In the Hot Zone

http://www.newslinemagazine.com/category/newsandpolitics/

It’s not just physical dangers that one has to combat but also psychological trauma, says Indian journalist Teresa Rehman, who has extensively covered the violence-scarred Manipur and Nagaland regions.

I still remember the distraught mother of a ‘child soldier’ recruited by a militant outfit who was wailing incessantly. Sitting in the courtyard of her home in Thoubal district of Manipur, an insurgency-ravaged state in northeast India, she narrated how her 12-year-old son went out to play after school and never came back. There were several children like her son who were lured on some pretext or the other and recruited by a militant outfit. The outfit later declared that these children had joined them out of their own consent!

She took me inside her sparsely decorated living room and took out his school bag and showed his books, his sketches and his colour pencils which he was so fond of. As a woman journalist reporting from a conflict-zone, I had to curb my emotions and ask the distressed woman the usual grueling questions. And I had a feeling she could see my empathy and opened up. It took her some time though.

And then came my brush with terror. The Manipur Police Commandos, notorious for their human rights abuses, surrounded the house. I could see eyes peeping through the open windows. One of their commanders came in. He started questioning the lady about me and checked my identity card, apologised and left. The commander told the lady in his native language that he thought I was a ‘mediator.’ For a moment I held my breath and heaved a sigh of relief when they left.

The person accompanying me told me that I was fortunate that they at least stopped to ask. The state is under the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 which gives security forces unrestricted and unaccounted power to carry out their operations once an area is declared disturbed. Even a non-commissioned officer is granted the right to shoot to kill based on mere suspicion that it is necessary to do so in order to “maintain the public order.”

An advantage of being a journalist reporting from a conflict zone is that one gets to see both sides of the coin. And as a journalist, one has to be objective and see the other side of the story, which often is eclipsed by drab government press releases on the number of militants killed and the number of arms and ammunition recovered. I almost feel that journalists can actually act as a bridge and go to the root of the complex issues that leads a young kid barely out of his or her teens to take up an AK-47 without batting an eyelid.

It’s an irrefutable fact that journalists working in this violence-scarred region, especially in Manipur and Nagaland, are constantly flirting with danger. In a state like Manipur, where over 20 different underground outfits operate, editors have been killed by unidentified gunmen and journalists stopped from doing their jobs by militant outfits that have gone to the extent of closing down newspaper offices. Mediapersons often have to face the wrath of both the underground outfits and government agencies, including the security forces.

Reporting hardcore conflict also includes visiting militant camps, which, of course, has its share of adventure. Meeting the female cadres is an intriguing experience, but most of them are lower-rung cadres waiting to serve tea and cook lunch. For the militants, it’s an equally awe-inspiring experience to interact with a journalist and, that too, a woman. I still shudder when I recall this incident while I was on my way back from a designated camp of a militant outfit in ceasefire in Assam, another state in the region. A member of the publicity wing called me and asked me to stop wherever I was. We stopped the car at a small marketplace and waited for them to turn up. I was tense and apprehensive. Then their car steered close and one of them called me towards their car. I was stunned when he thrust an envelope in my hands. He looked very uncomfortable and asked me not to open it then as it contained some important papers. I hastily sat in my car again and started off in my journey back. Then I gradually opened the sealed envelope and to my surprise I could see a wad of notes! They had actually tried to bribe me! I somehow managed to send the envelope back and I could understand the cause of the discomfiture of the man. He did not know how to bribe a female journalist! And to think of it, he thought it was imperative to bribe me.

Militant outfits are equally media-savvy, and nowadays it is not unusual to receive emailed press releases from them. As I began to write this piece, I had been reading an emailed press release sent by a militant outfit in the region. I recall what Sunil Nath, a surrendered militant, had told me once. Nath was the publicity secretary of the United Liberation Front of Assam, ULFA in short. He told me how the militant outfits were conscious of the power of the media and the publicity wing was one of their most important wings. He recalled how in 1989, the banned outfit had first acquired its prized possession – an Apple Macintosh for a steep price of Rs 1.5 lakh from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was kept a secret and few in the outfit knew of its existence. Prior to that, the militant groups used human couriers to deliver messages, which was not safe for them. But the internet changed things and they could break across geographical barriers to send across their message to the outside world, especially the media.

It is intriguing to report from a conflict zone, but it has its share of perils. It’s a tightrope for us ‘combat’ journalists as we have to grapple with threats from both the state and non-state actors. I had exposed a fake encounter by the state police in broad daylight in Manipur’s capital Imphal. A local photographer who was present at the site took minute-by-minute pictures of the gory incident and was petrified of publishing it in the local papers. Not caring for the scoop of a lifetime, he sent it to us and the story sparked off angry protests and a civil uprising in the state.

The story won global acclaim, but for me, doing the story was a traumatic experience. I was not just an objective journalist here but also a woman and a mother. The photographs haunted me. I had sleepless nights. It’s not just the physical dangers that we have to combat but also the psychological trauma, which often goes unnoticed. And to top it off, there are no support services for counselling a traumatised journalist. A journalist friend tells me that it’s a myth that journalists have to be tough. After all, we are human beings too and, most importantly, women.

ends

‘Why I screamed, rape us, take our flesh’

This piece appeared in Tehelka magazine, in the May 31, 2008 issue.

Laishram Gyaneswari was among the twelve Manipuri mothers who stripped themselves four years ago to shame the Indian Army. TERESA REHMAN meets the iconic protestor

IT’S EARLY HOURS on Imphal’s Nagamapal Road. Fateh Chand Jain, proprietor of the Indo-Myanmar Furniture Shop, is unlocking its wooden shutters. He deflects enquiries about his wife, Ima Laishram Gyaneswari, with a self-effacing wave: “You put your questions to her. I don’t interfere in her matters.” But press him a little more and he speaks with pride of how this 56-year-old Meitei homemaker joined a dozen Manipuri imas, mothers, on July 15, 2004, to lay storm to the Assam Rifles headquarters at Kangla Fort. Stripping naked, they thronged the gates, screaming their outrage at the rape and alleged custodial murder of Thangjam Manorama, a 32-year-old suspected member of the banned People’s Liberation Army. Jain recalls how he didn’t even know what his wife had left the house for that day; it was only in the afternoon that he got to know of the imas’ unprecedented act of protest. “I had an inkling my wife might be involved. She had touched my feet before she left the house, something she usually does when she leaves for something important. But this time she didn’t tell me where she was going.”

“I’m very proud of her. Not everyone can be so brave, isn’t it?” he adds.

Gyaneswari joins us at this point, walking in fresh from prayers at the small temple in the courtyard. A science graduate from Ghana Priya Women’s College, Imphal, she had been an ardent political activist as a student, something she set aside after her marriage when bringing up four children took priority. Yet she remained an active member of the local chapter of the Meira Paibi, the mass-based Meitei women’s human rights movement.

Of enduring anguish was the incendiary Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA). “Back in 1960,” Gyaneswari recounts, “some J&K Rifles personnel raped a girl named Chanu Rose; she committed suicide afterwards. Ever since then, there have been several incidents of molestation, rape and torture by army men; even pregnant women were not spared. All these pained me deeply.” Then there were the many young people taken away by army personnel, never to be seen again. “I know of many mothers who have gone insane after their sons and daughters disappeared.”

Thangjam Manorama was one of those taken into the security forces’ custody, never to return. She was arrested on July 11, 2004. Her body was found the next day, dumped near her home, branded with marks of rape and torture. “Our Meira Paibi members saw her body being brought to the Regional Institute of Medical Science for the post-mortem, and they spread word of the incident. I was heart-broken when I heard. If this is what lies ahead for the young girls of Manipur, what will become of our community? We had to rise up to protect our girls,” says Gyaneswari.

On July 12, 2004, 32 local organisations came together in a conglomeration called Apunba Lup, to launch a movement to demand the AFSPA be repealed. But Gyaneswari and her associates felt this was not enough. Gathering for a closed-door meeting on July 13, they debated alternative ways of confronting the situation. “What emerged in our discussion was the feeling that we, the women of Manipur, were virtually naked — we were always insecure, forever at risk of molestation by the security forces. Why then should we not walk in the streets naked, what clearer protest could we make to teach a lesson not just to the security forces here but to the whole world?”

