Orissa’s human rights panel, in a historic ruling, gives three river-locked villages a way out of their decades-old isolation, reports Dhrutikam Mohanty
Three river-locked villages in Kendrapara district of Orissa, deprived for decades of a road link with the outside world, are on the way out of their isolation.
In a historic ruling, the Orissa State Human Rights Commission (OSHRC) has construed the absence of proper communication facilities as a violation of human rights and directed the authorities to provide the villagers with better means of transport and a bridge across a river that runs through their area.
Says human rights lawyer Prabir Das: “This direction has added a new dimension to the definition of human rights. Human rights normally mean basic civil and political rights such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.”
The path-breaking OSHRC order has come in the wake of a petition filed by people of Kalamada Sasan, Padanipal and Daitaripur villages who have been living in a river-locked area with absolutely no road links since the pre-Independence period. The commission delivered its ruling after being apprised of the misery of 10,000 inhabitants of these villages.
Padanipal area under Aul block of Kendrapara district consists of the villages of Padanipal, Kalamada Sasan and Daitaripur. It forms an island with the Kharasrota river flowing to its north, east and west and its tributary, Kani, flowing in the South. Apart from this, a water channel connecting the two rivers flows through Kalamada Sasan cleaving the village into two. The villagers have to cross the rivers and the water channel to access basic facilities like health and education.
The Padanipal area is only 150 kilometers away from the state capital, Bhubaneswar. Just a short distance away from the district headquarters, Aul, the road hits a dead-end. This is where the Kharasrota river begins and villagers have to depend on country boats like the one owned by Japani Mallik.
“Everyday my 20-seater boat carries villagers to their offices, schools, colleges and even hospitals when necessary. The villages are stranded if my boat is out of order for even a day,” says Mallik.
In Kalamada Sasan, Prof. Rabindra Kumar Dash, retired principal of Aul College, tells us: “As we don’t have a college in this island area, our boys and girls have to cross the river everyday to reach nearby Aul College. Some school students also cross the river as there is only one high school here.”
Senior citizen Gangadhar Das avers: “The most unfortunate thing is that to reach the nearest hospital at Aul, the people of these villages have to cross five to six kilometers of river water on country boats. Even if a boat is available, the life of a patient is at risk because of the time it takes to traverse the distance.”
To make matters worse, due to their geographical location, these villages have to bear the brunt of nature’s fury. “This area is flood prone. Even a small flood washes away paddy crops every year. More than 60 per cent of the people living in this area are below the poverty line. Although a section of villagers is engaged in fishing, yields are limited because the river isn’t very deep,” says Parsuram Samantray, sarpanch of the area.
Life for the villagers is tough even without nature robbing them of their livelihood. Ashok Mallick, a daily labourer, says: “In the non-harvesting seasons, I don’t get work in the island area, so I have to move out to Aul and its adjacent places for work. I have to pay a minimum of Rs 20 a day as boat fare.”
The villagers have to cross the Kharasrota for every little requirement – collecting their rations in Bhuinpur, five km away, against their BPL cards. Says another villager, Suresh Mallick: “We have to pay for a boat ride even to cast our vote during election time.”
Land erosion is another major threat to this area. The Kani river originates from Kharasrota near Padanipal and rejoins it after passing Padanipal and Kalamada Shasana. The water current is, therefore, strong here. The river water has been steadily eroding its bank every year.
Prof Rabindra Dash decided to move the OSHRC after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government announced that every village with a population of 500 and above would be linked by roads. Armed with that directive, the villagers filed a formal plea to attract the attention of the administration to their plight.
Prof Dash reveals, “Before approaching OSHRC, we got in touch with the district administration, the local MLA and ministers. Everyone promised to solve the problem but nothing was done. The apathy of the administration made us determined to fight our own battle.”
The villagers approached OSHRC in 2006. Says Prof Dash: “Fortunately, the commission accepted our petition as a human rights violation and directed the District Collector to conduct an inquiry regarding the problems of the river-locked villages under Aul block. The commission also asked the collector to suggest a viable solution within four weeks. The collector suggested that a bridge be constructed on the river Kani.”
Subsequently, OSHRC summoned the chief secretary of the Orissa government and asked him to intervene. In compliance, the chief secretary accepted the proposals of the district collector. Orders were issued to the rural works department to take action. On August 12, 2009, OSHRC released the final order on the petition filed by villagers of Padanipal area that the state government will be constructing a bridge over the Kani.
The sarpanch, Parsuram Samantray, informs us that the preliminary work for the construction of the bridge has already begun, signifying a huge victory for the people of Padanipal. Will the inhabitants of other river-locked areas of Orissa take a cue from Padanipal’s success? They already are doing just that. People of Satabhaya area of Kendrapara district and of 151 villages of the Chitrakonda Reservoir cut-off area of Malkangiri district are now reportedly planning to approach OSHRC with their long-standing grievances.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
NGOs, Orissa govt at loggerheads
The state government is firm on monitoring the work and funds of SOCIAL outfits under the RTI ACT, says Dhrutikam Mohanty
Development programmes launched by the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) in Orissa are not bearing much fruit. The situation becomes clear when one looks at the level of human development in the state. Orissa’s Human Development Index (HDI) ratings, the yardstick used to measure citizens’ access to knowledge, health, food and nutritional security, is at a nadir of 0.345. Families living below the poverty line (BPL) number over 40 lakh, a figure rising with each passing year. A survey in 1997 fixed the number of BPL families at 38 lakh. The figure jumped to 41.56 lakh in a 2002 survey. “Facts and figures clearly reveal that welfare projects are not implemented properly at the grassroots. Growth exists only on paper to appease bosses at the state secretariat,” remarks Panchanan Kanoongo, former finance minister of Orissa.
According to a survey in 2007-2008, over 80 per cent of households in 15 districts had a very low standard of living. It added that over 50 per cent households in 18 districts were BPL cardholders, the percentage being 60 in eight other districts.
