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Monday, November 1, 2010

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Report of Public meeting demanding justice to Sathyambabu and Ayeshameera

On – 30^th Oct 2010, In Parvana Hall, Gun foundry – Hyderabad

Organised by

Sathyambabu Ayesha Meera Nyaya Porata Committee, Andhra Pradesh

This meeting was organized in the backdrop of the recent verdict by the Sessions Court Vijayawada on 29^th September convicting Sathyambabu an innocent Dalit laborer from the nearby locality, for life imprisonment. Several persons representing various Dalit Organizations, democratic movements, Muslim organizations and women's movements attended this meeting. There were also representatives from Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights Mumbai, and Dalit Mukti Morcha Chhattisgarh, Dalit movement in Maharashtra and West Bengal. The Sathyambabu Ayesha Meera Nyaya Porata Committee had put forward two major demands such as -

a) Ayesha Mira murder case should be reinvestigated by CBI.

b) Provide proper provision of health and treatment to Sathyambabu. as he is suffering GB Syndrome caused by the police torture

Several speakers expressed their concerns, suggestions and demands in this public meeting. This meeting presided by the coordinator of Sathyambabu Ayeshameera Nyaya porata committee Mr. Karthik Navayan, Here is a brief of the proceedings of the meeting.

1. Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, Mumbai.

He told that it is a prepared story. It is like sacrificing poor Dalit boys for the sake of judicial institutions. In the judgment one can see the statement of Ayesha's mother; it says that Sathyambabu is innocent, he is not accused.

He mentioned that Satyam Babu's case is a technical flaw, which needs to be dealt by competent lawyers. He also mentioned the patterns of judgments delivered by the courts in recent years. He told that it needs to relook into the Khairlanji and Ayodhaya verdicts. Told that these verdicts come with the same neo-liberal agenda therefore these verdicts need to be checked in the context and pattern of globalization process.

On the Khairlanji verdict he mentioned that the way the verdict was placed saying there was no caste conflict, no sexual molestation of women, there was no conspiracy was just astonishing. Therefore the court also took the position that it can't come up with any position or render capital punishment to the accused. Such judgment is design judgment. Referring to the recent issue raised by Shantibhushan of corrupt judge, he said that people have lost faith on legislation, democracy judiciary and bureaucracy.

He also suggested that we need to be an introspective. There are many unknown Sathyambabu, therefore it's not unique case, but we need to be introspective about the weakness of our movement. The system should ensure that one should not face problems just because of he is poor.

He also suggested to form committee of lawyers since this is a technical (legal) matter. However there should be the demand for reinvestigation of this case. At the same time we need to look at the possibilities to put a political demand.

2. Mr. Aanant Acharya, Democratic forum for Dalit, women and minorities

He said that the judiciary and police are not working with any sort of accountability. India is basically an upper caste Hindu state, which has Brahmanical hegemony. In India the exploiters united but the exploited are divided. He also mentioned the importance of fact finding work.According to him Brahmanism today is in most modern form; apart from Brahmanism there are many other forces who are working to exploit others.

3. Mr. Goldy George, Dalit Mukti Morcha, Chhattisgarh

He spoke about the ongoing politics of framing cases. Satyambau's is not a singled out case. Framing of cases in this country is like a riddle. The politics of framing cases comes from the fear that the state feels due to the growing people's dissent and struggle. Today there are different levels of struggle against Corporate, Castiest, and fascist forces. The way Binayak Sen. was implicated in a fake case as shown this trend in Chhattisgarh. In Chhattisgarh on an average 10-15 fake cases are filed every day. The more stronger the struggle, the more stronger the state repression would be.

Secondly he mentioned that while framing such cases the easy targets are always the Dalits, adivasis and minorities and in some cases women. They are the soft targets, who could be easily trapped. Sathyambabu had fallen prey to this trap.

Thirdly he expressed his apprehension that this cases would had led to the Gujarat Paradigm of caste-communal polity where the early preparations were in the 80 and then in 90. Eventually we all witnessed it happening in 2002 as a mass genocide program of the fascist state. Similarly in Andhra Pradesh there are communal forces that could encase. The state has got its agenda to a head such a Brahmin -Baniya design which is to support the neo-liberal corporate agenda. There are people who are victim and victimized. Ayesha was the victim while Sathyambabu was victimized.

Fourth, he criticized the court's proceedings in recent years in following the eminent domain. All the recent verdicts such as Ayodhaya, Khairlanji and Sathyambabu the trajectory followed is based on the Acts, laws and rules framed by the British, to suppresse all kind of dissent against the state. So expecting justice from such a framework would be impossible.

