Saturday, December 19, 2009

[ZESTCaste] Dalit word not derogatory

 

Friends,

CBP and Gail Omvedt both are right. Dalit word is neither derogatory nor
unconstitutional.
Derogatory and unconstitutional word is Harijan, which the Hindus try to
use. This must be stopped.

Thanks

Dr. K.Jamanadas
20th Dec. 2009.

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[ZESTCaste] Woman of substance

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/danchaid/b1e8d30dcc22d5d37514320be2b11c5e.htm

Woman of substance
18 Dec 2009 10:45:58 GMT
Source: DanChurchAid - Denmark
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this
article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are
the author's alone.


Soneydee in front of her house in Ballabhgarh village. Photo: Priyanka Mukherjee
Sonedeyee is a 55-year-old Dalit woman. Her gait reflects her
boldness and her razor sharp eyes take an appraisal of everything
around. Sonedeyee is not literate, but her mannerism and speech
command respect. She is the elected Sarpanch (leader) of the
Ballabhgarh village council, and one would think that the
constitutional position would help her wield authority. Not quite,
because Sonedeyee is not only a woman, but also a Dalit women. In
India’s patriarchal hinterlands, the double burden faced by lower
caste women is evident in the large numbers of cases of atrocities
faced by them. Ballabhgarh village with 4.000 members on the voter’s
list is a constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes, and Sonedeyee
was elected as the leader about one-and-a-half years ago after the
previous occupant of the office, Hardeo Koli, had been intimidated,
thrashed and blinded by upper caste Jat ruffians. Attacked in broad
daylight

Sitting tall amidst her fellow villagers, Sonedeyee narrates the
brutality of the abuse she and her son faced a morning in January
2009. “I was returning back from the village primary school after
making payment for a kitchen set. I had close to Rs.20,000 with me. It
is then that I and my son were attacked with rods and sharp edged
weapons. We suffered wounds and fractures to our head, arms and
legs.� She went ahead and pressed charges against the upper caste
perpetrators under the SC/ST Act, but they bribed their way out. Later
on, one person was arrested and three more fined. In a twist of
events, the upper caste Jats injured one of their own children but
accused the Dalits for being responsible. So now it was a cross case
and the police took side for the upper castes.

“I refuse to be a puppet�But not being the one to break down under
pressure, Sonedeyee went all the way to Jaipur. She sought help from
CDR and also met the highest ranked police officer.


Ballabhgarh village, Rajahstan. Photo: Priyanka Mukherjee.
“The real problem is that I refuse to be a puppet. There are many
people in this village who support me, but there are a few upper caste
families, who cannot tolerate a Dalit woman taking the lead role.
These goons want to dictate their terms to the village Panchayat and I
won’t have it. They want access to the muster role under the
government approved NREGA scheme and I was beaten up because I
didn’t give in to their cohorts. In fact it has made me even
stronger. But I have learned my lesson, so now I never go anywhere
alone. I always have 8-10 people around me, because I know I may be
attacked,� says Sonedeyee.

Opposition from within
Violence against women

A study entitled ‘The State of Panchayats: 2007-2008’ by Institute
for Rural Management (IRMA) highlights that sexual harassment and
physical violence against women Panchayat leaders belonging to
Scheduled Castes is widespread Read more at www.irma.ac.in
Sonedevee has achieved a lot for Ballabhgarh village: five community
kitchens to cook mid-day meals, ensuring everyone gets job cards under
NREGA, and ensuring no lower caste gets beaten up in the village. The
village is segregated on caste lines and she now wants to put a hand
pump near the Mehter (lower caste community doing menial work)
dwellings. She even crossed the bureaucratic hurdles to get it
sanctioned. But she faces opposition from within. “The upper caste
wants the hand pumps placed near their dwellings. I can’t allow
that, but neither can I stop it either, so I told the Mehters to
approach the court and get a stay order.� She used to get beaten up
by her husband for being outspoken when he was alive, but that
hasn’t dented her spirit. “My blood boils when I see injustice.
You can say I have very high blood pressure. I fear no one. I guess I
was always like this! There are many women who spend their lives
contemplating the future; I am not one of them. I just do what I think
is right and what my heart tells me,� says Sonedeyee. By Priyanka
Mukherjee, Documentation Officer, DanChurchAid, New Delhi India

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not
of Reuters. ]


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[ZESTCaste] Proper analysis needed on Rangnath panel recommendations: Congress

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_proper-analysis-needed-on-rangnath-panel-recommendations-congress_1325103

Friday, December 18, 2009 9:23:00 PM

Proper analysis needed on Rangnath panel recommendations: Congress

PTI

Congress today said patience is needed on the issue of implementation
of Rangnath Mishra Commission report that recommended reservation for
Muslims and other minorities and favoured Scheduled Caste (SC) status
to Dalits in all religions.

