Sunday, January 18, 2015

पहले लक्ष्मणपुर बाथे, बथानी टोला और अब जहानाबाद

16 साल बाद जहानाबाद नरसंहार के आरोपी बरी

| Jan 13, 2015 at 07:38pm | Updated Jan 13, 2015 at 09:01pm

जहानाबाद। जहानाबाद की एक अदालत ने आज 24 दलितों की सामूहिक हत्या के 16 साल पुराने मामले में सभी अभियुक्तों को साक्ष्य के अभाव में बरी कर दिया। अपर जिला एवं सत्र न्यायाधीश राघवेंद्र कुमार सिन्हा ने शंकर बिगहा नरसंहार कांड की सुनवाई के बाद सभी 24 अभियुक्तों को साक्ष्य के अभाव में आरोप मुक्त कर दिया है।
इस मामले में 50 लोगों ने गवाही दी थी, लेकिन उनमें से कोई भी अभियुक्त की पहचान नहीं कर सका। गौरतलब है कि 24 जनवरी 1999 की देर रात तत्कालीन जहानाबाद और अब अरवल जिला के महेंदिया थाना के शंकर बिगहा गांव में कथित भूशस्वामियों की प्रतिबंधित रणवीर सेना ने महिलाओं और बच्चों समेत 24 दलितों की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी थी।
इस हमले में 14 लोग घायल भी हुए थे। पुलिस ने इस मामले में 24 लोगों को नामजद और सौ से ज्यादा अज्ञात लोगों को अभियुक्त बनाया था।http://khabar.ibnlive.in.com/news/134413/1


लक्ष्मणपुर बाथे नरसंहार के सभी 26 आरोपी बरी

| Oct 09, 2013 at 05:17pm | Updated Oct 09, 2013 at 10:55pm

पटना। पटना हाईकोर्ट ने आज लक्ष्मणपुर बाथे नरसंहार के सजायाफ्ता सभी 26 लोगों को बरी कर दिया। जस्टिस वी एन सिन्हा और जस्टिस ए के लाल की खंडपीठ ने फैसला सुनाते हुए कहा कि अभियोजन पक्ष की ओर से पेश किए गए सभी गवाह और साक्ष्य विश्वसनीय नहीं हैं। इसलिए सभी दोषियों को संदेह का लाभ देते हुए रिहा किया जाता है। अदालत ने अपने फैसले में यह भी कहा है कि जो अभियुक्त इस मामले में जेल में हैं और उनके खिलाफ कोई अन्य मामला नहीं हैं तो उन्हें अविलंब जेल से रिहा किया जाए।
गौरतलब है कि 1 दिसंबर 1997 को बिहार के जहानाबाद जिले का लक्ष्मणपुर बाथे गांव में रणबीर सेना के लोगों ने दिनदहाड़े 60 लोगों को गोलियों से भून डाला था। उस गांव में जो लोग मारे गए थे, उनमें 27 महिलाएं दस बच्चे शामिल थे। उन 27 महिलाओं में करीब दस महिलाएं गर्भवती भी थीं। हालांकि इस नरसंहार मामले में पटना की एक अदालत ने अप्रैल 2010 में 16 दोषियों को मौत की सजा सुनाई और 10 को आजीवन कारावास की सजा सुनाई थी।


भोजपुर जिले के बथानी टोला नरसंहार कांड में 23 बरी

भाषा | पटना, 16 अप्रैल 2012 | अपडेटेड: 15:23 IST
पटना उच्च न्यायालय ने भोजपुर जिले के बथानी टोला गांव में दलितों के नरसंहार कांड में निचली अदालत से दोषी करार 23 लोगों को बरी कर दिया. न्यायमूर्ति नवनीति प्रसाद सिंह और न्यायमूर्ति एके सिंह की एक पीठ ने 11 जुलाई 1996 में भोजपुर जिले के सहार थाना क्षेत्र अंतर्गत बथानी टोला गांव नरसंहार कांड के सजायाफ्ता 23 लोगों को बरी कर दिया.
आरा स्थित एक स्थानीय अदालत ने 21 लोगों के नरसंहार के मामले में 12 मई 2010 को 23 लोगों को सजा सुनाई थी. तीन लोगों को सजा ए मौत और 20 अन्य को आजीवन कारावास की सजा दी गयी थी. दोषियों ने निचली अदालत के फैसले को पटना उच्च न्यायालय में चुनौती दी थी.
 
