Sunday, July 18, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Enumerate economic not caste-based data (Opinion)

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=354&page=41

July 25, 2010

Page: 41/43

Home > 2010 Issues > July 25, 2010

News Analysis

Divisive, populist and insidious exercise

Enumerate economic not caste-based data
By Shyam Khosla

UNDER pressure from its regional allies and supporting parties, the
Prime Minister indicated in Parliament at the fag end of the budget
session that the Government would take a favourable decision on the
demand for caste-based Census. Leader of the Opposition, presumably
motivated by desire not to lose OBC vote bank to party's rivals, rose
to say her party was not opposed to the demand. The ball was, thus,
set rolling to undertake a divisive, populist and regressive exercise
without any of the two major parties having discussed and debated the
issue in depth at any of their respective party forums. While the OBC
leaders belonging to almost all parties went to town celebrating their
"victory", the Congress and the BJP now find themselves in a bind.

Fortunately, there are still some elements in the Congress that are
more committed to national integration than populism. They are
resisting this insidious exercise. Consequently, the Group of
Ministers (GOM) constituted by the PM to evolve a consensus on the
issue failed to arrive at any decision. It decided to consult other
political parties before taking a final call. BJP is also divided on
the issue. Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, who is known for his commitment to
the party's ideology, strongly came out against the move. The issue
did crop up briefly at the BJP's recent national executive meeting at
Patna. While deputy leader of the party in Lok Sabha, Gopinath Munde
argued in favour of caste-based Census, Dr Joshi vehemently opposed it
on the premise that such an enumeration would weaken the nation and
hurt social harmony. Earlier, the RSS had issued a statement strongly
opposing caste-based Census arguing that it would further accentuate
divisions in the society and would serve no useful purpose.

The British rulers had introduced caste-based Census in India in 19th
century to serve their colonial objectives. They used the caste data
for pitting one caste against the other to weaken and suppress the
national movement. Yet, the Census authorities repeatedly pointed out
that enumerating caste posed serious problems. Successive Census
Commissioners reported caste mobility in early decades of 20th
centuries. First Government of Independent India understood the
inherent dangers in accentuating caste divisions and removed the caste
column in the Census held in 1951. There has been no enumeration of
castes since 1931. What is the rationale for introducing this
insidious exercise after 63 years of Independence?

Supporters of caste-based Census argue that once the exact number of
persons belonging to OBC category is known the Government would be in
a better position to formulate and effectively execute affirmative
action to uplift the deprived sections of the society. It is a
specious argument that is incompatible with holistic development.
Those who are propagating the theory of caste-based backwardness are
indulging in populism and worse. This must be resisted. Social and
educational backwardness has not much to do with the castes and sub
castes. The solution is not to promote reservation mania but to
formulate policies for holistic development and execute them
effectively.

Those who want to create vote banks and political clientage by
resorting to caste-based enumeration leading to more and more
reservations must be thoroughly exposed. Scheduled Castes are a case
apart. They had been discriminated against socially and economically
for centuries. Founding fathers of the Constitution provided
reservations for them for 10 years. That the period was extended time
and again shows reservation is not a panacea for solving the problems
of deprived sections of society. Experience has shown that
reservations for S/Cs and S/Ts did help these communities in their
social and economic upliftment. Beyond a point, reservations create
vested interests. The real gainers are those belonging to creamy layer
at the cost of the poorest of the poor.

Reservations for OBCs arbitrarily implemented by V P Singh unleashed a
caste war that paralyzed large parts of the country for months. The
nation paid a heavy price in terms of loss of life and property and
social harmony. Unlike in the past when every community wanted to be
counted as "upper caste", the new trend is that more and more
communities want to be included in Dalit and OBC category to share the
benefits of reservations in jobs. This may lead to caste-wars as
Dalits and OBCs would resent others joining their caste groups to
share the gains of caste-based reservations. This is not a figment of
imagination.

This writer is an eyewitness to what happened in Punjab on the issue
of enumeration of mother tongue during the Census operations in 1950s
and 1960s. The state was in turmoil because of Punjabi Sooba (Punjabi
speaking state) and pro-Hindi agitations. Under the influence of the
Arya Samaj, many a non-Sikh speaking chaste Punjabi claimed Hindi was
their mother tongue. Enumerators later recalled that many a person who
couldn't properly pronounce one Hindi word claimed the language to be
their mother tongue. This further alienated the Sikh community. RSS
Sarsanghachalak Shri Guruji publicly advised people of Punjab to
accept the truth that Punjabi was their mother tongue. His sane advice
had a dramatic effect on Punjabis. Consequently, number of Punjabi
speaking persons in the state registered a big jump in the subsequent
Census removing one of the genuine grouses of Sikhs.

