यों? वो इसलिए क्योंकि अधिकतर का यही मानना है कि आदर्श अवस्था की केवल कल्पना ही की जा सकती है उसे व्यव्हार में लाना नामुमकिन सा है। आदर्श अवस्था स्थापित हो अथवा नहीं इस विषय पर अनेक विद्वानों में मतभेद है। बहरहाल भूख के मुताबिक लोग तृप्ति प्राप्त करें ये उनका मौलिक अधिकार है कोई आदर्श अवस्था अथवा स्थिति नहीं।

जब ये बात पेट की भूख मिटाने में सहज लगती है तो फिर बिस्तर पर शारीरिक इच्छाओं की तृप्ति की बराबरी की बात पर लोग बिफर क्यों जाते हैं? 440 वोल्ट का करंट क्यों लग जाता है? क्रोध से चेहरा क्यों तमतमा जाता है आदि कुछ ऐसे सवाल हैं जिनके उत्तर में क्रोध के अलावा कुछ नहीं मिलेगा। हमारे समाज में सार्वजानिक स्थल पर सेक्स, हस्तमैथुन, सेक्स में पसंद और कामोन्माद अर्थात ऑर्गैज़्म आदि पर बात करना वर्जित है।

माने सभ्य समाज में ऐसी गन्दी और घिनौनी बात करना अच्छी बात नहीं है। हां, मां-बहन की गलियां खुलेआम दे सकते हैं वो भी जी भर के, एक इस काम से सभ्यता के ठेकेदारों को कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता। दरअसल सहवास में भी चुनाव केवल पुरुष ही करेगा और पसंद भी वही ज़ाहिर करेगा और चरमोत्कर्ष भी वो ही प्राप्त करेगा, सहचरी का कुछ हो या नहीं वो इस बारे में कुछ बोल भी नहीं सकती। उसके लिए तो ये एक वर्जना ही है, ये सब केवल पितृसत्तात्मक समाज की देन है और पुरुषवादी महिलाओं के पालन-पोषण का नतीजा है कि लड़कियां अपनी मर्ज़ी अथवा पसंद को ज़ाहिर नहीं कर पातीं और मानसिक तनाव के गर्त में चली जाती हैं।

अभी हाल ही में रिलीज़ हुई फिल्म ‘वीरे दी वेडिंग’ में अभिनेत्री स्वरा भास्कर के हस्तमैथुन के एक दृश्य और नेटफ्लिक्स पर रिलीज़ हुयी फिल्म ‘लस्ट स्टोरीज़’ में अभिनेत्री ‘कायरा अाडवाणी’ के वाइब्रेटर द्वारा मास्टरबेशन के एक दृश्य को लेकर जिन लोगों ने हंगामा खड़ा किया, वो भी पितृसत्ता के ठेकेदार हैं जिनके अनुसार फिल्मकारों और अभिनेत्रियों ने फिल्म में ऐसे दृश्य फिल्माकर धर्म और सभ्यता दोनों को नष्ट करने का प्रयास किया है।

फिलवक्त यौन जीवन, ज़िन्दगी का एक महत्वपूर्ण और ज़रूरी हिस्सा है जो समाज का केंद्रबिंदु है और उसपर खुलकर बिना किसी हिचक के चर्चा हो। इस बारे में हमें अपनी बेबाकी के लिए एक मशहूर शख्सियत अंग्रेज़ी लेखक और पत्रकार स्व. सरदार खुशवंत सिंह से सीख लेनी चाहिए। उन्होंने एक इंटरव्यू के दौरान पूछे गये एक सवाल “आप उम्र के इस पड़ाव में आकर सबसे ज़्यादा क्या मिस करते हैं?” के जबाब में  एक वाक्य में उत्तर दिया “बढ़िया सेक्स को बहुत मिस करता हूं|”

एक अन्य इंटरव्यू में उनसे पूछा गया “साहचर्य के बारे में महिलाओं की समझ तथा अनुभव क्या हैं?” उन्होंने गंभीर होते हुए जबाब दिया कि “हमारे यहां अधिकतर महिलाएं सिर्फ बच्चों को जन्म देने का यंत्र समझी जाती हैं और वे आधे दर्जन बच्चों की मां बन चुकी होती हैं लेकिन दुर्भाग्य से उन्हें सेक्स का असली आनंद क्या होता है कभी पता नहीं चलता।”

इससे एक बात तो साफ होती है कि स्त्रियों को शुरू से ही केवल पुरुष के भोग के लिए तैयार किया जाता है कि शादी के दिन सुहागरात में खुद को अपने पति परमेश्वर के सामने परोस देना और जैसा वो कहें वैसा ही करना। इसका सबसे बेहतर उदाहरण हम प्रख्यात लेखक भीष्म सहनी के मशहूर नाटक ‘माधवी’ का ले सकते हैं। माधवी एक ऐसा क्रन्तिकारी नाटक है जो हमारे समाज में स्त्रियों की दशा और उनके स्थान को पूरी नग्न अवस्था में प्रस्तुत करता है।

ये नाटक ‘महाभारत’ की एक कथा पर आधारित है जिसमें ऋषि विश्वामित्र का शिष्य गालव अपने गुरु से गुरु दक्षिणा मांगने की हठ करता है।ऋषि उसके ज़िद्दी स्वभाव से क्रुद्ध होकर 800 अश्वमेघी घोड़े मांग लेते हैं। अब गालव गुरु-दक्षिणा स्वरुप अश्वमेघी घोड़े प्राप्त करने के लिए दानवीर राजा ययाति के आश्रम पहुंचता है, जहां राज-पाट से निच्चू/निवृत्त हो चुके राजा गालव की प्रतिज्ञा सुनकर असमंजस में पड़ जाते हैं, लेकिन वो ठहरे दानवीर राजा तो वे अपनी दैवी गुणों से परिपूर्ण पुत्री को गालव को दान स्वरुप सौंप दे देते हैं। ये कहते हुए कि उनकी पुत्री को जहां कहीं किसी राजा के पास 800 अश्वमेघी घोड़े मिलें, उनके बदले माधवी को राजा के पास छोड़ दें।

माधवी के बारे बताया गया है कि उसके गर्भ से उत्त्पन्न बालक चक्रवर्ती राजा बनेगा और माधवी गर्भ धारण के बाद एक अनुष्ठान करके पुनः कुंवारी बन जाएगी। इस पूरी प्रक्रिया में माधवी कई राजाओं के पास ले जाई जाती है और सभी राजाओं को पुत्र रत्न देकर गालव के साथ आगे चल देती है। इस तरह गालव 800 अश्वमेघी घोड़े प्राप्त कर लेता है और ऋषि विश्वामित्र को गुरु दक्षिणा दे देता है।

इस पूरे घटनाक्रम में माधवी को किन-किन मानसिक और शारीरिक पीड़ाओं से गुज़रना पड़ता है उसकी सुध कोई नहीं लेता, ना तो गालव और ना ही कोई अन्य राजा। माधवी जब-जब मां बनती है तो उसे हर बार अपनी ममता का गला घोटना पड़ता है और अपनी सभी इच्छाओं को तिलांजलि देनी पड़ती है परन्तु इस दौरान उसे गालव से प्रेम भी हो जाता है। मगर आखिरी बार मां बनने के पश्चात् माधवी पुनः कौमार्य प्राप्त करने से मना कर देती है और उसी अवस्था में गालव के साथ होना चाहती है किन्तु गालव बिना कौमार्य के माधवी को अपनाने से मना कर देता है। तब इस मोड़ पर आकर माधवी गालव को छोड़ कर चली जाती है। तब वो इस बात पर विचार करती है कि सभी ने केवल उसका भोग ही किया और किसी ने भी उसे समझने तथा जानने का प्रयास नहीं किया।

नारी की तब भी यही स्थिति थी और आज भी ऐसी ही है। नारी को हमेशा पुरुष की भोग्या अर्थात वस्तु मात्र समझा गया, उसे एक अलग व्यक्ति के रूप में पहचान मिली ही नहीं। उसके विचारों का, इच्छाओं का और पसंद का तिरस्कार ही किया गया।

आज के समय इन दकियानूसी विचारों को त्यागना चाहिए, यदि नर और नारी दोनों समान हैं जो कि हैं तो उन्हें सामान सुख और संतुष्टि प्राप्त करने का हक भी है। ऐसा तो है नहीं कि आदमी हैं, मर्द हैं तो सभी अधिकार केवल उसी के हैं। अरे भले ही वो मर्द है लेकिन है तो वो एक इंसान ही ना जैसे एक औरत इंसान होती है। क्या नर और नारी दोनों के लिए कोई अलग सम्बोधन है? नहीं। दोनों के लिए एक समय पर एक ही शब्द प्रयुक्त होता है वो है व्यक्ति या लोग या इंसान। इन दोनों शब्दों में से किसी एक को हम किसी भी परिस्थिति में प्रयोग कर सकते हैं। जैसे:- किसी स्थान पर चाहे एक आदमी बैठा हो या एक औरत बैठी हो या फिर दोनों एकसाथ बैठे हों। इस स्थिति में हम यही कहेंगे कि वहां एक व्यक्ति बैठा है या दो व्यक्ति बैठे हैं इससे अधिक कुछ नहीं।

तो भईया दोनों एक-दूसरे के सहभागी हैं संपूरक हैं, तो उन्हें सहवास में भी समान सुख और संतुष्टि मिलनी ही चाहिए।

इसी विषय पर एक यूट्यूब चैनल ‘BLUSH’ ने 9 जुलाई 2017 को ‘Mothers & Daughters Series’ का एक यूट्यूब वीडियो ‘Khaney Mein Kya Hai?’ नाम से जारी किया था, जिसमें माँ-बेटी के बीच में अप्रत्यक्ष रूप से ‘कामोन्माद’ पर संवाद होता है जिसे देखने पर आपको मज़ा भी आयेगा और सोचने पर मजबूर भी होंगे।

इस वीडियो में तीन प्रमुख किरदार हैं जिन्हें आयेशा रजा मिश्रा, शिखा तलसानिया और स्वच्छता गुहा आदि कलाकारों ने बड़ी खूबसूरती से निभाया है और इसे डायरेक्ट किया है आकांक्षा सेड़ा ने। बहुत ही उम्दा, हंसी-मज़ाक और समाज को एक बेहतरीन संदेश देने वाला वीडियो है| आकांक्षा सेड़ा ने इस वीडियो को बनाकर समाज में सहवास और कामोन्माद पर बने टैबू अर्थात वर्जना को तोड़ने का अच्छा और आवश्यक प्रयास किया है| इसके लिए इस वीडियो की पूरी टीम को “थैंक यू” तो बनता है बॉस।

The post औरतें जब भारत में SEX बोलती हैं तो वो चरित्र क्यों सुनाई देता है? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

When I got the Cooke Town residents’ WhatsApp forward to join a protest against the rape and murder in Kathua, I felt glad(for a whole two minutes before the scepticism set in) that someone had taken the initiative. For days, the Hindu Ekta Manch had been grating on my nerves and now finally, there was a chance to do something about it. Something that didn’t involve Bangalore’s Town Hall.

As grand a backdrop as it may be for protests, with its towering magnificence and striking Smithsonian-style pillars, I was always unsure of myself at Town Hall. Tucked neatly away from the city crowds, it’s placed where even the traffic cannot pause for more than 60 seconds. I always thought protests are about spreading awareness, reaching out to other people, making them stop and ask what’s going on. But at Town Hall, the only others there are the media.

If you count on them to spread the word for you, the numbers that show up and the significance of the organising parties of the protest determine which page you make it to. The sloganeering is for them to quote, the posters for them to photograph, the reach for them to decide. Protest at Town Hall and people will know about it only after you’re done.

…

I’ve heard people judge Bangalore’s protests in many ways. Based on the number of Kannada posters versus the number of English ones, the number of women speakers versus men, red flags versus blue, political parties versus NGOs. It is not the cause but the approach that’s problematic, they say. My scepticism stems from the same thinking.

The political agenda behind the angry sloganeering of students is just as scary as the indifference behind casual conversation of Cooke Towners at a supposedly silent protest. “Death to rapists” yell the very same boys who, as a friend pointed out, whistle at girls on the street and have probably never thought about capital punishment before. “What ya, just drop in for dinner one of these days,” laughs a woman on Davis road while the man behind her discusses how to best get rid of fleas on Golden Retrievers. They both hold posters that scream “Justice For Kathua!”

I blink.

…

On September 5, Gauri Lankesh was murdered outside her house in Bangalore. On September 12, over 150 organisations came together to protest, leading a massive rally from the Central Railway Station to Central Grounds. Everybody came, despite their differences. It felt incredible to be at the ‘I Am Gauri‘ protest, it inspired hope, not scepticism. The incident was undoubtedly a wake-up call but more importantly, those who organised the rally were some of India’s biggest socio-political activists – journalists, celebrities, lawyers, politicians and students who had the resources to mobilise such large, diverse numbers.

But sometimes, those who want to protest aren’t activists.

I grew up among people who discussed politics but never actively engaged with it. While everyone agreed on the need for awareness, ‘keep safe distance’ was the unspoken policy. But distance and awareness work against each other. Awareness pushes you towards action while distance ties you down until all that you’re left with is helplessness and cynicism. College woke me up to this and somewhere in my second year I told Amma, “Hey ma, forget law or journalism, I want to be an activist.”

Then, just a few months ago, I came across some old pamphlets from one of Bangalore’s prominent activist groups. I found them while sifting through material at an ongoing archival project on the city’s queer movement — pamphlets on everything from the rape and murder of Bhanwari Devi to the use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima. They were part of the archive because the same group that made them also helped protest against Section 377.

“You come for ours, we’ll come for yours” — from women’s rights in Rajasthan to ‘foreign invasion’ of multinational companies to student rights to GST on handicrafts, it was the usual suspects who organise protests against every kind of issue. I understand that it is not easy to choose one issue over the other, I get that these issues are not in fact, unrelated. But somehow, it felt like it was one fixed group of people who had taken on the role of protesting. As if it was a profession in itself.

It dawned on me then that instead of it being law or activism, it made sense for it to be law and activism. Or architect and activist, IT professional and activist, resident of the neighbourhood and activist. So when I saw people coming together to protest against the rape and murder of the Kathua victim that day, I was amazed to see that very few people there considered themselves full-time activists. Leaderless, the protest was a bit clumsy, but maybe that’s the point. That even those who’ve never protested before, are now protesting.

When I interviewed people after the ‘Not In My Name’ protests last year, one of the things I heard was “Why leave it to the unions to do everything?” And yes, that’s absolutely it! Unions were formed to act as our representatives, but increasingly, we are relying on them and the NGOs to oppose on our behalves while we just go on with our lives. When I zoom out a little to peer with crossed fingers into the long run, I cannot help but think that if people are now ready to protest for themselves, then maybe they’ll soon be ready to take the next steps too. Be it meeting the HR managers of their company, or the heads of their departments, or the sub-inspectors of their districts; be it supporting formal complaints or organising discussions and workshops or filing Public Interest Litigations.

…

#MeToo was not initiated by a women’s rights organisation and the women who made it a movement never had to identify as feminists or leftists or belonging to the ‘old school’. It was the problem that people identified with, not the necessarily the approach alone. As writer Moira Donegan describes, the #MeToo movement was universal without being uniform and on a much smaller scale, that’s what ‘My Street My Protest’ is too. Sprinkled across the city, people didn’t stand as one but they stood all the same.

When people asked what Bangalore is famous for, I used to think of the bull temple and then shake my head like an 80-year-old cynic and say, “Apathy.” I still like saying that, but it doesn’t come as easily anymore. I find myself thinking twice.

The post Rediscovering Protest Culture In Bangalore (And Coming To Terms With Its People) appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

मौजूदा सरकार ने हमारे देश की शिक्षा व्यवस्था को खस्ताहाल करने की जैसे कसम ही खा ली है। सबसे पहले शिक्षा के बजट में कटौती करके देश की शिक्षण संस्थानों को कमज़ोर किया। 2014  में मोदी जी ने जीडीपी का 6% शिक्षा पर खर्च करने का वादा किया था, लेकिन सरकार बनते ही जो 3 .1 % शिक्षा पर खर्च हो रहा था (पिछली सरकार में) उसको भी घटाकर 2015-16 में 2.4% कर दिया गया।

उसके बाद जिस भी यूनिवर्सिटी से सरकार के विरोध में आवाज़ उठ रही थी उन शिक्षण संस्थानों को कमज़ोर करने की कोशिश की गई। चाहे वो हैदराबाद यूनिवर्सिटी में रोहित वेमुला की संस्थागत हत्या के आरोपियों को बचाना हो या फिर JNU के छात्रों पर झूठे देशद्रोह के मुकदमे लगाने हो, मौजूदा सरकार शिक्षण व्यवस्था पर हमला करती रही है।

ऑटोनोमी के नाम पर शिक्षण संस्थानों को निजीकरण के दल-दल में धकेलने का काम भी इसी सरकार ने किया है।

अभी पिछले ही दिनों UGC को खत्म करके HECI के नाम पर शिक्षण संस्थानों में सरकार की दखलअंदाजी को और बढ़ावा दिया जा रहा है।

कल यानि 9 जुलाई 2018 की खबर ने मेरा इस सरकार से पूरी तरह से विश्वास ही उठा दिया है। आपको याद होगा हमारे देश के प्रधानमंत्री मोदी जी ने 17 अक्टूबर 2017 को पटना में अपने भाषण में इस देश के 20 शिक्षण  संस्थानों (10 प्राइवेट और 10 पब्लिक) को इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ एमिनेंस घोषित करने का वादा किया था, जिसके तहत हर एक शिक्षण संस्थान को 1000 करोड़ की सरकारी मदद मुहैया कराई जानी थी।

इंस्टीट्यूट के चयन के लिए देश के पूर्व मुख्य चुनाव अधिकारी एन गोपालस्वामी की अध्यक्षता में इम्पावरमेंट एक्सपर्ट समिति का गठन हुआ। 9 जुलाई 2018 को कमेटी की रिपोर्ट के आधार पर शिक्षण संस्थानों की घोषणा हुई तो सबको इन्तज़ार था कि देश के 20 शिक्षण संस्थानों को इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ एमिनेंस का दर्जा मिलेगा लेकिन हुआ कुछ उलट ही। कमेटी ने सिर्फ 6 नामों की घोषणा की जिसमें 3 पब्लिक और 3 प्राइवेट संस्थान थे।

कमेटी के अध्यक्ष ने कहा,

ईईसी ने अपनी रिपोर्ट जमा कर दी है। हमें आईओई के तहत 10 सार्वजनिक और 10 निजी संस्थानों का चयन करने के लिए कहा गया था, लेकिन हमें 20 संस्थान नहीं मिले।

यानि देश के विकास में JNU और TISS जैसे शिक्षण संस्थानों का कोई योगदान ही नहीं है ?

