Tuesday, March 30

Finally a blow to the kangaroo courts for honour killing.

Enjoying a virtual free run for centuries, Haryana's notorious khap panchayat is nailed. The top khap leaders have been convicted and many village sarpanches supporting these "courts" have been suspended finally.

Five men have been sentenced to death and one jailed for life over the 2007 murder of a couple who married against the wishes of village elders. Manoj, 23, and Babli, 19, had eloped and married in May 2007. They were murdered the following month after being chased by Babli's relatives who wanted to avenge family Honour.

Those sentenced to death included Babli's brother Suresh, Rajinder and Baru Ram (both uncles), and Gurdev and Satish (both cousins).

After hesitations and social inhibitions to act on the heinous crime for years the state authorities have woken up. The Government is all set to take on these parallel judicial bodies who have thoroughly worked opposite the writ of Indian law.

The landmark verdict by the Karnal court, which held six persons guilty of killing a couple, Manoj and Babli.The court in the northern state of Haryana last week convicted the men of the murders of Manoj and Babli, who were killed a month after they eloped. it was taken as violation of local customs by marrying within the same sub-caste.

A blow to the barbaric kangaroo courts and illogical man made customs and traditions.

The police has always failed to protect couples despite Punjab and Haryana High Court directions.

 But under the close monitoring of HC, police not only registered an FIR against khap leaders in Rohtak district but also arrested a sarpanch in Bhiwani district for supporting the illegal panchayat.

The state governments soft approach and chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's standard response being, "Law will take its course" has received a blow finally from the Court.

The young couple was kidnapped while they were travelling on a bus in Haryana in 2007. Their dead bodies were discovered later. The couple had approached the police with their fears shortly before they were kidnapped and killed.

The self-styled panchayats are a disgrace upon us and the country. The diktats issued by khaps are as bad as the diktats of Taliban.Only firm action can curb the activities of these irrelevant bodies. Honour killings are common in parts of northern India.

Unfortunately those found guilty in the case have the right to appeal. The verdict is one of its kinds. This decision will certainly prove a landmark to end the brutal killings in Haryana in the name of caste and so called Honour. 


The government is set to amend the 150-year-old Indian Penal Code to define honour killing as a heinous crime by adding a new section to the criminal law, with punishment ranging from life imprisonment to even a death sentence. Current laws, if enforced stringently, can also address the issue. People who provide the social sanction for intimidation can be booked for criminal conspiracy, under an existing provision in the IPC.

What has been lacking is political will, because khap panchayats claim to represent the region’s dominant caste.

In an ongoing public interest litigation against khap panchayats in the Punjab and Haryana high court, the Haryana government opposed prosecuting these panchayats under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act 1967. 


Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda says the government must tread carefully, given that a “rash step” could affect the “law and order situation..

Political, social, religious and other public leaders must also join to educate the residents that times have changed and so the old norms and standards of family value need to change.

The law allegedly sold unidentified dead bodies to several medical colleges for student experiments.

A grieving father's endless search for the body of his murdered son has put the Rajasthan police force in a shame and grave situation.

Jeweller Rajkumar Soni's mission uncovered a macabre racket whereby the long arm of the law allegedly sold unidentified dead bodies to several medical colleges for student experiments.

The body of his 19-year-old son Rahul who was murdered last May, was one of those sold to a medical college. The family had sent the body to a nearby hospital for treatment but failed to recover it.

Soni stumbled on the racket after filing an application to investigate unclaimed bodies under the Right To Information (RTI) Act 2005, a law allowing citizens to seek information from public authorities.

His investigations revealed that 23 unidentified bodies were sold to medical colleges over the last five years, with the help of senior police officers in Sriganganagar District near Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan.