Caste-based Census will take us back centuries and retard our progress
towards modernity and inclusive growth. The nation doesn't need
caste-based data to formulate policies for affirmative action.
Instead, the Census must produce data about our people's living
conditions, the extent of unemployment and under-employment and
migration of people from one region to the other, from rural areas to
urban habitats.

We need data about the number of people who had no shelter and are
denied public health services. It is this and similar other data that
would provide the policymakers to formulate appropriate policies to
eliminate poverty, unemployment and under-employment. A positive
aspect of the public discourse on the issue is that small groups of
influential public men and intellectuals have launched movements in
different parts of the country against enumeration of caste in the
ongoing Census. They are requesting people not to disclose their
castes in the event of Government conducting a caste-based
enumeration. Their suggestion is that every citizen should say his
caste is Indian, Bharatiya, Hindu or any other collective name. It is
a small beginning that needs to be converted into a mass movement.
This will send the right message to national as well as regional
parties.


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[ZESTCaste] The caste census will create more divide (Opinion)

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=354&page=39

July 25, 2010

Page: 39/43

Home > 2010 Issues > July 25, 2010

Perspective

The caste census will create more divide
By M Rajagopal

India is declared as secular and democratic country without
distinction between caste and creed why the bogie of caste has
started. In fact there are a number of parents who are not attaching
their caste like Chowdhry, Reddy,Sharma,Sastri, in their sons and
daughters names. In fact GoI and state governments and progressive
academicians should advocate for dropping caste in their children's
names. On one side politicians belonging to parties like Congress,
TDP, CPM SP.RJD, blame BJP as non secular. Why can not these
politicians remove caste tag at the end of their names and get their
children marry outside their castes there by showing their secular
credentials.

THE idea of collecting castes in the ensuing census 2011 is triggered
by Y chromosomes for their survival in their own states by levering
the keys of UPA government to their advantage. Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh has no option but to agree in principle and constituted
a group of ministers under the chairmanship of Finance Minister to
study all aspects of the proposal including steps for collection of
data in the census in 2011. There was neither a public debate nor the
idea emanated years back. This issue came up suddenly in May 2010
ignoring vital issues facing the country. After a long threatening
debate and stern warning by the these Ys,Government of India conceded
and constituted a group of ministers (GoM) under the chairmanship of
Pranab Mukherjee to examine this issue. The committee which met on
July 1, 2010 discussed and decided to examine the issue further
without a firm decision. Let us wait and watch!

Registrar General of Census has already initiated action for
collecting 2011 census and formats are being finalised. Now an
addition of another column in the format becomes a problem. Let us
examine the pro and cons of collecting caste based census and is it
necessary to collect the same along with 2011.

Collection of caste based census was stopped after 1931census and
after India attained independence Constitution makers confined only
for collection of such date in respect of SC and ST who are oppressed
and needed protection by the government. There is no second opinion
for collection of such data at every census to review their percentage
in the total population and take appropriate measures for their
economic and political empowerment. Before Mandal Commission several
states notably the then Madras state government has been providing
financial assistance and reservation in the technical institutes to
backward classes. Several states have identified castes which are
included as backward classes. Looking into a large number of castes
requiring support, Mandal Commission toured almost all the states and
identified different castes in different states to be considered. I do
not know how many persons had an opportunity to study the report. I
had an occasion to read the report cursorily and found some Brahmin
sub castes and Muslim sub castes were included as backward classes in
Andhra Pradesh. These were not there in the castes identified by the
state government. If all states as suggested by Mandal Commission were
to be included I wonder whether any left over caste is needing
protection.

The core issue is that in the absence of correct data the socio
economic schemes benefitting persons belonging to OBCs for their
empowerment are not reaching the needy. Consequently one third persons
in India are still at starvation line after sixty years of planning.
GoI is guided by the state lists of OBCs.

I quote an article namely "Caste based census back on national issues"
published by R.C. Rajamani which is apt in the present context.

