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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

[ZESTCaste] RE: [sakya] Read the latest interview of one of the leading Dalit activists Manjula Pradeep from Gujarat at www.blog.insightyv.com

Jai Bhim. Thanks a million for the inspiring interview by Manjula Pradeep - really apt for the ocassion 25th December Bharatiya Stree Mukti Divas - a day on which all Ambedkarite Feminists pledge to make the annihilation of caste central to the feminist struggles as feminist issues central to our struggles to annihilate caste.

Sharmila

My final words of advice to you are educate, agitate and organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can lose our battle.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

Sharmila Rege
Director, Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre,
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan, University of Pune,
Pune-411007. Phone: 091-20-25601300

To: BuddhistCircle@yahoogroups.com; sakyagroup@yahoogroups.com; ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com; Bahujan@yahoogroups.com; youth4equalopportunities@yahoogroups.com
From: insightjnu@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:19:37 +0530
Subject: [sakya] Read the latest interview of one of the leading Dalit activists Manjula Pradeep from Gujarat at www.blog.insightyv.com

"Why the Dalits only should take the entire burden and responsibility in fighting against caste system?"
An Interview with Manjula Pradeep
By Gomathi Kumar & Sanjay Kabir

Manjula Pradeep is the Executive Director of Gujarat-based Dalit organisation Navsarjan. After receiving her Masters in Social Work (MSW) she joined the organisation in 1992 and has been working on different issues since then. Apart from leading organisation's legal cell on Dalit atrocities, she has been in forefront of the movements for agricultural labourers, bonded labourers and developing women cooperatives in the rural areas of Gujarat. In 1997, she completed her law degree to be able to take up cases related with caste and gender atrocities. Leading Navsarjan since 2004, Manjula Pradeep has trained hundreds of grassroots activists and has represented Dalit and Dalit women issues at various national and international fora.

Recently, your organisation has been in news for the study on untouchability practices in Gujarat? What are the findings of this study?

Our study on untouchability practices covered 1655 villages in Gujarat and took three years to complete. We have shared some of its findings with the media to create awareness. In the study, we found 99 forms of untouchability practices and have tried to identify the specific regions where these are practiced. Most prevalent practices are related to right to equality in religion and religious affairs. In more than 90 % of the villages, Dalits are not allowed temple entry or to touch the idols and worship articles. They are not allowed in the religious processions and other rituals.
Then comes the issue of touch. Dalits are not allowed to sit on the chair or cot before any non-Dalit. They necessarily have to sit on the ground. The other practice that comes out very prominently is on food. Dalits are never invited in the community meals or if invited they are seated separately and have to carry their own vessels. They are served tea in cups, ironically called Ram patras, that are kept separately in non-Dalit households. Then we find untouchability being practiced against Dalits in providing basic amenities like drinking water, use of ration shops, postmen not providing their services, not allowed to touch the vegetables in shops etc.
www.blog.insightyv.com

[ZESTCaste] Statue status

Prof.Badari narayan's opinion on the issues of ststues which reflects the issues of the pragmaticism of dalit politics today.the politics of dalit identity and self pride politics has to draw up a new alternative model based on post-ambedkarist realities.the intellectual aspirations ala ambedkar and kanshiram-mayavati politics of pragmaticism has to have a new counter culture approach against the new age brahmanical socialstructure.

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[ZESTCaste] Action against those exploiting SC/ST: DM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Action-against-those-exploiting-SC/ST-DM/articleshow/5363306.cms

Action against those exploiting SC/ST: DM

TNN 21 December 2009, 10:20pm IST

KANPUR: District magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar directed his subordinates
to take effective action against those accused of exploiting Schedule
Castes and Tribes and ensure justice to victims along with immediate
disbursement of compensation.

He was addressing a review meeting with public representatives and
government officials on Monday. The DM told the SP to investigate
complaints and take effective steps when he was informed that a
majority of SC/ST exploitation cases were from Sajeti police station
area. He also directed prosecution officer to take interest in SC/ST
exploitation cases and their disposal, so that victims could get last
instalment of compensation.

He asked the executive engineer Jal Nigam to install handpumps at the
identified 467 SC/ST localities of the district without delay. During
the meeting, he was informed that a sum of Rs 50 lakh had been
sanctioned as financial assistance for wedding of SC/ST beneficiaries
from social welfare advisory committees fund. Similarly, a sum of Rs
45 lakh had been sanctioned for poor general category beneficiaries.

When he was informed by the public representatives that there were
anomalies in the distribution of stipends and old age pension, the
district magistrate asked the district social welfare officer to
identify big technical educational institutions, inter colleges and
verify hundred per cent stipend distribution. He also asked him to
ensure the disbursement of old age pension to persons who were more
than 65 years and hailed from below poverty line families.