He also proposed a few things such as to fight this battle inside and outside the court. Both these fights are necessary for a change process. He supported the demand for a CBI investigation, but also cautioned about the dangers as seen in several cases. He also suggested the formation of an independent fact finding team (with people from outside AP)

4. Mr.Habibur Rehman , Muslim United Front

He explained the background of Ayesha Meera Case. After the murder of Ayesha Meera, Police officials of Vijayawada announced that they have names of accused and will reveal it in the next 2 days. In the meantime they stopped investigation and went to Ayesha Meera's hometown and tried to create a story around love affair with someone in her hometown. The intention was to create a scene of rape and murder by some unknown lover of Ayesha. After while police realized that Ayesha didn't have a boyfriend. Then police started trapping her family members (Maternal Uncle) MAMA and others,. Police even misguide CM in this case, when the parents went to meet the CM.

The police then accused someone working in college canteen where Ayesha Meera studied. As there was protest to in support of this person, they had to withdraw from this ploy. Then police started targeting innocent persons from village. One of them was Gurvinder Singh alias Laddu, with some cases against him. He was book in this case Gurvinder Singh after two months of incident. Then when there was strong opposition against the arrest of Gurvinder Singh and also due to the lack of evidence against him, he was dropped out of the case. Then they got hold of Sathyambabu a poor laborer from the nearby village. He was an assistant to a mason on a construction site. Police had tried to trap an innocent, poor, socially and economically backward person in this case, without any political backing and Sathyambabu was the best prey.

The question is that why is the government reluctant for a CBI investigation into the entire case? Is there any hidden agenda behind that? Rehman strongly advocated for INSAAF (justice) for Sathyambabu and for his unconditional and immediate release.

5. Adv. V. Narayana Reddy, Organization for Protection of Democratic Rights

He told that there are many loopholes in the investigation process right from the panchanama, fortification of postmortem report, getting various persons as accused in this case, etc. He also discussed about the weak role of the State Human rights Commission in this case. He said that a full narration of this case must be taken on record and the case should be reinvestigation by the CBI.

6. Jansi , Dalit Stree Shakthi

She told that the judicial system, police force and political system of state complete insensitive towards the poor Dalits. She also explained how it victimizes innocent Dalits like Sathyambabu and Dalit women… She spoke at length about atrocities in the state. And she reiterated that the need of unity of Dalit, Bahujan masses

7. Mr.G.Shankar, SC and ST Rights Protection Society

He said that the judiciary and police system failed to punish the real culprit. He elaborated the encounter and targeting tactics used by police. There are many Ayesha and Sathyambabu type of cases in this state. He commented on the role of High court and Supreme Court in many cases. He stressed on need for Dalit-Muslim Sanghtan (unity), in this case. Also he emphasized on the need of democratic protest, Dharna, and March till the time justice is not delivered. There is need of consistent protest against present system. We have to create awareness about the failure of judiciary and police machinery. We should approach Chief Justice of India, National Commission of Human rights etc. seeking justice in this case.

8. Mr. P. Srinivas, Defense lawyer of Sathyambabu

He told that the judgment delivered in this case was solely opposed by the people of state he also told that the appeal was filed in the high court and he hoped that at least in the high court Sathyambabu will get justice

9. Mr. D. Suresh Kumar, Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee

He said that in neo-liberal world the way people denied justice by judiciary is really dangerous. He demanded for a reinvestigation by the CBI. He told that the social system, judiciary, police force, politics are nothing help for poor and Dalits. He spoke about strengthening of educational system; judicial system, social system

10. Mr. S. Jeevan Kumar , Human rights forum

He told about the conditions of Dalits and explained how the Dalit and poor are becoming scapegoats for the upper caste social system and he also analysed .the social, political system, police and judiciary and given examples of violation of human rights in many cases, and said that his full support will be there with this struggle

11. Shamshad begum , Ayesha's mother

She absent to the meeting as her younger daughter and mother was fallen ill health. She spoken over phone to the meeting, and told that Sathyambabu was not the killer of her daughter Ayeshameera and requested all to fight for the release of innocent poor Dalit boy from the police and corrupted judiciary

12. Jaya , AP Chaitanya Mahila Sangam

Jaya told that appealing to the government will not help to the victim as the government it self is a culprit, and she opposed the demand of re investigation of case by CBI as the CBI also part of the state and how we expect help from them, she also opposed the proposal of submitting a representation to the Governor requesting his intervention for the CBI inquiry in this case, and she told that he may not respond positively as the governor is the former police who created the idea of green hunt

