Category Archives: Everyday Life

Under the sign of security – Why the bogey of ‘the illegal Bangladeshi immigrant’ is so powerful across urban Indian homes: Sahana Ghosh & Rimple Mehta

Guest Post by SAHANA GHOSH & RIMPLE MEHTA

From the night of July 11 when Zohra Bibi did not return home to the evening of July 16 when union minister Mahesh Sharma, member of parliament for Gautam Budh Nagar, UP met with residents of Mahagun Moderne, much has transpired. Promptly after the minister’s assurances of ‘justice’ and even retribution to the flat-owners, the settlement of tin walled shacks in which Zohra Bibi and other workers like her lived with their families was demolished the next day. Many of the ‘facts’ of the matter remain disputed – while Zohra Bibi maintains that she neither admitted to the theft of cash nor hid in the basement of the building, the allegation that her employers Harshu and Mitul Sethi harassed and detained her, confiscating her mobile phone is denied by them. Meanwhile, thirteen men, a majority of them Bengali Muslims from West Bengal, arrested from the workers’ settlement are denied bail on the charge of attempted murder on the might of three FIRs filed by residents of Mahagun Moderne and languish in judicial custody. The Noida police are yet to commence any investigation of the Sethis as required by the FIR filed by Zohra Bibi and her husband Abdul Sattar. What does this language of the riot, of murderous mobs with which residents of the swanky apartment complex took to social media with #MaldainNoida accomplish? As security cards, required by domestic and other workers to enter the gated community, were revoked for 80-odd workers under the cry of ‘ban the Bangladeshi maid’, the bogey of the illegal Bangladeshi immigrant reared its ugly head. Continue reading Under the sign of security – Why the bogey of ‘the illegal Bangladeshi immigrant’ is so powerful across urban Indian homes: Sahana Ghosh & Rimple Mehta

Have Indian Muslims become the new ‘Make in India’ Punching Bag? Sabiha Farhat

Guest Post by Sabiha Farhat

[ A month ago from yesterday, a teenager called Junaid was lynched and murdered on a train in Haryana. Sabiha Farhat writes in the wake of visiting his house and meeting his family. The news cycles may have moved on to other stories, but we need to keep remembering Junaid, and why he was killed. – Kafila]

Once upon a time there  was a 15 year old boy called Hamid, who went shopping on the day of Eid with his Eidi .  A few days ago there was Junaid who went shopping on the eve of Eid.  Premchand’s Hamid was an orphan and lived with his grandmother in extreme poverty.  Junaid lived surrounded with love of his brothers, a sister, a doting mother, father and friends. Instead of the old, decrepit house of Hamid,  Junaid’s house has two rooms, it is not falling apart but it’s size and unplastered walls, do speak about the economic condition of his family.

As we approached Khandawli, Junaid’s village in Ballabhgarh a fear gripped me.  I did not have the courage to walk upto the house.  Junaid was brutally murdered on 22nd and here I was on 25th.  It was too soon, my mind said.  I should have let Eid pass.  But how could I have prepared Sewai in my house when a mother like myself had lost a young, healthy, happy child to hindutva fanatics?  I am a mother, I was angry and ashamed at home. And here, standing outside Junaid’s door, I was weak and helpless. Useless too.

Continue reading Have Indian Muslims become the new ‘Make in India’ Punching Bag? Sabiha Farhat

No Flag Large Enough – Jubilation in India and Collateral Damage in Kashmir

The recent incident of violence that led to the death of a police officer, DSP Ayub Pandith, was condemned by all kinds of people in Kashmir, as well as elsewhere. It prompted introspection, sadness and regret – like any tragedy of this nature should.

Yesterday two unarmed civilians, Tahira Begum, a forty three year old woman and a young man called Shahdab Ahmed Chopan of Brenty Batapora Village in Anantnag district in South Kashmir were killed along with two Kashmiri combatants (Bashir Ahmed Lashkari and another person who may or may not be called Abu Maz) in the course of a joint operation by the 19th Rasthriya Rifles of the Indian Army, CRPF and the Special Operations Group of Jammu & Kashmir police.

Continue reading No Flag Large Enough – Jubilation in India and Collateral Damage in Kashmir

After #NotinMyName at Jantar Mantar on June 28: Sanjay Kak for NotinMyName, Delhi

Guest Post by Sanjay Kak, for  #Notinmyname / Statement from Not In My Name, Delhi

Last evening’s (June 28th) spirited protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, under the banner of Not In My Name, was an autonomous citizens protest against the recent spate of targeted lynchings of Muslims in India – the most recent of 16 year old Junaid, stabbed to death on 23 June 2017 in Delhi (NCR).
For an audience that was estimated to be 3500 strong, the torrential downpour at a little past 8 pm may have rained out a part of the programme. But something remarkable had already been achieved: the evening had washed away, even if temporarily, an almost overwhelming sense of despondency, of hopelessness, and of fear. 


Since the Not In My Name protest had announced that the platform was not meant for political parties, and their banners and slogans, the stage saw the marked absence of the speeches (and faces) of routine protest meetings at Jantar Mantar. Rhetoric was displaced by feeling, and it was left to the poets and musicians to carry the sharp political messages of the day. On an evening that was often very emotional, the most difficult moments came when a group of young men from Junaid and Pehlu Khan’s extended families (and residents from their respective villages) came on stage and spoke to the audience.

