Wednesday, February 9, 2011

[ZESTCaste] tribals ransacked nagpur police

 

About 250 persons belonging to Pardhi tribe were attacked by Umred police of nagpur district on 1st February 2011. They alleged that a pardhi named Pannalal Rajput is mafia because he had in his possesion about 100 litres of kerosin. Pannalal and some Pardhis have got land alltted by the Maharashtra government. They are cultivating this land since ab out 40 years but got pattas now. He had purchased a tractor recently and fotr that he was at times using this kerosin.Police and media, initially, called Pannalal a mafia for this stock of kerosin which he was bringing it for distribution from the rationing shop. In govt. record Pardhis are called the criminal Tribe and they are implicated in numerous crimes. Again in the night of 1st February Police raided the Basti and looted their belongings and money as the terror stricken Pardhis fled the Basti. Poice have charged them with numerous cases including IPC 307 (attempt to murder). Pannalal and some pardhis are followers of Fule Shahu and Ambedkar. They organised Shibirs in the basti many a times.
many bahujan dalit actvists are taking side of Pardhis. They need help from considerate people.

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[ZESTCaste] Man kills sister, her husband for ‘honour’

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Man-kills-sister--her-husband-for--honour-/747840

Man kills sister, her husband for 'honour'
Express News Service Posted online: Wed Feb 09 2011, 04:36 hrs
Kanpur : In a case of suspected honour killing in Farrukhabad district
of UP, Sanjay Verma allegedly murdered his sister Priya (21) and her
husband Nageem Sheikh alias Gudda on January 26. On Tuesday, police
arrested Sanjay, his brother-in-law Manoj Verma and domestic help
Umesh Yadav. Gaurav Verma and Titu Gupta, both friends of Sanjay who
were allegedly involved in the crime, are absconding.

A case of murder has been registered at the Kayamganj police station
of Farrukhabad. The revolver and car used in the murder have been
recovered by the police. Priya's body was recovered near river Kali
Nadi in Kannauj district on January 27. Nageem's body was reportedly
thrown into the river and is yet to be found.

Farrukhabad Superintendent of Police K Ejilearssane claimed, "It is a
case of honour killing, where the family members of a Hindu woman were
angry with her for marrying a Muslim man, and therefore they murdered
both."

Priya and Nageem were neighbours. When their efforts to convince their
families regarding their marriage failed, they ran away on January 19.
On the same day, Sanjay lodged an FIR against Nageem, accusing him of
kidnapping Priya and stealing jewelry worth Rs 40 lakh. Ejilearssane
said: "They got married on January 25." Sanjay reportedly caught them
on January 26 night and took them to Kali Nadi bridge. Ejilearssane
said: "Sanjay took the help of Manoj, Umesh, Gaurav and Titu." Station
Officer of Kayamganj V K Mishra said: "Sanjay had lodged a fake FIR
against Nageem. All three arrested have confessed."


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[ZESTCaste] Abdullah teases Mayawati through Twitter

 

http://www.sify.com/news/abdullah-teases-mayawati-through-twitter-news-national-lcipxfddgai.html

Abdullah teases Mayawati through Twitter
2011-02-08 15:23:05

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Jammu: Amid reports that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's
security guards were seen shining her shoes, Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday that he would not let his
security guards carry his briefcase.

Omar wrote on micro-bogging site Twitter: "I won't let my security
chaps carry my briefcase, but I guess to each their own" (sic).

The chief minister has been of late tweeting on almost everything,
from his temptation for chocolates after dinner to the energy crisis
in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, Tuesday's comments came after a television channel showed
Mayawati's security guards shining her shoes with a handkerchief.

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[ZESTCaste] 30-year-old woman killed for deciding to re-marry

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_30-year-old-woman-killed-for-deciding-to-re-marry_1505251

30-year-old woman killed for deciding to re-marry
Published: Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011, 3:07 IST
By Manish K Pathak | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

In a case bearing resemblance to honour killings elsewhere in the
country, a 30-year-old woman was killed by relatives for deciding to
re-marry. Shabana Khan, a resident of Shivaji Nagar, Govandi, was
strangulated in the wee hours of Monday. The police arrested the
suspects on Tuesday.

According to the police, Shabana, a mother of two, had reportedly
separated from her husband a few years ago. She had planned to get
married to a person named Ali. "Her cousins were not happy about her
decision,'' B Pardeshi, inspector of the Shivaji Nagar police station
said.

"On Sunday, she had gone out and returned home at around 11.30pm. The
suspects entered her house a little after midnight by opening the lock
with a duplicate key. They strangulated Shabana with a rope and left
the spot immediately," a police officer from Shivaji Nagar police
station said.

Her ten-year-old daughter woke up on hearing the commotion and saw the
suspects fleeing. "She immediately raised an alarm and alerted the
neighbours, who rushed Khan to a nearby hospital," the officer said.
Khan was declared dead before admission.

The Shivaji Nagar police got into action immediately, and a thorough
investigation over the next 24-hours revealed that two of Khan's
cousins were involved in the crime and they had sought help from two
others.

