Friday, September 30, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Shudra - The Rising

 

Shudra - The Rising



Shudra - The Rising - Introduction






 

Know Buddha, Know Life

No Buddha, No Life..!



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[ZESTCaste] Will implement social justice panel suggestions: Rajnath

 

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/will-implement-social-justice-panel-suggestions-rajnath/840520.html

Will implement social justice panel suggestions: Rajnath
PTI | 08:09 PM,Sep 29,2011

Lucknow, Sep 29 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh today said
recommendations of the social justice committee, formed during NDA
regime in Uttar Pradesh to ensure most backward and dalits their
rights, will be implemented if the party is voted back to power in the
coming state polls. "Even after decades of independence several SC, ST
and other backward communities are not getting benefit of reservation
in a justifiable manner," he told party workers here. The BJP leader
said during his regime as the UP chief minister in 2001, a law was
enacted as per the recommendations of the social justice committee to
ensure benefit of reservation to most backward and dalits. Under the
law, a separate quota for most backward and most dalits was fixed
within quota available for backward and SC. Recruitments were also
done accordingly during his tenure as Chief Minister but it was
cancelled by the BSP government, Rajnath said. Uttar Pradesh will go
to polls early next year.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits Remain 'Untouchables'

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/davinder-kumar/dalits-remain-untouchable_b_984691.html

Dalits Remain 'Untouchables'
Posted: 28/9/11 13:02 GMT

Davinder Kumar
Development journalist and Chevening Human Rights Scholar

The UN General Assembly sessions, like listings at bookmakers'
parlour, have favourites, and on occasions, even clear winners. As a
scribe, for instance, you have a fair idea that Israel-Palestine issue
will incite passions and dominate the agenda. From leaders with
well-rehearsed speeches to news channels on a countdown, the stage is
purpose-set for a grand show.

Political careers are pitched; channels get a ratings boost; activists
have a field day before a global audience; and street vendors in New
York too make a brisk business. Everybody wins. Then, who are the
losers?

Ask 170 million dalits of India. For decades, organisations
representing dalits who are traditionally regarded as 'untouchables'
in centuries-old caste grouping in the Indian subcontinent, have tried
relentlessly to make themselves heard at the UN forums. However, they
very much remain outcasts in the world outside, as much as they remain
excluded and marginalised within the South-Asian societies they live
in.

Ten years ago in Durban, the UN World Conference Against Racism
adopted the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Heralded as a
united global action against racism, the declaration expressly set out
to tackle racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
But despite years of protests, lobbying and advocacy, mention of
dalits and caste-based discrimination were ignored in the declaration
following a strong opposition led by the Indian government.

Organisations representing dalits have for decades argued that
caste-based discrimination is a distinct form of racism and must be
acknowledged and addressed in its own identity. Being born a dalit may
mean being made to sit separate from other children in a classroom or
denied education altogether; forbidden to touch other higher caste
people; denied entry into temples and places of worship; not allowed
to own land or property; only expected to do menial jobs; and face
risk of violent retribution if you dare to challenge or transgress
your social ranking.

Even though caste-based discrimination is a crime and punishable in
local laws across South Asia region, yet centuries of social hierarchy
is still deeply rooted in the subcontinent and governs daily lives of
hundreds of millions. It is existent more or less uniformly across all
religions and cultures in the region, making it a very unique social
practice of discrimination endemic to the region and even common among
the South Asian diasporas across the world. As a result, millions are
deprived of dignity and freedoms which constitute the basic core
values of human rights. It is common to read about atrocities
committed on dalits because of their caste and status in the society.
Very often, their status is exacerbated by poverty and limited chances
they enjoy to progress in life.

Dalit organisations are often blamed for their failure to articulate
their standpoints and advocate their rights. This, to a certain
degree, is true. I recall sending stories to Outlook magazine in New
Delhi from the media hub in Durban conference describing how fractured
the dalit caucus was as compared to the Palestinians or the Israelis.

