Latest News Update: Feb 15, 2012

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

[ZESTCaste] Stark pictorial tribute to Jotiba Phule

http://news.in.msn.com/exclusives/it/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5849746

Updated: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:33:56 GMT | By Gillian Wright, India Today
Stark pictorial tribute to Jotiba Phule
Pictorial biography of the Phules who saw education as an antidote to
caste conflict

This startling black and white graphic book is the latest offering
from Navayana, India's first and only publishing house to focus
exclusively on the issue of caste from an anti-caste perspective.
Navayana means New Vehicle, and it was the word that Ambedkar chose to
give to the new school of Indian Buddhists-those who, like him,
renounced the caste system by renouncing Hinduism altogether. Of the
two founders of the Navayana publishing house, one was elected as a
Dalit Panthers MLA to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, and the other is a
former journalist. On their website they invite manuscripts on caste
issues, and this welcoming attitude must have encouraged Srividya
Natarajan and Aparajita Ninan as they created this pictorial biography
of the 19th century Maharashtrian social reformer Jotiba Phule and his
wife Savitribai.

Jotiba Phule had great ambitions for the Sudras and Ati-Sudras, and
saw equal rights to education for all as the means to fulfil those
ambitions. He and his wife ran schools, and stood up not just for
widow remarriage but for a wide range of women's rights. However,
Phule probably never imagined that he and Savitribai would become such
potent symbols in 21st century India for the sections of society they
represented. All over the country, educational institutions are coming
up in their names. I saw one of them beside the highway from Jaipur to
Delhi-the site for a Mahatma Jotiba Phule University.

This book clearly reveals why he and Savitribai, whom he married when
she was just eight years old, were so remarkable and why they remain
such potent symbols today. The title A Gardener in the Wasteland
refers to the fact that they belonged to the Mali caste and spent
their lives trying to clear the wasteland of caste and grow a healthy
society. Their opponents in Maharashtra were the Brahmins, depicted in
the book as hairy, heavily moustached thugs in dhotis, whom Phule
believed had used religion to enslave other castes, especially the
lower castes and untouchables. To fight back, Phule, who himself
suffered oppression, used the pen. In his writings he ridiculed the
scriptures that he was convinced were created as instruments of
enslavement. Ninan and Natarajan's lively pictures illustrate his
spirited and rational demolition of the Vedas, the Puranas, and the
Laws of Manu. For Phule, Parashuram was a genocidal maniac and Vamana
a deceiver and slimebag who destroyed the golden age of Bali. Phule
mocks Brahma's giving birth to the four varnas by arguing that this
meant he had vaginas in his mouth, arms, groin and legs and would have
spent most of the month menstruating.

Natarajan and Ninan also explain why he did not feel any sympathy for
the leaders of the nascent freedom movement. He owed his own education
to a Scotsman and drew inspiration for his cause from the emancipation
of slaves in the United States. He could have had little hope of
justice from any caste Hindu-led organisation.

It's not only the illustrations in this book that are black and white.
The story too is one of stark opposites. The authors admit that in a
graphic book they cannot include all the nuances and details of this
courageous and determined couple's life. For example, although Phule
derided Brahmanism, he remained a Hindu and is said to have adopted a
boy who happened to be a Brahmin. But they can inspire their readers
to try and understand the world from the perspectives of those who
have been underdogs for centuries.

Source:

www.indiatoday.in

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[ZESTCaste] Ambedkar statue defiled at Tellapur

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ambedkar-statue-defiled-at-tellapur/230665-60-114.html

Andhra Pradesh | Posted on Feb 16, 2012 at 07:40am IST
Ambedkar statue defiled at Tellapur
indianexpress Express News Service , The New Indian Express

SANGAREDDY: Tension prevailed at Tellapur village in Ramachandrapuram
mandal� following the desecration of Ambedkar statue by miscreants on
Tuesday night.� Dalit organisations staged protests on Wednesday
against the desecration. Deputy chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha,
Patancheru MLA Nandeeswar Goud and senior police officials rushed to
the spot.

The deputy chief minister asked the superintendent of police PJ Victor
to take stringent action against the miscreants, irrespective of their
social status and political affiliations.

He condemned the incident and said the law should be amended to the
effect that people defiling statues of national leaders get severe
punishment.