"Those arrested have been identified as Maqsood Baig alias Vicky, 24,
Mohammad Amir Khan, 18, Mohammad Moid Khan, 18, and Akhtar Ali, 20,"
the officer said. Primary investigation indicates that they were
against Shabana's decision to re-marry.

According to police, the deceased, a resident of Lotus colony in
Govandi, had separated from her husband a few years ago. She had four
children out of the wedlock. After separation two children stayed with
her while the other two went with the husband.


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[ZESTCaste] Dalit girl assault case: Another accused arrested

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Dalit-girl-assault-case-Another-accused-arrested/articleshow/7447251.cms

Dalit girl assault case: Another accused arrested
TNN, Feb 8, 2011, 12.29pm IST
Article

KANPUR: The police on Monday claimed to have arrested another accused
Shiv Om from near Deagh village of Fatehpur district in the dalit girl
assault case. The police had arrested one of the accused, Harishanker
Pasi, in the case on Saturday. However, one of the accused is still
absconding.

Said Bindki inspector Prem Chand: "Shiv Om wanted to marry the girl
and he tried to convince her parents but they refused to marry their
daughter in same caste and in same village. This hurt him and he got
in touch with Harishanker Pasi and hatched the plan. On Saturday, the
accused along with Harishanker and his brother-in-law attacked the
girl brutally."

Meanwhile, members of the former armed forces organisation on Monday
held a meeting at Tambeshwar Guest house in Fatehpur to express
solidarity with the 16-year-old Dalit girl who was brutally disfigured
after she resisted gangrape on Saturday evening at Urdauli village in
Fatehpur district.

Vidhya Bhushan Tewari, president of the organisation, said, "We were
shocked when we came to know about such an horrifying incident. We
urge the people who share the belief of a violence-free society to
come forward and strongly condemned the incident".

Another activist said, "We want to assert that we will walk the
streets anytime of the day or night without being afraid from these
coward elements, who are targetting innocent people particularly women
and girls."

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[ZESTCaste] BSP’s last budget not least for Dalits

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bsps-last-budget-not-least-for-dalits/747769/

BSP's last budget not least for Dalits
Express News Service Posted online: Wed Feb 09 2011, 02:41 hrs
Lucknow : Sight on 2012 * Maya govt's please-all budget with no new
tax for people

With an eye on Assembly elections due in 2012, Mayawati government on
Tuesday presented a please-all budget with emphasis on extending the
benefits of welfare schemes to Dalits and other deprived sections of
the society.

As the state goes to Assembly polls in the first quarter of 2012, the
government in its fifth and last budget proposed no new taxes for the
financial year 2011-12.

In 2012, the government will bring only the vote-on-account for the
first six months of the next fiscal 2012-13 for meeting the non-plan
committed expenditure of the government like the salary, pension and
repayment of loans and interest. Presenting the budget, state Finance
Minister Lalji Verma said the Chief Minister has always endeavoured
for uplift of the marginalised sections of the society and was all for
providing for the basic needs of these sections and keeping them at
the focus of every decision. Verma asserted that the budget carried
forward the policy of well-being of all sections of society.

In a bid to woo the party's traditional voters, the finance minister
announced hike in outlay for the "Special component plan" for the
scheduled castes to Rs 9,722 crore, which is 6.8 per cent more then
the provision made in the last year. In case of social welfare schemes
for the poor and the disadvantaged sections of society, a provision of
Rs 10,084 crore has been made which is 15.8 higher than the last year.
For shelter to Dalits under BPL category, the budget provision has
been increased by Rs 200 crore to Rs 550 crore under Mahamaya Avas
Yojna.

The monthly pension for the poor covered under the Mahamaya Garib
Arthik Madad Yojna, has been hiked to Rs 400 and a provision of Rs
1,081 cr has been made in the budget. The budget provision for
daughter's marriage and medical treatment has been increased to Rs 268
crore from Rs 175 cr in the previous budget.

Furthermore, Rs 1,084 cr have been earmarked for reimbursement of fees
and scholarship under the scholarship schemes for students of backward
classes.

For the backward region of Bundelkhand an additional provision of Rs
1,200 crore has been made in the budget. Keeping in view the specific
requirements of eastern UP and filling critical gaps, the state
government has allocated a sum of Rs 291 crore for the purpose. The
government has also made a budgetary allocation of Rs 6,133 crore for
rural development, including Rs 500 cr as state share to cover 70 lakh
families under MNREGA in the next fiscal.

On the infrastructure front, the government spending on roads and
bridges has been upscaled as has been in the energy sector. An amount
of Rs 6,775 crore has been earmarked for the construction of roads and
bridges, which is 16.6 crore more than the last year. And for the
energy sector, a provision of Rs 8,227 crore has been made in the
budget.

At Rs 16,9416.38 crore, the size of the budget is 10.6 per cent more
than last year's budget and the fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs
18,959.66 crore, which is 2.97 per cent of state'GDP.


