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Monday, October 10, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Kanshi Ram – Are memorial parks ‘grounding’ his legacy?

http://asiancorrespondent.com/66778/kanshi-ram-%E2%80%93-are-memorial-parks-%E2%80%98grounding%E2%80%99-his-legacy/

Kanshi Ram – Are memorial parks 'grounding' his legacy?
By Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay Oct 09, 2011 12:52PM UTC

Five years ago Kanshi Ram died, two years after a debilitating stroke.
He was active politically for three and a half decades out of which he
spent half the period organising Scheduled Caste government employees.
He formed one organisation after another – from the odd-sounding All
India Backward and Minority Employees Federation (BAMCEF) to Dalit
Soshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS4) before finally taking the plunge
and forming the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1984.

In less than a decade the party announced its 'arrival' and carved out
a niche in Indian politics. In the 1989 Lok Sabha election, the BSP
made its debut in Lok Sabha with two members – one each from Uttar
Pradesh and Punjab. It increased its tally to three in 1991 and Kanshi
Ram became a member of Lok Sabha for the first time.

Earlier he had contested the famous Allahabad bye election in 1988
that saw VP Singh riding the Rajiv Gandhi wave after Big B's
resignation from his Lok Sabha seat. Prior to this, BSP and Mayawati
had made their presence felt in two other bye elections – Bijnor and
Haridwar, both in UP. In the 1991 elections, the BSP won 10 assembly
seats from UP and secured a vote share of around ten percent
announcing its political arrival in the state.

This recap is essential to understand that despite being an 'outsider'
in Indian politics, Kanshi Ram re-established an agenda – missing in
Indian politics since Dr B R Ambedkar's death. It was because of the
efforts of Kanshi Ram that the Dalit issue came out of the folds of
existing parties. After 1991, 'incorporation' and 'tokenism' of the
Dalit issue was a matter of history.

Like all 'outsiders' not having the privilege of being born either
into a political fraternity or joining a pre-existing political
entity, Kanshi Ram oozed confidence to the point of arrogance. He
created his demigod-like image and trained his protégé – Mayawati – to
do similarly. Supporters looked at them in awe as they matched Upper
Caste leaders in megalomania. Finally, one among the ati-Shudras had
found a 'place' in the political 'Varna Vyawastha'.

There can be no two views that deviations from the pristine goals that
Kanshi Ram set for his party began in his lifetime and he did little
to put a stop to it. Maybe he did not wish to do so because in his
view a little bit of partaking in the 'party' that political parties
indulged in whenever on power, was a must for the BSP also. He once
told me in an interview that his party will "play every game" before
making their own games.

I am not however sure if Kanshi Ram would have approved the games
being staged in memorial parks in his name that are coming up all over
UP and the most controversial of them inNOIDA gets inaugurated in just
a few days.

His legacy lives not in the megalomania of party leaders but in the
shift in the power equation that's taken place throughout UP. And, in
the 'outing' of the Dalit agenda.

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[ZESTCaste] Anand Patwardhan’s docu on Dalit activists wins best film award

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Anand-Patwardhan-s-docu-on-Dalit-activists-wins-best-film-award/Article1-755479.aspx

Anand Patwardhan's docu on Dalit activists wins best film award
Deepti Khera
Mumbai, October 10, 2011

Nine years after the path-breaking documentary War and Peace, Anand
Patwardhan, one of India's controversial filmmakers, is back with a
documentary on Dalit music and activism - Jai Bhim Comrade. Last week,
his film was awarded the Ram Bahadur Trophy for the Best Film at the
Film Southasia 2011
festival held at Kathmandu.

Fourteen years in the making, the three-hour-and-20 minute-long film
explores the history of Dalit activism in Maharashtra in the aftermath
of the killing of 10 activists in Mumbai in 1997. The Bhim in the film
refers to the Indian constitutionalist and thinker Bhimrao Ambedkar.

"Jai Bhim Comrade is close to me for personal reasons. The trigger of
my film was a friend, Vilas Ghogre, a poet and a musician who hung
himself in 1997 when the police shot dead 10 unarmed Dalits in
Mumbai," said Patwardhan "The film covers that moment and goes on to
explore events that unfolded in the aftermath. It is an overview of
Indian history seen through the prism of caste and class and an
exploration of the music of protest."

Known for his political documentaries, he had refused to direct Bandit
Queen, preferring to work with real people. While many of his films
have faced long legal battles, which he has invariably won, Patwardhan
hopes that Jai Bhim Comrade that upholds the spirit of the Indian
constitution should not face any delays.

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[ZESTCaste] Awarded sarpanch terrorises dalits

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/RAJ-JPR-awarded-sarpanch-terrorises-dalits-2490951.html

Awarded sarpanch terrorises dalits

Source: DNA | Last Updated 04:00(10/10/11)

Jaipur: Once awarded by the prime minister of India with gram sabha
purushkar, the sarpanch of Thana gram panchayat in Bhilwara district,
Shiv Lal Gujjar is now the face of terror for two dalit families in
the village.

Gujjar has reportedly threatened Ganesh Lal and Dalu Lal (siblings) to
hand over their share of land at Badi Ka Badiya village to local goons
within three days or their families will be thrown out of the village.

Not just this, the five daughters of the duo have not gone to school
for over a week now after they were harassed and deprived of free
meals by the school authorities reportedly on Gujjar's behest.

