Issue 66 Vol III, June 30, 2008

C O M M E N T

New Zealand: an apology to the Maoris for shameful history of injustice

Indigenous tribes  who lost  the  fight for rights t by breaches of 1840 treaty with Britain have no a cuse to celebrate.  New Zealand  has taken a momentous step to address the historic grievances of its original Maori inhabitants on june 25 yesterday, handing back nearly half a million acres of Crown forestry land in a settlement worth £160m.

Hundreds of Maori, some wearing traditional feather cloaks, descended on the capital, Wellington, to watch the agreement being signed in parliament by the government and tribal leaders. Some wept during the ceremony, while others chanted, sang and blew conch shells.

The settlement is the biggest to emerge from long-running negotiations to restore land, forestry and fishery rights lost by indigenous tribes after the British settlement of New Zealand in the 19th century.

In the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, tribal chiefs ceded sovereignty to the British Crown in exchange for retaining control of their land and natural resources. But much of that land was subsequently confiscated or illegally sold after the arrival of successive waves of white settlers.

The New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, told the throng in parliament: "It's a historic journey we are on. We came into politics to address injustice and seek reconciliation. Thank you for walking that road with us on this historic day."

The forestry deal was recommended by the Waitangi Tribunal, a commission of inquiry set up in 1975 to adjudicate on claims relating to breaches of the 1840 treaty. The tribunal, established after a long campaign by Maori activists, is supposed to finalise all claims by 2020.

The latest agreement will see ownership of 435,000 acres of prime forestry land on the central North Island, worth more than NZ$195m, transferred from the government to seven local iwi, or tribes. The tribes, comprising about 100,000 people, will also receive NZ$223m in rents backdated to 1989, as well as annual rental payments of about NZ$13m.

As well as restoring what is rightfully theirs, the settlement will provide an important source of income for local Maori, who are set to become New Zealand's largest private forestry landowner, and the biggest landowner in their region. Most of the land consists of large-scale commercial pine plantations operated by major forestry companies. The land being returned also has cultural significance for the seven tribes, who formed a collective in order to press their claim.

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No justice for the poor

THERE was near agreement among scholars and even one parliamentarian from the ruling coalition in India, the UPA agreed that the justice for the poor was a far cry.  The International Commission for Justice (ICJ) Section (Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh) and Ambedkar Centre, Panjab University jointly joined hands to raise their voice at a Seminar on 'Justice for the Poor'.

In his introductory address sighting glaring gaps in our present judicial and police set-up, Rajwinder Singh Bains, Vice President, ICJ Section said that there are four custodial deaths in India every day and our police stations have become seats of brute violence. Interrogation means unbearable torture for the helpless and defenseless. It is not the question of change of mind set; it is a question of overhauling police system backed by pro-poor judges that is going to change the present practice of violence at the hands of police.

 Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister of State emphasized that things will change at all levels when people are aware of their rights and duties. He advocated formation of Human Rights Committee at all levels, to help educate the masses about their fundamental rights, duties and human rights violations. Poverty is the main culprit resulting into poor health and poor education of millions of Indian people. We have reached out to 20 crore people through 30 lakh self-help groups out of which 80 per cent are women members. Banks are one medium, when reached out to the poor at their doorstep, can do miracles to free them from the heavy debt borrowed at usurious rate of interest. There is a need for financial inclusion before we think of social inclusion.

 Presenting the main theme of the seminar Dr. Balram Gupta, Legal Advisor of ICJ Section and a Senior Advocate said that justice is costly, technical and dilatory. Education for the poor, particularly for women, could be a great source receiving justice, and poor must be backed up with financial assistance for the same.  No citizen of this country should be restrained, arrested, interrogated or his house searched except on the basis of material collected and presented before the magistrate and then only any such drastic power to invade the life of any citizen should be given to any other person even if he is law enforcement official, advised Dr Gupta.

Prof. RC Sobti, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University remarked that educationists should inculcate human values and knowledge about human rights amongst the students in order to make the better human beings and aware citizens of the country.

At the end Prof. Manjit Singh, Coordinator, Ambedkar Centre, Panjab University while thanking the speakers and participants remarked that poverty is at the centre of all the injustice meted out to the poor. In this world still 100 crore people are without electricity, water and education. That is, their life is akin to slaves. And under globalisation the distance between the poor and the rich is increasing. There is need to correct the system in such a way that marginalisation is arrested.

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India is neck deep in corruption

CORRUPTION in India is so deep-rooted that even those under the below poverty line (BPL) have to bribe to avail of basic and need-based public services. This painful fact was all known to even most ordinary citizen of this great republic. But now a study puts its stamp on it.

“About one third of BPL households across the country paid bribe in the last one year to avail one or more of the 11 public services covered in the study, which shows that even the poor are not spared in the case of targeted programmes,” according to the study conducted by the Transparency International India (TII) and the Centre for Media Studies. Vice-President Hamid Ansari released the ‘India Corruption Study 2007’ at a function in Delhi on June 29.
The 11 services covered under the study were public distribution system, hospital, school education (up to class XII), electricity and water supply (basic services) and national rural employment guarantee scheme, land records/registration, forest, housing, banking and police (need-based services).

Police tops the chart as far as corruption in the 11 services is concerned. Of the 5.6 million BPL households that interacted with the police last year, a whopping 2.5 million paid Rs 2,150 million as bribe for some work or the other. Most of these households interacted with the police for simple registration of a complaint. The second highest in terms of monetary contribution among the selected public services are land records and registration services. Nearly 3.5 million BPL households paid Rs 1,224 billion as bribe. What sum this is, must boggle the poor or not so poor in this emerging world power.

“The fact that most of the poor who claimed to have paid bribe did so directly to one or the other functionary within the delivery set up is a revelation, particularly because quite often the reasons for repeat visits were absence of staff and/or their apathetic attitude.

This lends strength to the perception that the poor are not a priority even in the case of some of the programmes designed for them,” the study noted.

It said procedural delays were another reason that made BPL households vulnerable to paying bribe or depriving them from availing the service. “There is hardly any evidence that IT or e-governance initiatives taken on a large scale in different states, involving some of the services, made much difference in the levels of perception about corruption or even actual experience.”

Which are the most corrupt states was also clear from this survey. In availing 11 public services by BPL households, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have an ‘alarming level’ of corruption, while Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab have ‘moderate level’.

The survey stated that in order to get a power connection or to get faulty meter rectified, people have to bribe officials/staff of the electricity department. Similarly, staff and officials of school indulge in corrupt practices in order to admit the child of poor parents, issuing certificates to them and promoting the child from one class to another. It was found that the amount paid as bribe by BPL households was Rs 120 million for availing school services. Hail the universal education system.

In India had become pervasive and cancerous, weakening the nation’s resolve to usher in inclusive growth that covers all the marginalised and vulnerable sections of society. Will Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or several chief ministers who swear by honesty care for this survey.

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