Meanwhile, TRS MP Vijayashanti, who visited the spot, expressed
unhappiness over the functioning of the state government and demanded
that the miscreants should be brought to book.

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati: Queen in her cocoon…

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/mayawati-queen-in-her-cocoon-214684.html

Mayawati: Queen in her cocoon…

Akshaya Mishra Feb 15, 2012

Lucknow: The presence of the part of Gomti Nagar which houses the
sprawling 123-acre Ambedkar Memorial and the old city in a single
visual frame explaining Lucknow makes it look like a badly done cut
and paste job. One is, a medieval dream come alive in modern times and
the other, a picture of civic chaos and decay; one a shining symbol of
political hubris and extravagance and the other a tell-tale story of
neglect.

There are enough concrete structures and glass-fronted buildings
making up the middle space. But they fail hopelessly short to provide
consistency to the visual narrative. Both are signs of a
self-indulgent and indifferent government. Between these contrasting
pictures lies the story of the failure of Mayawati.

Election is due in Lucknow on 19 but the excitement about it is not
palpable. The mood seems in agreement with the character of the city —
silent, brooding and comfortable with itself. However, if you scratch
the surface, you detect anger, a lot of it.

"Look around. See the mess. Do you think we have a government that
works?'' asks the gentleman who has become my guide from the Chowk
area to Khala Bazaar. Traffic chaos, damaged roads, piling garbage,
goats moving around aimlessly, shops extending unto the roads and the
general disarray around – yes, all this do not make for a pretty
picture. Old city areas across India are a bit messy but in Lucknow it
is something else.

AFP

The civic body, obviously, has failed. Apparently it is struggling for
funds. "All the money went into those statues," explained the
gentleman helpfully. He was referring to the sand-stone statues at the
Ambedkar Memorial.

The paanwala turns out to be a reservoir of knowledge on political
matters. The BSP is going to lose and the Samajwadi Party will get
good number of seats. The BJP and the Congress will end up third and
fourth, he says, adding, SP and Congress will form government
together. That is the general assessment of the man on the street.

"Mayawati needs to be taught a lesson. People have chosen a chief
minister, not a maharani. This woman spends government money like it
is her father's property. Look at the corruption. Where do her
diamonds come from? From public money obviously,'' he says. His friend
chips in: "Her votes are in the villages. She understands that. She
also understands that urban voters are fickle. Why should she be
worried about this place? She has left it to rot."

Zaheer Mustafa, editor of Urdu daily In Dino, says the anger is in no
way misplaced. He, however, takes the explanation of the popular
disenchantment to another level. Mayawati has deliberately distanced
herself from people by making herself inaccessible, he says.

"She neither goes out often nor addresses public meetings nor meets
the press. It is difficult even for party MLAs to raise their problems
before her, forget the common man. She gets easily irritated and has
no patience to hear things out. She has no ears for news that is
uncomfortable to her. And the punishment for any indiscretion is
swift. This way she has closed herself to the outside world. This kind
of approach certainly hits administration,'' he says.

The Brahmins who joined her in 2007 had expected that she would allow
them to play a role in party affairs, but that has not happened. Even
the Dalits don't play any role in decision-making. That has created a
lot of disenchantment in both the groups. "Basically, she does not
trust anyone. She does not allow the party to address situations that
require a political response. A cabinet secretary reads out her
response and that is how it works in all cases. If she survives, it
will be because of the strong organisation she has created," Mustafa
says.

The spate of corruption charges against her and her brother, Anand
Kumar — who the BJP alleges runs at least 26 companies which
registered phenomenal growth after Mayawati came to power —has dented
her public image. He is alleged to have benefitted from the land deals
in Noida, which later led to farmers' agitations. In addition, there's
the extravagance in the construction of parks. Mayawati certainly has
distanced herself from people more than one way. Her problems are of
her own making.

The fear among people is if she gets a repeat mandate, the state will
be ruined. "Tab to woh aur ek Taj Mahal bana legi. Hum log yahin
baithe rahenge soch soch ke kya ho raha he," says the paanwala's
friend.