Now, 13 police inspectors and sub-inspectors are facing prosecution while the authorities are investigating the sale of at least 50 unidentified bodies to several colleges at RM40,000 a corpse. "I was shocked to discover that three police stations in the district gave away 23 bodies illegally to medical colleges during the last five years. "Police officials brazenly violated the legal provisions, not only pertaining to my son's body but also in all the previous 23 instances,"

The Hindu newspaper quoted Soni as saying. He claimed that Rahul's body was given away to a private medical college, just 10 minutes after a post-mortem, but local policemen claimed the body was cremated. On further questioning the police, Soni was told that the body was sent to a medical college "for its preservation", noted The Hindu. Eventually, Soni had to pay a large sum of money to a medical college to reclaim his son's body.

Monday, March 29

You cannot rob poor Peter to pay poor Paul !

The Supreme Court on March 23 2010 restored the Andhra Pradesh law providing 4% exclusive quota in jobs and educational institutions for “backward” groups among Muslims, in a development that can give a fillip to the demand for implementation of the Ranganath Mishra Commission’s recommendations for 15% quota for minorities.

The interim order revived the AP law which was struck down as unconstitutional by a 7-judge Bench of the high court on the grounds that it violated the constitutional provision forbidding faith-based quota.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and comprising Justices J M Panchal and B S Chauhan has left it to a 5-judge Constitution Bench to decide the legality of the law which has taken the total quantum of all kinds of quotas to 49% in the state. This Bench will start the scrutiny in the second week of August.

The court, however, stayed implementation of a provision of the law seen as aimed at putting the entire Muslim community, except 10 groups, under the “backward” category entitled to reservations in jobs and admissions to schools and colleges.

While nullifying endorsement of the advocacy for religion-based reservation for Muslims, the order Okays the move of the AP government to increase the number of “backward” groups among Muslims by making additions to the state’s OBC list.

The effect of the order is to extend quota benefits to 14 “backward” groups among Muslims not recognized so in the state list of OBCs before the law was enacted.

The talk of a Muslim quota had gained momentum with the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee and Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission favoring reservations for Muslims.The interim order holds significance. Arguing for the law, attorney general Goolam Vahanvati and senior counsel K Parasaran said that denying quota benefits to Muslim backwards when such benefits are available to their socially equivalent groups among Hindus would be discrimination — an argument that under girds the recommendation of the Mishra Commission that dalits among Muslims and Christians are also entitled to reservation.

The emotional argument of Vahanvati and Parasaran who defended the AP Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims Act, 2007 said the reservation was not meant to benefit all Muslims in the state, but only the “socially and educationally backwards” among them who have been so identified on the basis of their occupation. When barbers and washermen belonging to Hindus were included in the OBC list, why should similar groups among Muslims be not included in the list of backward classes amd reservation provided to them, they asked. The reasoning did appeal to the Bench as it allowed operation of the quota law.“If the HC verdict is allowed to be continued, then these backward class groups will be denied social affirmative action which they need. If identification in the proper sense was to be enforced, then the process could go on for 100 years and they will continue to be deprived of the quota,” SC said

Look back and forth over six years of AP.

2004: YSR govt issues order for 5% quota for Muslims in jobs and education in July. HC strikes it down in September

2005: AP categorizes all Muslims backward, issues ordinance for 5% quota, becomes an Act in Oct. HC strikes it down in Nov, calling quota on basis of religion unconstitutional

2007: State enacts Act for 4% quota to 15 backward Muslim groups in August. Month later, SC stays admissions under quota

2008: Supreme Court vacates stay,
sends case back to Andhra Pradesh High Court

2010: HC strikes down quota in Feb. On March 25, SC upholds quota, Constitutional Bench to examine issue in August SC order a boost for Bengal’s quota


Supreme Court heralds 4% reservation for Muslim backwards

  • The demand for religious quota in jobs and admissions gained legitimacy on Thursday when the Supreme Court leaned in favour of an Andhra Pradesh (AP) law providing 4% quota to 14 “backward groups” within the Muslim community. The court, which passed an interim order, referred the adjudication of constitutional validity of the AP law to a Constitution Bench.

