Category: Lok Issues

Rakhi Singh, a resident of Indirapuram, Delhi-NCR, says Indians are neglecting traditional values of a sustainable living

I have two sons, 14-year-old Rakshan and 6-year-old Rakshit, and while the elder one is somehow coping up with the unprecedented pollution levels in Delhi-NCR, the younger one’s health has taken a hit. He has a lot of difficulty breathing, and we as parents feel quite helpless seeing him suffer so much. He is scared to go to sleep and fears he might stop breathing if he lies down in bed. My husband and I have to use different methods every night to divert his mind so that he can go to sleep.

We have been feeling the severity of pollution since 2016 which is when I think the levels of parali (stubble) burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana went up. In my village in Bihar, farmers remove the parali from the fields by hand and then soak it into water and then after it has decomposed, they put it back into the fields as manure. As far as I know the farmers in Punjab and Haryana were promised machines to remove parali from the fields in an effective manner, but they haven’t been provided the machines yet.

The condition is such that we keep the windows closed at almost all times.Kidshavestopped going out in the society play area and they just go to their friend’s homes if they feel like playing. Both my kids are very environmentally aware and they always do their bit to keep the environment clean. Both my kids have decided not to burn crackers voluntarily. They don’t waste a single drop of water from their bottles and always make sure that any leftover water is used to water the plants.

My elder son even went to the extent of asking us to remove the water purifier from our homes became he couldn’t bear to see the wastage of water that comes with RO machines. The children get upset when they see other people living in our society bursting crackers as well as encouraging their kids to burst crackers on Diwali. They wonder how grown-up and educated people can behave like this when 16 year olds like Greta Thunberg are leading the conversation when it comes to climate change.

Also Read: ‘Kids Can’t Go To School On Children’s Day Due To Smog’

Since Diwali the schools have been opening and closing sporadically, as per the government’s order. Not only is the pollution taking a toll on the physical health of kids, it’s also taking a toll on their emotional health. Apart from missing out on their studies, they are also missing their friends badly, especially when they can’t go out to play even though they are at home.

I feel Indian traditions were always more eco-friendly. Even today in villages plates made of leaves are used for functions. There was (and in many small towns and villages it is still present) the tradition of giving rotis to animals first (cow, dog, crow and ants) and it somewhere taught us to respect animals, in fact to put them before ourselves. We gave them food before we ate it ourselves. We need to learn many a things from our ancestors of we want to truly master the art of sustainable living.

Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University are protesting against hostel fee hike and other new rules. LokMarg visited Delhi University, a few kilometre from JNU campus, to find out how DU students see the protest. Few supported the JNU protest. While several said JNU students are in a habit of creating disorder, others batted for parity in facilities among all the universities in the National Capital.

Anurag, 25, son of a postman in Uttar Pradesh, says most JNU students are not city-bred nor studying on scholarship. For many of them, the study costs are high and they are justified in protesting against the hike

I belong to Gorakhpur and did my graduation from BHU (Banaras Hindu University). I always knew that I wanted to pursue my higher studies from the reputed JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). Two elder cousins who had studied here had sown the seeds of this desire in me. Thankfully I got through JNU and am currently doing my M. Phil here.

Let us talk about the finances first, because the whole protest is about fees and affordability of quality education. I cleared the JRF NET (Junior Research Fellowship) exam, which only 1% of the students are able to clear, so I get paid a monthly allowance of ₹40, 000. However, those who haven’t cleared JRF NET are called non-NET scholars and are paid only ₹5,000 per month. PhD students are paid ₹8,000 per month, while the B.A. and M.A. students can’t avail any scholarship.

Before you think this is easy money, let me clarify that the investment on study materials is heavy and the laws of JNU are vague regarding whether an M. Phil student can work or not simultaneously while studying. So each rupee matters and this also means that most of us are just about surviving.

