Jharkhand Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Lokmarg

Devotees Throng Ghats To Celebrate Chhath Puja Across Country

By LokMarg 30th October 2022

After a hiatus of two years due to COVID-19, thousands of devotees on Sunday flocked to ghats and makeshift ponds across the country to seek the blessings of the Sun God as part of Chhath Puja.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and Varanasi, a large number of women clad in sarees were seen standing knee-deep in water at ghats, worshipping the Sun God.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended Chhath Pooja celebrations at Gomti Ghat in Lucknow.

While in the national capital, a massive number of devotees thronged to ITO Ghat to offer prayers, and devotees took a holy dip in the water as part of the Chhath Puja at a pond in Vinod Nagar.

A huge crowd of devotees also gathered at the national capital’s Kalindi Kunj ghat to offer prayers on Chhath Puja.

The festive fervor gripped the ‘land of forest’ Jharkhand too, as devotees offered prayers at Hatania Talab in Ranchi.

Meanwhile, in Bihar, women were seen standing in the water, wearing long ‘sindoor’ with orange color on their faces, and offering fruits and sweets to the Sun God at JP Setu Ghat in Patna.

A huge crowd of devotees gathered to offer prayers at Juhu in Mumbai to mark Chhath Puja.

In West Bengal, devotees offered prayers to the setting sun at Takra Ghat in Kolkata. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered prayers on the occasion of Chhath Puja at Kolkata’s Dahi Ghat.

The Chhath Puja is celebrated on the sixth day of the Kartik month of the Hindu calendar, which also happens to be the fourth day after Diwali.

Hyderabad also witnessed a large number of devotees celebrating the Chhath Puja at Tank Bund.

As per the Hindu tradition, devotees, especially in Bihar, Jharkhand, and UP, worship the Sun God to express gratitude and seek blessings.

Women devotees keep an arduous 36-hour-long fast ‘Nirjala Vrat’, and sing devotional and folk songs. ‘Arghya’ is offered to the Sun God while standing in knee-deep water at ghats or makeshift ponds. (ANI)

Delhi LG: Chhath Puja Only At Designated Ghats

By LokMarg 26th October 2022

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Wednesday approved Chhath Puja at designated ghats on the Yamuna and asked chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to ensure clean ghats and water for devotees.

The LG also cautioned Arvind Kejriwal against “misleading and pre-mature publicity.”
The Lieutenant Governor’s directives came in a reply to Kejriwal’s tweet in which he said that Puja could be held anywhere on the Yamuna.

The LG said the Chief Minister’s statement was creating confusion among people.

“The proposal to hold Chhath Puja approved by the LG was specific to designated Ghats – Kejriwal tweeted as if Puja could be held anywhere on the Yamuna, creating confusion amongst people,” the LG’s secretariat office said.

LG Saxena also directed the Revenue and Environment departments to ensure strict enforcement of the National Green Tribunal’s orders with regard to pollution in Yamuna.

On October 21 Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot told ANI that “Keeping in view the religious and spiritual beliefs and sentiments of lakhs of people from UP and Bihar living in Delhi, CM Kejriwal has approved my proposal to allow the celebration of Chatth Puja at different Ghats along the Yamuna River.”

He further said that the government is geared to provide facilities to the devotees at around 1,100 Ghats.

“Delhi Government has always facilitated the occasion by providing various facilities in the form of construction of Ghats, ensuring cleanliness around the places where offerings are to be made by the devotees, etc. This year too, the administration is all geared up to provide the facilities to the devotees at around 1,100 Ghats,” the minister had said.

During the Chhath festival that will be celebrated between October 28-31 this year, people worship the Sun God.

Chhath Puja is one of the most auspicious festivals in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. The four-day-long festival starts with the ‘Nahai Khai’ ritual and ends with ‘Usha Arghya’ (prayers to the rising sun).

The festival is dedicated to Surya Bhagwaan (Sun God), which people believe sustains life on Earth. (ANI)

Girl Set Ablaze In Dumka For Spurning Marriage Proposal

By LokMarg 7th October 2022

The Jharkhand Police on Friday arrested a person for setting ablaze a girl after she refused to marry him.