"A Committee report has to be studied, processed, absorbed and then a
decision taken as to how much of it can be accepted. This is naturally
a long process and we have to be patient and await a proper analysis,"
party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.

The spokesperson's statement came after the report was tabled on the
last day of the winter session today, which gave enough hints that its
implementation was unlikely to be a hasty affair despite UPA friendly
party RJD threatening agitation if the recommendations are not
implemented.

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[ZESTCaste] Ex-IAS officer floats new political party

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Ex-IAS+officer+floats+new+political+party&artid=Ex858AXqzJE=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=rSY%7C6QYp3kQ=&SEO=


By Express News Service
19 Dec 2009 04:47:00 AM IST

Ex-IAS officer floats new political party

CHENNAI: Former senior IAS official P Sivakami who joined the Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, floated her own
political outfit, the 'Samuga Samathuva Padai (SSP),' here on Friday.
Sivakami said that her party would work for the true empowerment of
Dalits and women. The party flag was introduced in the inaugural
function.
SEPARATE PANCHAYATS FOR DALITS SOUGHT: Designating the traditional
habitats of Dalits in villages as separate panchayats with adequate
powers alone could help bring a significant change in the condition of
the Scheduled Caste people, said Samuga Samathuva Padai (SSP)
founder-president P Sivakami here on Friday.
Speaking to reporters after launching her new political party,
Sivakami listed allocation of land, taking education to Dalit
villages, reservation for women, development of basic amenities and
separate Dalit panchayats as five top priorities of her party.
Asked why she quit the BSP, the former bureaucrat said though the
party had good ideologies it was more Uttar Pradesh-centred and almost
dysfunctional in Tamil Nadu.
Dalit settlements are relegated to the last position in any
improvement plan for a village and the result is underdevelopment.


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[ZESTCaste] Dalits burn Amalapuram MP Harshakumar's effigy

 

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-14383.html

Dalits burn Amalapuram MP Harshakumar's effigy

Kakinada, Dec 18 : A large number of Dalits cutting across party lines
today took out a rally in the main streets of the town in support of a
united Andhra Pradesh and burnt the effigy of Amalapuram Congress MP
Harshakumar in front of Ambedkar statue for not falling in line with
other leaders in quitting the posts.

They raised slogans denouncing the MP for his unilateral stance
supporting separate Telangana state.

The demonstrators led by Thalluri Raju, Lily Mary Grace, Jakkala
Srividya kalyani have placed a memorandum at the feet of Dr Ambedkar
statue praying him to change the mind of Harshakumar and support the
cause of united Andhra Pradesh.

They claimed that majority of Dalits all over the state were seeking
integration but Harshakumar was acting otherwise.

--UNI

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[ZESTCaste] ‘Mayawati Is Insecure As A Woman And Dalit’

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne211209mayawati_is.asp

'Mayawati Is Insecure As A Woman And Dalit'

Shahid Siddiqui, 58, Editor of Urdu daily Nai Duniya, is better known
for his political avatar. A former close aide of Mulayam Singh Yadav
and Amar Singh, Siddiqui surprised many when he left the Samajwadi
Party after it bailed out the UPA on the nuclear deal. He switched to
Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, from which he was expelled without any
notice. A relaxed Siddiqui shared rare insights on the woman who runs
Uttar Pradesh, saying, "I never wanted to be part of her coterie
because to be in it, you also have to be sleazy." An edited version of
an hour-long interview with HARINDER BAWEJA


Photo: Vijay Pandey
Any regrets on being expelled?
Joining the BSP was the biggest mistake of my life. I thought I would
be working for Dalits, the backward, poor and for the minorities.
Minorities are like orphans in Indian politics, especially the
Muslims. Muslims cannot form their own party because that will
communalise Indian politics. They are taken for granted by most of the
political parties. I thought that with the Dalit-Muslim combination,
we can create a new politics in India. That did not happen because
there is no discussion on policies in the BSP. You are just dictated
because Mayawati is so insecure. She is terrified of the slightest
dissent or criticism.