13. Mariyamma, Mother of Sathyambabu

Mariyamma told that she is coming from the charlapally jail where her son Sathyambabu placed, she met him in the jail and spoke to him, came to know that the jail constables bet him badly as he is requesting the jailer to arrange an appointment with the superintendent to put a request for shifting him from Vijayawada to Charlapally (he shifted here for treatment), She told that her son was in sound health condition when he was arrested by the police, but he is now unable to move him self for a small distance She cried bitterly when she reminded all things about his son

14. Mary Madiga

She told that the main culprit that is who really murdered Ayeshameera also belongs to the a Dalit sub caste, but they are very rich, and politically influential family, and it need to invite and include the leaders and organisations from Madiga community to be part of this struggle committee to achieve justice to the Sathyambabu and Ayeshameera,

15. B.Siddeshwar, Madiga Mahajana Sramika Vimukthi

He told that the state is using the conflict of between Dalit communities in this case, none of the mainstream Mala and Madiga leaders responding to protect Sathyambabu as he is poor, While Krishna Madiga accusing that the Mala community is so strong and stopping the classification of SC reservations as ABCD in Delhi, But the Sathyambabu belongs to the Mala Community, and He falsely implicated and badly beaten up also made as physically handicapped, so as a leader of poor Manda Krishna Madiga should join in the struggle for justice to Sathyambabu he added.

The other speakers, M.Chalapathi, Human Rights Law Network, V.Nanda Gopal, Sakshi Dalit Human Rights Watch, Prem Kumar Founder President Ambedkar Yuvajana Sangam, Ganumala Gnaneshwar, Senior Dalit Activist, Boge Rajaram, General secretary AP Ambedkar Yuvajana Sangam, K.Jayaraj, Kula Nirmoolana Porata Samithi, Demanded the government to re investigate Ayeshameera murder case and also demanded proper treatment to the Sathyambabu in the NIMS hospital

And the Sathyambabu Ayesha Meera Nyaya Porata committee meeting also held after public meeting. And it is decided to submit a representation to the Governor requesting His intervention and direction for CBI investigation in the Ayeshameera Murder case. And also requesting him to direct the Jails department to shift Sathyambabu into NIMS Hospital, it is decided to meet Governor by end of this month

Also decided to conduct a private investigation as suggested by George Goldy on the Ayeshameera Murder case by a national team including a Supreme Court lawyer, a forensic expert and a writer and activist, the members for this committee will be finalized by George Goldy and it will take place December or January of 2011

Mr. Karthik Navayana convened the entire proceedings. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks by him.

- Report by: Bhupali Vitthal Magare, Dalit Activist, TISS, Mumbai

Note: Protect the human rights of an innocent Dalit boy Pidathala Sathyambabu from corrupted judiciary and police, who falsely implicated and punished him for life sentence in Ayesha Meera murder case, to protect the real culprits Click here to sign : http://www.petitiononline.com/sathyam/petition.html

--
B.Karthik Navayan, Advocate
H.No. 21-7-761,
Opp.High Court Post Office,
Gansi Bazar, Hyderabad,
PIN-500002, AP.
Cell:09346677007,
email:navayan@gmail.com
http://karthiknavayan.wordpress.com/
http://www.petitiononline.com/93466770/petition.html
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?uid=10379805095932756525

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[ZESTCaste] Contrary theories (Kancha Ilaiah)

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comment/contrary-theories-271

Contrary theories

November 1st, 2010
By Kancha Ilaiah

With the Srikrishna panel set to submit its report before the end of
December, the specific issue of Telangana and the broader issue of
smaller states have once again come to the limelight.

Very few people know that there are two distinct and contrary theories
of small states in India. The first theory is that of Dr B.R.
Ambedkar. He proposed that theory in the mid-1930s.

But his concrete proposal for the formation of small states and his
opposition to the model of linguistic states was expressed in 1953,
that too in the context of the formation of the Telugu linguistic
state.

His opposition to the formation of big linguistic states was rooted in
his concern for protecting the interests of dalit-bahujan masses. His
considered view was formulated in an article that he wrote in the
Times of India on April 23, 1953.

He said, "In a linguistic state what would remain for the smaller
communities (he meant SCs and STs) to look to? Can they hope to be
elected to the legislature? Can they hope to maintain a place in the
state service? Can they expect any attention to their economic
betterment? In these circumstances, the creation of a linguistic state
means the handing over of Swaraj to a communal majority."

