NAPM condemns horrific spree of mob lynchings across the country after the Lok Sabha election results: United Resistance needed against hateful communal politics & mob lynching
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National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)National Office: A/29, Haji Habib Bldg., Naigaon Cross Road, Dadar (E), Mumbai – 400014Social Media: @napmindia | E-mail: napm...@gmail.com |
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NAPM condemns the horrific spree of mob lynchings across the country after the Lok Sabha election results
United Resistance needed against hateful communal politics, mob lynching of religious minorities and caste-based oppression
Withdraw FIR filed against journalists for reporting cases of mob lynchings
17th July, 2024: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), strongly condemns the horrific spree of mob lynchings of minorities across the country after declaration of the Lok Sabha election results on 4th June. We demand a fair investigation, stringent and prompt action against the perpetrators in all these cases as well as complete support, safety and compensation to the aggrieved families. We also call for withdrawal of FIR filed against UP-based journalists for merely reporting cases of mob lynchings. While the BJP Govt has received a weakened mandated in the elections, the social poison of communal hatred remains a challenge, which we need to unitedly resist.
Over the past month and a half, there have been reports of more than 13 cases of mob lynching across different states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. We wish to point out and condemn the complicity of state administration and the police, in safeguarding the perpetrators and targeting religious minorities and caste-oppressed people in the incidents of mob lynching. We are also appalled that instead of taking swift action against mob lynching, the Uttar Pradesh Govt. chose to crackdown on journalists Zakir Ali Tyagi, Wasim Akram Tyagi, Asif Rana, Saif Allahabadi and Ahmed Raza Khan and filed FIRs against them, for merely doing their job of reporting / sharing these incidents.
‘Mob lynchings’ have been one of the defining features of the decade-long BJP government rule at the Centre and are a direct result of the hate-fueled communal politics, on which the party relies to garner votes. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, PM Modi took hate politics one step further by directly targeting the Muslim community in his election speeches. Probably, the PM’s most hateful speech was at Banswara in Rajasthan, where he referred to members of the Muslim community as “infiltrators” and those who “produce more children”!
The BJP’s election campaign, led by the PM, saw venomous hate speeches and conspiracy theories, such as accusing the main opposition party of planning to distribute the wealth of the majority community to the minorities. Taken together, these acts amount to de-humanizing members of the minority community and create deep divides and mistrust in society. Activists, scholars and numerous civil society organizations have been warning of the dangerous consequences of such violent practices, which have also taken place in the form of ‘dharm sansads’ invoking genocidal violence towards the Muslim community.
A spree of Mob Lynchings after 4th June, across states:
● In Raipur (Chhattisgarh), three Muslim men, Saddam Qureshi (23), his cousin Chand Miya Khan (23) and Guddu Khan (35), were allegedly killed by a mob on 7th June, for cattle transportation.
● On 10th June, a Sikh man named Sukhwinder Singh from Haryana, Kiathal, was beaten to death by a mob on the accusation that the victim was a ‘Khalsitani’ !
● On 12th June, Christian families of Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh) were attacked by a Hindutva mob and given an ultimatum of 10 days to denounce their religion, wherein two people were severely beaten, and others were made unconscious.
● In the second week of June, 11 houses belonging to people from the Muslim community were demolished in Mandla (Madhya Pradesh), after police claimed to have found beef and skeletal remains of cattle !
● On 18th June, a Muslim man, Mohammad Farid, was beaten to death by a mob in Aligarh (UP).
● At least four people have been beaten to death and ten wounded in 12 separate incidents of mob violence in West Bengal in a week since 19th June.
● On 30th June, two men named Sonu Bishnoi and Sundar Bishnoi, transporting lemons from Jaipur to Punjab, were attacked by a Hindutva mob on the accusation of cattle smuggling.
Mob lynchings under the BJP are a systemic form of violence directed against religious minorities and caste-oppressed people, with active state support. Infact, in quite a few of these cases, the victims from socially marginalized groups are themselves accused of violence by the majoritarian state. It has been well established that these lynchings are a result of years of communal politics carried out by BJP and RSS based on the exclusion of religious minorities and caste-oppressed groups, with a strong driving force of genocidal intent towards Muslims in India.
A recent study (article link) conducted by Yale University scientists finds that the BJP gains electorally from incidents of conflict and violence taking their extreme forms through lynchings, pogroms (ex. Delhi pogrom) and other such incidents. Political scientists Gareth Nellis, Michael Weaver, and Steven Rosenzweig, in their study, state that while the ‘Hindu-Muslim riots’ are electorally costly for the Indian National Congress, these riots, in effect, strengthen ethno-religious parties like the BJP, stating that “the election of a single Congress MLA in a district brought about a 32% reduction in the probability of a riot breaking out before the next election. Simulations reveal that had Congress candidates lost all close elections in our dataset, India would have faced 10% more riots and thousands more riot casualties”.
NAPM firmly stands against communal politics, which, in effect, turns people into mobs for electoral and political gains, instead of holding the State accountable for ensuring rights and social well-being.