Why is Mayawati insecure?
I think she is insecure as a woman and as a Dalit. Whether it was
Indira Gandhi or Jayalalitha, most women leaders at the top are
insecure. They think society is working against them. They become
aggressive and insecure. Another reason is that being a Dalit she may
be feeling that she is not accepted. It is a psychological thing.

You seem to suggest that insecurity and women go together.
No. They are targeted for their gender because politics is male
dominated. Indira Gandhi was targeted because she was a woman. Women
who have come into politics have come because of their male
counterparts, whether a father or a brother or a husband.

'MAYAWATI IS BUILDING STATUES LIKE HITLER OR SADDAM HUSSEIN WOULD. SHE
IS A DICTATOR NOT A DEMOCRAT'
Are you hinting at Kanshi Ram being…
(Interrupts) No I'm not hinting at anything. Don't put words into my
mouth. In Tamil Nadu and elsewhere we might have had cases but I'm
also not against that. Any relationship that is open and honest is
wonderful.

Describe Mayawati's functioning style
I know Maywaitji since 1984 and knew Kanshi Ramji since 1982 when I
went to interview him at Regarpura, where he then lived in a small
room. And I have seen how hardworking he was. He was one of the great
Indian politicians who had understanding of Indian society. He was a
great sociologist. He knew the caste system and how it functions
better than most sociologists in this country. His mind worked like a
computer. I have seen him growing and I have seen Mayawatiji growing
in his shadow.
But I will give it to her that she built the party in UP, not Kashi
Ramji. That is her contribution. And I also respect her because she
came up, unlike so many alone. Kashi Ramji helped of course, but in UP
it was she who was building the party not Kashi Ramji. So at one point
she was extremely open with her workers. She used to mix with them.
But once power came, as she became important, she started distancing
herself from them, cut them off mentally. I have seen her erecting
walls around her. That I have seen. Today she doesn't want anybody to
tell her anything. Even small things like why the towel was not placed
on the chair properly. Because every chair, every podium is covered
with a towel. She is afraid of touching the bare ground with her bare
hands.
For little things she scolds her workers, yet I don't see anybody
really raising their voice. There was a time when people from
different Dalit organisations interacted and gave her feedback, but
not any more. Nobody in the party knows just who her advisers are…
mainly a few bureaucrats. And she has her own mind of course.
Today they ask me why I'm going to the media. Well it was Mayawati who
said you can to the media. You are only person who will be allowed to
go to the media and participate in the discussions.

Is she afraid of the media or does she think she can do without the media?
Both. She is afraid of the media and believes that it is dominated by
the upper caste who are anti-Dalits. She would also say, "I have
always won despite opposition from the media, so I don't need them at
all." What I had been telling her was that if you want to expand the
party you will need the media. With the Dalits you may be able to do
without the media, but today there's a growing middle class and even
people in rural areas have middle class aspirations. So I told her she
should try cultivate the media, even set up a media centre. But she
totally refuses to do that. The reason, I'm sorry to say, is that her
style of functioning is totally undemocratic, and the media asks
critical questions. And she cannot take that. She is unable to take
that. So that's her psyche. This could be because Dalits have been
oppressed for thousand of years and they think any hint of criticism
is an attack on their Dalit identity. And in the party of course
nobody speaks.

For public meetings people are brought from all around the state. She
herself comes at the last moment like a queen, speaks and goes away.
The point is this is happening with most of the regional parties, and
not just to BSP. This is because we have given the handle of the
anti-defection law to regional satraps as a result these parties, many
of them which were movements, like Lalu's party or the Akali Dal, have
turned into family enterprises. The family now has the power to throw
out anybody who disagrees with its functioning. So you have this
contradiction, where you have a democracy but political parties are
autocratic. Once in five years you have elections and for five years
you have autocratic rule by individuals – the chief minister or his
family or those who are financing them. I'm not speaking against
Mayawatiji or the BSP, but generally. I am making an academic point.
But it was not taken by them and I am not sorry for that. Mayawati
made an announcement, saying she was grooming somebody to take over.
Now who is this person?