While one is aware of the red tape and other bottlenecks in implementation of welfare programmes of the Centre or the state, it is time to examine the role of NGOs. “Administration at the grassroots is also riddled with corruption, favouritism and, very often, political intervention. But what happens to the efforts of 3,000-odd registered voluntary organisations (VOs) and NGOs working here,” asks senior journalist Ranjit Mohanty, who reports on the NGO sector in the state. Pramilla Mallick, minister of women and child development, says, “As per my knowledge, a minimum of two to three NGOs are working in each panchayat. If development is still not visible, then their activities should be scrutinised.”
In the last 10 years, registered VOs and NGOs working in Orissa have received around Rs 1500 crore from foreign countries to implement various projects to aid multifaceted development of the state. VOs and NGOs are knwon to have received Rs 420.56 crore between 1999 and 2003 and Rs 990 crore between 2004 and 2009 as overseas funding. Most of the money came from England, US, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Japan to implement projects in the sectors of health, sanitation, education, food security and livelihood generation.
Organisations working in Sundargarh, Balasore, Sambalpur, Koraput, Nuapara, Kandhamal, Malkangiri, Boudh, Puri and Cuttack districts received Rs 111.65 crore in 1999-2000, Rs 114.61 crore in 2000-01, Rs 107.61 crore in 2001-02 and Rs 87.67 crore in 2002-03, state government sources confirm. But ironically, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Boudh, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Koraput, Nuapada and Nabarangpur have a very dismal HDI score. The 2007-2008 survey reveals that while Malkangiri and Boudh stand at the bottom on toilet facilities, only 1.7 per cent households have access to piped water in Kandhamal.
This is bound to raise a few eyebrows. To ascertain whether funds were being utilised properly, the state government has directed VOs and NGOs working to comply with the Right to Information (RTI) Act and make public all information regarding their funding and work. But the NGOs haven't fallen in line.
Prior to the RTI Act 2005, which came into force in Orissa from October 12, 2005, the state government had issued a guideline for all VOs and NGOs in 2004 to provide information regarding utilisation of funds and details of projects implemented by them. Thereafter, the government also informed all NGOs in 2007 to follow the guidelines required by the RTI Act. Nearly 300 NGOs have received crores of rupees as overseas funding. Over 1,000 more have applied for permission to receive such funds. Not one responded to this appeal. Orissa's planning and coordination (P&C) department finally published an newspaper advertisement on August 29, 2009, to make the VOs and NGOs aware of their duties and responsibilities. Section 2(h), (d), (ii) of the RTI Act, 2005, defines an NGO as “Public Authority”, if it is substantially financed directly/indirectly by the Central/State Government. As a “Public Authority”, an NGO has to discharge certain duties as indicated under section 4, 5,7,19 and other sections of the Act. An NGO is required to disclose, on its own, information pertaining to the organisation as required under the Act. This proactive disclosure should also be made on the Website of the NGO. This notification also requires NGOs substantially funded by the government to appoint public information officers and an appellate authority.
But the VOs and NGOs have adopted a combative line. They brand this notification as absurd and illegal. Pradip Pradhan, state convener of the Right to Food Campaign, a state-level forum of civil society organisations in Orissa, says: “The notification has not defined critical expressions like ‘substantially funded’ and ‘directly or indirectly financed by funds provided by the appropriate government’. NGOs (be they societies, companies, trusts, political parties, trade unions, officers’ clubs, professional associations of accountants, lawyers, physicians, etc) are therefore unclear about who would be considered as ‘Public Authorities’.
Social Activist Chitta Behera blames the government move as undemocratic. He says, “It is illegal. The government has not invited views of the public about the proposed notification. Needless to say, the government of Orissa, by this unconscionable act of commission, is guilty of violating a time-worn mandate of Section-23 of General Clauses Act, 1897, which is a must on the part of a state government to observe while making any rule or sub-rule under a Central Act.”
NGOs have submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Orissa, seeking his intervention and withdrawal of the notification. On the other hand, Dr R.V. Singh, special secretary, P&C department, has urged all secretary-level administrators to ensure that NGOs financed by the government comply with the provisions of the RTI Act. “It must be made mandatory for all NGOs seeking public funding to comply with the provisions of the Act,” he has stressed.
The next phase of this battle is likely to be fought in court. But so far neither the public nor the government has any authority to know how huge amounts of money, specifically meant for the development of Orissa, is being utilised. Says Kanoongo, “There should be transparency. in utilising public money. I think that people have the right to know how foreign funds taken for public welfare schemes are spent.”
( TSI ENG 22nd November 2009 )
Development programmes launched by the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) in Orissa are not bearing much fruit. The situation becomes clear when one looks at the level of human development in the state. Orissa’s Human Development Index (HDI) ratings, the yardstick used to measure citizens’ access to knowledge, health, food and nutritional security, is at a nadir of 0.345. Families living below the poverty line (BPL) number over 40 lakh, a figure rising with each passing year. A survey in 1997 fixed the number of BPL families at 38 lakh. The figure jumped to 41.56 lakh in a 2002 survey. “Facts and figures clearly reveal that welfare projects are not implemented properly at the grassroots. Growth exists only on paper to appease bosses at the state secretariat,” remarks Panchanan Kanoongo, former finance minister of Orissa.
According to a survey in 2007-2008, over 80 per cent of households in 15 districts had a very low standard of living. It added that over 50 per cent households in 18 districts were BPL cardholders, the percentage being 60 in eight other districts.
While one is aware of the red tape and other bottlenecks in implementation of welfare programmes of the Centre or the state, it is time to examine the role of NGOs. “Administration at the grassroots is also riddled with corruption, favouritism and, very often, political intervention. But what happens to the efforts of 3,000-odd registered voluntary organisations (VOs) and NGOs working here,” asks senior journalist Ranjit Mohanty, who reports on the NGO sector in the state. Pramilla Mallick, minister of women and child development, says, “As per my knowledge, a minimum of two to three NGOs are working in each panchayat. If development is still not visible, then their activities should be scrutinised.”
