---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Aug 3, 2006 4:47 PM Subject: Fwd: Sign hope for 150 landless dalits To: acjppearl@
Dear Friends, AT the SDF our aim has always been to be with people and stand by their side even in the darkest and painful hours of their crisis. With or without projects because it is a matter of conviction and not convenience. For over 14 odd years, we have been involved in a struggle of land rights of over 150 Dalit families in a hill town called Kashipur in the new Indian state of Uttaranchal which was once upon a time Uttar-Pradesh. A Dalit locality was brutally demolished by an Industrial house. To deny that there ever exist these families, the industrial house did every trick to subvert the law. In 2004 the issue was finally cleared by the Supreme Court of India. That the ceiling imposed upon the industrial house was justified. The court left the redistribution thing to the state. It is over two years now. There has been no action. One half hearted action in January resulted in another petition. The issue became more complicated as the other party used the minority card because the oppressors here are powerful Sikhs. You might have seen these Sikhs in Canada and US also. For us this was a more difficult choice. We did not lose our faith in the rule of law and filed a petition in the Lokayukta who is basically an ombudsman of the government. Lokayukta is a high profile position given to a retired High Court judge with impeccable track record. Now under pressure from our regular petition, the opposite Industrial house withdrew its petition in the Supreme Court. The Lokayukta had earlier passed strong stricture against the Government of Uttaranchal on this issue. Now things are clear. I am sending the enclosed letter to the Lokayukta to use his power that he enjoy to allow these Dalits gain their land rights. I have personally seen many people.. some of them died in the hope of getting their land right. It is a matter of satisfcation but also of frustration that despite so much of efforts the people still have not got their land. It is satisfying for me personally because in these 14 years, I did not change my loyalty to the people and remain in their sorrows and happiness. Yes, the satisfcation will only be real if we are able to get them justice. Your support for the casue give us strength to fight more vigoriously. I sincerely hope that we will be able to get people justice which they deserve for such a long period. In solidarity -- Vidya Bhushan Rawat Visit my blog at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com Contribute your article on freedom, humanism and human rights to www.manuski.com For Social action, land rights, right to food and hunger issues support Social Development Foundation at www.thesdf.org -- Vidya Bhushan Rawat Visit my blog at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com Contribute your article on freedom, humanism and human rights to www.manuski.com For Social action, land rights, right to food and hunger issues support Social Development Foundation at www.thesdf.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Honorable Justice S.H.A.Raza,* *LOKAYUKTA,* *218, Kishan Nagar,* *Dehradun* *( Uttaranchal) June 28, 2006* * * *Re: Reference No 27995/L.ka/2006/118/2005 dated May 12th, 2006* Sir, We would like to thank you for your detailed letter address to the district authorities regarding the issue of Ceiling Land in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar. The situation at the ground remain unchanged and the landless Dalits still looking for some hope. Though, the authorities seems have realized their mistake yet it does not reflect in any groundwork. They simply have no ideas to implement a court order and taking shelter under the pretext of 'stay' on the order by the Supreme Court. There is simply no concern for the Dalit families who have lost every thing in their struggle for justice through democratic means. One needs to ask how the Supreme Court has granted stay on its own order given by a two judges bench. Definitely, there is something missing in the Guru Nanak Mission's petition in the Supreme Court. It would be advisable for the State to make its case well documented in the court. We fear that the Guru Nanak International Mission has not talked about the earlier order of the Supreme Court. So the state authorities are advised to study the petition of Guru Nanak Mission School, its locus-standi on the issue and if found guilty, charge them for misleading the court. We are informed that some of the officials are acting on the order. We are not sure how sincere they are. For the matter a large sum of compensation was distributed by Chief Minister's discretionary fund to 'so-called' victims, who the Supreme Court termed as violator and should be shown no sympathy. They continue to purchase land without registration papers under the impression nothing could happen to them. Clearly, it was a case of mob mentality that threatened to change the demography of the region. Most unfortunately, the Dalits have got nothing so far in this entire exercise. Uttaranchal reflect the typical nature of 'exclusion' that Dalit face where even the officials cannot act beyond their narrow caste interests. Many of them died in their struggle, others left out of their homes in search of work. State continues to keep silent on the whereabouts of the Dalits. Nobody knows how many of them were threatened to keep quiet or face death. It is a well-known fact that a majority of Dalits and tribals lost their land because of this neo feudal culture, which has threatened the very peace in the region. It is the duty of the state to find out where have they gone. What is the exact number of the Dalits who were party to the original petition filed in Allahabad High Court and later in the Supreme Court? Does the state want those also to disappear who have valiantly remained there fighting the case. Therefore, we would urge the state government be advised to undo this historical injustice at the earliest irrespective or inspite of court order. The leasing of the 140-acre of land to private parties also showed government's concern for the poor people. Despite repeated petition that the government could promote community farming, the authorities are still not concerned about it. We have heard that land is being given to SIDCUL for further work. We need to ask why the authorities were so prompt giving land to SIDCUL but at the same point no concerned