No one can be told to list religion: High Court

High Court Says Need Not Mention Religion In Govt Forms

Mumbai: No person in India can be compelled to declare his religion, the Bombay high court ruled on Tuesday while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the Maharashtra government to not insist on declaration of religion on official forms and documents.
The petition was filed by Dr Ranjeet Mohite, Kishore Nazare and Subhash Ranaware, who claimed to be members of Full Gospel Church of God, which they said had more than 4,000 members. Though they believe in Jesus Christ, they do not believe in Christianity or any other religion.
They approached the state printing press, seeking to issue a gazette notification that said that they were not Christians and belonged to “no religion”. The state rejected their application forcing them to file a PIL in the HC.
Hearing the PIL, a division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and A S Chandurkar directed the Union and state governments “not to compel any individual to declare or specify his religion in any form or any declaration”. The court said that “every individual has the right to claim that he does not belong to any religion and that he does not practice or profess any religion”.
The Centre and the Maharashtra government had opposed the petition, saying no reliefs could be granted.
They claimed that “no religion” in official forms cannot be treated as a religion or as a form of religion.
The HC reminded the governments that India is a secular, democratic republic with no state religion.
The court held that no state authority could infringe upon a person’s fundamental right under the Constitution of India (Article 25) of freedom of conscience and freely practicing, professing or propagating a religion. The HC said that if an individual is told by the state to disclose his religion, he can say that he does not practice or belong to any religion.

By: Shibu Thomas
Courtesy: The Times of India
Dated: September 24,2014

Petition to The Honourable Governor of West Bengal, Condemn The Police Brutality against the Students in Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

Please click the link below to sign the petition.

Petition to The Honourable Governor of West Bengal

To

The Honourable Governor,
Government of West Bengal,
West Bengal, India
Dated, 19 September 2014

Respected Sir,

We are deeply shocked at the brutal police action at midnight on 17 September, 2014 against the students who were on a peaceful sit-in demonstration inside Jadavpur University campus. For the last few days, students of Jadavpur University have been protesting against the way JU administration has been handling the issue of the alleged molestation of a girl student inside the campus during the Fest on 28 August. One lady member of the Internal Complaints Committee(ICC), who herself reportedly declared herself to be a close relative of a West Bengal minister, asked objectionable questions to the victim such as what dress did she wear on that evening and whether she was drunk at that time. The victim herself objected to such queries and demanded that that lady be removed from the ICC. There is a clear stipulation in the Supreme Court that if the victim feels that any member of the ICC is biased and that she will not get natural justice from a committee of which she is a member, then that member would have to be removed and a new one ‘committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment’ (See: Sexual Harassment Act, 2013) be brought in. The interim Vice-Chancellor Mr. Abhijit Chakraborty, by refusing to act in accordance with the demand of the victim for natural justice, has actually violated Supreme Court directives.

The agitating students also condemned such objectionable questions and demanded the removal of that member from the team and the inclusion of two external juries in the probe team comprising a lawyer and a psychologist—a demand that was turned down by Mr. Abhijit Chakraborty, the interim Vice Chancellor of Jadavpur University. Instead, the JU authorities released a ‘code of conduct’ and declared the formation of a new group meant for surveillance inside the campus. This infuriated the students and the sit-in-demonstration was converted into a gherao of the members when the meeting of the JU Executive Council (EC) was on. It is reported that although some members of the EC were against police intervention, the interim Vice- Chancellor sought police action to break the demonstration and lift the gherao. Many teachers, who had been mediating between the students and the authorities, told the Vice Chancellor not to bring police inside as that would deteriorate the situation further. However, the interim Vice Chancellor remained adamant in his stand.