Complicity of state administration in rising instances of mob lynching and “bulldozer justice”:
Along with mob lynchings, the BJP government's fascist politics of “bulldozer justice” in various states has taken the shape of the selective and rampant demolition of houses belonging to members of the Muslim community.
· After the communal violence in Nuh (Haryana), which led to the death of 6 people, the state government resorted to a massive demolition drive, wherein barring the houses in Firozpur Jhirka, all the buildings demolished belonged to Muslims, many of them landless and poor workers.
· On 24th June, 2024, the Assam state government demolished numerous houses and structures, especially belonging to muslims, citing ‘encroachment’ on railway land! Multiple reports (Scroll report) expose the bias of state administration, where it selectively demolished houses and shops belonging to Muslim people, while leaving the Hindu neighbours on the same land untouched.
· In Madhya Pradesh, the bias of the police administration was evident, as it swiftly resorted to demolition of the houses of four Muslim men, even when the petition against demolitions was pending before the High Court. Report by Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APRC) also questioned the validity of the accusation of ‘throwing meat at a temple’ by 4 Muslim men.
The complicity and active indulgence of police and administration in facilitating and/or ignoring these incidents of anti-minority mob violence have been apparent in many of these cases. The active support of the police has taken the shape of protecting perpetrators of such violence and has now resorted to accusing the victims themselves of various crimes, even by making up false cases. Although the lynchings after 4th June have similarities with other such instances of violence carried out by hate-mobs and Hindutva vigilante groups, there appears to be a new pattern emerging in which the victim is accused of theft / robbery, in a quest to justify or legitimize these killings. For example, almost ten days after Mohammad Farid's death, an FIR was filed on the victim, accusing the deceased of theft and robbery. Similarly, In West Bengal, multiple incidents of mob lynching were reported from different parts of Kolkata, Bidhannagar, Jhargram and Hoogly, all based on suspicion of theft and robbery.
The arbitrary demolition of houses and shops anywhere is a criminal activity and takes away the right to a dignified life, leaving people homeless and without any livelihood. The role of the state administration under the BJP in states or at the Centre in fueling the rise of these incidents, by taking the side of perpetrators is strongly suspect and must be thoroughly investigated.
Wrongful FIRs on journalists for reporting:
While on the one hand, mainstream political parties in opposition have failed to effectively condemn atrocities against the Muslim community and mob lynchings, the BJP-ruled state and Central governments have resorted to an oppressive crackdown against journalists and civil society organizations for reporting and speaking against such violent crimes. In one such move, the Uttar Pradesh government has filed an FIR against three journalists, accusing them of ‘spreading false information and promoting enmity between two groups’ under Section 353 (2) and 196 respectively of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. An FIR was filed against a YouTube channel named Hindustani Media under section 353 (2) based on similar fraudulent accusations. NAPM condemns the weaponization of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita by the state and central government for silencing critics and oppressing diligent journalists.
Zakir Ali Tyagi, who has continuously reported on such hate crimes, has been attacked numerous times previously by Hindutva groups and targeted by the state government. In an interview with Quint media, he exposed how the administration weaponized the law to safeguard the perpetrators in the spree of lynchings after 4th June. The new law in BNS defines lynching as an act when "a group of five or more persons acting in concert, commit murder". Firoz's family from Aligarh was able to identify only two people from the mob, which proved to be insufficient to lodge a case of mob lynching. Zakir alleges that police played around with the technical definition to evade a fair investigation, thus providing state support to violent mobs and Hindutva vigilante groups.
In the wake of rapidly increasing cases of mob lynching and selective demolition of houses belonging to people from the Muslim community, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) calls for united democratic resistance to state-sponsored communal politics. We re-affirm our unflinching solidarity with all victims of communal, caste violence across the country. We call upon the Central and state governments to immediately intervene to curb these violent atrocities against Muslims and other minorities. We demand that:
1) The concerned governments must undertake fair investigation and ensure stringent legal action in all cases of mob lynching, communal and caste-based violence.
2) Full support, safety, compensation and legal assistance must be provided to the surviving victims or family members of deceased.
3) FIR on journalists for merely doing their duty of reporting the cases of mob lynchings should be withdrawn with immediate effect.
4) Governments must ensure strict compliance with the Supreme Court’s Judgement dt. 17th July, 2018 on mob lynchings.
5) Preventive measures should be taken by all Governments in an effective way, since lynchings have been more frequent and appear to have a recurring pattern.
6) High-level monitoring of all cases of mob-lynching and communal violence ensuring fairness, must be instituted.
7) Strict action should be taken against media groups spreading hate, fueling the rise in communal tensions and the occurrence of mob lynchings.
Issued by: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
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National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)National Office: A/29, Haji Habib Bldg., Naigaon Cross Road, Dadar (E), Mumbai – 400014
Social Media: @napmindia | E-mail: napm...@gmail.com |
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Corporates Prioritized, Common People Pauperized!
Union Budget 2024-25 is an assault on people, ecology and economy of India!
