Latest News Update: Mar 7, 2010

Sunday, March 7, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Pakistan: 71 Dalit families leave ancestral village to protest girl’s abduction

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=227595

71 Dalit families leave ancestral village to protest girl's abduction

Sunday, March 07, 2010
By By Jan Khaskheli

Karachi

In the first incident of its kind, 71 Dalit Meghwar families of the
Aaklee village, comprising 400 members, have left their ancestral
village to protest against the alleged abduction of a 15-year-old
Meghwar girl Daya. According to the villagers, the teenager was
forcibly married to a Muslim influential.

This is the second incident of abduction of a girl from the minority
Dalit community during the last two months. Earlier in January 2010,
Kasturi, a young girl from the Kolhi community in Nagarparker, was
kidnapped and gang-raped.

The Meghwar families have now set up their makeshift huts on the
plains near Mithi Town and are demanding protection for their young
daughters, who they believe are not secure after the kidnapping of
Daya. The protestors said that they not yet lodged an FIR against the
accused out of the fear of more kidnappings of their women. Daya was
kidnapped on January 23 from her hut in the night. Soon after the
incident, it was declared that she has converted to Islam at an old
Madrassa in Samaro town and married with one Mumtaz Hingorjo, son of a
local influential.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Sindh
Taskforce, the alleged abductors, Mumtaz and his father Talib
Hingorjo, have threatened the community to stay quite on the issue or
else they would kidnap other girls from the community.

Former Member of the Sindh Assembly, Engineer Gianchand, who also
belongs to the Meghwar community and is the general secretary of
Scheduled Castes Federation of Pakistan, told The News that the people
are in great trouble. "They are practically living on the ground.
Nobody from the government has come forward, extending a helping hand
in this difficult time.

They are starving and they don't have any access to potable water,"
Gianchand said. The ex-MPA's family has given a piece of land to the
protesting villagers to settle down.

The Meghwar community members are considered traditional supporters of
the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). However, the community elders
maintain that though they had conveyed the issue to the party leaders,
all they received are empty assurances.

Ratna and Khaku, parents of Daya, believe that the accused had forced
their daughter to change her religion. "It is a forced conversion,"
they claimed.

Pirbhu Satyani of Thardeep Rural Support Programme, a local NGO,
rejected the claim of the Madrassa head and the abductors regarding
the girl's change her faith on her will. "The girl is only 15 years
old, which means she is ineligible for marriage according to the law
of the land. Secondly, the girl should be produced before the court
where her statement should be recorded before the magistrate," he
added.

Satyani said that Thardeep was providing the protestors with food and
other necessities. He said the families need shelter immediately and
the cost to build a single hut ranges between Rs15, 000-17,000. He
regretted that the government was doing nothing for these families
except distributing some 100 forms of the Benazir Income Support
Programme (BISP).

Mehendro Meghwar, a local activist, said, "No one can imagine how
difficult it was for us to leave our ancestral village. We have
decided not to go back to our village."

When asked about their immediate needs, majority of the protestors
said that they were worried about the education of their children
because the exams had already started. Besides, they said, they had
lost their jobs. They also sought a piece of land from the government.

According to a statement issued by the HRCP's, Pir Ayoob Jan Sarhandi,
who heads the Madarssa in Samaro, has claimed that they have converted
40,000 non-Muslims to Islam so far. "Not a single case of forced
conversion has been proved against us. In this case, the girl showed
her willingness," the HRCP statement quoted Sarhandi.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits protest against discrimination in Odisha

http://www.kalingatimes.com/odisha_news/news2010/20100306_Dalits_protest_against_discrimination_in_Odisha.htm

Dalits protest against discrimination in Odisha

KalingaTimes Correspondent
Kendrapara, March 6: Alleging that they are being discriminated
against and treated as second grade citizens both by the government
agencies and upper-caste people, hundreds of dalits staged a noisy
protest rally in front of the district collectorate here today.

