[Reader-list] Madhu Kishwar, the MCD, the 'mafia' and the media

[Zainab Bawa]

Hi Hari,

This is very interesting and thanks a lot for posting this to  the list. I
am copying this to the urban study list which also might be interested in
discussing this story and the wider issues concerning the role of NGOs with
street vendors, slum dwellers, squatters, etc.

Recently, Liza Weinstein's article in the Journal for Urban and Regional
Research also indicates some similar issues, the use of mafia and organized
crime groups in the provisioning of housing under the SRA scheme in Mumbai.
What is interesting is how these roles are now emerging with the
transformation in cities. Perhaps there are other questions and thoughts
which may emerge from this posting and which will be useful to discuss in
the context of urban restructiring and changes in cities.

Thanks again,

Zainab



On Sat, May 3, 2008 at 4:57 PM, Hari Sadu <saddaharry at gmail.com> wrote:

> [Given below is a news report published in Tehelka and later withdrawn.
> Two
> weeks later Tehelka published an apology, which is appended below the
> article. Madhu Kishwar's allegations of corruption against two journalists
> are also quoted in the end. This might be of interest to many on this list
> about media and the city and will hopefully generate debate. Cheers, Hari
> Sadu.]
>
>
>
>
> A BIG, BAD STREET FIGHT
>
> Tehelka (print edition); 2 Feb 2008
> "Engaged Circle" section
>
> A Delhi project to accommodate street vendors in a dignified way fails;
> social activist Madhu Kishwar is beaten up. SHOBHITA NAITHANI reports
>
> AS OUR METROPOLISES get mallified, and under the guise of "beautification
> of
> cities" street vendors get steamrollered, the Municipal Corporation of
> Delhi
> (MCD) and the NGO Manushi Sangathan, had launched the Sewa Nagar pilot
> project in 2004. The objective was to demonstrate that world-class
> cleanliness could be attained in the dirtiest of markets; that aesthetics
> can be organised and the vendors can be accommodated in a dignified way.
> Last week, the head of Manushi, Madhu Kishwar, termed the Sewa Nagar
> project
> a "failed experiment". Kishwar, also senior fellow at the Centre for the
> Study of Developing Societies, was beaten up recently by the "local
> mafia".
> TEHELKA's inquiries have revealed that while a local mafia does exist,
> Manushi itself is at the heart of growing resentment and controversy.
>
> The project, whose primary aim was to free street vendors and hawkers from
> the scourge of "needless bureaucratic controls, license quota and raid
> raj",
> was initiated when 159 vendors signed an oath and agreed to stay within
> the
> Sanyam Rekha (line of discipline). This meant neither selling nor renting
> out the allotted stall; paying a monthly rent of Rs 390 to the MCD through
> Manushi; contributing on a monthly basis towards the salary of the Safai
> Brigade (that maintains cleanliness in the area); paying the cost of
> improved stalls and the management cost of the project and accepting a
> fine
> of Rs 100 if they violate the Sanyam Rekha. Membership of habitual
> violators
> was to be cancelled whereby the MCD is free to evict them and seal the
> stalls.
>
> Manushi was granted Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh from Congress MP Ambika Soni
> and Dr Karan Singh's MPLADS funds respectively to build the required
> infrastructure. The model, which was lauded by locals, politicians and
> government officials, today faces allegations of embezzlement. Charges and
> counter-charges between Manushi and the local mafia fly thick and fast.
> The
> Bhagat-Baisoya gang (Bhagat Singh, Mahipal Baisoya, Babli Baisoya, and
> Ajay
> Baisoya) is supported by the Delhi Pradesh National Panthers Party (DPNPP)
> and a gentleman who works surreptitiously under the pseudonym
> "Hindustani".
>
> Kishwar claims the bribe-collecting mafia -- in connivance with local
> corporator Jagdish Mamgain and Member of Parliament Ajay Maken -- has
> unleashed a reign of terror: beating up Manushi members, destroying
> project
> property time and again, and threatening them with dire consequences.
> However, members of the Bhagat-Baisoya gang and a few vendors claim
> Manushi
> has "pocketed their money". "The whole thing started with Ajay Maken and
> his
> henchmen asking us for stalls," says Kishwar. Maken's office when
> contacted
> said there was no need for Maken to clarify baseless allegations.
> Meanwhile,
> the situation at Sewa Nagar is volatile. A 24-hour police picket is
> stationed there after a recent incident of violence.
>
> On December 31, 2007, Madhu Kishwar and Manushi member Sheeshpal were
> beaten
> up in the market. The Baisoyas, however, allege that the two were beaten
> up
> only when they tried to flee after ramming their car into their
> 65-year-old
> mother, who was admitted to AIIMS and discharged three days later. When
> TEHELKA contacted the SHO, Kotla Mubarakpur Police Station, and sought
> details, he only had two words: "Nothing happened."
>
> Subsequently, the police served externment notices to Mahipal and Bhagat
> Singh in addition to ordering them to furnish bonds of Rs 10,000 each. MCD
