SC judgement of appointment of Information Commissioners

SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL 
Supreme Court verdict on appointment of Information Commissioners is likely to induce some practical problems, and necessary clarifications are immediately required for Information Commissions to continue functioning normally.

Presently Central Information Commission has eight Information Commissioners out of total sanctioned strength of eleven, with none of them from judicial background as per standards defined in the court-verdict. To constitute double-bench with compulsion to have a judicial-member, at least eight judicial members are required to be appointed to sit with present eight Information Commissioners which is impossible in present set-up having maximum strength of eleven including Chief information Commissioner. Another problem will emerge because retirement-age of Supreme court Judge and Information Commissioner is same at 65 years, and there is move to increase retirement-age of High Court judges also at 65 years making it impossible to find retired judges to be appointed as Information Commissioners.

Retired bureaucrats were by and large handling RTI petitions quite well because of their earlier experience in bureaucracy to be well aware with irregularities and flaws in system. With changed role as transparency-watchdogs, many of their orders exposed scams and irregularities apart from having an effective check on future such happenings. Now with Information Commissioners with judicial background, it should be ensured that unhealthy court-culture of adjournments may not find place at Information Commissions where adjournments are very rare.

Compulsion of Division Bench is likely to increase backlog at Information Commissioners to an unmanageable situation firstly because two Information Commissioners will be needed for each hearing, and secondly consultation amongst two Information Commissioners will take much more time in a hearing than is with a bench of single Information Commissioner. However Supreme Court directions for appointment-process of Information Commissioners to begin much before the vacancy to be occurred, is welcome.

HC notice to Sanskriti school for not admitting two EWS pupils

Press Trust of India / New Delhi September 12, 2012, 21:05

The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the city government and Sanskriti School on a plea of man challenging denial of admission to his two children under the economically weaker section (EWS) quota.

A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Vipin Sanghi also sought responses of Directorate of Education (DoE) and Land and Development department to the man's plea and slated it for hearing on September 24.

East Delhi resident Anit Kumar Bahuty in his plea said his son Aniket and daughter Sweta have been "illegally" denied admission by Sanskriti school in classes VI and IV respectively in academic year 2012-13.

"The school is situated on a public land allotted by the L&DO against Rs one only as annual rent with the condition that it will provide admission to the children of economically weaker section to the extent of 25% (of its intake capacity) and grant them free-ship.

"Despite the fact that the school in this academic year has taken 8 fresh admissions in both classes IV and VI but no student under EWS category has been admitted which is illegal and in breach of the conditions for land allotment", said Ashok Agarwal, the counsel for Bahuty.

The petition alleged that the decision of the school was in violation of an earlier judgement of the court and the DoE guidelines which provided for admissions of EWS category students to schools, built on subsidised government land.

The school earlier had taken the plea that the vacancies in class IV and VI were filled by the wards of the government servants who came to Delhi on transfer and there was no vacancy under the EWS category.

The rich who bought poverty: Wealthy parents and officials face action after Mail Today exposes fake certificates being used for school admissions Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2201768/The-rich-bought-poverty-Wealthy-parents-officials-face-action-Mail-Today-expose-fake-certificates-used-school-admissions.

Ramesh Kumar (name changed) stays with his family in a plush apartment in upscale Gulmohar Park. He sends his daughter to one of the best schools in the city in his luxury car, but does not spend a penny towards her school fees.

Meet the poor rich beneficiaries of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the National Capital. 

They have all the comforts and luxuries in the world besides a government certificate endorsing their 'poor status'. 

An internal probe being carried out by the Delhi government has revealed several 'glaring cases' where persons, not even remotely disadvantaged, have procured the EWS certificates and are using them to avail subsidised education for their children in some of the top public schools in the city. 

Two separate Delhi government departments – education and revenue – are now ascertaining the exact number of such students and the veracity of these 'prima facie howlers'. 

While it is clear that the government officials who approved the 'undeserving' candidates for EWS certificates will face criminal prosecution, it is also being examined if the parents, who actually procured the document, can be prosecuted.

