03/19/20
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Mayawati inaugurates Rs.684 crore Dalit park (2)
Noida: With rose petals, prayers and
thousands of people looking on, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati
Friday inaugurated a Rs.684 crore park dedicated to the Dalit cause in
this satellite town adjoining the national capital.With statues of 24
elephants, the symbol of her Bahujan Samaj Party, and of Dalit icons
B.R. Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram and of herself, the 82-acre Rashtriya Dalit
Prerna Sthal and Green Garden has been a subject of massive
controversy. Thousands of people had gathered since morning to watch
Mayawati inaugurate the park on the outskirts of New Delhi, with many
political observers saying that it was a move aimed at the assembly
elections next year. Unmindful of the criticism that she has received
for the park with some describing ut as monumental folly, Mayawati
touched down in a helicopter at 4.50 p.m. in Film City in Noida. As TV
cameras captured the moment, a beaming Mayawati went around the
premises. Buddhist monks chanted prayers. Unusually, her parents Ramrati
and father Prabhu Dass were with her. Traffic in and around Noida came
to a standstill. Police officials said they had a tough time in
controlling the surging crowds.(Pioneer 14/10/11)
Dalits push their version of Lokpal bill (2)
NEW DELHI: A representative of Dalit
organisations Saturday sought support for their version of the antigraft
bill, claiming that the Jan Lokpal bill drafted by Team Anna “will
disturb the constitutional balance”.”The Jan Lokpal bill wants the
executive, the judiciary and the legislature should report to the
Lokpal. This will disturb the fine constitutional balance,” said All
India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations chairman Udit Raj, seeking
support for their version of the proposed legislation called the Bahujan
Lokpal bill. Speaking at a seminar, he sought reservation for Dalits
and minorities in the proposed anti-corruption set-up through the
Bahujan Lokpal bill. “If Anna supports our demand, we will back him.”
“Dalits, including the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and
minorities, form a large percentage of population and must be involved
in the Lokpal,” Udit Raj said at the seminar on various versions of the
proposed legislation. Swami Agnivesh, a former member of Team Anna, also
supported the demand for a quota for Dalits and minorities in the
proposed Lokpal set-up. “No legislation or movement will be successful
if it does not have social justice,” said Agnivesh. Shazia Ilmi, a
member of
Team Anna, said, “our movement follows
parliamentary procedures” and “was not opposed to giving reservation to
the Dalits and minorities”.”We are basically against corruption and want
a strong Lokpal,” said Shazia. Udit Raj said even if the Lokpal bill
was passed, “there is no guarantee it will be effective in rooting out
corruption”.The parliamentary standing committee on law and justice
headed by Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi is looking into various
drafts of the Lokpal bill, including the Jan Lokpal bill. The panel is
expected to submit its recommendations to parliament by the winter
session, which is usually held in November-December. (Times of India
15/10/11)
Dalit candidates threaten to withdraw from contest (2)
MADURAI, October 15, 2011: Four
candidates who are contesting for the post of panchayat president in
Keeripatti coming under Usilampatti taluk have threatened to withdraw
from the contest alleging undemocratic practices followed by caste
Hindus in the village. Keeripatti is one among the four reserved
panchayats, the others being Pappapatti and Nattarmangalam in Madurai
district and Kottakachiendal in Virudhunagar district, which saw severe
opposition from the dominant castes to conduct elections, and when held
the Dalits were asked to resign, thus making a mockery of democracy.
However, concerted efforts during the previous DMK government saw the
restoration of a democratic setup in these panchayats. The Hindu carried
a news item on September 29 stating that the situation is dicey in
Keeripatti after dominant caste members called for an ‘oor (village)
panchayat’ (an assembly of elders, wealthy and influential persons,
mostly belonging to the predominant caste group) and chose A.
Mokkakaalai (33), a conservancy worker, as candidate. This being the
situation, on Friday, they again called for an ‘oor panchayat’ meeting
for which Mokkakaalai, the candidate chosen by the Piramalai Kallars,
was seen beating the ‘thamukku’ (traditional drum) to announce the
meeting. The villagers said that the meeting which took place from 6.30
a.m. till 7.00 a.m. saw the Piramalai Kallars make promises and take
vows on flames of camphor to their lineage god Vangaru Thevar Samy that
they will not vote for others but only Mokkakaalai. It was also said
that people who voted for others would be ostracised from the village.
The Dalit candidate Mokkakalai fielded by the Kallars have been assured
of three sovereigns of gold and Rs.1 lakh in cash if he wins the
election. The Dalit candidates, B. Chinnasamy (35), N. Subban (50), P.
Palani (41) and A. Subban (55), told The Hindu that the administration
was biased towards caste Hindus. Higher officials, including the
Collector and Revenue Divisional Officer, did not visit the Dalit areas
in the village to hear their grievances but only met the caste Hindus.
They also alleged that the policemen who accompanied the candidate, M.
Baluchamy, during the campaign were the kinsmen of villagers and it was
nothing but mere tokenism on the part of the administration. The other
Dalit candidates have not been able to campaign at the caste Hindu
areas. “Once the election is over, we all could be under threat as there
is a precedence of the entire village ostracising Dalits who disobey
the prevailing practices,” said A. Subban. They urged the State Election
Commission (SEC) to either postpone the elections or ensure proper
security and allow them to campaign and conduct the elections in a
democratic manner. A. Kathir, Executive Director, Evidence, said that
there was no doubt that there existed a kind of uncertainty in
Keeripatti over the realisation of empowerment of Dalits, which was one
of the declared objectives of decentralisation of power. The SEC should
take stringent measures to restore democracy in its fullest form. (The
Hindu 15/10/11)
Dalit set on fire in Etah (2)
Lucknow: On an old enmity, three persons,
allegedly, bashed up a man and later set him afire amid the presence of
his family in Etah district on Saturday night. The police, however,
downplayed the incident saying the man set himself afire reason of which
are yet to be ascertained. As per reports, Dinesh Kasyap (30) resided
at Kanshi Ram Awasiya Colony (house number 67, block number 6) under
Kotwali police station with his family. He was an alcoholic and used to
frequent the house of Rinku where he had drink sessions with Rinku,
Pinku and Puttan. Two days back, Dinesh had a dispute with the trio
while drinking at the house of one of the named persons. After the
verbal duel came into notice the locals intervened and Dinesh returned
his home then. On Saturday night, Dinesh was at home as his family
consisting father Ramesh Chandra, mother Mithilesh were celebrating
Karvachauth. His sister Arti and her husband Ajay were also at his home.
While the family was busy in celebrating the festival, the trio stormed
the house and hold Dinesh. They doused Dinesh with kerosene and then
set him afire before fleeing the scene. Dinesh ran to save his life but
his attempt stoked the fire further causing him burnt badly in the
incident. He was later taken before he be taken to hospital. He later
died during treatment. Dinesh’s claimed that Rinku and his aided set
Dinesh afire in vengeance. “The trio had a dispute with Dinesh two days
back. In the incident, Dinesh had retaliated when was attacked. The trio
felt themselves insulted and killed him,” his family claimed. The
family further alleged that the police was trying to downplay the
incident making it up a suicide case and was trying to save the
miscreants at the direction of big-wigs. Inspector Kotwali police
station, however, said Dinesh was an alcoholic and set himself afire in
frustration. He said the police were trying to find out the reason
behind the suicide. DIG (Aligarh range) BP Tripathi said the family
members had given a complaint against the trio and necessary action was
being taken. Later an FIR under section 302 of IPC, for murder, and
section 436 of IPC, for mischief by fire or explosive substance with
intent to destroy house was registred in this connection. Further
investigation in the case is on.(The Pioneer 16/10/11)
Dalit PM from Congress before long: Anil Shastri (2)
New Delhi, October 17, 2011: A Dalit will
be nominated as Prime Minister by the Congress in the near future, a
senior party leader said on Sunday. “The day is not far when it will
give a Dalit PM, not for votes but for Dalit empowerment,” party leader
Anil Shastri posted in Twitter. The statement comes in the wake of the
claim of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati that the Congress could
appoint Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar or Union Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde as Prime Minister ahead of the U.P. Assembly elections. Earlier,
AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is in charge of party affairs
in Uttar Pradesh, dismissed Ms. Mayawati’s claim saying that Manmohan
Singh would remain the Prime Minister. Mr. Shastri, in another tweet,
said: “Mayawati can’t be the only Dalit aspiring to be PM. There are
many more qualified and capable leaders in the Congress.” On the debate
over the RTI, the Congress leader said: “There seems to be a concerted
effort by people in government to dilute and weaken the RTI, which
should be resisted by all right thinking people.” Mr. Shastri has
expressed his views in the backdrop of Dr. Singh’s statement that a
“critical look” must be taken at the RTI Act. — PTI (The Hindu 17/10/11)
Pune braveheart fights for farmer rights (2)
Pune: A fighter by birth, farmer activist
Bant Singh has literally faced death and lived to tell the tale. A
Dalit farmer-singer from Jhabar village in Mansa district in Punjab,
Singh is the president of the farmers’ association of the CPI
(ML-Liberation) party in Punjab. In Pune with his co-workers to spread
the word about his work, Bant interacted with the media on Monday.
Singh’s activism had cost him his limbs as he had taken the cudgels to
fight against the atrocities of the upper caste farmers in his village.
It was the brutal rape of his minor daughter in 2000, by powerful upper
caste men in his village, which compelled Singh to throw his hat in the
field of activism. He dared to take on the might of the establishment
and took the men to the court. It was his fighting spirit, which ensured
that the upper caste men were handed out life sentences, an event which
was unheard of in the upper caste dominated society Singh hailed from.
In 2006, Singh was attacked by a gang of seven, who mercilessly hacked
his limbs off and left him to die. The immediate reason for this attack
was Singh’s campaign for the rights of farmers and labourers. He
survived the attack and is now a beacon of strength and hope for
thousands of farmers and oppressed across the country. In Pune to
express his solidarity with the cause of farmers and labourers, Singh
said that in spite of the setbacks his fighting spirit remains strong.
“We are ready to take the cause of the farmers anywhere in the country,”
he said. (DNA 18/10/11)
Atrocities against Dalits on the rise: Minister (2)
RAICHUR, October 18, 2011: Minister for
Social Welfare A. Narayanaswamy said here on Monday that the district
administration had failed to “properly handle” cases of atrocity against
Dalits. Chairing a district-level review meeting of his department, he
said the Government was committed to protecting the interests of Dalits.
“Since the last three years, there has been a rise in atrocities on
Dalits in the district. However, the action taken by the district
administration is not satisfactory,” the Minister said. He said the
Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police and officials of various
deparments should attend the hearings in atrocity cases. The Minister
directed the district administration to hold gram sabhas in all hoblis
in the district to create awareness among the public on the need for
their cooperation in checking cases of atrocity. Criticising officials
of the zilla panchayat, the Minister said: “Over 50 per cent of the
Dalit families in the district have no toilets even though the
Government had released funds,” he said. He asked the Chief Executive
Officer of the zilla panchayat to submit a report on the funds the
panchayat had received and its utilisation in the past three years. The
Minister promised to ensure proper implementation of the subsidised
construction of latrines in the district. He asked the officials of the
city and town municipalities to ensure that that all the Dalit families
in the district had toilets in the next three
years. He said stringent action would be
taken against officials if they failed to complete the scheme in next
three years.Deputy Commissioner V. Anbukkumar, nappa Vajjal, MLA, were
present. (The Hindu 18/10/11)
Dalit girl accuses BSP legislator in UP of rape (2)
Lucknow:: A dalit girl has accused
Bahujan Samaj Party legislator from Shahjahanpur, about 175 km from
here, Neeraj Maurya of abducting and raping her and also claimed that
she had a 10-month child from the legislator. The girl, Sakshi Soni, a
resident of Mauzampur village in the district, has levelled the
allegations in an affidavit filed in the court of Judicial Magistrate
Parul Pawar, according to reports. In her affidavit, which was filed in
the court a few days back, the girl has alleged that Maurya’s goons had
abducted her from a field near her village about 18 months back and took
her to the legislator’s house at Jalalabad in the district, where she
was raped by Maurya and some others. The family of the girl had lodged a
report with the police when she was abducted and suspected the role of
the MLA but the police, instead of booking the MLA, arrested some one
else and also filed a charge sheet against him in the court. The dalit
girl alleged that she was released by her abductors in December last.
“We had approached the police on many occasions seeking to register a
case against the MLA and his goons but our pleas fell on deaf ears,”
Harsahai Soni, her father, said. He also alleged that Maurya called him
many times and threatened him with dire consequences if he approached
the police. The girl then approached the court seeking a direction to
the police to book the MLA and some others for rape and abduction.
Several member of legislative assembly of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party
have faced charges of abductions, rape and murder in the past. Chief
Minister Mayawati has also taken action against some of them. In the
past few days, four ministers have been sacked after being indicted by
the Lokayukta for land grabbing, amassing huge wealth and also indulging
in criminal activities. Bahujan Samaj Party legislator from Budaon
Yogendra Sagar is also facing charges of abduction and rape while
another party MLA Guddu Pandit was charged with stalking a research
scholar after she insisted on marrying him and threatened to expose him.
(Deccan Herald 20/10/11)
Dalits beaten up for trying to enter temple (2)
GULBARGA, October 22, 2011: An incident
of Dalits being denied entry into a temple has come to light in
Maddampura village near Konchavam in Chincholi taluk of the district.
