Mumbai rally against superstitions and communalism

Ashok Dhawale

On December 2, 2013 an impressive rally of several thousand people marched in Mumbai around three main demands. These were: Immediate enactment of the law against black magic and superstition in the ensuing session of the state assembly at Nagpur beginning December 9; Immediate arrest of the killers of Dr Narendra Dabholkar and of the diabolical forces behind this murder; and stringent action against communal and obscurantist forces.

The Mumbai rally: A view

The rally was organised jointly by the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS), along with other secular and progressive parties and organisations. Prominent among them was the CPI(M) which, underlining the political importance of this rally, had consciously mobilised several thousand people from Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Raigad and Pune districts.

The presence of CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat in this rally showed the importance attached by the Party to the vital battle against superstition and communalism. 10 of the 15 state secretariat members of the Party who participated in this rally were K L Bajaj, Mahendra Singh, Rajaram Ozare MLA, J P Gavit ex-MLA, Dr D L Karad, Dr Kishore Theckedath, Ajit Abhyankar, Mariam Dhawale, Vijay Gabhane and Dr Ashok Dhawale. Almost all Party state committee members from the above five districts also participated. 

December 2 marked 101 days since the murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar on August 20. It is a shameful fact that the Congress-NCP-led state government of Maharashtra and its police department have not yet been able to even identify the culprits of this dastardly crime, leave alone nabbing them. It is even more shameful that in spite of having no clue about the culprits, the state government and its police recently submitted an affidavit in the court stating that communal forces were not behind this murder, thus giving them a clean chit!

Prakash Karat, N. D. Patil and Prakash Ambedkar at the Mumbai rally

The credibility of the Congress-NCP regime has touched rock bottom, and no one can guarantee that it will transform the ordinance against black magic and other superstitious practices that it hastily promulgated in the wake of Dabholkar’s murder into a law in the coming session of the state assembly that begins next week. As it is, this government dithered on the issue for the last 14 years, and even the ordinance that it eventually promulgated is a watered-down version of the Bill for which Dabholkar fought all his life.

The communal forces led by the RSS, VHP, BJP, Shiv Sena and other thoroughly reactionary organisations like the Sanatan Prabhat, apart from a large cluster of so-called god-men and god-women, have been running a virulent campaign of misinformation and slander against this Bill for the last two decades. Even now they have threatened to block the Bill in the coming state assembly session, falsely accusing it of being against religion. While all this is only to be expected of the communal forces, the real tragedy is that the state government which claims to be secular lacks the political will to frontally take on these forces.

The rally began from the Jijamata Udyan at Byculla and walked a 7 Km stretch to culminate in a large public meeting at the Azad Maidan. It was presided over by senior PWP leader N D Patil and was addressed by Prakash Karat, BRP leader Prakash Ambedkar, NAPM leader Medha Patkar, CPI state secretary Bhalchandra Kango, Lok Bharati leader Kapil Patil MLC, veteran social activist Prof Pushpa Bhave, one of the leaders of the Warkari Sampradaya Wable Maharaj, Congress MP Husain Dalwai and NCP MLC Vidya Chavan. The introductory speech was made by MANS working president Avinash Patil, and on behalf of the Dabholkar family Mukta Dabholkar addressed the gathering. A number of Marathi film and drama artistes had also gathered in solidarity and Sonali Kulkarni spoke on their behalf.

Prakash Karat, after releasing the annual special issue of the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Vartapatra, in his speech came down heavily on the conspiracies of the communal and obscurantist forces, on the antiques of the so-called god-men like Asaram and Ramdev, and also on the vacillating and opportunist policy of the Congress-NCP state government. He declared the full and active support of the CPI(M) to this joint struggle and said that the Party would try its best to see that an Anti-Superstition Act is enacted at the national level. He said that it was a shame that the killers of Dabholkar were not yet identified even though 100 days had passed, and suggested that if the state government and its police could not do the job, then it should be entrusted to some special central agency. He congratulated all the participants in the rally and expressed confidence that their struggle would gain success. The rally concluded with a spirited rendering of the song ‘We Shall Overcome.’

DISTRICT WORKSHOPS AND RALLY FOR ELECTION PREPARATIONS

On November 16-17, 2013, the CPI(M) state secretariat and state committee met to conduct the mid-term review of implementation of tasks and also to decide on other important campaigns. The meeting was attended by CPI(M) central secretariat member Nilotpal Basu.

The Party also organised DC meetings and district workshops where it is contesting priority seats for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections due in April 2014 and the Vidhan Sabha elections due in October 2014. Such programmes were held in Thane district from November 13-15, in Nashik district on November 20 and 23, and in Nanded district on November 21-22. Nearly 1000 leading Party activists attended these three district workshops.

On November 19, a 10,000-strong mass rally was organised by the CPI(M) at Akole in Ahmednagar district on the two major issues of food security and pension for the rural and urban poor. All the above programmes were attended and addressed by Nilotpal Basu, Dr Ashok Dhawale and by various state secretariat members in charge of each district. The Akole rally was also addressed by state committee member Dr Ajit Nawale and others. 

The Akole rally begins

Comrade Nilotpal Basu speaking at the Akole rally

In all these workshops, Nilotpal Basu placed the political understanding of the Party as regards the ensuing Lok Sabha elections and also placed the concrete organisational tasks to be taken up as part of the election preparations.  

