Sunday, March 30, 2014

A hope: a draft bill conferring right to protection against witch hunting has been prepared by the a committee under the Assam State Commission for Women

Case Details of File Number: 54/3/16/2012-WC
Diary Number 21504
Name of the Complainant SHIRIN SHABANA KHAN, MEMBER-SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Address MANAVADHIKAR JAN NIGRANI SAMITI, SA 4/2A, DAULATPUR, VARANASI , UTTAR PRADESH
Name of the Victim WOMEN BRANDED AS WITCHES
Address ASSAM, ASSAM , ASSAM
Place of Incident TEZPUR SONITPUR , ASSAM
Date of Incident 2/12/2012
Direction issued by the Commission
The Commission received a complaint dated 22.02.2012 from Shirin Shabana Khan forwarding a news paper report regarding the practice of women being labelled as "witches". It also mentions an incident dated 12.02.2012 which occurred in Tejpur in Sonitpur District where Lakshmi Gawl was branded, murdered and buried. The day before this incident, another tribal woman, aged 45, was burnt alive in Sonali in Shiv Sagar District also allegedly for practicing witchcraft. In response to the directions dated 17.07.2012 and a last reminder dated 05.06.2013, whereby the Joint Secretary, Political (A) Department, Govt. of Assam, Dispur was asked to submit a report on the steps taken to eradicate, the practice and provide speedy compensation and justice to the kith & kin of victims, the Commission has received a report dated 20.08.2013 from the Joint Secretary, Political (A) Department, Govt. of Assam, Dispur giving details of the steps taken by the State Government in association with the NGOs and Assam State Commission for Women to eradicate, control and create awareness on witch hunting in the State. It is also mentioned that a draft bill conferring right to protection against witch hunting has been prepared by the a committee under the Assam State Commission for Women, which is under consideration of the Government. The report is however silent on the question of compensation and justice to the kith and kin of the victims. The Commission vide its proceedings dated 20.09.2013 directed to issue a reminder to the Joint Secretary, Political (A) Department, Govt. of Assam, Dispur to submit a further report on the question of compensation and justice to the kith and kin of the victims named in the complaint. In response, the Joint Secretary, Political (A) Department, Govt. of Assam, Dispur vide letter dated 09.01.2014 has requested to grant additional two month time to submit the report. The time extension is hereby granted. Let the Joint Secretary, Political (A) Department, Govt. of Assam, Dispur be asked to submit the requite report at the earliest.
Action Taken Additional Information Called for (Dated 2/12/2014 )
Status on 3/31/2014 Response from concerned authority is awaited.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Indian activist: Narendra Modi and Arwind Kejriwal, as dangerous as "Hitler and Mussolini"


Indian activist: Narendra Modi and Arwind Kejriwal, as dangerous as "Hitler and Mussolini"

by Nirmala Carvalho
For Lenin Raghuvanshi, activist for development of Dalits , Modi (BJP Hindu nationalist party ) and Kejriwal (AAP, anti-corruption party) " are trying to destroy the pluralistic fabric of Varanasi from different political positions". The two leaders have chosen to run for election in city.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Proposed point by PVCHR for the election Manifesto for the political parties in India


We, Peoples Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)( an initiative of Jan Mitra Nyas) in India, desiring that State embodies the aspirations of the People, aver the need for greater efforts for promoting the sovereignty of the People through democratic values and structures based on nonviolence and justice.

 

We uphold social democracy and economic equity through sustainable development.

 

We advocate optimum and equitable utilization of resources for the benefit of the people, providing them adequate forum to influence and participate in decisions on natural resource use and management.

 

We reaffirm the inalienable right of the People of India to basic needs including food, clothing, shelter, health, education, social security and productive work as dignity of labour.

 

Democracy

 

We cherish and uphold the Rule of Law, sovereignty of the people, a system of governance that ensures devolution of power, People's right to self-rule and control over natural resources.

 

We advocate full independence of the judiciary, adhering to internationally recognized values and principles. People beneficial law making process has to be participatory, representative and fully transparent.

 

We believe that People have sovereign rights to take decisions on matters concerning their lives, and urge periodic review of all international commitments and national laws to enable people to exercise sovereignty.

 

We maintain that governance improvements have to begin and end with the People and that their empowerment can result only when power is devolved through effective structural changes in character of Shraman Culture[i] (culture of inclusiveness) based on justice, nonviolence and rule of law.

