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Place Maya’s ashes next to mine: Kanshi
Move to hike petrol price: CPM threatens stir
Probe starvation deaths, SC asks panel
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National Advisory Council
reconstituted
Copper T free with MTP
Rajiv aggravated Ayodhya situation, deposes Kalyan
Conflicting forecasts confuse farmers
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Place Maya’s ashes next to mine: Kanshi
Lucknow, June 3 In the sanctum sanctorum, under the grand high dome, are the larger-than-life bronze statues of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar blessing Kanshi Ram on his left and Mayawati on his right. Standing on a high pedestal, the replicas sculpted by Ram Sutaar, are incredibly lifelike. The two leaders - Kanshi Ram and Mayawati - are in their ordinary everyday appearance. A smiling Kanshi Ram in his bush shirt and pants stands beside Mayawati in her cropped hair, dupatta typically thrown around her neck and holding a handbag. On the walls is engraved the will of BSP founder Kanshi Ram in blue lapis lazuli. It states that after the death of Ms Mayawati, her bones should not be immersed in the Ganga or the Yamuna but be “laid beside my bones in the memorial”. This wish, he asserts “will go against the Manuvadi system of society and inspire the people of Bahujan Samaj for the devotion and respect towards this memorial. It was clearly a historic day for Ms Mayawati who was dedicating this monument amidst a huge gathering of party workers on the 10th anniversary of the formation of the first ever BSP government in the country on June 3, 1993. Wearing a lotus pink silk salwar suit, Ms Mayawati arrived just after 11 am with her parents, brothers, sister, sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews in tow. Her family, not much visible in public, was there as part of the brief dedication ceremony conducted by Buddhist monks from the city’s Buddhist temple. Posing with her daughter in front of her statue, the mother in a blue embroidered sari and her father in a suit, looked visibly dazed. Kanshi Ram’s will hopes them, her brothers and other relatives and the Bahujan Samaj to fulfil his will, while Ms Mayawati officially announced the severing of all connections with them so she could fully concentrate and dedicate herself to her great mission. On the walls of the monument are five bronze murals documenting historic moments and monuments of the Bahujan Samaj movement. The first shows Mayawati’s first swearing-in by Governor Motilal Vora on June 3, 1993. The second bronze depicts the scene of her second swearing-in on March 21, 1997, by Governor Romesh Bhandari and the third on May 3, 2002, by Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri. Two other symbols of the Mayawati regime - the Parivartan Chowk and the Ambedkar Samarak have been molded in bronze. The gallery also gives pride of place to four other social reformers - Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Chahatrapati Shahuji Maharaj from Maharashtra, Narayana Guru from Kerala and Periyar Ramaswamy from Tamil Nadu. Explaining the objective of the Kendra, Ms Mayawati said it was the attempt of the BSP to make our saints, gurus and leaders a source of inspiration by preserving accounts of their historic struggles. The memorial will house various documentary and other archival material related to the BSP struggle in audio visual and other forms. |
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Move to hike petrol price: CPM threatens stir
Kolkata, June 3 Otherwise, the CPI(M) and other Left parties would launch nationwide agitation against the UPA’s “anti-people” policies, the veteran leader Mr Jyoti Basu, warned today Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Mr Basu said they had information that even some other partners in the government were opposing the price hike of the petroleum products. Hence, the Prime Minister should stop taking any “suicidal steps” like price hike, Mr Basu advised. The CITU General Secretary, Mr Chittabrata Majumdar, the newly appointed politburo member, suggested that the country’s oil companies should bear the additional burden of the world’s increasing oil price market instead of shifting the burden on the poor. He felt these oil companies were financially sound to meet the enhanced price burden and if necessary, they should also economize their expenditure by avoiding all wasteful and unnecessary expenses. Except for Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, all other politburo members were present at today’s meeting. Mr Surjeet could not come here due to illness. Eight newly appointed central committee members also failed to attend the three-day meeting of the central committee, which began today after the end of the politburo meeting. Mr Prakash Karat, Mr Sitaram Yechuri, Ms Brinda Karat, Chief Minister, Buddahdeb Bhattacharjee and Mr Manick Sarker were among others present. |
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Probe starvation deaths, SC asks panel
