Forced to sign blank paper, cops detain, "falsely implicate" video volunteer, others: Bhopal health workers' rally

Counterview Desk
Seeking urgent help from concerned citizens, Video Volunteers (VV), a well-known human rights NGO that promotes community media to enable citizen participation in marginalized and poor communities team, has said that one its workers and her friends, who had gone to a community health workers protest rally in Bhopal, were maltreated and falsely implicated by the police.
Pointing out that the "troubling case" is still unfolding, VV's programme manager, networking and advocacy, Amrita Sunita Anand has sought "legal advice and support" by contacting on info@videovolunteers.org.

Text of VV's appeal:

On October 2, 2018, more than 2500 ASHA and USHA (community health) workers from 17 districts reached the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's doorstep in Bhopal to bring to his notice their long standing demand of their rights. The police detained hundreds of ASHA & USHA workers, drove them around Bhopal in police vans, and most were later dropped off at the railway station. However, not all have safely reached home. We have been in constant touch with Laxmi Kaurav, an ASHA Sahyogini, and a VV Community Correspondent.
Laxmi was dropped off at Hamidiya Hospital, Bhopal, by the police, to meet with Mamta Rajawat -- an ASHA worker injured during the protest. Mamta had climbed up a tower, for reasons yet not known, and in the chaotic rescue effort by, what seems like a plain-clothed policeman and uniformed women police personnel Mamta fell off the tower. See the video here:

Laxmi who came to check on her injured colleague (at Hamidiya Hospital) was unofficially detained in the hospital premise and was not allowed to leave for the next four days. She had to spent her nights sleeping in a chair in the hospital waiting room under strict vigilance of male police personnel stationed there in uniform and in plain clothes. There were also two women officers present. They identified themselves as representatives of the CID.
Braving these odds, she sent us audio and video recordings of how she was being treated. Click for videos HERE and HERE. The police did not give her any clear reason as to why she wasn't allowed to leave the premises. "I want the world to know how they treat hard-working and poor health workers who demand for their rights", says Laxmi.

Laxmi

At the police station they were all asked to sign on a blank paper by the police and threatened with violence if they didn't comply. After hours of arguing and standing up against this illegality Laxmi and her friends signed something that appears to be a bail-bond. No one is clear about the content of this paper because the women were not given a copy of it nor were they allowed to read it!
Laxmi later learnt that a case has been filed against her and five others.
Though the local media covered these incidents (click HERE and HERE), the coverage by national media is negligible. We are therefore writing this to inform you of this troubling case that is still unfolding and to appeal for your solidarity and help. Very urgently, we need legal advice and support. Do write to info@videovolunteers.org if you can help.

Comments

Missed call drive for VVPAT verification follows online plea to "pressure" poll panel

By Our Representative
Several political activists have begun a new campaign, asking concerned citizens to give a missed call on 9667655855 to “support the demand that 2019 Loksabha elections must be declared only after verification of 50% electronic voting machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) receipts.” The effort, supported by civil society networks across India, is meant to "further pressure" India's election machinery to ensure that the poll outcome becomes more transparent.

Now, top Gujarat "litterateur" close to Modi says: Godse was patriot, so was Gandhi

By Rajiv Shah
A little over a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized BJP candidate from Bhopal Pragya Thakur for calling Nathuram Godse a patriot saying he would never forgive her for the remark, a top Sangh Parivar ideologue, known to close to Modi in Gujarat, has supported her, saying her statement should be seen “within a context.” Thakur won from Bhopal by more than 3.5 lakh votes defeating her nearest rival, veteran Congressman and ex-Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh.

Opposition refuses to legally challenge EVMs amidst plans of "back to ballot" protest

Counterview Desk
Even as opposition to the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) allegedly to rig polls is growing, a group of prominent citizens who have come together to form the EVM Virodhi Rashtriya Jan Andolan has controversially called for a national protest against EVMs on May 30, demanding future elections should be held only on ballot paper.

When a Pak scribe said Modi has 'proved' Jinnah’s two nation theory right...

By Zafar Agha*
It was around nine in the morning on May 24, 2019, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi stormed the Lok Sabha with 300-plus MPs. It was a call from a journalist friend, Muzamal Suhrawardy, from Lahore, Pakistan. I ignored the call. We liberals had a depressing day the previous evening as the opposition to Modi and BJP collapsed. The results belied reports from the ground and even assessments made by colleagues.

It's now official: Akshay Kumar has not been conferred honorary Canadian citizenship

By Our Representative
It is now official. Super-star Akshay Kumar has not been conferred any honorary citizenship by Canadian authorities, as claimed by him ahead of the 2019 elections. In reply to a query by Roshan Shah, who is a Canadian citizen living in Waterloo, Ontario, and belongs to Ahmedabad, the country’s authorities dealing with issues related with immigration, refugees and citizenship in Canada have said that only six persons have so far been granted honorary citizenship.

Savarkar in Ahmedabad "declared support" to two-nation theory in 1937, followed by Jinnah three years later

By Our Representative
One of the top freedom fighters whom BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi revere the most, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was also a great supporter of the two nation theory for India, one for Hindus another for Muslims, claims a new expose on the man who is also known to be the original proponent of the concept of Hindutva.

Govt of India overestimated GDP by 2.5%, must restore reputational damage: Ex-CEA

By Rajiv Shah
Top economist Arvind Subramanian has said that changes brought about by the Government of India in data sources and methodology for estimating the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) since 2011-12 “has led to a significant overestimation of growth”. While official estimates place annual average GDP growth between 2011-12 and 2016-17 at about 7 percent, the actual growth may have been 4½ percent, ranging from 3 ½ to 5 ½ percent during the period, he adds.

If EC's credibility is under question, shouldn't one "assume" EVMs might be tampered?

Counterview Desk
Gauhar Raza, scientist, documentary film maker and poet; senior human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi of the Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD); military veteran Major Priyadarshi Chowdhury (retd); and Sucheta De and Sandeep Saurav of the All India Students' Association (AISA), have asked “individuals, organisations and people's movements” to send their endorsement to an appeal they have prepared on Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Common thread of Modi, political Hinduism, nationalism? 'Contest' of ideas isn't over

By Salman Khurshid*
Losing the 2019 election and that too in a somewhat extreme manner has confronted us with unexpected challenges: Our leadership has naturally taken it very hard and to heart but with suggested options that we cannot imagine or contemplate. Hopefully the emotions will settle soon and give us the direction to pick up the pieces and march again.

Will minorities in India be 2nd class citizens? Wake up call: Be a 'communicating' Church

By Fr Cedric Prakash sj*
India today is at a defining moment of her history. There is so much that has taken place in the past five years (and particularly in the last ten days)- that several citizens of the country are genuinely concerned about the future of the country! Will democracy survive? Will key elements of the Constitution be changed?

Counterview

Search This Blog