Thursday, January 26, 2012

[ZESTCaste] Punjab polls: Dalit self-pride holds key in fertile Doaba

Punjab polls: Dalit self-pride holds key in fertile Doaba

JALANDHAR: Hummer wich aounde putt chamaran de (chamar kids arrive in Hummer), panga na le chamara de nal (don't get into a fight with chamars), Ravidassan di chandi (Ravidasis are doing great) and fighter chamar are some of the songs which the fertile Doaba region in Punjab is grooving to as it goes to polls next week. Until not so long ago, it was yaari jattan di, tu jatt di pasand and jatt di daang, songs which became popular even outside the state.

It's not that the mighty Jatts (Jat Sikhs) have stopped singing and dancing. Just that Doaba, where Punjab's 29% Dalit community swells to 35%, is witnessing a social churning like never before, with the dalits asserting themselves socially, culturally and even politically. Punjab has one the highest dalit population in the country.

It's perhaps appropriate that in a state which loves to sing and dance, the assertion is manifesting in music, says dalit folk singer Kulwant Kajla. ''You will be surprised to know that the demand for such songs is not just restricted to Doaba and Punjab but also abroad,'' he says, adding that he will soon come out with his own chamar album.

Kajla, whose song param sant Ravidasa was a chartbuster, should know. Kajla was one of the few singers who helped introduced dalit machismo in Punjabi songs in 2008-09 to counter Jat Sikhs. "Some people had reservations initially but soon they joined us when they realized that there was nothing to be ashamed of in being a dalit,'' he adds. It's not uncommon now to spot vehicles, especially two-wheelers, with stickers saying putt chamaran da.

Kajla is a follower of Jalandhar-based Dera Sachkhand which claims to have millions of followers spread all across the globe. In the UK alone, it is said to have 26 Ravidasa temples. Its guru is none other than Sant Niranjan Dass who was attacked by a group of extremist Sikhs, allegedly Jat, in Vienna in 2009. Another guru, Sant Ramanand, was killed in the attack, though. It was this attack in the Austrian capital which laid the foundation for dalits seeking a more assertive cultural and political identity. In just a few months music became the most powerful tool to galvanize the youths who responded by abandoning the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. The movement gained further momentum in 2010 when Sant Niranjan Dass announced a new holy book for Ravidasis called Amrit Bani.

Doaba also accounts for the maximum number of NRIs from Punjab who helped their family members in the region by sending them money regularly. It is also not uncommon to see dalits living in mansions and driving luxury cars.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punjab-polls-Dalit-self-pride-holds-key-in-fertile-Doaba/articleshow/11635098.cms

You can follow me at http://drambedkarbooks.wordpress.com

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[ZESTCaste] Continue desecration of Ambedkar Statues in Andhra Pradesh

Continue desecration of Ambedkar Statues in Andhra Pradesh

Friends

Greetings from National Dalit forum

Please Send the below letter to the addressed Authorities by Fax or by post. at least by mail, also talk to them on given phone numbers and pressurize them for immediate arrest and punishment of culprits involved in the desecration of 4 Ambedkar Statues in Amalapuram and 1 Ambedkar Statue in Dawaleshwaram in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh

Mr. E.S Lakshmi Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Raj Bhavan, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad, Office: 040-23310521 Residence: 040-23310521, Fax: 040-23312650, Mail – governor@ap.nic.in

Mr. Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Office Address: 'C' Block, 6th Floor, AP Secretariat, off: 23456698, Fax: 23410555, FAX: 040 – 23452498, E-Mail: cmap@ap.gov.in

Mrs. Sabitha Indra Reddy, Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Office: J Block No: 801, AP Secretariat, Phone: 040-23457687/ 23750225, Cell: 9848033090

Mr. V. Dinesh Reddy, Director and Inspector General of Police, Opp Ravindra Bharathi, Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh, Phone – 040-23235170 /23351612, Fax 040- 23296565, Email- dgp@appolice.gov.in

Superintendent of Police, Pithapuram Road, Kakinada, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh

Phone: 0884- 2363000, Fax-0884- 2361644, Cell – 094407 96500

District Collector & District Magistrate Collectorate, R.R.Road Kakinada, East Godavari district

Andhra Pradesh, Phone 0884 2361200 Fax- 08842353480

The Station House Officer, Police Station, Amalapuram, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh,

Phone -08856 – 231033, 094407 96561

The Station House Officer, Police Station, Dawaleshwaram, East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh

Phone- 0883 – 2417433 , 94407 96586

Subject – Continue desecration of Ambedkar Statues in Andhra Pradesh. Arrest and punishment of culprits – Regarding

Dear Sir / Madam

You are aware about the unfortunate incidents of Desecrating 4 Ambedkar Statues in Amalapuram town and surrounding villages in the night of 22^nd January 2012. News papers and TV Channels reported that one politically and financially influenced community is involved in this brutal activity at the instance of a statement of a Dalit Parliament Member.

