Wednesday, July 28, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Honour killing in Mumbai

 

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/jul/280710-amol-javde-dalit-boy-killed-lynching-caste-row.htm

Honour killing in Mumbai
By: Ketan Ranga and Shiva Devnath Date: 2010-07-28 Place: Mumbai

Victim's family alleges that girlfriend's family murdered him, because
they came from opposing castes

A relative of Amol Javde points to the tree where his body was found
hanging last night

Here's another case of a love story gone awry. Amol Javde (22) was
found hanging from the branch of a tree around 12 pm near Anushakti
Nagar in Trombay. However, his family alleges that his girlfriend's
family, who opposed the relationship because they belonged to
different castes, murdered him.

The boy's family told MiD DAY that Amol who was a second-year commerce
student at Ambedkar College, Matunga was in a relationship with Nikita
Kale (17), (name changed) for more than a year.

Gautam Javde, Amol's father, a BEST driver by occupation, said, "The
girl stays in Suman Nagar area of Chembur, where my brother used to
stay. My son used to visit his place often and that is when they
started meeting one another and eventually fell in love. However, the
girl's family was opposed to the relationship because we are Buddhist
Dalits and they belong to the Cobbler community."

Gautam also added that his son and the girl were very much in love and
had fled from their homes in December 2009. However, the girl's family
filed a kidnapping complaint against Amol at the Chembur police
station. Later, he was let off on bail. "My son also faced threats
from the girl's uncle," alleged Gautam.

KILLED? Amol Javde who ran away with Nikita Kale twice

According to Javde's neighbours, the girl often visited Javde's area
dressed in a burqa. On July 19, they eloped again. Both the families
filed missing complaints at respective police stations.

Amol's mother Nanda said the girl called her father on Monday morning,
while he was driving. She told him that they wanted to get married but
wanted the blessings of her family. The girl's father asked her to
return home.

According to investigating officials, Amol's body was found when the
police was out on their night patrol. They found the body and took him
to Shatabdi Hospital at 2.30 am. During a check of the body, the
police found a chit of paper in Amol's pocket, which contained the
phone number of his sister. The police called her up, who told them
that she was in their village and to call up her father. Amol's father
reached the hospital in a state of shock and despair.

However, Amol's father believes that his son did not commit suicide
and foul play was at hand. He told MiD DAY that when he saw the
pictures taken at the scene of the crime, he noticed that Amol's legs
were touching the ground, which was suspicious. "I noticed that his
clothes were smeared with blood and that his nose also showed some
dried blood." He also added that his son was found hanging by means of
a plastic rope.

The Trombay police are awaiting the results of the post mortem.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Jalindar
IN GRIEF: Amol Javde's mother (centre) is inconsolabe. PIC/SHIVA DEVNATH

Khandagle, said, "We are investigating the matter. If we find anything
suspicious, we will register a murder case." He also added that the
girl who had eloped with Amol was found at her home and her statement
would be recorded soon. The boy's father has filed a complaint against
the girl's uncle, aunt and brother last night.

Though the police have lodged the complaint, they are yet to register
a murder case. After repeated attempts the girl's family was
unavailable for comment.

Late night update
Amol's father was called to identify the body at 2.30 am at Shatabdi
Hospital. Trombay police are awaiting the results of the postmortem

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[ZESTCaste] Nepal: Brahmins, Chhetris outdo Dalits: Study

http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/07/28/editors-pick/brahmins-chhetris-outdo-dalits-study/319335/

Brahmins, Chhetris outdo Dalits: Study

free health service
KANTIPUR REPORT
KATHMANDU, JUL 28 - Brahmins and Chhetris are the top beneficiaries of
free health service where as the number of Dalit recipients is low,
according to a report.

The report titled "Assessing Implementation of Nepal's Free Health
Care Policy" prepared as part of Health Sector Reform Support
Programme in June says 25.58 percent of Brahmins and Chhetris (out of
the total population of 28.44 percent) and 20.28 percent of Dalits
(out of the total population of 16.70 percent) utilised outpatient
services in the last four months.

The findings were based on a survey conducted by a team from CARE
Nepal conducted in 15 hospitals, 15 primary health care centers
(PHCCs), 47 health posts (HPs) and 91 sub-health posts (SHPs) of 13
districts from March to June. Availiability of drugs and access to
free health care were some of the bases of the study.

While the number of Bhramin and Chhetri people enjoying free health
service increased by 1.62 percent the Dalit number decreased by 2.36
percent compared to the record, the report says.