You can call Mayawati despotic; you can call her arrogant, but you
have to concede that she is a grassrooots politician.
Yes, she is… she is… in fact she was. She was a grassroots worker for
nearly 20 years. But after she became chief minister three-four times
she grew so fond of these trappings of power that she gradually got
cut off from the grassroots. No party worker can meet her anymore.
Even as general secretary, I could not meet her. I made hundreds of
calls to Lucknow but still could not talk to her. You just talk to
Babu Singh Kushwa she says, and he says "OK, karenge karenge, baat
karenge". You cannot talk to her. Even in the Samajwadi Party and the
Congress you have meetings. The decision may be taken elsewhere, but
there is at least a pretense of democratic functioning. Here you don't
even have that much. She says, "Hamare samaj mein aise hi chalta hai."
Thing is each time she came to power lots of her partymen defected,
and this has made her extremely wary. This is why she keeps such an
iron grip on the party. Her reasoning is: "If I permit the slightest
dissent today, tomorrow a hundred more will be dissenting. So nip the
trouble in the bud."

You said that in the BSP one gets orders from the top and no
discussion takes place. What kind of orders did you receive? Say I'd
be told to go and campaign in some area or support somebody or… that's
it, and it happens very suddenly: "You have to be in Lucknow at 9 am
tomorrow." Now come what may, wherever you are in the world, you've
got to be there. You wait there, she comes, she makes her speech and
goes away. Most of the information comes through the party
coordinators who are briefed by people like Nasimuddin Siddiqui or
Kushwaha. There is no system.

In your 17 months in the BSP, how often did you talk to her?
Thrice

That's it?
Yes. And that too with difficulty. In the BSP, there is no pretense of
democratic functioning. She is afraid because she has faced defection
in the past.

You have never had a one-on-one discussion with her?
No, I had. But it was always on an individual basis, like the one at
her house in Delhi in her house where she was very nice to me, very
open. We sat for hours together with her brother's kids, they playing
with her and I with them and talking to her. I must admit that she has
throughout been very respectful to me. The reports that she misbehaves
with her party workers are not true.

Is Mayawati worried about the Rahul Gandhi factor in UP?
Yes, she seems to be very worried. The thing is the Dalits came to the
BSP with lots of aspirations. They support the party blindly thinking
it will pull them out of their thousands of years of misery. But now
she is giving tickets to many people from other classes, and most of
them are rich. They finance election campaigns and pay the party
bosses, and so they are extremely arrogant. They have no respect for
the common man or the rank and file. And they want returns for their
investments. They don't give a damn about Dalits. They take them for
granted thinking they will get Dalit votes anyway. Since other parties
do not think they will, where is the point in spending money on them?
This is causing resentment to build up not only among the Dalits, but
also educated people. I find people very unhappy with BSP MLAs. But
Mayawati is afraid of taking action against any legislator because she
fears that if she does they will all unite to unseat her. This is why
she sidelined SC Mishra. There was a rumour that he was hobnobbing
with the Congress to become the CM. Legislators are minting money,
using the bureaucrats. The ground situation in UP is terrible.
Mayawati has reason to be worried, because if the situation is not
controlled then, the BSP too could go the SP way. She may have won in
the by-elections by using State power and money, but in the next
elections even the Dalits may begin to move away from her.

Like her administration prevented Rahul from visiting the university…
See my take is that if people have to fight the Gandhis they need to
do it politically. We must organise rallies and go and work among the
Dalits, because every one is ignoring them. By stopping Rahul like
this she is only strengthening the Congress.

Did you tell her this?
I did, but I had to wait for nearly six months to be able to do it. I
had wanted her to support the Ganga Nath Mishra Commission report.
Under the Kashinath Memorial Awaas Yojana houses are being built for
the Dalits, but the Muslims, most of whom are homeless, are not
included. I had pressed for a 15-20 percent housing quota for Muslims.
I said do not reserve anything but tell the bureaucracy that you want
these many Muslim names otherwise if the list is to be cleared. This
is what Bahuguna had done in his time, but she just comes back to the
single point, "Tumhare Mussalmano ne vote kyun nahin diya." Every time
you meet her she says, "Tumhare Mussalman gaddar hain." So when I
realised that I could do nothing for the Muslims, the Dalits, Indian
politics or go speak to the media I quit. Some would say that you are
speaking now because you are bitter about the experiment.
But that is natural because when I spoke out I was expelled. Now that
I have been expelled, I can speak freely.