 

We also maintain that existing social, economic and political imbalances hinder nation- state building and that the legislature, executive and the judiciary must be fully accountable to the People.

 

We uphold the information right to people through participation in decision-making and governance.

 

To organize a non-violence force in against and oppose the attempt of the Saffron brigade to saffronise the rainbow culture of the country. We strongly support the pluralism of our Nation and are determined not to allow anyone to destroy the pluralistic atmosphere of the country.

 

Fight State and non-state actors' suppression on the right to expression with democratic mind-set to put them right.

 

Equal, Secular, Free Compulsory elementary education is the responsibility of the government and the gimmicks with education should be stopped.

 

Struggle to enact the anti- torture legislation and to ratify the UN convention against torture by India.

 

Discrimination

 

We affirm that discrimination based on gender, caste, creed, religion, ethnicity and disability is a major obstacle to meaningful participation of People in political, economic and social field.

 

We call for patriarchy-free secular India, and support the individual's right to self-determination and development and uphold their duty to national integration.

 

Demand laws and their enforcement in regard to bonded labour,child labor , sexual harassment, discrimination based on caste & gender and attack on minority.

 

We resolve for an immediate and effective end to untouchability, the worst form of discrimination and demand interventions as follows to take in politics:

 

  • Programs for the uplift of the Dalits and mechanisms to empower them for defend their rights. 
     
  • Reservations(affirmative action), in public as well as the private sector, to ensure participation of all at all levels starting from primary schooling and across all spheres of life.
  • Reservations to enable at least 33% representation of women in all spheres of private and public life.
     
  • Discrimination to be considered a real life problem.
  • Review of existing laws and modifications to incorporate the implementation of international instruments. http://annihilatecaste.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/SCST_PoA_Act_20_years_report_card-on-PoA-Act.pdf
     
  • To implement the recommendation of report of Sachchar' Committee and Justice Rangnath Mishra on Muslim minority, which is going to benefit to lower caste Muslim. 

 

  • Community based planning according to their need based on anthropological development.

 


Food sovereignty

 

We believe the right to food is a fundamental right and must be assured through guarantees to equality in work, justice, uniform minimum wages and land reform.

 

We advocate that all aid and trade agreements and legal instruments be subject to public scrutiny to ensure their transparency and accountability.

Demand National law for landless agricultural laborers and domestic workers as skill workers.

 

Ensure purchase of weavers and farmers produce while the 'Public distribution System' prices should be brought at half of present process.

 

Provide homes to the homeless and provide shelter to the homeless in urban areas.

 

Rule of law:

 

The human rights situation in Indian states the PVCHR noted that increasing police power coupled with flourishing feudal social structure in Uttar Pradesh, a vast majority is oppressed on various grounds such as class, caste and gender. Gap is widening between people and police who lacks accountability as a result the victims of police harassment and torture do not get justice.

 

Police accountability mechanism should be developed and strengthened in order to establish the rule of law.

 

The absence of proper police accountability promotes crime incidents, communal riots and contributes to public sense of insecurity. Accountability based policing system can put a check on the institutional discrimination.

 

There should be defined provisions for reparation. Compensation is hardly paid to victims of police accesses. Because nobody is paid and no one pays and therefore police feels free to act in an undemocratic manner. It is therefore required that a compensatory mechanism should be evolved with international standards under which victims of police atrocities and communal onslaughts can be rehabilitated in a place of his or her choice with same economic standards.

 

Police should be sensitized to respect diverse cultures, traditions and religions. Police personnel should be given on-job training for this purpose and they should also be sensitized towards the culture of human rights.More often police action in any incident is found to be one sided. There is a need to clearly identify the aggressor and the aggrieved. No attempt should be made to target a person belonging to a particular religious community specially the Muslim minority without credible evidences. Indian Police have pre-conceived notions about the Muslims, for instance the notion that Muslim is one such community that is always involved in instigating riots and so on. This mentality provides the space and opportunity to the lower level police officials to act arbitrarily. Such tendency and practice gets further encouragement due to negligence shown by the senior level officers.

 

For an independent and unbiased functioning of the police, it is highly essential that people from all communities, faith and religion should be recruited in the force. Steps should be taken to develop spirit of secularism among police personnel. A secular police force is crucial for a country which is diverse in culture. Some lessons can be drawn from developed western nations.