It says that 27.44 percent Brahmin and Chhetri, an increase by 6.65
percent, and 15.72 percent of Dalits, an increase by 1.48 percent,
utilised outpatient services at PHCCs.

"Lack of awareness among Dalits can be blamed for the disparity as
many of them are deprived of education and other facilities," said Dr.
Laxmi Raj Pathak, spokesman of the Ministry of Health and Population
(MoHP). "Another reason may be poverty Dalits are facing."

With a view to encourage more Dalits to use free health services, the MoHP

has included an awareness programme targeting Dalits in National
Health Sector Programme (NHSP), Implementation Plan II (2011-2016).

"The free health care is targeted mainly for minorities. Therefore, we
are planning to launch awareness and other programmes especially for
Dalits to enable them make the optimum use of free health services,"
Pathak said.

The free health care facility was started in 2006 that includes free
emergency and inpatient services nationwide for the poorest,
vulnerable, helpless and elderly citizens (above 60), among others in
25 districts, ranking lowest in Human Development Index. It was later
extended to 35 districts, the programme provided free outpatient
services to the same groups.

Similarly, the universal free care begun from 2008 to provide free
health services to all citizens at HPs and SHPs nationwide. Under the
programme, 32 essential drugs are provided free of cost by HPs and 22
by SHPs.


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[ZESTCaste] 2 held for driving Dalits out of village

http://expressbuzz.com/states/tamilnadu/2-held-for-driving-dalits-out-of-village/192827.html

2 held for driving Dalits out of village

Express News ServiceFirst Published : 26 Jul 2010 01:59:51 AM ISTLast
Updated : 26 Jul 2010 01:34:14 PM IST

CHENNAI: Two of the three men of the 'katta panchayat' in
Chikkinaikanpalayam village of Namakkal district that gave a diktat
forcing three Dalit families out of the village for the past 10 months
were arrested by the police on Sunday.


The arrests followed the publication of a report on the plight of the
Dalit families in The New Indian Express on Sunday. Namakkal
Superintendent of Police, A Pari, said that C P S Subramanian and Mani
alias Palani Swamy were arrested and remanded to judicial custody
while Suresh, who was part of the team that headed the 'katta
panchayat', was absconding.

Tiruchengode DSP K Rajasekar said that the police have filed cases
under Prevention of atrocities against SC/ST Act. He said a special
team was being sent to bring back to the village the three Dalit
families, which have been forced to stay out since September, 2009.

Nallamaal and her neighbours, Palani and Manimekalai, all Dalits, were
asked to produce Rajendran, who had run away from the village
following a dispute with his wife, before the katta panchayat of caste
Hindus.

As Rajendran stayed in Nallamaal's house before he left the village,
Rajendran's sister Kala complaint with the village 'katta panchayat'
stating that Nallamaal was sheltering her brother.

Though Nallamaal explained to the 'katta panchayat' that she had no
idea about the whereabouts of Rajendran, she and her two neighbours
were ordered to produce Rajendran within a week or pay a fine of Rs
10,000 each. As she took up the issue with the Molhasi Police Station,
Subramanian, Palani Swamy and Suresh attacked the family members of
the three Dalits and forced them to leave the village.

In February, though Nallamaal with the help of police attempted to
gain entry into the village, the caste Hindus again attacked her
family.


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[ZESTCaste] Gaps in the story

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20100813271603000.htm

SOCIAL ISSUES

Gaps in the story


LYLA BAVADAM


The Khairlanji case is tried without invoking the Prevention of
Atrocities Act.

VIVEK BENDRE


WHEN four members of the Bhotmange family were killed in Khairlanji
village in Maharashtra's Bhandara district on September 29, 2006, it
was considered to be among the worst caste atrocities in
post-Independence India. However, a special trial court in Bhandara,
presided over by Additional Sessions Judge S.S. Das, concluded on
September 15, 2008, after a 16-month trial, that the motive for the
crime against the Scheduled Caste family was revenge and not caste
animosity. Not only did he rule out the application of the Scheduled
Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,
but he also did not invoke Section 354 (assault or criminal force with
intent to outrage the modesty of a woman) or Section 375 (rape) of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The trial court convicted eight of the 11 accused. Three people were
acquitted after the judge said the killings were not proved to be
caste-related. Six of the convicted were awarded the death sentence.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was prosecuting the
case, filed an appeal before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High
Court. On July 14, 2010, the Bench upheld the lower court's verdict
but commuted the death sentences to life imprisonment.

The High Court judgment said: "The incident had not occurred on
account of caste hatred but the incident occurred since the accused
felt that they were falsely implicated in the crime of beating
Siddharth Gajbhiye by Surekha and [her daughter] Priyanka
[Bhotmange]."