This is the 4^th day of this brutal incident, Desecration of Ambedkar Statues, the State Government, and Police have literally failed to identify and arrest the accused in this case. This negligent attitude of police and administration is encouraged the culprits and they desecrated another Ambedkar Statue in Dawaleshwaram town in the night of 25^th January, a day before the Republic day. This is a big shame on us, shame on our constitution. This shows, the kind of respect we are paying to father of our Constitution, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, on the Republic day. While celebrating commencement of Constitution of India

People of Andhra Pradesh and Dalits in Particular expressing many doubts on the approach of the police and Officials of other Government Administration that they may colluded with the Accused involved in this case. So that they are managing to escape the arrest and punishment according to law

The attack on Ambedkar Statues is an attack on the Democratic and Constitution Values; He is Father of Constitution of India, and also First Law Minister of India. It is high time to the Andhra Pradesh Government to save the face in front of International civil society

So it is request you to conduct inquiry in the incidents of desecration of 4 Ambedkar Statues in Amalapuram and surrounding villages on 22^nd January 2012, and 1 Ambedkar Statue in Dawaleshwaram Town on 25^th night January 2012

The culprits should not go unpunished, Arrest them immediately and punish according to law.

Yours Sincerely

Name:

Signature:

B.Karthik Navayan,

http://karthiknavayan.wordpress.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/karthiknavayan/

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[ZESTCaste] Demand for scholarships to SC/ST students in HPS

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article2833902.ece

Demand for scholarships to SC/ST students in HPS
Pavithra S Rangan/ Staff Reporter

The Telangana SC and ST Parents Association of the Hyderabad Public
Schools condemned the government's failure in providing scholarships
to all SC/ST students admitted to the schools in the general category.

While students admitted under the SC/ST reservation are being provided
full scholarships from class 1 to 12, the association demanded that
nearly 160 other SC/ST students admitted under the general category
too be provided the scholarship.

"While all other private and government institutions have scholarships
for SC and ST students as per G.O Ms No. 182; in HPS, SC/ST children
admitted in the general category in both the Ramanthapur and Begumpet
Schools have not been given a rupee this year," said Telangana JAC
leader Addanki Dayakar.

"Notices stating that students will not be allowed to attend classes
if the fee is not paid before February 2 too have been given. Their
parents being extremely poor cannot afford this fee," he added.

Officials of the Social Welfare department, however, informed that a
total 50 SC and ST students, selected by way of a lottery system, are
being given full scholarships in the Begumpet, Ramanthapur and
Pulivendula branches of the school.

They said that it was not possible to provide scholarships to all SC
and ST students admitted into the schools even through the general
category as they had limited funds at their disposal.

Agitated association members demanded that the scholarships for all
students released on or before January 30, in view of the last date of
fee payment. They warned that the government's non-compliance with
their demands would warrant dire consequences.

(eom)

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits bear the brunt: Congress

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/dalits-bear-the-brunt-congress/224146-60-117.html

Orissa | Posted on Jan 25, 2012 at 12:27pm IST
Dalits bear the brunt: Congress
indianexpress Express News Service , The New Indian Express

BHUBANESWAR: The campaigning by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the
panchayat polls has picked up pace and so has the Congress demand for
his resignation over the Pipili gangrape case and a CBI probe into it.
The scheduled caste department of the OPCC on Tuesday staged a
demonstration at the PMG Square and burnt the effigy of the Chief
Minister over the issue. Besides the Pipili gangrape case, several
other incidents of atrocities against women have come to the fore
during the last one month, a OPCC release said.

�Most of the victims are Dalit girls and women, Congress leaders
alleged citing� instances at Bhadrak, Balasore, Baripada, Paikmal and
Konark. Kanyashrams in tribal areas have also become unsafe for the
inmates, the party said.

�President of the scheduled caste department Ripunath Seth alleged
that as the Home Department is under the Chief Minister, police, in
most cases, are trying to hush up the cases rather than going after
the accused. Congress leaders, including former ministers Jagannath
Patnaik and Suresh Kumar Routray, Sibananda Ray, former MLA Nimai
Sarkar, convener of the scheduled caste department Bankanidhi Behera
courted arrest.

�The OPCC also condemned the alleged attempt to kidnap a girl here on
Monday. The incident reflects the deteriorating law and order
situation in the State and laxity of the police administration, OPCC
general secretary Arjya Kumar Gyanendra said.

�Reiterating the allegation against Naveen that he flouted the model
code of conduct for the panchayat polls while campaigning at Tangi on
Sunday, Gyanendra said he had been doing that ever since the polls
were announced. He threatened that the Congress would oppose the
violations by launching agitations across the State if these did not
stop.

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[ZESTCaste] Can Mayawati win over Punjab’s dalit heartland?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Can-Mayawati-win-over-Punjabs-dalit-heartland/articleshow/11634994.cms

Can Mayawati win over Punjab's dalit heartland?
TNN | Jan 26, 2012, 04.21AM IST

Mayawati failed in Punjab mainly because dalits here comprised
Ravidasis, Valmikis and Majhabi Sikhs who could not relate with
Mayawati's Jatav identity.
BALLAN (JALANDHAR): It's not easy to drive on NH-I these days between
Phagwara and Jalandhar with roads dug up for the ongoing three-laning
work. One has no option but to follow an auto-rickshaw that is wide
enough to block whatever road available, and fitted with a loudspeaker
blaring out a speech by BSP leader Mayawati interspersed with songs.