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[ZESTCaste] Assaulted Dalit girl faces life time of trauma

 

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/assaulted-dalit-girl-faces-life-time-of-trauma/142760-3.html

Assaulted Dalit girl faces life time of trauma
Press Trust Of India
Posted on Feb 08, 2011 at 02:09pm IST

Kanpur: The Dalit girl from Fatehpur who was maimed for resisting a
rape attempt may have to live with the trauma of 'permanent hearing
loss' and a 'disfigured face'.

"The perpetrators crossed all limits of humanity when they brutally
chopped off her right ear. The savage attack has dislocated her right
ear bone. Similarly a finger of her right hand too is severed," said
Dr Anand Swaroop, in-charge of Hallet hospital and also Principal of
GSVM Medical College, where the girl is undergoing treatment.

Three youths identified as Shivom, Hari Shanker and Pawan forcibly
dragged the girl, when she had gone out for some work in the field and
tried to rape her.When the girl resisted the rape attempt and raised
analarm, the trio chopped off her nose, ear and a part of hand.

Assaulted Dalit girl faces life time of trauma

The condition of the girl, who is unconscious post the incident, is
being monitored by a team of experts -an Orthopaedic surgeon, a
General surgeon, a Dentist and a Maxillofacial expert at Hallet
hospital in Kanpur. The minor victim may have to live up with the
trauma of "permanent hearing loss".

Dr Swaroop said that though a team of doctors after a twelve-hour-long
surgery managed to take stitches at the severed portion, it is yet
premature to say whether the girl could hear from her right ear or
not. "This could only be confirmed when the girl regains
consciousness," said Swaroop.

The girl has suffered several cuts on face and few of her tooth are
also broken in the barbaric attack by the accused. "She has suffered
two fractures on her jaw and has lost few of her teeth in the attack.
Her face bears many cuts and bruises and it could only be said after
surgery whether her original face could be restored or not," said the
in-charge of Hallet hospital. Dr Swaroop denied for time being the
need to refer the victim to Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of
Medical Science (PGI) in Lucknow as her condition is stable.

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[ZESTCaste] Murder of dalit girl could have been a "human sacrifice": Scheduled caste comission

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_murder-of-dalit-girl-could-have-been-a-human-sacrifice-scheduled-caste-comission_1504997

Murder of dalit girl could have been a "human sacrifice": Scheduled
caste comission

Published: Tuesday, Feb 8, 2011, 16:24 IST
Place: GHAZIABAD | Agency: PTI

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has demanded an
investigation into the murder of a dalit teenager in Ghaziabad.

The deputy chairman of the NCSC, Raj Kumar Virk, has asked the police
to heed to the demands of the girl's family, who suspect the killing
to be a case of "human sacrifice" rather than murder.

Virk had visited the Jadopur village last evening where the young girl
was allegedly murdered after being raped.

The girl's father Chet Ram, who had earlier lodged a case of rape and
murder, now suspects his daughter was offered as a human sacrifice by
his neighbour Jagdish.

The incident happened on February 4 when a 16-year-old dalit girl was
found dead in a jungle near Pilakhwa village here.

Though rape has not yet been confirmed in the post-mortem report, the
vaginal swabs of the victim have been sent for laboratory test in
Agra, SSP Raghubir Lal said.

While the police has arrested four suspects in connection with the
case, Jagdish is still at large.

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[ZESTCaste] Caste divide

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20110225280403800.htm

SOCIAL ISSUES

Caste divide

S. DORAIRAJ

Tensions run high within the Christian community in Thachur village,
and the government has adopted a hands-off approach for now.

A. MURALITHARAN

The Roman Catholic church at Thachur village.

THE wrinkles on S. Royappan's face are a result of advancing age, but
the ridges and furrows in them tell a story of humiliation of this
Dalit Christian, as also others like him. Royappan, 82, was a bonded
labourer, or padiyaal, in Thachur village in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram
district, but it is the 'bond' with the Roman Catholic church in the
village that remains vivid in his memory.

The 175-year-old Arockiya Matha (Our Lady of Health) church has a
chequered history, and the most recent additions to it may have the
potential to be a turning point for Dalit Christians in the village.
The events were the burials of two Dalit Christians in the cemetery
attached to the church and the opposition to them by upper-caste
Reddiar Christians, who claim the cemetery is only for their dead. The
Reddiars' behaviour failed to unnerve Royappan, though; he had seen
worse.

An eerie silence pervades Thachur, and most of the men of Reddiar
families stayed away from the village for several days fearing police
action. The Dalits in the village had overcome stiff resistance from
the Reddiars and asserted their right twice in January when they
buried the brother of a Dalit priest and a Dalit farm worker in the
cemetery. The priest's brother, Velankanni, had died of natural causes
on January 22, but the farm worker, Rajendran, was murdered; his body
was retrieved from the lake in the village on January 24.

A. MURALITHARAN

THE CEMETERY IN the church compound. All along, "upper-caste"
Christians have resisted Dalit Christians' attempts to bury their dead
here.

The full import of the development in Thachur, a predominantly
Christian village around 80 km from Chennai, can be understood only by
delving into the past.

