Latest News Update: Jun 14, 2010

Monday, June 14, 2010

Re: [ZESTCaste] Interview conducted in Panjab University Chandigarh for SC teaching post

Dear Vineet,

i have faced same problem in Jamia Millia Islamia , for my Ph.D Admission and fighting my case in National SC Commission , and also will go to high court if justice is not done with me . i have also made Jamia sc st obc old boys association through which i am going to fight this type of atrocity , so let me know if u want to me initate action against the universiy

bye

SUrender
09899591622

On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 1:50 PM, vinitprakash <vptietp@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear All,

In the response to advertisement No. 6/2009, I have applied for the post of Lecturer in Physical Environment-1 (Reserved for SC Category) in the Department of Environment & Vocational Studies, Panjab University , Chandigarh .
Further with reference to their interview letter vide No. EST/10/2535 dated 19/03/2010 , I appeared in the interview on 02/04/2010 at 4:30 PM in the office of Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University , Chandigarh .
As per condition of the interview letter, I was asked by experts to give presentation in the office of V.C. After completion of presentation, Experts seems to be much satisfied with my research activities and qualification.
VC from His chair asked me, "Have you brought NOC".
I told that I have applied for it to my Private Deemed University but they refused to provide the same.
Interrupting me to say anything VC said with anger, "How did you appear for interview?….you are not suitable for interview…..without NOC…how did you come?"
One expert said sir, let we interview him first.
V.C., "OK…….OK"
One expert asked me, "Why you studied POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHs) from incineration of waste?"

I answered PAHs are of special environmental concern. US Environmental Protection Agency has declared 16 PAHs as priority pollutants. Moreover many PAHs have been declared as probable and possible carcinogenic by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
I told that I have submitted two research projects, one to AICTE entitled, "Oral Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons" and another to CSIR entitled, "Toxic Environmental Releases From Medical Waste Incinerators" for funding. Presently, I am guiding two M.Sc. students and 1 Ph.D. student.
Then VC rush toward the seat where expert committee was sitting and said to me in hindi, "Tu bahut environmentalist banta hai? Ye bata abhi – abhi globle warming per controvercy chali thi; wo kya thi?"
I just started to speak, whether carbon dioxide ….is actually responsible for global warming or not?
(but even word carbon he did not let me to say anything).
Then he asked, "Who is the Indian environmentalist who have received Noble prize".
I said, sorry! Right now I am not able re member his name.
VC said with anger in Punjabi, "Chhal…bhajj ! bhajj………bhajj ja…bhajj ja……..(means you just get lost…fast)" by pointing his fingers towards the door.

I left the room but I was shocked.

Having PhD degree (with international publications) from reputed Deemed University, NET (LS) CSIR UGC, HP SLET, GATE and more than two year teaching experience..…the person is treated like animal in interview, just to degrade SC candidate or to show that I was nothing in front of world owners (Upper caste people).

I request you all, kindly to enquire the following:

1. Why an interview Letter No. EST/10/1552/Estt. I dated 25/02/2010 was issued in which date of interview was mentioned to be 20/11/2009? After consulting University authorities a new interview letter was issued on 26/02/2010 (Letter No. EST/10/1706/Estt. I) in which date is mentioned to be 03/03/2010 at 9:30AM.
2. When I reached at University on said date and time, It was said to me that interview has been postponed. Why I was not intimated for that? [However, modified letter for interview was issued on 26/02/2010 (Friday). There were holidays for 27/02/2010-Saturday, 28/02/2010-Sunday and 01/03/2010-Monday (for Holi)]. Why interview was cancelled on spot (02/03/2010) and Why the candidate who's corresponding address was of same city in which University is situated was not intimated for postponing the date of interview?
3. Further, afresh interview letter was issued on 19/03/2010 for interview to be conducted on 02/04/2010 at 4:30PM.
4. Why I was mentally tortured by using abusing language by VC?
5. For reserved post, Why every year interview is conducted but seats are not filled? Is it for money making?
6. Why every year, It is said to UGC, "Not found Suitable."
7. For a reserved post of Lecturer for SC, what can be more qualification than Ph.D.? Is in India education system has fallen upto such a extent that suitability of a candidate (for a post of lecturer) can not be predicted on the basis of having PhD degree, CSIR-UGC NET (LS), HP SLET, GATE and Teaching experience of more than 2 years at university level? But such a candidate is insulted in interview.
8. Why private colleges/ Universities do not issue NOC (No Objection Certificate) but ask to resign?
9. Why NOC is required from private employer, if candidate do not want to take any benefit of his experience from last employer in the case when private authorities do not issue NOC?
Please find enclosed my Latest CV as proof of qualification and copy misleading interview letters. I have also made many requests through e-mail from April, 2010 regarding my grievance.

Kindly look into the matter as soon as possible and help untouchable persons to stand in the front of upper cast people.