The traffic din can't drown out the name of Ravidasa which is
mentioned several times in one of the songs. This is Doaba, the dalit
heartland of Punjab, which India's most powerful dalit leader must win
over if she wants to have any real presence in Punjab. Will she
succeed this time?

The answer perhaps lies barely 20 km away on the road, leading up to
Pathankot from Jalandhar. Dera Sachkhand at Ballan village is the most
sacred place for the dalits, mainly Ravidasis, of the area. Its
growing clout can be gauged from the fact even Congress's Amarinder
Singh came for the `darshan' of chief guru Sant Niranjan Dass on
Tuesday. But while the sant blesses people, he refuses to talk
politics.

Dass, who escaped an assassination attempt in Vienna, instead allows
his manager Amrik Birdi to talk. "BSP candidates have sought our
support but the sant believes that only people who behave as
mahapurush should be voted for,'' says Birdi, adding that CM Parkash
Singh Badal too will be visiting the Dera which has played the lead
role in making the community assert its cultural and political
identity.

Another follower, who doesn't want to be identified, is more
forthright. "The dalit community in Punjab is not Jatav like Mayawati
and will not like to waste its vote on BSP; instead it will choose the
lesser evil between the Congress and Akalis,'' he says. He cites the
example of nearby Khanna seat, the valmikis have decided to vote for
Akalis. The Sehajdhari Sikh community, of which many are dalit, have
decided to back Congress. Like always, despite becoming politically
more assertive, the dalits seem to be choosing between these two main
parties only. What cannot also be ignored is that despite having a Jat
Sikh leadership, both Congress and SAD (Badal) have given enough
representation to dalits.

Maywati drew a blank in 2007 with the party getting about 4% of vote
share. The dalit czarina's best performance came in 1996 when she
entered into an alliance with the Akalis winning three out of four
seats.

"This was important because it proved that religio-cultural ethos
negate the existence of exclusive caste categories for electoral gains
in the state,'' says Pramod Kumar, the head of Institute for
Development and Communication.

Conventional wisdom has it that Mayawati failed mainly because Punjab
dalits mainly comprised Ravidasis, Valmikis and Majhabi Sikhs who
could not relate with Mayawati's Jatav identity. "Punjab has been more
liberal in terms of religious practices which has made it difficult
for Mayawati to create a vote-bank solely on her Manuwadi plank,''
adds Kumar.

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[ZESTCaste] 17 persons honoured with Dalit Achiever Awards

http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/17-persons-honoured-with-Dalit-Achiever-Awards/356684.html

17 persons honoured with Dalit Achiever Awards

Express News Service
Last Updated : 25 Jan 2012 08:23:08 AM IST

CHENNAI: The Dalit Achiever Awards were conferred on 17 personalities
working for the upliftment of Dalits in various dimensions, here on
Monday. The event, hosted by the Loyola College and Thudi Movement (a
non-profit organisation working among Dalit students) also saw the
convocation of 100 first-time graduate Dalit students.

The awardees include K Sivaram Selvakumar of Kalsar Engineering
College (for Educational Services), Advocate Rajinikanth (for social
service in judiciary), Artists Nataraj and Ameer (for their
contribution to the art forms), Umashankar of Mallar Malar (for
ensuring social justice), S Palaniammal of People's Watch (for best
field work), Susee Emu Gururajan (for Industrial Achievement),
Advocate Gowthaman (for spreading ideologies of Ambedkar), Punitha
Pandian of Dalit Murasu (for Journalism), Radhakrishnan, World Carrom
Champion (for achievement in sports), Israil (for social upliftment),
Dr Padmavathi, producer of the movie, Dr Ambedar (for propagating
Ambedkar's pride), Velmurugan background singer (for achievement in
Cinema), PS Amalraj, Vice-president of TN Pondy Bar Association (for
achievements in Judiciary) and Krishnaveni, a Panchayat president (for
public life).

N Subramanian, Adidravida Welfare Minister conferred the awards on the
awardees. He said that such awards would, in fact, encourage people
from the Dalit community to scale new heights. "I also hail from the
Dalit community and I know the amount of toil you have undergone to
come here. It should not stop here and you should take it forward," he
suggested.

He also congratulated Loyola and Thudi for their initiatives to pat
the achievers and the young graduates who were first-generation
graduates from the family.

On Palaniammal, Subramanian said, "It is not easy to withstand the
pressure in field work, that too, in the discipline of human rights
of the oppressed class. She had been in the field work for 13 years
and had been taking up challenging assignments to keep a tab on the
human rights violations against Dalits."

Speaking to City Express, Palaniammal said that she did not look at
it as a personal laurel, but as a recognition for all those involved
in field work. Admitting the fact that it was not a cake walk,
Palaniammal said that the satisfaction of ensuring justice in each
case kept her going.

