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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | From crusaders to fugitives by Santosh K Kiro

From crusaders to fugitives by Santosh K Kiro

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published Published on Mar 14, 2011   modified Modified on Mar 14, 2011
Niyamat was brave. But Bhukhan wants to live.

The brutal killing of MGNREGS crusader and Jean Drèze aide Niyamat Ansari has triggered an exodus from his native village of Jerua in Latehar’s Manika block. And alarmed co-worker Bhukhan Singh, whose house was also targeted on that fateful March 2 night, is leading this unnerved group.

In fact, the horror isn’t just limited to Jerua, rural job scheme activists in several neighbouring villages have either gone into hiding or are scouting for a safe haven to escape the barbarian wrath of Maoists and unscrupulous contractors.

Initially, the Latehar administration had shifted Bhukhan, his wife Munni Devi and their two children to a safe house in the district. However, the crusader — who along with Niyamat had once ripped the veil off several anomalies in the job scheme and faced rebel ire in the form of posters or even ostracism — apparently didn’t feel secure enough.

So, two days ago, he and his family were brought to the state capital. They are housed at an undisclosed location. Bhukhan’s sons Mandeep and Sandeep who study in Classes VI and VIII in Manika are likely to miss their annual examinations, slated to begin soon, but that certainly is of little concern when death is chasing life.

“He (Bhukhan) had been kept in Latehar, but was not feeling very safe. Hence, we requested the administration to send him to a more secure place,” said a co-worker.

District officials refused to divulge details on activists who they believe are on the hit list of Maoists. “Disclosing their whereabouts will mean increasing the risk they are facing,” one of them told The Telegraph.

Mahavir Paraiya, a native of Rankikala in Manika who had helped the two activists expose corrupt contractors, is also a fugitive today. Not many know where Mahavir and his family members are right now. And those who do prefer to remain tight-lipped.

While Bhukhan and Mahavir have left their respective Maoist-ensnared villages, other MGNREGS activists have stopped venturing out into vulnerable pockets like earlier. They prefer to remain confined to their office at the Manika block headquarters.

The MGNREGS Sahayta Kendra in Manika, set up by the voluntary Gram Swaraj Abhiyan to ensure proper implementation of different right-to-food schemes such as PDS, ICDS, Antyodaya Yojana, et al, and supported by MGNREGS architect Drèze, was mainly manned by five crusaders — James Herenj, Panchati Singh and Shyama Singh, besides Niyamat and Bhukhan.

The day after Niyamat was battered to death and the Maoists barged into Bhukhan’s house, James and Panchati have not left the block headquarters even for once. Fear and suspicion are their sole companions. Bhukhan is still in a state of shock. “My friends have forbidden me to talk about myself and my family members to anyone,” he told The Telegraph from his safe house.

The intrepid pair of Niyamat-Bhukhan was at the root of exposing irregularities in MGNREGS implementation in different villages of Manika. Their successes understandably antagonised unscrupulous contractors and Maoists, and led to the killing of Niyamat.

“Corruption in right-to-food schemes, especially in MGNREGS , is increasing by the day. Our activists, who take up cudgels for poor beneficiaries, do so without security. There should at least be compensation provision for MGNREGS activists who die on duty,” said Jawahar, an activist and executive member of Jharkhand State NREGA Watch, a forum of NGOs.

His demand is not unfounded. As many as six persons, either working as activists to stem corruption or as labourers in the rural job scheme, have paid with their lives in various districts of Jharkhand, including Latehar, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Bokaro and Palamau.

The Telegraph, 14 March, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110314/jsp/frontpage/story_13710983.jsp


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