Hoping for the justice.

With regards,

Dr Vinit Prakash

--

(Surender Kumar)
Director- Cinematographer

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Re: [ZESTCaste] Interview conducted in Panjab University Chandigarh for SC teaching post

Dear Vinit,

You have written very late. I am hearing such type of thing first time. In my poenion you should write immediately to UGC who is responsible for the implementation of reservation in universities, Panjab State Govt. Sc commission etc. If you are able you can go to Supreme Court.

Dr. Uaday Singh

Assistant Professor

Deptt. of Mathematics

BHU, Varanasi

--- On Sun, 13/6/10, vinitprakash <vptietp@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: vinitprakash <vptietp@yahoo.com>
Subject: [ZESTCaste] Interview conducted in Panjab University Chandigarh for SC teaching post
To: ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, 13 June, 2010, 1:50 PM

Dear All,

In the response to advertisement No. 6/2009, I have applied for the post of Lecturer in Physical Environment-1 (Reserved for SC Category) in the Department of Environment & Vocational Studies, Panjab University , Chandigarh .
Further with reference to their interview letter vide No. EST/10/2535 dated 19/03/2010 , I appeared in the interview on 02/04/2010 at 4:30 PM in the office of Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University , Chandigarh .
As per condition of the interview letter, I was asked by experts to give presentation in the office of V.C. After completion of presentation, Experts seems to be much satisfied with my research activities and qualification.
VC from His chair asked me, "Have you brought NOC".
I told that I have applied for it to my Private Deemed University but they refused to provide the same.
Interrupting me to say anything VC said with anger, "How did you appear for interview?….you are not suitable for interview…..without NOC…how did you come?"
One expert said sir, let we interview him first.
V.C., "OK…….OK"
One expert asked me, "Why you studied POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHs) from incineration of waste?"

I answered PAHs are of special environmental concern. US Environmental Protection Agency has declared 16 PAHs as priority pollutants. Moreover many PAHs have been declared as probable and possible carcinogenic by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
I told that I have submitted two research projects, one to AICTE entitled, "Oral Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons" and another to CSIR entitled, "Toxic Environmental Releases From Medical Waste Incinerators" for funding. Presently, I am guiding two M.Sc. students and 1 Ph.D. student.
Then VC rush toward the seat where expert committee was sitting and said to me in hindi, "Tu bahut environmentalist banta hai? Ye bata abhi – abhi globle warming per controvercy chali thi; wo kya thi?"
I just started to speak, whether carbon dioxide ….is actually responsible for global warming or not?
(but even word carbon he did not let me to say anything).
Then he asked, "Who is the Indian environmentalist who have received Noble prize".
I said, sorry! Right now I am not able re member his name.
VC said with anger in Punjabi, "Chhal…bhajj ! bhajj………bhajj ja…bhajj ja……..(means you just get lost…fast)" by pointing his fingers towards the door.

I left the room but I was shocked.

Having PhD degree (with international publications) from reputed Deemed University, NET (LS) CSIR UGC, HP SLET, GATE and more than two year teaching experience..…the person is treated like animal in interview, just to degrade SC candidate or to show that I was nothing in front of world owners (Upper caste people).

I request you all, kindly to enquire the following:

1. Why an interview Letter No. EST/10/1552/Estt. I dated 25/02/2010 was issued in which date of interview was mentioned to be 20/11/2009? After consulting University authorities a new interview letter was issued on 26/02/2010 (Letter No. EST/10/1706/Estt. I) in which date is mentioned to be 03/03/2010 at 9:30AM.
2. When I reached at University on said date and time, It was said to me that interview has been postponed. Why I was not intimated for that? [However, modified letter for interview was issued on 26/02/2010 (Friday). There were holidays for 27/02/2010-Saturday, 28/02/2010-Sunday and 01/03/2010-Monday (for Holi)]. Why interview was cancelled on spot (02/03/2010) and Why the candidate who's corresponding address was of same city in which University is situated was not intimated for postponing the date of interview?
3. Further, afresh interview letter was issued on 19/03/2010 for interview to be conducted on 02/04/2010 at 4:30PM.
4. Why I was mentally tortured by using abusing language by VC?
5. For reserved post, Why every year interview is conducted but seats are not filled? Is it for money making?
6. Why every year, It is said to UGC, "Not found Suitable."
7. For a reserved post of Lecturer for SC, what can be more qualification than Ph.D.? Is in India education system has fallen upto such a extent that suitability of a candidate (for a post of lecturer) can not be predicted on the basis of having PhD degree, CSIR-UGC NET (LS), HP SLET, GATE and Teaching experience of more than 2 years at university level? But such a candidate is insulted in interview.
8. Why private colleges/ Universities do not issue NOC (No Objection Certificate) but ask to resign?
9. Why NOC is required from private employer, if candidate do not want to take any benefit of his experience from last employer in the case when private authorities do not issue NOC?
Please find enclosed my Latest CV as proof of qualification and copy misleading interview letters. I have also made many requests through e-mail from April, 2010 regarding my grievance.