  • The SC interim order, passed by a bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and justices JM Panchal and BS Chauhan, may now open the floodgates to extending the benefits of reservation to Muslims and Dalit Christians in other states. The lack of judicial sanction has so far been cited by the Centre to stonewall demands for religion-based quota, which was recommended by the Ranganath Mishra panel.

  • The AP move was earlier turned down by the state’s high court for violating the Constitution. In a majority judgment of 5:2, the high court had struck down the law arguing that it was “unsustainable” and violative of articles 14, 15(1) and 16(2) of the Constitution. While Article 14 pertains to the right to equality, Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion and caste while Article 16 is about equality of opportunity in matters of employment.

  • The only categories now kept outside the quota ambit are Syeds, Pathans, Arabs and Iranis, but they account for less than 10% of Muslim population in the state. Muslims constitute 9.2% of AP’s 77 million population.

  • The apex court bench was in agreement with the argument put forth by Attorney General (AG) GE Vahanvati and former AG K Parasaran that quota benefits are extended to socially and educationally backward communities on the basis of their profession and not religion.

  • It would be social discrimination of the worst kind if on the one hand reservation was given to similarly situated groups within the Hindu community, but denied to those in the Muslim community, they argued. The Bench was in agreement with their position that it was not fair to exclude Muslim barber or washerman community from the quota list when the similarly placed Hindu groups were being provided with benefits of reservation.


Point to ponder….
  • Is religion specified quota a violation of the Constitution.? What is the meaning of ‘poor Muslim’ quota of 4%.If it meant for the poor then why that affixture of Muslim-a religious identity?

  • the Judiciary cannot become a partner to the political appeasement policy and must interpret the law according to the spirit of the Constitution. It is a travesty that such a request must come from lay persons and be addressed to the Judiciary which is the repository of the Constitution and its operation.


  • The Judiciary is also aware of the appeasement policy and its nuances. It is not functioning in isolation nor is it in an ivory tower.

  • So to stay the order of the High Court of AP and allow a go ahead to the quota for the ‘poor Muslims is flawed-based on a religious criterion.

  • There are poor Christians, poor Jains, poor Hindus, poor Parsees, poor Buddhists et al. So why not extend the same social upliftment quota to all these categories and scrap the SCs and BCs and OBCs –caste tags.

  • One cannot go by caste tags and also by religious tags. It will be the saddest day for this country if the judiciary is seen as political and biased.

  • In fact the whole Muslim community sects and sub sects have been identified. Is this identification exercise pertaining to the poor or to the Muslims who are poor? That’s the catch.

  • It is simply an extension of the appeasement policy of the governments both at the Centre and the States.

  • It is at the cost of other poor people that this is being done for the development ‘cake’ is only one. You cannot rob poor Peter to pay poor Paul. Injustice upon injustice and that too flowing from the judiciary cannot take the country forward nor will the poverty and backwardness of the poor people disappear.

  • Is it not obvious that the quota system has increased backwardness? Ever since the quota system came into the picture as a strategy of upliftment more and more people have become backward.

  • Truth and Justice cannot be butchered by the Judiciary. It is accountable to ‘We the people’.

  • It is not just reservation-which was envisaged by the Founding Fathers as affirmative action and with a stipulated period of 50 years.But now reservatyion has become a tool for vote garnering-all the population have come under backwardness-there are today more backward castes.

  • It was primarily based on caste but if today it is used for gender and religion to net the reserved candidates then it a violation of the constitution-where does Equality’ stand?

  • One cannot distinguish anyone on the basis of gender and religion.

  • The Attorney General wants us to view the quota for Muslims as backwardness specific and not religion specific-then why was the word ‘Poor’ Muslim used?