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[ZESTCaste] Her Sarvajan Test (Christophe Jaffrelot)

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/her-sarvajan-test/903996/

Her Sarvajan Test

Christophe Jaffrelot Posted online: Thu Jan 26 2012, 03:09 hrs

The building of a pan-Indian Dalit party was the goal of B.R. Ambedkar
for 20 years. He successively initiated the Independent Labour Party
(1935), the Scheduled Castes Federation (1942) and the Republican
Party of India (1956). But none of these could make an impact, largely
because Dalit jatis were not prepared to join hands and support the
same party. In fact, the Mahars — Ambedkar's caste fellows — were the
only ones who tended to support his parties.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, founded in 1984 by a militant Ambedkarite,
Kanshi Ram, has gradually overcome this handicap. In the course of the
past two decades, it has emerged as a full-fledged Dalit party,
largely because it was in a position to cash in on the development of
a Dalit counter-culture (look at the Dalit poetry) and positive
discriminations programmes which have given birth to a Dalit middle
class whose dedicated members were keen to organise themselves and
their caste fellows.

In its stronghold of Uttar Pradesh, where the BSP could rely on the
Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), a
movement of mostly Dalit public-sector employees that Kanshi Ram had
developed from the 1970s onwards, the BSP became the third largest
party in 1989. It then benefited from the impact it could make as a
coalition partner of the Samajwadi Party at the helm of the government
of Uttar Pradesh in 1993-95. In this capacity, it advocated policies
intended to promote the interests of the Dalits at large, such as the
Ambedkar Village Scheme. Mayawati, the BSP leader, repeated the same
strategy when she became chief minister of UP with the support of the
BJP in 1996-97 and 2003. Eventually, the BSP won a majority of seats
in the state assembly in 2007.

While in office in UP, the BSP has combined symbolic and substantial
measures. On the one hand, it has given the name of Dalit
personalities to districts and stadiums and built a large number of
Ambedkar statues in order to visibly inscribe the subaltern in the
monumental history and public space of India — and, thereby, to foster
their self-esteem. On the other hand, it has accomplished the fullest
implementation of quotas ever achieved in the state. It has also
strictly implemented the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, which has started to transform
social relations at the local level. The BSP has gradually reinforced
its stand among Dalits at large, so much so that it is not, any more,
the party of one jati, the Jatavs (the caste of Mayawati), but the
party of most of the UP Dalits. In 2009, according to a CSDS survey,
85 per cent of the Jatavs, 64 per cent of the Dusadhs (or Pasis) and
61 per cent of other Dalits have voted for the BSP.

With 21 per cent of the Dalits voting for the BSP (against 27 per cent
voting for the Congress), according to CSDS data, the party has become
the third largest party in India (by vote share), ahead of the
Communist Party of India (Marxist), in 2009. This is the first
caste-based and caste-oriented party climbing on to the podium of
national parties. To be recognised as a "national party", a party
needs, among other things, to win more than 5 per cent of valid votes,
and the BSP received more than 6 per cent valid votes in 2009.

But can 2007 be repeated? In 2007, the BSP was able to aggregate
additional voters to its Dalit votebank. The 2007 UP elections were
the testing ground of a strategy initiated by Kanshi Ram in the late
1990s, which consists of opening up not only to non-Dalit people —
something he had always done, right from the creation of the BAMCEF,
as evident from the name of the organisation itself — but also to
non-Bahujans, that is to the upper castes, provided they were not
given a share of power that would be superior to their share of the
population. As a result, Kanshi Ram nominated an increasing number of
upper-caste candidates in the 1999 elections, in proportion to their
percentage in the population.

Mayawati pursued the same agenda. She simply adapted it to the
conditions of UP where a Dalit-dominated party like the BSP was in a
good position to attract Brahmins and Vaishyas. These two groups had
more interests in common with Dalits than with the Rajputs. In fact,
the common enemy of Dalits and Banias as well as Brahmins was the
nexus formed, around Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, by the
dominant OBCs — including the Yadavs — and the Rajputs, both landed
groups which attempted to rule village life and which the upper castes
regarded as responsible for the declining law-and-order situation.
This strategy culminated in the ticket distribution Mayawati made in
2007. Of 402 candidates, the BSP nominated 86 Brahmins, 91 Dalits, 38
Vaishyas and as many Rajputs, and about 60 Muslims. While the number
of OBCs were fewer than in 2002, they were in greater numbers — 110.
This strategy produced good results. The BSP could rely on its Dalit
supporters in such a way that it could ask them to vote for
upper-caste, Muslim or OBC candidates who brought with them additional
suffrage from their own community. The BSP's transferable votebank and
this "plus vote" explained the 2007 success: not only did the BSP
continue to make progress among the Dalits with 77 per cent of the
votes (as against 69 per cent in 2002), but it also attracted 16 per
cent of the upper castes (as against 5 per cent in 2002), 27 per cent
of the non-Yadav OBC and 17 per cent of Muslims. The BSP was on its
way to becoming a catch-all party.

Whether such an achievement can be repeated, will depend upon a large
number of factors: the assessment of Mayawati's policies among the
upper castes, their fear of a comeback by Mulayam Singh Yadav, the
division of the non-Dalit vote among the SP, the Congress and the BJP
and, last but not least, the impact of the coming together of many
small Muslim parties.