However, we are missing the point. It is not the failure of the dalit
organisations or their leadership for their lack of ability and
success in putting a robust case together. It is fundamentally a
failure of the system that guarantees parity and fairness for all at
platforms such as the UN. On the crest of political clamour, media
rally and raucous protests, poorly resourced groups and unfashionable
causes routinely fall off the agenda at key UN sessions. The case of
dalits also exposes the fact that like the nations projecting
themselves as moral torchbearers, human rights discourses too have a
tendency to follow popular causes.

Last week, world leaders met at a high-level UN General Assembly
meeting to reaffirm their commitment to the fight against racism on
the 10th anniversary of the Durban Declaration. Once again, there was
no mention of dalits. A scourge that blights the lives of millions who
collectively represent more than half the population of the United
States or roughly the populations of United Kingdom, France, Canada
and Australia put together, continues to be underplayed or buried
under generic definitions.

For leaders there is no political leverage to be gained; for sheer
force, dalit protests rarely go beyond playing of traditional drums
and sporadic sloganeering; caste-based discrimination isn't a sexy
story for the media; and often broke dalit activists travelling on a
shoestring budget from rural pockets in India are no joy to
enterprising street hawkers either. Nobody wins, certainly not dalits.
In their quest for a separate identity, dalits are fighting a very
lonely battle. Not only at home, but also on global forums they
continue to be 'untouchables.'

Follow Davinder Kumar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davtox

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[ZESTCaste] Pakistan: Flood-hit Dalits facing hunger and prejudice

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=70134&Cat=4

Flood-hit Dalits facing hunger and prejudice

Jan Khaskheli
Friday, September 30, 2011

Paari Kolhi, a mother of two, was unable to narrate the actual cause
of her sudden blindness. She lost her eyesight during her continuous
travel from Jhudo town to Tando Bago town in search of a safe place
after heavy rains inundated her area.

Sitting outside a tent with both her children — Mandi (son) and Mirwan
(daughter) — she recalls: "I felt suffering from high fever and cold
during that night in the heavy rain — living in the open without
shelter. I cried and my children called people for help. But no one
could do anything for me as the land routes were cut off. And then I
lost my eyesight mysteriously."

Her husband is missing since rains wreaked havoc on her village. "I do
not know anything about Ramchand. He took us out, asking us to move
ahead slowly and then returned to take something from the flooded
house. Since then we do not know where he has gone."

Paari Kolhi was constantly scolding her children not to move far away
from the tent, asking them to sit closer to her. Left with a small
iron box and packs of old clothes as her only property, she is only
worried about her husband. "I need nothing but my husband, who may do
something for me and these children. I do not know where to go for
treatment."

At a walking distance was a long queue inside a government high school
building. Hundreds of people were waiting to be issued ëPakistan
Card'. There were crowds from the entrance waiting for their turn. But
for Paari Kolhi going there was a futile attempt.

A majority of 3.8 million peasants (out of a total 8.8 million)
affected by rains and flood belong to low-caste Hindu families —
Kolhis, Bheels, Meghwars, Bagris, Jogis, Gurglas and other gypsy
tribes. They are not being treated equally, they complain. With empty
stomachs, they are facing prejudice everywhere. That was why most of
them preferred to live on safe mounds. A few of them have got donated
tents, food packs, non-food items and kitchen sets while others are
waiting for help.

While traveling from Hyderabad to Badin, there were tents, makeshift
shelters and water everywhere. Many link roads were still submerged.

Another woman, Satru Kolhi, wife of Kewal Kolhi, who had traveled a
long distance from the same town of Jhudo, was sitting with three
ailing children suffering from gastroenteritis. "Somebody came and
gave these medicines to me," said the mother of four. Her husband had
gone to beg some cooked food from other affected people for their
ailing children.

The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) claims
to have distributed food items with health kits to 1,200 families, 60
percent of them belonging to Dalit communities. Dr Baharo Wasan,
monitoring Piler's relief and mobile medical teams, said their special
focus was to help pregnant women and children.

Over 120 Bheel and Kolhi families, displaced from Badin district,
traveled 70-80 kilometres to sand dunes in Tharparkar district,
considering the area the only safe place. All the 120 families staying
on sand hills for one month are waiting for help from charity
organisations.