 
 
पटना उच्च न्यायालय ने अपीलकर्ताओं की सजा समाप्त करते हुए कहा कि अभियोजन पक्ष वादियों की अपराध में संलिप्तता को साबित करने में विफल रहा है. अदालत ने कहा कि सारे साक्ष्य और मामले के अवलोकन से लगता है कि इस मामले में निष्पक्ष तरीके से जांच नहीं की गयी.
रणवीर सेना के कार्यकर्ताओं ने धावा बोलकर 11 जुलाई 1996 में दो मासूम बच्चों, महिलाओं और बच्चियों समेत 21 दलितों की तड़के दो बजे हत्या कर दी थी. यह नरसंहार राजनीतिक रूप से काफी चर्चित हुआ था.http://aajtak.intoday.in/story/Bihar-court-acquits-23-in-caste-massacre-case-1-695810.html
AHRC deplores Jehanabad Court verdict that 'No One Killed 22 Dalits'
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deplored that citing lack of evidence against those accused of killing 22 Dalits in Shankar Bigha of Jehanabad, the district civil court acquitted all of the suspects.

In a media statement AHRC said that coming a full 15 years after the massacre on the eve of 26 January 1999 - ironically the Republic Day - the verdict is not a standalone case of justice being first delayed for the Dalits and then altogether denied to them. The denial did not come from the lower judiciary alone, the higher judiciary has also acquitted many of the accused as well; often by setting aside the convictions by lower judiciary.
According to AHRC, in October 2013, Patna High Court had set aside the convictions of all 26 accused of killing 58 Dalits in Laxamanpur Bathe massacre in 1997. The accused were convicted and sentenced by a lower court in 2010. Vijay Prakash Mishra, additional district and session's judge, Patna, had given sentences of capital punishment to 16 convicts and life imprisonment to 10 others (while acquitting 19). The High Court found the prosecution witnesses unreliable and the appellants deserved the benefit of doubt. It went on to order their immediate release if they were not wanted in any other case.
In July of the same year, the Court had reversed the conviction and sentencing of 9 out of 10 accused of perpetrating the Miyapur Massacre. All of them had been convicted and sentenced to life by a court in Aurangabad in 2007. The High Court upheld the conviction of only one accused who was identified by an eyewitness while letting all the others go.
A few months before, in March 2013, the same High Court acquitted all 11 persons accused of Nagari Bazaar massacre case in which 10 Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) supporters were killed in Bihar's Bhojpur district in 1998. Previously, a court in Ara, Bhojpur had found them guilty of committing the massacre and handed a death sentence to three while handing down life sentence to the remaining eight.
The acquittals came on the ground of "lack of adequate evidence" and absence of any eyewitnesses. That verdict also ordered immediate release if the accused were not wanted in any other case.
A year before, in 2012, the same high court had acquitted all the 23 persons accused of killing 21 Dalits at Bathani Tola in Bhojpur in 1996. All of the accused were originally convicted and sentenced by the sessions court in Ara in 2010 with three of them getting death sentence and remaining received life. The reason behind acquittals in this case was "defective evidence".
AHRC pointed out that a noteworthy point in all these acquittals is that they were all booked under the stringent provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 and the lower courts have found sufficient evidence to sentence the accused.
The High Court acquittals, on the other hand, are a practical claim that no one killed hundreds of massacred Dalits. It neither asked the prosecution to investigate who killed the victims; nor did it ask how this impunity for the murderers of the Dalits, oppressed by the system for thousands of years, perpetuates itself.
It may never ask, AHRC felt, as the impunity for the perpetrators of atrocities against Dalits is not limited to Bihar but runs across the judicial structure of the country. One may recall the horrendous murder of a Dalit family in Khairlanji, Maharashtra in which the prosecution has not pressed the Prevention Act at all! That shows how systematic and institutionalised casteism functions to deny the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the victims, it added.
AHRC said that the citizenry of the country deserves to know who killed the Dalits. It deserves to see the perpetrators of such hate crime serve their sentences. It worried that a country allowing the murderers of a section of its citizens to go free is merely a delinquent democracy after all, not a republic.
- See more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/ahrc-deplores-jehanabad-court-verdict-that-no-one-killed-22-dalits/15903535.shtml#sthash.rW72xuPf.dpuf

