Dear Prof Rajanish Dass
I read your comments in a news article about rising RTI queries in IIM-Ahmedabad and the lack of transparency in appointment of senior most officers of IIMA such as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) who is the Secretary of IIMA.
The credit for organising all this activity at IIMA in the last one year mainly goes to one brave (and somewhat misunderstood because she is so intense) lady activist from Mumbai, Ms.Anny Kohli - a vocal defender of the small person and closely associated with Anna Hazare (and also for some time with India Against Corruption) who is now with Anna's Jan Tantra Morcha where her own 'Sun Sipahi andolan' (kripan wielding Sikh ladies ?) is well known for intervening in sexual harassment matters, such as also the sexual harassment of female students and research juniors in IIMA.
I had the pleasure and rare privilege of meeting this lady yesterday 27.11.2013 [see attached photo L-R Veeresh Malik (NCPRI) , Anny Kohli (ex-IAC now with Anna Hazare's JanTantra Morcha), Sarbajit Roy (India Against Corruption)] at the Central Information Commission in case no. CIC/RM/A/2013/000665 listed before Information Commissioner Rajiv Mathur (Ex Director of IB - Intelligence Bureau) at 12 noon. It was for the second time in my life I saw the proverb of Sar...ji ka baraah baj gaya' in fearsome action .
In the preliminary discussion between the parties (in a rare instance IIMA was represented by the CAO himself - Cdr. Manoj Bhat) it emerged that the new trade union had been crushed within 3 days on 17.May.2013 by charge-sheeting and suspending its acting Secretary on allegedly trumped up or forged complaints purportedly made by Noel Tata (of Tata Trent) and by 3 prominent faculty (I recall their names as being Deans Jajoo, Raghu and Rao or suchlike - you may know them) made on 13 and 16 May 2013 touching on corruption, sexual discrimination promotions, sexual harassment (which may probably be "rape" under the new Criminal Code) etc. in IIM Ahmedabad.
It emerged that the above complaints had not even been provided to this new TU's Secretary whose appeal (he is under suspension)to be provided the complaints was being heard, and there was (as per IIMA) threat to lives of the Complainants if their complaints were disclosed.
On this some intense tension and shouting in the IC's chamber lasting perhaps 10 minutes took place thereafter, and the NIC's video link between Ahmedabad and Delhi had to be turned off. Somehow I managed to cool things down and restore order (controlling an agitated Sikh senior citizen lady whose regulation 6 inch kripan kept poking me in the side is no easy task) and the IC and I got the meeting adjourned on a technical point (after I asked that the IIMA people come to Delhi for next hearing instead of videoconferencing - they were also recording the proceedings in Ahmedabad).
After the hearing got over, I spoke to the lady Anny Kohli in great depth (not easy when Anna bhakts are programmed to view IAC as usurpers), and the name of your beta-noire Prof. Rekha Jain came up repeatedly as Jain (who incidentally was the one who had brought IAC-Anna (now Jan Tantra Morcha) and Arvind Kejriwal to IIMA in 2011) was dismissing each and every case of sexual harassment being filed in IIMA by alleging that the women victims had loose characters and had brought it on themselves. (Some of the sex victims had mistakenly approached Team Anna in 2011 for justice not knowing they were jumping out of one corrupt frying pan and into the fire).
Anyway, hopefully at the next RTI hearing the truth and facts about the "life threatening complaints" in IIMA will emerge and the RTI sunshine shall be a disinfectant there.
PS: The cameras where the actions inside the chamber were being photographed by us were taken away, and my IAC co-convenor Veeresh Malik has written about this discrimination in Time of India today morning in his widely read and syndicated blog.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dehati-Aadmi/entry/the-larger-unfairness-of-small-things
NB: IAC has taken over Anna's transparency campaign at IIM-A with effect 3-November 2013 since it is now certain to go to court seeing the big names involved, and it will be a tough job for us in IAC to keep up with the pitch Ms Kohli has elevated the struggle there to - but she has promised to always be available to help the India Against Corruption andolan at IIMA and elsewhere, including against the misplaced heroism of UIDAI/Aadhaar.
In solidarity,
Sarbajit Roy
India Against Corruption
I read your comments in a news article about rising RTI queries in IIM-Ahmedabad and the lack of transparency in appointment of senior most officers of IIMA such as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) who is the Secretary of IIMA.