What led to the lynching of the four Bhotmanges, if it was not caste hatred?

A review of the incident is necessary to understand the case. The
population of Khairlanji village consists primarily of Other Backward
Classes; there are only three families of Mahars, a Scheduled Caste,
and a few Scheduled Tribe families. All the accused in this case
belong to the Kunbi (OBC) community. The Bhotmanges are Mahars.

On September 13, 2006, one of the accused, Sakru Binjewar, was slapped
by the local police patil, Siddharth Gajbhiye, who is a Mahar, after
the two had an argument over some back wages that Gajbhiye owed Sakru.
That evening, Gajbhiye was attacked by some people. Surekha Bhotmange
and her daughter, Priyanka, went to Gajbhiye's aid since they knew him
well.

Two days later, Gajbhiye lodged a complaint of assault with the police
and Surekha gave a statement identifying the attackers, following
which they were arrested. On September 29, they were released on bail.
At around 6 p.m. that day, about 40 people surrounded the Bhotmanges'
hut and accused Surekha of falsely implicating the people who were
arrested in the case. They abused the Bhotmanges in casteist terms. In
an apparent attempt to attract attention, Surekha set fire to the
cattle shed and then tried to run away, but she was caught and killed.

Her elder son, Sudhir, was killed when he ran out. Roshan, her
visually challenged son, who is believed to have pleaded for his life,
was also killed. Finally, Priyanka was caught near a handpump and
killed. The bodies were loaded onto a bullock cart and dumped in a
canal. These are the facts as presented in the High Court judgment.

Missing pieces in the puzzle

Some pieces of the puzzle do not fall in place. The incident was the
culmination of developments over a period of 17 days, so it is
difficult to understand why it is called a crime of the moment and not
seen as premeditated.

Besides, if the attack was because Surekha and Priyanka had assisted
Gajbhiye, then why were Sudhir and Roshan killed?

It is difficult to accept the argument that they were killed because
they were witnesses to the murder of their mother. Roshan, for
instance, was visually challenged. Besides, by the attackers' own
recounting, all the members of the family were not present at the hut
at the time of the incident. They were hunted out from various places
by the mob.

Also, if the murderers wanted to eliminate witnesses, why did they not
kill the other village residents who watched the killings? Could it be
that they expected these witnesses to be loyal to their caste?

In any case, the mob screamed caste abuses while hunting down the
Mahar family. Witnesses have said under oath that they heard the mob
shouting " Mahar la mara" (Kill/hit the Mahars). After the murders,
the assailants warned the others not to speak of what they saw.

Accounts of witnesses, media reports and the findings of numerous
independent committees of Dalit and civil society groups indicate that
the Khairlanji murders were premeditated and motivated by caste
prejudice and that the women victims were sexually assaulted.

But the High Court treated the case purely as a homicide. In doing so,
it might have "set a dangerous precedent", believes S. Anand of
Navayana, a publishing house that "focusses on caste from an
anti-caste perspective". He said: "People are now likely to see it as
just another human crime… just one person killing another. Every
dispute has its origin, but in this case there was a special anger.
What was this due to?" Anand's apprehension is that the Nagpur
judgment may encourage "lower courts to ignore caste-related crimes".

Sexual assault ruled out

Rape and sexual assault have been ruled out in the legal process. Even
the CBI's senior public prosecutor says the agency has no evidence for
it. The CBI took up the case a month after the crime and by then the
bodies had been disposed of.


VIVEK BENDRE

Policemen guard Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange's house in Khairlanji. An October
2009 photograph.

There was severe criticism of the manner in which the post-mortems had
been carried out, and a source closely connected with the case told
Frontline that "proper investigation was not done by the police".
Witnesses who spoke extensively to the media and to numerous
independent fact-finding committees recounted incidents that now find
no place in the legal process.

Previously, it was reported that the Bhotmanges had been stripped,
paraded naked, taunted with sexual obscenities and casteist language.
They were taken to the centre of the village, where apparently the OBC
women urged their men to rape the Bhotmange women. Unsuccessful
attempts were made to make Sudhir, the oldest Bhotmange boy, copulate
with his mother and sister. They were beaten with rods, chains and
other implements until their bones were broken and they ultimately
died, as the post-mortem report put it, of "intracranial haemorrhage
due to head injury". Throughout, said the witnesses at the time, the
mob screamed out hatred of the Mahars.

All this depravity and torture prompted by a desire to take revenge on
two women who identified a man in a minor police case? It seems
unlikely.

