Monday, December 28, 2009

[ZESTCaste] 2009 FFEI donation request

 

As the year is ending, I requesting you again to consider donating to FFEI. We, at FFEI, and the kids depening on your donations will thank you very much for your generosity. If you cannot sponsor this year, please spread the word around. That doesn't cost anything. Someone may be interested in our work.
 
With regards
Benjamin
-----------------------------------

Dear Donors, Friends, and Sympathizers,

 

To those who celebrate, Merry Christmas, the birth of Jesus, the apostle of peace, compassion, and love.

 

Please ignore this email if you have already helped us in 2009 with your generous donation.

 

This is the end of the year and most importantly the season of giving. In this charitable season, can you think of helping an underprivileged child to get good education? If so, please consider our project Friends for Education International (FFEI) that has been helping such children since 2003. By doing so, you may help a kid and take the benefit of tax exemption for 2009 as we are a 501(C)(3) organization in US.  

 

Let me first thank you immensely for all the support you have been extending since 2003. It is your help that sustained us all these years to help kids from the most vulnerable and marginalized sections of Indian society – mostly Dalits or Untouchables. Without your help we wouldn't be where we are now.

 

More than ever, we need your help now. Last year, in addition to giving scholarships to those who performed well in Tenth (Class 10) examinations, we adopted 50 kids from scavenging families to support them educationally from class I. Without your help, they may have to be dropped out of the school this year.

 

We have several other projects. You may be interested one of them as well. Please check our website www.friendsforeducation.org.

 

We believe you support us this year as you have done before. Any donation (small, big, cash, or kind) will be accepted with so much gratitude as every penny will be helpful to us.  

These kids future depends on you and so we are counting you on.

 

We gain donors mostly by word of mouth. We do not have any corporate donors. We entirely depend on individuals.

 

Please spread the word among your friends, relatives, and colleagues and help us reach as many concerned individuals as we can.  Please visit our website www.friendsforeducation.org for more details and write to me if you have any questions.

 

Please use one of the following to contribute:

Online contribution: http://www.friends4education.org/scholarship/0Main/html/donate_address.htm

 

To send a check:

In USD (We will provide receipt for tax purposes):

In favor of :FFEI (Friends for Education International)
Bank        : US Bank, La Crescenta, CA

Address:
Benjamin P Kaila
2755 Sanborn Ave
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Email: benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com

 

In Rupees:

In favor of: Friends for Education International (India Chapter)
Bank:
Corporation Bank, Nampally, Hyderabad

Mr K L Anand Paul
Gayatri Apartments,
Block 1, Flat 407, APIIC Colony, Jidimetla
Hyderabad, India 500 055

With regards

Ben

 

Note: I never intend to spam anyone. If anyone thinks so, I am sorry. Please let me know and I will stop sending right away.

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

An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society.

-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar

Please visit www.friendsforeducation.org or www.ambedkarscholarship.org

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[ZESTCaste] Abuse Of Power (Opinion)

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Abuse-Of-Power/articleshow/5385074.cms

COMMENT
Abuse Of Power
28 December 2009, 12:00am IST

The way a university professor was branded a 'Naxalite' and assaulted
by policemen in Bihar is most disturbing. According to Jamia Millia
Islamia professor Rahul Ramagundam, he and a companion were beaten up
by the police for asking why homes of Dalits in Amausi village were
being demolished. While we still await the police version of events,
why is it that prima facie we don't find anything surprising about the
events? That's because the police far too often abuse their authority,
and more so in the poorly governed states.

Instances of human rights abuse by the police are too many to recount.
In the past few days, the way former Haryana inspector-general of
police S P S Rathore tried to subvert justice after being accused of
molesting a teen has come to light. This is partly due to the media
having taken up the molestation case as a wrong that needs to be
redressed. But there are many more instances where the police
routinely abuse their authority that go unrecorded and unreported.
Those at the receiving end are more often than not unlettered and poor
people who don't have the means to raise their voices against the
state. It's only when the violations assume shocking proportions such
as the Bhagalpur blindings of nearly three decades ago where several
undertrials were blinded by the police that we sit up and take notice.

There is a different kind of abuse of power in Naxalite-affected
areas. Here in the name of maintaining law and order, the police often
overstep the line. The incident at Amausi falls in this category.
Anyone who is seen to be sympathetic to tribals or the oppressed is in
the danger of being branded a Naxalite. This is an absurd policy on
the part of the administration. There are so many people who believe
that tribals or Dalits have legitimate grievances against the state
but at the same time are critical of Naxalites and their strategy. If
the police and the administration cannot make this distinction, it
would only prove to be counterproductive to their strategy of
containing Naxalites and other militants.