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati ignores common man, promotes corrupt: Rahul

http://twocircles.net/2012feb15/mayawati_ignores_common_man_promotes_corrupt_rahul.html

Mayawati ignores common man, promotes corrupt: Rahul
Submitted by admin4 on 15 February 2012 - 8:25pm

By IANS,

Lucknow : As Uttar Pradesh voted in the third phase of assembly polls
Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi kept up his attack on Chief
Minister Mayawati in his maiden rally at the state capital, accusing
her of neglecting the common man.

Addressing an impressive crowd at the DAV College grounds in the
crowded Moti Nagar locality, he made a passionate appeal to them to
vote the Congress party to power.

"If you want to change Uttar Pradesh and put Uttar Pradesh on the fast
track like Congress-ruled states, rise and vote for Congress," he said
amidst cries of "Rahul tum sangharsh karo; hum tumhare saath hain"
(Rahul you lead the struggle; we are with you).

He hit out at the ruling Bahuijan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party
(SP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for doing "lip service through
their false promises".

In a melodramatic gesture, he even tore off a sheet of paper with
something written on it to convey how poll promises made by those
parties were meant to be treated.

"Whenever there is an election, these political parties go to town
making all kinds of promises, which they never intend to fulfil. That
is the reason these promises deserve what I am doing," he said while
tearing the sheet of paper and flinging it in the air.

Dressed in his usual white kurta-pyjama and sporting an unkempt beard,
he said people being forced to migrate due to lack of employment
opportunities in Uttar Pradesh.

He said the Metro in Delhi was constructed by workers from Uttar
Pradesh and they also played a vital role in agriculture in Punjab and
Haryana.

"He (the worker) eats half a meal but keeps working. He falls sick but
works and one day passes away," he said.

Hitting out at Mayawati, Gandhi said: "Your leaders do not come to
you. They do not talk to you ... How can they talk of development."

Earlier, he also addressed a rally at Bakshi-ka-Talab, one of the
rural assembly constituencies on the outskirts of the city.

"It is after a gap of 22 years that the Congress is in the thick of
the electoral battle for Uttar Pradesh. This fight is aimed at
building a new Uttar Pradesh in order to provide a future for the
people of this state who have remained a target of neglect for more
than two decades," he said.

Attacking the BJP for playing "politics of religion", he charged SP
and BSP of "playing up caste only to serve their short sighted vested
interests".

"The BJP came (to power) four times. It did nothing. It took name of
Lord Ram but did nothing. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi
Party came and sought votes on caste. They did nothing," Gandhi said.

Rahul proposes to go a road-show in Lucknow Thursday.

Voting will be held here Sunday in the fourth phase of poll that shall
cover 56 constituencies. The seven-phased poll in Uttar Pradesh ends
March 3. The results would be out March 6.

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[ZESTCaste] Jury is out on UP, but the likely loser is clearer: Mayawati

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/jury-is-out-on-up-but-the-likely-loser-is-clearer-mayawati-215003.html

Jury is out on UP, but the likely loser is clearer: Mayawati

Feb 16, 2012

by Jai Mrug

The core team of IAC (India Against Corruption) that was campaigning
in Barabanki in January had attracted a crowd of almost 7,000 people.
To put the numbers in perspective, this was perhaps far better than
the crowd that the movement attracted at Anna Hazare's sit-in fast in
Mumbai in December.

The substantially high turnout in the Uttar Pradesh polls so far
should, therefore, surprise none. It was clearly a maturing and
younger democracy trying to assert itself. The key question is how
will this higher turnout impact the electoral outcome over and above
the caste calculus and the first-past-the-post Westminster model.
Importantly, one should debate suitable models for sustainable voter
engagement that can survive the complex caste calculus of a vast
state.

In a high turnout, irrespective of party affiliations, the ones to be
hit first will be incumbent MLAs as a higher turnout is a sign of
voter assertion. A high turnout fuelled by revolutionary fervour is
invariably against the incumbent MLAs and, in many ways, against the
incumbent government as well.

Since a majority of MLAs belong to the BSP, the party could be the
worst hit on this count. Importantly, the BSP won one seat for
approximately every 78,000 votes it polled, making it the biggest
beneficiary of the first-past-the-post system. If the same turnout
persists, to maintain its seat tally the party would have to
accumulate anywhere upwards of one lakh votes per winning seat and
retain a vote share upwards of 26 percent.