खैर, कम संस्थानों की हुई घोषणा से ज़्यादा चौंकाने वाली चीज़ थी संस्थानों के नाम। पब्लिक संस्थानों में IIT दिल्ली और मुंबई के अलावा IISc बेंगलुरु को जगह दी गयी जो किसी हद तक यह सम्मान पाने के हकदार हैं, लेकिन प्राइवेट संस्थानों में जगह पाने वाले नाम है मणिपाल एकेडमी ऑफ हायर एजुकेशन, बिट्स पिलानी और जियो इंस्टीट्यूट-रिलायंस फाउंडेशन।

सरकार के द्वारा जारी NIRF (राष्ट्रीय संस्थागत रैंकिंग फ्रेमवर्क) में IIT मद्रास दूसरे स्थान पर IIT खड़गपुर पांचवें स्थान पर है, JNU छठे स्थान पर है और IIT कानपूर सातवें स्थान पर है, जो इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ एमिनेंस की सूची में नहीं है।

मनीपाल को NIRF द्वारा भारत में 18 वें स्थान पर रखा गया था और बीआईटीएस (BITS) पिलानी 26 वां स्थान पर था जिनको इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ एमिनेंस की सूची में रखा गया है और हद यह है के जिओ इंस्टीट्यूट का नाम NIRF में था ही नहीं।

शायद ही आप में से किसी ने जिओ इंस्टीट्यूट का नाम आज से पहले सुना हो, यहां तक कि गूगल पर भी जिओ इंस्टीट्यूट को ढूंढने में खासी मशक्कत करनी पड़ रही है।

चाहे बिट्स पिलानी हो या जिओ इंस्टीट्यूट दोनों शिक्षण संस्थान देश के बड़े व्यापारी घराने चलाते हैं। अब सवाल यह उठता है कि क्या इन संस्थानों का चयन कॉर्पोरेट के दवाब में हुआ है?

वैसे भी मोदी जी की अंबानी परिवार से निकटता जग जाहिर है, शायद इसी बात का फायदा जिओ इंस्टीट्यूट को मिला है तभी तो शायद जिस कमेटी को देश में 20 शिक्षण संस्थान चुनने थे वो सिर्फ 6 चुन पाती है और तर्क यह दिया जाता है कि ऐसे संस्थान देश में मिले नहीं। लेकिन वही कमेटी को एक ऐसा संस्थान मिल जाता है जिसका नाम देश के नागरिकों ने इससे पहले कभी नहीं सुना था और सरकार की NIRF रैंकिंग में उस इंस्टीट्यूट का नाम नदारद था।

एक बात और जो गौर करने वाली है वो यह कि कमेटी के अध्यक्ष पूर्व मुख्य चुनाव अधिकारी होने के साथ-साथ आरएसएस की विवेकानंद एजुकेशन सोसाइटी के अध्यक्ष भी हैं, जो इस बात की ओर इशारा करता है कि आखिर JIO जैसे शिक्षण संस्थानों को आखिर किसके दबाब में प्रतिष्ठित लिस्ट में शामिल किया गया है।

The post मोदी जी, JIO इंस्टीट्यूट को इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ एमिनेंस का दर्जा देकर क्या दोस्ती निभाई है appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

A couple of days back, Delhi University released its fourth cut-off list. One of the colleges had asked for a whopping 97.25% for admission to a B.A. (H) course (that too in the 4^th list), eliciting a surprised, almost vicious laugh from my belly. I decided that I was better off not imagining the first cut-off for the sake of my sanity if nothing else. With this trend of hyper-inflated grades on the rise, a new dilemma hovers over the student community: just how good is good enough? How much more? A cursory glance through mark sheets nowadays would confound one: have they printed the marks of the student or the rising prices of petrol?

This maddening, upward spiral of inflated grades has been the common denominator cementing our education system. Schools and boards hike marks, so that students may cater to the soaring cut-offs specified by reputed institutions of higher education. An entire industry thrives on this practice – coaching hubs, publishing houses that churn out volumes of guidebooks year after year, mock-test mayhems, and what not. And yet, you can never be sure if that coveted seat would go to the next person having 0.0001% higher because this exactly is what they had in mind when they coined the term ‘rat-race’.

Apparently, the fever for college admissions runs deep in our veins. Even a hundred years back, the situation was just as tight as this gem of an Anglo-Bengali doggerel from the turn of the century attests:

Right, right, right, suncchey day and night

Kagojey, counciley, cholchhey fight

Gaslighter aaloy, becche, bolchhey gas lighter dol,

Galo matric teen to hajar, chhela kamacchey egjaminey

Medical college meley na seat, law joto tight admit.

(Right, right, right, I hear all day and night,

The fight goes on in the press and the Council.

Sitting under the gas light, gangs of boys say,

Three thousand have appeared in the matriculation exam today,

You can’t get a seat in the Medical college, and admission to the law is just as tight.)

(Excerpt from “The Vintage Sardar“, by Khushwant Singh)

The situation has clearly taken a turn for the worse. But the spirit of the song remains evergreen, thanks to a system which grinds and grates its subjects into a commoditized existence on a routine basis.

The situation has gravitated to a point where the ideological bankruptcy of the education system is laid bare for all to see. The inflation of grades has become so commonplace, that we no longer find it appalling that students are earning cent-per-cent scores in subjects like English or History. This, I believe, deflates the purpose of these subjects – they are not meant to attain the exactitude of pure sciences, and the marking scheme, as such, rejects the possibility of abstraction present in these disciplines. Social sciences are supposed to have a personal, as well as political dimension, and to expect students to adhere to pre-packaged content and to regurgitate verbatim in the exams is nothing short of a travesty. It goes on to show the facile state of Indian education, with extremity marking both ends of the spectrum. On one hand, there is no dearth of brilliant academic performances from the student body, while on the other hand, the rates of unemployment show a hyperbolic growth. Who is to blame for this debilitating lapse, except a faulty system that treats academia like a mass certification course, devaluing the concepts of creativity and independent thinking ipso facto?

The construction of an informed, socially conscientious citizenry has been the least of the education system’s concerns in our country. Education here has mostly been a cesspool of corporatisation and conformism, with a deep lack of respect for dissension. As an institutional network, it is severely delimiting in its approach; the focus on understanding and application is replaced by a discourse resembling a kind of catechism, as eminent historian Romila Thapar puts it. It isn’t difficult to detect a totalitarian stench here, and true enough, this system has negative tolerance for deviants who cannot cope with a curriculum tailored to hamper the hunger for critical enquiry amongst students. If such a system produces charlatans in the name of intellectuals, it is not the individual who is at fault, it is the lacuna of the system that needs redressal.

This system of education is a ritualistic venture to dissuade the thinking individual. The need for inflated grades stems from a narcissistic and myopic attitude towards education. It is time to wallow in self-pity if we, as a nation, have endorsed education as a vehicle solely for personal advancement and growth. I believe that the need of the hour is to rise above the inclination to think of education as an individualistic and materialistic endeavour. It is high time to take into consideration its social, ethical and political significance. We need to admit the fact that one of the prime imperatives of the education system should be to instil a sense of social and moral obligation amongst students.

Ours is an age of unrest, of recurrent upheavals and crises. It is important to make sure that the products of educational institutions understand the power and vitality of the training they receive, and recognise the propensity for change in their hands. Education should not only be able to pay dividends but should also act as a platform to cultivate responsibility and empathy towards the ground realities of the society. And that is an impossible ideal unless we view education as a power above and beyond the confines of marks and marksheets.

We need to recognise and value education for what it is – a door to enlightenment. On it, rests the development of the society, and the well-being of the democracy. We need to let knowledge remain untainted by the lure of vested interests and superficiality, for, in the words of Bertrand Russell,

“Without knowledge, the world of our hopes cannot be built.”

The post The Trend Of Inflated Grades And Deflated Learning appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

So far many leaders and columnists have expressed their grave concerns regarding the depletion and pollution of one of our most important natural resources—water. It is essential for our survival and its conservation would not be possible without the involvement of the masses. But how much has the perception of this threat percolated down to the average Indian? How much have they amended their ways to move towards sustainable development? Confronted by these questions, Abhay Kumar Sinha, a former employee with a public sector bank in Patna, rose to the challenge.

It started when he discovered the dilapidated irrigation system in his village. Most of the irrigation in Nalanda districts, counted among one of the most backward in the country, are rain-fed and are important for a large number of people who depend on farming as their primary source of income. South Bihar is known for its ancient ahar-pyne irrigation structure. It is key to Project Jal Sanchay, for which the authorities of Nalanda recently received the national award for excellence in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program (MGNREGP). Ahars are water reservoirs embanked from three sides. They are fed through channels called pynes,  during the rainy season, with water from several streams and rivulets, taking advantage of sloping land. This stored water is fed to fields during dry seasons through minor channels. Thus the economy of the village is not affected by the vagaries of the monsoon. The best part is that no power is consumed in the entire process.

Due to the presence of these structures, the farmers of this region are able to grow water-intensive crops, like paddy, despite low rainfall in the region. The cost of input is reduced, there is nil environmental pollution, no strain on groundwater, and no rainwater is wasted as surface run-off. Of course, when the water level is very low, there are pumps that can be used.

During his visit to his village, Sinha says that he was shocked to see that most of the ahars were silted up. That’s not all. A part of the large pond (pokhar) from which water for oil-seeds was procured had been encroached by houses. Small bridges over the pynes were in need of urgent repair, and part of the dried up pynes were occupied by adjoining fields. Groundwater was rampantly extracted using diesel-generators and flood irrigation. He was astonished to see how people could ignore the know-how passed down by their ancestors (right from the era of the Mauryas) for marginal benefit.

As fate would have it, he got in touch with a like-minded person from the village, Hari Nandan Prasad Akela. They took on the task to rejuvenate those structures.

It was painstaking and necessitated the involvement of government. They created consensus in the village about the need for changes. They made them realise the necessity of the structures. Sadly, they couldn’t get everyone on the same page for many months. Only a few agreed to sign their petition. But they persisted.

The next phase involved getting in touch with various government officials, starting with the Chief Minister himself. After several rounds of personal visits, phone calls, and emails, Sinha and Prasad’s project was approved, and work is expected to begin by next year.

But what is in it for Sinha? What is the personal gain? When I ask him, he smiles and says only this: that his ancestors had gifted the people of his village with technology so marvelous it would take care of several problems of our time. He adds that it is his duty to pass on this gift to the generations to come. Given a chance, he would encourage rejuvenation of ancient water harvesting structures in other parts of the country as well.

All of these methods can create resilience against the on-coming Day Zero—the day all our taps will run dry. The threat is soon becoming a reality all across the world. Cape Town in South Africa recently pushed back the date for the Day Zero crisis. And without action, India might have to follow suit.

Large parts of Bihar suffer from arsenic contamination in drinking water which is poisoning our children. It has to be countered through ample recharge of aquifers and providing villages with solar powered RO purifiers. Our greed has severely reduced the natural rate of aquifer recharge. We have chopped down green areas and have concretised every nook and corner of land, thus not allowing the water to percolate down to aquifers. He approached several builders in the city, requesting them to begin rain water harvesting, but they ignored him.

“It seems they are feigning their understanding of simple natural processes. They are under the misunderstanding that proximity to the Ganga is sufficient enough for all the water needs of Patna and there is no necessity of going the extra mile for any conservation despite Bihar Building Bylaws 2013 mandating provision of rainwater harvesting for all sizes of plots“, he says. He further adds that Bihar will not receive a part of the ₹6,000 crores approved by The World Bank for the Central Sector Scheme Atal Bhujal Yojana. But Sinha hopes that the state government will come up with a similar program on its own and make communities realise the necessity for the same.

When asked about his future programs, he says that he wants to focus on inspiring people to practice agro-forestry, which has multiple environmental and economic benefits.

Since ‘the common man’ has taken up the task of making amends for the mistakes conducted in the past, we can say that this fire is sure to spread and many more would join his efforts at conservation.

The post This Man Is Tackling The Water Crisis In Bihar, And It Should Inspire Us All To Act appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Editor’s Note: One thing that the #MeToo movement made impossible to ignore is the fact that nearly every single woman has faced some form of sexual harassment in their lifetime. During her Netflix comedy special, Hannah Gadsby said, “I’m the only woman in a room full of men, I’m afraid. if you think that’s unusual you’re not speaking to the women in your life.” In India, there are currently 9,703,482 pending cases of crimes against women, and these are just the ones that were reported. And the conviction rate is a paltry 19%. Isn’t it time we started listening? It is. And this is the story of a young woman who will be heard.

Last night, I travelled from Allahabad to Delhi in an overnight train. When I entered the compartment and reached my berth (a lower berth), I realised that all the berths around me—above me, beside me, opposite me, diagonally opposite me—were filled with male passengers. This made me a little uncomfortable, as it always does, but I told myself that I shouldn’t let paranoia get the better of me. I soon fell asleep.

I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. The passenger on the berth right above mine (perhaps in his early thirties, who had called me “gudiya” when I was setting up my bed) was sitting on my seat right next to my legs, and I could feel his hand right above my right knee. Though I was aware this was strange, my first instinct was still to try and justify this in favour of the man. “Maybe he needed support to sit up“, “Maybe kept his hand on my thigh by mistake“, “Maybe he has nodded off“. I opened my eyes slightly and saw that he was wide awake and was watching something on his phone. Just as I began to convince myself that it must have been a careless mistake, his hand began to slide up my thigh. There was no room for doubt. I immediately said “Aap kya kar rahe hain? (What are you doing?)” in a voice that carried both anger and shock. He said “Sorry, sorry” and left. I pondered over my next course of action for the next two hours. I thought about all the times I’ve been sexually harassed before, and all the times I’ve heard of the same happening to my friends. I thought about the regret I had each time that I didn’t call the harasser out or drag him to the police station.

I set out to look for the TT (the railway officer who checks passengers’ tickets). He listened to me patiently and asked me “Aapne tab hi kyu nahi bola? Aapne thappad kyun nahi mara? Ab kya ho sakta hai (Why didn’t you say anything when it happened? Why didn’t you slap him? What can I do about it now)?” A passenger sitting right there, who had overheard the entire conversation, said “Aap akeli travel kar rahi hain? Isliye (Are you travelling alone? That’s why this happened).” Thankfully, my dad had told me long back that a few police officers always travel on the train to take care of untoward incidents. I told the TT that I wanted the police to be called.

The police arrived soon and woke up this man. I told him to sit in front of me and tell me how his hand managed to reach my thigh in the middle of the night. His excuse was that he had fallen asleep while sitting on my seat (even though his entire berth was right there) and must have put it there by mistake. This obviously couldn’t be true, since I distinctly remembered that he was watching something on his phone. I told the police that I wanted to file a case. The man started apologising again and again and said stuff like “Main married hoon (I am married)”, “Meri wife ki photo mere phone pe hai (I have my wife’s photo in my phone)”, “Mere saath kabhi police ka koi chakkar nahi hua hai (I have never gotten in trouble with the police before)”, “Meri zindagi kharab ho jayegi (My life will be ruined).” I felt pity and confusion weaken my anger and resolve—the same feelings that have prevented me (and perhaps many other girls) from filing cases many times. I decided that no matter what, I have to see this through to the end. By this time, the other passengers had also started egging me on.

When we arrived at the New Delhi station, the police on the train escorted this man to the police station, and asked me to come along to register the FIR. The process took more than two hours. The police also dropped hints that it would be in my best interests to take the case back. Meanwhile, the man’s family came and started pressuring me to take the case back. They followed me till my car, and didn’t let me get inside. In the afternoon, I waited for an hour for the police to arrive with the FIR at Tis Hazari, and then we shuffled from courtroom to courtroom to record my Section 164 statement, which also took about two hours. I was, however, happy to hear the lady Magistrate firmly advise me to not come under pressure from the accused’s family.