While specifically referring to the formation of Andhra Pradesh, he
says, "Take Andhra — there are two or three major communities spread
over the linguistic area. They are either the Reddys or the Kammas and
the Kapus. They hold all the land, all the offices, all the business…"

In other words, Dr Ambedkar was arguing that in any big linguistic
state the dalit-bahujan communities cannot wield considerable
influence. He was of the view that a weak village, a weak state and a
very strong Centre with a secular ideology would provide enough ground
for annihilation of caste, at least over a period of time.

Thus, he was for a quasi-federal state with major powers vested with
the Central government, which could not be controlled by feudal,
casteist forces that operate at the village, district and state
levels.

The hegemonic and progressive role of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal
Nehru at the national level must have weighed on his mind, as against
that of feudal, casteist and conservative upper caste leadership at
the state level.

Even in the Constituent Assembly debates, Dr Ambedkar pleaded for a
strong Centre and weaker states for annihilation of caste and
dismantling of feudal economy and backward cultural structures in the
rural areas.

Most of the dalit-bahujan activists in the present Telangana movement
keep referring to this theory of Dr Ambedkar, for the possible power
reversal in the small Telangana state. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Mayawati also proposed to divide UP into three small states based on
Dr Ambedkar's theory.

But what Dr Ambedkar did not anticipate was the rise of the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and its allied forces and their coming to power at
the Centre.

When Dr Ambedkar formulated his views he was part of the Nehru Cabinet
and major leaders of that time did not anticipate that the then
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or Hindu Mahasabha could form a party like
the Jan Sangh and later the BJP. They much less anticipated that they
could come to power with a clear anti-Muslim, anti-Christian and also
anti-Pakistan agenda.

By the mid-1990s these forces came to power. Through the demolition of
the Babri Masjid and the creation of a communal divide, they undercut
the Mandalisation process. The Gujarat mass pogrom and the Kargil War
were worked out when they were in power and that gave rise to a new
ambition of teaching a lesson to Pakistan and Bangladesh and moving
towards achieving the goal of "Akhand Bharat".

The BJP too longed for a stronger Centre. With that goal in mind in
the mid-90s, it proposed a theory of small states and almost a unitary
Centre.

For them such a centralised state was needed in order to resolve the
Kashmir problem with much more focused military action.

With this in mind, they manufactured a demand to separate Jammu from
Kashmir. To weaken the Communists in West Bengal they wanted to
separate Gorkhaland from West Bengal. Even the division of Tamil Nadu
into two states was on their cards to break the Dravidian unity. Of
course, the Telangana and Vidarbha demands also fit into their larger
scheme.

But they miserably failed in the quick implementation of their agenda
of dismantling the existing federal structure and could only carve out
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Uttaranchal because of the opposition
from the Telugu Desam and the Shiv Sena.

Though there appears to be a marginal difference between Dr Ambedkar's
quasi-federal state and the BJP's quasi-unitary state, there is
fundamental difference in their socio-political goals.

The BJP and its sister organisations wanted a strong feudal Hindu
village, weak states and very strong Centre to achieve their vision of
Akhand Bharat by bringing back Pakistan and Bangladesh into their
fold.

Meanwhile, they would have created enough fear psychosis among
minorities to the point of scaring them to not go to polling booths
within the country. They already have the experience of the village
and taluka level feudal lords not allowing dalits and tribals to vote.

In the long run, they wanted to "Hindu-ise" dalits-tribals, turn the
OBCs into a muscle power force to implement their Hindutva agenda. If
the BJP was to come to power on its own nobody would have stopped it
from pushing that agenda to a logical end.

Now that the Telangana issue has come to a peak and since the Congress
has committed itself to bifurcation, the BJP wants to concentrate on
this state.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, with its semi-Shiv Sena ideology and
organistional structure run by a family, would be a good ally for
this. If the Telangana state is formed under its leadership, the
Ambedkar theory will be implemented upside down. The landlords and
saffron brigade will rule the roost. Let us keep our fingers crossed.

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati launches scheme to woo upper caste poor

http://sify.com/news/mayawati-launches-scheme-to-woo-upper-caste-poor-news-national-klbrElccbbi.html

Mayawati launches scheme to woo upper caste poor

2010-11-01 17:40:00

Lucknow, Nov 1 (IANS) In a bid to woo upper caste poor, Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Mayawati Monday announced a scheme to provide Rs.300
per month to every poor person not benefiting from any other poverty
alleviation scheme.

The scheme titled 'Uttar Pradesh Mukhya Mantri Mahamaya Gareeb Aarthik
Madad Yojana' (UP chief minister's financial assistance scheme for the
poor), would help those who are not covered under any other welfare or
social security scheme, the state government said.