Ano Bheel, a farmer, said: "It was non-stop heavy rain that night. We
could not sleep. Later we saw the floodwater inundating a wide area.
In the early morning, we saw the people leaving their abodes
hurriedly. Then we too left the area and wading through the
floodwaters reached a safe road. We stayed at some places, viewing
them to be safer, but saw the endless crowds hailing from different
areas traveling towards sand hills. Again we took our children and
started traveling in uncertainty."


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[ZESTCaste] Brahmins and Dalits plant Jamara together

 

http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/09/29/national/brahmins-and-dalits-plant-jamara-together/341576.html

Brahmins and Dalits plant Jamara together

NUWAKOT, SEP 29 -

Locals of Nuwakot district have presented an example by keeping jamara
for both the people of dalit and Bramhan communities in the same place
at a time when human violence and various types of discriminations
have gripped the society due to the caste system.

According to priest Ishwor Poudel, people of dalit, indigenous and
bramhan communities have jointly grown jamara, shoots grown of seeds
of various grains used in the Dashain festival, at the temple of
Niranjana Bhagawati in Belkot VDC-3 on the first day of Dashain.
Around 100 households have sown jamara by offering sacrifices of billy
goat to the Bhagawati.

Locals said they have kept jamara jointly at a place to give a message
that caste makes no difference in this age, and this has increased joy
among the people.

Meanwhile, jamara has been kept at three places on Wednesday from
government level in the district. Jamara has also been kept at the
Seven Storied Palace National Museum and the Taleju temple. RSS

Posted on: 2011-09-29 01:19

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[ZESTCaste] 17 Officials Convicted Of Raping Villagers

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/inda-villagers-rape_n_988259.html

India: 17 Officials Convicted Of Raping Villagers

09/29/11 11:44 PM ET AP
NEW DELHI -- Seventeen Indian police and forest officials have been
convicted of gang raping a group of tribal villagers in the southern
state of Tamil Nadu in 1992.

Press Trust of India says another 100 officials were found guilty
Thursday of brutally beating dozens of people from the village of
dalits. Also known as untouchables, dalits are considered to be at the
bottom of India's caste system.

The incident occurred as officials raided Vachathi village to search
for smuggled sandalwood. The two-day raid ended with 18 women
reportedly raped and 100 people badly beaten.

An Indian court will issue sentences next week, though some of the
defendants have died in the time it took for the case to make its way
through India's notoriously slow judicial system.

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[ZESTCaste] India abuse: Scores guilty of Dalit rape and torture

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-south-asia-15106778

India abuse: Scores guilty of Dalit rape and torture
29 September 11 17:37 GMT
The rape victims

A court in southern India has convicted 269 police and forest
officials of torturing and abusing more than 100 low-caste Dalits
during a raid in 1992.

Officials went to the village of Vachathi in Tamil Nadu state looking
for smuggled sandalwood.

Over two days, 18 women were raped, more than 100 Dalits were abused
and their homes and cattle looted.

Seventeen officials were found guilty of rape and the rest were
convicted of "atrocities against Dalits".

Nearly 100 of those convicted are policemen. Of the 269 convicted, 54
died during the course of the trial.

The court has sentenced all of those convicted: 12 men were given 10
years in prison and five were given seven years each. The remainder
were given jail terms of between two and five years.

"This is an historic judgement. All the accused in this case are
government officials. Till date I don't think so many government
officials are convicted in a single case," said P Shanmugam, president
of the Tamil Nadu Tribal People's Association.

'Repeatedly raped'

All of the low caste tribal rape victims have waived their right to
anonymity. One of them, Gandhimathi, told the BBC that she would like
to have seen life terms for those who committed the rapes.

She said that she and 17 other women were taken in a police truck to a
lake embankment of and repeatedly raped.

"Afterwards they took us to a forest department and tortured us for
the whole night. They took us in groups and photographed us in front
of sandlewood and later produced [the pictures] before the magistrate,
who remanded us for 45 days in jail.

"The officials warned us that if we made any complaints about the
rapes to the magistrate our male relatives will be arrested under a
draconian law. So we kept quiet."

Ms Gandhimathi said that after the crime, government officials killed
all their livestock and took whatever they had.

"When we came back from jail, the whole village was deserted," she said.

