Monday, January 25, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Moon struck (Opinion)

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Moon-struck/articleshow/5496860.cms

Moon struck

25 Jan 2010, 0637 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Next time you wish for the moon, beware. It may just come true. In
fact, it may happen even if you don't wish for it, apparently. With
her penchant
for all things earthly — preferably hewn in stone — it is not
surprising that UP chief minister Mayawati was not amused to learn
that some over-zealous partyman has actually attempted to buy her a
birthday gift that would eclipse all others: a plot on the moon.

The poshest bits of Lucknow or New Delhi hold no candle to a piece of
the Moon. But Ms Mayawati was hardly likely to fall for the lure of
moondust when there're plenty of earthly places up for grabs,
especially those that can be reached by her official cavalcade.

Who wants to wait for a traipse to the moon till Richard Branson comes
up with the next stop for Virgin Galactic anyway? So, while the
partyman Narendra Singh Sengar was expelled from the BSP for his deal
with a US-based company for a moon plot for his leader, Ms Mayawati
has ordered an inquiry into the murkier plot that may lie hidden
behind the package that arrived from the US with the 'relevant'
papers.

Dismissing the reports of her newest acquisition as 'baseless' , the
UP government has asked the ministry of external affairs — it can't
get more external than the moon — to investigate the origin of the
documents that arrived from an address in California. People have been
sold the London Bridge and the Statue of Liberty . Trust Ms Mayawati
to not succumb to such moonshine .

Especially since it seems a pretty cheap venture : a cursory search on
the internet for plots on the moon shows that the going 'rate' is a
measly $20 per acre. Maybe because there's no credible source of water
there yet. At least Noida has an assured supply — and better land
appreciation . But as an exotic location for elevating statues, the
moon does have something going for it.


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[ZESTCaste] In new light, police rediscover ‘shady’ past of leader who gave Maya ‘moon’

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/In-new-light--police-rediscover--shady--past-of-leader-who-gave-Maya--moon-/571331

In new light, police rediscover 'shady' past of leader who gave Maya 'moon'

Kautilya Singh Posted online: Monday , Jan 25, 2010 at 0343 hrs
kanpur : While Narendra Singh alias Pinto Sengar, the partyman who
"annoyed" Chief Minister Mayawati by gifting her a piece of the moon
on her birthday, still remains missing, the Kanpur police claim to be
now hunting for him as he is a history-sheeter.
The Chakeri police, which brought Singh's father Soni Singh, mother
Shanti Devi, sister-in-law Babita Singh, former corporator Ranga Yadav
and half a dozen others to the police station for questioning, have
failed to find him. An angry Mayawati has expelled Singh from the BSP.

Kanpur DIG B P Jogdand says that their sudden interest in Singh is
"normal policing process" for the fact that he has a long crime
record. "The issue has no political connection," he said. Between 1990
and 2001, Singh was named in 28 cases. He had also been an associate
of former bandit queen Phoolan Devi, while she was an MP. A property
dealer, he joined the Samajwadi Party in 1996 and was with the party
till 2007, when he was given a ticket by the BSP for the Kanpur
Cantonment Assembly seat.

Singh lost, and shot in the limelight only recently after he announced
that he had gifted a plot of land on the moon to Mayawati on her
birthday on January 15. After a week, the government issued a
statement, dissociating the Chief Minister from the matter.

The statement said that a packet, ostensibly making registration of
land in the name of Mayawati, had been received at her residence and
she had asked the Home Deparment to investigate the matter. Besides,
the state government had written to the External Affairs Ministry,
asking it to conduct an inquiry. The same day, Singh was expelled from
the BSP for anti-party activity.

The cases registered against Singh include charges of disturbing law
and order situation, dacoity and extortion, cases under the Goonda Act
as well as several cases of attempt to murder and a case of murder. In
2001, the last criminal case against him was registered at the Kohna
police station. Details of this case are not available.

A political associate of Singh, who did not want to be quoted, said
not a single case had been registered against him in the last nine
years, which "shows that he is no longer involved in criminal
activity." The associate said that after joining the BSP, he had
completely devoted himself to his political career.

District BSP president S P Tekla claimed he was unaware of Singh's
criminal background. "Singh joined the BSP in 2007, whereas I took
over the charge of district president on June 10, 2009," he said.

Last week, he said, he received instructions from party headquarters
to expel Singh. "We do not interfere in police activities, therefore
we have no information about police action being initiated against
him," said Tekla.


