Tuesday, January 25, 2011

[ZESTCaste] For Immediate Press Release - Christian Council Appreciates Supreme Court Revision of Ruling

 

 
All India Christian Council

Dwarka, New Delhi 110075 www.indianchristians.in, Email aiccdelhi@gmail.com

 

For Immediate Press Release

Christian Council Appreciates Supreme Court Revision of Ruling

 

NEW DELHI: January 25, 2011

 

Today the All India Christian Council thanked the Supreme Court for revising comments in the verdict given on 21 January 2011 in the case of Criminal Appeal No 1366 of 2005, "Rabindra Kumar Pal @ Dara Singh Vs. Republic of India". The ruling dealt with the appeal to overturn life sentences for two men convicted of murdering Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons 1999.

 

In the ruling, several comments about conversions were included by the two judge bench of P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan which provoked protests by Christians and many in India's civil society.

 

Dr. Joseph D'souza, aicc President, said, "We appreciate the Supreme Court for taking suo moto notice of the deep concerns over their comments on conversion in the Dara Singh case. We are thankful that several remarks which the Christian community found objectionable were expunged from the record today. This restores our faith in the judiciary."

 

Dr. John Dayal, aicc Secretary General, said, "We were disturbed initially when the remarks by two Supreme Court justices gave the appearance of support for campaigns against freedom of faith. The Christian Council and community hold the justice system in high esteem as it is the appeal of last resort when state governments and administration often fail us. In fact our great respect is why the comments provoked deep concern."

 

The All India Christian Council (www.christiancouncil.in), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

 

Released by

 

 

Madhu Chandra

Regional Secretary – aicc

9716004939



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[ZESTCaste] Saga of an eloped Dalit couple

 

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=27542

Saga of an eloped Dalit couple


BARUN PANERU
DADELDHURA, Jan 25: A newly married couple has been expelled from home
and village following an inter-caste love marriage.

Suresh Damai, 22, and Bhagirathi Bud, 18, of Rudreshwar-7, Baitadi
district, entered into matrimonial relations but soon found themselves
expelled by the bride´s family.

The bride being high-caste, the family refused to accept the
marriage. Both Damai and Bud belong to Dalit community. The only
difference being Bud belongs to the superior caste hierarchy within in
the Dalit sub-castes, according to the villagers.

As the story unfolds, Damai, a Bachelor´s degree student at
Gokuleshwar Campus, had eloped with the ninth grader at Satya Prakash
Higher Secondary School and eventually entered into nuptials.

The couple has arrived at the district headquarters seeking justice
and fair play.

"Her (Bud´s) family thrashed me and threatened to kill me. I was
forced to leave the village," lamented Damai. Damai´s mother Mandira
Devi claimed that the police gave a deaf ear to their pleas even after
lodging a complaint against the threat served to her son´s life.

"The District Police Office refused to budge," the girl acknowledged,
adding, "However, they accepted to register the case only after rights
activists intervened."

Meantime, Chief of Baitadi Police Sukra Dev Neupane said, "We´ll call
the family of the girl and interrogate."

Published on 2011-01-25 06:00:02

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[ZESTCaste] Relatives of jailed MLA ask Mayawati to intervene in Banda rape case

 

http://www.sify.com/news/relatives-of-jailed-mla-ask-mayawati-to-intervene-in-banda-rape-case-news-national-lbytEebdchd.html

Relatives of jailed MLA ask Mayawati to intervene in Banda rape case
2011-01-24 19:40:00

Relatives and supporters of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Purushottam
Naresh Dwivedi, who is currently in prison on charges of raping a
minor Dalit girl on Monday asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati
to intervene into the matter, and said that the complaint against him
is a conspiracy.

Dwivedi's son Mayank said they were not satisfied with the probe
carried out by the CB-CID (Crime Branch of Criminal Investigation
Department).

"Firstly, the CB-CID (Crime Branch of Criminal Investigation
Department) is doing one-sided investigation. Secondly, no medical
test or DNA test of my father has been done, and the CB-CID is filing
the charge-sheet and thirdly, the medical test of Sheelu does not
support any incident of rape, but still the CB-CID are putting false
allegations. What does it mean? We are not satisfied with the
investigations," said Mayank.