- http://english.globalgujaratnews.com/article/number-of-rti-queries-go-up-at-iim-ahmedabad/
- http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iimahmedabad-facing-rti--pressure--both-within-and-outside/698853/
The credit for organising all this activity at IIMA in the last one year mainly goes to one brave (and somewhat misunderstood because she is so intense) lady activist from Mumbai, Ms.Anny Kohli - a vocal defender of the small person and closely associated with Anna Hazare (and also for some time with India Against Corruption) who is now with Anna's Jan Tantra Morcha where her own 'Sun Sipahi andolan' (kripan wielding Sikh ladies ?) is well known for intervening in sexual harassment matters, such as also the sexual harassment of female students and research juniors in IIMA.
I had the pleasure and rare privilege of meeting this lady yesterday 27.11.2013 [see attached photo L-R Veeresh Malik (NCPRI) , Anny Kohli (ex-IAC now with Anna Hazare's JanTantra Morcha), Sarbajit Roy (India Against Corruption)] at the Central Information Commission in case no. CIC/RM/A/2013/000665 listed before Information Commissioner Rajiv Mathur (Ex Director of IB - Intelligence Bureau) at 12 noon. It was for the second time in my life I saw the proverb of Sar...ji ka baraah baj gaya' in fearsome action .
In the preliminary discussion between the parties (in a rare instance IIMA was represented by the CAO himself - Cdr. Manoj Bhat) it emerged that the new trade union had been crushed within 3 days on 17.May.2013 by charge-sheeting and suspending its acting Secretary on allegedly trumped up or forged complaints purportedly made by Noel Tata (of Tata Trent) and by 3 prominent faculty (I recall their names as being Deans Jajoo, Raghu and Rao or suchlike - you may know them) made on 13 and 16 May 2013 touching on corruption, sexual discrimination promotions, sexual harassment (which may probably be "rape" under the new Criminal Code) etc. in IIM Ahmedabad.
It emerged that the above complaints had not even been provided to this new TU's Secretary whose appeal (he is under suspension)to be provided the complaints was being heard, and there was (as per IIMA) threat to lives of the Complainants if their complaints were disclosed.
On this some intense tension and shouting in the IC's chamber lasting perhaps 10 minutes took place thereafter, and the NIC's video link between Ahmedabad and Delhi had to be turned off. Somehow I managed to cool things down and restore order (controlling an agitated Sikh senior citizen lady whose regulation 6 inch kripan kept poking me in the side is no easy task) and the IC and I got the meeting adjourned on a technical point (after I asked that the IIMA people come to Delhi for next hearing instead of videoconferencing - they were also recording the proceedings in Ahmedabad).
After the hearing got over, I spoke to the lady Anny Kohli in great depth (not easy when Anna bhakts are programmed to view IAC as usurpers), and the name of your beta-noire Prof. Rekha Jain came up repeatedly as Jain (who incidentally was the one who had brought IAC-Anna (now Jan Tantra Morcha) and Arvind Kejriwal to IIMA in 2011) was dismissing each and every case of sexual harassment being filed in IIMA by alleging that the women victims had loose characters and had brought it on themselves. (Some of the sex victims had mistakenly approached Team Anna in 2011 for justice not knowing they were jumping out of one corrupt frying pan and into the fire).
Anyway, hopefully at the next RTI hearing the truth and facts about the "life threatening complaints" in IIMA will emerge and the RTI sunshine shall be a disinfectant there.
PS: The cameras where the actions inside the chamber were being photographed by us were taken away, and my IAC co-convenor Veeresh Malik has written about this discrimination in Time of India today morning in his widely read and syndicated blog.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dehati-Aadmi/entry/the-larger-unfairness-of-small-things
NB: IAC has taken over Anna's transparency campaign at IIM-A with effect 3-November 2013 since it is now certain to go to court seeing the big names involved, and it will be a tough job for us in IAC to keep up with the pitch Ms Kohli has elevated the struggle there to - but she has promised to always be available to help the India Against Corruption andolan at IIMA and elsewhere, including against the misplaced heroism of UIDAI/Aadhaar.
In solidarity,
Sarbajit Roy
India Against Corruption
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