Latest News Update: Dec 14, 2011

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Nepal: Lower caste man killed for touching stove

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Lower-caste-man-killed-for-touching-stove-20111213

Lower caste man killed for touching stove
2011-12-13 11:29

Kathmandu - A man reportedly belonging to a low-caste group was beaten
to death in Nepal by high caste men for touching their stove, media
reports said on Monday.

Manbir Sunar, 30, a Dalit, or low caste member, from Jibutha village
in the far-western region, was killed by two men on Saturday after he
touched their restaurant's stove while lighting a cigarette, according
to Avenues Television.

Officers said they had arrested two men and were investigating.

Nepali society, which is 80% Hindu, still practises a caste-based
social system, although laws ban caste discrimination.

"We're living in the 21st century where we're very politically
conscious about even the terms we use to denote things," Prakash
Chandra Pariyar, a Dalits' rights activist and himself a member of the
group, told dpa.

"Nothing can be more barbaric than killing a man for simply touching a stove."

The caste system came to Nepal around 500 BC as Indian Hindus
migrated. It divides Hindu Nepali society into four sections, placing
the Dalits, or untouchables, at the bottom and the Brahmins, or
priests, at the top.

In April, the parliament endorsed a bill against caste discrimination,
which laid out punishments for any infringements.

"But incidents like these are an example of oppression and show that
the state is still weak in implementing the laws," Pariyar said.
- SAPA

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[ZESTCaste] New policy assures Rs 7,000-cr business for Dalit, ST entrepreneurs

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/new-policy-assures-rs-7000-cr-business-for-dalit-st-entrepreneurs/458286/

New policy assures Rs 7,000-cr business for Dalit, ST entrepreneurs
Monday, 12 December 2011 21:51

T E Narasimhan

Some Dalit businessmen plan to launch a Rs 500 crore venture capital
fund — India's first community-focused fund.

The Central government's new procurement policy will open business
opportunities worth Rs 7,000 crore for Dalit and s (ST) entrepreneurs.
These entrepreneurs are now gearing up to tap this opportunity by
launching their own venture capital fund and increasing their
production capacities.

The proposed Rs 500 crore venture capital fund will be the country's
first community-focused fund, according to industry representatives.
It will help entrepreneurs from the community, from whom financial
institutions are shying away, said a senior official.

Milind Kamble, chairman, Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(DICCI), said that the association has approached the market
regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), with the
proposal. The fund will be launched through a special purpose vehicle.

"The first round of funding will be from domestic investors and
businessmen from the community and during the second round we will
look at international investors," said Kamble.

Under the recently announced Public Procur-ement Policy for Micro and
Small Enterprises (MSE), a minimum of 20 per cent of total annual
purchases of Central ministries, departments and public sector
undertakings (PSUs) has been reserved for procurement from MSEs.

Of the 20 per cent share of annual procurement from MSEs, a share of
four per cent (or 20 per cent of 20 per cent) has been reserved for
procurement from MSEs owned by Dalit and ST entrepreneurs.

To enhance the participation of Dalits and ST in government
procurement, all Central ministries, departments and PSUs will have to
organise special vendor development programmes and buyer-seller meets.
They will have also to report their targets and achievements with
respect to procurement from MSEs in their annual reports.

Ministries, departments and PSUs which do not meet the mandatory goal
of the public procurement policy will be required to provide reasons
to a review committee headed by the secretary to the MSME ministry.

However, the ministry of defence, on account of its unique nature, had
reservations about implementation of the procurement policy for MSEs.
Keeping this in view, defence armaments and weapons systems have been
kept out of the purview of the policy.

Kamble of DICCI said that every year the government procures products
and services worth Rs 1.75 lakh crore. Four per cent of this,
amounting to some Rs 7,000 crore, will be reserved for the Dalit and
ST entrepreneurs.

"We are happy, since we now know there is an assured market. With this
we can now go in for expansion and other new initiatives," said
Kamble. Entrepreneurs from the community are already suppliers to big
brands such as Tata, Bajaj, Hero Honda and Kirloskar, among others.

