Latest News Update: Jun 20, 2011

Monday, June 20, 2011

Re: [ZESTCaste] Requesting signatures for solidarity statement

You may add my name if you like,

Gail Omvedt

(currently Chair Professor, Dr. Ambedkar Chair on Social Change and Development, IGNOU

On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 3:24 AM, Malarvizhi Jayanth <malar.jayanth@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,
Here is the the solidarity statement for Thirumavalavan, Meena Kandasamy and Samya with names of those supporting appended. Please feel free to circulate this. Do mark a copy to me, so that we can keep track of signatures. Those signing can add their designations to their names if they wish.

***

We call for all those who support democracy and free speech to express solidarity with Thirumavalavan, Meena Kandasamy and Samya.

Kathavarayan and Madurai Veeran are among the gods who are acknowledged to be Dalit and are worshipped by many castes. Clearly, in the oral history of the people, the gods have castes and these castes are not determined by who worships them.

The twin brothers Ponnar Shankar inhabit the realm between hero and deity. They have been fictionalised, recreated for the silver screen, and are worshipped across communities. Their origin myth remains contested territory - it is variously read as symbolic of the conflict between agriculturists/warriors and hunters, as part of founding tale of the land-owning agriculturist Kongu Vellala Gounder sub-caste and, in a textbook example of how Hindutva functions, have recently been claimed as reincarnations of the Pandavas. Like other deities of the people, they are firmly located in a historical imagination among a society of human beings, and not in a mythos of gods.

In a footnote in Uproot Hindutva: The Fiery Voice of the Liberation Panthers by Thirmavalavan, Meena Kandasamy describes Ponnar Shankar as dalit. M Loganathan, an advocate from Nanje Goundanpudur and Students Wing Convenor of the Kongu Nadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK), has been quoted in news reports as saying that there is evidence proving that Ponnar and Shankar are Kongu Vellala Gounders and claiming that depicting them as Dalits will lead to caste tension.

Dragging cultural contestations into the legal domain threatens the various, creative ways in which people innovate cultural practices and the equally creative ways in which research tries to make sense of them. Criminalising cultural expression and innovation is an attempt to freeze culture.
Locking up gods within castes is a tactic used by dominant castes to maintain status quo. This is an open threat against dalit belief, expression and right to self-determination. Like the repeated physical atrocities against Dalits, attempts to suppress their cultural and intellectual autonomy and self-assertion are part of a wider onslaught on democracy. This case is part of the drive to reconstruct India as a religious and cultural monolith, which it has never been.

The litigant had earlier complained that the film based on the Ponnar Shankar story, scripted by M. Karunanidhi, is misrepresenting deities but had contented himself with writing a letter to the censor board then. It is the leader of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal, a well-known Dalit poet and translator and a publishing house that have been singled out for filing a case.

We are secretly pleased that a footnote* is believed to have such power. Academics in our ranks are even now rejoicing at the thought of how they may change the world, one footnote at a time. But, mostly, we are offended.

We are offended that a deity being named dalit can even be called an offensive act. We are offended at how legal backing is available for openly-casteist harassment. We are offended at news reports that present this case as a quaint little example of caste quibbling, without pointing to the long history of violence, without pointing to the continued conspiracy to maintain the status quo and culture of violence that this case is an outcome of.

Our histories are deeply marked by caste. We seek to emancipate our present by reclaiming these histories for the marginalised.

Re-writing history from the perspective of the marginalised is necessary and vital for the self-determination of dalit communities. Now, such an effort is being criminalised. This is a threat to democracy and the pluralist ethos. This is an offence against free speech. We stand in solidarity with Thirumavalavan, Meena Kandasamy and Samya, in support of the subaltern perspective and assertion they stand for.

*Here are some inflammatory footnotes about violence against Dalits:

Dalits have been denied temple entry, forced to work with hazardous material, treated as bonded labour and attacked for attempting to buy their way out of their bondage (subhead: Dalit Family Attacked over Land, September 2002).
In Kalapatti village, sustained violence against dalits, has lead to many of them to fleeing their homes. "On 16 May 2004, a Dalit settlement in the village of Kalapatti in Tamil Nadu was attacked by upper-caste members (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005; UN 23 Feb. 2005; DHRM n.d.; Frontline 19 June – 2 July 2004). According to the sources, approximately 100 houses were burnt down by a group of 200 people and Dalits trying to escape were assaulted, including reports of sexual assault of women (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005; UN 23 Feb. 2005; DHRM n.d.; Frontline 19 June – 2 July 2004)," notes the UN Refugee Agency website.

