Latest News Update: Aug 31, 2010

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Law to prevent SC, ST atrocities to be made more stringent

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article604163.ece

Law to prevent SC, ST atrocities to be made more stringent

PTI

Assuring the Lok Sabha that the government would make law more
stringent to prevent atrocities against SC and ST, Home Minister P
Chidambaram today said the principal responsibility was with the
states to implement these laws.

"We will make the law more stringent and if needed, bring amendments
in the Act (SC&ST Prevention of Atrocities Act)," he said replying to
a discussion on situation arising out of increasing atrocities against
SC and ST.

He said, "In my view, the principal responsibility is with the state
governments to implement these laws. The state government must post SC
and ST officials where the people are vulnerable."

About reservation in jobs for SC and ST, the minister said, "Since
1950...government is totally committed to reservation of SC, ST and
OBC in jobs. In UPA—I, we have cleared a backlog of 54,000 vacancies.
We would come up with another drive to fill the vacancies reserved for
SC and ST."

He said, "This is the most vulnerable country (as far civil rights of
SC and ST are concerned)...we can't call ourselves civilised...how we
treat our SC, ST and women."

About fund allocations for the welfare of SC and ST, he said, "The
ministries give details of funds allocated for SC and ST and the
schemes under which they partially benefited."

"Some ministries are not doing so. The Planning Commission has
constituted a committee for the purpose. Once the committee submits
its reports, all ministries would follow the same pattern of giving
details of funds allocated for SC and ST."

The minister pointed out that one of the reasons for atrocities
against SC and ST is that they are getting prosperous day by day.
"This has also created problems," he said.

He also said the delay in justice results in disappearance of evidence
and forces witnesses to turn hostile. Thus speedy justice is required
to ensure civil rights of vulnerable classes of society, he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Delegation of SC/ST MPs meet Manmohan Singh

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article605572.ece

Delegation of SC/ST MPs meet Manmohan Singh

PTI

A delegation of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe MPs, including
some union ministers, on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to
demand that an order providing reservation in government jobs be
replaced by an act to bring greater benefits to them.

"Members of the SC/ST Parliamentary Forum met the Prime Minister today
to demand that an Act is necessary to provide reservations to SC/ST
which is done through a government order," LJP Chief Ram Vilas Paswan
said.

The MPs also demanded that the Bill in this regard, which was passed
in Rajya Sabha in the last session of Parliament, be amended as it
excluded some government establishments in providing reservation to
the two categories.

"We demanded that there should be no exception. Section 4 of the Bill,
passed by Rajya Sabha, should be deleted. The Bill should be prepared
immediately and passed in the next session of Parliament," Paswan
said.

The delegation included union ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Kumari
Selja, Namo Narayan Meena and Vincent Pala, and MPs from other
political parties.

"The Prime Minister gave us a patient hearing and said he will hold
consultations on this issue," Paswan said.

Meena, who is minister of state for Finance, also brought up the issue
of job reservation for Scheduled Tribes by the Delhi government.

"7.5 per cent reservation in jobs to STs in the Delhi government is
being provided under a Home Ministry notification of 1955. But a
recent Supreme Court order said a Presidential notification is
required for this reservation in jobs and education. The Prime
Minister assured us that he would take up the matter," Meena said.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit ends life after questioning by police

http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=194976

Mangalore: Dalit ends life after questioning by police

MANGALORE AUG 31: A 30-year-old Dalit from Kerala, who was staying at
a relative's house at Kulai 20 km from here, committed suicide by
hanging. The body of the victim, who has been identified as Bijulal,
was discovered at around 6 a.m. on Monday and his relatives alleged
that he was pushed to take the extreme step because of harassment by
the police.

On Friday a joint investigation team comprising officers from
Bangalore's Peenya Police station and Surathkal police station had
picked up and allegedly assaulted members of a Dalit family. The
police team was in search of a youth named Subhash from Mangalore who
was charged with kidnapping a Hindu girl from Bangalore. The family
maintains that the couple is in love and eloped fearing retribution.

Nevertheless, the police team allegedly forced its way into Subhash's
relative's the house and dragged Bijulal (30), Somu (16) and Shaina
(19) to the Surathkal police station.

