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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

[ZESTCaste] MPs unite to protest atrocities against dalits

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/MPs-unite-to-protest-atrocities-against-dalits/articleshow/6462965.cms

MPs unite to protest atrocities against dalits

TNN, Aug 31, 2010, 03.52am IST

NEW DELHI: In a debate that saw MPs from almost all parties
registering their strong protests over rising incidents of atrocities
against Scheduled Castes and Tribes, home minister P Chidambaram said
district judges needed to ensure proper and speedy disposal of such
cases in their jurisdiction.

Chidambaram pointed to a high pendency of more than 70% for cases
relating to dalits and tribals and said these were adversely affected
by delays, witnesses vanishing or turning hostile or indifference of
police investigators. The role of the district judge in holding
monthly meetings to assess progress of cases and pushing DMs and SPs
to ensure quick disposal was necessary, the minister said.

Replying to a debate in Lok Sabha on Monday, Chidambaram pointed out
that cases of atrocities against SCs/STs had risen over 2006-08 and
while this could be because of higher registration as these sections
assert themselves, 33,000 cases in 2008 was a matter of deep shame.
"Some of this crime is aimed at crippling SCs economically," the
minister said.

Though he refrained from naming states, he alluded to a recent
incident in a neighbouring state, clearly Haryana, where dalits had to
flee from the village they inhabited. He pointed to a circular issued
by the home ministry on April 1, 2010 outlining guidelines on how such
cases were to be dealt with, pointing out that the "will and intent"
of state governments was crucial.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was present through the discussions on
Monday as the home minister responded to MPs who said district
administrations often lacked the will to pursue accused, often
powerful local upper castes. "It is not a matter of pride that so many
cases are registered, it is deeply disturbing," Chidambaram said.

The minister also said there were some lacunae in the public order act
as courts did not take cognizance of a case until a magistrate
committed it to trial. He said some states had set up special courts
but these also looked at several other cases apart from those relating
to dalits and STs. "Often there is nothing special about these cases."
Some states had been better than others, like Andhra Pradesh has set
up 22 mobile courts, Tamil Nadu has focused on districts where caste
violence is severe while West Bengal has asked district judges to
double up as special judges.

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[ZESTCaste] Decision taken on including caste in census: Pranab

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article605592.ece?css=print

Published: August 31, 2010 14:29 IST | Updated: August 31, 2010 14:33
IST New Delhi, August 31, 2010

Decision taken on including caste in census: Pranab
PTI

What is in a name? Caste census: GoM to write to parties Caste in
census: Cabinet to decide on modalities GoM approval for caste-based
census Congress, BJP still divided over caste census Siddaramaiah for
caste enumeration
TOPICS
demographics population and census
politics national politics

The Finance MInister said the decision will now have to be endorsed by
the Cabinet, which he hoped would be done at the next meeting. "It is
now a matter of formality," he said

Bowing to demands by several political parties, government today said
it has decided to include caste in census and the formality of
endorsing it is expected at the next Cabinet meeting.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha that all
political parties had supported the idea of including caste in census
and there was no need for any "apprehensions" over the issue.

His statement came after leaders of BJP, JD(U), BSP and Samajwadi
Party wanted to know as to what happened to the government's promise
on caste census, particularly since today was the last day of the
Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The Group of Ministers, which examined the issue, has decided that
caste census should be carried out during house enumeration exercise,
the Leader of the House said.

It will be limited to collection of information with regard to caste
and biometric exercise will go on simultaneously, he said about the
issue which had earlier divided the Cabinet and even the GoM headed by
Mr. Mukherjee.

"The government has more or less decided (to include caste in
census)," Mr. Mukherjee said.

Noting that the 11-member GoM was not an empowered body, he said its
decision will now have to be endorsed by the Cabinet, which he hoped
would be done at the next meeting. "It is now a matter of formality,"
he said.

Mr. Mukherjee recalled that after suggestions for inclusion of caste
in census were received, he had written to political parties and most
of them have responded "positively".

