Showing posts with label Lokayat Report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lokayat Report. Show all posts

Monday, August 31, 2009

LOKAYAT Trip to Himachal Pradesh

By Sujit Patil

On 24th june we reached a village near palampur at 3.30pm in the afternoon. We have decided to have one session in the evening at 6pm. It is going to be conducted by Sripad dharmadkari a activist who is working mainly on water issues he is associated with a trust by the name manhattan he led us to very burning issue of water privatisation. He also gave what reason is given by government for privatising the water is that private co. are efficient and government is corrupted so need of privatisation. But the main issue is that there is no proper distribution of water so there is scarcity. The people who are needed water is not provided and to the corporations lakhs of litre is provided. The water privatisation has been happening from longtime but from last decade it has been done speedily. There are some examples of privatisation of water to name a few shivnag of chattisgarh, thirukar in tamil nadu, mysore , hubli-dharwad in Karnataka nagpur in maharastra etc etc the list goes on and on…….. The session was informative and also made us to realise that we are in very difficult times where large amount of population is not getting water on the other side rivers, seas, lakes are being sold to private parties.

On 25th june morning session is conducted by Bhanwari lal sharma a professor, convenor of azadi bachao andolan he threw a light on post independence people movement it started with soviet union of Russia upto china revolution and to movements in India started with vinoba bhave’s bhoodan andolan than Dr lohiya andolan , sarvodya movement there was jaganathan’s dalit movement afterwards due to inflation, corruption, dictatorship and unemployment there was overwhelming response to JP movement where bhanwari lal sharma were leader of student union in Allahabad after this movement there were various movements which were carried by people in every part of this country. He said pros and cons of every movement. It was very learning experience and to understand peoples power of this country.

On the same day in the afternoon after the wonderful lunch another activist by name Nandini Ohja took us through the problem of BIG DAMS and people resistance in various big dam projects. She gave what are consideration should be taken before approval of BIG DAMS namely sensitivity, command area development, catchment area treatment, flora and fauna, carrying capacity, health impact etc but these were not at all considered in approving big projects.
On the next day we came across a woman she started her lecture by saying “THE ORGANISMS WHICH CO-OPERATE WITH NATURE WILL SURVIVE” She came from US in 1961 to India. She builds house from using natural mud which is very nature friendly. The facts given by her are worth noting that is 23% and more carbon content in India are due to cement, steel, baked bricks etc.
The houses built by her using mud bricks don’t emit carbon. Mud bricks are cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Gandhian principles are very much attached to mud brick houses.
She also threw the light on that fact that in last 20 years language diversity and cultural diversity are being extinct and said that earthworms are not our guests we are there guests.
It was very useful for us and also came across various harmful effects of modern construction.
On next day prashant bushan took us through inception of judiciary. The main object of judiciary was to prevent the people from doing any wrong to king. In earlier times there were 2 types of courts house of lords and privy council where US cases and cases of colonies were dealt respectively by these courts. He explained why there is complex procedures followed. Then he explained about the IX schedule of constitution where he said that any law in this schedule cannot be changed and also said about basic structure of constitution which cannot be changed. Constitution amendment must be made by 2/3rd majority but fundamental rights can be made by simple majority. He discussed various points namely
• Corruption cases in judiciary with examples
• Appointment of judges
• Contempt of court
• Land acquisition Act
• Police arrest and why we must take permission from police before rallies, dharna etc
• Difference between human rights, fundamental rights, legal rights etc
It was very informative and also he explained the law in very simple way so we understood in a proper way.

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Lokayat update of activities

The swine flu outbreak put a stop to all our activities. Since the second week of August, since Aug 11, nothing much has been done. Here is a report of our activities since July.


1. We have been campaigning against the proposed privatisation of PMPML. The PMPML is proposing to buy 200 AC buses, which is going to be absolutely ruinous for the finances of PMPML. The present few AC buses with PMPML have thrice the rate of standard buses, and so they go empty and hence incur heavy losses. Actually, for public transport in a city, where the average duration of travel is barely 20 mins or so, there is no need for AC buses. Various organisations of Pune have come together to form a joint front, PMPML BACHAO KRITI SAMITI, and a dharna is planned outside PMPML office at Swar Gate on Monday, Aug 10 from 2 pm to 5 pm. A similar dharna will be organised in Pimpri-Chinchwad on Aug 11.

