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Concerned civil society members petition Lt. Governor, Delhi Police over Trilokpuri riots

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Trilokpuri-riots

New Delhi: Concerned members of the civil society have petitioned to the Lieutenant Governor, Delhi Police over communal riots in Trilokpuri and expressed deep concerns about the “role and steps taken by the police” in the process of restoring communal peace and harmony, and ensuring legal justice.

They wrote that they are worried by reports that many young men are being illegally detained for long periods, and political representatives of one segment of the young men are being permitted to enter the police stations, whereas other lawyers and senior activists are not being permitted to enter the police stations.

“Rightly or wrongly, this has created an impression of communal and political bias and a lack of fairness. This is not conducive to restoring peace in the area,” the petitioned.

They demanded that the local police are firmly instructed to function in ways that are transparent, bipartisan and fair. “We further demand that all persons who are detained in connection with the violence are presented before a magistrate, and due and fair process of law not only followed but seen to be followed by all affected people,” the petition read.

The following petition signed by activists, academicians and citizens have been sent by email and fax to the Lieutenant Governor and the police commissioner today over communal violence:

To

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
&
Police Commissioner, Delhi
October 26, 2014

We the undersigned and many other citizens of Delhi are deeply concerned about the role and steps taken by the police in the process of restoring communal peace and harmony, and ensuring legal justice, following the recent communal tensions in Trilokpuri, Delhi.

We are worried by reports that many young men are being illegally detained for long periods, and political representatives of one segment of the young men are being permitted to enter the police stations, whereas other lawyers and senior activists are not being permitted to enter the police stations. Rightly or wrongly, this has created an impression of communal and political bias and a lack of fairness. This is not conducive to restoring peace in the area.

We therefore demand that the local police are firmly instructed to function in ways that are transparent, bipartisan and fair. We further demand that all persons who are detained in connection with the violence are presented before a magistrate, and due and fair process of law not only followed but seen to be followed by all affected people. We further demand that medical tests are done of all injured persons, and that family members and lawyers are permitted to meet the detained persons.

Yours sincerely

Signed on behalf of

Amit Srivastava
Anam Khan, Advocate, Human Rights law Network
Apoorvanand, academician
Areeb Rizvi
Asad Ashraf, Aman Biradari
Ashok Kumar Boudh
Ashutosh Kumar-JNUSU
Aslam Ahmed
Asrarul haque Jeelani
Chunni lal
Devendra Bharti
Dipak Dholakia
DR Rahul
Dvijendra Nath Kalia
Farhan
Ghazala jamil
Harsh Mander, writer, social activist, Centre for Equity Studies
Imkar Mittal
Jamal Kidwai
Jameer Abbas
Jaya Sharma, NoMore campaign
Jitendram- JNU
Kavita Krishnan
Kiran Shaheen
Kripal Singh
Lesley Esteves
Lokesh
Manisha Sethi, JTSA
Manoj Kumjar
Mohd Zakir Riyaz
Mukul Dube
Mukul Priyadarshi
Naveen
Nayan
ND Pancholi, advocate
Nusrat jahan
Poorva Bhardwaj, social activist
Prashant
Rajni Tilak
Rakhi Gupta
Sandeep
Santosh Kumar- sanhati
Satosh
Satya Sidhartha Pawar
Saurabh Naruka
Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, ANHAD
Shaoor Khan
Shefali & Sanjeev
Shipra Nigam
Subhash Kumar
Sucheta de
Sundaram, CNDP
Syed Mujtaba Athar
Tabish
Tanweer Fazal
Tara Negi
Tariq Adeeb, Advocate, Human Rights law Network
Varsha Mehta
Vipul
Zafar Eqbal
Zulekha jabin, Social activist

Delhi Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam attacked

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shahi imam bukhari

New Delhi: The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, was attacked by a 32-year-old man who tried to set him ablaze during Sunday evening prayers, police and witnesses said. The accused, said to be mentally unstable, was arrested.

The incident took place at the Jama Masjid when the man approached the Shahi Imam while the latter was praying, poured kerosene on him and tried to set him ablaze, younger brother Tariq Bukhari told IANS.

But the attacker failed to harm the Shahi Imam, one of the best known Muslim clerics in the country.

“The Shahi Imam did not receive any external injury,” Tariq Bukhari said.

“The man was later caught by the Imam’s security personnel and others who were praying. He was handed over to police,” he said.

He was identified as Kamaluddin alias Kamal, a resident of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.

