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# 1 HUNGER WATCH: Starvation Deaths In Narasimha Rao's Village? The Hindu, September 23, 2004, Thursday 1) Starvation deaths in PV's village? By K.M. Dayashankar VANGARA (KARIMNAGAR DT.), SEPT. 22. "We performed the last rites of Matla Maisamma (55), an agricultural labourer who died of starvation in the village four days ago, by collecting donations. We have also taken up the responsibility to help her son, Venkati (38), a leprosy patient," said the Vangara village Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) member, Bolli Rajaiah. This sums up the alarming situation in Vangara, the native village of the former Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, which is reeling under acute drought. http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/23/stories/2004092306960400.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ Deccan Chronicle, September 23, 2004, Thursday 2) Farm worker dies of hunger Mugdumpur (Karimnagar), Sept. 22: Exposing the cascading impact of drought which has destabilised the lives of agricultural rural poor, another farm labourer, Dashetty Mallaiah, 45, died of alleged starvation at Mugdumpur village in the mandal on Wednesday morning, leaving behind his 70-year-old ailing mother Akkemma. http://www.deccan.com/Region/RegionNews.asp?#Farm worker dies of hunger ---------------------------------------------------------------- #2RAPE WATCH: ???For 3 yrs, SI tried to molest me... threa New Indian Express, September 23, 2004, Thursday 1) ???For 3 yrs, SI tried to molest me... threatened me??™ LUCKNOW: ??????Since three years now, it was a constant routine. As my husband left for work at 9 am to return only at 7 pm, Sub-Inspector Pradhuman Mani Tripathi ??” who lives on the first-floor of the same government accomodation ??” tried to molest me and made sexual passes. With his official revolver, he threatened me, saying he was attached to the Chief Minister??™s security. I stayed quiet for so long fearing for my small children. Now I want justice.??™??™ This statement from a Lucknow-based housewife, Anita Pandey, filed about a week back in the form of a telegram petition addressed to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, has sent the alarm bells ringing. http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEP20040922110919&Title=States&Topic=0& ------------------------------------------------------------ New Indian Express, September 23, 2004, Thursday 2) Cop saves minor from being raped in train toilet IANS NEW DELHI: A Nepalese man has been arrested here for allegedly attempting to rape a minor in the toilet of a train - a crime discovered by a fellow traveller who turned out to be a cop. Mann Bhadur was arrested by assistant sub-inspector Inder Singh for trying to rape an eight-year-old in the toilet of a train bound for Haryana at the Old Delhi railway station, police said..... .......... According to Delhi Police, 2,359 rape cases were registered between early 1999 and June this year, and one rape is reported every day in the capital. The rapists knew the victims in 238 of the rape cases registered this year. In only 10 cases, the victims did not know their attackers. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEL20040923065903&Page=L&Title=B+R+E+A+K+I+N+G++++N+E+W+S&Topic=0& ------------------------------------------------------------ #3 POTA WATCH: Pota Cure Is Worse Than The Disease Asian Age, September 23, 2004, Thursday 1) Pota cure is worse than the disease - By Our Special Correspondent New Delhi, Sept. 22: Pota stands repealed with effect from Wednesday. But, in turn, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 has been given more teeth. While one ordinance has scrapped the Prevention of Terrorism Act, another, simultaneously promulgated, has incorporated some of the features of the anti-terror law into the 1967 Act. According to critics, the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, is harsher than the old Pota when it comes to tapping phones and email. Pota had made intercepted communication admissible as evidence in court, but it also detailed safeguards to guard against unwarranted invasion of privacy. Permission to tap such communication could be granted only by a "competent authority", an official not below the rank of a joint secretary at the Centre or a secretary to a state government. This official was required to submit the permission order to a "review committee" headed by a retired high court judge. Pota also mentioned punishment for any police official misusing the power to intercept communication. Though the text of the amendment ordinance is yet to be officially released, it is understood not to have mentioned these safeguards. The second ordinance, strengthening the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, was also meant to ensure that India did not falter on its UN obligations in the global fight against terrorism. So, it includes Pota-like provisions on checking funding of terrorist organisations. Similarly, banned-by-Pota terrorist organisations remain banned under the amendment ordinance. But the government has argued that the total effect of the two ordinances will be to end the "misuse" that characterised the Pota regime. For example, simply "finding" unauthorised arms in the possession of a person in a "notified" area will not mean he/she will be detained under a "draconian" law. Also gone are Pota powers that allowed a suspect to be detained for three months without framing of charges. Though the Supreme Court later issued a clarification, Pota also did not allow a suspect to be released on bail for a year. Pota made confessions recorded even before junior police officials admissible in court. Even under the strengthened Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967, suspects can apply for bail as under regular criminal law. There are no special courts to try terror suspects. Rules regarding forfeiture of property, too, have been arguably made less harsh. The forfeiture order now has to be confirmed or revoked by the "designated authority" within 60 days. http://www.asianage.com/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- New Indian Express, September 23, 2004, Thursday 2) POTA repeal ill-considered, says Jayalalithaa CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said the ???ill-considered'' repeal of POTA had left ???a vacuum in our defence against terrorism.'' Inaugurating a day-long national workshop on ???Terrorism in India: Evolving Patterns and Police Response'', she said for effectively defending the territorial integrity of the country from the onslaught of terrorism, the law enforcement agencies need a special enactment like POTA in their legal armoury. ???I do not see much point in the assurance that necessary provisions will be added to existing laws to compensate for the repeal of POTA. In fact, such a stand merely shows ambivalence and vacillation,'' she said. Reiterating her argument that the repeal of POTA had denuded the state governments of their powers to combat terrorism, she pointed out that the law enforcement agencies would now have to rely only on archaic laws, which had proved inadequate. The extraordinary reach and influence of the terrorist organisations that had been banned could only be countered by a special law like the POTA. ???It is, perhaps, not very well known that `sabotage', which is an act of violence particularly resorted to by terrorists, is not even defined in the Indian Penal Code,'' she said. Affirming that terrorist and subversive elements should be dealt with firmly, she said, ???If we take a soft stance and allow these elements a toehold, containment later on will become impossible. Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, the North East and Andhra Pradesh are all such examples.'' Jayalalithaa said, ???It is better to be firm upfront and give no quarter at all to terrorist forces. Political parties that espouse such causes are doing so for their own short-term electoral gains, throwing national security and the very peace that we desire to the winds.'' Detailing the steps that her government had taken to combat terrorism in the state, she said the activities of the LTTE and local extremist groups like Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT) and Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) had been totally contained. She adopted a firm stand against the LTTE ???at the cost of great personal risk'', even to the extent of opposing the Thoothukudi-Colombo ferry link. She also pointed out that the Tamil Nadu Government had banned the CPI-ML(PW), better known as Peoples War Group (PWG) under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, after the Andhra Pradesh Government, in a policy shift, decided not to extend the ban on the outfit. PWG and its front organisations were known to operate in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts of Tamil Nadu. http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IET20040922115952&Title=Southern+News+%2D+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) 3, Rams' Cottage Ambalathumukku Pettah Thiruvananthapuram-695024 Kerala South India Ph.: 0471-2476262 www.humanrightsindia.com www.humanrightskerala.com |
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| << September24, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]Foreigners voting in U.S. elections |
September24, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]Corruption & Manipur watch >> |
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