Caste 'discrimination' of Dalits, Adivasis in quarantine centres: Demand for inquiry

Quarantine centres in Jharkhand: Representative image

Counterview Desk
A civil rights organization, Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch (JMM), has taken strong exception to what it calls “contradictory statements by government officials in caste-based discrimination case in the Hazaribagh Banaso Panchayat quarantine centre, demanding the state authorities must seek clarification from officials concerned as to “why the dry ration was arranged in the quarantine centre and why confirmation regarding the incident was given to media.
In a statement, JJM said, the whole matter should be re-investigated, and if found guilty, action should be taken against all those concerned people, and there should be strict monitoring in the entire state that there are no instances of discrimination in the quarantine centres.

Text:

On May 25, 2020, Prabhat Khabar reported that four Brahmin migrant labourers staying at the quarantine centre of Hazaribagh, Banaso Panchayat, Bishnugarh Block, refused to eat food cooked by a Scheduled Caste (SC) person. The Brahmins demanded the administration to give dry ration instead of cooked food. Thereafter, separate dry ration was arranged for these four by the Mukhiya.
In the report, the deputy commissioner (DC), Hazaribagh, Bhuvnesh Kumar Singh has been quoted as confirming that he talked with the block development officer (BDO) and for the four Brahmin migrant labourers, who had refused to eat dry ration was arranged. This news was also published in the "Times of India", along with the same statement by the DC confirming the incident.
When the administration arranges for separate ration rather than taking action in such a situation, it encourages discrimination and casteist thought and behaviour and is also complicit in the same and is as much of a culprit.
The issue was tweeted by the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha and it was demanded that action should be taken on those who refused to eat, as well as on the administration, that was complicit in the discrimination, as it arranged for separate dry ration in the quarantine centre.
Other journalists, social workers, and aware citizens also raised this issue on Twitter. After this, the Jharkhand Police tagged Hazaribagh Police and asked to take cognizance of the case and to take action. On the same day, a video of the cooks in the quarantine centre of Banaso Panchayat also made rounds, in which they are saying that the newspaper report is concocted, and no such incident took place.
In that video, it is also clear that someone is dictating from behind the camera what to say. By the evening, the DC, Hazaribagh retweets Mahasabha’s tweet saying that the matter was investigated by the Additional Collector, after which the case was found to be baseless.
The next day, on May 26, 2020, "Prabhat Khabar" reported that everyone is having food in the quarantine centre, along with DC's statement that the situation is normal there and the caste discrimination issue has been found baseless in the Additional Collector's investigation.

Information has been received about caste-based discrimination in quarantine centres of Bishnugarh, Simdega and Bolba blocks

Question arises: What was the foundation of the statement by DC on the previous day confirming the incident and stating that dry ration was arranged. The “Times of India” report also clearly stated that DC Bhuvnesh Kumar Singh had confirmed the incident. If the situation was normal, on what basis were the newspapers given the confirmation of the incident?
Information has also been received from other areas in Jharkhand about discrimination against Dalit/Adivasi people in quarantine centres (e.g. in Karbeda Panchayat of Simdega and Bolba Block). The Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha is against any kind of discrimination and strongly condemns it. In this event where the facts do not match, and the matter seems doubtful, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha demands the following:

Clarification should be provided by the DC, BDO, and the Mukhiya as to why the dry ration was arranged in the quarantine center and why confirmation regarding the incident was given to the newspapers? Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribagh should provide clarification for his contradictory statements.
The information about the procedures adopted in the investigation by the Additional Collector should be made public.
This case should be re-investigated, and if found guilty, action should be taken against all concerned people.
There should be strict monitoring in the entire Jharkhand state that there are no instances of discrimination in the quarantine centres, and strict action should be taken if found. In any case, the constitutional and human values of equality should not be violated.

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.

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

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.

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.

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By A Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project.

Counterview

Search This Blog