  • The Supreme Court’s interim order assumes significance both political and social, for the principal minority community in post-Independent India. Debate on whether Muslims as a community, or the backward classes among them, should get reservations in educational institutions and government jobs is as old as Indian Independence. Soon after Independence, Muslims were grouped along with the Scheduled Castes for the purpose of political reservations, only to be declared a “minority” community.

  • It has come as a major political and electoral breather for the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh and the UPA at the Centre. With many political parties, including the Communists, now talking about the need for quota for Muslims, the Supreme Court’s order, though interim in nature, has boosted the chances of the minority community securing reservation in other states too.

  • The Congress-led UPA, which had promised reservation for Muslims just before the general elections, may now speed up the pace towards the minority quota. The order is also a shot in the arm for the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in West Bengal, which announced 10 per cent reservation for Muslims.

  • By creating the 15th group, the AP government had indirectly sought to provide reservations to almost all Muslims, while states like Kerala, Karnataka, Manipur and Tamil Nadu took enough care to exclude the forward classes in the principal minority community.


Jai Ho Hindustan.
You cannot rob poor Peter to pay poor Paul.
In fact the whole Muslim community sects and sub sects have been identified. Is this identification exercise pertaining to the poor or to the Muslims who are poor? That’s the catch

Wednesday, March 24

Mulayam Singh can u shut up Please!

Tuesday, March 23

Obaidullah-Gold-Cup-Hockey-tournament


A memorable day for hockey aficionados, the state capital  hosted the 64th All-India Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup hockey tournament from  today .

It is a week long event from March 23 to 29.2010.


On CM instructions the event is being  organized by the directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare at the Aishbagh Stadium after a gap of eight long years.




Once a prestigious feature on the domestic hockey calendar, the Gold Cup drew some of the country’s best talent to the Aishbagh, which was also the venue for several city stars to break onto the national scene.
The reinstatement of the tournament came in for immediate approval from sports lovers in the state capital, who bitterly missed the charged afternoons at the Aishbagh that provided a unique blend of world class hockey accompanied by some educated but humorous comments that were truly Bhopali in flavour.
ab to jago mohan pyare!

Monday, March 22

3 convicted in Satyendra Dubey muder case.


The special CBI court in Patna has convicted Mantu Kumar, Udai Kumar and Pinku Ravidas in the murder case of Dubey, a young engineer working in the Golden Quadrilateral Project of National Highway Authority of India, CBI spokesperson said in a statement, adding the quantum of sentence will be pronounced on March 27.

The court convicted accused Mantu Kumar under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 (Murder), 394 (Voluntary causing hurt in committing robbery) and 27 (A) Arms Act for possessing unlicensed weapon.
The other two accused were convicted under Section 302/34 (Murder committed in furtherance of common intention) and 394 IPC.

The young IIT-Kanpur alumni, who had blown the lid off various instances of large-scale flouting of rules in the Golden Quadrilateral Project was shot dead in the early hours of November 27, 2003 in front of Circuit House, Gaya, Bihar.

CBI after investigation filed a case which contained the cause of murder as 'robbery' and the criminals were Mantu Kumar and three others. But when case was under the hearing on sept. 19, 2005 MantuKumar escaped from the court and was missing, leading to the speculation that there must be a construction mafia as fatherly figure behind Mantu who killed Satyendra through Mantu. CBI had even  declared a cash of Rs. 1 Lakh on Mantu.

During the investigation, CBI arrested four persons, namely Mantu, Udai, Pinku and Sharvan Kumar, all residents of Katari village in Gaya, Bihar.

"They had all assembled near Circuit House, Gaya on the fatefull intervening night of November 26/27, 2003 and around 3.30 AM on November 27. When Dubey was passing in front of Circuit House, Gaya in a cycle-rickshaw, the accused persons robbed him of his belongings and during the ensuing scuffle, Mantu shot him dead with a .315 country-made weapon," the statement said.

The CBI said a briefcase containing documents belonging to Dubey including his Identity Card were recovered from an abandoned well and also the country-made pistol were recovered during investigation.

