Northeast India: Journalists in Line of Fire

By Monjib Mochahari

It’s a debatable question whether the pen can always fight against the bullets? Working in the trouble torn Northeast India is becoming increasingly unsafe for those who work without frontiers. In another shocking incident, before the old wound was healed, Anil Majumdar, editor of a prominent daily Assamese newspaper Aji, was brutally shot dead by unidentified gunman outside his house late night on March 25, in Assam's main city of Guwahati. Majumdar had been campaigning for peace talks between the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) with the Central government.

In another shocking incident, on 17 November, Konsam Rishikanta, 22 sub-editor working for Imphal Free Press, was gunned down in the Langol area in Manipur’s Imphal West District, Till date, at least 20 editor-journalists have been killed in Assam of Northeast India during the last couple of years. Surprisingly, not enough a single perpetrator of these heinous crimes was brought to justice.

The decades of insurgency and frequent eruption of ethnic conflicts have brought a reputation to its 39 millions people in the entire north-eastern region. The mushrooming of militant organisations has made the lives of peace loving people hell-like situation. An unofficial record indicates, more 120 militant groups operate in eight states with its based in Bangladesh as headquarter. The states of Assam and Manipur have the maximum number of insurgency groups.

In the last couple of years, number of new insurgent groups has been formed. This, in turn has definitely increased the frequency of the causality. According to the Ministry of Home affairs report, 2007, a total of 1,489 violent incidents have taken place in the region. The Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, 2004, reveals that the myriad violent insurgencies have beset India's northeastern states for decades. Over 50,000 people have been killed since India's independence in 1947. Large numbers of people have also been displaced by conflict. Whereas, in Assam, according its official data, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has killed more than 10,000 people over the past two decades.

Frankly, this record reminds us that the insurgent problems seem far from over. In fact, its reality it’s worst than ever what appears in media. Yet, the national media has turned a deaf ear on the region. Even today, hardly any news events get priority in the national media. There are the prominent reasons to it. First, the geographical isolation of the region. Second, the political insignificance. And third, the ethnic sensitivity of the region.

The journalists, as well as the media fraternity who have been trying to highlight the issue, are today, between the devil and the deep sea. The situation has either made their lives even more endangering than ever. Neither, they can unearth the facts nor leave the pens and paper. The Journalists' Action Committee, Assam (JACA), All Manipur Working Journalists' Union and Editors' Forum have also launched series of protest demanding safety and security from the governments. Yet, no such effort has ever been initiated by the government. Neither the perpetrators have been brought to justice.

There is an urgent need for safety and security for the working journalists in the region. However, the insurgency issue cannot be dismantles unless, the state and Central government make genuine efforts. Indeed, the truth cannot be told unless journalists are free to move, to talk with everyone involved and to see with their own eyes what is happening on the ground. And hence it remains sentinels of the society.

India's third sex, citizens without rights

By Monjib Mochahari

Their face is their fortune. Lipsticks and powder are their regular items. Their ill-fitted blouses and colourful saris make them awesomely beautiful as they walk the streets for their livelihood. It’s estimated, India has 1.2 million eunuchs (transgenders). Yet, even after sixty years of India’s independence, no official data has ever been made to estimate the actual existence of eunuchs so far. Of this ninety-nine percent of eunuchs are either illiterate or semi-literate, having no source of income, except begging. Nearly 90% of Indian eunuchs live in poverty in grief condition. Their survival is through begging, entertaining in marriages/parties, blessing newly born child, prostitution, or other illegal jobs. They are called by different names such as chhakkas, Durani in Kolkata, menaka in Kochi, meti in Nepal, zenana in Pakistan.

Eunuchs in India have virtually no safe spaces, not even in their families, where they are protected from prejudice and abuse. It’s a history now that India’s hijra community has a recorded history of more than 4,000 years. They were considered to have special powers because of its third-gender status and enjoyed a proud place in Indian society, gaining trusted positions in royal courts protecting the nobility's harems or zenanas. They were even regarded as trustworthy because of their impotence and many rose to powerful court positions. However, today their sexual status is not recognized constitutionally. Rather, consider to be social outcaste, deprived of social status and other civil and legal rights because Indian law recognises only two sexes. Frankly, this means that hijras do not have the right to marry and own a ration card, a passport or a driving licence, or claim employment and health benefits.