30th July, 2024: National Alliance of People’s Movements, joins all other movements across India in calling out and condemning the extremely anti-people nature of the Union Budget. The approach reflected in the budget, along with the wrong priorities demonstrates the unjust foundations of this regime and the criminal neglect of large sections of our population. Furthermore, it has the potential to severely harm the environment, along with adversely affecting the lives and livelihood of millions of ordinary people, especially from working class, socially vulnerable and natural-resource dependent communities.
On 23rd July, 2024, the Union Finance Minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitaraman presented the budget for the year 2024-25. The budget comes at a time when the rising inequalities across the country are at an all-time high, with household savings hitting a record low at 5.2% and household debt levels rising to an all-time high of 5.7%. Similarly, the Ministry of Agriculture reports a steep decline in real agricultural wages of 1.25% over the past decade. Around 750+ farmers lost their lives, protesting the lack of implementation and guarantee of MSP on their produce as per the @C2+50 formula, seeking repeal of the Electricity Act Amendment Bill, 2023, along with other demands. This, in addition to the thousands of farmers' ‘suicides’ taking place across the country, annually. On the other hand, the past decade of Modi Government’s rule has seen an unprecedented rise in unemployment, the highest in the last 50 years, falling of real wages and a reversal of structural transformation in the labour market in recent years.
Negligence in the Social Sector is very serious and will severely impact access to basics for the majority of Indians:
The budget does not take into account the current socio-economic situation of people across the country. It has not raised allocation of the social sector this year, with programmes such as MNREGA, ICDS, Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna, and various funds on health and education stuck at roughly the same levels of funding as in the previous fiscal year. MNREGA, a lifeline for millions of rural workers, which saw increased demand earlier in the year, sees its lowest fund allocation in the last 10 years at 1.78% of total budgetary allocations. In a country where 80% of the population relies on government-subsidized food, shockingly the food subsidy amount was reduced by 3.3% over the previous year. These cuts come at a time when food inflation stands at 7.5%, a 97% increase in the last two years.
There have also been consistent fund cuts in schemes such as old age pension, widow pension, Ayushman Bharat, Swasthya Suraksha, and PM-POSHAN, which provide a lifeline for the poor and marginalised in the country. Similarly, the health sector is largely ignored in the budget, with complete disregard for the people. The share of the health sector in the union budget was given a minimal increase of 1.7%, but the overall expenditure on health is still less than 2% of GDP, lower than China (7%), Nepal (5%), Sri Lanka (4%) and even Bangladesh (2.3%). Even as the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the severe shortcomings in our healthcare infrastructure, it is condemnable that this government continues to starve the critical sector of much needed funds that could build new hospitals, primary, secondary and tertiary care centres and train more doctors and medical staff.
Dalit, adivasi organizations have pointed out that out of the total Union Budget, only 3.43% is allocated for Scheduled Castes and 2.74 % for Scheduled Tribes, exposing again the anti-dalit, anti-adivasi nature of the government, which has hugely prioritized corporate interests in the budget. The budget also does no meaningful justice to crucial needs of vulnerable communities be it persons with disabilities, transgender persons, minorities etc, all of who are equal contributors to our economy.
A budget towards more centralisation and corporatisation of agriculture, coupled with the cuts in subsidies, will further aggravate rural distress:
The Union Budget once again ignores farmers' demands and gears towards the corporatisation of agriculture with a clear incentive of maximising profit for agribusiness. The funds allocated for crop husbandry have been reduced massively by 24.7 %. Similarly, there is a decline of 34.7% in the allocation of funds for fertilisers, amounting to a total decline of Rs. 87,238 crores. Their rampant fund cuts will severely aggregate rural distress and greatly impact agricultural productivity. While ignoring the current crisis and demands of the people, the Finance Minister blatantly lied by saying that the government is providing MSP at more than the 50% cost of production, when in fact the MSP provided by the government is lower than C2+50%.
The Union Budget paves the way for further centralisation and infringes on the federal rights of the State governments, with the introduction of a National Cooperation Policy aimed at bringing all the cooperatives under the control of the union government. NAPM opposes this move towards centralisation as it is a clear violation of the federal rights of the states as per our Constitution. The government also plans to implement Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agricultural coverage and tracking of farmers and their lands. The budget introduces the Bhu-Aadhar as an identification number of the land registry. NAPM demands public scrutiny of the policies on the road towards digitisation, often leading to exclusion, resulting in people losing jobs and livelihoods. This can also open the door for corporations to grab land and commit other frauds against common people.
Collapsing education sector, rising unemployment and ‘internships’ as employment opportunities - a move towards contractual labour:
Public education has been in a state of total collapse for the past decades with regular fund cuts and an aggressive push for privatisation with the introduction of the New Education Policy and the creation of HEFA. The demand for allocation of a mere 6% of the GDP in education, recommended by the Kothari Commission in 1966, has been ignored for decades. Over the years, the Modi government has consistently drained funds for education with the allocation of Rs 47,619 crore in 2024-25, with a nominal increase from budget estimates of 2023-24. However, the amount is Rs 9, 091 crore less than the revised estimates for 2023-24 resulting in a sharp decline of 7.26% when compared with previous revised estimates of Rs 1,29,718 crore is indefensible. Government’s own data in recent years reveals worrying trends.