Nine persons were allegedly beaten up by the “upper castes” for trying
to enter the Hanuman temple in the village to offer puja. The incident
occurred on October 17, and even though a case was registered at the
Konchavaram police station, not one person named in the FIR has been
arrested. Raghuveer, a Dalit from the village who filed the complaint
against 14 “upper caste” people of the same village, told The Hindu that
all the accused were roaming free. About 40 Dalit families were,
however, living in constant fear of another attack from the “upper
castes” for lodging the complaint. Mr. Raghuveer, along with eight other
residents who were attacked on October 17, came to Gulbarga on Thursday
to submit a memorandum to the district authorities on the incident and
seeking their intervention. Although the police registered cases of
nonbailable offence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections of IPC against the 14
persons, none of them has so far been arrested. Lakshman, another victim
of the attack, said a similar attempt to prevent the Dalits from
entering the Hanuman temple was made on July 4, 2011. Though a complaint
was lodged, the taluk authorities had not taken steps to check such
incidents. On October 17, Dalits in the village made another attempt to
enter the temple, only to be beaten up by the “upper castes”. The Dalits
said that though the Chincholi tahsildar and the circle inspector of
Chincholi police station visited the village on October 18, no action
had been taken against the accused. (The Hindu 22/10/11)
“No poll boycott, Dalits weren’t allowed to vote” (2)
MADURAI, October 23, 2011: A writ
petition has been filed before the Madras High Court Bench here claiming
that the villagers of Pallapacherry and Kodangipatti in the Kamuthi
Panchayat Union of Ramanathapuram district did not boycott the local
body elections on October 19 but were forcibly prevented from exercising
their franchise. S. Arjunan, a Dalit from Pallapacherry, stated that a
small group of people had made a false propaganda that the two villages
were boycotting the polls. The motive was to prevent the villagers, who
were aggrieved at a spate of violent incidents against Dalits, from
voting against the ruling party. Justice V. Ramasubramanian on Friday
directed the Ramanathapuram Collector and the Superintendent of Police
to file their counter affidavits by October 28. He also ordered that the
declaration of results with respect to elections held in the two
villages would be subject to the outcome of the writ petition. Earlier,
petitioner’s counsel N. Dilip Kumar stated that two polling booths were
established in Pallapacherry for 859 voters to elect a ward member for
the Kamuthi Panchayat Union and a member for the Kamuthi North District
Council. There was no contest for the posts of Mandalamanickam village
panchayat president and Councillor. The villagers wanted to vent their
anger at the government as they were disturbed at the recent murder of a
Dalit boy of Pallapacherry. Within days after the murder, the police
opened fire and killed six people during a procession taken out to pay
homage to Dalit leader Immanuel Sekaran on September 11. (The Hindu
23/10/11)
Dalits object to Thevar Jayanthi procession (2)
MADURAI, October 23, 2011: : Dalits of
Muthuramalingapuram Pudur in Thiruchuli Taluk of Virudhunagar district
refused to accept a suggestion made by the Madras High Court Bench here
on Friday that only women and children alone could be permitted to go on
a procession through a National Highway cutting across their village in
view of Thevar Jayanthi on October 30. M. Dhanushkodi (65), a village
elder representing the residents of Muthuramalingapuram Pudur, told a
Division Bench of Justices K.N. Basha and M. Venugopal that the Dalits
would vacate the village if the procession was allowed through the
National Highway. He apprehended a repeat of 2008 riots and said that
the memories of that incident were still ripe in the minds of Dalits. He
refused to budge despite Mr. Justice Basha trying to pacify him stating
that people should forget the past and move forward. “Let this be a
test. We’ll permit women that too only aged women and children to go on a
procession. We will also impose very strict conditions. We will say
that they should not even turn towards your village situated on both
sides of the Highway,” the judge said. The attempt to strike a truce was
made during the hearing of public interest litigation petition filed by
12 individuals from various villages in Tiruchuli Taluk of Virudhunagar
district. The petitioners were aggrieved against the insistence of the
police to take the procession through a 100 km route rather than a
shorter route of 25 km passing through Muthuramlaingapuram Pudur. The
petitioners’ counsel W. Peter Ramesh Kumar stated that it would be
impossible for women, carrying milk pots to the Thevar memorial at
Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district, to walk through the 100 km route.
“I don’t think women and children are going to throw stones on them
(Dalits). Women are not going to ransack their houses. How can there be
an objection to this?” he wondered. Appearing on behalf of the Director
General of Police, Additional Advocate General K. Chellapandian said
that the police were ready to provide additional force at the National
Highway cutting across Muthuramalingapuram Pudur if the court directed
them to do so. However, when the judges expressed their inability to
permit the procession through the National Highway passing through
Muthuramlingapuram Pudur in view of the objection raised by the Dalits,
the petitioners’ counsel said that he would withdraw the PIL petition.
Accepting the submission, the judges dismissed the case as withdrawn.
(The Hindu 23/10/11)
Honour killing: woman beaten to death in MP village (2)
Morena: In an alleged incident of honour
killing, a married woman who had eloped with a Dalit man was beaten to
death, and her body was burnt, by the family members. The horrific
incident took place on October 20 at village Lehar in the district. The
woman, Guddi alias Bhoori (30), who had four kids, had eloped with a
sweeper named Kamal, her neighbour, on October 2. Her family members
found her on October 20. She was beaten to death and then hung from a
tree. Her body was set on fire. The killing took place in full public
view, but none of the villagers came forward to help the woman, police
said. Guddi’s parents registered a complaint with the Dimni police
station. Her in-laws have been absconding, police said. Kamal and his
family members too are missing. Keywords: Madhya Pradesh, Caste
discrimination, Dalit, Honour killing (The Hindu 24/10/11)
13 booked for suspected honour killing in Hisar (2)
Chandigarh: Thirteen people have been
booked in a suspected case of honour killing of an upper caste youth who
allegedly had an affair with a Dalit girl, the police said on Sunday.
Krishan Nain’s body was recovered from a canal in Hisar’s Adampur on
Tuesday. Nain, 28, a resident of Amargarh village in Jind district, had
first met the girl at a marriage function two years ago. The couple had
recently decided to tie the knot, but the move was strongly opposed by
the girl’s family. A village Panchayat had also been convened recently
over the matter and the girl’s family had decided to shift from Amargarh
village to Narwana, near Jind, the police said. However, Nain kept
meeting the girl, much to the annoyance of her family. The police said
the girl had been kept at her uncle’s house in Narwana some days back.
According to the victim’s mobile phone
call details, he received the last call from a cell phone number
registered in the name of the girl’s cousin. The police said Nain was
called to Narwana on October 16 by the girl’s family, after which he
went missing and his cell phone remained switched off. — PTI (The Hindu
24/10/11)
BSP condemns atrocities on Dalits (2)
HASSAN: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) State
convener N. Mahesh has criticised people’s representatives of the
district for not preventing atrocities on Dalits. He was speaking at a
convention to mark the conclusion of a four-day padayatra from Siddapur
in Arkalgud taluk to Hassan. Siddapur was in news recently following the
social boycott of Dalits by caste Hindus. Mr. Mahesh said: “Don’t these
people feel ashamed when a section of their voters are socially
boycotted?” He said that as many as 1,630 cases of atrocities on Dalits
were reported in the State in 2010, most of them in north Karnataka. “In
most of the cases, people who call themselves followers of social
reformer Basaveshwara, were responsible for the atrocities. Religious
institutions and upper caste politicians need to play a major role in
countering atrocities on Dalits,” Mr. Mahesh said. He alleged that the
district administration had not arrested those responsible for the
social boycott in Siddapur. The BSP would approach Chief Minister D.V.
Sadananda Gowda seeking action against the Deputy Commissioner,
Superintendent of Police and other officials in this regard, Mr. Mahesh
said. BSP State president Marasandra Muniyappa was present at the
convention. (The Hindu 24/10/11)
Three workers killed while clearing soak pit (2)
KOLAR: Tension prevailed at Kolar Gold
Fields (KGF) on Monday following the death of three safai karamcharis
who were cleaning a soak pit. This incident brought the prevalence of
manual scavenging in the area to the fore, contrary to claims from
authorities that there was no such practice. The workers reportedly died
of asphyxiation while cleaning a soak pit at a house at Ashoknagar in
KGF. The victims have been identified as Nagendrababu, Ravi and
Puttiprasad, all residents of Kennedies Lines. Seven workers were
reportedly engaged to do the cleaning. The news about the death of the
Dalits triggered trouble in the area. Family members of the workers
prevented the police and other officials from taking the bodies to the
hospital for post-mortem. A group gathered at the spot and raised
slogans against the authorities, and demanded compensation for the
families of the victims. The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse
them. Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Meena rushed to the spot to pacify
the relatives. The absence of adequate sucking machines with the KGF
City Municipal Council is blamed for people engaging Dalit workers to
clean soak pits. (The Hindu 25/10/11)
Opposition stages walk-out over Dalit suicide (2)
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 27: The entire
CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) today staged a walk-out in Kerala
Assembly in protest against the denial of permission to discuss an
adjournment motion in connection with the suicide of a Dalit youth, who
committed suicide following alleged torture by the police. Moving the
adjournment motion, Koliyacode Krishnan Nair alleged that Sinu (26)
hailing from Vithura committed suicide following custodial torture by
the police. He also alleged that the incident showed the change in
attitude towards the Dalits by the police under the UDF rule. In his
reply, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said two police officials — Sub
Inspector Rajesh and Grade Assistant Sub-Inspector
Jayakumar of Vithura Police Station, have
been suspended in connection with the incident. Deputy Leader of the
Opposition Kodiyeri Balakrishnan alleged that though the two officials
were suspended, no case was registered against the erring officials
under SC-ST Atrocities Act.(New Kerala 27/10/11)
Stop manual scavenging, says activists (2)
Bangalore, October 28, 2011: Expressing
shock over the recent death of three labourers, who died due to
asphyxiation while clearing a soak pit in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), the
Karnataka Tamil Makkal Iyakkam (KTMI) urged the Government to take steps
to stop the practice of manual scavenging. In a statement here, KTMI
president C. Rajan said the Government should provide equipment to all
corporations and municipalities using which clearing soak pit and such
other work becomes easier and deaths of pourakarmikas due to
asphyxiation can be prevented. “We strongly condemn the government
bodies for allowing such abhorrent, inhuman and heinous practice of
manual scavenging”, Mr. Rajan said. He said the kin of the each of the
deceased should be given a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh. “A Government job
should be provided to one of the family members of the deceased
immediately”, he added. Members of the Tumkur Zilla Pourakarmikara
Sangha under the banner of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)
staged a protest here on Wednesday condemning the death of three Dalit
pourakarmikas who died while cleaning a soak pit in K.G.F in Kolar
district. The agitators alleged that the “death of the pourakarmikas is a
government-sponsored murder for which Deputy Commissioner of Kolar and
Muncipal Commissioner of K.G.F must be held responsible. President of
the People’s Union for Civil Liberties K. Dorairaj alleged that the
State Government had failed to prevent deaths of pourakarmikas cleaning
the soak pit. He demanded that criminal case must be registered against
Muncipal Commissioner of K.G.F. Mr. Dorairaj condemned the action of
Deputy Commissioner of Kolar for ordering lathi-charge on Dalit families
instead of consoling them. District president of the Tumkur Zilla
Pourakarmikara Sangha Syed Mujeeb demanded K.G.F. Muncipal Commissioner
the first accused (A1) in the case. He demanded action against officials
concerned who allow although it has been banned. He urged the State
Government to pay Rs. 10 lakh compensation and to provide a government
job to each of the victim’s family. Mr. Syed Mujeeb demanded
regularisation of the services of pourakarmikas working under contract
in the State.(The Hindu 28/10/11)
State ranks third in crime against SCs, STs (2)
HYDERABAD, October 31, 2011: Andhra
Pradesh, a State where the political class goes all out to woo the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with a number of welfare
programmes, presents a dismal picture in preventing crime against the
Dalits. The State accounts for the third highest number of crime
committed against SCs and STs in the country next only to Uttar Pradesh
and Rajasthan. According to the ‘Crime in India’ report released by the
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2010, while 32,665 cases of
crime against SCs were registered in all the States, Andhra Pradesh
accounted for 4,321 cases, as against UP’s 6,272 and Rajasthan’s 4,979.
In terms of rank based on the rate of crime in this category against
total cognisable crime, the State stands at the second position, next
only to Rajasthan. In respect of crimes against STs too, the State
stands in the third position in the country with 807 cases of incidence
in 2010 against the total cases of 5,882 among all the States. A silver
lining to this scenario was the marginal decline in the crime against
SCs and STs at the national as well as State level. While the crimes
against SCs in 2009 was 33,594, it was 32,665 at the all India level in
2010. In the State too, the number came down from that of 4,504 in 2009.
Among various categories of crime against SCs, cases booked under SC,
ST Prevention of Atrocities Act in the State were 1,509, accounting for
14.4 per cent of total cases (10,495) booked under the category in the
country. Others related to murder-43, rape- 100, kidnapping and
abduction-18, and other offences were 1,874. In the disposal of cases by
courts, conviction rate stood at 15 per cent , pendency at 70.5 per
cent. Of 6,447 cases referred to trial, convictions were given to 266
persons and 1,508 were acquitted. Similarly in disposal of cases by
courts related to crime against STs, of 1,394 cases, courts convicted
31, trials were completed in 423 cases and 943 cases were pending. (The
Hindu 31/10/11)
Three awarded life imprisonment in Mirchpur caste violence case (2)
NEW DELHI, November 1, 2011: A Sessions
court here on Monday awarded life imprisonment to three persons
convicted for involvement in the much talked about Mirchpur caste
violence case in which two Dalits were killed — a physically challenged
girl and her septuagenarian father were burnt to death —and
18 Dalit homes were set on fire by a mob
belonging to the Jat community in Haryana in April last year. On
September 24 this year, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau delivered
her verdict convicting 15 persons and acquitting 82 others, with the
prosecution failing to establish that there was a criminal conspiracy
afoot that culminated in the violent incident. Of the 15 convicted,
three — Kulwinder, Ramphal, and Rajender — were sentenced to life
imprisonment under two stiff provisions of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act —Section 3(2)(iv)
(committing arson knowing it to likely cause “destruction” of
building/dwelling of a Dalit) and Section 3(2)(v) (committing an offence
under the Indian Penal Code punishable with imprisonment over 10 years
against a Dalit). Five others — Baljeet, Karambir, Karampal, Dharambir,
and Bobal — were sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment under
the comparatively lighter Section 3(2)(iii) of the Act for committing
arson leading to “damage” of building/dwelling of a Dalit. All eight men
were also sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for rioting and
voluntarily causing hurt, and also fined Rs.20,000 each, to be fully
awarded to the victims of the riot. In a reprieve to seven others who
were convicted, the court let them off on probation for a period of one
year as they had not been held liable for offences under the Act and the
maximum punishment for the other offences against them was two years,
with many of them already having spent over a year in judicial custody.