One hundred women were to congregate at Kangla Fort. Gyaneswari left home at 6 in the morning. “I touched my husband’s feet before I left,” she says. “In my mind, I

Outrage: The July 15,2004, protest outside the Assam Rifles headquarters asked him to forgive me because I was going to do something very crucial and I couldn’t possibly tell him about it.” By the time she reached the gates of Kangla Fort, 30 women had assembled there; 10 more trickled by a little later. While these were nowhere near the numbers that had been hoped for, time was getting on. “We felt that if we delayed, the security forces might get suspicious and impose a curfew,” explains Gyaneswari. Steeling themselves to make a rush on the gate, the protestors did not realise that there were finally only 12 of them. “I did not count the number of women then. I had no awareness of anything. I was in my own world, shouting slogans, screaming at the Indian Army to rape us, take our flesh. All that filled my mind was the image of Manorama’s corpse,” she recalls.

The imas met the men of the Assam Rifles unit with fire in their hearts, Gyaneswari says. “It was the culmination of the rage and agony we had harboured for years. We challenged them to come out and rape us before everyone. We demanded they tell us what they were stationed here for: to protect our people or to rape our women.”

Returning home that day, Gyaneswari says she was apprehensive of how her family would react. “I was scared,” she smiles as she cuddles her grandchild, “I had not sought my husband’s permission. But he told me that I had done the right thing as whatever I had done was for the women of Manipur.” Her mother, Laishram Gambhini, and her four children all felt stirred by her courage. Says her elder daughter Girija, “My mother has inspired us to do something for our women. My mother’s willpower is very strong. I have never seen her weak or breaking down. She can face anything alone.”

FOUR YEARS later, does Ima Gyaneswari feel any change after that day of radical protest? “I do feel the armed forces are more cautious while dealing with women now. The acts of molestation, rape and torture have come down. But the inhuman crimes committed under the AFSPA’S cover persist. Anybody can still be arrested or killed without explanation.”

She is also surprised at the apathy of both the Central and the state governments to the Manipuri mothers’ courageous protest. “The indifference of the government is really distressing. They are behaving as if they had neither seen nor heard a thing. Nobody ever came to meet us, not even to ask why 12 mothers of Manipur had to stage such a demonstration.”

But it cannot be this way forever, she feels. She speaks of Irom Sharmila Chanu, who has been on a hunger strike since November 2000, demanding that AFSPA be repealed. “Irom was awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights 2007 by the Gwangju Asian Human Rights Folk School of South Korea. We have activists worldwide talking about the repeal of the Act. The government will have to listen to us sooner or later,” she says

Some preliminary steps have already been taken to phase out the Act. A review committee was formed and its recommendations have been submitted to the Centre. But will peace return once the Act is repealed? There are still 20 militant outfits active in Manipur, and bordering Myanmar is a safe haven for rebel groups.

Gyaneswari points out that the AFSPA was imposed to control the insurgency in Manipur, but it has actually inflamed the rebels. “The Act is harming the very social fabric of Manipur. Common people are suffering as this Act has led to more intense conflict between the insurgent groups and the armed forces. The Act has to go.” •

Journalists' unions unite in Assam

This write-up appeared in www.thehoot.org

Journalists' unions unite in Assam

Journalists' organizations in the state recently came together to rally for their joint concerns. TERESA REHMAN does an overview of their demands and woes.

Posted Saturday, Mar 27 19:31:06, 2010

For a change, journalists in this trouble-torn state have woken up to demand for their rights. Recently, 10 different organizations of journalists and newspaper employees of Assam staged a sit-in demonstration and demanded early implementation of the wage board recommendations in all newspaper houses.

The 53-year-old Assam Tribune Employees' Union, one of the oldest employee's union and probably the only active employees union in a media house in Assam took a leading role in the campaign. The Union is also affiliated to the All India Newspaper Employees Federation. Saifuddin Ahmed, president of the Union rues, “It's a general impression that unions agitate and oppose the owners which in turn lead to the closure of the organization. But how can we survive if our organization closes down?”

Ahmed explains that their first priority is growth of the organization as they are dependent on it. “We co-operate with the owners with regard to any measures taken to increase circulation, advertisement or procurement of new machinery. But we are also aware of our legal rights and we hold discussions with our proprietors,” he says. He however, admits that The Assam Tribune is an ideal media house in the sense that it has so far implemented all the wage board recommendations.

Evolution of a joint platform by newspaper employees to demand for their rights dates back to 1994 when the All Assam Newspaper Employees Federation was launched. The Federation had staged agitations when employees of newspaper organisations like ‘Natun Dainik' and ‘Aajir Batori' did not get their salaries, PF or gratuity. “Many employees were sacked at will and were not even issued appointment letters. We agitated and some of us were even jailed,” adds Ahmed.

Gradually the functioning of the Federation slowed down. This latest attempt is a renewed effort to evolve a joint footing to fight for their rights. The organizations that joined hands this time are the Assam Tribune Employees' Union, Sangbadik Karma Parishad, Journalists' Union of Assam, Asom Bartajibi Sangha, Assam Press Correspondents' Union, Assam Photo Journalists' Association, Journalists' Federation of Assam, Journalists' Forum, Assam, National Federation of Newspaper Employees and All India Newspaper Employees' Federation.

These organizations voiced their concern about the apathy of the authorities towards resolving the grievance of the journalists as well as the non-journalists. “Some media houses claim that they follow the wage board recommendations but in reality they don't. Though most of the employees are aware of their rights, they are scared to raise their voice for the fear of losing their jobs. Also there is a lot of discrepancy with regard to the salaries of one rung of employees and another. These are deliberate tactics to make the employees refrain from being united in fighting for their rights,” says Ahmed.

The organizations also expressed their concern over the plight of the correspondents in the mofussil towns and villages. Most often they don't get paid though there is a provision for them under the Wage Board that they should get 1/3rd of the salary of a sub-editor with all benefits like PF, gratuity etc.

Keshab Kalita, president of the Assam Union of Working Journalists rues, “These correspondents get paid even lesser than the ones with job cards under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). Most often they don't get paid. Some media houses give a fixed monthly payment which ranges from Rs 200 to Rs 1000. And they are paid Re 1 to Rs 2 per column/cm. But they do get the press card which is often misused.”

Kalita feels that these circumstances literally force a correspondent to corrupt practices. “They are literally being used as guinea pigs by the media houses. We want to bring the mofussil journalists under the ambit of the wage board,” he says. These organizations also feel that the increasing tendency to hire all employees under the contract system have absolved them of all their rights and benefits.

Photojournalists too suffer the same fate. There are no adequate technical back-up or facilities from the media houses. There is no provision for division of beats for photojournalists unlike in national media houses. Chinmoy Roy, president of Assam Photo Journalists' Association says, “We are in a bad shape. Most often our proprietors are themselves in a bad financial shape and we cannot expect them to provide us with adequate facilities. Inspite of that we are doing good work. Its more of a passion that is driving us.”

Roy, a senior photojournalist has been working without salary for more five months now. “I joined in the demonstration not for myself but for my fellow photojournalists,” he says.

Economic, social as well as security of life for journalists as well as non-journalists is something (for which) which this joint campaign is planning to strive for. They wanted an assurance from the government to compensate the family of the journalists and non- journalists killed while on duty. Till date more than 20 journalists and non-journalists have been killed in the State and the killers are yet to be identified and booked. The organizations also expressed concern over the soaring prices of all essential commodities including food items which has hit the common people hard.

Bhabesh Barua, Advisor, Assam Press Correspondents Union wants to carry on this campaign as a sustained movement with these common demands. “The proprietors don't even care to follow High Court directives forget about wage board recommendations. The ultimate step we can take is ‘Pen Down' for a day,” he says.


Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in Northeast India. She can be reached at www.teresarehman.net

Fight For Life

This article appeared in Tehelka
Fight For Life
MLAs in Nagaland and Manipur contribute time and money in the fight against AIDS
By TERESA REHMAN

When five members of the Legislators Forum on Aids (LFA) in Manipur visited the Community Care Centre in Churchandpur district last year, the bedridden, terminally ill patients were euphoric. “If VIPs like them visit us, I can definitely see a ray of hope for people like us. We also apprised them of the infrastructure and other facilities at the Centre and they promised to take care of it,” said an inmate of the Centre.