The writer is a senior research fellow at CERI, Sciences Po, Paris,
express@expressindia.com

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[ZESTCaste] Ecclesiophobia in our land

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main51.asp?filename=Ws250112land.asp

Posted on 25 January 2012
OPINION
SUHAS CHAKMA

Ecclesiophobia in our land

Suhas Chakma analyses the treatment reserved for Dalit Christians in the country

The lesser among the Dalits
Converted dalits get no justice

THAT SECULAR India suffers from entrenched Christianophobia is
well-established but not publicly acknowledged by the state and the
society at large. Nothing reflects it more than the denial of
reservations to dalits who converted to Christianity under the
Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which provides that no
one other than those who profess the religion of Hinduism, Buddhism
and Sikhism will be considered as Scheduled Castes. India's
Christianophobia has come to the fore after the UPA government
promised 4.5 per cent quota for backward Muslims, believed to be
dalits who embraced Islam, in the run up to the forthcoming UP
Assembly election. The same government has been ducking reservations
to dalit Christians before the Supreme Court. Sadly, the apex court
itself took six years to consider the writ petition on the issue in
January 2011.

Historically, Britain ruled India from 1757 to 1947 — for 190 years —
but Britishers did not impose their religion, which was the case with
the previous rulers. No major group that had formal religions
converted to Christianity. In northeast India, which has the largest
concentration of Christian populations in the country, those who were
practicing formal religions did not convert to Christianity. The
tribals like the Chakmas and Mogs who practiced Buddhism from time
immemorial did not convert to Christianity. Similarly, Tripuris and
Manipuris, who were Vaishnavaites also did not convert. It was only
the ethnic groups who had their local religions, termed as animism,
who converted to Christianity.

The Christian population through post-independent India remained
static. They constituted about 2.35 per cent of the population in
1951, 2.44 per cent in 1961, 2.59 per cent in 1971, 2.45 per cent in
1981, 2.32 per cent in 1991 and 2.3 per cent in the 2001 census. Yet,
India enacted a number of laws to prohibit conversion, which were
essentially meant for the Christian missionaries.

The self-proclaimed secular Congress Party was the first one to enact
the Freedom of Religion Act in Odisha in 1967 followed by Madhya
Pradesh in 1968 and in Arunachal Pradesh in 1978. The Bharatiya Janata
Party followed suit and introduced the Freedom of Religion Act of
Gujarat in 2003 and in Chhattisgarh in 2006. While the Congress
opposed the Gujarat bill, it enacted the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of
Religion Act in 2006. Under this Act, conversion to Hinduism is
certainly not an offence. The Hindu groups have been openly converting
the tribals into Hinduism under the Ghar Wapasi movement while the
churches were kept under strict vigil and many missionaries had to
face prosecution.

Conversion to Christianity has not helped dalits. The Church itself
practises caste system. Across India, cemeteries for dalit Christians
are different from the upper castes so is the sitting arrangement.
Dalit Christians are not selected in the hierarchy of the church.
While in mainland India, the Catholics were mainly blamed for the
practice of the caste system, in the northeast India, which has the
Baptists, the complaint of domination by the Bishops from South India
is often echoed.

Apart from the Freedom of Religion Acts, the Foreign Contribution
Regulation Act 1976 has been used to monitor the missionaries. The
Restricted Area Permit has been used to control the entry of the
foreign missionaries in the northeast India. The Foreign Contribution
Regulation Act 2010 prohibits conversion. In post-independent India,
conversion has essentially been a consequence of expression of
negation and the failure of the state to reduce destitution and
discrimination.

The Tripuris, who did not convert to Christianity during the British
rule, started changing their religion mainly from the 1980s as an
expression of negation against the domination by Bengali Hindus. The
same Tripuris who are known as Reangs and Brus in Mizoram and had
converted into Christianity have been reconverting to Hinduism since
1990s as a protest against domination by the Mizo Christians. The
conversion to Christianity by dalits despite caste discrimination
within the Church has also to do with expression of negation against
the repressive caste system. Across mainland India, adivasis live in
absolute poverty and the Christian missionaries have played a critical
role in providing food, education, medical assistance, etc.

SINCE INDIA launched its tribal sub plan and special component plan in
1971-72, the contours of conversion have changed. Many of the front
organisations of the Hindu religious groups received grants made by
the Ministry of Social Justice, Ministry of Human Resources
Development, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, etc., for running schools and
hostels for the scheduled tribes and scheduled castes. These Hindu
religious organisations have increasingly adopted the methods of
Christian missionaries such as providing food, medicine, shelter,
education, etc. In this context, the role of the Indian state
irrespective of whichever party is in power has been biased.

Religion is a personal issue and must not be regulated by the state.
There are a number of dalits who identify themselves legally as Hindus
to obtain the benefits of reservations but practice Christianity. The
denial of reservations to dalit Christians has kept a large chunk of
India's discriminated population in backwardness. India must address
caste discrimination with renewed vigour. The dalits, to a large
extent, are now politically empowered but the caste system is still
alive and being practised. The government, however, has stopped
itspublic campaign against the caste system as if it does not exist.
The matrimonial pages of Indian newspapers are full of advertisements
giving caste preferences. The Railways still clear human excreta
manually though it is illegal.

