Incarceration of undertrials associated with "illegal" TU activity in Jharkhand termed violation of international law

An MSS rally before it was banned

By Our Representative
In an unprecedented move, the Jharkhand government has put four persons, accused of being associated with "illegal" trade union activity, Ajay Hembrum, Mohan Murmu, Daya Chand Hembrum and Damodar Turi, all of them undertrials, under solitary confinement, allowing them to mingle with other prisoners only twice a day for two hours.
Arrested and put in Giridih Central Jail after the crackdown on the Mazdoor Sangathan Samiti (MSS), a registered trade union, banned on December 22, the relatives of these prisoners have complained that the cells in which these undertrials have been kept are unclean and without any basic facilities.
Worse, according to the relatives, they are prevented from giving basic items like mosquito repellents, food and clothes to the four inmates, with the number of persons who can visit and the frequency of visits having been "arbitrarily curtailed."
Bringing this to light, a civil rights organization, Persecuted Prisoners’ Solidarity Committee (PPSC), led by veteran human rights activist Stan Swamy and trade union leader and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj, have said that that Turi is not even a member of MSS.
In an email alert, PPSC has said, "These and other undertrial prisoners have been put in solitary confinement since March 23, 2018", adding, "In response, prisoners went on a hunger strike on March 27."
According to PPSC, following the hunger strike, "under pressure, since April 2 the jail administration allowed these prisoners to mingle with other prisoners only twice a day for two hours", calling the solitary confinement a "violation of the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners as guaranteed by the law of the land."
According to PPSC, "It is unconstitutional and illegal to keep undertrial prisoners under solitary confinement in India. Solitary confinement is envisaged only for convicts (s.73, 74 IPC) and that too on compliance of strict statutory conditions." "Further", PPSC says, "it is only under an order of a Court that such confinement can be authorised (Sunil Batra v Delhi Administration, 1978 AIR 1675)", adding, "Internationally, solitary confinement is recognised as a form of torture."
Notably, India is a signatory to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1987.
MSS was declared an unlawful association under section 16 of the CLA Act, 1908, accused of being a “frontal organisation of the CPI (Maoist)." It has been working for the rights of doli mazdoor and other workers since 1989 in Giridih, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Ramgarh, Gaya, Kharsawan and Jhalda districts of Jharkhand.
Claiming to have membership of around 22,000 workers, MSS, says the PPSC email alert, has "exposed the fake encounter killing of one of their members Motilal Baske in June 2017, and has been protesting against the amendments to the land laws (Chotanagpur Tenancy Act 1908 and Santhal Pargana Act 1949) aimed at dispossessing Adivasis and Moolvasis of their land."
Says PPSC, "As part of the ongoing repression, the government has also banned another organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) in February leading to 3 FIRs, arrests of its members and sealing of their offices", adding, "PFI has been involved in exposing the role of administration and cow-vigilante groups in lynchings of Muslims and intimidation of their families."
Meanwhile, PPSC has demanded that the ban on MSS and PFI be revoked,cases against members of MSS and PFI be withdrawn, and persons incarcerated be released immediately.

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Untold story of Jammu: Business 'down', students fear lynching, teachers can't speak

By Rajiv Shah
A just-released report, seeking to debunk the view that people in Jammu, the second biggest city of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) after Srinagar, people had gone “out celebrating” abrogation of Article 370 which took away the state’s special status, has reported what it calls “abominably high levels of fear” across all sections in the town.

Ceramic worker dies: 20,000 workers in Thangadh, Gujarat, 'risk' deadly silicosis

By Our Representative
Even as the country was busy preparing for the Janmashtami festival on Saturday, Hareshbhai, a 46-year-old ceramic worker from suffering from the fatal lung disease silicosis, passed away. He worked in a ceramic unit in Thangadh in Surendranagar district of Gujarat from 2000 to 2016.
Hareshbhai was diagnosed with the disease by the GCS Medical College, Naroda Road, Ahmedabad in 2014. He was found to be suffering from progressive massive fibrosis. He is left behind by his wife Rekha sister and two sons Deepak (18) and Umesh (12),
The death of Hareshbhai, says Jagdish Patel of the health rights group Peoples Training and Research Centre (PTRC), suggests that silicosis, an occupational disease, can be prevented but not cured, and the Factory Act has sufficient provisions to prevent this.
According to Patel, the pottery industry in the industrial town of Thangadh has evolved for a long time and locals as well as migrant workers are employed here. There are abou…

Gujarat's incomplete canals: Narmada dam filled up, yet benefits 'won't reach' farmers