Earlier, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav raised the issue, saying the
government had sought views of political parties which had responded
in writing.

However, nothing was heard after that, despite assurances by Mr.
Mukherjee who held three meetings with leaders of various political
parties on the issue, Mr. Yadav said.

"There is unease in the country," he said, demanding early response
from the government.

He was supported by SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, BJP Deputy Leader
Gopinath Munde and Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP).

Mulayam Singh Yadav said there was consensus in the House over
inclusion of caste in census and there was "no party which did not
support it."

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr. Mukherjee had promised
to implement it at the earliest but despite that it had not happened.

"What is the reason for this? What should we do? Where should we go?
We want the House to function but there should be a response from the
government," he said.

Mr. Munde also asked the government to spell out its intentions.

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[ZESTCaste] Incest: Haryana's shameful social heritage

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Incest-Haryanas-shameful-social-heritage/articleshow/6451268.cms

Incest: Haryana's shameful social heritage

Sukhbir Siwach, TNN, Aug 28, 2010, 02.05pm IST

It was a national debate on a news channel. Tempers were running
high, so were the decibels. The subject was explosive - Haryana's
khaps and their diktats. In the midst of this charged atmosphere, a
voice rose above the rest, silencing them all. Seema, a law graduate
and resident of Karora village, made an allegation that changed the
course of the debate. Her brother had been executed for marrying a
woman from the same gotra, but that was not what Seema wanted to talk
about on the primetime show. It was another shameful reality of
Haryana villages she wanted to expose - incest.

"Khaps should look into their homes before passing fatwas on lovers
and crying hoarse about honour. Incest is rampant in the state and
virtually every home is affected. Where is the honour anyway ?" she
screamed.

Early this week, the state was shocked when a pregnant girl was
strangled by her parents and her body dumped on the outskirts of
Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar district. Her crime: she was reportedly having
an affair with her brother-in-law and her vengeful elder sister had
complained to their parents.

In another embarrassing case earlier this year, a farmer in his early
50s developed a sexual relation with his 30-year-old daughter-in-law
in a village in Kaithal district. Their liaison continued for almost a
year. The matter even reached the village panchayat, which ordered
separation of the two unlikely partners so that the woman could go
back to her husband.
And only last month, Sonepat was jolted by the gruesome murder of two
minor girls, just 12 and 14. They were killed and their bodies flung
in a canal by their uncles and grandmother after their "affair" with a
cousin was exposed. The police said the kin of the victims were
enraged when they allegedly caught the minors getting intimate with
their cousin. In Yamunanagar, a girl complained to the police that her
father-in-law had raped her just a few months after her marriage.

These are not isolated incidents: incest is reportedly a real part of
life in rural Haryana. "It's a menace nobody wants to talk about. Even
the elders are setting a bad example, " says D R Chaudhary, member of
the Haryana Administrative Reforms Commission. The elders,
predictably, blame this perversion on the growing sway of the west
over the state's youth.

When Kurukshetra-based Ramesh Kumar's daughter married a close
relative, he blamed it on urban influence. Now he is fighting a legal
battle to have the marriage declared null and void, terming it a
contravention of the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The
mothers of the newly-wed couple were apparently related, being
granddaughters of the same person.

The incidence of incest may be higher in rural areas. "Social mores in
villages are different. People here are very conservative and there is
no scope for interaction between men and women and boys and girls
outside their homes. So, they often end up having relationships with
members of their accessible, extended family, " says Balbir Singh, a
social activist in Fatehabad district.
Experts believe that such relationships have survived behind closed
doors for many years. But given the modern means of communication and
the proliferation of the media, the skeletons are now tumbling out of
family cupboards.

The youth, interestingly, believe that incest is a traditional
practice and not a new reality. "Yeh to hame virasat mein mili hai
(incest is a part of our tradition), " says Naresh Kumar, a villager
in Rohera in Kaithal district. Sociologists, in turn, say that the
ethnic history of the region is full of such instances.