In the last 10 years, registered VOs and NGOs working in Orissa have received around Rs 1500 crore from foreign countries to implement various projects to aid multifaceted development of the state. VOs and NGOs are knwon to have received Rs 420.56 crore between 1999 and 2003 and Rs 990 crore between 2004 and 2009 as overseas funding. Most of the money came from England, US, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Japan to implement projects in the sectors of health, sanitation, education, food security and livelihood generation.
Organisations working in Sundargarh, Balasore, Sambalpur, Koraput, Nuapara, Kandhamal, Malkangiri, Boudh, Puri and Cuttack districts received Rs 111.65 crore in 1999-2000, Rs 114.61 crore in 2000-01, Rs 107.61 crore in 2001-02 and Rs 87.67 crore in 2002-03, state government sources confirm. But ironically, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Boudh, Kalahandi, Rayagada, Koraput, Nuapada and Nabarangpur have a very dismal HDI score. The 2007-2008 survey reveals that while Malkangiri and Boudh stand at the bottom on toilet facilities, only 1.7 per cent households have access to piped water in Kandhamal.
This is bound to raise a few eyebrows. To ascertain whether funds were being utilised properly, the state government has directed VOs and NGOs working to comply with the Right to Information (RTI) Act and make public all information regarding their funding and work. But the NGOs haven't fallen in line.
Prior to the RTI Act 2005, which came into force in Orissa from October 12, 2005, the state government had issued a guideline for all VOs and NGOs in 2004 to provide information regarding utilisation of funds and details of projects implemented by them. Thereafter, the government also informed all NGOs in 2007 to follow the guidelines required by the RTI Act. Nearly 300 NGOs have received crores of rupees as overseas funding. Over 1,000 more have applied for permission to receive such funds. Not one responded to this appeal. Orissa's planning and coordination (P&C) department finally published an newspaper advertisement on August 29, 2009, to make the VOs and NGOs aware of their duties and responsibilities. Section 2(h), (d), (ii) of the RTI Act, 2005, defines an NGO as “Public Authority”, if it is substantially financed directly/indirectly by the Central/State Government. As a “Public Authority”, an NGO has to discharge certain duties as indicated under section 4, 5,7,19 and other sections of the Act. An NGO is required to disclose, on its own, information pertaining to the organisation as required under the Act. This proactive disclosure should also be made on the Website of the NGO. This notification also requires NGOs substantially funded by the government to appoint public information officers and an appellate authority.
But the VOs and NGOs have adopted a combative line. They brand this notification as absurd and illegal. Pradip Pradhan, state convener of the Right to Food Campaign, a state-level forum of civil society organisations in Orissa, says: “The notification has not defined critical expressions like ‘substantially funded’ and ‘directly or indirectly financed by funds provided by the appropriate government’. NGOs (be they societies, companies, trusts, political parties, trade unions, officers’ clubs, professional associations of accountants, lawyers, physicians, etc) are therefore unclear about who would be considered as ‘Public Authorities’.
Social Activist Chitta Behera blames the government move as undemocratic. He says, “It is illegal. The government has not invited views of the public about the proposed notification. Needless to say, the government of Orissa, by this unconscionable act of commission, is guilty of violating a time-worn mandate of Section-23 of General Clauses Act, 1897, which is a must on the part of a state government to observe while making any rule or sub-rule under a Central Act.”
NGOs have submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Orissa, seeking his intervention and withdrawal of the notification. On the other hand, Dr R.V. Singh, special secretary, P&C department, has urged all secretary-level administrators to ensure that NGOs financed by the government comply with the provisions of the RTI Act. “It must be made mandatory for all NGOs seeking public funding to comply with the provisions of the Act,” he has stressed.
The next phase of this battle is likely to be fought in court. But so far neither the public nor the government has any authority to know how huge amounts of money, specifically meant for the development of Orissa, is being utilised. Says Kanoongo, “There should be transparency. in utilising public money. I think that people have the right to know how foreign funds taken for public welfare schemes are spent.”
( TSI ENG 22nd November 2009 )
Indira Gandhi perhaps had a "premonition" about her death
J.B. Patnaik, Former Chief Minister of Orissa
Orissa and its people are very fortunate since a leader and statesman like Indira Gandhi had spent her last days with us just before her unfortunate assassination. She had been to Orissa for a two-day official visit. As the Chief Minister of the state and leader of the Congress Legislative Party, I was accompanying her during the tour. After meeting people and visiting places, she was so happy that in a public gathering she declared, “My next visit to Orissa will be as a tourist, not as a Prime Minister." On October 30, 1984, after addressing her last public meeting at Bhubaneshwar, where she had uttered those famous lines, “I am not interested in a long life. I don't mind if my life goes in the service of this nation. If I die today, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation,” Mrs Gandhi directly rushed to the airport to return to Delhi. A few minutes before she boarded the aircraft, I asked her, "Madam, I want to meet you in Delhi. I have something important to discuss." She immediately answered, "All right. But after being confirmed I will be there or not." I was a little astonished with her answer. Whenever I asked for an appointment, she would say: “Yes, come.” The very next morning, I got the shocking news that Mrs Gandhi was admitted to AIIMS after being attacked by her bodyguards. And the rest is history. When I analyse her last speech in Bhubaneshwar and her response to my request, I strongly believe that Mrs Gandhi perhaps had a "premonition" about her death.
(As told to Dhrutikam Mohanty)
The Shahrukh lantern
Celebrities are funding a major solar project in villages
Going to school had become a nightmare for Kiran. She could never manage to complete her homework and was always being chided by her teacher. Reason: She didn’t have a reading lamp in the evening, and the sole kerosene lamp was shared by all the family members. What’s more, like so many 11-year-olds, Kiran had to assist in housekeeping as well.