The court also pointed fingers at the Hisar district administration’s
failures: “There was a total failure of the administration to act on
time. Had the administration been more sensitive and alert to the
dispute between the two groups of youngsters already brewing in the
village on one issue or the other for quite some time, it could have
certainly averted the explosive situation which took an ugly turn on
April 21, 2010.” In her judgment, Ms. Lau also recommended that in cases
of communal and caste violence, eye-witness statements should be
recorded by a magistrate and videographed, keeping in view the
possibility of winning over of the witnesses, as allegations of winning
over witnesses had surfaced during the Mirchpur trial. The Judge also
suggested that investigating officers and prosecutors in communal and
caste violence cases be in “no way connected, related or associated with
either of the warring/litigating groups or communities” to ensure free
and fair probe and trial. The trial against one person, Jasbir alias
Leelu, is pending, as he has been named a proclaimed offender. (The
Hindu 1/11/11)
4% of govt purchases will have to be from dalit, tribal-run firms (2)
NEW DELHI: Ahead of its battle with dalit
czarina Mayawati, the Congress-led Centre has made it mandatory for all
central bodies to make at least 4% of their annual purchases from small
scale industries owned by dalits and tribals. The decision, a leg up
for developing entrepreneurship among SCs/STs, came as part of the new
public procurement policy cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday which
mandates Union ministries/PSUs to make 20% of their purchases from micro
and small enterprises (MSEs). Of this, 20% will be done from MSEs owned
by SCs and STs. Central purchases from MSEs is expected to be worth Rs
35,000 crore annually, of which Rs 7,000 crore would go to SCs/STs. The
proposal was first reported by TOI on September 12. With a clutch of
assembly polls coming up, it is no coincidence that the decision
followed the sounding of campaign bugle in Uttar Pradesh where Congress
crosses swords with the formidable Mayawati and where Rahul Gandhi has
played an aggressive dalit card to corner BSP in its home constituency.
Congressmen argued the decision would position the party stronger in its
hunt for dalit votes. Its potential is seen as significant even in
Punjab which has the country’s highest ratio of dalit population as also
Uttarakhand. These states go to polls in February ahead of UP.
According to sources, the SC/ST quota in government purchases was
missing before social justice minister Mukul Wasnik stepped in. The
Centre was ready for 10% quota but Wasnik is learnt to have pushed for
quota in proportion with SC/ST population, roughly 24%. The prime
minister agreed for 20%.The ‘purchase quota’ follows affirmative action
in the US where 30% of federal contracts give preference to minorities
which include African-Americans and Latinos. The idea has held a serious
pull with dalit activists who see it as an antidote to plateauing
potential of job reservation, especially with demand for quota in
private sector proving a non-starter. JNU faculty Sukhdeo Thorat, who
has worked extensively on affirmative action, said “the market
guarantees will induce and promote” the growth of private enterprises
owned by SCs/STs. He said while the American example was good, the more
relevant was Malaysian. “Malays owned only 7% of private business, lower
than Chinese and Indians, despite being in majority. But since
affirmative action was introduced, their share in private sector has
grown to almost 40%,” he said. Congress is set to drive home its stamp
on affirmative action in the coming polls, with party general secretary
Digvijay Singh, who started ‘purchase quota’ as CM of Madhya Pradesh,
being in-charge of UP. I&B minister Ambika Soni said the “path
breaking” decision was in line with Congress manifesto. At the Cabinet
meeting, sources said there were concerns about “quality and
technology”. Union minister Jaipal Reddy asked about the situation where
dalit establishments did not meet the quality benchmark. It was
clarified the policy did not seek to relax standards and referred to the
review committee in place. The policy, to become mandatory after three
years, will exempt defence ministry from its ambit, but mega consumers
like railways are seen as the best bet for the promotion of SC/ST units.
(Times of India 2/11/11)
Judge alleges “caste discrimination” (2)
NEW DELHI, November 3, 2011: A Judge of
the Madras High Court – Justice C.S. Karnan – has complained to the
National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Chairman, P.L. Punia,
that he was being “harassed” and “victimised” by some ‘brother Judges’
just because he was a Dalit. Mr. Justice Karnan has asked the NCSC to
“constitute an enquiry” to go into the “atrocities against me (Justice
Karnan) by most of the Honourable Judges”. He claimed that he would
present further substantial evidence to the Commission during the
enquiry. The Judge has marked copies of his complaint to the President
and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Mr. Punia told The Hindu here on
Wednesday that NCSC examined the case and decided to refer it to CJI
Justice S.H. Kapadia for appropriate action “as the CJI is the ultimate
authority in the judiciary”. He hoped that the CJI would give his
“serious consideration”. Asked whether the NCSC was examining to take
any other action other than forwarding the complaint to the CJI, Mr.
Punia said: “This is our action. We felt that the CJI was the right
person to look into the issue and forwaded the complaint to his office
about 10 days ago.” He said when Judge Karnan met him here on September
26, 2011, he mentioned that he was being discriminated against by some
colleague-judges just because he was a Dalit. He also gave a written
complaint to him, Mr. Punia said. Mr. Justice Karnan, who was appointed
Judge on March 30, 2009, in his complaint, said: “After duly assuming
responsibilities as a Judge and taking on litigation in an independent
way, I found that this was not to the liking of a few judges, who were
expecting a type of groupage or coordinated consultation, which I
consider unfounded and not conforming to decorum which are the
principles of the courts.” “The obvious intention is to reduce the role
to subjugation and make a scapegoat which I vehemently abhor”. He
alleged that on two occasions he had been deprived of a chance to
participate in functions in his native district, Cuddalore, as a special
guest. He added that he was not given an opportunity, except once, to
participate in programmes at the National Judicial Academy. Mr. Justice
Karnan alleged that at a marriage function in Chennai, a judge “who was
seated to the right side of me crossed his leg deliberately touching
mine..” and “at the Republic Day celebration, the same judge again
seated next to me slyly removed the name slip which was attached to the
arm of my chair with a string and stuck it to the bottom of his right
leg, where it got crumpled.” On another public celebration “one of the
brother judges behind the row of mine kept on shaking my chair
repeatedly with the intention to annoy [me]”. The judge’s allegations
that he was subjected to humiliation and victimisation by his “brother
judges” caused a stir among lawyers on Wednesday. A group of agitated
lawyers met Chief Justice M.Y.Eqbal and raised the issue. They wanted to
know what action would be taken against judges who had humiliated
Justice C.S. Karnan. Two senior judges and office-bearers of the Madras
High Court Advocates’ Association and Tamil Nadu Advocates’ Association
were present at the meeting. The association office-bearers were of the
view that nothing should be done to impair the dignity and decorum of
the judiciary. (The Hindu 3/11/11)
Bigwigs oppose dalit procurement quota, but Sonia mantra does the trick (2)
NEW DELHI: The proposal to make it
mandatory for central government bodies to source at least 4% of their
purchases from enterprises owned by Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes
was greeted with scepticism in the Cabinet, before an invocation of
Congress president Sonia Gandhi made the doubting Thomases fall in line.
Sources said a number of members of the Cabinet, including three who
are incharge of large PSUs, strongly expressed their reservations about
the proposal. One the sceptics doubted there were enough entrepreneurs
among dalits/tribals to help the government meet the mandatory
requirement, while another expressed the fear of quality being
compromised. The misgivings threatened to hold up the decision when one
of the attendees reminded his colleagues that it was Congress president
Sonia Gandhi who had made a commitment to give preference to
dalit/tribal enterprises in government procurements. The Cabinet
minister recalled that Sonia, who visited South Africa in August 2007,
was impressed by the country’s policy to leverage public procurements to
encourage businesses promoted by blacks. The Congress chief, who shared
her experience with her colleagues, made it a point to insist on its
incorporation in a meeting she presided over in January 2009 to draft
the party’s manifesto for Lok Sabha polls. Accordingly, the manifesto
committed the party to “use government procurement to stimulate
entrepreneurship activities among SCs/STs. The decision, which will
generate business worth at least Rs 7,000 crore annually for dalit and
tribal entrepreneurs, is to be implemented through Pune-based Dalit
Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A group of dalit MPs belonging to
Congress who feel that the decision will help them counter Mayawati
politically among the dalits in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and Punjab
called on Sonia to thank her for the initiative. The delegation included
chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes P L Punia, Prem
Prakash Guddu, ‘Commando’ Kamal Kishore, Ashok Tanwar, Praveen
Rashtrapal and J D Seelam. (Times of India 4/11/11)
Facing harassment since 2009: Judge (2)
Chennai: A Judge of the Madras High
Court, who has complained to the National Commission for Scheduled
Castes (NCSC) that he had been “harassed” by some brother Judges as he
was a Dalit, on
Thursday said some former Judges of the court also faced similar problems during their tenure. Justice
C.S. Karnan had filed a complaint with
the NCSC that he was being “harassed” and “victimised” by other Judges.
Talking to newspersons here on Thursday, he said such harassment was
going on since 2009 when he became a Judge. With a view to maintaining
the dignity of the court, he was putting up with the problems. Asked
whether he had made a complaint to the High Court Chief Justice about
his grievance, he replied there was no necessity to give a complaint to
the Chief Justice. The NCSC, whose Chairman was under the President, was
an independent body which looked into the problems faced by members of
Scheduled Castes. It was there to protect them and it was the
competent/appropriate authority. Answering a volley of questions, he
said he had not given the names of the Judges who humiliated him in the
complaint. He faced such experience at functions, high tea, lunch, Full
Court meetings and wherever Judges assembled. He made it clear that it
was not all Judges who meted out such a treatment. To a question, he
said “I am a Judge with self-respect. So I am facing the difficulties.”
He said the change of portfolio for him attracted negative comments
against him. That had nothing to do with the complaint. Some of the
Judges try to dominate Dalit Judges. In his case, such an attempt
failed. Mr. Justice Karnan said he would continue to carry on with his
duties as a Judge. He said Judges should be broad-minded and
magnanimous. His request to the Commission was to conduct an enquiry and
he was prepared to face an open enquiry. Mr. Justice Karnan met Chief
Justice, M.Y. Eqbal this morning. He said nothing about the issue. In a
statement titled “My submission to the public,” the Judge said he had
“levelled a case against certain Honourable brothers and sister judges
of the Madras High Court” before the NCSC against “certain atrocities
towards me: due to my being a Dalit judge.” It was his responsibility to
establish and vindicate his complaint at the enquiry and exonerate
himself as a Judge. He requested the public to abstain from any
speculation and comments until the enquiry was over in order to maintain
the high dignity of the High Court. (The Hindu 4/11/11)
“Judge’s complaint proof of deep-rooted untouchability in society” (2)
CHENNAI, November 5, 2011: The complaint
by a sitting judge of the Madras High Court that he was subjected to
harassment on the ground that he was a Dalit demonstrated how strong and
deep-rooted untouchability was in our society, the Tamil Nadu
Untouchability Eradication Front, affiliated to the CPI (M), said on
Thursday. “How disgraceful it is to note that even a High Court judge
has been a victim and that the alleged perpetrators are his colleagues
on the Bench. No greater proof is needed to show that the shame of
untouchability still remains in our society,” the Front’s State
president P. Sampath said in a statement here. The sad and painful
aspect of this issue was that judges who were in a position to consider
appeals arising from verdicts of subordinate courts in cases involving
untouchability and caste atrocities were themselves facing such charges,
he said. If despite the existence of stringent laws against
untouchability such practices were still rampant, the responsibility for
that should not only be borne by society, but should also be shared by
limbs of the State such as the judiciary, executive, police and
legislature, he said. Along with advancement in science and technology,
even forms of untouchability appeared to have become modern, Mr. Sampath
said, adding that this was revealed during field investigation by the
front. Some of the forms of untouchability that activists had come
across included a Dalit being chastised and punished for speaking on a
mobile phone in front of a caste Hindu, another being pulled up for
having a song with assertive lyrics as his phone’s ringtone and even
matrimonial advertisements that sought alliances with the tag ‘caste no
bar’ making an exception for Dalits. (The Hindu 5/11/11)
Campaign on Dalit rights launched (2)
VISAKHAPATNAM, November 7, 2011: The
Dalit Stree Shakti organisation launched an awareness programme to
realise the rights of Dalit women and children, by flagging off a
publicity vehicle from near Ambedkar statue here. Vice-Chairman of VUDA
K. Sasidhar flagged off the “Prachara Ratham”. The vehicle would reach
Hyderabad on November 14 where a public meeting would be held. Mr.
Sasidhar appreciated the organisation for taking up the programme since
there was need for creating awareness among Dalit women and children
about their rights. Sixty women participating in the Ratha Yatra was
highly appreciable, he added. State convenor of Dalit Stree Shakti
Geddam Jhansi said the organisation had taken up the task of bringing
the poor and those discriminated into the main stream since the
governments were not doing so. A movement on the lines ‘Occupy Wall
Street’ in America must be taken up in India too. The governments were
giving sops like Re. 1-a- kg rice while handing over huge areas of land
and large funds to the industries and investors, Ms. Jhansi said.
Programme manager Daniel Vijaya Prakash spoke. (The Hindu 7/11/11)
‘No word yet from CJI on judge’s charge of caste bias’ (2)
NEW DELHI, November 8, 2011: National
Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) Chairman P.L. Punia said on
Monday that he had not received any communication from Chief Justice of
India S.H. Kapadia on the action taken on a complaint by Justice C.S.
