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Protest at your own risk
Women teachers being lathicharged near Uttarakhand Assembly in Dehradun during December assembly session.
A Tribune photograph
Martial arts fail to enthuse youth
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To save rivers, take a cue from the past: Expert
Kenneth Paffett sculpts a piece of wood at the International Trade Fair in Dehradun. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
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Protest at your own risk
Dehradun, February 15 Blaming the state government and police administration of trying to suppress of the voice of the people protesting against government policies, the representatives of the NGOs accused the government of implicating protesters in fake cases. The organisations that staged a peaceful demonstration in Gandhi Park today included Uttarakhand Parivartan Dal, Sangharsheel Mahila Sangthan, Krantikari Lok Adhikar Sangthan and Parivartan Kari Chhatra Sangathan. The protesters alleged that the lathicharge on the protesting teachers, framing the protesters in false cases and police atrocities on those staging peaceful demonstrations has become a tradition in the present Khanduri regime. Holding placards against the police, they said that some of the recent acts of the Uttarakhand police had virtually murdered democracy. “On January 25, some people were staging a protest at Lalkuan near Haldwani in Kumaon region demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the rape and murder of Preeti Sharma, a young girl from Motinagar, Haldwani,” alleged BB Thapa, Kamla Pant, Shakuntala, Alpana Mishra, Rajiv Kothari, JS Goyal, Bhupaal and Nitin, the main speakers, who addressed the protesters. “Just to suppress the voice of the protesters, the police booked and arrested five protesters for treason. Even after three weeks, the arrested persons are still languishing in jail,” they said. They added that the recent lathicharge on the shiksha acharyas, nursery trained teachers (NTT) and shiksha mitras during the last assembly session held in December 2008, registration of cases on women protesting against the menace of stray animals in Haridwar and the arrest of three women who demanded arrest of an alleged rapist in Dhari, Nainital, clearly reflects the “insensitive” and “autocratic” attitude of the ruling BJP. Notably, the manner in which the state government handled some of the recent protests had come under severe criticism with several political parties condemning the government. Besides, the government and the police administration are also facing accusations of unnecessarily creating a “hysteria” among the masses by blowing up the issue of the Maoist threat in Uttarakhand. Recently, the Uttarakhand government had sought two helicopters, 30 satellite phones, 1,200 wireless sets and 70 companies of paramilitary forces from the Union Government for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. The rising Maoist activities in the region and the tough terrains of Uttarakhand had been cited as the reason behind the requirement for the latest equipment. From time to time, the top brass of the police had also been giving statements that Maoists would try to strike in the Mahakumbh which is slated to be held in 2010 in Haridwar. But contrary to the claims of the state government, the media incharge of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) Suryakant Dhasmana claimed that ever since the creation of Uttarakhand in November 2000, there had been no Maoist incident or activity in the state. “Uttarakhand does indeed share a border with Nepal but there has been little evidence of the Maoist movement of Nepal having percolated into this state. Just to get Central funds, the Khanduri government had cooked up a completely fake Maoist threat story”, alleged Dhasmana. He added that journalist Prashant Rahi, who was tagged as a Maoist commander by the police and was unjustifiably arrested few years back, is still behind bars. The Congress leaders also said that though Uttarakhand police terms itself as “mitra police”, in reality, the functioning of the police is exactly the opposite. “Whosoever is protesting against the anti-people policies of the Khanduri government has to bear the brunt as either he is implicated in a false case or is mercilessly beaten”, alleged Dhasmana. He further said that the police was functioning as per the whims and fancies of the BJP state government. Expressing similar views, state secretary of the CPI Samar Bhandari came down heavily on the police administration on the issue of the Maoist threat. “No case of Maoist activity had come to light in past many years. It is just the police administration, which acting on the instructions of the state government, that is keeping the issue alive,” he alleged. Bhandari also accused the police of registering criminal cases against the members of the trade unions. “There had been incidents wherein workers protesting against the violation of labour laws were booked by the police,” he claimed while asserting that state police is functioning in an undemocratic manner. Both the Congress and CPI leaders said that issue of the alleged police atrocities would be one of the issues in the forthcoming general elections. However, when contacted, state spokesman of the BJP Vishwas Dabur denied the allegations. He claimed that the BJP government has not committed any kind of atrocity. He added that demonstrations in Uttarakhand are a routine affair and the government had instructed the police administration to treat protesters in a civilised manner. “It is the democratic right of every individual to stage a demonstration but discipline is required during protests too. The police is compelled to act when the protesters cross the limits”, he said. Dabur said that even if anyone feels that the police had done anything wrong, the person is free to meet the Chief Minister and can bring the matter to his note. “Whenever the government receives any concrete complaint, an inquiry into the matter is always ordered”, he claimed. When contacted Garhwal IG MA Ganapathy refused to comment on the issue. However, preferring anonymity, a senior police official said, “Uttarakhand has a Maoist threat and the police had never exaggerated the issue. Also, the police have not implicated anyone in a false case.”
