Withdraw FIR, "fake" charges against Bihar TU leaders in Araria: NAPM

Medha Patkar

By A Representative
The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), a top human rights network, has taken strong exception to FIR and "fake" charges registered by the Araria (Bihar) District Police against activists Kamayani Swami, Ranjit Paswan and 150 un-named persons of the Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan (JJSS) for sitting in "peaceful satyagraha" against bureaucratic delays and corruption in Nagar Parishad Araria.
In a statement, NAPM said, On the May 7, 2019 around 200 members of JJSS, a local union of workers and marginal farmers, and residents of Baijnathpur in Araria District, Bihar, gathered in front of the office of the executive officer of Araria Nagar Parishad. Using the satyagraha method as a means of non-violent protest, people were demanding release of money in “Sabke liye Awaas” , “Swachh Bharat” and “Lohia Swachh Bihar Mission”schemes and social security pension scheme.
A representative body of JJSS even met the officials, and later executive officer Dinanath Singh came out of his office to interact with the people and gave assurances. The satyagraha came to an end in the evening.
However, two days later, it came to be known that FIRs had been filed against the satygrahis, a copy of which was procured from the Araria Sessions Court mentioning several charges including that of rioting against Paswan, Swami and 150 unknown people.
"Swami and Pawan are founder members of JJSS and renowned trade union leaders and activists in the area. Paswan is currently general secretary of the union, while Swami is a well known social and political activist, campaigning for right to food, among other issues", the statement said.
"We demand that the grievances of the people brought during the satyagraha be addressed at the earliest and false charges against Swami, Paswan and other unnamed persons should be withdrawn", the statement, signed, among others, by Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shankar Singh, Dr Binayak Sen, Prafulla Samantara, Meera Sanghamitra, Kavita Srivastava, and Sandeep Pandey, said.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Search This Blog