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To

Mr. Salman Khurshid

Minister of Law and Justice,

4th Floor, A-Wing, Shastri Bhawan,

New Delhi-110 001

Subject: Install Dr .B.R. Ambedkar portraits in Supreme Court, all Benches of High Courts, all Lower Courts and all Police Stations in India

Dear Sir

We the under signed request you to Install the portraits Dr .B.R. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in Supreme Court, all Benches  of High Courts and all Lower Courts in India.

Dr Ambedkar, popularly also known as Babasaheb, was one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution.

The role played by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar has left its imprint on the social tapestry of the country after Independence, and shaped the political and civic contours of India today. It would have been a different India without him and, in all probability, a much more inequitable and unjust one.

He was the first Law Minister in Independent India. As a law minister, Ambedkar formulated several important bills including the Hindu Code Bill. He was a key player in the constitutional developments of India from the mid-1920s and on certain issues such as a uniform Civil Code he was to anticipate some of the major issues that have been the topics for debate in India.

Dr.Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1990, such an important persons he is, and rarely we find his pictures in the Court and Police Station, which are the guardian of Indian Constitution.

Therefore we request you to direct the respective administrations to install portraits of Dr B.R Ambedkar in Supreme Court, all benches of High Courts Lower Courts, and all Police Stations of India. It would be appropriate to recognize his role in drafting the Indian constitution by displaying his portrait in Police Station and in Indian courts.

We the following would urge the Government of India to pass a Government Order to make sure Dr Ambedkar portraits are installed in Indian Courts and Police Stations.

Yours Sincerely

Friends

Please Send the below complaint on your name to National Human Rights Commission at covdnhrc@nic.in and chairnhrc@nic.in,

Before the National Human Rights Commission,

Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi

Application no     of    2012

Between                                                                                                                      Applicant

B.Karthik Navayan, Age 34 years

Occupation-Programme Officer

National Dalit Forum, 12-13-441 2^nd Floor,

Street No.1, Tarnaka, Secunderabad-500017

Andhra Pradesh

Vs

1) Police Station, Morkahi

Khagaria, District, Bihar.

Phone number of Morkahi Police Station

6244 – 245580, 9431822799

2) The District collector

Collectorate Building,

Koshi College Road, Khagaria,

Bihar -851205                                                                                                 Respondents

PETITION FILED U/S 12 OF THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1993

Respected Sir

I, B.Karthik Navayan, Programme Officer, National Dalit Forum wants to bring to your kind notice about the Brutal attack, sexual abuse on six Dalit women, gross violation of human rights. And Inaction of Police and administration

On 09/12/2011, Friday, an upper caste mob brutally attacked Six Dalit Women namely 1) Smt Manju Devi, w/o Satan Sada, 2) Smt Dulari Devi w/o Kainu Sada; 3) Smt Parodevi w/o Ramnath Sada, 4) Smt Pabiya Devi w/o Tarani Sada 5) Smt Reshma Devi w/o Wakil Sada 6) Geetha Devi w/o Dinesh Sada.  All are belongs to Nararia village of Khagaria district in Bihar

The accused mob 1) Saroj Singh s/o Promod Singh 2) Anoj Singh s/o Promod Singh 3) Manoj Singh s/o Promod Singh 4) Dharmendra Singh s/o Promod Singh 5) Promod Singh s/o Uchit Singh 6) Uchit Singh s/o Ramswaroop Singh7) Wakil Singh s/o Maheshwar Singh 8) Kailas Singh s/o Maheshwar Singh 9) Maheshwar Singh s/o Sukhdev Singh, all belongs to Chatar Village  of Khagaria District in Bihar

All the accused went to the farm of dalit women Manju Devi on 09/12/2011 at 9 AM, to encroach it illegally, and started destroying it. When she came to know, she along with her above said neighbor women went to the farm and tried to stop the mob that started destroying the farm

