Tuesday 22 November 2016
Monday 21 November 2016
Billion-dollar drug company hides astounding discovery of a natural canc...
Billion-dollar drug company hides astounding discovery of a natural canc...
When will children become a political priority, asks Kailash Satyarthi
When will children become a political priority, asks Kailash Satyarthi
Satyarthi blamed the latest law dealing with child labour for actually promoting the evil.
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And endeavouring to ignite a social movement are his two initiatives: "Laureates & Leaders for Children" and "100 Million for 100 Million".
The Laureates & Leaders for Children summit, to be held in December at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, has attracted over a dozen Nobel laureates and global leaders, including the Dalai Lama, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee , Australia's first woman Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Princess Charlene of Monaco, who will raise their collective voices against violence and discrimination against children.
They will brainstorm and commit to action in their respective fields to accelerate progress and achieve breakthroughs to benefit children, by signing a declaration.
The summit will also witness the launching of the "100 million for 100 million" campaign, which aims to mobilize, over the next five years, 100 million youth and children for 100 million underprivileged children across the world to end child labour, child slavery and violence against children and promote the right of every child to be safe, free and educated.
Having been at the forefront of the global movement to end child slavery for four decades now, Satyarthi is also aghast at the "paltry" government spending on children, who make up more than 40 per cent of India's population.
"We don't have progressive laws on child labour; our government spends a paltry four percent of its budget on children and we have a massive prevalence of child trafficking. All this will not change unless and until children become our political priority."
"Trafficking is a thriving trade running into several lakh crores of rupees, a majority of which is black money. Yes, the demonetisation drive is causing sufferings to the people, but at the same time it has hurt the traffickers badly," Satyarthi told IANS in an interview.
"But the fact remains that children are not our political or even social priority. So it is not surprising that we have one of the highest numbers of malnourished children, child labour and trafficking," he says.
Pointing to the fact that child labour immensely contributes towards black money, Satyarthi blamed the latest law dealing with child labour for actually promoting the evil.
"A child labourer is paid nearly one-fifth of what an adult gets and this allows an employer to save around Rs 200 on every child that he employs. While in their books they show they have hired adults, but in reality they employ children and in this way a lot of black money is generated."
"You cannot have a law that permits child labour," he said, referring to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, which has cut down the list of hazardous occupations for children from 83 to include just mining, explosives and what is mentioned in the Factories Act."
"We are fighting against this new law. It is imperative that the list of hazardous occupations is increased from the current three that it has now proscribed," said Satyrathi, asserting the several rounds of talks with the government have been fruitful and he was confident of the list being amended.
He also lamented the lack of coordination and cooperation between various government departments.
"There are a host of ministries involved but they hardly sit together and coordinate which eventually trickles down to the local level. The different departments are so fragmented that often the cause that they are fighting for gets lost."
"In case of a rescue of a girl, say from trafficking, we have to deal with as many as nine different departments, including the Home Ministry, the Child Welfare Department, the Labour Ministry and the like. The lack of coordination between them often makes our job difficult," he said.
The way forward, he says, depends only on a massive social movement.
"We need to have a massive social movement, only then you can generate the political will necessary to improve the life of our children," Satyarthi concluded.
IANS
If hardship due to demonetisation continues, there may be riots: SC
If hardship due to demonetisation continues, there may be riots: SC
The govt. had on November 8 demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency note to "curb black money and corruption".
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Asking the government to ease the situation, the court observed if hardship continues "we may have riots" as "people have become frantic" through standing in queues for long hours.
"That only shows the magnitude of the problem. The problem is serious. You can't shut them from coming to courts. People are frantic to get money. People are affected. We may have riots in the streets. Let them go (to the courts)," said a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Anil R. Dave as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi urged the court to stay all such proceeding in High Courts and subordinate courts.
The court said that government could not dispute that "there is suffering and difficulty."
At the outset of the hearing, the bench asked how it is that swapping of demonetised currency notes with the new ones has been brought down from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000, even as it had asked the government to take steps to ease the hardship being faced by the people.
