Sunday, January 23, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Hall of shame: Dalit woes take centre stage

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Caste-gene-versus-upbringing-defines-Dalit-dilemma/articleshow/7344195.cms

Hall of shame: Dalit woes take centre stage
Srijana Mitra Das, TNN, Jan 23, 2011, 02.42am IST

JAIPUR: In 'Hall of Shame', a Jaipur Literature Festival session,
writers Chandra Bhan Prasad, Meena Kandasamy and Patrick French
discussed ways by which Dalits were identified and excluded.

"There is no caste' gene," said French. "Despite bans on
inter-marriages, no exclusive caste-based genes developed among
Indians. So, there's no scientific basis for castes." Kandaswamy
responded. "The concept of 'upbringing' is used instead. If I poured
water clumsily into a jug, my awkwardness would be explained by my
'Dalit upbringing'." Prasad commented that methods to 'identify'
Dalits were used by non-Indians too. "When I visited Durban with a
delegation, foreigners came to have pictures taken with 'the Dalits'."

Kandaswamy said she initially didn't use a Dalit writer' tag.

"When I translated a Tamil Dalit writer, people got suspicious. They
enquired, Are you a Dalit?' was asked constantly, I started saying,
yes." She remembered how insulted she felt visiting the editor of a
prominent newspaper down south. "He only spoke to the politician
accompanying me with this translated book. He asked him, "Is she a
Dalit? She speaks good English." To the packed hall, Kandaswamy
continued, "Indians are always in denial about the caste distinctions
they make."

Prasad felt economic liberalisation was changing mindsets
considerably. "Earlier, people lived by social markers like sacred
threads," he said. "Now, they are switching to economic markers.
Mobile phones, money, cars are becoming more important than caste or
colour." Kandaswamy disagreed, pointing out Dalit villages in the
south made prosperous by Gulf earnings. "Despite their wealth, no-one
is willing to marry them or make them friends. Instead, they get
attacked by the police acting with Brahmins. Caste emancipation is
much more political than economic."

Remarking how he had never heard of inter-dining' before he read
Gandhi who disapproved, French said, "Ambedkar didn't fit the Congress
Party's version of history written after 1947. He was never mentioned.
Today, he exists widely but as a statue. He is used as a political
symbol but not explored as a writer, a thinker, which he was like
Orwell, deeply passionate and very direct." Prasad enquired, "How many
people here have invited a Dalit home to dinner? That is a marker of
how we view caste today. After a few drinks, people confide they think
Dalit guests would mix soda in wine, demand meat, laugh loudly." The
audience responded by laughing loudly, moved by indignation over
injustices old and new.

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (1)

Recent Activity:

Visit Your Group

----
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/

MARKETPLACE

Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now.

Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center.

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

__,_._,___

[ZESTCaste] A Female Dalit Poet Fights Back in Verse

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/01/23/a-female-dalit-poet-fights-back-in-verse/

January 23, 2011, 3:09 PM IST

A Female Dalit Poet Fights Back in Verse
By Margherita Stancati

The categories into which Meena Kandasamy falls—Dalit and female—have
put her among those Indian society has historically tended to oppress
and marginalize the most.

Repeated humiliation pushed the 26-year-old to fight back—through her
social activism and her inflammatory writing, in verse and prose.

In a recent interview at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Ms.
Kandasamy, who is from Tamil Nadu in south India, said the aim of her
poetry is to send a social message.

Margherita Stancati for The Wall Street Journal
Meena Kandasamy takes on Hindu myths in her politically-charged poetry.

In her poems she addresses issues of caste and
untouchability—something that stems from her being a Dalit, considered
the lowest and most oppressed of India's castes and formerly known as
"untouchables".

She said she embraced her identity as a Dalit partly because there was
no way of escaping it. "People will force that label on you so you
might as well make the most of it," said Ms. Kandasamy.

For Dalit women, oppression often means sexual subjugation too. Ms.
Kandasamy's poems are informed by a sense of gender relations that
suggest being a woman in a largely patriarchal society is another form
of being lower caste.

"You don't have to be a Dalit—by being a woman the caste is in you," she said.

In her poems, it's her identity as a woman that she engages most
explicitly. Ms. Kandasamy's woman, like female figures in a lot of
feminist literature, makes unbridled sexuality the main weapon of her
social militancy.

One of Ms. Kandesamy's top targets is Hindu society and in her poems
she repeatedly goes back to Hindu and Tamil myths—which she seeks to
debunk.

"So, my 'Mahabharat' moves to Las Vegas; my Ramayan is retold in three
different ways…telling my story another way lets me forgive you," she
wrote in the preface to her collection of poems "Ms. Militancy,"
published in 2006.