Though the church building was constructed in 1922, the village is
considered to be one of the oldest parishes in the State because the
first Christians here arrived in 1836. The parish was then under the
Pondicherry-Cuddalore diocese. In 1969, it came under the
Madras-Mylapore diocese and moved to the Chengalpattu diocese created
in 2002.

The population comprises Reddiars, who migrated from Andhra Pradesh,
and Dalits, including Adi Dravidars and Arunthathiars. Though almost
all of them are Christian converts, a sharp division existed right
from the beginning on the basis of socio-economic disparity. Varna
vyavastha (caste hierarchy), which is deeply rooted in Hinduism, has
been absorbed by the converts and this has deepened the hiatus
further.

Fr John Suresh, a priest who is also the director of the Chengalpattu
Rural Development Society, said the cross-shaped church enabled the
upper-caste Christians to occupy the centre, while the sides were
earmarked for the Adi Dravidars and the Arunthathiars. The
administration of the parish was under the control of a team of
dharmakartas (trustees) belonging to the Reddiar caste. The Dalits
were denied a role even in the day-to-day affairs of the church, not
to speak of its administration. They could not assume the role of
readers or lectors at Mass. They challenged this decades-old
discrimination in the 1990s. The protracted legal battle resulted in
the closure of the church for over 10 years until a path-breaking
tripartite agreement was reached in November 2006.

But caste discrimination even in death continues in Thachur. The
village has three cemeteries, one for each group. The one inside the
church complex is claimed by the Reddiars, while the other two groups
have theirs on the outskirts of the village.

A. MURALITHARAN

The site in the cemetery where Velankanni, brother of a Dalit priest,
was buried overcoming "upper-caste" opposition.

The Dalits' struggle drew support from some political parties,
including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and organisations
such as the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF), the
Dalit Human Rights Centre, and the Chengalpattu Rural Development
Society, which work for the welfare of oppressed people.

According to Bharathi Anna, convener of the Kancheepuram district unit
of the TNUEF, even today the vast stretches of fertile land on the
Palar river bed belong to the Reddiars. The majority of the Dalits
work in these fields. A few of them are marginal farmers and a
minuscule number have government jobs. Though a sizable number of
upper-caste Christians have migrated to urban areas, including
Chennai, they continue to own land in the village.

Reddiars, Adi Dravidars and Arunthathiars reside in different
localities in the village. Most of the Dalits continue to be farmhands
though the padiyaal system has by and large vanished. A good number of
them have become construction workers, while some Dalit youth have
entered the portals of higher education.

However, the Reddiars have been reluctant to relax their grip over the
administration of the church. Royappan and several other residents of
the village narrated the treatment meted out to them and others. There
was a time when the padiyaals were flogged with tamarind twigs or tied
to the wheel of a moving bullock cart as punishment. The Dalits
employed by Reddiars had to drink water and gruel poured into their
cupped hands. Such practices continued in the feudal society for long.

With some parish priests initiating steps to democratise the
administration of the church, besides striving for the economic
independence of the oppressed people, Dalit Christians slowly started
raising their voice against discriminatory practices, said Fr John
Suresh. As a result, the priests incurred the wrath of the upper-caste
Christians. Some of them were even assaulted, alleged Fr John Suresh.

In another incident at R.N. Kandigai village under the same diocese in
1995, a parish priest who was seen to be pro-Dalit was manhandled by
upper-caste Christians with a view to hindering his priestly duties.
The church was closed indefinitely by the Archdiocesan authorities.

Recalling the legal battle in the local courts, L. Yesumarian,
director of the Chengalpattu-based Dalit Human Rights Centre, said
upper-caste Christians had set the ball rolling in 1995 by filing a
case against a change in the route of the procession of Mother Mary as
part of the parish's feast celebrations. They said the car procession
should take the "customary route", that is, it should not pass through
the Dalit localities.

A. MURALITHARAN

THE CEMETERY OF the Adi Dravidar (Dalit) Christians on the outskirts
of the village.

The next case was filed by the same group a couple of years later,
seeking the transfer of the then parish priest, Fr K.M. Joseph, a
Malayalee, and the appointment of a priest who had knowledge of Tamil
and Telugu. In turn, Fr Joseph filed a case seeking a direction that
the parish priest would be the sole authority to administer the parish
and to decide the mode of celebrations. In the same year, the Reddiars
filed a defamation case against the Adi Dravidars. In 1999, the Adi
Dravidars filed a case pleading for orders not to open the church
until the suits in the courts between the parishioners were settled
and decided.

When the legal battle was on, the Dalit Christians carried on
different forms of agitation demanding a due share in the
administration of the parish. They also called for steps to end the
caste-based discrimination in the church and in the village. The
control over the land belonging to the church also became a
contentious issue.

Sustained struggles by the Dalits of Thachur resulted in the agreement
of November 28, 2006, signed by representatives of Reddiars, Dalits
and the diocese in the presence of officials of the Revenue
Department.