Maharashtra denounces murder of Narendra Dabholkar

Ashok Dhawale

Maharashtra reacted with shock, indignation and outrage at the dastardly assassination of Dr Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in the early morning of August 20. He was gunned down by two young armed men when he was on his morning walk. Top police sources said that it was a meticulously planned and premeditated murder. The needle of suspicion for this cowardly act pointed to the right-wing, obscurantist and intolerant Hindutva forces. It is now five days after this heinous murder; and yet no arrests have been made.        

All over the state for the next three days, thousands of people rallied in almost every town and city to denounce this diabolical act. Left, democratic and secular political parties and organizations took the lead in this campaign. Within an hour of the news of the murder, the CPI(M) state centre issued directives to all its units to mobilize like-minded forces throughout the state to organize immediate protest demonstrations. 

In cities like Mumbai, Pune, Satara, Nashik, Solapur, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Parbhani, Nagpur, Amravati and several other places, large joint protests were held. Several leading Party comrades were among those who paid homage to the remains of Dabholkar in Pune and attended the funeral in his home town of Satara. Most sections of the print and electronic media covered this shocking occurrence in depth.

The murder of Narendra Dabholkar recalled memories of the gruesome murder of Communist MLA Krishna Desai by Shiv Sena hoodlums in 1970, and of the heinous assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse and his Hindutva cohorts in 1948.  

Dr Narendra Dabholkar, a medical doctor by training, was the Founder President of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS); the foremost champion of the Anti-Superstition Bill which the Congress-NCP state government left hanging for the last 14 years; the Editor of the popular socialist weekly ‘Sadhana’ that was founded 65 years ago by the legendary Sane Guruji; a strong proponent of rationalism and the scientific temper; one of the early activists of the ‘Ek Gaon Ek Panavtha’ (One Village, One Source of Water) campaign against the caste discrimination of Dalits that was begun in the 1970s by Dr Baba Adhav; and one of the prominent leaders of the socialist stream in the state.

Even earlier, there had been several attacks by vested interests and obscurantist forces on programmes organized by the MANS in Maharashtra under Dabholkar’s leadership. The organization challenged the rapidly proliferating religious godmen who claimed to perform miracles, to give a demonstration of these ‘miracles’ in the presence of MANS activists. None dared to take up the challenge. The same was the case with astrologers.

Dabholkar fought against a number of superstitions – like human sacrifice, black magic, witchcraft, ghosts, reincarnation and all kinds of obscurantist rituals. Recently he began a campaign against the so-called Jaat (Caste) Panchayats, which prohibited marriages outside their caste and meted out dire consequences to those who disobeyed. He was about to begin a campaign against the increasingly lucrative trade in ‘Astro Gems’. All these activities could never be to the liking of communal and obscurantist forces.

This assassination has also exposed the thoroughly opportunist and weak-kneed character of the Congress-NCP regime in the state. For the last 14 years since its advent to power in Maharashtra in 1999, it did not display the courage to enact the Anti-Superstition Act for which Dabholkar consistently fought in his last years. It actually diluted the original Bill that had been drafted with the help of Dabholkar and others. What it did not do for the last 14 years, it finally promised to do within a few hours of Dabholkar’s murder, in the form of an ordinance. What happens finally still remains to be seen. But whereas the original Bill prescribed stern punishment for 27 types of acts of superstition, the new measure has reportedly whittled them down to just 11.

This dilly-dallying on such an important issue was due to two main reasons. One was, of course, the soft Hindutva approach that has been a characteristic of the Congress in recent decades. It was afraid of the backlash that such a measure might lead to. The second reason is that many leading lights of the Congress- NCP, and naturally of the Sena-BJP as well, are ‘devout disciples’ of many of these religious godmen, and are connected with the vested interests that they represent. Hence, not enacting the Anti-Superstition Act was actually a result of the match-fixing between the ruling and main opposition combines.

Nor did the Congress-NCP regime take stern action against the forces that attacked or threatened the anti-superstition programmes held under Dabholkar’s leadership. The same has generally been its response so far as Hindutva terrorism is concerned. A few years ago, RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal elements were caught red-handed in the bomb blasts in Nanded, Parbhani, Jalna and other places. Had thorough investigation been conducted and strict action been taken then by the Congress-NCP regime, the Malegaon and other bomb blasts could have been avoided. It was only due to the single-minded determination of martyred Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare that the Hindutva connection behind the Malegaon blasts was exposed. But after his death, that trail has gone cold. The state government remains unconcerned. The murder of Narendra Dabholkar is the result.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau and the CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee issued strong statements condemning the dastardly murder. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury raised the issue of Dabholkar’s murder in the Rajya Sabha, and he was supported by many other MPs. As a result, the Rajya Sabha adopted a condolence resolution mourning the death of Narendra Dabholkar – quite an extraordinary ocurrence. 

On Sunday, September 1, a large state-level condolence meeting to pay homage to Dr Narendra Dabholkar and to take a pledge to fight the communal and obscurantist forces, is being held in Mumbai on behalf of the Left and secular parties and organisations in Maharashtra, and Sitaram Yechury will be the chief guest at this meeting.

DYFI 4th All India Women's Convention held in Mumbai

The Democratic Youth Federation of India held its 4th All India Young Women’s Convention in Mumbai on 25th and 26th of May. Apart from Central Executive Committee members of the organisation, 94 delegates from various states assembled for the convention at Lakshmi Sehgal Nagar (Aarsh Vidyalaya Campus, Chembur). 