Kindly look into the matter as soon as possible and help untouchable persons to stand in the front of upper cast people.

Hoping for the justice.

With regards,

Dr Vinit Prakash

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit and Adivasi Students’ Portal (www.scststudents.org)

Dalit and Adivasi Students' Portal

Dear Friends,

We are very pleased to announce the launching of our Dalit and Adivasi Students' Portal (www.scststudents.org).

After the successful launch of National Telephone Helpline (helpline number – 0 9999 48 42 49) for our students on 27^th May, 2010, this portal is one more effort from Insight Foundation, towards creating a support system for Dalit and Adivasi students in Higher Education and also supporting them to make informed choices while pursuing higher education and in career opportunities.

About the Portal

Dalit and Adivasi Students' Portal (DASP) is an e-resource centre for Dalit and Adivasi students in Higher education. DASP includes online discussion, mentoring for Dalit and Adivasi students, and provides relevant information about admissions, scholarships and career opportunities. It is also a space for advocating intervention at policy levels, towards creating equal opportunities in higher education, by making our educational system more inclusive.

Various Sections in the Portal

1. Information - As a group, we are committed to provide relevant and updated information regarding various courses, admissions, scholarships, coaching and career opportunities available for our students through our portal. The students can also write to us or our telephone helpline for any particular information.

2. Mentorship Programme - We are running a unique mentorship programme for our students to get in touch with young professionals, academicians, faculty members and all those who graduated from premier institutions and pursuing their respective careers successfully.

Our students are advised to go through the portal and choose the mentor from the desired field. We have already uploaded few profiles of our mentors on the portal and by the end of this month we are going to upload profiles of 100 mentors from different fields. All our mentors are committed to support our students to the best of their capacities.

Our target is, within the period of one year, to have almost 500 mentors from different fields to assist our students.

3. Interviews - The portal will carry regular interviews of our young achievers and mentors, their achievements and their struggles to motivate our young students. We are going to upload one interview each, every week, in our sections – Success Stories and Meet our Mentor.

4. Issues at Stake- This section will consist of brief commentaries on important issues, especially, pertaining to policies on higher education and its impact on our communities. We invite young Dalit and Adivasi students, professionals and activists to send their writings to us on important issues that we can upload in this section.

5. Experts Says–Through this section, we will try to provide detailed information to our students on one particular topic like on newly available courses, tips for improving their writing and other skills needed to excel in their studies etc.

6. Campus News - This section will include articles, news, commentaries, brief reports on the activities of various Dalit and Adivasi students groups working in different campuses. This section will also highlight cases of caste-discrimination and prejudices that are prevalent in Indian campuses.

7. Discussion Forum – A platform for our students, mentors and other users to discuss, share, debate on various issues.

Above is the brief overview of the portal which is online now. To begin with, we have tried our level best to make our portal simple and informative. However, we are going to add lots of new features and applications on our portal gradually as per the requirements of our students.

Simultaneously we are also working on creating a database on admissions, scholarships, career opportunities and other important information that will be uploaded on our portal for the benefit of our students.

Our requests -

1. Please do visit our portal www.scststudents.org and let us know your feedbacks on mail@insightfoundation.in to improve our efforts.

2. Become a mentor – Please let us know if you are interested in becoming a mentor of our students and mail us.

3. Please forward this information regarding our Telephone Helpline and Dalit and Adivasi Students Portal to all our students, if possible or/and suggest us ways to reach to our students.

4. Education section being one of the broadest, we need your support to build our database on information regarding higher education and career opportunities.

Media Coverage – We have been very fortunate to get some media coverage on our recent initiatives. Given below are the links. Kindly have a look.

1. http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/Help-for-reserved-categories/Article1-552729.aspx

2. http://www.thehindu.com/2010/05/28/stories/2010052863060300.htm

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[ZESTCaste] High cut-offs in SC/ST category

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/High-cut-offs-in-SC-ST-category/Article1-557350.aspx

High cut-offs in SC/ST category

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times

New Delhi, June 14, 2010

Though the cut-off list of St. Stephen's college shows a drop in
percentages of various subjects for the general category this year,
the cut-offs for students of SC/ST category has gone up by as high as
16 per cent.

For example, the minimum marks required to appear for the interview by
a SC/ST candidate applying for Physics (H) was 74.3 per cent last
year, as compared to 90.3 per cent this year. "The increase in SC/ST
category cut-offs is to ensure that the merit standard is maintained,"
said Nandita Narian, admission in-charge of the college.

