The Nation Newspaper

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  • India: How Fear & Money Silenced A Murdered Journalist’s Family 

    In June 2015, journalist Jagendra Singh was set on fire by a minister’s henchmen in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh in India.

    A week later, he died of his injuries.

    The case never went to trial and none of the accused were punished.

    Jagendra had been reporting on the corruption of several powerful ministers, including former minister Rammurti Singh Varma.

    At the height of the protests following his death, Jagendra’s family met with then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and received a monetary compensation of Rs 3 million (US$41,690) from the state government of Uttar Pradesh.

    Their key demand, though – a CBI inquiry into his death – was not met by the state. 

    Barely six months later, the family mounted a sudden U-turn. Jagendra’s younger son, Rahul Singh, withdrew the petition that he had sent to the Supreme Court the night before it was heard, effectively ending any cases made on their behalf.

    “He had been sending me messages that he was under immense pressure, that he was going into hiding, but I did not expect that he would suddenly withdraw at the last moment. The judge was predictably annoyed and we were left red-faced in court,” said Mudit Mathur, senior journalist with Tehelka, who impleaded himself in a similar petition before the court. 

    Mathur attempted to continue the second case in the Supreme Court in which he had impleaded himself. But with the family withdrawing the petition, that case too was dead, since Mathur had no locus standi.

    For the first time, the facts of the case come tumbling out.

    In Khutar, Rahul is pensive as he reminisces about that time. 

    The family, especially his mother, faced significant pressure from relatives, neighbours, friends and even some officials to move on from whatever had happened.

    “They started to target mummy that whatever has happened has happened and to make a compromise. Mummy got scared that this is a small family and something might happen to her children. Due to pressure from mummy, we agreed to a compromise,” he said.

    When they met Minister Rammurti Varma, the man claimed that he was framed.

    Rahul said: “I told him in that case why don’t you let the enquiry take place? If you are innocent, then you will go free. But he said no, whatever has happened with your father has happened and I do not want your lives to be ruined. I will take responsibility for you. I will ensure that your sister is married well. As long as I am alive I will take good care of you.”

    The minister then promised to be in their debt if the family forgave him.

    When asked why Rammurti would still need to ask for forgiveness if he was innocent, Rahul laughed.

    “Only he can answer this. I told him a number of times that at least the others who were involved should be caught – the ones who attacked my father, the ones who filed a false case against him. He said he would ensure a probe takes place and that he is innocent,” he said. 

    However, Rahul maintained that the minister was guilty “in one way or another” because the police would not have gone to his father’s house if a false case had not been made.

    Before his death, Jagendra had a fake attempt to murder complaint registered against him.

    This would enable the police to arrest him and silence his reports on Rammurti’s corruption.

    Ironically, a year after Jagendra’s death, the police acknowledged that the case filed against him was indeed false. 

    Instead of explaining why a false complaint had been lodged against Jagendra Singh, the minister asked the family to withdraw the First Information Report (FIR), that would have allowed the police to commence the investigation of the journalist’s death.

    His brother and uncle signed some papers given to them by the minister and they left with Rs 3 million.

     

    UNEASY CONSCIENCES

    While the Singh family, on the surface, appears to have made their peace with the decision to make the compromise, all is not well. 

    Regret and unease is evident. Both brothers are married and the elder one is a father now. 

    The money from the state has been used to build a larger home and buy a small car.

    But the stain of guilt, of having betrayed a courageous father, is yet to be washed off. 

    “Sometimes I feel like we should have fought the whole fight to the end,” said Rahul Singh. “But at other times I feel whatever happened was a good thing. Because initially there were thousands of people standing with us, then slowly it became 500, then that became 150 and then 100. So in this fashion people left, they sold out, those who were with me too sold out. Those who were asking me to fight turned around and asked me to compromise with the Minister. Then finally the five to six people who were left standing beside me were putting pressure on me to compromise so I thought, what can one do when surrounded by traitors. Anything can happen to us. So when I think of that I feel what I did is right.” 

    Brother Rajan also feels pricked by his conscience. “Yes I do feel bad,” he said when asked about the compromise. “My Papa was a brave man and we let him down.” 

    Mother Suman Singh tells herself to be practical, for her children’s sake. 

    “The man of the house is no more, what can one do?” She asked. “I did not see any other option and I was very afraid for my children,” she said. 

    Sumer Singh, Jagendra’s father who passed away in January, told the collaboration in 2018 about the multiple threats issued to the family. “Even now I can’t sleep the entire night, with the fear, someone will come to take away or kill my family members. I told them, go sleep inside, let them kill me instead. They threatened us a lot, far too much. Even I was shaken,” he began to sob. 

    “They are kids, what all they had to undergo,” he said. “We were left with little choice. I was scared for the lives of both my grandsons. By then all our relatives and family members pushed us toward making a compromise and we were left with little choice. I want the killers of my son to get punishment. That is important,” he said. 

    Jagendra’s sister’s husband Ajay Singh, who had fixed the meeting with the Minister, said that he was convinced there was no foul play in Jagendra’s death. 

    “The neighbours told us that the police never went inside his house,” Ajay said. “For whatever reasons or pressure, he (Jagendra) had set himself ablaze. From what information I got I felt there was no external hand in this, that it was a result of Jagendra’s anger.” 

    Ajay though admits that he organised a meeting with the Minister and was present at the “compromise” – although he repeatedly denied any money deal. 

    “No there was no talk of any money with the Minister,” he said. “But yes, I made a request to the Minister – these are very young children, you have to take care of them, you have to help them set their economic situation right and become stable,” he added. 

    His wife, Jagendra’s sister Lovely though is not as convinced as he is that the Minister is entirely innocent.

    “The compromise was done under duress,” she said. “Now my brother is gone, we need our nephews and niece – what if they too get killed? That was my fear,” she said.

     

    A FATHER’S DAUGHTER

    “She is not like us,” said Suman, waving in the direction of 23-year-old Diksha Singh, who sat silently in the house, preoccupied with her thoughts. “She is like her father. She wants to fight. She wants justice for him.” 

    Diksha is shy but ask her a question about her father and the angst comes tumbling out in a flood.

    “I was not aware of the compromise,” said Diksha. “Nobody told me or asked me about it.” 

    Diksha is speaking of the first meeting in Bareilly when Rahul Singh, Rajan Singh and their uncle met with Minister Varma to chalk out the details of the compromise. 

    “When I heard about it, I was furious. I did not talk to anyone for a few weeks. I just cried,” she said. 

    The family consoled the young girl, 19 years old at the time, explaining to her that many relatives had even scared her mother saying that anything could happen to her only daughter when she went out alone. 

    Fear festered and eventually pulled an unwilling Diksha into the tight distraught circle. 

    “I went to the meeting at the Shahjahanpur residence of the Minister,” said Diksha. “He kept telling me he did not do it but I did not believe him.” 

    At this second meeting, the entire family, except for Diksha, signed an affidavit stating that Jagendra Singh had indeed committed suicide. 

    Upon their return to Khutar, their uncle placed a bag near his sister in law Suman and turned to Rahul and Rajan. 

    “He said this is for your younger sister, for her wedding,” recollected Rahul. “He said we will conduct her wedding in a grand manner and any further help also the Minister will do.” 

    Rs 3 million in cash had arrived in Khutar. 

    Diksha is vehement in her distaste over the whole deal. “I don’t want it (the money),” she said. “I wish that not a single penny of that amount should be used for my marriage.”

    Diksha still has nightmares. “I dream someone is following me, catching me and leading me to a fire. I also feel as if I am seeing ghosts and every time I only see they all are trying to cause me harm, trying to kill me. And every time it is Papa who comes to save me. Every time someone is trying to cause me harm in the dream, he is the one to save me and only says one thing – So what if there was nobody to save me, I will always be there to save Rachna,” she says as she blinks back tears. 

    Another recurring nightmare is based on reality. “Another dream I have often – When I had gone there (hospital), Papa had asked me to give him some water. He said aloud – Rachna give me water. So I went to get him water and over there and I met his doctor. 

    He dissuaded me from giving him water. He said, his burn injuries are such, water acts like poison, so don’t feed him water. Do you want to kill your own father? I said, of course not, why are you talking like this? If say you say no, I will not give him.

    Then I did not give him any water. He kept asking for water. My only regret is, he asked so often for water, in his last breath and I refused to give him, because the doctors said so. This will always remain etched in my mind.

