Latest News Update: Jan 31, 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

[ZESTCaste] No disqualification till conviction, says Maya

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/No-disqualification-till-conviction--says-Maya/744012

No disqualification till conviction, says Maya
Express News Service Posted online: Mon Jan 31 2011, 09:14 hrs
Lucknow : Disagreeing with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y
Quraishi's suggestion that a person against whom charges have been
framed for an offence, which is punishable with imprisonment for five
or more years, should not be allowed to contest elections, Chief
Minister Mayawati said that such a provision could be misused, and
argued for disqualification from contesting election only after
conviction by court. She favoured a law to stop criminalisation of
politics and wanted the law to have no scope for misuse.

Mayawati was speaking at the Regional Consultation for Electoral
Reforms, organised jointly by the Election Commission of India and
Union Law Ministry at the Dr B R Ambedkar Auditorium here. Quraishi
and Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily were also present. This was
the first time since Mayawati became the CM in 2007 that she spoke
from a non-BSP platform.

The CEC expressed concern over criminalisation of politics and
appreciated Mayawati for her reported decision to deny ticket to
criminals in elections.

Terming the ECI's decision to seek opinions for electoral reforms as a
commendable step, the CM said there is need to ban exit and opinion
polls which tended to influence the electorate. "The logic behind such
poll is that it is freedom of expression. But this is freedom of
misinformation," Mayawati said.

She underlined the need for reviewing the anti-defection law. "If any
MP or MLA joins another party, he should contest the election again,"
she said. Mayawati said the national president of a political party
should be empowered to recommend to the EC cancellation of membership
of MPs and MLAs who change party. After disqualification, the EC
should immediately hold elections in their constituencies.

Favouring the idea of the state funding elections, she said this would
help curb criminalisation of politics. However, the CEC described the
idea of state funding "dangerous".

The CEC highlighted various issues related to electoral reforms. He
said there should be a ban on transfer of employees six months before
and after elections in any state. He sought suggestions to develop a
protection system for officers who face victimisation after elections
despite their good work. He also underlined the need for empowering
the ECI to deregister political parties.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit killings: Upper castes to pay for stir?

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dalit-killings-upper-castes-to-pay-for-.../744111/

Dalit killings: Upper castes to pay for stir?
Agencies Posted online: Mon Jan 31 2011, 14:00 hrs
New Delhi : The Supreme Court today asked the Railways and the Haryana
government to assess their financial losses due to the disruption in
rail and road traffic following a stir against booking of some upper
caste people in the Mirchpur dalit killings case.

A Bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi directed Northern Railway's
general manager to instruct his senior officials to file an affidavit
quantifying the loss suffered by the Railways.

It also asked the Haryana government to evaluate and apprise the court
about the loss suffered by the state exchequer due to the blockade of
road traffic from Jind to Delhi during the 11-day stir organised by 12
'khap' panchayats.

The Bench also issued notices to the Centre and the state government
and sought their responses within two weeks.

While seeking details of the financial loss suffered by the Haryana
government, the Bench also asked the state and railway authorities to
apprise it of the steps taken by them for the free flow of rail and
road traffic.

Villagers had been protesting the booking of 98 members of their
community in the case relating to the killing of 70-year-old Tara
Chand and his teenaged daughter Suman at Mirchpur village in Hisar on
April 21 last year.

Demanding a fresh probe into the dalit killings, upper caste people of
Mirchpur and other adjoining villages in Hisar district had brought
the rail and road traffic to Delhi via Jind to a grinding halt earlier
this month.

Members of the pre-dominant Jat community had been sitting on railway
tracks at Julani village near Jind railway station since January 15,
disrupting railway traffic on the Jind-Jakhal section of the
Delhi-Ferozepur route.

The protesters had also been blocking road traffic in Jind and other
places of the state, besides locking the Haryana roadways bus depot in
many places.

Normalcy was restored in the troubled districts on January 26
following talks between leaders of the protesters and Haryana Chief
Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Kaithal.

Hooda assured Bhag Singh Jalabh, convenor of the 41-member committee
constituted by Sarvjatiya Sarvkhap Mahapanchayat, to look into his
grievances that many of the upper caste people had been falsely
implicating in the case.

A Delhi court had on January 9 directed the Haryana government to move
all the 98 accused from Hisar jail to Tihar prison since their trial
was transferred to a court in Delhi following a Supreme Court order.

The protesters had been demanding that the probe be held by a Special
Investigation Team (SIT) either at Rohtak or Hisar and the accused be
lodged in either of the two jails.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits from Mirchpur village start dharna demanding security

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Dalits-from-Mirchpur-village-start-dharna-demanding-security/Article1-656170.aspx

Dalits from Mirchpur village start dharna demanding security
Press Trust Of India
Hisar, January 29, 2011
First Published: 20:05 IST(29/1/2011)

A number of Dalit families uprooted from Mirchpur village near in
Hisar, which saw the killing of two Dalit members allegedly by upper
caste people nearly 10 months ago, on Saturday started an indefinite
dharna here to press for their security and rehabilitation. The
families had left the village
due to fear of attacks on them by Jats and are now living in separate
places in Hisar.