"We want that BehenJi (Mayawati) should carry out a judicial probe on
her level. Reliable people who are not related to her party should
carry out the probe. People of the girl's village should be
interrogated; people who were in contact with the girl should be
interrogated. People who BehenJi relies on should carry out the
investigation and that report should be submitted to BehenJi," he
added.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday said the Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) Government led by her is taking the Banda rape case
"very seriously", and added that strict action will be initiated
against those who have taken the law into their hands.

"We took the matter very Banda matter seriously and got it
investigated by the CID immediately. You all know that once CB-CID
report was released strict action was taken," said Mayawati.

"The Jailor of Banda prison Gyan Prakash and Additional SP Banda Lala
Ram have been suspended and departmental proceedings have been
initiated against them," she added.

The girl was allegedly raped on December 10-11 at Dwivedi's residence.
She escaped from the MLA's house on December 12, when he allegedly
attempted to rape her for the third time and charged her with theft.he
Chief Judicial Magistrate of Banda has sent Dwivedi to 14 days of
judicial custody.

The MLA, who was on the run after orders for his arrest were issued,
was taken into custody on January 13.

The investigating officials, who conducted the preliminary inquiry,
have found that Dwivedi had raped the teenager and framed her in a
false theft case. (ANI)

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[ZESTCaste] For marrying a Dalit, man slits daughter's throat in police station

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/For-marrying-a-Dalit-man-slits-daughters-throat-in-police-station/articleshow/7357825.cms

For marrying a Dalit, man slits daughter's throat in police station
TNN, Jan 25, 2011, 07.00am IST

CHENNAI: A man was arrested for slitting the throat of his daughter at
the Red Hills police station on Monday. He was called to the police
station after his daughter, who eloped with a Dalit, requested
protection as her family was against the marriage.

S Ezhumalai arrived at the police station with a knife hidden in his
trousers and caught everyone by surprise by attacking Kalaivani, his
daughter.

Kalaivani, who married P Joshua a week ago, is battling for life at a
private hospital. A magistrate court sent Ezhumalai to 15-day custody
in the Ponneri sub jail.

Following a complaint by Joshua and Kalaivani that they feared for
their lives as her family was against their marriage, Red Hills police
inspector K Kumaran called Ezhumalai for talks. "Ezhumalai, a real
estate businessman, came to the station dressed in a pair of trousers
and shirt. As soon as he entered, he walked towards Kalaivani, pulled
out a knife from his pocket and slit her throat," Kumaran said.

Kalaivani, an undergraduate student, fled home on January 21 to get
married to Joshua in a city church. She had met Joshua, an employee of
a private firm in Ambattur, some 18 months ago through a common
friend. Fearing opposition, she did not disclose her relationship to
her family and registered her marriage at the sub-registrar's office
in Egmore last week.

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[ZESTCaste] Microcredit 'not the silver bullet' for poverty

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/9369880.stm

Page last updated at 13:06 GMT, Monday, 24 January 2011

Microcredit 'not the silver bullet' for poverty

By Madeleine Morris
BBC News, reporting for World Service Assignment and Newsnight

Microcredit, where small loans are given to impoverished women to
invest into generating their own incomes, was once hailed as the
solution to world poverty.

The United Nations declared 2005 the Year of Microcredit, and in 2006
the Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he
founded were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

At the time Mr Yunus said microcredit could create a world where
poverty could only be seen in a museum.

Mohammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

But a crisis in the microloan industry in India, as well as a number
of recent academic studies, have called that claim into question.

In the state of Andhra Pradesh, India's microcredit hub, debt
repayments from the state's nearly eight million micro-borrowers have
dropped to around 20%, prompted by a government crackdown on the
industry after a number of suicides allegedly linked to over lending.

Insufficient scrutiny

Of wider, global significance, a study of micro lenders in the slums
of Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, conducted by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), found access to
microcredit had no impact on three poverty indicators - women's
empowerment and expenditure on child's health and education - over the
18 month period it tested.

Although microcredit has existed for more than three decades, this
study, published in 2009, was the first major randomised, controlled
and peer-reviewed study of the impact on poverty.

