Thursday, February 25, 2010

[ZESTCaste] India's Dalit writers come into their own

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126703360108751027.html?mod=WSJ-Books-LS-Books-5

BOOKS FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Words That Touch
India's Dalit writers come into their own

By JOHN KRICH
Jaipur, India

Untouchable, maybe. But no longer unread.

Omprakash Valmiki, born into India's lowest social group, the Dalits
-- known widely as "untouchables" -- says he was the first member of
his family to "ever see the inside of a school building."

For 40 years he has worked for the Ministry of Defense in Dehradun --
but by night the bureaucrat was doggedly composing poems and fiction.
And when Mr. Valmiki came to the 2010 Jaipur Literary Festival to
participate in a series of panels meant to recognize the importance of
so-called Dalit literature, he drew larger crowds than many of the
internationally known authors there. He was mobbed for autographs, and
his works -- which include the Hindi-language autobiographical novel
"Joothan: A Dalit's Life," published in English translation in the
U.S. by Columbia University Press -- were among the first to sell out
at the festival bookshop. (The English translation also appears with
the subtitle "An Untouchable's Life.")

"What we're doing is creating a new history of India that's not in the
textbooks," the soft-spoken, bespectacled 60-year-old says of the
growing movement of Dalit writers. "To support their superiority, the
majority invokes so many ancient myths. So we must create myths of our
own."

The results are striking a popular chord -- far beyond a community
that is mostly illiterate -- with readers both in India and abroad.
Recent hits include "Untouchables: My Family's Triumphant Journey Out
of the Caste System in Modern India," by Narendra Jadhav, who rose
from poverty to become vice chancellor of the University of Pune; it
was published in the West by the University of California Press.

"Not only have their books attracted a mass audience, but they are
profoundly impacting the political landscape," says Christophe
Jaffrelot, director of France's Center for International Studies and
Research and an authority on the Dalits. He points to Mayawati Kumar,
a Dalit who has become chief minister of India's most populous state,
Uttar Pradesh, as leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Prof. Jaffrelot says the wide appeal of Dalit works lies in their
being "very personal and intimate, dealing with the inner world of an
individual in conflict with how society views them," while the work of
Brahmin writers can come off as remote and abstract.

"We are drawing on a body of practical experience that we've gained
through all the things we have made, the crafts, the carving, the
carpentry, the textiles," says Mr. Valmiki. "Very little that you see
in India was made by Brahmins -- and everything carries the touch of
those they call untouchable."

Direct protest is the message of much Dalit literature. In one poem,
Mr. Valmiki cries out, "What would you do? /If you/ Have to swim
against the current/ To open the doors of pain/ And do battle with
hunger/ If you/ Are denied in your own land/ Made slave labor/Stripped
of your rights/ The pages of your glorious history/Torn to shreds/And
thrown away/What would you do?"

The most outspoken, and political, of the Dalit writers is Kancha
Ilaiah, whose 1996 manifesto "Why I Am Not A Hindu" made him the
target of death threats. Given to provocative claims like "while the
Greeks were producing Plato and Aristotle, all the Hindus created was
the Kama Sutra -- a book that teaches what the animals already know,"
Mr. Ilaiah argues that a caste system like that of Hinduism is
"spiritual fascism" that can't survive in these global times.
(Millions of Dalits are estimated to have converted, mostly to
Buddhism, but also to Islam and the appeals of Christian
missionaries.)

Mr. Ilaiah, 57, credits Dalit creative writers with "building a new
image for ourselves" much as pioneering African-American writers did
for a people so recently enslaved. "In ending our 3,000-year slavery,
the greatest vehicle for our liberation has been the English
language."

Access to English-language schools has been a major advance for
Dalits, though the group continues to suffer severe discrimination --
including in education -- more than 60 years after caste divisions
were outlawed by India's constitution. (That founding document is the
work of B.R. Ambedkar, an untouchable with degrees from Columbia who
is viewed as the group's heroic role model.)

