Re: [Marxism] SACP on xenophobic attacks

["Ruthless Critic of All that Exists" <ok.president+marxml@xxxxxxxxx>]

Kavita Srivastava, People's Union of Civil Liberties [PUCL] Rajasthan,
has put together a very insightful
report on the recent blasts in Jaipur, and the subsequent
communalisation of the issue and persecution of Bengalis.  It was also
brought to their notice that the Hindu Bastis around Bagrana were
being provoked and that there could be a possibility of a riot.

This is horrific and absolutely unacceptable. In particular, arresting
such a large number of people on the basis of "suspicious body
language" and putting them in what seems little different from
concentration camps, seems to suggest a policy of deliberately killing
these people via a slow death through starvation.

Messages expressing concern and condemnation need to be sent to the
Rajasthan government in the strongest possible terms. I urge comrades
to use the Rajasthan government's webpage:

<http://www.rajasthan.gov.in/rajgovt/misc/reachthegovt.html>

---------- Forwarded message ----------

THE JAIPUR BLASTS  SCAPEGOAT: THE POOR BENGALI  MIGRANT

Part I
..................

The local media went to town over how illegal Bangladeshi migrants had
made Jaipur unsafe and how "this scum of the earth" were there to
destroy the economy of the city and the State. It was on walk the talk
broadcasted by NDTV and later published in the Indian Express where
Vasundhara Raje openly said that it was well known that the
Bangladeshis indulge in a "lot of illegal activities". She linked them
with the blast by suggesting that the e-mail was sent by HUJI. And
since it works out of Bangladesh they would make contact with
Bangladeshis. She also stated that the e-mail showed that definitely
there was some involvement of people from outside India.



This upfront position taken by the Government on the Bangladeshi
question, has resulted in the crackdown by the police on anybody and
everybody who is a Bengali Muslim. It is also extending in some cases
to all non Rajasthani migrants. Although a few Hindu suspects have
also been arrested however the violations against those arrested as
being suspected illegal Bangaldeshi Migrants is so severe that the
police needs to be stopped immediately. With the crackdown on the
Bengalis,  the migrant workers, from Bihar and UP are also running away
as suddenly every worker has become a suspect in the eyes of law.

....................

Part II

Widespread Hunger in "BAGRANA" - the Bangladeshi Transit Camp

On the 21st and 23rd of May 2008, the team from PUCL went to Bagrana
Basti. More than 25 people had been arrested so we had decided to
examine the situation there.  This basti is situated on the Jaipur
Agra highway. The first transit camp for Bangladeshis was set up in
2003 by the Ashok Gehlot Government. It was always called a
resettlement colonies of the Jaipur Development Authorities. The
Bangladeshi group of migrants, mostly ragpickers, had been living in
Gopal Bari, along the railway line close to the Jaipur Junction for
many years. However, after the 2002 Godhra incident they were moved to
Bagrana in 2003. And the first transit camp was set up. These
Bangladeshi's were not deported back, a question which the State
Administration needs to answer.

At Bagrana the total number of families identified as Bangladeshi are
around 350. of which 315 have the transit camp slip. There are a few
Rajasthani, Biharis and residents from UP too. The population of the
basti would be about 15 to 18000 people.

This settlement also has other settlers like the Mirasis -- Muslims who
are mainly construction workers. This group of people maintain their
distance from the Bangaldeshis.

The Bagrana camp is a hell-hole. People have been living for more than
five years in a subhuman environment. Being a camp, no family can use
brick or stone for construction purpose or put up a pucca  roof or
have a single brick wall. However, a few families have managed to get
the brick wall constructed but the cover over the houses is a thin
plastic sheet or a tarpaulin, which is unbearable in the hot summer
temperature of 45 degrees.

There is a serious water shortage as of the two handpumps one is out
of order and the other works intermittently. Apart from the fact that
there are constant fights amongst the women in order to access water,
women and children are suffering from dehydration, which is visible.

At first glance huge mountains of waste awaiting sorting is what you
encounter when you enter the Basti. The children and the old all
seemed listless. Hunger seemed widespread in the colony. The children
had eaten but very little. Some of the adults had not eaten for the
last six days. The situation of hunger was very evident.  Since they
have been denied the rights by the district administration to leave
the camp and go and earn their daily bread, it is the duty of the
State to provide them food with dignity and basic survival rights.
However, no food is being provided and hunger is widespread and
visible to any outsider on the scene.

The children are also suffering from serious skin diseases and
ailments like fever which are not being diagnosed and treated as there
is no health facility in the camp.  Since they have no right to move
out therefore it is the duty of the administration to ensure that
medicines and other Doctors be reached urgently.

The children looked extremely malnourished
and women appeared anaemic. According to them living at the bottom of
the heap was acceptable than compared to living in absolute hunger and
poverty in Bangladesh. However, the people this time were living in
deep fear too.

This camp had no school  despite existing for five years
and child labour was widespread and there was no intervention by the
Administration.

The Basti of Bagrana is divided into 2 colonies. New basti and the old basti.

 "Shri Ramlal" ji, a Rajasthani who had been staying for the last 6
years told us about the arrest of 2 Maulvis who were also
Rajasthani's. Further he also told us, that many of the Bengali
families who were staying in Bagrana had been in Jaipur for the 30-35
years and some had been shifted by the JDA around 5 years ago.. They
all asked the Government to issue ration cards so that they could also
get subsidised food and kerosene but no had paid heed to this
request..