Legal limitations

Anand has an opinion on why the courts did not see the Khairlanji
killings as caste violence. "Caste prejudice prevented the invoking of
the Atrocities Act," he said.

How is a case of abuse proved to be related to caste? The presence of
witnesses provides the best way to prove caste atrocity. Under the
Prevention of Atrocities Act, caste abuse can be verbal or physical.

It can range from pulling a Scheduled Caste woman by her hair or
sexually abusing her. It can be in the form of denial of the right to
passage to a public place or of the right to clean water. The Act
provides a wide umbrella under which those who are abused can take
shelter.

However, as one lawyer pointed out, caste violence is not easy to
prove because the depth of the investigation and the extent of
evidence required to invoke the Atrocities Act seems to be far more
rigorous than what is required in a case of homicide. The nitty-gritty
demanded by the Act are such that, the lawyer said, they often seem to
undermine the objective of the legislation.

The High Court judgment, for instance, quotes Section 3(1)(x) of the
Act: "Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled
Tribe, intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a
member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within
public view;…" The key word here is "intent". How is intent to be
proved? The judgment goes on to explain, "In order to attract Section
3(1)(x) of the Act, it is necessary that the accused should insult or
intimidate a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe in any
public place with intention to humiliate him/her. In the present case,
the whole object of the accused was to take revenge against Surekha
and Priyanka because the accused believed that they were falsely
implicated in the assault of Siddharth Gajbhiye by them and in the
process they committed not only murders of Surekha and Priyanka but of
Sudhir and Roshan. Therefore, it is difficult to hold that accused
intended to insult Surekha or other deceased who admittedly were
belonging to Scheduled Caste."

Even the use of the word "Chamar" is not adequate to prove that there
was an intent to humiliate, as the judgment explains. "In the case of
Swaran Singh and others vs. State (2008 CRI.L.J., 4369) the apex court
held that calling the member of Scheduled Caste as 'Chamar' with
intent to insult or humiliate would amount to an offence and whether
there was intent to insult or humiliate by using word 'Chamar' would
depend on the context in which it was used." So the shouts of " Mahar
la mara", which the Khairlanji witnesses say they heard, do not seem
to prove adequately the intent of caste humiliation.

FIR must mention caste of accused

Another point of law was raised in the judgment, which essentially
said that when a first information report (FIR) is filed for offences
under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, the complainant must disclose
the caste of the accused. To quote, "At this stage we would like to
deal with the authorities relied upon by Mr. Khan [the CBI prosecutor]
in support of his submission that the offences under the Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes Act are made out against the accused. In the
case of Ashabai Machindra Adhagale (supra) the apex court held that
merely because in the FIR caste of the accused is not mentioned, the
proceedings could be quashed and whether the accused belongs to
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe can be gone into in the course of
investigation."


VIVEK BENDRE

Bhaiyyalal Bhotmang, The lone surviving member of his family.

It seems that Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the surviving member of the
Bhotmange family, should have said at the time of filing his FIR that
the assailants were members of the OBC. His omission to do so was
apparently a misdemeanour.

Fine points like this came in the way of invoking of the Prevention of
Atrocities Act in the Khairlanji case.

Witnesses were 'unreliable'

The prosecution's strongest card was thought to have been the four
witnesses, all residents of the village. Ejaz Khan, the CBI's senior
public prosecutor, and others present in court said the accounts of
the witnesses were so strong that it was generally expected that the
Prevention of Atrocities Act would be invoked.

But the judgment notes that they were largely discounted because of
contradictions and omissions that were believed to reflect on their
credibility.

Given the circumstances, it is highly commendable that the four
witnesses appeared at all for the prosecution. One of them was from
the OBC community. The other three were Gonds, a Scheduled Tribe.

Khairlanji is deep in the hinterland. With the nearest police station
being some miles away, it is impractical to believe that one can rely
on the government for safety. Instead, people rely on each other and
on established social structures for their survival.

In 2006, when the crime occurred, a Khairlanji resident told
Frontline: "Our lives are here – land, cattle, families. Who will be
here with us when the police [contingents] move out? No one. We will
go back to the same ways and if we speak out, our lives will be in
danger. What has happened has happened. That is the way it is for us."

In this context, the decision of the four witnesses to speak out
should be respected all the more. Witnesses in the Khairlanji case do
get protection from the state, but, as Khan said, "once the threat
perception is gone the police protection is withdrawn".

It is not clear how it is decided when the threat perception
diminishes for a man who has gone against his caste loyalties and
stood up as a witness.

