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Former US cop indicted on federal charge for assaulting Indian

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57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was partially paralysed in the US when a police officer forced him on ground. Photo: Al.com

57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was partially paralysed in the US when a police officer forced him on ground. Photo: Al.com

Washington: A US police officer, accused of using excessive force against a 57-year-old Indian leaving him partially paralysed, has been indicted on federal civil rights violation charges that carries imprisonment up to 10 years.

“A federal grand jury indicted Eric Parker, the police officer who threw Sureshbhai Patel to the ground resulting in him getting partially paralyzed, for deprivation of rights under color of law,” said Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta and US Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama Joyce Vance in a two-page indictment.

Parker’s actions deprived the victim of his right under the US Constitution to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures, which includes the right to be free from unreasonable force by someone acting under color of law, the indictment said.

“Police officers are sworn to uphold the law and protect the public. The public must be able to trust the police. Law enforcement officers who violate their oath to protect and use excessive force must be brought to justice,” Vance said.

Patel was brutally assaulted by Parker, who was in the company of two other police officers, on February 6 while he was on a walk in his neighborhood. He had arrived from India only a few days back to help his son and daughter in law with their is newly born baby.

The case was investigated by the FBI. Parker was suspended by the Madison Police days after the brutal assault on Patel. The Madison Police last month recommended that he be sacked.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley had apologized to the Indian government for the treatment of Patel, calling it a case of excessive use of force.

Patel’s attorney Hank Sherrod said Patel and his family were very pleased by the “prompt and decisive action”.

“For the public to trust police officers, it needs to know officers will be held accountable and the felony civil rights charges filed against Parker, unlike the misdemeanor assault charge being pursued in state court, more accurately reflect the seriousness of Parker’s conduct,” he said.

However, Parker’s attorney Robert Tuten expressed his surprise at the federal indictment.

“Normally these thing take a little longer than that… He feels like he’s being whaled on from all sides,” Tuten said.

Parker is also facing a third-degree assault charges. He has pleaded not guilty. The bench trial is scheduled for April 29.

“Most police officers we work with…are people who care deeply about their community,” Vance told reporters at a news conference in Alabama.

“I like to think that we’ve always been sensitive…this case is like every other case,” she said when asked if the indictment was filed because of the intense interest in India.

The indictment was welcomed by eminent Indian American attorney, Ravi Batra.

“Federal Grand Jury, made up of the good and decent citizens of Alabama, by voting a True Bill and indicting Eric Parker for his deprivation of Sureshbhai Patel’s federal civil rights have vindicated society’s right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures, especially by one acting under color of law and using unreasonable force,” he said.

Batra said the indictment enhanced public confidence in Department of Justice’s continuing role to protect vital civil rights of all Americans, “especially, when states’ prosecutorial offices fail to do so, as in this case with a mere misdemeanor charge coupled with a civil liability-evasion tactic: termination”.

“Its worthy of note, that Madison Police Department was not indicted, and unfortunately the pending amended civil suit does not seek to hold the Police Department or the City of Madison liable for such federal civil rights deprivation,” he said.

(PTI)

Teesta Setalvad releases documentary film, ‘Then They Came for Me’

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Then They Came for Me

Kozhikode: A documentary film ‘Then They Came for Me’ directed by rights activist and documentary film-maker Gopal Menon and produced by the Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Kerala was premiered in the city recently.

The film based on the cases and lives of people who had been arrested from Kerala under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was formally released by noted civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad at a formal function organized by the producers.

Prominent Malayalam critic, KEN Kunjahammed received the copy of the film. Speaking on the occasion, Ms Setalvad said she was targeted and harassed for talking for the unprivileged and voiceless.

“BJP-led Gujarat government charged six cases against me including five criminal cases. Even anticipatory bail is being denied,” she said.

She said that BJP govt is using UAPA to suppress the voice of the voiceless. Though governments are changing, such draconian laws are not dropped. The laws are tried against the dalits, backward classes, farmers and minorities of the country who stand against the government.