We need to rethink the way the police function as an institution. The
police haven't yet shed many of their colonial-era trappings and still
have an adversarial relationship with citizens. They haven't been able
to win the trust of the people, something that is reflected in popular
culture. Incidents such as the one involving the Jamia professor who
is ironically a respected Gandhian scholar and activist only help in
reinforcing the poor image of the police.

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[ZESTCaste] Rahul weaves self-help magic in Bundelkhand

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_rahul-weaves-self-help-magic-in-bundelkhand_1328222

Monday, December 28, 2009 12:30:00 AM

Rahul weaves self-help magic in Bundelkhand

Deepak Gidwani / DNA

"You have to learn to fight for your rights… learn the paperwork
(involved in government functioning)… catch hold of the officials…
learn to fight for what is your rightful due…" That is Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi exhorting women — mostly Dalits — in the Babina block of
Jhansi district on his recent visit to Uttar Pradesh's (UP's)
Bundelkhand region.
The rather aggressive statements are part of Rahul's latest strategy
to galvanise the poor, oppressed and largely illiterate Bundeli women
for the Congress' 'mission Bundelkhand' to counter the BSP's influence
in the region.

The BSP, which too had begun its winning streak in UP from this region
dominated by Dalits and backward castes, has a major presence in
Bundelkhand.

The redoubtable network of women self-help groups (SHGs) created by
Rahul in Amethi and Rae Bareli has formed the backbone of the party's
support structure in the two constituencies. The SHG formula had also
been used to great effect in Andhra Pradesh, before it was brought to
Bundelkhand.

The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust is providing financial support to
these SHGs. The trust already has its presence in all seven
Bundelkhand districts. More than 300 SHGs are functional in Jhansi
alone, and in the Babina block of the district, a woman from every
second family in an SHG member. The portion of Bundelkhand falling in
Madhya Pradesh would be taken up for a similar exercise in the next
phase, a Congress worker told DNA.
Rahul's strategy could work wonders, Congress leaders felt. "The SHGs
have nothing to do with the party or elections. But Rahulji is doing a
wonderful job for the Bundeli women who have been oppressed and
exploited for ages," Vivek Singh, an MLA from Banda and chairman of
the UP Congress media division, said.

However, Bundelkhand Mukti Morcha president and actor Raja Bundela is
sceptical.
"Bundelkhand is a God-forsaken place. There is no employment, no
industry. Rahul's initiatives are welcome but they have their
limitations," he says. "What Bundelkhand needs is a huge dose of
development… that's possible only when we do away with symbolic
measures and vote-bank politics," he adds.

Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh counters, saying: "UP has a
BSP government and Madhya Pradesh has a BJP regime. We can't release
funds, we can't make the policies. We have to work within
limitations… Rahulji is setting an example that politicians can do
ground work without votebank politics."


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[ZESTCaste] Dalit literature, an uprising against social injustice: Limbale

http://www.thehindu.com/2009/12/28/stories/2009122853740400.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Dalit literature, an uprising against social injustice: Limbale

K.P.M. Basheer

Marathi writer regrets that Dalits are being harassed in literate Kerala

Says caste discrimination is taking new shape in modern India

'Caste violence is collective now'

KOCHI: "Who is a Dalit?"

"One who rebels against the caste system," snap comes the answer from
Sharankumar Limbale, Marathi writer and an icon of Dalit literature.

"And, how do you define Dalit literature?"

"Dalit literature uses the written word as a weapon against the
inhuman oppression of Dalits by the Brahminical social order that
denies them basic human rights and dignity."

Dalit literature, Dr. Limbale told The Hindu, is the uprising of the
written word against the millennia-old social injustice manifesting
itself as brutalities committed on Dalits all over the country.

"It expresses the pains and pangs of the Dalit existence; it is the
lived reality of crores of people living on the margins of life in
India; it verbalises the suppressed anger and wounded pride of those
existing outside the caste identities," says the soft-spoken author of
the autobiography classic Akkarmaashi, which unleashed a typhoon in
Marathi literature over a quarter century ago. "The so-called
mainstream literature is the product of the imagination of upper caste
writers about middle-class issues, but Dalit literature is based on
the lived experience of the writer." Mainstream literature is for
entertainment, but Dalit writing is aimed at removing social injustice
by reflecting the harsh realities of Dalit life.