This is for every single time that I, and so many of my friends, held our silence due to fear, underconfidence or even pity. This is the one time I didn’t freeze and I’m glad. I just want to say that we, as girls, have an equal right to travel by trains, whether they are overnight or not and whether we are travelling alone or not, and to feel safe while doing so. If such an incident happens, please do not let it go. Immediately approach the TT and ask him to call the police. There is ALWAYS police present on the trains. File a complaint and ask them to take the person in question off the train at the very next station. This shouldn’t be happening, and when it does, we must not let it slide by. #IWillNotLetItGo.

I’m overwhelmed by the support people have shown. I want to take this opportunity to encourage people to share instances where they stood up to their harassers in any way at all; or to recall their emotions during such instances which prevented them from standing up to their harasser, and tell me how they would act differently if the same thing happened again; or share stories of having watched someone get harassed and what they would do if they witnessed something like that again. We share and spread stories of harassment (as we should), but what about stories of courage? Let’s inspire each other to stand up to such behaviour.

Say #IWillNotLetItGo.

Originally published on Facebook.

The post A Man Dared To Put His Hand On My Thigh In A Dark Train And I Will Not Let It Go appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

“We are the boat returning to dock;
we are the footprints on the northern trail,
We are the iron colouring the soil,
We cannot be erased. ”
—From “Refugee”, by Remi Kanazi

Throughout the world there are large groups of people with no homes of their own, caught between danger in the land they know and loss of identity in an alien land. Bombs dropping on their houses and the fear of persecution has forced millions to flee their homes and seek safety in unfamiliar societies. Here they are isolated, ‘different’, made to feel incompetent, and often impoverished. They are largely at the mercy of the host state.

Today, there are around 68 million refugees globally—including asylum seekers, irregular migrants, returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). More than 200,000 refugees are living in India. They are a diverse group, from all continents and regions of the world, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and more. At present, there are over 100,000 Tibetans and over 90,000 Sri Lankans (two of our immediate neighbouring countries) who have fled violence and persecution.

India is not party to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, nor the 1967 Protocol, but our nation has had a long history of providing  asylum  These groups are accommodated and assisted in accessing education, healthcare, employment and residence. However in more recent years, the politics of asylum seekers and refugees has been used and manipulated to best serve the powers-that-be, rather than those that require our assistance the most. Mainly because its political parties’ whims and administrative decisions that govern the status of refugees in India. Instead, there should be a specific to refugees or asylum seekers, but there isn’t. For instance, In recent years thousands of Rohingya Muslims have settled here, fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar. Many of them escaped by boat or travelled on foot to Bangladesh and then to India. But the accusation of cross-border terrorism and fear for national security has been invoked by the right-wing BJP government and their ideologues. This is related to their stance on Muslim citizens of India, and unfortunately by extension, to Rohingya Muslims. These accusations determine their fate as asylum seekers in India.

There is an urgent requirement for all of us to become aware and raise our combined voices, otherwise the lives of refugees will be swayed by the whims of the politics of the day.

The lack of specific refugee legislation in India has led the government to adopt an ad-hoc approach to different refugee influxes. This has invariably led to varying treatment of different refugee groups. Hence, some groups are granted a full range of benefits including legal residence and the ability to be legally employed, while others are criminalised and denied access to basic social resources. Therefore it is imperative that India passes a coherent domestic law, a codified model of conduct, to deal with the issue of asylum seekers and refugees.

In the absence of said specific law, the statute that deals with the entry and exit of refugees is the Foreigners Act of 1946 and the Citizenship Act 1955. Regrettably these acts do not distinguish refugees fleeing persecution from other foreigners; they apply to all non-citizens equally. Under the acts, it is a criminal offence to be without valid travel or residence documents. These provisions render refugees liable to deportation and detention.

Accepting refugees shouldn’t be thought of as charity. Instead it must have a rights-based approach, an inclusive attempt at encouraging asylum seekers and refugees to forge relationships with the host country’s communities and be constructive members of the society. It should also discourage host country citizens from seeing refugees and asylum seekers as a danger to our way of life. This fear, anxiety and insecurity surrounding asylum seekers and refugees tarnishes our age-old philosophy of “Atithi Devo Bhava”; a guest is equivalent to God.

The plight of the asylum seeker or refugee cannot be simplistically described as a problem that is ‘out there’ and not looked at through our personal, subjective viewpoints. To have empathy for the asylum seekers and view their situation as greater than ‘those poor people’, we must view the connection between individual and society. The language used in everyday life has a great influence on the way that we feel inside, we need to be critical of the media’s repetitive use of dehumanizing images. Negative language about ‘boat arrivals’ serves to promote public anxiety about people they now perceive as a threat. Immigration, detention, ‘boat people’—this language has been conveniently used to disempower the vulnerable. It breeds so much negativity that many of us cannot even differentiate between what is real and what is politically manufactured. Here is a systematic way of instilling fear amongst the prospective voters that their country is being invaded by boat people.

The politics of the security of India ultimately suggests the escalation of the perceived security threat will enable severe measures to combat the refugee issues, and make the use of detention more acceptable in public opinion. Consider for a moment thousands of children who are kept in detention for years, separated from their parents. Some even die before being reunited with their families. That situation is totally unacceptable in our modern society and to our customary values.

Regardless of the individual stance that each of us has on the issue of asylum seekers one thing remains consistent throughout the debate—the issue of children in detention. This is despite the fact that India is a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Why? Primarily because different political parties have continued the ‘hard line’ against asylum seeker arrivals and refugees.

It is time we have proper legislation on the issue. We need well-defined refugee law and judicial intervention, so that ‘we the people’ change the political landscape, rather than politicians doing it without our consent.

The post We Have Been Systematically Led To Believe That Refugees Are National Security Threats appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

झारखंड के देवघर ज़िले की जाह्नवी ने अपनी शादी को लेकर तमाम तरह के सपने देखे थे, जो अमूमन हर लड़कियां अपनी शादी से पहले देखा करती हैं। लेकिन जाह्नवी के अरमानों पर दहेज प्रथा और हिंसा की क्रूर निगाह ने घर कर लिया। जाह्नवी की शादी 14 मार्च 2016 को झारखंड के दुमका ज़िले के अंतर्गत प्रखंड “रानेश्वर” के तपन कुमार गुप्ता से हुई थी।

जाह्नवी बताती हैं कि मैं अपने पापा की बहुत लाडली बेटी हूं इसलिए पापा ने मेरी शादी को सबसे यादगार बनाने के लिए कोई भी कसर नहीं छोड़ी थी। ससुरालवाले लगातार फोन करके दहेज में दी जाने वाली अलग-अलग चीज़ों की लिस्ट लिखवा रहे थे और मेरे पापा उन्हें जुटाने में लग गए थे।

वो आगे कहती हैं कि शादी होने तक तो लगभग सब ठीक ही रहा, लेकिन जैसे ही मैं घर से विदा होकर पति और बारातियों के साथ अपने ससुराल रानेश्वर पहुंची, तब मेरी आंखों के सामने जो हो रहा था उसपर यकीन करना बेहद मुश्किल था। हमारे यहां जब भी कोई नई दुल्हन पहली दफा अपने ससुराल में कदम रखती है, तब उन्हें आरती की थाली
के साथ अंदर लाया जाता है। लेकिन मेरे साथ ऐसा कुछ भी नहीं हुआ। मैं सुन रही थी कि मेरी सास और ननद ज़ोर-ज़ोर से झगड़ा करते हुए कह रही थीं कि अरे, देखो लड़की की तरफ से तो कोई भी सामान नहीं आया। जबकि मेरे पापा ने उन्हें काफी कुछ दिया था। काफी हो-हंगामे के बीच जब आस-पड़ोस के लोगों ने कहा कि अच्छा ठीक है वो सब बाद में देखेंगे पहले बोऊदी (बंगाली भाषा में बहू का संबोधन) को अंदर लाते हैं, तब जाकर उन लोगों ने मुझे गाड़ी से उतारकर अंदर लाया।

रिसेप्शन वाले दिन नहीं दिया गया भोजन-

जाह्नवी अपनी आपबीती सुनाते हुए कहती हैं कि ससुराल में रिसेप्शन वाले दिन किसी ने भी उन्हें खाने के लिए कुछ भी देने की ज़हमत नहीं उठाई। वो बताती हैं कि रिसेप्शन के दिन की बात तो छोड़ ही दीजिए, मगर उससे पहले भी शादी की रस्म-रिवाज़ों को लेकर मैं दो दिनों से भूखी थी। इसके अलावा ससुराल वालों की नौटंकी देखकर मेरी आधी भूख गायब हो गई थी।

जाह्नवी बताती हैं कि मुझे उम्मीद थी रिसेप्शन वाले दिन नई बहू होने के नाते यदि मेरे सजने-संवरने के लिए ब्यूटीशियन की व्यवस्था ना हो तो कम-से-कम घर की महिलाएं ही इस काम में मेरी मदद करेंगी। मगर ऐसा नहीं हुआ। जाह्नवी ने जब अपने ससुरालवालों से ये बातें कही तब उसे फटकारते हुए कहा गया कि जाओ खुद से मेक-अप कर लो। यहां तक कि रिसेप्शन में जाह्नवी को सारे मेहमान के सामने एक चौकी पर लाकर बैठा दिया गया।

भरी महफिल में लड़की के पिता की बेइज्ज़ती-

हो-हंगामे के बीच अब जाह्नवी के पिता दहेज में छुटी हुई चीज़ों को लेकर अपनी बिटिया रानी के ससुराल पहुंचते हैं। जाह्नवी के पिता, उनकी मां और देवघर ज़िले से उनके कुछ करीबी भी रिसेप्शन पार्टी में शिरकत करने आए थे। उनके आने भर की देरी थी कि उन्हें जाह्नवी के ससुराल वालों ने जमकर लताड़ लगा दी। इसी आक्रोश में जाह्नवी के मायके वालों से ना तो खाने
के लिए पूछा गया और ना ही रात की ठंड में सोने के लिए कोई जगह दी गई।

जाह्नवी आगे कहती हैं कि रिसेप्शन की अगली सुबह मेरे पापा, मम्मी और करीबी रिश्तेदार वापस देवघर लौट गए और फिर इन लोगों ने अगले आठ दिनों तक मेरी लाइफ को जहन्नुम में बदल दिया। मैं एक बिहारी फैमिली से हूं और मेरी शादी बंगाली कल्चर में हुई। मेरी सास और ननद बंगाली भाषा में मुझे और मेरी फैमिली वालों को खूब गालियां देती थीं, उन्हें लगता था कि मैं नहीं समझती हूं, लेकिन मैं B.Sc पास हूं, उनके एक्सप्रेशन से पता लगता है कि वे क्या बातें कर रही हैं।

शारीरिक संपर्क बनाने की इजाज़त नहीं-

रिसेप्शन पार्टी की अगली रात जाह्नवी को घर के सबसे कोने वाला कमरा दिया गया। उसे लगा कि शायद पीरियड्स चलने की वजह से ये लोग मेरा केयर कर रहे थे। लेकिन मामला तो कुछ और ही था। जाह्नवी कहती हैं,

मुझे बाद में खबर मिली कि मेरी सास ने अपने बेटे को सिखा कर रखा था कि इस लड़की के साथ हर हाल में शारीरिक संबंध नहीं बनाना है, क्योंकि बाद में जब दहेज का सारा सामान ले लेंगे, तब इसे घर से निकाल देना है। यदि इस हाल में हमारे वंश की संतान इसकी कोख में पलने लगेगा, तब ये लड़की कानूनी लड़ाई जीत जाएगी।

जाह्नवी के पिता को फोन पर दी गई चीज़ों की लंबी लिस्ट-

जाह्नवी बताती हैं कि मुझे ससुराल वालों ने घर के कोने में एक अलग सा कमरा दिया था, जहां से मैं अपनी सास की सारी बातें सुन पा रही थी कि वो किस तरह से मेरे पापा को लगभग ढाई लाख रूपये के सामानों की लिस्ट दे रही थीं। उस लिस्ट में सबसे पहले बड़े कांसे के बर्तन की मांग की गई जिसकी अब भी कीमत 50 हज़ार रूपये के करीब है। वे आगे कहती हैं कि उनकी डिमांड यहीं आकर नहीं थमती। मेरे घर से मेरे लिए गहने के तमाम सेट्स दिए जाने के बावजूद भी डेढ़ लाख रूपये का नेकलेस मांगा गया। गर्मी के मौसम का हवाला देते हुए कूलर की भी मांग की गई। जबकि फ्रिज तो पहले ही दे दिए गए थे। जाह्नवी की माने तो उनकी पूरी फैमिली दहेज प्रथा के खिलाफ रही है। उनकी फैमिली में हुई तमाम शादियों में दहेज की मांग नहीं की गई।

मगर जाह्नवी को खुश रखने के लिए अपनी मेहनत की जमापूंजी में से दहेज के तौर पर उन्हें चीज़ें देनी पड़ी। धीरे-धीरे दहेज प्रथा की आड़ में जाह्नवी को मानसिक और शारीरिक यातनाएं मिलनी शुरू हो गई।

जाह्नवी को मायके जाने से रोका-

जाह्नवी की सास ने अपने समधी (जाह्नवी के पिता) से दो टूक बात करते हुए फरमान जारी कर दिया कि जिन चीज़ों की लिस्ट हमने दी है, पहले हमें वो चाहिए तब ही हम जाह्नवी को होली में घर जाने देंगे। बेटी की खुशियों के आगे नतमस्तक होकर पिता ने ये शर्त रखी कि ठीक है तपन (जाह्नवी के पति) के हाथों बिटिया को घर भिजवा दीजिए और फिर हम बाकी के सामान दे देंगे।

होली में जाह्नवी अपने पति तपन के साथ मायके आती हैं और तपन उसे छोड़कर अपने दोस्तों के संग देवघर में ही कहीं होली मनाने निकल पड़ता है। इस बीच पिता किसी तरह इधर-उधर से पैसे जोड़कर ससुराल वालों के द्वारा दी गई लिस्ट पूरी करने में लग जाते हैं। इन सबके बीच जब होली का पर्व खत्म हो जाता है तब जाह्नवी के पिता अपने जमाई से कहते हैं कि आप लोगों ने कांसे की बरतन, गले का हार और कूलर की मांग की थी जिसमें से हम अभी दो ही सामान देने की स्थिति में हैं और गले का हार अभी नहीं दे सकते। आप इन्हें लेने की कृपा करें और बेटी को घर ले जाएं। ससुर की बातें सुनकर तपन ने कहा कि आप पहले गले के हार का जुगाड़ कीजिए, फिर हम जाह्नवी को लेकर जाएंगे। जाह्नवी के पिता ने अपनी बेटी की खुशियों के लिए जब गले का हार बनवा दिया तब ससुराल वालों ने दूसरी लिस्ट जारी कर दी, जिसमें बरतन के अलावा कई चीज़ें शामिल थीं। हार भी मिल गया, चीज़ें भी मिल गईं, लेकिन जाह्नवी को देवघर से अपने घर ले जाने के लिए तपन राज़ी नहीं हुआ। उसने जाह्नवी से कहा कि अब तुम मेरे भैया की शादी में ही आना।

उधर तपन के भाई की शादी की तैयारियां चल रही थी, तब जाह्नवी को जबरन बारात में भारी भरकम गहने पहनाकर ले जाया गया ताकि उनके मायके वालों से भी महंगी चीज़ें मांगी जा सके। जाह्नवी अपने ससुराल वालों के साथ तपन के बड़े भैया की दूसरी शादी में शिरकत होने जा रही थीं, जाह्नवी को मोहरा बनाकर उस गरीब परिवार की बेटी से भी लगभग 60 हज़ार कैश और चालीस हज़ार के सामान वसूल लिए गए।

शुरू हुआ टॉर्चर का दौर-

तपन के बड़े भैया की शादी हो गई, इससे पहले जाह्नवी भी ससुराल आ गईं। अब जाह्नवी और उसकी गोतनी को हद से ज़्यादा घर के गैरज़रूरी काम देकर टॉर्चर करना शुरू किया गया।

जाह्नवी कहती हैं कि हमें वे लोग बैल की तरह खटाते थे मगर भोजन के लिए कोई पूछने तक नहीं आता। हम दिन भर बगैर कुछ खाए ही गुज़ार देते थे। हमारी हालत खराब हो जाती थी मगर किसी को कोई फिक्र नहीं होती थी। जाह्नवी आगे बताती हैं कि तपन के बड़े भैया की शादी के 15 रोज़ गुजर जाने के बाद वे लोग मुझपर दवाब बनाने लगे कि तुम अपने मायके चली जाओ। भुवनेश्वर से मेरा भाई आकर मुझे देवघर अपने मायके ले गया। देखते-देखते दिन बीतते गए मगर तपन नहीं आया। दुर्गा पूजा, दीपावली और छट तक मैं मायके में रही और तब जाकर तपन छठ पर्व के बाद आता है। अब तक मेरे खर्च के लिए पैसे भी वहां से नहीं भेजे गए। जब तपन छठ के बाद मेरे घर पर आता है तब मैं उससे कहती हूं कि अब तो हमें ले चलो अपने घर, इस बात पर फिर से चीज़ों की एक लिस्ट थमाते हुए तपन कहता है कि अभी रहो ना यार, काहे टेंशन लेती हो। पापा से बोलो एक ब्लैंकेट देंगे। ठंड आ गई है, मैं ओढ़ूंगा क्या?

