Latest News Update: Dec 23, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

[ZESTCaste] HC no to quota, Gujjars revolt

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/HC-no-to-quota-Gujjars-revolt/Article1-641496.aspx

HC no to quota, Gujjars revolt

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Peelupura, December 22, 2010
First Published: 13:30 IST(22/12/2010)

The Gujjars intensified their agitation on Wednesday by blocking roads
and railway tracks across Rajasthan after the state's high court
rejected a petition seeking 5% reservation in government jobs for the
community. The community also announced it would stop supply of milk
to Delhi from
related stories

Railway services on the Delhi-Mumbai route continued to be affected
for the third day on Wednesday as more than 24 passenger trains were
diverted and six others were cancelled, said Sudhir Chandra Kumar,
senior divisional commercial manager of the Kota railway division.

The home ministry dispatched 1,500 personnel from the Border Security
Force and the Central Reserve Police Force to assist the state
government in maintaining law and order.

Expressing unhappiness over the court verdict, Gujjar leader Col
(retd) Kirori Singh Bainsala urged protesters to block roads and
railway tracks and disrupt exams and job recruitments across the
state.

"Gujjars will stop supply of milk form Thursday," Bainsala said at
Peelupura in Bharatpur district, 120 km from Jaipur, where protesters
continued to lay siege to the railway tracks.

The community will continue the agitation if the government fails to
provide a quota for Gujjars, he said.

The agitators have also blocked the Bayana-Hindon and Hindon-Bharatpur
roads, forcing the government to cancel some of its bus services on
these routes.

In Ajmer, protesters blocked the national highway and announced a
24-hour Ajmer bandh.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot appealed to the Gujjars to stop agitating.
"The government will examine the court order and a find a way out," he
said.

Earlier in the day, the Rajasthan high court ruled that a 5% "special"
reservation could not be granted as the government failed to justify
the basis on which the community should be provided such a
reservation.

It, however, said the state could continue to provide 1% reservation -
within the 50% quota - for Gujjars in government jobs.

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[ZESTCaste] Failing the Dalits again (Opinion)

http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/failing-the-dalits-again/233506.html

Failing the Dalits again

Amulya Ganguli
First Published : 22 Dec 2010 11:32:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 23 Dec 2010 12:17:24 AM IST

Mayawati and Andimuthu Raja have done great disservice to their
community. Their success in their chosen profession of politics gave
them an ideal opportunity to act as role models for the Dalits,
especially when the community hasn't had too many inspirational
figures after B R Ambedkar's death. Jagjivan Ram was the only other
major figure among them in the 1960s and '70s. But he could not attain
Ambedkar's stature because he was overshadowed by towering
contemporaries in his party, the Congress.

Besides, he may have marginally damaged his own prospects by telling
Lord Wavell, the Viceroy, that the departure of the British would put
"Scheduled Castes at the mercy of the majority communities (and) that
they would miss British protection and British justice and would have
preferred that we (the British) should remain for another 10 years or
so". Nor did he burnish his own reputation by failing to file
income-tax returns for a decade because of "forgetfulness". In the
end, he achieved his highest designation of being one of the two
deputy prime ministers not as a natural course, but at a time of
political turmoil following the Congress' defeat in 1977 for the first
time at the centre.

While Ambedkar's sons failed in their political ventures, Jagjivan
Ram's daughter, Meira Kumar, has risen to be the Lok Sabha speaker.
But for all the accolades she has earned for the firm and yet
courteous manner in which she presides over the House, she is not
exactly a shining star in the political firmament although she has
been mentioned as a possible chief ministerial candidate for Bihar.

In contrast, Mayawati has been the most upwardly mobile among
present-day politicians if Nitish Kumar is left out for the moment.It
was her remarkable success in the 2007 UP elections which made several
commentators place her on par with Barack Obama and even favour her
ascent to the prime minister's position. She also demonstrated her
political nimbleness — and a streak of opportunism — by dumping the
BSP's earlier provocative slogan of tilak, tarazu aur talwar, inko
maro jootey char (beat the Brahmins, Banias and Rajputs with shoes)
before the elections. Instead, she chose the placatory chant: hathi
nahin Ganesh hai, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh hai to claim that the BSP's
poll symbol of the elephant represented the Hindi deity Ganesh and the
triumvirate in the Hindu pantheon. This appeal cutting across caste
lines paid handsome dividends.

