Thursday, July 24, 2008

The JNU scholar accused of brutally killing a dog in his hostel rocsm may have to pay for it with his doctorate


The JNU scholar accused of brutally killing a dog in his hostel rocsm may have to pay for it with his doctorate

Jawaharlal Nehru University is know for debates, political and intellectual. Once again, it’s in the middle of
another, and this one promises to be the most controversial. At the centre of it are a dog, a student from the Northeast and a doctoral thesis.
The dog was killed, allegedly by Yoronsu, who has been pursuing his PhD at the Centre of Political Science for the past seven years. Being debated is his punishment criminal action, suspension from the university or disqualification of his doctoral thesis.
The debate has spread to the virtual world with supporters of both Yoronsu and animal lovers trying to make their point.
On one hand, at great risk is the career of this student if authorities choose to show him the
door. On the other is the ire of animal lovers, who have been feeding stray dogs on the campus for long. Even though the student from the Northeast says he killed the dog in self-defence, others simply refuse to accept his reasoning.

It all began on the night of July 7. Yoronsu was in his Kaveri Hostel room. With him were two friends, who had reportedly not been signed in by him. Suadenly, the silence of the night was shattered by the sounds of a yelping dog. When other hostliers and security guards rushed to Yôronsu’s room, they found it bolted from inside with blood oozing from under the door.

The horrified student called in the police thinking that someone had been murdered. Later, it turned out that the dog had been killed.
Yoronsuu claims that he struck the dog in self defence as it had attacked him. However, it seems strange that someone would bolt the door with a strange dog inside and then claim that it attakéd them.

Now this dog is one of the many that campus bleeding heart Shubhalakshmi feeds regularly. Protests by her and other dog lovers on campus ensured that Yoronsu was fined Rs 2,000, asked to leave the hostel and a proctoral enquiry has been ordered into the incident. There are six different complaints with the police with students giving first hand accounts of what they saw that night.

This incident comes as the latest in several where campus dogs have gone missing. Accordi ig to Shubhalakshmi, the dogs are being specifically targeted, maybe for food. “The dog was called Kali. I had been feeding her for the past five years. I could not bear to listen to the entire brutal story What Yoronsu did was unpardonable. As far as Tam concerned, it Is as If be has killed a human being. There have been incidents In the past where sóme of my dogs went missing. I eat chicken but i don’t catch a hen and cut it myself. There is a proper way. You can’t kill a dog,” she said.

She and other students are demanding that Yoronsu’s doctoral thesis be cancelled. He is to submit it on Monday after seven long years of hard work, while there is a strong dog lobby. there is also an equally vocal group of supporters for Yoronsu. Though no decision has. been taken on the fate of Yoronsu’s thesis, the Proctor has refused to give him clearance.

This incident is not the first of its kind at JNU. Dogs have always been a cause of controversy here. “Two years ago, the hostel President Raja Narayan wanted to make the hostel a dog free zone and it was in his manifesto a well. He had also killed a dog,” said Akhil Alha, President, Kaverl Hostel. He had apparently thrown the dog from the balcony.

“It may happen in their community but they should respect the sentiments of others. We just want the police to register an FIR so that action is taken against these students,” said Sonya Ghosh of Citizens for the Welfare and Protection of Animals.
“If the value of the animal killed is above Rsl0, then the person can be imprisoned for two years but if the value is more than Rs50, the imprisonment can be for five years. In this case, the value is definitely more than 50 because the dog was sterilised and vaccinated,” said Ghosh.


Eva Mendes strips for Calvin Klein`s new underwear line


Washington, Jul 23 : Eva Mendes will soon be making men’s hearts skip a beat, as she’s getting set to pose for a new Calvin Klein underwear campaign. The gorgeous actress will show off her perfect body wearing nothing but Klein’s classy lingerie in the label’s new Seductive Comfort line show.

The new bras will be available in stores later this year (08).Recently, the 30-year-old Mendes lavished praise for the media for not ‘trashing’ her rehab stint.

Mendes had entered Utah’s Cirque Lodge centre in February this year.