While Shaina and Somu alleged that they were assaulted by the police,
Bijulal did not make any such claims.

"But the police tortured him mentally and threatened him with dire
consequences during interrogation," said an inconsolable Shaina who
spoke to The Hindu on Monday following Bijulal's death.

Sajani, another relative of the deceased, said: "Biju was a very timid
man and was prone to depression. His psychological State was not very
stable after his father's death last year. We told this to the police
when they were dragging him away but they would not listen." She
blamed the police for his death.

According to her, Bijulal began sulking and was in a petrified state
after coming back from the police station. "He kept saying that the
police would kill him and that they would find him wherever he went,"
said Ms. Shaina. On Sunday evening he left home saying that he would
return to Kerala as he would feel safe there.

"The next morning our neighbours found his body hanging from a tree," she said.

Incidentally, the man's death comes a day after the monthly SC/ST
grievance meeting at the city police headquarters, where Assistant
Commissioner of Police S. Girish insisted that his subordinates had
not acted outside the purview of the law in the incident.

However, despite the death, Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh
told The Hindu that Bijulal was called to the police station only for
questioning. "He was mentally disturbed for the last 10 days. His
uncle told us that that he was mentally disturbed even before he was
picked up for questioning," he said.

But he denied allegations that the police action had acted as the
final trigger. However, he assured a fair and impartial probe.

The Dalit family is now worried about the future of the missing
couple. "If something happens to them the police will be responsible,"
said Ms. Sajani.

Hindu

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[ZESTCaste] Law for SCs, STs could be strengthened: PC

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Law-for-SCs--STs-could-be-strengthened--PC/674682

Law for SCs, STs could be strengthened: PC

Express news service Posted online: Tue Aug 31 2010, 01:32 hrs
New Delhi : Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday called for
institutionalising of oversight mechanisms at the grassroots level to
prevent atrocities against Dalits and tribals even as he asserted that
laws dealing with the issue could be strengthened. Responding to a
debate on increasing atrocities against SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha,
he said regular monthly meetings on the specific issue between the SP,
DM, Public Prosecutor and judges of lower judiciary would go a long
way in curbing such crimes.
Admitting that the number of cases against SCs and STs had increased
in the last three years — from 26,665 cases in 2006 to 29,875 in 2007
and 33,365 cases in 2009 — Chidambaram added that the number of
convictions, on the other hand, was only around 30 per cent.

The disturbing low percentage of convictions, he said, was largely
because of the high number of acquittals that was, in turn, caused by
delay in justice. "The delay has resulted in disappearance of
evidence, which forces witnesses to turn hostile," he said, adding
that speedy justice was hence required. He added that pendency of
cases was also very high.

Asserting that there had been historical injustice against SCs and STs
because of divisions in society, he said the country should not only
address the atrocities but also the divisions. Without naming the
Mirchpur incident in Haryana where Dalits were allegedly driven out of
the village, he said the recent incident in a "neighbouring state" was
an example of the manner in which the wealthy and powerful inflict
atrocities on these communities and how deeply entrenched the problem
was.

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[ZESTCaste] House panel slams Haryana police

http://www.hindustantimes.com/House-panel-slams-Haryana-police/Article1-594007.aspx

House panel slams Haryana police

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times

New Delhi, August 31, 2010First Published: 00:39 IST(31/8/2010)
Last Updated: 00:41 IST(31/8/2010)

A parliamentary panel on Monday slammed the Haryana police for its
"negligent attitude and inaction" on the issue of atrocities against
Dalits in Mirchpur village of Hisar district in April. A 60-year-old
Dalit and his handicapped daughter were burnt alive and 18 houses were
set on fire allegedly by Jats on April 21 following a scuffle between
the two communities.

The parliamentary panel rap for the police comes four days after the
Supreme Court had slammed the state government, for its failure to
arrest all the accused.

"The negligence and lackadaisical attitude of the state police in
apprehending and taking proper action against all the accused justify
the fear psychosis that has engulfed the affected people," said the
Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in its
report presented to both Houses of Parliament.

The panel, which visited Mirchpur, concluded that the dominant Jat
community continues to threaten the Dalits.

"During interaction with affected people, the committee was informed
that they were being asked by the dominant Jat community to withdraw
the FIRs filed against the culprits," the report said.