And mostly low caste people are hired for it. States must not
interfere in religious matters. They ought to realise certain
religious practises like caste discrimination are criminal offences
under national laws. The state governments ought to educate people and
enforce the law. However, when the state itself practices manual
scavenging and promotes one particular religion by not enforcing the
Religious Freedom Act against the Hindu religious groups who convert
adivasis, it can no longer claim to be secular and non-casteist. The
denial of reservation to dalit Christians solely based on their
religion also makes India Christianophobic.

Suhas Chakma is director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights.
suhaschakma@achrweb.org

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit women face three-fold discrimination from birth

http://womennewsnetwork.net/2012/01/25/dalit-women-discrimination-from-birth/

Dalit women face three-fold discrimination from birth

Hetal Shah – WNN Opinion
Dalit women

Communities Rising, an education advocacy organization operating in
seven rural villages in India, provides out of school programs in
underserved rural villages of the Villupuram District, of Tamil Nadu,
India. The programs focus on literacy, math, English and computer
skills with emphasis placed on education for India's Dalits and
especially girls. Image: Kara Newhouse

(WNN) Opinion Bhuj, India: There are two Indias, and Dalit women have
learned to survive in both these worlds. Take a look at two related
but opposing headlines in The Hindu last month.

January 5, 2012: Dalit woman sarpanch emerges as poster girl for gender issues

January 11, 2012: Dalit woman paraded naked in Chavan's hometown

The former is a story of a community leader working to create a model
village in Bikaner, Rajasthan by addressing gender inequalities. Her
story is even more powerful due to the fact that she did not attain
her seat as part of the reservation quota for Dalit women in the
legislature. Under Tara Devi's leadership, maternal and infant
mortality has decreased significantly, there have been no cases of
girls dropping out of school, and there are 1,014 girls to every 982
boys (this ratio can not be found even in the progressive state of
Kerala).

The latter is a story of an upper class girl eloping with a Dalit boy.
The mother of the boy was then stripped naked and beaten in her
hometown by the girl's powerful family. Cases like this one are all
too common despite the 1989 passage of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Five people, including the girl's
parents, were arrested, but incidents of violence against Dalits
continue to be commonplace.

Dalits, previously known as Untouchables, constitute one-fourth of the
Indian population. They consist of many different castes with varying
practices, beliefs, and languages. The government of India refers to
Dalits as Scheduled Castes, and has ensured their rights within the
Constitution. Yet the rights enshrined on a piece of paper are not an
indication of facts on the ground.

This is especially true for Dalit women, who simply for being born as
such, are discriminated three-fold by society. They face caste
discrimination as they are outside the caste system altogether, they
face gender discrimination in a country that already values the boy
child over the girl, and they face class discrimination as they are at
the bottom of the socio-economic spectrum.

The caste, gender, and class they are born into condemn these women to
a lifetime of discrimination that is almost impossible to overcome.
Combined, these factors increase the likelihood of having an unpaid or
underpaid labor intensive job in the unorganized sector (outside the
realm of government regulation). It increases the rate of sex
selective abortions within the population. In fact, the sex ratio of
women to men in India is a dismal 927/1000, but among Dalits it is
even lower at 922/1000. Furthermore, Dalit women have a life
expectancy of only 50 years due to inadequate access to health care.

But there is also another side to India and to Dalit women that I can
attest to after living and working alongside them – one that says,
"impossible is nothing."

I lived with a Dalit family in Kutch, Gujarat, an arid region on the
Northwest coast bordering Pakistan. I learned from them that living
on less than 2 dollars a day does not necessarily make you unhappy.
It just means you are forced to find a way to live your life with far
fewer opportunities than others. I can see that this lack of
opportunity is precisely what makes them so resilient, because they
have had to create structures and opportunities for themselves.

There are some Rabari women (traditionally of the herding caste) in my
village that still avoid touching Dalit women when they go to collect
water together, or they wash the tap after it is touched by a Dalit.
If a Rabari woman does touch a Dalit by mistake, she will immediately
go home and wash herself so as not to let the contamination spread.

Now juxtapose this image with one where respect is shown in the Kutchi
Dalit community by an elder when he or she touches a young girl's hair
with both hands extended (instead of by the young girl bowing down to
touch the elder's feet like you will see in almost every Bollywood
movie).

Perhaps it is what Charles Tilly would call a hidden transcript – a
silent defiance within the community for all that would refer to them
as untouchable. Perhaps it has something to do with a young girl being
told too many times that she needs to bow down to the rest of society,
and this is that one miscreant act that declares otherwise. Perhaps it
is a coincidence. Perhaps it is not.

Either way – I spent a year living and working alongside Dalit women
in rural India. And all I know is I value that elder's gentle touch
on my head.