As for the students admitted to schools on the basis of such false EWS certificates, the most 'prevalent' view among senior government officials is that they should be allowed to continue if their guardians pay the general category fee for the entire duration of their schooling as an EWS student. Most of the false EWS certificates were used by parents to admit their children in the academic session 2011-12 and 2012-13. 

The schools which admitted such students, however, will not face any action as they accepted a genuine certificate provided by the state government.

Mail Today managed to access some of the EWS certificates and the attached verification reports that are now being probed. 

The EWS or income certificates are meant for families with less than Rs 1 lakh annual earning.

It allows the beneficiaries In Ramesh Kumar's case, the surveyor found him to be staying in Gulmohar Park for over 20 years and recommended rejection of his application. 

Despite this, the applicant was issued the certificate by the authorities. In another case, the verification official went to F-block in Lado Sarai, south Delhi, and rejected the case. 

He cautioned: 'Applicant has given Lado Sarai address only for admission purpose.' The story is no different in another case in Lajpat Nagar II where the verification official observed that the applicant was staying in an 'upper middleclass locality and the standard of living was good'. He wrote in his report that the applicant pretended to belong to the lower income group, but the ground reality was totally different. 

Delhi's divisional commissioner Vijay Dev admitted that such irregularities had come to light and promised prompt and severe action. 

'All these glaring cases came to our notice only recently and a probe is on to identify the culprits,' Dev said. 

He questioned the logic behind issuing EWS certificates to candidates who 'didn't even get a favourable verification report'. 

'In all such cases, prima facie, it seems that action can be taken against the local administrative staff for issuing such certificates. Given the importance of the issue, it was recently raised at a meeting with the education department and we will jointly address it in a few days,' Dev said. 

According to sources, the education department too has made a tentative list of students with an 'iffy' EWS background.

'The list was made after schools and others noticed certain EWS candidates coming to school in private cars,' a senior education department official said. 

Senior government officials said before any action is taken or announced, the suspects would be given a 'fair hearing and a chance to explain'.

If they fail, they would face action. Delhi chief secretary P.K. Tripathi, too, accepted that it was a serious issue and assured strict action in all such cases that came to the government's notice.

'In future, we can also examine the possibility of making the process of issuing EWS certificates a bit stricter through involvement of gazetted officers to ensure that such government facilities are availed of by the right candidates,' Tripathi said. 

Mail Today had recently exposed how the EWS certificates could be bought for just Rs 5,000.

In order to get these certificates, one would have to go through an extensive network of touts that is forever present around the offices of the subdivisional magistrate and district collector in the city. access to several government schemes and benefits.

An underprivileged family can apply for the EWS certificates at the local sub-divisional magistrate's office on a plain paper, accompanied by an affidavit and Delhi residence proof. 

Each of these applications is verified by the local office staff who make a visit to the address to ascertain the claim of the applicant. 

However, contrary to the norms, the certificates have been issued despite negative verification reports by the surveyor.

Police torture of a Dalit family at their residence

ISSUES: Torture; inhuman and degrading treatment; corruption; impunity

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Kindly investigate the case of torture of three Dalit persons by the West Bengal state police

Names of victims:
1. Mr. Dulal Sarkar, son of Mr. Bhaduri Sarkar;
2. Ms. Parbati Sarkar, wife of Dulal Sarkar;
3. Mr. Prafulla Sarkar, son of Bhasaram Sarkar;
4. Mr. Kalipada Durani, son of Late Balaram Durani;
All are from the Scheduled Caste community (Dalits) and from the village Udaynagar Colony, Jalangi Police Station, Murshidabad district, West Bengal state

Names of alleged perpetrators:1. Mr. Bahar Ali, Sub-Inspector of Police Berhampore Police Station
2. Mr. Shyamaprosad Saha, Officer-in-Charge Jalangi Police Station
3. Mr. Kajisaheb, Second Officer of Jalangi Police Station
4. Six other police officers from Jalangi Police Station

Date of incident: 11 January 2012 at about 11 pm
Place of incident: In the houses of the victims in Udaynagar Colony village

I am writing to express concern regarding yet another case of police torture and fabricated charges registered by the West Bengal state police against three Dalits. The details of the case are as follows:

The fact-finding report by MASUM provides the following facts. On 11 January at about 11 pm about nine police officers including Mr. Bahar Ali, Sub-Inspector of Police Berhampore Police Station and Mr. Shyamaprosad Saha, the Officer-in-Charge and Mr. Kajisaheb, the Second Officer at Jalangi Police Station forcibly entered the house of the victim, Mr. Dulal Sarkar, by breaking open the door of the house. The officers arrested Sarkar and started assaulting him.