When the call for a protest meeting went out last Sunday we were hoping that a few hundred people would gather to express their outrage at what is happening around us. For the attacks on Muslims are part of a pattern of incidents that targets Dalits, Adivasis, and other disadvantaged and minority groups across the country. In almost all these incidents the possibilities of justice seem remote, as the families of the victims are dragged into procedures they are ill-equipped to handle. Through all these heinous crimes the Government has maintained a silence, a gesture that is being read as the acquiescence of all Indians.

Not In My Name aimed to break that silence. But the scale and spirit of the protest meeting at Jantar Mantar became amplified many times over, as similar gatherings were spontaneously announced all over the country. As word spread through social media, groups in 19 other locations announced Not In My Name protests, and this phenomenal synergy inevitably drew media attention to all the events, and gave the protest a solidarity and scale that was truly unprecedented – there were at least 4 protests in cities abroad too. (And more protests have been announced for later this week…) The protest meeting ran on the shoulders of a group of volunteers who managed to put together everything in less than four days. No funds were received (or solicited) for the expenses from any political party, NGO, or institution. Instead volunteers worked the crowd and our donation boxes received everything – from Rs 10 coins to currency notes of Rs 2000, and everything in between.

Citizens hold placards during a silent protest Not in My Name against the targeted lynching, at Janter Manter in New delhi on wednesday. Photo by Parveen Negi/Mail Today, June 28, 2017

The impact of the Not In My Name protest at Jantar Mantar yesterday only points to the importance of a focused politics to deal with the crisis this country seems to be enveloped by. Less than a day after the protests Prime Minister Modi broke his silence on the matter of lynchings. It could not have been a coincidence: speaking in Ahmedabad he said killing in the name of gau bhakti is unacceptable. But to protect the life of a 16 year old being brutalised in a train needs more than a tweet, and we all wait and watch.

This fight has just begun. In the days to come the exceptional solidarity attracted by the protest in New Delhi will have to become less exceptional, and more everyday.


Sanjay Kak is a filmmaker and writer based in Delhi.

The #NotinMyName protests, which began in a response to a Facebook post uploaded by Delhi filmmaker Saba Dewan, have since taken place in more than twelve cities in India, and also in the UK, USA and Pakistan. More protests, under the #NotinMyName tag, as well as independently of it are being planned by citizens groups, organizations and individuals in many places.

Tomorrow, July 2nd, 2017 will see a sit in at Jantar Mantar from 11 in the morning, at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi called by families, individuals and panchayats from Nuh, Ballabhgarh and Faridabad, they will be joined by students, activists and other individuals.

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Why Two Hundred Ordinary Hindus Did Not See A Dead Muslim Child On A Railway Station In North India

On 22 June 2017 fifteen-year old Hafiz Junaid was stabbed to death on a Mathura-bound train from New Delhi. He was traveling home for Eid with his brothers and two friends. A dispute over seats resulted in a group of men repeatedly assaulting and stabbing Junaid and his companions. The assailants flung their bodies onto the Asoti railway platform. A crowd gathered. At some point an ambulance was called and two bodies were taken away. Junaid is dead. His companions are in critical condition. While one person has been arrested the police investigations are running into a wall of social opacity since they have been unable to find a single eye-witness to the incident. Of the 200 hundred strong crowd that assembled on Asoti railway platform on Thursday evening, the police cannot find one person who can say what they saw. The police cannot find a witness because something very peculiar seems to have happened to those present at Junaid’s death. A report by Kaunain Sherrif M in the Indian Express provides specific details. When asked if he had seen anything that evening, Ram Sharan a corn-vendor whose daily shift coincides with the killing, Sharan said he was not present at the time of the incident. Two staffers who were sent to investigate by the station master were unavailable for comment. Neither the station-master, the post-master or the railway guards saw the event they were present at.

In this startling piece the journalist reports how the public lynching of a Muslim child becomes a social non-event in contemporary India. He shows the reconfiguring, and splitting, of a social field of vision. He reports all the ways in which people – Hindus- did not see the body of a dead – Muslim – child that lay in front of them. The Hindus on the Asoti railway platform managed to collectively not see a 15 year old Muslim boy being stabbed to death. Then they collectively, and without prior agreement, continued to not see what they had seen after the event. This is the uniquely terrifying aspect of this incident on which this report reflects: the totalising force of an unspoken, but collectively binding, agreement between Hindus to not see the dead body of a Muslim child. Hindus on this railway platform in a small station in north India instantly produced a stranger sociality, a common social bond between people who do not otherwise know each other. By mutual recognition between strangers, Hindus at this platform agreed to abide by a code of silence by which the death of a Muslim child can not be seen by 200 people in full public view on a railway platform in today’s India. Continue reading Why Two Hundred Ordinary Hindus Did Not See A Dead Muslim Child On A Railway Station In North India

उना कांड की पहली बरसी पर राष्ट्रीय आह्वान, गुजरात में होगा ‘आज़ादी कूच’ : जिग्नेश मेवाणी

On the First Anniversary of the Una Floggings – Call from JIGNESH MEWANI and RASHTRIYA DALIT ADHIKAR MANCH

Continue reading उना कांड की पहली बरसी पर राष्ट्रीय आह्वान, गुजरात में होगा ‘आज़ादी कूच’ : जिग्नेश मेवाणी