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[ZESTCaste] UP varsity may be exempt from giving quota to OBCs

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/UP-varsity-may-be-exempt-from-giving-quota-to-OBCs/articleshow/6044790.cms

UP varsity may be exempt from giving quota to OBCs
Akshaya Mukul, TNN, Jun 14, 2010, 02.16am IST

NEW DELHI: In a move that could stir OBC politics in the Hindi
heartland, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) in Lucknow, a
central university, is being exempted from giving reservation to OBCs
in admission.

Till now, BBAU has not been giving reservation to OBCs as SC/ST quota
already meets the upper limit of 50%. For long, denial of reservation
to OBCs has been a issue in BBAU.

Exemption from OBC reservation to BBAU and other kinds of exemptions —
all related to quota — to central educational institutions in the
north-east states are part of the series of amendments proposed in the
Central Educational Institutions (reservation in admission) Amendment
Act.

The amendment proposal does not mention BBAU but most of the
exemptions, sources said, were specific to one institution or the
other. For instance, the amendment seeks to bring down OBC reservation
to less than 27% in states like Tripura and Sikkim where SC/ST
reservation is around 34%. Here, reservation for OBCs will be only
16%.

There is also a proposal to apply reservation policy of the state
government to state seats in a central educational institution. Last
year, a peculiar situation had arisen in National Institute of
Technology, Agartala and HRD ministry had to protect state reservation
through a presidential order.

The amendment defines "north-east" to cover all north-eastern states
including Sikkim but excludes the non-tribal areas of Assam. This has
been done since two central universities — Tezpur University and Assam
University — are in non-tribal areas and will be able to implement 27%
OBC reservation.

The amendment also seeks to extend the period of implementing
reservation from three years to six years. Now, all central
educational institutions and universities will have time till 2012.
This has been done so that universities like Jamia Milia Islamia can
implement OBC reservation.

For the last three years, JMI has been defying HRD ministry on
reservation. With concerted attempt to give it a tag of minority
institution, it is unlikely that reservation in JMI will become a
reality soon.

The amendment also proposes to increase the number of seats in
unpopular branches of study or faculty.

The proposal says increase will be with reference to the number of
seats in that subject in the year OBC reservation came into force or
the number of seats actually filled, whichever is less.

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[ZESTCaste] Media coverage of Dalit issues in Tamil Nadu

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/06/14/stories/2010061450581100.htm

Opinion - Readers' Editor : Online & Off line

Media coverage of Dalit issues in Tamil Nadu

S. Viswanathan

There is no denying that media coverage of Dalit-related incidents and
issues in Tamil Nadu has improved in the last two decades. In the
early years of Independence, the typical attitude to Dalit problems
was, as in every other State, one of complacency. This was mainly
because the moment the Republican Constitution declared that
untouchability was abolished across India, the media, civil society,
and the political establishment began to believe that the problems
concerning this section of the people have been resolved once for all.

In Tamil Nadu, particularly in the first few years of Independence,
the struggle for reservation for backward classes in government
employment became the foremost item on the social agenda of the
Dravidian parties. So, unsurprisingly, when the State was rocked by
incidents of violence involving Dalits and a section of caste Hindus
in southern Tamil Nadu in the 1950s, the media as well as the
mainstream political parties saw it as a "riot involving two social
groups" or a fallout of competitive politics.

Only in the 1990s, when the birth centenary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was
celebrated across the country and Dalit socio-political assertiveness
was in evidence did the media begin to see the issue from a different
perspective. Horrific violence against Dalits, the resultant loss of
life and property, and brutal intervention by the police on the side
of the oppressors gave a new dimension to the media approach to
Dalit-related issues. The killing of Dalits, and entrenched
discriminatory practices against them were now seen, at least by a
section of the media, from the angle of violation of human rights.
Kodiyankulam (1995), Gundupatti (1998), and the Tirunelveli massacre
(1995) can be cited as notorious examples of police repression against
Dalits.

The dawn of the 21st century witnessed some new developments. The
realignment of political parties, hopes raised by electoral politics,
and the success of coalition-building among Dalit parties altered the
ground reality. Media coverage of Dalit issues seems to be in decline,
although a few popular Tamil magazines have chosen to keep the
coverage alive, in a diluted form, usually with an eye on those
looking for sensational reports. During the same period, there has
been a decline in anti-Dalit violence but the chronic or entrenched
problems loom large. Aside from persistent social discrimination
against Dalits, landlessness, loss of land owing to ignorance or acute
poverty, and improper implementation of the reservation system cry out
for a solution. In the most recent period, the subject has been given
lower priority even among the handful of newspapers that have been
maintaining a decent level of coverage.