Launching the scheme at her residence, Mayawati said: 'The new scheme
envisages to provide a subsistence assistance of Rs.300 per month to
crores of poor people who, for various reasons, could not get the
benefits under other poverty alleviation schemes.'

'To begin with, we have taken up as many as 31 lakh beneficiaries; the
remaining would be covered during the next phase in 2011,' she said.

A symbolic launch of the scheme was made through handing over of
certificates to 10 beneficiaries by the chief minister.

The list of beneficiaries was finalised after a state-wide survey of
2.56 crore people, of which 31 lakh were eventually found to be
eligible for the scheme.

The survey followed a similar exercise carried out in 2002 to identify
those living below the poverty line.

While an annual income of Rs.19,884 was fixed as the upper limit for
identifying eligible families in the rural areas, in case of urban
areas the income level was raised to Rs.25,548.

'Despite schemes like old-age pension, widow pension, pension for the
handicapped and other social security schemes for the poor, a number
of poor were still left behind. We worked out this new scheme for
their benefit,' the chief minister said.

Admitting that more than 50 percent of the beneficiaries under this
scheme belonged to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, she
said: 'The scheme is unique as it covers the poor belonging to upper
caste and other religions as well.'

The scheme essentially intends to pick up women as beneficiaries but
men too could avail of the benefit if the family has no woman.

The monthly financial assistance of Rs.300 would be provided to the
beneficiaries in a lump sum every six months.

'District magistrates have been asked to ensure that each of the
beneficiaries gets a savings bank account opened in a nationalised
bank, where the six-monthly payments would be deposited in advance,'
Mayawati said.

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[ZESTCaste] KCR steals Dalit hearts from Babu

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/kcr-steals-dalit-hearts-babu-314

KCR steals Dalit hearts from Babu

November 1st, 2010
DC Correspondent

Hyderabad, Oct. 31: The Telangana Rastra Samiti president, Mr K.
Chandrasekhar Rao, promised Dalits that one from their community will
be made chief minister of the Telangana state and promised the
community to support it if it wishes to have a Dalit CM in Andhra.

This announcement of Mr Rao has scuppered the TD chief, Mr N.
Chandrababu Naidu's attempts to win Dalit support.

On Sunday morning, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, by promising to support
the struggle by SCs to get reservations in all sectors, won many
hearts at Alai-Balai, a programme organised by Malas, a prominent
Scheduled Castes group.

But by evening, Mr Rao came up with his promise to Dalits at a
meeting. "I will ensure a Dalit chief minister for Telangana, and if
you are ready to fight for a Dalit chief minister in Andhra region, my
party will extend all support to you," said Mr Rao.

Resolved to corner Mr Naidu, Mr Rao has been targetting him directly.
Last week, Mr Rao had pointed out that Mr Naidu were not part of the
team that staged a dharna before the Congress President Mrs Sonia
Gandhi's residence demanding Telangana State. He picked on Mr Naidu
for not flagging off the train that it took.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit engineer shot at UP

http://english.samaylive.com/regional-news/uttar-pradesh-news/676476369/dalit-engineer-shot-at-up.html

30 Oct 2010 10:15:28 PM IST

Dalit engineer shot at UP

A Dalit engineer was on Saturday shot at by three unidentified
motorcycle-borne assailants while he was going to report for panchayat
poll counting duty in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district.

Ashok Kumar Kannaujiya (44), a junior engineer of Mandi Parishad, was
shot at by three unidentified youths on a motorcycle at Chotti Bazar
in Kotwli area when he was on his way to report for counting duty at
Visehwarganj block, police
sources said in Lucknow.
The JE, who was hit in the chest, was rushed to the district hospital
from where he has been referred to a trauma centre in Lucknow in a
serious condition, the sources said.
Official rivalry appears to be the reason behind the attack, they said.
A case has been lodged against three persons, including a junior
engineer in the same department Jagdish Rao, Udayveer Singh and Arun
Singh on the basis of the victim's statement, police said, adding that
Rao had been arrested.
Kannaujiya told police that an inquiry on charges of corruption was
being conducted against Rao and contractor
Udayveer.
He said that the duo suspected that inquiry was ordered on his initiative.

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[ZESTCaste] Police halted setting-up of 'Goddess English' temple: Builders

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/police-halted-setting-up-of-goddess-english-temple-builders-63497

Police halted setting-up of 'Goddess English' temple: Builders
Press Trust of India, Updated: November 01, 2010 13:16 IST

Lucknow: A temple dedicated to 'Goddess English' coming up in
nondescript Banka village of Lakhimpur Kheri district is facing
trouble with the builders of the structure alleging that the police
has asked them to stop its construction.