Table 1: Employment Status and Real Earnings of Workers in India
|
Category |
% of Workforce |
Monthly Avg Real Earning (2022) |
% change since 2012 |
|
Unpaid family workers |
18.3 |
0 |
0 |
|
Causal |
21.8 |
4,712 |
+2.6% |
|
Self Employed |
57.3 |
6,843 |
-0.8% |
|
Regular Salaried |
20.9 |
10,925 |
-0.7% |
Source: India Employment Report 2024 (ILO) and Economic Survey 2024. Numbers don’t add up to 100, as unpaid family workers are counted among self-employed.
The above table shows that a significant segment of our workforce is made up of unpaid workers (18.3%). They are followed by casual workers who comprise 21.8% whose real average earnings have increased by only 2.4% since 2012 and stand at 4,712 (for 2022). 57.3% of the workforce is self-employed. These workers have no form of social security and low wages compared to regular salaried workers (20.9%), whose wages have declined by 0.7% in real terms since 2012. Furthermore, nearly 56 million (10% of total) workers have re-joined agriculture since the disastrous lockdowns. With declining wages and low productivity in agriculture, this shows this reverse migration is a sign of extreme distress in the labour market.
Paying lip service to unemployed youth, the Finance Minister has introduced the ‘paid internship scheme’, which aims to target one crore youth over the next 5 yrs, providing them with govt-mandated internship opportunities across the country's top 500 companies. A monthly stipend of ₹5,000 in tow with a one-time assistance sum of ₹6,000 will be ensured for every intern. The companies will bear only 10% (or ₹6,000) of the cost, and this too will come out of Corporate Social Responsibility funds as will any funds the companies allocate towards training costs. The internship scheme aims to provide cheap labour to companies, at public expense, with no social security.
Relieving the corporate sector of making any investment on the one hand, the union government is unwilling to fill out more than 9 lakh vacancies of its own on the other. Such single-minded promotion of privatisation with utter disregard for social justice is utterly condemnable. Moreover, the Budget does not address the crisis faced by millions of youth whose lives and aspirations have been jeopardised by a plague of paper leaks and a regrettable organisation in the National Testing Agency. NAPM demands immediate filling of all vacant government posts and along with creation of secure and dignified employment for all.
There is no allocation in the Central Budget for social security of 50 crore unorganised workers in the country, who contribute 50% of GDP. 2008 Lok Sabha Standing Committee’s recommendation of 3 percent of budget allocation for social security of unorganised workers must be implemented. Platform-based gig workers are not mentioned in the budget. While a few states, such as Rajasthan and Karnataka, have introduced Bills on the protection of gig workers, the union government remains oblivious to the marginalisation and exploitation of millions of gig workers by big companies.
Total neglect of the Environment and of climate crisis and its threats, both present and future:
The Budget is massively mute on environmental concerns. The last two months recorded extreme heatwaves, resulting in the loss of lives of hundreds of vulnerable and marginalised people. With the ever-increasing threat of climate catastrophe, the government has no vision to tackle and invest in capacity building for communities and people to tackle the present and future threats. Rather than investing in alternative capacity-building projects, the budget promotes environmentally hazardous projects like building more nuclear reactors. Without concern of its risks, the Budget has allocated Rs. 2,228 crores (up from Rs. 442 crores in 2023-24) for nuclear power projects across the country. This includes setting up of Bharat Small Reactors, research & development of Bharat Small Modular Reactor, and R&D of nuclear technologies with the involvement of private corporations.
The budget remains silent on rivers' plight and continued degeneration, affecting the environment and millions of people. The struggle of the residents of Narmada Valley, still fighting for their rights after 40 years, symbolises the plight of countless millions whose rights have been sacrificed at the altar of neo-liberal growth benefitting a handful of people. Disregarding scientific consensus that the current floods are a developmental and infrastructural disaster, the government, rather than investing in alternatives and securing the lives of people directly affected by floods and rivers, has allocated more funds for projects like Kosi-Mecchi intra-state link and other projects of barrages and dams. These will result in more environmental and social catastrophes, as has been noticed in the Ken- Betwa River Link project case. It is shocking that India, one of the most severely impacted countries by the climate crisis, is not investing in climate action and resilience building. For the urban areas too, the focus is primarily on an unsustainable growth model, instead of adopting a more inclusive and ecologically just approach.
1) In the context of the adversity faced by the people suffering with rising inflation, massive unemployment, stagnation in real wages, and collapsing infrastructure, the budget presented by the finance minister with Garib (poor) Mahila (women) Yuva (youth) and Annadata (farmers) as their primary targets (wrongly called as ‘4 castes’), deceives and betrays all of them.
2) The budget presented should be seen in continuity with the past budgets under the Modi Govt. as an attack on social welfare, aimed at serving big businesses and snatching any social security provided to the poor and marginalised by cutting off funds and drying up the livelihood schemes such as MNREGA and Poshan Abhiyan to name a few.