The 12-point agreement laid down that all Christian groups in the
parish should accept the authority of the bishop of Chengalpattu
diocese and of the parish priest appointed by him as per Canon Law.
The annual festival of the parish, it said, should be held with the
involvement of all members of the parish under the direct supervision
of the bishop. It also said all the groups should maintain unity to
ensure that the car procession passed through all the habitations in
the village.

The accord urged the parties concerned to abide by the diocese's
decision on the issue pertaining to church land. All the places of
worship and movable and immovable properties within the parish's
jurisdiction should be brought under the administration of the diocese
and the direct supervision of the bishop, it said. It also provided
for the setting up of a parish council with elected representatives
and for the appointment of pious groups.

Above all, all stakeholders agreed that acts of caste discrimination
in the church or its administration would not be allowed. All the
groups were advised to withdraw the cases pending before various
courts. It was also agreed that the Sunday evening Mass would be in
Telugu, while on other days it would be in Tamil.

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A ROAD-ROKO AGITATION by Dalit Christians in the village demanding the
arrest of the killers of Rajendran, a Dalit farm worker.

Only a few of the provisions, such as the car procession being taken
to all the areas in the village, were implemented without any major
impediment, said residents. However, caste animosity continued to
haunt Thachur. Particularly, the Dalits were not allowed to use the
cemetery in the church complex to bury their dead. The Reddiars ended
their dependence on the local parish priests to perform rituals by
bringing Telugu-speaking priests from other dioceses.

The Dalits were biding their time to break this barrier; a couple of
attempts they made earlier had failed. But Velankanni, they decided,
would be buried inside the church complex. They faced stiff resistance
from the Reddiars while conducting the funeral mass and burying the
body. At one stage, the Reddiars even locked the gate of the church,
Bharathi Anna said. He added that the incident occurred even as the
CPI(M) MLA G. Latha and other leaders were consoling the relatives of
the deceased.

Rajendran, the Dalit farm worker, assisted the family members of
Velankanni in digging the grave. He was found murdered a couple of
days later. The police initially filed a "man missing" case but later,
on the basis of the post-mortem report, changed it to one of murder.
Dalit Christians staged a road-roko protest in the village demanding
the arrest of those involved. The police said they had arrested a few
persons in the case.

Such acts of discrimination against Dalit Christians exist in several
other villages, including M.N. Kandigai, R.N. Kandigai and K.K. Pudur
under the Chengalpattu diocese, said Fr Yesumarian. According to him,
in many villages dominated by Telugu-speaking upper-caste Christians,
language has been used as camouflage to continue with the
discrimination against Dalits.

"Though there are as many as 20 priests, 60 nuns and three bishops
belonging to the Reddiar caste in Thachur, none of them cares to
explain to their own caste members that they should not violate the
Canon Law," he said.

Arunthathiars in these villages are virtually caught in the crossfire
between Adi Dravidars and upper-caste Christians. "One group has
muscle power and the other has money power. We are powerless. We find
no other course but to maintain equidistance in the given situation as
we depend on the rich farmers in the Reddiar community," lamented a
resident of the Arunthathiar habitation in Thachur.

Reddiar Christians of Thachur deny all the allegations against them.
They only want to protect their rights as a linguistic minority, a
spokesman of the Reddiars said, adding that Dalits were being
instigated by some priests belonging to the oppressed community.

Regarding the November 2006 agreement, he said, some Reddiars had
signed it without the consent of others. Denying any caste-based
discrimination against Dalits, he said the Reddiars would demand an
independent probe into the recent untoward incidents in the village.
Official sources say that the government wants to adopt a cautious
approach to the sensitive issue. The district administration has taken
steps to ensure law and order in the village. Though the government
may intend to evolve a consensus among the contending groups of the
same religion, it will not impose any remedy, as it may become
counterproductive, say official sources.

Any attempt by any group or section of people to promote
untouchability is highly condemnable, said Fr A. Vincent Chinnadurai,
Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Minorities. The
commission would extend all assistance to restore normalcy in that
village, he added.

The emergence of the Dalit Christian Movement and the Dalit Christian
Liberation Movement and the support extended to them by secular and
democratic forces have raised the hopes of Dalit Christians that they
will win the relentless battle against caste-based discrimination in
various denominations of Christianity, said activists of these
movements.

Dalit Christians constitute more than 70 per cent of the Christian
population in Tamil Nadu. Their sustained campaign, with the support
of the secular and democratic forces, resulted in the 10-point
programme charted by the Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council in 1990 for the
integrated development of Dalit Catholics, they pointed out. After
evaluating the implementation of the programme in 2003, it was further
pruned for focussed action, they said.

However, the different forms of discrimination, such as the violence
against Dalit Christians in Erayur in Villupuram district in March
2008, the attempts to preserve the dividing wall in the cemetery in
Melapudur, the construction of churches with a design to maintain the
caste hierarchy, as in Thachur and several other places, still
continue, the activists pointed out. This underscores the fact that
the struggle has to be intensified, they added.