Karnan of the Madras High Court which was forwarded by the Commission to
the CJI. He was confident that the Supreme Court would take appropriate
action on the judge’s allegation of “caste discrimination just because
he is a Dalit”, as it was a serious matter. Mr. Punia told The Hindu
that in his letter to the CJI, with which a copy of the complaint by
Justice Karnan received by him was attached, he had pointed out that
this was the first such complaint received by the Commission from a
highly placed member of the Scheduled Castes alleging “harassment and
discrimination in the temple of justice (Madras High Court).” The
Commission expected the Supreme Court to take appropriate action if the
complaint was found to be correct, he had stated in his letter to
Justice Kapadia. Mr. Punia, Congress MP from Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh)
and former IAS officer, said that Justice Karnan met him in Delhi on
September 26 and submitted the written complaint about discrimination
and harassment from some “brother judges”. The Commission forwarded the
complaint to the CJI in October. Justice Karnan, addressing a press
conference in Chennai a few days ago, alleged that some former judges of
the Madras High Court had also faced similar problems during their
tenure. Such harassment was going on since 2009, when he became a judge.
With a view to maintaining the dignity of the court, he was putting up
with the problems. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, whose
Chairman functions under the President, is an independent body which
looks into problems faced by the members of Scheduled Castes and is the
competent/appropriate authority to protect them, Justice Karnan had
said. (The Hindu 8/11/11)
Plea to resolve problems of Dalits (2)
KADAPA, November 9, 2011: Dalita Praja Party district president Sangati Manohar and leaders urged the
District Collector V. Anil Kumar on
Tuesday to resolve 10 demands on problems confronting Dalits and Dalit
Christians in Kadapa district.The demands included stern action against
non-Dalits who encroached upon the assigned and patta lands given to
SCs, STs and Dalit Christians, expeditious action on Prevention of
Atrocities Against SCs and STs, and three cents of land to the homeless
and land for burial grounds for Dalits and Dalit Christians. The DPP
president sought a special budget for SCs and STs.
(The Hindu 9/11/11)
Uthapuram Dalits enter temple after more than two decades (2)
MADURAI, November 11, 2011: Residents of
the village overcome an age-old bastion of discrimination. The Dalits of
Uthapuram village near here, where the ‘untouchability’ wall was
demolished in 2008, on Thursday entered a temple under the control of
the upper caste Hindus, with police protection. Though scores of upper
caste Hindus received the 11 Dalit persons outside the temple with
folded hands, the scene was marred by the loud wails of women from the
nearby streets, who were opposed to the entry of Dalits to their temple.
The Dalits, led by their leaders K. Ponnaiah and Sankaralingam, offered
prayers at the Sri Muthalamman, Sri Mariamman temple around 4 p.m. They
offered a garland, coconuts and fruits to the presiding deity. The
priest performed ‘puja’ and ‘deeparathana,’ even as Madurai (Rural)
Superintendent of Police Asra Garg, along with a huge posse of
policemen, waited outside the temple. The Communist Party of India
(Marxist), instrumental in demolishing the wall that divided the Dalits
from the upper caste Hindus, hailed the temple entry as a “historic”
event. “We are entering the temple premises for the first time after
1989,” said Mr. Ponnaiah. The Dalits used to offer prayers at the peepul
tree on the temple premises during the festival of the Karuppasamy
temple (belonging to the Dalits). The devotees, who perform the role of
Lord Karuppasamy, Vairavan and Agni, used to go around the peepul tree
as a ritual. “Our belief is that the ritual will keep the evils out of
our village. But it was stopped after people threw stones at us during
the festival in 1989,” he said. Since then, there were clashes between
the two groups, followed by the construction of the wall. After the
CPI(M) and the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) took
up the issue, the district administration demolished the wall. However,
tension prevailed in the village and a permanent police picket was
posted. Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad district president Chinmaya
Somasundaram and his long-time friend and former Aavin general manager
K. Athimoolam, who had relatives on both sides, began fresh negotiations
between the Dalits and the upper caste Hindus. “After nearly two months
of talks, we were able to bring peace. This [the temple entry] has been
the demand of the Dalits for nearly seven decades,” Mr. Somasundaram
said. The SP offered all possible help to further the talks. An
agreement was reached on October 20. “This is only a symbolic entry.
Things are not going to change overnight. But it is good that people
from both sides have come to a meeting point,” Mr. Garg said. He said
more than 50 criminal cases booked against members of both parties would
be withdrawn. However, the police picket would continue. Mr. Athimoolam
said the Dalits would be allowed to offer worship at the peepul tree
after a ritual to reverse a “promise” made by the caste Hindus in 1989
is performed. The temple ‘Kumbabhishekam’ would be performed soon, and
the upper caste people would invite the Dalits for it. They also planned
to hold a common feast on the occasion, Mr. Somasundaram said.
Appreciating the caste Hindus for allowing the Dalits into the temple,
TNUEF State president P. Sampath said Uthapuram was no longer a symbol
of untouchability. “It has become the symbol of eradication of
untouchability.” This would give an impetus to the Dalits of the State
who are being denied the right to worship. (The Hindu 11/11/11)
14-yr-old dalit molested in Madhya Pradesh (2)
Bhopal, Nov 12 : Congress’ Madhya Pradesh
unit Spokesperson Manak Agrawal today alleged that a 14year-old dalit
girl was stripped and molested by police officials at Lohari village in
Betul district about a fortnight back. Mr Agrawal told media here that
the family had tried to lodge complaint but police refused to register a
case. Hence, the family came to the state capital. Her family members —
who were also present — said the girl had gone to collect woods with
her two brothers on October 26 when home guard Jaipal Singh Thakur
molested her. Her mother went to lodge complaint with police but it was
not recorded. On the next day, police reached their house and took the
girl, her mother and three other family members to police station where
the girl was allegedly stripped and jewellery taken from her mother.
When their efforts to lodge police complaint failed, the family came to
Bhopal. (New Kerala 12/11/11)
Probe sought into incident of SC-ST students leaving model residential school (2)
KANNUR, November 14, 2011: While Adivasi
and Dalit organisations demand government-level investigation into the
alleged incident of 100-odd students at the Model Residential School
(MRS) at Pattuvam here having left the school, school authorities and
government officials say that the students have gone home citing
shortage of drinking water in the school. Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha (AGM)
president C.K. Janu at a press conference here on Monday demanded the
probe into the alleged incident, saying that action should be taken
against school authorities who were responsible for the alleged ‘exodus’
of over 100 boys studying in the MRS at Pattuvam here run by the
Scheduled Caste/Tribe Development Department and funded by the Central
government. They said that the students had left the school and not
reached their homes, alleging that the school authorities had
continuously refused to provide available facilities in the school to
the students, despite the fact that the school was not facing any
paucity of funds and lack of administrative support. There were also
allegations of acts of retribution against the students in the school
who had questioned the authorities’ denial of drinking water and toilet
facilities at the school, she said. The students ran away from the
‘prison-like’ atmosphere prevailing in the school, she added. Ms. Janu
also alleged that the major problem in the school was the school
officials who were ‘apathetic’ to the Adivasis. The AGM and other
Adivasi and Dalit organisations would take up the issue before the
Central government and the National Commission for SC-ST. The school
authorities, when contacted, said that the all the boys who had left the
school citing shortage of drinking water in the school had reached
their homes. When the school authorities had contacted the parents, the
latter told that their children had come home saying the school was
closed because of drinking water scarcity. All the students who had left
the school would return by November 16, the authorities assured. The
MRS, has 400-odd students including high school and higher secondary
students. While 70 per cent of the seats are reserved for ST students,
20 per cent of seats are set apart for SC students and 10 per cent for
students from other communities. The school also has 50 staff members.
Denying the allegation that the students had been denied drinking water
and toilet facilities, the school authorities said that they imposed
some restriction on the use of water in the school premises as an
austerity measure to prevent wastage of water as the school is located
in an area experiencing acute drinking water scarcity. The school has
one open well and three bore-wells which could ensure water requirement
in the school provided it was used sparingly, they added. ITDP Assistant
Officer K. Prakash, who visited the school in the morning, told The
Hindu that an open well had been dug in a nearby plot as part of a
comprehensive scheme for ensuring drinking water for the school. The
work for constructing some structures above the well for housing the
pump-house would begin on November 15 and the work would be completed in
a month, he said adding that the pipeline for the water supply had
already been laid. He said that district
administration had already asked the
Kerala Water Authority here to make the scheme operational without any
delay, Mr. Prakash said. (The Hindu 14/11/11)
Caste and religion of the tenant come into play (2)
HYDERABAD, November 16, 2011: Never mind
the oft-heard, commonplace phrases against casteism and religious
bigotry, the much-happening metropolis of Hyderabad still holds venom
against ‘the Other’. While those from minority sections at least have a
few localities where they can be assured of a rented house, negative
answers are the staple for Dailt home-seekers. More discomfiting are the
various ways adopted to probe the caste of probable tenants. What
usually begins as the rider ‘Vegetarians Only’ scribbled on the rental
sign, progresses further into the name, surname, home-town and
antecedents of the home seekers till the caste is narrowed upon.
“Restrictions in terms of diet are often a ruse. If the prospective
tenant has an upper caste tag to his name, he will be given the house
despite his diet. The sign is put up only to keep Dalits off,” says
Mallepally Lakshmaiah, a noted Dalit journalist, who found himself in
many such situations. The same is vouched by many from the oppressed
communities. Upmarket and cosmopolitan localities such as Hitec City and
Madhapur are not an exception; though the usual claim is that increased
commercialisation of space dilutes traditional barriers. “I was spurned
by at least 12 landlords in Gachibowli-Madhapur vicinity apparently due
to my caste. Majority among them directly enquired about my caste,
while a few others said they would prefer vegetarians. It proved to be a
Herculean task for me to obtain a house,” says P. Sudhakar (name
changed), a scholar from University of Hyderabad. Query about caste is
not always the first and direct one. If the name or surname of the
prospective tenant denotes nothing, sly enquiries are made about his or
her dietary habits. Those admitting to the guilt of being non-vegetarian
should be ready to field a direct question about caste. Bachelors have
it a little easier, as they usually hire accommodation in groups of
assorted identities. However, this may not be the case always. “I had
harrowing experiences during my search for house. An upper-caste
landlord in Alkapuri invited us inside the house, and offered coffee
before accepting the rent in advance. But once he came to know of our
caste, he began to sound evasive. He first said his wife had to be
consulted, and asked us to wait. Next day, we went only to receive the
money back, that too from outside the main-gate,” says N. Srihari
Madiga, preparing for his Civils exam. He recalls many such instances of
humiliation, not only from upper castes, but also from those belonging
to BC sections. Faith begets a blunter refusal. Muslims are more often
than not ghettoised to specific localities, whereas for Christians it
gets more difficult if they are also Dalits. “I encountered many
refusals during house-hunting due to discrimination based on my faith.
People seemingly willing to rent out hearing my fluent Telugu, would
come up with all kinds of excuses after knowing my name. Some bluntly
said they didn’t want Muslims,” recalled Syed Mohiuddin, a media
professional. Md. Esa, a real estate agent, says in his career he has
encountered many instances of landlords refusing to rent their premises
out for Muslims, as also Sikhs. (The Hindu 16/11/11)
CPI(M) urges State to eradicate untouchability (2)
CHENNAI, November 17, 2011: The State
unit of the CPI(M) on Wednesday called upon the State government to take
legal and administrative initiatives to put an end to untouchability in
various forms. Recalling how the consistent efforts of the party and
the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front had resulted in bringing
together the Dalits and other communities in Uthapuram and the entry of
Dalits into the local temple, State secretary G. Ramakrishnan urged the
government to take a cue from Uthapuram and eradicate it at other
parts. A resolution in this regard was adopted in the two day state
committee meeting of the party that began on Wednesday. The party
thanked the Madurai district administration and police for their efforts
to bring unity among Dalits and other communities in Uthapuram. “But
untouchability is prevailing in other parts of the State and there was a
need to address the issues to eradicate the social evil. It is
manifesting itself in the form of two-tumbler system, denial of the
right to use common paths, wells, burial grounds in villages and denial
of temple entry. These practices are against social justice and
democracy,” the resolution said. (The Hindu 17/11/11)
Dalits told to mention their caste as Madiga during census (2)
Chitradurga, November 21, 2011: The
former MLA and Dalit leader H. Anjaneya has urged the Dalit communities
to mention their caste as Madiga during the caste-wise census, which
would soon be commencing in Karnataka. Addressing presspersons here on
Sunday, he said that Dalits should necessarily mention their caste as
Madiga to get themselves differentiated from other Scheduled Caste
communities. “Since more than 100 communities have been categorised as
Scheduled Caste, the mentioning of caste as Madiga will help in knowing
the exact population of this community. This will further help the
Government frame specific policies for the welfare of this backward
community,” he said. Mr. Anjaneya, who is a Congress leader, said that
the Union Government had launched the caste-based census only for the
purpose of framing caste-specific reservation policy. Owing to lack of
specific data, many Scheduled Caste communities were unable to take
advantage of the reservation policy, he said, claiming that under the
present scenario, several communities had been included in a singe
category. “The completion of the census will help the Government provide
internal reservation, based on the socioeconomic conditions of each
community,” he said. He alleged that some caste Hindu people were
availing themselves of the reservation benefits by producing false caste
certificates. A few of them had even become judges while a few others
had become MLAs by producing false certificates, he said. Mr. Anjaneya
alleged that K.G. Kumaraswamy, MLA from Shimoga Rural constituency, was
actually belonging to Vokkaliga community but had contested in the
election by claiming to be from Bhovi community “Some people belonging
to Scheduled Caste have complained against him in this regard and the
case is before the High Court,” he said. Mr. Anjaneya criticised about
12 MLAs belonging to Bhovi community for not raising any objection
against Mr. Kumaraswamy for producing a false caste certificate.
