Tuesday, January 12, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Death of Dalit farmer sparks off protest

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/12/stories/2010011251490300.htm

Karnataka - Gulbarga

Death of Dalit farmer sparks off protest

Special Correspondent

Doddamani allegedly beaten up at Chellegeri village in Aland taluk

Protesters want sub-inspector to be suspended for delay in registering
a complaint

They refused to remove the body of the deceased farmer till demands were met

Upset: Activists of Dalit organisations staging a protest in Gulbarga on Monday.

Gulbarga: Tension prevailed in the Mini Vikasa Soudha complex for over
two hours on Monday when the members of the Dalit Sena, Dalit Yuva
Samanvaya Samiti and other Dalit organisations staged a dharna.

The protesters placed the body of Husnappa Lakkappa Doddamani (70), a
Dalit farmer, on the steps of the Mini Vikasa Soudha and said that the
body would not be removed till their demands were met.

The protesting activists said that Doddamani died in Government
General Hospital in Gulbarga after allegedly being beaten by 'caste'
Hindus at Challegeri village in Aland taluk of Gulbarga district on
Sunday. They demanded arrest of persons who had allegedly beaten
Doddamani, suspension of the sub-inspector of Madanahipparga police
station who allegedly delayed registering the case and shifting the
severely injured Doddamani to the Government Hospital in Gulbarga.
Besides, the protesters urged the Government to provide compensation
to the family of the victim. Besides the activists, grieving family
members of Doddamani were present at the venue of the protest. Deputy
Commissioner R. Vishal held a meeting with State vice-president of the
Dalit Sena Hanmanth Yalsangi and Dalit leader D.V. Chakravarti
immediately after the protesters reached the Mini Vikasa Soudha. Mr.
Vishal told the protesters that efforts were being made to arrest the
accused in the case and Superintendent of Police B.A. Padmanayan had
promised to initiate disciplinary action against the sub-inspector of
the Madanahipparga police station for alleged dereliction of duties.
The Dalit leaders maintained that they would remove the body from the
venue of the protest only after their demand for providing
compensation to the victim's family was met. However, Mr. Vishal told
the Dalit leaders that the compensation due to the victim's family as
per the provisions in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act would be paid and as far as their other
demand for compensatory employment to one of the family members of the
deceased farmer was concerned, the State Government would have to take
a final decision.

It took two hours for Mr. Vishal to persuade the Dalit leaders to relent.

Later, they took the body to Chalageri village in Aland taluk.

According to a case registered in the Madanahipparga police station,
the deceased farmer who was tilling the lands owned by one
Chennabasappa Ramanagowda Patil on lease for the past 20 years, was
beaten up by a gang led by Shrimant Maligi, Dharmaraya and others
belonging to Madhugunuki village in Aland taluk. Deceased farmer's
wife Parvathi, daughter Neelamma, granddaughter Jyothi, grandson Ashok
and son Sharanappa were also beaten up by the gang in Challegeri
village.

The attackers who had a dispute with the owner of the land
Chennabasappa Patil picked a quarrel with Doddamani and his family
demanding the harvested red gram from the land.

The police have registered cases under Sections 302, 307 of IPC and
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
against 14 persons. No arrests have been made.


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[ZESTCaste] MP: Dalit woman raped in Betul

 

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/78866/India/MP:+Dalit+woman+raped+in+Betul.html

MP: Dalit woman raped in Betul

Ambreesh Mishra
Bhopal, January 12, 2010

Forty-six years old Janaki Bai, a Dalit woman from Jamwada village in
Betul district of southern Madhya Pradesh, was under the gaze of the
Amla police because they suspected her involvement in her son's
illicit liquor racket, who had been detailed by the cops on occasions
in the past. On the intervening night of June 1 and 2, 2009, the cops
decided to dish out rough and ready justice in its most gruesome form.

Acting on a dowry harassment complaint filed by the woman's
daughter-in-law, the Amla police arrested Janaki Bai along with her
husband and one of their two sons under section 498A of the IPC on
June 1. Her other son 25 years old Kailash Bamne, who is the husband
of the complainant woman in the dowry case, was lodged in jail
following the complaint and released on bail earlier. After the Multai
judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) denied Janaki Bai, her husband
and the other son bail and remanded them to judicial custody, the
police sent the men away to Multai jail but detained her in the Amla
police station overnight on the grounds that the Multai facility
didn't have separate lodging for women.

