Saturday, July 10, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Dalit girl paraded naked in Mumbai

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Mumbai/Dalit-girl-paraded-naked-in-Mumbai/articleshow/6149090.cms

Dalit girl paraded naked in Mumbai
TNN, Jul 10, 2010, 01.22am IST

MUMBAI: Cases of attacks on dalit women aren't confined to rural
India: last month, a young dalit girl was stripped and paraded in a
southern Mumbai locality. The local police has arrested 10 women and
two men and slapped them with cases of atrocities. However, Sharada
Yadav, the main accused, is out on bail.

Said senior police inspector Rajan Bhogale: "All the suspects named by
the victim, including Sharada Yadav, were arrested in the case. We
charged them under the Prevention of Atrocities Act. But Sharda Yadav
was granted bail by the court." The 22-year-old dalit girl Mita Kamble
(name changed), who was stripped and dragged out of her house at
Darukhana, Reay Road, by a mob of mostly women, said: "They all
shouted that dalits like me should not live in this area. They kept
hurling abuses on me."

What led to the incident was rape of a five-year-old child, allegedly
by Mita's brother, a watchman at the ship-breaking yard, on June 16.
Vijay Kamble (34) was arrested by the Sewri police. "While stripping
me, Sharada Yadav and another woman kept shouting that I would have to
pay for my brother's crime," said Mita.

On the other hand, the five-year-old girl who was raped returned home
on Friday after she underwent two surgeries in J J Hospital. Several
organisations and social workers recently held a rally and demanded
the police to hold some counselling sessions for the residents.


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[ZESTCaste] Stand alone law needed for 'honour killing' cases: Brinda

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Stand-alone-law-needed-for-honour-killing-cases-Brinda/Article1-570003.aspx

Stand alone law needed for 'honour killing' cases: Brinda
Press Trust Of India
Greater Noida, July 09, 2010First Published: 22:32 IST(9/7/2010)
Last Updated: 22:35 IST(9/7/2010)

Demanding a "stand alone" law to tackle 'honour killings', senior
CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat today termed the government's decision to
constitute a GoM to suggest changes in the law to tackle such
incidents as a "worst example of vote bank politics" practised by the
UPA. Her comments came after a visit to two villages here after a
panchayat ordered that all girls belonging to Dalit communities would
be "picked up" from their homes if Priyanka, a Brahmin girl who had
eloped with Sanjay, a Dalit boy, did not return home immediately.

"This is unfortunate. The government should have come out with a
comprehensive law to deal with the issue. They have now come up with a
GoM. The GoI (Government of India) has become GoM. They say they will
consult states. They don't have a draft and what are they going to
consult," she told PTI.

"This is the worst example of vote bank politics of UPA," she alleged.

On her visit to the houses of Sanjay and Priyanka along with other
women leaders, she said it appeared that the girl's family was not
being aggressive against the boy's family but other villagers were.

"I went there to plead to them to allow the couple to lead a normal
life. They were not that aggressive. It is the other villagers who
are," she said.

She said Sanjay's father had to mortgage his land for Rs 1.5 lakh to
try and trace the couple.

"He is facing pressure from his village as well as the girl's village.
Locals of the Dalit village are pressurising him to locate the
couple," she said.

Villagers of the Dalit hamlet apprehend that the locals from
Priyanka's village will carry out the threat that they will take away
their women if Priyanka does not go back to her home, she said.

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[ZESTCaste] Should honour killing be dealt as murder?

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Khap-compromise/articleshow/6150868.cms

Should honour killing be dealt as murder?
TOI Crest, Jul 10, 2010, 11.11am IST

Though north India acquired notoriety for the spate of honour killings
in recent weeks, the first major judicial response to this violent
conflict between modernity and feudalism came in Mumbai. The trigger
was the elopement in 2004 from a Mumbai chawl of a Brahmin girl from
Uttar Pradesh, Sushma Tiwari, with a low-caste Malayali neighbour. A
fast-track trial court imposed death sentence on Sushma's brother,
Dilip, and his two accomplices for killing her husband and three other
of her in-laws.

