Beggars death in Bangalore-
The death of over 28 inmates at the Beggar’s Rehabilitation Center (popularly known as Beggar’s Colony) in Bangalore and the subsequent drama that unfolded over the past two months has brought into focus the rotten state of affairs in the Karnataka state’s social welfare department. The inmates of the center were living in conditions to what amounted to a concentration camp in extremely miserable and filthy conditions. It was a well known “Secret”, but no media or political parties ever bothered about the plight of the inmates. With already over 287 deaths at the center since January, it was only a disaster waiting to happen.
Bangalore is known across the world as an IT city, a city of technology as well as of affluence. What is unfortunate is that the affluence of the city has not been shared with all. In the deaths and inhuman treatment of the Beggars, one sees the other face of Bangalore. While the poor are being hounded all over the country, with an anti-beggary law, the Karnataka state has imprisoned the poor behind bars. Instead of addressing deep-rooted issues of inequity, illiteracy, unemployment, a skewed distribution of resources and poverty, the government and its strong arm, the police, have been picking the poor and the innocent citizens and admitting them into the beggary home. It is difficult to imagine the justification the state could offer in forcibly admitting into the Beggars’ Colony people who are not beggars. read more
Kashmiris are out in streets, bringing the Valley to a complete shutdown for more than a month. Despite a curfew and military crackdown, the current political revolt is rapidly developing into a mass movement, resurrecting the memories of Kashmir in the late 80s and early 90s and giving a new dimension to this indomitable struggle for freedom (Azadi).