“This is obviously transgression over the freedom of citizens,” she said expressing lamentation over the silence of media over this issue. But, until the people refuse to remain silent, human right struggles will continue, she said.

Presiding over the meeting State president of the movement T. Mohammed Velom said that the film was also a resistance against the ongoing moves from the government to torture and silence the young and reacting minds in the pretext of crackdown on Maoists.

The film throws light on the ‘shocking’ incidents of misuse of acts such as UAPA against innocent members of marginalised sections, including Dalits and Muslims to silence and stop them from protesting against the injustices, he said. GP Ramachandran, Gopal Menon, CM Sherif and others also spoke.

(Agencies)

Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan sacked from AAP National Executive, AK fans resort to violence

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Yogendra-Yadav-Prashant-Bhushan

New Delhi: Senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan have been removed from the National Council of the Aam Aadmi Party.

A proposal to remove them was moved at the National Council meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and was adopted with majority. Mr. Yadav’s supporters Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha have also been removed from the National Executive.

Miscreants owing allegiance to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal created ruckus outside the meeting venue and allegedly those who raised slogans demanding internal democracy in the party.

A senior party official said the party has decided to videograph the National Council meeting as per the request of Mr. Yadav and Mr. Bhushan.

When Mr. Yadav came to the venue, some AAP volunteers raised slogans against him as he struggles to talk to reporters.

Mr. Yadav said, “I had never thought that such a day would come when the party’s volunteers would want me instead of corruption dead. I pray that God gives good sense to those against me and request our cadres to stay home instead of coming here.”

“Every MLA was given ten buses to get supporters to heckle me; what is happening to the movement is sad,” he added. “Whenever political power, money and the will to change the system collide — the latter always prevails.”

AAP leader and Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba said, “We got votes on the slogan paanch saal for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Whoever is trying to hurt him should be punished.” AAP MP from Sangrur, Punjab, Bhagwant Mann said “This sea of people is a family; whoever is trying to harm it should be done away with.”

“Democracy has been murdered in the National Council meeting,” said Yadav after coming out of the meeting.

The AAP meeting was scripted and supporters of Kejriwal resorted to violence, claimed Yadav.
“Everything happened there in a planned manner. It seems that everything was scripted,” Bhushan said.

Mr. Yadav sat on a dharna at the venue of the National Executive meeting over his volunteers being denied entry for the meeting, and refused to enter the meeting which was already under way. AAP leader and founder member of the party Anand Kumar said, “Many National Council members have been barred from coming, participating in National Executive meet on flimsy grounds.”

Earlier on the day, Mr. Yadav shared a letter on Twitter from Retd. Admiral L. Ramdas, AAP-Lokpal, stating he will not be present in person at the NC meeting because he was told by the party general secretary that “only MLAs and MPs have been invited apart from authorised NC members.”

Retd. Adm. Ramdas went on state that “despite many requests as I as Lokpal be present… I have decided to honour the request by not attending the meeting.”

A report of the AAP Delhi unit questioning Mr. Yadav’s and Mr. Bhushan’s “style of functioning” was also set to be tabled at the meeting.

Heavy contingents of police and RAF have been deployed in the vicinity of the resort where NC members are being allowed inside after registering at a counter. Members who failed to show identification, mobile number, and SMS invite are being denied entry.

However, in the build-up to the meeting, the Prashant Bhushan-Yogendra Yadav camp said that it won’t be easy to remove them from the party.

“They can remove us from the National Executive but not from the party. If we have to be removed from the party, the matter has to be referred to the Lokpal or the disciplinary committee.”

Both the groups claimed to have the numbers with them, ahead of the National Council meeting.

The party’s constitution states that action cannot be taken by the party unless the member is given an opportunity to explain his stand.

The National Council, the third most important body of AAP, has over 350 members.