AHRC deplores Jehanabad Court verdict that 'No One Killed 22 Dalits'
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deplored that citing lack of evidence against those accused of killing 22 Dalits in Shankar Bigha of Jehanabad, the district civil court acquitted all of the suspects.

In a media statement AHRC said that coming a full 15 years after the massacre on the eve of 26 January 1999 - ironically the Republic Day - the verdict is not a standalone case of justice being first delayed for the Dalits and then altogether denied to them. The denial did not come from the lower judiciary alone, the higher judiciary has also acquitted many of the accused as well; often by setting aside the convictions by lower judiciary.
According to AHRC, in October 2013, Patna High Court had set aside the convictions of all 26 accused of killing 58 Dalits in Laxamanpur Bathe massacre in 1997. The accused were convicted and sentenced by a lower court in 2010. Vijay Prakash Mishra, additional district and session's judge, Patna, had given sentences of capital punishment to 16 convicts and life imprisonment to 10 others (while acquitting 19). The High Court found the prosecution witnesses unreliable and the appellants deserved the benefit of doubt. It went on to order their immediate release if they were not wanted in any other case.
In July of the same year, the Court had reversed the conviction and sentencing of 9 out of 10 accused of perpetrating the Miyapur Massacre. All of them had been convicted and sentenced to life by a court in Aurangabad in 2007. The High Court upheld the conviction of only one accused who was identified by an eyewitness while letting all the others go.
A few months before, in March 2013, the same High Court acquitted all 11 persons accused of Nagari Bazaar massacre case in which 10 Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) supporters were killed in Bihar's Bhojpur district in 1998. Previously, a court in Ara, Bhojpur had found them guilty of committing the massacre and handed a death sentence to three while handing down life sentence to the remaining eight.
The acquittals came on the ground of "lack of adequate evidence" and absence of any eyewitnesses. That verdict also ordered immediate release if the accused were not wanted in any other case.
A year before, in 2012, the same high court had acquitted all the 23 persons accused of killing 21 Dalits at Bathani Tola in Bhojpur in 1996. All of the accused were originally convicted and sentenced by the sessions court in Ara in 2010 with three of them getting death sentence and remaining received life. The reason behind acquittals in this case was "defective evidence".
AHRC pointed out that a noteworthy point in all these acquittals is that they were all booked under the stringent provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 and the lower courts have found sufficient evidence to sentence the accused.
The High Court acquittals, on the other hand, are a practical claim that no one killed hundreds of massacred Dalits. It neither asked the prosecution to investigate who killed the victims; nor did it ask how this impunity for the murderers of the Dalits, oppressed by the system for thousands of years, perpetuates itself.
It may never ask, AHRC felt, as the impunity for the perpetrators of atrocities against Dalits is not limited to Bihar but runs across the judicial structure of the country. One may recall the horrendous murder of a Dalit family in Khairlanji, Maharashtra in which the prosecution has not pressed the Prevention Act at all! That shows how systematic and institutionalised casteism functions to deny the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the victims, it added.
AHRC said that the citizenry of the country deserves to know who killed the Dalits. It deserves to see the perpetrators of such hate crime serve their sentences. It worried that a country allowing the murderers of a section of its citizens to go free is merely a delinquent democracy after all, not a republic.
- See more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/ahrc-deplores-jehanabad-court-verdict-that-no-one-killed-22-dalits/15903535.shtml#sthash.rW72xuPf.dpuf
AHRC deplores Jehanabad Court verdict that 'No One Killed 22 Dalits'
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deplored that citing lack of evidence against those accused of killing 22 Dalits in Shankar Bigha of Jehanabad, the district civil court acquitted all of the suspects.