Madras High Court judgment

For instance, a recent court judgment of the Madras High Court on the
alienation of the "Panchami Lands" assigned to the 'Depressed Classes'
(later termed Scheduled Castes) to persons who were not from the
Depressed Classes raises questions about a problem that has defied
solution over decades. Dismissing the writ appeals filed by a private
builder and a residents' association against an order passed in 1996
by a single Judge of the Madras High Court, a Division Bench
comprising Justice Prabha Sridevan and Justice P.P.S. Janarthana Raja
affirmed the findings of the single Judge that the lands in question
were the [Panchami] lands allotted to members of the Scheduled Castes,
subject to the conditions stipulated in Standing Order No. 15 of the
Board of Revenue and that the present alienation of the land was in
violation of these conditions. According to the Standing Order, if
there has been violation of the conditions in the alienation of
Panchami land, the Government has the power to resume the land. In
such cases, "the Government will be entitled to re-enter and take
possession of the land without payment of any compensation or refund
of the purchase money." The judgment pointed out that the conditions
imposed by the Government when it assigned the land were that the
allotted land should not be alienated to any person for 10 years from
the date of assignment and thereafter they could only be alienated to
persons belonging to the Depressed Classes and if they were alienated
to persons other than the Depressed Classes, the Government had the
power to retrieve such land.

The Division Bench quotes extensively from the observations of the
Supreme Court of India while dealing with the question of the right to
economic justice under Article 46 of the Constitution, "which casts
upon the State a duty to provide economic justice to Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections of the society in order
to prevent their exploitation." Justice Prabha Sridevan, who delivered
the judgment for the Division Bench, gives a brief history of the
assignment of lands to the Depressed Classes, before elaborating the
Bench's verdict. In 1891, the Collector of Chengalpet District in
northern Tamil Nadu, J.H.A. Tremenheere, sent a report to the British
government on the plight of the Depressed Classes. Lands were then in
the total control of persons who were considered to be at higher
levels in the caste hierarchy and the bonded agricultural labourers
and landless workers mainly belonged to the Depressed Classes.

Tremenheere stated further in his report: "The small marginal land
holdings, housing, literacy, free labour without force/bondage,
self-respect and dignity are the factors that could lead to
transformation (in their lives)." The British Parliament passed the
Depressed Class Land Act in 1892 and 12 lakh acres of land were
distributed to people from the Depressed Classes in Tamil Nadu. The
lands were called Panchami Lands [also known as Depressed Classes
Conditional Lands] and were given away on certain conditions.

Justice Prabha Sridevan noted in this judgment that it would appear
that the conditions over sale were imposed bearing in mind that it
would be easy to exploit persons belonging to the Depressed Classes
who had been kept in a subjugated condition. Statistics showed that
vast extents of lands distributed under the scheme were later in the
possession of persons who did not belong to the Depressed Classes. The
Judge observed that the conditions appeared to have been violated
without any check or restraint. (The counsel for the appellants had
submitted that such a restraint on alienation of land was void.)

The Judge drew attention to an excerpt from the Statement of Objects
and Reasons of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which the Supreme Court referred to while
dealing with a petition challenging the Act. The excerpt read:
"Despite various measures to improve the socio-economic conditions of
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, they remain vulnerable.
They are denied a number of civil rights. They are subjected to
various offences, indignities, humiliation, and harassment. They have,
in several brutal incidents, been deprived of their life and property.
Serious crimes are committed against them for various historical,
social and economic reasons." She added: "The very sad truth is that
the conditions recorded in the Statement of Objects and Reasons in the
year 1989 have not abated. Therefore, this only underscores the
importance of protecting the rights of those who have been for
centuries, denied this right [to live with human dignity]."

The verdict of the Division Bench, which has looked into the problem
from the perspective of the constitutional rights of Dalits, such as
the right to economic justice and the right to live with dignity,
gains significance in the context of repeated appeals of Dalit and
Left organisations to the government to retrieve Panchami lands,
assigned to Dalits but now in the possession of non-Dalits, and
restore it to Dalits. Only massive, concerted efforts of the
government to survey the land assigned under the Panchami Land scheme
and identify the land alienated to non-Dalits in violation of the
conditions can lead to restitutive justice on the ground.

Dalit reassertion in Tamil Nadu

Although 1.2 million acres of land are reported to have been assigned
to Dalits in Tamil Nadu, much of this has fallen into the hands of
non-Dalits over the decades. The problem came to light only around the
1990s. It is noteworthy that an organised agitation demanding
retrieval of the assigned land back to Dalits was staged in 1994 at
Karanai near Chengalpet (now Chengalpattu), where the District
Collector Tremenheere initiated the historical move to recommend to
the British India government distribution of land to people of the
Depressed Classes in 1891. The agitation was met with a heavy hand,
resulting in the death of a couple of Dalits in police firing.
Although the agitation did not succeed, the movement marked the
beginning of Dalit reassertion in Tamil Nadu.

It is unfortunate that the Madras High Court judgment has not got the
media attention it deserves. Only a few newspapers have reported with
insight and context on the issue. Truthful and sensitive investigation
of social issues and challenges, linked to mass deprivation in rising
India, is a key responsibility of the media. Provided they are
sensitised to the social responsibility of the media, young
journalists with their skills, talents, and energy can do a lot to
investigate these issues and help place them on the public agenda. It
is up to those who lead media organisations and shape their agenda to
give them their head.