One would imagine that the threat perceptions would remain high for a
long time, if not forever.

The undeniable truth

So how is caste atrocity to be proved if the accounts of witnesses are
discounted? There was one fact that even the defence could not dismiss
– that the Bhotmanges were physically abused, tortured, and then
killed.

Anand said: "Four people were lynched in the face of a mob. This much
has been accepted – the very fact that there is a judgment that
convicts people for this crime proves that this much has been accepted
by the court. It is also accepted that the four who were lynched were
Dalits. That too is also not disputed. So now what's the problem? Put
the two facts together – Dalits were lynched – and invoke the
Atrocities Act."

Given the historical inequities suffered by the Scheduled Castes, the
Prevention of Atrocities Act is more than just a piece of legislation.
It is a tool of empowerment, of dignity and of deterrence, and hence
the need for its application.

And while the letter of the law is to be respected, it has to be
ensured that the law does not destroy the spirit of common social
intelligence and understanding. The real issue is not the quantum of
justice but that Khairlanji be recognised for what it was – a
caste-related lynching.

Another appeal?

Both legal and police officers who spoke to Frontline said that the
quantum of justice was adequate but believed that there would be an
appeal against it. Indeed, the CBI is drafting an appeal before the
Supreme Court.

The commonly expressed complaint that educated Dalits prefer to forget
about helping less fortunate brethren came to the fore again after the
Khairlanji incident. Writer Anand Teltumbde wrote at the time, "The
superintendent of police, Bhandara, the Dy. Superintendent of Police,
the PSI of Andhalgaon police station, a constable under him, the
doctor who performed post-mortem, the district civil surgeon who
permitted the doctor to go ahead with post-mortem without a lady
doctor, the public prosecutor who advised against application of the
PoA to the earlier cases which were essentially caste based, the nodal
officer at the apex level who is entrusted with the responsibility of
reviewing the state of crimes against S.C.s and S.T.s in accordance
with the Atrocities Act, were all Dalits and belonging to the same
sub-castes as that of Bhotmanges. Nobody will fault this combination
and accuse the upper caste people of exercising caste prejudice in
relation to Dalits but as it is seen the entire network failed at
every possible step.

"It is easy to blame these individuals but not the system of which
they are essentially a part. It is naive to believe that a Dalit
individual rising up the bureaucratic or governmental structure could
influence it to be pro-Dalit. On the contrary, such individual rise is
basically a reward for the proven service rendered by such individual
to the system and the latter expects much more of the same from him.
It is a singular naivety of Dalits that has reduced them to political
inactivity. They forgot that it is their own political participation,
their struggle that can influence the behaviour of structures, not the
individuals howsoever highly placed they may be."


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[ZESTCaste] ST/SC/OBC candidates will get seat quota at civic polls

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/ST/SC/OBC-candidates-will-get-seat-quota-at-civic-polls/articleshow/6225794.cms

ST/SC/OBC candidates will get seat quota at civic polls
Jul 28, 2010, 06.22am IST

PANAJI: Urban development minister Joaquim Alemao assured the Goa
assembly of ensuring appropriate reservation for candidates from
scheduled tribes (ST) and other backward classes (OBC) in every
municipal council for the ensuing polls despite a lack of authentic
data on their population.

Alemao was replying to a calling attention motion tabled by MLA
Dayanand Narvekar in the house on Tuesday, raising apprehensions among
the ST/SC/OBC communities that the ensuing municipal elections in the
state would be he held without following the state policy of reserving
seats for them. "About 19.5% of seats will be reserved for OBCs, 12%
for STs and 2% for SCs," the minister said.

Explaining the criteria for reservation of seats for SCs, STs and
OBCs, as well as women candidates, the minister said it was provided
in Section 9 of the Municipalities Act. "The number of seats, if any,
to be reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates so that such number shall
bear as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the number of elected
councilors, as the population of these three communities in the
municipal area bears to the total population of that area and not less
than one third of such seats shall be reserved for women and such
seats shall be allotted by rotation to different wards in a municipal
area," he said.

The population is ascertained from figures of the last census or, if
not, authentic government records. However, regarding reservation for
SCs, Alemao said their population in urban areas is 2%, which is
insufficient to reserve a single ward in any of the municipal
councils.

Further, the ST categories were notified in 2003. The social welfare
department had published a survey report on the ST population in 2004,
but it was challenged in the high court in 2007. Till date, the Goa
state commission for backward classes has not furnished any figures of
their population, although it had been directed by the court to
conduct a re-survey by July 2, 2007.

