Latest News Update: Jan 22, 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Dalit leaders flay Shiv Sena chief

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100121/4915529348284925876.htm

Dalit leaders flay Shiv Sena chief
Sakaal Times
Thursday, January 21, 2010 AT 11:55 PM (IST)

NAGPUR: If separate Vidarbha state is formed, the people of the region
will decide the Chief Minister and not Bal Thackeray, Dalit leaders
Ramdas Athawale and Jogendra Kawade said today.

Reacting to Sena chief's statement of a non-Maharashtrian becoming
Chief Minister, if Vidarbha is carved out of Maharashtra, both
Athawale and Kawade said, the Chief Minister could be a Dalit as the
region has large population of backward caste.

They said United RPI will remain active with Vidarbha Rajya Sangram
Samiti and proceed with it to Delhi to meet Prime Minister, UPA
Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, presidents of national political parties
including Nitin Gadkari (BJP) and Sharad Pawar (NCP). Athwale said he
would convince the RPI-Left-PWP alliance parties leader N D Patil over
creation of separate Vidarbha. During the budget session of
Parliament, memorandum would be given to all MPs in Delhi and also to
all legislators of Maharashtra during state legislature budget
session, he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Uproar in U.P. House

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/22/stories/2010012252681300.htm

Uproar in U.P. House

Atiq Khan

Opening proceedings of joint sitting end in four minutes

LUCKNOW: The entire Opposition disrupted Uttar Pradesh Governor B.L.
Joshi's address to the joint sitting of the State Legislature to mark
the opening day of the Budget session of the House on Thursday. This
is also the opening session of the year. Amid the din, the Governor
read the opening and the last paragraph of his 43-page address before
leaving the House.

The opening proceedings were over in four minutes before the Vidhan
Sabha was adjourned till 12.30 p.m.

As the Governor climbed on the Speaker's podium to read out his
address, the Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and
Rashtriya Lok Dal MLAs were on their feet to air their protest against
the Bahujan Samaj Party government. The Opposition MLAs raised banners
and posters while the SP and BJP legislators stood on their seats.
Some MLAs carrying banners and placards entered the well of the House.
The Opposition members were united in condemning the price rise and
corruption in the government.

While the SP demanded the dismissal of the Mayawati government and the
fixation of cane procurement price at Rs. 300 per quintal, the BJP,
Congress and the RLD said the poor were being ignored by the present
regime and corruption was ruling the roost.

Development redefined

In his address, the Governor noted that the meaning of development had
been re-defined by the government by linking it to the ground
realities of the State. Mr. Joshi said efforts have been made to
provide basic amenities to the people and the policy of "sarvajan
hitaya, sarvajan sukhaya" has been the basis for the uplift of the
poor, farmers, weaker sections and minorities.

He said the Scheduled Castes/Tribes, the exploited and the most
neglected sections have been the focus of each and every decision of
the government. Mr. Joshi said memorials, parks and statues have been
erected, districts created and universities established named after
great men like Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj,
Narayana Guru, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram. This had
been done to give them proper respect as they had dedicated their life
for the cause of the exploited sections, the Governor added.

The steps taken by the Mayawati government to check price rise,
augment farmers' income, develop infrastructure, increase availability
of power, production of food grains, milk and horticulture products
were elaborated by the Governor. Mr. Joshi also mentioned the public
welfare measures of the government.

Stating that the rule of law had been enforced, Mr. Joshi said tough
action was taken against law-breakers irrespective of their position,
or influence. He noted that the Sixth Pay Commission had been
implemented by the government and efforts taken to spread the benefits
of education.

Package sought

He said the government had sought a Rs. 80,000-crore package from the
Central government for the development of backward areas. The Governor
stated that a letter had been written to the Centre for acceptance of
the creation of separate states of Purvanchal, western Uttar Pradesh
and Bundelkhand.

When the House reassembled, Speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar completed the
remaining business before adjourning it for the day. The House will
meet on January 27, 2010.

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[ZESTCaste] Army to protect Indian minister's statues

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7045137/Army-to-protect-Indian-ministers-statues.html

Army to protect Indian minister's statues
A controversial Indian minister is to recruit a paramilitary force to
guard a series of public statues of herself she has had erected.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Published: 6:53PM GMT 21 Jan 2010

Mayawati, the 'untouchable' leader of the pro-dalit Bahujan Samaj
Party, has provoked outrage throughout India over her decision to
spend millions of pounds on a series of marble statues.