You spoke to the media, but did you speak to her?
Many times. I told Nasimuddin Siddqui, SC Mishra, Kushwaha and others
that this was not the right way. I told her on telephone a couple of
times that we must have a plan to bring together the minorities.
Earlier, when I had joined the party, I gave her notes about how we
should go about it and she promised that she would implement it. But
she did not. Later she said that since Muslims had not voted for her,
what was the point? I told her that Dalits also started voting for you
only gradually. It is a fact, though, that Muslims are not attracted
to the BSP. They have moved away from the SP but they are not coming
to the BSP, and the Congress is trying to cash in on that.

But why aren't they coming to the BSP?
Because they feel that the BSP has no place for Muslim leaders. They
need somebody to tell their problems to and she is not ready to do
anything about their development, growth and backwardness.

Where from do BSP legislators and MPs get so much money?
I don't know if they have the capacity to pay or to win. What I do
know is that they in some particular area they will give tickets to a
particular caste, because in the neighbouring one another caste has
benefited. This is called caste engineering and not social
engineering. The media uses the wrong word. Each time you meet
Mayawati you have to pay in lakh. It's a total money game. You can't
survive in the BSP unless you make illicit money, and then don't give
it up.

How did you survive for 17 months?
I survived because I stayed away. If you tell them that you are
bringing something on her birthday you will get faster appointments.

You have always been in parties where individuals have mattered more,
like Amar Singh who dominates the SP.
When I joined the SP, Amar Singh was not that dominating. There were
discussions. There were a lot of socialist leaders then. What I am
saying is that with this anti-defection law, leaders think they can
get away with anything, because defection requires two-thirds
majority. Where MLAs do not have any influence they have to move like
sheep. That is why people like Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad and
Jayalalithaa are where they are these days. People saw how they became
so powerful. Karunanidhi was not so powerful 6-7 years back. Today his
family is. The media should study this phenomenon. I am talking about
this and facing the music. I was a journalist and continue to be one
and so I ask these questions, look at things differently. That is what
I am doing.

What is Amar Singh's hold on Mulayam?
That nobody has been able to figure out. Even if a senior leader makes
an innocuous remark about Amar Singh, he is made to apologise
publicly. If somebody says "aap bahot accha kaam karte hain par thoda
sa bollywood se door rahiy,'' it will be enough for that man to be
humiliated. Mulayam Singhji has total faith in Amar Singh.

What is the reason for this?
He controls the finances and these poor people who come from regional
caste-based parties don't know how to manage their finances. They were
not getting money from the big industries. If you have people like
Prem Gupta or Amar Singh and they have a role to play, then… They were
there in politics earlier too, but they were not party leaders then.
Today money is so important in elections that no leader can survive
without pots and pots of it. People who can manipulate and manage
money are welcome in any party and become powerful day by day.

Just two days, before the nuke deal you switched allegiance to the BSP
and told me that Muslims do not vote on issues related to foreign
policy.
That is true. For me the nuclear deal was very important, but for
ordinary Muslims it may not be because they don't vote on such issues.
Muslims voted for the SP and the Congress. They didn't vote for
parties opposing the deal like the CPM. Look anywhere around you,
Indians don't vote on foreign policy issues; but that does not mean
that I should not have my views on it. I felt the nuke deal was not in
the country's interest. Everybody, including Mulayam Singh, agreed but
suddenly there was a switch. It was a deflection of the party from its
own ideology. Now they agree with what I said. They say that it was a
mistake to support the Manmohan Singh government and the Congress on
the deal.

Why did Amar Singh take that decision?
That's what I wanted to know. They told me this is politics, you won't
understand. I don't know how the nuke deal can be politics because it
involves the country's future, its environment's future, its
generations' future. Energy security is extremely important for India,
but there should be no investment in nuclear energy. We will need it
after 30 years. Right now it is solar, hydro and wind energy that we
require. I got so involved with the issue that I went to the US to
study the whole energy security question. How was the West planning
its energy requirements? Suddenly I was told that I was wrong.

