Manjunath Trust

2006-02-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Machan!!

Today is also the day some friends of Machan are starting a Trust- to raise funds for his case etc. Please contribute generously. Below is a mail from Anjali, a person is involved with this effort, giving more details about the Trust.
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Feb 23rd is the birthday of Manjunath Shanmugam - an IIM L (2003) alumnus who lost his life for his fight against corruption. He died on November 19th, 2005.

As a Sales Manager with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), Manju turned down bribes and ignored threats, to do his job – check rampant adulteration of petrol. He was shot dead in Lakhimpur Kheri by a petrol pump owner and his gang.

To most of us, though we never met him, Manju is extremely familiar and is, in part, within every one of us. This is one cause we CANNOT turn away from. We have no excuse. We must ensure that his death does not go in vain.

The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust is now a legal entity with 2 trustees - Anjali Mullatti (IIML '93) and H. Jaishankar (IIMB '91).

The immediate and urgent focus of the trust is to take up the legal battle and ensure quick justice for the murder case . The murderers must not go free.

The broader objectives of the trust are

a . To establish and maintain an award for individuals/institutions working to uphold the values of truth and honesty in the face of danger to themselves.

b. To provide aid to individuals fighting a legal battle to uphold the values of truth, honesty or justice in the Indian corporate, government or public matters.

For updates on what we have done to date and our next steps, please visit the trust website:
www.manjunathshanmugamtrust.org

How can you help?

Firstly – funds are needed to pay lawyers' fees, case costs, build an award corpus.. this will be a long and tedious battle. Please donate just one day's salary for the cause.
Our first donors: Rs. 44,500 ($ 1000) from Sanjay Khanduri, Wharton Class of 2006, and Rs. 30,000 from Akhil Krishna, IIML 2003.

Secondly, if you can commit time and effort, please write in and be part of the team.

Thirdly, if you have close contacts in media, police, legal, judiciary who can help, please let us know.

It is heartwarming that so many people have already reacted immediately and generously – across the spectrum of media, legal, police and the IIM fraternity. Be part of that group.

How do you donate?

1. Write a cheque favouring 'The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust' , and courier it to:
2909/1, Raghavapriya, 3rd Main , V.V. Mohalla, Mysore 570 002, India

2. Write a cheque favouring 'The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust' , and deposit it in any HDFC bank drop box, with a deposit slip, account number 0651000091870.

2. Do an online money transfer , to the HDFC Bank a/c , from your ICICI /HDFC/Citibank a/c. Account number 0651000091870.

Currently FCRA regulations prohibit us from accepting foreign remittances - we're working on getting special permission. For now, please route all overseas donations via your regular Indian rupee accounts.

We have also applied for income tax exemption for donors under Section 80 (G).

Please contact me for any further clarifications - anjali@corporateacademy.com.

In fond Memory of Manjunath (Machan) ...

2005-11-23T10:38:00.000-08:00

Manjunath is fondly remembered by his friends as Machan. He was a loving son, a caring brother and most of all was one of the most honest and thoughtful person that we knew. He was a BE graduate from SJCE Mysore 1999 Batch and an MBA Graduate from IIM-L, 2002 batch. His exemplary talents and the warmth of his friendship drew students, teachers and the community alike to him.

He was a courageous leader and joined IOC as a sales manager in 2002 and led their sales tasks in the most honest manner. It appears it was this honesty and integrity that drove him to being brutally murdered on Saturday night November 19th 2005. Sad but this is what our system has cultivated. One honest officer trying to do his job in the right way becomes the victim of the very system he is trying to protect. He is survived by his father, mother, brother and a sister.

In this hour of grief, kind words are a soothing touch. Let us hear from everybody whose lives Manjunath has touched. Please post your condolence messages on this blog and they will be conveyed to his family.

The news magazines carrying articles about Manjunath's demise and any followups to the incident have been listed here and will be updated regularly. Please check the Press Links section below.

We are trying to spread an awareness campaign to obtain justice to him and his family. We are also preparing a petition to ensure the appropriate authorities are urged into getting to the bottom of this incident. Please follow the link to file a signature petition to ensure that authorities do not throw this in cold storage. (Please spread the word around so that we have more people to support this awareness campaign). You can contact us by email.

May his soul rest in peace and may his family find the strength and courage to deal with this terrible loss.

From, All his friends
Please post your condolence by adding comments below.

Remembering Manjunath (Machan to his friends...)

Manjunath Trust

In fond Memory of Manjunath (Machan) ...