(The Hindu 21/11/11)
National Commission seeks detailed report on firing at Dalits (2)
RAMANATHAPURAM, November 23, 2011: The
National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has sent
notice to the Director-General of Police (DGP) and the Home Secretary of
Tamil Nadu demanding that they furnish all details about the need for
opening fire at Dalits in three places – Paramakudi, Ilayangudi in
Sivaganga district and Madurai – on the same day on September 11.
Speaking to The Hindu over phone on Tuesday from New Delhi, Latha Priyakumar, Member, National
Commission for SC/ST, said Ramanathapuram
District Collector V. Arun Roy and Superintendent of Police Kaliraj S.
Mahesh Kumar had deposed before the full commission on Monday and they
were examined by the Vice-Chairman Dr. Rajkumar Verka and other members.
She said the Commission was not satisfied with the reply given by them
about the provocation, the procedures followed by the police before
opening fire at Paramakudi, the details of rounds of fire opened, and
ammunition stock before and after the firing, recovery of shells after
the shooting and others. Moreover, the Commission had not received the
post-mortem reports of those killed in the firing and the Superintendent
of Police of Madurai had not sent his report on the shooting incident
in Madurai. Hence, the Commission decided to send a notice to the DGP
and the Home Secretary. Ms. Priyakumar said the Commission was of the
view that the arrest of John Pandian, president of the Thamizhaka Makkal
Munnetra Kazhagam, snowballed into a major problem; otherwise the
entire incident could have been avoided. (The Hindu 23/11/11)
Malnourishment: children of SC, ST families worst-hit (2)
Bangalore, November 24, 2011: In the wake
of the Department of Women and Child Development acknowledging that
there are 72,000 severely malnourished children in the State, a group of
NGOs conducted a survey of malnourished children in 11 districts.
According to the study, the worst-affected are children from Scheduled
Caste and Scheduled Tribe families where parents worked on daily wages.
The study, which aimed at studying the conditions of the children, their
access to health, childcare and anganwadi services, found that 48 of
the 311 children from 334 families suffered from cerebral palsy and
mental retardation, said E. Premdas, convener of Janarogya Andolana
Karnataka (JAAK), one of the NGOs that conducted the study. “Nearly 84
per cent of the families surveyed have not received work under Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and 43 per cent have not
received rations through the public distribution system. The 14 families
who got work got only 14 days of work on an average under the MNREGA,”
Mr. Premdas said. Forty-two per cent of the total number of children and
80 per cent of children with disabilities did not have access to
anganwadis, he added. “Another important aspect that the study found was
that children with mental illnesses are not admitted to anganwadis and
Dalit children are discriminated against in anganwadis,” he said. While
22 per cent of the severely malnourished children did not receive food
at all under Integrated Child Development Services scheme, the
worst-affected were children with the “double burden” of disability and
severe malnourishment. It was also found that 47 per cent of the
children were not eating the packet food given in anganwadis as it was
not good. Most of the mothers, who were asked to rate the food on a
scale of 0
to 100, rated the food at 30, he
explained. Over 50 investigators from Right to Food Campaign – Karnataka
(RFC) and Samajika Parivarthana Janadolana apart from JAAK were
involved in the study.
(The Hindu 24/11/11)
Land rights sought for the marginalized (2)
HUBLI, November 26, 2011: Members of
various organisations came together here on Friday for a protest rally,
seeking land rights for Dalits, tribal people, rural and urban poor, and
sexuality minorities. The march began at the Ambedkar Circle and
concluded at the Mini-Vidhana Soudha, where a memorandum was submitted
to the Government. Karntaka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, Karnataka Dalit
Mahila Vedike, Samata Sainik Dal, Rashtriya Mahila Federation, Karnataka
HIV Sonkitara Sanghatane, National Federation of Dalit Land Rights
Movement, Ekta Parishat, Karnataka Sexuality Minorities Forum, Sangama
and other organisations, along with human rights activists, jointly
organised the protest. The land rights movement is being conducted in
Karnataka and Goa from November 18 to 30 to support the ‘Jana
satyagraha’ movement for the marginalised, to help them demand their
land rights. About one lakh people are expected to march from Gwalior to
New Delhi in 2012 as part of this agitation. The movement was an effort
by the marginalised communities to make the Government understand their
issues and act to find solutions, speakers who addressed the protesters
said. Some of the demands being put forward through the movement
included land titles for Dalits for the lands they cultivate; five acres
of land for Dalit women; proper implementation of forest rights Act,
2006 and land reforms Act, and withdrawal of criminal charges against
SC/ST members who have taken up farming on government lands. (The Hindu
27/11/11)
Scavenging rocks grievance meet (2)
MANGALORE, November 28, 2011: Various
factions of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) on Sunday alleged at a
meeting called to hear grievances of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes at the Police Commissioner’s office that the practice of manual
scavenging had continued in the city despite the ban. DSS (Bheemavada)
activist P. Keshav said 30 people were engaged in manual scavenging on
contract basis. “These people have to enter the tank and clear the
blocks as the machines used by the Mangalore City Corporation only suck
out the liquid.” He said these workers worked without any protective
gear and were paid a meagre sum. “In the event of accident, the
corporation washes off its hands saying they are not its workers.” Mr.
Keshav said services of these workers should be made permanent. DSS
(Ambedkarwada) District Convener S.P. Anand said there were only two
machines available with the corporation for clearing septic tanks. Of
the two, only one was working, he said. Corporation Commissioner Harish
Kumar toldThe Hinduthat there were three machines used for cleaning
sceptic tanks and all three were in working condition. Mr. Kumar said
there was no question of allowing manual scavenging in the city. “I held
a meeting of officials and reiterated the Government’s policy of using
machines for cleaning septic tanks.” On Friday’s incident, in which a
corporation contractor had allegedly employed a person for cleaning a
septic tank on Azizuddin Road, Mr. Kumar said show-cause notice had been
issued to the Executive Engineer, the Assistant Executive Engineer, and
the Junior Engineer. Based on their reply and the factual report by the
Joint Commissioner, he would take disciplinary action against the
officials. He would send a separate report to the Deputy Commissioner in
the next three days. Their inquiry would be separately carried out in
addition to the one being done by the police, Mr. Kumar said. Deputy
Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda rejected the demand for regularising
the services of the 30 workers who cleaned the septic tanks. “That is a
banned practice and we cannot make them permanent. But the Government is
ready to help them if these people want to take up any other occupation
to earn their living,” he toldThe Hindu. (The Hindu 29/11/11)
CPI (M) seeks early solution to Dalits’ issues (2)
KRISHNAGIRI, November 30, 2011: The
Communist Party of India (Marxist) has urged the State Government to
find out an early solution to the long pending issues related to Dalits
in the district.
Resolutions in this regard were passed at
its 20th taluk level conference held at the Jothi Basu Memorial Hall at
the party office here on Sunday. Ms. Annaji Nagarathinam hoisted the
party flag. X. Irudayaraj, district executive committee member,
inaugurated the conference. G.K. Nanjundan was elected taluk secretary. A
13-member team including the secretary was elected for the taluk
committee. The resolutions passed at its conference included urging the
Government to take initiative to allot the land to the Dalits in
Ittikkal Agaram and demanding the police to take action against
caste-Hindus who opposed the move. Similarly, the party demanded that
the government retrieve the house sites, allotted to the Dalits, in
Ramavaram near Krishangiri, and distribute the 65-acre land to the
Dalilts and minorities in Vasanthapalli as agreed by it. The party also
demanded uninterrupted power supply to agriculture and industries; rail
line between Jolarpet-Krishnagiri-Hosur; cold storage facility for
agriculture produce; ban on functioning of private mineral water plant
in Sigaralapalli among others, said a release from Mr.Nanjundan here on
Tuesday. (The Hindu 30/11/11)
Assaulted for protesting against ‘made snana’ (2)
KUKKE SUBRAHMANYA, December 1, 2011: The
leader of a backward classes organisation was assaulted here on
Wednesday after demanding an end to a “casteist” ritual performed in the
governmentrun Kukke Subrahmanya temple in Sullia taluk. State president
of the Karnataka Rajya Hindulida Vargagala Jagruta Vedike K.S.
Shivaramu was assaulted by a group of around 10 people outside the
temple after he met Assistant Commissioner of Puttur subdivision Sundar
Bhat and submitted a memorandum urging the Dakshina Kannada
administration to prohibit the ritual of ‘made snana’. As Mr. Shivaramu
was speaking to the media about the memorandum, a group of people
surrounded him. After he finished speaking, they began arguing with him.
Soon the group began to rain blows on Mr. Shivaramu, who started
running. He was chased, caught and thrashed again. Though Mr. Shivaramu
was given police protection, the police stepped in only after the group
chased him and beat him up. The police then took him to the government
hospital. Before he was assaulted, Mr. Shivaramu said that the ritual of
‘made snana’ was “inhuman” as well as “unscientific”. He said that it
should be banned. “But, before that, the practice of serving food inside
the temple only for a particular caste should be stopped,” Mr.
Shivaramu said. He added that the continuation of the practice “in the
name of tradition and religion is being done to perpetuate superstitious
beliefs”. He said that he would prepare a fact-finding report on the
ritual and send it to the President, and later petition the Supreme
Court. When presspersons went to Subrahmanya police station to speak to
the police, Deputy Superintendent of Police M.B. Nagaraju said he did
not know what had happened and that his junior officers were yet to
report to him. However, when Vijaya Kumar, a member of the vedike who
had accompanied Mr. Shivaramu, came to speak to Mr. Nagaraju, the latter
shouted and asked Mr. Kumar “why he had started the trouble”. ‘Made
snana’ is a harake (an offering to God in return for the granting of a
wish). This particular harake involves rolling on plantain leaves
containing leftovers of food consumed by Brahmins. Those who perform the
ritual include Brahmins. The ritual is believed to cure skin diseases.
It is performed annually during the Champa Shashti festival for three
days. Mr. Shivaramu has filed a complaint with the Subrahmanya police,
who have registered a case under sections relating to rioting, hurt, and
criminal intimidation. A counter complaint has been filed against Mr.
Shivaramu by A.V. Nagesh, a local man, claiming that he was assaulted by
the former. The Dalit Aikyata Vedike, a forum of various Dalit
organisations in the State, on Wednesday urged Chief Minister D.V.
Sadananda Gowda to drop Minister for Higher Education V.S. Acharya from
the Cabinet for promoting blind beliefs that are detrimental to the
interests of Dalits. Accusing Dr. Acharya of supporting ‘made snana’,
State convener of the Dalit Sangarsh Samithi (Ambedkarvada) said the
Minister was violating Constitution by promoting a ritual that
humiliates Dalits. Protesting against the attack on Mr. Shivaramu and
demanding that the Chief Minister drop Dr. Acharya from the Cabinet,
Dalits would stage a demonstration in front of the office of the
Director-General and Inspector-General of Police on Thursday, he said.
(The Hindu 1/12/11)
India ‘caste meal’ activist beaten at Karnataka temple (2)
An activist in India has been beaten up
for protesting about a ritual in which lower-caste Indians roll in the
food leftovers of those of a higher caste. KS Shivaramu was chased in
the street and beaten with sticks outside the Subrahmanya temple in the
southern state of Karnataka. Hundreds of people had rolled on the floor
at the “made snana” ceremony at the temple. Caste discrimination is
illegal in India but bias remains in many areas. Mr Shivaramu was
speaking to the media outside the temple on Wednesday after meeting
officials to submit a petition demanding an end to what he called the
“inhuman” ceremony. After he had finished, a group of people began to
argue with him and then chased him along the street hitting him with
sticks. Mr Shivaramu was taken to hospital. The ceremony involves
rolling on plantain leaves that contain the leftovers of food served to
high-caste Brahmins. The ritual is performed annually during the Champa
Shashti festival. The local Malekudiya tribe believes that it will cure
skin diseases. Mr Shivaramu told the Hindu newspaper that the ceremony
“perpetuates superstitious beliefs”, adding: “The practice of serving
food inside the temple only for a particular caste should be stopped.”
Local media say officials are reluctant to enforce a ban given the
strength of tribal support. (BBC News 1/12/11)
Dalit youth kills self in girlfriend’s house (2)
Jalandhar: Not allowed to marry according
to his choice, a Dalit youth on Wednesday allegedly shot himself dead
before attacking his girlfriend in her house in Sahni village here,
police said. Harvinder Singh alias Bablu (25), hailing from Bhagana
village, was in love with upper caste girl Jaspreet Ka-ur. They studied
in the same college in village Domeli. The youth came to Jaspreet’s
house and asked her to call her mother. When the mother, Kashmir Kaur,
came the youth first entered into arguments with her and then fired at
Jaspreet and Kashmir with a country-made pistol, police said. The girl’s
father, Chanchal Singh, is a former sarpanch of the village. The girl
has been admitted to the Jalandhar Civil Hospital. Surjit Singh, father
of the deceased, alleged his son was murdered by the father and cousin
of Jaspreet, police said. An investigation had been launched into the
matter.(Indian Express 1/12/11)
India Dalit boy ‘killed over high-caste man’s name’ (2)
A low-caste Dalit boy has been killed in
the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh for sharing a name with a man
of a higher caste, police say. They said Neeraj Kumar’s father Ram
Sumer had been asked to change the names of two sons as they were the
same as those of Jawahar Chaudhary’s sons. The body of Neeraj, 14, was
found on 23 November in a field. Two friends of the Chaudhary family
have been arrested. Mr Chaudhary denies the involvement of his family in
the murder. He says the family is being framed by police. Dalits,
formerly known as “untouchables”, are at the bottom of the Hindu caste
system in India. Although caste discrimination is illegal, biases remain
in many areas. The latest incident took place in Radhaupur village in
Basti district. Both Ram Sumer and Jawahar Chaudhary have sons named
Neeraj and Dheeraj and that has long been an issue between the two
families, Sub-inspector Praveen Kumar said. Mr Chaudhary, who belongs to
a higher caste, had given several warnings to Mr Sumer to change the
names of his boys. On 22 November, Neeraj left home after dinner to
watch television at a friend’s house. His body was found the next day.