The agency said Sharvan gave full and voluntary disclosure about the incident and was made an approver. 

Satyendra Dubey was felicited with many awards including whistle-blower of the year, transparency internationals Annual integrity award and the Service Excellence award from the All India Management Association.

Lot of rewards also have been instituted after this brave son of India Satyendra Dubey some of which are Satyendra Dubey memorial award given to IIT alumnus with highest professional integrity, Satyendra Dubey fellowship by Indina Express and many others.

Indian sufi maestro Rabbi Shergil has dedicated a stanza from his song bilkis to Mr.Satyenrda Dubey in 2008. Rabbi Shergill’s new song Bilqis (Jinhe naaz hai) from his latest album “Avengi jaa nahin”builds upon one line from the song “Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan hain” from the movie “Pyaasa” (which in turn was a simplified version of Sahir Ludhianvi’s nazm “Chakley”). The powerful lyrics of the song presented in form of words of Bilqis Yakub RassolSatyendra DubeyManjunath and Navleen Kumar has wonderfully captured the emotional anguish and questions of victims of communal violence and the new-age martyrs who paid with their lives for raising voice against corruption and fighting for rights of dispossessed people.

Satyendra Dubey Amar Rahe..!!!


 Jinhe naaz hai hind par (Bilqis)



Mera naam Bilqis Yakub Rasool
Mujhse hui bas ek hi bhool
Ki jab dhhundhhte thhe vo Ram ko
To maen kharhi thhi rah mein
Pehle ek ne puchha na mujhe kuchh pata thha
Dujey ko bhi mera yehi javab thha
Fir itno ne puchha ki mera ab saval hai ki
Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain
Mera naam shriman Satyendra Dubey
Jo kehna thha vo keh chukey
Ab parhey hain rah mein
Dil mein liye ik goli
Bas itna kasur ki hamne likha thha
Vo sach jo har kisi ki zuban thha
Par sach yahan ho jatey hain zahriley
Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan the
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain
Mujhe kehte hain anna Manjunath
Maine dekhi bhatakti ek laash
Zamir ki beech sarhak Lakhimpur Kherhi
Adarsh phasan jahan naaron mein
Aur chor bharey darbaron mein
Vahan maut akhlaq ki hai ik khabar baasi
Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan hain
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain
Mazha nau aahe Navleen Kumar
Unnees june unnees var
Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees vaar
Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees unnees unnees unnees
Unnees vaar
Looto dehaat kholo bazaar
Nallasopara aur Virar
Chheeno zameen hamse hamein
Bhejo pataal
Jinhe naaz hai hind par vo kahan hain
Jinhe naaz hai vo kahan hain


Friday, March 12

The struggle of man (or woman) against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. — Milan Kundera.
and
Genocide is about economic crippling as much as death and humiliation!

Monday, March 8

It has been the proverbial slip between the cup and the lip for the Women's Reservation Bill for over two decadesss... Vote on Women's Bill deferred, PM calls all-party meet on Tuesday
Muslim women dont need reservation to stand out! lalus, mulayams,sharads.. if ur so concerned with Minorities do something dont talk!

Sunday, March 7

After Surya Namaskar and yoga ROW Shivraj Singh Chouhan-CM Madhya Pradesh WANTS the Bhagwad Gita as part of the curriculum in government-run schools.

Saturday, March 6

Political Game Changer- Women Bill.

Friday, March 5

Plea for Probe into Tiger Killing is Being Ignored by the CBI Says Mr Negi.PCCF Wildlife Madhya Pradesh.lol

He wants the mysteries to be solved by the CBI but surely he dosent believe that the Forest Officers ate inapt and thoroughly corrupt.

Till date no concrete evidence has been sorted out for the dissapering of the Tigers from MP.Especially Panna National Park.

The State Government is still limping on the Tiger Issue.

Thursday, March 4

Some People have the right to be offended !