(Agencies)

Nasheman.in Exclusive: "I am against banning any kind of material in media or films": Aamir Khan

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Aamir-Khan-Kamal-Hassan

Aamir Khan, an actor par excellence, needs no fresh introduction as far as his repertoire is concerned. He is not known as a perfection personified persona just for nothing. That apart, over the years, he has maintained his own charm and got himself engulfed in a mysterious aura of his own. After all, in all his released films so far he has indeed maintained his box office score card with ‘3 Idiots’ and with the release of ‘PK’ he had his peculiar brand of audiences and his loving fans literally eating out of his hands. So much so that audience & fans are already waiting with batted breath for Aamir’s next movie in line namely ‘Dangal’. Besides he makes a rare public appearance, especially in an award ceremony or a filmy function. And one of those rare exceptional occasion was when he graced the inaugural function of FICCI Frames 2015 in Hotel Renaisance, Powai where he shared the dais in a single frame with Kamal Hassan, another stalwart of the Indian Cinema. Present herewith is the 1st person account of Aamir Khan’s dripping pearls of wisdom which reflected the varied issues that he is concerned with.

First & foremost coming down heavily on the Central Board of Film Certification, which recently stroked controversy by banning some objectionable words, Aamir Khan averred, “I am against banning any kind of material in media or films. I am totally against banning any kind of material. When the Information & Broadcasting Minister spoke to us, he also clarified that actually the ministry has no such list of cuss words. It’s a certification board and not the censor board. It was nice to hear that. Besides there were reports that the recently appointed Central Board Film Certification chairman namely Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani had revived a 2003 order to ban a list of 28 objectionable or cuss words, including Bombay in any movies or documentaries. But following a public outcry, Mr. Nihalani, has however, withdrawn the said list. That’s so nice of Mr. Nihalani. I would also like to state that even if people don’t like a certain content, banning a film cannot be justified, I am referring to the 2013 Kamal Haasan movie, ‘Vishwaroopam’ that had created quite a controversy leading to a ban. I am really, really feeling ashamed that at that time I was lost in my work but as an industry that was the time we had to come together. I apologize to Kamal Hassan publicly that I wasn’t there at that time. I feel bad that we weren’t there with you. Banning a film is not right. Once the film has received the certification, it is the responsibility of the state to make sure that people can watch the film without any fear. I would also like to stress that liking or disliking a film is one’s own prerogative, but stopping somebody from releasing a film is not right, specially after it has been through certification. Even otherwise movie bans are done by taking the law into your own hands, but I think this is really sad & unfortunate.”

As regards the outstanding Box Office collections (Read ‘PK) unlike most of his peers who are driven by the box-office collections, Aamir Khan averred, “Numbers hardly matter to me and it is not a criterion to select a movie based on its potential commercial success.

As I am not someone who talks about my numbers. That is the last thing on my mind when I am selecting a film. The day I start selecting a film on the possible commercial success that will be the end of my creativity. I feel that commercial interest stifles the creative growth.”

And as a parting shot Aamir Khan added just a few nuggets about his forthcoming movie namely ‘Dangal’, “I think rhat it is too early to speak about my forthcoming film ‘Dangal’. But I will just give you a brief insight. ‘Dagal’ will narrate the saga of a middle aged albeit an over weight wrestler. As everyone knows that I just love to experiment with my varied roles I have done so with the enactment of my role in ‘Dangal’ too. First of all I have put on a lot of weight as you can see, I weigh almost 90 kg and I won’t say that the rest you can see on the celluloid silver screen. There is still time for that suffice it to say that I will make more revelation about ‘Dangal’ at the right time and at some other point of time & place.”

People’s Union for Democratic Rights condemns bans on cow slaughter

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by People’s Union for Democratic Rights

REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade

REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade

On March 16th 2015, the Haryana Government unanimously passed Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill with main opposition parties INLD and Congress supporting the Bill. The new bill passed by the Haryana Government bans cow slaughter and sale of beef and imposes a punishment of rigorous imprisonment of not less than three years extending up to 10 years and fines ranging from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. one lakh. The Haryana Government’s move comes just days after the President’s assent to Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 1995 early this month. Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 1995 not only banned beef but also extended the prohibition to slaughter of bulls and oxen. There was already a ban on slaughter of cows in Maharashtra since 1976. The new amended act imposes a fine of Rs. 10,000 and a maximum prison term of five years for selling or even possessing beef.