In a media statement AHRC said that coming a full 15 years after the massacre on the eve of 26 January 1999 - ironically the Republic Day - the verdict is not a standalone case of justice being first delayed for the Dalits and then altogether denied to them. The denial did not come from the lower judiciary alone, the higher judiciary has also acquitted many of the accused as well; often by setting aside the convictions by lower judiciary.
According to AHRC, in October 2013, Patna High Court had set aside the convictions of all 26 accused of killing 58 Dalits in Laxamanpur Bathe massacre in 1997. The accused were convicted and sentenced by a lower court in 2010. Vijay Prakash Mishra, additional district and session's judge, Patna, had given sentences of capital punishment to 16 convicts and life imprisonment to 10 others (while acquitting 19). The High Court found the prosecution witnesses unreliable and the appellants deserved the benefit of doubt. It went on to order their immediate release if they were not wanted in any other case.
In July of the same year, the Court had reversed the conviction and sentencing of 9 out of 10 accused of perpetrating the Miyapur Massacre. All of them had been convicted and sentenced to life by a court in Aurangabad in 2007. The High Court upheld the conviction of only one accused who was identified by an eyewitness while letting all the others go.
A few months before, in March 2013, the same High Court acquitted all 11 persons accused of Nagari Bazaar massacre case in which 10 Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) supporters were killed in Bihar's Bhojpur district in 1998. Previously, a court in Ara, Bhojpur had found them guilty of committing the massacre and handed a death sentence to three while handing down life sentence to the remaining eight.
The acquittals came on the ground of "lack of adequate evidence" and absence of any eyewitnesses. That verdict also ordered immediate release if the accused were not wanted in any other case.
A year before, in 2012, the same high court had acquitted all the 23 persons accused of killing 21 Dalits at Bathani Tola in Bhojpur in 1996. All of the accused were originally convicted and sentenced by the sessions court in Ara in 2010 with three of them getting death sentence and remaining received life. The reason behind acquittals in this case was "defective evidence".
AHRC pointed out that a noteworthy point in all these acquittals is that they were all booked under the stringent provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 and the lower courts have found sufficient evidence to sentence the accused.
The High Court acquittals, on the other hand, are a practical claim that no one killed hundreds of massacred Dalits. It neither asked the prosecution to investigate who killed the victims; nor did it ask how this impunity for the murderers of the Dalits, oppressed by the system for thousands of years, perpetuates itself.
It may never ask, AHRC felt, as the impunity for the perpetrators of atrocities against Dalits is not limited to Bihar but runs across the judicial structure of the country. One may recall the horrendous murder of a Dalit family in Khairlanji, Maharashtra in which the prosecution has not pressed the Prevention Act at all! That shows how systematic and institutionalised casteism functions to deny the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the victims, it added.
AHRC said that the citizenry of the country deserves to know who killed the Dalits. It deserves to see the perpetrators of such hate crime serve their sentences. It worried that a country allowing the murderers of a section of its citizens to go free is merely a delinquent democracy after all, not a republic.
- See more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/ahrc-deplores-jehanabad-court-verdict-that-no-one-killed-22-dalits/15903535.shtml#sthash.rW72xuPf.dpuf

Thursday, January 1, 2015

NREGA fund allocation cut by 45% this fiscal till Sept

The scheme overhauled labour market by promising 100 days of work a year to each rural household at a pre-set minimum wage rate

