JULY 29-PUBLIC RALLY AND MEETING IN SUPPORT OF WOMEN RESERVATION BILL

Dear All,

More than 30 organisations met in Delhi on July1, 6, 14 & 21 to discuss the strategy to pressurize the UPA to place and pass the Women Reservation Bill in the Parliament. It is becoming clear with everyday that the UPA is dragging its feet on the WRB. Unless we are able to exert a lot of pressure it will again go in cold storage. It was due to the 14 years of struggle by various women’s movements from across India that the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9th. We must not allow it to lapse.

The meeting held on July 14 decided that a demonstration will be organised at the Parliament Street on July 29, 2010 from 11am to 2pm. People will gather at 10.30am at Jantar Mantar, march to Parliament Street where from 12 noon to 2pm a public meeting will be organised.

There would a three hour long program comprising of speeches and cultural programme in support of the Women Reservation Bill. A memorandum will be submitted to the President, PM and UPA chairperson.

Confirmed speakers include: Annie Raja, Javed Akhtar, Sharmila Tagore, Aruna Roy, D Raja and many women social activists.

I am writing to you with the request to:

1. Endorse the campaign by sending the name of your organisation/ or individually if you do not belong to any civil society organisation.

2. Participate in the programme and mobilise others from Delhi.

3. If you are from outside Delhi sponsor at least two people from your organisation to participate in the rally. For adjoining states please come in large numbers and not only two each.

4. Delhi arrangements for the programme are being made by the local core group. Expenditure incurred on travel and stay by outstation participants has to be borne by their respective organisations.

5. We are designing umbrellas which will have names of endorsees from different cities. These will be carried at the demonstration by participants. So please send us names of participant from your organization/ college/ university/ department and also send us names to be printed on the umbrella from your city who have endorsed the Bill . We will reserve the umbrellas for participants whose names are confirmed by July 27th.

The programme is being organised under the banner of Alliance for 33%. The following organizations have already endorsed the programme:

ADIVASI MAHILA JAGRUTI SANGATHAN, ADIVASI VIKAS MANCH, AIDMAM, AIDWA, AIPWA, AJMER ADULT EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, AKSHARA, ALWAR MEWAT SHIKSHA VIKAS SANSTHAN, ANANDI, ANHAD, ANHAD MEDIA, ASTHA, BAL VA MAHILA CHETNA SAMITI, BHARTIYA VIDYA PEETH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH, BGVS,BURMESE WOMEN DELHI, CENTRE FOR ADVOCACY & RESEARCH, CENTRE FOR SOCIAL REASEARCH, CFAR, DARSHAN SAMITI, DELHI FORUM, DEVGADH MAHILA SANGATHAN, DISHARI MAHILA SAMITI, EKAL NAARI SHAKTI SANGATHAN, HRLN, ICW, GANA UNNAYAN PARISHAD, GANDHI SMRITI, GRAMYA RESOURCE CENTRE FOR WOMEN, IGSSS, JAGORI, JANVIKAS, JOINT WOMEN'S PROGRAMME, LAMP, MAHILA JAN ADHIKAR SAMITI, MAHILA PANCH SARPANCH SANGATHAN(RAJASTHAN), MAHILA SWARAJ MANCH, MALIYA MAHILA SHAKTI SANGTHAN, NATIONAL FORUM FOR SINGLE WOMEN’S RIGHTS, NAYEE PAHAL, NFIW, NISHTHA, OXFAM INDIA, PANAM MAHILA SANGATHAN, PRAYAS, PUCL, PWESCR, RAJSAMAND MAHILA MANCH, RIGHT TO FOOD, SADED, SAHRWARU,SANGAT, SANDARBH, SANLAAP, STREE ADHIKAR SANGATHAN, THE HUNGER PROJECT, URJAGHAR, WAR WIDOWS ASSOCIATION, WOMEN FEATURE SERVICES,WOMEN POWER CONNECT,YWCA

Please urgently send your endorsement. If you have already done so and your name is missing let us know too.

Shabnam Hashmi                                                                                   

ANHAD,                                                       

3, Canning Lane                                                                                         
New Delhi-110001
Tel- 23070740/ 22

Alliance for 33% Secretariat

ANHAD YWCA, 10 Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001
3, Canning Lane Tel: 23361561 / 23361662

                                          

Death of a journalist

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/07/3627 

The death of freelance journalist Hemchandra Pandey in an alleged fake encounter has triggered outrage among many journalists and human rights activists all over the country, even at the level of UNESCO and International Federation of Journalists. Shamefully, the national dailies he used to write for continue to disown him.

The memory of freelance journalist Hemchandra Pandey, widely perceived to have been killed in a fake encounter by the police in Andhra Pradesh on July 2, is still raw. In that backdrop, Journalists for People organised an open discussion on the 'Role of Journalists in Undeclared Emergency' at Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi on July 20, 2010. Several senior writers and young female and male journalists participated in the 'conversation'.

Consulting Editor of Economic and Political Weekly, Gautam Navalakha, said that the death of Pandey was not an isolated incident. Several youngsters have been killed in Kashmir in just the last two months. "Reporters face lot of pressure since the ruling class tries to suppress or buy off media houses. The editors also tend to kill genuine stories out of fear," he said.  "Reporters must learn to deal with this by not letting their pen become a pawn at the hands of others," he added. "We must take a stand now and speak up because those killed were in favour of peace."

He was also referring to the death of Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, top leader of the banned CPI (Maoist), who was part of the peace process between the state and Maoists initiated by Swami Agnivesh, and was killed alongside Pandey, when the latter had reportedly gone to interview him. There is widespread opinion that he let his guard down due to the invitation for peace talks and hence was caught and killed - that it was a fake encounter.

"This is indeed a state of undeclared emergency, where levels of democracy has stooped so low that anyone can get arrested for raising their voice," said Suresh Nautiyal of the Uttarakhand Journalists Forum. "Why Hemchandra, anyone of us can be shot dead. It is conformism which is ruling the roost. In this generation, most journalists try to avoid leg-work themselves and willingly settle for low-standard, convenient reporting while views expressed by correspondents from small-scale publications have lesser reach and are taken lightly. However, they are often the only truth being told."

"In such a scenario, communicating the right information to the larger public is even more important so that correct opinion can be mobilised. Pandey's killing symbolises a much larger struggle," he stressed.

Poet Neelabh agreed that the rich and the powerful do not care about public welfare as they are the ones who also loot the country, snatching natural resources from adivasis and tribals. Yeh goliyan baantne vaali sarkar hai, kheer baantne vaali nahin (This government distributes bullets, not sweet dishes). "Therefore alternative media, as opposed to corporate-driven media, is most crucial at this juncture as one can hope to get the right information only through them," he said.

He said there should no illusion that they are powerful, and most writers chose to keep silent when the idea of dissent was clubbed as a crime in alignment with Maoists. All dissent is being dubbed as Maoist, so why are writers silent on this. "This is like the witch-hunt in the US during the Cold War," he said.