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[ZESTCaste] Another UP dalit girl attacked for resisting rape

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Another-UP-dalit-girl-attacked-for-resisting-rape/articleshow/7457431.cms

Another UP dalit girl attacked for resisting rape

Faiz Rahman Siddiqui, TNN, Feb 9, 2011, 05.47am IST

KANPUR: A fellow villager allegedly slashed a 16-year-old dalit girl's
face after she resisted his attempt to rape her at Kansapurwa in Uttar
Pradesh's Unnao district late on Monday night.

The incident comes days after another 16-year-old dalit girl's nose,
ears and limbs were chopped off for resisting rape at Urdauli in
neighbouring Fatehpur district on Saturday. Police sources said the
Unnao girl was returning home from the fields when Ram Sewak allegedly
dragged her to a nearby guava orchard and tried to rape her. "When the
girl resisted, Sewak attacked her with a sharp-edged knife," a source
said.

Sewak allegedly attacked the girl's family members when they rushed to
rescue her after hearing her cries.

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[ZESTCaste] Maya keeps away from Dalit victim during her Kanpur visit

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Maya-keeps-away-from-Dalit-victim-during-her-Kanpur-visit/747779/

Maya keeps away from Dalit victim during her Kanpur visit
Kautilya Singh Posted online: Wed Feb 09 2011, 02:50 hrs
Kanpur : Anticipating the arrival of Chief Minister Mayawati at
Kanpur's Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital on Tuesday, Badlu Ram took a
bath after three days, wore a new kurta-pajyama, thinking that he
should look decent enough when he gets a chance to tell the chief
minister about the brutal attack on his 16-year-old daughter who is
fighting for her life in the ICU. His hopes were dashed in the
afternoon when the hospital staff and policemen told Badlu Ram that
Mayawati had left for Ramabai Nagar district without visiting the
hospital.

During her inspection of the district, Mayawati visited Ursula Horsman
Memorial (UHM) Hospital but not LLR Hospital, which is the biggest
hospital in the district and where the girl is hospitalised.

Badlu Ram, a Dalit of Udrauli village in Fatehpur, has been camping in
the hospital ever since her daughter was admitted with grievious
injuries after she was attacked by three men as she resisted rape
attempt on Saturday evening. Her assailants have been arrested.

Over the last few days, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Union
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, BJP state president Surya Pratap
Shahi, BJP women's wing president Smriti Irani, Leader of Opposition
in Assembly Shivpal Singh Yadav and state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna
Joshi have also visited the hospital to see the girl and met with her
family members. But BSP leaders have stayed away till now.

Ever since it became known last evening that Mayawati will be visting
Kanpur on Tuesday, there was a general anticipation that she may visit
LLR Hospital. Therefore, security was beefed up and the hospital
turned into a virtual police fortress. Barring VIP vehicles, no other
vehicles were permitted to enter the compound. In the afternoon, media
vehicles were allowed.

A disappointed Badlu Ram told The Indian Express: "Being a Dalit
myself I had hoped that chief minister would come here and sympathise
with us. I had also hoped that she would provide some monetary
assistance for the medical treatment of my daughter which is going to
be long."

Badlu Ram and his sons Somnath and Amarnath work as daily-wage
workers. "I do not know how we are going to ensure that my daughter
gets the treatment she needs," said Badlu Ram.

Girl's condition improving: Doctors

The minor girl spoke for the first time on Tuesday since she was
admitted to the LLR Hospital on Saturday night. The girls, who was
lying unconscious most of the time, today regained consciousness only
in brief spells. "She is recovering much better than expectations, and
we believe that it will take her six months to recover. Though it may
not be possible for us to fully restore her condition, but the
possibilities of any complications now look minimal," said a doctor of
the hospital.

Kanpur Commissioner, senior cops transferred

The state government, on Tuesday night, transferred Commission


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[ZESTCaste] Novel campaign

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20110225280404200.htm

INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU

SOCIAL ISSUES

Novel campaign

'Eppadium' (Anyhow), the most recent novel of Fr Mark Stephen.

WIELDING the pen with power and determination to smash the injustice
and discrimination against Dalit Christians and other oppressed masses
is part of the priestly duties of Fr Mark Stephen.

When he was the parish priest of Ongur, a predominantly Dalit
Christian village in the Chengalpattu diocese, during 1984-1990, he
followed with utmost concern the humiliations meted out to the
oppressed people by the upper castes within the Christian community in
several villages. Close observation and evaluation of the situation
prevailing in certain villages, including Thachur and K.K. Pudur, led
him to conclude that the discriminatory practices could be curbed only
by building a powerful mass movement. As one who had never concealed
his sympathies for the downtrodden, he took part in the Dalit
Christian Movement and supported the cause of the oppressed sections
within the fold of Christianity.

His experiences in Ongur forced the writer in him to record the events
in the form of a novel titled Yaathirai (Pilgrimage). He completed the
work after his transfer from the village and it was published in 1992.
The novel highlighted the paramount need for a people's movement to
end the atrocities against Dalit Christians, such as denial of their
rights in the administration of the church and in the conduct of
festivals, and to a place in the cemetery to bury their dead.

In the epilogue, the author appeals to readers to decide for
themselves on which side they should stand – the oppressed or the
oppressors.