3) The budget prioritises the corporate profits over the needs of all other sections of the population, especially the poor and marginalised; while increasing individual income tax which hurts the middle class and restricting funding for welfare schemes which squeezes the poor. The budget continues the trend of providing tax relief to corporations (such as slashing corporate foreign tax by 5%) even as their share of Gross Tax Revenue continues to fall.
4) With utter disregard for the vast majority of people, the Union Budget indicates that Modi 3.0 continues to be a ‘Suit-Boot ki Sarkaar’. The Government’s anti-people policies get exposed with rising mass movements across the country. The budget also appears to be politically motivated and targeted at maintaining the ruling NDA coalition, of which Bihar and Andhra Pradesh states are being given a major share.
Despite receiving a reduced mandate for its assault on the ordinary people, the BJP-led NDA Govt seems to ride high on its bulldozer form of governance, of which pro-corporate, anti-people budgets are a key element. NAPM calls for a mass movement and mobilisation against the Union Government, for its persistent humiliation and of the struggling people of the country, which is denying their basic right to life, livelihood, dignity and socio-ecological justice.
Anand Mazgaonkar (Gujarat)
Anjali Bharadwaj (New Delhi)
Aruna Roy (Rajasthan)
Arundhati Dhuru (Uttar Pradesh)
Ashish Ranjan (Bihar)
Dorothy Fernandes (Bihar)
Gabriele Dietrich (Tamilnadu)
Geetha Ramakrishnan (Tamil Nadu)
Jagdish Khairalia (Maharashtra)
Kailash Meena (Rajasthan)
Kiran Vissa (Telangana & Andhra Pradesh)
Lingaraj Azad (Odisha)
Lingaraj Pradhan (Odisha)
Mahendra Yadav (Bihar)
Medha Patkar (Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra)
Meera Sanghamitra (Telangana)
Pasarul Alam (West Bengal)
Pradip Chatterjee (West Bengal)
Prafulla Samantara (Orissa)
Rajiv Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)
Rajkumar Sinha (Madhya Pradesh)
Richa Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
Sanjay M G (Maharashtra)
Sanjeev Danda (New Delhi)
Soumya Dutta (New Delhi)
Major Gen (Retd.) S. G. Vombatkere (Karnataka)
Dr. Sunilam (Madhya Pradesh)
Suniti S R (Maharashtra)
Issued by: National Working Group of National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
napm india
National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)National Office: A/29, Haji Habib Bldg., Naigaon Cross Road, Dadar (E), Mumbai – 400014Social Media: @napmindia | E-mail: napm...@gmail.com |
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Painful Loss of Hundreds of lives in Kerala Landslides: ‘An Avertable Disaster’?
Safeguard Eco-Sensitive Western Ghats from Reckless & Destructive Activities!
Hold Union & State Govts accountable for ruining ecology & people’s lives!
31st July, 2024: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) is deeply pained at the tragic death of hundreds of people in the landslides of Kerala, over the past two days. The numbers of both the dead and those missing seem to be constantly increasing, with local media reporting at least 250 people dead and 225 missing, as of now. We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of all the deceased and convey strength to people of the state in this moment of immense grief. We also hope that the hundreds of people injured and trapped in the debris are provided all possible aid and assistance. We appeal to all our comrades and people’s organizations in Kerala and nearby states to support the valiant rescue and relief operations underway, by the disaster relief teams and the state government.
As has been reported, the colossal loss of life and injuries have been in the aftermath of the cloudburst, heavy rains and landslides in the Mundakkai and Chooralmalai regions in Wayanad district of Kerala. The state witnessed many tragic deaths due to landslides in 2018 and 2019, as well. Even as immediate relief is significant, this incident should not be passed off as ‘yet another natural disaster’! While broader climatic conditions like warming of the Arabian sea has a key role to play in the changing rainfall patterns, leading to landslides, there are other human-induced or rather state-enabled actions like rampant deforestation and reckless construction that has accentuated the crisis. It is high time the underlying causes of these repeated landslides are officially acknowledged and necessary course-correction ensured, at the highest levels.
Environmentalists from Kerala have pointed out that Mundakkai has a history of many landslides and infact is part of what is known as the ‘Camel Hump’ mountain range. It is important to highlight that four years back, a high-level committee constituted by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) forewarned of landslides in the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats in Wayanad and recommended that 4,000 families be immediately shifted. It is a matter of extreme concern that the recommendations of this Committee were ignored, in a way, paving the way for the current tragedy. The proposed construction of a 2,000-crore mega tunnel project, barely 2 kms away from the current landslide in Mundakkai is likely to cause more such mishaps in the future.
The repeated disasters occurring in the highly ecologically sensitive Western Ghats has been a matter of acute concern for all people’s movements and ecologists. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), headed by Prof. Madhav Gadgil, in its Report submitted to Union Environment Ministry way back in 2011 highlighted the need for restraint in construction activities and infact marked the current affected areas under 'Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ)-1'. The Panel proposed that quarrying and red category industries should not be allowed in ESZ- I.