Police said he was strangled. Mr Chaudhary’s sons Neeraj and Dheeraj –
are missing, but police have arrested two friends of the family who they
say had a role in the murder. (BBC News 2/12/11)
Pro-Dalit organizations condemn attack (2)
HUBLI: Pro-Dalit organizations on
Thursday staged a rasta roko at KC Circle here to condemn the attack on
Jagruti Vedike president at Kukke Subrahmanya temple. The protesters
said Vedike president K S Shivaram went to the temple on Wednesday only
to study the ‘made made snana’ practice. But he was allegedly attacked
by the devotees. Urging the government to take stern action against the
attackers, the protesters took out a procession and from Dr Ambedkar
Circle and went through Lamington Road and Court Circle and assembled at
KC Circle. While staging a rasta rook, they raised anti-government
slogans. (Times of India 2/12/11)
Safai karamcharis in KGF are starving: AITUC (2)
Bangalore: The State Government, which
made tall promises when the death of three safai karamcharis from the
Dalit community in KGF hit the headlines in October this year, came
under fire from the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) for doing
precious little. In a statement here on Saturday, the AITUC, which
carried out a fact-finding mission, said the families of Kutti Prasad,
Nagendra Babu and Ravi, who died of asphyxiation when they were trying
to clean a soak pit, have received only Rs. 2 lakh of the Rs. 3 lakh
that was promised to them as compensation. The family members of the
dead persons have also not received the alternative employment that was
promised to them by the Government. The release adds that when Urban
Development Minister S. Suresh Kumar visited KGF in June this year, he
had directed the local municipality to provide alternative employment to
the 140 safai karamcharis engaged in manual scavenging. But, the
municipality refused to rehabilitate these 140 people, all Dalits, by
saying that they had no funds. The activists of the AITUC visited the
Dalit ghetto in Telugu Lane in KGF where most of the safai karamcharis
live. The activists found that the safai karamcharis did not even have
enough to eat. The municipality has also not made an attempt to prevent
house owners from connecting their private toilets to soak pits. And
safai karamcharis have to climb into these pits to clean them
periodically. After the controversy surrounding the death of the three
safai karamcharis, the district administration has started preventing
others from performing the task without providing them alternative
employment. Due to this, the entire community of safai karamcharis is
starving. In addition, the municipality has gone on to acquire sucking
and jetting machines to replace the safai karmcharis, the release said.
(The Hindu 4/12/11)
‘Wall of untouchability’ pulled down (2)
SALEM, December 5, 2011: Dalits of
Sanyasipatti near Sankagiri in Salem district fought bitterly for five
days before forcing the district administration to take firm action to
demolish a four-foot-high and 20footlong wall erected right across a
tar-topped road with the intention of preventing them from using it. The
‘wall of untouchability’ erected on November 29 in the middle of the
night by some caste Hindus was pulled down on Sunday by those who put it
up after revenue authorities intervened. The wall had come up across
the road laid by the village panchayat some 15 years ago to provide
better access to the Arunthathiyar colony, where 200 Dalits families are
living. A caste Hindu group, which had constructed a temple adjacent to
the road, had been at loggerheads with the Dalits for using the road.
“We were asked to take a circuitous route through the fields to reach
the colony,” said a youth who was among the agitators. With CPI (M) and
DYFI leading the agitation, the Dalits laid siege to the tahsildar’s
office at Sankagiri till late Saturday night, forcing the officials to
take the decision to have the wall demolished. “The officials first
removed just a portion of the wall. But we insisted that it should be
totally removed,” said Sekar, a DYFI activist. CPI (M) floor leader in
the Assembly A. Soundararajan who visited the spot said the fight would
continue till the wall was demolished totally. On Sunday, a team of
revenue officials led by Tahsildhar S. Razyia Begam arrived on the spot.
Since talks between two groups had failed with caste Hindus objecting
to the demolition and Dalits demanding it, there was threat of a law and
order problem. But Sankagiri police provided security for the officials
who later asked the caste Hindus themselves to pull down the wall. S
Gopalakrishnan, a bus conductor from the colony said it was a great
relief for the people of the Arunthathiyar colony. This is the third
wall symbolising social ostracisation that has been demolished in Salem
district within a span of two months. Earlier officials removed a wall
right in the heart of Salem city that separated Dalits from others while
another was demolished near Omalur that blocked pathway to Dalit colony
from the main thoroughfare. (The Hindu 5/12/11)
‘Untouchability still prevalent in many villages in country’ (2)
GULBARGA, December 7, 2011: “The
constitutional guarantees protecting the average person’s rights and
abolishing untouchability still remain distant dreams for the oppressed
sections of society,” said Eashwar Vidyasagar, lecturer in the Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar Arts College, here on Monday while delivering a
special lecture on the occasion of the 56th ‘Mahaparinirvana Diwas’
commemorating the death anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar. He was speaking at a
function organised by the district administration along with the
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) Government Employees
Association. “Dr. Ambedkar’s dream of an India with equal opportunities
and respect for all communities has remained unfulfilled,” he said. Both
the Union and State governments had failed to eradicate untouchability.
“In most villages across the country untouchability is practised in one
form or the other,” he said. “The failure of the State Government to
ban practices like ‘made snana’ is shocking,” he said. State convener of
the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti D.G. Sagar Narona said that the State
Government should ban ‘made snana’ immediately. Deputy Commissioner R.
Vishal said Dr. Ambedkar had worked throughout his life to establish a
casteless society. “It is every person’s duty to work to achieve Dr.
Ambedkar’s dream of ensuring social justice and equality to the deprived
sections of society,” he said. Dalit leader Shivaram Moga spoke on the
occasion. President of the SC and ST Government Employees Association N.
K Mallikarjun welcomed the gathering. Dalit Leader Vittal Doddamani and
Superintendent of Police Praveen
- Pawar were present. (The Hindu 7/12/11)
Tension in village after ‘assault’ on Dalits (2)
MYSORE, December 7, 2011: Tension
prevailed in Garaganamaradi village in Mandya district’s Pandavpura
taluk where ‘caste’ Hindus allegedly assaulted members of the Dalit
community. According to sources, people of the village were glued to a
rural performance or ‘dombara aata’ on Sunday when a scuffle broke out
between two groups of people over the issue of seating. A group
reportedly beat up two Dalit youths. Senior police officials who learnt
of the incident dispatched additional forces to check the trouble before
it snowballed into a major caste conflagration. However, on Tuesday,
the group of ‘caste’ Hindus allegedly assaulted two more Dalits, Ravi
and Chandru. Superintendent of Police Kaushalendra Kumar, Deputy
Commissioner P.C. Jaffer and others rushed to the village on Tuesday and
went around the Dalit hamlets, appealing for calm. Two platoons of the
District Armed Reserve police have been stationed at the village and a
peace meeting has been called. The situation is said to be tense but
under control. Sources said the police had not made any arrest in
connection with the incidents so far. (The Hindu 7/12/11)
Dalit girl gangraped in Haryana (2)
JIND: A dalit teenage girl was gangraped
by three youths at a village here, police said on Friday. The victim, a
student of class-X, was abducted by the three youths from her house in
Kalawati village yesterday, they said. The trio took her to a farm and
raped her, police said, adding that a medical test confirmed rape. No
arrest has been made so far in this case. (Times of India 9/12/11)
Dalits demand representation in Anna camp (2)
New Delhi, Dec 11 : While a large crowd
gathered in support of Anna Hazare at the Jantar Mantar here, a smaller
crowd consisting of Dalits protested against the veteran social activist
at the same venue demanding the inclusion of their representatives into
the civil society team. Social activist Udit Raj, who spearheaded the
rally, said: “This is not an anti-Anna protest. This is meant for the
demands of Dalits and others. Annaji himself says that he will
incorporate them in their agitations. All of the Anna team members
including Arvind Kejriwal say that reservations should be given.” “I
want to ask them that how can their agitations be successful without the
support of 85 percent people,” he added. Udit Raj allured Team Anna
saying they can mount further pressure on the Centre with the inclusion
of Dalits in their camp. “The government can only bend to the power of
voters. Team Anna should understand this, as this can expedite their
process,” he said. A grim situation later occurred at the venue with the
supporters of Team Anna and Udit Raj pulling up each other. The police
personnel deployed at the spot later took control of the situation,
thereby, preventing any untoward incident. Udit Raj also raised several
questions on the integrity of the members of Team Anna and claimed to
have certain evidences and proofs against them. “We have some evidences
against the members of Team Anna like Kiran Bedi, who made an agreement
with the Vedanta and received money from them. We demand that the
concerned transaction should be investigated. Annaji should himself get
it monitored and if it is proven then she should be removed from the
committee,” he said. 74-year-old Hazare sat on a daylong protest fast at
the Jantar Mantar here to mount pressure on the Centre for the passage
of a strong and effective Lokpal Bill. (ANI)(New Kerala 12/12/11)
Kukke Subrahmanya vedike defends ‘made snana’ (2)
MANGALORE, December 13, 2011: Rajya
Adivasi Budakattu Hitarakshana Vedike of Kukke Subrahmanya on Monday
sought to defend the practice of “made snana” where people, mostly
Dalits roll over plantain leaves on which Brahmins have partaken meals
in temples. The people undertake the ritual believing that it would
cure, among others, their skin diseases. The practice is held annually
at Kukke Subrahmanya Temple and Sri Krishna Math in Udupi. Vedike
president B.K. Bhaskar Bendodi said the Malekudiya tribal people, who
undertake the “made snana” at the temple, were the ones who had founded
the temple. He said there was no force on the tribal people to undertake
the ritual. To a question on why Malekudiyas did not have any
managerial role in the temple though it was started by them, he said it
had been so by tradition. He agreed that tribal people were given menial
jobs such as preparing the chariot for annual fair. On the caste
discrimination in serving food, he said that too was a tradition. He
said Malekudiyas would lose the right to don secondary roles in rituals
(holding Birudavalis) if they did not undertake “made snana”. He added
that the temple authorities had not held such a threat but that the
community itself had decided so. Mr. Bhaskar contradicted the version
given in the statement signed by him and circulated at the press
conference. While the statement said that the temple official C.V.
Nagesh was assaulted during the visit by president of Karnataka Rajya
Hindulida Jatigala Vargagala Jagruti Vedike K.S. Shivaramu, Mr. Bhaskar
admitted that he had not seen Mr. Nagesh being attacked. Journalists
told him that they had the video recording which showed that Mr.
Shivaramu was attacked. Mr. Bhaskar said the Malekudiyas could continue
the ritual under a “Tribal Act”. He sought time to reply when asked for
the exact section of law that he was referring to. He threatened to
approach courts if the practice was banned by the Government. Although a
six-page poem was circulated by Mr. Bhaskar and another senior
Malekudiya tribal, A. Babu, they could not show how it served as a proof
for the ritual of “made snana” being an age old tradition. Presspersons
pointed out that there was no mention of “made snana” in the poem. (The
Hindu 13/12/11)
Temple issue: Dalits want district administration to intervene (2)
Tirupur, December 14, 2011: The Dalits
from Vellakoil block, who have been fighting for their rights to enter
Uthamapalayam new Mariamman temple without any discrimination, sought
the intervention of district administration to expeditiously complete
the investigations being carried out on the tension existing between two
groups over the temple entry issue. On Tuesday, the Uthamapalayam New
Mariamman Temple Entry Agitation Committee convener S. Karuppaiah
submitted a memorandum to District Collector M. Mathivanan in this
regard and requested him to ensure that the Hindu Religious and
Charitable Endowment department takes
over the administration of the temple at the earliest. The Dharapuram
Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) is carrying out the said enquiry
following tension developed between two factions last year after the
Dalit community alleged caste suppression and denial of entry into the
temple. The then Dharapuram RDO, Ali Akbar, exercising his powers as
sub-divisional magistrate, restrained people belonging to all castes
from worshiping in the temple till further orders. The temple since then
had remained closed. In the petition, Mr. Karuppaiah also wanted the
district administration to transfer the control of the New Mariamman
temple from the private trust to the State Government. (The Hindu
14/12/11)
Abolish made snana, Dalits urge DC (2)
MANGALORE, December 15, 2011:
Participants at the meeting organised on Wednesday to address
development-related issues faced by the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes people unanimously demanded a ban on made snana across
the State. During a meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner N.S.
Channappa Gowda, members of various Dalit groups said the practice
should be abolished by the district administration. Members of the Dalit
Rights Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Shekar L.
said that serving food only to people of a particular caste in a
government-run temple amounted to the government supporting
discrimination on the basis of caste. He said the district
administration should abolish the “inhuman” practice across the State.
Mr. Gowda said that he would convey the views expressed to the State
Government. Dalit groups would be consulted on the course of action to
be taken, he added. During the previous SC/ST meeting held a year ago,
Nagarika Seva Trust had demanded that the order allotting land reserved
for the depressed classes to an educational institution in Dharmasthala
in Ujire be scrapped. As District Social Welfare Officer Arun Furtado
read out the minutes that the Government had allotted 43.90 acres of
land, loud exclamations arose from a number of people. District convenor
of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (B. Krishnappa faction) Krishnananda said
that allotting land to an educational institution “which already had
hundreds of acres of land was wrong when Dalits have been struggling for
years to obtain DC manna land”. This prompted scattered applause from
participants of the meeting. Mr. Gowda told the meeting that the land
had in fact been granted in 1949 and that he would write to the State
Government about the objections raised. The overwhelming concern of
nearly all the people who participated in the meeting was the allotment
of land kept reserved for people of depressed classes (commonly called
D.C. manna land) to Dalits. A number of activists spoke about instances
of DC manna land being encroached upon by others. In several cases,
where Dalits were living on DC manna land, title deeds were not given to
them, they said. Activist Bhanuchandra requested Mr. Gowda to file
cases under Section 3 (4) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 against those who encroached upon
land notified to be allotted to SCs or STs. Mr. Gowda said that he could
take action under other revenue laws but not the Atrocity Act. Section 3
(4) of the Act classified wrongful occupation of land meant for SC/ST
people as an atrocity. Zilla Panchayat member from Naravi C.K.