The LFA, Manipur officially was unveiled on June 30, 2007. On the launch of the forum, the Imphal Declaration was signed as a mark of commitment by the elected representatives on HIV-AIDS. All the members of the 60-member assembly are part of it including the Speaker of the House as the Chairman and its Secretary from the Opposition party, Manipur People’s Party.
The MLAs started visiting the best practice sites put in place by the NGOs and the government.

The elected representatives were also taken on an exposure trip to Sonagachi, a red light area in Kolkata to apprise the MLAs of the activities the sex workers were engaged with. As part of the sensitisation programme for the MLAs, public hearings with the church leaders, Panchayati Raj Institutions, church leaders and also with the key population were conducted. And the LFA, Manipur has 12 constituency-level conventions to its credit and they occasionally take stock of the functioning of the various Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres in the state.

Manipur was one of the first states to fall prey to the HIV virus in India and also had the most cases. The first case of AIDS here was detected in February 1989. Manipur now has over two percent of the country’s reported cases of AIDS despite having but 0.2 percent of the national population.

“For the first time in Manipur’s history, World AIDS Day was observed in the Legislative Assembly premises. We also constituted a forum of the elected Panchayat representatives at the grassroots,” says Sushil Huidrom, Coordinator, LFA in Manipur.

In a bid to sustain the programme which was originally funded by UNAIDS, the chief minister announced a grant of Rupees one crore and twenty lakhs to the Forum. And Rs 1 lakh each would be deducted from the MLA Local Area Development Fund amounting to a total of Rs 60 lakh. “We wish to be financially self-sustaining with technical support from UNAIDS. Now most of the MLAs make it a point to discuss the epidemic whenever they address the public and the NGOs too involve them in their activities,” adds Huidrom. The MLAs are made aware of the increasing feminisation of the AIDS although there is only one female elected representative in Manipur.

The LFA in the neighbouring Nagaland, which also has a high incidence of HIV-AIDS has an all-male assembly. Though the Forum was formally launched in 2003, it officially started functioning from September 2007. The Legislators Forum is a platform to complement and consolidate the AIDS control programmes implemented by Nagaland State AIDS Control Society (NSACS) with the assistance of over 40 NGOs in the state.

Dr Vinito, co-ordinator of the LFA in Nagaland says, “The Forum mainly works on political advocacy and is like a support unit to the State AIDS Control Society. Our main aim is to involve all the 60 members at their own levels – be it at the state, district, or their own constituencies.”

The main objective is to use the political platform to reach out to the grassroots. Till date, NGOs were operating independently but not involving the political leaders. We want to them to be the main spokespersons to eradicate the stigma associated with HIV-AIDS,” adds Dr Vinito.
The chief minister of the state is the chief patron and the speaker, the patron. In the first annual general meeting, all the 60 members were briefed about the importance of their involvement in the cause in spite of them holding different portfolios.

Last year the LFA, Nagaland organised a state-level convention and invited key players from all walks of life including NGOs, civil society and religious organisations. Each MLA contributed Rs 50,000 last year and this year they have promised Rs one lakh each. “The politicians encourage the people to come forward and undergo blood tests, thereby helping to do away with the stigma,” adds Dr Vinito.

Incidentally, a series of collaborative meetings between parliamentarians, media careerists and community leaders of Kenya, Mexico and India — all women — were held in Washington DC in June this year. This effort by the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) and The Center for Women Policy Studies (CWPS) wanted to bridge the gap between the politicians and the other two sectors – media and community leaders— so that they work together to combat HIV-AIDS.

As of now, the LFA is functional in only the two states of the Northeast — Nagaland and Manipur but nevertheless it is a good beginning and sends out a positive message. Hopefully, such forums will be active in the other states of the region too. These are the two states with the highest incidence of HIV-AIDS mainly contracted through intravenous drug use. The proximity to Myanmar, one of the highest opium producing countries, has not helped.

The forum has also raised expectations among AIDS patients with their leaders now speaking up for them. L. Deepak Singh, president of the Manipur Network of Positive People says, “It’s a challenge for our elected representatives to bring this issue in the public fora. It calls for more commitment and should not exist just for namesake.”

Singh points out that, apart from organising public meetings, it is pertinent to address the issue of the new generation, a number of them having infected at birth. These young HIV positive patients need special care and counseling as they face the same stigma and discrimination for no fault of theirs. Singh says, “Many of them even hesitate to come to the ART centres to for their medicines as they are asked uncomfortable questions. Our leaders should understand that the dying cannot wait.”

Posted on Dec 12 , 2008

Business is not a man’s domain: Selima

This article appeared in The Telegraph

Business is not a man’s domain: Selima
Passing Through / Selima Ahmad

The lady means business. Elegant, poised and confident, Selima Ahmad, founder of Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a non-profit organisation set up to bring about women’s economic development and empowerment, is a trendsetter. Draped in a crisp kantha saree, Ahmad says in her typical no-nonsense fashion, “We are here to do business. We are open to any kind of new ideas and business proposals.”

On her first visit to the city to take part in the 11th edition of the Guwahati International Trade Fair, Ahmad is optimistic. She says, “We will talk only of positive things and explore ways in which we can strengthen business relations with the region. We should work on the basis of comparative advantage rather than competitive advantage.” She adds, “With growing globalisation, the West is coming to the East. We are on a mission to strengthen ties with our neighbours.”

Ahmad got into the business of manufacturing artificial silk flowers at the age of 18. She completed her masters in business management from Dhaka University. “In Bangladesh, women are very active. Our government policies are very women-friendly. The work done by the Bangladesh Gramin Bank to strengthen the role of women in the micro-credit sector is particularly commendable,” she says.

The sight of the mighty Brahmaputra makes her feel that things could take a revolutionary turn for both countries if river transport was opened up. “Brahmaputra flows through our country, too, and could link both countries,” she says.

She was initially very apprehensive about coming to Guwahati. “I heard a lot of negative things about the region. But you do not get to know the reality unless you visit a place personally. I am overwhelmed by the hospitality of the people here,” she says. During her brief sojourn to the city, she visited and was enchanted by the ambience of Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra. “It is a beautiful place, which reflects the contours and colours of the cultural heritage of the region,” she says.

Set up in June 2001, the Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry is among the two business chambers for women in the world, the other one being in Sri Lanka. A smiling Ahmad says, “We felt the need for a separate platform for women entrepreneurs.”

The chamber now has 220 members, 10 non-governmental organisations and over 10,000 micro-level women entrepreneurs working in tandem. “Our main objective is to provide support to women entrepreneurs to undertake business and trade activities. We are like an incubator nurturing the business skills of the budding women entrepreneurs,” she points out, adding that they have been providing valuable support to members in terms of training, market access, access to finance, networking, business awareness and capacity building.

The chamber is a strong community voice, lobbying for micro and macro-level women entrepreneurs and providing services and benefits to support the growth of its members. “We serve all kinds of business with a special focus on small rural women entrepreneurs,” she says.
“Our members are not confined to the traditional women-dominated sectors. We have women involved in the information technology sector, media and items made of recycled glass and metals,” says Ahmad.

Discovering a common thread with the women in the region, Ahmad says she was recently in Rajasthan for a counselling session with rural women. “I was astonished by the similarity. All these women have the same problems, dreams, commitments, hopes and aspirations.”
Asserting that business is not a man’s domain, she feels, “It is the mindset of a few disadvantaged people. In fact, it is a very good career option for women as they can find time for their family.”

She sees a bright future for Indo-Bangla ties in five years. “I can feel the pulse. We will have to implement policies, which are conducive to trade and commerce,” she says. Lauding the efforts of the trade fair authorities, she says, “We need to organise more such trade fairs, which can serve as a platform to showcase each other’s products and explore the market. I believe in business and not in unnecessary formalities.” She is also hoping to participate in the trade fair at Shillong, which will be held soon. “We need to know more about each other. This can only be done with a open mind and heart,” she says.

Teresa Rehman

Discovering inner strength

This article appeared in The Telegraph

TERESA REHMAN PROFILES A TECHNOCRAT WHO GAVE A NEW MEANING TO BRAVING CHALLENGES

I had to start life all over again,” says technocrat Bolen Baishya with a stoical look that quite masks his extraordinary grit and determination. Baishya is at present secretary of the Assam Public Health Engineering (PHE) department.