बहुजन राजनीति की नयी करवट की अलामत है भीम आर्मी : प्रवीण वर्मा

Guest post by PRAVEEN VERMA

यूँ तो अम्बेडकर जयंती हर साल आती हैं और दलित-पिछड़े समुदाय का एक बड़ा तबक़ा इसे बड़ी शिद्दत से मनाता आया है। लेकिन इस बार अम्बेडकर का 126वां जन्मदिन कुछ और ही नज़ारा ले कर आया। यू॰पी॰ का सहारनपुर ज़िला जहाँ अच्छी ख़ासी तादाद में दलित समुदाय के लोग रहते हैं और अन्य जिलों की बनिस्बत ज़्यादा संगठित हैं, वहाँ दो आयोजनों और उसकी अनुमति को लेकर दबंग जाति के लोगों ने जम कर उत्पात मचाया, जिसका दलित समुदाय के द्वारा ना केवल डट कर मुक़ाबला किया गया बल्कि एक वाजिब जवाब भी दिया गया। हालाँकि प्रशासनिक कार्यवाही हमेशा की तरह एकतरफ़ा रही जिसमें 40 दलित युवकों को जेल में ठूँस दिया गया और दबंगो को सस्ते में जाने दिया गया। शब्बीरपुर की ये घटना(एँ) कई दिनों तक चलती रही जिसमें दबंग जाति के लोगों के अहम को चोट तो लगी ही, साथ ही साथ एक और संदेश दे गयी : जिस तरह से दबंग जाति के लोगों ने हिंसा को अपनी बपौती समझ लिया था, अब वैसा नहीं हैं, लगभग देश के कुछ हिस्सों में तो। 

Continue reading बहुजन राजनीति की नयी करवट की अलामत है भीम आर्मी : प्रवीण वर्मा

Photo Story on Bhim Army Rally in Delhi: Debalin Roy

Guest post by DEBALIN ROY

Debalin Roy takes us to some specific moments in the rally, aside from the bird’s eye view of the massive rally that we have already seen.

Dalits from all over northern India gathered at Jantar Mantar, Delhi on the 21st of May to protest the Saharanpur violence and increasing atrocities on Dalits across the country.

Although there were representatives from various states, especially from Haryana, U.P. and Rajasthan, Bhim Army took the center stage, with their blue flags waving like a giant dark blue field of tall grass, shaking and waving with every chant of Jai Bhim.

Continue reading Photo Story on Bhim Army Rally in Delhi: Debalin Roy

Violence against Dalits in Saharanpur, UP : A Report by CPI-ML (Liberation) & AISA Team that Visited Saharanpur

Guest Post by Sucheta De

CPI-ML- AISA Team’s Visit to Saharanpur – A Report

“Sarkar Hamari Hai, Police-Prashashan Bhi Hamara Hai”- Yogi Government Boosts Up Morale of Casteist Feudal Goons Who Burnt Dalit Village in Shabbirpur!

Casteist Goons from Dominant Rajput Community Enjoy Complete Impunity while Bhim Army Activists Continue to Face Witch-Hunt!

CPI-ML-AISA Appeal Everyone to Join Hands with the Dalits of Saharanpur in their Struggle for Justice!

Saharanpur Carnage: Teaching a Lesson to Politically Assertive, Self-Reliant Dalits Who Refuse to be Foot Soldiers of Hindutva’s Hate Politics

When BJP gains electoral majority, Saharanpur happens.

For last several years the belt of western Uttar Pradesh has been made the laboratory of the RSS-BJP’s sinister design of communal polarization and violence against Muslims. The 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots was a planned design by the RSS-BJP to polarize the belt on communal lines and reap electoral benefits. And now, after that design had delivered ‘electoral success’ for the RSS and BJP, upper caste feudal forces have started celebration of their ‘victory’ by unleashing attack on Dalits.

Continue reading Violence against Dalits in Saharanpur, UP : A Report by CPI-ML (Liberation) & AISA Team that Visited Saharanpur

Linger Like Moisture Within – On Viren Dangwal’s Pitr-Paksh: Prasanta Chakravarty

Guest Post by Prasanta Chakravarty

Pitr-paksh/ पितृ-पक्ष (also pitru-paksh) is the 16 day lunar period in the Hindu diurnal calendar when believers pay homage to their ancestors, through specific food offerings. Most years, the autumnal equinox falls within this period, that is, the Sun transitions from the northern to the southern hemisphere during this time. In Northern and Eastern India and Nepal, among the cultures following the purnimanta or the solar calendar, this period usually corresponds with the waning fortnight of the month Ashwin. The souls of three preceding generations of one’s ancestor reside in Pitr-loka, a realm between heaven and earth. Continue reading Linger Like Moisture Within – On Viren Dangwal’s Pitr-Paksh: Prasanta Chakravarty

A Non-believing Muslim’s Experience of Islamophobia

Guest post by SARAH ATHER

My life has revolved around the concept of God. I have been a Muslim, a theist, an agnostic and an atheist in all types of phases of my life. I am sure, I am still just growing and my perceptions will mature as I grow. My Muslim identity slowly faded when I picked Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali in my late teens. To put it simply I was a perpetually angry Muslim. Angry at Islam, angry at Wahabism, angry at imposed patriarchy in Islam. I believed religion was so bad for the world, so unscientific. And so I wrote and I discussed with my fellow Hindu friends. They opened their hearts out. A lot of them told me how Muslims were always cruel and misogynistic. And they told me how I was different to see the truth. I felt a sense of moral superiority, I felt I was so unbiased and rational that I could see faults in my own religion. Continue reading A Non-believing Muslim’s Experience of Islamophobia