"The Home Ministry, which is opposed to the demand for the inclusion
of caste figures, has been maintaining that it is fraught with
dangerous consequences''. In a note drafted for the Cabinet, it cited
"operational difficulties" in carrying out such an exercise which, if
executed, would overshadow its basic objective itself. There were
1,885 notified SCs and STs in India, according to the note. But the
number returned in the 2001 census was 18,478. There were, in
addition, surnames and clan names, and classification and grouping
under SC/ST itself was a formidable task. In the event of a
caste-based census, hundreds of castes will be returned with people
using clan names and gotra interchangeably.

The total number of OBCs were 6,000, including castes and sub groups.
There were two separate sets of OBC lists - one for the Centre, and
the other for the states. Several complex entries are very difficult
to comprehend at the level of the enumerator who is only a primary
school teacher.

For instance, the OBC list in the state was not easy to comprehend.
Dhobi in Delhi, Kohli in Maharashtra, Patua in UP and Rajjhar in MP
were also names in the list of SCs. Again, orphans and destitute
children were listed as OBCs in Tamil Nadu.

Microscopic and probing inquiries into caste was not possible at the
level of enumerator, says the note. "It is difficult to tabulate and
classify OBCs... the phonetic similarity in the name of castes may
lead to confusion in the enumerator's mind and throw up inaccurate
data."

John Henry Hutton, Census Commissioner in 1931 mentioned about the
difficulties encountered in the collection of caste data.

The comments for and against collection of caste based census are:

Against Caste Census
It will be retrogressive step;

India gets divided and increase difference among people;

Social evils come into fore;

Once the results are out there would be hell among different castes
for their survival;

All ready cabinet posts both at centre and states are filled up by
representing different caste and relationship and not on merit;

Hinduism faced onslaught of Muslims earlier and now with this step
there will be internal tussle among various castes;

India gets disintegrated and bring civil war among different castes;

Constitution of India declares India as secular and with this step
India can be united;

Collection of data by identifying different castes in different states
to bring uniformity becomes a problem for the government;

At the time enumeration it is possible for the head of the household
to get his family registered as OBC for gaining benefits of
reservations in government jobs, subsidized interest from banks plots
and flat allotments, admissions in to technical institutes like
engineering and medicine, obtaining scholar ships ;

It is divisive agenda of political parties to get political gains;

Social activists and civil society members favor a larger discussions
before a decision is taken;

Lok Sabha Speaker is against collection of data;

For Caste Census
Government schemes for OBC will be successfully implemented;

Correct data through census will help revision of ongoing schemes to
tackle poverty elimination schemes;

Volcano would be erupted if the census are not carries out;

There would be social turmoil if it failed to address the inequalities;

To bring social justice and development among the OBCs;

Census will expose upper castes reigning the country;

Majority of central and state cabinet ministers favour the idea;

Majority of parliament members and their parties also insist on such
data collection;

Caste system has been here for ages. It's been there. It's not true
that census leads to division. Caste system has remained even where
there was no enumeration;

Caste is a reality in Indian system. Even ticket distribution by
political parties is done on the basis of caste;

Political parties in general support such co0llection;

If the data is collected for ascertaining the caste, the investigator
has to go round a number of castes identified with different code
numbers.. Before that, the GoI and state governments have to
streamline the castes to an equivalent common group and code which
need to be same for all states. For instance Saxena, Mathur, Nigam,
Srivastava Bhatnagar, etc castes, in UP and Rajasthan need to coded
with Chowdhry, Reddy, Naidu etc in Andhra Pradesh. Within Andhra
Pradesh Naidu caste in Chittor district is different from Naidu caste
from Visakhapatanam, Srikakulam, East Godavari districts Already
census officials are facing difficulties in collecting sub castes
among ST and SC during census operations.

India is declared as secular and democratic country without
distinction between caste and creed why the bogie of caste has
started. In fact there are a number of parents who are not attaching
their caste like Chowdhry, Reddy,Sharma,Sastri, in their sons and
daughters names. In fact GoI and state governments and progressive
academicians should advocate for dropping caste in their children's
names. On one side politicians belonging to parties like Congress,
TDP, CPM SP.RJD, blame BJP as non secular. Why can not these
politicians remove caste tag at the end of their names and get their
children marry outside their castes there by showing their secular
credentials. Why these politicians visit temples, take baths in river
Ganges at Allahabad, Hardwar on Kumbh mela days etc. These politicians
are mokaterains or opportunists or selfish and are not selfless. In
the name of getting opportunities to make their clan prosperous these
opportunist politicians are forcing the GoI to collect caste data.
Once such data is collected no politician will advocate family
planning and instead advocate their family tree to grow and spread far
and wide like a Banayan tree. If the politicians are interested in
making the country great and super power like China let MPs and MLAs
start removing their caste against their names and show their large
heartedness and work for the country's economic and social progress .