Poonam Pandey from Navbharat Times said that journalists should deal with the duality within themselves first and become true journalists rather than employees, who mechanically follow orders from bosses. She said there is an "undeclared emergency" inside the heart and minds of journalists, and they seem to be unable to break this ossified realm of internal and external censorship in reporting and writing.

Swami Agnivesh, also an advocate of the peace process between the Maoists and the State, said that if one has to speak the truth then one should be ready to pay the price for it. "In a state of undeclared emergency in the country, we cannot afford to be fearful or discouraged. If reporters really want to speak the truth, there are so many new ways in which they can reach out to people, for instance, using modern technology, through websites, use of mobile phones, SMSes etc. Besides, they should be prepared to pay the price for telling the truth and not compromising."

It has been more than two weeks since Pandey was killed, why haven't reporters written about it? Where is investigative journalism? Why didn't journalists go to the spot at Adilabad and investigate about the killing?" he questioned.

He said that there are too many zigzags, so there is no straight line, and there are too many contradictions within the ruling structure, more than we can imagine. Hence a new strategy should be defined.

 "A story should be objectively reported and should be pluralistic in coverage so that all aspects of truth get fairly represented. But today, reporting is driven by corporate clubs, one-dimensional police versions and jingoistic patriotism that have no notion of ethics, restrain, fairness or sensitivity," said Amit Sengupta, Executive Editor, Hardnews magazine. "Being stupid, inefficient, lazy and mediocre does not make a journalist more patriotic or successful," he said.

"There are so many peaceful, indigenous non-Maoist struggles in our country (Kalinganagar, Niyamgiri etc), there is intense repression out there, so why are we not reporting about these conflict zones," he said. "The Batla House encounter is widely perceived to be a fake encounter, so why did everyone buy the police version only with no other angles explored? Why did we blindly blame the Muslims when the Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad, Ajmer Sharif, Samjhauta Express and Malegaon blasts happened - whereby Hemant Karkare's leads are all now taking the investigations towards Hindutva terror groups with RSS links?"

"Being corrupt as reporters and lobbying for corporates is not my idea of patriotism and nationalism, while posing the right question at the right time probably is," he added.

Senior journalist Anand Swaroop Verma made a plea to join forces and not to succumb to any form of repression or censorship. Academic and journalist Bhupen cajoled everyone to rethink their priorities and push for an alternative mainstream which stands for truth and public interest journalism.

UNESCO and International Federation of Journalists, among several civil society groups have criticized the killing of Pandey and asked for an enquiry. The meeting resolved to hold a commemorative memorial lecture in memory of Pandey every year, and not to let his memory die. His murder is not acceptable and journalists will not be cowed down by the State, it was resolved. Truth must be reported, and not through the prism of fear or compromise. Writers and journalists should have the freedom to think different, to experiment with ideologies, and the right to resist and creative dissent.

It was also decided to pass a resolution strongly criticizing three Hindi dailies which brazenly lied to the media and public that Pandey never wrote for them - though his clippings stand as evidence. Indeed, there was much angst and anger at the Hindi dailies, especially against one particular editor, who promptly held a press conference to disown Pandey. "Shameful," said most speakers at the meet.

Pass 33% Women Reservation Bill NOW!- please sign the online petition, and circulate it

The Petition

WE – the women and men of India from various organizations, working for the rights of women irrespective of caste, class and religion – demand that the Women’s Reservation Bill, mandating 33 per cent reservations for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, be passed in the Lok Sabha without delay. The passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha has been a significant step. However the Bill cannot become the law of the land unless it is passed in the Lok Sabha and endorsed by at least 15 state assemblies.

Ensuring reservations for women in the panchayats and urban local bodies has facilitated the entry of millions of women across the spectrum into the public arena. Today, women from all castes, classes, religions and regions are actively discharging their responsibilities as sarpanchs, panchayat members, zilla parishad chairpersons, block development officers, mayors and in innumerable other capacities in different states of India. These women have faced tremendous hurdles in their bid to participate in elections and assume leadership positions. Today they have emerged triumphant and are role models for their community and country. While their presence has great symbolic value, these women have also been able to bring to the fore many important social and gender concerns and agendas. This positive example needs to be strengthened and replicated at all levels.

Women’s representation in Parliament is vital on grounds of social justice and for the legitimacy of the political system. Like class and caste, gender is a social-political-economic category, with the three aspects intersecting seamlessly. Empirical evidence demonstrates that ‘women’ as a category have been subjugated over the years, accorded a lower status and deprived by society in every manner possible.

We believe the argument that the Bill discriminates against Dalits and OBCs is misleading. As far as the representation of Dalit women is concerned, the Bill provides for 33 per cent seats for women in the existing 22.5 per cent SC/ST quota.

With regard to the representation of OBC women, it needs to be understood that even without the aid of reservations, OBC representation in the state assemblies and Parliament has increased significantly, especially after the Mandal Commission’s recommendation came into force. In the present Lok Sabha, 30 per cent of the 50 women MPs - 15 in all - belong to the OBC category. It needs to be reiterated here that in constituencies where a male OBC candidate can win, so too can a female OBC candidate. Therefore, the Women’s Reservation Bill will not see a decline in OBC representation with Parliament or the state assemblies, it will merely ensure a larger number of women among the OBC members.

While the gross under-representation of Muslims in Parliament and state assemblies – both men and women -- needs redressal , this can hardly be resolved within the ambit of the Women’s Reservation Bill. The Ranganath Mishra Commission recommendations have emphasized the need for minority reservation in education and employment, and we would strongly recommend the immediate provision of 10 per cent reservation in educational institutions and in jobs for Muslims belonging to the backward classes.

As women we stand in solidarity with Dalits, OBC communities, Tribals, Muslims and with all secular forces in the fight for the advancement of all communities. We also stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all the women in the country for the advancement of their rights.

We call upon all political parties in Parliament to come together and ensure the smooth passage of the 33% Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha without delay. We appeal to all progressive forces to strongly and vocally support the cause of women’s rights and equality in India. Please sign this petition and circulate it widely.

More than 30 organisations met in Delhi on July 14 2010 to discuss the future course of action regarding the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill. It was decided that a demonstration will be organised at the Parliament Street on July 29, 2010 from 11am to 2pm. People will gather at 10.30am at Jantar Mantar and then march to Parliament Street. From 12 noon onwards, there would be a two-hour programme comprising speeches, performances by cultural groups etc in support of the Bill.

ATTEND IN LARGE NUMBERS!

JOIN 'ALLIANCE FOR 33%' TO GET WRB PASSED NOW!