The MIT study surveyed 7,000 households in 104 slums, half of whom had
access to microloans, and half who did not.


Assessing how many clients have actually benefitted calls for a great
deal of research on the ground over a certain period. I must confess,
that's not something which has really happened
Alok Prasad, CEO of India's microfinance association, MFIN

Randomised and controlled trials are seen as the most accurate method
of impact testing, because they eliminate the problem of selection
bias, where clients of microfinance institutions (MFIs) may be
systematically different from non-clients.

"It's incredible that billions of dollars are going into programmes
for which studies haven't been conducted," says Prathap Kasina, a
research manager for MIT, based in Hyderabad.

"People assumed microcredit was the silver bullet and started working
with it, without any obvious proof."

According to CGAP, an independent centre for microfinance research,
more than $21bn has been invested internationally in microfinance.

Sixty-nine percent of that amount, which excludes money committed
internally within a country, was committed by public donors and
investors such as the World Bank and government aid departments.

Plans to expand

The World Bank and the UK's Department for International Development
(Dfid) are currently planning to fund an expansion of microfinance
within 39 countries in sub-Saharan Africa within the next five years.


I took out 100,000 rupees ($2,200) in seven loans. I took one for my
daughter's wedding and another when my husband had a heart attack."
Indian micro borrower Susila

The MIT study did find a small increase in the number of new
businesses created by households with access to loans - seven per 100
compared with five per 100 in the control group.

Mr Kasina says MIT is continuing its research to test whether a longer
exposure to small loans will produce a different result.

However, Alok Prasad, the CEO of India's microfinance association,
MFIN, admits he does not know what proportion of India's 30 million
micro borrowers have benefitted from loans.

"We are talking about an industry that has grown very rapidly in the
last five years, an industry of about 30 or 35 million clients."

"[Assessing] how many clients have actually benefitted calls for a
great deal of research on the ground over a certain period. I must
confess, that's not something which has really happened."

When asked about Muhammad Yunus's statement that microcredit could put
poverty in a museum Mr Prasad concedes: "There may have been a bit of
hyperbole there."

'Lack of entrepreneurs'

Manoj Sharma, of the Indian microfinance consultancy Microsave,
believes the reason microcredit has not been the poverty killer it was
once touted as, is because although the poor want and deserve access
to credit, the very assumption they will invest that in productive
businesses is wrong.

Microfinance customers in rural Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh, India's microcredit hub has almost eight million borrowers

"The answer to how many of the poor are entrepreneurial lies in asking
how many of the rich are entrepreneurial - 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%?"

"That's the typical percentage of entrepreneurial poor you will get.
If the poor were so entrepreneurial they would have come out of
poverty by now."

He adds that many people who take out microloans, such as Vijaya and
Lakshmi, use them for household expenses, health and education, and to
smooth between lean and plentiful periods.

"And there is value in that. But if you really want financial
inclusion to happen for poor families, then a range of financial
services such as savings and insurance need to be provided. Just like
they are provided to you and I."

Multiple loans

The Dalits, members of India's formerly "untouchable" Hindu caste, who
live in the village of MM Puram in Andhra Pradesh are a vivid example
of how microcredit can go wrong.

"I took out 100,000 rupees ($2,200) in seven loans," says Susila "I
took one for my daughter's wedding and another when my husband had a
heart attack."

"I still owe 80,000 rupees, but I earn 150 rupees a day ($3) and all
the money I earn I spend on his medicines," she adds.

According to a survey last year, the average household debt to
microcredit companies in Susila's Dalit community is $1400 (£1,000).
Some households owe as much as $3,000.

Most women in MM Puram work as wage labourers in the fields. During
harvest time they earn $3 (£2) a day. When there is no harvest, they
earn nothing.

Susila's neighbour Lakshmi also took out seven loans, but now finds
herself unable to repay the 60,000 rupees ($1,300) she owes.

For 10 years she borrowed from micro-lenders to invest agriculture and her home.

Unlike most Dalit homes in the village she has electricity in her
government-built, two-roomed cement shack, but she never put any money
aside into savings or insurance, and when floods washed away all her
crops last year, she found herself with no income, and health
problems.