    He kept asking me, saying he is extremely thirsty because he said it was burning from inside. He kept saying please give me little, just a little water. And I did not give him any water, with the wish that he will get better soon and my giving water should not deteriorate his condition. 

    Because once he gets better soon, he can return home and have as much water as he wants.”

     

    UNCERTAIN FUTURE

    It was only after at least two personal interactions that the Singhs opened up enough to reveal another fact. 

    That the Minister they loathed was still in touch with them and continued to help them. 

    In late March, Rahul Singh fell off his motorbike and fractured his arm. His elder brother Rajan rushed him to the doctor who was not available. 

    “My brother called the Minister and asked him for help in organising a doctor,” admitted Rahul. “I did not know about this until we went in to meet the doctor. The doctor asked – oh so you are the ones sent by Mantriji (Minister). I asked him later if he had called the Minister for help. He said that he did,” said Rahul. 

    Rajan is a little unsure as to whether to discuss this aspect of their strange relationship with the Minister. “There was a friend who had cancer and needed admission in SGPGI (hospital) so the Minister helped with that,” he said. 

    On being pressed as to whether he had asked for help for any member of his family, he said – “Yeah, sometimes we ask. He helps us.”

    “He talks to me sometimes, asks about work and asks how we are,” said Rajan. He currently lives in his father’s Shahjahanpur house and works nights as a security guard. 

    Rahul, who was working in a private telecom firm, resigned in January after Jagendra’s father Sumer Singh passed away due to a heart attack. He now lives in Khutar with his wife, mother, Diksha and Rajan’s family.

    With the grandfather’s pension of Rs 18,000 no longer coming in, both brothers are desperate for the once-promised government jobs. 

     

    This story by Sandhya Ravishankar was originally published by The Lede on June 21.

     

    BEHIND THE STORY

    Published on June 21, The Lede journalist Sandhya Ravishankar wrote a four-part series that uncovered the true reason why none of Jagendra Singh’s attackers were ever brought to justice. In the first part, The Lede recounted the background that led to Jagendra Singh’s death in June 2015. The second part revealed why his family chose to stay silent. As part of a collaboration in the Green Blood Project, 60 publications across the world featured the story, which took the story from a small town in India’s most populous state and highlighted the dangerous conditions that journalists work under in India.

     

    ORIGINAL URL

    https://www.thelede.co.in/the-green-blood-project/2019/06/20/the-death-of-jagendra-singh-the-compromise

     

  • India: Why women in Beed district don’t have wombs

    “You will hardly find women with wombs in these villages. These are villages of womb-less women,” says Manda Ugale, with gloom in her eyes.

    Sitting in her tiny house in the Hajipur village within the drought-affected Beed district of Maharashtra’s Marath-wada region, she struggles to talk about the painful topic. 

    Women in Vanjarwadi say that it is the “norm” in villages to remove their uterus after having two or three children. 50 per cent have already had hysterectomies.

    The majority of these women are cane cutters who migrate to the sugar belt of western Maharashtra during the cane cutting season. With the drought intensifying, the number of migrants multiplies. 

    “The mukadam (contractor) is keen to have women without wombs in his group of cane cutters,” says Satyabhama, another cane-cutter. 

    Hundreds of thousands of men and women from the region migrate to work as cane cutters between October and March. 

    Contractors draw up contracts with the husband and wife counted as one unit. Cane cutting is a rigorous process and if the husband or wife takes a break for a day, the couple has to pay a fine of 500 Rupees (US$6.99) per day to the contractor for every break. 

    ‘Periods hinder work’ 

    Menstrual periods hinder work and attract fines. Thus, the answer, in Beed, is to go in for a hysterectomy so the women no longer have them. 

    “After a hysterectomy, there is no chance of menstrual periods. So, there is no question of taking a break during cane cutting. We cannot afford to lose even a rupee,” says Satya Bhama. 

    Contractors say that during menstrual periods, women want a break for a day or two and work is halted. 

    “We have a target to complete in a limited time frame and hence we don’t want women who would have periods during cane cutting,” said Dada Patil, a contractor. 

    Patil insists that he and other contractors don’t force the women to have a surgery; rather, it is a choice made by their families. 

    Interestingly, the women said that the contractors give them an advance for a surgery and that the money is recovered from their wages. 

    Achyut Borgaonkar of Tathapi, an organisation that has conducted a study on this issue, said: “In the cane cutter community, menstrual periods are considered a problem and they think surgery is the only option to get rid of it. But this has a serious impact on the health of the women as they develop a hormonal imbalance, mental health issues, gain weight etc. We observed that even young girls at the age of 25 have undergone this surgery.” 

    Bandu Ugale, Satyabhama’s husband and a cane cutter himself, explains the logic behind the practice. 

    “A couple gets about 250 Rupees after cutting a tonne of sugarcane. In a day, we cut about 3-4 tonnes of cane and in an entire season of 4-5 months a couple cuts about 300 tonnes of sugarcane. What we earn during the season is our yearly income as we don’t get any work after we come back from cane cutting,” says Ugale. 

    “We can’t afford to take a break even for a day. We have to work even if we have health problems. There is no rest and women having periods is an additional problem,” he explains. 

    Septuagenarian Vilabai says that the life of a cane cutter woman is hellish. 

    She hints that there is repeated sexual exploitation of women by contractors and their men.

    “Cane cutters have to live in cane fields or near sugar mills in a tent. There are no bathrooms and toilets. It becomes even more difficult for a woman if she has periods in these conditions,” says the old woman. 

    Many women in villages in this parched landscape said private medical practitioners prescribe a hysterectomy surgery even if they complain of normal abdominal pain or a white discharge. 

     

    This story by Radheshyam Jadhav was originally published by The Hindu Business Line on April 8.

     

  • Hong Kong: Only unmasked protester that stormed LegCo explains July 1 drama

    Hundreds of protesters stormed Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on the 22nd anniversary of the city’s handover to Chinese rule on July 1, breaking glass panels, windows, dismantling furniture, daubing graffiti in the chamber and attempting to put up the British colonial flag.

    Brian Leung Kai-ping, 25, was among those who entered the legislature – and the only one who openly revealed his identity that night.

    The storming made international headlines and marked a “quantum leap” for the entire movement against the extradition bill and the city’s push for democracy, he said.

    In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, via a Telegram phone call – the social networking tool widely used in the movement – he explained his actions and why he had no regrets.

     

    Where were you on Monday (July 1) and what was your role?

    I skipped another major rally to stay around the Legislative Council complex for nearly eight hours, keeping a close eye on every move. Like most protesters, we had been waiting for this opportunity to make a statement inside Legco. There was, of course, no clear consensus at the time how long we should occupy it, which underlined the very nature of the extradition bill movement – decentralised, leaderless and spontaneous. We were improvising.

     

    After an hour and a half, reporters observed you removing your mask and asking everyone to stay. Why did you do that?

    At the time, more and more people, wary of police countermoves, started to leave the Legco chamber.

    I made a risky move to step on the desk of one lawmaker, removed my face mask, and shouted at the top of my voice: “The more people here, the safer we are. Let’s stay and occupy the chamber, we can’t lose no more.”

    Some protesters warned me not to remove my mask, but I felt it was the defining moment of the night. I felt we ought to appeal to the crowds to join in and form a barrier and support those inside the Legco complex. No one could tell when we would step foot in Legco again.

    As police were drawing closer and closer, after some deliberation, most decided to end the siege. I volunteered to be in front of the camera to read out the key demands of protesters in the chamber.

    The last thing I wished to see, after all the action taken, was to have no clear demands put on the table.

    If we didn’t do that, the public might only remember the vandalism and point fingers at us as a mob. That would also hand the government a convenient reason to prosecute each and every one of us, which would mark yet another setback to civil society like in the 2014 Occupy movement.

     

    But weren’t the actions of the protesters that day, along with the damage done to Legco, violent?

    Be clear that any damage was only done to the Legco building or properties within, not so much to any person or even police officers. Protesters have been restrained in their use of force. 

    It is worthwhile to note the graffiti was not merely vandalising. For instance, protesters spray-painted and covered up “People’s Republic of China”, leaving behind only “Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”. That is a clear mistrust of the two-systems principle. Most of the other graffiti was about commemorating the three lives lost in this movement.

    So they were only telling the public that this was not just mob action but to register the accumulated frustrations of an unfair electoral system. Compared with the death of three people who used their lives to deliver a message, does the damage to several glass frames even count?

     

    So what was the young protesters’ state of mind in being part of the July 1 protest and other sieges?