______________________________

Hetal Shah is currently pursuing a M.S. in Global Affairs at New York
University. As an Indicorps Fellow between 2011 and 2010, she worked
on a Credit and Social Security study to assess and then address the
needs of traditional artisans in Gujarat, India. She also started a
women's livelihood program where women learned to weave recycled
plastic waste. In 2009, she studied microfinance in Bangladesh where
she assessed the impact of three microfinance institutions: Grameen
Bank, BRAC, and ASA. She hopes to use her experiences to further the
cause of women's empowerment in the developing world.

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[ZESTCaste] Punjab polls: Dalit self-pride holds key in fertile Doaba

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punjab-polls-Dalit-self-pride-holds-key-in-fertile-Doaba/articleshow/11635098.cms

Punjab polls: Dalit self-pride holds key in fertile Doaba
Sachin Parashar, TNN | Jan 26, 2012, 04.37AM IST

Punjab polls: Dalit self-pride holds key in fertile Doaba
Doaba, where Punjab's 29% Dalit community swells to 35%, is witnessing
a social churning like never before, with the dalits asserting
themselves socially, culturally and even politically.

JALANDHAR: Hummer wich aounde putt chamaran de (chamar kids arrive in
Hummer), panga na le chamara de nal (don't get into a fight with
chamars), Ravidassan di chandi (Ravidasis are doing great) and fighter
chamar are some of the songs which the fertile Doaba region in Punjab
is grooving to as it goes to polls next week. Until not so long ago,
it was yaari jattan di, tu jatt di pasand and jatt di daang, songs
which became popular even outside the state.

It's not that the mighty Jatts (Jat Sikhs) have stopped singing and
dancing. Just that Doaba, where Punjab's 29% Dalit community swells to
35%, is witnessing a social churning like never before, with the
dalits asserting themselves socially, culturally and even politically.
Punjab has one the highest dalit population in the country.

It's perhaps appropriate that in a state which loves to sing and
dance, the assertion is manifesting in music, says dalit folk singer
Kulwant Kajla. ''You will be surprised to know that the demand for
such songs is not just restricted to Doaba and Punjab but also
abroad,'' he says, adding that he will soon come out with his own
chamar album.

Kajla, whose song param sant Ravidasa was a chartbuster, should know.
Kajla was one of the few singers who helped introduced dalit machismo
in Punjabi songs in 2008-09 to counter Jat Sikhs. "Some people had
reservations initially but soon they joined us when they realized that
there was nothing to be ashamed of in being a dalit,'' he adds. It's
not uncommon now to spot vehicles, especially two-wheelers, with
stickers saying putt chamaran da.

Kajla is a follower of Jalandhar-based Dera Sachkhand which claims to
have millions of followers spread all across the globe. In the UK
alone, it is said to have 26 Ravidasa temples. Its guru is none other
than Sant Niranjan Dass who was attacked by a group of extremist
Sikhs, allegedly Jat, in Vienna in 2009. Another guru, Sant Ramanand,
was killed in the attack, though. It was this attack in the Austrian
capital which laid the foundation for dalits seeking a more assertive
cultural and political identity. In just a few months music became the
most powerful tool to galvanize the youths who responded by abandoning
the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. The movement gained further
momentum in 2010 when Sant Niranjan Dass announced a new holy book for
Ravidasis called Amrit Bani.

Doaba also accounts for the maximum number of NRIs from Punjab who
helped their family members in the region by sending them money
regularly. It is also not uncommon to see dalits living in mansions
and driving luxury cars.

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[ZESTCaste] ‘Dr Ambedkar -The Making Of Indian Constitution’ Released in 3 Languages

http://indiawires.com/6894/news/state-news/dr-ambedkar-the-making-of-indian-constitution-released-in-3-languages/

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | Posted by News Desk
'Dr Ambedkar -The Making Of Indian Constitution' Released in 3 Languages

Dr HV Hande's book 'Dr Ambedkar -The Making Of Indian Constitution'
was jointly released in by Chief Minister of Karnataka DV Sadananda
Gowda and former Chief Minister of Karnataka Yeddyurappa in Bangalore
this morning. The book has been released in 3 languages- Kannada,
Tamil and English and is being published by Sapna Book Publishers. Dr
H V Hande was the former Health Minister of Tamilnadu.

Other prominent members who were present at the gathering included
former Governor Justice Dr M Rama Jois, former Chief Justice and
senior RSS Pracharak Mai Cha Jayadev. Several socio political leaders
were also present at the function.

Veteran social worker and politicians, Dr H Venkataramana Hande, 84,
hails from Kundapur district, Southern Karnataka. In the tenure of his
political career, he was elected MLA thrice, MP twice and Minister for
Health in Tamilnadu twice. Dr Hande is eminent for his writings on
'Kamba Ramayana'. During the lifetime of Chakravorthy Rajagopalachari,
he remained a close associate of his.

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[ZESTCaste] Clashes over damage to Ambedkar statues

http://expressbuzz.com/states/andhrapradesh/clashes-over-damage-to-ambedkar-statues/356435.html

Clashes over damage to Ambedkar statues

Express News Service
Last Updated : 24 Jan 2012 12:28:26 PM IST

AMALAPURAM: Section 144, prohibiting assembly of more than five
persons, has been imposed on the town for three days following
repeated clashes between two groups over damage of the statues of BR
Ambedkar in the town and its surrounding villages by some miscreants
on Sunday night.

