Village School

Yesterday just when I was almost ready to wind up for the day I got a call from my village friends, they studied along with me from '0' to 7^th. They normally call me once in a while or whenever they were in this side of the town and all the time they insist that I should spend time with them and I am also very happy to spend the time but my schedule does not allow me to do the same. I hardly have time for my self then where do I have time for others. This time I made up my mind and said I will go out and have glass of whiskey with them, and I took them to North Wind near my office and it was good fun.

We seems to be speaking non stop, the questions which we did not had answer when we were kids or we did not dare to answer that time. It seems we feel comfortable in sharing and talking in what we were doing and how were doing when we were kids in school, thats were I think people say that there are lots of thing to be spoken and shared with the child friends. We were bunch of naughty (in good sense) boys, what not we have done, building gangs, contesting election to become the monitor of the class and capturing booths and inshore that we win!

This monitor post is very important in the village school. He has many powers including prosecuting fellow class-met in case if any violation of rules in the class. No child if there is no teacher in the class room keep quite, since there are gangs small fight are normal, and also talking in the class is also normal, this talking may many time lead to gang fight in the class and some time outside the class as well. That's when the monitor role comes in to picture. In case if any one talk or pickup quarrel in the class room, the monitor will have to write their names on the board or in a slip and give it to teacher. In case if the monitor write the names in chit and give to teacher we do not know who's names he has given till the teacher come and asks us to stand up. In that case their will be fight out side the school mostly in the evening or any subsequent days. Teacher was also not so keen on this because if names written in chit one actually do not know that your names has been taken or not and you will realize only when the teacher come that never use to work as a good strategy to stop the galata in the class, how much the teacher also beat the students. Getting beaten up in the class for some or the other reason is normal most of the day. The other method worked many time which is writing the names on the board. This is quite funny some time when the monitor write the name of the students on the board there will be spelling mistake that time every one use to laugh in the class this time the monitor will get beatings by the master for spelling mistake. Eventually there will be some compromise and gangs use to force the monitor to remove the names. Some time there will be difficult to compromise on that time we use to create the big galata even to the extent to physical fight with the fellow class-met, when there is a contradiction in the names written on the board and the fight is bigger the teacher normally never discriminate including the girls on that day every one will get lati taste, this is quite fun because including the monitor get the taste of Lati so every one is happy normally except monitor. He being monitor getting beaten is not good in the class!

Till 4^th standard it was only our village students so normally either me or the other one use to become the monitor, and I was either the 1^st monitor or the 2^nd monitor so it was not an issues the real competition started in 5^th stranded because for 5^th standard there were students form neighboring village as well, but that did not bother me much because I still continue to be monitor. When we went to 6^th standard the teacher decided to hold election for the monitor post, I contested it but I had lost in morgen. This is the year there were lots of gang fights happening in the class, and it is the time you do not have power and do not have strength to fight this people that is when we decided to do some thing for the 7^th standard election. This time we were actually minority but I did won the election thanks to our fellow class met for voting two time some people for three time. The teacher noticed this fact when he counted the total vote but he was not keen on inquiring and let it go.

There use to be two columns sitting one is for girls and other is for boys, my seat was in the first bench. If one count form the boy side I will be the 5^th person, if one counts form the girls side I will be the 6^th person. This is very important, because in Kannada there is some thing called meaning for difficult words, and it use to be difficult, we never know if he is going to start form girl side or boy side or back side or front side. It use to be difficult to remember the meaning for all the words so eventually we use to get beatings. I had adopted a easy logic either way I was max 6^th so I use to remember the first 10 from the top and last 10 form the top in that chapter. Now I am safe he can ask either from boy side or girl side or from front desk or back desk. It use to be difficult for them to remember the and eventually they will not answer if one fail then the next one is also fails the chain goes on so it eventually use to come to me and I use to answer. Some how the teacher noticed this and wanted to dig me in on that day he came about 6 rounds I was able to answer but the 7^th round I was stuck and got nice beating.

23.07.2011

New Prison

It’s been a while since I have actually spent time writing on the blog; both last week and this week were especially maddening. In addition to this, last Saturday, after running 14 KM I broke my leg! I could not even walk for almost two days. Finally, with the help of many people I was able to recover fast. But I did many things in those two days: I attended court, organized the party on Sunday (The Pork Party), which was pending for a long time for a few of my old friends. The party, on Sunday evening, was a lot of fun. These are also other reasons I was not able to write. At times, I think it’s just an excuse I am giving you all, but the fact is that I did not sit on my ass and start writing on the comp:). One also needs energy to write (I know this is another excuse).