Here is a poem from that collection:

One-eyed

the pot sees just another noisy child

the glass sees an eager and clumsy hand

the water sees a parched throat slaking thirst

but the teacher sees a girl breaking the rule

the doctor sees a medical emergency

the school sees a potential embarrassment

the press sees a headline and a photofeature

dhanam sees a world torn in half.

her left eye, lid open but light slapped away,

the price for a taste of that touchable water.

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

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/Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ZESTCaste] India’s Missing Inc

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/India-s-Missing-Inc/741025

India's Missing Inc
P. Vaidyanathan Iyer Posted online: Sun Jan 23 2011, 00:37 hrs
It was a wake-up call for India Inc, recalls Jamshed J Irani,
Director, Tata Sons, when in early 2006, the then Minister for Social
Justice and Empowerment and the Congress party's Dalit face, Meira
Kumar, started meeting top CEOs to seek their support for a
legislation on employment reservation for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in the private sector. In an interview with The
Indian Express some time back, Irani who leads the affirmative action
plan in the Tata Group that employs some 3.75 lakh people—tacitly
admitted that the corporate sector had not quite consciously worked to
mainstream the idea till five years ago.

To create more jobs for SCs and STs, Meira Kumar said there was no
third way besides voluntary action by India Inc. or a legislation
mandating reservation. The idea of a statute gained political traction
in the first term of the United Progressive Alliance government,
particularly with the Left demanding that the industry play a leading
role in empowering the less privileged—the SCs and STs—who account for
almost a quarter of the country's population.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was, however, more subtle in his message
to India Inc. In his address to corporate honchos at the annual
meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on April 18,
2006, he asked the industry to assess, at the company level, the
diversity in its employee profile and voluntarily commit to broad-base
it.

Almost five years later, the CII, India's largest industry chamber,
undertook the first-ever caste census of its member firms--numbering
8,250 and employing 35 lakh--across the country. This, arguably, is
also representative of India Inc. The survey, at first glance, shows
the private sector in poor light, especially in states like
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka, if one looks at its results from a
narrow prism of the share of SC/STs in the workforce compared with
their strength in the total population. In these two regions, SCs/STs
are just about 16 per cent of the workforce. In the northern and
eastern regions, they are 22 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively,
reflecting the average national

SC/ST population.

With the threat of a legislation looking real, the corporate sector's
response, according to Irani, was two-fold, and he explained this in
detail to the Prime Minister. "It (quotas) is not really going to help
them. Corporate India could challenge it, but would like to avoid this
situation. So, let us cooperate. The CII and others will cooperate
with the government on affirmative action and this will bring more
benefit to SC/STs." The government saw merit in the argument, and in
the last five years, India Inc has made progress, but just enough to
keep the government off from passing a law.

"If you ask me, if I am satisfied, the answer is 'no'. But the
progress is better that what it was four years ago," says Irani, who
kick-started a sensitisation drive among the CII members as the first
chairman of the CII Affirmative Action Council. He undertook an
all-India tour from Delhi to Bangalore, talking to all companies,
enthusing them to see candidates from the disadvantaged sections with
a positive bias.

"Within the Tata Group, we saw it as the right thing to do. So, we
have a positive discrimination policy. That is, we prefer a
disadvantaged community candidate," he says. Like Tatas, there are
others, including Thermax, Maruti, Forbes and Mahindras, who have
taken affirmative action seriously...

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, FEW BUYERS

...but the corporate sector is not just a handful of companies. It is
hugely divided on the very idea of affirmative action. Sanjeev
Bikhchandani, founder and Executive Vice Chairman of naukri.com, a
portal which offers a 24.3-million strong database of searchable
resumes to job providers, says: "Affirmative action has not really
caught on in India. Most private sector companies, at best, regard
this as a part of their corporate social responsibility. There are
multinational companies that look specifically for women candidates.
In fact, some of them have a target too. But caste-based recruitment
is not mainstream yet."

The CII's caste census also bears it out. Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal, some of the most
industrialised states, show a sharp mismatch between SC/STs as a
percentage of the total workforce in the private sector and SC/STs as
a percentage of the state's population. In Maharashtra, SCs and STs
make up 19.1 per cent of the total state population, but their share
in private sector employment is only 5 per cent. In Gujarat and
Karnataka, SCs and STs constitute just 9 per cent of the staff
strength, but account for 22 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively,
of the state population. Ironically enough, these are the states that
rank high in the pecking order, both in terms of the number of
factories and employment. The only exception is Tamil Nadu, which
ranks number one in industrialisation and employment and where SC/STs
account for almost 18 per cent of the industrial workforce and 20 per
cent of the state's population.