    The pursuit of freedom and democracy is what fundamentally drove hundreds of protesters on Monday into Legco, the same goal shared by hundreds of thousands who took to the streets earlier. The government has thus far turned a blind eye to our demands, and there was no real change nor real actions tabled. If Carrie Lam claimed herself ready to be more humble, why did she not make clear the suspended bill was completely withdrawn, a move that could easily settle the controversy?

    Or, the government could choose not to charge protesters arrested earlier, which we saw happened to those in Taiwan’s Sunflower movement. Or, it could task an independent inquiry into police’s excessive use of force.

    Any of these would be welcomed by the civil society, but the government refused to take these calls on board.

     

    You mentioned the three deaths. These are suicide cases. Isn’t it wrong to glamorise them and call them martyrs?

    It was evident that protesters were so outraged that three lives were sacrificed throughout this movement, when peaceful means were almost all exhausted. Young protesters were at a point of desperation.

    We were not in a position to pass any judgment on their decisions but what the protesters could do was to honour their faith.

    One may well argue that time is supposed to be on young people’s side. But with the disqualification and jailing of pro-democracy lawmakers and activists after 2014 “umbrella movement”, the entire generation was banned from the political system. 

    We do not have the luxury of our parents to settle down in another place. Nor do we have the burden of a 30-year mortgage to worry about. Young people have nothing to lose, their only hope is to stay safe to see the sun rise, and hope to join protest another day. We want democracy, now.

     

    Can you share your personal background, your schooling, your parents?

    Hong Kong’s social movement has always inspired my academic study. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong with a dual degree in law and politics, I chose for my master’s thesis the topic of how civil society could help democratic transition and prevent authoritarian regimes.

    I have always aspired to become a professor and return to teach Hong Kong students to be socially aware in the future.

    I really don’t want to mention my family, as I don’t think that’s helpful.

     

    What’s next for the movement? And what’s next for you? And are you in Hong Kong?

    Civil society has already exhausted every possible peaceful means, and it is not trying to exercise violence for the sake of violence. The government needs to reflect on its response.

    For my own part, I am not sure whether I can fly to the United States this September to continue my PhD studies in political science at the University of Washington. I am still considering various options, and seeking as much advice as I can.

    While I am not yet a political dissident in exile, that is a real threat ahead of me and my peers if the government chooses to press charges against all those who entered Legco, who played their part in this protest.

    I am blessed to receive legal advice and other recommendations from my social network, while remaining financially independent through a role as a teaching assistant. For those who may be 17 and 18 years old, there could be real consequences and it is worrying.

     

    This story by Alvin Lum was originally published by the South China Morning Post on July 5.

     

    BEHIND THE STORY

    Alvin Lum is an award-winning political journalist specialising in Hong Kong politics and the city’s justice system. He sought to understand the reason why protesters stormed the council even after the government had shelved the bill. This led him to contact Brian, who had left Hong Kong right after the movement, through a mutual acquaintance.Published on Jul 5, his exclusive interview was a scoop, Alvin being the first journalist to speak to the only protest leader who was willing to take off his mask during the trashing of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. “That interview, when it was published, helped fill the void why protesters still need to resort to this kind of more radical measures which has never happened before in Hong Kong,” Alvin said. Tammy Tam, editor-in-chief, South China Morning Post added: “Alvin’s exclusive interview with Brian Leung reflects the vital role SCMP has played in independently covering and revealing insights into an important chapter of this still ongoing unprecedented political crisis in our city. We will continue in our unwavering commitment to report these developments with professionalism and courage.”

  • Fiji: September 23, don’t fear

    Sometimes we cannot blame people when they react to social media posts on instability and unrest.

    A post that was circulated online and generated by a Fijian who lives in Australia, caused quite a frenzy amongst Fijians.

    The instigator plucked the date, September 23, from thin air and sent out a message declaring that there would be unrest on that day.

    Thankfully, on 18 September, The Republic of Fiji Military Forces Land Force Commander (LFC) Colonel Manoa Gadai quashed the overseas-generated rumour that unrest would occur.

    “Everything will be normal and people will enjoy whatever they will do on that day because their security and safety are in good hands,” he said.

    Colonel Gadai made this comment after it was reported that some people were stocking up their supplies in case unrest would occur.

    Colonel Gadai said he was working closely with the Fiji Police Force to see that Fijians were safe and living happily in their own environment.

    He warned those behind the rumour not to spread lies.

    “Just don’t believe in these liars. The truth is – Fiji is safe,” he said.

    However, many Fijians have not forgotten the political turmoil that divided the nation in the past.

    They fear returning to a past era that was rife with pain and suffering that numerous innocent citizens endured.

    The Fijian economy was one of the big casualties affected by previous tumult.

    It has taken a long time for the country to recover and rise up to where it is today.

    Unfortunately, there are rabble-rousers in our communities who want to disrupt that progress for their own selfish political agendas.

    They have cheerleaders who live comfortably in their homes abroad and spread lies via social media to create instability.

    They did not even stop to think about their families who still live in Fiji and who could suffer like everyone else should there be a disturbance.

    It is comforting to hear from Colonel Gadai that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) and the Police are ready to fulfil their role to protect the country and Fijians should there be an emergency.

    The Land Force Commander is widely respected in the force and speaks with authority.

    He also represents the face of the RFMF leadership today – a leadership that is committed to supporting the provisions of the 2013 Constitution.

    Both the RFMF and the Police take any threat to peace and stability very seriously.

    The RFMF has been mandated by the Constitution to protect Fiji and all Fijians.

    Last month when Colonel Gadai was chief guest at the Ratu Sukuna Memorial School (RSMS) passing-out parade at Albert Park in Suva, the very same rumour

    reemerged.

    He assured parents and guardians of RSMS students that the nation was secure and safe.

    “Now that it has again resurfaced (this is) my advice – don’t believe in this rumour. It is a lie and spread by irresponsible people.”

    He urged all Fijians to continue with their daily engagements on September 23.

    All units of the RFMF, he said, were aware and ready to fulfil their constitutional role spelt out under the 2013 Constitution.

    The Constitution states that the RFMF will at all times ensure the security, defence and well being of Fiji and all Fijians.

    So if anyone is even remotely thinking of interfering with Fiji’s peace and stability they have been harshly warned – they will face the full brunt of the law.

    For Fjians who have seen what happened in 1987 and 2000, we should be grateful that our security is today in good hands .

    As Colonel Gadai has said, we currently have nothing to fear.

     

    This story is a compilation of articles by Fiji Sun published on 18 Sept 2019.

     

    BACKGROUND

    In this era of fake news, Fiji – like other countries around the world –  has been bombarded by a constant stream of fake news. Given Fiji’s history of political crisis – two military coups and a civilian takeover – the public is naturally highly sensitive  to any news of possible instability. In this instance, messages were being forwarded on Facebook Messenger encouraging Fijians to stay away from school and work on Monday September 23, 2019. Facebook is the most popular App used in Fiji.   It was noted that the person behind this fake message lives overseas. Like most fake news that has been circulated among Fijians, most are initiated by those living outside of the country itself. In this particular case, some had taken such news to heart and started to stock up on goods. Therefore, it was crucial  for the media to debunk any fake news or misinformation being circulated on social media or other online platforms. The Fijian army, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), continues to play a vital role in nation building and in bringing stability and assurance to the people of Fiji. It normally does not enter into discussions on such issues, but as  Fiji Sun journalists are trusted and credible, the Land Force Commander agreed to comment on such the situation that caused public concern and alarm.  

     

     

  •  India: Luxury comes at a price for Puzhal prisoners

    On September 3, 2018, a warden at Tamil Nadu’s biggest central prison, Puzhal jail, was caught with ganja hidden in his innerwear when he reported for duty. 

    He was smuggling it to a Pakistani spy -a National Investigation Agency (NIA) suspect – lodged there, who paid for it at a premium price. The warden has now been placed under suspension.

    Photographs from a seized mobile phone from a prisoner provided proof of the sheer luxury afforded to certain prisoners. 

    Investigations revealed that prisoners could purchase all sorts of comforts – food, clothes, cosmetics, phones – at a very high price. 

    Though there had been reports of rampant corruption inside prisons in the state, this is the first time that photographic evidence has been accessed by the media. 

    Sources said that certain inmates who were lodging in the high security block controlled the entire operations inside the jail. 

    These ‘influential’ inmates could get items ranging from mobile phones to sun-glasses, sports shoes and even tasty food. 

