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Friday, May 6, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Dr Jaspreet Singh: The Death of Merit – Another Documentary on Dalit students suicide

The documentary 'Dr Jaspreet Singh: The Death of Merit' is second in the series of our efforts to document caste-based discrimination prevalent in Indian higher education system resulting in large number of suicides of Dalit students in Indian campuses.

It is based on the testimonies of parents and family members of Dr Jaspreet Singh, 22 years, who was a student of Final Year, MBBS at Government Medical College, Chandigarh.

Harrased due to his caste by one of the professors, Dr Jaspreet Singh committed suicide on 27th January, 2008, by hanging himself on the 5th floor of his college's library.

Please watch the documentary 'Dr Jaspreet Singh:The Death of Merit' at YouTube at below link.

http://youtu.be/Rd9lcsy9Ty8 or can watch it at our blog www.thedeathofmeritinindia.wordpress.com

About the documentary

Dr Jaspreet Singh (1987-2008) was a school topper and quite bright Dalit student, from a very humble background. He used to clear all his papers without fail, in 4 years of his MBBS, till he met a professor whose criteria of merit was not Jaspreet's performance but his 'caste'.

Do whatever you can do, I will make you to do your MBBS all over again' was the taunt Prof N.K. Goel, Head of Department, Community Medcine, Government Medical College, Chandigarh used to make to a final year student who, in his 4 years of MBBS, had cleared each and every paper without fail.

Tensed and much humiliated Jaspreet informed many other faculty members and friends about the casteist behaviour of Prof Goel and his fear of being failed once again but to no avail. He was once again failed in the same paper by just one mark. Finally he committed suicide in the college's library leaving behind a suicide note mentioning the name of the professor and his casteist behaviour.

Only after the intervention of National Scheduled Caste Commission, police filed the case under SC/ST Act and the answer sheet of Dr Jaspreet Singh were sent to a panel of 3 external examiners for re-evalutaion.

And Dr Jaspreet passed the exam, but after his death. Three years after, his parents and two sisters are still fighting the case and waiting for justice, not only for their son, but like Dr Balmukund Bharti's parents, for all other Dalit students so that they do not suffer the fate of Jaspreet.

Please watch our first documentary 'The Death of Merit' (in 2 parts) released on April 23, 2011 at YouTube at below link. It is on the suicide of Dr Balmukund Bharti from AIIMS, New Delhi.

Part I - http://youtu.be/2L3y9O1HCBw

Part II - http://youtu.be/ADXnFf_5JT4

For the list of Dalit students committing suicide in last four years in India's premier educational institutions, please click here.

To read the report Caste Discrimination in IIT Delhi, please click here.

To read the article 'On Suicide, Caste and Higher Education, please click here

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Re: [ZESTCaste] Untouchability taking new forms, says study

Dear all

abs. true. statistics support that dalit non dlait diff in tn is higher than in india as a whole

the dalit squeeze in tn is very high. they are pushed out of rural areas either becasue of sale of agric. land (any way majority were landless) or acute discrimination and when they come to urban areas employment is for migrants and they face discrimination in education and other institutions. If there is any theft they are suspected in schools and colleges.

I want to know is there evidence that discrimination is less in urban areas? yes, dalitt non dalit diff. in poverty is higher in urban than rural, but what about discrimination

There is an argument floating that dalits are better off in industries/services than agri. any evidence of less discrimination? it is hard for me to believe that such simple shifts can solve complex problems.

does migration to another state reduce caste discrimination

Ranjani
--- On Thu, 5/5/11, Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com>
Subject: [ZESTCaste] Untouchability taking new forms, says study
To: "zestcaste" <zestcaste@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, 5 May, 2011, 7:24 PM

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/untouchability-taking-new-forms-says-study-480

Untouchability taking new forms, says study

May 5, 2011
G. Jagannath
chennai

Caste discrimination in Tamil Nadu appears to have moved with the
times and stayed abreast of new developments.

An attack on a dalit in Villoor village in Madurai, for riding a
motorcycle in the streets where caste Hindus reside, is not an
isolated incident.

A survey conducted by Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front
(TNUEF) in 22 districts has revealed the prevalence of 86 forms of
untouchability in the state's villages.

Dalits are not even allowed to use ringtones of movie songs. "A dalit
in Coimbatore was beaten by caste Hindus for using MGR movie song Naan
Aanaittal Adhu Nadanthu Vittaal as his ringtone," TNUEF convenor P.
Sampath said.