The girl has been referred to a Ranchi hospital.
According to the police, the accused, Rajesh Raut, was known to the 19-year-old girl and was already married.

“So far, it has been revealed that the girl was attacked while she was asleep by a man known to her. She has been referred to Ranchi. The accused is already married and wanted to marry the victim. The parents (of the girl) were not ready for the marriage,” said Shivinder, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jarmundi.

DSP Shivender also said that the accused was seen running from the crime spot after committing the offense on Thursday night.

Reacting to the incident, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Pratul Shadeo on Friday took a strong jibe and said there is a “total collapse of law and order machinery in Jharkhand”.

He connected the case with that of a class 12 girl, Ankita, who was also burnt alive while sleeping for turning down a proposal in Dumka.

Ankita was set ablaze on August 23 and succumbed to her injuries on August 28 during her treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS).

The BJP leader said, “Fear of law has totally gone away from the miscreants and the people with the dubious mind. It is yet another incident when another daughter has been burnt alive just because she refused the marriage. Where is the fear of the law?

He said that the incident is “very very shocking”.

“We believe that the government is totally indulged in corruption and the law and order is not its priority in a state where within 34 months, more than 5,000 rape cases have taken place and there is only 1 percent which has been convicted,” he said adding that these things are going to happen.

“The girl has 90 percent burns over her body and should be immediately airlifted and the Chief Minister should come heavily on the District officials.

He further alleged that the government is not focussing on law and order in the state.

Shadeo further added that the accused was also threatening the girl saying “I will burn you alive like Ankita”.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Vijay Hansda while assuring a thorough investigation into the matter said that there are some incidents and people who are of “criminal tendency” and the police administration will leave no stone unturned in the matter.

“In previous incidents as well, the way the administration has worked effectively at the places wherever such incidents are taking place,” JMM MP Hansda said.

He further condemned the incident by stating that there is a need for social consciousness against people with “such ideologies so that they step back.”

“If a wrong incident takes place, it should be strongly condemned. However, I don’t want to go to petty politics by bringing out the stats,” he said.

Meanwhile, JMM MLA Sudivya Kumar said that he has “just been” informed about the incident and will provide every possible assistance to the victim.

Congress’ spokesperson Rakesh Sinha on Friday also reacted on the matter and said that incident is completely condemnable and such incidents require the culprit to be punished by both the law and society and they should be boycotted with their families so that an environment of concern and fear in people’s mind develops.

“It is thought-provoking where the society is heading as they are setting ablaze people over every next issue. Such culprits should be hanged and society should also come forward to punish them,” Rakesh Sinha said.

Talking politically, Sinha further said, “It is a matter of fun if BJP comments over the law and order situation of another party.”

‘Instead of politicizing such incidents, I believe even the BJP should think how to combat such incidents of heinous crimes,” he said. (ANI)

Went Delhi To Buy Underwear: CM Soren’s Brother

By LokMarg 8th September 2022

Basant Soren, the brother of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has given an awkward statement over his absence from the state during the recent political crisis.

On being asked about his visit to Delhi at a time of political crisis in Jharkhand, the JMM MLA said, “I had run out of undergarments, so I went to Delhi to purchase them. I get them from there. The political crisis is a normal thing and it keeps happening.”

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and the MLA from Dumka also visited the families of the two victims from Dumka.

He also met the families of the two minor victims from Dumka. Firstly, he met the deceased’s family, who was set ablaze by an accused named Shahrukh after being poured petrol on her. Both Shahrukh and his accomplice have been arrested by the police.

Soren gave condolence to the family and assured the deceased’s sister of a job and asked for her resume.

He also met the family of the rape victim from Dumka, where a 14-year-old tribal girl was raped, killed and hanged from a tree. The accused named Arman Ansari has been arrested and the case has been registered against him under POCSO.

He gave a cheque of nine lakhs to the deceased’s family and also ensured the admission of the deceased’s sister.

He said that the government will soon hold a meeting on the rise of such incidents in the Dumka district.

