Malivia

[Aquinas]

July 4922

Government to keep Criminal Tribes Act
Dhuleep Haradas begins hunger strike

Ajatasatru Marwah, Minister of Internal Affairs, has announced the government's intention not to implement the Adivasi Commission's recommendation that the Criminal Tribes Act should be abolished. He cited "ongoing security concerns" as the reason for the decision.

Following a tsunami of speculation and demands for information, he also confirmed reports that Dhuleep Haradas, the Adivasi civil liberties campaigner who has spent more than a decade in jail under the Act, has begun a hunger strike in protest at the government's refusal to implement the recommendation.

Demonstrations are erupting all over the country, calling for the abolition of the Criminal Tribes Act and the release of Dhuleep Haradas and other political prisoners. The campaign is increasingly attracting support not only from the Adivasi community, but also from low-caste Gerajans (OOC: Hindus), Malisindus (OOC: Afro-Caribbeans), Hosians (OOC: Christians) and others.



Police spray Adivasi and low caste protesters with disinfectant



An anti-discrimination protest organised by Adivasis and low caste Gerajans in central Modalin has been halted by police, who forced the protestors to perform sit-ups as a punishment, and then hosed them down with disinfectant. Modalin City Police say they acted "to maintain public order and public hygiene". The protest organisers insist they tried to co-operate with the police in advance about the march, that none of its participants were violent or broke the law and that the disinfectant hosing and the sit-up exercises were demeaning.



Malivia criticises TDI's "flawed democracy" description

Prime Minister Ravi Ranganekary has written to the authors of the Terran Democracy Index's latest report, arguing they have "overlooked the progress being made every day in Malivia" and that "Malivia deserves to be ranked as a Full Democracy rather than a Flawed Democracy".

[Aquinas]

October 4922

Dhuleep Haradas rejects jail release offer, threatened with force feeding

Internal Affairs Minister Ajatasatru Marwah has announced he offered to release Adivasi leader Dhuleep Haradas from jail in return for a promise Haradas would not take part in any political activity, but that this offer was refused.

Haradas has broken his fast several times in response to offers of talks with Marwah, and pleas from his supporters not to put his life in danger. His current fast has lasted more than 2 weeks, and follows several previous fasts. Sources close to him and the jail where he is being held say his health is in a weak state.

Marwah has indicated he has authorised the jail to feed Haradas by force "if this becomes necessary".


Protests in Kajpur City

In every Malivian city and major town, protesters demanding Haradas' release are clashing with police.

The government is believed to be terrified of a potentially unprecedented outbreak of civil disobedience if, as feared, Haradas dies in prison.

187 Raktavani National Party legislators have signed a motion calling for Haradas to be put on trial for treason and executed if found guilty.



Haradas' hut destroyed by police



Dhuleep Haradas' hut in a forest in Walkaunar has been raided and destroy by police, who claim it was "an illegal construction" and was "suspected of being used for terrorist purposes".

The hut, which has not been lived in since Haradas was jailed more than a decade ago, had become something of a shrine to his supporters.

A police guard is now taking place outside the hut, as Haradas' neighbours and sympathisers have several times attempted to begin working on rebuilding their revered leader's home.



Sandracottos Mirchandani loses RNP ticket

Sandracottos Mirchandani, who chaired the Commission which recommended the abolition of the Criminal Tribes Act, has lost his attempt to renew his nomination to be a candidate for the Raktavani National Party at the next Lok Sabha election. The party's regional Walkaunar branch, which took the decision, said it "wished to thank Mr. Mirchandani for his contributions over many years" but "a decision was made that new blood is needed now".

[Aquinas]

April 4923

HARADAS TO BE RELEASED

Amidst nation wide rioting and protests over the continued detention and force-feeding of Malivia's most famous political prisoner, the government has announced Dhuleep Haradas will be released "imminently and without precondition".

The country is now in the grip of a mania, with half of the population disgusted and the other half deliriously thrilled at the prospect of Dhuleep Haradas stepping outside of prison for the first time in over a decade. Everybody is curious as to what he will look like since no images of him have been shared in all of that time. There is also much speculation about his physical and mental health, and how attuned he can be to the current political situation in Malivia, due to his being held in isolation for so long.