The convention began with DYFI national president M B Rajesh hoisting the flag at the convention venue on 25th morning. Renowed economist Prof. Utsa Patnaik inaugurated the convention. In her inaugural address Prof.Utsa reminded the youth movement that a comprehensive fight against atrocities on women inseparable from the fight against neo-liberal economic regime which is causing immense distress and gunger in our country. The advent of neo-liberal economic policies has pulled back hunger and malnutrition levels to those of colonial times. Women are the worst sufferes of this. Instead of reversing the policies which are causing misery to the people, the ruling establishment is displaying pathetic intellctual dishonesty in claiming that hunger and poverty levels are coming down. She explained the ridiculous nature of poverty line announced by officialdom. Acute poverty is compounded by rising unemployment of which women are the worst affected. Employment opportunities for women are becoming nearly absent in rural India. She drew attention to the structural changes taking place in the workforce of the nation as a result of neo-liberal economics. Decline of organised labour has meant weakening of the social agency that stood for an alternate ‘moral universe’ opposed to capitalism’s culture of objectifying women. This along with ‘lumpenisation’ not only of sections of working class but also of fractions of bourgeosie haver connection to the growing level of atrocities against women.
 

Eminent social activist Teest Setalvad also spoke at the seeion which was chaired by MB Rajesh. CITU leader K L Bajaj and CPI(M) state secretary Ashok Dhawale were also present.

Several eminent women activists, writers and TU leaders like Teesta Setalwad, Sandhya Nare Pawar, Tapati Mukhopadhyaya, Madhu Paranjape, Armaity Irani, Shubha Shamim, Sonya Gill and Mariam Dhawale were felicitated at the inaugural session.

CPI(M) THANE RALLY AGAINST CORRUPT LAND MAFIA-GOVT-POLICE NEXUS

Mariam Dhawale

On March 4, 2013, a large and angry rally of thousands of Adivasis led by the CPI(M) marched to the Talasari police station and tehsil office in Thane district, demanding strict action against the land mafia and its corrupt agents who were trying to fleece the poor Adivasis of their land. The rally also demanded immediate withdrawal of the false cases against CPI(M) activists who were fighting this corrupt land mafia, and action against the police officers responsible for these false cases.

In another basic demand, the rally insisted that the land of the absentee landlords and also forest land which is being tilled for generations by the Adivasis be vested in the names of the tribals. To ensure that land became more productive, the rally demanded immediate irrigation facilities from dams that had been completed with funds from the tribal sub-plan, but the water from which was being denied to the tribals and was being sent to the urban areas instead. It is a shameful fact that only two per cent of the agricultural land in Thane district is under irrigation as against the state average of 18 per cent (which is itself abysmally low!), in spite of the district having some of the largest water reservoirs in the state.

Well aware of the anger of the tribals, the police headquarters had specially deputed Additional SP Nishandar to meet the CPI(M) delegation in Talasari. The tehsildar of Talasari was also present during the discussion. The administration and the police were warned to solve the long-pending land issues at the earliest and to keep a strict check on the land mafia and its agents. They were apprised of the truth in the numerous false cases registered against CPI(M) activists. The Additional SP promised to immediately review these cases and take corrective steps. The delegation also demanded stern action against all the accused in cases of atrocities against women and girl children.

The public meeting was addressed by Dr Ashok Dhawale, Mahendra Singh, J P Gavit (ex-MLA), L B Dhangar, Lahanu Kom (ex-MP), Rajaram Ozare (MLA), Mariam Dhawale, Barkya Mangat, Edward Vartha, Ratan Budhar and Rasila Dhodi. Among those in the delegation were Ladak Kharpade, Hemlata Kom, Sangeeta Ozare, Shankar Umbarsada, Radka Kalangada and Rajesh Sadgir.

The rally also gave a call to make a big success of the Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha, which will be taking three public meetings in Thane district on March 9 at Dahanu, Jawhar and Talasari. Folders of the Jatha published by the CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee were distributed. Over 1000 copies of the CPI(M) state committee weekly ‘Jeevanmarg’ were sold in the rally by a team of DYFI activists.

BACKGROUND OF LAND STRUGGLE

During British rule, taking advantage of the illiteracy and backwardness amongst the tribals, the landlord class usurped their lands in Dahanu, Talasari, Palghar, Jawhar and Wada tehsils of Thane district. The Adivasis were forced to work as bonded labourers on the lands which they once owned. It was against this injustice that the historic Warli Adivasi Revolt was organised by the Communist Party and the Kisan Sabha under the leadership of Godavari and Shamrao Parulekar in 1945-47. Fearing the wrath of the tribals who had suffered immense cruelty and exploitation for decades, the landlords fled these areas. Most of them did not return. Godavari’s book ‘Adivasis Revolt’ clearly brings out this sordid saga of landlord tyranny and the glorious liberation struggle of the Adivasis. The tribals took possession of thousands of acres of land, thus ending a life of torture and misery.

Thus, Adivasis are in possession of, and are cultivating, large chunks of such land for the past 65 years. For many, this is their only means of livelihood. The CPI(M) has been organising regular struggles to get these lands registered in the names of the tribals, since they are still in the names of the absentee landlords who have fled the area long ago. 

