Tuesday, November 16, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Cong betrayed Dalits, used as vote bank: BJP SC morcha

 

http://news.chennaionline.com/newsitem.aspx?NEWSID=a8e3114f-c398-4624-87ca-a05cc506555d&CATEGORYNAME=NATL

Cong betrayed Dalits, used as vote bank: BJP SC morcha

Shimla, Nov 14 The BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha today accused Congress
of betraying the scheduled castes by scuttling the schemes for their
upliftment and using them as vote banks.

Addressing a press conference after a two day meeting of BJP SC Morcha
here, the All India General Secretary of the Morcha Thavar Chand
Gehlot alleged that Congress had a vested interest in keeping the
Dalits backward and the UPA and Congress governments in the states
diverted the funds earmarked for welfare of the community.

The Congress government in Delhi diverted Rs 765 crore meant for
welfare of Dalits for Common Wealth Games (CWG), which was a cruel
joke with Dalits, while the BJP government had made a special budget
provision for scheduled castes and tribes.

- (Agencies)
Nov 14, 2010

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[ZESTCaste] Bihar villagers blame Dalit killing on elections

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Bihar-villagers-blame-Dalit-killing-on-elections/711801

Bihar villagers blame Dalit killing on elections
Santosh Singh Posted online: Tue Nov 16 2010, 10:15 hrs

Gurhmiya (Vaishali) : Three days after Babulal Ram, a Scheduled Caste
man in his late 50s, was reportedly beaten to death by three
upper-caste men, villagers here are blaming the fresh incidents of
atrocity against Dalits on the Assembly elections.
According to reports, on November 12, Babulal was in his house when he
heard the cries of 10-year-old Ruban Ram, who was reportedly being
beaten up by three upper-caste men — Satendra Thakur, Sanjay Thakur
and Deepak Thakur — for going to the ghats which was "out of bounds"
for Scheduled Caste members.

Babulal, a daily wager, tried to intervene, but the trio reportedly
started beating him with wooden sticks. Baburam died half-an-hour
later. According to the post-mortem report, he died of head injuries.

Villagers said this was the third incident of atrocity against Dalits
in the last one month. Machhia Devi alleged that her 22-year-old son
Navin Ram was beaten up by upper caste Bhumihars and was undergoing
treatment at Sadar Hospital in Hajipur. Santlal Ram, 25, alleged he
was also beaten up about a fortnight back for refusing to accept Rs 50
as his daily wage.

Saying that the tension began in the run-up to the Assembly elections,
villagers added that the situation had worsened after polling was held
in the area on October 28.

"Upper-caste men have been trying to dictate our votes for a
particular candidate. How can we allow anyone to decide our votes?"
said Babulal's nephew, Mohan Ram.

Besides the three main accused, Sanjay Tiwari, chief of Gurhmiya
Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Society (PACCS), is also among
the 31 upper-caste men who have been named in the FIR. Villagers say
that Tiwari, a Bhumihar, provoked the incident.

Some claimed that Tiwari is a "close associate of JD-U Lalganj MLA
Vijay alias Munna Shukla, who had fielded his wife, Anu Shukla, as the
party's candidate for the seat.

But Lalganj Circle Inspector Uday Pratap Singh said: "The FIR has no
direct or indirect reference to Munna Shukla. We have already arrested
main accused Satendra and Deepak, and are trying to track Sanjay
Tiwari".

Twenty-seven Dalits, who allegedly torched portions of houses
belonging to some upper-caste members on November 13, were also
booked. Two of them have been arrested.

The upper caste Bhumihar-dominated Gurhmiya village, under Lalganj
Assembly segment, has about 20 families of Scheduled Caste Rams and 40
families of Paswans. The incident, which occurred just before the last
phase of polling is scheduled to be held on November 20, assumes
significance as the Mahadalits are seen as Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar's new constituency.

Meanwhile, Babulal's daughter-in-law, Anita, has been left to fend for
her family of five as her husband, Bhola, is differently abled. She
said that Babulal had no personal enmity with upper-caste villagers.
"Most of us earn our bread by working in the fields of upper caste
people," she said.

Though they have BPL cards, she said that they don't get enough ration.

Babulal's nephew, Mohan Ram, said though they were happy with the
Nitish government, they were yet to avail of most of the benefits
meant for Scheduled Castes.

"Only 30 per cent of the village children go to school, which is
located in the area where the upper caste people live. Our women often
have to bear their taunts," said Chandan Ram, a villager, adding that
police deployment would provide them only temporary relief.