She has also spent public money on figures of her former partner and
mentor Kanshi Ram, and Dr Bimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the untouchable
architect of India's constitution who converted to Buddhism in protest
at Hindu treatment of lower castes.

Tamil civilians flee from their Tiger 'protectors' as Sri Lanka war worsens
Afghans armed to protect villages in new American initiativeThe
statues, in particular those of herself, have been strongly criticised
as an act of self-aggrandisement and a waste of money in a state where
millions live in poverty.

The Kanshi Ram Memorial is more than 130ft high, and has so far cost
more than £40 million. It features a giant figure of Mayawati,
carrying her trademark handbag, and her late partner and political
mentor Kanshi Ram. Its dome is believed to be the largest in India.

Ms Mayawati has defended the construction of the statues as a tribute
to Dalit advancement and suggested they could attract tourists to the
state capital Lucknow. But her ministers are now worried they could be
damaged by her opponents and have begun a campaign to recruit 1,000
new soldiers to protect them.

"The new force will be named State Special Zone Security Force and
will be headed by an officer of the rank of inspector general, who
will have a superintendent and a few deputy superintendents to assist
him," said Uttar Pradesh home secretary Mahesh Gupta.

The troops will guard memorials to Dr Ambedkar in Lucknow and Noida,
close to New Delhi, two Kanshi Ram memorials and the Kanshi Ram Green
Eco Garden, which is built on the site of a district jail which was
abandoned to make way for the project.

A spokesman for the opposition Samajwadi Party, said his party will
replace the statues and disband the security force if it returns to
power in the state. "They are being built with taxpayers' money which
should be spent on development," he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Mitti: breaking new ground in Punjabi film industry

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Mitti--breaking-new-ground-in-Punjabi-film-industry/570484

Mitti: breaking new ground in Punjabi film industry

Amrita Chaudhry Posted online: Friday , Jan 22, 2010 at 0339 hrs
Ludhiana : Choosing a Dalit character as one of the four main
characters of a film would not be a normal choice for a Punjabi film
which has always seen a "Jatt' as its main hero.
But then breaking new ground, chemical engineer-turned-film director
Jatinder Mahuar has done just that in his next film, Mitti, where a
dalit youth (mahjbi to be more specific and played by actor Victor
John) boy named Tunda forms a group of four friends whereas the rest
come from upper castes. Mitti, which is produced by Eros, was released
on January 8.

Jatinder, who hails from a small village Khamano, chucked his job in
2002 to "search for what I really wanted to do. So for the next two
years, I just roamed about, met up the youth who like me are always
facing the wrath of the society for being drug addicts or crazy to go
abroad. It is here that Mitti was born. During this time, I attended a
workshop by National School of Drama read major authors and finally
decided what I wanted to do."

After establishing his name in directing music videos, Jatinder began
"Mitti," which takes up issues like the plight of a landless labourer,
Dalit oppression and above all who a Jatt is. "I am a Jatt by caste
but I do not consider myself one for Jatt is a person who tills the
land and not the one who lives in cities. This film is about the
farmer who is under immense debt and finds suicide the only way out of
his miseries. He is also a Jatt. When we talk of land, Jatt character
comes to mind but Dalits also form an integral part of this structure
and cannot be left out ever. For me, my father, who has just five
acres back in the village and tills it with his own hands is the
Jatt."

"This film is not a sermonizing kind because for me my audience is
like a group of friends and through this film I am sharing a dialogue
with my audience. I really want the youth of Punjab to see this film
and while it may sound arty but I can assure you that the film is
commercial to the core and will keep one glued to his or her seat,"
says Jatinder.

When asked how does he place his film amid an environment where NRI
hero ruled the roost, Jatinder says, "The general perception that
Manomahn Singh-Harbhajan Mann duo revived Punjabi cinema is not
completely true. Films like Sahheede Mohabbat, Mahual Theek Hai and
Shaheed Udham Singh , three films from completely different genres,
brought in good Punjabi cinema which was completely missing before
them. And so while my hero may not be an NRI but my film will carve a
niche for itself."

