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From: "chro chro chro" <chro@rediffmail.com> Date: Thu Jul 1, 2004 Subject: CPI-M Affiliate Lifts 11-Year Ban On Widow New Indian Express, July 01, 2004, Thursday CPI-M affiliate lifts 11-year ban on widow IANS KOZHIKODE: An organisation of workers affiliated to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) here has lifted a ban on a woman teacher, allowing its cadres to work on her land after 11 long years. The Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU)had imposed a ban on Vineetha, 60, in 1993 and said they would not work on her five-acre plot of land in Kuttiyadi village because she refused to give a job to a woman employed by her father. Thanks to the initiative of the district collector T.O. Sooraj, the ban was lifted Thursday and about 100 CPI-M cadres and casual labourers began working on the land. Vineetha and her two sons had returned home from Maharashtra 12 years ago after the death of her doctor husband. KSKTU office-bearers then asked her to re-employ the woman Narayani and give her compensation for the period she had not worked. Vineetha refused and the KSKTU said no one would be allowed to work on the land. Last year, the issue was revived by Sooraj. "I was shocked to hear that not a single activist or organisation had come forward to take up her case. I decided that whatever the consequences, I would provide justice to Vineetha," Sooraj told IANS. He said Vineetha's father was one of the leading members of the CPI-M in the village. The district collector said the entire dispute could be traced back to Narayani's husband Balan, a caretaker of the land, who expected the property to come to him. "Balan expected the entire property would finally go to him after the death of Vineetha's father but that did not happen when she returned from Maharashtra," he said. Sooraj then took up the issue with the party, which assured him of action. When the situation drifted again, he got together with an NGO to announce that he would bring people to work in Vineetha's land. Sooraj went to Vineetha's place with a large police presence on June 26, but local party officials asked for three days. Finally on Thursday, 100 CPI-M members and casual labourers began working on the land, he said, calling it a most satisfying day. "I am really happy that work has begun in my land after several years but no one has considered the mental torture that I had gone through," said Vineetha. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "chro chro chro" <chro@rediffmail.com> Date: Thu Jul 1, 2004 Subject: In Bengal Hunger Belt, Comrades Are The Ones Having A Party New Indian Express, July 01, 2004, Thursday In Bengal hunger belt, comrades are the ones having a party BELPAHARI: In the dark cloud of poverty and hunger deaths in Amlasole and Kankrajhore in West Bengal, the silver lining is the colour of red ??”of the ruling CPM. In power for 27 years??”this belt has kept voting CPM to Parliament??”the party has ensured that its office and office-bearers don??™t share the miserable plight of its voters. The other parties hardly have a presence here. So while the CPM??”and the government??”attribute the deaths to ??????remoteness??™??™ of these villages, that hardly seems to have come in the way of the party??™s fortunes here. Consider these: ??? Ram Sai Mandi, one of the biggest landholders in Amlasole-Kankrajhore, has 25-30 bighas??”and his family is endowed with Below Poverty Line ration cards. Reason: A primary school teacher, he is a member of the CPM-affiliated All Bengal Primary Teachers??™ Association and also a member of the powerful local committee of the CPM. Despite repeated attempts, Mandi was unavailable for comment but several villagers??”many of those affected by hunger and disease, told this website's newspaper that he, along with a few other big landholders, controls whether they get to work or paid. None of the five families where the deaths occurred had BPL ration cards and all were clueless how to get one or avail of the benefits of all Central anti-poverty schemes. ??? Banamali Mura was an elected Panchayat member of the CPM for two terms and had to vacate the seat when it got reserved for women in 1998. In partnership with a comrade, Subash Manki, he now owns a jeep and runs a local transport business. In fact, for an average of Rs 500 for a return trip, he ferried the sick and the dying to the nearest hospital, 30 km away. He also owns the area??™s sole rice mill. Asked about his source of income, he declined to comment. But added: ??????What do I do when there is no job???™??™ ??? The CPM??™s local committee office in Belpahari, under which Amlasole and Kankrajhore fall??”where the deaths occurred??”is a sprawling 10,000 square feet complex with an L-shaped double-storied building of brick and reinforced concrete. The ground floor has meeting rooms, an office, a ??????sitting room,??™??™ trade union wing and agricultural wing. All members have access to sanitary latrines and drinking water from a tubewell. In sharp contrast, villagers in Amlasole-Kankrajhore use ponds and streams and open wells for drinking water??”one reason behind the deaths and the disease. Also, none of the affected villagers has a brick house or is a beneficiary of the Indira Awas Yojana scheme under which the poor get pucca housing. ??? Inside the party office, there??™s electricity and even telephones??”two things absent in both Amlasole and Kankrajhore. ??? The party even has a standby generator for lights and fans when needed and particularly during peak evening hours when party functionaries are at work. ??? There is another CPM office in nearby Binpur, about 10 km away. This, too, has electricity, telephone, chairs, benches, safe drinking water and latrines. A senior party comrade, Dahar Sen, who is also the West Midnapore district Secretariat member??”the two villages fall in this district??”when asked about the difference in standards between the office and the village said: ??????The party??™s assets in this region have not grown at par with other districts. Yet, whatever has been achieved came with much toil and hardship.??™??™ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "chro chro chro" <chro@rediffmail.com> Date: Thu Jul 1, 2004 Subject: Two Priests Stash Away Dead Mother In Box IANS, July 01, 2004, Thursday Two priests stash away dead mother in box KOLKATA: Two priests stashed away their dead mother in a box for four days to keep a "lucrative" religious assignment that they would have lost if her death were known. According to Hindu traditions, a family in mourning is prohibited from taking part in religious and social rituals for a certain period. So when their mother died four days ago, brothers Dhiraj and Prithviraj Banerjee in Domjur near this West Bengal capital decided to keep it a secret until they had finished performing religious services at a rich neighbour's which would have fetched them gifts and Rs.501 as honorarium. The brothers kept the body of their mother in a large trunk and shoved it under a cot after she died on Saturday. Two days later, neighbours found a foul smell coming from the priests' house. They asked the two brothers about it, but the priests avoided the issue saying the putrefied smell could be from a dead cat or a dog. People got suspicious when they asked about their 85-year-old mother, whom they had not seen for days. The two brothers couldn't answer satisfactorily and they decided to report the matter to police. Police officials forced their way into the brothers' house and found their mother's body inside a trunk on Wednesday. The two later told police that they had hid their mother's body to avoid letting people know of her death and letting the "prized" assignment slip away. Neighbours said the brothers were poor and the money from performing the religious rituals would have ensured food for a few days. They were also supposed to be given 21 saris as gifts. Police have arrested the two and registered a case of unnatural death. Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) 3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku, Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695 024 (Ph.: 0471-2476262) Web: www.humanrightsindia.com www.humanrightskerala.com |
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