The People’s Union for Civil Liberty report shows that this prejudice is translated into violence, often of a brutal nature, in public spaces, police stations, prisons and even in their homes. The main factor behind the violence is that society is not able to come to terms with the fact that hijras do not conform to the accepted gender divisions. In addition to this, most hijras have a lower middle-class background, which makes them susceptible to harassment by the police. The widespread discrimination based on their class and gender makes the hijra community one of the most disempowered groups in Indian society. The hijras in India find it hard to get a good education. Employment opportunities are very rare. Most public and private companies use several excuses to deny employment. The end result is that they are forced into prostitution. The entertainment industry in India portrays them as a butt of ridicule. They are mostly used in farce situations. Most young children learn about eunuchs through mainstream movies. The only thing they learn from them is that they are something to be joked upon on. It must also be noted here that several movies during the past decade have raised the issue of eunuchs in Indian society.

Eunuchs were given voting rights in 1994. Shabnam Mausi was the first eunuch elected from the Sohagpur constituency in Madhya Pradesh state's Shahdol district in 1008. Her success story as an MLA has inspired a lot of Hijras in India to take up politics and participate in 'mainstream activities' in India, giving up their traditionally roles as dancers, prostitutes, and beggars, living on the fringes of Indian society. Of late the hijra community has begun to mobilise themselves through the formation of a collective effort. Sangama, an organisation working with hijras, kothis and sex workers in Bangalore, has played an important role by helping them organise and fight for their rights. In December 2002, the community and in Bangalore formed a collective called Vividha, demanding repeal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. It has also demanded that hijras be recognised as women, be given equal opportunities, with entitlement to housing, employment benefits and rail travel concession.

Though, in parts of north and central India, hijras, who have contested and won elections to local and State bodies, had to face legal challenges due to their sexual status. It’s fact that in February 2003, the Madhya Pradesh High Court struck down the election of Kamala Jaan as the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Katni. The court's logic was that since Kamala Jaan was not a woman, she could not contest the seat, which was reserved for women. Recently, on January 2009, eunuchs have moved the Supreme Court seeking their education, social and political rehabilitation, including reservation of seats in Parliament, state assemblies and legislative councils. The petition filed by Sonam Singh, from Rajasthan has sought a direction to the Union Government to constitute a National Kinner Ayog or Commission to take up the rehabilitation of the neglected population by providing them reservation in jobs, education and Parliament, assemblies and legislative councils. In a petition filed through counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Sonam Singh, who identifies herself as a woman, regretted that even the Election Commission has never decided the gender category of eunuchs and has been arbitrarily treating them as female/male without any reasonable or scientific basis. Currently, Tamil Nadu, which has the highest number of eunuchs, is the only state India to recognized transgenders as a separate sex. They are officially identified as ‘T’ in official forms. The state government has also set up a special welfare board for the community and has several schemes for them, including separate voter identification cards, ration cards and free sex correction operations. Recently, it has allotted Rs. 1 crore for a housing project and the Chennai Municipal Corporation sanctioned Rs. 45 lakh for a noble project to build three public toilets for eunuchs.However, last project has triggered a statewide protest fearing that separate toilets would perpetuate marginalization even more.

However, this is only a small step for the welfare of this socially deprived group. It should be an eye opener to change the mental psyche that it’s time not keep them isolate or mock them in the public places, but to accept them as normal beings. One way of solving them, is to through special provision in terms of education, employment and legal opportunities. After all, they are also citizens of the country, deserve every human rights guaranteed by the constitution. Stop harassment. One eunuch blogger writes in a poetical language, “to be or not to be, says the hijra. Just let me be. A hijra totally free. Third gender mutually coexisting form here till eternity. Neither man nor woman, just me. Trust me, accuse me…..”

Page3 Elections

By Monjib Mochahari

WELL, in few weeks, world's largest democracy will witness the biggest democratic exercise ever - General Elections 2009. Be proud of it. Let your finger count for a prosperous India. Though democracy has survived in India for the last sixty years, yet there is very little things to cheer about it. There is a deep political crisis in the entire political system. Lack of leadership, communal and divisive politics, corrupations, regional divides and vice-versa. Are these political ingredients taking India for a ride? Chaos overflowing, it's beacuse India's politics has become a 'Page3 Politics'.