"Poor and innocent dalits are now at the receiving ends of atrocity
and torture and the offenders are influential and powerful upper caste
people. The protectors of law are watching silently as poor lower
people suffer. The civil and police administration has done precious
little to undo the injustice done to them", the agitating dalits told
reporters.

"Of late a reign of terror has been unleashed upon the dalits. Even
the women and children have become the victims of atrocity. Nothing
has been done to heal the wounded the psyche of dalits", charged Ashok
Mallik, secretary, Republican youth front, which spearheaded the
agitation.

Dalit women were victims of sexual assault in Rankala village last
month. Mob torched down the dalit dwellings in the said village. Apart
from effecting couple of arrest in the arson incident, police have
closed its eyes on the sexual assault case, he told.

Dalit women cooks have been beaten up and driven out of a school in
Rajnagar area purely on caste consideration. The victim women fearing
retaliation have fled the village. In Mahadedia village under Rajnagar
tehsil, the dalits are being socially ostracized and are being treated
as untouchables by upper caste villagers.

For strange reason, the grievance petitions and FIRs lodged with the
administrative and police authorities have been ignored, Mallik
alleged.

The district and police administration is maintaining partisan stand.
The influential offenders, who are well connected politically, are
being protected.

If this sort of caste bias continues, dalits would be forced to take
law unto their hands, he warned.

The dalit leader also assailed a ruling party MLA and MP for
maintaining stoic silence to the ongoing spell of dalit atrocity.
Bound by political compulsion, these BJD leaders are yet to utter a
word to assuage the morale of dalits, he concluded.

enying the allegations leveled by dalits, Kendrapara Collector
Sisirkanta Panda however said administration and police have due note
of dalits' plight. Action against the perpetrators of atrocity has
been initiated as per law, he added.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits rally in Kendrapara alleging discrimination

http://www.zeenews.com/news609309.html

Dalits rally in Kendrapara alleging discrimination

Updated on Sunday, March 07, 2010, 17:38 IST

Kendrapara: Alleging that they are being discriminated as second grade
citizens by government agencies and upper-caste people, hundreds of
dalits today rallied in front of Kendrapara district Collectorate
here.

Alleging a reign of terror has been unleashed upon the dalits in
certain areas of the district, Secretary, Republican Youth Front,
Ashok Mallik said the offenders are influential and powerful upper
caste people but the civil and police administration have done little.

Mallik further charged that Dalit women were subjected to sexual
assault at Rankala village last month when a mob torched their
dwellings and besides making some arrests in the case of arson,
"police turned a blind eye to the sexual assault case."

However, the District Collector Sisirkanta Panda denied the charges
and claimed proper action was initiated against the offenders as per
law.

PTI

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits look upon English as the language of emancipation

http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/07222145/Dalits-look-upon-English-as-th.html

Posted: Sun, Mar 7 2010. 10:21 PM IST
Economy and Politics

Dalits look upon English as the language of emancipation

Dalit activists argue that English not just opens up job
opportunities, but also helps ease the caste and power constraints
that come with speaking regional languages

Pallavi Singh

New Delhi: I dream of an English full of the words of my language.an
English in small letters and English that shall tire a white man's
tongue an English where small children practice with smooth round
pebbles in their mouth to spell the right zha.

When Meena Kandasamy wrote these lines, almost like a petition,
pleading that her roots be allowed to flourish in English, she was
just 18 and fresh from the unusual loss of her poetic name: Ilavenil.

Aspiring for change: Tamil poet Meena Kandasamy is one of a growing
band of Dalit intellectuals who look at English as a key to progress.

The Tamil name meant "spring" but often became the subject of ridicule
for the young Dalit poet when many said it sounded like the name of a
train. "I winced in horror and wept on my pillows. Within my own
state, this name was a clear giveaway of my Tamil origins: it was
devoid of Hindu/Brahminic/Sanskrit roots. I wanted a name people could
accept," she recalls.

