Maoist links? Jharkhand Dalit rights activist arrested for "opposing" Mandal dam

Family, neighbours of Naresh Bhuiyan

Counterview Desk
The civil rights organization Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), describing the recent arrest of Naresh Bhuiyan, an active member of the Bhartiya Bhuiyan Vikas Parishad and currently involved in protests against the Mandal Dam, as “unlawful”, has demanded that the state government should “immediately” initiate an independent enquiry into efforts to brand him as a Maoist.
JJM, in a statement, has said, “The psychological and physical integrity of Naresh Bhuiyan and his family members should be ensured. The government should also immediately release under-trial prisoners languishing in Jharkhand’s jails since a long time. And it should put an end to its practice of using false cases to harass human rights activists.”

Text of the statement:

On May 14, 2019, the local police arrested Jharkhand’s Dalit activist Naresh Bhuiyan from his home in Bhandar village (Dhurki block, Garhwa district). The police told Bhuiyan’s family members that he was being taken to the local thana for certain enquiries and would be released immediately. But when he did not return by 15 May, the family members went to the thana to inquire. They were not allowed to meet Bhuiyan. He was illegally kept in the thana and was not produced in the court for several days.

Even though copy of FIR has not been made available so far, information collected from sources indicate that Naresh Ram has been implicated on charges of links with Maoists. The charges are gross manipulation and far from truth. There are also reports of physical torture by the police.
Naresh Bhuiyan is an active member of the Bhartiya Bhuiyan Vikas Parishad and has been working for the rights of Dalits and Adivasis since decades. He is associated with several peoples’ movements like the Adim Janjati Parishad and the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Manch. Naresh Ram has actively participated in agitations against irregularities in grain distribution to particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), Birsa Housing scam, cases related to human trafficking, issues related to direct appointment of eighth and tenth pass PVTG candidates to mention a few.

Mandal Dam

It is worth mentioning that Naresh Bhuiyan's is involved in protests against the Mandal Dam that is to be constructed on the North Koel river. Despite protests by people of villages that will be submerged, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the Dam on January 5, 2019. This project will submerge 46 villages that will lead to displacement and loss of livelihood to thousands of Dalit and PVTG families. Lakhs of trees will be felled and the project will have huge adverse impact on the environment affecting the locals for all times to come. Having realised the harm caused by the proposed dam, the residents of the affected 46 villages have started agitating.

The illegal arrest of Naresh Bhuiyan on false charges is an attempt to weaken the protests against the construction of the Mandal Dam. It is also one more example of the anti-people attitude of Jharkhand’s BJP government. More than 6,000 Dalits and Adivasis of the state are languishing as under-trials in jails since years. Many have been booked falsely on charges of Naxalism. The police has been unable to produce any evidence against most of them. It also must be mentioned that in the last five years, the state government has even booked many human rights activists on false charges of sedition.
The Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha strongly condemns the unlawful arrest and detention of Naresh Bhuiyan. The Mahasabha demands that the state government immediately initiates an independent enquiry in this incidence. The psychological and physical integrity of Naresh Bhuiyan and his family members should be ensured. The government should also immediately release under-trial prisoners languishing in Jharkhand’s jails since a long time. And it should put an end to its practice of using false cases to harass human rights activists.

Comments

India's chemical industry: The missing piece of Atmanirbhar Bharat

By N.S. Venkataraman* Rarely a day passes without the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister speaking about the importance of Atmanirbhar Bharat . The Start-up India scheme is a pillar in promoting this vision, and considerable enthusiasm has been reported in promoting start-up projects across the country. While these developments are positive, Atmanirbhar Bharat does not seem to have made significant progress within the Indian chemical industry . This is a matter of high concern that needs urgent and dispassionate analysis.

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.

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 ...

Remembering a remarkable rebel: Personal recollections of Comrade Himmat Shah

By Rajiv Shah I first came in contact with Himmat Shah in the second half of the 1970s during one of my routine visits to Ahmedabad , my maternal hometown. I do not recall the exact year, but at that time I was working in Delhi with the CPI -owned People’s Publishing House (PPH) as its assistant editor, editing books and writing occasional articles for small periodicals. Himmatbhai — as I would call him — worked at the People’s Book House (PBH), the CPI’s bookshop on Relief Road in Ahmedabad.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

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

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

Muslim women’s rights advocates demand criminalisation of polygamy: Petition launched

By A Representative An online petition seeking a legal ban on polygamy has been floated by Javed Anand, co-editor of Sabrang and National Convener of Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD), inviting endorsements from citizens, organisations and activists. The petition, titled “Indian Muslims & Secular Progressive Citizens Demand a Legal Ban on Polygamy,” urges the Central and State governments, Parliament and political parties to abolish polygamy through statutory reform, backed by extensive data from the 2025 national study conducted by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA).

Bangladesh alternative more vital for NE India than Kaladan project in Myanmar

By Mehjabin Bhanu* There has been a recent surge in the number of Chin refugees entering Mizoram from the adjacent nation as a result of airstrikes by the Myanmar Army on ethnic insurgents and intense fighting along the border between India and Myanmar. Uncertainty has surrounded India's Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport project, which uses Sittwe port in Myanmar, due to the recent outbreak of hostilities along the Mizoram-Myanmar border. Construction on the road portion of the Kaladan project, which runs from Paletwa in Myanmar to Zorinpui in Mizoram, was resumed thanks to the time of relative calm during the intermittent period. However, recent unrest has increased concerns about missing the revised commissioning goal dates. The project's goal is to link northeastern states with the rest of India via an alternate route, using the Sittwe port in Myanmar. In addition to this route, India can also connect the region with the rest of India through Assam by using the Chittagon...

Search This Blog