The judicial system however flattered to deceive. After the Bombay
high court confirmed the death sentence in Sushma's case, the Supreme
Court set the clock back. Last December, a bench headed by Justice V S
Sirpurkar reduced the capital punishment to life sentence. Reason:
Since Dilip became "the victim of his wrong but genuine caste
considerations, it would not justify the death sentence".

Conferring a measure of legitimacy on honour killings, the apex court
said: "It is a common experience that when the younger sister commits
something unusual and in this case it was an inter-caste,
intercommunity marriage out of (a) secret love affair, then in society
it is the elder brother who justifiably or otherwise is held
responsible for not stopping such (an) affair."

Thankfully, despite such a retrograde signal from the Supreme Court to
go easy on honour killings, a trial court in Haryana imposed exemplary
punishment in another case. Only that the provocation for this
instance of honour killings was not an intercaste marriage. Instead, a
khap panchayat, a caste collective assuming state powers, "annulled"
the marriage between Manoj and Babli on the grounds that they were
from within the same gotra (mythical patrilineal ancestor) and from
the same village.

On 30 March, trial judge Vani Gopal Sharma awarded death to five
persons: Babli's brother, two uncles and two cousins. Breaking new
ground, Sharma also gave a life sentence to khap panchayat chief Ganga
Raj, for conspiring with Babli's family. Without mincing any words,
the trial judge said, "The khaps have become a law unto themselves.
They have ridiculed the Constitution. These unlawful acts of khaps
should be stopped."

The Haryana government evidently did not share the trial court's
outrage. Far from cracking down on khap panchayats, the state gave a
respectful consideration to their brazen demand that the Hindu
personal law be amended to prohibit intra-gotra marriages. As if that
were not bad enough, it brushed aside the demand made by Manoj's
heroic mother Chanderpati that the police be held to account for
abandoning the runaway couple on that fateful day in 2007 despite a
protection order from the high court.

While Congress netas from Haryana visibly wilted under the pressure of
khap panchayats, their central leadership, much in the same spirit of
compromise, desisted from taking on those extra-constitutional
entities. The central government, on its part, staged a somersault on
whether there was a need for a special law to deal with honour
killings. Only a year ago, Home Minister P Chidambaram rejected the
populist demand in Parliament saying, "The answer is not to make
another law.

Whatever law we make, honour killing is murder. It would have to be
dealt with as murder and tried as murder." But the recent escalation
of honour killings by khap panchayats prompted Chidambaram to resort
to the time-tested ploy of enacting a new law as a substitute for
enforcing the existing law.

The home ministry has drafted a Bill containing a mixed bag of
amendments. The most significant proposal is to widen the definition
of murder to make khap-dictated honour killings a distinct offence so
that all those who participate in the decision are liable to attract
the death sentence. Other reported changes include the proposal to
remove the 30-day notice period for the solemnisation of civil
marriage in a bid to cut down legal hassles faced by runaway couples.

Given the alleged sensitivity of the draft Bill, and given the
differences within Congress, it seems unlikely that the government
would muster the courage to push it through in the upcoming monsoon
session of Parliament. It has already prepared the ground for
postponement by referring the draft Bill to a group of ministers and
seeking feedback from states.

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[ZESTCaste] Ambedkar’s first biography in Sanskrit

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article509336.ece


Published: July 10, 2010 09:47 IST | Updated: July 10, 2010 16:21 IST
Pune, July 10, 2010

Ambedkar's first biography in Sanskrit
PTI

Battling a visual handicap, an 84-year-old Vedic scholar here has
composed "Bhimayanam" , the first ever biography of the architect of
Indian constitution and icon of the underprivileged Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
in Sanskrit verse.