The district magistrate also directed the social welfare officer to
investigate and take effective steps for the disbursement of stipend
at Bhouti Pratappur inter college where, for the past two years, no
stipend money had been transferred. He also asked him to take action
against banks that had not opened accounts of students on zero
balance.

The district magistrate also asked to register all the government and
non-government construction agencies and contractors will labour
department within a week and take action against officials who had
adopted a negligent attitude.

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[ZESTCaste] NEPAL: Witch Tag Only on Dalits, Minorities

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49803

NEPAL: Witch Tag Only on Dalits, Minorities
By Mallika Aryal

Kalli B.K. (first left), Jabrun Khatun (extreme right) and Jugu Kumari
Chaudhari (blue sari): accused of being witches

Credit:Mallika Aryal/IPS

KATHMANDU, Dec 23 (IPS) - Just 40 kms away from the capital Kathmandu,
in Thasingtole, Lalitpur District, Kalli Kumari B.K., 46, a local
Dalit woman, was mercilessly beaten up. She was accused of being a
'witch', imprisoned in a shed and forced to eat her own excreta

The headmistress of a local school along with a local shaman accused
her of practicing witchcraft and tortured her for two days.

"They kept hitting my head and my bruises. They fed human excreta and
then they took a blade out and started cutting my skin. I couldn't
bear it anymore and was forced to admit that that I am a witch so they
would stop giving me so much pain," said B.K. in a public forum here
in Kathmandu.

They let her go when she accepted that it was because of her that the
village cattle was dying and signed a paper, which said that if any
more animals died it was her responsibility.

After being freed, she rushed to the police and filed a complaint at
the area police office. For days the administration did nothing. After
pressure from local rights group the police finally apprehended the
local headmistress.

However, the accused was let off after she paid a fine. Now she has
been reinstated at the school and lives in the same village as B.K. "I
live in fear, the people who tortured me are still in this village,
what if they come at night and take me away again?" said B.K.

In Sunsari, 650 km south-east of Kathmandu, Jabrun Khatun, 26 was
dragged out of her house and beaten in the middle of the village.
"They said I was a witch, that because of me a lot of children were
falling sick and beat me for hours. Then they stepped on my chest and
forced me to eat human excreta," said Khatun.

They imprisoned her for days until local children let her out. She was
all alone in the family as her husband had recently left to work in
neighbouring India. "I have come all the way to Kathmandu looking for
justice," said Khatun.

In Kalilali, far west Nepal, Jugu Kumari Chaudhari was accused of
practicing witch-craft when a close family member died. Chaudhari was
beaten up and her husband had to come rescue her. "We went to the
police station to file a complaint but they said it was a personal
matter and we should resolve in the community," said Chaudhari.

Gender activists have been fighting for years to end this extreme form
of violence against women, but the problem is still common in the
Tarai, the southern plains of Nepal, and in areas where there's high
illiteracy and poverty.

"An educated woman from higher-income family and higher caste never
gets accused of practicing witchcraft," said Indu Pant, gender advisor
at CARE Nepal. Urmila Bishwakarma of the Dalit media group Jagaran
Media Centre has been documenting cases of Dalit women who have been
accused as witches and tortured. She said that Dalit and other
minority women are the most vulnerable because they are socially,
culturally, financially and politically backward.

Pant says that the problem is exacerbated because the state is often
missing in these regions, so the victims have nowhere to go for help.
"Even when they try to seek help from the police they are often turned
back because the police says it is a personal matter and must be
solved in the community. This culture of impunity lets the
perpetrators off the hook."

Spokesperson of the Supreme Court Sri Kanta Poudel said that there is
a legal vacuum when it comes to punishing those who are involved in
such crimes. "There are no provisions of compensation or reintegration
of the victims into the society, that is the weakness of our justice
system," admits Poudel.

Human rights activists like Kapil Shrestha say that it is our great
shame that in this day and age, we are still indulging in beating
women up, feeding them human excreta, torturing them until they have
no self-confidence, treating them like animals. He adds that by saying
we do not have laws to punish those who are involved in the witch-hunt
is irresponsible.

"We are a party to CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination on all forms
of Discrimination Against Women), which has strict provisions against
gender-based violence," said Shrestha adding, "we may not have
designed our laws according to the convention but once a country
ratifies an international convention we have an obligation to follow
their provisions."

Bishwakarma of Jagaran Media Centre says that if the state is really
serious about addressing this problem strict laws need to be devised
and implemented so that no perpetrator gets away.

"The government announced that Nepal is untouchability free but that
is not enough," he said, "Translate the words into actions, make laws,
and implement them properly so that this extreme form of violence
against women stop."

