BSF&#39;s unconstitutional, whimsical order violates life, livelihood of Dalits, minorities

BSF's unconstitutional, whimsical order violates life, livelihood of Dalits, minorities

Kirity Roy, Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), writes to the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission:

***

I want to attract your attention towards the illegitimate restrictions on the life and livelihood of the villagers of Paschim Sahebganj village under Dinhata - II Block and Sahebganj police station in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal by the Border Security Force personnel attached with Dharala Border Out Post under 138 Battalion BSF.
The population of Paschim Sahebganj village is around 1480, where almost 75 percent of the villagers belong from Hindu Scheduled Caste (Dalit) and 25 percent from minority Muslim backgrounds.The main occupation of the villagers is agriculture. About 260 acres of cultivable land in the village that belongs to the villagers is located outside the border fencing, which is heavily guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF). The BSF regulates the ingress and egress of the villagers to their fields through the fencing gates that are located about 300 meters to 500 meters from the International Border Pillar (IBP).
Our fact-finding reveals that the agricultural land outside the fencing is very fertile and multiple crops can be cultivated throughout the year. About 18 families reside across the fencing and more than 80 families have their agricultural land there. Since 2015, the BSF has put restrictions upon the cultivation of the villagers. They are not allowed to cultivate profitable crops like jute, maize etc. in their own agricultural lands. Moreover, the land across the fencing doesn't have irrigation facilities, toilets and roads, due to which the villagers face regular troubles. The BSF, according to their whims, opens the fencing gates even after an interval of three or four days. When questioned, on duty BSF states that the gates are closed to reduce illegal cross-border smuggling activities at the border. Due to these illegitimate restrictions imposed by the BSF, the villagers are suffering heavy financial loss and are being forced to migrate elsewhere in search of better livelihood. It has been found that the villagers for being restricted to cultivate jute and maize in their lands are incurring a financial loss of Rupees 60 to 90 thousand per acre of land.
On 24.01.2023, the villagers lodged a written complaint to the Block Development Officer of Dinhata – II block on the issues of restriction on their livelihood. But no action has been taken by the concerned authorities regarding the issues.
Following are the names and details of few victim villagers:

These whimsical actions and arbitrary restriction imposed by the Border Security Force personnel of Dharala Border Outpost upon the villagers of Sahebganj is not only challenging their life and livelihood but also violating the Article 21 and Article 19 of the Constitution of India and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The plight of the villagers and denial of their proper livelihood practices is against the Articles 7 and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)as well as the goal number 8 and 16 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In all these international instruments, the Government of India is a party and has taken pledge to adhere with.
Under the circumstances, I request your urgent intervention in this case by fulfilling these demands of the villagers:
· The Border Security Force should be posted at the zero point and not inside the village.
· BSF should be instructed to follow the law of the land and stop imposing their own made-up rules
· Disciplinary action should be taken against the BSF Company Commander of Dharala BSF BOP and all others for imposing illegal restrictions upon the villagers and harassing them
· BSF should not restrict the life and livelihood of the villagers particularly of the farmers.
· The villagers should be provided with agricultural support.
· The farmers should be compensated for the financial loss due to the illegal restriction of the BSF attached with Dharala BOP.

Comments

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

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 ...

Call to "enjoy" pilgrimage of Sabarmati beyond Ahmedabad, where river water turns black

Sabarmati at Vautha By A Representative Nagrik Sashaktikaran Manch (NSM), a Gujarat-based civil rights organization, has called upon the state's citizens to join in a "unique yatra" along the river Sabarmati, starting in Ahmedabad and ending off the Gulf of Khambhat, where the river is supposed to merge with the sea. Pointing out that in Hindu culture, rivers are equated with Mother Goddess, NSM convener Jatin Seth says, it will be a "special event of pilgrimage", because, just like Ganga, Sarbarmati possesses "special properties." "Starting at Giaspur, one can see how industries are releasing chemicals in Sabarmati, and you get a Thumbs-Up like colour of the water, and if you drink it, you are sure to be at least affected by cancer, and this way would enable you to book your ticket in the paradise. The river has a special smell, too, emanating from a black cocktail-type colour", says Seth in a statement. A village next to Sabarmati river In...

Budget for 2018-19: Ahmedabad authorities "regularly" under-spend allocation

By Mahender Jethmalani* The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC's) General Body (Municipal Board) recently passed the AMC’s annual budget estimates of Rs 6,990 crore for 2018-19. AMC’s revenue expenditure for the next financial year is Rs 3,500 crore and development budget (capital budget) is Rs 3,490 crore.

Is India emulating west, 'using' anti-terror plank to justify state-supported violence?

Fahad Ahmad, Baljit Nagra* Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of being involved in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh leader, on Canadian soil. Narendra Modi’s right-wing Hindu nationalist Indian government is defiant and denies involvement. Indian officials have instead admonished Canada for being a “ safe haven ” for Sikh “terrorism,” a pejorative for Sikh self-determination .

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...

Covid response? How, gripped by fear and groupthink, scientists 'failed' children

By Bhaskaran Raman* “Today’s children are tomorrow’s future”, “Nurture children’s dreams”, “A child’s smile is sunlight”. These are some cliches, rendered rather uninspiring through repetition and obviousness. However, for nearly 2½ years, society forgot these cliches, children suffered as science failed and groupthink prevailed. Worse, all of this has been swept under the rug.

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...

Made to sit for hours in DySP office, Gujarat police tells Ranjanben she was never called

Ranjanben in DySP office on November 10 By Pankti Jog* The alleged illegal detention of a visually challenged Right to Information (RTI) and disability rights activist, Ranjanben Vaghela, has taken an unusual turn, with the police, in a reply to her RTI plea, have said, they did not have “any records” of her “detention.”

Search This Blog