But all that is past. Recently Shahrukh Khan gifted to Ahirajpur village in Kendrapara district Rs 2.7 lakhs for a solar energy harnessing project.
The project will benefit hundreds of children like Kiran in this remote coastal Orissa village. Ask them about the project, and they are quick to answer: Now we have the Shahrukh lantern. Shahrukh heard of Ahirajpur’s after he became a part of NDTV’s Greenathon initiative ‘Light a Billion Lives’. Ever since he has funded several solar energy harnessing projects. The projects are implemented by the Energy & Research Institute (TERI), and apart from Shahrukh other business houses have stepped in with funds. As a result six other villages in Kendrapara district – Banipal, Talchua, Deulasahi, Rangani, Bagapatia and Okilpal – have solar power to light up their dark moments. Shilpa Shetty's donations have also brought relief to villagers.
Shahrukh has paid the entire cost of installation, maintenance will be the villagers’ responsibility. Villagers get their batteries charged at a charging station, which costs between Rs 3 and Rs 5. Regular consumers are charged Rs 3 and occasional users Rs 5. Says Nature Club secretary Bibhuti Bhusan Pati: “It’s a sort of dream come true for residents of this backward village. There were no expectations from the government agencies.”
And all say that the most to benefit from this project are women and school children
Dhrutikam Mohanty
( TSI English 04th October 2009)
The Shahrukh lantern
Celebrities are funding a major solar project in villages
Going to school had become a nightmare for Kiran. She could never manage to complete her homework and was always being chided by her teacher. Reason: She didn’t have a reading lamp in the evening, and the sole kerosene lamp was shared by all the family members. What’s more, like so many 11-year-olds, Kiran had to assist in housekeeping as well.
But all that is past. Recently Shahrukh Khan gifted to Ahirajpur village in Kendrapara district Rs 2.7 lakhs for a solar energy harnessing project.
The project will benefit hundreds of children like Kiran in this remote coastal Orissa village. Ask them about the project, and they are quick to answer: Now we have the Shahrukh lantern. Shahrukh heard of Ahirajpur’s after he became a part of NDTV’s Greenathon initiative ‘Light a Billion Lives’. Ever since he has funded several solar energy harnessing projects. The projects are implemented by the Energy & Research Institute (TERI), and apart from Shahrukh other business houses have stepped in with funds. As a result six other villages in Kendrapara district – Banipal, Talchua, Deulasahi, Rangani, Bagapatia and Okilpal – have solar power to light up their dark moments. Shilpa Shetty's donations have also brought relief to villagers.
Shahrukh has paid the entire cost of installation, maintenance will be the villagers’ responsibility. Villagers get their batteries charged at a charging station, which costs between Rs 3 and Rs 5. Regular consumers are charged Rs 3 and occasional users Rs 5. Says Nature Club secretary Bibhuti Bhusan Pati: “It’s a sort of dream come true for residents of this backward village. There were no expectations from the government agencies.”
And all say that the most to benefit from this project are women and school children
Dhrutikam Mohanty
( TSI English 04th October 2009)
Mother of all battles
Orissa had never before seen anything like this. Hundreds of women have lined up behind Sanjita, who alleges that she has been deprived of her paternity rights. The man she claims to be her father is an influential lawmaker in the ruling party – the reason why the police, she says, have done nothing beyond registering her complaint. But after the women joined Sanjita in her crusade, protested outside Chief Minister’s Naveen Patnaik’s residence and courted arrest, they might well be compelled to do more.
Sanjita had filed her FIR in Bhubaneswar’s Mahila Police Station on July 26 seeking action against Arabinda Dhali, an MLA of the ruling BJD and a former minister, who she says allegedly tortured her and forcibly married her off when she was only 14. Though police lodged a complaint against the MLA, who Sanjita claims is her biological father, under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation and threatening to kill), 294 (using abusive language) and 34 of the IPC, no further action has been taken so far.
The FIR says Sanjita, born to Kamala Baral, the first wife of Arabinda Dhali, was just 7 months old when the two got separated. Both opted for a second marriage, leaving Sanjita to be brought up by her maternal uncle, with whom she has been staying barring a small gap many years ago. This was when Sanjita was 12 and her uncle, citing inadequate means, expressed his inability to take care of her any further. The girl was then shifted from Malkangiri to her father’s flat in the MLA colony of Bhubaneswar. But her stepmother and Dhali’s in-laws tortured her endlessly and forced her to do menial domestic chores.
Dhali then forcibly married her off to his driver Rajiv Majumdar, who had a criminal background, on June 9, 2000. Now, according to the FIR, Sanjita was again tortured by her husband and in-laws; but when she approached Dhali for help he was completely indifferent to her plight.
Soon life became unbearable in her husband’s house and she fled to Gujarat along with her two daughters. There, as a junior supervisor, she got by on just Rs 3,000 a month. This was when Sanjita resolved to return to Orissa and put up a last fight. She met Dhali and begged for help, but now she was not only ignored but threatened as well. Finally she decided to make her grievances public and demand a DNA test to prove that her claims had basis.
Currently Sanjita and her children are being sheltered in Sanjivani Maa Ghara, a short stay home in Bhubaneswar. Says Sanjita: “For the past nine years, ever since my father threw me out, it’s been a living nightmare for me, and the only way out I feel is to take the matter to the courts.” And she has a winning chance, having saved her school leaving certificate and a copy of the admission register as evidence. She told TSI that she obtained the documents from the district inspector of schools in Malkangiri district by taking recourse to RTI. There are also allegations that Dhali wrote a letter on his official pad to the DI of schools on July 3, 1999 to issue his daughter a duplicate certificate.