She later adopted her nickname Meena to escape the predicament, and in
response to any question posed to her in Tamil, she spoke in English.
"I want this new tongue to accept me. I expect it to appreciate my
sensibilities, admire my culture and, above all, be accommodating,"
she says.

Kandasamy is one of a growing band of Dalit intellectuals who are
rooting for English, arguing what was once a language of imperial
power is now a language of emancipation.

Though a borrowed language, she says, English earned her recognition.
Poems in Kandasamy's first book Touch, written in English and
published in 2006, have been translated into five languages. "It
doesn't operate with the Dalits alone. English takes your voice to a
larger level and helps in your search for solidarity...(with)
like-minded people, people who want change."

Kandasamy's engagement is part of an emerging struggle in the journey
of English in India: the Dalit aspiration for progress and a growing
demand for schools teaching the language.

In Coimbatore, the second largest city in Tamil Nadu, a massive
English training project is under way. A seven-month-old programme
designed by the British Council under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),
a flagship programme to put every child in school, is training
teachers in government-funded schools to teach communicative English
better. The real beneficiaries, says Alison Barrett, head of the
council's Project English for State Partnerships, are children from
marginalized sections who attend such schools.

"English is a way of accessing socio-economic advancement. English, in
this country, means a language of power, and if you don't give them
English, they cannot access power structures and effect changes in
socio-economic policies," says Barrett.

In Tamil Nadu, where a strong Dravidian movement in the early decades
of the 20th century thwarted the Union government's plans to impose
Hindi as the country's official language, the English Project has
brought within its fold 125,000 primary school teachers and five
million children in a short span of seven months.

Thiru. S. Kannappan, SSA's joint director in Tamil Nadu, who is
involved in planning, implementation and monitoring, says the project
came at just the right time, when learning levels in the language in
state-run schools were ebbing—only around 22% children in the schools
in Tamil Nadu can read easy sentences, a recent report by education
activist group Pratham says.

Dalit activists argue that English not just opens up job
opportunities, but also helps ease the caste and power constraints
that come with speaking regional languages.

Far away from Tamil Nadu, in Uttar Pradesh, Dalit thinker and author
Chandrabhan now calls for the worship of the English goddess—a symbol
of Dalit emancipation.

"Not only is the English language spoken everywhere in the world,
respected by the people of all the nations and easily learnt, but the
people of the English nation are also impartial and unbiased—and to
whichever nation they go, they do not indulge in the base acts of
casteism or communalism," says Prasad, who declared 25 October as
English Day in a ceremony in New Delhi last year, coinciding with the
birthday of T.B. Macaulay, the British administrator who introduced
English education in the country.

"English can fill the gap," says Alka Gupta, founder of the British
Academy for English Language in New Delhi. "It is like Bisleri
water—you may go for anything to eat but you do need water. Whatever
be your personal qualification, you can't go far without English."

This is the concluding part of the series

pallavi.s@livemint.com

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[ZESTCaste] Rest of India proposes, UP disposes

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Rest-of-India-proposes-UP-disposes/articleshow/5652816.cms

Rest of India proposes, UP disposes
Arvind Singh Bisht, TNN, Mar 7, 2010, 07.11am IST

LUCKNOW: The political spectrum dominated by pro-Mandal forces in UP
is likely to undergo a change, once a determined Congress succeeds in
pushing the Women's Reservation bill, slated to be taken up for vote
in Parliament on Women's Day on March 8.

The Congress move has already caused disquiet in the ruling Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP). Though arch-rivals,
the two parties are major players in their own respects in UP.
Together, they represent the voice and aspirations of the masses by
making a formidable tally of 314 -- BSP (227) and the SP (87) in 403
members Vidhan Sabha.