"All our homes were destroyed. They killed our animals for food and
dumped the leftovers in our wells. As a result all the water was
contaminated."

Vachathi is close to Sathyamangalam forest which was the hunting
ground of sandalwood smuggler and elephant poacher Veerappan.

Police and forest department officials raided the village on 20 June
1992, following reports that the villagers were involved in sandalwood
smuggling, the BBC Tamil's TN Gopalan reports from Madras (Chennai).

The team was made up of 155 forest officials, 108 policemen and six
officials of the revenue department.

India's Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] says they ran amok,
thrashing men, women and children, and demolishing huts.

Officials initially denied any wrongdoing and took a long time to
register a case.

It was handed over to the CBI following campaigns by civil society
activists and left-wing political parties, our correspondent says.

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[ZESTCaste] DMDK apologises to dalits

 

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dmdk-apologises-to-dalits/188838-60-118.html

Tamil Nadu | Posted on Sep 30, 2011 at 10:42am IST
DMDK apologises to dalits
indianexpress Express News Service , The New Indian Express

CHENNAI: With the elections to the local bodies just a couple of weeks
away,� the main opposition party DMDK which snapped its ties with the
ruling� AIADMK last week, on Thursday tendered apologies to the people
affected in the Paramakudi police firing and the violent incidents
that occurred in that area.

The apology from the DMDK presidium chairman and Deputy Leader of
Opposition� Panruti S Ramachandran followed criticisms that the party
went against the interests of the people affected in the police
firing.Stating that judicial probes announced by the State
governments, on many occasions, had turned out to be a mere ritual and
went in favour of the government, Ramachandran said " the party will
accept the demand for a CBI enquiry into Paramakudi police firing, if
it satisfies the people affected in the violent incident."

Clarifying his statement made in the State Assembly that there was no
need for a judicial enquiry into the Paramakudi incident, Ramachandran
said it has been routine for political parties to demand a judicial
probe and later on no one would bother about the report of the enquiry
commission.� The DMDK leader said he had said that there was no need
for a judicial enquiry into the issue as he thought that in the name
of a judicial probe, the State government should not neglect the
appropriate action to be taken on the issue. Ramachandran said his
stand was vindicated now as the people in the affected areas had
boycotted the enquiry commission constituted by the State government.

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[ZESTCaste] TN: 19 yrs on, 215 guilty of atrocities on tribals

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Vachati-Dalit-rape-victims-get-justice-19-years-later/Article1-751500.aspx

TN: 19 yrs on, 215 guilty of atrocities on tribals
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Chennai, September 29, 2011

Thursday saw the culmination of a two-decade long fight for justice by
uneducated, impoverished tribals against the might of the police,
forest officials and the local administration - that ended with the
conviction of 215 officials with sentences ranging from one year to 17
years after they were
held guilty of torture, unlawful restraint, misue of office, looting
and rape. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/HTEditImages/Images/30-09-11-metro13.jpg

Sentencing the 126 forest department officials, 84 policemen and five
revenue department officials to jail terms ranging from one year to 17
years, principal district judge S Kumaraguru offered token relief to
the 18 rape victims of what has become known as the Vachathi case.

Forest department officials with the help of police and revenue
department officials had let loose a reign of terror on hapless tribal
(adivasi) villagers of Vachathi for three days starting June 20, 1992.

The maximum punishment was handed out to 17 convicted of rape (17
years each to 12 rapists and seven years each for the other five).
They were immediately sent to jail. The others who were convicted got
bail.

The judgement, holding all the accused guilty, was pronounced in an
open court, that was packed with over 200 accused, over 100 victims
and police officials.

Four forest officials were convicted of committing crime under the
SC/ST act for atrocities against tribals. They were punished for
destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice.

Advocate Kamalanathan, representing Hari Krishnan, chief conservator
of forests, said that "he would move the high court in appeal against
the judgment after studying it in detail. We have got a month's time
to take appeal, which we will surely."

Describing the judgment as "historic" advocate P Shanmugam, said he
would not describe it as happy or sad. Justice has been done but there
has been delay and the case progressed inch by inch, under the
constant supervision of the high court.

Which is why, no appeal against the trial court judgment would make
any difference, he said but added "in fact the court failed to offer
financial compensation to the victims."

