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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

[ZESTCaste] St Stephen's to take more students in general category

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Delhi/St-Stephens-to-take-more-students-in-general-category/articleshow/6000579.cms

St Stephen's to take more students in general category
Manash Pratim Gohain, TNN, Jun 2, 2010, 12.37am IST

NEW DELHI: There will be more general category seats at Delhi
University's most sought-after college, St Stephen's, this year. The
college has reduced the 'merit gap' allowed for Christian candidates,
which insiders say will lower the number of minority admissions and
leave more seats for general students. Principal Valson Thampu
revealed the new admission guidelines on Tuesday.

Last year, Christian candidates with 60% marks were eligible for
admission. The norm now has been changed to 15% less than the general
cut-off in each stream. So, if the cut-off for a course is 95%, only
Christian candidates with minimum 80% marks will be eligible. The
merit gap between general and minority students was as high as 35% in
some cases last year.

In another significant change that allows vacant minority seats to go
to general category, the guidelines say "up to" 50% seats will be
reserved for Christians. Last year, the quota was 50%.

St Stephen's new admission guidelines were adopted at the supreme
council meeting on May 26, in which the college decided to stick to
admission norms practised before 2008 — during the tenure of former
principal Anil Wilson. For general students, the weightage for
admission continues to be 75% for class XII marks, 10% for class X
marks and 15% for the interview.

Teachers have welcomed the new guidelines. Many of them had been
complaining about the merit gap widening in the classroom as a result
of the admission policy of the past couple of years. SC member Nirmal
Andrews said: "Being a Stephenian myself I wanted the high academic
standards set by the college to be restored and I am happy with the
new guidelines which will ensure that."

In another rule change, unfilled seats in the 3% physically
handicapped (PH) category among Christians will also be shifted to the
general PH category. Last year these vacant seats were shifted to the
SC and ST categories.

Said Malay Neerav, head of St Stephen's history department, "The
changes made in the admission policy in 2008 were degenerative due to
which academic standards have fallen. It is a welcome move on part of
the college administration to go back to the pre-2008 cut-off formula
for minority admissions."

The rules allow the college principals to relax the 15% differential
cap in cases of the 'supernumerary' (sports category) admissions, for
a maximum of six candidates who opt for Urdu as their optional
language in the BA programme and for the 3% physically handicapped
candidates in all categories.

The supernumerary category will have 5% of the sanctioned seats, which
this year amounts to 21.

manash.gohain@timesgroup.com

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[ZESTCaste] Rebel faction of Gujjars warns of fresh movement in Rajasthan

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rebel-faction-of-Gujjars-warns-of-fresh-movement-in-Rajasthan/articleshow/5999220.cms

Rebel faction of Gujjars warns of fresh movement in Rajasthan
PTI, Jun 1, 2010, 05.43pm IST

JAIPUR: A major rebel faction of Gujjars in Rajasthan today warned of
fresh agitation from June 16 if the state government fails to meet
their demand of five per cent reservation.

The faction led by Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Chief Patron of All India
Gujjar Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti, rejected the one per cent additional
quota extended by the state government to the community recently.

"Our community members have already rejected one per cent additional
quota extended to Gujjars following agitation by (community leader)
Kirori Singh Bainsla and now we will launch fresh movement to get our
rights," Bidhuri told reporters here.

"The movement will be peaceful and not like that of Bainsla where
railway tracks were uprooted. In initial stage, we will hold
demonstration at all district headquarters and memorandum will be
submitted to the state government through respective district
collectors.

"The agitation will be intensified by staging demonstration at state
assembly during the Monsoon session and submitting memorandum to the
Prime Minister and AICC President Sonia Gandhi," Bidhuri said.

He said five per cent reservation in government jobs, withdrawal of
cases registered against the community members during the agitation
led by Bainsla and pension to those injured in the protest are among
the demands.

Strongly condemning the agreement arrived between the state government
and Bainsla on granting one per cent additional quota, Bidhuri alleged
that Bainsla settled for the accord only for his "personal gains".

The community had called off its month-long stir on May 5 after the
government agreed to accord one per cent more quota to it in addition
to the existing four per cent given to them under the OBC category.

As per the agreement, since the community is already getting 21 per
cent reservation under the OBC category, they would get one per cent
more quota till the High Court completes formalities on their demand,
and remaining four per cent reservation would be accorded after the
court's verdict under the Special Backward Class category.