Much ahead of Yaathirai, Fr Mark penned his first novel, Suvargal
(Walls), focussing on the discrimination of Dalits even in burial
grounds. The need to demolish the walls that divide the tombs of Dalit
Christians and upper-caste Christians in cemeteries in different
places, including Tiruchi, was the theme of the novel. The story was
set in an imaginary village.

Eppadium (Anyhow) is his most recent work. The novel deals with the
unpleasant situation prevailing in Vembar, a coastal village in
Tuticorin district, where Christian populations belonging to Nadar,
Paravar and Dalit castes run their own schools and administer separate
parishes. Without hypocrisy, the author takes the bull by the horns.
He narrates the insults heaped on Dalit Christians in the village
through the denial of any role in the parish administration.

S. Dorairaj


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[ZESTCaste] Burning issue

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20110225280404300.htm

SOCIAL ISSUES

Burning issue

T.K. RAJALAKSHMI

Jats organise a rail blockade in a show of strength as the Supreme
Court takes up the case of arson against Dalits in Mirchpur village.

MANOJ DHAKA

Jat leaders of 12 khaps and their supporters during the blockade of
the Delhi-Ferozpur railway line in January protesting against the
arrest of 100 Jats for arson in Mirchpur, in Hisar district.

ON April 21 last year, Dalit hamlets in Mirchpur village in Haryana's
Hisar district, about 200 kilometres from New Delhi, were set on fire.
A 70-year-old man and his disabled daughter died in the arson; 18
homes were destroyed and looted and more than 150 families fled
fearing reprisal from sections of the dominant Jat community. The
police took into custody 100 people, all members of the Jat community,
in connection with the incidents. Two of them were let off – one was a
juvenile and the other got bail.

Mirchpur has been on the boil since the arrests. Matters came to a
head in the new year when members of the Jat community blockaded the
Delhi-Ferozpur (Punjab) railway line near the Julani village railway
crossing in Jind district on January 15 and carried on with the
agitation until January 26. They were led by 12 khaps (caste councils
based on the gotra system of organisation) and had the support of the
Jat mahapanchayat, representing 42 khaps, which demanded a fresh probe
into the incidents.

The protest was for two reasons: the transfer of the arson-related
cases to Delhi from Hisar in December and the shifting of the
undertrials from Hisar Jail to Delhi in January. The cases were
transferred after counsel for the victims made a representation to the
Hisar court when witnesses began turning hostile.

Apparently, the witnesses and their counsels felt intimidated by the
presence of a large number of relatives of the accused, and these
apprehensions were conveyed to the Hisar court and to the Supreme
Court. On December 8, the apex court ordered that the cases be
transferred to a designated court in Delhi where the matter could be
heard under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act. Then on January 10, a court in Rohini, Delhi,
directed the Haryana government to move the 100 undertrials lodged in
Hisar Jail to Delhi. The trial was to begin. Witnesses were given
protection and some of them told Frontline at Mirchpur that they would
depose fearlessly.

Meanwhile, the protesters extended the blockade to the highways and
other roads as well. This affected several districts in Haryana, and
Jind and Hisar districts were cut off. "It was very inconvenient. But
what could we do? The poor and the daily-wage earners suffered the
most. They did not allow any vehicle to move on these roads," said a
tea shop owner at the Mundhal crossing on the road to Jind.

"The protests were absolutely peaceful. There was no disruption. The
government has agreed to look into our demands. We will take them up
again if they are not met," said Rajbir Dhaanda, pradhan, or chief, of
the 12 khaps spread over 17 villages in the district. He is a brick
kiln owner and a teacher by profession.

T.K. RAJALAKSHMI

RAJBIR DHAANDA, PRADHAN of the 12 khaps: "There was no disruption."

The Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, unmindful of the inconvenience
caused to people, allowed the protests to continue even as a Haryana
Roadways bus was set on fire. No attempt was made to disperse the
protesters. This did not go unnoticed by the apex court. On January
31, while hearing a petition pertaining to the Mirchpur incidents, it
demanded from the State government an assessment of the financial
losses incurred because of the disruption in rail and road services.
Notices were sent also to the Northern Railway and the Central
government.

A Bench comprising Justices A.K. Ganguly and G.S. Singhvi told the
government's counsel that the court would not tolerate any community
denying another community's absolute right to live and that muscle
power would not be allowed to prevail over constitutional principles.
The Bench took a serious view of the blockade. In fact, in June 2010
the Supreme Court had directed the State government to provide
protection to the victims and said that failure to do so would be
viewed seriously.

The arson in Mirchpur and what followed it found resonance beyond the
borders of the State. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, it is learnt,
expressed annoyance at the party leadership in the State for failing
to rein in the elements behind the incidents.

Mirchpur certainly was not the first case of organised arson against
Dalits in Haryana and will not be the last either. Localities where
Valmikis live have often been singled out for violence as was seen in
Gohana in Sonepat district. This is perhaps because Valmikis are the
only community among Dalits that has stood up to the dominant castes
from time to time. Mirchpur also had a quiet visitor in AICC general
secretary Rahul Gandhi; his visit was so quiet that even the
government did not get a whiff of it.