“The government has taken note of such incidents in the district and will soon hold a meeting with Superintendent of Police (SP), District Collector (DC) and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG),”

He also attacked the BJP over the visit of BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Manoj Tiwari along with Jharkhand leaders Babulal Marandi and Nishikant Dubey.

“They are extremely low-standard people and do dirty politics. BJP just searches for incidents, that it can politicize. They came with a chopper, politicized the issue and then went back with a chopper,” said Basant Soren attacking the BJP.

On being asked about the accusations of shielding the Sub-divisional police officer Noor Mustafa Ansari, over his alleged role in the Dumka rape case, the JMM MLA said that “No, the government hasn’t shielded anyone. The SDPO is a government servant and not a relative of the government. If there are certain accusations on him, then a proper investigation will be done and if anything is found, proper action will be taken.”

Soren also said that the party welcomes Nitish Kumar for uniting the opposition.

“We welcome Nitish Kumar for the role of uniting the opposition. The ultimate decision will be taken by our party high-command,” he said. (ANI)

#Toxic Air IX – ‘Fresh Air Is Luxury For Me’

By LokMarg 2nd December 2018

It is not possible in big cities, where the vehicles never stop running, where the air is laden with dust and pollutants. But the life and the air of big cities has now seeped into small-town India. Since I have grown up in a village, breathing fresh air, I can feel the difference in the air more acutely, more pronouncedly, unlike big city people. Air pollution has started scarring everyone’s lives.

A craftsman like me, who has to work extensively with wood is probably impacted more. I work at a furniture shop as a carpenter and have been in this profession for nearly two decades now. Twenty years ago, I did not pay much attention to my health — there was not much to worry about except the large amount of sawdust that went into my system.

Every day I single-handedly cut several pieces of wood –from small furniture to big wooden doors. Besides dealing with the sawdust, I have to put up with the nauseating smell of chemicals; and the ear-splitting sounds of machines. Now, apart from these work hazards, I have to worry about the growing levels of pollutants in the air.

There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. After these stressful work hours, I want to breathe clean, fresh air –but that has become a distant dream. Pollution from growing number of vehicles, toxic fumes from garbage dumps and the hazards at work, have probably shortened my life. My colleagues and I suffer from burning eyes, sensitive skin, and increased sensitivity to sound and smell after work-hours. Cough is also a constant companion, especially during the winters.

Since I work with wood, I understand how precious our trees are. I also take care to dispose off the sawdust and other waste from our shop properly. I try to make sure that I put every piece of wood to good use, so that nothing goes waste. I try and initiate conversations around green living if I see a sensitive customer.

And I try to keep it short, succinct and light. For every tree that is cut, a tree should be planted. I have to earn a living, but that doesn’t mean I can’t care about the environment in my own little way. The need of the hour is to live in harmony with nature — and I know for sure that we are running out of time.

#Toxic Air II – ‘A Storehouse Of Pollutants’

By LokMarg 21st November 2018

So in a way, my body is a storehouse of pollutants and infections. We smell, breathe and handle toxic waste, and other dangerous things, day in and day out. Other people just cover their faces, squirm and move away from smelly dumps but how would we survive if we did the same? My work area in Jharkhand is home to a famous Shiv temple, which means there are a lot of people coming into the town both in hordes. During the holy month of shravan, the number runs into lakhs.

Though there is a huge green cover, yet with each passing day, our town is getting more polluted. The waste management in the city is appalling. The concept of separating the waste does not exist. The easiest way to get rid of the waste for our municipal workers is incineration. And this means spread of toxic fumes in the air of this divine place. We the rag pickers face the worst. We could have earned some money from sorting out non-biodegradable material if everything wasn’t burnt.

But our job is to earn a living out of the waste. So even after it is burnt we have to scavenge through it, looking for leftover ‘treasures’. Two years ago, I had got the job a daily-wage sweeper but it didn’t last long. I had to return to rag picking. As I am ageing, the impact has begun to tell. My eyes start burning every time I go near a garbage dump.

My skin gets remain excessively dry because of the dust and pollution; sometimes it cracks and bleeds too. When that happens, I pray to find discarded bottles of lotions with some leftover. To make things worse, men here often urinate and throw soiled diapers etc on garbage dumps. Do they not know that someone is going to sort that garbage out with their hands? For many people, we are non-existent and invisible.