    Some procured rice and vegetables and not only cooked for themselves but sold the fare to other inmates who craved homemade food.

    “The inmates who cooked inside the jail made a killing by selling it to the other inmates,” a source revealed. 

    Though jail officials claim that cellphone signal jammers are installed on the premises, sources noted that none are functional. 

    “Even if one or two work, those jammers are not designed to block 4G phone signals. Most inmates lodged there use the latest phones,” the source added. 

    From the photographs, it is clear that several prisoners talk openly on mobile phones. “They casually pose for photographs and with phones in their hands,” the source said. When contacted, senior jail officials at Puzhal avoided answering queries on the subject.

    A little over a year ago, a report by then DIG (Prisons) D Roopa kicked up a storm by revealing video footage of AIADMK (Amma) leader VK Sasikala inside the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail that showed she was provided special facilities, including an exclusive kitchen to prepare her meals, in violation of prison norms.

     

    Beedis to branded goods, the inside story of Puzhal’s barter economy

    The common perception of jail life, largely fuelled by films, paints a picture of uniform-clad prisoners, leading an austere life of repentance with steel utensils. 

    However, the set of images from a Puzhal prisoner’s seized mobile phone sent shockwaves across society because it showed a very different side of prison life.

    The images showed cheerful prisoners chatting on mobiles, enjoyed good food, and wearing branded clothes and sneakers that many tax-payers can ill-afford.

    In one of the pictures made available to DT Next, a prisoner was seen feasting on a huge meal served in a casserole dish, a far cry from the steel plates that regular prisoners eat on. 

    “It looks like they are happily living in a resort. It is not clear how such activities are allowed inside the high security block inside the prison complex,” commented a senior government official. 

    An investigation by this newspaper into how these ‘A’ class prisoners got access to all these comforts revealed a thriving economy inside jails, one that survives on a combination of barter and bribes.

    According to sources, the situation was different a couple of years back. 

    In simpler times, only favours were exchanged among the inmates, and beedis (thin cigarettes wrapped in leaves) were the currency of choice.

    It used to be very difficult to ‘earn’ a beedi inside the jail and one needed to ration their smokes wisely to garner favours inside. But time and technology has changed everything.

    “Beedis may be still a form of currency for regular prisoners, who don’t have connections to flaunt, or money to spend. However, there are some inmates who have influence, and those are the ones who make themselves quite comfortable inside the prison,” revealed a government source. 

    According to the official, the modus operandi is quite simple. 

    The prisoner befriends a jail staffer, or sometimes connects with a corrupt staffer. The prisoner strikes a deal with the staffer, and payment is made to a family member of the staffer through the prisoner’s outside contacts. 

    That way, the prison staffer does not come under scrutiny. “The prisoners almost always just wants a mobile phone. Once they get hold of that, they start controlling payment schedules through Whatsapp instructions,” the source said.

    Through contacts, they can get food, phones, a TV, toiletries, and sometimes comfortable bedding. 

    However, not all the goods are used for personal consumption. Some inmates run food and grocery businesses from inside the prison, while others merely barter their ‘gifts’ for favours or even protection.

    Another business run by inmates is to rent out mobile phone chargers for those who have their own cell phones. One-time use of charging is priced at Rs 100 (US$1.40). 

    “One prisoner used to allow others to make calls on his phone but charged a hefty fee – much like a PCO (public call office) booth,” said the source.

    A parallel economy inside Puzhal prisons may be new to outsiders. However, those who have experienced it first hand say that it is just another form of corruption. 

     

    ‘Police’ Fakruddin, the man who ran food business inside prison

     

    ‘Police’ Fakruddin, a prisoner lodged in the high security block in Puzhal prison complex, was till recently running a private mess inside the prison, allegedly earning hundreds of thousands of rupees by selling food to other inmates at a very high premium, according to sources.

    Details on his prison business emerged during a search, when jail officials seized at least 20 kg of biriyani rice, few kilograms of vegetables, at least 5 kg dal, some deodorants and two television sets from the cell of extremists Bilal Malik and Panna Ismail, two of Fakruddin’s associates.

    “He was selling three meals a day for Rs. 1,000 to other prisoners. It used to be a good mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food and he had good patronage,” sources added.

    With the help of three or four other inmates, cooking for 15 to 20 people was not a difficult task for him. And it was rather easy for him to get regular customers who were ready to pay the price he was asking for.

    After remaining underground for many years, Fakruddin, a high profile criminal, was arrested in Chennai five years ago in connection with cases including planting a pipe bomb to eliminate BJP leader L K Advani during in Jan Chetana Yatra in the year 2011 near Madurai. 

    Since then, he had been running a ‘food business’ by procuring rice, vegetables and meat from the outside and cooking them up with the help of a select few inside the prison.

    In the last few years, his stature within the prison walls grew, and because of his criminal background and money from the ‘food business’ no other inmates dared question his authority. He and his two associates used to get a daily supply of milk for their personal consumption.

    While jail officials confirmed that Fakruddin and his associates Panna Ismail and Bilal Malik in the prison were cooking their own food, they played the food mess business. 

    “He was cooking own food. We have closed five stoves, which were used by them,” a jail official informed on Wednesday.

    Fakruddin had recently been shifted from security block to Puzhal prison II.

     

    Damage Control Mode

    After the Puzhal prison inmates’ pictures were splashed on media sites, Tamil Nadu prison officials have been in damage control mode and are imposing more restrictions inside the jails across the state. “There will be more checks and inspection from now. 

    There will be restrictions on visitors and more importantly there will be regular shuffle in roster of prison warders and chief warders. Sensitive blocks will be handled only by staff with integrity,” noted A Murugesan DIG, prisons. 

    Officials feel that because certain staff connived with few inmates, the image of the prison department has been completely ruined. 

    “We are now in the process of correcting correctional staff,” one official pointed out adding that transfer of 17 waders and head chief warders from Puzhal prisons was just a beginning. 

    Officials admit that the problem of mobile phones being smuggled inside is rampant, and several inmates use phone quite openly. 

    The images from the seized mobile showed several selfies being taken among ‘prison buddies’, which shocked many, including the senior prison officials. 

    However, the officials assure that this is a wake-up call, and they are fixing all the lapses.

     

    This story by V P Raghu was originally published on DT Next on September13, 2018.

     

    BEHIND THE STORY

    The report went on to become one of the biggest newsbreaks in the state and was followed up by several national publications and TV channels. There had been a lot of talk of VIP prisoners who get special privileges by greasing prison officials’ palms but it was impossible to get proof. Determined to crack the case, the reporter relentlessly followed the story with sources inside and outside the jail.

    There was a massive impact on prison administration in Tamil Nadu after the article was published. Within hours of its publication, the head of the prison department carried out an inspection at the Puzhal Central jail premises.

    The jail authorities seized several contraband items including mobile phones, TVs, cooking vessels, a large quantity of biriyani rice, other ingredients stored illegally in prison by inmates with the connivance of jail staff, during a series of searches carried out after the story was published. The story also resulted in the transfer of over a dozen jail staff and at least four prisoners appeared in the pictures published by DT Next, were shifted to other jails.

     

  • I feel flattered when older women ask me out

    Baaj Adebule is an award winning film maker and model. In this interview with OGHALE OZORE, he speaks on his love for acting, the way forward for the motion picture in Nigeria, among other issues. Excerpts:

    How did you get into acting?

    I started acting while I was still doing a 9am-5pm job and it was an experiment at that point in my life. I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do, what kind of person I wanted to be, what I wanted to achieve, and my goals in life. The question of what mark I would want to leave in the world was also coming to mind.

    Still trying to find myself in terms of both personality and path, I tried a number of occupations. I was doing a little bit of entrepreneurship, I did some TV presenting and modelling.  I just tried out little jobs while still working and eventually, I got this little stint on Tinsel for two episodes. Even as small as it was, there was a feeling that this is what I wanted to do. This is exactly where I am supposed to be.  When that happened I knew that was what I wanted to be- an actor and a film maker.

     Nollywood is the second biggest producer of films in the world, what’s your view on this?

    That’s great. That’s a huge boost for our GDP. The industry has helped greatly in terms of employment, and raising money for the country.

    But being the biggest in term of quantity is good but it will also be nice if we are also the biggest in terms of quality which we are still trying to work towards. We have a whole lot of obstacles and we are literally running the entire industry with a hand tied behind our back as opposed to how other industries like Hollywood and Bollywood are.

