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1] KARNATAKA: Tribal Boy Pushed Into Flames For Setting Ablaze Mound Of Dry Leaves chro2003 Offline Send Message Edit Membership New Indian Express, March 29, 2005, Tuesday Tribal boy pushed into flames for setting ablaze mound of dry leaves MYSORE: A tribal boy was thrown into a fire on Saturday merely because he had set ablaze a mound of dry leaves dumped in the village. He was later admitted to the H D Kote hospital with burn injuries and a fracture. Ramesh, a Class 4 student of the Bavali Lower Primary School, was playing with his friends in Kade Gadde village in Doddabyranakuppe panchayat. As a prank, he set ablaze the biomass dumped by the Nanjegowda family which they used for domestic purposes. Enraged by the act, Ajju, the son of Nanje Gowda, beat Ramesh injuring his left hand and pushed him into the flames. But, Manoj, another tribal boy, came to Ramesh??™s rescue, pulling him out of the flames. Shocked by the inhuman incident the Buddakatu Krishikara Sangha, executive member Tholiah, lodged a complaint with the police and shifted the injured boy to hospital for treatment. Assistant Commissioner Jiddi Mane visited the spot and gave directions that an X-ray of the boy??™s fractured hand be taken and he be given the best medical treatment.] Tribal leaders allege the Beechanahalli police have failed to arrest Ajju. They said that the hospital officals had been tardy in taking X-rays of the boy??™s injuries and had not provided the best medical treatment. Additionally, Ramesh would miss his examinations, they said. Regretting the delay over arresting the accused, DEED Co-ordinator Sreekanth, urged the Education Department officals to allow the boy to appear for his examinations at a later date as otherwise it would impact his academic record. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20050328235308&Page=O&Title=This+is+India&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2] SUPERSTITION: WB: Will Gods Smile At Chittaranjan Locomotive? chro2003 New Indian Express, April 03, 2005, Sunday Will gods smile at Chittaranjan Locomotive? IANS KOLKATA: Workers at the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) in West Bengal are seeking divine intervention to revive the fortunes of the public sector undertaking. Once a shining example of India's industrial growth, CLW - located in Chittaranjan town, about 200 km west of here - has fallen from grace and is fighting falling productivity and staff redundancy. From producing around 165 railway engines a year, the CLW has come down to churning out only about 60 locos annually. Its staff and workers, worried about layoffs, have now decided to please the gods. According to workers' union leader Ramakant Jha, around 30 Hindu pontiffs, swamis and holy men invited from all over the country are conducting rituals to help the factory tide over its lean patch. The rituals have been organised in a field near the factory complex. Under a huge canopy, the holy men sit around a blazing fire, pouring into it ghee, leaves and an assortment of ingredients to the unceasing chant of hymns from Hindu scriptures. The prayers and hymns can be heard far away, thanks to loudspeakers. A mood of festivity permeates Chittaranjan town. "The rituals, besides being organised for the benefit of the factory, are also meant for general people and for tackling anti-social elements in the area," said Rabindra Yadav, another workers' leader. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20050402065139&Page=O&Title=This+is+India&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3] MAHARASHTRA: Dalit IGP Accuses Brahmin DGP Of Making Casteist Remarks New Indian Express, April 01, 2005, Friday IG accuses DGP of making casteist remarks PTI MUMBAI: Inspector General of Police Uddhav Kamble has accused the Maharashtra Director General of Police K K Kashyap of insulting and making casteist remarks against him. In a letter to Chief Minister Vilaraso Deshmukh on March 25, Kamble alleged that Kashyap had insulted him before 17 policemen, including 10 senior IPS officers, on March 24 after the DGP was upset over a presentation on "protection for civil liberties" made on February 15 before Home Minister R R Patil. Kamble alleged Kashyap was unhappy as he had not been informed prior to the presentation and that Patil had accepted some of the suggestions made in it. "I was insulted when I put forward the same suggestions to the DGP. Kashyap used foul language and it was done as I am an officer belonging to Dalit community," Kamble wrote in his letter. Kamble has demanded a written apology from Kashyap and said that departmental action should be taken against the latter. He also said he should not be victimised for having written this letter. Kamble has also sent copies of the letter to Patil and additional Chief Secretary. All attempts to contact Kashyap proved futile. The issue also figured in the Maharashtra Assembly, with the leader of opposition Narayan Rane alleging that the DF government had "not taken action" on the harassment complaint by Kamble against Kashyap. Speaker Babasaheb Kupekar asked the government to take note of the incident, which the Home Minister assured to do. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20050401053813&Page=O&Title=This+is+India&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4] RAJASTHAN: Hospital Ward Boy Rapes 31-Yr-Old Heart Patient chro2003 New Indian Express, April 04, 2005, Monday 31-yr-old heart patient raped by ward boy in hospital JAIPUR: A woman suffering from a cardiac disorder and admitted at the government-run SMS Hospital in Jaipur was raped by a ward boy on Thursday night. The 31-year-old victim, a native of Bihar, was admitted on Wednesday and was to soon undergo a valve replacement surgery. On Thursday, the accused, Ramesh Meena, asked the patient to come to a room adjoining the ward for `pre-surgery preparations'. Once there, Meena threatened and raped the patient, stated the FIR filed by the victim with the local police. Medical examination of the victim has been conducted and the report is awaited, said police. Though the incident occurred on Thursday night, the victim could gather strength to file a complaint only by Friday afternoon. Meena was arrested a few hours later. The hospital administration has constituted a special committee to probe the incident. ``The committee would look into how such a gross incident could take place in the hospital and what ought to be done to prevent repetition in the future,'' said medical superintendent, Dr P.P.S Mathur. Head of the cardiothoracic ward, Dr C.P. Srivastava, where the victim was admitted, will head the inquiry committee. Dr Mathur said the ward boy, Meena, was on payrolls of a private party which was hired by hospital administration on a contract basis. Sources said the agency had not even got the credentials of the ward boy verified by the police, which is a must for such contract jobs. In the aftermath of the incident, the hospital has removed all such contract workers from ward duties. The hospital administration, meanwhile, also washed its hands off the incident. ``There was no lapse on the part of the administration,'' said Dr Mathur. When asked how the ward boy was allowed access to a women's ward late in the night, the hospital administration blamed it on unregulated access to patients. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20050403234739&Page=O&Title=This+is+India&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5] "We Like To Play Left Against Congress In Kerala": RSS chro2003 New Indian Express, April 04, 2005, Monday We like to play Left against Congress in Kerala: RSS IANS NEW DELHI: Congress leader Vayalar Ravi might deny any secret pact with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) but the latter insists it has always supported the Congress or the Left in Kerala. A senior RSS leader said his organisation found nothing wrong in playing the two dominant Congress-led and Marxist-led alliances in the state against each other. But as far as the immediate future is concerned, the RSS has no intention of throwing its weight, even for tactical reasons, behind the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the leader told IANS, requesting anonymity. "In Kerala, where the LDF and the Congress-led UDF (United Democratic Front) take turns to rule, it is always a case of 16 political parties vs the BJP (the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Janata Party)," the leader said, referring to the parties in the two coalitions. "A third party has never played a major role in deciding the rulers in the state." The RSS leader's comments followed RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan's claim that Vayalar Ravi had quietly sought and received votes of RSS sympathizers in the 2001 Kerala assembly elections which the Congress won. Ravi has since met Congress leaders in New Delhi and denied the allegation. "I am not a fool to visit an RSS office. Even if a politician like me wanted their votes, I would have done it through a third person," Ravi told IANS. The RSS leader said Sudarshan's remarks had been blown out of proportion because of "ignorance" about political realities of Kerala. Although the RSS-backed BJP has never won a single assembly seat in Kerala, it has been trying its best to expand its base. In the May 2004 parliamentary polls it notched 12 percent votes across the state. This included the votes to P.C. Thomas, a former Kerala Congress leader who won from the Christian-dominated Moovattupuzha constituency as a candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Though RSS spokesman Ram Madhav has admitted that his organisation considered the LDF a greater evil, there were occasions when RSS supporters in Kerala preferred to vote for the Marxist-led alliance. "For example, in the 2004 general election, our activists voted for LDF candidates as it was a Congress-vs-BJP election at the national level," said the RSS leader. "We have always supported the lesser evil in the state," he added. But ahead of the assembly elections in 2001, though BJP leaders were of the view that the party and its supporters should support the LDF, the RSS did not agree. The RSS did not want the then LDF government to retain power. Eventually the Congress-led UDF won. But RSS leaders think they must stop backing the Marxists, for now at least. "We are always at the receiving end (when they take power). We cannot think of supporting them again," the RSS leader said. According to RSS sources, the idea of forging a secret understanding within the Congress to quietly "buy" RSS votes began in the 1980s when veteran Congress leader K. Karunakaran wanted to settle scores against his rival A.K. Antony. In 1991, the BJP had fielded candidates in Manjeri, Manjeswaram and Thiruvananthapuram East assembly constituencies, where Karunakaran had promised to put up weak Congress candidates. But the strategy did not work. Madhav has claimed that Ravi approached local RSS leaders in Kochi, seeking a secret electoral understanding in the 2001 assembly elections. Ravi has denied the charge. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEP20050403061933&Page=P&Title=States&Topic=0& ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6] KARNATAKA: Stress For More Judges From SC, ST chro2003 The Hindu, April 04, 2005, Monday Siddaramaiah wants more judges from among SC, ST people By Our Staff Correspondent MYSORE, APRIL 3. The Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, on Sunday voiced his concern over the poor representation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the higher echelons of the judiciary. Mr. Siddaramaiah was speaking at the valedictory of the 12th State-level Judicial Officers' Conference here. He paid glowing tributes to the judiciary in India, but lamented that even after 55 years after adopting the Constitution, there was inadequate representation of the Scheduled Castes and other backward class groups among High Court judges. Inadequate He cited the Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah Committee report which went into the working of the Constitution. "Only 20 of the 610 High Court judges in India are from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and even 55 years after the adoption of the Constitution, the representation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is far from adequate and is indeed a sad commentary on the working of social justice concepts in the very temple of justice," he said. He expressed hope that the "disturbing trend of denial of representation" will be reversed and dwelt on a scheme ??” first introduced by the late D. Devaraja Urs ??” that figured in the recent budget as per which stipends will be given to the newly enrolled advocates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes, minorities and women. Scheme Mr. Siddaramaiah said the then Law Minister, L.G. Havanur, piloted the scheme for the first time in the country and the scheme has worked wonders and gone a long way in sustaining advocates from weaker sections in the profession so as to ultimately provide manpower to don the judicial robes. He said the State Government has taken steps towards taking justice to the doors of the common man and has earmarked Rs. 20 crores for setting up Circuit Benches in north Karnataka. New courts H.K. Patil, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, said the common man still reposed faith in the judiciary although it has come under criticism for crossing the "Lakshman rekha" in recent times. Mr. Patil urged the legal and the judicial fraternity to help expedite the cases and pointed out that there are 14.5 lakh cases pending in the State. He said of the 11,627 prisoners in the State, 80 per cent were undertrials. He said the Government is committed to strengthen the Lok Adalats and proposed to open 100 new courts in the State to clear the pending cases. He said the role of witnesses is important in resolving cases and steps should be taken to protect the witnesses. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Judge, Supreme Court, and S.R. Nayak, Judge, Karnataka High Court, were present on the occasion. http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/04/stories/2005040402200300.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 7] WB: Police Inaction In Murder Case Despite Court Directives chro2003 AHRC, April 04, 2005, Monday (UA-54-2005) Police's deliberate inaction in a murder case despite court directives The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the complete disregard for a court orders by the Beldanga police in a murder case in West Bengal, India. According to the information received, Mr. Saidul Mullick, a potato vendor, left home on 29 November 2004 with about Rs 70,000 (USD 1,600) along with his business partners to purchase potatoes. However, his dead boy was found on the railway track near Rezinagar railway Station on 2 December 2004. The post-mortem was conducted on the body of Saidul but the victim's family claims that the post mortem report does not state the actual cause of death. After the post-mortem, when the victim's wife, Mrs Dilruba Bewa tried to register a case of murder against his business partners, the Beldanga police allegedly not only refused to do so but also threatened to book her under a false case. Even though the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Ms Indrila Mukherjee, directed the Beldanga police to register the case and submit a report, they did not comply with court orders. On 29 March 2005, Dilruba submitted another complaint to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ms Yasmin Fatema, regarding the police inaction in her husband's case. The magistrate once again directed the Beldanga police to register the case and investigate the matter, however the officer-In-charge of the Beldanga Police Station refused to do so, stating that it was a case of suicide. Furthermore, the Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad District, also allegedly encouraged the police inaction by saying that the case inquiry was over and found to be death by suicide and not murder. The AHRC is deeply concerned by the deliberate disobedience of the court's orders by othe Beldanaga police