This got cancelled due to Swine flu.

Now fresh agitations are planned. The schedule is:

SEMINAR ON PPP Model and PMPML:

Pimpri - Sept 7, Monday
Pune - Sept 8, Tuesday, at Shramik Bhavan, near PMC bus stand, time 5 pm.

DHARNA AND DEMONSTRATION

Sept 10, Thursday, outside PMPML head office at Swar Gate. The dharna would be daylong, and the demonstration would be from PMC to Swar gate. It is a joint program of various groups, including the PMPML union, CPM, Sarva Shramik Sangh, Shramik Mahila Morcha, Maruti Bhapkar's group, Manav Kamble's group, Subhash Sarin's group, and so on.

2. We have organised a series of lectures in various law colleges on Judicial Accountability and Reforms, in July.

3. We have also organised lectures and film screenings on human rights issues in various law colleges in July.

4. As a part of NO MORE HIROSHIMAS, NO MORE BHOPALS campaign, for which a cultural festival is scheduled for August 8, about which I have already mailed you, we organised a musical public awareness campaign on July 30 and 31. A guitarist from Chennai had come down to Pune to help us in this campaign, and with him we went around various colleges and gardens of Pune, singing songs and distributing pamphlets about the subject. Then, on Aug 6-7-8, there were a series of film screenings and talks by Satinath Sarangi from Bhopal in various colleges, including MIT college, College of Engineering, ILS, apart from a big seminar in Fergusson College Amphitheater on Aug 8 morning in association with DES Law College of Fergusson.

5. The Lokayat women's group organised a staging of the play, Mulgi Zhali Ho, in Mohite college on Aug 1. A poster exhibition on women's issues has also been made and it will be put up in various colleges.

6. The Lokayat Free Software Initiative has organised a series of programs in various engineering colleges and computer science departments of Science colleges on the free software in July and August so far, and now are planning to organise an inter college seminar on the subject.

7. Workshops of Prof. Ram Puniyani are planned in Symbiosis and ILS on the subject, Challenges to Secular values of Indian Constitution, towards early september.

8. With the government promoting nuclear energy in a big way, including the setting up of a nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, we are planning a big campaign against it.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY

During Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations:

Venue: Outside Saraswati Vidya Mandir on Bajirao Road, from Aug 28 to Sept 1, Friday to Monday, from 8 to 11 pm.

9. Regular adult education classes are being organised in two slums, Pandav Nagar (behind Symbiosis college) and Janata Vasahat (near Parvati), where volunteers go twice a week. The women's group is also working with the women of these slums, in association with Molkarin Sangathana, and they also go regularly to these slums for workshops, film screenings and other interactions.

10. The SUNDAY MEETING takes place regularly, from 4 to 7 pm, at the Lokayat Office. Do join us whenever it is possible for you.

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Workshop on Judicial Activism by Dominique Lobo

Report by Prashant Nandi

Mr. Dominique Lobo is an active Judicial Activist of India , who works mainly in the area of Pimpri - Chinchwad of Maharashtra.


Previously he was an elected representative for Khadki cantonment area and during that time he eradicated many corruption from his constituency. His approach of activism is law activism , He files cases in the courts & fights by himself against Civic administration in order to resolve the issues of common man, community, like filling of pot holes, new roads construction etc.

He took an workshop for Lokayat activist on 26July Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm , so that lokayat activist can also file cases in order to resolve some issues in our existing society. He explained the importance of section 91 of CPC & section 39 of CRPC ,section 409 of IPC and how one can use that . At the end of the workshop he showed a template which can be used to file case against Civic authorities demanding for increase the number of PMPML buses. Overall it was a wonderful experience,where participants in workshop have learned about Judicial activism.

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Villagers' Agitation in Sindhudurg Against Land Acquisition by State Govt for Mining

By Angad Patwardhan

INTRODUCTION


On Tuesday, June 23, four of us from Lokayat left for the town of Banda in Sindhudurg district at night. The plan was to visit Kalne village from there. It was in the news that a full State Cabinet meeting was to be conducted in the district the following day. With limited information we set out to fathom what the situation really was and why the good villagers were opposed to a "development" project of the government.

We arrived at Banda on the morning of June 24 where we understood that the Cabinet meeting was scheduled to take place at another town, Oras and not at Kalne as we had presumed. There was a lot of police activity on the highway and a steady stream of police vehicles kept flowing through the town! From there we left for Kalne village.

