[Attachment(s) from CGNet included below]
From: BK Manish <
mannub...@gmail.com>
Dear friends,
Sincerely tried to buy peace with establishment, since I believe this
is not the right time for political posturing but to "do some real &
effective work" in Dantewada. Sadly i did not get any support, so now
i'm forced to go public with my plight.
Aastha issue is just one example...but a good example to be used in
fight against corruption. Roping in women, orphans, students, youth
and tribals in this fight. Shall keep you posted.
Pl. find below and in attachment a brief on the happenings of last Saturday.
Lets hope i can stay the course.
thanks & regards.
yours sincerely,
B K Manish
Creative Director- PAUSE, Mumbai
(People's Awareness & Utility Software Enterprise)
Regd. Off: E-2, Bharat Nagar, Block-108, Ist floor, Grant road, Mumbai-7.
Tel: 98700 13779.
Article 370 in Dantewada?
On Saturaday, August 14th, educationist BK Manish sat on agitation
with 30 tribal students as per his notice, in front of south Bastar
Dantewada district collector’s office demanding proper nutrition &
hygiene at Aastha Gurukul, the boarding school run by Tribal Welfare
Department for children orphaned in naxal violence. Police picked him
up within 2 hours, detained him for almost 7 hours and after several
rounds of grilling and psychological torcher, packed him off in an
evening bus to state capital Raipur, with his bag and baggage. No
charges were pressed formally, instead threat of dire consequences was
used to keep him away from so called conflict zone. On Friday itself,
the local police had snatched away his shelter advising his local
benefactors to distance themselves. His first host Ram Narendra was
threatened to be put behind the bars by the SSP Dantewada in his
presence. Once in Raipur, BK Manish contacted several officials,
including DGP Vishwa Ranjan but all he got was advice to stay away
from Dantewada if he wishes himself well.
This constitutes a breach of the constitutional freedom that every
Indian citizen has, of visiting and working in any part of India. A
virtual article 370-like situation exists in southern Bastar today,
that too when BJP is in power whose core agenda has been opposition to
article 370 granting special status to J&K thus giving a free hand to
the nexus of local politicians, bureaucracy and armed forces for
oppression and corruption.
FAQs on Aastha Gurukul agitation
Q- what is Aastha agitation all about?
A- Educationist BK Manish had been demanding proper nutrition and
hygienic living conditions at Aastha Gurukul, the boarding school run
by Tribal Welfare Department for children orphaned in naxal violence.
When demands were not attended to, he sat on an agitation on
Saturaday, August 14th, with 30 tribal students as per his notice, in
front of south Bastar Dantewada district collector’s office. He was
picked up, threatened and finally banished from the district by the
police.
Q- what are the demands of the agitation?
A- Besides a special demand to the Chief Minister, of posting of an
Inspector General (Anti Corruption Bureau) in and at South Bastar
Dantewada, following demands were placed before district
administration-
1. All the employees according to the sanctioned strength should
immediately report to work at Aastha Gurukul. Half of grade-IV
employees should be women and of Bastar origin.
2. Allowance should be increased from existing rupees 550 per student
to 750 immediately, taking into account the inflation since the rate
was fixed, years ago.
3. 80 senior students should be shifted immediately to other hostels.
Failing which, 100 bunk beds should be brought in so every kid gets
her own sleeping space.
4. PWD should immediately commence construction of sheds and other
structures inside Aastha Gurukul campus necessary for dignified
living.
5. All fixtures & facilities should be present & functioning that are
already sanctioned on paper.
6. A local voluntary organization should be entrusted monitoring of
compliance with nutrition & hygiene standards.
Q- why this confrontational approach?
A- The mismanagement was brought to the notice of Aastha
superintendant, as also to both the departing and incoming Assistant
commissioners of Tribal Welfare Department. BK Manish had mentioned
his communication to the collector in person and later his oral
complaints were conveyed to the incumbent AC by steno to collector &
NIC in-charge. Collector was not coming to office for two weeks
preceding agitation so an SMS was sent to her. Several attempted calls
yielded no results. Then, an agitation notice of one week was served
on 7th August.
Q- what was the response of TWD to the notice?
A- On 13th August, AC called for a briefing and informed about the official decision to start immediate construction of 3 new sheds
within campus and probable acquiring of two rooms of the adjacent
Officer’s Club to place more cots. It was also informed that most
other demands have been forwarded to higher offices.
Unofficially, the district administration started a maligning campaign
in which he was touted as “Himanshu Kumar’s agent”, an exiled social
worker who is very unpopular in Dantewada town. The day before
agitation, police pressurized Vyapari Sangh to withdraw permission to
stay in the library building. This resulted in a media blackout of the
whole event.
Q- why wasn’t this response acceptable?
A- This response is yet another example of the wishy-washy attitude of
administration. First, these new sheds will take 2-3 months to come
and they don’t offer any immediate relief. Administration did not pay
heed to simpler demands of bringing in bunk beds and filling in of the
caretaker quota.
Q- Isn’t Aastha Gurukul a showpiece institution of the state government?