Start another Caravan

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/07/3619

Fifty-five women from 12 states left home for 20 days to hit the streets through 20,000km in this scorching heat, across 60 towns, to push the Women's Reservation Bill

Shaweta Anand Aligarh

Twelve Innovas were transformed into railway coaches of 'Reservation Express' that whistled through three routes by road, covering a gigantic distance of over 20,000km through the north-west, north-east and southern parts of India. The campaign was flagged off by, among others, 84-year-old Qamar Azad Hashmi, one of the oldest activists supporting the cause, on May 20 from Jhansi - land of the legendary queen of Jhansi, Jhansi ki rani.

The campaign culminated on June 6 at Delhi's Constitution Club where the karwans (caravans) converged with women activists from across the country celebrating a massive spectacle of dance, music and spirited slogans. They communicated their experiences to a happy Congress president Sonia Gandhi the next day, who backed this protracted struggle. Activists handed over 10,000 signed postcards to her backing the Women's Reservation Bill.

"Each karwan had several Muslim and Dalit women who campaigned tirelessly for promoting 33 per cent reservation for all women, irrespective of their caste, class, religion and ethnicity," Shabnam Hashmi of Anhad told Hardnews. Hashmi is the brain behind this national-level campaign. The campaign generated support from 200 rights-based organisations, feminists, intellectuals, activists and students across the Indian landscape.

Said Sultana Sheikh, stoic survivor of the Gujarat carnage of 2002, "Drunk Hindu fanatics put a sword through my raped body to see if I was dead or alive before leaving me at the river bank. My infant child kept howling while I was tortured. What could he do? What could I do? There was no one to stop them. This happened when we were trying to escape after hundreds of armed men smashed, maimed and burnt members of our families in front of our eyes."

"That is why I am a part of this campaign so that I can talk to women about their rights, especially their political rights. By getting the Women's Reservation Bill passed, we will be able to activate women power in this country and protect our rights in a violent, male-dominated world," she said.

Sheikh was part of the karwan that covered 'route number two'. They traveled to Jabalpur, Raipur, Balangir, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Madurai, Cochin, Calicut, Bangalore, Anantapur and Hyderabad before converging with other karwan members in Delhi two weeks later. It was led by Sania Hashmi, a documentary filmmaker, and activist Manisha Trivedi.

Also on the same route was Mohini Jatav, a Dalit activist from Jaipur, Rajasthan. Her husband's legs were mutilated by Gujjar panchayat members as punishment because he refused to work for them. His legs had to be amputated to save his life. "I am here so that I can travel far and wide while connecting with more women like me; so that we can heal our wounds together and fight for our right for representation in politics," said Jatav.

"I appeal to every women of every village to join us in demanding passage of this law. Why is it that I still haven't got justice even though I have been running around in courts for 15 years? If more women were in power, they would have ensured women like me got timely justice," roared Bhanwari Devi.

Bhanwari was a sathin (companion) working for the Women's Development Programme of the government of Rajasthan in Bhateri in 1992 when she was gang-raped. She was punished for trying to stop the marriage of a nine-month-old girl who belonged to an influential upper-caste family. Shockingly, the court ruled in 1995 that upper-caste men can't rape a dalit woman. The rapists were publicly felicitated in this feudal, male-dominated state.

A Jaipur-based NGO called Vishakha took up her case that led to the historic Vishakha judgement by the Supreme Court. The court, for the first time, set guidelines of behaviour with women in public spaces, acknowledging that women can be sexually harassed in workplaces and outside.

Haseena Bano, Rubina Bano and Jawahira Rashid, all of 15 years, were the youngest campaigners. They traveled from a remote place called Tangdar in Kashmir to north-east India on 'route three'. "It has given us so much confidence," they echoed in chorus. "Every karwan had women from Kashmir. This was a chance of a lifetime for them as they mingled with people they can relate with all over India. It worked wonders for their self-esteem and it shows - some girls went without the traditional veil," said Seema Duhan, leader of this karwan.

At Aligarh, eminent historians Irfan Habib, Shireen Moosvi and Dr Namita Singh from Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), endorsed the demand. "Although we got good response from most people, but a Muslim man mocked me in Aligarh. He said I can't be a genuine Muslim woman since I had stepped out of the four walls of home and was talking to ordinary women about their political rights," said Rashida Ansari, a survivor of the Gujarat carnage, 2002. "I asked him, which aayat (verse) of Quran says that women can't get out of home, do politics and run the country? He stared back, speechless," she told Hardnews.

"I want to see the killers of my sister punished," said Musarrat Jahan, sister of Ishrat Jahan, killed by Narendra Modi's top cops in Gujarat. "I am traveling with this karwan to tell more and more women about how they can change the face of this country. Had there been more women in power today, my sister's death would have been avenged and many more such deaths - prevented."

Ishrat Jahan was kidnapped from Mumbai in 2004 and reportedly killed in a fake encounter, charged with plotting to kill Modi. "When we got the news of Ishrat's death, we didn't even understand what an encounter meant or who Modi was," said Shamima Kauser, Musarrat's mother. "If there were more women in positions of power, there would be less assaults on women in society," she said.

Activists on 'route number three' travelled to Rewa, Daltonganj, Ranchi, Kolkata, Behrampur, Balurghat, Shillong, Guwahati, Siliguri, Katikar, Patna, Varanasi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Aligarh and back to Delhi.

Social workers Anandi and Eashwari from Tamil Nadu traveled on 'route number one' that covered north-west India. "As for Dalit women, they will get 33 per cent reservation out of the existing 22.5 per cent SC/ST quota. For Muslims, men and women need the quota since both are grossly under-represented in legislatures; but that is a separate fight which cannot be fought within the ambit of the bill," explained Anandi.

'Route number one' destinations included Bhopal, Indore, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Jaipur, Hissar, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Mandi, Bilaspur, Shimla, Solan, Dehradun, Meerut and, finally, Delhi. It was led by dogged activist Mansi Sharma of Anhad. "Out of the 543 seats in Parliament, why do we still have only 59 women representatives?" asked Philomena John of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).

At Lucknow, the old, patriarchal city of nawabs, a huge solidarity gathering of social activists, writers, educationists and journalists welcomed the 'Reservation Express' on June 4. Shabnam Hashmi said she was provoked to start the campaign by the acidic comments of Shia cleric Kalbe Jawad of Lucknow that Muslim women should 'produce' good leaders instead of becoming leaders themselves. She said Muslim women don't want a broker like Kalbe Jawad between them and God.

Roop Rekha Verma, former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University, was sure that hurdles created by religious lobbies will only strengthen the movement. She was sharply critical of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who said modern women MPs will face the whistles of young politicians. "Such leaders happily admit the corrupt and criminals in their party, but would still oppose women's rights," she said, in a voice loaded with sarcasm. Progressive writer Shakil Siddiqui said reservation was not a solution, and yet, this campaign would raise awareness about women's rights. So why are they creating obstacles, asked Urdu writer Sabiha Anwar and theatre personality Mridula Bharadwaj.