By Our Representative
Even as the Gujarat government is making all out efforts to fill up the Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river up to the full reservoir level (FRL), a senior farmer rights leader has said the huge reservoir, as of today, remains a “mirage for the farmers of Gujarat”.
In a statement, Sagar Rabari of the Khedut Ekta Manch (KEM), has said that though the dam’s reservoir is being filled up, the canal network remains complete. Quoting latest government figures, he says, meanwhile, the command area of the dam has been reduced from 18,45,000 hectares (ha) to 17,92,000 ha.
“According to the website of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, which was last updated on Friday, while the main canal, of 458 km long, has been completed, 144 km of ranch canals out of the proposed length of 2731 km remain incomplete.
Then, as against the targeted 4,569 km distributaries, 4,347 km have been constructed, suggesting work for 222 km is still pending. And of the 15,670 km of minor canal…

Cess for Gujarat construction workers: Spending less than 10%; no 'direct help' to beneficiaries

By Our Representative
While the Gujarat government’s Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, set up in 2004, as of March 31, 2019, has collected a total cess of Rs 2,097.62 crore from the the builders, it has spent less than 10% -- Rs 197.17 crore. And, as on May 31, 2019, the total cess collection has reached Rs 2,583.16 crore, said a statement issued by Bandhkam Majur Sagathan general secretary Vipul Pandya.
Pointing out that just about 6.5 lakh out of 20 lakh workers have been registered under the board, Pandya said, vis-à-vis other states, Gujarat ranks No 13th in the amount spent on the welfare of the construction workers, while 11th in the amount collected.
And while the builders are obliged to pay just about 1% of the total cost of their project, the calculation of the cess is flawed: It is Rs 3,000 per square yard; accordingly, Rs 30 per square yard is collected. “Had the cess been collected on the real construction cost, it would have been at least Rs 7,000 cr…

Why nobody objected to Gautam Gambhir, Sunny Deol in t-shirt, jean?: Activists

By Our Representative
Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan’s excitement on their first day as MPs was overshadowed by a barrage of sexism over their ‘non- sanskari’ outfits, a group of civil society activists have said in a statement. According to Aarushi Nigam, Divya Kaushik, Riya Sharma, Ruman Ganguly, and Anulekha Agarwal, both Bengali actors and first-time MPs "were certainly excited to take them on when they posted pictures from their new workplace on social media."
Hit by misogynistic comments, the activists say, "Their choice of workwear – jeans and a white button-down shirt for Mimi, a wine-coloured peplum suit for Nusrat – was the first and last word on their political competence for many."
“You’re not on vacation”, “they have mistaken Parliament for Kolkata’s Nicco Park or City Centre”, “this is not a photo studio, this is a place where you should fight for people’s rights and legislate”, “keep some respect towards your Bengali society” were some of the &quo…

Kashmiris in a civil disobedience mode, are going against 'diktat' to open shops

Counterview Desk
A team of concerned citizens, including Ludhiana-based psychiatrist and writer Anirudh Kala, Mumbai-based activist and public health professional Brinelle Dsouza, Delhi-based journalist and writer Revati Laul, and social activist Shabnam Hashmi, travelled to Kashmir and Jammu to understand the impact of the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent security clampdown and communication blockade on the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

Gujarat CM aide 'doubts' authenticity of Gandhi article published in 'Harijan'

By Rajiv Shah
A top aide of Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has doubted the authenticity of the article written by Mahatma on Gandhi January 27, 1948, three days before his death. Hitesh Pandya, who was assistant public relations officer (PRO) under Narendra Modi’s chief ministership in Gujarat, and is currently serving as PRO of Rupani, has said, there is “reason to doubt”, since the article appeared on February 1, 1948, two days after Gandhi’s assassination.

Denied permission in Ahmedabad to protest on Kashmir, NGO seeks online support

By Our Representative
Gujarat chapter of the Delhi-based Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), which calls itself is a socio-cultural organization established “as a response to 2002 Gujarat riots”, has sought support from state academics, activists and professionals for a petition against the “unilateral” decision of the Government of India to “revoke” Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) legislature’s “right to self-governance”.

Success of 'political' Hinduism: Kashmiris being depicted as antagonists of rest of India

By Anand K Sahay*
There are times in history when facts call attention to themselves; they assert their independence in all its amplitude and are in no need of the crutch of interpretation. Such a moment is visible in Kashmir now. Merely by being on the table, the facts there taunt the regime’s proclamations.

RSS chief's Hindutva motto seems to be: Down with lynching, long live vadh

By Shamsul Islam*
India has turned into the lynching capital of the world. Our country has been tagged with this infamous identity with Narendra Modi becoming Prime Minister of India in 2014. The Modi rule herald the beginning of nation-wide spree of lynching of Dalits and minorities. Unfortunately, there is no government data collection on hate-crimes but few media outlets have been collecting the lynch data.

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