A- Yes. And that’s the irony. Despite regular visits by dignitaries,
surprising facts like subsistence allowance of Rs. 450 per child per
month, 3 children sleeping in an average bed, 4 beds cramped in a
room, peons serving at IAS officer’ bungalow while dozens of under-5
children left unattended, never came to light.
Q- what is the locus standi of BK Manish in respect to Aastha Gurukul?
A- In his spare time, Mr. Manish took evening classes at Aastha
Gurukul. Being an orphan himself, he has had a special bond with these
kids. He’s also the only visitor who ever tasted the food twice. When
his attention was brought to the pathetic living condition, he took up
the matter with authorities. His personal experiences of scarcity in
his growing years makes him demand dignified living (hygienic
surrounding & proper nutrition) for these unfortunate kids. He abhors
the patronizing attitude of the administration which thinks they’re
doing some favour to this kids keeping them in crammed in a boarding
school and throwing breadcrumbs at them while minting money which
actually belongs to these ‘owners of Bastar’.
Q- Why was police so harsh with Mr. Manish?
A- As far as Aastha is concerned, unnecessarily. Police has no role in
administration of Aastha Gurukul. Nor has Mr. Manish ever written or
spoken against police earlier. Threats of encounter, arrest under CG
public safety act and harm to his friends & family were completely
unwarranted.
Their real grouse is a letter Mr. Manish wrote to the President of
India seeking an appointment primarily to seek her blessings for
“Pustak Pravaah” chain of small libraries and to apprise her of the
peculiar development situation in Dantewada.
Police is of the opinion (as expressed by senior officers) that South
Bastar should be left to police till administrative control is gained
back. Till this time there’s no space for social audit or civil
resistance.
Q- What was objectionable in Mr. Manish’ letter to the President of India?
A- Two inferences of Mr. Manish in the letter earned him displeasure
of Police. One, he wrote scholars, researchers and activists find it
very difficult to visit Dantewada now in absence of their cordial host
VCA. This is a fact, corroborated by departure of not just
left-leaning intellectuals but also neutral agencies like Unicef and
Wateraid. This line was thought to be praising Himanshu Kumar and thus
Mr. Manish was linked to the unpopular figure.
Two, he wrote that Union home secretary developed cold feet and cut
short his visit in early july, dropping Dantewada part of his
itinerary. This letter was sent back to the district administration by
Rashtrapati Bhavan secretariat to verify the credentials of Mr.
Manish.
Q- Why does Mr. Manish call himself an orphan when he has a living mother?
A- More than two thirds of inmates at Aastha Gurukul have one parent
alive, mostly mother. By the same yardstick Mr. Manish is an orphan.
He’s not on very friendly terms with his family and didn’t even attend
marriages of his siblings. His marriage and divorce proceedings were
never attended by family either.
Q- what is the background of BK Manish?
A- He was born to a family of teachers in Chirmiri town of Koriya
district in CG, in 1979, and studied till B.Sc there itself. His
father passed away in 1988 and his mother got the job as a primary
school teacher. In 1999 he left for Mumbai and after initial struggle,
created a space for himself as script writer. Besides writing shows
like CID, Aahat, Hum Ladkiyan and, working in production houses like
Balaji Telefilms and Cinevistaas; he also served as Creative Director
in Indonesia and Malaysia. Following some personal setbacks, he left
Mumbai for good in February 2010 and came back to his home state.
Briefly, he worked as honorary consultant to reputed voluntary
organizations like SHRC & RAHA and taking classes at Kushabhau Thakre
University of MMass communication and Journalism, before landing in
Dantewada in April 2010.
Q- why is Mr. Manish interested in Dantewada only?
A- He has worked at other places like Pathalgaon and Raipur as well.
He first visited Dantewada in 2008 and has paid couple of visits in
between. It was only this summer that an idea cropped up of doing a
summer camp, and later a chain of libraries, and he shifted base to
Dantewada. He has so often said that corruption is historically the
biggest problem of Bastar and needs immediate attention, without which
defeating naxalism is close to impossible because it acts like a
nutrient to disruptive forces.
Q- what is the source of Mr. Manish’ income?
A- First of all, Manish has a spartan lifestyle when in field. He
doesn’t own any immovable property or a vehicle. As a writer of
considerable experience, he regularly gets paid fees, for writing,
teaching, direction, consultancy et al. Social work is not his
profession. He is not a member of any NGO, merely offers honorary
help.
Q- why connect Aastha Gurukul with corruption issue?
A- Aastha Gurukul is an issue in itself and deserves attention. But it
also serves as the finest example of how does the corruption affect
people. Corruption is an abstract thing and finding a metaphor for
this is imperative to mobilize people (urban & rural alike) in order
to attempt controlling this evil. For last two years, Mr. Manish is
working on a book called “corruption countdown” which offers effective
solutions for the common people of the country to join the fight
against corruption in their own small ways.
Q- why work in an area where you don’t have popular support?
A- Almost all major personalities of Dantewada town have been
appreciative of the vision and courage of Mr. Manish. Even on the
issue of Aastha Gurukul reforms and fighting corruption in Bastar, he
has widespread silent support. Dantewada being a police state,
everyone fears for his/her safety so they have not come forward. Yet
tribal students have been very enthusiastic and despite crackdown by
the administration, willing to take the struggle to its logical
conclusion.
