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What really happened in Dhule?

A Citizens’ Fact Finding Committee alleges that timely police action could have prevented the incident from escalating out of control.
by Humra Quraishi

Former DGP of the Gujarat Police, RB Sreekumar once said, “Rioting cannot go beyond two hours without police connivance.” Why is it, then, that the police machinery takes days to control and settle communal clashes and riots?

A recent report put together by a group of the country’s well-respected activists on the recent rioting in Maharashtra’s Dhule sheds light on the events that actually transpired there. Says Ram Puniyani, former IIT Mumbai alumnus-turned-full time-activist, “Dhule has been in the news for the past 10 days. It has been reported in the media that a small altercation in Dhule led to an event leading to violence between Hindus and Muslims. As such, the deaths of six innocent youth and injuries to several more, and massive loss of properties, burning of houses has taken place.”

Others say that the worst part of the episode is that all this allegedly took place with the police force being present. Contrary to official reports, the people in the area stated that the behaviour of the police was very biased against the Muslim community. “In the light of these disturbing reports from local activists, we decided that a citizen fact-finding committee should visit the Dhule, to investigate and present the facts objectively,” says Ram.

The Citizens Fact Finding Committee comprises Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, ANHAD Delhi, Professor Ram Puniyani of the All India Secular Forum, Professor Apoorvanand of Delhi University, Advocate Nihalsing B Rathod of the Human Rights Law Network, Manan Trivedi, Dev Desai, Tanvi Soni and Arma from ANHAD, Gujarat and Azhar from Jalgaon. The Committee visited  Dhule on January 13 and 14, 2013.

The detailed report puts forward the Committee’s crucial findings. “ This violence could have been prevented had the police acted in time,” says the report. “While stone pelting was done by members of both the communities, police action was selective and directed against Muslims only. The police did not follow the prescribed protocol to control the mob. Police firing was excessive and was done with an intent to kill.

All bullets were fired above the knee, a majority of the bullets were fired above the waist, many of them in the chest, neck and face. All six deaths were because of police firing.     Majority of the victims of the police firing were left unattended by the police and were taken to hospitals by friends.”

Furthermore, the report says, “159 police personnel were taken to the hospital out of which only 18 were admitted is evident from the record of the civil hospital (attached with the report). All the injuries suffered by the police were minor in nature due to stone pelting… No relief camps were set up for those Muslims and Hindus who lost their houses (approximately 40 Muslim families and four Hindu families), no immediate relief was provided by the State. Some food grains were distributed by the Red Cross.  The victims were threatened when they tried to register FIRs and no FIRs were registered.’

(Picture courtesy dawn.com)

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Why children must be (cyber)smarties

Three Mumbaikars are teaching school children in the city and outside it to be safe and responsible on the Internet.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

Renuka Sharma (name changed) met a boy on Facebook and decided that she was in love with him. A few months later, the 16-year-old ran away from home to be with him. Fortunately for her, the boy, who did not know that she was a minor, did not take advantage of the girl; instead, he escorted her home and explained the entire situation to her distraught parents.

Most children are not as lucky. Drawn to social networking and gaming sites that also help them stay connected with their friends and strangers over chat windows, young children are increasingly falling prey to Internet predators, or being drawn into unsavoury bullying online. Often, unsure of how to deal with the situation, and afraid to talk to their parents for fear of censure or being misunderstood, they allow the problem to escalate out of hand.

All of this can be remedied by children knowing how to behave online. But who will teach them Internet etiquette, and what constitutes bad online behaviour?

Cybersmartie will.

Conceived in 2011 and set up in 2012 by three Mumbaikars – Shekhar Tripathi (24), Sayantan Sen (30) and Neha Doshi (37) – the company aims to educate children on responsible Internet behaviour, in an environment known to them (their school) and in a way that engages them. Speaking to The Metrognome, Neha (in pic on right) said, “The thing is, today’s children get access to the Internet at a really young age. Soon, they spend long hours online, signing up for Facebook or playing virtual reality games. There comes a stage when children find it difficult to differentiate between their real and virtual lives.”

