Encouraging farmers at Kisan Sammelan organised by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Maharashtra at Bhave Mangal Karyalaya in Aiwat Mahal on 31 August, Taufiq Aslam Khan, state president of the organisation said suicide is not a solution to their problems. Farmers need guidance to link agriculture with industry so that they could increase their income, Mr. Aslam said at the programme attended by leaders of farmers’ movement in a large number.
Speaking on the occasion, Vijay Javandhya, senior leader of farmers, said governments are only safeguarding the interests of corporate sector and they don’t have any sympathy with farmers of the country. He thanked the Jamaat for the initiative. He said Jamaat talks about good character and moral values. This programme has encouraged farmers present here and given them lots of information, he added.
The program was also addressed by Dr Gopal Thackery, district agriculture development officer. On the occasion, Jamaat provided cheques worth Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 to banks of some farmers to repay their loans.
UNDERTRIALS WHO HAVE SERVED HALF OF THEIR TERMS TO BE FREED
In what could lead to freedom for thousands of undertrials languishing in jail for years on end, the government has initiated steps to release prisoners who have served at least half the sentence they would have been awarded if convicted, irrespective of the progress of their trial. However, this largesse will not extend to those who have been held for offences which specify death penalty or life sentence. It is estimated that of the 3.81 lakh prisoners across the country, about 2.54 lakh, or two-third, are undertrials. Many are said to have spent more time in jail than the actual sentence they might have got had they been convicted for the crime they were arrested for.
TELANGANA MADRASA TEACHERS COMPLAIN OF STEP-MOTHERLY TREATMENT
Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, in a statement on 6 September, expressed concern over the step-motherly treatment of Telangana government towards Madrasas. Before the bifurcation of the state, the Andhra Pradesh government under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, paid salaries of teachers of the Madrasas. Every year the Madrasa used to get confirmation of the continuation of salaries to the Madrasa teachers. Even the mid-day meals were provided to some of the Madrasas.
But after the formation of Telangana state, instead of increasing the salaries of the Madrasa teachers as promised, the salaries were stopped from the month of June without any reason and information. Even the Madrasas did not receive any information of confirmation or cancellation of salaries under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. Moreover, when the heads of Madrasas complained about the non-receipt of salaries, the District Project Officer of SSA, Hyderabad district asked them to enrol the Madrasa students into the nearby government schools.
SC UPHOLDS URDU AS SECOND OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN UP
Acknowledging a state’s prerogative to declare more than one language as its official language, the Supreme Court on 4 September upheld the declaration of Urdu as the second official language in Uttar Pradesh. A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice R M Lodha ruled there was no constitutional bar against a state government from declaring one or more of languages used in the state, in addition to Hindi, as the second official language.
The bench, also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and S A Bobde, upheld Uttar Pradesh Official Language (Amendment) Act, 1989, by which Urdu was adopted as second official language of the state. The court said there were many states, including Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which adopted other officially recognised languages in addition to Hindi such as in which would not have been possible but for the constitutional permissibility.
DELHI GOVT SCHOOLS NOT HIRING URDU TEACHERS
Over 14,800 Muslim students across 100 Delhi government schools are being forced to study Sanskrit as there is no recruitment of Urdu teachers. Some schools, like the Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Sultanpuri Block H, have as many as 789 Muslim students; yet there are no Urdu teachers appointed.
According to NGO Nawa-E-Haque, despite directions from Directorate of Education (DoE), a majority of schools don’t have Urdu teachers, thereby violating the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and other constitutional laws, which grant the option of opting for one’s mother tongue as third language from Class VI to X.
On May 21, 2012, the welfare branch of DoE issued a circular directing heads of the schools to record the student’s language preference at the time of admission; and also directed the Post Fixation Cell (PFC) to intimate the DoE about requirement of teachers in the opted language.
M’RASHTRA PANEL FOR COMPLETE BAN ON DANCE BARS
The Justice CS Dharmadhikari Committee, set up to recommend measures to curb crimes against women, has asked Maharashtra government to enforce a “complete ban” on dance bars and frame a policy to check “vulgarity” on social networking sites such as Facebook. These suggestions by the state government-appointed panel are contained in its fourth and fifth interim reports submitted to the Bombay High Court on a PIL seeking measures to ensure safety and security of women.
The committee, while recommending a complete ban on bar dance, has noted there was a drop in cases of atrocities against women when the state had banned dance bars. The committee also said that social networking sites such as Facebook are responsible for increase in divorce cases and harassment of women, besides developing violent tendencies among the youth.
POLICE WRAP UP PROBE ON FORCED CONVERSION, SAY ALLEGATIONS FALSE
Police on 1 September reportedly called the allegations of “forced conversions” in a Greater Noida village false and closed investigation into the matter, with SP (Rural) Brijesh Kumar Singh stating that the complaint had been made by local BJP leaders in Kulesra village. Meanwhile, the Dalit Valmikis who were allegedly being forced to convert to Christianity have denied the charges, police said.
Police said after the complaint was made, a team was sent to the village to investigate the matter. Police said they found that the allegations were baseless and that people were praying with the Christian pastors on their own volition.
HC AXES ANIMAL SACRIFICE TO APPEASE DEITIES
The Himachal Pradesh High Court brought to an end the age-old practice of sacrificing animals during religious ceremonies and festivals in the hill state with its order on 1 September. The order prohibits sacrifices both in temples and in buildings adjoining places of worship. A division bench of HC called animal sacrifice barbaric and directed all deputy commissioners, superintendents of police and station house officers to ensure that the order is complied with.
Three different people had filed petitions on the issue in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The High Court disposed of all three petitions and based its order on the petition filed by Sonali Purewal in 2012. The bench in the order said startling revelations had been made on the manner in which thousands of animals were sacrificed every year in the name of religious worship.
SIO WINS COLLEGE UNION ELECTIONS IN KERALA
SIO gained 6 college unions, 53 general seats, 40 associations, 27 year representative seats and 57 class representative seats in the elections held in colleges under University of Calicut. SIO won general seats in MES College Mambad, Sullamussalam College Arekode, Ideal College Kadakasseri, Manjeri Unity College, Safi College Vazhoor, GEMS College, Alfarooq College and Safa College Valanchery. SIO emerged as the second party in 10 colleges including St. Joseph Thrissur, Government Malappuram, MES Valanchery, Regional Kondotty and EMEA Kondotty. 16 class representatives, a DCA association and a PG representative seat were won by candidates of SIO in MES Asmabi College Kodungallur. SIO won over SFI candidates in all the seats in Ansar women’s college, Perumpilavu.