Signed

Jairus Banaji
Chittibabu Padavala
R. Kalaiarasu
Swathi Vadlamudi
Kuffir Nalgundwar
Malarvizhi Jayanth
Ajith Kumar A.S.
Anu Ramdas
Anoop Kumar
Divya Trivedi
Karthikeyan Damodaran
Jaya Shobaneshwari
Satish Poduval
Khalid Anis Ansari

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[ZESTCaste] Government may fund women, SC/ST poll candidates

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Govt-may-fund-women-SC-ST-poll-candidates/Article1-711399.aspx

Government may fund women, SC/ST poll candidates
Nagendar Sharma, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, June 19, 2011

In a fresh attempt to curb money power in the elections, the law
ministry has proposed that the government fund women and scheduled
caste and tribe candidates of recognised political parties. Law
minister M Veerappa Moily recommended in a draft cabinet note
circulated to various ministries that to g
et this benefit, candidates should not have an annual income of more
than R5 lakh and movable or immovable property worth more than R22
lakh.

The note also made it clear that this limit would also include the
income and assets of the candidates' spouses. "The income and assets
of both the spouses will be calculated and taken together."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/images/HTPopups/200611/20_06_11_pg01b.jpg

"This proposal, applicable to the recognised national and state-level
political parties, will bring transparency and put a check on the
inflow of unaccounted money into elections," the ministry note said.

Besides, the ministry said this would become an incentive to political
parties for fielding more SC/ST and women candidates of marginalised
sections and prepare the ground for the women's reservation bill.

The ministry pointed out that the Election Commission (EC) was earlier
not in favour of this idea given the lack of unanimity among the
political parties.

But during seven regional consultations in recent months, the ministry
said, "a consensus has emerged to check inflow of unaccounted money"
in elections.

In February, the ministry hiked — on EC's recommendations — the
spending limit for a Lok Sabha candidate from R25 lakh to R40 lakh and
for assembly constituencies in big states from R10 lakh to R16 lakh.

In the latest proposal, the law ministry has not fixed any particular
amount to be given to the candidates eligible for state funding,
saying, "At this stage, it is not feasible to give the financial
implications, which will depend on the number of candidates to be
fielded by the political parties."

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[ZESTCaste] Only another Mayawati can beat Mayawati (Kancha Ilaiah)

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/only-another-mayawati-can-beat-mayawati-294

Only another Mayawati can beat Mayawati

June 19, 2011
By Kancha Ilaiah

All-India Congress Committee general secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi's
attempts to destabilise Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's
government and win the next elections in Uttar Pradesh will have
serious implications for the national polity. The Congress seems to
have realised that Ms Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and the
Bharatiya Janata Party don't have the ability or strength to fight Ms
Mayawati, and hence it should step into that space.

Since the Congress made huge gains in the 2009 general elections, the
next Assembly elections would be its best bet. Mr Gandhi, whom Ms
Mayawati calls "Congress yuvraj", is in agitation mode to achieve that
goal. Mr Gandhi's activism has revolved around the Dalits of Uttar
Pradesh for some time. But he seems to have realised now that whatever
one does, the Dalits are not going to abandon Ms Mayawati as she has
built a social and cultural capital of her own in that community. She
may not have done much for them in terms of economic welfare, but she
has shown them what self-respect means and has given them a
socio-cultural and religious identity. The Buddhist-Ambedkarite
shrines that she has built and even the new names of districts and
schools, colleges and institutions of Dalit-Bahujan icons has altered
the Hindu-centred cultural milieu of Uttar Pradesh.

Whatever Mr Gandhi and the Congress do around the Dalit constituency,
the people are not going to change sides now. The Congress seems to
have realised this. Interestingly, the other major vote base of Ms
Mayawati is the Brahmin community. The Congress wants, perhaps, to
wean them away by displaying the party's Brahmin leadership at the
state level. For a long time Uttar Pradesh was virtually a state of
Brahmin hegemony and now they too have gone over to Ms Mayawati. But
Brahmin voters will shift only when they feel that the Congress is
likely to come to power. Otherwise they will prefer to remain with the
Bahujan Samaj Party.