Varkala incidents


Dr. Limbale, 53, who was in Kerala recently, found that even in
"progressive and literate Kerala," Dalits were being harassed,
discriminated against and denied opportunities.

Referring to the recent incidents at Varkala, he said that an incident
where a Dalit girl wearing a pair of jeans had incited upper caste
jealousies showed that caste intolerance was alive and well in 'every
mind' in a country where scientists are preparing to send human beings
to the moon.

He condemned the way the police and the "upper caste people" were
using the murder of an elderly man to target the entire Dalit
community in Varkala. "This should not have happened in a State which
is ruled by the Left," Dr. Limbale said.

Dr. Limbale, who has 44 books to his credit — novels, poetry, stories,
translations and literary and social criticisms — is no stranger to
Malayalam.

He got introduced to Malayalam readers when his book Akkarmaashi (The
'half-caste') was serialised by a Malayalam weekly.

Akkarmaashi, written when he was just 25, tells his life in a
Maharwada (the living space allotted to the untouchable Mahar
community) on the outskirts of a Maharashtra village near Solapur. He
was one of the 12 children of a Mahar woman, who was kept as a
concubine by the upper-caste village heads.

Those days, he recalls, Dalits could not enter a temple or a
restaurant, the village barber would not cut their hair. They were not
allowed to take a decent name; they could only take the names of
stones, trees or animals. At school, they had to sit in a separate
block outside the classroom; the teacher always insulted and tortured
them, said Dr. Limbale, who is now a regional director and professor
at the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University.

Through unbelievable poverty and inhuman caste brutalities all around
him, he fought to get a decent education. On the way, he wrote poetry
and stories, actively took part in the Dalit Panthers movement and
worked at the grassroots for the uplift of Dalits. At age 22, he
married an illiterate girl.

Untouchability and caste discrimination are taking new shapes in
modern India, Dr. Limbale regrets. "In the past, one upper-caste
person would beat up one Dalit; but now the entire upper-caste
community boycotts the entire Dalit community in the village," he
points out. "Now the caste violence is collective; it is also
political as well as social." Dalits have now got powerful `chairs,'
but no power to go with them. "Dalit IAS officers, professors or even
Ministers are just second-class people in their respective
professions." Despite being a celebrated writer, he faced
discrimination and ill-treatment on a daily basis.

Dalit literature, which is fighting all the different forms of caste
discrimination, is set to become stronger. "It is going to become the
Dalits' gun to fight injustices." He hoped the Varkala incidents would
trigger the emergence of a strong Dalit literature in Malayalam.


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[ZESTCaste] Gangraped in 1998, 13-year-old Dalit girl awaits justice

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Gangraped-in-1998--13-year-old-Dalit-girl-awaits-justice/560250


Gangraped in 1998, 13-year-old Dalit girl awaits justice
Parimal Dabhi Posted online: Monday , Dec 28, 2009 at 0039 hrs

Ahmedabad : A 13-year-old Dalit girl from Mokshi village in Vadodara
district, who was allegedly gangraped by the nephew of a local MLA and
his accomplice in 1998, still awaits justice.
The Dalit girl's trauma began on March 13, 1998 when the two accused
abandoned her near a village pond after raping her. The girl's
grandfather took her to the Bhadarava police station, but the police
did not lodge an FIR. Subsequently, he took her to the SSG Hospital.
The victim was admitted in the Psychiatry department and her rape was
ignored. The girl was shifted to the gynaecology ward only after the
psychiatry head ordered it after diagnosing her as a rape victim.

The police lodged the FIR only after the victim's grandfather, with
the help of an NGO, Council for Social Justice, filed a petition in
the Gujarat High Court.

Subsequently, the police filed a chargesheet against the two accused
—Ramesh Chauhan and Ramesh Vankar — and the case was heard by the
Special Court for the offences registered under the provisions of the
Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Chauhan is the nephew of Congress leader Khumansinh Chauhan.

When the trial in the case got over and it was at the stage of
judgment, the Special Trial Judge realised that proper procedure was
not adopted in accordance with the law in the case, especially in
submitting the chargesheet.

The judge referred to the procedure by which the chargesheet of any
case is first submitted to the court of Judicial Magistrate First
Class (JMFC). The JMFC commits the case to the Sessions Court for
trial. In the case of this girl, the chargesheet was submitted to the
Sessions Court directly. So, in May 2007, the Special Judge ordered to
send back the case papers to the Investigating Officer to submit them
to the concerned JMFC first.