जाह्नवी आगे कहती हैं कि तपन की बातें सुनकर मैंने पापा से बोलकर फॉरन एक ब्लैंकेट अपने ससुराल भिजवा दिया। लेकिन फिर भी वे मुझे मायके से अपने घर लेकर नहीं गए।

जाह्नवी को गंदी-गंदी गालियों से नवाज़ा गया-

जाह्नवी की परीक्षाएं चल ही रही थीं और इस बीच खबर आती है कि स्वंय सेवक के पद पर उसकी नियुक्ति हो चुकी है। यह खबर सुनकर जाह्नवी के घर वाले बहुत खुश होते हैं, उन्हें लगता है कि अब सब कुछ ठीक हो जाएगा। एक रात जाह्नवी ने फोन कर अपने पति को कहा कि मुझे काफी दिक्कतें हो रही हैं, आपके रहते हुए मेरे पापा मुझे अपने काम छोड़कर एग्ज़ाम दिलाने ले जा रहे हैं। ये बात कहने भर की देरी थी कि तपन ने जाह्नवी और उसके परिवार वालों के लिए गालियों की बरसात कर दी। जाह्नवी बताती हैं कि तपन मुझे लेने नहीं आया और अंत में मेरे पापा कार रिज़र्व करके मुझे स्वंय सेवक के लिए ज्वाइन कराने ले गए।

एक रोज़ मैं तपन के साथ रानेश्वर ब्लॉक में मेरे डॉक्यूमेंट्स जमा कराकर बाइक से लौट रही थी, बीच रास्ते में उसने सबके सामने बाइक रोककर मेरे साथ छेड़खानी करनी शुरू कर दी। ऐसा लग रहा था कि मैं उसकी बीवी नहीं, कोई गैर औरत हूं।

जाह्नवी की बहन की तस्वीरें सोशल मीडिया पर किया वायरल-

जाह्नवी बताती हैं कि 2017 के नव वर्ष से पहले दो रात तपन मेरे मायके में था। 30 दिसंबर को उसने मेरी बहन की सीम कार्ड और मेमोरी कार्ड कमरे में पड़ी चीज़ों के बीच से तलाश कर अपने पास रख ली। 31 दिसंबर की रात जब मैं सो गई तब वो किसी फोन में मेरी बहन की सीम और मेमेरी कार्ड लगाकर कुछ कर रहा था। जब मैंने उससे पूछा कि उसने इन चीज़ों को उठाकर क्यों अपने पास रखी है, तब उसने मुझे भद्दी-भद्दी गालियां देते हुए मार-पीट कर नीचे गिरा दिया और फिर थक-हारकर मैं सो गई। अब तक उसने मेरी बहन की कुछ तस्वीरें वायरल कर दी। जाह्नवी आगे बताती हैं कि इतना सब कुछ होने के बाद भी मैं एक्सपेक्ट कर रही थी कि 01 जनवरी को वो हम लोगों के साथ ही रहेगा। लेकिन वह तैयार होकर कहीं चला गया। जब वापस वो घर लौटा तब उसने मेरी बहन के सामने मुझे प्रॉस्टिट्यूट कह दिया। ये बात मेरी बहन को बर्दाश्त नहीं हुई और उसने जैसे ही विरोध प्रकट किया तपन ने मेरी सैंडल उठाई और मेरी बहन के गाल पर रसीद दिया।

अब जब मेरे और मेरे भाई की आंखों के सामने वो मेरी छोटी बहन के साथ ऐसा सलूक करने लगा तब मुझसे देखा नहीं गया। मैंने तपन से बोला कि आपको शर्म नहीं आ रही है क्या? अब उसने मुझपर लात-जूते बरसाने शुरू कर दिए। जब उसका ड्रामा खत्म हो गया तो अगली सुबह वो अपने घर चला गया। लेकिन कहीं ना कहीं उसके दिमाग में ये चीज़ थी कि अब मुझे इनसे बदला लेना है।

घर जाकर उसने मेरी बहन के नाम से एक फर्ज़ी फेसबुक की आईडी बनाई और फिर उसमें मेरी बहन के फ्रेंड्स को रिक्वेस्ट भेजकर गंदी-गंदी बाते करने लगा। उल्लेखनीय है कि इस संबंध में 11 जून 2018 को जाह्नवी ने एसपी ऑफिस देवघर में लिखित शिकायत दर्ज कराई जिसे महिला थाना फॉरवर्ड कर दिया गया। जाह्नवी के मुताबिक महिला थाना में ये कहकर टाल दिया गया कि ऐसे मामले तो हर रोज़ आते हैं।

हर बात पर होने लगी जाह्नवी की पिटाई-

अब जाह्नवी अपने पति के साथ ससुराल चली आई थी। क्योंकि रानेश्वर ब्लॉक से खबर किया गया था कि जाह्नवी को स्वंय सेवक के काम अब करने होंगे। तपती धूप में घर-घर जाकर सरकारी योजनाओं का सर्वे करके जब जाह्नवी घर लौटती थीं, तब उससे घर के सारे काम करवाए जाते थे और उसे भोजन नहीं दिया जाता था। इस बीच एक रोज़ जाह्नवी के भाई का कॉल आ गया और वो कमरे से बाहर जाकर अपने भाई से बात करने लगी। तपन ने अपने फोन में ऑटो रिकॉर्डिंग ऑन करके रखा था ताकि जब भी जाह्नवी कहीं बात करे तो उसपर पैनी नज़र रखी जाए। इस बार बात भाई से हो रही थी और उसने अपने बहन को टॉर्चर किए जाने की खीझ में जाह्नवी से कह दिया कि मुझे जीजाजी से बात नहीं करनी है। अब जाह्नवी को डर सताने लगा कि यदि पति ने रिकॉर्डिंग सुन ली तो फिर मार पड़ेगी। उसने डर के मारे रिकॉर्डिंग को डिलीट कर दिया।

पति की जब नींद खुलती है तब वह जाह्नवी से पूछता है कि रिकॉर्डिंग कहां है? जाह्नवी कहती हैं कि गलती से डिलीट हो गई। ये सुनते ही तपन बुरी तरह से जाह्नवी की पिटाई कर देता है। जाह्नवी बताती हैं, “मैं चाहती थी कि उसने जब मेरी पिटाई कर ही दी है, तो अब ये बात वो अपनी मां से ना बताए। मैंने जब देखा कि उसका गुस्सा शांत हो गया है और वो बैठकर टीवी देख रहा था, तब मैंने कहा कि यार अब तो इतना मार लिए मां से मत कहना। लेकिन उसने मेरी बात नहीं मानी, तपन मां से कहता है कि ये बहुत हरामी लड़की है। इसपर भरोसा मत करना, बेचकर खा जाएगी। तब मेरी सास कहती है कि और लेकर आओ पढ़ी-लिखी लड़की, तो यहीं सबना होगा। मेरे द्वारा इन बातों का विरोध जताए जाने पर तपन अचानक आकर मेरे गाल पर कस के एक थप्पड़ रसीद देता है। अब आप सोच ही सकते हैं कि मर्द ज़ात यदि किसी औरत को इस तरह से मारता है तो क्या होगा। मेरा जबरा टेढ़ा हो गया।”

जाह्नवी आगे कहती हैं कि मारने का सिलसिला यहीं खत्म नहीं हुआ। तपन ने गाल पर थप्पड़ मारने के बाद घर के आंगन पर रखी फुल झाड़ू उठाई और मेरे शरीर पर मारना शुरू कर दिया। मारते-मारते वो झाडू ही टूट गई।

आने वाले दस दिनों के बाद हमारी मैरिज एनिवर्सरी थी। मार पड़ने के बाद मेरी बॉडी में काफी दर्द था, फिर भी इसी हालत में वे लोग मुझसे घर के सारे काम करवा रहे थे। हमारी एनिवर्सरी के लिए मेरी बहन ने मुझे बधाई देने के लिए कॉल किया। इस दौरान जब मैं अपनी मां से बात कर रही थी तब मैंने अपनी मां को सारी बात दी कि किस तरह से यहां पर तपन मुझे मारता है और गंदी-गंदी गालियां देता है। उधर कमरे के बाहर खड़े होकर तपन दांत पीसते हुए मुझे धमकाने लगा कि तू आ तुझे दिखाता हूं।

अब मैं काफी डर चुकी थी, मैं डर से मां को बोली कि मां सब ठीक है मैं फोन रख रही हूं।

अब मेरी शामत आ चुकी थी। मैं आंगन के अंदर गई और तपन ने मेरी उस रोज़ से भी डबल पिटाई कर दी। अभी मैं फूट-फूट कर रो ही रही थी कि उसने मेरे गाल पर एक ज़ोरदार पंच मार दिया। बात बस इतनी सी थी कि वे लोग मेरे परिवार वालों को गालियां दे रहे थे जो मुझसे बर्दाश्त नहीं हुआ था।

जाह्नवी आगे बताती हैं कि जब मेरे पति हद की सारी सीमाएं लांघ कर हर रोज़ मेरी पिटाई करने लगा, तब मैनें और फोन पर मेरी मां ने उन्हें जेल भिजवाने की बात कही। ये बातें उन्हें नागावार गुज़री और अब फिर से उन लोगों ने मुझे गंदी-गंदी गालियां, मेरी बहन को रेप करने की बात और भाई को जान से मारने की धमकी देते हुए पीटने लगे।

तीन दिनों तक बिना भोजन और पानी तरसती रहीं जाह्नवी-

जाह्नवी नम आखों में बताती हैं कि किसी भी लड़की के लिए पीरियड्स का दौर काफी मुश्किलों भरा होता है और ऐसे में चाहिए होती है प्रॉपर केयर। मेरे पति उन दिनों मेरा केयर करने के बजाए मेरे पेट पर ज़ोर-ज़ोर से लात मारते थे। और फिर ब्लीडिंग होनी शुरू हो जाती थी। आलम ये हुआ कि मेरे शरीर में हीमोग्लोबिन की मात्रा बहुत कम हो गई। जब भी मैं डॉक्टर को दिखाने की बात करती तब वे मुझे बहुत मारते थे। जब मेरी हालत बेहद नाज़ुक हो गई तब वे मुझे मारते-मारते डॉक्टर के पास ले गए। हम डॉक्टर दिखाकर जब घर लौटे तब गुस्से में तपन ने मेरे मुंह पर थूक दिया। मार-पीट और लड़ाई झगड़े तो मेरे ससुराल में मेरे दिनचर्या में शामिल हो चुके थे। ऐसा कोई भी दिन नहीं होता था जब तपन मुझे मारता नहीं था। ऐसे ही एक रोज़ बुरी तरह से मार खाने के बाद तपन, मेरी सास, मेरे जेठ जी और ननद के पैर पकड़कर उनके आगे गिड़गिड़ाने लगी कि मुझे मेरे मायके जाने दो, मेरी तबियत काफी बिगड़ गई है। फिर भी उनका दिन नहीं पसीजा। मेरे जेठ जी के कहने पर मेरे पापा को फोन लगा कर कहा गया कि 25 हज़ार रूपये दो और बेटी को लेकर जाओ। मेरे पापा रूपये लेकर आएं और तब उन लोगों ने मुझे जाने दिया।

अब मैं अपने मायके आ चुकी थीं जहां मेरे घरवालों को जब विस्तार से मेरे शोषण की सारी बातें बताई तब उन्होंने कहा कि बेटी तू अब वहां नहीं जाएगी। मगर अब तपन ने नया ड्रामा शुरू कर दिया। हर रोज़ फोन करके एक ही बात कहता कि आओ आकर यहां ब्लॉक के काम करो, क्योंकि तपन अवैध रूप से ग्रामीणों से पैसे वसूलता था और जब मैं इसका विरोध करती थी तब मुझे मार पड़ती थी।

मेरे पापा ने कहा कि चलो एक बार और देखते हैं उन लोगों का क्या रूख रहता है। मुझे गाड़ी करके मेरे ससुराल भिजवाया जाता है। लगभग सात दिनों तक सब कुछ ठीक ही रहा, अब सावन की दूसरी सोमवारी के रोज़ मैं मंदिर में जलार्पण करने के लिए जाती हूं। मेरी गलती इतनी होती है कि दोनों कलाई चुड़ियों से भरी होती हैं इसलिए मैं और चुड़ियां नहीं पहन पाती हूं। इस बात पर तपन मेरे गाल पर ज़ोर-ज़ोर से इतना मारता है कि मेरे दाएं कान से खून गिरना शुरू हो जाता है। जाह्नवी कहती हैं कि इतने वक्त तक मैं अपने पापा की लाज रखने के लिए ये सोच रही थी कि चाहे कुछ भी हो मुझे अपने ससुराल में ही रहना है। क्या पता धीरे-धीरे मार पड़ते-पड़ते मेरे प्रति मेरे पति को दया आ जाए। लेकिन सावन की दूसरी सोमवारी वाले रोज़ जिस हैवानियत के साथ मुझे पीटा गया, अब मैं मन बना चुकी थी कि मुझे यहां नहीं रहना है।

ये लोग वैसे तो मुझे जाने देने वालों में से थे नहीं। मैनें कहा कि रक्षाबंधन आ रहा है, ले चलो मुझे घर। इस बहाने उसने कहा कि पापा से कहो मुझे एक लाख रूपये दें और तब ही मैं तुम्हें ले जाउंगा। इस तरह से वो मुझे लेकर देवघर मेरे मायके जाने लगा। सब कुछ ठीक ही था, लेकिन अचानक बीच सुनसान रास्ते में गाड़ी रोक कर मुझे वहीं छोड़ भाग गया। तेज़ बारिश के बीच भीगते-भीगते किसी तरह मैं घर पहुंची। घर पहुंचकर पापा से आपबीती सुनाई और तब पापा ने कहा कि अब तो बिल्कुल भी वहां नहीं जाना है।

मेरे लिए एक और संकट थी कि मेरे सारे ज़रूरी कागज़ात और पापा के द्वारा दिए गए गहने-ज़ेवरात वहीं मेरे ससुराल में रह गए थे। अब पापा ने मेरे लिए एक कार रिज़र्व कर दी और मेरे कज़न भाई जो भोपाल से आए थे उनके साथ मुझे रानेश्वर भेजा गया, ताकि मैं अपने कागज़ात लेकर आ सकूं। जाह्नवी आगे कहती हैं कि मैं जब अपने ससुराल पहुंचती हूं तब मेरे होश उड़ जाते हैं, क्योंकि मैं देखती हूं तपन वहीं हैं, जबकि वो मुझसे झूठ बोला था कि मैं कोलकाता जॉब करने जा रहा हूं। उसने कभी कोई नौकरी की ही नहीं।

मैं जैसे ही घर के आंगन में कदम रखा वैसे ही तपन ने गंदी-गंदी गालियां देते हुए कहा कि आ साली, अब तुझे जाने ही नहीं दूंगा। तू जाती है तो वहां बैठ ही जाती है। चूंकी मेरे स्वंय सेवक वाले काम से कुछ पैसे ब्लॉक में आने वाले थे, तो तपन मेरे साथ ब्लॉक जाकर कागज़ में मेरी साइन कराकर सारे पैसे निकाल लिया। इसके अलावा ग्रामीणों से अवैध वसूली करके भी उसे काफी पैसे मिल जाते थे।

जाह्नवी बताती हैं कि अब ब्लॉक के काम को खत्म करने के बाद मैं वापस ससुराल जा रही थी। मैंने अपने कज़न भाई के हाथ में मेरे डॉक्यूमेंट्स की फाइल देते हुए गाड़ी में रखने को कहा। इस बीच तपन बेरहमी से मेरी पिटाई करने लगा, तब भाई मुझे बचाने जैसे ही आया, मेरे पति ने उसके हाथ से फाइल लेकर अपनी मां को दे दी।

सबके सामने जाह्नवी को किया निर्वस्त्र-

हद की सारी बंदिशे तो उस वक्त टूट चुकी थी जब जाह्नवी के पति तपन ने पूरे घर वालों और जाह्नवी के छोटे भाई के सामने जाह्नवी को निर्वस्त्र कर दिया। जाह्नवी बेबस नज़र आ रहीं थीं और ससुराल वालें तमाशबीन बनकर नज़ारे का आनंद ले रहे थे। हालात बेकाबू ना हो जाए इस लिहाज़ से जाह्नवी के पापा ने एक जानकार ड्राइवर को भेजा था जिन्हें उन लोगों ने घर की दहलीज़ पर घुसने ही नहीं दिया। जाह्ववी ने किसी तरह से साड़ी पहनी और वहां से भाग कर निकल गई।

जाह्नवी के पिता सुरेश साह अपनी बेटी के साथ ससुराल में हुई यातनाओं का ज़िक्र करते हुए कहते हैं,

जाह्नवी हमारी बड़ी बेटी है। बड़े ही लाड़-प्यार से हमने इसे पाला है। शादी से पहले यदि हमें अंदाज़ा होता कि लड़का इस तरीके से मेरी बेटी को टॉर्चर करेगा, तब मैं कतई ऐसे घर में बेटी की शादी नहीं होने देता। देश की न्याय व्यवस्था पर अब भी मुझे विश्वास है। हमें मालूम है एक दिन ज़रूर मेरी बेटी को इंसाफ मिलेगा।

गौरतलब है कि अक्टूबर 2017 में जाह्नवी के पिता ने तपन और उसके परिवार वालों के खिलाफ देवघर कोर्ट में मुकदमा दर्ज कराया है, जहां जाह्नवी के ससुराल वाले लगातार केस वापस लेने की मांग कर रहे हैं। उधर मार्च 2018 में जाह्नवी के ससुराल वालों ने हिन्दू विवाह कानून की “धारा 9” के तहत दुमका व्यवहार न्यायालय में मामला दर्ज कराया है।

जाह्नवी के वकील सुधीर कुमार बताते हैं कि धारा 9 के तहत केस दर्ज होने के बाद मामले को मेडिएशन सेंटर दुमका रेफर किया गया जहां दोनों पक्षों ने इस बात के लिए हामी भरी है कि बगैर लेन-देन के तलाक की प्रक्रिया पूरी की जाएगी। पुन: दुमका कोर्ट में तलाक याचिका दाखिल किए जाने के बाद दोनों पक्षों का बयान दर्ज कर लिया गया है। अब 17 जुलाई को कोर्ट में पेशी होने के बाद तलाक की प्रक्रिया पूरी हो जाएगी।

इससे पहले 21 मई 2018 को जाह्नवी ने दुमका ज़िले की जन शिकायत कोषांग में अपने पति के खिलाफ मारने-पीटने, दहेज और अत्याचार मामले में लिखित शिकायत दर्ज कराई है। इसके अलावा जाह्नवी के मायके आ जाने के बाद से पति तपन के द्वारा ग्रामीणों से अवैध रूप से पैसों की वसूली करने के खिलाफ भी जाह्नवी ने शिकायत की है। एप्लिकेशन में स्वंय सेवक पद से इस्तीफे की भी मांग की गई है।

जाह्नवी अगस्त 2017 से देवघर स्थित अपने मायके में रह रही हैं। जाह्नवी को उस दिन की पूरी उम्मीद है जब पति तपन समेत उसके तमाम गुनेहगार जेल की सलाखों में होंगे, साथ-ही-साथ इस देश में जाह्नवी जैसी ही अन्य लड़कियों के साथ हो रही दहेज के नाम पर हिंसा पर भी विराम लगेगा।

The post दहेज के लिए जाह्नवी के टॉर्चर की कहानी आपको सन्न कर देगी appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the capital punishment for the accused in the 2012 Delhi gangrape, rejecting the review plea filed by three of the four accused. The apex court asserted that it found no new grounds for a rethink on its May 2017 decision to award capital punishment to four accused in the brutal rape and murder of 23-year-old paramedic that triggered a nationwide outrage.