At the end of the day, if I have survived without an infection, I thank God. But I worry about my children. They can easily catch infections from us. Living in poverty means malnourishment, which makes us and our children even more vulnerable to diseases. Pollution is not just a work hazard, I can feel its presence everywhere. At home, we use traditional chulhas for cooking, which produce more smoke. With a large family to feed, we are surrounded by smoke at home almost all the time.

Coughing and wheezing are a year-long phenomenon. I do not have access to a robust healthcare system. So illness is something that we have to live until my body gives away. My husband is a daily wage laborer and lays bricks at construction sites. Our incomes therefore, are meagre. On a very good day, I am able to earn around `300. And all of our savings go into our children’s education.

We can’t afford to spend it on our healthcare. My children are the only ray of hope for me. But look at the world we are leaving behind for them. My children and their teachers have told me about pollution, and how incineration of garbage can warm up the planet leading to horrible things. People like us, marginal farmers and poor fisherman, will be most-affected by it, I have learnt.

I wish I could tell the netas and officers that we rag pickers can tell them a thing or two about waste management. Every city or town can be identified by the waste it produces and we rag pickers know the city or the town’s garbage like the back of our hands. We have the local expertise. But getting involved in policymaking is a distant dream for me. All I expect from the world is a bit of respect and regard for the work I do.

#Toxic Air I – ‘Dust, Pollution Part Of Life’

By LokMarg 19th November 2018

paan-gutkha shops here in Deoghar (Jharkhand) on my way home in the evening.

My friends and I laugh wryly every time I see privileged people on television talking about how badly their countrymen are affected by air pollution. They sound like a joke. Do people sitting in those shining studios ever spare a thought about people like us? I am a construction worker and I too am forced to make peace with toxic air, even though my exposure to air pollution is much more prolonged than any of the experts or politicians sitting and making idle talk in television studios.

My day starts early in the morning as I start walking on dusty kaccha roads waiting for a ride to come by. If I am lucky, I get to hang on the sides of buses or sawari autos. On rare occasions, I am able to get a seat. But then the co-passengers cringe with disgust. Who would want a dirt-laden labourer sitting next to him/her? People talk about air pollution in Delhi and other big cities, but the truth is that it’s a national problem.

The air in villages and small towns is equally bad. Smog is probably not visible here but the amount of construction happening in this town is insane. A new building is being constructed after every 50 metres or so. Every time a lorry unloads bajri (red sand) or reta (sand), it is impossible to breath. My job is to lift soil, bricks, sand and small stones used for construction, for nearly eight to nine hours. I first have to dig the soil, or sieve the sand or arrange the bricks before I can start carrying the load.

In short, I am in close contact with dust particles throughout the day. My load can go up to as much as 40 kilograms at a time. Add to it, the pollutants from industries, coal plants, vehicles and stubble burning. And I have more breathing issues than the grandparents in family! Sometimes I have a lot of difficulty in breathing and it becomes worse during winters.

Breathing isn’t the only issue. Take a look at my hands. The skin has got dry and flaky; sand and other dust particles clog my skin pores and make my skin burn. My hands were not like this when I started to work at sites. My friends, who work as labourers in Delhi, sometimes get masks to cover their faces while working. They told me that being the capital city, many NGOs actively conduct regular health check-ups of construction workers, and distribute masks.

Sadly that is not the case in small towns. Here if you fall ill, you have to ignore it and keep working. Labourers, who work for hotel projects are slightly better off. At least they take care of the working conditions of the labourers. But things are bad, where I work. They use huge machinery. We are surrounded by big vehicles such as JCB machines, tube-well boring machines, and road rollers that keep plying at the construction site– the dust never settles.

I understand this is part and parcel of the vocation I have chosen for myself, but if the construction pace was a little slower, perhaps we could get a little space, where we could take little breaks to sit and relax. We do not even have masks to shield us from the pollution, my red gamcha is the only protection I have. To add to our woes, we mostly live in the poverty-ridden localities, where water shortage is often a problem. As a result we do not even get to clean ourselves properly after having been exposed dust and other pollutants.