Chandrakala said that although she was allegedly abused over her caste
by Mada Gowda and Lalita, no arrests had been made. Additional
Superintendent of Police Prabhakara said that he would look into it. Mr.
Gowda said that a special meeting would be convened to address the
issue of land. He directed that similar meetings be held once a month by
the tahsildars and once every two months by Assistant Commissioners.
(The Hindu 15/12/11)
Upper caste students shun food cooked by Dalits (2)
SUNDARAGIRI (KARIMNAGAR DT.), December 16, 2011: The mid-day meal scheme has been
introduced in schools with an objective
to provide nutritious food to children, particularly those in the rural
areas. But the well-intentioned scheme has become a platform for the
upper castes to exhibit their intolerance for those from the
marginalised sections. Schoolchildren of this non-descript village in
Chigurumamidi mandal refused to eat the food served to them as part of
the mid-day meal scheme as “it is cooked by a group of Dalit women”.
Almost two-thirds of the students, about 150 out of the strength of 231,
refused to take the meal served to them on Thursday. The refusal was
not a one off incident as the Zilla Parishad High School, which has few
takers for the mid-day meals, faced similar problems ever since the
launch of the scheme. What started as criticism of poor quality of food
served to them by the students, predominantly the upper castes,
ultimately turned out to be the ‘counselling’ they received from their
elders not to share food with Dalits. A little bit of cajoling revealed
how their parents had instructed them against eating the meal prepared
and served by Dalits. As a result, only students from the Dalit
communities consume the food. Women belonging to the self-help group
(SHG) Chaitanya, who prepare the meal, were taken to believe that the
quality of the grain supplied through the public distribution system was
sub-standard. They, however, realised the real reason, the caste
factor, behind the refusal of majority of students to partake the food
cooked and served to them. SHG members – A. Mallavva, E. Soundarya, K.
Swaroopa, and Eshwaramma — admitted that though they were preparing food
for all students attending the school on a given day, only a few were
eating it. Whenever asked as to why they were not eating the food, these
students openly state that they would not eat anything prepared and
served by Dalits, an SHG member bemoaned. “We thought untouchability has
been rooted out from villages. But what causes concern is the adamant
attitude of the village elders who are spoiling young minds,” she said.
(The Hindu 16/12/11)
‘Dalits may have to seek control of Kukke temple’ (2)
MANGALORE, December 17, 2011: The
city-based Dakshina Kannada Mattu Udupi Jillegala Hindulida Jathigala
Okkuta has criticised the State government for its stand that the made
snana ritual cannot be banned. In a statement issued here on Friday,
leaders of the okkuta (Federation of Backward Classes in Dakshina
Kannada and Udupi districts) said the stand taken by the government was
against the spirit of the Constitution. Legislators and ministers were
elected by people belonging to all castes and creed and they had the
responsibility of making laws that prevented social discrimination.
Expressing helplessness in this regard amounted to defending the ritual,
and it was not becoming of public servants. They held out a veiled
threat that backward classes may have to seek possession of Kukke
Subramanya Temple if made snana was not stopped. They said the temple
founded by Dalits may have to point out that Brahmins were appointed by
them for worshipping the deity only. They said leaders of religious
places should remember that they were there to serve all and work
towards the welfare of all and condemn any practice that hurt the
self-respect of a community. Religious beliefs should have larger goals
of providing relief to pains of the larger section of society. One
should ensure that there was no violence and assault in a religious
place. If religion made efforts to suppress a section belonging to it,
people could look away from it. The signatories to the statement
included Vasudeva Boloor, vice-president, Jayanand Devadiga, secretary,
and Sanjiv Shettigar, member. (The Hindu 17/12/11)
‘Dalits need to work with other communities’ (2)
HYDERABAD, December 19, 2011: Former
Chief Secretary of the State, Kaki Madhava Rao, has said that Dalits and
tribals have to think beyond reservation and should learn working with
other communities to achieve political power. In turn it will give them
social and economic empowerment, he felt. Speaking at a conference on
Dalit politics organised by SC/ST organisations here on Sunday, he
observed that the inability of Dalits who had made it big in their lives
to help the community had been hindering the progress of the community
as a whole. Though reservation had helped some among them to reach good
positions, its benefits had not reached the community horizontally due
to continuing ignorance. It was time those who had made it big helped
the community to come out of backwardness, he suggested. In Uttar
Pradesh, Mayawati had successfully catapulted Dalits to power as she had
worked together with other communities, he felt. Such a political
change was also required in Andhra Pradesh, where the population of
Dalits and tribals was considerable, Mr. Madhava Rao said. The Social
Development Forum, a body of Dalits, tribals and backward classes headed
by Mr. Madhava Rao, would work for allocation of higher number of seats
to the two communities in the 2014 elections. He suggested the
community leaders in all political parties to strive for better
representation by choosing community candidates in general seats too. G.
Nancharaiah, former Vice-Chancellor of B.R. Ambedkar Central University
at Lucknow, G. Shanker, E.
Anjaneyulu, E. Sudharani and others representing different SC/ST bodies also spoke at the meet. (The Hindu 19/12/11)
‘RTI activist’ tries blackmail, ends up in jail (2)
Bangalore, December 20, 2011: A
history-sheeter, said to have been posing as an RTI activist, was
arrested here on Sunday on charges of blackmailing, abusing and
threatening to kill a Dalit. K.N. Jagadish Kumar of Kodigehalli,
arrested last month for allegedly defaming a Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara
Palike (BBMP) councillor, has been booked under various provisions of
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
1989 and the Indian Penal Code. Kodigehalli police said that Jagadish
was arrested following a complaint by M. Muniraju of A.K. Colony with
the Commission for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in
November 2011 and with the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement.
According to the complaint, Mr. Muniraju was repairing his house at A.K.
Colony when Jagadish took a picture of the construction site and tried
to blackmail him saying that he had violated building bylaws. He also
abused him. Assistant Commissioner of Police S. Pirappa Gachinakatti,
who conducted an inquiry following directions from the commission,
submitted a report saying that the charges against Jagadish were proved.
Police records say that Jagadish has blackmailed many people misusing
the RTI Act, and 14 criminal cases have been registered against him in
various police stations at Bangalore and Mumbai. He has been remanded in
judicial custody. (The Hindu 20/12/11)
Naveen government anti-SC/ST, says Congress (2)
BHUBANESWAR: Criticising the State Government as anti-tribal and anti-Dalit, Congress members on
Tuesday walked out of the Assembly
alleging that the Orissa Reservation of Vacancies in Post and Service
(for SC and ST) Act, 1975, is not being implemented in letter and
spirit. “As the State Government has no intention to implement the law,
we are walking out of the House in protest,” Leader of Opposition
Bhupinder Singh said. The issue cropped up during discussion on the
admissibility of an adjournment motion notice. Alleging that the BJD is
not interested in the welfare of the tribals and Dalits, Singh sought to
know why did not the Government did not challenge the judgment of the
High Court which quashed a State Government resolution of providing
promotional facilities to ST and SC employees in the service. “Why did
not the Government challenge the Orissa High Court’s judgment with
regard to the ORV Act,” Congress member and prominent tribal leader
Dambarudhar Ulaka too asked. “If the Government can file special leave
petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court for Vedanta company, why can’t it do
the same for protecting interests of tribals and Dalits,” Congress
member Chakradhar Paik asked adding these two communities (ST & SC)
comprise 40 per cent of the State’s population. Stating that there are
61 MLAs belonging to ST and SC communities in the 147-member Assembly,
Paik said the Government should amend the ORV Act, 1975, in order to
provide reservation in the matter of promotion of ST and SC employees.
The Opposition members also criticised the Government for not
implementing reservation norms while making contractual appointments.
“Though reservation is provided in appointment of Sikshya Sahayaks,
similar facility should be available in other posts,” Ulaka demanded. He
alleged that the ratio of ST and SC staff in the Government service had
been declining in comparison to their population. Raising calling
attention notice, Padmanabha Behera and Sipra Mallick (both BJD) also
said it is high time the ORV Act was amended as it is not serving the
interest of SC and ST people. Making a statement, ST and SC Development
Minister Lalbehari Himirika said the Government was working on an
amendment to the ORV Act to make provision of reservation in the
promotion of ST and SC employees. As the Minister did not give a time
frame to bring such an amendment, the Opposition members walked out in
protest. (NIE 21/12/11)
Central fund to buy equity in Dalit firms likely (2)
NEW DELHI: Dalit Venture Capital Fund is
the next big idea as the Centre looks to roll out ‘procurement quota’ in
government purchases from small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Fund
would seek to buy equity in Dalit companies to provide capital support
as investment. The Centre is mulling creation of a special purpose
vehicle or a capital support system to help develop entrepreneurs among
scheduled castes and tribes. The fund is part of the bouquet discussed
in a meeting called by social justice ministry with Dalit Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (DICCI), and could be created with contributions
from
both private business houses and
government. According to sources, Planning Commission deputy chairman
Montek Singh Ahluwalia is seized of the idea and had done some loud
thinking in an earlier meeting. Rural development ministry’s ‘skill
development programme’ is likely to be used to help SCs/STs get into
small scale manufacturing. The ideas formed the core of the meeting
convened by social justice minister Mukul Wasnik with DICCI, also
attended by RD minister Jairam Ramesh and chairman of national
commission for SCs P L Punia on Monday. It was to get a fix on how the
recently promulgated “procurement quota” was to be operationalized. The
Centre recently decided that all ministries would make 4% of their
annual purchase from micro, small and medium enterprises run by SCs/STs.
There have been apprehensions if dalit entrepreneurship was big enough
to absorb orders of the magnitude of 4% of total government purchase,
and if there is enough quality to compete with general business. The
Centre wants to use the first three non-mandatory years of policy
rollout to fill the entrepreneurial gap among dalits. It also wants to
use bodies like DICCI to register dalit enterprises that can be used for
purchases. While ‘procurement quota’ is to be rolled out by ministry
for SMEs, sources said the social justice ministry wants to be part of
the process to ensure right inputs from dalit groups it interacts with
on welfare front. It has asked micro enterprises ministry to place
social justice secretary in the ministerial panel to oversee the process
and monitor and evaluate the results. Congress had made “procurement
quota” a crucial weapon in its political quiver, with Rahul Gandhi
flagging it in his speeches in Uttar Pradesh campaign. (Times of India
27/12/11)
Parents seek justice for ‘sacrificed’ son (2)
Bangalore, December 28, 2011: A month
after Basavaraj’s (18) murder in Tirumaladevarakoppa, Ranebennur taluk
in Haveri district, his parents Baramappa Kademane and Manjavva, who
believe that their son was “sacrificed” by the “caste” Hindus, are in
Bangalore city trying to draw the attention of Social Welfare Minister
A. Narayanaswamy to the issue. Baramappa Kademane and Manjavva are Dalit
agricultural labourers. Ms. Manjavva told The Hindu here on Tuesday
that she last saw her son on November 26 when he left for work.
Basavaraj, an agricultural labourer, worked in the farm of Basanagowda
Ningannagowda Gowdaru, a “caste” Hindu. “He did not return that night
and the next morning, a gram panchayat member and a policeman came to
inform us that Basavaraj was in the hospital. Much later, the police
told us that he had been murdered after a scuffle with Gowdaru’s son
Ningannagowda. His body was stuffed in a gunny bag and discarded in a
field on the outskirts of our village,” she said. Mr. Kademane said that
they found that Basavaraj’s head had been bludgeoned and body had been
bathed in turmeric water. He said that his right eye had been gouged and
two teeth removed. This led them to believe that their son Basavaraj
had been “sacrificed”. “In that moment of grief, we were asked to sign
on the First Information Report. Though six persons have been named in
the FIR, only two — Ningannagowda and Gowdaru’s son-in-law Huchappa
Kaganal — have been arrested,” he said. Ms. Manjavva said that the
Gowdaru’s family had recently constructed a new house. A seer, who used
to frequent their house had suggested “rakta bali” (sacrifice) to
“purify the house.” “We heard this and thought that some goat or sheep
would be sacrificed. Never did we imagine that our son would be
sacrificed. We found blood splattered all over the house,” she lamented.
Bheemanakere Shivamurthy from the Human Rights Forum for Dalit
Liberation, Karnataka, claimed that this was the fourth “human
sacrifice” in the village. “The earlier three cases were settled, one
without even being registered by the police and two were out-of-court
settlements. The Dalits, who are a minority in the village, are an
exploited lot. With this murder, the Dalits are scared to continue
living in that village,” he said. He also said that Gowdaru’s family
members had made conflicting statements to the police. “Ningannagowda
alleged that Basavaraj was having an affair with Gowdaru’s married
daughter Saroja. They also claimed that there was some money-related
misunderstanding.” He added that after the murder was reported, the
Gowdaru’s family was given police protection for three days. Mr.