My father was a postman and even my education till now wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for the family. Just because I was able to crack this exam doesn’t mean I don’t understand the pain of those who have been affected by the fee hike, especially the graduation students who have just stepped out into the big, wide world.

Studying in JNU teaches you the most important thing missing in the world, empathy, and thus I lend my full support to this protest. Sections of the media as well as the civil society don’t read and understand or don’t care to understand the fine print when it comes to protests against fee hike. And if the protest is coming from JNU, then you know people follow whatever narrative the media tells them.

The room rent, maintenance charge, mess expense etc. have all been increased suddenly and there is nothing the students can do apart from protesting. If the VC was ready to hold a dialogue on the matter, the students too wouldn’t have protested.

Sometimes I wonder if the current government thinks of JNU as a political Opposition. There has been no solid Opposition since 2014 and JNU has risen up in public imagination like Opposition. The government cannot just force its way through, there are certain procedures in place before a huge change impacting the lives of many students is brought about.

People from all sections of society come to study in JNU but a major chunk of the students are from families that are below the poverty line. We know the condition of education in small towns and cities. While the school education system at the ground level is robust, it is not so at the college and post-graduation levels and even if it is, not everyone can afford education if it is not provided at a subsided rate. And JNU just doesn’t make you literate, it makes you truly educated.

The academic discourse here and the atmosphere of conducting healthy debates on diverse topics while not indulging in personal attacks on the other party that doesn’t agree with your point of view, are the hallmarks of education at JNU, and all these are in danger of being eroded. JNU has been at the centre of a non-stop storm ever since 2016 and I hope it ends soon.

Janki Tudu, 21, a language student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, says the students are fighting for the right to education to those who cannot bear high costs. The tribal girl from Bihar says the government must talk to students rather than gagging them up

I come from a humble background. I belong to a tribal community in Arariya district of Bihar. Since childhood, my education was free. I had qualified for Navodaya School where there is no fee from class sixth to 12^th. After passing class 12^th, I was only able to come to Delhi, dreaming for a better academic future. My father is a farmer and he cannot afford private or costly education for me. The low-cost education at Jawaharlal Nehru University was a big help.

I have dreams of getting a good job, earn good money and do something meaningful for our society and the country. But if the government starts charging too much fee for education, I fear I have to go back to my hometown with broken dreams as my father cannot afford such expenses.

The government must listen to what we are saying. They must listen to the students. Lathicharge is not an option. The government must initiate dialogue. All we want is to study here and we can only do that if the fee structure is affordable. If JNU starts charging like semi-government or private universities then what will be left in the country for those who don’t have money to pay.

My friends, fellow students and many student union leaders were brutally attacked by the police on November 18 march. Many of them were arrested. I sat guarding their footwear after the protest near university, waiting and hoping for their safe return.

Students are demanding their rights and the government is telling policemen to beat them up. This is gross injustice. We need to talk. The government needs to talk to us. Gagging students will not help. We are one society. Even if something happens in our family and our elders stop talking, the issue will remain unresolved. The government shall understand the need of students like us.

There are thousands like me who cannot afford hefty fee. Where will they go if the fee is revised? What will they do, how will they study, how are they supposed to get a job. All these questions are being raised and the vice chancellor and the government are tight lipped.

A new constituting committee after committees will not help. Students like me don’t have money to pay. If the revised fee is implemented, where will we go, what will we do to complete our education? The revised fee must be stopped till the government initiates dialogue and listen to our demands. Hope we get the justice soon for which we are fighting peacefully.

Raj Kumar, a JNU student who hails from Siwan in BIhar, speaks about why he is protesting the recent fee hike announced by the university administration.

I come from Siwan district in Bihar, and am currently pursuing my graduation in German from the School of Language Studies in JNU. I was part of the protest march taken out by the students on November 18 against the fee hike which made news headlines. I will tell you why I went out on street in protest.