A coalition of Adivasis, lower castes, Hosians, Malisindus, other minorities, as well as liberals and reformers, have created a new grouping called the Democratic Alliance, which is planning to offer its chairmanship to Haradas as soon as he is released.


Kajpur City Prison

Hundreds of thousands of people, along with the Malivian and international media, are gathering in Kajpur City, waiting for the moment when Haradas will take his first steps to freedom.

The army and the police have been placed on high alert, and Prime Minister Ravi Ranganekary last night delivered a short television address to the nation, calling for "calm and restraint".

[Aquinas]

October 4923

HARADAS RELEASED, DEFIES CRIMINAL TRIBES ACT


Dhuleep Haradas

More than a decade after being jailed without trial under the Criminal Tribes Act, and after months of bitter campaigning and threatened fasts-to-the-death, Dhuleep Haradas, the Adivasi (OOC: Indian tribal) leader and Gerajan (OOC: Hindu) holy man who has become a figurehead for every marginalised group in the country, stepped out of Kajpur City Jail to greet the hundreds of thousands of people who had come along to greet him. The international media was out in force as well, and the televised scenes are being repeat broadcasted all across Terra.

When the heavy, intimidating prison gates opened and Haradas first emerged, the cheers from the crowd were deafening, and did not subside for a good 15 minutes, and only after Haradas had gestured with hands for the crowd to quieten, so he could say a few words.

He began, curiously enough, by thanking his jailors, whom he said he had gotten to know well over many years, and hoped to stay in contact with after leaving prison. "I am hoping to visit them and their families, when I can" he said. He also thanked his prison doctor, his family, his fellow villagers in the River Washe community in Washebar and his supporters across Malivia and the world, whose support, he said, "means more to me than I can ever express".

He then talked about wanting to return to his hut in the forest. "Assuming they've not knocked it down again," he quipped, a comment which aroused a little laughter, since Haradas' home has famously been demolished by police and then re-erected by the local villagers more times than anyone can remember.

His speech then took a more serious turn. "But as much as I would like to go back to my forest and live out my remaining years, I cannot, because there is so much work still do to, and I feel not only on behalf of myself, but on behalf of my own generation, that I have a responsibility to fight the battles that are ahead of us now, rather than just leaving them to my grandchildren to deal with".

He began with a blistering attack on the philosophy of Gerajatva (OOC: Hindutva) which animates the ruling Raktavani National Party, denouncing it as "an evil, hateful, fascist ideology". Geraja, he declared, "is the way of life for many of us in Malivia, and is a wonderful thing which has everything to offer to the world", but Gerajatva, he warned is "a perversion of everything Geraja stands for and is not Geraja at all, not all all" and is "a danger to everyone inside Malivia and a danger to a good many people outside Malivia as well".

He went on to talk about the international community, thanking "all of those people abroad who have supported our cause and done so much for us", but he had some words of criticism as well. "International community, where have you been?" he asked. "It is as though just because Malivia has for a few moments in history withdrawn its territorial claims, you think everything is fine here and everything should carry on as normal".

Next he turned to the main focus of his speech, the notorious Criminal Tribes Act. "I vow to fight this wicked legislation with every fibre of my being, every drop of my blood, every breath from my lungs - I am ready to fight this even at the cost of my own life," he thundered, to ecstatic applause and nervous glances from nearby police officers.

"Under this legislation", he continued...

We Adivasis are criminals in our own land. A police officer can enter an Adivasi dwelling without cause or reason, he can ransack his belongings, he can arrest him, he can drag him to the police station, he can detain him for as long as he wants - again with no cause - and if they choose, they can throw him in jail, for as long as they want, without even a judicial trial.

After this, the crowd became aroused, and shouts were heard demanding the government should be overthrown and even "Haradas for Prime Minister". Haradas then quietened the crowd, reminding them of his "total commitment to the principles of non-violent protest", but nevertheless arguing "we can, through non-violent protest and non-violent non-co-operation, render this entire system of oppression unworkable - we can defeat it, I promise you we can". He then spoke about how "the cause of the Adivasi is the same as the cause of every person in Malivia who wants a better and a fairer way of life here", and he referred in particular to the struggles of the Hosians (OOC: Christians), Malisindus (OOC: Afro-Caribbeans) and the lower castes.