Narvekar said reservation for OBCs, STs and STs is done without any
data on their population being available because it is considered a
social obligation. "In this case, too, these communities should not be
penalized because of acts of omission and commission by some agency,"
he said.

CM Digambar Kamat said the lack of data was a handicap but the
government had reserved seats in elections so that they should not be
deprived of their rights. Alemao assured the house that justice would
be meted out to these communities in the civic polls.

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[ZESTCaste] Cancel ‘illegal’ caste certicates: SC-ST Commission to UP DMs

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Cancel--illegal--caste-certicates--SC-ST-Commission-to-UP-DMs/652709

Cancel 'illegal' caste certicates: SC-ST Commission to UP DMs

Express news service Posted online: Wed Jul 28 2010, 03:45 hrs
Lucknow : The National Commission of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes has written to district magistrates in Uttar Pradesh, advising
them to cancel an estimated 50,000 SC certificates given to
undeserving persons during the Mulayam Singh regime.
In October 2005, the Mulayam government, while exercising a power that
is vested with the central government, had declared 17 castes as SCs.
Subsequently, in early 2007, the Allahabad High Court stayed the
order. In the meantime, thousands belonging to the 17 castes were
issued SC certificates.

After the change of government in May 2007, the Mayawati government
revoked the order but the certificates were not cancelled.

"These certificates are illegal and are open to misuse. Mere
publication of an advertisement and a press release in newspapers that
these certificates have been cancelled is not enough," said Dr
Chandrahaas, Director, National Commission for SC/ST, confirming that
they had asked the DMs to cancel these certificates.

Dr Chandrahaas, who is heading the state office of the commission in
Lucknow, said the elections to the three-tier panchayat bodies are
round the corner and would be followed by the elections to the urban
local bodies. "If these certificates are not cancelled, it will cause
many problems", he said.

According to the commission's information, an average of about 700
certificates were issued in each district by tehsildars. However,
little has been done to cancel them. "In Bareilly district, against
1,024 certificates issued only two were cancelled," said Dr
Chandrahaas.

Since the commission can only make recommendations, the cancellation
of the certificates is the responsibility of the state govenrment.


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[ZESTCaste] 'I don't see pure milk-and-honey goodness in the poor'

 

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jul/27/an-interview-with-novelist-manu-joseph.htm

'I don't see pure milk-and-honey goodness in the poor'

July 27, 2010 16:40 IST
Journalist Manu Joseph's debut novel Serious Men is about an extremely
intelligent but crooked man whose obsession is to make his son be
known as the first Dalit genius. He works in a science institute that
is top heavy with Brahmins.
The story is about whether Ayyan Mani manages to convince the world
that his son is a genius, and what role Arvind Acharya, the science
institute's chief, plays in it.

Joseph, who takes over as editor of the year-old Open magazine in
August, grew up in a Brahmin neighbourhood in Chennai, and spent two
years in a Mumbai [ Images ] chawl. The book is full of sharp
observations from these two worlds.

In this interview with Rediff.com's Krishnakumar Padmanabhan, he
speaks about 'very smart Dalit males', absent-minded scientists, and
how different literature is from journalistic writing.

For a Christian who grew up in a Brahmin neighbourhood, how was it
getting into the head of a Dalit character?

As a journalist I have met several Dalit men, many times for stories
that have nothing to do with Dalits. I was always aware of a
particular kind of a very smart Dalit male and the way he thinks or at
least the way I think he things.

Also, when I first came to Bombay I lived in a chawl for
two-and-a-half years. There I met some men whose views are very
similar to Ayyan's. But the fundamental angst of Ayyan Mani and his
perception of the world, life and science is my conjecture, my
creation.

You mentioned 'very smart Dalit male'. What sets him apart?

What sets him apart is that he is a mathematical probability.

In a set of so many people, one will be exceptional irrespective of
culture, family background or upbringing.

That anomaly is Ayyan Mani. He is not a product of his own culture. He
is a freak, in a way.

I say that about Ayyan Mani even though some of his traits are
borrowed from the men I used to know.

Was it essential for the protagonist to be a Dalit or is it just incidental?

That is the whole point here. When Ayyan first formed in my head he
was just the same but he was not a Dalit. He had this anger and a
comical interpretation of the modern world and modern women and
science and everything around him. But he was not a Dalit.

Then I asked myself, why is he so angry, can I give him a
justification? And the idea of a Dalit male who is trying create from
thin air the first Dalit boy genius just fascinated me.

But yes I am surprised that everybody seems to be talking about the
fact that Ayyan is a Dalit while I think that is the least important
detail of the novel.