The police had no authority to take a suspect to the police station
once she was remanded to judicial custody. She should have been taken
to women's cell at Betul jail which is just 50 km from Multai and
where incoming prisoners are accepted till late evening as it is under
legal obligation to receive them. In the extreme case if she had she
been denied entry by Betul Jail, she could have been kept with women
police at Betul.

But the cops were bent upon teaching her a lesson. Four policemen took
turns to rape her overnight in the police lock-up at Amla police
station. Shamim Modi of Samajwadi Jan Parishad says, "Their intent was
to teach her a lesson in a most dehumanising manner possible for a
woman." Janaki Bai swore that the dowry-harassment case against her
family was bogus. Actually, her son Kailash had caught head constable
at Amla police station, N.K. Mishra, with his wife Kavita Bamne in a
compromising position and was going to blow up the matter.

The next day after her night of horror at the police station, she was
taken to Betul jail on June 2 where she narrated the incident to the
authorities. As the jail officials informed the district SP, the
cover-up began almost immediately. The woman's medical examination was
done at the jail itself on June 3, not Betul's district hospital, that
too a full day after she had alleged rape.

A day's delay in MLC examination could have an immense bearing on the
eventual outcome of the case. Yet, throughout the day on June 2,
police tried to persuade her to take back her complaint. A member of
visiting State Women's Right Commission, Kamala Wdiwa, who happens to
be doctor by profession, also examined Janki Bai at jail and confirmed
that she had been subjected to physical assault and rape.

Though, the Betul police registered a case under section 376 of IPC
and sections 2, 3 and 5 of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
against N.K. Mishra and three other unknown policemen on June 4, no
arrest was made. Janaki Bai and her husband and other son were
released on bail on June 5. The government merely transferred the head
constable and Station House Officer (SHO) Anil Kumar Thakur to other
police stations. Only when the outcry against the kid-glove treatment
against cops reached a crescendo were Mishra and constable Satish
Choure dismissed from service and charged with rape and violation of
SC/ST Act. Choure is still absconding while Mishra was released on
bail. SHO, Anil Kumar Thakur was charged under section 212 for
harbouring an offender and 201 of the IPC. Besides head constable
Satyaprakash Vajpayee and constables Keshavrao Vagdre, Ashok Sankar,
Arjun Singh were charged under section 120 and 201 of the IPC for
concealing evidence. All were arrested, released on bail and
suspended.

However, some rights groups later filed a petition in the Jabalpur
High Court against the lighter sections slapped against SHO Anil Kumar
Thakur under section 212 (harbouring offenders). On December 23, a
division bench of Chief Justice S.R. Alam and Justice R.S. Garg
directed Betul police to take action against Singh in accordance with
the report of the judicial inquiry conducted Betul judicial magistrate
first class (JMFC) into the entire episode. The Betul police have now
moved a request in the Betul court where a charge-sheet has already
been filed, to add charge of rape under section 376 of the IPC against
the SHO.

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[ZESTCaste] NU to follow IITs on faculty recruitment

 

http://www.indiaedunews.net/Delhi/JNU_to_follow_IITs_on_faculty_recruitment_10237/

NU to follow IITs on faculty recruitment

January 12, 2010

JNU to follow IITs on faculty recruitment
New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is all set to review its
reservation policy for recruitment of teachers on the lines of the
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

After being the frontier of reservations for quite a long time, it now
mulls to change its track and plans to reserve seats for SCs/STs/OBCs
only at the entry level, which is, at the level of assistant
professor.

Before this initiative, the reservation was valid for all the three
levels - assistant professor, associate professor and professor.

JNU's Executive Council (EC) is expected to come up with a concrete
decision upon the reservation policy as its main agenda in its meeting
today.

JNU Vice Chancellor B.B. Bhattacharya, refused to comment before the
EC's meeting but it is believed that the Human Resource Development
(HRD) Ministry has said that the reservation policy cannot be diluted.

It has even been pointed out that the EC is not the competent
authority to decide about the reservation policy.

According to the university sources, the process to analyse the
reservation policy had already started long back during its Academic
Council meeting on November 25 last year where some of the faculty
members requested the VC to do away with it, as there is no specific
law to define it.

However, JNU teachers are protesting and have already given a
memorandum to the VC, requesting him not to proceed with the review.

Teachers claim that reservation originated from the Constitution and
was implemented on the executive orders of the government of India.

The memorandum mentioned that the reservation policy is followed by
all the central universities and JNU cannot flout it.