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[ZESTCaste] New trick up Maya's sleeve for BPL votes

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/80816/India/New+trick+up+Maya's+sleeve+for+BPL+votes.html

New trick up Maya's sleeve for BPL votes
Piyush Srivastava
Lucknow, January 25, 2010

The Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh has claimed to have
identified more than three crore "real" below poverty line (BPL)
people, who were not on the Centre's list.

The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) had listed only 1.7
crore beneficiaries in UP in its list.

The state's BPL count is under the direct supervision of the chief minister.

However, behind the projected commitment to poverty alleviation,
experts see shadows of vote-bank politics.

It is believed that the idea is to extend various benefits to
"state-recognised BPL persons and families" in the next two-and-a-half
years and prepare for the Assembly elections in 2012.

The state has said BPL people have been deprived of the benefits of
the Centre's poverty alleviation programmes.

It has been cancelling ration cards of those identified as "falsely
included" in the BPL list.

The BPL cards of 51,700 people, identified by the NSSO, were cancelled
in the past week. And many more stand to be cancelled.

The Mayawati government believes 50 per cent of the entries in the BPL
list were false.

Notwithstanding that the Centre depended on the state machinery for
its surveys, Mayawati said BPL persons were not benefiting from the
Centre's poverty alleviation schemes because of a faulty census.

On January 15, her 54th birthday, Mayawati had announced a financial
assistance scheme under which one member of each poor family was to be
entitled to Rs 300 a month.

"We have started the Mukhyamantri Mahamaya Garib Arthik Madad Yojna
for the poor deprived of the benefits of Central schemes. There will
be a monitoring cell in my office to ensure its smooth
implementation," Mayawati had said.

Centre-sponsored poverty alleviation schemes are normally executed by
the state's department of social welfare or rural development.

Mayawati has also issued a fresh instruction to the department of
civil supplies to conduct a state-wide survey to identify the "true
poor". Over 350 teams have been deployed in Lucknow alone for this
purpose and the BPL lists will be displayed in public places.

Jacob Thomas, the principal secretary of food and civil supplies,
said, "The verification of BPLs started recently. We found a large
number of non-BPL persons receiving the benefits meant for BPL
persons. The district administrations have been asked to conduct fresh
surveys and remove the false BPL entries." State Rural Development
Minister Daddu Prasad said, "Rich people are depriving poor dalits of
their rights under the BPL schemes. It is necessary to protect the
rights of the poor." But some experts said Mayawati was trying to
create a vote-bank and was sending a message that the Centre was not
serious about identifying the real poor.

"It will be no wonder if those deleted from the BPL list are included
again in her list in the coming months. (Mayawati is creating a) large
number of beneficiaries… snatching (some) from the centrally
identified (list)… She is creating strong group of followers," Kamal
Nayan Kabra, a former Indian Institute of Public Administration
professor and economist, said.

He said the state government appeared keen on projecting itself as the
real champion of the poor, rather than fighting to redefine "poverty
line". Earlier, the state government had requested the Centre for a
fresh BPL survey and an increase in the number of beneficiaries. The
state also wanted more funds under various schemes and a bigger
allocation of foodgrains.

"Poverty line under its present definition debars many really poor
families from enjoying the benefits of schemes such as 35 kg of rice
and wheat at subsidised rate from ration shops, old age pension scheme
and the Janani Suraksha Yojana. But the political benefits of such
programmes is foremost for the state," Kabra said.

There are many factors that can obstruct a proper census, he said.
They include a lack of vision among panchayat leaders responsible for
the count, a dominating middle class and political disconnect from
poor households at the local level. "A government needs to look at it
genuinely," he added.

Based on the 2001-02 price index, a household with an annual income
below Rs 19,984 per annum in rural areas and Rs 25,546 in urban areas
is considered as BPL in UP. This is based on the average daily intake
of less than 2,400 calories per person in rural areas and less than
2,100 calories per person in urban centres of the state.

A.K. Verma, a professor of political science at Christ Church College,
Kanpur, and writer on dalit politics in UP, said: "It is easy to
understand the mingling of politics and development. All political
parties have realised that there is no hope for them if they didn't
focus on development. So, Mayawati is trying to prepare a strong blend
of politics and development."

"It is a challenge for every political party in UP to secure dalit
votes and they are planning it accordingly," Verma added.