The police tied Dulal with a rope and dragged him on the ground with force. Dulal's wife Ms. Parbati Sarkar, tried to intervene to save her husband from the police. But the officers abused her using filthy language and assaulted her with a wooden stick, fisted and kicked her. There were no female police officers in the police team.

The police then destroyed household articles kept inside the house. Then the police moved to the house of Mr. Prafulla Sarkar, son of Bhasaram Sarkar and Mr. Kalipada Durani, son of Late Balaram Durani and assaulted them brutally at their home. There too the police destroyed household articles. Then the police personnel brought Dulal, Prafulla and Kalipada to Berhampore Police Station and later produced them before the local magistrate after implicating them in a criminal case, vide Berhampore Police Station Case no. 1351/2011 dated 23 November 2011, registered under sections 399 and 402 of the Indian Penal Code and also under sections 25 and 28 of the Indian Arms Act.

At the time of arrest, the police did not disclose any reason for the arrest. It is further revealed that the police also manufactured records showing different place and time of the arrest in order to suppress their misdeeds.

Mr. Govinda Sarkar, the elder brother Dulal, lodged a written compliant before the Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad regarding the incident of police torture upon the victims. But till date there has been neither any enquiry nor action taken by the Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad over the complaint. Parbati Sarkar, Dulal's wife who had suffered injuries as a result of the assault is receiving medical treatment at the moment.

It is also revealed in the fact-finding that the victims are poor and that they are daily wage earners. It is reported that that the victims were falsely implicated in the criminal case out of political vendetta.

I therefore request you:

1. That the statements of the victims are immediately recorded and the case investigated;
2. Immediate criminal actions taken against the officers against torture;
3. The victim who is hurt in the police action be immediately provided medical treatment;
5. All the victims paid interim compensation by the government until permanent arrangements are made to resettle them decently.

Yours sincerely,

Homeland insecurity: fear of civil society in world's largest democracy

ISSUES: Right to liberty; freedom of association; freedom of expression; human rights defenders; impunity; legislation; prosecution system; democracy; minorities; caste-based discrimination; threats and intimidation

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Please investigate the "show cause" notice served against Ms Madhuri Krishnaswami and Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) in Barwani district, Madya Pradesh under the Madya Pradesh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam (Madya Pradesh State Security Act, 1990) as well as the constitutionality of the Act in question

A "show cause" notice numbered 876/xxx/2012 was served against Ms Madhuri Krishnaswami on 10 May 2012 by District Magistrate Barwani. This notice demands justification for permitting her to remain in the district when she had been allegedly responsible for disturbing the peace. Although this notice was served to Madhuri in her personal capacity, there is reason to believe that such actions also target a civil society organisation, the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), an organisation Madhuri leads and against which another "show cause" notice has been served. The JADS is a legitimate people's movement composed of thousands of families, whose collective expulsion would have proven difficult (if not impossible) and expensive for the magistrate to execute, even under Bhopal's instruction. This forced the magistrate to target personalities leading or representing the organisation. It is believed, as such, that Madhuri has been singled out to be made an example of (although this selectivity in itself reveals the absence of true justice in the issuance of the "show cause" notices and the proceedings against JADS).

It is reported that the executive magistrate who served Madhuri the "show cause" notice had been acting merely on the dictate of the state's government, which has decided to use the State Security Act against movements such as JADS. The government stated that "compelling causes" had led them to exercise the Act against JADS and Madhuri; these causes have proven less than completely compelling when subjected to close scrutiny. In an attempt to criminalise her character and shore up support for the state administration's decision, the notice resorts to listing cases in which Madhuri and JADS had been implicated in but acquitted of in the past, as well as to mentioning cases the police have pending against her which have not yet even been presented in court. Such were intended to result in a conclusion or create an impression that Madhuri and JADS commonly carry out criminal activities and would continue to do so in the future. This was designed to justify the state government's position that Madhuri should be banished from Barwani and six contiguous districts.