With Haradas having remained quiet for several minutes whilst the crowd was cheering and chanting in support, it seemed as though the main event of the day might now be over. This was not to be, however. After gesturing to the crowd once again for silence, Haradas unleashed his bombshell.

"Before I came out of here, they gave me an official card, which I, as an Adivasi, am required by the government, under the terms of the Criminal Tribes Act to carry with me wherever I go". He then produced the identity card from his pocket. "Do any of you have a card like this?" he asked the crowd.

Hundreds of Adivasis surged forward, holding up their official cards.

"These are cards which we, as Adivasis, have to carry, but nobody else in Malivia has to," he said. "If we are to overcome the injustice of the Criminal Tribes Act, then our goal must be to eliminate this difference between us, and I intend to begin right here and right now".

One of Haradas' loyal supporters then emerged with a small charcoal fire, which he proceeded to light. To gasps from the crowd and horrified expressions from the nearby police officers, Haradas then raised his official card above the charcoal fire.

At this point, the senior police officer on the scene, Commander Jeet Kamath, took out his megaphone and bellowed at Haradas:

Mr. Haradas, that card is official property, and if you damage or destroy it I will have no no choice, sir, but to arrest you.

"Behold what you see," Haradas replied calmly, "This small flame will send out a light which even your grandchildren and great-grand-children and great-great-grand-children will know of". And with that, he dropped his card in to the fire, and it incinerated within moments.

With the crowd becoming more and more excited, the police hesitated, their heads huddled together, trying to work out what to do. To attempt to arrest Haradas now would be to risk a riot.

A queue of Adivasis formed, all holding their official cards. One by one, they dropped their cards in to the fire, burning forever, they hoped, at least a portion of the indignity heaped upon them by one of the cruellest and most degrading pieces of legislation anyone in the world is subject to today.

The police, outnumbered and their morale deflated, did nothing.

And after these scenes appeared on the television, and news of them spread across the country, they were repeated everywhere - in the forests, in the mountains, in the coastal communities, in the villages, the towns, the cities - everywhere.



Mangóbirodalom buys controversial mango monopoly

Mangóbirodalom Kft. (Mango Empire), a mango firm owned by Németh Nóra, daughter of an Endralonian billionaire, has paid the government a substantial sum of money in return for the right to harvest all mangos growing on government-owned public land. This has outraged millions of Malivians, particular poorer people, Adivasis and the low castes, for whom collecting mangos from public places is a custom which has been practiced since time immemorial.

[Aquinas]

April 4924

Haradas foils charge of the 3rd Modalin mounted police division

There were chaotic scenes in the capital this afternoon, as Dhuleep Haradas's Democratic Alliance organised a mass identity card burning event, encouraging Adivasis to burn the cards they are now required by law to carry under the Criminal Tribes Act.

Determined to thwart the protestors, Internal Affairs Minister Ajatasatru Marwah arrived on the scene and took over the police response himself, ordering the feared 3rd Modalin mounted police division, known for its reputation as the most brutal police unit in the country, to charge the protesters and break up the gathering. However, Haradas and his lieutenants, quick-thinking as ever, directed their supporters to lay flat on the ground, right in the path of the charging horses. The horses, following the instincts they are trained with, refused to trample over the protesters, and the police officers found their lathis (OOC: long baton-like weapons) were not long enough to hit the protesters laying on the ground. The mounted charge came to an abrupt halt, with the police horses crashing in to each other, and many police officers thrown off their horses in the ensuing tumult.

Marwah, red-faced and yelling angrily at the senior police commanders, then slunk off in his government limousine, although not before being heard muttering "I want that stupid, fucking forest tramp incarcerated" by a passing reporter.

The Democratic Alliance claims over 20,000 identity cards were incinerated in this event alone.

Dhuleep Haradas has admitted sustaining "some bruising and a knock to the head" during the police action but says he is "feeling very well, and committed to playing the fullest possible part in this struggle". It is being widely reported, however, that his state of health is much weaker than he admits.