Ironically, the opposition to the Women's bill by these two Mandal
outfits runs contrary to the history of UP. This is because UP can
boast of having the first woman governor (Sarojini Naidu), and the
first woman chief minister (Sucheta Kriplani) in the country. They
decorated these Constitutional offices way back in '50s and '60s
respectively when women virtually had no voice in the society. Even
BSP supremo Mayawati, herself a woman and a Scheduled Caste, has risen
to become chief minister for the fourth time of this politically most
sensitive state, which is often regarded as the heart of India and a
key to power at Delhi.

However, both the BSP and the SP have their reasons to oppose the
proposed bill. As OBC champion and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav puts
it: "The bill in its present form is nothing but a conspiracy against
the Dalits and the Other Backward Classes (OBC)." Incidentally, BSP
supremo Mayawati, too, demands vertical reservation given separately
to women belonging to SC/ST, OBC and minorities.

Both parties are gearing up to oppose the bill. As SP spokesman
Rajendra Chaudhary said: "We will oppose this bill both inside and
outside the Parliament." Similarly, BSP sources confide that the
Centre would be exposed for its stance over the issue at a large party
rally to be attended by workers from all over the country here on
March 15.

The fear of these parties are not unfounded. Paradoxically, their
voters are socially conservative. Reasons for this may vary. While
Dalits, who are mainly landless labourers, are socially-disadvantaged
groups; Yadavs, Jats and OBCs have a strong patriarchal set-up. In the
backdrop of this, leaders of both the BSP and SP are apprehensive over
the bill and see it against their social value system. They feel the
bill in its present form would force them to fill mandatory 33% women
quota mainly from those of upper castes.

An analogy can be drawn in this respect from the women representation
in the Vidhan Sabha. In 2002, 32 women were elected. The SP had the
highest numbers (16), followed by eight of BJP, six of BSP and two of
Congress and one of RLD. Of 16 SP women members, 10 were from upper
castes. In BSP their number was four out of total six. However, in
2007 Vidhan Sabha elections the number of women MLAs went down. They
are in the order of: BSP (14), SP (6) BJP (5), Congress (1) and RLD
(2). Incidentally, majority of women MLAs, both in BSP and the SP, are
from upper castes.

In UP, the first Legislative Assembly had 13 women, this increased to
29 in 1957 and 30 in 1985. Their numbers reached a low of 10 in 1991,
but rose to 14 in 1993. The assembly elections of 1996 saw only 19
women in the state legislature. The only silver lining is that of the
panchayats polls in which women representatives are much more than
their quota of 33%. But as these elections are influenced mainly by
the government of the day, they are only a superficial parameter for
women empowerment.

Systematically, anti-women biases and obstacles to women's entry have
made our polity an almost exclusive all-male club. In popular
perception, politics has become synonymous with greed, lust for power
and criminality. Ironically, Mayawati, too, has failed to distinguish
herself as advocate of women empowerment.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits have low awareness about legal rights : Expert

http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100306/812/tnl-dalits-have-low-awareness-about-lega.html

Dalits have low awareness about legal rights : Expert

Sat, Mar 6 11:59 PM
Patna, March 6 (IANS) The poorest of the poor dalits and exploited
sections of society have extremely low awareness about legal rights
and judicial remedies which is impeding welfare and human rights
objectives, a rights activist said Saturday.

'Unless Dalits and marginalised sections of society are aware of their
legal rights and are also aware of the ways and means to enforce them,
they will not be able to enjoy rights and privileges accorded to them
under Indian laws,' Sarita Bhoi of the Dalit Rights Initiative of
Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) said after the conclusion of a two day
workshop on 'Dalit Rights and the Law'.

The workshop was attended by 25 NGOs and 200 civil society
representatives from across the country.

'There is large scale ignorance about legal rights, together with
ignorance and fear of the judicial options and procedures among dalits
and exploited communities. The state of dalit affairs in Bihar leaves
much to be desired,' she said.