The reality is that Madhuri has never been convicted of these charges and should not be treated as an offender, much less have such charges used as justification for her expulsion by a state government. This violates spirit and rule of law. The notice also explicitly states that JADS has been "obstructing" government-sponsored development work in the state, although these accusations are equally groundless. The organisation has instead insisted on the proper implementation of welfare schemes and that corruption in the government is investigated and eradicated. The movement has worked to ensure the benefits of welfare schemes reach the tribal communities who have equal right to benefit from such. JADS engages in the education of minority communities and supports their rights, particularly in matters concerning corruption, deforestation, malnutrition, deprivation of just wages and forced eviction. JADS strives to protect the dignity and livelihood of the most vulnerable sectors of society: tribal minorities, women, children, the poor and illiterate. The organisation is therefore a facilitator and stakeholder in the government's initiatives – how and why, then, would they have impeded the work of welfare and development schemes?

Perhaps JADS is feared because it challenges the state bureaucracy's very existence. JADS has, after all, spearheaded (peaceful and perfectly constitutional) protest gatherings against corrupt district administrators who siphon off money intended to alleviate poverty for manual labourers under the national rural employment guarantee scheme. The organisation campaigns against the deliberate neglect of tribal communities by district administration, thus promoting the equality amongst individuals and groups in the community that the district authorities themselves seem unable or unwilling to guarantee. JADS additionally broaches difficult issues of oppression, corruption and abuse of authority; such discourses are seen as a threat to the survival of the local regime.

Beyond the abuse of the Act by provincial authorities, the Act itself is troublingly unconstitutional. It supersedes other institutional safeguards by reducing important questions to a single one of "national security". The oppressive acts by the district authorities against civil society agencies and actors are masked by some supposed concern for public peace and the integrity of the state. Yet the draconian Act is premised on questionable principles and crudely wielded on even more dubious grounds. It permits an executive magistrate unbridled powers to curtail the civil rights of a person, for instance. The executive proceeding may (i) restrict the movements of a person; (ii) restrict the entry of the person to any place within his jurisdiction and areas 'contiguous' to that; (iii) impose conditions upon a person to constrain the individual's freedom of expression and association; (iv) dispossess the person of his/her property; and (v) require the person to sign a security bond. A statutory prohibition in the Act (vide Section 9) further reduces the options available to an aggrieved person, who is made able only to appeal to the state government by order to the executive magistrate. This limits the jurisdiction of courts to intervention only where procedural errors are evident in the executive magistrate's execution of Section 10 of the Act. This Act is patently unjust and, if adequately studied, would fail the test of constitutionality.

This Act negates other constitutional guarantees that otherwise protect an individual from such arbitrary expulsion. The provincial authorities may, in the absence of any proclamation of emergency, restrict the civil liberties of a citizen through a state agent (in this case, the executive magistrate). The Act crucially assumes that the person served the "show cause" notice has already committed an offence. Madhuri, although never convicted of a crime, is assumed anyway to have broken laws to have warranted the service of the notice in the first place. Such circular and self-justifying reasoning is symptomatic of impunity quite distressing to observe, especially at the level of the state.

In the summary procedure stipulated by the Act, law does not require the adjudicating executive officer to write a detailed order reasoning out the judgement. Here, exercise of the Act breaches two fundamental principles of criminal law: (i) presumption of innocence prior to being proven guilty and (ii) impartial adjudication (the roles of prosecutor and adjudicator are filled the same person). As such, no opportunity for defence is provided the accused. This Act accords authorities a form of carte blanche, and is prone to misuse by the authorities thus empowered by it. Thus ingloriously dissected, such an Act is an act indeed, a performance or miming of law which permits puppets in the administration to move, wave and bow to ease the insecurities of a government not robust enough to engage in public debate.

