& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Bye to discrimination?

Law Commission asks govt to enact anti-discrimination law

Ashutosh Sarkar and Zyma Islam
Life would perhaps have been different for Nandita Hijra if she had not been forced out of her parents' home as a teenager simply because nobody could deal with her gender crisis.
Perhaps she would not have been a sex worker today or someone indulging in the commonly known modes of earning a livelihood practised by Hijras, the third gender.
"I hate the common Hijra practice of extorting money from people. But how else can I survive? Nobody would give me a job," said Nandita.
Priyanka Rani's brothers would not perchance have ended up as sweepers if their classmates had not bullied them into dropping out of school just because they were Dalits and considered "untouchable"
"They are not even 17, and their future has been snuffed out," lamented the 20-
year-oldgirl.
Tired of continuous social degradation and with the dream of writing her future herself, Priyanka left her family and escaped to the capital.
Taking advantage of the city's crowds and the anonymity it provides, she now studies business administration at a college under the national university.
"In the village, there is just this one school for all the children and everybody knows every other person. But in Dhaka, people do not know me when I walk down the streets," said Priyanka.
Priyanka's and Nandita's stories are similar to those of around 70 lakh people, among whom are Hijras, sweepers, tea-garden labourers, Dalits, some indigenous communities, sex workers and the specially abled, who face abject discrimination in different phases of their lives in the country.
FROM PAGE 1
Amid such a situation, the government has finally stepped up to do something about it.
The Law Commission has recommended that the government formulate a law to prevent such discrimination.
According to the recommendation, the law can levy a fine of up to Tk 10 lakh or slam down 10 years' jail term for displaying any act of discrimination. It also suggested that the law be titled "Antidiscrimination Act, 2014".
The commission suggests that any victim of discrimination or any person on their behalf can lodge a written complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) or with the court.
The move is widely being seen by rights activists as a long-awaited attempt at ensuring equity which will make people overcome
their prejudices and redefine their concept of what is ethical and what is not.
"The law will point out to society that what it is doing is wrong," said Joya Sikder, president of Sex Workers' Network.
"I have achieved so much recognition nationally and internationally for my work in furthering gender rights, but my father still cannot talk about me with pride," lamented Joya.
A stroll down the sweepers' colony in Ganaktuly of the capital or the Hijra settlements ofTongi is enough to justify why such a law is an absolute necessity.
The overflowing sewers, the lack of waterlines, the crowded one-roomed houses bearing signs of abject poverty all around - are the results of its inhabitants not being able to rise above menial jobs.
Law Commission Chairman Justice ABM Khairul Haque told The Daily Star that the law minister had already promised to take steps towards formulating the law.
The recommendations were made after soliciting opinions from different rights bodies, such as Manusher Jonno Foundation and Nagorik Udyog, and representatives of the underprivileged communities, he added.
Contacted, Law Minister Anisul Huq said that he was yet to go through the Law Commission's proposal.
"After examining the recommendations, 1 will discuss them with cabinet members. If the cabinet agrees to formulate the law, I will then take necessary measures," he added.
In line with the commission's recommendations, the NHRC itself will investigate the complaints and then send the report to the
court.
In case the allegations are lodged with the court directly, it can either take them into cognisance for trial or forward them to a judicial magistrate for inquiry. The magistrate will have to finish the investigation in 30 days and send it back to the court.
The law commission also suggests the government may set up an anti-discrimination court headed by a district and sessions judge in every district to tty such cases. The court will have to complete a trial in 60 working days after the framing of charges.
The court should be empowered to sentence any person or organisation for violating its orders and to issue directives for government authorities to take departmental action against any public servant in such cases.