It was only after women activists and political parties took up her case, and it became a hotly debated issue, that police summoned Dhali to the police station for primary investigations. In his statement Dhali, denying that Sanjita was his daughter, claimed that the high school certificate she produced was fake; that he never had any driver named Rajiv; and that his wife and brother-in-law had never met her. Dhali’s story is that his first wife Kamala had an extra-marital relationship with a man named Ashwani Kumar Ray, whose progeny Sanjita is. To prove his point he also produced a copy of the judgment of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court in Malkangiri dated August 12, 1985.
Sanjita then submitted a petition to the State Commission for Women (SCW) on August 12 last – which in turn asked the police to conduct a DNA test on the lawmaker to ascertain Sanjita’s claim that she is Dhali’s biological daughter. But Dhali has refused to undergo any such test, saying the commission had no power to issue such a direction. “The SCW sought no clarification from me before issuing the order,” he alleged, adding that it was simply a conspiracy to tarnish his image. However, the then acting chairperson of the SCW, Usha Padhee, clarified: “As a quasi-judicial body the SCW is fully empowered to order a DNA test in such cases.”
Dhali countered this by filing a defamation suit of Rs 5 crore on August 17 against six persons, including Sanjita Majumdar, her mother Kamala Baral and social activist Rutuparna Mohanty in the civil judge senior division court in Bhubaneswar. Sanjita too moved the Orissa High Court on August 27 seeking a direction for a DNA test on Dhali.
The court accepted her petition, and on September 1 the state government ordered a crime branch probe into the dispute. Dhali’s writ petition, however, challenges Sanjita’s FIR, stating that no offence has been made out against him under Section 498 (A) of the IPC, which deals with dowry torture cases. He also pleaded that the offence under Sections 10 and 11 of the Child Marriage Act, as included in the FIR, could not be made out. On September 12 the High Court directed that there would be no curbs on the ongoing investigations, but that the charge-sheet could not be filed without the leave of the court – nor till that happened could any action be taken against Dhali.”
According to Sanjita, what her father most dreads is that she might lay claim on his property. Said Sanjita: “Though he started out as a mere salesman, my father is today worth at least Rs 1 crore. He owns petrol pumps, transport businesses and properties outside the state. I think he disowns me because of the property.”
Meanwhile, on September 7 the state cabinet gave its nod for the implementation of the Child Marriage Prevention Act, 2007 – which an official said could have been the direct outcome of this unseemly dispute. - Dhrutikam Mohanty
( TSI ENGLISH 27th September 2009)
Sanjita had filed her FIR in Bhubaneswar’s Mahila Police Station on July 26 seeking action against Arabinda Dhali, an MLA of the ruling BJD and a former minister, who she says allegedly tortured her and forcibly married her off when she was only 14. Though police lodged a complaint against the MLA, who Sanjita claims is her biological father, under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation and threatening to kill), 294 (using abusive language) and 34 of the IPC, no further action has been taken so far.
The FIR says Sanjita, born to Kamala Baral, the first wife of Arabinda Dhali, was just 7 months old when the two got separated. Both opted for a second marriage, leaving Sanjita to be brought up by her maternal uncle, with whom she has been staying barring a small gap many years ago. This was when Sanjita was 12 and her uncle, citing inadequate means, expressed his inability to take care of her any further. The girl was then shifted from Malkangiri to her father’s flat in the MLA colony of Bhubaneswar. But her stepmother and Dhali’s in-laws tortured her endlessly and forced her to do menial domestic chores.
Dhali then forcibly married her off to his driver Rajiv Majumdar, who had a criminal background, on June 9, 2000. Now, according to the FIR, Sanjita was again tortured by her husband and in-laws; but when she approached Dhali for help he was completely indifferent to her plight.
Soon life became unbearable in her husband’s house and she fled to Gujarat along with her two daughters. There, as a junior supervisor, she got by on just Rs 3,000 a month. This was when Sanjita resolved to return to Orissa and put up a last fight. She met Dhali and begged for help, but now she was not only ignored but threatened as well. Finally she decided to make her grievances public and demand a DNA test to prove that her claims had basis.
Currently Sanjita and her children are being sheltered in Sanjivani Maa Ghara, a short stay home in Bhubaneswar. Says Sanjita: “For the past nine years, ever since my father threw me out, it’s been a living nightmare for me, and the only way out I feel is to take the matter to the courts.” And she has a winning chance, having saved her school leaving certificate and a copy of the admission register as evidence. She told TSI that she obtained the documents from the district inspector of schools in Malkangiri district by taking recourse to RTI. There are also allegations that Dhali wrote a letter on his official pad to the DI of schools on July 3, 1999 to issue his daughter a duplicate certificate.
It was only after women activists and political parties took up her case, and it became a hotly debated issue, that police summoned Dhali to the police station for primary investigations. In his statement Dhali, denying that Sanjita was his daughter, claimed that the high school certificate she produced was fake; that he never had any driver named Rajiv; and that his wife and brother-in-law had never met her. Dhali’s story is that his first wife Kamala had an extra-marital relationship with a man named Ashwani Kumar Ray, whose progeny Sanjita is. To prove his point he also produced a copy of the judgment of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court in Malkangiri dated August 12, 1985.
Sanjita then submitted a petition to the State Commission for Women (SCW) on August 12 last – which in turn asked the police to conduct a DNA test on the lawmaker to ascertain Sanjita’s claim that she is Dhali’s biological daughter. But Dhali has refused to undergo any such test, saying the commission had no power to issue such a direction. “The SCW sought no clarification from me before issuing the order,” he alleged, adding that it was simply a conspiracy to tarnish his image. However, the then acting chairperson of the SCW, Usha Padhee, clarified: “As a quasi-judicial body the SCW is fully empowered to order a DNA test in such cases.”