Besides, there are also successful businessmen from this community,
who include Ashok Khade, chairman of Das Offshore Pvt Ltd, who
presides over a Rs 550 crore business empire; Natha Ram, who runs
Steelmont Pvt Ltd, a Rs 600 crore company that makes steel converter
machines; Devjibhai Makwana, whose Rs 300 crore company, Suraj
Filament, makes flat and twisted high-tenacity polypropylene
multi-filament yarns.

The Dalit population in the country is estimated at 200 million, or
one-sixth of India's population, of which 15 per cent are
entrepreneurs, said Kamble. However, according to him, they control
only one per cent of the country's wealth.

"Our community members want to grow, but cannot find anyone to lend
them money to start a unit," he said. Being a Dalit means virtually no
assets, so people from the community end up going to private lenders.
Credit facilities to start a business are hard to come by for the
community, he added.

"Trade and enterprise have never been part of our tradition. The only
trade traditionally linked with Dalits is leather work," he noted.
Dalits need support in terms of training, identifying the market and
financial help, which DICCI provides, he added.

There are no problems that are peculiar to the Dalits once they get to
the market. "But reaching there is a problem, given that they are
educationally and economically backward." To address this lacuna,
DICCI counsels entrepreneurs, provides them with support, and
identifies markets for them.

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Re: [ZESTCaste] Digest Number 2594

Friends,

Those role over the leftovers are doing it voluntarily, why blame others. Dr. Ambedkar had asked you to behave with dignity, give up traditional vocations, move out of villages, educate your children.

Quoting Greek philosopher he had said, "It may be your interest to be our masters, how can it be ours to be your slaves?"

Why should the Dalits go to any Brahminic temple, to start with. They must be Harijans, not Dalits. Why bother your and our heads for Harijans? Let them rot in their ignorance. If you do not follow Ambedkar, you are going to be humiliated.Why blame Tendulkar and his ilk, it is their duty to humiliate you. You must yourself behave honorably.

Thanks!
Dr. K. Jamanadas

On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 6:09 PM, <ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

There are 4 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. The Leftover God
From: Siddhartha Kumar

Messages
________________________________________________________________________
1. The Leftover God
Posted by: "Siddhartha Kumar" mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com tellsiddhartha
Date: Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:35 am ((PST))

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?279267

karnataka: rituals
The Leftover God

A temple's demeaning 'leftovers' ritual has all sides frothing
Sugata Srinivasaraju

Eat, Pray, Roll Over...

During the three-day Champa Shasti festival, Shivalli Brahmins are
served meals at the Kukke Subramanya temple of Karnataka
Once the meal is over, Dalits, backwards and people from the local
tribes are allowed to roll on the leftovers
The belief is the ritual will cure the 'devotees' of ailments
The ritual has got a lot of flak from progressive groups
The state department that administers temples allowed the ritual,
adding to the controversy

***

The annual Champa Shasti festival held over November and December at
the Kukke Subramanya temple in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka
has an unusual tradition. On all three days, the Shivalli Brahmins are
served a multi-course meal in seclusion in the temple precincts. And
after they are through, instead of clearing the spread plantain leaves
on which the food's served, Dalits, backwards and local tribespeople
are allowed to roll on the leftovers.

The belief is this ritual will cure the 'devotee' of ailments,
especially skin-related ones, and will gift a child to those praying
for a baby. It's also considered an ideal form of thanksgiving to the
local deity after "wish fulfilment". The ritual, called 'maade snana'
in Tulu and Kannada, is said to be over four hundred years old but
there are no written records to prove such a claim.

As the tradition reinforces and 'enacts' caste hierarchies, where even
a Brahmin's 'jhoota' is bestowed with powers to cure people from
subaltern communities, it had been catching a lot of flak since last
year from progressive groups in the state. Especially as this was
being allowed in a temple that belongs to the muzrai department, a
state-run body which administers Hindu temples.