While the accused still have the option of seeking presidential commutation of their capital punishment, women’s rights activists and law practitioners have once again opposed the practice of awarding capital punishment. Speaking to Youth Ki Awaaz, they noted that the certainty of the punishment and not the severity will help in deterring offenders.

“I strongly oppose the capital punishment. It’s a barbaric practice and doesn’t change anything on the ground. We saw capital punishment in the Dhananjoy Chatterjee (2004) case and still, Nirbhaya happened. And even after Nirbhaya, we haven’t been able to stop the rapes. There’s hardly any evidence that capital punishment creates a fear of law among citizens,” asserted Advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat, the Counsel representing the Kathua rape victim’s family.

Reiterating Rajawat’s opinion, New Delhi-based SC Lawyer and women’s rights activist Shomona Khanna told Youth Ki Awaaz, “There should be certainty of punishment. Such death penalties do not change anything on the ground. There is a culture of impunity among the offenders. They know may or may not be caught. The case may or may not be reported. And even if the case is reported the chances of them getting acquitted are very high. If people believe that capital punishment is the way for India to shed the label of the most dangerous country for women in the world, then they are sadly mistaken.”

These views are further substantiated by the Report No. 262 of the Law Commission of India on the death penalty: “After many years of research and debate among statisticians, practitioners, and theorists, a worldwide consensus has now emerged that there is no evidence to suggest that the death penalty has a deterrent effect over and above its alternative — life imprisonment.”

The report further adds: “In focusing on the death penalty as the ultimate measure of justice to victims, the restorative and rehabilitative aspects of justice are lost sight of. Reliance on the death penalty diverts attention from other problems ailing the criminal justice system.”

The Poor State Of The Criminal Justice System

Despite amendments to laws after the 2012 case, there is no sign that crimes against women are abating. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reveals that incidents of child rape have witnessed a sharp spike of 82% from 2015 to 2016. Delhi alone has witnessed a 31% rise in incidents of rape in the last five years. Interestingly, these incidents are just the tip of the iceberg as many cases of assaults go unreported. Women’s rights activists and comparative analysis by few media organisations claim that over 90% of crimes against women go unreported.

Experts have held the abysmal state of the criminal justice system responsible for this regrettable situation. They noted that death penalties in a few cases like Nirbhaya that catch media attention act as band-aid measures to pacify the collective outrage of the country.

Rajawat, who is currently battling against all odds to get justice in the Kathua rape case, highlighted the many difficulties in getting justice in cases of crimes against women. “There’s underreporting of crimes against women. Even after a case is reported, the investigation and subsequent justice is a tedious task. Basic provisions like a lady investigating presiding over such cases or due legal support to the victims are not followed. Moreover, the police lack the sensitivity to deal with such cases. It is very common that witnesses turn hostile. Furthermore, to aggravate the situation there’s a struggle to get justice in the courtroom as more often than not the defence lawyers try to strike a compromise. All this together makes getting justice very difficult,” she noted.

Apart from the underreporting of cases of crime against women and the arduous task of seeking justice for the victims, the critically poor rate of conviction rate is another issue that needs immediate attention. According to an NCRB report, the conviction rate for crimes against women hit record low in 2016. While the overall rate of conviction in the country was 46.2%, it was merely 18.9% for crimes committed against women.

Furthermore, experts highlighted the government’s failure to utilise funds allocated for the speedy justice in rape and sexual assault cases. Earlier this year, an RTI reply revealed that only 30% of the much-hyped Nirbhaya fund, running up to ₹3,100 crores, has been used so far. The Nirbhaya Fund, released as an aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gangrape, is dedicated for implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security of women in the country.

“One-Stop Centres that were supposed to be set up to address the rising cases of sexual assaults on women are not in place. The targets haven’t been met and even the existing centres are in pathetic condition. Unless all these failures of systems are addressed we can’t even think of reducing crimes against women,” Khanna pointed out.

Solution Lies Elsewhere

The government needs to focus on building capacities of the law enforcing agencies, introducing gender sensitivity in the education system, creating vigilant and quick criminal justice system, and curtailing the culture of hatred going on in the country, say law practitioners, activists, and theorists.

“Government has simply bulldozed capital punishment ordinance, while there is no focus on fixing the inconsistencies in our system. The legislators openly make hate speeches that influence the mob mentality. Crimes like lynching and rapes are byproducts of such mentality. From education to investigation mechanism everything needs to be looked into if we are at all serious to reduce crimes against women. Hanging a couple of accused only to silence countrywide outrage is an ill-conceived approach,” argued Rajawat.

Talking about building capacities of law enforcement agencies, Ravi Kant of NGO Shakti Vahini said, “Go 40km beyond Delhi and one can easily see the poor state of law enforcement agencies. We need to build capacities. Pump in financial resources to beef up our investigating agencies and modernise forensic laboratories. Hanging people on gallows wouldn’t help.”

The post Death Penalty Is A Band-Aid To Pacify Mass Outrage, Not A Way To Stop Crime Against Women appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Watching your favourite sports team lose a crucial match can feel like the worst kind of betrayal. Understandably, you’ll experience feelings of intense grief. In fact, in many ways, the grieving process is quite similar to that of a breakup – you might go through feelings of shock, denial, grief, anger, and maybe a little bit of resentment as well. And due to this, you may seek closure in different ways, whether it’s by convincing yourself (and others around you) that the match was rigged or by binge-eating your favourite comfort food. But there are also those who seek closure in the most unusual and ridiculous ways – like breaking their TV sets, burning down posters of sports players, and taking to the streets to chant angry slogans, much like these Indians did after Pakistan defeated India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

What people tend to forget is, that sports players, although playing in the name of and for the country, do not owe us anything. If you’re an athlete yourself, you might know that there are both good and bad days. And although these players might be some of the best in the world, they’re not perfect. Making mistakes is part of human nature, so it would be illogical to assume that this rule doesn’t apply to athletes as well.

Unfortunately, for many prominent sports players around the world, losing a match means not only dealing with the heartache that ensues, but also the dread of going back to their country. They have to deal with heavy media scrutiny, social media abuse in the form of nasty trolling and sometimes even racism, angry mobs outside their family homes burning posters and effigies, and possible death threats.

Recently, when Colombia was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup after losing to England, two Colombian players Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca received death threats on social media. The posts, which were aimed at both players for missing penalties, warned the players that they were ‘dead’, urged them to kill themselves, and told them not to return to the country.

Shockingly, this came a day after Colombian player Andres Escobar’s 24^th death anniversary, who was shot dead by gang members 15 days after he scored an own goal, which was blamed for sending Colombia home in the 1994 World Cup. In fact, Andres’ brother had even expressed his fears for the Colombian football players one day prior to the match against England. He said that in case the team loses, he hopes that “the tragedy that happened to his brother doesn’t repeat itself” and emphasized, “Football should be a vehicle of peace and social transformation, as at the end of the day, it’s just a game.”

One week before the Colombian team’s loss, Swedish player Jimmy Durmaz was subjected to online abuse and racism for giving away a free kick during stoppage-time to Toni Kroos, which lead to Sweden’s 2-1 defeat to Germany. Durmaz, who is of Assyrian descent – his father emigrated from Turkey – was born and brought up in Sweden. However, after his blunder in the match against Germany, Durmaz was branded as a “f****** immigrant” and a “suicide bomber” by his own fans, and even received death threats not only aimed at him but at his family as well.

Closer to home, even we’re guilty of subjecting our players to such revolting behaviour. Back in 2003, when India lost to Australia in the Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Mohammad Kaif’s house in Allahabad was defaced with motor oil and black paint. In 2009 during the T20 World Cup, when India failed to defend the title they had won in 2007 after a three-run defeat against England, irate fans in agitated mobs burnt MS Dhoni’s effigy in his hometown. In 2014, when India suffered a disappointing six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the ICC World T20, Yuvraj Singh’s house in Chandigarh was pelted with stones because he only managed to score 11 runs off 21 balls. And when India lost to Australia in the 2015 semi-final, effigies and posters were burnt. Along with that, Anushka Sharma was abused, threatened and disrespected, with fans claiming that she was the reason that Virat Kohli ‘lost focus’.

Never mind that in the 2003 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar scored the most runs (673) and was named the player of the series. Never mind that in 2011, Yuvraj had simultaneously battled cancer and won the World Cup for us. Never mind that Dhoni had sacrificed being present for the birth of his first child in order to stay with the team in 2015. We choose to look at the negatives. We choose to crucify our own players, looking past everything they’ve done to make us and our country proud over the years. We’ve let them down, and we still continue to do so.

It’s fine to feel angry and frustrated after a loss. However, expressing that anger and frustration in inhumane ways is not. Let’s stop being fickle minded, and learn to love our players not only at their prime, but at their lowest as well. I’m pretty sure that for every time they’ve slipped up, there are many more times they’ve given us immense happiness and made us proud. No team can have a 100% success rate, and winning or losing is part of the journey. When they’re out there, battling some of the best players in the world for us, the least we can do is give them the surety that we’ll stand by them no matter what, even when they’re not at their best. And remember – at the end of the day, it’s just a game.

The post Our Sportspersons Deserve Better Fans appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

ट्विटर पर स्क्रॉल करते-करते देखा कि मोहम्मद कैफ ने क्रिकेट से संन्यास ले लिया है। जी हां, वही मोहम्मद कैफ जिसकी कप्तानी में हमने पहली बार अंडर-19 वर्ल्ड कप जीता था, वही मोहम्मद कैफ जो था तो बल्लेबाज़, लेकिन अपनी बल्लेबाज़ी से ज़्यादा फील्डिंग के लिए जाना जाता था और वही मोहम्मद कैफ जिसने 13 जून 2002 को असंभव को संभव कर दिखाया था।

13 जुलाई 2002, दिन शनिवार, जगह क्रिकेट का मक्का लॉर्ड्स। नेटवेस्ट सीरीज़ का फाइनल मैच, अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर खेला गया 1856वां एक दिवसीय मुकाबला त्रिकोणीय श्रृंखला जिसमें इंडिया और इंग्लैंड के अलावा श्रीलंका ने भी हिस्सा लिया था। लीग मैच खेलने के बाद यह तय हुआ कि लॉर्ड्स में खेले जाने वाले फाइनल मुकाबले में भिड़ंत भारत और इंग्लैंड के बीच होगी।

इंग्लैंड के कप्तान नासिर हुसैन ने टॉस जीतकर पहले बल्लेबाजी का फैसला किया। क्रीज़ पर आए ट्रेस्कोथिक और निक नाइट। दोनों ने संभलकर खेलना शुरू किया और टीम का स्कोर 42 रन तक ले गए। आठवें ओवर की चौथी बॉल पर निक ज़हीर की फुलटॉस बॉल पर बोल्ड हो गए।

इसके बाद मैदान में उतरे कप्तान नासिर हुसैन। नासिर हुसैन जिनके बारे में उस समय सारी दुनिया कह रही थी कि वो नम्बर तीन पर खेलने लायक नहीं हैं। वो नासिर हुसैन जो उस दिन ये सोचकर उतरे थे कि बस आज की पारी और सबका मुंह बंद। उस दिन नासिर हुसैन ने सच में सबका मुंह बंद ही कर दिया। 48वें ओवर की आखिरी बॉल पर आउट होने से पहले नासिर हुसैन ने  128 बॉल में 115 रन बनाए।

ट्रेस्कोथिक के साथ मिलकर उन्होंने दूसरे विकेट के लिए 177 गेंदों में 185 रन की साझेदारी की। इंग्लैंड ने ट्रेस्कोथिक के 109 और फ्लिंटॉफ के 40 रन की पारी बदौलत 50 ओवर में 325 रन बनाये।

उस समय बड़े टूर्नामेंट के फाइनल में इंडिया भी चोकर ही साबित हो रही थी। हमने 31 जनवरी 1999 से जुलाई 2002 के बीच लगातार 9 फाइनल हारे थे और इंग्लैंड के इस पहाड़ से लक्ष्य को देखते हुए लग रहा था कि गिनती इस बार भी बढ़ने ही वाली थी। गौरतलब है कि हम इन 9 फाइनल मुकाबलों में से पांच में लक्ष्य का पीछा करते हुए हारे थे।

खैर, इंग्लैंड की पारी के बाद इंडिया की पारी शुरू हुई और ओपनिंग करने आए कप्तान सौरव गांगुली व विस्फोटक वीरेंदर सहवाग। ड्रेसिंग रूम से मैदान पर आते समय दादा ने सहवाग से कहा कि पहले 15 ओवर में 100 मारने हैं। उसके बाद देखेंगे कुछ।

उस दिन दादा कुछ और ही मूड में थे। आते ही जो बल्ला भांजना शुरू किया तो ऐसा कि 35 बॉल में अपने 50 रन पूरे किए। चौदहवें ओवर की दूसरी बॉल पर भारत के 100 रन पूरे हो गए थे।

ऐसा लग रहा था कि इस बार दादा इंडिया के फाइनल में हारने के क्रम को रोक कर ही मानेंगे। लेकिन असली खेल तब शुरू हुआ जब पंद्रहवें ओवर की तीसरी बॉल पर दादा बोल्ड हो गए। इंडिया का स्कोर 14.3 ओवर में 1 विकेट गंवाकर 106 रन था। भारतीय खेल प्रेमी अभी इस झटके से उबरे भी नहीं थे कि अगले ओवर की आखिरी बॉल पर सहवाग भी एश्ले जाइल्स को थर्ड मैन पर मारने के चक्कर में बोल्ड हो गए। इसके बाद दिनेश मोगिया और राहुल द्रविड़ भी आए और चले गए लेकिन भारतीय खेल प्रेमी उस वक्त सन्न रह गए जब चौबीसवें ओवर की आखिरी बॉल पर सचिन तेंदुलकर भी जाइल्स के सामने क्लीन बोल्ड हो गए।

तेंदुलकर के बोल्ड होते ही बोल्ड हुई भारत की जीतने की सारी उम्मीदें। कमेंट्री बॉक्स से आवाज़ आ रही थी,

This might be the death now for India in this Natwest series final.