Bishwakarma said that the state must immediately look into proper ways
of rehabilitating those who have been accused and tortured as witches.
"It is wrong to expect victims like Kalli B.K. to live in the same
community as the perpetrator – isn't it the state's responsibility to
make every citizen feel safe, so why is Kalli still scared that those
who tortured her are going to come back?"

In the long-run, Bishwakarma said that the state must ensure that
there's representation of the hitherto backward community in
decision-making levels so that these issues are addressed in
policy-making levels as well. Activist Shrestha said massive education
programmes need to be launched in the areas where this practice is
prevalent.

"This needs to be our curriculum so that children learn early on about
superstitions, it must be included in police training manuals, and the
organisations need to move out of the urban areas into the field and
work with communities. It is about changing the behaviour and mindset
of our society and it may take some time and it is definitely not
going to be easy," said Shrestha. (END/2009)

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[ZESTCaste] Fw: Why impeachment of Justice Dinakaran only?Dharna Continuing since 19.11.2009 comes to an end

Why impeachment of Justice Dinakaran only?Dharna Continuing since 19.11.2009 comes to an end
Tuesday, 22 December, 2009 6:23 AMF
rom: "Dr.Udit Raj" <dr.uditraj@gmail.com>
To: "Satinath Choudhary" <satichou2@yahoo.com>

Dr. Udit Raj
Chairman, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations

National President, Indian Justice Party

Member, National Integration Council (Govt. of India)

T-22, Atul Grove Road, New Delhi-110001

Tel: 23354841, Telefax: 23354842

Email: dr.uditraj@gmail.com

Press Release

Why impeachment of Justice Dinakaran only?
Dharna Continuing since 19.11.2009 comes to an end
New Delhi, December 22, 2009.

Today's dharna was organized by th Eastern U.P. unit of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. This dharna has been going on since 19.11.2009 and today was the concluding day of this dharna. Today's dharna was held under the leadership of Shri Bhawan Nath Paswan, State President, Shri Ram Singh, State Organizing Secretary, Shri Som Nath, Zonal President, Allahabad, and Shri Parmeshwar, District President, Allahabad.

Main issue at today's dharna was the impeachment of the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. While addressing the dharna, Dr. Udit Raj, National Chairman of the Confederation said that about one year back, a sum of Rs. 15 lakhs was found in cash as bribe at the residence of a Judge but no impeachment proceedings were against that Judge.The truth is that the security guards were not informed in advance that somebody was coming with a big amount of money. As such they informed about this incident to the Police. When the news spread like a wild fire in the junge, it was said that the concerned Judge had nothing to do with this money. It is very surprising as to why a sum of Rs. 15 lakhs will be delivered at somebody's residence without any purpose. A few months earlier, the Chief Justice of Kolkata High Court talked of starting impeachment proceedings against a Judge of that High Court but the matter was hushed up. A few years back, a Judge of the
Rajasthan High Court was involved in a sex scandal but no impeachment action was taken against him. A plot of land was allotted to Retired Chief Justice of the Surpreme Court, Shri A.S. Anand, at the rate of Re. 1/- per square yard and the issue was given wide coverage. Here also, no impeachment action was initiated against Justice Anand. Again, it is quite well known that Justice Anand was also involved in a fake age certificate. A serving Judge of the Supreme Court of India is involved in the Ghaziabad Provident Fund Scam. Why he is not being impeached. Dr. Udit Raj further said that in the bribery case, Justice Dinakaran should be given an opportunity to defend himself.

While addressing the dharna, State President of th Confederation, Shri Bhawan Nath Paswan said that due to very negligible participation of Dalits and Backwards in judiciary, the rights and privileges given to Dalits in Legislature and Executive, get diluated by the judiciary. There should, therefore, reservation in judiciary also. He said that dharna which has been going on sinc 19.11.2009 is a historic event and unique in itself as a dharna of such a long duration by Dalit employees and officers has not so far been held by any other organization. He further said that the main demands of the Confederation are - reservation in private sector, enactment of Reservation Act, Abolition of labour contract system in government services in the matter of recruitment from clerk to safaikaramcharis, check on price rise, caste certificates issued by one state should be valid in all the states, reservation in higher judiciary and army, immediate filling up of
back log vacancies, land to the landless should be ensured, reservation in government contract.

In this dharna, another unique feature was observed which was that Dr. Udit Raj National Chairman of the confederation had staked his life and went on a fast unto death which other Dalit leaders could not do. Through this dharna, Government's plans to finish reservation and filling up of back log vacancies have been dashed to the ground.

(Sanjay Raj)
Media Incharge

9654252076