Kamaluddin was taken into police custody but officials were yet to decide the charges under which he should be booked.

“Kamaluddin is believed to be mentally unstable. He poured kerosene on the Shahi Imam and tried to set him on fire with a cigarette lighter,” Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Goel told IANS.

“If the Shahi Imam files a complaint against the man, he might be booked for attempt to murder,” he said.

Apart from a lighter, a box of matchsticks was also found in Kamaluddin’s pocket, police said.

Police said there was chaos when the attack took place because hundreds of people were praying in the sprawling redstone mosque, but the situation turned normal very soon.

Asked why the Shahi Imam was targeted, Goel said: “The man is mentally unfit, not mad.”

Additional Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar told IANS: “He told police that he travelled by train and reached Delhi yesterday (Saturday). He wanted to meet the Imam. When he failed to meet him despite several attempts, he attacked him.”

The man was being questioned late Sunday.

“We are trying to find out the reason why he wanted to meet the Imam,” the official said. “At the time of the attack, the accused was alone.”

The Shahi Imam was also attacked by another mentally disturbed person last year during Friday afternoon prayers. The man had attacked him with a paper cutter. He too was overpowered and arrested.

The 17th century Jama Masjid, reputedly India’s largest mosque, is located across the Red Fort.

(IANS)

Hyderabad youth denies involvement in alleged SIMI activists' case

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hyderabad

Hyderabad: Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi has denied charges by Hyderabad Police that his son Mohtasim Billah motivated and was helping two allged SIMI activists from Maharashtra to go to Afghanistan for Jihad training.

Maulana Islahi told reporters Friday that after failing in its previous attempts, police is again trying to implicate his son in false cases. He said the police is targeting his son repeatedly ever since Mohtasim’s brother Mujahid was shot dead by Gujarat IPS officer Narender Amin near the Andhra Pradesh DGP’s office in Hyderabad in 2004.

“From that time onwards, when Mohtasim was not even 16, police has filed several cases. But he was acquitted in all cases. Only two cases are left. The judgment in one of them is coming this month-end. It appears they want to keep up the pressure,” he told media.

“They killed my elder son in cold blood and they are now targeting my younger son.”

In 2004, Billah’s brother Mujahid Saleem was killed when a team of Gujarat Police opened fire in Hyderabad as he tried to resist their attempts to arrest Maulana Naseeruddin,  a renowned Islamic scholar in Hyderabad, who was arrested and later acquitted of all terror charges on January 12, 2010, after being poisoned for more than five years he in a Gujarat jail.

Mohtasim also claimed that he is innocent. He alleged that police were trying to frame false charges against him.

”I am going to college and signing every month in court records for previous cases filed against me. How can they say I am absconding?” asked 24-year-old Mohtasim, who is a M.Tech student.

“I don’t even have money to pay my college fee, and the police says I offered to finance them.” he said.

Police Wednesday arrested two youth on their arrival in Hyderabad from Maharashtra.

It claimed that Mohtasim had motivated them during their visit to the city last month to go to Afghanistan to get training from the Al Qaeda in order to wage jihad in India to establish an Islamic State.

Mohtasim had even offered financial support to the duo for visa processing, police said.

Shah Mudassir alias Talha (25) and Shoaib Ahmed Khan alias Pusad Shoaib (24), both residents of Maharashtra, are said to be members of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

According to police, the SIMI activists through social networks came in contact with two citizens of Pakistan and one of Afghanistan.

Police have not yet arrested Mohtasim. Police Commissioner Mahender Reddy Friday told reporters that they are seeking custody of the two accused for further questioning.

The police chief refused to comment on Maulana Islahi’s allegations.

“The investigations are on and on the basis of evidence we will take action. We will conduct investigations with open mind. Till proved otherwise every person is innocent. We will go very very professionally in the investigations,” he said.

“We will not arrest anybody if there is no or insufficient evidence. Once the evidence is there, we will not hesitate to arrest anyone,” said the commissioner.

The top cop said it would be difficult at this stage to say who else are involved in the case.

With inputs from IANS

Godse should have targeted Nehru: RSS mouthpiece "Kesari"

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The article written by B Gopalakrishnan, who was the BJP candidate in Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency, argued that the selfishness of Nehru was the reason for all major national tragedies including partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

The article written by B Gopalakrishnan, who was the BJP candidate in Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency, argued that the selfishness of Nehru was the reason for all major national tragedies including partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Thiruvananthapuram: An article that appeared in RSS mouthpiece “Kesari” on October 17 has indirectly suggested that Nathuram Vinayak Godse should have killed Jawahar Lal Nehru and not Mahatma Gandhi.