It was pointed out to the VC the decision to implement SC/ST/OBC
reservation across the three teaching cadres was approved by the JNU
EC in April, 2007.

JNU teachers have also told the VC that after the 2007 decision,
teaching jobs advertised in 2008 and 2009 followed the reservation
policy.

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[ZESTCaste] Post-Hindu India — A Discourse on Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-spiritual and Scientific Revolution: Kancha Ilaiah

http://www.hindu.com/br/2010/01/12/stories/2010011250111300.htm

Post-Hindu India — A Discourse on Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-spiritual and
Scientific Revolution: Kancha Ilaiah; Sage Publications India Pvt.
Ltd., B 1/I-1, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Mathura Road, New
Delhi-110044. Rs. 295.

Based on a study of the productive knowledge systems of the
Dalit-Bahujan communities in Andhra Pradesh, the book provides a
detailed analysis of the scientific technological processes and events
at work in the life of a member of these communities. At the macro
level, challenging Hinduism's interpretation of history, the author
takes a refreshing look at the necessity of encouraging indigenous
scientific thought for the sake of national progress. He seeks to
establish that Hinduism suppresses the latent scientific and
productive potential of the Dalit-Bahujan communities. Ilaiah argues
that the idea of social justice (varnadharma), used to justify the
caste system, is rooted in spiritual inequality and the system is so
oppressive as to be detrimental to both the future of religion and the
nation state. In his view, the Other Backward Classes "continue to
struggle for political power, not realising that as long as they are
in an oppressed position in the spiritual realm, their intellectual
potential cannot be fulfilled and their scientific temper cannot take
on a modernist shape."


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[ZESTCaste] Schools get minibuses for enrolling SC, ST students

http://oheraldo.in/news/Main%20Page%20News/Schools-get-minibuses-for-enrolling-SC-ST-students/32098.html

Schools get minibuses for enrolling SC, ST students

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, JAN 11
There's good news for students belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and
Scheduled Castes in the State.
The government on Monday launched the innovative Indira Bal Rath
Yojana, wherein minibuses have been provided to schools enrolling ST &
SC students.
That's not all. Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has agreed to extend the
scheme to schools enrolling students from the Other Backward Classes
from the coming financial year.
The scheme is intended for the ST and SC students from the state
countryside, who drop out from the schools for want of adequate
transport facility. However, instructions have been issued to the
school managements that these buses should not deny the service to
children of other communities staying on the route.
At a function held at the Ravindra Bhavan here on Monday, around 44
brand new buses were handed over to the management of schools across
the State, especially from the StateÂ's countryside.
As per the scheme, besides the bus, the government will provide 300
liters of fuel per month, Rs 50,000 for annual repairs and
maintenance, Rs 50,000 for payment of yearly insurance, Rs 10,000 to
employ a driver and Rs 5000 for a cleaner or attendant. The buses are
to be parked in the school premises after school hours.
In his address, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said the scheme would
help the children of the common man to pursue education without having
to worry about the transport facilities.
"My government is sincere in giving education a big boost. The Centre
too has supported us in our endeavour with the Union government
sanctioning for Goa the National Institute of Technology, National
Institute of Fashion Technology and a catering institute," he said.
Referring to the requests made in certain quarters to extend the
scheme to OBC students, the chief minister said the government will
extend the scheme to the OBC students either immediately or during the
coming financial year.
Social Welfare Minister Sudin Dhavlikar complimented the chief
minister for sanctioning the funds to make the scheme a reality. "This
innovative scheme would not have seen light of the day if there were
no funds," he added.
In his address, Power Minister Alexio Sequeira complimented the social
welfare minister for coming out with the scheme, saying the scheme
would immensely benefit the students from the rural areas. He thanked
the minister for covering most of the schools in his Loutolim
constituency.
Poinguinim MLA Ramesh Tawadkar requested the government to explore the
possibility of extending the scheme to government schools. He said
students from the ST and SC communities enrolled in government schools
should not be denied transport facility.
Prashant Naik and Fr Felix Lobo also spoke on behalf of the school
managements and put forward their requests to the government on the
schemes.
The scheme has so far cost the exchequer Rs 6.8 crore for the
procurement of 62 mini buses.


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[ZESTCaste] “Honouring Dalits With Blood”

http://www.countercurrents.org/attri110110.htm

"Honouring Dalits With Blood"

By Pardeep Singh Attri

11 January, 2010
Countercurrents.org

Once, I asked writers who had already written on the issue of 'Khap
Panchayats' that "what's the role played by caste in the brutalities
of 'Khap Panchayat' i.e. how Dalits suffer in 'Khap Panchayat' system?
They replied there is no such survey or measure available to check out
this, 'Dalits' are killed when they marry in another caste but in
Haryana the problem is of 'Khap' (marrying within 'Khap') or the other
replied 'Khap Panchayats' are against modernization' not against
"Dalit'. I wasn't satisfied with the answers, so I tried to search and
write this article explaining with brief history what led the increase
in the number of Khap Panchayat's illegal decrees, 'fatwas' against
Dalits.

'Khap' (group of 84 villages) is a system of social administration and
organization in northern India (highly influencing in Haryana,
Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh). Khap Panchayat's whole-sole
motive/purpose is to work and maintain clan/caste system alive (which
they have done with perfection!) and they have always worked as
anti-Dalit, anti-women, and anti-modernization. Sometimes these 'Khap
Panchayats' are equated with 'Kangaroo Courts', which are the 'sham
legal proceedings' and which are set-up in order to give the
impression of a fair legal process.

Why Dominated Landlords Are Furious

Jajmani system under which there was some interdependence between the
landlords and Dalit agricultural labors, but after the green
revolution (in 1970s) the dependence of Dalits on landlords decreased
to some extent. This Jajmani system was broken up and Dalits got
liberated from bonded labors after green revolution.

What troubled more was '73rd amendment (in 1992) of Indian
constitution' which reserved seats for Dalits in Gram Panchayats,
Panchayat Samitis, Zilla Parishids (district councils) according to
the Dalit population. Now, it was obvious for so called upper caste
landlords to be annoyed with Dalits as Dalits were ready to sit beside
them. How could upper caste people have tolerated this when they have
been forcing Dalits to drink their urine in 'juttis' (shoes, sleepers)
for thousands of years?

Is there any need to discuss about reservation's impact on the social
status of Dalits? Reservation has always made anxious to so called
upper caste people.

Another reason for the increased visibilities of such crimes is the
rise in global level education, economic opportunities for everyone
(including Dalits) in Haryana, which made possible
love/inter-caste/inter-community marriages.

I agree to some extent when people say 'Khap Panchayats' are against
modernization as 'Khap Panchayats' banned playing cricket at many
places like in district Jind (Haryana) after the poor performance of
team India in world cup. Ban hardly remained in force for few weeks
afterwards everyone forgot about the ban and cricket become as popular
as it was. In another district, Rohtak (Haryana) 'Khap Panchayats'
banned the usage of DJ's in marriages giving the reason that it
'disturbs animals', it was done under the 'animal welfare'! (They
value for animals more than human! In places like Rajasthan, state
government has established "Rajasthan GAO (cow) Seva commission." In
this scheme special shelters are being created for 6 Lac cows. In
addition to this 5 Arab, 24 crores & 85 Lakhs rupees has already been
spent by Rajasthan Govts on these cows.) These bans were effective for
few days only, but the ban on expelling Dalits from village,
boycotting Dalits remains effective for life long.

Righteous Kill: Stark Realities

It is estimated that every year hundreds of married couples are
murdered, are asked to leave the village, are asked to break their
marriages and accept each other as brother-sister, are paraded naked,
and blackened their faces by their families in order to regain/retain
'family honour', on the ill-fated instructions of 'Khap Panchayat'.
And mostly those suffer in these crimes are Dalits. The decisions
about killing, burning homes, raping Dalit women etc are taken by
these "Khap Panchayats" collectively at the open places without any
fear. It's not always the family of boy or girl (as promoted by these
'Khap Panchayat') who kills or orders to kill but the 'Khap Panchayat'
members plays an active role in executing rapes, murders. If they
(boy/girl) escape, their family members are being murdered/killed,
gang-raped or fined heavily.

In Jhajjar, (Haryana) which is developing fast (coming NTPC thermal
power plant and AIIMS-like hospital) but the condition of Dalits is as
miserable as was 100s years ago in the area. Social boycott of Dalits
in this area is common thing. Number of cases of caste killing/honour
killing are being reported from this area. Recently, an upper caste
girl tried to marry lower-caste boy, girl's sister was helping in
this. But both the girls were found dead in next day. In Dadri,
District Bhiwani of Haryana caste panchayat ordered boycott the
newlywed couple, ordered them to 'escape from village' and their
families were fined heavily. Two years back in district Kaithal
(Haryana) a couple was killed and their bodies were thrown in river on
the orders of these 'Caste Panchayats', in another case, a couple was
killed and their dead bodies were kept in front of everyone in village
so as 'everyone can learn a lesson from this'.