Like all the Dalit women of MM Puram, she says she appreciated the
loans, as they made her life easier.

However, far from being the solution to poverty, microcredit has
trapped Lakshmi, Susila and their friends into a cycle of debt.

Madeleine Morris's radio documentary on microfinance in India is
running on this week's edition of Assignment on the BBC World Service.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits also hold protest

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dalits-also-hold-protest/articleshow/7356750.cms

Dalits also hold protest
TNN, Jan 25, 2011, 12.10pm IST

MIRCHPUR: Even as the police and local administration was yet to come
to terms with agitation by jats, now dalit communities have also
started holding protests here as well as in Hisar.

Holding lanterns in hand, dalits staged protest near the IG chowk in
Hisar. The protesters, led by Gair Jat Sangathan president Ved Pal
Tanwar, raised anti-administration slogans.

The protesters are members of Balmiki families, who had fled from
Mirchpur village soon after Jats convened mahapanchayat. The police is
saying that no dalit family left the village then who are we We are
the ones, who left Mirchpur village and were staying in a safe place
in Hisar. We want our families to be rehabilitated and government jobs
as per our qualification,'' Hari Pal, one of the protesters said.

Meanwhile, contrary to the assertion of district administration that
no one had left village, intelligence report suggest that except for a
handful of elderly men and women, who are taking care of belongings,
most of the members of Balmiki families have fled the village.

Protesters Sheela, Ved Prakash, Des Raj, Jogender, Krishan Kumar,
Babli, Satyavaan said, We fear for our lives in Mirchpur village. We
feel safe here in Hisar. We do not want to go back. The state
government has to listen our demands. We will hold protest until our
demands are met.''

Read more: Dalits also hold protest - The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dalits-also-hold-protest/articleshow/7356750.cms#ixzz1C2r54O00

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati will become UP CM again, says survey by politicsparty.com

 

http://www.sify.com/news/mayawati-will-become-up-cm-again-says-survey-by-politicsparty-com-news-national-lbytEddfahh.html

Mayawati will become UP CM again, says survey by politicsparty.com

2011-01-24 19:40:00
Sciencgo Inserter

Mayawati will win the 2012 assembly polls and form the government in
Uttar Pradesh to become the Chief Minister again, according to
politicsparty.com.

Politicsparty.com, which conducted a voters' attitude poll, in all the
403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh to understand the voters
mood sixteen months before the polls has come out with this opinion.he
research survey to gauge the voters mood was conducted over three-days
during January 21 to 23.

During the survey, they interviewed around 200 people (100 men and 100
women) in each assembly constituency. team of highly qualified
specialist psephologists with no political loyalties and possessing
independent professional integrity conducted the poll.

The sample interviewed for the survey included the socio-economic
demographic profile of both men and women in all the regions of Uttar
Pradesh.

According to the survey, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will
win 240 seats out of the total 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while
Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party will win only 59 seats even less
than what they had won in the 2007 assembly polls.

Bahujan Samaj Party has a slight edge above the other parties as
Muslims are voting in large numbers for Mayawati in the next assembly
polls.

Mayawati's vote base of dalits is firmly with her, and she can deliver
hundred percent of the dalit votes to the candidate of any other
caste. She also gets the votes of the upper castes and the OBC in
constituencies, where the BSP candidate is from the upper castes and
the OBC.

Mayawati is thus riding ahead of all others to easily win the
Government again, says the survey.oreover, Mayawati has provided a
Government, which has completely uprooted the 'Goonda Raj' and
'Gangsterism' by the Mulayam regime.

The ordinary men and women are pleased with the Mayawati regime
crackdown against musclemen, extortionists, kidnappers and protection
rackets.

here is only one way to defeat Mayawati. The party must project a
credible OBC, who will not be perceived as hostile to the upper
castes, to win Uttar Pradesh, according to politicsparty.com.

The Congress is losing assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh because of
three factors- mega scams, rising inflation and that the party has no
credible Chief Minister candidate.

No OBC support defeats Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Muslim-Kurmi
erosion exit Mulayam Singh Yadav. (ANI)

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