Though Jat protesters withdrew their agitation after a meeting with
chief minister Bhupender Singh Hooda, the fear of attack continues to
haunt the Dalit families.

The Dalit families submitted a memorandum to the district
administration on Friday evening demanding rehabilitation and jobs for
them.

They said that they would not return to the village now. Some of the
Dalits families are staying in a farmhouse owned by Ved Pal Tanwar,
president of Non Jat organization, in Hisar.

Jat-Dalit confontration had started on April 21 last year when a mob
of Jat community torched several houses of Dalits at Mirchpur in which
Tara Chand and his disabled teenaged daughter Suman were killed and
several others Dalits were injured.

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[ZESTCaste] Family assaults woman for marrying outside caste in Bihar

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_family-assaults-woman-for-marrying-outside-caste-in-bihar_1500461

Family assaults woman for marrying outside caste in Bihar
Published: Saturday, Jan 29, 2011, 14:01 IST
Place: Ballia (Bihar) | Agency: PTI

A Dalit woman was assaulted and her hair clipped off by family members
after she married a man from a different caste against their wishes,
police said here today.

"20-year-old Savita married a youth from a different caste at a temple
on January 26 against the wishes of her family members following which
they assaulted her and chopped off her hair," superintendent of police
Ram Swaroop said.

Acting on an FIR lodged by Savita, her mother and brother were
arrested, he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Rs 12,000 crore to develop SC/ST lands: Minister

http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-135365.html

Rs 12,000 crore to develop SC/ST lands: Minister

Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, Jan 28 : The government is spending Rs 12,000
crore to develop the agriculture lands belong to the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) in Andhra Pradesh, Rural Development
Minister Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad said.

Participating in the government-sponsored Rachabanda Programme at
Charlagudipadu Village in Guragala Mandal of the district, he said the
government had taken all steps to develop the agriculture lands, owned
by the SC and STs .

The government has released Rs.2,500 crore for the welfare schemes of
SC and STs he said and added the construction of interior roads in the
SC, ST and BC colonies under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment
Guarantee Act.

Infusing courage into the frustrated rain-affected farmers, the
Minister asked them not to commit suicides and instead avail the
benefits being provided by the government.

The government had waived crop loans to the tune of Rs 12.9 crore in
Gurajala Mandal itself, he informed.

--UNI

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits leave Mirchpur village fearing Jat threat

http://www.dailypioneer.com/314231/Dalits-leave-Mirchpur-village-fearing-Jat-threat.html

Dalits leave Mirchpur village fearing Jat threat
January 31, 2011 6:26:49 PM

Alkesh Sharma | Hisar

Nearly a dozen Dalit families have left Mirchpur village in the last
15 days as last year's violence in the village has come back to haunt
them. It was here that a 70-year-old, Tarachand and his
physically-challenged daughter, Suman, were killed in an attack by the
dominant Jat community in April last year.

The fear of violence from Jats, who have over the past 12 days staged
protests demanding the release of those arrested for the incident and
called off stir last Thursday after the intervention of Chief Minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, still looms over Dalit families.

"The State Government has failed to punish the culprits accused of an
arson attack on Dalit families in April last year. The Government is
playing vote bank politics and does not want to offend the Jat
community as they are in a majority in Haryana," Gulab Singh, a Dalit
a villager, told IANS.

"We have lost all faith in the police and the Government. Leave aside
the question of staying in Mirchpur, we do not want to live anywhere
in Haryana. We make an appeal before the Government to rehabilitate us
somewhere outside this State," stated Singh.

"We are still getting threats from Jats. They are pressurising us to
take back our complaints," Sheela, another Dalit, camping outside
Mirchpur village with her family, said. In Mirchpur violence case, 98
Jat youths were arrested and are in a jail in New Delhi.

Ved Pal Tanwar, a representative of the Non-Jat Association, Haryana,
said: "So far the State Government has failed to ensure the safety of
the Dalit families of Mirchpur. They have given only verbal assurances
of safety and jobs, but actually nothing has happened. They are left
with no option than to leave Mirchpur."

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits demand their due

http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/29/stories/2011012951240300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Ongole Printer Friendly Page Send this Article to a Friend

Dalits demand their due

Staff Reporter

Round-table held under the aegis of CPI(M)-led KVPS

They demand an end to diversion of funds

ONGOLE: Concerned over the Union and State governments' alleged
non-fulfilment of the constitutional obligation of allocating and
spending in proportion to their population, a round-table held under
the aegis of the CPI(M)-led Kula Vivaksha Porata Samiti on Friday
decided to fight for their rights.

The conference, attended by functionaries of dalit bodies affiliated
to the TDP, the CPI and the frontal organisations of the CPI(M),
decided to hold a survey in all dalit hamlets ahead of the Budget
session of the State Assembly to project the fund requirement for
civic amenities, including internal roads, drinking water, burial
grounds and street lighting.