Thus a huge police force entered the Jadavpur University campus at the call of the interim Vice Chancellor after mid-night on 17th September 2014, and a large number of students—boys and girls—were cruelly beaten up by the police and some unidentified plainclothes-men, alleged to be the ruling party-goons and outsiders, with batons to break a peaceful sit-in demonstration. More than thirty students were injured and hospitalized, girls were deliberately molested by the baton-wielding force and there was no police woman in the team. About thirty six students including one girl student were illegitimately arrested and taken to the local police station and later to Lalbazar Central lock-up. That reminds us of the atrocious police action in 2005 on hunger-striker students at the call of the Vice-Chancellor and Registrar under the previous Left-front Government led by Mr. Buddhadev Bhattacharjee.

Such an odious assault committed by the police and the hooligans would put to shame any normal human being. Part of that was caught in the media camera and that is for all to see in order to believe. What was the reaction of the interim Vice-Chancellor? That has also to be seen to be believed. When the students of his own university were brutally beaten up and pushed to the floor, kicked repeatedly and bleeding, he claimed that it was the students who had beaten up the police force. The police forces, however, did not claim being beaten up by the students. It was also seen on TV channels that all lights in that place were suddenly switched off all at a time. When asked, the interim Vice-Chancellor accused the students of doing damage to the switch board by throwing stones from outside. The reality is that lights could be switched off only from inside where the main meter box was; it was switched off in order to facilitate the barbaric act accompanied by sexual harassment to take place in darkness hidden from media glare. The interim Vice-Chancellor even tried to defend his position by accusing the students of attempting to murder him. Here is a person who is shameless enough to tell blatant lies and even accuses his students of trying to kill him. Such remarks deserve universal condemnation.

Jadavpur University is one of the premier universities of India and it has a rich academic and cultural heritage. Born in the early 20th century during the heyday of the Anti-Partition movement during colonial rule, it was a centre of national education. It had been a place not only for high academic attainments, but also for the birth and dissemination of free thinking, cultural activities, people’s movements, activism of different types and a centre of protest and dissident voices. Many a time in the past, the students of this university stood in the forefront of just struggles and took to the streets. That precisely is the reason why the students of this institution of higher learning have always become the targets of the powers-that-be to whom dissident voices are unacceptable and need to be curbed.

The whole episode shows not just the total isolation of the JU authorities from the student community but also betrays the total inefficiency of the administration in dealing with agitating students. A few years back, a section of the teachers of Jadavpur University issued a statement stating that JU had become a police university in view of the presence of so many plain-clothes policemen/women round-the-clock within the campus; the latest JU decision to form a separate surveillance group only shows how serious the situation has become and how human rights are being trampled regularly and free speech and movement curbed.

We hold that the interim Vice-Chancellor, who instead of giving protection to the students, calls the police force to beat his own students black and blue, one who is totally unable and inefficient to deal with a student agitation, a person who disdainfully violates the guidelines of the Supreme Court, does not have the moral right to occupy the Chair.

We demand immediate removal of Mr. Abhijit Chakraborty, the interim Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University.

We vehemently condemn this revengeful act of JU administration and the police atrocity against the students of Jadavpur University on 17th September 2014 and demand an immediate judicial probe of this horrifying incident as well as exemplary punishment of all the culprits including the police personnel and the hoodlums.

We strongly condemn the present West Bengal government without whose green signal, the JU authorities would not have acted in the way they did.Rationalists and Humanists’ Forum of India stands in full solidarity with the students of Jadavpur University and demands that:

1. Immediate action should be taken against police officials responsible for the attack on peaceful protestors on the night of 16-17 September 2014.
2. Action should be taken against the university administrators including the Vice-Chancellor for colluding in the brutal police assault on the students, failing to protect the university’s student community especially woman students and failing to ensure compliance with the Vishakha judgment guidelines.
3. Action should be taken against police officials for not acting with due diligence in the molestation case filed by the woman student of Jadavpur University.
4. Immediate action should be taken against those guilty of molesting the woman student on 28th August in the university premises.
5. An independent panel should be immediately constituted to inquire into all aspects of this gruesome episode and recommend appropriate action against all police officials and officials of Jadavpur University who are responsible for any acts of omission or commission.
6. We also demand the immediate withdrawal of all police forces and intelligence officials in plain-clothes from the campus.