For many women in the yatra, India came as revelation. Most tribal women had no information about the bill, or their fundamental rights, pointed out Kummo Devi from Himachal Pradesh. Sukhbir Kaur from Punjab discovered that most women had no job cards. "I was shocked to see so much poverty in our villages," she said.

It was a synthesis of human solidarity, aesthetics and politics. Poems of great progressive legends like Jan Nisar Akhtar and Kaifi Azmi were recited, songs were sung, songs and slogans of beauty, humanity, change and revolution; women and girls hugged and laughed, all prepared to reaffirm life, and fight till the last. This body language spoke of emancipation.

After a strong public response at Guwahati, the 20-member 'Reservation Express' made a brief sojourn at Shillong, capital of 'matrilineal" Meghalaya, to garner support. The programme held at Asom Kristi Kendra in early June was organised by the North East Network (NEN) along with Lympung Ki Seng Kynthei and YWCA. Said Meghalaya's education minister and lone woman legislator Ampareen Lyngdoh, "Women must be empowered, educated and enlightened on the nuances of parliamentary democracy and electoral politics."

"There is tremendous response. It is a misnomer that people are opposing the bill," said Seema Duhan. So will they meet politicians who are opposing the bill? "There is no point in reacting to chauvinistic statements which do not have content," she shot back.

A panel discussion on 'Women's Reservation: Are we ready for it?' was held at Shillong College. Activist Angela Rangad asked if there would be "real emancipation" of women if the bill is passed. There is no guarantee that if a woman is elected she won't be as corrupt as her male counterparts. "This is the narrative of repression, from Catherine the Great to Margaret Thatcher who dismantled the 'welfare state'. Indira Gandhi was responsible for the infamous Emergency," she said. "Women should be more concerned with what programmes the elected women would take up for their benefit. Besides, what are the 53 women MPs doing to push women's issues?"

Dr Pascal Malngiang of the department of political science, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), narrated the historical struggle for reservation. The Nairobi Conference in 1985 proposed 35 per cent reservation for women in all elections across the world. Scandinavian countries like Norway, Finland and Sweden have the maximum number of women representatives. "Two-thirds of the world's work force is women. They earn only 10 per cent of the world's income," he said. Indeed, the matrilineal system in Meghalaya does not ensure space for women in the political system.

Prof V Pakyntein of the department of anthropology, NEHU, said she was wary of the money and muscle power used by male candidates to win elections. "Hence, women must come out of the closet and fight elections," she said.

Come out of the closet. That is the key. Open the windows of emancipation. Seek power, forever denied. Seek equality and justice, forever shut out. Change the gender equations. Fly with the wings of aspirations. Make this world humane, better, worthwhile - for all. Eliminate poverty, exploitation and hunger. Said Mansi Sharma, "Women want to reserve their historic place in our fragmented, unequal democracy. They want to find their collective identity and power. This world must change. The Women's Reservation Bill must be passed. This is just another starting point."

With Pradeep Kapoor in Lucknow and Andrew Lyngdoh in Shillong

JULY 2010

Walk the Talk with SN Goenka

ttp://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=149260&from=homePageWatch
In this episode of Walk the Talk, Shekhar Gupta talks to Satya Narayan Goenka, Principal Teacher of Vipassana - a meditative technique of self-observation.

Frog Couple

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/07/3611

There are all kinds of rain-spells Indians are known to cast. From worshipping frogs, to marrying off donkeys, we have done it all

Shaweta Anand Delhi

The groom leaps towards the centre of the ground and stands there, smiling a toothless smile. The timid bride hops to a spot close to him and waits patiently for him to garland her first. She looks stunning in her red outfit while the groom looks handsome in his own way. Hundreds gather around them in a Maharashtra village to celebrate as this frog couple takes wedding vows.

This was an attempt to appease the raingods when the monsoon was delayed. Simultaneously, perhaps, another frog-wedding took place between in Assam this year: Baruna weds Bijuli. RSVP: Near and Dear.This year and last, myths and rituals to appease miscellaneous raingods have stalked the parched landscape. In Bangalore, a group of people gathered in a temple and married off two donkeys - Ganga and Varuna. Here, however, the bride was made to wear a green saree instead of a red one. There were invitation cards, a traditional band providing a musical background, sumptuous food, fresh flowers to shower on the newly-wed couple.

Animal wedding rituals aside, in Bihar's Banke Bazaar town and places like UP's Gorakhpur, a 'nudity spell' is cast sometimes to obliterate the rueful impact of a drought. Young women march naked while chanting ancient hymns after dusk, dragging ploughs in their fields to 'embarrass' the raingods into giving them abundant rainfall. Men are not allowed to watch as that may ruin the spell.

In another ritual, a young girl wearing a dress of knitted vines and branches dances through the village, stopping at every house till the host pours water over her, drenching her completely. The ritual probably symbolises the act of 'giving' water, hoping that the raingods would follow suit. Locals also sing and dance to the popular folksong sung for raingod Indra, Haali-huli barshun Inder devata, with full devotion to please the raingod Indra.

In Hindu mythology, there is mention of a fight between Indra and Vitra, a dragon - the god of drought. As legend has it, Vitra gulped water and sat on a mountain top, causing drought on earth. This angered Indra, who fought him with thunder and lightning, releasing abundant rain for cheering people down below. With 250 hymns dedicated to Indra in the Rigveda, it is no surprise that he is worshipped in many parts of north India to bring in the monsoons.

In the Hindi heartland, as in Kanpur, pandits do yagnas and pujas to please the raingods. In Banaras, people worship another raingod, Dalbhyeswara, and keep him well-dressed so that they would be blessed with good rains. In Muzaffarpur, Indra is worshipped and stories about him are read out. The poor are given alms in his name or a buffalo is set free, hoping something would click with the raingod.

In Mirzapur, river Karsa is believed to be infested by a demon called Jata Rohini. To appease him, he is offered fish caught by the priest. Locals believe it is only then that it would rain abundantly in Mirzapur. People also keep the linga of Mahadeva (Shiva) dipped in water to keep him cool so that he doesn't ruin the monsoon.

There are folk narratives about a severe drought in Sirsa, Haryana, a long time ago. The headman went to a faqir (dervish), prayed to him for rain, promising his daughter's hand in marriage to him. The rains did come but the headman broke his promise and the land got cursed with drought. However, repeated prayers melted the faqir's heart and he allowed sweet water to flow, but only if it was given free of cost to everyone. Local belief holds this to be true even today: if anyone levies a tax on rainwater here, the water goes salty, and the moment the tax is removed, it gets sweet again!

In Punjab, village girls pour water over an old woman, as she hands out cow dung dissolved in water. This is believed to bring the rains. Sometimes, the girls carry a pot full of filth and put it in front of a woman with a foul temper. If she gets into a rage and becomes abusive, it's time for a downpour! The underlying belief is that such a woman is a witch and if she is insulted, rains will pay a visit.