Police cells fill up as low castes, Adivasis, Malisindus face violent backlash

Violent attacks are increasing against low castes, Adivasis, and Malisindus (OOC: Afro-Caribbeans), seemingly in response to Dhuleep Haradas's appeal to them to "defy the dehumanising social norms which make you second class citizens in the land of your birth". In particular, he is encouraging them to disobey police restrictions on their movements, and not, when out in public, to stand up for members of higher castes as a sign of respect, as they are usually expected to. This is leading to a multitude of angry incidents, including in parts of the country where there has never been such visible conflict between the two different ends of the social order.

Haradas is also encouraging marginalised groups not to accept being forced to stand outside in order to be served at government ration shops and private shops, where they are commonly served last, and are not even allowed to actually enter in to the shop, but expected to communicate their requests verbally through shop windows instead and be served outside. All over the country, low castes, Adivasis and Malisindus are simply waiting outside shops, refusing to make their purchases unless they are served inside like everybody else, but also refusing to go away either. This has led to scenes of violence, with the police coming in on the side of shop owners and trying to disperse the crowds. Following Haradas's instructions, the protesters are refusing to disperse, but also not resisting arrest. As a result, police cells across the country are filling up very fast, but so many people are being detained now that the police are usually reluctant to hold on to them for very long, because there is not enough capacity in either the police cells or the prison system.



Ten million have taken the Pledge, claims Democratic Alliance

The Democratic Alliance, the hastily-formed political outfit organised to support the campaigns of Dhuleep Haradas, has announced over ten million Malivians have now taken its "Freedom Pledge", which commits the pledger to "ceaselessly struggle against injustice in Malivia until full equality is achieved" and to "never resist arrest and to campaign through exclusively peaceful and non-violent means".

[Aquinas]

September 4924

Mango picking campaign challenges Mangóbirodalom monopoly


Malivian mango picker illegally violating Mangóbirodalom's monopoly on mangoes growing in public places

Dhuleep Haradas has gone out mango picking, and is encouraging everyone in the country to do the same. In ordinary circumstances, such an event would not be so significant. But this is 4924, and the country is in the grip of the Haradas pro-equality protests, and Mangóbirodalom Kft. (Mango Empire) has purchased from the government a right to a monopoly over all mangoes growing on public land.

Millions of Malivians are infuriated by this, having long enjoyed the privilege of going outside and plucking a few mangoes for themselves and their families. For the poorer sections of society - especially the low castes and the Adivasis - the new mango picking prohibition is particularly grievous.

Németh Nóra, the Endralon-born owner of Mangóbirodalom, is taking an aggressive line against the mango pickers violating her firm's monopoly, employing teams of private security guards to confront them and pressuring the police to become involved as well. Most sinister of all, to ordinary Malivians, she has installed a massive network of CCTV cameras to try to catch the mango pickers on film and then send their details to the police. CCTV cameras are a comparatively newer thing in Malivia, and many parts of the country have never seen them used on anything like this scale before.


Mango stall outside the World Congress General Assembly Building on the Whale Island

The mango pickers have now taken their campaign to the World Congress, where a small number of Malivians have erected a mango stall outside the World Congress General Assembly Building, and are trying to sell mangos to the delegates as they walk in and out, whilst also attempting to engage them about the civil liberties campaign in Malivia. The mangos are all illegally taken from public places, in defiance of Mangóbirodalom's legal monopoly, and the campaigners are calling them Svatantrata Aam (Freedom Mangoes).

[Aquinas]

April 4925

"KAREGA YA MAREGA!"
Haradas to lead mass march in defiance of Criminal Tribes Act

In another set-piece confrontation with the establishment, Dhuleep Haradas is due to lead a large scale demonstration out of Dhariya in Walkaunar, a mining town with a large Adivasi population, which Adivasis are forbidden to leave without receiving official permission and carrying the appropriate papers, as per the powers given to the authorities under the Criminal Tribes Act.

All of the demonstrators publicly burned their identity cards and papers at a protest gathering yesterday, and have vowed to defy the government by marching out of the town illegally.

The mining town of Dhariya has long been a focus of tension between Adivasis and the authorities. Ten years ago, Dhariya Town was all forest, and did not even exist. It was only built after the authorities moved in, forced the Adivasis off their land, demolished the forest for mining, and then employed most of the Adivasis - who had been made homeless and destitute - as miners.

Memories of the events of a decade ago are still very bitter, and the local people have never been entirely happy about having to transition from forest life to becoming town dwelling miners.