The first problem area is cyber bullying, says Shekhar. “It starts off as a fun activity, with several children ganging up on one child. But it soon crosses acceptable limits of social behaviour. The interesting thing is, several children do not know that this is cyber bullying and that it is wrong,” he adds.

What Cybersmartie does is impart this knowledge in an interactive manner. “We hold workshops for four different topics – cyber bullying, digital responsibility – what to post and what not to post, sexting and online predators – and make them really interactive. We cite current examples when we speak to them; for instance, there is no point discussing what email is and what it means, because children today have email accounts only to sign in to Facebook. We talk about the technologies they use and address their online behaviour patterns, so that the workshop becomes relevant to them,” says Shekhar.

Why Cybersmartie?

Shekhar and Sayantan first decided to embark on this project after they accessed the latter’s nephew’s FB page in 2011. “There was a child with glasses who was being bullied online,” Shekhar remembers. “We saw that eight comments had been posted at 2 am. By the time we checked again at 8 am the next day, there were over 40 more comments, which meant the kids had been at it all night on a weekday. And the comments were mean and abusive.”

The two friends – they used to work together at at Pricewaterhouse Coopers – started researching this behaviour. “We learnt that it was called ‘cyber-bullying’ and that it could have far-reaching repercussions for the victim. We realised that nobody taught children about this, and there was no discussion on preventing it or dealing with it. Our schools, even our Government, does not have a policy on Internet bullying,” Shekhar (in pic on right) explains.

Neha came on board the project a bit later. “We met clinical psychologists, teachers and school principals to understand what schools needed. After researching and interacting with experts, we designed a curriculum for the workshops we would conduct,” Shekhar says. Their very first workshops happened at Lilavatibai Podar Senior Secondary School, Santacruz.

The workshops include a short video on cyber bullying, and the trio make sure to get the children to talk and share as much as possible. “They are very receptive and quick to share their experiences. However, when dealing with older kids, we engage in role playing and a quiz game-like scenario to first get them involved, then to get them to share,” says Neha.

Some problem areas

Most teachers are not even aware of their students’ Internet habits, says Neha, who is a teacher herself. “Which sites are the students accessing? When they say they are on Facebook, what are they doing on it? What is the communication like on Whatsapp? Teachers must be involved in these things, so as to be able to help a child who is being troubled by his peers or a predator,” she explains.

She adds that a lot of children operate multiple FB accounts, apart from posting such information about themselves that can be exploited by miscreants. “We teach them not to declare their holiday plans, or reveal their whereabouts all the time. If a child comes to us and tells us that he/she is facing a problem, and several children have already done so during the workshops, we take the problem to the school authorities so that it can be resolved.”

Shekhar adds, “We must update ourselves all the time, because cyber bullying may also change its form every three months. Besides, we must recognise and accept that children will be exposed to pornography and violence on the Internet, but that they should possess the knowledge to deal with bullies or tricksters.” He cites the example of a boy who befriended another ‘youngster’ – who was actually 30 years old – and soon began confiding everything to him on FB. “The man started blackmailing the child, and started extorting money from him. Finally, the child was forced to tell his mother when the man demanded Rs 20,000 from him. Children must be made aware that they should inform their parents or teachers at the first instance of such blackmail,” Shekhar says.

What they teach

The workshops deal with such topics as plagiarism and how to use others’ material for project work, how to use FB’s privacy settings, hacking, why passwords should not be shared and what to do when you’re being bullied, among other things. “We send a family ‘tip sheet’ after the workshops are over, for parents to look at. We have a module for teachers and schools too,” Shekhar says.

For more details on the Cybersmartie programme for school children, write to shekhar@cybersmartie.com or call at +91- 96193 22618.

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Relay fast continues at Azad Maidan

Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan continues despite no response from Government. Several slums and activists are united in the cause.
by National Alliance of People’s Movements

The Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan agitation entered its seventh day yesterday, with 30 representatives from various slums of Mumbai, who had been fasting for the last 24 hours, breaking their fast and the next 30 representatives beginning their fast in their place. People who observed the fast only drank water, but spoke passionately about the need to struggle against injustices happening to them in their bastis.