was shown towards those who have waited for justice for over 12 years. I am sure one should take the officials to task why this inordinate delay on their part. And whether they are really keen on providing social justice to the victim families or playing in the hands of powerful land mafia. While it is clear that the officials were acting under pressure from the senior leaders from Dehradun, it is painful that despite all this activism, we have not been able to get justice to the Dalits. Subedar Jasram is over 80 now and cannot move ahead. He lost his two sons during this period and his wife. I have seen her tears about this land, the emotions whether they would be able to get it or not. We have seen people dying in front of us without receiving the land. My only request is whether our officials would sensitive enough to understand the pains of delay in justice. After years of struggle, some of us had the patience to fight for the rights of the marginalized and yet even after getting a favorable judgment from the highest court of the land the things remain unmoved. We hope that the state government will make its case stronger in the Supreme Court and seek punishment against those petitioners who have hidden information from the court. Secondly, the Dalits need immediate justice. Does Uttaranchal not have any land to distribute to them? Again, we are sincerely thankful to honorable Lokayukta Saheb and hope his intervention would ensure justice to Dalits and other marginalized in the region. Thanking you, Yours Sincerely, Vidya Bhushan Rawat Director Honorable Justice S.H.A.Raza, LOKAYUKTA, 218, Kishan Nagar, Dehradun ( Uttaranchal) August 3rd, 2006 Re: Reference No 27995/L.ka/2006/118/2005 dated May 12th, 2006 Respected Sir, I write this letter again in continuation of my earlier letter to you dated June 28th, 2006 related to the issue of the ceiling land occupied by M/s Escorts Farms Limited, Kundeshwari, Kashipur. Though, we have not received any copy of your latest order, we wish to apprise you the latest development regarding the same. In my last letter to you, I had expressed my apprehensions that the writ petition filed in the Supreme Court by M/s Guru Nanak International seemed no locus standi. Just two days back, we are informed by our lawyer in the Supreme Court that the said petition has been withdrawn by them. Which means that the authorities have to act according to the Supreme Court Judgment delivered by Justice Shiv Raj Patil and Justice Dharmadhikari, in February 2004. As there is no legal hurdle now, I would request you to ask the authorities to act on it and expedite the matter. We have received further intimation that the authorities are not keen to talk to the Dalits who were responsible for this case being taken in the Supreme Court. We have heard that a few of them are being given land entitlement. Our question remains the same. Why are the authorities not ready to give land to 150 Dalit families who had filed cases in various courts of law and who had waited for this day to come. We are providing you the list of the petitioners in the Supreme Court. We will request you to ask the authorities to verify these people and provide them land. We have been informed by the Dalits in Kundeshwari that they are ready to form a cooperative. I am talking of this because the authorities are giving land to companies and outsider without taking into consideration the case of these families. Recently, some of the officials visited Subedar Jasram and spoke with him in a very impolite language suggesting that he has already got his land. Some of these officials were not even born when the Subedar retired from the Indian army and the pay and perks during those days were not that lucrative as they are today. Even if the officials have developed prejudice against Jasram who is over 80 years of age now and can hardly travel, there are number of other people who do not have land. The authorities do not have will to act against land mafia, which is 'expert' in politicizing the issue as assault on minorities. As a person devoted to the cause of human rights, I can not find a much bitter irony then this where Dalits are being denied their due land right despite favorable verdict from the apex court of the land. I had earlier expressed my doubt about authorities in league with the land mafia and providing them 'useful' clues and advice to subvert the law. When the petition was filed, we clearly felt that it was a delaying tactics. We fear that the state of Uttaranchal is completely ignoring the demand of majority of people for comprehensive land reforms. It is ironical that that in a state where majority of people do not even have more than 3 bighas of land, the land grabbers from outside the state have found it safe heaven to assault the local Dalits and the tribals and own land much bigger than the ceiling limit. Today, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar is losing the agricultural land to builder mafia and big farm houses have already crept in the area having huge land holdings with out formal registration while the Dalits and tribals are struggling for their land rights in a more polite and democratic way. What does it indicate? That democracy could easily be subverted by those in power, wealth and position and the marginalized will always be on the margin if the political leaders, authorities and their chums do not have fear of the law of the land and a strong judiciary. Now, we have the opportunity to undo the historic wrong. Since there is no legal hurdle now, your initiative will ultimately pave the way for an honorable redistribution of land to Dalits in Kundeshwari. We are forwarding you a list of original petitioners who appeared in the lower courts as well as high court and Supreme Court of India. The land redistribution should begin from those who fought against the injustice and put their faith in the constitution and rule of law for such a long period. It is time that we pay our debt to these people by honorably redistributing the land. I am ready to provide all assistance to you in this regard. Thank you Sir, Yours Sincerely, Vidya Bhushan Rawat Director Social Development Foundation** «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥««¤»¥«¤»§«¤» This is ZESTCaste whose members watch India's painful journey to society's de-casteisation. Members are encouraged to post messages to ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! 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