Thane district has a large tribal population. Eight tehsils of the district have a majority tribal population. These tehsils also have a large forest area. Due to the sky-rocketing land prices in the neo-liberal era, land has become a precious commodity today. The builder lobby, in collaboration with the land mafia, is eyeing this land and has become very active in Thane district, especially because of its proximity to Mumbai. In connivance with the revenue officials, they are operating a racket to cheat the tribals of their land. Bogus land records are prepared showing some ‘heirs’ of the earlier landlords. The tribals have absolutely no means of verifying or challenging any of these documents. The local land mafia gets in touch with this ‘heir’, gets a buyer (probably a builder or contractor) for this piece of land and strikes a deal. Then this ‘new owner’ employs the land mafia to clear his land of ‘encroachments’ and to erect a fencing along the boundary of the land he has purchased. The tribals who are in actual possession of the land are totally unaware of all these dealings and come to know of them only when attempts are made to put up the compound fence and evict them from their land. The police jump in the fray to protect the criminals, to corner their own share of the spoils. The land mafia belongs to the NCP, BJP or Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (the notorious outfit known for forcible eviction of tribals using muscle power and usurping their land).

Kurjhe is a village in the Talasari tehsil of Thane district. The Kurjhe gram panchayat, along with most other gram panchayats in Talasari tehsil, is controlled by the CPI(M). During the gram panchayat elections held recently, the NCP and BJP used all kinds of threats and inducements, but they did not succeed. Here in one of the padas (hamlets) called Gavitpada, a surreptitious land deal of the above mentioned kind took place. Tribals of Kurjhe village protested against the takeover of the piece of land in Gavitpada and broke down the fence. They did not allow the land mafia led by Kiran Dhamode, who is the tehsil president of the NCP, to evict the poor tribal family there. The sarpanch and upa-sarpanch of the Kurjhe gram panchayat intervened to protect the tribal family. A fight took place with injuries to both sides. The police let off the land ‘dalals’ and slapped false cases of dacoity and rioting against the sarpanch, upa-sarpanch and 11 other comrades, including two women. This triggered an uproar amongst the tribal community all over Talasari tehsil.

During the last Assembly elections in 2009, the CPI(M) won the Dahanu (ST) constituency with Rajaram Ozare being elected MLA. This seat was earlier held by the NCP MLA Krishna Ghoda who is known for shielding corruption in food grains and land deals. The constituencies were re-organised before the last Assembly elections. The CPI(M), through tremendous hard work and struggles, won this seat. The Party has been waging a continuous struggle in Thane district against the onslaught on people’s rights. Hoarders and black-marketeers of ration food grains have been exposed. Forest department officials have been prevented from evicting Adivasis from forest plots, with the agitation for implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) continuing. Demand for work under the MGNREGA is being regularly raised. Issues of water, health, education, Anganwadi and Asha workers, contract workers, violence against women, etc. are taken up by the mass organisations.

TARGETING THE CPI(M)

Unable to break the stronghold of the CPI(M), vested interests in Dahanu and Talasari led by the NCP and BJP have started using the help of the police force and are lodging false cases against CPI(M) activists. Blatantly false cases of murder and dacoity are being registered so that bail is not granted. The police force is so corrupted that even in incidents of atrocities on women and girls, they shield the perpetrators of the crime. After prolonged struggles and determined follow-up by the AIDWA and DYFI, these cases of atrocities against women could be registered. In the last three years, around 100 main activists of the CPI(M) have been implicated in various cases through such false complaints. On February 27, 2012, a CPI(M) and AIDWA woman tribal activist, Mathi Ozare from the Vasa village of Talasari tehsil, was murdered by BJP goons because she worked sincerely for the victory of the CPI(M) in the just-concluded Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections. She was the 60th martyr of the Communist Party in Thane district since the famous Adivasi Revolt of 1945, and the first woman martyr in the district. Anger among the tribals against this corrupt NCP-BJP-land mafia-police nexus was growing. This anger erupted after the incident in Kurjhe village. The large and spirited rally on March 4 was its result. The rally vowed to further strengthen the struggle.

Continuing attacks on Dalits in Satara

In the past few days, news has been coming in from Satara district of Maharashtra of the gruesome attack on the Ghadge family in the Kulakjai village on the 22nd of January 2013 (see a report from The Hindu here). The CPI (M) and the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) have been following up on attacks on Dalit households in Satara for a while. Below, we reproduce three reports put together by the CPI (M) and AIDWA along with others on these cases, including the earlier 2007 attack on the Ghadge family itself. 

1) Report of the fact-finding committee (dated 10th May 2007) of the Dalit Intellectual Collective (DIC) and Peoples Media Initiative (PMI), in which Comrade Subodh More of the CPI (M) was a member. This report pertains to the murder of a Dalit at the same Kulakajai village.

FACT FINDING REPORT OF THE MURDER OF A DALIT AT KULAKJAI, MAN TALUKA, SATARA

The background

Madhukar Ghadge, 48, a dalit of Buddhist faith, was brutally murdered at Kulakjai village of Man taluka of Satara district on 26^th April, 2007.  The second son of Abaji Ghadge, he worked with western railways at Parel work shop as a black smith and lived at Ulhasnagar, Thane district.  His elder brother Divakar is also with railways and he, too, lives in Mumbai. His younger brother Prabhakar is in police and posted at Dhebewadi, Patan taluka, Satara. The youngest of the siblings Sudhakar lives at Kulakjai and is a deputy sarpanch of Kulakjai village panchayat. Madhukar has two sons, Tushar is a 2^nd year student of LLB at Satara and Suraj is in 12^th standard, studying at Ulhasnagar. He also has a daughter, Asmita, studying in 9^th standard.

