http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-08/lucknow/30604038_1_election-symbol-dalit-officers-s-y-quraishi
BSP terms transfers of officials anti-dalit
TNN Jan 8, 2012, 03.42AM IST
LUCKNOW: The Election Commission (EC) late on Saturday night directed
the UP government to remove director general ( DGP) of police Brij Lal
and principal secretary, home, Kunwar Fateh Bahadur Singh from their
posts.
BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra said that "Dalits rarely
get good postings but Mayawati gave them their due". "With two dalit
officers in charge of security and law & order, Dalits in UP felt
safe. They could have come out to vote in elections without any fear
of feudal forces. Unfortunately, the EC decided to replace the two
dalit officers on the complaints of casteist forces (Opposition
parties) who do not like to see a 'Dalit Ki Beti' (Mayawati) as chief
minister," he said.
The announcement of EC's order to remove the two officers was made by
Satish Chandra Mishra and not the Commission officials. In fact, when
contacted, Chief Electoral Officer, UP, Umesh Sinha, said that he has
not received any official communique from the EC or the government
about the removal of the officers. "At times, the EC communicates its
decision directly to the state government," he said, while refusing to
comment further over the issue.
Even Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi made no mention of
transfers in his press conference in the evening. Quraishi, who was on
a two-day visit to Lucknow to review status of preparedness for the
elections, only said that he has received complaints from the
Opposition parties demanding removal of number of officers which they
claimed were bias. But three hours later, at a hurriedly called press
meet Mishra informed about EC's decision to transfer of officers.
The BSP also came down heavily on the EC for its order to drape chief
minister Mayawati's statue and those of elephants in various dalit
memorials in view of elections. The EC directed to cover the statutes
so that they cannot become a medium to influence voters as elephant is
BSP's election symbol and Mayawati is the president of BSP. Mishra
said that the decision was taken without giving BSP a chance to
present its defence, which was against the provision of natural
justice.Mishra also said that "though EC took a one-sided decision on
the complaints of casteist Opposition parties", BSP hopes that the
constitutional body will ensure free and fair elections in the state.
BSP national general secretary said that the BSP government will
follow the order of the EC to cover the statutes of the chief minister
and elephants but people of the state will give a befitting answer to
the casteist forces who have shown utter disregard to the dalit icons
by raising questions over their memorials.Mishra said that the trunk
of the elephants in statutes in the memorials are up, whereas in BSP's
election symbol it is down.
He said that elephants have been installed in all the temples in India
besides the Rashtrapati Bhawan and Parliament among other places.
"Will the EC cover all statutes in Lok Sabha elections? Will EC also
ban use of lotus flower, (BJP's election symbol), hand (Congress's
symbol) and cycle (SP's election symbol) will during elections," he
argued.
Opposition parties welcomed the decision of the EC but said that it is
not complete. "We had asked for transfer of all the officers in the
chief minister's secretariat besides some districts magistrates and
district police chief because they can also influence the elections.
They are already harassing our candidates," said Samajwadi Party
spokesperson Ram Gopal Yadav.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/
No comments:
Post a Comment