टीम का स्कोर 24 ओवर में 146 पर 5 विकेट था। इसमें सचिन रमेश तेंदुलकर का भी विकेट शामिल था। वो तेंदुलकर जो उस समय लक्ष्य का पीछा करते हुए भारत के सबसे बड़े खेवनहार थे। इस बात की पुष्टि इससे होती है कि 31 जनवरी 1999 से जुलाई 2002 के बीच इंडिया ने लक्ष्य का पीछा करते हुए सिर्फ दो ही मैच जीते थे जिनमें तेंदुलकर ने अर्धशतक ना बनाया हो।

वो सचिन अब ड्रेसिंग रूम में बैठे थे और मैदान पर थे दो नए और युवा खिलाड़ी। नाम युवराज और मोहम्मद कैफ। जिस बीच सचिन आउट होकर ड्रेसिंग रूम की तरफ जा रहे थे उसी बीच समूचा भारत अपनी आदत के अनुसार अपने-अपने टीवी सेट बंद करके सोने चल दिया था। लेकिन टीवी बंद होने पर कैफ और युवराज ने शायद अपना खेल शुरू किया था।

उस रोज़ दोनों वो करने निकल पड़े थे जिसकी आस किसी को नहीं थी। शायद दादा को भी नहीं। अगली 80 गेंदों तक इंग्लिश गेंदबाज सिर्फ बॉल फेंक रहे थे और फील्डर उसे उठाकर वापस गेंदबाज को दे रहे थे। अगले 80 बॉल में ये दोनों 121 रन जोड़ चुके थे। 42 वें ओवर की चौथी बॉल पर जब युवराज आउट हुए तो इंडिया का स्कोर था 267 पर 6 विकेट। युवराज 63 बॉल में 69 रन बनाकर पवेलियन लौट रहे थे लेकिन पवेलियन लौटने से पहले युवराज ने कैफ के साथ मिलकर भारत के मैच जीतने की उम्मीद भी लौटा दी थी।

टीम को अब भी 50 बॉल पर 59 रन बनाने थे।

युवराज की जगह ली हरभजन सिंह ने और कैफ के साथ मिलकर भारतीय पारी को आगे बढ़ाना शुरू किया। दोनों भारतीय पारी को 314 रन तक लेकर गए जहां पर जाकर भज्जी आउट हो गए और और इसी स्कोर पर कुंबले भी आउट हुए। भारत को अब ट्रॉफी उठाने के लिए अभी 13 बॉल पर 12 रन और बनाने थे और हाथ में थे बस दो विकेट जिनमें से एक थे ज़हीर खान जिनका बल्लेबाजी से वैसा ही रिश्ता था जैसा हिमेश रेशमियां का एक्टिंग से और  फेसबुकिया गज़लकारों का मीटर से।

अगली ओवर की पहली पांच गेंदों पर आए मात्र पांच रन, लेकिन इसी ओवर की आखिरी बॉल कैफ के बल्ले का किनारा लेकर सीधी भागी और ऐसी भागी कि चौके पर जाकर ही रुकी।
भारतीय पारी का आखिरी ओवर, जीत के लिए चाहिए थे मात्र दो रन लेकिन ये दो रन इतने भी आसान नहीं थे क्योंकि बॉल थी उस ज़माने के सबसे शातिर गेंदबाजों में से एक फ्लिंटॉफ के हाथ में। फ्लिंटॉफ उसी गेंदबाज का नाम था जो 3 फरवरी 2002 को मुंबई के वानखेड़े स्टेडियम स्टेडियम में समूचे भारत को अकेले बेइज्ज़त कर चुका था। उस दिन भी आखिरी ओवर में इंडिया के पास 2 विकेट बचे थे और फ्लिंटॉफ ने वो दोनों विकेट लेकर अपनी जर्सी उतारी थी। हर भारतीय क्रिकेट प्रेमी को उस दिन महसूस हुआ था कि जर्सी फ्लिंटॉफ की नहीं उतरी बल्कि उतरी है सारे भारत की इज्ज़त।

खैर, आखिरी ओवर की पहली बॉल लेकर फ्लिंटॉफ ने दौड़ना शुरू किया। फ्लिंटॉफ की दौड़ के साथ ही उस मैच को देख रहे हर एक क्रिकेट प्रेमी की धड़कनों ने भी दौड़ना शुरू किया।

दादा खुद लॉर्ड्स की बालकनी में चिंतित खड़े थे। पहली और दूसरी बॉल पर कोई रन नहीं आया। आखिरी ओवर की तीसरी बॉल सामने ज़हीर खान, आगे निकलकर जैसे-तैसे कवर्स की तरफ धकेला। बॉल धकेलकर ज़हीर भाग चुके थे दूसरे छोर पर जाने के लिए लेकिन फील्डर ने थ्रो किया और थ्रो विकेट पर नहीं लगा। ओवर थ्रो के रूप में इंडिया ने एक रन और ले लिया।
इसके बाद जो हुआ वो सारी दुनिया के क्रिकेट प्रेमियों की आंखों में आज तक अमर है।

लॉर्ड्स की बालकनी में दादा की जर्सी लहराते हुए तस्वीर भारतीय क्रिकेट की सबसे यादगार तस्वीरों में से एक है। उस तस्वीर ने सारी दुनिया को बताया कि हम भी हैं जो क्रिकेट के दादाओं की आंख में आंख डालकर बात कर सकते हैं, हम सचिन के बिना भी 300 चेज़ कर सकते हैं और सबसे बड़ी बात हम चेज़ कर सकते हैं।

आज हमारे पास सबसे बड़े चेज़ मास्टर हैं, हमारे पास धोनी हैं और चेज़ की दुनिया के अघोषित शहंशाह विराट कोहली हैं लेकिन इस सफर की शुरुआत हुई थी 13 जुलाई 2002 को। हां, अब 13 जुलाई को ही इस सफर का सबसे बड़ा योद्धा क्रिकेट की दुनिया से विदा हो गया है।
वी लव यू मोहम्मद कैफ, भारतीय क्रिकेट को वो तस्वीर देने के लिए, दादा को जर्सी उतारने का मौका देने के लिए, लॉर्ड्स पर तिरंगा फहराने के लिए।

-तुम्हारा एक सच्चा प्रशंसक

The post उस खिलाड़ी ने संन्यास ले लिया है जिसने दादा को लॉर्ड्स में जर्सी उतारने का मौका दिया था! appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

By Rachita Vora and Smarinita Shetty:

Over the past three decades, Sujata Khandekar has led one of the country’s foremost organisations in grassroots leadership and activism: Community of Resource Organisations, or CORO. Under her leadership, CORO has grown from working on adult literacy in Mumbai’s slums to a resource organisation on gender and grassroots leadership development. It now focuses on integrated community development, in particular, addressing issues identified by the community itself. Today, CORO runs a programme on domestic violence specifically focused on changing social norms that perpetuate and justify violence against women. It also works on child rights within school and community settings and has developed a model programme on grassroots leadership development.

In this interview with IDR, Sujata speaks about CORO’s evolution, how the process of empowerment within marginalised communities unfolds, and what it takes to be truly participatory.

How did your journey with CORO start?

CORO was formed in 1989, its origins are rooted in the adult literacy movement of the time. The Government of India had just launched the National Literacy Mission, which aimed to impart functional literacy to all non-literate people aged 15-35 years.

Seven social organisations came together at the time with a view to mobilising marginalised people to solve their own issues with adult literacy as the foundation. This was how CORO came to life, becoming a committee with representatives from each of its constituent organisations. Many CORO founders came from privileged backgrounds; employed and well-educated, we were in many ways, ‘outsiders’.

As a junior engineer in the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), I was deputed to CORO by the Secretary Education, Government of Maharashtra and I joined it as the volunteer representative from two organisations, Stree Mukti Sanghatana —which worked on empowerment of women and Yuva Shakti Pratishthan — which fought for low-cost, clean food for all.

Tell us about the early years at CORO

Literacy-related work was a big teacher, personally and organisationally. Coming from a middle-class, Brahmin background, I had a stereotypical understanding of low-income communities, crudely labelling them as ‘slums’. One either hates people living in these communities or pities their conditions, but there’s never a sense of equality or connectedness with them.

In my mind, I had gone to the community to help them, to teach them. The ‘I’ was prominent. But through CORO, I learnt about human life, human nature, social structures, and social change. My work has since impacted the way I perceive, feel, think, express, connect, and analyse; and I had to work a lot on myself over the years.

Organisationally, the work taught us about why and when interventions become relevant to people’s lives and priorities, why and how people ‘own’ processes of development, and what it means to be participatory.

So how did CORO’s work evolve? Why did it become women-centric?

Women from the community were largely non-literate and unlike men, they did not hesitate to admit it. So, we started working more with them.

But this wasn’t the only reason. Many of CORO’s founders came from the women’s movement. Plus, women from the community consistently pushed us, bringing forth their issues and priorities, almost demanding solutions. They spoke about everything from the kinds of violence inflicted upon them, to their health issues, to unsafe and unclean toilets. In the process of trying to find solutions with them, CORO became increasingly women-centric.

I remember early on, each time I saw a woman being beaten by a drunk husband, I would think, “Why is she not walking out of this marriage?” It was through my immersion in CORO that I began to understand that such alternatives did not exist for most of these women. The ‘cure’ in their case was ‘costlier than the ailment’.

Was that a turning point for you?

There were many turning points, but I distinctly remember two in the early 1990s. The first was when CORO helped the community access the public distribution system.

Most government-licensed shops for rations are run by private shop-owners. And because many are protected by the local mafia and political parties, they wield a lot of power. Nobody dares defy them. Women in CORO’s work area of Chembur-Trombay in Mumbai had many grievances against this system. They also felt helpless because there was no redressal mechanism.

We realised that as required by the law, every ration shop had a complaint book, which could be accessed at any time by its customers. Within 15 days of any complaint being lodged, the designated officer had to inform you about what action they had taken. This bore a strong connection to literacy because writing a complaint needed writing skills, and so we saw this as an opportunity.

The women in the area had 24 types of grievances around the quality of commodities, mechanisms for obtaining them, and shop-owner behaviour. So, we set aside the government-issued literacy kits and designed our own; the first lesson was on how to write wheat – gehu. Then sugar, then kerosene, and so on. We structured our literacy programme around this kit and encouraged and mobilised women to go in groups and lodge complaints.

What came next was magical.

When women, en masse, started writing complaints, shop owners began pleading with them to rescind them, offering in exchange a 15 day advance of kerosene supply. This was pivotal; it made women realise their power and the power of their words. All of a sudden, literacy didn’t seem so irrelevant anymore.

The second turning point came at a time when CORO was struggling financially. With no funding in sight, I held a meeting with our community organisers (all women) and told them to join other organisations, for CORO could no longer afford to pay the INR 1,200 we were offering as honorarium, and most of these women were the sole earners in their families. I assured them that if CORO received any funding, they would be the first to be invited to re-join. I admitted my inadequacy as the leader of the organisation.

The next morning my doorbell rang at 8.00 AM. At my doorstep stood my friend and colleague, one of CORO’s community organisers, Sagar More. After coming into my home, Sagar’s husband, who had accompanied her, handed me INR 20,000 in cash.

“Sagar told me about your meeting yesterday,” he said. “I have this much money with me and I think CORO needs it at this time. You can return it when you receive funds.” Sagar was standing beside him with tearful eyes. The couple had sold a small piece of land in their village to build pucca walls (brick walls) for their hut, which was currently made of tin sheets with holes everywhere. This was the money they gave us. Thankfully, CORO got funding a few months later, and in the interim, the team worked for free.

Both of these experiences encouraged CORO to do what we do today. It also enlightened me on what grassroots work entails. In addition, it clarified some key lessons for us.

• First was that people will not actively and emotionally participate in an intervention unless it has relevance to their lives and their strengths.
• The second debunked the notion that ‘poor people are lazy and don’t want to change’. They want to change but don’t know how. They need information and hand-holding. Our only role was to give women tools and words, and suggest that using them might offer some respite. It was the women who fought for their rights.
• Third, community people don’t act out of fear and helplessness. They gather courage by coming together. Collective risk is both possible and incredibly powerful because nobody’s fighting alone.

CORO merely instilled in them a sense of hope and helped facilitate their efforts. Doing so revealed for us the crux of building ownership of the social change process. The initiative for change has to come from ‘within’–within a person, and within the community. And the mental shift from being a victim to being a changemaker is crucial in the social change process. Enhancing the inner strength of a person or a community is more important than external or material supports.

Was that then the beginning of your work on grassroots leadership building?

Absolutely.

How did your work grow? Can you speak about ‘organic leadership’ at CORO?

We saw early on that people at the grassroots were the changemakers. But ‘beneficiaries’—as we call them—are never recognised as such. We wanted to shift this paradigm.

Today, CORO has evolved to be community-led. Barring me and one or two others, every team member is from the community. This is CORO’s strength and the reason why our impact is sustainable and different.

Mahendra Rokade, a volunteer from 1989 is our programme director now. Pallavi Palav, our accounts assistant from 1992 is our treasurer on the board of trustees today. Mumtaz Shaikh, who joined CORO in 2000 for redressal of her domestic violence, featured in BBC’s list of 100 most influential women in 2015. People have stayed with the organisation for close to 28 years, largely because our programme is homegrown, with people at the grassroots having designed and implemented it themselves.

Seeing this evolution, we asked ourselves: why are people at the grassroots not seen as leaders? That’s when we began a fellowship to develop grassroots leadership from within the community. The experience has taught us some fundamental lessons about identity and empowerment.

In marginalised communities, people are discriminated against on the basis of caste, class and gender, amongst other factors. A big challenge is when people accept discrimination or oppression as part of their ‘fate’. Socialisation teaches us that ’things will not change for me; I cannot express, I cannot resist, my existence has no meaning. And if my existence has no meaning, I accept everything as part of my fate’. This leads to a fractured sense of identity, despair and helplessness.

But, when identity gets triggered, and people feel worthy, they believe they can effect change.

We have three premises:

• A sense of one’s own identity is closely related to empowerment, and this is true not just for women.

Empowerment is about recognising one’s own ‘power within’. It is also about how comfortable I am with my identity. It’s important to recognise one’s disempowerment. Without this, it’s impossible to embark on an empowerment journey, which requires reflection, patience, and process. Unfortunately today in our haste of calling outputs impact (due to the obsession with measurement), we tend to equate empowerment with proxy indicators, most of which are rudimentary external manifestations of a process that is entirely internal. For instance, how many women are in SHGs, how many are accessing healthcare services, how many girls are in school, and so on. These are not indicators of empowerment at all.

• Solidarity is the biggest asset of marginalised people.

Individuals alone cannot make a difference, but together, they can. We saw this time and again with our work supporting people to access their rights.

• We need strong, ‘nearest’ ecosystems, for changing our near environment.

This is why our fellowship, through critical reflection, acts first on the inner space, and then helps individuals understand their context. It’s a very simple trick: keep asking the question ‘why?’ to every answer, until you get to the root. In the process, fellows build their nearest ecosystem, in the family, organisation, and community.

Where is the grassroots leadership programme today?

We have run the fellowship programme — Quest — in Maharashtra for the last 10 years, and Rajasthan for the last three. We have also had one cohort in Delhi, NCR. We’ve worked with more than 280 nonprofits and community-based organisations (CBOs) across these states, with participation from more than 1,300 grassroots leaders.

After the fellowship year, the leaders, their mentors and organisations collectively initiate campaigns in their communities, all of which are incubated by CORO.

For instance, Mumbai fellows launched the ‘Right to Pee’ campaign for demanding clean, safe and free urinals for women in public spaces; in Vidarbha the campaign is about seeking community forest rights; in Marathwada it’s about single women’s rights; in western Maharashtra it is about water-related interventions in drought-prone villages. All campaigns are led by grassroots leaders, 68 percent of whom are women; a majority being from Scheduled Caste, tribal, Muslim, and OBC communities.

So, what’s next for CORO?

We are keen to use our experience with the grassroots leadership development programme as a foundation for a national grassroots centre that aims at shifting power dynamics in favour of the grassroots, primarily in leadership, in organisation building, and in knowledge building.

Now that we have developed a proven mechanism for building grassroots leadership, and in leading issue-specific change in communities, the next frontier for us is striving for thought leadership that comes from the grassroots.

Sangeeta Menon contributed to this interview.

This article was originally published on India Development Review. You can view it here.

The post Overcoming Privilege And Getting Grassroots Leadership Right appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

By Anamika M

This is my personal story about my marriage and sex and love, and it has taken me a lot of courage to put it down.

I’m going to turn fifty-two, and my body craves sex, but it is ruthlessly denied because I choose to remain faithful to my husband. I was a naïve 23-year-old in the midst of my Masters when I got married to a wonderful man nearly nine years my senior. Though it was a completely arranged marriage, I fell in love with my husband after the very first meeting. On the flip side, my marriage brought with it an end to my quite brilliant academic career, though it also provided an escape route from my very strict, orthodox middle-class parents to a life of unimagined freedom, courtesy my husband.

We had great sex and were totally compatible in bed. In the initial years, we had sex every day, many times a day and stolen sex during visits to our hometown when elders were around. My husband urged me to experiment in bed, and it was only an innate shyness about my body that held me back. I was very bold, outspoken, a rebel in many ways but oddly, I was very shy in all matters pertaining to my body–especially in talking about them. Perhaps it was my puritanical convent upbringing and a mother who never discussed any controversial topic, leave aside sex, to blame. In those days I had a voluptuous and sexy figure, but that never inspired any confidence for me in bed. I always felt too fat. And growing up on a staple diet of very bland 1970’s “Mills & Boons” and Barbara Cartland novels don’t exactly teach you the tricks of the trade. My partner, on the other hand, was stick-thin and pigeon-chested but had watched tonnes of porn, so it definitely gave him a head-start in the bedroom scene and a certain confidence as a result.

My marriage was like the little girl in the nursery rhyme –

‘There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid.’

Same with our marriage. When the going was good, it was wonderful. We had some wonderful times filled with laughter, leg-pulling and travelling. Our acquaintances never believed that ours was an arranged and not a love marriage. Nearly a decade older, my husband didn’t look his age, had boundless energy and was the heart of any party, a true charmer loved by young and old.