Indiscriminate dumping of garbage is also a problem in our locality. We live in a haven for infections and the pollution makes us more prone to them. Cold, cough, running noses, burning eyes and headaches have become a part of my life. The situation is worse for female construction workers and older labourers. We earn around Rs 300-400 per day and we cannot afford to spend money on medication. We just pick ourselves up and march on. *(This is a fictitious name. The construction worker was just not interested in identifying himself despite frequent requests. All he wanted was his sufferings be known to others)

#SheToo – ‘Construction Workers Harassed Verbally'

By LokMarg Publishing 26th October 2018

My husband, 32, moved to Delhi for better wages, but I work in Deoghar, which is near our native place. Although it is easy to find work – you only need to reach early at the town square and wait to be selected by contractors – the eight-hour work schedule can be back breaking. But we need the extra income if we want our two children to get good education.

There are separate wages for a ‘mistri’ (skilled) and ‘beldar’ (unskilled) labour. Women, always unskilled, are paid lesser than men, but we have no grouse there. This is a conventional division. Santhal (read tribal) women get picked first as they are stronger. Women who accompany their husbands are picked next. Single women are the last to be hired, sometimes at a price lower than the ruling daily wage.

ALSO IN #SheToo SERIES: Silent Victims Of Harassment

‘Saab Raped Me When Madam Was Out Of Town’

‘Clients Often Treat Spa Therapists As Prostitutes’

Putting Up With Nosy Parkers And Peeping Toms

People Consider A Young Widow Easy Meat

‘My Employer Spiked My Drink And Raped Me’

‘Beauty Salon Is Not A Pickup Point’

Our ordeal begins after that. The contractors and their sidekicks keep mouthing insults at women workers for slowing down the pace of work. Their choicest abuse is: ‘Tera mahina chal raha hai kya’ (Are you having your period)? This is followed by chuckles and snide remarks from all around. At times, you feel like throwing the mortar at their faces, but then you will get blacklisted and never get work.

Three years ago when my second child was very small, I would bring him to the site and breastfeed him during work. Many an eye would follow me while I took him for feeding. Each time the child cried, it will draw remarks, either lewd or insulting. Rarely would someone intervene and scold the lechers. I have myself never encountered a sexual proposition but yes, these are common at our kind of work.

Tribal women, for instance, are considered easy game by these wolves. It also depends on the contractor. Many of them have a reputation. Usually at the end of the workday when wages are distributed, they target their victims who are coerced by them. Everyone knows it but nobody speaks about it. The golden rule is to keep to yourself, ignore catcalls and physical overtures like squeezing your hand.

I also never tell people that my husband is away in Delhi. The toughest days at work are when I have my period. We do not have access to expensive sanitary napkins; we wash and reuse old clothes. But the eight-hour work plus nearly two hours of travel time can be very stressful. Even when you get some time to change or clean, there are no places where one can do it.

Almost always, we have no access to a washroom. Because of heavy construction activity, there is no empty space to relieve ourselves. There are so many people, vehicles and raw materials lying around which can make changing our soiled clothes, let alone relieving ourselves, a nightmare. The situation is worse when you are working near marketplaces or at a renovation project.

Public washrooms are meant only for men; women have to find corners and squat sometimes in full public view. The men ogle while women passersby turn up their noses at us in disgust. Nobody asks us how we feel. I suppose farm labourers have a better life. Even though they get three-fourths of our wages, they get food twice.

The wives of farm owners are very considerate and give them access to their washrooms on tough days. But farm work is difficult to get and is seasonal. Besides, the farms are shrinking by the day; even big farmers say the yield is no longer worth the labour. It is my children and husband, who calls up daily, who keep me going.

My husband trusts me, he has no issues that I work with other men. He is a kind soul, unlike many of the drunken husbands in the village who beat their wives. He has promised to shift us soon to Delhi, where my children can get English education. I have met some NGO women who come to visit our village and teach us about menstrual hygiene and personal healthcare. I want my daughter to also take up such a role when she grows up and fight for the rights of female construction workers.