Kalne is a beautiful village located on the slopes of a hill. The people there are extremely friendly. We all felt totally at ease while interacting with them. When we arrived, they were about to start their bhajan satyagraha which they'd been carrying out for the past 3 days. Some young villagers, many of them women, were seated on a stage and had been fasting since June 22 as a mark of their protests against the Cabinet meeting. We joined in the bhajan satyagraha also sung some songs of our own relating to peoples' struggles. This was a sort-of ice-breaking process, though it was unnecessary with these people.

BACKGROUND

As we started interacting with the villagers, a lot of information started flowing out. Most of the villagers grow cashew-nuts which they sell as dry fruit and to make feni, a popular drink. The major sales occur in the months of May-June. However, they are content with whatever they get from the produce. They also grow their own grain and vegetables. Apart from this, the hill on which the village is based and the near-by river are held to be sacred by the village-folk.

The Maharshtra govt. is interested in setting up a mine in and around Kalne, along with a Mumbai-based company, Minerals & Metals Ltd. This means that all the people living there will have to be moved out. Also, their farms and orchards will be destroyed in the process, and the river heavily polluted. For these reasons, they do not want to sell their lands under any circumstances. They have been agitating since August 2008 when the government's proposal first came up. A gram sabha resolution was also passed to that extent with only 2 dissenting votes. As per the government's own regulation, no resolution passed in a gram sabha can be overturned by the Central/State governments. With total disregard to this fact, the state govt is aggressively perusing the development of this project.

In December 2008, one of the dissenters secretly sold off his land to the company without informing even his own family members who were against the acquisition. They also had stakes in the land which he had sold and hence applied for a stay on the deal in Bombay High Court. The case is underway currently.

However, on the dawn of March 19, 2009, the company started making inroads into the "acquired" plot by trespassing through other plots. They had got all their road-making equipment along with private security personnel from Mumbai. when the villagers got wind of this, they rushed to the spot and staged a rasta-roko andolan. There was a heated argument between the villagers and company officials. Sensing the growing discomfiture of the villagers, the company officials and security guards started climbing into their vehicles and zooming away. At this juncture, one of the security guards fell off a vehicle that he was holding onto and injured his head severely. His colleagues took him to a near-by hospital, then to hospitals at Sawantwadi and Goa, where he finally succumbed to his injuries at about 11 pm the same day.

Immediately, the police applied Section 302(Murder) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) and set out to arrest 16 villagers, who fled the village. They also arrested 200 villagers, including 40 women under Section 144(Unlawful Gathering of More than 5 Persons). These were granted bail later.

Police used to enter the village daily and harass the villagers as to the whereabouts of the 16 absconding men. Hence, on April 9, they surrendered themselves and were put in prison at Sawantwadi. Their bail pleas were rejected by the District Court and hence they moved the Bombay High Court. 12 persons were granted bail after 35 days, while 4 are in police custody till date. The High Court has demanded that the police file charge sheets against the 4 accused as a pre-requisite to granting them bail, which has still not been done, even after 3 months of keeping them in prison. As these 4 villagers were at the fore-front of the "anti-land acquisition" agitation, it is clear that they're being forcibly kept in prison by the government.

In the afternoon of June 24, while the bhajan satyagraha was on, a delegation including the sarpanch and upsarpanch of Kalne left for a meeting with the State Cabinet at Oras, where they presented their demands to the Cabinet. A full question-answer session followed in the presence of media from various leading newspapers as well as news channels. However, as is expected, there was no news of the same in the following days. Instead, the leading newspapers have described how Narayan Rane is all out for the "development" of Sindhudurg by spending crores of citizens' money on building memorials and halls at various places in the district!


WHAT WE LEARNT

We returned the same day and reached Pune on the morning of June 25. The trip has been an enriching experience for all of us. I saw first-hand for the first time what a people's agitation is like, and how people come together in times of distress to fight for their cause. It also taught me how to interact with people and make ourselves be counted as their own. This trip was an eye-opener to the heinous acts being committed by our governments in various parts of the country in the name of "development", and how the truth never even reaches us, as the media goes hand-in-hand with them!

We urge our like-minded fellow citizens to go and witness such agitations wherever and whenever they can, as well as extend their support and solidarity to the movements along with spreading awareness about the same, where they reside!

Jai Hind!