All these acts of 'Khap Panchayats' are not limited to Haryana only,
you can see the impact of 'Khap Panchayats' in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh and Punjab also. Recent days in district Muzaffarpur of Uttar
Pradesh a women was raped by her 'father in law' and 'Khap Panchayat'
ordered she should accept his 'husband as a son.' In another district
Saharanpur, 40 years old women was paraded naked in village and 'Khap
Panchayat' ordered to rape her 17 years old daughter and people acted
on the same lines. Police didn't even register the case. In Meerut
district, almost same happened when inter-caste marriage happened.

After two days of 'International Human Rights Day', on 12th December,
2009 while commuting death sentences of two persons involved in honour
killings 'Supreme Court' accepted 'caste' as a 'stark reality' in
honour killings said "The 'caste' is such a concept that grips a
person even before his birth and does not leave him even after his
death the vicious grip of the caste, community, religion, though
totally unjustified, is a stark reality."

On the same day (12th December, 2009) another landmark judgment came
from Judicial Magistrate, (though after 11 years of case proceedings!)
which imposed fine on 'Khap Panchayat' for issuing a fatwa
excommunicating a person from the 'Khap' and calling for his social
boycott. This is the first time that any court in Haryana has
penalized a 'Khap Panchayat'. In another news on 25th November, 2009
'The International Jat Intellectual Meet' calls for drive against
honour killings. I seriously doubt the goodwill intensions of these
decisions as this can be just to show the 'world' that we are
concerned about humanity, mankind while celebrating 'International
Human Rights Day'.

Nothing happens to people like Mahendra Singh Tikait, farmer leader in
western Uttar Pradesh when speaking on behalf of 'Khap Panchayats' he
comments like 'only whores chose their own partners.' Why no action
was taken against him, who degraded the whole women society?

Denying 'Constitution', Implementing 'Manusmriti'

Article 13(1) and 13(2) of 'Constitution' deals with the "Laws
inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights" and it's
clearly written under

Article 13(1) "All laws in force in the territory of India immediately
before the commencement of this Constitution, in so far as they are
inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, shall, to the extent of
such inconsistency, be void." and

Article 13(3a) " 'law' includes any Ordinance, order, bye-law, rule,
regulation, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of
India the force of law."

Though everything is written so plainly in 'Constitution' of India
about the equal rights for everyone, irrespective of religion, caste,
color, creed, etc; even today after 60 years of Independence, 'Khap
Panchayat' are greatly influencing and are capable of petrifying
people in the northern region. By keeping 'Khap Panchayats' alive
aren't Government's trying to make Manu smile?

On The Part of Governments and Dalits

Much has been written and said about the issue of 'Khap Panchayats' by
intellectuals and academician but there has always been a lack of any
initiative to dissolve 'Khap Panchayats' or call these illegal on the
part of Government. Not even a single leader has ever stood against
(forget about the standing against this system, many local leaders of
congress and other parties have glorified acts of 'Khap Panchayat')
this cruel system, which may be because of Government's own petty
political reasons. Another thing, why all these killings are clubbed
together in the list of 'murders', if we can have separate laws for
'Sati' and 'Dowry' then why can't we have separate special laws to
handle these 'Khap Panchayats'?

Lack of representation of Dalits in police, print media is also a
severe problem. Further, serious issue is of divisions among Dalits
and lack of able Dalit leadership in the region, people on the name of
Dr Ambedkar are fighting to prove that they are real 'Karva Pullers'
of Dr Ambedkar, but reality lies somewhere else! There is a strong
need of active participation of everyone including NGOs, police,
Panchayat bodies and serious/strong laws (not merely paper tigers!)
against the crimes of 'Khap Panchayat".

P.S.: I am grateful to Advocate Dr S L Virdi, being my source of
inspiration, encouragement and whose article on the same issue
published in Punjabi magazine "Begampura Saher" was helpful for
fulfilling my quest.