 

Police administration should strictly follow the reformatory steps suggested by various police reform commissions from time to time and the guidelines provided by the Supreme Court of India. Indian police structure is the by-product of British colonial model which needs transformation.

 

 Cases related to death in police custody and death in encounter against the concerned police officials should be registered and investigated in the same manner as it is done in cases related to ordinary citizens who attempt to kill or who has killed someone in self defense. In addition, the responsibility to investigate cases related to death in police custody should be entrusted to an independent and impartial agency.

 

Court proceedings are a lengthy process which takes many years to ensure justice for the victim. Legal provisions with regards to police custody during the trial period should be clearly defined. Judicial magistrates or judges should be held responsible for not following the due process of law or ignoring the legal process.

 

Police complaint committees should be officially formed at the district levels which should function as per the guidelines suggested by the police commissions from time to time.

 

In mostly states of India, police administration there is a common practice of giving out of turn promotions to police officials on the basis of their work performance, this practice should be immediately stopped. The practice has contributed to the culture of false police encounters.

 

Grievance Redressal Mechanism of State Human Rights Commission should be further strengthened. There should be an impartial body with sufficient man power to investigate the cases of human rights violations.

 

In cases related to police torture, use of Right to Information Act should be promoted.

 

Supreme Court of India’s guidelines with regard to bail procedure should be strictly followed. This can help in proving speedy justice to the cases related to arrest and disappearance. This will also help minimize the cases of human rights violations.

 

In general there is a practice when some people are arrested on the basis of mere suspicion; they are presented before the media during press briefings of senior police officials as a mark of good work by the police. Photographs of such accused are immediately published by the media. But when they are declared innocent and freed, they generally do not figure in media reports. This practice should be immediately stopped.

 

People should not expect police to achieve more than they can do as per their capabilities. This tendency compels police administration to use illegal methods and practices to achieve desired results.

 

Repeal the UAPA[ii] immediately.

 

In sum, PVCHR noted that increasing incidences of human rights violations are a matter of serious concern for Indian society and democracy as a whole. There is a need to reform the functioning of police and improve its image so that faith of the victims and people can be re-established on the justice system in the country.

___________________________________________________________________________

Contact: PVCHR,SA 4/2 A, Daulatpur,Varanasi-221002,India

Mobile:+91-9935599333  email:pvchr.india@gmail.com

 

 

Saturday, March 8, 2014

[Ayar Village, India] November 12, 2013 The life of Musahar children

http://www.pvchrimages.blogspot.in/2014/03/ayar-village-india-november-12-2013.html



Post by PVCHR.

Monday, March 3, 2014

‎Campaign against culture of Rape


Post by PVCHR.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

a petition against culture of Rape in India. Intervention on the Judiciary, Health and Women and Child development




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pvchr
Date: Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 9:30 PM
Subject: a petition against culture of Rape in India. Intervention on the Judiciary, Health and Women and Child development
To: jrlawnhrc@hub.nic.in, covdnhrc@nic.in
Cc: Lenin Raghuvanshi


To, 
The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
New Delhi

Dear Sir, 

I want to bring in your kind attentions towards the episode of Satyamev Jayte broadcast today on 2 March, 2014 on the dreadful issue Rape in star plus and DD National. http://www.satyamevjayate.in/fighting-rape.aspx

Our organization PVCHR contributed in the show through many cases and on behalf of PVCHR Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi, Managing Trustee and Ms. Shirin Shabana Khan, Program Director participated in that show. 

Already we  (Lenin Raghuvanshi on behalf of PVCHR and Ms. Shruti Nagvanshi on behalf of Savitri Bai Phule Women Forum) submitted our comment to Justice Verma on the issue of Rape. http://feministsindia.com/women-and-law/justice-verma-submissions/pvchr/

Before that Human Rights Watch came up with the report on child sexual abuse " Breaking the Silence"  highlighted many cases with recommendatiohttp://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/india0113ForUpload.pdf 

Therefore it is a kind request please direct Ministry of Home, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Women and Child Development to take immediate action on the recommendations of Satyamev Jayte and recommendation of human rights watch. 

Thanking You
Sincerely Yours
Lenin Raghuvanshi
Secretary General 
People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights 
Sa 4/2 A Daulatpur, Varanasi