> Councillor Jagdish Mamgain says, "There are no two ways about the fact
> that
> she (Kishwar) was beaten up on 31 December."
>
> DPNPP president Sanjay Sachdev clarifies that while his party is not
> against
> the Sewa Nagar project, he is certain about the December 31 accident:
> "There
> is an AIIMS report that proves that the old lady suffered a minor head
> injury." He also backs the vendors' allegation that Kishwar is running and
> ruling the market with an iron hand. "She must realise that she is not an
> enforcing agency or the court of law. She has been picking up vendors'
> items
> as and when she desires and has been issuing challans to the tune of Rs
> 3,000. The temple of the Swacch Narayani Devi (the goddess Kishwar
> conceptualised) that Manushi has built is on public land -- it is
> illegal."
>
> Deputy MCD Commissioner (Central Zone), Amiya Chandra, says it is a
> wonderful project, and the MCD is trying its best to make it a success.
> "When I met Madhu, she told me the problem was not us with but the
> police."
> Asked if the temple was built on illegal land, Chandra told TEHELKA, "If
> the
> MCD wants, it can demolish the temple tomorrow. But if somebody is doing
> it
> to promote cleanliness, we must appreciate it."
>
> Kishwar says that there wasn't any agreement signed for the temple, but it
> was part of the architectural plan given to the MCD. "The issue is not the
> temple; not even the project. The issue is policy reform at an all-India
> level. They can demolish what they like, I couldn't care less."
>
> According to Hindustani, "As per the agreement, vendors had agreed to pay
> a
> fine of Rs 100 if they violate the Sanyam Rekha. But Manushi charged
> Kamruddin and Roshan Khan Rs 2,500 each for violations (copies of the
> receipts are with TEHELKA). Some were charged Rs 2,750 and Rs 11,000 with
> a
> promise of a installation of an electricity metre." Kishwar defends: "They
> started a chicken slaughter shop in addition to the mattress-making shop
> and
> occupied 100 square feet of extra space. Chicken slaughter is not allowed
> on
> the pavement and we were getting notices from the MCD, so we suspended
> their
> membership. The money of the few people who paid for the electricity metre
> is deposited with us."
>
> The man in the eye of the storm, Mahipal Baisoya, who now runs a CD shop
> in
> Sewa Nagar, claims Manushi took Rs 1.5 lakh from him and his three
> brothers
> with a promise to regularise their tempo stand and give them a stall each
> with costs ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 depending on how early they
> could pay. "We got a receipt for only Rs 30,000. When we heard that the
> tender for the project was for five years and would end in 2008, the
> vendors
> decided to question the organisation for accounts."
>
> Kishwar says the Baisoyas' tempo stand was illegal and had become a hub
> for
> "anti-social elements", but denies taking Rs 1.5 lakh as Baisoya alleges.
> On
> June 6, 2007, the Deputy Commissioner (Central Zone) declared that,
> "Determined action should be taken to get the unauthorised tempo parking
> and
> the illegally constructed office of the Baisoya Tempo Stand removed from
> the
> project area."
>
> While Mahipal and other vendors allege they live under the terror and fear
> of Manushi, active Manushi project members claim it is the Bhagat-Baisoya
> gang who have been terrorising them. "They want monopoly of the market and
> have made life miserable for us. They come at night with knives to
> threaten
> our wives and children," says Mehboob, a vendor in Sewa Nagar. Another
> vendor, Yogesh, says he is a victim of the money-lending mafia led by the
> Baisoyas. "They persuaded me into taking a loan of Rs 35,000 at an
> interest
> rate of 10 percent per month to buy goods for my stall. I have already
> paid
> over Rs 3.63 lakh as interest. They are claiming Rs 1.2 lakh more, have
> confiscated my scooter and forced me to sign several blank cheques."
>
> As the blame game continues, the Central Cabinet's January 2004 ruling to
> implement a National Policy for Street Vendors comes into force. As 3 lakh
> tehbazari licenses and vending sites in Delhi are to be allotted, a big
> scam
> appears to be in the making. According to Manushi estimates, at an average
> of Rs 10 lakh per stall, this is worth Rs 3,000 crore. Clearly, there's a
> lot at stake.
>
>
>
> * * *
>
>
> [This article had appeared in Tehelka and was available on its website for
> a
> few days but later removed:
> http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=cr020208Big_Bad.asp That
> link promised an amended version which was never put up and not one but
> two
> weeks later Tehelka published an apology which it curiously did not put up
> online at all. Given below is the text of the apology.]
>
>
> * * *
>
> [Tehelka, 16 February 2008, "Letters" section, page 7; not published
> online]
>
>
>
> A TRAVESTY, NOT A BIG BAD STREET FIGHT
>
> Fighting public battles in India is never an easy task. Corruptions are so
> entrenched, interests so vested, and the ordinary citizen sucked so
> completely into the country's vast parallel economy and shadow
> administration that often it is difficult to even remember how things were