The exceptional feat of Prabhakar Joshi, who lost his sight completely
while still working on the biography undertaken in 2004, stands as a
testimony to his unflinching determination and will power that saw
recent publication of the book containing 1,577 Sanskrit 'slokas'
covering the life span of Dr. Ambedkar unfolded in 160 pages with 21
'Sargas' (chapters).

A victim of glaucoma, Mr. Joshi who has an illustrious background as a
teacher of Sanskrit in schools and colleges, was immensely influenced
by Dr. Ambedkar's mission to uplift the downtrodden.

When he started studying Dr. Ambedkar's life, he came across certain
facts that inspired him to take up the unique project of his Sanskrit
biography titled " Bhimayanam".

"Not many people know that it was an ardent desire of Ramji, father of
Dr. Ambedkar, that his son should learn Sanskrit.

When Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar opted for the subject after being enrolled
in the Elphinstone High School in Mumbai, he was in for rude shock as
the teachers there refused to allow him to study Sanskrit because he
was a Dalit.

Imparting knowledge of Sanskrit to 'lower caste' students those days
was something to be frowned upon", Mr. Joshi said.

After pondering over this episode, Mr. Joshi thought of an "atonement
of sorts" by way of versifying in Sanskrit, the life of Ambedkar whom
he reverently calls 'Mahamanav'.

A progressive glaucoma started affecting the vision of the
octogenarian even as he persisted with his writing, at times
overlapping words as a result of poor eyesight.

"I was losing my vision fast but my resolve to complete the work was
getting firmer notwithstanding the visual handicap.

My wife read the lines I had written and made them legible for further
processing. Many times, I got up in the middle of night to write the
words that came to my mind without knowing that ink had dried," Mr.
Joshi who has retained all his faculties at the ripe age recalled.

Explaining his method that led to completion of his work, he said "I
first summarised important milestones in Ambedkar's life and then got
it taped. Then I kept listening to the audio again and again,
pondering over my next verse".

According to Mr. Joshi, who taught Sanskrit at Fergusson College here
and was a guide at Pune University for many students doing their
doctorates in Sanskrit, Dr. Ambedkar was a great supporter of the
language which he regarded as mother of most of the regional tongues
in the country.

Despite his strong opposition to the Brahminical dominance in the
society and social discrimination that led him and his followers to
embrace Buddhism, Dr. Ambedkar himself had mastered Sanskrit, which
was identified with the upper cast, he said.

"Bhimayanam" was published under "Sharada Gaurav Granthamala" series
by Pandit Vasant Gadgil after six years of dedicated work by Mr.
Joshi, a recipient of Maharashtra government's 'Mahakavi Kalidas'
award.

Maharashtra Governor Shankarnarayanan is expected to formally release
the biography.

As Mr. Joshi spoke, his unseeing eyes stared in a fixed gaze. But the
words came gushing lighting up his face as he dealt on the towering
personality so dear to his heart — Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar who bestowed
dignity on those who suffered from injustice.


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[ZESTCaste] In India, Castes, Honor and Killings Intertwine

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/world/asia/10honor.html?_r=1

July 9, 2010

In India, Castes, Honor and Killings Intertwine

By JIM YARDLEY

KODERMA, India — When Nirupama Pathak left this remote mining region
for graduate school in New Delhi, she seemed to be leaving the old
India for the new. Her parents paid her tuition and did not resist
when she wanted to choose her own career. But choosing a husband was
another matter.

Her family was Brahmin, the highest Hindu caste, and when Ms. Pathak,
22, announced she was secretly engaged to a young man from a caste
lower than hers, her family began pressing her to change her mind.
They warned of social ostracism and accused her of defiling their
religion.

Days after Ms. Pathak returned home in late April, she was found dead
in her bedroom. The police have arrested her mother, Sudha Pathak, on
suspicion of murder, while the family contends that the death was a
suicide.