The states in east India, where jobs are far and few, have the highest
percentage of SC/STs. So, in Bihar, which has little to show in terms
of industrialisation, SCs and STs constitute a fourth of the total
workforce, much higher than their 16.6 per cent share in the state's
population. Similarly, the private sector in Chhattisgarh has almost
half its workforce from the SC/ST community, comparable to their
strength in population (See map).

SERVICES, THE SILVER LINING

Services today account for almost 60 per cent of the country's
economy. In Maharashtra, according to the same CII survey, banks,
financial institutions and information technology or software services
companies contribute almost 18 per cent to the total employment. And
within services, SC/STs account for a quarter of the total workforce.
"Most private sector is caste and religion agnostic," says K Ramkumar,
Executive Director, ICICI Bank, who is responsible for human resources
in the country's largest private sector bank. "In Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka, a lot more people are eligible to apply for jobs
because they are graduates," he says.

Down south, barring Karnataka, private sector in the other three
states—Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala—can pull their collars
up. Infosys board member Mohandas Pai, who is responsible for human
resources in the most-celebrated software company, says, "If you look
at fresh hiring at Infosys, much of it is from the disadvantaged
section. Both the parents of 17 per cent of our fresh hires in Mysore
are non-graduates. Almost 40 per cent of these hires had only one
graduate parent." A silent revolution seems to be happening from the
bottom. "And this is happening in high-paying jobs, going right up to
the top," says Pai.

Indeed, according to the CII survey, in all four southern states
combined, the share of SC/STs among trainees in the IT and IT-enabled
services sector is 10 per cent of the total trainee strength. If you
look at the total employee stock across all levels of management, then
it is only 5 per cent. IT and ITeS account for 26 per cent of the
total employment in southern India and CII members alone employ about
1.5 lakh in the region.

DRAWING THE RIGHT LESSONS

Manish Sabharwal, Chairman, TeamLease Services Ltd, the country's
biggest player in the temporary staffing industry, notes that the only
macro economic variable that has stayed where it was in 1991 is the
high proportion of labour force in the unorganised sector—at 93 per
cent. "The organised sector that accounts for a mere 7 per cent of the
labour force enjoys disproportionately the fruits of higher incomes.
Economic reforms, at the end of the day, is not just about goofy rich
guys buying Mercedes."

Sabharwal and Infosys' Pai are least surprised by India Inc's good
show in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. These two states have blended
huge capacities in higher education with generous scholarships. "Tamil
Nadu's 300 colleges have 1,20,000 seats. A larger proportion of
disadvantaged population goes through colleges," says Pai. "Even
Karnataka has reservation, but the key is to create large capacities.
Otherwise, even from the SC/ST communities, the upward layers crowd
out capacities," he points out. That, in a way, explains the private
sector's poor show in affirmative action in Karnataka.

Uttar Pradesh, in another 10 years, will fare better than most other
states. Mayawati has started 270 engineering colleges this year. The
UP Technical University has added 1,00,000 seats in the last three
years. "But the Ayatollahs of education have tried to control quality
by controlling quantity," says Sabharwal.

All this is not to say that India Inc is doing a great job on
affirmative action. "But in board rooms, there is serious awareness
today," says Ramkumar, who sits on the board of ICICI Bank. Only
better education and skill development will expand the catchment area
for SC/ST recruitment. In India, there is no shortage of jobs, only a
scarcity of qualified people.

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

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

Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ZESTCaste] Caste in GOND

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Caste-in-GOND/740177/

Caste in GOND
Vandana Kalra Posted online: Sat Jan 22 2011, 16:46 hrs
New Delhi : Gond artists Durgabai Vyam and Subhash Vyam take the
graphic narrative out of the box in Bhimayana, a book on BR Ambedkar.

When navayana Publishing's S Anand arrived at their Bhopal studio with
works of the world's most accomplished graphic artists — Joe Sacco,
Osamu Tezuka and Marjane Satrapi — artist couple Durgabai and Subhash
Vyam were appalled. How could they do the artwork for a graphic
narrative? "There were so many boxes, we did not know how to work in
that pattern," says Durgabai.

How, indeed, could there be a graphic book without panels? In
Bhimayana, an account of the life and experiences of Dr Bhimrao Ramji
Ambedkar, the Vyams have ended up achieving the impossible. The
rectangular, boxy panels have gone. Instead, traditional digna
patterns of

Gond art breathe freely on the open spaces of the pages.