Just a few days back I was reading an artile in the Asian Age newspaper written by SHOBHAA DE. She writes, 'there should be two-partiessystem in India - Bollywood and Cricketer. That will make life so much easier for voters. We are nearly there. We must need to go official with the agenda'. I agree to what she has said in her article. Yes, it's very disturbing that politics in India is taking shape of a Page3 Politics, as there is no seriousness in political parties. This is very clear with regard to the selection of candidates. It seems there's no criteria, on the basis of which a candidate is eligible to contest an election. Imagine, if glamour and reputatiation are the two qualifications to be an MP/MLA? Very popular, right candidate? Bollywood star, choose whichever constituency you want to represent?. Dynastic politics = First Choice? If you have the money, take the ticket. If you don't have, don't even think of politics. Very interesting, indeed the game of the politics is!

Right, democracy is too much democratic in nature? Are not political giants taking our democracry for a joyride? It's very weird, even after sixty years of India's independence millions people have to sleep hungry. Millions of people don't access to proper healthcare facilities, millions of children don't even go to school, hundreds of young girls are being tortured and raped everyday. And so, still playing games with politics or making politics a powerhouse of the powerful? Is it not a Page 3 politics? Alas! there the common people, between the devil and the dee sea. When tsunami of dreams, fade away. When aspiration becomes perspiration and when the powerful begin to isolate..?

No tickets for women in Politics...?

By Monjib Mochahari

Love or hate India’s male-dominated politics, you can't ignore politics. 15th Lok Sabha polls are around the corner. Forget about the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or the 3rd Front. It’s time to introspect that women in India have less than 10 percent representation in parliament even though they make up 44 percent of the voting population. The fact is that the much talk about 30 percent women’s reservation bill is gaining dust in Parliament. Is politics a distant cry for women in India or a time say no to political parties who have tickets to women?

Young voters, old politcians

By Abhishek Pandey

Poll dates for 15th Lok Sabha elections have been announced. World would watch the election of largest democracy of the world in five faces from April 16 to May 23. The 15 Lok Sabha elections would decide the fate of six national and 224 regional parties. A total of 740 millions voters would decide the next ruling government of India.

Election commission has given the details of the young voters which amounts 24% of electorate this time. The contradiction is that India has more than 40% MP aged between 50 to 90 years of age. All the parties are planning to woo the young voters to get the maximum number of seats in the next parliamentary elections. We can only hope that parties would also increase the seat share for the young politicians. But it does not seem to happen. All the parties want votes of youngsters but for oldies only.

Congress has Rahul Gandhi as the young face of party. Rahul has been seen visiting slums and villages of the different states for elevating himself as a ‘real’ politician. BJP prime ministerial candidate LK Advani has also showed that he is a tech-savvy with a vision of a youngster by lifting dumbbells at the age of 78. Advani has taken the support of online advertising to attract the young Internet users. Advani is also planning to visit college campus across the country to propagate his ideology ahead of LS polls. He is asked for volunteers to support in his college campaign and many have come ahead to support him.

India has some young turks in both houses of parliament. Rajesh Pilot’s son Sachin Pilot, Madhav Rao Scindhias’s son Jyotiraditya Scindhia, Indian National Congress also have Former MP Jitendra Prasad’s son Jatin Prasad, Union minister Murli Deora’s son Milind Deora, Actor cum politician late Sunil Dutt’s daughter Priya Dutt, Former Andhra Pradesh CM NT Ramarao’s daughter D Purandeshwari and few more.

Other parties also have young faces like Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma’s daughter Agatha Sangma, Former CM of Tamilnadu M Karunanidhi’s daughter Konimozhi and NCP president Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule are few examples of the leaders who are carrying forward their political lineage. Samajwadi party has Akhilesh Yadav, son of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Kalyan Singh’s son Rajbir Singh, Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldip Vishnoi, Prakash Singh Badal’s son Sukhbir Singh Badal and few others have put their feet in their parents’ shoes.

It seems that we are having many young leaders in Indian politics. But another side of this coin is not as bright as it should be. All the aforementioned young leaders have not come from grass root level. Most of them are won just because of their political background. They have not gone to the process of making a politician. Despite of this fact, their capabilities can not be questioned. But the dependence of all these leaders to the senior politicians in the party for almost all the important decisions show that they are memo-queen of their political party.