The discrimination against dalits even exists in matrimonial websites.
"We have come across entries made by upper caste persons stating that
dalits need not apply," he said.

In the survey, Mr Sampath said they come across the practice of dalits
being prevented from walking on the public road wearing slippers,
riding bicycles, wearing dhotis folded or polyester dhotis, wearing
towels on their shoulder, wearing cloth headgear, sporting thin line
moustaches and getting clothes washed or ironed.

Apart from the two-tumbler system and denial of temple entry, Mr
Sampath said dalits are not allowed to watch TV programmes in village
panchayats or speak or sing at any public platform.

In some villages, he said the postmen do not deliver letters to dalit
houses and the dalits have to obtain them from the post office. Dalits
are also prevented from rearing cattle or keeping male dogs.

Mr Sampath said untouchability is widely prevalent in the state as the
DMK government failed to take any concrete steps to eradicate the
practice.

"Even when we staged an agitation in Uthapuram, Kangiyanur and
Gudiyatham to seek action against dalit discrimination, the DMK
suppressed the struggle by arresting the protesting dalits," he said.

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[ZESTCaste] flight of upper caste doctors and engineers

Dear friends

As i took my ageing mother to her doctor in ao clinic (who also consults in govt hospital)- in all honesty an upper caste himself whom my mother has been seeing (read how caste operates in choice of doctor) he told me in private (he knows what work i do) that out of 47 doctors of upper caste from govt. medical college, only three are in India. The rest are abroad.

According to him most of the doctors who work in govt. are not the upper caste, who go abroad or to private sector. Why should the govt. allow upper caste access to govt medical college at all? Why not make it compulsory that any body who studies in govt. subsidised medical colleges and engineering colleges has to serve only in govt health and education facilities (rural for 15 years??)

In chennai the transport works well becasue people like me use it in addition to poor. Motivated by PHM i am now doing the same with regard to my health. the queue is long, one understands how the system works and able to complain on quality (not mustaf or armaan). but i have not got to the level of commitment required to put my child in govt. school at age 15.

yes i was in a private hsoptial last year wrongly diagnosed with typhoid for some time when i had hepatitis A. unnecessarily retained for eight days.

If we want equality rich or poor, dalits or non dalits should use same facility.

Ranjani

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[ZESTCaste] Five arrested for “abusing” Dalit youth near Madurai

http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/02/stories/2011050252720300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Five arrested for "abusing" Dalit youth near Madurai

Special Correspondent

Superintendent of Police visits Villoor village, warns of stern action

MADURAI: The Madurai Rural Police arrested five persons on charges of
abusing a Dalit youth near here on Sunday.

According to police, the complainant Thangapandian of Villoor in
Peraiyur sub-division, he was allegedly abused by some villagers
belonging to caste Hindus, when he proceeded on his two-wheeler near
the Kaliamman Temple arch on Saturday night.

The Dalits alleged that there has been a practice that they should not
ride two wheelers while crossing the street of Caste Hindus.

When the information was brought to the notice of Superintendent of
Police Asra Garg, he directed the police to register a case.

After investigation, Kalligudi police registered cases under IPC
Sections 147, 341, 109, 506 (1) read with 3 (1) (v) and 3 (1) (x) of
SC/ST Prevention Act.

The names of the arrested were given as Satish Kumar (25) son of
Ramar, Pratap Singh (25) son of Saktivel, Balamurugan (25) son of
Gurusami, Karanthamalai (50) son of Ramasami and Samayan (42) son of
Sangili Thevar of the same village.

Meeting convened

On Sunday evening, Mr. Asra Garg visited the village and held talks
with the elders. While, the members representing caste Hindus alleged
that the Dalit youths drove in a rash and negligent manner on the
stretch, they insisted on not motoring down their vehicles.

This practice has been there for long years. Similarly, some others
claimed that the Dalit youths indulged in eve-teasing.

After listening to them, the SP said that in such cases, they (caste
Hindus) can prefer complaints with the police and assured of stern
action. He also held talks with the Dalit representatives who too
narrated their tales of woes. Mr. Garg said that untouchability in any
form would not be tolerated by the custodians of law.

He appealed to the villagers to live cordially and impressed upon them
about the need for contributing their energy for constructive
purposes.

"Each one of us had the responsibility in the nation building exercise
and in a modern era, such a kind of ill-treatment within us would only
be a retrograde step," he urged.

