Press
Release
Jan Sansad released its Manifesto highlighting key
demands of people’s movements and organizations
New Delhi, 30
Jan 2012: The focus on the concluding day of the five day Jan Sansad, at Jantar
Mantar, was on Dalit and tribal issues and gender inequalities. It also saw the
release of the People’s Manifesto highlighting the key demands of various
people’s movements and organizations that were participating in the Jan Sansad,
as a countdown to the 2014 elections. The manifesto included resolutions on
anti-corruption legislation like the Lokpal Bill, Grievance Redressal Bill and
the Whistle Blower Bill. The Jan Sansad also unanimously opposed the
government’s move to implement the cash transfer scheme in lieu of various
social policies and demanded that Parliament function and immediately pass
pro-people legislation.
Speakers
included Baba Adhav, Ms. Aruna Roy, Ms. Subhashini Ali, AIDWA, Ms. Annie Raja,
NFIW, Mr. Mungekar, Congress MP Rajya Sabha, Mr. Manik Tagore, MP and a host of
other activists.
During the
morning session activists and members of the audience spoke of the atrocities
that continue to be directed against Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes.
Their children were being segregated in schools, even made to wash vessels used
for the mid day meals, adults are forced to scavenge for a living, and families
are deprived of a place to stay; the irony being that while they construct
houses for others they themselves don’t have land or a place to stay. Similarly
nomadic tribes, suffer exclusion from society and even the Census. They have no
ration cards or ID cards or a place to sleep as highlighted by Paras Ram
Banjara, MKSS when he said “Our Constitution bestows upon all the right to
dignity but even after 65 years of independence this remains a dream and a
struggle for the nomadic tribes.” He
added that they have no ration cards, no land, no homes, and no documentation
as proof of their citizenship. They are branded as criminals and are refused
treatment by hospitals. He illustrated the sorry plight of these tribes when he
spoke about an incident where a man from the Kalbeliya community of Rajasthan was
buried in his own hut because he was denied a place in the burial ground on
account of his low caste status. He also brought to light the lack of a
legislation to prevent atrocities against the nomadic tribes as there is in the
case of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Baba Adav spoke
about caste branding and the evolution of untouchability which is taken to the
extent of Mantras which are
discriminatory against lower castes but blindly followed by all of us. He also
spoke of a particular forest dwelling tribe in Maharashtra who are constantly
branded as criminals. He said, “Nomadic tribes have a culture that they don’t
stay anywhere for more than three days so how will the government accommodate
them under the right to vote? These tribes are also demanding that they be
included in the Scheduled Tribes category.”
Shankar Singh,
MKSS speaking on the issue of manual scavenging said that even today Dalits
were doing it for as little as Rs. 2 a day and opined that politicians should apologize
that such a practice is still prevalent after 65 years of independence. Why, he
asked, were Dalit children not being taught computers like other children? He
opined that part of the problem lies with the community itself
which seldom seeks to break free from their traditional forms of livelihood.
The road ahead, according to him, is a change in the mindset of the scavengers.
Shiv, who works
with Adivasis in Rajasthan said that the government’s solution of providing
loans and reservations will not suffice. The need of the hour is for the
government to increase its involvement with this issue. Last year 2 lakh
government jobs reserved for them were not availed because they lack requisite
educational qualifications. He suggested that employment guarantees be provided
to Dalit workers in the Nagar Pallikas.
In the second
session the atrocities and problems against women were highlighted through
street plays, songs and the sharing of experiences by women from various parts
of the country.
Annie Raja of
NFIW spoke of how, “women in various parts of the country are being branded as
witches and killed by elements who want to take away their houses or the small
bits of land that they hold.”
Subhashini Ali,
AIDWA and former MP, said that globalization and privatization is depriving
women who are dependent on common lands for their means of livelihood. This is
forcing many of them to go into lowly paid jobs like anganwadi workers who get as little as Rs. 1,100/- a month. She
spoke of how the media is promoting stereotypical roles of women by portraying
them as second grade citizens and word play is being used to trap them into
conservative roles. “Domestic violence, female foeticide and rape have now
become tools to suppress women and establish male dominance”, she added.
Mr. Mungekar, MP
Congress, Rajya Sabha questioned the legitimacy of Khap Panchayats which are
not recognized by the Constitution, Supreme Court or High Courts. He said,
“Khap Panchayats are anti-democracy, anti-women and anti-social. Honour
killings have no place in a civilized society and these, along with Khap
Panchayats, need to be banned.”
Mr. Manik
Tagore, MP from Tamil Nadu pledged that when he and other Lok Sabha members
meet the Prime Minister next week they will take up the issues that have been
raised this morning, specifically the issue of right to pension.
Gargi
Chakravarty, NFIW, said that sexual assault has increased manifold in the last
couple of years. The reasons being: consumerism, the portrayal of women as
objects by the media. “Children who witness violence against their mothers see
it as a norm rather than as a violation of their rights. Even educated men
continue to perpetrate violence against women which is why the education system
must change to sensitize people to women’s issues.”
Aruna Roy, MKSS,
introduced Vimla Bhen for Hissar, Haryana who shared the story of how her
daughter’s rape had led to the destruction of her family life and led resulted
in her husband killing himself. She said, “My husband won’t get peace till the
criminals are hung.”
Taking this
forward, Ms. Aruna Roy said, “Being born a woman in this world is a curse and
being born a Dalit woman is an even bigger curse. Women, irrespective of their
class and caste are easy targets of violence. Even the agencies responsible for
protecting women are violating their rights. Though the status of women in
society has improved, inequality persists within the four walls of people’s
houses, which should be safe havens.” She took the example of the State of
Haryana and blamed the increase of instances of violence on the declining sex
ratio.
The broad
resolutions that emerged from this session are:
1.
Stringent
punishment for perpetrators of sexual assault, child sexual abuse, rape whether
it happens in police custody, prisons, shelter homes and orphanages.
2.
A
demand for the release of all human rights activists who have been arrested
while struggling for social and political justice on behalf of the
marginalized.
3.
A
demand for appointment of required judges for speedy disposal of cases of
atrocities against women.
4.
Reservation
for Dalit women in executive judiciary and media so that they can adequately
represent women’s issues.
5.
A
demand for social security benefits for Dalit women like education, insurance,
housing, food security, safe drinking water, housing and medical care. Also,
the right to gainful employment and land rights.
6.
A
demand that national and regional media agencies report incidents of atrocities
and also engage the public in debates on the larger issue of caste systems.
7.
A
demand for banning Caste Panchayats.
8.
Budgetary
allocations to public health be atleast 3% of the GDP.
9.
Passing
of the Bill on women’s reservation without any dilution in the 33% reservation
for women.
10.
Immediate
legal and punitive action in cases of violence under the Armed Forces Special
Powers Act.
Justice
Puttaswamy, a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, has submitted a
petition to Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Chalameswar, Supreme Court
asking why the government was going ahead with the implementation of the UID
Project when the Parliamentary Sub-Committee had rejected the Bill. Advocate
Anil Divan who is appearing for the Petitioner at the Supreme Court has issued
a notice on both the writ petition and the stay application, according to
Bharat Kumar, the lawyer for the Petitioner.
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For further
information please contact Farah 95605.667 or Amrita 98102.73984