The accused mob circled the 6 dalit women and abused them in filthy language, on the name of their caste and attacked them by lathi danda and guns. All the 6 dalit women shocked and asked them why they are destroying the farm. The irritated mob had beaten all the women. Due to this two women went unconscious. One woman Dulari Devi’s both hands fractured, they also snatched the gold rings worth of 15000/- (Fifteen Thousand Rupees)

Satan Sada the husband of Manju Devi reached the place and requested for compromise. The accused mercilessly looted Rs 10000/-(Ten Thousand) from him at gun point. The accused number 1, Saroj Singh fired a bullet on Satan Sada, fortunately it missed

The Accused 2 Anoj Singh and Accused 3 Manoj Singh both sexually harassed Pabiya Devi and Parodevi; they removed Sarees and blouses of both dalit women and paraded nakedly. And they spit in the mouths of dalit women. Now all the victims admitted in the Sadar Hospital in Khagaria.

The victims lodged a complaint in the Morkahi Police Station; FIR is registered number 80/2011 under section 147, 148, 149, 342, 323, 325, 504 of Indian penal code and Section 3 (i) (ii) (iii), (iv), (x), (xi) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1987. The station house officer Sathyendra Kumar took up the investigation

Even after 27 days of incident, neither an inquiry is conducted nor the accused arrested by the police, due to the political influence of the Accused. And meanwhile the accused regularly calling and sending mediators to victims and threatening to withdraw the complaint by saying that “police and other government officials not going to help the victims, nothing will happen to accused” police only serve the rich people not poor like you”.

I request your kind authority to direct the police to conduct inquiry and arrest the accused immediately, also request you to direct the district government authority to visit the victims and provide the necessary health facilities and compensation

The Dalits in this locality are feeling panic after this brutal attack on the dalit women so I further request National Human Rights Commission to visit the Nararia village of Khagaria district in Bihar.  And conduct an inquiry in this case, to give moral support to the victims and local dalits

Date: 03/01/2012                                                                                            Applicant

Place: Hyderabad                                                                                              sd/

                                                                                                                   B.Karthik Navayan

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Uttar-Pradesh state assembly in its shortest ever session of eleven minutes only passed a resolution for carving out four states from Uttar-Pradesh. The resolution has now gone to the Central government for their perusal. However, we all know, that this is not going to happen that easily for which our political pundits are making noises and parties going for and against it.

Let me be clear in the very beginning that I have no objection of Ms Mayawati raising the issue for political purposes. In politics you raise the issue in the people’s court and it is up to them how they react. Rajiv Gandhi went for a national poll immediately after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in October 1984 and won with a landslide majority. Gujarat Chief Minister used the same anti Muslim card for his comeback. Ayodhya’s issue raised by Advani and company finally help BJP to take its tally from 2 to 120 in Parliament and converted it to India’s main opposition party. So, political debate in India has stooped so low that we must not expect too much from them.

Now let us examine the issue of division of Uttar-Pradesh. One may ask this question as why should we only divide Uttar-Pradesh and reduce it to nothing. Politically Uttar-Pradesh is an important state for every political party and today, if we are witnessing the assertion among the DAlits and OBC political leadership all over the country, the credit goes to Uttar-Pradesh. In fact, Bihar comes second to Uttar-Pradesh as far as Dalit assertion and political understanding is concern. Today, BSP is the only party based on Ambedkarite principals (whether they work on it or not is not the question here but they claim to follow it), which is in power. In Maharastra, the RPIs failed and that too miserably forcing many of them to even form alliance with Shiv Sena. Can we ever imagine a party formed by Ambedkar and on his principals forming alliance with rabid anti dalit and anti Muslim party like Shiv Sena or MNS? Have we forgotten how Shiv Sena opposed violently the naming of Marathwada University in the name of Baba Saheb Ambedkar in the 1980s?