But today I suddenly felt I am not writing and thought, before I step in to something else, I’d better finish what is pending; so I decided to start writing

There are lots of stories I wanted to write. Since there are too many I have to choose one for now and I thought I shall share this one with you all:

This is a case which I am handling and it’s a very interesting one (it’s actually sad). It's not a big case, it’s not a political case, nor is it some ideological case. It’s a case popped up on a simple ego clash on the street. It was very funny when I wrote the summery on the case file today “traffic offence blown out of proportion”. It is indeed a traffic offence but one really blown out of proportion; the poor guy, caught in the ego battle, ended up staying far away from his family for almost one year now, and I do not know how much longer he still has to suffer.

I suddenly remember reading 'Statement of Objects and reasons for Code of Criminal Procedure 1973,' for the purpose I quote the relevant provision which is:-

3. The recommendation of the commission were examined carefully by the Government, keeping in view, among others, the following basic considerations-
   1. an accused person should get a fair trail in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice:
   2. every effort should be made to avoid delay in investigation and trail which is harmful not only to individuals involved but also to society; and
   3. the procedure should not be complicated and should, to the utmost extent possible, ensure fair deal to the poorer sections of the community.

When this client came to me two months ago, I actually did not invest time in reading. I thought, because this person is capable of dealing with the issue and he already has a lawyer, why should I think too much about it? But the matter has been refereed by a friend of mine so I felt that I should look into the matter but still thought 'nothing urgent' because the person is out on the bail so it should be fine. He wanted to change his lawyer and he insisted for me to take up the matter and I did accept to do the matter subsequently. Later I realized that people can be out of jail but they are not actually ‘out of jail’; they are again caged in a different type of jail (which made me remember what Prof. Babaiya told me once when we did a small study on prison conditions in Karnataka, he said, “we are in a big prison but they are in small prison” ). This guy is a foreigner here on a visitor visa and his family lives abroad. He has lost his mother after he was implicated in this case. He could not go and do last rituals because the court has put a condition on his bail for him not to travel, (this condition, according to me, is not right) assuming that he gets the permission to travel he does not have money to return to India for the trial since he is not employed and he has no relatives nor friends, except a few. So, in a way, he is caged, not in the small prison but in the bigger one.

You can’t classify him as imprisoned because the condition of a prison can’t be equated to being outside? But for him, it does not matter whether he’s outside the actual prison or inside. Sure, he can go for a movie, he can go and eat in any restaurant, he can meet anyone, he can walk around, but the question remains, where does he arrange the money to see a movie, where does he arrange the money to go and eat in a restaurant? Whom can he talk to? What does he do by walking around? That’s when my thoughts went to the objective of the code of criminal procedure.

Today, I tried insisting to the judge that the case should be finished as early as possible otherwise it’s harassment for the accused. It’s been almost one year that he has been forced to stay in this country. He then suddenly showed me the long list of the file that needed immediate attention; then I told the judge that my client is on bail but for all practical purposes he is not on bail and, in effect, he will have finished a one year sentence administered by this court. What I gained from all this was a court date not one and half months away but 'just Nine Days'. I hope this is one successful step and that he will not force me to read the objective of the code of criminal procedure to him on the next date and that he understands what my client is actually going through. Maybe if I put it this way, I hope that I will be able to convince him more easily and will be able to release my client from the bigger prison that he’s confined to right now

State response to civil society resistance in Karnataka

The long saga of Karnataka being the experimental state for BJP in South India has come true in the year 2006, when for the first time JDS +BJP formed the government in the state. Just after the government people said nothing will happen but they failed to understand that the BJP and its right wing groups own agenda was spreading across the state under our own nose. The result has just started to arrive in different forms if not in the true sense it’s on the way and its coming, waiting for us to have surprise!

The impact of formation of BJP government is in Karnataka in 2 different ways.

One is that the state from being secular has turned in to saffron and let unconstitutional bodies to come in to existence and gain more and more visibility and power even-though they have done un-constitutional act.

Two, to suppress any kind of resistance systematically towards the state, and ensure that no one raises their voice/dissent towards the state, and by suppressing the resistances infiltrate the non-secular idea in to force.