The postmortem report revealed another unexpected element to the case:
Ms. Pathak was pregnant.

"One thing is absolutely clear," said Prashant Bhushan, a social
activist and lawyer now advising Ms. Pathak's fiancé. "Her family was
trying their level best to prevent her from marrying that boy. The
pressure was such that either she was driven to suicide or she was
killed."

In India, where the tension between traditional and modern mores
reverberates throughout society, Ms. Pathak's death comes amid an
apparent resurgence of so-called honor killings against couples who
breach Hindu marriage traditions.

This week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ordered a cabinet-level
commission to consider tougher penalties in honor killings.

In June, India's Supreme Court sent notices to seven Indian states, as
well as to the national government, seeking responses about what was
being done to address the problem.

The phenomenon of honor killings is most prevalent in some northern
states, especially Haryana, where village caste councils, or khap
panchayats, often operate as an extralegal morals police force,
issuing edicts against couples who marry outside their caste or who
marry within the same village — considered a religious violation since
villages are often regarded as extended families.

Even as the court system has sought to curb these councils,
politicians have hesitated, since the councils often control
significant vote blocs in local elections.

New cases of killings or harassment appear in the Indian news media
almost every week. Last month, the police arrested three men for the
honor killings of a couple in New Delhi who had married outside their
castes, as well as the murder of a woman who eloped with a man from
another caste.

Two of the suspects are accused of murdering their sisters, and an
uncle of the slain couple spoke of their murders as justifiable.

"What is wrong in it?" the uncle, Dharmaveer Nagar, told the Indian
news media. "Murder is wrong, but this is socially the best thing that
has been done."

Intercaste marriages are protected under Indian law, yet social
attitudes remain largely resistant. In a 2006 survey cited in a United
Nations report, 76 percent of respondents deemed the practice
unacceptable. An overwhelming majority of Hindu couples continue to
marry within their castes, and newspapers are filled with marital
advertisements in which parents, seeking to arrange a marriage for a
son or daughter, specify caste among lists of desired attributes like
profession and educational achievement.

"This is part and parcel of our culture, that you marry into your own
caste," said Dharmendra Pathak, the father of Ms. Pathak, during an
interview in his home. "Every society has its own culture. Every
society has its own traditions."

Yet Indian society is also rapidly changing, with a new generation
more likely to mix with people from different backgrounds as young
people commingle on college campuses or in the workplace.

Ms. Pathak had studied journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass
Communications in New Delhi before taking a job at a financial
newspaper. At school, she had met Priyabhanshu Ranjan, a top student
whose family was from a middle-upper caste, the Kayastha.

"The day I proposed, she said, 'My family will not accept this. My
family is very conservative,' " Mr. Ranjan recalled. "I used to try to
convince her that once we got married, they would accept it."

Ms. Pathak deliberated over the proposal for months before accepting
in early 2009. Convinced her family would disapprove, she kept her
engagement a secret for more than a year, until she learned that her
father was interviewing prospective Brahmin grooms in New Delhi to
arrange a marriage for her. Her parents were also renovating the
family home for a wedding celebration.

Ms. Pathak called her oldest brother, Samarendra, who spent the next
week trying to change her mind.

"What I told her was that the decision you have taken — there is
nothing wrong with it," he said. "But the society we live in will not
accept it. You can't transform society in a day. It takes time."

When her father learned of the engagement, he wrote his daughter a
letter and paid a surprise visit to New Delhi.

In the letter, the father acknowledged that such marriages were
allowed under India's Constitution, but argued that the Constitution
had existed for only decades while Hindu religious beliefs dated back
thousands of years.

At one point, Ms. Pathak's mother called, crying, asking if they had
wronged her in a past life.

The death of Ms. Pathak remains under investigation. Her body was
discovered in her upstairs bedroom on the morning of April 29, while
her mother was the only person at home. Initially, neighbors and
family members said she had died from electrocution, but then later
changed their story to say she had hanged herself. The police arrested
the mother after the postmortem report concluded that Ms. Pathak had
been suffocated.