> really meant to be. Indians have come to accept that a bribe will allow
> them
> to go their way, allow them to run their businesses, run their lives: they
> are almost grateful for this refuge, grateful to be instruments in their
> own
> oppression. One of the biggest ironies of waging public battles in India
> is
> that sometimes those you bat for might actually wish that you wouldn't.
> The
> road is too difficult; everyone would rather bend and look the other way.
>
> All of this makes the reporting of public battles almost as complicated as
> waging them. At Tehelka, we had a taste of this in our Feb 2 issue. In
> reporting the trouble around veteran activist, Madhu Kishwar's street
> vendor
> project in Sewa Nagar in Delhi ("A Big Bad Street Fight"), we mistook the
> surface chaos for the real story. In the process, we ended up being unfair
> to both the intention and the complexity of the endeavour.
>
> Four years ago, Manushi, the NGO run by Kishwar, undertook a difficult but
> important pilot project in Delhi, sanctioned by the Supreme Court and
> funded
> by an MP's development fund. Its mandate was to prove that street vendors
> can be formally incorporated into the city's economy as a hygienic and
> beneficial presence and do not need to be booted out. The context of this
> project was very significant. As India moves towards large retail formats
> and first world urban models, there is an increasing official tendency to
> banish the informal sector, comprising poor but self-reliant
> entrepreneurs.
> For instance, there are over three lakh vendors and mobile hawkers in
> Delhi.
> Yet, less than 3,000 have been given vending licenses from the MCD – most
> of
> these after prolonged battles in the courts. The illegal status of more
> than
> 99% vendors makes them easy targets of extortionist mafias. Blackmail,
> arbitrary confiscation of goods, bribes: that has come to be the vendors'
> life. The loss of income suffered by them, in doling out bribes, amounts
> to
> a staggering Rs 500 crore a year.
>
> For years, a key argument offered by municipal agencies and the police for
> not legalising street vendors has been that they obstruct other road users
> and spread chaos and squalour. To combat this official prejudice, Manushi
> offered to take on a pilot project. Much rode on this project. If
> successful, it would result in far-reaching policy changes.
>
> Predictably, the project faced a lot of resistance from the local mafia
> and
> police. Vendors who were part of the project now had legal protection and
> stopped paying monthly bribes. This outraged the local mafia. Local
> political leaders also began to pressure Manushi for stalls for their men:
> the usual dismal Indian story.
>
> In December this year, the violence and intimidation came to a head.
> Manushi
> has been coerced out of the area; Kishwar has been accorded police
> protection. The pilot project, which, in demanding dignity and discipline
> of
> its vendor-members, had begun to seem a thing of hope, has now been forced
> back to its stereotype of chaos and squalor.
>
> As always in India, a larger story looms beyond the immediate incident.
> The
> violence against Manushi's pilot project is just a tip of the iceberg,
> pointing to vaster corruptions and vaster violence against the ordinary
> man
> on the street. Until Tehelka has the time and resource to help uncover
> that
> travesty, it extends an apology for getting the original story wrong.
>
> Editor-in-Chief
> Tehelka
>
> * * *
>
>
>
> [There were some articles in Mid-Day too which irked Manushi. In an
> article
> in the Outlokindia.com website, Kishwar has alleged vested interests on
> the
> part of these reporters and publications: An excerpt:]
>
> ============
> The police did register an FIR on the basis of my complaint of Decemebr
> 31st
> and some earlier attacks on me, but they also allowed the attackers to
> lodge
> several false complains against Manushi including "attempt to murder"
> charge
> against me alleging that I had tried to kill one of their aunts by
> ordering
> my driver to ram my car into her. They also alleged that when they
> protested, my "henchmen beat them up." This has been their standard
> strategy.  After every single attack on Manushi members, they lodge all
> manners of fraudulent counter cases against us. They are even able to buy
> newspaper space for spreading these lies by influencing reporters through
> money or political influence. Two such fabricated reports appeared in
> Midday
> and another one in Tehleka. While Tehelka offered an unconditional apology
> in their issue of February 11, 2008, for their reporter having been misled
> by mafia elements, Midday continued with the falsehoods despite repeated
> warnings thus forcing Manushi to sue the paper and the reporter for
> criminal
> defamation.
> ============
>
>
> The full article by Kishwar can be read here:
>
> http://www.outlookindia.com/fullprint.asp?choice=1&fodname=20080215&fname=madhu&sid=1
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-- 
Zainab Bawa
Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher

Between Places ...
http://wbfs.wordpress.com