Latest News Update: Dec 13, 2010

Monday, December 13, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Mayawati flays 'anti-Dalit' temple ritual in Karnataka

http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-103627.html

Mayawati flays 'anti-Dalit' temple ritual in Karnataka

Lucknow, Dec 12 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president and Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has slammed an age-old temple ritual
in Karnataka where people, the majority of them Dalits, roll over
plantain leaves with leftovers of meals eaten by Brahmins, believing
this will cure them of skin ailments.

Called the 'urulu seve' (roll over ritual), the tradition at the Kukke
Subramanya temple in the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada is said
to have been followed for 400 years, according to the temple
authorities.

The ritual is undertaken in the belief that it will cure people of
skin ailments.

Though people from all castes, including Brahmins, perform the ritual,
a majority of them are said to be Dalits and those from backward
classes.

In a statement issued here Saturday, Mayawati labelled the practice as
being "grossly casteist" and "against the letter and spirit of the
Indian Constitution."

"This custom of making poor Dalits roll over used leaf plates was not
only "anti-Dalit" but also deserves to be abhorred.

"It was quite apparent that the objective behind the practice was only
to humiliate the socially downtrodden, therefore it was high time the
Karnataka government rose to the occasion to bring an end to this
social evil," the statement said.

The chief minister also shot off a letter to her Karnataka counterpart
urging him to ban the practice.

--IANS

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[ZESTCaste] Himachal BJP chief booked for casteist remarks‎

http://www.himvani.com/news/2010/12/11/himachal-bjp-chief-booked-under-sc-st-atrocity-act/9249

Himachal BJP chief booked for casteist remarks‎
HimVani

Kullu (Dec 11): Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
president Khimi Ram and another leader of the party were today booked
under SC & ST Atrocity Act -1989 on the complaint of local party
leader Ram Singh, senior police officer confirmed.

According to SP Kullu Abhishek Dhular, Khimi Ram and local BJP leader
Dharamvir Dhami were booked under Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe
Atrocity Act-1989 for allegedly using derogatory remarks against the
caste of the complainant, local BJP leader Ram Singh, last night.

The complainant registered his complaint at Kullu Sadar Police Station
today. Khimi ram was elected party president in February 2010
replacing former president Jai Ram Thakur. Dharmvir Dhami has remained
a rebel candidate of BJP during last Assembly elections, and had
joined the party during the previous Lok Sabha election.

Police officer disclosed that two leader have not been taken into
custody after the FIR as the case is under investigation.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits to boycott local body polls

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/120235/dalits-boycott-local-body-polls.html

Dalits to boycott local body polls
Challakere/Mandya, Dec 12, DHNS:

Voters in two villages of the State have chosen the election time to
give vent to their ire against the government.

As many as 35 Dalit families of Budihalli in Challakere taluk of
Chitradurga district have decided to boycott the taluk, zilla
panchayat polls as a mark of their protest against atrocities by upper
castes.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the families alleged that they had
been ostracised by the upper castes for years together. Landless
Dalits were not being allowed to eke out livelihood by collecting wood
from the gomala. The Dalits have been leading miserable lives in huts
on the outskirts of the village.

Accusing the Deputy Commissioner (Chitradurga district) of
'anti-Dalit' stand, they said rehabilitation has become a mirage as
nothing has come out of the Rs 63 lakh released by the government for
the purpose. The district administration, instead of responding to the
woes, has been denying that the atrocity took place, they said. The
Dalits said it was a travesty of democracy that their plight had not
come to the notice of any elected representative and hence they would
not cast vote in the local body polls.

Eluding road

The residents of Haluvadi village in Mandya taluk will also refrain
from exercising their franchise, but for a different reason. They have
also gone a step further by deciding not to allow any vote-seeking
politician into the village. The reason: two decade slumber on their
demand to repair a road.

Haluvadi, which comes under Taggahalli ZP constituency has more than
1,800 voters. The residents had been demanding repair of the road
leading to their village and what followed is plethora of promises
only to be reneged on time and again.

Transport Minister Ashoka, during his recent visit, had promised to
repair the road at a cost of Rs five crore, which however, is yet to
be translated into action. The villagers have also decided to stage a
dharna in Mandya on Tuesday to draw the attention of the authorities.

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[ZESTCaste] Raja grabbed dalit land in hometown

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/node/205479

Raja grabbed dalit land in hometown

December 13th, 2010
DC

2G spectrum scam, A. Raja, dalit lands grabbing Dec. 12: The former
communications and IT minister, Mr A. Raja, and his associates have
allegedly grabbed dalit lands in his district even while the Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, has been trying to drum up
sympathy for the DMK leader saying that he was being victimised in the
2G spectrum allocation scam only because he was a dalit.

Dozens of dalits of Naranamangalam village, in Perambalur district,
claim that they have been cheated by Mr Raja and his associates who
grabbed their land with the help of the police and revenue officials.

Mr Chandrasekhar (45), a dalit from Naranamangalam, used to be a
land-owner three years ago. Today, he works as a casual labourer near
the Perambalur bus terminus, earning Rs 80 a day to support his
five-member family.

"I barely managed to survive using the income I got from my ancestral
property of 3.5 acres of land. When MRF approached me through Green
House Promoters to sell my property for the factory in 2007, I
refused. But, I was threatened to part with it for Rs 90,000 an acre
by Mr Selvaraj, one of the directors of Green House Promoters, and his
associate Mr Senthil Murugan," he said.

While the illiterate villager was told that the land would be handed
over to MRF, he found out about a year later that Mr Selvaraj retained
the land and had rented it out to MRF for Rs 50,000 a month and got an
advance of Rs 3,00,000. "When I approached Green House Promoters, they
threatened to eliminate me," Mr Chandrasekhar said.

And he is not the only dalit who has been cheated. At least 60 dalit
families from the village have lost their property to Green House
Promoters, which is one of the real estate companies allegedly owned
by Mr Raja. "Even last week, we gave a petition to the district
revenue authorities. But they threatened to drive us away," says Mr
Raja Chidambaram, district secretary of the Tamizhaga Vivasayigal
Sangam, the organisation taking up the issue with the government.