Given below are the links of videos that corroborate the fact of the police atrocities on a peaceful students’ demonstration in Jadavpur University campus after midnight on 17 September 2014.

By: Debashis
General Secretary, Rationalists’ and Humanists’ forum of India

Please click the link below to sign the petition.
Petition to The Honourable Governor of West Bengal

RHFI condemns police brutality on students’ protest at Jadavpur University

Rationalists’ and Humanists’ Forum of India strongly condemns the inhuman assault on protesting students of Jadavpur University on the night of 16-17 September 2014 by Kolkata police in collusion with the Vice-Chancellor. He called police to break up the peaceful protest by students and did nothing to prevent the brutal assault despite knowing that the protestors included women students were attacked and molested by the police and TMC goons.
Reports that the police was accompanied by plain-clothed policemen and goons belonging to ruling Trinamool Congress are a matter of serious concern.

The incident was an exact replay of the brutal attack that took place on June 27, 2005 during the Left Front rule.

New face of terrorism in West Bengal. We condemn the terrorism by TMC goons.

Terrorism has many faces.

The attack comes in backdrop of seven-day long peaceful sit-in-dharna by university students who were demanding the university administration to take action against anti-social elements who had molested a woman-student on 28th August in the university premises. Students wanted an independent panel of inquiry for the incident and action to be taken against members of the University’s Internal Complaints Committee who harassed the victim and violated the clear Supreme Court guidelines laid down in the Vishakha judgement. It is shocking that the legitimate demands of the students were not considered and appropriate steps to ensure safety of women students on the campus were not taken. It is also disturbing that the police showed no interest in moving against those who had perpetrated a serious crime despite the fact that one of the perpetrators has been identified.

Meanwhile, at a meeting with organisers of the upcoming Durga puja festival, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “Now a tiny incident is blown out of proportion. Attempts are being made to make riots, to provoke and trigger tension. Why this will happen? This should not be done.”

City police commissioner Surajit Kar Purakayastha denied allegations of lathicharge on the students and said that the situation could have turned worse had the police not intervened as there were reports of armed miscreants entering the campus.

Who are these people Mr Commissioner? JU students in police uniform beating up a policeman who is wearing a Tshirt? Mr Purakayastha, do you know the person in police uniform? His name is Rajkumar Singh. Probably an outsider. Right?

Rationalists’ and Humanists’ Forum of India takes serious note of this attack on campus democracy. Such attacks are becoming increasingly common in West Bengal and in other states where the respective state governments have not taken action against guilty police officers or anti-social elements often connected with the ruling party or its affiliates.

Rationalists and Humanists’ Forum of India stands in full solidarity with the students of Jadavpur University and demands that:

1. Immediate action should be taken against police officials responsible for the attack on peaceful protestors on the night of 16-17 September 2014.
2. Action should be taken against the university administrators including the Vice-Chancellor for colluding in the brutal police assault on the students, failing to protect the university’s student community especially woman students and failing to ensure compliance with the Vishakha judgment guidelines.
3. Action should be taken against police officials for not acting with due diligence in the molestation case filed by the woman student of Jadavpur University.
4. Immediate action should be taken against those guilty of molesting the woman student on 28th August in the university premises.
5. An independent panel should be immediately constituted to inquire into all aspects of this gruesome episode and recommend appropriate action against all police officials and officials of Jadavpur University who are responsible for any acts of omission or commission.

By: Debashis
General Secretary, Rationalists’ and Humanists’ Forum of India.
(On behalf of Rationalists’ and Humanists’ Forum of India)

Indigenous and Dalit communities at risk of forced evictions in Chhattisgarh

Thousands of people from marginalised communities living near a state-owned coal mine in Chhattisgarh are at risk of being forcibly evicted, said Amnesty International India.

