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Sunday, Oct 10, 2004

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Divisive forces getting State patronage, allege rights activists

By Our Special Correspondent

BIKANER, OCT. 9. Civil rights activists from across Rajasthan today expressed concern over the increasing threat to communal harmony and the divisive elements getting official patronage ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the State in December last year. The State Government had shown an appalling indifference to the protection of basic human rights, said the activists.

Activists participating in the sixth State-level convention of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) here made a detailed analysis of the minorities and Dalits being subjected to intimidation in the BJP rule, tribal populations being deprived of their land rights, threat of drought looming large once again and the hazard posed by the landmines still installed in western Rajasthan along the India-Pakistan border.

The newly-elected president of the PUCL's State unit and former MP, Than Singh, said the PUCL would oppose all moves adversely affecting citizens' rights and subjecting specific groups of people to disadvantage. "We will fight against all forms of injustice and challenge those in power," he said.

The participants recalled the PUCL's role in convincing the previous Congress-led Government in favour of outlawing the distribution of `trishuls' (tridents) by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and noted with dismay that the present BJP regime had given a green signal to the VHP's trishul diksha campaign.. "The immunity given to VHP will have serious repercussions. It will plunge Rajasthan into a quagmire of hate politics," Kavita Srivastava, PUCL's general secretary, said.

Ms. Srivastava said the recent attacks on Christians in Banswara and Muslims in Sarada in Udaipur district and the subsequent reaction of the Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria - who openly sided with the aggressors - were a clear indication that the ruling party wanted to replicate the Gujarat model of mayhem and carnage in Rajasthan "at a politically expedient stage".

"The 150 cases of communal violence withdrawn by the State Government included those in which as many as eight Ministers had been named as accused. The Government has withdrawn criminal cases against its own Cabinet members," Ms. Srivastava said, and added that the PUCL was looking into the legal options to challenge the Government's move.

Noted activist and Magsaysay Award winner, Sandeep Pandey, said though the electorate at large had rejected the "India shining" campaign of the previous National Democratic Alliance Government in the Centre, there was little change visible in the present dispensation. "Reports of suicide by farmers and starvation deaths are still coming. There is hardly any improvement in the poverty scenario," he noted.

Mr. Pandey - who is also associated with the National Alliance of People's Movements - said the "free run" given to multinational companies had led to the decision-making power shifting away from people and elected representatives to the global players in economy. "This situation not only puts our natural and human resources at risk, but also threatens our sovereignty," he affirmed.

Sawai Singh of Rajasthan Samagra Seva Sangh, providing details of the people's movement launched against the multinational soft drinks giant Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Kaladera, said the campaign had a larger context of opposition to "reckless globalisation" which was resulting in exploitation of national resources. "It is not just a matter of our ground water being drained out. Our life and principles are at stake," he said.

Prem Krishna Sharma, Supreme Court lawyer and former State president of PUCL, regretted that the civil rights movements, despite their best efforts, could not change the feudal mindset of society at large in Rajasthan. He said the Government machinery and legal institutions in the State had failed to deliver goods because of scant regard paid to the sanctity of human rights.

The two-day convention is expected to evolve a strategy for generating awareness about civil and human rights in the civil society and among students, women, weaker sections and Government officials. The participants laid a special emphasis on enrolling more people from among Dalits and marginalised sections as the PUCL's members to enable them to struggle for their rights.

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