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[ZESTCaste] Cannibalizing Hindu society (Opinion)

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=329&page=16

January31, 2010


Sachar to Ranganath
Cannibalizing Hindu society
By Sandhya Jain

Racism is a child of colonialism. When White Christians went to other
lands and enslaved people (Africa) or colonised them, the
discriminatory relationship between the 'Master Race' and the
colonised was called 'Racism'. Based mainly on colour consciousness,
it held that the enslaved/colonised were inferior human species,
worthy of subjugation.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance has, in successive
incarnations, been determined to give Muslims and Christians
extraordinary precedence and weightage, with a clear long-term
objective of driving Hindus out of public spaces.

The writer has always maintained that Secularism was imposed upon an
unsuspecting nation solely to ensure the negation and erosion of the
Hindu ethos in the nascent Republic. In contrast, minorities were
empowered to maintain their separate identities and pursue their
separate agendas. Initially they enjoyed political weightage as a
vote-bank of the dominant Congress party, but as they began to
experiment with other 'non-communal' parties to increase their
communal powers, the UPA has sought to buy their loyalty by offering
economic precedence as well. Hence Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
fatuous declamation that 'Muslims have the first claim' on national
resources!

The UPA's accidental ascent in 2004 proved to be a boom-time for
minorities, even though the Italian-born Roman Catholic Sonia Gandhi
failed to become Prime Minister. She became UPA chairperson mentor,
leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, and enjoyed Cabinet rank
as head of the National Advisory Committee (till the office of profit
controversy forced her to resign).

Sonia Gandhi moved to implement her minority agenda with alacrity.
Pope John Paul II had previously called for planting the Cross in
Asia; in America, President George Bush, Jr., had launched the Joshua
Project 2000 for conversion of the unreached masses world-wide. It is
within this paradigm that we must view UPA's setting-up the Rajinder
Sachar Committee and later the National Commission for Religious and
Linguistic Minorities, headed by Ranganath Misra, retired judge,
Supreme Court.

Given India's current demography, it made sense to promote the 13 per
cent Muslims at the expense of the Hindu majority. But as we have seen
in Indonesia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and even Srinagar, evangelists
target Muslim communities as determinedly as they target Hindus and
other non-monotheists. Christians (already believed to be 7-8 per cent
per cent of the population) are confident of using minority provisions
to further their interests, and eventually overtake Muslims in making
conversions to the 'true' faith.

The Sachar Committee, set-up to evaluate the social, economic and
educational status of Muslims, in its report in 2006, called for
path-breaking efforts to include Muslims in the national mainstream
and address supposed inequities experienced by them. It recommended
creation of an Equal Opportunity Commission, modelled on the UK Race
Relations Act, 1976, to look into the grievances of religious
minorities. This fallacious but vicious attempt to equate Race with
Religion is now on the anvil, and can only add to inter-community
strains.

Racism is a child of colonialism. When White Christians went to other
lands and enslaved people (Africa) or colonised them, the
discriminatory relationship between the 'Master Race' and the
colonised was called 'Racism'. Based mainly on colour consciousness,
it held that the enslaved / colonised were inferior human species,
worthy of subjugation. Racism is a pervasive western reality
(currently experienced by Indians in Australia) and cannot be equated
with strains among peoples of different faiths. Moreover, how can
faiths that conquered and ruled India - Islam and Christianity -
suffer poverty, ill-education, or other forms of discrimination!

The Equal Opportunity Commission will make normal life impossible. A
Muslim unable to buy a house at a favourable price can level
allegations of discrimination against the seller; a bad employee
cannot be dismissed if hailing from a minority group. The fight
against terrorism will become virtually impossible, as every police
officer can expect to be arraigned before this Commission.

True, Sachar does not recommend reservation in education and jobs for
Muslims, as that would be ultra vires of the Constitution and liable
to be dismissed in court. But it coyly seeks "multifarious measures,
including reservation" for Muslims with similar traditional
occupations as Scheduled Castes, and wants such groups designated as
Most Backward Classes, with reservations disguised as 'affirmative
action' (an American catch-phrase) so they cannot be constitutionally
challenged.

The report reflects preconceived notions: the Muslim community shows
"deficits and deprivation" in almost all aspects of development;
Muslims rank above SCs/STs but below Hindu OBCs, Other Minorities and
Hindu upper castes; and Muslims are most backward in States with large
Muslim populations, such as West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and
Assam.

Sachar suggests specific initiatives to address educational, career
and political deprivation among Muslims: free and compulsory
education; institutionalising the process of evaluating school
textbooks to better reflect community-specific sensitivities;
setting-up quality government schools, especially for girls, in areas
of Muslim concentration and providing primary education in Urdu where
the language is widely used.