This is not a good sign that young politicians have not been accepted unless they have any political background. We need young politicians those can understand the need of youngsters which amount 24% of registered voters or approx 180 million youths. Indian youth need the good professional institutes, good educational and health policies, good job opportunities, better life style, good roads, availability of all the brands in his/her city, corruption less society, proper security in public places, comfortable transport facilities and many more. Youths are more demanding than other ‘aam aadmi’. They are looking for an ‘Obama’ to happen in India. Their demands are not too much. They know the capacity India and ready to extend their hand for the incredible change in India’s future. But who is ready to hold their hand.

If they can prosper the Silicon Valley in USA then why cant they do the same magic in Bangalore. If most of the well trained Indian doctors and engineers are working for western countries to make sure the proper running of research institutes and health centers. Why can’t they do this in India? They can do it but they need something in return.

After watching complicated political strategies, young generation of India wants to know about the reality in the promises of the politicians, young or old. The need the government which don’t play the political tantrums by raising caste, religion, regional and other trivial issues in their manifesto. The young voters would definitely look for the government which would be able to solve the problem of economic slump. They would vote for the government which would create jobs for them in the time of crisis.We can only hope that next government would listen to these issues and surely, they would not ignore this voice and if they would do, it would be at their own peril. Is any one listening?

Ragging, a form of Terrorism

By Monjib Mochahari

He would have saved many lives. He would certainly have given smiles to the sufferings. But it’s very unfortunate, on Sunday evening; Amann Kuchroo, 19 a first year medical students in Dr. Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, Himachal Pradesh was allegedly ragged to death by four seniors students. It’s deeply inconsolable to the Amann’s family that they lost their only son in such an inhuman manner.

In the west it’s the frequent campus shoot-outs, whereas in India, it’s certainly the ceremonial and criminal raggings in academic institutions that turn students’ lives into nightmare. Though ragging has been strictly banned in some colleges and universities in India, but how far the ban is effective appears clear on the campuses, hostels and in the media. Amit Sahai was a student of NIT Jalandhar, Punjab and he committed suicide on October 11, 2005, by jumping in front of a speeding train. He blamed nine senior students of NIT Jalandhar in his suicide note for having had mercilessly ragged him. Durgesh Shukla hanged himself from a ceiling fan on September 18 2007. He blamed seniors in his suicide note.

On August, 2003, an electrical engineering student of IIT Delhi ran away from his hostel after he was force to perform “sexual acts” by his seniors. The victim returned only after the seniors were suspended for a semester. In the same year, a student of Chemistry in Hindu College was asked to strip and walk in the corridor of the college hostel. Similarly, on August, 2006 a first year student of Delhi’s School of Planning and Architecture was allegedly ragged by two of his seniors in the boy’s hostel in Maharani Bagh. Worst still, on October, 2007 a first year student of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi received burn injuries on his hands and knees after four senior allegedly lit a matchstick after spraying deodorant on his body.

A report from 2007 highlights 42 instances of physical injury, and reports on ten deaths purportedly the result of ragging. In the 2007 session, 7 ragging deaths have been reported. Ragging has reportedly caused at least 30-31 deaths in the last 7 years; all of which are those of freshers. C. Lalitha, the mother of Mukesh, ended her life due to the controversy surrounding the sexual abuse of her son during ragging on September 2006 in Andhra Pradesh. These incidents are enough to prove that freshers are subject to regular and undeterred criminal ragging, physical bashing and in some case even sexual manhandling. Analytically, ragging involves gross violations of human rights. The seniors commonly torture the innocent juniors and by this those seniors get some kind of sadistic pleasures. Truly speaking the nature of ragging in most of the hostels in India may be as severe as what we know about the infamous Abu Ghraib prison of Irag. The Supreme Court of India in its judgment on February 11, 2009 termed ragging as: “It is a form of systematic and sustained physical, mental and sexual abuse of fresh students at a college, university or any other educational institution at the hands of senior students of the same institution and sometimes, even outsiders”.