What needs to be underlined here is that these bans on cow slaughter are not new; they were in existence in many of the states for many-many years. For example in Delhi, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, slaughter of cows and calves is totally prohibited. In Goa and Andhra Pradesh, ‘cow’ is defined to include heifer, or a male or female calf of a cow under the Goa, Daman and Diu Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act 1978 and Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Cow Slaughter and Animal Preservation Act 1977, respectively. In some states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Madhya Pradesh slaughter of bulls, bullocks and adult buffalos is permitted on ‘fit for slaughter’ certificate if the cattle is over 12 or 15 years of age, is not likely to become economical for draught, breeding or milk. Assam and West Bengal provides for slaughter of all cattle which includes bull, bullocks, calves, cows and buffalo on ‘fit for slaughter’ certificate. Meghalaya and Nagaland have no legislation to this effect.
What, however, is new is the increase in quantum of punishment and fines being imposed in the recent legislations passed against slaughter of cows and other animals. Haryana was covered under the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act 1955 and had a rigorous imprisonment upto five years and a fine upto Rs. 5000 or both. The new Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act increases punishment to rigorous imprisonment of three years to ten years and fines of Rs. 30,000 – Rs. 100,000. In many states like Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka the punishment for cow slaughter is a maximum imprisonment of six months or fine upto Rs.1000 or both. The 1976 Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act also provided for similar punishment and fines. What also needs to be underlined is that in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan the burden of proof is on the accused. It shows how much importance has been attached to prevention of cow slaughter so as to have this extraordinary provision in the law. It is so ironical that the women’s movement had to struggle so hard to make this change in law in cases of rape to shift the burden of proof on the accused whereas it finds a place in these state’s laws on cow slaughter without anyone even noticing them.

That prohibition of slaughter of cows, calves and other milch and draught animals finds a place in the Directive Principles of State Policy in our Constitution and that many states in India have a law banning cow slaughter and beef is indicative of a deep seated majoritarian understanding of Indian culture. It shows that the nature of state in India is heavily tilted in a selective understanding of Indian and even Hindu tradition. This questions the whole edifice of secularism and equal respect for all religions in India. The understanding that Hindus stand against cow slaughter or that Hinduism has always shunned and continues to shun beef is a proposition which is deeply contested. It might well be that some castes or groups amongst Hindus revere the cow and find cow slaughter abominable, but this view is not true of all Hindus across India, either today or in the past.

Quite apart from the absurdity of imposing dietary preference of one privileged and powerful group over the rest, there are other compelling reasons to question the ban. The entire meat production industry, from the traditional to the modern, employs and meets livelihood needs of millions of Indians. India’s meat production ranks fifth at 6.3 million tonnes in which share of bovine meat (cow, buffalo, bull) constitutes 62%. Of this, less than a million tones is exported. Thus the rest of it goes to meet the dietary needs of millions of Indians. Thus in banning cow slaughter to appease a minority of Hindus, livelihood needs and therefore right to life of millions of Indians has been put at risk. And in the bargain, it also simultaneously removes cheap high protein diet for hundreds of millions of Indians of every denomination.

These bans which are being extended to cover other cattle as well under an expansive definition of ‘beef’ pose many kinds of problems like for poor farmers who cannot take care of an old cow and because of these bans can no longer sell it to an abattoir. It has serious livelihood ramifications for a large number of families directly and indirectly dependent on cattle trade and related industries like leather, gelatin, animal fat soap industry, pharmaceuticals and meat exports.

It is worth noticing that more than fifty percent of people engaged in meat production and related trade of skin, hides, bones etc are Hindus. And they are beef consumers. To PUDR this ban therefore, is an assault on the right to life which involves livelihood and a diet of their choice, of Hindus, in whose name it has been brought in, as much as the religious minorities. In other words, it limits the dietary preferences of a substantial section of Indian people.

