Latest News Update: Oct 20, 2011

Thursday, October 20, 2011

[ZESTCaste] In Keeripatti village, the vote is all about caste

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/In-Keeripatti-village-the-vote-is-all-about-caste/articleshow/10422782.cms

In Keeripatti village, the vote is all about caste
M T Saju, TNN | Oct 20, 2011, 05.22AM IST

KEERIPATTI: An old man is sleeping on a cement slab in front of the
main polling booth at Keeripatti, unaware of the commotion around him.
A posse of policemen has just rushed in after a scuffle broke out in
front of the polling booth.

A candidate allegedly was canvassing votes in violation of the model
code of conduct. And, he objected to the security personnel who tried
to shove him away. Senior police officials intervene and calm tempers.
But soon the candidate gets at the nearby hospital and the arguments
between poll agents continue late into the evening in the three
polling booths.

Welcome to the mess called election in Keeripatti. Polling was
peaceful here on Wednesday. A reserved constituency, Keeripatti has
six dalits in the fray for the post of the panchayat president. The
battle is intense with people divided on caste lines. Dalits, who
stress on their independence and identity, are ranged against the
non-dalits, who are more in number and are least pleased with the
reserved status of the constituency. With no reconciliation between
the dalits and non-dalits in sight, the tension in the village is
palpable. In the past, tempers have run high and non-dalits have been
blamed for not letting a 'true' representative of the dalit community
run the local body. The non-dalits are accused of wanting to have
their dalit nominee hold office.

The polling ended with 1,019 of the total 1,257 voters in the village
casting their vote. The high turnout, according to the non-dalits,
will ensure victory for their candidate, Mookakalai. A Thevar
stronghold, the village has 570 non-dalits and 109 dalit families.
Since the constituency is reserved for candidates from scheduled
castes and tribes, only dalits can contest. There are six dalits in
the fray, including sitting panchayat president Baluchamy. Mookakalai,
a dalit, has been handpicked by the non-dalits in the village to serve
as a dummy panchayat president, Baluchamy and others claim. They
allege that villagers were threatened that they will ostracised if
they vote for Mookakalai.

"We will vote only for our candidate (read Mookakalai). We have told
them so many times not to contest. We have the majority in this
village. So how does a dalit become a panchayat president here? asks
Eswar, a non-dalit, who works as a driver. According to Eswar, some
NGOs are creating problems in the village. "We don't have any problem
with the dalits. They live in a separate colony. We have told them not
to come to our side and we don't go to their side. But some NGOs are
blowing up the issue," he said. Baluchamy, the sitting panchayat
president, says they can't fight the non-dalits without somebody's
support. "We have been marginalised and sidelined for long," he says.

As the debate revolves around the assertion of identity, the
development issues have receded to the background. According to K
Velu, a non-dalit, the "real issues" are potholed roads and shortage
of drinking water.

"Our road is half-laid with full of potholes and humps. The work was
supposed to be over three months ago, but the president didn't take
any initiative. Also, we don't get drinking water regularly," he says.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit candidate alleges attack by SI

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dalit-candidate-alleges-attack-by-si/194652-60-118.html

Tamil Nadu | Posted on Oct 20, 2011 at 09:17am IST
Dalit candidate alleges attack by SI
indianexpress Express News Service , The New Indian Express

MADURAI: Tension gripped the caste-sensitive Keerippatti in
Chellampatti union in Madurai in the wake of the alleged attack on a
Dalit candidate by a Sub-Inspector, here on Wednesday.

N Subban, one of six Dalit candidates in the fray for the post of
panchayat president, told Express that he was standing 200 metres away
from a booth for Keeripatti voters when SI Murugesan on duty had
allegedly beat him up and chased the voters away. Subban had fainted
after the attack.

As the news spread across the village, around 200 supporters of N
Subban and A Subban, another candidate, gathered in front of the booth
protesting against the SI. They demanded that the officials should
take action against the SI before going ahead with the election. The
efforts of a police team to pacify the villagers went in vain.

DSP D Kumar, who also failed to convince them, asked them to give a
petition against the SI.

Meanwhile, some of the villagers, including the candidates, tried to
barge into the booth to stop the election. Enraged, the police then
chased them away from the booth.

On information, SP Asra Garg rushed to the spot. He shifted the SI to
another booth and assured of action against him.

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[ZESTCaste] RPI chief Ramdas Athavale demands 40 seats in civic body polls

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_rpi-chief-ramdas-athavale-demands-40-seats-in-civic-body-polls_1601042

RPI chief Ramdas Athavale demands 40 seats in civic body polls
Published: Thursday, Oct 20, 2011, 8:00 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Ramdas Athavale, president, Republican Party of India, has asked for
40 of the 227 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
elections which are due in February.The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata
Party combine governs the BMC, and the RPI has joined the alliance.
The RPI, which is backed by many Dalits, was earlier allied with the
Congress-Nationalist Congress Party.