My father earns about ₹8,000-₹9, 000 per month from a small shop he owns in Siwan to take care of a family of six, including my education expenses. I am the first graduate in my whole extended family and JNU is my only hope of fulfilling my dreams of quality higher education. Now even that dream is being snatched away!

A section of the media has shown that the hostel fee has been increased from ₹10 to ₹300 “only”. So why are students bothered about a mere ₹300 if they want quality education? These mediapersons probably don’t know about other hikes. Our one-time mess security deposit (though it is refundable) has been increased from ₹5,500 to ₹12,000. Our service fees or maintenance fees has been increased to ₹1,700 per month. Plus the water and electricity bill will cost us ₹300-₹500 per month. The mess service charge has been increased from ₹2,500 to ₹3,000. In fact we have received a circular saying that contract-based employees will be hired now for the mess, instead of government employees, and therefore the charges might go up further.

Such price increases might not bother rich people or Metropolitan-bred but for people who comes from economically weak backgrounds, each rupee matters.

And the VC wants us to go back to our studies because exams are near, but how can we concentrate on our studies if our fees worry us. How can we prepare for our exams when we don’t even know if we will be able to complete our semesters after the fees hike? Not everybody’s parents can bear such increase in costs.

That is why I stepped out to protest. On November 18, there was pure mayhem on the streets. Article 144 was imposed outside JNU campus to stop students from protesting. Article 144 on students, isn’t that too much? We are talking about students from the age of 18- 28.

Students were treated like criminals. The police was doing lathicharge on us without any mercy. We tried to find an alternative route after Article 144 was imposed around the campus, but the police was there at every few hundred metres and given orders to beat up or round up the students. One of my friends, who is a counsellor at the School of Social Studies, has been badly hurt and another visually challenged friend was hit on his chest with a boot and sustained many other injuries.

Just imagine how helpless he must have felt. He has been admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. There were about a 1,000 of us running on the roads. Many of the girl students with us started crying because they were really scared for their and their friends’ safety.

Who will take up the cause for us if we don’t take up the cause ourselves? Sometimes we the students of JNU feel as if all this is part of a planned move to snuff the life out of the brilliant academic discourse available on JNU campus. No matter what course you are doing, I feel no other college or university opens up your mind like JNU does. There is interaction among all sections of society as well as with students and teachers from foreign countries as well. If I am doing my course in German, I am not only learning the language; our teacher takes us through its literature, its rise to fascism as well as its current contribution to world culture.

I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I definitely know that as long as I can, I will keep protesting against the fees hike. Even though there have been reports of the MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development) setting up a high-power committee to look into the matter urgently, so far the students haven’t been approached and the VC definitely doesn’t seem to understand the students’ view of things.

Mandavi Yadav, 28, a freelance writer, finds the government’s decision to enforce the National Registry of Citizens a haphazard and insensitive exercise

I live in Chandigarh, an affluent cosmopolitan that has welcomed people from all parts of the world. We called Chandigarh home in 2003 after living in several cities, owing to my father’s Air Force job. My family has had to live like nomads for several years, before finally settling in Chandigarh. So I can understand how people feel when they have to leave their homes and move to a completely different city. It made me feel like a babe in the woods.  

The NRC exercise has taken it to a different level altogether. People who have been living in India for years stand to lose their homes — their country. 

It’s the government’s job to stop illegal immigrants at the borders, why does such a huge population have to suffer in order to weed out illegal immigrants? I feel the government has taken the longer route here. 

The defence services are truly secular. I was never taught to differentiate on the basis of caste, creed or religion. However, after I started working (I have worked in Delhi and Mumbai), I found that it was mostly the less-educated migrants from smaller towns, who discriminated on the basis of caste and religion. This behaviour was perhaps stemming from a deep-rooted insecurity about not being educated enough or economically sound. 