The local government claims this Act is necessary for peace and the prevention of organised crime, yet it serves to inflame more people and generate organised civil resistance, the suppression of which could end in widespread civil unrest. The district authorities do not realise that peace and trust cannot be bought by the trading of lives and liberties, but won through increased transparency and accountability in the government. The government has to realise civil society alone stands against unmitigated violence between the people and a government out of touch with their needs and aspirations. To take civil society out of the equation is tyranny, and tyranny sows seed for a harvest of vitriole, vehemence and violence.

The case against Madhuri and JADS is not an isolated incident. The process adopted by the state is an enactment of a larger pattern of state oppression of people's movements in Madya Pradesh. On at least five occasions, the state has registered a series of false charges against social and political activists, serving them "show cause" notices so their activities could be legally and legitimately (albeit unconstitutionally) stopped. While some cases were eventually withdrawn by state administration, others were fought out in courts. Legislations such as the 1990 Madya Pradesh State Security Act are the government's only response to increased calls for greater accountability and true democracy in India. The reduction of spaces for dissent and expressions of a desire for true democracy mock the foundations upon which India was initially founded. "Show cause" notices are but specific manifestations of the impunity with which bureaucracies behave, and are allowed to behave, toward civil society and the Indian people, and reflect the paralysing insecurity experienced by a corrupt and morally bankrupt state administration.

Fundamental democratic norms demand an individual's right to freedom of expression and association, to freedom of movement and residence within India's borders (Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, Articles 13, 19 and 20), but there has been great resistance to the internalisation of such norms within India's bureaucracy. Resorting to the invocation of institutional mechanisms, however inapplicable or unconstitutional, to remove such perceived challenges to the authority and legitimacy of local governments not only fails to silence voices of dissent but serves to further highlight the injustices of such a system. How, in an India that boasts of being the world's largest democracy, may healthy, rigorous dialogue, discussion and debate be waged? And what is the cause of such insecurity in the face of a flourishing civil society?

Instead of demanding to know from Madhuri why she should not be exiled from the region, the district authorities should bear the burden of demonstrating reason to expel her. This answers the most basic premise of "innocent until proven guilty". Once that most essential logic has been grasped, further work can be done to review the State Security Act and assess its constitutionality and validity (against Indian law and international law). Should the Act fail that test, the Central Government and provincial authorities should then work together towards repealing it. The state of Madya Pradesh should also seek to review its own institutions and processes, acknowledging the validity and lawful nature of civil society actors and refraining from persecuting them any further. Only when this is accomplished can the local authorities strip off their insecurities, earn the trust of the people and gain legitimacy for themselves.

I therefore demand that:

1. The background in which the "show cause" notices against Ms Madhuri Krishnaswami and JADS are issued be investigated;
2. The provincial authorities reassure Madhuri and JADS constitutional safeguards will take precedence in future proceedings and that the Madya Pradesh State Security Act, 1990 will not be used to intimidate or threaten them;
3. The provincial authorities attempt to engage their constituents through increased dialogue and carry out measures to protect their land and forest rights as well as their rights to freedom of expression, association, movement and residence;
4. The Madya Pradesh State Security Act, 1990 is immediately and thoroughly reviewed at the central government and state level;
5. The Madya Pradesh State Security Act, 1990 is repealed if found to be unconstitutional

Yours sincerely,

Caste-based discrimination against 'untouchable' Ahirwar in Madhya Pradesh

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Please investigate the discrimination against 'untouchable' Ahirwar in Madhya Pradesh despite Mid-Day-Meal and other welfare schemes by the government

Name of victims: Ahirwar community in Maregaon Village of Gadarwara Tehsil of Narsinghpur district, Madhya Pradesh
Alleged perpetrators: Lodhi community in Maregaon Village of Gadarwara Tehsil of Narsinghpur district, Madhya Pradesh
Date of incident: 2009 to present (since the consensus by Ahirwar Samaj Mahaparishad to abandon the practice of carrying the carcasses of dead animals)
Place of incident: Maregaon Village of Gadarwara Tehsil of Narsinghpur district, Madhya Pradesh

I am writing to express concern regarding caste-based discrimination and the denial of the right to food to the Ahirwar community of Maregaon Village, Gadarwara Tehsil of Narsinghpur, Madhya Pradesh by the Lodhi community residing in the same village despite attempts by the government to fight hunger and malnutrition in the region through welfare initiatives that would secure employment and food for the most marginalised segments of society.