The Congress brass had taken the issue seriously and party general
secretary, Rahul Gandhi, had visited Mirchpur on April 30.

A rattled state government had swung into action. It announced a
compensation of R20 lakh to the family of the deceased and Rone lakh
damages to those whose houses were burnt. It also informed the SC on
Thursday that 52 accused had been arrested and 71 others were yet to
be arrested.

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[ZESTCaste] MPs unite to protest atrocities against dalits

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/MPs-unite-to-protest-atrocities-against-dalits/articleshow/6462965.cms

MPs unite to protest atrocities against dalits

TNN, Aug 31, 2010, 03.52am IST

NEW DELHI: In a debate that saw MPs from almost all parties
registering their strong protests over rising incidents of atrocities
against Scheduled Castes and Tribes, home minister P Chidambaram said
district judges needed to ensure proper and speedy disposal of such
cases in their jurisdiction.

Chidambaram pointed to a high pendency of more than 70% for cases
relating to dalits and tribals and said these were adversely affected
by delays, witnesses vanishing or turning hostile or indifference of
police investigators. The role of the district judge in holding
monthly meetings to assess progress of cases and pushing DMs and SPs
to ensure quick disposal was necessary, the minister said.

Replying to a debate in Lok Sabha on Monday, Chidambaram pointed out
that cases of atrocities against SCs/STs had risen over 2006-08 and
while this could be because of higher registration as these sections
assert themselves, 33,000 cases in 2008 was a matter of deep shame.
"Some of this crime is aimed at crippling SCs economically," the
minister said.

Though he refrained from naming states, he alluded to a recent
incident in a neighbouring state, clearly Haryana, where dalits had to
flee from the village they inhabited. He pointed to a circular issued
by the home ministry on April 1, 2010 outlining guidelines on how such
cases were to be dealt with, pointing out that the "will and intent"
of state governments was crucial.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was present through the discussions on
Monday as the home minister responded to MPs who said district
administrations often lacked the will to pursue accused, often
powerful local upper castes. "It is not a matter of pride that so many
cases are registered, it is deeply disturbing," Chidambaram said.

The minister also said there were some lacunae in the public order act
as courts did not take cognizance of a case until a magistrate
committed it to trial. He said some states had set up special courts
but these also looked at several other cases apart from those relating
to dalits and STs. "Often there is nothing special about these cases."
Some states had been better than others, like Andhra Pradesh has set
up 22 mobile courts, Tamil Nadu has focused on districts where caste
violence is severe while West Bengal has asked district judges to
double up as special judges.

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[ZESTCaste] Decision taken on including caste in census: Pranab

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article605592.ece?css=print

Published: August 31, 2010 14:29 IST | Updated: August 31, 2010 14:33
IST New Delhi, August 31, 2010

Decision taken on including caste in census: Pranab
PTI

What is in a name? Caste census: GoM to write to parties Caste in
census: Cabinet to decide on modalities GoM approval for caste-based
census Congress, BJP still divided over caste census Siddaramaiah for
caste enumeration
TOPICS
demographics population and census
politics national politics

The Finance MInister said the decision will now have to be endorsed by
the Cabinet, which he hoped would be done at the next meeting. "It is
now a matter of formality," he said

Bowing to demands by several political parties, government today said
it has decided to include caste in census and the formality of
endorsing it is expected at the next Cabinet meeting.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha that all
political parties had supported the idea of including caste in census
and there was no need for any "apprehensions" over the issue.

His statement came after leaders of BJP, JD(U), BSP and Samajwadi
Party wanted to know as to what happened to the government's promise
on caste census, particularly since today was the last day of the
Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The Group of Ministers, which examined the issue, has decided that
caste census should be carried out during house enumeration exercise,
the Leader of the House said.

It will be limited to collection of information with regard to caste
and biometric exercise will go on simultaneously, he said about the
issue which had earlier divided the Cabinet and even the GoM headed by
Mr. Mukherjee.

"The government has more or less decided (to include caste in
census)," Mr. Mukherjee said.

Noting that the 11-member GoM was not an empowered body, he said its
decision will now have to be endorsed by the Cabinet, which he hoped
would be done at the next meeting. "It is now a matter of formality,"
he said.