Tension has gripped the town ever since the destruction of statues
which invited widespread protests across the state.

Minister J Geeta Reddy, N Raghuveera Reddy and several others took up
the issue with chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who held a meeting
with home minister P Sabita Reddy, DGP V Dinesh Reddy and other senior
police officials.

Additional DGP Krishna Raju will supervise the investigation to be
conducted by special teams into the incident and also bandobust in the
town.

The chief minister directed the officials to reinstall the statues of
Dr BR Ambedkar at government's expense, while the home minister
assured that miscreants would not be spared.

Amalapuram MP GV Harsha Kumar and Mala Mahandu state president K
Sivaji met the chief minister and the home minister separately, and
demanded a thorough probe and severe punishment to the culprits.

Ramachandrapuram DSP Srinivasa Rao has been appointed as special
officer to probe the demolition of statues at Bandavaripeta,
Bodasakurru, Chindada Garuva, Rollapalem and Nallavantena.

Additional police forces were rushed from Krishna and West Godavari
districts to vulnerable areas in East Godavari district to prevent any
untoward incidents.

Protesters came out in large numbers onto the roads demanding that the
government identify the miscreants and punish them immediately.

Traffic was stalled for hours together on National Highway-214 and at
Nallavantena, Erravantena, Idarapalli, Clock Tower and Y-Junction.

Later, the agitators demanded that traders close their shops.

Their demand led to heated arguments between traders and agitators.

Even before the police could reach the spot, groups of two communities
pelted each other with stones and indulged in violence forcing the
traders to shut their shops.

People of both the communities are staging a dharna at the Clock Tower
Centre in Amalapuram and have refused to leave as advised by the
police.

East Godavari superintendent of police C Trivikrama Varma rushed to
Amalapuram and reviewed the situation.

Deputy inspector-general of police (Eluru range) G Suryaprakasa Rao is
also camping in the town.

Speaking to Express, Amalapuram deputy superintendent of police
Sridhar said members of the two groups positioned themselves 100
metres apart in a surcharged atmosphere but have refrained from
attacking each other

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[ZESTCaste] ‘Cong demeaning Ambedkar by dishonouring Constitution’

http://dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhopal/37478-cong-demeaning-ambedkar-by-dishonouring-constitution.html

'Cong demeaning Ambedkar by dishonouring Constitution'

Tuesday, 24 January 2012 00:01
Staff Reporter | Bhopal

BJP Scheduled Caste cell State president Lal Singh Arya said that the
Congress was demeaning Babasaheb Ambedkar by dishonouring the Indian
Constitution.

The Indian Constitution, by providing reservation to the Scheduled
Castes and Tribes that had been facing injustice for decades, provided
natural justice to these sections of the society.

However, the Constitution has never agreed to provide reservation in
the name of religion, cult or community.

Arya further said that when a demand of reservation was raised on the
basis of religion and cult, during the British Rule in 1935, the
representatives of all the ideologies had turned down the demand.

When the Congress talks of reservation to Muslims terming them as
backward, it does not mean development of backwards. It simply wants
to extort the Muslims sentimentally for votes, he alleged. This is
why; the Congress raises the reservation issue just before the
elections.

Arya further alleged that if minority votes come in favour of
Congress, the deal would be crystal clear.

A difference between minorities is never said to be inequality. Arya
also said that after independence in 1947, a meeting of the framing
committee of the Constitution was held where the representatives of
all the ideologies were present and they denied the reservations on
the basis of religion.

On the recommendation of Sachar Committee and Rangnath Misra
Commission the unconstitutional facts cannot be termed as
constitutional. But now the question arises that when the Congress
ruled for 58 years then how it can free itself from taking an
accountability of the prevailed backwardness in society," Arya asked.

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[ZESTCaste] Amalapuram tense over desecration of Ambedkar statues

http://www.siasat.com/english/news/amalapuram-tense-over-desecration-ambedkar-statues

Amalapuram tense over desecration of Ambedkar statues
Monday, 23 January 2012

Kakinada, January 23: The situation in Amalapuram town, the nerve
centre of Konaseema region, suddenly became tense today morning
following desecration of Ambedkar statues at five places there
overnight. Official sources said dalits gathered in large numbers at
the clock tower centre and staged protest demonstration for some time
raising slogans demanding action against the miscreants responsible
for the vandalism. Later they went on forcing the closure of the shops
in all the streets and problems started with a group of people in the
market area resisting them refusing to down their shutters. It led to
heated arguments between the dalits and other community people and
culminated in hurling of stones against each other. The police
intervened and chased the crowds but they soon regrouped and indulged
in stone throwing. Finally, the situation was brought under control
only after arriving of the East Godavari SP Dr Trivikram varma along
with revenue authorities. He held discussions with the both the groups
and pacified them. He also assured the dalits to initiate stringent
action against the miscreants responsible for the desecration of
Ambedkar statues after holding a detailed inquiry into the incident.

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