Secondly, such a high turnout would mean a windfall for parties that
do not have an organisation or a dedicated cadre to help them mobilise
floating voters. It is usually the floating or undecided voter who
chooses to abstain. Parties that have a brand name but do not have a
substantial machinery benefit first. In the case of UP, it means that
these parties could be the Congress and the BJP, in that order.

With the BJP having just wriggled out of the Kushwaha episode and with
porngate still fresh in people's minds, the party to benefit more
could well be the Congress.

With a relatively higher turnout across castes this time, the BSP's
core strength relative to others threatens to shrink. Reuters

However, another nuance one must closely examine is the caste calculus
surrounding the expulsion of ministers by the BSP. While most view
their expulsion as good riddance, members of the native castes of
those expelled see them as victims of her hubris and scapegoats in the
cause of retaining her image at their cost just before the elections.

If reports from the field are to be believed this is creating some
goodwill for their new sponsors on the ground. Thus parties like the
BJP may well pick up in some pockets such as Bundelkhand because of a
new social alignment.

The impact of a high turnout would be substantial on parties that have
depended excessively on caste-based turnout to enhance their seat
tally. These are the BSP and the Samajwadi Party (SP), in that order.
The BSP has always depended on a relatively higher and well mobilised
turnout among the scheduled castes (SCs) to help it gather a golden
core in most constituencies. It augmented this core with the addition
of various other castes to form its core-and-petals rainbow
coalition..

With a relatively higher turnout across castes this time, the BSP's
core strength relative to others threatens to shrink. In addition to
that, over the years the BSP focused on consolidating its base amongst
SCs, with a number of schemes pertaining to housing, scholarships and
awarding land to small agriculturalists. However, in view of the
not-so-pleasant law and order situation, and disillusionment amongst
other castes, the petals, consisting of other castes outside the core
SC vote, seem to be disappearing.

This leaves the BSP in an unrewarding situation with a consolidated
but isolated core base. That would severely impede its ability to
convert its votes into seats.

A back-of-the-envelope calculation: Assuming that the heightened
turnout does not have BSP voters in the same proportion as in the
previous election, that itself would drop the BSP's vote share to
somewhere in the range of 25 – 27 percent even without the incumbency
bias.

Add to that the onset of anti-incumbency and withering away of other
castes, the party could well be whittled to 23-and- odd percent or
even lower. The last time the party had a vote share of this magnitude
it ended up with 98 seats (2002) – 23 percent of the votes. At 20
percent of the votes, the party mopped up 67 seats (1996). The BSP
could well end up as the biggest loser in this election, bigger than
most of us could imagine.

Most politicians in UP might need to take a path that is substantially
different in the days to come. A blend of development and the ability
to break entrenched caste equations and reorganising them deftly based
on economic pursuits, much like the way Nitish Kumar did in Bihar,
would hold the key to the next phase of political stability in UP.

Mayawati's core-and-petals model seems to have outlived its utility.
We require not just social engineering, but its blend with innovation
and engineering in governance to deliver stable political formations
and thus governments.

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[ZESTCaste] KCR: Dalits will rule Telangana state

http://www.andhrawishesh.com/home/top-stories/24697-kcr-dalits-will-rule-telangana-state.html

KCR: Dalits will rule Telangana state
Feb 15 ,2012 20:11 PM

TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao said today that the most backward and
oppressed people in the country are the SCs and STs.

Releasing the tribal teachers' diary at TRS Bhavan in Hyderabad this
evening, KCR said that political parties and leaders have been using
the name of SCs and STs for the sake of votes in elections but have
actually done nothing for their welfare.

"For this reason, we have decided to make a Dalit leader the Chief
Minister of Telangana state after the separate state is formed," he
said adding only such a leader can represent the majority of the
people.

Accusing the former CM Chandrababu Naidu of diverting SC and ST funds
for other purposes during his regime, KCR said Dalit organizations
remained silent during those days. "The Dalit organizations should
strive for the welfare of the Dalits through agitations," he exhorted
the SC and ST leaders.

KCR promised that each Dalit family would be allotted three acres of
land freely and SC and ST children would get free education from KG to
PG in the Telangana state. "All SC and ST hostels will be closed and
the Dalit students will stay together with others," he said. (JUBS)

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[ZESTCaste] Uthapuram castes away ugly past

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-15/madurai/31062903_1_muthalamman-villagers-uthapuram

Uthapuram castes away ugly past
TNN Feb 15, 2012, 11.54AM IST

MADURAI: Tuesday's move by both dalit and non-dalit communities in
Uthapuram to withdraw cases filed against each other during the years
of animosity marks the success of a series of initiatives by the
police and revenue officials backed by villagers to break with the
past.