Its very interesting to see how the the BJP government manage to achieve/supported the first goal,

The very few first thing the BJP government has done is to promote its ideology and boost its activists to continue their activities in a big way is to ensure that there is no prosecution against their activists. As a result assembly note withdrawn 61 cases pending against, its activists for the offences like 153(a) 295, including section 307 of IPC, but no single cases have been withdrawn against the any other people except sang parivar groups, that to even there is a note from the DOP, POLICE that the cases should not been withdrawn.

Further it continued when there was an international level discussion was happening with respect to the famous Pub attack in Mangalore by the Srirama sene activists the government decided to withdrawn 11 cases in Chikmagalore dist alone in with the chief of Sriramasene Pramod Mutalik was involved in 3 cases of 153(a). Government instead of arresting the people instead of prosecuting the people went supporting the actions of these un-constitutional bodies which were gaining power in the state.

When the state refuses to prosecute the people on one side and decides to withdraw cases filed against them on the other side, this un-constitutional elements grow in full swing all across the state, many attack took place on the churches, many attack took place where the different religions boy and girls were meeting or traveling together, including the threat to everyday and the attack which took place on every day all across the state. Home minister being the head of the state police machinery always justified what the police did or what the organization like sang parivar did.

And when any one took complaints before the police in this regard were either sent back or cases were booked against the people who came to file a case for the attack which took place against them or in the fear in which they are living. In the Western region of the state its been the plight of minority groups people, who always got beaten by the sang parivar people and when they visit police station to file the cases the police have implicated in false cases against the people who came to file the cases and beaten and sent to jails.

If any one questions this kind of activities of the police they are also being booked in number of false case and sent to jails.

There are numbers of such examples we can give almost every day these incidents are being repeated in the state specially after the formation of the BJP government.

The un-constitutional elements are gaining more and more power in the state and they are being un questionable/ uncontrollable in the state. The government is boosting them by either not booking the cases against them or by withdrawing the cases filed against them or filing the false cases against the people whom.

We have seen how unconstitutional elements have taken over the state day after day especially after this government has come into existence. This being one part, the other major impact on this instant government or earlier coalition governments has been the number of resistance movements that have existed in the state on which the state has heavily cracked down upon and crushed them to such an extent that no one should ever raise their voice against the state in any passion. From 1990, we have seen a number of people’s movements which fought against the displacement, deforestation, mining, but that took a greater shift when the issue of the Naxal movement came to light in the year 2003, the year of the famous Iddu encounter. What happened subsequently was that in the existing democratic struggles a number of existing non violent struggles have been targeted in the name of crushing Naxalites and constantly read that these non violent struggles are the frontal organizations of the Naxal movement, and denied their very existence in fighting for the rights of the people under the constitution in a completely non violent manner.

More so, this kind of treatment further gets repressed by the very existence of this government because they have their own saffron agenda which was also opposed by the left extremist group. And with a constant threat towards saffronization, it was easy for the state to target people who raised their voice against the state, questioning the state saffronization. The State reacted against them by branding them as naxal sympathizers.

People like Vittal Hegde, the President of Kudremukha Virodhi Okkoota, have been targeted a number of times and booked in a number of false cases and harassed. We all know the involvement of Shringeri Mutt in right wing saffron organizations and the commitment which they have to them, and the power exercised by them which are questioned by people like Vittal Hegde, who stays in Shringeri and strongly criticizes the Hindutva Right wing forces and is being targeted by the Right wing as well as the police with clear instructions from the State. The other known person, Mariappa was constantly harassed. He was picked up on 6^th May but till date nobody knows whether he is alive or dead. When their family members tried to contact the police, neither were given any information nor was a case of kidnapping/missing person booked.

At this juncture, it is important to also see the number of naxals arrested by the Chickmagalur and Udupi Police. The courts have discharged some of the cases against these people and in some of the cases they have been acquitted with a trial. This being a big threat the Police department and the Government has now started targeting the civilians and arresting each one of them as supporters of naxalites. Last month, the Chickmagalur district alone has seen 40+ such arrests. This is also specifically after a Chandrashekar was picked up on 14^th April 2009 by Mudigere Police and his whereabouts were not known. When the police refused to give any information, people came out on the streets to protest and tried submitting a memorandum to the DC and SP. The DC refused to accept any such memorandum but orally assured that he will direct the SP to investigate into this issue. However, the SP refused to confirm that such an arrest had happened. Only when people decided to move an Habeas Corpus before the High Court, was Chandrashekar produced before the Magistrate Home Office in the late night on 16^th April. Getting hanger on such pressure put on the District Administration by hundreds of people, now the Police are concentrating on targeting each one of them and trying to book them in false cases. So far, the Shringeri Police have arrested 10 civilians. People belonging to Matohalli village area are saying that these people are supplying food and other materials to the Naxals. The Mudigere Police also arrested four quarry workers saying that they were supplying arms and ammunition to the naxal outfits.