"How can we take the constitution seriously?" asks Mr. Valmiki. "There
are still at least 1.3 million of us condemned to a scavenger class
sent out each day to collect human feces -- and their main employer is
the Indian government."

"Though we may be one-quarter of the population," says P. Sivakami, a
leading feminist voice among Dalits, "we are rarely represented in the
mainstream media, in television or movies. In the past, we've only
carried names like 'baby,' been portrayed as drunks or sexually
lascivious, grateful to get molested by a master."

While she worked for years as a senior civil servant, including a
stretch with the Indian tourist office in Tokyo, Ms. Sivakami says she
always "wanted to be a creative writer...the most noble job, where
words can generate consciousness." In 1988 she produced her first
novel, "Grip of Change," which was also the first Dalit novel written
in Tamil. (Translated by the author, it was published in English in
2006.)

"It's not easy when nothing prepares you for the situation of your own
inferiority," says Ms. Sivakami, one of 13 offspring of an illiterate
mother and a father who had only a third-grade education -- but who
rose to become a local legislator. Ms. Sivakami left the civil service
in 2008 to enter politics and last month established the Party for
Social Equity, plumping for everything from tribal to transgender
rights. "The caste system," she says, "is a kind of evil spirit that
has to be fought off."

In the fight, there are new allies such as young S. Anand, who in 2003
founded Navayana, a publishing house whose books deal with "caste from
an anticaste perspective," and include many by Dalit writers.

Mr. Ilaiah believes there will be more writers to come. "We have
already had our Martin Luther King," he says, referring to Ambedkar,
author of the constitution. "But we've yet to bring forth our Obama."

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[ZESTCaste] Bhagya-vidhata

 

Friends,

 

I happened to see an episode in a serial called 'Bhagyavidhata' running on channel COLORS. It depicted a story from a rich upper caste family. A married woman with a living husband is married to a tree in his presence. This is supposed to be the remedy of 'dosh nivaran'. She has some kind of dosh, perhaps some astrological combination of stars, I could not ascertain, as this was the only episode I saw.
 
 

A tree was the bridegroom, well decorated and named as Brij Maharaj. All rituals were done by the priest as are done in Vedic marriages, right from kanyadana, to gifts giving, tying mangal sutra and maang bharan and the seven phere etc. Then the priest declares that the 'ghat-vivah' is solemnized and hence the heroin named Punam is no more the wife of her living husband and declares that her marriage has ended. Then he orders that a separate residential arrangement be made for her, which is done.

The funny part is that a script is run at the bottom of the screen saying that all this is for entertainment and not meant to promote superstition or denigrate any religious practices.

 
 
I understand that such practices are common in some communities. But what I like know is that, is not practice of marrying a girl to non-human object, a crime under the law?
 
 
Can some one throw more light on this topic?
 
 
Thanks

 

Dr. K. Jamanadas, "Shalimar", Main Road, Chandrapur 442402

Thursday, February 25, 2010

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[ZESTCaste] Re:Orissa’s Lingaraj temple denigrates dalits

 

Friends,
 
Is it not time that the Dalits should boycott such activities?
 
Why should they undertake cleaning any place, where they are not welcome? But this self respect can be cultivated only if Ambedkar thought is rooted in the mind.
 
Are there no Ambedkarite organizations in Orrisa?
 
Thanks
 
Dr. K. Jamanadas
 

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[ZESTCaste] UP given ‘step-motherly treatment’, says Maya

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/up-given-stepmotherly-treatment-says-maya/584189/

UP given 'step-motherly treatment', says Maya
Express News Service Posted online: Thursday , Feb 25, 2010 at 0212 hrs
Lucknow : Chief Minister Mayawati described the Railway Budget as a
disappointment for the people of Uttar Pradesh and said the state has
received a "step-motherly treatment".
A press release issued by the state's Public Information department
said the Budget has paid special attention to West Bengal and Mumbai.
Tourist spots, places of religious importance and big cities in Uttar
Pradesh have been ignored, it added.