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[ZESTCaste] Lalu firm on opposing Women's Reservation Bill

http://www.ptinews.com/news/552265_Lalu-firm-on-opposing-Women-s-Reservation-Bill

Lalu firm on opposing Women's Reservation Bill

STAFF WRITER 16:49 HRS IST
Patna, Mar 7 (PTI) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will oppose the Women's
Reservation Bill "tooth and nail and are even prepared to be
marshalled out," its president Lalu Prasad said today.

Dubbing the bill as a "political blunder", Prasad alleged that it was
a conspiracy hatched by both BJP and Congress parties to suppress
representation of women belonging to the OBC, ST/SC and Muslim
communities.

The Centre does not have guts to implement the Ranganath Mishra
Commission and Sachar panel reports, and hence passing of the Women's
Reservation Bill was merely a "diversionary tactic", he told reporters
here before leaving for New Delhi to garner support against the bill
in its present form.

"I am for 50 per cent reservation for women belonging to all
communities... But you cannot ignore the the interests of women from
deprived sections of the society.

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[ZESTCaste] 'Women bill a conspiracy against Muslims, Dalits'

http://www.ptinews.com/news/552175_-Women-quota-bill-a-conspiracy-against-Muslims--Dalits-

'Women bill a conspiracy against Muslims, Dalits'

STAFF WRITER 15:50 HRS IST
Lucknow, Mar 7 (PTI) Slamming the women's reservation bill as a
"dangerous" one, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today alleged that it
was a conspiracy to prevent Muslims, backwards and dalits from
entering Parliament and state assemblies.

"SP is not against reservation to women, but we are against the
present format of the bill, which is a big conspiracy by the Congress
and the BJP to prevent Muslims, backwards and dalits to get elected to
the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas," Yadav, whose party has steadfastly
opposed the bill, told reporters here.

Attacking the two parties, he said, "It's not an allegation, it's the
reality as Congress and BJP had always been anti-Muslim,
anti-backwards and anti-dalit. Therefore, they want to amend the
Constitution.

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[ZESTCaste] Land Act did not help Dalits: critic

http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/07/stories/2010030752020300.htm

Kerala - Kalpetta

Land Act did not help Dalits: critic

A Correspondent

KALPETTA: K. Venu, social critic, has said that the land reforms Act
in Kerala did not help the marginalised sections of society, including
the tribal people and the Dalits.

Inaugurating a seminar on "Tribal people, their land and politics"
here on Saturday, Mr. Venu said that though the Act was able to
eradicate feudalism to an extent and liberate many tenants from
tenancy, the tribal people and the Dalits continued to face neglect in
being granted land. The reason for this was that many of them were not
tenants and hence did not come under the purview of the Act.

Mr. Venu said the successive governments did not take follow-up action
after the implementation of the Act. They could have helped these
marginalised people by finding surplus land and giving it to them, but
nobody cared about the basic issues of the tribal people and the
Dalits. The civil society and the governments became conscious of the
rights of the tribal people only after the Muthanga agitation.

He alleged that the political parties did not make any positive
attempts to solve the basic issues of the marginalised sections.
Finding surplus land possessed by private people in a time-bound
manner and distributing it among the tribal people were the only
possible ways to solve the issue. He said the basic problems of the
tribal people should be solved legally and the political parties
should have a policy to solve the problems of such marginalised
people.

'Untimely'

C.K. Janu, chairman, Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, said the land
agitations launched under the aegis of the Communist Party of
India-Marxist (CPI-M) was untimely. Using the government machinery,
the party should find surplus land in the district and distribute it
to the tribal people. P.V. Rajagopal, National Land Reforms Committee
member and chairman, Ekatha Parishad, said the aspirations of the
middle class were wrongly considered the aspirations of India.
Cultural imperialism should not be imposed upon the tribal people. A
new cultural paradigm should be developed and the middle class should
press for the basic needs of the tribal people, he added.