Erdogan Gets A Degree from Jamia Millia Islamia and Everyone Else’s Father is in Prison in Istanbul

Everyone else’s father is in prison in Istanbul,
they want to hang everyone else’s son
in the middle of the road, in broad daylight
People there are willing to risk the gallows
so that everyone else’s son won’t be hanged
so that everyone else’s father won’t die
and bring home a loaf of bread and a kite.
People, good people,
Call out from the four corners of the world,
say stop it,
Don’t let the executioner tighten the rope
[ Nazim Hikmet, 1954 ]

Its best to stay as far aways as possible when two mafia dons meet to talk business. Especially when their deep state security detail has a disturbing tendency to shoot first and ask questions after. Today, Delhi’s roads are emptier than usual, even on a Sunday. And I am reading Nazim Hikmet, because a thug is coming to town.

Continue reading Erdogan Gets A Degree from Jamia Millia Islamia and Everyone Else’s Father is in Prison in Istanbul

The Unapologetic Indian Muslim: Sabiha Farhat

Guest Post by SABIHA FARHAT

These are tough times for muslims in India.  But now that I look back and shed my ‘liberal’ prejudices – muslims were never acceptable as ‘who they were’ in Indian society.  I had always blamed my mother for not giving me proper lunch box to carry to school.  But the truth is that even in class 5, no student ate from my tiffin and gradually I started going to the play field in recess rather than enjoying a meal under the big Peepal tree.  After that I took tiffin only when I prepared it myself, that was class 11 & 12.  But even then the girls would hardly eat from my lunch box.  We did sit together but no one touched my food.  Was I the Untouchable?

Continue reading The Unapologetic Indian Muslim: Sabiha Farhat

Recalling ‘Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab’: Raj Kaithwar

Guest post by RAJ KAITHWAR

As I began to type this review, I struggled to begin with the beginning: how do I present this lively work on ‘talaab’ which does justice to its contents. It was not an easy task. Finally, I decided to begin with the end: the thoughts which clouded over me as I ended reading the book ‘Aaj Bhi Khare Hai Talaab’. How do we see a ‘talaab’ or do we even see it? Why are the modern ways of water conservation failing or are the modern ways even inclined at conserving? Who will protect the societies and ecologies from the rising dangers or is protection even a concern? As I describe some of the accounts from ‘Aaj Bhi Khaare Hai Talaab’ I hope it arouses a curiosity strong enough in the reader to pick up the book and scan through its pages. Continue reading Recalling ‘Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab’: Raj Kaithwar

National Call to Join Three-Day Dharna in Jaipur to Demand Justice Regarding the Lynching of Pehlu Khan

In a unique instance of a united initiative, a number of organizations in Rajasthan have come together to protest the lynching of Pehlu Khan and to demand justice in the matter. A large demonstration was recently held in Jaipur, following which many organizations of different political persuasions have come together to call for a three-day national dharna outside the Rajasthan State Assembly from 24-26 April 2017. The organizations which have issued the appeal published below include: Rajasthan Nagrik Manch, PUCL, CPI (M), CPI, NFIW, AIDWA, WRG, Vividha, National Muslim Women’s Welfare Society, BGVS, MKSS, Suchna Evam Rozgar Adhikar Manch, JIH, Dr. Ambedkar Vichar Manch, CDR, AIDMAM, Welfare Party of India, Jan Vichar Manch, Samajwadi Party, JD (U), SIO, SFI, Rajasthan Smagra Sewa Sangh, HRLN, Samta Gyan Vigyan Manch, All India Kisan Sabha, NAPM, WRG, Vividha, SDPI, RUWA, Zari Workers Union and others.

JAIPUR CHALO!! JAIPUR CHALO!!

NATIONAL CALL TO JOIN THE DHARNA IN JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN

DEMANDING JUSTICE IN THE MATTER OF LYNCHING OF PEHLU KHAN AT BEHROR, ALWAR

Friends,

As you are aware that 55 year old Pehlu Khan a dairy farmer from Nuh, Mewat district in Haryana was lynched by a group of so called Gaurakshaks on NH 8 at Behror, Rajasthan, when he was returning with four others, including his 2 sons, in 2 pick up trucks, after buying a few cows (along with the documents) from the fair in Hatwara, near Jaipur city. At about 6.30pm on the 1st of April, their vehicles were stopped and they were pulled out of their vehicles and beaten up brutally by a mob and later Pehlu Khan succumbed to his injuries on the 3rd of April at Kailash hospital in Behror. Azmat who was critically injured was harassed by the police in the name of investigations, that he too was not given proper treatment and even today he remains seriously sick and in a state of trauma.