Living in fear

Despite all this attention, the situation has not returned to normal
in Mirchpur. The Dalits (Valmikis) are nervous about what the future
holds for them. There is a heavy police presence in the village,
ostensibly to protect Valmiki families and the witnesses in the cases,
but the Valmikis realise that the police cannot be stationed there
indefinitely.

While Jats accuse Dalits of spoiling the brotherhood, or bhaichaara,
by taking the matter to the court, the Valmikis feel that there is no
justice in the existing system and want to be relocated to another
village. "Here might is right. We do not have drinking water supply in
the village. The upper-caste families have their own taps. They don't
let us draw water from their taps and wells," said a village resident
requesting anonymity.

Other Dalit communities, too, feel equally uneasy following the arson.
The problem is that despite the high-profile status that Mirchpur
seems to have acquired, things have only gone from bad to worse for
the landless and the land-dependent. With the increased fragmentation
of agricultural holdings owing to population pressure on land,
agricultural work has become scarce. Added to this is the deepening
hostility between Jats, who own the land, and Dalits and backward
castes, who are dependent on the land-owning castes.

T.K. RAJALAKSHMI

THE DALIT LOCALITY in Mirchpur looks deserted.

"There is no work in the village for us anymore. They do not let us
enter their fields. Earlier, we used to work on their fields and get
paid in cash or kind. We used to pick dried wood for fuel as well from
the fields, but all that has changed now. They hire labour from
outside Mirchpur village. They don't give us work. We are all
agricultural workers. How are we expected to survive? A handful of us
who are in government service no longer live in the village. We told
the government right in the beginning that we cannot live in the
village anymore," said Santra Devi, an elderly woman from the Valmiki
colony. She said women and children lived in fear.

"The Jats have relations in all the neighbouring villages. We do not
get work anywhere. There are a few good people among them, but they
succumb to pressure," said Nihali Devi, another Valmiki woman. Most of
the families in the village have moved out, either to Hisar or to
nearby districts.

In Hisar town, Valmiki families had moved en masse to the farmhouse of
Rajesh Tanwar, a local businessman who, according to Rajbir Dhaanda,
nurtures political aspirations.

"There is no danger to Valmikis in the village. Tanwar aspires to be a
leader and is doing all this for publicity. There is no ill-will in
the village. We have socially boycotted Tanwar for attempting to
foment caste tensions," Rajbir Dhaanda told Frontline at his house in
Budana village. According to him, certain non-governmental
organisations were keeping the issue alive. The Valmikis, he said, had
agreed to withdraw the cases against those who had been framed.

"Mirchpur was an accident. Rahul Gandhi and Kumari Selja [Union
Minister for Culture since January 20] vitiated the atmosphere by
promising the Valmikis homes," he said.

Rajbir Dhaanda was one among the 41 representatives who met Hooda in
the parleys with the protesters. "Had the police and the
administration not helped us, the protests would have taken a violent
turn," he said and added that in all only five to seven people were
involved from "both sides" in the Mirchpur violence. "There is really
no need for police protection of the witnesses," he said.

The assurance cut no ice with the Valmiki families. "I have a gunner
as an escort. He is with me all the time, but how long can this
situation continue? Every family wants to leave the village and be
resettled in alternative plots elsewhere," said one of them.

Anxiety among Dalits

T.K. RAJALAKSHMI

Valmiki families moving out of the village fearing violence.

The mobilisation by the khaps on the Mirchpur issue has only increased
tensions and anxiety among Dalits. Interestingly, other Dalit groups
have begun speaking up. Some persons from these groups told Frontline
that members of the Jat community had tried to force the non-Jat
groups to participate in the blockade.

"They said that if we didn't join, they would not let us enter their
fields," said a youth. Other people said members of the Dom caste, who
are Muslims, were the worst off as even their burial grounds had been
taken over by the powerful sections in the village. "As we are forced
to burn our dead in the Hindu cremation grounds, we do not get
alliances from our community as they say that we are not Muslims,"
said a youth from the Dom community, requesting anonymity.

The problem in Mirchpur is that once the issues relating to the
incident die down, it will be status quo. Barring the Left parties,
the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in particular, none of the
other political parties in the State cares even to respond to the
developments. In a statement, Inderjit Singh, State secretary of the
CPI(M), cautioned people to be vigilant against vested interests
operating under the garb of caste or khap.

The frequency of caste-related violence indicates that it is not just
an outcome of caste conflict or caste tensions but is symptomatic of
the sweeping changes taking place in economic and agrarian relations.
Indeed, the caste mobilisation on issues such as that in Mirchpur is a
worrisome trend and its ramifications go beyond rail and road
blockades.

There are enough indications that the non-Jat communities are appalled
by the State government's benevolent response to the 11-day blockade.
This, along with the aggressive posturing by the dominant caste on
various issues, ranging from honour killings to the demand for Other
Backward Class (OBC) status, an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act
and the release of the accused in the Mirchpur incidents, does not
inspire confidence in them of a return to peace anytime soon.


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