Bheemanakere Shivamurthy said that the family was now fighting for
justice. “We have submitted memorandums to Governor H.R. Bhardwaj, Chief
Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Haveri district in-charge C.M. Udasi,
Mr. Narayanaswamy, Haveri Deputy Commissioner H.G. Srivar and
Superintendent of Police C.S. Rathod.” He said the family wants the
arrest of all the accused and a thorough investigation by the Criminal
Investigation Department. (The Hindu 28/12/11)
‘Name Karwar circle after Ambedkar’ (2)
Karwar, December 29, 2011: Dalit
organisations have demanded that the circle in front of the BSNL office
here be named after B.R. Ambedkar. Under pressure from Komarpanth Samaj,
the district administration and district in-charge Minister Anand
Asnotikar had conceded the demand to name Karwar-Kodibag road after
Henja Naik, who fought against the British. The Dalit Sangharsh Samiti
(DSS) had been demanding that the circle be named after Dr. Ambedkar
since 2001 to name the circle after Ambedkar. The district
administration had rejected the demand stating that it would lead to
violence if the statue was desecrated, Deepak Kudlakar, president of the
Karwar taluk unit of DSS, said on Wednesday. At a public meeting on
installation of Henja Naik’s statue, Mr. Kudalkar tried to raise the
issue but some people took exception to it. Mr. Kudalkar said that his
organisation would launch an agitation. He said that the statues of
Henja Naik and Dr. Ambedkar should be installed on the same day. He was,
however, pacified by some officials. He said that his organisation
would hold a meeting on the action to be taken if its demand was not
fulfilled. (The Hindu 29/12/11)
Source:http://www.isidelhi.org.in/hrnews/HR_THEMATIC_ISSUES/Dalits/Dalits-2011.pdf
Aishwarya Rai is of the Bunt / Shetty
caste of Karnataka and she belongs to the caste of V.T. Rajashekar the
editor of Dalit Voice who is the greatest intellectual of India after
Babasaheb. Dalit Voice is a magazine that inspired us to start Dalit
Nation. The editor has worked with the great V.T. Rajashekar earlier and
we have been inspired by him. Apart from Babasaheb and Kancha Ilaiah,
VTR is our greatest inspiration. We have had several talks with VTR when
he visited Oxford University in England. We have also had lengthy and
stimulating discussions with VTR at his residence at palace lower
orchards in Bangalore.
Bunts are a backward caste and VTR has
written about it. Bunts are shudras. The oppressed people who have come
from the feet of God. Aishwaraya proved to the world that she is the
smartest and beautiful when she won the Miss World title. Brahmins the
most cruel race in the world could never digest it. When Aishwarya Rai
joined movies the brahmin and Bania toilet papers like Times of India,
Hindu and Indian Express were seething with jealousy. They made claims
that she does not know any acting. They always sided with their
jatwallah actress like the maharistrian brahmins Madhuri Dixit and
Sonali Bendre.
The wily upper caste people in Bollywood
tried to set up Aishwarya Rai with the upper caste wallahs. But our
Shudra sister Aishwarya never relented. It was during this time when she
was harassed by these papans that Salman Khan rescued her. Salman Khan
being a muslim wanted to get married to Aishwarya Rai and save her from
the oppressive Hindu caste system. A system which has crushed and
oppressed our men and especially women. But the upper caste wallahs
started spreading all kinds of rumors about Salman Khan. They called him
a cocaine addict. These brahmins can go to any length. They will tell
what suits their need. Finally they implicated Salman Khan in a fake
accident case. They split these two people so that Aishwarya can stay in
the evil Hindu caste system. This is what all these upper caste people
have been doing to Dalits so that they can never escape from their
tyranny.
After this incident they did not leave
Aishwarya alone. They hatched a conspiracy in UP and got the manuwadi
Amar Singh to get Aishwarya married to Abhishek Bachan, a half upper
caste sikh and brahmin. They even made Aishwarya marry a banana plant
before this marriage. How these evil people oppress us there is no end.
Aishwarya now no longer identifies with her Dalit brethren. She has been
swallowed up by this upper caste conspiracy.
Source:https://dalitnation.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/aishwarya-rai-a-victim-of-brahmin-conspiracy/
George Bernard Shaw once mentioned
that “Cricket is a game where eleven fools play and eleven hundred fools
watch”. We at Dalitnation have changed Mr. G.B.Shaw’s words a little
bit to reflect the modern Indian reality. We say “Cricket is a Game
where eleven brahmins and upper castes play and eleven million sarvajan
and bahujan fools watch and eleven hundred fools in the upper caste
media comment and analyse this stupid Game.”
One look at the teams will clear up all
your doubts. How the pappati pot bellied Brahmins have injected the
caste system. Look at the list of Brahmin Indian cricketers: Sunil
Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Sachin Tendulkar,
Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Vinoo Mankad, Ajit Wadekar,
G.R.Vishwanath, EAS Prassana, Ishant Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Chethan
Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar, B Chandrashekar, K Srikanth, L
Sivaramakrishnan, Dilip Doshi, Sunil Joshi, Rohit Sharma, Venkatesh
Prasad, Ashok Malhotra, VVS Laxman, Murli Karthik, Sreeshashant,
Dileep Sardesai, Sanjay Manjrekar,ML Jaisimha, Sudhakar Rao, TA Shekar
and many many more. The 4% brahmins in India have on an average more
than 70% representation in the cricket teams. The rest are occupied by
other upper caste fellows like the jat Kapil dev, Yuvaraj Singh, Mongia,
Rajputs Ajay Jadeja, Chethan Chauhan, Upper caste khatri sikhs Sidhu, B
S Bedi, Harbhajan Singh. Out of fear of the muslims the sacred
threadwallahs reserve some places for muslims like Azzarudin, Irfan
Pathan, Pataudi, Kirmani, Munaf Patel. The indian cricket dressing room
is virtually a Brahmin Agraharam. Even the recent under 19 team is full
of Brahmins with surnames like Kauls and Sharmas. Based on the analysis
we have found six Brahmins in this team of eleven and the rest are
upper caste and one muslim.
We dalits can be rest assured that in the
next few decades our youths will spend their productive time watching
and worshipping the pot bellied Brahmins and upper caste players bat and
bowl. Our Dalit people will buy the products endorsed by these fair
complexioned Brahmins. They will brush their teeth with the toothpastes
these Brahmins endorse i.e if they have the money to buy toothpaste.
Why papati Brahmins took to cricket. The
upcoming and budding Dalit Intellectual Siriyavan Anand has analyzed
this so well. We hope brother S Anand continues to write on engrossing
Dalit issues and we wish him all the best. Brahmins who never bothered
to play any games and who spent all their lives memorizing the stupid
Vedic texts found the leisurely game of cricket most suitable to their
lazy temperament. Cricket is one of the most laziest games fit for
people who have a lot of time to spare and not physically taxing. In
cricket unlike in other sports there is less contact between players.
This appeals to the Brahmin practice of untouchability. No wonder young
Brahmin boys are sent to coaching camps by their parents to get into
the cricket team. The Brahmin selectors, the players and Brahmin
commentators form a mutual admiration society.
Now where are the Dalits represented in
the cricket team. We had only few dalit cricketers in all these years
Balwanth Paloo ( the cricketer who Inspired Babasaheb), Eknath Solkar
and Vinod Kambli. Nobody remembers Balwanth Paloo. Why should the
pappati remember them. They only remember the twice born dwijas. The
Maharastrian dalit Solkar was made to Field close to the batsman and he
had to take so many blows. No brahmin wanted to Field there. Vinod
Kambli created a world record with the Brahmin Tendulkar. But where is
tendulkar now and Kambli is completely forgotten. He was dropped from
the team just because he was a Dalit, so that the Brahmin Tendulkar can
be made into a hero. The Brahmins do not even have sportsman and team
spirit. Look at the way they think about their own records and scores.
How could Gavaskar and tendulkar score so many centuries while the team
did not win many matches. For the Brahmins the country comes secondary,
it is the caste and personal desires which come first. Brahmins whose
physiques are not so great are made into macho heros by the media.
Ambedkar mentions about how genetically inferior these Brahmins are with
respect to their physiques. But our strong Dalit-bhaujans don’t even
have a place in the national team. It is a shame.
In more physically vigorous sports like
Hockey and Football the Brahmins don’t qualify so we don’t find the
papans there. They would collapse due to exhaustion if they played these
games. They need Dalits and Bahujans to play these games. But these
dalits don’t get any money for playing hockey and football. The Hockey
and football federations have no money. All the money from the upper
caste Business sponsors are given to this filthy casteist game of
cricket.
The dalits are made to feel inferior
every time they watch a cricket match. There are movies like Lagaan
which insults Dalits. Siriyavan Anand writes in detail about these
filthy casteist movie. The hero Aamir Khan who is the upper caste Bhuvan
is the de facto leader of the team. The untouchable Kachra finds his
place in the team because he is handicapped. Why should the dalits be
portrayed as physically handicapped. The Brahmin director Ashutoish
Gowarikar wants to portray that Dalits are a physically inferior race.
We dalits should be watchful of these Brahmin vultures. Bhuvan the hero
is patronising with Kachra. We Dalits need no patrons we should demand
that our rights should be fulfilled. Kachra’s talent comes only because
of his handicap. In the end they even make the upper caste Bhuvan to
score the winning six.
Our warning to our Dalit brothers is
beware of cricket. Stop watching this upper caste game. We dalits should
focus on physically demanding games like Hockey and Football. Once
again the editorial team of Dalit Nation would like to commend the
budding intellectual Siriyavan Anand and we hope that one day he will
become as great as Babasaheb, V.T. Rajashekar and Kancha Ilaiah.
Source:https://dalitnation.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/the-eleven-brahmins-and-eleven-million-fools/
Spiritual Persons/Saints
Scientists
- Aryabhata – Mathematician, Astronomer (Identity theft by Brahmins for racial promotion will be exposed in this blog soon)
- Charaka – Medicine (Identity theft by Brahmins for racial promotion will be exposed in this blog soon)
- Sushruta – Medicine (Identity theft by Brahmins for racial promotion will be exposed in this blog soon)
- Jogesh Pati– Theoretical Physicist
- Varahamihira – Mathematician, Astrologer, Astronomer (Identity theft by Brahmins for racial promotion will be exposed in this blog soon)
- Brahmagupta – Mathematician, Astronomer (Identity theft by Brahmins for racial promotion will be exposed in this blog soon)
- Ramanujan – Mathematical Genius
- C.V.Raman – Physicist
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar – Physicist
- Yellapragada Subbarao – BioChemist
- M S Swaminathan (Agriculture Scientist)
Freedom Fighters
Nobel Prize
Sports
Athletics
Archery
Badminton
Chess
Cricket
Shooting
Tennis
Media and entertainment
Ajay Devgun, Bollywood Actor Arjun Rampal Manoj bajpai Raj kumar Manoj joshi Sanjay dutt Piyush mishra Mahesh bhatt Mahika Sharma Manoj kumar Vishal Bhardwaj Sharmila tagore Prakash jha Sudhir mishra Rani mukhrjee Anupam kher
- Dhundiraj Govind Phalke popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke – Considered as Father of Indian Cinema
- Kamal Haasan – Actor, Direector, Singer, Lyricist, Producer
- Mahika Sharma – Actress, Model, social worker or social activist
- Balshastri Jambhekar– Father of Marathi Journalism
- D.K. Issar – Senior Journalist, exChief Reporter, Hindustan Times,Editor, Interviewer, Advisor
- Arnab Goswami-Editor in Chief, News TImes
- Rajdeep Sardesai
- Nidhi Razdan – Journalist at NDTV 24×7
- Rajeev Shukla
- T P Kailasam– Playwright
- Puttanna Kanagal– Director
- Girish Kasaravalli– Director
- K. Balachander – Film Director
- K. Viswanath – Film Director
- Mani Ratnam – Film Director
- Suresh Krissna – Film Director
- Balaji Sakthivel – Film Director
- Kurumaddali Lakshmi Narasimha Rao (Suthivelu)- Comedian
- Kapil Sharma – Comedian
- Jandhyala Veera Venkata Durga Siva Subramanya Sastry– Playwright, Director
- Trivikram Srinivas– Director, Playwright
- Charu Sharma
- Navdeep– Side Actor
- Cho Ramaswamy – Actor, Playwright, Journalist
- Kalki Krishnamurthy – Journalist, Critic, Writer
- S. S. Vasan – Journalist, Writer, Advertiser, Film Producer, Director and Business tycoon
Defence forces
Film stars
Actors
Actress
Musicians
Recipients of the Civilian awards
Recipients of the Gallantry awards
Literature
Authors
Novelists
Poets
Crossword Writer
Arts
Intellectuals
Politics
Pre Independence (British Raj)
- Peshwas (Appointed as ministers by Maratha Kings)
- Indian national congress
Governor General
Speaker (Lok Sabha)
MPs and MLAs
- L. K. Advani – Founder of BJP, MP of Gandhinagar, Gujarat
- Manohar Parrikar-Defense Minister, of INDIA BJP MP from Rajyasabha, Former CM of GOA
- Ananth Kumar– BJP MP from Bangalore, Karnataka
- Arun Jaitley – Minister of Finance, Minister of Corporate Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting of India
- Nitin Gadkari– Union Mnister for Transport
- Kalraj Mishra– union minister
- Pralhad Joshi– BJP MP from Dharwad, Karnataka
- K. V. Krishna Rao– Former Chief of the Indian Army, Former Governor of Jammu & Kashmir
- Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya– Engineer, Diwan of Mysore
- Murli Manohar Joshi – BJP MP, Banaras, Uttar Pradesh
- Saluva Timmarusu– Former Prime Minister of Krishna Deva Raya
- Tenneti Viswanadham– Freedom Fighter, Former Minister for Finance and Law
- Vundavalli Aruna Kumar – Congress MP, Rajahmundry, AP
- Sushma Swaraj – BJP Mp
- Nanaji Deshmukh – Social Activist, Padma Vibhushan, Founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh Party, MP of BJP.
- Shripat Amrit Dange – MP, First Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
- Prakash Javadekar – central minister in modi government.
- Nirmala Sitaraman– central minister ,independent portfolio.
- Pramod Mahajan– central minister in vajpayee’s govt.
- Dinesh gundurao-former minister of karnataka.
- Ramesh kumar-Congress Mla karnataka
- R V Deshpande-former minister of karnataka.
- YSV Datta-Jds Mla karnataka.
- Suresh Kumar-BJP Mla,ex minister kanataka.
- A Ramadas-BJP ex Mla karnataka.
Chief Ministers
Members of Parliament/Legislative Assembly
Presidents of India
Prime Ministers of India
Note = * – Prime Ministers who were murdered.
Chief Election Commissioner of India
See also
Source: Wikipredia.
Name of the Chankya eliminated from the
list its because it has been detected he is not belongs to Brahmins race
but Brahmins wants to bag his credits making him as Brahmin to promote
their race.
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