But when it was bad, our marriage turned truly horrible. We fought often and very bitterly. Post fifty I’ve realised, that my husband has this mental image of himself of being a ‘good boy’ –  a ‘liberal man’, a ‘man who does household chores without being prompted’, so amongst our friends and family he was thought to be the perfect man. Other women would urge their husbands to be like mine. They never wasted an opportunity to point out how unbelievably lucky I was to land such a catch in the matrimonial market. Of course, I resented this. We fought on the flimsiest issues, and I became the thorn in my husband’s side – the one who questioned his image of the perfect self. Of course, this realisation is all very recent. According to my husband, I am still not obedient enough. I still do not listen enough.

I was impetuous, blurted things out and flew into rages. But within half an hour I would cool down and promptly forget whatever the issue was.  I never bore a grudge. My outspokenness and immaturity landed me in trouble numerous times. Saying sorry never was easy for me. My husband, nine years my senior and wiser, expected my repentance to be instant and the crime to never be repeated. But alas, it was not to be.

Looking back, I’ve come to realise that after every fight, big or small, my husband has emerged victorious. How? Because after every altercation big or small, he meted out his punishment to me, the silent treatment, which not only meant being verbally excommunicated but also extended into the bedroom where he refused to touch me. The span of this punishment became longer in direct proportion to the duration of our marriage, going from a couple of days, to weeks and to months. The phrase ‘bearing a grudge’ took on a whole new meaning.

Nothing had prepared me to deal with this form of punishment. I was a very straightforward and uncomplicated person. Having never seen it in real life, nor read about it in the thousands of tomes I consumed as a voracious reader, nor seen it depicted in any movie, this silent treatment bewildered and hurt me as nothing ever could. I screamed, ranted, cried, begged and literally grovelled, but nothing moved my man. After every small and big fight, surviving the silent treatment was like waiting for the big thaw; when his anger and hurt had subsided enough, and he deemed it fit to smile a little, talk a little and even have sex a little.

Those were the days when I didn’t know of ‘Google Bhagwan’. Never knew that this too was a form of mental abuse, never knew how to seek justice for a punishment so disproportionate to its mistake. I was young, alone in a big metro, no relatives or parents whose shoulder I could cry on and definitely no friend because to everyone else (friends, relatives and peers) I had somehow and most undeservedly got hold of the best man on the planet.

What happened as a result? Lesser and lesser sex. Weeks became months; months became years, years became decades.  Nearly thirty years have passed. And today it’s the norm. I schooled myself to get used to this deprivation. I learnt to stop crying myself to sleep and turn to the other side carefully so that no part of our bodies touch in bed. We got older. From his side love ended, mere tolerance began. Marriage became a routine. Our daughter became old and wise before her time, having been a witness to this complex marriage and learning to adjudicate during our fights.

Somewhere in all this, I think my husband developed erectile dysfunction. We used to know each other’s bodies so well, but now we never talk about this. Perhaps it’s a fear psychosis? As he thinks I have no clue to his problems, he might be scared that if called to perform, he’ll fall flat on his face.  I would still like to be able to kiss or cuddle, just to touch and to feel the warm luxury of intimacy. But foreplay or cuddling without the final act is to him a deposit with no returns hence of no interest.

Sometimes, I blame myself for allowing all this to happen, not being able to seduce my husband, learning the bitter truth about myself so late.  The truth that I may be highly intelligent, very successful in my workplace, fearless and an icon of coolness to the younger generation, but I still couldn’t really keep my man. Menopause came early, creeping on me as I turned forty-five. No hot flushes… no nothing, easy-peasy but it left behind its worst signature – a gain of ten kilos.

Do I need sex? Well, not really but I’d definitely like some. At least once in a while just so that I can remember what the good ol’ days were like. I’m dry as a desert. Never tried lubrication, never tried a vibrator, where’s the need? I’m great at fantasising if I’m feeling a real need. But deep down there is a sense of shame and a sense of worthlessness because for me my sex life ended before I really understood its importance or experienced its full possibilities or just, really got down to enjoying it.

Why do I stay and still put up with this? Because even today I love my husband, I haven’t met a man better than him or more interesting than him.

And then as the rhyme goes: when we are good we are still very very good (sans the sex part).

Anamika M is a storyteller, bookworm, traveller and movie addict who’s trying to follow her heart where it takes her.

The post For 25 Years I’ve Stayed Faithful To A Husband Who Refused Me Sex appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

There is no constitutional validity to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The Delhi High Court said as much when it read down the archaic law in its verdict in 2009. But when the Supreme Court reinstated the law in the 2013 Suresh Kumal Koushal vs. Naz Foundation judgment, the battle began anew.

As of now, a total of six petitions before the apex court. They were filed by classical dancer Navtej Singh Johar, trans activist Akkai Padmashali, The Lalit Group’s executive director Keshav Suri, activist Arif Jafar, activist Ashok Rao Kavi (who the first man to come out in India), and finally student Anwesh Pokkuluri. The hearings began on July 10, before a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Each lawyer appearing on behalf of the petitioners is charged with the task of removing the obsolete and oppressive law from the books. And here’s how they’re doing so far:

It Doesn’t Belong In The 21st Century

The contexts in which this law was made had to be highlighted. Nearly every advocate emphasised the Victorian morality that fed Section 377. Its validity was also questioned, since it is a pre-Constitutional law. On the bench, Justice Chandrachud responded that the court might not have the same deference for laws made in the absence of Parliamentary will, since they did not reflect the democratic spirit of India.

Advocate Arvind Datar added that had Section 377 been framed today, it would never have been passed, simply because it violates Articles 15 of our Constitution (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth) as well as Article 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and Article 21 (the right to life and liberty).

What The Words Stand For

Unnatural offenses. Against the order of nature. The two most common reprimands that form the core of Section 377. Time and again, the 19th century anti-sodomy and anti-bestiality law is used to harass, blackmail, abuse, arrest or extort money from LGBTQ Indians (specifically men, as Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi said).

As an example, Senior Advocate Anand Grover brought up the tragic death of Ramchandra Siras, a professor at Aligarh Muslim University. He further argued that the law was too vaguely worded. In theory, anything that is not a penile-vaginal sexual act with the purpose of procreation is a criminal offense. Oral sex, anal sex, fellatio, even using a sex toy. In theory, it should cover heterosexual partners as well, but it primarily used against same-sex partners.

Making note of this unfairness, Justice Rohinton Nariman recognised that what people call “the order of nature” changes over time. He further gives us hope saying that for a ‘sexual minority’, who they are is already something nature intended. Justice Indu Malhotra too questioned the idea that homosexuality is “unnatural”, when it is present in 150 species of animals. Advocate Menaka Guruswamy also argued that the Indian Psychiatric Society had rubbished the notion that homosexuality is unnatural.

Whether Within The Bedroom…

In his historic Right to Privacy judgement (2017), Justice Chandrachud wrote that the persecuted and marginalised LGBTQ community would be protected under this Fundamental Right. This alone plays a huge role in the awaited Sec. 377 judgment. But privacy is only one side of the coin. Our queerness is only as private as our ethnicity; it’s not. Advocate Shyam Divan also added that though you cannot tell a queer person on sight, as soon as their identity is disclosed they become targets.

…Or Beyond The Bedroom

Which is why we mustn’t try to understand ‘sexual identity’ purely in terms of sex. In such a vacuum, it is difficult to see how a single aspect of a composite individual becomes fuel for discrimination. The advocates explained that a person’s sexual orientation is, in our society, tightly wound up with issues like personal safety, employment, right to property, inheritance, equal benefits in marriage, adoption and more. Which is why Datar argued that Section 377 does not simply criminalise a sexual act, but an entire class of people.

Real Lives Hang In The Balance

Three advocates brought the ground reality before the Bench. Datar spoke of an incident when an airline package (where a person’s spouse to travel for free) was refused to a patron with a same sex partner.

Advocate Jayna Kothari spoke of a client who is a trans woman. She said that any sexual act between her and her husband made them vulnerable to Section 377.

And Guruswamy, appearing on behalf of ex-IIT students, drew the court’s attention to the discrimination they had faced.

The Precedents We’ve Set

What argument is complete without drawing on important judgments in the past that have changed things for the better? In addition to the Right to Privacy, Rohatgi held up the Supreme Court of Nepal’s decision to overturn anti-LGBTQ laws in 2007. He also cited the US Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence Vs. Texas – to decriminalise homosexuality.

Likewise, advocate Saurabh Kirpal made his argument relying on the Shakti Vahini case, which protected the right to choose your partner.

In her turn, Guruswamy invoked a Canadian judgment, which had relied upon a pro-LGBTQ verdict of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. And in Datar’s he brought up Trinidad and Tobago, which had relied on our Privacy judgment to strike down their own law homophobic law

The advocates also invoked the NALSA judgment (2014), which recognised “the third gender” and their rights. In the aftermath of this, said Guruswamy, trans persons ran for public offices and earned those positions as well. If, as Rohatgi too argued, India was trying to right by the ‘T’ of ‘LGBTQ’, then why not the whole community?

Where Do We Go Now?

Datar reminded them of the 172nd Law Commission report where the Union of India was requested to repeal Section 377. Change is inevitable.

Guruswamy pushed for the word “sex” in Article 15 to include sexual orientation as well. And that because Section 377 violated right to form an association under Article 19, it had to go. Despite ASG Tushar Mehta’s protestations, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman listened closely.

Advocate Krishnan Venugopal argued for right to freedom of expression – dress, choosing partners, personality, even artistic expression.

Guruswamy bought up the Domestic Violence Act, which recognises live-in relationships, but exclusively covers opposite-sex couples.

In light of this, Chief Justice Misra said “A declaration to this effect that section 377 is unconstitutional will remove the ‘ancillary disqualification’ for people joining services or contesting elections. It will also no longer be seen as a moral turpitude or a crime.”

We Are At A Critical Crossroads

While optimism and morale is high, we must anticipate one of two outcomes, perhaps best represented by two people. One is advocate Ashok Desai, who brought books like Ruth Vanita’s “Same Sex Love in India” and Devdutt Pattanaik’s “I Am Divine”, evidence of queerness in India’s past and present. The other is ASG Tushar Mehta, who called them “obscene” and “scandalous”.

The end of this two decade long battle is night. Now all that remains is to see which viewpoint our country will become bound to.

The post This Is The Final Chapter Against Sec 377: Here’s What Went Down In Court appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

By Jennifer Bussell:

What are the effects of affirmative action policies? To what extent do such policies sufficiently address the injustices that years of discrimination have imposed on specific groups within a society? In “Social Justice Through Inclusion”, Francesca Jensenius takes on the difficult but important task of answering these questions. Through the example of reservations in electoral constituencies for members of India’s scheduled caste (SC) groups, she sheds important new light on the differential effects that such policies may have on members of the groups targeted by these policies.

The empirical context for Jensenius’ analysis is India’s state legislative assemblies, which, since 1950, have utilized quotas to ensure that members of scheduled caste groups hold a portion of legislative seats. Overall, 15% of India’s state legislators are elected from SC “reserved” constituencies. While reservations for constituencies were initially intended to last for only 10 years, they have been retained indefinitely. In this book, Jensenius sets out to examine the implications of this extensive, and extended, history of affirmative action.

In this review, I touch on what I see as three major contributions of the book: the conceptual framework Jensenius develops for thinking about the potential effects of legislative reservation policies, her remarkable collection and use of empirical evidence on the effects of quotas, and a number of specific and particularly interesting findings. I conclude with a consideration of what further work might be done to build on these important insights.

Jensenius’ primary argument, as I see it, rests on an important conceptual distinction between the possible goals of policies that are designed to promote social justice. While many assume that the goal of affirmative action policies for elected officials is group representation, specifically the descriptive representation that results from having a member of one’s group in elected office, she argues that this is not the only possible goal. Policies may instead be designed (implicitly or explicitly) in ways that promote group integration.

The key distinction here, using her findings in the Indian case as an example, “is that the quotas have brought to power SC politicians who look and behave similarly to other politicians—not SC politicians who focus on working for the interests of the SC community.” Thus, individuals who are elected via a quota system designed in a manner that promotes integration will become a part of the political system in ways that might well have been impossible without quotas. These SC representatives, then, like their fellow legislators, support policies that respond to the needs of the population at large — or their voting base — rather than only their co-ethnics. This distinction also clarifies the importance of considering the effects of policies on elites versus the general public or, more specifically, on the politicians themselves or on voters.

Jensenius combines this discussion with attention to Fraser’s three aspects of social justice upon which we might expect affirmative action policies to have effects: redistribution, political participation, and recognition. Any one policy may have effects on none, some, or all of these dimensions, and for either or both elites and the general public. Her argument, then, is that we should not necessarily expect to see strong effects of reservations on all aspects of social justice and for all members of a targeted group. In the specific case of India, where, she suggests, reservation policies for elected office have been designed in a manner that promotes integration, rather than representation, we should expect effects on political participation and recognition, not on redistribution. Additionally, as effects in society are mediated by effects at the elite level, we are more likely to observe changes in outcomes for elected SC politicians themselves, with potentially more moderated positive effects for SC voters.

To test these expectations, Jensenius marshals a substantial collection of constituency and sub-constituency-level data in India’s 15 major states, on measures of the three forms of social justice, for both politicians and voters, primarily over the period 1974 to 2007, in which the assignment of reserved constituencies across India’s states remained constant. In order to make the strongest possible inferences, she evaluates outcomes across not only the full set of constituencies in these states but also a smaller set of matched constituencies, which offer the closest possible approximation to the random assignment of reservations. The magnitude of work that went into creating these datasets, and the contribution they offer to the broader public of India scholars, cannot be overstated (I am one of many who has already utilized a portion of these data in my own work).

Jensenius’ meticulous efforts pay dividends that are evident immediately in the empirical chapters. In addition, she combines these quantitative data sources with rich insights from detailed and extensive qualitative work, based on substantial time in the field with Indian politicians. If there is a limitation to this work, it is the lack of discussion in the main text of why she chose particular states for her qualitative work and how she identified politicians for interviews. These types of details would be quite useful both for evaluating the generalizability of the qualitative insights and for guiding future researchers interested in using a similar methodology. Overall, however, this mixed-method approach offers a unique and needed view into the lives and work of Indian legislators.

The empirical analyses are organized according to the main categories of the conceptual framework, alternating between effects on elites and on the general public. This structure works quite well for comparing outcomes, though I think Jensenius could have been even more explicit about returning to the framework and the existing expectations in the literature in each chapter. Because the findings are often contrary to what a casual observer of such policies might expect, it is worth emphasizing the areas in which findings do depart from such expectations.

Overall, the key finding of the book, as hinted above, is that reservation policies for Indian state legislators have their most striking effects on legislators themselves, rather than the general public. SC politicians become substantially better represented within legislatures — by default due to the reservations — and are nominated across all of the major parties, though this effect generally does not extend beyond reserved constituencies. SC legislators have gained political skills and increased their likelihood of rerunning for office and gaining cabinet positions, though not to the same extent as legislators from general constituencies. And SC legislators have faced substantially reduced forms of discrimination, with interviewees often noting that people would not dare to treat them in the discriminatory manner historically experienced by SC individuals.

Yet, for the most part, these same outcomes are not experienced by SC voters in reserved constituencies, compared to their peers in general constituencies. They do not feel better represented by their co-ethnics, they have not fared better as measured by socio-economic indicators, and they experience more limited reductions in discrimination than do their representatives. This does not mean that the status of SCs in the general public has not improved over this period, but we cannot attribute any observed improvements directly to the presence of reservations for SCs in the state legislatures.

Beyond this important, overall finding, I want to note a few other insights that emerge from the empirical analysis, which are worthy of further consideration. First, Jensenius highlights a recent trend by political parties in India to nominate women in SC reserved constituencies. She notes that this may be due in part to an expectation that reservations for women may be imposed at some point in the near future. Even if this is not the case, the shift in reservations does suggest that parties are responding to some pressure to nominate more women, but they are doing so by placing women in SC reserved seats. As a result, as she notes, female SC candidates are displacing male SC candidates, rather than general caste male candidates. Elite non-SC male politicians thereby limit the distributive effects of changes in nomination patterns by retaining the largest possible portion of seats for themselves. The implications of this strategy for our thinking about the role of women in Indian politics are worth exploring in greater detail.

Second, Jensenius employs a detailed and important analysis of cabinet nominations that is quite unique in studies of Indian politics, the type of which I suggest we need many more. Through an evaluation of cabinets across all of the states in her analysis over 30 years, and an even more detailed examination of all cabinet posts in Uttar Pradesh over the same period, she highlights the general allocation to SCs of the less prominent (and lucrative) postings, though the quality of postings has improved over time. This shows not only that SCs are not yet on par with their peers in terms of cabinet positions, as Jensenius notes, but also that, again, non-SC politicians are strategically retaining for themselves posts that are likely to offer them the greatest monetary and other resources for furthering their personal status and political careers.

Finally, and perhaps more optimistically, Jensenius identifies an important trend in the political skills of SC legislators. In an analysis of turnout in reserved and non-reserved constituencies, she shows that while turnout did drop in reserved constituencies just after reservations were instated, this gap narrowed over time. Drawing on survey evidence, she suggests that lower turnout is not due to voter discontent with their position in a reserved constituency, but rather with the skill of SC politicians, or lack thereof, in mobilizing individuals to vote. As politicians in reserved constituencies gained skills over time, they, like their peers in non-reserved constituencies, have been able to mobilize voters and thereby improve turnout levels. This is one particularly nice example of the dynamics highlighted in earlier parts of the book, in which SC politicians have substantially improved in their ability to function as legislators.