Continue reading National Call to Join Three-Day Dharna in Jaipur to Demand Justice Regarding the Lynching of Pehlu Khan

Beyond Defeatism – Political Parties and the Fight Against Hindutva

The following, necessarily brief, reflections have been sparked off by two recent posts on Kafila – one by Biju Mathew published on 16 April, and the other by CP Geevan, published today. These reflections should not be seen as a response to the positions taken by Biju and/ or Geevan; they are, in fact, more in the way of addressing the central question raised by Biju Mathew’s piece – that of despondency and pessimism that has followed the UP elections and more importantly, the stealthy manner in which Adityanath was installed as the chief minister in the state. Stealthy, because after all, it was amply clear even to the decision makers in BJP, from the very beginning that if they had entered the election campaign with Adityanath as the chief ministerial face, it might have yielded very different results. It was too  big a risk to be undertaken.The real stroke of Modi-fascist genius lay precisely in keeping not just the electorate but also the organizational machinery in the dark and turning it into an advantage.

As it happens, despite the sharpness of Geevan’s comments, my sense, on reading the two pieces, is that there isn’t really as great a divergence on most issues as might appear at first sight.

Continue reading Beyond Defeatism – Political Parties and the Fight Against Hindutva

मारूति-सुजुकि मज़दूरों को उम्र कैद व अन्य नाजायज सजाओं के खिलाफ़ पंजाब में उठी जोरदार आवाज़: लखविन्दर

अतिथि post: लखविन्दर

मारूति-सुजुकि मज़दूरों को उम्र कैद व अन्य नाजायज सजाओं के गुड़गांव अदालत के फैसले को घोर पूँजीपरस्त, पूरे मज़दूर वर्ग व मेहनतकश जनता पर बड़ा हमला मानते हुए पंजाब के मज़दूरों, किसानों, नौजवानों, छात्रों, सरकारी मुलाजिमों, जनवादी अधिकारों के पक्ष में आवाज उठाने वाले बुद्धिजीवियों व अन्य नागरिकों के संगठनों ने व्यापक स्तर पर आवाज़ बुलन्द की है। 4 और 5 अप्रैल को देश व्यापी प्रदर्शनों में पंजाब के जनसंगठनों ने भी व्यापक शमूलियत की है। विभिन्न संगठनों ने व्यापक स्तर पर पर्चा वितरण किया, फेसबुक, वट्सएप पर प्रचार मुहिम चलाई। अखबारों, सोशल मीडिया आदि से इन गतिविधियों की कुछ जानकारी प्राप्त हुई है।

​5 अप्रैल को लुधियाना में लघु सचिवालय पर डीसी कार्यालय पर टेक्सटाईल-हौजऱी कामगार यूनियन, मोल्डर एण्ड स्टील वर्कर्ज यूनियनें, मज़दूर अधिकार संघर्ष अभियान, नौजवान भारत सभा, पी.एस.यू., एटक, सीटू, एस.एस.ए.-रमसा यूनियन, पेंडू मज़दूर यूनियन, डी.टी.एफ., रेलवे पेन्शनर्ज वेल्फेयर ऐसोसिएशन, जमहूरी अधिकार सभा, आँगनवाड़ी मिड डे मील आशा वर्कर्ज यूनियन, कामागाटा मारू यादगारी कमेटी, स्त्री मज़दूर संगठन, कारखाना मज़दूर यूनियन, पेंडू मज़दूर यूनियन (मशाल), कुल हिन्द निर्माण मज़दूर यूनियन आदि संगठनों के नेतृत्व में जोरदार प्रदर्शन हुआ और राष्ट्रपति के नाम माँग पत्र सौंपा गया जिसमें माँग की गई कि सभी मारूति-सुजुकि के सभी मज़दूरों को बिना शर्त रिहा किया जाए. उनपर नाजायज-झूठे मुकद्दमे रद्द हो, काम से निकाले गए सभी मज़दूरों को कम्पनी में वापिस लिया जाए।


​लुधियाना में 5 अप्रैल के प्रदर्शन की तैयारी के लिए हिन्दी और पंजाबी पर्चा वितरण भी किया गया जिसके जरिए लोगों को मारूति-सुजुकि मज़दूरों के संघर्ष, उनके साथ हुए अन्याय, न्यायपालिका-सरकार-पुलिस के पूँजीपरस्त और मज़दूर विरोधी-जनविरोधी चरित्र से परिचित कराया गया और प्रदर्शन में पहुँचने की अपील की गई। लुधियाना में 16 मार्च को भी बिगुल मज़ूदर दस्ता, मोल्डर एण्ड स्टील वर्कर्ज यूनियनों, मज़दूर अधिकार संघर्ष अभियान, आदि संगठनों द्वारा रोषपूर्ण प्रदर्शन किया गया था।

​जमहूरी अधिकार सभा, पंजाब द्वारा बठिण्डा व संगरूर में 4 अप्रैल, बरनाला में 8 अप्रैल को, लुधियाना में 1 अप्रैल को पिछले दिनों देश की अदालतों द्वारा हुए तीन जनविरोधी फैसलों मारूति-सुजुकि के मज़दूरों को उम्र कैद व अन्य सजाएँ, जनवादी अधिकारों के लिए आवाज उठाने वाले दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय के प्रो. साईबाबा सहित अन्य बेगुनाह लोगों को उम्र कैद की सजाओं, और हिन्दुत्वी आतन्कवादी असीमानन्द को बरी करने के मुद्दों पर कन्वेंशनें, सेमिनार, प्रदर्शन, मीटिंगें आदि आयोजित किए गए जिनमें अन्य जनसंगठनों नें भी भागीदारी की। जमहूरी अधिकार सभा ने इन मुद्दों पर एक पर्चा भी प्रकाशित किया जो बड़े स्तर पर पंजाब में बाँटा गया।