Muslims are the other social force that can make Ms Mayawati win or
lose. But Uttar Pradesh's Muslims don't trust the Congress. They still
feel that the Ram Janmabhoomi issue was created by the Congress during
Rajiv Gandhi's rule and that the party cannot be treated as the real
and permanent enemy of the BJP and the Hindutva culture.

Mr Rahul Gandhi's religious identity is not yet clear but Muslims know
for sure that Ms Mayawati is a confirmed Buddhist and her nationwide
Buddha Purnima advertisement on May 17 made her minority religious
position clear.

Muslims also know that Ms Mayawati did not allow the BJP to create any
communal tension during her tenure as the chief minister. Why should
they go against her in the next election? And thus, the Congress is
not sure of the Muslims' support. The higher other backward classes by
and large support Mr Mulayam Singh and the lower Other Backward
Classes (OBCs) swing between him and Ms Mayawati. Since the Congress
did not take a trustworthy stand on OBC empowerment, there is not much
scope for it to woo the OBC votebank.

The Congress, therefore, turns to farmers who constitute the middle
and upper Shudra forces, and who did not benefit from Ms Mayawati's
economic or social agendas. This is the motorcycle (even car) class of
Uttar Pradesh and Mr Gandhi wants to reach out them on a motorcycle.
This social class earlier was with the late Prime Minister Chaudhary
Charan Singh and a few of them are with his son Ajit Singh even now.
Since Mr Ajit Singh is not a force to reckon with, they seem to think
that the Congress is their best bet. But that class lost its lower
caste clout when the Dalits and lower OBCs were tied to its feudal
yoke. The BSP has broken that feudal tangle and this group does not
command winnable strength in the villages now.

In fact, if the Congress is identified too much with this Kulak class,
half of Ms Mayawati's headache is over. While the Dalits hate this
class, the Brahmins and Muslims too dislike it. Uttar Pradesh is not
Bengal where the landed gentry could control the village lower caste
votebank. Mr Gandhi must have taken his inspiration from West Bengal
chief minister Mamata Banerjee to take up and fight for the rights of
farmers. In Communist Bengal, the upper caste feudal hold on lower
castes still exists, but in Uttar Pradesh that hold is completely
broken. Mr Gandhi, in my view, is walking into a new trap of the Kulak
class in a state where its political back is already broken by caste
mobilisation from downwards.

UPA chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was recently talking
against Ms Mayawati's caste politics. But Ms Mayawati's political
agenda has gone beyond caste now and it revolves around spiritual and
social and cultural transformation. Ms Mayawati made it clear on
Buddha Jayanti that she is working to transform the "Hindu Uttar
Pradesh" into a Buddhist Uttar Pradesh, and will continue to do so if
she comes to power in the forthcoming elections. With her common sense
approach she chose to bury the BJP in its own place. The Congress
cannot stop this transformation with its so-called "secular agenda".

If the Gandhis continue to work around the Kulak class and keep on
talking against caste politics, whatever work they have done around
Dalits will be treated as gimmicks. Mr Gandhi is too close to the BJP
in cultural terms. His father's moves had given Uttar Pradesh to
Kanshi Ram; the son cannot finish the disciple by walking into the
same trap. If the Congress wants to come to power in Uttar Pradesh, it
has to find a stronger Dalit woman than Ms Mayawati from the same
state as its leader. The Bahugunas and the Tiwaris cannot shake her at
all.

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[ZESTCaste] Lawmakers for stern law against untouchability

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Lawmakers+for+stern+law+against+untouchability+&NewsID=292365

Lawmakers for stern law against untouchability

Added At: 2011-06-19 3:41 PM

Last Updated At: 2011-06-19 4:11 PM

KATHMANDU: The Dalit lawmakers have stressed for drafting strong law
against untouchability.

Speaking at an interaction organised by the sub-committee under the
Women, Children and Social Welfare Committee of the
Legislature-Parliament, strict regulations should be prepared and that
should implemented strictly.