The Kerala Govt. should have diligently implemented the WGEEP Report and not allowed change in land use from forest to non-forest and agricultural to non-agricultural purposes. However, it has been pointed out that in violation of the Gadgil Committee recommendations, the Kerala Govt. permitted quarrying within a distance of 50 metres from human settlements, as against the Committee stipulation of 100 mts. The Reports by the Kerala Legislature after the 2018 disaster and the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Report prepared by multilateral agencies including the United Nations, also clearly warned of adverse impacts due to interventions like roads and other constructions, mining and deforestation in the eco-sensitive areas.
Covering the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Western Ghats region includes large tracts of biodiverse-rich and Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA), that need to be protected, both as per the recommendations of the Gadgil Committee (WGEEP), as well as the Kasturi Rangan Committee (2013). However, successive Central Governments and different state governments have ignored these Reports and instead promoted reckless real estate boom, infrastructure ‘development’, indiscriminate construction, plantations, stone mining, sand mining, excavation, quarrying, hill-cutting, tourism etc. on hill tops, degraded forests and even river beds!
Tragically, the current paradigm of ‘development’ has intensified landslides across many states. India is red-flagged as one of the top-five landslide-prone countries in the world. As per official scientific estimates, there have been 80,000 incidents of landslides between 1998 and 2022 in 147 districts of 17 states and two union territories. Of this, maximum incidents of landslides have occurred in Uttarakhand, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Mizoram tops the list, followed by Uttarakhand and Kerala.
Considering the severity of the recent disaster, the National Green Tribunal (Southern Bench) has taken suo moto cognizance and directed the Govt. of Kerala to collect data on trigger points such as roads, buildings and existing quarries in and around the affected villages. We hope the NGT would comprehensively look into all the core causes and issue firm directives to the Govt. of Kerala, other state Governments and the Union of India.
State governments across the Western Ghats must urgently carry out time-bound scientific studies, including flood-risk mapping and identification of landslide-prone hotspots, since floods and landslides are cascading disasters. A strict restriction / ban on new and heavy constructions in all vulnerable and unstable areas must be imposed, to prevent landslides and ensure floodplain protection. Governments must instead take pro-active steps to preserve and promote green cover and health, free flow of rivers in these areas.
We are also already witnessing Centre – state exchange on the ‘status of warnings’ issued. We feel that both the Central and state Governments must own up responsibility for the disasters, causes of which are also partly systemic. Governments must also make attempts to increase community and people’s awareness in eco-sensitive areas to hazard /disaster warnings and support their pre-evacuation in time.
NAPM seeks effective implementation of the recommendations of the Madhav Gadgil Committee Report by the Centre and all states across the Western Ghats, at least now, with a sense of urgency and seriousness. We also call for long-term hazard assessment, keeping climate change in view and long-term action plans, to reduce human, bio-ecological and property losses. The administrative and political leadership at the Centre and in Kerala, both current and former, must be held fully accountable for non-implementation of the Gadgil Committee Report and the KSDMA Report, leading to the massive human tragedy.
Many of those affected in the landslide are working-class local residents, adivasis, migrant workers employed in tea, coffee and cardamom plantations. Considering the destruction of homes, shops, farms, vehicles etc. the Govt must provide all necessary relief, fair compensation and ensure livelihood-based rehabilitation in safer places. The top-down model of ‘development’ being pushed and promoted by most political parties, where the vulnerable always pay the costs, often with their lives, needs to be challenged upfront. We hope proper wisdom will prevail on the political leadership and authorities in future, in the wake of these repeated mammoth disasters.
Anand Mazgaonkar (Gujarat)
Anjali Bharadwaj (New Delhi)
Aruna Roy (Rajasthan)
Arundhati Dhuru (Uttar Pradesh)
Ashish Ranjan (Bihar)
Dorothy Fernandes (Bihar)
Gabriele Dietrich (Tamilnadu)
Geetha Ramakrishnan (Tamil Nadu)
Jagdish Khairalia (Maharashtra)
Kailash Meena (Rajasthan)
Kiran Vissa (Telangana & Andhra Pradesh)
Lingaraj Azad (Odisha)
Lingaraj Pradhan (Odisha)
Mahendra Yadav (Bihar)
Manshi Asher (Himachal Pradesh)
Medha Patkar (Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra)
Meera Sanghamitra (Telangana)
Pasarul Alam (West Bengal)
Pradip Chatterjee (West Bengal)
Prafulla Samantara (Odisha)
Rajiv Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)
Rajkumar Sinha (Madhya Pradesh)
Richa Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
Sanjay M G (Maharashtra)
Sanjeev Danda (New Delhi)
Soumya Dutta (New Delhi)
Major Gen (Retd.) S. G. Vombatkere (Karnataka)
Dr. Sunilam (Madhya Pradesh)
Suniti S R (Maharashtra)
Issued by: National Working Group & River Valley Forum of National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
Contact 70540 55393 / 94464 96332 | E-mail: napm...@gmail.com
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- NAPM Statement on Kerala Landslides.pdf (209776)
- NAPM Statement on Kerala Landslides.docx (6445066)
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NAPM congratulates the student-led mass uprising against Sheikh Hasina’s dictatorial regime in Bangladesh, significant for all South Asian countries
New Government must ensure creation of a just and equitable socio-economic order, informed by principles of inclusion, democratic participation and ecological equity.