For us who have seen the danger of majoritarian politics, secular polity of India is thankful to Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar for successfully able to thwart the designs of communal fascist forces in the country. We all know that the Sangh Parivar and its offshoots are completely helpless in Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar at the moment as their hegemony has completely destroyed at least politically. The Dalits, OBCs and Muslims are building alliances and coming close. Uttar-Pradesh is the biggest laboratory for that. The second phase of Mandalisation process has already begun in Uttar-Pradesh. It is the reemergence of MBCs and Maha Dalits or excluded dalits. Nitish Kumar played a card in Bihar to gain from it but fortunately in UP, it is the emergence of these segments and they can play their own politics. So, it is second phase Mandal process where even the Mahadalits, MBCs and Pasamanda Muslims are joining hand for their political participation. With BSP increasingly tilting as Chamar-Brahmin alliance, the excluded Dalits and MBCs have no other option than to form an alliance and look for their future.

In this background comes the news of division of Uttar-Pradesh. There is no proof that smaller states are better governed or bigger states are worst. Why should then we have a huge country which is ungovernable? Should not we say that India is an unmanageable country? But then, every small identity that merges with India also gets benefit of its strength. It happen same to the states.

Question is not whether a state should be big or small. The real question is whether the people in the state want to live together or not. Whether there is a cultural difference or a feeling of isolation by one segment of people or not? We all know when Uttarakhand was created, I protested against it for the fear that the majoritarian upper castes will not allow the Dalits and OBCs to live peacefully. We all know how the condition of Dalits in Uttarakhand where no government till date have been able to spend the SCP meant for SC-STs. The money goes unspent. The job quota is not filled adequately and the social ostracisation of the community is enormous even when there is no physical intimidation in the hills. The conditions in Harit Pradesh or Paschim Pradesh are different. This is the fiefdom of the Jats and Gujjars. The Dalits here are predominantly depended on agricultural work. Ofcourse, they have also grown up but the relationship between them and the upper castes is well known here. In the Bundelkhand region Kurmis, Brahmins and Thakurs dominate. Violence against Dalits particularly the Kol tribal go unreported. The Poorvanchal is the region where BSP remained stronger but that too with the help of ‘poor’ ‘brahmins’ so we can understand how will it help them.

It is equally important to see how the state of Uttar-Pradesh can merge Faizabad, Pratapgarh and Sultanpur in the Poorvanchal State though historically they have been part of Avadh. In fact, before the capital of Avadh moved to Lucknow, Faizabad was its capital. Is not it a travesty of truth? Similarly, Agara, Kanpur and Allahbad should be nearer to Bundelkhand rather than Avadh Pradesh or Pooravanchal Pradesh.

It would have been great if the serious issue had discussion in the beginning so that people are well equipped with knowledge about the act. Secondly, do we hate Uttar-Pradesh that much that we want to eliminate the very name of Uttar-Pradesh itself. Third, why should only Uttar-Pradesh be divided? Why not other big states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar?

It is important to understand the dynamics of our political class. Even when the state can be divided for administrative reasons, let there be a state reorganization commission. There are a lot of unfulfilled agenda of the past. A place like Belgaum creates violence on the issue of Marathi verses Kannada in Karnataka. Why should a Marathi speaking town such as Belgaum be part of Karnataka? Similarly, the issue of Abohar and Fazilka in Punjab became bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana. We all know the issue of Naga areas in Manipur for which the state is still facing the blockade. Jammu and Ladhakh have nothing in common with Kashmir valley and have distinct cultural identity of their own.

India needs small states to govern efficiently. Ofcourse, India needs to increase its size of parliament too. India requires radical changes including that in our parliamentary structure. Problem is not just with the governance of state. Our states or parliament is not really representative of our communities. Despite sizeable presence in Uttar-Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Tharus, one of the most celebrated tribes of our country, have just one member of assembly in Uttarakhand. Communities like Balmikis, Khatiks, Kols, Doms, Nais remain unrepresented. Many of the most marginal communities remain outside the realm of our parliamentary politics. So what will these new state offers to them? Frankly speaking, the new state might reduce the already diminishing Dalit-OBC representation so chances for the most marginalized one would be difficult to come. It needs to change India’s parliamentary system.