Madhav Ghimire, Chief Secretary of the government said nobody is dalit
on the basis of caste but if there are, they are because of poverty.
He added that the government should change the clause regarding the
untouchability in the civil code (Muluki Ain).

He said the government has made policies to uplift the ethnic classes.
However, the Dalit lawmakers should be serious for the implementation
of such regulations.

Lawmakers Govinda Nepali, Him Kumari Sunuwar, Lila Subba, Bimal Nepali
and Shila Katila complained that the government is ignoring the
problems of dalit communities.

The committee will hand over the report to Main Committee after the
extensive study and researches by August 30, said coordinator of
Sub-committee Binod Pahadi.

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[ZESTCaste] Anti-Athawale group holds RPI unity meeting in Nagpur

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Anti-Athawale-group-holds-RPI-unity-meeting-in-Nagpur/Article1-711045.aspx

Anti-Athawale group holds RPI unity meeting in Nagpur
Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times
Nagpur, June 18, 2011

The senior the former Lok Sabha member and RPI leader Jogendra Kawade
has lashed out at his fellow Republican Ramdas Athawale, who recently
joined hands with Shiv Sena-BJP and said that he has deviated himself
from the Ambedkar-Phule ideology. Kawade criticized Athawale for
betraying the cause of Dr
Ambedkar by teaming up with the Sena-BJP alliance and said that the
parties that indulge in the politics of religion are dangerous to the
country and they are not congruent with Ambedkar philosophy.

"He (Athawale) should not use Bhamshakti to depict an alliance with
the saffron parties in Maharashtra. It is not an alliance of
Bhimshakti and Shivshakti, but a unity of Shivshakti and Athawale
group in the state," he quipped.

Kawade, who was one of the architects of united RPI along with
Athawale, that fought the last Assembly elections against the Congress
and Sena-BJP in the state, said he was again trying for an RPI unity
in the state against the Congress-NCP and the Sena-BJP.

Kawade asked how can Ambedkar's followers form an alliance with
parties that believe in caste systems and dominated by caste Hindus.
"The alliance would not work out as Ambedkar's followers would not be
drawn towards the proposed combination," he said.

The former Lok Sabha member has convened a unity meeting on July 16 at
Nagpur where former Maharashtra minister and leader of a splinter RPI
group, Sulekha Kumbhare, another former Maharashtra minister Gangadhar
Gade, former legislator Upendra Shende and several splinter factions
of RPI have been invited to discuss, debate and consider the proposal
to unite the dalits in the state. "I have not invited Athawale in the
proposed meeting. Besides, Prakash Ambedkar, another influential dalit
leader, too is not invited," he said and questioned their credentials
on dalit politics in the state. "However, we have invited the rank and
file of both the factions," he added.

To a question, Kawade dismissed the presumption that the new political
combination of Athawale and Sena-BJP could be game-changer in the
state.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits stage demo seeking house sites

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/article2112617.ece

ONGOLE, June 17, 2011
Dalits stage demo seeking house sites
Staff Reporter

Scores of dalits, under the banner of Charmakarula Sankshema Sangham,
staged a demonstration in front of the Prakasam Bhavan seeking house
sites.

The agitators, led by sangham leader P. Arogya Rao, urged the district
administration to arrange for loans without any collateral security.

Muslim Development Committee leader Sk. Bujji and Bahujana Kutami
president N. Veeranjaneyulu joined the protest march on the arterial
trunk road seeking "socio-economic justice" for over 200 cobbler
families eking out a livelihood on the roadside.

The protestors later submitted a memorandum to district Collector
Kantilal Dande in support of their demands.

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[ZESTCaste] Uddhav swears by Ambedkar’s Constitution

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Uddhav-swears-by-Ambedkars-Constitution/articleshow/8920516.cms

Uddhav swears by Ambedkar's Constitution
Ambarish Mishra, TNN | Jun 20, 2011, 06.56am IST

MUMBAI: Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday slammed
the ruling Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra for using the caste
card for electoral gains.