But the BSP's single-party majority turned out to be a blight rather
than a blessing. Mayawati's decline can be said to have started from
that period. First, she began to suffer from the delusion that the
prime minister's position was within her grasp, a fanciful idea which
was boosted when Prakash Karat began to court her as a leader of the
amorphous Third Front after the Left withdrew support from the
Manmohan Singh government. The notion gained such currency that her
supporters in UP began preparations to travel to Delhi as the date of
the parliamentary debate on the nuclear deal drew near since it was
supposed to lead to the government's fall. The same possibility has
recently been mentioned for Nitish Kumar also, but he has been
realistic enough to declare that he will focus only on Bihar for the
present.

Secondly, even as Mayawati's prime ministerial ambition was blasted,
her penchant for building statues of herself and of other Dalit icons
made her an object of ridicule by all except her ardent followers.
That was when she started to let down the Dalits — and the state. As
Nitish Kumar has shown, a leader's stature is enhanced not by the
number of statues he or she erects, but by the number of schools that
is set up and the number of anti-socials who are jailed. Instead,
Mayawati spent so much on the statues that the state government had no
money for the victims of a stampede in a temple which claimed 60
lives. That was the event which turned the earlier ridicule she faced
to shame. But no one has brought greater shame to Dalits than the
former telecom minister Raja.

If Mayawati could have made a name for herself and ensured electoral
success in the foreseeable future by diverting the crores spent on
statues to schools, hospitals, roads, power and drinking water, Raja
could have used his position as a Union minister to consolidate and
advance India's telecommunications revolution. Instead, his name has
become linked for all time to come with the country's biggest scam,
whose quantum — `1.76 lakh crores — boggles the mind.

Mayawati's mentor, Kanshi Ram, believed that the social emancipation
of the Dalits would follow the attainment of political clout. He did
not live to enjoy the kind of power which his disciple as well as Raja
attained. But in an extraordinary display of short-sightedness, these
two saw power as a means to self-publicity and self-aggrandisement
rather than as an opportunity to serve the people. Mayawati and Raja
are not the only ones, of course, to make this mistake. Before them,
Lalu Yadav was guilty of the same error. He also believed, rightly,
that much of the social divisions would go, at least in public, once
the OBCs acquired power. But just as he did not realise that power
entails responsibility, as Nitish Kumar has done, Mayawati, too, saw
power as an end-in-itself and not something which has to be used to
improve the lives of ordinary people. Perhaps leaders like her believe
that the centuries of deprivation have inured the Dalits to a life of
destitution and that all that they expect now is a measure of
self-respect and nothing else.

There may also be a latent fear that since development benefits all, a
rise in living standards, along with education, will begin the process
of eroding social divisions, leaving leaders like her who depend on
such barriers without an electoral plank. That even after coining her
new slogan of hathi nahin Ganesh hai, Mayawati was not averse to
playing the caste card was evident from her charge that Rahul Gandhi
washed himself with a "special soap" after spending time with the
Dalits.

The Mandal report providing employment quotas to the OBCs in addition
to the existing reservations for the Dalits and Adivasis paved the way
for the parties of these communities to become important political
players in the last two decades.

But notwithstanding their new prominence, none of the parties has
produced any leader who shows any potential to acquire lasting fame
for a notable achievement in the political field, except for Nitish
Kumar although his has been a recent development. Political
empowerment can increase the numbers of those belonging to the creamy
layer, but it is not a sufficient condition to improve the calibre of
politicians

About the author:

Amulya Ganguli is

a Delhi-based

political commentator

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[ZESTCaste] Muslims now to get reservation in West Bengal panchayats

http://twocircles.net/2010dec22/muslims_now_get_reservation_west_bengal_panchayats.html

Muslims now to get reservation in West Bengal panchayats
Submitted by admin4 on 22 December 2010 - 12:48pm
By Zaidul Haque, Twocircles.net,

Kolkata: After providing reservation in jobs and education to the
Muslim community under OBC category, the CPI-M led West Bengal
Government will now provide quota to the community in the three-tier
Panchayat system also. For the purpose, the government on December 21
introduced and passed a bill in the assembly to amend the West Bengal
Panchayat Act 1973.

Mr Anisur Rahman, State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister,
introduced the West Bengal Panchayat Act 1973 (Amendment) Bill on
Tuesday. The bill was passed without discussion as the entire
opposition (Trinamul Congress, Congress & SUCI) boycotted the
Assembly, alleging the bill is just for political dividends as the
assembly elections are round the corner. On 25th November the state
cabinet had approved the bill.