January 2014: Babita walks towards her home site that overlooked the mine in Gevra, Chattisgarh. Pic: Aruna Chandrasekhar.

 

On 28 August 2014, authorities began to demolish houses in Ponri village in Korba, Chhattisgarh as part of efforts to expand the Gevra open cast mine run by South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), a subsidiary of the state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL), one of the world’s largest coal mining companies. Two houses were demolished on 28 August, and more evictions are likely to follow.

Authorities have given SECL permission to expand production at its coal mine in Korba from 35 MTPA (metric tonnes per annum) to 40 MTPA, which could lead to the eviction of over 5000 people from their homes and lands in over 18 villages in Korba. Those who could be evicted include Kawar, Gond and Korwa Adivasis (indigenous peoples) and Dalit families.

“The evictions on 28 August were carried out without genuine consultation, adequate notice or compensation, or the provision of adequate alternative housing,” said Aruna Chandrasekhar, Business and Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International India. “They amount to forced evictions, which are prohibited under international law.”

Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International India that SECL security personnel and paramilitary personnel forcibly evicted families from their homes on 28 August without giving them enough time to collect their belongings. State authorities and SECL officials were present at the site along with the police.

“We were celebrating Teej (a local festival) with relatives, when I stepped outside and saw that many policemen had surrounded my house,” said Babita Adiley, a 27-year-old woman whose house was demolished. “I didn’t get even a day’s notice. When I protested and asked to see an eviction notice, the police dragged me away. Some of our belongings inside the house were destroyed.”

Ram Prasad, a neighbour whose house was also demolished, said, “When we saw Babita being beaten and the police entering her home, we got scared. We picked up whatever of our belongings we could carry and ran out of our house.” Other villagers also said that they had not received any notice of the evictions. Local government officials told Amnesty International India that they were not aware of any specific notices having been served about the evictions.

The expansion of the Gevra mine, one of India’s largest open-cast coal mines, will further affect thousands of other families who are already impacted by air pollution, depletion of their water resources and loss of common lands. India’s Central Pollution Control Board ranks Korba among the country’s most critically polluted regions.

The Korba district is protected under the Indian Constitution as a ‘scheduled area’, where Adivasi communities live. Under the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, communities in these areas have the right to be consulted before acquisition of any land or resettlement of people for development projects. State authorities have not conducted such consultations.

Authorities have also failed to ensure that local communities’ lawful claims over common lands were settled before clearance was granted for the mine expansion, or that communities’ consent was sought before using forest land for non-forest purposes, as required by India’s Forest Rights Act.

Laxmi Chauhan, a local environmental activist, told Amnesty International India, “Despite Korba being a protected area, communities are being evicted without any respect for their rights. Instead of following the law, SECL has been claiming that the PESA Act does not apply to them”.

“The Chhattisgarh government must ensure that those who have been forcibly evicted receive effective remedy and reparation, and it must take action against any officials involved in the forced evictions,” said Aruna Chandrasekhar.

“No more evictions should take place until communities’ rights to consultation and free, prior and informed consent are respected.”

 

Background

Under Indian environmental law, certain development projects are required to hold public hearings, as part of their environmental clearance process, for authorities to consult local people and address their concerns. Public hearings are among the few avenues available for communities to express their concerns about the impacts of a project on their lives and livelihoods.

India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) cleared the expansion of the Gevra mine in January 2014. Authorities exempted the project from conducting an environmental public hearing to inform and consult communities on the impacts of the expansion. The Ministry has recently issued a series of policy memorandums which exempt more coal mining expansion projects from holding public hearings. The latest of these was issued on 2 September 2014 and allows coal mines that produce over 20 MTPA of coal to expand their production by another 6 MTPA without holding a public hearing.

Under international human rights law and standards, the Indian government has a duty to respect and protect the rights of individuals to participate in decisions that affect them. Changes to environment policies which weaken consultation processes could undermine the rights of communities affected by these projects.