Problems that arise due to collection of such data is that the country
will be divided into groups and sub groups. Tomorrow the same
politicians will insist on reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and
Vidhan Sabha on the strength of their castes. Even today the
politicians select candidates for contest based on the caste, their
caste based voters, money and lung power. In such a scenario strength
of castes in each district would be known and there would be
infighting.

It is time to build a united India free from castes barriers and
identify economically backward persons for their upliftment. Nowadays
educated persons and social reformers are encouraging or showing no
objection their children to marry persons of their choice irrespective
of caste and religion.

Since the Finance Minister is still getting the views of other
political parties before finalising the government stand, the
government needs to examine all pros and cons and its long term effect
on India's integrity from academic and social institutions .The
desirability of collecting the data may be postponed to 2021 census
instead of taking a hurried step.

(The writer is a social activist)


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[ZESTCaste] CPI(M) seeks support from Dalit political parties on Uthapuram issue

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article520438.ece

CPI(M) seeks support from Dalit political parties on Uthapuram issue
Staff Reporter

The Hindu Cadres of Communist Party of India (Marxist) staging a
demonstration in Madurai condemning the recent police attack on them,
on Friday. Photo: K. Ganesan
Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called upon political parties
fighting for the uplift of Dalits to join with it to get justice for
the oppressed class of Uthapuram.

Speaking at a demonstration organised to protest the recent police
attack on CPI (M) cadre, here on Friday, party MLA N. Nanmaran said
the Marxists were fighting in Uthapuram for what the Dalit parties
were struggling dividedly.

On the Uthapuram issue, he wondered what the "Dravidian" (Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam) had in store for the Adi-Dravidar. The Left parties
were fighting for the oppressed class much before the Dravidian
parties, Mr. Nanmaran.

"It was the CPI (M) which first raised the issue in Assembly pressing
the Government to celebrate the birth centenary of (former Home
Minister in Kamaraj Government) Kakkan. It was neither the Dalit
parties nor the Congress," he said. Party urban district secretary R.
Annadurai condemned Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for portraying CPI
(M) as a "violent" force. He said the party cadres were ready for any
sacrifice and they would not bow down to police pressure, but continue
with their struggle for the Dalits of Uthapuram.

Rural district secretary C. Ramakrishnan said that though the
Government tried to suppress the party on the Dalit issue, it had
gained more support from various organisations and political parties.
Party Sellur-Anna Nagar ward secretary G. Kalyana Sundaram presided
over the protest.


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[ZESTCaste] Rahul to visit Amethi on Monday

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Rahul-to-visit-Amethi-on-Monday/648147

Rahul to visit Amethi on Monday

Press Trust of India Posted online: Sun Jul 18 2010, 04:35 hrs
Amethi : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will undertake a two-day visit
to Amethi, his parliamentary constituency, on July 19.
"Rahul Gandhi will visit a number of villages and review
implementation of Centrally-funded schemes including MNREGA, rural
electrification and women development project in the region," party
sources said on Saturday.

On the second day of his visit, Rahul will visit Sanjay Gandhi
hospital, party sources said. This will be Rahul's first visit to
Amethi after Mayawati government, early this month, made Amethi Lok
Sabha constituency a district and named it Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj
Nagar. The new district also includes parts of Sultanpur and Rae
Bareli districts.


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[ZESTCaste] Nitin Gadkari speaks on Price rise,Mayawati statues

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlhH94HuMgM

Nitin Gadkari speaks on Price rise,Mayawati statues

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[ZESTCaste] Attacks on news channels assault on democracy: Mayawati

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article520724.ece

Attacks on news channels assault on democracy: Mayawati
PTI
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday condemned attack on
the offices of news channels in Delhi and Maharashtra terming them as
an "attack on democracy".

"Attack on Headlines Today office in Delhi by RSS activists and
Marathi news channel Zee-24 in Kolhapur by Shiv Sainiks is an attack
on democracy as the media is considered to be its fourth pillar," Ms.
Mayawati said in a reply to a question at her press conference.

"I strongly condemn these acts and demand stern action against those
involved in the attacks," she added.

She said it was "surprising that governments of the respective States
were not taking any action".