    We don’t have the government backing us, we don’t have a strong legal system and the state of the country definitely doesn’t help but we are doing our best. We are pushing and it’s a good thing we are the second biggest but we need to do better.  I will love us to not just be there as the biggest but to also put content out there.

    How often do you get scripts?

    Well, I have to be grateful that I do get scripts. I do get them quite often now. I am eternally grateful considering the fact that I came from a point that I wasn’t getting scripts at all.

     What do you think the industry is lacking?

    The industry just like the country is lacking a whole lot of things but first, I will say structure.  The fact that we still don’t even have a formal structure on how the industry works financially and technically is a big letdown.

    This has really made it hard to get investors. It makes it hard to make money from whatever film or series you are involved in. It’s hard to start moving forward as an industry because the foundation is faulty.  The structure is definitely something the industry is lacking then combine that with truth.

    We have not been able to grow the culture on truth to literally say things the way they are. Telling ourselves the hard truth, we have not been able to really get there. We are still allowing showbiz mentality literally determine everything we do. We do not tell ourselves the truth. We just pick around the crack and say what the next people would like to hear which is not helping anyone. Constructive criticisms are always going to help you be better.

    Are you currently working on any project?

    Yes. I am currently running a pre-production for the first feature film that I will be directing from my media production house- House Baaj Pictures. We have been working on the scripts for three months now and finally, we are getting close and my team is happy. That is what I am working on at the moment and as I am working on that, I am getting ready to go on set with a friend of mine.

    Tell us about your first feature film?

    I am currently working on shooting my first full length feature movie. We have been working on a script with a working title Come With Me. It’s a romantic thriller and we can say we finally arrived at a draft that we are happy or rather, I am happy to shoot it.

    It is a story created by myself and the script was also written by myself and my friend Micheal Osuji and currently we are looking for the right location, cast and doing production meeting for shooting and marketing of the film.

    It’s an exciting story with romance, comedy, crime and thriller and just a temp of action and still has that heart felt message that I am very eager for Nigerians to know, hear and learn from. We are hoping to shoot in October all things being equal.  We hope it should be out in the first quarter next year. So I look forward to it.

     Where do you see your acting career few years from now?

    Honestly, if I look back at the past, I have to say it makes me very optimistic, happy, and it gives me energy, confidence to keep going.

    Every single year of my career has been better than the year before so that really is comforting and in a couple of years, I am really hoping I can break into Hollywood market and star alongside some of the actors I grew up watching. I admire that very much and also long to get the opportunity to work with some of the greatest directors of our time and its definitely something I  am looking forward to.  I am very confident that it will happen.

    Which of the female actresses would you like to be onset with?

    I have not had the opportunity of working with a lot of the veteran actresses we have in the industry. I have worked with quite a bunch of veterans but there is still a number of them I  have  not had the opportunity of working with like Kate Hensaw, Rita Dominic, Mercy Johnson and a host of others.

     What is your source of inspiration?

    My major source of inspiration is film making. I have noticed no matter how depressed, down, or frustrated I am that love seems to always shine through and overshadow every kind of feeling. I am grateful to God for giving me that because having that strong spirit inside, that no matter what comes, you will always fight back. My major inspiration without a doubt is love for acting and film making. It beautiful, it’s exciting, it’s so mind blowing, it is an amazing experience to have in life.

     Can you act in a porn movie?

    No! I can’t and I won’t do that. It’s not what I will like to do.

     Why can’t you?

    Why I can’t do a porn movie? Apart from having my family and friends in mind in terms of integrity and all that, personally it’s not just my cup of tea. No, I cannot do a porn movie.

     Do you have older women fans asking you for a relationship?

    Yes I do. As a matter of fact, I am flattered, absolutely flattered by it and they are very beautiful women and I am often very flattered. It’s a sign of you doing the right thing.  The fact that you look good is really a nice feeling. It is good to be seen that way and appreciated that way.

    What can make you give up on acting?

    I am yet to see that thing that can make me give up on acting. It’s such a diverse occupation you could really do from any angle and it’s not rigid, not narrow.  It is really wide and big.

    I don’t really think anything can make me give up acting. If I lose my limbs and I become vegetable, yeah then I don’t think I will really be able to pull off any roles. But Christopher Rims still acted after his horse accident. So, I really don’t see what can make me give up on acting.

    The year is almost over, any plans on walking down the aisle?

    (Laughs) I don’t know.

  •  China: Pioneering daily use of cutting-edge tech

    In Fuzhou, capital of East China’s Fujian province, a white, 5G-enabled, sensor-rich agricultural robot moves between two rows of leafy greens in a greenhouse, collects data about the plants, and feeds it back to the control room.

    The farm robot has been successfully tested for compatibility with the 5G mobile communication technology.

    What this means in real terms is this: pictures and other data can be transmitted from farmland in almost real time. Latency, or the time lag, is no longer than just one-hundredth of a second.

    This allows the data to be analysed by computers enabled by artificial intelligence, or AI, in the control room more efficiently, according to the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Fujian Newland Era Hi-Tech Co, the two entities that developed the robot.

    As if to soften the aura of its high-tech innards, the robot sports the eye-pleasing appearance of an adorable cartoon character. 

    Its smooth, round base, which hides wheels underneath it, adds to the overall cuddly effect.

    The robot can move in a smooth, fluid, jerk-free motion in all directions. It can inspect farms automatically and collect data samples used to power various applications. It can determine plants’ health condition and decide if pest control measures are warranted.

    Odds are, in the not too distant future, the 5G super robot can even pick fruit with one of its bionic hands.

    This robot is part of a broader trend in China, which involves tech companies teaming up with a variety of industries－ agriculture, automobile, healthcare－ to explore possibilities of combining 5G and AI to revolutionise the traditional sectors of the economy.

    From conducting the world’s first 5G-enabled surgery on a human and transmitting 8K ultra-high-definition TV content through 5G networks to piloting self-driving buses and cars, a range of cutting-edge technologies are being put to commercial use.

    The high-tech push is expected to accelerate now that the nation has kicked off the 5G era in June.

    Yang Kun, an expert at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a research institute based in Beijing, said 5G enables data transfers at speeds at least 10 times faster than 4G, so it is possible to gather high-quality data quickly, which is necessary to ensure AI is effective.

    “AI applications have existed before the commercial use of 5G, but it is the superfast speed, gigantic computing capacity and massive device connectivity of 5G that will spawn the use of AI in more sectors and on a far larger scale,” Yang said.

    Lyu Tingjie, a professor at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications agreed. According to him, 5G’s responsive speed can empower mission-critical applications that were impossible with 4G networks.

    “When a needle pinches your finger, it takes one hundredth of a second for you to feel the pain. And theoretical latency of 5G is one-tenth of that. Only with such speed can remote surgeries and autonomous driving see wider applications,” Lyu said.

    In March, a patient with Parkinson’s disease underwent China’s, and possibly the world’s, first 5G-based remote surgery.

    With technological support from Huawei Technologies Co and China Mobile, a doctor in Sanya of the Hainan province, remotely operated surgical instruments to implant a deep brain stimulator known as a “brain pacemaker” into the patient in Beijing around 2,500 kilometers away.

    Ling Zhipei, chief physician of the First Medical Centre of the Chinese PLA General Hospital, conducted the three-hour surgery. “The 5G network has solved problems like video lag and remote control delay experienced under the 4G network, ensuring a nearly real-time operation,” Ling said.

    On June 6, China granted commercial 5G licenses to China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, the nation’s top three telecom carriers by the number of subscribers. State-owned China Broadcasting Network Corp also received the 5G license.

    China is forecast to invest US$184 billion in 5G by 2025, according to a report released by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association, which represents the interests of more than 750 mobile operators worldwide.

    Such investments are expected to power China’s big AI push. The nation is implementing an AI development plan that aims to build a 1 trillion yuan (US$141 billion) AI core industry by 2030, which is expected to stimulate related businesses to the tune of 10 trillion yuan.

    Digital technologies such as AI, next-generation network security, robotics, blockchain, internet of things, 3D printing and virtual reality all depend on data, and 5G can address this need for data collection and its quick, smooth transmission, said Zhong Zhenshan, vice-president of emerging technology research at the China branch of International Data Corp.

    Wang Xianchang, a professor at Jilin University, said the most important use of AI is to allow machines to automatically make decisions. 

    The best application scenario in civil use is self-driving vehicles. And 5G will allow such decisions to be made properly and more reliably. 

    When a car runs into emergencies like a pedestrian suddenly jaywalking, a delay in seconds of data transmission among sensors equipped within the car will likely cause a potentially grievous, even fatal, accident. 