The Ranganath Misra Commission, which submitted its report in 2007,
recommended 15 per cent reservation in education and government
employment for minorities; 8.4 per cent out of the existing OBC quota
of 27 per cent for minorities; and inclusion of Muslim and Christian
Dalits in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe list for reservation
benefits.

In the 2005 winter session of the Parliament, UPA pushed a Bill
extending SC, ST and OBC reservations to all educational institutions,
including private schools, excluding minority institutions though
education and conversion are both lucrative industries! UPA reacted
sharply when a division bench of the Allahabad High Court concurred
that the Aligarh Muslim University is not a minority institution as it
was created by an Act of Parliament, and hence cannot reserve 50 per
cent seats for Muslim students. Congress also tried to subvert the
Andhra High Court decision striking down five per cent reservations
for Muslims in State employment.

UPA-I pushed for caste-based reservations in the private sector, till
Wipro chairman Azim Premji expressed corporate India's dislike of the
measure. The Right to Education has made reservation in education
irrelevant. The Centre annually collects Rs 6,000 crore as education
cess; setting-up the required number of schools will achieve cent per
cent literacy in one decade.

Reservations to converts are a ruse to finance conversions through the
public exchequer. Soon evangelists will demand access to SC/ST seats
in the Parliament and the State Assemblies - political reservations by
the backdoor!

The critical issue is 'Caste'. The British realised caste was the iron
curtain which frustrated attempts to convert the population, and hence
attacked caste. But evangelists realised that the best way to increase
their numbers was by gaining access to caste-based reservation
benefits. After Mandal Commission listed some 'Muslim castes' among
OBCs, Christians began to press for SC/ST benefits for 'Dalit
Christians.'

But can those who have renounced their Hindu identity, and ended the
so-called social stigma associated with Hinduism, justly receive the
benefits of a caste identity equated with being Hindu? Christianity
and Islam cannot be allowed to use caste to undermine Hindu society
from within. Nor can they mistreat converts and garner reservation
benefits in their name!

Clearly, larger issues are at stake than can be dealt with in the
course of an article. Hindu society must view any move to extend
special political, economic or educational privileges to minorities as
an assault upon India's native religion and culture, its demographic
balance, and its civilisational ethos. The Sachar Committee and
Ranganath Misra Commission are state-sponsored assaults upon the unity
and continuity of Hindu dharma in India, and must be seen as religious
persecution on the part of the Sonia Gandhi-led UPA.

(The author is a senior columnist.)


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[ZESTCaste] Education: An unfinished revolution

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Education-An-unfinished-revolution/articleshow/5496681.cms

Education: An unfinished revolution
Subodh Varma , TNN, 25 January 2010, 04:27am IST

India's education system is a juggernaut. Over 290 million students
attend educational institutions on a typical working day. Enrolment
has increased tremendously in schools, technical and professional
courses, colleges, distance learning centers, even coaching centers.
In 1951, 19 million were enrolled at elementary level (classes 1 to
8), just 1.5 million from 9 to 12. Today, elementary sections have
over 130 million enrolled, 37 million in higher classes. Higher
education has seen a stunning 100-fold enrolment growth — from 1.7
lakh students in 1951 to over 12 million currently. What drives
Indians is hope that education will open doors to a better life.

Here are some other numbers. India has the world's largest population
of illiterates —about 380 million. Nearly every child in the 6-11
years age-group is enrolled but by class 5, one-third have dropped
out, by class 8, half; by class 10 nearly two-thirds are out of
school. Only 10% go for higher education. In all, over 170 million
children and youth in the age group 6-24 years are out of the
education system.

Why is this? Experts cite the four Great Divides: rural-urban,
men-women, rich-poor and the caste divide. In each case, there is a
disadvantaged section, which finds it difficult to get access to
education and thus gets left out. Back in 1951, 35% of urbanites and
only 12% of rural people were literate. In 2006, 80% urbanites were
literate but in rural areas literacy rate was 59%. The story of dalits
and tribals is similar, although there has been an even greater surge
in their desire for education. In 1961, literacy among dalits was 10%
and among tribals 9%. This increased to 55% and 47% respectively in
2006, a massive increase but still behind more advanced sections.
Finally, there is the rich-poor divide. Among society's poorest third,
literacy is about 46%. In the middle third, it improves to 65%, while
among the richest third, it is over 72%.