 पटियाला में 4 अप्रैल को मज़दूरों, छात्रों, किसानों के विभिन्न संगठनों द्वारा रोष प्रदर्शन किया गया। बिजली मुलाजिमों ने भी टेक्नीकल सर्विसज़ यूनियन के नेतृत्व में 4 अप्रैल को अनेकों जगहों पर प्रदर्शन किए। लहरा थरमल पलांट के ठेका मज़दूरों ने 4 अप्रैल को रोष रैली के जरिए मारूति-सुजुकि मज़दूरों के साथ एकजुटता जाहिर करते हुए उनके समर्थन में आवाज़ उठाई। मारूति-सुजुकि मज़दूरों के समर्थन में पंजाब में उठी आवाज़ की कड़ी में लोक मोर्चा पंजाब ने 8 अप्रैल को लम्बी (जिला बठिण्डा) में रैली और रोष प्रदर्शन किया। लम्बी में आर.एम.पी. चिकित्सकों द्वारा भी प्रदर्शन किया गया। अनेकों गाँवों में मज़दूर-किसान-नौजवान संगठनों ने अर्थी फूँक प्रदर्शन भी किए हैं। आप्रेशन ग्रीन हण्ट विरोधी जमहूरी फ्रण्ट, पंजाब ने मोगा में 12 अप्रैल को कान्फ्रेंस और प्रदर्शन आयोजित किया।

मारूति-सुजुकि मज़दूरों का जिस स्तर पर कम्पनी में शोषण हो रहा था और इसके खिलाफ़ उठी आवाज़ को जिस घृणित बर्बर ढंग से कुचलने की कोशिश की गई है उसके खिलाफ़ आवाज़ उठनी स्वाभाविक और लाजिमी थी। पंजाब के इंसाफपसंद लोगों का हक, सच, इंसाफ के लिए जुझारू संघर्षों का पुराना और शानदार इतिहास रहा है। अधिकारों के जूझ रहे मारूति-सुजुकि मज़दूरों का साथ वे हमेशा निभाते रहेंगे।

पूरे देश में मज़दूरों का देशी-विदेशी पूँजीपतियों द्वारा भयानक शोषण हो रहा है। जब मज़दूर आवाज़ उठाते हैं तो पूँजीपति और उनका सेवादार पूरा सरकारी तंत्र दमन के लिए टूट पड़ता है। ऐसा ही मारूति-सुजुकी, मानेसर (जिला गुडग़ांव, हरियाणा) के संघर्षरत

 मज़दूरों के साथ हुआ है। एक बहुत बड़ी साजिश के तहत कत्ल, इरादा कत्ल जैसे पूरी तरह झूठे केसों में फँसाकर पहले तो 148 मज़दूरों को चार वर्ष से अधिक समय तक, बिना जमानत दिए, जेल में बन्द रखा गया और अब गुडग़ाँव की अदालत ने नाज़ायज ढंग से 13 मज़दूरों को उम्र कैद और चार को 5-5 वर्ष की कैद की कठोर सजा सुनाई है। 14 अन्य मज़दूरों को चार-चार साल की सजा सुनाई गई है लेकिन क्योंकि वे पहले ही लगभग साढे वर्ष जेल में रह चुके हैं इसलिए उन्हें रिहा कर दिया गया है। 117 मज़दूरों को, जिन्हें बाकी मज़दूरों के साथ इतने सालों तक जेलों में ठूँस कर रखा गया उन्हें बरी करना पड़ा है। सबूत तो बाकी मज़दूरों के खिलाफ़ भी नहीं है लेकिन फिर भी उन्हें जेल में बन्द रखने का बर्बर हुक्म सुनाया गया है।

​जापानी कम्पनी मारूति-सुजुकि के खिलाफ़ मज़दूरों ने श्रम अधिकारों के उलण्घन, कमरतोड़ मेहनत करवाने, कम वेतन, लंच, चाय, आदि की ब्रेक के बाद एक मिनट के देरी के लिए भी आधे दिन का वेतन काटने, छुट्टी करने के लिए हजारों रूपए वेतन से काटने जैसे भारी जुर्माने लगाने, आदि के खिलाफ़ कुछ वर्ष पहले संघर्ष का बिगुल बजाया था। कम्पनी की दलाल तथाकथित मज़दूर यूनियन की जगह उन्होंने अपनी यूनियन बनाई। नई यूनियन के पंजीकरण में कम्पनी ने ढेरों रूकावटें खड़ी कीं। उस समय हरियाणा में कांग्रेस की सरकार के मुख्यमंत्री भूपेन्द्र हुड्डा ने सरेआम पूँजीपतियों की दलाली का प्रदर्शन करते हुए कहा था कि कारखाने में नई यूनियन नहीं बनने दी जाएगी। मज़दूरों ने लम्बी-लम्बी हड़तालें लड़ीं, अपने अथक संघर्ष से यूनियन का पंजीकरण कराके जीत हासिल की। मज़दूर संघर्ष कम्पनी और समूचे सरकारी तंत्र की आँख की किरकरी बना हुआ था। संघर्ष कुचलने के लिए साजिश रची गई। 18 जुलाई 2012 को कारखाने के भीतर पुलीस की हाजिरी में सैंकड़ों हथियारबन्द गुण्डों से मज़दूरों पर हमला करवाया गया। बड़ी संख्या मज़दूर जख्मी हुए। कारखाने में आग लगवा दी गई। एक मज़दूर पक्षधर मैनेजर की इस दौरान मौत हो गई। साजिश के तहत इसका दोष मज़दूरों पर मढ़ दिया गया। बड़े स्तर पर गिरफतारियाँ की गईं, यातनाएँ दी गईं। ढाई हज़ार मज़दूरों को गैरकानूनी रूप से नौकरी से निकाल दिया गया। 148 मज़दूरों को जेल में ठूँस दिया गया। जमानत की अर्जी पर पंजाब-हरियाणा हाईकोर्ट ने टिप्पणी की कि अगर जमानत दी गई तो भारत में विदेशी पूँजी का निवेश रुकेगा। जिन 13 मज़दूरों को उम्र कैद की सजा सुनाई गई है उनमें 12 लोग यूनियन नेतृत्व का हिस्सा थे। इससे इस झूठे मुकद्दमे का मकसद समझना मुश्किल नहीं है।