If we see the state of Chhatishgarh and Jharkhand, both are Adivasi dominated yet have been dominated by the non adivasis in political leadership. The least said about Jharkhand’s political leadership the best. In one night, Madhu Koda signed more than 300 deals which could never have happened in a state like Bihar. A big state is a challenge for officials as they fear mass protest if the political leadership is sidelined. A state like Uttar-Pradesh is bigger than many countries and therefore the chief minister of the state is respected and is relatively powerful. No official or bureaucrat can take her for granted but all these small states are being run by the coterie of bureaucrats or the chamchas of the political class. The experience shows that they are ruthless in tackling dissent and opposition.

Economically, most of these states are dependent on the Centre for financial support. Creation of new state poses great economic stress. Not only does it need new infrastructure, legislative assemblies, governor’s houses, bungalows etc. Our political class will not live in ordinary areas. In the fifties it was easier for new states to be developed as places like Lucknow, Hyderabad, Madras, Banglore, Thiruvnanathpuram had already had infrastructures for everything. But now the new states will be more burdens to people. Most importantly, in the new state, we will not have new leaders but the same old ones who have been sucking our blood all the time. Example from Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhatishgarh and north east clearly indicate that they have become police state. It is also true that big corporate find is easier to tackle the political leadership in these states easily than in the bigger states.

While, I do not believe in the argument whether smaller states are better or big states are useful. The question should be addressed according to local demands, cultural issues and most importantly economic viabilities of such states. It would be better if Centre comes out with a specific time frame for a State Reorganisation Commission which should look into all aspect such interstate issues such as Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal which cannot be created just out of Uttar-Pradesh but will have to be carved out of Madhya Pradesh too. Lot of issues but if the petty politics takes over then the whole exercise would be too dangerous for the unity of the country. A country like India can accommodate more state and bigger parliament but for that we need serious discussion and a time found agenda and framework of SRC so that we can address the issue in the utmost national interest.

Let the political parties not whip up passion and create a frenzy in the name of ‘small is best’, as it could prove contrary also because at the end the political leadership as well as the working class of each state in India will emerge from ourselves only. Hence , whether it is small or big, at the end of the day, it is we the people of India, who will provide leadership to these states. It is not going to come from anywhere else. There is no denial of fact that people today aspire for more decentralized power structure but at the same point of time, also look for safe guards of communities who have never got representation. So, India need a reorganization of not only its state, but its political system in entirety otherwise, these so called new states or small state will have the same elite dominating with much bigger brutality over minorities as they have been in the past. The issue of creation of states have to be based on demands of people and should not be imposed by the political leadership from the above. An empowered State Reorganisation Commission should be asked to look into it and till then we can make a moratorium on the issue, except the already decided issue of Telangana which need to be created based on popular demands of the people of the region. Denying that in the name of unity and integrity of Greater Telangana will be an injustice to the entire struggle of the people. Such generalization can damage the cause of unity of people. Uttar-Pradesh government’s issue is different as there is neither a mass movement nor a public revolt for creating so many states out of Uttar-Pradesh. Ofcourse, it is good that Ms Mayawati has given it a serious thought but it is equally important that the issue be debated widely and should not be resolved without a State Reorganisation Commission as the stake holders are not just in Uttar-Pradesh but also in other states.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a human rights activist

http://www.facebook.com/notes/vidya-bhushan-rawat/how-feasible-is-dividing-uttar-pradesh/10150384731038883

Construction of the SC/ST hostel is nearly complete and the Authority has asked the construction agency, Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, to wrap up all finishing work before the month end. Located in sector 62, this first-of-its-kind hostel boasts of infrastructure and facilities “matching those of any renowned private college hostels.”