Adjourning the matter for November 25, the court asked the Attorney General to move transfer petitions, which the court will consider for transferring cases to Delhi.
The Narendra Modi government had on November 8 demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency note to "curb black money and corruption".
Pointing that people were moving the courts because of they are suffering, the court observed: "We can't shut them out from the court."
"It is a serious matter, people should not suffer," observed Chief Justice Thakur as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that government was monitoring the situation "day after day, hour after hour".
He told the court that government had already issued directions for giving Rs. 50,000 to traders, farmers, Rs. 2.5 lakhs for weddings and so on.
As Rohatgi gave the details of two lakh ATMs, 1.25 lakh bank branches, and petrol pumps from where people could get money, senior counsel Kapil Sibal told the court that 75,000 ATMs were not functional and a large number of them are not calibrated to dispense the new currency notes.
Appearing for one of the petitioners, Sibal said that currency worth Rs 23 lakh crore is to be printed and currency worth Rs 14 lakh crore have been demonetised and there is no replacement. He said currency worth nine lakh crores was in circulation.
Describing Sibal's statement as politically inspired, Attorney General urged the court "to go and see, the queues have become shorter".
As Sibal defended his position, Rohatgi shot back: "I have seen your press conference". Sibal is one of the senior spokesmen of the Congress.
During the course of the hearing, the bench inquired as to why currency notes of Rs 100 denomination were not being made available, Rohatgi told the court that currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination that have been demonetised formed 85 per cent of the money in circulation.
IANS
Bishop Theophane Thannickunnel passes away
Bishop Theophane Thannickunnel passes away
He was 88.
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| Bishop Theophane Thannickunnel |
The funeral will be held on Monday, November 21 at 1.00 p.m. in the Cathedral, Jabalpur.
Most Rev. Theophane Thannickunnel, O Praem was born on 23rd September, 1928. He was ordained Priest on 15th August, 1959. He was appointed Bishop of Jabalpur on 1st March, 1976 and Ordained Bishop on 31st March, 1977.
On 16th May, 2001, he retired from his active episcopal ministry. He was 88.
Bishop Theophane Thannickunnel is the third Bishop of Jabalpur and the first Indian Norbertine Bishop.
He was consecrated a Bishop on 31st March, 1977 by Archbishop Eugene D'Souza of Nagpur and Bishop Joseph Pallikaparampil, the then Auxiliary Bishop of Palai.
The long tenure of Bishop Theophane was marked with the opening of new Mission Stations and parishes.
Some of the Mission Centres were opened in new places and others were erected by dividing the existing Mission Stations and Parishes. This move of Bishop Theophane accelerated the missionary enthusiasm and all could witness an unprecedented growth of the diocese.
Jabalpur diocese had been fortunate to be under the stewardship of Bishop Theophane for over a period of 24 years.
Source: CCBI
Friday 11 November 2016
Diwali celebrations at European Parliament
Diwali celebrations at European Parliament
Around 100 people participated in the celebrations.
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European Parliament Vice President Antonio Tajani led the celebrations on November 9 along with the Chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with India, Geoffrey Van Orden.
Syed Kamall, the chairman of the UK conservative group in the European Parliament was present along with co-host and event organiser Neena Gill, a British MEP of Indian origin.
Around 100 people participated in the celebrations.
Meanwhile on Thursday, renowned instrumentalist of India, Pandit Bhajan Sopori, hailed as 'King of Strings' on the mellifluous Kashmiri Santoor, enchanted a large audience with his music in the European Parliament.
IANS
Pope calls on Christians to restore dignity to sick, imprisoned
Pope calls on Christians to restore dignity to sick, imprisoned
Works of mercy are ancient and remain relevant, says pontiff.
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While the works of mercy are ancient, they still are relevant today for those who are deprived of freedom and "suffer one of the greatest hardships of human beings," the pope said Nov. 9 at his weekly general audience reported CNS.