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[ZESTCaste] Atrocities against Dalits on the rise in Nizamabad

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Hyderabad/Atrocities-against-Dalits-on-the-rise-in-Nizamabad/articleshow/6001126.cms

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIH&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1275454347453

Atrocities against Dalits on the rise in Nizamabad

Raghu Paithari | TNN

Nizamabad: It appears that the honour killing incident at
Krishnajivadi where a Dalit youth along with his upper caste wife were
stoned to death on May 26 was not an isolated one. Three persons
belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) community were murdered by upper
caste people in Nizamabad district in the last fortnight.
In what could be a pointer to an alarming rise in the attacks on
SCs/STs in the district, a senior police official said 35 cases
pertaining to attacks on Dalits have been reported till May this year.
They include two murder, five rape, five causing injury and eight
other cases registered under various sections of the SC/ST (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act.
Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) state vice-president R
Nampalli told TOI that the family members of Baddam Swapna Reddy had
killed Sunkari Srinivas on the night of May 26 because they could not
reconcile to the fact that the youth belonged to the SC community.
"The macabre incident in Krishnajivadi in full view of villagers only
exposes how Dalits are being treated in villages and mandals by the
cash-rich upper caste people," he fumed.
While land disputes is said to be one of the prime reasons for the
increasing attacks on Dalits, love affairs and extra-marital relations
often lead to murders of Dalit youths. Karrolla Sailu, 40, was stabbed
to death by one Goli Narayana Reddy and his associates in broad
daylight in front of State Bank of Hyderabad in Yellareddy town on May
21.
What was the provocation? "Narayana Reddy killed Sailu suspecting
that the latter had developed intimacy with his wife," a police
official said. The victim used to work in the fields of Narayana Reddy
in Lingampalli village of Lingampet mandal. In another case, a Dalit
youth was allegedly killed in Kamareddy division on May 15. His crime
was having an illegal affair with the wife of an upper caste.
In another instance, a land dispute took the life of Bhavanipet
Sudarshan, 40, who was beaten to death by his upper caste opponents in
Kamareddy on May 18. Sudarshan had a piece of land on the Sirsilla
road, which was assigned by the government 20 years back. The adjacent
land owners — Mudam Laxminarayana and Mudam Narasimhulu — kept
pressuring Sudarshan to sell his land to them. "When he refused to
part with his land, the Mudam brothers attacked him with sticks and
killed him in his field," police sources said.
Though there has been a spurt in the number of cases registered
under the SC/SC Act with each passing year, the accused continue to go
scot-free due to lack of evidence or political influence. In 2009, 92
cases under SC/ST Act, including two murder, four rape and 12 causing
hurt, were registered in the district. While 83 cases were booked in
2008, 74 cases under SC/SC Act were registered in the year before.
"Though special provisions have been provided to protect the
interests of Dalits and other weaker sections, the police officials
misuse the Act to bail out the accused belonging to upper castes,"
Dalit Morcha leader Gandham Veeresham said.

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[ZESTCaste] Choose your caste

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIH&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1275454347453

Web Linkshttp://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/
Contactssecondopinion@timesgroup.com
SEC O N D O P I N I O N

Choose your caste

Get maximum mileage from vote-bank politics

Jug Suraiya

Will you reveal your caste when the census-taker comes calling? Those
who advocate the caste-census do so on the principle that it is better
to know than not to know, and that knowledge helps us to empower
ourselves and others. According to this argument, the more information
we can gather on regional concentrations and percentages of caste, the
better equipped we'll be to take focused affirmative action to counter
discrimination and social and economic backwardness.
This seems to be a reasonable enough argument. The problem is that,
ever since the adoption of the Mandal commission's recommendations by
the V P Singh-led government in 1990, caste conflict has escalated,
not declined. The system of quotas and reservations in jobs and
educational institutions – originally meant only for Dalits and tribal
people, and that too for a limited period – has with the inclusion of
OBCs turned the traditional caste system upside down: often it's more
advantageous to belong to a so-called 'lower' caste rather than to a
so-called 'upper' caste.
This reverse caste-discrimination, championed by its votaries as
being just retribution for millennia of upper-caste repression, has in
fact engendered antagonisms within the ranks of the OBCs themselves,
of which there are 1,963 categories in the country. Competitive
casteism (i belong to a more backward caste than you, so i need more
quotas and reservations than you) and the vote-bank politics that it
creates can result only in dividing our society even more, socially
and politically.
Supposedly 'OBC' parties like Mulayam Singh's SP and Lalu Prasad's
RJD could well find themselves splitting to represent smaller and
smaller caste groupings, each vying with the other for a larger
allotment of seats on the gravy train of caste. Will India end up
having over 1,900 political groupings, each claiming to promote the
legitimate interests of a particular disadvantaged caste?
In fact, the final count of such caste-based proliferation could be
much higher. The so-called Muslim vote – which earlier was seen to
encompass the entire community – is also said to be showing signs of
internal divisiveness, with 'backward' Muslims, like the Mews of
Rajasthan, demanding SC status. Will 'backward' Muslims – who
converted to Islam to escape the lower-caste identity thrust upon them
by the Hindu community – demand and get special and separate political
representation? And if they do – and what political neta can resist a
new captive vote bank? – what about 'backward' Christians, 'backward'
Sikhs, and even 'backward' Buddhists, who will turn Ambedkar's dreams
of Dalit liberation upside-down?
Even as Nandan Nilekani's team is trying to create a cohesive and
equitable Indian identity by giving every Indian a Unique
Identification Number, the caste census will inevitably create further
cracks and fissures in our already fragmented polity. A typical case
of the right hand of the sarkar not knowing – or even caring – what
the left hand is doing.
Instead of trying to identify people by their caste, it would make
more sense for the census to identify peoples' economic status. Surely
BPLs – people who exist below the poverty line – are more deserving of
affirmative action and positive discrimination than OBCs, or even
SC/STs? Or are they? Unfortunately for BPLs, unlike OBCs and SC/STs,
they don't represent a captive vote bank. With the result, they
literally don't count with our netas, during a census or at any other
time.
So what's your best option? Choose which caste you want to belong
to for the census. Opt for the caste that will get you maximum mileage
in terms of quotas. Caste is not your destiny; it is your vote bank
clout. Choose it wisely.