"In the pre-Independence era, in some parts of north India, the
father-in-law almost had the right to physical relations with a
daughter-in-law, and in most cases the female was not in a position to
resist much. The very young husband also had no say in the matter.
Widows would routinely be married to a brother of the dead husband.
Sharing of the wife by brothers was also not uncommon, " says Ravinder
Kaur, a professor at IIT-Delhi.

What adds to this problem in Haryana is its skewed sex ratio caused by
rampant female foeticide. "Its effects are now being felt on intimate
relationships within and without the family. The shortage of
marriageable women can have many unintended consequences, especially
when only one out of four men find a bride (as in the case of Haryana)
in their own community, " adds Kaur.

Kumar's 35-year-old nephew, Roshan, is yet to get any offers for
marriage. "We are at a loss, wondering what to do, " says Kumar. A
growing army of bachelors has become a problem in the state, leading
to more illicit relations.

Yet, there seems little the government and social organisations can do
about this. Haryana has not seen any strong social movement in recent
years and there are very few NGOs working on such issues. While a
Haryana court was quick (it took three years) to deliver the death
penalty to five khap members accused in the sensational murder of
Manoj and Babli in March this year, it took a Bhiwani court around
five years to give its verdict in a shocking case of incest that
surfaced almost a decade ago.
In a letter to Bhiwani senior superintendent of police, an 18-year-old
girl spoke of how her father and cousin exploited her sexually for
seven months. "My father used to rape me. Not only this, my uncle and
his son too sexually assaulted me, " stated the girl.

"My mother was usually sent to sleep in another house and I was made
to sleep with my father. My mother was not aware of all this. When I
told my boyfriend and he objected, my father and cousin beat him up
and also got a false case registered against him. When I threatened to
go to the police, I was locked up, " she wrote in the letter.

It was only after the girl said she would tell her mother that she was
released from her confinement. The girl then ran away with her
boyfriend and a case of abduction was slapped on the boy. Nobody knows
where the couple is today.

Chilling tales of incest and abuse have been pouring in from all over
the state. Inquiries reveal that physical relationship with a
husband's brother is not considered 'unusual. ' "Such relations are
not objected to. They are considered a family's 'internal affair', "
says Prem Singh, a farmer-leader from Kaithal.

In a study conducted by the UNICEF in 2001 to gauge the context of
abortions involving 83 adolescent girls in the age group of 10 to 19
years in Rohtak district, it was found that incest was a common cause.
"It was responsible for pregnancies in 16 per cent of the cases. We
have even had cases of girls getting pregnant through their kin,
including fathers and brothers, " says Sonia Trikha, who's associated
with the UNICEF. Many feel the situation has worsened in the last
decade.

Leaders of gotra-based khap panchayats blame the law for protecting
those who are guilty of incest. "A scheduled caste girl had run away
with a boy from her family. Later, they married and even got police
protection, " says Badan Singh, leader of the Kalayat khap. Another
prominent leader, Om Parkash Dhankar, president of the Dhankhar khap,
complains about new social trends: "Illicit relationships are on the
rise. Even a Supreme Court ruling spoke of permitting live-in
relationship without marriage. "

But Seema blames the khaps for shifting the focus from the real
problems. "The problem, " she says, "is not of love marriages, or
marriages within gotras and villages, but incest. Marrying out of
choice is not a crime, incest is. Khap leaders should be addressing
the problem of incest and check this evil instead of hounding people
who are in love. "

INCEST IN MYTHOLOGY

If you thought Greek tragedies such as Odeipus Rex were embarrassing
in their details of incest, our own epics and mythological texts are
no less. They, in fact, abound with instances where men and women have
conjugated with close kin. For instance, in the Mahabharata, Arjuna
was married to Subhadra, the daughter of his aunt Rohini. Then there
is the union of Yama with his twin sister Yami;Manu, son of Vivasvat,
and his sister Sraddha;Prajapati and his daughter Ushas;Pushan and his
sister Surya;Sukra and his three sisters;Satrajita and his 10
sisters;Nahusha and his sister Viraja. Purukutsa's queen Narmada after
her husband's death obtained a son through her own brother

WHY IN RURAL HARYANA?