"I knew that they looked at things in a different manner," says Anand.
Three years ago, he had approached the Vyams to design the book on
Ambedkar and his fight against the caste system. Durgabai has known
Anand since the time they worked together for a children's book,
Turning the Pot, Tilling the Land: Dignity of Labour in Our Times
(2007). She suggested that Subhash be roped in to illustrate the
Ambedkar book.

Bhimayana recounts different episodes from Columbia University
graduate Ambedkar's life. He is shown as a young student who is forced
to go thirsty because of segregation in school; he is a traveller who
is denied a bullock-cart ride in a strange city; and he is a student
who is denied shelter because he is "untouchable". Contemporary
incidents of discrimination have been woven into this historic
biography. "The issue is still relevant," says Anand, who has
co-written the text with Canada-based Srividya Natarajan (author of No
Onions Nor Garlic).

The real heroes of this publication are the Vyams, whose illustrations
comment and don't merely describe. Ambedkar gets a pointillist
makeover in a Gond setting. When thirsty, he is depicted as a fish
without water. Ambedkar's loneliness in Baroda is compared to an ox in
an oil-press, walking in circles. In the illustration of his famous
Mahad speech, when Ambedkar led Dalits to draw water from a public
lake in 1927, the microphones become sprinklers — quenching the thirst
of thousands.

This is an animistic world where dancing peacocks represent joy, and
trains run on coiled snails. Speech bubbles are shaped like sparrows
when the words are

spoken by 'good' people, and are scorpion-like when the speakers spew
bitterness. "These are natural associations. Man and animals share
similar traits," says 41-year-old Subhash.

In an earlier painting they had done depicting the 9/11 attack, they
drew mud huts and birds instead of skyscrapers and an aeroplane. "We
heard about the incident on the radio," says Durgabai.

Legendary Pardhan-Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam mentored Subhash and
Durgabai, 37, when they shifted to Bhopal more than a decade ago.
Subhash, a native of Sanpuri village, once used to work with clay and
design sculptures in wood. As a six-year-old, Durgabai learned digna
from her grandmother. Years later, Shyam encouraged her to pick up the
brush and paint. "I used to draw gods and goddesses," says Durgabai,
of her formative years of painting.

Gradually, under Shyam's guidance, she started to paint more intricate
patterns. Durgabai is today a familiar name in the publishing
industry, with international exhibitions to her credit, and has been
illustrating books for almost 10 years. In 2006-07, she was awarded
the IGNCA scholarship, and in 2008, she and two other Gond artists Ram
Singh Urveti and Bhajju Shyam were presented the Bologna Ragazzi Award
in Italy for their illustrations for The Night Life of Trees.
Remarkably, this mother of three is illiterate — Subhash can read only
partially. Family members read out the storyline to her when she
works. "It's all because of the support of my family,"

she says.

The couple live in Bhopal's Kotra Sultanabad, in a two-storey,
six-bedroom home which stands on a 450 square feet plot bought under a
government scheme for low-income groups. "We always have a full
house," says Subhash, adding, "At any time, there are more than 10
guests at home."

While the couple were vaguely familiar with Ambedkar before working on
the publication, the assignment added to their knowledge. The Vyams
started taking note of similar incidents in the news and also drew
from their own recollections. "People used to discriminate against
others in our village too," says Subhash, who was once barred from
entering Anand's office. "The landlady did not approve of how we
looked," says Durgabai.

The couple also ran into trouble during the making of the book. They
struggled initially with the unconventional panels, and then Subhash
fell sick with dengue. But today, with the book on the shelves, the
duo is proud. "It has a moral stand. Even today people are suffering
because of the age-old discriminatory system," says Durgabai. The two
are now working on another book, for Jackfruit Research and Design,
"It is about marriages in villages," says Durgabai, who is now famous
in her own neighbourhood.

Back in his office in Delhi, Anand is midway through his next project.
The protagonist of his next book is Mahatma

Jyotirao Phule.

(With inputs from Milind Ghatwa)

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

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

Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ZESTCaste] A Chronology of Caste Struggle

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/a-chronology-of-caste-struggle/740982/

A Chronology of Caste Struggle
Harish S Wankhede
Posted online: 2011-01-23 23:52:22+05:30

Caste is not just a sociological element meant to describe the nuanced
stratification of Hindus into various categories. Within the power
relationships, caste is also seen as an effective social capital, used
by one group to dominate another, thereby producing justified
reactions from the oppressed group. The bi-polarity of Hindu social
order into the 'lower and upper' castes creates two distinct and
conflicting sets, each having its own cultural and social values.
However, the ideals represented by the Brahmanical elites were always
considered as a 'great tradition' and the representative face of
India, whereas assertions and resisting voices from the other groups
were belittled as narrow gestures.