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[ZESTCaste] Dalit forum in Mumbai rues laidback enforcement of atrocities act

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_dalit-forum-in-mumbai-rues-laidback-enforcement-of-atrocities-act_1411239

Dalit forum in Mumbai rues laidback enforcement of atrocities act
Neeta Kolhatkar / DNA

Sunday, July 18, 2010 1:31 IST

Mumbai: The lack of evidence under the atrocities Act in the
Khairlanji case has yet again raised eyebrows regarding the total
indifference shown by the administration in dealing with such cases.
The Dalit forum on Saturday held a workshop detailing the need for the
diligent implementation of this act.

Former high court judge BG Kolse Patil said the way the Democratic
Front government has been dealing with cases of atrocities is against
the constitution itself.

"To deny a Dalit their right to register their cases under the
atrocities act indicates that they are being denied their fundamental
rights, as stated in the constitution. The government is detached from
the people in such instances," said Kolse Patil. The speakers strongly
condemned the government's attitude towards the Khairlanji case.

"The rules are well-specified and stringent; yet, in eight out of ten
cases, we see that the police and government administration just
ignores them brazenly. Firstly, there is total non-cognisance of
registering offences under this act. It is clearly mentioned that no
officials below the level of a deputy superintendent can lodge a
complaint under this Act, yet that happens," said Anand Teltumbde, a
Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) activist.

Teltumbde cited an example of a study conducted by the council of
social justice, "From 1995 till 2010, in 95 percent of cases, the
rules under the Act have not been followed." Buddhapriya Kabir, a
Dalit human rights activist from Marathwada, said a public campaign
for creating awareness is required.


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[ZESTCaste] Fwd: Marichjhapi and the Revenge of Bengali Bhadralok: The story of a Dalit Genocide that remains untold

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shiva Shankar <sshankar@cmi.ac.in>
Date: Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 5:35 PM
Subject: Marichjhapi and the Revenge of Bengali Bhadralok: The story
of a  Dalit Genocide that remains untold
To:

From http://blog.insightyv.com/

             Marichjhapi and the Revenge of Bengali Bhadralok
            The story of a Dalit Genocide that remains untold

                 By Nilesh Kumar, Ajay Hela, Anoop Kumar

[Nilesh and Ajay are pursuing their Masters in Social work, TISS, Mumbai]

Exactly 30 years ago, Dalits, in West Bengal, came to realize the true
nature of Indian state that is being dominated, in every sense, by a
tiny section of population but at a great personal cost. It was in
1979, when thousands of Dalits, refugees from East Bengal (now
Bangladesh) lost their lives at Marichjhapi, in Sunderbans, for their
dream of resettling in the region which they considered part of their
motherland.

Marichjhapi is just once incident in the tragic tale of one of the
most powerful Dalit Community-Namashudras of Bengal - who first became
the victim of Hindu-Muslim communalism during the partition and later
became the victims of their castes in independent India.

Moreover, the complete silence of Bengal's civil society for almost 30
years and the fact that Dalits were killed by Communist government of
West Bengal that came in the power in the name of poor and
dispossessed, raises some serious questions about representation of
Dalits in every sphere, the constitution of civil society and hegemony
of few privileged castes over the political power in Independent
India.

Apart from these, the Namashudra problem also poses a big question for
the Dalits (and Dalit movement) living in other parts of the country
about whether they are willing to fight for the rights of their fellow
community people who, unfortunately, paid the ultimate price for
sending Babasaheb Ambedkar to the Constituent Assembly.

Before Marichjhapi

In 1946, Constituent Assembly was constituted with the mandate to
frame Indian constitution and to function as provisional parliament
for independent India. Its members were elected by state assemblies
and represented almost all major communities of the country. However,
the Congress government in Bombay province, headed by B.G. Kher and
under instructions from Sardar Patel, ensured that Babasaheb Ambedkar
was not elected.

At this crucial juncture, a very prominent leader Jogendra Nath Mandal
ensured his election from the Bengal province. Thus Babasaheb could
enter into the constituent assembly and, later, become prime architect
of Indian Constitution that guaranteed many rights for the Dalits
including representation in education and government jobs.

Who was Jogendra Nath Mandal? How could Babasaheb enter into
Constituent Assembly from Bengal being ambushed by Congress in Bombay
province and declared persona non grata due to his exposure of Gandhi
and Congress as upholder of 'upper' caste Hindu domination?

He could enter at the strength of the then untouchable community
called Namashudras and Jogendra Nath Mandal was one of the prominent
Namashudra leaders of Bengal.