"The Congress-NCP accuses the Sena of being a Hindu party. We have
never concealed our Hindutva agenda. But, the Congress-NCP remembers
the Dalits, tribals and Muslims only during polls. If the Congress is
so keen to uphold secularism, it should stop the practice of a witness
testifying in the court of law by placing the hand on the Gita or the
Bible. This practice should be discontinued and the holy book should
be replaced with the Constitution of India authored by Dr B R
Ambedkar," he added. Uddhav was addressing a meeting to mark the
Sena's 45th anniversary . The Republican Party of India (RPI) leader
Ramdas Athavale, the Sena's latest ally in Maharashtra, was the star
attraction at the conclave. Stating that the country was passing
through a rough patch, Thackeray said the Sena-BJP-RPI alliance would
unseat the Congress-NCP alliance from office. "The Congress-NCP
alliance has lost its sense of responsibility. The entire state is
rudderless. The Sena-BJP-RPI alliance will provide a viable
alternative ,'' he added.

Uddhav urged Athavale to ink a permanent poll pact with the Sena.
Athavale's RPI faction is yet to make up its mind on the issue.
Speaking at a public meeting in Mumbai, Athavale had said that his
party will decide on an electoral alliance with the Sena by October.

Athavale gave a clean chit to the Sena on the renaming of the
Marathwada university after Dr Ambedkar. The issue had sparked
anti-Dalit riots in Marathwada in the 1980s and the Sena was accused
of pitting caste Hindus against Dalits . "The Sena was not responsible
for torching the houses of Dalits," Athavale said. The renaming
controversy is being used by the Congress-NCP combine to create an
ideological rift between the Sena and the RPI.

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[ZESTCaste] NHRC notice to TN govt on Dalit boy abuse case

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2112849.ece

New Delhi, June 17, 2011
NHRC notice to TN govt on Dalit boy abuse case
PTI

The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Tamil Nadu
government to submit a report within four weeks on the alleged
thrashing of a Dalit boy for fetching water from a public tap.

It has also asked the government what steps are being taken to prevent
"such acts of discrimination against Dalits".

The NHRC said it has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report
alleging that the boy, A Vasantha Kumar, was not only stopped from
taking water from a tap located at Karikkilipalayam by three women of
another community but was also abused by "caste names".

"When he protested, the three women and one P Damodaran Chettiyar beat
him up. He had to be admitted in Annur hospital, which is about 25 km
away from Coimbatore. It was also reported that the village where the
victim resides is reeling under extreme water scarcity," the
Commission said citing the media report.

According to the report, Dalits are prevented from cutting hair at
saloons in the locality and from using mobile phones outside their
huts in the area, it noted.

Considering the matter, the Commission observed that if the contents
of the report are true, then these raise a serious issue of violation
of human rights as well as provisions of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. It issued
notice to the Chief Secretary, Tamil Nadu, calling for a report in the
matter to the Commission within four weeks.

The Chief Secretary has also been asked to inform the commission
whether any criminal case has been registered against the accused and
whether any relief has been given to the victim.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit girl raped, minor stabbed in eyes while resisting rape

http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/20/stories/2011062055430100.htm

Front Page

Dalit girl raped, minor stabbed in eyes while resisting rape

Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW: A minor Dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj district was
beaten up by two teenagers and stabbed in the eyes when she resisted
their attempt to rape her. In Basti district, another Dalit girl was
allegedly raped by a youth at gunpoint on Saturday.

The Kannauj incident was reported from Bhurpurwa Mauja Dudwa Buzurg
village under the Gursahaiganj police station area and it occurred on
June 14. The 14-year-old girl had stepped out of her house around 6
a.m. when she was accosted by two village youths.

When she resisted their attempt to rape her, the girl was repeatedly
stabbed in her eyes. Found lying in the field, the victim was rushed
to the district hospital and then referred to Hallet Hospital in
Kanpur. Reports quoting the doctors attending on the girl said the
cornea of her left eye was completely damaged and there was no chance
of repair.

An official spokesman said here on Sunday that a case was filed
against the accused.

The spokesman said sub-inspector Shiv Shankar Singh and constable
Fakhruddin of the Gursahaiganj station had been suspended for failing
to lodge the FIR when the incident was reported to them on June 14.

On the Basti incident, Principal Secretary, Information, Prashant
Trivedi said the alleged rape was committed by a youth, Shakti Singh,
in Ranipur Bolaodi village on Saturday.