His world came crumbling down just as his life was blossoming. “You will have to spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair,” doctors at Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, had cautioned him. Disaster struck in October 1977, when he was posted at Diphu, Karbi Anglong, as executive engineer (PHE) just after two-and-a-half years of his service life. Baishya had a nasty fall and suffered from a serious neck injury while he was surveying a water supply scheme.

Recalling those turbulent times, he recalls, “The year 1981 was a turning point of my life. In the month of July, 1981, I suddenly suffered an acute disc prolapse and was paralysed from neck downwards, an outcome triggered by my fall then.” He was admitted to Gauhati Medical College Hospital immediately but due to lack of sophisticated investigating methods like CT scan and MRI in GMCH in those days, he was shifted to CMCH, Vellore.

“I was operated upon under the supervision of Dr Mathai, then head of the department of neurology at CMCH, Vellore. The post-operative verdict was that I had survived but would have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair,” he says. His wife was eight months pregnant then and Baishya was in Vellore with his brother, a doctor. “My brother had, in fact, asked the doctors if he could go in for mercy killing,” he remembers.

Two decades on, it is a miracle that Baishya can walk and carry on with his duties. “After the doctors gave the verdict, I was sent to Bagayam rehabilitation centre in Vellore for 16 weeks, where I had to undergo physiotherapy, occupational therapy, magnetic therapy and extensive physical exercise. As a result of this lengthy spell, I gained the ability to use a wheelchair,” says the technocrat.

Having grown up in an environment of Gandhian ideology of love and brotherhood, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, he learnt to accept the pitfalls of life gracefully. “I have tolerance for all religions, an open mind, a deep sense of respect for all forms of labour and faith in my own ability,” says Baishya.

Born in the lush green hills of Raitsamthiah, Meghalaya, in 1946, his childhood was spent in North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), now Arunachal Pradesh, in places like Liekmargherita, Tezu, Krimein and Zero. After the devastating earthquake of 1950, the then NEFA authorities set up an orphanage to accommodate the earthquake victims near the coal town of Margherita. “I was an inmate of the orphanage not because my parents were victims of the earthquake but because of the untimely death of my father in Zero. My widowed mother had to fend for four growing children,” he says.

Gandhi’s influence
Gandhian doctrines were imbued in the inmates by the legendary ardent follower of Gandhian philosophy, late M.N. Bordoloi. Octogenarian educationist and social reformer Indira Miri was then director of education in NEFA. The inmates in the orphanage were taught how to be self-reliant. “We were taught the art and intricacies of spinning thread for weaving shuttles, construction and maintenance of pit latrines and the indigenous knowhow for growing seasonal vegetables,” he says.

Baishya shifted to Guwahati in 1955 and went on through his academic journey in Manik Chandra Madhyamik English School, Cotton Collegiate School and Cotton College. He completed his graduation in civil engineering in 1969 from Jorhat Engineering College and joined the PHE department as a trainee engineer in 1970.

Overcoming odds
Since the beginning of his career, Baishya had been facing challenges. In 1972, when the then chief minister of Assam Sarat Chandra Sinha suddenly decided to shift the capital of Assam from Shillong to Guwahati, his department was given a period of three months only to construct the water supply scheme along with full distribution network for the temporary capital complex, Baishya recalls. “Till date, it gives me immense pleasure that we could execute this challenging task before the stipulated time period,” he says.

The accident though, left him a changed man. “Initially I was disheartened. But I could feel a surge of willpower emanating from within my soul. My strong faith in God endowed me with the power to carry on,” he says. His attending physician and nurse assured him that a day would come when he would be able to walk again. The physician’s assurance elated his spirit. The nurses’ words, “The will to walk again should come from within. If you realise your inherent strength, there is nothing that can stop you from walking again,” still reverberates in his mind.

Baishya came back to Guwahati after six months at Vellore and went through a strict and rigorous regime of physiotherapy for a whole year that made him capable of walking slowly with the help of a stick. He lost no time in joining the chief engineer, PHE’s office in the capacity of executive engineer and within a very short time resumed his normal duties.

With a sense of pride, Baishya says, “I have not been out of the state for as many as 23 years, yet I manage to keep pace with day-to-day developments at the national and international levels just by studying the background material. My disability never came between me and my duty.”
His never-say-die spirit reigns supreme. With four months to go for his retirement, Baishya now wants to work for the disabled. “I want to generate awareness about the rights and privileges of the disabled. I want to remove the social stigma about these kind of people who are otherwise able,” he adds.
ends

Pachyderm panic in Assam

This article appeared in http://www.infochangeindia.org

Pachyderm panic in Assam
By Teresa Rehman

Rampant habitat destruction has forced Assam’s elephants into close contact with humans. It is now all-out war between hungry elephants and angry tea estate workers. And still the forest department, the tea authorities and the district administration keep passing the buck

There was a time when elephants were considered fun. Children would run after them and the elderly offered prayers to ‘Ganesh Baba’ at the sight of the pachyderm. Pallab Lochan Das, the young general secretary of the All-Assam Tea Tribe Students Association (AATTSA) has memories of elephants visiting his peaceful Pabhoi tea estate near Biswanath Chariali, in Assam’s Sonitpur district. “We used to feed them bananas and other fruits. We used to even enjoy short rides on them. It was an exciting moment for us,” he says.

As he grew up, he began to witness the conflict between these peace-loving animals and human beings. By the time he was in high school in the early-1990s, Das and his friends were active participants in bursting crackers and carrying lighted lamps across the tea estate to scare away rampaging elephants.

Gradually, the destruction caused by the animals left him pained and angry. Not at the elephants but at the authorities for turning a blind eye to the cause -- the rampant depletion of forest cover that had destroyed the elephants’ traditional habitat and food sources and had forced them to seek food and water inside tea estates.

Over the years, the conflict between man and elephant has intensified; it has now become a virtual war between hungry elephants and angry tea estate workers. Estates located on the fringe of the forests, on the Assam-Arunachal border on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, are the main targets of herds of elephants that have lost their natural habitat to deforestation. The animals prefer to stay inside the tea estates during the day because of the shade; at night they invade the paddy fields in neighbouring villages.

In earlier days, the elephants would move from Arunachal Pradesh to the nearest waterbody -- usually the Brahmaputra. Today, their movement is restricted with man-made encroachments on their habitat and corridors, in the form of brick kilns, tea estates, even residential dwellings. This has resulted in animals going on the rampage in the adjoining tea estates and villages.

Das expresses anguish at the heartrending cries of Sulung Munda, mother of three children who were crushed to death by a herd of wild elephants in the Monabarie tea estate in November 2008. At first the elephants destroyed the house and killed two children who were sleeping; they then returned and killed her third child. The parents, Nakul and Sulung, managed to flee with their youngest son. Both of them were injured.

“I am pained by her plight. She seemed so helpless and the authorities seemed equally helpless. She has been crying inconsolably,” Das says. Unlike his own carefree childhood in the tea gardens, parents now are reluctant to allow their children to go out and play. Who knows? They could be crushed to death by a herd of wild pachyderms.

Das and his associates from AATTSA, who have been running from the district administration’s office to the forest department asking for relief for victims of marauding herds of elephants in the tea estates of Assam, decided that enough was enough. The powerful students’ body has now issued a diktat to the concerned authorities: implement an effective control mechanism or face a lock-up at the tea estates. He says: “Five people were killed in the past one month, including three children. We want to ask the authorities why these peace-loving animals have turned into destroyers within a span of a few years.”

Das narrates several incidents that took place in November 2008.
On November 23, a herd of marauding elephants visited Dibrudolong tea estate in Dhekiajuli, in Assam’s Sonitpur district, at around 1.30 am. Bablu Nayak, 38, a tea worker who was sleeping in his thatched house, was trampled to death. The elephants destroyed 10 labour quarters and five houses. In Brahmajan tea estate, in Gohpur in the same district, a herd of elephants entered the estate during the day and scared the workers. Till date, the forest department has not given any of these people compensation or a rehabilitation package.

Das says: “The rampant deforestation on the north bank of the Brahmaputra has made the tea estates vulnerable to herds of wild elephants. The forest department comes and inspects the area and does not even pay the prescribed compensation. We have repeatedly asked the forest department to give us kerosene to light fires, and crackers to scare away the elephants.”
The association has demanded compensation to rebuild houses and put up electric fencing. “If our appeals are not heard we will resort to agitations and declare a lock-up of gardens in the area,” he says.