But Ms. Pathak's father and her two brothers have argued that the
postmortem was flawed and claimed that her death had been a suicide.
The family produced a suicide note and persuaded a local magistrate to
order an investigation into Mr. Ranjan, the boyfriend — which his
supporters have described as politically motivated.

Ms. Pathak's pregnancy has also complicated the case. Mr. Ranjan said
that he had been unaware of her condition, and her family told the
police that they, too, had been unaware. But in an interview, the
father and brothers changed their story, saying that Ms. Pathak
confessed her pregnancy to her mother on the morning of her death.

For now, the case has polarized opinion. In Koderma, supporters of the
Pathak family have rallied for the release of the mother from jail. In
New Delhi, former classmates of Ms. Pathak and other supporters have
held candlelight vigils, calling for the case to be prosecuted as an
honor killing.

"This kind of the thing is increasing everywhere," said Girija Vyas, a
member of Parliament and the president of the National Commission of
Women. "There should not be these things in the 21st century. These
things must be stopped."


Hari Kumar contributed reporting from Koderma, and Saimah Khwaja from New Delhi.


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[ZESTCaste] 1,000 honour killings in India every year

http://www.southasianpost.com/news/topnews/article/1000honourkillingsindiaeveryyear

1,000 honour killings in India every year

By Mata Press Service

Nineteen year old Asha was tortured to death along with her
20-year-old boyfriend Yogesh Kumar in north Delhi's Swaroop Nagar
area.
When police found the couple, they had multiple stab wounds.
Police have accused Asha's father, her uncle, her cousin, her aunt and
her mother in the murders.
The family told reporters they "have no regrets whatsoever".
Not too far away from where this couple lived, cousins Shobha and
Monica grew up walking to school together and sharing their secrets.
Monica, 23, fell in love with Kuldeep Singh, 26 and married him with
the help of Shoba four years ago.
Shoba also helped her sister Khushbu, a model, to elope with a man
from another caste.
Shobha, Monica and Kuldeep were each shot twice in the head on the
evening of June 20.
Their suspected murderers are Shobha's brother, Mandeep. The other was
Monica's brother, Ankit. The third was a local boy known to them both.
Earlier in Delhi, 22-year old Nirupama Pathak wanted to marry another
fellow journalist who was her batch mate but hailed from a lower
caste. She was found stangled. Her mother has been arrested.
Last week in Haryana's Fatehabad district, a teen boy and a girl were
found dead under mysterious circumstances and police arrested the two
maternal uncles of the girl for killing the couple.
Shyam Mohammed and Reena, around 17 to 18 years of age, were also
found dead in the open fields in Smain village of the same district.
According to police, Shyam and Reena wanted to marry but their
families and the local village council was against the alliance.
Belgium-based Amritpal Kaur had fallen in love with Lakhwinder Singh,
who belongs to a lower caste, and her parents didn't approve of the
relationship.
So they lured her to the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and poisoned her last week.
These are just some of the 20 cases of honour killings reported in
Northern India over the past three months.
In addition to brothers gunning down sisters, mothers strangling their
daughters and uncles orchestrating the murders of their kin in the
cities of India, village councils or khap panchayats from Jharkhand,
Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are also enforcing the age old
practice of gotra which prohibits intermarriage within the clan and in
many cases the same village.
All in all, experts believe that more than 1,000 young people in India
are murdered every year in honour killings Chandigarh-based legal
experts Anil Malhotra and his brother Ranjit Malhotra said recently at
the International Child Abduction, Relocation and Forced Marriages
Conference organised by the London Metropolitan University.
In a joint paper, they said: "Forced marriages and honour killings are
often intertwined. Marriage can be forced to save honour, and women
can be murdered for rejecting a forced marriage and marrying a partner
of their own choice who is not acceptable for the family of the
girl….honour killings are basically 'justified' as a sanction for
'dishonourable' behaviour."
Stung by international criticism and shocked by the recent spate of
killings, India's political parties of various stripes have all called