When the living conditions "often devoid of humanity" in which many prisoners are housed are added to the equation, "then it is indeed the case that a Christian should feel the need to do everything to restore their dignity," he said.
Continuing his series of talks on the works of mercy, the pope began with visiting the sick and highlighted Jesus' ministry as an example of the Christian duty to be close to them, especially since "they often feel alone."
Simple gestures such as smiling, caressing or shaking their hand, he added, can go a long way for those who feel abandoned.
"Do not leave sick people alone!" he said. "Let us not prevent them from finding relief and for us to be enriched by the closeness to suffering. Hospitals are the true 'cathedrals of suffering,' where, nonetheless, the strength of charity that supports and proves compassion becomes evident."
Source: UCAN
Female icon painter helps bring people closer to God
Female icon painter helps bring people closer to God
Cindy Ng is using an ancient tradition to help the Catholics of Hong Kong.
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| Cindy Ng, the first Catholic woman icon painter in Hong Kong, with her icon and a book that she is translating into Chinese. (ucanews.com photo) |
"The Orthodox Church accepts woman painters. In fact, I am in their internal Facebook group and they sometimes invite me to join their liturgy talks and share my work with them," said Ng.
Gender is not an issue, but the painters must be Christian, said Reverend Chan of the Lutheran Church who researches ancient Christianity and icons.
"If a Buddhist or a non-believer paints the same image, it cannot be called an icon or a Christian painting as it contains no spirituality in the image. They are just imitating an icon," the pastor said.
Teacher turns icon painter
Ng is a former schoolteacher. It was when she studied for a master’s degree in fine arts education in 2005 that she became interested in religious art and started to study icons.
Ng drew her first icon of Magdalene Canossa in 2007 and began giving talks and teaching people how to use the icons for prayer and meditation.
In order to become Hong Kong's first female icon painter, she read a lot of scripture and prayed continuously. It subtly changed Ng’s life. It helped her come back from a serious hand injury sustained in 2007.
"I did not like to show my weakness to others after I was injured. But now I have the courage to share it with others, particularly with patients with chronic illness, to let them know how I relied on my faith," she said.
Her teachers, Lino Wong Wing-kuen, a Hong Kong Catholic icon painter who lives in Italy, and Sister Esther Pollak, who comes to Hong Kong every year for her annual icon workshop, had a big impact on her. She also receives instructions from Orthodox and Protestant pastors.
"I feel acceptance and communion with the help of pastors from three Christian churches," Ng said. "They make me understand that icon painting is not just for oneself but also for a prayer tool for others," she added.
Spirituality in painting
It is a challenge to draw icons while strictly following a tradition.
"It is not because we are old-fashioned. The aim is to pursue the Truth, Love and the goodness of God. It is a way to pass on our faith," Ng said.
It takes at least one and a half months to do one painting as the painter has to understand their audience, spend time in prayer and research the saint’s life and spiritual views.
In a commercialized city like Hong Kong, it is always hard for artists to make a decent living. It is the same for new icon painters like Ng.
"I feel blessed for having many Catholics supporting me by helping me buy expensive paints and drawing boards that have to be ordered from abroad," she said.
"They are very professional paints and the weather in Hong Kong is different from where they were manufactured," she added.
Recently, Ng finished a Chinese translation of the book, Meditations with Icons for Children and the Young at Heart. Pastors from three Christian churches helped write the preface proof read the copy.
I hope the book can contribute to Christian unity and lead children and young people towards God, she said.
"Hong Kong people live stressful lives without much chance to be quiet. Icon meditation is something that can help one calm down quickly by looking at God. It is also a self-healing practice when used with other tools like music, writing and dancing," she said.
"I think this particularly fits with the youth who like imagination and soul searching at their age," she said.
In May, when Ng led an icon meditation gathering, a young participant shared that he used to think he could conquer his problems using the skills he learned "but now, from the icon, I can feel God’s presence and it is He who is leading me. It gives me motivation to bring God’s love to people around me and to evangelize."
