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Tribute to Sarita and Mahesh
The 24th of January 2006 marked the second death anniversary of Ms.Sarita and Mr.Mahesh Kanth, social activists and members of Institute for Research and Action (IRA), a society registered in 2000 working for the revival of cooperative farming, women empowerment and village self-dependence.
Their determined hard work towards realizing the rights of the local poor of the village of Shabdo, in Gaya district of Bihar, invited irk of thugs, who brutally killed them on the eve of 24 January, 2004.
As an initiative of the Women and Water Network (WWN) – India, contributions are being collected to support one or two development workers from IRA to take forward the activities initiated by Sarita and Mahesh.
Kindly note, a post office account (a/c # 674207, Banjara Hills post Office, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad) has been opened for this purpose. For ensuring transparency, the account is being operated by three signatories;
Ms.S.G.Hemalatha, President, Gamana
Mr. Umesh, Coordinator-Agriculture, Gamana
Ms. Nritijuna Naidu – Network Officer, CapNet South Asia
This initiative can be realised only through collective effort. We appeal to all of you to kindly contribute to this fund. Contributions can be made in favor of A/c# 674207.
Contributions towards this account are being documented and regularly updated on this website. |
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They gave up their lives fighting for a
cause...
Two young social activists were brutally murdered on 24th January 2004 in Gaya district of Bihar.
Sarita and Mahesh Kant, activists associated with Institute for Research and Action (IRA), a society registered in 2000 working for the revival of cooperative farming, women empowerment and village self-dependence, were killed near village Shabdo under the Fatehpur police station of the Gaya district around 7.30 pm on Saturday, 24 January 2004.
Sarita and Mahesh were fighting for the causes of ordinary people’s right to Jal, Jangal, and Jamin (Water, Forests, and Land) in Shabdo, one of the remote villages in Gaya district of Bihar.
On the fateful day, after some work in the village, they were on their way to their office at Fatehpur when armed criminals forced them to stop their motorcycle. The criminals then dragged them from their motorcycle and shot them from a close range. Both died on the spot.
Their untiring work for the rights of the people of the village was opposed by thugs who had the undisclosed silent support from people in power and who were involved with land grabbing and local disturbances. |
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Sarita was the wife of Pushpendra Singh, Director, ActionAid in Bihar, and mother of young Amrit Kumar, who fails to understand why his mother was killed when she was doing so much work. Her husband states that Sarita was fully aware of the dangers she faced. "We know we can be killed," she had said to him, "But we cannot leave our work and our people in fear. We don't want to die a hundred deaths. We will accept one death when it comes." |
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Mahesh Kant, was in his early thirties. He was fondly called Mahesh Bhaiyya by the villagers. His untiring persistent work towards the cause of bringing justice to the poor was highly appreciated.
Sarita and Mahesh, even in their death, inspire and motivate us to work towards raising these issues and achieving goals. They have raised crucial questions about two important aspects of the present state of governance - corruption and criminalisation of politics. |
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As people from the same fraternity it becomes our responsibility to rise up and support the struggle kindled by our dear friends. To continue the momentum initiated by the departed souls, it would be appropriate to express our solidarity and build confidence among the team working at grassroots through humble support.
As an initiative of Women and Water Network
(WWN) – India, it is proposed to mobilize an amount of
Rs. 3 lakhs. Contributions towards this initiative are being deposited in the Post Office account opened for this cause. The interest from this amount will support one or two development workers from IRA to take forward the activities initiated by Sarita and Mahesh.
For ensuring transparency, all details related to contributions and transactions are available and updated on CapNet South Asia website
www.capnetsouthasia.org |
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