By: Debashis

(Featured Image: Gevra, one of Asia’s largest coal mines, is set to expand to extract 40 million tonnes of coal a year. Pic: Aruna Chandrasekhar.)

(This article was published in AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INDIA on 4th September 2014)

 

RHFI Files Complaint Against Yogi Adityanath for hate speech exhorting Muslim women to be raped

 

The Hon’ble Chairperson,

National Commission for Minorities

Lok Nayak Bhavan,
Khan Market,
New Delhi 110 003.

Subject: Immediate Action including registration of FIR be directed against Hindu Yuva Vahini, MP Yogi Adityanath for hate speech exhorting Muslim women to be raped, Muslims to be deprived of voting rights and Mosques to be converted to pig pens and suspension of officers of Uttar Pradesh police at this rally at Sidhartnagar for not intervening and stopping this rabid hate-speech in their presence.

Respected Sir ,

We would like to draw the urgent and immediate attention of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) towards an extremely reprehensible and offensive set of remarks , violation of various sections of the Indian Penal C ode,1860 made by members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini in presence of Yogi Adityanath, BJP MP from Gorakhpur.

video footage of the entire incident is being provided for your perusal.

Video footage:

The footage provided, clearly shows that the speaker says the following:

“Hindus should not rest till Mosques minarets bear saffron flags. When India becomes a Hindu nation under leaders like Yogi Adityanath, Muslims will be given same treatment as minorities in Pakistan.Muslims will be made second class citizens and voting rights will be taken away. Muslims have betrayed their land, their families and Hindus should not trust them. Rape Muslim women”

The above said is in flagrant violation of section 153A, 295(A) , 298,504, 505 ( 1 ) (b) and (c), 505 (2) of IPC 1860 and amounts to deliberately, intentionally and maliciously outraging the religious feelings, inciting hatred and ill-will among communities. It also amounts to criminal intimidation and abetment of rape. In addition to this the footage shows young men brandishing weapons and swords openly.

Yogi Adityanath, MP, is seen sharing the stage and his name is invoked by the Speaker while addressing the audience. He makes no attempt to clarify or distance himself from the hate-riddled views of the Speaker but endorses them tacitly. He too must be prosecuted for criminal conspiracy and abetment.

Recently, Yogi Adityanath was seen in another video allegedly telling Hindu supporters to marry a hundred Muslim women for every Hindu woman marrying a Muslim and forcibly made to convert to Islam. Here is an independent news report confirming the same :

http://www.firstpost.com/india/watch-bjps-yogi-adityanath-tells-hindus-to-marry-a-100-muslim-women-1684103.html

This video, provided in the news report link, shows that Yogi Adityanath has a history and reputation of spreading communal poison and hatred.

Finally, the UP Police officers of Sidharthnagar district are clearly seen in the footage but do nothing as such a speech is delivered openly. They neither proceed to stop it nor do they arrest the Speaker and his co-conspirators in this case of hate-speech, intimidation and exhortation f sexual violence.

In light of these circumstances, it is humbly prayed before the NCM that

a) Direct the registration of an FIR in the instant case against the Speaker of the Hindu Yuva Vahini for violation of various sect ions of IPC,1860 and direct immediate and appropriate penal action against Yogi Adityanath, MP for abetment and criminal conspiracy. Direct the National Commission for Women to take cognizance of the open exhortation to rape women.

b) Send report of the incident involving the MP Yogi Adityanath to the Ethics Committee of Parliament so that appropriate action can be taken by the Hon’Ble Speaker and the Committee against him.

c) Direct the suspension of the UP Police officers, seen in the footage, failing to act in the given case.

CC:
To,
National Commission for Women, New Delhi.
National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi
DGP, Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh Government of UP.
Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

By: Debashis Rationalist
General Secretary, rationalists’ and humanists’ Forum of India
(On behalf of Rationalists’ and Humanists’ Forum of India)