http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5665554
09/12/2011
Name Bengal township after Ambedkar: NGO
Kolkata, Dec 9 (IANS) Claiming that thousands of scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes were evicted to create New Town Rajarhat -- a
fast-growing residential-cum-industrial hub, an NGO Friday demanded it
be named after Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar.
'Thousands of our people were driven out to create this township. The
only way to lessen their suffering is to rename the township after
Ambedkar. He was not only our leader, but a leader of the whole
country. We will be meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with our
demand,' B.R. Ambedkar Mission secretary general S.K. Das said here.
Earlier, it was decided the name will be after late Marxist leader and
former chief minister Jyoti Basu, but the decision was scrapped under
Banerjee's stewardship.
Among their other demands are -- naming of streets and railway
stations after SC/ST leaders, reservation in private educational
institutions and a Dalit chief minister for the state.
'(West) Bengal is only state that has never had a Dalit chief minister
even after six decades of independence. This proves how much our
leaders have been suppressed. Unless we have a Dalit at the helm, our
conditions will never change,' said Das.
'We will also meet the governor (M.K. Narayanan). Around 85 percent of
the people in the belong to the lower echelons of the caste system and
still they continue to be marginalised. An effort from the government
is essential to reform our condition,' Das added.
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes chairman Rameshwar Oraon said
that tribal political leaders have not been given due honour.
'The contribution of revolutionaries like Sidhu (Murmu) and Kanu
(Murmu) has not been given much recognition,' Oraon said.
©Indo-Asian News Service
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/
No comments:
Post a Comment