Dear Imran Bhai, You have so correctly observed: "Both, the Dalits and the minorities are untouchable one way or the other." I am very encouraged by the abundant support this petition has received so far from the Muslim community. It is only when all of the underprivileged segments make the emancipation of all deprived groups that we will be able to emancipate all of them. Each of them fighting just for themselves is too small to make substantial gain. Just look at the following facts: With a population of around 15%, Muslims by themselves can't win many seats in elections. As a result Muslims have not even bothered to form a national Muslim party. With about the same population share, Dalits (Scheduled Castes) have formed BSP, and have had some success in UP. But the success in UP has been on account of a number of factors: (1) In UP population share of Dalits is around 22%, (2) In UP they have a peculiar four way competition among BSP, SP, BJP and Congress. This makes the UP electoral result very erratic and unpredictable. After winning over 51.12% of state assembly seats with 30.43% votes in 2006, in the very next election (this time for Lok Sabha in 2009), BSP won just 25% seats with about 27.4% of votes. These are vagaries of FPTP. Any way, to make the long story short, Dalits, with just around 15% population are not going to much for themselves acting just by themselves. Same is the case with the lower half of OBC segment. Christians, with just a population slice of just about 2% stand to be total non-factors in any election, all by themselves. But if they embraced each other and each others' causes, they will account for well over 50% population slice, and politically very potent force. Hence the deprived must embrace each other and each other's causes. We cannot embrace each other without supporting each others' causes. Thank you very much for your support. Best regards, Satinath ===========
--- On Sun, 10/31/10, mohammad imran <imran@verizon.net> wrote:
From: mohammad imran <imran@verizon.net>
Subject: [nri-sahi] Fwd: [progressive interactions3550] An open letter to President Obama about dalits and tribal people in India
To: "nri-SAHI" <NRI-SAHI@YAHOOGROUPS.COM>
Date: Sunday, October 31, 2010, 10:21 PM
Please circulate the petition and ask people on your email list to send this petition to President Obama as he visits India. We ask President Obama to support the bill of July 24, 2007, passed by the Congress and the Senate of the United States, to address the ongoing problem of untouchability in India. Problems of untouchability and problems of minorities in India are concurrent and similar. Both, the Dalits and the minorities are untouchable one way or the other. Removal of untouchability of one will have effect on removing the untouchability of the other. We want every Indian to have the equal rights in India. Removing untouchability is the first step.
Imran Begin forwarded message: Date: October 31, 2010 10:05:08 PM EDT Subject: [progressive interactions3550] An open letter to President Obama about dalits and tribal people in India
Dear friends,
I do not know if Indian media gave much publicity to, and whether it caught your attention, but on July 24 of 2007 the US Senate as well as House of Representatives passed a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should address the ongoing problem of untouchability in India. Well, Dr. A.K. Biswas did remember that resolution and would very much like to remind President Obama of the same. We have placed "An open letter to President Obama about dalits and tribal people in India" at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ToObama/
As you would note from the online Open Letter, realizing that these things take time, we propose to keep on reminding President Obama and the US Congress on July 24 of the next couple of years, anniversary dates of the well considered resolution passed by the Congress on July 24 of 2007, to review any follow up actions taken. In the mean time we will continue to invite more and more endorsements from across the globe sympathetic to the cause of dalit and tribal communities to complement the voice of voiceless.
Keeping the above in view, please sign the said online "Open Letter" and let us all try to collect thousands of endorsements to present to Obama not only when he is in India, but the next year as well as the year after with thousands more signature on the open letter. In this endeavor you can send letters to your friends and to other forums stating something to the effect:
---- Dear Friends,
I have just read and signed the online petition:
"An open letter to President Obama about dalits and tribal people in India" hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ToObama/
I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself.
Best wishes,
----
Thanking you very much, With best regards, Satinath Choudhary
===========
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