    5G is here to prevent such things from happening, Wang said.

    Currently, self-driving buses are under test in a string of cities across China, including Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and Changsha, Hunan province.

    Chinese online search engine operator Baidu Inc announced plans as early as in December 2017 to mass-produce autonomous buses for designated areas. It will partner with bus manufacturer Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co.

    In East China’s Anhui province, carmaker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co Ltd teamed up with Baidu to develop cars with auto-pilot systems.

    Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, said the commercial use of 5G will impart further momentum to AI, but more discussions are needed to talk about the legal and ethical issues surrounding its wider applications.

    China took a step in that direction in June when it issued new guidelines for scientists and lawmakers to promote the “safe, controllable and responsible use” of AI for the benefit of mankind.

    Xue Lan, dean of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University and chairman of the committee that issued the guidelines, said AI has raised many new and complex issues, like data privacy, machine ethics, safety, risks and misuse like spreading misinformation using “deepfake videos”, and AI-manipulated footage.

    But AI is not as uncontrollable or mystical as some people appear to presume, experts said. The regulatory or supervisory mechanisms could steer it in the right direction and leave enough room for exploration, course-correction, remedies and calibrated growth, analysts said.

     

    This story by Ma Si and Hu Meidong was originally published on Jul 8 by China Daily.

     

    BEHIND THE STORY

    China Daily has taken a broader look at the potential for 5G mobile technology to transform industries well beyond the telecommunications sector in submitting an article that appeared in Business Weekly on July 8, 2019. The report, a collaboration between Ma Si in Beijing and Hu Meidong in Fuzhou,took an in-depth look at how the fifth-generation technology is being increasingly put to work in industrial applications that also exploit advances in artificial intelligence (AI). While consumer-oriented applications of 5G have monopolised the headlines, the report by Ma and Hu shed light on the commercial uses that are being explored for these technologies. The marriage of 5G and AI is also being championed as a means for China to promote their safe and responsible use for the benefit of mankind. The report led with the use of 5G in agriculture and healthcare. The sectors offer interesting contrasts. Agriculture has been seen as a laggard in the uptake of cutting- edge advances, while caution has been at the forefront in people’s minds when it comes to the medical establishment’s adoption of new practices underpinned by scientific breakthroughs. As they interviewed experts in diverse fields, the reporters were impressed by the extent of the progress made by Chinese scientists and the readiness of entrepreneurs to embrace their work.

     

    https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201907/08/WS5d2284faa3105895c2e7c208.html

     

  • Bangladesh: Trafficked into nightmares

    Local agents have been smuggling victims across Benapole’s border by showing forged documents of family relations at immigration checkpoints. Sometimes the gang members marry the victims only to sell them into prostitution later.

    The Daily Star learned about this after talking to six victims and law enforcers in bordering areas recently.
    In most cases, the victims from different parts of the country are gathered at small huts built by the traffickers near Benapole border. At that point, they are treated nicely and given the impression that they would actually go to India for a better future.
    When it is time, their counterparts in India would notify their accomplices, and the victims are taken to the other side of the border.

    For commuting, the traffickers always use motorbikes just as locals in border areas do, and carry sweetmeat, fish or gift packets to avoid drawing suspicion.

    TRAFFICKING ROUTES
    According to victims and local law enforcers, the traffickers use Putkhali, Sadipur, Boroachra, and Gathipara points of Jashore to traffic the victims into India without passports.
    The victims are first taken to Jashore and then to the border points by motorbike before they are kept in the small huts.

    Take the case of victim Bonya (not her real name).

    The 17-year-old girl used to live with her parents in the capital’s Mirpur and was looking for a job after completing higher secondary education. She left home after a woman, her neighbour, promised her a better job in India.

    On Jan 28, 2017, she went to Jashore by bus with the woman’s boyfriend. From Jashore town, they went to Benapole by motorbike.

    “For the next five days, the man kept me in a small hut with a TV, almirah (a cupboard) and small bed,” Bonya said, talking to The Daily Star in Jashore town after her rescue.

    “The man asked me to stay inside the hut and went away. I was not allowed to go outside for security reason, and a woman gave me food timely.”
    Bonya come back home in March last year with the support of Rights Jessore, a human rights organisation.

    “On Feb 5, the man came back early in the morning and took me near Putkhali where a boat was waiting for me,” she said.

    “After crossing the river, I found a man with a motorbike. He drove me into a dense forest. One hour later, I saw a locality.”

    In the area, Bonya was kept in a house and forced to sleep with some men, she said. “After a few days, I was being taken to a brothel area. On the way, I ran from them and went to the local police.”
    Police then sent Bonya to a shelter home in West Bengal, and she finally made contact with Rights Jessore from there.

    This reporter recently visited Putkhali in Benapole, and met a person called Sagar with the help of a local man while posing as a client.

    During the conversation about how to cross the border without a passport, Sagar said he could make the arrangement, but it would cost Tk 5,000 (US$59.13) because “border security has been heightened recently.”

    When asked if there were two persons including a woman, Sagar grinned and said he could arrange that too, but the cost would go up to Tk 16,000. “We charge extra for women because it is risky, and it takes time.”

    After the correspondent agreed, Sagar said, “You need to stay near the border for one day or two. We will first clear the border for you and then help you cross it.”

    Sagar demanded an additional Tk 300 for every overnight stay and Tk 200 for food at the hut. He also advised the correspondent to carry some additional cash to buy sweetmeat or fruit on the way.

    CONTROLLING BORDER POINTS
    Locals and law enforcers said each of the border points is run by local ruling party men. They pay hefty amounts to law enforcers to run the trafficking activities smoothly.

    Executive Director of Rights Jessore Binoy Krishna Mallick said, “We have learnt from rescued victims and our local network that some people are leading the nexus at border points using political identity.”

    At present, one Ghana Biswas oversees the Putkhali point, Ashok Sen the Boroachra point, and Jahidul Islam the Sadipur point of Benapole, The Daily Star learned after talking to some accomplices of the gangs and sources of law enforcement agencies.

    All of them are supporters of the Awami League and have been involved in human trafficking for years, but were never arrested, the sources said. Locally, they are known as farmers despite owning luxurious multi-storey homes in nearby Sharshaupazila, they added.

    The Daily Star tried to communicate with them but their phones were switched off.
    Rights activists said the gang sells a woman or girl to Indian brothels for Tk 2.5 to 3 million.
    Asked about the alleged complicity of the ruling party men, Awami League’s Benapole unit President Enamul Hoque Mukul said some may get involved, but they are doing it in secret.

    “We take strict action against whoever is found guilty.”
    He said the law enforcers have tightened security, and the situation is improving now.
    Asked about AL men’s involvement, lieutenant-colonel Selim Reza, commander of Border Guard Bangladesh-49 (BGB), refused to give a direct reply.

    He, however, said they take action against those found involved in the crime. “The situation has got better now, and the number of trafficking incidents has come down to almost zero for our increased vigilance and action.”
    Salauddin Sikder, additional police superintendent of Jessore, said trafficking through the border declined in recent years although there were still some reports of trafficking.

    He said he had no specific information about law enforcers’ involvement in the crime but warned of action if any member of the force was found guilty.

    NEW TECHNIQUES
    In recent times, the traffickers have changed techniques. Now they get their prey across the border using the “legal” channel.
    “For a woman, the traffickers make fake documents like a marriage certificate and a passport. Then they cross the border like a couple going on a trip to India,” Masud Karim, officer-in-charge of Benapole Police Station, told The Daily Star.
    “In the same way, the traffickers get passports for underage girls. They identify them as children or siblings while making fake passports and documents,” said the OC, who claimed to have got the information after interrogating victims.
    Now few victims cross the border illegally, he said. “Some are still doing it without passports, but most of them have relatives in India, or they are sick and poor.”
    Asked about raiding the border huts, the OC said they often conduct drives and take action against the criminals. Sometimes, they also rescue victims from the huts.

    FAKE RELATIONS
    There are some cases in which traffickers marry a girl before selling her to a brothel in India.
    On January 18 last year, a Jashore court sentenced one Shohag Hossain of Narail for life and fined him Tk 50,000 for selling his wife to a brothel in Mumbai.
    Shohag married the girl of JashoreSadarupazila on July 7, 2007. Later, he told his in-laws that he would take his wife to India for a better job. The girl’s family refused but he kept insisting, the victim family told The Daily Star in May last year.
    Finally, Shohag went to India with his wife on April 15, 2009, without letting anyone know. When her family found him missing, they filed a complaint with police and went to Rights Jessore. A few days later, Shohag came back home alone, and said his wife went missing in India.
    Rights Jessore rescued the girl from a Mumbai brothel on May 7, 2010, using its network.