There are around 800 tea plantations in Assam, with the state accounting for over 55% of India’s annual tea production of about 900 million kg. Around 107 big estates exist in the north bank region of the Brahmaputra. They include the four tea-growing districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sonitpur and Darrang. Sonitpur district, the worst affected of them, has 74 big gardens and several small ones. Each garden supports around 500 permanent workers and their families, besides other employees.

According to WWF-India figures, between 1996 and 2009 there have been 204 human deaths and 131 elephant deaths in Sonitpur district alone. Damage to houses and property varies from tea garden to tea garden, but on average, it amounts to Rs 1 lakh. Often, deaths and injuries go unreported because of lack of awareness.

Wildlife activists blame the destruction of forests and traps that have led to the death of stray elephants. Anupam Sarmah, landscape coordinator of the North Bank Landscape Conservation Programme, WWF-India, says: “Elephant cubs often fall into trenches. Sometimes, unscrupulous elements deliberately spray pesticides in waterbodies where the elephants come to drink water. This kills many elephants. Sometimes live wires are placed for deliberate electrocution. But if you compare these numbers, they are not high. Forest loss is the root of the conflict. Other reasons like change in food habits etc are secondary causes.”

For instance, an elephant was electrocuted on Bhutiachang tea estate in Udalguri district, in November 2009. The female pachyderm died when it came into contact with a high-tension transmission line in Section-1 of the tea garden. Elephants often run into cables that are connected to high-tension power lines running above, which farmers lie in their paddy fields to keep the elephants away.

Sarmah explains that elephants stray into tea gardens simply because they have nowhere else to go. “Many people die, but elephants die too. What we need is efficient tackling of the problem and an immediate compensation mechanism. In districts like Udalguri, relatives of the victim do not get compensation due to a continuing ‘resource crunch’.”

Compensation by the forest department includes an ex-gratia of Rs 40,000 for a person who has died; Rs 20,000 for permanent disability; Rs 1,000-2,000 for damage to a house; Rs 2,000 for damage to crops. Meanwhile, forest officials continue to highlight efforts made to curb the menace. Chandan Bora, DFO, Sonitpur, explains the anti-depredation drives with the help of kunkis (trained elephants). He says: “The tea estate owners must also take this up as a social responsibility. They can provide items like searchlights, crackers and kerosene to light fires to scare away the elephants.”

In a bid to promote the co-existence of man and elephant, the government organises one of India’s largest elephant festivals, in Kaziranga National Park. Held jointly by the forest and tourism departments, this annual event aims at increasing eco-tourism and raising awareness about the elephant’s struggle with man for limited resources. The idea is to find ways to resolve the conflict.

Interestingly, a major attraction for the elephants is country liquor that’s prepared on the fringes of the tea gardens. The forest department in Udalguri district has urged the district administration to carry out an eviction drive in the liquor dens to keep the elephants away.

Meanwhile the tea authorities express their helplessness as, under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, they have no powers to deal with the elephants. “The government seems to be more favourable to the elephants. Elephants have ravaged hearth and home and razed them to the ground. We have organised awareness workshops and adopted several strategies like electric fencing, but nothing seems to work,” says Robin Barthakur, Additional Chairman, Bharatiya Chah Parishad.
And so the blame game carries on and the authorities keep passing the buck. The tea garden authorities blame the forest department; the forest department blames the politicians and district administration. And the man-elephant conflict in Assam’s tea estates threatens to become uglier with each passing day.

(Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in northeast India. She was awarded the Sarojini Naidu Award for Best Reporting on Women and Panchayati Raj in 2007 and the Sanskriti Award for Excellence in Journalism 2009)

Infochange News & Features, February 2010

Creating a sectoral partnership

This one appeared in The Hoot.

Women parliamentarians, journalists and civil society members from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh begin to work together on women and HIV-AIDS. TERESA REHMAN describes this coming together of three sectors.

Posted Sunday, Jan 24 23:42:35, 2010

Little did three women meeting for a friendly luncheon at Heritage India at Dupont Circle in Washington DC irealize that they would actually propel a novel sisterhood of women all over the world.

The three friends, Leslie Wolfe, Jane Ransom and Yolonda Richardson were powerful women, heads of three international women?s organizations based in Washington DC ? Centre for Women Policy Studies (CWPS), International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) and Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) respectively.

What came out of the lunch was a resolve to chart a new course of partnership among women's rights organizations. Particularly among three sectors -- parliamentarians, journalists and civil society who rarely work together in a 'safe space'.

Wolfe explains, "We wanted to create an environment of sisterhood and trust which, to be honest, would resemble our own trusting and sisterly relationship. It was especially important to us that our three NGOs were not competitors in any way, as we had different constituencies, different convening strategies, and different sets of expertise."

Therefore, the trio resolved to do something different. They decided to complement rather than compete with each other in order to have a multiplier effect on the way the toughest women's human rights issues could be address through women's policy leadership -- as policy makers, policy advocates, and policy reporters.

Their idea bore fruit and with grants from Ford Foundation, their first programme titled "Advancing Women?s Leadership in Global HIV-AIDS policymaking" to foster new global partnerships to promote woman-centered HIV/AIDS policy in their countries. Two women each from the three sectors -- parliamentarians, journalists and women living with HIV-AIDS and NGO leaders representatives from three different countries India, Kenya and Mexico came together to attend a series of high-level meetings at the US Congress, Washington DC and the UN Headquarters, New York in June 2008.

The participants resolved to go back to work in their own milieu but also continue this partnership and try to expand it to other sectors as well. The main concern was the similarity in their problems inspite of being from diverse countries, the escalating feminization of the epidemic and the alarming rise in HIV positive cases in married women in monogamous relationships. These revelations broke new ground ? on how the very definition of HIV-AIDS is skewed and how it perpetuated stigma and discrimination. And how the stigma is killing more people than the virus itself. The meeting inspired the initiation of a listserv called Red Ribbon Media where women from these three sectors share news and information relating to HIV-AIDS.

In 2009 again, the resolve moved from "global to regional", the focus this time was on South Asia in order to see some specific regional follow-up plans that two participants each from the three sectors in three different countries -- India, Bangladesh and Pakistan would develop and commit to implementing during 2010. During the South Asia Initiative held in Washington DC in December 2009, the participants resolved to work together on various issues like property rights, sex education for adolescents and access to information on HIV/AIDS. The idea was to bring the women together in new ways that might not reflect their Governments' traditional and current relationships.

The women discussed various issues and how its time to stop focusing on specific "risk groups" of women and instead consider that all women face some level of risk of HIV infection, some level of stigma and discrimination, some level of sexual violence and economic dependency. Once again it dawned on everyone that women and their issues were similar, only the circumstances varied.
Of greatest importance is the fact that women's self-defined needs are not yet at the absolute center of HIV-AIDS policy and programming. At long last, during the past decade, women have gotten onto the agenda at a higher level, but unless we move to the top of the policy agenda, I fear we will still be having these conversations again in 20 years -- and that would be a tragedy for the world," adds Wolfe.

The first step in bringing the three sectors together to achieve a shared mission had been accomplished. Yasmeen Rehman, Member of Parliament from Pakistan feels it's a brilliant idea. "In Pakistan taboo and stigma is a big problem. Some people bracket HIV-AIDS with bad sex behaviour. Moreover, there is no clear-cut policy on stigma and allocation of funds. The silence is killing and we have to come out of this state of denial." She has some ideas like mainstreaming of HIV-AIDs with other health services, educating adolescents and motivating religious leaders to talk about it in the sessions after the prayers called the 'Khutba'. As a representative of the people, she feels that if she goes out and meet HIV positive people, she will succeed in breaking the stigma to a great extent.

Member of Parliament from India, Prabha Thakur who is also on the Parliamentary Forum on HIV-AIDS feels that these three sectors are anyway interlinked though not formally. "I am looking forward to this formal interlinking through ngos, public representatives and media monitors. The ngos give information to the public to create awareness, the MPs can talk on policy making and take it up with the health ministry and media can create awareness through education and knowledge," she says.

Bangladesh already has a vibrant civil society. Mufaweza Khan, Executive Director, Concerned Women for Family Development, an NGO of Bangladesh feels that it is important to take forward the existing policies and programmes rather than creating something new. She feels that care and treatment of HIV positive women is a real issue. "The reporters will write, the civil society will keep them informed and act as a pressure group on the parliamentarians to implement the policies," she says.