अदालत का फैसला कितना अन्यायपूर्ण है इसका अन्दाजा लगाने के लिए सिर्फ कुछ तथ्य ही काफ़ी हैं। कम्पनी में चप्पे-चप्पे पर कैमरे लगे हुए हैं लेकिन अदालत में कहा कि उसके पास 18 जुलाई काण्ड की कोई वीडियो है ही नहीं! कम्पनी के गवाहों के ब्यानों से साफ पता चल रहा था कि झूठ बोल रहे हैं। वो तो मज़दूरों को पहचान तक न सके। गुण्डों व उनका साथ देने वाले मैनेजरों व अन्य स्टाफ के मैंबरों से कहीं अधिक संख्या में मज़दूर जख्मी हुए थे। पोस्ट मार्टम में पाया गया कि मैनेजर अवनीश कुमार की मौत दम घुटने से हुई है न कि जलाए जाने से जिससे साफ़ है कि यह हत्या का मामला है ही नहीं। और भी बहुत सारे तथ्य स्पष्ट तौर मज़दूरों का बेगुनाह होना साबित कर रहे थे लेकिन इन्हें अदालत ने नजरान्दाज कर मज़दूरों को ही दोषी करार दे दिया क्योंकि पूँजी निवेश को बढ़ावा जो देना है! वास्तव में मारूति-सुजुकी घटनाक्रम के जरिए लुटेरे हुक्मरानों ने ऐलान किया है कि अगर कोई लूट-शोषण के खिलाफ़ बोलेगा वो कुचला जाएगा।

ये फैसला तब आया है जब असीमानन्द और अन्य संघी आतन्कवादियों के खिलाफ ठोस सबूत होने, असीमानन्द द्वारा जुर्म कबूल कर लेने के बावजूद भी बरी कर दिया जाता है। दंगे भड़काने वाले, बेगुनाहों का कत्लेआम करने वाले न सिर्फ आज़ाद घूम रहे हैं बल्कि मुख्य मंत्री, प्रधान मंत्री जैसे पदों पर पहुँच रहे हैं !

आज देशी-विदेशी कम्पनियों, लुटेरे धन्नासेठों को खुश करने के लिए सरकारें मज़दूरों से सारे श्रम अधिकार छीन रही हैं। न्यूनतम वेतन, फण्ड, बोनस, हादसों से सुरक्षा के इंतजाम तक लागू न करने वाले पूँजीपतियों पर कोई कार्रवाई नहीं होती, उन्हें कभी जेल में नहीं ठूँसा जाता। उलटा भाजपा, कांग्रेस से लेकर तमाम पार्टियों की सरकारें कानूनी श्रम अधिकारों में मज़दूर विरोधी बदलाव करके पूँजीपतियों को मज़दूरों की बर्बर लूट की और भी खुली छूट दे रही हैं। किसानों, छात्रों, नौजवानों, आदिवासियों, सरकारी कर्मचारियों के अधिकार कुचले जा रहे हैं। भोजन, स्वास्थ्य, शिक्षा, बिजली, पानी, आदि तमाम सरकारी सहूलतें छीनी जा रही हैं। इसके खिलाफ़ उठी हर आवाज को दबाने के लिए पूरा राज्य तंत्र अत्याधिक हमलावर हो चुका है। काले कानून बनाकर एकजुट संघर्ष के जनवादी अधिकार छीने जा रहे हैं। जनपक्षधर बुद्धिजीवियों, पत्रकारों, कलाकारों तक का दमन हो रहा है, जेलों में ठूँसा जा रहा है। जन एकजुटता को तोडऩे के लिए धर्म, जाति, क्षेत्र के नाम पर बाँटने की साजिशें पहले किसी भी समय से कहीं अधिक तेज़ हो चुकी हैं। जहाँ जनता को बाँटा न सके, जहाँ लोगों का ध्यान असल मुद्दों से भटकाया न जा सके, वहाँ जेल, लाठी, गोली से कुचला जा रहा है। यही मारूति-सुजुकी मज़दूरों के साथ हुआ है। लेकिन बर्बर हुक्मरानों को दीवार पर लिखा पढ़ लेना चाहिए। इतिसाह गवाह है- जेल, लाठी, गोली, बर्बर दमन जनता की अवाज़ न कभी दबी है न कभी देबेगी।

Reclaiming Punjab University-Student Protests Erupt in Chandigarh: Prerna Trehan

Guest Post by Prerna Trehan

While walking through the lawns between the Library and the Chemistry Department , one is confronted with the sudden and  scary sight of policemen brandishing canes.