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Monday, June 29, 2009

Lokayat participated in Blog Camp2, Pune.


BlogCamp Pune
:

BlogCamp Pune is a FREE unconference focusing exclusively on blogging, organized by bloggers for bloggers. It‘s built upon the principles of the famous BarCamp (ad-hoc unconference) focused on sharing, learning and new ideas. Daylong Blog camp is followed by many intense events with discussions, demos and interaction between attendees.

Rushal Thakkar from lokayat made a speech on free software initiative campaign by lokayat and brief introduction to lokayat. Free software which does not mean only for free, as actually this movement is itself a philosophy; it’s about freedom and in broad level freedom to use of historic collective human knowledge or inheritance of human knowledge. Lokayat strongly oppose the idea/action of putting any price tag on human collective knowledge and believe that when a child is born, inheritance of human knowledge is his/her birthright.

Event Details:
Date: 27th June 2009
Time: 10:00AM to 5:00PM (In Barcamp Style, the schedule is drawn up at the last minute as speakers come and pick up an available slot.)
Venue: SICSR (Symbiosis) 7th Floor Atur Center, Gokhale Cross Road, Model Colony Pune Near the OM Super Market

Lokayat Free Software Initiative

More report on BlogCamp2, Pune here
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Monday, May 25, 2009

Workshop on "Peace and Conflict Resolution"

Lokayat participated in 7 Days workshop on "Peace and Conflict Resolution" from 4th May 09 to 11th May 09

ICSSR organised a workshop called as “Peace and Conflict Resolution” Sai Baba Seva Dhaam Trust Kanha Fata Maval Taluka Pune from 4th May 09 to 11th May 09.Everday we got opportunity to interact with those speakers who have seen problems faced by victims in riots, of bomb blasts and how they help them to get back into their life.

Starting from Asghar Ali Engineer. He delivered his lectures on Medival history of India and on Theories of Peace and conflict Resolution.Second Day he told us about communal violence in India. He also cleared myths about Islam and told us about the Conflict in Kashmir.

Prof. Ram Puniyani explain the Communalism through iceberg theory.
i.e. 1/10th of Iceberg is visible = Riots
Rest of the Iceberg = Politics

Above two reasons are responsible for Communalism.
He also explains what is Communal Historiography , Ghar Waapsi and what are the different facets of religion. He also told us about the words that sounds similar but their meanings are different namely Hindu, Hindu Religion, Hindutav and Hindu Nation. It was declared that Christians and Muslims are foreigners are a threat to Hindu religion.Also told that Anti Christian violence is in the continuation of RSS agenda of Hindun Rashtra “Pehle Kasai Phir Isai”(First the Muslims then Christians).

Irfaan Ali Engineer gave lecture on Secularism and explain about Uniform Civil Code .After that we got a chance to interact with Dr. Vasundhara Mohan,Executive Director of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS).She gave information on Role of Women in Conflict Resolution. How important they are in conflict resolution.

Dr. Aruna Pendse gave information on Communal Forces in Maharashtra like Shiv Sena and BJP. For division in Urban Society they are using religion and language as their weapons.

Mrs. Marukh Adenewala, Senior Lawyer delivered speech on Human Rights and Democracy.She explain the following theory on Human Rights namely

1) Universal Theory of Human Right
2) Natural Law Theory
3) Natural Rights Theory

Last day Suresh Khopade,ACP,North Region,Mumbai. He discussed Bhiwandi Case Study and Causes of Communal Riots.How they set up Mohalla Committee in Bhiwandi for the welfare of victims. He told us who is suffering most by these riots.

Neeraj Jain discussed What is Globalization? When it begins? Who are enjoying its benefits? Also gave information on Myths about the benefits of FDI Inflows.We also came to know that Madras has become the Garbage Capital and Delhi Capital of Electronic Waste(70%).

So that how our last day ends. We came to know lots of facts about our so called Indian History,Communalism and Globalization. This workshop has also generated a curiosity within all of us to know more about these problems and help in the development of society.

Report by Anurag Meshram

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Lokayat visited Chattisgarh: A report

Chattisgarh Trip Report (26-Sept-08 to 29-Sept-08)

Purpose of the visit:

1. To attend a national conference in Raipur celebrating Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary, Com Shankar Guha Niyogi’s martyr anniversary and chalk out a plan for future course of action in Chattisgarh.
2. To learn about the struggle in Raipur and surrounding areas in detail.