In spite of living out of their native village the brothers had a strong family tie and were closely linked to their community. Regular gatherings during festivals and vacations were a commonplace. They also made regular remittances from the city and saw to it that their agricultural farm gets developed and also had personal involvement in the matters.

The family is fairly educated and the younger generation are doing well in studies. They are fairly well-off vis-à-vis the rest of the village. These parts of western Maharashtra are highly drought prone and as such dependence on agriculture as the sole means of income generation reduced families to misery. There is a high amount of migration from Man taluka for economic reasons and a large number of people are also inscribed with the army. The Ghadge family was not dependent on agricultural incomes and their migration for government jobs, facilitated by reservations for Dalits and other oppressed castes of the Indian society explains the reasons of their relative affluence.

Details of village

Satara district, in western Maharashtra is known for sugarcane production and the development of co-operatives. The district has mixed features as some areas gets good rainfall and thereby also has irrigation facilities while others like Man and Khatau talukas depend on rainfall which is extremely irregular and has hardly one crop. Man taluka is extremely drought prone and one is greeted with vast vistas of dry and barren landscapes hardly finding any greenery, so connected with western Maharashtra. The river Man from which this taluka derives its name has been perennially dry for the last number of years. Not only the agriculture takes a toll but, the conditions of life are also difficult with very arid hot summers. Matters are complicated beyond control with long hours of power cuts ranging from 6-14 hours.

In the Kulakjai village one can witness a little bit of greenery only around the percolation tank; otherwise, its barren lands in all directions. The area is scarce of water and the people are struggling for water for a very long period.

Man legislative assembly is a reserved constituency and Sampatrao Avaghade of Nationalist Congress Party – NCP- represents this constituency in the State Legislature. Laxmanrao Patil of NCP is the Member of Parliament of the area.

Kulakjai has a population of more than 2,000. Marathas constitute around 200 households, about 50 household are of Ramoshi community, Mali 10 – 12, Brahmins10-15, 18 Dalits including one Matang family. 10-12 Muslim families.

As the village is in drought prone area, government had constructed a percolation tank in 1981 under Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). Facilitated by this landless labourers get some work in village as agricultural labourers. However, there has been no work under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) this year and as reported earlier large numbers of rural folks migrate to nearby towns and cities for their livelihood.

There has been especially, a sizeable migration of Dalits for work to Mumbai and other cities since the members of this community do not possess big farm. They are comparatively advanced in education than the middle-castes and hence, they prefer to go to cities to work. They facilitate good remittances in the villages and having realized the importance of education, the young boys and girls of the dalit community are sincerely pursuing their education in search of better future. The Ghadges epitomised one such family.

Kulakjai is 16 km away from Pusegaon, the village of Dhananjay Jhadav, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai. One is greeted by huge hoardings of D N Jhadav while entering the village.

Immediate cause

The Ghadge family in order to irrigate their agricultural lands sought permission from the government and other authorities to dig a well near the percolation tank and other wells situated there. This was sanctioned under Jawahar Vihir (well) Yojana and they were provided a financial assistance of Rs. 60,000. There are four other wells in that area including a public well for the village owned by the village panchayat which is incidentally the largest one.

The digging of the well begun on April 26^th with Madhukar Ghadge being physically present in the village and the digging work. They used wheeled excavators for this purpose which was owned by local MLA’s family. The work continued for the whole day and after the day’s work Madhukar asked his son and other relatives to fetch some food for the workers from their place. At around 7.45 pm, when they were returning to the fields screams were heard. Vaibhav, son of Divakar, saw around fifteen people attacking his uncle with weapons. They ran to save Madhukar, seriously injured by the assault and in the mêlée, attackers ran away but not without threatening Ghadge family. They also threatened to hurl a huge stone on Madhukar.

The contention of attackers was that with the digging up of another well by the Ghadges, the water flow will reduce and especially water to the village well will shrink. However, we found that though the immediate reason was nothing but of water however, the whole concern stretches much beyond that.

As the attackers were from the village itself, the Ghadges immediately identified them. They were known to Ghadge family. In fact, they used to come to Ghadge’s house also on some occasion. The persons identified are:

1. Bhivaji Shankar Kapse
2. Dadasaheb Bhivaji Kapse
3. Bhimrao Rajaram Shedge
4. Tukaram Bhiku Nikam
5. Appasaheb Dhondiba Wagh
6. Sambhaji Shivaji Wagh
7. Akil Allabaksh Sikalgar
8. Ravindra Namdev Pandekar
9. Shivaji Namdev Wagh
10. Shankar Bhagwan Chauhan
11. Narayan Bhagwan Chauhan
12. Navnath Bhivaji Kapse
13. Amar Sudhakar Kulkarni
14. Krishnarao Gangaram Shedge

Ghadge family thought of owning a well and they started efforts in that direction and also purchased land for the purpose so in order to develop their farm land. Locating the source of water in the proximity of the percolation tank, Ghadges procured seven gunthas (1acre = 40 gunthas) of land near the tank from Vitthal Sahebo Jadav, in the name of Popat Jairam Ghadge in February 2006. They as well applied for the sanction of the well under Jawahar Vihir (well) Yojana. In the Gram Sabha no one objected to the well and hence, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) was issued. Later, some people raised objections about the well citing problems of water supply and how the village well will be affected if Ghadges dig a new well. Though, there was no written objection on this matter.