One of the policemen says, threateningly : “Go inside, before we start shooting bombs” (of tear gas). Behind him two policemen leap at a bewildered group of boys raining lathis and choicest of abuses.

This scene could be right out of the woeful alleys of Palestine, Syria or even Kashmir. However, the events that it describes  took place yesterday in Panjab University, nestled in India’s first planned city, Nehru’s vision of modernity-Chandigarh.

Continue reading Reclaiming Punjab University-Student Protests Erupt in Chandigarh: Prerna Trehan

Remembering Chandu, Friend and Comrade: Kavita Krishnan

Chandrashekhar (Comrade Chandu)

Guest Post by Kavita Krishnan

It’s been twenty years since the assassin’s bullets took Chandu away from us, at 4 pm on 31 March 1997.

I still recall my sheer disbelief when a phone call from my party office at my hostel that evening informed me ‘Chandu has been killed.’ Chandrashekhar as well as youth leader Shyam Narayan Yadav had been shot dead while addressing a street corner meeting in Siwan – ironically at a Chowk named after JP – Jaiprakash Narayan, icon of the movement for democracy against the Emergency. A rickshaw puller Bhuteli Mian also fell to a stray bullet fired by the assassins – all known to be henchmen of the RJD MP and mafia don Mohd. Shahabuddin.

In the spring of 1997, as JNU began to burst into the riotous colours of amaltas and bougainvillea, Chandu bid us goodbye. He had served two terms as JNUSU President (I was Joint Secretary during his second stint) and had decided to return to his hometown Siwan, as a whole-time activist of the CPI(ML) Liberation. He had made the decision to be a whole-time activist a long time ago. Chandu’s friends know that for him, the decision to be an activist rather than pursue a salaried career was no ‘sacrifice.’ It was a decision to do what he loved doing and felt he owed to society.

Continue reading Remembering Chandu, Friend and Comrade: Kavita Krishnan

Slimes Group Vice-Chairman Ameer Jain accused of molesting SOI employee Aaj Faker Shah? Breaking Faking News: Shehla Rashid

Guest Post by Shehla Rashid

Mar 21, Delhi: In a shocking revelation that has triggered panic amongst the media fraternity, renowned media tycoon, Ameer Jain, who is Vice-Chairman of the prestigious Parrot, Caveman & Co. Ltd, has been accused of sexual harassment by an employee of The Slimes of India newspaper, namely Aaj Faker Shah. Parrot, Caveman & Co. Ltd. (PCCL) is the group that owns Slimes of India, Slimes Now, Economic Slimes, Radio Tirchi, Movies Now and Then, Dhoom, Navbharat Slimes, Mumbai Broken Mirror and numerous other media outlets.

After the sexual harassment case filed by an employee of a major news magazine against its high profile editor some years ago, this is the most high-profile case of sexual harassment at the workplace in the media fraternity and is likely to result in a public spectacle, as the complainant, Aaj Faker Shah, has taken to Twitter to publicly make serious accusations of sexual assault against Jain. Normally, in cases of sexual harassment, the complainant must be accorded due anonymity. However, Shah reasons that he was forced to take this extreme step because the Slimes Group, in total violation of the norms prescribed by the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act (2013), sat on his complaint, victimised him for speaking out against Jain and even threatened to sack him. This reflects the state of implementation of the Workplace Harassment Law, rules for which were notified in 2014. Continue reading Slimes Group Vice-Chairman Ameer Jain accused of molesting SOI employee Aaj Faker Shah? Breaking Faking News: Shehla Rashid

Free the Maruti Workers: Maruti Suzuki Workers Union

 

Guest Post by Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union

[This is a statement and an appeal by the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union condemning the unjust handing down of a life sentence to 13 workers of the Maruti Suzuki Manesar Factory for a ‘murder’ (of an HR Manager) that the prosecution could not prove that they had committed. Here too, the prosecution, and the judgement, relies on a chimera, ‘the reputation of make-in-india’ to justify a harsh punishment. Those who have watched this space will recognize that this recourse to figures of speech in the absence of evidence is a familiar move. It has happened before – to satisfy the hunger of a ‘collective conscience’ when a so-called ‘temple of democracy’ was attacked. This time it has been invoked to defend the ‘fake-in-India temple that houses the deity of a rising GDP’, which would of course otherwise be besieged by insurgent workers.

This text contains a hyperlink to a detailed reading and rebuttal of the prosecution’s arguments, which demonstrates how money and muscle power can always be an adequate replacement for legal acumen in the State of Haryana. Please do follow that link. For the further edification of our readers, we append a short video interview by Aman Sethi of the Hindustan Times of the special public prosecutor, which spins some imaginative legal theory and also radically updates our sense of class struggle. Please do have the patience to view that video. We promise that this will be rewarded. – Kafila Admin.]

Continue reading Free the Maruti Workers: Maruti Suzuki Workers Union