We strongly condemn the attack on minorities in Bangladesh and call upon the new government to prevent communal violence, fix accountability for crimes against minorities
Vicious communal propaganda by right-wing Indian media and saffron forces to instigate violence and vilify the popular uprising is condemnable!
21st August, 2024: India’s close neighbour, Bangladesh recently witnessed a historic political uprising and transition. National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) congratulates the people of the country, in particular the valiant students-led mass uprising that challenged the oppressive and autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina. This important moment of ‘victory’ has partly been tarnished by violence against minorities, including Hindus in different parts of Bangladesh. NAPM feels that the regime-change certainly holds hope for a new socio-economic order, provided the enormous task of building a democratic, inclusive and egalitarian Bangladesh begins in right earnest. The events that unfolded in Bangladesh have significance for democratic movements across South Asia and beyond.
The latest round of protests and people’s revolt, popularly called the ‘anti-discrimination movement’ that resulted in the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s regime on 7th August, 2024 and formation of a new interim government, needs to be seen in the context of continued democratic repression, increasing unemployment, and government policies with complete disregard for the ordinary people. It is tragic and very unfortunate that about 650 people including members of minority communities, protesters, civilians, journalists and security personnel were killed between July and August[1], as per a preliminary report of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office. We deeply mourn the loss of life and limb during this uprising and convey our condolences to the families of all the deceased.
Several hundreds more have been injured, as the Awami League regime let loose the police, rapid action battalion (RAB) forces, border security forces and even goons of Bangladesh Chhatro League (BCL), on the protesting students and people, across districts. Even as we stand firmly in solidarity with the student's demands and the popular uprising, we condemn the violence unleashed, in particular against minority communities. We hope that the interim government formed with Prof. Muhammad Yunus, as the Chief Advisor, will prevent attacks on ethnic and religious minorities, including the targeted killing of Bangladeshi Hindus.
The trigger for the mass protests in Bangladesh has been the long-standing demand to reform the ‘quota system’ in government job recruitment, in particular the 30 percent quota for ‘freedom fighters of 1971 War and their descendants’. The protests started soon after the High Court nullified Sheikh Hasina’s 2018 decision of abolishing the jobs quota. This quota system has been an issue of discontent among students and youth, owing to rampant corruption and partisan distribution of state benefits among the regime-loyalists, in the context of rising unemployment. The brutal repression of dissenting voices only led to solidification of this resentment, over the years. According to prominent economist Fahmida Kahtun, while the official records indicate an unemployment rate of 3.53 per cent, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics records an unemployment rate at 8 per cent. Overall, 40.67 per cent of educated youth in the country are currently unemployed.
The hubris and popular disconnect of Sheikh Hasina’s regime was on full display when instead of calling the protesting students for dialogue, she unfairly branded them as Razakars and unleashed brutal repression on them. Razakar is a deeply offensive word in Bangladesh, used for those who sided with Pakistani forces in the 1971 war of liberation. As such, it carries the connotation of “traitor” or “anti-national”. This is very similar to the vilification tactics employed by the BJP-led Govt in India against students and dissenting voices. The past decade in India also has seen a massive surge in unemployment, breaking the 45-year record while the government refuses to acknowledge the crisis. Akin to Bangladesh, the Indian Govt. also lacks a democratic vision and willingness to address the unemployment crisis, amidst deepening poverty and only resorts to clamping down on protesting students and youth.
The factors which led up to the regime’s fall in Bangladesh are the same as those found in other ‘developing’ countries: Capital intensive and export-led growth that does not benefit the vast majority of people, increasing inequality, suppression of democratic rights and undermining of state institutions, and use of repression by state authorities in dealing with people’s protests. As such, the events in Bangladesh hold lessons for regimes in other countries as well.
The downfall of the government in Bangladesh is a culmination of a long process of the Awami League’s loss of political legitimacy, as it prioritised the interests of big businesses over people’s basic needs. Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has posted impressive GDP growth figures, has cornered a large section of the international garment trade market and has witnessed infrastructural growth such as the creation of Dhaka’s metro. However, economic growth was not driven by secure jobs and the secular Awami League compromised with big businesses, effectively undermining the sovereignty of Bangladeshi people. Over time the progressive, cross-class coalition that formed the base of the party declined and crony capitalists found their way into influential positions within the ruling party, making it a top-heavy, authoritarian regime.
Recent times have shown us that no government can survive for long with its dictatorship, if people across the country take to the streets. The earlier example of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh now hold important learnings for democratic movements in the sub-continent and a strong warning to all the anti-people authoritarian and fascist governments, both in South Asia and across the globe.
As we reflect on the significance of the Bangladeshi uprising, it must be stated that the focus has been centred around ‘merit-based employment opportunities’. The movement at this point hasn’t adequately factored in the urgent need for affirmative actions, for the historically and structurally oppressed.