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

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[ZESTCaste] India's Untouchables Find Their Tongue

http://www.swans.com/library/art16/pbyrne128.html

India's Untouchables Find Their Tongue

by Peter Byrne

"I am a venereal sore in the private part of language."
—Namdeo Dhasal, poet and founder of the Dalit Panthers

(Swans - June 14, 2010) India's Untouchables regularly splash across
the Western glossies for a quick exposé between ads for exotic cruises
and gourmet coffee. This was the case of Italy's Il Venerdi in May.
The piece had all the requisites. It was about brutalized women who
got together not only for self defense, but in order to fight back.
They even armed themselves with bamboo lathi, a cruel weapon favored
by the Indian police. To finish the picture -- and what photographs it
made! -- they wore luminous magenta saris and called their vigilante
group the Pink Gang.

The sensational details could only please readers, and the article
also served as a puff for the autobiography of the Pink Gang's
founder, which was being published in Italy the following week. Ms.
Sampat Pal came from Uttar Pradesh, defined by the magazine as "one of
the poorest areas in the world." Since we were obviously in for
another misery memoir, why was I already planning a trip to the
bookstore?

A cloudlet of self-scrutiny wafted over me. I'd long since sworn off
the wounded-psyche sob stories that have filled The New York Times
bestseller lists for decades. I couldn't take any more poor little
rich girls who finished in rehab because their father flew the coop or
their mother sent them off to kindergarten without a hug. I had no
curiosity for noble males who dawdled atremble on the threshold of the
closet for half a century, even when they came clean posthumously. We
have only so much empathy, and like the wind it goes its own way.
Along with Il Venerdi I invested mine faraway where life was so hard
it made me wince back home in the easeful West.

Sampat Pal's burdens were many. She was female, poor beyond measure,
and resident in a desert region governed by corrupt officials and
sadistic police. Illiterate, married at twelve, and pregnant at
puberty, she was, in the bargain, an Untouchable, a member of a low
herdsmen's caste. Her story reminds us that Indian casteism has never
gone away. Mohandas Gandhi, national independence, Jawaharlal Nehru's
noble profile, rapprochement with the Soviet Union, wars against China
and Pakistan, the free market, and finally globalization have all
failed to eradicate a system at the heart of Hinduism for two thousand
years.

To put it crudely, back before time was reckoned, Brahmins concocted a
social hierarchy from texts that they declared sacred. It placed them
above the rest of the human race, in a space free of physical and
mental pollution. The task of the less than human lower castes was,
simply, to do the dirty work, which then confirmed their polluted and
untouchable status.

The result differed from an apartheid setup in that the lower castes
were fully integrated into the Brahmin world view. They were a
necessary "other," like domestic animals, but with the difference that
domestic animals were not considered soiled beyond remedy from birth.
It would be easy to horrify the reader by listing what has been
inflicted over centuries on the lower castes. There are men alive who
remember when some were forced to walk with brooms tied to their
backs. This was to clean the path that they had defiled by walking on.

Times change, but in India not all that quickly. Governments have
tried to mitigate the caste system by law. Programs have been set up
to aid the lower castes. Education has awakened some of the oppressed
to defend themselves and, like the Pink Gang, to fight back. But, if
mainstream Indian writers are to be trusted, caste oppression remains
an everyday reality. The excellent novelist Aravind Adiga in his
Between the Assassinations (2008) tells the story of Jayamma, a cook
who being unmarried is exploited by her Brahmin family as well as by
the Brahmin lawyer who employs her. Yet she scrupulously marks herself
off from the equally exploited lower caste child servant of the
household.

The cook's conduct points to what has been a dilemma for Indian
Marxists. The remarkable Marathi thinker B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956)
wrestled with it for a lifetime. For him a mere class analysis could
not explain the Indian predicament. The Marxist parties, invariably
dominated by Brahmins, could never uproot a caste hierarchy that was
part of their DNA and predated anything we would recognize as class
conflict. Again, Indian fiction can throw light on the problem.
Arundati Roy, in her novel, The God of Small Things (1997), tells how
an upper-lower caste love affair ends in racist murder. But she also
tells how an upper caste Communist Party official manipulates a lower
caste member without ever accepting him as an equal.

Born an Untouchable, Ambedkar would become an important political and
intellectual figure in India and the scourge of orthodox Hinduism. He
would differ with Gandhi whom he accused of making Untouchables a mere
object of pathos. His call to action set in motion a movement of lower
caste people throughout the subcontinent. They became known by the
sometimes controversial name of Dalits and were soon producing a
literature of their own in various regional languages.