Now, 11 years after the minor girl was gangraped, the case still
remains at the stage of issuance of summons to the witness. Against
this, the main accused, Chauhan, has already died. And the other
accused, Vankar, belongs to the SC community and so he faces charges
under the provisions of the IPC.

Disappointed and furious, the secretary of Council for Social Justice,
Valjibhai Patel has written to the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High
Court explaining the plight of the Dalit victim and the negligence
shown by the administration and the judiciary in particular in the
case.Patel has requested the Chief Justice to take suo motu cognisance
of the case and to initiate legal proceedings against the responsible
officers like the Investigating Officer, Court Registrar, Chief Public
Prosecutor and the Special Trial Judge.

Patel said: "The case highlights gross negligence by almost all
concerned offices involved. Despite it being a case of gangrape of a
Dalit girl, the concerned Sessions Court had put it in Lok Adalat for
compromise in 1999. This shows the kind of insensitivity prevailing in
the Gujarati society towards such heinous offences against women and
Dalits."


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[ZESTCaste] Fwd: Salute to the indefatigable spirit of struggle of Subedar Jasram

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vidya Bhushan Rawat <vbrawat@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 27, 2009 at 11:03 PM
Subject: Salute to the indefatigable spirit of struggle of Subedar Jasram
To:


Tribute

Following Rule of law means end with out justice

Salute to the indefatigable spirit of struggle of Subedar Jasram

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

As I write this tribute to a very respected friend who looked to me to
get the justice for over 150 landless Dalit families in Shaheed Udham
Singh Nagar, for over 20 years. It was way back in 1994 when Subedar
Jasram met me in Delhi at Ambedkar Bhavan. It was a meeting called by
a friend when Subedar narrated story of horror in the Tarai region of
Uttar-Pradesh. Afterwards, we got in touch regularly watching and
reviewing the situation in that region where land ceiling laws were
never implemented and where the terror of certain communities are
still the order of the day.

We all know how difficult it is to fight for land battle in this
region where a padyatra conducted by us last year was met with spying
of our activities and threatening the poor villagers of dire
consequences. The threat did not end at the grassroots, it came to me
many time on my mails and various comments at my blogs too. In 1995,
when some of us went from Delhi to investigate the case and assure the
villagers that we are working with them, the encroachers of the land,
attacked us for 'inciting' the 'harijans', a term deliberately used to
describe the Dalits. Subsequently, the threats continued and when they
did not work, there were efforts for co-option and finally the
economic boycott of the Dalits.

Each activity was reported to not only the courts, but to the
governments of the days in the form of representations to political
parties and autonomous institutions yet nothing yielded result. Led by
both Maywati and Mulayam Singh Yadav, the governments in Uttar-Pradesh
did not do anything. Contrary to this, they played with those who had
really exploited the Dalits, the powerful land mafia in the region.
Later, when Uttarakhand state came into being, the condition of Dalits
worsened in this region as the government, the bureaucracy did not
work to help them.

To those who do not know the background of this, I would like to
inform that, over 1167 acres of land in possession of M/s Escorts
Farms Limited by declared as surplus land by the Commissioner of
Nainital in 1990s. Nobody ever take notice of it as the land was being
tilled by about 150 Dalit families who had developed 'Ambedkar Gaon,
near Hari nagar. Several years later, when the land became cultivable
by seer hard work of the Dalits, the owners of M/s Escorts Farms
Limited realized that the land should now be cleared. With the help of
police and local administration they not only bulldozed the community
but put them behind the bar for charges of illegal occupation of land
and trying to disturb peace. Cases were filed in local courts.
Commission of inquiries suggested that the Dalits were tilling the
land and had some cemented structure also, but the company always
tried to say that nothing existed. In a clever and manipulative way,
it challenged the government's ceiling order in the high court to make
it a case between the government and the company. It was natural but
with efforts, the Allahabad High Court decided to hear the cases of
the Dalits as a grieving party.

In 1997, Allahabad High Court's judgment upheld the order of the
Commissioner of Kumaon, Nainital and posed a fine of Rs ten lakh on
the company to compensate the government. It also asked the government
to suitably rehabilitate the Dalits.