The major beneficiary of the amendment will be women whose quota in
Panchayat will be increased from 33% to 50% while OBCs will get
reservation as per their population. About 86% of the state Muslim
population has been brought under the OBC category recently when the
state government decided to provide Muslims quota in jobs and
education.

It is noted that CPI-M had helped the Congress led UPA-II at the
centre in passing the Women Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha in
March this year. West Bengal is the first state to introduce women
reservation in three-tier Panchayat System in the country since 1992.
As of now the three-tier Panchayat System in West Bengal has one-third
reservation for women. The new law will give more political rights and
representation women. The move is seen by opposition parties as an
attempt for political consolidation for upcoming Assembly election due
in May 2011.

For long, seats are reserved for SC/ST in the three-tier Panchayat
System – Gram Panchayet, Panchayet Samity and Zilla Parishad. Where
SC/ST people are living in majority, one-third of the seats are
reserved for them.

The Government has decided to take special measures to give OBC
candidates more priority in the three-tier Panchayet System.
Department of State Panchayet & Rural Development said, according to
percentage of their population in the state, OBCs will get
reservation. It is noteworthy that the West Bengal Govt has already
declared that 86 percent of Muslims will be covered under OBC
category.

Political analyzers said, CPI-M led West Bengal Government has an eye
on the backward classes who were the main strength for the party in
the last 30 years. However, in the last Lok Sabha election the CPI-M
felt the ground beneath shrinking as major chunk of Backward class
people as well as Muslims were found shifting their loyalty.
Opposition leader Mamata Banerjee led Trinamul Congress captured the
huge vote among the minority & backward classes. The majority of
Muslim voters had been with CPI-M in the last 30 years.

Mamata convinced the minority people that in 34 years of ruling Left
Front Govt did nothing for them. She utilized the Sachar report on
poor situation of the Muslims in West Bengal. As a result, she made
huge gain in the election. Her eye is on the chair of Chief Minister
in the upcoming Assembly election. After the Nandigram incident,
Siddiqullah Chowdhury also brought out the poor situation of Muslims
in the limelight.

To recover the Muslim vote, West Bengal Chief Minister has taken the
decision to bring most of the Muslims under Other Backward Classes or
OBC. The government already declared overall 17 per cent reservation
for OBC in which 10 percent are for more backward classes. Government
claimed that under the More Backward Class OBC at least 86 percent of
Muslims will be covered.

In West Bengal, 22 per cent of people are SC/ST and Muslims are 27
percent according to census 2001. So, after the implementation of the
amended Pachayet law Muslim representation in the Three Tier Panchayet
System will be increased.

The Muslims of West Bengal have welcomed this decision but Mamata
Banerjee's TMC called it a political gimmick. In West Bengal out of 19
Districts 12 Districts are Muslim dominated with 40 -78 percentage of
population. So, political empowerment of Muslims in West Bengal may be
seen in coming assembly election.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit woman gangraped for a week

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/dalit-woman-gangraped-for-a-week-74172

Dalit woman gangraped for a week

Press Trust of India, Updated: December 22, 2010 12:43 IST
ad_title

Lalitpur, UP: A 35-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly abducted and
gangraped for nearly a week, a senior officer said in Lalitpur
district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

The woman was abducted on November 6 from Sadar Kanta area in the city
by Chottelal Jha and his aide while she was going to her parents house
in Gandhi Nagar locality, Superintendent of Police Akash Kulhari said.

The two men then took the woman to Mayaon village where they along
with four others raped her for a week, the SP said.

"The woman somehow later managed to escape from their clutches and
reached her in-laws' house. The couple informed the police about the
incident on Tuesday after which an FIR was lodged at Kotwali," he
said.

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[ZESTCaste] Rahul Gandhi's surprise visit to Dalit hostel in Madurai

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/rahul-gandhis-surprise-visit-to-dalit-hostel-in-madurai-74397

Rahul Gandhi's surprise visit to Dalit hostel in Madurai

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: December 23, 2010 11:22 IST

Madurai: Residents of a hostel for Dalit students in Madurai had a
surprise high profile visitor on Wednesday night when Rahul Gandhi
called on them to see their living condition.

The Congress General Secretary also heard the complaints of the
students and promised to look into all the issues.

"Soon after he came, he visited all the rooms and saw 20 to 30
students staying in each room. He also saw the kitchen and spoke to
all of us," said one of the students.