Namashudras were largely an agrarian community well-known for its
hardworking nature, agricultural and artisan skills. It was one of the
biggest communities of Bengal, with majority of its population based
in east part of undivided Bengal (now Bangladesh) with a long
tradition of resisting caste-hindu domination and fighting against
untouchability practices and other ignominies thrust on them by the
caste system.

The Namashudra movement had been one of the most politically mobilized
untouchable's movements in colonial India that, even before Dr
Ambedkar, had rejected Congress leadership for upholding the interests
of landowning 'upper' castes under the ruse of Indian nationalism. The
complete monopoly of rich Bengali Bhadraloks (a land owning class of
people belonging to three Hindu 'upper' castes – brahmins, kayasthas
and vaidyas) on congress leadership validated their severe indictment
of the policies of the Congress.

Even prior to congress, the Namashudras were the only voice of
resistance to much touted Bengal 'renaissance' that, in all practical
terms, were efforts of 'upper' caste hindus to consolidate themselves
and aggressively bargain with British colonial government to restrict
the benefits of British built institutions like that of education,
judiciary, bureaucracy and local governance for themselves.

The success of the Namashudra Movement could be easily measured by the
autonomous political space which they were able to chalk out for
themselves in Bengal politics and in alliance with Muslims had kept
the Bengal Congress Party in opposition from the 1920s. At the
strength of this political space only they could get Babasaheb elected
to the Constituent Assembly.

This exclusion of 'upper' caste Hindus from power in Bengal led Hindu
elite and eventually the Congress Party pressing for partition of the
province at independence, so that at least the western half would
return to their control. So successful they have been in their design
that West Bengal is probably the only state in the country where
'upper' caste hegemony went completely unchallenged in independent
India till today.

It is clearly manifested in every sphere of life there and one hardly
comes across any murmur of Dalit assertion ever.

One of the best indicators of 'upper' caste Hindu domination over West
Bengal would be the number of Cabinet positions enjoyed by them in the
successive state governments - the tiny tri-caste Bengali elite
(consisting of brahmins, kayasthas and vaidyas) increased its Cabinet
composition from 78 percent under the Congress regime (1952-62) to 90
percent under the Communist regime indicating their complete
domination over West Bengal.

How this was achieved? What happened to the once powerful Namashudra
community that resisted the 'upper' caste hegemony in pre-independent
India?

The Plight of Namashudras in post Independent India

Marichjhapi is one of the small islands lying within the Sundarbans
area of West Bengal. It was here, in 1979, that thousands of Dalits
were killed by the communist led West Bengal government. Hundreds were
killed directly in police firings but many more died of starvation,
lack of drinking water and diseases due to the economic blockade that
was imposed on them by the state government and carried out by the
police and communist cadres together.

Their settlements in Marichjhapi were completely bulldozed, destroyed
and hundreds of women raped leaving behind only the dead bodies of the
Dalits to be either dumped in the water bodies or to be eaten by the
beasts of nearby jungles in one of the biggest genocide carried out by
any state in independent India.

The people who survived were driven out of West Bengal to continue
living with the tragic memories of their lost loved ones and perpetual
longing for the soil that once constituted parts of their motherland.

What happened at Marichjhapi is just one incident in the long tragic
history of this particular Bengali Dalit community that started with
the partition of the country and is continued till today. They have
been living in their own country as second grade citizens, being
forcefully scattered throughout the country.

These helpless victims belonged to a Dalit community called
Namashudras and were refugees from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) who
were dispatched to different parts of the country by the state
government citing the lack of space in West Bengal but took no time
and least efforts to provide maximum possible relief and
rehabilitation to the 'upper' caste refugees.

Apart from this, these refugees illegally occupied large areas in and
around Kolkata and other major cities of Bengal and got it regularized
but when it came to Dalit refugees, the then Congress Chief Minister
B.C. Roy wrote to Prime Minister Nehru that 'we have no place for
them, send them to other states'.

Then these Dalit refugees, despite their vociferous protests, were
dispatched to inhospitable and far flung areas of states like
Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Uttaranchal, Assam to live in completely alien
environment. They were driven down to these places packed in
government vehicles as cattle, under strict police supervision. Later
many of their settlements in different states, like Mana camp in
Orissa, were turned into concentration camps as government employed
the services of Indian army to guard the camps for 12 long years, lest
these people would escape to West Bengal.

Marichjhapi massacre of Dalit refugees by Left government in Bengal is
just one incident. Even before Marichjhapi there were numerous
incidents where many Namashudra refugees got killed by police while
demanding for better provisions in the camps where they were being
forcefully kept.