Mayawati felt the Budget does not reflect any concern for the aam
aadmi and has not said anything about filling up the backlog quota
meant for SCs and STs. Moreover, several projects are still
incomplete.

The chief minister also said that though the UPA government has made
announcements to construct new railway tracks between Amethi-Shahganj,
Amethi-Sultanpur and Sambhal-Gajraula, other parts of the state have
been ignored. The release termed the UPA government's slogan Sasti
Rail and Sukhad Yatra as an eyewash. Mayawati alleged that the Budget
lacks focus on the safety aspect of passengers.

The release stated that the Budget has exposed the hollow claims of
the UPA government about Samveshi Vikash (inclusive development) and
disappointed those who live in remote areas.

It seems that the Railway Budget has been prepared in view of the
forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, it added.

BJP calls Budget trackless
The national general secretary of BJP, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that
the Railway Budget is a mere box of announcements.

Calling it a "moneyless and trackless budget", Naqvi said the
announcements are an eyewash. He is in Lucknow to be part of BJP's
protest against inflation on Thursday.


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[ZESTCaste] BJP booklet on Maya ‘misgovernance’ brings her publicity

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/584195/


BJP booklet on Maya 'misgovernance' brings her publicity

Tarannum Manjul Posted online: Thursday , Feb 25, 2010 at 0221 hrs
Lucknow : A BJP booklet to inform the masses about BSP government's
"crimes and corruption" appears to have backfired.
In the villages where these have been distributed, the people —most of
them uneducated — consider it a work laudatory to Mayawati, thanks to
a colourful caricature of the chief minister on the cover.

The booklets, grumble BJP workers, have ended up bringing more
publicity to Mayawati and while some of them have sent back the
copies, others have distributed these only after removing the cover
page.

Titled Uttar Pradesh ki BSP sarkaar ke viruddh jannyayalay mein
chargesheet, the 32-page booklet has been printed in Lucknow and is
one of the biggest projects undertaken by the party's state unit.

The party's state office had printed around 20 lakh copies to be
distributed is every village across the state.

Costing around Rs 4 each, the "chargesheet" has a colourful cover,
showing a caricature of chief minister Mayawati wearing a crown and
riding on a blue elephant. The elephant is seen trampling common
people, indicating that state government's policies are crushing the
poor.

The booklet has charges framed under 10 heads: insult to
constitutional bodies, use of mafia for crime and intimidation,
protection of the mafia elements, siphoning of state funds, extortion
from the common man, framing innocents in fake cases, violation of
human rights by police, blackmarketing of essential commodities,
exploitation of farmers, kidnapping and exploitation of businessmen.

In January, the copies were sent to all district units. The workers
were told to distribute them among the rural folk at meetings on price
rise and inflation. But within a month, the district unit workers
began complaining to the state unit about the cover page.

A district coordinator from Sitapur said: "The booklet brings forth
information about the atrocities of the state government. But the
cover page is a major drawback, as on the first view, it looks like a
booklet for Mayawati rather than against her."

Another worker from Azamgarh said he was shocked to hear the villagers
call it "Behanji ki kitaab". "When we told them that this booklet is
by the BJP against the poor governance of the Chief Minister, they
could hardly believe it," he said. "We had to show them the back
cover, where the photograph of state president Ramapati Ram Tripathi
and the party symbol have been placed." The man literally behind the
booklet sets aside these arguments, saying it is perfect to highlight
the increasing corruption and criminalisation in the state.

The chargesheet," said BJP state president Ramapati Ram Tripathi, "has
been framed after much research and the cover is a perfect
idea".Regarding the confusion among people, he said: "We finalised the
cover ourselves as it is a wonderful caricature showing Mayawati and
her elephant crushing people. The material will remove any confusion
and people should read the chargesheet."