Ajay Palande, from Jogeshwari Indira Nagar, while breaking his fast, shouted the slogan “Bhooke pyaase ladenge, Andolan chalayenge.” Added Kantabehen from Chandiwali, “We are trapped in the cruel web of SRA-builders-duplicate notices-lack of basic amenities-fake allotments and have been fighting for the last 12 years. Now we won’t go anywhere, they (the Government) have to come to hear us.”

Two days ago, Rashi Azmi from the All India Milli Council, Anita Vyas from Ambujwadi, Sabrunnisa Saha from Adarsh Nagar, Lakhan Mandal from Mandala, Gauri from Malwani 8, Shamim Ansari, and 24 others from different slums and middle class localities were fasting for their land rights and right to dignified housing.

While there as been no response from the Government as yet, people are determined to continue their agitation. Letters of appeal are being drafted by the people and the supporters to take immediate decisions on the demands of the Andolan. Support from various organisations, senior activists and students is coming from all over the country, which has intensified the energy and increased the enthusiasm of Andolankaris here at Azad Maidan.

Surekha Dalvi, Indavi Tulpade, Rambhau Wadu from Adivasi Sangathan and Shoshit Jan Andolan, Byaneshwar Shedge and Gyanoba Bhikule from Mosekhore Bachao Jan Andolan (which is fighting Lavasa), and many others came to show their solidarity with the Andolan.

Read the story of Susheela, who has faced demolition of her home several times and who is part of this Andolan, here. 

(Picture courtesy unitedblackuntouchablesworldwide.blogspot.com)

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‘Don’t snatch our shelter’

A woman whose home has been demolished often, tells a story of constant battle with the authorities and endless devastation.
by Nidhi Qazi

Mankhurd: The year was 2004. Susheela Patel, a resident of Sathe Nagar, Mankhurd, lost her house. “Our slums were called illegal and one day, without any prior notice, they were demolished,” she said.

Ambedkar Ground: The year is 2013. The Ground was the starting point of a two-day road march which ended at Azad Maidan yesterday. The Ground bustled with the energetic sloganeering of more than a 100 protestors including slum dwellers, students and activists.

Susheela is high on energy too, as she continues to battle it out with the authorities who come, demolish homes, and go. The only difference is that this time, she is not alone. Susheela is part of a larger agitation called the ‘Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao’ Andolan (GBGB) under the aegis of the National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM).

Dressed in a sari, hair neatly plaited, the 40-something Susheela greets me with a smile, holds out her hand in an excited handshake and tells me her story with all the enthusiasm and grit of a seasoned activist. “In the last one decade, our houses have been demolished more than thrice. They (the demolitions) continue to devastate us. This is despite the repeated requests to give us notice,” she says. A part of the movement since 2004, Susheela has been there, seen that. “We are always under the fear of demolition. They (the authorities) don’t even bother to listen to us. They throw away our belongings, too.”

Susheela’s problem points to a bigger issue which the city is currently engulfed in: the State-builder nexus. Activists openly allege that Mumbai is one of the hubs of corruption perpetrated under the garb of infrastructure development projects. “The big players of this nexus include MHADA (Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority), MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority), Adarsh housing, Hiranandani group, developers in areas like Golibar, Sion-Koliwada. A number of irregularities happen in the name of slum eviction drives and slum rehabilitation projects,” a housing activist says.

The Andolan has started a renewed agitation called ‘Mumbai Ke Gareebon Ki Nayi Jung’ which began on Tuesday, the first day of this year. Susheela is one of the members at the front. “We not only want freedom from the ever-lurking fear of our houses getting demolished any time, we want the Rajeev Awas Yojana to be implemented,” she says. The scheme has already been approved from the Delhi government, but the Maharashtra government is still sitting on it, informs Susheela.