Droughts also make lucrative business and realpolitik. In Madhya Pradesh, som yagnas or fire rituals were performed by the state government to get rain during last year's drought. Chhattisgarh's agriculture minister too performed the varun yagna to please the skies during a dry spell. In Andhra Pradesh, all Hindus, Christians and Muslims were asked to perform special prayers for rains in temples last year. In Orissa too, expensive yagnas were performed to propitiate the gods. Fake priests too join the act. Even while it's all thirsty and parched, fat, well-fed Brahmins get inside huge tumblers of water, all decked up, and perform fraudulent rituals (see pix above).

Another kind of rain-spell is performed by the Bhils of central India. During drought, they go out together with bows and arrows and sacrifice a buffalo belonging to another village to goddess Kali, singing and dancing. If the buffalo-owner interferes, they abuse and threaten him into submission. That's how they negotiate for rain.

In Gujarat's Ahmedabad, the nagar seth (town's rich trader) walks through the city, pouring out milk to please Indra. There are folksong renditions dedicated to pleasing Indra. What is done in Chattarpur, Madhya Pradesh, is even more intriguing. Two paintings are made on the wall with cow dung, but upside down, to embarrass Indra and Megha into giving rain.

As if worshipping is not enough, two boys fight a 'good fight' with slings and stones to 'entertain the raingods' in Maharashtra's Ahmadnagar. If the fight is not good enough and is stopped abruptly, then the rains are said to bring in a plague of rats.

In some south Indian villages, beer gets mixed with the longing for water. Flowers of the sal tree are plucked, put in a basket and taken around to every house. The women pay respect to the priest by touching his feet. The priest showers them and the house with flowers. And then, first, the women pour water over him, and then give him a glass of beer to drink! Chilled or warm - that we don't know.

JULY 2010

If the earth is parched and thirsty, don't blame the rains

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/07/3605

Shaweta Anand Delhi

The scorching summer heat compels most of us to beg the raingods for mercy. For some, the rains usher in a celebrative mood, but for many others, it's time to feel vulnerable. In India, thousands of people routinely succumb to droughts that ruin crops or floods that gulp down entire villages, forests and fertile land.

"Agriculture still contributes a large chunk to our GDP even at a reduced 15.7 per cent. More than half of our population continues to depend on it, though it increasingly seems like an unviable option because of factors like insufficient relief measures during monsoon-related disasters like droughts or floods," said Dr Pramod Kumar Joshi, Director, National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad.

Out of the 141 million hectares of cultivable land in India, 80 million hectares is rain-fed. That is how the livelihood of millions directly depends on the amount of rainfall every year. More than 60 per cent of the artificially irrigated land also depends on groundwater (which is replenished by the rains), not on dams or canals. In fact, contrary to popular perception, the higher productivity of the green revolution belt comprising Punjab, Haryana and western UP was facilitated by groundwater, not dam water. A special report on the monsoon by Amit Bhattacharya, a senior science journalist, recently brought these facts to light.

"Farmers have been dependent on rainfall for thousands of years, so they know well how to deal with it, and what crops to grow at what place and at which time of the year. This is part of their traditional wisdom. What is happening now is that gradually the needs of farmers are being manipulated by governments and industry together," said Anupam Mishra, a traditional water management expert, whose book, Aaj Bhi Khade Hain Talaab (Ponds are Still Around), continues to be a bestseller.

"Farmers were self-sufficient earlier but since the entry of a market-driven economy, they are being made to depend on industrial inputs as agriculture itself is being viewed as a money-making or trade-centred activity for giant industrial business houses. So, more and more farmers are being made to grow one kind of crop even if soil quality gets ruined by the over-use of chemicals and water. Dependency on the monsoon means too much risk for business interests and hence large-scale irrigation projects like dams get speedy approval," he added.

In India, most rainfall occurs from June to September with a national average of 1,100 mm per year. But the amount of rainfall varies across regions, with parts of Rajasthan getting as little as 100 mm even as parts of Meghalaya get the highest amount of about 11,000 mm annually. Thus, logically, diverse crops should be grown, suited to local conditions like water availability, temperature, soil type etc.

"We are losing respect for nature's method of providing us with different types of food - foodgrains, vegetables or fruits - in different seasons. We desire to eat mangoes in winter although we know it is a summer fruit and demand oranges in summer even though we know they grow naturally in winter!" said Vimalbhai of Matu Peoples' Organisation, Uttarakhand, one of the organisations opposing the construction of big dams in Uttarakhand.

"The tendency to force our desires on nature has alienated us from it. This has ultimately fed into the marketisation of food items and adversely affected our health. A balanced, wholesome diet is being slowly replaced by the consumption of similar food-sets during most part of the year," he added.

The erosion of diversity in the foods we eat and the crops that farmers grow worries Vijay Jardhari, a farmer and activist associated with the Beej Bachao Andolan, Uttarakhand. His 'satyagrahi' activists in the Andolan have done exemplary work for decades in preserving ancient and indigenous varieties of food, vegetables, fruits, seeds, trees, even spices, in the hills. "Earlier, when traditional systems of agriculture were the mainstay, our core diet comprised millets like ragi, jowar and bajra. Though highly nutritious and drought-resistant, these slowly came to be referred to as 'gawaar ka khana' (food that 'uncivilised' villagers eat) while rice and wheat came to be seen as more desirable foodgrains - smoother to touch, tastier and more appealing to the eye. There is a bigger market for the latter, so farmers now grow more of the heavily water-dependent and chemical-inputs-intensive crops," he told Hardnews.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has on many occasions emphasised his 'Bharat Nirman' vision of rural development that aims to promote agricultural growth by bringing lakhs of hectares of land under man-made irrigation systems. A corollary to this is the promotion of more big dams for raising the quantity of water stored during the monsoons so that it can be used even during the non-monsoon months. There are many local people's movements all over the country to oppose such big dams because they are bound to ravage and destroy local ecological zones: huge areas of hills, land, forests, rivers, life and livelihood, even while forcing mass displacement of tens of thousands of people.

Water-storage or irrigation projects have failed in a major way in the last few decades with agricultural productivity declining every year. Not only has public money been squandered in 'mega scams', even land under irrigation has been reduced instead of increasing over the years!

This was revealed by ecologist Himanshu Thakkar's survey of documents of the Union ministry of agriculture and later through the use of RTI. Despite the high losses incurred by the water resource management system from 1991 to 2007, the current schemes continue to be inspired from the earlier failed attempts, wasting even larger sums of public money in the name of increasing agricultural productivity and blaming the monsoon for being unreliable. Thakkar works with the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People.

"As per official data, even though the country has spent Rs 1,42,000 crore on major and medium irrigation projects in the last 15 years, there has been no increase in net irrigated land, which continues to be one of the goals of the Bharat Nirman project, even though an earlier version called the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme failed to bring more land under irrigation. On the contrary, there has been a shocking reduction of 24.4 lakh hectares in the area irrigated by big irrigation projects in this period," said Thakkar.