Skewed sex ratio; 860 girls for 1,000 boys

Very conservative society;girls and women are allowed to speak openly
with only close relatives

A large number of girls and women don't work outside their homes

Social resistance to love marriages

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Monday, August 30, 2010

[ZESTCaste] No place for YSR at Kadapa Ambedkar circle

http://expressbuzz.com/states/andhrapradesh/No-place-for-YSR-at-Kadapa-Ambedkar-circle/202368.html

No place for YSR at Kadapa Ambedkar circle

Express News Service

First Published : 30 Aug 2010 04:22:11 AM ISTLast Updated : 30 Aug
2010 07:38:38 AM IST

KADAPA: A tense situation prevailed in the town today when Dalit
organisations, taking objection to the move for installation of a YSR
statue at BR Ambedkar Circle, destroyed the arrangements being made
for construction of a pedestal for the YSR statue.

The protesting Dalit leaders contended that the statue of Dr BR
Ambedkar had been installed at the circle some 15 years ago and it was
not proper to install a YSR statue at the same place now.

After submitting a memorandum to district collector Sasibhushan Kumar
urging him to withdraw the permission, if any, given for installation
of YSR statue, they organised a protest procession from the
collector's bungalow to the Ambedkar Circle. They removed the wooden
scaffolding arranged for centring works and burnt it.Ambedkar Mission
district secretary A Sampat Kumar, Mala Mahanadu state secretary JV
Ramana, MRPS state vicepresident KC Lakshmaiah, Erukala Hakkula
Sangham state secretary Subbarayudu, and leaders of Jai Bheem SC, ST
Employees Union and SC and ST Employee Union threatened dire
consequences if any other statue was installed at the Ambedkar Circle.

"We will not remain silent if the sentiments of Dalits are hurt. Be it
an individual or a political party, we will not hesitate to fight,''
they warned. Mayor P Ravindranath Reddy and Congress activists went to
the circle on coming to know of the development. Taking stock of the
situation and the volatile mood of the mob, the mayor assured the
protesters that a YSR statue would not be installed there.

The Dalit leaders then asked the Congress activists to remove the
stones and other paraphernalia being used for construction of the
pedestal from the place within 24 hours.

"If not done, we will not be responsible for the consequences,'' they warned.

PRP activists led by their leaders Hariprasad, Shantaiah, Suresh and
Obulesu, staged a relay hunger strike at the Ambedkar Circle,
objecting to the installation of a YSR statue there. They also
demanded withdrawal of the proposal to install 23 YSR statues in the
town.

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[ZESTCaste] BJP must lure dalits into party: SC Morcha

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/BJP-must-lure-dalits-into-party-SC-Morcha/articleshow/6458103.cms

BJP must lure dalits into party: SC Morcha
TNN, Aug 29, 2010, 11.06pm IST

MYSORE: BJP SC Morcha chief and chairman of B R Ambedkar Development
Corporation A R Krishnamurthy on Sunday asked the government to give
prominence to dalits while appointmenting chiefs to various boards and
corporations.

This will empower the dalit communities and help the party, he stated.
The SC Morcha has also sent a resolution it adopted to nominate dalit
leaders from each of the 224 assembly constituencies to the government
bodies.

Speaking to reporters, the former MLA from Santhemarahalli in
Chamarajnagar said the SC Morcha state executive meeting will be held
in the city from Monday. The two-day meeting will discuss the
strategies to attract dalits to the party, he said.

BJP national SC front chief Dushyant Kumar Gautam will inaugurate the
meet. Tuesday's SC Parishat meeting will be attended by BJP state
president K S Eshwarappa and social welfare minister Govind Karjol.