"Local police led by Uchauliya police station in-charge today asked
our workers to stop construction work by citing a Supreme court ruling
that no place of worship can be installed without prior permission of
the administration," Chandra Bhan Prasad, the brain behind the temple,
said.

Prasad claimed that the police cited the order which is applicable on
installing temple or mosque on a public property whereas this
particular structure is being constructed on a private property owned
by Amar Chand Jauhar, who also runs the Nalanda Public Shiksha Niketan
in the campus.

Terming the move of Lakhimpur police as an attack on democratic rights
of the people, Prasad threatened to move the court in case the "ban"
was not lifted immediately.

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"We are also trying to find out as to why the construction has been
stopped as there had not been any local complaint against it," Prasad
said.

"There are at least three schools, about 20 km around, which have
idols of goddess Saraswati and stopping construction of a temple in
another school is most unfortunate," he said.

Meanwhile, Pasgavan police station officer Ravi Srivastava denied the
charges saying that there was no question of stopping construction as
there is only a room which is coming up there.

As per the Supreme Court ruling which says that prior permission was
required for any construction of the nature, we have taken an
undertaking from the principal of the school, Shiv Shankar Nigam for
the same, he added.

Amar Chand Jauhar on whose property the temple is being constructed
said some four to five labourers were present at the site when the
police arrived to stop the work.

The temple in Banka village, whose foundation was laid in presence of
dalit intellectuals in April is being constructed with the help of
funds collected from well-wishers.

The single storey structure covered with black granite, would have an
over-three-feet-tall idol of 'Dalit Goddess English" installed on a
pedestal in the shape of a computer holding a pen, a copy of the
Indian Constitution and donning a gown and a hat.

It was set to be inaugurated on October 25 to coincide with the birth
anniversary of Lord Macaulay, whose attempts at Dalit empowerment are
appreciated by the community. The temple is set to be inaugurated
sometime next month.

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[ZESTCaste] Why this cross is red

http://www.dailypioneer.com/293314/Why-this-cross-is-red.html

Why this cross is red
November 01, 2010 6:37:15 PM

Margins of faith
Author: Rowena Robinson
Publisher: Sage
Price: 695

The book seems a propaganda literature for the church, says BB Kumar

The book, Margins of Faith: Dalit and Tribal Christianity, has a
strange title; stranger still is the content of the book.

First, Christianity with Euro-American backing, a multi-billion dollar
soul-saving industry, and with its churches owning/controlling more
than 1,300 universities and 1,500 other institutions teaching theology
and church history, running about 1,500 radio/TV centres, 930 research
centres and publishing 3,000 journals in addition to another 20,000
magazines/newspapers can never be marginalised.

Second, the term 'Dalit' and 'Tribe' Christianity became necessary due
to the church's failure to bring promised change in the status of
Dalits and tribes even after conversion. After all, conversion was
often perceived as one of the ways of escaping 'caste oppression'.

The book, in general, talks of "double marginalisation of tribal
church", which includes intra-church marginalisation and that by Hindu
tribes. SM Michael's paper, 'Dalit Encounter with Christianity: Change
and Continuity', in particular, talks of five-fold discrimination
against Dalit Christians — by the state, caste Hindus, fellow Hindu
Dalits, upper Caste Christian community and Dalit Christian subgroups.

In reality, however, only Hindu tribes were subjected to
marginalisation, as the church and the British empire helped Christian
converts enormously. Senior British functionaries regarded the
converts as collaborators and helped them. Thus the problem is a
psychological one, emanating primarily from the numerical inferiority
of the converts.

The European soldiers and Christian priests, working in unison, were
enormously successful in colonising the world and proselytising
Africa, Americas, parts of Asia. But Hinduism resisted conversion,
which baffled early missionaries. Abbe JA Dubois, an 18th century
French missionary, could only convert about 200 to 300 people during
his 31 years of missionary work. Incidentally, two-thirds of the
converts were "pariahs, or beggars"! He wrote about them: "I will
declare it, with shame and confusion, that I do not remember anyone
who may be said to have embraced Christianity from conviction." No
wonder many converts, not getting expected temporal advantages,
relapsed into Paganism.

He saw no future for Christianity in India unless "intellectual
Hinduism" was countered by taking steps to diminish the influence of
Brahmins among Hindus.

For church, as the Niyogi Committee Report reveals, end justifies the
means. Purity of means is meaningless for them. Adoption of
"liberation theology" — a philosophy of direct political action — has
given new dimension to the activities of many missions. Dubious
organisations, calling themselves civil rights groups, are floated.
They act through local political forces and ideologies of divisive
significance, hoping to succeed in an India of subverted nationalism.