Tensions reached a fever pitch two months ago, when the mining company demolished an ancient rock structure which, according to local Adivasi beliefs, is a sacred space where the goddess Varlati (OOC: Parvati) lives. This, combined with the restrictions placed on their movements using the Criminal Tribes Act, pushed the local population over the edge, and they threw themselves fulsomely behind Haradas' campaign when he arrived here a few days ago.

Internal Affairs Minister Ajatasatru Marwah has warned Haradas and the protesters that "the law will be upheld, and arrests and prosecutions will follow, if necessary".

For Haradas and his supporters, though, this is, to use Haradas' latest slogan, a case of "Karega ya marega!" or "We will do or die!". Speaking in Dhariya Town centre this morning, Haradas urged his followers "to be strong, to be disciplined, to abstain from all use of violence or force and never to resist arrest", but at the same time, "to refuse to co-operate with this evil, wicked law".



Paradise Gate splinter sect spotted in Malivia

A schismatic offshoot of the Hosian cult, Path to Paradise's Gate, has been identified on the outskirts of Kajpur City, where up to 40 followers are believed to be meeting at a rundown barn which has been converted in to a mission hall. The group, known as Gate to Paradises's Path, adds popular Gerajan (OOC: Hindu) apocalyptic themes to the theology, emphasising the Dali Yuga (Age of Dali), when the Gerajan god Dali (OOC: Kali) will take control of the world and usher in chaos and destruction.

[Aquinas]

October 4925

HARADAS JAILED, RESUMES HUNGER STRIKE

After triumphantly leading a mass procession of Adivasis out of Dhariya Town, in defiance of the authorities, Dhuleep Haradas has been picked up by the police and jailed, without trial, under the terms of the Criminal Tribes Act.

He is being held at a secret location, "for security reasons". Foreign Minister Vishnu Satavelekar faced a gruelling showdown with the international media over this at a press conference earlier, where he was asked 23 times where Haradas is, and on each time could give no more specific an answer than "in Malivia".

The Internal Affairs Ministry has admitted Haradas has resumed his hunger strike. Haradas's family say they have communicated with him and can confirm he is on hunger strike, although they say they are not at liberty to disclose where he is being held. Prime Minister Ravi Ranganekary suggested Haradas is taking glucose with his water and is thus "not in imminent danger of death", although Haradas's family deny this.

Mass protests are erupting across the country, and violent scenes are being reported between protesters and the police.



Protesters machine-gunned by police helicopter

A police helicopter has opened machine gun fire on pro-Haradas protesters in Bhulkandra who were obstructing the railway network by standing on the railway lines. 17 were killed and 34 injured.



Panja declares war on sparrows





Agriculture Minister Madri Panja has ordered the extermination of Malivia's estimated 3 million population of sparrows, branding the birds "pests who are eating away our national grain stock" and promising that "once the sparrows are gone, our agricultural productivity will be revolutionised".

Orinthologists are furious.

[Aquinas]

May 4926

"I REFUSE TO PAY 1 RUPEE"
Haradas defies the establishment, walks from jail

With the country falling to pieces amidst civil unrest, the government has reluctantly given in to demands to release Dhuleep Haradas from Kubir City Prison, where it now emerges he had been held.

However, this was not before he was sent on a fast-track outing to court, where has was charged with causing public disorder, given a 5 year suspended sentence and order to pay 10,000 rupees.

"I refuse to pay 10,000 rupees", Haradas told the judge, after his sentence was read.

The judge, mindful of the uproar which would follow if Haradas was sentenced to imprisonment for refusing to pay a fine, responded: "Then I order you to pay 6000 rupees".

"I refuse to pay 6000 rupees".

"Then I order you to pay 3000 rupees".

"I refuse to pay 3000 rupees."

"Then I order you to pay 1000 rupees".

"I refuse to pay 1000 rupees."

"Then I order you to pay 100 rupees".

"I refuse to pay 100 rupees."

"Then I order you to pay 1 rupee."

"I refuse to pay 1 rupee."

"Then I permit you you to leave without payment of any fine."

After this amazing exchange, Haradas's supporters in the gallery and outside the court building erupted in to cheers, and Haradas was applauded as a returning hero as he left the court, and handed out Svatantrata Aam (Freedom Mangoes) to the international journalists who were waiting to interview him.