Did making him a Dalit also in a way enable you to weave in a bit of
social commentary?

Actually social commentary is something I loathe. I do not like novels
that are social commentaries. Novels should be novels.

A novel is a great literary device. It is a story that is told in the
chosen style of the storyteller. I think social commentary, etc, are
extractions of book reviewers. Which in turn has become a concept.
Which in turn has made writers feel they should make a socially
comment.

You mentioned living in a chawl. How did you fit in? Was it in a way
far more egalitarian than say a society of flats elsewhere? How did
the residents view you?

Oh no. I won't say that at all. I am not among the people who see pure
milk-and-honey goodness in the poor.

I remember bitter people in the chawl. I can imagine some NRI writers
observing the chawl boys laughing or playing cricket and saying, 'the
spirit of Bombay' or some shit like that. That is all rubbish.

People laugh because they have the muscles to laugh. So yes, men and
women do laugh in the chawls. But they are like anybody else. They
would like to be elsewhere. It is just that they are used to living in
such a small space.

What would your protagonist have been had you not had the opportunity
to experience life in a chawl?

I think I would have then researched the chawl life a bit. So I would
have still put him in a chawl.

He wouldn't have been different?

No. Ayyan had to be of a particular kind. His exceptionality comes
from the fact that he is from a certain background yet has a way of
thinking. Some reviewers wonder if Ayyan can really have the views
that he has. I say, yes.

Once you take the English out of his thoughts. You see that what is
left is the complicity of a thought and not the sophistication.

Ayyan Mani is special to me because he is a man who has the gift of
real intelligence.

What kind of work went into the writing of the science parts?

I have always been very curious about science. And I have always
thought that in the modern world where nobody really gets away -- not
the economists, not the leftists not the rightists, not even Arundhati
Roy [ Images ] or the Pope or even Obama [ Images ] -- one type that
gets away almost with anything are scientists.

That is because science today is so complex that one has to know a lot
to question scientists otherwise they will insult you with jargon.

I have always found this power, this power that scientists have very
fascinating. A scientist today can actually be just a dumb guy, but if
he is an astrophysicist people will think he must be smart.

So it was inevitable that I would tell the story of such scientists,
their inner workings their insecurities and subterfuge.

So there is the Institute of Theory and Research and the battles
inside -- a war over the best way to search for alien life -- the idea
fascinated me. And I wanted this battle to be interpreted by a guy
from the chawl.

But in some other ways, has the book not ended up stereotyping science people?

I am very surprised at that thought. What are the stereotypical
attributes would you say?

Aravind Acharya forgetting some 'thing' (his wife) in the car. The way
they are at their jobs. The jargon-filled discussion of the
scientists...

At Acharya's level it is not surprising that he would be a bit
absent-minded. If we look at the real lives of some top scientists we
see more bizarre stories. But I do agree with the jargon of some
scientists. I think that need not have been there. I agree.

In fact this point, I first realised when I was reading Solar by Ian
McEwan and I thought how naive it was for a scientist to think of
everything only in scientific terms. How naive I thought. Then I
realised a bit of that is there in my novel too.

Were you happy with the way the women characters had turned out? Isn't
the sex ratio in the book a little skewed? Also, aren't they -- apart
from Oparna -- a bit sketchy?

The novel's primary objective was to tell the story of two interesting
men -- unequal men who become allies. But at the same time, the men in
the novel are deeply influenced, affected or motivated by women.

One can say that the Taj Mahal [ Images ] was built by a man. That
would be a fact. But that would be incomplete. So, to call Serious Men
a male novel would be correct but only partly.

What I mean to say is that it has a strong female influence and the
male characters are very aware of women. So while it is true that
there only one strong female character, there is always this feminine
presence in the novel, at least that is what I feel.

You are a journalist, you have written a screenplay, and now a novel.
How different are they? Or is the process the same?

There are some fundamental things that are the same between
journalistic writing (an under-rated form of literature), screenplay
and a novel.

As in a writer observes a set of facts in his own unique way. It is in
the presentation of this observation that the three literary devices
vary.

Interestingly, all the three have borders, boundaries that control the
writer. In a feature, facts do the job. In a screenplay you can only
say what is visually depictable. And in a novel (which is the most
complex form of the three and the most satisfying to accomplish),
characters are the borders.

A character or characterization, according to me, is a set of rules.
What are the things Ayyan will do, will not do, will say, will not
say. That is characterisation and that is the boundary of the novel.

Why haven't great non-fiction books come out of Indian journalism?
Even fiction, there have been very few quality novels from
journalists...