As for the reason why she entered rehab, it has been said that she had to ‘proactively’ attend to ’some personal issues’.

Army Act conducive to rights violation


Guwahati, Jul 24 : The need to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was underlined by Dialogue Form, a civil society group that has closely monitored its implementation in Manipur and rest of the North East. The crux of their argument, voiced in a press conference today: the Act has resulted in serious human rights abuse, and it has been unable to check insurgency in the five decades since it was first introduced.

According to Dialogue Forum, the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) has observed that “AFSPA continues to sanction absolute impunity for serious human rights violations against the predominant indigenous population of Manipur and other Northeast states.”It further suggested that this law be replaced by a more humane one in accordance with the recommendations of the 2005 Jeevan Reddy Committee. It was pointed out that the Jeevan Reddy Committee’s report that has not yet been made public by India states that the AFSPA has become a “symbol of oppression…and an instrument of discrimination and high handedness.”

Similar conclusions were drawn by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, chaired by Congress leader Veerappa Moily, which suggested the repeal of the Act.

India till now has shown no interest in removing the law. Defence Minister AK Anthony rejected the Second Administrative Reforms Commission reasoning that there was a need for the Act to be in use.

U Nobokishore of Dialogue Forum asserted that India’s refusal to do away with the Act is tantamount to rejecting not only UNCERD’s recommendation but ignoring long-standing concerns of other UN Human Rights bodies. “The United Nations Commission on Human Rights also believes that AFSPA has essentially created an undeclared state of emergency spanning almost 50 years,” he added.

Interacting with the media, Nobokishore said that as a civil society group, Dialogue Forum condemned human rights abuses by both state and non-state actors, and demanded the AFSPA be repealed at the earliest as it had resulted in large number of atrocities on non-combatants including women and children.

He felt there was a need to motivate the MPs of the Northeast about the Act, and its consequences so that they could play a role towards its removal. As of now, the State Governments of the region were, however, playing a disappointing role.

Dialogue Forum was also advocating a 15-point programme that could be relied on in a post-AFSPA scenario. That agenda included demobilisation of forces, disarmament, and better functioning of civil society along with a clear-cut role for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Naga MP ruffles feathers


Imphal, Jul 24 : Manipur bristled with anger today after its Naga MP’s admission in Lok Sabha yesterday that he had agreed to vote for the UPA only because he was assured that the clause in the common minimum programme, which promised not to compromise the territorial integrity of Manipur, would be re-examined.

Mani Charenamei, MP from Outer Manipur constituency, drew the ire of leading groups and political parties in the state today which vowed to oppose any move by the Centre to divide the state to please the NSCN (I-M).Charenamei is known for his open support to the demand for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas under one administrative unit, one of the main demands of the NSCN (I-M).

The CPI, a partner in the Congress-led Secular Progressive Front ministry headed by Okram Ibobi Singh, was the first to react strongly to the claim made by the MP.

A senior CPI leader from the state, B. Sharma, termed the MP’s statement very unfortunate and added that his party would not tolerate it.

“The UPA’s common minimum programme was framed by the then constituent partners of the UPA and the integrity provision was made in the larger interest of the country and the Northeast. The Left parties will fight inside and outside Parliament if the UPA tries to violate or change the common minimum programme,” Sharma said.

He said the CPI would seek a clarification from the Congress’s central leadership on the MP’s claim through the Manipur PCC.

Finding itself in the middle of a fresh storm over the boundary issue, the PCC is adopting a wait-and-watch policy. The party’s general secretary, Bidyapati Senjam, said the PCC was not aware of any change of stand by the AICC on safeguarding boundaries of the northeastern states. “The MP has only made a statement. It would be too early for the PCC to react. Let the UPA be reconstituted after the departure of the Left parties.”

The All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation, campaigning for safeguarding territorial integrity of Manipur, condemned the reported assurance given by the UPA to the MP. “We will not remain silent if the UPA makes any step to change boundaries of Manipur in its effort to stay in power,” Y. Koireng, its president, said.

The United Committee, Manipur slammed Charenamei for working “against the interest” of the Manipuri people.