To ensure that there were no untoward incidents, strong police pickets
have been posted, a police officer said.

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[ZESTCaste] Now, a survey on status of Bihar's upper castes

http://twocircles.net/2011may06/now_survey_status_bihars_upper_castes.html

Now, a survey on status of Bihar's upper castes
Submitted by admin4 on 6 May 2011 - 12:06pm

By Imran Khan, IANS,

Patna : In a state divided on caste lines, surveys of Dalits, Other
Backward Classes and Muslims have been conducted in the past. But in a
first of its kind initiative, Bihar plans to conduct a survey in rural
areas to reach out to the poor among the upper castes.

"A survey of upper castes in all villages across the state would be
conducted by the commission to gather information about their real
socio-economic condition," Narendra Singh, a member of the Bihar State
Upper Caste Commission, told IANS.

Bihar State Upper Caste Commission or the Bihar Rajya Sawarna Ayog
plans to start the survey in June. A team would also visit the
divisional headquarters from May 25 to meet elected village body heads
and others.

"It is for the first time that a survey of upper castes would be
conducted by the commission to know their socio-economic condition.
Never before has such a move been made to help reach the poor among
all sections, including the upper castes," said A.K. Jha, a senior
researcher at Patna-based A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Science.

The state government had last month constituted an upper caste
commission to identify poor among the upper caste and to study the
problems faced by them. The commission would also examine whether the
poor upper castes are benefiting by the various welfare schemes of the
government.

The last caste census in Bihar was conducted in 1931 under British
rule in India. According to an estimate, at present upper castes
(including Brahmin, Rajput, Bhumihar and Kayasth) constitute about 13
percent of the state's 105 million population.

In 2000, the then chief minister Rabri Devi conducted a socio-economic
survey of Muslims, who constitute 16.5 percent of the state
population.

After coming to power in November 2005, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
brought with him a new slogan -- development with justice.

Bihar was the first state in the country to constitute a Mahadalit
Commission. It was decided that the commission would study the
socio-economic status of neglected subcastes among Dalits and suggest
ways to uplift them.

During campaigning for the state assembly elections last year, Nitish
Kumar had promised to set up a commission to study the problems faced
by the upper caste poor and launch welfare schemes for them if his
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) party was voted back to power.

But the move has met with some criticism.

J.P. Yadav, a backward caste activist, said the move was an
appeasement of upper castes. "It is known to all that upper castes are
still enjoying a strong hold over the socio-economic structure of
Bihar."

"They are dominating in all fields, be it business, bureaucracy,
judiciary, media or even politics. There may be poor upper caste but
their condition is far better than Dalits, backward castes and
Muslims," he said.

However, the fact that Nitish Kumar has already set up the Mahadalit
commission and given 20 percent reservation to extreme backward castes
in panchayat elections, works in his favour.

Political observers believe the upper caste commission was a move to
send a strong message that he was committed to inclusive development
for all.

In Bihar, members of the upper castes, particularly the Bhumihars and
Rajputs, own large tracts of land in rural areas.

In July last year, the Bandopadhayay Commission on land reforms
suggested the state government bring in a new act to protect
sharecroppers. It also recommended a cap on land owning and
computerising land records.

After the issue sparked a row in the state, Nitish Kumar tried to
pacify angry upper caste members by promising not to enact a new law
to protect farm tenants, who share crop with land-owners as rent, if
voted to power for the second time.

"Months before the campaign began, Nitish Kumar had assured the upper
castes that their land was safe and his government had no plans to
enact a new law to protect sharecroppers," a ruling Janata Dal-United
leader said.

"After winning a historical verdict, Nitish Kumar initiated a move to
provide help to the poor among the upper castes on the lines of
Dalits, OBCs and Muslims. The survey is the beginning of it," he
added.

Nearly 50 percent of Bihar's 105 million people live below the poverty
line (BPL), the highest in India, according to a World Bank report.

(Imran Khan can be contacted at imran.k@ians.in)

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Friday, May 6, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Dr Jaspreet Singh: The Death of Merit – Another Documentary on Dalit students suicide

Re: [ZESTCaste] Untouchability taking new forms, says study

[ZESTCaste] flight of upper caste doctors and engineers

[ZESTCaste] Five arrested for “abusing” Dalit youth near Madurai

[ZESTCaste] Now, a survey on status of Bihar's upper castes

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