The truly educated lot (and not just literate) in big cities doesn’t discriminate. It is ironic how people who themselves have migrated to big cities want to flush out other immigrants. It is this section of society that supports exercises like NRC. Everyone is a foreigner the moment they leave their homes. Everyone is a minority somewhere. Why then can’t we all have each other’s backs? 

Also, I feel that the implementation of NRC is quite haphazard and insensitive. Misinformation is rife and many people are scared, especially Muslims. Even the UPA government used to take care of the country’s security but not in such a manner. I feel they understand the nuances of the human mind better and thus would start off by creating awareness campaigns, holding camps to disseminate information, inspiring/attracting people subtly to be a part of the exercise. BJP, however, I feel doesn’t understand the nuances of the human mind and everything including national security is black and white for them. 

India was once known as a country that sent no refugee away. I understand that many anti -social elements used this to spread terror, but I also feel that we should help those who are being persecuted in their homelands. We were spiritual leaders at a time, but slowly (as is visible in the NRC exercise)  many people don’t want to do the hard work on themselves to become big but rather get happy only when they make others feel small. Hinduism allows absolute freedom to find God /faith and I think people who are scared of Hindus being in danger haven’t known the beauty of Hinduism completely.

I use social media to make people aware of and sensitive about socio-political issues. However, I see many people still put more emphasis on how a product (or ideas in this government’s case) is marketed rather than the contents of the product itself. Most people don’t know that if RSS was considered a fringe organization, so was Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). I wish people would educate themselves, before taking sides on any issue, especially on sensitive issues like NRC. Secularism is not a dirty word. It just means striking the right and creating an equal world.

Danial Faraz, 24, a lecturer, in Moradabad, is confident that Indian social fabric will survive a divisive policy like NRC

I have been following news about NRC (National Register of Citizens) quite keenly and in great detail. After all, one cannot afford to be caught unawares on such an important topic. Plus, when you are well-informed, you know your rights better. 

The introduction of the NRC is like a spark in a forest — a slow fire that ultimately can burn down the huge forest. When Amit Shah talked about the Citizen Amendment Bill, which aims at providing citizenship to those Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came to India before December 31, 2014, fleeing religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, he mentioned how immigrants of several religious communities to India would be granted exemption. However, he didn’t mention providing exemption to Muslims. If the Home Minister of a country himself treats a portion of the population as pariah, what hope do people have? Where do people go when they have lost hope with the authorities? 

However, even though our constitutional rights are being eroded as we speak, I still have faith in the social fabric of India. In a population of 130 crore there are many hearts which are sensitive to the plight of others. India’s social fabric has survived many setbacks and it will survive this bout of hatred too.

We shifted to Moradabad a few years ago, but we own a piece of land in a place called Thakurdwara. The land deed dates back to 1890 from a place called Thakurdwara. When I told my grandmother about NRC, she got scared: What if the land is taken away from us?  

She was just seven, at the time of partition. Her family like many other Muslims, chose to live in India than going to Pakistan. India has always been their home, why would they leave it? And now after almost 75 years, we are being asked to prove our love for India. 

Post-partition, things had not normalised in India. Refugees were busy trying to make a living, struggling to find the basic necessities. They did not have enough food to eat, leave alone the money and the time to go fill documents. I wonder how people will prove their citizenship post 1951 (which is the cut-off date). 

I am a well-read, well-spoken Muslim so I am not worried about myself. But I do feel very concerned about the numerous powerless people, especially the poor, the women who live alone and the old who live without their kids. They do not have anyone to run from pillar to post trying to prove their citizenship. 

Many such people come to me every day for help and it is a tough task trying to pacify them, asking them to keep faith in God. After all it is because of the faith they practice, that they are targeted. 

I tried to contest municipal elections last year and lost by only 3 votes in a Hindu- majority area (2, 000 Muslim families in comparison to 24,000 families), so there must be something right here, polarisation cannot find a strong foothold here (Peetal Nagri- Moradabad).