Passing on faith
Seeing people change encourages Ng to draw more. "If someone wants to learn icon painting, I am very willing to share my knowledge as I also received it free from my teachers. I would like to see more people become workers for God," she said.
The scarcity of icon painters in Hong Kong has brought many pragmatic questions to Ng. Someone once asked her if this profession can "make big money" or help them "become famous."
"The basic principle of being an icon painter is to realize it is not for oneself and not for fame. One has to empty oneself in the service so that the Holy Spirit can get into one’s heart and guide us to create a fine prayer tool," Ng said.
"There is no personal style in icon painting. No matter the design, the colors, gestures or symbol of the faith, there are very strict and high standards so that people can feel the goodness of God through the painting," she added.
Source: UCAN
Asia's Forgotten Refugees. Part 5: Migrants in east Malaysia
Asia's Forgotten Refugees. Part 5: Migrants in east Malaysia
Living in shantytowns on the coast of Sabah, politicians use them as phantom voters.
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These migrants are the people who federal politicians and their operatives use and discarded repeatedly as the phantom voters in a murky power-play for the resource-rich state that together with neighboring Sarawak on the island of Borneo provides a large chunk of Malaysia's revenue.
They are the unknown entities putting their votes in the ballot box in every election, especially since the 1990s and earning the enduring wrath of locals for disenfranchising them. The people of the state had invariably previously voted via their conscience and come out on the side of the opposition.
A 'Royal Commission of Inquiry' that was set up in 2012 to investigate the million or so illegal immigrants in Sabah confirmed that there was malfeasance but did not say by who.
The commission found that the voting system had been compromised by immigrants who were recruited to commit vote fraud in exchange for citizenship. A court ruling said as much when it declared an election result in 2001 null and void.
While thousands became legal overnight, thousands more are stateless. They are abused again and again by politicians, says lawmaker Darell Leiking.
It all began in the 1970s with a trickle of refugees escaping fighting in the southern Philippines. At the time Sabah's population was just over 600,000 and a Christian-majority state. The population is now over three million with a Muslim majority.
To put that in perspective, Sabah's population has grown 390 percent in 40 years and is about 11.3 percent of the total Malaysian population of 28 million according to 2010 census figures.
Illegal immigrants now outnumber locals. In May last year Prime Minister Najib Razak indirectly acknowledged the political takeover of Sabah when he said: "… To me, Sabah is still BN's [the ruling Barisan National coalition] fixed deposit," reported malaysiakini.com.
But little has changed for the refugees and immigrants who played a key role in this political changing of the guard.
One political operative who had a hand in the change is worried.
Pak Ismail insists his disquiet is not paranoia. The 70 something year old religious teacher is constantly on the look out for suspicious activity in his predominantly Muslim kampong on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu.
"It was not like the old days when people respected each other. Now you leave your doors open and everything will be stolen — your TV, your CD player, everything," says Ismail.
The small house he shares with his wife, who is busy cooking in the kitchen, is secure. There are thick iron bars on the windows and an iron grill protecting the front door.
"It was not like this when I was young. Our houses were open and people came and went. We trusted everyone," he reflected.
"Drugs and no work," he says abruptly. "They've [the youth] got nothing to do so they take drugs and do crazy things. They steal to support their addiction," he adds.
It's the main reason he does not want 'outsiders', his code for illegal immigrants and refugees who are now inextricably woven into Sabah's social fabric, living in the vicinity.
Ismail conducts religious classes at the nearby mosque which are free for locals but immigrant children must pay a fee for admittance.
"They do not have discipline and can be dangerous. Not because they are radical but because that is their lifestyle," he says to explain his bias.
Shanty towns
There are some 350 houses in his kampong and the village committee vets potential newcomers. This is the reality Malaysia's unwanted immigrants live. With no where else to go, they set up home in shanty towns along the coast, in mangrove swamps and by construction sites. Ignored by successive governments, they have been left to fend for themselves.
They are at risk of exploitation, abuse and arrest. Police frequently carry out 'crime prevention' operations in squatter areas in and around the city.
Recently the city police chief disclosed that 11 men, seven women and 23 children aged between 14 and 55 had been detained in an operation. Two of the men tested positive for drugs, he said.
All are to be sent to detention centers were they can expect to be held for months with little food and water and the threat of beatings ever present.
Those living in the shantytowns where the raids were conducted will see further hardship. The state electricity utility disconnected the power supply to the area after the raids.
For Azimil, a young man building a small guardhouse beside a shantytown by the sea, the police raid and power cut is an inconvenience to be tolerated.
He sees some respite approaching.
"There may be an election soon and the politicians will protect us. The police raids will stop," he says confidently in hesitant Malay, the language spoken widely in the state.
Azimil is referring to what most openly acknowledge these days — elections are bought and sold in the state with the help of illegal immigrants.
While Azimil is counting on this, Leiking, who is from Sabah, hopes he will put an end to it.
Over the next few weeks, the lawmaker will attempt to get answers in parliament from the federal government on how it intends to give justice to both the migrants and the people of the state.
Source: UCAN
Pakistan's ban on Christian TV stations
Pakistan's ban on Christian TV stations
The unjust move sets back religious harmony in a country were sectarian violence is a major issue.
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Lahore: Pakistan has ordered a mass shutdown of all church-run TV stations leaving the country's beleaguered Christian minority dumbfounded.
Since Sept. 23, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) sent a notice to all regional general managers to "stop transmitting 11 illegal TV channels immediately." The notice was largely ignored; until a crackdown began on Oct. 15.
Six people were arrested when cable TV operators were raided for broadcasting Indian Christian channels. Now staffers at the closed stations are on indefinite leave. Pakistan's oldest Christian satellite broadcaster, Isaac TV was silenced and was followed by Catholic TV, run by Lahore Archdiocese.
PEMRA's ban is a setback for interfaith harmony in a country that is already riven with sectarian violence. The closure of Christian channels further isolates the religious minority.
Legally speaking, the government has a right to pull down channels that do not have landing rights, the right to broadcast foreign TV content in Pakistan, or a PEMRA license. Landing rights are granted for programs on a number of subjects but not religious content.
Owners of Christian channels knew they were taking a risk by broadcasting foreign religious programs but, everybody thought that, if Islamic channels could do so, then Christians should also have their say.
They still had to be careful, after all, Christians have long faced discrimination in the Muslim-majority nation, so they broadcast their religious content from abroad.
For example, Isaac TV recorded its programs in Lahore but broadcast them from Hong Kong. Similarly, God Bless TV aired its content from Dubai.
While drafting this column, I turned on the TV and counted 11 Islamic channels airing 24 hours a day. Among them was Peace TV which broadcasts Zakir Naik, a preacher who was accused of inspiring the terrorists behind the July 1 Dhaka cafe attack in Bangladesh that left 20 people, including 17 foreigners, dead.
After the attack, the government of Bangladesh was quick to block Peace TV broadcasts. Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani Christian leaders backed the move.
Even though jihadists continually attack targets in Pakistan, the country still allows unlicensed Islamic TV channels to broadcast. I do not mean to object to Islamic programs, but if they are allowed then other religions should also be allowed as per Article 25 of our constitution which states that "all citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of the law."
Furthermore, while Peace TV has been accused of encouraging jihad, there have been no such complaints against the 11 Christian TV channels which mostly broadcast prayer services and programs on Gospel music.
The shutdown is nothing more than persecution, according to Father Morris Jalal, founder and executive director of Catholic TV. "What is the future of church media in Pakistan? It is a very difficult time for us. We were just trying to reach our own community who are generally ignored by other TV channels," he said, as his team packed up their equipment.
Christians and other religious minorities are already being sidelined by electronic media. State run, Pakistan Television only shows Christian dramas and the bishop's address on Christmas and Easter; that's less than an hour of Christian content per year.
Other channels only give news coverage to minorities on special feasts. Bishops rarely appear on talk shows and mob attacks on non-Muslims go unreported.
I still remember local coverage of the 2009 Gojra riots on Geo News which described it as a mere "collision" between two groups. Only the foreign media carried the real story — that an angry mob killed 10 Christians with seven burned alive, following a blasphemy allegation.
How can Christians find a platform to guide their own people who account for 1.6 percent of the total population?
The internet could also offer a refuge. Karachi Archdiocese's Good News TV, the first satellite Catholic channel in Pakistan, became a web-based channel after it was closed down amid a financial crises in 2011.
There is some hope for the Christian channels in Pakistan. Change in government, change in the PEMRA director, and improvement in their relationship with India could lead to more Indian channels being able to broadcast to their neighbor.
In the meantime, church leaders must use social media to reach out to both the Christians and Muslims and they must speak up against this unjust censorship.
In his World Mission Sunday message, Pope Francis said that "all peoples and cultures have the right to receive the message of salvation … This is all the more necessary when we consider how many injustices, wars, and humanitarian crises still need resolution."
In our terror-hit country, the church needs all the prayer and support it can get to carry on its missionary mandate.
Kamran Chaudhry is a Catholic commentator based in Lahore.
Source: UCAN
Thursday 10 November 2016
Dignity is being killed in a city of sudden death
Dignity is being killed in a city of sudden death
The soul of Manila and the nation is being eaten away by the Phiippine war on drugs.
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| Police look into the deaths of two unidentified men, suspected of being drug pushers, who were shot in a Manila street early on Oct. 29. Killings of suspected drug users and pushers have become a daily occurrence in the Philippines in recent months. (Photo by Vincent Go) |
Manila: There was Jonathan, a 16-year old teenager. He was from a broken home where love no longer held together a family. There was poverty that kept food from the table and from the mouths of his brother and sisters.
Jonathan saw the last of his father as he stormed out of their shanty by a river in the Philippine capital, drunk on cheap liquor to numb the pain of failure. He was a jobless man fired by a corrupt boss and he had no food for his family. He was a useless, broken man, with his dignity taken from him.
So Jonathan dropped out of school to find work. But there was no job without a high school diploma. There was nothing for him but to go to the local drug pusher and sell the illegal stuff for him.
A little of the crystal grains could give the body a lift from depression and misery, banish hunger in an empty stomach and alleviate the pain of the poor in dire and deprecated slums. Poverty is the best drug pusher of all time.
Jonathan was a distributor of a medication that could alienate the pain and suffering of some of the poverty-stricken and misery-filled people of the slums. Crystal meth, called shabu, brings a short-lived hour or so of happiness and total forgetfulness for many. It brings a spurt of energy to others so they can work longer and ease their body pains.
The addicted have fleeting moments of paradise that give away to a worse misery they endured before they turned to the crystal grains to smoke and inhale. They crave the bliss of forgetfulness once the desire that ruined their already wretched lives comes again. They are more helpless than ever. They are the ones needing help and recovery and a chance at life again.
There are others who use crystal meth like the coca leaf chewing natives of Bolivia do — to help them endure the hardship of mountain living and exhausting work. It is necessary for them.
For the poor and slum dwellers the ruling elite provides no escape, no hope no future or salvation from the scrapheap of sadness. The poor have no help to ease the pain or heal the wounds of a life without purpose.
The rich and the rising middle class sniff and inhale crystal meth and other illegal drugs in the luxury of their plush homes and high-rise apartments. The filth and wretchedness they leave far below and they see no need to pity the poor struggling to survive.
For the irresponsible rich, the poor are the no-bodies of this world. Jobless, hungry and sick people are looked upon as the wretched of the earth and the dirt of humanity.
The ruling class ignores them and does not reach out a hand of mercy or open a way for escape. For some poor, crystal meth is their only escape. It gives moments of ease from the burden of their struggle to survive.
Jonathan saw meager earnings. They were enough to buy a kilogram of rice, a can of sardines, and a handful of vegetables. It was food for the fatherless family.
His customers were equally poor as he was. There was Benny, a pedi-cab cyclist who pedaled 50 kilometers a day it seemed for a pittance. He didn't own anything besides his T-shirt and shorts and worn down flip-flops he found on a garbage tip.
He needed a sniff of shabu to keep going that extra hour to bring home his half-kilo of rice and vegetables for the family and stop the crying of the little one.
And then it started. The word went out that they were useless criminals with shrunken brains without rights or dignity. They were to be eliminated, eradicated, massacred. The killers, dressed in hoods, came in cars and hit the hovels with guns drawn and ordered the pedi-cab drivers to lie face down. They shot them dead and Benny was one of them. Now there is no one to bring the rice and vegetables and the baby cries all the time with hunger.
Then the motorbikes came roaring down a narrow alley and Jonathan was the target. They killed him too with an assassin's shot to the head. His mother screamed and all his brothers and sisters cried for a week and still do when they have no rice.
In the hovel beside the stinking smell of the Pasig River, a cesspool of filth and dirt, he lay in a plywood box. The river flowed on through the city of death where 4,000 have been killed and the death toll is still rising. Jonathan was just one more gunned down on suspicion of a crime. He had no chance to plead his case.
It was always a hard life in the city's slums where death came slowly with malnutrition and disease, but now it is a city of sudden death. A relief say some. As each body is carried away in a plastic bag somewhere well-fed citizens applaud and cheer the killing spree and say well done. There is blood upon their hands.
Now we see the death of the dignity of this once proud nation that stood as best it could for rights and freedom. The nation's dignity is being killed day by day and lost in the fog of a war-on-drugs, which is another way to rule by fear.
Irish Father Shay Cullen, SSC, established the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sex abuse.
Source: UCAN
Wednesday 9 November 2016
Over half India's jailed people are Dalits, Muslims, tribal people
Over half India's jailed people are Dalits, Muslims, tribal people
Lack of education and poverty blamed for the disproportionate number of these marginalized people.
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| Sitaram Yechury, leader of the Communist Party of India addressing a Dalit rally in New Delhi on Sept. 16. About 55 percent of those in prison in 2015 were either Muslims, Dalits or tribal people. (ucanews.com photo) |
About 55 percent of those in prison in 2015 were either Muslims, Dalits or tribal people, according to information from the National Crime Records Bureau released in October.
What has caused a stir is that these groups only make up 39 percent of India’s population, according to census data.
The National Crime Records Bureau report showed that more than 70 percent of the 282,076 jailed people in 2015 had not completed tenth grade in school.
"What is certainly not the case is that people from marginalized communities commit more crimes," said Father Z. Devasagaya Raj, secretary of the Indian bishops' office for Dalits and indigenous people.
"It is obvious that their number is greater because of their illiteracy and poverty which prevents them from understanding laws and engaging lawyers," he said.
Their poverty also emboldens police to file charges against them "freely without fearing any backlash" he added.
The data also shows that most have to spend over three months in jail before they can secure bail. Close to 65 percent spend between three months and five years in jail before they trial.
"Who has time to hear the plight of the poor? They are left at the mercy of God," said Muhammad Arif, chairman of the Centre for Harmony and Peace.
There have been several cases of police arresting people from socially excluded groups and framing them for unsolved crimes, Arif added.
Father Raj said there is a higher chance innocent people will be convicted if they have no legal aid.
Rameshwar Oraon, chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes said that the "biggest reason" why Dalits, Muslims and indigenous people are disproportionately represented in India’s jails is because they lack education.
Thomas Franklin Caesar, a Supreme Court lawyer and a Dalit activist, said that police know it is safe to blame people from these groups as they are helpless to challenge officials in a court of law.
"It is safe to blame them for everything from murder to petty crimes," he said, adding that religious groups and activists should find a way to provide free legal help to marginalized people.
Source: UCAN
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CHRISTMAS QUIZ 2017: FOR THE PARISHIONERS OF CHEMPARUTHIVILAI, MEKKAMANDAPAM AND EATHAVILAI - PREPARED BY PARISH PRIEST R J KENNED... -
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