Why did you lose Bijnor?
There were two reasons. First, I did not have money. People before me
had lots of money and the media was for sale. The media played a big
role in defeating me because I did not have the money to pay them. So
you get negative reports, get blackmailed openly by the media barons.
They told me that for not publishing damaging news about me "aapko 25
percent ka discount ho jayega". The person who was contesting before
was part of the mining mafia – Avtar Singh Bhadana – who was spending
crore of rupees. He came from the SP, then switched over to the NCP.
Secondly, the BSP coordinator worked overtime to defeat me. He told
every MLA, "Agar yeh jeet gaya to tum sabko agla ticket nahin milega."
I got the DM changed to an honest one. I saw that many of the trucks
were impounded. They were making money from the traffic movements
between UP and Uttaranchal. I got that stopped. Here I was fighting to
stop corruption, but then I saw that my own party people were totally
corrupted. I was defeated by 20,000 seats. I got more votes than most
of these people. Five MLAs who were working there had done nothing,
and I had to face the music for them. There was no electricity or
development. People are angry. UP is in a real bad shape
.
So these MLAs were able to work against you despite knowing that
Mayawati wanted you to win?
Mayawati called them, but they did not bother. She told me that she
would take action against them. But after the elections she said,
"Abhi kuch nahin kar sakte, ye bhaag jayenge." These MLAs only want
their family members in the party, no one form outside it.

What is Shahid Siddiqui's political future now?
The future is very bright. Political activists who can speak their
mind should come together and form a group, rising above party
divisions and working for better governance and delivery. I feel
democracy has failed somewhere. It is not just about collections.
Corruption is eating into the core of our democracy. You can't fight
it unless you can rise above party divisions. There is autocracy in
the parties, which needs to be fought. We have a semi-feudal
democracy, and I have believed this to be true for years. I would like
thinking people, not just those who are in politics but also those who
say that corrupt people have spoilt politics, to come forward.

What about the SP?
I am not going anywhere right now. I am going to enjoy my freedom. If
the SP democratises and changes itself, then I will welcome that. I
feel regional parties are most important because India is a federal
society and it has to be decentralised. There are so many interests
that they can't all be handled by a single party, so we need regional
parties. And these need to interact with each other. Because of the
anti-deflection law you can't say anything in Parliament too. Earlier
you used to have 200 days of Parliament sessions; now there are hardly
80-90 days. Nobody cares. Where is the point in wasting the nation's
time in discussing things in Parliament if you can't convince or be
convinced? I believe that neither does Parliament nor our parties
offer a platform. What kind of democracy is this? So I believe if I
join a party again my voice will be stifled.

WRITER'S EMAIL
shammy@tehelka.com


From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 51, Dated December 26, 2009


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[ZESTCaste] Ranganath report will promote conversions: BJP

 

http://www.ptinews.com/news/430852_Ranganath-report-will-promote-conversions--BJP

Ranganath report will promote conversions: BJP

STAFF WRITER 21:2 HRS IST
New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) BJP today rubbished the Ranganath Commission
report on minority reservation, saying it would promote religious
conversions and affect the status of SC and ST as enshrined in the
Constitution.

"Congress party has fallen in its own trap by proposing reservations
for Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. It vindicates BJP's stand that
this action (of giving reservation to minorities) would promote
conversions and is anti-national," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy
said.

The Rajya Sabha MP maintained that implementation of Ranganath
Commission recommendations would adversely affect the status of SCs
and STs as enshrined in the Constitution.

He further argued that even the basic essence of OBC reservation as
envisaged after Mandal Commission will "stand fractured".

Rudy criticised the UPA government for not tabling the action taken
report along with the Commission report, saying this makes the action
of Congress a suspect.

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[ZESTCaste] Cong MPs see Dalit angle, rally behind Dinakaran

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Cong-MPs-see-Dalit-angle--rally-behind-Dinakaran/556350


Cong MPs see Dalit angle, rally behind Dinakaran

Express news service Posted online: Saturday , Dec 19, 2009 at 0334 hrs
New Delhi : Some Congress MPs belonging to the Dalit community have
alleged 'caste bias' behind the move to impeach Karnataka High Court
Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and are planning to mobilise Dalit MPs
against the impeachment motion. They also plan to meet Congress
president Sonia Gandhi on this issue, even as the ruling party remains
non-committal on its stance.
"In the last two-three years, there have been reports about corruption
involving 4-5 judges. But nobody is talking about their impeachment.
Why is Dinakaran being singled out? Is it because he is a Dalit? The
mindset of these (opposition) parties is anti-Dalit. Dinakaran is
young and has the chance of becoming the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court. These parties do not want another Dalit to become Chief
Justice," Congress MP Praveen Rashtrapal told The Indian Express on
Friday.