New Delhi, June 3 A Bench headed by Ms Justice Ruma Pal, some days before the closure of the apex court for on going summer vacation, had asked the petitioner to approach the WBSHRC so that it could look into the matter whether the reports were correct or not. The PIL moved by Zafrul Islam and naming the Union Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the West Bengal Government as respondents, had alleged that Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and state-based organisation Manabadhikar Suraksha Manch (MASUM) in February this year had brought to the notice of the state government the “starvation deaths” in Jalangi, Dayarampur, Udaynagar, Suryanagar and Paraspur villages in Murshidabad
district. The PIL filed through advocate Mustaq Ahmad claimed that reports of the starvation deaths were published between
February 22 and 28 this year in some leading newspapers in the state, according two which Neimuddin and his brother Aziaul Haq had died “of hunger” because of no work to earn livelihood. As the advocate pressed for hearing and admission of the PIL, the court said since it was based merely on media reports, let the matter be raised before the state human rights commission first to find out the veracity of the same as the petitioner had not placed on record any other supportive material. As per the PIL, Neimudding had stated before his and the death of his brother Azizul Haq that “they had not witnessed cooking for days together” in their hut. Besides, three other persons Alimuddin Saik (67), his wife Jahida Beoa (60) and Sattar Seik (50) had also died of hunger, it claimed. “The government as well as private doctors have confirmed about the starvation deaths,” the PIL stated, alleging that the hunger in Murshidabad district “has affected the villagers so badly that a large number of them have been displaced to other areas looking for means to survive.” While quoting MASUM of having received reports that for many years the villagers in the affected area had been “subjected to extreme conditions of poverty and starvation, leading to many deaths,” the petitioner had sought direction to the Union and West Bengal governments to take immediate steps by providing a special package to the affected people, specially those from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The AHRC report of February this year, annexed with the PIL, had stated that it “had received information from MASUM in West Bengal that people in Murshidabad district are dying of starvation while the government authorities have not taken any effective action to stop the deaths.” It also quoted a local doctor of stating that “the entire area is under threat of insufficient nutritious food.”
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National Advisory Council
reconstituted
New Delhi, June 3 The two members have been replaced as “they have other commitments and will not be able to devote enough time for meaningful participation in the NAC”, an official release said. The two new members inducted in the reconstituted council are: Ms Sehba Hussain, at present member-secretary and Executive Director, BETI Foundation (Better Education Through Innovation), and Prof Mrinal Miri, Vice-Chancellor, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong. The NAC, chaired by Ms Sonia Gandhi, will have a one-year term. The other members of the council are: Ms Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Rajsamand, Rajasthan; Prof C. H. Hanumantha Rao, Chairman, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad; Jairam Ramesh, New Delhi; Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, National Coordinator, Lok Satta, Hyderabad; Dr V. Krishnamurthy, former Secretary, Government of India; Dr Madhav Chavan, Pratham, Delhi; Dr A. K. Shiva Kumar, Adviser, UNICEF, New Delhi; Dr D. Swaminadhan, President, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Research and Social Action, Hyderabad; and Dr N. C. Saxena, IAS (retd), New Delhi. The council was set up in June, 2004, to oversee the implementation of the National Common Minimum Programme and to monitor its progress. It has been making recommendations in respect of a range of subjects and programmes to the government from time to time. |
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Copper T free with MTP
Chennai, June 3 It has also exposed a dangerous and unethical practice, which has been going on unchecked for the past several decades in Tamil Nadu. The government hospitals here have been inserting Copper Ts in all women, who underwent abortion not only without their consent but also even without informing them. The Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has taken up the case and sought an explanation from the Tamil Nadu Health Secretary on all medical termination of pregnancies (MTP) in state government hospitals all over the state. PUCL vice-president Sudha Ramalingam in a strongly-worded letter has demanded to know the names and ages of women on whom abortion has been performed in government hospitals in the state and whether the police was informed in case the woman was a rape victim. She alleged, “As a result of the MTP done without informing the police, material evidence concerning the paternity of the foetus and the identity of the rapist is lost. The careless attitude of the hospital authorities leads to the criminal going scot-free.” Under Section 376 of the IPC, sexual intercourse with a minor is considered rape, even if she had consented to the act, and any person responsible for the pregnancy of a minor