RNP conference cheers sparrow massacre




Record numbers of sparrows are being shot by the Ministry of Food & Agriculture

The annual Raktavani National Party (RNP) conference gave Agriculture Minister Madri Panja the loudest and longest standing ovation of all after she promised to "blast every sparrow out of the sky" and boasted how this would "save our grain supplies and make Malivia the biggest agricultural exporter in Terra".

"500,000 dead sparrows" she promised the audience.

They cheered.

"One million dead sparrows!"

They cheered even louder.

"Two million dead sparrows!"

They jumped to their feet and clapped their hands as loudly as they could.

"Three million dead sparrows, every sparrow wiped out, Malivian grain finally made safe for the benefit of all Malivians!"

At this, all pandemonium broke loose.

Madri Panja is now being tipped as a future Prime Minister.

[Aquinas]

October 4926

Malivia denies tampering with Vascanian referendum ballots

Prime Minister Ravi Ranganekary has issued a statement "comprehensively rejecting" allegations that the Malivian government interfered with referendum ballot papers sent to Vascanian citizens living in Malivia in order to assist the "No" side, in order to save the Vascanian monarchy, which has a long-standing relationship with Malivia, and assist the more conservative elements in Vascania, which have traditionally been more sympathetic to Malivia's ruling Raktavani National Party.

Various NGOs and media outlets claim they have received credible evidence that agents of the government interfered with the election process, and for example, that the Ministry of Internal Affairs gained possession of a large number of ballot papers sent to Vascanian citizens who are in fact deceased, filled them in as "No" votes then posted them off to Vascania.

Internal Affairs Minister Ajatasatru Marwah has dismissed these claims as "malicious lies" and refused calls to open an independent inquiry in to whether any wrongdoing took place.

Professor Aishwarya Kumar from the University of Washebar has said she "will not rule out the possibility ballot rigging took place, as we know there have been similar incidents to this in Malivia in recent years", although she added:

If ballot rigging did take place, it would not have affected the outcome of the result, since the "No" side had a lead of nearly 35 million votes. Remember, though, that in the days and weeks leading up to the election, to many people it was looking as though a really close result was a possibility, and if that had been the case, then the overseas ballots could have been potentially more decisive.

Prakash Badakar, editor of the Raktavani Chronicle, has published a special feature about the role of the Malivian Gerajatva (OOC: Hindutva) movement in the online social media campaign for a "No" vote. It is being speculated that the Malivian government helped fund some of these activities, and even sent government communications officials to help organise them. The government denies this, however.

Emperor Chandragupta II has written to his Vascanian counterpart, Emperor Kritagni, congratulating him on the result and expressing his hope to meet him and his family soon. Foreign Minister Vishnu Satavelekar has also written to his Vascanian counterpart, assuring him that the reports of Malivian interference in the referendum are "completely untrue" and gushing about the "long-standing friendship and respect between our two great Empires" and how "false rumours will not get in the way of any of this".



Criminal Tribes Act "suspended"

Internal Affairs Minister Ajatasatru Marwah has announced to the Lok Sabha that he has "suspended the operation of the Criminal Tribes Act with immediate effect". Civil rights campaigners are pleased by the news, although disappointed that there are no plans so far to take the legislation off the statute book. For Dhuleep Haradas and his Democratic Alliance, this represents at least a partial victory.



Sparrow hunters jailed for shooting parrots

Seventeen participants in the Ministry of Agriculture's radical plan to exterminate sparrows have been sent to jail for 4 months each after being found to have gotten carried away with their activities, and turned their guns on flocks of Malivian Parrots.

The Malivian Parrot is a revered species in Malivia, and used to be the national animal before being displaced by the cow some centuries back. Unlike the sparrow, it enjoys special divine protection, from Paradevi, an important Gerajan (OOC: Hindu) parrot god, which usually makes people reluctant to interfere with it, even when it is being a nuisance.

For the last 385 years, Malivia has been pleading with Selucia to do something about its opium fields, which the Malivan Parrot gets stoned on between April and December every year, rendering them unable to fly back over the ocean to Malivia without the help of the special floating parrot islands Malivia has installed, which in turn are a subject of international controversy, with allegations regularly being circulated that Malivia uses them for underhand espionage purposes.