Arrest of two anti-MNC Odisha adivasi activists set to turn into a major human rights issue: Petition to CM

By A Representative
The recent arrest of two Odisha adivasi activists who had campaigned against the Korean multinational company POSCO -- Judhistira Jena, 60, and Babula Samal, 45, both residents of Dhinkia village, Jagatsinghapur district -- is all set to turn into a major human rights issue, with a civil rights organization and two well-known legal luminaries saying it outlines "a frightening picture of hounding of adivasi villagers" in the state.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), led by Mumbai's high profile human rights defender Teesta Setelvad, Justices BG Kolse Patil (retired judge Bombay High Court) and PB Sawant (retired judge Supreme Court of India) in an online petition to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik have said, December 2017 saw "an intensification in repression through the escalation in the number of false cases and looming threats of impending arrests."
Seeking to quash "false cases" registered on villagers in Paradip region, Odisha, instituted over the 12 years of the anti-POSCO movement, including against the two adivasi activists arrested last month, the petition is based on a letter they received on January 1, 2018 from Prashant Paikray of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangharsh Samiti (PPSS).
"All those who are being targeted appear to have been active in resisting the grant of rich and fertile land to the Korean company, POSCO", the petition says, adding, "Apart from the latest arrest of these two villagers, throughout the course of 12 years of the movement against POSCO, the villagers in the impacted areas were embroiled in several allegedly fabricated and false cases. Several of these activists have multiple cases against them which seem completely illogical to us."
Giving specific examples, the petition says, "One of their women leaders, Manorama Kathua from Dhinkia village is charged with a rape case. Similarly, many activists have been charged with Section 498A, the criminal provision of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, in domestic feuds of other families of other households."

Noting that "due to lack of resources they have not been able to provide a complete defence to all the activists and villagers", the petition however, points out, "In the 10 cases related to charges of section 420 (cheating) filed so far, in which local lawyers have provided defence, these have all resulted in acquittals. This strengthens our belief that it is likely that a large number of these cases are false."
"Because of the threat of these looming arrests, the villagers are not able to pursue their everyday livelihood options like beetle cultivation. It is an attack on both their life and liberty. They are unable to access even basic services like medical facilities in situations of emergency", the petition underlines.
It recalls, the multinational giant, POSCO, "withdrew from the state of Odisha in March 2017 owing to the large scale public protests of the people of Odisha", telling the chief minister, "In accordance with the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the rights of the forest dwelling communities need to be restored... Yet, despite the withdrawal of POSCO, the false cases that were charged to control the protests still remain intact, becoming a source of continued harassment."
According to PPSS' Paikray, the prime reason for the arrest Jena and Samal is "to sabotage our democratic movement and to hand over our land to JSW Steel Limited", adding, the Government of Odisha is planning to sign an agreement to hand over land to the company, thus "helping the corporate forces avoid direct confrontation with land losers by floating land bank through Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO)."
Calling IDCO "an unconstitutional body designed to promote ruthless land grabbing in the interests of private corporate interests", Paikray says, at a time when PPSS is struggling to provide legal defence for a total of 420 individuals, "warrants have been issued against 1500 people, including 500 women. Of these, approximately 400 of these individuals were, in fact, arrested."
"About 400 cases have been registered against 2,500 people who face the permanent risk of getting arrested anytime", he says, adding, the adivasis in the region "live without liberty", and "people cannot go out and receive treatment even in emergency situations because of the threat of arrests."
"The inability to leave the village has resulted in a complete lack of access to medicines or any medical treatment to the villagers", Paikray says, adding, "There is no doctor who visits the villages, and no health centers in the vicinity, and the virtual siege prevents us from taking medical assistance from outside the village. This is particularly difficult for women as they find it difficult in even carrying out their regular daily chores that demand them to move within or outside the village."
He notes, "Our women leader Manorama Kathua from Dhinkia village had not left the village for 10 years due to the fear of being arrested, and if she had to, then she had to go out stealthily. She complained of severe joint pain, but she could not visit any doctor, as that would put her in the risk of being arrested."
"The arrest of some of the members of the PPSS has resulted in tragic consequences at family front", says Paikray, adding, "One Prakash Jena, who was arrested on September 12, 2008, lost his mother after she committed suicide in despair. His sister became mentally depressed and continues to suffer from severe depression. His brother Manas Jena was killed by hired goons of the company. Altogether four persons have lost their lives due to attack by hired goons of the company."

Comments

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Counterview

Search This Blog