Representatives from non-dalit Pillai and dalit Pallar communities -
Marimuthu, Murugesan, Ponniah, Sankaralingam along with K Aadhimoolam
and Chinmaya Somasundar, who were coordinating the peace process said
that the 50-year-long caste issue between these two communities was
amicably settled on October 20, 2011 after an eight-point agreement
was signed between both parties.

As the first step, the temple entry was scheduled on November 10, 2011
where Pallars were taken into Muthalamman temple administered by
Pillais.

Now, they have asked the district police to withdraw cases filed
against each other because they are burdened with a series of cases
and struggling to lead a peaceful life, the villagers said. Murugesan,
leader of Pillai community said that what they need is a peaceful life
and welfare measures for the village. "We have approached the
government for the same, seeking welfare measures like construction of
road, bus shelter and other facilities which will aid the
reconciliation process," he said.

B Balanagadevi, DIG, Madurai Range and Garg, who addressed reporters
later said that the villagers have approached the police department
requesting to withdraw the cases pending against them.

"The villagers have requested us to withdraw the case pending against
them and we will expedite their request as per the regular procedure,"
Balanagadevi said.

Commenting on the road which was the major issue between the two
parties, Garg said that the people from both communities are using the
road after the agreement was signed. "They are demanding that the road
be widened for the vehicular movement and there are small
encroachments as well. We are taking the necessary measures to ensure
that the reconciliation process goes on smooth," he said.

Uthapuram residents' bold step to break caste barriers and build a new
community that subsumes age-old caste heirachies could serve as a role
model for other such villages.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit trap: The undoing of Maya?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Specials/Coverage/Assembly-Elections-2012/Chunk-HT-UI-AssemblyElections2012-UP-Strategy/Dalit-trap-The-undoing-of-Maya/SP-Article10-811544.aspx

Dalit trap: The undoing of Maya?
Varghese K George, Hindustan Times
Lucknow, February 14, 2012

"Mayawati's government has been as good or as bad as all governments
have been," Keval Singh says. After some initial
evasion, someone finally declares: "We had voted for BSP in 2007, but
not this time."

It is not unusual for a particular group to switch loyalty between two
elections, but the discontent among Kushwahas with the BSP in Saidpur
is illustrative of a huge tactical disadvantage that incumbent chief
minister Mayawati faces in constituencies reserved for Scheduled
Castes.

"It was in these constituencies that Mayawati had won the 2007
elections; and now, it is here that her rainbow social coalition is
threatening to unravel," says Rajesh Singh, a political scientist
based in Gorakhpur.

In 2007, it was in SC constituencies that the Brahmin-Dalit core of
Maya's social rainbow played out in its full strength — as no other
party could put up a Brahmin candidate, the community voted in full
strength for the Dalit put up by the BSP. Others gravitated towards
this combination easily and the victory was phenomenal — BSP won 62 of
89 SC seats, nearly one third of its total tally of 206.

As the Brahmins are showing clear signs of abandoning Mayawati, her
toughest battle is in these constituencies — where the candidate is
Dalit but there is no other caste strength to add on to it. The
increased militancy and consolidation among her core voters is
visible— but is evidently not good enough, as her own supporters
admit. "Dalits of all castes would mostly vote for BSP, but all others
will vote against it," says Manish Gautam, an articulate, 18-year-old
Dalit boy, who has been recently recruited by the Indian Air Force.

Until Mayawati's Dalit-Brahmin coalition trumped it in 2007, the
Samajwadi Party had been doing well in SC constituencies — in 2002
assembly election, the SP had 34, while the BSP had only 24. Between
2002 and 2007, the BSP's overall number of seats went up by 100%, but
its SC seats went up by 250%. In 2009 Lok Sabha elections — by when
already the rainbow coalition was weakening — of the total 23 seats
won by the SP, 10 were reserved.

While the SP is hoping such natural factors to play out, the Congress
has started 'Mission-85,' a special drive focusing on reserved seats —
four less than in 2007 — after delimitation of constituencies.

Led by IAS-officer-turned Congress MP BL Punia and young Dalit face
Ashok Tanwar MP, a special task force has been deployed in the SC
constituencies. "Dalit candidates are not well versed with techniques
of electioneering. We are supporting them in that," says Tanwar. "We
will get at least 40 of the reserved seats," claims Punia.

In Saidpur, the consolidation against the BSP seems to be favouring
the SP. The gainers can be different across constituencies; but there
appears to be only one loser.

------------------------------------

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[ZESTCaste] Odisha urges AIIMS to depute a neurologist for Pipili victim

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/odisha-urges-aiims-to-depute-a-neurologist-for-pipili-victim/963875.html

Odisha urges AIIMS to depute a neurologist for Pipili victim
PTI | 05:02 PM,Feb 15,2012

Bhubaneswar, Feb 15 (PTI) As health condition of the alleged dalit
rape and attempt to murder victim of Pipili continued to remain
critical, Odisha government had requested the All India Institute of
Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi to depute a neurologist for further
examination, official sources said today. The condition of the
19-year-old girl, who had been treated at the ICU of the SCB Medical
College Hospital in Cuttack since January first week, did not improve
despite best efforts of the doctors of the hospital, the state
government said in a letter to the director of the AIIMS. The girl,
who was in semi-coma stage, was allegedly raped and attempts were made
to kill her at Arjungada village under Pipili Police Station area on
November 28, 2011. She was admitted to the SCBMCH following an order
of the Orissa High Court. The state government also mentioned in the
letter that the director of National Commission for Scheduled Castes,
Dr Divakar Basak during his recentt visit, had called for the service
of a neurologist from the AIIIMS, New Dlhi for providing better
medical care to the victim. So far three commissions like NCSC,
National Commission for Women (NCW) and the State Commission for Women
(SCW) have separately undertaken probe into the alleged rape and
attempt to murder case involving the teenaged girl. The SCW, which had
submitted its enquiry report to the state government, blamed the
doctors for the worsening health condition of the dalit girl, while
NCSC director expressed his displeasure over the treatement of the
victim during initial days.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit millionaires defy caste system

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/NB16Df02.html

Feb 16, 2012

Dalit millionaires defy caste system
By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE - India's Dalits (former Untouchables), whose growing
electoral influence has been visible for some years, are beginning to
slowly reveal their economic muscle. A miniscule but expanding group
of first-generation Dalit entrepreneurs has thrown up some
millionaires.

This has triggered debate on the role that economic liberalization has
played in changing their fortunes.

According to the Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), there
are over 30 Dalit crorepatis (one whose net wealth exceeds a crore or
10 million rupees - roughly US$205,400) in the country.

While the number of crorepatis is exceedingly small especially since
there are around 170 million Dalits in India, the success

Dilbert
mute

stories - most of them are tales of rags to riches - indicate that in
the new India, Dalits can begin hoping to figure in Fortune's list of
millionaires.

Dalits are at the bottom of India's millennia-old caste hierarchy.
They have suffered intense discrimination for centuries, excluded from
education and public life and allowed employment only in "dirty" jobs
such as cleaning toilets, skinning cows, digging graves, etc. So dirty
were Dalits in the eyes of the upper castes that even the shadow of a
Dalit falling on an upper-caste person was considered to be polluting.

Consequently, Dalits lived far away from upper-caste settlements.
Dalit villages were located so that the air from there would not blow
into upper caste homes. They were not allowed into restaurants,
temples or other public places. They were forbidden from carrying
umbrellas, wearing footwear, shirts or sunglasses.

Although in 1950, Independent India banned the practice of
"Untouchability" ie the social, physical and political exclusion of
Dalits, and followed it up with the Prevention of Atrocities Act in
1989 and sought to improve literacy and economic well-being of the
community through quotas in education and government employment,
Dalits continue to suffer severe discrimination and are targets of
horrific violence unleashed by dominant castes.

Dalits constitute the overwhelming majority of India's poor,
illiterate and hungry. A mere 30.1% of Dalits are literate today
compared with the Indian average of 75%. Discrimination against Dalit
children in schools forces them to drop out; the Dalit dropout rate is
almost 50%. Dalits constitute the bulk of India's landless laborers,
its unemployed and underpaid. In India, cleaning of toilets is still a
task that only Dalits do.