With Haryana and Maharashtra Governments’ pushing cow slaughter ban, not withstanding Goa’s BJP Chief Minister ruling out a cow slaughter ban in Goa, a majoritarian agenda is being promoted. Although, most of the state laws banning cow slaughter were passed by Congress governments, RSS affiliated Hindu right-wing groups are clamoring now for an all India ban on cow slaughter and for the strictest punishment for anyone indulging in it. This opens the door for fanatics to carry out raids, effect arrests and resort to organized violence against Muslims in particular. These laws provide a social and legal sanction to such groups to harass people who transport the cattle for selling, export and other purposes. The Haryana law includes police action against drivers of vehicles transporting beef and the impounding of such vehicles. PUDR’s 2003 report on Dalit Lynching at Dulina (in Jhajjhar district of Haryana) traces the underlying tensions on the issue of cow protection and its threat to some castes traditionally associated with cow slaughter and trading.

In light of all this, PUDR condemns the recent bans on ‘cow’ slaughter, which like many bans/proscriptions on books, literature, scholarship, films can only be understood in the context of right-wing Hindu upsurge in recent times. The ban is an infringement of personal dietary choices with the state having assumed the power to criminalize some of these. It is indeed a cruel irony that the exercise of this basic freedom invites a greater prison term as punishment than a grave criminal offence like rape for which the term is 7 years; or for deaths due to criminal negligence where the prison term is two years.

While it cannot be stressed enough that a democratic strategy is required to contest the upper caste Hindu bias which is reflected in the Constitution with regard to cow slaughter, we acknowledge that issues of cruelty to animals, animal shelters, maintenance of hygienic conditions in abattoirs, effective waste disposal do need attention. The ban is a reminder that we are being served a fait accompli leaving no room for debate/s or reasoned discussion. PUDR therefore denounces the narrow sectarian construction that conceals a much more diverse and complex reality.

Megha Bahl, Sharmila Purkayastha
Secretaries

'Bhushan, Yadav tried to sabotage AAP': Ashish Khetan

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ashish-khetan

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday accused Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav of trying to sabotage the party before the Delhi assembly elections.

“They made efforts so that party loses… they told workers that let the party lose, it will be easy to remove Arvind,” AAP member Ashish Khetan said on Friday.

“When party was fighting an existential war, two party leaders were trying to weaken the party and malign its image. They were trying to aid formation of a BJP government,” Khetan said at a press conference, shortly after Bhushan and Yadav accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of suppressing democracy within the AAP.

Bhushan and Yadav, in a press conference on Friday, offered to resign if their demands – including transparency within and autonomy to local units – were met.

(IANS)

Congress announces organisational poll schedule; Rahul may be anointed as party chief

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Rahul-Gandhi

New Delhi: Amid talks that Rahul Gandhi will be anointed as the party chief, AICC Thursday announced a new schedule for organisational elections in which the next Congress President will be elected by September 30.

A highlight of the new schedule is that for the first time, party polls will be held in two phases, first phase covering 18 states and Union territories and the second phase almost equal number of states and Union territories.

Interestingly, the party elections will be over by July 31 in 18 states including Gujarat, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and a host of states in North-east in the first phase.

The second phase will cover Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Telangana.

The Congress chief will be elected by September 30. Sonia Gandhi has created a record of having the longest tenure at the helm of the oldest political party when she completed 17 years as Congress President on March 14.

She took the top party post amid a complete collapse in 1998 replacing the late Sitaram Kesri at a time when the party had faced a crisis with the BJP in the ascendence.

The organisational polls are being held at a time when the Congress has faced its worst debacle in the Lok Sabha polls in May 2014 after being at the top for a decade since coming to power in 2004. It could manage just 44 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Organisational elections are being held when the talk is growing in the party that sooner rather than later Sonia Gandhi will pass the mantle to her son Rahul Gandhi, who was made the Congress Vice President in January 2013 at the Jaipur Chintan Shivir.

The schedule which was finalised by the Central Election Authority of the party headed by senior leader Mullappally Ramachandran was released by AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

Under the new schedule, enrolment of members has been extended from March 31 to May 15 after which the District Congress Committees will publish the preliminary list of members by May 25.

In the states which will have party polls in the first phase, publication of final list of members as also the final list of eligible contestents will be done by July 5 after disposing of appeals at all levels.