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[ZESTCaste] “Many states failed to implement SC/ST Act”

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/02/25/stories/2010022560410600.htm

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

"Many states failed to implement SC/ST Act"

D. Karthikeyan


MADURAI: It has been 20 years since the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 came into force but
several states in the country, including Tamil Nadu have failed to
implement the Act, said Suresh Mane, national general secretary,
Bahujan Samaj Party.

Talking to The Hindu in Madurai recently, Mr. Mane cited various
reasons for the non-implementation of the Act.

"There exists lacunae on many fronts, right from conducting the
investigation by a competent authority till the setting up a Special
Court, States should have a nodal officer to look into its
implementation but none of this has been done."He was in the city to
participate in a workshop on Social Transformation Strategy and the
Role of Dalits.

The general conviction rate under the Indian Penal Code is 45 per cent
whereas the conviction rate under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act,
1989 is less than 15 per cent, this showed that this Act which was a
tool for legal empowerment of Dalits, lacked resources for its
implementation, he said. In the case of Tamil Nadu, The National
Commission for Scheduled Castes, Vice Chairman, N.M. Kamble had
highlighted this at a review meeting.

Stating that every State in the country was trying to divide Dalits in
the name of reservation, he said that it was against the Constitution
and law.

Citing the Arunthathiyar case in Tamil Nadu, he questioned whether the
Tamil Nadu Government could provide a special quota in the case of
castes coming under Other Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes.

Documentary film


On March 15, BSP would be celebrating its Silver Jubilee function at
Ramabai Ambedkar Ground in Lucknow and 250 delegates from Tamil Nadu
would be participating, he said. On the occasion, a documentary film
on Kanshi Ram would be released by the BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Mayawati, he said.

As part of the nation-wide membership drive which started on January
16, Ms. Mayawati would be visiting southern states during April or
May.


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[ZESTCaste] Dalits protest demanding land for cremation

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/54735/dalits-protest-demanding-land-cremation.html

Dalits protest demanding land for cremation
Mangalore, Feb 24, DHNS:

Malavur Gram Panchayat witnessed a unique protest by Dalit members on
Wednesday.


The Dalits, led by Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, gheraoed the Panchayat
seeking a site to cremate the body of a Dalit woman who died on
Tuesday. Tensed moments prevailed in the Panchayat premises when the
protesting Dalits made arrangements to cremate the woman's body right
in front of the Panchayat building in Malavur.

The protesters said they lost their crematorium in Ambedkar Nagar when
about an acre of land in the area was acquired for the Bajpe airport a
few years back; since then they were depending on private land
holdings in their neighbourhood for last rites.

"There are about 50 families of Dalits in Ambedkar Nagar, which have
no facility to cremate in case of deaths. We have been demanding some
space for the purpose for the past five years, but the urge has fallen
on deaf ears," the protesters alleged.

"During a meeting on January 16, the authorities had assured that we
would be allotted a site for crematorium within 10 days, but nothing
has happened so far. Gulabi, a 45-year-old cancer patient died on
Tuesday but the family could not cremate the body since there was no
space. We had no other option than deciding to cremate the body in
front of the Gram Panchayat building," said a Dalit leader.

The protesters had prepared for the last rites, arranging firewood,
flowers and other materials. However, learning about the incident,
Mangalore Tahsildar Ravichandra Naik arrived on the spot, only to be
gheraoed by the protesters.

The Tahsildar promised the protesters that he would show a site for
crematorium within half-an-hour and began searching some government
land in the area. The search went on till 2.30 pm but in vein. The
officials could not find any vacant government land, which further
enraged the protesters.

Finally, the Tahsildar said he had negotiated with the owner of a
private land in the area to allow the Dalits to observe the last rites
for the dead in a portion of his land until a solution is drawn to
their problem. The body of Gulabi was cremated in the private land
identified by the Tahsildar in the afternoon.