"There are 20 rooms and there are only two toilets. We told him it
gets very difficult. We told him 20 people stay in each room. He said
he will do something about it," said another.

Rahul is in Tamil Nadu for a two-day visit as the state starts
prepping for elections - it votes early next year.

He met with Youth Congress workers in Vanagram, about 45 minutes from
Chennai, and urged the gathering to help build the party from scratch
and from "grass-root level" in the state. He also suggested, "In some
years, we will have a Chief Minister from this gathering."

In a candid talk, Rahul however told state party colleagues that it
would take time for Congress to return to power in Tamil Nadu. "We are
not in power for more than 40 years. Forget what happened in the past.
Eventually we will come to power but it will take time. Before that we
should strengthen the party at the ward and panchayat levels," he
said.

Gandhi made it plain that there was no "short cut to form the Kamaraj
regime (Congress rule) in Tamil Nadu".

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[ZESTCaste] Dubious Honour: Parents kill son, daughter-in-law

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/122741/parents-kill-son-daughter-law.html

Dubious Honour
Parents kill son, daughter-in-law
Chandigarh, December 22, DHNS :

A father and mother, both septuagenarians, killed their lone son and
daughter-in-law in cold blood for marrying against their wishes.

It was an inter-caste marriage (the girl being a Dalit), that invited
the ire of the family. Sukhdev Singh and Mandeep Kaur were in love
with each other and married against the wishes of Sukhdev's parents
two years ago.

The murder came to light when the girl's sister Rajnikanta, a resident
of Jalandhar, approached the police expressing her fears and urging
them to locate the couple.

She smelt a rat after failing to get a satisfactory reply from
Sukhdev's parents Karaj Singh and Manjit Kaur who, Rajnikanta told the
police, harassed the young couple ever since they got married.

Her apprehensions brought the police to the old couple's doorstep.
During questioning, a senior police official said, the father broke
down and confessed to have murdered his son and daughter-in-law.

The murder plot by the parents was systematically planned. The young
couple were first given food mixed with some sedatives to eat. Once
their son and daughter-in-law fell unconscious, the parents
strangulated them to death. During the night, they disposed of their
bodies in a flowing canal, the police said. The incident, which has
sent shock waves in the village, took place in Ferozpur of Punjab
around 10-12 days ago, it is learnt.

Son, a drug addict

The police have registered a case of murder against the parents.
Father Karaj Singh was arrested a couple of days ago and police have
recovered the bodies of the couple from the canal.

The police said the couple told them that their son Sukhdev Singh was
addicted to drugs and liquor and was in bad company. Karaj Singh
informed the police that he used to torture them (parents) for money
to buy drugs.

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[ZESTCaste] Punjab HC upholds 10-yr jail to school staff guilty of raping a dalit girl

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/punjab-hc-upholds-10-yr-jail-school-staff-guilty-raping-dalit-girl/27146

Punjab HC upholds 10-yr jail to school staff guilty of raping a dalit girl

Punjab Newsline Network
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
By Gurpreet Singh Mehak
FATEHGARH SAHIB: More than 16 years after a Class X student from
Government High School, Madhopur of district Fatehgarh Sahib was raped
by her own school staff members , the Punjab and Haryana High Court
has recently upheld the 10-year sentence awarded to them by the
trialcourt.

During the visit of the school Tuesday, this correspondent found that
most of teaching and non-teaching staff was not aware about the
incident. Only a single teacher informed that the guility staff
members were dismissed from the service by education department.

During visit of the village, it was found that the villagers also does
not want to discuss the issue as the name of the village was
highlighted only for wrong reasons. Some villagers while pleading
anonymity claimed that all this happened due to groupism in the
village at that time.

The victim belongs to Dalit family and her father was ex-serviceman
was killed in accident while mother had shifted to another place after
selling house at village. As per villager the victim and her sister
was now married and victim is presently in a foreign country.

It may be mentioned here that when the victim was X student of the
school, she was enrolled for a sports meet, even though she was not a
sportsperson. The visit to Fahetgarh Sahib turned out to be a
nightmare after she was raped.

The four accused staff members including some teachers Balbir Singh,
Amarjit Singh, Ranjit Singh and Mohan Lal Verma — were booked on
November 2, 1994. According to the victim, the sister of an accused
forced her into a room at her residence. At the time of the incident,
Balbir Singh, Amarjit Singh and Mohan Lal were also present, besides
Ranjit Singh.