The article written by B Gopalakrishnan, who was the BJP candidate in Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency, argued that the selfishness of Nehru was the reason for all major national tragedies including partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. “If history students honestly verified the historical facts before partition and also the views of Godse, they may arrive at the conclusion that Godse had chosen the wrong target,’’ the article said.

He claims that, Nehru ‘killed Gandhi psychologically’ and effectively cut him out of talks with the British during partition. He says that Godse was a better person than Nehru. His argument is that Nehru stabbed Gandhi in the back whereas Godse pulled the trigger after a “respectful bow”. So the author says, “If history students feel Godse aimed at the wrong target, they cannot be blamed. Nehru was solely responsible for the partition of the country.”

Congress leaders have strongly opposed the article. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has directed state police to inspect if action can be taken against the magazine.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President VM Sudheeran criticized the RSS and BJP and said in a statement that the article distorts facts and history. “After the Modi Government came to power, consistent attempts are being made to glorify hardcore Hindutva ideologues and Gandhiji’s killer Nathuram Godse. It also displays the intolerance of Modi towards Nehru and his family,’’ Sudheeran told the media.

Condemning the attack on the former prime minister, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday called it disgusting and reprehensible. “It is painful that RSS ideologue such as this, has spoken something disgusting and reprehensible. It is time that people understand the true face of the RSS and the BJP. It is even more unfortunate that backers of such people are in power,” said Singhvi.

The article comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to reconstitute the organising committee for the 125 birth anniversary celebration of Nehru.

Changes to labour laws will make jobs more insecure: Workers Solidarity Centre (WSC), Gurgaon

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by Workers Solidarity Centre

Gurgaon: Workers Solidarity Centre (WSC), Gurgaon organized a Protest Program and March against pro-capitalist anti- worker changes in labour laws in Gurgaon this morning. Along with members of Workers Solidarity Centre Gurgaon, Union representatives from various Workers Unions in the industrial belt participated with a pledge to fight these ‘reforms’ brought by the Naredra Modi government which re-enforce already existing regime of exploitation and repression under which workers here and everywhere are forced to work and live everyday.

Workers Solidarity Centre Gurgaon

We had a PROTEST SABHA at 10am at Kamla Nehru Park, and then Marched through Gurgaon city to the Mini Secretariat, where we handed a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon to be sent to Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. The delegation comprised of Ramniwas, President of WSC; Bhimrao, Gen.Sec. of Hero MotoCorp Union; Sanjay, Gen. Sec of Maruti Suzuki Workers Union Manesar; Satpal, President of Nerolac Paints Union and Chief Patron of WSC, Nandan Bhandari, Gen Sec of Autofit Workers Union and Joint Secretary of WSC, Rajesh, President of MUKU Gurgaon and Working President WSC, Anil, Secretary of AITUC Gurgaon, Pal Singh, President of Jan Sangharsh Manch Haryana and Brahmanand of Munjal Kiriu Employees Union.

All the participants and speakers were unanimous in their view that the present proposed labour law reforms are a direct brutal attack on workers rights and will only increase the exploitation by capitalists from the country and multinationals. Rajpal from WSC said, “Today ‘acche din’ is only for capitalists, while for us workers it is ‘andhera daur’, and attack on our basic Trade Union rights. Apart from conditions of workers of organized sector comprising mainly of contract workers, casuals and now apprentices with sub-minimum wage, millions of workers in the unorganized sector are facing an increasing insecure future.”

Union representatives from Maruti Suzuki Workers Union -Manesar, Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union -Gurgaon, Maruti Suzuki Powertrain India Employees Union – Manesar, Suzuki Motorcycles India Employees Union – Gurgaon, Nerolac Paints Karamchari Union- Bawal, Autofit Workers Union -Dharuhera, Sunbeam Workers Union -Gurgaon, Hero MotoCorp Employees Union -Gurgaon, Munjal Kiriu Employees Union -Manesar, Endurance Employees Union – Manesar, Belsonica Workers Union – Manesar, AITUC Gurgaon, as well as struggling workers from these and various factories, and representatives from mass organisations like Jan Sangharsh Manch Haryana and Krantikari Naujawan Sabha participated in the rally.