Athavale said that talks were on with both the Sena and the BJP over
the number of seats to be given to the RPI. He added that it was the
support of the Dalit voters that helped the BJP candidate Bhimrao
Tapkir win the Khadakwasla seat against the NCP candidate Harshada
Wanjale. He said such support of Dalits not just in Mumbai but in all
the local elections would benefit the Sena-BJP-RPI alliance right up
to the next assembly elections in 2014.

He also played down remarks by Sena chief Bal Thackeray that Dadar
station be renamed Chaityabhoomi(after the Ambedkar memorial), saying
this demand was made by the NCP and Congress to divide the
Sena-BJP-RPI alliance.

"I don't understand this business about making a demand. The
Congress-NCPrule in Maharashtra and the Congress-led UPA governs
India. They renamed the Bandra-Worli Sea Link after Rajiv Gandhi
overnight, so why can't they similarly legislate right away about
Dadar? Why take so much time?" he asked.

He said Thackeray spoke out against renaming Dadar only because he
needed to pacify some Dadar residents who had complained to him. He
also pointed out that the RPI had never raised the demand for renaming
Dadar station after Chaityabhoomi because that would be confused with
the memorial.

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[ZESTCaste] Behenji inaugurates Dalit memorial (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_abe7Ts3SA

Behenji inaugurates Dalit memorial

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[ZESTCaste] Athawale softening stand on Dadar renaming?

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/athawale-softening-standdadar-renaming_602361.html

Athawale softening stand on Dadar renaming?

Published on Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 12:27 | Source : PTI

Updated at Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 19:00

Mumbai, Oct 19 (PTI) RPI president Ramdas Athawale today indicated
that his party was not inflexible on the demand to rename Dadar
railway station in central Mumbai as "Chaityabhoomi'' station.
Chaityabhoomi is the memorial of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, which is
located in Dadar area. Dalit parties have been demanding that the name
be given to the railway station.
However, talking to reporters here, Athawale said that instead of
Dadar, the Mumbai Central station can be named after Dr Ambedkar.
"I will be happy if Dr Ambedkar''s name is given to any establishment.
But as to renaming Dadar, the locals have conveyed opposition to Shiv
Sena supremo Bal Thackeray....
Mumbai Central railway station should be renamed after Dr Babasaheb
Ambedkar, as he had lived in the area for a long time," Athawale said.
Early this year, RPI formed alliance with Shiv Sena and BJP. Shiv Sena
chief had said recently that Dadar can not be renamed.

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[ZESTCaste] Attack on Dalits: Two held in Arsikere

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/199205/attack-dalits-two-held-arsikere.html

Attack on Dalits: Two held in Arsikere
Arsikere (Hassan dist), Oct 19, DHNS:

Arsikere rural police have arrested two persons for allegedly
assaulting dalits at Jajur on Tuesday night.

The Dalits were allegedly attacked by an upper caste group, who were
opposing the former from singing at the festival at Veerabhadreshwara
temple in the village.

When Dalit Colony resident Ningaiah started singing devotional songs,
a group of people including Kumaraswamy, Rangaswamy, Sanju, Gangadhar
and Mani attacked the former and Prasannakumar, Umesh, Jeevan Shankar
and Veeresh.

Dalits had filed a complaint with rural police based on which
Kumaraswamy and Gangadhar were arrested. Dalit leaders protested that
even though remaining three culprits were in town they had not been
arrested by police.

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[ZESTCaste] ‘DENIAL OF RIGHTS TO DALITS AND TRIBALS IS ALSO CORRUPTION’

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2011/10/4170

'DENIAL OF RIGHTS TO DALITS AND TRIBALS IS ALSO CORRUPTION'

Chief economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research,
Abusaleh Shariff was member-secretary of the Sachar Committee, besides
serving as an expert on many governmental committees and authoring
several books. In conversation with Hardnews
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi

How do you see this whole fight against corruption?
I really don't know what Lokpal means. However, the fact that Indian
society is corrupt bothers me as much as it bothers the other citizens
of this country. From a farmer who has to get a certificate from the
Tehsildar, to the artisan who wants a permit – it affects everyone,
everywhere.

Now, we have reached a stage where we consider corruption to be a
systemic part of our society, something which is always there. What do
Anna Hazare and his India Against Corruption team want to address?
What kind of corruption? If it is about what concerns the general
public – for instance, the cost of public goods whose face value cost
is reasonable but the market price is much more – then I am with
Hazare. However, corruption is not only this. It has many faces. It
has many formats. I wonder if Hazare and his team are interested in
the issue in its totality. In this country, we have rationalised and
institutionalised corruption, and so we must the issue
comprehensively. They might deny it and want to keep them out of the
ambit of their version of the Jan Lokpal, but the fact is that there
is corruption in civil society and the corporate sector as well.