Dhali countered this by filing a defamation suit of Rs 5 crore on August 17 against six persons, including Sanjita Majumdar, her mother Kamala Baral and social activist Rutuparna Mohanty in the civil judge senior division court in Bhubaneswar. Sanjita too moved the Orissa High Court on August 27 seeking a direction for a DNA test on Dhali.
The court accepted her petition, and on September 1 the state government ordered a crime branch probe into the dispute. Dhali’s writ petition, however, challenges Sanjita’s FIR, stating that no offence has been made out against him under Section 498 (A) of the IPC, which deals with dowry torture cases. He also pleaded that the offence under Sections 10 and 11 of the Child Marriage Act, as included in the FIR, could not be made out. On September 12 the High Court directed that there would be no curbs on the ongoing investigations, but that the charge-sheet could not be filed without the leave of the court – nor till that happened could any action be taken against Dhali.”
According to Sanjita, what her father most dreads is that she might lay claim on his property. Said Sanjita: “Though he started out as a mere salesman, my father is today worth at least Rs 1 crore. He owns petrol pumps, transport businesses and properties outside the state. I think he disowns me because of the property.”
Meanwhile, on September 7 the state cabinet gave its nod for the implementation of the Child Marriage Prevention Act, 2007 – which an official said could have been the direct outcome of this unseemly dispute. - Dhrutikam Mohanty
( TSI ENGLISH 27th September 2009)
Biju Patnaik - Always his own master
Whether in power or out of it, Biju Patnaik always set his own pace. For more than four decades, he strode across the political arena like a colossus, leaving an imprint on all those he led or opposed. He had the ears of Pandit Nehru and then his daughter, Indira Gandhi, but he did not think twice before walking out on the Congress when the latter began to ride roughshod over veteran leaders of the party. Nalini Kanta Mohanty, a close aide of the late leader, says: “Biju babu was a true democrat in thought and action. He was close to Nehru and Indira Gandhi, but he didn’t hesitate to rebel against the ‘dictatorship’ of the Congress high command when the need arose.” Patnaik, who made his debut as an MLA from North Cuttack constituency in 1946, went on to become one of the most powerful chief ministers the state has ever had. In the intervening years, he advised Pandit Nehru on defence matters during the 1962 Chinese aggression and undertook a crucial trip to the US to discuss sensitive military issues. In Washington, Patnaik told American newspapers why and how the Indian army was as competent as any other in the world. The Opposition back home charged him with revealing military secrets. A furore ensued in Parliament. But Pandit Nehru stood firmly behind Patnaik and asserted that his revelations had done no harm whatsoever to India's interests. In the aftermath of the 1969 Congress split, he led his flock in revolt against Indira Gandhi when the latter denied him a Rajya Sabha ticket. The then Prime Minister suspected Patnaik of being hand in glove with the Syndicate leaders. On his part, he did nothing to disavow her of that notion for by that time he had had enough of Indira Gandhi's “autocratic” style of functioning. He needed a flashpoint.
Dhrutikam Mohanty
( Part of TSI English cover story on Rebels, 6th Septermer 2009)
Dhrutikam Mohanty
( Part of TSI English cover story on Rebels, 6th Septermer 2009)
Memories of a Nightmare
The wounds still fester in Kandhamal, the scene of Orissa’s worst communal riots in living memory, though a sense of calm prevails on the surface, reports Dhrutikam Mohanty
An entire year has elapsed since Orissa’s Kandhamal district erupted in an orgy of communal violence following the brutal murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four disciples on August 23, 2008. But the scars are still deep. Ask Sanatan Bagh Singh, a resident of Tikabali town, one of the worst-affected areas of the district. He says: “At midnight, miscreants attacked my house. I managed to escape to a nearby forest. But I am still terrified. Fear and distrust hang heavy on my mind. I spent so many sleepless nights before taking refuge in a relief camp. You can’t imagine how horrible it was…” His trembling voice trails off. The Kandhamal communal riots claimed 37 lives, thousands were rendered homeless and 100 churches were desecrated. Bagh Singh is now trying to gather the shattered pieces of his life with a bit of help from the district administration. “I try to forget but I can’t. Memories of that nightmare still haunt me,” he says. A TSI team revisited Kandhamal for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the district on the first anniversary of Saraswati’s death, being observed on Janmashtami day, August 14. After a non-stop drive of about 180 kilometers from the state capital, Bhubaneswar, we took a tea break at Tikabali Bazaar and interacted with a cross-section of the town’s denizens. An uneasy calm prevails here, but scratch the surface and you find hearts that still need comforting. The Tikabali police station loomed into view and the mind raced back to the horrifying sight one had witnessed at the same spot a year ago. Miscreants had burnt down the police station. Kandhamal is today dotted with CRPF pickets. We encountered as many as three such security checks after entering the district. A day before the first anniversary of Saraswati’s death, the local administration was in no mood to let its guard down. The Tikabali police station, just a few furlongs away from the last check post that we ran into, was fully fortified with a CRPF camp. The scenario seemed to have changed with the administration going all out to eliminate traces of the havoc that the rioters had wreaked. A brief interaction with a few police personnel revealed that, as part of a strategy to boost security, 12 platoons of the Orissa State Armed Police, along with a company of CRPF, were being pressed into service to help the district police force. Besides, around 250 special police officers from neighbouring Rayagada and Gajapati districts had moved in to man sensitive areas of Kandhamal district.