Mr. Mukherjee recalled that after suggestions for inclusion of caste
in census were received, he had written to political parties and most
of them have responded "positively".

Earlier, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav raised the issue, saying the
government had sought views of political parties which had responded
in writing.

However, nothing was heard after that, despite assurances by Mr.
Mukherjee who held three meetings with leaders of various political
parties on the issue, Mr. Yadav said.

"There is unease in the country," he said, demanding early response
from the government.

He was supported by SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, BJP Deputy Leader
Gopinath Munde and Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP).

Mulayam Singh Yadav said there was consensus in the House over
inclusion of caste in census and there was "no party which did not
support it."

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr. Mukherjee had promised
to implement it at the earliest but despite that it had not happened.

"What is the reason for this? What should we do? Where should we go?
We want the House to function but there should be a response from the
government," he said.

Mr. Munde also asked the government to spell out its intentions.

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[ZESTCaste] Incest: Haryana's shameful social heritage

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Incest-Haryanas-shameful-social-heritage/articleshow/6451268.cms

Incest: Haryana's shameful social heritage

Sukhbir Siwach, TNN, Aug 28, 2010, 02.05pm IST

It was a national debate on a news channel. Tempers were running
high, so were the decibels. The subject was explosive - Haryana's
khaps and their diktats. In the midst of this charged atmosphere, a
voice rose above the rest, silencing them all. Seema, a law graduate
and resident of Karora village, made an allegation that changed the
course of the debate. Her brother had been executed for marrying a
woman from the same gotra, but that was not what Seema wanted to talk
about on the primetime show. It was another shameful reality of
Haryana villages she wanted to expose - incest.

"Khaps should look into their homes before passing fatwas on lovers
and crying hoarse about honour. Incest is rampant in the state and
virtually every home is affected. Where is the honour anyway ?" she
screamed.

Early this week, the state was shocked when a pregnant girl was
strangled by her parents and her body dumped on the outskirts of
Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar district. Her crime: she was reportedly having
an affair with her brother-in-law and her vengeful elder sister had
complained to their parents.

In another embarrassing case earlier this year, a farmer in his early
50s developed a sexual relation with his 30-year-old daughter-in-law
in a village in Kaithal district. Their liaison continued for almost a
year. The matter even reached the village panchayat, which ordered
separation of the two unlikely partners so that the woman could go
back to her husband.
And only last month, Sonepat was jolted by the gruesome murder of two
minor girls, just 12 and 14. They were killed and their bodies flung
in a canal by their uncles and grandmother after their "affair" with a
cousin was exposed. The police said the kin of the victims were
enraged when they allegedly caught the minors getting intimate with
their cousin. In Yamunanagar, a girl complained to the police that her
father-in-law had raped her just a few months after her marriage.

These are not isolated incidents: incest is reportedly a real part of
life in rural Haryana. "It's a menace nobody wants to talk about. Even
the elders are setting a bad example, " says D R Chaudhary, member of
the Haryana Administrative Reforms Commission. The elders,
predictably, blame this perversion on the growing sway of the west
over the state's youth.

When Kurukshetra-based Ramesh Kumar's daughter married a close
relative, he blamed it on urban influence. Now he is fighting a legal
battle to have the marriage declared null and void, terming it a
contravention of the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The
mothers of the newly-wed couple were apparently related, being
granddaughters of the same person.

The incidence of incest may be higher in rural areas. "Social mores in
villages are different. People here are very conservative and there is
no scope for interaction between men and women and boys and girls
outside their homes. So, they often end up having relationships with
members of their accessible, extended family, " says Balbir Singh, a
social activist in Fatehabad district.
Experts believe that such relationships have survived behind closed
doors for many years. But given the modern means of communication and
the proliferation of the media, the skeletons are now tumbling out of
family cupboards.

The youth, interestingly, believe that incest is a traditional
practice and not a new reality. "Yeh to hame virasat mein mili hai
(incest is a part of our tradition), " says Naresh Kumar, a villager
in Rohera in Kaithal district. Sociologists, in turn, say that the
ethnic history of the region is full of such instances.