Gail Omvedt's Understanding Caste: From Buddha to Ambedkar and Beyond
situates the caste question in a historical perspective, showcasing
the political prudence of the social movements in developing an
alternative tradition of resistance. The author's main objective in
the book is to free the alternative tradition developed by the
anti-caste movements from the hegemonic clutch of Hindu elite and
provide it a separate and equal space in the history of ideas. The
chronology of social movement, mainly from 'Buddha to Ambedkar,' is
vast, which covers all the three epochs of civilisation. In the
contemporary discourses on caste questions, the term 'Dalit' is
located as the representative voice of the oppressed masses in this
journey.

However, the author states the limitation of this popular term in
representing the varied nature of caste struggle, which belongs to so
many, including Buddha, Phule and Ramabai.

Omvedt presents an impressive chronological account of various
traditions, which contested the inequalities persistent in Hindu
religion and promoted concrete revolutionary values to replace them.
The struggle against Hindu orthodoxy has a majoritarian appeal which
includes the Dalits (against untouchability), Shudhra castes (question
of social backwardness), women (for its patriarchal domination) and
Dravidians (against the hegemonic rule of north India-centric Hindu
culture). Omvedt locates the continuation of this conflict in the
current political context also, and argues that the political Hindutva
represents the official voice of traditional Brahmanism and movements
like the Dalit Panthers and Bahujan Samaj Party follow the progressive
legacy of anti-caste movement in India.

The author presents a crisp anthology of these oppositions and claim
they form a 'great tradition' in a parallel way. There are very few
books available that narrates the historical journey of anti-caste
struggle from the perspective of the oppressed castes.

Omvedt categorically emphasises the importance of rewriting social
history from a Dalit perspective. Therefore, its academic merit rests
with its ideological orientation without really making a dent in the
current scholarships on caste. This work should be treated as an
introductory guide book to understanding the essential elements of
anti-caste struggles in India. It tries to discuss most of the popular
assertions, movements and leaders, who contributed immensely in making
the 'Dalit vision' for a just society.

On the critical part, the book is very condensed, mostly with
political judgments, without really going into the debates of the era.
Further, in the section on BSP, the author only presents a factual
narration of the political movement, but never explains what makes BSP
a leading representative agency of caste struggle in India today?

To mention one typographical error, Gyan Pandey is spelled as Cyan
Pandey (page no. 4). However, the book is a valuable piece for early
students of caste politics, social history and religio-cultural
movements.

—The writer teaches political science at Delhi University

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

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

Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ZESTCaste] 146 LESSON 23 01 2011 Silabbata Sutta Precept and Practice FREE ONLINE eNālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY to VOTE for BSP ELEPHANT for Social Transformation and Economic Emancipation to attain Ultimate Bliss-GOOD GOVERNANCE-Senior officers of Government along with local officers will be punished if any shortcoming detected in development works during my surprise inspections —Hon’ble Chief Minister-Carelessness in programmes related with people will not be tolerated-Ensure effective implementation of skill development programme-C.M. orders suspension of police SI, officiating SHO, CO, Additional SP and Jailor found guilty in Banda case-State Government requests Hon’ble Court to hear this case through fast track court-Opposition parties should desist from levelling false allegations against State Government-My Government will force officers to mend their ways at all costs

146 LESSON 23 01 2011 Silabbata Sutta Precept and Practice FREE ONLINE eNālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY to VOTE for BSP ELEPHANT for Social Transformation and Economic Emancipation to attain Ultimate Bliss-GOOD GOVERNANCE-Senior officers of Government along with local officers will be punished if any shortcoming detected in development works during my surprise inspections —Hon'ble Chief Minister-Carelessness in programmes related with people will not be tolerated-Ensure effective implementation of skill development programme-C.M. orders suspension of police SI, officiating SHO, CO, Additional SP and Jailor found guilty in Banda case-State Government requests Hon'ble Court to hear this case through fast track court-Opposition parties should desist from levelling false allegations against State Government-My Government will force officers to mend their ways at all costs

Filed under: General
Posted by: @ 5:27 am

Buddhism - Theravada

video link

donating

Meditate

Photo d'arbre

Bodhi leaf

{short description of image}

Pease watch

http://wn.com/samyojana\

samyojana

through

http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org

http://www.orgsites.com/oh/awakenedone/

Awakeness Practices

All 84,000 Khandas As Found in the Pali Suttas

Traditionally the are 84,000 Dharma Doors - 84,000 ways to get Awakeness. Maybe so; certainly the Buddha taught a large number of practices that lead to Awakeness. This web page attempts to catalogue those found in the Pali Suttas (DN, MN, SN, AN, Ud & Sn ¹). There are 3 sections:

The discourses of Buddha are divided into 84,000, as to separate addresses. The division includes all that was spoken by Buddha."I received from Buddha," said Ananda, "82,000 Khandas, and from the priests 2000; these are 84,000 Khandas maintained by me." They are divided into 275,250, as to the stanzas of the original text, and into 361,550, as to the stanzas of the commentary. All the discourses including both those of Buddha and those of the commentator, are divided into 2,547 banawaras, containing 737,000 stanzas, and 29,368,000 separate letters.