Speakers said that the few pro-worker labour laws have come out of workers struggles in the past. As they presently exist, labour laws are only there for name-sake and their violation is a norm for capitalists. The present ‘reforms’ brought in by the Modi-government will effect a further erosion in workers rights and suck the last drops of blood. The Gurgaon-Manesar-Dharuhera-Bawal-Bhiwadi industrial area situated in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, forms the core area of the developmental model in India being projected for the grand ‘Make in India’ project. But here workers find their life-blood sucked everyday on the assembly line and outside. Any voice for workers minimum rights and demand of Union recognition or organized struggle are ruthlessly suppressed. Apart from the inhuman working conditions, violation of trade union rights by anti-worker managements is the rule.

The President, General Secretary and three other Union representatives of Hero MotoCorp Gurgaon have been terminated from their jobs recently for alleged ‘indiscipline’. Munjal Kiriu workers in IMT Manesar are on strike in front of the factory gate for the last one month with the demand of taking their suspended Union representatives back on duty. The President and Vice President of Autofit factory in Dharuhera still remain suspended for asking for workers rights in the factory. Workers at POSCO IDPC in Bawal, Rewari are on strike for more than 5 months for their Union rights. Due to pending settlement, workers at Omax Dharuhera and at Suzuki Motorcycles Gurgaon have refused to receive their ‘Diwali gifts’. 46 workers at Belsonica in Manesar have been suspended in the factory for the audacity to have asked for Right to Union formation. All through the belt, workers strikes and unrest is raging in Talbrose and Minda Furukawa in Bawal, Jay Ushin, Baxter and Autoliv in IMT Manesar, and Shriram Piston in Bhiwadi to name only a few instances.

It is in this situation of exploitation and repression on workers struggle, the participants in the Rally today said, comes the proposed changes in labour laws. These will only decrease the real wage, increase contractualisation and make jobs more insecure, thereby adversely affecting access to basic needs of food, health and education.

Workers Solidarity Centre, Gurgaon strengthened by today’s Protest program, pledged to take the struggle forward through building larger unity of struggling workers, Unions and pro-worker forces in this entire industrial belt.

Indian expat duped by recruitment agency, killed by coworker in Saudi Arabia

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arar

by  Irfan Mohammed, Arab News

Jeddah:  An Indian expat was killed by a fellow worker in the Northern Borders region in a dispute over the grazing of sheep.

According to the victim’s family, Naushad Fakaria came to work as a driver but discovered that he would have to work as a shepherd in the arid desert near the regional capital, Arar.

They allege he was duped into doing the job of a shepherd and was later murdered.

Northern Borders Police spokesman Col. Awayed Bin Mahdi Al Enzi has confirmed the killing. “Police investigations have revealed that an Indian shepherd was murdered by another shepherd of Arab origin 50 km from Arar,” Al Enzi said. He added that initially the Syrian accused said he had found a person dead in the middle of the road probably due to a road accident. However, he later confessed to the murder.

Naushad Fakaria

Naushad Fakaria

Naushad hailed from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and is a father of three children aged 3 to 7. He was recruited by a manpower agency in Jaipur, Rajasthan. According to a police report, Naushad was murdered on Aug. 29.

He had brought a mobile phone from India but it was confiscated by the employer. He was also barred from calling home, family sources said.

However, he was able to make a call to India apparently using the Syrian’s mobile and had informed his family that he had been assigned to graze sheep instead of working as a car driver. He had also told them of the nonpayment of salary and that he was desperate to return home, sources added.

“Since then, Naushad’s wife had tried almost everyday to call her husband back on the Syrian shepherd’s number but was unable to get through,” they said.

According to a family friend, Riad Ali, Naushad had been trying to return home but suddenly the family heard news of his death. “We have been approaching the Indian Embassy but are unable to get any information. Later, I flew to Arar myself to find out about the circumstances related to the incident,” Ali who is based in Jeddah said.

Quoting a medical report issued by the Arar Central Hospital, Ali said: “Naushad was brutally murdered with multiple injuries to his neck, shoulder, back, chest and ears.” He added that the deceased had also had his arms broken.

Ali said the police in Arar are being very helpful in completing the legal procedures. “They also informed us that the murderer has been arrested and is in jail,” he said.