An official Catholic publication, India and its Missions, issued by
its American Capuchin Mission Monks (1923) discussed the "Spiritual
Advantages of Famine and Cholera". It quoted the report of the
archdiocese of Pondicherry sent to its superiors in Europe: "The
famine has brought miracles. The catechumenates are filling, baptismal
water flows in streams, and starving little tots fly in masses in
heaven."

The book uses notorious terms like Brahminism (for Hinduism) and
neo-Hindus (for tribals). It does not examine why a convert becomes
Hindu-hater? The authors of this book have no use for serious studies,
as was done by Dharampal, proving in no dubious term that exploitation
by the British empire was the root cause of poverty and illiteracy in
India. These weaknesses make the book a propaganda literature, rather
than a serious study of the subject.

--The reviewer is editor, Dialogue

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[ZESTCaste] Village head

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101031/jsp/nation/story_13121972.jsp

Village head

Kanpur, Oct. 30 (PTI): A Thakur-dominated village in Kanpur's
Ramabainagar district has finally got its gram pradhan after a wait of
five years. For five years the village remained a reserved seat and
did not get a single nomination for the gram pradhan post as Dalits
were too scared to come forward, sources said.

The village was declared a general panchayat recently. Ashish Singh,
who belongs to the Thakur community, was elected pradhan in the
panchayat polls held on October 20.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits angry with YS Jagan

http://newsofap.com/newsofap-27962-21-dalits-angry-with-ys-jagan.html

Dalits angry with YS Jagan

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has faced some rough moments with the dalits in
the Nellore district.

In a village, he was supposed to install two statues. One erected by
the forward castes and another erected by the dalits.

After installing the statue of erected by the upper castes, he was
asked to inaugurate the statue erected by the dalits.

However YS Jagan did not inaugurate it and went off.

This angered the dalits. Vijaykumar, the person who installed the
statue said that he shelled out around 50,000 rupees from his own
pocket for building this statue.

And he himself tore down the banners that he put up. He and the dalits
claimed that YS Jagan did not inaugurate the statue only because the
upper castes asked him to not to do it!

However YS Jagan's aides later claimed that they did not inaugurate
the statue as it was raining heavily.

Date : October 30th, 2010. News by Newsofap.com, Copyright
Newsofap.com. May not be copied by other sites except for discussion
forums. http

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[ZESTCaste] All hail the Goddess of English!

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/all-hail-the-goddess-of-english-63527

All hail the Goddess of English!
NDTV Correspondent, Updated: October 31, 2010 01:05 IST

Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh): In Uttar Pradesh a new religion has
taken birth, Dalits in the Lakhimpur Kheri district are now worshiping
the 'Goddess of English'. The followers are the Chatpatate sect of
Dalits.

The idol of the English goddess is inspired by the statue of liberty.
She sports a hat instead of a crown and has the Constitution of India
in her hands.

"It was Dr Ambedkar's idea that we should read and write in English,
which is why he always wrote in English and not in Marathi," said Amar
Johar, founder of the temple.

Once complete this temple will also have a computer symbolising science.

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"Without science, we Dalits cannot progress. Everything is driven by
science these days," said Anuradha, a teacher.

"If we know English we will be able to get jobs and do better in
life," said Anupam, a student.

But this structure may fade in comparison to Mayawati's mammoth Dalit
heritage worth thousands of crores.

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[ZESTCaste] Caste-based discrimination is crime

http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=86839

Caste-based discrimination is crime
Back To Main India

'Casteism is sin and caste based discrimination is crime', affirmed
Church leaders. The proclamation of this Jubilee was announced at a
meeting of the Church leaders, theologians and Dalit activists,
convened by the National Council of Churches in India in collaboration
with the World Council of Churches. Since discrimination is contrary
to the spirit of the gospel, Churches will have to be Zero Tolerance
Zones with regard to the practice of caste discrimination, said the
conference.

It was indeed a historic moment in the life and witness of the
Churches India, since it was for the very first time church leaders,
theological educators and social activists came together to wrestle
with the issues relating to casteism prevalent both in Indian society
and thus in the Church. They affirmed mutual partnership, and
accompaniment with each other in carrying forward the mandate of Dalit
liberation

"We commit to Lent 2011 to be a time of purging caste from our
churches and towards developing resources, both theological and
liturgical, for use of Sunday Schools, Youth Groups, Women' s and Men'
s fellowships and church services" said the participants of this
National Conference. The participants at the conference unanimously
agreed on an affirmation of faith, an affirmation that condemns
casteism and caste-based discrimination. This will direct the Churches
toward developing a Churches Policy on Social Inclusion.