Election of President and Executive of the Primary Committees will be completed between July 10 to 15.

In stage-II, the elections to the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Executive of the Block Congress Committees and election of six members of the DCC and one member of the Pradesh Congress Committee by the Block Congress Committees will be completed between 16 to 20 July.

It will be followed by election of President, Vice President, Treasurer and Executive Committee of the District Congress Committee will be held between July 20 and 25.

(PTI)

Bills introduced to make Kannada compulsory in school

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SCHOOl

Bengaluru: In a two-pronged move, Karnataka government today introduced bills to make Kannada language a mandatory subject in classes one to ten in schools affiliated to the state board and also a compulsory medium of instruction from classes one to five.

The Kannada Language Learning Bill, 2015 seeks to make Kannada a mandatory subject in classes one to ten in all schools affiliated to the state board.

In tandem, a bill to amend the Right to Education Act was also introduced by Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kimmane Ratnakar.

The bill amended Section 29 (2) of the Right To Education Act to change the provision “medium of instruction shall, as far as practicable, be in mother’s tongue” to “Kannada or mother tongue will be medium of instruction in primary schools” from classes to one to five.

The amendment would help the government in its arguments before the Supreme Court when the curative petition is taken up.

The Supreme Court had rejected a revision petition filed by the state government seeking review of its ruling which upheld a Karnataka High Court judgement striking down an order issued by the state government in 1994 to impose Kannada or mother tongue as a medium of instruction in primary schools.

The curative petition filed by the government is yet to be heard by the Supreme Court.

The cabinet had on March 19 approved the proposed amendment bill before tabling it in the assembly.

Yet another bill to amend Karnataka State Civil Services (Regulation of Transfer of Teachers) Act, 2007 was also introduced, which seeks to increase the cap on teachers’ transfer from the present five per cent to eight percent.

(Agencies)

India joined Pakistan & 42 others in a vote against gay rights at UN

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United-Nations

United Nations: India was among the 43 countries that voted in support of a Russian-drafted resolution that proposed removing benefits for same-sex partners of UN staff, but the resolution failed to pass in the General Assembly committee after 80 nations opposed it.

The Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, that deals with administrative and budgetary issues, voted against the Russian proposal here on Tuesday that aimed at stopping the UN from offering marital benefits to its employees with same-sex spouses.

The resolution would have had UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon withdraw his policy laying out the United Nations current rules for the personal status of staff members for determining their benefits and entitlements.

The policy made by Ban last summer had recognised same-sex marriages of all UN staffers, allowing them to receive UN benefits.

India, along with China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE voted in favour of the draft resolution, which had 37 abstentions.

Same-sex relations are a criminal offence in India.

Ban has been a strong proponent of equal rights for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community and had said that he is proud to stand for greater equality for all staff.

In introducing the policy last year, the UN chief had called on all members of the UN family to unite in rejecting homophobia.

Previously, a staff member’s marital status was determined by the laws applicable in his or her country of nationality.

Under the new UN policy on the personal status of same- sex couples, which became effective on June 26 last year, the world body recognised all same-sex couples married in a country where it is legal, regardless of their nationality.

About 40,000 UN staff across the world came under the purview of the policy.

Ban’s deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters that the secretary-general “does appreciate the support of those who recognized his authority as Chief Administrative Officer as per the UN Charter.”

US led the opposition to Moscow’s proposal, with its envoy to the UN telling the committee that the vote preserves the Secretary-General’s administrative prerogatives under the UN Charter, allowing the UN to determine how the UN administers staff benefits.

US Permanent Representative Samantha Power said that “vote should never have happened” as it sets a dangerous precedent in challenging the secretary-general’s authority to make administrative decisions.

“We must speak plainly about what Russia tried to do today: diminish the authority of the UN Secretary-General and export to the UN its domestic hostility to LGBT rights,” Power said.

UN staff unions welcomed the Fifth Committee’s decision to maintain benefits for the same-sex partners of UN staff.

“The UN advocates for human rights around the world and it’s quite right therefore that it should not pay benefits to staff based on their sexual orientation. We’re glad that after three months of uncertainty on how the vote would go, common sense prevailed,” said Ian Richards, President of the Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations representing 60,000 staff working at the UN.