The six-storey hostel complex has a capacity to accommodate 500 people. “With 200 double and 100 single occupancy rooms, the Ambedkar hostel is also equipped with security measures including CCTV cameras, round the clock surveillance by a fleet of security guards, etc to ensure safety of all inmates,” said Noida Authority DCEO Anil Raj Kumar. The eligibility for getting a hostel seat have already been advertised by the state government and admission procedure for selected candidates will begin from November 20. The state of the art hostel will provide accommodation to needy women at subsidized costs. The list of selected candidates will be finalized by the Greater Noida Education Committee.

The proposal for the hostel was first made in January 2009 on Mayawati’s 53rd birthday along with a host of other projects totalling Rs 3,500 crore. Construction of the girls’ hostel began in March 2009 and was supposed to be completed within a year. However, due to technical glitches in the original architectural plan, the project got delayed and construction was finally completed earlier this month. Another such hostel meant for male SC/ST students and working professionals is being readied in Greater Noida.

DR. AMBEDKAR MEMORIAL LECTURE

India suffered by making Gandhi “father of the nation”

Diwakar Tripathi, former chairman of the Lucknow Development Authority, remembers the day vividly. It was January 15, 2003, a cold but sunny day. Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had inaugurated the Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal, a memorial for the Dalit leader and architect of the Indian Constitution spread over 125 acres on the banks of the Gomti. The function had gone off well, and Tripathi and his colleagues were unwinding at the park. All of a sudden, there was a great uproar from the gates. The crowds, held back by the police, broke through the barricades and rushed in. Many of them, Tripathi remembers, took off their clothes, shouted Jai Bhim (victory to Bhimrao Ambedkar) and jumped into the canal around their leader’s statue — just like high-caste Hindus who cleanse their bodies of sin by bathing in the Ganga at Haridwar or Banaras. Some of them had come with their lota, the inimitable Indian personal pot, and filled it in the canal. Some washed the statue’s feet with the water, while others took the “holy” water home. Tripathi knew in an instant that the memorial would trigger social change — the meek and the voiceless finally had a place of pilgrimage.

The park has got several makeovers since then and the canal has been covered. Mayawati has built many more such parks and museums. The latest of these is the Rashtriya Dalit Smarak at Noida near Delhi. Spread on 33.45 acres on the banks of the Yamuna, it has cost the state Rs 685 crore. There are 24 elephants (the election symbol of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party) in pink sandstone. And there are 12 statues of Ambedkar, BSP founder Kanshi Ram and Mayawati. Each elephant has cost Rs 70 lakh, while the statues cost over Rs 6 crore apiece. No fewer than 2,500 masons and workers were employed here.

It was a park before the state government decided to convert it into a Dalit memorial. Residents of Noida were horrified when the trees at the park were cut to make way for the memorial. Mayawati’s government did a midcourse correction and planted 7,600 trees and 150,000 shrubs there.

It was inaugurated by Mayawati on October 14, days before she gave away the prizes at the first Formula One Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida on October 30. The park was supposed to open for all on November 1. A security guard posted on the gate tells you that it’s still closed because “some construction is still left and workers have to clean up the place”. He asks you to wait till “the next order”.

* * * * *

Mayawati has drawn severe criticism for these parks. The money (over Rs 4,500 crore) could have been spent, her critics say, on laying roads, building schools and hospitals, and generating power — all sectors where Uttar Pradesh lags the national average. Epidemics happen with alarming regularity in the eastern districts of the state. No new investments have happened in Uttar Pradesh, thanks to the state of its infrastructure.

For Mayawati’s detractors, the parks, and the statues inside, are nothing but unproductive assets, the indulgence of a megalomaniac. Mayawati’s bureaucrats say that the stone used in these parks has been sourced from the districts of Sonbhadra and Chandauli. These districts, which are located on the border with Madhya Pradesh, could have come under Naxal influence had it not been for this economic activity. The economy that takes shape around these parks is not insignificant, and the biggest beneficiaries are masons, artisans and workers who are, more often than not, from the Dalit community.