C.K. Saseendran, CPI(M) district secretary, and M. Geethanandan,
leader, Rashtriya Mahasabha, spoke. The seminar was organised by the
Vartha Trust, a collective of journalists in the district.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits occupy 40 acres of Kalki Ashram

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nellore/dalits-occupy-40-acres-kalki-ashram-280

Dalits occupy 40 acres of Kalki Ashram

March 5th, 2010
By DC Correspondent , DC Correspondent

Varadaiahpalem March 4: About 100 villagers from the Dalitwada of
Mambakam village of Varadaiahpalem mandal in the district on Thursday
encroached the sprawling 40 acre of the Kalki Bhagawan Ashram and
earmarked their individual borders.
According to information reaching here, villagers reached the ashram
surrounded by the reserve forest early in the morning. Carrying farm
equipment like crowbars, sickles and pickaxes, they started clearing
bushes and made individual boundaries, writing their names on the
rocks.
Police at Satyavedu and Varadaiahpalem station received information
around 10.30 am, but there was no action from them. Similarly, the
management of Kalki Bhagawan Ashram, located 12 km from the encroached
land, also did not respond.
Villages claimed that the lands originally belonged to them and the
ashram personnel had taken these over, making false promises.
They remained there till dusk and later left for their hamlet.
Meanwhile, about 30 parents of Kalki Dasas in the ashram addressed the
media on Thursday noon.
They rejected the news in the print and electronic media about drug
and other anti-social activities in the ashram.
They claimed that their children who were rendering service as
servants (dasas) to the Bhagawan were safe in his custody.

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[ZESTCaste] Home Ministry rules out caste-based census

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Home+Ministry+rules+out+caste-based+census&artid=CYeG1O9nYZU=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SEO=census,+2011&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=

Home Ministry rules out caste-based census

IANS
First Published : 07 Mar 2010 10:23:22 AM ISTLast Updated : 07 Mar
2010 10:29:28 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The government has decided not to include caste as one of
the parameters in the 2011 census, a demand made by several regional
parties.

"Caste will not be included in the 2011 census," Home Secretary Gopal
K Pillai said.

Parties like PMK, RJD, JD(U) and a few others had demanded in the past
inclusion of caste in the decennial census, especially the survey
focusing on Other Backward Castes to buttress their demand for OBC
reservation.

Besides, West Bengal's Left Front government is the lone state
government to have made a representation to the Central government
asking for a caste-based census.

Groups like OBC Employees' Welfare Association, Tamil Nadu, Most
Backward Class Officers and Employees' Association, Patna, National
Social Justice Forum (Haryana unit) and All India Other Backward
Classes Employees in Indian Ordnance and Ordnance Equipment Factories
Welfare Association, Tiruchirappalli had requested the Home Ministry
for including caste as one of the parameters in 2011.

The office of the Registrar General of India that oversees the census
exercise, comes under the Home Ministry.

Data on demographic and socio-economic parameters like age, sex, SC/ST
status, literacy, religion, mother tongues/ languages known, economic
activity status and migration are among the 15 parameters that would
be collected as part of the 2011 Census.

Home Ministry officials said there are "practical and logistical
difficulties" in including caste in the Census exercise.

"The idea of caste is not uniform across the country.

Besides, how would an enumerator cross-check the claims of someone
belonging to a particular caste," an official said.

The last caste-based Census was held in 1931, but there have been
sporadic calls for one after the implementation of the Mandal
Commission Report.

The PMK even had approached the Supreme Court last year with its
demand. The apex court, however, turned down the plea saying it "could
cause immense strife" and that "this is why it had not been done for
the last 60 years".

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[ZESTCaste] Anna: The man who saw the future

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anna-The-man-who-saw-the-future/articleshow/5652994.cms

Anna: The man who saw the future
Amrith Lal, Mar 7, 2010, 03.38am IST

Before cutouts and 'cooling' glasses captured the Dravidian movement
and the imagination of the Tamil public, there was Anna.

Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai or Anna (elder brother in Tamil) to
admirers and followers, is a seminal figure in Indian politics. He was
a mass leader who spoke of social justice and linguistic nationalism.
He saw the potential of the mass media, especially theatre and cinema,
to spread the political message and mobilize people. His work
radically transformed power equations in Tamil Nadu. R Kannan's
biography is a sensitive portrayal of the man and the movement he led.

Anna belonged to a political tradition that gave precedence to social
reform over political freedom. The Dravidian movement suspected Indian
nationalism as represented by Congress of wanting to emasculate
regional, ethnic and linguistic communities. It interpreted pan-Indian
nationalism as an Aryan project to subdue Dravidians. In many ways,
the Dravidian movement anticipated the national struggles that emerged
in independent India, especially in the northeastern region.

Kannan begins his story by analyzing the political trends that
prepared the ground for Anna's career. The early decades of the 20th
century were a time of political and social upheaval in south India.
Madras was the political centre of south India. Brahmins dominated the
bureaucracy, just as they did other spheres.

It was natural for the struggle for representation to acquire an
anti-Brahmin thrust. A non-Brahmin manifesto issued in 1916 said caste
and class distinctions would have to disappear before self-government
could become more satisfactory. When the Justice Party, the main
vehicle of non-Brahmin politics, gained office in Madras Presidency in
1920, it issued the communal government order that demanded more
non-Brahmin representation in all government departments. Later, it
gave priority to non-Brahmins and backward communities in recruitment
and promotion. This was six decades before New Delhi accepted the
Mandal Commission recommendations.

It is impossible to separate Anna's story from the history of the
Dravidian movement and the life of Periyar EV Ramasamy Naicker.
Periyar began his political career as a Congressman but joined the
Justice Party after he was convinced that social reform must precede
political reform. He transformed the Justice Party into a mass
organization. Anna, born into a family of weavers, became his trusted
ally. According to Kannan, there could not have been two more
different men. "EVR spoke the bitter truth without mincing words and
was extreme in his views....Unlike his iconoclast leader, Anna, the
genteel disciple, chastised Aryanism, caste, ritualistic religion,
unethical pontiffs, feudal landlords and the heartless rich in a much
more acceptable manner and consequently doors hitherto shut to the
movement opened to him," he writes.

Together, the mentor and his disciple spearheaded the anti-Hindi
protests of the 1930s. This phase of mass mobilization saw the advent
of Tamil linguistic nationalism, which was a combination of the social
reform agenda and pride in the Tamil language and culture. Soon, it
became a cry for a separate Dravida nation. But what was that?
According to Kannan, territorially unworkable and ethnically
amorphous, the project was no more than a medley of ad hoc theses and
arguments.

Periyar and Anna split ranks on the question of state power. Unlike
Periyar, Anna thought electoral politics necessary. They parted with
bitterness. Kannan betrays a nuanced understanding of the complex
relations between Periyar and Anna. His narration is sensitive.

The DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), formed in 1949, refused to accept
the Indian nation state's primacy but aspired to public office. It
held to the demand for self-determination till 1962. Anna's
explanation for abandoning this demand was simple: "We need to get our
(Dravida Nadu) from Pandit Nehru. Not from the Chinese." Attempts to
make Hindi the sole official language in the 1960s provoked language
riots in Madras. Emotions ran high as DMK leaders used the issue to
mobilize people and self-immolation began. Kannan writes that Anna
didn't approve of the suicides and said, "they should fight injustice
by living; to die is wrong. There should be no such thoughts." The
mobilization helped the DMK win office in Madras in 1967.

Anna was chief minister only for two years. He died in 1969 at the age
of 60. By then, he had skillfully convinced a party founded on a
separatist platform to embrace the idea of a federal India. The
failure to invent a radical agenda after it exhausted the limited
goals of political representation prevented the party from looking
beyond identity issues. Excessive dependence on an emotional agenda
crippled the party's ability to foster a democratic public culture.
That, in the end, led the movement itself to decay.

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

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