Rashtrapal along with another Congress MP J D Seelam had raised
Dinakaran issue in the Rajya Sabha on Friday evoking strong protests
from Opposition benches.

"We are for corruption-free judiciary. There were reports of
corruption in judiciary from Orissa, Chandigarh, Allahabad, etc.
Impeach them first. Apply it uniformly. Just because Dinakaran is a
Dalit, you are trying to taint him. I am not going into the merits of
his case. Message should not go that Dalits have no backing," Seelam
told The Indian Express.

Rashtrapal who had met Dinakaran recently said he would talk to Dalit
MPs in both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and would also try to meet
the Congress president in this regard. "His (Dinakaran's) argument is
that he had bought land before he became a judge. He was a leading
lawyer. His wife is a doctor. He has ancestral property. Has anybody
complained against him? Has the Income-Tax Department levied any
penalty against him? Besides, land is a subject of the state
government, which has to initiate action first. As for Housing Board
flats, is there any law that judges cannot apply?" said Rashtrapal.

Rashtrapal and Seelam were not the only ones to raise the Dalit flag
in connection with Dinakaran's impeachment issue. "We agree with
them," Congress MP from Karauli-Dholpur Khiladi Lal Bairwa told The
Indian Express. A Central Minister from Karnataka was also learnt to
be of the opinion that there was "Dalit factor" behind the move
against Dinakaran.

Unsure about the party's stance, some Dalit MPs of the Congress are,
however, keeping their cards close to their chests. Jalandhar MP
Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Ujjain MP Prem Chand Guddu maintained they
were yet to think about this issue. "We will see," said Kaypee.

Dalit MPs from opposition parties would, however, take their
respective party line. "Be it a Dalit or anybody, if he is wrong, he
must be removed," said BJP MP from Bhind Ashok Argal.


Dinakaran's elevation only in abeyance: CJI


CJI K G Balakrishnan on Friday said the Supreme Court collegium had
only decided to keep "in abeyance" the recommendation for elevation of
Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran. The CJI's
clarification assumes significance in light of reports in a section of
the media which said the collegium had decided to withdraw the
recommendation of Dinakaran in light of serious allegations against
him.

Talking to reporters here, the CJI said the decision to keep
Dinakaran's name in abeyance was taken in view of the impeachment
proceedings against him in the Rajya Sabha over land grabbing
allegations. "When impeachment motion is pending against him, there is
no question of bringing him to the Supreme Court at this stage,"
Balakrishnan said. The CJI was responding to questions on whether the
collegium had dropped Dinakaran's name for elevation to the apex
court. He further informed that a letter would be sent to the
government to keep the matter of Dinakaran's elevation in abeyance.


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[ZESTCaste] Ranganath recommends 15% quota for ‘Dalit minorities’

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Ranganath-recommends-15-quota-for-Dalit-minorities/articleshow/5354328.cms

Ranganath recommends 15% quota for 'Dalit minorities'


19 Dec 2009, 0406 hrs IST, ET Bureau


NEW DELHI: THE Ranganath Commission has recommended Scheduled Caste
status to Dalit Hindu converts to Christianity and Islam. It has also
suggested
a 10% reservation for Muslims and 5% for other minorities in
government jobs. But this report that contains politically unpalatable
recommendations is certain to put in the deep freezer.

The commission has recommended delinking of Scheduled Caste status
from religion and abrogation of the 1950 Scheduled Caste Order which
"still excludes Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis from the Supreme
Court net." The order originally restricted Scheduled Caste status to
Hindus alone, but was later opened to Buddhists and Sikhs. "We
recommend that all those social and vocational groups among minorities
who but for their religious identity would have been covered by the
present net of Scheduled Castes should be unquestionably treated as
socially backward, irrespective of whether the religion of those other
communities recognise the caste system or not," the Commission said.

It also said that "those groups among minorities whose counterparts in
the majority community are at present covered by the net of Scheduled
Tribes should also be included in that net. More specifically, members
of the minority communities living in any tribal area from
pre-independence days should be so included irrespective of their
ethnic characteristics," the commission recommended.