"We are going to lay a siege to the Assembly coinciding with the
Budget session demanding fund allocation as per the Constitution and
put a full stop to diversion of funds," KVPS district secretary A.
Malyadri said.

Funds allocation

The meeting adopted a resolution moved by the CPI(M)-led Agricultural
Workers' Union district secretary Pentiyala Hanumantha Rao pressing
for allocation of Rs. 270 crores for the welfare of dalits in the
district.

The meeting was attended by, among others, CPI(M) district secretary
J. Anjaiah, TDP SC wing district secretary K. Ravichandra and CPI-led
Dalit Hakkula Porata Samiti (DHPS) district secretary K. Subba Rao and
Mala Mahanadu district secretary D. Sivaji.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits on indefinite strike

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dalits-on-indefinite-strike-/articleshow/7387814.cms

Dalits on indefinite strike
Bhaskar Mukherjee, TNN, Jan 30, 2011, 08.31am IST

HISAR (HARYANA): Days after the end of the protest by Jats over the
shifting of the trial as well as the accused in the Mirchpur violence
case from Haryana to Delhi, now 80 Dalit families who fled Mirchpur
when the Jat agitation started are holding an indefinite dharna
outside the mini secretariat here.

The families are living in the camping site provided by Gair Jat
Sangathan at a farm house near Hisar. "Who would take care of them?
Who would hear their voice as their number is quite less as compared
to the Jats," said Sangathan president Ved Pal Tanwar.

Suresh Balmiki, one of the persons sitting on dharna while talking
about the plight as well as the demands, said, "They (Jats) have used
pressure to make the government accept their demands. But who would
guarantee our safety and security? We want that the accused in the
Mirchpur violence case are punished." Satyavan Balmiki who left
Mirchpur along with wife Reena and two sons, Pankaj and Devendar said,
"We feared that we would be attacked by the Jats. Give us work and
social security."

DC Yudhbir Singh Khyaliya said, "We are gathering information about
their demands and would then take a decision."

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[ZESTCaste] Maya's no to disqualification of criminals

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Mayas-no-to-disqualification-of-criminals/articleshow/7393938.cms

Maya's no to disqualification of criminals
TNN, Jan 31, 2011, 01.13am IST
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Mayawati on Sunday outrightly rejected chief
election commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi's suggestion that candidates
with criminal antecedents should be disqualified from contesting,
saying that this could lead to misuse of law for this purpose and
consequently jeopardise the interest of democracy.

"I am of a firm view that nobody should be barred from becoming an
election candidate without conviction. Any such provision in the law
could be misused and would prove to be a ploy against political
detractors," Mayawati said while addressing a conference on electoral
reforms here at the Bhimrao Ambedkar auditorium of Dr Ram Manohar
Lohia National Law University.

The conference was attended by Union law minister Veerappa Moily,
chairman of State Advisory Council S C Mishra and legal luminaries
drawn from different parts of the country.

The CM's remark came soon after the CEC suggested, "I am in favour of
debarring candidates from contesting polls against whom charges are
framed." In support of his contention, Quraishi said that after a
person is imprisoned, his rights to movement, freedom and earning are
not allowed.

"Why can't we then bar criminals from contesting elections which is
not even a fundamental right," he said.

However, Quraishi found support for his contention in the concluding
session of the conference in which Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh
Pokhriyal 'Nishank' fully endorsed his view point, saying that
criminals and mafia should be kept out of the electoral process.

Quraishi also suggested formulation of a code of conduct for
electronic and print media and direct election of chief ministers and
prime minister by the people, instead by legislators and MPs.

Mayawati, on the occasion, was also opposed to the CEC's view point
that the Central government funding of elections is a dangerous
proposition.

Quraishi said this is dangerous because this would burden the
government with a huge expenditure and at the same time, there would
be use of illegal money in elections.

Mayawati said that the entire election expense of political parties
should be borne by the Centre, as this would lead to free and fair
elections and also prevent criminalisation of politics.

The electoral reforms, she further said, should be done in a manner in
which the weakest sections of the society, particularly dalits, could
exercise their voting rights freely and fearlessly.

In this context, she referred to the contributions of Bhimrao Ambedkar
and said that the scope of his mission was widened by her mentor and
BSP founder late Kanshi Ram, who transformed politics by creating a
political party centred on marginalised sections of the society. She
said she herself is dedicated to this cause.

Earlier, addressing the conference, Veerappa Moily said that electoral
reforms are necessary as the democracy cannot be sustained on ills
plaguing it. "No doubt that the country has made a stride forward, but
even better political management is needed with an emphasis on probity
in public life by keeping criminals at bay," Moily said.

Fifth in the series, the conference, sponsored jointly by the Union
law ministry and the Election Commission as a part of nationwide
exercise to gather views on electoral reforms, will culminate on a
two-day national consultation in New Delhi on April 2 and 3. So far,
it has been held in Bhopal, Kolkata, Mumbai and Guwahati. After
Lucknow, it is proposed to be held in Chandigarh and Bangluru.

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