The journalists from these three countries have always been working with the civil society but are enthused by the involvement of the Parliamentarians. Journalist from Bangladesh, Zannatul Bakiya working with Channel I, the first satellite channel of the country feels that these linkages will have to created step by step. Yasmin Reema, working with "Daily News", Bangaldesh feels that for 16 long years, she has been working on the issues of HIV-AIDS but in isolation. She looks forward to working in collaboration with these three sectors now.The Pakistani journalists are buoyant about working together too. Sumera Khan, from Express news channel feels all the three sectors will have to do continuous follow-ups and work for the cause. Her colleague, Huma Khawar, a development journalist says, "The meeting broke the ice between us. We will be on better terms once we go back to our countries. We develop a bond in such forums to take it forward. I am very positive about it." Hopefully one luncheon will lead to a chain reaction -- of many more luncheons all over the world and usher in positive changes in women affected and vulnerable to HIV-AIDS.

(The writer is a journalist based in India and has been part of this programme. She can be reached at www.teresarehman.net).

Standing up for the rights of the disabled

http://infochangeindia.org/201001078122/Disabilities/Stories-of-change/Standing-up-for-the-rights-of-the-disabled.html

Standing up for the rights of the disabled
By Teresa Rehman
In the northeastern state of Assam, riddled with insurgency, the rights of disabled people get even lower priority than elsewhere in the country. Disability Law Unit-North East has come up with successful legal interventions to secure the rights of the disabled in the region and to spread awareness about the protections available under the law

In Assam’s Morigaon district school teacher Prafulla Pator goes for his evening walks along the lanes of his village leaning on his crutch, attends panchayat meetings, and exudes a new-found confidence while working in his school. His speech problem, however, continues and he still cannot teach in the classroom. A well-known singer once, he continues to take active part in social and cultural functions in his locality.

Things were not so smooth ten years ago. In 1999, Pator suffered a stroke which paralysed the left side of his body. This left him with a locomotor disability. The school authorities refused to let him work and he was denied any salary for six years. This was the same school he had founded in 1982. He was so badly off financially that he had to mortgage some land so that he and his joint family could survive.

Pator’s village is located some 100 km from Assam’s capital city, Guwahati. He was the first person from his village to graduate from a college in Guwahati. He returned to his village and founded the Bishnu Rabha High School in 1982. So, quite naturally, his illness and the attitude of the school authorities left him shattered. He could not afford any advanced treatment and struggled for six years to meet the basic needs of his family.

His story appeared in a local daily in May 2005 and it caught the attention of the Disability Law Unit-North East (DLU-NE) of Shishu Sarothi, an NGO, which intervened in his case. The DLU was set up in 2003 to fight for the rights of persons with disabilities in the region. Since 2006, it has been supported by Light for the World, Austria. The unit advocates policy change, litigation and awareness among stakeholders.

DLU helped Pator to file a case in the Guwahati High Court to fight for his rights under the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which states that no government employee acquiring a disability during service shall be removed from service or reduced in rank. As a person with 50% disability, Pator falls well within the ambit of this Act.

In a landmark judgment in May 2006, the Guwahati High Court directed that Pator be reinstated and given full back wages with 6% interest. “This judgment was our first success story. We followed up his case with the education commissioner and made sure he got his compensation,” says Anju Talukdar, lawyer and co-ordinator of the unit.

Pator’s case was a pathbreaker and had a ripple effect. It inspired others to approach DLU-NE to fight for their rights. An engineering graduate from Jorhat Engineering College today, Irshad Alam filed a case with the help of DLU-NE after he was denied admission on the basis of being ‘medically unfit’.

Nripendra Nath Mahanta was an employee of the Life Insurance Corporation of India when he lost his vision due to a brain tumour. He was due for a promotion but was not allowed to join work. He approached the DLU which approached the Guwahati High Court which issued a notice to LIC in July 2007. Within one month, Mahanta was allowed back at work and was also promoted to branch manager.

The rights of the disabled are generally ignored in a region like the northeast of India which is plagued by conflict and violence. But the DLU-NE has been doing commendable work in ensuring that the basic rights of the disabled are not violated due to ignorance and lack of legal support.
Armaan Ali, former co-ordinator of DLU-NE, who is himself physically challenged, says that disability advocacy is still regarded as a charity and welfare measure. In 2006 he had filed a PIL and asked for and obtained a stay on the Assam Civil Services Examination. The advertisement for the exam had contained reservations for everybody except the disabled. As per the law, a minimum of 3% of seats have to be reserved for the disabled. The Assam Public Services Commission had to re-advertise with the required provision.

In another intervention, DLU-NE filed a case for Duleswar Nath who works for the Central Reserve Police Force as a havaldar. He has three daughters all of whom have cerebral palsy. He was transferred to Tripura, but argued that it would be difficult for him to get the special needs of his children attended to there. The Guwahati High Court suspended the transfer and he was posted close to Guwahati.

DLU-NE disseminates information on issues of the disabled and organises sensitisation workshops for lawyers and NGOs. It has also tried to monitor the accessibility of polling booths in Arunachal Pradesh and pointed out that job advertisements in Meghalaya’s North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEGRIMS) did not reserve seats for the disabled.

DLU’s Talukdar says that of all kinds of human rights, rights of the disabled are the most neglected in the northeast region. Physical barriers in the environment together with social discrimination limit and often extinguish opportunities for disabled people to work and lead a normal life. There is little documentation of the extent of disability in the region. There are even differences on how disability is defined and therefore on the numbers of disabled people.
India has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2008 and is therefore obliged to amend its laws in tune with the provisions of the Convention. Parties to the Convention are required to promote, protect and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities and ensure that they enjoy full equality under the law.

Over the last two decades, the protection of persons with disabilities was made mandatory with the passing of certain legislations like the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995), the Mental Health Act (1987), the Rehabilitation Council of India Act (1992), the National Trust Act (1999), and the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities (2006). The National Human Rights Commission in collaboration with Human Rights Law Network has come out with a publication titled Handbook on Employment for Persons with Disabilities in Government of India. The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has come out with a Corporate Code on Disability for voluntary adoption by companies, which would help them be recognised for their social responsibility and commitment.

Meghalaya has been very active in creating awareness, especially in rural areas, through DLU-NE’s partner organisation Bethany Society. One of the major interventions by Bethany Society is the formation of Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO) in every district and block level. These DLOs have come together and formed the Association of Challenged People, Meghalaya. DLU-NE provides technical and legal aid to these DLOs.

Carmo Noronha, director of Bethany Society says, “We have been able to put a lot of pressure on the government in order to ensure that at least some of the rights of disabled persons are looked at. For instance, reservation in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, in higher education, and 3% reservation in all poverty alleviation schemes including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act schemes.” Bethany Society has also drafted a policy on disability for Meghalaya state.

In a region like the northeast, where the rights of the disabled are eclipsed by other pertinent issues of violence and insurgency, creating awareness of the rights of the disabled is a long-drawn-out process. Talukdar adds, “We can start with education and access which can change things on the ground. There are reservations and employment in government services but not enough qualified applicants.”

Most often, due to large-scale ignorance of the law among disabled people, bureaucrats distort the laws to suit their own ends. Talukdar cites an example. In 2008, the Director of Medical Education, Assam, issued a notice for admission to paramedical courses. In order to fulfil the mandatory 3% disability quota, the definition of disability was changed to include only ‘persons with locomotor disability of the lower limbs and having 50-70% disability.’

Under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 'person with disability' means a person having 40% or more blindness, low vision, leprosy-cured, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, including cerebral palsy, mental retardation and mental illness. “This was a mockery of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 and the Constitution of India,” Talukdar says.

The hilly terrain in most parts of the region makes life even more difficult for people with disabilities. For instance, Chaing Puii, secretary of the Spastic Society of Mizoram, says that most disabled people are denied their basic right to vote as polling booths are not accessible. “Acquiring motorised wheelchairs for everyone is not a feasible idea for economic reasons and most often disabled people remain confined to their homes. Parents are often reluctant to bring out their children and many are confined to their homes,” adds Puii. The Spastic Society, which is a partner organisation of DLU-NE, is working on community-based rehabilitation programmes in 30 villages of Mizoram.

Hopefully, organisations like DLU-NE will be able to generate awareness of legislations on disability and overcome impediments like social exclusion, poverty, and accessibility which make the disabled an ‘invisible minority’.

(Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in Northeast India)
Infochange News & Features, January 2010

The hills are alive with the sound of FM

http://thehoot.org/web/home/searchdetail.php?sid=4372&bg=1

The hills are alive with the sound of FM

In a region mired in bloody conflict, the magic of radio is back and has struck an emotional chord with the music loving populace of the region. TERESA REHMAN describes how Private FM radio is rocking Shillong, Agartala and Itanagar

Posted Sunday, Feb 28 17:16:18, 2010
Shillongites have a new watchdog now. Reckless taxi drivers, public smokers, those urinating in public in Shillong are wary of Kong Lor, a character in an “on air special” show on Red FM. Kong is an endearing term in Khasi language used to address a lady.

In fact, Kong Lor, a fictitious character, who takes up a pertinent social issue on her very popular show has become the talk of the town. Listeners call her up and urge her to take up issues such as certain outdated customs, red tapism and civic problems.

With the tagline “Its Rocking”, this 24x7 FM station in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya which was launched only on June 2009 is literally rocking the state with its unique shows. Their star is a 70-year-old RJ Leslie Hardinge Pde better known as Bah Besbha who has a droll interactive show full of wisecracks. The channel has a range of 120 kms and all its RJs are local as the programmes is mostly in the Khasi language and in the Jyantia dialect.

Denizens of small towns and cities of the Northeast are literally rubbing the dust off their radio sets as private FM channels are ushering in a new interactive radio culture. Before the advent of FM, radio meant only the national news and programmes produced and broadcast by the government-owned All India Radio (AIR) and over amplitude modulated (AM) signals. After the initial phase I of the expansion of FM radio broadcasting services through private agencies in May 2000, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting formulated the Phase II of the expansion and 336 radio stations spread over 91 towns/cities of A+, A, B, C and D categories across the country have been given to private players in 2005.

Guwahatians got their first taste of FM radio when the first FM station of the northeast, Radio Ooo La La 91.9 FM was launched in April 2007. The station now has over 18 RJs and 37 different programmes. Their very own jargon and colloquial speech and cultural nuances are adding a local tang to radio communication. “Our programmes airing social messages are so natty that many ngos have asked us to do their promotional packages,” says Bhupesh Saikia, its station head. The Ooo La La network belongs to the group which owns NE Television.

The FM train has also touched Agartala in Tripura after the first and only private FM station was launched in August, 2007. On air from 6 am in the morning to 1 pm at night, Radio Ooo La La here also broadcasts entertainment programmes apart from talk shows on certain pertinent issues. Apart from playing Hindi, Bengali and sometimes English songs, there is a one-hour show in Kokborok, a tribal language of the state. The station also plays a play by local artistes every week.

Sanjib Deb, its station head says, “The response has been overwhelming. We cover almost two-third of Tripura and an aerial distance of 50 km. Commercially too, it has been viable and within one year, we are in a break-even position. We hope to go live 24 hours soon.”

The FM story in the Northeast is incomplete without its share of quaint tales. For instance, Radio Ooo La La in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, launched in August 2008, is actually running on a generator. Its general manager Anurag Singh says, “We have electricity in the main station but not on the transmission site. But we hope to get it soon.” There are 10 young local RJs in the station and they have been given a crash course in RJing. Compared to the big metros which have so many FM stations, they play a very important role in communication. “Once we had broadcast some messages from the district administration of Arunachal Pradesh on possible landslides which helped in cautioning the people in advance,” Singh adds.

RJs, the public face of any FM station, take a proactive role in social activities such as flood relief campaigns and spending time in the cancer hospital. RJ Hansraj of Big 92.7 FM says, “Its no work at all. I enjoy every moment.” Paranjit Borkotoky, promo producer and sound engineer of Big 92.7 FM feels that every FM station tries to beat their rivals by incorporating innovative shows in the local flavour.

And for a place like Shillong which has rock bands in almost every street, the FM channels are literally taking them back to their roots. Ian Khongmen, Station Head, Red FM, Shillong claims, “Our station is unique as we play superhit music from the 60s to the present generation including the local Khasi bands. We get calls from 6 am in the morning to 12 midnight, which is quite remarkable for a sleepy town like Shillong.”

One of their innovative shows feature local folk singers playing English hit numbers in their own traditional instruments and singing the same song in their native tongue. Khongmen adds that inspite of their office being located on the fourth floor, their fans regularly visit them, congratulate them and even send them cards. “We have a certain kind of formatting and we follow the international standard. We play more music,” he adds.
As the famous Bob Marley number goes, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain”. In a region mired in bloody conflict, the magic of radio is refreshingly back and has struck an emotional chord with the music loving populace of the region. And going by the number of FM stations increasing day by the day, one can easily claim that radio is here to stay.

A 70-YEAR-OLD RJ

RJ Leslie Hardinge Pde popularly known as Bah Besbha

“I am not 70. I am 70 years and five months. I am the oldest man in the station. I am older than the station head,” he chuckles. Brimming with energy, Besbha has become a household name in Meghalaya after his popular weekly show “Kylli Na U Besbha” (Ask your questions to Besbha) on SFM was launched in July last year. His show is full of wisecracks for listeners and the character that Besbha is, listeners don’t expect grim answers to their queries.

His is quite an unconventional ingress into the realm of RJs which is usually the domain of the young and the restless, making him probably the oldest RJ in India. A retired bureaucrat with the Meghalaya government, Besbha is not a novice in the entertainment industry. Oozing with confidence, it did not take long for Besbha, a veteran stage performer and actor, to pick up the nuances of his new vocation as an RJ.

A lovable grandfather, Besbha is a darling of his nine grandchildren. They enjoy it when people call their grandpa Besbha. Besbha says, “Young people like to be with me. I forget to get old as I am always running short of time. I enjoy anything that entertains people and adds to my knowledge. And because of my experience and knowledge, my fellow RJs respect me. I am literally a trouble-shooter for them.” He had evolved the character of Besbha on a 70-episode comedy serial, Ki Kam U Bah Besbha on Shillong Doordarshan Kendra.

Besbha unearths humour in little things in life and he tries to address grave issues through humour and even satire. He is also the founder-member of Khasi Humour Society and has done several humourous plays and skits. He sums it all, “A man who doesn’t have a sense of humour is not a man at all.”

FM radio is literally ushering in a revolution and is heard by both young and old and Besbha is proud to be a part of the bandwagon. “I am amazed at the callers who call from as far as Bangladesh border. I also try to ensure that I do 99 and half percent of the show in Khasi as I want to cultivate and keep the language alive among the masses,” adds Besbha, who is also the author of several books in Khasi language. Some of his books and translations have also been prescribed in the curriculum of North Eastern Hill University.

He feels that radio will even take over television because of its portable nature. He recalls one such interactive session when a young boy from a remote village asked a funny question. The question was – “What type of a plant has no seed?” The boy gave 10 seconds to Besbha to ponder. And when Besbha failed, the boy answered that it’s a mushroom. Besbha says, “I literally fell from my seat. They learn from me and I learn from them. What I enjoy most is the immediacy of the reaction of the listeners.”

But for Besbha RJing is just an extra-curricular activity in his hectic roles as a writer of books, a columnist, a live performer and some oen who tends to his kitchen garden. “I try to divide my time and devote time to all these activities,” he adds. But this “young 70-year-old” is definitely an example for the elderly and he hopes to make it to the Limca Book of Records someday. For the time being, he’s enjoying his celebrity status even in remote hamlets across Meghalaya. He’s happy RJing and yes, being just Besbha.

'Comic activists' take on climate disasters

12 Mar 2010 15:22:00 GMT12 Mar 2010 15:22:00 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove
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Written by: AlertNet correspondent

A young 'comic artist' in northeast India works on a cartoon about disaster risk reduction as part of an innovative effort to raise awareness of climate change-related disaster risks.
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By Teresa Rehman
GUWAHATI, India (AlertNet) - Looking for ways to effectively spread awareness about disaster prevention and risk reduction, youthful activists in northeast India have hit on a hot idea - comics.

"Nowadays people do not have the patience to read long narratives. On the other hand, a cartoon with an element of humour can easily attract the attention of the public," said 13-year-old Nilotpal Lakhar, one of group of students in India's Assam province being trained to draw disaster awareness comics.