------------------------------------

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[ZESTCaste] AP villages caught in caste trap

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Hyderabad/AP-villages-caught-in-caste-trap/articleshow/6001124.cms

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIH&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1275454347453

AP villages caught in caste trap

Diktat Of 'Pure Breed' Enthusiasts Run In Many Villages

Nikhila Henry | TNN

Hyderabad: Madhusudan (name changed), a Dalit teacher from Warangal
town, owns a modest residence at Siddapuram but he does not set foot
into his village. Reason: He knows for sure that he will be hacked to
death if he does so. This because he married a woman outside his caste
about four years back.

Much like the Khap panchayats of northern states that hunt down
couples who marry outside their caste, the 'village elders' of
Siddapuram had vowed to kill Madhusudan, if he was seen anywhere in
the vicinity of his village.
While the Khap threat looms large over several couples who marry
outside thier caste in northern states of the country, taking stock of
similar atrocities in the state, reveals an even more well-knit
network of 'pure breed' enthusiasts who work discreetly to maintain
the caste decorum. Centred around rural areas of the state, these
caste panchayats, peopled by members of warring caste communities,
keep tabs on youngsters, 'advice' them not to marry outside their
caste and also very often unleash violence on those who do not follow
their orders.
Victims of their violence often refuse to fight back for fear of
their dear lives. Speaking to TOI, Madhusudan said that he would not
violate the rules as the memories of the violence which followed his
marriage is fresh in his mind even four years later.
"After our marriage we fled to Hyderabad fearing my wife's parents
and other members of her community. But when we heard that my parents
and siblings would be clubbed to death in our absence, my wife and I
returned to the village only to be beaten to pulp. The moment we
landed, my wife was abducted by her family and the goons beat me till
both my legs got fractured," Madhusudan said, adding that he had not
seen his wife till date after the abduction. While unwilling to marry
again, Madhusudan swears that he would not want to step into his
village.
Ascertaining the overwhelming presence of these 'caste overlords'
in village life, another victim of such violence, Saroja, a
36-year-old Dalit woman from Kadapa district, whose father and husband
(from Kamma community), were both hacked to death following their
controversial marriage way back in 1999, said that she still fears for
her life and has moved to Nandiyal. She seldom goes back to Kadapa. "I
run a tailoring shop and have not revealed my current base to anyone
back home," she said while fighting tears.
Organisations and activists who have been fighting for civil rights
of people who marry outside their castes said that such a system has
been on in the state since decades with the latest victim being a
couple from Nizambad who were killed just two weeks back. "There are
cases that date back to the seventies. But what is alarming is that
the dictates of the 'elders' are in place even years after the
incidence of violence," said Wahid Rahman, secretary of a city based
organisation, Kula Mirmulana Samithi which aids inter-caste marriages.
He added that the couples used to survive a threat to life only by
migrating to cities. "There are instances when couples from these
villages migrate to the city for survival. But if they chose to stay
in rural areas the threat to their lives or their family members'
lives are huge," He said that he had conducted several inter caste
marriages as he himself was persecuted for marrying a woman from a
different caste and religion.
According to experts, while most cases of violence occur when an
upper caste person marries from SC,ST and BC communities, in some
stray instances marriages between two uppercaste communities could
also instigate these violence. "Violence also occurs when marriages
between Reddy, Kamma and Brahmin communities take place even though
there is not much of a caste difference," an expert said.
Meanwhile, activists said that the caste rules even displace whole
families. "Families with some means move to safer places for help. But
this again leads to segregation as members of the same castes cling
together for self defence forming easy targets for these moral gurus,"
a representative from Dalit Stree Sakti.
While the 'elders' are left untouched even by the local law and
order authorities, the victims are left to defend themselves, experts
said. "In one of the cases that occurred in Suryapet, a year ago the
police arrived at the spot a day after the ancestral house of the
groom, member of Madiga community who had married a girl from one of
the forward castes was torched. No cases were registered," Wahid
Rahman said. While 'annihilation of caste' seems to be nowhere in the
purview of even the law enforcers, the dictates of the 'elders' seem
to make the law of the land.

------------------------------------

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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

[ZESTCaste] St Stephen's to take more students in general category

[ZESTCaste] Rebel faction of Gujjars warns of fresh movement in Rajasthan

[ZESTCaste] Atrocities against Dalits on the rise in Nizamabad

[ZESTCaste] Choose your caste

[ZESTCaste] AP villages caught in caste trap

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