The commission, which felt that education is a crucial factor for
development and enhancement of social and economic status, told the
government that "the focus has to be not only for extending the
education facilities for all, but also ensuring the quality of
education."

The commission said that 10% seats should be reserved for Muslims and
5% for other minorities in Central and state government jobs in all
cadre and grades. It added that in case of non-availability of Muslims
to fill the 10% earmarked seats, these may be made available to other
minorities, but in "no case" shall any seat within the recommended 15%
shall be given to anybody from the majority community.

Member Secretary of the Commission Asha Das has given a note of
dissent on the the Commission's recommendation for conferment of SC
status on Dalit converts to Christianity and Islam saying there was
"no justification" for it.

Besides, she has said that as Dalit converts to Christianity/Islam do
not qualify for inclusion as SCs, they should continue to form part of
OBCs and avail facilities and reservations given to the OBCs until a
comprehensive list of Socially and Educationally Backward (SEB) is
prepared. The Commission, however, rejected the contentions made by
Das in the dissent note and said: "We firmly stand by every word of
the recommendations, we have made under this term of reference."

The government has not placed an Action Taken Report on the
recommendation in Parliament. In any case, the government is not bound
to come out with an ATR as the panel was not set up under the
Commissions of Inquiry Act.

The recommendation of 'religion-based' quota not just goes against the
Constitution, it could also give a handle to the Opposition to beat
the government with. There is constitutional restriction on Christian
and Muslim Dalits being allowed access to reservation.


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[ZESTCaste] Guj Assembly passes bill on SC, ST reservation

 

http://www.ptinews.com/news/430954_Guj-Assembly-passes-bill-on-SC--ST-reservation

Guj Assembly passes bill on SC, ST reservation

STAFF WRITER 22:24 HRS IST
Gandhinagar, Dec 18 (PTI) Following in the footsteps of the Centre,
Gujarat Assembly today passed the Constitutional Amendment Bill for
extending the period of reservations to SCs and STs by another 10
years.

The bill was introduced by Chief Minister Narendra Modi under Assembly rule 100.

After it was passed in the Lok Sabha, every state Assembly was
required to pass the bill in order to amend the Constitution and
extend the reservation benefits to these categories.

Earlier, Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil had demanded that the
bill be introduced in the current session of the House, as the Centre
had already passed it.

While introducing the bill, Modi said framers of the constitution had
introduced the reservation systems for downtrodden sections like STs
and SCs and due to reservations, they have been brought in the
mainstream of society.

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[ZESTCaste] ‘Set up welfare corporation for Madiga community’

http://www.thehindu.com/2009/12/19/stories/2009121951230200.htm

Karnataka - Gulbarga

'Set up welfare corporation for Madiga community'

Special Correspondent


GULBARGA: The Dalit Jana Jagruti Sangarsha Samiti on Friday demanded
that the State Government fulfil the promise to establish a separate
development corporation for the Madiga community.

Convener of the samiti Rukkappa T. Kamble, who led a protest
demonstration by members of the samiti in front of the office of the
Deputy Commissioner here, said that the Government should release Rs.
15 crore to the single-member commission to conduct a population
survey of different castes in the Scheduled Caste list in the State.
He demanded that the Government release Rs. 2 crore immediately for
the chair established in Gulbarga University in the name of
Nijasharana Kayaka Priya Madara Chennayya.

The members submitted a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister B.S.
Yeddyurappa to the Deputy Commissioner.


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[ZESTCaste] Industry leaders meet PM on job reservation

 

http://www.samaylive.com/news/57488/57488.html

Industry leaders meet PM on job reservation

Outlining the affirmative action that it was willing to take for
empowering the socially underprivileged, captains of Indian industry
have submitted a plan of action to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
but opposed any law to impose job quotas in the private sector.

CII President R Seshasayee, Assocham president Anil Agarwal and JJ
Irani, who chaired a CII-appointed panel on job reservations in the
private sector, submitted the Irani Committee report that opposed
"curtailment of freedom of employers" in the matter of employment.

Asked about the response of the Prime Minister, Seshasayee said, "We
submitted the report yesterday. Details of this and interaction with
Prime Minister will be disclosed tomorrow."

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