Yuva Samvad, Nagrik Adhikar Manch and National Secular Forum conducted an investigation on 2 May 2012 in Maregaon Village of Gadarwara Tehsil of Narsinghpur district and uncovered the following details:

Maregoan Village has a population of approximately 2000 individuals. Out of these, 100 families are of the Ahirwar community. Dalits make up most of the agricultural labourers in this area, where Ahirwars (Chamars) compose a majority of the Dalits. The Ahirwar are classified as a Scheduled Caste in India. Ahirwar are spread across Gadarwara and in nearly all adjoining villages, playing an important role in the socioeconomic activities of the region. The Lodhi community in Maregaon village belong to Other Backward Classe (OBC) own farmland and generally hire Ahirwar to cultivate their fields.

Division of labour in the community has resulted in the imposition of certain menial and lowly occupations upon the Ahirwar. For centuries, the Ahirwar have been tasked to do "dirty" jobs such as carrying the carcasses of dead animals. Despite the necessity of such workers, and for forcing them to take up such jobs, the Ahirwar are seen as being tainted by death and greatly despised. The Ahirwar were made to live in a hamlet separated from the main village.

In 2009, the Ahirwar Samaj Mahaparishad built a consensus among the Ahirwar community to abandon the practice of carrying the carcasses dead animals and shake off the label of "untouchable" imposed by the dominant castes. This decision was first acted upon by three or four individuals and was soon claimed by other Ahirwar. In response, individuals from higher castes began a social and economic boycott against the Ahirwar. The Ahirwar were not permitted to pass through the village and were forced to take a longer route in order to travel to other villages. The Ahirwar were prohibited from taking rations from the local shopkeeper; even the local milk vendor was intimidated by the Lodhi into not selling milk to the Ahirwar. The Ahirwar were even more cruelly persecuted through the denial of water from the hand pump located near the village temple. Prior to their decision to abandon the practice of carrying the carcasses of dead animals, the Ahirwar were still permitted to use this hand pump because there had been two at the time and the villagers were not facing a shortage of water. Today, the Lodhi have fenced in and put wire around the temple and areas surrounding it – this includes the hand pump the Ahirwar depended on for their water. In addition to such mistreatment and deprivation, the Ahirwar were further prohibited from using water from a communal water tank. This tank was also fenced in with wire by the Lodhi. The Ahirwar's cattle were also not permitted to partake of water from the tank. The Ahirwar face a severe shortage of water at this present time.

Children of the lower castes are forced to clean the school while children from higher castes are not. The school also discriminates through seating arrangements in class. To exacerbate the situation, the cook engaged in cooking the Mid-Day-Meal in Maregaon Village is a Lodhi. Despite efforts by authorities to relieve malnutrition in the area by implementing a Mid-Day-Meal scheme, the Ahirwar children who most require the sustenance are discriminated against. They are served only leftovers, if there are any, and the food is given to them from a distance. The Ahirwar children are also forced to bring their own plates while other students from the dominant castes are served from plates provided by the school. The children from the Ahirwar community are also fed insufficient amounts of food and punished for asking for more. Instead of the social, economic and intellectual progress that might be expected in the world's largest democracy, Madhya Pradesh looks increasingly like Dickensian London. "Please, sir, I want some more" – will the authorities intervene before the Ahirwar children's cries die out, or will it participate in the silencing of such cries for help by refusing to?

Finally, the report exposes shockingly poor implementation of the Apex Court's orders concerning the Government Food, Employment and Welfare Schemes to prevent hunger and malnutrition among the people of Maregaon Village. Central to this failure has been the wrong identification of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Of the more than 100 Ahirwar families who conduct manual labour for a living, only 20-25 families have been issues the PBL card. Many live in terrible conditions and should also be included on the BPL list but have not been. Most Ahirwar are deprived of the benefits of the government scheme that targets BPL families. The Ahirwar have job cards but only two to three individuals have found employment under the NREGA scheme while the rest languish, unemployed and "unemployable" due to their caste affiliation. So far local officials have not acted to discipline such blatant acts of discrimination and assure the Ahirwar of protection against future abuses.