The government never took control of it. I had personally been
involved in the entire exercise. From the chief ministers to senior
leaders, we searched every option. The National Human Rights
Commission, SC-ST Commission and every avenue in this 'liberal'
democracy was used but to no avail. The government never took over the
land. Interestingly to our disgust, the lords of the company were
selling the land illegally to people outside the state. Nobody can
procure land in Uttarakhand yet the number of immigrants from other
states have been increasing but our governments do not understand
this. Most of them are poor farmers from Punjab who have been lured
for big land in this region. They end up in nothing as they can not
really legally own it.

The aggrieved party went to the Supreme Court and in February 2004, it
lost the case there. The two judge bench upheld Allahabad High Court
order yet the authorities decided not to act on it. Again, we had the
same exercise asking the political leadership to act. Congress party
had come to power at the centre in May 2004 and Sonia Gandhi became
chairperson of National Integration Council. Representation were made
to her but nothing happened. Instead, the honorable chief minister of
Uttarakhand, Mr Narain Dutt Tiwari, found a noble way of implementing
the court's order. He first ordered demolition of the houses of
encroachers and later when lot of noises were made by Akali Dal and
other political parties including BJP and Bharatiya Kisan Union, that
Sikhs were being targeted in Tarai, redistributed to the same land to
people along with hefty compensation package. Finally, Subedar Jasram
approached the Lokayukta for justice. Some of us informed him to find
out the political solution rather then approaching the courts as it
was too tidy and danger of being rejected. After two years of hearing,
the Lokayukta of Uttarakhand, Justice S.Z.Raza submitted a report to
state government indicting the revenue department and district
magistrate of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar for violating the Supreme
Court order. When we challenged the government redistributing the land
to those who the court called encroachers, the government rejected our
plea. It said that it has a right to redistribute the ceiling surplus
land according to its own choice and it can not be forced to
distribute it in a particular way. We showed them the clauses of the
Zamindari Abolition Act and also the clause of how the ceiling land
should be redistributed after declaring surplus which clearly
mentioned  SC, ST, war widows etc. All those who were given land never
came under this category but nothing happened. Based on the report of
Lokayukta, we went to the Supreme Court where the petition is pending
for final disposal.

This is a small side of a big story which has taken nearly 20 years
and yet to get justice. Subedar Jasram, who was 85 years of age
continued with this battle. Just four days before his death, I tried
to speak to him. His family contacted me that he is in the last stage
and was barely able to speak. I said that we will win this battle. He
was an optimist. I never saw a person like him. He did not suffer from
any ideological crisis. He wanted land for his people. He was very
simple but true to his convictions. I know very well that every
movement has to pass through it. Hungary stomachs can not wait for
even a year. People used to contribute money but justice was not in
our hand. People would blame him that he is not doing enough but what
could we do. We did not have enough number to make a protest felt in
Dehradun, or Nainital. Most of the Dalits there are immigrants and the
upper caste dominated Uttarakhand simply has no time for them. Narain
Dutt Tiwari, the honorable retired governor of Andhra Pradesh was
instrumental in getting many outsiders huge benami land in this
region. He simply did not act on any of our complaints. In fact, why
should he alone, none were ready to act.

It was painful for old man to come to Delhi and walk kilometers and
kilometers. He would complain to me that it was becoming difficult for
him to walk now. For us finding lawyers were difficult. All those who
claims to be champion of social justice, become typical lawyers when
we go to them. It was difficult to convince the lawyers. They would go
with their speed. For them every case is same. It does not matter
whether it is delayed or not. I knew the pain of an activist. I know
we feel disgruntled at the turn of event but at the home people would
always ask: what is happening? When is the judgment coming? Many time,
I felt whether we are cheating people for not fighting a big battle. I
do not know what is big battle by asking people to pick up arms. I
never believed in that as I know nobody has got anything out of it so
far. All those fairy tales are good in red books only and not in real
books. But definitely our record as a democracy does not shine.

These uncomfortable questions were regular for me. Once I approached a
political friend of mine from the region to help ask his government to
expedite the case and he promised to bring a set of ruling party
leaders but for that we needed big mobilization of people. I declined
saying that was not possible for me to arrange a huge political rally
for him. It was a clear case of human rights violation and for
resolving them, we do not need to bring a massive crowd. How can a
minority community bring massive mobilization in India? I remember
Baba Sahib's prophetic words that a Gandhi can do fasting unto deaths
for Muslims but not for the Dalits. Same thing is true today. The
seculars do not get interested in Dalit cause. So they remain
completely isolated and marginalized where their numbers are
absolutely miniscule. That is the tragedy of India.