So we come around again to misery memoirs, but in a very different
context from the Western ones. In India the Dalits had been pushed out
of the national picture by official culture. When they finally were
able to take up the pen, their natural reaction was to say, "No, we
are very much here to the tune of 160 million, and this is what I in
particular have had to put up with." The last half of the 20th century
saw a flood of autobiographical books by Dalits that documented
individual lives. A fascinating sidelight is that this movement looked
to black American authors for inspiration. The group that in the 1970s
germinated contemporary Dalit literature actually called themselves
the Dalit Panthers. Like black writers from Frederick Douglass to
Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver, they told their life stories in order
to make themselves visible in society.

Sharankumar Limbale is the author of an outstanding Marathi
autobiography, The Outcaste: Akkarmashi, published in English
translation in 2003. He undertakes in Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit
Literature, published in English in 2004, to set Dalit writing in a
larger frame. He defends the predominance of life stories but wants
Dalit authors to involve themselves more in the world beyond them. He
makes a good case for the militant, committed direction of their
writing. For him Dalits are in an even more dire fix than Australian
aborigines, native Americans, or African Americans. Classic Hinduism
excludes them from humanity. Until casteism disappears, Dalit writing
must, he feels, subordinate all else to combating it.

Brahmin forms and norms in the arts have been as oppressive as in
social life. This inclines Limbale to take a very big step in his
theorizing. He contends that Dalit writing should be judged by neither
Hindu nor Western critical standards. It's something of another
species altogether, although of what nature he doesn't make clear.
This strikes me as doing no favor to Dalit writing and on the contrary
confining it to a shadowy ghetto. One would like to point out to
Limbale that some of the best committed writing of the West, Jean-Paul
Sartre, for instance, or Richard Wright, stands up by any criteria to
the best writing of their day.

The foreign reader has of course everything to learn. All he can do is
take up a Dalit book and read. But if he chooses a typical writer his
critical reactions will be the same as to a Western or even a Brahmin
author. I tried Harum-scarum Saar & Other Stories of 2006 by the Dalit
writer in Tamil who signs herself Bam. Her ten tales deal with lower
caste rural life in Tamil Nadu state. The characters struggle beneath
the weight of the Brahmanical order but within those confines their
humanity effervesces as it might in Chekhov or Maupassant. There's
subversion between the lines and in irreverent remarks and raucous
behavior. Moreover, the sudden explosions of anger of these humble
people suggest trouble ahead for the powers that be.

Take Malandi who broke his leg and had to borrow 200 rupees for his
treatment. He's already paid 1000 rupees in interest, but the
principal remains. Now the money-lending landowner threatens to take
his water buffalo, which is his only means of subsistence. Malandi has
sharpened the animal's horns. He has always treated it like a person,
murmuring into its ear. When he says the word it will tear the upper
caste creditor's intestines out.

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[ZESTCaste] Caste in Census: Hypocrites all!

http://www.fnbnews.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=27718&sectionid=39

Caste in Census: Hypocrites all!
Monday, June 14, 2010
P N V NAIR

We can tell a person's caste from his name. Upper caste Hindus mostly
use the caste as their surname. As long as this practice continues,
people will be known by their caste name and not their first name.
This writer, for example, is known as Mr Nair among friends and
colleagues, though my first name is Viswanathan. Years ago when I was
with the Indian Express, someone from my village came to Bombay and
called up the office asking for Viswanathan. The telephone operator
told him that there was no one in the office by that name. This
applies to most Indians, they go by the surname Reddy, Rao, Iyer,
Iyengar, Mehta, Shah, Desai, Sardesai, Chakravarty, Choudhary,
Chaturvedi, Goswami, Nair, Menon, Pillai and so on. It gives them an
identity and they are proud of their caste, too. When it comes to a
debate on the abolition of caste, all are hypocrites. Most columnists
and news channel Editors vehemently argue against reintroducing caste
in Census. But those who abhor the caste system do not want to drop
their caste-based surname first to prove their genuine concern. Even
Gandhiji did not do it though he had championed the cause of the
Harijans and the downtrodden. Caste makes a person inferior or
superior, caste determines an individual's place in society, the work
he or she may carry out, and who he or she may marry and meet. A
person is enabled or disabled at birth and one cannot change his low
birth though he can change his destinies through education and hard
work. But the fact remains, a Nair's son becomes a Nair and a Dalit's
son inherits his father's caste.

A controversy has erupted over the inclusion of caste in the 2011
Census, after a long gap of 60 years. The colonial practice of
caste-based headcount was discontinued after independence. All
government records, registers and application forms also deleted the
column of caste. One of the major objectives of Independent India was
to remove the disabilities arising out of this social malady. But
then, did the caste system disappear? On the contrary there are
violent agitations for more reservations based on caste. More and more
communities are fighting for their inclusion under lower castes and
backward classes in order to enjoy the benefits of reservation. With
the result, some states like Tamil Nadu has 70 per cent reservation
though the Supreme Court has limited this to 50 per cent.