It is the context of continuing exclusion and ill-treatment of Dalits
that makes the emergence and rise of Dalit capitalists all the more
spectacular.

In the two decades since India began liberalizing its economy, the
number of millionaires and billionaires in the country has grown
phenomenally. In 2011, India had 55 (dollar) billionaires, six more
than the previous year. Two Indians figure among the 10 richest in the
world.

The emergence of Dalit millionaires is a far more dramatic development
than that of millionaires in other communities. After all most of them
are first generation illiterates.

Take Ashok Khade, for instance. Born in a mud hut in Ped village in
Maharashtra, Khade belonged to a family of Chamars, a Dalit subcaste
that is among the lowest in the caste hierarchy. One of six children
of a poor, illiterate cobbler, Khade's childhood was the typical Dalit
story of exclusion.

As a young adult, he worked at the dockyard by day and studied for a
diploma in engineering by night, sleeping under staircases as he could
not afford to pay rent for a home. Today, the 56-year-old is a
millionaire, heading the $100-million DAS Offshore Engineering, an oil
rig engineering company with 4,500 people on its payrolls.

Most of the Dalit millionaires have similar stories tell. Their rise
to riches was against all odds.

By setting up their own enterprises and investing capital in them,
Dalit entrepreneurs are signaling that they are not averse to risk.
Several are unwilling to take a chance on discrimination by their
dominant caste colleagues. Aware of the reality out there, some have
changed or dropped their surnames if these reveal their Dalit origin.

The successful entrepreneurs now they want to help others in the community.

Some are hiring Dalits in their companies. They are also trying to
remove hurdles that they encountered when they were starting off as
aspiring entrepreneurs.

One such hurdle is access to capital. Although there are government
institutions such as the National Scheduled Caste Finance and
Development Corporation, that extends loans to Dalits, these loans are
small and given in installments. Besides, existing funding mechanisms
are largely against collateral. This means they are beyond the reach
of a large number of aspiring Dalit entrepreneurs, DICCI's chairman
Milind Kamble pointed out.

This prompted DICCI to set up a US$100 million venture capital fund
for Dalits last year that is scheduled to open up for business in a
few months. Several Dalit millionaires including Khade and Kamble have
contributed to this fund.

Another body which has pitched in to help aspiring Dalit entrepreneurs
is the Confederation of Indian Industry. Last year it agreed to work
with DICCI to increase sourcing of goods and services from Dalit
entrepreneurs by 10-20%.

The success of some Dalit entrepreneurs, their entry into the
exclusive millionaire club is often attributed to opportunities opened
up by economic liberalization.

A recent study by the Center for the Advanced Study of India of the
University of Pennsylvania covering 19,071 Dalit households in Bilaria
Ganj block in Azamgarh district and Khurja block in Bulandshahr
district (both in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh) found that
Dalit lifestyles have undergone "massive changes" since 1990.

In terms of asset ownership, for instance, between 1990 and 2007, the
proportion of Dalit households in the sample with a television set
jumped from 0.9% to 22% in Azamgarh and 0.7% to 45% in Bulandshahr.
The study found a "very substantial improvement in housing" with 64.4%
and 94.6% in Azamgarh and Bulandshahr respectively reporting they now
live in pakka (concrete) housing compared to 18.1% and 38.4%
respectively in 1990.

Many are unwilling to attribute the improvement in the Dalit situation
to economic liberalization. "Behavioral and lifestyle changes are
natural with time and circumstances," Vivek Kumar, sociology professor
at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, told The Mint, a
business daily.

Others argue that the Dalit situation has in fact worsened with the
state increasingly pulling out of health, education, etc since 1990.
Denied of subsidies and safety nets that were available pre-1990,
Dalits are running into huge debts to pay for healthcare or worse.

Analysts like P Sainath have drawn attention to economic
liberalization's impact for India's poorest, the bulk of who are
Dalits. This impact has been brutal especially for those in
agriculture, which is where most Dalits are employed. Over the past 15
years, over a quarter million farmers - most of them are likely to be
Dalits - have committed suicide on account of mounting debt.

Thus not all of India's Dalits have any reason to celebrate
liberalization. In fact the majority are not. The phenomenon of Dalit
millionaires after all is hardly representative of the Dalit reality.