Wagh and Kapse, who owned well themselves, misled others by raising bogey of the possible impact on the village well. In the real sense, they did not agree to any new well coming up near their wells and that too by a Dalit. However, they covertly tried to gain sympathy by raising the issue of village well.  A key role was also played by Amar Kulkarni, who as well owns a well.

Political affiliations

Western Maharashtra is a pinnacle in the politics of the state especially, with the sugar lobby and NCP led by central agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has strong influence in the region. Sadashiv Pol, MLC and leader of Man taluka, has strong hold in this area. Currently, the Congress is trying to make in roads in Man by splitting NCP, Shiv Sena and others.

Kulakjai gram panchayat election took place two and a half year ago. Sudhakar Ghadge got elected unopposed and bargained for the post of sarpanch reaching an understanding with others that he will be made sarpanch after two and a half year. Sudhakar and others were part of Congress. It is important to note that normally at the village panchayat level political affiliation are of a different type. It’s a matter of adjustment and compromise where changing loyalty is not a big issue.

Zilla parishad (district council) elections were held in last March and differences arose between them since Sudhakar supported the NCP candidate while others opted for Congress’s Jay Kumar Gore, who got elected. This also strained the relationship between them. Ghadges state that in spite of Sudhakar supporting the NCP candidate, he did not join NCP.

Amar Kulkarni runs a fertilizer and pesticide shop apart from owning farm land. He was earlier with Shiv Sena and was a Shakha Pramukh of village. Later on he joined congress and after that Shiv Sena was literally finished in the village. At the moment, the prominent players are congress and the NCP.

                     

Administration's role

The nearest police station is at Dahiwadi, the taluka head quarter of Man, around 20 km from the village. Vaibhav reported the matter at the police station at around 11.15 pm. The First Information Report (FIR)by the police  mentioned 12 accused and all of them were arrested under section 302, 143, 147, 148, 149 of Indian Penal Code and section  3(1)(5) and 3(2)(5) of Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA),1989 and section 4(7) of the Protection of Civil Rights Act,1955.

Names of four others including Amar Kulkarni were given in the supplementary FIR but are not yet arrested. When we met Arvind Gaikwad, the Deputy Superintendent of Police in-charge of Man and Khatau talukas and asked about it, he replied that they will only arrest them when they have evidence since they are not mentioned in the first FIR. We pleaded that they should be interrogated at least to get some evidence, to which he replied that it was not necessary. In fact, Amar Kulkarni and others are absconding.

We met Hemant Nikam, tahsildar of Man taluka at Dahiwadi and enquired about wells owned by Wagh and Kapse. His contention was that these wells were built 30-40 years back. When we brought to his notice, that the percolation tank was built only in 1981 and how could the possibility of wells exist before after he kept on repeating the same arguments. It is important to recall that the Maharashtra Ground Water (Regulation for Drinking Water Source) Act, 1993 was enacted on 16.8.1993 for the purposes of regulating the exploitation of ground water for the protection of public drinking water sources in the State.

The Act seeks to protect drinking water sources by:

• Preventing the sinking of any well for any purpose within 500 metres of a public drinking water source (although exceptions are allowed and applications submitted under these provisions must be processed within 120 days or the permission applied for is deemed to have been granted);{Section 3}
• Regulating the extraction of water from any well that is within one kilometer of a public drinking water source in any area that is declared “water scarce”,{Section5}
• Preventing the sinking of new wells in any watershed that is declared “over–exploited” (although, exceptions are allowed); {Section 7}and
• Prohibiting the extraction of water from existing wells in any watershed that is declared “over-exploited” during the months of February to July inclusive. {Section 8}

When we brought the above Act and its provisions to his notice he claimed that the other two wells belonging to Kapse and Wagh were constructed before the very implementation of the Act and hence, he is helpless in these cases.

However, there was a marked variance when we talked to Gaikwad who told us that one of the wells is not old and have been dug sometimes back.

The cause

“The backward classes have come to realize that after all education is the greatest material benefit for which they can fight.  We may forego material benefits, we may forego material benefits of civilization, but we cannot forego our right and opportunities to reap the benefit of the highest education to the fullest extent.  That the importance of this question from the point of view of the backward classes who have just realized that without education their existence is not safe.”

- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

In Maharashtra and especially in the western parts of the state, Dalits have become a force to reckon with. Progress through education has been a key to it and in some areas they are more educated than middle castes. Their exposure and earning capacities have also increased significantly with increased education.

Many Dalits of Kulakjai and surrounding villages are working in cities like Mumbai, Pune, etc. since being educated gave them better job and livelihood opportunities. This has resulted in a certain degree of autonomy and independence from the clutches of upper castes. Asserting this autonomy is a bone of contention between them and the upper castes where the upper castes perceive this affirmation of rights as a challenge to their age-hold hegemony and monopoly over power. In a large number of cases the upper castes find it difficult to oppress the Dalits with the traditional practices of untouchability, open and naked discrimination or other direct tyrannical customs or methods. It has been increasingly observed that the oppression is at a different plane and there seems to be a vector change of the manners and methods.

A fairly relative autonomy from caste oppressions exists in the cities or areas of industrial production. However, the Dalits do not sever their ties with their roots even while being well-settled in cities. The organic relationship exists with their villages and families. They make remittances to help their kiths and kins progress by developing their farm lands, setting up small enterprises also taking benefits of various government schemes since being educated raises their awareness and their self-organisation.