Apart from being persecuted by the state, the Namashudras, settled
outside West Bengal, also suffered enormously from various other
factors. They continuously faced hostility of local populace that
strongly resented the presence of outsiders in their surroundings.
Most of the camps were in the areas that were not fit for agriculture
and being primarily an agrarian community, totally different type of
climates and soil conditions made them handicap.

Also even the reservation provisions for which, as Dalits, they would
have been eligible in West Bengal, were not recognized in the states
in which they were settled, as their castes were not native to those
states. Despite all the difficulties, Namashudra refugees settled in
different states kept their dream alive of returning back to the
environment/culture/land that they belong to.

The Great Communist Betrayal

During this period, in late 1960s and till mid-70s, the Bengali
communists led by CPI (M), which was in opposition then, took up the
case of these refugees and demanded the government to settle them
within their native Bengal rather than scatter them across India on
the lands of other peoples.

The communist, again its leadership monopolized by 'upper' caste,
started raising their voices in the support of Dalit refugees and
promised to provide them rehabilitation in West Bengal. The sites they
mentioned in West Bengal for resettlement were either the Sundarbans
area of the Ganges delta or vacant land scattered in various places
throughout the state. The party leaders went around various Dalit
camps campaigning for their return to West Bengal, simultaneously
promising full support after coming in power.

Particularly one, Mr. Ram Chatterjee, who later became minister in the
CPI (M) led government, exhorted the Dalit refugees by thundering,
"The 5 crore Bengalis by raising their 10 crore hands are welcoming
you back."

In 1977, when the Left Front came to power, they found that the Dalit
refugees had taken them at their words having disposed off whatever
their meager belongings were and have marched towards West Bengal. In
all, 1, 50,000 refugees arrived from Dandakaranya region of what is
now Chhattisgarh expecting the communists to honour their words.

Instead the Left Front government started sending them back forcibly
citing the lack of space in the state – the same reason that was cited
earlier when the Dalits arrived from East Bengal during the partition.
It was a rude shock for the refugees who were depending on the newly
elected Left Front government. When they opposed this, Dalit refugees
were brutally evicted from various railway stations, being fired upon
by the West Bengal police and were denied food and water.

Still many refugees managed to escape and reached Marichjhapi, an
island that lies in the northern part of the Sunderbans. Thousands of
other Dalit refugees also marched to Marichjhapi on feet along the
railway tracks, avoiding the police.

By the end of the year 1978, there were 30,000 Dalit refugees in the
island of Marichjhapi who rapidly established it as one of the
best-developed islands of the Sundarbans. Within a few months
tube-wells had been dug, a viable fishing industry, saltpans,
dispensaries and schools were established. In short, in just few
months, the hard working Namashudras built a thriving local economy
without any government support in the region that is considered the
poorest in West Bengal.

Deeply humiliated by the successful resettlement of Namashudra
refugees in Marichjhapi, the Left Front government started their
propaganda against them by stating that the 'Marichjhapi is a part of
the Sundarbans government reserve forest' and therefore Dalit refugees
were 'violating the Forest Acts and thereby disturbing the existing
and potential forest wealth and also creating ecological imbalance'.

This was a blatant lie as Marichjhapi did not fall under government
reserve forest at all. The Bengali Bhadralok leadership of Left Front
had to resort to such lies and take up environmental concerns as an
excuse as the Marichjhapi exposed their earlier lie too regarding
'lack of space in West Bengal'.

The West Bengal government launched a full frontal assault on the
Marichjhapi and the Dalit refugees. It started with the economic
blockade. The police cordoned off the whole island, cutting every
communication links with the outside world.

Thirty police launches encircled the island thereby depriving the
settlers of food and water; they were also tear-gassed, their huts
razed, their boats sunk, their fisheries and tube-wells destroyed, and
those who tried to cross the river were shot at. Several hundred men,
women and children were believed to have died during that time and
their bodies thrown in the river.

And those who tried to defy this economic blockade by swimming across
to other islands in search of food and water were brutally shot. On
the January 31, 1979 the police opened fire killing 36 people who were
trying to get food and water from a nearby island.

It was not that the media was not aware of the sufferings and police
brutalities on hapless Namashudras. When the reports of Marichjhapi
started appearing in the media, Jyoti Basu, then chief minister of
Bengal, shamelessly, termed it as 'CIA conspiracy' against newly
elected communist government of Bengal and exhorted media to support
the government in 'national interest'.