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[ZESTCaste] Five members of Dalit family burnt to dead

http://www.ptinews.com/news/480107_Five-members-of-Dalit-family-burnt-to-dead

Five members of Dalit family burnt to dead

STAFF WRITER 14:38 HRS IST
Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), Jan 22 (PTI) A Dalit woman and her four
daughters were burnt to death and their charred bodies were found
early this morning in Behanganpurwa village, nearly 70 kms from the
district headquarters, police said.

The victims were set afire after sprinkling kerosene, Dhaurehra police
station in-charge Yogendra Singh said.

One of the daughters was a 23-day-old infant, while others were below
the age of eight.

Police is investigating the role of Ramanand, the woman's husband, and
have taken him to custody.

Ramanand had recently climbed a tower and kept the police on
tenterhooks for several hours, threatening them of committing suicide
if he was not allowed to meet the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

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[ZESTCaste] Avatar's racist subtext is in line with Indian social mores

http://www.merinews.com/article/avatars-racist-subtext-is-in-line-with-indian-social-mores/15795135.shtml

Avatar's racist subtext is in line with Indian social mores

Would Avatar's message of the weak triumphing over the strong have
carried much more conviction, if the natives' fight had been led by
one of their own?

CJ: R. Venkatesan.. Fri, Jan 22, 2010 11:28:35 IST

HOLLYWOOD FLICK Avatar has not only taken filmmaking to another level,
but has also emerged as the second highest grosser of all-time in
Hollywood history, second only to Titanic, interestingly by the same
filmmaker, James Cameroon.

The 3D sci-fi movie narrates the epic battle between the mystic and
nature-loving Na'vi, inhabitants of the planet Pandora, and the
marauding greedy humans.

However, the Na'vi's fight back is led by a human, a paralyzed Marine,
Jake Sully, in his 'avatar' as a Na'vi. Though the theme relies on the
time-tested formula of good vs. evil and the weak against the strong,
the fact that the saviour of the Na'vi in the movie happens to be a
white man (as opposed to the blue-skinned, 9-foot-tall, long-tailed,
bow-and-arrow wielding native-aliens) has made a section of
movie-goers accuse the film of having a racist subtext.

These critics see the white hero saving the primitive tribe theme as
reinforcing the white Messiah fable, and racial stereotypes, i.e., the
white as superior to the natives.

While this criticism may sound far-fetched, it does contain parallels
to the caste situation in India.

Though casteism, as practiced in India, is different from racism, they
both involve discrimination against fellow human beings, and hence
comparing them could give new insights.

In India, the term 'dalits' refers to those so-called low castes who
have traditionally been discriminated against. Though the
discrimination against people belonging to these castes has ceased to
a large extent, with the dalits emerging as a significant political
force in modern India, discrimination against dalits still continues
in certain pockets of the country.

Before the dalit awakening, the fight for equal rights for these less
privileged sections of the society was led largely by upper caste
leaders like Gandhi.
But once the dalits found their voices and emerged as a cohesive
political force, one of the first things they did was to disown the
upper caste leaders who led 'their' (Dalit's) fight.

Interestingly, Gandhi had coined a term "Harijan" (i.e., children of
God) to refer to the people belonging to the low castes. Disowning
this term as insulting, the revolutionaries of the low castes adopted
the umbrella term "Dalits" to refer to themselves.

In other words, the Messiah of the dalits is no longer from upper
castes, but one from among themselves.

Read in this context, there is nothing wrong in the view that it would
have been better if the Na'vi's fight against the exploitive humans in
the movie had been led by one of their own. In fact, it would have
better served to underscore the historical metaphor of the movie,
i.e., natives vs. white settlers.

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[ZESTCaste] UP Assy passes resolution for reservation to SC/ST

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-35377.html

UP Assy passes resolution for reservation to SC/ST

Lucknow, Jan 21 : Uttar Pradesh Assembly today passed a resolution
recommending Parliament's proposal to increase the reservation for the
Scheudle Castes and Schedule Tribes for another 10 years.

The House passed the resolution sent by the Parliament to approve its
109th amendment, which extends the reservation facility to the SC/ST
for another 10 years.

The House, which began its proceedings after the Governor's address to
the joint session of the legislature on the opening day of the budget
session, also took up other legislative businesses, including tabling
of two bills, which will replace the progumulated Ordinances when the
Assembly was not in session.

--UNI