In closing, I’d like to highlight the need for continued research on two possible additional effects of reservations on caste-based discrimination in the general population. First, while Jensenius considers the risk of backlash from reservations, there is little discussion in the text of violence as a particular form of backlash. It would be useful to extend the discussion of discrimination to forms violence that have historically been inflicted on scheduled castes, so as to understand whether or not there have been improvements, or worsening, in conditions of violence not measured here.

Second, Jensenius’ findings at times hint at differential effects within the scheduled caste population, as individuals from certain castes acquire political office at potentially higher rates than those from others. Further exploration of the ways in which existing biases leak into the reservation system, thereby potentially increasing inequalities within the broadly defined group of scheduled castes, could offer important insights that build nicely on the foundation laid by Jensenius in this text.

Overall, this is an important book that forces us to redirect our expectations about the likely outcomes of affirmative action policies and, in so doing, to recognize the importance of institutional design in determining these outcomes. Reservations, in and of themselves, do not ensure the eradication of years of injustice against certain groups. In particular, reservations for political office designed in ways that encourage group integration, rather than representation, are likely to be limited in their effects on a number of dimensions. Yet, Jensenius’ work goes a long way in helping us to see how these types of policies may encourage changes that can directly benefit some individuals, while indirectly affecting the lives of many others.

About the author: Jennifer Bussell is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research concerns the comparative politics of developing countries, with an emphasis on India. In her forthcoming book, Clients and Constituents: Political Responsiveness in Patronage Democracies, she examines the role of high-level politicians in providing non-partisan constituency service to citizens across India and the world.

Purchase the book on Amazon here

Visit Francesca Jensenius’ page here

Visit Jennifer Bussell’s page here

This article was originally published on GU India Ink.

The post Why And How Electoral Reservation Only Benefits Politicians And Not Voters appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

After drawing flak over the alleged misuse of the Bihar’s stringent liquor ban policy, Nitish Kumar’s government on July 11 acceded to the proposed amendments in the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

The proposed amendments, expected to be tabled during the monsoon session beginning July 20, will dilute the existing provisions, including the arrest of first-time offenders, seizure of house or vehicle where liquor is found, and arrest of all adult members of an offender’s family.

Once the amendments are brought in, the first time violation will be a bailable and non-cognisable offence, the second-time or subsequent offenders will be liable to two to five years of imprisonment, and the much-criticised provision to “arrest of all adults in offender’s family” is expected to be abolished. Imposition of a ₹50,000 fine on first-time offenders has also been proposed.

While the liquor ban saw mixed results in the state, locals and researchers have claimed that the ban has largely been counterproductive and it needs more than piecemeal amendments. They believe that it was a politically motivated move and has eventually turned into an anti-people policy.

“Such reforms need proper social engineering. All the stakeholders like Panchayats, consumers, manufacturers, carriers, schools, among many others, have to be made part of such a social movement. You can’t just throw people inside jails for consuming alcohol. It’s a social issue and has to be dealt with holistically. Behavioural changes can never be brought by such draconian moves. This anti-people law needs more than amendments,” argued D. M. Diwakar, social scientist and professor of economics at Patna-based A. N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies.

Good politics, shoddy implementation

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar introduced the stringent prohibition law in April 2016 to please his strong women voters who had expressed their concerns over rampant domestic violence by their husbands under the influence of alcohol. The prohibition law, which has cost the state exchequer about ₹5,000 crore annually, has been widely criticised for punishing the carriers and ‘poor’ consumers of the liquor while manufacturers, distributors, and influential people have been spared.

“The law was introduced to bring positive social change. It did have some positive outcomes but the government has exaggerated its outcomes. In reality, people from poor and backward classes have suffered the most. Jails are flooded with casual labourers, rickshaw-pullers, etc. But, MLAs, big businessmen, and liquor mafia have been largely untouched by the law,” pointed out Diwakar.

According to official police data, over 1.4 lakh people have been booked under the liquor law ever since it was implemented in April 2016. Over 90% of those arrested under the law belong to SC, OBC and EBC community. Unable to pay the fine or ‘strike a deal with police officials’, many of them are facing the brunt of the government’s crackdown.

“In close to 90% of the appeals that are filed daily in the court in connection with liquor cases the petitioners are from a very poor background. They don’t have the money to send their kids to schools, how can they pay a fine of ₹50,000. Some manage to get the amount but around 70% don’t,” revealed Murari Kumar Himanshu, Gaya-based lawyer and member of Bihar State Bar Council.

Rise and rise of liquor mafia

Under the present Act, anyone found brewing, keeping, selling or exporting liquor can be sentenced to a 10-year prison sentence, in addition to a ₹1 lakh fine. Furthermore, anyone found drinking is liable to a five to seven-year sentence plus a fine that could range from ₹1- 7 lakh.

Despite such stringent crackdowns, there’s still very high demand, availability and supply of liquor in the state. While liquor cannot be manufactured and sold in the state legally, there’s a steady supply of alcohol through illegal routes. The official government data reveals that 5 lakh litres of foreign-made liquor was recovered from April 5, 2016, till March 31, 2017. This figure shot up to 6 lakh from April 2017, to end of October 2017.

According to locals, a pouch of country-made liquor that used to cost ₹10-15 now is easily sold for ₹60-100. A bottle of popular IMFL brand liquor that earlier would cost around ₹500-700 is being sold for ₹1,200-1,400.

Lawyers and social researchers claim that ever since the prohibition law came into force the state has become a hotbed for liquor mafia. Many top police officials are hand-in-gloves with manufacturers and distributors from bordering states of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. Speaking to Youth Ki Awaaz, sources claimed that police officers are raking huge cash through cut-commision basis for allowing smuggling of the alcohol in the state.

“Liquor mafia has become as strong as sand mafia in the state. It’s the new income source for the police officials. They straight away ask for their commission failing to which they put the person behind bars. They take hefty bribes and keep a certain portion of the consignment, which is either consumed by them or supplied directly to influential people in the state,” Murari noted.

Reiterating Murari’s observation, a Patna-based lawyer, who didn’t want to be named, said, “There’s Manjhi police station in Chhapra district that shares borders with neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Police officials are paying hefty bribes to be transferred there. Many police officials there have accumulated huge wealth ever since liquor ban policy kicked in.”

The post Bihar’s ‘Anti-People’ Liquor Ban Needs More Than The Proposed Amendments appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

“We have 108 students. Till now, we haven’t received the uniforms for the students. We received only ₹5,000. It was spent on fencing the perimeter of the school. We could not even construct our kitchen. The tea estate management do take enrollment but all in vain,” says the headmaster of a primary school located in a tea estate of Dibrugarh.

The kitchen is more like a 10×8 ft shanty made of bamboo sticks and hay. Branches of tree and wood are used to cook food. But this Friday, perhaps the cook is absent. Mrs Gunamoni Tanti says she was asked to leave by the headmaster as he was unable to pay her salary due to financial crunch. On the other hand, a mid-day meal worker in a tea estate in Golaghat was beaten up by the teachers of her school because the food she cooked fell short. In our society, two professions have always remained ostracized viz. safai karmacharis (waste pickers) and randhan karmis (mid-day meal workers).

In the year 1995, the Government of India issued a gazetted notification for the implementation of mid-day meal programme in Government-run schools. In Assam, the mid-day meal programme was implemented in the year 2005 when Government of Assam sent a circular to all Government schools directing them to appoint two mid-day meal workers for the same. Since 2003, the government used to give rice and dal to students which they would take home. Thus, there was no provision for cooking in the school and feeding students during lunchtime.

How were the mid-day meal workers appointed?

When the implementation of this programme was initiated, the school managing committee called for a meeting of parents. They came to a conclusion that two women from the group of parents will be appointed by the school to cook the mid-day meal for the students. Due to this, hundreds of adivasi women got employed as mid-day meal workers in the Government-run schools that are established across the tea estates in Assam. In 2005 and 2006, according to the circular, for every student, a mid-day meal worker was entitled to get 30 paise. The quality of education in Government schools was poor, therefore there were hardly any students. So, a mid-day meal worker used to earn an average of ₹3 per day. The amount increased to 40 paise in the year 2007. Asha Tanti, a mid-day meal worker from Tengakhat, says, “The circular clearly stated that mid-day meal must be prepared 20 days a month that is from Monday to Friday but in reality, the payment was not consistent. The mid-day meal workers used to receive wages only for 12 days or 15 days.”

How much does a mid-day meal worker earn?

In the year 2009, from the month of December, the Government of India decided to give ₹1,000 to mid-day meal workers as a fixed salary every month. While ₹900 would be paid by the Government of India, ₹100 would be paid by the respective state governments. Almost 10 years down the line, the mid-day meal workers still get ₹1,000 for their service. Junali Sawashi, a mid-day worker cooking mid-day meals since 2011 says, “Every month, our salaries are credited in the bank account of the school. So, we have to run to the headmaster and beg in front of him so that he can withdraw the amount from the school’s account and give it to us. When we go to him, he denies receiving the amount in the bank account and asks us to pay for his visit to the bank. There are cases when a headmaster calls a mid-day meal worker to their homes, and make her do all his household chores before paying her her hard-earned money.”

There are cases where mid-day meal workers were dismissed from their jobs at the end of the month, and fabricated charges were levelled against them like stealing raw materials for food or cooking poor quality food. Most of the time, these charges remain a mere accusation with no proof to validate them. Junali adds, “Amidst all this, it’s not wrong to say that the price of all necessary goods has risen by ten times since 2009, yet not a penny has been increased in our salary till date. We have to take care of our families with that ₹1,000.”

Furthermore, the workers don’t even get paid for two months a year when schools remain closed for holidays.

What does a mid-day worker do?

Kalpana Mura, a mid-day meal worker who recently joined a Government school at Tipling, says, “We go to the school at 9 AM, sweep the classrooms, clean the benches and boards, put water in the filter, clean and chop vegetables, cook food, clean the dining area, serve food to the children on time, wash plates and utensils, clean the kitchen and dining area. We work for 5-6 hours a day.”

Since wood is used as fuel, there is always the fear of things catching fire. If a mid-day meal worker meets with an accident during her work, there is no compensation from the school managing committee. Also, even though mid-day meal workers are mostly women, there are no maternity leaves. Expecting pension or post-retirement benefits are just beyond their wildest dreams. Thus, these working conditions make mid-day meal workers extremely vulnerable.

Last year, Assam witnessed Gunotsav which Government of Assam organized to increase the standard of government schools. Therefore, ministers and MLAs went to various government schools to do a reality check. During this period, many mid-day meal workers thought that if they can impress those ministers and MLAs with their work, then perhaps their efforts will be noticed and the Government will take measures for their welfare. Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma, Education Minister of the Government of Assam, lauded their exemplary efforts. He sat and ate with the students during one of his visits to a government school and stated that all the students who come from underprivileged families come to school not only for education but also for food. It was then decided that his government will also provide breakfast along with the mid-day meals at noon. It was then decided that his government will also provide breakfast along with the mid-day meals at noon. But what about the mid-day meal workers who worked relentlessly for hours on end? The policies about their welfare are missing from the dialogue of reforms in the state’s government schools.

Sanjay Bari, an activist who has been working for the welfare of mid-day meal workers, says, “In a government school located in a tea estate of Golaghat, two mid-day meal workers cooked food and fed the students. After the students ate, the food fell short; so they did not call the teachers and the headmaster to eat. Next day morning, two teachers yelled at the two mid-day meal workers. When the mid-day meal workers tried to defend themselves, the angry teachers took up canes and thrashed them mercilessly. We filed a case against the perpetrators, but the police called up the victims and threatened them. Eventually, we filed a complaint with the sub-divisional officer.”

Why are mid-day meal workers so vulnerable?

According to the mid-day meal scheme of the Government, the school managing committee is given the authority to appoint mid-day meal workers. So, a mid-day meal worker does not receive any appointment from the Government. Every payment goes through the school management committee which is headed by the headmaster. Chitra Rajbongshi, a trade union leader of All Assam Mid-Day Meal Workers Union, says, “A mid-day meal worker has to do her work very cautiously because she knows very well that her work must not disappoint any members of the school managing committee. Even a small mistake can halt her payment or lead to termination of her work.”

At a time when there is a dialogue for increasing minimum wage and improving the standard of living of the most marginalized section of our society, the welfare of mid-day meal workers must be penned in our agenda of social development. It calls for a greater debate if women are spending 5-6 hours a day, earning a meagre amount of ₹1000 a month to support their families, are compensated for their efforts. There are families where a mid-day meal worker is the sole bread earner for a family of 4-5 members. The need of the hour is that the governments, civil society groups, advocates for labour laws and human rights watch groups come together to formulate a holistic policy for the welfare of the mid-day meal workers.

(Sumantra Mukherjee is a National Media Fellow, and this article is a part of his work which is supported by National Foundation for India.)

The post From Poor Salary To Terrible Working Conditions: The Plight Of Mid-day Meal Workers In Assam appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

The Supreme Court hearings on the constitutional validity of Section 377 began on July 10, and since then, ten advocates have appeared before the five-judge Constitutional Bench, representing activists, artists, and civil society members demanding the end of Section 377. At the risk of sounding dramatic, what we see now is that the rights of the LGBTQ community lie in the hands of these 10 lawyers. Let’s get to know them.

Mukul Rohatgi

The former Attorney General of India was recently appointed as “eminent jurist” on a panel that will appoint members of the Lokpal (a central anti-corruption body). In 2015, he was (rather accidentally) the first to argue in the Supreme Court that the Right to Privacy was not, in fact, guaranteed under the Constitution.

He is appearing for petitioner and classical dancer Navtej Singh Johar.

Anand Grover

A founding member of Lawyers Collective, Grover was among the group of lawyers who tried their best to delay the execution of Yakub Memon, who was suspected to be involved in the 1993 Bombay bombings. His legal activism on HIV-related cases began in the late 80s, and he was the lawyer who won the Delhi High Court case against Section 377 in 2009.

In these hearings, he is appearing for activists Arif Jafar and Ashok Row Kavi, as well as Naz Foundation (who filed the first petition in 2001).

Arvind Datar

The prominent Madras High Court advocate had his beginnings as a tax lawyer and is now one of the biggest names in corporate law. He has published articles, books on Central Excise, and edited an important compendium on the Companies Act. He has been a strong voice against the way the GST was being rolled out, all at once rather than in phases. Datar has also opposed foreign lawyers coming into India to practice.

Datar is appearing for Keshav Suri, head of The Lalit group of hotels, and an openly gay figure.

Menaka Guruswamy

The first Indian to have her portrait displayed at the the Rhodes House, Oxford University, Guruswamy has said “[her] heart is in constitutional law”. he Harvard graduate has also been a Human Rights Consultant for the UN. She has fought a PIL case (filed by Cabinet minister T. S. R. Subramaniam) on the Right to Education, defending the provision that all private schools should take in disadvantaged children. Guruswamy has also fought a case against the Salwa Judum, the state-sponsored militia in Chattisgarh. In 2016, the Supreme Court appointed her amicus curiae in a case concerning fake encounters and extra-judicial killings in Manipur.

She is appearing for IIT students, graduates and alumni.

Chandra Uday Singh

Singh has also responded to foreign lawyers practising in India, saying the Advocates’ Act must firmly regulate any in-flow. With respect to Section 377, the senior advocate said striking down the law was not enough. What was needed was a declaration against orientation-based discrimination. Singh also brought up affirmative action, as a measure used to mainstream marginalised communities.

He is appearing on an intervention application.

Jayna Kothari

A founding member of the Centre for Law and Policy Research in Bangalore, Kothari’s practice has been around the Right to Education, health and housing, gender, disability rights, and environmental law. She has also written a book about disability law in India. Earlier this year, Kothari appeared for the Bengaluru based Child Rights Trust in a case to make the laws against child marriage stronger.

She is appearing for noted trans rights activist Akkai Padmashali.

Krishnan Venugopal

He has raised the fact that Section 377 denies the LGBTQ community the freedom of expression granted to them by the Indian Constitution.

He is appearing for academicians from Central Universities based in Delhi.

Shyam Divan

Divan’s gig is mainly civil litigation across banking, securities law, arbitration, administrative law and environmental law. In January this year, the Supreme Court advocate made strong arguments against the Aadhar card. He has said it “seeks to tether every resident of India to an electronic leash.” In a case against illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka, he was appointed amicus curiae.

He is appearing on behalf of intervenors Voices Against 377.

Saurabh Kirpal

Following the vicious misuse of Section 66A of the IT Act, when Shreya Singhal filed a case which would become one of India’s biggest free-speech judgments, and Kirpal was among the team of lawyers that made it happen.

Kirpal is also appearing for Navtej Singh Johar.

Ashok Desai

Active during the Emergency, Desai was chief consultant in the finance ministry in 1991-93, and Attorney General of India between 1996 and 1998. When theatre actor and playwright Vijay Tendulkar was banned from staging his play “Sakharam Binder”, Desai worked with a team of lawyers to get a stay. The eminent lawyer has been praised by former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman (before whom Desai argued that Section 377 has “created utter chaos”).

He has been Legal Correspondent at Times of India.

The post Meet The Fierce Lawyers Fighting To Bring Down Section 377 appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.