The victim had alleged that the accused compelled her to go to
Fahetgarh Sahib for the meet, along with 15-16 other girls on October
24, 1994. There, Balbir Singh threatened her to take a lift from Mohan
Lal on a scooter. She was later made to sit on Ranjit Singh's cycle.

The accused asked her to accompany him to his sister's house; and was
pushed inside a room by Jasbir Kaur, before bolting the door from
outside. The high court Justice while delivering recent verdict ruled,
"The appellant in the instant case are the teachers and the victim is
their student….The state of mind of prosecutrix can well be imagined,
having been raped by her own teachers, who are otherwise in our social
setup put on a pedestal, which accords them an even higher status,
respect and position than which is attached to one's own parents. In
fact, the prosecutrix exhibited a lot of courage in coming out with
the incident of rape."

He further added, "From the record, it is made out that the victim
comes from the poorest strata of society. The appellants are well
placed and therefore the change in the statement of the victim and her
mother was certainly made under duress, which is very evident and
which subsequently resulted in some sort of a compromise between the
parties." Concluding, he asserted, "I have no hesitation in
recording the fact that the alleged compromise is a manifestation of
subjugation on account of unequal placement at social and economic
pedestal. The testimony of prosecution was consistent till the time
her father was alive."
gurpreetsinghmehak@gmail.com

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[ZESTCaste] Assault on Dalits: protest withdrawn in Belagali

http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/21/stories/2010122160370300.htm

Karnataka - Hubli-Dharwad

Assault on Dalits: protest withdrawn in Belagali

Staff Correspondent

Senior police personnel hold negotiations, pacify agitators

Funeral of Fakirappa Madar held under tight police security

Protesters seek compensation for son of the victim

Members of the Karnataka Rajya Dalit Sangharsh Samiti and others
protesting at Belagali village in Shiggaon taluk of Haveri district on
Monday.

Hubli: The protest by Dalits, led by the office-bearers of various
Dalit organisations, continued for the second day at Belagali village
in Shiggaon taluk in Haveri district on Monday, but was subsequently
withdrawn following negotiations with senior police officials.

Meanwhile, the funeral of Fakirappa Madar, who collapsed and died at
the Tadas police station on Sunday night, was conducted under tight
police security.

According to the residents of the village, Fakirappa had gone to the
police station to file a complaint about the alleged the attack on
Dalits by a few 'caste Hindus' in their village on Sunday in which
three Dalits were injured.

A huge police contingent, led by the Superintendent of Police and
other officials, and the Deputy Commissioner of Haveri were present
during the funeral.

The three injured persons, Guddappa Fakirappa Madar (68), Laxman Madar
(48) and Ashok Madar (30), have been admitted to KIMS Hospital in
Hubli and are recuperating.

Following the death of Fakirappa, several Dalits and members of Dalit
organisations staged a protest till late in the night on Sunday and
withdrew it only after midnight to allow the doctors to conduct the
post-mortem.

On Monday, members of the Karnataka Rajya Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, led
by convenor of Belgaum divisional committee Shrimanth Naduvinakeri,
staged a protest at Belagali village before handing over a memorandum
to the Deputy Superintendent of Police and the Deputy Commissioner
demanding immediate arrest of those responsible for the event.

Earlier, addressing the protestors, Mr. Naduvinakeri demanded that the
Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police be held responsible
for the death and that compensation of Rs. 5 lakh, two acres of
agricultural land and a government job be given to the son of
Fakirappa Madar.

He urged the Government to immediately initiate action against the
accused under the Prevention of Atrocities Act. DSS leaders Ashok G.
Kale, Ramanna Agadi, Shivanand Madar, Tukaram Naduvinakeri and others
spoke. Incident

According to sources, the reason for the attack on Dalits was their
reluctance to play "halage" (a type of hand-held percussion
instrument) during the funeral of a 'caste Hindu' woman who died on
Sunday.

Their refusal resulted in a scuffle between the two groups in which
the three Dalits were injured.

Following this incident, Mareyappa Guddappa Madar filed a complaint
against 20 persons, including Basappa Karadi, at the Tadas police
station.

------------------------------------

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[ZESTCaste] Why is it so difficult to free India of manual scavenging?

http://kafila.org/2010/12/22/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-free-india-of-manual-scavenging/

Why is it so difficult to free India of manual scavenging?