"In the pre-Independence era, in some parts of north India, the
father-in-law almost had the right to physical relations with a
daughter-in-law, and in most cases the female was not in a position to
resist much. The very young husband also had no say in the matter.
Widows would routinely be married to a brother of the dead husband.
Sharing of the wife by brothers was also not uncommon, " says Ravinder
Kaur, a professor at IIT-Delhi.

What adds to this problem in Haryana is its skewed sex ratio caused by
rampant female foeticide. "Its effects are now being felt on intimate
relationships within and without the family. The shortage of
marriageable women can have many unintended consequences, especially
when only one out of four men find a bride (as in the case of Haryana)
in their own community, " adds Kaur.

Kumar's 35-year-old nephew, Roshan, is yet to get any offers for
marriage. "We are at a loss, wondering what to do, " says Kumar. A
growing army of bachelors has become a problem in the state, leading
to more illicit relations.

Yet, there seems little the government and social organisations can do
about this. Haryana has not seen any strong social movement in recent
years and there are very few NGOs working on such issues. While a
Haryana court was quick (it took three years) to deliver the death
penalty to five khap members accused in the sensational murder of
Manoj and Babli in March this year, it took a Bhiwani court around
five years to give its verdict in a shocking case of incest that
surfaced almost a decade ago.
In a letter to Bhiwani senior superintendent of police, an 18-year-old
girl spoke of how her father and cousin exploited her sexually for
seven months. "My father used to rape me. Not only this, my uncle and
his son too sexually assaulted me, " stated the girl.

"My mother was usually sent to sleep in another house and I was made
to sleep with my father. My mother was not aware of all this. When I
told my boyfriend and he objected, my father and cousin beat him up
and also got a false case registered against him. When I threatened to
go to the police, I was locked up, " she wrote in the letter.

It was only after the girl said she would tell her mother that she was
released from her confinement. The girl then ran away with her
boyfriend and a case of abduction was slapped on the boy. Nobody knows
where the couple is today.

Chilling tales of incest and abuse have been pouring in from all over
the state. Inquiries reveal that physical relationship with a
husband's brother is not considered 'unusual. ' "Such relations are
not objected to. They are considered a family's 'internal affair', "
says Prem Singh, a farmer-leader from Kaithal.

In a study conducted by the UNICEF in 2001 to gauge the context of
abortions involving 83 adolescent girls in the age group of 10 to 19
years in Rohtak district, it was found that incest was a common cause.
"It was responsible for pregnancies in 16 per cent of the cases. We
have even had cases of girls getting pregnant through their kin,
including fathers and brothers, " says Sonia Trikha, who's associated
with the UNICEF. Many feel the situation has worsened in the last
decade.

Leaders of gotra-based khap panchayats blame the law for protecting
those who are guilty of incest. "A scheduled caste girl had run away
with a boy from her family. Later, they married and even got police
protection, " says Badan Singh, leader of the Kalayat khap. Another
prominent leader, Om Parkash Dhankar, president of the Dhankhar khap,
complains about new social trends: "Illicit relationships are on the
rise. Even a Supreme Court ruling spoke of permitting live-in
relationship without marriage. "

But Seema blames the khaps for shifting the focus from the real
problems. "The problem, " she says, "is not of love marriages, or
marriages within gotras and villages, but incest. Marrying out of
choice is not a crime, incest is. Khap leaders should be addressing
the problem of incest and check this evil instead of hounding people
who are in love. "

INCEST IN MYTHOLOGY

If you thought Greek tragedies such as Odeipus Rex were embarrassing
in their details of incest, our own epics and mythological texts are
no less. They, in fact, abound with instances where men and women have
conjugated with close kin. For instance, in the Mahabharata, Arjuna
was married to Subhadra, the daughter of his aunt Rohini. Then there
is the union of Yama with his twin sister Yami;Manu, son of Vivasvat,
and his sister Sraddha;Prajapati and his daughter Ushas;Pushan and his
sister Surya;Sukra and his three sisters;Satrajita and his 10
sisters;Nahusha and his sister Viraja. Purukutsa's queen Narmada after
her husband's death obtained a son through her own brother

WHY IN RURAL HARYANA?

Skewed sex ratio; 860 girls for 1,000 boys

Very conservative society;girls and women are allowed to speak openly
with only close relatives

A large number of girls and women don't work outside their homes

Social resistance to love marriages

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

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