But things have not changed for Banamber Mallik and Dambaru Digal of Breka village of Tikabali block. Mallik and Digal are not happy with the administration’s decision to close down the relief camps. After living for almost a year in the Tikabali camp, which was disbanded recently, Mallik and Digal are struggling to resettle in their village. Expressing dissatisfaction over the issue, Digal said: “Though the situation looks normal, hatred still simmers under the surface. The government must continue to run the relief camps and shelter homes until normalcy is fully restored.” During his June 26, 2009 visit to the Mandaika, Rahikola, Tinigia and Tikabali camps providing shelter to about 1500 people, Union home minister P.Chidambaram had exhorted the inmates to return to their villages and live without fear. But doubts still linger among members of the minority community. More than 24,000 Christians had fled their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs following Saraswati's killing. Later, the administration set up 13 relief camps in the district for riot victims. Eleven of them have now been closed. Nearly 700 victims are, however, still in two relief camps – one in Mandakia and another in Tiangia village. Efforts are on to send the remaining people back to their villages. To inspire confidence, armed policemen have been stationed around churches.From Tikabali, we headed towards Chakapada, a block headquarters famous as the karmabhumi of the late Laxmanananda Saraswati. Narrow hilly roads made the drive a tad difficult for the cab driver. It took us nearly one hour to cover a distance of 18 kilometers. Surrounded by hills and a dense forest, Chakapada is a remote village, but the place is well developed. It has a school, a health centre and panchayat offices. We stopped in front of the Chakapada ashram, which was set up by Saraswati in 1966.This was one of the institutions that he established in Kandhamal to promote education among the poor, specifically the Dalits. Chakapada gurukul ashram is now home to around 300-plus students. The ashram had planned no special event to commemorate the Swamiji’s death anniversary. But we spotted some students cleaning his samadhi with cowdung. Malay Charan Majhi, a tribal inmate, told us: “Swamiji was like our father and mother. He was a very caring man. We’ve been orphaned by his demise.”
Thereafter we were greeted by a group of villagers engaged in a preparatory meeting to finalise plans for the observance of Swamiji’s death anniversary. “We’ve been constrained to curtail the first shradhotsav of Swamiji for two reasons. First, the district administration will not allow congregation of his admireres from across the state for security reasons. Second, Maoists have distributed leaflets directing the public to refrain from participating in any of our programmes. However, we will perform some basic religious rituals,” says Jagabandhu Dash, Sanskrit teacher of Chakapada gurukul. On condition of anonymity, one inmate revealed that the ashram was facing a severe cash crunch as donations had dried up after the death of the Swami. Some local people allege that the missionaries indulged in mass conversion of tribals and scheduled caste people by luring them with money and other inducements. The Swamiji successfully stopped the conversions and vehemently opposed cow-slaughter. The Swamiji had survived at least nine attempts on his life, including a murderous attempt in December 2007. The district administration failed to provide adequate security to Saraswati even though his life was always under threat. On our way back, our cab was halted on the Chakapada-Tikabali road by a huge herd of cattle. We ask the owner of the animals, Bapu Pradhan, whether he would be going to the ashram for Swamiji’s death anniversary. We also enquired whether communal tension still persists in Kandhamal. His reply surprised us: “I don’t know anything. Police vehicles are coming to this area frequently. Something untoward must have happened.” We reached the district headquarters, Phulbani, at about 9 pm. Hotel rooms in Kandhamal are all taken. Since last year’s communal violence, the place has been receiving a steady stream of journalists from around the world, which has been keeping constant watch on the situation in Kandhamal. An essentially local issue has turned into an international one. We later learnt that the Orissa Director-General of Police was in Phulbani to supervise security operations. “He is busy with a high-level meeting and may not brief the media today,” a senior police official present at the Kandhamal SP’s office said when a request for an interaction with the DGP Manmohan Praharaj was made. There were no signs of tension in Phulbani. Saroj Mishra, a veteran medical doctor, said, “The population of Kandhamal is about 600,000 of which 150,000 are Christians. The district has two different groups of people – the Kandha tribe and the Paana caste. While the Kandha tribe is 80% of the population, the remaining 20% are Panna scheduled castes. Kandhas are socially and economically backward while most Paanas have done well economically after becoming Christians, causing tension between the two groups. You may brand it as a traditional conflict between haves and have nots, but Swamiji’s killing has turned it into a violent religious clash.”In Khajuripada, 40 kilometers from Phulbani, we met a group of students outside a primary school. They posed for us and even sang their daily prayer. While most of the students seemed unaware of the reasons why Kandhamal has been in the news lately, Rashmita Digal, a Class 5 student, knew about last year’s riots because she wasn’t allowed by her parents to attend school during that period. Back in Bhubaneswar, we met Father Joseph, Archbishop of the Catholic Church. “The situation in Kandhamal has improved, but it isn't normal. Thousands of our people still live in camps because they are scared. We hope peace will return to Kandhamal soon,” he told TSI.Hope is all that the people of Kandhamal can bank on as the district struggles to shrug off the venom of communalism.
( Special Report in TSI English, August 30 )
An entire year has elapsed since Orissa’s Kandhamal district erupted in an orgy of communal violence following the brutal murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four disciples on August 23, 2008. But the scars are still deep. Ask Sanatan Bagh Singh, a resident of Tikabali town, one of the worst-affected areas of the district. He says: “At midnight, miscreants attacked my house. I managed to escape to a nearby forest. But I am still terrified. Fear and distrust hang heavy on my mind. I spent so many sleepless nights before taking refuge in a relief camp. You can’t imagine how horrible it was…” His trembling voice trails off. The Kandhamal communal riots claimed 37 lives, thousands were rendered homeless and 100 churches were desecrated. Bagh Singh is now trying to gather the shattered pieces of his life with a bit of help from the district administration. “I try to forget but I can’t. Memories of that nightmare still haunt me,” he says. A TSI team revisited Kandhamal for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the district on the first anniversary of Saraswati’s death, being observed on Janmashtami day, August 14. After a non-stop drive of about 180 kilometers from the state capital, Bhubaneswar, we took a tea break at Tikabali Bazaar and interacted with a cross-section of the town’s denizens. An uneasy calm prevails here, but scratch the surface and you find hearts that still need comforting. The Tikabali police station loomed into view and the mind raced back to the horrifying sight one had witnessed at the same spot a year ago. Miscreants had burnt down the police station. Kandhamal is today dotted with CRPF pickets. We encountered as many as three such security checks after entering the district. A day before the first anniversary of Saraswati’s death, the local administration was in no mood to let its guard down. The Tikabali police station, just a few furlongs away from the last check post that we ran into, was fully fortified with a CRPF camp. The scenario seemed to have changed with the administration going all out to eliminate traces of the havoc that the rioters had wreaked. A brief interaction with a few police personnel revealed that, as part of a strategy to boost security, 12 platoons of the Orissa State Armed Police, along with a company of CRPF, were being pressed into service to help the district police force. Besides, around 250 special police officers from neighbouring Rayagada and Gajapati districts had moved in to man sensitive areas of Kandhamal district.