Guest post by BEZWADA WILSON

Safai karamcharis from across India declared their liberation at a
function in Delhi on 20 December

Over the years, there have been many changes in the Safai Karamchari
Andolan movement. The biggest change we have seen has been in the
safai karamchari community's outlook. There was a time when safai
karamcharis were ashamed to admit they did manual scavenging. It was
not uncommon for even family members to be unaware that someone was
involved in the practice of manual scavenging.

But the community started discussing the issue threadbare and the
silence over manual scavenging was broken. They came together and
organised themselves on a national platform with the single focus of
eradicating manual scavenging. As the state and the judiciary began
hearing our voices, we began to break the chains of caste and
patriarchy.

We gathered the courage to burn the baskets we once used to collect
human excreta in. We began knocking the doors of the district
magistrates to implement the 1993 Act of Parliament that outlawed
manual scavenging. Ideally the DM should have been approaching the
safai karamcharis and helping them leave the practice. It's an irony
that we have had to got to the DMs to make them aware of the Act they
should have been making us aware of! In doing so, however, we have
been strengthening the functioning of the Indian democracy. In the
twenty first century, safai karamcharis are making stronger the
pillars of Indian democracy!

Over the past few months, 1,260 enumerators, who are from within the
safai karamchari community, have conducted a massive survey
documenting the prevalence of manual scavenging. The community, in
many places, has decided to leave the practice on its own. People are
still coming out and acknowledging that they are into the work and
resolving, trying and managing to leave it.

The changes that have taken place in the community have been reflected
at the legislative and judicial levels. Thanks to the work of many
intellectuals and activists, the centenary year celebrations of
Babasaheb Ambedkar in 1991 resulted in a slew of measures for Dalits.

The Eradication of Manual Scavenging & Dry Latrine (Abolition) Act
came into force in 1993. But the aim of the Act has not been fulfilled
even today. On 20 December 2003, exactly seven years ago, the Safai
Karamchari Andolan and 13 others filed a petition in the Supreme Court
to make the state and central government and their bodies implement
the Act.

To begin with, the state governments wouldn't submit the affidavits
the Supreme Court asked them to. Even after the Supreme Courts
reprimands, sevem principal secretaries had to be summoned to the
court for them to take cognisance of the case! In the affidavits
submitted, all of them denied that manual scavenging was prevalent
under their jurisdiction.

So the onus of proving that it existed fell upon us, the victims,
victimizing us further. We started collecting data along with
photographic and video evidence in several states. As a result of such
evidence we would submit in Supreme Court, the states would simply go
and demolish those dry latrines, and reported back to the court that
these didn't exist! This became a strategy for us: we started
collecting more material and submitting it.

In seven years the case has seen eight judges, including two chief
justices, preside over the hearings. The process has been slow and
cumbersome. The last hearing was in November when the court mulled
over the issue of whether it can direct state governments who had not
notified the Act to do so. The next hearing is on January 11.

We have used two orders passed by the SC in 2008 to expedite the
process. We took the orders around to district magistrates and ask
them to implement those orders and demolish dry latrines in their
districts.

In 2005, we went around states demolishing dry latrines. We would be
prevented from doing so, in response to which we said that when the
government denies the existence of these dry latrines how could we be
demolishing them? This way we forced governments to act. The most
notable case was that of a dry latrine inside the Nizamabad court
complex in Hyderabad!

Just to demolish a dry latrine and liberate a safai karamchari, why
should it need an order from the highest court of the land? Can't the
government simply implement an Act it has itself passed? Why should
social change need the intervention of the Supreme Court?

There have been many schemes and programmes for the rehabilitation of
safai karamcharis and many high officials, often prime ministers, have
spoken out promising to make India free of manual scavenging. Why
hasn't that happened?

The changes may be slow, but they are taking place. These are not just
at the level of the community and the state, but also the civil
society and the media. Responses to manual scavenging from civil
society and the media, until some years ago, used to express sympathy
but not support or work towards eradication of manual scavenging.
Earlier they would say, 'They don't have the skills for alternative
work', 'They should be given better equipment', and so on. Now, many
have joined the SKA movement, endorsing our stand that human beings
should not be lifting the excreta of other human beings. That they
should come out of this practice into a world of dignity and equality.

Over the years, there have been efforts by many people at many levels,
but the biggest effort has to be from us. It is difficult, but most
important that we take the initiative in our own hands, leave the work
and free India of the scourge of manual scavenging.

------------------------------------

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

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