The bigger impact is perhaps social and political. Why just parks, Mayawati has renamed districts after Dalit icons like Jyotiba Phule and Gautam Buddh (Ambedkar had renounced Hinduism to embrace Buddhism). Social scientists and Dalit activists see her grand design. Sociologist Shiv Viisvanathan says that Mayawati realises that the Dalit community needs to create an alternate idea of history — one that cannot be easily erased. And she has done just that in her parks.

Vivek Kumar, assistant professor of sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, feels that the Dalit community has reason to feel empowered now. “That is the impact the parks will have. For years, they were told not to go to or enter certain places. Now they have something of their own,” says he.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Anoop Mishra finds distasteful the whole talk of taxpayers’ money being misused in these memorials because “the parks and the museums at the end of the day are for the citizens”. The controversy, he says, often hides the good work the Mayawati government has done in the last four years: Uttar Pradesh is one of the few revenue-surplus states in the country, its public debt has come down from 42.7 per cent of the gross state domestic product in 2007-08 to 38 per cent in 2010-11, its fiscal deficit for 2010-11 was a healthy 2.7 per cent of GSDP, it has utilised over 95 per cent of the Plan expenditure in each of the last four years, and it has taken short-term loans from the Reserve Bank of India for all of 16 days in the last four years.

* * * * *

But has the Dalit community really gained under Mayawati? A recent study by Devesh Kapur of the Centre for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) in the University of Pennsylvania, along with Chandra Bhan Prasad, Lant Pritchett and D Shyam Babu, done in 20,000 Dalit households of Uttar Pradesh found that there has been a significant improvement in their socio-economic condition between 1990 and 2008. Thus, they were found to (1) live in better houses, (2) eat better food, and (3) own more consumer goods. The material markers, says Prasad, have overtaken the social markers in rural India. The study also showed that there has been a sharp fall in the number of Dalits working as farm labour, while there has been a perceptible rise in the number of Dalits running businesses. The period covered in the study is also the age of economic reform; so it’s not certain if the change has been brought about by the free market forces or as a result of the intervention from the state government.

In the last four years, Mayawati has done a lot to keep Dalits happy. She has raised the development expenditure on the Schedule Castes and Tribes from 17.9 per cent of the total in 2007-08 to 21.7 per cent in 2010-11. It now matches their population of 21.2 per cent in the state. In the last four years, each of the 2,500 Ambedkar villages (those where Schedule Castes and Tribes are a majority) has received Rs 2 crore for public works. The plan is to cover another 2,500 villages in the second phase. For 2.2 million ultra-poor families (not just the Schedule Castes and Tribes), a pension of Rs 400 per month, payable to the lady of the house, has been instituted. There are liberal financial grants for the girl child in poor households. About 150,000 houses (two rooms, kitchen and bathroom) have been distributed to the urban poor free of cost. And, Uttar Pradesh has in the last four years appointed 88,000 teachers (28,000 in madrasas), over 100,000 safai karmacharis (sweepers) and 35,000 policemen over and above the normal recruitment. This has swollen the state’s rolls by almost 15 per cent to 1.5 million. As the Schedule Castes and Tribes are also often the poorest in villages as well as cities, it is reasonable to assume they have benefitted the most from this largesse.

The debate on whether the parks are wasteful expenditure or not will continue for a long time. But then Lucknow had discovered the benefits of public works to revive a stagnant economy much before Keynes. Asaf-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh from 1775 to 1797, built all the magnificent Lucknow buildings during a severe famine, which gave employment to thousands from the villages around the city. Till date, in Lucknow, those ignored by fate often console themselves and say: “Jisko na de Maula, usko de Asaf-ud-Daula (those ignored by God are taken care of by Asaf-ud-Daula).” Does a similar legacy await Mayawati?

(Virendra Singh Rawat contributed to this article from Lucknow)

http://business-standard.com/india/news/mayawatis-statuesliberty/454557/