in this case. Please send a letter to the Chief Minister of West Bengal and urge him to take immediate action to register the case without further delay and ensure that an impartial and thorough investigation is conducted into this case by the independent police agency (not by the Beldanga police). A proper post mortem must be performed on the victim's body to be able to determine the actual cause of death. Please urge him to take disciplinary/legal action against those officers who have refused to follow court orders. Urgent Appeals Desk Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) ------------------------------------------------------------ DETAILED INFORMATION: Name of the victim: Mr. Saidul Mullick, age 30 Complainant: Mrs Dilruba Bewa, the victim's wife Address of the victim: Benadah village, Beldanga Police Station, Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India Date of incident: 29 November 2004 Case Status: Intentional inaction to pursue the case by the police mainly the following: 1. Mr. Arun Kumar Das, officer-in-charge, Beldanga Police Station, Murshidabad District 2. Mr. Sanjay Singh, Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad District Case Details: On 29 November 2004, Mr. Saidul Mullick, a potato vendor, was called on by two of his business partners belonging to the Devkundu village, under the jurisdiction of Beldanga Police Station, West Bengal, India. He left the house with the duo at about 4:30am with Rs 70,000 (USD 1,600) in his pocket to purchase potatoes. As he did not return home till evening, his wife, Mrs. Dilruba Bewa, went to Devkundu to look for him but she could not find any of the three persons. At the same night, one of the business partners came to her house and told her that Saidul would be returning only later. When her husband still did not return for three days, Dilruba lodged a complaint of his missing with the Beldanga Police Station on 1 December 2004. The next day, Saidul's dead body was found on the railway tracks near the Rezinagar Railway Station of the Sealdah-Lalgola section. The railway police seized the body registering it as an unnatural death after conducting a post-mortem. However, Dilruba's neighbour, Ms Hoshna Arrah alias Bulbul who is a lawyer by profession, says that the post-mortem report does neither reveal the actual cause of death nor state whether it was a murder or suicide. When Dilruba went to the Beldanga Police Station to claim her husband's body and to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Saidul's business partners, she was not only refused by the police personnel but also threatened that they would impose false charges on her if she did so. Dilruba then took the case to the district magistrate and Ms Indrila Mukherjee, the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) at that time, directed the Beldanga police to register a case and submit a report which they failed to do so. Dilruba also took her case to the West Bengal State Human Rights Commission and the Chief Minister of West Bengal but no serious action has been taken by those authorities to inquire in the case. On 29 March 2005, Dilruba complained to the SDJM that the police were refusing to file her complaint regarding her husband's murder and tried to hush up the case, insisting that it was a case of suicide. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ms Yasmin Fatema, once again ordered the Beldanga police to file her complaint, conduct an enquiry and report back to the court. However, the Beldanga police deliberately disobeyed the court's order merely making an excuse that the officer-in-charge (OC), Mr. Arun Kumar Das, was on leave and it was not possible to pursue the matter in his absence. However, it was later found by reliable sources that the OC was very much on duty at the time. When MASUM spoke to the OC, Mr Arun Kumar Das, he categorically stated that though the Beldanga police received orders of the SDJM, they had not complied with it and were not doing so in future as well because it was a pure case of suicide. In the meantime, the Superintendent of Police (SP), Murshidabad District, said that the case inquiry was over and it was found that it was found to be death by suicide and not murder. As regards the court's directive a second time, the SP further said that the General Railway Police would be asked to conduct an inquiry into the case as "the place of occurrence" falls under their jurisdiction. In many cases, such police inaction is a very frequent phenomenon in India. However, what is most surprising in this case is that the police even refused to heed even the judiciary. This case once again points to the absolute failure of rule of law in India. The AHRC strongly urges the Government of West Bengal to immediately file this case and carry an independent and thorough investigation into the victim's death (not by the Beldanga police). We also urge that those police officers who deliberately refused to register the case and disregarded the court's orders should be punished as this is contempt of court. SUGGESTED ACTION: Please send a letter to the Chief Minister of West Bengal requesting him to order an immediate and thorough investigation into this case. Please also ask him to take action against those police officers who intentionally refused to register the above case. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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