Demand for zero tolerance towards TN cops registering 'false cases' against denotified tribes

By A Representative
A top Tamil Nadu-based advocacy group had demanded that there should be “zero tolerance to violence by uniformed services” in the State. The demand came following a recent Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) order which recognized the version of 15 members of the Irula community, who it said were falsely implicated in acts of molestation, assault, torture and unlawful detention about ten years ago by then Inspector of Police, Thirukovilur, R Srinivasan, along with four other policemen.
Welcoming the SHRC order upholding the version of victims Lakshmi, Rathika, Vaigeswari and Karthika, who stated that they were falsely implicated by the police, the People’s Watch, in statement signed by Henri Tiphagne, said, it also appreciates the order stating that compensation be paid to the victims and departmental action be lodged against the police officials under provisions of the anti-atrocities Act in three months’ time.
The statement said, the SHRC order came soon after the film “Jai Bhim”, regretting, even today such false cases against members of the Irula, Kuravar and Kal Ottar communities – all of them denotified tribes – continue to be registered in northern, central and the southern districts, which suggests the State chief minister must immediately pay attention to this.
Demanding that the Tamil Nadu government should not only pay Rs 75,00,000 compensation, as ordered by the SHRC, but also ensure that disciplinary action is completed within the stipulated time, and the policemen be chargesheeted under the anti-atrocities Act, SC/ST PoA Act, 2016, the People’s Watch regretted, it took 10 years for the victims to get the positive order.
Wanting trial against the cops should be over before March 31, 2022, it said, “Delayed justice is justice denied. This case needs a public condemnation of such continuing atrocities and should serve as a wake up call to all IGs and the ADGP (law and order) of Tamil Nadu so that these acts of violence by our uniformed services are not continued.”
It also demanded that complaints by “members of the Irula, Kuravar, Kal Ottar communities and other denotified tribes” would need “a robust, well staffed, well funded, well trained and financially well supported SHRC, as also the State Commission for Women (SCW), the State Commission for Minorities (SCM), the State Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SCPCR), the State Commission for SC/STs (SC SC/STs), and State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (SCPwDs) and the State Information Commission (SIC).”
“We no longer need name sake commissions but independent, diverse, accountable, effective and transparent State Human Rights Institutions (SHRIs) which adhere to the UN Guidelines known as the Paris Principles, 1991”, the statement insisted.

Comments

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C. In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

From algorithms to exploitation: New report exposes plight of India's gig workers

By Jag Jivan The recent report, "State of Finance in India Report 2024-25," released by a coalition including the Centre for Financial Accountability, Focus on the Global South, and other organizations, paints a stark picture of India's burgeoning digital economy, particularly highlighting the exploitation faced by gig workers on platform-based services.

Election bells ringing in Nepal: Can ousted premier Oli return to power?

By Nava Thakuria* Nepal is preparing for a national election necessitated by the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government at the height of a Gen Z rebellion (youth uprising) in September 2025. The polls are scheduled for 5 March. The Himalayan nation last conducted a general election in 2022, with the next polls originally due in 2027. However, following the dissolution of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament last year by President Ram Chandra Poudel, the electoral process began under the patronage of an interim government installed on 12 September under the leadership of retired Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki. The Hindu-majority nation of over 29 million people will witness more than 3,400 electoral candidates, including 390 women, representing 68 political parties as well as independents, vying for 165 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.

Gig workers hold online strike on republic day; nationwide protests planned on February 3

By A Representative Gig and platform service workers across the country observed a nationwide online strike on Republic Day, responding to a call given by the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) to protest what it described as exploitation, insecurity and denial of basic worker rights in the platform economy. The union said women gig workers led the January 26 action by switching off their work apps as a mark of protest.

'Condonation of war crimes against women and children’: IPSN on Trump’s Gaza Board

By A Representative The India-Palestine Solidarity Network (IPSN) has strongly condemned the announcement of a proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza and Palestine by former US President Donald J. Trump, calling it an initiative that “condones war crimes against children and women” and “rubs salt in Palestinian wounds.”

India’s road to sustainability: Why alternative fuels matter beyond electric vehicles

By Suyash Gupta* India’s worsening air quality makes the shift towards clean mobility urgent. However, while electric vehicles (EVs) are central to India’s strategy, they alone cannot address the country’s diverse pollution and energy challenges.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

With infant mortality rate of 5, better than US, guarantee to live is 'alive' in Kerala

By Nabil Abdul Majeed, Nitheesh Narayanan In 1945, two years prior to India's independence, the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was born into a working-class family in northern Kerala. He was his mother’s fourteenth child; of the thirteen siblings born before him, only two survived. His mother was an agricultural labourer and his father a toddy tapper. They belonged to a downtrodden caste, deemed untouchable under the Indian caste system.

MGNREGA: How caste and power hollowed out India’s largest welfare law

By Sudhir Katiyar, Mallica Patel* The sudden dismantling of MGNREGA once again exposes the limits of progressive legislation in the absence of transformation of a casteist, semi-feudal rural society. Over two days in the winter session, the Modi government dismantled one of the most progressive legislations of the UPA regime—the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Search This Blog