Slumlords' real estate nexus, callous cops "responsible" for Mumbai gangrape of local environmental activist

The Mumbai-based civil society organization, working on house rights issues, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA) has said that the gang rape of an environmental activist living in a slum community in Mumbai is the direct result of her fight against illegal uprooting of mangroves in the area.
The woman was sexually assaulted by five men on Sunday, one day after her complaint led to the demolition of their illegal hutments on the green patch at Sai Dham Nagar in Kandivali’s Charkop area.
Insisting that the Mumbai police is also responsible for this gruesome incident, GBGBA said, the cops showed “callousness” by failing to take steps “which would have avoided such a heinous crime.”
GBGBA said, “Generally, every informal settlement in Mumbai has a strong and active nexus of slumlords and local police which is involved in illegal selling of government and private plots to poor working class of the city to construct their dwellings.”
Pointing out that “this nexus controls water and electricity supply”, GBGBA, in a statement issued on Thursday said, it “sells plots by cutting mangroves and fill the marshy land with debris.”
GBGBA noted, “Members of this nexus also harass women living in the community and in nearby areas physically and sexually”, adding, “This nexus takes full advantage of the helplessness of poor working class of the city who due to the unavailability of cheaper housing option fall prey to slumlords.”

“Slumlords control these mainly marshy areas, and allow construction of huts only when they are paid some money”, GBGBA said, adding, the police is “directly involved” in this racket.
These things are continuing despite the fact that, GBGBA claimed, its activists made several complaints to the local police stations of respective areas, complaining cutting mangroves, public consumption of hooch, and harassment of women.”

Illegal shanties destroyed because of the woman's complaint

One who was engaged in conserving mangrove cover in the area associated with the Anyay Nivaran Bhrashtachar Nirmulan Paryavaran Sanrakshan Sanstha, on Saturday she lodged a complaint with the local forest department about the shanties which came up, with unauthorized structures being sold for as high as Rs 12 lakh.
Local activists said, the woman was assigned the task of monitoring mangroves. After her complaint on Saturday, the structures were demolished. The men involved in the gang rape “began filming her from the window to terrorise her.”
Then, she was dragged outside and was hit with an iron rod. She was thrust to the floor and raped. Her mother heard the commotion, arrived at the spot and called the police. All this happened between 3.30 and 4.00 pm.
Taken to the nearby Ambedkar Hospital, where she received stitches on her face and ribs, local activists complained, the police didn’t inform the hospital about her case.
Meanwhile, the victim has accused the police of being hand-in-glove with those responsible for raping her. Her lawyer has said, the police official on duty at Charkop police station, Mahadev Tukaram Bhonsale, didn’t register the FIR on time. Five persons were booked only after an FIR was filed on Monday.

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog