Manhole tragedy, Kerala speaks up

30/11/2015, Monday, New Delhi

As sun rose in the morning of November 27 Friday, Kerala woke up to a sad news reading a shocking incident that jolted Calicut district the other day. Two labourers, residents of Andhra Pradesh Bhaskar, Narasimham, were busy inside a manhole cleaning the drainage near Jaya Auditorium in Kandakulam road in the city. The manhole was of 12ft depth and there was water inside it in one man’s height. Both of them couldn’t stay inside any longer smelling pesticide and they struggled to life choked on inside it. In the meantime, Noushad, a local auto rickshaw driver seemingly in the form of god made a daring attempt to save them and jumped into the manhole. But, after they were carried to Calicut Medical College in critical stage the trio had to succumb to death leaving an awful piece of memory to the residents of Calicut and the whole Kerala. None in the State could forget the heart-rending memories of a man who jumped into death to save the two labourers. The Government announced a 10 Lakh money of compensation for Noushad’s distraught family and a government job to his wife.

Now after two days, before getting relieved from the awe, the SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam) General Secretary Vellappally Nadeshan has come up with a communal colour to the whole episode. He has alleged that the government showed bias in disbursing compensation to the victim. “So, If you die, you should die as a Muslim (to get compensation), said Vellappally launching a scathing attack against the ruling dispensation. The entire Malayali social media chunks threw arrows of wrath at Vellappally terming it as the first of its kind in the history of God’s own country to distort a rescue incident and pepper it with communal interests for petty political gains.

SNDP leader is for a few months in news for his continuing bid to placate the backward Hindu caste groups purportedly to divide the key traditional vote source of left front LDF, Hindu Eazhava community to which he spearheads. SNDP has also the genesis in sticking to the path of noted spiritual leader of Kerala, Sree Narayana Guru who preached to uphold the secular fabric among human beings and to consider humans regardless of caste, religion or God. He stood for the message of “ One caste, One religion, One God”. In a Volte-face, the current SNDP chief is ‘spewing venom,’ claims the chief of Congress VM Sudheeran, aiming the vote-bank of the Hindu community and blatantly launching communal slurs at other communities. “The communally insane Vellapally is aiming the riots to be launched among the pluralistic society of Kerala,” Sudheeran retorted.  He also cautioned that he is going to press the Government to take legal actions against Vellappally in this case. His controversial remarks were also pounced on by LDF leader Pinarayi Vijayan. He termed it as ‘inhumane and senseless’ statement. He went a further step ahead to call him ‘ Togadiya of Kerala’ (matching him to RSS chief leader Praveen Togadiya ) who is trying to undervalue the contribution of an autorickshaw driver  who sacrificed his life to save other two lives.

The social media also labelled the backward Hindu Ezhava leader’s ‘cheap publicity stunt for equality yatra’ in the wake of his state-wide tour ‘samathwa munetta yatra’ envisaging much awaited alliance with BJP to form a new political party uniting the Hindu caste groups under an umbrella. The Hindu backward caste outfits such as Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha, fishermen outfit Deevara Sabha and Sambhava Sabha have backed the SNDP leader’s decision to flout a new political party while the upper caste Hindu Nair group NSS (Nair Service Society) is still keeping a pace from the alliance. The tour would end in Trivandrum on Dec 5 with SNDP leader’s announcement of the new political party.

AAP as a broken shrine of promises

Abdul Hafees

10/03/2015, New Delhi

AAP, the party that formed after an anti-corruption strike from the idea of a slew of politicians and intellectuals, turns nearly three years old in the political spectrum of the country. After remaining in power in Delhi nearly one and half months with some apparent internal spats, the party and its leadership have now reached at a crossroads. Though the landslide victory was heavily celebrated across the country as a wave against the ruling party in the centre, the realm has largely ruined people’s hopes over the party through a series of squabbles.

When the party threw two major fronts down to the dust in the state, as one of which was ruling the centre since eight months and the other was ruling the state for 15 years, its immediate resurrection was regarded not only as the triumph of the public authority over the strategies put forward by the leadership in the state. It was also seen as the onset of a collective retort to the conflagration of communal polarization that has recently been led by a handful of saffron party affiliates in the country.

Nevertheless, the mere conflict of ideas occurred between the leaders, now turned out into a major rift has rendered a large section of people keep away from the party. The removal of the experienced, proficient intellectual leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhusan from its core panel (Political Affairs Committee) has somehow conveyed an indirect message that the party is also riding through the same track following other parties.

The decision to remove the duo from the central panel was taken because they raised their voices against the idea that the party is being single person-centric. They observed that the changes the party dreamt of won’t work out if the decisions are taken only by its national convener and state chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Anyway, the split has broken out. Even though the reconciliation attempts are still on, the graph of people’s trust has been down after these unfortunate occurrences in the party. Even if the government wins to keep its promises, it can hardly make a comeback as before if it is removed from power. Moreover, the party could no longer gain much support as before in other states as well.

Photo courtesy: http://shiningindianews.com

Politics beefed up with beef ban

Imposing a blanket ban on cattle slaughter is, on the other hand, an infringement of individual rights to have the food of choice. It has a lot to do with the dietary habits of Dalits and Muslims.

14/03/2015, New Delhi, Abdul Hafees

The ban on slaughter but possession of an animal by Maharashtra government, which is worshipped by a large section of populace, was an attempt by the Bharatiya Janatha Party chalked out in a way to politically carry out a forceful restraint over the livelihood, dietary practices of other smaller sections in the society.

Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government has recently got the assent from President for Animal Preservation Bill banning the slaughter of oxen, bulls and bullocks in Maharashtra that was pending since 1997-98 when the Shiv Sena-BJP government moved the bill. Now with this law, anyone found to be in possession of beef in the state can be sentenced to five years imprisonment; actual consumption earns a lesser sentence.

Imposing a blanket ban on cattle slaughter is, on the other hand, an infringement of individual rights to have the food of choice. It has a lot to do with the dietary habits of Dalits and Muslims. In contrast, the state CM was taking pride in his decision after getting assent from President when he tweeted ‘Our ban on cow slaughter becomes a reality now’, as if his long awaiting dream is fulfilled.

Before the decision to push the bill was taken by the government, meat traders and exporters in the state had been targeted and received life threats by a group of so-called Hindutva fascist outfits in different parts of the state to stop their trades. It is not just Muslims but also Hindus who run the meat business or work in slaughterhouses in the state who are also now under trouble. From them there are Qureshis as well as Khatiks whose lives are now at stake. So, the ban would indubitably affect the sources of income for a large number of traders irrespective of religion in the state.

Turning a blind eye to the sufferings of meat traders and exporters, and boasting on its decision to hijack the dietetic choice of almost 20 percent Dalit and Muslim population of the state, the government keeps claiming that there is no Hindu versus Muslim character in the bill. Here comes the question. In spite of the fact that animals are to be preserved, why don’t they extend the preservation bill to other animals as well that are being killed in the state.  Why not goats and pigs? Why they are not bothered about people having mutton, lamb and pork?  Are they not to be protected?

The answer is as simple as that. The slogans by BJP that had echoed on the outskirts of the state and across the nation in the run-up to the 2014 Loksabha elections, like “Modi ko matdan, gai ko jeevdan [Vote for Modi, give life to the cow] and BJP ka sandesh, bachegi gai, bachega desh [BJP’s message, the cow will be saved, the country too], show that the whole idea is to single out the minorities for beef eating, and cow slaughter, stereotype them as the animal killers and isolate them from a pluralistic society. After Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan; both are being the BJP ruling states riding through the same track, have also arrived at the same decision.

Photo courtesy: http://media.gotraffic.net

Turtles never fade away from memory 

Abdul Hafees

It is the first film shot from the war-torn areas of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The Iranian director Bhahman Ghobadi’s ‘Turltes can fly’, after a decade of its release, reminds us some gruesome moments from children’s lives in a land where no one is born without hearing the alarming ring of death. The film brings to the spotlight what lies beyond the terror scenes they do witness, the depth of injury and its scary reflection made all over their lives. 

    A small area in the Kurdistan, the dream state of the Kurds. Here live the turtles. They have to tell a story how the horrific hubbub of cannons and guns snuffed out their dreams young. A 14 years old boy, ‘Satellite’, who is busy with setting the antenna for the village refugees to help them watch the war news. He gains love and affection of the refugees for hiring their kids; most of them are physically disabled. He assigns their works in the minefields and teaches them how to defuse the mines that are kept under the soil of the land of the Kurds by the army of Sadham to kill them. And if they sell the disarmed mines to the Kurdish army in the same condition, they will be paid. ‘Satellite’ hands over this merchandise to the Kurdish army after disarmament operation wisely operated under his guidance by those kids and he gives them back some bucks as their wages.

      ‘Satellite’ incidentally comes to meet Hengov, whose arms are broken in an attack against his family by Sadham’s army.  He has also a sister, Agrin, with a pale face all the time. Her gloomy eyes and melancholic posture take us through her grief-stricken yesterdays. Satellite falls for her. Agrin has a blind toddler in her shoulders, Riga, to whom she gave birth after the Iraqi soldiers left her gang-raped.  The trio, Hengov, Agrin and Riga has reached this refugee camp after they were left alone after an attack over the family. When Hengov takes care of child as his own, Agrin who is fed up with the horror scenes she had gone through in her life, attempts to kill her son and commits suicide many times. Because, she knows that there is no longer a beacon of hope left for her in this world.

     The film that has also won the Crystal Bear and Peace Film award at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival, veritably portrays the panic-stricken moments from some young lives in the war lands. Plucked off from the shades of maternal love one fine day, they are destined to play with bombs without being conscious of what was coming closer every second to end up their lives in a short while.

Photo Credits: http://www.nafeesspeaks.com 

                                                                         

Mariyath’s voyage through the world of lines and colours

Abdul Hafees

Willpower and determination lent her higher echelons of success. Now, Mariyath CH, a young paraplegic girl from Malappuram is not only a renowned painter but a writer, whose voyage continues through the world of lines and colours. Though it seems to be beyond her hand’s reach Mariyath is now working also as the library assistant at University of Calicut.

‘All the praise is to God’, thanking her well-wishers and, self-assuredly looking at the edges to be achieved, Mariyath gushes that ‘It is the first stepping stone of success in my life’.

          Mariyathul Qibthiyya was born in a middle class family at Chungathara village from Malappuram district in   Kerala. Her childhood was also packed to full with colourful days. When she was seven, her legs went dysfunctional owing to severe fever. She could no longer bask in the warmth of nature, nor could enjoy reading textbooks.  Having no friends, life started to turn tedious. Finding a space nearby windows in her room, she looked at students of her age going to schools. Inside the four walls, she remained locked. Though, little by little, some books made her relaxed and uplifting her towards a new life. She befriended them and found a new world through pages. Meanwhile, from the hospital bed, she found some pieces of papers, which later moulded her as a painter by giving a small space to draw pictures of her imagination.

          After ten years of support extended from her teacher Kunjamma and her parents, Mariyath cleared tenth class. Then, she completed her pre-degree course from Marthoma College, Chungathara. By hard work and steadfastness, she learned to type her experiences in her own computer.  She composed the stories of her broken winged childhood into letters, which was later compiled as a small Malayalam book named Kalam Maycha kalppadugal (Footsteps wiped out by destiny).  The anthology of success stories, scripted by a differently abled person had enough stuff to conquer the hearts of readers.  The book has so far two editions in Malayalam. Adding much to her enthusiasm, it was translated into Kannada after two years.

          Even though destiny tried to close all the doors before her, Mariyath was resurrected only by a resolute decision to take over her fate. She has been so far conferred with much recognition for her single book, which envisaged her passion to the life. Her words render confidence to those, who struggle their lives with disabilities. Her story of realization is that she never surrendered before a trapped life in wheel chair but she learned to dream high. When she was terribly struggling with her unfavorable situations, the young girl with no legs functioning never believed that her future is at stake.

Now, with Lalita Kala Academy exhibiting her paintings titled ‘Colours of dreams’ at Kottakkunnu, Malappuram, she has also opened a new canvas of remarkable sketches from her life. Now, Mariyath is not only betrothed in writing poems and stories, but also engaged in fabric painting and sari designing. She has also a blog in the same name of her book with a sprawling of day to day visitors. Her facebook page is also filled with appreciations from her own readers.

          In 2012, she was invited to be awarded the first women achiever of the year in women’s day by University of Calicut. Listening to her stories of struggle with drastic circumstances, University offered her a temporary job of Library Assistant. Later she was transferred from Library to University friends’ office. After the intervention of some political affiliates, she was made permanent in the same job. Still, here in the corridors of CH Muhammad Koya Library, being never ready to be beaten by disability, Mariyath is dreaming higher firmaments of success.