Subedar, during his battle lost his two sons and his wife. He was a
rare gem of person who served his wife who was totally paralytic. He
would talk to her and help her in emergencies unlike other
'revolutionary' males in India who are typical husbands at home while
champion of liberalism outside. Whenever, I used to visit him, he
would be sitting with his wife. She would ask me : 'zamin to mil
jayegi na'.. kya main dekh paoongi who din'.. ( hope I will get the
land… can I see that day.. ) and the subedar would always remind her
that people like me are always there with them.

Last year, we decided to do a Padyatra to carry on the battle and send
a political message to those in powers to implement the court verdict.
These government officials are simply anti Dalits and do not want to
even negotiate. We were hounded every day by intelligence officials
while the powerful mafia were after us, asking us to mend our ways.
Subedar was very happy with our yatra. He promised to send his
colleagues to our yatra. The age was catching him. And just two days
before the yatra reached the village Harinagar, on December 28th,
Subedar Jasram had a massive heart attack but he survived. I felt it
was his spirit that survived him. We continued our padyatra in that
difficult hour and culminated at his home. All of us met him and he
realized that people from different regions were there for the
padyatra. He felt bad as he wanted to greet each of us. That day, In
realized that he had enough energy as none of the friends who met him
that day felt that he would survive for long.

It was a miracle that the Subedar survived even after that. I had been
updating him about our activities and about the court case. He was
ever optimist of our efforts. He wanted to organize a big reception
when the final order would come. Some time, I always felt that it was
difficult to say no to people when they have hopes. Even a person like
me who never felt much in these institutions had to believe in and do
the best. Things were not in our hand and we could only do our best.
The community was not there all the time. Many of them had died and
many migrated. Most of the young children today have their children
and narrate the horrifying image of that time. They have passed
through one period. Rarely very few of them got educated. Subedar
ensured that his grand children and daughter get educated, ofcourse,
none of them had much with the movement.

Like every social activist, subedar too was quite alone at home. Some
of his family people cared for him while other did  not. Perhaps they
felt that the man was giving too much time to villagers at their cost.
Other felt his need for the land piece. I do not know what to say but
some time I feel what one gets after following the constitution of
this country. All of us who follow rule of law have to die without
getting justice. Today, when I see tribal fighting their battle with
gun, I do not know how to condemn them, I have a clear case in my own
front, and waiting for justice and my beloved friends are leaving one
by one without justice. There is no one to weep for all those who do
not have a tag of big neta, abhineta or an educated intellectual.
People like subedar Jasram, who contributed to the cause of their
community, with a big heart remain unknown as those who write history
only do parikrama around a few political leaders.. for them that is
the final moment of empowerment but none of them dare to write that
despite all these noise and slogan of empowerment, people still
waiting for justice. What will be the compensation for those who lost
their every thing ? Can any one return the life of those youngsters
who lost their livelihood, their parents, their land and therefore
their schooling?

For me, it is a personal failure. Though I am still optimist as our
courts will do justice and the shameless political class will act on
the cry of people, I am at loss of words for my inability to get
things on time. One remains helpless in the heap of papers in the name
of law. One remains pitied once you visit to a court. You are not at
your own. You can only hope. I am sure the great services of Subedar
jasram and his friends will not go in vain despite all these
disappointments and shocks. The struggle for life will continue. Jai
Bhim, Subedar, I salute your endless spirit. Hope it will inspire all
of us and all those who have heard about his tireless efforts to get
justice to his community. May be being a soldier, as well a Dalit, he
had faith in country's constitution. Subedar is no more and the wait
is now more painful. Hope the pain  does not convert into anger as
Baba Saheb had predicted in his constituent assembly speech. The
political class must ponder over, that if it continues to deny people
justice, if our court become shelter of power brokers, then the
oppressed communities will take law in their own hand and destroy
everything that we do in the name of democracy. That would the saddest
day for India as no body would have patience like me in the democratic
values as people today are becoming more and more fed up with the
current structure helping the status quoists and denying the oppressed
their legitimate due to live with dignity.

--
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Visit my blog at
www.manukhsi.blogspot.com

For information on the issues, movements and priorities of Scavenger
community in India please log on to
www.swachchakar.blogspot.com
For information on civil society initiatives on Muslims in UP please log on to
www.rehnumaa.blogspot.com


For Social action, land rights, right to food and hunger issues
support Social Development Foundation at  www.thesdf.org


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