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[ZESTCaste] UNESCO to recognise few courses of IGNOU

 

http://ncrsamaylive.com/NewsDetails.aspx?lNewsID=116359&lCategoryID=105

UNESCO to recognise few courses of IGNOU
New Delhi,IGNOU ,UNESCO,courses,recognition

New Delhi: In a move that is likely to boost quality in education
and training, certain courses of Indira Gandhi National Open
University (IGNOU) will be recognised by UNESCO. The university and
the UNESCO today signed an Agreement of Cooperation (AoC) for
identifying special programmes for co-branding. The AoC was signed
during the visit of UNESCO Director General Irina G Bokova to the
university. Both IGNOU and UNESCO will develop cooperation through
academic exchange and collaboration for advancement of quality
education and training, the university said. As per the AoC, IGNOU and
UNESCO will collaborate in promoting a system of research and training
in the fields of journalism and media studies, science education,
teacher training and ICT-enhanced distance learning. Bokova delivered
the IGNOU Silver Jubilee Special Lecture on "Building Inclusive
Knowledge Societies in a Globalised World: Opportunities and Risks".
The collaboration is also expected to enhance interdisciplinary
research, strengthen local and indigenous knowledge systems and
developing methods for evaluating and applying science and technology
with a view to the development of sustainable practices for human
resource development. Minister for State for HRD D Purandeswari said
India's demographic advantage can only be realised if opportunities to
the youth expand through education.

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[ZESTCaste] Cong forgets Meira is Speaker, names her in Bihar PCC list

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Cong-forgets-Meira-is-Speaker--names-her-in-Bihar-PCC-list/566402

Cong forgets Meira is Speaker, names her in Bihar PCC list
D K Singh Posted online: Tuesday , Jan 12, 2010 at 0405 hrs

New Delhi : In utter disregard for Constitutional authorities and laws
against use of caste names under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities)
Act, the Congress has appointed Lok Sabha Speaker Meira
Kumar as a Permanent Invitee to the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee
(PCC). Her caste name — she belongs to the Dalit community — has been
specified against her name in the list of PCC office-bearers issued by
Jagdish Tytler, AICC in-charge of Bihar.
The Congress has overlooked the fact that Meira Kumar holds a
Constitutional office and cannot, therefore, hold any party post. In
fact, the ruling party specified caste names against each of the 562
office-bearers in the jumbo PCC constituted by state Congress
president Anil Sharma and approved by the AlCC last week.

"Only Anil Sharma and I have the list. Meira Kumar's name is not
there," said Tytler. Shown a copy of the PCC list signed by him, he
said: "I don't know. It is Anil Sharma's mistake."

On the use of caste names, Tytler said: "We had to name the castes
because out of over 45 castes (in the state), barely four have been
dominating the PCC so far. We did it to ensure representation of all
castes."

While parties do use caste names in internal documents to ensure fair
representation of all castes in different bodies and during allocation
of poll tickets, it is probably the first time that the Congress has
publicly declared castes of its office-bearers.

This use of caste names, apparently done to woo different communities,
comes at a time when the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) prepares to
launch its membership drive in the state from Tuesday. AICC general
secretary Rahul Gandhi, an advocate of politics of development rather
than caste and religion, is set to launch the party's campaign later
this month. He is scheduled to make an extensive tour of the state to
promote the party's membership drive.

Meanwhile, a section of senior party leaders from Bihar were learnt to
have launched a signature campaign to protest against the constitution
of a jumbo PCC. Many leaders were planning to resign from the newly
constituted body in protest against inclusion of "outsiders" and those
with tainted records. Senior leaders were camping in New Delhi to meet
Congress president Sonia Gandhi in this connection.

The timing of the constitution of the PCC has also come as a surprise
since the AICC is set to announce the schedule for organisation
elections in a few days.


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[ZESTCaste] Dalits take part in auction

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/01/12/stories/2010011259850400.htm

Tamil Nadu

Dalits take part in auction


Staff Reporter

VEDARANYAM: Amid tight police security and administrative assistance,
Dalits of Chettipulam took part in a fishing auction held for
panchayat-owned water bodies here on Monday. This was their first such
participation in a "common auction" for fishing rights.

The Dalits had earlier proposed to take part in the auction, which
according to them was tacitly exclusive for the Caste Hindus.

Earlier, the auction of ponds for fishing was given solely on
administrative divisions. This had kept the Dalits excluded as they
were geographically ghettoed in a particular division. At the auction,
their proposal to participate was initially opposed, but the BDO and
tahsildar intervened to state that it was a common auction concerning
panchayat ponds.


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