Education and economic upliftment has an important function in their roles in village affairs. They try to utilize there knowledge and plays important role in social and political sphere of village. This is precisely the area where conflict begins.

The problem of the upper caste villagers with the Ghadges had never surfaced till they decided to dig the well. As we understand that well in drought prone areas is of utmost importance and hence, control of wells is also a symbol of power since these water sources function as one of the most important means of livelihood. It is also at times a more important means of production than the land. By deciding to dig a well they had challenged – indirectly - the monopoly of upper castes over water which stings them the most.

The caste oppression in this case is not as direct as in other cases of atrocities against Dalits where untouchability and other savage treatments exist comfortably; however, the issue is transparent if go deep into it and understand the manner in which the physical manifestation of this oppression has transformed.

The report cannot be substantial without mentioning a very important fact. Madhukar was attacked around one and a half kilometres from the village. His relatives brought him back on a two wheeler from the site and as there was no road on farm lands it was a difficult journey taking around thirty minutes. There are four to five vehicles in the village whose owners the family requested in order to take Madhukar quickly to the nearest hospital. But, no one came forward to lend their vehicle forcing them at last, to take Madhukar on two wheelers. He was bleeding profusely and was declared dead before admission.

Ghadge family informed us that when they were taking Madhukar to the hospital they were threatened by villagers on the road. They also approached the nearest health centre at Malavali for their ambulance on the way to Dahiwadi; however, their plea was refused on flimsy grounds.

The case exposes a clear cut issue of an atrocity on dalit. Madhukar was killed because he being a dalit challenged the monopoly of water of the savarnas. It was well planned and Madhukar was attacked when hardly anybody was with him. This was beyond any wild nightmare of the Ghadge family.

Demands

1. Dalits have lost confidence on police investigation since they feel police that the police are trying to shield Amar Kulkarni and others and not attempting to arrest them. They are behaving like a defence lawyer and in such circumstance; investigation should be handed over to CID

2. Amar Kulkarni and other main accused should be arrested immediately. 

3. The Government should provide protection to Ghadge family to complete well as the well has become a symbol of equality.

On behalf of Dalit Intellectual Collective (DIC) and Peoples Media Initiative (PMI)

Sushovan Dhar

Jatin Desai

Subodh More

Shivaji Raut

=======================


2) AIDWA Demands Severe Action in case of Atrocity on Dalit Woman in Satara District; press release dated 12th January 2012

PRESS RELEASE (English version)
 
The Maharashtra unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Sanghatana strongly condemns the severe and merciless assault on a Dalit widow resident of Mulgaon village in Patan block of Satara district. This is one more incident in which a poor woman has become the target of feelings of revenge and resentment by upper castes. It is to be noted that the victim is the grand daughter of the revolutionary poet Comrade Annabhau Sathe, whose songs mobilized the people of the state in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. 

The woman has been a resident of the village for the past 30 years. Ever since her son married the daughter of her upper caste neighbour a month ago, she has been targeted with verbal casteist abuse. On Monday the 9th of January 2012, members of the Desai family brutally assaulted her. When she managed to reach the Patan police station the constable on duty refused to entertain her complaint. We strongly demand that the policemen on duty who failed to understand the gravity of the situation and turned her away should be suspended forthwith, and strong action be taken against them. Moreover, there have been earlier incidents of attacks on other members of her family, one of which has been registered with the Patan police station. We also demand that the village level Tanta Mukti Samiti at Mulgaon should be dissolved forthwith since it failed to intervene to prevent the build up of tension and pre-empt this serious incident of assault.

A delegation of the Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Sanghatana (AIDWA) consisting of State President Kiran Moghe, Satara District President Anandi Avghade, along with Satara District CPI(M) Secretary Com. Manik Avghade, Com. Saleem Attar , Com. J.S. Patil and others met the victim at Karad late last evening (11 January 2012) and spoke to her at length. It is shocking that the District SP and Collector have not even bothered to visit her and make enquiries about her situation. It appears that the State Government has learnt nothing from the Khairlanjee incident and the state administration and police department remains as insensitive and discriminatory when it comes to atrocities against Dalits. The latest crime statistics for the state of Maharashtra reveals that the number of crimes recorded under the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act increased by 9.62% in 2010 as compared to 2009. Of these the maximum number have been in the districts of Western Maharashtra. It appears that the law is no longer deterrent for crimes against Dalits and women because rarely anyone is punished.

The delegation also went to meet the Dy. SP Patan Shri F.A. Nayakawadi at the Patan Polis Station late last night and enquired about the progress in the investigation. He immediately agreed to their demand to give police protection to the victim while she is in the hospital. They also demanded that the police independently verify the age of the young girl and not rely on the parents’ version. They also asked for police protection to the couple. A memorandum of demands has been submitted to the SP and Collector.