for specific legislation to curb this social menace.
But village elders and members of the khap panchayat have warned that
any such legislation will only make matters worse.
In an Indian media report, Rajkumar Numberdar, a khap panchayat leader
of Narnoud village was quoted as saying: "It is not as if girls and
boys did not fall in love earlier. But, of late, it is becoming
difficult to control them because they know they just need to elope
and ask for police protection. If politicians want to foist their
warped ideas on us, why don't they first kill off village elders?"
Another village councilor, Rajveer Dhanda said: "If the government
sends these elopers to jail instead of giving them police protection,
the malaise will be taken care of in no time."
Fabian Dawson, deputy editor-in-chief of The Province newspaper in
Vancouver, Canada, said these so called honour killings not only shame
India but also its vibrant and powerful diaspora around the planet.
"On one hand we have post-modern India signing nuclear deals and on
the other we have a tribal system that kills young people because they
fall in love, giving the impression that India is still in the
medieval era," said the veteran journalist of South Asian descent, who
exposed the sensational honour killing of British Columbian beautician
Jaswinder Kaur in news stories and documentaries. (see
justiceforjassi.com).
Veteran Bollywood actor Om Puri, who plays a village head against
same-clan marriages in his next film "Khap...A Story of Honour
Killing", agrees.
"This is a very grave topic. It is so disturbing when you see that
these honour killings are not happening in any remote area, but in the
heart of the country. It is creating a bad impression about our
country in the international circuit," Puri told IANS.
Alarmed by the steep rise in suspected honour killings, India's
central government has decided to bring a new bill providing for the
prosecution of the entire khap panchayat for ordering violent
punishment for young couples marrying against their rulings.
Law and Justice Minister M. Veerappa Moily said under the new law,
members of khap panchayat, who order the killing of the couples who
dare to go against the dictates of these panchayats will be treated as
accomplices in the crime.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India's main
political forces also sought strict action against the culprits in
cases of honour killings.
The BJP said that honour killings were cold-blooded murders and
demanded setting up of fast-track courts to deal with such cases.
The Congress favoured a specific law to deal with honour killings.
"If the existing criminal laws of the land are not sufficient, the
government should consider a suitable law," Congress spokesperson
Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters.
– with IANS


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[ZESTCaste] Poll panel asked to decide on complaint against BSP

 

http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a149929.html

Poll panel asked to decide on complaint against BSP (Lead)

New Delhi, July 9
The Supreme Court Friday asked the Election Commission to decide on a
complaint that seeks the freezing of Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bahujan
Samaj Party's elephant election symbol as erecting statues of
elephants and Chief Minister Mayawati in public places contravened the
poll panel's notification.

A bench of Chief Justice S.H.Kapadia, Justice K.S.Radhakrishnan and
Justice Swatanter Kumar said that the commission, after deciding on
the maintainability of the complaint, would place its decision before
the apex court.

Thereafter, the court will examine the decision and if required, more
powers will be given to the Election Commission for further action.
The poll panel has been given three months to decide on the complaint
made by advocate Ravi Kant.

The complainant alleged that the state government was spending huge
amounts of public money to erect statues of elephants and of Mayawati
all over the state.

Appearing for the Election Commission, senior counsel Ashok Desai told
the court that the BSP government in Uttar Pradesh was not
co-operating with it in completing the inquiry into the complaint, and
was asking under what authority the commission was seeking information
from it.

Desai said that initially the state government sought more time for
collecting information sought about the number of statues of elephants
and Mayawati installed in the state, but later made a U-turn, and
questioned the jurisdiction of the commission in seeking the
information.