In the year 2008, almost all the men in the village Heberi were arrested and falsely implicated and they are still running to the courts. On the other side, a number of students and civil rights activists were also arrested by Shimoga Police saying that they were raising funds for the naxal outfits and booked them in a number of cases to ensure that they will not be released easily.

The police are also threatening the villagers in the surrounding areas that they should not raise their voice or question any arrest or detention carried out by the police and that no one should offer sureties before the court for any such arrest if bail is granted by the court. They are also threatening them that in case they go to the press about the existing situation, they will be arrested as well.

What is more shocking is the attack on advocates last year at Sirimane Falls and the response provided by the Home Minister was that when such a situation can exist towards the community which defends constitutional beliefs then what will be the normal citizen’s plight. Till date even after initiating complaints even though the police recognized the occurrence of such untoward incidents but they refused to hold the Police responsible for such untoward incidents and take appropriate action accordingly. If this is the case of the advocates then what will be the common citizen’s status?

It is also pertinent to note what happened to Advocate Naushad in Mangalore who was killed in Mangalore. Advocate Naushad was the only lawyer in Mangalore who took up controversial cases in which police encounters were involved where he has alleged in the court that accused would be killed in the name of an encounter by the police where they actually did happen in the past case. He had strongly objected to the granting of police custody in another case, and got shot dead the same evening. A very senior member of the Bar having 55 years of practice in the bar made a direct allegation that the Police were involved in his killing and filed a complaint against the police officers. However, the state has refused to comment on this issue. At least as a policy it would have been appropriate for the Government to hand over the investigation to the CBI instead of the State Police even when such a serious allegation was made on them. Even after such a huge protest, the Government continued to be silent and made no comments on it.

It is equally important for us to remember what happened to Proff Hassan Mansoor. He is and his work in the sector of Human rights in Karnataka, when he filed a case before the State Human Rights Forum for alleged harassment to the minority community in Bangalore the state human rights has directed the police to file response for which out city commissioner who was in state intelligence states

Sri Hassan Mansor is basically a teacher who later become the president of People’s Union of Civil Liberty (PUCL) which is a front organization of the left wing extremist (LWE) and the present CPI (Maoist) party. Earlier, he was also associated with the Peoples war group (PWG) a militia wing of LWE. After his retirement in 1991, he is residing at # 46, wellington street, Richmond town. Bangalore city and actively associated with the left wing extremism (LWE) activist.Sri Hassan Mansorr is a converted Muslim.

What shows from these kind of responses by the police department is that, if any tried to raise their voice against the State or try question the authority they will brand them as so on so and en shore that he /she will be isolated, branded and implicated in these factions.

Every one of us know what PUCL stands for and every one of us also know what Porf. Mansoor stands for we don’t need any character certificate from state or the Police Agencies about who. What is important for us also in if the state of Prof. Mansoor is like this and what will be the ordinary citizen and the implication of an ordinary citizen for raising the voice against the state.

What is clear is that on one hand there is a unconstitutional body taking over the State’s functions and on the other hand is the State refusing to respect the Constitution by being unconstitutional and trying to saffronize the entire state, thereby destroying any resistance which exists. Binayak Sen in one such example in Chattisgarh, a huge public figure sent behind bars for raising his voice against the State’s atrocities and in Karnataka this is being repeated in a number of such incidents including killing of people either by state directly or by sponsoring/supporting indirectly in killing the people and destroying the resistance by killing the other voices that exist. It is high time that we spread awareness across as to what is happening locally and relate these issues nationally by fighting against this kind of terrorism brought by the state.

The kind of resistance which middle class people in city like Bangalore have shown when the issue of moral policing came in to question in big way. Specially people like Mutalik and Home Minister Mr Acharya making nonsensical statement on these issue is what reminds and gives strength and there are many things for us to learn from them as well.

One section of people thinking of the kind of protest of Pink Cheddi campaign, Defend the right to love, and subsequently formation of Fearless Karnataka its equally important of the kind of the people who came out of their houses to protest and the demonstration which took place infront of Police commissioner of Bangalore and the director general of police Karntaka is such a spontaneous and encouraraging enough for number of us and a reare hope of resistance in a different.

Byatha N Jagadeesha