Although plans and efforts by the government to alleviate hunger and malnutrition are commendable, the government should also pursue the goal of correct implementation of such schemes. To foolproof the programme would be the only responsible thing to do, especially in light of the recent reports made against abuses in the system. While the government may not actively discriminate against the Ahirwar, to passively watch other actors do so – to refuse to act – is a betrayal of a common humanity; it means to be complicit in such acts of violence and inhuman, degrading treatment. This is unforgiveable for an administration powerful enough to carry out punitive actions against perpetrators and practically assist this neglected and long-oppressed segment of society.

Rights are not merely privileges; they are entitlements. And the Ahirwar have been robbed of these entitlements. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) laid out some guidelines concerning the protection of the protection of individuals' fundamental rights. By virtue of being human, the Ahirwar are, "without distinction", fully entitled to enjoy such rights and liberties as set forth in the Declaration, and the Indian state is expected to bear the responsibility of providing access to and protection of such rights (Article 2). Relevant to this case of discrimination are Articles 3, 4, 5, 23 and 25, which collectively assert that every human has a right to life, liberty and security of person, work, free choice of employment, just and favourable conditions of work, protection against unemployment, equal pay for equal work, just remuneration for an existence worthy of human dignity, a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, including food, housing, medical care, social services and security in the event of unemployment or lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Children are entitled to special care and assistance. The Ahirwar also have rights against servitude and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which India ratified in 1979, reiterate such rights in Articles 6 (right to life, protected by law), 7 (right against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment), 8 (right against servitude and forced or compulsory labour), 24 (right of the child to protection without discrimination), 26 (all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to the equal protection of the law). The Indian state is bound by international law to upholding these rights.

India's own Constitution declaims discrimination on grounds of religion, race, sex, place of birth and caste. Article 15(2) (a) and (b) state that no citizen shall be denied access to the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and public places dedicated to the use of the general public. Article 15(3) and (4) go further still to endorse affirmative action and promote special provisions for the most vulnerable sectors of Indian society: women, children, members of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes. Article 16 stipulates "equality of opportunity in matters of public employment" and also permits positive discrimination to increase the participation and representation of the same vulnerable groups of individuals in the civil service but also prohibiting discrimination on the grounds already mentioned. Article 17 of the Indian Constitution crucially abolishes "untouchability", a most extreme form of discrimination wherein the lowest caste in society is deemed "unclean", shunned and ostracised. Article 17 is not only stating an ideal to be worked towards – it categorically and permanently criminalises such a practice. Yet this label continues to blight the lives of hundreds of thousands in India, and persist as reality for the Ahirwar in Madhya Pradesh. It is an impossible and soul-destroying reality that disgraces India. It is a reality that can and should be fought by the government's every last ounce of strength and willpower.

Entire paradigms must be radically altered for real and sustainable change. Man has to recognise above all things the equality and inherent dignity of fellow Man. Only by acknowledging a common humanity can we hope to evade the violence that proceeds from other exclusive and necessarily reductive identities (religious, ethnic, linguistic, gender, national, political affiliations). The residents of Maregaon Village can begin to mend the rifts in their commmunity's social fabric by permitting the Ahirwar occupations of their own choosing, by paying the Ahirwar for services rendered and by learning to dissociate the derogatory label of "untouchable" from menial but freely chosen jobs. Such critical re-evaluation of their beliefs would not only restore the dignity of the Ahirwar but serve the dominant class by freeing them to participate in free market systems, to have healthy and peaceable relationships with their neighbours. As with all social reform, this will take effort and time. Yet the state bears a more immediate obligation to its people, to the Ahirwar. The state must release the Ahirwar from their servitude, inhuman and degrading treatment, poor standards of living and oppression at the hands of the Lodhi. Without urgent intervention, the Ahirwar and their children face continued caste-based discrimination and an uncertain future.