The Andolan has raised these issues along with other peoples’ organisations in Mumbai, and demanded Rajeev Awas Yojana (RAY) as self-development towards right to shelter. However, it is the builders-politicians nexus, with bureaucrats and police force to support, that is preventing RAY from being implemented.

The area near Mankhurd is home to a large number of rag pickers who earn their livelihood from the Shivaji Nagar dumping ground. Because of the everyday fear of slum eviction, people like Susheela, many a days have to miss work (rag picking) and thus their livelihood suffers. “Most of the people here are daily wage earners but are not able to earn a decent living thanks to these authorities,” she alleges. The livelihood problem apart, the children’s education suffers, too. “We have to start from scratch; from collecting material for a new house, to building it. In all this, our children suffer.”

She breaks away for a while to join small clusters of women to help them raise a voice. While everyone assembled there is equally angry and agitated, people like Susheela help them channelise their distress during protests like these. I watch as Susheela rushes to a group of volunteers, helping them with simple logistics such as microphone arrangement, banners and placards.

Moving away after helping others, she then barges into another cluster of people surrounding activist Medha Patkar. They both whisper to each other, and Susheela comes away.

She greets me again with the same enthusiasm and chats awhile before concluding, “We don’t want big buildings. We don’t want anything. But don’t snatch our shelter. Just assure us a simple, decent life which is free of fear.”

(Pictures courtesy Nidhi Qazi)

 

 

 

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CM wants mini Press Council for Maharashtra

Rising attacks and mounting pressure from journalists prompts CM to promise to push for Bill in the next Cabinet meeting.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Rising attacks on journalists in the State have got Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan promising a string of measures to protect journalists. Precipitated by a need to have a stringent law in place to ward off attacks on journalists, especially after the February 2012 attack on The Times of India building in Mumbai by the Shiv Sena, a Committee Against Attacks on Journalists had been set up to push for a law to protect journalists.

In a meeting with the Committee in Nagpur yesterday, where the State Legislature is currently in its Winter Session, Chavan assured the delegation that he would review and further discuss the need to implement a law that protected journalists in the State. “We will also look into the setting up of a body like The Press Council of India which is unique to Maharashtra, and which will look into the welfare of journalists in the State,” Chavan said during the meeting.

Members of the Committee had been sitting on an indefinite fast to have their demands met – the Committee has been increasingly frustrated by the State Government’s inaction in the matter. Chavan said, “No doubt there needs to exist a law that protects journalists from attacks. However, such a law and its implications need to be studied in great detail before it can be effectively implemented.”

In February this year, the CM promised to push for the Bill in the Cabinet, and appointed State Industries Minister Narayan Rane to the panel that would formulate the law. Interestingly, Rane was one of the ministers opposed to such a Bill in the first place.

Maharashtra has had quite a few examples of journalists clashing with politicians, builders and others, especially in the mofussil areas, where journalists are said to be targeted routinely. As per records of the last 10 years, 11 journalists have been murdered and six media organisations have been attacked, with a majority of these attacks perpetrated by political parties. From 2010 till date, there have been 212 attacks on journalists and media houses in Maharashtra.

 (Picture courtesy criticalppp.com)

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Expect cold nights this weekend

Weather bureau pegs expected minimum temperatures at 17 degree Celsius for Mumbai. No major departures in temperature, humidity are expected.

After hot days and nights last week, precipitated by warm Easterly winds, Mumbai is back to having some seriously cold nights and cool evenings. As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the city and its suburbs will have minimum temperatures of 17 Degree Celsius for at least the next two nights.

The IMD anticipates that “the temperatures will not fall further.” The current cold weather is seemingly a result of western disturbances, which are low pressure weather systems originating from Central Asia. Temperatures yesterday were as follows: Colaba, maximum: 30.6 degree Celsius, minimum: 21 degree Celsius; Santacruz: 32 degree Celsius, minimum: 17.8 degree Celsius.

Clear skies are expected over the weekend as well.

(Picture courtesy sacbee.com)

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