Survey on March 10

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Naik said a survey will be conducted in
Ambedkar Nagar on March 10 to find out whether there is any land
available for the cremation.

"It is true their land has been acquired for the airport but there is
another crematorium in the adjacent Kenjar village at a distance of
one kilometre. However, they are not ready to use it," he said.

"Whatever land available in the area is 'patta' land which can not be
allotted for the purpose. We hope that at least 10 cents of vacant
land can be identified after the survey," he said.


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[ZESTCaste] Nepal: Dalit couple foils adoption of offspring

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=15599

Dalit couple foils adoption of offspring
OM ASTHA RAI

KATHMANDU, Feb 24: After desperate searches, a downtrodden Dalit
family from Nuwakot district has retrieved its lost children, who were
nearly adopted by an American couple.

Rajan Nepali, 27, who works as a manual laborer in Kathmandu to feed
his family, had sent his children--son Kaushal, 7, and daughter
Karuna, 3, -- to the Helpless Children Protection Home (HCPH)
orphanage at Ranibari through one Basanta Raj Upreti, an acquaintence,
in 2008.

"I was addicted to drugs because of which my wife Maya left me," Rajan
said. "After she left, I was unable to look after the children. I sent
them to the orphanage, expecting that they would be taken care of for
some time." He was planning to take back his children once his wife
returned to him.

But things did not work out as Rajan expected. After some time, he
luckily saw his children's photos in a vernacular newspaper. An
illiterate man, he could not read what was written below the photos.
So he got someone else to read it to him.

Then to his utter surprise and dismay, he learnt that his children had
been put up for inter-country adoption.

The names of his children had also been changed from Kaushal and
Karuna to Dharma and Ahimsa. "I was ready to stay away from my
children for some time because of my poverty," he said. "But I was not
ready to lose them forever." By then, Maya had returned to him. The
two then tried to get back their children.

Rajan and Maya met Sabitri Basnet, who runs HCPH with her husband
Jitendra, a retired police inspector. They requested Sabitri to return
their children. But she somehow persuaded them to take back only their
son, Kaushal. "We were satisfied at getting back at least one of our
children," Rajan said.

Sabitri, meanwhile, continued with the process of handing over Karuna
for adoption by foreigners. A few months later, Carlos and Kyla
Romanach, an American couple, approached Sabitri's HCPH and adopted
Karuna as their foster daughter.

It was then that the Romanaches came to know that Karuna's brother
Kaushal had been reclaimed by his biological parents. After two weeks,
they returned Karuna to Sabitri, refusing to adopt a child having
biological parents. Meanwhile, Rajan and Maya had come to learn of
their daughter being adopted by the American couple.
Rajan and Maya again visited Sabitra. This time, Sabitri refused to
let them take back their daughter. Then they approached the Central
Children Welfare Board (CCWB) in Lalitpur for help. With CCWB's
intervention, Rajan and Maya finally got Karuna back.

Sabitri's story

Sabitri Basnet, 60, who claims to have been running HCPH as a social
service, says that Kaushal and Karuana were brought to her as orphans
by police on July 2, 2008. She produced a police document stating that
Kaushal and Karuna were found abandoned somewhere in Naxal. "I did not
know for sure that they had parents at all," she maintains.

Even if Sabitri is telling the truth, questions about her assertions
abound. Why did she not take Kaushal and Karuna to the Children Search
Center (CSC), which tries to find the biological parents before
allowing children to be put up for inter-country adoption?

Why did she hand Karuna over to foreigners after having sent her
brother back to their biological parents?

Some five years ago also Sabitri was in the news for sending the two
children of one Nirmala Thapa of Dhading, to America. Sabitri had
assured Nirmala that the children would be properly taken care of. As
in the case of Rajan, Nirmala learnt of her children being put up for
adoption only after seeing their photos in a newspaper.

Sabitri's HCPH is one of the leading orphanages involved in adoptions.
A former Baal Mandir employee, Sabitiri was the first to send children
abroad after the government lifted a ban on inter-country adoptions in
2008 following promulgation of a new set of regulations.