In May 2008, there was a severe fire disaster in the basti, in which a
child died and as many as 122 huts were burnt, and around 15-20 people
were severely injured. The families suffered serious losses. After the
incident several authorities came and announced relief. Prominent
amongst them was the Education Minister Shri Kali Charan Saraf and the
District Collector. Some of the affected families got food and other
support. Those who lost their houses in the fire, got Rs. 4000 as
relief, but the parents who lost their child in the fire incident
didn't get anything, although the Minister had announced Rs 1 lac as
compensation.

According to most people living in the Basti, even the incident of the
fire had the authorities treating them with some dignity but the blast
changed it all. They had become pariahs. When the police randomly
arrested several people and took them away on the 14th itself fear set
in them. According to the women the police arrested those who were in
the forefront and were in some sense leaders of the community. The
women kept saying that they were taken away for no reason. They were
not in any way connected to the blast.

When the SHO of Kanota Rajendra Singh was asked why certain people
were arrested, he said that they had arrested those whose body
language was not right. There seemed something suspicious about their
movements so they were arrested, he said. The police's version of the
location of arrest of the people was that they arrests took place when
people were loitering outside the camp, however, everybody we met in
the Basti said that the police had arrested the people from inside the
camp.

While hunger was knocking everybody's door it was more evident in the
25 homes where the head of the family had been arrested. But the
restriction on people's movement was a cause of worry for all. A
police post had been set up in the Basti to monitor the movements of
the people. The people had been instructed by the police that not only
they could not step out for work into the city but they also had to
get their identities checked at the post regularly.

This had resulted in a hunger-like situation in several homes and both
the adults and children had not eaten for the last 6 days. They kept
saying that first the men had been arrested and then they had been
left to starve. This situation would only turn worse in the next few
days.

On being asked that why they left their home country and came and
settled here in India, they responded that, in their country there are
frequent floods, due to which their homes and land were destroyed
every time they constructed one. It was getting very difficult for
them to survive there, so they came to India in search of a job and
shelter. They said that they want to live in Jaipur itself like
anybody else.

•       Dukhu Sheik's wife Champa told us that they had been staying in
Jaipur for the last 15 years. They had 4 children (3 daughters and 1
son), her husband was the only person in the family who used to earn
by tying huts for the poor. After his arrest there was no one in the
family to earn even a rupee. She herself had not eaten anything for
the last 6 days. They had moved into this basti 5 years ago. She kept
stating that nobody in their entire family had even the slightest
links with the Jaipur blasts and so why were they being victimised.

•       Abu Hayat (17 years), a tailor, his father, used to make huts and
brother was a rag pciker were taken into custody by the police on 19th
itself. He was the only one left in the family to provide for the
family of nine people. He was sad that they were being prevented from
going into the city to earn. When they tried go into the city they
were beaten the police and sent back. He said that till before the
blast they had food thrice a day but now managing enough food for even
single meal seemed diificult..

•       Both the leaders Imraan and Daulat Khan had also been arrested by
the police. They were also wealthier than the others as they purchased
the garbage from the others and sent it to Delhi for processing and
recycling.

•       55 years old, Mohammad Sheikh had hunger written all over him. His
son had been arrested. he kept saying that the blast had snatched
their food as the bread winner of his family, his son had been
arrested and others were not allowed to step out.

•       Mohammad Noor Husain (52 years), in the past used to live at 'Ghat
Gate', there he was a voter too. But ever since he came to Bagrana,
the sarpanch of the nearby village did not let him cast his vote and
said that, you can't vote as you are not an Indian.

•       Haseena Bano, had three 3 children and all were hungry for the 6
days, as her husband had been arrested and there was no one in the
family to earn.

•       Abdul Rehman told us that his father came to India in 1971 when
Bangladesh was formed and he was born in India itself. So he kept
asking us as to why he was not considered to be a Indian when he was
born here and through his work the the city was kept clean. Why was he
being considered Bangladeshi?

•       Mariam (25 years), enquired from us as to why the police was not
arresting the terrorists, but were instead after them and arresting
their family members? She told us that those who had been arrested by
the Kanota police station were not even provided food during their
detention at the police station. She also told us that although 27
people had been rounded up but only 20 chapattis were given. They were
treated worse than dogs she said. She also told us that she was sure
that those arrested had been tortured and verbally abused. The whole
attitude of the police and the administration was like as if they were
animals.

•       The arrest of a young muslim woman called Bobby from Shahpura needs
to be reported According to many people when Bobby and her husband
Musa had come to meet her nephew in the Bagrana Basti she and her
husband were picked up by the Police. However, the neighbourhood
attributed her arrest to the fact that she had married a Hindu who had
converted to Islam inorder to marry her. So the act of arresting Bobby
and her husband was an act of vindictiveness by the police. Bobby was
picked up on the 14th of May and sent into JC only on the 20th. May,
2008.

•       It was also brought to our notice that the Hindu Bastis around
Bagrana were being provoked and that there could be a possibility of a
riot. Thus the authorities needed to be cautioned on this possibility.

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