Course Programs:

LESSON 146

AN 3.78 Silabbata Sutta

From The Dhamma Encyclopedia

Silabbata Sutta: Precept & Practice

translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Then Ven. Ananda went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him, "Ananda, every precept & practice, every life, every holy life that is followed as of essential worth: is every one of them fruitful?"

"Lord, that is not [to be answered] with a categorical answer."

"In that case, Ananda, give an analytical answer."

"When by following a life of precept & practice, a life, a holy life that is followed as of essential worth one's unskillful mental qualities increase while one's skillful mental qualities decline: that sort of precept & practice, life, holy life that is followed as of essential worth is fruitless. But when by following a life of precept & practice, a life, a holy life that is followed as of essential worth one's unskillful mental qualities decline while one's skillful mental qualities increase: that sort of precept & practice, life, holy life that is followed as of essential worth is fruitful."

That is what Ven. Ananda said, and the Teacher approved. Then Ven. Ananda, [realizing,] "The Teacher approves of me," got up from his seat and, having bowed down to the Blessed One and circumambulating him, left.

Then not long after Ven. Ananda had left, the Blessed One said to the monks, "Monks, Ananda is still in training, but it would not be easy to find his equal in discernment."

BUDDHA (EDUCATE)! DHAMMA (MEDITATE)! SANGHA (ORGANISE)!

WISDOM IS POWER

Awakened One Shows the Path to Attain Eternal Bliss

Using such an instrument

The Free ONLINE e-Nālandā Research and Practice University has been re-organized to function through the following Schools of Learning :

Buddha's Sangha Practiced His Dhamma Free of cost, hence the Free- e-Nālandā Research and Practice University follows suit

As the Original Nālandā University did not offer any Degree, so also the Free e-Nālandā Research and Practice University.

The teachings of Buddha are eternal, but even then Buddha did not proclaim them to be infallible. The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have…Now what is the basis of Buddhism? If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason. There is an element of flexibility inherent in it, which is not found in any other religion.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , Indian scholar, philosopher and architect of Constitution of India, in his writing and speeches

IKAMMA,REBIRTH,AWAKEN-NESS,BUDDHA,THUS COME ONE,DHAMMA II.ARHA ,FOUR HOLY TRUTHS,EIGHTFOLD PATH,TWELVEFOLD CONDITIONED ARISING,BODHISATTVA,PARAMITA,SIX PARAMITAS III.SIX SPIRITUAL POWERS,SIX PATHS OF REBIRTH,TEN DHARMA REALMS,FIVE SKANDHAS,EIGHTEEN REALMS,FIVE MORAL PRECEPTS IV. MEDITATION,MINDFULNESS,FOUR APPLICATIONS OF MINDFULNESS,LOTUS POSTURE,SAMADHI,CHAN SCHOOL,FOUR JHANAS,FOUR FORMLESS REALMS V. FIVE TYPES OF BUDDHIST STUDY AND PRACTICE,MAHAYANA AND HINAYANA COMPARED,PURE LAND,BUDDHA RECITATION,EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES,ONE HUNDRED DHARMAS,EMPTINESS VI. DEMON,LINEAGE

with

Level I: Introduction to Buddhism,Level II: Buddhist Studies,

TO ATTAIN

Level III: Stream-Enterer,Level IV: Once – Returner,Level V: Non-Returner,Level VI: Arhat

Jambudvipa, i.e, PraBuddha Bharath scientific thought in

mathematics,astronomy,alchemy,andanatomy

Philosophy and Comparative Religions;Historical Studies;International Relations and Peace Studies;Business Management in relation to Public Policy and Development Studies;Languages and Literature;and Ecology and Environmental Studies

Jambudvipa, i.e, PraBuddha Bharath scientific thought in

Mathematics

Astronomy

Alchemy

And

< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

GOOD GOVERNANCE

Press Information Bureau

(Chief Minister Information Campus)

Information & Public Relations Department, U.P.