As the Modi government deliberates on reframing the norms of the Mahatma Gandhi National Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme, one the largest job creation programmes in the world, a sharp cut in funding manifests its intentions to squeeze the scheme.
Compared to last financial year, till September, there has been nearly 45 per cent reduction in funds released by the Centre to states for NREGA-the sharpest since the inception of the scheme.
In the financial year 2014-15, the Central government released Rs 13,618 crore to states, against Rs 24,676 crore in the same period last year (FY 2013-14 till September 2013).
Launched in 2005, the overhauled the labour market by promising 100 days of work a year to each rural household at a pre-determined minimum wage rate. The daily wages under the scheme, as par revision in April 2012, was between Rs 122-189 per day. In addition, the earlier UPA government further increased wages in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. In contrast, the wages for casual labourers across sectors varies between Rs 80-220 per day, with agriculture sector accounting for one of the lowest wages.
State wise allocation of funds in some major states show, in Maharsahtra the fund allocation came down to Rs 136 crore in the FY 14-15, till September, against Rs 1152 crore in the same period last year. In West Bengal, the fund release came down to Rs 1782 crore, against Rs 2214 crore in the same period last year. In Karnataka the fund allocation came down to 439 crore from Rs 774 crore.
A fund crunch in the district level is apparent. "The fund allocations have substantially reduced under NREGA ever since the new government has come," said a district official in West Bengal.
Higher prevailing wages in NREGA had affected the wages in sectors like real estate and agriculture. According to Pradeep Sureka, a real estate developer based in Kolkata, the average daily wages of casual labourer has increased at the rate of 15-20 per cent annually over the last few years. At present, an unskilled labourer in the real estate sector earns Rs 200 per day, while the wages of semi-skilled or skilled laboueres is between Rs 500-600 per day in West Bengal.
"Getting labourers in the agriculture sector had been very difficult over the last few years, as the wages are much lower than that in the job guarantee scheme," said Pranab Chatterjee, professor at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya.
According to the proposals by the Central government, it plans to link the scheme to agriculture linkages. According to a government note, if at least 60 per cent of the works to be taken up in a district in terms of cost shall is for creation of productive assets linked to agriculture and allied activities through development of land, water and trees, it will bring at least Rs 25,000 crore of investment into agriculture. This apart, other changes would lead to deploying of an approximate Rs 8,000 crore for creating infrastructure like minor irrigation structures, according to the note.
The Central government has also been considering an amendment aimed at restricting the NREGA to the country's poorest 200 districts.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

सदी के महानयक पर सिखों के खिलाफ दंगा भड़काने का इल्जाम है

1984 riots: Amitabh Bachchan summoned by US court

By Ritika Handoo | Last Updated: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - 08:10
1984 riots: Amitabh Bachchan summoned by US court
Zee Media Bureau/Ritika Handoo
New Delhi: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan might have maintained a safe distance from his political ambitions, but seems the ghost from the past has again knocked on his door. According to reports, the thespian has been summoned by the Los Angeles Federal court in relation to the 1984 riots in the country.
The actor will have to respond within 21 days, in an alleged human rights violation alleged human rights violation case filed by a Sikh rights group. Bachchan senior has been allegedly charged with instigating violence against the Sikhs, after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed.
The US District Court here issued the summons on a complaint filed by New York-based Sikh for Justice (SFJ) and two alleged victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Running into 35-pages, the complaint alleges that Bachchan instigated people for violence after the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The reports further said that Amitabh Bachchan has been allegedly accused of raising the slogans 'blood for blood' on October 31, 1984. This might come as a blow to the fans of this legendary star, who will now have to respond within the stipulated time period of 21 days to the LA court.