Kiran Moghe                  Sonya Gill                            Anandi Avghade
President                        Secretary                            Satara District Secretary
9422317212                   9869392157                       9763713371

PRESS RELEASE (Marathi version)

 मुख्यमंत्र्यांच्या जिल्ह्यात क्रांतिकारी लोकशाहीर कॉ. अण्णाभाऊ साठे ह्यांची नात असलेल्या दलित महिलेवर झालेल्या अत्याचाराचा तीव्र निषेध. दुर्लक्ष करणाऱ्या पोलीस अधिकाऱ्यांवर कडक कारवाई करण्याची अ. भ. जनवादी महिला संघटनेची मागणी

मुळगाव, तालुका पाटण, जिल्हा सातारा येथील विधवा दलित महिलेवर झालेल्या अत्याचाराचा अ.भा. जनवादी महिला संघटनेने तीव्र निषेध केला आहे. विशिष्ट समाजघटकावरचा राग काढण्यासाठी त्यातील महिलेला लक्ष्य बनवण्याची ही आणखीन एक अमानुष आणि संतापजनक घटना महाराष्ट्रात घडली असल्याचे दिसून येते. विशेष म्हणजे पीडित महिला ह्या क्रांतिकारी लोकशाहीर कॉ. अण्णाभाऊ साठे ह्यांच्या नात असून, ३० वर्ष त्या गावाच्या रहिवासी आहेत. त्यांच्या मुलाने शेजारी राहणाऱ्या उच्चजातीय कुटुंबातील मुलीशी लग्न केल्यापासून ह्या महिलेला डोळ्यावर धरले होते. सोमवार दिनांक ९ जानेवारी रोजी त्यांना देसाई कुटुंबियांनी जबरदस्त मारहाण केली होती. त्यानंतर त्यांनी पैठण पोलीस स्टेशन मध्ये तक्रार केली असताना त्यांना स्थानिक हवालदारांनी हाकलून लावले.  त्यांच्या तक्रारीकडे दुर्लक्ष करणाऱ्या पोलिसांना निलंबित करावे अशी मागणी संघटनेने केली आहे. तसेच ह्या प्रकरणामुळे गावामध्ये ताणतणाव निर्माण झाला होता. संबंधित महिलेच्या इतर काही नातेवाईकांना मारहाण झाल्याच्या घटना घडलेल्या असताना व त्याची नोंद पाटण पोलीस स्टेशन मध्ये असताना गावाची तंटा मुक्ती समिती काय करीत होती असा सवाल संघटनेने उपस्थित करून ती त्वरित बरखास्त करावी अशी मागणी केली आहे. 

काल दिनांक ११ जानेवारी रोजी संध्याकाळी अखिल भारतीय जनवादी महिला संघटनेच्या राज्य अध्यक्ष किरण मोघे, सातारा जिल्हा सचिव आनंदी अवघडे, मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिस्ट पक्षाचे जिल्हा सचिव कॉ. माणिक अवघडे, कॉ. सलीम अत्तर, कॉ. जे. एस. पाटील इत्यादि कार्यकर्त्यांच्या शिष्टमंडळाने कराड येथे जाऊन पीडित महिलेची कृष्णा जनरल हॉस्पिटल मध्ये भेट घेतली. जिल्ह्याचे एस.पी. व जिल्हाधिकारी ह्यांनी त्यांची विचारपूस करण्यासाठी

साधी भेट सुध्दा घेतलेली नाही ह्याबद्दल संघटनेने तीव्र नापसंती व्यक्त केली. खैरलांजी सारखे प्रकरण महाराष्ट्रात घडून गेले असताना राज्य शासन व त्याची पोलीस यंत्रणा अजूनही दलित अत्याचारांच्या बाबतीत अतिशय असंवेदनशील व निष्क्रीय असून त्यांचा भेदभावपूर्ण व्यवहार चालूच आहे. नुकत्याच प्रसिद्ध झालेल्या शासकीय आकडेवारीनुसार २००९ च्या तुलनेने -२-महाराष्ट्रात २०१० मध्ये दलित-आदिवासी अत्याचार प्रतिबंधक कायद्याखाली नोंदवलेल्या तक्रारींमध्ये ९.६२% वाढ झाली. पैकी सर्वाधिक गुन्हे प. महाराष्ट्रात घडले आहेत. पूर्वीच्या गुन्ह्यांमध्ये अत्याचार करणाऱ्यांना शासन होत नसल्याने कायद्याचा धाक उरलेला नाही. सर्व प्रलंबित प्रकरणांचा आढावा त्वरित घेऊन पीडितांना न्याय मिळण्यासाठी शासनाने पावले उचलावीत अशी मागणी संघटनेने केली आहे.

शिष्टमंडळाने रात्री उशीरा पाटण येथे जाऊन डी.वाय.एस.पी श्री नायकवडी ह्याची भेट घेऊन तपास कार्याबद्दल चौकशी केली. पीडित महिलेला पोलीस संरक्षण देण्याची मागणी त्यांनी त्वरित मान्य केली. तसेच आंतरजातीय विवाह केलेल्या तरुणीचा वयाचा दाखला पोलिसांनी अधिकृत रित्या मागवून घ्यावा ह्या व दांपत्याला सुध्दा पोलीस संरक्षण देण्यात यावे अशी पण मागणी करण्यात आली. संघटनेच्या वतीने साताराचे एस.पी. व जिल्हाधीकारी ह्यांना सर्व मागण्यांचे निवेदन आज सादर केले जाईल.

किरण मोघे                  सोन्या गिल                 आनंदी अवघडे
अध्यक्ष                        सचिव                         सातारा जिल्हा सचिव
९४२२३१७२१२               ९८६९३९२१५७               ९७६३७१३७१३  

==================================

3) AIDWA's demand for a separate law for honour killing in the backdrop of honour killings in Satara, dated 21st February 2012: 

See our earlier post at: http://jeevanmarg.blogspot.in/2012/02/satara-honour-killing-aidwa-demands.html