Drawing attention to corruption in the irrigation sector, Jardhari said, "In Chamoli region of Uttarakhand, many irrigation officials are regularly caught embezzling money, like one Ravindra Prasad, who was a minor irrigation officer. He was caught with Rs 55.5 lakh in cash hidden under his bed. Undisclosed property worth Rs 3 crore was discovered during a raid on his house by vigilance officers in 2009." Prasad was in charge of building water tanks and gools (small canals) in the area.

A senior water management official from the National Rainfed Area Authority of the government of India, requested anonymity but confirmed that state governments ordinarily show unfinished irrigation projects as completed on paper.

"There is one resource that India is not poor in and that is water," affirmed Mishra, also associated with the Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi. He talks about traditional rainwater harvesting methods still being practiced in some parts of Rajasthan along with a judicious cultivation of multiple crops that use less water. "There are other water preservation and agricultural yield-enhancing methods like the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) or the Madagascar Model that have been recently employed by states like Tripura and Tamil Nadu. In this method of cultivating rice, which is a major water-intensive crop grown in India, less than half the amount of water is used and even paddy yield increases by up to eight tonnes per hectare," said Vijoo Krishnan, joint secretary, All India Kisan Sabha. Thakkar believes that nature-friendly methods like SRI have the potential to save enough water for irrigating six million hectares of cultivable land if this technique is applied to even half the paddy-growing areas of the country. "Why would you need dams then as irrigation is what they are primarily supposed to do but in practice don't?" questioned Thakkar.

Highlighting levels of water-wastage and mismanagement due to aggressive 'development' initiatives, food and agricultural policy expert Devinder Sharma said, "Some parts of Rajasthan have become a haven for posh golf courses, hotels and other buildings, water-guzzling sugarcane fields, a thriving marble industry etc. All these are depleting groundwater reserves like never before. For one 18-hole golf course to be used by the wealthy, potable water for 20,000 ordinary households is sacrificed. Extensive water-mining in Rajasthan is going to lead to a water-famine this season. So it is not monsoon or water scarcity but the mismanagement of water that should be blamed."

More ominous than big dams is the controversial and gigantic river-linking project, which would supposedly make water-deficit areas gain from water-surplus areas. This, experts argue, could end up displacing millions of people, and threatening riverine biodiversity, besides creating newer inter-state conflicts over sharing river water and exacerbating existing ones.

While the debate over dams and river-linking continues, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is facing the heat for not predicting monsoons correctly. Science writer Pallava Bagla points out that the country had to face floods in 1994 and droughts in 1987, 2002, 2004 and 2009 despite the IMD's predictions of 'normal monsoon'.

The IMD has predicted a normal monsoon for 2010 as well.

"The department should be able to warn farmers and policymakers in time so that they can prepare themselves for the worst possible scenario. Last year, despite a near-normal prediction, the rains fell short by 22 per cent, adversely affecting paddy production and leading to food inflation," said Bagla. When this happens, poor farmers are the most badly hurt.

Explaining the relationship between a good crop yield and timely rainfall prediction, Dr DS Pai of National Climate Centre, IMD, Pune, said, "If rainfall is expected the next day, the farmer will not irrigate the crops or else the rains will flood his fields and ruin his crops. Similarly, if there is information about a dry spell ahead, he can arrange for water in good time and save the yield."

Criticising the IMD for withholding crucial weather data from the public, Thakkar said, "If, in addition to district-wise weather data, the IMD could also provide the public with block-wise data, floods in Surat in 2006, Orissa in 2008 and in the Damodar valley in 2009 could have been avoided by releasing water from the dams involved. The country repeatedly suffers from preventable loss of life and property because of inaccurate, insufficient or untimely monsoon predictions, and even when such information is available, unaccountable dam operators refuse to act on it."

Dr Shailesh Nayak, secretary, Union ministry of earth sciences, however, assured Hardnews that a 'National Mission of Monsoon' is in place to improve the monsoon prediction system.

However, a 2009 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) study has confirmed an upcoming water-famine in the bread basket of India as groundwater in the entire belt is being sucked up for water-intensive agriculture and indiscriminate construction activities in the name of development.Nature has a slow but steady way of recharging natural water-storage systems. Indeed, we can possibly solve many of our water woes by respecting that. Instead of blaming the monsoon, for a change, let's try keeping pace with nature's ways.

JULY 2010 

IIT-H sacks gay activist Ashley Tellis

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/IIT-H-sacks-gay-activist-Ashley-Tellis/articleshow/6034644.cms

HYDERABAD: In an AMU redux south of the Vindhyas, Indian Institute of Technology (Hyderabad) management sacked gay rights activist and faculty member Ashley Tellis, apparently discomfited by his sexual orientation. The academic, with around 20 years of experience, was shown the door last fortnight less than a year after joining IIT-H.

Being on probation, Tellis's services were terminated summarily. However, reliable sources said he was asked to leave for his "unlawful behaviour" and "deviant mischief". IIT-Hyderabad director Uday Desai did not take calls and his office said he would be available only after June 21.

It's learnt that Tellis's exit from IIT was being planned by the management ever since AMU's S R Siras was sacked for being gay in February this year. Tellis has filed a right to information (RTI) application seeking reasons behind his sudden termination and intends to have a face-off with IIT-H.

Tellis was assistant professor with the liberal arts department and is a well-known voice in the gay rights movement in the country. A published author, Tellis has a PhD from Cambridge University and a long teaching career. He faced strong resistance at IIT-H from the day he joined. "Ashley's entry was controversial with several groups among IIT faculty not wanting him in. There was internal bickering and resistance right from the beginning," said a source. Prior to Tellis's appointment, several faculty members had objected to his appointment.

"There were group mails sent against his appointment, asking the IIT director not to appoint him," a source said.

Some faculty members blamed Tellis for being too candid in discussing gay issues on campus. His article on `man-boy' love in a national daily further ruffled feathers. "The institute has a humanities wing but it is meant for technical education. It was found that students were extremely annoyed with Tellis's behaviour," said a faculty member.

However, a number of students disagreed with the faculty members. "He was one of the best teachers. Not many students had problems with him until the administration and other faculty members began asking questions about Tellis's behaviour in classroom," said a student. Students were even told to "be careful" with Tellis and "report abuse", the student said.

When contacted, university authorities refused comment saying only the director was authorized to answer these questions. "Tellis is no longer with us. We do not know whether he was sacked or left on his own," said an official in the director's office. A scan of IIT-Hyderabad website revealed that Tellis's name has been deleted from the faculty list.

Director in charge U V Varadaraju, when insisted upon by TOI, said, "Prof Desai is out of station." Sudheer Chella Rajan, HoD of Liberal Arts Department and Tellis's boss could not be reached despite attempts.

Tellis's close associates said that this is not the first time he was targeted for being gay. He had complained of being forced to quit or being terminated for being articulate about gay rights even earlier. His stints at Bombay University, where he taught in 1991, and later at St Stephen's College, Delhi, too weren't pleasant for Tellis, and he quit both jobs.