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[ZESTCaste] Manmohan pitches for implementation of laws to protect SCs

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2112562.ece

New Delhi, June 17, 2011
Manmohan pitches for implementation of laws to protect SCs
PTI

Government on Friday expressed "serious concern" over atrocities
against Scheduled Castes with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressing
the need for implementing in letter and spirit existing laws for their
protection.

Delivering his inaugural address at the Conference of State Ministers
of Welfare and Justice, Dr. Singh said it was imperative that the
Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the SC and ST (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989 are implemented.

"Although successive governments have made progressive laws, which
protect the basic rights and dignity of those who are disadvantaged in
one way or the another, the real question is how to implement and
enforce these laws effectively," the Prime Minister said.

Dr. Singh said he had written to Chief Ministers on this subject and
hoped that the state welfare ministers would "solemnly implement" in
letter and spirit the two Acts.

Noting that "persons belonging to Scheduled Castes constitute the most
vulnerable segment of the society," Minister for Social Justice and
Empowerment Mukul Wasnik said offences of atrocities against them
continue to be a "matter of serious concern."

He said there is a "substantial gap" between the statutory
requirements and the compliance of these laws in the states and the
machinery for effective implementation of the two Acts in the states
should be geared up.

The Prime Minister also said the government was considering expanding
its pilot scheme "Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana" for integrated
development of villages which have a large Scheduled Caste presence.

The Centre has launched the scheme on a pilot basis in five states of
Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu for
integrated development of 1000 villages.

"Ensuring equitable development of all sections of society and
especially the weaker sections is central to the government's agenda
of inclusive growth," the Prime Minister noted.

Describing the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan as a "strategic measure" to
address the development gap between the SCs and the general
population, Dr. Singh said state governments must prepare and
implement the SCSP with all sincerity so that benefits actually goes
to those for whom they are intended.

"I know the states are trying to earmark funds under SCSP in
proportion to their SC population. But how effective is the effort to
concert outlays into outcomes? It clearly needs to be much more
concerted and evident," he said.

Terming manual scavenging as one of the "darkest blots" and a
"heinous" practice, the Prime Minister appealed to the people to take
a pledge that this "scourge" would be eliminated in the next six
months from every nook and corner of the country.

Referring to a recent advisory of Home Ministry which makes employing
any SC or ST person as a manual scavenger punishable under section 3
of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he urged state
governments to make full use of the provisions of this "strong and
prohibitive" instrument.

On disability, Singh said that the government proposes to bring a new
law to replace the existing "Persons with Disability Act, 1955".
"After consulting state governments and other stake holders, we
propose to introduce the bill in Parliament," Dr. Singh said.

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[ZESTCaste] Kannauj girl may never be able to see from left eye: Doctors

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Kannauj-girl-may-never-be-able-to-see-from-left-eye-Doctors/Article1-711579.aspx

Kannauj girl may never be able to see from left eye: Doctors
Press Trust Of India
Kanpur, June 20, 2011

The Dalit girl, who was stabbed in her eyes allegedly by two youths
when she resisted a rape attempt, may never be able to see from her
left eye again, doctors treating her said in Kanpur. "The 14-year-old
victim was stabbed in both her eyes with some sharp-edged weapon but
the damage to her left ey
e is severe. The cornea of the left eye is totally damaged which may
result in loss of eyesight, principal of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi
Medical College Anand Swaroop said.

"When the victim was brought to the medical college here, her
condition was bad. Both the eyes were bleeding and her shoulders were
also injured," Swaroop said.

She was immediately admitted to the eye department and a team of
specialists attended her, he added.

The girl has been operated upon on both her eyes. Doctors say that
left eye is severely damaged but right eye is in a better condition.

"After being operated we asked her if she can see from her right eye
to which she admitted a blurred vision", Swaroop said.

The girl will be kept in the hospital for a minimum of one week. All
the expenses are taken care of by the medical department, Swaroop
said.

Kuldeep (18) and Niranjan Yadav (17) attempted to rape the 14-year-old
girl when she had gone out in connection with some work in Gadwa
Buzurg village in Gursahaiganj area in Kannauj on June 18.

"When the girl raised an alarm, the duo attacked her with knives,
piercing her left eye and injuring the other.

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