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VOL. 11 NO. 3 JANUARY 2014 www.civilsocietyonline.com .com/civilsocietyonline `50 broom as lightning rod AAAAAAPPP AAAnnnddd bbbeeeyyyooonnnddd ‘Laws aLone mewat’s feisty radio mobiLe Vaani taLks can’t stop Page 9 Pages 26-27 juggLing hiV numbers rise of cLean poLitics harassment’ Pages 10-11 Pages 29-30 Indira Jaising on the Justice Ganguly case and more a peopLe’s manifesto the other goa Pages 6-7 Pages 12-13 Pages 33-34 CONTENTs READ U S. WE READ YO U. the new politics s a magazine we have been keenly interested in efforts to clean up politics and improve governance. Our first issue, in september A2003, was on RTI and it had the then unknown Arvind Kejriwal on the cover. Our second issue, in October 2003, was about sheila Dikshit and how she was using RWAs to reach out to the middle class. Our third cover story, in November 2003, was titled ‘NGOs in Politics’ – it was about activists trying to influence politics and impact election outcomes. When we recall those issues, now 10 years old, we coVer story can’t help patting ourselves on the back. We had caught a trend much before anyone else had. The civil society aap and beyond space had begun taking shape in India and it was clear that important beginnings were being made in trans - The Aam Aadmi Party’s spectacular performance in Delhi heralds forming politics. Aruna Roy, Medha Patkar and a whole changing trends in Indian politics. Is this a movement or a party? lot of others were not only speaking for the weak and Is it a quick fix or a long-term solution? 20 powerless, but also trying to change the agendas of political parties. cover photograph: lakshman anand Then there were those who had already taken the plunge. We remember Madhusudhan Mistry, who had Flood victims bitter over relief . 6-8 then just joined the Congress in Gujarat, telling us in an interview that, after years of fighting for forest workers’ rights, he had realised it made better sense to be in Tribals say no to tourism . 15 active politics. There was also Jayaprakash Narayan of the Lok satta party in Andhra Pradesh, who stressed to MAD inspires a cleaner city . 16-17 us the need for better people in politics. The Aam Aadmi Party has emerged out of these trends over the years. The stunning success it has had in Lighting up India . 28 the Delhi Assembly elections can be attributed to the timing of its launch being just right. But AAP’s success is also because of a combination of factors that have Milestones in the water sec . t. .o . .r . 30-31 been maturing at their own speed. Rising aspirations have resulted from the RTI, cellphones, the Internet and economic reform. Dipankar Gupta, professor of sociol - The rapist’s wife . 32 ogy, tells us that the breakdown of the village economy has had a significant role to play. AAP’s victory will compel all political parties to wake up and read the Pollachi has a green resort . 34-35 writing on the wall. Jayaprakash Narayan predicts that established political parties will change as they set out to discover the new voter and leader. There is talk of revisiting the Constitution and making democracy more Kolkata’s unreal world . 37 participatory – though the use of neighbourhood sabhas and sMs polls will most likely be junked as being impractical. These straws in the wind give us some idea of current concerns. It is a new Arty terracotta & garden toys . 38 mood but it is focused on the present. It will become seriously transforma - tional when the leaders brave enough to pitch for India’s tomorrow arrive on the scene. Contact Civil Society at: [email protected] The magazine does not undertake to respond to unsolicited contributions sent to the editor for publication. Publisher Layout & Design First Floor, Panchsheel Vihar, Malviya Umesh Anand Virender Chauhan Nagar, New Delhi -110017. Advisory Board Get your copy of Civil Society from Printed at Samrat Offset Pvt. Ltd., Editor Cartoonist anupam mishra B-88, Okhla Phase II, New Delhi - 110020. Delhi: Bahri Sons, Central Market, Galleria Market, Rita Anand Samita Rathor aruna roy News Agency, stalls at Green Qutab Plaza, Sector 14 Postal Registration No. News Network nasser munjee Park market, South Extn Part Market, Sector 17 Market, Write to Civil Society at: DL(S)-01/3255/2012-14. II, Aurobindo Market, R. K. Sector 54, Sector 44. Shree Padre, arun maira D-26 Basement, South Registered to post without pre-payment Puram, Vasant Vihar, Vasant Jehangir Rashid, Kolkata: Oxford Bookstore, Extension Part 2, U(SE)-10/2013-14 at New Delhi PSO darshan shankar Kunj, J.N.U., S.D.A. Market, Classic Books. Rakesh Agarwal, New Delhi -110049. Saket, Kalkajee, C. R. Park, Registered with the Registrar of harivansh Bengaluru: Variety on Susheela Nair, Ph: 011-46033825, New Friends Colony, Lajpat Newspapers of India under jug suraiya St Mark’s Road. Shayak Majumder 9811787772 Nagar, Defence Colony, Hauz RNI No.: DELENG/2003/11607 shankar ghose Khas, Moti Bagh, Sector 62 Lucknow: Ram Advani Noida. Bookseller at Hazratganj. Photography Printed and published by Total no of pages: 40 upendra kaul Lakshman Anand Umesh Anand from A 53 D, www.civilsocietyonline.com Gurgaon: DLF Phase 1 Chandigarh: The Browser. VOICEs IN THE LIGHT by sAMITA RATHOR The rise of regional cinema is a grow - kobad ghandy tree saviour ing trend. People want to see films I am an old friend of Kobad Ghandy. about their own society. so I hope the Rakesh Agrawal’s article, ‘Muturkhan’s letters I teach at Nagpur University and I tree soldiers,’ confirms the truth that Kashmiri film festival travels to have been active in the human rights women are the real soldiers who pro - srinagar and that movie halls are ren - movement. I really appreciate the tect biodiversity and forests, a lesson ovated. Movies are successful when efforts of the Doon school batch that Gaura Devi of the famous Chipko people relate to their themes. mates. I hope that Kobad gets some Andolan in Uttarakhand taught us. Shiv Pandit rights as a political prisoner. J a m u n a Tuddu is the unbroken link in Shoma Sen the same chain. dmic Suresh Thapaliyal Your interview with Amitabh Kant on tobacco risks It is very unfortunate that the women the smart cities project and the Delhi- Lakshman Anand’s interview, saviours of the forest in Muturkham Mumbai Industrial Corridor provided ‘Tobacco tears you apart’ cites very handed all the poachers to the forest the reader with a lot of information. It compelling reasons for the govern - department. That will mean business is true that we need more cities. The ment to step up its mass media cam - as usual! only issue I have with new cities is that paigns and warn tobacco users in India D.K. Oza they lack that ephemeral quality of the health risks and the enormous called ‘character.’ But I guess with time personal and financial costs to be paid. every city will develop its own special We just cannot afford a further drain correction identity. Architects could create some on the health system from totally There were two errors in the story, heritage sites, like an ancient looking avoidable diseases caused by tobacco. ‘Vapi hellhole gets worse for migrants.’ water tank or an iconic bustling Tahir Turk l It was wrongly stated that s.R. bazaar, or an old clock tower. Gaundar worked in a power company. kashmir films Shama Varma Gaundar worked in a cement roofing Your cover story, ‘Films from the home remedy sheets manufacturing company. Valley,’ highlighted a positive trend. Vapi workers With reference to your story, l Out of 51, and not 26 workers, at the Kashmiri Muslims are now talking to Tanushree Gangopadhyay’s excellent ‘Charming screw tree,’ I would like to Gandhinagar thermal power plant, Kashmiri Pandits who were so cruelly article, ‘Vapi’s Victims’ makes it clear know if home medicine made from eight suffered from asbestosis, eight forced to leave their homeland. that this so-called development has this tree has any side effects? I gave it to had hearing loss and one was afflicted I hope that the Kashmiri film festival is put many lives at risk. People do not my baby of about two months, two with pneumoconiosis. screened in srinagar. It will help pro - know the other side of development. weeks ago since she had bad colic pain. The errors are regretted. mote better understanding between No one listens to the poor labourers, However, her stool still is very green the two communities. at least not the government. even two weeks after I stopped using it. L e t ters should be sent to Ashish Raina Sagar Johanan [email protected] CIVIL SOCIETY, JANUARY 2014 5 NEWs Flood victims bitter over ‘Laws alone can’t stop sexual harassment’ interView relief, rehab Indira Jaising Rakesh Agrawal Civil Society News Dehradun New Delhi EARLY seven months after the floods in s the law on sexual harassment in the work - Uttarakhand, villagers in the hilly regions con - place in India effective? Is it easier today for Ntinue to suffer. Roads haven’t been mended, Iwomen to get justice? Recent instances have homes are still piles of rubble and jobs have vanished. shown how challenging and even messy it can be The state government has not been able to provide for women who decide to complain even though speedy relief and rehabilitation and angry villagers the law is now tougher and less ambiguous.