The suffering of the Ahirwar must be quickly addressed. I therefore demand that:

1. Proper implementation of existing welfare schemes providing food and employment is ensured by officials through close monitoring of such activities at the level of the village;
2. Officials should send inspectors at regular intervals to monitor the discrimination faced by Ahirwar children in schools and during mid-day meals;
3. The Ahirwar should also be interviewed to determine how many are currently being coerced into taking up certain jobs or who are not being (fairly) paid;
4. The police who wield jurisdiction over the area exercise their authority and see to the removal of the fences and wires that separate the Ahirwar and their cattle from life-sustaining water;
5. Families living in squalid conditions and obviously below the poverty line be given their ration cards at the earliest possible moment;
6. The persons responsible for intimidating the milk and provision shop vendors, for erecting the fences and wires around the water pumps and tanks are immediately investigated, arrested and punished;
7. Adequate protection is provided for the Ahirwar against possible retaliatory attacks or boycotts from members of the dominant castes in the village and adequate fiscal compensation, food and water is provided that will enable the Ahirwar to regain their health and be able to resume work.
8. The Gadarwara district administration should ensure social boycotts of the Ahirwar are not repeated in the future through the introduction of long-term educational/publicity efforts to communicate the basic concepts of human and constitutional rights to residents of Maregaon Village and other areas around India where such caste-based discrimination is prevalent, as well as by carrying out punitive legal action against individuals who persist in their discrimination against the Ahirwar;
9. The Gadarwara district administration should arrange to have dead animals picked up and disposed of from rural areas since the Ahirwar have identified the activity as one of the main reasons for the discrimination against them and have voluntarily decided against continuing to do the job

If the authorities act on the recommendations above, Indian society may come to realise that common humanity should inspire compassion and respect for others, regardless of their gender, occupation and political, religious, linguistic, caste or ethnic affiliations. This will pave the way for cooperation and a lasting peace, which will in turn create an environment conducive to national progress. This will also have the effort of highlighting the government's resolve to uphold rule of law in India, increasing its legitimacy amongst the Indian people, and signal to the international community India's continued commitment to international treaties and obligations.

Yours sincerely,

Seven months pregnant Dalit female was brutally beaten by a police

Lilabati Chowdhury, seven months pregnant and a mother of two, was brutally beaten by a police patrol party from the Beharampore police station in the Indian state of West Bengal at midnight on Aug. 7, 2004. Mrs. Chowdhury's husband, Chhutka Chowdhury, is a daily wage labourer who catches fish in his spare time. The Chowdhury family belongs to the Dalit, or so-called Untouchable, community and is very poor. On the night of Aug. 7 while Mr. Chowdhury was fishing in a nearby river, the police were searching for him. When they reached the Chowdhury's house, they prodded Mrs. Chowdhury awake with their batons. Mrs. Chowdhury asked them why her family was being harassed since no complaint had been made against them. She also protested against the vulgar language used by the police towards her. The police then brutally assaulted her with their batons, seriously injuring her. Mrs. Chowdhury was admitted to the Baharampur Block Hospital in critical condition. Several uniformed policemen went to the hospital late that night and threatened her not to speak to anyone about the incident.

India has rejected all calls to ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) on the grounds that the domestic mechanisms available in the country are capable of preventing brutality and inhuman treatment. The incident mentioned above occurred in West Bengal. It was while deciding a similar case from West Bengal in 1997 that the Supreme Court of India ruled that torture in all forms must be prevented within the country. The Supreme Court directed the government to take all steps necessary to prevent torture in the country. The court also directed the government to instruct its law enforcing agencies to implement the court order forthwith without any default whatsoever.

Mr. and Mrs. Chowdhury were not aware of the decree of the Supreme Court. Neither did they know that the Criminal Procedure Code of India and the Police Act, though centuries old, also mandate that if any house is to be searched the police must obtain a search warrant from a magistrate. Furthermore, if there are any female occupants in the house, the search must be conducted in the presence of a female police officer. All that Mr. and Mrs. Chowdhury knew for sure was that, had they dared to complain about their ordeal, it would be investigated by the same officers that had attacked Mrs. Chowdhury and that they would be further persecuted and charged with an offence that they did not commit. They would then most likely be thrown in jail as is a common practice in India.