Last week, though, saw protests heating up more because after the huge
outcry last year, the local administration had promised to end this
ritual which violates basic human dignity. Apparently, under "pressure
from devotees", the administration allowed the practice from November
28 onwards. Nearly 4,000 people joined up to roll over the leftovers.

What took the row beyond the usual temple affairs level was muzrai and
higher education minister Dr V.S. Acharya's statement that it was a
"faith-based ritual and banning it was tantamount to hurting the
sentiments of the people". People immediately started questioning not
only his credentials as a trained medical doctor, but also his RSS
roots. They began asking if he would similarly allow dowry, child
marriage and other social evils as they are also faith-based?

The fact that the Kukke Subramanya temple is in Dakshina Kannada
district has also added political colour to the controversy. The
district has been a hot-bed of Hindutva politics of late (in 2008, it
even saw a number of attacks on churches). Also, many VIP members of
the state cabinet like Acharya, Shobha Karandlaje and CM Sadananda
Gowda hail from the region. A statement by Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji
of the Udupi Pejawar math, a VHP leader himself, has not helped
matters. In a nonchalant manner, he announced that he neither
"vehemently opposed nor strongly supported" the ritual.

The complexity of the issue unravels itself when we take into
consideration the largely illiterate Malekudiya tribe's support for
the ritual. When the local administration hinted at a ban, members of
the ST community went on a rampage, even declaring that they would
stay away from building the deity's chariot, a traditional activity
they have performed for years during the festival season. (If the
chariot is not built, the festival will remain incomplete without the
final procession of the deity.)

K.S. Shivaramu of the Karnataka Backward Class Awareness Forum
believes "the backwards, Dalits and the Malekudiyas are being pushed
by the Brahmins of the region to perform this ritual. They are
exploiting their ignorance. They want to keep the caste divide alive."
Incidentally, Shivaramu, who went on a fact-finding mission to Kukke
on November 30, was thrashed by the temple workers. "Those who
attacked me were all innocent backward class people. After they
attacked me, they were felicitated by the temple's chief priest who is
a Brahmin. One temple worker from the Malekudiya tribe, Nagesh, was
suspended for leading the attack. The irony of the situation is those
who do the ritual are backwards, those who thrash me are backwards,
those who are penalised for it are backwards and those who seek a ban
are also backwards," he says wryly.

Advocate and ex-chairman of the state Backward Classes Commission, Dr
C.S. Dwarakanath, sees clever commercial interests at play here. He
also alleges that the ritual is part of the revivalist agenda of the
Sangh parivar. "The Kukke temple, tucked away in the forests and
controlled by Brahmins, was never as popular as the nearby Dharmastala
temple controlled by the Jains. This controversy has helped them
generate some further popularity for the temple and its powers. In
recent years, the temple has seen VIP visitors like Sachin Tendulkar,
Ravi Shastri and some very big politicians. It's sad that these people
visited a temple which perpetuates such human indignities."

Interestingly, except for the Left parties, no other political party
in the state has so far spoken out against the ritual. "In this case,
the secular parties like the Congress and JD(S) look more dangerous
than the BJP. They are only worried about their votebanks," says a
frustrated Dwarakanath. Writer and activist G.K. Govinda Rao, however,
feels it isn't enough that political parties and the government push
for a ban. The caste maths and pontiffs, who are otherwise so
powerful, should unilaterally demand it. Some years ago, another
heinous ritual called 'Ajalu', practised against the Koraga tribe, was
banned by the government. 'Ajalu' had Brahmins giving leftover food as
alms to them with an added bonus—a strand of their hair and a finger
nail mixed in.

Last Wednesday, after a week-long debate, the state government voiced
an opinion—in a rather feeble voice. Social justice minister A.
Narayanaswamy, incidentally a Dalit, said that they may consider
banning the ritual. Till that happens, it will be a whole social ethic
mucking about in the leftovers.

Messages in this topic (1)
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