Haq had said last year that the UN chief had not consulted member states in arriving at the new policy but had acted on his own authority as the head of the management of the United Nations.

Russia’s deputy ambassador Petr Iliichev stressed that his country was not challenging the role of the Secretary-General but the changes under consideration must be made in consultation with Member States.

He said the nationality of the staff member should be taken into consideration when making entitlement determinations.

He said the new policy discriminated against a number of UN Member States, as it did not consider their legislative and judicial systems, and denied the Assembly the opportunity to discuss its substance.

Saudi Arabia’s representative Bilal Taher Muhhamad Wilson said he voted in favour of the draft decision on moral grounds as the Kingdom held that same-sex marriage was immoral.

(PTI)

Police firing on women on International Women’s Day in Odisha

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Representational Image

Representational Image

by Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan

On 8th March 2015, when the world was observing International Women’s Day, Odisha police fired upon women agitators at Namatara village of Rajakanika block of Kendrapada district and injured 16 villagers, mostly women.

Out of those injured people, 9 villagers (five women, two girl children and 2 men) got admitted in Cuttak Medical College because of serious bullet injury. Now the police have already arrested 6 people for attacking the police and have filed cases against 60 people also. Namatara village having 200 houses are mostly of dalit communities.

Such act of brutality of Odisha police is condemnable.

The women around Rajakanika area were observing Women’s Day on their own way and on that day they went on burning foreign liquor shop, at Namatara village. They were demanding of closing down of that shop for last two years. Even they had given their demands in writing to Mr. Baijayanta Panda, Member of Parliament and Mr. PratapDev, MLA and to the District Collector, several times, what local activist of NishaMuktiAbhijan speaks.

So, failing from those sides they themselves decided to destroy the shop on International Women’s Day. While coming back from that place, district armed police reached to the village and fired them.

The state government, with the logic of earning targeted revenue of 1800 crores, has started a drive to open up more and more liquor shops both in rural and town areas. But this has been opposed by several groups in the State. Recently, when a team of social activists of NishaMuktiAbhiyan met the excise minister at the Secretariat, the later assured them of not opening any new shop without consent of pallisabha and gramsabha. This has been reported in the media. But in this case, when the dalit women of Namatara village were demanding of closing down of that shop, that went unheard.

It is not only at Namatara village, but in several parts of Odisha, both in tribal as well as in non-tribal areas, people, largely dalit and adivasi women, are now coming on the street and are opposing opening of liquor shops in their own areas. At many places in Odisha, like in Kashipur of Rayagada, Narayanpatna and Bandhugaon of Koraput district, Mathili of Malkangiri, Nikirai and Mahalhat of Kendrapada district, women and men have destroyed liquor shops in last 4 years due to deaf year of the government. They are all facing legal charges.

Most of the women who are participating in such struggle are from poor background. In a male dominated society like us, when daily wage workers, small peasants and village artisans, mostly male, are expending major amount of their income in consuming liquor then other members of their respective families are not getting proper food, education and health treatment. In these cases the most vulnerable are children and aged people in their familiesbecause of addictive-consumption of liquor of male earner.

Specifically, in post-economic reform phase, when burden of education and health care are lying more on individuals because the State is withdrawing from its welfare-role, so slightest unmindful expenses of the bread earner is causing much havoc in the family. On the other hand, both corporate and bureaucrats are taking away lion’s share of the State which ultimately is causing more gap between the poor and the rich. At this stage we, in Odisha, are finding more rural poor women who have one agenda, destroying of liquor shop and in retaliation, police is resorting to arrest and firing.

So in case of Namatara incident several organisations like Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan, Lok Shakti Abhiyan and Committee Against Fabricated Cases etc. are demanding of announcement of rupees one lakh as compensation for the injured people, arresting those police engaged in such firing under 307, attempt to murder, of IPC and treating decisions of Pallisabha and Gramsabha in both tribal and non-tribal areas regarding opening up of new shops and running of existing oneas final decision of the government.

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