Senior officers of Government along with local officers will be punished if any shortcoming detected in development works during my surprise inspections —Hon'ble Chief Minister

Carelessness in programmes related with people will not be tolerated

Ensure effective implementation of skill development programme

Lucknow : 20 January 2011

The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Ms. Mayawati ji

said that during the next month's surprise inspections of the

development works and services being provided by the State

Government, senior officers along with local officers would also be

punished if any shortcoming was detected. She said that any

carelessness in the programmes related with people would not be

tolerated at any cost.

Hon'ble Chief Minister ji said that the senior officers of the

Government had been directed earlier to conduct at least 02

inspections every month by visiting field. She said that the officers

of the Government had been instructed that if any shortcoming in

the development works was detected during the inspection, then

the same should be removed and punitive action should be taken

against the erring officers/employees, so that the government

schemes were implemented in a qualitative manner at local level.

Hon'ble Chief Minister ji gave these directives when the

Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh and Chief

Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta apprised her of the inferences of

the high level meeting held at the Yojana Bhawan with all the

Principal Secretaries/Secretaries and HODs.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister ji directed that the senior officers

of the Government should ensure immediate solution of the

problems reported by the DMs and Divisional Commissioners. She

directed the senior officers of the Government to initiate the

process for filling the posts of various departments lying vacant at

tehsil and district level and alternative arrangements should be

2

made till the recruitment is made so that the works of these

departments did not suffer.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister ji, while reviewing the

department-wise release/spending of the budget, directed the

officers that if some departments were unable to use the budget

allocated for them, then they should return the amount so that the

same could be used elsewhere for important works. Besides, the

causes for the return of the money should also be examined

seriously and stringent action should be taken against the guilty

officers. She said that after February 28, 2011 no additional

amount would be released for any department for this financial

year at any cost.

Reviewing the position of Centre's share to be received under

various schemes, Hon'ble Chief Minister ji directed that the senior

officers of those departments, which had not received their

requisite amount from the Government of India so far, should

contact the related ministry of the same to get the amount

released by 31 January 2011 so that the people were not deprived

of their rights. Specially mentioning the backward classes' welfare,

she said that the Government of India had not been releasing the

amount to be given under the schemes being conducted for the

backward classes for past few years. She directed the Principal

Secretary Backward Class Welfare that he should apprise the

Government of India of all the facts and make extra efforts to get

the amount released allocated under these schemes.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister while reviewing the various

welfare schemes directed the officers that bank accounts of the

selected beneficiaries of Uttar Pradesh Mukhyamantri Mahamaya

Gharib Arthik Madad Yojna should be opened soon. She said that

senior officers should be sent to districts for the selection of

beneficiaries and opening of beneficiaries' accounts should be

verified. Reviewing the various development works under

Bundelkhand package, she said that dairy development work

should be encouraged. She directed the officers to start blast-well

scheme in Bundelkhand areas and said that plateau areas should

also be covered by this scheme.

Reviewing the damaged roads and other basic resources in

flood affected districts, the Hon'ble Chief Minister said that though

Central Government had not given any special relief amount, but

the money released by the State Government should be utilised

and the works related to relief and rehabilitation should be

3

completed soon. She also directed the senior officers to make

inspection of the works being done in this regard.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister ji said that skill development

scheme should be implemented in effective manner for the

unemployed youth of the state. She said that the institutions

giving training under this scheme so far, should be scrutinised and

they should be removed from the work of imparting training, if

they were not found working satisfactorily and training works

should be allotted to other agencies. Reviewing the works of

agriculture departments, she said that foundation seeds should be

grown at government agriculture farms. She directed the Principal

Secretary Agriculture to present the report to the government

after detailed discussions on "Agriculture and Agriculture

Reforms", so that action could be taken to increase agriculture

production.

Reviewing the various education projects, she directed the

officers that construction of 1126 Upper Primary Schools should be

completed soon. Besides, she directed them to run Sarv Shiksha

Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal, Secondary Education campaign, Uniform,

right to education etc. schemes in qualitative manner.

Reviewing the various schemes of Medical, Health and Family

Welfare and Medical Education Department, she said that 90 new

community health centres had been completed. Para-medical staff

and doctors should be arranged soon, so that people could get

benefit of these centres. She said that Mukhyamantri Mahamaya

Sachal Aspatal Yojna launched on 15 January, 2011 should be

implemented with full honesty and commitment to make medical

facilities available in far-flung areas.

C.M. orders suspension of police SI, officiating SHO, CO, Additional SP and Jailor found guilty in Banda case

State Government requests Hon'ble Court to hear this case through fast track court

Opposition parties should desist from levelling false allegations against State Government

My Government will force officers to mend their ways at all costs

Lucknow : 20 January 2011

Taking punitive action against the guilty police personnel

of the Banda case, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

Ms. Mayawati ji ordered immediate suspension of investigating

officer of the case SI Sri Radhey Shyam Shukla and officiating

SHO Sri Abdul Jabbar for delay and carelessness in the

investigation work. Likewise, the Atarra CO Sri Rajendra Yadav

and Additional SP of Banda Sri Lala Ram have also been

suspended for showing poor and inept supervision of

investigation. Besides, the Banda Jailor has also been

suspended for not listening to the points raised by his sub-

ordinate and not reporting the facts to the senior officers.