While liberalization of India's economy has facilitated the emergence
of Dalit millionaires, the significant role of literacy and political
empowerment - the rise of Dalit politics coincided with liberalization
- cannot be ignored. A common feature of the Dalit millionaires is
that they have had some education.

While education provided the foundation, liberalization opened up opportunity.

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore. She can be reached at sudha98@hotmail.com

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[ZESTCaste] Protest human sacrifice of a dalit worker

Protest human sacrifice of a dalit worker

NARABALI VIRODHI VEDIKE

BENGALURU

PRESS
STATEMENT

14 FEBRUARY 2012

The human sacrifice that took place at Thirumaladevara Koppa in
Ranebennuru taluk of Haveri district on 26 November 2011 has already
drawn the attention of the people allover the state. A 17 year old dalit
boy by name Basavaraja Kadimani was sacrificed to set right Vastu Dosha of
the house of Basavanagowda of the same village. Basavaraja was working
with Basavanagowda , a land lord. as a tractor driver. In fact almost all
the members of his family had worked for the land lord at one time or the
other in the past.

Nijalinga swamy, popularly known as Tatu Ajja of Niralagi near Gadag used
to visit Basavanagowda very often . Under his guidance the land lord had
already performed many rituals on various occasions. On 26th November,
2012 Basavaraja went to his master's place at night and did not return.
Next day early in the morning the members of his family, father, mother
and elder brother were informed by the police of Haligeri police station
that Basavaraja had been injured in a fight with Ninganagowda, the son of
Basavanagowda and had been hospitalized. The police took them not the
hospital, but to the police station where they told them that their boy had
been killed and not just injured. They were brought to a spot near their
village where they saw a gunny sack containing the dead body of Basavaraj.
The body bore marks of vermilion and turmeric . It also had a hole on the
forehead. An eye had been plucked out and a few teeth ere missing. The
parents and others suspected that it was a case of sacrifice and
complained to the police on those grounds. But the police did not register
it as case of sacrifice but continued to maintain that it was only a
murder . Later on the villagers also found traces of blood sprinkled all
over around the house. When the police opened the doors of the house nearly
50 days after the incident blood marks were also found inside the
building. Still the police were not ready to consider the angle of human
sacrifice in this case. Ninganagowda , the son of Basavanagowda had
surrendered to the police saying that he had killed Basavaraja.

Members of Peoples' Democratic Forum and Swabhimani Dalita Shakti visited
the village on 9th January 2012 met the villagers including the parents
and relatives of Basavaraja and also the police officer(Dy S P of
Ranebennuru) investigating the case. We found that in spite of the
evidence and complaint by the parents the police are not ready to consider
the angle of human sacrifice seriously. They have been insisting that it
was only a murder committed by Ninganagowda suspecting illicit relationship
between Basavaraja and his (Ninganagowda's) wife which on verificatio does
not sound credible. The people of the village and also various other
progressive elements of the area held a protest rally and demonstration at

Ranebennuru on 30th January 2012 to press the demand to consider it as not
merely a murder but as human sacrifice. It is only then that the sorcerer,
Tatu Ajja's role will be exposed. It is essential not merely to find out
the truth but also to prevent any recurrence of such superstitious
practices in future. But some how the police of Ranebennuru are not
prepared to move in that direction . This will only protect the sorcerer
and the head of the family Basavanagowda.

Already an application has been made to the State Human Rights Commission
and an appeal to the honourable governor of Karnataka has been submitted
through the Tahasildar of Ranebennuru.

Demands:

1)The police of Ranebennuru should take the complaint of the parents of
Basavaraj seriously and treat it as a case of human sacrifice.

2)In case of the local police failing to do so the case should be handed
over to the CBI by the state government.

3)The sorcerer Tatu Ajja and the head of the family Basavanagowda who was
responsible for the murder/sacrifice should be arrested.

3)Compensation should be paid to the family according to rules existing in
such cases.

Shivalingam

(Swabhimani Dalita Shakti)

Nagari Babaiah

(People's Democratic Forum)

Nagaragere Ramesh

(Peoples' Democratic Form)

Kranti Govind

(Swabhimani Dalita Shakti)

Ramadas Rao

(P U C L)

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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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