    This story by Mohammad Jamil Khan was originally published by The Daily Star on Jul 22.

    BEHIND THE STORY
    The reporter had to act as a local to get in touch with gang members who ran the trafficking trade, in order to acquire information pertaining to the story. Social workers and law enforcement sources, who worked with the trafficked victims, helped clue him in on the gang members tasks and whereabouts. However, he did not get much data or support from the local law enforcers. While working in the field, he convinced locals to help him cross Benapole’s borders without a passport by paying them sums of money. The NGOs who used to work to rescue traffic victims also assisted him in getting some ideas and provided him a database of contacts. As local political leaders were benefiting from the trafficking trade, the reporter was forced to hide his identity while staying in the bordering village. The social workers, who helped him throughout his investigation, alerted him to a possible threat from a political muscleman. After the story published, the reporter received dozens of phone calls congratulating him on the findings. To his knowledge, although illegal human trafficking is still underway through bordering points, the number of trafficking cases has reduced significantly.

  • Vietnam:‘Wasting’ our lives, we’ll let our country go to waste

    HANOI – A drainage canal is not a garbage landfill.
    Why state the obvious?

    Because, on the ground, they seem synonymous. Every day, their stench assails our nostrils.
    Yet, we persistently treat our surroundings as a free-for-all garbage repository.
    How many of our rivers and other water bodies have died or are dying?
    In April 2018, a drainage canal in Hanoi’s Yen Hoa area was partially restored after a pile of garbage was fished out.

    This included different types of untreated household waste and carcasses. After many years, the stench had become unbearable, but it was only after the media raised a stink that the authorities deployed sanitation workers to clean it.

    But the dead and dying water systems in the capital city and elsewhere are not just the authorities’ responsibility. Anyone can see that a year after Hanoi’s campaign to prevent its rivers and streams from being choked to death by garbage- mainly To Lich, Nhue, and Đay rivers – such efforts are just a drop in the ocean. Every Hanoian is complicit in polluting the city’s environment, and the same can be said of localities nationwide.
    Which also means that every Hanoian and every citizen of this country is responsible for cleaning up our rivers, our soil and the air we breathe.

    A Hanoian who has lived all 38 years of her life along the Kim Nguu River, a distributary of the To Lich River, said that despite the daily effort of workers from Hanoi Sewerage and Drainage Limited Company (HSDC) to dredge out the garbage, many neighbours do not hesitate to dump their household waste in it.
    The pollution is so severe that the river has stopped flowing and reeks of rubbish.
    Compare such crass indifference with the concern shown by someone like Gondai Shoichi, a Japanese national who is organising a volunteer group to collect garbage at different places in Hanoi including Van Mieu (Temple of Literature), Hoan Kiem (Return Sword) Lake, Thong Nhat Park and Thu Le Zoo. Gondai told Viet Nam News that the pollution of rivers and lakes in Hanoi was similar to that of Japan in the 1950s. He ticked off a few important points: garbage should be separated at source; environmental education should start very early; environmental regulations should be very strictly followed.
    We need to go much further.

    Beyond obedience to laws, every action that protects our environment should become second nature. This is the biggest lesson we need to learn from our Japanese brethren.
    Wako Takatoshi, a Japanese expert in drainage and sewerage who has been working as a policy advisor on urban environment with Vietnam’s Construction Ministry for the last three years, said that removing garbage from rivers and lakes in Hanoi, as was done with the Yen Hoa canal, was very important, but by itself, it was not a sustainable measure.
    The responsibility of individuals and agencies for maintaining different parts of rivers, canals and other water bodies has to be clear cut, and people’s awareness raised to a point that their habits change, he said.
    Wako also offered a key psychological insight: “People can easily litter in a place that is dirty, but they tend not to do so when a place is very clean.”

    Unlearning a few things
    According to the Hanoi Urban Environmental Hygiene Company in 2018, the capital city generates more than 6,200 tonnes of garbage each day. Only 70 per cent of this is collected and treated. The remaining 30 per cent is dumped into the environment, including our water systems.
    Hoang Thao, who founded the Noi khong voi tui nylon (Say No to nylon bags) group, said many people dump garbage thinking they are being clean and doing their part for the environment.
    “For example, they put nylon bags or plastic bottles into a waste basket and think that they are doing it right, but they are not. It takes dozens of years for the former and hundreds of years for the latter to decompose completely,” she said.

    Practical practices
    Wako, Gondai and Thao were participants at a workshop on “Clean Water for Healthy Living” organised last Sunday by the Japan-Vietnam JDS Specialist Network (JSN) and the US-based FHHER Social Impact Fund.
    The workshop was organised at a coffee shop on Lieu Giai Street, with participants being advised to bring their own mugs in case the shop had no environmentally-friendly receptacles to offer.
    Personally, the get-together, second in the JSN’s Coffee Talk Series, was an eye-opener that went beyond learning about safe water. Experts and environmental activists shared shocking information: Humans have created enough plastic to cover the eight largest country in the world – Argentina; Vietnam ranks fourth among top 20 countries in mismanaging plastic waste; globally, up to 91 per cent of the plastic isn’t recycled.
    Ironies abound in the way “experts” attend workshops on environmental protection, despite the lavish lifestyles many of them lead, the means of travel they use, the amount of plastic used at such meets and so on.

    #7 Day Challenge
    As a nation, institution or individual, the biggest change starts with a single step.
    One such step is the “#7 Day Challenge” launched on April 10, 2018 by the United Nations in Vietnam in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden and the Live & Learn environmental education organisation.
    The challenge encouraged people to practice ways of eating, moving and living without damaging the environment. It commemorated Earth Day which was ambitiously themed “End Plastic Pollution” in 2018.
    Participants raised awareness by posting photos and stories of taking buses and bicycles to work, not using nylon bags or plastic cutlery, turning off all unnecessary bulbs.
    Our leaders, like the Environment Minister, the President and the Prime Minister, can give this campaign a powerful push by accepting the challenge.
    I hope to see this happen, but the question remains: Is this enough?
    No.
    We, as people, experts and politicians, are very fond of intoning the need for “drastic” measures, but fail to recognise that what is needed is a drastic, sustained change in our attitude and lifestyle, a change that cannot be postponed or passed on to others. The change starts with each one of us.
    Nothing else will work.
    More than a year after a hefty increase in fines for littering violations, there has been no appreciable improvement in the situation, not a dent in the magnitude of change that is needed.
    We can no longer afford to accept inane, comforting messages that say small actions make a big difference. We need big actions that make a huge difference.

    This commentary by Hồng Minh was originally published by Viet Nam news on April 13, 2018.

    BEHIND THE STORY
    Vietnam is one of Asia’s five worst polluters of ocean with plastic waste, according to international organisations. This commentary by Hồng Minh was published together with an anecdote about a dying canal in Vietnam’s capital city, Hanoi, due to littering. The writer investigated the pollution of the city’s water system as well as other parts of the country. The writer also met and talked to experts and activists dealing with the problem and had some suggestions on how to help prevent and reduce waste, especially plastic waste. The piece was then widely shared among sanitation and plastic waste experts as well as environmental groups. The problem of illegal littering and untreated plastic waste has become so alarming that the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, launched a national campaign on June 9 to prevent plastic waste with the target to rid Vietnam of single use plastic products by the year 2025. Viet Nam News has been running a series of articles, news, opinions regarding the problem in the country as well as measures to reduce the consequences.

  • Malaysia: Pricey problems with medicine

    The issue of access to drugs is not just a Malaysian issue but a global one. In fact, there was a “global war” being waged on this issue. The concern over astronomically expensive drugs and the lack of accessibility has reached the World Health Organisation (WHO) level, and access to medicines and vaccines is expected to be among the top items on the agenda at the 72nd annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

    THERE is a global “war” being waged in the health industry.

    Civil societies and several governments in poor as well as rich countries – including Malaysia – are up in arms over pharmaceutical companies setting prices so high that some life-saving drugs are beyond the reach of many.

    The concern over astronomically expensive drugs and the lack of accessibility has reached the World Health Organisation (WHO) level, and access to medicines and vaccines is expected to be among the top items on the agenda at the 72nd annual World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, beginning tomorrow (the assembly ends on May 28).