Highlights of the Trip:

On the first day, we stayed in a basti called Majdoor Nagar in the outskirts of Raipur. A major part of this was established 12 years back. The segment of basti where we stayed was set up 6 months back and did not have electricity connection. The land for this establishment was snatched from Government / some Company. The residents live in remarkable harmony.

The conference (Saturday, 27-Sept-08) was in the heart of Raipur and activist groups / parties from all over India were invited. On Sunday, 28-Sept-08, the Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha organized a rally to oppose the fascism being instigated upon people by the State Government to make way for industries. Slogans remembering Bhagat Singh, Com Niyaogi & combating liquor were also raised. The rally witnessed close to 1,500 laborers and farmers.

Before leaving, we stayed in Bhillai on Sunday night, where we had interesting discussions with CMM activists, Ajay T G and Jagmohan Singh.

Some Interesting Facts that we Learned:

* Raipur: 10,000 labor produce business worth Rs. 1 Arab in a single day

* Iron-Ore: Sold at Rs. 10,000 per kg by the mining company to other countries. CG government gets Rs. 17 per kg as royalty

* WTO plans to sell off all the water in the world by 2011

* Stock Market down by 500 points means Rs. 100 Kharab out of India

* Indravati River sold to Essar Steel

* Shivnath River sold to Radius Waters for maintaining a dam made by government. Highlights:
1. 36 km stretch of river on both sides of company campus sold
2. Company gets Rs. 15 lakh from Industrial Development Corporation and 15 lakh from the Rural Development Corporation for maintaining the dam
3. Company can sell the water and if it does not sell an amount fixed in the contract, CG government will compensate for the losses incurred.
4. If the government wishes to cancel this contract, it will have to pay Rs. 400 crore as fine.

* Hierarchy of Contractors (Up to 4 contractors)

Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha Sum Up:

* Strength of around 10,000 workers, most of them in the age group 20-30

* Good strength of whole timers

* Have 4 kinds of Unions, one for each type of Industry:
o Iron-Ore
o Steel
o Cement
o Sleepers for Railway tracks

* Study circles for workers

* Have a small library also

* Has 11 committees dedicated for different kinds of work

* Has a Cultural front, whose major contribution has been of making a 3 hour play on their local hero Veer Narayan Singh, who fought bravely against the British and was slaughtered to death in public

* A very nice environment for kids learn from elders and get inspired

Report by Rushal Thaker

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Monday, May 18, 2009

LOKAYAT in protest rally for demanding "FREE VINAYAK SEN"

On 14th May, 2009, Dr. Binayak Sen – paediatrician and India’s human rights activist – is completing two years in jail. Lokayat participated in a protest march, organized by various group from Pune.

Alomst 150 people participated in a silent rally on 14 th May organized by Lokayat ,Medico Friend Circle ,Masum, NCASH & others, in order to protest the detention of Human Right Activist / Doctor Dr.Binayak Sen ,Who Devoted his entire life to serve the poor adivasis of chattisgarh .Binayak sen exposed the Fake encounters of Adivasis by Chattisgarh Police & an Inhuman movement called Salwajudum by which adivasis were forecfully handed the weapons to fight among each other.It is because of all this Binayak sen was arrested 2 years back on false charges and even bail is not granted to him yet.


The rally was organized to release of Binayak Sen . Rally started from Alka Talkies to Yogeshwari mandir at Appa balwant chowk where BJP office is situated. Few representatives from the people went to the BJP office and raised their demands of release of Binayak sen . It was a silent rally with people wearing a black ribbon around the mouth, symbolizing grief, anger and protest of the people. On the same day ,Many simultaneous protests were organized and held at other cities of India. Rally was ended by a Inspiring song by Kabir kala Manch & Lokayat activists .

Demands are:

Free Dr. Binayak Sen immediately !

Repeal all undemocratic and unconstitutional laws !

Stop harassment of human rights activists !

Disband Salwa Judum immediately !!

Stop displacement of the people in the name of development!!

It is important for us to join hands as Lokayat believe, let us not forget the poem by Pastor Niemoller:

First they came for the Communists,

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I did not speak out,

because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me,

and there was no one left

to speak out for me.


Pastor Martin Niemoller, Berlin, (1892–1984) was a German pastor who spent eight and a half years in a German concentration camp.

Reported by Prashant Nandi
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