पेड़ से शादी रचाने पर ऐश्वर्य के खिलाफ शिकायत दर्ज

#‎PK‬ का विरोध करने वालों को समझ नही आएगा कि इस तरह की फिल्मे अमिताभ सरीखे कलाकार की जिम्मेदारी थी मगर वो तो खुद इस कदर पाखंडों में उलझे रह गये कि अपनी ही बहू का ब्याह केले के पेड़ से कराते दिखे और समाज में पाखंड फैलाने में बड़ा योगदान दिया,फिर भी एक पाखंडी महानायक बन बैठा।।

पेड़ से शादी रचाने पर ऐश्वर्य के खिलाफ शिकायत दर्ज

02 फरवरी 2007
इंडो-एशियन न्यूज सर्विस

मुम्बई।
हिन्दी फिल्म जगत की मशहूर अदाकार ऐश्वर्य राय द्वारा कुंडली दोष निवारण के लिए पेड़ से शादी रचाए जाने के खिलाफ पटना उच्च न्यायालय में एक जनहित याचिका दर्ज की गई है।

अधिवक्ता श्रुति सिंह ने इस सप्ताह की शुरुआत में याचिका दायर करते हुए कहा है कि ऐसे धार्मिक अनुष्ठान अस्पृश्यता को बढ़ावा देते हैं।

उन्होंने कहा, “मैंने यह याचिका इस तरह की प्रथा को रोकने के लिए दायर की है, जैसा अमिताभ बच्चन द्वारा अपनी होनेवाली बहू ऐश्वर्य राय के लिए की गई है। यह संविधान के 17वें अनुच्छेद का उल्लंघन है, जिसमें अस्पृश्यता के निषेध की बात कही गई है। यह आधारभूत मानवीय अधिकारों का भी हनन है”।

गौरतलब है कि ऐश्वर्य मांगलिक हैं और किसी मांगलिक के बारे में ऐसा माना जाता है कि उसकी शादी के बाद उसके दामपत्य जीवन पर विपरीत असर पड़ता है। इन नकारात्मक प्रभावों को समाप्त करने के उद्देश्य से ही बच्चन परिवार द्वारा ऐश्वर्य के लिए धार्मिक अनुष्ठान आयोजित कराए गए थे।

उल्लेखनीय है कि इस दोष निवारण के लिए अभिनेत्री ने बनारस में एक पीपल के पेड़ के साथ और बंगलूरू के एक मंदिर में केले के पेड़ के साथ तथा अयोध्या में भगवान की एक मूर्ति के साथ ब्याह रचाया था।

श्रुति के अनुसार ऐश्वर्य का अभिषेक (जो मांगलिक नहीं हैं) के साथ शादी से पहले पेड़ों और भगवान की मूर्ति के साथ ब्याह रचाना अस्पृश्यता को बढ़ावा देने जैसा है।

श्रुति महिला अधिकार कार्यकर्ता भी हैं। आईएनएस से बातचीत करते हुए उन्होंने कहा, “सामाजिक स्थानों पर ऐश्वर्य, अमिताभ और अभिषेक द्वारा किया गया इस तरह का धार्मिक अनुष्ठान केवल वहम और अंधविश्वास को बढ़ावा देने की तरह है”।

उन्होंने अपनी याचिका में अदालत से निवेदन किया है कि वे राज्य सरकार और बिहार राज्य धार्मिक ट्र्स्ट बोर्ड को किसी मांगलिक का विवाह सबसे पहले पेड़ से करवाने जैसी रीति पर रोक लगाने का निर्देश दें।

उन्होंने बिहार के कुछ मंदिरों में होनेवाली इस तरह की शादियों पर प्रतिबंध लगाने की भी मांग की हैं, जिसमें पटना का शीतला मंदिर, फतुहा के पास बैकटपुर मंदिर तथा देवघर का शिवजी मंदिर आदि शामिल है।

कार्यकर्ता ने इस तरह के अंधविश्वास के साथ ऐश्वर्य की शादी रचाने को लेकर बच्चन परिवार द्वारा जनता से माफी की भी मांग रखी है।

श्रुति ने यह भी कहा कि इस तरह के रीति-रिवाजों को बढ़ावा देने के लिए बच्चन और उनकी पत्नी जया बच्चन तथा समाजवादी पार्टी के नेता अमर सिंह के खिलाफ याचिका दायर की जानी चाहिए।