The Census, first conducted in 1881 by the British, collected
caste-wise data until 1931. While the Census continues to count
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, OBCs have not been enumerated
for 80 years. Parties with strong OBC constituencies argue that this
leads to wrong data on their numbers and consequently affects their
entitlement. The Census over the years provides vital information on
population and its relative characteristics in terms of sex, age
groups, economic activity, occupation, literacy, language, religion,
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and a host of demographic
features.

Though India's Constitution has sought to abolish caste discrimination
and the practice of untouchability, the caste system is still
widespread and remains deeply rooted in the society, especially in
rural India. A Dalit's shadow was believed to pollute the upper
classes. They may not cross the line dividing their part of the
village from that occupied by upper classes, drink water from public
wells, or visit the same temples visited by the higher castes. Dalit
children were often made to sit in the back rows in classrooms! Things
are changing, but the lower castes are not treated on par with the
upper class even now. In my village there is a Bhagwati temple. Even
today, only people belonging to the Nair community worship in the
temple. There is no bar on others, but their inferior complex
dissuades them from entering the temple. This applies to most of the
temples in Kerala.

The caste system is not restricted to Hinduism alone. It is prevalent
among Christians and Muslims as well. Christians in Kerala are divided
into several sects, the main sects being Syrian Christians, Latin
Christians, Protestants, Jacobites, Marthomites, CSI (Church of South
India), etc. Syrian Christians consider themselves superior to others.
They were believed to be converted from Brahmins, other upper castes
and Jews by St Thomas, while Latin Christians were converted mainly
from lower castes where fishing was the traditional occupation. Latin
converts were poor and deprived. So the Government of India gave them
the social benefit of OBC status. Anthropologists have noted that the
caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala was much more polarised
than the Hindu practices. They would not enter into marriage alliances
without the permission of their respective church authorities. In Goa,
mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin missionaries.
The Hindu converts retained their caste practices, thus the original
Hindu Brahmins in Goa now became Christian Bamons and the Kshtriyas
became Christian noblemen called Chardos. The Dalits or untouchables
who converted to Christianity became Mahars and Chamars. Though Jesus
Christ took everybody by his stride without differences, Christian
Dalits suffer discrimination from the higher castes.

Among Muslims, there are Sunnis, Shias, Boris, Iranis and so on. The
rivalry between the Sunnis and Shias is known throughout the Muslim
world. Those who are referred to as Ashrafs are presumed to have a
superior status derived from their foreign ancestry, while the Ajlafs
are assumed to be converts from Hinduism, and have a lower status.
There is also the Arzal caste regarded as the equivalent of
untouchables. There is a demand to accommodate the Muslim Dalits in
the quota given to the SCs. The Sachar Committee on the plight of
Muslims too has recognised that there are Dalits in the Muslim
community.

Under the Constitution, caste discrimination and the practice of
untouchability are prohibited. According to K Kanakasabapathy,
Director, EPW Research Foundation, though Caste in census was
discontinued, the report of the first Backward Classes Commission in
1955, in fact, recommended caste-wise enumeration of the population in
the Census of 1961 and treatment of "caste as the criteria" to
determine backwardness. It had prepared a list of 2,399 backward
castes, of which 837 had been classified as the "most backward." This
report was not accepted, as it was feared that the really needy would
be swamped by the multitude and would not receive special attention.
The Second Backward Classes Commission, using the 1931 Census data of
the British, estimated that 54 per cent of the total population
(excluding SCs and STs) belonging to 3,743 different castes and
communities were backward.

The objection to Caste Census is that it will push back the country to
the dark ages. The electoral politics has blinded the three Yadav
leaders – Mulayam, Lalu and Sharad – who argue that their flock, the
OBCs, would be entitled to more reservations in employment and
educational institutions after the Census. Critics believe that the
government has succumbed to pressure from the Yadav trio for its
survival. Poverty is not confined to the OBCs. In a country where 40
per cent people earn less than a dollar, the concerted effort of the
political parties should be how to salvage people from the deplorable
economic conditions in which they are stuck. It is time to change the
basis of reservation from caste to poverty. The criterion should not
be caste but how much a person earns.

On the positive side, the question is why do we have to omit the OBCs
alone in the Census. The Census covers all the religions, the SCs and
STs, and the vast number of OBCs are deliberately left out
unidentified for whatever reasons. By doing so, we were, of course,
open to manipulation, corruption and dishonest representation. The new
data collected from the Census may never be perfect; people tend to
misrepresent the caste and their income. Actual caste data could shed
light on how backward some of the OBC classes are. The data might
reflect that inter-cast gaps in education, occupation and access to
infrastructure are far greater than we think. By avoiding caste
details in the Census, we are not eliminating it.

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Monday, June 14, 2010

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