Though ragging has ruined the lives of many, resistance against it has grown up only recently. With the situation of ragging worsening yearly, there is an urgent need for spontaneous anti-ragging movement to stop such an inhuman activities. Several Indian states have made legislatures banning ragging, and the Supreme Court of India has taken a strong stand to curb ragging. Ragging has been declared a “criminal offence”. The Indian civil society has also started to mount resistance, only recently. India’s first and only registered Anti Ragging NGO, Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) has supported that ragging is also widely and dangerously prevalent in many colleges and institutions, mainly in the hostels. Online groups like Coalition to Uproot Ragging from India (CURE), Stopragging and No Ragging Foundation became the major Anti Ragging groups on the Internet. However, the success of these anti-ragging movements far from the reality. The need of the hour is that who ever engages in any form of ragging – either physical, mental or sexual must be made to pay for life for the crime he or she has ever committed in the campus. Unless and until such an exemplary punishment is given, raggings will continue to break the headlines

Net-savy politicians log on for Gen Next voters

By Monjib Mochahari

714 MILLION Voters will decide the fate of the formation of the next govt. Will loud election campaigns in the streets be a history? Surprisingly, the net-bug has bitten several politicians in the country. Campaigning for the forthcoming parliamentary polls, this time, is not just confined to streets, hoardings and loudspeakers. Quite a handful of politicians switching over to new media such as e-mail, webcasts, SMS, MMS, blogs, social networking sites to woo the largest possible voters, especially the younger lot in a quickest manner. In India more than 45 million people have access to Internet and of this 57 percent are aged between 18 to 35 years.

For, NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr. L.K. Advani, the web has come as a blessing to realised his dream of becoming the next Prime Minister of the country. He is, at the moment, leading the ‘e-campaign’ with highest number of visitors of approximately more than 5,000 volunteers have enrolled in his web site www.lkadvani.com. There are others politicians like Chirajeevi and Rahul Gandhi are also coping with the race. Chiranjee’s www.megafans.com is second a crowd-puller, whereas Gandhi’s website www.rahulgandhi.com is the platform for young Indians.

There other politicians who are yet to launch their e-campaign. Congress MP Priya Dutta is likely to contest from Mumbai’s north-central constituency plans to webcast her election speeches and campaign trial on her website www.priyadutt.org. Webcasting is a technology where audio or video is broadcast over the Internet. Supriya Sule, NCP strongman, Sharad Power’s daughter announced her willingness to campaign in Facebook on February 4.Similarly, the Maharasthra Navrirman Sena recently launched the party website starting their own blogs, which will be up and running in the next couple of week. Ram Naik, the BJP’s leader who is eyeing the North Mumbai is reaching out voters through the internet.Technology has enabled politicians stay in constant touch with their voters and it’s at the moment best alternative force to influence the people. Thanks to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who dared to computerise the country. Though, he was criticised for introducing computers, especially the left parties who opposed the whole process of computerisation, fearing job losses, at the moment he deserves much accolades for his vision that he realised two decades back.

In the process of economic liberalisation, since 1990s, the way to informatisation of the country was laid. At the moment, this process of information revolution has totally dismantled the communication gap. What was ever thought as impossible became possible within a span of twenty years. It’s undeniably unarguable, politicians who were earlier opposed to it, actually, have realised its potential capabilities. As a medium of reaching large voters spread across, as the junk of the voters constitute young population who have access to internet, more and more politicians are translating their electoral dreams into the newly introduced medium ‘e-campaign’ it involves less cost, but higher reachability in short span of time.

Despite, this new trend, it’s too early to say, who will reap the benefits offered by this media. This will be proved in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls scheduled for April 16. However, my argument here is that, the technology has come as a blessing not only to the politicians contesting the elections, but also to the voters know about their favourite candidates, as well as of others or the opponents. This new media has opened up a new transparency in whole political set-up. This should be welcomed in a country like ours. This new avenue for the well functioning should be utilised in the best possible manner, especially the young generations who have so much access to the Internet. Yet, the challenge is - it’s only the beginning of a revolution; the success of this depends, when everyone has access to it. Moreover, it should be a means to ensure more transparency in the democratic functioning of the state, but not controversies. Its fault-play will be catastrophe indeed. The Election Commission must patrol these proliferation of Net-tactics so that they do not become a propaganda machine, catering only petty political interests.