Jyoti Basu justified the police actions by accusing Namashudra
refugees of being agents of foreign forces and using Marichjhapi as
arms-training centre. Moreover, Jyoti Basu declared the whole area to
be out of bound for media and thus effectively silencing any
dissenting voices or reporting of the killings of Dalit refugees.

It took more than five months and killings of thousands of Dalit
refugees for the West Bengal government to effectively crush the
Namashudra resistance in Marichjhapi. Totally devastated by the
government brutalities the rest of the Namsahudras were packed off, as
prisoner of war, back to Chattishgarh and Andaman.

After destroying all the huts, markets, schools and all other visible
markers of Namashudra settlement, West Bengal government declared, in
May 1979, Marichjhapi 'finally free from all refugees'.

Regarding the total lives lost during the West Bengal government's
assault on Marichjhapi we will quote from one of the earliest writings
on this incident by A. Biswas who wrote, in 1982, that '…out of the
14,388 families who deserted [for West Bengal), 10,260 families
returned to their previous places . . . and the remaining 4,128
families perished in transit, died of starvation, exhaustion, and many
were killed in Kashipur, Kumirmari, and Marichjhapi by police
firings". [A. Biswas, 1982, "Why Dandakaranya a Failure, Why Mass
Exodus, Where Solution?" The Oppressed Indian 4(4):18-20.]

Memories in the black hole

Exactly thirty years have passed by of this fateful event that took
place in Marichjhapi but not many from outside are aware of the
communist government's genocidal acts against Dalits. There has been
complete silence even from the Bengali civil society that claims to be
very progressive and free from caste biases.

The Bengali scholars, Marxist or otherwise, rule the Indian academia
and write, articulate on all the problems that plague this earth. But
none of them broke their silence ever on the merciless killings and
eviction of people who belonged to the same Bengali society but were
Dalits. Marichjhapi was soon forgotten, except by the Dalits
themselves.

The communists who keep on harping on fighting for the poor and
dispossessed took no time in killing the same people soon after
occupying the state power.

Perhaps this was the apt revenge from the Bengali Bhadralok, (that
completely monopolizes the Bengali civil society, it's so called
scholarly class, communist and congress leadership) against Namashudra
community that once successfully challenged 'upper' caste hegemony in
undivided Bengal. So successful is the revenge that the community now
lives in complete oblivion and scattered across the country without
anyone standing for their rights or speaking about what actually
happened in Marichjhapi in 1979.

References:

While writing this article, we have drawn heavily from following two
research articles among very few that are available on the tragic tale
of one our Dalit communities. We are reproducing both the articles for
the benefit of our readers so that we all become more aware of the
tragedy and are able to fight for the justice. We are taking the
liberty of posting the articles in all good faith despite the
possibility of infringing copy rights.

1. Mallick, Ross, 'Refugee Resettlement in Forest Reserves: West
Bengal Policy Reversal and the Marichjhapi Massacre', The Journal of
Asian Studies, Vol. 58, No. 1. (Feb., 1999), pp. 104-125.

2. Jalais, Annu, 'Dwelling on Morichjhanpi: When Tigers Became
'Citizens', Refugees 'Tiger-Food', Economic and Political Weekly,
April 23, 2005


--

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run,
Obama ran so your children can fly"


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[ZESTCaste] SC/ST teachers not must for aid to minority schools

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sc-st-teachers-not-must-for-aid-to-minority-schools/647201/

SC/ST teachers not must for aid to minority schools
Express news service

Posted: Fri Jul 16 2010, 01:01 hrs
New Delhi:

Minority educational institutions are under no obligation to appoint
SC/ST teachers even if they are getting aid from the government, the
Supreme Court said on Thursday.

A Bench of Justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar said minorities
can set and run schools as per their rules. The government can only
step in, the SC ruled, in case there is misadministration.

"The right to establish and administer includes a right to appoint
teachers.Thus,except providing grant-in-aid as per the Delhi State
Education Rules and having no power to discriminate in terms of
Article 30(2)of the Constitution,the government has very limited
regulatory control over minority institutions and no control
whatsoever on the managing committee, internal management of the
school and, of course, has no power to take over such an institution,"
the Supreme Court said.

The court passed the ruling, upholding an appeal by the Sindhi
Education Society, challenging a September, 1989 Delhi government
circular to all schools that made appointment of SC and ST teachers a
precondition for receiving grant-in-aid from the government.


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