Bishop Dr. V. Devasahayam, President of Tamil Nadu Christian Council &
Bishop of CSI-Madras Diocese in his opening devotion said, "The Indian
Church is in a sorry state. Church will fail if it does not weed out
caste within and outside. Both cannot go together as Christianity is
life giving while casteism is a sin and scandal," he further said,
adding "Christ must save us from the abominable sin of caste. If He
cant, then the Gospel is powerless."

H.G. Geevergheese Mar Coorilos, Moderator of WCC-CWME exhorted the
Churches on the need for Dalitisation of Indian Church, where a
spirituality of dissent is expressed and experienced in our times
today. He further said, "Churches have to be inclusive, and any
discrimination in any form will not make it the body of Christ."

Bishop Dr. Neethinathan, Member Bishop of the CBCI- Commission on
SC/BC and Bishop of Chengalpet Catholic Diocese, called on the
Churches in India to be sensitive and co-operative in owning up the
issues of Dalits and to work relentlessly until we become caste-free.

Mr. Paul Divakar, General Secretary of NCDHR, welcomed the initiative
to bring together the movements and Churches and challenged the
Churches to translate the Holy Bible in the language of Human Rights,
which can be reachable and relevant to the struggles of the Dalits
today.

Ms. Rama Devi, from the Catholic Relief Service spoke on the violence
against Dalits and Dalit woman, and called on the Churches to
recognize the resilience of the victims in the face of suffering,
while referring to the courage and witness of the survivors in the
recent Kandhamal violence.

Mr. Bezawada Wilson, National Convener, Safai Karamchari Andolan,
called on the leaders of the Churches to participate in the campaign
to eliminate manual scavenging by 2010. He further urged, when every
human being is the temple of God, let the Churches go to the temples
of God that are forced into the undignified occupations like manual
scavenging and liberate them from that bondage, and make the temples
of God, the Churches relevant for our times.

Rev. Dr. James Massey, former Member of the National Minorities
Commission, Government of India spoke on the missiological and
prophetic challenges of the Churches in addressing the Dalit cause,
and have called the churches to be the channels of giving 'whole
salvation', which can bring in a transformation of the society.

The Conference was inaugurated by Bishop Dr. Taranath S. Sagar,
President of NCCI, and in his opening address called on the Churches
to act, for this is the moment of truth that has come. He further
said, unless the Churches do the mission of God, i.e. Dalit
liberation, in all sincerity and faithfulness to each of our calling,
the generations next would make us accountable for not being able to
live up to the task.

Office bearers of the NCCI, several heads of Churches including
Bishops, Presidents, General Secretaries, theological educators, and
activists from different Dalit social movements attended the
conference. Rev. Dr. Deenabandhu Manchala, Programme Executive, WCC,
Rev. Dr. Chandran Paul Martin, Deputy General Secretary of LWF, Ms.
Constanze Ennen, Project Officer, EMW, Germany, Mr. Charlie O' Campo,
Executive Secretary, CCA-JID, Rev. Dr. Yim Tesoo, Minjung Theologian,
Korea, Rev. David Haslem, Co-ordinator, Churches Support Group for
Dalit Solidarity, UK, Dr. Walter Hahn, Co-ordinator, Dalit Solidarity
Network, Germany, Dr. Aruna Gnanadasan, renowned lay theologian, Rev.
Dr. Sathianathan Clarke, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington DC,
and several other distinguished leaders, theologians and activists
participated and accompanied the process. Bishop Dr. B.S. Devamani,
Chairperson of NCCI-Commission on Dalits and Rev. Asir Ebenezer,
Officiating General Secretary of NCCI, and Rev. Raj Bharath Patta,
Executive Secretary, NCCI Commission on Dalits gave leadership to this
conference. A concrete plan of action was proposed to accompany the
affirmation of faith. It was agreed that NCCI and CBCI would produce
different resources for Christian nurture and ministerial formation
from Dalit perspectives in order that the Church can be accompanied in
this commitment.

During the conference a booklet titled "Recipes in Resilience"
containing 50 recipes of beef delicacies was released by the President
of NCCI to register protest against the anti-cow slaughter movement in
Karnataka, and to affirm the solidarity of the Churches to the Dalit
and Muslim communities who will be affected. The Chairperson of the
NCCI Commission on Dalits released the posters and liturgical
resources for Dalit Liberation Sunday, a joint observance of NCCI and
CBCI, to be observed on 5th December 2010.

Rev. Raj Bharath Patta,

Executive Secretary,

NCCI-Commission on Dalits

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