The young "comic activists" are the brainchild of 'Nayi Dishayein' or 'New Ways' a project of mass communications students at Guahati University that aims to tackle problems in the region, particularly a lack of awareness about disaster management and preparedness, through the medium of comics.

'New Ways' was created as part of World Comics India (WCI) - a collective of artists, media personalities, social activists and grassroots journalists who see comics as a powerful tool to bring about social change.

DRAWING FROM FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE
The young comic artists have plenty of first-hand material for their work. As climate change takes hold in the region, Lahkar, from Barbhag in lower Assam, has seen the once annual floods in his village turn into unpredictable disasters, with waters sometimes rising six or seven times a year.

His school books were washed away in one severe flood, he remembers. In another, he and his family had to take shelter at a makeshift camp on an embankment. The district is vulnerable to cyclones, hailstorms and floodwaters rushing in from the neighbouring mountain nation of Bhutan.

Now, he and other students are drawing comics based on their experiences, their understanding of the changing weather and climatic conditions and their ideas of how communities could gear up to meet these crises.

Hemanga Kaushik Sharma, 13, for instance, recalls his uncle telling of an incident at Bangalmur village where it was decided that anybody who saw a breach in the community river embankment would alert villagers by beating the drums at the community prayer hall or 'naamghar'.

When a breach happened, a villager rushed to the drums, alerting villagers in time to evacuate to higher ground. That night, the embankment gave way and the entire village went underwater.
The new comic artists, trained at a recent workshop, have turned out comics on a wide range of disaster-related issues, from the problems of sanitation and hygiene during floods to the inconveniences women face during disasters.

Studies show women are particularly vulnerable in disaster situations because they often care for young children and the elderly, and tend to be more housebound. Pradip Mahanta, the programme manager of Gramya Vikash Mancha (GVM), a local NGO working on disaster management and climate change, said his organization had conducted a survey in 40 local schools and asked students what means of communication they found most compelling.

STUDENTS FIND CARTOONS MOST COMPELLING
"Most of the students admitted that they enjoyed cartoon shows on television and comic books the most. We thought it would be ideal to work on the issue of preparedness of climate change adaptability through the refreshing medium of cartoons," he said.

Learning to draw cartoons took a little time. At a workshop, the students introduced themselves by drawing caricatures of each other. "The participants, very apprehensive in the beginning, enjoyed the exercise once they started doing it. They wonderfully captured each other's prominent features in the drawings they had made," said Usha Dewani, who conducted the workshop.

Gradually, the students were initiated into the different types of disasters - their causes and impacts, how precautions and early warning systems work, and how to reduce risks.
"The participants came up with their personal feelings on how a situation like flooding affects their lives when they have to forego their studies for indefinite time periods. They spoke out on how they get disconnected with their friends or relatives in situations like this," Dewani said.
Then they were asked to weave a story, convert the story script into visuals and create a final artwork. The comics later were taken for field testing in two schools, and were well received, she said.

Locally produced comics, she believes, may prove a particularly apt grassroots means of getting out the message on reducing disaster risks. "Here, people from the community make comics themselves on their own issues, using local context and flavour. Therefore, the issue is not seen as 'black' or 'white' but rather in its own different shades. So it is a democratic medium which brings out grassroots issues," she said.

Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in Northeast India. She can be reached at www.teresarehman.net.
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Wettest place in the world drying out, locals say

18 Mar 2010 12:44:00 GMT18 Mar 2010 12:44:00 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove
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Written by: AlertNet correspondent
An boy carries drinking water containers in the remote Indian town Cherrapunjee in 2004. Cherrapunjee once had the highest recorded rainfall on earth, but is now having to learn water conservation techniques as climate change takes hold. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw
blog ## for search indexer, do not remove -->CHERRAPUNJEE, India (AlertNet) - There was a time when denizens of Cherrapunjee, reputed to be the wettest place in the world, invoked Lae Slat, the rain god, to stop the rain.
On occasions such as funerals, when gathering mourners was difficult because of incessant rain and wind that sometimes beat down for weeks on end, village elders would sit under a banana tree and pray for the rain to end, at least for one day, in one village.
"But now people are praying for more rain," says 46-year-old Robert Symper Kharmuti, who was born and brought up in the town and has seen its rainfall plunge over the last four to five years.
Climate change is bringing increasingly erratic weather around the world. In Cherrapunjee, a small town on the southern edge of the Khasi Hills in northeast India's Meghalaya state, that means dry times in a place where drenching weather has long been a way of life.
In 1974, Cherrapunjee recorded 24,555.20 millimetres of rain for the year, the highest recorded total for any place in the world. Local people traditionally have manufactured and worn knups - huge tortoise-shaped bamboo and palm leaf baskets that are worn over the head - to stave off the weather.
Today, though knup-makers are running out of buyers, and not just because more people can afford umbrellas.
"The knup was comfortable as both hands were free and people could work in the rains," Kharmuti said. "But now the knup-makers are facing a crisis as there is less demand for knups now as there is less rainfall. Moreover, people prefer stylish umbrellas and raincoats now."
Residents of Cherrapunjee are perplexed at the changing weather conditions, even if funerals have become a bit easier to plan.
TEMPERATURES UP, DISEASES FLARING
Outbreaks of unusual fevers and stomach problems are becoming more frequent as the rains dry up, they said. They blame the changing weather in part on rampant deforestation in the area and felling of trees to set up limestone kilns and illegal small coal mines.
When Sushil Pathak, a chemist, first came to Cherrapunjee in 1987, the temperature never rose about 17 degrees Celsius, he said.
"But now it goes up to 29 degrees. Suddenly it has become hot when it doesn't rain. Earlier the frequency of rainfall was more. It used to rain 30 to 35 days at a go," he said.
The changes aren't all bad news. For women, washing and drying clothes used to be an ordeal during the rainy season. Many used a bamboo basket placed over a heater or coal stove to try to keep washing dry.
Now, "it's easier as it does not rain that much and it's quite sunny," said Baiadamon Nongkynrih, one village woman.
The overall annual total of rainfall in Cherrapunjee does not show a drastic change, researchers say, but the continuous, predictable rain of the past has vanished in favor of more intense, episodic rainfall.
Dr K K Nath, an agro-meteorology specialist at Assam Agriculture University in Jorhat, has analysed rainfall data for the entire northeastern Indian region for the past 200 years, from 1800 to 2000.
"The number of years with sub-normal rainfall is increasing in frequency. Though there are some years with above-normal rainfall, their frequency is decreasing," he said.
DEFORESTATION MAY BE PLAYING ROLE
Nath believes some of northeast India's rainfall may be moving west, to the Indian state of Maharastra, where precipitation totals are increasing. Deforestation in Cherrapunjee and in Meghalaya state as a whole may be to blame, he said.
"Deforestation may be a possibility because convectional air current that form clouds may have become weaker," he said.
He however, feels that more research needs to be done on this complex phenomenon, which in some respects contradicts expectations about climate change.
"An increase in temperature implies more evaporation and more clouds, hence more precipitation, which is the general trend. But here these two things are moving in the opposite direction. There has to be an intermediary reason which we will have to analyse," he said.
Residents of Cherrapunjee say they used to see rain in every month of the year, including the driest months of November and December.
But "now we hardly have rains in November and December," said A.M. Roy Malngiang, one resident. "The grass is dried up and there is no water for new grass to come up. Local people accidentally burn the grass by dropping a lighted cigarette on it. Even a small spark can lead to a wildfire."
He is concerned by the growing scarcity of water.
"Earlier the natural springs had a perennial flow of water. Now the springs and streams have dried up and there is an acute water shortage. Sometimes there is no water to drink," he said.
LEARNING WATER CONSERVATION
Soon, he said, the people of Cherrapunjee will need to be educated in water conservation and water harvesting techniques. Already, the Ramkrishna Mission School at Cherrapunjee, with 1,050 students and teachers, has set up a reservoir for water harvesting.
"We collect rainwater from the roof through a pipeline. In the winter season, there is a scarcity of water and we use it," said Swami Shuddhabhabananda, an official of the school. "In the past few years, there has been a scarcity of water, though the public health department supplies water through a pipeline. But during winters this water supply becomes erratic."
Such examples are yet to be replicated in other places in the town. As Malngiang says, "we fear Cherrapunjee might one day become a desert."
Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in Northeast India. She can be reached at www.teresarehman.net
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.