Modi won’t visit any flood-hit area in Kashmir

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In this October 18, 2014 photo, protestors hold placards at Lal Chowk in Srinagar demanding Prime Minister Naredndra Modi's intervention for rehabilitation of the Kashmir flood victims. Photo: PTI

In this October 18, 2014 photo, protestors hold placards at Lal Chowk in Srinagar demanding Prime Minister Naredndra Modi’s intervention for rehabilitation of the Kashmir flood victims. Photo: PTI

Srinagar: Though Narendra Modi had said he would spend his time in Srinagar; ““sit and sip tea” in a relief camp as a gesture of solidarity with the flood victims on the occasion of Diwali” as reported earlier, however, according to details provided by local BJP leaders, the Prime Minister would hold indoor interaction only with some delegations.

“Modi Ji will interact with delegations of almost all political parties apart from civil society, traders, hoteliers and flood-affected people either at Raj Bhawan or SKICC. He is not scheduled to visit any flood-hit area in Srinagar,” BJP’s Valley-based leader Fayaz Ahmad Bhat told Kashmir Reader on Wednesday.

Modi arrived on Thursday afternoon in summer capital Srinagar after visiting troops at the Siachen glacier, the world’s highest battlefield in Ladakh region.

Modi was received in Srinagar by state Governor N N Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, senior civil personnel, police and security force officers at the airport.

“He will hold a meeting with army as well. The purpose of that meeting is to appreciate the role of army in rescue operation during the floods. On the evening, he will return to New Delhi,” Bhat said.

On Tuesday, Modi had announced on his Twitter handle that he is coming to Kashmir on Diwali to spend the day with flood-hit people. Both ruling National Conference and opposition PDP appreciated his “gesture” of coming here on this occasion. However, two factions of Hurriyat Conferences have called for a shutdown on Thursday and holding of peaceful protests against the visit.

Chairman Hurriyat Conference(M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Wednesday dismissed Indian Prime Minister Narednra Modi’s visit Kashmir on Diwali as a mere “publicity stunt.

Mirwaiz, during his visit to flood-hit areas, said “the theatrics of false mourning and tears were a hollow show of sympathy over the hardships faced by the flood-hit Kashmiris.”

He said that people were immensely suffering due to floods since past two months, rendered homeless, and had nothing to left to fend their families.

Security has been beefed up across Kashmir ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the valley on Thursday.

Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength and are conducting random checking of vehicles. Special checking points have been set up at various places in the city including entry and exit points as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.

This is Modi’s fourth visit to Jammu and Kashmir since taking charge as Prime Minister in May.

Bangalore school booked, attendant detained for alleged rape of nursery student

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Parents speak to police outside the private school in Jalahalli. Photo: Special Arrangement

Parents speak to police outside the private school in Jalahalli. Photo: Special Arrangement

Bangalore: A criminal case has been filed against a school in Bangalore where a three-year-old nursery student was sexually assaulted on Tuesday. An attendant has also been detained, the police said.

The attendant, believed to be 45, is being questioned but hasn’t been arrested yet. He had allegedly been missing till now.

The police say the school has been booked for running classes beyond the sanctioned limit; it reportedly had a licence to run only classes 1 to 6. The school is allegedly running the nursery section illegally and has been asked to explain.

There have been angry protests in Bangalore since the case surfaced on Tuesday, the third instance of sexual assault in a school in four months.

The child’s mother says she found her daughter crying when she went to pick her up from the school on Tuesday.

According to the police complaint filed by her father, the child “had signs of fever and complained to her mother that she was physically abused by someone she did not know or recognize.”

The police registered a case of rape on the father’s complaint. “We have registered a criminal case late Tuesday on a complaint by the victim’s father that his young daughter was sexually abused in the Orchid International School premises,” said Police Inspector TC Venkatesh on Wednesday. “We are checking the footage of CCTV cameras and questioning the staff and faculty,” he added.

Three months ago, Bangalore witnessed large street protests after a six-year-old child was raped at her school; two gym instructors were arrested.

Nearly 200 schools in the IT city were booked for not having safety measures in place.

Collective statement of the Third National Coal and Thermal Power Gathering

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Following is the text of the Collective Statement of the Third National Coal and Thermal Power Gathering held at Dumka, Jharkhand on 16-17 October 2014.