"Tellis was under constant pressure of being sacked even during his stint at English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad," said one of his associates.

Mission Women’s Reservation

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/06/3582

Fifty five women from 12 states left home for about 20 days so that they could travel through 60 diverse towns and cities and meet thousands of men and women to generate discourse in favour of Women's Reservation Bill

Shaweta Anand Delhi

Twelve Toyota Innovas got transformed into railway coaches of 'Reservation Express' that whistled through three routes by road, covering a distance of over 20,000 km through the northwest, northeast and southern parts of India. The campaign was flagged off by, among others, 84-year-old Qamar Azad Hashmi, who is one of the oldest activists supporting the cause, on May 20 from Jhansi - the land of the all powerful Jhansi ki rani (Queen of Jhansi).

The campaign culminated on June 6 at Delhi's Constitution Club where the karwans (caravans) converged again to communicate their experiences to Congress President Sonia Gandhi the next day. "Each karwan had many Muslim and Dalit women who campaigned tirelessly for promoting 33 per cent reservation for all women, irrespective of their caste, class, religion and ethnicity," Shabnam Hashmi told Hardnews. Hashmi is the Managing Trustee of Act Now for Harmony And Democracy (ANHAD) and is the brain behind this national-level campaign in support of Women's Reservation Bill. The campaign generated support from 200 rights-based organisations, hundreds of intellectuals, activists and students from all over the country.

When asked about the reason for her association with the karwan, Sultana Sheikh, who is also a survivor of Godhra carnage of 2002, said, "In 2002, drunk Hindu fanatics put a sword through my raped body to see if I was dead or alive before leaving me behind at the river bank. My infant child kept howling as I was being tortured. What could he do? What could I do? There was no one to stop them. This happened when we were trying to escape after hundreds of armed men beat, maimed and burnt members of our families in front of our eyes."

"That is why I am a part of this campaign today so that I can talk to women about all their rights, especially their political rights. By getting the Bill passed, we will be able to activate women power in this country and protect our rights in a violent, male-dominated world," she added.

Sheikh was part of the karwan that covered southern states on route number two. They traveled to Jabalpur, Raipur, Bolangir, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Madurai, Cochin, Calicut, Bangalore, Anantapur and Hyderabad before converging with other karwan members in Delhi two weeks later. It was led by Sania Hashmi, an emerging documentary film-maker and Manisha Trivedi, who is a community leader associated with ANHAD.

Also on the same route was Mohini Jatav, a Dalit activist from Jaipur, Rajasthan. Her husband's legs were mutilated by Gujjar Panchayat members as Jatav refused to comply with their corrupt demands being a Panch herself. Her husband also refused to work for the Gujjars, angering them further. "I am here so that I can travel far and wide while connecting with more women like me so that we can heal together and also fight for our right for representation in politics," said Jatav.

"The government will have to open its eyes and pass the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha this time. Through this karwan, I appeal to every women of every village of this country to join us in demanding for passage of this law. Why is it that I still haven't got justice even though I have been running around in courts for 15 years? If more women were in power, they would have ensured women like me got timely justice," roared Bhanwari Devi.

Bhanwari was a sathin (woman companion) working for Women's Development Programme of the government of Rajasthan in Bhateri in 1992 when she was gang-raped as punishment for trying to stop the marriage of a nine-month old girl, who belonged to an influential upper-caste family. Shockingly, the Court ruled in 1995 that upper-caste men could not have raped her - a dalit woman.

A Jaipur-based NGO called Vishaka had taken up her case that led to the historic Vishakha judgement by the Supreme Court. The Court, for the first time, set guidelines of behaviour with women in public spaces, acknowledging that women do get sexually harassed when out of home. Vishakha judgement still remains a crucial litigation for all working women in India.

Haseena Bano, Rubina Bano and Jawahira Rashid, all of 15 years, were the youngest campaigners aboard Reservation Express. They traveled all the way from a remote place called Tangdar in Kashmir to be part of the group traveling to northeast India on route three. "We never thought we could get out of home and travel so far and speak with so many people about the bill. It has given us so much confidence," they echoed in chorus.

"Every karwan has few women from Kashmir. This was a chance of a lifetime for them as they got out and mingled with people from the rest of the country for a cause they can relate with. It worked wonders for their self-esteem and it shows in the way these young girls are carrying themselves now, some even without the traditional veil," said Seema Duhan, leader their karwan. She spoke with this reporter when their karwan stopped at Aligarh. Prof Irfan Habib, renowned historian from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Prof Shireen Moosvi, director, Women's Studies Centre, AMU and Dr Namita Singh from Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) endorsed the demand for immediate passage of the Bill in Aligarh.

Although we got good response from most people, but this Muslim man mocked me while I was campaigning in Aligarh saying that I couldn't be a genuine Muslim woman as I had stepped out of the four walls of home and was speaking with ordinary women folk about their political rights," said Rashida Ansari from Gujarat, another Godhra carnage victim and an Aman Samudaya activist. "I asked him to tell me which aayat (verse) of Quran says that women cannot get out of home, do politics and run the country. He just stared back at me, speechless," she told Hardnews.

"I want to see the killers of my sister punished," said Musarrat Jahan, sister of a fake-encounter victim, Ishrat Jahan. "I am traveling with this karwan to tell more and more women about how they can change the face of this country. Had there been more women in power today, my sister's death would have been avenged and many more such deaths, prevented." Ishrat Jahan was kidnapped from Mumbai in 2004 and killed in a fake encounter by police in Gujarat for plotting to kill Narendra Modi. This was the conclusion given in a report given by district magistrate SP Tamang in 2009. The Supreme Court has ordered the High Court to restart investigations and submit a report within six months.

"When we got the news of Ishrat's death through the media, we didn't even understand what an encounter killing meant or who Narendra Modi was," said Shamima Kauser, Musarrat's mother, who was also a part of Campaign Reservation Express. "If there were more women in positions of power, there would be less harassment of women in society," she told Hardnews.

If you thought this was an all-women's affair, think again. There were men on each karwan too, albeit only a few of them. Mohan Kumawat is a documentary filmmaker who traveled with women activists on route three. "I was made fun of many times. Once, a group of men accosted me for speaking about 'women's causes' and traveling with so many of them. I was told, agar auratain rajneeti karengi toh hum kya chudiyan pehenegain? (If women enter politics then what work will we do?). Someone even said that women will invite more violence against themselves if they entered the public domain. By coming out they will compromise on ghar ki izzat (dignity), so they are better suited inside homes."

"I argued back saying that if you feel that women are ghar ki izzat, then will you oppress and torture them inside homes? It is a human right to come out in public spaces and it should be seen as such, not as an absolute right that only men have. Women need to come out, fight for their rights and empower themselves," he said. The film-maker is from Rajasthan and has eight sisters. Most of them have suffered because they were exposed to marriage at a young age. He has made acclaimed films like 'Umeed ki lau' (Flame of Hope), 'Awaaz ajanmi betiyon ki' (Voice of the unborn daughters) and 'Crying Shame'.