"I would move the courts for financial compensation for the
incalculable loss suffered by the villagers," Shanmugam told Hindustan
Times.

Out of the 18 women who were raped, ten were unmarried. One of them
was just 13 years at that time. All but one later got married to
relatives.

"I only hope that the high court does not reduce the sentence for
anyone found guilty. All of them deserve to be in jail, especially the
ones who dishonoured us" said one of the rape victims.

Another one said, "I am not happy as our lives have got shattered. It
would have been better if the court had given us some money so that we
can lead our lives that have been destroyed."

In fact it was Shanmugam, in his avatar as the Tamil Nadu Tribal
Peoples Association president, who forced action against the forest
officials and the policemen. The police had turned a blind eye to the
victims'plight as did the then Jayalalithaa government.

It was the efforts of Shanmugam and CPM state secretary A Nallasivan
who took up the matter to the Madras high court, which ordered a CBI
probe into the incident in 1995.

Since then it has been a torturous journey for these tribals, he said.

Shamugam had taken their case to the SC/ST Commission that awarded
compensation of Rs 1.25 crore to the victims in 2007. This sum was
distributed among 500 villagers.

Some 133 villagers were arrested by the police and jailed illegally.
But almost every villager suffered, said Shanmugam.

"The court did not offer any financial relief to the victims, except
Rs 15,000 each to the rape victims, and that too out of the fines
collected. Which is why I am going to file a petition seeking
financial compensation to all the villagers, who lost their
livelihood, cattle, houses destroyed besides trauma," Shamugam told
Hindustan Times.

The forest officials and police roped the special task force (STF)
that was constituted to nab sandalwood smuggler Veerappan just to
paint the repressive action the colour of an operation, when in
reality it was just and plain act of terror against helpless tribals,
he said.

Reacting to the verdict S Perumal (70) who was the village chief on
the day of the incident, said that justice has been done at last.

"Many of the victims may not be alive today but their souls will
finally rest in peace," he said.

The judge began reading out charges against each of the 215 accused at
11 am and could complete all the accused by 4pm.

He also simultaneously held the accused guilty as over 100 victims,
all of them from Vachathi village of Dharmapauri district, some 350 km
south west of Chennai waited patiently for this day for the past two
decades or so.

It was on June 20, 1992 that a forest officials team accompanied by
police raided the Vachathi hamlet on the foothills of Sitheri Hills
close to Dharmapuri town and turned it into a ghost town in three days
of pure terror - raping women and young girls, beating up men and even
children.

The team comprising 155 forest officials, 108 policemen and six
revenue department officials were raiding the village in search of
sandalwood they suspected the villagers to have hidden.

In the name of search and inquiry, the villagers, most women were
dragged out of their homes and fields, assembled under a banyan tree
and beaten up mercilessly, recalled a victim N Muthu.

Later the women were bundled into the Forest Rangers Office in Harur
(Taluka hqrs), where they were subjected to savage brutality and
raped. In all 18 women were raped by the different people.

The sensational Vachathi case has become a shining example of justice
delayed - 54 of the accused died during the investigations and trial
and 34 victims passed away so far.

The then Jayalalithaa government underplayed the episode and it was
the CPM that forced the issue by taking it to the court.

The high court ordered a CBI probe.

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[ZESTCaste] One awarded lifer for rape

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/One-awarded-lifer-for-rape/articleshow/10174511.cms

One awarded lifer for rape
TNN | Sep 29, 2011, 10.12PM IST

KANPUR: The specially constituted SC/ST Act court of Ramabai Nagar on
Thursday convicted one Bauwa Bajpai for raping a scheduled caste woman
and punished him with life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs
10,000.

Presiding judge C M Dixit abated the case against Veeru alias Piyush
as he died during the trial and acquitted Kunj Behari when prosecution
failed to prove the case against him.

According to the prosecution, one Bauwa Bajpai had physically
exploited a fellow villager on the intervening night of 19 and 20,
June 2002. She had gone to answer the nature's call around midnight to
a nearby field when Bauwa dragged her to his house on gun point. There
he raped her. The victim lodged a report around 4 am and the police
arrest the accused after an investigation.

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