But things have not changed for Banamber Mallik and Dambaru Digal of Breka village of Tikabali block. Mallik and Digal are not happy with the administration’s decision to close down the relief camps. After living for almost a year in the Tikabali camp, which was disbanded recently, Mallik and Digal are struggling to resettle in their village. Expressing dissatisfaction over the issue, Digal said: “Though the situation looks normal, hatred still simmers under the surface. The government must continue to run the relief camps and shelter homes until normalcy is fully restored.” During his June 26, 2009 visit to the Mandaika, Rahikola, Tinigia and Tikabali camps providing shelter to about 1500 people, Union home minister P.Chidambaram had exhorted the inmates to return to their villages and live without fear. But doubts still linger among members of the minority community. More than 24,000 Christians had fled their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs following Saraswati's killing. Later, the administration set up 13 relief camps in the district for riot victims. Eleven of them have now been closed. Nearly 700 victims are, however, still in two relief camps – one in Mandakia and another in Tiangia village. Efforts are on to send the remaining people back to their villages. To inspire confidence, armed policemen have been stationed around churches.From Tikabali, we headed towards Chakapada, a block headquarters famous as the karmabhumi of the late Laxmanananda Saraswati. Narrow hilly roads made the drive a tad difficult for the cab driver. It took us nearly one hour to cover a distance of 18 kilometers. Surrounded by hills and a dense forest, Chakapada is a remote village, but the place is well developed. It has a school, a health centre and panchayat offices. We stopped in front of the Chakapada ashram, which was set up by Saraswati in 1966.This was one of the institutions that he established in Kandhamal to promote education among the poor, specifically the Dalits. Chakapada gurukul ashram is now home to around 300-plus students. The ashram had planned no special event to commemorate the Swamiji’s death anniversary. But we spotted some students cleaning his samadhi with cowdung. Malay Charan Majhi, a tribal inmate, told us: “Swamiji was like our father and mother. He was a very caring man. We’ve been orphaned by his demise.”
Thereafter we were greeted by a group of villagers engaged in a preparatory meeting to finalise plans for the observance of Swamiji’s death anniversary. “We’ve been constrained to curtail the first shradhotsav of Swamiji for two reasons. First, the district administration will not allow congregation of his admireres from across the state for security reasons. Second, Maoists have distributed leaflets directing the public to refrain from participating in any of our programmes. However, we will perform some basic religious rituals,” says Jagabandhu Dash, Sanskrit teacher of Chakapada gurukul. On condition of anonymity, one inmate revealed that the ashram was facing a severe cash crunch as donations had dried up after the death of the Swami. Some local people allege that the missionaries indulged in mass conversion of tribals and scheduled caste people by luring them with money and other inducements. The Swamiji successfully stopped the conversions and vehemently opposed cow-slaughter. The Swamiji had survived at least nine attempts on his life, including a murderous attempt in December 2007. The district administration failed to provide adequate security to Saraswati even though his life was always under threat. On our way back, our cab was halted on the Chakapada-Tikabali road by a huge herd of cattle. We ask the owner of the animals, Bapu Pradhan, whether he would be going to the ashram for Swamiji’s death anniversary. We also enquired whether communal tension still persists in Kandhamal. His reply surprised us: “I don’t know anything. Police vehicles are coming to this area frequently. Something untoward must have happened.” We reached the district headquarters, Phulbani, at about 9 pm. Hotel rooms in Kandhamal are all taken. Since last year’s communal violence, the place has been receiving a steady stream of journalists from around the world, which has been keeping constant watch on the situation in Kandhamal. An essentially local issue has turned into an international one. We later learnt that the Orissa Director-General of Police was in Phulbani to supervise security operations. “He is busy with a high-level meeting and may not brief the media today,” a senior police official present at the Kandhamal SP’s office said when a request for an interaction with the DGP Manmohan Praharaj was made. There were no signs of tension in Phulbani. Saroj Mishra, a veteran medical doctor, said, “The population of Kandhamal is about 600,000 of which 150,000 are Christians. The district has two different groups of people – the Kandha tribe and the Paana caste. While the Kandha tribe is 80% of the population, the remaining 20% are Panna scheduled castes. Kandhas are socially and economically backward while most Paanas have done well economically after becoming Christians, causing tension between the two groups. You may brand it as a traditional conflict between haves and have nots, but Swamiji’s killing has turned it into a violent religious clash.”In Khajuripada, 40 kilometers from Phulbani, we met a group of students outside a primary school. They posed for us and even sang their daily prayer. While most of the students seemed unaware of the reasons why Kandhamal has been in the news lately, Rashmita Digal, a Class 5 student, knew about last year’s riots because she wasn’t allowed by her parents to attend school during that period. Back in Bhubaneswar, we met Father Joseph, Archbishop of the Catholic Church. “The situation in Kandhamal has improved, but it isn't normal. Thousands of our people still live in camps because they are scared. We hope peace will return to Kandhamal soon,” he told TSI.Hope is all that the people of Kandhamal can bank on as the district struggles to shrug off the venom of communalism.
( Special Report in TSI English, August 30 )
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