There is no money in Indian publishing.

A great work of non-fiction needs a lot of time and Indian publishers
cannot pay a decent amount for it. And foreign publishers may not be
interested in a book like this, even if it is very, very good.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit cooks stir controversy in Uttar Pradesh as prejudices remain firm

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_dalit-cooks-stir-controversy-in-uttar-pradesh-as-prejudices-remain-firm_1415663

Dalit cooks stir controversy in Uttar Pradesh as prejudices remain firm
Deepak Gidwani / DNA

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 1:04 IST
Lucknow: Instead of earning accolades, the Mayawati government's move
to employ Dalit women to cook mid-day meals in primary schools has
turned out to be a major embarrassment.

The state government has had to withdraw the controversial order after
stiff resistance from upper castes and even backward castes. The
official who issued the government order (GO) has been divested of his
charge.

There have been incidents of violence and police lathicharge at
several schools in central Uttar Pradesh (UP) where officials tried to
coerce non-Dalit students to accept the food prepared by Dalit cooks.
At some places, non-Dalit families have stopped sending their children
to school as a mark of protest.

Apart from casting a shadow on UP chief minister Mayawati's plans to
ensure social equality for Dalits, the unseemly trail of events has
also exposed the wide caste fissures in civil society.

"The more things change, the more they seem to remain the same,"
comments noted historian and writer Yogesh Praveen.

"The political awareness and identity the Dalits have gained due to
the efforts of leaders like Kanshi Ram and Mayawati are obviously not
translating into ground realities," he says.

On April 24 this year, UP's basic education department issued an
order saying Dalits would be given priority in employment as cooks for
preparing mid-day meals in schools. Candidates from other castes were
to be considered only where a Dalit cook was not available. UP has
over 1.50 lakh primary schools which are covered under the mid-day
meal scheme, and close to 1.90 lakh cooks have been appointed so far.

As per the rules, a school of up to 25 students gets one cook, schools
with 26 to 100 are entitled to two, for 200 students there could be
three, and above that, four cooks. Each cook gets a salary of Rs1,000
per month.

The clause which started all the trouble stated that one of the cooks,
in any case, would have to be a Dalit.

"I don't see why this should be a problem at all since our
Constitution prohibits untouchability," Vivek Kumar, an expert on
Dalit studies and associate professor (sociology) at JNU, says. "This
is a paradox which exposes the social inequalities despite political
equality," he says.

"Socially, wherever there is a choice, primordial identities of class,
caste, religion and language tend to overpower other factors," he
explains.

Prof Roop Rekha Verma, ex-vice chancellor, Lucknow University,
analyses the situation in the same vein. "It's no surprise that along
with upper castes, even parents of OBC students are opposing Dalit
cooks. Clearly, political identity does not ensure social
acceptability," she says.

Social scientists would perhaps be compelled to ask why the very
people who gave a thumping majority to install a Dalit woman as chief
minister in 2007 refuse food made by a Dalit woman even when it's
free.

No official comment was available on this "sensitive" issue.


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[ZESTCaste] Fwd: Database of The South India Madiga Intellectuals Forum [1 Attachment]

 
[Attachment(s) from Siddhartha Kumar included below]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Panthukala Srinivas <seenanna@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 12:51 PM
Subject: Database of The South India Madiga Intellectuals Forum

Dear All,

I have attached the Databse of the South Indian Madiga Intellectuals
Forum.  This is a first initiative of the Madiga and Sub-castes
academicians, reserach scholars and intellectuals from Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Pondicherry and Kerala.  first Convention
organised by the individuals who are like minded to present their
papers on the Uniting Dalits and A Sub-castes Issues.  Two Days
Convention cum Conference went well and with the participants
presentations forum has decided to publish a book related to the
Uniting Dalits and A sub-castes issues.

We have formed the Editorial Committee for the Book Publication.  I
have mentioned the Commitee members names below:

1)  Professor P. Muthaiah, Convenor, SIMIF/ 0-9849633180
2)  P. Venkatesh, Co-Convenor, (TN & KTK)
3)  Professor P. George Victor, Member (AP)
4)  Dr. G.Vinod Kumar, Member (AP)
5)  Dr. N. Narasimhamurthy, Member (KTK)
6)  Mr. Sareen Chatla, Member (AP)
7)  Mr. Vedhamuthu (TN)
8)  Mr. Srinivas Panthukala, Member (AP)

Thanking You,

Regards,

Srinivas Panthukala
9246241975

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Attachment(s) from Siddhartha Kumar

1 of 1 File(s)

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