Lal brothers, who were landless farmers, were allotted around 5-bigha
of land under Thana gram panchayat of Mandal tehsil by the government
over two decade back.
However, a few years back, local musclemen Deva Gujjar and Paras
Gujjar illegally occupied the land and started construction on it.
When all efforts to get their land back failed, the dalit families met
superintendent of police on September 28 and sought his intervention
in the case but all in vain.
The brothers got biggest shock when they approached sarpanch Shiv Lal
Gujjar for help. "The sarpanch first advised us to stay away from land
dispute and hand over the land to illegal occupants. When we refused
to give away our share of land, Shiv Lal Gujjar threatened to make our
life a hell," they said.
In police complaint, Lal brothers have alleged that sarpanch, who was
once appreciated at the national level for his contribution to the
village, has now joined hands with criminals.

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[ZESTCaste] UGC to crack whip on bias towards Dalits

http://truthdive.com/2011/10/09/ugc-to-crack-whip-on-bias-towards-dalits.html

UGC to crack whip on bias towards Dalits
October 9, 2011 – 6:28 am By Ayyappa Prasad

New Delhi/Chennai, Oct 8 (TruthDive): "It has come to the notice of
the UGC that, suicides (are) being committed by Dalit students in
higher education institutes due to caste discrimination on grounds of
their social origin. Officials and faculty members should desist from
any act of discrimination against Dalit students," UGC Joint Secretary
K C Pathak has said in a communication to Registrars of 578
universities and deemed universities across the country.

Pathak said "if any such incident comes to the notice of the
authorities, action should be taken against the erring
official/faculty members promptly." Acting on the UGC directive that a
complaint register be maintained Anna University of Technology (AUT
Chennai) has instructed principals of all its affiliated engineering
colleges to ensure that caste-based discrimination did not take place
in their institutions and registers be kept.

IIT Madras has parted with only a fraction of the 22.5 percent quota
for students belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled
Tribes (STs). According to information provided by the institute's
deputy registrar, Dr K. Panchalan, in September 2005, Dalits accounted
for only 11.9 percent of the number of students. They were even fewer
in the higher courses — 2.3 percent in MS (Research) and 5.8 percent
in Ph.D. Out of a total of 4,687 students, Dalits made up only 559.
The majority of the 460 faculty members and students here are
Brahmins.

In the past four years, 18 Dalit students have committed suicide in 16
institutes of higher education, including the IITs, Indian Institute
of Science and AIIMS.

Born in a village in Tamilnadu, VP Gomathi is Masters in Social Work
(2009) from one of the most reputed institutes of the country and
striving towards her dream of playing an important role in the
empowerment of our community. Her journey from a small village, to
Madurai and then to Mumbai is a saga of her hard work, determination
and tremendous self belief, reports the portal scststudents.org. Her
entire experience as a student is given in an interview and also a
hope that everything is not lost; excerpts:

Having come from certain background, for a long time I used to feel
inferior. Most of our students come from such a background and feel
the same. We start getting this feeling that we can't do, we can't
achieve, and we can't excel in our lives. But we need to fight such
feelings, we have to become strong and not become victim of the
system. I will tell you that even up to college days, I used to hear
that, 'my father is a doctor or so and so but your's is a labourer,
you will never go up'. Once I did reply that, "Yes, your father is a
doctor and mine is a labourer, still we are sitting on the same bench,
in the same class. Now tell me who is more meritorious?

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[ZESTCaste] Thorat for faster growth of poor

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-09/patna/30260135_1_icssr-poverty-growth

Thorat for faster growth of poor
B K Mishra, TNN Oct 9, 2011, 10.04AM IST

PATNA: Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) chairman
Sukhdeo Thorat has said there has been decline in poverty from 70% to
27% in the last three decades owing to increase in the national income
but poverty of social groups like Dalits, tribals, Muslims and women
has not declined proportionately. The upper caste poor have benefited
more compared to the poor belonging to the marginalized sections of
the society, he said.

Delivering the foundation day lecture at A N Sinha Institute of Social
Studies here on Saturday, Thorat said distribution-neutral growth
cannot address the issues afflicting the poor. Emphasizing on the
various facets of poverty across education, health, gender, caste etc,
he lamented the exclusion of the marginalized sections of the society
from the so-called growth in the country's GDP.

He argued that reduction in absolute poverty is not enough. What we
ought to achieve is a reduction in relative poverty. Thus India's
plans and programmes must not only aim at increasing the income of
all, but also at ensuring a relatively faster growth of the poor.

Thorat, who is also the president of Indian Economic Association, said
India's policy of poverty reduction must not only concentrate on
sectors which offer the maximum livelihood to the poor but also on the
regions with the highest incidence of poverty. He pleaded for special
attention to states like Bihar and Orissa and said a special drive
should be launched for ensuring a pro-poor and inclusive growth in
this region.

Thorat urged the state government to provide liberal grants to the A N
Sinha Institute, one of the first institutions in the country to be
recognized by the ICSSR, for its proper growth and development. The
central government has of late also initiated steps to develop all the
25 ICSSR-supported institutions, including this institute, he added.

Those who participated in the deliberations included Aryabhat
Knowledge University VC S N Guha, institute's former chairman
Sachchidanand and faculty members Nil Ratan, A K Jha, S M A Yousuf,
Ajit Hansda, Vinayak Chaudhary, Manoj Srivastava and Patna University
economics teacher N K Chaudhary. State HRD minister and institute's
chairman P K Shahi presided.

At the outset, institute's director D M Diwakar welcomed the guests.
Registrar Sudhir Kumar proposed a vote of thanks.

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Monday, October 10, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Kanshi Ram – Are memorial parks ‘grounding’ his legacy?

[ZESTCaste] Anand Patwardhan’s docu on Dalit activists wins best film award

[ZESTCaste] Awarded sarpanch terrorises dalits

[ZESTCaste] UGC to crack whip on bias towards Dalits

[ZESTCaste] Thorat for faster growth of poor

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