Protest_Third-National-Coal-and-Thermal-Power-Gathering

Third National mm&P Gathering on Coal Mines and Thermal power was held on 16-17 October at the Social Development Centre, Dumka, Jharkhand. More than 300 affected peoples from coal mining area and mm&P representatives participated from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The two day gathering reviewed the situation of coal mining and thermal power in the country, particularly in the light of the recent Supreme Court’s historic judgement to cancel the allocation of all coal blocks granted to private companies. People from different areas presented the conditions prevailing in their regions and the machinations of the government and the private companies in the process. After deliberating on the situation and recognising the need to continuously expose the human and environmental costs of such illegal decisions, the gathering unanimously resolved to step-up action and

    1. Demand withdrawal of all the cases against protestors in all the coal and other projects, particularly in those coal blocks which have been cancelled by Supreme Court in it’s judgment dated 25 August, 2014. Cases should be immediately withdrawn and all the injured and those killed by the police repression and firing should be appropriately compensated;
    2. Demand cancellation of all statutory clearances granted to the coal and thermal projects granted earlier to this judgement of the Supreme Court and new such projects shall seek afresh clearances under environment, forest and tribal laws.
    3. Demand CBI enquiry into the police firing on protestors opposing coal, dam and thermal plant in Kathikund, Jharkand in 2008; illegal land deals of Heavy Engineering Corporation and the illegal appointment of over 9000 ineligible people in Damoder Valley Corporation;
    4. Demand resolution of the legacy issues and pending resettlement and rehabilitation;
    5. We totally oppose the dilution of the protective laws such as Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act.
    6. We condemn the efforts and intention of central Government to dilute the provision of environment and forest laws in favour of corporate. The reality, notwithstanding the rhetoric of protecting rivers and environment, is the systematic dilution, amendment and/or abolition of the jurisprudential, constitutional, fundamental rights based on internationally recognized instruments of environmental and community protection built into the country’s laws, rules, regulations and legal system.Some of the most glaring instances of these have been:
      • The High Level Committee, setup to ‘reform’ Environmental Laws has been given a mandate to overhaul all green laws and make them investor friendly, within a framework of 2 months.
      • 240 projects cleared by the Ministry within 3 months a time period that simply cannot be adequate to undertake proper environmental impact studies, public hearings at local sites, and other mandated procedures
      • Delinking forest clearance from the green signal that is given by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), to projects around tiger reserves, national parks and sanctuaries. Previously forest clearance could only be given after the NBWL approval.
      • Reducing the need for NBWL approvals for projects within 10 km around protected areas to only 5 km.
      • Relaxing procedures under the Forest Conservation Act, which requires central approval of diversion of forestlands, for linear projects through forest areas, projects in forests and eco-sensitive areas along international borders and in “Naxal-affected” areas.
      • Doing away with the need for public hearings for coal mines of less than 16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity (from the earlier 8), and allowing onetime expansion of mines up to 6 mtpa if they are already of 20 mtpa size.
      • Exempting irrigation projects affecting less than 2,000 hectares from needing environmental clearance, and allowing state governments to clear those a effecting 10,000 hectares.
      • Proposed amendments to the Green Tribunal and Land Acquisition Acts.
      • Systematic removal of independent voices from critical institutions of environmental and social governance
      • Reducing the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) by 50%.
    7. We resolve to take up actions at local level immediately by movement groups on the 42 blocks which are to be transferred to Coal India Ltd (public sector undertaking), w.e.f. 31 March 2015.
    8. We demand the adoption of alternative development paradigm based on decentralised economic activities, decentralised renewable energy generation and equity.

This programme organised during the week of Reclaim Power – Week of Global Action, express solidarity with all the people across the globe who are struggling to keep dirty development away and are seeking ecological justice.

Issued by R.Sreedhar, Chairperson, mm&P (mines minerals and PEOPLE), dated 17th October 2014.

Kerala CM lets off RSS youths from murder case, match fixing between Congress and BJP cries CPM

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Oommen-Chandy

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala unit of Congress is caught in an another controversy as its Chief Minister has revoked a murder attempt case involving RSS workers against a police officer.

The executive order has created a storm as CPM said that it was a sign of match fixing between Congress and BJP going on in Kerala.

The murder attempt case was registered in 2005 against 32 RSS workers after they attacked and hurled bombs on police inspector Mohan Nair, who tried to contain campus violence in the state capital. A seriously injured Nair had been hospitalized for more than a year.

The CM took the decision in December 2012 after police had submitted the charge sheet and trial was about to begin. His contention is that he received an appeal from a youth saying that if he is not relived from the case he would lose the job of being a police constable. His selection would be disqualified on this ground. He was a student at the time of the incident. CM says that it was done on humanitarian grounds.

The current Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala washed his hands off the pardon given to the RSS and even Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, the ex-Home Minister denied that it had anything to do with him.

Reports say CM’s A group MLA Palode Ravi had recommended for this RSS man.

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