How does one deal with corruption then?
Addressing corruption requires great thought. It cannot be done
overnight by a so-called magic wand. We need multi-pronged strategies
to deal with this menace. We need institutional reforms,
administrative reforms. We have in the past seen how the Right to
Information has been able to at least bring some kind of transparency
in our system. So, it is wrong to say that nothing is happening.

Do you agree with the Jan Lokpal draft?
I have gone through both the Jan Lokpal draft and the government's
version of the Lokpal Bill. To me Team Anna's version of the Lokpal
seemed incomprehensible. It is like that wild card we have in certain
sports. It takes a highly generalised approach to deal with
corruption, and is weak in the specifics. It's not just a matter of
bringing the prime minister into its ambit. The more serious flaws are
about how it treats one of the great things about our democracy – the
separation of powers, with the checks and balances that exist in the
system. Judiciary has been kept independent and should remain
independent. That is how it functions without fear from the political
class or the bureaucracy.

Do you feel Anna was arrogant in his approach?
I could not understand when Anna Hazare invokes the people of India.
Who are these people, I wonder. Anna looked dictatorial in his
approach. You cannot say that these are my terms and you have to
accept exactly what I am saying. And his was a middle-class movement.
It wasn't a movement by the poor of this country. The same middle
classes are corrupt in their daily lives. Even I had to take some
money in black when I was selling my house, as there was simply no
other way to do it. How can the corrupt themselves take part in an
agitation against corruption?

What do you have to say about inadequate representation of minorities
in the Anna camp?
Dalit and Muslim representation doesn't really matter to me, but still
I don't approve of the composition of Team Anna.

Corruption cannot be limited to just the financial aspect...
Financial corruption is just one aspect. There are other types and
kind of corruption. Sachar Committee has shown that Muslims have been
discriminated against. Isn't that a form of corruption? Anna Hazare
should have taken a look there as well. Denial of rights and violence
against Dalits and tribals of this country is also a kind of
corruption. Inadequate representation of minorities in governance is
also corruption. We need to sit and define corruption before going
ahead with ways to check and eradicate it.

Why do you think were Muslims wary of this campaign?
Muslims of this country are caught in identity politics. Even today
they cannot think beyond the basics – square meals, jobs, primary
education etc. They are in a way insulated from development. And then
Anna only tried symbolic acts like having iftar with a Muslim girl.
Plus RSS members were actively involved, so obviously Muslims had to
be afraid.

Do you think Modi's candidature as PM would polarise Muslim votes in
favour of one party?
Muslim votes can never get polarised in favour of one party. They are
a very diverse group, and it reflects in their voting pattern.
From the print issue of Hardnews :
OCTOBER 2011

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[ZESTCaste] For first time, Dalits of Madurai village vote in local body polls

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article2554384.ece

MADURAI, October 20, 2011
For first time, Dalits of Madurai village vote in local body polls
D. Karthikeyan

They could vote freely in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections but had to
plead and fight for their right to exercise their franchise in local
body polls.

The Dalits (Pallars) of Gramapatti village in Kovilankulam panchayat
under Chellampatti panchayat union near here finally got to vote in
the panchayat elections for the first time in four decades.

According to a section of the Dalits, the local elite's dominance, in
the form of caste control by the dominant Piramalai Kallars, was the
reason why they never got a chance to vote. The Dalits could not be
assertive as they were dependent on the caste Hindus for work.

However, for the first time, the whole village, with a population of
200 belonging to 60 families with 71 votes, cast its vote at the
polling station in Government Kallar Middle School, Kovilankulam,
thanks to the efforts of District Collector U. Sagayam.

P. Deiva Lakshmi (28) of Gramapatti represented the injustice meted to
Dalits at the grievance day on October 10 at the Collectorate. The
Collector asked the Block Development Officer of Chellampatti union to
immediately look into the issue and make arrangements for the
villagers to vote.

"I really cannot remember the last time our villagers cast their votes
in the panchayat elections," said Ms. Lakshmi. "We also made an appeal
to the Collector to shift the polling station, which is five km away
from our colony, to the nearby village, which is two km away. Since
the arrangements were already made, it was difficult to change the
station but the officials promised to consider the request next time."

The village does not have a proper pathway. There is no ration shop
and residents have to travel six km to Nathampatti for buying
essentials. They do not have a cremation ground, street lamps, cement
roads or community hall.

P. Veeran (32), a construction worker, said that every time the Dalits
went to vote in the panchayat elections they were informed by the
caste Hindus that their votes had been cast in the "proper manner,"
and hence they could go back to the village.

The villagers, while feeling elated about the fact that they had cast
their vote, harboured the fear that they could be attacked any time by
the dominant castes for taking up the issue with the Collector and the
police, said Kasi Mayan, a social worker.

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