He noted that the poll panel was conducting the inquiry on the apex
court's direction. "You passed an order and under that order we sought
more information" from the state government, Desai said.

At this, the court said: "First decide the issue (of maintainability
of the complaint) and if the decision is good and valid, then we would
empower you to seek more information" from the state government.

The apex court by its order of Feb 22 this year, had directed the
Election Commission decide whether the installation of the statues of
the BSP's symbol all over the state at the cost of the exchequer was
in contravention of the election law.

Last updated on Jul 9th, 2010 at 20:54 pm IST

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[ZESTCaste] Congress walkout in West Bengal House on SC, ST certificate and reservation

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_congress-walkout-in-west-bengal-house-on-sc-st-certificate-and-reservation_1407511

Congress walkout in West Bengal House on SC, ST certificate and reservation
PTI

Friday, July 9, 2010 17:52 IST

Kolkata: The opposition Congress today walked out of the West Bengal
assembly alleging irregularities in distribution of SC, ST and OBC
certificates.

Backward classes welfare minister Jogesh Burman earlier said that
there was no instance of harrassment to candidates on distribution of
SC, ST and OBC certificates in the state.

Steps had been taken by his department for distributing the
certificates through specially set up camps in districts, he said.

Congress member Nepal Mahato moved an adjournment motion in the House
demanding discussion and a statement by the minister after stating
that the reservation policy for SC, ST and OBC was flouted in the
state for recruitment of primary teachers.

When deputy speaker Bhaktipada Ghosh, asked the minister if he would
give a statement, he did not.

Congress members then rose on their feet in protest demanding a
statement by the minister, who stuck to his decision. The Congress
members then walked out in protest.

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[ZESTCaste] Bail for advocate in SC, ST case

 

http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/10/stories/2010071066000600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Bail for advocate in SC, ST case

Staff Reporter

RAJAHMUNDRY: A senior criminal lawyer Madduri Siva Subba Rao was
arrested on charges of abusing by caste East Godavari Joint Collector
Kona Sashidhar here on Friday. He was later released on bail by the
court.

He was remanded to custody by the magistrate following a petition
filed by Mr. Sasidhar for allegedly abusing him by his caste when Siva
Subba Rao and others met him over an issue connected to Nannayya
University's land on Thursday night. The advocate was sent to jail
immediately but he obtained bail by the evening.

Earlier, Collector M. Ravichandra and SP G. Srinivas reached
Rajahmundry from Kakinada and met RDO Challa Vinaya Mohan, who was an
eyewitness to the incident.

Meanwhile, several Dalit organisations, Revenue Employees, Joint
Action Committee held demonstrations in support of the Joint
Collector.

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[ZESTCaste] Flood-affected Dalits discriminated: Survey

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Flood-affected-Dalits-discriminated-Survey/articleshow/6149802.cms

Flood-affected Dalits discriminated: Survey
TNN, Jul 10, 2010, 04.51am IST

HYDERABAD: Dalit Watch-AP, a coalition comprising grassroot
organisations working on issues pertaining to Dalit rights and
empowerment, has charged the state government with discrimination
against Dalits and eliminating them from its flood relief programme
after last year's floods in the state.

The umbrella organization of social groups working on rights issues
conducted a survey of 308 villages of the 565 affected villages in
five flood-hit districts of AP, namely, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar,
Nalgonda, Krishna and Guntur following the floods.

The survey revealed that 50 per cent of the flood-hit were Dalits and
that families had not received compensation in many cases.

As per the survey's findings, the compensation of Rs 2 lakh has not
been paid for 12 death cases. Of the 12, 11 deaths were of Dalit
community members. Of the total 1,135 families surveyed, about 237
families belonging to SC and ST had not received any immediate relief
of essential commodities. Activists said that many more SC/ST families
were found awaiting compensation for the loss of clothing and
household goods.

The organisation has now demanded that the matter be investigated and
the families be compensated immediatel.

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