Departmental action has also been initiated against them.

Referring to the role of the Banda SP in this case, the

Hon'ble Chief Minister ji said that he was not found guilty in the

inquiry. She said that the special DGP law and order Mr. Brij Lal

has been directed to assess the situation so that cases like

Banda and Kanpur were not repeated. He has also been

directed to send his recommendations to the Government at the

earliest. Besides, the State Government has also requested

Hon'ble Court to hear this case through fast track court.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister ji was addressing media at her

official residence 5 Kalidas Marg here today. She said that her

government was committed to ensure justice for the affected

people and it never pardoned the guilty nor it protected them.

She said that law breakers would not be spared in her regime

2

no matter whosoever they were. Referring to the cases like

Banda and Kanpur and other cases as well, she said that she

was forced to take punitive action against officers who were

unable to perform their duties with honesty.

Hon'ble Chief Minister said that for the present state of

things, the previous governments were actually responsible as

they misused the Government machinery for their vested

interests and made it careless and corrupt. She said that her

government was suffering because of this reason. She said that

her government would force the officers to mend their ways at

all costs. She said that this may take some time as this malaise

had deep roots. Besides, stringent action would be taken

against those officers who had links with opposition parties and

were trying to malign the image of the State Government, if

evidence was found against them.

Hon'ble Chief Minister ji has asked the leaders of

opposition parties that they should stop levelling false and

baseless allegations against the State Government and extend

their co-operation, so that the law and order could be improved

and the pace of development could be accelerated and the

State could become prosperous. Giving sharp reaction over the

useless statements being issued by opposition parties specially

the Congress party over the recent incidents which took place in

the State, she said that it was an effort to mislead the people.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister said that despite the stringent

action taken by the state government against the criminals

involved in these incidents, it was unfortunate that baseless

allegations had been put on her government. She said that her

government had not hesitated in taking action accordance to

law against party MLAs, Ministers and an MP who took law in

their hands. She said that nobody would be permitted to play

with the law. She said that land development and water

resources Minister Mr. Ashok Kumar Dohre was sacked

yesterday because continuous complaints were being received

regarding unnecessary pressure on officers by him.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister said that so far as the question

of false statements of opposition leaders regarding Banda and

Kanpur incidents is concerned, her government had taken it

seriously and ordered inquiry by CB-CID into Banda case. On

getting the preliminary report of CB-CID, government took

harsh steps and lodged FIR against MLA Purushottam Naresh

Dwivedi and three others. It had directed the officers to take

3

action in accordance with law and arrests of culprits. Besides,

she had ordered to release the victim girl immediately on 15

January, 2011 on getting the CB-CID report, because the

allegations put on the girl were not found true in inquiry report.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister said that directives had been

given for taking stringent action against the guilty policemen

and CB-CID inquiry in this regard. Besides, Principal Secretary

(Home) was directed to provide proper security to victim girl.

She said that charge-sheet was filed by the police in 15 days

against the MLA Shekhar Tiwari accused of murder of an

engineer in Auraiyya and Mr. Tiwari is still in jail. Similarly, the

then Minister Mr. Anand Sen Yadav was arrested and sent to jail

after taking his resignation, when his name came in light in

rape case. Mr. Yadav is still in jail. MLA Mr. Bhagwan Sharma

alias Guddu Pandit was also arrested owing to his involvement

in criminal incident. CB-CID has filed the charge-sheet in the

Court in Banda case today.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister said that on getting the

information regarding the facts in Divya case, she took it

seriously and ordered CB-CID inquiry into the whole case. In-

charge inspector was suspended with immediate effect after he

was found guilty in CB-CID inquiry report. Section-344 and 218

IPC were registered and CB-CID inquiry was ordered. Besides,

ASP (rural) and CO were also suspended for slackness and

indifferent approach in this case.

********

Anatomy

MAY YOU BE EVER HAPPY, WELL AND SECURE
MAY YOU LIVE LONG
MAY ALL SENTIENT AND NON-SENTIENT BEINGS BE EVER HAPPY
MAY YOU BE ALWAYS HAVE CALM, QUIET, ALERT,ATTENTIVE AND
EQUANIMITY MIND WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING THAT
NOTHING IS PERMANENT