A year earlier, the government had banned inter-country adoptiond
following widespread allegations of malpractice.

Sources say that HCPH was initially not included in a list of
orphanages qualified to work on inter-country adoptions, which the
government compiled with the objective of controlling malpractices.
CCWB, which made the list, had accused HCPH of not maintaining
required standards for the inter-country adoptions. Sabitri, however,
got her orphanage included in the list, using her wide-ranging nexus
with influential individuals.

Delisted again
Acting on the recommendations of a committee it formed to oversee the
entire inter-country adoption process, the Ministry of Women, Children
and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) has deleted Sabitri's HCPH from the list
of orphanages eligible for inter-country adoption.

According to Upendra Keshari Neupane, a member of the committee, the
document Sabitri's orphanage produced for the adoption of Rajan's
daughter was full of shortcomings.

Neupane, who represents the Children NGOs Federation (CNF) on the
committee, demands that the government further probe Sabitri's
adoption activities. "Delisting alone is not enough," he argues.

Published on 2010-02-25 12:35:04


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[ZESTCaste] Dalit panchayat chiefs face discrimination: report

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/02/25/stories/2010022554570500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Dalit panchayat chiefs face discrimination: report

D.Karthikeyan

Fact-finding team reveals its findings


"Panchayat clerks who are mostly from dominant castes act as de facto
presidents"

"Violence had also been unleashed on

the presidents"


MADURAI: Panchayat presidents belonging to Dalit communities and women
in particular are still being discriminated against and it includes
practices of untouchability in many forms, denial of rights and
non-cooperation from dominant castes, a fact-finding report has
revealed.

A fact-finding team, which investigated the challenges,
discriminations and violence faced by Dalit panchayat presidents of
Sivaganga district, released a report containing its findings here on
Wednesday.

The findings reveal that the meaning of grass root democracy and local
governance is still at large for the elected Dalit representatives.

The team had met panchayat presidents of Poyyalur, Nenchanur, Namanur,
Arasanoor, Thanjakoor, Kanur, O. Pudur, Chinnakannur, Tirukolakudi
Kalayarkoil and T. Alangulam. According to the findings, dominant
caste are selecting or nominating the candidates in many of the
panchayats reserved for Dalits.

A few allegations include compulsion to sign blank cheques without
giving details of their utilisation; non-cooperation of dominant caste
members in panchayat councils; prevention of Dalit presidents from
passing resolutions and denial of access to panchayat records, account
books and registers.

Panchayat clerks who are mostly from dominant castes act as de facto
presidents without giving them the necessary space to function
independently. During meetings, Dalit presidents were allowed to sit
on the floor and not on the chair. It was also found that 'Makkal Nala
Paniyalargal' of Tirukolakudi in Tiruppattur panchayat citing
"untouchability and questions of honour" had refused to receive money
from Dalit presidents and asked them to bring it to their homes.

Violence had also been unleashed on the presidents who resisted. The
Alangulam panchayat president, Nenjattur panchayat president and
Thanjakkur panchayat president, along with his family members, were
attacked.

All these incidents were of recent past and no cases had been
registered so far under the relevant provisions of the Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The recommendations made by the team include a direction to the
District Collectors to periodically review the functioning of
panchayats and participate in the meetings. The SC/ST (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act should be implemented in letter and spirit. Adequate
protection should be given to presidents who faced threat.

Sivaganga district has 445 panchayats out of which 85 are reserved for
Dalits. Out of the 85, 33 panchayats have Dalit women as presidents.

The team comprised members from Tamil Nadu Federation of Women
Presidents of Panchayat Government, Dalit Panchayat Presidents
Federation of Tamil Nadu and Panchayat Presidents Coordinated
Federation- Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Tamil Nadu NGO Alliance for
Empowering Panchayats and Human Rights Foundation.


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