    Geneva-based Health Policy Watch says that the WHO’s executive board in January held a lengthy debate on a roadmap for access to medicines, and now it will be put before the assembly.

    On Feb 1, Italy proposed that the WHO set international standards for drug-pricing transparency. It has asked the assembly to adopt a resolution that would require drug makers to disclose their R&D and production costs, as well as prices charged for medicines and vaccines.

    The proposal sent to governments on April 29 had 10 co-sponsors and Malaysia is one of them; the rest are Italy, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, and Uganda.

    Italy’s proposal “has generated significant discussion and may be overshadowing the focus on the WHO roadmap to access to medicines, vaccines and other health products,” says Health Policy Watch.

    Skirmishes already began on May 7 at informal negotiations ahead of the assembly.

    Several developed countries have proposed amendments to Italy’s proposal that activists claim will make it confusing, weak and useless in many areas. Some countries have also sought to postpone discussion of the proposal.

    Following such resistance, more than 100 civil society organisations and health experts sent an open letter to WHO member state delegates on May 9, urging them to oppose harmful proposed changes to the resolution.

    The proposal will give the WHO and national governments a strong mandate to collect and analyse data on drug prices, R&D costs, clinical trial results and costs, the patent landscape, and more, says the letter.

    “At a moment when the public is looking to their elected governments to address the crisis in the pricing of new drugs and other biomedical inventions, the WHO has been asked to do something important: improve the transparency of markets for biomedical products and services,” says Knowledge Ecology International’s (KEI) director James Love on its website.

    The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations warns that the Italian proposal could lead to unintended consequences for the capacity of companies to offer preferential pricing to developing countries, and that it must be seen from diverse perspectives.

    It urges WHO and its member states “to conduct careful analysis of the potential benefits and risks to patients and to health systems, particularly for less developed countries, in addition to future innovation,” the Health Policy Watch reports.

    The federation says its industry has responded to concerns raised in the proposal, citing its Principles for Responsible Clinical Trial Data Sharing, and the Patent Information Initiative for Medicines as examples.

    Radical moves that tumbled prices

    In the last few years, some countries have resorted to drastic legal action to gain access to affordable drugs.

    Malaysia came to the forefront of this issue when, in 2017, it became the first country in the world to impose a compulsory licence to gain access to the cheaper generic version of the hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir for about 400,000 of patients.

    The compulsory licence is provided for under the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellec-tual Property Rights. It allows for the generic version of a drug to be imported or manufactured while it is still under patent protection.

    Malaysia was placed under a lot of pressure for the move, prompting the Health Ministry, on Feb 25, to urge the WHO to look into the pricing system of medicine by pharmaceutical companies.

    The hepatitis C virus affects about 71 million people globally, over 66 million of whom are not being treated, according to the WHO. This is despite the fact that 95% of people with hepatitis C can be completely cured within two or three months of beginning treatment.

    Last August, China compelled a pharmaceutical company to withdraw unmerited key patent claims on the sofosbuvir base compound. With 10 million people in China living with chronic hepatitis C, the ruling opens the door to affordable generic treatment ahead of the patent’s expiry in 2024. The base compound patent on sofosbuvir was granted in China in 2009.

    A nonprofit that specialises in uncovering unfair patents, Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK), estimates that treating just 15% of China’s hepatitis C patients with generic drugs would save US$13bil (RM54bil), with a massive US$87bil (RM362bil) saved if all patients are treated.

    There is a growing global momentum to challenge unmerited patents to ensure more people can access life-saving treatments, I-MAK says.

    Sofosbuvir (400mg) was priced at US$8,939 (RM37,218) for a standard 12-week treatment regimen upon launch in China in November 2017, but generic alternatives are available for US$249 (RM1,037), a potential 98% price reduction enabled by this decision, it says.

    China is also overhauling its healthcare system to provide better access to quality drugs and treatment for its population.

    In December, news agency Bloomberg reported that the government had asked 11 major cities to band together to buy drugs in bulk through a tender process to bring down prices.

    Patent problems

    It’s not just developing or poor countries that are struggling with high drug prices.

    In the United States, 18 lawmakers wrote to the US Department of Health and Human Services in February last year to consider issuing a compulsory licence for expensive hepatitis C treatments because rationing high cost treatment was harming the country’s public health.

    On Feb 5 this year, President Donald Trump, in his State of the Union address, called on Congress to contain the rising costs of prescription medications, saying it is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries.

    I-MAK exposed drugmakers’ abuse of patent law in the United States in 12 bestselling drugs in 2017.

    To protect themselves from competition, drug companies file hundreds of patent applications – the vast majority of which are granted – to extend their monopolies far beyond the standard 20 years of protection granted under US patent law.

    I-MAK says the average number of years blocking generic competition are 38, years blocking patent applications are 125 and the average price hike since 2012 is more than 68%.

    The US Senate Finance Committee launched a bipartisan probe to examine drug pricing in the United States and the rising costs for consumers and taxpayers.

    During the hearing on Feb 26, the committee censured a drug company that had, in 2017, spent around US$11.5bil (RM48bil) on dividends, stock buybacks, marketing, sales and administrative costs – roughly triple the amount it spent on R&D.

    It also lambasted another company for increasing the price of insulin from less than US$100 (RM416) in 2010 to nearly US$300 (RM1,248) last year (the company raised prices again this year).

    The committee also said that in 2017, a portion of a CEO’s multi- million-dollar bonus was directly tied to sales of an arthritis medication.

    “Over six years, the company doubled the price of a 12-month supply from US$19,000 (RM79,000) to US$38,000 (RM158,000).

    “Can patients opt for a less expensive alternative? No they cannot,” it said, adding that the company protects the exclusivity of the drug like Gollum with his ring (referring to the character in the Lord of the Rings series).

    “It is morally repugnant when ailing patients are forced to choose between filling that next prescription or putting food on the table, because they can’t afford both. It is morally repugnant when patients are forced to skip doses.”

    Top executives from the seven largest drug companies were also hauled up before the committee to explain the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.

    On Wednesday, the committee tweeted again, saying: “@HHSGov is starting to look into drug company middlemen that take millions from taxpayers. But more needs to be done to prevent these middlemen from using schemes like ‘spread pricing’ to take big profits while taxpayers get stuck with the check.”

    (How spread pricing affects the consumer: a pharmacy benefit manager company pays a pharmacy a minor amount for a drug but charges the health insurer that employs it much higher prices; the insurer in turn will charge its customers higher premiums to cover its costs.)

    The comparison method

    In Europe, issues relating to external reference pricing was reignited by an unprecedented meeting in Brussels in mid-April that brought together national pricing authorities with drug companies, patients, payers, physicians, and civil society.

    A decade ago, EU national authorities conceived a scheme known as Euripid to boost their negotiating powers with pharmaceutical manufacturers by exchanging pricing information among themselves. (One country compares the price of a drug in several other countries to derive a reference price that is then used to negotiate the product’s price in that country.)

    Pharmaceutical companies say this could hinder drug access since companies tend to delay the launch of products in countries with the lowest prices, to counteract the downward pressure in price-comparison baskets. The industry is also pushing back against Euripid’s ambitions to shift its focus from list prices to net prices, PharmExec.com reports.

    Now, with more countries holding pharmaceutical companies to account, more intense debate is expected at tomorrow’s WHO assembly.

    More transparent pricing and a redirection of how medicines are sold is urgently needed.

    Buying most products and services is a choice – but you can’t choose not to buy medicine, so if you need that patented drug to save your life, you have to find some way to cough up the exorbitant price.

    This does not work, especially on a global scale, where millions lack access to the treatment for certain infectious diseases that continue to spread, setting up a vicious cycle. This is a free market failure that must be addressed.

    A short write up about the impact of the story
    The article gives an explosive overview of the concern global communities have with high cost of drugs and the need to address the market failure relating to maximising of profits. I have been following the issue closely for three years and have been consistently writing about it to raise awareness and advocate for fair and lower drug prices.
    This is because the issue is also related to human rights to health.
    The price transparency concern was subsequently brought to the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May this year.
    In my writing the article and previous articles on high drug prices, combined some others’ work in other parts of the world and the role of governments in wanting the issue to be addressed at the World Health Organisation (WHO) level, the issue received the spotlight in the WHA meeting. The drug price transparency resolution proposed by Italy for the WHO was adopted. Although diluted, civil society organisations and many countries were glad that it had made an inroad and the initial resolution serves as the first step in bringing greater disclosure of prices.