Though it's gone up since 1951, government expenditure — in 2006-07,
total expense on education was Rs.1.33 lakh crore (3.6% GDP) — is
insufficient to educate 1.2 billion Indians. Forty years ago, the
Kothari Commission argued that at least 6% of GDP should be allocated
to education, but spending has always remained below par.

Low government spending has led to growing inequity in education, as
those with better resources get better education, while the majority
have to make do with mediocre standards.


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[ZESTCaste] Nitish sings yeh dosti hum nahi todenge...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Nitish-sings-yeh-dosti-hum-nahi-todenge/articleshow/5496502.cms

Nitish sings yeh dosti hum nahi todenge...

25 Jan 2010, 0258 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday set to rest all
speculation about the fate of the NDA in the state during the upcoming
assembly polls, and asserted that JD(U) and BJP would contest the
looming electoral battle together again.

``I am not a politician who thinks of ditching an ally. Both the
parties enjoy strong bonds of relations and the leaders of the two
parties know each other for a long period from being an opposition to
attaining the seat of power,'' Mr Kumar told a news channel in
response to a query.

The Bihar chief minister's categorical assertion about the future of
the alliance in the state puts cold water on the argument being dished
by a section of political observers, both here and in Patna, that he
was getting ready to do a Naveen Patnaik on BJP. They were alluding to
BJD's decision to sever its ties with its alliance partner, BJP, in
Orissa on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls held last year.

Bihar goes to polls later this year, and the JD(U)-BJP government
would face the upcoming electoral battle on the basis of its
report-card in the last four years. The state had notched up a
growth-rate of 11.03 % during this period, enabling it to shake-off
its image of being a laggard.

The JD(U) leader said the alliance had ushered in a semblance of
governance after 15 years of RJD (mis)rule, first under Mr Lalu Prasad
and, later, under his wife Rabri Devi, and claimed that the state had
scripted a turn-around, and that now ``Bihari'' was no longer a
pejorative term.

Making it clear that he was not rattled by the setback the ruling
alliance suffered in the by-polls to 18 assembly constituencies last
year after a spectacular performance in the Lok Sabha polls, the chief
minister said the alliance was strong as evident from the coordination
between the two parties catering to all sections, including
minorities.

"If doing justice to mahadalits which they deserve after having
remained neglected for decades is being alleged as an attempt to
divide the dalits, it can be termed as nothing but mental bankruptcy,"
he said, talking about charges being hurled at him by the Lalu
Prasad-Ram Vilas Paswan duo of indulging in divisive politics.

"Go and ask the dalits about their happiness because of the state
government's initiatives for what they deserve,'' he said.


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[ZESTCaste] Realism' in Dalit writing

 

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/80784/India/Realism'+in+Dalit+writing.html

Realism' in Dalit writing
Sudhanshu Mishra
Jaipur, January 24, 2010

Story writer Ajay Navaria created a sensation on the third day of the
lit fest at Jaipur with his explosive work Upamahadweep
(Subcontinent).

Navaria's abundant use of expletives under the garb of realism
triggered a debate in the session on Dalit literature about the
tradition of extreme realism in literature across the world.

The session, titled 'Ab Aur Nahin (Enough)' began with Om Prakash
Valmiki's three poems: Virasat (Legacy), Bahut ho chuka (Enough) and
Thakur ka kuan (Thakur's well). All three depicted the misery,
discrimination, exploitation and downgrading of Dalits in the country.

French sociologist Christophe Jafferlot initiated the session with a
talk on the history of the word Dalit. He traced the word's usage to a
conference held in Mumbai in 1958.

Jafferlot preferred to link Dalit literature with French
existentialism rather than Afro-American or Russian literature. He
referred to a Jean Paul Sartre quote to prove his point. "To write is
to fight," Sartre had said.

Valmiki's poems, especially, Thakur ka kuan, got the crowd applauding.
But their high aesthetic expression seemed to have been put into
reverse gear as Navaria read Upmahadweep.

Though the story itself was gripping, depicting the atrocities on a
Dalit family by the rural high caste, the language was harsh on the
ears. In fact, the obscene language prompted a young man from the
audience to point out that Dalit literature had links with the great
tradition of saints (sant parampara).

Archana, a participant who has translated Afro- American poetry and
has been involved with the Dalit movement, said the Black literary
movement also used filthy language initially. It was seen as a form of
'extreme realism', but of late, powerful voices were heard to
discourage and replace it with aesthetic superiority. Tracing the
similarity, she said Dalit literature was also a reaction to history.

"This misadventurism or crude expression of anger should and will die
down with the maturity the Dalit writers attain with time," she
predicted.

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