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Martial arts fail to enthuse youth
Dehradun, February 15 With mushrooming of such academies in every locality here one could see children doing knuckle push-ups, front rolling, frog jumping and other exercises here. But over the years, the numbers of these institutions have declined sharply. Despite the fact that the martial art still attracts the fancy of the children in their young age, who buy video games or toys that are closely associated with various forms of these traditional fighting skills. The possession of these market products may gratify their senses, but when it comes to toiling hard for having a healthy body and mind, the children of today are failing. The profession of teaching martial arts also does not have bright future prospect for those who are willing to take it as a career. In the absence of the government assistance those associated with the profession have to manage it hard to make a living. As the survival gets tough for those who have devoted their life to the profession their personal involvement for the promotion of art also takes a back seat. Hamid Farooqui, a recipient of Four Dan, has been associated with the martial art for over a decade now and had been coaching karate in Dehradun, has stopped organising free camps as he did early for the art promotion. “In the 1990’s when I started training children in martial art here, I realised that it needed to be taken to the general public. So I started organising free one-month camps in the schools to make it popular. The idea worked and the participation of boys and girls increased,” said Hamid Farooqui. He has stopped organising these free camps now, as they are good for the popularity but bring no monetary benefits to him. Earlier, it was popular with the police personnel. There was regular training session organised for them in the evening at local Police Lines. Hamid, who had held training programmes at Police Lines for the past four years said, “The UP police had shown immense interest in the martial art and helped in its promotion until Uttarakhand was not carved out from Uttar Pradesh. But after the state formation, the Uttarakhand Police had shown little interest in its promotion and had stopped karate training at Police Lines”, Hamid said he had met the then IG Garhwal, Ashok Kumar, in this relation but did not get a positive response. Hamid do not consider lack of open spaces in the capital as working against karate popularity. “Karate has always been organised on the school premises in Dehradun. But now the interest in schools have gone down,” said Hamid. Whereas Roshan A Lepcha, who was associated with karate previously, had taken to music and is presently working as a music teachers in a public school. He had won a silver medal at the All-India National Karate Championship that was held in 1995-96. He thinks that youths nowadays can’t spare much time for the physical activities. “Computer has eaten away the children’s time. Children wish to spend their free time working on computers, playing video games, listing to music or indulge in other entertaining activity,” Roshan added. He further added that, “Even the parents prefer their children to play indoor games, as they consider outer environment to be unsafe for their children.” Naveen Hickky, a recipient of seven Dan and is a promoter of the Thailand martial art, Muaythai, in Dehradun said, “Martial art here never saw mass participation, it was just limited to school level”. He takes this as the main reason behind the decline of martial art in Dehradun.
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To save rivers, take a cue from the past: Expert
Dehradun, February 15 Rajender Singh was here to lend support to the, ‘Uttarakhand Save the Rivers’ campaign. He asked the government to stop destructing rivers and start a countrywide campaign to save rivers. “The big dams centric policies have proved to be ineffective and have made things difficult for our people, who were forced to give up their ancestral lands. They are poor people and the land is their only asset, but once the government has taken it all, what do they have,” asked Rajender Singh. Commenting on the strange situation that has arisen due to the lopsided policies of the government, he said, “Where people had to forgo their lands, little did they realise the poverty would be exchanged for greater deprivation and marginalisation. They have understood that the world needs their land, water and minerals only and they have paid a heavy price,” said Singh. The Magsaysay awardee, Rajender said India should take lessons from the past in order to protect its rivers and must work on environment friendly practices. He said, “It is said that the administration had issued orders that from the high flood point and beyond 300 yards, no one should use a plough and keep the area free of body waste. And steps should also be taken against over exploitation of the rivers,” said Singh. He added that in Uttarakhand Neer, Nadi and Nari have a strong bond that will pave way for the protection of rivers. Rajender Singh is credited for reviving seven rivers in Rajasthan.
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He makes stones talk
Dehradun, February 15 “In my childhood I used to try out my hand at carpentry and as soon as I realised that this is what I wanted to do, I took it at as a full-time career. From the past four years I am busy in making various kinds of sculptures,” said Paffett. Beautiful pieces made out of riverside stones and wood found in the the jungles of Kumaon, speak volumes of his creative bent of mind. “As now people have started appreciating my work, I have started displaying my work,” said Kenneth. However, as compared to stonework the woodwork consumes more of time. “Yes, people do think that stonework is time consuming, but its wood, which takes time as wood has to get a smooth base for designing it,” said Kenneth. Wooden statues in designs of owls, lampshade with a man and tiger, dancing couples and a distinct stone piece of a man with a scorpion on his body is a piece of art and is made out of sheer hard work. “I am amazed to see this kind of work, which is so innovative, and I am happy that such kind of fairs, give a platform to these artist to showcase their flair for creativity,” said Anita, a teacher. Interestingly, Kenneth Paffett believes that this work is more of a passion then a mere source of livelihood. “The cost of the statues starts from Rs 5,000 and exceeds to Rs 30,000.
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sections of society including lawyers, trade unionists, intellectuals and journalists today alleged that police atrocities in Uttarakhand have increased so much that the state is fast turning into a “police state”.
Dehradun, February 15