Activists on route three travelled to Rewa, Daltonganj, Ranchi, Kolkata, Baharampur, Balurghat, Shillong, Guwahati, Siliguri, Katikar, Patna, Varanasi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Aligarh and back to Delhi. This karwan was led by Duhan from ANHAD.

Anandi and Eashwari from Tamil Nadu traveled as part of the karwan plying on route number one that covered northwestern part of the country. Social workers by profession, they both felt that OBCs don't need a quota within 33 per cent women's quota because OBCs already have proportional political representation. "As far as Dalit women are concerned, they will get 33 per cent reservation out of the existing 22.5 per cent SC/ST quota. For Muslims, both men and women need quota since both are grossly under-represented in legislatures but that is a separate fight which cannot be fought within the ambit of Women's Reservation Bill," explained Anandi.

Route number one destinations include Bhopal, Indore, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Jaipur, Hissar, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Mandi, Bilaspur, Shimla, Solan, Dehradun, Meerut and finally, Delhi. It was led by Mansi Sharma from ANHAD, who has worked extensively on issues of women's empowerment and livelihood in Kashmir.

"Out of the 543 seats in the Parliament, why do we still have only 59 women representatives?" questioned Philomena John, senior member of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), who also traveled with this karwan. Annie Raja, general secretary of NFIW and Shabnam Hashmi stayed connected with the three karwans by meeting them at different destinations.

"The anti-Women's Reservation Bill argument made by people like Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh and other Muslim conservative groups is to divide women and stall the passage of the bill in some way. These people have done nothing in the past for protecting interests of women in their own constituencies and when the question of political representation of women is raised, they have problems with it?" argued Hashmi.

When the three karwans met again on June 6 at Constitution Club, Delhi, their exhilaration was perceptible, almost tangible. They were greeted with flowers, drums and trumpets and gifted 'Campaign Reservation Express' trophies and umbrellas. The euphoria got enhanced as artists from all over the country communicated the importance of women empowerment in the country through some great performances. Members of Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Gujarat, performed a poem-based act called The Mask choreographed by Mallika Sarabhai.

A dance-drama called Giselle ki kahani '(The story of Giselle) was met with loud applause as Rea Krishnatraye enthralled the audience with her smooth movements depicting the dilemmas in a woman's life. There were performances by SWRC group from Tilonia, Rajasthan, BGVS from Haryana, Rozi Roti Adhikar Sangathan etc. Groups from Kashmir, Rajasthan, Haryana etc sang movement songs with impromptu dance performances from the audience in front of the stage.

Though the campaign drew overwhelming support from all over the country, amongst those who endorsed the campaign and made it to the event that day include Dr Syeda Hameed, member of the Planning Commission, Dr Mohini Giri, former chairperson of the National Commission of Women and president of the Guild of Service, Dr Beulah Shekhar, general secretary, YWCA, Sehba Farooqi from AIDWA, Vrinda Grover, who is a well known feminist legal expert, Prof Vimal Thorat from All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch and Kavita Shrivastava, leader of the Right to Food campaign, Rajasthan. Anne Stenhammer, regional director, UNIFEM and Nisha Agarwal of Oxfam also expressed solidarity.

However, the final halt of the karwans of Reservation Express was at Congress President Sonia Gandhi's residence on June 7. They demanded immediate passage of 33 per cent Women's Reservation Bill in its current form in the upcoming monsoon session in Lok Sabha. Activists handed over more than 10,000 signed postcards to her demanding the same.

At Sonia Gandhi's residence

(For more photos, click album 1, 2, 3.)

No more Ruchikas

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/06/3569

As Ruchika molestation case drags on in court, the collective indignity should, in the meantime, give new momentum and direction to legal reform processes to protect the vulnerable of this country

Shaweta Anand Delhi

The noose of law tightened its grip around the neck of former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore as the Chandigarh district court sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment last week for molesting 14-year old Ruchika Girhotra, who later committed suicide. The case is still going on.

Even though his advocate wife Abha Rathore immediately filed for bail in the High Court citing Rathore's age and his physical health as conditions deserving sympathy from the court, many human rights groups feel that the court did the right thing by enhancing Rathore's prison-term while some feel it is too little done too late.

"In Ruchika's case, the man was a high-ranking police officer while the victim was a mere child. The court has only looked at the molestation part of the crime and given Rathore this punishment, though less than the possible term of full two years," said Madhu Mehra, director, Partners for Law in Development while in conversation with this reporter.

"The Court has responded in a tokenistic way by not looking at the continuum of crime of harassment of the entire family, when a whole system closed in on them, hounding them out of the city," she added.

Pamela Philipose, director of Women's Feature Service, Delhi, feels more upbeat about the judgement. "Looking at the positive side of Rathore's conviction, however inadequate, is that it made public what used to happen (and still happens) privately. Young girls usually think of sexual harassment as a normal, acceptable part of social interaction, so much so, that they are unable to identify it or prevent it. This case also highlights the spirit of two teenage girls, who had the courage to call Rathore's behaviour 'sexual harassment' and decided to speak up against it," she said.

"Rathore's case gives a message to officialdom that they cannot misuse their power or cross certain lines between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour while dealing with women in public spaces," she emphasised.

When asked how inspiring this case is for a mounting brigade of working women who wear western clothes to office and also attend office parties, and are often held responsible for 'inviting harassment', she said, "Women need to know that the right to bodily integrity is their basic right and no woman can be harassed because of the way she dresses. It's a non-negotiable principle." During the proceedings of Ruchika's case, one argument made against her was that she wore skirts and mingled with boys and in that sense, she couldn't be possibly 'harassed' when Rathore molested her.

"Hopefully, the other serious charges of abetment to suicide and torturing Ruchika's family members would also get included in the court's judgement against Rathore because there seems to be a considerable amount of evidence for it," said Mary E John, director, Centre for Women's Development Studies, Delhi.

In a similar vein, Sudha Sundararaman, general secretary of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) said, "This case reveals so many weaknesses inherent in the Indian judicial system. We demand that the harassment and assault of children be taken seriously by the court so that such malafide actions against Ruchika and her family get appropriately punished. Not just that, we also demand an overhaul of the assault law in this country so that harsher punishment against such crimes can be institutionalised.”

"While women's groups have been working for about 30 years towards this but Ruchika's case has added fresh blood to our demand for passage of the Sexual Assault Bill that should be comprehensive, gender-neutral and should bring in the purview of law actions of grave violence (rape, mutilation etc) to the not-so-grave ones (catcalling etc) against women, gay and transvestite people, people in custody, children and so on." John was responding to a question posed by this reporter regarding the apparent 'anti-men' character of the proposed bill.

JUNE 2010 HARDNEWS