girl would be prosecuted and punished for rape. In this case the minor girl was admitted to the hospital, the foetus aborted and was discharged without the police being informed. “We were shocked to know that this was not an isolated case. We learnt that such a practice of performing MTPs and insertion of Copper Ts seemed to be routine whenever unwed mothers were brought to the hospital. This means after marriage when the woman wants to have a baby she will not conceive since she will not even be aware of the contraception till she visits a doctor. This is gross violation of human rights,” alleged Ms Ramalingam. Hospital sources confirmed that many unwed mothers had undergone abortions and all were inserted Copper Ts. A hospital staff said, “The parents of young pregnant girls sometimes accompany them. They plead that we maintain secrecy. The doctors routinely insert Copper Ts to prevent more pregnancies as most of them are from poor families and promiscuous.” Despite the sensitive nature of cases, according to law, a hospital is duty-bound to report the pregnancy of minor girls to the police as it involves rape and then the case becomes a medico-legal one. Tamil Nadu PUCL general secretary V. Suresh said: “There are two important aspects to the case. You cannot hide the reality that children are being sexually abused. Two, health workers cannot take the easy way out by inserting Copper Ts in children vulnerable to abuse.” Ms Ramalingam said that the government hospital’s failure to report the case was part of a larger issue and there could be several hospitals, both government and private, who would be carrying out abortions on minor girls without any effort to report such cases. She recalled, “I know of one case where a child of about four years was found to have been sexually abused. Medical examination said that the abuse was being carried out for over two years. But the parents gave a false address and the child could not be traced.”
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Rajiv aggravated Ayodhya situation, deposes Kalyan
New Delhi, June 3 Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh, during whose tenure the disputed structure was razed to the ground on December 6, 1992, was the last witness to be examined by the commission. During his final deposition today, Mr Kalyan Singh refused to make any direct comments on a pointed question by UP’s Advocate-General Virendra Bhatia on the alleged conspiracy theory regarding the demolition. When Mr Bhatia specifically asked him whether there was a conspiracy among Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), other Sangh Parivar outfits and the BJP the to demolish the structure and whether there was “backing” of the then Congress government at the Centre, headed by P V Narasimha Rao to it, Mr Kalyan Singh parried a direct reply and said “it is our tradition not to speak against the dead persons and I will not like to say anything adverse against Mr Rao.” Mr Kalyan Singh, who had resisted appearance before the commission all through since its constitution on the ground that it would affect his trial in the Ayodhya demolition case, had agreed to depose as a witness. His evidence was considered to be crucial as he was at the helm of affairs in UP at that time and was even sentenced to one-day jail term by the Supreme Court for contempt for failing to implement his government’s commitment given in an affidavit to protect the mosque in letter and in spirit. But the former Chief Minister held the Congress government, headed by Rajiv Gandhi, responsible for aggravating the situation by allowing ‘shilanyas’ near the disputed structure in November 1989. Mr Kalyan Singh admitted this gave “strength” to the subsequent Ram temple movement, launched by the VHP, the Dharamsansad and the Sadhu Samaj. During over 12-year-long proceedings, the commission had examined various VIPs, including former Prime Ministers P V Narasimha Rao and V P Singh, BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti as the latter three were present at the site when the mosque was demolished and were charge-sheeted in the case. |
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Conflicting forecasts confuse farmers
New Delhi, June 3 The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and Bangalore-based Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computing Simulation (CMMACS) are at variance on the monsoon prospects. The Council for Industrial Scientific Research’s body - CMMACS - has predicted 34 per cent deficiency in rainfall in June in contrast to IMD’s prediction of normal rainfall during June and September. The Bangalore-based institution has, however, issued a disclaimer in its long-range monsoon forecast for the year saying that these are being done for the sole purpose of an objective evolution of the methodology of monsoon forecast. “The CISR/CMMACS shall not bear any responsibility for any commercial/operational use of these forecast and any loss/damage arising from such usage by any party,” it said. Commenting on the discrepancy, Secretary-General of the Confederation of Indian Farmers Association P. Chengal Reddy said: “Such forecasts by two government departments leads to confusion amongst farmers down the line”.
— PTI |
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