However, even though polarisation isn’t strong here, I can’t say it is totally absent. I faced a little difficulty when I lost my father and had to get a death certificate from the authorities because I had chosen to contest elections. Still, overall we have faith that whenever NRC is implemented here, educated Hindus and Muslims will stand by each other. 

In Assam many Hindus too, lost their lives trying to prove their citizenship at ‘detention centres’. The words ‘detention centre’ send a chill down my spine. They seem to be a grim reminder of the holocaust. And didn’t the world leaders swear not to let the holocaust repeat again? Muslims and Hindus need to understand that the fight is not between Hindus and Muslims, but between the powerful and the powerless. And the power dynamics can change anytime. So before worrying about NRC, people should start investing in spreading love and understanding. All communities need to communicate more with each other if we want peace to prevail.

Muslims and Hindus need to understand that the fight is not between Hindus and Muslims, but between the powerful and the powerless. And the power dynamics can change anytime. So before worrying about NRC, people should start investing in spreading love and understanding. All communities need to communicate more with each other if we want peace to prevail.

Banani Mukherjee Das, 32, a public relations professional based in Kolkata feels that the National Register of Citizens is discriminatory and an anti-thesis of ancient Hindu principle Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. She dreads NRC’s impact on West Bengal — a state where a large chunk of the population comprises of refugees from Bangladesh. 

I have lived in different parts of the country. All these years, I learned one thing — people are the same everywhere. In no way can there be any discrimination. However, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) introduced in Assam in the name of ‘nation building’ is highly discriminatory. The NRC looks like a policy required for strengthening the nation, but it is ultimately having the exact opposite effect. 

NRC has created a lot of confusion among people. I have heard stories of people going back to their flooded houses, risking their lives, just so they could secure their documents of citizenship. There are stories of some people from the same family being added into the NRC, while others from the same family couldn’t make it to the list. And to implement such policies in one go is not effective at all. 

Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the NRC will also be implemented in West Bengal along with many other states, which I feel will be a total failure. 

The Centre should figure out a way to weed out genuinely illegal (read anti-social elements who want to disturb national integrity and peace) rather than drafting policies which harass good-intentioned, law abiding people. 

I’m happy that Mamata Banerjee has talked about a resolution. How can the government just uproot people, who have dedicated their lives towards society and nation-building in various capacities? My family and I have forever thought of ourselves to be Indians. India is the idea of love, rather than just land. 

Our family traces down our last known ancestry to Dhaka in Bangladesh. My grandfather’s grandfather had lived there. However, soon after Partition in 1947, riots started breaking out and the seeds of mistrust between people were sown. So like many other families, members of our extended family too started moving to safer places that felt like home — in our case, West Bengal. 

My father was just a year old when he arrived with his family to India in the 1960s. He grew up here and built a life. My mother, on the other hand, was born and brought up in West Bengal. Thankfully my family is safe because my father shifted before 1971, which was the year of creation of Bangladesh. But what about the others? 

Does the government think that refugees — people who are fleeing for their lives would be thinking about getting their documents first, before entering India? Or should they be bothered about their survival? For refugees fleeing Bangladesh in 1971, it was so difficult to settle emotionally in a new place, but they got ample love and support from the people of West Bengal. 

Till a few years ago it was a known fact that India opens its doors to people in need, including Sikhs from Afghanistan. In old times India gave space to the Parsis and Bene Israeli Jews and many others. 

India gave the world the mantra of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is a family).  Then why break up the family? Shouldn’t we be supporting each other? Any national policy should be made on the basis of how it would improve people’s lives. 

People from West Bengal and Bangladesh share the same cuisine, the same taste in music (Baul geet and Lalon Geeti etc.), and even national heroes who are revered equally in both the countries. I feel West Bengal in particular and India in general believe too deeply in the idea of love to let divisive politics affect them. 

Perhaps it is time for our ministers to read Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh, which talks about the inherent fragility of borders.