We salute the Bangladeshi people’s struggle, even as we express grave concerns about large-scale violence and arson against Hindus and other religious and ethnic minorities. While certain laudable efforts were made by faith groups, students and youth to contain violence and restore peace in different areas, the cumulative loss of lives and targeting of minorities has been painful.
We call upon the interim government and leaders of the popular movement to ensure that there is no further communal violence and loss of life. Utmost efforts are needed to ensure all citizens of the country are safe in all respects; in particular rights of all minorities and dissenters need to be safeguarded. Accountability needs to be fixed in a time-bound manner for all crimes committed against religious and ethnic minorities in Bangladesh, which includes attack on lives as well as vandalism of minority places of worship and properties. The interim Government must also institute a time-bound, impartial and transparent investigation into all instances of extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances, violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions and take action accordingly.
As with any mass uprising, there are various political strands in the Bangladeshi revolt too. While the students and population at large have remained secular, the presence of fanatical elements must be noted and addressed. The challenge now is to create a socio-economic order and political system that guarantees dignified employment, civil and political rights to all people, including to all minorities.
Back home in India, we have been witnessing a large-scale misinformation campaign by right-wing establishment media and social media, as well as saffron forces on-ground, painting the entire student, people’s movement of Bangladesh as an ‘anti-hindu movement’, to whip up anti-minority sentiments here. We condemn such instigation and appeal to people to recognise the misleading propaganda by RSS – BJP as an attempt to foster communal hatred, which to an extent was also neutralized in the recent Lok Sabha elections. We call upon the Government of India to take urgent steps to tackle the malicious spread of false information against the Bangladeshi protestors and make all efforts to ensure communal harmony and the re-establishment of a stable, secular, democratic system in our neighbouring country.
While it may be too early to comment on the new regime in Bangladesh, it needs to be mentioned that the nominated head of the interim government, Prof. Yunus has had a prolonged association with the ‘Washington lobby’. Bangladesh's Grameen Group was also under the scanner for coercive practices, high-interest rates, reinforcing village hierarchies etc in the ‘iconic’ micro-credit business. The popular revolt needs to be seen as a popular vote against authoritarianism by the ordinary people and hence their interests have to be prioritized, and not that of the domestic elites and foreign capitalists. This calls for a paradigm shift in the socio-economic policies and governance, centering the rights and concerns of the large sections of working-class and historically disadvantaged ethnic, religious and gender discriminated minorities. The new regime must work to genuinely strengthen democratic institutions, safeguard ecology, civil liberties and human rights in the nation and ensure greater space for progressive movement leaders of Bangladesh in the governance processes.
The diverse people’s movements of Bangladesh have already put forth numerous crucial demands before the interim government including ensuring fair representation in Parliament to all historically marginalised groups, addressing demands of different marginalised indigenous groups (from Hill tracts and Plain lands), constitutional acknowledgment of the “Adivasi” people, de-militarization of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, fair wages and social security to tea garden, garments factory and other informal sector workers, affordable and accessible education, healthcare, housing, food security and transport, repeal of draconian laws, upholding the right to organize, release of political prisoners, dissolution of RAB and other unconstitutional paramilitary forces etc, enacting anti-discriminatory social justice and gender-just laws, sensitizing the bureaucracy and compensation to all the injured students, martyrs, and citizens, amongst other things.
While the recent spate of protests have been led by students, seeking a fair and equitable reform of the quota system, the uprising also had the active participation of people from diverse ethnicities, classes and genders. Women, indigenous communities and the working-class people from hills and plains also played an important role in the movement. It is in this spirit therefore, that a new, truly democratic and inclusive Bangladesh needs to be nurtured, addressing all the aforementioned demands.
Issued by: National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
Anand Mazgaonkar (Gujarat)
Anjali Bharadwaj (New Delhi)
Aruna Roy (Rajasthan)
Arundhati Dhuru (Uttar Pradesh)
Ashish Ranjan (Bihar)
CR Neelakandan (Kerala)
Dorothy Fernandes (Bihar)
Gabriele Dietrich (Tamilnadu)
Geetha Ramakrishnan (Tamil Nadu)
Jagdish Khairalia (Maharashtra)
Kailash Meena (Rajasthan)
Kiran Vissa (Telangana & Andhra Pradesh)
Lingaraj Azad (Odisha)
Lingaraj Pradhan (Odisha)
Mahendra Yadav (Bihar)
Manshi Asher (Himachal Pradesh)
Medha Patkar (Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra)
Meera Sanghamitra (Telangana)
Pasarul Alam (West Bengal)
Pradip Chatterjee (West Bengal)
Prafulla Samantara (Odisha)
Rajiv Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)
Rajkumar Sinha (Madhya Pradesh)
Richa Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
Sanjay M G (Maharashtra)
Sanjeev Danda (New Delhi)
Soumya Dutta (New Delhi)
Major Gen (Retd.) S. G. Vombatkere (Karnataka)
Dr. Sunilam (Madhya Pradesh)
Suniti S R (Maharashtra)