Meanwhile, the Vaishali district administration sought to defuse the
tension with deployment of 100 armed forces from the Bihar Military
Police and state police in and around the village.


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[ZESTCaste] After temple entry, Dalits here live in fear

http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/14/stories/2010111456750700.htm

Tamil Nadu - Salem

After temple entry, Dalits here live in fear

R. Ilangovan


No entry:Dalits are not allowed to enter again in the Sri
Chidambareshwarar Temple at East Rajapalayam village in Gengavalli
block, Salem district.

SALEM: For the Dalits in East Rajapalayam, Gengavalli block, in Salem
district, their recent entry into the ancient Sri Chidambareshwarar
Temple in the village, as expected, has not broken the fetters of
discrimination. Instead it has brought in woes and fears in abundance.

All these years, the Hindu Religious and Charitable
Endowments-controlled temple and its sub temples in the village have
remained out of the reach for the 250 families of Dalits.

When the majority caste Hindus, some 1,500 families, had refused to
allow them to participate at its 'Maha kumbaabhisekam' function held
on August 22 this year, they raised a banner of revolt.

On September 3, when the women and children went to the temple to
offer prayers, they were denied entry and curtly told to perform
poojas outside the temple. "Till then, we have not realised the
intensity of the hatred of untouchability against us in the village,"
said N. Kannusamy (65), a Dalit, who recalled the good old days when
he, as a 10-year-old boy, used to play village sports with others in
front of the sprawling temple complex.

But the denial spurred the village Dalits to regroup. A few among them
including teachers and a few VCK functionaries took up the issue to
the notice of the district administration.

A complaint was preferred at Veeraganur Police Station. They submitted
a petition to the Office of HR and CE at Salem on September 15.

Senior revenue and police officials convened a peace meeting at Attur
on October 1 and after much coercion forced the caste Hindus to
concede to the Dalits' demand to enter temple.

"We entered the temple on October 3, which happened to be our dooms'
day. Since then we undergo untold sufferings and face intimidation,"
said a Dalit youth working in a school in a near-by village.

Today, they are all forced to keep away from the vicinity of the
temple, which commands many acres of fertile lands in which cotton and
maize are being grown.

"The temple property is being enjoyed by the caste Hindus and we can
never participate in its auction," alleges another.

They told The Hindu that caste Hindus had ostracised even two of their
youths for attending a funeral on Adi Dravidar Street recently. "The
temple has a Dalit as a member on its trustee board. But he is
voiceless," they claimed.

The Dalits are now living in morbid fear for having entered the temple
in the presence of officials and against the wishes of locals.

The Veeraganur police in a letter dated October 25 have alerted the
Gengavalli Tahsildhar about a possible law and order issue in the
village. The Dalits have sought police protection, which is yet to be
given.


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[ZESTCaste] Implement 85th Amendment and attack untouchability: Himachal CPM

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/implement-85th-amendment-and-attack-untouchability-himachal-cpm/711715/

Implement 85th Amendment and attack untouchability: Himachal CPM
Express News Service Posted online: Tue Nov 16 2010, 00:02 hrs
Shimla : On the basis of its survey across 35,000 dalit households
across 1,000 panchayats, the CPM today claimed that at least 95 per
cent of Schedule Caste families were small and marginal farmers. As
the party held a rally in Shimla to seek the people's support to
launch a struggle for Schedule Castes' rights, it said that the survey
had shown that the majority of Dalits were living in poor conditions
and facing caste-based discrimination.
The CPM has now amalgamated its long-standing agenda of the need for
fresh land reforms in the state with dalit rights and has bid to
attract supporters of other parties on the issue in Himachal, which
has the second highest proportion of Schedule Castes among the states
with 24.7 per cent of its population being SC.

"This campaign would not only be led by dalits to assert their own
rights. The masses in general will also have to join in. After the
Panchayati Raj Institution elections are over in January, the CPM will
attract the support of people across different parties to join the
mass campaign for Dalit rights that would be launched from Mandi in
February," said CPM Secretary Rakesh Singha.

CPM State Secretariat Member Tikender Panwar said, "We will submit a
memorandum to the state government and also the survey about the
condition of dalits. Our demand is that the government should
implement the 85th Amendment to the Constitution and work to stop
caste-based discrimination in villages, where dalits are still not
allowed to enter temples, drink water from common sources and eat
together at public functions."

CPM leader Kuldeep Tanwar raised the issue of deliberate efforts not
to recruit schedule caste candidates as Anganwadi workers, mid-day
meal cooks or water carriers in schools as untouchability is still in
practice. The party will seek implementation of a reservation roaster
on all these recruitments to change people's mindsets.


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