Sheikh Mohammad Riyaz, 27 an automobile engineer from Chennai, expresses his concerns on NRC

National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a contentious issue. Those Muslims, or anyone for that matter, who are worried about NRC must keep themselves well-informed and keep all the relevant documents ready. If people keep themselves well-informed, the panic will not get much ground to spread. Many people try to get information at the eleventh hour, which sometimes becomes a futile exercise. People should be well-prepared to avoid last-minute hassles and confusion. 

My family and I are concerned but no longer worried about being able to provide documents required for NRC, were that to take place in our state too. The previous governments have made us well aware of having the importance of right documents. Also as an engineer I understand the importance of organizing data. 

It might come as a surprise, but I supported Modi during the 2014 elections. In fact, I even took the online membership of BJP. The party was able to sell Gujarat’s development story well. However, now I don’t support BJP, because of the pain I feel every time I hear of a lynching incident. BJP is all about divisive politics.

Policies like NRC are not at all inclusive. They are not being implemented in consultation with the people who will be affected by it the most. There should have been awareness campaigns about NRC. It should have been implemented in a phased manner. People’s fears should have been alleviated. It is shameful how things are being carried out. 

If NRC is implemented in the South of India, I feel communities will help each other out, as people here are more trusting as compared to north India.  Also, literacy levels, self-regulation, and discipline amongst both citizens and authorities etc. is much better in the south. My mother and another relative teach students from economically weaker sections at government schools. Almost all students have their documents in place. 

People are more wary of NRC in northern India. I feel the region is more communally charged up. I, myself, have felt unsafe in some of the smaller towns there. The light of education needs to reach every part of the country if we want to live in peace. Education teaches us to walk in other people’s shoes by sharing the stories of others with us.

I try my level best to contribute towards strengthening the social fabric by sometimes teaching kids on weekends as well as talking to others about social issues and sharing my stories to let people know we are all the same in the end. I hope that makes a difference!

I was 25 years old when I joined the force (Delhi Police). It was a proud moment for my family from a small village in Rewari, Haryana. In the last two decades, I have worked in various arms of Delhi Police and I can tell you without hesitation that to work as a traffic policeman in Delhi is one of the worst jobs in the world. Many people opt for traffic posting for easy money. This is partly true also but I ask you which government department carries out its duties honestly! Corruption is in India’s genes, sir ji.

Working on the road in a city which is the world’s most polluted cities (current data does not support this argument but Delhi has been among the world’s top polluted metropolitan cities). I can tolerate the heat of May-June in Delhi but the pollution in the winter is a slow poison that we breathe ten hours daily.

If I go to a medical laboratory to get my lungs checked, you will not find blood in it, you will find only black tar. Take a look at my facial skin, I look ten years older than my age today. Even when we use face masks and follow advisories to battle the smog, the effect of a day’s work in the open is telling. There are black strains when we cough the sputum, our eyes water and our faces wear a dark film of soot. And this when I have served in Traffic Police for only nine years.  Think of those who have served here longer.

There are many issues that I face other than smog and foul air. At times in the night, I hear loud horns. I have often woken up with flashlights blinding my eyes. I don’t know how long I can survive in such working conditions. Our colleagues often joke that none of us will be able to enjoy our retirement benefits. If we will not be run over by a speeding vehicle, we shall die of choked lungs. This light joke has a dark truth behind it.

If you take your medical issues to your seniors, they give a sympathetic hearing but do little. Governments keep bringing new rules, from CNG for commercial vehicles to Odd-Even traffic for passengers. I am not sure these are a permanent solution to air pollution. The newspapers are full of ill effects of air pollution in the city. TV channels routinely scream about the poison in the air, but our policymakers do not have to work outdoors. Modi ji se kaho ek poora din Dilli ke sadak par khade rah kar dikhao, sab samajh me aa jayega (Ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stay on Delhi roads for one full workday; he will then realise the gravity of the situation.)

(The name of the policeman was changed on request)